Weight With Jesus

Weight With Jesus

Luke 14:25-33
Good News: Cross carrying is a prerequisite for the Kingdom of God. Fortunately, God has provided Jesus. He shows us the cross carrying way of life by carrying the cross for us.


When we study the gospels, one particular characteristic about Jesus becomes noticeable. Throughout the three years of Jesus’ ministry he seems to have all the patience in the world with people, and even crowds. But.......

once he realizes what he must do for them...

once he makes the shift from minister, teacher, healer to savior of the world for them...

once he sets his sites on the cross he will bear in Jerusalem for them...

Then, his patience for them begins to wane. This tells us as much about the crowd as it does about Jesus.

It tells us that Jesus knew what he had to do. He knew from Herod's threat that he could end up beheaded just like John the Baptist if he went to Jerusalem. He knew from the Pharisees' treatment of blasphemers, prostitutes, and others that he could be stoned to death if he went to Jerusalem. And, he knew from Pilates' treatment of other troublesome Jews that he could be crucified if he went to Jerusalem. He knew, and yet he went...for them. He knew the heavy load he would have to bear once he got to Jeruslamem. But, he also knew that if he were to do it, if he were to bear it, then maybe...just maybe, the people would see the folly in their sinful ways. Just maybe, if one innocent, Kingdom seeking, son of God were to be killed beneath the weight of the world's sinful trappings, then maybe...just maybe, the world would begin to see the truth and change its ways. He loved his disciples so much, that he was willing to die so that they would see, and then spend their lives pursuing, the Kingdom of God.

It tells us that the crowd was not in favor of Jesus’ direction. It tells us that they couldn't see beyond the destructive, frightening forces that awaited Jesus in Jerusalem. It tells us that they didn't trust him, and thought they knew a better, safer, more comfortable way by avoiding Jerusalem. By avoiding Jerusalem, they were avoiding the mission. By avoiding Jerusalem they were avoiding the truth about the sin of the world. By avoiding the truth, they were perpetuating and advocating for sin. This was not going to help matters. This was not going to heal the world of its sinful ways. This was only going to make things worse.

The crowds were following with their feet, but they were not following with their lives. Jesu shad changed. His mission was now focussed and it was passionate for them. But, they were not willing to change. They wanted the easy road. So, Jesus turns around to the crowd and shares some rather matter-of-fact words with them. This isn’t your cuddly, warm, buddy Jesus who’s reminding you of grace. This is straight-shooting Jesus who’s telling you exactly how it is. Jesus could have been easy on the disciples and our us by saying, “It’s pretty painless being a disciple. Show up on Sundays. Love your wife. Love your kids. Make it to work on time. Be nice to your neighbors.” But he didn’t. He actually calls people out, reminding them that discipleship takes blood, sweat and tears. If it’s the Kingdom of God you seek, then the weight of carrying a cross is your prerequisite.

Wow! That's heavy. Jesus lays the cross upon their shoulders--makes them feel the weight, the pain of it. Why would he do such a thing? Where's the love?

The answers to those two questions is in believing the mission he was on. In this moment, he was hard on them, because he loved them.

My doctor, now don't hear me saying that my doctor loves me, cause I don't think so. But, I wouldn't go to this doctor--better, wouldn't trust my doctor if I didn't believe in him, and believe that he cared, at least, about what's best for me. Now, in order for my doctor to do his job, and to do it a way that is worthy of my trust is for him to tell me the truth about my condition. My doctor tells me that if I need to start preparing myself for the inevitable truth about all the cholesterol I add to my bloodstream. That's not good news. At least not at first. He told me the truth. And with that, I have an invitation to change my ways and be prepared for the inevitable.

My friends, spiritual preparation is no different. We need Jesus to tell us the truth, refuse to permit us to avoid it, and then command us to do something about it--PICK UP YOU CROSS!

So, what do we know about the crosses we carry?
Well, we can identify ours because we know about the one Jesus carried. From Jesus, we learn that crosses are the weight of sin. Either the weight of sin that we have committed, or they are the weight of sins that were committed to you. One is the weight of shame and guilt. The other is the weight of the inability to forgive. We also know from Jesus’ cross that crosses are the weight of fear, anxiety, despair. And finally we know from Jesus cross that crosses are the weight of compassion for the lonely, the broken, the unloved.

So, what crosses are you carrying?

Maybe Jesus was hard on the disciples that time because in truth, he knew very well the weight they had upon their shoulders. Maybe he knew, and even felt their weight. Maybe he saw in their attempts to avoid the mission as just their attempt to avoid the truth they ---and we--must all face--the inevitable truth that lays like a cross before us waiting for us to pick up and carry it. But, day in and ay out we try to avoid it.

Not with Jesus--He will not permit us to avoid the truth. PICK UP YOUR CROSS!

You see, Jesus knows that if we would only trust him, even just for a moment enough to pick up our cross--to face the truth of our sinfulness, our shame, our pain, that in that very same moment, the grace of the Lord would come rushing in--we would realize that the innocent one, the Son of God, is once again carrying the cross that is meant for us. If only we would pick up our cross, we would find that we can--and then we would find that our Lord takes it from us

And then---and only then---do we know the truth about what freedom is, what grace is, who Christ is. And we know because we are free! Free from all that shame. Free from all that guilt. Free from all that pain. Free from the weight of our cross!

And once we are free, truly free---why now we have a new purpose in life. Freed from the weight of our own cross, we can carry someone elses. And that's when we become the church. The church is nothing more, nor less, than a group of people who are free to carry crosses for others.

Jesus has already carried the cross of the world.
So, all we’re asked is to trust him, and pick up ours and follow. The moment we do, we find that Jesus is right there lifting with us.
When our weight is on Jesus’ shoulders, we walk beside him through life more joyfully.
This is the blessing of the church—the body of Christ.
Because Christ is the one who lifts the weight from off our shoulders, when someone else has the weight of their cross upon their backs—we are able to be Christ for them. We are able to carry a cross for others, because Christ is carrying ours.

Amen.

Mother Theresa is STILL a Saint

Luke 14:1, 7-14

There seems to be some confusion in the air lately about what a saint is. In a recent article from Time Magazine it seems that the exposure of Mother Theresa’s private faith, and the doubt therein, seems to have cast a pall upon the question of her upcoming canonization—otherwise known as sainthood.

[Read the following excerpt:]
[On Dec. 11, 1979, Mother Teresa, the "Saint of the Gutters," went to Oslo. Dressed in her signature blue-bordered sari and shod in sandals despite below-zero temperatures, the former Agnes Bojaxhiu received that ultimate worldly accolade, the Nobel Peace Prize. In her acceptance lecture, Teresa, whose Missionaries of Charity had grown from a one-woman folly in Calcutta in 1948 into a global beacon of self-abnegating care, delivered the kind of message the world had come to expect from her. "It is not enough for us to say, 'I love God, but I do not love my neighbor,'" she said, since in dying on the Cross, God had "[made] himself the hungry one — the naked one — the homeless one." Jesus' hunger, she said, is what "you and I must find" and alleviate. She condemned abortion and bemoaned youthful drug addiction in the West. Finally, she suggested that the upcoming Christmas holiday should remind the world "that radiating joy is real" because Christ is everywhere — "Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive." Yet less than three months earlier, in a letter to a spiritual confidant, the Rev. Michael van der Peet, that is only now being made public, she wrote with weary familiarity of a different Christ, an absent one. "Jesus has a very special love for you," she assured Van der Peet. "[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me — that I let Him have [a] free hand." The two statements, 11 weeks apart, are extravagantly dissonant. The first is typical of the woman the world thought it knew. The second sounds as though it had wandered in from some 1950s existentialist drama. Together they suggest a startling portrait in self- contradiction — that one of the great human icons of the past 100 years, whose remarkable deeds seemed inextricably
connected to her closeness to God and who was routinely observed in silent and seemingly peaceful prayer by her associates as well as the television camera, was living out a very different spiritual reality privately, an arid landscape from which the deity had disappeared.]

Now, I must confess this is the kind of stuff that makes me cranky. :-)
Leave it to the US media to scandalize even Mother Theresa for the sake of increasing sales.

It seems that our world cannot handle the possibility that a saint could be, at the same time a sinner—-a human being—faced with the same human condition that the rest of us are faced with. This leaves my sermon for today begging to address the question: What is a saint?

So, what is a saint? What does one look like? What’s their story? Are they people born with halos? Are they people who continually make the right choices. As if in cartoon-like fashion they are the ones who are forever saying NO to the little devil on their shoulder and YES to the little angel? It seems that Time Magazine, as well as the general public thinks so.

Well, in today’s Gospel lesson Jesus gives us a very different description of a saint. Jesus actually gives us a definition of sainthood. Jesus says, “He who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Now, what does it mean to be exalted? To be exalted is to be lifted up to a higher regard among others. However, the point of clarity from Jesus' definition here is that exaltation is not something that we can do for ourselves. Jesus says, "He who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." We can not exalt ourselves, because to do that is to bring about humiliation—not true exaltation. Rather, true exaltation, is a gift given only by God to those who humble themselves for the sake of others. To be exalted is to be lifted up by God. To be lifted up by God is to be a saint. To be a saint, then, is to be a humble servant to others.
Contrary to public opinion, sainthood has nothing to do with personal doubt, faith, or piety. Sainthood is to do with humble service to others.

So, listen to this brief biography of Mother Theresa and you tell me if you hear a story of humble service to others. This is an excerpt from EWTN.COM
[Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia, she was the youngest of three children. In her teens, Agnes became a member of a youth group in her local pairsh called Sodality. Through her involvement with their activities guided by a Jesuit priest, Agnes became interested in missionaries. At age 17, she responded to her first call of a vocation as a Catholic missionary nun. She joined an Irish order, the Sisters of Loretto, a community known for their missionary work in India. When she took her vows as a Sister of Loretto, she chose the name Teresa after Saint Theresa of Lisieux.
In Calcutta, Sister Teresa taught geography and catechism at St. Mary's High School. In 1944, she became the principal of St. Mary's. Soon Sister Teresa contracted tuberculosis, was unable to continue teaching and was sent to Darjeeling for rest and recuperation. It was on the train to Darjeeling that she received her second call -- "the call within the call". Mother Teresa recalled later, "I was to leave the convent and work with the poor, living among them. It was an order. I knew where I belonged but I did not know how to get there."
In 1948, the Vatican granted Sister Teresa permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and pursue her calling under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Calcutta. Mother Teresa started with a school in the slums to teach the children of the poor. She also learned basic medicine and went into the homes of the sick to treat them. In 1949, some of her former pupils joined her. They found men, women, and children dying on the streets who were rejected by local hospitals. The group rented a room so they could care for helpless people other wise condemned to die in the gutter. In 1950, the group was established by the Church as a Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese. It was known as the Missionaries of Charity.
In 1952 the first Home for the Dying was opened in space made available by the City of Calcutta. Over the years, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity grew from 12 to thousands serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers around the world. Mother Teresa created many homes for the dying and the unwanted from Calcutta to New York to Albania. She was one of the pioneers of establishing homes for AIDS victims. For more than 45 years, Mother Teresa comforted the poor, the dying, and the unwanted around the world.
In 1966, the Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded. Homes began to open in Rome, Tanzania, and Australia. In 1971, the first home in the United States was established in the South Bronx, New York. Mother Teresa gained worldwide acclaim with her tireless efforts on behalf of world peace. Her work brought her numerous humanitarian awards, including : the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. In receiving this award, Mother Teresa revolutionized the award ceremony. She insisted on a departure from the ceremonial banquet and asked that the funds, $6,000 be donated to the poor in Calcutta. This money would permit her to feed hundreds for a year. She is stated to have said that earthly rewards were important only if they helped her help the world’s needy.
Beginning in 1980, homes began to spring-up for drug addicts, prostitutes, battered women, and more orphanages and schools for poor children around the world. In 1985, Mother Teresa
established the first hospice for AIDS victims in New York. Later homes were added in San Francisco and Atlanta. Mother Teresa was awarded Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award.
In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her native Albania (know known as Serbia) and opened a home in Tirana. By this year, there were 168 homes established in India.
On February 3, 1994 at a National Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, in Washington, DC, Mother Teresa challenged the audience on such topics as family life and abortion. She said, "Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Give the child to me." Mother Teresa traveled to help the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. Her zeal and works of mercy knew no boundaries.

Based upon Jesus definition of sainthood, does that sound like a saint to you?

Here’s the true test of sainthood—-Jesus gives us a definition today that is very clear—the exalted are those who humble themselves to serve others. So, rather than asking the readers of Time Magazine, or even the high ranking officials of the church if they believe Mother Theresa is a saint, why not ask the poor in Calcutta? Ask the people she humbly served. Ask the children who died in her arms with AIDS if she was saint? Ask the poor who received care at the hospitals built upon her sweat and devotion if she is a saint? Don't ask the readers of Time magazine or church officials. Ask the people she humbly served. They will most surely tell you, She was and still is a saint to them.

Now then, to answer the question of what is a saint—-a more appropriate question is Who is a saint? For then the answer becomes plain. The saint is the one who by following the model of our Lord Jesus offered humble service.

My grandmother was and still is a saint. Time magazine wont be writing any articles about her, but I tell with all measure of truth my faith can muster that she was and still is a saint.

Who has been a saint for you?

More importantly--For whom have you been a saint?

A saint is someone who humbles himself in service to others. Today, you all have at least one opportunity that I know of to be saints. An invitation that is most obvious before us all today.
Today, you are given the opportunity to humble yourselves and offer the service of hospitality and welcome to our new friend and music director, Christian Tagoe.

In the end, there is one who models a living sainthood to all of us.
Jesus shows us the way. For by his death on the cross he humbled himself in obedience to God’s mission. And by doing so has opened the way of sainthood for all of us.

Mother Theresa’s memory lives on as an example of humble service for all.
For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, her example is that of what any mere human does when their life is modeled after Christ’s. With Christ’s love and passion for others in our hearts, any old sinner like you or even me can be a saint.

Amen

Newsletter September 2007

Exodus 32—The Golden Calf
"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before us.'"

“Are we there yet?!” the little boy beckoned to his mother from the back seat. “No, son, a little bit further yet”, she replied.

Patience! It is a mark and sign of faithfulness. St. Paul lists patience among the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Galatians. And he exhorts his listeners in Colossians to clothe themselves with the characteristics of faith; naming patience among the defining traits of a Christian.

The Bible is filled with stories of God’s people losing their patience with God, and thereby losing their faith in God. The story of the Golden Calf is a good example. The Israelites lost patience and decided to do things their own way. They built an idol in the form of a golden calf. Then they worshipped this idol instead of the God who rescued them from Egypt. Losing their patience with God was a sign that they had lost faith in God.

In the journey of life, we often beckon from the back seat up to our Heavenly Father, “Are we there yet?!” And the response is always the same, “No, my child, a little bit further yet.”

I must confess. I am sooooo often the child in the backseat. I am always eager to see things come to be. I am always in a hurry to accomplish things and move on. Patience is God’s constant reminder to me.

This time of transition at our church leaves us, together, beckoning, “Are we there yet!?” Just as the trek from Egypt to the Promised Land tested the Israelite’s patience and faithfulness, our trek through these transitions is a test of ours.

In the difficult times, times when the Israelites lost patience with God and with each other, God would remind his chosen people of the larger relevance of the journey they were on. This would help to normalize the periods of discontent and in doing so discourage the discontented and impatient Israelites from returning to Egypt. Likewise, for us, it seems wise at this time to remind us of the transitions that we are facing together.

We are traversing through the wilderness of three very difficult transitions. First, you have changed pastors. Second, we are changing the ministry model from pastor-centered to program. Third, we are already talking about changes to the building and grounds. Any one of these three transitions would be a challenge to even the healthiest of congregations. But, God has invited us to be faithful through all three at the same time. This will require patience with God as well as patience with others. But, it may help to recognize that a swirl of discontent and impatience is very normal through such a difficult series of transitions as these.

Finally, it may also help to remember that in the Exodus story God did finally deliver the people to where He had promised. Likewise, God will do with us. As we are beckoning our cries of discontent and impatience from the back seat, remember it is God who is in the front seat. God is the driving. We are His children along for the ride.

Blessings,

+Rich

Liberation from the Lilliputians

Luke 13:10-17

This morning I would like to begin with a fable. This is a very famous fable from Jonathon Swift. I would like to take this fable and slightly alter it to meet the needs of our day.

Gulliver and the Lilliputians:
Gulliver needed to be set free from the thousands upon thousands of little ties and knots, strings and threads, that were holding him down, killing him and his freedom.

The meaning: It is the nature of human institutions, whether they be government, schools, churches, social conventions to put thousands of little regulations on people in order to hold them down, tie them down and control them.

Examples:
Apply for welfare or food stamps, or whatever you apply for to the
Federal government, and you will quickly find that there are Lilliputians involved in the system. The strings they use are miles of red tape, a myriad of rules and regulations.

Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking. You’re thinking, “Pastor, those rules and regulations are important. Without them, people would take advantage.
And you are correct. The point of this message is not to criticize government rules and regulations. Rules and regulations are indeed a necessity of any institution. God is keenly aware of this, hence the 10 commandments.
However, the point of this message is to make clear that sin has a way of convincing us that the rules and regulations within the institution are more important than the original purpose of institution itself. With tongue firmly in cheek, the point of this message is to give us someone to blame for this institutional sin. The Lilliputians did it! :-)

It is the nature of sin within our institutions, whether they are governments, schools, or even churches to start with rules and regulations that serve to support and make viable the very good purposes behind the institution, but then cause the institution to drift asleep to the original purpose allowing the Lilliputians to take over. When we wake up, we find that a very subtle shift has been made, where the original purpose of the institution was to serve people, but instead, the people are now forced to serve the institution. It happens again and again. When this happens serving the legal needs of the institution become more important than the real needs of the people. Sin turns the institution into a god and then holds the people hostage to the system.
This is what Lilliputians do.

Gospel:
It is precisely the attitude of Gulliver awaking to find that he has been strapped down by the Lilliputians with thousands of little strings (regulations) that the Gospel lesson speaks to us about today. In the Judaism of that time in history, their religion had become an institution of a thousand rules and regulations. The original purpose was to help people praise God and compassionately serve one another. But instead, the Lilliputians snuck in somewhere along the course of history and took over. They convinced the Jewish people that all the traditions, the rules and regulations, were more important than a genuine faith in God or compassionate service to the neighbor. The Lilliputians made the people become preoccupied with rules and traditions and they began to serve the institution as if it were god. Like Gulliver, the people were held down like prisoners; powerless and dying beneath the constraints of an institution that God had intended for the purpose of freeing people for worship and compassion.
Believe it or not, on of those Jewish regulations in Jesus’ day was that a person could not be healed on the Sabbath day of rest. Can you imagine such thoughts today? All hospitals will care for patients six days a week but not care for them on Sunday? Fortunately, such thoughts would not fly in our society. Fortunately, our society has come to realize that Sabbath Rest has little to do with a list of prohibitive blue laws.

The Church:
Now, I know that many of you, like myself, miss the days when Sunday was set aside for church. We long for the day when the church might return to its place within our society of dominion over the activities of Sunday. But, in truth, we must confess that this period of blue laws was not genuinely about praising God and serving our neighbor. It was actually about placing societal rules and regulations in place that would maintain a certain level of power and control over people. These regulations benefitted our institution, but they did not encourage faith in God. They did not allow for the freedom to Worship, and serve our neighbor.

Far too often, the primary purpose of the church becomes misguided by Lilliputians. Sometimes, it begins to feel like the purpose of the church is to preserve our religious customs, rules, regulations and rituals, more so than doing the compassion of God. The rules, regulations and rituals take on a life of their own, and preserving them becomes more important than doing and being the compassion of God.

Jesus offers liberation
By healing a woman on the Sabbath, Jesus reveals to us a new vision for what Sabbath truly means. Sabbath Rest is not found through a list of prohibitions placed upon us one day of the week. Sabbath Rest is to be set free from the labors of sin. When Jesus broke from tradition in order to heal the woman on the Sabbath, he offered liberation for all of us. Jesus liberated us from the Lilliputians– freedom from those religious customs that we think are somehow God-given but are not.

I would like to give you a couple of examples. These are based on true stories, but are easily applicable to just about any church institution from around 1975.

Examples #1
I grew up on Appalachian WV Lutheran legalism. I have come to learn that this is very much like the Midwest. Garrison Keillor describes this most succinctly on the side of a coffee mug I have at home: "I’m a Lutheran. We are modest people and we don’t make a fuss. And it sure would be a better world if they were all as modest as us. We do not go for whooping it up, or a lot of yikkety-yak. When we say hello, we avert our eyes and we always sit in the back. We sit in the pew where we always sit, and we do not shout Amen. And if anyone yells or waves their hands, they’re not invited back again."
One day, Susan, the musician and choir director at my church caused quite a stir. She even provoked the pastor to pay a special visit to straighten things out. Everyone came home from church that day talking about it. For the anthem on this one dreadful morning, Susan, had given a choir member permission to play a tambourine.

Example #2
In my church it was deemed that certain people were more religious than others by the depth of their knowledge of the bible and their ability to recite passages from memory. This obviously meant that some people were more Christian than other people. The more Christian people were those who especially loved their church traditions. They were given positions of authority and influence. They came to worship more often, and were the first to tell you if you were behaving somewhat less Christian than them. Those who didn’t come to church, or those who came visiting had to prove themselves to the authorities that they were worthy before those with influence would truly accept them and invite them into the active ministry.
I remember the year that Sally was elected to church council. She was a relatively new member. She had moved to the area about five years prior and had quickly gotten involved in the church. But, what’s five years of membership compared to those who spent their lifetime in that congregation. Sally wanted to run for church council. But, there were three strikes immediately against her. First, she was a woman. The people of my church said, “Women were not to be leading the church. This was simply unheard of. Women were meant to be taking care of the children. There must be something wrong with a woman who wants to do such a thing.” Second, she was “too new” some said. She had been a member only five years. Third, others didn’t like her because she was divorced. They said, “Divorced people shouldn't be allowed to serve on the church council because they won’t be good role models for our children.” Sally was not elected and left the church soon after that. We never heard from her again. But, I don’t think many people went looking for her either.

Example #3
I also remember the time when a black man and white woman came visiting my church together. They were married and it seemed like everybody in the congregation had a problem with that. There was something unnatural about it they said. It violated God’s laws of nature they said. Needless to say, this couple didn’t stay too long at my church either.

All of these rules and a myriad of others are traditional interpretations of the Bible and ever so subtly, those religious interpretations and traditions became more important than living out the compassion of Christ. This subtle shift in the rules, from people serving the institution rather than the institution serving people, is the work of those sinful Lilliputians.

Jesus is our liberator from the Lilliputians.
Jesus liberates Christianity from our biblical interpretations, traditions and from what we think Christianity ought to be. Liberated from this institutional sinfulness we are set free. Free to truly worship God. Prohibitive Blue laws are not the way to Sabbath freedom. Think about it. You all had a variety of options that you could have done on this beautiful Sunday morning. You were free this morning to Worship God, and you listened to call of the one you pray to, the one you call Lord, and you came to church. That’s Sabbath freedom! We are free for genuine compassion to our neighbor. There are no laws demanding that you volunteer in ministries—no prohibitive guilt forcing you to do this or that or you’re going to Hell. NO! Jesus has saved you by his death and resurrection. Those who believe this ""Good News" are liberated from guilt and despair—the labors of sin. This means you have the freedom to serve your neighbor. Therefore, you have heard the call of the one who has freed you and you have come here, made yourselves a part of this church, committed yourselves to the work of this church. This is the freedom given to you by Christ. We are liberated from all the societal rules and regulations that hold us back from worshiping freely and serving our neighbor freely.

Jesus liberated us all when he broke the rules to heal that woman on the Sabbath. Now, as Paul says, there is nothing that separates you from the love of God. NOTHING! Therefore, come one come all. Let every mixed up, sinful wretch of a person come. Let everyone who the Lilliputians have put down, held down, or imprisoned come to meet this Jesus and be set free. Let all of us "holier than thou Christians" come seeking forgiveness and be set free as well. Let this place be for all a place of welcome — and let that welcome be the healing touch of Jesus — just as his touch healed a woman on one Sabbath long ago.
Amen

The Faithless Impala

Hebrews 11:29--12:2

In unsure times, God gives us the assurance of faith.
Jesus is on a holy tear in today’s gospel reading. He is setting the earth on fire, bringing division. This is not the pastoral, good shepherd Jesus. This is a glimpse of a more firm Jesus. This is Jesus on a mission. And he will not be deterred by any of the false securities of this world. He is pursuing the assurance of eternal security for all, and nothing, not even the relationships of family are going to stop him. In the end, this is the Jesus the world desperately needs. This is the Jesus that sacrifices all, goes to the cross, with faith that God will say Yes to him and redeem all of us.

Jesus’ fire is against all those things that we put our trust and faith in ahead of him.
Likewise, the author of Hebrews exhorts his listeners to have faith, persevere and continue to move forward. Do not let the false securities of this world hold you back from accomplishing what God has put before you. Listing all the biblical stories of people who moved forward in faith, Hebrews calls us then to move forward in the presence of this great cloud of witnesses—pursuing not our own goals but God’s.

There’s a bit of animal trivia I want to share with you. How many of you know what an Impala is? It’s a deer-like creature that roams the grassy Serengeti of Africa. It is said that this creature is capable of leaping 10-feet in the air, and bounding 30-feet in distance. It’s amazing what this creature can do. And it needs to do this in order to have any chance of escape from predators like Lions and Tigers.

Well, upon studying this creature it was observed that when being chased by a predator it would be running and bounding through the grass, but when it came to a thick bush or tree, that it could easily have leaped over, it would instead halt its running and try to find a way around it—often to its own demise. Why would this creature, capable of easily bounding over the obstacle before it, choose to go around it and run the risk of being caught by its predator?

With this curious information, a theory surface, and was tested. They built a pen for the Impala that was nothing more than a 3-foot wall. Just high enough that the Impala could not see over it as it approached it. And sure enough, no matter how provoked, the Impala would not leap over this 3-foot wall to freedom. This study revealed something interesting. The Impala, with its great leaping capability, will only leap if it can first see where its feet are going to land.
If the Impala had just a little bit of faith that when it leaped beyond where it could see, it would avoid the predators that devour it so much more often.

How often do we behave like the Impala? How often are we caught; wanting to be sure of the outcome of our actions before we act?

The writer of Hebrews gives us a list of stories that involve tremendous obstacles that were overcome by faith in God. We are not like the Impala, even though we often behave as if we are. No! We have been given the gift of faith. This gift, when used, seperates us from all other creatures and enables us to respond to difficulty, threats, and fear in ways that reveal God's image in place of our own.

With Jesus in the lead of our lives, we are empowered by his faith to remain faithful ourselves. Rather becoming like trapped animals, we are set free. Free to worship God! Free to serve our neighbor joyfully.

In the end, even the giant obstacle of death itself is overcome. Just as Jesus leaped over it on the cross and landed on his feet on the other side. So, we too, are asked to follow. When we face our final obstacle, with faith in Jesus, we will leap right over that wall and land on our feet with Jesus in heaven.

Amen

Making Peace with Boredom

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

A certain amount of boredom is simply a fact of life, but involving ourselves in helping others is one way to make peace with it.

So there’s this guy — we’ll call him Barry. Barry has an important position as a manager at a major corporation, and lately, he’s been going full steam on a major project. He’s even devoted weekends and evenings to it, but finally it’s finished and it’s a great success. Barry receives all kinds of praise and his boss insists that Barry take some time off. Make up for all that time you spent away from your wife, his boss says, so Barry books a vacation for two. The first few days they take in some terrific shows, eat some great meals, even drive out to see the extended family. Barry’s wife enjoys every moment, and so does Barry, at first. By the fourth day, while his wife is doing a little shopping, Barry sits by the pool at the hotel and wonders what else there is to do. With nothing immediately on the agenda, Barry cracks open his laptop computer and logs on to the Internet. He browses a few news and business sites but finds nothing to capture his interest. He logs off, and begins to look forward to returning back to work the following Monday. Barry is bored. The guy’s more bored than a lumber mill. Somewhere else there’s this woman we’ll call Annie. She has always loved to cook, and had long dreamed of opening a catering business, and finally her dream came true. She’s been in business now for five years, and all things considered, it’s gone very well. She’s making money, catering interesting events and loving being her own boss. But for the last several months, the excitement she felt at the start has evaporated, and she moves mechanically through her days, doing her work, but without any joy. Her American Dream has come true. She works everyday at it and all of a sudden she wakes up one morning, looks into the mirror and she’s bored with it. There is no more personal thrill of achievement. She has already reached her goals. Then, at that moment, the despair, and the worry begin.

Barry and Annie are both suffering from boredom, but in different forms. Barry has “everyday boredom.” It’s the grown-up version of what a kid is feeling when he comes up to his parents and moans, “I’m bored! There’s nothing to doooo.” Parents sometimes respond by saying, “Well, why don’t you play with ...” and then reel off a list of all the toys and games the kid has in his room. Of course, that seldom works, because at that moment, he’s looking for new stimulation. We adults too, have our toys and games. We can go to the movies, the theater, the mall, the gym, the stadium or the entertainment complex set up in our own family room. But like Barry, some days, none of that is enough. Annie’s boredom, however, is not from lack of momentary stimulation. Hers is “existential boredom,” where meaning and purpose seem to have been drained out of her life. She does her work each day, and does it well, but inside, it all feels futile. The fact is, whether we are talking about everyday boredom or the existential variety, it’s a fact of life. Boredom is part of life.

The writer of Ecclesiastes has come to realize this as well. “Vanity of vanities!” he says. “All is vanity.” Those are the sentiments of a man suffering the boredom of existence. “I ... applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.” Those are the words of a troubled man. He’s disturbed by the inability to find meaning in his daily life. He feels that nothing he has done or achieved makes any real difference, and he fears that he’ll go to his grave without discovering specific meaning and purpose to his existence. If life were simple and tidy, the author of Ecclesiastes would have gone on in his book to tell us how he discovered the key to overcoming boredom, and this sermon on his book would be titled something like “Three Easy Steps to an Exciting Life.” At the very least, he would tell us that by trusting God, all boredom would dissolve. But life isn’t simple and tidy, and if you read Ecclesiastes all the way through, you discover that the author doesn’t “conquer” boredom. Rather, he accommodates it as a part of his existence. Before he gets there, though, he tries several remedies, including self-indulgence, lavish spending and sensual pleasures. While he does find some immediate gratification, he also concludes that such is all the reward there is. But in the end, he makes peace his boredeom. And he comes to a few conclusions: Go your way, appreciate your family and passing pleasures, value wisdom and learning, and then this: “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’”. In other words, start with God, because God provides a baseline of meaning and purpose in life. Here’s a story that illustrates this point. A woman drove an armored vehicle that picked up and delivered money. Driving and stopping at stores and banks and waiting for the pickup or drop-off is what she did 10 hours a day, always covering the same route day after day. Talk about boredom! She struggled with her desire to quit and find another job but held on because of the medical insurance benefit and her fear of not finding a job that paid what she was currently making. She grew more and more bored, and before long, bitterness at her life circumstances began to set in. A life-changing turning point for her was the day she decided to give God her day and ask that it be used to accomplish God’s purposes. Instead of mindless existence, she began to use her time while she was waiting to pray — at first for her family and friends, then for concerns raised at church, and eventually she began to pray for the people she met and/or saw from the armored truck. Giving her boredom to God allowed God to transform it into meaning and purpose.”

There’s one more thing we can glean from boredom, but it’s something the author of Ecclesiastes never seemed to grasp. For all his experiments, he never tried helping others. It’s counterintuitive, but time and again, those who find an outlet for their lives that involves caring for others discover that whatever else life is, it isn’t boring. A certain amount of boredom is simply a fact of life, but involving ourselves in helping others is one way to make peace with it.
Of course, whatever our circumstances, God never promised us freedom from boredom. God promised to be with us through all things. And as we trust God and go faithfully about our daily tasks, God goes with us, giving us the opportunity to be at peace even when we’re bored.

Amen

Sermon: Spiritual Double Talk

Opening:
Church Blooper Announcements [Best read by a leader from the church in the manner of making genuine announcements.]

1. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
2. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church.
3. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery.
4. Tuesday at 4:00 PM there will be an ice cream social, featuring homemade ice-cream. All ladies giving milk will please come early.
5. With Easter Sunday approaching, we will be asking volunteers to come forward and lay eggs on the alter.
6. Next Sunday a special collection will be taken to defray the cost of new carpet. All those wishing to do something on the carpet please do so on your way out.
7. The ladies of the church have given up their clothing for this year’s fund raiser. Members of the church may get a sneak peek at them on the Friday prior to the event.
8. Sandy is still in the hospital. She asked me to announce that she is having trouble sleeping and requests recordings of Pastor Rich’s sermons.
9. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
10. The stewardship committee unveiled the church's new giving campaign slogan: "I Upped My Pledge--Now Up Yours."
11. 8 new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
12. Please don't forget this year’s rummage sale. Ladies, It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.
13. The confirmation class will be presenting a dramatic Passion Play this year during Lent. The congregation is invited to come and see this tragedy.


Clearly by this list of church bulletin bloopers there is often a difference between what is said and what is heard. In fact much of what we say often has multiple meanings. Our English language is filled with idioms and expressions that mean different things in different contexts. Take the expression “getting ahead”. We use this expression often in our language, but its meaning is dependent upon context? In a conversation about financial matters, this means trying to pay off credit cards, or put more money in a savings account. In a conversation about professional success it has to do with advancing one’s self to a higher place within the company. But, when used by a person behind the wheel of a car it means to pass a slower moving vehicle. Often what we say has multiple meanings, and each different meaning is contingent upon the context. Within the context, we understand quite clearly the meaning behind what is being said, but from the outside looking/listening in, the meaning can be lost or confused.

The church often times struggles with this contextual confusion as well. Within the context of the church, couched in the language and the teaching, we have little problem understanding the message behind the words that are spoken in worship. But, to a person who is not part of the church, this may not be the case. Take for instance the words, “Take and eat, this is my body given for you.” Historically there is evidence to believe that in the early formation of the church, Roman unbelievers made claims that those Christians are cannibals.
So, as we continue to live into the mission of being a church for people who have no church, we need to be mindful in this day of how people hear what we insiders are saying.
But, this contextual understanding of things is not only for the language of worship. We might also want to be mindful of creating our own bulletin bloopers by assuming that newer members are aware of what is being announced. For instance; announcing an annual event with little explanation of what its for, or what’s expected from the volunteers leaves new people floundering to get involved because they do not have the needed insider information to translate the announcement.
Within the context, we understand quite clearly the message behind the words, but from outside the context we often can’t and this leads to confusion. This is true of God’s Word as well.

Gospel:
Jesus speaks God’s Word to a diverse crowd of people. Some came from Jerusalem [Jews], and some came from as far as Tyre and Sidon [Gentiles]. By Jesus’ message to them we can surmise that some were poor and hungry, while others were more affluent and well fed. Some were hated and excluded, while others were loved and received social praise. Some were grieving, while others were joyful. People of various different backgrounds, different religions, different stations in life. Of this motley crowd of different people, they all had one thing in common. Verse 18 says they all came to hear him and to be healed. And so, he spoke to them words of healing.
To the poor, the hungry, the broken-hearted, the outcast his words were like salve on their wounded souls.
Blessed are you .
But to the affluent and well fed, the socially acceptable, and those
currently experiencing joy, Jesus’ words would have sounded more like a bitter pill.
Woe to you.
So that there is no confusion, even though Jesus delivers his message in two parts (blessings and woes) the Word of God remains the same.
Beneath the surface of the list of blessings and woes is the same
Message—God’s love is for all.
It has been said that God’s Word, when properly proclaimed, will do two things. It will comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. Those who heard God’s Word on that day as comfort probably remained as Jesus’ disciples. But, I wonder, what of the people who heard it as affliction? Did they hear it all? Or, did they ignore Jesus call to change their ways? Did they change their ways and follow him onward? The text doesn’t tell us.

Connection:
How do we hear God’s word? When we are in need, when we are threatened, when we are crying, when we are rejected, we hear God’s Word loud and clear. It comforts us, and we join the church, and we continue coming to church just as those who were in the crowd came to Jesus because they wanted to hear him and be healed. And we learn to believe and trust that whenever we are afflicted we can count on God to comfort us by His Word. In bad times, God’s Word is clear and we listen and we follow.
But, what about when times are good, when we are comfortable? Do we hear God challenging us to grow in discipleship, to remain faithful, to change our ways so that others less fortunate may be blessed?
Closing:
Fortunately, God’s Word comes to us in the life promised through the love of Jesus. Such that all of us who believe and are baptized are given freely this promise of God’s eternity.
Its important for us to remember then, that no matter if it challenges us or comforts us, God’s Word for us is always one of God’s love and care for His chosen people.

Therefore, no matter if we are comforted or afflicted by God’s Word we want to be listening and following.

I remember the person I once was. But, because of God’s love—both tough and tender— today I am thankful that I no longer recognize the person in those memories.
My guess is that you might be able to say the same thing about your relationship with God.
Words may mean different things to those who listen in from outside the context of the message, but to those of us within the context, the meaning of the words is most often very clear.
Remain then in relationship to God through Jesus, and when God’s Word is spoken to you, there will be no confusion.
God’s Word is not a blooper.

Let us pray…
Lord God, by your mercy keep us in relationship with you, that your Word would always be our guidance and comfort. Amen

Newsletter June

Did you know that Pennsylvania made recycling the law in July of 1988? My guess is that most people don’t know that. But, it’s true. With Act 101, the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, Pennsylvania became the largest state in the nation to require recycling.

However, if you ask the folks in Caernarvon Township, where Amy and I live, if they recycle do you know what they’ll tell you? Here’s what they’ll tell you. We don’t recycle! However, they probably won't tell you this in such a blunt way as this. They will say that the residents are welcome to recycle on their own. Yea sure, who wants to load up recyclables in the trunk of their car and drive them yourself to the local dump every week? Not I. And, my guess is, not you either. In other words the answer to the question remains. We don't recycle!

I have learned that in Honey Brook Township the circumstance isn’t much different. Everyone is welcome to recycle, even encouraged to recycle—if they want to. Well, who WANTS to sort their garbage into differentiating containers? Who WANTS to wash out bottles, jars and cans? Who WANTS to stack up, and possibly even bundle up their paper? Who WANTS to recycle? Most don’t. Therefore, even though our state boasts about becoming the largest state in the nation to REQUIRE recycling, in the end the state is doing very little to enforce their recycling law. As a result most people in the state of Pennsylvania, as is the case here in our area, choose to not recycle.

But, we are believers in God. Because our faith is that which guides us, we are asked by God to live according to God’s law first and civil laws second. This means God asks us to try to live according to His law in all aspects of life. God calls us to be good stewards of creation. We all know that recycling saves resources, saves energy, and saves the environment. We all know that recycling is one way to be a good steward of creation. The stewardship of God's creation is an issue important enough to prompt us to find a way to recycle. "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." You may have heard that before. It's in the bible, in the book of Joshua. In other words, as it pertains to this message, "For me and my house, we will recycle." This means that for you and me, contrary to the township, RECYCLING IS NOT AN OPTION. This is why I was so pleased to see large recycling receptacles placed all around the church property during the Spring Fling in May.

The question for us is not IF we will recycle, but HOW. The recycling options are dependent upon the area in which you live. For Amy and me, we can load up our recyclables in the car once a week and take them to Lanchester ourselves, or we can pay $25/month for a local trash hauler to make a special stop at our house each week. Given those two options, I gladly pay the $25/month to not have to "truck" them myself in the trunk of my car.

Our township does not enforce the state’s requirement for recycling. But this law is in consort with God’s law of good stewardship. So, even though the civil authorities do not enforce this we ought to do so anyway. If your home is already a recycling home, GREAT! For the rest of us, maybe this summer is a good time to start taking recycling more seriously. After all, God has given us the beauty of the earth to appreciate and protect, not consume and throw away. So, let’s offer to God our best effort at keeping it beautiful and rich with natural resources.


A Blessed Summer to all of you,

+Rich

Annual Report

Dear Living God,

When was the last time you watched a bird fly—no, a hawk soar? When we are children we marvel at such things. Then, we grow up and become consumed with so many different things that we take simple things such as this for granted. Recently I was driving home at the end of my day and above me, through the sun-roof, I noticed a hawk soaring. Taken by the sunshine, the arrival of the long anticipated warmth of spring, and now this hawk I pulled over just to let my soul soak up the brief moment. It’s amazing what these birds can do. They can fly! What a gift God has given them. It occurred to me that for centuries humans have marveled at the flight of the bird. Up until 1903, we had not the capability to do what the bird makes look effortless. Now, we have flown as far as the moon, and have come to realize that we could go further if it was necessary to put our energy into doing so. Many have claimed that the greatest invention of the 20th century was the computer. But, one could make a valid argument for the Wright brothers’ discovery of flight. Before this discovery it was determined that flying was simply one of those things that we who are created without wings are not meant to do. But, this discovery changed that. We had learned to defy the laws of gravity. This discovery altered the course of technology, and inspired us to dream of things that were forever thought to be impossible. Within 60 years of this discovery our nation heard its president announce that going to the moon, the stuff of dreams, was now possible. It was the science and technology coming out of the pursuit to fly that led to the invention of the computer. These things, of course, have changed the world. But, it was learning to fly, defying gravity that spirited the momentum which yielded the inventions that have changed our world. Still today, as we stop to let our soul soak up the majesty and wonder of a bird in flight, we are inspired to defy gravity.
Ever since Abraham first looked to the heavens seeking the One True God, we have been a people with faith in a God who invites us to defy the gravity of life. Actually, with tongue in cheek, we could declare that Christians were the first to truly discover how to fly, that is, to defy gravity. There is nothing more gravity defying than believing that Jesus has made it possible for you and me to defy our own grave. From the moment we first believed that Jesus has secured for us life beyond death we have been forming and reforming a religion around the pursuit of flight with the Holy Spirit. As Christians who stand beneath a banner called Lutheran we carry with us the legacy of a man whose faith enabled him to defy the gravity of Roman tyranny. Still today, God calls us to dream for things that seem impossible, defy gravity, and fly with the Holy Spirit.
Today, the gravity of our world weighs heavy upon the church. Global issues such as poverty, war, and climate coupled with our cultural issues such as a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, declining public schools, struggling healthcare, and homeland insecurity make up a portion of gravity’s weight upon all of us. Locally, we here in Honey Brook add the weight of urban sprawl, and a variety of issues pertaining to middle-class survival. Add to these a host of issues before our national church such as human sexuality, an increasing disparity between available clergy and churches without clergy, a loss of perceived relevance in our society and we begin to feel the weight upon our denomination in America. Beneath this gravity, our national church saw the loss of 200,000 people just over the last 5 years1. Here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, our synod faces similar drop offs. According to Dr. Gemechis Buba, assistant to the bishop for mission development, 80% of the Lutheran churches in our synod are either in a state of plateau or decline, most are in decline. Our congregation bears this weight as well. We may be growing, but most of our growth is not due to missionary work that yields new Christians. Our growth is primarily due to the migration of people out of other churches and into ours as people relocate here. Our church’s growth is not so much a sign of growth in the kingdom of God as it is a shuffling of the deck. It is important for us to recognize this as it helps us to understand some of the dynamics of the gravity which impacts our congregation.
This year I have made use of this annual report to share with you my reflection of the gravity we bear together as we learn to fly together in ministry here at Living God. As I see it, beneath the gravity of issues we are given two options. One is to let ourselves be blown about by the winds of fear, which lead to a variety of destructive responses ranging from ambivalence to hostility. The other is to follow the lead of all the faithful people who have striven to do God’s holy will. We can look to the heavens for the One True God to guide us. For the church today, and indeed for our congregation, now is a good time to stop for a moment and let our souls soak up the majesty and wonder of the Holy Spirit in flight, so that we are inspired to defy the gravity of our world and learn to fly to the heights of God’s calling.
Before the Wright brothers’ discovered the means of flight, they were first and foremost very aware of the gravity they had to overcome. So, let’s recognize the gravity in our church for what it is. For matters pertaining to this report, I’ll be using the word gravity to indicate the forces which push against the church’s movement forward. By understanding the gravity of our situation, with God’s help we can muster up the faith to defy it, and learn to fly in spite of it.

Gravity #1: The honeymoon is over.
Last year, at the writing of my annual report, I had served among you for only about 5 months. It is safe, and honest, to say that we were in a honeymoon period together. I was still very enthusiastic to get started with things, and you, the congregation, were enthusiastic as well. Like two people anxious to get to know one another the very air in our Sunday mornings was charged with expectation. Now, we’ve come to learn a bit about what to expect from one another. You have learned that I am different from that which you expected at first, and I have learned likewise about you. As is true of any relationship, once the initial infatuation wears off, the warts and blemishes of our true selves begin to show.
A year ago average attendance in worship saw a general increase during the honeymoon period to a peak of 177. During this time there seemed to be more than enough energy to move forward with necessary changes. Therefore, last year I wrote about the need to move swiftly from a Pastor-Centered model of ministry to one that lifted up the church’s programs as central. I also wrote about the need to begin plans toward a larger church building. We can not grow in programs without having a place for those programs to carry out their work. A year ago there seemed to be plenty of support and enthusiasm to move us through this transition. But, that was a year ago. This year, attendance has stabilized at about 160. That’s still above the threshold of 150 for moving from Pastor-Centered ministry to Program ministry2. However, this year the enthusiasm to make this transition appears to be waning. Among the leaders within the church there is confusion over the pastor’s direction, and over who is responsible for what. It is fair to say that a certain measure of frustration and burnout accompanies this confusion. Church council members, on occasion, have left meetings angry and disheartened, as did the parents of our youth group after one particular meeting. The Visioneering Team (name given to the strategic planning team), after getting off to an enthusiastic start have since lost a great deal of momentum. They now find it increasingly more difficult to get the members of the group together for a meeting. Our Sunday School program, which was lifted up a year ago as one of the reasons we need to build larger, now struggles to manage the critical mass necessary to justify the teacher’s time and the costs of the curriculum. And last but not least, a small number of members have cared enough to share confidentially their discontent with me personally as well as professionally.

Defying Gravity #1: Normalize and remain patient.
Sometimes it helps just to state the obvious. We are a church in transition. As a matter of fact, we are a church in the middle of two very BIG transitions. You’ve had to change pastors and our growth has brought about the need to change the way we do ministry together. My style of leadership is primarily to help you lead yourselves. From my perspective, this style is quite the opposite from that which you’ve grown accustomed. Therefore, we are not even enduring a typical change of pastors; we are enduring a full swing of the pendulum from one side to the other. This will take patience and lots of forgiveness. And it’s also very helpful to remember that a certain measure of frustration, burnout, even drop-out is quite normal and even healthy during times of transition. When we finally get through this, Living God will be healthier and stronger as a result. I like to say at weddings that the real marriage doesn’t truly begin until after the honeymoon. This is true of ministry as well. Now that the honeymoon is over, the real ministry that God has in store for us together can begin.

Gravity #2: Centralized Authority
As a church grows it goes through stages. At infancy, it is a small group of less than 50 centered around an idea, a dream, and a hope—Christ. Then, it grows to a stage when there needs to be a central figure to organize and authorize the movement forward. In most cases this figure becomes the pastor. When a congregation is gathering between 50 and 150 regularly, this centralized authority figure can manage to keep the plates of ministry spinning. But, when a congregation moves beyond 150, the centralized authority can no longer spin all the plates and one by one the new plates added are not given enough attention and they fall and crash. In other words, in our congregation, centralized authority is squelching the spirit of growth forcing us to settle for the status quo. This problem is seen and felt in a variety of ways at our church. It is common for me to hear, in one way or another, the expression “It’s your church, pastor.” Church council regularly finds itself micro-managing the work of the ministry teams. Leaders often do not make decisions without seeking permission from the pastor. There are complaints that point to this common problem as well, such as poor communication, not enough volunteers, and people not receiving enough personal attention. Among those who have been a part of this church for a while, there is a feeling of loss for the church of the recent past. I often hear the lament, “I miss the days when we used to worship in the school. Back then we all knew one another.”

Defying Gravity #2: Decentralize Authority
Church council has heard me preach this over and over to them, but it is necessary that this message be shared with the whole church. Church council needs to be free to council, and leaders need to be free to lead. We are in the process of rising up and equipping leaders in six key areas of ministry: Worship, Education, Outreach, Fellowship, Support, and Stewardship. In time these leaders will act as shepherds to the flock. On one level they will be given the authority to make most of the decisions for the ministry team. But, on a much deeper and much more necessary level they will serve as shepherds. They will pray with and for those who are in their ministry team. They will care to the spiritual welfare of their team members. They will provide comfort and support, as well as celebration for the individuals in their team. And, when necessary, they will refer members to the pastor for care and attention. These leaders will be active in recruiting by routinely introducing themselves and welcoming all people into the work of the ministry. By doing these things, the team leaders will be modeling a way of living together in Christian community where all are shepherds for each other.
This decentralization is a process of transformation. Over time this will transform our congregation. Communication channels will be much clearer than they are now. New members’ ideas and enthusiasm will quickly receive a welcome into the ministry through personal invitations by the ministry leaders, rather than wait for the pastor. And, most importantly, Christ will be encountered in the relationships formed along the common journey of ministry together. But, the only way for this transformation to take place is from the inside first. The members, especially those who are leaders, must begin to let their own views and expectations be transformed. The transformation of a church begins with people who are transformed. A Christian transforms the lives of those around him only in so much as he is first transformed by Christ.
An easy place to start this personal transformation is just to become more aware of the language you use. For instance, recently a member came up to me and said, “Pastor, how much money has YOUR youth group raised so far?” It’s not MY youth group. It’s not MY church. Pastors come and go; it’s the congregation that remains. So you might say it’s YOUR church. But, actually it’s ours. Better yet, it’s God’s. We are in ministry together. Another place to start is to recognize that we are all shepherds of and for one another. Don’t come up to the pastor on Sunday and ask, “Pastor, who is that person over there?” Go over to that person and introduce yourself. Take an active role in making sure that you’ve personally welcomed every person into the ministries of our church. We do a great job of welcoming people into the worship service. Now, we need to take the next step. Take an active role in being aware of the church calendar and personally inviting people into the life of the church. Also, don’t wait for the pastor to meet with new members in their home to talk about the church, or about joining the church. Invite them to your house. Ask them if they would mind you pray for them while they are considering active participation in the ministry of Living God.
Transformation is a time and painstaking process. Over time we will begin to see how decentralizing the authority of our church opens up the possibility for a spiritual transformation of the whole congregation.

Gravity #3: Mission Accomplished
It may be that many of you who remember meeting for worship prior to the existence of 3200 Horseshoe Pike remember a kind of enthusiasm for building a new church that permeated all that you did together. You may recall the way the energy of planning and expecting to build a church fused you together as a congregation and gave you a sense of vision. Now, it may be that after building the church you feel a sense of accomplishment. You may feel as if your work is finished. I hear a common expression that resonates from this sentiment, “Let some of the new people do the work now.” As if, somehow, modeling a lack of effort and enthusiasm will motivate others to give effort and enthusiasm. My friends, we can’t expect the 200 new people to serve with any more or less enthusiasm than that which the original 100 model to them.
It may be that you’re new to Living God and you really don’t know where your place is just yet. Hang in there, you’re very much needed and there is a place for you. It may be that you really just want to be left alone. Well, here’s my apology up front. The church is not going to leave you alone. Our faith in a God who creates out of love is a God who has created us for relationship. We don’t know how to be church and allow our members to sit idle outside the bonds formed by the work we do together in relationship.

Denying gravity #3: Vision Accomplished
In truth our mission is not accomplished. As a matter of fact, it will not ever be until one of two things occurs, our death or Christ’s return. This means our mission is not about the building, even though we can become so caught up in this task as if it were. We need to expand our building, but not because doing so would somehow bring to completion our mission. Instead we need to expand our building because God’s vision for ministry in Honey Brook includes people we haven’t yet met. God’s vision is being accomplished. He has gathered all 300+ of us together into this one community of faith so that we might build His church. The exciting part of this is that all of us are needed; nobody gets left out, not the young or the old, the rich or the poor, the strong or the weak. Everyone has a part to play, and the spirit has given to us gifts to use for this purpose. God’s vision is being accomplished. He wants to do miraculous wonders through the people here in Honey Brook, and this vision includes us. God has come to personally invite you and me to be a part of this. Wow!
My friends, we are not just planting a building here in Honey Brook, or even the Lutheran faith. We are planting God’s vision of hope, the church, the body of Christ, here in Honey Brook. And, we’re not just doing it for this generation, but for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. The things we do today, the work we do to follow God’s vision will set this church on a course of action, and faithfulness that will define it and equip it for the generations to come. It is the story of our faith together now that will be told and retold through the history of this congregation. So, our mission is definitely not yet accomplished. But, oh what marvelous wonders God’s vision has in store for us as we faithfully follow God’s direction here in Honey Brook.

My friends, gravity is all around us. It has always been and it will always be. But, God has given us the gift of faith. And not just any faith, we have faith in the One who died and was resurrected. This faith of ours has the power to move mountains, roll away stones, walk on water, and defy gravity. It’s time we defy the gravity that is holding us down. Indeed, now is a good time to set our sights on the majesty and wonder of the Holy Spirit in flight, defy gravity and learn to fly to the heights of God’s calling.


Your servant in Christ,





1 ELCA Statistics complied by the Office of the Secretary,

2Alice Mann, Raising the Roof, The Pastoral-to-Program Size Transition, p. 7.

Sermon: April 15, 2007

Sanjayah and Thomas
John 20:19-31

Raise your hand if you watch the TV series "American Idol". [hands go up] Well, for those who are not familiar with this show here's how it goes. First there's this gathering of contestants from around the nation. The contestants are individuals who are hoping for a chance at fame and fortune as a singer. From around the country the contestants come. They come and, at least in the first couple of rounds, the TV viewers get to watch three judges publicly humiliate them. There are a few who make it through the judge's wrath somewhat unharmed. They are the ones who are invited back to move onward in the contest. Then, once they make it through this gathering round. The final contestants are voted upon each week by the American public. At the end of each week the contestant with the fewest of America's votes must leave the contest. Its an exercise in the same contest we all must participate in with our daily lives. Its the survival of the fittest contest. Its the reward of the greatest and best, and to hell with the rest event that consumes most of our lives and leaves us drained by the end of the day. So, now we can come home from a hard day in this contest of real life and participate vicariously through the TV in a kind of ritualistic hazing experiment on other unworthy and weaker condidates who are just like us. And when the show is over we are secretly gitty at the way Simon (the judge we all love to hate) really stuck it to so and so.

We are a culture who loves to put down--no--trample, destroy, humiliate, pulverize--the ones who are the weakest among us. Oh, we would never come to church and admit that. But, the success of this show speaks otherwise. That is--until Sanjayah came.

Among this season's contestants is this 17 year old kid named Sanjayah. He is clearly and most evidently not of the same caliber of talent as the other contestants. Yet, at the same time, he is not as abhorrent to watch or listen as some either. Meanwhile, he has a kind of charm and charisma that demonstrates a character that is just thrilled to be competing. Sanjayah has captured the votes of those who want to reward the underdog, the weakest, the least. The American public has grown tired of voting for the best. There is now a compaign to vote for the worst, and Sanjayah is the recipient of these votes. Sanjayah's survival in this game represents a refreshing swing of the pendulum of American public opinion. A vote for Sanjayah is a vote for the underdog, the underpriviledged, the regular person who is just trying to do their best in a world that is never satisfied.

Now, church, this spirit among the American viewers to lift up the lowly, put down the mighty, defend the weakest, and overthrow the systems of injustice---does this sound familiar to you? It should. This is the same spirit that comes upon the virgin Mary and gives this lowly peasant girl a reason to sing. The same spirit that brings new life to Israel when it is held captive by Babylonia. The same spirit that inspired Peter and the apostles in that first day of Pentecost, and the same spirit that drove Jesus out into ministry after his baptism. The Holy Spirit is moving among the American people. But, you say, where is the church in all this? If the Holy Spirit is doing this work, then why isn't the church involved in organizing this effort. This is being done without any connection to the church. How can this be?

God gives to the church the Holy Spirit. But, if the church is not going to make use of the Holy Spirit's gifts of faith to follow God and do God's will then God will not be restrained by the church's lack of action. When the chuirch is slow to faithfully act on behalf of God's will--God will act without the church. Each week we come here together and we recite the Lord's Prayer. In it we pray that "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Well, the truth is that God is God. He's in charge. His will gets done with or without us. Therefore in the Lord's prayer we are not praying simply for God's will to be done. We are praying that God's will gets done through us, that we do not make choices that lead us away from being a part of what God is doing in the world. We are thannkful of thr faith that we have been given, but we all too often forget that God has given us this faith for a reason and a purpose.

This brings me to the point of this sermon and the theme I am preaching under through this season of Easter--Faith may indeed be a personal matter, but it is never a private matter.

We each may have our own personal experience with the Almighty; our own personal faith in God. However, contrary to public opinion in our world today, faith is not truly faith if it does not call us to act on behlaf of God's will for the world. Faith must move us to act in love for our neighbor or creation. Faith that sits and does nothing isn't faith at all. God's will is that the lowly, the underdog, the unjustly treated be given a fair vote in this world.

This brings me to Thomas, the doubter, because here in this story we find that even those who doubt are welcomed by Jesus, and given the opportunity to believe so that God's will be done.

Tossing out Judas as an anomaly, if I were to ask you which of the disciples was the worst one, who would you say it is? That's a rhetorical question of course, because anyone with even a small amount of biblical awareness would answer Thomas. Why? Because he is the one who doubted the resurrection. It's because of him that when ever someone doubts the obvious they are likely labeled a "doubting Thomas". But, let's take a closer look at this doubter's story.

Thomas was not among the disciples when Jesus appears to them. Why? Where was he? Well, the truth is we don't know. But, what we do know is that the disciples were all hiding, afraid that what happened to Jesus would happen to them. They were all hiding---that is, except for Thomas, obviously, because he wasn't there. So, while the others are hiding, he isn't. Yet, we dont call him "Courageous Thomas", do we? OK, what else can we say about Thomas's story? Let's take a closer look at this whole doubting incident. Thomas says to the others that if he cannot touch the wounds of Jesus then he will not believe. A week later, Jesus appears to them as he did the previous week. He says to Thomas, "Put your fingers here. Put hand in my side. Do not doubt, but believe." Immediately, Thomas declares, "My Lord and my God!" There are two things we must lift up about this brief moment in time. First, notice that even though he said he would not believe without touching the wounds, Thomas never touched the wounds of Jesus. Jesus offered it to him, but he did not take him up on it. In the end Thomas believed without needing to physically touch the flesh and bone of Jesus. Secondly, and of most necessity, is Thomas's declaration of faith. Thomas declares something that no other disciple says. Thomas recognizes this Jesus to be his Lord, which meant master, teacher, or one with authority over him in some sort of way. This was a very common label given in those days to those with some measure of authority over your life, such as teachers, government leaders, caregivers etc. It is common in the scriptures for the disciples to refer to Jesus as Lord. But, no one called him God. Some suggested that he was the Son of God. But, in all the bible there is not one single statement that goes so far as to claim that Jesus is both Lord and God simultaneously. Its from Thomas that we begin to see Trinitarian thought surface in the church. Its from Thomas that the church makes its most profound statement of faith--that this man was at the same time human and divine--both God and man simultaneously. In the end where would the church be without Thomas' statement of faith. yet, we don't call him Thomas the faithful. We call him Thomas the doubter.

Like Sanjaya, Thomas is perceived as the weakest contestant. Yet, it is from Thomas that the deepest, and most profound statement of faith comes. Even more significant to us today; it is for Thomas' benefit that Jesus returns for that second resurrection sighting. While the church considers Thomas the doubter--the worst disciple--Jesus saw the depth of faith that was possible in him. Jesus didn't see the label we had given him, Jesus saw Thomas for who he was. And it was to Thomas that Jesus went on that first Sunday after Easter. Jesus welcomed Thomas--the worst of disciples--and he lifted him up, even though he doubted. And the result was the stuff that only God can orchestrate by his amazing grace.

Today, we the church have a similar call before us. There are millions out in our world who doubt the resurrection. Even we who sit here today must confess that there are times when we doubt--there are times when our faith is weak, times when we need someone else to be faithful for us. Into this world that is filled with fear and doubt there are many who, like Thomas, want to believe that there is hope, and the possibility of new life still remaining, but, also like Thomas, just can't get over their own doubt. Will we, the church see these people as folks just like us who have our doubts, or will we label them as doubters and not welcome them here?

Jesus calls us to welcome the doubter, as well as the doubt, because it is when our doubt is given the permission to be offered to Jesus with honesty and humility, that the depth of faith is plumbed for righteousness. It is when Jesus welcomed Thomas' doubt that Thomas was able to truly believe.

My friends, we all doubt. I doubt. Even the great Martin Luther doubted. One of his prayers was, "Lord I believe. Save me from my unbelief." We are doubters and yet we remain believers of God's vision for a new, resurrected humanity--a heaven here on earth; where the lowly and the weak are lifted up, where the broken are made whole again, where the unjustly treated are given freedom. We are saints with a vision like this and we are sinners in our doubt. It is the great paradox of our faith. The question before us is whether we will allow our doubt to have the final say in our lives. Will we allow doubt to be the label upon us and our neighors? Or, will we welcome the doubt and the doubter, offering the opportunity for doubt to be given to our God who transforms doubt into the faith that moves mountains?

One day we will enter Heaven will and be given our moment when Jesus offers to us the opportunity to bring our doubt to him and touch his wounds. In that moment all doubt will be gone from us. But, until then, while we live here with faith provided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have these moments remaining with our neighbors. As we welcome all people here to this place, and as we reach out to lift up the lowly and the weak, the underdog, the unjustly treated, we do so as if Jesus himself is in the flesh before us. And, in those moments when we risk to believe in God's vision and that faith moves us to respond likewise we encounter moments of grace that are as if our Lord Christ was standing before us here and now.

When Jesus welcomed the doubter, he welcomed the one we call "the worst". When the church follows the lead of our Lord and God, we particpate in God's will for the world. God's will gets done here on earth with or without us, Sanjayah knows this, but lets not miss out on witnessing God's goodness personally. When we pray "They Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven", let us mean to say that it will be through us that the kingdom comes.

Amen

Easter Message

“I Believe”
John 20:1-18

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

That is known as the Paschal Greeting. Paschal, which means Passover, refers to the way in which we Christians believe that Christ has assured a way for us to pass over death into eternal life. And, during the Easter celebration instead of "hello" or its equivalent, one is to greet another person with "Christ is risen!", and the response is "He is risen indeed!" During the turn of the 20th century, particularly in Eastern Orthodox, this greeting was a way of identifying with others who were also believers.

Well, a story is told of a moment in time when this Paschal Greeting was once used to its fullest effect. The story takes place in Russia in 1930. The story begins with a man well known in Communist history. His name is Nikolai Bukharin. Now, that name may not ring any bells for us, but during his day he was as powerful a man as there was. As a Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda, and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today in academic classrooms. Well, to refresh our memory of communism; one of its characteristic philosophies held that religion was merely a mode of false consciousness that the capitalists have instilled in order to make people more docile and easier to exploit. There is a story told about a journey that Nikolai Bukharin took from Moscow to Kiev to address a huge assembly on the authority of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heaviest artillery at Christianity hurling insults, arguments, and proofs against it. After an hour long barrage he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of the people’s destroyed faith and Bukharin thundered his final remark, “What do you have to say now?” Deafening silence filled the auditorium, but then one man motioned for permission to speak. Bukharin, convinced this little peasant man’s comments would surely be the community's ascent to atheism that would finally put an end to Christianity, yielded the podium to the man. The man surveyed the disheartened, dejected crowd for a moment. Finally, with all the passion his faith could muster, he shouted out the ancient Paschal Greeting "CHRIST IS RISEN!" In mass the crowd arose as one body and the response came crashing like the sound of a mighty wind from heaven: "HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!"

I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN!

I am convinced! I have faith that this man , this Christ, died for me. Oh, I don’t believe he actually knew me at that point. But I do believe that this man, this Christ, looked upon the world with God’s eyes. He saw the world with God’s perspective. And with such perspective he saw the way in which people just like you and me have destroyed God’s vision for all of humanity. And, this man, this Christ, this innocent Jesus believed with every fabric of his being that God had put him on this earth to die for the sake of the world. I believe that this man, this Christ, believed that if humanity could see by the way he died even the slightest glimpse of how deeply God loved them that it would turn their hearts to place their faith in God over all things. As a member of this human race—this God construct— I believe that Jesus’ death was for my sake. But, there’s something else I believe as well. Because over the centuries there have been many a martyr to die for a good cause. I do not believe this Jesus, this Christ, was a mere martyr. I believe that on the third day—on Sunday—this Jesus, this man, this Christ rose from the dead and walked out of his tomb. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

In doing so, Jesus the Christ, has claimed my death for himself, and in exchange for my sin and death he has offered to me His resurrection. This more than mere man has offered to me the promise of life eternal. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

This is Easter. And today I stand here on this day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am. Today, I humbly come before you as a fellow doubter, one who shares with you the same challenge of believing that you have endured. And, it is with as much faith that one humble man can muster that I joyfully announce to you these words that Christians have been proclaiming since Mary left the empty tomb and went to Jesus’ brothers. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know for sure? How can you believe such a thing?

And the only response I have to offer you is my own witness. My own testimony. There is no other evidence. Just as Mary, and every encounter with God in scripture and history; God meets us in very personal ways. Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus until he says her name. So it is with my own faith. Yet, even while God’s communication to us is very personal. It is never private. Mary meets the risen Christ when he says her name. Yet, afterward she is sent to tell the others. A witness of the risen Lord is a very personal story. But, it is not a story that can be kept private. Even though there is a distinct possibility that you will claim, just as the disciples claimed of Mary’s witness, that my faith is my own delusion, my own creation, the culmination of my own searching for answers to questions. Nevertheless, it is Easter, and I must proclaim. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

So, humbly I will attempt to answer your question.
First I would say I believe in Christ’s resurrection simply because somebody told me. For generations people have been handing down this faith. This faith which is encased in the story of the bible. This story that is given to us from others who love us or at least have our best interest in mind. Sunday School Teachers, Parents, Grandparents, Pastors, and friends—they are the ones who share this story with us. And for 2000 years we have been sharing and telling.

Yet, even so, you may say to me, “Pastor, how can you believe those people? What do they know? How can you trust them?”

Look, people, we believe stories without evidence all the time. Raise your hand if you believe Columbus discovered America in 1492? [Hands go up] How can you believe this? Were you there? Did you see this? Where’s your evidence? Where did you hear this? Sailing across an ocean—sailing even off the map—that’s crazy. Yet we believe it. Why? Because someone who loves us, or at least wants us to know the truth told us. That’s why. How many of you believe the US landed on the moon? What, a man walking on the moon—that’s crazy?! Yet, we believe it, even in spite of the many claims of how Hollywood produced the TV footage in a studio. Why do we believe this? Because someone who loves us, or wants what's best for us told us. I would like for you to believe that I have a brain, but I can’t take it out of my head and prove that to you. Yet, we all believe that I have brain—right?! :-) We believe lots of things without evidence. We believe because someone who loves us or wants what’s best for us told us and invited us to believe it as well.

Second I would say I believe in Christ’s resurrection because the story became real in me. This crazy story about a man who died and came back to life has become my own story about my own death and the promise of life beyond it for me. I believe this story because it is my hope, it is my peace, it is my healing. I believe this story because it is my story.

As you have gotten to know me, you have also gotten to know my grandmother. She remains for me an image of Godliness in this world. She is my role model; the saint to which I pray, and the one who, most profoundly, passed on her faith to me. Therefore it is imperative for me to tell you about her if I am going to have any integrity at all when I share with you what I believe. Not an Easter goes by that I am not reminded of her. You see, I was in my first year of seminary when she died. She was so very proud of her grandson. Looking back on that first year of seminary, I'm not sure if I went to seminary for God’s purposes or simply to please this woman I so deeply loved. Thankfully, I have come to learn that those two are one in the same. But, in that first year of seminary, I remained with many of the same doubts and hesitations that I assume most people endure through in Christianity—many which you may sit with here today. I wasn’t sure of the resurrection. I had hoped that somewhere in seminary I would find the answers to my deepest questions. My grandmother was not in good health, but we all comforted ourselves by the fact that she was 93. Her years were fruitful and overflowing with the blessings of God. Even so, this excuse was revealed as just that —and empty excuse— in the face of the truth of this woman’s mortality. I’ll never forget that dreaded phone call at 6:00am, on Easter Sunday. I was supposed to read the lessons and offer the prayers at my field education site—that’s what seminarians do on Easter. Never did I know how this one phone call would change forever the way that I read and heard those Easter words. I’ll never forget the pain in my heart, the pit in my soul, of hearing my father’s tears as he told me the news of his mother’s death. My grandmother, this icon of Godliness to me, died on Easter morning. And, every Easter, I remember that day during seminary—-that phone call. Every Easter I remember the way all the life inside me died that day. But, at the same time, I remember something else. I remember reading those Easter lessons, and offering those prayers in church like never before. I remember that Easter proclamation, and I heard as if it was for the first time I had ever truly heard it. That announcement of the new life, became the hope upon which I could cling forever. That Easter proclamation became my hope, my life, my healing. The only thing that could give that woman back to me was God’s promise to raise me with her some day. But, this resurrection was not just for the after life. It was for me, here and now. My grandmother’s faith, her hope, her life was not her own—someone had given it to her. Someone had told her. And the trace of that faith goes back to the one who first gave all of us this gift. It was first the faith, the hope, the promise of life from this man who died and came back—this Christ. Today, my faith, my life, my love is my grandmother’s, which was first Christ’s. It is Christ who lived through my grandmother—and now it is Christ who lives through me. You see, I believe this story because it has changed me from the inside out. I believe this story because it is my story, and it is my promise. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

Finally, I believe in Christ’s resurrection because I can’t stop myself from telling others. If you find no other reason to believe in the resurrection, consider it at least plausible on these terms. It has stood the test of time. People have been proclaiming crazy things forever. But, crazy things said do not stand the test of time. No matter how true they seem for one generation, the next generation comes along and claims a new teaching to be true. The Baby-Boomers said, “Hell no, we wont go!” But, today as the reality of the end of life seems more and more self-evident—the Baby-Boomers themselves are changing their version of the truth. Now, realizing that the end of life is some place that we all must go. The new truism is sounding a lot like, “If we must go, then we’ll go our way.” How long will it be before the Boomers realize that they have no power over that either. Whatever the case, over the generations, for 2000 years people have been proclaiming this crazy story to be true. While 2 millennia of strange and momentary good ideas have passed away, this proclamation has remained. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

For 2000 years nothing has managed to silence the Paschal Greeting. Think about the way that those forst belivers proclaimed it. Nothing was going to stop them, not even their own death.
What was it that turned Peter from a denier into a preacher?
What was it that changed the frightened disciples into fearless leaders of this new found faith?
What was it over the following 300 years that caused men and women to risk their own lives for the sake of passing on this new found faith of theirs?
What is it about this 2000 year old story that continues to inspire us still today?
Maybe its not as crazy as we thought. Maybe we CAN believe this.
CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

I believe. Not because I think it’s a good idea, or because I have some sort of faith that others do not have. I believe because someone who loved me, and wanted what's best for me, told me. I believe because this message has changed me, and has become my story. I believe because, like those first disciples, I can’t stop telling others even if it means facing public ridicule.
And, my hope and my prayer for all of you is that you would also believe.
CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

Today, we do not have Communist Leaders preaching atheism to us. We are also free in this country to worship God as we choose. We may not face death as those who have gone before us had to. For them we are indebted for the faith that we have been given. But, that does not mean that our message is without challenge. There are just as many who want to silence our Paschal Greeting today as there have been in any age.

But, we are part of a legacy that has been proclaiming this Paschal Greeting for 2000 years. And, we have a responsibility to the next 2000 years. We do not proclaim this message because we expect to get something in return. We don’t proclaim it because we are special and want the world to know it. We proclaim it because the world is dying, and we know it. Yet, in the face of this truth—we proclaim another more significant truth. CHRIST IS RISEN! (Response)

This truth; nothing, no one, not even death can take away from us. Therefore we proclaim this message because we want our children, and their children, and their children, and their children to claim the same hope, love, peace and promise of eternal life that has been passed on to us.

Why do I believe in resurrection?
I believe it because it is my hope, my love, my peace, and my promise of eternal life.
I believe it, finally, because it is why I can stand here this morning and, with all the passion my meager faith can muster, shout out this ancient Paschal Greeting "CHRIST IS RISEN!"

Amen.