Who Do You Trust?

Who do you trust? On what or on whom do you bet your life on? Do you put all your faith in things you can see and hold on to? Who, what do you trust?

          Solomon, the psalmist, Paul, and Peter all put their trust in the One who they believed would care for them forever, the One who as Peter said, had “…the words of real life, eternal life.” They all made a commitment to stay with God, the Son of God sure that they were one and the same although how was a mystery to them. They trusted God because he’d always been faithful in keeping the covenant he’d made with their ancestors and with them.

          Who do we trust today? Jesus’ disciples found his words hard to swallow. Some couldn’t believe or didn’t want to make the commitment to give their whole lives to Jesus and so they left him.

          Who do we trust? Is the pull exerted on us by the world too strong? What have we done to protect ourselves, to keep our souls safe, and prepare ourselves for this life and the one to come?

          Paul used the metaphor of putting on armor. Today he might have said that we need to don our bullet-proof Kevlar vests.  What can we do to protect our souls from the wiles of the worldly one, the evil forces prevalent all around us? What bullet-proof vest can we use to keep our souls from being destroyed or stolen?

          Paul told the Ephesians that they should be prepared.  They were up against more than they could imagine. I don’t think anything’s changed today. I also believe we can’t imagine all the forces that are against those who have committed to being followers of Jesus and believe in God and his promise of eternal life. 

          Maybe we’ve become de-sensitized to the dangers that surround us. We need something to protect us, something we can trust to keep us safe. Paul said, “Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon.”

          He reminds us that prayer is an essential piece of protection in this conflict with the evil forces in the world.  We should pray long and hard and prayer for all our brothers and sisters. We are to be alert to how our friends are doing and when we notice changes that we get on our knees and pray for them.  Paul didn’t want anyone to be lost and we don’t either. So, we should heed his advice and pray, pray long and hard.

          I never was much of a fighter. In fact I would do whatever I could to stay out of the way of any conflict. So, it’s hard for me to imagine putting on something as cumbersome as armor.

          Today we’d imagine someone being clothed in the latest armor and weapons that the greatest military engineers could think of, cluster bombs, AK47’s, and Kevlar vests and helmets. But what if we went another direction and instead of physical combat we employed the best thinking minds in the world to resolve conflicts? What if we relied on minds that are skilled in International Laws and courts of justice?  What if we used the technology at our disposal to alleviate poverty and hunger?  What if we listened to those talking about climate change and tried some of their suggestions? Would that maybe be one way to protect this world we live in and at the same time love others as Jesus taught us?

          Could that be what Jesus meant when he said, “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day… By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven...Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”

          Is this what he meant when he asked us to eat and drink the flesh and blood of the Son of Man? Is this the armor Paul was talking about?

          Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are the pieces we need to place our trust in to protect us. God is the one who provides them for us. We can trust He will come through for us because he has kept his promises, his covenant.

          So, you say you want to but you have doubts. Friends, you’re not alone. The evil forces in the world don’t cause those who don’t believe to doubt because they’ve already made their decision. But those who are being assailed by doubts are still following the Way of Jesus and the world’s forces are trying to pull us away by making us doubt. And that’s why we need to protect ourselves with prayer, one of the most powerful pieces of armor God has given us.

          So, now who do you trust, God or the other forces at play in the world? I pray that you will put your trust in God, the One who gives good things to those who walk with integrity. Those who trust in Him are truly happy…and their souls are safe from the Evil One.

            Thanks be to God for his saving grace. Amen.

What Do We Want from God?

          In a dream God spoke to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” God, the Creator of everything, asked him, “What do you want? I’ll give it to you.”

          Now, what if that were you or me? What would our response be? Don’t you wonder sometimes how we’d answer? I do.

          So, we’re thinking about how we’d answer God if he asked us what we want. Now, add to that what Paul is telling the Ephesians, “Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness… watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

 ¹⁷Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants… Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

          Now, as if that wasn’t heavy enough, we also hear Jesus speaking in John’s gospel about living Bread that when eaten will give that person eternal life.  Jesus is saying he is that Bread…“The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self… Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”

          So, there it is God Message for us today. What would we ask for if God said he would give us anything? We aren’t to sit on our hands and not do anything with our time here. We are to think about the things Jesus said. Drink deeply of God’s Spirit. And then…eat, the Bread of Life.

          That’s quite a lot to think about, to take in today, but hey, we’re here and we’re intelligent beings, and we’ve the time right now. So…where should we start?

          Let’s begin with what Solomon requested…wisdom. Don’t you think it a little odd that a young man would ask God to give him a discerning heart so that he could govern the people and decide right from wrong? But maybe it isn’t too strange considering who his parents were and the fact that he was raised and educated by the best and wisest scholars in the royal city.  So, maybe if we’d had the same opportunities we’d have answered God the same way.

          You know, we have been educated by some pretty smart people and yet I wonder if we’d ask for a discerning heart when questioned by God.

          So, being educated people and intelligent, could it be that we’ve been wasting our time on busywork, useless, frivolous tasks and not focusing on the things of the Spirit? Maybe you haven’t but I know I have.

          I’ve done most of the things Paul was talking about. It’s not something I’m proud of, in fact it shames me to think of some the things I’ve wasted my time on. But, that’s in the past and today I am more focused on what God would have me do.  Even then I still don’t use my head. There are still times when I don’t feel like singing any songs at all let alone songs of praise. 

          You know that usually happens when I don’t take time to be with God.  I think I don’t have time to talk to Him or sit and commune with Him and then I find myself in a slump, those dark places none of us likes to be in.

          Have you ever gotten so involved with work that you forgot to eat or you didn’t want to go to bed until a particular task was completed? Pretty soon you run out of energy, you get kind of grumpy, and you’re just not too much fun to be around.

          That’s what it’s like when we don’t eat from the Bread of Life.  Just like we need some carbs in our diet every day so we need the Bread of Life, Jesus, in our life every day or else we don’t feel right. We feel like something’s missing.

          And there is something missing. We’re missing out being energized by the Spirit, by eating from the Bread of Life. Paul said we need to drink huge draughts of the Spirit and Jesus said that we need to eat of the Bread of Life.

          Just as our bodies need nourishment from all the basic food groups so does our soul need to be fed by drinking in God’s Spirit and by eating from the Bread of Life.

          How do we do that, eat and drink God? Friends, I believe that our soul gets its nourishment by being actively engaged with the triune God, reading his word, praying to him continuously, singing His praises, and taking time to just sit and drink in his Spirit in those quiet times of our days. And if we don’t have quiet times then we need to make time for them. It’s that important.

          So, if God asks you what you want think about how you’d answer. And as you think about that allow him to change your life by drinking from his Spirit and eating from the Bread of Life in the ways God has created just for you to do that.

          If we strive to do all that then Jesus says that we will live forever. Some have gone on ahead of us and are already doing that. Some of us are neglecting our souls and need to get back to being with God. And some have been diligent in doing the work God has asked them to do and they’re just waiting for the day he invites them to come home.

          What do you want from God? What does God want from us? And how can we know the answers to both of these questions? Friends, you and I will discover the answers when we take time to be with God and invite Him to be with us in our quiet places.

          Thanks be to God for his patient grace. Amen.

An Entirely New Way of Life

          An entirely new way of life is what Paul is asking the people of Ephesus to do. What would that be like for us? If we stopped following the crowd, if we stopped listening to voices telling us that we need 60 inch TV’s and Victoria Secret model’s bodies and live in houses with 5 bedrooms and bathrooms and have a membership at this gym and that country club and it goes on and on…What if we shut off those voices and listened instead to God’s voice as he tells us to give everything to him and serve him? What would the world be like?  What would our community be like? What would our homes be like?

          What if that started here with this congregation, an entirely new way of life, a new way of doing things, a new way of living each day? Listen to Paul’s words in verses 20-24…that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

          Almost everyone here attended Sunday school and listened to the stories and paid attention to the teachers and learned about Jesus. And if you were never in Sunday school because you’re here you’ve listened to the words from the Bible and heard the word proclaimed and heard how Jesus lived and the example he was for each of us. So, what’s our excuse? Why aren’t we “all” living an entirely new way of life?

          What’s it mean? Paul says it adds up to this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other…Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart…Don’t take such a gift (His Holy Spirit) for granted. Make a clean break with all the cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

          That doesn’t sound so difficult, does it? We could do that couldn’t we? Sure we could! Begin at home. Surely we can be gentle and sensitive with our spouses and children. Surely we can forgive them like God has forgiven us in Jesus the Christ. Right?

          And then can’t you see how that could and would spread throughout the community and then the county and the state and on and on. Friends, even the most skeptical among you has to admit that if we each made the commitment to begin at home how it could spread. Of course we’d really have to try.

          It’s just like trying to break any other bad habit. It begins in our hearts, within our soul. The desire for being transformed has to come from deep within first. And I believe it’s there if we’ll just dig deep enough, if we throw aside the garbage that we’ve piled on top of it.  God, I believe, created us with this innate desire to be like him, loving and compassionate.  It’s in here.

          Paul said, “Watch what God does, and then do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents…Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us…not cautious, but extravagant…Love like that.”

          So, good friends, can we commit to taking on an entirely new way of life? Are we willing to risk everything to try? I am. Will you join me?

            Remember with God everything is possible. Thanks be to God. Amen.                

God Knows

          We think we are so smart, so intelligent. We think we can fix anything or anyone. We think we’re immune to the things of the world. We think we’ve been saved from pain and suffering. And we think we can hide from God the times when we stray from the Path he would like us to walk…and yet God knows. He knows everything. And I believe his heart breaks when we fail him, turn our backs on him.

          What was David thinking when he brought Bathsheba to his room? What was he thinking when he sent Uriah to his certain death? Did he think God wouldn’t notice? Surely not. But he did what he did anyway.  How many times have we acted the same way?

          God knows everything. He desired us; he created us and gave us gifts. We are the way God designed us with all our warts and wrinkles. There are times when I wonder why God made me this way with my desires, my idiosyncrasies, my gifts and my faults. Surely God knew how I’d end up.

          Because I believe that God made all of us the way we are with faults and gifts I know in my heart of hearts that I shouldn’t fault anyone else for the way they are because that’s the way God made them. And God knows what he’s doing even if we can’t figure out why.

          I have so many questions for God. Don’t you? Why are there so many folks suffering with cancer? Why are there wars and genocide and prejudices? Why can’t you and I lay our hands on someone like Jesus and Peter and make them whole again? I don’t know but God knows. Someday God will let us in on the secret.

          I can completely understand the folks who were following Jesus when they begged him to give them a clue, just a hint of what was going on. It was all beyond anything they had ever seen or could even imagine. And yet they couldn’t get their heads around the fact that he was God’s Son. Only God knows all the answers but that doesn’t keep me from asking them.

          Questions are all that I have today, in fact that’s all I have most days. Like why can some read the Bible and take it for the Good News that it is and others just can’t believe any of it because it is just too far out there.

          Have any of you ever heard a donkey talk? Have any of you ever thought about how many people God destroyed just so the Israelites could have a home in the Promised Land? Does that make sense? And then there’s Jesus walking on water, calming storms, healing lepers, bringing back those who’ve died. How is that possible? Only God knows.

               We think we are so smart, so intelligent. We think we can fix anything or anyone. We think we’re immune to the things of the world. We think we’ve been saved from pain and suffering. And we think we can hide from God the times when we stray from the Path he would like us to walk…and yet God knows. He knows everything. And I believe his heart breaks when we fail him, turn our backs on him.

          What was David thinking when he brought Bathsheba to his room? What was he thinking when he sent Uriah to his certain death? Did he think God wouldn’t notice? Surely not. But he did what he did anyway.  How many times have we acted the same way?

          God knows everything. He desired us; he created us and gave us gifts. We are the way God designed us with all our warts and wrinkles. There are times when I wonder why God made me this way with my desires, my idiosyncrasies, my gifts and my faults. Surely God knew how I’d end up.

          Because I believe that God made all of us the way we are with faults and gifts I know in my heart of hearts that I shouldn’t fault anyone else for the way they are because that’s the way God made them. And God knows what he’s doing even if we can’t figure out why.

          I have so many questions for God. Don’t you? Why are there so many folks suffering with cancer? Why are there wars and genocide and prejudices? Why can’t you and I lay our hands on someone like Jesus and Peter and make them whole again? I don’t know but God knows. Someday God will let us in on the secret.

          I can completely understand the folks who were following Jesus when they begged him to give them a clue, just a hint of what was going on. It was all beyond anything they had ever seen or could even imagine. And yet they couldn’t get their heads around the fact that he was God’s Son. Only God knows all the answers but that doesn’t keep me from asking them.

          Questions are all that I have today, in fact that’s all I have most days. Like why can some read the Bible and take it for the Good News that it is and others just can’t believe any of it because it is just too far out there.

          Have any of you ever heard a donkey talk? Have any of you ever thought about how many people God destroyed just so the Israelites could have a home in the Promised Land? Does that make sense? And then there’s Jesus walking on water, calming storms, healing lepers, bringing back those who’ve died. How is that possible? Only God knows.

          So, what do we do with all our questions? What do you do with your questions? This is what I do.

          I believe that what Jesus said about being the Bread of Life is true. And when I place all my trust and hope in him then my burdens are lighter and the questions don’t really matter so much. Because God knows the answers and that’s enough…for me.

          So, good friends, the answer is that we need to… “Throw your lot in with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God's works.” And we should, as Paul said…get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel.

          Rather than looking for all the answers I believe what is needed is that we all get out there and tell our stories as God has given us his particular gifts for each of us working together as one body just as Jesus told us… all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.  

          God knows…everything and we have to trust in his grace and love for us. And it’s all right to ask questions. Everyone has questions and sometimes God shares the answers with us. The main thing to remember is God knows and he cares and he has it all taken care of. 

Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.     So, what do we do with all our questions? What do you do with your questions? This is what I do.

          I believe that what Jesus said about being the Bread of Life is true. And when I place all my trust and hope in him then my burdens are lighter and the questions don’t really matter so much. Because God knows the answers and that’s enough…for me.

          So, good friends, the answer is that we need to… “Throw your lot in with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God's works.” And we should, as Paul said…get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel.

          Rather than looking for all the answers I believe what is needed is that we all get out there and tell our stories as God has given us his particular gifts for each of us working together as one body just as Jesus told us… all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.  

          God knows…everything and we have to trust in his grace and love for us. And it’s all right to ask questions. Everyone has questions and sometimes God shares the answers with us. The main thing to remember is God knows and he cares and he has it all taken care of. 

Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.

Extravagant, Generous Love

           I would like you to think about how you pray to God. I would like you to think about what you talk to God about when you pray, for what do you ask, for what do you give him thanks and praise.

          When you pray to God what do you expect? What is your greatest hope when you talk with God? Please think about that.

          Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, got down on his knees and asked God to strengthen the Ephesians with “a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in”

          As he prayed he hoped that with both their feet planted firmly on love they’d be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Paul encouraged them to “Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.” He told them that God could do anything, more than they could imagine or guess or ask for in their wildest dreams.

          Now, good friends, is that how what you expect when you pray? Do you have both feet solidly planted on love? I have to confess that sometimes my expectations aren’t high enough nor are my feet always planted in love. But I keep trying to improve and continue to trust in God’s amazing grace. But sometimes it’s awfully hard.

          That’s why it’s so important to be reading God’s word for us every day. That’s why we need to hear the story of Jesus sitting on the hill looking at all the people gathered there on that grassy slope just waiting for what he had for them.

          They didn’t expect to be fed with barley bread and fish but that’s exactly what he did. This was beyond anything they had ever experienced. It was beyond their imaginations.

          They were on the verge of making Jesus their king. And so he had to get away to pray and talk to his Father, the same Father we pray to, to ask for strength to continue the work God, his Father, had given him to do.

          He expected God to listen and give him all he needed to continue. And he did. He gave Jesus an energy that allowed him to walk on the water toward the disciples in the wind and the rain. He gave him the power to control the wind and the storm. He gave him the wisdom to teach and the compassion to heal all who came to him.

             God, our Father, can do the same for us. By reading, studying, contemplating, and praying, expecting him to listen and answer with extravagant love beyond anything we can imagine, we will be enabled to do more than we think we’re capable of. That’s the kind of God we worship and adore this day. That’s what God’s grace is like.

          Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.