This is my first attempt at uploading a picture to my blog. This is the the church in which I am currently serving as student pastor. First Moravian Church of Riverside NJ.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Common actions, radical ideas
When I was younger and went to Camp Hope[1], I realized that there were very few times in which I as a camper had control over what went on during the week. But there was one or two times during the week in which campers got to have a feeling of control. The meals where your cabin set up the dining hall were the times when you as camper had a lot of power. You decided who you get to sit with, who gets to be the “hopper” (For those of you who have only attended Hope’s Buffet period, the hopper is the person who goes and gets the platters of food.) and you had the ability to save seats for your friends that were not in your cabin and if you were lucky, you got one of the coveted seats in front of the fan. All this time at camp and I never realized that doing this was going against Jesus’ teaching about places of honor. In fact, when I really give it some thought, almost every single time I’ve had people over to my home, I rarely invited people over whom I didn’t want there. Perhaps this is simply something we might overlook because it is not something we engage in anymore; having huge banquet where the whole town is invited is a relic of the past. Who would want to have a party where they hung out with people they didn’t like? I know I’ve never liked eating a meal at Camp where I wasn’t surrounded by people who made me feel good.
Instead, Jesus calls us to surround ourselves with four different people when we find ourselves in a moment of celebration. The people we ought to be celebrating with are the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind (Luke 14:13). Now, just by a show of hands, does anyone in here think if they were to have a party this afternoon that they could honestly find four these four people without considerable effort? The problem which we run into if we really want to follow Jesus’ words is that we live in a country where our taxes and charities are already tending to the poor, lame, crippled and blind and although we can always do more to care for them, I’m not sure that we can live out the meaning of this gospel message if we seek to live this out literally. Instead, we need to realize that Jesus wasn’t just talking about people who were physically impaired but people who were spiritually impaired…people who have extra obstacles in their lives which they need help in overcoming if they are to eat a meal with Christ Jesus.
On Tuesday night, those of us on the outreach committee are going to meet to discuss how we can invite the spiritually poor, the spiritually blind, to begin a journey to meet a God who cares about who they are. We on the committee are going to be getting to know the families of the Vacation Bible School students who do not have a church home. Those on the committee are going to spend the next few months eating meals and getting to know those families, with the intent of sharing the love which only Christ can put in someone’s life. Some might consider this to be evangelism, and I guess if you think of it in the strictest sense of the word, it is, but part of the reason which we prayed the liturgy for Thanksgiving was because it is thanksgiving which is at the heart of the gospel story. We are able to give thanks by living the gospel by sharing something as simple as a meal, but more importantly, it is communion with God. Jesus isn’t asking us to fix everything in their lives; he just wants us to treat the people we don’t normally interact with like they are the most important people we know. We are being asked to be friendly, generous, gracious, and comforting to people who might never repay the favor. This sort of hospitality is a sign of acceptance, it tells us that we see other people as equals; it is a way of cementing fellowship.
Hospitality is something I’ve always been quite curious about. Last summer when I was working as a chaplain in the hospital, the word hospitality was used almost every day. One of my fellow chaplains used the word quite often and made it a goal to be as hospitable as possible. To be honest, I had no idea what the word meant. I thought it was being as nice and welcoming as possible to the people who were in the hospital. Sometimes it was something like getting an extra blanket or pillow, or other times it was getting a nurse or something along those lines. It always struck me as odd that this person was trying so hard to work on hospitality because she was already the most hospitable person I knew, at least when it came to being a good hostess. Then, just yesterday, I finally read a definition of hospitality that made sense to me. It wasn’t so much about an action as it was a way of life. Hospitality literally means in Greek, love of a stranger[2]. It doesn’t seem like an outrageous thought, but it really is a radical action.
There is another radical idea in the first half of the story today which I find extremely interesting which I always seem to fail at doing. Again, it’s another common, biblical concept which is fairly hard to live. It’s the idea of the first shall be last and the last shall be first, it is the idea that we are to live humble lives in order that we may be lifted up to places of honor by those who notice such humbleness. As I was studying some of the scholars about this text, I was extremely surprised to find a quote by a Greek historian by the name of Plutarch. I was surprised because I was supposed to read this text for my first semester in college, but I never got around to it. In fact, it stayed by my bed for all four years and I still never finished it, as I only read it when I had trouble sleeping. As far as I was concerned, Plutarch was the better than any sleeping pill on the market. But Plutarch said that “it is the small, apparently trivial act in which character is most accurately reflected.” And Jesus is calling us to be humble instead of choosing things which honor ourselves.
I know I used to try to do such things, but secretly, I was hoping for recognition. I was trying to outsmart others by being humble. I would try to be the last person to receive food in a community meal, and unlike in Jesus’ example, I did not receive recognition for it. Not that it’s such a bad thing, because now looking back, I’m much happier that I did not receive positive reinforcement for something I was doing selfishly. But around the same time as I had the idea to be the last in whatever line I was in, which I rarely do anymore, I started doing something which seems to work much better for me. I started holding the door open for people whenever I could. I started holding the door open for people at church, and then moved out to stores and restaurants. I’m almost always the last person to enter a building and I have to tell you, you learn amazing things about people when you do something as simple as holding a door for them. You learn who knows your name and whose name you know. You learn who is truly appreciative of small acts of kindness as well as who doesn’t want to look or speak to the person doing such a simple act. You also learn the people who you admire because they’re either willing to stand outside in cold or hot weather with you, or will hold the door open for you when you’re able. I did this at my home congregation for 3 years, every Sunday…and the last thing I learned is that if you do something for three years and suddenly leave, the church will soon buy an automatic door opener. (True story)
The challenge for all of us is show someone hospitality, to love a stranger this week on the simple grounds that God loves them too. Hold a door open for the rude person who knocked into you in the store… share a meal with someone that you know doesn’t belong to the family of God; do something, even if you know in your heart that you’re not doing it for the right reasons. Fake it till you make it. It doesn’t always matter why right now so long as it makes a difference in your life at some point and I hope that you come back to me next week and tell me a story about what you did, because even if it didn’t make a difference now, it might someday, and that is when we learn that our love is worth it. Amen.
[1] http://www.camphope.org/
[2] Fred Craddock. “Luke” Interpretation Biblical Commentary series. John Knox Press: Louisville. 1990. Pg 178
Instead, Jesus calls us to surround ourselves with four different people when we find ourselves in a moment of celebration. The people we ought to be celebrating with are the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind (Luke 14:13). Now, just by a show of hands, does anyone in here think if they were to have a party this afternoon that they could honestly find four these four people without considerable effort? The problem which we run into if we really want to follow Jesus’ words is that we live in a country where our taxes and charities are already tending to the poor, lame, crippled and blind and although we can always do more to care for them, I’m not sure that we can live out the meaning of this gospel message if we seek to live this out literally. Instead, we need to realize that Jesus wasn’t just talking about people who were physically impaired but people who were spiritually impaired…people who have extra obstacles in their lives which they need help in overcoming if they are to eat a meal with Christ Jesus.
On Tuesday night, those of us on the outreach committee are going to meet to discuss how we can invite the spiritually poor, the spiritually blind, to begin a journey to meet a God who cares about who they are. We on the committee are going to be getting to know the families of the Vacation Bible School students who do not have a church home. Those on the committee are going to spend the next few months eating meals and getting to know those families, with the intent of sharing the love which only Christ can put in someone’s life. Some might consider this to be evangelism, and I guess if you think of it in the strictest sense of the word, it is, but part of the reason which we prayed the liturgy for Thanksgiving was because it is thanksgiving which is at the heart of the gospel story. We are able to give thanks by living the gospel by sharing something as simple as a meal, but more importantly, it is communion with God. Jesus isn’t asking us to fix everything in their lives; he just wants us to treat the people we don’t normally interact with like they are the most important people we know. We are being asked to be friendly, generous, gracious, and comforting to people who might never repay the favor. This sort of hospitality is a sign of acceptance, it tells us that we see other people as equals; it is a way of cementing fellowship.
Hospitality is something I’ve always been quite curious about. Last summer when I was working as a chaplain in the hospital, the word hospitality was used almost every day. One of my fellow chaplains used the word quite often and made it a goal to be as hospitable as possible. To be honest, I had no idea what the word meant. I thought it was being as nice and welcoming as possible to the people who were in the hospital. Sometimes it was something like getting an extra blanket or pillow, or other times it was getting a nurse or something along those lines. It always struck me as odd that this person was trying so hard to work on hospitality because she was already the most hospitable person I knew, at least when it came to being a good hostess. Then, just yesterday, I finally read a definition of hospitality that made sense to me. It wasn’t so much about an action as it was a way of life. Hospitality literally means in Greek, love of a stranger[2]. It doesn’t seem like an outrageous thought, but it really is a radical action.
There is another radical idea in the first half of the story today which I find extremely interesting which I always seem to fail at doing. Again, it’s another common, biblical concept which is fairly hard to live. It’s the idea of the first shall be last and the last shall be first, it is the idea that we are to live humble lives in order that we may be lifted up to places of honor by those who notice such humbleness. As I was studying some of the scholars about this text, I was extremely surprised to find a quote by a Greek historian by the name of Plutarch. I was surprised because I was supposed to read this text for my first semester in college, but I never got around to it. In fact, it stayed by my bed for all four years and I still never finished it, as I only read it when I had trouble sleeping. As far as I was concerned, Plutarch was the better than any sleeping pill on the market. But Plutarch said that “it is the small, apparently trivial act in which character is most accurately reflected.” And Jesus is calling us to be humble instead of choosing things which honor ourselves.
I know I used to try to do such things, but secretly, I was hoping for recognition. I was trying to outsmart others by being humble. I would try to be the last person to receive food in a community meal, and unlike in Jesus’ example, I did not receive recognition for it. Not that it’s such a bad thing, because now looking back, I’m much happier that I did not receive positive reinforcement for something I was doing selfishly. But around the same time as I had the idea to be the last in whatever line I was in, which I rarely do anymore, I started doing something which seems to work much better for me. I started holding the door open for people whenever I could. I started holding the door open for people at church, and then moved out to stores and restaurants. I’m almost always the last person to enter a building and I have to tell you, you learn amazing things about people when you do something as simple as holding a door for them. You learn who knows your name and whose name you know. You learn who is truly appreciative of small acts of kindness as well as who doesn’t want to look or speak to the person doing such a simple act. You also learn the people who you admire because they’re either willing to stand outside in cold or hot weather with you, or will hold the door open for you when you’re able. I did this at my home congregation for 3 years, every Sunday…and the last thing I learned is that if you do something for three years and suddenly leave, the church will soon buy an automatic door opener. (True story)
The challenge for all of us is show someone hospitality, to love a stranger this week on the simple grounds that God loves them too. Hold a door open for the rude person who knocked into you in the store… share a meal with someone that you know doesn’t belong to the family of God; do something, even if you know in your heart that you’re not doing it for the right reasons. Fake it till you make it. It doesn’t always matter why right now so long as it makes a difference in your life at some point and I hope that you come back to me next week and tell me a story about what you did, because even if it didn’t make a difference now, it might someday, and that is when we learn that our love is worth it. Amen.
[1] http://www.camphope.org/
[2] Fred Craddock. “Luke” Interpretation Biblical Commentary series. John Knox Press: Louisville. 1990. Pg 178
Saturday, August 25, 2007
A new idea of education
Today is a day in which we as Moravians are called to pray for public education as well as our Moravian educational institutions, lifting up students and educators that their minds, bodies and spirits be open to the many things they will experience in the upcoming year. While this is something we all as Christians ought to be doing regularly, I found it very interesting that today’s Gospel lesson has both teachers and students playing a prominent role. In fact, verse ten tells us right away that Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. And it is a verse that most of the time we normally overlook to get to the more interesting parts of the story, where Jesus is healing a woman on the Sabbath. But it seems to me, that the reason the Moravian church has survived for as long as it has is mainly due to the importance placed on both teachers and students.
One of my favourite figures in our Moravian heritage is Jan Amos Comenius. I spoke a little bit about him earlier in the children’s message. He did more than simply add pictures to textbooks; his passion was education for all people throughout their whole lives. While that isn’t exactly the most exciting concept to us today, in the 17th century, very few people had access to education. It was mostly reserved for only the wealthiest males with very few females. Comenius’ revolutionary concept said that learning should be fun, for everyone, from the youngest children to the oldest adult.
Now, I would be shocked if this once radical idea was something any of you disagreed with. Education has become so common that we take it for granted, and our Moravian run schools have become so popular that they are considered some of the best private schools around. The fact that education has become the norm is a good thing, but the influence we have as people of faith is becoming weaker every year and I think it is time that we need a new radical view of education which is meaningful to everyone involved.
So the question we must ask ourselves is what exactly is it that we as Moravians can do to change the way people learn? I think the answer lies by simply rearranging the words in this congregation’s mission statement. Instead of teaching all by reaching all, perhaps we all ought to be thinking of how we can reach all by teaching. I believe that this can be done not by establishing schools or just hoping to bring more people into our churches by fancy programs. Instead, we need to work on building relationships which can enrich both our lives and the life of those we teach.
There is a man at the church where I am currently serving who is 82 years old. For the past four or five years he has designed the set for VBS. Normally, this isn’t exactly the hardest of tasks except he paints 12 cardboard panels which are four feet wide by ten feet high all by hand. He spent the next two weeks painting this huge scene that looked absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately for the church, this is the last year in which he will be doing all of this hard work, and I asked him what he would be doing with his free time. He answered me by telling me that he wasn’t really sure. One of the things I’m going to suggest to him, because he still wants to be active, is teach some of the kids who are interested in art to do some of the amazing art work which he has spent countless hours on. Its something where education isn’t measured in the number of things learned, it’s where education is the time spent with people and building meaningful relationships.
One of my own personal pet peeves with the modern culture is that we pride ourselves on how individualistic we can be. And even though I like to spend a lot of time alone, the times in which I have learned the most about anything are the times when I have been mentored by someone who gave me the gift of allowing me to be around then when they were doing things I admired. It is because of this type of education that I am speaking to you today, and I think it is this type of education that is going to make us better disciples of Christ.
There are more than just practical things that can be taught and learned. And as important as it is to learn practical things, such as art or sewing or how to do woodwork, we must be all be students of people who have deep spiritual roots. Who is it in your life that you have admired in you’re life because of their love of God and their love for others?
When I first thought of this question, I thought it was rather smart. Of course, I was asking it from my own perspective, but when I started asking people who were a few years older and wiser than me, I realized that most of the people they looked up to had already gone to the more immediate presence of our Lord. So the question we need to ask ourselves is who is it in this room that we admire for their devotion to God? Look around…really… taking a second to look at your brothers and sisters in this room and let your heart tell you what it is which you admire about them. Have you ever appreciated the way someone read the scripture or the liturgy, how they brought a bible story to life because they’ve read it so many times? Have you been moved when a person in your bible study prayed such a wonderful prayer and perhaps thought to yourself that you could never say such beautiful things to God? Have you ever been impressed with how someone always seems to be at worship, week after week, year after year, because you know they really love Jesus Christ? Well, the thing that you need to do next is find the courage to find that person after the service and share with them that gift from the Holy Spirit which you see in them. And when someone comes up to you and says that they notice the Spirit working within you, the greatest gift that you can ever give someone is to ask them to be a part of what God has already given you. If they have noticed that you are gifted in prayer, ask them to join you for your next time of devotion. If someone notices how good you are with tools, invite that person to help you the next you fix something. If someone says you have a gift for teaching, invite them to teach a Sunday school class this year.
Starting this type of education is difficult in its own right. Having the courage to point out the gifts that God gave other people is not always the easiest thing to do, but it’s a good first step. The second step is that mentoring relationship where you share your knowledge with the person who seeks it, and in the process, you get to know each other better, as you will get to know God better. The third step, in my opinion, is the hardest of all. I got this idea from the last place I would have ever imagined to bring into the church…my fraternity. We had four responsibilities which we were to follow, and I think that three of them fit in. These three were to spend time, take pride, and replace yourself. We already spend the time doing things which we feel bring us closer to God. Taking pride in those things means that are willing to share it with others because we know that it is all because of God that we have those gifts. But replacing our self is usually the most difficult. It is taking the things we have learned from others and then finding someone else who is receptive to the things you are going to share with them. That is the most difficult part of the learning process…starting the third generation of student teacher interaction is the one that means you are doing it right.
I went to a church planting seminar at the end of May this year and I believe that Pastor Sayward attended the same conference a year before I did. One of the stories that the presenters told us was of a pastor who challenged his church of half a million people which were broken up into small groups to grow by 50,000 people within the next 6 months. It didn’t seem like the easiest of tasks, until you realized that each small group had about ten people in it, and all each group had to do was to find one person to share the love of God with. Now, as Moravians, we don’t work with such large numbers, but if we spend the time with people, first with our own brothers and sisters, and then actively seek out one other person to share our gifts and love with, we will have a movement which will fill our hearts until it overflows.
One of my favourite figures in our Moravian heritage is Jan Amos Comenius. I spoke a little bit about him earlier in the children’s message. He did more than simply add pictures to textbooks; his passion was education for all people throughout their whole lives. While that isn’t exactly the most exciting concept to us today, in the 17th century, very few people had access to education. It was mostly reserved for only the wealthiest males with very few females. Comenius’ revolutionary concept said that learning should be fun, for everyone, from the youngest children to the oldest adult.
Now, I would be shocked if this once radical idea was something any of you disagreed with. Education has become so common that we take it for granted, and our Moravian run schools have become so popular that they are considered some of the best private schools around. The fact that education has become the norm is a good thing, but the influence we have as people of faith is becoming weaker every year and I think it is time that we need a new radical view of education which is meaningful to everyone involved.
So the question we must ask ourselves is what exactly is it that we as Moravians can do to change the way people learn? I think the answer lies by simply rearranging the words in this congregation’s mission statement. Instead of teaching all by reaching all, perhaps we all ought to be thinking of how we can reach all by teaching. I believe that this can be done not by establishing schools or just hoping to bring more people into our churches by fancy programs. Instead, we need to work on building relationships which can enrich both our lives and the life of those we teach.
There is a man at the church where I am currently serving who is 82 years old. For the past four or five years he has designed the set for VBS. Normally, this isn’t exactly the hardest of tasks except he paints 12 cardboard panels which are four feet wide by ten feet high all by hand. He spent the next two weeks painting this huge scene that looked absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately for the church, this is the last year in which he will be doing all of this hard work, and I asked him what he would be doing with his free time. He answered me by telling me that he wasn’t really sure. One of the things I’m going to suggest to him, because he still wants to be active, is teach some of the kids who are interested in art to do some of the amazing art work which he has spent countless hours on. Its something where education isn’t measured in the number of things learned, it’s where education is the time spent with people and building meaningful relationships.
One of my own personal pet peeves with the modern culture is that we pride ourselves on how individualistic we can be. And even though I like to spend a lot of time alone, the times in which I have learned the most about anything are the times when I have been mentored by someone who gave me the gift of allowing me to be around then when they were doing things I admired. It is because of this type of education that I am speaking to you today, and I think it is this type of education that is going to make us better disciples of Christ.
There are more than just practical things that can be taught and learned. And as important as it is to learn practical things, such as art or sewing or how to do woodwork, we must be all be students of people who have deep spiritual roots. Who is it in your life that you have admired in you’re life because of their love of God and their love for others?
When I first thought of this question, I thought it was rather smart. Of course, I was asking it from my own perspective, but when I started asking people who were a few years older and wiser than me, I realized that most of the people they looked up to had already gone to the more immediate presence of our Lord. So the question we need to ask ourselves is who is it in this room that we admire for their devotion to God? Look around…really… taking a second to look at your brothers and sisters in this room and let your heart tell you what it is which you admire about them. Have you ever appreciated the way someone read the scripture or the liturgy, how they brought a bible story to life because they’ve read it so many times? Have you been moved when a person in your bible study prayed such a wonderful prayer and perhaps thought to yourself that you could never say such beautiful things to God? Have you ever been impressed with how someone always seems to be at worship, week after week, year after year, because you know they really love Jesus Christ? Well, the thing that you need to do next is find the courage to find that person after the service and share with them that gift from the Holy Spirit which you see in them. And when someone comes up to you and says that they notice the Spirit working within you, the greatest gift that you can ever give someone is to ask them to be a part of what God has already given you. If they have noticed that you are gifted in prayer, ask them to join you for your next time of devotion. If someone notices how good you are with tools, invite that person to help you the next you fix something. If someone says you have a gift for teaching, invite them to teach a Sunday school class this year.
Starting this type of education is difficult in its own right. Having the courage to point out the gifts that God gave other people is not always the easiest thing to do, but it’s a good first step. The second step is that mentoring relationship where you share your knowledge with the person who seeks it, and in the process, you get to know each other better, as you will get to know God better. The third step, in my opinion, is the hardest of all. I got this idea from the last place I would have ever imagined to bring into the church…my fraternity. We had four responsibilities which we were to follow, and I think that three of them fit in. These three were to spend time, take pride, and replace yourself. We already spend the time doing things which we feel bring us closer to God. Taking pride in those things means that are willing to share it with others because we know that it is all because of God that we have those gifts. But replacing our self is usually the most difficult. It is taking the things we have learned from others and then finding someone else who is receptive to the things you are going to share with them. That is the most difficult part of the learning process…starting the third generation of student teacher interaction is the one that means you are doing it right.
I went to a church planting seminar at the end of May this year and I believe that Pastor Sayward attended the same conference a year before I did. One of the stories that the presenters told us was of a pastor who challenged his church of half a million people which were broken up into small groups to grow by 50,000 people within the next 6 months. It didn’t seem like the easiest of tasks, until you realized that each small group had about ten people in it, and all each group had to do was to find one person to share the love of God with. Now, as Moravians, we don’t work with such large numbers, but if we spend the time with people, first with our own brothers and sisters, and then actively seek out one other person to share our gifts and love with, we will have a movement which will fill our hearts until it overflows.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Radical Interpretation
My first sermon at First Moravian Church of Riverside NJ. August 19, 2007.
As I sat at my desk on Tuesday afternoon, trying to relax a bit after an exhausting morning of Vacation Bible School, I was checking to see if anyone had commented on my latest blog entry. Once I realized that no one had left me any comments, I began to poke around the blogs of strangers whom I had never heard of. The name of a person’s blog will come up on the screen for maybe two seconds, and if the title sounds interesting, I try and click it before it disappears. The first blog that I clicked that day was called “A Roman Thought.”[1] And I checked it out, hoping it might be thought provoking. Luckily for me, it had a video posted from an apparently well respected atheist. I watched a ten minute clip of this man attempt to deconstruct the concept of religion. To be honest, he did a pretty decent job of getting his point across, but as I listened to what he had to say, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it was to hear his argument on a week when the Gospel lesson is about Jesus’ message spreading division among the people.
If you think about it, very few of us want to believe that the work of God is one that divides people. Instead, we tend to recall some of the nicer scripture verses. Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5).Or perhaps we like to think of Jesus saying “my peace I leave unto you, my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27) Both of these verses, plus many others, talk about the peace that Jesus brings. So when we read verses about how Jesus’ message is going to bring division, it seems quite easy to dismiss them and not bring them into our lives. But it’s my own belief that it is these hard to swallow verses which challenge us to be the disciples God wants us to be.
The real question then is, how do we view such harsh words in a way that conveys the love and grace which comes from Jesus Christ. It is not an easy task. Perhaps we need to first ask if we can find love and grace in passages in which Jesus is, to be quite frank, pissed off. Jesus is warning us about a crisis, but this crisis is not an emergency, but instead is an occasion of truth and a precise time to make a decision about life.[2] How amazing would our lives be if we viewed all of our moments of crisis as moments of the truth of God? The truth of this passage is that Jesus is not simply calling us to be agents of division for the purpose of causing trouble, but instead we will inevitably cause division because we are speaking truth in love which most people do not want to hear.
If you remember the last song we sang, Obey-O, we sing about obeying God, even when it’s hard. I think this is one of the most important lines sung during VBS this week. When Jesus calls us to love God and love our neighbor, he isn’t trying to simplify the 10 commandments into the 2 easiest, instead, these laws of love are the hardest to live by. They will bring disunity, division, judgment, even destruction, as well as the Fruits & Gifts of the Spirit.[3] I wonder if such gifts will be evident in the kids that went through vacation bible school this week. I wonder if they’ll remember to obey the law of love, even if it causes disunity in the family. Will the students remember to love illegal aliens when their parents blame them for all of our countries problems? Will they love someone different from them when the world tells them to hate? Will they share everything they have when common sense tells them to covet as much as possible?
This is a radical interpretation of the law of love. Too often we choose to love only when it is of benefit to us. I love the word radical because it often conjures a negative image of what religion can do to the world. We use the word radial Muslim to describe terrorists, and when we hear about radical Christians, our thoughts go to fundamentalist Southern Baptists, very rarely do we say that radically living a life of love is a positive thing.
Instead, the great temptation of Christianity is always to have sugar coated Christianity with a sugar coated gospel, with a sugar coated cross, and to eliminate this great call to discipleship for the world. Our greatest temptation is that the cares, riches and pleasures of this life become more important than the call of Jesus Christ. And so the security of family and friends, jobs and homes and vacations become more important to us than Christ and his mission. The result is watered down wine; it is watered down whiskey; it is middle class Christianity; it is complacent Christianity; it is comfortable Christianity. Come and sit in our soft padded pews and worship Jesus Christ with your personal style of music and comfort.[4]
When we become comfortable with discipleship, when we strive only for unity in our beliefs, we do not grow as Christians. As Moravians, we pride ourselves upon the fact that when it comes to the non-essentials, we have the liberty to think and act as we believe best, but too often we neglect to concern ourselves with the Essentials, the things which should be of utmost concern in our daily lives. What are those things which we believe to be essential? The grace of God the Creator, the saving work of God in Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as the faith, love and hope on part of humankind, are all central in our beliefs. If we are not living out these things which we say are central to being a disciple, we are not living the radical life to which we are called.
Now, I need to say, that I gave a lot of thought and prayer to the scripture verses that were read today. It is certainly not the verses I would have picked to share my first sermon, but I did feel the need to preach about the radical message of love with Jesus brings us. Radical isn’t something we need to stay away from, its something we need to embrace. I challenge you to go home from this time of worship today and read the whole 12th chapter of Luke. Read it to figure out why Jesus was so upset. Read it to find out how pointless storing up our treasures are, how silly it is to be greedy. Read it with an open heart as to what it means to live a life of radical love. It’s a really simple concept really. But simple doesn’t mean easy. It doesn’t mean that loving the way Christ calls us to love will be an easy road, it will be filled with people who stand in our way, it will bring division in our family when they don’t understand that we are choosing to love others instead of doing something which pleases only ourselves.
Please don’t think that I’m saying that I’m better than anyone else. In fact, nine times out of ten, I’m one of the biggest offenders in not loving as Jesus calls me to love. But I figured that I’d use this first sermon to have all of you help me to do a better job at it. And it is my hope that we will all keep it in the front of our minds to share that grace which God has so freely given us with others. If that isn’t radical, I don’t know what is.
[1] http://www.aromanthought.com/
[2] Fred B. Craddock. “Interpretation: Luke.” John Knox Press, Louisville. 1990. Pg 166
[3] Laterally Luke, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia
[4] "Christ Brings Division," Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
As I sat at my desk on Tuesday afternoon, trying to relax a bit after an exhausting morning of Vacation Bible School, I was checking to see if anyone had commented on my latest blog entry. Once I realized that no one had left me any comments, I began to poke around the blogs of strangers whom I had never heard of. The name of a person’s blog will come up on the screen for maybe two seconds, and if the title sounds interesting, I try and click it before it disappears. The first blog that I clicked that day was called “A Roman Thought.”[1] And I checked it out, hoping it might be thought provoking. Luckily for me, it had a video posted from an apparently well respected atheist. I watched a ten minute clip of this man attempt to deconstruct the concept of religion. To be honest, he did a pretty decent job of getting his point across, but as I listened to what he had to say, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it was to hear his argument on a week when the Gospel lesson is about Jesus’ message spreading division among the people.
If you think about it, very few of us want to believe that the work of God is one that divides people. Instead, we tend to recall some of the nicer scripture verses. Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5).Or perhaps we like to think of Jesus saying “my peace I leave unto you, my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27) Both of these verses, plus many others, talk about the peace that Jesus brings. So when we read verses about how Jesus’ message is going to bring division, it seems quite easy to dismiss them and not bring them into our lives. But it’s my own belief that it is these hard to swallow verses which challenge us to be the disciples God wants us to be.
The real question then is, how do we view such harsh words in a way that conveys the love and grace which comes from Jesus Christ. It is not an easy task. Perhaps we need to first ask if we can find love and grace in passages in which Jesus is, to be quite frank, pissed off. Jesus is warning us about a crisis, but this crisis is not an emergency, but instead is an occasion of truth and a precise time to make a decision about life.[2] How amazing would our lives be if we viewed all of our moments of crisis as moments of the truth of God? The truth of this passage is that Jesus is not simply calling us to be agents of division for the purpose of causing trouble, but instead we will inevitably cause division because we are speaking truth in love which most people do not want to hear.
If you remember the last song we sang, Obey-O, we sing about obeying God, even when it’s hard. I think this is one of the most important lines sung during VBS this week. When Jesus calls us to love God and love our neighbor, he isn’t trying to simplify the 10 commandments into the 2 easiest, instead, these laws of love are the hardest to live by. They will bring disunity, division, judgment, even destruction, as well as the Fruits & Gifts of the Spirit.[3] I wonder if such gifts will be evident in the kids that went through vacation bible school this week. I wonder if they’ll remember to obey the law of love, even if it causes disunity in the family. Will the students remember to love illegal aliens when their parents blame them for all of our countries problems? Will they love someone different from them when the world tells them to hate? Will they share everything they have when common sense tells them to covet as much as possible?
This is a radical interpretation of the law of love. Too often we choose to love only when it is of benefit to us. I love the word radical because it often conjures a negative image of what religion can do to the world. We use the word radial Muslim to describe terrorists, and when we hear about radical Christians, our thoughts go to fundamentalist Southern Baptists, very rarely do we say that radically living a life of love is a positive thing.
Instead, the great temptation of Christianity is always to have sugar coated Christianity with a sugar coated gospel, with a sugar coated cross, and to eliminate this great call to discipleship for the world. Our greatest temptation is that the cares, riches and pleasures of this life become more important than the call of Jesus Christ. And so the security of family and friends, jobs and homes and vacations become more important to us than Christ and his mission. The result is watered down wine; it is watered down whiskey; it is middle class Christianity; it is complacent Christianity; it is comfortable Christianity. Come and sit in our soft padded pews and worship Jesus Christ with your personal style of music and comfort.[4]
When we become comfortable with discipleship, when we strive only for unity in our beliefs, we do not grow as Christians. As Moravians, we pride ourselves upon the fact that when it comes to the non-essentials, we have the liberty to think and act as we believe best, but too often we neglect to concern ourselves with the Essentials, the things which should be of utmost concern in our daily lives. What are those things which we believe to be essential? The grace of God the Creator, the saving work of God in Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as the faith, love and hope on part of humankind, are all central in our beliefs. If we are not living out these things which we say are central to being a disciple, we are not living the radical life to which we are called.
Now, I need to say, that I gave a lot of thought and prayer to the scripture verses that were read today. It is certainly not the verses I would have picked to share my first sermon, but I did feel the need to preach about the radical message of love with Jesus brings us. Radical isn’t something we need to stay away from, its something we need to embrace. I challenge you to go home from this time of worship today and read the whole 12th chapter of Luke. Read it to figure out why Jesus was so upset. Read it to find out how pointless storing up our treasures are, how silly it is to be greedy. Read it with an open heart as to what it means to live a life of radical love. It’s a really simple concept really. But simple doesn’t mean easy. It doesn’t mean that loving the way Christ calls us to love will be an easy road, it will be filled with people who stand in our way, it will bring division in our family when they don’t understand that we are choosing to love others instead of doing something which pleases only ourselves.
Please don’t think that I’m saying that I’m better than anyone else. In fact, nine times out of ten, I’m one of the biggest offenders in not loving as Jesus calls me to love. But I figured that I’d use this first sermon to have all of you help me to do a better job at it. And it is my hope that we will all keep it in the front of our minds to share that grace which God has so freely given us with others. If that isn’t radical, I don’t know what is.
[1] http://www.aromanthought.com/
[2] Fred B. Craddock. “Interpretation: Luke.” John Knox Press, Louisville. 1990. Pg 166
[3] Laterally Luke, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia
[4] "Christ Brings Division," Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
Friday, July 20, 2007
The Difficulty of Faith ~ July 22, 2007
The first word that Abraham hears from God is the word leave. Leave your home, leave your country, leave your family, leave everything you have ever known to be true in your whole life. Leave, for an unknown land, and I will then make your family great. Abraham gets this message when he is 75 years old. He doesn’t get a visit from God either, he just hears a voice. If this happened today, most of us would probably just dismiss Abraham as a crazy old man. We would say that he should be put in an old folks home. We’d say all sorts of strange things about him, the people that knew him probably laughed at such a notion, that Abraham was going to follow the voice that was in his head is absurd. There is only one thing more absurd than telling people that you believe God is talking to you, and that is acting on it. How many of us actually act on the strange thoughts that run through our heads? Even if we think about acting on some of the things we think about, we run them by other people, making sure that our ideas aren’t as crazy as they might seem. Abraham doesn’t do this. He just accepts the fact that God is going to make him the father of all generations.
This is when we pick up in the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Sarah is almost 100 years old and has still not born any children for her husband. Obviously, she believes that she cannot have a child, and quite frankly, who can blame her? Is there anyone in this room today over the age of 60 that would still want to do all the work that comes with having a child? My guess is that very few of you, if any, would want such a thing. The faith that had originally sustained Abraham and Sarah was long gone. So much so that when this stranger stops by to visit, they laugh at him, they laugh at the idea that the God they once believed in would actually fulfill the promise made so many years ago. It is my guess that Abraham and Sarah didn’t actually believe the stranger until she started to show the signs of pregnancy. And understandably so, because as we grow older, we think that we are wise enough to know when someone is telling the truth or not.
This is the difficulty of faith. That faith used to fill us, and yet, as we age, it seems to disappear from view. It is quite similar to when we are children, believing in something like Santa Klaus or the Easter Bunny. At a young age, we are naïve enough to believe anything we are told. Then as we grow older, when we have had more experience at all that life has to offer, we become jaded, so much so that we start to not believe anything that we once thought might have been true. Have you ever gotten to the point where not only do you not have faith in something, but you begin to believe that anyone who believes in it is disillusioned? I’m pretty sure that this is what Abraham and Sarah were feeling. They know that God keeps most promises, but maybe one or two are forgotten, or perhaps fulfilled in different ways, like Hagar bearing Abraham’s first child. Maybe the promise changed, maybe it wasn’t meant to be, so many different maybes, that they were not sure what to believe.
When I look at the situation with Abraham and Sarah, I am reminded of our Moravian church and the long history that we have had. As the oldest protestant church in the world, we have been around quite a long time. In most non Moravian circles, we are described as a church that was important a pretty long time ago, but in modern times, seems to be pretty irrelevant. Sure, we have moments of goodness, we do some good out in the community, we have some mission work, but we aren’t anywhere close to where the church was when Zinzendorf was around. We are missing something that the church once had, and I think that thing is faith.
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with your pastor about this congregation. He was telling me about all of you, and about how loving a congregation this is. We spoke of his hopes for the congregation as Gordy will be ending his interim position. When I was reflecting back on our conversation for this sermon, I realized that as a whole, most of our churches are filled with loving people, we have a lot of hope for the future of the church, but something tells me that we are generally lacking in the faith department.
That begs the question, what is faith? Earlier in the liturgy we made a profession of faith, saying that we believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We professed belief in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, all things that we as Christians must have faith in. To me, it seems that we have gotten too comfortable with the thought that saying those words together means that we have faith. What good is a public profession of faith if we are only doing it in the presence of fellow Christians? While it does have some good, I must say, believing that such a statement is sufficient to call us people of faith is misleading.
True faith though, is more than a statement, but it something I have found extremely difficult to define in words. One of my favourite quotes on faith is from William Sloane Coffin. He writes in his book Credo: "I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings." That is the essence of what Abraham and Sarah do in the story today, they took a leap at the age of 75, and it took them nearly 25 years before they grew those wings. Abraham showed that faith is more than words, it is an action. That leads us to take a look at everything we do in our lives and see if it is something we are doing out of faith or something we are doing merely because we ought to do it. Are we walking off cliffs and letting our wings bring us down, or are we merely taking the stairs down, descending at our own pace? One of my favourite stories about the early Moravian mission movement is how the missionaries who came to the Caribbean islands brought very little with them, but when they did bring something, one of the few things they took with them was their headstone. That, my brothers and sisters, is a faith that very few of us are living today.
I wish that I could tell you that such a faith is possible if we just pray for it to happen. Of course we need to pray for such a dynamic faith everyday. But just because we pray for it doesn’t mean we simply receive it.
About few weeks ago, I was listening to the radio and heard the following quote. This person said that when we pray for something like patience, we do not simply get our patience meter refilled so that the next time we are in a tough situation, we will not be anxious, instead, God when we pray for patience, God grants us more situations for us to be patient in, thus learning as we go. I believe that the same is true of faith, we do not simply receive faith every time we pray for it, but instead, God grants us more times for us to radically live out the faith that we profess.
This last January, we had a class on Evangelism where we did a little bit of role playing. If any of the church members are here who went to the last synod meeting, you’ll remember what I’m talking about. Two people were given a situation in which one person could attempt to show their faith by talking to the person across from them. My friend got the role of playing a poor person on the bus who was asking for money, and I was the person who he was going to ask. Apparently, the scene was supposed to take place with me giving the person only a few dollars, maybe the spare change from my pocket, and then hoping he would go away. Instead, I pulled out my wallet and without looking at what was in there, pulled out a hundred dollar bill. Now, I knew it was a hundred dollars because of where I keep my money in my wallet, but completely threw my friend off guard. Now, perhaps I only gave him the money because I knew I would be getting it back, or because I wanted to impress my friends by whipping out a hundred dollar bill. I wish that I could tell you that I was carrying that much money when someone came up to me and really needed it, but I can’t do that. But I do know that someday, when someone does ask me for something, when God shows me an opportunity to live out my faith, that I am able to give more than just the spare change in my pocket, that I am willing to do something big, to do something reckless, that my faith in Christ comes through.
In the coming days, weeks and months, allow for God to speak to you. Allow God to guide you in a way in which you are uncertain of the outcome. Allow yourself to leap without looking. Next time a stranger asks you for money, think less about how they might spend it on booze and think more about how your generosity will shock what they think about Christians. Living our lives as people of faith is difficult. Abraham and Sarah did it, even in their old age. I’m pretty sure that we can do the same thing if we simply see the opportunity in front of us. Amen.
This is when we pick up in the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Sarah is almost 100 years old and has still not born any children for her husband. Obviously, she believes that she cannot have a child, and quite frankly, who can blame her? Is there anyone in this room today over the age of 60 that would still want to do all the work that comes with having a child? My guess is that very few of you, if any, would want such a thing. The faith that had originally sustained Abraham and Sarah was long gone. So much so that when this stranger stops by to visit, they laugh at him, they laugh at the idea that the God they once believed in would actually fulfill the promise made so many years ago. It is my guess that Abraham and Sarah didn’t actually believe the stranger until she started to show the signs of pregnancy. And understandably so, because as we grow older, we think that we are wise enough to know when someone is telling the truth or not.
This is the difficulty of faith. That faith used to fill us, and yet, as we age, it seems to disappear from view. It is quite similar to when we are children, believing in something like Santa Klaus or the Easter Bunny. At a young age, we are naïve enough to believe anything we are told. Then as we grow older, when we have had more experience at all that life has to offer, we become jaded, so much so that we start to not believe anything that we once thought might have been true. Have you ever gotten to the point where not only do you not have faith in something, but you begin to believe that anyone who believes in it is disillusioned? I’m pretty sure that this is what Abraham and Sarah were feeling. They know that God keeps most promises, but maybe one or two are forgotten, or perhaps fulfilled in different ways, like Hagar bearing Abraham’s first child. Maybe the promise changed, maybe it wasn’t meant to be, so many different maybes, that they were not sure what to believe.
When I look at the situation with Abraham and Sarah, I am reminded of our Moravian church and the long history that we have had. As the oldest protestant church in the world, we have been around quite a long time. In most non Moravian circles, we are described as a church that was important a pretty long time ago, but in modern times, seems to be pretty irrelevant. Sure, we have moments of goodness, we do some good out in the community, we have some mission work, but we aren’t anywhere close to where the church was when Zinzendorf was around. We are missing something that the church once had, and I think that thing is faith.
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with your pastor about this congregation. He was telling me about all of you, and about how loving a congregation this is. We spoke of his hopes for the congregation as Gordy will be ending his interim position. When I was reflecting back on our conversation for this sermon, I realized that as a whole, most of our churches are filled with loving people, we have a lot of hope for the future of the church, but something tells me that we are generally lacking in the faith department.
That begs the question, what is faith? Earlier in the liturgy we made a profession of faith, saying that we believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We professed belief in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, all things that we as Christians must have faith in. To me, it seems that we have gotten too comfortable with the thought that saying those words together means that we have faith. What good is a public profession of faith if we are only doing it in the presence of fellow Christians? While it does have some good, I must say, believing that such a statement is sufficient to call us people of faith is misleading.
True faith though, is more than a statement, but it something I have found extremely difficult to define in words. One of my favourite quotes on faith is from William Sloane Coffin. He writes in his book Credo: "I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings." That is the essence of what Abraham and Sarah do in the story today, they took a leap at the age of 75, and it took them nearly 25 years before they grew those wings. Abraham showed that faith is more than words, it is an action. That leads us to take a look at everything we do in our lives and see if it is something we are doing out of faith or something we are doing merely because we ought to do it. Are we walking off cliffs and letting our wings bring us down, or are we merely taking the stairs down, descending at our own pace? One of my favourite stories about the early Moravian mission movement is how the missionaries who came to the Caribbean islands brought very little with them, but when they did bring something, one of the few things they took with them was their headstone. That, my brothers and sisters, is a faith that very few of us are living today.
I wish that I could tell you that such a faith is possible if we just pray for it to happen. Of course we need to pray for such a dynamic faith everyday. But just because we pray for it doesn’t mean we simply receive it.
About few weeks ago, I was listening to the radio and heard the following quote. This person said that when we pray for something like patience, we do not simply get our patience meter refilled so that the next time we are in a tough situation, we will not be anxious, instead, God when we pray for patience, God grants us more situations for us to be patient in, thus learning as we go. I believe that the same is true of faith, we do not simply receive faith every time we pray for it, but instead, God grants us more times for us to radically live out the faith that we profess.
This last January, we had a class on Evangelism where we did a little bit of role playing. If any of the church members are here who went to the last synod meeting, you’ll remember what I’m talking about. Two people were given a situation in which one person could attempt to show their faith by talking to the person across from them. My friend got the role of playing a poor person on the bus who was asking for money, and I was the person who he was going to ask. Apparently, the scene was supposed to take place with me giving the person only a few dollars, maybe the spare change from my pocket, and then hoping he would go away. Instead, I pulled out my wallet and without looking at what was in there, pulled out a hundred dollar bill. Now, I knew it was a hundred dollars because of where I keep my money in my wallet, but completely threw my friend off guard. Now, perhaps I only gave him the money because I knew I would be getting it back, or because I wanted to impress my friends by whipping out a hundred dollar bill. I wish that I could tell you that I was carrying that much money when someone came up to me and really needed it, but I can’t do that. But I do know that someday, when someone does ask me for something, when God shows me an opportunity to live out my faith, that I am able to give more than just the spare change in my pocket, that I am willing to do something big, to do something reckless, that my faith in Christ comes through.
In the coming days, weeks and months, allow for God to speak to you. Allow God to guide you in a way in which you are uncertain of the outcome. Allow yourself to leap without looking. Next time a stranger asks you for money, think less about how they might spend it on booze and think more about how your generosity will shock what they think about Christians. Living our lives as people of faith is difficult. Abraham and Sarah did it, even in their old age. I’m pretty sure that we can do the same thing if we simply see the opportunity in front of us. Amen.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
No Excuses ~ Sermon for Palmyera Moravian Church tomorrow.
Country Roads, take me home, to the place, I belong, West Virginia, Mountain Momma, take me home, Country roads…
When I was in the 8th grade, my mother’s favourite singer switched from Harry Chapin to John Denver. Every long trip my family took to New York, every day after soccer practice, anytime I was in the car, there was a pretty good chance that my mom had a John Denver CD playing. I remember the day my mom bought her first John Denver CD, the first few songs I thought were slow and boring. It took me a while before I began to like his music, but now, after listening to his music over and over and over again, I have a real appreciation for his lyrics. In fact, I spent many trips in the back seat of the family van daydreaming about hitch hiking across the country and just seeing where the road would take me. But, no matter how many times I listened to one of his songs, no matter how many times I wanted to just pick up and go, I never did. I have tons of excuses, it would be very dangerous, I didn’t have any money, it would make my family scared not knowing if I was safe, for all those reasons, plus a few others, I never had the nerve to just up and go.
It’s because of John Denver that I understand the responses that the two people gave in the Gospel lesson today. They want to go, they want to follow Jesus, but they’re not quite ready, there is something holding them back. Two of them have pretty good reasons for not leaving just yet. Heck, they probably thought that the reason was commanded by God, honoring their father and mother was an extremely important value in their society and because of that, surely Jesus would understand their thinking. Even more, in the lesson from the Hebrew scripture, we hear about the prophet Elijah calling Elisha. When Elisha is called, he first asks if he can go in from the field and say goodbye to his parents, and he is granted permission. After saying his goodbyes, he sets out following Elijah. It’s pretty safe to say that these two “want to be followers” would have known the commandments and the story of Elisha. I’d even go so far to say that these two felt confident that Jesus would see how much they desired to honor the scripture and be truly impressed.
Today, we have the benefit of knowing the answer that Jesus gives. Jesus tells these two that they can’t make excuses if they really want to follow him. Jesus even tells them that if they decide to go and then look back, they are not fit for the service of God. Perhaps this is Jesus reminding the two men of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt, proving that just having knowledge of the scripture does not translate into doing the right thing in the eyes of God.
A few nights ago, in my own personal time of study, I was reading up on some of the differences between our Moravian church and that of other Protestant churches. There is a term, coined by Martin Luther, which is considered by most people, whether they know it or not, to be one of the basic principals for being a Christian. The term is “SOLA FIDE” and it means, “By faith alone.” Most churches, even most of our own, preach and teach that all we need is faith and we will be saved. While it is a lovely concept, the truth is that the early Moravian church did not believe this to be true. What our ancestors believed is that faith without love is not faith at all.[1] Listen to that again… “Faith without love is not faith at all.” If we look closely at the gospel lesson for today that is the heart of what Jesus is saying to these would be followers. He is calling them to the carpet for their beliefs. Jesus realizes that they have faith. They have probably been waiting their entire lives for Jesus to come to them. They have been expecting it, but when they are called to action, called to love, they fail. Jesus doesn’t say that their faith has saved them. He says that when they are called to action, to love Jesus by literally following him, he will not listen to their excuses.
This is not the Jesus most of us think of when we tell others about our Savior. We like to think of Jesus as a kindly fellow who forgives us our trespasses, who has infinite patience for our impatience, who is not annoyed when our actions fail to live up to our faith. The Jesus that we read about is a bit darker. We don’t hear Jesus with a “my way or the highway” attitude. “Such a pushy, authoritative Jesus is not popular today.”[2] You either put your faith into action or you don’t. It is that simple.
Now, I could very easily tell a story of a person whose love and devotion to Christ made them to follow Jesus when the times were tough, when push came to shove, they left everything they ever knew and followed Jesus, even to martyrdom. I wish it were the truth that I could tell you I was able to live out my John Denver inspired dream of just hitch hiking across America, following God where ever the Spirit took me. But that story ends with me spending a year in Sweden where I did more running away from God than following Jesus. What I do know is that when Jesus calls us to ministry, when we feel something put on our hearts, to do the work of building up the body of Christ, we need to follow that call.
One of the biggest frustrations for me are people who say the phrase, “Yes, But.” Yes, that’s a good idea, but we’ve tried it before and it didn’t work out as we had hoped. Yes, I want to follow Jesus, but I have some other things that I need to take care of before I can go. There was a woman in the last congregation I served who’s heart was just like that of the would be disciples. She wanted to do so much, but she never thought she was ready. The intriguing part of this gospel story is that Jesus doesn’t care if you are 100% ready to follow. He just wants you along for the journey. When I read about the calling of Jesus’ disciples, I believe that most of those followers had very little idea about what it is that they were going to do. They became faithful disciples by going around town and telling people about the awesome work of God. Then, I imagine, at night, they came back together, ate dinner with each other, and talked about what happened that day as they did God’s work. That’s when the true discipleship happened. When they were together and learned from each other about what God had done in their own lives that day. Theoretically, that is why we are here today. We have come together to worship God and share our stories of how God is working through us. If you don’t feel like God is doing such a thing in your own life, Jesus is telling us today that there is no excuse. We must follow, we don’t have to do it well, but we must follow, because that is all that Jesus asks of us.
Now, I want to end with some selected words from another song by John Denver. The lyrics are from Rocky Mountain High. Listen to the words, and see if you can make a connection between the young man in the song and what God really wants us to be like when we accept the call to follow Jesus.
He was born in the summer of his 27th year,
coming home to a place he’d never been before,
left yesterday behind him, might say he was born again,
might say he found a key for every door.
Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streamsSeeking grace in every step he takesHis sight has turned inside himself to try and understandThe serenity of a clear blue mountain lakeAnd the Colorado rocky mountain highI've seen it rainin' fire in the skyYou can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.
Rocky Mountain High.
Amen.
[1] Craig Atwood. International Theological Dialogue. Issue No 4, May 2005. Pg 47.
[2] Spencer, F. Scott, "'Follow Me,' The Imperious Call of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels," Interpretation, 2005.
When I was in the 8th grade, my mother’s favourite singer switched from Harry Chapin to John Denver. Every long trip my family took to New York, every day after soccer practice, anytime I was in the car, there was a pretty good chance that my mom had a John Denver CD playing. I remember the day my mom bought her first John Denver CD, the first few songs I thought were slow and boring. It took me a while before I began to like his music, but now, after listening to his music over and over and over again, I have a real appreciation for his lyrics. In fact, I spent many trips in the back seat of the family van daydreaming about hitch hiking across the country and just seeing where the road would take me. But, no matter how many times I listened to one of his songs, no matter how many times I wanted to just pick up and go, I never did. I have tons of excuses, it would be very dangerous, I didn’t have any money, it would make my family scared not knowing if I was safe, for all those reasons, plus a few others, I never had the nerve to just up and go.
It’s because of John Denver that I understand the responses that the two people gave in the Gospel lesson today. They want to go, they want to follow Jesus, but they’re not quite ready, there is something holding them back. Two of them have pretty good reasons for not leaving just yet. Heck, they probably thought that the reason was commanded by God, honoring their father and mother was an extremely important value in their society and because of that, surely Jesus would understand their thinking. Even more, in the lesson from the Hebrew scripture, we hear about the prophet Elijah calling Elisha. When Elisha is called, he first asks if he can go in from the field and say goodbye to his parents, and he is granted permission. After saying his goodbyes, he sets out following Elijah. It’s pretty safe to say that these two “want to be followers” would have known the commandments and the story of Elisha. I’d even go so far to say that these two felt confident that Jesus would see how much they desired to honor the scripture and be truly impressed.
Today, we have the benefit of knowing the answer that Jesus gives. Jesus tells these two that they can’t make excuses if they really want to follow him. Jesus even tells them that if they decide to go and then look back, they are not fit for the service of God. Perhaps this is Jesus reminding the two men of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt, proving that just having knowledge of the scripture does not translate into doing the right thing in the eyes of God.
A few nights ago, in my own personal time of study, I was reading up on some of the differences between our Moravian church and that of other Protestant churches. There is a term, coined by Martin Luther, which is considered by most people, whether they know it or not, to be one of the basic principals for being a Christian. The term is “SOLA FIDE” and it means, “By faith alone.” Most churches, even most of our own, preach and teach that all we need is faith and we will be saved. While it is a lovely concept, the truth is that the early Moravian church did not believe this to be true. What our ancestors believed is that faith without love is not faith at all.[1] Listen to that again… “Faith without love is not faith at all.” If we look closely at the gospel lesson for today that is the heart of what Jesus is saying to these would be followers. He is calling them to the carpet for their beliefs. Jesus realizes that they have faith. They have probably been waiting their entire lives for Jesus to come to them. They have been expecting it, but when they are called to action, called to love, they fail. Jesus doesn’t say that their faith has saved them. He says that when they are called to action, to love Jesus by literally following him, he will not listen to their excuses.
This is not the Jesus most of us think of when we tell others about our Savior. We like to think of Jesus as a kindly fellow who forgives us our trespasses, who has infinite patience for our impatience, who is not annoyed when our actions fail to live up to our faith. The Jesus that we read about is a bit darker. We don’t hear Jesus with a “my way or the highway” attitude. “Such a pushy, authoritative Jesus is not popular today.”[2] You either put your faith into action or you don’t. It is that simple.
Now, I could very easily tell a story of a person whose love and devotion to Christ made them to follow Jesus when the times were tough, when push came to shove, they left everything they ever knew and followed Jesus, even to martyrdom. I wish it were the truth that I could tell you I was able to live out my John Denver inspired dream of just hitch hiking across America, following God where ever the Spirit took me. But that story ends with me spending a year in Sweden where I did more running away from God than following Jesus. What I do know is that when Jesus calls us to ministry, when we feel something put on our hearts, to do the work of building up the body of Christ, we need to follow that call.
One of the biggest frustrations for me are people who say the phrase, “Yes, But.” Yes, that’s a good idea, but we’ve tried it before and it didn’t work out as we had hoped. Yes, I want to follow Jesus, but I have some other things that I need to take care of before I can go. There was a woman in the last congregation I served who’s heart was just like that of the would be disciples. She wanted to do so much, but she never thought she was ready. The intriguing part of this gospel story is that Jesus doesn’t care if you are 100% ready to follow. He just wants you along for the journey. When I read about the calling of Jesus’ disciples, I believe that most of those followers had very little idea about what it is that they were going to do. They became faithful disciples by going around town and telling people about the awesome work of God. Then, I imagine, at night, they came back together, ate dinner with each other, and talked about what happened that day as they did God’s work. That’s when the true discipleship happened. When they were together and learned from each other about what God had done in their own lives that day. Theoretically, that is why we are here today. We have come together to worship God and share our stories of how God is working through us. If you don’t feel like God is doing such a thing in your own life, Jesus is telling us today that there is no excuse. We must follow, we don’t have to do it well, but we must follow, because that is all that Jesus asks of us.
Now, I want to end with some selected words from another song by John Denver. The lyrics are from Rocky Mountain High. Listen to the words, and see if you can make a connection between the young man in the song and what God really wants us to be like when we accept the call to follow Jesus.
He was born in the summer of his 27th year,
coming home to a place he’d never been before,
left yesterday behind him, might say he was born again,
might say he found a key for every door.
Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streamsSeeking grace in every step he takesHis sight has turned inside himself to try and understandThe serenity of a clear blue mountain lakeAnd the Colorado rocky mountain highI've seen it rainin' fire in the skyYou can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.
Rocky Mountain High.
Amen.
[1] Craig Atwood. International Theological Dialogue. Issue No 4, May 2005. Pg 47.
[2] Spencer, F. Scott, "'Follow Me,' The Imperious Call of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels," Interpretation, 2005.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Unity Sermon
The following sermon is being entered into a contest after I brush it up a little bit.
Each denomination does or did something particularly well. In my studies at seminary, I have come to realize that Methodists are great at revival, Baptists are extremely familiar with the bible, and Pentecostals are well known for their manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The denomination that I belong to, the Moravians, are known for their mission movement that started in the late 1720’s. Over the next half century, missionaries were sent from Germany to remote parts of the world like South Africa, Nicaragua, Labrador, and the Caribbean Islands. I could tell you the whole mission movement story, but I’m really not concerned about that this morning. I want to tell you the story behind the Moravian mission movement, and it fits perfectly with the Scripture theme for today.
What exactly does it mean to pray without ceasing? I looked for direction from a number of biblical scholars, theologians, pastors and lay people. Almost every single one said that the reality of prayer without ceasing was impossible. We have to sleep, we have to work, we have to do the things that need to get done in order to live our lives…that is our reality. We cannot pray without ceasing! Because of that impossibility, the great thinkers of our time, or at least the people who have enough time to write things down, say that we do our best to live prayerful lives. When we love our neighbor as our self, when we are feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, that is when we are praying without ceasing, even when we sleep. I must tell you, that for quite a long time in my life, I really thought that this was true, if I could just give my life over to God’s mission work, then I could achieve a life that kept me connected to God every hour of every day. God would be so happy because I was doing everything that was asked of me and thus I would live a great life. I would meet a wonderful woman to share my life with, have two and a half great kids, and maybe even win the lottery, if God really wanted me to. Heck, I’d even give more than 10% of those winnings to the church.
There is another school of thought on how to pray without ceasing. It’s a literal way of thinking, and that we utter prayers to God through our whole day, which is only possible if we were living in a monastery or living out in the woods by ourselves. The problem then is that we have no Christian community or Christian mission. We take the idea of praying every moment we are awake so far that we neglect our duties as servants of Christ.
So far, these ideas haven’t met my ideal for what I think pray without ceasing ought to look like, and I hope that they don’t satisfy you either. I think the answer lays a long way back at the beginning of the Moravian mission movement. Those people living in Germany did something that most of us might find impossible to believe. The community of Christians there prayed without ceasing for over 100 years, stopping only because of the First World War. It started with about 48 people, most likely 24 men and 24 women. Two men or two women would go into a room together for an hour and pray. They had personal prayers, prayers from the community, prayers for the world, for those who were sick, for their leaders, for people who had yet to encounter God, and for everything else they could think of. Over the course of time, the number of people praying increased, but the fact of the matter is that the community never stopped their prayer to God and because that community lived the scripture, amazing things happened, things that could not have happened if it weren’t for the power of prayer.
Now, there is a very important person missing from the story I just told you. I doubt that many of you know much about him, he isn’t one that history seems to look favorably upon. In fact, one of the most under-rated lessons that I ever learned in all my years of school is that history is written by the winners in life. The man that is missing from the story which takes place in Germany lost a battle just 60 miles from here. You have all probably heard of the winner, and his name is Heinrich Muhlenberg. Towns, hospitals and schools have been named after him, but nothing is named for the loser, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
Prior to my research about the fight that these two gentlemen had, I only knew the story from the losing point of view. When I read up on what Muhlenberg and others had to say about Zinzendorf, I realized that the reason Zinzendorf lost was not due to what he was fighting for, but more the way in which he went about it. Since Zinzendorf was a nobleman, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that he was probably a bit snobby, stubborn, and intimidating man who didn’t realize that the fact that he was of noble birth meant absolutely squat on this side of the Atlantic. It seemed that Muhlenberg just wanted to argue for the pure sense of arguing, and it would appear that the Count really wasn’t too interested in winning the argument that day, and decided to drop the issue.
What is that issue? It is the same issue gathers us here today. Christian Unity! You see, back in Germany, that small group of people who started praying 24 hours a day had now been praying for about 15 years straight. With the knowledge that God was working through those Moravians in prayer, Zinzendorf had come to Pennsylvania with the intent of uniting the many different denominations into the broader banner of Christianity. That movement failed. Pennsylvania was supposed to be a place where any religious group could come and find freedom to practice, why then would they want to lose the things that make them unique? Now, I’m not saying that if Zinzendorf had won that verbal argument, we would no longer have denominations today and I don’t think that Muhlenberg was against Christian unity. What I am saying is that these two men’s personalities and ideas about the future of the church made them to be enemies.
I only tell you that story because in this gathering of Christians today, I see something different. I see a desire for unity between Christians, a desire for a bond that says our differences are less than our hope. Our hope to live out the mission of Jesus Christ. Our hope to worship God together, not as Lutherans, Episcopals, Pentecostals, Methodists, or Baptists, but to unite as Christians. Our hope not to be known for our differences in theology, but to be known as Christians by our love. (PAUSE)
Brothers and sisters, the question we must then ask ourselves is how important is prayer in the interfaith community? Do you pray for one thing while the person next to you prays for something completely different? Do you pray in hope that the person next to you might be praying the same thing? It is my belief that individual prayer is not enough, just as prayer in the midst of our worship gatherings is not enough. We need to pray without ceasing as a community, we need to place our collective hopes and fears at the alter of the Lord in prayer.
Now, I don’t know how many of you know this, but I have asked some of the leaders of this group to find a number of people to begin 24 hours of prayer for this community and for the future that this ecumenical group might have. My hope is that this group here today can turn those 24 hours of prayer into a full week. There will be a sign up sheet in the back of the sanctuary. See what happens when you put your prayer life on the line, see what happens when the community spends all their time with God.
As the choir sings our last hymn, if you so desire, I ask that you come forward, take a stone from the ushers up front, and lay it down on top of mine. Let us build join together as Christians and build an alter to God in the name of our risen Lord and Savior. Then I will open in prayer, and as the spirit moves, we will share our prayers with each other and with God. Let us to begin a prayer that will continue on for a full week, and let our lives be open to the work that Holy Spirit will lead us towards. Amen.
Each denomination does or did something particularly well. In my studies at seminary, I have come to realize that Methodists are great at revival, Baptists are extremely familiar with the bible, and Pentecostals are well known for their manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The denomination that I belong to, the Moravians, are known for their mission movement that started in the late 1720’s. Over the next half century, missionaries were sent from Germany to remote parts of the world like South Africa, Nicaragua, Labrador, and the Caribbean Islands. I could tell you the whole mission movement story, but I’m really not concerned about that this morning. I want to tell you the story behind the Moravian mission movement, and it fits perfectly with the Scripture theme for today.
What exactly does it mean to pray without ceasing? I looked for direction from a number of biblical scholars, theologians, pastors and lay people. Almost every single one said that the reality of prayer without ceasing was impossible. We have to sleep, we have to work, we have to do the things that need to get done in order to live our lives…that is our reality. We cannot pray without ceasing! Because of that impossibility, the great thinkers of our time, or at least the people who have enough time to write things down, say that we do our best to live prayerful lives. When we love our neighbor as our self, when we are feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, that is when we are praying without ceasing, even when we sleep. I must tell you, that for quite a long time in my life, I really thought that this was true, if I could just give my life over to God’s mission work, then I could achieve a life that kept me connected to God every hour of every day. God would be so happy because I was doing everything that was asked of me and thus I would live a great life. I would meet a wonderful woman to share my life with, have two and a half great kids, and maybe even win the lottery, if God really wanted me to. Heck, I’d even give more than 10% of those winnings to the church.
There is another school of thought on how to pray without ceasing. It’s a literal way of thinking, and that we utter prayers to God through our whole day, which is only possible if we were living in a monastery or living out in the woods by ourselves. The problem then is that we have no Christian community or Christian mission. We take the idea of praying every moment we are awake so far that we neglect our duties as servants of Christ.
So far, these ideas haven’t met my ideal for what I think pray without ceasing ought to look like, and I hope that they don’t satisfy you either. I think the answer lays a long way back at the beginning of the Moravian mission movement. Those people living in Germany did something that most of us might find impossible to believe. The community of Christians there prayed without ceasing for over 100 years, stopping only because of the First World War. It started with about 48 people, most likely 24 men and 24 women. Two men or two women would go into a room together for an hour and pray. They had personal prayers, prayers from the community, prayers for the world, for those who were sick, for their leaders, for people who had yet to encounter God, and for everything else they could think of. Over the course of time, the number of people praying increased, but the fact of the matter is that the community never stopped their prayer to God and because that community lived the scripture, amazing things happened, things that could not have happened if it weren’t for the power of prayer.
Now, there is a very important person missing from the story I just told you. I doubt that many of you know much about him, he isn’t one that history seems to look favorably upon. In fact, one of the most under-rated lessons that I ever learned in all my years of school is that history is written by the winners in life. The man that is missing from the story which takes place in Germany lost a battle just 60 miles from here. You have all probably heard of the winner, and his name is Heinrich Muhlenberg. Towns, hospitals and schools have been named after him, but nothing is named for the loser, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
Prior to my research about the fight that these two gentlemen had, I only knew the story from the losing point of view. When I read up on what Muhlenberg and others had to say about Zinzendorf, I realized that the reason Zinzendorf lost was not due to what he was fighting for, but more the way in which he went about it. Since Zinzendorf was a nobleman, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that he was probably a bit snobby, stubborn, and intimidating man who didn’t realize that the fact that he was of noble birth meant absolutely squat on this side of the Atlantic. It seemed that Muhlenberg just wanted to argue for the pure sense of arguing, and it would appear that the Count really wasn’t too interested in winning the argument that day, and decided to drop the issue.
What is that issue? It is the same issue gathers us here today. Christian Unity! You see, back in Germany, that small group of people who started praying 24 hours a day had now been praying for about 15 years straight. With the knowledge that God was working through those Moravians in prayer, Zinzendorf had come to Pennsylvania with the intent of uniting the many different denominations into the broader banner of Christianity. That movement failed. Pennsylvania was supposed to be a place where any religious group could come and find freedom to practice, why then would they want to lose the things that make them unique? Now, I’m not saying that if Zinzendorf had won that verbal argument, we would no longer have denominations today and I don’t think that Muhlenberg was against Christian unity. What I am saying is that these two men’s personalities and ideas about the future of the church made them to be enemies.
I only tell you that story because in this gathering of Christians today, I see something different. I see a desire for unity between Christians, a desire for a bond that says our differences are less than our hope. Our hope to live out the mission of Jesus Christ. Our hope to worship God together, not as Lutherans, Episcopals, Pentecostals, Methodists, or Baptists, but to unite as Christians. Our hope not to be known for our differences in theology, but to be known as Christians by our love. (PAUSE)
Brothers and sisters, the question we must then ask ourselves is how important is prayer in the interfaith community? Do you pray for one thing while the person next to you prays for something completely different? Do you pray in hope that the person next to you might be praying the same thing? It is my belief that individual prayer is not enough, just as prayer in the midst of our worship gatherings is not enough. We need to pray without ceasing as a community, we need to place our collective hopes and fears at the alter of the Lord in prayer.
Now, I don’t know how many of you know this, but I have asked some of the leaders of this group to find a number of people to begin 24 hours of prayer for this community and for the future that this ecumenical group might have. My hope is that this group here today can turn those 24 hours of prayer into a full week. There will be a sign up sheet in the back of the sanctuary. See what happens when you put your prayer life on the line, see what happens when the community spends all their time with God.
As the choir sings our last hymn, if you so desire, I ask that you come forward, take a stone from the ushers up front, and lay it down on top of mine. Let us build join together as Christians and build an alter to God in the name of our risen Lord and Savior. Then I will open in prayer, and as the spirit moves, we will share our prayers with each other and with God. Let us to begin a prayer that will continue on for a full week, and let our lives be open to the work that Holy Spirit will lead us towards. Amen.
John the Baptist Sermon ~ first person
Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near! Why are you here? What is your purpose for having gathered together here today? I will tell you my purpose. My purpose is to prepare a straight path for the Lord. Many of you know me as the baptizer, but those close to me call me John. I was invited here this morning to explain what it means to be baptized and to enter into a covenant with God.
Let me begin by telling you a bit of information about myself. Your pastor tells me that you heard the story of my birth on December 24th. How my aunt Mary came to visit my mother Elizabeth while they were both pregnant. Until her death, my mother loved to tell me the story about how I leapt in her womb when Mary, who was pregnant with my cousin Jesus, arrived at our house. During my childhood, I spent many summers with Jesus and his family, but as my parents were very old, they passed away just before my 10th birthday. Because my father was a priest, he had special connections with a religious group known as the Essenes, a well known but separatist Jewish community. I was sent to live with them until I was able to care for myself.
While I was with the Essenes, I lived a meager, humble life, filled with religious training. We slept under the stars and lived far from major cities. When we were not studying, we scrounged for food, where we mostly ate locust and wild honey. It is not a very satisfying diet, but it helps us remember that everything we receive comes from the Lord our God.
When I was in my late twenties, I left the community who had raised me and began to fulfill the role which God had planned for me. I was to clear a straight path for the Lord, baptizing those who repented of their sins and desired to live a pure and Holy life before God. Crowds would come and find me on the banks of the Jordan River, preaching on the books of Moses and from the words of the prophets. Many who heard my voice were struck with the fear of the Lord and came into the river to repent of their sins.
After a year or so of doing this, some of the Pharisees came down to the river to hear what I was saying. They came to me and argued that because they were descendants from Abraham, that God had a covenant with them, and repenting their sins and being baptized was pointless. I told them that being a descendant from Abraham was nothing, they are a dime a dozen. God could raise stones to be his descendants, but instead wants us to repent from our evil ways, that we produce fruit that is ripe from our repentance. Of course, they scoffed at me, but I kept on preaching, knowing in my heart that I was fulfilling the work of God.
Then, one day, as I was preaching alongside the river, baptizing all who desired to repent, I saw a man still standing on the side of the river, waiting for all others to leave. Once everyone had left, he walked into the water towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. Once he got closer, I knew at once that it was my cousin Jesus. We had not seen each other in many years, but I could remember his eyes as if we had seen each other only yesterday. As he approached me, I had a feeling that it was Jesus who the Lord God had sent me ahead of. That it was my cousin Jesus who was sent by God to save the world. I felt completely unworthy, that Jesus was asking me to baptize him, clearly, it was him who should be baptizing me. Jesus simply smiled and told me that I must be the one to baptize him. Suddenly the feeling of unworthiness was gone, and I agreed.
I took Jesus next to me and put one hand behind his back and the other on his chest. I brought him down into the water, keeping him down until he was nearly out of breath. I lifted Jesus out of the water and as he gasped for breath, time seemed to get slower, seeming to almost stop. At that very moment the heavens seemed to open up and the Spirit of God came down in a dove and said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.
I went on baptizing others who repented of their sins, but nothing ever came close to that same moment, when new life was given to Jesus. When your pastor asked me to speak to you this morning, I immediately asked myself why me? Why would you want a baptizer to speak on a day that most people understand as preparation for communion. That’s when I opened you’re book of worship to the ceremony for confirmation, it is very interesting document. If you look closely, the title is Confirmation AND Affirmation of baptism. It seems to me that we all tend to overlook the second half of the title.
Since my death, baptism seems to be taken for granted by some. When I first learned of people being baptized as infants, I almost lost my head. Then I realized that this act of confirmation is really a day in which you stand in front of the church, remember your baptism and recommit to that covenant. But what exactly does covenant mean?
Through the action of baptism, you are saying that you choose to belong to God. I must ask the question, how do you go about into the world letting people know that you have been baptized? Perhaps we could pour water on our heads every hour, walking around with wet hair. Or, it is my understanding that you receive certificates when you are baptized, I guess you could go around showing others that paper, but that doesn’t seem very practical. When I was baptizing, we had no such way of identifying others as being baptized, which is why it is so important to be in a church, in relationship with others who have been baptized, so that we are able to be in the presence of others who are united with Christ, are cleansed by his saving work, and enter into the fellowship of the church with those are called into a life of faith and willing obedience.
Alex, Brianna, and Zach, you have all taken an important step in your journey of faith. The ritual of the affirmation of your baptism is not one to take lightly. You have presented yourself before God and before the members of this church to affirm your belief in God as your Creator, in Jesus as your Savior, and in the Holy Spirit as your sustainer. You have pledged to turn away from sin, evil and selfishness in your thoughts, words and actions, serving God all the days of your life. This is by no means an easy task, but those who are here today have also covenanted with you to help you do those things. Use them, as God has put them in your life for a reason.
Before I leave you today, I was hoping that we all might take a walk down to the Delaware River and take a moment to remember our own baptism, but since I’m really the only one with clothing that can get wet, I think we will pass on that idea. Instead, it is my hope that everyone in the congregation will come forward as the final hymn is sung, taking a moment to place their hand in the water and bringing a drop to their head, remembering your own baptism, and what it means to be a Christian, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Let me begin by telling you a bit of information about myself. Your pastor tells me that you heard the story of my birth on December 24th. How my aunt Mary came to visit my mother Elizabeth while they were both pregnant. Until her death, my mother loved to tell me the story about how I leapt in her womb when Mary, who was pregnant with my cousin Jesus, arrived at our house. During my childhood, I spent many summers with Jesus and his family, but as my parents were very old, they passed away just before my 10th birthday. Because my father was a priest, he had special connections with a religious group known as the Essenes, a well known but separatist Jewish community. I was sent to live with them until I was able to care for myself.
While I was with the Essenes, I lived a meager, humble life, filled with religious training. We slept under the stars and lived far from major cities. When we were not studying, we scrounged for food, where we mostly ate locust and wild honey. It is not a very satisfying diet, but it helps us remember that everything we receive comes from the Lord our God.
When I was in my late twenties, I left the community who had raised me and began to fulfill the role which God had planned for me. I was to clear a straight path for the Lord, baptizing those who repented of their sins and desired to live a pure and Holy life before God. Crowds would come and find me on the banks of the Jordan River, preaching on the books of Moses and from the words of the prophets. Many who heard my voice were struck with the fear of the Lord and came into the river to repent of their sins.
After a year or so of doing this, some of the Pharisees came down to the river to hear what I was saying. They came to me and argued that because they were descendants from Abraham, that God had a covenant with them, and repenting their sins and being baptized was pointless. I told them that being a descendant from Abraham was nothing, they are a dime a dozen. God could raise stones to be his descendants, but instead wants us to repent from our evil ways, that we produce fruit that is ripe from our repentance. Of course, they scoffed at me, but I kept on preaching, knowing in my heart that I was fulfilling the work of God.
Then, one day, as I was preaching alongside the river, baptizing all who desired to repent, I saw a man still standing on the side of the river, waiting for all others to leave. Once everyone had left, he walked into the water towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. Once he got closer, I knew at once that it was my cousin Jesus. We had not seen each other in many years, but I could remember his eyes as if we had seen each other only yesterday. As he approached me, I had a feeling that it was Jesus who the Lord God had sent me ahead of. That it was my cousin Jesus who was sent by God to save the world. I felt completely unworthy, that Jesus was asking me to baptize him, clearly, it was him who should be baptizing me. Jesus simply smiled and told me that I must be the one to baptize him. Suddenly the feeling of unworthiness was gone, and I agreed.
I took Jesus next to me and put one hand behind his back and the other on his chest. I brought him down into the water, keeping him down until he was nearly out of breath. I lifted Jesus out of the water and as he gasped for breath, time seemed to get slower, seeming to almost stop. At that very moment the heavens seemed to open up and the Spirit of God came down in a dove and said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.
I went on baptizing others who repented of their sins, but nothing ever came close to that same moment, when new life was given to Jesus. When your pastor asked me to speak to you this morning, I immediately asked myself why me? Why would you want a baptizer to speak on a day that most people understand as preparation for communion. That’s when I opened you’re book of worship to the ceremony for confirmation, it is very interesting document. If you look closely, the title is Confirmation AND Affirmation of baptism. It seems to me that we all tend to overlook the second half of the title.
Since my death, baptism seems to be taken for granted by some. When I first learned of people being baptized as infants, I almost lost my head. Then I realized that this act of confirmation is really a day in which you stand in front of the church, remember your baptism and recommit to that covenant. But what exactly does covenant mean?
Through the action of baptism, you are saying that you choose to belong to God. I must ask the question, how do you go about into the world letting people know that you have been baptized? Perhaps we could pour water on our heads every hour, walking around with wet hair. Or, it is my understanding that you receive certificates when you are baptized, I guess you could go around showing others that paper, but that doesn’t seem very practical. When I was baptizing, we had no such way of identifying others as being baptized, which is why it is so important to be in a church, in relationship with others who have been baptized, so that we are able to be in the presence of others who are united with Christ, are cleansed by his saving work, and enter into the fellowship of the church with those are called into a life of faith and willing obedience.
Alex, Brianna, and Zach, you have all taken an important step in your journey of faith. The ritual of the affirmation of your baptism is not one to take lightly. You have presented yourself before God and before the members of this church to affirm your belief in God as your Creator, in Jesus as your Savior, and in the Holy Spirit as your sustainer. You have pledged to turn away from sin, evil and selfishness in your thoughts, words and actions, serving God all the days of your life. This is by no means an easy task, but those who are here today have also covenanted with you to help you do those things. Use them, as God has put them in your life for a reason.
Before I leave you today, I was hoping that we all might take a walk down to the Delaware River and take a moment to remember our own baptism, but since I’m really the only one with clothing that can get wet, I think we will pass on that idea. Instead, it is my hope that everyone in the congregation will come forward as the final hymn is sung, taking a moment to place their hand in the water and bringing a drop to their head, remembering your own baptism, and what it means to be a Christian, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
What Does Winning Look Like?
This has been the question that has been bugging me recently in regards to Iraq. Years ago, President Bush stood in front of a huge banner that said “mission accomplished” Which I guess is true, because that “war” ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over and done with. I believe we’re now either in OIF IV or maybe even V. It’s a strange measurement. Winning is obviously not killing the most people; otherwise this would have been over years ago. Winning is not removing Saddam Hussein from power, because we can check that box off too. Winning is not simply bringing about Iraqi democracy, having democratically elected officials or having them establish a constitution. Vice President Cheney was clear about the fact that these goals were accomplished in a recent article on CNN.
With all this in mind, what does the President think needs to be accomplished in order to chalk this one up in the win column? What possible models do we have to look at in the past 100 years for what victory looks like? Well, I might be missing a war or two in here, but lets take a look…We have Afghanistan, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, World War I. Of these 8 wars, there is only one where I can think that we won the war, stayed in that country, and didn’t have any more trouble…and of course, that would be WWII. Of course, it took 40+ years for the whole country to get back to normal, but surely the President doesn’t think that we will be there for that long? Heck, we still have a huge military base there. Those other 7 wars that I mentioned, we didn’t stick around, or we lost, or we’re still fighting. The cultures are extremely different, and it seems like those countries are in it for the long haul. Something that I hope we are not planning on.
There is no “win” in war anymore. There is no more good side and bad side. However good our countries intentions are does not make up for the fact that we are injuring and killing civilians by the thousand. Just because we do it by accident doesn’t make it alright.
Since there is no real “win” situation, how can you cut and run? How can you lose if anything you do is not winning? The people in Iraq will always be at war with the United States as well as themselves as long as we are fighting. The only way to stop the fighting is for us to stop and pray that we haven’t hurt a young child in a way that will lead him to become the next Osama. Just declare victory and go home.
With all this in mind, what does the President think needs to be accomplished in order to chalk this one up in the win column? What possible models do we have to look at in the past 100 years for what victory looks like? Well, I might be missing a war or two in here, but lets take a look…We have Afghanistan, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea, World War II, World War I. Of these 8 wars, there is only one where I can think that we won the war, stayed in that country, and didn’t have any more trouble…and of course, that would be WWII. Of course, it took 40+ years for the whole country to get back to normal, but surely the President doesn’t think that we will be there for that long? Heck, we still have a huge military base there. Those other 7 wars that I mentioned, we didn’t stick around, or we lost, or we’re still fighting. The cultures are extremely different, and it seems like those countries are in it for the long haul. Something that I hope we are not planning on.
There is no “win” in war anymore. There is no more good side and bad side. However good our countries intentions are does not make up for the fact that we are injuring and killing civilians by the thousand. Just because we do it by accident doesn’t make it alright.
Since there is no real “win” situation, how can you cut and run? How can you lose if anything you do is not winning? The people in Iraq will always be at war with the United States as well as themselves as long as we are fighting. The only way to stop the fighting is for us to stop and pray that we haven’t hurt a young child in a way that will lead him to become the next Osama. Just declare victory and go home.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Article to read
Another great article on MSN about going green. Check it out. Its good to see a big corporation be an advocate for this. I still don't do it very well, but I'm working on it.
http://boomers.msn.com/articleGH.aspx?cp-documentid=376469>1=8903
http://boomers.msn.com/articleGH.aspx?cp-documentid=376469>1=8903
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Should Politicians take their Oaths on a Bible?
Here is my emailed reply to the author of this article. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2006/11/28/america,_not_keith_ellison,_decides_what_book_a_congressman_takes_his_oath_on
Very interesting article you have written. I enjoyed reading it, but I do not agree with your view. I am not a Muslim, in fact, I am a seminary student seeking ordination. Because of this, the bible is near and dear to my heart. That being said, I would love for every politician to put their hand on the bible when taking an oath, but in reality, its not good for politics.
For the sake of ease, lets look at the people who have been caught in scandal in the past decade. If you had known that they were going to do what they did, would you have let them say that oath on the bible? Would you have let Clinton do it if you knew about his indescritions? I doubt it.
When our politicians manipulate symbols of faith in order to make voters feel comfortable, we all lose. If they really swore on the bible, they would be acting quite differently. I'd rather them just stop the smoke screen, stop acting and start doing what the bible says.
That being stated, a bit less seriousness to my statement. It would probably be better if politicians were made to swear their oaths on different objects depending on what issues they ran on. If you recieved money from PAC's, take your oath with their symbol. If you ran with strong emphasis on enviromentalism, take your oath with a tree. If you ran as a hawkish Christian, take your oath with a bible and a gun. At least that way I know they do not plan on turning their swords into plowshears and spears into pruning hooks.
Very interesting article you have written. I enjoyed reading it, but I do not agree with your view. I am not a Muslim, in fact, I am a seminary student seeking ordination. Because of this, the bible is near and dear to my heart. That being said, I would love for every politician to put their hand on the bible when taking an oath, but in reality, its not good for politics.
For the sake of ease, lets look at the people who have been caught in scandal in the past decade. If you had known that they were going to do what they did, would you have let them say that oath on the bible? Would you have let Clinton do it if you knew about his indescritions? I doubt it.
When our politicians manipulate symbols of faith in order to make voters feel comfortable, we all lose. If they really swore on the bible, they would be acting quite differently. I'd rather them just stop the smoke screen, stop acting and start doing what the bible says.
That being stated, a bit less seriousness to my statement. It would probably be better if politicians were made to swear their oaths on different objects depending on what issues they ran on. If you recieved money from PAC's, take your oath with their symbol. If you ran with strong emphasis on enviromentalism, take your oath with a tree. If you ran as a hawkish Christian, take your oath with a bible and a gun. At least that way I know they do not plan on turning their swords into plowshears and spears into pruning hooks.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Even NASA thinks the enviorment is in the pits...
Before reading the rest of this blog, check out this article from Reuters. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-11-21T143055Z_01_L21794788_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-HANSEN.xml&rpc=92
If you're too lazy to read it, it really boils down to the fact that NASA, our countries top scientists, say that if we don't take steps to address global warming, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. Now, quite frankly, I don't know how our President can not believe doing this would be the best thing for our country, but even if he believed he believed that the earth was getting cooler, it would still be to his benefit to believe these scientists.
I believe that the greatest failure of this administration, as far as the economy is concerned, is the fact that instead of inviting economic growth by giving money to new companies in emerging fields which could help wean this country off of oil, he has always believed that we ought to "stay the course" even when it comes to the old ways of the economy.
What does this lead to? If you've read any of my previous blogs, you'll see that there are a number of new, innovative ways which companies are harnessing renewable energy all across the world. But what it really comes down to is that it there are very few of these companies in the US, and the few that are, are being told by the President, along with "evangelical" (I hate that term to describe televangelists) leaders like Jerry Falwell, that supporting things like renewable energy is going to possibly damage the economy. Maybe I'm just not good at economics, but I would guess that supporting these companies would help our economy, as well as it would protect this wonderful earth that God has given us dominion over.
Call your local state representative, ask them to make your state use 35% renewable energy by 2015.
If you're too lazy to read it, it really boils down to the fact that NASA, our countries top scientists, say that if we don't take steps to address global warming, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. Now, quite frankly, I don't know how our President can not believe doing this would be the best thing for our country, but even if he believed he believed that the earth was getting cooler, it would still be to his benefit to believe these scientists.
I believe that the greatest failure of this administration, as far as the economy is concerned, is the fact that instead of inviting economic growth by giving money to new companies in emerging fields which could help wean this country off of oil, he has always believed that we ought to "stay the course" even when it comes to the old ways of the economy.
What does this lead to? If you've read any of my previous blogs, you'll see that there are a number of new, innovative ways which companies are harnessing renewable energy all across the world. But what it really comes down to is that it there are very few of these companies in the US, and the few that are, are being told by the President, along with "evangelical" (I hate that term to describe televangelists) leaders like Jerry Falwell, that supporting things like renewable energy is going to possibly damage the economy. Maybe I'm just not good at economics, but I would guess that supporting these companies would help our economy, as well as it would protect this wonderful earth that God has given us dominion over.
Call your local state representative, ask them to make your state use 35% renewable energy by 2015.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Another great energy resource
This is quite an amazing breakthrough in power generation. It’s safe, easy to deploy, and not harmful to the environment. Hopefully we can see these in north amertica soon.
A Scottish company will deploy sausage-shaped tubes off Portugal to create the world’s first commercial wave power plant, providing electricity to 1,500 homes from 2006, a partner in the Scottish firm said on Friday.
Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) will build the wave farm about three miles off Portugal’s northern coast, near Povoa de Varzim, OPD’s Norwegian backer Norsk Hydro said.
OPD will deliver three wave power generation units with capacity of 2.25 megawatts to Portuguese renewable energy group Enersis for million, but the project could be expanded significantly, Norsk Hydro said.
OPD’s Pelamis P-750 wage energy converter is an elongated metal unit that looks like a big semi-submerged sausage, with hinged segments that rock with the sea, up and down and side to side, pumping fluid to hydraulic motors that drive generators.
The power produced by the generators is fed into underwater cables and brought to land.
A letter of intent for a further 30 Pelamis wave machines for a total of 20 megawatts before the end of 2006 was also signed, subject to satisfactory performance by the initial installation, Hydro said.
“If all goes well, many additional sites producing up to a total several hundred MW could be developed along the coast,” Norsk Hydro said.
“We see this order as just the first step in developing the Portuguese market, which is anticipated to be worth up to a billion euros over the next 10 years,” OPD Managing Director Richard Yemm said in the statement.
OPD is also in talks with Scottish Power, which has shown interest in installing a wave farm in the United Kingdom, Hydro said.
The European Union requires 22 percent of electricity consumption to come from renewable energy sources — such as solar, wind and wave — by 2010. Renewables currently meet about six percent of European demand, Hydro said.
A Scottish company will deploy sausage-shaped tubes off Portugal to create the world’s first commercial wave power plant, providing electricity to 1,500 homes from 2006, a partner in the Scottish firm said on Friday.
Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) will build the wave farm about three miles off Portugal’s northern coast, near Povoa de Varzim, OPD’s Norwegian backer Norsk Hydro said.
OPD will deliver three wave power generation units with capacity of 2.25 megawatts to Portuguese renewable energy group Enersis for million, but the project could be expanded significantly, Norsk Hydro said.
OPD’s Pelamis P-750 wage energy converter is an elongated metal unit that looks like a big semi-submerged sausage, with hinged segments that rock with the sea, up and down and side to side, pumping fluid to hydraulic motors that drive generators.
The power produced by the generators is fed into underwater cables and brought to land.
A letter of intent for a further 30 Pelamis wave machines for a total of 20 megawatts before the end of 2006 was also signed, subject to satisfactory performance by the initial installation, Hydro said.
“If all goes well, many additional sites producing up to a total several hundred MW could be developed along the coast,” Norsk Hydro said.
“We see this order as just the first step in developing the Portuguese market, which is anticipated to be worth up to a billion euros over the next 10 years,” OPD Managing Director Richard Yemm said in the statement.
OPD is also in talks with Scottish Power, which has shown interest in installing a wave farm in the United Kingdom, Hydro said.
The European Union requires 22 percent of electricity consumption to come from renewable energy sources — such as solar, wind and wave — by 2010. Renewables currently meet about six percent of European demand, Hydro said.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Save the earth...one lightbulb at a time
1. If every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb, took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people.
2. Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity.
3. A $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.4. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.
5. The single greatest source of greenhouse gases in the United States is power plants–half our electricity comes from coal plants. One bulb swapped out: enough electricity saved to turn off two entire power plants–or skip building the next two.
6. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.
7. Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $1 billion to buy about 2 billion lightbulbs–5.5 million every day. Just 5%, 100 million, were compact fluorescents.
8. In the next 12 months, starting with a major push this month, Wal-Mart wants to sell every one of its regular customers–100 million in all–one swirl bulb.
9. Early CFLs cost $25 per bulb (and still paid for themselves in electricity savings). The light they produced was bluish or pinkish, or varied; the phosphor coating had to be refined. The ballast–built into the bulb rather than in a separate fixture, as with traditional fluorescent tubes–hummed and didn’t cycle the electricity quickly enough; it had to be made electronic and miniaturized. Costs came down, as did size. The same wizardry that gives us Hallmark birthday cards that play “Love and Happiness” makes possible CFLs at $2.60 instead of $25.
10. A 60-watt classic bulb and a 15-watt swirl are identically bright–the swirl just uses 45 fewer watts. Source: FastCompany
2. Compact fluorescents emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity.
3. A $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.4. Compact fluorescents, even in heavy use, last 5, 7, 10 years. Years. Install one on your 30th birthday; it may be around to help illuminate your 40th.
5. The single greatest source of greenhouse gases in the United States is power plants–half our electricity comes from coal plants. One bulb swapped out: enough electricity saved to turn off two entire power plants–or skip building the next two.
6. In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.
7. Last year, U.S. consumers spent about $1 billion to buy about 2 billion lightbulbs–5.5 million every day. Just 5%, 100 million, were compact fluorescents.
8. In the next 12 months, starting with a major push this month, Wal-Mart wants to sell every one of its regular customers–100 million in all–one swirl bulb.
9. Early CFLs cost $25 per bulb (and still paid for themselves in electricity savings). The light they produced was bluish or pinkish, or varied; the phosphor coating had to be refined. The ballast–built into the bulb rather than in a separate fixture, as with traditional fluorescent tubes–hummed and didn’t cycle the electricity quickly enough; it had to be made electronic and miniaturized. Costs came down, as did size. The same wizardry that gives us Hallmark birthday cards that play “Love and Happiness” makes possible CFLs at $2.60 instead of $25.
10. A 60-watt classic bulb and a 15-watt swirl are identically bright–the swirl just uses 45 fewer watts. Source: FastCompany
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
My response to Fox Sports article on why Football is better than Soccer
Out of the 30 or so ideas, only one of two of them are decent...here are my responses...
Why Futbol is better than Football.
● Champion of the World…not just the United States of America and Canada, while attempting to exploit Mexico and Japan.
● Overtime give both teams an equal chance.
● Having the World Cup every four years makes the championship more prestigious.
● A third place match is just another way to make more money and watch a great game. It’s a surprise that we haven’t thought of this yet.
● It’s great to see Americans get pissed because France can beat them in a sport.
● Futbol pitches don’t have cheerleaders…this allows for more room for seats, so the fans can get much closer to the field.
● Futbol does not have scantily clad women who are paid to cheer…this is true…but what they do have is painted on bikini wearing fans that do it for the love of the game.
● Magic Spray is better than going back to the locker room to get an injection of pain killers so a player can finish the game.
● Football is played for 5 seconds…rest for 40 seconds…play for 5 seconds…rest for another 40. Must be exhausting.
● Players don’t need a helmet to head butt someone.
● Players play offense and defense…very few American football players can do that.
● Quarterbacks slide so not to get hit…futbol players slide to knock someone on their ass.
● Leave it to Football to make fun of the kicker…who quite frankly, is usually underpaid for someone who kicks the ball for the winning points in close games.
● Not allowing unlimited substitutions shows us what an athlete is made of. Futbol players don’t take breaks after every tough play.
● At least in Futbol…when someone is offside, the play is in action. How smart can a player be if they line up offside from the beginning?
● Leave it to America (and maybe Japan’s Sumo wrestling) where overweight players is something to be proud of.
● Futbol has more blood…Ask the American captain.
● In Futbol, the plays are changed on the fly. You don’t set up and try to figure it out before the play starts.
● Instead of trying to get better, America just says that if we lose to Ghana, we should quit. Great attitude.
● No commericial breaks. 45 straight minutes of action per half.
● Futbol fans are better at math. While Football fans have their time counted down, Futbol fans can figure out how much time is left on their own.
● One referee cannot perfectly keep track of 22 players on the field. If the ref didn’t see it, it didn’t happen. In the NFL, you have at least five referees for 22 players and they still can’t get it right. They have to use a replay because they can’t do it on their own.
Why Futbol is better than Football.
● Champion of the World…not just the United States of America and Canada, while attempting to exploit Mexico and Japan.
● Overtime give both teams an equal chance.
● Having the World Cup every four years makes the championship more prestigious.
● A third place match is just another way to make more money and watch a great game. It’s a surprise that we haven’t thought of this yet.
● It’s great to see Americans get pissed because France can beat them in a sport.
● Futbol pitches don’t have cheerleaders…this allows for more room for seats, so the fans can get much closer to the field.
● Futbol does not have scantily clad women who are paid to cheer…this is true…but what they do have is painted on bikini wearing fans that do it for the love of the game.
● Magic Spray is better than going back to the locker room to get an injection of pain killers so a player can finish the game.
● Football is played for 5 seconds…rest for 40 seconds…play for 5 seconds…rest for another 40. Must be exhausting.
● Players don’t need a helmet to head butt someone.
● Players play offense and defense…very few American football players can do that.
● Quarterbacks slide so not to get hit…futbol players slide to knock someone on their ass.
● Leave it to Football to make fun of the kicker…who quite frankly, is usually underpaid for someone who kicks the ball for the winning points in close games.
● Not allowing unlimited substitutions shows us what an athlete is made of. Futbol players don’t take breaks after every tough play.
● At least in Futbol…when someone is offside, the play is in action. How smart can a player be if they line up offside from the beginning?
● Leave it to America (and maybe Japan’s Sumo wrestling) where overweight players is something to be proud of.
● Futbol has more blood…Ask the American captain.
● In Futbol, the plays are changed on the fly. You don’t set up and try to figure it out before the play starts.
● Instead of trying to get better, America just says that if we lose to Ghana, we should quit. Great attitude.
● No commericial breaks. 45 straight minutes of action per half.
● Futbol fans are better at math. While Football fans have their time counted down, Futbol fans can figure out how much time is left on their own.
● One referee cannot perfectly keep track of 22 players on the field. If the ref didn’t see it, it didn’t happen. In the NFL, you have at least five referees for 22 players and they still can’t get it right. They have to use a replay because they can’t do it on their own.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Colbert Report steals my ideas
For those of you who watch the Colbert Report on Comedy Central, more specifically, saw the episode on Monday April 17, 2006, you will notice that a lot of my previous post made it into the show. Perhaps we share a bit of creative genius, or they stole my idea, which ever it is, it was a good show. Of course, I can't prove that some writer viewed my blog, but oh well, I can dream.
Jesus riding on huge chunks of ice...where do people come up with this crap?
Jesus riding on huge chunks of ice...where do people come up with this crap?
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Does Jesus use ice to "walk on water"?
There was an article posted on MSN.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12152740/?GT1=7938 this evening that has tried to explain the supossed miracle of Jesus walking on the water, which can be found in John 6:16-21. The story is as follows.
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
Now people have been attempting to use science to explain away the miracles of Jesus. Thats fine. People need to write their doctoral dissertations on something, but in my opinion, this concept does not make the story any less miracilous.
Lets say that the article is right. That there were huge pieces of ice that were large and stable enough for a person to stand on. Now, even if that was true, Jesus would have had to ride a chunk of ice for 3 miles in rough water with very high winds. Plus, the man would have been in sandals...floating on a huge chunk of ice...in nearly frozen water. Thats a miracle in and of itself.
Seriously...what kind of idiot thinks that a person rode a slab of ice for 3 miles in crappy weather...that is quite honestly the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in regards to someone trying to explain away a miracle.
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
Now people have been attempting to use science to explain away the miracles of Jesus. Thats fine. People need to write their doctoral dissertations on something, but in my opinion, this concept does not make the story any less miracilous.
Lets say that the article is right. That there were huge pieces of ice that were large and stable enough for a person to stand on. Now, even if that was true, Jesus would have had to ride a chunk of ice for 3 miles in rough water with very high winds. Plus, the man would have been in sandals...floating on a huge chunk of ice...in nearly frozen water. Thats a miracle in and of itself.
Seriously...what kind of idiot thinks that a person rode a slab of ice for 3 miles in crappy weather...that is quite honestly the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in regards to someone trying to explain away a miracle.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
MLK...a new view of the holiday
For the longest time, MLK jr day has been just another day off. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, I have always had a day to sleep in on the monday closest to January 15th. Also, because my brother shares the same birthday as King, we were more inclinded to spend it doing something he enjoyed instead of going to a parade in King's honor.
If I had not had an experience concerning Martin Luther King jr two weeks ago, this post would not be written and my blog would remain dormant, but an article in today's Express-Times greatly annoyed me.
The president of the Bethlehem NAACP has been pushing for all of the Bethlehem Area School District employee's to have off. All students and teachers have off, but 23% of employee's had to come into work on the federal holiday.
In my humble opinion, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Can anyone tell me that what the Rev. King wanted was for the country to take a day off from work? If someone can successfully argue to me that it is better to honor the birth of one of America's greatest men by having a day off from school instead of going to school and actually learning something important on that day about King's civil right's movement, then I will shut up forever about the subject.
Instead of giving students the day off so a handfull of them can attend a parade of poor quality, why are they not in school, spending the day being educated about King and what he stood for?
That's what the NAACP should be fighting for, for more education, not for less. That's what Rev. King was about. Education. He let the world know about what atrocities were being committed against people of color.
Everyone complains that the fight is still going on. We all need to work harder to make the civil right's movement, the equality of all humanity, a reality, but fighting for a day off from work and school just will not cut it.
All organizations that believe in what King stood for need to embrace the idea that a day off for students and teachers to honor such a man is wrong. When they realize this, maybe, just maybe, people will begin to see what the holiday is all about.
If I had not had an experience concerning Martin Luther King jr two weeks ago, this post would not be written and my blog would remain dormant, but an article in today's Express-Times greatly annoyed me.
The president of the Bethlehem NAACP has been pushing for all of the Bethlehem Area School District employee's to have off. All students and teachers have off, but 23% of employee's had to come into work on the federal holiday.
In my humble opinion, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Can anyone tell me that what the Rev. King wanted was for the country to take a day off from work? If someone can successfully argue to me that it is better to honor the birth of one of America's greatest men by having a day off from school instead of going to school and actually learning something important on that day about King's civil right's movement, then I will shut up forever about the subject.
Instead of giving students the day off so a handfull of them can attend a parade of poor quality, why are they not in school, spending the day being educated about King and what he stood for?
That's what the NAACP should be fighting for, for more education, not for less. That's what Rev. King was about. Education. He let the world know about what atrocities were being committed against people of color.
Everyone complains that the fight is still going on. We all need to work harder to make the civil right's movement, the equality of all humanity, a reality, but fighting for a day off from work and school just will not cut it.
All organizations that believe in what King stood for need to embrace the idea that a day off for students and teachers to honor such a man is wrong. When they realize this, maybe, just maybe, people will begin to see what the holiday is all about.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Lebenslaufe
Today was the first day of "class" without the real class stuff. We began the morning at 8:30 with worship, and then broke up into small groups of about 10 students each and told our Lebenslaufe. I will copy the info on what a Lebenslaufe is, but it basically means your life story. At first I was a bit anxious to tell it, but after doing it, it felt like eveyone in the room was family, which is a wonderful way to begin the school year, or in my opinion, any small church group.
Guidelines for Lebenslaufe.
Each of us comes to new relationships and new situations with a unique life history. This life history is usually a series of stories which have particular meaning to us. Re-telling those stories in the presence of persons who have not heard them before enables us to discern new meanings of those stories and allows the others to relate to us with more depth and understanding.
The guidelines below are designed to provide some structure for the telling of your story. Using these categories, tell your story in 15-20 minutes and then allow others 5-10 minutes to react and comment to it.
1. Summary Information. Name; age; matiral status; number, age and sex of your children (if any); birthplace and "hometown;" names and ages of parents and siblings with note of any who are deceased; present employment, hobbies and interests.
2. The Meaning of Your Birth. Each of us recieves an oral tradition about how our birth was recieved and handled by parents and significant others; give your understanding of this.
3. Injunctions. Most of us recieve specific moral or religious injunctions from parents and significant others throughout the course of our development. Examples of these include, "You will never be as good as (sibiling);" "You are too... (serious, childish, scatterbrained)... for your own good;" "God expects you to... (behavior, vocation)."
4. Major Losses and Dissapointments. List these and any meaning you have given to them. these would include bereavements, separations, failures.
5. Major Successes and Transforming Events. These would include religious experiences, promotions, achievements, marriage, births of children, etc. which have had some transforming effect on your life. Give particular meaning ascribed to these events.
6. Medical History. Includes suffering or significant changes in your health; may be covered in (4) or (5) above.
7. Socio-cultural History. Cultural heritage, geographical moves, family rituals which have shaped your understanding of the world.
8. Religious History. Baptism, confirmation, converion, changes in denomination, early religious memories, etc. which have shaped your life.
9. Key Relationships. If not mentioned above, note family members, pastors, teachers, mentors, heros, friends, enemies, authors, etc. who have had a significant impact on your life.
The above material can either be given in these catagories or in chronological fashion with these catagories being noted in each era, or chapter, of one's life.
I would suggest you pick a Saturday that most people in your group can attend and take a break between every third story. Try to keeps group limited to 9 people or less.
Guidelines for Lebenslaufe.
Each of us comes to new relationships and new situations with a unique life history. This life history is usually a series of stories which have particular meaning to us. Re-telling those stories in the presence of persons who have not heard them before enables us to discern new meanings of those stories and allows the others to relate to us with more depth and understanding.
The guidelines below are designed to provide some structure for the telling of your story. Using these categories, tell your story in 15-20 minutes and then allow others 5-10 minutes to react and comment to it.
1. Summary Information. Name; age; matiral status; number, age and sex of your children (if any); birthplace and "hometown;" names and ages of parents and siblings with note of any who are deceased; present employment, hobbies and interests.
2. The Meaning of Your Birth. Each of us recieves an oral tradition about how our birth was recieved and handled by parents and significant others; give your understanding of this.
3. Injunctions. Most of us recieve specific moral or religious injunctions from parents and significant others throughout the course of our development. Examples of these include, "You will never be as good as (sibiling);" "You are too... (serious, childish, scatterbrained)... for your own good;" "God expects you to... (behavior, vocation)."
4. Major Losses and Dissapointments. List these and any meaning you have given to them. these would include bereavements, separations, failures.
5. Major Successes and Transforming Events. These would include religious experiences, promotions, achievements, marriage, births of children, etc. which have had some transforming effect on your life. Give particular meaning ascribed to these events.
6. Medical History. Includes suffering or significant changes in your health; may be covered in (4) or (5) above.
7. Socio-cultural History. Cultural heritage, geographical moves, family rituals which have shaped your understanding of the world.
8. Religious History. Baptism, confirmation, converion, changes in denomination, early religious memories, etc. which have shaped your life.
9. Key Relationships. If not mentioned above, note family members, pastors, teachers, mentors, heros, friends, enemies, authors, etc. who have had a significant impact on your life.
The above material can either be given in these catagories or in chronological fashion with these catagories being noted in each era, or chapter, of one's life.
I would suggest you pick a Saturday that most people in your group can attend and take a break between every third story. Try to keeps group limited to 9 people or less.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
A great article from the July/August issue of The Moravian by the retired Rev. Willard R. Harstine.
Worship Wars
"Guess what? They used guitars in church today. It got way too loud!" "The organ prelude sounds like a concert to me; I came to worship, not be entertained." "The service today was almost 75 minutes...that's too long." Why can't we sing some of those good old hymns instead of these new ones that nobody knows." "I can't believe we're having communion again--we just had it a couple of weeks ago." " I can't see any reason to read four scripture lessons during the service when the sermon is based on only one."
Comments like these represent a kind of warfare going on in our congregations today. These comments and many others reveal that Sunday corporate worship has become a battleground in come churches where a mixture of ideas and approaches tends to satisfy no one. In most settings the liturgical battles are fairly mile, many of them unspoken. But in some quarters harsh words are exchanged openly, while members, musicians, and even pastors come and go based upon what is happening during the weekly service of worship.
The worship war zone has intensified in recent years due to the introduction of new books of worship, a profusion of new hymns, the popularity of Christian contemporary music, liturgical innovations by creative leaders, and a widespread misunderstanding of what worship is all about in the first place. When members voice concern about worship, they are striking at the heart of congregational life. Nothing is ore important for God's people than their weekly gathering on the Lord's day to praise God, deepen their faith, commune together, and commit themselves to the ongoing task of Christian living. If there is discontent with worship, there is certain to be unease about the congregation's life in general. The place to re-establish a solid base for congregational life is in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. A church grows or declines through its worship. A church lives or dies on Sunday mornings.
Worship is a large topic, and people have a variety of options about it. After all, worship has been around for a long time. The Church developed its service around two ancient practices: (1) the familiar Jewish synagogue service which included scripture lessons, interpretations, prayer, songs, and blessings; and (2) the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Holy Communion which Jesus shared with the disciples the night before he was crucified. These major elements of worship have endured though time and we still gather for worship in the 21st century anticipating these liturgical features.
People today become confused and angry because worship means much to them; and not knowing the tradition, each person wants the service to procede as he or she prefers. Every member desires, above all, to "get something" out of the service. So if the music isn't too my taste, if the order of worship is different than expected, if the service is running too long and my stomach begins to growl, or, heaven forbid, if the sermon does not speak to me! -- then there must be something wrong with the worship in our church. And since others feel the same way, but have different opinions about how to "fix" worship, warfare breaks out, either above or underground. What can we do?
Pastors, elders, worship leaders, worship committees and concerned members must begin to take the weekly act of corporate worship more seriously than ever before. The life of the Church depends upon getting it right. What would "getting it right" entail? Three things: honor the purpose of worship, plan effective and complete worship, and encourage lively participation in worship.
First, we must understand that the purpose of worship is to come before God, praise God, hear from God, and respond to God. The focus of worship is God, not us. Worship should point us to God, not ask God to accommodate all of our whims and desires. God-centered worship, though Jesus Christ our Lord, is the basic starting point for worship renewal.
Second, let us plan worship that includes all the important elements, set in a proper order, as it has come down to us in the tradition. Just as we would not think of eating a meal that is deficient in various foods, we should not plan worship that is lacking in basic elements. A service therefore will include praise, confession of sin and absolution, the reading of scriptures, preaching, confession of faith, prayers of intercession, offerings, table fellowship and dismissal, with hymns and special music sprinkled throughout. Each one of these stages of worship will be taken seriously and planned so as to speak for us and to us, furthering our connection to the Lord and deepening our trust in the One who has called us together as a community of faith.
Third, let all worshippers particiapte actively in the service. For example, when there is an "Amen," let the people voice it with enthusiam. When a hymn is sung, let the choir help the congregation to sing heartly. The word "liturgy" means the people's work. Worship is work, not leisure or entertainment. It is the corporate work of the faithful as they gather weekly to express themselves as God's community pointed towards the coming reign of Christ. So all must willingly sing together, confess together, listen together, give together, pray together and eat together in order that God's will may be done on earth. Anything less than aggressive participation is an affront to God and diminishes the Church's witness.
Worship, when rightly conceived, planned and offered brings the people alive as a rejoicing congregation. God is honored, approached, and heard. The world sees evidence of the reign of God in history. Worship wars come to an end. The peace of Christ is with us all. Amen.
Worship Wars
"Guess what? They used guitars in church today. It got way too loud!" "The organ prelude sounds like a concert to me; I came to worship, not be entertained." "The service today was almost 75 minutes...that's too long." Why can't we sing some of those good old hymns instead of these new ones that nobody knows." "I can't believe we're having communion again--we just had it a couple of weeks ago." " I can't see any reason to read four scripture lessons during the service when the sermon is based on only one."
Comments like these represent a kind of warfare going on in our congregations today. These comments and many others reveal that Sunday corporate worship has become a battleground in come churches where a mixture of ideas and approaches tends to satisfy no one. In most settings the liturgical battles are fairly mile, many of them unspoken. But in some quarters harsh words are exchanged openly, while members, musicians, and even pastors come and go based upon what is happening during the weekly service of worship.
The worship war zone has intensified in recent years due to the introduction of new books of worship, a profusion of new hymns, the popularity of Christian contemporary music, liturgical innovations by creative leaders, and a widespread misunderstanding of what worship is all about in the first place. When members voice concern about worship, they are striking at the heart of congregational life. Nothing is ore important for God's people than their weekly gathering on the Lord's day to praise God, deepen their faith, commune together, and commit themselves to the ongoing task of Christian living. If there is discontent with worship, there is certain to be unease about the congregation's life in general. The place to re-establish a solid base for congregational life is in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. A church grows or declines through its worship. A church lives or dies on Sunday mornings.
Worship is a large topic, and people have a variety of options about it. After all, worship has been around for a long time. The Church developed its service around two ancient practices: (1) the familiar Jewish synagogue service which included scripture lessons, interpretations, prayer, songs, and blessings; and (2) the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Holy Communion which Jesus shared with the disciples the night before he was crucified. These major elements of worship have endured though time and we still gather for worship in the 21st century anticipating these liturgical features.
People today become confused and angry because worship means much to them; and not knowing the tradition, each person wants the service to procede as he or she prefers. Every member desires, above all, to "get something" out of the service. So if the music isn't too my taste, if the order of worship is different than expected, if the service is running too long and my stomach begins to growl, or, heaven forbid, if the sermon does not speak to me! -- then there must be something wrong with the worship in our church. And since others feel the same way, but have different opinions about how to "fix" worship, warfare breaks out, either above or underground. What can we do?
Pastors, elders, worship leaders, worship committees and concerned members must begin to take the weekly act of corporate worship more seriously than ever before. The life of the Church depends upon getting it right. What would "getting it right" entail? Three things: honor the purpose of worship, plan effective and complete worship, and encourage lively participation in worship.
First, we must understand that the purpose of worship is to come before God, praise God, hear from God, and respond to God. The focus of worship is God, not us. Worship should point us to God, not ask God to accommodate all of our whims and desires. God-centered worship, though Jesus Christ our Lord, is the basic starting point for worship renewal.
Second, let us plan worship that includes all the important elements, set in a proper order, as it has come down to us in the tradition. Just as we would not think of eating a meal that is deficient in various foods, we should not plan worship that is lacking in basic elements. A service therefore will include praise, confession of sin and absolution, the reading of scriptures, preaching, confession of faith, prayers of intercession, offerings, table fellowship and dismissal, with hymns and special music sprinkled throughout. Each one of these stages of worship will be taken seriously and planned so as to speak for us and to us, furthering our connection to the Lord and deepening our trust in the One who has called us together as a community of faith.
Third, let all worshippers particiapte actively in the service. For example, when there is an "Amen," let the people voice it with enthusiam. When a hymn is sung, let the choir help the congregation to sing heartly. The word "liturgy" means the people's work. Worship is work, not leisure or entertainment. It is the corporate work of the faithful as they gather weekly to express themselves as God's community pointed towards the coming reign of Christ. So all must willingly sing together, confess together, listen together, give together, pray together and eat together in order that God's will may be done on earth. Anything less than aggressive participation is an affront to God and diminishes the Church's witness.
Worship, when rightly conceived, planned and offered brings the people alive as a rejoicing congregation. God is honored, approached, and heard. The world sees evidence of the reign of God in history. Worship wars come to an end. The peace of Christ is with us all. Amen.
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