Thomas J Parlette
”Outward, Upward and Onward”
Acts 1:1-11
5/29/22, Ascension
Pastor and writer James Moore tells a wonderful story from the days of the old west, when the major means of transportation across the country was the stagecoach. What you might not know, says Moore, is that the stagecoach had three different kinds of tickets – first class, second class and third class. If you had a first class ticket, that meant you could remain seated during the entire trip, no matter what happened. If the stagecoach got stuck in the mud, or had trouble making it up a steep hill, or broke a wheel, you could remain seated and let other people deal with the situation. You had a first class ticket.
If you had a second class ticket, you could also remain seated – until there was a problem. If something came up, the second class ticket holders would have to get off the stagecoach until the problem was fixed. You could stand off to the side and watch, but you weren’t expected to do anything or get your hands dirty. You just had to get out of the coach until things were ready to go.
Now, if you had a third class ticket, you would not only have to get off the stagecoach, but you were expected to help fix the problem. You might have to get out and push the coach out of the mud or up a hill or help fix a broken wheel. As a third class ticket holder, you were expected to chip in and help if a problem arose.(1)
Sometimes we see this issue become a problem in the church – not because we use stagecoaches anymore, but people sometimes come to think of themselves as ticketholders in the church. Sometimes it seems we have too many people who think they are first class ticket holders. They expect to be catered to, waited on, and pampered. If a problem comes up, they stay seated and watch while other people deal with the problem.
Some people might act like second-class ticket holders. These folks ride along until something comes up, and then they became detached spectators. They’ll attend church regularly – but don’t expect them to get involved.
But thank goodness we have some people in the church who are willing to travel like third-class ticket holders. Every church has that small group of members who are ready to get out and push when they have to. They are the ones who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
There was once a pastor who was talking with a man who was about to join the church he served. The man said, “I want to join the church because I want to be fed.” And the pastor replied, “Well, that’s fine – but we’d all be better off if you would take off your bib and put on an apron. We’ll still feed you.”(2)
The disciples were certainly the kind of people who took off their bibs and put on their aprons – you could say the disciples were third class ticket holders in the Kingdom of God. They were the ones who were charged with the responsibility of telling others the good news of Christ – to go out into the world and get their hands dirty. This Ascension story tells us a couple of things about this mission that we are called to.
First, the Christian faith always looks outward. In some religions the emphasis is on looking inward. “Navel-gazing” is what it is sometimes called. And there is a time and place for some introspection, to be sure. But the primary focus of Christianity is to look outward at the world around us.
Jesus challenged his disciples to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He was calling them to a great adventure. They were to leave their homes and familiar surroundings and travel to the far corners of the world proclaiming the Gospel. They were to look outward.
Dr. Harry Ironside used to tell a story about a group of dissidents who left a church to begin what they hoped would be the “perfect church.” The new congregation considered themselves to be such a spiritual blessing to God that they put a sign outside their church: “JESUS ONLY!” The church didn’t reach out to their community, however, they only ministered to themselves. One day when Dr. Ironside went by the church, he noticed that the first three letters had fallen off their sign to reveal a new message: “US ONLY!” How fitting – the new sign revealed a lot about that church’s ministry(3) The Christian community is called to look outward, not just inward.
The church is also called to look upward. Christ told his disciples to wait and pray. If we’re honest about it, there is something about waiting and praying that goes against our nature. We don’t like to wait for anything or anyone. We want immediate results, with our satisfaction guaranteed or our money back. We want instant happiness – instant success. We don’t want to wait for the good life – we want it now immediately. And if we don’t get what we want, we’ll look someplace else for it. Who wants to sit around and wait? Who wants to sit around and pray? That feels a lot like doing nothing. Maybe – or maybe not.
In his book, The New Art of Living, Norman Vincent Peale gave us an interesting picture of our modern situation. He tells about a man in London years ago who had regained his sight after having been blind since he was two years old. He could not remember his perceptions from his infant years, of course, but he had certain images in his mind about how people looked. For example, he imagined most people to be tall and slender. But the most startling image he kept in his mind was that all human faces looked peaceful.(4)
Tomorrow morning as you make your way to work, look around and see if most of the people you encounter have a peaceful expression on their face. You might find a few – but I would guess not too many.
I once heard about a lady who was riding a considerable distance on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for the first time. This meant she had to go through some long tunnels. Her son asked her how she enjoyed it. She replied that one of them was a 2 ½.
“What do you mean… 2 ½ miles long, 2 ½ minutes to get thru/”
She replied that it was 2 ½ times through the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd…”(5)
I know just the tunnels she was talking about.
There is a peacefulness that only waiting and praying can give us. There is also a power that only waiting and praying can provide. That’s what the disciples discovered. Prayer and waiting are necessary preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Followers of Jesus are to look outward. They are to look upward. And finally, they are to look onward.
The apostles watched as Jesus was taken up to heaven in a cloud. They stood there looking up, amazed at what had taken place. Suddenly two men in bright white robes stood before them. They asked the apostles, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in the same way…”
And then the Apostles looked onward. They returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They met daily for prayer. They began to prepare themselves for what lay ahead.
Billy Graham once told of visiting an elderly man who had spent most of his life in China as a missionary. This former missionary had always enjoyed good health and was an unusually strong man. His deep dedication to Christ and his love for his wife made people love and admire him. He was indeed a faithful witness.
Unfortunately, this former missionary contracted cancer which spread to many parts of his body. Graham went to minister to him and share some words of comfort. But instead, the sick man ended up ministering to Dr. Graham. “There was a joy and radiance about him that I have rarely seen,” recalled Graham. “He got up out of his bed and walked me to the car when I left. I’ll never forget my last glimpse of him. With a great smile and a cheery wave, he said, “Keep on preaching the Gospel, Billy. The older I get, the better Christ is to me.”(6)
The good news for today is that can be true for all of us. The best is yet to come.
Jesus had not gone away, not completely. He had gone…up. His disciples received a promise that one day he would return. That’s an important promise. It says that this world is headed somewhere. It says that third-class ticket holders will one day see the fruits of their labors. It says that one day Christ will reign over all the Kingdoms of this world.
Several years ago, a group of Christian musicians traveled to Russia to proclaim the Gospel in word and music. They had the privilege of taking their talents to Moscow during the Russian Orthodox Easter. They met in the Palace of Congress where the Supreme Soviet had met for years. It was a massive room, with the enormous oversize picture of Lenin hung in front for all to see. Except that day, Lenin’s portrait was covered. In that massive hall the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to a huge gathering of Christians and non-Christians alike. The hall was filled with glorious music, and Christ’s message of forgiveness and grace was broadcast by television to millions of viewers throughout Russia. For the American Christians who made the trip, it was an experience they would never forget.
On one Sunday afternoon, the group went into Red Square and distributed more than a hundred thousand pamphlets about the Gospel, including small Bibles in Russian. They were warned against doing that too aggressively – but not for the reasons you might expect. Turns out the authorities were not opposed to it, they were concerned that the group might be mobbed by people hungry for more information about Jesus and Christianity.(7)
That is but a foreshadowing of the way the whole world will look someday. There will come a time when Christ will rule over all, and people will hunger for God’s Word.
In the meantime, let us look outward, let us look upward and let us look onward – anticipating the day of Christ’s return.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol.XXXVIII, No.2, p22.
2. Ibid… p22.
3. Ibid… p23.
4. Ibid… p23.
5. Ibid… p23.
6. Ibid… p24.
7. Ibid… p24.
05-22-2022 Present Joy
Present Joy
Jay Rowland
(Deuteronomy 34:1-8,10-12) & Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
10 And in the spirit[a] he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing [foul] will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22 Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Present Joy
Where are you right now?
Yes I know you’re here but … are you? Are you all here or partly here?
It’s always fairly obvious when our body is present. But our mind? Not so obvious. Our attention, our thoughts can leave our body without any warning or outward indication. At any moment our minds detach from our body. That’s quite a trick. Sometimes this can be a good thing--a defense mechanism; the mind’s way of protecting the psyche and the overall person. But sometimes it’s not a good thing. Especially when we get stuck spending too much time in our head, absent from the present moment where life happens.
I wonder about the states of mind of our spiritual ancestors the Hebrews as they follow Moses out of Egypt and slavery in the pages of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I can imagine their minds in constant motion just like their feet as they walk and walk and walk through the wilderness to wherever Moses is leading--remembering the past, wondering about the future and increasingly dissatisfied with the present.
Any relief or joy they feel over their freedom from slavery is quickly overtaken by the demands of the present moment—survival in the wilderness. As they make their way to the land God has promised, their minds must be overwhelmed by the abrupt changes they’ve experienced. Life in Egypt wasn’t good but at least it was a world they understood. Their current reality—life in the wilderness without any clarity about how long it will take to get where they’re going and how they’ll survive—was becoming more and more terrifying by the day.
They want their new life in their promised new land. They are anxious to be there--anywhere but “here” which is an endless transition between past and future. And they’re not handling it very well. They’re tired. They’re on edge. There’s division in the ranks. They start taking out their fear on Moses and they begin to doubt God. Moses is exhausted by their incessant conflict and complaining and worried about mutiny, and revolt.
Fast forward a couple of thousand years to the final book of the Bible. At the time of Revelation, God’s people are struggling and suffering in a completely different period of history. Violence and persecution by the Roman emperor have them on the run also--but there’s really no place for them to go. It simply looked to them like the world was ending as human violence and cruelty freely devoured anyone and everyone who believed in Jesus Christ.
I suspect that every period of history-including the current one-brings profound challenges to the people living in it. The two scripture passages before us today offer us glimpses into the lives of God’s people during two vastly different historical periods. The threats to their existence in each period are unique to their time. But both periods are marked by great suffering and grief, many good people have suffered and died along the way. Daily life is filled with uncertainty and fear, doubt and despair, threatening to drown all of God’s people.
But God’s people did not drown. Despite all the adversity, suffering, conflict and division the church doesn’t drown in despair and doubt. The wandering Hebrew people eventually enter the promised land as God promised. The convulsions of violence and persecution and mayhem against the church during Revelation ceased.
In every generation God’s people are threatened from without and within but the faith and the church survive. During WW1 and WW2 and after many openly wondered if God was dead. But the faith and the church have survived to endure yet another generational crisis.
Here in the year 2022 the future of God’s people is uncertain--again. The threats to our existence seem far worse to us than anything our ancestors may have faced--unrestrained gun violence. Racial conflict. Pandemic. Climate change. Long-standing economic and political morals and assumptions and presumptions have all changed. Democracy and governing and voting has changed. Education has changed. It’s hard to think of some aspect of life that has not changed in some fundamental way in recent years.
In other words the future is uncertain. Again. We don’t yet know how all of this will turn out. Just like the Hebrew people in the wilderness. Just like the disciples and followers of Jesus after Jesus was murdered by authorities. Just like the early church when it appeared all hell broke loose to burn it down.
But the faith and the church have survived every change the world has thrown up. The Church has changed right along with it--that’s what a living breathing organism does. It changes. It adapts. It responds. We don’t know what the church will look like in 20 years or 50 years, or even five or ten years from now. But no matter what it looks like, rest assured that, as our Hebrew ancestors discovered, and as the first-century church discovered, and as the church all through the ages from its high-water mark of membership to its weakest pulse discovered, the church will survive.
The church has always survived because its survival doesn’t depend upon individual efforts to keep it alive, but rather the church survives because God is in the business of bringing dead things to life.
Above all else, the church will continue because people are still people—every generation proves that we are utterly lost without God. And every generation has witnessed God’s faithful shepherding through what appeared at the time to be the end of the world or the death of the church.
Because God took on human flesh and bone to become our forever shepherd--the One and Only Shepherd who knows how to navigate through every nook and cranny, every hairpin turn, every Exodus and exile, every sandstorm and hurricane, every change, every crisis, every death, and every end. “Jesus is the great pioneer in every realm of life. … The world of things as they are has changed. This means that men and women must learn to live for others. It is only when we can live a life of service that we get our truest joy out of life.” (Alexander Stuart Baillie, “The Seven Last Words”)
God created us to be spiritual beings. Though our spirit is framed in flesh and blood and bone what keeps us centered in any storm is our spiritual nature … our interior spaciousness. The things that expand our interior spaciousness are things like silence, meditation, prayer, music, nature, art, worship, poetry, etc.
The less time we spend with those things that expand our interior spaciousness, the more we find ourselves reeling from disorientation, alienation, isolation, anxiety, and our minds detach from our body leaving us fear, jumpy. Whenever our groundedness in the present decreases we lose our bearings. Increasingly, it seems to me, we’re bombarded by hurricane-force winds of change and panic, reacting to events rather than seeking to find refuge in God so that we can keep our hearts open in spite of all the fear and anxiety and uncertainty that compels us to react or become overwhelmed.
The greatest challenge to this generation is to carve out time for our spirit, time for expanding our interior spaciousness so that we may always have access to calm in the present moment where life happens—no matter what is happening in the moment. The pace of life moves at warp-speed. We don’t take time to process or feel. It’s so easy to immerse ourselves in social media, scrolling the day or the night away, or follow the wall-to-wall coverage of the latest crisis breaking news. We are daily bombarded with information and misinformation nearly everywhere we turn. And so it’s too easy to forget or neglect our heart/spirit and our deepest need to commune with the Lord.
Tara Brach writes “We can find true refuge within our own hearts and minds—right here, right now, in the midst of our moment-to-moment lives. This refuge does not depend on anything outside of ourselves—a certain situation, a person, a cure, even a particular mood or emotion. The yearning for such refuge is universal. It is what lies beneath all our wants and fears. We long to know we can handle what’s coming. We want to trust ourselves, to trust this life. We want to life from the fullness of who we are.” 1 It seems to me that’s what Jesus came to show us.
“We find true refuge whenever we recognize that silent space of awareness behind all our busy doing and striving. We find refuge whenever our hearts open (and expand).” We find refuge whenever we connect with our interior spaciousness where we have access to spiritual clarity and wisdom, and to our true nature, our spiritual nature.
A place of refuge is available no matter where our body is and wherever our mind may have gone. This refuge is always available, even in the present moment where life happens. And that’s because God isn’t out there somewhere, but is right here with you now, not in the abstract, but in the very center of your heart and spirit. “No matter how challenging the (current) situation, there is always a way to take refuge in a healing and liberating presence,” Brach writes. “This presence is hard to describe because it is an embodied experience, not a concept. … when I sense the silent, inner wakefulness that is here, I come home to a sense of wholeness. I’m at home in my body and heart, at home in the earth and with all beings. Presence creates a boundless sanctuary where there’s room for everything in life.”
It is the answer to the question nobody is asking but everyone yearns for. It is the kind of presence and joy Jesus came and gave his life to reveal.
Notes
This and the other quotes below it, Tara Brach, True Refuge—Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (2013), p.14-16
05-15-2022 Two Kinds of People
Thomas J Parlette
“Two Kinds of People”
Acts 11: 1-18
5/15/22
If I were to start a sentence with the words, “There are two kinds of people in the world…” how would you finish that sentence?
There will be some quick witted people out there who would say, “The two kinds of people in the world are those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who do not.”
To that I would say – good one!
I think if I were to divide people into two groups, I would say there are rule keepers and rule breakers. Some people just have an internal compulsion to follow the rules, even if those rules might be questionable. There are others who don’t seem content unless they are breaking the rules. I have to admit, I’m probably more of a rule keeper than a breaker.
There’s an old joke about a little boy named Johnny whose mother had just returned from the grocery store. Johnny pulled a box of animal crackers out of the grocery bag and spread all the crackers out all over the table.
Mom asked, “What are you doing?”
And Johnny said, “I’m looking for the seal – it says right here not to eat them if the seal is broken.”(1)
I’ll give you a second…
I would say Johnny is a rule keeper. I can respect that. People like him keep society from descending into chaos. But sometimes we follow rules that no longer serve any real purpose. Sometimes our rules only serve to put up walls between ourselves and others. For instance, how many of us – consciously or unconsciously – have rules to decide who is, and who is not acceptable to God?
Pastor Joe McKeever once shared an experience from his early days in the ministry, back in the late 1970’s. A visitor to one of his church services had said to one of the ushers, “Your Pastor is going to hell.”
He is? What makes you say that?
His hair is too long.”
The usher thought for a moment and asked a follow-up question, “And how long should his hair be?”
The visitor said, “Ohhh, about like mine.” (2)
I see – well I guess that figures.
I suspect that all of us are guilty at times of passing judgment on people who are different from us. We even go as far as to create rules in our heads about who is, and who is not acceptable to God, as if we are God’s bouncers at the church door. We decide who comes in and who gets turned away. We decide who’s on the list – and who isn’t.
And, to be honest, it’s not a new problem. Our scripture passage today is about the new and growing community of Jesus-followers that sprang up after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ apostles were leaders in this young community of faith. They were doing exactly what they thought Jesus called them to do – spread the good news of Jesus as the Savior, beginning with the nation of Israel first. But then somebody broke the rules. Peter, of course, the leader of the Apostles. Peter was guilty of a big no-no. He actually went into a non-Jewish home, ate a meal with those uncircumcised heathens, and shared the message of Jesus with them. What was he thinking? So when Peter got back to Jerusalem, he faced a mountain of criticism from the Jewish believers.
It reminds me of a time the famous British pastor, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, once had a woman from his church corner him and just spew out a long list of criticisms at him. Spurgeon just stood there and smiled at her.
When she paused to take a breath, he responded, “Yes, thank you, I’m quite well. I hope you are the same.”
The confused woman started over with her long list of criticisms, so Spurgeon responded, “Yes, it does look like it’s going to rain. I think I had better be getting on.”
At this point, the woman just gave up. As she turned to walk away, she said, “Bless the man, he’s deaf as a post. What’s the use of storming at him.”(3)
I wish I had the wherewithal to react like Spurgeon when I’m facing criticism. Fortunately, Peter didn’t need to pretend he was deaf when the circumcised believers criticized him. He just told them about the vision he had had.
Peter had a vision of a large sheet that came down from heaven. In that sheet were all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds, both clean and unclean. In Leviticus 11, we read that God commanded the Hebrew people not to eat certain animals, birds and reptiles as a sign of the holy relationship with God. Peter and the other circumcised believers would never consider breaking this rule. But in Peter’s vision, a voice from heaven commanded him, “Get up, Peter! Kill and eat.”
Peter protested. “Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” The voice spoke again, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and then everything was pulled back up into heaven. Then, as soon as Peter saw this vision, he was approached by men from Caesarea and was asked to come and share the message of Jesus with a Gentile family. What was he to do? When Peter began preaching to the Gentile family, they received the Holy Spirit. Gentiles – received the Holy Spirit! And suddenly the walls that kept Gentiles out of the early church started tumbling down.
So, Peter shifted from being a bouncer at the doors of the church to being an ambassador instead. Peter ends his story by saying, “So if God gave them the same gift He gave us, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” He was referring, of course, to the gift of the Holy Spirit. If God gave Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter is saying, how could they be excluded from the church?
This story calls us to consider: Are we withholding the love and truth of Jesus Christ from certain people or certain groups because we think they are unacceptable to God? Are we standing in God’s way, or standing in God’s will? How big is your spiritual family?
That is what Jesus came to do, after all – to enlarge our spiritual family, to make the circle of the church bigger.
In the recent movie Belfast, set in Northern Ireland in 1969, Buddy is a nine-year-old Protestant boy who has a crush on a Catholic classmate. This disturbs him, because he knows that is widely frowned on. So he asks his father if he could ever have a future with this girl, and his father gives an inspired answer. He says, “That wee girl can be a practicing Hindu, or a Southern Baptist, or a vegetarian Antichrist. But if she’s kind, and fair, and you two respect each other, she and her people are welcome in our house.”(4)
A very Christian response, I think – one that lines up well with this story today. The circle just gets bigger.
Dr. James Forbes, a pastor in New York City, came from a family of 10 children. He grew up in South Carolina, and he tells the story of how his mother would call the Forbes clan to the dinner table each night. Every evening, Mrs. Forbes would stand on the front porch and yell, “Are all the children in? Are all the children in?”
The meal couldn’t be blessed or eaten until all 10 of the Forbes children had taken their place at the table. As Dr Forbes says, “That is how God calls each and every one of us in the church. “Are all the children in? Are all the children in?”(5)
That’s the whole reason Jesus came into the world, shared the message of God, and died on the cross – it was to gather all God’s children into the Kingdom of God. And that’s what we are called to do as well.
This story also calls us to consider how great is God’s grace? Remember, in our passage when Peter first had the vision of the sheet filled with animals, he backed away because some were designated as unclean for God’s people. Then the voice spoke from heaven and said, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
We don’t have the power to make anything clean. We can’t even clean ourselves up enough to qualify for God’s approval. Only the sacrificial death of Jesus is enough to make us clean in God’s eyes. So who are we to stand in judgment of others? Read though the book of Acts and one message is abundantly clear. God’s love and grace is greater than our limitations. God’s plan is greater than our pre-conceived notions.
The only reasonable response to grace – the unearned, undeserved love of God – is gratitude. Thank God for sending Jesus to defeat the power of death and open the way for us to eternal life. And then, make sure to tell that story as often as we can, in whatever way we can.
There’s a great old story that you may have heard before about a missionary physician working in the interior regions of mainland China. One day, he performed cataract surgery on a blind man. For the first time in years, the man could see clearly, and he was overjoyed.
A few weeks later, the previously blind man returned to the missionary compound. But this time, he was not alone. He came dragging a long rope and holding on to this long rope were more than 50 men, women and children – all of them blind. Some had come from as far as 250 miles away, journeying through the wilderness, holding on to the rope for guidance. The healed man wasn’t just grateful for his own healing; he was determined to lead as many people out of the darkness as he could.(6)
And that’s exactly what Peter and the apostles were called to do when they shared the message of God with the Gentiles – make the circle bigger and lead as many people out of darkness as possible.
And that’s what we are called to do as well – share the good news of God’s love, grace and forgiveness – whatever way we can.
In southern California, there is a desert region called Imperial Valley. Sometime in the 1980’s, a man named Leonard Knight moved to Imperial Valley. Leonard was a welder and handyman from Vermont. He was also a Korean War vet. Sometime in his life, he became a follower of Jesus. His philosophy in life became, “Love Jesus and keep it simple.” So Leonard packed up a few belongings in his old truck and moved out into the California desert to fulfill a calling he felt was from God.
Leonard didn’t have many resources, but he had a dream to share God’s love with the world. So he began gathering adobe clay and paint and various other items. And he slowly began building a monument to God’s love. Over a thirty-year period, Leonard added more clay and straw and other items to the monument, until it took the shape of a man-made mountain 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide. Leonard named his monument “Salvation Mountain.” On it, he painted Bible verses and prayers and birds and flowers and stars. On top of Salvation Mountain is a large white cross, and underneath the cross, in huge red and pink letters, are the words “God is Love.” In fact, the word “love” is prominently displayed all over the mountain. And just as Leonard had hoped, thousands of people have come from all over the country to visit Salvation Mountain.(7)
In 2002, Senator Barbara Boxer entered Salvation Mountain into the Congressional Record as a national treasure.
Leonard Knight understood that God’s family is huge and God’s grace is great, and he wanted to invite everyone to God’s party. So he created a giant, man-made mountain with the sole purpose of telling people about God’s love.
So it seems that for Peter, the two kinds of people in the world are bouncers, who look for ways to keep people out of God’s kingdom, and ambassadors, who seek to make the circle bigger and invite more people into the kingdom.
May we all be known as welcoming ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No, 2, p13.
2. Ibid… p13.
3. Ibid… p14.
4. Sarah Scherschlight, Christian Century, May 4th, 2022, p22.
5. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No.2, p15
6. Ibid… p16.
7. Ibid… p16.
05-08-2022 An Epitaph of Excellence
Thomas J Parlette
“An Epitaph of Excellence”
Acts 9: 36-43
5/8/22
Good morning, and happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers, grandmothers and mother-figures out there this morning. Parents, both mom and dads, have the hardest and most important job in the world. Shaping the next generation takes a lot of love, sacrifice and perseverance. It’s not easy, and it’s often thankless.
In a TikTok video, a woman named Nicole DeRoy explains one of the challenges of motherhood. She says, “My kids wanted to know what it was like being a mom, so I woke them up at 2:00 a.m. to let them know my sock came off.”
Another woman on Twitter wrote, “Parenting is 70% me yelling, 20% asking the kids why they’re yelling, and 10% trying to find where I left my coffee.(1)
Speaking of misplacing coffee, here’s one mom’s “Recipe for iced coffee.” She writes, “Have kids… Make coffee… Forget you made coffee…… Put it in the microwave… Forget you put it in the microwave… And finally.. Drink it cold.”(2)
Yes, there a lot of sacrifices that come with being a parent and especially a mom. So it’s good to take a day to appreciate what all the mother-figures do in our lives.
I don’t think you can overestimate the influence of a parent on a child’s sense of compassion – and compassion is what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Compassion is concern for the suffering of others. It’s an active response to another person’s pain. Compassion is at the heart of scripture passage for today.
Elton Trueblood, former chaplain at Harvard and Stanford Universities, once shared a letter from a young woman he knew. She wrote, “I’ve often realized that it takes courage to care and be compassionate. Caring is dangerous. It leaves you open to hurt and to looking like a fool… I have found many places in my life where I keep a secret store of indifference as a sort of self-protection.”(3) A secret store of indifference – interesting. I wonder, how many of us have a store like that.
Maybe that’s why the world seems less compassionate, less caring these days. Perhaps we have lost the courage to care. Maybe it’s true that we all have a secret store of indifference as a protection mechanism.
These are some of the questions that flow from our passage for today. Today we meet a remarkable disciple of Jesus named Tabitha. “In Joppa there was disciple named Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.”
Someone once wrote that a truly great life can be summed up in just a few words, an epitaph of excellence. That was true in Tabitha’s case – as the scripture says “she was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” A wonderful epitaph indeed.
Sadly, however, Tabitha died, evidently before her time. The other disciples in Joppa were so upset that they sent for Peter to come to them from a nearby town. As you no doubt recall, after Jesus’ death, Peter became a key leader among the 12 apostles.
When Peter got to Tabitha’s house, he was taken upstairs to the room where they had laid her body. Among the mourners in that upper room was a group of widows. Widows and orphans were the neediest members of society in Jesus’ day. They were completely dependent on the help and compassion of others. Without help, many of the widows would have to turn to begging in order to survive.
All the widows stood around Peter weeping and showing him all the things that Tabitha had made for them, no doubt telling him stories about her kindness and compassion. It was obvious that Tabitha had cared deeply for the widow’s needs. And she showed her compassion by making them clothing. She saw a practical need and she filled it.
So, having listened to the women sharing about the kind of person Tabitha was, Peter sent them all out of the room, and he prayed for Tabitha. And then he said simply, “Tabitha, get up.” And Tabitha, whose body had already been washed and prepared for burial, opened her eyes and sat up! I can see why Peter cleared the room first – that would have been overwhelming to see. And of course, everyone was amazed, and soon word spread around the whole town of Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
Quite a story about Peter and Tabitha. Living like Tabitha lived – living with love and compassion for others, just like Christ lived, is the best way to live as a disciple of Jesus. A life of compassion is the key to living a fulfilling, faithful life.
Notice that Tabitha lived with a sense of purpose. A sad thing is that so many people live with no real purpose at all for their lives.
Charles Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship, had a healthy perspective on living a life of purpose. He was once a powerful attorney and political adviser to President Nixon. He was also involved in the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon’s impeachment and eventual resignation. Colson spent seven months in prison for his role in Watergate. He suffered a loss of power, prestige and wealth. But, as a result, he became a Christian while he was in prison, and this gave him a new purpose in life. Subsequently, he founded an international prison ministry and wrote more than 30 books. He also became a popular speaker. He donated the proceeds from his book sales and speaking engagements to his ministry, Prison Fellowship. Charles Colson discovered what it meant to give up a life of power for a life of purpose.
Colson once noted that his hometown of Naples, Florida, is one of the best spots in the country for golf. He would see all these wealthy CEO’s retire from their big corporations and move to Naples so they could spend all their time golfing.
But a strange thing would happen in their retirement. These CEO’s would begin measuring their days by how many rounds of golf they could play. Colson asked some of these CEO’s, “Do you really want to live your life counting up the number of times you chase that little white ball around the green?”
And he said that these guys would laugh nervously at the question. But after a few months of golfing, he could see in their eyes that they were becoming bored. Purposeless. They had discovered that there is no real joy in just playing golf every day. What looked like freedom and pleasure to them had become meaningless.
Colson writes, “The object of life is not what we think it is, which is to achieve money, power and pleasure… The object of life is the maturing of the soul, and you reflect that maturing of the soul when you care more for other people that yourself.”(4)
Tabitha, a disciple of Jesus, cared for others. She understood that God had given her particular skills and resources she could use for good works. She had the skill of sewing that she could use to provide for the poor and for the widows. A good example for us all – an epitaph of excellence.
The best way to find a fulfilling life is to translate compassion into action. Jesus’ ministry didn’t consist of simply telling hurting people, “I’ll pray for you.” Now there is nothing wrong with telling people you will pray for them. That can be very helpful… if you really mean it… and if you follow through with it. But there some people who tell others that they will pray for them who simply use that as a substitute for doing anything else to help the person who is in need.
That was not Jesus’ way. Jesus never even told anyone to go to church to find the answers for their needs. Instead, he went to them. He went to the marketplaces and into people’s homes. He preached to crowds in the countryside. He went where the needs were, and he took action to heal the hurts right in front of him.
I’m sure we’ve all seen the stories of how domestic violence rose through the total lockdown phase of the pandemic. Most of us feel great sympathy for victims of domestic violence, but few of us take direct action to improve the situation. However, there was a Polish high school student named Krystyna who used her skills and resources to get help for people in dangerous home situations.
She set up a fake online cosmetics store. You might wonder – how does that help anyone? Well here’s how it works. A woman shopping on this site could place an order that was actually a request for help without alerting her partner to her actions. If a woman placed her order and typed in an address, that is a sign she needs a visit from the local authorities. Since the websites launch, this creative site has helped over 350 women and girls get the help they need.(5)
That’s a wonderfully simple, and creative and compassionate response to an aching need. Jesus would be pleased.
Tabitha, this caring and compassionate disciple of Jesus, lived a fulfilling life. She had a sense of purpose. She translated her compassion into action. And because of the kind of life she lived, she will continue to live forever in our scripture.
What a legacy Tabitha left us. As long as the Gospel story is told, Tabitha will be remembered. – “She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” That truly is an epitaph of excellence.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2, p8.
2. Ibid… p8.
3. Ibid… p8.
4. Ibid… p9-10.
5. Ibid… p10.
05-01-2022 A Dangerous Misunderstanding
Thomas J Parlette
“A Dangerous Misunderstanding”
Acts 9:1-20
5/1/22
Can you remember the last misunderstanding you had with someone? You said one thing, they heard something different, and the result was a mess. It may seem funny when you look back on it – but in the moment, it can be very frustrating.
A man named Norm Williams shared a misunderstanding he had at his local library when he requested copies of two books by author Deborah Tannen. Tannen is a communication researcher. One of her most popular books is titled That’s Not What I Meant. Another popular one is called You Just Don’t Understand. Williams went to his local library and asked the librarian to check the availability of those two books.
“And what’s the first book,” asked the librarian.
“That’s Not What I Meant.”
“Well, what did you mean?”
“No, that’s the title of the book.”
“OK, and the other book?”
“You Just Don’t Understand.”
“Excuse me?” said the confused librarian.
It took awhile of sounding like the Abbott and Costello routine, but Williams finally got his books(1)
Misunderstandings can be frustrating, and yet amusing. But they can also be dangerous. Such is the case in our scripture passage for this morning. It revolves around a young Pharisee named Saul who misunderstood the nature of God, and this resulted in tragic consequences for the new community of Christians known as The Way.
We are introduced to Saul here in Acts 9 with the words, “Meanwhile, Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”
That kind of says it all about Saul at this point – “breathing threats and murder…” It’s not like you could read that sentence and say, “I’m sure he’s got some good qualities. I could still hang out with him.” No- I don’t think so. After reading this one sentence, you would probably un-friend Saul on Facebook and block him on Twitter.
Many years ago, some political pollster came up with the craziest measure for choosing a presidential candidate. It was the “who would you rather have a beer with?” poll. Every four years, some organization polls the American voters all this all-important question: which Presidential candidate would you rather have a beer with?”
Clearly, Saul would have lost that kind of poll.
Saul was a member of the Pharisees, a religious group that advocated a strict interpretation of Old Testament law, especially the laws of purity. Saul’s mission in life was to protect the purity of Judaism by destroying what he saw as the heretical cult of Jesus-followers known as The Way. In verse two of our passage, it is noted that Saul went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to The Way, whether men or women, he might take them prisoner and bring them back to Jerusalem. Here is where the dangerous misunderstanding comes in.
Saul did not believe he was an evil person; Saul’s fellow Pharisees didn’t think so either. No, in Saul’s mind, he was doing God’s work. But God obviously disagreed, and wanted to correct Saul’s misunderstanding of the situation.
Steven Weinberg, a theoretical physicist and recipient of a Nobel Prize in Physics, once said, “With or without religion, good people can behave well, and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil – that takes religion.”(2)
I don’t want to believe that’s true – but I suppose there’s something to it. People can do some evil things in the name of religion. That certainly was the case for Saul. Saul thought he was doing God’s work by persecuting Jesus’ followers.
But on the way to Damascus, Saul was confronted by a bright light flashing all around him. A voice spoke to him, asking: “Why are you persecuting me.”
“Who are you,” said Saul.
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now go to Damascus, and I will tell you what to do.”
So the men traveling with him, who heard the voice but saw no one, led him by the hand to Damascus, because he could not see anything.
This well-known story of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus shows us what kind of God we believe in. I hope you can see how messed up Saul’s mission had become. His primary motivation for persecuting Christians wasn’t hatred or destruction. His primary motivation for hunting down and arresting the followers of Jesus was his desire to serve God. A dangerous misunderstanding. Serving God, whose very nature is love, by persecuting and killing innocent people. On the road to Damascus, Saul needed to confront his entire approach to life. He needed to see that any mission that isn’t aligned with the heart and will of Jesus, isn’t from God.
A mission that is divorced from the heart and will of Jesus may have noble intentions and yet bring about tragic results. Such a mission will drive people further from God rather than draw people to God. Saul’s faith wasn’t in God; it was in the misunderstanding of the kind of god God is. Saul served the law – not the Lord, Our God is not about rules and laws, but rather grace and love. We Christians can be just as short-sighted and destructive if we don’t align our lives with the heart and will of Jesus.
I like what Pastor Robert C. Roberts once wrote on the subject. He said, “There’s something comfortable about reducing Christianity to a list of do’s and don’ts… you always know where you stand, and this helps reduce anxiety. It has the advantage that you don’t need wisdom. You don’t have to think subtly or make hard choices. You don’t have to relate personally to a demanding and loving Lord.”(3)
Too many Christians are passionate about the laws of God – but completely miss the love of God, the grace of and forgiveness of God. For Saul, that began to change on the road to Damascus.
This passage also demonstrates who Jesus is and how he expects his followers to live. The only way to understand our own identity and purpose is to understand the character and will of God. And the best way to understand the character and will of God is to look to Jesus. God in the flesh. In Jesus, we don’t see an angry, condemning, punishing God. No, we see a man who ate with sinners and welcomed outsiders and loved the least, the last, the lost and the lonely, who extends grace, forgiveness and love instead of judgement. That is the kind of life that is in tune with the heart of God.
There is a well-known quote from writer Anne Lamott that I like to turn to now and again. She writes, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” That’s a real danger for Christians- for anyone really- the desire to create God in our own image. It’s so easy to take Bible passages out of context, or to assume that God hates the same people or issues we hate. It’s so easy to think that our anger somehow honors God, or pleases God. It doesn’t. In the book of James we read, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Another lesson Saul learned on the road to Damascus.
So – How does this dangerous misunderstanding get cleared up? We get an answer to that in the verses of Chapter 9 that our lectionary puts in parentheses.
When we read this story about the road to Damascus, we usually focus our attention on the pyrotechnics – the bright, flashing light, the voice of Jesus and Saul’s three days of blindness. It is very dramatic. But the lectionary labels verses 7-20 as optional, in parentheses, when they are actually a big part of the story. In those verses, we meet the supporting actors in this conversion story. First, Saul’s traveling companions lead him the rest of the way to Damascus. Then we meet the Jesus follower Ananias. To be clear, this Ananias is not the one from the Old Testament, or the one associated with Sapphira who runs into difficulty over finances. This Ananias was likely a refugee from Jerusalem. He skipped town when Saul was persecuting and killing Jesus’ followers there and he found a safe refuge in Damascus.
When Ananias heard that Saul of Tarsus had come to Damascus – he was understandably concerned and probably more than a little frightened. But at the Lord’s direction, he took him in, baptized him and guided him through Jesus teachings. Ananias and the rest of the early Christian community in Damascus helped guide Saul on the way to becoming the Apostle Paul – our most influential Christian theologian.
Some of the best stories in the Bible are those in the parentheses. The unsung, overlooked, supporting actors who make it possible for the heroes of the Bible to fulfill their purpose. Ananias and the disciples in Damascus are surely some of those supporting actors.
“It takes a village to raise a child” is the African proverb made widely known by Hillary Clinton. That proverb holds true for raising Christians as well. Think about your own faith journey, or your own professional journey – who were the supporting actors who helped you on your way. Who were the people guided you and taught you in your early days. If you sit down with any pillar of the church or successful business person, it won’t take long before they are talking to you about the people who supported them, taught them and guided them along the way. So who has been there for you in your own challenging times.
Today, we are taking some time in our worship service to express our thanks and gratitude for those who work in the healthcare field. It’s been a rough few years for everyone in the healthcare community and their families. But without their skills and sacrifices, support and guidance – we would not be in the more positive position we are in today.
So will you join me in A Prayer for our Healthcare Community printed in your bulletin…
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII No. 2, p3.
2. Ibid… p4.
3. Ibid… p4.
04-24-2022 Here to Stay
Jay Rowland
“Here to Stay”
Acts 5:27-40
April 24,2022 Easter 2C
Here to Stay
There’s an old saying, “it takes a thief to catch a thief.”
Sometimes it can take a thief to prove someone is NOT a thief too.
Exhibit A: the late Charles Colson. Some may remember Colson was in President Richard Nixon’s inner circle (Special Counsel to the President). Colson is an early example proving that while mistakes and even crimes by government officials are bad enough, lying or trying to cover it up always makes the consequences more severe. But rather than admitting guilt and taking responsibility, Colson like many other government types before and after him, figured he could successfully lie and deny his way around the truth. News flash: it didn’t work and Colson was convicted and imprisoned for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up—including obstruction of justice.
In prison Colson obviously had a lot of free time on his hands. Apparently, he decided to pass some of the time reading the Bible. When he read the New Testament and the Gospel Colson had an epiphany—a conversion experience. His experience in the Watergate cover-up convinced him that the New Testament witness to the resurrection was valid. He later wrote that people involved in a lie, in a fraud, in a cover-up will eventually succumb to the pressure and tell the truth. Very few people, Colson explained, are willing to suffer for very long in defense of a lie. Very few people are willing to let their family members and friends suffer long in defense of a lie. And very, very few people are willing to die for a lie.
*************
When Peter and his fellow disciples make it clear that they will not be intimidated by religious authorities (Sanhedrin) or by Roman authorities, a certain wise rabbi felt compelled to speak.
The rabbi’s name is Gamaliel.
After Peter’s speech, Gamaliel looks around the room at his peers and sees the wrath in their eyes. He knows Peter and his merry band of apostles are either going to the dungeon or something worse.
For some reason, he feels compelled to intervene and speak his mind. Gamaliel's speech is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. It explains how, in spite of very long odds, a bunch of nobodies entrusted to carry on Jesus’ message after his death succeeded. Let’s hear it again with slightly different wording:
“Distinguished colleagues, let’s all take a moment—let’s take some deep breaths and calm down. It seems to me we’re all suffering from amnesia. We’ve seen all this before. Many times. Remember Theudas? How about Judas the Galilean? These zealots are the latest in a long line of failures.
“We know how this goes: charismatic personality catches lightning in a bottle; word quickly spreads; people desperate for someone to lead the uprising that finally kicks the Romans out of Jerusalem and Israel get all worked up and ready to go.
“ … until the Romans arrest the big personality with the Big Ideas. Then what? We all know what happens next, right? Every … Single … Time:
“Crickets. Silence. Nothing. Oh, but what about those excited crowds?
“We know what: when the Romans flex their imperial muscles and start killing people, the crowds instantly disappear.
“And that’s the end of it until another sweet-talking, big-promising, charismatic catches lightning in a bottle and the process repeats all over again.
“Right? C’mon you guys! You all completely forgot about Theudas until I said his name just now. So listen: if this Peter fellow and a few Jesus-people want to start some cult based on a ridiculous story of resurrection—let them try. Nobody cares about that. The agitators only want a messiah to wage holy war against Rome and restore Israel to prominence. Let them do what they want—one way or another it will fail just like every other atttempt.
“But also hear me out on this: if all this Jesus business truly IS of God, then we don’t want to be on the wrong side of it.
“So our wisest course of action is let them go, let this end exactly the way all the other movements ended.”
Gamaliel was persuasive. He was able to calm down his colleagues from their highly agitated and reactive state. In the process he helped his them think this through. What he said made sense.
So they let Peter and everyone go … with strict orders to stop talking about Jesus … or else! (which they knew wasn’t going to happen)
Luke, the writer of Acts quickly adds that the apostles left there with joy. Not because they beat the system or pulled a fast one—remember they were all flogged before they were released. No the joy Luke reports they felt had nothing to do with what happened and everything to do with Jesus. Jesus told them the violence and wrath of the world would rise up against them, just like what happened to Jesus himself … because that’s what human authority and power always do. And so that out-of-place description of joy came over them every time there was violent opposition to their testimony. Every time chaos and terror threatened to devour them, they felt close to Jesus, they felt Jesus deep in their bones.
Remember: they saw Jesus die a gruesome and violent death.
These followers of Jesus are not naive. They are not deceived. They know full well what they’re in for as they continue to teach about Jesus and proclaim Jesus’ Resurrection!
They aren’t defiantly proclaiming the Resurrection of Jesus because they think people will instantly support them or because they think that if they do God will make the Romans magically disappear.
The only way a bunch of average folk like the apostles would do what they did--knowing what it would cost them--is because after they witnessed Jesus’ awful death, they also witnessed Jesus’ resurrection.
… the resurrection wasn’t magic
… it wasn’t a theological premise
… it wasn’t a fairy tale
… it wasn’t an opiate for the masses.
And, just as Charles Colson realized after he landed in prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up: people involved in a lie, in a fraud, in a cover-up will eventually succumb to the pressure and tell the truth.
People will not suffer long in defense of a lie.
People are not willing to let their family and friends suffer long in defense of a lie.
People are not willing to die for a lie.
(Many people do die for a lie, but more often than not it happens against their will.)
Ordinary people like the apostles and the first no-name followers of Jesus don’t sign up for arrest and beatings and certain death for a lie or a theological premise. Or a fairy tale. Or an escape from reality.
You don’t sign up for that unless you know that arrests and beatings and the reality of certain death are no match for the Risen Christ.
Only Resurrection could provoke in Peter and a few dozen others the courage it takes to face the wrath of violence and rejection they knew they were in for. In the face of all the blowback and all the threats breathing violence on them from every authority with leverage over them, they refused to keep silent about Jesus’ Resurrection.
The more fierce the violence and the danger, the more they clung to the truth that Jesus’ love is stronger than death.
Fast-forward to the year 2022. Gamaliel was proven correct on two counts:
1 -- if the Jesus “cult” was not of God it would have died on the cross with Jesus. And …
2 --if God truly was in Jesus, no person or group of people will be able to sabotage the power of Jesus’ Resurrection or erase it from human history.
Even though Jesus was executed in a remote little occupied territory in the shadow of the Mighty Roman Empire, and even though Jesus’ death and resurrection was remembered by a only handful of ordinary people,
They know what they saw and they refused to keep quiet or shut up about it upon risk of death or worse.. And so because of them, and because of God,
… here we are some 2000 or so years later!
And in spite of all the crazy going on in the world, here we are again today the Sunday after Easter Sunday!
Sure it looks and feels different here and in other churches today, but that’s okay.
Because even though this week there are plenty of places to sit …
And even though sometimes it seems like people are sleepwalking their way past the church and faith community ...
What Gamaliel said is still as true today as it was last week and as it was when he said it more than 2000 years ago: “If this Jesus thing is of God it is here to stay.”
That’s Good News to embrace on this Sunday after Easter 2022:
Jesus and his Resurrection Church are HERE TO STAY …
… as the pandemic continues to disrupt and confuse and frighten and divide;
Jesus and his Resurrection Church are HERE TO STAY …
… as Putin and Russia continue to pretend there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing in Ukraine;
Jesus and his Resurrection Church are HERE TO STAY …
… as the climate crisis countdown continues like a ticking bomb and elected leaders argue about science and individual rights …
Jesus and his Resurrection Church are HERE TO STAY …
… as churches in the 21st century learn new ways to testify to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
My hope, my life and my sanity are rooted in the basic message Gamaliel declared to his skeptical colleagues back in ancient Jerusalem: If this whole Jesus thing is of God it is HERE TO STAY.”
I am grateful for and acknowledge Scott Hoezee from the Center for Excellence in Preaching for the ideas shared in this sermon. https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2022-04-18/acts-527-32-3/
Acts 5:27-40 NRSV
[The disciples were brought in to] stand before the council. The high priest [addressed] them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,[a] yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.[b] The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted [Jesus] to God’s right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites,[c] consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”
They were convinced by him, and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Acts 5:27-40 Footnotes
[a] Other ancient authorities read Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?
[b] Gk than men
[c] Gk Men, Israelites
**********************
04-17-2022 Mary on the Run
Thomas J Parlette
“Mary on the Run”
John 20: 1-18
4/17/22, Easter
When Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance – what did she do?
She ran!
Mary ran to Simon Peter and to John, the one referred to as “the one whom Jesus loved.” Then the two men ran back to the tomb, with John outrunning Peter. Don’t be misled into thinking Easter morning was a quiet, reflective time of contemplation. It was anything but! Easter is a morning full emotion, intensity and action!
Very similar to the morning of a marathon.
Tomorrow morning will be like that for the runners taking part in the 2022 Boston Marathon. On Monday, April 18th, thousands of runners will line up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and run into Boston.
Did you know that exactly 50 years ago today, April 17th, 1972, the Boston Marathon started allowing women to compete. Nina Kuscik emerged from the field to win the women’s race, and all eight of the female runners entered completed the 26.2 mile course.
The Boston Marathon didn’t officially have a place for women for 75 years. They were underestimated, ignored and shut out – one running coach believed the distance was too much for what he called “fragile” women. But then Roberta Gibb became the first woman to run the full Boston Marathon in 1966. She couldn’t get an official race number, so she hid in the bushes and jumped into the race when it started.
The next year, Kathrine Switzer registered as K.V. Switzer, not identifying herself as a woman. When she began to run, race officials tried to remove her from the marathon. One of them frightened her, grabbing her by the shoulders and trying to rip off her bib number, but her boyfriend shoved the man to the ground, and she finished the race in about 4 hours and 20 minutes.
Only when the Amateur Athletics Union accepted women into long-distance running did Boston open the race to women. Now, of course, women are running in Boston every year, as well as in marathons all over the world.(1)
Just as 1972 was a turning point for female marathoners, Easter morning was a moment of truth for the followers of Jesus. Until then, Mary Magdalene wasn’t mentioned much in the Gospel of John. The only clear report is that there were three Mary’s standing near the cross of Jesus - his mother Mary, his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Obviously, the name Mary was very common among Jewish women of that time, and John tells a number of stories about another Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
But suddenly, Mary Magdalene slips into the race. Like Roberta Gibb, popping out of the bushes, or Katherine Switzer, running as K.V. Switzer, Mary Magdalene makes a dramatic appearance. Early on the first day of the week, while it is still dark, Mary comes to the tomb. She is the first of the followers of Jesus to make the trip. She arrives before Simon Peter… before John… before any of the other men. Like a woman training for a marathon, she hits the road early, and Mary is on the run!
What Mary sees is that the stone had been removed from the tomb. This discovery upsets her, since she assumes that grave robbers have been at work. So she runs back to Simon Peter and John and tells them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid him.” Notice that she calls Jesus “the Lord” and she says that ‘we don’t know where they have laid him.’ By calling Jesus “the Lord” and using the plural “we,” she is identifying herself as part of the community of Jesus followers. So clearly, there were more than 12 disciples, and not all of them were men.
Beth Moore is one of the most effective Bible teachers in the Christian community, especially among women. She has spoken at big-name evangelical churches, and her studies can be found everywhere. In fact, a leader of the Southern Baptist Convention has said that it would be hard to find a church “where at least some segment of the congregation has not been through at least one Beth Moore study” And this is in a denomination known for its predominately male leadership.
But now, Moore has been transformed, “The old way is over,” she says. “The stakes are too high.” She is appalled by the sexual misconduct in the world of politics and the church. She is adamant that Christian men should always treat women exactly as Jesus did: “always with dignity, always with esteem, never as secondary citizens.”(2)
Jesus treated Mary Magdalene with dignity and esteem, never as second-class. And I would argue that that seems to be the attitude of Peter and John here in John’s Gospel.
In Luke, the women’s story was dismissed as an idle tale, but not here in John. Here, Mary’s story is taken seriously. And now it’s the men’s turn to get in the race. Peter and John race each other to the tomb, with John arriving first. John looks in and sees the linen wrappings, but he doesn’t go in. When Peter gets there, huffing and puffing from the run, he enters the tomb and sees both the wrappings and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head. Strangely, the cloth is rolled up in a place by itself. Perhaps a clue that this was no grave robbery. Why would a grave robber take the time to roll up and cloth and carefully set it aside?
Finally, John enters the tomb and the gospel says that he “saw and believed.” That is a curious phrase, isn’t it? It leaves us wondering exactly what he saw and what he believed. Perhaps he saw that the tomb was indeed empty, and he believed the truth of Mary’s story. That may have been enough for him at that moment. He heard Mary’s story, and he believed her.
Now it’s probably true that John did not yet believe that Jesus had conquered death. For us, it seems pretty self-evident what happened. We rattle off our beliefs quite easily. The tomb was empty, Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and gives us eternal life. As modern Christians, all that rolls off our tongues pretty easily. But there are actually a number of belief steps there. For now, John just believes that something happened, alright. Mary’s right - Jesus’ body is gone. But what that means is not clear yet. We need the rest of the story in order to understand.
At this point though, it’s enough to see the empty tomb and believe. Then Peter and John return to their homes. They are done running, for now.
But Mary, even though she is weeping, dos not drop out of the marathon. Looking into the tomb, she sees two angels in white and tells them she is weeping because someone has taken away her Lord. A moment later, she turns and sees a man that she assumes is the gardener, and says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” For Mary, Easter morning begins not with joy, but with weeping and struggle.
If you are feeling that same way, don’t lose heart. Hang in there, just like Mary did. She is hitting her Heartbreak Hill at mile 20 of the Boston Marathon. It is natural to struggle with doubt and uncertainty, especially when you are being challenged by something you have never encountered before.
Then Jesus announces himself to her, “Mary!” he says. She turns and says “Rabbouni”, which means “teacher.” In the middle of her pain and struggle, Jesus sees her for who she is. The very same is true for all of us. Wherever you are on the marathon of your faith development, Jesus sees you and recognizes you. All you have to do is respond, and let Jesus be your teacher.
Finally, Jesus sends her. He says to Mary, “Go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” He is saying to her – run Mary, run! The race isn’t over yet. So she does, and she announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she tells them what Jesus said to her.
Mary crosses the finish line as the very first Apostle – a word which literally means “one who is sent off.” Although she had been struggling at mile 20, she flies past mile 26.2, carrying forward the message that she has seen the risen Jesus. Easter is the anniversary of women on a mission, but it’s significance goes far beyond gender. Easter is an invitation to men and women to run together. Whatever our gender, we are people who are equally recognized by Jesus, and equally sent off to be his people in the world. We are the ones sent to announce “Christ is Risen.”
For more than 1400 years, a Cathedral dedicated to St. Paul has stood at the highest point in the City of London. The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognizable sights of this great city with so many historic sites.
St. Paul’s was designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London destroyed an earlier cathedral that stood on the same site.
Before work could begin on the new cathedral, the remains of the old cathedral had to be cleared away. Once the site had been cleared and the necessary measurements taken, Wren asked a workman to bring a stone to mark the center of the new building. By pure chance, the worker handed Wren part of a gravestone from the old cathedral. On the stone was the inscription RESURGAM, which means, “I shall rise again.”
Sir Christopher Wren was so moved that the words “I shall rise again” should appear on that stone strictly by chance, that he had the word RESURGAM engraved on the exterior of the new cathedral, where it can be seen today above the great south door.(3)
Jesus had tried many times to tell his disciples before his death on the cross that he would rise again. But they didn’t understand.
So today, we are called to announce to the world the bedrock of our faith – “Christ is Risen, He has risen indeed!”
Would you join me in the Festival of Resurrection printed in your bulletin….
1. Homileticsonline.com. retrieved 4/2/22.
2. Ibid…
3, Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p73.
04-10-2022 A Donkey Named Christopher
Thomas J Parlette
“A Donkey Named Christopher”
Luke 19: 28-40
4/10/22
One of the most unsung heroes of Hollywood are the background animals. They used to be thought of as cheap and disposable props on the movie sets of the 1920’s and 30’s. As films were being made, horses were shocked, tripped, and forced to run into trenches. Wires were strung around their ankles and then yanked by the rider to make the horse fall on cue. Six horses were killed during the filming of Ben- Hur in 1924, and 25 were killed or euthanized during The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1935.
But then an organization called “American Humane” got into the act and opened a Hollywood office to enforce some standards for the protection of animals.
In the 1950’s, American Humane sponsored the first of an annual PATSY award ceremony. The Performing Animal Top Star of the Year is the Academy Award for animal actors. Francis the Talking Mule was the first PATSY winner in 1951, and later awards were given to Roy Roger’s horse Trigger; Arnold the Pig from Green Acres; Lassie, of course, multiple times. Flipper had a good run; as did Mister Ed – of course, of course; Benji; Ben the Bear from Gentle Ben; and Morris the Cat from the TV commercials.(1)
I like to think that if the Performing Animal Top Star of the Year award had been around in first century Jerusalem, the donkey that carried Jesus certainly would have been a strong contender for the top prize.
Luke tells us that Jesus sends two of his disciples into the village of Bethphage to fetch a colt. “If anyone questions you,” he says, “just tell them ‘The Lord needs it.’” And Jesus rides into Jerusalem on this donkey.
Those of you paying close attention to the reading might have noticed that Luke doesn’t say anything about palms, or even leafy branches. No, on this Sunday – nicknamed “Palm Sunday” – they are absent from Luke’s telling. Instead, the people lay their cloaks on the rode instead, but no palms.
You also might have noticed that the shouts from the crowd are a little different than we expect. Luke does not mention “Hosannas.” In his story, the people offer their blessing – but not hosannas. The words of the story may be slightly different from the other Gospels, but the effect is the same, Jesus rides a colt into the Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passover festivities. As for the colt, the donkey plays his role as intended. We can actually learn a lot about serving Christ from this modest donkey.
Now, I know most people don’t consider it a compliment being compared to a donkey. Consider the story of Lloyd George who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916-1922. One day Lloyd George was giving a political speech before a big crowd and a heckler yelled out, “Wait a minute, Mr. George. Isn’t it true that your grandfather used to peddle tinware around here in an oxcart hauled by a donkey?” – which of course drew some big laughs from the crowd.
But George replied, “I digress just a moment and thank the gentleman for calling that to my attention. It is true, my dear old grandfather used to peddle tinware around with an old cart and a donkey. As a matter of fact, after this meeting is over, if my friend will come with me, I will show him that old cart – but I never knew until this minute what became of the donkey.”(2)
Touche!
But when you consider this story, I think you’ll see there is much we can learn from this donkey.
After all, the disciples are not particularly good Palm Sunday role models for us. They may stand with Jesus now, but in a matter of days one will betray him, another will deny him and the rest will get into an argument about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. In fact, this whole trip made them nervous, what with Jesus talking about death and suffering, and with visions of regime change disappearing like a mist in the wind. They’re falling off the bandwagon faster than a blind roofer, as the old saying goes. They had seen a lot, done a lot, listened a lot – but in the end, when Jesus gives them the faith test, the final exam, it turns out they’re not much more than a bunch of hangers on with not much of a clue.
I suppose that could describe a lot of us. We’ve followed Jesus for years. We’ve sat in church, we’ve dropped our money in the plate, we’ve taught a class here and there, so we think we’ve done our part. Although some of us no doubt have made it to the cross, some of us have endured the fires of suffering and embraced the faith test and passed it convincingly – there are also many of us who don’t know it’s like to follow Jesus into the storm, or we’ve bailed out as the clouds started to gather. No, the disciples are not quite the ideal role models we’re looking for on this Palm Sunday.
And neither are the crowds. They might be worse than the disciples. They’re curious, but not committed. In fact, their loyalties can be bought and sold. They’re shouting their blessings today, but soon they will reject Jesus and call for his death. New Testament scholar Eugene Boring points out that the members of the crowd know the truth about Jesus but they cannot bring themselves to do the truth.(3) They are like college students who earn an “A” in a course on ethics … but still flunk life when they fail to live by those ethics they learned so well.
Even today, Jesus can still draw a crowd. His picture pops up on our news feeds twice a year, Easter and Christmas. People will flock to what Rex Miller, in his book The Millennium Matrix, calls “celebration” churches, where people can see a show – choreographed and stage-produced, with fancy lighting, great costumes and loud music.(4) Still, not the best role models for this Palm Sunday.
Perhaps we can turn to our religious leaders. I don’t think so. They had more than their share of draw backs. They were corrupt, mean-spirited and jealous. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, they conspired to put him right back in the tomb – where he belonged. They offered and took bribes. They solicited false testimony. They created a bogus trial. And they sent an innocent man to his death.
Today, 95% of the pastors and priests and rabbis in this country are without a doubt caring and committed people. But it’s the other 5% who’ve abused children, had affairs, avoided paying taxes and solicited donations on TV – and then buy sleek new jets for their “ministry”, palatial mansions and fleets of cars. These are the false shepherds whom God will remember come judgement day, and who in the meantime cause unbelievers to scoff and say, “See, I told you so. That’s why I don’t go to church.”
So what’s left? Who is our role model on this Palm Sunday? I suggest perhaps this PATSY, this top performer, this unnamed donkey.
There is an old legend about this donkey from Palm Sunday. As the story goes, the donkey woke up the next day, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride.
So he walked into town and found a group of people fetching water from the well. “I’ll show myself to them,” he thought.
So he casually sauntered by – but nobody noticed him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.
“Hey, what’s going on. Throw your garments down like yesterday. Don’t you know who I am?”
They just looked at him in amazement. Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move.
“Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself. “I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me.”
But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the market.
“What about the palm branches? Where are the palm branches? Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”
Hurt and confused, the donkey went back home to his mother.
“Foolish child,” she said. “Don’t you realize that without him, you are just an ordinary donkey?”(5)
This donkey can teach us a lot, because this colt is the one who carries Christ into the world. And that is what our faith life is all about – carrying Christ into the world. The donkey was a Christ-bearer, or a Christopher, derived from the Greek word “Christos” and combined with “pherein”, meaning “to bear, to carry.” So that really would be the perfect name for this unnamed donkey – Christopher, or Christ-bearer.
Today is an opportunity to take the name Christopher, or the feminine form Christophera, as our own. By doing so, we commit to bearing Christ into the world. Which means exhibiting some of the qualities seen in this donkey:
Serving Christ humbly without caring who gets the glory.
Following Christ’s direction and being willing to go where he wants to go, instead of where we want to go.
Not getting spooked by the crowds, the noise or the attention.
Sometimes taking Christ into enemy territory.
Never asking Jesus to get off our backs.
Being obedient to the will of the One who holds the reins.
Clarence Jordan was the founder of the Koinonia Farm, near Anericus, Georgia. It was set up to be an interracial community before anyone knew what civil rights were all about. Jordan himself was a pacifist as well as an integrationist and thus he was not a popular figure in Georgia, even though he came from a prominent family. The Koinonia Farm, by its very nature, was controversial and often faced problems. In the early 1950’s, Clarence approached his brother Robert Jordan, later a state senator and justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, to represent him and Koinonia Farm in court. They were having trouble getting propane gas delivered for heating during the winter, even though it was against the law not to deliver gas. Clarence thought Robert could get a lot accomplished with a simple phone cal.
However, Robert said, “Clarence, I can’t do that. You know my political aspirations. If I represented you, I might lose my job, my house, everything I’ve got.”
“We might lose everything, too, Bob.”
“It’s different for you.”
“Why is it different? I remember, it seems to me, that you and I joined the church on the same Sunday, as boys. I expect when we came forward the preacher asked me the same question he did you. He asked me, “Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? And I said Yes. What did you say?”
“I said yes – and I do follow Jesus, Clarence, up to a point.”
“Could that point be by any chance – the cross?”
“That’s right Clarence – I follow Jesus to the cross, but on the cross. I’m not getting myself crucified.”
“Then I don’t believe you are a disciple. You’re an admirer of Jesus, but not a disciple of his. I think you ought to go back to the church you belong to, and tell them you’re an admirer, not a disciple.”
“Well, now, if everyone who felt like I do did that, we wouldn’t have a church at all, would we.”
And Clarence said, “I think the real question is, Do you really have a church?”(6)
As we carry Christ into the world, we are challenged to do a particular kind of work, and to show a distinctively Christian lifestyle. This means letting love be genuine, hating what is evil, holding fast to what is good. It involves rejoicing in hope, being patient in suffering, and persevering in prayer. To live this way means that we are going to contribute to the needs of others, extend hospitality to strangers, and even go so far as to bless those who persecute us. It means that when our city, our nation or our world is in turmoil, as Jerusalem was on Palm Sunday, and the people around us ask, “Who is this?” – we’ll be able to give an answer that shows them the way to everlasting peace and salvation.
If we can pull that off, and model our lives on the donkey who should be named Christopher, we will discover the joy that comes from carrying Christ into a dark and broken world.
There is no better role we could be asked to perform.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Retrieved from homileticsonline.com, 3/28/22.
2. Ibid…
3. Ibid…
4. Ibid…
5. Ibid…
6. Ibid…
04-03-2022 The Upward Call of God
Philippians 3:7-14
7 But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9 and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith—counting on Christ alone. 10 Now I have given up everything else—I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. 11 So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead.
12 I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. 13 No, beloved, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward [a] call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Upward Call of God
“the upward call of God in Christ” has a nice ring to it.
Whatever it means.
Same could be said about “forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
… I don’t know: forgetting the past is easier said than done, but even if it was easy, forgetting the past just isn’t necessarily helpful.
As the saying goes, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Sometimes I feel like so much suffering in the world could be avoided if we’d remember the past long enough to not repeat our mistakes -- especially when it comes to war.
There’s been so much collective suffering on a massive scale for two going on three years now and just when that seemed like it might be improving, along comes the unbearable, ongoing suffering in Ukraine. As much as we might want to forget it all somehow, even if we could, our consciences wouldn’t allow us to.
And so Paul’s description of the upward call of God in Christ comes to us in the midst of prolonged collective suffering. I have no doubt that Paul knows what he’s talking about, but it’s not immediately clear to me from his brief words how the rest of us get there.
Paul’s words here to me beg the question: how do we integrate the spiritual values we receive from Jesus Christ? That is, how do we respond with abiding care and compassion when it comes to the suffering in Ukraine--or for that matter any suffering we encounter--without being devoured by the intensity of the suffering? How do we live with spiritual, Christ-infused mindfulness in the face of so much needless suffering?
For guidance I turn to Tara Brach* She is an experienced practitioner and teacher of meditation and spiritual awakening. What I sense in Paul’s upward call of God in Christ I hear Brach describe as Engaged Spirituality—intentional and purposeful engagement with suffering without getting pulled under.
Brach teaches that first we have to be aware of the three basic ways people commonly react to collective suffering which blocks meaningful spiritual engagement:
anger/blame (bad othering): Detaching by blaming bad actors. If we get stuck in “you’re bad” we don’t get down to what is really going on under all that anger/blame which is that WE CARE
Dissociation. Disconnecting from the wider, hurting world. Staying in our own bubble. Refusing interest or care. It’s newest form is called “slack-tivism” - minimal output through comment on the internet / social media. Ignoring it or pretending it isn’t as bad as it seems. Disassociation generally comes from fear, fear of the raw impact of suffering and how easily it can overwhelm. But it’s not so easy to turn away from the horrors of the world. It’s not supposed to be.
The third reaction which blocks our spiritual integration is over-association or emotional overwhelm. Getting so wrapped up in it that it takes over everything else. Being unable or unwilling to fully concentrate on your own life.
Brach fleshes out a delicate balance in which we allow ourselves to actually see the suffering and accept it while remaining grounded in our own reality. True acceptance, she says, is radical because it undoes our resistance to reality. It allows us to face the present moment with a wise and caring heart.
It’s about allowing acceptance to touch and provoke the spiritual qualities which have ALWAYS moved us forward as a people:
--compassion,
--kindness,
--mindfulness,
--and reverence - for life; for all human beings -- all living beings.
… the same qualities with which Jesus moves toward suffering.
And so the upward call of God in Christ is about cultivating these qualities Jesus embodies and delivers through his life, his suffering, his death and his resurrection.
Jesus revealed the kin-dom of God. Jesus embodied it. And he also showed that it increases and grow. And so this upward call of God in Christ is about believing that the kin-dom Jesus revealed can and will continue to emerge from all of the human regression and suffering.
The upward power of this upward call is that God uses us to actually, consciously help shape the evolution of humanity. … it’s about trusting in what’s possible … it’s about belonging to a larger movement of goodness that carries us forward through all the suffering moments.
Clearly this spiritual engagement is not something that comes easily or quickly to any of us. We can’t just snap our fingers or flip a switch and do it. It takes time. And patience. And as Tara Brach teaches, it doesn’t happen without carving out quiet time, or time apart, for prayer and meditation. I thought it would be interesting to offer an experience in guided meditation … guided reflection. as a kind of “spiritual experiment”
So let’s take a moment now … take some deep breaths. Invite stillness in.
Close your eyes or lower your gaze … whatever allows you to actually feel yourself right here.
As you begin to resume normal breathing, feel your bottom and your legs touch the chair or the pew or place where you sit. Let yourself be anchored, grounded.
Now allow yourself to bring to mind a sense of our world as it is right now:
both the suffering … (pause) and all the people who truly care deeply right now.
Think of how the people of Poland responded to the first influx of refugees from Ukraine. Poland did not have to set up any main refugee center in advance b/c millions of people simply opened their homes ...
… ponder that scale of human care.
Let yourself consider the multitudes of people who, like you and I,
truly want a more peaceful, more collaborative world.
… consider that there are multitudes of people working to awaken in themselves more mindfulness, more kindness …
… multitudes of people all over the world, dedicated to a path of love in action,
… trying to make a difference,
… helping the most vulnerable,
And consider the multitudes of people who are in the midst of their own great suffering and difficulty who are also vulnerable themselves in the midst of war or pandemic or natural disaster who are helping others through the violence and disruption of war …
… through oppression,
… through pandemic,
… through famine, flood and fire.
Recognize and feel the GOODNESS that’s out there right now.
And in here. All of us here right now. … hearts that care.
Consider the goodness in the hearts of the people in your apartment building ...
… in the hearts of the people in your neighborhood … .
… in the hearts of the people where you work ...
So much active caring. This profound human collective of active caring is our hope.
It’s the ground of what’s possible for humanity.
Spend time reflecting, reminding yourself what you long for for our world.
… and feel the millions of people around the world, who all long for that same thing.
And now let yourself see Jesus … or sense his presence … Jesus receives all of this, brings all our caring and all our actions into his broken body, and then, like in the gospel story where he feeds the multitudes with bread and fish, Jesus shares our broken, imperfect efforts … and he multiplies what we share … to feed, to care for the multitudes…
Recognize Jesus here, now in this very moment:
feeding, sustaining, upholding life,
your life, my life, the life of the world,
unleashing the goodness of the human heart/spirit.
… our hearts--grafted onto Jesus' own heart through our baptism--guided by His heart.
I invite you to open your eyes, come back from the guided time of reflection.
And listen again to Paul:
“ … everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. … the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and … what it means to suffer and to die with him.”
And these words from Martin Luther King Jr
“I believe that unarmed goodness and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. … good temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”
* to learn more about Tara Brach or meditation: https://www.tarabrach.com/
all credit to Tara Brach for the guided meditation shared in this worship service.
03-27-2022 To An Audience of Outcasts
Thomas J Parlette
“To an audience of outcasts”
Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
3/27/22
Did you know that today is a special day? Well, it is. Today, March 27th, is officially National Joe Day. I’m not kidding. I don’t know who decides these things, like National Goof-Off Day (March 22nd) or National Waffle Day (March 25th), but March 27th is designated as National Joe Day. It’s a day for celebrating anyone with the name Joe. I guess I’ll jump on board with this since my middle name is Joe!
Years ago, there was a national survey measuring how well people liked their names, and about 21% of people said they disliked their names enough to consider changing them. So if you are part of that 21%, maybe today is the day to start going by the name Joe.
Speaking of making changes, our bible passage for today, the well-known and beloved Parable of the Prodigal Son, is the story of a young man who wanted to make some major changes in his life. He didn’t want to change his name, exactly, but he did want to get away from his family and his hometown and make a new life for himself in a faraway place. Even if that meant hurting the people he loved the most. Even if that meant burning bridges and losing his way. Even if that meant ending up in a place he never imagined he’d be.
Consider the story of 49-year-old Erwin Kreuz from Germany. In 1977, Erwin spent his life savings for a special trip to the magical city of San Francisco, California. The flight had a short layover in Bangor, Maine, before reaching its final destination. While on the layover, a flight attendant casually wished Mr. Kruez a good time in San Francisco. She was unaware that that he didn’t speak much English. All he heard was “San Francisco” – and assumed he had reached his vacation spot. So he got off the plane in Bangor, Maine – and began touring the town.
He wandered the streets of Bangor for three days before he discovered his mistake. But a local family took him in, and his story made it into the local paper. And soon, the whole town rallied around this lost foreigner. The locals threw Kreuz a 50th birthday party. The Penobscot Indian Nation named him an honorary member. A local songwriter wrote a folk song about him. The Bangor government even gave him a small patch of land in northern Maine. The Governor himself even stopped by to visit him.
Within a week, Time magazine published an article about Erwin Kreuz, and the Today Show did a segment on the lost foreigner who received a hearty welcome in an unexpected place. Not to be out done, the San Francisco Chronicle covered the story and paid for Kruez to come to San Francisco, where he rode a cable car, met the mayor and attended a rodeo – where he received a standing ovation.
One year after his whirlwind trip to the U.S., Erwin Kruez returned to Bangor, Maine, for a visit with the folks who had so generously welcomed him to their town. And according to the local property assessor, he continued to pay property taxes on the plot of he had been given in Maine – even though he never came back to see it.(1)
It’s nice when a story about being lost has a happy ending – so many don’t end well. But sometimes a trip to a faraway place takes us away from our sense of self, our sense of security, our source of strength. Sometimes a trip to faraway place ends in brokenness or loss or regret.
A University professor in Australia recruited 657 adults between the ages of 20 and 80 and asked them to discuss the 10 biggest decisions they had made in their life so far. It’s interesting to think about that, isn’t it?
The professor and the study subjects then sorted and ranked the decisions according to how often certain decisions were mentioned, how significant the decisions were in the course of each person’s life, and the emotions connected to the decisions. The professor reports, “The most enduring regrets in life result from decisions that move you further from the ideal person that you want to be.”(2) That makes sense I think.
It’s important to point out before we get too deep into the passage that we have all made decisions that have moved us further from the ideal person we’d like to be. We’ve all made decisions that have moved us further from what God intends us to be, as well. You could look at that as a definition of sin – moving away from what God intends. So today’s story is good news for us all.
There is a lot to be said about this story. You could approach it from the Father’s viewpoint – or the older brother – or even examine why the mother is never named at all. But the primary story revolves around the younger son who rebels against his family. He asks for his share of the family inheritance so he can go off to a distant country and start a new life. The end result was he squandered his fortune and ended up broke and alone in a foreign land. When a severe famine spread throughout the whole country, the young man became desperate and hired himself out to a pig farmer just to keep from starving. Feeding pigs was rock-bottom, the most shameful job a young Jewish man could have.
The son in Jesus story had rejected his father, lost his inheritance and brought shame on his whole family.
This is one of Jesus most famous stories. But Jesus’ stories are never just about the story. They all are told to reveal something about God. And every story is told for a particular audience. Notice who is in the audience when Jesus tells this story.
Our story begins with the words, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Not long after, Jesus tells this story of the prodigal son. Jesus told this particular story for this particular audience. We sometimes overlook that little detail – Jesus is telling this story to an audience of outcasts. The big takeaway from this story – God welcomes you. You are important to God. You may be seen as sinners and outcasts, but God welcomes you home. God accepts you.
There is healing in acceptance. Jesus was known to notice people that others overlooked. He touched people that were thought to be untouchable. He had no walls of acceptability around him. And this openness caused the local religious leaders to view him with suspicion and contempt. Even today, we struggle to just accept and love people as they are. Even today, that kind of love is radical.
In 1989, Mother Teresa visited Phoenix, Arizona, to open a homeless shelter. There was a huge celebration to welcome her, crowds packed the local Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum to hear her speak. She was also invited to do a radio interview on Phoenix’s largest radio station – KTAR.
Before the interview, the radio host asked Mother Teresa if there was anything he could do to help her work. He was accustomed to lending his celebrity to various charities or making donations to good causes. But that’s not what Mother Teresa wanted from him. Instead, she said, “Yes, there is. Find someone no one else loves and love them.”(3)
That’s how Jesus lived his life. He found people no one else loved, the people who had been told that God couldn’t love them – and he loved them. He made them the center of his attention. He made them the good guys in his stories. That’s the whole reason he was telling this story.
Consider the story of a man named Ron Baptiste. Ron is a biker, who became a Christian during a short stint in prison. When he was released, he couldn’t find a church where he felt comfortable. So Baptiste started his own church – Covenant Confirmers Ministries, near Nashville, Tennessee. Covenant’s members include fellow bikers, former drug addicts, gang members and prostitutes as well as a local police sergeant.
Tommy Hollingsworth, a Covenant member who also spent time in prison, says of his church, “You don’t have to clean up. You just get connected to God. Anybody is welcome here. Anybody.”(4)
Just get connected to God. That was the point of every one of Jesus’ stories. That was the point of his whole life. That’s what led him to the cross – to connect us with God. First and foremost, this story tells us that we are welcomed.
Jesus is telling his audience of outcasts that God is waiting for you. The son in this story is starving and desperate. So, he decides to head home and beg for mercy. He knew he had destroyed any chance of rejoining his family. He’d destroyed any chance for forgiveness. But he thought to himself, “I’ll confess my sin to my father, and I’ll ask him to take me on as a hired hand.”
But as Jesus tells the story, while he was still a long way off, the father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
This father who had been rejected and shamed by his son’s actions – was sitting by the window, waiting for his son to return. When he saw him, he was overjoyed. He couldn’t even wait for his son to get to the driveway. He didn’t wait for an apology or the carefully rehearsed request to take his son back. Nope – while he was still a long way off, the father ran to him, embraced him and kissed him.
William Muehl tells a story about a 5-year-old boy who had made a ceramic dish as a Christmas gift for his parents. As his parents were picking him up from daycare, he was gathering up his stuff to go home, and his dish fell to the floor and shattered. The boy froze, then burst into tears. He had ruined his parents gift.
His father put his arm around him and said – “It’s Ok, son, don’t cry.” But mom picked him and didn’t say a word. She let him cry, and cried a little herself. When the boy had composed himself, mom put him down and said, “Let’s pick up the pieces and see what we can make out of what is left.”(5)
God is waiting to welcome us home. God is waiting to restore us. No matter how far you may have wandered off course, God saying through Jesus, “Let’s pick up the pieces and see what we can make out of what is left.”
And this isn’t just a moment of restoration – it’s a moment of celebration! The story ends with gift – the best robe, a ring and some sandals. And then there’s a party – ring the fattened calf! “Let’s have a feast and celebrate. My son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and now is found.”
There is a story about a teenage girl who rebelled against her family and became increasingly estranged from them. One night, she was arrested for drunk driving and her mother had to pick her up from the local jail. It was a long car ride home. The daughter could only imagine all the angry words her mother must be holding inside as she drove them home.
The next day at breakfast, the mother slid a small box over to her daughter. “Go ahead – open it. It’s a gift for you.”
The daughter opened the box – and inside was a rock.
“Nice Mom – thanks, I’ll treasure it forever,” she said with sarcasm dripping from the corners of her mouth.
“Good, I hope you do. Read the card.”
The card read, “This rock is more than 200 million years old. That’s how long it will take before I give up on you.”(6)
God is never going to give up on us. We are accepted. We are loved. You are welcomed and you are waited for. That was the message of Jesus’ life and the motivation for his death – to show us that God would give everything to save us, restore us and bring us home. In fact, God is just like the father in this story – running to meet us with open arms.
May God be praised for that. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p58.
2. Ibid… p59.
3. Ibid… p60.
4. Ibid… p60.
5. Ibid… p60.
6. Ibid… p61.
03-20-2022 Bearing Fruit
Thomas J Parlette
“Bearing Fruit”
Luke 13:1-9
3/20/22
With Mother Nature teasing us with warmer temperatures these last few days – I wonder how many of you have begun thinking about your garden this year? Probably a few of you., It’s possible you’ve already done your planning and maybe some online shopping already.
I’m not a very good gardener myself. I would like to be. But I have a seriously black thumb when it comes to growing things. I’ve tried. A couple years ago I bought some good planting soil and some containers and I planted tomatoes, green beans, carrots and zucchini. I was very faithful in my weeding and my watering. And I did get probably one nice salad for my effort – but not that much. I can relate to something writer Richard Diran wrote about gardening. He said, “I installed a rock garden this year. Last week three of them died.” That describes my gardening skill as well.
But I admire those who are good at it. I admire their knowledge and patience to make things grow. I wish I could do it. There is a man in India who is a good example of the passion and patience of a master gardener. His name is Kalimulah Khan. He is a professional horticulturist. Khan is 80 years old, and his family owns a mango orchard. When Khan was 17, he saw a crossbred rose bush in a friend’s garden. This was a bush that bore multiple varieties and colors of roses. Khan was so inspired by this rose bush that he began grafting different varieties of mangoes onto one tree in his orchard.
Today, more than 60 years later, Khan has created a mango tree that bears 300 different varieties of mangoes. The tree is massive, its branches weighed down with pink and purple and orange and yellow and green mangoes. Khan has named this super tree “The Resolute.” He doesn’t say how he chose that name, but miracle tree would also work. When visitors come by his orchard, the mangoes from this miracle tree are free.(1)
Khan names some of the varieties after distinguished people who have made a contribution to Indian society. He has named mangoes in honor of scientists, doctors police officers and politicians. Although he noted in a recent interview that in his 65 years of experience, the trees that produce mangoes named after politicians have not produced a single piece of fruit. All the others did just fine. But the tress named in honor of politicians did not bear fruit this year.(2) Interesting. I won’t jump to any conclusions – but it seems oddly appropriate, and perhaps prophetic.
In these verses from Luke 13, Jesus tells a story about a landowner who is checking on the progress of a fig tree. He has been waiting for fruit from this tree for three years, and still, nothing. So he tells the gardener to cut it down. Why should it be wasting the soil?
But the gardener defends the fig tree. “Let it alone for one more year. I’ll dig around it, use some manure and give it some tender loving care. If it bears fruit next year – fine. If not, then cut it down. Just a little more patience,” advises the gardener.
This is another one of those odd stories from Jesus. Last week we heard Jesus describe himself as a mother hen. And this week we hear a story about cutting down a fig tree.
Jesus doesn’t seem to like fig trees very much. We have another story of Jesus walking past a fig tree with no fruit, and he cursed it, and the leaves withered on the spot. We have other references in scripture to trees being cut down and thrown into the fire if they don’t produce. I guess gardeners were pretty demanding back in biblical times.
Most uncomfortable about this story is that we seem to be the fig tree in this parable. God, the master gardener, wants to see us bear fruit. And if we do not bear fruit – well we seem to be living on borrowed time. Life is short. Any good we would do in this world needs to begin now.
Sharon Carr was studying at Emory University with a double major in English and Religion when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Sharon’s attitude of faith and hope in facing her diagnosis inspired her classmates and professors. In the year after her diagnosis, she wrote poems and short meditations about her struggle to find hope in dying. One of her professors compiled her writing into a book that was published just before her death. He titled the book Yet Life Was a Triumph, after one of her poems. Part of that poem goes like this:
“I had to love today, because you couldn’t promise me tomorrow…
I had to hold tightly to purpose, because you might not give me time
for carelessness, and lifeblood is too precious to spill on selfish whim …
I had to cherish hope, because you couldn’t guarantee light amid despair,
and I was tired of hurting…
Because I was forced to live life boldly, thankfully, lovingly and joyfully,
death is tender, and life was a triumph.”(3)
That’s what God wants for us. It’s too easy to waste our life in selfish, apathetic, unfruitful behavior because we don’t realize how short life is.
Bearing fruit is also a measure of how much our life reflects God’s character and love. How do you measure your life? By the number of years – or by the positive impact you have made? If we look at Jesus, he only lived about 33 years, and yet look at the impact his life had.
Verse 7 gives us some insight into what a life that does not bear fruit looks like. The landowner accuses the fig tree of wasting the soil, or using it up as some translations put it. In the original Greek, the word used here refers to something that is deprived of “force, influence or power.” It also refers to something that has been “severed from” or “separated from” its source of power.(4)
Back in the 12th century, Japanese gardeners created dwarf trees or “bonsai” trees, by cutting the tree’s tap root. The tap root anchors the tree deep into the ground so that it can grow taller and wider. With the tap root severed, the tree relies on smaller, surface roots for growth. The result is a tiny tree that can be grown in a pot on your kitchen counter.
Eric Ritz writes, “What our Japanese friends have learned to do intentionally with trees many of us have done by neglect of our spiritual lives. How many of us have cut the tap root of faith, and have tried to live and grow on an occasional trip to church, opening the Bible once in a awhile and only praying in moments of great distress?”(5)
A few years ago, William Safire wrote about the origins of the phrase “spitting image” in his “On Language” column for the New York Times. Have you ever said, “He’s the spitting image of his father” or something like that?
Safire explained that the phrase is actually a garbled version of the original phrase, “spirit and image.” It doesn’t just refer to a physical resemblance, either. It was originally used to mean that someone reflects both the spirit and the image of another.(6)
So what if others could say that you are the spitting image of God – that your life reflects the spirit and image of the Divine? If you are bearing fruit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – people could say that. You are the ‘spirit and image’ of God.
Bearing fruit will also leave a powerful, positive legacy. Few of us really think about leaving a legacy. We try to be good people. We try to do positive things in our work and our relationships, maybe volunteer at a favorite charity. And that’s great. But legacy building is a bit more intentional. It is a commitment to act in ways that will have a powerful, positive impact on the people we encounter each day. John Rohn speaks about legacy building as he says “Considering our legacy helps us to focus on the long term and it gives us values that we can judge our actions by.”(7)
Leaving a legacy by living lovingly, boldly and joyfully, reflecting God’s character and spirit – that is what it means to bear fruit.
Once there was a young man struggling with an important decision. He was interested in becoming a missionary, but he was concerned about what he might be getting himself into. What if he failed? So he asked his dad, “What if God calls me to do something I can’t do?”
Dad was quiet for a moment. Then he spotted his son’s baseball glove in the corner. Dad went over and picked up the glove and asked. “Can you tell me what this is?”
“Yea – it’s my baseball glove.”
Dad propped the glove up against the wall and tossed a baseball into it, and the ball rolled out of the glove and across the floor. Dad picked up the glove and said, “This glove is a total failure.”
“It can’t catch by itself, Dad. The glove doesn’t work too well without my hand in it.”
And Dad said, “That’s right. You’re just like this glove. God puts us on like a glove and uses us to do what God has in mind.”(8)
Bearing fruit begins when we place our lives in God’s hands. Bearing fruit is to reflect God’s character and love, to live intentionally and leave behind a powerful, positive legacy that results in others bearing fruit as well. That’s what God made us for – to bear fruit.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p54.
2. Ibid… p54.
3. Ibid… p55.
4. Ibid… p55.
5. Ibid… p56.
6. Ibid… p56.
7. Ibid… p56
8. Ibid… p56-57.
03-13-2022 Stand in the Promise
Jay P. Rowland
Stand in the Promise
Luke 13:31-35
March 13, 2022
I’ve been watching Ukraine with a mixture of disbelief and despair. I can hardly believe, let alone process images I’ve been seeing and the reports I’ve been reading and listening to on the radio. That nations and leaders still choose to unleash war upon people is haunting to me. I keep thinking humanity will outgrow warfare given all of the suffering that continually comes upon all nations through disease and natural disaster, and pandemics, all of which demand our full attention and resources.
And so when Putin decided to invade Ukraine I decided I couldn’t handle any more large-scale human suffering and thought I might just ignore the situation. Only because there were no bullets whizzing past my head or shrieking bombs igniting my neighborhood. And only because where I live people are more or less bustling with activity--just like the people of Ukraine were only a few weeks ago. And only because where I live, the buildings are all intact: schools and hospitals, nurseries and jails and mental health facilities, ballparks and arenas, restaurants and grocery stores and businesses and houses.
I guess that’s when I realized that I had been expecting God to intervene. That God owed us that. After two-going-on-three years of this pandemic and all the other pressing socio-political, cultural and racial crises I wanted and expected God to prevent this damned war somehow. What the Ukrainian people are enduring right now is unacceptable. Violence and the trauma it inflicts is unacceptable to me. I think of all the doctors and nurses and good Samaritans tending to all the broken people, fighting to help them live to see a better day after all they’ve already been through, I want to scream.
It’s almost too much to take--no, it IS too much to take.
And so a couple weeks ago when I first read the passage from the gospel of Luke for today I was searching for encouragement or comfort or anything to help me navigate this latest mind-numbing crisis. But the first few times I read this passage I came away empty.
So I read the passage again. And again. And again.
But my mind was still drawing a blank.
And that ticked me off.
What in the world is Jesus talking about? I kept thinking. You don’t sound like you: “Go tell that fox for me that I’m casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow and on the third day I finish my work.”
What?
That’s right, Jesus says, “Yet today, tomorrow and the next day I must be on my way because it’s impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem …”
Excuse me?
“Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills … Oh Jerusalem how I’ve longed to gather your children like a hen gathers her brood under her wing, but you were not willing …”
“See your house is left to you …”
“ … and I’m telling you now, you won’t see me anymore until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
I couldn’t make sense out of any of that. Not even the animal images Jesus uses:
King Herod the fox. Jesus the hen.
In the “real world” heck, according to the “laws of nature” the fox consumes the hen. Every time. Is that supposed to be comforting? Of course not. Jesus isn’t just throwing words around. He’s choosen his words and these images very carefully.
When Jesus spoke those words, human brutality was just as pervasive as it remains to this day. Violence then was actively devouring innocent people and families, just like it devoured George Floyd, and just like it devours women and girls and actively prowls and haunts life here in the year 2022.
And so this passage from Luke couldn’t deliver what I was demanding from it. But thank God there’s someone out there who could and did decipher it. Barbara Brown Taylor:
“If you have ever loved someone you could not protect, then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament. If you have ever loved someone you could not protect all you can do is open your arms. You cannot make anyone walk into them. Meanwhile, this is the most vulnerable posture in the world – wings spread, breast exposed — but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. Vulnerable.
“Given the number of animals available, it is curious that Jesus chooses a hen. Where is the biblical precedent for that? What about the mighty eagle of Exodus, or Hosea’s stealthy leopard? What about the proud lion of Judah, mowing down Israel’s enemies with a roar? Compared to any of those, a mother hen does not inspire much confidence. No wonder so many decide to run with the fox.
“But a hen is what Jesus chooses, which — if you think about it — is pretty typical of him. He is always turning things upside down, so that children and peasants wind up on top while kings and scholars fall to the bottom. He is always wrecking our expectations of how things should turn out by giving prizes to losers and paying the last first. So of course he chooses a chicken, which is about as far from a fox as you can get. That way the options become very clear: you can live by [devouring the innocent] or you can die protecting the chicks.
“Jesus won’t be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. She has no fangs, no claws, no rippling muscles. All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body. If the fox is determined to devour those babies, he will have to kill her first.
“Which he does, as it turns out. He slips into the yard one night while all the babies are asleep. When her cry wakens them, they scatter. She dies the next day — wings spread, breast exposed — in full view of all the foxes and all the chickens, but without a single chick beneath her wings. It breaks her heart, but that does not change a thing. If you mean what you say, then this is how you stand.” [1]
Taylor reminds us that to love another person is to realize we cannot fully protect them from harm.
Most of history is the story of human violence devouring people. In all this time, it seems humanity has developed only two responses to violence: flight or fight. Jesus delivers a third way, a new way to be human as he leads us out of the never-ending cycle of violence. It is so shockingly different that Jesus knows he will be rejected, as BBT poetically notes. It seems that the only chance we have to understand and accept this shockingly different way of Jesus is for him to live it out on the cross.
But for most of the world, the cross is a bridge too far.
Perhaps Jesus is not who we think he is. Perhaps God is not how we think God is or how we think God should deal with the brutality of the world in its many guises. Because Jesus refuses to resort to violence not even to protect people nor in service to a higher moral purpose.
What Jesus will do is sacrifice himself to the violence. He will allow the fox to do what a fox does.
It takes incredible faith to believe in a God whose ultimate form of protection is to die at the hands of an enemy’s violence, even with the promise of resurrection life. It seems people have always preferred the Lion of Judah rather than the Lamb who is slain … or the mother hen.
Jesus seems to be showing us that all the ways we’ve trusted and turned to to conquer our enemies in the past merely keeps violence alive deep in the human psyche. The bad news, or perhaps the Good News is that we cannot defeat violence all by ourselves. Only God can do that. We only know how to make it worse.
In the end, your future and mine, the future of Ukraine, the future of this planet and every person we love is ultimately beyond our control. We cannot provide the fix or the cure all by ourselves. We cannot figure it out. Only God can be trusted to do that. And God has.
God has already shown us in Jesus how this all plays out.
In Jesus, God takes on our human suffering with inextinguishable love and care and healing surrender. Suffering is not eliminated nor defeated in a snap of God’s fingers. Betrayal and disappointment and utter despair remain. Darkness falls on a Thursday evening and stretches into Friday looking to all the world as though this all shall end badly.
And just when it seems like all is lost something happens early on the first day while it is still dark. We shall only experience it once in our lifetime. But one time is all the Lord needs.
Jesus won’t be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between her chicks and those who mean to do them harm.
Jesus stands between us and whatever harm comes our way.
For some that’s not good enough. But that’s who Jesus is. And so, for others, for me, and I hope for you too, that’s why Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
____________________________________
[1] Barbara Brown Taylor, excerpted (with some adaptations from me) from her sermon “As a Hen Gathers Her Brood” appearing in Girardian Lectionary Reflections in “Reflections and Questions note 1.” http://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-c/lent2c/
03-02-2022 Return to Me (Ash Wednesday)
Thomas J Parlette
Return to Me
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
3/2/22, Ash Wednesday
Bob Laurent, in his book, A World of Differents, tells of sitting in the living room reading when he heard a terrible scream just outside his front door. Like most parents, he could recognize his own child’s crying, so flew out the door to the scene of the accident.
There was his three-year-old son, Christopher, upside down, in tears, the victim of a crash while riding his Big Wheel. In one fell swoop, Laurent scooped up his son and brought him inside. He held his son in his arms and said, “C’mon, son, let’s dry those old tears up.”
“But Dad, it hurts!”
Then Bob says he have his son a stern, serious look and said, “I know, but son, big boys don’t cry.”
And as soon as those words passed his lips, Bob says an image of Jesus popped into his head. There’s Jesus, a man in his 30’s, standing outside the tomb of his good friend Lazarus, crying because the loss hurt so much. Then he saw Jesus looking over the city of Jerusalem, weeping for what the city had become.
Laurent writes, “This man who never met a situation He couldn’t handle, could shed tears from the depths of a broken heart. So, yes, big boys do cry.”(1)
That’s what the Bible teaches – it’s ok to cry. Paul once wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” In fact, there are references to weeping throughout the Bible. And it’s not just the women at the tomb. In our passage from Joel for tonight we read, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…”
It’s all right to weep or cry, in fact the scripture calls us to do so. In fact, there are three times when it is particularly appropriate to shed some tears.
First of all, it’s alright to cry over the state of our nation. In Luke, we read, “As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes.’”
It would certainly be appropriate to weep over our nation as well. We look around and see racial inequality, gun violence, hatred, poverty, lack of housing, health care and food, It’s enough to make you cry – from sorrow and frustration. I think a few tears would be appropriate over our society these days. It’s alright to cry over our nation.
And, it’s alright to cry over someone you love. In John, we read, “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?”
Come and see, Lord.
And Jesus wept.
Jesus wept over someone he loved. If there is someone you really care about, sooner or later you will shed some tears. Especially when we lose someone to death.
C.S. Lewis, the great Christian writer and thinker, was staggered by the death of his wife Joy. He felt as if he were drunk or had suffered a physical blow to the head – as if there were a blanket between him and the rest of the world. He was in such pain that he reports that he could not even pray. Every time he tried, it was as if a door were shut in his face, and he could hear it being bolted from the other side.(2)
Some of you have been there, you know what that’s like. Your grief has been so overwhelming and tears flowed down your face giving some sweet, if temporary, relief. It’s alright to cry when you lose someone you love. Nothing is healthier or more natural.
Of course, you don’t have to lose someone to death to shed tears over them. Some of you have shed tears over your children or family members, next door neighbors, or fellow church members. It’s all right to shed tears over the state of our society, and it’s alright to weep over someone you love.
And it’s alright to cry over our own sins. That is the weeping that this text for Ash Wednesday is about: “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…”
It’s alright to shed tears over your sins. Tonight begins the season of Lent. Among the familiar scenes in this season is that of Simon Peter sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl comes to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denies it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Peter goes out to the gateway, where another servant girl sees him and says, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Again Peter denies it – “I don’t know the man.”
After a little while, those standing there go up to Peter and say, “Surely you are one of them, you speak with a Galilean accent.”
And Peter begins calling down curses, swearing to them, “I don’t know this man!”
And then a rooster crows. And Peter remembered that Jesus had said, before cock crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. I think it’s the saddest moment in the Gospel story. Yes, it’s alright to shed tears over your sins.
In our modern world, we don’t know tears like that. These days, you issue an apology through your PR firm, go on Oprah for an interview, or maybe get a book deal. Nobody cries over their sins anymore.
The late comedian Jonathan Winters once told about negotiations involving his autobiography. Several publishers he approached about the book wanted to be sure that he included details of any scandalous relationships he had had. Winters had already decided not to tell all – he decided to keep his sins to himself and not cry about them in public. Five different publishers asked him, “What about your affairs?”
And Winters just said, “They are in order.”(3)
Our secular world knows nothing of weeping over your sins. Some of you might remember that a recent version of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter had a different ending than the original story. Evidently Hollywood felt that modern audiences could not relate to a man slowly destroying himself with guilt as did the adulterous minister in Hawthorne’s original story. So they gave the movie a happier ending. After all, who could weep over breaking one of God’s commandments in our modern world. I guess not.
But there are times we need to weep over our sins. There are times when we need to confront the worst within us and rend our hearts, if not our garments. That is what Ash Wednesday is all about.
Pastor John Keith tells about taking his father to Israel. When they got to Jerusalem and viewed the Wailing Wall, there was a great crowd of people praying. The guide told them that the Jews would start praying at one end of the Wall and make their way to where the Holy of Holies used to be. And the guide told them an unusual phenomenon would occur. When the people would begin to pray at the Wailing Wall, their confessions of sin wouldn’t bother them too much. But the closer they got to the Holy of Holies, the more aware of their sins the became… and they would begin to weep.
The closer we are to God, the more conscious we are of our sins.
It’s okay to shed some tears. Sometimes it’s over the state of our country or our world. Sometimes it’s over the loss of a loved one. And sometimes, if we are close to God, we shed some tears over own sins and shortcomings.
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…”
Let us approach the table and begin the season of Lent.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, Vol. 1, p43.
2. Ibid… p44.
3. Ibid… p45.
4. Ibid… p45.
5. Ibid… p45.
02-27-2022 An Awakening Experience
Thomas J Parlette
An Awakening Experience
Luke 9:28-36
2/27/22
Where are you most likely to get important news and information that you rely on each day? From a newspaper? If so, you’re a dying breed – but I understand. Maybe it’s from an app on your phone. From Social media? From a 24-hour cable news channel? What about from a man or a woman standing in the middle of your neighborhood and shouting out the latest headlines? Probably not.
If you’d lived about 1,00 years ago in England, you would have gotten the latest news and headlines from a town crier. The job of town crier began officially in the year 1066. William of Normandy and his army invaded England in that year, and consequently, men were hired by the government to travel from town to town to publicly remind the citizens of King Harold the Second’s authority. They did this by reading public proclamations from the king.
Since few people knew how to read in those days, and there was no simple way to spread news among towns, as time went on, town criers became the source for official news throughout England.
The town criers’ proclamations almost always followed the same pattern. The crier would choose a central place in town where he would be highly visible, such as the town square or a local inn. Next he would capture the everyone’s attention by calling out “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,” which means, “Listen, Listen, Listen!” Then he read the proclamation from the king. Afterwards, he would nail the proclamation to the doorpost of a nearby inn.
Of course, the job of town crier today has gone by the wayside. We do things differently today, although there is a website for what is known as the “Loyal Company of Town Criers”. Its purpose is to keep alive the tradition of the crier. For example, this website informs us that the use of the term “Post Office”, or posting a notice, or the naming of newspapers such as The Herald and The Post, all derive their existence to the town crier. Their position became so important that harming a town crier was turned into a treasonable offence, and even in the 21st century, these ancient laws are supposed to guard them against heckling or harm.(1)
You won’t see many job ads for town criers anymore, but the Loyal Company of Town Criers in London still holds an annual competition where they judge both men and woman criers on how loud and clear they are, how accurate their announcement is, and how well they can engage the audience with their presentation. According to competition rules, all announcements must begin with “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez” and end with the words “God Save the Queen!”
According to Carole Williams, who has served as the official town crier for the small town of Bishop’s Stortford in England, “Town criers love the aura of an audience. They love the excitement, anything to get the adrenaline going. But you also have to get your message across in a flowing, rhythmic way. If your audience is asleep before you’ve got to the end of the first sentence, then you’ve lost”(2)
One way to think about this story of Transfiguration is that sometimes God has to wake us up, get our attention, before we can experience God’s power. I think that’s probably true for most of us. We need something important to break the cycle of busy-ness in our lives. We need something transcendent to break the grip of self-centeredness. That’s why Jesus spent regular time on his own in prayer. That’s why he took Peter, James and John with him that day he went to a nearby mountain to pray.
The disciples needed to be awakened to Jesus’ true identity. They needed to see just a glimpse of his majesty so that when questions or doubts nagged at them, when following his lead became difficult for them, they would remember this moment of awakening and they would find hope and courage for the road ahead.
It is reminiscent of something that happened to Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the best-known Russian novelists in history. Dostoevsky was arrested in 1849 for reading banned books. He was sentenced to die by firing squad. But his death sentence was a cruel trick. He was actually led out into the square to face the firing squad. Then he was blindfolded. The soldiers raised their rifles and fired. But the soldiers fired blanks instead of bullets. It took a few seconds for Dostoevsky to realize that he was still alive. His blind fold was removed. Instead of death, he was sentenced to four years of hard labor in a prison camp.
This experience, which was meant to intimidate and traumatize Dostoevsky, had an awakening effect instead. He became more grateful, more attentive, more alive and joyful than before. He claims that this near-death experience awakened his sensitivities to the world around him in a way that transformed his writing.
Prayer also does that. Prayer awakens our sensitivities to the world around us. Prayer transforms us. Prayer prepares us to experience God, and be awakened.
Today we hear how Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up to a mountain to pray. This was Jesus’ regular practice – go away, often up in the mountains, to pray and spend time with God. As he was praying, Peter, James and John got sleepy. Jesus was preparing himself for the difficult road ahead, while his friends were slipping into nap mode. That happens sometimes – we get tired, or we simply don’t want to listen.
Here was once a woman who told about an incident that happened in her granddaughter’s kindergarten class. A boy in the class was having a hard time paying attention – he just wasn’t listening to anything the teacher was saying.
The teacher got fed up and said, “Since you don’t want to listen, you go sit at that table by yourself.”
There was a slight pause, and this woman’s granddaughter raised her hand and said, “I don’t want to listen either. Can I go sit with him?”(3)
Sometimes we don’t want to listen either. Listening to God though, is not like listening to a friend or a colleague or even a teacher. Listening to God is an act of submission, of obedience. When we listen to God, we are laying aside our own agenda and priorities and needs and opening ourselves up to the course that God has charted for us.
The word translated “obey” in the Old Testament means to hear. In the New Testament, several words describe obedience. One word means to hear or to listen in a state of submission. Another word simply translates obey as trust. Our obedient response to God’s Word is a response of trust and faith. To really hear God’s word is to obey God’s word.
It’s easy to get stressed out or turned off by the subject of praying. I think that might be because many of us have grown up with the belief that there is a right way and a wrong way to pray. We’ve been taught techniques and rules for praying. But praying is really just starting a conversation with God, and listening for an answer. Start a conversation, and see where it goes.
When we do this it often leads to an awakening experience. Maybe not as dramatic as this vision on the mountain, but an awakening experience nonetheless.
Consider the experience of Albert Schweitzer. He was a pastor, author, university professor and internationally known concert organist from Germany. One evening he read an article about the suffering of people living the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. The author of the article wrote, “As I sit here in Africa, it is my prayer that the eyes of someone on whom the eye of God has already fallen will read and be awakened to the call and say, “Here am I.””
After finishing the article, Albert Schweitzer prayed, “My search has ended; I am coming.”
He applied to medical school and earned his license. In 1913, he sailed to French Equatorial Africa where he opened up his first hospital in a converted chicken coop. Over the next four decades, Schweitzer and his wife treated thousands of patients with illnesses such as malaria and leprosy. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1953 for his medical mission in Africa. At his death, he was buried on the grounds of his hospital.(4)
So as we approach the beginning of a new Lenten season, let us pray, and simply listen for God’s response, And God will provide an awakening experience- a glorious vision of the Kingdom that is coming.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p39.
2. Ibid… p40.
3. Ibid… p40.
4. Ibid… p41-42.
02-20-2022 By D Grace of God
Thomas J Parlette
“By D Grace of God”
Luke 6: 27-38
2/20/22
I have a pop quiz for you this morning. How much money would you say Ameri8cans lost to internet scams and online crime in 2020? Would you believe 4.2 billion dollars! I know, hard to believe. And that’s in just 1 year. Internet scams are an increasing problem all over the world.(1)
If I were to ask for a quick show of hands, how many of you have gotten an email or a message on social media that you suspected was a scam? Probably all of us – it’s a pretty common occurrence.
I read an excellent story on the blog Now I Know! by Dan Lewis about a potential internet scammer. A few years ago, a man from Utah named Ben Taylor got a Facebook message from a man named Joel Willie. Joel Willie was from Liberia, and was trying to run a type of scam called an “advance-fee scam” – you’ve probably seen examples of this. He was trying to convince Ben Taylor, this stranger from Utah, that he was in line to collect a large sum of money, but first he had to pay some small fees up-front to claim the money. If Ben Taylor would help him pay the up-front costs, Joel Willie promised he would split the large sum of money with him.
Ben recognized this as a scam right away, but he decided to play along just for fun. Ben has his own You Tube channel, and he thought it would be instructive to record his interactions with Joel so he could show his viewers how to spot scams.
And this is where the story gets good. Ben decided to turn the scam around. He claimed that he ran a photography business and would pay Joel to take some photos of African sunsets. To his surprise, Joel came through with some pretty decent photos. So Ben did a strange thing – the bought Joel Willie, the scammer from Liberia, a new camera. He sent him the camera and asked for more photos. And the pictures Joel sent were definitely better quality this time around. Joel also sent an enthusiastic message saying that he was committing himself to their new photography partnership.
Now Ben had a situation on his hands. He had told Joel he would pay him for good photos. And Joel trusted him. So if Ben didn’t come through, he would be guilty of running a scam as well. What should he do? Ben decided to print Joel’s photos in a small booklet and advertise it for sale on his YouTube channel. He titled the booklet after a phrase Joel used in his emails: By D Grace of God. He only charged $8.00 per booklet. Within a short time, he had sold $1,000.00 worth of booklets.
And this is where the story gets even better. Ben sent all the money to Joel on one condition – that he donate half of it to a local Liberian charity. Joel gladly did exactly that.
And now for the best part of the story. In 2018, Ben Taylor traveled to Liberia to meet his new business partner, Joel Willie. The two men took more photos and published a second book detailing the strange and wonderful story of their business partnership. Their two books have raised $90,000. Some of the money has gone to Joel Willie for all his hard work. But most of it has gone to do good works in Liberia. It has been used to buy food for the hungry, to purchase Christmas care packages for children, and to save a local school.(2)
I love a story with a happy ending – especially one with a happy ending for everyone involved. So I think the title of their first book is so appropriate – By D Grace of God – because this story could’ve ending so differently. The story of a scammer, became a story of generosity, hope and even new beginnings – by D grace of God.
This morning we hear some familiar words from Jesus. They are part of what Matthew presents as the Sermon on the Mount. But in Luke, Jesus teaches the crowd on a level place, so scholars call this series of teachings the Sermon on the Plain. Which fits nicely, because Jesus’ words here are plain and simple. straight-forward advice: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Plain words – but certainly no easy task.
Pastor David Lose has a great perspective on this teaching. He writes, “Jesus isn’t offering a set of simple rules by which to get by or get ahead in this world but is inviting us into a whole other world. A world that is not about measuring and counting and weighing and competing and judging and paying back and hating and all the rest. But instead, is about love. Love for those who have loved you. Love for those who haven’t. Love even for those who have hated you.”(3)
I think we can understand all of Jesus’ teachings better when we view them as an invitation into a whole other world. Because our world is all about measuring, counting competing, judging, paying back and all the rest. And we see the results of that way of life. Jesus wants to set us free from that way of thinking, that way of life.
I know many people who resist any religion because they think it will put too many restrictions on their life. But sometimes restrictions are a gift. Maybe you’ve had the experience of walking through a mega superstore and being unable to choose a brand of soap because they are too many options. Once I went to Fleet Farm to get some oil for our snow blower, and I left baffled because I didn’t know what kind I needed – too many choices. Having too many options can actually short circuit your capacity for making wise decisions. Instead, Jesus makes things simple for us. Jesus whittles down our options. Hate, judgment, retaliation, revenge – those are no longer on the table. Jesus leaves us with only one option – love.
So, what would this kind of love look like in real life? What we see here is that Jesus calls us to a courageous love. In May 2021, a sixth grade girl walked into her middle school in Rigby, Idaho, pulled a handgun out of her backpack and began shooting into the school hallway. A nightmare come true.
Math teacher Krista Gneiting rushed her class to safety, then went out into the hallway to help a wounded student. That’s when she saw the shooter. In an interview with ABC News, Gneiting said, “It was a little girl, and my brain couldn’t quite grasp that. I just knew when I saw that gun, I had to get that gun.”
So she approached the girl and began talking to her. She slowly removed the gun from the girl’s hands. And then she wrapped her arms around the shooter and hugged her until the police came. As Gneiting said, “I just kept hugging her, loving her and letting her know that we were going to get through this together.”(4)
Krista Gneiting’s courageous love changed the ending to that story. Instead of more students getting shot and possibly dying, she turned a moment of violence into an opportunity for radical and courageous love. For followers of Jesus, hate, judgment, retaliation, revenge – all those options are off the table. Instead, Jesus calls us to respond to our enemies with a courageous love.
Another thing we see in this passage is that Jesus calls us to a generous love. Phil Robertson, the star of the reality show Duck Dynasty, says that he once had a problem with people stealing fish from the nets he had placed along the river. At first, he patrolled the river in an attempt to stop them. But then he read the passage from Romans 12 that says to give your enemy food and drink, and to overcome evil with good – a passage clearly inspired by Jesus’ teachings here. So Robertson decided he would no longer protect his nets.
Instead, the next time he caught someone trying to steal fish, he pulled up the net and poured the fish into the man’s boat. Then he told the man to invite his family over for a fish fry. And he told him he would gladly give him more fish whenever he needed it. After a few more times of giving away fish to would-be thieves, Robertson discovered something – he was losing fewer and fewer fish. The more he offered to give away free fish, the less anyone wanted to steal from him.(5)
Love is the engine that drives generosity. Generosity is risky. There is no guarantee that your giving will result in any benefit to you. But Jesus didn’t give to get anything in return. He gave because his love for us compelled him to.
Of course, the opposite is true as well. Fear is the engine that drives stinginess, selfishness and greed. Chuck Collins is the great-grandson of Oscar Mayer, the German immigrant who founded a meat company worth millions of dollars.
Chuck Collins was set to inherit a fortune when he became an adult, but instead, he did something shocking. He gave it all away. All of it. Collins was inspired to give away his fortune by the tenants of a mobile home park. Yes, a mobile home park.
The owner of the land on which the park sat was going to sell it. So all the tenants would have to move. The only way they could keep their community was to raise 35,000 to buy the land themselves. Collins considered just giving them the money for the land. But before he could do that, the tenants banded together and raised the money themselves. Those who couldn’t afford to pay anything didn’t have to worry. Their neighbors who could afford it covered the cost for them. All the tenants got to remain.
The tenants’ generosity changed the course of Chuck Collins life. As he said, “It made me think, ‘I want some of what they have. What they have is a community that stands up for each other and that’s all in for each other. That’s the kind of world I want to live in.’”(6)
That’s the kind of world I want to live in. That’s what the Kingdom of God looks like. Hate divides; generosity unifies. Hate creates division; generosity creates community. Hate oppresses; generosity overcomes. Jesus calls us to a courageous love. Jesus calls us to a generous love.
Jesus also calls us to an unconditional love. His plain words to us are – “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you. Even sinners do that.” Love unconditionally, and be merciful, just as God is merciful.”
George Wallace served as Governor of Alabama from 1962-1987. In that time, he was known for his support of racist “Jim Crow” laws and his opposition to integration and equality for Black citizens. In 1972, George Wallace was shot and paralyzed in a failed assassination attempt. He was taken by surprise when he received a visit in the hospital from Shirley Chisholm, the first Black congresswoman. Wallace was a staunch opponent of Chisholm’s. He asked her what “her people” would say about her visiting him in the hospital.
Chisholm replied, “I know what they’re going to say. But I wouldn’t want what happened to you to happen to anyone.” Her words brought George Wallace to tears.
A couple years later, Shirley Chisholm was fighting for minimum wage for domestic workers, and George Wallace approached his colleagues and advocated for her legislation. With his support, the legislation passed.(7)
We all like stories with happy endings. But look through the history of humanity and you see a story filled with hatred, violence, suffering and injustice. It didn’t start that way. And it doesn’t have to end that way. In Jesus, God invites us into a whole new world – the Kingdom of God. We contribute to that Kingdom by following Jesus example and living with a courageous, generous, and unconditional love. In this way, we can change the ending to the story – by D grace of God.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p35.
2. Ibid… p35.
3. Ibid… p36.
4. Ibid… p36.
5. Ibid… p36-37
6. Ibid… p37.
7. Ibid… p37-38.
02-06-2022 How to Revive a Tired Spirit
Thomas J Parlette
“How to Revive a Tired Spirit”
Luke 5:1-11
2/6/22
A study came out last year that was disturbing, but not necessarily surprising. The World Health Organization did a study of people around the world who worked 55 or more hours per week compared to those worked 35-40 hours per week. The study covered health and workplace data from the 1970’s to 2018 and included workers in 154 countries. They concluded that, “People who working 55 or more hours each week face an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared to people following the widely accepted standard of working 35-40 hours a week.” They also estimated that more than 745,000 people worldwide died in 2016 from the physical stress of working excess hours. Those are some scary numbers.
Of course, this study was completed before the recession caused by the CVOVID 19 pandemic. A lot of companies cut their workforce, and the remaining employees worked longer hours to compensate. Also, many people began working from home, which made it harder to leave work at work. The result – working unpaid overtime.(1)
We all know that the U.S. is the nation of “rise and grind.” Hard work is in our American DNA. But so is being tired. We complain about how busy and tired we are. We compare our busy schedules and shrug our shoulders. “Oh well, that’s just how life is. What can we do about it?”
A seasoned doctor was training his latest group of interns on diagnostic techniques. He wrapped up the training by saying, “Never ask your patients if they feel tired.” Why, someone asked. “Because,” said the doctor, “everybody feels tired.” He may be right about that. Everybody feels tired.
Now, I’m not against hard work. It’s good to use your skills and energies for the good of the world around you – that’s what God calls us to do. But most of us also understand that sometimes our work can be unfulfilling. When we give our best efforts to something and we don’t see any results, it’s easy to lose heart. That tired feeling isn’t just bone deep – it can be Spirit-deep.
Author Max Lucado tells the story of a man named Joseph Crater, a New York Supreme Court Justice who disappeared in August 1930. Crater was just 45 years old at the time. He had gone to dinner with some friends one night. After he left the restaurant, he hopped in a taxi and rode away, never to be seen again.
No evidence ever turned up to explain Justice Crater’s disappearance. But on the night he disappeared, he left a check for a large amount of money for his wife. Attached to the check was a brief note. It read simply, “I am very weary. Love, Joe.”(2)
Sometimes the tiredness we feel runs Spirit-deep, and it steals away our joy, our peace, our hope. That’s not what God intended for our lives. Our God is a creative God, and God made us for peace, hope and joy. So that Spirit-deep tiredness poisons the life that God intended for us to have.
That’s why we can relate to Simon Peter and the other disciples in our passage for today. Crowds of people have come to the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret to hear Jesus preach. On the edge of the lake are the fishing boats that have come in after a long night’s work.
Unfortunately, Simon Peter and his colleagues had an unsuccessful night. Jesus climbed into Simon’s boat and asked him to push out a little ways from shore, so people could see and hear him a bit better. After Jesus finished teaching, he told Simon Peter to sail into deeper water and let his nets down again.
Now put yourself in Peter’s sandals for a moment. He’s just finished working all night, he’s caught nothing. He’s tired, hungry and ready to go home and rest. He was tired and ready to quit. And now Jesus is telling him how to do his job. Simon growls back, Master, we’ve worked hard all night and we’ve caught nothing.” This is another spot where I think there was a long pause, as Jesus and Peter have a bit of a stare down. Finally, Peter relents – “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
And right there, at that moment in the story, Jesus shows us how to revive a tired spirit – by doing meaningful work. A great way to stay energized and effective in your work and in your life is to seek to do something that you truly believe in.
Back in 2013, officials from the California Department of Social Services shut down an eldercare facility in San Francisco named Valley Springs Manor. They shut it down because the facility had failed several inspections. The Department of Social Services planned to relocate the 20 residents who were still living there to other, safer facilities.
Sadly, the owners of Valley Springs Manor didn’t wait for the Social Services workers to complete their relocation efforts. They ceased operations immediately and announced that they weren’t paying their employees any more. So most of the employees walked out, leaving behind 16 elderly, vulnerable residents and just two employees to care for them.
The two employees who refused to leave were the cook Maurice Rowland and the janitor Miguel Alvarez. These two men just couldn’t imagine abandoning the residents. So without any help or pay, Rowland and Alvarez worked around the clock for two straight days taking care of 16 people. They fed them, dispensed their medications and kept them safe. Each man would go home for one hour every 24 hours to take a shower, then would come back to the Manor.
Two days after Valley Spring’s owners and other employees left, workers from the Department of Social Services showed up to relocate the last residents. They were amazed to discover that the cook and the janitor had been working for 48 hours straight.
When asked why they stayed around, Miguel Alvarez said, “If we left, they wouldn’t have anybody. Maurice Rowland said, “ I just couldn’t see myself going home. Even though they weren’t family, they kinda’ felt like family for this short period of time.”(3)
Those men found meaning in stressful, exhaustive work by thinking of the residents as family. Doing meaningful work is one of the best ways to revive a tired spirit.
Another way is to catch God’s vision for your life. You’ve heard it said that God has a plan for your life. In no way is your life meaningless. You are here for a reason. To invigorate your life, pray that God will show you that reason. That’s catching God’s vision for your life.
I like how author Mike Slaughter puts it. He once noted that people have a tendency to view life through either a microscopic lens or a telescopic lens. If you view life through a microscopic lens, then you’re focusing on your current circumstances, current challenges, your current problems and stresses. You are focused on the details of the now. And that can get pretty overwhelming.
But people who view life with a telescopic lens see a bigger picture for their lives. They are not stressed out or trapped by their current circumstances. They look forward to what God is creating in the future. Whereas microscopic people focus on the problems of the now, telescopic people focus on the possibilities coming in the future.(4)
When Jesus told Simon to sail out to the deep water and cast his nets again, Simon said, “We’ve worked hard all night and we’ve caught nothing.” That’s a microscopic response. But then he relents and says, “But because you say so, I will let down my nets.” That’s the moment that Simon opens up to Jesus’ leading – he takes a telescopic look at the situation. And Simon and his colleagues catch so many fish that they have to load them into 2 boats.
Simon is so ashamed of his doubts that he gets down on his knees and says, “Go away from me, Lord – I am a sinful man.” But Jesus didn’t do this to shame Simon. He did it to share with Simon a new vision for his life. “Don’t be afraid – from now on you will fish for people.”
Jesus is talking to us as well as Simon Peter. Don’t be afraid, he says to us, from now on, you will fish for people. Whatever work you do, whatever hobbies you have, wherever you find yourself over the course of your day, God wants to work through you to bring people grace and peace. That’s the new vision God has for all of our lives.
That reminds me of an interesting story I read recently about our country’s space program. It seems that when engineers at NASA sent the Perseverance rover on an historic mission to Mars in 2020, they hid a coded message in the rover’s parachute. The parachute had an unusual red and white pattern… Alan Chen announced that this strange pattern hid a secret message. Then he challenged folks to find and decode the message on rover’s parachute. The message was, “Dare mighty things!”(5)
Dare mighty things. I love that. That’s what Jesus was saying to Simon Peter. You’re looking at your life through a microscopic lenses. You only see if you’ve caught enough fish to feed your family and turn a profit. But I want you to look through a telescopic lens and catch my vision for your life. And that’s exactly what those weary fishermen did. They changed lives and they changed the world. Catching God’s vision for your life can revive a tired spirit.
This passage also shows us that committing yourself to a wide angle view of life can also revive a tired spirit. How does the story end today? After Jesus offered Simon and his friends a new vision for their lives, we read, They pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed him.” Notice what they didn’t do – they didn’t go home first and catch up on sleep. They didn’t even go out and sell their tremendous catch – at least the Bible doesn’t tell us they did. They just left everything to follow Jesus. They took a wide angle view of life.
I just mentioned that idea from Mike Slaughter about microscopic lenses and telescopic lenses as it refers to focusing on the now and looking towards the future. But I think you can do the same thing with a standard view versus a wide angle view. Think of a camera – even the camera you have on you right now – the one in your phone. Most of the time we take a picture with the standard view. But most of us have wide angle options that take in much more. Some even have panoramic mode where you can take a 360 degree picture. This allows you to see what lies all around you, all the possibilities that exist, all that lies beyond your standard view of life. That’s taking the wide angle view.
In the 1920’s, Lillian Dickson and her husband, Jim, moved to Taiwan to serve as missionaries. Once the Dickson’s children were grown, Lillian took a wide angle view of her life and wanted to begin a mission of her own. With Jim’s blessing, she set off to reach people in the most remote region of Taiwan. She worked with medical missionaries at first, then she founded a school. She spent more than 30 years working among the poorest and most remote groups of people in the country. She walked thousands of miles through thick forests and rushing rivers to bring medicine, food, education and love to people in desperate need.
After founding schools, orphanages, clinics and churches, Lillian went on to found Mustard Seed International, a mission organization that is still in operation today. Someone once asked Lillian Dickson how she could continue working so enthusiastically when she was surrounded by an ocean of suffering that could never be emptied. And Lillian replied, “I just scoop out my bucketful.”(6)
What a great answer. When you commit to a wide angle view of life, all Jesus asks is that you scoop out your bucketful – and others will be joining you. Jesus will work through you, and all the others just out of your picture, to accomplish God’s purposes.
So when you become tired, discouraged or filled with doubt about whether or not your efforts are making any difference, trust this – Jesus’ disciples faced harassment, rejection, imprisonment, beatings and even death because of their work. But they also convinced thousands of people that Jesus is Lord and Savior, the very Son of God. They planted churches all over the Roman Empire, Africa and Arabia. Today, over 1 billion people from every race and nation call themselves Christians. And you and I are here today because of the work of Peter, Paul and all the other apostles who committed their lives to further the message of Jesus.
So, find something meaningful to be involved with, don’t get caught up in the microscopic view of life and open yourself up to a wide angle view of how God is using you to bring about the Kingdom. Just scoop your own bucketful – God will take care of the results.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p 27.
2. Ibid… p 27.
3. Ibid… p 28.
4. Ibid… p 28.
5. Ibid… p 29.
6. Ibid… p 29-30.
02-13-2022 Trust Matters
Trust Matters
Jay Rowland
Jeremiah 17:5-10 (New Living Translation)
There’s a scene in my favorite comic strip, Charles Schulz’ Peanuts:
Charlie Brown is outside to practice kicking the football. As it happens his nemesis Lucy is also outside with a football. But she’s not playing with anyone. She’s sitting still as a stone, holding the ball in place for any kicker to kick it.
But there’s no other kids around to kick it. Only Charlie Brown.
And Charlie Brown wants nothing more than to have a chance to kick a football with all his might.
Lucy knows this somehow. And she is eager to lure Charlie to take a run at it, then pull the ball away at the last second, then see Charlie Brown launched into the air instead of the ball, carried by his momentum, until gravity drops Charlie Brown to the ground with a loud thud, followed by his plaintive, “argh”.
It becomes a recurring scene. Every year as summer turns to fall, Charlie Brown is outside amid the falling leaves ready to practice kicking the football again. And of course Lucy is outside too. Just sitting there, holding a football to the ground, not paying attention, just holding the ball ready for anyone to run up and kick it into the sky.
And even though past experience proves that Lucy cannot be trusted, we know Charlie Brown will trust her again. He just can’t help it.
“C’mon Charlie Brown. I won’t pull the ball away this time,” Lucy says. “Trust me.”
“Good grief,” Charlie Brown mutters to himself. And with that he takes another run at the ball Lucy is holding.
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked …”
(Jeremiah 17:9 NLV)
When I was a child, I wished so hard that Lucy would leave the ball in place JUST ONCE so that Charlie Brown could finally kick it. I never realized back then that this familiar scene from my favorite comic strip reflects a human dilemma that is played out in some manner in the world every day.
By that I mean the dilemma of trust.
The history of the world and the history of God’s people, it seems, is a long history of vacillating trust in God. As if God would be like Lucy with Charlie Brown, waiting to mess with us.
Generation after generation, day after day, it seems, God’s people play out this human dilemma: whether to trust our lives and our common good to God’s well-established record of care and faithfulness or whether to trust more in ourselves alone to make our own way in this often unfair, uncaring world.
Far too often we impulsively choose to trust only ourselves without pausing to consider the trustworthy Love of God and God’s faithfulness both of which have a very good track record.
Far too often, especially the past few years, the result of our over-reliance on self-reliance is unnecessary harm disrupting individual lives, families, relationships, neighborhoods, communities, and now even the planet. Too often lately the result of self-reliance is a blurring of the common good in favor of individual freedom and individual rights. That’s the world we’re navigating through today.
* * *
The prophet Jeremiah was called by God to be God’s spokesperson to the leaders of Judah, God’s chosen people. The situation that was playing out then was that the leaders of Judah sort of declared their independence from God--as odd as that sounds. I’m sure it started out innocently enough. But somehow the leaders, much like our leaders today, were determined to establish security, strength and peace whatever buzz terms were most appealing at the time. They were working hard to show “the world” that God’s people wouldn’t let themselves be pushed around, but were standing tall and making their own way in the world.
The collection of verses in chapter 17 features a mixture of poetic verse and poetic imagery sharing God’s care and God’s wisdom to God’s people through Jeremiah. Wisdom the leaders of Judah ignored.
Judah’s leaders felt compelled to match wits with their superpower neighbors (Babylon & Persia) in spite of their neighbors’ superpower-economies, superpower-production capacity and superpower-militaries. Unfazed by their overwhelming vulnerability, Judah’s leaders put their confidence not in God’s care but in their own clever schemes and alliances designed to protect their tiny nation by playing off their mighty neighbors against each other. Meanwhile Judah’s religious elite endorsed and even practiced the idol worship and the cultic acts—in the very Temple itself—practiced by their superpower neighbors hoping to earn some political equity on the world stage.
How smart! How savvy! Never mind that idol worship and those cultic acts were in clear violation of God’s most sacred trust and covenant made with the people of Judah.
As it turned out, Judah’s leaders dramatically overplayed their limited hand, provoking one of their superpower neighbors, ultimately leading to the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and everything they cherished. They clearly succeeded in securing their independence from God. No consolation as they were taken captive to Babylon. How’s THAT for independence, eh? So much for their clever schemes and religious posturings designed to leverage their own security, prosperity and peace
But it didn’t have to be that way. I think we have a tendency to invoke the Angry God of the Old Testament—that God was so ticked off at God’s people that the invasion and destruction was God-ordained—an inescapable fate. No! This was NOT a foregone conclusion, otherwise God would not have called Jeremiah in the first place. Sure God was ticked off, but even so, God faithfully warned the people through Jeremiah of the many dangers they were unleashing.
But Judah’s leaders chose to ignore God’s repeated warnings--ignoring Jeremiah, dismissing him as a crazy religious zealot.
And so they were taken captive to a foreign land—UNTHINKABLE—where they remained for the next fifty years. And so there was now going to be division among God’s people—a natural result of the distance between the relative few—the intellectual, political, religious elite who were deported—and the vast majority of Judeans left to literally pick up the broken pieces. Learning how to worship without a Temple and how to live as God’s faithful people under the military occupation of a foreign (super)power.
Fifty years of separation from home, community and neighborhood to ponder (not that anyone did) how their actions and their choices, their greed and self-righteousness and arrogance worked out. Fifty years to ponder deep wounds and divisions inflicted upon their community and nation.
The poetry here in chapter 17, the image-rich poetic wisdom from God underscores what scholar Ronald Clements calls “the inner human dimension of choice and individual responsiveness that lies within every human historical situation. … the essential dimension of individual responsibility and decision-making in the flow of events.” (Clements, Jeremiah: Interpretation Commentary, p.108-9)
It seems to me that we are now living through a similar experience today. We are in many ways experiencing the consequences (on a large scale) of inner human dimension of choice and individual responsibility and decision-making.
Walter Brueggemann writes, “a destiny of either life or death is determined by the object of one’s trust. … the metaphor of the withered shrub or watered tree … emerges in a culture that characteristically is desperate for water (which) makes clear that trust is a life-and-death matter. No tree or shrub can survive without water. There are no viable substitutes. Likewise, for Judah (there is) no viable substitute for genuine trust in Yahweh” (Brueggemann, Exile and Homecoming; A Commentary on Jeremiah, p159-60. Emphasis mine.)
Here is what makes the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, particularly the prophets, such a tremendous resource for us, a treasure of wisdom from God. For therein we discover numerous experiences of our ancestors’ epic failures and the wisdom that comes from such failure. When we ask that our imaginations to be filled and guided by the Holy Spirit of God, we have access to a wealth of human-divine interaction; experiences and lessons upon which to draw, and from which to learn; experiences which can help shape our future AND deepen our trust in God’s ways and God’s faithfulness. For there we see numerous experiences of God’s faithfulness on display through the hardest events and periods God’s people have had to endure.
I know sometimes we’re convinced that all the chaotic events of the recent years as they continue today are unprecedented, or new or unique to this generation. And in some ways this is true of course. But in many ways it is also clear that so much of the struggle beneath the surface “issues” is about a very basic human dilemma (trust in God vs trust in Self) playing itself out among us.
* * *
As I was thinking about all of this, I found myself remembering a game you may have heard of or played. It’s sometimes played as part of an ice-breaking activity for small groups or as a team-building exercise. Or in a church youth group. It’s called Trust-Fall. For those who’ve never heard of it, you are paired up with a partner. This partner stands a couple of feet directly behind you, behind your back so you cannot see them. You are supposed to let yourself fall backward, keeping your body straight like a plank. (And you’re not supposed to ask, “ready?” before you fall back, but I’m sure that rule is ignored as a matter of routine.)
The person standing directly behind you is supposed to catch you so that you do not hit the floor. Then you trade places. This game lets you experience the emotional (and even the physical) dimensions of trust, the raw vulnerability it takes to let yourself fall backward, and risk falling hard to the floor, trusting the person behind you that you cannot see is ready and will catch you to keep you from falling to the hard floor.
It’s hard to say which role is more nerve-wracking: falling backward--trusting that the person behind you will catch you, or the role of having to catch another human being when they fall. In both roles, in my experience, the mind fills with chatter--questions and doubts. I’m sure folks who have been invited to participate in this “game” have said, “Nope. NO WAY. Not doing this.” And I get it. Totally understandable.
Given the vast changes and shifts happening in our lives and in our world, obviously we’re all doing our best to make our best decisions and choices, and to allow our institutions the necessary leeway required to function. And we can and do quibble with our leaders’ motives and integrity, the key for our sanity and for our hope is to invest as much if not more time cultivating trust in GOD. Not as some escape from life’s harsh realities and conflicts, but in order to build up our spirit and build the spiritual, mental and emotional resilience required to live in these uncertain times.
Scenes like this from Jeremiah and from the history of Judah are indispensable to building trust in God it seems to me. Here we can meet and collectively remember God’s faithfulness to God’s people shown in the midst of dire historical events and periods. Not to dismiss the unique and dire events and period confronting us today, but in order to avoid being overwhelmed; in order that we might learn how to function, or better yet, how to live with hope, with excitement, and with confidence. Not confidence that humanity will magically or suddenly change and behave and get our act together, but to remember that God has a way of bringing a unfaithful and untrustworthy humanity along God’s way. Not through divine coercion but through the ways of Love and Trust and Community, and through our personal gifts and experiences, and through the diversity of the Body of Christ that is the church and the communities of faith in every neighborhood, every city, every state and every nation on earth.
But on those particularly bad days, when it seems like all hope is naïve or lost amid human cruelty and ignorance, it may come down to a moment when we just have to learn to fall back, to let go, to just let ourselves fall. Not to “test God” but to let go of all the stress, all the anxiety, all the agony … just let it all GO, live to see another day, and trust that God is there and will be there to catch us when we fall.
I keep thinking about Brueggeman’s comment “ … a destiny of either life or death is determined by the object of our trust.” Sometimes we have no choice but to trust in flawed, human leaders. But even then, especially then, remember to trust God. You do have that choice.
For people like us who live by faith in God, trust in God truly is a life-and-death matter. That’s what it means to BE people of faith. Thanks be to God. Glory to God.
01-30-2022 Some Homework
Thomas J Parlette
“Some Homework”
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
1/30/22
We all know what it’s like to wake up from a frightening dream and think, “Wait a minute, was that real?” And once we get a little more alert, we realize that it was just a dream, and we hopefully fall back asleep.
Psychologists say there is one type of dream that is nearly universal – the dream of being unprepared for an exam. It’s awful isn’t it? School children all over the world report having this dream, or I should say nightmare, for that is what it truly is. In this dream, you realize on the day of the exam that you never showed up for class – you missed the entire semester. Or the exam questions are written in a foreign language you don’t recognize, or you completely forgot to study the night before.
Dr. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, studied these exam dreams and concluded that they are never about the exams we have failed. Rather, he discovered that these dreams usually involve exams in which we did well. So he believed that exam dreams were actually our brain’s way of reassuring us that we’ve faced this challenge before, did well, and we could do it again.
I hope he’s right – especially as we continue to face this COVID epidemic. It feels like we’re waking up and wondering – is this really happening, is this really happening again. But I like the thought that those panic dreams might be our brains way of reassuring us that we been through this before and we can do it again. That feeling of being unprepared helps us to relate to the situation of Jeremiah the prophet in our passage for today.
Jeremiah was a young priest in a small settlement near Jerusalem when God spoke to him one day and called him to be a prophet to the nations. Nothing scary about that, right? Don’t kid yourself.
I’ve often heard others say, “If God would just speak to me and tell me what to do, life would be so much easier.” I’ve thought that to myself as well. We all think that if God spoke to us in a clear, unmistakable way, we would feel immediate relief and would obey instantly. But look at all the people God spoke to in the Bible. Very few responded with, “Sounds great! I’m on it. Thanks for the clear directions, God.” No, almost everyone responded with fear, questions or excuses. So let’s not kid ourselves that we would be so faithful and courageous if God spoke to us. When God calls us to do something, it’s not unusual to respond with a little bit of fear, some questions and whole lot of excuses.
Jeremiah responds like we all probably would, with an excuse – I don’t know how to speak, I’m too young. Which might sound like a reasonable response – “No thank you Lord. I’m going to take a pass on this one. I’m not ready. I’m not the best choice for this. This just isn’t my thing.”
Reminds me of a comment a manager wrote in an employee evaluation: “He’s never been very successful. When an opportunity knocks, he complains about the noise.”(1)
Jeremiah wasn’t exactly complaining. He just wasn’t listening. All Jeremiah heard was the responsibility. He didn’t hear the reassurance. God never gives a responsibility without first giving reassurance. God never calls someone without first comforting them. God never appoints someone without first anointing them, to use religious and theological language.
Look at God’s words in the beginning of this passage: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”
These words are not just for Jeremiah – they are for us as well. God made us – God made you – for a purpose. In fact, God tells Jeremiah “… before you were born, I set you apart.” The word used here literally means “set apart for a sacred purpose” or “consecrated.” You weren’t just made for a purpose. You were made for a sacred purpose. For God’s purposes.
Dr. Robert Schuler – famous for coining the phrase “possibility thinking”– was once asked in an interview how he developed such a positive, optimistic outlook on life. He said he developed this attitude through his morning prayer time. Every morning he would pray, “Dear Lord, lead me to the person You want to speak to through my life today. Amen.”
When I first heard about that prayer during a youth group meeting during my high school years in Bloomington, Illinois, I thought– how could such a simple prayer change his whole outlook on life? Dr. Schuller says that that prayer caused him to see the people around him as opportunities for God’s blessings. Because of that prayer, every interaction became an opportunity for God to speak through him. Don’t misunderstand - he never assumed he had all the answers. No – that just meant that the burden wasn’t on him. God had all the answers and fill someone else’s need. Schuller saw himself as the delivery method, not the source of wisdom, comfort or love.
Wouldn’t it be great if we all could approach life like that, if we could view every moment as a limitless opportunity for God to work through us? Every moment, every conversation – no matter where you are or what you’re doing.
Another thing we can take away from this passage today is that, in order to accomplish God’s purposes, we must live without fear.
I like the story Pastor Peter Blackburn tells about a family camping trip to a national park in Australia a few years ago. The Blackburns and their friends spread out and explored the different hiking trails around their campsite.
Soon, Blackburn heard two of his sons calling for help. He looked up to see his sons and a friend had climbed a high rock ledge along one of the hiking trails and now they weren’t sure how to get down. Fortunately, the boys discovered a safe route on their own and soon rejoined the family at the campsite.
Once they returned, Blackburn had to remind them of one of the rules of rock climbing: never jump unless you can see where you’re going to land. And before you climb to a higher peak, make sure you see a way back down.(2)
That is great advice for rock climbers, but it’s not great advice for followers of Jesus Christ. God says – “If I say so, Jump, and I will catch you.” God says, “Climb out on the higher peak and trust that I will show you the way.” Listen again to God’s word’s to Jeremiah: “Do not say, I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”
How many opportunities are lost to fear – especially the fear of rejection. I don’t think anyone ever died of rejection. How many blessings wither and die in the face of our excuses, made out of fear. Fear shrinks our vision. Fear stunts our potential. Fear robs our potential impact. How? By making us doubt God’s call. Listen again to God’s words: “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” Repeat that to yourself a few times every day, “I will not be afraid for God is with me and will rescue me.” Then see what opportunities God brings your way.
Let me tell you about somebody who conquered her fear and is doing a lot of good in her community. After suffering through an abusive relationship, an addiction to alcohol, and a cancer diagnosis, Debrah Constance found success and stability as vice president of a major realty company in Los Angeles, California. In her role as vice president, she was also in charge of her company’s philanthropic giving. As a result, she developed an interest in helping kids in disadvantaged, crime-plagued neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles.
Through her volunteer work, Debrah sensed that she had a larger mission than running a successful real estate company. When she shared this growing conviction with a friend, he asked her, “What do you really want to do when you grow up?”
And without thinking, Debrah said, “All I really want to do is open a safe house for the kids at Jefferson High School.”
And her friend said, “Then just do it.”
And then the panic set in! Debrah began listing all the reasons she couldn’t open a safe house for young people. She, herself, had dropped out of high school. It would cost too much money. She didn’t have the education or the work experience.
And her friend looked her in the eye and said, “You can do it. And you must do it.”
That conversation led to the founding of a community center named A Place Called Home that serves hundreds of young people every day in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The workers at A Place Called Home offer counseling, academic tutoring, mentorships, vocational training, after-school programs in the arts and various sports. They also provide college scholarships, job placement, and a safe hangout for kids.(3)
Debrah Constance got over her fears and doubts, and look all she was able to accomplish.
The last take away from this passage is that in order to accomplish God’s purposes, we must trust God’s plan. Doing great things for God begins with the simple trust that the One who has called us will not leave us all alone as we seek to follow the call.
Recently I came across some wise words written by a finance blogger named Bob Lotich comparing God to an NFL quarterback. He wrote – “God loves throwing lead passes.”
God loves throwing lead passes. Lotich explains that a lead pass in football is when the quarterback throws a long pass not to where the receiver is, but to where the receiver is going.
Bob writes, “When you follow God’s principles, the results are almost always delayed. As in, when God asks us to do something, we rarely see the results immediately. We have to keep doing what God tells us to do – running – and trust that God will get us the results – the ball – somewhere down field… If I were playing catch with an NFL quarterback, and he said “Just start running and the ball will be there when you get there,” I would trust him. He’s a pro – he knows what he’s doing. How much more can we trust God when God says, “Just start running, I’ll take care of the rest.” Whatever you are trusting God for today,” says Bob Lotich, “just keep running, and trust that God has it all worked out.”(4)
That’s exactly what Jeremiah learned to do. God didn’t choose Jeremiah because of his outstanding skill and charisma. Look at the last verse from today’s passage: The Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. Today I appoint you over the nations to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
God’s plan is not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about God working through us. As the Lord said to Jeremiah, “I have put my words in your mouth.”
God made us all for a sacred purpose. Every moment you are alive is a sacred opportunity to good works that God prepared in advance for you to do. The only obstacle between you and God’s sacred purpose is your willingness.
So today, I have some homework for you to do. Keep repeating that phrase – “I will not be afraid for God is with me and will rescue me” – three times, every day. And then, just keep running, and trust that God’s got it all worked out.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p23.
2. Ibid… p24.
3. Ibid… p25.
4. Ibid… p25-26.
01-23-2022 First Sermon
Thomas J Parlette
“First Sermon”
Luke 4: 14-21
1/23/22
It’s tough to preach your first sermon at a new church. Most pastors experience at least a few jitters as they head to a new church. You wonder all sorts of things. Will the sound system work? What kind of Pulpit or podium will there be? Will the congregation stay awake? It can be nerve-wracking. Not exactly on par with the stresses faced by police officers or brain surgeons or even a middle school teacher, but nerve-wracking in it’s own way.
I like the story a pastor named John Jewell tells about his first time as a supply pastor at Good Hope Church in a small town in Missouri. A local minister gave Jewell directions to the church – this was in the days before GPS – and sent him off with the words, “They’ll be expecting you.” That made Pastor Jewell feel pretty good. He hoped the congregation would be open and welcoming to him.
But when Pastor Jewell got to the church, no one welcomed him. No one even seemed to notice he had arrived. A few minutes before the service was supposed to start, Jewell tapped the shoulder of a man sitting up front and introduced himself- “Hi, my name is John Jewell and I am preaching this morning.”
The man responded, “Nice to meet you John, but I’m the new pastor here and I thought I was preaching!”
Talk about an unwelcome surprise. But the pastor cleared up the confusion quickly when he explained that there was another church with the same name just a few miles down the road in the next town. So Pastor Jewell sped to the other Good Hope Church as fast as he could, but he arrived to see the congregation walking out the doors. They had grown tired of waiting for the guest preacher who showed up late.(1)
I don’t think Jesus ever showed up late to the synagogue on a Sabbath day. If he did, the scriptures don’t mention it. This was Jesus first sermon, given in his hometown synagogue. Unlike almost every other preacher ever – he didn’t seem nervous at all. If they had gotten an advance copy of Jesus’ first sermon – the established religious leaders may have been a little nervous though. Because Jesus wasn’t just going to interpret God’s word. He was going to fulfill it.
The passage Jesus read was a prophecy from Isaiah, who had lived about 700 years earlier. But instead of interpreting this passage for his listeners in the synagogue, Jesus simply ended his reading of the scripture by saying – “Today this scripture if fulfilled in your hearing.” Boom! Quite a “mic drop” moment as we say these days. Jesus, a local boy, a carpenter from a family of modest means, had just announced that he was the Messiah sent from God. Wow – how’s that for something to talk about over brunch?
The nation of Israel had waited around 1,000 years for God to send the Messiah, the Anointed One. They believed the Messiah would be a descendant of King David, observant of Jewish law, a righteous judge, and a great military leader. But they didn’t expect one of their own would claim that title for himself. So what was Jesus talking about? If he was the long-promised Messiah, the hope of the nation, then what was God revealing the Divine nature and plan for the world?
Well first, we learn that Christ came to bring good news to the poor. That’s a vital truth to understand about the Messiah. That tells us so much about God’s heart, God’s character and God’s priorities. And when you have good news – who do you want to tell. You want to share it with the people most affected by the news – and in this case, it is the poor.
Think about our society for a moment. How would you like to be poor in America? How would you like to have limited access to health care? How would you like to own a car that you couldn’t keep in good working order – that sometimes breaks down at the most inconvenient times? And let’s face it – is there ever a convenient time? How would you like to watch your child’s teeth rot out because you couldn’t afford a trip to the dentist? I could go on, but you get the idea. In the most affluent society in the world, there are still people for whom everyday life is a nightmare. Those are the people about whom God is most concerned.
Jesus identified with the least and lowest. It is no accident that Christ’s first bed was a manger where cattle fed. It is no accident that Jesus spent his adult life without a home of his own, without any possessions beyond what he could carry as he traveled from town to town sharing the message of God’s love with everyone he met. And listen to how author Michael Frost summed up Jesus life: “Regardless of how much many affluent pastors might love their state-of-the-art air-conditioned church sanctuaries with their coffee bars, bookshops, and valet parking lots, we cannot forget that Jesus died on the cross naked and empty-handed.”(2)
God cares about the poor. God’s love is limitless. God’s compassion knows no bounds. And God expects the same outlook from Jesus’ disciples.
Jim Wallis is the founder of the Sojouners Community and the magazine of the same name. The Sojourners Community advocates for peace and social justice based on the teachings of Jesus. Their ministries focus on meeting the needs of the poor.
When Wallis was in seminary, he and some classmates were deeply impressed by all the verses in the Bible emphasizing God’s concern for the poor. So they took a Bible and a pair of scissors, and cut out every verse that related to justice for the poor, not exploiting the poor, sharing your resources with the poor and God’s love for the poor.
As author Richard Stearns wrote about their project, “They wanted to see what a compassionless Bible looked like. By the time they finished, nearly two thousand verses lay on the floor, and a book of tattered pages remained.”(3)
They wanted to see what the Bible would like if you eliminated compassion and concern for the poor. And when they took those verses out, there was very little left. When you read the Bible, especially the words of Jesus, God in the flesh, God’s compassion and concern for the poor leap off the page. Indeed, it holds the whole Bible together. And so Jesus’ first sermon began with the words: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
We also learn that God’s love covers everyone who is hurting… of every station in life. Jesus’ next words in this passage are, “He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus meant these words literally. In his life on this earth, he set people free, he healed them, he stood up for those who were oppressed. He welcomed the rejects and looked out for the forgotten. He was a voice for the voiceless. Jesus never wavered in his mission to bring hope, healing and freedom to those who were most in need, including those whom he called the “poor in spirit.” That’s an interesting phrase. It says to me that we can be rich in things and still be poor in spirit. You can be wonderfully gifted and still be poor in spirit.
Christ came to bring a message of hope and salvation to a world desperate for the love of God. And no matter how good our life looks on the outside, many of us suffer from a poverty of spirit. Many of us are imprisoned by shame, anger, envy, fear, guilt and sorrow. No amount of money or titles or friends or accomplishments can fill that sense of emptiness or fear or hopelessness.
But in his first sermon, Jesus says, “I have been sent to proclaim freedom from all that plagues you.”
We also learn from today’s passage that God brings us hope no matter what our circumstances. And hope is freedom for those in bondage and wealth to those in poverty. Because this passage shows us we have a God who loves us and cares about our challenges, our heartbreaks, our suffering enough to endure them himself. When we understand that kind of love, we can live more joyfully and freely because we know a God who loves us that much will comfort and strengthen and provide for us in all circumstances.
Eddie Ogan is a woman of amazing faith in God, which she learned from her mother, who had to raise Eddie and her six siblings. One of Eddie’s favorite stories from her childhood involves the Easter of 1946. One month before Easter Sunday, the pastor announced that the church would be collecting a special offering for a needy family in the community.
After church, the Ogan family discussed how they could give sacrificially to the collection for the needy family. They decided to buy a large bag of potatoes and live off that for one whole month. This would allow them to save up $20. They also decided to use as little electricity as possible for that month to save money on the electric bill. The children volunteered to get yard work and baby-sitting jobs to raise extra money. They even bought yarn to weave potholders to sell in the neighborhood.
Eddie says that this month before Easter was one of the most joyful her family had ever experienced. They were so excited to see their offering money grow a little bit each day. They couldn’t wait for Easter Sunday when they could put their money in the offering plate. The idea that they could help someone in need, that they could pass along some of the blessings God had given them, gave them so much joy that the extra sacrifices and work become fun.
That Easter Sunday morning, a heavy rain poured down on the town. Eddie and her siblings put cardboard in their shoes to cover the holes and worn places, and they all walked to church. They had raised $70 dollars for the special offering, and they couldn’t contain their smiles when they placed those bills in the offering plate. After church, they sang all the way home, and celebrated with an Easter lunch of boiled eggs and potatoes.
To their shock, the pastor came knocking on their door that afternoon. He spoke briefly with Eddie’s mother, then left. When Mrs. Ogan came back into the kitchen, all the joy had drained from her face. In her hand she held an envelope that contained that morning’s special offering for a needy family. They envelope held $87. Eddie and her siblings were in shock. Suddenly they realized that they were the poor family in church. They’d never thought of themselves as poor. In fact, they felt sorry for families who didn’t have the blessings they had. They had love and faith, good friends and a safe home.
A sadness settled over the house that week. No one touched the special offering money. The children even protested when their mother woke them up for church the next Sunday. They didn’t want to go, but Mrs. Ogan insisted.
That morning there was a missionary visiting the church. He spoke about his work in Africa and the needs of the churches there. He asked the congregation to contribute to putting a solid roof on an African church. All it would cost was $100.
Mrs. Ogan looked over at her children. They looked back at her, and slowly the whole family started smiling. Without a word, Mrs. Ogan pulled out the special offering envelope from her purse and dropped it in the offering plate. The joy had returned to the Ogan family. You can just imagine the joy for the missionary when he thanked the church for raising enough money to buy a new roof for a church in Africa. As he held the offering plate in his hands, the missionary said, “Pastor, you must have some rich people in this church.”
And Eddie writes, “Suddenly it struck us… We were the rich family at church! The missionary just said so. From that day on I’ve never been poor again. I’ve always remembered how rich I am because I have Jesus!”(4)
The deepest question of the human heart is, “Is there a God?” And the next question is, “If so, what is God like?” In his very first sermon, Jesus answers that question. God is right here with you. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. God cares about you so much that God comes to you in the flesh. God cares about those who are hurting and in need. That was the message of Jesus’ first sermon.
And it’s a message we are called to share even today.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p19.
2. Ibid… p20.
3. Ibid… p20.
4. Ibid… p20-21.
01-09-2022 As He Was Praying
Thomas J Parlette
“As He Was Praying”
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
1/9/22
According to Luke, John the Baptist was baptizing people on the banks of the Jordan River. Then Luke makes one of the most startling pronouncements in the New Testament. He writes, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.”
Every year on the First Sunday after Epiphany, liturgical churches celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. For us, it’s a major event. The Son of God submits to being baptized at the hands of a somewhat eccentric preacher called John the Baptist.
Mark describes John as wearing clothes of camel’s hair, living on locusts and wild honey and making his home in the wilderness. John admits that he is not worthy to carry Christ’s sandals. In fact, he seeks to deter Jesus from being baptized at his unworthy hands. I should be baptized by you, he says.
It’s a remarkable scene. He who was without sin, submits himself to religious rite that most of us associate with the symbolic act of washing sin away. The sacrament of baptism is so important to our identity as Christians that is required in one form or another by all Christian denominations that I know of.
And notice what happens next, after Jesus baptism. Luke writes, “And as he was praying, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
You’ve heard or read those words many times, I’m sure. It’s a very familiar scene. But have you noticed those words coming immediately after Jesus’ baptism… “as he was praying…? It’s easy to breeze past that phrase and go right to the part about heaven opening and the dove descending and the voice itself. It’s easy to cruise right past that about praying.
It’s not surprising really that Jesus was praying. Prayer played a major role in his ministry, we see him do it a lot. Here he was, the very manifestation of God on Earth, and yet he felt the need to be in continuous communication with God.
That’s probably not the case for most of us. We have a very limited acquaintance with God – Sunday mornings, maybe Wednesdays, at least a short word or two most days of the week. If we’re doing that, we’re feeling good about our connection to God.
Herb Miller, in his book, Evangelism’s Open Secrets, tells about a student work director at a large University who was giving a guest speaker a tour of his campus ministry building. As they walked down a hallway, the guest saw a sign marked “Prayer Room”, and he was curious.
As they walked past the sign, it became obvious that the director had no intention of showing him that particular room. But the guest’s curiosity was piqued, so he reached for the door knob to take a quick peek.
As he opened the door, his nostrils were assaulted by a musty smell. He reports that “the room was stuffed with boxes, boots, clothes hangers and other junk. On the little altar stood a pair of worn cowboy boots, an old box overflowing with hats and gloves, and a roll of toilet paper.” Remember, this was the prayer room for the university’s campus ministry. A bit embarrassed, the director quickly explained, “We used this for a storage room over the summer. Just haven’t gotten it cleaned out yet.”
Herb Miller writes, “At first it seemed like a sacrilegious thing to the visitor – stacking a prayer room full of junk. But then he realized that the room was a parable of his own life. He was so busy traveling around the country speaking and doing good things, he had lost the habit of praying. The time he had formerly spent talking with God each day was now crowded full of other things.”(1)
I suspect that happens to most of us. We are so busy that we have crowded out the one necessary practice for a truly fulfilling life. But Jesus never let that happen. Immediately after he was baptized, Jesus was praying – and what happened next? Luke tells us, “The heaven opened.”
Some of you might remember the name Sister Elizabeth Kenny. She was a self-trained nurse in the Australian bush country in the first half of the twentieth century. Sister Kenny developed a new and successful approach to treating people suffering from polio. Her method, which was bitterly contested at the time within the medical community, differed from the conventional medical practice of the time. The conventional practice, referred to as “splinting,” called for placing affected limbs in plaster casts, a practice that was not only quite uncomfortable, but ineffective as well.
Instead of putting patients with polio in plaster casts, Sister Kenny applied hot compresses to the affected parts of her patient’s bodies followed by passive movement of those areas to reduce what she called “Spasm.”
Sister Kenny stumbled upon this treatment out of necessity. She had been called to the bedside of a seven year old girl who lived in the Australian bush. She had extreme pain, a high fever, and the muscles of her leg and foot were contracted. Sister Kenny did not recognize the symptoms, so she sent a rider on horseback to a telegraph station twenty miles away to get some expert advice over the telegraph. Finally the reply came back, “The symptoms you describe indicate infantile paralysis. There is no known cure. Do the best you can.”
So with no other option, she devised her unique program of hot compresses and passive movement – which she also applied to polio victims. Later, when she received recognition for innovations, Sister Kenny was asked, “How did you come up with this treatment? What did you do first?”
And Sister Kenny answered, “Well, the first thing I did was kneel down and say a prayer.”(2)
When we pray, the heavens open, and in Sister Kenny’s case, she was led to a treatment that relieved the suffering of thousands of polio patients.
After Jesus prayed and the heavens opened, we read that the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”
In the north of England, they have been digging coal for over a century. The miners who dig for coal go miles away from the central shaft, so there is always the danger of the men getting lost. On one particular day, two miners did lose their way out of the mine. Their lights finally went out, and they were in danger of losing their lives. After wandering around in the darkness for a long time, they sat down, and one of them said: “Let’s sit perfectly still and see if we can feel the way the air is moving because it always moves toward the shaft.”
There they sat for a long time, when suddenly one of them felt a slight touch of air on his cheek. He sprang to his feet and said, “I felt it!” They set off in the direction the wind was moving and reached the central shaft and made their way back to the light of day above ground. (3)
As you probably remember, the Hebrew word for Spirt – ruach- is also the word for wind or breath. In a very real way, we also need to feel the movement of the air. We need to experience the movement of the wind of God’s Spirit in our life.
That’s what happens when we pray – the heavens open, and the wind of God’s spirit blows… and we become new people. That’s the promise of baptism. We can have new life in Christ Jesus.
William P Barker tells about a machinist with the Ford Motor company in Detroit who had, over a period of years, “borrowed” a bunch of parts and tools from the company which he had not gotten around to returning. While this practice was not condoned, it was more or less accepted by the management at Ford, and nothing was really done about it. The machinist, however, experienced a Christian conversion at a conference he attended. He was baptized and became a devout believer. Even more importantly, he took his baptism quite seriously.
The day after he got back from his conference, he arrived at work loaded down with tools and all the parts he had “borrowed” and not returned over the years. He explained the situation to his foreman and added that he never really meant to steal them and hoped he’d be forgiven – since he had finally brought everything back.
His foreman was so impressed that he cabled Henry Ford himself – who was visiting a European plant- and explained the entire event in detail. Immediately Ford cabled back: “Dam up the Detroit River and baptize the entire city!”(4)
When Jesus prayed on the day he was baptized, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended, and a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Baptism at its best results in us becoming a new person. In baptism, we also discover that we, too, are children of God.
The late Rev. Dr. John Claypool, once told a moving story that came out of World War I. At the end of that terrible conflict the government of France was faced with an unusual problem. In their army hospitals were over 100 soldiers who had developed total amnesia caused by battle trauma. These men could not remember anything about themselves – their names, their families, their hometowns – nothing. They had no idea who they were. They were totally separated from their origins.
So, the government announced to the whole nation that all families who had relatives missing in action should come to a specific hospital on an appointed day. A large platform was set-up, and with the families gathered around, the soldiers were led out one by one in the hopes that somebody would recognize them, and they could be reunited with their loved ones. And many of them were.(5)
When Jesus prayed on the day of his baptism, the heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended, and a voice came from heaven: You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well pleased.”
When we pray, we open ourselves to the Spirit of God as it blows through our lives and we become new as we realize that we are children of God.
And for that, may God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, p 11.
2. Ibid… p 12.
3. Ibid… p 12.
4. Ibid… p 13.
5. Ibid… p 13.
