Tragedy In Boston

As  runner myself I knew in the back of my mind that the Boston Marathon was on Monday.  I hope to run it one day. I have a lot of things on my mind so I had not really focused on the race.  I did know at least one person who was running it so I would have checked on it later.  Then late in the afternoon, an alert came through on my phone "Reports of an explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon."

I stared at it for a second trying to comprehend what I had just read.  Then came another alert from the Detroit Free Press, followed by ESPN, then the Huffington Post, then our local TV station, and on and on.  This was real yet I still couldn't believe it. I got on the web to see what was happening, apparently along with everyone else, as the video feed crashed on both CNN and NBC News. Then I thought of my friend, so I went straight to Facebook and saw he had already posted that he had already finished and he was okay.  Thank goodness!  But as we later learned, there are over a hundred others who were not okay and 3 others who will never be okay.  A senseless act of aggression had robbed people and the nation and even the world of their time when they should be celebrating.

Many people are asking "why?" including myself.  We don't have answers yet and it may be a long time before we get an answer of at least who or whom is responsible for this devastation.  But I have also been asked why God would allow such things to happen.  This question always comes up when there are tragedies.  We want to believe in a good God that protects the innocent especially in this case.  So how can this all powerful being allow such things to happen?

But to answer that question, I have to use another question: Why did God allow Cain to kill his brother Abel?  Why did God allow Israel to be conquered? Why did God allow Stephen to be killed and the list can go on there is well.  The answer is that humanity has always had the choice to do such things.  But it does not mean that God is absent.  I believe that God was the first to shed tears of sorrow and God knew the victims pain, their families pain and even our pain before we knew.

Tragedy also gives us a chance to see the goodness of humanity as is measured by their response.  As the video shows, once the first bomb went off, the scene was not of panic but instead, help.  People did not run away but instead, they ran right to the source to offer what assistance they could. The quote that quickly began to make it's way around social media from Mr. Rogers is absolutely true.  "Look at the help."  Look at the people who rushed into danger to help save someone.

I listened to two triage nurses who were on sight to help with the runners. Quickly they had to switch modes that they were working under.  They too spoke of how everyone wanted to help whether it was by having trauma experience, to simply getting water, or wheel chairs, or helping to move a stretcher, to even praying over them.  As they both spoke about how they reacted one said something like, we treat everyone as if they can be saved and we have the belief that we can save them all.

This is a tragedy no question.  Many people and the city of Boston will be dealing with it for some time. But what is amazing that in the midst of this evil, we saw the goodness of people, God's people, far outnumber the individual or individuals who perpetrated this evil. Goodness outnumbered them yesterday and will outnumber them today and will always outnumber them.  The apostle Paul reminds us in the scriptures that we should not grow weary in doing what is right.  The responders didn't.  He also reminds us that there is nothing in this world, nothing in life, nor even death, no nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  While there is sadness and grief today, the love of God showed itself more fully yesterday and today and will continue to shine for the world to see.

Please continue to pray for them and for all people, and share the love of God as they recover from this tragedy.

As We Enter Holy Week

Many people often wonder, myself included how things can turn and go in our opinion, so wrong so quickly?  On Palm Sunday the people are shouting “Hosanna”, and just a few days later, they are shouting “crucify him, crucify him!”  How does that happen?  Well often times when we are disappointed because of our expectations, we can turn away from those who we support.  Jesus in fact is no different.  But it is not his fault that they become disappointed, it is really their own, and often times when we are disappointed in our expectations of God in Jesus, its not his fault, it is our own. But it is easier to blame someone else, including God.

All along Jesus had been telling them that he would be killed and raised if there was not a marked change in society.  Jesus had been offering his grace and love to the foreigner and the Jew alike.  He had been eating with sinners, and associated with the outcast sending the message that everyone was a child of God.  Those on the outside loved him for it, especially when he would take on those who would challenge his authority to do these things.  He would trap them in their own deceit, and leave them walking away, accused and convicted rather than convicting him who they accused.  Who wouldn’t love a guy like that?  He will put an end to this religious corruption, but in the same token, he would also put an end to their oppression that these corrupt people had been complicit in. So they shout Hosanna, and call him blessed and even in this moment Jesus does probably what is expected, and he revels in it.  He even retorts to the Pharisees if his followers didn’t shout it out, the stones would cry out.  That’s then.

But in a few days those shouts will diminish.  People will see that Jesus has no intention of overthrowing anyone in the conventional sense.  He does not seek power in the world because in fact he already has it. The stories of them temptation in the wilderness are all about just that, power and what we think it looks like.  Jesus was tempted with power, to feed himself, to save himself, and to be a conqueror of sorts of the kingdoms of the earth.  But Jesus refusal to do so does not so much reflect how strong Jesus was in his will power (which one must admit it does), but he demonstrates more so that he does not need to give into these temptations because Jesus is being offered something by Satan that is not his to offer.  The very presence of Jesus himself is proof enough that he has all the power.  But his presence will also show how that power is used. Satan we are told by Luke, withdraws for a more opportune time, and this week will be it.  The reason it is more opportune is not because it is the best chance to get rid of Jesus, but because of the expectations and emotions of those surrounding him.  The time was ripe to turn them against Jesus.  And so it will be.

A Time For Rejoicing

Now I imagine that some of you are about all rejoiced out.  I’ll wager also that most if not all of you have put away your Christmas decorations and are happy to be rid of them for another season. Christmas is over, New Years is over and we are done with rejoicing, even as the Valentine’s Day candy is already out in the stores.  We are done with rejoicing for a little while.  It has been a lot of work.  But friends, on this Epiphany Sunday we are reminded again of the gift of Christ in our lives and that his coming into our world to be a light shining in the darkness is always about rejoicing.

When the magi come and are seeking this newborn messiah, they are willing to go great distances, encounter many dangers especially considering the cargo they are carrying to honor this new born king.  And when they finally find him where the star comes to rest they rejoice, because of where God has lead them and what God has shown them, and they offer their gifts as a sign of their devotion.

So I have 2 questions for us in 2013: What are you rejoicing about as a follower of Jesus Christ? The second question is: What gift are you bringing to pay homage to the Messiah, the newborn king?

When we look at this first question it may seem simple on the surface but when we think about it more, it can be a lot more complex.  The initial things we can say we rejoice about, family, health, etc. are all good things but those are all pretty self-centered things. Also do we really rejoice about them or are we thankful to have them, compared to other people in other situations.  But if we dig further we can find a myriad of examples of people who don’t have great health, may have experienced tragedy, and yet they can rejoice.  So what are we truly rejoicing about?  Are we rejoicing simply because the holidays are over? Well that is not much a reason to rejoice.  What can we truly rejoice about? 

There is much we can rejoice about in our church, our community of believers, that can make a difference.  So one challenge I have for everyone is to find something to rejoice about in this church and if you think that there is something yet to be done in order to rejoice, then that is the star God is calling you to follow that will lead you into a deeper relationship with Christ and allow others to discover him.  Don’t wait for the invitation, God is already giving it to you rejoice and be glad about it, but then do something about it. If you are not rejoicing about this church in this community, then no one else can rejoice with you. Rejoice and praise God for what God has done in giving us Christ Jesus.

Jesus and The Polls

Well it is that time again.  We are into the home stretch of a long process that we do every 4 years in this nation called elections.  Many of us are already tired of them before they even begin, mostly because well in some ways they never really end.  But of course when it comes time to vote the intensity really ramps up. But by then many of us are just plain sick of it by now.  Many have already decided who they will vote for, so they don’t want to hear anymore.  But others I think grow weary for a different reason: The Spin.

All candidates are guilty of The Spin: taking the words of their opponent out of context and using those words against them, or coming back with their own words which they didn’t mean to say (at least out loud) and saying “Well what I meant was…” We are tired of being manipulated or people making lofty statements which really say nothing out of fear of offending some potential voting block.  We are also probably tired of politicians saying one thing and doing another but that’s beside the point.

Jesus on the other hand would probably never have been able to been elected anything, not even bishop.  He didn’t have time for spin, he insulted powerful people, pointed out their hypocrisy in some cases and was not afraid to tell the truth to anyone who approached him.  In Mark 10 a man with many possessions approached Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus responded to him that he knew what to do already, follow the commandments.  When he said he had done all that Jesus loved him and said then you know what to do next, go and sell everything you have, give it to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven. The man was shocked and went away grieving.  And suddenly Jesus overnight poll numbers sank.  But that’s not what Jesus was about nor is his church today.

Jesus identified the needs of the day for the people as a whole and for individuals who approached him.  He was not afraid to talk about the current state of affairs, nor was he afraid to talk about what was necessary to fix them, for the sake of both God’s kingdom on earth, and the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus was a leader with a mission and a purpose, and the choice was the people’s then as it is for us now.  We can reject this as the man did, and walked away shocked, or we can accept his message and grace, and follow him.

No matter who we as a people choose as our leaders in the next month, I will follow a leader who assures us that whatever we have given up we will receive 100 fold of  the blessings of God’s eternal glory.  Because God so loved the world that God gave us the only son Jesus.  That is a message that I will never grow tired of hearing, or sharing.

All that being said don’t forget to vote.  It is important and quite frankly how can we forget to anyway.

Getting Back To It

Sometimes the best laid plans... you know the rest.  It has been a few weeks since I put anything up here.  See what was supposed to be a short weekend trip and a short conference turned into a 3 week ordeal of me being away due to a death of my father in law.  We did not plan this of course and nobody ever does, however, this was a time of my life when nothing that we wanted to do was able to be done.  We had more pressing issues to deal with.

What was more amazing was that in these times, how many people were willing to help.  Two great people came forward and said they would cover Sunday.  Many more came forward with one simple ask, and before a sentence would be finished the response was I've got it covered. Other things just simply didn't get done and people are okay with it.  Because we are reminded of our priorities and that sometimes tasks that lie before us pale in comparison to other circumstances.

The funny part is that so many well meaning people were willing to help it was too much.  Upon hearing of our loss, someone made dinner for us that night, while another person had ordered dinner for us for the same night.  We put that in the freezer.  Not one, not two, but three full size deli trays were delivered.  We had enough lunch meat and cheeses to last us weeks.  You want to say thanks for thinking of us but it's too much. But either way the burden of what to make for food was taken away.

This is what the family of God does: we take care of one another in a time of need. Support one another when we are not strong and we lift one another up when we are down.  We trust that Gods mercy and grace is with us always even in a time of loss. We are assured of that by the servants of God who minister to us.

And now it is time to move on.  I cannot worry about what did not happen but must change my focus to what is going to happen next.  I can by the grace of God do this as your pastor, because of the ministry of the church who carried me and my wife and my family.  Thanks to all for being the family of God.

Covenants

There is something important that David does in 2 Samuel 5 that establishes that he is king, he makes a covenant.  He makes a covenant with the elders and thereby all of Israel before the Lord.  David knows it’s good to be the King but it is only because of his covenant with God that he is able to do so, therefore he knows that in order to establish his kingdom he must make a covenant before God and before the people.  Now covenants are an interesting thing.  We talk about covenants a lot in the church but I don’t think that we really understand them. We use the word quite often in religious circles, and in legal terms as well.  But most often we understand covenants more as contracts. Contracts we understand.  They are usually written agreements for things, goods and services, property deeds, and the like.  But the thing about contracts is that they can be broken.  Some more easily than others but they can be broken. Athletes have contracts with teams, but how many times do we hear of an athlete holding out to force a new contract.  They say circumstances have changed since we did this, I know I agreed to be paid this amount for five years but that was 3 years ago, I was the best player out their at my position last year, so and so with the other team is making more money than me, I want more too. Sometimes that angers us as spectators when we see how much we are making and what we are doing to get by vs. what they are making.  Maybe rightfully so.  But in the same token the team can say you know you had a lousy year, we’ve got this other guy who we think is better than you so we are releasing you.  We aren’t going to play you anymore and you need to find another team if you can, good luck. We see the same thing in business, we se the same thing with banking, we see the same thing with life. Covenant, Contract: same thing.

But the true meaning of a covenant, in the Judeo-Christian understanding is not as fluid as that. Covenants in the Bible especially are made before God and each other, and the example of covenant does not come from individuals or kings no matter how good a king they are.  Covenants come from, and are modeled after God.  God made a covenant with Abraham not only that he and Sarah would bear a child in their advanced years but that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, and they would be God’s people and they would have Yahweh as their God.  And despite all that happened God made them God’s people.  God made a covenant with Noah that God would never again destroy the earth, no conditions. In fact I’m going to make a sign to remind myself of this covenant. God made a covenant with Moses that he would lead God’s people out of slavery, and that God through Moses would lead them to the promised land and establish them as he promised all the way back to Abraham.  When the people demanded a king it was God who made a covenant to provide them with one, first with Saul, then with David here, and despite all that Saul did, God did not do away with the covenant, God honored it and fulfilled it with David and his descendants. Covenant’s are not to be broken, and God does not break those covenants. God takes these covenants so seriously, that God has proven that God will do anything to fulfill that covenant. God chose David to be the King to fulfill that covenant.  And it was good to be the king.

We in the church can look at ourselves and say it’s good to be a Christian.  Yes it is.  But being a Christian, being a follower of Jesus Christ is more than just a state of being.  It’s more than a set of beliefs.  It is understanding that God has expanded the covenant to all people, and that while it is good to be a Christian, one cannot stop at words or belief alone to be a Christian.  We are in a covenant, and we are in a community together. We are accountable as a part of that covenant before God and one another. 

Open Minds Open Hearts

For the last decade we as a church have used this slogan. “Open Hearts, Open minds, open doors.” We’ve even made it a little easier to say by changing it into a sentence, “Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open.” You may have heard that during our commercial runs these last few weeks even.  It’s a great slogan and a great message, who can argue with it, in fact who would want to argue with it.

Many times the church has responded to this slogan by doing the easiest of the 3, opening the doors… and that’s a good thing.  Our doors should always be open to everyone and they are.  But one of the things anyone can quickly discover is that just because the doors are open, doesn’t mean that someone is going to come in. Further, just because the doors are open and someone comes in, doesn’t mean they will stay.  Luke 24 vs. 36 to the end of the Gospel, talks about a syndrome the disciples had immediately after the resurrection and how it prevented them from moving on to the next phase.

As the 11 along with the women and other disciples, were gathered in what we suppose was the upper room, Luke tells us that Jesus appeared among them, but lets set the scene again for how that happened.  Jesus had been crucified, he had been raised, and in Luke’s account of the story, the women had been to the tomb saw the angels who told them of the resurrection.  So they ran back and told the 11.  But they didn’t believe them.  Peter went to see for himself and still wondered what happened.  The two other disciples encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and then they ran back and told the 11 but they did not believe them.  Jesus himself then appears to them, greets them with peace, and now they are totally confused with joy and amazement we are told whatever that means, so then he eats something so that they might believe.

Now here is the problem, the disciples who have been repeatedly told that if Jesus was killed, he would be raised, forgot that very basic thing.  So instead they made 3 key mistakes, they closed off their hearts out of fear, they closed off their minds out of fear, and they closed their doors, hiding and afraid to share in the good news.

Jesus finally appears to them in the upper room and opens their minds. when their minds are finally opened eventually great things begin to happen.

They begin to think of what is possible. They select a new witness to replace Judas.  They begin to talk about  what may be possible,  then the day of Pentecost comes and they open their hearts and look out the church is born.

With open minds Peter and John heal a man who could not walk and the people marvel and Peter, now boldly speaks in Acts chapter 3 which we read earlier and says why are you wondering about this.  This was not me or John who did this.  It’s not our power, it’s not our piety that did this, but it is our belief and faith in the risen Jesus. Verse 16 says:

And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

Today’s church may have it’s doors open, but we have to ask: “who’s coming in?” But maybe even more importantly we have to ask: “who’s going out?” Who is bursting the doors wide open to a community that needs this healing and opening peoples minds to what God can do with and through us, by opening our hearts to care for the community we find ourselves in.  When Jesus opened their minds to the scriptures, and the apostles hearts were opened with the Holy Spirit.

I have and many other have been guilty of sitting inside and holding up just like the first disciples, and I can think of a few times when Jesus was in our midst and I didn’t believe it was him until later on. None of these can be excuses for in action. We must continue to adapt and change and dream what is possible, and that means approaching change with an open mind, which in turn can open our hearts.

If we truly are a people who have faith in a resurrected Jesus, we too can open our minds and open our hearts so that we can have open doors not just for all to come into, but so that we can be sent out. In the coming month’s I along with the Staff Parish Relations Committee in consultation with the Ad. Council will be doing exactly that.  We will be clarifying our mission as a congregation, analyzing our church structure, dreaming what is possible, and calling upon all of us to own that mission and orient our ministries around the mission, to reach those who we are not reaching. There is world outside our door that is waiting to hear the good news of the resurrection, and we need to bring it to them. But first we must open our minds to something new, we must open our hearts to let the Holy Spirit guide us, and we must open our doors to receive Jesus but also to share Jesus.  

The Usedto Church

There's a story about a group of students who were asked if they were religious, and if so where and how did they worship.  Some replied and said, "Yes I’m Jewish and I go to such and such temple, or I’m Christian and I go to Grace Baptist, or 1^st Presbyterian etc.  So another said I go to the Usedto church.  The group leader said "I’m not familiar with that church."  They said oh well my church is the church that used to have a big Sunday school program, and we used ta have a big Wednesday night get together, and we used ta have a lot of Bible study and fellowship groups and we used ta have a good choir and director and organist.  Most of the time when we get together we talk about everything we used to do.  "Well what do you as a church do now."  Well not much that’s why I used to go there.

Being a new creation means we are not a Usedto church.  Instead we are a church that is walking by faith and not by sight, trusting as God as leading as is doing things, engaging in ministry that gives people every reason to boast about us.  We want people to have a chance to boast about us and there are things that we can boast about, our focus on mission and serving as we have sent our missionaries out into our state and will send our youth out of state. We can boast about our community meal, we can boast about our work with Room At The Inn homeless shelter, and our participation in that important community ministry.  But folks there are a lot of things we used to do as well.  That is not all bad because as we have said we need to be doing away with what was old, honoring their importance at one time, but then looking ahead to what is new.  But if we are not doing things new, if we are not making all things new then, all we have is what we used to do.

2 Corinthians 5:17

New Beginnings: Engaging the Culture

One of the things that Paul was masterful at was engaging the culture in which he found himself and reinterpreting the culture understanding for them into a commitment to follow Jesus Christ.  He did not go into any one place and say you have been doing it all wrong, and your way of doing things is wrong, do it this way now or you will go to hell.  Quite the contrary, he would go into a places and latch onto the things that the culture held most dear, and helped them to understand that the things they were good at doing, are gifts from God.  He also showed them new possibilities about how as followers of Jesus committed to serving one another, other things did not have to be this way. The person on the street need not be on the street, because God calls us to give them shelter and food.  The widow who is abandoned need not be because God has proved through Jesus, that none of us are abandoned, so we too will not abandon a widow or a sister or a brother in need.

So to be a church that is interested in growing in grace and extending that grace to more and more people, means we need to be conscious of the culture we live in today, and how that culture translates faith into action and being.  Culture today is about instant communication, instant connection, and instant results.  We can critique this idea all we want and stand against it, if we choose but in the end we will find ourselves on the short end of such a stance.  The connections people make are primarily through their job, through their school, and through kids activities.  The church for better or for worse is not the place that people come to make those connections initially.

This is a hard conversation to have, but we need to have it. We also have a culture that is spiritually connected even if they are not connected to a church.  If posed with the theoretical question of why should they get up on a Sunday (morning which may be their only morning off) to go to a place where they will not necessarily be welcomed, potentially be objectified and not have in place a mechanism for them to connect God with their everyday lives and how to serve, the answer would most likely be no.  The spiritual person can listen to a good engaging sermon online specifically even on our church web site and download the podcast, read through the passage of the bible in their own home on their own time, and schedule a day to volunteer at the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity, and they have been served.

This is the culture we face.  Notice I did not say up against, but it’s the culture we face, because in reality, just as Paul reminds the Corinthian Church, we are not up against anything.  All of us are seeking to understand God and how God works in our lives through Jesus.  It’s the method and the means, and the understanding that are different.  The other thing you may notice is I have used a lot of us they language.  It’s really not appropriate, but I think our language limits us in this regard.  But it is not us vs. them, it is about understanding how we fit into the whole situation that grace will extend to more people, so that we all may be built up.

On The Death Of Jesus-Good Friday Sermon

Scripture Reference Mark 15:33-41

We repeat this story every year, and no matter how many times I hope for something else, it always ends the same, Jesus breathed his last. No matter how many times we revisit it, we are always confronted with the gruesome and hard fact that our encounter with Jesus always ends with his death. What is harder to even grasp is how helpless we feel to do anything about it, while at the same time how complicit we are in his death.

The disciples are complicit, as they stand by idly, watching from a distance, fearing that their fate may be the same. The women stand by helpless, wanting to do something but cannot. Only the centurion standing guard points out the obvious to us, this truly was God’s son.

Today we also must acknowledge, that Jesus death is not clean nor a quiet death. His life ends, with an agonizing scream of terror and pain. His last words according to Mark are not about forgiveness, nor releasing his spirit. In his agony and pain the only words he can muster is to call upon the psalms crying out is the Israelites in captivity did some 500 years before, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me.” But his death also resembled his life. In his ministry nothing was as simple or clean as people would have liked it to have been. Jesus broke the rules, touched the unclean, got down in the mud, and spit, and in it he gave new life and new hope to people who others judged as unfit or undeserving. And so just the same these same people condemned him as unfit and sent him to an undeserving death. And all anybody else could do was run away, or watch in horror and grief. And we too are witnesses and we too are complicit in it.

Today we live in a world where there are almost 3 Billion people who call themselves Christian. All of them today in some way shape or form are observing the events of this day, to acknowledge his death. It is striking that while there are 3 billion of us who claim to follow Jesus, there is still poverty in the world. Children are dying of malnutrition, while we throw away food because we are too full, and we subsidize our farmers to not grow crops. There are children left without mothers and fathers because they don’t have access to the medical care that they need, and is there. There are likewise children in this world dying from treatable diseases, many of which we don’t even think about in this country anymore. Oppression exists in may forms in discrimination, sexism, racism, homophobia, bullying, child labor, and even slavery. Yes we are complicit in his death when we turn a blind eye to such things or yes simply say, well we will pray for them, but what can I do, what can any of us do. Surely 3 billion of us around the world can do more. For as much progress we have made we are reminded in Jesus agonizing death that there is still far more to do. We are called to do more than to just transform hearts and transform minds, we are called to transform lives and to transform the world. That is ultimately why he died, so that others, so that we might live, yes even we who are complicit in his death, might live. When we ask what can I do we would do well to remember his words, and his teaching that reminds us that we his church have the spirit of the lord upon us to preach good news to the poor, give sight to the blind, and set the captives free, and proclaim the year of the lords favor. We can do this because the Kingdom of God is as he says in Luke’s gospel, is within us.

But today, all we can do is watch. All we can do is hide, all we can do is shiver is the agonizing cries of a forsaken, and broken messiah, echo from the height of the cross. We know today there is more to the story, but for now we must tell this part of the story, the story of him crucified, the story of his willingness to suffer and pay the ultimate price, so that we won’t have to. Hopefully when we walk away today, we can at least say, truly this was God’s Son.

More Than Just That

Many different church’s evangelize or spread the good news, or feed the sheep as Jesus instructed for a variety of reasons. 1 is simply because it’s in the Bible and Jesus said so. Well good enough I guess, but then what? Some do it because very clearly we have a choice to make as individuals, the choice to make of whether we want to spend an eternity in flames or in paradise. The sooner we choose the better. What would be unfortunate some Christians would think, is that those who don’t know would automatically be condemned to “burn for all eternity” so it’s our duty to tell, them, for their sake, as well as ours. So people hand out pamphlets and tracts and little pocket sized New Testaments with the Psalms, all for the sake of “Feeding the Lost Sheep.” Usually it’s about making that choice right then and there and then we can change the numbers on the big board. Another soul saved for Christ hallelujah! Amen. This however, makes the saving about us and what we have supposedly done by imparting this knowledge. But I think Jesus came for something more than that. I think Jesus laid down his life for something more than that.

In John 12:20-33 we get a glimpse of this when Jesus is approached or more accurately his disciples are approached and so they go to other disciples who then go to him. But anyway we are told some Greeks want to see him. Seems a bit odd at first. But then we understand that these are Greeks who went to the Festival for Passover as well, and turns out they are Hellenized Jews. Jews who were in the Diaspora, or spread out who were Greek Speakers and had adopted much of Greek culture. They have heard of Jesus and want to see him for themselves. Jesus goes into a very long dialogue as he is prone to doing in Johns Gospel, about how his hour to be crucified specifically had come. He has no time to see them now but in a little while they will see him and he will draw all people to himself. As he is speaking this the voice from heaven is heard when Jesus says that he will glorify his name, and the voice of God says I will glorify it again. Now as the murmurs of the crowd try to figure out what this is, Finally Jesus says, the voice came for your sake, not for mine. Jesus will be glorified but he does not say he will carry us off to someplace else, he says he will gather everyone unto himself, Jews and Greeks, Romans, and gentiles, slave and free, women and men, all nations all races will be gathered unto himself. This doesn’t sound like a messiah who is trying to get us to safety in some other place, nor is he doing it for the glory of his name, but he is giving himself up for our sake, and for the glory of God. In the end of John’s gospel,Jesus instructs Peter, who would build the church, to feed his sheep. Again not for Peter’s glory, but in order that all people in the world may gathered to him.

We don’t respond to these needs by handing out literature, about all the bad choices we make, or calling on us to say we are sorry for all our faults so that Jesus will save us, we instead love as Jesus loves. Jesus knows all of this stuff we carry with us. He has seen it, and experienced it first hand but instead of rejecting us outright, God gave him to us so that we might know love, and be love that is unconditional, and everlasting. That is the love we share for everyone. But we must also act. Again we do not act in a way that only hands them a survey, and say choose now, nor do we act to say, see what I’ve done, look someone is on their knees and is praying for forgiveness Hallelujah Amen. We see the need love the people, and meet the need, offering it in the name and love of Christ who is gathering all people to himself. We house and feed the homeless, we work for habitat for humanity or other organizations to provide homes, we clothe the children, we heal the sick, and we listen without judging to those who question, those who are seeking more than what secular society has to offer.

What I Think of Rush

Some people have been asking me what I think of Rush Limbaugh and his comments about a law student who testified before congress regarding prescription contraception coverage. Others have asked if the church has a position on his comments. Well here goes.

1. The General Conference is the only body that can speak officially for the United Methodist Church. That gathering takes place in about a month and last I checked, his name is not on the agenda. However, the church has spoken about the roles of women and men and about the rights of women in society. Here is what we say:

Women and Men—We affirm with Scripture the common humanity of male and female, both having equal worth in the eyes of God. We reject the erroneous notion that one gender is superior to another, that one gender must strive against another, and that members of one gender may receive love, power, and esteem only at the expense of another. We especially reject the idea that God made individuals as incomplete fragments, made whole only in union with another. We call upon women and men alike to share power and control, to learn to give freely and to receive freely, to be complete and to respect the wholeness of others. We seek for every individual opportunities and freedom to love and be loved, to seek and receive justice, and to practice ethical self-determination. We understand our gender diversity to be a gift from God, intended to add to the rich variety of human experience and perspective; and we guard against attitudes and traditions that would use this good gift to leave members of one sex more vulnerable in relationships than members of another. (BOD 2008 para. 161 E)

Further in terms of the rights of women we say: We affirm women and men to be equal in every aspect of their common life. We therefore urge that every effort be made to eliminate sex-role stereotypes in activity and portrayal of family life and in all aspects of voluntary and compensatory participation in the Church and society. We affirm the right of women to equal treatment in employment, responsibility, promotion, and compensation. We affirm the importance of women in decision-making positions at all levels of Church and society and urge such bodies to guarantee their presence through policies of employment and recruitment... We affirm the right of women to live free from violence and abuse and urge governments to enact policies that protect women against all forms of violence and discrimination in any sector of society.

2. So with all that said, in the manner that the Apostle Paul has stated, I offer my own opinion based on such. I fail to see how Rush's comments about this woman being addicted sex, and calling on her to make a sex tape for everyone to see, if she or any woman is to get contraceptive coverage, is respecting the equal role of women in society. I fail to see how that is treating her as a whole and complete person made in the image of God. I fail to see how how his comments can be construed as anything other than an act of violence and verbal abuse, and intimidation, directed at someone who was offering their opinion to members of congress, which is the right of every citizen of this nation.

Further I fail to see, how followers of Jesus Christ cannot condemn these comments and simply write them off as a poor choice of words, when they were made not in one segment of his show, but over the course of 3 days.

Again these opinions are my own, but I base them on the stance of the United Methodist Church which I serve, and on the Holy Scripture for which they are based. I pray one day that we will get beyond these gender and racial issues that divide our politics and this nation and truly be a people who serve the poor, work to eradicate poverty, combat disease, and build the true kingdom of God. That is a place where all are truly created and viewed as equals, made in the image of God.

Do We Know We Are Hungry?

Do we even know we are hungry? And along with that, how do we feed people, who don’t even know that they’re hungry? Kids are always a good example of this. When my daughter doesn’t want to eat the meal that we have prepared, the response is “I’m full.” “Okay then,” we say “you may be excused.” Then she heads right for the cupboard for dessert. So then it’s time to put the breaks on and say wait I thought you are full. Well this is dessert, She says. No if you are too full to finish your meal then your too full for dessert.
Of course we know it’s not about being full, but it’s about what we want vs. what we need.

Even Peter was not immune to this, as we read in the Gospel. He rebukes or “chastises” (as some translations put it) Jesus for saying what he must endure. Jesus listens for only so long before he finally bursts out and says “get behind me Satan!” Your mind is set on human things not divine things. In order to save your life you need to lose it, for the first will be last, and the last will be first. In our context today he might say: You think you are full, but everyone is so filled with air you don’t even know how hungry you are.


Before we can feed others we have to also make sure we are getting fed, and to do that, we have to know that we are hungry. Many people today may be guilty of filling up on church when we should be feeding on the life giving power of the Holy Spirit! I think many people could be identified like Peter. He is loyal and Jesus most trusted follower, yet even he doesn’t quite get what is going on and what he is supposed to be taking away from being in the very presence of Jesus. Jesus has to remind him, very sternly I might add, that he is feeding on that spiritual junk food we talked about last week. What will truly transform ones life, and thereby transform the world, is feeding on the spirit itself. But just like those non-church goers we talked about earlier, even those in the church may not know they are hungry. Hence the question again: Are we filling up on church, when we should be feeding on the nourishment the Holy Spirit gives us? Who do we invite to worship, or Bible study or to a small group? Why haven’t we? Are we ashamed to talk about our faith, or even where we attend worship let alone even live it? I suspect one of the reasons why, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why, is that we are afraid what people will find when we do come. We need to be nourished first so our minds can be set on divine things and then we can nourish others.

Many times our approach to bring people to church comes across in this manner. Those in the church say something to the effect of : you just need to get your priorities straight and get to church on Sunday morning. Yet they see no need to be a part of something else like a church, especially when we can say, that I pray anytime I want to or even hop on the Internet and listen to a sermon, or download a religious song. We must learn that we cannot force feed them. They are finding scraps of religion to stay alive but we must build upon those scraps, in order to truly allow them to experience the nourishment and feed the hunger that they have buried deep inside of them just to be able to survive in this world. A saying by Catherine Doherty encapsulates this “Lord give bread to the hungry and a hunger for you to those who have bread.”

Freedom of Choice

Freedom is something that we in the US have come to cherish. We hold it up as the highest attribute of our society. Freedom allows us to have choices, and to make choices for ourselves and for others. The frustrating part of freedom is it can also be very limiting. That’s right I said limiting. How can this be? Well, we all have the freedom to make choices, but we also realize that the choices we make have consequences. Now consequences are neither good nor bad. We have placed a negative stigma on the word, but it is really a benign word. Consequences are just the result of choices we make and the actions we take based upon those choices. I can still remember my oldest son when he was 2 and a half and they were learning about this at preschool. I found him lecturing the dog saying, “Jake you made choices, and choices have consequences.” I don’t think the dog quite got it. But in any event, some choices work out great and others not so much. Still others lead us to places and actions that we had no idea that the results would be that way.


In our passage from Mark 1:40-45 Jesus has a choice to make. And his choice has consequences. Notice what happens here. As the man with leprosy comes to Jesus he doesn’t ask Jesus directly if he could heal him, in stead he says if you choose you can make me clean. Now there is stuff to unpack here as well. Some translations say a couple of different things. Some say the leper asks to be well, while others say to be made clean. Some translations also say that Jesus was moved with pity or compassion, while others say he was incensed, or indignant but chose anyway. How we read this has a lot to do with how we live it as well.

First note the man was not coming asking. His approaching Jesus in the first place, is not a question, but it’s a statement of faith and belief. He goes to Jesus and lays the choice at his feet, he believes in Jesus and what he can do. Now regardless of how we interpret Jesus initial response, he makes the choice and lays hands on him and makes him clean, makes him whole. Lepers at the time were not only isolated because of the contagious nature of the disease, but they were also considered unclean as human beings, outcast from the rest of society, for their obvious sin, that has fully separated them from the community of faith. There really wasn’t a lot of hope for them. So for the man to believe that Jesus can make him clean is a tremendous statement of faith in that he recognizes that for the first time, in who knows how long, he has hope. He can be restored and he can be made whole.

Let me pose a couple of questions for us today: Do we believe that Jesus can make us whole? Are we willing to make the choice that lies before us stepping out in faith to approach Jesus with humbleness and humility, and trust that he can and do the things we are promised in the Gospels? Are we as the body of Christ going to make that choice?

In's and Out's

A District Superintendant in the Detroit area at the time, preached using this illustration saying that church ought to be like Cheers, as the theme song said "where everyone knows your name and their always glad you came". In many ways I still agree with this, it makes sense on some level. It’s great to be recognized and it’s great to be appreciated for who you are. I would contend that for a lot of years, that was the church. And people just came. But something happened starting in the late 60’s and has continued since where, that became less and less the case. This prompted the need for this DS to use the illustration. But I would also contend that in reality, that which was our greatest asset also became our greatest liability. We worked so hard at trying to get people to come and know their name, we may have sacrificed quite unintentionally the first the reason why we all come. When we gather in church and in worship it’s not just to know our names, but it is so that we can be empowered and strengthed to go back out into the world and to proclaim the name we all know and share that name with others. We enter into this place of worship, so that we can go back out so that others will know the name of Jesus that is alive and well and offering healing and hope to the world.


Essentially, if all Jesus was going to do was heal and cast out demons, then he could have just stayed in Nazareth. There was plenty to do there for the time being just as there was in Capernaum. But his purpose was to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God that he was bringing about. Yes that included healing and casting out demons, but that was simply part of taking the message out so that the children of God, could be restored and have healing and have hope because the good news he was bringing out. Jesus knew that eventually, there would be no more people to heal, no more demons to cast out, then what? Jesus knew he had to take the message out and demonstrate his power beyond just a few places, for it truly to take hold in peoples hearts and lives.

I think the church today is still sitting and waiting sometimes for people to come to them with all their problems and all their inner demons, and there are a few that do come in. But nothing that can occupy us all the time. We too need to be like Jesus, who moves on and takes the message out to the people, that there is good news. When we become complacent that is when problems start. And when we start focusing on ourselves and our problems and worry only about if so and so knows our name, then it is right for the rest of society to question our relevance.

Sisters and brothers, believe it or not, this is also good news, because while we have a crises to resolve in our spirit as a church, we know that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. There is no deficit so great, no Spirit so desolate, that cannot be made whole in Christ Jesus. Today that forgiveness and renewal is made new again as we remember that grace shown to all of us in the giving of the bread and the sharing of the cup. As we enter into the time of confession we know that we can rise and go out forgiven and made new so that together as children of God, we can renew ourselves and share the good news that Christ has brought to us, and we can offer it to others know that we have received it ourselves.

A New Teaching

We are talking about teaching and when we talk about teaching we cannot do it without talking about learning as well. Teaching in and of itself cannot exist without someone or a group of someone to teach. So when we read today from Mark's Gospel, it is as much about what Jesus is teaching as it is about the crowd he is teaching and their willingness to learn. My teachers out there know what I am talking about right! As one high school teacher said to me as we were talking about a certain situation, “Hey some days are bad days, some month’s are bad month’s and some years are bad years.” Sometimes what and how you teach depends so much on what others are willing and maybe even dare I say capable of learning.

I have experienced that myself. As a pastor I have several opportunities to teach and some of that includes confirmation classes for our youth. In a previous church we had launched a new program, I had a key layperson who was on board and committed to co-teach with me. We put our plan together, and we had a great year. These youth had so many questions we couldn’t even get all through our material each week, because they had a desire to go in depth on certain topics and we just went with it. At the end of the year when we laid our hands on them and confirmed this in the church we were so proud. This new program obviously worked, it was great can’t wait till next year. Then next year came with a new crop of students, a new crop of youth who were just... well at a different stage of learning and in their faith. It was rough to hold their attention, and halfway through we had to ask, “what are we doing wrong? This all worked so well before.” We had to realize that they were in that different place in their journey of faith, and their maturity, and we changed how we approached the class. Some of those youth now are great and faithful young adults, but it was hard to see it at the time. But what we could not compromise on was the core of our teaching in that we all are trying to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Truth In Our Stories

The following is an excerpt from this weeks sermon Fish stories:

Both of the stories Jonah and the Call of the Disciples in Mark, make us question their validity, because they run against what we think things out to be like. In Jonah’s case our reaction is essentially, “Come on how many times does God have to come after you before you accept God’s calling,” and yet we also ask after all is said and done, "Jonah, what’s your problem man? Mission accomplished.” Yet in the same vein when we read in Mark of the Disciples answering the call, we think, it can’t be that simple, how could anyone blindly follow that quickly and leave everything and everyone else behind with no questions asked.

The church today, I believe embodies this to a degree. It is probably time we asked ourselves this question: Are we truly serving and calling people to the kingdom of God, or are we telling fish stories to ourselves over and over again, so much so, that we have begun to accept them as the whole truth instead of an exaggeration derived from the truth?

Out Of The Water

What these stories of baptism represent for us no matter when we were baptized, is that while our Baptism is significant in our being a part of Christ’s holy church, it is what happens after we come out of the water, that is just as significant. When we hear how Jesus was baptized, and God’s response, we also have a response from Jesus. He was driven into the desert and faced temptations by Satan, and came out stronger and even more powerful than before. Surely it was pleasing to God that Jesus had accepted his mission and ministry, but what was more important was his going and fulfilling the mission and ministry he was sent to do. Likewise it is important for us as Jesus followers to fulfill our mission and ministry that was acknowledged in our baptism. It’s what happens out of the water that makes all the difference.

Unfortunately many times we have focused too many times on what happens before the water and about going into the water. Make your confession, be baptized and you will be saved. That is all true, but then if it only stays there, then we make our baptism about ourselves, and not about what God has done in us and what God wants to do through us. It’s kind of like taking a nice long hot shower. Anybody have a person in their house now or maybe growing up that took those showers and used up all the hot water? Yeah I’ve got two of em’. And sometimes it’s even me! Sometimes we just want to be immersed in the water, for it’s warmth, it’s cleansing, it’s escape from the rest of the world and all that we have to deal with in it. But we know we can’t stay there, eventually the hot water will run out, and we will need get out to face the world again. But we can do so because we have been cleansed, we have been renewed and refreshed. And that is what our baptism is about, as renewed, and refreshed, and people made clean and whole, we can carry the good news of the story of our baptism to the world so that others can be baptized too.

New Beginnings Renewed Faith.

Here is an excerpt from this Sundays Jan 8 Sermon. Food for thought. Feel free to respond and see what directions this takes us.


You may be asking: “Why do we continue to tell the Christmas story? It is January 8th already let’s get on with it.” But today is the Sunday where we mark the last day of the Christmas season that only began on December 25th. We mark it with hearing again the story of the Magi who come seeking the new born Christ led by the star. Herod who is lets face it, clueless, and more than a little defensive upon receiving the news, and the clever Magi having been warned not to go the way they came or tell Herod about where he was. They paid him homage, gave him gifts and then they were on their way not heard from again.

Sometimes I wonder if this story isn’t indicative of Christmas today. Just a few weeks ago, we had to have 3 services in order to fit everyone who came to mark the birth of Jesus. Today, we still have plenty of good seats here up front. But I also realize that some people here today were back for the first time a few weeks ago and are back here again. And that is why we continue with the Christmas story. That is why we hear the revelation of the Magi because we are reminded, that the sign has been given to us that we can have a new beginning, we can renew our faith, and we can offer our best once again for God in the transformation of the world, because we follow the light of the son of God.

Never Forgetting

Yesterday we marked the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC. In past years since that day, I have watched the TV footage played over again, listened to people recount their stories, reliving the tragedy as it had just happened again. I remember even a year ago watching the footage and the same feelings of anger, pain, hurt, fear, sympathy, sorrow, all flooding back to me. I was thankful in some ways that Yesterday was opening weekend of the NFL. I love football and this was I think a welcome distraction for me and for many of us. Yes I watched as the ceremonies with the Flag covering the entire field, and the national anthems were great. Those ceremonies were great. Then they went and played football which was great.

I preached yesterday from Romans 14 on meeting people where they are and then moving forward in faith. Not judging one another for where they are in faith but knowing that God has called everyone and we must respect that. I know that there are still family members of 9-11 victims who haven't and may never get beyond that day. This is understandable, and I believe that as a follower of Jesus, we who may not be directly affected, have the obligation to move on for them and assist others in moving on. That is how we live together in faith.

Yet I saw many signs on TV yesterday, and many adds, and bumper stickers that read "Never Forget." I have to be honest that that phrase makes me uncomfortable, because it can mean so many things. If, when we say "never forget" we mean that we should never forget the innocent victims who died senselessly simply by showing up to work, or taking a sightseeing visit, then yes I can go with that statement. If we mean that we should never forget the sacrifice that the firefighters, and police officers and even ordinary citizens gave in an attempt to save others, sometimes giving their own lives in order to do so, then yes we should never forget. If we mean that we should never forget the lives of the soldiers that were lost in Afganistan in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and even those soldiers who went to and are still in Iraq and Afganistan, then yes we should never forget them or their families.

But I have heard from too many folks that never forgetting means something different. To them (and I won't name names), never forgetting means holding on to that anger and rage, and directing that anger, towards other people. It means to them that we should regard all Muslims with suspicion, it means that we should sacrifice more of our personal freedoms in the name of security, casting further suspicion on folks who simply want to live their lives. It means that violence of any kind is justified in the name of honoring people. If that is what it means than I can't support the phrase never forget.

When we hold on to that anger and fear, and violence, I believe that we have then given them what they desired in the first place, a state of fear. Instead it is my hope as a follower of Jesus Christ, that on this 10th anniversary, we can remember in a way that honors the victims and families, the rescue workers, and first responders for the hero's that they are. But honor them in such a way that the initial anger, and fear, rage, and need for vengeance no longer has power over us. We remember in a way that enables us to live in faith and seek healing and hope for a better future. In that way I will never forget.

I am glad I did not watch any footage yesterday, I am glad I watched football with ceremonies honoring the dead and the living. It helps me to let go of that anger and rage and fear, so that I can lead others to that place where that day has no power over me or them, but only the power of the cross of grace, that has been given to all.

September 1st Epsitle

“Where has the summer gone?” If you haven’t said it yourself yet, you will (because if nothing else you just read it. Gotcha!). With the month of September rolling around we look back to May or June, thinking of all the plans we had for the season, what we set out to accomplish, and then compare those thoughts with what we actually did get done. If you are like me, and like most people for that matter, you didn’t get to everything on your list. We all had every intention of doing it, thinking that we had plenty of time. But now we look back and say well I always thought I had more time, but now it’s time to focus on other pressing issues.

But I also believe there is no time like the present. It is with this understanding and blessing that we are pleased to be starting the first phase of our church capital campaign: Building on the Solid Rock. We have known for sometime that we have things to do with our property and our building to ensure we are meeting the needs of our ministries and our community for years to come. But for many reasons, some of them good ones, we have put those decisions off until now. But now as I said, there is no time like the present. God is the God who places new challenges before us, and while we have some lofty goals in terms of the funds we will need to make this campaign a success, I am confident that we will be able to meet that challenge and fund not only these projects but even more ministries of our church.

I believe the time is now and I trust that God’s leading will enable and empower us to do some great things not only this coming fall, but in the years to come. So let us focus on that Solid Rock, where our foundation is built, Christ Jesus. Let us remember that it is Christ whom we build our hope upon. With that hope, we can build upon that sure foundation that was laid well before us, and ensure it will be there for generations to come. Together, we can accomplish great things in Christ the solid Rock.


Peace and Prayers


Rev. Steve

Shimmering Points Romans 12:9-21

This week we took a look at the segment from Paul’s letter to the Romans dealing with how we reflect the love of Christ both within the church and outside of the church as well.

As we read through the passage the first point we discussed was around the phrase “genuine love.” This is a major point on a couple of different levels. First, is our understanding of the word “love.” In our English language we have just this one word to describe a range of different things, therefore, the word has several different meanings and it is hard for us to keep them straight sometimes. We can say that we love our spouse, which means one thing, then also say we love our children which means something a little different. We say we love our parents or sisters brothers, even our friends and that means some a little different. We can also say: “I loved that meal”, or “I love that movie.” Which means something completely different. But it’s all the same word. Paul writing in the Greek has a few other tools at his disposal. When he talks about genuine love the word he uses there is agape which is the all-encompassing love we have or should have for human beings. But then Paul, takes it a step further using the word philadelphia, which is the love we would have for a family member or a friend. Then the word we translate as “mutual affection” is actually related to the first philostorgoi. Paul uses these words to describe the kind of love and affection Christians show for each other. Where this is different is in the fellowship of believers, it’s one thing to have a love for your fellow human beings, it’s another to love them as you would a close friend or family member. Paul is saying that from the very beginning, that is how followers of Jesus are to love one another. Even if they do not know each other. That is the trust that we place in one another, even to a stranger, because God first loved and entrusted us.

We talked about how it is hard to show this kind of love even for our family members, let alone to people in the church today who we may not get along with. In that we acknowledge that we sometimes treat the ones we are supposed to love the worst of anybody. That is where we rely on grace. We also examined the difficulty in our global society today to show that love to people who are most in need.

For our second point we focused, on the words “Bless, Rejoice, and Live.” Paul now switches gears here and talks about how we carry ourselves toward people who may not be a part of the church, be they pagans or non-Christian Jews at the time of his writing. Right off the bat, we are called to bless those who persecute us, not to curse them. This is hard enough in and of itself, not to curse them let alone bless them. But if we are to be an example of love we must bless them. But we also are not to prejudge others based upon persecutors actions. We are to rejoice with people when there is something to celebrate, and to live in harmony with everyone. This was a challenge for the first Christians and perhaps for any Christian today who believes they know the truth about Jesus. It is easy to separate us as better than them and therefore separate ourselves from them. We have a history of this even as we think of people who may go to “another church” Lord forbid! But especially for those who are outside of the church. It was discussed also that many times we cannot bless our enemies or love them is because of our own fear and anxiety. We struggle with so much our selves we avoid the issue instead of relying on God’s strength. We also discussed how, these relationships with others depend on our response. How do handle the persecution anger, etc? Do we respond with love or with more of the same? We may not be someone’s best friend after, but we have at least attempted reconciliation.


The Third point was “Depending on You”. Paul makes it clear that how the good news is made known depends greatly on us as Christ’s body the church. When people who are our enemies are fed, clothed, treated with kindness and respect, then the burden is on them to carry for not repaying evil for evil. Yet we acknowledged this is also difficult to do. Sometimes out of fear. Associating with the lowly, or those whose behavior we disapprove of is not easy and can cause more tension, however when we do these things we find out how much better situations ca become. There was some disagreement again over who was an enemy and who was a neighbor. For many people serving at a homeless shelter, or food bank, can be a scary experience, but ask anyone who has how blessed they and the people they serve have been. Another perspective was taken also that the lowly are not our enemies and we should not classify them as such. In the world of Christ followers that is most definitely true. However others disagreed in saying there is a difference between enemies. Some identify us as enemies, but our fear can also make enemies out of people who have no intention of being our enemies. Paul talks about overcoming our fear as does Jesus, and that is another step we all must take.

There is much more to discuss, so feel free to leave your comments or questions. Remember to read the scriptures and pick out what shimmers for you.