"Engaging. Energizing. Empowering."
“When circumstances seem impossible, when all signs of grace in you seem at their lowest ebb, when temptation is fiercest, when love and joy and hope seem well-nigh extinguished in your heart, then rest, without feeling and without emotion, in the Father’s faithfulness.”
D. Tryon
Last Sunday’s message:
SONG: BIG HOUSE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4WwQxmtb-s&feature=related
That’s an oldie but a goodie. I first heard that song when I volunteered at Glen Lake Camp, our United Methodist Retreat Center in Glen Rose, almost 10 years ago. It was a week spent with 5th and 6th graders and it was a blast!
I wonder if you paid attention to the one of the first verses. It said, “I don’t know if you got some shelter, say a place to hide. I don’t know if you live with friends, in whom you can confide. I don’t know if you got a family, say a mom or dad. I don’t know if you feel love at all, but I bet you wish you had.” That ties in perfectly, in my opinion, with the recommended Bible lesson and our Service of Sacraments that we’re celebrating on this new day.
Listen now for a word from God from the book of Psalms, Chap. 132: “O God, remember David, remember all his troubles! And remember how he promised God, made a vow to the Strong God of Jacob, ‘I’m not going home, and I’m not going to bed, I’m not going to sleep, not even take time to rest, Until I find a home for God, a house for the Strong God of Jacob.’”
“Remember how we got the news in Ephrathah, learned all about it at Jaar Meadows? We shouted, ‘Let’s go to the shrine dedication! Let’s worship at God’s own footstool!’ Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose, you and your mighty covenant ark; Get your priests all dressed up in justice; prompt your worshipers to sing this prayer: ‘Honor your servant David; don’t disdain your anointed one.’”
“God gave David his word, he won’t back out on this promise: ‘One of your sons I will set on your throne; If your sons stay true to my Covenant and learn to live the way I teach them, Their sons will continue the line— always a son to sit on your throne. Yes—I, God, chose Zion, the place I wanted for my shrine; This will always be my home; this is what I want, and I’m here for good. I’ll shower blessings on the pilgrims who come here, and give supper to those who arrive hungry; I’ll dress my priests in salvation clothes; the holy people will sing their hearts out! Oh, I’ll make the place radiant for David! I’ll fill it with light for my anointed! I’ll dress his enemies in dirty rags, but I’ll make his crown sparkle with splendor.’” Psalm 132
What’s that have to do with our service of sacraments? Well, just give me a minute or 2 or 25, and I’ll try to make the connection for us all, however loose it might be. But it’s going to be really hard to connect the dots if we don’t know what a sacrament is, so let’s take a closer look at this sacred stuff.
You see, a sacrament is an act of God. It’s a means of grace in which the presence of Christ with us is made real. Ordinary objects are used to attempt to explain the extraordinary in order the reveal the love of God. God acts, with Christ at the center, and we’re invited to respond to God’s actions through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In our United Methodist tradition we believe that there were only 2 sacraments instituted by Christ: baptism and communion or the Lord’s Supper. In baptism, we believe we’re initiated into the family of God and Christ’s church. Our welcoming, hospitable God is saying “You’re not alone. You’ve got family. You belong here.”
In the Lord’s Supper, we’re nourished and empowered to live out the fullness of our baptism by living a Christ-like life. God says, “We’ve got a big, big table. And you’re welcome to sit down and eat with me and the rest of your family and really get to know me and then imitate me.”
We as United Methodists do not believe like other faith traditions that you are required to be immersed fully under water, although we will do that if that is your choice. Nor do we believe that the bread and juice mysteriously become Jesus’ real flesh and blood body, but are symbolic instead. Yet like the other Christian faith traditions, we do believe that God’s presence in the sacraments is real. There’s no doubt about that.
In baptism, whether we sprinkle water on your head, pour it over your head, or dunk your head completely under water (again, all forms of baptism that United Methodists practice), baptism still means the same. You are a child of God being initiated into the family of God. God welcomes you into God’s home, God’s big, big house.
God lit the fire that prompted you to be baptized or prompted you to have your child baptized through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, who has already been at work in your life, then in turn works with the church, with us, to help fan the flames of faith in the newly baptized person.
But don’t ever be mistaken. God is the lead actor in this drama. God has the starring role with the divine name at the top of the credits. We, as the church, are cast in supporting, nurturing roles. And the person being baptized? They’re the blank screenplay whose story is yet to be written.
We’re reminded that God accepts us as sons and daughters into the family of God. God adopts us and names us children of God. And God doesn’t even require that we have a mature understanding of God before we’re baptized. God doesn’t require that we have any conscious understanding at all, for that matter. God has made the first move, trying to get our attention, even before some of us have reached “the age of accountability” in order to formulate a free-thinking choice of our own. God baptizes us as a sign of hospitality and love, regardless of our age, race, gender, or mental capacity. We’re all one in Christ and we’re all welcome to belong to the faith community.
Just imagine if you will and just think about being in your mom’s belly before you were born. You didn’t choose to be there, did you? Yet that watery, amniotic fluid in the sacred space of our mother’s wombs kept us alive until the point when we were delivered. We had no choice as to when we would be delivered. Even if your mother’s labor was induced, there was no predicting when you would arrive on the scene.
In the same way that none of us chose if and when we would be born, none of us really chose or will choose to be baptized. God chose us. Baptism is not something you do. It’s celebrating what God does.
We make promises in baptism, to turn away from our sins and toward God, to rely on God’s power to help us resist evil and injustice, and to trust and serve God. As parents we make promises to nurture our children by our teaching and example until they accept Christ for themselves and profess their faith. And as a church we promise be a community of love and forgiveness so that these newly baptized persons might grow to be true followers of God as we all live to follow Christ’s example.
God’s desire is that we keep these promises. God’s dream is that we will stay connected and faithful to God’s church. Yet God leaves that choice up to us. For you see baptism is no guarantee of salvation. It’s no guarantee that you will continue to respond to the love of God. “What we will be has not yet been revealed.” We still have a free choice in how we live even after we’ve been baptized.
Yet the same God who made you his child will not break those ties, will never abandon you. God’s love never ends, even if we rebel in fear. We may fail to live up to our end of the deal, but God’s love never fails. God’s love offered to us in baptism will never let us go regardless of our response. Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.
Of course I tend to believe that when God opens our eyes through nurture, instruction, the support of an accepting, forgiving, loving community of faith, we can’t help but grow in faith, service, and becoming more and more like Christ with each new day.
God is able to transform our lives through the gift of baptism, but we won’t be changed in an instant. It’s not magic water, (but don’t I wish). Baptism is a lifelong process of growing in acceptance and grace and love. It’s not a one-time event, although the ritual is only performed just once in your life. That’s because God didn’t mess up the first time God baptized you. There are no “do-overs” where baptism is concerned.
Baptism begins a journey of faith. We’re not orphans dreaming of a home. God adopts us, claims us, and loves us. We have a home and God makes God’s home with us. Remember that. Also remember that God gathers us all into God’s sacred space and invites us to take a seat at the table near Him, close enough so we can hear him shout: “All are welcome to eat with me: children, the unbaptized, even sinners.”
Now there will always be people who question, “Why God? Why would you eat with just anyone? Shouldn’t this be an exclusive kind of party?” United Methodists have believed from very early on that God can open up eyes through the breaking of bread.
God’s gift of Communion with Him strengthens us all for our journey of faith ahead, whether we have great faith, little faith, or no faith at all for the time being. The Lord’s Supper opens us up to new possibilities to know God and relate with God’s people.
The Lord’s Supper is rich in symbolism and we don’t often focus on all the many meanings it holds. But it stands for blessing and thanks, for community friendships, for a remembrance of a historical event. The Lord’s Supper represents sacrifice. It represents the mysterious presence of Christ with us. But it also represents the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives now and in the future as well.
I can’t totally explain it and I don’t think any one of us will ever fully understand it, but Christ is present in the ordinary elements of bread and juice. His presence is made real as the last supper that Jesus ate with his closest friends is reenacted. His self-giving life and unselfish love is remembered through the taking, blessing, breaking, and giving. We are somehow drawn into God’s life from these substances that we consume.
Through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper together, we are given hope for our futures, not only in this present life, but in the life to come. It gives us a vision of the biggest potluck we’ve ever seen in heaven, where we’re all sitting side by side as one big, happy community. Probably sitting right next to the person we thought we’d never see there!
Again, who is welcome to celebrate Christ’s last supper or communion? Everyone! Each one of us. Persons of ALL ages, races, genders, you name it, are invited to participate just like persons in all of these categories can be baptized.
Gayle Felton writes in the book, “By Water and the Spirit,” that “Sometimes we hear complaints that small children cannot understand what is happening in the sacrament and should not be allowed to participate. But quite honestly, can any of us truly claim to understand the mystery of God’s gracious love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ? Probably the very first way that a child experiences love is through receiving food for physical hunger. Children may well grasp the intimate connection between eating/drinking and love better than we adults.”
And right there is the major relationship between these 2 sacraments, this sacred stuff, of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both invite us to participate in a mystery that we cannot fully understand. Both reveal the love of God to us through the use of ordinary material that we DO understand. Both are acts of God whose desire is to bring us closer to God and each other. And both facilitate a response within each one of us to grow deeper in faith, in service, and in following and becoming like Christ.
These close encounters of the God kind, these experiences with Christ, these meetings with the Holy Spirit, they prompt some type of response. They practically demand some type of reply, some type of answer, some type of comeback. Even silence is a response. In the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Christ stands at the door of all our hearts and knocks. The Spirit calls out to us, reminding us that in God’s family and at God’s table, all are welcome, even sinners and screw-ups like us, to eat and laugh together and live an abundant, full, complete life with Christ at the head of the table carving up the turkey. And Jesus, don’t forget to pass the green bean casserole.
So how does this connect to the Bible lesson I read earlier. In a very broad sense, I see EACH ONE OF US as sacraments. You are no longer simply flesh and blood, ordinary human beings, but are being made holy and set apart for God’s purposes with each new day. God is your dwelling place, but in reality, God chose you as God’s home. God’s Spirit lives in you.
God chose you as the place for his shrine, God’s sacred space. God kicked God’s feet up in your recliner and said, “I’m movin’ in. This place suits me nicely. Make room in your heart, in your life for me, because I’m not leavin’.” You see, God gives us a home but then moves in with us. And it may not be the home of your dreams right now, but it’s definitely the home of God’s dreams, a real fixer-upper.
God says, “Let me care for you. Nourish you. Fill those empty, dark places that you try to hide from everyone. Let me fill them with my light.” So what do you say? How will you answer God?
I think our most valid answer to God moving into our neighborhood, into our home, into our soul, is to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. To thank God for the marvelous gifts supplied to us in baptism and the Lord’s Supper by loving everyone as much as we love ourselves. And to welcome and invite others to join us so they too can experience the love we have found in our relationship with God and this church.
So we can sing to others, “All I know is a big ole house with rooms for everyone; All I know is lots of land where we can play and run, All I know is you need love and I’ve got a family; All I know is you’re all alone, so why not come with me?”
Ready to sing? “Come and go with me to my Father’s house. Come and go with me to my Father’s house. It’s a big, big house, with lots and lots of room. A big, big table, with lots and lots of food. A big, big yard, where we can play football. (Touchdown!) A big, big house; It’s my Father’s house.”
So what do you say? Are there any here who want to be initiated into the family of God on this new day? Any who have been moved to respond to God’s invitation and gift who have never been baptized before? Or any parents who want to acknowledge that God loves your child and is indeed working in his or her life? Who wants that child nurtured in the Christian faith? If so, please come forward now.
(BAPTISM RITUAL: Parker and Laura)
Brothers and sisters in Christ: through the sacrament of baptism we are initiated into Christ’s holy Church. We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth though water and the Spirit. All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price.
TO THE PARENTS: On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you: Do you reject the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?
Will you nurture these children (persons) in Christ’s holy Church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided to accept God’s grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life?
(TO THE CONGREGATION)
Do you, as Christ’s body, the Church, reaffirm both your rejection of sin and your commitment to Christ?
We do.
Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these persons now before you in your care?
With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be found faithful in their service to others. We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.
Let’s pray: Eternal God, when nothing existed but chaos, you swept across the dark waters and brought forth light. In the days of Noah you saved those on the ark through water. After the flood you set in the clouds a rainbow. When you saw your people as slaves in Egypt, you led them to freedom through the sea. Their children you brought through the Jordan to the land which you promised.
In the fullness of time you sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb. He was baptized by John and anointed by your Spirit. He called his disciples, his followers, to share in the baptism of his death and resurrection and to make disciples, followers of God, of all nations.
Now pour out your Holy Spirit, to bless this gift of water and those who receive it, to wash away their sin and clothe them in righteousness throughout their lives, that, dying and being raised with Christ, they may share in his final victory. All praise to you, Eternal Father, through your Son Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever. Amen.
(TO THE BAPTISMAL CANDIDATES)
Laura, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Parker, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let’s pray: The Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through water and the Spirit, you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. Amen.
(TO THE CONGREGATION)
Now it is our joy to welcome our new sister and brother in Christ.
Through baptism you are incorporated by the Holy Spirit into God’s new creation and made to share in Christ’s royal priesthood. We are all one in Christ Jesus. With joy and thanksgiving we welcome you as members of the family of Christ.
Now are there any here on this new day who are hungry? Who are ready to be nourished by God’s presence and love through the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? Any who would like to join Christ and this community up front as we remember the night in which Jesus was betrayed.
It was on that night that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, gave it to his disciples, his closest followers, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body given for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.”
After offering the bread Jesus took the cup from the table, gave thanks to God again, gave it to his disciples and said, “Take, drink. This is the blood of the new covenant, the new relationship we can have. It’s been poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of all your mess-ups and mistakes. Drink this and every time you do, remember me.”
So now as we remember God’s mighty acts, we offer ourselves back to God as “sacred stuff.” As a living and set-up apart, sacrifice.
THE LORD’S SUPPER RITUAL
Let’s pray: Love gave us a home here, God, we know that. There’s nowhere else in all the world where we feel it as surely as we feel it here. You said, “This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, shed for you.” We just tasted the bread, we drank from the common cup, we feel new life, you life, filling our own. The dark places of our soul are brought to light. The emptiness and the failure are dismissed. We bathed in your accepting, forgiving water. We eat and drink up your forgiveness. We live out your forgiveness with each new day.
We are brought together in this place for love and friendship and community. Our sensibilities are renewed. Our hope is reborn. It’s your house, your sacred space, God. And it’s a house of love.
Now let the ordinary elements of the sacraments be a feast to our souls today: renewing, restoring, rebuilding, rekindling, remaking us in your image, in the image of love. You know we are thankful. You know we love you. And we know that you love us. Amen.
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
– Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer
Last Sunday’s message:
We’re going to begin tonight by singing “Jesus Loves Me” and the words will be up on the screen for anyone who doesn’t know them if you want to join in.
SONG: JESUS LOVES ME/ Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so.
Thank you so much. That was wonderful. I wonder if you caught what the song said: “Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong.” I want you to remember that, because we’re going to come back to it shortly, but for now I want to ask you to use your imaginations. Just imagine this scenario, OK?
A high-profile public figure is expected to show up at your place of employment or in your home. It could be the mayor of the city, or a state senator, or the owner of a professional football team. How would you prepare for his or her arrival? (persons respond)
Well, I use this example because for my husband Russ, this isn’t just in his imagination. This gets played out several times a year at his work. Now I won’t name names or get too specific, but I WILL tell you that Russ works at a convention center in a neighboring town just north of Mansfield. That’s sure to keep you guessing, right?
Russ loves his job like I love mine. He loves the people he has worked with and for over these past 6 years. Russ enjoys the clients that come in that he gets to meet. There’s just always something different going on with each new day. Never a dull moment.
But Russ and I have chuckled and had some laughs about what happens when a VIP, you know, a very “important” person, is scheduled to appear at this convention center in a town just north of Mansfield. Let me set the stage for you as I think of one of the most recent visits from a VIP. I can’t remember now if it was the mayor of the town just north of Mansfield or the owner of a professional football team whose stadium is now located in a town north of Mansfield who was coming to visit, but here was the perception around work. These persons are basically more important than other persons. Sounds like a reasonable conclusion. Russ and his co-workers have this perception because of the attitude of their supervisors when these VIP’s are scheduled to be in the building. They seem to be so afraid and anxious. Even a little uptight.
Everything must be perfect or at least be perceived to be perfect. There can be absolutely no stains on any of the chairs. If they don’t pass the supervisor’s inspection, Russ and his co-workers must go through several very tall stacks of chairs to find chairs that are free from even one stain. It’s kind of interesting how tense some people can get, the same people who won’t authorize to replace the stained chairs in the first place.
And the outside grounds must be immaculate. That’s understandable. I mean, first impressions are very important. Since the outside of the building is the first thing people see as they’re driving up, you want it to be free from trash. But what do you think of having someone on “acorn patrol?” I’m teasing just a little, but Russ had to actually go out and pick up all the acorns from the walkways and driveway. Once a big wind came through, he had to go out and do it all over again! We found that a little amusing, too. But it could be worse.
I really feel for Russ’s supervisors, I do, because I’m sure they’re aware that where VIP’s go, camera crews are sure to follow. I mean if you knew you or your facility, your baby, was going to be displayed all over the TV and the internet, you would want to put your best foot forward too, wouldn’t you? So I really understand where they’re coming from.
And anyway after Russ got home from work that night, we were able to have a great conversation about perception and reality. Since we both deal extensively with hospitality in our work environments, our main question to one another was simply this: shouldn’t all our guests be treated the same? Shouldn’t all our guests, whether they’re visiting a convention center in a town just north of Mansfield, or attending a worship gathering in an activities center in Mansfield, or visiting in our home, be treated as VIP’s?
You see the perception is that certain persons are more important than others, when in reality, every one of us matters to God. Remember the song? (SING) “Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.”
Jesus loves even you and me, the Bible says. It’s primarily a book about God’s love, but it also clues us in on this phenomenon of perception versus reality that exists in our world. How what we see isn’t always what we get. Let’s read and listen now to this passage from the book of Mark in the New Testament:
“Jesus continued teaching. ‘Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.’” Mark 12: 38-40
Religion scholars, or scribes as they are called in a different translation, were VIP’s of the Jewish faith. Of the faith tradition Jesus was born into. They were well-respected in the community. Religion scholars deserved the people’s respect, deserved to have the places of honor at banquets and potlucks. Because they were scribes, they deserved to have the best seats free from any and all stains. At least, that was the perception.
But Jesus criticizes the religion scholars of his day time and time again. He was pretty tame here in referring to them, but anyone who thinks he was a meek and mild doormat when up against his opponents has not gotten a complete picture of the real Jesus. Just listen to how he talks to the religion scholars to their faces over in the book of Matthew, Chapter 23. Here’s the reality at least from the author’s perspective.
“Frauds! I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either. You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.”
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?”
“Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It’s on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.” Matthew 23: 13-15, 23-24, 33-34
I read that and thought geez, Jesus, tell us how you really feel! I also thought, I don’t want to get on his bad side! What would get Jesus so worked up? Could it be because the perception does not match the reality? What people are seeing on the outside and attributing importance to does not match what’s being done in secret. Doesn’t match the motivation of the heart and mind.
Remember how the religion scholars are acting? Just look at the verbs! They’re walking around, preening, basking, sitting. It’s all a big show! All the while Jesus says “They devour widows’ houses. They exploit the weak and helpless.” Jesus condemns the strong and powerful, the VIP’s of the faith, for their self-seeking acts and dishonesty. God has trouble tolerating those who make money on the backs of the poor. Remember? “Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong.”
So we know quite obviously about what type of behavior Jesus doesn’t like, but what kind of actions does he speak well of? Just listen to what follows his warning in Mark about the religion scholars: “Sitting across from the offering box, Jesus was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions.”
Now if you see someone putting hundred dollar bills in the donation basket, what do you automatically think? What’s the perception? (persons respond)
Jesus continued, “One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. The perception is that it isn’t very much. It’s quite a little amount, as a matter of fact. But Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is (the REALITY is), that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.” Mark 12: 41-44
The perception is that the poor widow and her gift are unimportant and insignificant, both from a social and monetary perspective. But this gift, offered from this “little one” of society, is all-important from God’s perspective. She matters. She is a VIP in God’s eyes.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, wrote in his notes about these verses, “See what judgment is cast on the most specious” (that means phony), on the most specious “outward actions by the Judge of all! And how acceptable to Him is the smallest which springs from self-denying love!”
Did you read the cover of your worship program tonight? “Little is much when God is in it.” God can and does use the weak, the persons who are looked down on as “little ones” of the world, to shame the wise and powerful.
As humans, we make judgments, we form opinions based on what we see. Based on what someone looks like on the outside, which could be real or fake. We have this perception that persons with a certain socioeconomic status or educational status or racial status are somehow more or less important, when God is saying those things don’t matter. What matters is did you give your all? Were you extravagant with your love?
I starting writing this message on a Wednesday a few weeks ago and I thought it was unfortunate that I was interrupted and would not be able to finish it until Friday which was supposed to be my day off. But I think I discovered why on Thursday.
I attended the monthly luncheon of business and community leaders that day and I’ll admit, I don’t always feel like I fit in at those meetings. I guess I’m most uncomfortable because I don’t feel like I can be myself. I feel like I have to dress nicer, talk quieter, conform to what is expected of a female pastor.
Afterward I was chatting with a female business owner and her adult son whom I befriended the month before. I noticed that his earring was missing and asked him why he had taken it out. He looked at his mom and said, “Because she asked me to.” She explained that you have to dress a certain way in business. I looked down at the suit I was wearing and said, “Why do you think I’m dressed like this?”
Is the perception that a man with piercings or tattoos or dreadlocks (the way he wore his hair as a white teenager), is he not to be taken seriously as a businessman? This young man is one of the kindest, most articulate gentlemen I have ever met.
Just like Matt who I met at the mall or Lisa that I met in downtown Mansfield, both covered in tattoos from head to toe. Is their importance or worth estimated based on what we perceive on the outside? I joked on that day that I would wear my new day t-shirt and jeans for our next luncheon and I did.
In the Old Testament of our Bible, Samuel is sent by God to anoint a new king. He sees this strapping strong young man and he thinks, “I’ve found him. This is the one.” But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16: 7
You see, perception is one thing, but sometimes reality is something else, entirely different. Reality is what’s really going on behind the scenes and in someone’s heart. God chose a “little one,” the “runt” of the family, a shepherd boy named David, a man after God’s own heart, to be king. (SING) “Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong.” All so we would learn to depend on God’s strength.
The religion scholars and the widow in our Bible story on this new day were very different, that’s true. Their gifts were different. The amount they were willing to sacrifice was different. But which of the two groups would you say was rich? Who would you say was poor? What was the reality? Look around the room today. We are different. We have different levels of spiritual maturity. We come from different socioeconomic classes and races. We have persons from age 7 through age 87. We may even have different sexual orientations.
But what do we have in common? A desire for relationship and community and belonging. A desire to know Jesus better. We have a unity of purpose and dreams. Yes, like the religion scholars and widow, we look like a very diverse bunch on the outside. But on the inside, we’re not so different. We’re all broken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZX9e2-y7ws
We’re all broken. And we all need a savior. We all have a savior. We all need Jesus to make us whole and complete. Maybe we’re not perceived to be much on our own, but with God and each other for support, we are a force to be reckoned with.
I’ve decided I’m not going to connect all the dots for you on this new day, telling you what I want you to go and do with what you’ve heard today. You’re smart people. I think you understand what I’m saying, but I do want to conclude with even more verses from the Bible to show you how God feels about us, the “little ones.” And isn’t it true that what really matters is what God thinks of us? Not what the person sitting next to you thinks of you. Not what I think of you. Not what your parents, or your neighbors, or strangers who may stare at you think. What does God think of us?
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of ‘the brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies?’ That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, ‘If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.’” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
And “Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, ‘My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.’”
“Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
And “Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.” Hebrews 4:14-16
And “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, (something I sometimes forget in certain business settings), if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.” Matthew 23: 11-12
Little is much when God is in it. We are much, because God’s Holy Spirit lives in us, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. Remember that. Greater is God who is in you, than anything else! God is trying to tell us, “My power is made perfect, it’s made complete and whole, when you can admit you’re weak and broken apart from God. But with Christ’s spirit living in you, you are powerful!
The Bible says, “Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.”
“None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Romans 8: 35, 37-39 “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.”
A high-profile public figure is expected to show up at your place of employment or in your home. His name is Jesus Christ. Will you open your door, your heart, your mind to him? What are you afraid of? That you’re too weak, too sinful, too rich, too poor, too, you fill in the blank? I want to encourage you: open up and prepare for his arrival. I hear him knocking now.
Please join me, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so.” Amen.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou, Poet
“Pride (an attitude of superiority, not worth) leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
C. S. Lewis, 1898–1963
Last Sunday night’s message:
http://www.dilymotion.com/video/x85dln_lily-allen-the-fear-clean-version_music
“I`m being taken over by The Fear,” Lilly Allen sings. Fear. I’ve lived in fear personally for a long time and it’s still something I continue to battle even as a woman of faith. I have irrational fears that something bad might happen to one of my loved ones when they walk out the door. Fear that I will be a failure.
I’ve had fears that I won’t be liked or be popular, but I think I’m getting over that to some extent. I fear making bad decisions sometimes. Even fear that I won’t get everything done that I feel I need to get done in a 24 hour new day.
But fear is part of the defense mechanism God has built into each of us. The brain produces a string of responses to what we perceive is a threat. We adapt to the danger by either fight or flight or by finding other ways to save us from harm.
But here’s our catch-22: at times it’s hard to tell if something is a real threat or not. What’s worse is that as humans, we’re inclined to have overactive fear mechanisms. They’ve been distorted. For example, just take a look at the story of Adam and Eve. Once they ate that apple, the forbidden fruit, their immediate reaction was fear. They covered up and hid.
We humans have been perennially fearful, it seems, from the beginning of time. And the majority of our fears stem from us telling God, (SING) “Good-bye, farewell, avidasein, adieu. We know what’s best for our lives and not you.” This separation on our part distorted what God created in the beginning and proclaimed was good in us.
So what do we do? Here are 3 keys to overcoming fear to find peace suggested by my good friend whose name you’re probably sick of hearing by now but I like him, Adam Hamilton. The 3 keys to overcoming fear are to trust God, offer gratitude, and live a life of service and generosity to others.
Let’s look at #1 by looking to the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. After God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God brought them to the southern border of the Promised Land—the Land of Canaan—and told Moses to send out some guys to see the sights and explore the land. Moses chose 12 good men. They worked undercover, like football scouts I suppose, to check out who lived there, the opposition, and how they might seize the land.
Maybe there wasn’t a lot of sightseeing going on after all. These 12 spies traveled the Canaan territory for 40 days. Now don’t take this the wrong way but maybe if they had sent some ladies, it wouldn’t have taken so long. At least we would stop to ask for directions!
Anyway, the MEN returned back to camp to fill the other men in on all the details. You know what they say when shopping for a new home, don’t you? “Location, location, location.” And boy, was this prime real estate. The spies or game-day “scouts” noted that the property was breathtaking, just flowing with milk and honey.
The guys even brought back some fruits with them. “But,” they said, “the people who live there are brawny and well-built. 6 packs on their stomachs. Every one of them. Plus the cities are huge and well-fortified.” They even noted that there were descendents of Anak—giants–who were living there.
The Bible says, “Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, ‘Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.’ But the others said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.’ They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, ‘We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants’ (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). ‘Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.’” Numbers 13: 30-33
The Bible continues, “The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: ‘Why didn’t we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don’t we just head back to Egypt? And right now!’ Soon they were all saying it to one another: ‘Let’s pick a new leader; let’s head back to Egypt.’ Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire community, gathered in emergency session.”
“Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, members of the scouting party, ripped their clothes and addressed the assembled People of Israel: ‘The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land—very good indeed. If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he’ll give it to us. Just don’t rebel against God! And don’t be afraid of those people. Why, we’ll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don’t be afraid of them!’”
“But, up in arms now, the entire community was talking of hurling stones at them.” Numbers 14: 1-12 So for 40 years, the Bible says, instead of enjoying the beauty of the Promised Land, the Israelites wandered in the desert wilderness—all because of fear.
In your life, how long has your wandering been? Are you focused on this new day on the size of your God or on the mass and bulk of your enemies? Can you trust, like Joshua and Caleb, that God will one way or another deliver you? That God already has delivered and saved and redeemed even you.
Trusting God is the 1st key to overcoming fear. We can choose to see giants surrounding us and live in fear, to imagine that the giants aren’t there and bury our heads in the sand, or to say, “God, I trust you. Bring something good from these difficult times. Guide my steps, and help me to walk with you.”
Sounds easy, but how do we do it? I’ve already shared with you that I still struggle with it myself and maybe that’s because I don’t practice the 2nd key to overcoming fear enough. I’m lax about offering gratitude to God and it’s not that I haven’t seen God do extraordinary miracles in my life. It’s just that I’m just so darn busy that I too often forget to say thank you. You ever get that way? Poor excuse. I already know that.
Yet Paul, the famous missionary, teaches us in the Bible to “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
To put this in context, Paul was writing to a gathering of Christians who had experienced “severe suffering” for their faith. A number of them had even been locked up in jail for their faith. Still he told them to “rejoice always” and “be cheerful.” HOW was that doable? By praying without ceasing, praying all the time. By always being aware of God’s presence and by trusting God.
“Thank God no matter what happens.” “Give thanks in all circumstances.” May sound easier said than done, but people who become skilled at doing this are able to rise above their current situation. In fact I read about a study done on the role of gratitude on a person’s sense of well-being. Several hundred people participated. One group kept a journal, noting all of the events that happened with each new day. Another group noted only the unpleasant experiences of each new day. A third kept a journal of those things that occurred each new day that they were grateful for.
It turned out that the group that took the time to document the things they were grateful for each new day showed “higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism, and energy” and lower levels of depression and stress. They also felt more loved and were more likely to do acts of kindness.
So let’s try this experiment for 1 week and see what happens. Just before you go to bed and say your bedtime prayers, get a pad of paper and write down 5 things you are grateful for from your day. Then take the time to thank God for these. Starting tonight, let’s try this for just 7 days to start and see what happens when we develop this habit of giving thanks.
But trusting God and offering gratitude would not be complete without the 3rd key to overcoming fear and finding peace: Live a life of service and generosity to others. IF we can take our eyes off ourselves long enough to do that.
You are “to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If you do that, you’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life,” said Paul to a young pastor in the town of Ephesus. He told him to command all the people in this, but especially those with resources.
These 2 ideas of service and generosity hold an important key to overcoming fear and discovering lasting peace and joy. Something happens when we take our eyes off of ourselves and choose to serve others. We “take hold of the life that really is life.”
The same holds true when we practice generosity. Just listen to this: By the age of 33 he” (John D. Rockefeller, Sr., founder of Standard Oil) “had made his 1st million. He was a hard-driving man who had success and acquisition front and center in his life. Then, at the age of 53, he was struck with an illness that caused his hair to fall out, make him unable to digest food, threw him into depression, and gave him a diagnosis of 1 year to live.
One night as he struggled to sleep, Rockefeller realized he could take nothing with him and that maybe he had missed the mark. The next day he awoke with a new mission: to give and to use his resources to make a difference. He gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to hospitals, universities, medical research, his church and mission. His funds helped with the discovery of cures for a host of killer diseases. By learning to be generous, he so dramatically changed his life that he lived well beyond his prognosis, dying at the age of 98!
“Rockefeller’s life was saved when he stopped focusing on himself and acquiring, and began to focus on others and giving away.” Enough, pp 101-102
Look around. Most of the people around us, too many of us including myself sometimes, can see only giants in the Promised Land. As a result, we give in to our fears. What we need today are more Joshuas and Calebs and even young children and youth and young adults like a shepherd boy named David. People who see the giants in front of them but choose to listen to God, the voice of truth. Persons who trust in God anyway. For it’s only that trust that can truly melt away our fears and give way to faith.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwsvqVmFV6Y
Let’s pray: We often come to this moment, Oh God, with little expectancy. It’s another routine moment in our gathering, something we have done dozens, some of us even hundreds, of times. We don’t begin to be aware of the tremendous power we are addressing, or of the desire you have to destroy the thin walls that divide us from yourself and come rushing upon us with all your love and strength and holiness. How radical a thing it is truly to pray, and how seldom we really do. Show us how, dear God!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HdGUNm6-qI
Teach us to wait before you with hearts so open, with wills so ready to be made yours, that this time is never routine or dull or uneventful. Imbue us with your Holy Spirit, who will sweep us out of ourselves and our usual ways of perceiving the world and deposit us in completely new places for viewing our lives and our gifts and the people who surround us on the earth. Show us the possibilities that in our hand, in our possessions, in our shared power and influence, to change the way people live and the very way the world is governed.
Now free us from the lethargy that binds us like ropes and chains and graveclothes. Stir us to devotion and to action. Enable us to do battle against what Paul called “the powers of the air” –against hunger and poverty and prejudice and injustice and sickness and death and evil. Lead us successfully out of our paralyzing preoccupation with pain and self and weakness, and reveal through us the triumphant power of your Word and your resurrection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.