Sermons

Sermon ~ September 23, 2018 ~ Pastor Greg Briggs

James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9:30-37

1. Prayer and Introduction
   1. “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, our rock and redeemer. Amen”
   2. How do we “welcome one of these?”
2. Introduction – building relationships
   1. Having been here a whole, whopping, 19days, I’ve been reminded in many different ways, of the importance of building relationships, and the power, for good or for ill, in first impressions
      1. We are, by and large, still on our best behavior. It’s the true, trusted friends, that see us at our lowest, our dirtiest. The ones we don’t put on airs for, or clean up the house before they come over.
      2. We aren’t there yet, and that’s ok. We are getting there
   2. Gracious welcome, but it’s more than just saying “you are welcome”
      1. Real welcome comes from demonstrating that you see the other person as a person, not as an “other”
      2. Meet their needs, address their concerns, or at least show that you are willing to try.
   3. False equivalence from last Sunday
      1. I said “Intelligent or uneducated.” Intelligence and education are not the same things.
      2. Saying this because I was wrong, and it’s important to admit that I was mistaken. It wasn’t a conscious choice of words, and it felt wrong as it was coming out of my mouth.

• Thanks to those who brought their concerns to my attention. That’s part of being a loving and welcoming community

1. This sermon would benefit from all of us knowing each other a bit better, having a bit more trust.
2. Today’s sermon is going to go into a hard place, but one that is important to talk about. How to welcome the victimized.
3. If, at the end of this sermon, you need to talk, please know that I’m here for you
   1. If you need to talk because you object, I’m here to talk too, but you might not have first priority for my time
4. If, during this sermon, you need to step outside and take a break, that’s ok too.

3. Gospel
   1. And, the same is true as today’s gospel story begins.
      1. Jesus and his followers were passing through Galilee, Jesus’ home area
      2. But “he didn’t want anyone to know this”
   2. Alone – to do more in depth teaching – having more serious conversations
      1. Need the trust and the confidentiality that aren’t possible in public settings
      2. Little chance to ask questions when in a crowd

• Yet, in all of this, the disciples didn’t understand and were afraid to ask

1. The bravery of speaking up
2. When they get to Capernum, or home base, Jesus asks them what they were talking about
   1. Arguments over status and greatness
3. God bless the disciples. I’m glad we get the reminder, over and over again, of how much the disciples missed, so we won’t feel so bad about ourselves missing the same things
4. Jesus “whoever wants to be first must be least, and the servant of all.”
   1. Points out a child
   2. Servant of all, in opposition to their thinking, being and serving the powerful
      1. Child is the least powerful person in society
   3. Why a child as a model of faith?
      1. Opposite of the disciples
         1. Open, willing to learn, ask questions
         2. No power, no status at all. So unlike what the apostles were discussing, who had the most status and importance
      2. Focus on the least. The ones that need support, protection, uplift.
         1. Use of power until they are empowered themselves
      3. How does this apply in today’s world?
         1. Advance words – faith and politics
         2. “do theology with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.” Karl Barth
         3. “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” MLK
         4. Preach on principals, not partisanship
      4. How does this apply in today’s world?
         1. Seeing a lot of needing to care for the least of these in the news this week
         2. Continuing stories of sexual assault and cover up in the news
            1. The ongoing revealing of the pandemic of sexual assaults in this country done by people in power against the powerless
            2. Reminded again this week by the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavenaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford

• Roman Catholic systemic and systematic sexual abuse coverup

1. Ongoing ripples in society and other Christian groups
   1. Stories of evangelical leaders making victims apologize to their attackers
2. Attempts by the powerful, those interested in maintaining the status quo, at looking at these as isolated incidents –
   1. Why’d she take so long, weren’t they just kids, could ruin his career
      1. All focused on the powerful, all focused on the influential
      2. Not asking what is it like for the victims, what has it done to their lives, what has it damaged and ruined
   2. #metoo

• #Whyididnotreport

1. Bravery of admitting ignorance and confusion
   1. Sign of a truly wise person, admitting that they don’t know everything
   2. The pain of speaking a horrible truth, and not being believed by those you confide in
2. How is this related to Jesus teachings?
   1. Using just this week’s scripture
   2. “whoever wants to be first must be least of all and servant of all.”
   3. “Are any of you wise and understanding?” “ Show that your actions are good, with a humble lifestyle that comes from wisdom.”
   4. Recognize the times and need for quiet retreat, the times of building trust and confidence, the need to be sensitive and caring to speak of hard, hard things.
   5. Know that there will be fear, and misunderstanding, and work to alleviate it
3. How do we do that here and now?
   1. As clergy
      1. Part of getting to know me
      2. Mandated reporter
         1. Required to report child abuse or neglect, as are medical professionals, law enforcement, social workers, teachers, and therapists
         2. Not the separation of church and state, just the opposite – and good!
         3. Required to believe and act if what we are being told or see is true

• Background checked

1. Safe church policy
2. Change agent

1. As a congregation
   1. Part of getting to know you
   2. This is part of the interim time, seeking the answers to these questions, and seeing if the congregation is aware of the answers to these questions

• Not just relying on blind trust, but putting the effort in to make sure

1. Background checks
2. Safe church policy
   1. Youth and vulnerable of all ages “the least of these”
3. Protect the vulnerable

1. Community
   1. Joppa House
   2. Third Day Fellowship – emergency shelter
2. As a denomination
   1. Ordination process for clergy
      1. Includes psych exam, and ongoing background checks and regular boundary training
      2. Too often, boundary training is not taken seriously enough
   2. Removing possibility of doubt
      1. No one on one
      2. Windows on doors
      3. Mandated reporting
   3. As people of faith
      1. Be the church
      2. Earn trust, be transparent, don’t just rely on perceptions of others
         1. May be wrong

• Listen, don’t speak out of one’s ignorance
  1. Work on informing yourself, before you put the burden on others
     1. Google, find informed sources
     2. Not just one vs. one,
     3. Why didn’t she come forward?
  2. As today’s letter from James says “if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, then stop bragging and living in ways that deny the truth.”
     1. Admit your own selfish desires. Admit that you want your side to win. It’s ok to have them, but not to be controlled by them
     2. I want to be winning side and I want to be right, but to actually be correct, not just on the more dominant side. not at the expense of truth, and compassion
     3. Behave honorably, so that, win or lose, you can be proud of yourself, in your own eyes, in the eyes of those who matter to you, and in the eyes of the divine, the ultimate arbiter of truth, justice, and mercy.
  3. Call to account and repent those who claim to be of our faith, yet scoff in the face of these same practices

9. Conclusion
   1. This has been a hard thing to speak of, in public no less. I imagine some of you wish I’d have talked about something else. I also imagine there are some of you who think this was necessary.
   2. Can you better sympathize with the apostles in today’s reading, who wanted to avoid what Jesus was telling them was to come? Can you understand how they wanted to talk about literally anything else?
   3. Yet, Jesus found ways to care for them and bring them back to a hard and uncomfortable truth.
   4. I wish we wouldn’t have to hear about these stories of sexual assault.
      1. But I wish that only when there are no more assaults, and not before
   5. The Gospel truth is, there are hard times. There is pain, and yes, Jesus will be put to death. And yet, if we deny that it’s coming, or only focus on the immediate pain, we miss the truth of resurrection.
   6. Firecracker Foundation – a survivor of childhood sexual assault started a foundation to care for others, adults or children, and provide the resources to heal and to advocate for change, so that this wouldn’t happen again. Faith based or not, that is the church.

Listen to the Audio version of this Sermon below:

<sermon title> <date> by Pastor Greg Briggs

1. Prayer and Introduction
   1. “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, our rock and redeemer. Amen”
   2. Sermon Title “Who do people say we are?”
2. Quest for Identity
   1. Today’s Gospel starts off with Jesus asking questions of his disciples that are probably familiar to many of us in various times in our life, “who am I?”
   2. Self reflection – Do you know who you are yet? When did you know who you are? When did it change?
   3. we can define ourselves in terms of
      1. Our age
      2. Our life stage, student, parent, grandparent, retiree,

• an identity group, like our favorite sports team, hobby, or work

1. Our mental, physical, or spiritual attributes
   1. Friendly, stubborn, intelligent, creative
   2. Strong, petite, flexible, arthritic
   3. Caring, just, fair, protective, welcoming
2. Our identity is not just internal, but how we relate to those around us

3. Who is Jesus in the context of this story?
   1. From clues in the text, it’s pretty clear that Jesus knows who he is, and is seeing how he is being perceived by his close followers and the wider community
   2. Who do others say I am? (Who do neighbors say we are?)
      1. Major religious figures, each with different emphases.
         1. John the Baptist – contemporary religious figure who had run afoul of Herod and been killed. – reincarnated rabble rouser
         2. Elijah – ancient (around 900 years) prophet, miracle worker, and believed to be the harbinger of the messiah
         3. One of the prophets – one of a variety of religious leaders, though not always treated well by the leaders and powerful
      2. Some argue that Jesus wasn’t interested in the responses except to correct the disciples, but I believe there is value in hearing these outside observations
         1. Listen to the commonalities of the options
         2. Listen for who Jesus was not being compared to
            1. Mockers
            2. Uneducated
            3. Powerful leaders
         3. Listen to see if others see us as we see ourselves
      3. Who do you [the disciples] say I am?
         1. Messiah\Christ\Human One
         2. Then talks about suffering, rejection by leaders, killed, then resurrected.
            1. For those of us who know the full story, we know this is how it ends. But for Jewish disciples, hearing this message for possibly the first time, this is NOT the path of the Messiah that they understand. Messiah is to triumph over the world, with military and political might!
         3. This is where Peter is troubled, not with the inaccurate claims of others, but in understanding what being and following Jesus will entail
      4. Discipleship and identity
         1. Peter didn’t like Jesus’ self-definition and the coming results
         2. Ongoing challenge of Jesus’ ministry, everyone is misunderstanding who Jesus is, even his closest followers (but somehow, we think we have him all figured out…)
            1. Sometimes because of self interest
            2. Sometimes because he is something radically new

• We proclaim Jesus to be messiah, to be Christ, but he didn’t fit the mold of what was expected back then.

1. Jesus is a radical revolutionary leader, but not in the way that was hoped for
   1. The “conquering of the Roman empire” wasn’t by violence, but conversation, after centuries of oppression
2. 3 Interim questions
   1. Who are we?
   2. Who is our neighbor?
   3. What is God calling us to do?
      1. Identity and discipleship are in a mutually enlightening relationship
      2. Praxis – doing, then reflecting – both practically and spiritually

• “If you have come here to help us, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” – Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, Australia, 1970s

1. These questions aren’t just for the interim time

7. Who are we as followers of Christ?
   1. Individual
   2. Relational \ covenantal
      1. Covenant – seeing others as children of God, their thoughts as worthy as ours.
      2. Congregational

• Societal

1. Last week’s scripture and sermon focused a lot on who is our neighbor,
   1. Todays focuses more on personal identity and where that may lead us
2. But really, these two things go hand in hand

8. Who will you (his followers) be? And How will you see it?
   1. Echoes his own predictions – may lose their lives, or suffer
   2. “why would people gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
   3. Whoever is ashamed of me and my words the Human One will be ashamed of that person
      1. Echoes today’s reading from proverbs about Wisdom.
   4. Another version of “what is God calling you to do?”
      1. God’s calling is not about benefiting one’s self
      2. Proverbs – the foolish will suffer
   5. How do others view us as Christ followers today?
      1. Overall, White American Christianity has a public perception problem
      2. 2006 poll of 16-29 year olds from Barna Group (an evangelical polling firm) – top three attributes associated with “present day Christianity” (End of White Christian America p. 131-132)
         1. Anti-gay – 91%
         2. Judgmental – 87%

• Hypocritical – 85%

1. 7 out of 10 top attributes were negative

1. Since 2006, that perception has largely gotten worse
2. But that’s not “us,” that’s those other “us-es.”
   1. That a difference that largely doesn’t matter to the larger society
   2. Affects every church, and how they exist in the community
3. Who we say Jesus is, and how we live out what Jesus is, shows in how we are seen.
   1. NALT Christians
   2. Red Letter Christians
   3. Importance of collective conversation
      1. Single input – Historical Jesus studies – Jesus ended up looking like author
   4. Being “one of the good ones” is not enough.
4. Wisdom of listening to others when discerning ourselves
   1. Openness, acceptance of unintended consequences
   2. Scriptures say we are the body of Christ collectively, not individually
      1. Thank GOD for that. Other’s strengths make up for our shortcomings, and vice versa
   3. Proverbs reminds us to rebuke fools,
      1. V 1:22: clueless people who love their simpleness and naïveté, those mockers hold their mocking dear, and fools who hate knowledge?
      2. Irony of hurricane Florence, 6 years ago North Carolina “New Law in North Carolina Bans Latest Scientific Predictions of Sea-Level Rise” in emergency planning

• When did mocking our opponents become a Christian value?

1. Who did Jesus say will reject and rebuke?
   1. The powerful – elders, chief priests, and legal experts
   2. Not, the average person, not Wisdom

• Jesus as embodiment of Wisdom

12. Conclusion
    1. Knowing who we are is essential to being grounded
    2. Living in praxis and covenant is as essential
    3. Seek Wisdom from Jesus
       1. Listening to your neighbor, not delighting in mockery and ignorance
       2. Knowing that difficulty is a part of following God’s path.

• Not to be avoided, but to prepared for, knowing that those we encounter are both well meaning and often ignorant of faith
  1. Not to be mocked, but to be shown a better way – not through judgmental or hypocritical piety, but through living and walking the way Jesus did – without condition, speaking to each person where they are

1. Seek wisdom from each other – both in general, and in this in between time
   1. Learning from you
   2. Learning from me

• May think the other is offbase some times, but hopefully, still worth listening to

1. Add to your sense of identity the desire and practices of covenant and praxis.

Listen to the audio version below:

Prophetic Reflection 9/9/18 by Pastor Greg Briggs

1. Prayer and Introduction
   1. “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, our rock and redeemer. ”
   2. Sermon Title “Prophetic Reflection”
   3. Brief note about sermons. From my point of view they aren’t a lecture, they are a flow between the preacher, the congregation, and God. Sermons are meant to stir something in each of us. So, if you hear something that amuses you, feel free to chuckle or laugh. If you hear something you agree with, nod your head or say amen. Sometimes when I preach, I ask questions. I might ask if something makes sense, or if you can identify with feeling a certain way, or in being in a similar situation.
2. Syro-Phonecian Woman, or the Prophet from Syro-Phonecia
   1. A Remarkable, brief, and often overlooked Gospel story
      1. The woman who out debated Jesus
   2. Contextual reminders
      1. Woman, was not supposed to speak to a man
      2. Not Jewish, neither religiously or ethnically
   3. Yet, she sought out Jesus, when he wanted to be alone
3. What is Jesus like in today’s stories?
   1. He desires privacy, or at least keeping things low key
      1. He didn’t want anyone to know he was in Tyre, yet the woman sought him out
      2. In the second story, he healed the deaf man in private, and told them to tell no one
   2. He’s focused on his own people
   3. These stories show Jesus’ humanity, as well as his divinity
      1. Divinity is seen in the healings and the excellent things he does
      2. Humanity is seen as well
         1. Wil Gafney, PhD, says “Jesus is fully human, but not generically so.” He is a product of his time, A Palestinian Jew, male.
      3. Some people find this story of Jesus comforting, others find it threatening
         1. Was he proven wrong?
         2. Or Was this [only] a teaching strategy?

• How we interpret this story gives us an insight into our selves.

1. Regardless of how you understand it, Jesus changed his actions, indeed the course of his ministry, based on his interactions with this woman.

4. Embodying of Jesus’ teaching
   1. Previous week’s scripture in the lectionary was Jesus speaking to Jewish elders, and
      1. He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7:7 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ 7:8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” (Mark 7, 6-8)
   2. Today’s readings, which come immediately after, are an illustration of the commandments of God superseding human tradition. Our ethnic and national boundaries don’t matter to God, nor do our societal expectations.
   3. “It is what comes out of a person that defiles.” (Mark 7:20)
5. What came out of the Syro Phonecian woman?
   1. Faith, Perseverance, Standing up to authority, expecting more out of them
   2. Putting the commandments of God over human traditions
   3. What if she’d just meekly taken no for an answer, or not come to Jesus at all?
6. Prophetic Challenge
   1. This is something we as Christians sometimes lose sight of – that we are tasked to uphold what God has taught us, sometimes even to God.
   2. Don’t believe me?
      10. Abraham – talks God down from destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, if there are 50 righteous people? Then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10.
      11. Moses – when God saw the Golden calf, God was going to destroy the Israelites and start a new people. Moses talked God down

• Jacob Wrestled with God. Indeed Israel means “wrestles with God”

1. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the prophets, challenging the people and leaders of Israel
2. Jesus doing the same, again as illustrated in the scripture from last week “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
   1. And yet, Jesus is also guilty of the same sin
   2. A true intersection of humanity with the divine
3. So too does the Syro-Phonecian Woman struggle with God – and wins what she came for

7. Holding Up a Mirror to see your reflection
   1. It isn’t that these prophets and patriarch know better than God, it is that they’ve learned from God, and are reflecting it back
   2. You can hear each of them asking, “Is this really who you are?”
      1. How do you see yourselves, and how are you seen?
   3. Interim Process as a time of reflection
      1. This is also what this interim time, this in-between time is – a time of reflection. A time for the congregation to look at itself, in all its beauty, in all its flaws.
      2. It is a time for spiritual reflection
   4. My offering for the journey
      1. Whenever I start the interim process with a new church, I place this mirror on the altar. It says, “There are two ways of spreading light – Be the candle, or be the mirror that reflects it”
      2. As Christians, we are called upon to be both. We are the light of the world, and we are the reflection of Jesus Christ in the world.
      3. Maybe there are some smudges that need to be wiped off. Maybe the mirror is in need of a good polish.  Maybe it needs to be repositioned a bit to better reflect the light. And maybe, it is here to show you how beautiful you really are. To help look beyond the individual imperfections to see the beauty of the whole
   5. Finding Your Reflection in Three questions
      1. The interim process, is a transitional, flexible, inherently hard to grasp time, as it evolves differently in response to the strengths and needs of each community.
      2. Yet at the core, it is seeking the answers to three questions:
         1. Who are we?
         2. Who is our neighbor?

• What is God calling us to become?

1. No matter how many times a congregation has gone through the interim process, it goes through it again, because the answers to these questions continue to change and grow.
   1. You are not the same people that founded this church in 1880s. Yet you have inherited much from them, and from those who have come after. Yet you are also the newest of your members, your recent confirmands, seeking God in the 21^st century.
   2. Who you see as your neighbors is both universal and specific

• And what God is calling you to become changes as you try and live it out, and as you have lived into this calling with each successive pastor.

11. The Three Questions in today’s scripture readings
    1. Proverbs
       1. Who are we?
          1. “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.”
       2. Who is our neighbor?
          1. “The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all”

• Who is God calling us to become?
  1. “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
  2. 9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
  3. 22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
  4. 23 for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.”

1. Syro-Phonecian Woman
   1. Who are you, Jesus?
      1. The one that has come to heal
   2. Who is your neighbor?
      1. Not just your fellow Israelites, but the wider world

• What is God calling you to be?
  1. The teacher and savior of the world

12. Starting Again to live into the calling of God
    1. There is work to be done, but do not overlook the healing and saying goodbye that is a part of reflecting
    2. For now, continue to look for the reflections of the light of God, in your past, in your present, and in your future.
    3. Continue to question if we are living out God’s purpose as best we can – as individuals, as a faith community, as a government, as a nation, as a world.
    4. And hopefully, we can be like Jesus was in today’s reading, open to being questioned, gracious in seeing his own limitations, and pushed to live out what he taught.

 

Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23

 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

    and favor is better than silver or gold.

2 The rich and the poor have this in common:

    the Lord is the maker of them all.

8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

    and the rod of anger will fail.

9 Those who are generous are blessed,

    for they share their bread with the poor.

22  Do not rob the poor because they are poor,

    or crush the afflicted at the gate;

23 for the Lord pleads their cause

    and despoils of life those who despoil them.

 

THE GOSPEL READING Mark 7: 24-27

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

 

Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23

 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

    and favor is better than silver or gold.

2 The rich and the poor have this in common:

    the Lord is the maker of them all.

8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

    and the rod of anger will fail.

9 Those who are generous are blessed,

    for they share their bread with the poor.

22  Do not rob the poor because they are poor,

    or crush the afflicted at the gate;

23 for the Lord pleads their cause

    and despoils of life those who despoil them.

 

THE GOSPEL READING Mark 7: 24-27

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

 

Below is the Audio version of this week’s sermon.  Our apologies, there were technical difficulties.  It may be hard to hear at times.  We assure you, next week’s audio should be corrected.

Interim Pastor Greg Briggs

This was Confirmation Sunday… Enjoy a view from our youth.

 

 

~ Sermon ~ Sunday, August 19th ~ Pastor Neil Wilson

Dining on Living Bread

Luke 11:2-4         John 6:25-35

 

I love bread . . . honey wheat, honey oat, French bread, multi-grain bread, cinnamon bread, English muffin bread, brown bread (a New England Church bean suppah staple!) 

I love bread! 

Donna likes to bake bread. 

I’d say that’s a match made in bakery heaven!  My midsection says it’s a little closer to the ground!

So when it comes to placing myself in the scripture story I’m pretty sure I would have been among the crowd that followed Jesus across the Sea of Galilee looking for more bread.  And I just might have been the one who asked, “Jesus when did you get here?”  And then I would have added,  “And have you had time to whip up another batch of that bread?  That was umm, umm good!  Do have any butter and perhaps some strawberry jam?”

And I’m afraid I wouldn’t have fared any better than the crowd that day.  In his response Jesus cut straight to the fact of the matter, “The truth is you are looking for me not because you are really looking for me but you want something for your bellies!”

“Don’t work for food that perishes.  Fill yourselves with that which will truly satisfies.” 

“Feed on that which will really sustain you and bring you eternal life.”

Eternal Life . . .  Most of you by now have heard my understanding of “eternal life.”  I understand that when Jesus’ uses this term he is speaking as much about the “Here and now” as the “hereafter.”  As the old Nazarene pastor I knew said. “It’s  not just pie in the sky by and by but steak on your plate while you wait!”

 

Jesus said a little bit later in John’s Gospel that he came that we might “have life and have it abundantly.”  (Jn. 10:10) 

It’s not that Jesus is ignoring the physical needs of hungry people, after all he had just fed a large crowd of hungry people!  Rather he is saying is life is more that eating, and until they understand this they will not grasp what he is really is about.  We do not live by bread alone!

I say all this as a way of sharing with you any of the little parting wisdom I might have. 

If the church, this church, any church is going to flourish it must nourish itself on the Bread of Life.  Not the sermon of any pastor including me!  The sermon is not the Bread of Life!  Now to the extent that a sermon, anyone’s sermon, contains a bit of the Bread of Life then draw it out and feed on this.  The Bread of Life, however, is not dependent on any preacher or sermon. 

And I would add, it is not dependent on any particular theology.  The Bread of Life, like baked bread can come in a variety of flavors, and some people like one flavor or mixture better than another, the thing is they’re all versions of the bread of life and they are all good!  But only one source, one baker, Jesus. 

I pray that you will receive the interim and eventually your new called pastor and listen for the Bread of Life coming through her or his messages and nourish yourselves on this living bread.  Nourished by this the church will flourish. 

The second of our readings for this morning is from the Luke’s version of what is commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”  You may have noticed that Luke is a bit more terse and shorter than Matthew’s version which is the version more commonly used in worship. 

Give us each day our daily bread.  There has been quite a bit written about just exactly what Jesus might have originally said and meant here.  The interpretive quandary Biblical scholars face is that what we have is from the Greek and Jesus spoke in Aramaic.    

What we do have at our disposal though, are some very early copies of the gospels in second century Syriac which is closely related to Aramaic.  But even here what we have is Syriac Christians taking the words of Jesus from the Greek and returning them to a language very close to Jesus’ native language.   

There are a couple of interesting things we can learn from the Syriac version of this verse.  

Lahmo (a Syriac word) means both bread and “understanding.”  Food for all forms of growth, physical, intellectual emotional, spiritual.  But it carries the sense of that which is basic for life in general. 

The Greek word epiousios which traditionally has been translated “daily.”  And here is another interpretive dilemma: this word appears nowhere else in the Greek language!  From the beginning and over the years there have been numerous ways of addressing this matter.  And it seems that again if we return to the early Syriac church’s view of this passage, they opted for an interpretation that focused less on frequency (“daily”) and more on the amount of bread necessary for life.  They translated it as “provide for us the bread that we need.”  Or as the very earliest Syriac version translated it: “Give us today the bread that doesn’t run out.”

One of the most basic of human fears is the dread of economic privation.  Will we have enough?  We’re managing now, but what about the future?  What if I lose my job?  What if the kids get sick? What if I’m unable to work?  What if my retirement doesn’t last? How will we survive? One of the deepest and most crippling fears of the human spirit is the fear of not having enough to eat.  Perhaps Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer is teaching his disciples to pray for release from this fear.

Fear of not having enough can destroy a sense of well-being in the present and erode hope for the future. 

I would offer this interpretation of what Jesus may be attempting to convey to us:  Give us bread for today and with it give us confidence that tomorrow we will have enough.  

One other thing, note that in the Lord’s Prayer we ask for bread, not cake! This is the meaning of lahmo, that which is basic for life.  Consumerism and the kingdom of mammon have no place among those who pray this prayer.  We ask for that which will sustain life, not all its extras.

So church, do not fear about tomorrow or next month or next year.  You are in God’s care.  You pray this every week!  Give us this day that which we need and as we use it help us trust that there will be enough tomorrow as well.

I am preaching to myself here as well.  I worry about you.  Not that I am concerned about any future leadership.  But if we love someone we worry about them, don’t we? 

When I told Rev. Cheryl Burk, our Associate Conference Minster, (who will be here next week) that I had accepted a new call.  She saw something in me which lead her to say, “Don’t worry we’ll take care of them.” 

So even as I tell you not to worry about the future, I am trying to myself.  You have been blessed.  In God’s “economy” there is always enough.  So live and serve boldly, welcome others extravagantly, God will refill you with all you give away!   

One last thing, note that throughout the Lord’s Prayer there are no singular pronouns!  They are all plural.  It is “Our Father”  . . .  Give us this day, our daily bread . . . lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil . . .

We ask for ours, not mine.  Church you are in this great adventure together.

Story told by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

She  had an old gentleman come to their house and said that there was a family with eight children and they had nothing to eat.  Could the Sisters do something or them?

So she took some rice and went there.  The mother took the rice from Mother Teresa’s hands, then divided it into two and went out.  Mother Teresa could see the faces of the children shining with hunger.  When she came back Mother Teresa asked her where she had gone. Her answer was simple: “They are hungry also.” And “they” were the family next door and the woman knew that they were hungry.  Mother Teresa said she was not surprised that she gave, but was surprised that she knew . . .  And I quote Mother Teresa: “I had not the courage to ask her how long her family hadn’t eaten, but I am sure it must have been a long time, and yet she knew – in her suffering.  . . . In her terrible bodily suffering she knew that next door they were hungry also.”

 

There are hungry people out there, hungry for real bread, yes, so keep on doing this, but also hungry for an understanding of Jesus’ love that is not judgmental, that is welcoming of all, people that are searching for a place where there is a God who is compassionate and filled with grace, not condemning and wrathful. 

This is the bread of life you have to offer the hungry in this community. 

God has provided, it will not run out. 

Share it that others may have life and have it abundantly

 

Rejection    One of the things I’ve been reiterating with people individually but I think it is important that I share it with all of you.  Our decision to accept the call to serve another congregation is in no way a reflection of  how we feel about you, this church, this community.  We love this congregation, we love you as individuals, we love this town and the northern Michigan area.  And this is why Donna and I wrestled with it for so long.  It was a very personal decision based on what we were both feeling. As we get closer to retirement whatever that is going to mean now, we both felt it was time to go home.  This came long before Melanie and her family moved there.  That eventually we wanted to grow old together in the place that for us is “home.”  In a perfect world we would have taken all of you and this community with us.  But then you wouldn’t be where you want to be.  

 

~ Sermon ~ Sunday, September 2nd ~ Patti Ulrich ~ Guest Preacher

Love is Our Defense

Many years ago, our church here in Charlevoix took on a huge expansion project. My feelings about the project were mixed, at best. We took up temporary residence at the Christian Science Church across the parking lot which was kind enough to let us use their space, so we squeezed in there. We even held church in the barn at the llama farm on Boyne City Road! Do any of you remember that?   Sitting on the hay bales like barn swallows, we sang hymns of praise.

As we prepared for our temporary move out of the church and how it might look after we moved back in, I thought about the times I had felt close to God in that space: late at night alone in the sanctuary during a prayer vigil, at our children’s baptisms and their confirmation services, in the chaos of Christmas Eve children’s pageants, with angels and shepherds jumbled together in a procession of sorts, trying to keep their headgear (halos and such) straight while they sang carols as only children can. We used to crowd in the stairwell at the back of the church trying desperately to shoosh the excited children. Remember when Marti Trubilowicz made little sheep hats out of felt for the children? They were so cute! And the time one teenage Mary took a small camera out from under her robe to snap a photo of the baby Jesus! (That was before cell phones) Too funny! Wonderful memories!

At the time, it didn’t seem to me that we needed a magnificent new structure to feel close to God, to be “at home with God.” But I have found that even though I loved that simple space very much, I now love the new space just as much with all the new memories that are being created here each and every week and each and every day.

Psalm 84 is a joyful song praising God, not a building, although God’s presence is mysteriously and powerfully experienced there. The psalmist begins by calling the Temple   God’s “dwelling place,” but of course “dwelling” in a place doesn’t have to mean being contained by it.

Psalm 84 is one of the “Songs of Zion” which, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann explains, “serve to celebrate, Zion-Jerusalem as the epicenter of reality wherein YHWH dwells permanently in a way that guarantees the city,” thereby making the people feel safe–after all, God is in their city. Could there be any better source of security? I think when he’s talking about God being in our city, he’s talking about a place where we can imagine how things should and could be, rather than how they actually are. A place where we can dream the dream of God. If God is love, and we know that’s the truth, then that “source of life” is also our best home, our best defense, our best security and shelter. Love is our best defense, indeed.

That’s the key, isn’t it? Keeping God, and God’s love, at the heart of everything: I think of the concept of “sanctuary” as a safe haven for those fleeing other powers. Something that we see on the news almost every night these days as desperate people try to seek safety for their families from violence they face in their home lands. It is something that we might find hard to relate to here in our beautiful community.

And yet today in our country, we are still shaken and grieved by the horror of shootings in places of worship – our faith and other faiths. Nine people were killed in a mass shooting at the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. It was at the end of a Bible study where they had offered warm hospitality and kindness to the man who then shot them, for being Black, he told the police. It’s jarring to realize that even church itself can’t offer safe space, sanctuary, when such a thing can happen on sacred ground. But the people of the church found a way to forgive that young man. Surely God is dwelling in their city!

And as we look to a new future for our church, we have faith that we will portray and yes BE a church community that is safe and is God’s home. Our very lives, then, and all of nature, are sacred ground, holy ground. Thus, we too can “go from strength to strength” (v. 7). For wherever we are, we are “at home with God.” So are the sparrow and the swallow, of course: the psalmist sings of their good fortune in finding a home in the sacred surroundings of the Temple.

We can’t help recalling Jesus’ own words about God’s eye being on the sparrow. One wonders at the repeated image of tiny sparrows in the Bible, one of the smallest of God’s creatures. Throughout the Bible, we hear that God cares for the ones we might easily overlook: the small ones, the humble ones, the ones on the margins.

The swallows and the sparrows, all of creation then, join with humans in a song of praise to God, according to the psalmist–just think of Psalm 104, for instance. “Praise the Lord, O my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty…. The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.”  I hope you’ll read it when you get home this afternoon! Imagine the “continuous birdsongs” playing harmony to our pilgrims’ hymns like Amazing Grace! What a lovely image, for a Temple long ago and the sacred spaces of our lives today, too. The next time you are outside and hear them singing their sweet songs in the trees and bushes, be reminded of God’s love for the little ones and for you as well. I hope that will make you smile!

The swallow and the sparrow find a place to make a nest for their little ones in the temple. And we humans can also find a nest in a church whose worship experience encompasses “serenity, innocence, and trusting delight” in the presence of the God who loves [us].[i] Of course, the image of “nest” suggests a place of safety, nurture, and home. We may certainly find a “nest” in other places where we experience being at home with God, but we pray and have faith that our church community will continue to be a place for people to find a safe place, a home! AMEN!

Inspiration and quotes in this message come from Kathryn Matthews, UCC Worship Resources

[i] Walter Brueggemann, Texts for the Preaching Year

 

 

 

Benediction

 

Happy are those whose strength is in the Lord.

The Lord is our light and our protector giving us grace and glory.

No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right.

Blessed are those who trust in him. Go now in peace to love and serve.

Amen!

 

[1] Walter Brueggemann, Texts for the Preaching Year

Benediction

 

Happy are those whose strength is in the Lord.

The Lord is our light and our protector giving us grace and glory.

No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right.

Blessed are those who trust in him. Go now in peace to love and serve.

 

Amen!

~ Sermon ~ Sunday, August 5th, 2018 ~ Pastor Neil Wilson ~

Original Sermon date:    April 28, 1985 by Pastor Neil Wilson

CALLED TO COMFORT

GOD USES MANY PEOPLE IN MANY WAYS TO SEE THAT HIS WILL IS DONE.  QUOTE FROM A SALADA TEA BAG:  “LIVE AND LET LIVE IS FINE, BUT LIVE AND HELP LIVE IS BETTER”.

AS CHRISTIANS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A NEW LIFE TO LIVE THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.  IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO GIVE THAT SAME NEW LIFE TO OTHERS AND THIS REQUIRES SHARING OUR LIVES WITH PEOPLE.  WE MUST BECOME INVOLVED.

BUT IT IS NOT EASY TO SHARE OUR LIVES WITH OTHERS.  IT TAKES COMMITMENT, TIME AND ENERGY.  IT IS AN INVESTMENT IN AN AREA THAT BAY BE SLOW TO SHOW A RETURN, IF WE SEE ONE AT ALL.  RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE JOYOUS, BUT THEY CAN ALSO BE VERY PAINFUL.

LIFE IS THAT WAY ISN’T IT?  IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES WE HAVE THOSE SPECIAL MOMENTS, WE ARE STANDING ON A MOUNTAIN PEAK AND ALL THE WORLD SEEMS TO BE OURS, “WE’RE ON TOP OF IT”  WE SAY, BUT THEN WE HAVE THOSE LONG, BROAD AND DUSTY VALLEYS TO CROSS BEFORE WE REACH THE NEXT SUMMIT.  IT’S DURING THOSE DUSTY TURBULENT TREKS ACROSS THE VALLEYS OF LIFE THAT WE FEEL WE COULD USE ALL THE HELP WE COULD GET FROM GOD, SAY NOTHING ABOUT BEING THE SHINING EXAMPLE OF A MODEL CHRISTIAN THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TO THE WORLD!

TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU FOLKS A FEW WAYS IN WHICH I FEEL GOD REACHES OUT TO US DURING THOSE VALLEYS IN LIFE AND WHEN WE ARE LIFTED OUT OF THOSE DESERTS OF DEPRESSION WE ARE BETTER PREPARED TO DEAL WITH AND HELP A SUFFERING WORLD.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE VERSES HAS ALWAYS BEEN 1COR. 10:13 “NO TEMPTATION HAS OVERTAKEN YOU THAT IS NOT COMMON TO MAN.  GOD IS FAITHFUL, AND HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND YOUR STRENGTH, BUT WITH THE TEMPTATION HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE THE WAY OF ESCAPE, THAT YOU MAY ENDURE IT.”

BUT LET ME SAY THIS FIRST, I AM A STRONG SPIRITUALIST THAT IS I BELIEVE STRONGLY IN THE SPIRITUAL STRENGTH OF CHRISTIANITY.  ALSO I AM AN INDIVIDUALIST IN THAT I BELIEVE WORKING WITH AND STRENGTHENING INDIVIDUALS CAN BE JUST AS VALUABLE AND PRODUCTIVE AS MINISTRY TO THE LARGER SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.  ALSO GOES FOR CHURCHES, TOWNS, ETC.  I BELIEVE WE MUST BE FAITHFUL OVER THE LITTLE THINGS.  I BELIEVE IN STARTING SMALL AND WORKING UP, LOCAL AND WORKING OUT.  BUT MORE THAN ANTYTHING ELSE I AM TRYING TO BE A REALIST, I WANT TO TAKE ALL THAT HAS BEEN REVEALED TO ME THROUGHT READING, STUDYING, PRAYING, HOLY SPIRIT (SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF OUR FAITH) AND PUT IT INTO SOMETHING REAL, CONCRETE, THAT WILL HELP AN INDIVIDUAL. 

SO, BEING THIS WAY, I ALWAYS HAD CERTAIN QUESTIONS WHEN I READ VERSES LIKE 1COR 10:13, I DID NOT DOUBT THAT A WAY OUT WILL BE PROVIDED BY GOD, BUT HOW DOES IT COME?  WHERE DO WE LOOK FOR IT AND WHAT ABOUT I BEING COMMON TO EVERYONE?  I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM I FEEL LIKE I’M THE ONLY ONE.

BUT GOD DOES PROVIDE COMFORT DURING OUR TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS.  GOD COMFORT CAN COME THROUGH A VARIETY OF METHODS:

1. PRAYER

            BEING A SPRITUALIST I BELIEVE VERY STRONGLY IN PRAYER AND WHAT CAN BE DONE THROUGH PRAYER.  PRAYER NOT ONLY GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO UNLOAD OUR PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS ONTO THE LORD’S BROAD SHOULDERS, BUT BY STOPPING EVERYTHING AND SPENDING A FEW MINUTES IN PRAYER IT GIVES US THE TIME TO STEP BACK FROM OUR PROBLEMS , PERHAPS START TO PUT THEM INTO PROPER PERSPECTIVE AND GO ABOUT THE TASK OF TACKLING THE MOST PRESSING, IMPORTANT FIRST.

I TOOK A COURSE CALLED CRITICAL THINKING WHICH TAUGHT ME TO SEE A LARGE PROBLEM AND SEVERAL SMALLER ONES WHICH IF TAKEN ONE AT A TIME MAKES THE PROBLEM SOLVING THAT MUCH EASIER.  YOU KNOW MANY OF LIVES PROBLEMS CAN BE APPROACHED IN THIS FASHION AND PRAYER GIVES US THE CHANCE TO SAY “GOD I CAN’T HANDLE THIS ANYMORE, HELP ME PUT THINGS BACK IN ORDER”.  THE LORD MAY NOT GIVE YOU THE WHOLE ANSWER RIGHT AWAY BUT I BET IF YOU ARE ATTENTIVE, AN ANSWER TO A STEP IN THAT PROBLEM WILL COME ALONG.

2. READING

            THIS COULD BE SCRIPTURES OR THE STORY OF SOMEONE ELSE WHO WENT THROUGH A STRUGGLE SIMILARY TO YOURS.  MANY FIND COMFORT IN DAILY DEVOTIONS.  SO READING INSPIRATIONAL MATERIAL CAN BE COMFORTING.

3. OTHER CHRISTIANS

            PROBABLY THE MOST TANGIBLE WAY THAT WE CAN FIND GOD’S COMFORT IS THROUGH FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS.  WHY CAN OTHERS BE SO HELPFUL?  PAUL SAYS “NO TEMPTATION OR TRIAL HAS OVERTAKEN US THAT IS NOT COMMON TO MAN”.  SO YOU SEE NO MATTER HOW ALONE WE MAY FEEL THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE THAT HAS SUFFERED THROUGH THE SAME TRIALS THAT WE ARE.

WELL WE SAY THAT’S ALL GOOD BUT JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE FELT LIKE I DO, DOESN’T MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER, NO IT DOESN’T.  BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL AND WILL NOT LET US BE TEMPTED BEYOND OUR STRENGTH AND WILL PROVIDE A WAY OUT.  BUT WHERE, WHERE IS THAT WAY OUT?  AH!  MAYBE JUST MAYBE GOD WILL USE THAT OTHER CHRISTIAN TO DO HIS WORK IN THIS INSTANCE, IN YOUR LIFE.

YOU KNOW THE SAYING “DON’T JUDGE A PERSON UNTIL YOU HAVE WALKED A MILE IN THEIR SHOES”.  I THINK A TWIST ON THAT IS TRUE WHEN SEEKING COMFORT.  WE ARE MUCH QUICKER TO SEEK HELP FROM OR OPEN UP TO SOMEONE THAT WE FEEL HAS WALKED THE SAME ROUGH ROAD WE ARE TRAVELING, THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT WE MAY BE GOING THROUGH, THEY HAVE SAT WHERE WE ARE SITTING.  AND IF THEY ARE CHRISTIAN, WE SHARE A COMMON BOND WITH EACH OTHER AND OUR SAVIOR FROM WHICH WE CAN DRAW AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF STRENGTH AND COMFORT.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS WHICH WE CAN FIND GOD’S COMFORT.  THROUGH PRAYER, AND MEDITATION, READING, AND FELLOW CHRISTIANS.  AND PROBABLY MANY OTHER WAYS WHICH YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THE STRENGTH AND COMFORT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  SOMEDAY YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BENEFIT FROM YOUR PAST EXPERIENCES.

THIS LEADS ME TO THE MAIN POINT I WANT TO MAKE, IN TODAY’S READING PAUL WRITES “THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT WHO COMFORTS US IN ALL TROUBLES, SO THAT WE CAN COMFORT THOSE IN ANY TROUBLE WITH THE COMFORT WE OURSELVES RECEIVED FROM GOD”.   WHETHER WE RECEIVE OUR COMFORT THROUGH PRAYER, MEDITATION, DEVOTIONS, OR OTHER CHRISTIANS, THE COMFORT IS A GIFT FROM GOD.  PAUL FOUND GOD’S COMFORT THROUGH TITUS AND HIS MESSAGE FROM THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH.

I FEEL IT IS CRUCIAL TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE VERSES TO UNDERSTAND THE FULLER MEANING THAT COMFORT HAD IN PAUL’S DAY.  TO US COMFORT SUGGESTS A SOOTHING OF PAIN, BE IT PHYSICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL, CONSOLATION, SYMPATHY.  THE COMFORT OF GOD WHICH PAUL SPEAKS OF IS NOT A DRUG, TRANQUILIZER TO LOWER OUR ANXIETY USED TO NUMB OUR PAIN.  THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CALLED THE “COMFORTER” WHICH MEANS “STRENGTHENER”.  IT HAS THE SAME ROOT AS “FORTIFY”.  COMFORT IN THIS INSTANCE DOES NOT MEAN TO FEEL SORRY FOR, TO SYMPATHIZE, BUT RATHER TO SUPPORT, TO STRENGTHEN, TO ENCOURAGE, GOD’S COMFORT IS NOT PASSIVE BUT ACTIVE.  IT IS A GIFT THAT MUST BE PASSED ON.  I AM VERY MUCH CONVINCED OF THIS.  WE ARE TO SUPPORT AND NURTURE EACH OTHER IF WE ARE TO BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST.  IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED GOD’S COMFORTING IN YOUR LIFE, SHARE IT.  USE THE STRENGTH YOU WERE GIVIEN DURING A TIME OF NEED TO HELP A FELLOW TRAVELER WHO HAS STUMBLED.  WE ARE ALL ON THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER AND THERE WON’T BE ANY JOY IN THE END WHEN WE REACH OUR DESTINATION IF THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO SHARE OUR TRIUMPH WITH.

IN TODAYS UNISON READING ISAIAH IS SPEAKING OF CHRIST WHEN HE SAYS “ME”.  THIS ALSO SPEAKS ABOUT CHRISTIANS IN THE 20^TH CENTURY.  WE ARE TO CARRY OUT THE WORK THAT BEGAN WITH THE APOSTLES, THAT OF PREACHING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE AFFLICTED, COMFORT THOSE WHO MOURN, TO FREE THOSE THAT ARE BOUND BY THE CHAINS OF WORLDY CONCERNS.  CHRIST HAS PROMISED TO BE WITH US “UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH”.  THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THERE TO STRENGTHEN US.  SO LET THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, THAT DWELLS IN EACH OF YOU, REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED.

NOW YOU’RE SAYING “THIS SOUNDS ALL NICE AND PROPER, AS IT SHOULD BE, BUT LET’S BE MORE REALISTIC.  HOW CAN WE DO THIS?”  WELL, WHAT ARE SOME WAYS THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO OTHERS AND SHARE IN GOD’S COMFORT.

FIRST OF ALL I DON’T BELIEVE WE ALL HAVE TO RUN TO THE NEAREST BOOKSTORE AND BUY A BOOK ON COUNCELING.  BUT WE COULD BEGIN BY USING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS BESTOWED UPON US.  SUCH TRAITS AS LOVE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, GENTLENESS; SOMEONE IN NEED OF COMFORTING IS SURE TO RESPOND TO SUCH FEELINGS.  IN ANOTHER COURSE, “THE HELPING PROCESS” WE READ A BOOK “BECOMING NATURALLY THERAPEUTIC”, (WE CAN ALL BECOME HELPERS), WHICH IS ALL ABOUT DEVELOPING IN YOURSELF QUALITIES SUCH AS EMPATHY, GENUINESS, RESPECT, WARMTH, IMMEDIACY, CONCRETENESS.  DOESN’T THIS SOUND VERY SIMILAR TO THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT?  THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT ARE OURS ALREADY, TO PUT TO WORK BECAUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH DWELLS IN EACH OF US. 

ONCE WE START TO DEVELOP OR USE THESE TRAITS OR QUALITIES, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE READY TO CAPITALIZE ON EACH MOMENT.  IF YOU SHOW LOVE, EMPATHY, PATIENCE, RESPECT, GOODNESS AND GENUINESS, PEOPLE WILL OPEN UP TO YOU AND SHARE THEIR CONERNS AND WHEN PEOPLE HINT OF A PROBLEM, FOR INSTANCE, HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE GONE UP TO SOMEONE AND SAID “HOW ARE YOU TODAY?” THEN YOU GET THE UNEXPECTED RESPONSE, “WELL, NOT TOO GOOD, OR I’VE BEEN BETTER” AND YOU RESPOND WITHOUT THINKING “OH, THAT’S NICE” OR “ THAT’S TOO BAD” AND OFF YOU GO, OR IF YOU ARE REALLY ATTENTIVE THEY MAY SAY “I’M DOING OKAY” BUT THEIR BODY LANGUAGE OR THEIR AFFECT IS CRYING OUT IN PAIN OR LONELINESS.  WHEN PEOPLE HAVE DROPPED A SUBTLE HINT LIKE THIS, DON’T HESITATE, DON’T THINK I BETTER TELL THE PASTOR OR SOMEONE (YOU’LL PROBABLY WANT TO DO THAT ANYWAY) THAT PERSON HAS SHARED A LITTLE BIT OF THEIR HURT WITH YOU, THEY FEEL SAFE ENOUGH WITH YOU TO LOWER THEIR DEFENSES, EVEN IF JUST A LITTLE.  IT IS UP TO YOU TO CAPITALIZE ON THE PRECIOUS MOMENT TO REACH OUT TO THEM WHILE THEY ARE OPEN, SHARE WITH THEM IN THEIR SUFFERING, SHARE WITH THEM THE COMFORT THAT COMES FROM GOD. 

I AM SURE THAT MANY OF YOU HAVE IDEAS ON HOW YOU COULD BE USED BY GOD TO COMFORT OTHERS, IF YOU HAVE, SHARE THEM WITH ME, BUT ABOVE ALL , SHARE THEM WITH SOMEONE ELSE IN NEED.  SOMEONE COULD USE A COMFORTING WORD.

BEFORE WE END THIS MORING I WOULD LIKE EACH OF YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME.  I WANT YOU TO LOOK AROUND, LOOK AT THE PERSON SITTING NEXT TO YOU, IN FRONT OF YOU, BEHIND YOU, IN THE NEXT AISLE.  DO YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO IS DEPRESSED, DOWN IN THE DUMPS; DO YOU SEE ANY SUFFERING AND PAIN?  MAYBE YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN IN YOUR POSITION.   SEEK EACH OTHER OUT!  GET TOGETHER, TALK AND SHARE WITH EACH OTHER.  LET THE PEACE OF GOD START HERE WITH US AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.  IT WILL FEEL GOOD AND BRING HOPE; GOD’S COMFORT ALWAYS DOES.

Listen to the Audio Version of this Sermon by clicking on the button below:

~ Sermon ~ Sunday, July 28th, 2018 ~ Pastor Neil Wilson

Why Am I Here?  Why Are You Here?

John 6: 1-21

 

Believe it or not I spend a fair amount of time and effort selecting the hymns that we sing on Sunday morning.  First, I try to match the hymns to the scripture I will be speaking on, or the season of the church year.  But I also, (again believe it or not), take into account what you like for hymns.  I ask, “Do they know this hymn?  Do they like to sing this hymn ?  Can they sing it well?”  It makes a difference what sort of music you like.  I will be honest and tell you that this is probably one of the main reasons why some hymns are selected for singing: Does the congregation like this song?”

And sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s not what I like.  (I would go for more of a contemporary sound or the more contemplative mood of Taize songs.)

While this may be a fair question (What does the congregation like?), isn’t it interesting that we rarely ask an even more important question: Do we think God would like this hymn or music?  

Of course, this can be a tricky if not scary question; tricky because there are bound to be many different answers, and scary because many of them conflicting, but also because it is such a basic question.  And it is scary because the scriptures note that Jesus drove away about as many people as he attracted!  Jesus obviously based his ministry on more substantial questions.  You know, I just can’t picture Jesus sitting around with two or three of the disciples and asking “What do you think about using this song right before I teach today?  Do you think the people of Capernaum know it?”

   All this brings me to our reading from John’s gospel.  It’s a story about Jesus, but it is also a story about a crowd.  “A large crowd kept following him,” says John.  Can there be a surer sign of success than this?  Isn’t this one of the things we look at in churches?  Who can argue with numbers?  Look at the bottom line, a large crowd.  Jesus has become popular!

 

Then John tell us why they were following Jesus.  “They saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.”  Jesus has healed many hurting people.  Freed those possessed by their inner demons. If there is one certain, uncontested good that we all have, it is our health.  Large crowds were following Jesus because they see his signs.  He heals them, meeting their fundamental need for good health.   

Curiously, Jesus does not continue to meet these needs.  The next verse says: “Jesus went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples.”  Even a dedicated do-gooder, even the “Messiah” needs a break, a temporary respite from meeting people’s legitimate needs. 

Sitting there on the mountainside Jesus looks up and “saw a great crowd coming toward him.”  Jesus turns to Philip and a little tongue in cheek asks him, “Philip, Where do you think we might find a caterer, and  how much would it cost for a meal for such a crowd?”   

Philip replies “Well it would take well over what I make in half a year and that would probably cover just the appetizer!” 

Andrew finds this young fellow in the crowd and pulls him up to Jesus.  He happens to have his lunch with him, a few loaves of bread and a couple of broiled fish.  Jesus takes the boy’s food, give thanks, and all eat their fill.  Here we see Jesus, the compassionate one who feeds the hungry, as well as heals the hurting.

Okay, at this point you’re probably saying, “Heard this sermon before.  Yes, Jesus is the compassionate one who meets all our need for health and food.”  And after all isn’t this why we’re here?  We hoping that in some way to have our needs met by Jesus.

 

But our story does not end with Jesus feeding the crowd.  To be sure the people are impressed.  “This Jesus must be a prophet of God who has come into the world!” they’re saying.  Surely Jesus is gratified by their accolades.  At last, they appear to have gotten the point.  After so much rejection, at last the people see Jesus for who he is and proclaim him as Lord.  At last, the movement around Jesus is getting somewhere.

But no!  Jesus rejects their praises and compliments.  The next verse says: “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”   (Jn.1:15)

Right at the point when the people have at last accepted Jesus, have proclaimed him a prophet sent by God, he nervously withdraws, and this time completely alone.  The inner circle of disciples apparently were not invited this time!

Why did he withdraw right at the height of his popularity, when his coronation was being arranged? 

The people need bread.  Jesus has given them bread. They proclaim him king.  What else could he want from them?

Remember, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he was tempted in the wilderness” the Tempter met Jesus and offered him this world and heaven too.  “Just make stones into bread.” Satan said.  Jesus refused.

Isn’t bread good?  Isn’t feeding the hungry good?  Why then did Jesus refuse, and why , when he did feed people, was he so put off by their calling him king?

Something in Jesus recognized that he could not meet the needs of so many people seeking him without at the same time denying who he was called by God to be. 

In the wilderness, Satan tried to transform Jesus into a wonder worker, Jesus refused.  Now, Jesus has given bread and when the grateful crowd attempts to crown him king, Jesus withdraws. 

In the passage that follows what was read this morning, when the crowds find him the following day, Jesus chides them for caring only about their bellies!  They ask for a sign from Jesus, perhaps because they are hoping for another free happy meal.  Jesus doesn’t buy into this but rather launches into the famous “bread of life” teaching, where he identifies himself with what they truly need.  As a result many of his disciples say, “This teaching is difficult.”  Many of them actually leave after he stops giving them bread saying that he is their “Bread from heaven.” (v. 60)

Jesus refused to do for the crowds what they wanted, as if to do so would be forsaking his mission.  Then and now the question “Jesus, what will you do for us?” must be secondary to the more critical question, “Jesus, who are you and what is your mission?”

I confess that I think most of us show up in church to get help to make it through the week, to obtain a sense of inner peace, to receive guidance in making difficult decisions that are before us.  And there is nothing wrong with any of these reasons!  Yet, note that this story, which at first seems to be about the crowd, about us, before it is done is a story about Jesus.  We come to church thinking mostly about ourselves, but then we hear the scripture talk mostly about God. 

I believe this is one of the important lessons of this account of the fishes and loaves, even the walking on water.  When we will ever learn that Christianity, following Jesus, is not merely another useful means of helping us get what we want.  Rather, following Jesus is the means whereby God gets what God desires, people of faith!   

Jesus will not be co-opted into being just another therapeutic device to enable us to get what we want without actually meeting Jesus.  Now, can a relationship with Jesus help us in a therapeutic way?  For sure.  After all Jesus did promise the Holy Spirit as another Counselor!  But the Gospel implies that we often do not know what we really need, until we have an encounter with Jesus.

The great preacher William Sloane Coffin (Riverside Church NYC) once said that he did not know how you attract people to the gospel by appealing to their essentially selfish needs and then end up offering them the unselfish gospel of Jesus Christ!

 John says that Jesus performed a great “sign,” by feeding the hungry crowd, but notice John always uses the word “sign” not miracle.  This is important.  A sign is something that points beyond itself to something greater and more important than the sign.  The bread blessed and given for the people was a sign that God was among them, not so much among them as the fulfillment of their hearts’ desires, but present in Jesus as the heart of God. 

This God was even greater than their hunger.  Jesus coming to them across the water the sign that God is greater than any of their fears.

This God was there to be worshiped, to be obeyed, to be followed,

  even when the following did not appear to meet their needs.

May we listen and learn as well!

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~ Sermon ~ July 22nd, 2018 ~ Pastor Neil Wilson

A Song of Trust

Psalm 23

 

“Love is patient, love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude . . . And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is . . .” (1 Cor. 13:4)  Where do these words take you?  Memories of young women dressed in white, young men in formal attire?

 There are some scripture texts that transport us to specific places and times. 

We hear the words: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus . . .”  and we are back at a Christmas Eve service the children have presented their pageant and we’re about to sing “Silent Night” while the light of the Christ candle is passed on from one person to the next. 

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”   For some of us we hear these words and we can remember the smell of flowers, perhaps fresh dirt, the quiet sounds of sadness, and the embrace of those who have come to comfort.  These words are most often recited when the heart is weighed down with grief and we are at a loss for other words we might say.   Throughout generations, when the faithful have walked through the valley of the shadow, the psalm listed as 23^rd of the 150 in our Bibles has provided words of comfort.

Even a cursory reading of the Psalm the point is clear that God’s care is like that of a faithful shepherd.  If God is described through the metaphor of the shepherd then by default, we become sheep and one does not need to know much about sheep to understand what this image means.  This is evident in the popularity of Psalm 23.  Sunday School classes memorize it.  No fewer than  six arrangements of this Psalm are readily available in hymnals.  It is requested for services bearing witness to the resurrection.  And yet many who have uttered these words as faithful confession or prayed them in times of trouble, have known nothing about shepherds, or even seen a real sheep!  Those who have known such creatures will describe them in less than flattering terms. 

Sheep are herd animals.  They are defenseless. They are vulnerable.  Most commonly noted, sheep are not necessarily the brightest animal in the barnyard!

But these are not the characteristics the psalmist has in mind when speaking of the shepherd and sheep.  The psalmist speaks of the sheep’s reliance on the shepherd.  Sheep cannot survive making their own way.  Sheep are absolutely dependent on the shepherd for life.  Sheep can trust the shepherd.  Knowing this dependency between sheep and shepherd bring to focus the central testimony of the psalm: the shepherd Is faithful.   

When we bring our hearts to the edge of the grave, we become aware that we cannot make our own way through the grief.  When we face the end of our own days, our dependence upon the Shepherd stands before us with more clarity than perhaps at any other time.  We are not the Creator, we are the created, and the prevailing reality for the creature is our dependence upon God for life.  Perhaps this is why we find Psalm 23  so comforting at the time of death.    

But it is crucial to note that the witness of Psalm 23 is that the Shepherd is faithful throughout the whole of life.  What we confess in the presence of death remains true in every stage and season of life! 

Sheep-like dependence would be paralyzing, if not for the knowledge  that the One on whom we depend is the good shepherd.  This shepherd leads, restores, comforts, and prepares.  Under this shepherd’s care there is no want. 

Often in funeral and memorial services I will suggest that if Psalm 23 is to be used we  say it communally.  But this psalm is not presented in scripture as a “communal credo.”    Like the song “In the Garden” this psalm is filled with first person singular pronouns. 

“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”

This shepherd makes me and leads me and restores me and anoints my head, and  I shall dwell.

This is a “song of trust” by someone who knows in the midst of the vicissitudes of personal life and over the course of the years that they have been carried in the bosom of God, sheltered from harm, and given rest.  This is not so much a theological confession or statement of belief, as it is a personal testimony to the faithfulness of God.

 

In the middle of this psalm we find what some have referred to as the “gospel kernel of the Old Testament”  the good news that turns tears of anguish and fear into shouts of joy, that glad tidings given to by the angelic choir to the shepherds, which itself echoes a word first given to the patriarchs and repeated again to Israel in moments of distress and fear: “You don’t have to be afraid.”  This is the word of salvation in a nutshell in both the first(Old) and second (new) Testament! 

There is perhaps no more relevant message for our time than the invitation to set aside fear.  Consider how much fear there is in our world.

Governments trade in fear of terror or evil empires. 

The markets trade in fear of there not being enough.  (We give it this innocuous term “supply and demand” but at its root it is fear.)

The church often trades in fear of exclusion or judgement or our numbers dwindling to the point of irrelevance. 

And there are many things to fear.  Our culture is becoming increasingly prone to violence.  The environment is struggling to breathe under the growing effects of abuse.  Families are fragile.  Every minute of our schedule is filled to the point that the honoring of the Sabbath seems an unrealistic practice for many. 

And yet, in the midst of these struggles and more, this psalm offers the testimony  of a gracious God, a faithful shepherd with whom we will lack nothing and we need not fear.   This is indeed good news!  Here with the witness of author of Psalm 23.  I hear and I hope you do as well, echoes of other moments recorded in scripture when messengers have said, “Be not afraid.”  Such a declaration in our time should sound to us, as it has to others, like nothing less than the voice of angels.

When I read or pray the 23^rd Psalm I always slow down and really hear the promise of the last verse:

And I shall dwell . . .

  Where? . . .  in the house of the Lord . . .  

    For how long?. . . forever!

For this I think we can all breathe an “AMEN!”

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~ Sermon ~ Sunday, July 15th, 2018 ~ Pastor Neil Wilson ~

You Are Blessed

Ephesians 1:3-14

 

Reading and hearing this passage from Ephesians can be a bit challenging in the best of times.  But to subject you to it in the midst of the summer season in Charlevoix can be a bit like sitting down to a picnic on the patio or deck overlooking the water on an unusually warm day and being served a steaming hot bowl of thick beef stew.  Not really what you have an appetite for!   Perhaps a nice Michigan cherry chicken salad would be more palatable.

The very first sentence can be a mouthful for the reader and an earful for the listener!  And if we’re honest, we’re probably more in the mood for a nice little parable this morning than this densely worded, run-on sentence.  Yes, in the original Greek much of this is one long sentence! 

But even with all this, I want us to hear in the denseness of Paul’s words, the wonderful good news carried in phrases like : 

“blessed in Christ”,  “chose us in Christ”,

 “destined us for adoption”,

 “God’s glorious grace freely bestowed”,

“the riches of God’s grace lavished on us”.

“Made known to us the mystery of his will”

“So that we might live for the praise of God’s glory.” 

Paul has heaped superlative upon superlative, one blessing piled on another as if he thinks the little congregation in Ephesus does not believe him.  And one might suspect that this may be the case.

The congregation in Ephesus, like all the “churches” in Asia Minor (If you can call them “churches” at this point in their development.) was a small loosely organized movement.  And in this very cosmopolitan city, Ephesus was the seat of the region’s governor, a city of great wealth and power; this fledgling sect of Christ followers was up against some pretty big cultural forces.

Ephesians is thought to have been a “circular letter” sent and meant to be read in many congregations.  If so “Paul” writes to this church and the other struggling fellowships to remind and encourage them,

“Don’t listen to the voices of the culture around you.  

Don’t feel shame because you’re not as big and well attended and funded as the temple to the Artemis, you are blessed in Christ!  (The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.)

Don’t feel of like you are of little value, you are destined for adoption, the riches of God’s grace lavished on you!  A glorious grace freely bestowed.

Don’t feel abandoned, God chose you in Christ.

Don’t say “Who are we or what difference can we make.”  With all wisdom and insight God has made known to us the mystery of God’s will.

Yes, you, little church in Ephesus. 

Yes, I’m talking to you, First Congregational Charlevoix Michigan!  

And by the way, Paul reminds them, this is all God’s doing not yours!  It is a gift!  You do not have to earn it!  You can’t acquire it, it is gift, a amazing gift of grace.  All that is needed is to believe it and accept it!   

 

We may not feel it as much here in northern Michigan, but I suspect we do or at least we are aware of it,  the world, culture, society is telling the church “You’re no longer relevant!”

We are told, the church has little if any influence. Nobody pays any attention to you. The church may have been a place of influence “once upon a time” but like all other stories that begin with those words, the church is now only a fairy tale, like those stories found in that book you people take so seriously.

We are told indirectly and directly that we have nothing important to say to the world’s issues.  That’s the political realm and religion and politics are two separate things.  Well, I couldn’t disagree more!  If your faith doesn’t impact your politics then I would question your faith!

Perhaps we have lost our place in our culture and we certainly do not have the influence we once did.  (Like 60+ years ago, the “Good old days!”)  But actually the church and the culture were more closely aligned back then and I’m not sure that was always a good thing.  Because from the beginning, since the time of the church’s founder, that fellow out of Nazareth, his movement has always been counter-cultural!     

It can be easy for us to look around and feel the world is “going to H in a hand basket.”   Bu Paul  is saying to us through these Ephesians, “no” as difficult as it may seem to believe, trust that “all things in the fullness of time will be gathered up in Christ, things in heaven and on earth!

“So that we who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.”(12)

These words of Paul are important.  He is telling us about the sort of life we should be living as people who are adopted, graced, and richly blessed with this immense inheritance of love.  Paul says this inheritance is a way of life.   And he says it twice to make sure the church hears it. Paul refers to this way of life as living to “the praise of God’s glory” (vss. 12 & 14).  It is a journey “toward redemption as God’s own people” (v. 14). 

The words “praise” and “glory” are easily domesticated by the church.  They can become little more than words of a hymn or what we call a certain style of worship.  The glory of God for Paul  – a rabbi by training – is the kabod, the weight and gravitas of the presence of Holy.  Paul imagines the church of the Ephesians and the Ephesus’s of today living as a people known not for their praise of human institutions or idols or ideas but for their joy in what Christ is doing to redeem aching souls and a suffering world. 

Paul is imagining the church even today, as marked by people who keep a consistent focus on what God is doing in its midst and in the midst of a troubled earth. 

We can have this hope not because all this is visible to us, but because according to Paul we have knowledge of God’s final plan as yet only partially realized but one day to be fulfilled.

How do we know all this to be true and that we are not the victims of some self-imposed delusion?  Again Paul provides an answer here.  It is the presence of the Holy Spirit, which according to Paul is the “down payment” on the ultimate inheritance of unity and peace.  Where the church in all and every age, praises God and confesses Christ as Lord, that Spirit is present, assuring us that the divine goal will one day in fact become reality. 

Indeed we are blessed.  Let us live into the blessing.

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