It's better to receive

Sermon given at Grace UMC 12/27/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. ⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

A young man growing up in the wrong part of Houston became a bully. He would get in fights in school, in the neighborhood, and began mugging people to get spending money. He even beat up people just for the sake of doing it. He learned to box, and became pretty good at it. He began to make a lot of money and could have almost anything he wanted. One day, during his training session for an upcoming bout, he heard his mom talking to his sister on the telephone about his favorite nephew. The young boy had had a seizure and now lay in a coma in the hospital. Doctors said he would probably die, but that if he came out of the coma he wouldn’t be able to move his limbs, or speak, or do any of the human functions we consider part of living. He ran into the room where his mom was on the phone and shouted, “Momma, call the hospital and tell those doctors to give him the best of everything. Tell them I’ll take care of all the bills, to fly in the best doctors from wherever they have to. Tell them who I am, and that I’ll take care of everything — whatever it costs.”

His mom spoke to the doctors, and then told him, “Son, you’re just going to have to pray.” He realized then how grave the situation was. When someone tells you the only thing you can do is pray, things are looking pretty bad. Then it hit him. All of his money, his fame, his influence, his friends — none of that could solve this problem. It was out of his hands, out of the doctor’s hands, out of everyone’s hands. For the first time, he was totally powerless.  And for the first time, George Foreman dropped to his knees and prayed.

He wasn’t sure God existed, but he knew that when all else failed, people prayed. He asked God, if he really existed, to help his nephew. Then he got back in bed. A few seconds later, he got back on his knees and offered to give up all his wealth if God would heal his nephew. Then he got back in bed again. A few seconds later he got back on his knees a third time and got angry at God for letting this happen to his nephew, a child who hadn’t experienced life yet. George told God to take his life instead. Let the boy live and take George’s life instead.

The next morning George’s sister called from the hospital. His nephew had woken up and could move his eyes, but the doctors said he wouldn’t ever walk again. She called later that day, and the boy had begun moving his toes. The next day the boy was talking, and a week later he was on his way home, “walking, talking, and back to normal.” The doctors had no logical explanation. But George Foreman knew God had just given him a miracle.

Three months later in March 1977, George Foreman died in his locker room after fighting Jimmy Young. He collapsed in a heap, and entered what he describes as “a deep, dark void, like a bottomless pit.” In his book, God in My Corner — A Spiritual Memoir, George wrote “I knew I was dead, and that this wasn’t heaven. I was terrified, knowing I had no way out. Sorrow beyond description engulfed my soul, more than anyone could ever imagine. If you multiplied every disturbing and frightening thought that you’ve ever had during your entire life, that wouldn’t come close to the panic I felt. …“ I screamed with every ounce of strength in me, ‘I don’t care if this is death. I still believe in God.’ “Instantly, what seemed to be like a giant hand reached down and snatched me out of the terrifying place. Immediately, I was back inside my body in the dressing room.”

George accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and devoted himself to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. He realized his human power, his money, and his prestige, were worthless in the next life, and meant to be used as tools to lead others to Jesus during this one. 

Today is the first Sunday of Christmas; a unique Sunday that does always stands between Christmas Day and Epiphany, the day when the Magi arrived to share gifts with Jesus. In the Orthodox world of Eastern Europe and Germany, many still give their gifts to one another on the 6^th of January, the day of Epiphany. Normally I preach an Epiphany message on the Sunday that falls closest to the 6^th and next week we will share a message of the Magi. But this week I wanted to talk with you about receiving. We spend most of the year focused on giving so I thought it fair to focus on the receiving end of Christmas for a Sunday. What does it mean to receive those gifts we were given. Some of them were thoughtful gifts given with love and care. Some of them were even homemade and the person who made them spent time preparing the gift so that we would enjoy it. The gifts that the Magi bring to Jesus are Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Gold is always welcome, worldwide. Frankincense and Myrrh are healing balms that people still use in many parts of the world to heal. We use here as an anointing oil from time to time.

Have you ever given thought to how you feel when you receive a gift? So much of the world has become expectant or even feels entitled that they are owed those things that they receive as gifts. When I was younger life was very different. Christmas meant usually one or two things of value, a stocking full of candy and apples and oranges. We were probably considered middle class in those days and felt pretty lucky to get what we did, when many of our classmates received much less. It made Christmas special in a way that cannot be explained to those who feel this sense of entitlement to receiving gifts at Christmas, whatever they ask for they expect to receive. But my story today reminds us that no matter where you fall on the spectrum of wealth, illness and even death care very little for that status. And so the young man who happens to be George Foreman, Heavy-weight champion of the world of his day, found out that even wealth could not buy what only God can give. Only prayer and belief can do that. So he did what needed to be done, not with any of his money because at those two moments in the story, the money was no good to anyone. He prayed and asked God into his heart.

I want to share with you a statistic that many would prefer not to hear. Since I arrived in June of 2011, I have officiated at 39 funerals, 30 of them members of this church. Now many of you will see that statistic as mournful and sad, some of you may even know many of the names in that number. I on the other hand see that as a gift that has been received by each and every one of them. The gift that George faced the night he was knocked into a different realm and discovered what eternity without God looked and felt like. That gift was given to us by the birth of the child whose birthday we celebrated on Christmas Day. God so loved the world that God gave us God, in the form of Jesus, that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. I have the pleasure of officiating at 25 professions of faith where people have publicly proclaimed their love of God, 25 persons whose future is a future of promise, joy and celebration. When we reflect on this season of Christmas and hear the story once again of the Magi visit next week, let us also reflect on the promise of eternal life given to us by this child, who grew into a man and gave His life on the cross for you and me. That is what this season is really all about you know. I love the song, Mary did you know, which shares the story of birth and gift. “Did you know, That your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered, Will soon deliver you.”

I have often been told and also have experienced it myself, that when we do something for someone else it makes us feel good. We receive when we give. But let us also appreciate what we receive when we receive it. God has given us a great gift. Let us rejoice in it.

Love Came Down at Christmas

Sermon given at Grace UMC 12/20/15

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Scripture Reading:

^KJV  Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. ² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) ⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. ⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the scripture tells us that suddenly there was a host of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among the people of the earth. And the shepherds having heard this glorious proclamation said let us go down into the place below and see this thing for ourselves. This is the story of that wonderful birth like none other in the history of the world. Rulers and leaders, important and famous people have come and gone and as the generations that remember them perish, so too often are their memories erased from the collective memory of history. But Jesus legacy continues. Let us say that here we are two thousand plus years later and his followers are still many and vibrant. In him we have the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, not just a single prophecy but upwards to 100. The mathematical possibility of one man fulfilling this many prophecies are astronomically impossible and yet he did.

Some years ago I watched one of the dozens of Christmas movies that fill our television sets this time of year. But this one was just a little different. In it, the main character if you will is named, Jess, the son of a wood-worker. We can probably see where this is going already for those who recognize Jess. We hear the story of Christmas several times through the movie. It is a story familiar and yet different. A story we need to hear and to tell.

The story is a familiar one in that we have hear it and read it this time of year in churches and homes all across the world. But tonight I want you to listen as you hear the story for the first time. God the creator, all powerful and mighty, looked down upon the creation of the world and noticed that the three most important things he had taught it in the beginning were missing. First of all there was a deep loss of hope in the world. As God looked down upon the people of the earth, he noticed that people were growing more distant from one another. God noticed that they seemed to share less and less of their time and the gifts that they had been given with each other. There seemed to be in the world more heartbreak, more illness and more people struggling with every day things. And they weren’t smiling anymore. And more importantly, they weren’t helping each other nor were they lifting their voices up to God. And so God determined that something needed to be done, something only God could do. That is, to bring hope back into the world.

And as he looked down upon his creation he noticed also that there wasn’t faith in the world like it used to be. Oh, he knew that faith had risen and fallen in the history of the world as the people were obedient and then disobedient. But now it seemed somehow different. It was becoming more distant. Every day less and less prayers were being lifted up to him and every day behaviors became more erratic and dysfunctional. It would seem that the meaning of creation was becoming lost on the people on the earth. And it was that meaning that allowed each and every person to appreciate and acknowledge why they were in the world in the first place. If something soon was not done to prevent this flow away from faith, the world might truly be lost and then what. He had promised Noah that he would not ever again wash away the peoples of the earth in a flood. But as a parent he could not sit idly by and do nothing. And so he began to fulfill the plan that he had put in place since the beginning of the world. A plan he had shared with the prophets of old. A plan that just might be the thing to bring faith back into the world!

Paul says that in the end three things remain faith hope and love. And that the greatest of these is love! And we know that God so loved the world that he brought his only son into the world that we might know these three things. And so God began to the fulfillment of his plan. He chose a simple young Hebrew girl. A young girl full of faith and obedience! And he chose her to do something magnificent and yet place her very life in chaos and jeopardy. And he chose a man of incredible character. How else would you describe a man who would marry the mother of someone else’s child and bear the anger and resentment of family and friends for doing so? It’s funny if you think about it. God could have brought his son in the world in a loud and magnificent way. He could have opened the heavens and allowed Jesus to walk from them into our lives. But then, would we have found the three things he needed us to find? He chose instead to bring his son into the world in a place of animals, a manger. And those who would hear about it and see this blessed event were the lowest of those in society in that day. No God is smart. God is brilliant. God is full of wisdom. God chose to do it this way so that we would know that this son of God was for us. God chose to do it this way that we might appreciate and understand God’s love for us.

As we gather here this morning, we realize that it is not about Christmas trees, presents under the tree or even the decorations in this church and our homes. And it was never about the commercial hustle and bustle that we struggled with over the last two months. It was never about “Black Friday” or about making sure that our economy is strengthened by our spending. In a way, those who would do away with the celebration we currently call Christmas might do us a favor. It might well allow us to reclaim what the day which begins in a few short moments really means. Imagine for a moment that instead of waking up on Christmas Day and sharing time with family, opening presents and eating the Christmas meal, we walked out into the streets and hugged one another. We reached out into the streets and gave each other food and shelter and clothing. What would it be like if this Christmas morning, we baked a cake, place the one name above all names on it and as a people, black and white, Asian and European, Muslim and Jew, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus? And in doing so we found hope in the story of love that came down at Christmas from God above. And we again began to have faith in the God of creation, redemption and resurrection. Paul was right you know. In the end these are the only things that matter. And the best of these is love. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Hannukkah

Sermon given at Grace UMC 12/6/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  1 Maccabees 4:52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, ⁵³ they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. ⁵⁴ At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. ⁵⁵ All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. ⁵⁶ So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. ⁵⁷ They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors. ⁵⁸ There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed. ⁵⁹ Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.

Hanukkah begins today at sundown and continues until sundown on Monday December 14^th. Today we are going to explore what the celebration is about and why we too should celebrate this Jewish holiday. But first, a little Hanukkah humor:

A Tree for Christmas

Admiring the Christmas trees displayed in his neighbor’s windows, Nathan asks his father, 'Daddy, can we have a Hanukkah Tree?'

'What? No, of course not.' says his father.

'Why not?' asks Nathan again?

Bewildered, his father replies, 'Well, Nathan, because the last time we had dealings with a lighted bush we spent 40 years in the wilderness.'

Rudi, The Village Rabbi: A Short Joke to Laugh At

It was Hanukkah and the tiny village outside Budapest in Hungary was frightened that they may not have any latkes [pancakes] because they had run out of flour.

Rudi, the Rabbi, was called upon to help solve the problem. He said, 'Don't worry, you can substitute matzo meal for the flour, and the latkes will be just as delicious.'

Sarah looks to her husband and says, 'Samuel, you think it'll work?'

'Of course,' Samuel replies, 'Everybody knows Rudolph the Rab knows grain, dear.'

The Top Ten Reasons Why

Everyone Should Celebrate  Hanukkah

 10  No big, fat guy getting stuck in your chimney

 9  Cleaning wax off your menorah is slightly easier  than dismantling an 8-foot tall fir tree

 8  Compare: chocolate gelt vs. fruitcake

 7  You get to learn cool new words like "Kislev" and  "far-shtoonken-ah"

 6  No brutal let-down when you discover the truth about Santa Claus

 5  Your neighbors are unlikely to complain about how  your menorah is blinding them senseless

 4  It's like a big reunion when everyone gathers at the Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve

 3  In a holiday character face-off, Judah Macabee could  kick Frosty's butt

 2  No need to clean up big piles of reindeer poop off  your roof

 And the Number One reason why everyone should  celebrate Hanukkah is:

 None of that Naughty-Nice Stuff EVERYONE GETS LOOT!!!

First we need to explain to those who are a little confused about where this scripture comes from. It comes from the book of 1st Maccabees which is in the Apocryphal, an addition to the Bible. These books were in the original English translations and were removed during the reformation because they are not part of the Old Hebrew Bible. They were in fact books that were included in the Latin version of the Old Hebrew Bible that we done around the 1st century to make the Hebrew Bible available to the Greek and Roman folks of that day. Included are a number of works like the story of the Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, another version of Daniel and Nehemiah among others. If you have never read the Books of the Apocryphal they are worth the reading and are included in the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. I have included the reading as an insert in your bulletin so you could follow along.

The Maccabees lived during the reign of Alexander the Great and after up until the time of Christ. There may well be descendants of the Maccabean family still in the world today. Mattathias was a priest in the time of Antiochus IV. Antiochus IV was the son of Antiochus III who was one of the generals under Alexander the Great. When Alexander the Great died, he took control of the land we now call the Middle East which included the lands of Israel. Under Antiochus IV, life for the Jews was difficult at best. He imposed laws that made being a Jew illegal. Imagine with me for a moment that all of a sudden it was illegal to be a Christian. You could no longer worship at a church, they were closed down, you could no longer carry a Bible, they were burned, and you could no longer practice the disciplines of your belief. In 168 B.C.E. the Jewish Temple was seized by Syrian-Greek soldiers and dedicated to the worship of the god Zeus. This upset the Jewish people, but many were afraid to fight back for fear of reprisals. Then in 167 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism an offense punishable by death. He also ordered all Jews to worship Greek gods. Jewish resistance began in the village of Modiin, near Jerusalem. Greek soldiers forcibly gathered the Jewish villages and told them to bow down to an idol, then eat the flesh of a pig – both practices that are forbidden to Jews. All of this 160 plus years before Jesus is born. Some believe that this is the desecration that John is referring to in his Revelation.

In 167 BCE, Mattathias was told to worship the Greek Gods and refused. He was told to make a sacrificial offering and when he refused another person attempted to do it for him. That action led to a revolution. Mattathias and his five sons led a revolt against the forces of Greece under Antiochus IV. Maccabee literally means hammer. Judas or Judah, one of the sons of Mattathias continued the battle after his father’s death. In 164 BCE they were victories and removed the Greek forces from all of Israel. Peace would last for them until 63 BCE when Rome would come and conquer again the nation of Israel. Just a side note, the calendar that the writer is using is the Syrian Calendar of that day. After removing the Greeks from Israel soil, the Maccabees set about returning the Temple to God. They cleansed it of all of the desecration and put back the requirements of God for the Temple in Jerusalem. Once that was done, they again dedicated the Temple and began worship there.

It is here that the story of Hanukkah, which means dedication, begins. It is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight day and nights and as I said earlier, it begins today at sundown. Once the Maccabees had regained control they returned to the Temple in Jerusalem. By this time it had been spiritually defiled by being used for the worship of foreign gods and also by practices such as sacrificing swine. Jewish troops were determined to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. But to their dismay, they discovered that there was only one day's worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days. This is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil that is celebrated every year when Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and so on, until eight candles are lit. This is the celebration of lights and is part of the annual Jewish traditions celebrated each year. God was watching what they were doing and the candles stayed lit for eight days. Eight days on one’s day supply of oil. It took eight days to get new oil and the candles in the Temple stayed lit until then. Praise be to God!

As we celebrate this Jewish tradition we need to be reminded of the miracles of God. God is constantly doing miracles in the world around us, every day. I believe we should celebrate this tradition to remind us that God loves us and to put ourselves in a place where we expect to see the miracles of God at work. Hanukkah happens in late November or early December and coincides with the celebration of Christmas for the Christian community. God is constantly working in the world around us. God is working in each of our lives. We know that Prevenient Grace, the love of God begins to work in us from the moment we are conceived and stays with us until the last breath we take. God desires us to be in relationship with God. I believe that God rewards those who share in that desire. Hanukkah is an example of God’s love and grace when the people are trying to lift up God in praise and thanksgiving.

We have so much to be thankful for as we continue this journey of Advent. We have great things to anticipate as we march down towards Christmas day when we celebrate the gift of God through Jesus. Let us lift up our hearts to the Lord during these days of Hanukkah, remembering the miracle of light from God in Israel. But let us lift up our hearts to the Lord during this season of Advent as we share in the grace and mercy of God through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  

Living in a Choatic World

Sermon given at Grace UMC 11/15/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  Jeremiah 29:4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

There is no question that our world today is borderline chaotic with great upheavals in the world around us. Without question many are worried about financial futures, about their jobs and about their families and lives as the world constantly changes around us. But what exactly are we supposed to do about it. Maybe the answer lies in this passage from Jeremiah that was given to the exiles in Babylonia. Imagine with me their world for a moment. Far away from home, fear would have been a constant companion as they worried about their future. What were they to do? They had no Temple? They were in a strange land and their future very unstable and unsecure. God speaks to them through the prophet Jeremiah and gives them and ultimately us a guideline for living within the chaos of the modern world.

First and most important God tells us to live our lives. Continue to do the things that are important to a community, build houses, plant gardens, marry and raise children. Have sons and daughters and have them marry and have sons and daughters. Seek the welfare of the city and pray for its success. Today in our political correct climate we are struggling with so many issues. Some believe it Starbucks should be excommunicated because they dare to have a plain red cup for the holiday season. I read the other day if you are feeling persecuted because of it maybe you need to seek the real Jesus. I want so much for each of us to learn how to be good disciples, students of Jesus Christ and to then go into the world imitating Jesus, making disciples and teaching what He taught us to others. We always seem just a little short to reach the concept of radical hopistality. It means simply that if the world buys 1 ply toilet paper, we put in two ply. Or if we have a request to do something special or different we strive to do so even if it puts us a little out.

If I said to you today that we live in a chaotic world, I doubt that there would be much argument. It is true that as we view the world around us, it is becoming more complex each day, more violent, more unstable and challenging. The world continues to become more like our adversary, the devil, than the world that God created in Eden and hoped for humankind. Jesus was sent to the world for two reasons. The first was to do that which only God could do. Save us from our selves, our sinful natures and our desire to be disobedient children. But his sacrifice on the cross comes with a price for each of us as well. What God did for us must be mimicked by what we do for God. John Wesley would say that the redemption on the cross is simply the first step that provides the grace by which we are saved. That when we accept that grace, we have taken the first step and we are justified in our faith in the Son, Christ Jesus. But it doesn’t end there as many believe. We aren’t just forgiven and then allowed to continue to be disobedient children as we enter into heaven. If we punish our children for disobedience and then they do the same thing again, do we say that our first punishment was sufficient? So we must become a new creation as Paul tells us. You know there is a discrepancy between Paul and James. Because the message of Paul is easier, the Christian church has followed his words throughout the generations. But even Paul tells us that we must live the life Christ gave us through his sacrifice, being obedient to God. James goes further. James the brother of Jesus argues that what Jesus wants us to know is that we must live our lives in service to one another, loving one another. That the message of Jesus on either side of the cross, is not focused on redemption, but love. The cross is redemption. The life of Jesus, pre and post resurrection is love. The world is not going to get any easier. The world is not going to suddenly become peaceful and loving. There’s nothing in peace and love for the individual intent on having what you have or what you might have. So we must become a new people, a different people, and a transformed people. I believe there are five things we must be in order to live in this chaotic world.

Be Salty

I guess I have to be careful here saying that we must be salty. Some of you may know the saying about sailors. Jesus says that we must be the salt of the earth. In his day just as in ours, salt was used both as a preservative and as a season. Jesus is telling us that our job is to be the seasoning for the world. We are to be its flavor. Without us there would be no pepper, no sage, no paprika, and no flavor. And it is our job to preserve that which God has provided through Jesus. Galatians tells us that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity and faithfulness. It all starts with love. Jesus told us that we are to love God with all our heart and love one another. 1 John 4 tells us that we are to love one another since God loved us so much and that we love because he first loved us. You see, God set the example by sending us Jesus. God has constantly loved us throughout the story. If you don’t believe me, open it up and read it.

Compassion is another way to say that we have patience, kindness and generosity. Paul shares these words for us in Philippians 1. ^NRS Philippians 1: ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Jesus shared his vision of this love in the story of the Good Samaritan. Here comes a man who has the personality of the true Christian. He finds someone down on their luck, beaten and robbed and near death. So many of us today would simply pass him by, ignoring him because we either or too busy and don’t want to get involved. But if we listen to the beatitudes, we hunger and thirst for righteousness. That means we cannot ignore. We must act. And so he shares his compassionate heart by first caring for this person he does not even know. He treats his wounds. In his day, blood was considered tainted, in our day we worry about disease. Is the story any different? Doesn’t sound like it? Then this man, who is never identified, shows extravagant generosity. His first showed it through his reaching out, now he shows it by taking him to the inn for healing. And then he offers the equivalent of a month’s wages to take care of him. If that were not enough, he offers to return and pay whatever it cost above and beyond that which he has already paid. I have often been asked, what do you want us to do, because we are not sure. My reply would be to be the neighbor, the Good Samaritan and give all that is needed of yourselves and your wealth.

Be illuminating

Jesus tells us that a light cannot be hidden and we know that is true. Day is day and night is night and even the densest fog cannot hide that. Saturday morning I woke up and looked outside and it was foggy. But as the sun came up I could tell that it was day, even though I could not see the sun. Likewise, when we practice what we preach, the world can tell. Francis Asbury used to say, spread the gospel with our actions, words and deeds, and sometimes use words. When we act like Christians, when we love like Christians, when we reach out to others like Christians, the darkness of the world cannot hide our light. When our honesty, integrity, compassion, and love are who we are and not simply what we say, the world sees Christ in us. Be illuminating in your faith walk.

Be together

I have shared the story of the two life long friends who are out camping and fishing. As he has always done, the one friend begins to pack up on Saturday night so that he can return to be at church on Sunday. The other friend says to him, why do you go? Look at the stars in the sky, smell the clean air. God is here with us. The man says nothing, simply takes a stick and moves one the coals out of the fire. The flame in it goes out and it cools. Then he pushes it back into the fire and it quickly regains its fire. When we miss a Sunday morning a little fire extinguishes in us. The world is like a Fire Extinguisher. Have you ever used one to cool down a beverage? It works really quickly, doesn’t it? Have you ever thought about how quickly the lessons that we learn on Sunday morning are forgotten as we journey in a world that does not believe in or abide by the values we do? That is why Jesus asked us to remain in fellowship with one another. That is why he sent disciples out two by two. To strengthen each other, support each other and hold each other accountable. It is why we come on Sunday morning. It is why we need to share our lives with each other. Life without partners is a scary place.

Be obedient

Jesus said to us, he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He is the embodiment of what God’s love is all about. First he teaches us the right way to live and shows us by example. Then he gives his life for us so that we might truly know of that love. Then he shares his spirit with us to sustain us in our lives. Paul tells us in Romans 6: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸ and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Who would you be a slave to? Would it be the world that would use you up for its benefit, or the God who would love you into eternity?

Be prepared

Finally we must be prepared. The scout motto is Be Prepared. It is their motto for a reason. And they study, learn, and through repetition perfect their skills so that when the unthinkable happens, they don’t stand around not knowing, they simply do. Lives have been saved because of this motto. I want you hear these words from Mark 13: ²⁹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³² "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵ Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, ³⁶ or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

My friends the hour is drawing near. Lives are in jeopardy, maybe even our own.

Be Salty!

Be Illuminating!

Be Together!
Be Obedient!

And Be Prepared!

What box is your life in

Sermon given at Grace UMC 11/1/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  1 John 3:13 Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. ¹⁷ How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? ¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Have you ever moved from one place to another and as you began the move you questioned all the stuff that you own? Or maybe you began to try to stuff the possessions of your life on all the boxes that you acquired for just that purpose. I recently made such a move several years ago where I focused on downsizing from the lifestyle I was accustomed too, to a lifestyle that is to be simpler when finally complete. This required me to go through every box, every closet and every place where stuff was kept, placing it in three piles, keep, store and sell. All of this sorting and looking through stuff got me to thinking about life.

What is important in saving, what do we see when we reflect through our stuff and what do we ultimately throw away. It occurred to me that in each box, there is the potential for many things, depending on the size of the box, the stuff inside the box and what the stuff brings to our minds. It raises the question, what box is your life in?

Our scripture this morning tells us that if we do not have Jesus abiding in us, then we are doomed to die. If we allow God’s love to fill up our empty shell, our own empty box, then we find that we are bold to witness to the mercy and love of God. But if we allow our boxes to be filled with the stuff of life that has no love in it, then we are doomed to death. Jesus commanded us to love one another and nothing except loving God first is more important than that. Jesus gave His life for us that we might understand that sacrificial kind of love. We are asked by God to do the same for our friends, neighbors and fellow human beings. What box is your life in?

In life, there are the items that are bigger than boxes, furniture for example that they just do not make a box big enough to hold. As I contemplate the meaning of these bigger items, here we find the things that make our lives, our lives. Our furniture becomes us.

We live on it as we spend our lives eating dinners at the kitchen table, sitting on the chairs and sofas watching TV and sleeping on our beds. Our bedroom furniture becomes so ingrained in us and our lives, that when we change a drawer where we keep our clothes, it completely changes our daily routines. It kind of makes you wonder what our real lives reflect not only in our furniture, but in the lives that we present to other people. If someone were to come into your home, what person would they view in the type and placement of furniture in your home? If someone were to spend time with you, what would they say about the way you communicate or present yourself to them? Are you the Victorian reserved person, the modern open person or the country friendly person? What box is your life in?

We now come to the large boxes where we place the larger items of our lives, like lamps and bedding, towels and linens. In these boxes are the things that support our lives. For some of us, this is where we would find how we wish to accent our world, various shapes and sizes, color combinations that coordinate the room and whether we prefer pillows that are soft or hard. Have you ever considered for a moment how something as simple as curtains can speak worlds about who we are as people. Typically in these larger boxes we will also find our clothing. What do these things say about you? Are you the type of person who stays with conservative colors because your life stays within conservative means? Or do you like the vivid colors of life and we would see that you live life to the fullest, wide open? What box is your life in?

Or maybe your box is the one that holds books. The box is a little thicker to withstand the weight of books in the box. But more importantly, one can determine often who you are by what you read. So what things do you read? Are you the action driven stories, science fiction or romance? Would you rather take time to read a mystery or study an autobiography of someone famous? Or are the books you read the kind that you would be ashamed for us to see? In this box lies the heart of who you are and who you want to be. Many people lose themselves in stories of intrigue or romance, an escape from their real lives. Can we find your life in the books you read? In these boxes are the stories that maybe shaped us when we were young and found a life path for us to follow. Or maybe we find within these books the stories of our ancestors. Or yet maybe we would look in and see the biblical stories laid out in a row in the boxes from your life. I love science fiction because often in these stories we see the battle between good and evil played out in the pages of the book. The bible is also a great source of inspiration, education and fascinating facts. I have a question for you, if God were coming to help you move, would you allow him to see inside your boxes of books? Which box is your life in?

Now we come to the smallest and yet most fascinating of boxes. The smallest boxes moved are often the ones that hold our insides. Up to this point we spent our focus on the external things of our lives, but now we come to the internal things. Here I am clearly talking about the box that contains our memories. They may be in the form of Knick knacks collected along the journey of life or they may be pictures. Or they may be the stuff we collect as we journey through life from our kids or loved ones. Have you ever opened a box only to find something you had forgotten or had assumed was lost, only to have the memories of events flood your mind? Maybe it was shoe from your child’s infant days, a blanket from your baby’s first days, love letters from your spouse of significant person in your life. Or maybe it would be a yearbook as you look back on your life. In these boxes lie the memories of our lives. We could easily argue that in these boxes; lay the artifacts of our lives. In all the other boxes, everything that we found clearly identified who we are in out appearance, how others see us or identify us. Those things define maybe our personality or how we interact with others. But in these boxes, my friends, in these boxes we find our hearts. Is there any among you who cannot say that they have memories locked in a box somewhere. Here we relive our joys, our sorrows, our past loves, our moments of happiness and sadness. We may even find evidence of lost opportunities in these boxes. What box is your life in?

I remember a story of a young man who finds himself in the presence of Jesus in a room with file cards. Each card documents a specific event in his life, good and bad. As they pull out each card, the young man relives the events where he shared happiness, love, anger and fear. When I think of these boxes, this is what I think about. Within these boxes are our special moments that we cherish forever. For me, it was an opportunity to relive childhood dreams, the loss of a mother, and the birth of a child. But it also makes me realize that we often focus on what we have rather than what is important. If we only had one box to pack, what size would it be and what would it contain? Would the box contain our relationships, especially our relationship with God? Which box is your life in?

I continually ask this question of you because as we continue to journey through our lives, we collect things. We begin the process of building a life through our stuff and for most of us, stuff matters. And it is through this stuff that others get to know who we are as well. But it is the special boxes that hold our hearts. Here we get to relive our memories, remind ourselves where we came from and the important people and events in our past. In first Samuel we find how God looks at us. ^NRS 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." God doesn’t care about the big boxes in our lives. He could care less about the color coordinated bedroom curtains and bed clothing. What he cares about are the people who live in the bed in the coordinated room.

Have you ever met someone who appeared to have it all together only to find out that either they were as confused as you and I or were simply a phony person who hid it better than most? God knows what is in our hearts and it here that you and I need to live. The books we have are a reflection of who is important in our hearts. The memories we share need to be those that include God and people who love God. Which box is your life in?

Moving allows us to reflect on our lives, on our treasures and on who we are. On that last day when we move to an eternal plane from the physical one we now live in, it will be the boxes of life that will open before God. There we will be judged, as Paul says in Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, we will be judged. Which box is your life in? The one that will allow you to stand before God with a smile on your face knowing that you will spend eternity with him, or the saddest look known to mankind? Which box is your life in?  

Free Will or Predestination

Sermon given at Grace UMC 10/25/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  Psalm 139:13  For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. ¹⁷ How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  ¹⁸ I try to count them-- they are more than the sand; I come to the end-- I am still with you.

Free will – what is it

This morning I want to deal with one of the subjects of our faith. A subject that is both profound and confounding to us as we struggle to understand God and our relationship. When I come to you and speak on subjects of doctrine such as the doctrine of free will, I speak to you from the perspective of Wesleyan theology. In other words, we are Methodist. Some years ago a movie about Marshall university taught us their rallying cry, WE ARE, MARSHALL. I wonder if we shouldn’t mimic that each Sunday by proclaiming, WE ARE, METHODISTS. But the subject this week is the doctrine of free will. What is it, what are the consequences of it, why did God do it and there is a sense of urgency that we need to be mindful of. Mind you, some do not believe in free will. But as Methodists, we do.

What is free will? In the simplest of terms, it means the right to choose. The right to choose whether or not we are going to be Methodists, Baptists, Mormons, Buddhists, Scientologists or something else. The right to choose whether or not we are going to be good people or bad! The right to choose whether or not we are going to reach out to others unselfishly or take advantage of their situation for self gain! You see, what it really boils down to is simply what we choose to do and what we choose to believe. As human beings we believe that we have the right to choose. Every two years here in America we choose elected officials and we hope that they will do what we want them to do. However, unfortunately for us, we never hold them accountable by reminding them of that fact every time the run for reelection as we choose to forget their track record. But free choice means more than voting and elections.

Free choice means that we can decide what we believe, who we believe in and how we will act in the world around us. We can decide that we will become tolerant of our world where immorality runs rampant. A place where success means crawling over each other in order that we achieve the kind of material success we feel is justified for ourselves. Or we can practice good Christian attitudes and behaviors. That is not to say that we won’t stumble. All of us stumble at one time or another.

The real question is this. When we stumble, do we pick ourselves back up, ask for forgiveness and then decide to change our behaviors to be the kind of people God wants us to be? And if we truly have free will, then the answer is always that we have that choice to be this kind of person or that kind of person.            

Free will – what is the difference

Some religious movements do not believe in free will. In fact, some of you may be sitting here today believing in the voice of John Calvin who submits that we are all predestined by God, some will go to heaven, some will not, but that your end has been determined since the day that you were born. For you, if you are here, you believe that God is sovereign and God alone decides whether or not you get into heaven. Now that may sound like sound theology. That God alone decides and because God decides, that the determination for your eternity has already happened. But that goes against the concept of grace and free will. If we have already been determined what our after physical lives will be, why bother to live at all. But especially why bother to choose Jesus say over Buddha or Allah or yourselves. That becomes the ultimate question. Do you believe that we have choice about our eternal home? Certainly we all believe that God is the judge of our hearts and our choice and God is certainly watching our actions, words and deeds to determine the trueness of our hearts. But WE ARE METHODISTS.

And Methodists believe in divine grace that God has given to us which then allows us to choose whether we accept God’s offer or not. God does not send anyone to Hell. We send our selves. The question becomes, what will you choose.

Free will – what are the consequences

When we have free will, then we will also have consequences of that free will. As long as humans can do whatever they want to do, then we will have those who are hurt and those who hurt. So often people will ask the question, “why”, when they face some great tragedy or crisis. And the answer must always be simply because the world is. Several years ago there was a movie called Forest Gump. During the movie he began to run, and run and run. Along the way people began to follow him thinking he had all the answers. One day he encountered a young man who was designing a bumper sticker of great insight. When he asked Forest what the answer to life was, Forest simply said, it happens, or something like that. You probably remember the bumper sticker that took the world by storm. As silly as the bumper sticker was, it truly did give the right answer. When we seek to understand the reason for things, sometimes the only answer is because, “IT HAPPENS”. So often I hear people argue that God wanted someone in heaven or God has a plan or God needed that person. My faith and theology is profound enough to say that God does not need us at all, much less in heaven. That is not to suggest that God does not want us in heaven, but God does not need us there.

Free will is nothing more than God giving us the ability to make our own choice. Because of our free will, we get to choose who we model our lives after. If we truly want to be Christians, we will model our lives after Christ. We can choose to behave like Christ or we can choose to behave like some of our more modern models. But the simple fact is that as human beings, we are allowed to become the type of person we want to be. No-one decides that for us, no-one determines or forces us. September 11^th happened because of free will. Not God punishing a sinful nation as some have suggested. What we believe about evil is that evil is played out in the human existence. We see evil in how humans treat other humans in oppressive and hurtful ways. Free will allows for bigotry and hate, for racism and oppression and for classes that define rich and poor.

Free will – why did God do it

In every pastoral message there is supposed to be good news. That is what they teach us at seminary. Bring the good news, build to the good news, and announce the good news to all the world. The bigger question of free will is why did God do it? Have you ever wondered why God would create the world and create human beings in God’s image and then allow them to choose whether or not they want to be in relationship with the creator? I want to present an idea this morning. The reason is because God loves us! Oh, well, preacher, we have heard that and we know that God loves us. But what does that have to do with free will? Have you ever heard the expression, if you love something set it free, if it truly is love, it will return to you? That expression comes from the concept of free will. God loves us so much that God is willing to take the chance at our refusal of that love. God loves us so much that God would create the world, create Eden and then place humans in the middle of paradise. But in that creation, God would allow Adam and Eve to rebel against that love. And they did! And we still do! Just as children rebel against their parents, humans rebel against the rules of God.

And yet God still loves us. My friends, free will is the ultimate love relationship a creator can provide. Not a creation where we are puppets on a string, but free thinking people who have the right to choose between good and evil, death and life, heaven and hell. And in that kind of creation, we experience the perfect love, agape love. You see even when we stumble, even when we are disobedient and even when choose world over God, materialism over service or hatred over love, God still reaches out to us in love. God’s grace is still there even when we choose not to be. A sense of urgency and a sense of time

But here is the deal. God gave us prophecy in order that we might know God’s plan. And about one quarter of the bible is prophetic. From the beginning of time, God had a plan. God’s plan was that God would create a being that could either choose or not choose a relationship with God. God wanted romance, not slavery. But we are running out of time. Many of modern day theologians believe that you and I might well be the final generation that sees the coming of Christ. But we have to choose Christ in order to be with Christ when he comes. And we are running out of time. We cannot know the hour or the day when our lives are ended. It may come naturally in your sleep tonight that you pass from this life into the next. It may come as a tragic event like 9/11. Or it may be that we see Christ coming in the clouds. But however it comes, we need to be prepared for it. That means that we need to choose. Chose Christ over the world! Chose God over Satan!

I heard a story the other day that describes us pretty well. It seems a man wanted to go on a diet, but he loved donuts. Not just any donut, but those fresh baked Krispy Kreme donuts. My personal favorite is the crème filled ones. But he needed to lose weight. And so he gave up his precious donuts. And he lost weight and was looking real good. One day one of his working partners saw him in the car eating a donut. He walked up to him and asked, what gives. The man said, "I made a pact with God." “I said to God that if you have determined that it is alright for me to have a donut, when I drive by the donut shop, the first parking spot will be empty. And it was after I drove around the block the eighth time.”

Today may be the most important day of your life. You must choose. Many of you are already Christians but your lives would hardly convict you if it were a crime to be a Christian. Choose to rededicate your lives this morning, right here, right now. And if your life is still a question mark about Christ, I would love to talk with you and share God’s love with you. Today is election day! What will you choose? 

A Mountaintop Milestone

Sermon given at Grace UMC 10/18/15

This was a special Sunday worship as we celebrated the 100th birthday of Rose Mott

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth. ² May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth. ³ For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! ⁴ The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he;…⁷ Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you. ⁸ When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods;

Today we have arrived at a mountaintop experience. I suspect that many of you are like me and realize that this might well be a singular event in your lives as you help Rose celebrate her 100^th birthday. I thought it might be fun to spend a minute exploring the world Rose was born into in 1915. The third battle the Isonzo began today 100 years ago between the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary. Ty Cobb was batting 369 and had 96 stolen bases, Babe Ruth had hit the first of his 714 home runs and the Boston Red Sox won the World Series two weeks ago 100 years ago. Woodrow Wilson was the president and stamps cost $.02 and the 1 millionth Ford rolled off the assembly line. But for us, the most important thing today is that Rose Mott was born in Mount Airy, Maryland. The world has changed quite a bit since that moment 100 years in the past. People move between places more and more quickly, money exchanges hands around the globe as if there were no boundaries and we stand at the pinnacle of new technologies that will propel us into the next 100 years. In Rose’s days we have fought two world wars, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. We have sent young people to the Middle East for several conflicts and some are still there. We have sent people into space, landed a man on the moon and sent satellites to the far reaches of the solar system. We have survived Y2K, Watergate and now will certainly survive the Clinton-Trump escapades. We have found cures for most of our childhood illnesses and learned much about the human body. All in the last 100 years.   

Our scripture this morning is about remembering. Remembering who God is and how God works in the world around us. Deuteronomy is one to the first five books of the Bible and is part of the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch refers to the first five books of the Bible. For the most part, both Jewish and Christian tradition credit Moses with primary authorship of the Pentateuch. These five books form the theological foundation of the Bible. The word Pentateuch means "five vessels," "five containers," or "five-volume book." In Hebrew the Pentateuch is Torah, meaning "the law" or "instruction." Another name for the Pentateuch is "the five books of Moses." The books of the Pentateuch introduce Bible readers to God's divine purposes and plans, and explain how sin entered the world. In the Pentateuch we also see God's response to sin, his relationship with mankind, and we gain insight into the character and nature of God.

God sends preachers to get us to remember. He sends events to get us to remember. He sends people into our lives to get us to pause, remember, and consider. People like Rose who reminds us constantly that the world will go on and we have to acclimate to it. God sends trials, pain, heartbreak, and difficulty in our lives many times for the sole purpose of pressing us to pause, remember, and consider. Rose reminds us in the articles in the paper that life is full of adversity and struggle. You can flow with it or fight it, but if you want to live to be 100, flowing works so much better.

Once upon a time there was a little mouse. The little mouse lived in great fear all the time. This fear dictated the mouse’s life. He was afraid of his own shadow. He feared what might happen to him. The mouse could not learn that fear was doubt. The little mouse’s fear made mountains out of molehills. Because of his fear he was very suspicious and weary of life. The little mouse wished he could be a cat, and then he would not have to be afraid. One lucky day the mouse met a powerful magician. The mouse was amazed to watch the magician work. The mouse went up to the magician in great fear and asked. Please, Mr. Magician, I am so afraid, if I were a cat I would not have to fear. Could you please make me into a CAT? The magician said sure, Abra-ca-dab-bra --- and the little fearful mouse turned into a cat. The mouse, now turned cat, was so afraid that in great fear he hid in the corner. The new cat saw a dog and the dog caused great fear. Later, the cat saw the magician again and said, I am so afraid, could you please turn me into a dog. I will be OK if I could just be a dog. So the magician said, Abra-ca-dab-bra, you are now a dog. The new dog was so proud. As the new dog ran through the woods, he heard a lion roar and in a great panic, fear caused the new dog to run. The dog was shaking in fear; he knew if he could just be a lion everything would be different. The dog kept looking for the magician to add his new request, for he knew if he could become a lion he would have no fear. Finally the dog found the magician. The dog barked to the magician, please, please can you make me a lion? If I were a lion everything would be fine. The magician said, Abra-ca-dab-bra, I turn you back into a mouse. You have a mouse’s heart. I could change you into anything, but you have a mouse’s heart and all you will ever be is a mouse. You must learn to be satisfied. You didn’t like being a mouse. You didn’t like being a cat. You didn’t like being a dog. You will not like being a lion. You are a mouse at heart.
Abra-ca-dab-bra, be what your heart is. And the dog turned back into a mouse. What is really interesting about all this are two important truths. One, that we are born with the heart of a mouse or a cat or a dog and when we focus on growing that strength, life is so much better. And second, even the mouse can bring fear into the hearts of elephants and people, so being the small mouse doesn’t necessarily mean you are without power.

So what great wisdom can we learn if we are willing to listen to those who are older than we are and have seen much of the world change? The scripture this morning raises the question, why aren’t we spending more time asking our elders about the world, about life and about the answers to so of the simplest but unanswered questions. They have figured something out or they would not have survived all this time. Rose will tell us to go with the flow. Face adversity head on and trust God in the midst of it. She has shared that great piece of insight with us this week in the two articles in the Post and Eastern Shore News. The scripture this morning says the same thing for us to hear.  “⁷ Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you.” There is great wisdom in spending time listening to the stories of our elders. Especially when they are willing to share the adversities of their lives and teach us valuable lessons in how to deal with the stuff when the stuff comes. And it will come.

I have some words of advice from those who reached that special milestone of 100 years:

• “Don’t look at the calendar. Just keep celebrating every day.”
• “Invest in quality pieces; they never go out of style.”
• “Even if you feel hatred, keep it to yourself. Don’t hurt other people for any reason.”
• “Don’t ever give up on love.”
• “Nobody else controls you.”
• “Make time to cry.”
• “Don’t be a cheapskate.”
• “Find your passion and live it.”
• “Learn to adapt.”
• “Take time to mourn what you’ve lost.”
• “Get a great education. That is something that no one can take away from you.”
• “I think [people] have to be curious. They have to be interested in life outside their little aches and pains. They have to be excited about seeing new things, meeting new people, watching a new play—just passionate about life.”
• “Don’t die too early.”

I want to leave you with a word of advice this morning. One, that God is the God of creation, the God of yesterday and today and tomorrow. That the message of God’s love has not changed since the creation of the world and will still be the same message tomorrow, the next day and the next. That you who believe have been given a special gift of eternal life to be used for the good of the world, to share insight and inspiration for the rest of us, just as Rose Mott has done over and over again. We are never alone and God’s love can penetrate even the most difficult adversity or obstacle to bring joy.

Rose loves music and she and I often talk about what it takes to get by in this life. So I want to leave you this morning with the words of a song from the Sound of Music. It reminds us that we cannot give up and we must continue on our journey, no matter what. But along the way we are to give all the love we can give.

Lyrics from the Sound of Music

Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.