A Richer Faith

Ruth 3: 1-5, 4: 13-17

Mark 12: 38-44

The month of November is often Stewardship month for many churches. This passage in the lectionary is a dream come true for a pastor searching for a way to inspire his or her people to give. However, I have never had any desire to preach a stewardship sermon in my life. It is not for me to tell you how much you should give to your church or to chastise you for not giving. That is an issue between God and yourself. Only God and you know what you can afford to give in both time and money toward your church.

Some of you are probably asking, “Then why are you bringing this up, Pastor Audra?”

Good question! The reason I bring it up is that this passage is not about giving money to a church or synagogue. It is Jesus commenting on people’s faithfulness to God. Jesus first looks at the teachers of the law. He commented to his disciples that these men appear to be the most righteous of people while secretly they were the worst sort of sinner.

The teachers of the law were men that had been given a lot of advantages in life. They could read and write and cipher. They had power in the synagogues and in the political arena. Everyone wanted to be their friend and everyone wanted to be in their good graces. These men had a lot of power and influence.

As it often happens, such power and influence may corrupt a person. They began to dress to suit their new station in life, and they began to pray with loud voices and long winded prayers to show how holy and righteous and important they were to God. They sought out the admiration of their fellow human beings and took what was not theirs to take. Someone had to finance their good lives and it was often the very people they were meant to protect.

These teachers of the law went from seeking the approval of God to seeking the approval of humanity. It is a fatal mistake and we are all prone to do it. The admiration of our peers is instantaneous unlike the admiration of God. Often God feels distant and elusive to us when we are down in the trenches of life. It can feel like we are constantly trudging uphill in our walk of faith as we seek to do good things and earn God’s approval and love.

I’m hoping some of you caught what I just said about earning God’s approval and love. The truth is that we do not need to earn anything when it comes to our Lord. Jesus did that for us. But society teaches us that nothing comes for free and if we want to be loved and accepted, then we need to be worthy of love and acceptance. This idea is so ingrained in our culture that it is hard to not try to seek God’s approval and love.

There are so many people in the world who think that they are these dirty, sinful people and that God could never love them. I’m not going to tell you that you’re not sinful. I’m not going to stand up here and lie to you. What I will tell you is that it is not your sinfulness that is a stumbling block to God’s love. The only thing that keeps you out of the Father’s arms is your own unwillingness to let go of your sin. The moment you accept that you are not perfect and that you have done wrong, and ask God to forgive you is the very moment you get to walk into God’s waiting arms, and feel the love and approval we all so desperately want. That is the gift Jesus Christ gave to us the day he offered himself on a cross for our sins.

But the world would tell us differently and so we fall for this trap. The teachers of the law fell for this trap of receiving admiration from those around them instead of seeking God. The moment we stop asking what God wants for us and what God thinks we should do is when we are in the most trouble, and risk being the greatest of hypocrites. Jesus is deeply disgusted with the teachers of the law who should know better than to seek others approval rather than God’s.

Then he turns to those who are giving to the local treasury and he watches these ostentatious displays as people give out of their abundance. We’ve all seen this kind of giving where a rich person hands a huge check to a hospital and gets their picture in the paper. Jesus is more impressed with the widow’s offering which is a mere pittance compared to what others are throwing in the offering bowl.

Perhaps because this woman does not march up in grand, flowing robes with her head high and her face shiny and clean. She does not make sweeping gestures that call attention to her. She does not announce loudly that she is about to give all that she has to live on to God. She does not say anything. She does not call any attention to herself. Instead, she humbly walks up to that bowl with money overflowing it, and she offers her two small coins and in that offering is a faith unlike any being offered that day. She was offering her very life to God because those two coins were all she had to live on.

Not twenty feet from her were the teachers of the law in their grand robes and loud voices, praying for the widows, the orphans, the resident aliens and the poor. They prayed for God’s mercy and Spirit to be with them, but they ignored the one that stood before them.

As a church we are called to take care of the widows, the orphans, the resident aliens and the poor. Not just to pray for them. Not just to offer a check here and there. We are called to invite them into our homes and our lives. We are called to suffer with them, to love them as Jesus loves them – by caring for their needs and listening to their stories.

Jesus asks the church not to be a place overflowing with beautiful windows and rich tapestries. Jesus calls the church to be his presence in the world. He calls us to invite those who are hurting to come inside and be comforted. He calls us to share our stories with each other, to share our lives, and pieces of our soul with those who have no one else to care for them.

It’s easier to pray in a loud voice. It’s easier to write a check. It’s easier to come on Sunday and forget what we heard on Monday when we see someone hurting. It’s easier to get caught up in church politics where this family is fighting with this family and Morty doesn’t come because we don’t sing the old reformed songs anymore. It’s easier to say, I’m busy or the church hurt me or if church was at a different time I’d come. We can pretend that the church is not worth our time because of the hurts we’ve experienced or the people that come to it.

Faithfulness is that old widowed woman who probably had a million excuses why she shouldn’t give her two coins, but did it anyway. Faithfulness is the teacher of the law who resists the power and influence, and continues to seek God’s face instead of the approval of those around him. Faithfulness is Jesus who will soon offer his body and soul for those that are not worthy of the sacrifice. You see, Jesus had more reason than any to offer up an excuse to not give to this unworthy place and these unworthy people. Perhaps that is why he feels such a connection to the widowed woman.

She offers her very life to God, puts it into his hands for an institution she knows is corrupt as the leaders pray nearby, but ignore her plight. Jesus offers his life and his relationship to God the Father for all of us who admit we are sinners and corrupt and unworthy. And because Jesus did that, we are made worthy. The church is not a perfect place and I will never be a perfect leader, just as all of us will never be perfect followers. But God calls us to worship Him, to care for one another, and to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

There is no excuse that will satisfy God for why we have not done His will, and there should not be an excuse that will satisfy us either.

Amen.

An Alien in Our Midst

Ruth 1: 1-18
Mark 12: 38-44

Ruth’s story is one of trials and adversity and begins with her mother in law, Naomi. Naomi and her husband were living in Bethlehem when the city that actually means “house of bread” had no food to offer its people. They decided to pack up their things and move to a land that was considered a place to be avoided at all costs – Moab. Nothing good ever came from Moab. And yet, in this strange land Naomi, her husband, and two sons not only find food and shelter there, they also find wives for their sons. Moab was the enemy and yet Naomi’s family found a home with that very enemy.

Then the unthinkable happens like it always does in life. Tragedy strikes. Naomi’s husband falls ill and dies. Ten years later, both of Naomi’s sons also die; leaving three widowed women which at that time in the world could be a death sentence because women had no way to provide for themselves. Being resourceful, Naomi begins to pack up the home she has made in Moab and decides to head back to her homeland which is now doing better economically.

Her two faithful daughters in law help her pack up their things and they head down the road. Naomi must have been scared, but she sees her two daughters in law, and she loves them so she turns and says, “Go back. Go back to your families and may the Lord bless you with new husbands and children.” But this story is about relationships and how God’s hand is deep within our relationships even when we do not realize it. These two women have come to see Naomi as a mother and they love her deeply so they do not want to leave her side.

But Naomi also loved them and she insisted they go back and so Orpah kissed her goodbye and headed back to her family. Ruth, however, is not going to be dissuaded from her mother in law’s side. She had accepted this woman as part of her family and believed deeply in the vows she had made to her husband. Ruth forsakes all that is familiar, all that is known to her to enter the enemy’s land and make a home there with her mother in law.

What we do not know yet in the story is that Ruth, this enemy woman from a land that nothing good ever comes from, will be the saving grace of a nation that hates the blood that runs in her veins. They hated her because she was different in every way. She looked differently from them, she spoke with an accent, she dressed in different clothing and even her gods were not the same. She was foreign; an alien. Ruth knew it was not going to be easy to leave behind the comfort of home, but she also knew that her place was with Naomi.

The promise Ruth makes to Naomi is one she fulfills. She tells Naomi, “Your people will be my people, your God my God. Where you die, I will die.” Ruth comes to Bethlehem with Naomi and begins a life there that has many consequences for the nation of Israel. From this foreign, alien, enemy woman came the line of descendants that give birth to King David, and consequently, the line Jesus was birthed from.

America is considered the great melting pot out of all the nations of the world. We tell ourselves and the world that immigrants are welcome to come and be a part of our society. We tell them that their ideas will be heard, and their differences will be accepted, even their religious differences. But then, the country of their birth will do something that negatively affects our nation and all of a sudden we look at these people not as immigrants, but as foreigners - different, strange, and perhaps our enemies.

Every generation in America has their own biases against people different from them. Many people who experienced WW2 still have a hard time accepting Japanese people as friends rather than enemies. The people who grew up in the 50’s and 60’s know what it is like to experience segregation and the terror of now having to integrate your life with people who you were sure hated you. Whether black or white, the fear was hard to fight. Those who experienced the terror of the Cold War look at Russians with distrust and fear. Then with what happened on 9/11 many people fear Muslims or anyone with darker skin or a turban on their head, assuming they must be Muslim or a terrorist.

Ruth’s story reminds us that not every foreigner is our enemy. Not every alien from a land we distrust is someone we must look on with fear. Ruth’s story reminds us that human beings are to be treated as individuals, that God has a far greater plan for each of us than we may ever know, and it reminds us that even when God is not directly mentioned in our life, that God’s guiding hand never leaves us.

The love Ruth felt for Naomi allowed her to face the fear of rejection, the certainty of isolation and discrimination all so she may help her mother in law reestablish her life with dignity in her old age. She could not in good conscience leave this woman to travel her new path alone and so she walks with her in faith and courage. From the enemy of Israel a new nation is birthed. From the homeless foreigner comes a home without equal. From the alien, widowed woman Jesus Christ our Savior is born.

As Christians, we all know intellectually that we should be like Jesus. Jesus who was as accepting of foreigners as he was of his fellow Jewish people. Jesus who understood a person may sin, but that does not make them evil. Jesus who loved each person on their own merits and not by what the world would say about them. In our heads, we understand this perfectly, and I think most of us even try to follow it.

It is when our hearts get caught up in our passion that the cool logic goes out the window. We all know that not every American is a good person just as we aren’t all bad either. We all know there are good Japanese people and bad Japanese people. We all know that there are good black people and bad black people as well as good white people and bad white people. We all know that there are good Russians and bad Russians and good Muslims and bad Muslims. But when a nation attacks us and kills those we love, that logic goes out the window as our hearts burn with vengeance, fear, and wounded pride.

It would be so easy to give in to our fear and hurt and pain. But in Ruth we are given a powerful reminder that God’s ways are not our ways. When we allow fear to rule us we make bad decisions. When we allow hate to cloud the facts, we inevitably do things we will regret. When we allow ourselves to only see a person’s differences we are never given the chance to find what we have in common. Ruth may have looked and spoken and even prayed to a different god than those in Bethlehem, but her heart was as pure as any to be found in that city. Her loyalty and love for an old woman saved a whole country and it saved all of us.

Through Ruth, we encounter the grace of God. Through that grace we have been given a second, a third, a hundredth chance to make it right. We need every single chance God gives us. It is time for us to start giving the same chances to those we deem different or strange or alien. It is time for us to remember God’s love is what makes it possible to be here today. It is time to remember that fear and hatred only take us farther from Jesus, and if Ruth had allowed fear and prejudice of those who were different from her to rule her actions, then our lives would be very different.

Amen.

Servant Leadership

 

Job 38:1-7
Mark 10: 35-45

Did anyone else cringe a little when you heard James and John ask to sit on the right and left side of Jesus in his glory? It takes a lot of arrogance and vanity to ask such a question right after Jesus just finished predicting his death for the third time. These are not things we normally associate with the disciples. Such human failings are often associated with the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were the natural bad guys in the New Testament. But the truth is that every one of us is tempted to look out for ourselves rather than for others.

John Calvin once said that this passage is a bright mirror of human vanity because it shows that holiness and zeal are often accompanied by ambition or some other vice of the flesh so that followers of Christ often have a different objective than what they should have. This problem is as old as time. Many leaders often seek their own agenda and glory rather than seeking to help others.

It happens everywhere and in every country. Those who we would uphold as bright, shining examples of how to behave often have hidden motives and purposes. Just yesterday I was reading a story about Tim Tebow that made this quite clear. Whatever you may think of the young man, he has become a bit of a symbol for some Christians because of the way he clearly states his Christian views despite the many who would make fun of him.

Many people have lifted him up as an ideal Christian. Yesterday, as I was reading the news I saw a story that stated Tim Tebow is trade marking his Tebow move of bowing on one knee as well as the word. He states that he does this so no one will use it incorrectly, but what will really result is that anyone that uses the move or the word in promotions will have to pay Tim Tebow royalties off their commission. Mr. Tebow may want the public to think he does this to make sure the Tebow move will be used respectfully, but it is easy to see the benefits he will gain by doing this as well.

James and John are also leaders, they have been by Jesus’ side from the very beginning, and they were even the first ones called by Jesus to follow him. It would seem that they  would have the most knowledge and insight into what Jesus is talking about when he mentions dying and suffering for the third time, so it remains inexplicable that right after Jesus finishes speaking they make this extraordinary request of him.

What is James and John’s motivation behind their request? Is it just about glory and honor as the other ten disciples think and so they begin to argue and squabble with each other? Or do James and John truly understand what Jesus is speaking of and they are so afraid that they are seeking security by asking to be at his right and left in glory? Maybe they really do know what is coming next and they are afraid, and in their fear they seek the promise of a secure future. James and John may not be just power hungry; instead maybe they are acting on their fears.

But in their haste to secure their future, whether it is through greed or fear, they miss a vital piece of information. Jesus’ moment of glory comes when he hangs on a cross with a criminal on either side of him. Jesus reminds his disciples that, all who would desire to be first in the Kingdom must be last. He reminds them that leadership is not about having power over others, but it is about serving those who are beneath you. Jesus’ vision of leadership is all about helping others.

We gain positions of power so that we may help others to also be powerful. We gain money so that we may give it away. We gain possessions so that we might have something to give to our guests when they come to visit us. These things are not to make us feel like kings, but so that we may let others feel honored and respected. This is not the way the world thinks.

If we are honest, it is not the way WE think.

There are many people in the United States that consider themselves Christians and are appalled at the idea of giving what we have earned to someone else. We call it socialism and communism which are scary words in a capitalist society. Capitalism is about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and earning what you have on your own. No handouts are needed because everyone gets the chance to help themselves.

Except, that isn’t true, is it?

If capitalism worked the way it should, every person in America should have a job, and healthcare, and a decent home as long as they are willing to work for it. That is the way it is supposed to be. But it seems like in every nation, no matter their religion or government, there are poor people and rich people and those that are in between. As Christians, do we ignore the faulty logic of capitalism or do we realize there is a reason Jesus told the rich, young ruler to sell all of his possessions and take up his cross? Possessions often make us slaves to consumerism. We become possessed by the things we buy and give them power over us.

I have to have the nice car and the expensive house. I have to have more clothes than I can wear in a week and twenty pairs of shoes to match them with. I have to have the jewelry and go on expensive vacations. Why? Because I earned it by working hard. Because then everyone will know that I work hard because they will see the rewards I have reaped.

But Jesus tells us it is not about that. Leadership is not about the fancy things, it is about giving it away. It is about serving those who do not have what we do. In our vanity and ambition we forget that none of these things truly make us happy. Yes, they are nice to have but as long as you have food in your belly every night and clothes enough to cover your back – do all the extras really make you happy or do they put chains on you?

Jesus is reminding the disciples and any who would follow him that we cannot pin our happiness and salvation on mere humans or their ability to have many possessions. What makes a leader, what makes a person a Christian is their ability to be cautious, self-reflective, and their ability to have compassion on those they are leading. Jesus is reminding the church that it also needs to remember it is not about how many people fill the pews or how much money we pull in every month but about how many people we have brought to Christ and how many people we have helped. There were only twelve disciples and yet Christianity has about 2 billion followers today. It is not about the numbers or the power or the prettiness of the church. It is about our willingness to serve rather than be served.

If we come to church expecting things, we are here for the wrong reason. Church is the place where we worship God, become closer as a community, and where we learn to serve and help others. It is not to be used to further our own agendas and power. It is not meant to satisfy our need for recognition and adoration. Church is where we learn the true meaning of discipleship and leadership and how we are called to put aside our own desires so we may look after others.

Jesus shows us how in his willingness to die on a cross, beside two criminals so that we may all have a chance at eternal life. Jesus makes us a promise that he is willing to uphold. Jesus’ words correspond to his actions. He walks away from his family, his home, and allows himself to be torn away from God through his death on the cross. Jesus sacrifices everything to lead us to safety. He emptied himself so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit.

That is leadership. It is what Jesus calls us to do if we are to be true followers. We sing the song “Each one, Reach One” today and it says, “If we follow after Christ we all can lead one to the Savior and together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way, if we each one, reach one.” We follow Jesus by leading people to Him. We will lead people to Jesus by trying to serve each other instead of seeking fame and glory and honor. We will lead people to Jesus when we remember to love people instead of possessions.

Amen.

Is Jesus Enough?

Job 2: 1-10
Hebrews: 1:1-4, 2:5-12

 Please raise your hand if you think you’ve experienced a blessing from God in your life. Now, I want you to think about those blessings. Perhaps you have always had good health, or a loving spouse, or you were given children during your life. Perhaps your blessing is your job and the ability to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly. Perhaps your blessing is that someone far away is fighting for you and your freedom. That someone is willing to sacrifice their well-being, giving up parts of their body, their mental and emotional well-being as well as their lives for all of us here today. Perhaps your blessing is a good education and the ability to provide the same for your family. Perhaps your blessing is the sanitation workers who are willing to clean up your garbage and other things so we have a safe, clean environment. Perhaps your blessing is the sun that continues to shine every day and the grass that continues to grow despite the billions of people who never think about these things as blessings at all.

And then there are the personal blessings, the ones that affect only you. That time God’s voice stopped you from cheating on your spouse. That time when you braked quickly enough not to hit that child in the street. That time you managed to ignore temptation and not take advantage of an easy situation. That time when you persisted in getting a second opinion because you knew there was something wrong and the next doctor discovers cancer in its beginning stages.

These are our blessings. We acknowledge they come from God. They make us feel warm inside and help to strengthen our faith in God’s goodness and mercy. We preach about Good News because we have experienced goodness and love. But now, I want you to imagine all of those blessings never happened or were stripped away from you like Job.

 Everything you hold dear and precious in your life; everything that has made your life worth living is gone. Your children, and grandchildren, and spouse are dead. Your home and business are gone, taken from you by others. Now, even your health is gone and so you sit homeless, on an ash heap, sores covering your body while your friends ask what you did to anger God. Surely someone who is suffering so much has done something to receive such curses upon their life. But you look around, you look inside yourself and you know – you did nothing so bad as to merit such a harsh punishment as you have received. You have been cursed and you have no idea WHY.

How do you feel about God now?

There was a woman I knew in seminary who was a devout Christian. She loved Jesus so much. She had dedicated her existence to furthering the Gospel and helping others. At 27 she was diagnosed with cancer. A rare form that is severely painful. While still fighting it, she found out she was pregnant and lost the baby to the chemo and radiation treatments she had started before knowing she was pregnant. She finally got the cancer into remission and was just putting her life on track when at 31 she went to the doctor for a routine checkup and was told that her bones had a disease that weakened them and eventually she’d be in a wheelchair and then she’d die from this disease. Her husband couldn’t take it and so he left her.

Five more years she spent fighting this disease, while continuing to attend church, to pray to God and help others - still a dedicated Christian. I met her as she was dying from the disease. I remember her looking at me from behind the oxygen mask, wasted away and pale, and she lifted it away for a second and said, “Why? What have I done to deserve this?”

The truth of her story, the truth in Job’s story is that we don’t always suffer because we deserve to - sometimes bad things; horrible, awful things happen to the best people in the world. There is nothing we can do to shield ourselves from the awful situations of this world. However, how we respond to these things tells us more about our belief and faith in God than how we react during the good times.

Can you still praise God when no blessings flow? Will you still believe in God if God only ever promises you Eternal Life and no other blessings? Is it enough to know that God sent His Son to die for you on the Cross so that you might live in the Kingdom of Heaven, if while on earth you suffer torment equal to Hell?

This passage we read today is one most people like to skip right over. These are not easy questions to answer for any of us. We can all point to a moment in our life when things were AWFUL and doubts about God came to the surface. We all struggle with our faith in the bad times. If all we ever had were bad moments, would we believe in God? Would we believe in the promises, would we believe in the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us?

Whether you believe in Jesus or not – there are going to be bad times. There is going to be pain. Sometimes we try to say that if we lead a good life then good things will come to us. We tell each other that if we love others we will be loved. If we care for others we will be cared for. We tell ourselves that God loves us so much that Jesus will save us from every disaster and pitfall. But the truth is that sometimes we don’t get saved from the pain and hurt. Belief in Jesus Christ does not equal a life free from torment.

And once we realize that, then what? Will you still believe in God if tomorrow you are stripped from every blessing you have but the promise of eternal salvation? It’s the only assurance Jesus gives us in our life. “Believe in me and I will bring you Eternal life.” Jesus does tell us that we will suffer just as he suffered. We ignore that truth too often. Jesus does not promise us roses and rainbows. He promises eternal salvation in heaven, and he promises torment on earth.

This passage cuts through the flowers we would lay around the cross to hide the blood, sweat, and tears. This passage takes away the gilding, the cloth that drapes the altar which is a place of sacrifice; it takes away the pretty stained glass windows that depict serene pictures of love and Jesus. It takes away all that is pretty and good and leaves us with the barren truth.

Job sits on the ash heap, sores covering his tired and shell shocked body. His children freshly buried in graves, his home and farm destroyed. His wife comes to him as he scratches at his sores and she says, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

She says to him, there is no point in saying nice things about God. There is no point in silently remaining faithful when God has stripped you bare of everything that was yours to love. Curse God and end this agony, let your body die so that your torment will end!

And Job replies, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job makes a point we often forget about with our rosy outlook on the Resurrected Jesus. For Jesus to live, he had to die. For Jesus to save us, he had to suffer a horrible death and separation from God. Jesus’ faith was as tested as ours is tested.

We can respond by continuing our faithful, quiet belief in God, or we can curse God and die. God promises us one thing, and as long as you believe in Him, you will receive that promise. You will be given salvation.

Is that enough for you?

Amen.

Respecting God and Humanity

Proverbs 1: 20-33

Mark 8: 27-38
 

A little boy walked into class on the first day of school wearing a “Jesus loves me” bracelet on his wrist. When the other boys noticed, they laughed and pointed. The little boy felt ashamed because all of his friends thought he was a big dork for having a bracelet that let everyone know he went to church and loved Jesus. He took it off when no one was looking and hid it in his pocket so no one would laugh at him anymore. But when the boys noticed he had taken it off, they made fun of him even more. “Guess you really DON’T love Jesus, do you?!” the one boy sneered at him.

Upset, angry, and on the point of crying the boy ran into the bathroom and took the bracelet out of his pocket. He stared down at it for a second, crushed in his tiny, sweaty fist, and then angrily threw it into the toilet and flushed it down. He thought to himself, “Now no one will ever make fun of me again”, and he’d never again have to feel this way.

That little boy made a choice that day which would affect the rest of his life. He developed a disdain for people who went to church and loudly proclaimed to love Jesus. They drew attention to themselves and allowed others to make fun of them and they just kept talking about how much Jesus had done for them. He didn’t get it. Jesus allowed his friends to make fun of him when he just wore a bracelet. Why would these people let complete strangers belittle them and treat them so horribly? Was anything or anyone worth being treated so bad and feeling so awful about yourself? He couldn’t imagine Jesus would do the same thing for him.

There are thousands of people outside of these walls that have felt the same way. Perhaps you are one of them. Talking about going to church and attending Sunday school sometimes feels like a socially unacceptable thing to do. When we mention God or Jesus or faith, people seem to shut down on us. They begin to fidget and look away; they will pull out their phones or check their watches, say something inane and then change the subject. It always seems like they are thinking, “I can’t believe they brought that up.”

Such reactions are disheartening and after awhile, we put up barriers. We deliberately do not say anything about our faith and going to church, and we definitely don’t mention what we learned in Sunday school or something the pastor might have said during the sermon. If we want to keep our friends and not be considered strange or one of those crazy, fanatical Christians, we know that there are only certain people we can mention church too.

Today is Invite a Friend to Church day in many churches around the U.S. I have to wonder how many new people are going to attend. Unfortunately, not only are church-goers hesitant to bring up Jesus and invite a person to church, but getting a person to actually want to go is even harder than trying to talk about it. We come up with a thousand excuses not to mention Jesus or church, and this bible passage calls us out. It reveals our hesitancy, reminding us that we are not to feel ashamed about our love for Jesus Christ and if we are, then Jesus will surely have something to say about it.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, but forfeit their soul?” That is the crux of it all. We may have a million friends because we hide a part of who we are, but in the meantime we lose a piece of our soul every time we ignore Jesus in favor of talking about anything else that will please the people we are with.

I mentioned a couple sermons ago that one of my very best friends does not believe in religion, but believes in God. Do you know that him and I talk more about God and AGREE than I do with some Christians? Sometimes we have arguments about my belief in Jesus, but I am proud to say I have never once belittled his faith. The point is to create a discussion, and if he didn’t live three thousand miles away, I know I could get him to come to this church once in awhile to hear what I have to say. We have created a place in our friendship where we are allowed to agree and disagree about God and our belief.

We all need that. We all need to be able to have people we can discuss our faith and belief with outside of these church walls. We need to be thinking about God more than just on a Sunday morning. God is with us every single moment of our lives, and yet we barely give God a moment throughout the week to be recognized. Too often we hide our faith in Jesus behind a laugh when someone makes a religious joke. We pretend that we don’t really believe that prayer changes things, when we have experienced it in our own lives. We talk about the ride we took on Sunday or the football game we watched, but not the great lesson our Sunday school teacher prepared that day.

“What can anyone give you in exchange for your soul?” There goes Jesus, once again asking the hard questions and making us realize where we have gone wrong. We only get one life to live. We only get so many moments where we may proudly proclaim ourselves to be God’s children. Some are little moments, but others are more momentous. Each of us has faced a time when we could choose God or we could choose to ignore God. We have times when we feel shame and fear to expose ourselves as Christians, especially in a hostile environment.  

I cannot help but think of the people killed in Libya a few days ago. They were killed because they were Americans and an American had made an awful video depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed as a violent, evil person who did despicable things to men, women, and children. It wasn’t right that the protestors of the video killed those four people. It also wasn’t right that a person would create such an awful video that they knew would cause chaos and anger and pain. There is so much distrust between Christians and Muslims that the actions of a few cause a world-wide ripple.

The Christian pastor that burns a Koran on September 11^th, and the Muslim leader who kills an American – there is an utter lack of respect for other people’s beliefs and thoughts and feelings. There is a lack of dignity being paid to each side. We are all human beings and God has created us all. Jesus reminds us that we are to love everyone and that includes not only the Christians of the world, but the Muslims and the Buddhists, and the atheists.

When we react with such hatred, anger, and fear toward other people, it is just another way of ignoring God and turning our back on what we are taught in church and Sunday school. It is easy to be angry and mistrustful – it’s much harder to be understanding and loving. Jesus tells us, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  

There are times when we unconsciously show our shame and disdain for Jesus. For instance, when we pretend not to be an avid church-goer around our friends and acquaintances at work, when we hate other people with more passion than we love Jesus – we show shame in what we have been taught by God.

When we deliberately ignore all we know to be true, we disrespect our Lord and His teaching. We, like that little boy, put God in our pocket to hide Him and our faith from the world and there are times that we also throw God away so that we can act and feel and think in ways that we know Jesus would disapprove of.

God is not just for Sundays. Jesus loves you every day, every moment of the week. It is time we showed our love for God and others every day, and every moment of the week as well. It is time we respect all of humanity for God created us all in God’s image.

Amen.

 

 

Embracing Our Doubts

Isaiah 35: 4-7a

James 2: 1-10

There seem to be days when it is easier to believe the promises of the Bible than on other days. When we read passages like in Isaiah that talk about our eyes being opened and the lame leaping like deer – we often have one of two responses. Sometimes we are comforted by such a message and then there are days when we are disheartened.

Who here has believed the promises and known disappointment? I think all of us would be able to raise our hand on that one.

Then we hear people say things like, “If God didn’t answer your prayer it is because God has something better in store for you. God has a better plan than what you could come up with.” We hear songs sung like, “Thank God for unanswered prayers” and we nod our heads because yes, there ARE times when we are grateful God did not answer our fervent prayer.

But there will always be times when we wish God would answer and we hear nothing but silence. There will be times when we are praying for Aunt Susie in the nursing home fighting dementia or Grandpa Ronnie whose diabetes has gotten out of control and has lost both his legs. There will be days when we are praying for safe passage for our family and friends, when we pray for the drought to end or the hurricane to pass us by and none of these prayers will be answered in the way we want and need them to be.

As faithful Christians, what are we to do with this knowledge? We know that not all prayers are answered. We know that sometimes no matter how strong our faith and belief in God, that what we pray for will not be what we receive. There are thousands of disillusioned Christians for that reason and sometimes we are one of those thousands of people.

Yes, even your pastor has had doubts and been disillusioned with God. We all have battles in our lives, moments that test the very fiber of our being and they are often the moments that test our faith to its utmost as well. For some, that fragile connection to God will break and for others it will be stretched thin but not broken.

Jesus had an interesting view on the subject of faith. He often told the crowds and disciples that it does not take very much faith to move mountains and change the course of our lives. But he also did not have a problem with doubts and questions from the people. He often seemed to encourage the dialogue with his parables and stories. Jesus believed that doubts were healthy; perhaps even a necessary part of our faith.

The reason it is healthy is because a person that questions what God is doing and not doing is someone that is thinking. A person that reads a line of scripture like, “and the lame will leap like the deer” and thinks, “I’ve yet to see that happen, is it really possible?” is someone that is analyzing and puzzling out what their faith means to them and to God. When we were children we thought and acted like children. We accepted what the pastor and our Sunday school teachers had to say without too many questions. They knew better than us.

Now that we are adults, we must think and act like the responsible people we strive to be by making sure that we never just accept what another tells us as truth. We remember that the Bible while inspired by the Holy Spirit, it was written by mortal men and women and was transcribed over and over again. There may be mistakes in there, honest mistakes but mistakes nonetheless. We remember that although the pastor has gone to school to help teach the congregation, they are one person and with limited knowledge and power compared to Jesus Christ. We cannot just accept every word a person says as Gospel Truth. It’s healthy to question and yes, even argue over our views.

When we take time to discuss the various viewpoints, we are giving God a chance to teach us more, to show us more about whom God is and who we are as His children. Let me give you an example. A few months back I referred to the Holy Spirit as She. Every now and then I do this because I know there are some people out there that feel women do not get represented enough in the Trinity. Jesus is male and we often refer to God as Father, but when God made humanity we were made in God’s image. Male AND female.

The Holy Spirit has often been referred to as Wisdom in the Old Testament, and in the Greek Wisdom is pronounced Sophia which is also a woman’s name. Some people get around using he or she for the Holy Spirit by using the word IT, but I find that to be too impersonal. When the person asked me about why I would call the Holy Spirit SHE, these are the things I told them. I’m not sure if the person approved or disapproved of the pronoun I had used, but I do know that because they asked they walked away with more information on why I had used the word I had instead of the one that is most often spoken. And with that extra knowledge they were better able to decide for themselves if the Holy Spirit was a SHE or a HE or an IT in their own mind.

Questions are a good thing. Doubt is a good thing. Do not despair if you find yourself questioning the Bible or your own faith and belief. Embrace these things because it is in the things we struggle with the most that we are able to learn more about God and ourselves. It’s not comfortable or an easy thing to experience, but these struggles really do enrich our faith.

A few years ago I met a friend who loved to argue and debate which worked out well because I also love to argue and debate topics. We spent our nights working in the seminary cafeteria and debated many theological issues. It was a growing and learning process for me because he came from a strong biblical background and I had not. I came into seminary without having read much of the bible and without having taken a single course in theology and God. He went to a bible college and knew more than his fair share and so we would talk and learn from each other.

One night, he brought up a point I could not get around. It was one we had argued over often, but this night his argument hit me square in the heart and I found myself struggling with doubts. As I was walking home, I looked up at the stars and tears were streaming down my face. I remember saying to God, “If this is the way it is, I’m not sure I can be a pastor because this hurts to believe.” I struggled and struggled with this issue for months. I wrestled with God like Jacob had wrestled with God and I wasn’t sure who was winning.

Finally, God and I came to an agreement. I realized that no one knows everything about God and although it is possible that I was wrong in my belief, no one would be hurt by my belief. God helped me to understand that the most important part of my faith is not about everyone’s views aligning perfectly with my own, but that I make sure to be open to other’s views. I make sure to respect an individual’s beliefs even if they are vastly different from what I believe because only God knows why they believe that. It is not our place to judge, and all we can hope is that others will be as kind and tolerant of us.

It was a good lesson to learn. It was also an extremely hard one that caused me many sleepless nights and confused days. But my faith is stronger for the questions and doubts, for the struggles and pain. Yours will be as well. Do not hide your doubts; do not run away from your questions. There are answers out there. Not always easy ones and not always pleasant, but if you want to know more – God is waiting.

 

Amen.

The Making of a Christian

Song of Solomon 2: 8-13
James 1: 17-27

A good friend of mine is not a Christian. He’s not Jewish, or Muslim, or even a Buddhist. He told me that he had once read quite a bit about all of these religions, but he wasn’t sure he could believe in any of them. For awhile, he considered himself an atheist. After all, if he couldn’t believe in any religion in the world, he must not believe in God. However, the more he thought about it the more he realized he did believe in God. What he didn’t believe in were people.

There is a vast difference between believing in religion and believing in God. We tend to not make the distinction, assuming that if you believe in one you certainly believe in the other which is why my friend thought for so long he must be atheist. Religion is fallible. God is not. Religion was created to help organize the chaos that surrounds our lives and it was created to put shackles on God.

Are you uncomfortable with that idea? I am. How can our belief in Christianity put a shackle on God? Our beliefs start out pure and with good intentions. The disciples and Paul helped to build the Christian religion with their desire to spread the Good News. They instituted rituals and customs because it is what they had in their Jewish faith and it is what people need. We need the comfort of knowing what to do and what to say and when to do it.

Let me give you an example. If I told you that as of now, we would only do Communion on Christmas and Easter, what would your response be? And what if I said that Consistory has decided that we no longer need candles or altar cloths because a barren church better represents Jesus? What if I said we will no longer have bulletins because we’re going to let the Holy Spirit lead church?

It’s unsettling. These are things we know are coming, they are tools to help guide us as we worship. The candles represent the fire God has lit inside our hearts, the altar cloths tell us what season and occasion it is while giving a homey, comforting feel to the sanctuary. Communion is supposed to bring us closer to God and to each other. Each one of these things has a meaning and a purpose to help us worship God.

But do they?

My friend who does not believe in religion is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He has devoted his life to helping others by becoming a children’s psychiatrist. Each friend he makes he keeps in close contact with and his wife of two years knows how much he loves her because he makes sure to not just tell her but to show her. My friend may not believe in Christianity, but he lives a Christian life. How is that possible?

Well, if we get back to the idea that religion can sometimes put shackles on God, I see how it is possible. We become so ingrained in our beliefs and systems and our committees we forget that God exists outside of all of these things. God existed long before we created and God will exist long after they are gone. God does not begrudge us our many committees or paperwork to make sure all is well and smoothly run in the church. God does not begrudge us the money it takes to keep a building up to date or the money we spend on toner and paper to create bulletins every week.

The problem is us. When we get so caught up in what HAS to be because it has always BEEN, we stifle the creative power of our Lord. Yes, we have always had Communion once a month. Yes, we have always had bulletins and candles and altar cloths. Does this make us more of a Christian church to have these things? What makes a person a Christian? What makes a church a holy place?

James tells us that, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” We are told to be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry. James makes it very clear that this is what makes up a Christian because God is working in us to correct our faults. We do good things not because it gets us into heaven, but because good things have been given to us and our response is to love like we have been loved.

But how many of us do it? For as much love and blessings as we all have been given, we all know in our hearts that we do not respond with equal love and generosity. Sometimes we do not respond at all. We take the things given to us as our due. We often feel self-entitled and we can allow ourselves to become narrow-minded.

James tells us that this is not God’s way. According to James, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” God does not change like shifting shadows. God does not get caught up in rules and committees and when it is time to have Communion. These things are not what are important to God. They are helpful, they are useful tools, but they are not what make up a Christian or a church.

Actions. It would annoy my friend to know I called him a Christian because he has known way too many that do not live like Jesus lives. I remember the day I told him I was going to become a pastor, strangely enough, he was the only one I told that supported me unconditionally. Even my family had deep reservations about it but he said to go for it. Then he made me make a promise to him. He asked, “Please, do not ever force your beliefs on someone and if you say something, mean it and do it. Promise me you will not become a hypocrite.”

That stuck with me through all three years of seminary and now the two years I have spent here. Do not become a hypocrite. When we say do not judge lest you be judged, when we say love others as God loves you, these things are powerful if we stick to them. One of my favorite quotes is by Francis Assisi and it says, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

Actions. We can say we are a Christian or we can say we are not. It is our actions that prove our words to be truth or lie. We can say we are here to help people, to give back to the community, but it is our actions that tell the most about why we are here. We can say we love others and do not judge, but when we gossip and complain about everyone around us, we make a mockery of those words.

We all will fall short of the glory of God. We’re human. We weren’t made perfect, we are in the midst of being perfected. We will make mistakes. We will fall and crawl and find ourselves lost at times. That is human nature. But if we keep these words of James in mind, if we remember the life that Jesus lived on earth - we have a guide to follow, we have a way to pick ourselves back up, to brush ourselves off and get back onto the way of being the person and the people that God desires us to be.

It is time we let the shackles fall away so that we all may be free to love unconditionally. That we may be free to see God in the many ways God exists in our lives. We are not perfect, but God has made us a promise. Follow Him, and we will be given eternal salvation. We need to follow Jesus more than we need to follow our manmade rules. Jesus didn’t always follow the rules and yet he said, “I came not to abolish the law, but to perfect it.” Our history has shown us we weren’t always right in how we worshipped God. When we oppressed black people and justified it with scripture. When we refused women leadership positions and justified it with scripture. We have been wrong before. We will be wrong again.

Jesus reminds us that sometimes we must break the rules to follow God. Rules are not perfect, but God is perfect. If we follow Jesus, then we will be doing what is right and good and true. Our actions will align precisely with our words, and everyone will know we are Christians in both word and deed.

Amen.