Lent is a time for repentance—for saying that you are sorry. But how do you show God that you are sorry? How do you tell your family or your loved ones that you are sorry? Sometimes I am really horrible at saying, “I’m sorry”. It’s not that I don’t know how say the words, it’s just that I often say them too much. So much that there are times when the words themselves can lose meaning altogether. In ancient times there were many ways that you could show how sorry you were, especially how repentant before God you were. You could tear your clothes, throw ashes on your head, walk around almost naked in loose dirty clothes (called sackcloth) or you could even stop eating! But, in the book of Joel, God says that all these outward signs aren’t good enough. They’re not bad, of course, but they are not enough! God wants more! God wants real change! He wants an inner change to go with that outward repentance. He doesn’t just want you to SAY that you are sorry, but to be made new!
The prophet Joel announces, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.” God wants His people to not just tear their clothes, but to tear their hearts? But how do we do that? How can you tear open your heart rather than just your clothes? How can you say you are sorry and make it mean more than just empty words? How can you change? God says, “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.”
Actions speak louder than words. When you hurt someone, sometimes saying, “I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it anymore. You must return to them and stay even when it can be painful. Maybe that means that you sit with them and say nothing at all and withstand their barrage of hurt feelings while you simply listen as they scream at you. And sometimes there is just no way of making something better, what’s done is done. What are you going to do then? What happens when saying, “I’m sorry” doesn’t seem to do much good? God isn’t interested in hearing you simply say that you are sorry. He wants you to return to Him and sustain a good relationship with Him once and for all.
In the arena of politics, there are often questions about retribution. How do we say that we are sorry? For example, how does our country say that it is sorry to the African-American community in response to the decades of injustice they withstood because of slavery? Should there be any retribution? There have often been calls for money to be awarded to the ancestors of slaves because of all the money and years and respect that were taken away in that time. And, perhaps, there is a place for all that, I don’t know. Someone with a little more political know-how should probably answer that. However, whether or not this kind of retribution ever occurs, I don’t believe that it would be enough to truly say, “I’m sorry.” It might help lift the burden enacted by institutionalized racism over the centuries, but those who were most affected by slavery are dead now and extra money or property seldom ever truly heals a wound.
Instead, I believe that the true measure of repentance will come from a lifetime of living together. When each person tears open their hearts and asks forgiveness, not simply for past misdeeds, but for our own prejudices. THAT will do more to heal a relationship than simply handing over some extra money. In the same way, God doesn’t simply want our money, or a little confession here or there, or a fast, or a sacrifice . . . he wants a new life—a new relationship.
That is why he sent Jesus Christ. Jesus was not simply the Lamb of God who could repay the debt of sin. While the Bible does say that he was a ransom, Jesus is so much more than that. His death was about more than retribution. He doesn’t simply atone for our sins, but he is Emmanuel, God with us. He comes to suffer with us. There is nothing we go through that he doesn’t go. He became sin who knew no sin. He came to create a new creation. To make a good tree out of a bad tree. To make a sheep out of you, a goat. So that you might live a new life in a new relationship with God. Producing good fruit. To be led by the good shepherd into a new and wondrous future created for you by a God who abounds in steadfast love.
Repentance is about so much more than retribution. God doesn’t want to see you suffer, he wants to suffer with you. He doesn’t just want a pound of flesh, or to see you walking around in torn clothes, He wants all that you have—He wants all of you. It is never too late to repent, to tear open your heart and confess your sins before God, because God has sent his Son to give you a new heart, a new spirit and a new relationship with Him. The goal of repentance, of tearing open your heart before God, is forgiveness. When God gives you a new heart to take place of the old one. When God makes a new you. When you no longer only have a relationship of repentance with God, but a relationship with Him in eternal life. Amen.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sermon for February 21st
Today’s message is going to be about temptation, especially what we can and can’t do about the temptations in our lives. Now usually, during Lent, we spend a lot of time focusing on the stuff that comes after temptation . . . repentance. But God calls us not to enter into temptation in the first place! So, let’s take Him at His word and figure out how . . . how to deal with temptation in our lives.
The main text that we will be focusing on today is from the gospel of Luke, chapter 4: the story where Satan tempts Jesus three times in the wilderness. When you heard that story again this morning, did you question how you would have dealt with those same temptations? Would you have been strong enough to say no to the bread after 40 days of not eating? Would you have had enough willpower to say, “No” when offered the power to control the world? Jesus seems so much more powerful than we are to deal with temptation. But my hope is that, after today’s message, you will understand that dealing with temptation isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than the sin in your life. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place for you when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with it. You cannot defeat the Satanic seductions of sin in your life on your own.
After Jesus was baptized and was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
A couple of things to note in this passage. First, since we are reading the Bible today in English, we miss an interesting point that’s obvious in the original language of Greek when Satan makes the conditional statement, “If you are the Son of God.” There are three types of conditional clauses in Greek: one of fact, one of uncertainty, or one contrary to fact. Fact, uncertainty, or contrary to fact. This conditional clause, spoken by the devil, is one of fact. A better way to translate what is really being said is to read it like this, “If you are the Son of God (and of course you are!) command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Why is this important? Because Satan isn’t asking for Jesus to prove anything. Satan already knows the truth just like the other demons and evil spirits always know who Jesus really is even when the crowds or the disciples are clueless. Jesus isn’t being tempted to prove himself, but to use his power. And even more importantly, to show his power to benefit himself. There will be other times when Jesus is called upon to feed others with a few fish and several loaves of bread and he certainly uses his power to do that. But Jesus came to serve others, not to be served or to serve himself.
A second thing to notice in this passage is that,when Jesus responds to the Devil by saying, “One does not live by bread alone” he is referring to a passage in Deuteronomy where Moses explains that the bread from heaven, the manna, that the Israelites ate in their forty years in the wilderness wasn’t simply to feed their stomachs but to feed their faith. He wanted them understand that they were being sustained by God alone. Moses wanted them to remember that they needed to rely on God even when they were tempted to pride and self-sufficiency once they were out of the wilderness and in the Promised Land. The temptation for Jesus isn’t just that he use his power as the Son of God, but that he use his power rather than trusting in God’s power to sustain him.
In the second temptation, Jesus is offered power over all the kingdoms of the world if only he will only bow down to Satan. Jesus responds, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” First, Jesus was asked to use his own power, but now Satan offers him other power. However, once again, Jesus trusts not in power, but in his weakness as a servant, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” When the Israelites were brought to the promised land, Moses warned them that they would become prosperous and feel very strong and powerful and at that very moment, at the height of their power, they would be most at risk to forget where their strength truly came from—they were not to worship themselves, or any other gods of this world, but they were to fear God and worship Him alone. When we feel powerless against temptation, isn’t it easy to think that we’ll find the strength to endure in the things of this world? So we try to escape depression with drugs and just exchange one temptation for another. And, in the middle of this shell game, we forget that God is our first love.
In the third temptation, the devil places Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple and says, “If you are the Son of God (and again, of course you are!) throw yourself down from here for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus now refers to a story from Exodus when the Israelites tested God and demanded water in the wilderness. They questioned God’s continued presence by asking, “Is the Lord not among us?” They wanted God to prove his love for them by showing off His power. Now that Satan has tempted Jesus to use his own power and to attain new powers, Jesus is now being tempted to demand that God show His power. But for the third time, Jesus does not yield to the persuasion of power and, in his weakness, simply trusts God without any miraculous signs.
As I explained at the beginning of today’s sermon, my hope is that, after today, you will understand that fighting temptation for you, just as it was for Jesus, isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than sin, death and Devil. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with these seductions. Because you are unable to defeat sin by yourself.
But there is a difference between how Jesus experienced temptation and how we experience temptation. Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we are already dead. As Paul puts it, “For as many of you who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death.” Or as he states it in Collosians, “You are dead and your life in hidden with Christ in God.” In other words, Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we, two thousand years later, have already died. We have already lost the battle to temptation, the battle that we hear Jesus is fighting in today’s reading. We have already died. Sin has already defeated us through the Law. When it comes to our own efforts, we are judged by the Law as condemned sinners. When you come up against temptation in your life, this is probably the most important fact to realize: you have already lost—you are dead.
Now, of course, that can seem quite upsetting even depressing. How can God expect you to fight against temptation when you’ve already lost before you’ve even begun? But believe it or not, it is not hopeless. Well, for you it is, but not for Jesus Christ your Savior. When you or I are tempted, we look for more power. The first place we tend to look for help is in ourselves. We look to our willpower or our previous experiences. Then we look elsewhere, maybe to a book or self-help expert to back us up. But, eventually, we succumb to the pressure of sin once more and find ourselves tasting the forbidden fruit whatever that fruit may be. Trusting in yourself to fight temptation will always be pointless because you have already lost and died, but there is one who you can look to that has already defeated sin, death and the devil as well as all the many and various temptations this life has to bring.
In Jesus Christ, the battle that appears to be hopeless is, actually, a cakewalk, by faith alone that is. In fact, according to the apostle Paul, now that you are out of the equation, dead I mean, now you actually have some hope! “Shall we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” He asks? Impossible, he says! “By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” It’s not up to you anymore and God has already won the battle for you. “You are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
In place of power, there is trust. God has given us a different technique for dealing with temptation and that is to trust in one who has the power over life and death itself. Not by testing God to prove or show us his power, but by trusting him unconditionally. The Devil misinterpreted Psalm 91 in today’s dialogue with Jesus. That psalm is not about miracles, but about a relationship of trust, “You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty—you will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust.’ The power of temptation is that we put our trust in the wrong place. We trust that by lying on a test we will get into college or by cheating on our spouse we will find happiness or that by going to a psychic we won’t fear the future any longer. We put our trust in the power of these temptations to see us through rather than trusting in God who alone has the power over all things.
What does Jesus do to fight temptation? Nothing really. He simply trusts in God, his Father, and in his Word alone to do the fighting for him and to contend with those that contend with him. What does God expect you to do to fight temptation? Nothing. Simply put trust in the right place—in God alone. Not in yourself, not in others or other things, not even in God’s miracles. Don’t trust in power, but in God’s unconditional promise: “I will deliver those who cling to me; I will uphold them, because they know my name. They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. With long life will I satisfy them, and show them my salvation.” Amen.
The main text that we will be focusing on today is from the gospel of Luke, chapter 4: the story where Satan tempts Jesus three times in the wilderness. When you heard that story again this morning, did you question how you would have dealt with those same temptations? Would you have been strong enough to say no to the bread after 40 days of not eating? Would you have had enough willpower to say, “No” when offered the power to control the world? Jesus seems so much more powerful than we are to deal with temptation. But my hope is that, after today’s message, you will understand that dealing with temptation isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than the sin in your life. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place for you when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with it. You cannot defeat the Satanic seductions of sin in your life on your own.
After Jesus was baptized and was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
A couple of things to note in this passage. First, since we are reading the Bible today in English, we miss an interesting point that’s obvious in the original language of Greek when Satan makes the conditional statement, “If you are the Son of God.” There are three types of conditional clauses in Greek: one of fact, one of uncertainty, or one contrary to fact. Fact, uncertainty, or contrary to fact. This conditional clause, spoken by the devil, is one of fact. A better way to translate what is really being said is to read it like this, “If you are the Son of God (and of course you are!) command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Why is this important? Because Satan isn’t asking for Jesus to prove anything. Satan already knows the truth just like the other demons and evil spirits always know who Jesus really is even when the crowds or the disciples are clueless. Jesus isn’t being tempted to prove himself, but to use his power. And even more importantly, to show his power to benefit himself. There will be other times when Jesus is called upon to feed others with a few fish and several loaves of bread and he certainly uses his power to do that. But Jesus came to serve others, not to be served or to serve himself.
A second thing to notice in this passage is that,when Jesus responds to the Devil by saying, “One does not live by bread alone” he is referring to a passage in Deuteronomy where Moses explains that the bread from heaven, the manna, that the Israelites ate in their forty years in the wilderness wasn’t simply to feed their stomachs but to feed their faith. He wanted them understand that they were being sustained by God alone. Moses wanted them to remember that they needed to rely on God even when they were tempted to pride and self-sufficiency once they were out of the wilderness and in the Promised Land. The temptation for Jesus isn’t just that he use his power as the Son of God, but that he use his power rather than trusting in God’s power to sustain him.
In the second temptation, Jesus is offered power over all the kingdoms of the world if only he will only bow down to Satan. Jesus responds, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” First, Jesus was asked to use his own power, but now Satan offers him other power. However, once again, Jesus trusts not in power, but in his weakness as a servant, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” When the Israelites were brought to the promised land, Moses warned them that they would become prosperous and feel very strong and powerful and at that very moment, at the height of their power, they would be most at risk to forget where their strength truly came from—they were not to worship themselves, or any other gods of this world, but they were to fear God and worship Him alone. When we feel powerless against temptation, isn’t it easy to think that we’ll find the strength to endure in the things of this world? So we try to escape depression with drugs and just exchange one temptation for another. And, in the middle of this shell game, we forget that God is our first love.
In the third temptation, the devil places Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple and says, “If you are the Son of God (and again, of course you are!) throw yourself down from here for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus now refers to a story from Exodus when the Israelites tested God and demanded water in the wilderness. They questioned God’s continued presence by asking, “Is the Lord not among us?” They wanted God to prove his love for them by showing off His power. Now that Satan has tempted Jesus to use his own power and to attain new powers, Jesus is now being tempted to demand that God show His power. But for the third time, Jesus does not yield to the persuasion of power and, in his weakness, simply trusts God without any miraculous signs.
As I explained at the beginning of today’s sermon, my hope is that, after today, you will understand that fighting temptation for you, just as it was for Jesus, isn’t about you being stronger or more powerful than sin, death and Devil. Instead, victory over temptation will only take place when you admit that you are powerless, weak, incompetent and unqualified to deal with these seductions. Because you are unable to defeat sin by yourself.
But there is a difference between how Jesus experienced temptation and how we experience temptation. Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we are already dead. As Paul puts it, “For as many of you who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death.” Or as he states it in Collosians, “You are dead and your life in hidden with Christ in God.” In other words, Jesus was alive and on his way to death while we, two thousand years later, have already died. We have already lost the battle to temptation, the battle that we hear Jesus is fighting in today’s reading. We have already died. Sin has already defeated us through the Law. When it comes to our own efforts, we are judged by the Law as condemned sinners. When you come up against temptation in your life, this is probably the most important fact to realize: you have already lost—you are dead.
Now, of course, that can seem quite upsetting even depressing. How can God expect you to fight against temptation when you’ve already lost before you’ve even begun? But believe it or not, it is not hopeless. Well, for you it is, but not for Jesus Christ your Savior. When you or I are tempted, we look for more power. The first place we tend to look for help is in ourselves. We look to our willpower or our previous experiences. Then we look elsewhere, maybe to a book or self-help expert to back us up. But, eventually, we succumb to the pressure of sin once more and find ourselves tasting the forbidden fruit whatever that fruit may be. Trusting in yourself to fight temptation will always be pointless because you have already lost and died, but there is one who you can look to that has already defeated sin, death and the devil as well as all the many and various temptations this life has to bring.
In Jesus Christ, the battle that appears to be hopeless is, actually, a cakewalk, by faith alone that is. In fact, according to the apostle Paul, now that you are out of the equation, dead I mean, now you actually have some hope! “Shall we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” He asks? Impossible, he says! “By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” It’s not up to you anymore and God has already won the battle for you. “You are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
In place of power, there is trust. God has given us a different technique for dealing with temptation and that is to trust in one who has the power over life and death itself. Not by testing God to prove or show us his power, but by trusting him unconditionally. The Devil misinterpreted Psalm 91 in today’s dialogue with Jesus. That psalm is not about miracles, but about a relationship of trust, “You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty—you will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust.’ The power of temptation is that we put our trust in the wrong place. We trust that by lying on a test we will get into college or by cheating on our spouse we will find happiness or that by going to a psychic we won’t fear the future any longer. We put our trust in the power of these temptations to see us through rather than trusting in God who alone has the power over all things.
What does Jesus do to fight temptation? Nothing really. He simply trusts in God, his Father, and in his Word alone to do the fighting for him and to contend with those that contend with him. What does God expect you to do to fight temptation? Nothing. Simply put trust in the right place—in God alone. Not in yourself, not in others or other things, not even in God’s miracles. Don’t trust in power, but in God’s unconditional promise: “I will deliver those who cling to me; I will uphold them, because they know my name. They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. With long life will I satisfy them, and show them my salvation.” Amen.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sermon for February 17th (Ash Wednesday)
Isaiah 58, “Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”
When I was in high school I tried fasting one time, or at least what I considered would be fasting. I skipped breakfast and lunch and, in the place of that food, I at peas, canned peas, and then drank all of the pea juice. And why did I do it you might ask? Well, you are not the first to ask that question and, seriously, I can’t say that I remember exactly why, but I do remember two important reasons: First, I was trying to better myself, psychologically, to see if I had the willpower to do it and, secondly, I thought that it would help me to lose weight—I wasn’t actually trying to lose weight, but I thought that it would have to help and that wouldn’t be bad. Thus began Steven Broers’ notorious high school pea diet which gained me the nickname “Peabody” among my friends and, certainly, created an aura of confusion around me for a short amount of time. Is that what God is talking about when he says that we are to come before him repentant and fasting?
Thus says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
I love Lent because it is a time to repent, to ask forgiveness from God and to turn from our sins: to change our minds about our bad behaviors and to stop doing them. You see, repentance is more than a change of mind, or even a change of heart, it is a change of direction. It is more than NOT doing something: holding your breath for 40 days until you can start right back up where you left off. It is deciding to stop doing something and to start doing something else. Not just to take a break, but to break away. But for many people Lent has become a poor man’s New Year’s Resolution. Already fallen off the track for that diet you started in January? Well then give up ice cream for Lent: I mean, it can’t hurt! Forty days of not smoking? Hey, that’s possible! And even if you can’t do it the whole time it has to be good for your lungs. Maybe if you make a concerted effort to get to church on Wednesday nights you’ll be off the hook for Sundays. Lent has become a time to work on our personal vices rather than following God’s Word and repenting from our sins. This isn’t a time to better yourself, but to take stock of your relationship with God and with others.
What does it mean to repent of your sins? As I said before, it means to change direction, to turn around, to turn away from your bad behaviors once and for all. So, the prophet Isaiah points out that God isn’t so much interested in you humbling yourself, but that you might lift up the humble. Rather than skipping a meal, cook a meal for someone who needs it, invite them over and eat less so that they have enough to be full. Send home the leftovers with them. God’s not interested in your losing weight; he’s interested in feeding someone who is hungry. Will you still lose weight? Perhaps. I’m always for starting a habit of Bible reading, but if this discipline is simply to better yourself, than you’ve missed the point. Read the Bible to someone you love and they’ll receive the benefit. Will you learn your Bible better? I hope so. It’s bound to happen. But repenting before God isn’t to build yourself up, but to follow God’s will and love your neighbors. God calls us to make Lent more than just about ourselves.
For this is the story of Lent, after all, not that Jesus came to be served, to show off his obedience and be glorified before his Father, but that he came to serve you and to give his life a ransom for many. His death on the cross was not to show off His glory, but to bring about your salvation. The point of Ash Wednesday is not that you put ashes on your head to show off your piety before others or to look the part of the guilty sinner. The time for bettering yourself is over, but hear the words: all you are is dust and to dust you shall return. Your chances for saving yourself ended when Jesus died alone. It’s time to turn away from yourself and start looking at the cross. Amen
When I was in high school I tried fasting one time, or at least what I considered would be fasting. I skipped breakfast and lunch and, in the place of that food, I at peas, canned peas, and then drank all of the pea juice. And why did I do it you might ask? Well, you are not the first to ask that question and, seriously, I can’t say that I remember exactly why, but I do remember two important reasons: First, I was trying to better myself, psychologically, to see if I had the willpower to do it and, secondly, I thought that it would help me to lose weight—I wasn’t actually trying to lose weight, but I thought that it would have to help and that wouldn’t be bad. Thus began Steven Broers’ notorious high school pea diet which gained me the nickname “Peabody” among my friends and, certainly, created an aura of confusion around me for a short amount of time. Is that what God is talking about when he says that we are to come before him repentant and fasting?
Thus says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
I love Lent because it is a time to repent, to ask forgiveness from God and to turn from our sins: to change our minds about our bad behaviors and to stop doing them. You see, repentance is more than a change of mind, or even a change of heart, it is a change of direction. It is more than NOT doing something: holding your breath for 40 days until you can start right back up where you left off. It is deciding to stop doing something and to start doing something else. Not just to take a break, but to break away. But for many people Lent has become a poor man’s New Year’s Resolution. Already fallen off the track for that diet you started in January? Well then give up ice cream for Lent: I mean, it can’t hurt! Forty days of not smoking? Hey, that’s possible! And even if you can’t do it the whole time it has to be good for your lungs. Maybe if you make a concerted effort to get to church on Wednesday nights you’ll be off the hook for Sundays. Lent has become a time to work on our personal vices rather than following God’s Word and repenting from our sins. This isn’t a time to better yourself, but to take stock of your relationship with God and with others.
What does it mean to repent of your sins? As I said before, it means to change direction, to turn around, to turn away from your bad behaviors once and for all. So, the prophet Isaiah points out that God isn’t so much interested in you humbling yourself, but that you might lift up the humble. Rather than skipping a meal, cook a meal for someone who needs it, invite them over and eat less so that they have enough to be full. Send home the leftovers with them. God’s not interested in your losing weight; he’s interested in feeding someone who is hungry. Will you still lose weight? Perhaps. I’m always for starting a habit of Bible reading, but if this discipline is simply to better yourself, than you’ve missed the point. Read the Bible to someone you love and they’ll receive the benefit. Will you learn your Bible better? I hope so. It’s bound to happen. But repenting before God isn’t to build yourself up, but to follow God’s will and love your neighbors. God calls us to make Lent more than just about ourselves.
For this is the story of Lent, after all, not that Jesus came to be served, to show off his obedience and be glorified before his Father, but that he came to serve you and to give his life a ransom for many. His death on the cross was not to show off His glory, but to bring about your salvation. The point of Ash Wednesday is not that you put ashes on your head to show off your piety before others or to look the part of the guilty sinner. The time for bettering yourself is over, but hear the words: all you are is dust and to dust you shall return. Your chances for saving yourself ended when Jesus died alone. It’s time to turn away from yourself and start looking at the cross. Amen
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sermon for February 14th
“This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
There are times when I really appreciate the little blurbs placed above the readings in our Celebrate inserts each week. They often give good insight into the readings or background information that you may not have known. But sometimes I believe that they really miss the mark, like the one explaining today’s gospel reading. Here’s what it says, “The conversation about Jesus’ suffering and death is enclosed in a dazzling foreshadowing of the resurrection.”
Today is Transfiguration Sunday, but it is NOT a dazzling foreshadowing of the resurrection. What does the text say? Jesus went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white (transfigured). Suddenly the disciples saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to Jesus. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his departure (that is, Jesus’ death), which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. There is no talk here about resurrection. So why does the Celebrate insert decide to bring it up?
Why? Because it’s hard to believe that Jesus’ death on the cross is actually how God shows his glory. The bright shining face of Jesus holds more possibilities we imagine. It’s always a temptation to try and jump ahead to the resurrection and look past the death. But God’s glory is shown most amazingly in the cross of Christ. God has brought the dead back to life before. The prophet Elijah raised the dead, Jesus raised the dead, God even created humankind out of the dust of the ground at the beginning of creation. God had created life before—from nothing. But God shows his glory most dazzlingly by giving his very self over to death in Jesus.
In the passage just previous to Jesus going up this mountain to pray, Jesus says, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” Is the transfiguration really about the resurrection? Or does this event just make the march to death all that more offensive to us? Yes, there will be a resurrection, but the glory of that resurrection can only be understood if we can handle staring at the cross, with all it’s shame and despair. And Jesus’ transfiguration shows us exactly who is going to suffer from that shame and despair.
Peter said to Jesus, “Master it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Of course! Why go down the mountain ever again? There’s only death and persecution waiting there. Let’s stay up here! Let’s stay where the glory is! Where God speaks out of clouds and where Jesus’ face shines like lighting! Soon, Jesus will be abandoned by his father on the cross and his face will be covered with blood. He will be as one from whom others hide their faces, as the prophet Isaiah puts it, but here, on the mountaintop, we see God’s glory.
Everyone needs a good mountaintop experience sometime. The honeymoon, the winner’s circle, the fifteen minutes of fame. A moment in time where everything seems to be going right and life is amazing. The problem comes when we start demanding that that be the norm or start thinking that those experiences are somehow better, more “divine” and “godly” than the other experiences in life. The love in marriage isn’t defined by the honeymoon bliss, but by the years of careful attention to each other’s needs. Amazingly, love is most gloriously manifested when it goes through the suffering of death. That’s where you see true love. If couples never left the honeymoon suite, never came down from that mountaintop, the true glory of love would never come about. Jesus’ glory is surely shown when he is transfigured and when he is resurrected, but the true glory of God’s love will come across most clearly on the cross of Calvary.
My wife’s uncle is a Methodist pastor in Texas and I’ve heard about an example he gave one time for a group of couples preparing for marriage. I thought this story would be especially appropriate on Valentine’s Day. He took off his wedding ring and talked about how, when he was first married, it was bright, shiny and perfect looking. Now, it has dents and scratches. Marriage, like all relationships, isn’t perfect, it is full of ups and downs, mountaintop experiences and deep down sufferings. But those dents and scratches in a marriage, and in a ring, make it real, make it true, make it a reflection of a long-lasting and steadfast love.
In Jesus’ transfiguration, God is not simply foreshadowing the resurrection, but placing a spotlight on a man headed for crucifixion. Because love doesn’t always look pretty. While we hide our faces from the cruelty, Jesus does not hide his face from us. His disciples abandoned their Lord and still, when the thief being crucified beside him cries out, Jesus hears and promises that God will not abandon him—“Today you will be with me in paradise.” The cross of Christ is a true reflection of God’s glory, for he is most glorious when he is showing his love for you. There is no greater love than this, Jesus maintains, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Why the Transfiguration? God shows the world, in Jesus’ shining image, that God does not expect anyone to take this suffering from him. God does not expect anyone to take this suffering WITH him. God shows the disciples, on that mountaintop, that God will express his love in the fullest way that he can fathom, when Jesus dies alone, God’s chosen one, the lamb of God, sacrificed for the sins of the world—for your sins. And so, when the dazzling light disappears and the cloud passes, it is time for the journey to Jerusalem. The journey to the cross will be made not just by another prophet or charismatic preacher, but by God’s Son. Who will bear the sins of the world? God himself in all his glory. From the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. Amen.
There are times when I really appreciate the little blurbs placed above the readings in our Celebrate inserts each week. They often give good insight into the readings or background information that you may not have known. But sometimes I believe that they really miss the mark, like the one explaining today’s gospel reading. Here’s what it says, “The conversation about Jesus’ suffering and death is enclosed in a dazzling foreshadowing of the resurrection.”
Today is Transfiguration Sunday, but it is NOT a dazzling foreshadowing of the resurrection. What does the text say? Jesus went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white (transfigured). Suddenly the disciples saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to Jesus. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his departure (that is, Jesus’ death), which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. There is no talk here about resurrection. So why does the Celebrate insert decide to bring it up?
Why? Because it’s hard to believe that Jesus’ death on the cross is actually how God shows his glory. The bright shining face of Jesus holds more possibilities we imagine. It’s always a temptation to try and jump ahead to the resurrection and look past the death. But God’s glory is shown most amazingly in the cross of Christ. God has brought the dead back to life before. The prophet Elijah raised the dead, Jesus raised the dead, God even created humankind out of the dust of the ground at the beginning of creation. God had created life before—from nothing. But God shows his glory most dazzlingly by giving his very self over to death in Jesus.
In the passage just previous to Jesus going up this mountain to pray, Jesus says, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” Is the transfiguration really about the resurrection? Or does this event just make the march to death all that more offensive to us? Yes, there will be a resurrection, but the glory of that resurrection can only be understood if we can handle staring at the cross, with all it’s shame and despair. And Jesus’ transfiguration shows us exactly who is going to suffer from that shame and despair.
Peter said to Jesus, “Master it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Of course! Why go down the mountain ever again? There’s only death and persecution waiting there. Let’s stay up here! Let’s stay where the glory is! Where God speaks out of clouds and where Jesus’ face shines like lighting! Soon, Jesus will be abandoned by his father on the cross and his face will be covered with blood. He will be as one from whom others hide their faces, as the prophet Isaiah puts it, but here, on the mountaintop, we see God’s glory.
Everyone needs a good mountaintop experience sometime. The honeymoon, the winner’s circle, the fifteen minutes of fame. A moment in time where everything seems to be going right and life is amazing. The problem comes when we start demanding that that be the norm or start thinking that those experiences are somehow better, more “divine” and “godly” than the other experiences in life. The love in marriage isn’t defined by the honeymoon bliss, but by the years of careful attention to each other’s needs. Amazingly, love is most gloriously manifested when it goes through the suffering of death. That’s where you see true love. If couples never left the honeymoon suite, never came down from that mountaintop, the true glory of love would never come about. Jesus’ glory is surely shown when he is transfigured and when he is resurrected, but the true glory of God’s love will come across most clearly on the cross of Calvary.
My wife’s uncle is a Methodist pastor in Texas and I’ve heard about an example he gave one time for a group of couples preparing for marriage. I thought this story would be especially appropriate on Valentine’s Day. He took off his wedding ring and talked about how, when he was first married, it was bright, shiny and perfect looking. Now, it has dents and scratches. Marriage, like all relationships, isn’t perfect, it is full of ups and downs, mountaintop experiences and deep down sufferings. But those dents and scratches in a marriage, and in a ring, make it real, make it true, make it a reflection of a long-lasting and steadfast love.
In Jesus’ transfiguration, God is not simply foreshadowing the resurrection, but placing a spotlight on a man headed for crucifixion. Because love doesn’t always look pretty. While we hide our faces from the cruelty, Jesus does not hide his face from us. His disciples abandoned their Lord and still, when the thief being crucified beside him cries out, Jesus hears and promises that God will not abandon him—“Today you will be with me in paradise.” The cross of Christ is a true reflection of God’s glory, for he is most glorious when he is showing his love for you. There is no greater love than this, Jesus maintains, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Why the Transfiguration? God shows the world, in Jesus’ shining image, that God does not expect anyone to take this suffering from him. God does not expect anyone to take this suffering WITH him. God shows the disciples, on that mountaintop, that God will express his love in the fullest way that he can fathom, when Jesus dies alone, God’s chosen one, the lamb of God, sacrificed for the sins of the world—for your sins. And so, when the dazzling light disappears and the cloud passes, it is time for the journey to Jerusalem. The journey to the cross will be made not just by another prophet or charismatic preacher, but by God’s Son. Who will bear the sins of the world? God himself in all his glory. From the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. Amen.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sermon for February 7th
As I mentioned a long time ago, I used to go fishing a lot with my Grandpa in Kansas. We fished his two ponds and some local ones as well on occasion. Sometimes we even ate some that we had caught, but usually we just fished for pleasure. Now, every once in awhile, I consider how some of my growing up experiences have prepared me to be a pastor, but only this week, after reading the gospel text from Luke, did I realize how much fishing prepared me to do what I do. In fact, you should all go fishing sometime just to see what I mean. Now I know that some of you may know a whole lot about fishing, but I never really have and, in fact, that’s part of the reason these fishing experiences have been so helpful to me.
Imagine looking into a pond or a lake. What can you see? Nothing, right? What about in the Housatonic river? You see the currents. Maybe you even see a fish jump up trying to catch a taste of a fly, but once it goes back under that water you don’t have a clue what’s going on. Bodies of water are really quite strange and terrifying when you think about it because most of us have no real idea whatsoever what is going down underneath us. It is a mystery, especially to me as a boy fishing with my grandpa.
But grandpa taught me that if I took a rod, and hooked on some bait, and threw it out into a pond, chances were that after enough times a fish might hit and I would catch it. I have taken this fact for granted, but, truly, the fact that I threw that line in time after time was based on a very blind faith in what my Grandpa said. I have never had a clue how many fish were in a pond, or where the bottom was, or what else was in there, or what lure to use, or when to go fishing, and yet I kept doing it and, more amazing than the fact that I did it, was the fact that it worked so many times! Me! A complete fishing moron became a pretty ok fisherman after years of practice. Not because I knew what I was doing, but because I had been given the faith to keep throwing that line into that mysterious water hoping that, eventually, a fish would take the bait.
Simon Peter, Jesus’ disciple, was NOT a fishing moron like me. He fished for a living. He and his partners threw down their nets into the sea of Gennesaret and the fish they caught were probably both their livelihood and their next meal. They no doubt knew where the best places were to fish, when the best times were to fish, what fish they would probably catch and how long they’d need to do it. So when Jesus told them to “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” he was talking to a professional. And what did this professional fisherman say? “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.” This is not the statement of a slacker, or of a neophyte fisherman who doesn’t know any better. Simon Peter had the knowledge and experience that they weren’t going to be catching anything of any consequence by casting the nets right then. If anyone should have known, it would have been Simon Peter. And yet, for whatever reason, be it simply to humor Jesus or to be an obedient disciple, he did as Jesus asked and started fishing.
Now if Jesus had asked me to throw down a net and catch some fish, I would have been happy if I had caught anything. But I would not have been “astonished” or “afraid” as the text puts it. I would have been as pleased as any time I catch a fish because I don’t have a clue how it happened! I don’t understand the mystery of fishing. But Simon Peter did. He was a professional fisherman. And when the net began to break because of all the fish they were hauling in, and when he had to call over his partners for an extra boat to help, and when both boats were sinking, Simon Peter understood something I never will ever understand completely: Jesus had done a miracle. Jesus had affected the laws of fishing and made fish come that shouldn’t have been there. And while I would have been unaffected by such a miracle, Simon Peter understood the implications. He had followed Jesus’ command and done something that was impossible. I don’t know if Simon Peter had faith at first when he let down those nets, but after he caught so many fish that his boat almost sunk, you can bet that he would trusted whatever Jesus said.
And now comes the part that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon; the part where I realized that fishing had truly prepared me for ministry in ways that I had never realized. Jesus tells Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Imagine that Jesus had started the conversation with that statement: “from now on you will be catching people.” I’ll be you that Simon would have been clueless as to where to start, right? It would have seemed impossible! How were the disciples, a bunch of fishermen, going to make it so that people would start following Jesus? Imagine how difficult it would have seemed after Jesus had been crucified! But Simon had just witnessed a miracle of the kind of proportions only he, as a fisherman, would have truly grasped, and he would have realized that if God has the power to make fish get caught which should have never been there, he could be trusted to help him bring followers to Jesus as well, even as impossible as that seemed.
Every time I went fishing, I trusted my grandpa knew what he was talking about. I didn’t know how! I didn’t know why! But if I threw my baited hook into this mysterious pondwater, sooner or later, I’d pull out a fish! Can you understand how amazing that really is! It took a lot of trust when it comes down to it . . . or a lot of faith as some people call it. Now, as a pastor, but more importantly as a Christian, God calls me to trust him with a new command: fish for people. I understand that about as much as you do. I don’t know how to make someone believe on Jesus Christ. I don’t know why they would give up their old lives and start a new one. But Jesus tells each one of us that, as his disciples, we are expected to go out into the deep water of our lives, and start casting out our nets. The net is Jesus Christ. We’re not baiting our hooks with the latest church growth fad. We give people Jesus and he draws them into faith.
You could probably tell me 101 excuses for why people won’t listen to you and I’d believe you. New England is too liberal for Jesus, you might say. People don’t care about faith, you might argue. I don’t know what to say, you might insist. And, no doubt, as an expert in your field I bet you are right. You probably have no right to expect that your friends would come to church with you. You know your coworkers well enough to know that they’d be offended if you asked them whether they believed in Jesus Christ. I believe you! You don’t have enough time to talk to people about your faith in Jesus Christ. Just like Simon Peter knew enough to know that Jesus was asking him to do something impossible by throwing out his net into waters he knew would be empty. And yet, according to the word of Jesus Christ, his net came out with an abundance of fish.
You don’t need to understand how it’s going to happen. You don’t need to understand why it’s going to happen. But Jesus Christ has commanded us as his disciples to cast out our nets, to let Jesus loose in the world by our words and actions by bringing them to church, speaking about our faith in Jesus, sharing God’s forgiveness with them or helping them understand God’s commandments. And even though we all know that it would take a miracle for anyone to listen to us and start believing that Jesus Christ is their lord and Savior, according to today’s text, Jesus is in the habit of doing miracles. We can trust him to keep his word and do the impossible . . . even through poor fishermen like us. Amen.
Imagine looking into a pond or a lake. What can you see? Nothing, right? What about in the Housatonic river? You see the currents. Maybe you even see a fish jump up trying to catch a taste of a fly, but once it goes back under that water you don’t have a clue what’s going on. Bodies of water are really quite strange and terrifying when you think about it because most of us have no real idea whatsoever what is going down underneath us. It is a mystery, especially to me as a boy fishing with my grandpa.
But grandpa taught me that if I took a rod, and hooked on some bait, and threw it out into a pond, chances were that after enough times a fish might hit and I would catch it. I have taken this fact for granted, but, truly, the fact that I threw that line in time after time was based on a very blind faith in what my Grandpa said. I have never had a clue how many fish were in a pond, or where the bottom was, or what else was in there, or what lure to use, or when to go fishing, and yet I kept doing it and, more amazing than the fact that I did it, was the fact that it worked so many times! Me! A complete fishing moron became a pretty ok fisherman after years of practice. Not because I knew what I was doing, but because I had been given the faith to keep throwing that line into that mysterious water hoping that, eventually, a fish would take the bait.
Simon Peter, Jesus’ disciple, was NOT a fishing moron like me. He fished for a living. He and his partners threw down their nets into the sea of Gennesaret and the fish they caught were probably both their livelihood and their next meal. They no doubt knew where the best places were to fish, when the best times were to fish, what fish they would probably catch and how long they’d need to do it. So when Jesus told them to “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” he was talking to a professional. And what did this professional fisherman say? “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.” This is not the statement of a slacker, or of a neophyte fisherman who doesn’t know any better. Simon Peter had the knowledge and experience that they weren’t going to be catching anything of any consequence by casting the nets right then. If anyone should have known, it would have been Simon Peter. And yet, for whatever reason, be it simply to humor Jesus or to be an obedient disciple, he did as Jesus asked and started fishing.
Now if Jesus had asked me to throw down a net and catch some fish, I would have been happy if I had caught anything. But I would not have been “astonished” or “afraid” as the text puts it. I would have been as pleased as any time I catch a fish because I don’t have a clue how it happened! I don’t understand the mystery of fishing. But Simon Peter did. He was a professional fisherman. And when the net began to break because of all the fish they were hauling in, and when he had to call over his partners for an extra boat to help, and when both boats were sinking, Simon Peter understood something I never will ever understand completely: Jesus had done a miracle. Jesus had affected the laws of fishing and made fish come that shouldn’t have been there. And while I would have been unaffected by such a miracle, Simon Peter understood the implications. He had followed Jesus’ command and done something that was impossible. I don’t know if Simon Peter had faith at first when he let down those nets, but after he caught so many fish that his boat almost sunk, you can bet that he would trusted whatever Jesus said.
And now comes the part that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon; the part where I realized that fishing had truly prepared me for ministry in ways that I had never realized. Jesus tells Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Imagine that Jesus had started the conversation with that statement: “from now on you will be catching people.” I’ll be you that Simon would have been clueless as to where to start, right? It would have seemed impossible! How were the disciples, a bunch of fishermen, going to make it so that people would start following Jesus? Imagine how difficult it would have seemed after Jesus had been crucified! But Simon had just witnessed a miracle of the kind of proportions only he, as a fisherman, would have truly grasped, and he would have realized that if God has the power to make fish get caught which should have never been there, he could be trusted to help him bring followers to Jesus as well, even as impossible as that seemed.
Every time I went fishing, I trusted my grandpa knew what he was talking about. I didn’t know how! I didn’t know why! But if I threw my baited hook into this mysterious pondwater, sooner or later, I’d pull out a fish! Can you understand how amazing that really is! It took a lot of trust when it comes down to it . . . or a lot of faith as some people call it. Now, as a pastor, but more importantly as a Christian, God calls me to trust him with a new command: fish for people. I understand that about as much as you do. I don’t know how to make someone believe on Jesus Christ. I don’t know why they would give up their old lives and start a new one. But Jesus tells each one of us that, as his disciples, we are expected to go out into the deep water of our lives, and start casting out our nets. The net is Jesus Christ. We’re not baiting our hooks with the latest church growth fad. We give people Jesus and he draws them into faith.
You could probably tell me 101 excuses for why people won’t listen to you and I’d believe you. New England is too liberal for Jesus, you might say. People don’t care about faith, you might argue. I don’t know what to say, you might insist. And, no doubt, as an expert in your field I bet you are right. You probably have no right to expect that your friends would come to church with you. You know your coworkers well enough to know that they’d be offended if you asked them whether they believed in Jesus Christ. I believe you! You don’t have enough time to talk to people about your faith in Jesus Christ. Just like Simon Peter knew enough to know that Jesus was asking him to do something impossible by throwing out his net into waters he knew would be empty. And yet, according to the word of Jesus Christ, his net came out with an abundance of fish.
You don’t need to understand how it’s going to happen. You don’t need to understand why it’s going to happen. But Jesus Christ has commanded us as his disciples to cast out our nets, to let Jesus loose in the world by our words and actions by bringing them to church, speaking about our faith in Jesus, sharing God’s forgiveness with them or helping them understand God’s commandments. And even though we all know that it would take a miracle for anyone to listen to us and start believing that Jesus Christ is their lord and Savior, according to today’s text, Jesus is in the habit of doing miracles. We can trust him to keep his word and do the impossible . . . even through poor fishermen like us. Amen.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Sermon for January 31st
Our lives are full of blessings and sufferings. Why do they happen? Some would say that God is somewhere up in heaven looking down on us but not getting really involved in our day to day activities. However, the Bible explains that God does not stay away from us but comes close and gets involved in the messiness of life in the person of Jesus Christ. Others argue that we get what we deserve. Good stuff to the good people and bad stuff to the bad. But Jesus was an innocent and perfect human being yet he died on a cross. We have a God who is active and living in our lives. A God who makes choices that affect our lives. An electing, predestining God who works in the world and in real time. The problem is that knowing all this doesn’t help much. We need more than knowledge of God. We need faith in Him.
A reading from Genesis 4, “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”
Why? Why did God regard Abel and his offering of fatty meat and not Cain’s offering of grain? Does God simply prefer meat over carbohydrates? Is he the God of the Atkins diet? I overheard one pastor explain that Cain just didn’t care enough to get meat for God and gave him something second best and THAT was why God didn’t like it . . . of course, scripture says nothing like that at all. Nothing is ever mentioned about Cain or Abel’s motivations but simply what each of them offered.
What does the Bible say about this passage? “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s.” Abel had faith, but faith in what? God accepted Abel’s offering. Abel trusted that choice. Abel took God at his word. That’s faith, pure and simple. Cain, on the other hand, disagreed with God’s choice and decided to trust, instead, in the righteousness of his own actions against God’s decision. This led him to do the only thing he could do—get rid of the problem. And so Abel became the victim even though God was the culprit. Abel was not the real problem was he? Cain just couldn’t trust a living and active God who makes choice—who chooses some and does not choose others.
A reading from the book of Exodus, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Why? Why does God sent Moses and Aaron to free the oppressed Israelites only to decide beforehand to harden Pharaoh’s heart to the possibility and make him say no? The letter to the Romans says this, “God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.” In the story of the Exodus from Egypt, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart four times. By the time Pharaoh finally let’s the Israelites go, God will have killed all of the Egyptian livestock, caused boils on the Egyptian people, destroyed the Egyptian crops will hail, killed off the firstborn of all the Egyptian families and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Why?
Because the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They were descended from Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob. God had chosen Abraham to be the father of many nations. But why Abraham? “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. By faith he stayed. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old.” Abraham was not more righteous than anyone else. For goodness sake, he lied not once but twice about his wife being his sister and almost got a lot of good men in trouble because of it. But God made his choice and Abraham trusted God’s choice, God’s Word. Abraham trusted the living and active God who makes choices—even when those choices sometimes create suffering.
A reading from today’s gospel, Luke 4, “Jesus said, The truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Why? Why did God cleanse one leper and not others? Why did God support one widow and not others? Because God has mercy on whomever he chooses.”
Can you trust a God like that? The simple answer is no, you can’t. To admit that God comes into our time and space to make choices according to his will alone kills us—literally. It kills all of our dreams of finding our way up to Him, of improving ourselves, of becoming “holy”. He just chooses, he elects, and our great plans are thus destroyed. No one can love a God like that! We must defend ourselves from a God like that! And so we have.
A reading from this last week’s CNN.com, “Two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, the numbers have mounted. The numbers tell stories of death and destruction, as well as a global outpouring of aid. CNN has compiled the latest, most reliable figures available as the devastation continues to unfold: Latest estimate of the death toll 150,000 to 200,000. Another 194,000 injured. 134 people rescued by international search teams.” Why? Why did God allow it to happen?
If you’ve been following the news the past couple of weeks you’ve been privy to great examples of how people defend themselves against a God who is living and active and makes choices—choosing to have mercy on some and not on others. One conservative Christian commentator has argued that the Haitians brought this on themselves because long ago (he maintains) they made a pact with the Devil to get out of French rule. Others argue that it was just a matter of time before something like this happened due to the science of plate tectonics. You see, if we do not blame it on something—anything!!—be it ourselves, our country, the Devil or fate, we will be at the mercy of a living God who makes choices without asking us. How can we trust a God that allows, or worse, ordains, an earthquake like this to happen to the poorest country in the hemisphere?
But what happens when God does not choose you? What happens when God makes choices you do not agree with? When God does not bless you? What then? Do you remember the story of Hannah the mother of the prophet Samuel? The Bible says that she had no children because the Lord had closed her womb. To add insult to injury, her husband had another wife who could have children and this woman would provoke her and irritate her because of her barrenness. It wasn’t that God wasn’t paying attention—he had intentionally closed her womb. It wasn’t because she was more sinful than the other woman; in fact, it appears that the other wife was certainly no saint. So what did Hannah do? She trusted God’s Word. She trusted God’s choice. And she prayed to him! If we are blessed, we thank God. And if we are not, we pray to him, petition him and wrestle with him just as Jacob did until he gives his blessing. You see, by faith, God remembered Hannah and eventually she conceived and bore a son. When God sends an earthquake we must either lose faith or begin praying.
Of course, explaining that God is in control of everything just makes us despise him all the more. The only way to trust a God who chooses and preordains suffering is to proclaim the mystery hidden for ages and generations as Colossians puts it: That this God who chooses to have mercy on some and not on others has chosen to have mercy on you. That’s right—you. This God who preordains all things has preordained you to live with him forever. You are God’s chosen one. Did you deserve this kind of treatment? No. No more than Abraham did. Did you do anything to earn it? No. No more than Abel did. But you may trust God’s word by faith alone. I don’t know why bad things happen, but looking at Jesus on the cross, I know God’s final word is love. And because you know God’s steadfast love for you, you can pray with complete confidence knowing that God does not desire death and destruction but instead redemption and life. You are his chosen one and he has promised to hear your prayers.
God’s love for you knows no boundaries and will stop at nothing. God knew you before you were born. God who has sustained you ever since. And God has chosen to love you for all eternity. It’s one thing to know that God chooses some and does not choose others. That knowledge doesn’t help much. It’s hard to trust that kind of God. But I pray that you hear the good news: God has chosen YOU! And he has promised to listen to you. That’s a promise you can have faith in from a God you can trust. And when suffering causes you to be angry with his choices pray that God would continue being active and living and continue choosing—choosing to have mercy on those who need it the most. Just like he chose to have mercy on you. Amen.
A reading from Genesis 4, “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.”
Why? Why did God regard Abel and his offering of fatty meat and not Cain’s offering of grain? Does God simply prefer meat over carbohydrates? Is he the God of the Atkins diet? I overheard one pastor explain that Cain just didn’t care enough to get meat for God and gave him something second best and THAT was why God didn’t like it . . . of course, scripture says nothing like that at all. Nothing is ever mentioned about Cain or Abel’s motivations but simply what each of them offered.
What does the Bible say about this passage? “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s.” Abel had faith, but faith in what? God accepted Abel’s offering. Abel trusted that choice. Abel took God at his word. That’s faith, pure and simple. Cain, on the other hand, disagreed with God’s choice and decided to trust, instead, in the righteousness of his own actions against God’s decision. This led him to do the only thing he could do—get rid of the problem. And so Abel became the victim even though God was the culprit. Abel was not the real problem was he? Cain just couldn’t trust a living and active God who makes choice—who chooses some and does not choose others.
A reading from the book of Exodus, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Why? Why does God sent Moses and Aaron to free the oppressed Israelites only to decide beforehand to harden Pharaoh’s heart to the possibility and make him say no? The letter to the Romans says this, “God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.” In the story of the Exodus from Egypt, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart four times. By the time Pharaoh finally let’s the Israelites go, God will have killed all of the Egyptian livestock, caused boils on the Egyptian people, destroyed the Egyptian crops will hail, killed off the firstborn of all the Egyptian families and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Why?
Because the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They were descended from Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob. God had chosen Abraham to be the father of many nations. But why Abraham? “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. By faith he stayed. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old.” Abraham was not more righteous than anyone else. For goodness sake, he lied not once but twice about his wife being his sister and almost got a lot of good men in trouble because of it. But God made his choice and Abraham trusted God’s choice, God’s Word. Abraham trusted the living and active God who makes choices—even when those choices sometimes create suffering.
A reading from today’s gospel, Luke 4, “Jesus said, The truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Why? Why did God cleanse one leper and not others? Why did God support one widow and not others? Because God has mercy on whomever he chooses.”
Can you trust a God like that? The simple answer is no, you can’t. To admit that God comes into our time and space to make choices according to his will alone kills us—literally. It kills all of our dreams of finding our way up to Him, of improving ourselves, of becoming “holy”. He just chooses, he elects, and our great plans are thus destroyed. No one can love a God like that! We must defend ourselves from a God like that! And so we have.
A reading from this last week’s CNN.com, “Two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, the numbers have mounted. The numbers tell stories of death and destruction, as well as a global outpouring of aid. CNN has compiled the latest, most reliable figures available as the devastation continues to unfold: Latest estimate of the death toll 150,000 to 200,000. Another 194,000 injured. 134 people rescued by international search teams.” Why? Why did God allow it to happen?
If you’ve been following the news the past couple of weeks you’ve been privy to great examples of how people defend themselves against a God who is living and active and makes choices—choosing to have mercy on some and not on others. One conservative Christian commentator has argued that the Haitians brought this on themselves because long ago (he maintains) they made a pact with the Devil to get out of French rule. Others argue that it was just a matter of time before something like this happened due to the science of plate tectonics. You see, if we do not blame it on something—anything!!—be it ourselves, our country, the Devil or fate, we will be at the mercy of a living God who makes choices without asking us. How can we trust a God that allows, or worse, ordains, an earthquake like this to happen to the poorest country in the hemisphere?
But what happens when God does not choose you? What happens when God makes choices you do not agree with? When God does not bless you? What then? Do you remember the story of Hannah the mother of the prophet Samuel? The Bible says that she had no children because the Lord had closed her womb. To add insult to injury, her husband had another wife who could have children and this woman would provoke her and irritate her because of her barrenness. It wasn’t that God wasn’t paying attention—he had intentionally closed her womb. It wasn’t because she was more sinful than the other woman; in fact, it appears that the other wife was certainly no saint. So what did Hannah do? She trusted God’s Word. She trusted God’s choice. And she prayed to him! If we are blessed, we thank God. And if we are not, we pray to him, petition him and wrestle with him just as Jacob did until he gives his blessing. You see, by faith, God remembered Hannah and eventually she conceived and bore a son. When God sends an earthquake we must either lose faith or begin praying.
Of course, explaining that God is in control of everything just makes us despise him all the more. The only way to trust a God who chooses and preordains suffering is to proclaim the mystery hidden for ages and generations as Colossians puts it: That this God who chooses to have mercy on some and not on others has chosen to have mercy on you. That’s right—you. This God who preordains all things has preordained you to live with him forever. You are God’s chosen one. Did you deserve this kind of treatment? No. No more than Abraham did. Did you do anything to earn it? No. No more than Abel did. But you may trust God’s word by faith alone. I don’t know why bad things happen, but looking at Jesus on the cross, I know God’s final word is love. And because you know God’s steadfast love for you, you can pray with complete confidence knowing that God does not desire death and destruction but instead redemption and life. You are his chosen one and he has promised to hear your prayers.
God’s love for you knows no boundaries and will stop at nothing. God knew you before you were born. God who has sustained you ever since. And God has chosen to love you for all eternity. It’s one thing to know that God chooses some and does not choose others. That knowledge doesn’t help much. It’s hard to trust that kind of God. But I pray that you hear the good news: God has chosen YOU! And he has promised to listen to you. That’s a promise you can have faith in from a God you can trust. And when suffering causes you to be angry with his choices pray that God would continue being active and living and continue choosing—choosing to have mercy on those who need it the most. Just like he chose to have mercy on you. Amen.
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