preachykeen

carl thomas gladstone

2007-03-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

I was outside, enjoying the ridiculously nice weather, when my old pal Carl Thomas Gladstone called. He mentioned about me being on his rather excellent podcast, and sure enough, I'm right there on the 'ol Christmas post working with him on a rather funky track based on the book of Habakkuk. I don't have this exact recording, so it was nice to hear it. I'm a little embarrassed about how I get my Jimmy Swaggart on toward the end there, but otherwise it is enjoyable prophetic music with a summery (if not Christmassy) edge.

Check it out under Storyteller #13 While your there, listen to the tons of superior CTG solo stuff.

Temptation

2007-03-01T01:40:00.000-06:00

Temptation properly defined is “settling for less”. Temptation is settling for less. That is the human condition. The second chapter of Genesis, with the Adam and Eve story, is a story about temptation, right. If you brought your swords with you, open to Genesis 2 with me. God created a paradise for these two ancestors of ours, but in the midst of this paradise was a tree.

In Chapter 2, vs. 3 we read that God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'

And then the serpent, commonly understood in our tradition to be Satan, comes up with a counter argument. A better idea than God's plan.

4 You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Here's a tip for you to pass on to your children and grand-children: if you think that you know better than God, you don't. Sounds obvious but how often do we ignore it. How often do we 'settle for less' than the abundant life that God planned for us?

And then what does she do? In vs 6. we read,

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Let's be honest, most of the published theology in the history of the church has been by men. So, it is no surprise that Eve has gotten most of the blame throughout the ages. Well, this is one of those times when we need to reach past the tradition and go straight to the Scriptures, Eve didn't strap Adam down and put a feeding tube in his mouth. Adam was a big boy. He could make his own decisions. Whenever you see this story portrayed, whether it be Bette Davis on the Bergan and McCarthy radio program where she invents “apple sauce”, or in Milton's Paradise Lost where she has psychic control over poor Adam, or in the thousands of Renaissance artists who were looking for a respectable excuse for painting naked people, or in the way my own Sunday School teacher taught the story, we always have a reluctant Adam saying, “I don't know about this.” And Eve finally seducing him. But, as we just read, the Scriptures say, “She gave some to her husband, and he ate it.”

For that matter, the serpent probably gets too much credit from the narrator of the story as being “more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made”. It's not like he came up with a particularly clever argument. He didn't go to much effort to prove his (or her) statements. Just said, “oh it's O.K., God doesn't want what's best for you.” And then Adam and Eve succumbed to this pathetic excuse for a temptation. They settled for less than what God intended. Way less!

The could have taken the Nancy Reagan route. When a group of students asked her how they could remain drug-free, she replied, "Just say No!" Now, even though, when that became extrapolated into a national policy of a “Drug War” it ended up causing more harm than good, the truth of the comment remained, "Just Say No". On the personal level, the Bible makes it clear that we can resist temptation and sin by just saying No! Adam and Eve could have just said no, I want life and I want it abundantly. Snakes do not have better ideas than God.

Let's stop thinking of resisting temptation as depriving us from something that we want, and instead recognize it as merely settling for less!

The Pastor's Library

2007-02-02T11:36:00.000-06:00

My project to catalog all of my theological, biblical and otherwise churchy books is finally underway. Simply browse through the titles on the right of this blog or click on the link to my librarything page and find what interests you. Then, track me down at church or on e-mail and I will gladly get the book to you.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=revkarl

Desert Wisdom

2006-12-15T00:22:00.000-06:00

Some old men
went to Abba Poemen and asked,

"If we see brothers sleeping during the common prayer, should we wake them?"

Abba Poemen answered,
"If I see my brother sleeping, I put his head on my knees
and let him rest."
Then one old man spoke up,
"And how do you explain yourself before God?"
Abba Poemen replied,
"I say to God: You have said, 'First take the beam out of your own eye and then you will be able to remove the splinter from the eye of your brother.' "

We are moving toward mission (but ain't there yet.)

2006-12-15T00:11:00.000-06:00

"MAINTENANCE OR MISSION?

by Pastor Dave
http://revcamp.blogspot.com/2006/11/church-that-doesnt-suck.html

1. In measuring the effectiveness, the maintenance congregation asks, "How many pastoral visits are being made?” The mission congregation asks, "How many disciples are being made?"

2. When contemplating some form of change, the maintenance congregation says, "If this proves upsetting to any of our members, we won't do it." The mission congregation says, "If this will help us reach someone on the outside, we will take the risk and do it."

3. When thinking about change, the majority of members in a maintenance congregation ask, "How will this affect me?" The majority of members in the mission congregation ask, "Will this increase our ability to reach those outside?"

4. When thinking of its vision for ministry, the maintenance congregation says, "We have to be faithful to our past." The mission congregation says, "We have to be faithful to our future."

5. The pastor in the maintenance congregation says to the newcomer, "I'd like to introduce you to some of our members." In the mission congregation the members say, "We'd like to introduce you to our pastor."

6. When confronted with a legitimate pastoral concern, the pastor in the maintenance congregation asks, "How can I meet this need?" The pastor in the mission congregation asks, "How can this need be met?"

7. The maintenance congregation seeks to avoid conflict at any cost (but rarely succeeds). The mission congregation understands that conflict is the price of progress, and is willing to pay the price. It understands that it cannot take everyone with it. This causes some grief, but it does not keep it from doing what needs to be done.

8. The leadership style in the maintenance congregation is primarily managerial, where leaders try to keep everything in order and running smoothly. The leadership style in a mission congregation is primarily transformational, casting a vision of what can be, and marching off the map in order to bring the vision into reality.

9. The maintenance congregation is concerned with their congregation, its organizations and structure, its constitutions and committees. The mission congregation is concerned with the culture, with understanding how secular people think and what makes them tick. It tries to determine their needs and their points of accessibility to the Gospel.

10. When thinking about growth, the maintenance congregations asks, "How many Methodists live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?" The mission congregation asks, "How many unchurched people live within a twenty-minute drive of this church?"

11. The maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks, "How can we get these people to support our congregation?" The mission congregation asks, "How can the Church support these people?"

12. The maintenance congregation thinks about how to save their congregation. The mission congregation thinks about how to reach the world."

Is there a time for the flag to be in the church? Is there a time when the flag should not be in the church?

2006-12-13T22:50:00.000-06:00

Let us Pray - Nurturing God - we do not live by bread alone but by
every word that comes from your mouth. Make us hungry for this
heavenly food and pour it down upon us - that the words of my lips and
the meditations of our hearts may draw us closer to thee and lead us
to walk in the way of life. Amen

“Who is your neighbor?” That is the question from Wednesday's Bible Study that we have been contemplating this week. Jesus answers this question in the 10th chapter of Luke by telling a story of a Samaritan man who helps out an ambushed traveler that was all but ignored by his fellow Jewish countrymen. The short of it was that your neighbor is not only the person in the house next to yours, but includes the person who comes from a completely different culture and mindset than you do. While the Jewish law and custom was based on making the Jews a people separated apart from the rest of the world, Christ's commandments, as we read them today, were about shaping a new people without borders.

Paul, in Galatians 3:28 puts it like this, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

So, with this in mind, all Saint's Sunday is always a rather peculiar day for the Church in America. It falls on the first Sunday after November 1st which is usually before the 1st Tuesday in November.

In other words, the one day that the church sets aside to celebrate citizenship in heaven usually falls two days before the one day that emphasizes one's citizenship in America, namely election day.

It is interesting that the 1st Chapter of the Book of Ruth is the Old Testament text this week. We didn't read it this morning because I don't see the point of reading only one chapter of a four chapter book. So, I am asking all of you to please take 10 minutes of this coming week and read Ruth. It is a beautiful story.

Naomi is a God fearing woman living in a foreign land who endures the deaths of her husband and two sons. She decides that she is going to move back home to Bethlehem, and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, decides to go with her to this foreign place. She is a Moabite, absolutely despised by the Jews. So, God in God's infinite sense of humor makes Ruth the grandmother of the greatest king of Israel, David. But it gets even more awkward, because, according to Matthew's genealogy in chapter 1, Ruth is the (24 greats) grandmother of Jesus, the one who came to fulfill the law. There is clearly a tension that runs throughout the Old and New Testaments between the chosen people and the stranger, between one's citizenship and identity with Israel or Rome or Greece or any other country and the Kingdom of God. Not necessarily a conflict, but definitely a tension.

A tension not unlike the one we find ourselves in today, when we celebrate the entrance into heaven and one of the freedoms that makes us distinctly American.

A friend of mine told me that it might be helpful to more fully explain the tradition of why we don't display the flag in church during the Christmas and Lent seasons and during baptisms. And in a day marked with such tension, it seems like an appropriate time to explain.

First, lets look at why, if “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” we do display the flag the other 10 months of the year.

We believe in a God who committed the scandal of particularity. A God who chose to become a human at a specific time, in a specific place, as part of a specific culture. An embodied God. Namely, a God who chose to become part of the household of a working class, Jewish carpenter, in a remote outpost of the Roman Empire about 2000 years ago. That is a mind-boggling act in itself. God did this so that the great chasm between humanity and divinity could be bridged. As one of the ancient fathers, St Athanasius (one of my favorites, by the way) said, “God became man so that we might become God.” If that doesn't get you out of bed and onto your knees on a Sunday morning, nothing will.

In the history of the church, there have been many who have tried to gloss over this scandal of particularity. For example, St. Athanasius was speaking against the gnostics who believed that God didn't become human, but just sort of pretended. That Jesus didn't die on the cross, but that he disappeared from the body right before the moment of death, switching souls with poor Simon. All of these revisions of Salvation history were designed to allow the gnostics to believe that God was above the world and never really a part of it, so that they could hide from the world and not really be a part of it.

But the reality is, we are in the world. Each of us is embodied in a specific body, with specific characteristics, in a specific country, in a specific state, in a specific town, in a specific household. We may not be of the world but we are very much in it. When we enter the doors of a church, we bring in who we are in all of our particularity. In a town like Franklin Grove or Ashton, that means that we are more than likely Americans. Not just accidental Americans, but proud Americans. People who believe and are dedicated to the statement that,

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish (and now uphold) this Constitution for the United States of America.”

As Christians in America, we are called to use our Christian lens, our Christ-like way of looking at the world, in order to uphold these notions of justice, tranquility, peace, welfare, and liberty. No, when we enter in through the doors of a sanctuary, we do not check our true selves in at the door. We come in order to praise God for the blessings that we experience out there. We come in for the fuel of God's Word struggled through in community. As the hymn, “Gather Us In” reminds us,

"Not in the dark of buildings confining; Not in some heaven light-years away, but here in this place the new light is shining. Now is the Kingdom, now is the day."

In other words, us being Christians means that we are Kingdom builders. The flag is here to remind us that right worship is not about us, but about what we can do in the world in the name of God. The flag reminds us of a call for what we learn here to be spread throughout every aspect of our lives out there. It affects how we treat our neighbors, how we raise our kids, and with elections coming around the corner, it should remind us how we are to vote. If you are a legislator who professes to be Christian, it should affect how legislate.

Ann and I went to go see Cardinal Francis George and others talk about Christianity in America and he said something that just really shocked me. Cardinal Francis George, one of the most prominent Catholics in the country said something along the lines that, in general, he didn't vote for Catholics in elected office, senators and whatnot. And his reason for this is shocking when you think about it. He said that ever since JFK, Catholics who aspire to elected office feel compelled to show the world that they are not really that Catholic. A person may have strong beliefs on something like the value of an unborn child's life, but then vote in favor of an abortion bill in order to show that they are not too Catholic. It's madness. Really.

We have the flag in the sanctuary so that we can be protected from such madness. That we can be reminded that this is not some ivory tower where what happens in here does not affect what happens out there, but that what happens in here shapes what happens out there. This nation needs God and it needs God now. We need God in our government, we need God in our schools, and we need God in our homes. There is nothing wrong with voting for someone because they are Christian and will promote Christian values.

Now, I'm not talking about someone who can talk the talk and then use his Christianity as a club with which to oppress a certain group of people because it is politically convenient. We have plenty of fat cat opportunistic so-called Christians in government and their hypocrisy just gives a bad name to the rest of us. But we need people who would honestly consider what Jesus would be calling them to do.

There is a corny catchphrase we hear a lot. 'You can't legislate morality.' What does that even mean? Porn should be easily accessible because “You can't legislate morality.” Teenagers should be able to have their brain development altered, literally, by Internet gambling and the compulsions and devastation it brings because, “You can't legislate morality.” Abortions should be cheap and easy because... anybody, “You can't legislate morality.” But, what is legislation? Legislation is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. Legislation is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. And what is morality? Morality is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. We have the flag in the church so that artificial separation of what goes on in here and what goes on out there might be destroyed. Don't be all godly in here and then walk out there like in here and out there are two different places. The flag reminds us of these responsibilities.

Now, why don't we have the flag in the church during Christmas, Lent and baptisms?

First and foremost, because the church needs times in the cycles of our lives to remember to be church. The church needs to be reminded of its foundations

There needs to be certain times when the church is called to her true identity. There has not been a single era in the history of Christianity when the church hasn't been behind evil things, very often the most evil things of a given time period. The French and English crusades of the 10th and 11th centuries, a senseless world war that killed a larger percent of the planet than any other. The Spanish Inquisition. Martin Luther's defense on the German government killing peasants. The early Calvinists in America burning innocent women who they claimed to be witches. The German Protestant church's silence before the Nazis.

Each and every one of these instances is an example of the church forgetting who she was and becoming a tool for a corrupted state. It is so easy for a state to be corrupted, but it should be harder than it is for the church to become a. tool of a corrupted state.

My family on my Dad's side is German. We Germans have a lot to be proud of. At the turn of the last century, we were shaping philosophy with Kant, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Husserl and Nietzsche. We were changing the structure of music with Wagner and Hans Pfitsner, we changed architecture with Mies van der Rohe and Fritz Shumacker. We changed theology with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth and Friedrich Schleiermacher. We had cool last names like Schleiermacher.

But the legacy of Germany in the first half of the 20th century are none of these brilliant people. And so the question that I found myself returning to throughout seminary was, how? How could a country that was a Christian majority end up doing what can arguably be called the most horrific acts against humanity in the history of the world? What happened? Well, Chancellor Hitler was democratically elected March 6, 1933, after running on a campaign of what he called “Positvie Christian values” against Communism, pornography and homosexuals and which used Christ's teachings as evidence for the elimination of the Jews.

And the church, for the most part, was silent. Dead silent. There were a few dissenters, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth for example, the former who was killed by the Nazis for, amongst other things, refusing to allow Swastikas in church. But for the most part, the church was silent. The church forgot how to be church.

Now please, don't leave here today telling everyone that the pastor said that America is going to vote for Hitler. That is not the point of my bringing up these instances in the history of the church. The point is to show how, over and over again during the past 2,000 years the church has forgotten her foundation and was co opted by the culture. In the time of Paul, it was people wanting to worship God, but hedge their bets with the Roman idols on the side. In the time of Athanasius, the church was getting mighty cozy with the Emperor Constantine and so on – always, with great regret.

But even if this wasn't the case. Even if the church was squeaky clean for the past 2000 years, it would still be appropriate to have times when we declare that God is God. That we focus like a laser beam on the one thing in this universe that matters. This [flag] is not some decoration with a cool asymmetrical design and a bold tri-color pattern that has rigid horizontal elements juxtaposed by jagged star-shaped ones. That is how the artist Jasper Johns looked at it. It is a powerful symbol of 200 years of struggle toward freedom and justice. It includes in its imagery the blood of death offered by those who were willing to give everything for it. It includes in its presence the steps forward, backward, and forward again that this country has taken in the quest of liberation from tyranny. The Judge that I worked for, the Chief Federal Judge of the 1st Circuit Court, William Young in his final words of the sentencing of Richard Reid, better known as the 'shoe bomber' said this,

“See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this case is forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.”

I wasn't there, but I have seen him give plenty of sentences and I can just picture his face get red and then purple with passion as he leaned over the bench. And in private conversations with Judge Young, he told me how much he cared about the flag and how we would accept no substitutes like images on t-shirts, bumper stickers and coffee mugs. Because it is a powerful symbol that shouldn't be cheapened.

In short, the flag is a powerful symbol that should scream all of the good values of this country to you. But there is a higher power. Long after this country has disappeared, like all other cultures of the past have, God will still be God. To make an analogy to sound, the “Star Spangled Banner” may be a fine song, but it is not appropriate to sing it when the organist is playing “Amazing Grace”. When a person is being baptized, the country that they happened to be born in is not the focus. The water. The cross. The individual. These are the foci.

When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of 'Peace on Earth and Good Will to All' was held in this little God-child. The focus is on God's gift to the world, not to a particular country at a particular time.

When Christ died on the cross, the ultimate gift to humanity was given. The complete redemption of God's people from slavery and bondage caused by sin was wiped away clean. This is worth reflecting upon without other distractions.

Despite whatever Hitler might have said, Jesus was a Jew. He affirmed his Jewish identity in every way. He went to the synagogues, he practiced the passover, he exalted the Jewish Scriptures. But nonetheless, he felt that there were times when he had to set that aside for a moment to show us the bigger picture.

A Jewish scribe, a teacher of the law, asks Jesus which of the commandments of God was first of all - most important of all. You know, was it how to eat right, how to pray right, how to worship right, how to celebrate the holidays right? What?

Jesus' answer is this...

"Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love
the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength - and - you
shall love your neighbor as yourself"

And again, who is your neighbor. The stranger, the non-Jew, the non-American. Jesus puts the most important thing- the foundation of all of the law and the prophets on this universally applicable statement, and the Scribe affirms it.

"You are right teacher.... this is much more important than all
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices"

In other words, this is more important than all of the symbols of faithfulness that our people have. And then Jesus recognizes the wisdom of the scribe and says to him, as he says to no other teacher of the law, to no other scribe that we have record of in this book:

"You are not far from the kingdom of God"

What interesting words these are...

“You are not far from the kingdom of God”

Not, you are a good Jew, but...

.“You are not far from the kingdom of God”

There are times when it is appropriate to take on the responsibilities and the privileges of being a citizen of a country. Jesus did so and so shall we. Jesus spent a large part of his time talking to his own people about things that were of particular interest to them- things that we from a different time and place read and say, “huh?” This Tuesday is one of those times where we take on such responsibilities. The fact that less than half of Americans can be bothered to take 15 minutes out of there day once every two years is despicable. It's is a wasteful disregard of what so many have died for and what the flag, at its best, represents. It is a dismissal of our embodied natures, the fact that God chose to bring us to this time and place and has given us the freedom to choose our destinies. So please vote.

But there are other times when our perspective changes from human things, to divine things. When we acknowledge that we are but sojourners in a strange land. That this world, this country, this town, this family is not our home, but merely a rest stop on the way to glory. As Christians, we affirm that this place is but a blink of an eye in eternity- not to be squandered for sure, but not to be given more than its due either. As soon as we enter too far in one camp or the other, we are committing heresy, either by denying that we are embodied creatures in a particular time and place or by effectively renouncing our citizenship in heaven. As Christians we recognize that we “Are not far from the kingdom of God.” As Christians, there are times when we must take the step that Ruth took, the one that took her away from her home country and into God's providence.

When we take communion this morning, we are affirming that we are a part of something bigger than geography, that we are a part of the Body of Christ. This is an affirmation that we remind ourselves during Christmas, Easter and baptisms. It really isn't a big deal, a statement against the country or anything like that. It is simply a paring down to the one important thing. God's grace offered freely through Jesus Christ. Amen?

Prosperity Gospel

2006-12-13T22:42:00.000-06:00

You will probably never hear me say this again, but I am glad that there are no first time visitors with us this morning. You see, the sign on the front of the church has said, “Come find the abundant life with us” for a couple of weeks now. And I believe that is what we are doing – seeking the abundant life. It comes from a promise in John 10:10, “Jesus came so that we might have life abundantly”.

For me, it was a great ‘a-ha’ moment in my faith journey when I came across Dorothy Day’s response to why she decided to give up everything to follow Christ and work in a soup kitchen for the homeless, having a non-stop routine of preparing meals and washing dishes until exhaustion. Day’s response, which you have heard me say before, was that she wanted life and she wanted it abundantly.

So, why am I glad that there are no first time visitors here this morning? Well, this week’s September 18^th issue of TIME Magazine has the cover story “Does God Want You to Be Rich?”. In it, they interview a series of Prosperity Preachers who point to John 10:10 and answer with a resounding yes. God shows God’s favor by blessing you with a nice car, a McMansion, perfect health and kids with straight teeth.

And I just picture some poor unsuspecting TIME Magazine subscriber in Franklin Grove thinking to herself, well, things are a little tight around here, and I just got a Sunday School flyer in the mail from that Methodist Church promising the tools for the abundant life, and I saw on their sign the invitation to come find the abundant life with us – so, maybe I’ll give them a try.

And then I picture this poor unsuspecting soul sitting in the pews, toward the front because all of the good seats in the back are taken, listening afresh to the gospel reading this morning, and hearing “Jesus spoke plainly” about how the Son of man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise again three days later. And why? So that we could watch our football games on high-definition television? No, Jesus then goes on to say, in an equally plainly, though even more painful way, that if any want to be his followers, let them take up their cross and follow him.

Well, maybe the cross is just a metaphor for a bad habit that you need to break. You know, maybe taking up your cross is that you sleep late, or that you don’t work quite hard enough, or that you harbor too many negative thoughts. But no, although it you might sleep in too late, you might be lazy, and the devil certainly strives on negative thoughts- these are not the cross. These are little stumbling blocks on the way to righteousness. They may need to be conquered with Jesus’ help, but they are not the cross.

Jesus was not a self-help guru. Peter got it right for a change when he said to Jesus, “You are the Messiah.” And then Peter got it wrong because Jesus began to tell him something that didn’t quite gel with his conception of what a Messiah ought to do. The Messiah that Peter was hoping for in Jesus was one who would move to the front of the line. Jesus clearly had favor with God, or how else would he be able to do all of the miracles that Peter and the other disciples witnessed him doing in the previous 7 chapters? And since Jesus had God’s favor, surely he would be a king. Surely he would have a harem like David and Saul. Surely he would become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. Surely he would have great influence over the nations.

But the truth was something different altogether, wasn’t it. Jesus did certainly have God’s favor – being the second person in the trinity and all. Jesus certainly was king. King of kings to be more exact. But Jesus did not have a harem and he did not have wealth. See, Peter had his thoughts not on divine things, but on human things. And again, Jesus was rather plain about what he had to say about that. “Get behind me Satan!” So, after his shining moment, when Peter correctly recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, it turned out that he was too much a product of the sinful and adulterous generation of his time to understand what that meant.

But actually, I think we need to cut Peter some slack. This was all so new and sudden to him. But what is our excuse? We have had 2000 years to let Jesus’ words set in. We have seen the church do works of mercy that could only be done by the people of God. But we have also seen the church lead wars for the same reason all wars are led, in the pursuit of money, land and power. Over the last 2000 years humanities greatest minds and God’s revelations have given us insight into some of the greatest mysteries of this universe, but we still exploit our neighbor. In fact, last Wednesday when we read this, we wondered if today, after 2000 years of having the truth available to us, in this day, when according to the most recent poll 95% of Americans are Christian, if maybe we aren’t an even more sinful and adulterous generation.

Beth Moore, who the Christian Moms group that Jane and Ann are a part of are studying was asked what the greatest insight she discovered while researching a book she wrote on Daniel was.

She answered, “I was struck by the parallel between ancient Babylon and today. Babylon was a spectacular city, the center of commerce, not unlike our self-absorbed, consumer-oriented culture. Isaiah 47:8 talks about the daughter of Babylon saying, "I am, and there is none beside me." That's the mindset we're surrounded by today. [One of self-absorption].

In other words, in 2000 and some odd years since Jesus gave us the truth, we are still as selfish, self-absorbed and self-possessed as we ever were.

So, two questions remain. What does it mean to take up one’s cross and how in God’s name does this lead to the abundant life?

The answer to the first question is plain, and simple, and so ridiculously hard that we can’t accomplish it on our own without the grace of God.

Jesus said, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to gain their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

To take up one’s cross is nothing less than to die completely to oneself. You can’t be a little bit dead. Its like that bad old joke, of the farmer marrying off his daughters, one a little bit cross-eyed and one a little bit pregnant. There are just some things that are all or nothing and apparently being a follower of Jesus is one of those things. “If any of you want to be my followers”, Jesus says, “then let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”

Next Sunday, we will have two baptisms, Daniel Alexander Devon and Jasmine Marie Coy. In baptism, we die to this world and through the work of the Holy Spirit, are born anew into the new creation. We read in the Didache, a 1900 year old book that describes how the early church did things, that people being baptized in the early church would be held under water until they began to drown. We won’t do that next week. But it really gets across the idea that after baptism, you are not just wet, you have taken part in the mystery of the resurrection. Amen?

Jesus wants all of us. All that is not holy and perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect stays on the cross. All of that is removed and in its place, we put on perfection. We put on Christ. We become the Body of Christ. That is the abundant life. Anything else that this world has to offer is peanuts in comparison. What is a Porshe when you have achieved perfection. Stuff is just relevant to the times. Think about it. How many kingdoms and jewels would Napoleon have given up for a desktop computer from the 1980’s? Today’s hot new $1000 item is yesterday’s Betamax tapes. But the power of the Lord lasts forever.

In Hebrews 13:5, we read “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for Jesus has said “I will never forsake you.”

Rick Warren, author of A Purpose Driven Life is quoted in that article I mentioned from TIME. He says,

"This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy? There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"

Indeed, what would it profit you to gain the whole world, and lose your life.

The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father and His angels. To be mistaken about that is to make the biggest mistake of all of eternity. But most of us already believe that. Most of us believe that we will die. There was a time between when I was 16 and 22 that the thought never occurred to me, but I have been cured of that. Most of us believe that there is something after death. What exactly that something looks like, we can only see through a glass darkly, because we ain’t been there yet- but the problem is not that we don’t believe that the time is coming so much as we are experienced at distracting ourselves from that time.

I have been privileged to be with several families after a loved one has died, and in every instance, there is someone, and usually most everyone, who is not only overcome with grief that their loved one has died, but is also overcome with the reality of their own death. Grief can be all that much harder when you’ve suppressed your own thoughts death. Now, healthy people do not spend each moment thinking about their mortality. That is a good thing. We got the business of life, of the abundant life for that matter, to tend to. But to completely separate your current reality from your ultimate reality – that can only be done with the help of Satan.

We have gotten so good at separating our present reality from our ultimate reality, that a nation that 95% of claims to be Christian is as sinful and adulterous as any other. We have gotten so good at separating our present reality from our ultimate reality that we allow ourselves to be comforted by any number of gadgets, gimmicks, false theologies, shysters, instead of allowing ourselves to be made uncomfortable by the word of God.

So, if you came this morning expecting prosperity theology, I am sorry. There is nothing but the Gospel here. I sometimes wish we could go down that path. It is a lot easier to tithe when you are under the assumption that you will get paid back with money plus interest. There are no such promises here. Here, tithing is a sacrificial act. A response to blessings already received instead of a down payment or a bribe for more to come.

But we do share the common faith that Jesus came to give us life, and life abundantly. Indeed, what would it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his life.

What is the abundant life?

That is not a question that can be answered in a sermon. I’m sorry. I know that some of you are probably thinking, we’re paying that kid a bunch of money and given his family a roof over their heads and he can’t answer the most important question that we have to ask. But I am sorry, that is the reality. You have to live the question. I can’t describe the abundant life, but I can tell you how to recognize it. The abundant life is not found at the end of a string of arguments because God is not found at the end of a string of arguments. The abundant life develops over time. It is a gift freely bestowed by The God who freely gave of The Son so that we could freely choose the abundant life. The answer is found in the living, in the working, in the celebrating, in the worshiping, in the singing, in the studying, in the sorrowing, in the struggling, and most of all in the dying of oneself, a little more each day, and the accepting of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, a little more each day. The abundant life is less of me and more of Jesus. Jesus tells us, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. How easy or light depends, of course, upon how much we rely on Jesus to help us. This is the rich blessing that we are given as Christians. A Lord more precious than silver, more costly than gold, more beautiful than diamonds. Nothing that we could desire could compare to the Lord, so why do we waste our time on anything less than perfection? This is the confidence in the abundant life that answers the question of how the Dorothy Days of the world could give up everything to do hard, hard work in a kitchen day in and out and say that she had discovered life and discovered it abundantly. This is the confidence in the abundant life that could allow the Mother Theresas of the world work tirelessly for the forgotten in Calcutta. This is the confidence in the abundant life that brings the Dennys and Karens and Stans and Shirleys and Renes and all of you and me here week after week trying to get a better glimpse of God and leave a little of ourselves behind in the process.

Sisters and brothers, this is the good news this morning, let any who wish to follow Jesus deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. Not that we have to. We don’t. Not that God is making us. God isn’t. But because we can. We are given the gift, not only of Christ’s death and resurrection, but our own as well. God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Amen?

I hope that you will give me your attention just a bit longer so that I can share this poem by B.D. Prewer that really moved me this week.

Setting a cross on top of a church may be fine

but it is not discipleship.

Putting a cross on the altar is a worthy sign

but it is not discipleship.

Wearing one on a chain might seem enough

but it is not discipleship.

Getting it tattooed over one’s heart might be tough

but it is not discipleship.

Singing about the old rugged cross may feel okay

but it is not discipleship.

Preaching about the cross can point the way,

but it is not discipleship.

Weeping on Good Friday may seem devout,

but it is not discipleship.

Whipping your own back till blood flows out

is not discipleship.

Following the Christ, not counting the cost,

old bridges burning,

listening and learning,

setting your face, trusting sheer grace,

on the steep track,

not looking back,

loving and forgiving, dying while living:

that is discipleship.

 B. D.Prewer 2002

justice pathway

2006-07-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

[insert rants about drug companies abusing the law for their own greed here]

If this gets you mad and makes you want to get to involved in making health care available to all, than you are probably well planted on the justice pathway.

This Sunday, two days before we celebrate independence from Britain, we are celebrating this justice pathway. Those who are called and committed to the justice pathway are easy to pick out in a church. They are the ones who are always asking the questions about why we are wasting our time and money with this or that in the church when there is that or this need in the world. Often, Christians on the justice pathway are not in church for this very reason, which is a tragedy because those who aren’t plugged into a community are likely to become bitter and burnt out. But how can we better understand the justice pathway, to listen to whether the Holy Spirit is calling us down this road.

This weekend, we are celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of this nation. And, despite all the lawyer jokes and whatnot, and any disparaging comments that I may make toward certain ones who work for [a certain pharmo co], – it is worth remembering that the majority of our founding fathers were lawyers or at least trained in law. And so, it is no surprise that this nation was founded on law from the very beginning. The Declaration of Independence itself reads as a legal brief. The constitution is nothing more or less than guidelines on how law in this country will work, namely how to keep balance between those who make the laws, those that interpret the laws and those that execute the laws separate. The Bill of Rights is a simple declaration saying these freedoms will be granted to our citizens by rule of law.

And so when the words justice and freedom are used in relation to people who are in this country, it is a justice that is promised by law and it is freedom secured by law. This is a good thing, because it is because of this foundation in law that this country has flourished. In addition to the ridiculous amount of natural resources that we have, it is the respect for our laws that separates us from struggling two-thirds world. As citizens in a free country, it is our responsibility to ensure that the rule of law trumps even our own personal preferences. That is, we need to defend another person’s freedom to do something that we would rather they not do. Even if it allows others to disrespect our beliefs, even if blind people remain blind because of them, even if we ourselves suffer unjustly under them as we read in Romans 12 and 13. We endure this because, without respect for the law, even for the bad laws, the whole system would collapse.

But when the words justice and freedom are used to describe the conditions of the Kingdom of God, law is not the guide. In the Kingdom of God, compassion trumps the law. Love trumps the law. Jesus knew the law. Jesus knew that according to the Levitical Law, being touched by an unclean woman or touching a corpse, would make him unclean and therefore, unfit for teaching. That these acts should be avoided at all costs by religious and holy man. But Jesus allowed the Hemorrhaging Woman to touch him and he picked up the corpse of a little girl before bringing her to life. Christ showed us that in the Kingdom of God, healing trumps the law.

It is true that, Jesus did not come to overthrow the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus worshiped in the synagogue, preached the Hebrew Scriptures, was circumcised according to the law, and did all the other rites of worship that the Hebrews did. But Jesus put the law in its proper perspective. The Sabbath serves man, the man does not serve the Sabbath is how he put it. In the Kingdom of God, the law is established so that all may receive justice. To receive justice by living in a Kingdom where nobody lacks because those that have bread share it with those that do not. A Kingdom where death and dying and mourning are no more and where war is no more because the commandments of Jesus toward reconciliation where followed. Where animosity fades away because everyone comes to trust in the wisdom of loving your enemies, even your deepest enemy that seeks to destroy you. But, living in Christ trumps living according to the letter of the law.

In the Kingdom of God, the law is established so that all may live in freedom. That we all might live in the freedom of true security that only comes from following the commandments laid down before us. But the law is the means, not the end. Compassion trumps all. Love trumps all. Justice trumps law.

When we finally allow compassion to be the primary flow of our thoughts and actions, we will be moved to doing our part to recognize the Kingdom of God on earth by seeking justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with your God.

Like all of the pathways, we are all called to partake in the justice pathway to some degree, but those shaped directly for the justice pathway serve the specific and important role of calling the church back to relevancy in the world. There’s a song that we sing around here that begins, there is peace and contentment in my Father’s house. But, then goes on to remind us that the fields need some tending. It is the burden of the woman or man on the justice pathway to shake us out of that and remind us to go work in the fields.

Within these two stories of healing that we read this morning, we see where the tension between appropriate liturgical law and life giving ministry gives. Namely, for Jesus, compassion always wins.

Jesus is passing through the crowds and he feels the touch of a woman who needed healing. She was hemorrhaging, and therefore unclean. She had plan to go unnoticed but he stops to seek her out. He seeks her out, not to rebuke her, as we may suppose, but to seek relationship with her. She reveals herself and the next thing Jesus says is ‘daughter.’ Not- hey woman, or any of the other words that we use to refer to outcasts when we are not in polite company. Jesus says daughter. Jesus is telling the crowd, and his disciples, and us if we are listening that this woman is a part of the family of God, regardless of what society may have told her. For 12 years, 12 long, horrible years, everyone had told her that she was permanently unclean. In the eyes of the men that added to God’s law, all women were unclean for at least part of the month, but for this woman, she bled for 12 years, so in a sense, she was less than human for 12 years, in their eyes. Being reminded constantly, she must have believed it in some sense. But Christ showed her that she had sacred worth because she was a daughter of God, not because of what the law said about her. Justice trumped law.

“Daughter,” Jesus says, “your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” If we are going to take seriously the idea that we are the Body of Christ - that we are the hands of Jesus - then we need to follow His example. We need to seek out the poor, the marginalized, the outcasts, the unclean, the ignored, the embarrassing. We need to offer healing. We need to help awaken the desperate to the beautiful reality that the Kingdom of God actually is around us. We need to welcome them into the family. Son, daughter of Christ, you are our brother, sister. We need to affirm one another’s faith. We need to send one another off in peace.

At the base of it, this is what the spiritual path of justice is pointing us toward. You don’t have to look hard or far for injustice in this world. From oppressive regimes, to the neighbor being bullied by her husband. From sexist religions to a nation that has so much abundance and yet cannot manage to feed and give adequate health care to all of its children. From a society that only allows desirables in to a church that does not allow today’s unclean to participate fully in the community – at least not without imperfect judgments of their walk with God. From here to anywhere, you will encounter injustice.

In the Kingdom of Man, here in America, we depend upon our laws to protect us from one another, but in the Kingdom of God, the law melts away to irrelevancy because compassion wins out. We might be tempted to think that this is impossible pie in the sky sentimentality, but if we truly believe what we proclaim, that our Lord is able to heal the sick and raise the dead as we do proclaim this morning, than what is a little justice among humanity. If gone can create everything out of nothing, surely God can handle the full redemption of earth.

Once we begin to recognize the Kingdom around us, we can see how we can bear witness to that same Kingdom by loving even when it is ridiculous to love. We can have faith that our witness of love will be contagious. At twelve years of age, Jarius’ daughter in this morning’s Good News would have been considered to be at a marriageable age. She would have been able to bear children. Likewise, for the woman who was healed. We are not given her age, but she could have conceivably been in her early twenties. At any rate, they both have a life giving capacity that they didn’t have before encountering Jesus. From their life comes more life.

When the temptation comes to us to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of injustice in the world, we can depend upon this maxim that life brings life. If we simply offer help to one than they can offer help to another and so on until our simple act has awesome consequences. It is in these concrete actions of love, not in our recitations of the law, that transformation happens. To be a Christian is not to be one who believes this or that about Christ, but one who is willing to sacrifice in order for God’s Kingdom to come and God’s will be done. In 1 John 3:17-18, we read, "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a person in need and yet refuses to help? Children, let us love not in word or speech, but in truth and action".

Listen to this observation that John Wesley made commenting on the last line of our text, “He commanded something should be given her to eat” He did this – “So that when either natural or spiritual life is restored, even by immediate miracle, all proper means are to be used in order to preserve it.” We are called to be the bearers of “all proper means”.

This fourth of July as we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, lets celebrate our interdependence in the Kingdom of God. Let us seek out injustice, and then extend ourselves to heal them, so that we might be for the world the Body of Christ redeemed by His blood.

[insert spirit led 'by all means' exhortations here]

Amen?

Let us close with a prayer for serving the poor, written by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. #446.

Y'all come

2006-01-14T01:50:00.000-06:00

There is a bluegrass song, popularized by Jim and Jesse in the 50's, and Jack Kelly, Jim Wolber and Banjo Bob in 2005 called Y'all Come. It would make a great theme song for the church. It starts off

When you live in the country everybody is your neighbor
On this one thing you can rely
They'll all come to see you and never ever leave you
Saying y'all come to see us by and by
Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come) y'all come to see us when you can
Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come) y'all come to see us now and then

When the Pharisees asked Jesus, who is our neighbor, he replied, by way of a story about a good Samaritan,

everybody is your neighbor
On this one thing you can rely

Later in his ministry here on earth, he was asked who can come to the banquet? We saw him eat with sinners and tax collectors by the dozen
And right after dinner they ain't looking any thinner
And here's what you could hear Him say
Y'all come (y'all come)...

Well, liturgically, in the life of the church, we are in the third verse.

Now grandma's a wishing they'd come out to the kitchen
And help her do the dishes right away
But they all start a leavin' grandma's a grievin' you can hear my grandma say
Y'all come (y'all come)...
Oh y'all come to see us now and then

Last Sunday, here at the church, we had a party, didn't we? Somebody say Amen. We had friends and relatives that we haven't seen ages come and join us for the awesome event- To come and see nothing - the empty tomb. People came from states around to join us the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. Which is great. That is part of what we are here for. But, not surprisingly, only about half of us are here this week.

Last week, we were let in on the most important event in human history. We were able to share in the awe and majesty of the conquering of death... To participate in a story created before the beginning of time. A chance to sit back and marvel, and receive the awesome gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to get a foretaste of the feast of the heavenly banquet.

But this week, this week, the savior comes back- not to treat us to another service of celebration, another cause for a holiday to get dressed in our finest and eat and exchange gifts, but to tell us to get to work.

And now we're a wishing they'd come out to the kitchen
And help us do the dishes right away

Please turn with me to the 21st vs in the 20th chapter we read
21Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.'

Jesus did not come back just to say hi. No, he come back to say, I have done my part to bring the Kingdom of God on earth, now it is your turn. The Father has sent me to redeem creation and I have done it. And just as he sent me, so I send you. We can imagine Jesus reminding us, hey, remember when Judas asked me a couple weeks ago 'Why was the perfume that Mary anointed me with not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?' and I told you that "8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." Well, now is the time to do unto the least of these. The time of feasting and relationship building, when I was in human form, is ended. Now is the time to feed my sheep. Now is the time to care for the poor that, in this fallen world, are always with us.

Again, vs. 22

22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'

This is a serious weight of responsibility. It is little wonder that our numbers have dwindled.

3If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'

"Easter is not just coming to a wonderful, inspiring worship service, it is being sent back into the (hostile) world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to bear witness to the identity of God as revealed in Jesus." http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john20x19e2.htm

So is this kind of a drag? Kind of like when you go out to eat with ten people and the bill is hundred dollars and each person gives you ten bucks to cover their portion and you are left with paying the $7 tax and the $20 tip. Did we stick around too long at the banquet and get stuck with the bill? Maybe it isn't so great to be given the responsibility of saving the world, of being responsible for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the sick and binding and loosing sins.

But let us look at the promise of the text once again. Look at vs. 19, vs 21, and vs. 26. "Peace be with you." Some translations say, "My peace, I give to you." What do we get for lingering and doing the work of Christ? Not just the great story of Easter, but nothing less than genuine peace. If you could use a little more peace in your life, please say "Amen". In this text and throughout Scripture, we are promised this peace. True peace. Lasting peace. Deep peace that is not simply the absence of war and strife, but is in itself something to behold. The kind of peace that can only come from the source, from the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus Christ.

Is it unfair to think that to whom much is given, much will be expected? I don't think so. Besides, when we are truly in ministry, and it is truly inspired with the breath of the Holy Spirit and infused with Christ's peace, there is wonder in the work and great joy in the harvest.

That is why we are

a grievin' when they all start a leavin'

Not because we are bummed that we are left with all the work. But because we know what a gift the work and the peace that comes with it is. If we truly love our neighbors, we want to get them in on the action too. We want them to receive this peace. And so we sing out with whatever voice we have...

Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come) y'all come to see us when you can
Y'all come (y'all come) y'all come (y'all come) y'all come to see us now and then

curricula vitae

2006-01-04T22:20:00.000-06:00

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

B.A. Dominican University, River Forest, IL, May 2001

Major: Philosophy Cumulative GPA: 3.6/4.0

Minor: Pastoral Ministry Major GPA: 3.9 (Cum Laude)

President of Phi Sigma Tau (Philosophy Honor Society)

A.A. College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL

Canterbury Christ Church College, England Debate Team

EXPERIENCE Franklin Grove UMC Franklin Grove, IL July 1, 2004 - present

Licensed Local Pastor

Irving Park United Methodist Church, Chicago, IL 2002 - 2004

Student Associate Pastor

*Frequent sermon deliveries, pastoral care/visits, sextant

Community United Methodist Church, Brookfield, IL 1998 - 2002

Liturgist

*Lay leader to annual conference

*Frequent sermon deliveries, Co-creator of liturgy

Youth Pastor Summer 1998 - 2001

*Organized Vacation Bible School curriculum

*Worked with confirmands to organize service trips

VOLUNTEER Kreider Services, Dixon, IL October 2005 - current

*Client Advocate for mentally challenged individuals

*Contribute to policymaking for the Advocacy and Rights Advisory Council

Helping Hand Rehabilitation Center, Countryside, IL February 2002 - 2004

*Client Advocate for mentally challenged individuals

*Contribute to policymaking for the Advocacy and Rights Advisory Council

Thomas Hughes Children Library at HWL, Chicago, IL Summer 2001, 2002

*Volunteered four hours a week assisting children to read

ADDITIONAL Hon. William Young Boston, MA Summer 2003

WORK *Christian ethical advisor

EXPERIENCES

Garrett-Evangelical Library, Evanston, IL October 2001 – May 2002

*Book binder and restorer

Brookfield Financial Plans, Brookfield, IL February 1998 – April 2002

*Created financial planning portfolios

*Checked tax returns

2006-01-04T21:19:00.000-06:00

Advent 2, year A
Isaiah 40:1-11
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
Franklin Grove UMC

There was an interesting editorial in the paper called “Getting a head start on holiday feasting”. In it, the author compares two excellent Turkey dinners- one at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sterling and one at Franklin Grove United Methodist. Now it would probably be really petty and childish to point out the comparisons- but I'm going to do it anyhow. This little paragraph right here is about Sacred Heart. It says...

“Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sterling, for one, had an excellent turkey dinner. In this one, you serve yourself, waiting in line as you gather your food a nd then you take a seat at a long table and dig in. Scouts are available to help you carry your tray, if you need assistance.!”

That's nice. And all of this is about us. Now, if we look at Ms. Mills description of the experience of a Franklin Grove United Methodist Turkey Supper, I think we get a little bit of insight into why the season of Advent is such a holy time in the life of the church.
“At the Methodist Church” [they never say, United Methodist in the media] “in Franklin Grove, it's a different story. Their meal is an exact copy of what you might serve at your own Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. There you buy your ticket and get a number. You take a seat in the church and listen to the organist playing a variety of tunes and you wait. Every time you see a girl [that is Ann] come from upstairs [sic.] and walk toward the microphone, a silence envelopes the church. Everyone is waiting to hear their number called.”

You see, its in the waiting that the anticipation builds. It is in the waiting that your blood starts to thump as you look for a sign of it being your turn. Waiting for your number to be called.

“When the deed is done, happy people with the right number head downstairs to the meal. Those less fortunate, take up the babble of conversation again, heads turning now and then to make sure they aren't missing the next numbers.”
Remember last week when Mark warned us, keep awake- stay alert. for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep alert.” Now, it has been 2000 years since Jesus came. We are tired, we are weary, we are losing hope that our number will ever be called. For so many of us, it is simply easier to be alert and excited for the immediate- the turkey, the Christmas packages, the parties, than it is to keep alert and excited for the most important event the Universe has ever seen- the coming of our Lord. Advent is that time in the church year where we are reminded, re-awakened into the awesomeness of the Mystery. Advent is the time of preparation for the coming of our Lord again. It is our break from the 'babble of conversation' to turn our heads, to turn back, to repent toward the Lord to make sure that we aren't missing the numbers.

“One of the Millses' favorite parts of this particular meal is the wait. It's a time to be used for people spotting. You might see someone you used to work with before you retired or someone who used to live by you. You may even have your current neighbor sit down in the pew beside you.”

Now there is a thought. And who is your neighbor? I guess that's a whole 'nother sermon. Let's go on...

“The first thing you do when you sit down is to share your number with the rest of your party and then with anyone you know. “What number are you, Martha?”
“114,” Martha replies.
“I've got 97,” is the answer, which causes Martha to add, “How nice.”
She doesn't mean it though because you'll get to the dinner before her.”

Ah, the classic story of human competition. It is so ingrained in who we are that no wonder Jesus had to spend so much time teaching his disciples, teaching us who want the good seats, the seat of honor, the seat that is not by the kitchen door with the waitress constantly breezing past you, no wonder Jesus had to spend so much time teaching us who argue who is the best disciple, who should be Jesus' favorite, and who should not be invited to the table at all, it is no wonder that Jesus had to tell us over and over again, directly, through parable, and through his actions, that the Kingdom of Heaven is different. In the Kingdom of God, there is no lack so there is no competition. There is only the abundant goodness of God. In fact, the first are last and the last are first. And so if we are Martha, we can truly share in the better part when Ms. Mills here says, I got a ticket, #97, I am coming to the Gospel feast, we can say, 'how nice.' In fact, we can say Amen and Alleluia! Amen?

I'm going to skip down past the embarrassing part about the raffle to the next paragraph.

“When the blessed event occurs” [her words, not mine] “When the blessed event occurs and your number is called” [if that is not the first line to a hymn it ought to be,] “...you move down the stairs and are shown to a table. Before you sit down, you get to select your pie --- sometimes there's cake, but that's rare.

Then, seated at a large table with your group and several others, you're treated to a family-style Thanksgiving meal. Friendly people take care of your food whims, handing you coleslaw, potatoes, gravy, dressing/stuffing, turkey, bread and cranberries. You get something to drink, too, ranging from coffee to water and some parts in between.” [I am not sure what that means.]

“You can sit there and eat until the cows come home, but it won't take that long to fill up. Then you have to waddle back up the stairs and out the door. They don't have a nap room, [maybe something to bring up with the Trustees] so you'll need to head home for that.

The Methodists serve this tasty treat every year the Thursday before Thanksgiving. I always think of it as a practice run. If you don't find something to like about it, you'd better consider a hot dog on the real day.”

Now lets pause there, “you'd better consider a hot dog on the real day”. What might that mean to us theologically? What if we think of this life as a practice run and if “you don't find something to like about it, you'd better consider a hot dog on the real day?” You've heard me relate Dorothy Day's conversion experience a dozen times by now. Why did she become a Christian? She says simply, “because I wanted life, and I wanted life abundantly.” That is the tragedy of this Godless age. We see so many of our friend and families and neighbors and dare I say church members and yes, even our own selves at times who are merely going through the motions until they die. So much of the world is in a funk, a funk caused by having a God shaped hole in our hearts- a hole that we try and fill with sex, and alcohol, and television, and shopping, and fancy gadgetry, and unhealthy relationships, and excessive eating, and politics, and any number of other things that may or may not be good in themselves but we pervert in order to fill that God shaped hole. Meanwhile, we are so busy trying to pursue our desires- trying so hard and never catching up- that we miss the beauty of what we are given. But listen! Listen to a voice crying out in the wilderness, a voice of hope, a voice of freedom that is coming o yes I know, a voice that says, Prepare Ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. A voice that says repent, or more literally, turn around. Turn away from all of those things that sap your life, that get in the way of you having life and having it abundantly and instead turn toward God. Mark starts his Gospel out with this simple message. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” “The one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”. The one who won't just fill that God shaped hole in your heart but overfill it- fill it so that you have so much life, so much love, so much light that you'll have no choice but to share it with everyone you meet, you won't be able to help but to share the good news. Look, we don't have to be clothed in camel's hair and eat locusts and wild honey to be prophets in the dessert. Sisters and brothers, look around. The desert is all around us. There are plenty of people who we come across every single day in our lives that in the world's funk and missing out- missing out on the abundant. Sisters and brothers, look around. There are no other prophets but you and me.

Back to Ms. Mills.

“There'd only be one reason I'd tell you not to try this – I wanted to find a parking space right near the church for once and if you don't go there to eat, I might just find one next year. But if you really want a delight, I suppose I can walk. Sigh.”

Oh, if that were our problem. Oh if the parking lot were so full that we needed to fill the lawn next store with cars or have our teens valet park. But that is really only a problem one day a year, the Thursday before Thanksgiving. And why is that? How does the word get out that we have turkey better than Mom's and pie, Oh do we have pie with the flakiest of flaky crust and the pumpkins dark orange but not burnt- but the word does not get out that we have the bread of life? The next morning, no matter how much they stuffed themselves they were hungry again. The next morning, no matter how much they drank of “the coffee to water and some parts in between” they were thirsty again. And yet here we have the spiritual bread of life of which you shall eat, and never be in want again. Here we bathe in the living water, the well from which we drink and are never thirsty again and yet there are plenty of parking spots. On that Thursday, I even think that there were people sitting in this front pew.

The answer is simple. We, the message bearers, the ones called “to be found at peace, without spot or blemish and with patience in the Lord of our salvation” we get distracted. We have the competing messages of the Great I Am and the great hype. And all to often, just because of the sheer quantity of it, we fall for the great hype. The great hype is Satan's tool. It is the way in which we are convinced that the immediate is better than the eternal. It is the way in which we are convinced not only that driving a certain car will make us successful but that being temporally successful is a worthy goal. The great hype is what tells us that we are not good enough, that we need to consume xyz to be worthy of love, that we need to look like so and so to have worth, that we need to focus on achievement even at the expense of our relationships with our families, with ourselves and with God. The great hype promises the abundant life, but leaves us wanting more. It promises us freedom, but enslaves us to itself. It promises us vitality, but leaves us too tired to make it out of the house on Sunday morning. That is the great hype that doesn't last. “The grass withers, the flower fades.” The promises are left unfulfilled and life is empty of meaning.
But. Sisters and brothers. There is another promise. Amen? That is the promise of the Great I Am. That is the promise that we are waiting to be filled. That is the check written by our God that will not bounce. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and it shall be all the sweeter because of the waiting. That is what it means to be an Advent Christian. To be able to sing out with no uncertainty that freedom, o freedom is coming, o yes I know, o yes I know. That is the hope that we are awaiting to be born in Bethlehem- not just some cute little baby but the savior of us all, the one come to make us new, our deliverer, the one who can give sight to the blind and calm the storm with his hand, the one who is none less than God Godsself. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb. The Lord of all creation, the ruler of all the nations. Heaven's perfect lamb. The Great I Am! That is who we are waiting for this Advent season, did you know?

So, this Advent season, lets swear against a hot dog sort of life and go straight to the feast. Amen? This Advent season, lets put aside the distractions of the world and focus on our Lord Amen? This Advent season, lets make it a point to invite everyone to the Gospel feast. Amen? Amen.

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2005-12-13T00:32:00.000-06:00

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