Native Language/Our own language

Sermon-Pentecost-May 27, 2012-Native Language/Our own language


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 Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

Today is the 50th day of Easter, the feast of Pentecost. “In Italy, rose petals will be dropped from the ceilings of cathedrals to recall the tongues of fire. In France, trumpets will sound to evoke the mighty wind,” In Estonia and Finland eggs are dyed as at Easter because their hens (supposedly) don’t lay eggs until this time. In Germany the day is called “Pfingsten” and pink and red peonies, called “Whitsun roses”, are the symbols along with the birch trees. The English refer to the holiday as Whitsunday with reference to the white garments worn on Pentecost by the newly baptized. Some churches lower a carved dove into the congregation and call this “swinging the Holy Ghost”. and here at Trinity we wear red.

I was at a meeting of clergy recently where we were talking about the first lesson, the important one that describes the first Christian Pentecost. And someone pointed out how often we hear about the Spirit speaking in the “Native tongue or language” . It’s referred to twice and then it comes up again “in our own languages”. The Spirit spoke to all these people gathered in that upper room in a way they recognized-in a way that made sense to them. All these people heard “God’s deeds of power” in a way that changed them. That’s the key. The Holy Spirit didn’t just come-it spoke to a wide variety of people in a way they understood. Have you ever had someone tell you about some incredibly powerful life changing experience that happened to them, and you’re sitting there wondering why that would change someone’s life? It didn’t translate for you-it didn’t connect with what changes you. You think to yourself, “that changed your life?”

Do you know what your native language is? How do God’s deeds of power speak to you? When I listened to these clergy talking about “native languages” it dawned on me that what is powerful in my life-might not be so in yours-and vice versa. I hear that from people in church all the time. “You know, I listened to your emotional sermon today-and it didn’t touch me at all.” Yeah, I understand. In this first lesson from Acts, the Holy Spirit came as wind, it came as tongues of fire. It came as the ability to understand God. This story describes several different ways people could be touched by God-not just in one way. Do you know your native language? Do you know how God talks to you? What are the ways God’s deeds of power speak to you?

In his book "The Kingdom of God is a Party," Tony Campolo tells of a time when he spoke in Honolulu. Because of the time difference between Hawaii and the mainland, Campolo was wide awake and hungry at 3:30 a.m. He found a little greasy spoon diner, and as he sat finishing his coffee, several women came in who had just gotten off work. He knew they were prostitutes.

They sat down near him, and one of the women, Agnes, mentioned to her companions that tomorrow was her birthday. This didn't mean much to any of them and they chastised her for mentioning it in hopes of getting a present or party. She replied that she had never had a party.

After they left Compolo asked the diner owner, Harry, about these women and found that they showed up each night about this time. Compolo asked him if he would help him. Harry agreed.

The next evening the place was filled with decorations and when Agnes and her group arrived everyone sang "Happy Birthday." She was so overjoyed that she cried when she was asked to blow out the candles. When it came time to cut the cake, she begged to take it home.

After she left, Campolo led the group in prayer for Agnes and for the other women. They didn't know that he was a minister, and they asked at what type of church he preached. Campolo replied that it was a church that gives birthday parties for prostitutes, the church of Jesus Christ.

Who would have thought that a birthday party could be a deed of power? Do you know your native language? Do you know how God can best show you acts of power?

How does the Spirit speak to you? What deeds of power have you witnessed?

Barbara Brown Taylor says this about the disciples: “Before Pentecost, the disciples were dense, timid bumblers who fled at the least sign of trouble. Afterwards, they were fearless leaders. They healed the sick and cast out demons. They went to jail gladly, where they sang hymns until the walls fell down.” Here’s the thing, the Holy Spirit came and spoke to them in a language that they heard-their native tongue.

Tom Long tells this story about going to church on Pentecost many years ago:

I never will forget the Pentecost Sunday years ago when my family and I were at worship. My children were very small then; and on this particular Pentecost Sunday, the minister had decided to infuse a little drama into the reading of the Pentecost story in the Book of Acts. When he got to that part of the story about the wind blowing with a great sound, that was the secret cue for someone in the choir loft to turn on a tape recorder at top volume with the sound of a hurricane wind. My children were already a little bored by that point in the service, lazily coloring on their bulletins with crayons, but when the loud sound of that wind kicked up, they snapped to attention and began looking around the sanctuary.

When the minister read that part of the story about tongues of fire landing on people's heads, there were people planted in the congregation who had hidden in their purses and coat pockets little red, flashy pom-poms, which they now pulled out and started waving above their heads. When the minister got to the part about the apostles speaking in other languages some people in the congregation, some of them from Europe, some from Asia, some from Africa, stood up and began to speak in their own native tongues. At this point, of course, my children were practically standing on the pew and looking around. When the minister finished reading the passage, the choir began to lead us in a gentle rendition of "Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew." And then we settled in (or so we thought) to hear the sermon, when suddenly a man stood up in the balcony and laughed rudely and raucously at the congregation, saying, "They must be drunk on new wine!" My children, now far from being bored, were beside themselves with excitement. When we left worship that day, my son David, who was just a little boy then, turned to me and said, "Wow, Dad! That was really church!"

It’s a good day to be a little over the top, a little excessive. It’s a good day for some drama and noise and commotion. Today is the day that we tell the story that God comes as spirit and speaks to each of us in ways that we can understand. God shows us deeds of power in ways that touch each of us-in our own way. It’s a good day to talk loudly and listen intensely and to look around. Today we hear that God speaks to each of us in a way that we will understand-and shows us how we are supposed to be church. Today is the day we hear God speaking to us each-in our own language. Amen.

“I’ll Be Praying For You”

Sermon-7 Easter B-May 20, 2012 “I’ll Be Praying For You”


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 Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

When do you say these words “I’ll be praying for you”? Or when does someone say them to you? Most of the time when I hear these words spoken, it’s almost always because there is nothing more that we can do. And almost always “I’ll be praying for you” are the last words we say, when we can’t say anything more.

Today is the last Sunday of Easter. It’s been 6 weeks, 43 days since Easter Sunday. According to the Book of Acts, on the 40th day, last Thursday, Jesus went to heaven-and left his \ his friends. It was a sad moment for Jesus’ closest companions. In the book of Acts, you hear how the disciples decided that one of the first things that they had to do was build their number back up to 12, now that Judas was gone. And so they rolled dice to see who would get the “honor” of being a disciple-and ultimately, a martyr.

Make no mistake about it, when Jesus left his friends-they were alone, uncertain, and helpless. They didn’t know what to do, where to go, or who to be. I’ve been there. Several times in my life. It doesn’t matter how many times I have been rescued in the past-I always think, “oh no, I’m in it, now-what am I going to do?” And they must have felt that way, too.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is saying to his friends –“I’m praying for you. I told you before that chapters 13-17 in the gospel of John were known as “The long sermon”. The 17th chapter, today’s gospel, is called “The High Priestly Prayer” and it’s as if we are standing outside the window, eavesdropping, as Jesus prays to his Father. It is intimate, and intense. Basically, he’s asking God to take care of his friends, because he no longer can. Just like you or I would, if we thought we were leaving those we love. “”I’ll be praying for you.”

In 2000 an anonymous minister on the Desperate Preacher Site wrote this: “ This prayer that is prayed by Jesus to his Father on our behalf is one that can encourage believers today. We need the encouraging word today just as much as his first hearers needed them. ---The encouraging words that he says.--We belong to Christ thus we belong to God. Even though his immediate disciples were slow in understanding... now they understand and believe and He ask[s] God to protect them, to unite them, to sanctify them in the truth, and to place the joy that Jesus has in his heart into theirs. With all of God’s protection and Christ[‘s] joy then he commissions them and sends them into the world as God sent him. It is as if Christ words jump forward in time and he is speaking directly to us and is still praying that prayer even today.” LPinPA

Jesus asks God that his friends be one, unified, together, one body. He asks his father that they be full of joy. He pleads with God, that God protect them from all that is evil in the world, and finally, Jesus says, “ God, I am putting them out there-just as you put me out there.” How hard that had to be for Jesus. Praying for protection, joy, defending them from evil-all this sounds normal. All this is what you or I may write in a letter to friends before leaving them. But Jesus says to God I am sending them into the world-like you sent me. No wonder Jesus is closing with this fervent prayer for protection. His friends will be following him, going down the same path, expecting much the same consequences as he.

You understand, Jesus knows that his life is near an end. He knows that he will be confronting the powers the next day. He knows what may happen. And he asks that they, the people he loves, be sent to do the same thing he is being asked to do. Does this sound, like an odd final prayer to you? Can you imagine turning to your family, the people you are closest to in the world, and as you are dying, and praying that they go your same life, do the same things you did? Jesus wants them to follow him-even if it means all the way to death. We believe that 11 of the 12 disciples, including Matthias, all died martyr’s deaths.

This is Jesus closing prayer. Protect them, fill them with joy, give them power, and may they be sent into the world as I was. This last night of Jesus’ life, the disciples, these friends, had no idea what Jesus was talking about. They didn’t know that he would be dying the next day. They had to reconstruct this prayer years later after everything had happened. But that night of the Last Supper, they were at the end of 3 years of talking, teaching, walking together.

How often have you been lost? How often have you felt alone? Really alone? How often have you felt like you’re in a foreign land, friendless, and you were unsure which way to go? That’s the Sunday after the Ascension. Jesus is leaving his friends for the final time. First he died. Then came Easter, and his risen presence with his disciples for 40 days. And now they are alone. Again. And they have to face a future, without their companion, without their guide, without their friend. They must have felt even more abandoned than they had after the crucifixion.

To me, Ascension Sunday has always been one of the saddest days of the church year-like Palm Sunday and Good Friday-because it’s all about leaving, it’s all about good bye. We’ve all been there: uncertain, lost, alone. That’s what this Sunday, for me, has always been. The people/person we depended on are/is gone. For me, today has always been a time in between-a time of waiting. Jesus leaves but before he goes, he prays for his friends,

David Lose, the professor of preaching wrote this about today’s “high priestly prayer”: ask folks what they want Jesus to be praying for them right now. We don't get any sense that we'll be taken out of this world, or that all our problems will suddenly vanish, or that being a faithful Christian will be easy. But in light of that, what do we want Jesus to know, what do we need, what do we want Jesus to pray for [us]? Is it patience to be a better parent or friend? Is it encouragement amid a difficult chapter of our lives? Is it courage to stand up to a bully in the classroom or befriend a friendless kid at school? Is it joy in the face of the loss of a parent or the end of a relationship? Is it hope when we feel like we've got no options left? Is it companionship at a time of loneliness? Is it healing of body, mind, or spirit? Is it forgiveness...or the ability to forgive another? What? What do you want -- what do we want -- Jesus to know about and pray for?”

Today’s gospel is at the end of the Last Supper. Jesus is preparing to leave his friends. And so he prays. He says these last sad, intense, intimate words for his fiends. He prays for them that they follow him in the same journey that he has taken. He does not pray that they be safe and careful. He prays that his Father will give them what they need for their journey.

We, too have been scared-alone-fearful-uncertain. We, too, have been lost, unsure what direction to go. This is the last Sunday of the Easter season. We remember that Jesus left his friends on the 40th day, and we read aloud this prayer as we remember his last night on earth. It is a painful, difficult, heart wrenching prayer. It is Jesus saying, Father, I pray for my friends, I can’t help them any more. Father, give them what they need for their journey, keep them strong, help them to be one, and most of all Father, help them to know that when they pray-I am with them.

What do you want -- what do we want -- Jesus to know about and pray for, for us? Amen.

John 17:6-19

17:6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;

17:8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

17:9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.

17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

17:11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

17:12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.

17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.

17:16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

17:18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

“What goes in your bucket first?”

Sermon-6 Easter B-May 13, 2012 “What goes in your bucket first?”

1 John 5: 1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

John 15:9-17

[Jesus said:] "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

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 Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

There is a story told about Steve Covey, the fellow who wrote the book, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. And this is what he did.

Rocks-is the jar full?

Sand-is the jar full?

Water

Covey uses this example all the time at his seminars, and at the end he asks,

“What lesson can we learn from all of this?” Put the big rocks in first.

If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in-all the little stuff, the sand, the water will make it impossible to put the rocks in. Our life is the jar. The challenge is putting the big stuff in first. Covey calls this, “keeping the main thing, the main thing,”

This gospel is a follow up to last week’s. It’s the last supper and Jesus is giving his final teaching to his friends. One of them is about the betray him, one will deny him, all will abandon him. And you know what he s teaching them? That God loves them. God loves each of them. Even knowing that they will be weak, and disappointing, and fragile. And if God can love each of them, knowing all this, Jesus wants them to love each other. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” G.K. Chesterton, the great Catholic writer, once said, "Jesus told us to love our neighbors. In another place, he told us to love our enemies. This is because, generally speaking, they are the same people."

Love is not easy. Love, especially Christian love, is terrible. Christian love is about sacrifice and putting others first, and willing what is best for someone we may not even like. The first time I heard it put this way when I was 19, I knew I was hearing the truth. I thought it was wonderful. The problem was, I liked the words without knowing what they meant.

Jesus died the day after giving this teaching. He died because the people who were closest to him, didn’t know how to love. I don’t know if any of us ever do. But I know when I hear these words, at 19 or at 61, I know they are true, and I know that they are the big rocks that I have to put in my bucket first.

“There is an ancient legend about the last days of John the Evangelist, the gospel writer. He lived to a great age and became so feeble that he had to be carried to meetings of the faithful. There, because of his weakness, he was unable to give a long sermon, so at each gathering he simply repeated the words, “Little children, love one another.” The disciples, weary of hearing the same words over and over, asked him why he never said anything else. And to them John gave this answer, “Do this alone and it is enough.”

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” When you hear this does it sound like a rock that you want to put in your bucket? Amen

“Finding the dog in the Block”

Sermon-Year B-5Easter-May 6, 2012 “Finding the dog in the Block”

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 Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

There was a pastor in Austin, Texas who years ago wanted to learn how to whittle.  He went to a famous woodcarver named Joe McMordie and the pastor told him that he was pretty pathetic but could Joe show him how to shape wood.  One day they were carving a little dog out of a block of wood and Roger the pastor in his frustration asked Joe the whittler, “how do you do this?  What’s the secret of whittling?”  And Joe thought for a while and said, “That’s easy. You pick up a piece of wood and just cut off everything that doesn’t look like a dog.”

The sermon today is about finding the dog in the block of wood. 

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear;” ^“19We love because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also….

Charles Colson, the advisor to President Nixon who was famous for his line that he would run over his grandmother if that’s what the president ordered, was put in prison for several years. While there he became a Christian.  A tough hard boiled interviewer did not believe this story and was grilling him about his faith and whether it wasn’t a “very convenient conversion”.  Colson told her that he became a Christian when several prominent men knew that there were serious problems in Colson’s family and came forward and volunteered to serve his jail term out for him so he could be released early.  The reporter twice stopped the interview because she was crying so much, and later admitted that after that interview she returned to her church.  Chuck Colson had to cut away everything that didn’t look like God in him.  It was not easy.  It cost him a lot.  Colson was being pruned and didn’t even know it-until he realized that he was a new shape.

Then the gospel.  The teaching of Jesus as he continues to explain who he is and how things will be different.  He begins by saying, “I am the true vine.”  Seven times in the gospel of John Jesus describes himself using this technique, “I am”

1.   We just heard another one last week, What are some of the others? "I am the bread of life." _{John 6:35, 41, 48-51}

2.   "I am the light of the world." _{John 8:12, 9:5}

3.   "I am the door of the sheep." _{John 10:7, 9}

4.   "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." _{John 10:11, 14}

5.   "I am the resurrection, and the life." _{John 11:25}

6.   "I am the way, the truth, and the life." _{John 14:6}

7.   "I am the true vine." _{John 15:1, 5}

This week it’s “I am the true vine” is the last of the 7 “I am” statements.  Jesus is trying to use images, word pictures that will stick with his followers after he is gone. I am light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection, the life, the way, the truth, and finally, I am the true vine. After telling his followers all these things about who he is, he ends with this one-I am the true vine.    And he tells his friends, abide in me, live in me, dwell in me, make your home in me and I will make my home in you.

But this gospel is more than just abiding or making our home in Jesus.  He teaches that it’s not just about knowing him. It’s about becoming different, a new person.

“Earl Weaver, long time manager of the Baltimore Orioles, was known especially for his ability to be able to “bait” umpires. He could harass umps with the best of them.  His favorite and most devastating taunt when he disputed a call, was to come flying out of the dugout, get right in the face of the umpire, and scream this question, “”Are you gonna get any better or IS THIS IT?”

Am I gonna get any better or is this it?  Am I going to change my shape, look different, be better-or is this it?

When early Christians were first meeting, gathering as a church for the first times, they struggled with two questions-who were they going to be, and who was Jesus.  The letter from 1^st John addressed the first.  They were called to love each other.  It was not any easier then than it is now.  They struggled, they fought, they felt guilt and shame, they hated and were jealous and vengeful, they despaired-but they also felt hope.  They believed that something new and better than their old life was possible.  They believed that they could become someone different, someone new.  They believed that God was whittling away their lives.  And that’s where the gospel comes in. 

Jesus said, I know it is not easy.  I know that sometimes it is very hard.  But if you live in me, if you are connected to me, I can make it happen.  I can make it happen.  He talks about pruning the branches so they bear more fruit.  Everyone knew what that meant.  It meant whittling away the parts that weren’t the dog.  Jesus told them that they were meant to live better lives, fuller lives, lives of value and hope: ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. He teaches them that they were meant to live lives of grace and love.

These two lessons from 1^st John and the gospel of John, were written many years apart, but they continue the same teaching-we were meant for something greater.  We were meant to be more, we were meant to live.  It is the “how” that is the challenge.  And the teaching from Jesus is straightforward-I love you, you will love others. You live in me, I will live in you.  We will pass this on.  A lot of times, we don’t feel it.  Often we struggle because the love doesn’t seem to be there, we can’t hear the voice, or feel God’s embrace.  It is not easy to have parts of ourselves cut away, to think of parts of ourselves as branches that need to be pruned.  It is often times hard to stay in love with others.  There are days that we do not feel connected to the vine, to life.

A young father was struggling the day of his wife's funeral, trying to put his son to bed. Both were numb with sorrow. The little boy asked, "Daddy, where is Mommy?" He tried to answer the question, but the little boy kept asking, "Where is Mommy? When is she coming back?" After a lot of attempts to satisfy his son, the father picked up the little boy and put him in his own bed. Finally, the little boy reached out his hand through the darkness and placed it on his father's face, asking, "Daddy, is your face toward me?" Given assurance, he said, "If your face is toward me, I think I can go to sleep." The father lay beside the young son and prayed, "O God, the way is dark and I do not see my way through right now, but if your face is toward me, somehow I think I can make it."

Inside each of us is the image of God.  In the Easter season, we whittle away at all that is not that image, letting God make his home  in us.  Some days it is dark and we cannot see God’s face.  At times we’re being pruned and shaped, and don’t even know it. But this is the Easter season. This is the 5o days that we learn that God’s face is towards us.This is the time that we show the world that we make our home in Christ, and he makes his home in us.  Amen.

1 John 4:7-21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.¹⁹We love because he first loved us.²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

John 15:1-8

15”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples

"We need more shepherds"

Sermon-Year B4-Easter-April 29, 2012

1 John 3:16-24

¹⁶We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.¹⁷How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?¹⁸Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.¹⁹And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him

²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.²⁴All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

John 10:11-18

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

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 Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

I know what you’re thinking-who is this guy filling in for Rev. Sally-and why can’t we have her more often? 

Last Sunday I was in Richmond, Virginia at Roslyn conference center for 8 days at church sponsored conference called, “CREDO”.  There were 28 Episcopal clergy there, priests and deacons at mine.  There are 18 CREDOs held each year, but this one was for clergy 55 and older-or as we called is, The Geezer Credo, so it appealed to me. Let me tell you a few things about it.  As soon as we arrived the Conference Administrator, Elizabeth, told us that there were two things for us to remember all week-how grateful the church was for us, and that the goal of CREDO was take care of us for 8 days.  Throughout the week the different presenters would get up to give a talk on health, finances, spirituality or vocation , and each time they began this way, “We just want to thank you for your service and ministry.”  At the end of the week we were doing an evaluation and someone wrote that hearing that over and over was the best part of the conference for them.  I kept thinking, “every person needs to be hearing this in their life, every person needs to hear that they are appreciated, and valued.” I kept thinking, this is how we want church to be-a  place where people are told over and over that they are cherished and prized.  I’ll come back to that.

Almost every Sunday I will sneak in some explanation on the lectionary. Here’s today’s:  After the story of the Resurrection on Easter, we always have the story on the 2^nd Sunday of Thomas (you know that), then on the 3^rd Sunday of Easter we have another story about Jesus’ appearance-and then on the 3^rd week after Easter every year, this Sunday, we hear a story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd from the Gospel of John, chapter 10.  The lessons we hear from the lectionary are broken up into a 3 year cycle, A-B-and C.  This year we are in year B, and that means we hear chapter 10 verses 11-18:  Jesus as the Good Shepherd,  the Good Shepherd lays down his life, for his friends. Jesus makes a strong point that there is a difference between the hired hand-who runs when there is danger, and the good shepherd who stays.

In the catacombs in Rome from the days when Christians were persecuted the most dominant image for Jesus isn’t the fish, or even the cross-it’s the image of the shepherd carrying a sheep.

 We may not have much experience with shepherds and sheep in our lives, but we know what it is to be vulnerable, to feel in danger, to need support and protection.  We may not know sheep, but we understand what a shepherd is-and understand the need for a leader, a guardian, for someone willing to lay down their lives for us.

As I was reading through the commentaries for this week, I came across the story of the martyrs of New Guinea.  What I want to share with you is part of the message sent out by radio by the Bishop of that diocese just before the invasion of Japanese troops to all the Anglican church leaders there (it is quite long so I have edited it):

"As far as I know, you are all at your posts, and I am very glad and thankful about this. I have, from the first, felt that we must endeavour to carry on our work in all circumstances, no matter what the cost may ultimately be to any of us individually. God expects this of us. The Church at home, which sent us out, expects this of us. The Universal Church expects it. The tradition and history of missions requires it of us. Missionaries who have been faithful to the uttermost and are now at rest are surely expecting it of us. The people whom we serve expect it of us. Our own consciences expect it of us. We could never hold up our faces again if, for our own safety, we all forsook Him and fled … the Church in Papua. Our life in the future would be burdened with shame and we could not come back here and face our people again; and we would be conscious always of rejected opportunities.

The history of the Church tells us that missionaries do not think of themselves in the hour of danger and crisis, but of the Master Who called them to give their all, and of the people whom He trusts them to serve and to love to the uttermost, even as He has served and loved to the uttermost. His watchword is none the less true to-day as it was when He gave it to the first disciples, `Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall find it.' No one requires us to leave. No one has required us to leave. Our people need us now more than ever ….No, my brothers and sisters, fellow workers in Christ, whatever others may do, we cannot leave. We shall not leave. We shall stay by our trust. We shall stand by our vocation. We do not know what it may mean to us. Many already think us fools and mad. What does that matter? …'I cannot foretell the future. I cannot guarantee that all will be well--that we shall all come through unscathed. One thing only I can guarantee is that, if we do not forsake Christ here in Papua in His Body, the Church, He will not forsake us. He will uphold us; He will sustain us; He will strengthen us, and He will guide and keep us through the days that lie ahead . . . Let us trust and not be afraid."

I won’t give you all the details, 11 Anglicans,4 priests, 5 Anglican lay people,2 local lay people were killed.  Several of them were beheaded to make an example of them.  Today throughout the Pacific there are memorials and stained glass windows reminding people of their story.

We have plenty of hired hands in our lives. But there are days when we need a shepherd, someone who we trust, someone we believe in, someone we know will stand with us when the wolves threaten and everyone else runs away.  We hear the story of the Good Shepherd on the 4^th Sunday of Easter every year because we need to hear of God’s loving care and remember what love means to God.  We need to hear stories of people whose faith compels them to stand with others, even in death-especially in death.  That is why the image of the Good Shepherd is so prevalent on the walls of the underground tombs in Rome.

Alyce Mackenzie writes: “Every day in the news we encounter fresh examples of bad shepherding. People in charge of protecting the President are not at their post, but instead, allegedly, at the bar or the strip club. A young man is in the driver's seat early one morning with three friends in the car. Driving drunk, his actions result in their deaths. Politicians focus on finding chinks in one another's armor rather than finding solutions to the nation's injustices. Pastors abuse their positions of spiritual influence and take advantage of vulnerable people. Bad shepherds.... As Christians we believe [the] king has come and that we are to live in such a way that we mirror his way of being in the world. Every Christian is called to be a shepherd. We each have a sphere of influence, even if we don't think of ourselves as public figures. We are not all called to dramatic situations in which our physical lives are on the line, but there is the less dramatic, daily sacrifice involved in allowing the Good Shepherd to guide the way we offer guidance and nurture to those we encounter each day. That means being vigilant to all that would threaten our flock and not abandoning our post in trying times.

A second story I want to tell you about my week at CREDO .  One priest I got to know very well turned to the group of us and said, “you were my shepherds this week, you were my good shepherds and I needed you.”

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.  Every year on this day we hear Jesus tell us that he is the Good Shepherd-and that we are called to be one, too.  It is a costly occupation.  We know bad shepherds, we know hired hands.  On this day we hear that to follow THE Good Shepherd we will not be forsaken, we will be upheld; sustained , strengthened, guided and kept  through the days ahead . . . Let us trust and not be afraid.  Amen.

“ Being nice wasn’t Jesus’ goal”

Sermon 3Lent-March 11, 2012
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.
John 2:13-22 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The sermon is all over the place so I better tell you now what the theme is because it may be impossible to figure it out by the end. Anger isn’t nice. Jesus got angry. Jesus wasn’t always ___________.
Have you ever come to church and been so angry that you wanted to overturn tables, throw people out, yell at folks? Someone this week reminded me that it was a year ago that we were in Inquirers class, and one of the people preparing for confirmation talked about how angry he was that someone he knew had been denied communion. He thought the church and the clergy were wrong. He was mad about it, and wanted to tell us. Sometimes religion gets in the way of bringing people to God. I don’t like hearing it, I don’t often agree with it. It isn’t always nice. But I need to hear it. I need to hear when I am messing up.
Ever been there? Ever come to church with a bone to pick with someone, mad and ready to let someone have it? I’ll give you a couple of examples that I bet everyone has experienced. Ever wanted to crash a vestry meeting and DEMAND that the rector’s salary be doubled? IMMEDIATELY! “Fr. John is so underpaid!” you thought to yourself, “we need to make a scene so he will get what he deserves!” Or here’s one I’m sure many of you have felt, ever come to church angry that the sermons are too short. Ever wanted to stand up in the Eucharist and demand that I keep preaching!
I know a lot of you feel that way.
Most of you know today’s story. Jesus goes into the temple, makes a whip of cords, drives out the cattle and sheep, overturns tables, throws the money on the ground, yells at people. Whenever someone gets angry people will tell them they need to be more Christian. Do you think Jesus was calmly, sweetly doing all these things, smiling and humming as he overturned tables? Anger isn’t nice. Jesus go angry. Jesus wasn’t always___________.
1973 I went to Chicago for the first time. My best friends were living there and they wanted to show me the town. They later told me that they didn’t see me blink or swallow for 3 whole days-I was so mesmerized by the big city. One of the things they wanted to show me was a big church downtown in the loop. It was called, the Chicago Temple, and it was a Methodist church squeezed in between two skyscrapers. It’s the tallest church in the world, 23 stories high-most of them office space. When I walked in to the front entrance on the first floor, there was the Cokesbury Book store with dozens of cash registers and all I could think about was this story of Jesus overturning the tables, throwing out the moneychangers, driving out the livestock in the temple.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke this story takes place near the end of their gospels close to the crucifixion-and is used as one of the justifications for the crucifixion. But in John’s gospel this event occurs right at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus is a danger to worship and a threat to the order that the Romans needed in ruling the Jews. Carl Gregg writes: “Jesus’ actions recapitulate [the prophet] Amos‘ words 700 years l[earlier]. Both are saying that if God has to choose between worship and justice, then God chooses justice. God does not want to make this choice, but God’s preference is clear.”
That’s the message behind Jesus’ anger and actions. Justice is the issue, anger is the tool. I don’t like it when Jesus acts like this. It’s not nice. I have never ever once gotten angry in my life when I didn’t regret it-no matter whether I was right or not-it always felt wrong later. I was taught that. Anger isn’t nice. So what do we do with Jesus when he gets angry-and angry with the religious authorities (like me)? Ever been angry at someone who was hurting themselves? Or when someone was taking advantage of someone else? Ever been angry at the government? The church? How about the oil companies? Or “the banks”? Last year every night on the news we saw one group after another moving onto a piece of property and setting up camp. It was called the “Occupy” movement. It was popular at first but then it lost focus after awhile. One of the pictures that was shown around a lot was “of an Occupy Wall Street protester, who was dressed up as Jesus and who was carrying a placard that read, “I threw out the moneylenders for a reason”.
Jesus got mad when those who were supposed to care and protect people, were taking advantage of them. He got mad when people who were supposed to do the right thing chose the wrong thing. Jesus got mad at injustice and sin. Remember last week when Jesus got angry at Peter for telling Jesus that he didn’t know what he was talking about-“get behind me Satan”. Jesus got angry at individuals-and at institutions-when they took advantage of the very people they were set up to serve. We can tolerate anger at individuals alright, but getting mad at institutions always feels “wrong” somehow, to us. Too Radical.
Dom Helder Camara , the famous Brazilian Archbishop, once wrote, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
We love it when people are kind, caring, and helpful. We’re uncomfortable, scared and tense when people get angry and begin to demand that things change.
The Jewish people were supposed to offer a sacrifice when they came to the temple-an animal, an offering. But the temple made a fortune overcharging the pilgrims as they arrived and those who had little, had to give up what they had. The religious and Roman authorities both got a per centage of this theft. Jesus was mad at the religious authorities for allowing it. He was mad at the Romans for encouraging it. Jesus got mad when people chose to do the wrong thing. Sometimes, like last week’s story, it’s individuals, like Peter. This week it’s systems-like the temple, and the government.
Again, from Carl Gregg, “Beverly Wildung Harrison [wrote an essay] titled, “The Power of Anger in the Work of Love.” She invites us to consider that the problem is not anger itself, even if anger is rated as one of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’ Anger can be either positive or negative. Indeed, it is right to be angry at injustice, and problematic to be apathetic toward injustice. Thus, she challenges Christians to “harness the power of anger in the work of love.”
Most of the time the issue becomes the anger, instead of the work of love. Then we get sidetracked. If you’ve ever been in a relationship, ever had a spouse, a child, or a parent, you understand this. You get mad because someone is doing something to hurt themselves and you let them know-and suddenly you’re talking about the words or actions used in anger, instead of the love that caused them. The great example I always think of was Martin Luther King, Jr. sitting in a Birmingham jail in 1963 for protesting segregation. Area ministers wrote him a scathing letter saying that they thought his end was right, but that his methods weren’t nice. They thought he was being too confrontational and that he wasn’t being nice.
Jesus was not afraid to get angry-at individuals and at systems, if he believed that they were walking down the wrong road. Jesus could yell at Peter one day and throw out the cheaters and swindlers the next. Jesus got angry at people who chose not to do the right thing. It is not popular. It is not nice. People will get sidetracked, ALWAYS, by anger because we feel judged and attacked. We will get distracted by the means. But sometimes we need to hear Jesus’ anger, we need to hear that we are messing up. It is not a side of Jesus that we necessarily like. It’s not the gentle comforting Jesus, it’s not the warm fuzzy Jesus. As theologian and Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan writes, “Those who live by compassion are often [made saints]. Those who live by justice are often crucified.”
Jesus gets mad. He throws people out of the temple. He calls his friends his adversaries. He gets mad at systems that don’t serve the people they were set up for. He gets mad at his religion when it doesn’t promote justice and fairness.
It is the 3rd Sunday in Lent and it’s a good idea for us to remember that sometimes Jesus gets angry when the “work of love”, the work of God, is being thwarted. Don’t get sidetracked by the resistance or fear of the anger, the words, or the actions. Don’t lose sight of the end because the method makes us uncomfortable. Remember that Jesus used all the tools he had to bring about his kingdom. Even anger. Especially anger. Sometimes anger is what we need to bring about the work of God’s love. Jesus got angry at people who chose not to do the right thing. We need to hear that. Anger isn’t nice. Jesus got angry. Jesus wasn’t always nice.

“We don't always know everything we think we know…”

Sermon 2Lent-March 4, 2012
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.
Mark 8:31-38Then 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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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."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. 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. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 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."

Ok, I’ve told you this one before, but…
“Baxter Black, a veterinarian of large animals and a commentator on National Public Radio, told of an experience that occurred to his cousin Hank. Hank is a farmer who lives in a rural, central Minnesota village. One of his city relatives invited him to come for a visit in St. Paul the weekend of Thanksgiving, so Hank decided to ride the commuter train that passed by his community. At the first stop, the conductor announced that everyone would be able to get off at the station for a short stop. Hank wandered into the station and found the vending machines where he purchased a carton of milk and 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, some of those half-glasses to read with, and he was reading The Wall Street Journal. Hank thought to himself, "This fellow looks like Ward Cleaver." 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, were strange indeed. 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!”
Today’s gospel story is about Jesus trying to teach his followers who he is and why he has come. And Peter doesn’t understand. In fact, Peter starts yelling at Jesus to knock it off. So Jesus yells at Peter that he is taking the wrong 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!”
Jesus “ is not saying Peter is evil. “Satan” in the “original Greek was a term common in the legal court system referring to the prosecuting attorney. ...Peter was putting Jesus on trial and accusing him of being wrong.” A better word than Satan for the translation would have been “adversary”.
Three times in the Gospel of Mark Jesus will tell his followers that he must suffer and die. Three times they don’t get it. They want so badly for Jesus to be king, to be successful, that the idea that he will fail-that he will be humiliated-is more than they can grasp. Jesus keeps using these paradoxes to describe what it means to be a follower of his: ,”Deny yourself” , “For those who want to save their life will lose it” “those who lose their life for my sake… will save it”. It’s like saying up is down, night is day. They don’t understand what Jesus is saying-but they know that they don’t like it.
Marilyn Salmon writes: “According to human values, one's own life comes first. We might be kind and generous and thoughtful toward others, yet cultural norms dictate the priority of our own safety or privilege or physical comfort. Jesus advocates risking your life for the sake of another. In other words be willing to lose your life for the sake of the gospel in order to save it. According to Mark's gospel, the disciples represent human values.2 They aspire to power and greatness and assume that Jesus shares these values. Jesus represents God's values, best summed up by the willingness to risk one's own life for the sake of others. Jesus does not encourage suffering for its own sake, nor does he recommend acceptance of forced servitude. 3 The key to meaning here is "for the sake of the gospel" and Jesus is the … model. Jesus invites his disciples to follow his example, to be willing to risk our lives for the sake of others.”
We listen our whole lives in church to this teaching of putting others first, of denying ourselves, of making sure other people feel important-before we do. He is telling his followers-and us-that if we follow him, it will cost us. If we put him first-it will cost us. If we choose Jesus’ values, God’s values-it will cost us. But never does Jesus say, feel terrible about yourself, believe you are worthless, and THEN follow me.
Listen to Presbyterian pastor, Rev. William Carter:
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?"
It’s tempting to hear this morning’s gospel and get it mixed up. It’s easy to not even really hear it, we’ve heard it so often. We are called to this challenging paradox-the world’s values are not God’s values. Realize that we are valued and loved, and then value and love others-and be willing to sacrifice ourselves-put ourselves in God’s place, for others.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote: “To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.”
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!”
Let’s forfeit the world and gain our lives. Amen.