Calm the Storm

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/23/17

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^NRSVLuke 8: 22-25 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

When my son Ben was little he was scared of thunderstorms and lightning. I remember he would shake and cry whenever a storm would come up. So one day as a storm approached we went out onto the deck in our house. We could see the storm coming from several miles away and the lightning would fill the sky and the thunder would roar. I began to talk with him quietly about the simple science of the storm and how the electricity would erupt creating a vacuum. He asked, like a vacuum cleaner sucking up stuff. Similar I said but in this case it sucks up the dirt and debris of the atmosphere. When the lightning comes it is filling that void. But more importantly, when we see the lightning we see the power of God in creation. So we can rejoice that God is with us. Then we counted from the lightning until we heard the thunder. I told him thunder is the air rushing back into the vacuum that the lightning created making everything whole again. So we laughed and counted, laughed some more and held our breath each time as we counted to see how close the storm was to us. When the rain fell we got wet but I rejoiced in the reminder that my little man now was no longer fearful of storms but saw them for what they were, a magnificent creation of God.

What are you afraid of? Me, I cannot tread water so I am fearful of being in water over my head. So I can picture the fisherman in this story being sore afraid of the storm that has come up and is in danger of wrecking their boat and throwing them in the water.

There is a story told about how the eagle copes with a storm.  Noted for their size, strength, and powers of flight and vision, the eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks and will fly to some high spot to wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, this resourceful bird is soaring above it. It does not escape the storm but simply uses the elements to elevate it to safety.

C.S. Lewis once wrote: You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it? So what do we have faith in? What is the strength of that faith?

I often am called upon to bring prayer, comfort and peace to those who are in the midst of struggle and tragedy. Sometimes I know what the proper scripture or prayer or words are to use in those circumstances. But more often than not, my own humanness fails me to know exactly what to say or do. So my first thought is always to rely on God to give me the words or prayers or the right response. But in order to do that I first have to be open to hear the message that God wants me to hear.

It is enlightening to read what Saint Augustine, 354 –430 A.D.) had to say about the private storms in our lives.  St. Augustine was a philosopher and theologian who tells us, “Don't forget the presence of Christ.  When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind; when your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune—shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten His presence. Rouse Him, then; remember Him, let Him keep watch within you, pay heed to Him. Now what was your desire? You wanted to get your own back. You have forgotten that when Christ was being crucified He said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Christ, the sleeper in your heart, had no desire for vengeance in his. Rouse Him, then, call Him to mind.”

I think these are great words of comfort. Rouse Him, call Him to mind. In this story that we all know well, Jesus is sleeping even as the storms fury envelopes the boat He is on. He is tired. Ever been boned tired so much so that you could sleep through a bomb exploding outside your house. It’s an expression, but you get my point. I envision that Jesus is that kind of tired. He has been preaching and teaching, performing miracles and walking, ever walking from place to place. Here He is on the boat and for a moment He has peace and quiet. I know growing up the sound of rain could often be a great comforting presence to fall asleep to. Nothing seems to say, sleep, all is well, that a gentle rain on a tin roof. So here He is sleeping when the storm comes up.

The disciples are so scared that they begin to panic. Here are grown men who have grown up on the water who suddenly fear for their lives. And they know that Jesus is with them. Or do they? I ask this question because we need to truly know the truth of Jesus. James Moore wrote a book called, Noah built his ark in the sunshine. It is a reminder that faith is grown in the good times, when the sun is shining and all is well. But true faith is matured in the tough times. In other words, we cannot truly know who well we are convicted until we are tested. So Jesus wakes up and quells the storm immediately. He does not say be at peace, be calm or work at reassuring the disciples in their fear. No, he wakes and questions their faith. He asks them the question He is asking of us right now. How many of you have had a time of trial or tribulation in the last five years? Come on, be honest. Many of us have. Some of us had a time where our health caused great fear. Some of us had financial crisis or deaths in our households. How did your soul fare during these difficult and challenging times? The measure of that question my friends in the measure of your faith.

In the scripture they ask themselves, who is this man who can quell storms? You see, I believe they not only doubted but that they have no idea really who this man they are following really is. In fact, we could even argue that this storm may well have been a test to see if the message that Jesus was teaching them was sinking in.

This week I had to meet with the Bishop to talk about discipleship in the conference. She did not begin that meeting by describing for me what we needed to do or what my role might be. She began with a question. What does the vision, being disciples, lifelong learners who influence others to serve mean to me? It was a test. Did I understand the vision being tossed out in front of me or not? Why? Because if I did not understand it then how can I go forth and teach it to others? I believe that this scripture is that kind of question. If the disciples knowing that Jesus is peacefully sleeping as the storm rages around them cannot quell the fear within their hearts, how are they going to go out into world following the crucifixion and resurrection and calm the hearts of those they encounter?

So what is the lesson here for us? Jesus has the power to transform the weather. Jesus has the power to overcome death. Jesus has the power to lead and direct us into new realities and experiences. But are we willing to go? I have seen peace and comfort come to those of faith in the midst of unbelievable tragedy and illness. I have seen the sense of loss and anxiety in those who do not. I am reminded of the stories of Jewish men and women singing to God as they are marched to their deaths in concentration camps. How we see the strength of Paul’s faith as he faces his own death. I have talked to men and women, some of them here today who have faced adversity with courage and peace because of faith. What would it mean to be able to find calm in the midst of the greatest storms of our lives? What Jesus can give us is joy. What Jesus can provide to us in reassurance that no matter what happens, Jesus will always be with us. That death no longer should cause us fear knowing that even physical death is not the end. To be a true disciple is to find our faith in the sunny days so that we can share that love, peace and calm with those in the midst of storms. Jesus is asking, where is your faith?   

Lessons on Life

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/16/17

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^NRSVLuke 6: 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. ²⁴ ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ²⁵ ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. ²⁷ ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was backbreaking work, and his son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man mentioned it in a letter he sent to his son by saying, “I’m not sure exactly what to do. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. It looks like I won’t be able to plant that garden this year after all.” A few days later, he received a short letter from his son, “Dad, For heaven’s sake, don’t dig up that garden that’s where I buried the bodies!” At 4 a.m. the next morning, a crew of police officers, and the FBI arrived to find the bodies. After digging for hours, they gave up and apologized to the old man and left.
That same day the old man received another letter from his son. “Dear Dad, under these circumstances, that’s the best I can do, go ahead and plant your potatoes now.”

For the last few weeks I have been convicted that we need to look forward in new ways and new realities. We need to be focused on what bounty God has given to us and share that bounty with the world around us. If you feel especially loved today it is because God’s presence in this place is evident and confirming. This upcoming week I will be focused on discipleship and the way forward for this church and for the conference. But my time of prophesizing is winding down a bit. I have shared with you the expectations that God has placed on our task list, to make and grow disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And our world is growing a bit as we listen to the prayer of Jabez. Jabez literally means pain and he was named for the pain he caused his mother in child birth. Imagine spending your whole life carrying a name that means pain. But Jabez called out to God to expand his horizons, in other words, to let him witness to the love of God to others beyond the reach that made him comfortable and content. And God granted his prayer!  So I believe God is going to grant our prayer to expand our horizons. Imagine with me what it would be like to share the message of God with the world around us and see hundreds if not thousands come to the Lord. We can do that through new and creative ways. I am suggesting that we need to let go of our paradigms to do so and begin to think like a large church with resources to do the work God is calling us to do and I believe with all my heart that God will send us those resources.

But what does the message of God look like. Gandhi once studied this message of Jesus, referred to as The Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes found in the Gospel of Matthew. He, Gandhi, believed that the essence of what we needed to be good people was found in that text. This text we have heard today parallels that text in Matthew. Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God. It almost seems a contradiction of sorts, the poor, the hungry and the weeping will all be blessed. And then the admonishment that the rich, those happy and full of life will be cursed if you will. That is until we get the idea of what Jesus really intended us to hear from this message.

When Jesus referred to the poor He did not mean poverty. Although, some of the happiest people seem to come out of low income struggles. Some of the most successful people describe their childhoods as dirt poor. But Jesus is really telling us happiness is not something we pursue, indeed, almost contrary He is saying that we must make a declaration to be happy, an attitude to face the world with a smile and with joy. Being poor in spirit is the intent of His challenge to us. Those who are humble understand this and when we humble ourselves to God we receive Kingdom of God as a gift. We are truly blessed when we humble ourselves to God and strive to be the people God intended us to be. Non-violent, loving people who find ourselves in the middle of a complex and angry world. Our role then is to focus on loving people so that they in turn begin to love one another and truly the world can change. We do it one person at a time and reach out to those who have not felt the love of God in their lives.

We mourn and weep for those folks who have never had a chance to experience the kind of love and connection that comes from being a part of the Body of Christ. So often we experience this passage as mourning for those who have died but what Jesus intends us to understand is that we are mourning the lost, those who do not know the love of God and face death never experiencing God’s love.

Likewise, those that hunger will be filled in the Kingdom of God meaning that for those of us that hunger to learn righteousness, hunger for God’s unwavering love and hunger for the love of one another will find love in the midst of that hunger. Remember what Jesus promised the woman at the well, living water from which you will never thirst. Jesus is clearly preaching a lifestyle that we have never been taught. Imagine for a moment that you are there with Him on the mountain and you hear His message. As you are hearing it you are thinking about the oppressive nature of the Jewish leadership and Roman occupation and here Jesus is telling us not only to be humble but to love our enemies. Ultimately then happiness is something we experience. But maybe happiness is not the right word. Paul would proclaim that the right word is “joy”. We should have the joy of God within our hearts.

I remember some years back attending a July 4^th festival at the airport in Farmville with then my future bride. While we were there music was playing from a local group. It was good music, the kind you love to listen to and then fireworks followed. But during the music we observed a young lady who was dancing to the music. She had such a joy on her face, oblivious to the rest of us around her and her joy permeated those around her. I still remember her joy at the music and the opportunity to let go and dance with no regard to what you or I might think. It was a great God moment to see that kind of joy.

Jesus begins to share with us the golden rule. Love your enemies and do good to those who dislike you for your faith, your lifestyle and/ or your words and deeds. Instead of fighting fire with fire, spread the gentle rain of love upon its flames and allow the rising steam to settle our differences into similarities and connection. Jesus commands us to give what we have to those who do not, giving what we can or John Wesley would share, giving all that you can. Do to others as you want them to do to you. I truly believe that we have so much tension, depression, anger and struggle within each of us that we are like powder kegs about to blow. And we do blow from time to time. All of us, no exceptions, except those who hold it in and their time is coming, ask the doctors.

Jesus preached to us how to live our lives, humble, in joy with God, hungering to reach the least and the lost and to try and live lives where love is the most important thing. I wonder if we have taken the radical spirit of Jesus in the Beatitudes and made them more comfortable in our homes, workplaces and churches. Gandhi read the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount daily as part of his devotional reading and then challenged himself and you and I to love them every day. Humble, non-violent, non-angry lives of loving one another.

Paul in his final letters to Timothy indicated a weariness within his heart and soul that more could have been accomplished. None of us go to our deaths wishing we had more work time or more money. Paul shared in Galatians this wonderful passage. Let me read it to you: ^NRSV Galatians 6: ⁹So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. The beauty of this passage is that Paul even as he faced the end of his life, the end of his ministry and his own physical weariness never gave up the joy that was knowing and experiencing God. Paul never wavered from his love for God and for the people of the world. What are the important lessons of life? Work of the good of all, especially for faith. Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and love each other in the same way. What a beautiful world it would be!

Deep Water

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/9/17

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^NRSVLuke 5: Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ ⁵Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’ ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

Welcome! Today I want to share with you a fishing story. You see, in this story I can just see Peter as he approaches the shore empty handed. All night on the boat setting the nets in the water at precisely the right places where fish have always been and yet on this day they return to shore empty handed. And here he is coming into the village empty handed with people depending on him for food and for the money that they derive from the fish. I am told of a village on the Atlantic coast in Guyana, where fisherman still ply the trade the way that it has been done for thousands of years. Casting out their nets into the surf, pulling the fish back to shore where the villagers gather them for food and for their livelihood. Imagine what it would be like to cast out your net and there is nothing in it when you pull it back to shore. Imagine spending the whole day or night fishing with the weight of the village on your back. Or knowing that you have worked all day, your family is in need of food and medicine and there is no pay at the end of that day.

And then along comes Jesus. Can’t you visualize it? He walks up the shore and cries out to Peter and the fisherman on the boat. “Peter” he says, “Put out in deep water and cast your nets out.” Now I can imagine this scenario. Here is Peter, raised a waterman all his life. And here comes some man from Nazareth, a carpenter by trade. Not much knowledge on fishing, no knowledge of what it takes to do so, how to prepare the boat or the nets. And he says to the watermen, let’s do it again my way. Now I can imagine for a moment that the first thoughts through Peter, James and John were not good thoughts mind you. They were probably thinking how dare this man who knows nothing of being a waterman coming to tell me how to fish. How can this man who has spent his life making furniture and building houses know how to do my job? Don’t we go through this all the time. A new boss comes into the workplace and we immediately are suspect that they cannot know much about our world. They are not been here’s, been here long enough that several generations lay claim to your heritage. Maybe this even applies to a new preacher who has new ideas and new visions.

Now to truly understand this story we have to go back in the text to the beginning of chapter 5. There Jesus comes along the shore and asks Peter to let him in his boat and from that point teaches the crowd. Imagine what wonder went through Peter and the waterman when this man appears with hundreds of people following him. The text does not tell us what he taught there that day, only that he did. But it was enough that Peter called him Master when he suggested they throw their nets in the deep water.  And the scripture tells us that they did and that the quantity of fish they hauled in was so large that it almost swamped the two boats.

Years ago I spent a great deal of my life going into companies to bring change. Not because they wanted it, but because they needed it. Some of them were failing, some were just floundering and some had a vision of where they wanted to go but did not know how to get there. The process of change is always difficult. Not because the changes were always hard to do, rather the difficulty was in helping people to want to make the changes. And when the changes came, especially those that made their lives easier more secure and more profitable, they often were overwhelmed. I remember when I worked for a Bearing manufacturing company. I had lots of ideas about how we could do things better and more efficient. Truth was they did not care what ideas I had. Years later I was called back, now as a consultant at my own firm, and all of a sudden all of those old ideas were suddenly the best thing they had ever heard.

The question we must ask ourselves is whether or not we are casting our nets in the right places, at the right time and for the right things. When a man and woman have a little baby they instinctively know what is right and wrong as far as raising their little child. Often we fail to realize that our faith life should be the same as this. What we instinctively know in our walk with God is often overshadowed by our desire to control our discipleship walk. How else can we explain how we often get so distanced from God in our relationship even knowing that God is right here with us even now? Why is it that our faith walk is often so hard? Why is it that our relationship with God is often too difficult to understand? Some of the answers to these important questions come not from our inability to comprehend but our willingness to accept that which is contrary to what we want. Maybe the answers have more to do with our reluctance to try something different just because it is. Or maybe we are so set in who we are and how we do things that we just cannot be persuaded to do it any other way. Maybe it’s because we have been programmed to expect things to be complicated and difficult, rather than simple or straightforward.

I’ve often told the story of a conversation with one of my Doctors who became so deeply engrossed in the computer that he would not look at me when I came to be healed. He would follow the prompts on the screen asking question after question, often never looking at me or checking to see how I might be responding. It was early in the days of the computer in the doctor’s office. Now they have the nurse manage the computer and the doctor pays attention to the patient. One day I told him that I was going to tell him a story. A true story of two pilots flying a plane on a beautiful clear day down headed to a landing in Florida. Now pilots need to fly on instruments so often that they become dependent on them, sometimes too dependent on them. This particular morning, with a beautiful sky around them and visibility forever, they drove that plane and its passengers deep into the everglades, killing everyone on board. All they had to do was look up to see they were too low to the ground. But they did not and the consequences were severe. Sometimes we can become so engrossed in what we are doing that we lose our perspective on what we are supposed to be doing and what the world around us looks like.

I can see Peter now. He is humbled by the fact that there are more fish than he can handle. So much so that he cries out that he is not worthy to be in the presence of this man. But Isaiah had already told them to prepare. The prophet had told them to make themselves ready for this man to come and not be caught unawares when he did. And God is telling us the same thing right now. When I was a young man, I questioned everything. Some told me not to question certain things and so I traveled a path where I wasted my life and my valuable time that God had given me. I suspect some of you may share my story. Walking along in the journey rather than participating in the promise and bounty of God in our lives. Working towards being the person we want to be rather than the one God is calling us to be.

What we need to do is throw our nets in the deep water. The deep water where, yes, we might get wet or even drown. I can see Peter now, tired and worn out, throwing his net out fearing that he is going to look the fool for listening to this carpenter. How many times are we scared to love one another as God loves us? How many times have we forsaken God because it’s not popular? And how many relationships have we messed up or lost because we weren’t willing to take a chance? Hear the cry in the wilderness. Hear the voice proclaiming the coming of the Lord. Hear the simple message of love that changes everything. Being a disciple is simple and easy. It’s not the being that is so hard. It’s the becoming that is hard. It’s the giving up the old ways that is so hard. It’s believing that this carpenter, really knows how to fish. Cast your nets, into the deep water.

Risk Taking Mission as Bishop Schnase calls it means that we go beyond where we feel comfortable and content. It means that we begin to cast our nets farther than we ever would consider or in places where we have never been. It means that we begin to look out beyond our traditional boundaries and focus on places like Adult aging ministries in Greenspring, moving our marketing down the Pohick corridor towards Route 1 and Lorton, considering working with schools outside our norm like Newington Forest and Saratoga where children need to hear the message of love and of God. It means that we begin to explore what the structure of the church looks like and how we incorporate folk into positions where they are energized and excited about what they are doing. It means challenging Sunday School and Small study group leaders to look at their folks, evaluate where they are on the journey and begin to offer opportunities for growth in their individual and then our corporate journey. It means that we accept that God is calling us not to be who we have always been even though we are comfortable there, but to be the church. The early church was excited about sharing the message of Jesus Christ with the world, wherever and whomever that meant. We at Sydenstricker need to become that church again.

In the words of a great song from the Hollies,

The road is long, with many a winding turn…

It’s a long long road, from which there is no return,

While we’re on the way to there, why not share…

He ain’t heavy he’s my brother. 

Witnessing - Chapter 4

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Lesson 4

Building Relationship – Dealing with the noise

I want to deal with two aspects of being a good disciple. Paul wrote to his young disciple Timothy in an effort to teach him about being a good disciple and eventually Apostle of Christ. First and foremost, we are about the business of building relationships. We are building lifelong relationships that allow others to see Christ in us through our actions, words and deeds. Being a disciple in the first century meant that you were friends with other disciples who would gladly give their lives for what you believed in. Though I doubt many of us will ever be held to that kind of accountability, developing the relationship for such an event is precisely the important work we are about. As we develop these lifelong relationships we need to keep in mind that our primary purpose is to bring those friends to Christ. Let’s listen in as Paul instructs young Timothy and then in turn us how to be good witnesses to Christ.

^NRS  2 Timothy 2:20  ²⁰ In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. ²¹ All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. ²² Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, ²⁵ correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, ²⁶ and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

I doubt that it could have been put in better words. Paul is trying to tell us that being a disciple is special. Witnessing our faith to others is a higher call than our vocations here on earth. We are dealing in the spiritual realm here, Kingdom things are at hand as we share the good news of the Gospel. As such we need to pursue righteous things like faith, love and peace with a pure heart. And not allow ourselves to get caught up in senseless controversies that in the end only manage to circumvent the greater task we are given. And it doesn’t pay to become like the world that would rather argue the validity of a thing than accept the truth of it. Lord knows, we are in such a politically correct society today. We are about building relationships with people that they share in eternal life. That’s the promise.

Now this begs us to define a little nuance that we will encounter as we share our stories. There are those who will ask us to share only to use it as a platform to share their own agenda’s about the church. Unfortunately, much of what they throw at you will be somewhat correct. The church does not have the best track record in part because the good news of the church is often overshadowed by the few who bring shame to story. I remember reading the story of Gandhi as a young man and his reading of the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon he found the embodiment of how to live one’s life and spent the rest of his life living it in that way. In the cross he saw how the world treats those who choose to live for others and for injustice, the crucify them. And he often said that if Christians lived their lives in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount, he would have become a Christian. Now that’s a convicting statement that should compel us to reflect on how we present the image of Christ to others.

My suggestion in this short chapter is that each of you gather some courage and present your story to the class. Let the class give you constructive ideas on how it might be better presented, but remember; your story is yours alone. The questions for this chapter are to help you prepare for those criticisms that will come as you share the Gospel with others. Good luck on your journey.

Questions for Lesson 4

1.              You are approached by a young man who complains that all Christians are hypocrites who judge others and never offer anything in return. How do you respond using one of the biblical stories?

2.              While talking to a young woman, she suddenly breaks down crying about how her life is in shambles and how she cannot understand why God would continue to test her this way. How do you respond?

3.              While talking with a young man, he responds that he is a Buddhist. He then wants to know about your God and your faith. How do you respond?

4.              A young man wants to understand how you can continue to have faith even in the face of adversity. How do you respond?

5.              An older gentleman friend asks you why you continue to go to church every Sunday. How do you respond?

6.              A young man down on his luck asks for a handout. He is hungry and poorly clothed. How do you respond?

7.              A new couple visits your church for the first time and asks you what it means to be a Christian. How do you respond?

Jesus

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 7/2/2017

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^NRSVJohn 17: 1-6 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. ⁶ ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

^NRSVMatthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Many years ago there was a man who loved ants. He would often take broken up crackers and bread and place it next the ant trails in front of his house. He would even spend time talking to the ants even though he quickly realized that they could not understand him. His love for them was so great that one day he had a great idea. He would become an ant and tell them about himself and his love for them. So he did. He became that thing that he loved so much and he spent his time telling the other ants about himself, the man who loved them and fed them. They asked him how he knew all this stuff and he shared that he was indeed the man who now was an ant so that he could share his love for them. This story is an interesting fable about ants and a man who loved them. But most of you know that it has a deeper meaning especially for those of us who love God and follow God made human.

All too often we get hung up on the story of Jesus, the great healer and the great miracle worker. But who exactly was Jesus and why do we follow or need to follow this man from Nazareth. Nazareth is a short distance from the Sea of Galilee. In Jesus day it would have been an area where farming was probably the main vocation though we believe that Jesus grew up as a Carpenter’s son, meaning He likely learned that trade from Joseph, His human father. So who was this man who people follow two thousand plus years later? Who is this man who people believe to be the Son of God? How is it that a man could walk this earth for a short thirty-three years and a woman would devout her whole life to the sick and dying in India in His name? Who is this Jesus that gifted musicians would compose song after song in His name?

In “One Solitary Life” Dr. James Frances wrote: “All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that have ever reigned, PUT TOGETHER, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life of Jesus Christ.”

We begin to shape our understanding around what we believe. I had a professor once who proclaimed that all we know about Jesus is a myth, a series of stories that have been passed down for generations. What is the truth of what we read and hear about Jesus? Beginning with His ministry we find that He shaped a very different theology than that of His day. To be a Jew in the first century was hard. It was difficult and downright improbable that any normal Jew could have even lived up the code of Israel. You had to wear certain things at certain times, eat your meals in certain ways and only have certain kinds of food, and you had to abide by the rules of living that the Jewish leadership harped on day after day. It began with the Ten Commandments or the Law. But that was never good enough. I mean you have to do the very best for God? Right? God gave us instructions, communicated with us through the Prophets, who by the way, no-one really listened to anyway. And so we became the ants to God. Meanwhile God is constantly trying to get our attention, get us to love God in return and to love our neighbors instead of all that bickering, greed and hate that permeated the world. So young Jesus grew up seeing greed and envy, mistreatment and poverty and angry people all around Him. He saw the greed of the tax collectors and the struggles of the common family. He saw the injustice of slavery and the wrath of Rome. And from that upbringing He began to preach.

Jesus is a teacher. He taught us how to live our lives with the Sermon on the Mount. If we did nothing else but follow His instruction as He set it forth in that Sermon, we would lead productive, spiritual and good Christian lives. Jesus set before us a standard of loving God with all our heart, mind and soul and loving our neighbor in the same way. When asked in Matthew 22 what is the greatest commandment, He did not repeat the Ten Commandments or issue a new proclamation, rather He simply said the Shema, listed in Deuteronomy 6:4: Love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. Then if that were not enough and it isn’t, Jesus reminds us of the rules set in Leviticus for interacting with those around us, when He said, Love your neighbor in the same way. 

Jesus as Spiritual Leader. Jesus taught us to pray. Pure and simple. Whenever Jesus was overwhelmed, whenever He needed guidance on what to do or where to go next, Jesus went to God in prayer. If we simply follow His example, then we can imitate His very nature perfectly. Prayer is the way we communicate with God just as Jesus did. Prayer allows us to share our concerns, our hurts, our desires and our love with God. God will answer prayer yes, no and in God’s time, but God will always answer. If there is no prayer, then why would we expect an answer. Jesus even teaches us how to pray in Matthew chapter 6.

Jesus as Servant Leader. Jesus showed us what it means to love your neighbor by reaching out to His neighbors. Who were His neighbors? Everyone He encountered. Jesus showed us with the washing of the feet in John chapter 13 that in order to lead one must be willing to serve. I think of all the people who have been my superiors, the ones who were willing to lead by example were always the easiest to follow. Jesus reached out to the poor, the hungry and those in need. He reached out to those who were sick and those who could not do for themselves. He healed the blind, healed the bleeding and stood between those who would oppress and those being oppressed.

Jesus as a redeeming relationship restorer. You have heard me say that not one single healing miracle of Jesus was for physical healing alone. Jesus was focused on bringing people back into relationship. Relationship with God first and foremost and then relationship with community. Jesus desire was that people had a chance. In fact, He was great at second chances. Jesus would allow the blind to see, the bleeding to stop, hands to be regenerated and so on so that folk like you and me could see the power of God and return in relationship to God. Jesus healed the Lepers because they were seen as the greatest of the outcast and to the people of Israel, a belief, that the Lepers were the curse from God for their turning their back on God. Each healing reminded the people God was there for them and God loved them as we too are loved by God.

Jesus as a radical political adversary. Many miss this point. Jesus stood against the political powers of His day as I suspect He would stand against the political powers of today. Jesus was in your face in His style of telling the Jewish leadership when He thought them out of line with the Word of God. It was not unusual in the New Testament Gospels to find Jesus in argument with the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees and Pharisees about how to live a Godly life. Jesus was very critical of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His time. He said they observed the letter of the law, but defiled the spirit of living lives of greed and sin.

Jesus as a social injustice flag carrier. Jesus raised up the social injustices of His day. They included the rights of women, the rights of the poor, and the rights of the sick. He stood with the woman about to be stoned in John 8:7. Notice in the story the man is not condemned, only the woman. He talked with the Samaritan Woman at the well, something a good devout Jewish man would never do. Samaritan’s were the enemy, they were to be feared and shunned. Jesus stood with her against racism and bigotry and gender bias. Jesus shared parables and story after story about how we are to stand against social injustice.

Jesus as the Lamb of God. Finally, Jesus was the Lamb of God. What does it mean to be the Lamb of God? It means that the Son of God, the one brought into the world so that the ants of the world could understand the true love of the one feeding them, would get to meet God face to face, on their terms. God came into the world in the flesh that we might share love with one another, that we might see perfection in motion and we might learn from that example. But in order that we truly would understand, God needed to sacrifice everything in order to show us what true love looks like. Jesus came to be the lamb of God, to become the lamb of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement when all the sins of the world were placed on the sacrificial lamb and sent into the wilderness to be slaughtered. In this case the wilderness is us and we are the slaughterers.

Jesus! Just a man? Wholly Divine? The answer to both questions is yes. But Jesus was sent to us that we might all live, freely and secure in the knowledge of eternal life. For God so loved the world…  

We've only just begun

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 6/25, 2017

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^NRSVHebrews 12: 1-7 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children— ‘My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; ⁶ for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.’ ⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?

Today is the last day of this appointment year, meaning that today we celebrate that Bonnie and I have been here one full year. So today I wanted to look back reflectively briefly and then begin to look forward to a new year and new realities. Paul reminds us in this scripture that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Can you feel their presence with us even now? Names we remember and faces we still see in their places in the pews of this church. We remember their legacies as we sit here and we remember their Discipleship and Hospitality and Generosity. We also remember the discussions, some good, some not so good, that are the legacy of this church as it moved from a group meeting in the grove to the little white church on the hill, to the sanctuary and fellowship hall of today. Some of you still remember those days when we were few, some remember when we were many, 400- 450 each weekend, and all of us experience the current reality. When Bonnie and I arrived we numbered just slightly above 200. Now we are at 251 and growing, a 21 % growth in the first year.

But Paul does not want us to stay there, reflecting. He immediately begins to tell us to lay aside every weight and sin and let us prepare to run the race that Jesus has set in front of us. We each need to consider our own relationship with God and remember that Jesus resisted the temptation of sin even shedding His blood for it. And because of it we are children of an inheritance of love, mercy and goodness. We must endure trials for the sake of pruning so that we can be the fruitful vine upon which God proclaims God’s majesty and grace.

Many years ago now, the Carpenters, a brother and sister sang a song of love. You may remember it.

We've only just begun, to live,
White lace and promises,
A kiss for luck and we're on our way

Before the risin' sun, we fly,
So many roads to choose
We'll start out walkin' and learn to run
(And yes, we've just begun)

The Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

It was a song of new beginnings, a song of love and a song that reminds us of weddings. It is a song that reminds us that the world is in front of us, not behind us, but in front of us as a path to explore together. It is a reminder of weddings, a constant reminder that God sees our relationship with God in the same way. It is why the symbolism of marriage is so prevalent in the Old and New Testaments. The perfect symbol if you will of love, nurturing for one another and caring for one another along the way. That is what God desires of us you know, to love one another leaving nothing between us that creates anger, hate and division.  

Isaiah proclaims God’s message in chapter 43, verse 19, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Can we not see what God is doing? Can we not grasp what God is striving so hard for us to see? I often wonder at the church that lived, breathed and marched in unison with one another in true discipleship. Why can’t we be that church again, claiming the power and love of God. Discipleship by definition is being a student, a follower of the one who is teaching and striving to be in perfect imitation of the leader and teacher. Discipleship must be as important to each of us as eating. If we don’t eat we die. If we don’t eat of the body and blood of Christ, we die. I will speak more on that in a future sermon in this series. So what is the teaching and direction that Jesus is calling us to see. What is the stream in the wasteland that God proclaims through Isaiah?

We all walk through the wilderness, that place where life is dark and tragic, difficult and dangerous. We all have periods of our lives when we find ourselves in the wasteland and wonder where is God, why am I here, what did I do? Recently a friend who has walked through the wilderness and wasteland a lot in the last six years paid me a compliment. I appreciated his words but as I reflected, I appreciate that God put me in his path so that the glory of God could be shared. We are called to be friends with one another so that when we find ourselves in the wastelands of life there is support and love that can bring us through.

We have returned from the 2017 Virginia Annual Conference. There Bishop Lewis reminded the gathering that her main theme at her installation in September was to "stir things up."  “God sent me to tell you about a new thing,” she said, “God said, ‘Behold I will do a new thing.’" "How many would agree that God is up to something in the Virginia Conference," Bishop Lewis asked. She then admonished us that "It's time to stop playing church and to start being the church.” We do that by demonstrating the transformations that have occurred within through our transformations through Jesus Christ."

In order to do that we need to do three things, change our focus, clarify our focus and commit to God’s plan. So what is our focus? Glad you asked she would say. The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. "We must see our future of possibilities instead of problems," Bishop Lewis said. We must strive to look forward, not back where we have been, not focusing on what we have done, but what we can do.

We spend so much time being a devil’s advocate, seeing the dark side of things, focusing on, “We’ve never done it that way before,” that we miss out on the vision of God to do a new thing. At Sydenstricker we have a tendency to spend too much time on technicalities, petty decisions based on narrow viewed images of God rather than opening ourselves the wide open possibilities that God is trying to give us. I heard clearly a year ago, we want our spirit back. We have worked hard to get it back. Let us not lose out momentum by losing sight of God’s grace, compassion and mercy. Where the leader’s passion, plus the congregation willingness meets the community needs, shared vision happens. And we must have vision if we are to not only survive but thrive in the world we live in. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that where there is no vision, the people perish. Did you hear that? Where there is no focus on what the path ahead might look like, we die. I can tell you there are thousands of churches across this country that are doing that right now. Dying! Dying is painful, it is hurtful and it causes great grieving. My hope is that you are with me on a path toward the living, not the dying. I would love to have my legacy here compared to Reverend Amidon who did not give up on the church at a time when the church had given up on itself.  

So what if we were not here? What difference would that make in our community around us? Who might notice that we no longer have children’s activities, have youth gatherings, have mission hands and feet that provide meals and clothing and shelter? I love what the Message, the new easy reading version of the Bible has to say about vison. “If the people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble over themselves.” Are we stumbling over ourselves trying to live into a vision of our choosing rather than God’s? Are we spending time spinning our wheels in meeting after meeting struggling to understand why we can’t do what we know we are capable of doing? Maybe it’s because we focus on worldly things, our ideas, our expectations, rather than Godly ones. I remember one year; it was the end of January. The fiscal year had barely begun and historically January had always been a difficult time in the financial life of the church. But the rumblings started. We can’t meet budget. We need to cut staffing salaries. We need to scale back our missional activities. Oh, Lord, help us, the chicken coop roof is falling. And it was only February. Isn’t that the way of the world? If we cannot see what God is doing, then we are destined to stumble and run around the chicken coop because our heads are no longer attached to us. You see that church like so many churches trusted in themselves, trusted in the green rather than the purity of God. Green is the universal symbol for envy and greed so is it any wonder that churches that focus on money first find themselves trying to devour one another in meetings and gatherings. But there is hope, there is promise and there is direction. For the scripture goes on to say that when they attend to what God reveals, they are blessed. Are you feeling blessed today?

You should be! We are gathered here in hospitality. Yes, it can be better and I believe that we together with one another can make it better. But many visitors have said to me Pastor Don, this congregation is warm and loving. We are gathered here with beautiful music and shared reflections, joys and concerns. Can we be better at being neighbors, sure we can but let us rejoice in where we are and what we have at this moment. We are gathered here in this place poised to reach out to the world. Dr. Calvert is coming on July 8th to help us understand our world and how to reach out to it. But her message falls on deaf ears if the people don’t come to hear the message and if those who do come hear the message and then act, direct, and focus the same way they always have. But preacher, “we’ve always done it this way and we can’t change it now.” Why not?

Vision brings clarity, it provides motivation and translates purpose so that all God’s children are on the same page, focused on moving in the same direction. Our vision for the church should be memorized and every group, every class, every person should focus on Christ’s love in action, bringing God to people and people to God. We should align every class to it, every activity to it and every breath to it. What does it mean to bring God to people? It means that every day we strive to learn more about Jesus, more about His teaching and then mimic His life in every breath, every action and every word and deed we do. It means that at Sydenstricker we are not going to say we are Disciples; we are going to be Disciples. Jesus tells us that we are called to be the Body of Christ, called to share the love of God and called to witness to our faith not just to each other but to the world. If that’s too hard Sydenstricker, then maybe we need to go do something else. Be a social club or a fitness center or place where recovering procrastinators can gather and do nothing. I have seen the mountain of God and heard the small whisper of God’s voice and it is saying that we have work to do. The harvest is plenty and the laborers are few. We have a great future but only if we strive answer the call that God is sending us.

Bishop Lewis has set a vision for us. “To be a disciple of Jesus Christ who is a lifelong learner, who influences others to serve.” Notice the singleness of that. It is not a vision for the Annual Conference to place on boards and windows. It is not something that the conference is doing, it must be something you and I are doing. Individually and collectively. I must be a disciple of Jesus Christ. When? Glad that you asked. Every single breathable moment of my life. I need to mimic His love for God and His love for neighbor. We are not alone and we are not islands, rather we are creations blessing to our neighbors at work, at home and at play.  That means that we become the center of the community by reaching out in love to support, to nurture, and to care for compassionately. We are to influence others to do the same things, to serve one another. That is what we are called to do.

I have been sent here by the Virginia Annual Conference and by God to shake up the order of things, to stop the bleeding that moved us from a thriving church of 450 to 200. I have been sent here hearing the message of God that through discipleship we can accomplish all that God intends for us. A process of beginning, growing and maturing where we become Christ for the world around us. My vision for the church is growth through individual relationship with God and one another. My vision for each group gathering, each Sunday school and each meeting is that we focus first on being disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s time to move forward or get out of the way. But I cannot do it alone. I can lead us there but only if you will follow. Yes, we are going to find ourselves in unfamiliar territory and yes there will be times when we are uncomfortable because we’ve never done it this way before. But if Reverend Amidon had listened to the conference and closed us, as he was told to do, we would never have gained the joys and legacies we now enjoy, experienced the community and established a presence for Christ. Yes, I am calling us to a new reality, a reality of life in Christ. Let us go where we have never been. Let us become the church God is calling us to be. My friends a new day is dawning. We’ve only just begun.