Sermon: 9/23/12

Read Mark 9:30-37

Jesus has just imparted a crucial teaching to the disciples. 

He has told them who he is.

But, the prospect of the Messiah being killed by his adversaries just does not compute. When God comes in glory, it is surely to conquer his enemies, not to "be handed over into the hands of men, and they will kill him" (31). So, "they did not understand what he was saying and they were afraid to ask him" (verse 32).

It's not just that they don't understand some piece of information. It's that they don't understand this specific teaching; one that remains today at the very heart of understanding Christianity: the Incarnation of God. How could it be that the Messiah (the Son of God) would suffer and die?

They didn’t ask the hard question, and I really wish they had…

First, because it got them into trouble the same way it gets us into trouble today.

Look at what the scripture says about the results of them not trusting Jesus with their question.  

They began to argue with each other about which of them were the greatest disciple.

Now, why do you think the lack of asking their question led to this?

Jesus tells them that he must suffer, die and on the third day rise again.  But, they didn't understand this last part.  The only thing they heard was that which they could understand, that he was going to die.  Death we all understand.  Death we know very well.  Resurrection.....not so much.  This is a mystery of God's amazing grace.  So, when the disciples heard Jesus say what was to happen to the Messiah, they heard very clearly the part they understood, but then failed to ask for any clarity about the part they didn't.  The result was ignorance in the face of the greatest news...the news that takes away the sting and worry of death, resurrection.  All they heard was the bad news.  So they begin to plan ahead for the time when they will need to appoint a leader.   When their current leader, Jesus, is dead and gone.   Had they asked their question about resurrection, they would have learned that Jesus was going to send the Holy Spirit to lead them.  Instead, they began to argue with one another. 

Oh, how many arguments we endure with loved ones when asking a question to clarify communication could have avoided the whole conflict.  

The second reason I wish the disciples would have asked their question is because it is this question of incarnational theology that prompts so many early Christians to try and come up with their own answer by constructing an intelligible, but misguided, notion of Christianity.  Their answers are now known as heresies, and they still linger among us, and misguide us today.

  1.  Maybe Jesus didn't really suffer and die.  This is called Docetism.  These folks answer the question by suggesting that Christ didn't actually die on the cross.  He was too divine to die, they thought.  Therefore whatever was witnessed by the people watching his crucifixion was some kind of illusion, or a ghost or some other phenomena.  

This heresy pops its head up today whenever we fail to believe or trust in grace, or miracles, or prayer etc.  When we lose faith in the wonder of God because we can't explain how something good could come from a bad situation.  

  2.  The second explanation the early heretics offered was a kind of dualism called Gnosticism, whereby the human part of Jesus suffered but the divine part was untouched (Gnosticism).  Gnosticism is still very prevalent today.  It comes whenever we refuse to accept that God's grace does not cause a separation of identities within us, but the renewal of the same whole.  In simpler terms, we hear a taste of Gnosticism when we try to blame some other portion of ourselves, like "The Devil made me do it."  Or, when we speak of a separation between the body and spirit.  God created us wholly human with a mind, body, and spirit.  We are not a composite of separate entities.  God's saving grace heals the whole, not a part.  When Jesus died, the whole Jesus died, not the human part while the divine part lived on.

Early Christian’s struggled with what sort of God gets caught in a corner like that?  They needed an almighty God who conquers enemies, not one who suffers and dies.  So they made up their own answers instead of asking God the hard questions.

So why don't the disciples simply ask Jesus to explain? Probably because they don't want to appear as confused as they are. Or, their distress at his teaching is so deep they fear addressing it. Besides, the closer we are to Jesus, the more we are supposed to know (about God, about prayer, about the Bible, about religious stuff), right?   Wrong!

In our world, no one wants to look uninformed, confused, or clueless. We withhold our toughest questions, often within our own churches and within Christian fellowship. We pretend we don't have hard questions. Yet the deepest mysteries of life do indeed elude us. Why do good people suffer? Why are humans so brutal to one another? Why does it seem that evil succeeds? If God's own Son is betrayed and killed, then no one is safe. Why did God set up a world like this? 

These are hard questions, but we need to ask them.  

Why ask our hard questions? Because we withhold these questions at our own peril. 
When the disciples avoid asking hard questions, they assume the wrong conclusion and focus on posturing about who is right.  We know this result all too well.  How would this story be different if the disciples had asked Jesus their questions? What kind of conversation might have ensued between Jesus and the disciples? What kind of relationship would it have engendered with each other?  How would our stories be different if we ask in faith our questions? What kind of conversations might we pursue with Jesus? How would our life as disciples, as  church be different as a result? 

The good news is that Jesus welcomes us even when we do not understand or do not know. The reading closes with Jesus embracing a child, the ultimate symbol of not knowing, not understanding, immature and undeveloped. We need not fear our questions, our misunderstandings, our confusion or our curiosity in the presence of One whose "perfect love casts out all fear" (1 John 4:18).

My son, who is 5, constantly asks all sorts of questions.  He is unafraid to ask me anything.  Why is he unafraid?  Because he trusts me, and the love we have between us.   

At the end of this text, Jesus offers an example of who we are with our questions before God. We are the child, climbing into Jesus' arms with our vulnerability, dependence, and lack of knowing all the answers.  We are the child coming to God, saying, "Why daddy?  Why?"  

Somewhere in the embrace we receive from Christ, there on his lap, we find the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding.  

Amen.

MANNA: MEN PRAY

In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow.  The reason for the parable, Luke says, is "to the effect that [Jesus' disciples] ought always to pray and not lose heart."  

Well, its football season.  The thought of persistence and football brings to my mind an immediate image.  Charlie Brown never quitting on his endeavor to kick the football that Lucy keeps pulling away from him at the last minute.  

God has always honored persistence. I have always appreciated Emmitt Smith.   I'm a Steeler fan, which means that I am by default never fond of the Cowboys.  Still, I was glad when Emmitt Smith set the NFL rushing record.   He was never as exciting to watch as Walter Payton or Barry Sanders, and he never possessed true break-away speed.  But he was durable--persistent.  He just kept running.    He ran for 18,355 yards. That’s nearly 10.5 miles!  It took him 15 years to run 10.5 miles.   Now, when you say it like that it doesn't sound like much.  Afterall, any of us could run 10.5 miles if given 14 years to do it.   The big difference is, he had 11 huge defensive players trying to knock him down every step of the way.  Emmitt’s average run over those 10.5 miles was 4.3 yards at a time. That means he was knocked down 4,268 times.  And, every time he got back up and ran the ball again.  Sure, he was injured a few times, but he always returned.  It's quite impressive to think that someone would be knocked down more than 4,000 times and keep getting up to try again.  How many of us give up after being knocked down just a few times?

Even the best of people get knocked down in life, but what sets them apart from the quitters is that they get right back up. Life is full of adversarial people who will tackle you. You will face difficult circumstances that trip your feet out from under you. The poor widow in Jesus’ parable had been knocked flat–but she refused to stay down. She got up and persistently made her request to the judge.  This is the image that Jesus gives us for prayer to our Father in Heaven.  No matter what, keep praying.  Never lose heart.  When our prayers don's seem to be answered...keep praying, never lose heart.  Too many of us feel knocked down by God when our prayers aren't answered immediately or exactly.  We give up on God, lose faith and stop praying.   

Here's a very fitting video for this message.  It's called the Persistent Quarterback.

There’s more to all of the masculinity in this message filled with football than just a timely reference. In the gospel reading it’s a widow who is the image of persistent prayer.  I kind of wish Jesus would have used the image of a young father, or husband.  You see, because I’d be willing to bet that in most of our real life experiences, in most of our homes, it’s the wife or the mother who is the persistent keeper of prayer for the house.   But, in the scripture we encounter Jesus exhorting his disciples to pray persistently.  In other words we have Jesus, teaching other men the value of an active prayer life.

So, today, I want to encourage the men reading this to be spiritual MEN, not spiritual wimps.

REAL MEN PRAY!

By doing so, they lead their families and homes in prayer by modeling prayer to their children, and by making prayer an active function of the man’s role within the home.  Too many men, today, are gutless when it comes to spiritual leadership within the home.  Jesus calls us to be spiritual leaders, not dictatorial leaders, but servants, like He was with His disciples.  The real message behind the message is that Jesus was a man, taking charge of a group of men, and calling them to pray persistently alone, with each other, and for each other. 

Jesus gave his life so that we would have faith in God, through him, to save us from all that comes our way.  This faith is most evidently, and powerfully practiced when we pray.

And what a gift is the gift of prayer…

It keeps us linked us to our Heavenly Father, sends temptation running, and opens us up to hear God’s direction for our lives.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, do so with prayer.

Amen

Sermon from September 16th, 2012

Read James 3:1-12

Words are the most powerful things in our possession.  More powerful than bombs, armies, or nations.  They can destroy a person we dislike, or build up the person we do.  They can unleash the dogs of war, or offer an olive branch of peace.  Oh, and that person who said, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me".. umm, that person lied.  Words can do a whole lot more damage to a person than sticks and stones.  

The writer of James said it best when he told his readers, "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this ought not be so."  Our words have power.

I've put together a list of what I would consider my Top 10, favorites among words that have great power.  Before I read off what I came up with, let me ask you...what would you say are your favorite powerful words?

Love--Great word, indeed.  But, let's remember that without this word having someone else to give it meaning it really just sits there all alone.  Love is a word with great expectations, but destructive consequences if not used responsibly.

Yes--Affirming, Positive, Agreeable.  But, this word can also get us into a lot of trouble if we don't know how to use the next word.

No--This word allows us to set boundaries and limits, helps us get work done which wouldn't happen if we always said YES.  

YOU/ME/US/THEY--These pronouns focus our perspective, and give direction to our efforts.  But, they can also create boundaries between people and communicate our selfishness.

THANKS--This word orients us toward graciousness and courteousness.

PLEASE--A great word that allows us to express our desires without being demanding, or oppressive.

SORRY--A humble word that binds us back together when we're broken.  It's also honest and trustworthy.

MAYBE--Gives us permission to try new things, opens us to creativity, possibility.

WHY?--A one word question that moves us from status quo to new discovery.

BECAUSE--The answer to Why?  It rationalizes things, and gives credibility and defense of our actions.

And, number 11 just for fun...CHOCOLATE--The answer to everything.  :-)

With words we have great power---And in the words of Spiderman's Uncle Ben, "With great power, comes great responsibility", which by the way is a quote that I'd like to think originates in the gospel of Luke chapter 12, verse 48.  

Today we are caught between powerful words used to make promises.  We're in an election year.  Politicians' words are being debated and turned inside and out with questions.  Have you watched the media critique of a presidential speech, or debate?  Turn to FOX news and you'll hear that the Left can do no right.  Turn to CNN, and the Right are never right.  Caught in between it seems necessary to listen to both in order to be responsible with the power we've been given to decipher the words we're hearing from them.

We need to be responsible with our own words as well.  Have you ever had a conversation with someone who seemed by their appearance to be intelligent and well put together until they open their mouth and speak?   Or, just the opposite, have you ever encountered someone who appears downright scary or thuggish, and then the person speaks with such eloquence and command of words that your first impression just dissolves?  These are examples of the necessity for being responsible with our words.

So, how responsible are you with words?

Do you say things you wish you could take back?
Are your words more often:
mean than kind?
selfish than compassionate?
ugly than beautiful?
accusing than forgiving?
Do you make promises that you don't intend to keep?
Do you say things just for their shock value, instead of integrity?
Do you speak ill of everyone behind their back in order to make friends?
Do you arrogantly boast of yourself?

Think about it...there are countless ways in which our words can be misunderstood, or even well intended and still do harm.  It's hard for any of us to deny that we do our share of damage with the words we choose.

Thankfully, we worship a God whose Word is more powerful than ours, more powerful than anything we might say, and far more powerful than anything promised by a politician.
His Word creates all things, and sustains it.
His Word forgives our sins, guides us home when we're lost, and encourages us to try again.
His Word saves us from our own self-destruction.
His Word, as John writes, is the light of the world...a light no darkness can overcome.
His Word promises us that we will be reunited one day with all the faithful who have died before us.
His Word made flesh is Christ; the truth of God's love and faithfulness that frees us and renews us in His image.

His Word is what we are bathed in when we are baptized.  It covers us, protects us, and promises that nothing we do can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
His Word is what we share, and celebrate here in this place.  It welcomes the stranger, offers generosity to the poor, and strength to the weak.  It gathers us in and makes us one.
His Word is what we receive in the bread and wine, Christ's very body and blood.  With Holy Communion we take God's Word into our bodies...into our souls.

It is His Word that needs to inform our words.  Not the other way around.  It's God's Word informing our words that gives us the power to offer a healing word, a strengthening word, a kind word, a generous word. His Word informing ours brings grace and hope to the others through our words.  Now, that's a truly powerful word.

When choosing our words, may we look first to His Word.  And, may Christ, the Word made flesh, inform all our words before our tongues get in the way.

Amen