Rejoice!

Isaiah 52:7-10

John 1:1-14

Today we are going to talk about feet. Take a moment and look down at yours. Then glance at your neighbor’s feet. They come in all sizes and we never notice them much except when they are cold or hurting. More often than not like the rest of our body, we don’t notice how much our feet do for us.

The Prophet Isaiah begins his message of good news by speaking of the messenger’s feet. He calls them beautiful as they traverse mountains trying to get to the people to proclaim good tidings of peace and joy for all who would hear the message. The messenger’s feet had gone a long distance to share this news. They had walked and run, jogged and hiked over hills and valleys. Gotten wet through rivers, then immediately were immersed in sand which rubbed them raw as the messenger kept moving.

This news couldn’t wait for the messenger’s feet to heal. This message was so important that no matter how exhausted the messenger became, the messenger had to continue on. Finally, cresting the last mountain, the messenger proclaimed to all the people, “Your God reigns! You will know salvation!”

What a message! It brought shouts of joy and tears of relief. This is what the messenger’s feet did – they brought a message so powerful that a whole nation burst into songs of praise and happiness. Now again, look at your feet. You have the same power as that long ago messenger. You too, can bring joy to another’s life. You too can traverse the mountains and valleys of the world as you share the good tidings that Jesus Christ is come! That our Lord and Savior bring eternal life in the form of a newborn baby that is here to die for humanity. It’s something to think about, how our feet can bring light into the world if we are only willing to use them.

When Mary was heavily pregnant with Jesus, I can imagine how tired she was and how scared she must have been. She was barely more than a kid and she was about to become the mother to God’s Son. Her feet must have been swollen and aching, her back painfully throbbing. Then she had to get on that donkey and ride to Bethlehem as her husband Joseph walked beside her. His feet carried him straight to the place that God had commanded them to be through the Caesar.

How tired he must have been after that long journey. His nerves must have been frazzled from reassuring Mary, making sure she was okay and trying not to worry himself. He was going to be a father. Not to just any baby, but he was going to help raise God’s Son. Where would this journey lead them too? What path were they about to journey down? He walked on, putting one foot in front of the other out of pure faith in God because I know he probably had very little faith in himself at that point.

How do you raise such a special child? Do you treat that child like a prince or do you treat him like a regular child? Do you punish the child when he misbehaves or do you dare not in case God becomes angry? What if the child doesn’t live past the age of one like so many children did not? What if he comes from Mary’s womb with a limp or blind or has some other infirmity? Would God blame Joseph and Mary for these things?

He walked on toward his fate, Mary riding beside him, with nothing but faith to keep him moving. Sometimes it is all we have that sustains us. Sometimes it is the only thing that gets us through the day. We must believe in the message we receive on Christmas Day. That a baby, a little and fragile baby boy would grow up and save us all from ourselves. That this boy would have so much faith in God that he willingly dies so the rest of the world may live.

The world is a dark place. It’s full of pits and potholes that would try to make us trip and stumble as we journey forward. There are big rocks of temptations in our path that would try to make us stop where we are at and no longer journey on. But like the messenger in Isaiah and Mary and Joseph, we must have faith in God. Our faith keeps us moving and will help us overcome every obstacle our feet encounter. Every step we take toward God is a step toward the light of God’s pure love for us. It’s a step out of the darkness the world dwells in and brings us one more step closer to eternal life lived with and through Jesus Christ. That beautiful baby who’s little feet will one day have nails pounded through them as he hangs on a cross for you and for me.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Jesus Christ and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

The True House

2 Samuel 7: 1-11
Luke 1: 26-38

Mary and Joseph are both descendents of King David. The same David we find in the passage of 2 Samuel. The scriptures have many lessons to teach us and this passage has several. King David was once nothing more than the youngest son of a sheep farmer in Bethlehem. When Samuel went looking for a king for Israel he looked at all of the sheep farmer’s sons, all except the youngest who was out tending the sheep. It was that boy, young and small and naïve who would become king. He would defeat the Giant and he would carry the Ark of the Covenant into many battles and win.

This same David, who had found so much favor in God’s eyes, was now settling down. He no longer had to move from place to place with only a tent over his head. He had built for himself a strong house, made of cedar and was quite content. Until he noticed the Ark was still in a tent.

He went to Nathan, the prophet who took over after Samuel and instead of asking his advice as was the norm, David told him about having a house of his own while the Ark had none. Nathan, instead of being offended by this change in protocol gave his agreement that David should do what he pleases because “The Lord is with you”.

Other than a little breach in protocol, this must seem very mundane to most readers. What is the big deal? David has found where he wants to build his kingdom and now he will build a religious temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. That sounds reasonable, it sounds like a great plan.

As a church, we often look to our leaders in the Consistory and the pastor for great plans. We hope that every month when they get together, they are coming up with ideas to help grow the church, and to make the church run more smoothly. We do not like the idea of the people we elect merely maintaining the status quo, we like action. We want growth whether it is in the form of giving more money through our committees, coming up with new and better programs, or doing things around the church building.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Just like there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with what Nathan and David are planning now that they are settling down in one area. But both King David and the Prophet Nathan have forgotten a very important key to this plan. They have not asked God what God would like to do. How could David, who is in the position of King of Israel because of God’s favor, have forgotten to ask God what to do? How could Nathan, a prophet, a messenger of the Lord, have not considered praying about what they should do?

Now if two such wise and holy people could forget to consult God, how often do we do the same thing? Perhaps our ideas and thoughts seem so natural and good that we think the thought must have come from God. Perhaps we are too busy this week to say a prayer asking for guidance. We do not always consult God about what we are up to. Even as a church, how often when we have a problem or issue do we take a moment to pray to God? Sometimes I think we would be amazed at what God is thinking because God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, God’s ways are not our ways.

 God makes God’s presence known in the very next line of the scripture. He comes to Nathan at night and reminds David and Nathan that God is the one that brought them out of the land of Egypt. God is the one that has shown them the way each time they have been scared or unsure. God is the one that has helped them find this land, the land he promised hundreds of years ago to Abraham and then to Isaac and then to Jacob. In all this time, God has never had a temple; God has never needed a temple to do the miraculous things that were accomplished.

The Lord reminds Nathan and David that all they have, all that they are is because God has made it happen.  If God wants a temple, not only would the Lord have mentioned it but God would have directed them in how to build it. It was a humbling message to them both, but obviously one they needed to hear. David thought he knew what God wanted; he thought he knew the heart of the Lord. But what God reminds them both is that he cannot be contained or be totally known. God will always be a mystery to humanity and the more we try to squeeze God into a box or a temple or a church, the more elusive the Lord will become. God is not found only in our religious buidlings because the Lord cannot be contained.

But God did not stop by just reminding them of his power and might. God then gives David a gift. God promises to be faithful to David, to make his name great and to build a great home for all of the Israelites. They will no longer have to travel from place to place, forever wandering and fighting other people for space to live. No longer will they have enemies that can kill them. God has promised to give them rest, to build them all homes and to make the line of David one that lasts forever. God promises that the name of King David will be one that will always be remembered.

Here we are today, looking at this passage and wondering what this has to do with our life. This passage should have us asking a few hard questions of ourselves: What are our assumptions about what will be pleasing to God? What are the ways that we seek to enshrine and confine God? Do we build churches so that we can place God inside it and then only visit for an hour a week? Do we sometimes link God to our political or religious agendas in the hope of swaying more people to our causes? What may God want to do but cannot because personal ambitions and church politics are blocking the way?

God does not want or need to be enshrined here at church. Our Lord is one of surprises. Our God is one that instead of sending a warrior to defeat the world’s evil, God sent a baby - a baby named Jesus born to a poor couple who would not raise their son with every toy or modern convenience, but with love. God sent us a little boy who would grow up to hang out with the least desirable crowd. He would find his way among the outcasts, among the sinners and the destitute; his followers were those that have diseases and were a burden upon society.

What is God up to right now? What is God doing 2,000 years later? Could God be present in this church or is God out there.. amongst the poor, the diseased, and the people we scoff and lift our noses at? Is God with the unemployed, the people on welfare, the illegal immigrants, the convicted felons?  It’s a question we need to ask. It’s a question David and Nathan forgot and were chastised for.

Where are you God? What are you doing? What do you want us to do?

Amen.

Then Who Are You?

Psalm 126
John 1:6-8, 19-28

I’ve always felt a little sorry for John the Baptist. In Luke we read about how his father did not believe he could truly have a child, the father resisted God’s efforts to set him straight and it wasn’t until John was born that finally Zechariah could admit that John was his son and he had been sent by God. Then John’s whole life must have been lived knowing he had one purpose to fill, to proclaim the Messiah. He must do whatever was necessary to make sure as many people heard his message as possible. It did not matter if he went without clothing or food or sleep. It didn’t matter if he had a roof over his head or friends to talk things over with. John’s one purpose, his one mission in the world was to be the voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord!”

That’s a lonely life. That’s a life completely devoted to God and leaving nothing left over for oneself. Then we have this passage in the Book of John where the author tells us even more than Matthew, Mark, and Luke did about John the Baptist’s character.

We have Jewish leaders from Jerusalem making the journey to Bethany to discuss what John has been up to. This loud man was making a racket that reached deep into the city and made the religious leaders nervous. He was causing people to question, to think outside the box of accepted theological beliefs about who and what the Messiah will be. If the one that prepares the way for the Messiah is such a different sort of person, what then will the Messiah be like? Will the Messiah be a king coming on a white horse, brandishing a sword that will cut off the head of the Roman Empire like they had all dreamed? Or will the Messiah be something and someone like this radical man who is in the wilderness and baptizing people like he has been given the authority to do so?

So with nervous trepidation and probably a lot of righteous indignation, the Pharisees journey to Bethany to confront this man causing all these questions among the people. Before they can even speak a word, John emphatically denies that he is the Messiah. Perhaps John knew this was the secret question in everyone’s mind and so he decided to confront this falsehood first. Or perhaps John was just totally sure of what he was not, and so he shared it with them without provocation.

My favorite line in this whole passage is what they say in response to his emphatic denial to being the Messiah, “Then who are you?” There is such bewilderment and confusion in those four words. There is a wealth of meaning behind them as well. If you are not the Messiah, then why are you baptizing people? If you’re not the Messiah, then you must surely be someone else important to get the people talking like this. And that’s why they begin with their questions of, “Are you Elijah?” “Are you the Prophet?”

But John replies no to each of their inquiries. He is not any of those things they are wondering or hoping he might be. John refuses to allow them to label him. When in exasperation they finally say, “Give us some answer to take back with us? What do YOU say about yourself?” The Pharisees had finally run out of labels for John. “What do you say about yourself? Who do you consider yourself to be?”

This is an interesting question and one often asked of all of us. When we first meet people we often ask them what their name is, and usually the question that follows is “Who are you? What do you do?” If I went around the congregation and asked all of you that question, what would your response be?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks you who you are? What labels do you put upon yourself? What boxes do you check when the Census Bureau asks you to define yourself? Do you identify yourself as a man or woman or perhaps as a husband or a wife first? Do you think of your job and say, “I’m a lawyer, I’m a truck driver, I’m a teacher?” Is your first thought “I’m a mother, father or grandparent”? Or perhaps you think of yourself as an American first or as a white American. Perhaps you consider yourself by your age or your favorite hobby. “I’m a stamp collector, I’m a Harley Davidson fan, I’m a music lover.”

“Who are you?” they asked John. He refused to give them a name. He did not give them an occupation. He did not mention his parents or children or wife. He did not mention his hobbies or his interest in star alignment. John did not even respond using his own words to define himself. John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’

John has given his identity to Christ. His Messiah comes first. Who John is, well that is not nearly as important as who is the Messiah. John wants to get past these unimportant issues of who is he to discuss the most relevant one to all humanity, “Who is the Christ?” But the Pharisees are still wrapped up in John’s identity. They are still struggling to understand this simple human man, and will not allow themselves to move forward to weightier, more important issues. So they begin again with the questions.

“Why do you baptize people if you are not the Messiah, the Prophet or Elijah?” But John refuses to answer that with a question that satisfied their human curiosity. John once again points his answer back to the one that is most important by replying dismissively that he merely baptizes with water and then he says, “but among you stands one you do not know.  He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

John is trying to tell them about Jesus Christ. He is trying to convey to them that John is merely a witness to the glory of Christ. There is something so much more important in this world, happening right NOW than who one man is and why he baptizes with water.

John reminds all of us that there is something more important going on in the world than what we often consider to be important. John challenges all of us who proclaim ourselves to be Christians to also be witnesses. We are to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ. We are called to not show off who we are and what we can do, but tell the world who Christ is and what Christ has done and is doing for us all. John refused to put a label on himself other than a voice, a witness who professes the work of the Lord. He gave himself completely to God and during the Advent season we are reminded that this is our task as well.

We do not just put up decorations and admire how cute our children look in their Christmas clothes, we are to remind the world that God loved us ALL enough to give His Son, so that we might live with Him and have eternal life. That is our mission, and that is our witness. Let us be reminded and let us go out joyfully, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. “Christ lived and died for YOU. Christ rose again so that we might defeat death and live by his side in heaven!”

Amen.

Prepare the Way

Isaiah 40: 1-11
Mark 1: 1-8

Too often we preachers will give you a message that is all about God’s forgiveness and redemption and mention nothing of God’s righteous anger when we do sinful things. Or, we will do the opposite and give a blistering sermon on sinful humanity and mention nothing at all about God’s grace. The book of Isaiah challenges such a one dimensional sermon and reminds everyone that just as God can be angry and punishing, God can also love and forgive. We try too often to put God into a box and that is not where God belongs. We cannot hem in God with our own preconceptions and ideas without having lost something vital to our faith and relationship with God.

We should not separate God’s judgment on human sin with God’s grace and forgiveness for those sins. The reason is that if we only concentrate on the judgmental wrath of God then when God punishes humanity we have a vengeful God without any of the compassion we see in the New Testament. It is like we have two different gods in the Bible. However, when we look at all of Isaiah and 2^nd Isaiah together we see that the God who punishes our sins is also the God who eventually forgives us and welcomes us back, restoring us to our proper place – by God’s side.

For all of us to understand what the Israelites were feeling in these passages, we need to know more about their journey. After God gave them Israel, the people prospered. They defeated their enemies and had food and riches in abundance. Abundance is a downfall to a pious society. It seems to always create greed and a desire for more. The people began to forget the God that had delivered them out of Egypt’s hands and looked only to themselves for their daily bread. They forgot to worship in the temple and instead they worshiped their money and the foreigners’ gods. Every attempt God made to warn them was rebuffed until finally God had had enough. For the first time, when an enemy came to conquer Jerusalem, God did not help to defend the people. The Babylonians rushed into the cities, laying waste to the temples and taking everything of value, including the people as slaves.

For fifty years the Israelites were slaves to the Babylonians. They were without priests to guide them; they were without their rituals to soothe them, and without God to sustain them. So this passage in Isaiah 40 is a welcome relief! They will be saved! God has not forgotten them! God is about to deliver them from their enemy’s hands and give them a straight path back to their homeland.

God goes so far as to promise to even out the hills, make the crooked paths straight so that every man, woman, and child will easily and quickly find their way back home. Hopefully, they will come home a little wiser, a little more wary, and a lot more faithful.

 God never wanted to punish her people. Although God is quite able to pick up a sword to smite a person, God tried often and for a long time to get through to the Israelites before allowing the Babylonians to take over. This is why we must keep the vengeful God at the beginning of Isaiah side by side with the gentle shepherd who leads her flock safely back home. God is not one or the other, God is both.

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with Christmas. The passage we read today in Mark 1 takes a piece of Isaiah 40 to explain the job of John the Baptist. The author of Mark sees that John was one that helped to make the pathways straight for the Lord, so that when Jesus began his ministry, he would have ears willing to listen to the message he desperately wanted us to hear. The Good News that Jesus and John the Baptist spread among the Jews and Gentiles was the one that the Israelites heard 600 years before.

Your God has not abandoned you. Your God loves you and forgives you. You are not alone in the trials you face and yes, there is something better for you than this crazy life you live now. That is the Good News which has never changed – for the Israelites in Isaiah, for the Jews of Jesus’ time and for all of God’s people today.

In both Isaiah and Mark, for us to hear the Good News requires repentance and confession from the people. In Isaiah, the Israelites had to be punished for fifty years before they could bring themselves to God and offer up true sorrow for their past ways. In Mark, John tells the people to repent of their sins and be baptized. What is interesting about this passage is that then John the Baptist goes on to say that there will come another, the Messiah, who will baptize them all with the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist could have taken all the glory for himself. He could have pretended to be the Messiah because the people were certainly captivated with him. He was a wild man, with camel hair clothes and an unusual diet of locusts and honey. He spoke of forgiveness and new life, a message the people were starving to hear. Yes, John could have proclaimed to be greater than he was, but instead he told everyone who would listen to him that another, greater prophet would soon be here to save them all.

How often do we hear people humbly promote another person’s achievements rather than their own? Let’s look at the political arena. Have you ever heard a new senator thank the previous senator for all their hard work and dedication? When something goes right during the first year of their office, do they credit those that came before them? I have never heard one politician give credit to the previous administration even when it is obvious to everyone else where the credit belongs.

We live in a world where everyone wants a piece of the pie. Everyone wants to be recognized for achievement, but John the Baptist shows us that is not the way. And God also shows us that by sending someone to prepare Jesus’ way. Think about it – even God sometimes needs a helping hand. This season is one of waiting and expectation. We wait for news of our Savior and for the coming of peace on earth.

We too often act like these good tidings are for our ears alone. We pretend that all the good things that have happened in this church are because of what we have done instead of acknowledging we stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. Their hard work makes this church a success. John’s hard work in the wilderness prepared the way for Jesus Christ’s ministry.

This is a season of waiting, but that does not mean we have nothing to do. We are now the ones that prepare the way for the Lord. We wait for news of Christ’s second coming and we are to spread the Gospel to all four corners of the world, letting everyone know that peace, joy, hope and love is waiting for them, just as we wait for Christ.

Amen.

Thanksgiving Message

“Your faith has made you well.” Jesus does not make a big deal out of the healing of these ten men. What he does seem concerned about is the men’s response to their healing. Only one man comes back to give thanks to Jesus. A man who is a foreigner and loathed by the Jewish people is the only one to come back to Jesus, a Jew, and thank him for healing him of leprosy. And the way he expresses his thanks!

This man does not shake Jesus’ hand in a dignified way like you often see two men do. The Samaritan did not come walking up with his head down and mumble his appreciation half-heartedly. He came back, praising God in a loud voice and then he THREW himself at Jesus’ feet. These are the actions of a man full of praise for the one who has healed him of his affliction. He not only praises God, he throws his whole body, his whole being into giving thanks for the one who has delivered him from this awful torment.

Jesus looks down at this man at his feet. Does he feel amazement that only one returned? Is he angry, confused, or saddened? We do not know because the author does not tell us Jesus’ emotions as he says the words “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”.  We do not know what Jesus felt, but we know how he responded to the thanksgiving and praise of the Samaritan, “Your faith has made you well.”

Jesus is not speaking of the man’s leprosy because that affliction had already been healed. No, Jesus was telling the Samaritan that his actions, the way he turned toward Jesus and gave thanks to God, had made him well in mind and soul, as well as body.

His action of turning around – It is often the way we describe repentance. We turn our backs on our sinful life and accept Jesus as our Lord. It is the movement of our whole person, initiated by God’s graceful work, a redirection toward God. “Your faith made you well.” This outcast, this hated foreigner has become a member of Jesus Christ’s family by turning away from his old ways and turning instead toward the Lord.

Salvation and healing are intertwined just as a life of faith must include thanksgiving to God. God’s work makes a human being whole, makes them sound in every way and reconciled to God and people. The Samaritan’s actions of throwing himself at Jesus’ feet and giving thanks, demonstrates a completeness of faith because it includes thankfulness. It is not dutiful obedience that has made this man fall to Jesus’ feet in thankful praise, but it is because it feels like the right response to what Jesus has done for him.

A couple of years ago I was visiting an elderly woman in a nursing home. Most days this woman was a joy to visit because of her cheerful disposition.  She told me at times that the only thing that ever made her sad was how little her family came to visit, especially her niece who only lived a few miles away. I always commiserated with her and we would pray about it. So this day I came to see her, I expected the same cheerful woman I always saw. But today every word I said to her seemed to bring her to tears and every time I would ask about her friends and family she would put her head down and say nothing at all.

I knew something was really wrong. Finally, she confessed that her family had not called, written, or been by in months. This was the longest they had ever been neglectful and now the holidays were approaching. Holidays are dreadfully lonely for people in nursing homes with no family. And here was this wonderful woman who had a family, but still sat alone.

She told me she wanted to be happy again. She wanted to let go of this sadness. She asked me what she could do to change the way she felt. At first, I began to offer advice on how to get them to visit. I suggested writing a card saying, “I miss you, it’s been awhile.” And things like that. Then I realized that this would not change how she felt in the least, especially if it did not work.

Finally, the Holy Spirit must have whispered loudly in my ear because all of a sudden I heard myself say, “Maggie, you must give thanks!” She looked at me oddly and I said again, “We will give thanks for what you DO have and it will help you. Go on, give thanks!”

She began with, “Well, I suppose I’m grateful to be alive… even though my knees give me such terrible pain. And I’m grateful for the people that do visit.. even if it isn’t my family. And I’m grateful for the money my nephew sends.. even though I’d prefer he come here to give it to me in person.” Then she paused and I had to laugh. She thought she was giving praise, but she was putting conditions on her thanksgiving. This was not anything like what the Samaritan with leprosy had done! So I urged her to begin again with real joys in her heart. What brought a smile to her face even when she was blue?

That’s when she finally said, “I thank God for the 60 years with my husband. He was my rock. I’m grateful for my children who never once got into trouble. I’m grateful for all the people who helped my husband build our home and I’m grateful for the people that take care of me here. I’m grateful for the birds in spring that sit at my window and for the cat that comes to cuddle with me in the winter.”

After saying all of that, Maggie smiled. Her heart had lightened when she realized how much she truly did have to be grateful for. Her faith was restored; her mind renewed because she realized that the only way to stay faithful and happy was to give thanks.

It’s such a simple thing – saying thank you. But we never do it enough. This Thanksgiving I hope that you will give thanks for all the blessings God has given to you. Remember that a life of faith is lived through a life of constant thanksgiving.

Amen.

The Least of These

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Matthew 25: 31-46

In the early Palestinian days, in places like Nazareth where Jesus grew up, shepherds looked after their sheep and goats together. They were a mixed flock of animals that were cared for all in the same way. They were given the same food, given the same time to wander freely and then at night, the shepherd would separate them. The sheep liked the cool, night air and so they were allowed to roam, but the goats with less covering enjoyed being in a warm place.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that when he comes to earth once more, he, our Shepherd, will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep will be on his right and the goats on his left. We have heard Jesus tell us in other places that we are a mixed group of people, some who follow God and those who ignore God. The parable of the wheat and the tares comes quickly to mind. But this is the only place in Matthew where Jesus talks about what will happen after we are separated, those on the right and those on the left.

Jesus turns to the sheep and says they have been blessed by God and will be given an inheritance like no other – they will enter the Kingdom of God. Then he turns to those goats and he says that they are cursed and must depart from him and their reward is the eternal fire that God has prepared for the devil and his angels.

God is speaking of serious consequences. This is not something to be shrugged off and put aside to think about for another day. Today is the only day that matters. And TODAY God is telling us something important. There are three things Jesus is trying to teach us in this parable.

The first lesson is about God. Many of us have our own ideas about God and that’s okay. Our Lord is a God of many characteristics. That being said, we must pay close attention to the God that Jesus is always trying to share with us because if anyone knew what God is like it would have to be Jesus who is one with God.

Jesus tells us that God is not a remote being sitting enthroned on heaven as he looks down upon his subjects. Instead, Jesus’ parable tells us that God is here, smack dab in the middle of our lives. God is present in the midst of our family squabbles; God is there in the ER as we wait for news of the birth of our baby or the death of a loved one. God is here when we fight with our spouse and feel completely alone. God is here with us when we fail to meet the demands we make on ourselves and God is with us in the moments of laughter we share around the table, in the moments where we watch our children take their first steps or we teach them to ride a bike. God is here – in the messy, uncomfortable, and ambiguous moments that control our lives.

The second lesson Jesus is teaching us is about religion. Jesus condemns the goats because they did not have compassion on those less fortunate than themselves. He said, “When I was sick, when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, when I was in prison, you helped me”. Many people treat their religious beliefs as an excuse to act and say things against other people. They use their religion as a shield, a barrier, and a crutch. Terrible things are done in the name of God. This happens in every religion, and it has happened in Christianity quite a bit.

We pretend that it is only Muslims who have a radical side group to their religion. We ignore people like Anders Breivik, who terrorized and killed 78 people, most of them being children. There were some who could not believe a Christian could do such a thing, so even though Anders professed to be a Christian, people like Bill O’Reilly said that anyone believing in Jesus Christ could not possibly mass murder people. The problem with a statement like that is that Jesus is often depicted in different ways and we all seem to celebrate the differences. I heard just recently that 300 million people are Christians in the USA, and as one theologian stated, “And that means there are 300 million different opinions on what it means to be a Christian”.

I agree with O’Reilly that the Jesus I know and love would never condone killing 78 people. But I also acknowledge there are people out there that can justify taking a life in the name of Jesus Christ just as there are Muslims who justify killing a person in the name of Allah. They pervert their religion to suit their own needs. And sadly, we all do it.

How often do we hear of churches being split down the middle over beliefs, ideals and doctrines? There are so many different denominations, created because of differences in opinions on things that Jesus never once bothered to speak about. He did however say this: “When you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me”. Not one word is spent on theology, creeds, orthodoxies, or religious practices. There is only one condition and that is whether or not you saw Jesus Christ in the face of the needy and whether or not you helped them with all the love you have inside of yourself.

The third lesson Jesus imparts to us in this passage is more personal. God does not only want a world that follows Jesus’ teachings, God wants us. God wants to save our souls and redeem us and give us the gift of life – true, deep, authentic human life.

But the only way we will receive such a gift is to acknowledge that Jesus did not care all that much about religion. Jesus does not care if we baptize children or adults. Jesus does not care if we have Communion by intinction or distributed throughout the pews. Jesus does not care if you are black, white or purple with yellow stripes. Jesus does not care if you are a sinner, a saint, or somewhere in between. He cared about saving us all. The tall ones, the short ones, the fat ones, the skinny ones, the rich, the poor, the never-do-wells and the impossibly successful. He wants all of us to be sheep that will enter the gate of heaven rather than the goats that will be thrown into the fires of hell with Satan.

When Jesus tells us he wants us to help others he is not looking for calculated actions that are designed to earn our way to heaven. This is not a casino game where if we double down at the right moment we will win our way into salvation. The grace of God is not an object earned. It is not possible to manipulate or coerce our way into heaven. There is no ten year plan that says, “This year I will tithe 10% and next year I will help out at the local shelter, and the year after I will raise money for cancer and that’s how I will get into heaven”.

God is not looking for machinations or deliberate kindness. We must never forget that God knows us as no one else can or will – God knows our true heart. The face we hide from the world. God is looking for pureness in our intentions, a true willingness to give. Loving those for whom Jesus gave his life, especially those people society has forgotten or deliberately ignored is the best expression of our love of God.

God wants us to be willing servants and that is why Jesus told this parable - so that the words will sink deep into our hearts and create a RESPONSE. God wants to save us from obsessing about ourselves and our own needs by persuading us to forget about ourselves and worry about others. That is God’s favorite project: to teach you and me the fundamental lesson, the secret, the truth – that to love is to live.

Amen.

Day of the Lord

Amos 5: 18-24
1Thess 4: 13-18

This weekend an iconic individual passed away. Andy Rooney died at the age of 92 after a life lived by saying it like it was and not being afraid to voice what some might not want to know about. He was one of the few people to oppose the war in Iraq when it first began and always seemed willing to stir the pot when it came to an issue he felt passionate about.

Andy Rooney mentioned once he probably hadn't said anything on "60 Minutes" that most of his viewers didn't already know or hadn't thought. "That's what a writer does," he said. "A writer's job is to tell the truth." A writer’s job is similar to a prophet’s – to speak the truth and not allow the public who may or may not like what you have to say stop you from saying that truth - especially when the truths being spoken are God’s word to the people. Amos was such a prophet. He knew that what he was telling the people would shock them, scare them, and anger them, but he also knew it was something that they needed to hear. Amos knew that if he was ever going to get the people to think about their faith and actions, it was by telling them something they wouldn’t hear from anyone else.

The Day of the Lord is something the Jewish people looked forward too; as Christians we also believe in the day of the Lord and pray it will be a time to rejoicing. But Amos’ words are a wrench in the works; they are a dark cloud covering up the sun. He takes an anticipated and treasured tradition and turns it into a dark, oppressive and judgmental moment of despair. This is not what the people want to hear!

Amos focuses his ire on the religious festivals, the music, and the people’s offerings to God. Few things could be more personal. How we worship, how we engage with one another, and what we give to God all speak volumes about who we are. It stings to be told that these are not right or good enough, so it is no wonder that we have learned to tune out the likes of Amos.

Many people skip over these passages with their harsh words and condemnations in favor of a happier ‘Gospel Message’. After all, as Christians we are to share the story of our faith with everyone and who wants to hear something that acts like a wet blanket? We even call it GOOD news – what Amos speaks of does not sound like anything good at all.

What can we learn from this passage that seems to deride the very things that make us who we are? How do we read these words and not feel the sting of them?

God expects more from us than we are sometimes willing to give. The people in this passage have convinced themselves that the Day of the Lord will be a celebratory day for which they must merely show up to participate in. Worship for them has become a way to pass the time, to honor God for the goodness bestowed upon the people and to celebrate their status as the chosen ones.

Amos speaks on behalf of a God who is furious with this lackadaisical attitude. It is an attitude where the sick are unaided and the poor starve unheeded. Justice is not being done and so Amos warns that the Day of the Lord brings upon these people a God whose first concern is ALWAYS justice and mercy for those less fortunate.

None of us like to speak about death too much. We avoid speaking of what we all know we will eventually face. But today we need to speak about what happens after our deaths. How will we hold our heads up when we have not done as God commands us to do? In several meetings this week we have had discussions on things that could be done, things that should be done by the church and things that seem impossible because many of us have become comfortable.

The truth is that when we are comfortable with our faith, when we are comfortable with our level of commitment to God – this is the kiss of death to faith. When we are comfortable, we stop questioning. When we are comfortable we stop learning and growing and looking for new ways to seek God in our life.

God is honest with us. God knows us, knows what we have been through in our lives, and through Jesus Christ understands our limitations. Many times we think only of the God of the New Testament who is often portrayed as the ultimate giver, the grandfatherly God who only desires to give us everything we want and need. We forget about the Old Testament God, one who is not always gentle with his creation, not always forgiving of our faults but instead pushes us to be more, to be better because God knows that we are meant for more than we have let ourselves become.

Some of us are tired. We feel like we have fought the good fight and now it is other’s turn to bear the mantle. We know what it is like to expect a season of light and receive only darkness instead. We have beaten the lion of cancer but are mauled by the bear of depression. We have shut the door on abuse and think we are safe only to have the fangs of divorce pierce our flesh. We want to tell Amos, we want to tell those who would admonish us “Spare us the scolding” as we nurse our wounds and fumble for the light switch. “Yes, our festivals leave something to be desired, and our offerings are not always what they should be, but aren’t we simply doing what God has asked us to do? We are all just doing the best we can.”

God does ask us to do the best we can. But God admonishes us through Amos because we keep forgetting that God is a God of surprises. God is reminding us that being comfortable with whom we are now, being okay with injustice and poverty and abuse is another way to give in to the devil. It doesn’t mean that we haven’t done good deeds in the past; it is a challenge to continue to do good things. It is a challenge that we all need throughout our life, a reminder that God is not done and therefore neither should we be done.

Andy Rooney hated that he was done with his broadcasts. Even though he understood that much of what he said to us were things we already knew, he felt that someone needed to be saying them. He died a month after his last broadcast aired and I have a feeling he probably died a satisfied man. One that can look his maker in the eye and say, “I never gave up, Lord. I kept trying to get my message out there to the people and I hope that any mistakes I made along the way will be forgiven through your grace.” Let us hope that we too can look our maker in the eye and say that we never gave up, we never lost hope and we always took the opportunity to spread God’s message.

Amen.

Practicing what We Preach

Joshua 3: 7-17
Mathew 23: 1-12


After repeated confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus had had enough. Jesus had put up with enough vanity, hypocrisy and arrogance from the Jewish leaders. Unfortunately, these are common human characteristics that can be found in churches all over the world, it is not just the Jews who manage to alienate people with their unbending ways. As a Christian community we should be attentive to leaders whose mottos are more ‘do as I say and not as I do’. If any religious group should be aware of the ramifications of following our own wants and desires rather than those of God, it is Christianity since we have such a perfect example set before us in the Gospels.

The point of this passage is not just the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, but it is a message about true discipleship to us.  The passage begins with affirming the leaders by telling the people that the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Jesus is telling the people that they are to follow the scribes and Pharisees in matters of religion – to do as they have taught them.

The problem is their actions and the way the Pharisees misuse their authority. They behave in ways that do not correspond to the words they have preached to the people. They speak of glorifying God and yet they only manage to make themselves look good. They tell the people to orient their lives around God, but instead they draw everyone’s eyes to them. They speak about being responsible for the peoples’ welfare but in their actions they do nothing to help the people.

These three tasks of the Jewish leaders are the same tasks Christian leaders are given. The pastor, the elders and deacons, the consistory members and committee members make oaths swearing to glorify God rather than themselves, they swear to help those in the church whom have elected them to lead, and to ask that thanksgiving go to God.

Or at least, that is the way it is supposed to be.

It is too easy to confuse our interests with God’s purposes, our power with God’s sovereignty, our standing with God’s glory. Whether we are speaking of ourselves or the whole Christian church, human beings have a strong tendency to create false and sinful hierarchies that displace God’s authority. We tend to ignore or rebel against God’s kingdom in order to protect our minor fiefdoms. We want to hold close to the power we have obtained and often do anything to keep it rather than acknowledging that the only true power comes through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

It is scary when churches use a constant reference to God and God’s purposes to support their own agendas. They are trying to lend holiness to their own aims and desires instead of allowing God’s will to prevail in the church. The truth is that pious words and convictions even when based on Christian beliefs do not make a person faithful to God’s will.

True faithfulness is found not in the words we say or the doctrines we profess to believe in, but faithfulness is fulfilled in our hearts. If our heart and life is oriented toward God, then we are faithful followers of God. However, if our hearts and lives are oriented toward our own selfish goals, then our faith in God becomes a shallow and empty boasting of our self and has nothing to do with God at all.

When we cling to the power we have in church, when we use it for our own selfish gains, we have corrupted the mission of our church. The committees we have, the positions we all take on are not for our glory, it is not to make us feel important and powerful. These are merely tools to do God’s work. The gifts and abilities God gives to each of us does not make us more special than another person, and we should not use them to make ourselves distinctive from one another. The gifts we have are to be used to help everyone because as Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. All who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and all who humble themselves shall be exalted.”

However, there is another side to this passage. All of us who believe ourselves to be inferior, those of us who feel we are not worthy to be on a committee, to be a leader of the church must recognize that just as self-pride is a sin, so is continual self-doubt. It is a sin because it paralyzes us from helping those that would call upon us. It prevents us from partaking in things like Consistory or our many committees because we believe that we are not worthy to take on such a role. That is not true. Each person here has something to offer, it is why you have been placed in this church by God. If you think you do not have a gift to give, then you need to begin to pray because God will show you your many gifts and you will no longer have an excuse to hold up before God or yourself or the church.

 Jesus has tossed down a challenge to the scribes and Pharisees, but if we are honest, the challenge is ours as well. Jesus tells us to make our actions match our words, but not only that – Jesus tells us that our actions should not be done in order to receive praise from others. If, as your pastor, I work hard all week to write a sermon just to hear “Good Job” at the end of a service, then I am not doing what I am preaching. And there are times when I worry about having a boring sermon because I DO like to hear “good job”.

My grandmother asked me yesterday how I manage to come up with new ideas for sermons. My first answer was, “the scriptures provide different ideas”. When she brushed that aside and said, “Yes, but how do you know what to say?” My honest answer had to be, “I have no idea.” The truth is that I never know what I’m about to write until I type it. I don’t know because it is not ME that comes up with the ideas, it is not me that pulls the service together. I truly feel that if the Holy Spirit didn’t help me each week, I would have run out of things to say within a month. Sometimes when I am depending on myself too much, I feel that way. I become discouraged and disheartened with the passage, wondering how in the world am I going to find something to tell all of you this Sunday. Then when I begin to write and things aren’t going well, as soon as I look up and say, “God, this isn’t working, will you give me some help?” that is when it begins to flow. When I stop depending on myself and start depending on God.

The glory goes to God. Any one of you could do what I do – trust me in this. I just happen to be willing to do it every Sunday, although sometimes I’m not sure why! Just because I am the pastor, it does not make me any less susceptible to vanity, hypocrisy, and arrogance. The truth is that none of us are completely able to remove ourselves from temptation. We just need to be careful about not only giving our time and money to God, but the reasons behind why we do it.

If some of us like to give a lot of money to church or charities, we need to be aware that it can easily be addicting to give because we get praised for our generosity. If some of us like to be on a lot of committees because we like hearing, “Wow, Bart, you’re on so many committees I don’t know how you do it. Good job!” we need to pay attention that the praise does not become the only reason we sign up. If we refuse to let someone join us in a project because we do not feel they can do it as well as we can, we need to be aware that God does not need perfection, God needs willing workers.

It is not easy to follow Jesus. It is not easy to put others before ourselves. It is not easy to let go of our pride when we do well on a task and give the glory to God. It is not easy to make our lives revolve around someone as selfless as Jesus Christ – however we are called to do all of these things. If as your pastor I do not do as I preach, if as a leader of the church you abuse your position, then we have become like the scribes and Pharisees Jesus warned the people against. We must be clear on why we do things, we must be sure not to let our fears or our pride prevent us from fulfilling God’s call. The one thing we can and are sure about is that each of us here today has a place in this church; each of us has a gift to give.

The hypocrite will trade God’s quiet praise for the easy and loud praise of people. Hypocrites lack confidence in the divine ‘yes’ and we hypocrites make masks and broadcast our piety in order to win the human ‘yes’. However, the antidote to our hypocrisy is grace. It is the unearned favor of God. It is the love of Jesus Christ that continues despite our failings and blemishes. So into the midst of those masks we wear to hide ourselves, comes the one who loves our real face. Jesus is the one that tells us, “Come to me, I will give you rest”. It is enough to make us put down our masks, to put aside our pride and accept that God truly loves the person we hide from the rest of the world. We are not all the same, we do not all have the same gifts or fulfill the same roles in the church. But each of us is loved for who we are and we each have a gift to give to the world.

Amen.

Face to Face

Deut 34: 1-12
Matthew 22: 34-46

I was speaking with someone the other day and the fact that Moses never made it to the Promised Land really seemed to disturb them. I remember them saying something like, “Well, that doesn’t seem fair!”. It becomes even more disturbing when a person continues to read the rest of the passage and notices that the author says there was never again a prophet like Moses, one that had spoken to God face to face.

The story pretty much moves on from there with Joshua being the new leader and Moses buried outside the Promised Land. The more we ponder this passage, the more irritated we might become. God let’s Moses SEE the Promised Land with his own eyes, but then tells him he will never enter, and sure enough Moses passes away.

This is a man who for forty years, has put up with some serious crap from the people and some serious tests by God. Moses had to deal with the stress of getting the Hebrews together in Egypt, convincing them to leave all they have ever known and once he gets them on board, then he has to face down a pharaoh. This is not just any leader of a nation – this is a man considered a God to his people and telling a God anything is asking to be killed. But Moses does it and God backs him up with the ten plagues.

Then, once he gets the Hebrews free to head out into the wilderness, the Pharaoh sends out soldiers to get them back. Can you imagine the ridicule Moses would have endured when he tells them that his staff is going to part the waters so they can cross? Now they are across, the soldiers are dead and the Hebrews start complaining that without food or water, they will die out here. Moses goes to God and I can just hear him saying, “Look, they have a point. I trust you, I do, but they are scared for their families. Can you throw us a bone? Preferably one with meat on it!”

So God gives them manna and dew to drink in the mornings, and quail to eat at night. Then they get to Mount Sinai and while Moses is up on top of the mountain speaking to God and receiving the Ten Commandments, the Hebrews have begged Aaron to create for them a new god to worship since it was taking too long for this one to come through for them. Moses comes down, lugging these heavy, beautiful stone tablets to see a glittering calf being worshiped. In a fit of anger, he breaks the tablets and throws a huge temper tantrum. Think of this, once he has calmed down, realizing what he has done, he knows he has to go back up the mountain and say to God, “Um.. so.. the tablets got broken, because I broke them when I was angry… and um.. can we have some new ones please?”

Moses was a mediator. He had to constantly mediate between the Hebrews and God. One would do something the other didn’t understand and Moses would have to interpret it to the other. Moses led a hard life, and every now and then his anger got the best of him. The moment where God had had enough of Moses’ temper was with the water and the rock. The Hebrews were very thirsty and once again complaining about God not taking care of them (because apparently 40 years of food and water from heaven just wasn’t enough to convince them).

God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would gush forth. Moses, being angry at the Hebrews’ lack of faith, frustrated with God about how long it was taking to get to the Promised Land, struck the rock twice and water gushed forth. But because of how he disobeyed God, God told Moses that he would never enter the Promised Land. While God appreciated all that Moses had done, God was tired of Moses’ anger and the way he lashed out when his temper was up.

But when you look at all that Moses had done for so very many years – it still seems like if anyone earned the Promised Land- it was Moses! But this character flaw of his continually got the better of him. So are you as disturbed by the way Moses’ life ends as I was? What can we learn from Moses’ story?

This was a man like no other, blessed like no other and yet, even he was not able to please God fully. I was reading a book the other day where the author told a story about her mother asking her who her favorite biblical character was and she refused to tell her. She said that at 8 years old her favorite character was Moses because he always managed to disobey God and not get into trouble. But of course she didn’t want to tell her mother that! The sad truth is that Moses did get into trouble. He was shown the goal he had worked forty long years for, but he was never allowed to fully obtain it. Moses died with regrets even as he would have been proud of all he had accomplished.

Now, I know what we can learn from this story. How many of us let character flaws continually drag us back to our old ways? How often do we say we will never do that again, whatever it is that we know is wrong, but then somehow we find ourselves doing it anyway? Perhaps you are quick to anger like Moses and you do and say things you regret when you’ve calmed down. Perhaps you tend to worry too much about things you cannot fix, and allow that worry to control your life. Perhaps you depend on alcohol or drugs when you should be depending on God. Perhaps you spend too much time working and not enough time with your family. Perhaps you like to overeat when you’re feeling especially emotional. Perhaps you have moments of such sadness that no matter what is happening around you, no one can reach you. Whatever it is, we all have a character flaw, we all have a thorn in our side that continually plagues us throughout our life.

It is our presiding sin, the one that seems to trip us up and prevent us from making it to the Promised Land on our own just like Moses. We wonder how we will overcome it and we worry and stress about how we are not good enough to get to heaven because we cannot seem to get over this lifelong sin.

Moses may not have made it to the earthly Promised Land, but God certainly had a table prepared for him in heaven. Moses was given his heavenly reward by being faithful to God even though he got angry. God does not ask us to be perfect and without sin. That was Jesus’ job description because God knew none of us could do it. If not even Moses, the one person that got to speak to God face to face could do it, God knew no one else could live a life free of sin either.

It doesn’t mean we ever stop trying. As Christians, we are called to spread the good news and be faithful to God through our love of Jesus Christ. Being faithful takes effort – just ask Moses! Sometimes we stumble along the path, but we get through our hardship, we get through those moments of weakness knowing that Jesus is walking this path with us. This journey through the desert is not one made alone – Moses knew that and we know it too.

If we hold on to our faith, if we hold onto our love for Jesus and our love for our fellow human beings, God will be able to forgive us those character flaws. God will be able to forgive us our sins when we continually come back with red cheeks and downcast eyes. The journey we take is not an easy one, and sometimes our deserts last a good, long while and we become disheartened. But the one reassurance I can give to you is that no matter where you are in your journey you are not alone. You have never been alone. Jesus stays close to you and even when you are at your darkest hour, the light of his love will get you to the Promised Land. It may not be on your terms, it may not be on your time schedule, but Jesus will help you get there.

Amen.

With Power

 Isaiah 45: 1-7

1 Thess 1: 1-10

There is a story about three farmers whose fields were adjoined. One was Jewish, one Muslim, and one Christian. Each observed the Sabbath on a different day of the week. One harvest season, bad weather limited the days available for work, and skipping a day for Sabbath observance risked financial ruin. Nevertheless, all three farmers in turn observed their faith, making the choice to stay home on their respective Sabbaths. Upon waking the next day, each farmer found a barn filled with harvest crops. They gave thanks and praise to God, assuming angels had been sent to do the work. In fact, it was the neighbors of differing faiths who did the work in secret.

 Sometimes we are surprised by whom God sends to us when we need help, especially when they are very different from us. This passage from Isaiah speaks of an unexpected savior of the Israelites. They had been exiled for many years now and wanted desperately to go home to Israel. They prayed to God for deliverance, and it came from a foreigner. As a gentile and foreign king Cyrus is perhaps the last person they would have expected to rescue them from the Babylonians. Why not one of their own people, a Hebrew? Why a potential enemy?

It seems like God always has a different agenda and a different way of doing things than we do. Jesus often tells his disciples and anyone who will listen to him that it is not where a person comes from or what religion they practice that matters so very much, it is about what we do with our lives. He gives examples like the Good Samaritan, Nicodemus, the woman with two pence, and many others to show the Jewish people that God is interested in the individual, not the group they are affiliated with. The Lord can save anyone, and often has, throughout history.

 God has a habit of using people to help us whom we would not have anticipated, and we would do well not to make hasty assumptions. A fellow pastor told me a story the other day of shopping at Wal-mart. While he was waiting at the checkout he happened to see a man who was very unkempt. He had long, straggly white hair, blood shot eyes and clothes that had seen better days. As my friend was checking out, the older gentleman said to him, “God bless you, brother”. This kicked off a conversation where my friend learned the older gentleman was a pastor like himself, who does street ministry, working with the homeless and mentally ill. They exchanged well wishes on their individual ministries and my friend walked away. He went to turn around and say one more thing to the man, and he was no longer there.

 Many of us look at people and judge them by their appearances. If any of us would have seen this man at Wal-Mart we probably would have assumed he was a homeless man himself. Or maybe a drunken person with his wild hair and blood shot eyes. Not many of us would have spoken to him, let alone taken a few minutes to find out a bit of his life story. This man is one of God’s workers, but it would be easy to judge him as just another one of those people different from us and too scary to speak to because of his differences.

 But in church, we say that we welcome all people and that anyone who steps through the doors will be warmly received. We tell ourselves that we are friendly to everyone. The world is filled with friendly churches. Friendly churches have room in their pews for new people; willingly welcoming visitors with smiles, warm greetings, and welcome gifts; and they make it a point to host invite-a-friend Sundays with zest and zeal. The world is filled with friendly churches, but what the world needs is open churches.

Churches open to new people are open to their gifts, needs, and wants. Churches that are simply friendly make use of an informal and covert vetting process, a process that moves through a series of questions regarding new person’s past church affiliation, family background, and personal interests. Open churches seek to hear how God might be calling them to widen their circle of discipleship as they embrace the new person. For open churches, two questions work together: How will we share God with others? How is God sharing others with us?

We seek to be friendly here at Trinity, but we also need to be open. There are times when we are entertaining Jesus Christ within these walls and it may be the person we least expect that is representing Jesus. It is people like a man with wild hair and ragged clothes who ministers to the lost people of the streets. It is people like Cyrus who did not know God, and yet saved God’s people from their awful fate. It is people like Paul and Timothy who wrote to the Thessalonians and praised them for turning away from their idols to worship Jesus Christ instead.

 Paul told the Thessalonians that the Lord was with them, present in the power of the Holy Spirit and the good works they were doing in Christ’s name. They had turned away from what was evil and what kept them from God, and turned toward a life filled with grace, love and power. There is so much power for those who are willing to accept Jesus into their hearts. It is not a power that is measurable by any type of equipment; it is not a power that gives us anything we want whenever we want.

 The power we experience is one of unnamable beauty and significance because it takes from us all the burdens, all the worries and all the heartaches this world throws at us daily. It removes the chains of sin and death that drag us deeper into the darkness and instead lifts us up to live life with our Lord and Savior. The power is the presence of Jesus Christ, present through the Spirit of God, who lifts, lightens and enlivens us. We become new people, refreshed and soothed, when we understand the gift of Christ.

 This power comes without a price, but it comes with a condition. We must accept that our ways are not God’s ways. We must start to see the world with different eyes, eyes that are awakened to the idea that just because a person speaks differently, looks differently and believes differently than us, that God could be using that person to fulfill his goals for humanity. We say we do not judge a book by its cover, but when it comes to humanity, we often judge first and then allow ourselves to be surprised later about a person’s character.

 Too often we consider the SUV, three piece suit, and white teeth to be a sign of a good and moral person and the one with dirty clothes, darker skin and unusual demeanor to be bad and immoral. But what might alarm many professed Christians is that Jesus did not look like the first example, he looked the liked the second one. Jesus always seems to be what we least expect. Looks are deceiving.

God delivered Israel through a person that had never heard of YHWH. God delivered all people through someone that was considered a criminal, a common carpenter with a good speaking ability but little else, a person that was stepping above his station. And yet, because of the faith of Jesus Christ, all of us today are saved. Because Jesus was willing to humble himself and become a human, taking on our ills and learning our pain, we will have eternal life. How many of us would have yelled with the crowd, “Crucify him!”?

 It is dangerous to think we would have done things differently than those in the Bible. The reason it is dangerous is because it means we have not learned from the past. The Jews didn’t understand God’s plan and they killed God’s son as a result. They couldn’t look past Jesus’ humble beginnings to his divine nature. When a person walks through these doors, we need to not just be friendly to them, but open to what they have to teach us, rather than what we can teach them. We live by Christ’s example, who did not question those who came to him, but merely accepted them. We need to learn to see every person as an individual who is deserving of our love, compassion, and acceptance.

 Amen.