Brace For Impact

Sermon- Year B-5 Lent-March 29, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.
In the season of Epiphany there are 3 stories that we are always supposed to remember-the coming of the 3 kings; the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan by John, and the 3rd one is the changing of water into wine in Cana. This lesson is read every 3 years on the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany. The interesting thing about th is gospel reading, is what Jesus says when Mary, his mother asks him to do something about the shortage of wine at the wedding. He says to her, “My hour has not yet come."(John 2:4)
Jump ahead 3 years. Jesus has been walking around the countryside, preaching, teaching, healing. And his fame is growing. He comes to the town of Bethany where his friends live, and when he arrives he learns that his good friend, Lazarus, has died. Even though Lazarus has been dead 4 days, Jesus raises him.
The Pharisees realize that Jesus is becoming a force, a power. And they are afraid. The gospel reading for today begins with a bunch of non Jews, Greeks, it says, coming to Jesus disciples saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Jesus’ fame is spreading. He is becoming more threatening to the powers that be. Now, even Gentiles, non Jews are starting to want to see him. The disciples come to Jesus to tell him that foreigners want to talk to him. And Jesus responds, 23 “The hour has come.” We’ve been waiting since the second chapter, since the wedding in Cana. All this time, Jesus has been preparing for this moment. His hour, his time, his destiny, has arrived.
It’s time for Jesus either to walk away-or finish the job. We don’t get much of a sense of this in the gospel of John, but this has to be a terrible moment. Jesus knows that to go forward means death.
All of his life has been preparing for this moment, this “hour”, but how hard this had to be.
I thought about this when Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River on Jan. 15.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger spent 6 years in the air force and 27 years flying for US Air. He pulled off this one in a million crash landings on a river with no deaths. And when asked about this amazing landing he said, that he believed all of his life was preparing him for that moment, that hour.
When we hear the greater story of the gospel-not just the piece for a Sunday morning, but the whole story, it’s somehow supposed to get through to us, that everything Jesus had been doing, going through, was preparation for this hour, this moment. From the birth in a barn, the baptism at the Jordan, the premature miracle at Cana, and the raising of his friend Lazarus. Everything he had been through and experienced was preparing Jesus for this trial and challenge.
And the same is true for us.
In the great book, “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” a young Anglican minister who is with the Native people in Canada is watching the salmon one day as they return to spawn-and then die. A young First Nation girl is watching the fish with him, and she begins to cry as the salmon lays its eggs and then is dragged downriver to its death. He reassures her-as sad as it looks to them, the great fish had fulfilled its mission. It had lived the life it was meant for. It had come to its hour, and as much as their heart ached for its end, the whole life of the fish had prepared it for just that moment.
It’s getting close to the 40th anniversary of my high school reunion. A funny thing has happened-I have been in touch with dozens of people from my past that I haven’t talked to in 4 decades. And every conversation begins this way, “tell me about your life”. Think about it, how do you sum up, briefly, 40 years? What do you say about your whole life?
This question will come up a lot the next 2 weeks, because it has really started me thinking-when we start summing up our lives, we tend to list only the most important things, the high points. But what is important? What makes the list as we tell people about our lives? What are the moments we choose as most important?
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” And Jesus answers, now is my time, this is what I have been preparing my whole life for. He describes himself, the Son of God -as a grain of wheat. A small insignificant grain of wheat. Can you imagine? It would be like Barack Obama describing his purpose in life was to be a bowler.
And Jesus says, this is what I have been preparing my whole life for, this is my hour. Don’t think that just because we are finally at our moment, that it is easy or that it’s joyous. Ask Sullenberger, “boy, you must have been glad to finally reach this landing?” Ask a salmon, “Are you excited about laying your eggs and dying?” Say to Jesus, “well, it must be a great day for you, finally arriving at the crucifixion!”
When we reach our moments, our hours, it doesn’t feel wonderful. I think it’s the moment when we realize that this is what all of our life has been preparing us for. It is difficult-it is hard, and it is always, always, scary. Listen to Jesus’ words: 27“Now my soul is troubled. Listen to Sully’s words as he meets the Hudson, “Brace for impact.” It doesn’t matter if we are 8 or 80, it doesn’t matter if it is a recognizable huge moment or an anonymous small one, it doesn’t matter if we have failed in the past at great moments or succeeded. All that matters is who we are when our moments come. And I believe most of us have a whole lifetime of moments-not just one.
This is Jesus’ hour. This is his moment. This is when he has to walk away from all that he was meant for, or when he has to fulfill his purpose. It is not a glorious moment. It is not an easy one. It’s just the moment that he has prepared all his life for. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” And when he hears it Jesus knows what that means, “My hour has come.” Brace for impact.
John 12:20-36
20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They cam e to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Re-Symboled

Sermon- Year B-4 Lent-March 22, 2009

The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.
A few miles south of the Irish city of Kilkenny lie the ruins of a once great medieval monastery Jerpoint Abbey. As you walk around the abbey full of wonderful stonework and carved figures, something will strike you-all the images of snakes that are there with the pictures saints and biblical scenes. I asked our guide, “why so many snakes?” And she said, “well, these are symbols for Christ.” I told her that I always thought that snakes were symbols of evil-the archetype being the serpent in the Garden of Eden. “Well, yes,” she said, “you will see snakes carved into many of the scenes representing sin and evil. Those snakes will have a knot in their tail so that you know that they are bad and stand for Satan. But in the middle ages, animals that could become new or different, were often shown as representations of Christ-like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or the unicorn, or the snake-since it sheds its skin and becomes new. So on the walls of Jerpoint Abbey, visitors are always surprised to see as a symbol for Christ, the symbol we always assume means the devil.
Few Bible verses are more familiar than today’s. In the 1980s if you watched a professional football game you saw every week Rollen Stewart, “the Rainbow Man”, holding up a sign a sign that said, John 3:16. But it’s the verses around that verse that explain it-and very few of us know those passages.
This is how this week’s gospel begins: 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. This is how the Rev. Bethany Hull Somers,( Preacher's Magazine, 2006) describes it in a sermon:
“You know how Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt into Israel? But first they had to spend 40 years in the wilderness? While in the wilderness the Hebrews constantly turned their back on God and told Moses that they wanted to go back to Egypt. They were having what we would term, a tantrum. And yet, they were understandably frustrated. It was hot, they were tired, but rather than turning to God in their dismay, they turned against Him. Because of their rejection, they were plagued with poisonous snakes. Many [of the Hebrew people] were bitten; many died. Not surprisingly, as they saw their family members and friends begin to die from snake bites they cried out to Moses to entreat God on their behalf.”
Phyllis Tickle in a sermon takes the story from there: “And the Bible says that those who believed Moses, those who stopped looking down at the snakes, who stopped trying to pull them off of themselves and their children, but looked up instead at the brass snake[that Moses had made out of bronze]…those men and women did not die, but they were saved. This does not mean that they were not bitten, but simply that those who looked up and not down did not die of their wounds. Eighteen months later, it was these men and women who saw the Jordan[River] part before them and who walked across its dry bed to claim the land of milk and honey promised them by God.”That’s how this morning’s gospel begins-with Jesus trying to explain how something that seems to be one thing-can become something different. A bronze serpent on a pole was a chance for the Hebrew people once lost, to reclaim their faith. And the cross, a symbol of shame and death would be the tool God would use to save his people. Nicodemus knew the story of the bronze serpent and the Hebrew people, but he could not understand the story of the cross. So Jesus spells it out for him-God loves us so much, and calls us to a faith so new, that he uses something that is completely wrong and bad and scandalous, to break through and change our hearts.
Two weeks ago I was explaining to you how hard it was for Jesus to get people to understand who he was-and what he was about. They wanted him to be a healer, a wonderworker, a man of miracles, but he kept trying to bring them instead, into a new faith and relationship with God.
That journey continues. Today it’s Nicodemus, the man who comes by night, the man who struggles in darkness. Jesus continues his mission of finding the right symbol, the new message, that will somehow break through to show who he is, and why he’s here. It is not easy-that’s why Jesus uses all these references to darkness and judgement. We struggle with understanding, we strain at comprehension. We know the world one way, and Jesus is constantly trying to get us to see things, to see him, in a new way.
That’s the news we hear today.
There are a lot of people in the world right now, who feel as though they, like the Hebrew people, are lost in the wilderness-and so we preach faith. There are a lot of people in the world right now who feel as though they are surrounded by snakes, and are afraid to look up, desperately looking down-afraid that they will be bitten again-and so we preach hope. There are a lot of people in the world like Nicodemus-groping
around in the darkness of their lives, confused, baffled, questioning-and so we preach truth. There are a lot of people in the world right now who feel lost, alone, and fearful. And so we preach Christ. It can be a tough world, it can be a difficult life. For a lot of people right now, walking in dark wildernesses, beset by dangerous serpents, it is a tough time. We don’t read them Bible verses, we show them Bible truths. God takes what is dangerous and frightening and turns them into signs of hope and symbols of salvation. If God can do this with snakes and crosses-imagine what God can do with flesh and spirit? If God can use what is perceived as evil and scandalous-imagine what God can do with us? Amen.

The Right Oreos

Sermon-2Lent-March 8, 2009

The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen. (from the Cloud of the Unknowing)
Hank who had always lived on a farm decided to ride the commuter train that passed by his community into the big city of St. Paul one day. At the first stop, the conductor announced that everyone would be able to get off at the station for a short while. Hank wandered into the station and found the vending machines where he purchased a carton of milk and a six-pack of Oreo cookies. He then sat down at a small table in the waiting room next to a gentleman who was obviously not from the country--nice suit, overcoat, and he was reading The Wall Street Journal. Hank thought to himself, "This fellow looks like Ward Cleaver. He probably thinks he’s better than me." Hank opened the Oreos and took a cookie. As he put it into his mouth, he noticed that Ward Cleaver reached over and took an Oreo for himself and continued reading! Now Hank knew that no one in his little town would just reach over and take an Oreo without saying anything. This was different from the country! After a moment, Hank took a swig of milk to wash his cookie down, and Ward reached over for a second Oreo! Hank took his second cookie, and not knowing what the stranger would do, he took a third Oreo at the same time and began to eat them quickly. Lo and behold, Ward Cleaver grabbed the last cookie, got up and folded his paper in a huff and walked off! “City folks”, thought Hank, “always thinking they’re better than us”. He finished his milk and got up to get back on the train. As he did, he reached into his pocket for his ticket, and he found his pack of Oreos.
We don't always know everything we think we know about what's going on. We can be so wrong when we think we're so right!”
I tell you this story because Jesus asks, who do you say that I am? And Peter gets it right, and then he gets it wrong. Remember all those times that Jesus told demons and lepers and disciples not to tell folks who he was? Well, this is why-they were eating the wrong Oreos. Peter knows Jesus is a savior, but he wants a messiah that never fails, never suffers, never loses. That’s not who I am, Jesus says. To be my disciple is going to be hard. It’s going to require a lot. It’s going to cost you. It will demand everything of me, and to be a follower, it will demand everything of you.
But all these years I have been preaching on this gospel, I have been troubled by something. So many Christians I know, you, daily sacrifice, daily give up, daily deny yourselves for the gospel. Listen to Presbyterian pastor, Rev. William Carter: The Rev. William Carter is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Clarks Summit, PA
Jesus says, "Deny yourselves." You know, it's difficult for some people to even hear that word when they've had so much taken away. How can people who have lost so much believe it is a virtue to give up what little dignity they bear? How can the downtrodden ever hear this obligation of the gospel?
Sometimes we need to claim the love and dignity of God, and then see what happens. Like the woman who made an appointment to talk about troubles at home. At one point in the conversation she said, "When my opinion of myself improved, my marriage got worse."
For those who struggle to feel empowered, for those who believe for the first time in their lives they are worthy of love and appreciation, it can be harsh to hear Jesus say, "Deny yourself." It's particularly true if you have recently discovered that you have a self….Mark tells us how Jesus comes to give worth and value, not take it away….The point is, Jesus never says, "Go out into the world and get yourself beaten up!" But he does say, "Follow me." … We are invited to follow Jesus. We are called for and called upon to follow him.
As one New Testament scholar reminds us, the members of Mark's community are not called to suffer. They are called to preach the Gospel. Because of the confrontational nature of that calling, the world they confront will persecute them in order to stop them. Suffering is the result of the call, not the call itself. What happened to Jesus, for the same reason it happened to him, will happen to those acting and preaching in his name.
Friends, we don't wake up every morning and say, "How am I going to let the world beat me up today?" But we are called upon to get out of bed to ask, "How can I let the whole world know the life of Jesus is the hope of the world?"(Rev. William Carter-Sermon-Revising the Agenda-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Clarks Summit, PA March 19, 2000)
Years ago, I was talking with a woman who struggled so much with this passage. She desperately wanted to be faithful, to be a follower of Jesus, but her self-image, her understanding of herself was so low, that she was constantly fighting discouragement and sadness. All she heard was that she needed to suffer more and more. Finally she went to a priest who said to her, “You know, if you met Jesus walking down the street and he asked you to carry a cross-you’d ask for a bigger, heavier one.” She told me that story years later, and marked that day as the day she finally started being a follower of Christ.
The Jesus of Mark’s gospel goes towards danger. He demands everything of those who love him. He minces no words about the nature of discipleship-it is to serve and to share in the world’s hurts. But the Jesus in this gospel never tells his disciple to suffer more. He never tells them to ask for a bigger cross. He never teaches them to seek pain or to hurt more. Jesus does say that if we are true, if we are faithful, the world will confront us, and we will probably see more than we want to see, feel more than we want to feel.. It is inconvenient to be a Christian, it is embarrassing, annoying, and sometimes it really hurts. Jesus doesn’t bid us to suffer-but he does say that we may face the same things he did. It’s what happens when we find the right Oreos-We realize that being right may cost us a lot. Amen.
Mark 8:31-38
8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
8:32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
8:33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
8:34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
8:35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
8:36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
8:37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
8:38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Driven Into The Wilderness

Sermon-1Lent-March 1, 2009

The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen. (from the Cloud of the Unknowing)
I wanted to be a priest so badly. I had thought and planned and worked for little else since I was 19. And finally, it was my first day at seminary. I was 27 years old. I had packed up and moved all my belongings into my dorm room-8x10 where I would live the next 3 years. I arrive about 2 days early so I can get my bearings. And I walk around the seminary, meeting people, seeing where things are. And I hear bells ringing, and watch as people come rushing out of one building and hurry into another one-obviously they are supposed to be some place. And I am thinking to myself-everyone knows where they are to be, where they are to go, everyone belongs-but me. I’m not supposed to be here. I was wrong about what God wanted me to do, or be. Everyone knows who they are here, and how to dress, and where to go. And I know none of those things. And I have this incredible thought-“I can leave.” I can walk away. I can pack up my things and be back to my former apartment in an hour. I don’t belong here! That’s what I kept thinking. I am not supposed to be here. I was so scared. And in desperation and fear I knelt and prayed.
This gospel for today should sound familiar. We heard the first part of it, Mark 1:9-11 on Jan. 11 when Jesus was baptized. We heard the last part of it, verses 14 and 15 on Jan. 25 where Jesus announces his purpose and message. There are only 2 new verses 13 and 14. Is this reading so powerful, so special, that we need to hear so much of it repeated-twice in 7 weeks?
Did you notice how in today’s gospel story you don’t hear about Jesus argument with the devil? You do in Matthew and Luke-the other two years-but not in Mark. All it says is12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. (these are the two new verses)
No clever argument with Satan that has Jesus whisked up to the top of the temple or asking why he doesn’t turn rocks into bread. Very simple. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; that’s it.
Here is why I think we’re hearing most of this gospel a second time. Jesus is baptized by John, and at the baptism, 1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
The great preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor says, “here is no sweet dove” this Spirit.. Because two verses later the same spirit casts Jesus into the wilderness. Don’t think of the Spirit, this dove, as a bird of peace or protection. This bird lands on you and drives you. It chases you and forces you to go places you don’t want to be. It casts you out into places of trial. This Spirit that sounds so kind and gentle at baptism also thrusts Jesus into a lonely place for 40 days, where he is attracted and lured by Satan. What were Jesus’ temptations? What did Satan offer or give or coax Jesus with? Mark never says. For this gospel writer, it’s unimportant. Leave that stuff to Matthew and Luke. Jesus is alone for 40 days, facing temptation. First the Spirit rests on him at baptism, then it drives him to the wilderness.
I was on the island of Iona last summer. My son had gone home the week before, and I was surrounded by hundreds of other pilgrims in this holy place. But I was alone. And it was lonely. And I went to the Eucharist late one night in the Anglican chapel on the island, and the priest there said at the sermon, “if you’re feeling alone and lonely right now, maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe you should embrace it. Maybe this island is your wilderness where you face some demons, and stay for awhile. Let the angels take care of you. Maybe this is where you are supposed to be in your struggle.”
A wilderness doesn’t have to be a place without people. A wilderness can be a place where you are surrounded. The wilderness is where you feel alone. And lonely. The wilderness is that place the Spirit, that “no sweet bird”, sometimes takes us to so that we can see ourselves and hear our God. The gospel stories in Lent from Mark will all be about Jesus being taken to hard places where he is tested and tried. We will learn the many temptations and trials that he faced over the next several weeks. And here is the first one. It comes right after his baptism-right when most people are going to the party and celebration. And he is driven into the wilderness where he confronts himself and his mission. The wilderness isn’t a bad place. Just a tough one. It’s where we meet ourselves and struggle with demons. We all have wildernesses in our lives, places of testing and trial. Sometimes the Spirit drives us, sometimes we find our own way there. Sometimes they are full of people, sometimes we are surrounded by silence and the only voices are the ones in our own heads. But always we feel as though we don’t belong, that we are in over our heads, that we are not ready enough or strong enough or capable-enough. We all have places where we feel the temptation to run away, and to admit defeat. This is the first Sunday in Lent. This is how Lent begins for Jesus, in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, comforted by angels. This is where Lent begins for us this year, cast out by the Spirit, into the lonely places and facing our wildernesses. Don’t be afraid. Jesus went there before us. Amen.


Mark 1:9-15
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Ash Wednesday

The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.
A large part of my sabbatical last September was walking across northern Spain on a 1200 year old pilgrimage trail that ended at the tomb of St. James the Apostle in the city of Santiago de Compostela. About the 3rd day of our walk (from the city of Leon), we had covered about 30 miles, and we were at the highest point of the Camino. It was on a mountain called Mt. Irago, and at the peak there was a 100 foot tall slender wooden pole, and on top of the pole was a small metal cross. The place is called, Cruz de Ferro, or Cross of Iron. It is the tradition that every pilgrim, and there are about 100,000 each year, leaves a rock, hopefully from their home, at El Cruz de Ferro. Even if the rocks are small, 100,000 rocks over the years really adds up. When you get to the pole, you see a mound of things around it- “Many people leave trinkets, pictures, pins, flags, notes, or other memorabilia to attach to the cross.” The idea is that the stone you bring from home and leave there is a symbol for your sins or maybe your sorrows, , and when you reach the Cruz de Ferro, you are to leave your sins or your sorrows there, and walk on to Santiago-about another 170 miles.
Many of the stones or letters or photos or clothing left there have achingly painful things written on them. But I noticed one thing as I placed my stones next to the Cruz de Ferro-I didn’t feel any lighter. I didn’t feel like my sins were left behind, or that my sorrows were washed away.
I thought about this as I walked the next few miles down the mountain. I wondered if I hadn’t done it right, maybe my stone was too small, maybe I didn’t use the right stone, maybe I should have written my sins on it, who knows. But I didn’t feel any differently. Lots of people write on the internet about how they felt so free after leaving their stone, that they were new people, or a tremendous weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Not me. All I felt was a little more guilty at not feeling less guilty.
The place I finally came to is that leaving a rock on the ground is just too easy. Sins don’t get left behind-even on a far away mountain, even after a difficult climb. Sins or memories of sins, follow me around like a shadow, and they aren’t easily left behind. They can’t be laid down on the ground, they can’t be put onto a rock. The only way I know to get rid of my sins is to name them-and then to try to make them right. Sometimes this means going to someone that I have offended and admitting my fault. Sometimes, it means that I have to work hard over a period of time to try to make things right. Sometimes I just don’t know how to heal the separations between myself and another, or myself and God.
I hoped that climbing a mountain and setting down a rock would help, but it really didn’t. I had to learn again, what I already knew-there are no shortcuts in trying to bring about healing and penitence in my life. I guess it’s why Lent isn’t a weekend long-but 40 days. I can’t let down a sin just because I don’t want it anymore.
Joel 2:1-18
2Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— 2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. 3Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge. 5As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale. 7Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths. 8They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it?
12Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. 14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? 15Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. 17Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
18Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
2 Corinthians 5:20 - 6:10
20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Matthew 6:1-21
6“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
16“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.