What Are You Looking At?

"Taxes"-Storyteller, Desperate Preacher
the "tax question" in Jesus' times is different in some way from the "tax question" of our time.
The Jesus people are living in a colonized context. Those who make decisions on how much tax and what the tax is for are the empire. Much of what the tax was for did not benefit Joe the plumber and his neighbor Joe Six Pack. Jesus' times were unlike our situations where taxes are something of a "community fund raiser" where we pay for roads and schools and hospitals, where we all benefit either directly or indirectly. Imagine being taxed so the money can build a temple for some pagan god! Imagine being taxed so the money can pay the soldiers who will kill Jesus! Imagine! And so, living between a rock and a hard place, should we pay the tax and be collaborators with the Roman Empire or should we "refuse to wear the garment" and get our heads chopped off? d---- if you do, d--- if you don’t!and of course this all happens in the temple where folks pay "good taxes" taxes they agree with taxes they can make theological sense out of, call it "temple tax," call it "tithe," call it "apportionment." So Jesus takes the emperor's coin. It belongs to the man. Give it back to him. One day this coin will be a museum piece. Give it back to him, don’t invest yourself in this coin; don’t hold too tightly to this coin. tTis coin does not own you, God owns you. You belong to God.

What Are You Looking At?
Moses wanted to know who God was going to send with him. It may have been a rhetorical question because it’s possible he knew what the answer was. But he may have wanted some reassurance that God was going to actually be with them as they traveled toward the Promised Land. He may have had some doubts since the people he was leading had behaved so badly, worshipping a calf made from the gold they had brought with them from Egypt.
God answered his question by telling Moses that he knew him by name and that he had found favor in His sight. Even with that Moses wasn’t satisfied. If he had indeed found favor with God then he wanted to know what God’s plans were. Then, he figured, he would continue to find favor in God’s sight. After all, these people were really God’s responsibility.
But Moses wasn’t done yet! He certainly wasn’t afraid to push the envelope with God. He wanted to see him, to see his glory. I’m sure he knew that no one could look upon God’s face and still live, but he asked anyway.
I wonder what that must have been like to have such an intimate relationship with God that it felt safe to question God, trusting in his love and never fearing that he would get angry and smite you with his mighty hand.
And so God, after telling him that he couldn’t see his full glory and live, placed him in the cleft of the rock and shielded him with his hand until he had passed by. Moses got to see God’s back. That must have been enough for Moses because then he and God were able to get to the work at hand of making the stone tablets again.
Moses wanted something from God to give him the confidence that he was there for him. And God delivered.
These past weeks the news has been all about the economy. Our presidential candidates have been talking about how they would “fix” the economy. Our legislative folks in the Senate and the House have been working to rebuild the levees so the economy doesn’t get any worse. And the stock market is trying to figure out what all that means. It can’t decide whether to go up or down so it does both, up one day and down the next or both on the same day. It’s enough to give you a headache trying to keep up.
And we wonder what we should do. How is it going to affect our finances? What impact is it going to have on the cost of living through the next few winter months? How is it going to affect our life styles? What changes are we going to have to make?
So what have you all been doing to cope with these crises? If we would open our Bibles to Isaiah 41 the prophet would say to us, “Don’t fear, for I am with you.” And the psalmist has these words for us, “I will strengthen and uphold you.” And our Lord has these words in Matthew’s gospel, “Don’t worry about your life…strive first for the kingdom of God…and all things will be given to you.” Paul wrote these words to the Philippians, “Don’t be anxious about anything…present your requests to God.” And finally Paul told Timothy, “Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money…Tell them to go after God…to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.”
And that leads us to the gospel lesson for today from Matthew. It seems to be about tithing and what belongs to God and what belongs to the government. If we think about it and truly believe in God then we would know that it all belongs to God so therefore we should give everything to God.
So I guess that’s it then, believe in God and give everything to him, don’t believe in God then keep it and see where that gets you.
Whatever you have decided I believe I’ll put my trust in God. Now that doesn’t mean that I am not concerned about the current state of our economic system. But I don’t believe that God is causing the problems. I believe that the current crisis is in part caused by misplaced trust or faith between debtors and lenders. You might even say that gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, and pride are the underlying causes of the current crisis.
What do our lives consist of, that’s the question? Do an abundance of possessions make our lives fulfilled? Luke says, “Life is not defined by what we have, even when we have a lot.”
What are you looking at, your 401k, your savings account, your real estate holdings, what you have hidden under your mattress, or are you looking up and giving all of your worries to the One who controls everything?
It really takes a load off your shoulders and relieves a lot of the stress if you just give it all to God. After all there really isn’t much any of us can do about the current crisis.
Well, I guess we could complain and grouse about it like the Israelites Moses was leading through the wilderness. We could complain that God isn’t listening or if he’s listening he isn’t answering our prayers. We could demand an audience with God. We could text him or Skype him to let him know, since it’s all his, he’s sure lost a lot of money this week on the New York Stock Exchange.
Friends, everything belongs to God. If we believe that then that’s it. No worry, God’s will is going to be accomplished in his good time. We should quit worrying about our possessions and worry more about our friends who haven’t heard God’s story and learned that Jesus is the answer to all of their questions.
After all what does the Lord require of us but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. God has given us work to do and that is to make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And in doing that we are to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all our mind. Along with that we are to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves in the process.
So friends, I’m not going to worry about the economy. I’m going to focus on what God gives me to do each day and that is to teach and preach and share God’s love with everyone I meet in whatever way he directs me. I will be frugal in my spending and I will give God the first portion of everything he blesses my life with.
Lift up your eyes and look to the hills for that is where your help will come. Christ is coming again, of that you can be sure. What are you looking at? I pray that you are looking to the future when Christ will return and we will all see God’s glory shining forth.
Remember the words of Paul, “…he has put his hand on you for something special…lives echoing the Master’s word.” Believe it my friends. God loves you and so do I.

Come On In! Everyone's Invited!

We’re all invited to the party. It’s a heavenly party and we’ve been invited because the original guests declined to come. In fact they either ignored the requests or treated the slaves who came with the invitations so badly that the king has invited everyone else. Those of us who wouldn’t have even been considered by any of the original guests if they were hosting the party have been asked to come to the party. We don’t have to do anything special just put on the robes the king has prepared for us when we arrive.
What do you think this parable means? Matthew has Jesus in the Temple teaching. The Pharisees are there and I’m sure this parable was aimed directly at them. God had chosen the Israelites as his people, in fact they are still his people, but they had rejected Him so many times. He wanted them to be able to enjoy the all the riches of heaven but they insisted on turning away from Him.
He sent people to invite them, prophets they either ran off or killed. And so God allowed them to be taken into Exile and then allowed a remnant to return and rebuild the city. But again their hearts were hardened and they refused his gifts and his invitation.
But surely they would honor his invitation to come to the celebration of his Son’s wedding. After all, the Bride was the Church. But they had better things to do.
So friends, that’s how you and I got to be included in the invitation to God’s celebration. There is only one requirement. The king, God, requires us to dress in the proper clothes for the wedding celebration. No worry, he has made all the preparations with the tailor. They are custom made for each of us. The only thing is we have to agree to put them on. If not then we will be thrown out just like the man in the parable.
The suit of clothes God has ready for us are the clothes of acceptance, repentance, and forgiveness. In order to be allowed into the celebration we must accept Jesus as our Savior, repent of our former sinful life; trust in God to cleanse us of our sin, to receive his forgiveness to us for turning our backs on Him so many times. If we do that we are free to come inside and enjoy the celebration with the king’s son and his bride.
That doesn’t sound so hard to do but then why do so few choose to accept the invitation? Probably for the same reasons the original guests turned down the invitation. Their hearts had been hardened by the ways of the world.
The world we live in today that is the things of the world today are insidious in the ways that they attack our hearts and seek to lead us away from the Way of Jesus Christ. There is always something seemingly more important that lures us away from doing the work God has called us to do.
You know how it is. The mission trip the church has been planning for six months is next week but now we have one chance meet our favorite presidential candidate and so we say we can’t possibly go now. And we make all sorts of excuses, none of them really true. But this is a once in a lifetime chance. We can always go on another mission trip. There are always people who need help. After all no one will notice if I don’t go. Isn’t that what we say or think?
We try to rationalize our actions when what we are really doing is turning our back on God’s call to help and listening to the voice of the world. The sad thing is the more we listen to the world’s voice the easier it is to turn our backs on God. Our hearts slowly become hardened to his call and soon we find ourselves outside the party wondering how it all happened. The evil one is sly. There’s no doubt about it.
Many are invited but only a few make it inside. What have you done with your invitation? Are you ready and willing to accept Jesus as your Savior, change your old life for a new life, and receive the gift of God’s forgiveness?
In the words of Paul we heard read today, “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!”
Friends, this is important stuff. Your life depends on it. Don’t lose your invitation. God is calling you to come inside today.

Change

Have you ever considered what it means to have the mindset of Christ? Or have you heard the words in Paul’s letter to the Philippians and thought it’s just plain impossible to think like Jesus. I would like you all to give some thought this morning to what it would mean for you to think of yourself as Jesus thought of himself.
The first word that came to my mind immediately was that I would have to “change” my thinking. In fact it would have to take a change of heart. That word “change” is being tossed around a lot these days by the candidates running for president of these United States. But I don’t think they are talking about a change of heart to think of themselves like Jesus thought of himself, do you? No I think the change they are talking about is more worldly.
There is a song by Eddie Espinosa called “Change My Heart, O God” and it goes like this.

Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart oh God
May I be like You

You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray

Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart oh God
May I be like You

Now if we all had a change of heart and our hearts were true and like Jesus’ heart what kind of change would we see here?
First, we have to decide in our own minds what Jesus’ heart was like. What was His primary concern as he walked all over Galilee, Judea, and Samaria? How can we really know Jesus’ heart?
I think that I would start by reading the gospels to see what they told about what he was doing when he was living among the people of Israel. What was he doing? He was teaching, he was healing, he was casting out demons, he was feeding hungry people, he was upsetting the religious community of his day, and he literally upset tables and through people out of the meeting place, the synagogue in Jerusalem. So what was Jesus’ mind like?
First I think we need to be certain what it was that he was teaching. Was it something worth believing and would it make the world a better place? What was Jesus teaching and is it relevant for us today?
Jesus was teaching the people that the kingdom of God was here right now and that there needed to be a change. He was preaching repentance, change of heart. He was preaching that God was love. He was baptizing people a symbol of the cleansing power of God’s love and forgiveness.
But Jesus wasn’t all about words. His life was an example of service to people who were at their wits end. They had been everywhere and tried everything looking for healing. And they came to Jesus to see what he could do. They received healing beyond anything they could ever imagine. Not only were their bodies and spirits healed but they found that by believing in Him their sins were forgiven!
Jesus didn’t just help one or two people here and there. No, wherever he traveled people were healed. And every town and city he came to the crowds were there waiting for him because word of his amazing powers preceded him. And he never failed to help those who believed. They were all healed.
But those who were skeptical and doubted and called him a blasphemer couldn’t be made whole. If there was no faith there was no healing.
So having a mind like Jesus means that you and I have to stop putting ourselves first. Having a mind like Jesus means that we are to be constantly looking for and seeking ways to help those who have tried everywhere else to get help and now have come to us as a last resort. What does that mean? I think it means whatever God has put into your mind right at this very minute. What he puts in your mind may be different than what he puts in my mind or they just may be identical. Wouldn’t that be something, God changing our minds and having us think of the same thing, would that be too weird?
What was that we heard Paul say, “If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.”
Friends, I think that means we have to be servants. We have to continually be aware to how God is working around us every minute of the day. We must be alert to the needs of people all around us and ready to answer the call to help when it comes.
Sisters and brothers, that’s what it means to be a church. Having a heart and mindset like Jesus probably means that we will have to change. But is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.
Our world all around us seems to be tumbling down, falling to pieces and we feel so helpless worrying about our savings and investments. Is there anything we can really do about it? Probably not much, but there is something we can do for the neighbor who can’t pay for groceries this month, or the family who is having marital problems, or the neighbor who just lost a loved one. There’s something we can do for them. That’s what Jesus did. He didn’t fix the national debt but he did heal them and feed them and gave them hope in a God who loved them. He set an example for the disciples and he is an example for us.
Friends, it’s not impossible. We can change. We can think of ourselves like Jesus thought of himself. We can share the love of Jesus Christ with our neighbors. Change is good and if we are honest with ourselves every one of us needs to have our hearts changed.
When God calls to your heart I hope your answer is yes but if it’s no at first I pray that it will change to yes later. God is calling all of us the change our hearts and minister to his children. God is faithful and will help us all to finish what he has called us to do.

Steve Green - He who began a good work Lyrics
He who began a good work in youHe who began a good work in youWill be faithful to complete itHe'll be faithful to complete itHe who started the workWill be faithful to complete it in youIf the struggle you're facingIs slowly replacingYour hope with despairOr the process is longAnd you're losing your songIn the night you can be sureThat the Lord has His hand on youSafe and secureHe will never abandon youYou are His treasureAnd He finds His pleasure in you

God loves you my friends, and so do I. Amen.

It's Just Not Fair!

The news this week has been mostly about the collapse of the stock market on Wall Street fueled by the fact that some of the major financial institutions were going bankrupt and/or were requesting bail outs from our federal government.
There has been much discussion by the news commentators and the candidates for president about where to point the finger of blame. One article I read this week put the blame where it probably needs to be and that is on greed. As Robert Samuelson put it, “…short-term rewards blinded them to the long-term dangers.”
So what does this have to do with today’s lessons from scripture? The lessons are about the grace of God. The parable about the landowner who hired men to work in his vineyards was all about a standard of grace that many find hard to accept.
Why should someone who didn’t work as hard or as long as the other get paid the same wages? It’s just not fair. Sounds like something we’d hear from our children, doesn’t it?
The confirmation class was playing a game last week where they received a word and then were asked to describe it either by drawing, word clues, or pantomime. One of the words was grace and the option was to use words to get someone to answer grace. Now how easy do you think that was? Believe it or not one of the class members came up with the answer. The clue was a free gift from God. I thought that was pretty good. I know that I couldn’t have come up with that answer when I was in 7th grade.
So how would you describe grace? I came across a saying that puts it this way: Just is getting what you deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
God, we have all learned doesn’t do things by the ways of the world. He works to standards that don’t seem fair to us. Everyone who comes to him is accepted into the family of God no matter when they make the decision to accept Jesus as their Savior. The last received into the family is loved just as much as the first who came into the family. Doesn’t seem fair does it?
When Jesus came into our world the world had a hard time understanding his theology. A God who loved without reservation, who loved everyone so completely, who forgave sins and forgot the sins committed, and who cared as deeply for the lost and the least as much as he did for those who had everything was not the God they knew.
They understood a God who could be petitioned for wants and needs, a God who would give them what they asked for if they earned it or at least that’s how they saw it. They had gotten so far away from the kingdom of God that they just couldn’t believe there was anything free anymore.
The common person in Jesus’ day understood what it meant to work for their food and if they were lucky there might be enough left over to provide some other comforts for the family. But it all had to earned through hard labor. They understood hard labor. Everything they did was hard labor, nothing was easy.
And then Jesus tells this parable about the landowner and the day laborers who all received the same wage no matter when they came to work in the vineyard.
He paid those who were hired last first and gave them the exact same wage as those he had hired early in the day. Of course those hired first saw what the last workers hired got paid and they were quickly calculating how much their pay would be based on what these men had received.
Can’t you just imagine the whining when they received the same amount of money as the last hired? This isn’t fair!! In fact we have all probably used these very same words. It isn’t fair!!!
If they hadn’t seen what the others had received they would have been perfectly satisfied with their wage. The same things are still happening today. Someone gets the same compensation as we do and we “know” they didn’t do half as much as we did. And so we give them or our “boss” the evil eye.
Judging our value based on what others get or give will always lead to the “evil eye.” Our value isn’t based on others.
It’s a good thing for us that God chooses to love us with his all. Our God pours all his love out for each of us. It isn’t fair but it’s a good thing for all of us that God doesn’t do things by the world’s standards.
The prophet Isaiah said it well when he said, “For my thoughts aren’t your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
That’s what grace is, an undeserved and unearned gift from our God. There is nothing we have done to deserve it and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can do to earn it.
So those who answer Jesus’ knock on the door of their heart on their death bed receive the same grace as those who have known the Lord and done his work many, many years. It isn’t fair but friends, it’s not about us. It’s all about God and his plan for the world.
The Israelites travelling in the wilderness didn’t deserve the free bread and meat that God gave them but he gave anyway. Paul didn’t deserve the many blessings God gave him but he received them anyway. We don’t deserve God’s love either but thankfully God doesn’t give us what we deserve. He is merciful and gracious and gives us the free gift of eternal life when we commit our lives to Jesus.
So what does all this have to do with the financial state of the world today and everything that’s been on the news this week? Friends, I don’t have to tell you the worlds a mess. And I would dare say that all of them have been caused by us. Our culture has become more greedy and fearful. We are all about getting and not so much about giving. We see what our neighbors have and we think, “Why can’t I have that?”
Some commentators might be telling us that the whole problem is the economy but I believe it has more to do with the morality of the world. Those who have much wealth are getting rich whether they make good or bad decisions. And the consumers and workers are the ones who suffer from all their bad choices.
Friends, God never promised us that we were going to be blessed with wealth and mansions. He did promise us eternal life. Eternal life is the good news and the promise is here today.
God sent his Son not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. All he asks is that we have faith and even our faith is grace.
It’s all God and not us. Don’t pay any attention to what your neighbor has. Don’t even think about whether it’s fair or not. Pay attention to what God is saying to you in his Word. Go there every day and spend some time with the Father as he gives you what you don’t deserve, his gracious love. And then go out and share it with someone else who doesn’t deserve it either.
…By grace you have saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Friends God loves you and so do I.
Receive this blessing of grace from God. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give your peace” (Num. 6:24-26).

Forgiveness

Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who sinned against him, “Seven times?” He thought that was more than generous since it was more than twice what the Law required. I think Peter was more than a little surprised when Jesus told him, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.”
There is some question as to what Jesus said whether it was seventy times seven or seventy seven times. The point that I think Jesus was trying to help Peter understand was that even if his brother sinned against him too many times to count he should continue to forgive him.
But what about the words Jesus said in verses 15-19? If your brother hurts you work it out between you and if that fails get another brother to go with you and try again. If that still doesn’t work go to the church and have them talk with him. And if that still doesn’t work he said to treat him like a pagan or a tax collector. Now that sounds to me like he should be shunned if he refuses to repent and seek forgiveness.
But then Peter asks his question and Jesus says to keep on forgiving forever if need be. I can understand Peter getting a little confused and frustrated with Jesus’ answers, can’t you?
I think Jesus wanted us to understand that we should never give up trying. After all God hasn’t given up on us. No matter how many times we fail and fall away from Him he forgets our past sins and forgives us again when we come to Him again begging for him to forgive us.
Forgiveness is something we have to carry with us all the time. In fact forgiveness should be put in our bag of necessities every day just like we put on clothes every day. We can’t get through one day without asking for forgiveness or giving forgiveness, sometimes or maybe most times, without being asked for it.
Friends, we have to forgive so that we may be forgiven. Every time we repeat the Lord’s Prayer we are reminded of that fact. “Forgive us our debts (sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).”
Why is it so important to forgive and/or be forgiven? What difference does it make to me if I forgive someone or I am forgiven? Let’s think about that for a minute.
Let’s say that every wrong ever done to me is put in this bag. I carry it around on my back every waking minute of the day and maybe even take it to bed with me. Every one of these wrongs is like a dead animal and they begin to rot but I still carry them around in the bag on my shoulder. I can’t let them go.
Now this isn’t a very pretty picture but consider this, the wrongs are decaying and they begin to seep through the fabric of the bag and soak into the fabric of my clothes. I still can’t let go of them. They are still too hurtful. And so eventually it begins to permeate my skin and if I don’t relieve myself of the burden soon my own body will begin to decay. This is an ugly thing to think about but that’s what happens when we can’t bring ourselves to forgive or to accept someone’s forgiveness.
We may not realize it but every hurt that we carry in the bag on our shoulders is preventing us from experiencing the love of God. Think how much easier our load would be if someone would just come along, take the bag from us, and help carry the bag with us, or how much lighter the load would be if we could just get rid of some of the load.
Friends, that’s what happens when we ask for forgiveness to those we have hurt or we offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us. It is such a relief to get that load off our backs. We often don’t realize how heavy the burden is that we are carrying when we can’t or won’t forgive.
Oh, it’s not easy. Sometimes it can take years for God to get us to release our hold on our anger, our hurt, and our hate but if we trust in God and pray to Him in our weakness for faith that is strong enough to believe in his power to forgive us, then it can happen.
Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20).” In Matthew Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Jesus is here for us. He is waiting for us to invite him into our hearts so he can forgive us. He is just waiting for us to hear his voice so he can come in and enjoy an intimate meal with us.
Too many of us are carrying around these bags of hurts when we could be relieved of them and allowed to experience the joy of being forgiven. Sometimes its not that we need to forgive someone else but we need to forgive ourselves for things we know we have done. Sometimes that is the greater burden we carry in the bags on our shoulders.
Friends, we can’t be judging each other and we shouldn’t be judging ourselves so harshly that we can’t see that Jesus is just waiting to offer us forgiveness. We all sin and will continue to sin. We all need to be forgiven. We all need to forgive. And what a joy it is when that happens.
It’s like putting on clothes that have just come out of the dryer smelling all clean and fresh and light. That’s what its like to be rid of the stinky, smelly bag of sins we carry around on our backs every day.
Let go of them and be forgiven. Jesus shed his blood and died so that we could be forgiven. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us when he was nailed to the cross. Friends lay your burdens today at the foot of the cross and know that God loves you and so do I.
Thanks be to God for his grace and forgiveness. Amen.

God Calling

Oh my God! This really is God calling! I may have mentioned this once before but what if your phone rang, doesn’t matter whether it’s your cell or your landline, and you saw in the caller ID “I Am”, what would be your response?
It can’t really be Him. It must be one of my friends. Someone is playing with me. But then you push the talk button and say, “He….llo???” And you know with the first sound of the voice that it’s really the Man, God, the Great I AM. Now what do you do?
This happened to Moses. It wasn’t a phone ringing it was just a burning bush but still when he went to investigate what was going on with the bush he heard a voice calling to him by name and he answered, “Yeesss? I’m right here.” Then God stopped him and said, “Hold it right there.” “Just wait a minute.” “Take your shoes off.” “This is holy ground.”
Jesus said in this morning’s gospel lesson that those who answer the call he gives to follow him must turn over control to him. They aren’t in the driver’s seat any longer, He is. Anyone who ever said that following Jesus was easy, anyone could do it, didn’t read this part. Did you hear it? He said, “Don’t run from suffering, embrace it.” “Follow me and I’ll show you how.” “Self-sacrifice is the way to do it.” That’s Jesus’ way to finding yourself, your true self.
Jesus said here, “What good is it if you get everything you want but lose yourself.” Luke put it another way. He said, “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?”
What is the real you? What does it mean to lose yourself? No one knows the real you but you…and God. The real you, the you way down deep inside, is our soul. It’s who we really are. And that’s what we are in danger of losing if we make the choice to follow our own whims and desires instead of heeding the call to follow Jesus.
How do any of us know if it is really God who is calling us to work at a particular thing or in a certain place? I truly believe that when God calls you will know. Maybe it won’t show up on your caller ID but believe me you will know. And if you don’t respond, God is patient; he will keep ringing your bell until you hear it and answer.
So we answer the call, then what? I think Paul’s letter to the Romans gives us some pretty good one-liners to get us started.
He begins with love, real love, not the fake kind, genuine love. Love that really cares how you feel. You know what that kind of love is like.
Watch out for evil. Beat feet when it comes near. Get a good grip on the good things.
Be good to your friends, the ones who love deeply, the ones who will never desert you no matter how grumpy you are. Learn what it’s like to be of service to others. In service to others we learn to deny the importance of our own lives; only in service to the least and the lost can we understand and accept the role of suffering in Jesus’ life as Messiah and in our own lives as his followers.
Don’t burn out. Take time to refuel and keep the fire hot. Be alert to what God is doing around and within you. Be cheerfully expectant.
When times get hard, and they will, don’t quit. Pray harder. Wear the knees of your jeans out praying.
Help those in need. Do something different when you are welcoming strangers. Bless those who you would like to curse.
Laugh often with your happy friends and cry with them when they cry. Get along with each other.
Don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with people you would never think of as being your friends. Be careful; don’t think you know it all. You don’t.
See the wondrous beauty in everyone. It’s there, the Holy Spirit will help you see it.
Treat the one you can’t stand, your enemy, to a fine meal. Boy will they be surprise. If he’s thirsty, find out what he likes and get it for him. Don’t let evil get the better of you. Get the best of evil by doing all the good you can.
God’s calling. It may not show up on your caller ID but you will know it’s him. Stop what you’re doing and answer like Samuel did. Just say, “Speak, your servant is listening.” And then listen.
Friends, hear the words from a Storyteller.

Last week Jesus asked "who do you say that I am?"Unlike Peter, I threw my hands up and said "Whatever!"After all, what I say he ishe keeps beating down the walls and won’t be containedI say he is sweet and gentle and kindthen he calls some indigenous mother with a sick daughter a dawg!And when I say he is a soft, kindergarten sorta rabbihe calls his star student Satan!and if I would have said he is the liberator of a people oppressed by Roman colonial rulewhat a disappointment when he sayshe will sufferhe will be killedand talk of death does eclipse the third day resurrection promisebut here I amOne of the "some standing here who will not taste deathbefore they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom"my changed heart is testimony to some standing here
Friends, dare to tell the rest of the story.Jesus did.Maybe we too often tell the glory side onlyLeaving the hearers thinking its all coming up roses and blue skiesBut the other half of the story is that the road to glory is a difficult roadsuffering, rejection, mockery, death.This half of the story is the one that we are afraid to tellWhen the pastor is asked "What's in it for me?"We want to say "Glory!"Dare to say "First the suffering, then the glory"
Storyteller-DesperatePreacher.com
Friends, God is calling us. Listen. Thank you God for the call.

Who Am I?

Has anyone ever come up to you and said, “Who are you?” What was your answer? Who are you?
How many of you men have been brave enough to ask your wives this question, “Honey, how am I doing as your husband?” Don’t worry I haven’t done it either and it’s probably because I’m afraid I’ll get an honest answer. I don’t know how I would handle that. Or let’s put the shoe on the other foot, how many of you wives have asked your husbands, “Honey, how am I doing as your wife?”
I would venture a bet that more wives have asked the question than any of us men. Face it men, we just can’t take the truth, to put it in the words of Jack Nicholson.
Another question that many of us should ask, and probably haven’t or maybe we have, is for our bosses or those we work for, “How am I doing in my work for you?” This is another question that is hard to ask because we aren’t sure we want to hear the answer.
The question today is, “who are you, who am I”. Or it may be who do people say that you are or who I am. Jesus asked the question and his followers had some answers.
I think he asks that same question of us, “Who do you say that I am?” I wonder how many different answers we’d get. Who is Jesus to you? Think about that. Friends, this is important stuff because how we answer tells us a lot about how well we know Jesus.
How do we answer that question today when we are talking to someone about our faith, our beliefs, or this community gathered here today? Who do we say Jesus is? Who do people say Jesus is when they see how we are living our lives?

Who Am I?
My mother was Mary.
I was born in Bethlehem.
A star shone over the manger where I was born.
Shepherds and Wisemen came to see me.
My Dad’s name was Joseph.
I grew up in the town of Nazareth.
My cousin was John the Baptizer.
I assembled a group of followers who travelled with me throughout Judea.
I ministered to those in need in Galilee, Judea, and Samaria.
I told people the kingdom of God was here.
My lifestyle upset the religious hierarchy of the day.
I called Jehovah “Abba”, Daddy, Papa.
I referred to myself as the Son of Man.
Peter said I was the Messiah, the Christ.
I was betrayed by one of my own followers.
Pilate ordered me flogged after releasing the criminal, Barrabas.
Soldiers cast lots for my clothes.
I was crucified on the hill called Golgotha.
I was buried in a sealed tomb guarded by two soldiers.
Three days later my tomb was found empty by Mary.
I appeared to my disciples and dined with them after my resurrection.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Who do you say that I am?

The answers we give really depend on what kind of relationship we have with Jesus. Do we talk with him every day or do we only think about him on Sunday? That might make a difference in our description of Jesus. Have we given our very lives to him? Do we trust him enough to go wherever he leads us?
Friends, that’s what Paul was talking about to the Romans. We are to understand that we don’t bring anything to God he brings it to us. When we embrace everything that God did for us in sending his Son then we are changed from the inside out. We begin to establish the kind of relationship with Jesus that God intended for us.
Then when someone asks who Jesus is we have an answer. He is our brother. He is our friend. He is the one who knows us from the inside out. He cares for us. Our sins have been forgiven because of what he has done for us.
Who is Jesus to you? He is calling to each of us today. Can you hear him? Do you know him? He is the reason we are all here.
Thanks be to God for the gift of his Son Jesus. Amen.