God's Kingdom

Did you notice how every one of Jesus stories begin? They each start with, “God’s kingdom is like…”, a pine nut (mustard seed), yeast, a hidden treasure, a perfect pearl, and a fishnet.

What about God’s kingdom as a seed? Could it be Jesus was that tiny seed? Could Jesus have been the beginning of God’s kingdom here on earth? Is it possible that God’s kingdom has grown to such proportions since the Seed was planted that it can now accommodate all of us and many more we don’t even know about?

Or what about the kingdom of God being like fresh yeast that a woman uses to energize enough bread dough to feed thousands? Is it possible that just a pinch of God’s kingdom is more than enough to energize the Body of Christ to accomplish more than we can begin to imagine? Could it be that God’s churches only need just a small measure of God’s kingdom to expand enough to feed thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands; could it be?

And/or has God’s kingdom been hidden here just waiting to be discovered by one trespassing treasure hunter? Has God’s kingdom been here right under our noses just waiting for one of us to find the greatest treasure? Could that be what Jesus was saying?

Or, or maybe it’s and, could it be that God’s kingdom is like that gemologist who is always on the hunt for the perfect gem. Now here’s where I wonder if I’ve got it right. What if God’s kingdom is looking for perfect gems to add to God’s collection? Would God sell or give up everything to buy us? Oh, that’s right he already has! Jesus gave his all for us so we could be part of this kingdom.

Now here’s a part that I like and some folks just can’t imagine this. God’s kingdom is like a huge fishnet thrown out over this humungous mass of humanity. The kingdom net is so enormous that an unbelievable variety of folks are trapped in it. And then God’s angels have the task of sorting the good fish from the bad fish. Of course Jesus says that this won’t happen until the end of time. In the meantime the good fish and bad fish are living together in the same sea.

I hope the angels get earplugs from God because Jesus says there’ll be lot of complaining. Can’t you just hear the carping and whining? And how will they be able to tell a good fish from a bad fish? Oh, I hope we’re good fish!

So, the question is, do we get this? Do we understand what Jesus is saying here? I hope so.
If our answer is “yes” then every disciple is like the owner of the store and everything we need is there, exactly when and where we need it.

Friends, the Good News is that God’s kingdom is here, right here, right now. And it’s like each of these examples Jesus told us about. Are we listening? Do we understand the Message? I hope so.

God loved us enough to send his Son to us, to live with us and to teach us, to be an example for us. He died for us and defeated death for us leaving us with the promise of eternal life. All we have to do is listen and have faith and keep trying to live like Jesus. Oh, and remember that God loves us and only asks us to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

That’s the Good News! Thanks be to God. Amen.

There's Good News & The Bad News

Friends, today there’s good news and bad news. I could ask you which you’d rather hear first but since I’m going to tell you anyway I won’t.
The good news is there’s going to be a harvest. The bad news is that there are weeds growing in the field that was sown with good seed. The good news is that we don’t have to walk the field pulling out the weeds. The bad news is that the weeds might cause some problems, suffering, for the good crop.

So, I guess the question most of us have is what does it all mean? How are we to interpret this story Jesus told? Is it even possible to explain this in a way that all of us would agree on?
Jesus’ disciples asked him to tell them what it means and if we take it literally it means that the Son of Man has sown good seed, disciples, and the Evil One, the Devil, Satan, has sown bad seed. And God said leave them alone until the harvest, the end of time. The angels will gather the weeds and throw them in the fire and then they will harvest the crop that grew from the good seeds.

That’s pretty clear then, some of us are good and some of us are bad and it will all be sorted out at the end. I understand that but how do I know if I’m from the good seed or the bad seed? I’ll bet some of you have the same question.

Let’s see if we can’t make this just a little bit more difficult. Paul says in his letter to the Romans that if we let our sinful selves rule our lives then we will die spiritually. Yet if we let the Spirit help us stop doing the wrong things then we will live a true life. The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them.

So, when our sinful selves are in control we are dead spiritually, we’re weeds. Then when we allow God’s Holy Spirit help us, when we give the control to the Spirit, then we are on the way to living a true life, we’re the good crop.

Are you confused yet? This is what I think, and friends, it’s okay to disagree with me because I’m not a perfect person and I’ve been wrong more times than I’ve been right. I think that within each of us are good and bad seeds. Both have germinated and both are growing within us. The good is God’s Word, good seeds, and the bad is our sinful nature, seeds sown by the Evil One. And they’re both in a battle; sometimes a violent battle and maybe more often the battle isn’t so easy to notice. But it’s going on all the time even though we aren’t aware of it.

Or, it could be that within God’s churches there are those who are God’s disciples and there are those who are the Evil One’s disciples; and Jesus said to let them grow together. Because any attempt to remove the weeds from the crop might destroy or harm the good plants.

You understand what he’s saying don’t you. You’ve probably seen it happen. A group might decide that someone or a group of someone’s might not be suitable as members or representatives of the Church and so they suggest that they leave. When that’s done then others who may be friends of this group get upset and they leave too. And the whole body, the Church, suffers.

Jesus says just let them be and let God and his angels sort it out at the end. How many times in history have Christians with good intentions created more problems and suffering for the Church than if they had just left things alone? The Crusades and the Inquisition are just two that I can think of. And we know there are more otherwise there wouldn’t be so many different denominations in our world.

So, Good News and Bad News, Good Seed and Bad Seed, how do we sort it all out? I don’t think we need too. I think if we remember the two important commandments that Jesus told the scholar when he questioned him then we’ll be moving in the right direction. Love God with all that we are and love our neighbors are much as we love ourselves. If we focus on those two commandments and then respond to Jesus’ Great Commission, Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit then we should worry ourselves about the good crop or the weeds. God will take care of that for us.

Love God, love neighbors, and trust in God to take care of the rest. Don’t worry about the weeds God’s going to take care of them. Don’t worry at all; let God’s Spirit take the reins and just follow along.
I think the other point Jesus was making was that we aren’t the ones to judge whether the crop is good or bad. It just might be what we think is bad might be transformed into the good and it would be a terrible mistake to judge someone before they’ve been changed.

Good friends, I hope I haven’t created more uncertainty in your minds with my explanations. I do trust that God’s Spirit will make it all clear to each of us and show us what our work is that we’ve been called to do while we’re here.

Put your faith in the One who knows you better than anyone else and always knows your needs before you ask. God loves us and he’s got everything taken care of today and forevermore. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Sower and the Seeds

God placed me on a farm and it’s there I grew up and learned about seeds and soil and tilling, planting, and weeding.

Harvey and Norma, my parents, began by letting me “help” them in the garden. I learned how to stretch the binder twine across the width of the garden so that the rows would be more or less straight. Mom taught me how to use this pointed hoe to make a groove in the dirt, carefully keeping the clods of dirt out as I made the groove. Then she would show me just how to place the seed in the groove made by the hoe and press it down with the point of my finger so that it made good contact with the moist, damp earth. And then we would very carefully cover the seed with the just the right depth of dirt.

And then we waited for the rain to water the rows and soften the clods that we couldn’t break up. Most of the time the germination was 100%, but not always.

Sometimes, we would notice that things were going to well in the row. It might have been insects or rodents or just bad seed. You just couldn’t be sure. If there was time we would replant and hope there were enough days left in the season to grow good produce.

You see, the garden was where our vegetables came from; there weren’t any cans of beans and corn in the cupboard. There were quart jars of beans, corn, carrots, and such in the cellar. There were baskets of potatoes in the cave and onions drying in the rafters overhead.

But the harvest always depended on how well the soil was taken care of and the quality of the seed and also the care taken in the planting. If one thing was out of kilter then the crop was affected and we might have to go to the store in town for canned vegetables. They weren’t ever as good as ours from the garden.

Jesus taught the people who gathered around him while he sat in the boat by the sea. They knew all about seeds and soil. Their methods were a little different from what I learned.

They would scatter the seed by hand and then they would till the soil. Of course when you throw seed by hand it doesn’t always go every place that you want it to. Some goes on the path, some falls in the gravel, some in the weedy patches at the edge of the field, but some does fall in the good soil. They understood all that but did they understand his meaning? They had ears to hear but were they listening?

Jesus’ disciples even asked him what he meant. And so he explained it to them in very simple, easy to understand terms. The seeds were God’s words to his children.

Just like the seeds scattered in the field not every one of God’s words was heard or understood. Some heard but didn’t understand and some never gave the Word a chance.

But some of the words were understood, some of the words took root and the result was that many came to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Even though technology has improved the planting of seeds in the fields resulting in unbelievable yields the planting of God’s Word is still by proclamation. And whether there is a bountiful harvest all depends on the ears that receive the Message and God’s good grace.

Are people going to hear the Word and let it grow in their hearts or is it going to die for lack of nutrition? Friends, it’s all up to God. Our work is to tell the story as Jesus did and trust in God to take care of the rest, just as the farmer does who puts the seed into the ground in the spring. He does the best that he can and then trusts that God will provide the rest in just the right quantities to produce a good harvest.

Good friends, I pray that God’s word takes root in your hearts today so that you can share the story with those He brings to you.

Thanks be to God for his bountiful grace. Amen.

Keep Company with Me

In our scripture lessons today Paul is voicing his frustrations. He is out of sorts because, no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get himself to do what’s right. Every time he tries it ends up being the wrong thing.
It’s like he’s two different people in the same body and they’re at odds with each other. Have you ever felt like that? Then you know what Paul’s talking about.
At the end of the reading for today Paul wonders who can save him from this body that’s bringing him to death. He realizes that only God’s grace through Jesus Christ can save him. And he thanks God for that.
The gospel lesson from Matthew begins with Jesus complaining about the fact that people are still questioning who he is and why he doesn’t do what other rabbis or teachers do. God sent him to these people and they refuse to receive him.
And then he thanks God that those who supposedly know-it-all have been struck deaf and those who are thought to be illiterate get what he is teaching.
Jesus then invites everyone who is tired of the “old way” of doing church to follow him. He invites them, and us, to join him in his work and walk with him, to see how he does it. In some translations the word “yoke” is used by Jesus. He invites those listening to put on his “yoke” because its not heavy and isn’t the burden that the Law is. In fact he’s inviting them to get beside him, maybe that’s why his yoke is easy because he’s leading, showing us how to do it.
Jesus is asking us to learn from him. We are to learn the “unforced” rhythms of grace. We are invited to “keep company with him.” Oh, if only we would.
But we aren't any different than Paul. We want to, we know we should, we know that our lives would be easier and lighter but sin keeps us from doing it exactly like Jesus. Thank God we are forgiven for not being perfect like Jesus through the greatest gift anyone could ever receive, the gift of Jesus Christ.
So, what are we to do? Will we ever get to be just like Jesus? Only if we put on his yoke. Only if we keep company with him. Only if we let Jesus have control, of everything.
Friends, I don't know about you but I know that I'm not there yet. Some days I think I'll never make it.
I believe that we need to remember that even Paul struggled with these very same issues. If a saint like Paul found himself doing what he knew he shouldn't but kept on trying anyway, that gives me hope. And you should be encouraged too by these words.
Keep company with Jesus by going to his Word, by talking with him in prayer, and spending time in quiet with him every day.
Join Jesus in this life and work he has called each of us to. Remember none of us are in this alone. Jesus is walking and working right beside us as we labor for justice and peace in this world.
Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.

Faith, Trust, Grace, & Harvest Work

          The Scripture lessons we heard read this morning are about faith, trust, grace, and God's work here on earth. Every one of the writers had faith in God.  Abraham, David, Paul, and Matthew, they all had faith and they trusted in God and his plan. 

          Abraham trusted in God so completely that when he heard God’s voice tell him to he took his son, Isaac, into the wilderness to a place God showed him, to offer him as a sacrifice.  We can't even imagine doing that and I'm sure Abraham wondered too. But, he believed in his God, our God, so completely that he prepared to do what God has instructed him to do. Maybe he believed what he told his son, that God would provide the lamb for the sacrifice, or maybe not.

          We may read this lesson and think, “What kind of God would ask someone to sacrifice their son as a test of loyalty?”  Remember that the nations surrounding the territory where Abraham lived practiced child sacrifice.  So, he was familiar with it.  That doesn't mean he accepted it or thought it was right, but God spoke to him and he trusted him.

          So, when he heard God speak he prepared everything that was needed for a proper offering and sacrifice and he was ready to follow through. And then, God did, indeed, provide the lamb. Abraham had faith in God; he trusted God.

          His faith wasn't always this strong. Sometimes he didn't trust enough and then he did what he thought was best and found out that it wasn't.  Like when he told the people that Sarai was his sister instead of his wife.  That wasn't the best thing to do. It’s a good thing that God watched out for him because it could have been disastrous. So, you see he wasn't always so faithful. For the most part, though, he trusted God to care and provide for him and his family; and he was considered righteous by his ancestors because of his faith.

          David also trusted God. He was revered as a leader who had a very strong faith in God. He trusted God to protect him, to help him defeat his enemies both at home and those in the nations surrounding Judah.  Even when he made mistakes, and he made some doosies, he trusted God. 

          He trusted God because he knew that God loved him. Even though he experienced dark times when he didn’t feel God’s presence he trusted that he was there. David is a great example for us who struggle with the same feelings of anxiety and depression and loneliness. 

          But how do we get faith? Can we make our faith stronger? Is there a magic chant or something that we can recite that will give us faith or more faith?

          Friends, that’s where grace comes into the picture, we might have a basic beginner’s faith in God but it’s only through his grace that our faith grows and gets stronger.  I don’t know how God does it but I believe that every gift we receive is because of God’s grace. We don’t deserve any of it yet God blesses us with his grace and our faith is because of God’s grace. No matter what I do I’m not able to make my faith stronger. There are no calisthenics that I can do to increase the size of my faith.

          Our faith, yours and mine, only grows through God’s grace. We are justified by grace and sanctified, saved, by the grace of God through Jesus.  We’d like to think that we can save ourselves but friends that’s just not possible.  It’s only through grace that we are saved.

          We have been conditioned to believe that there’re no free gifts. And so we have a real problem with God’s grace because it’s free.  We’ve been taught that nothing is free, everything has a price. That’s why we miss God’s grace sometimes.

          But if we don’t accept this free gift of grace what do we have to look forward too? It’ll all be over when our bodies wear out, if we don’t accept God’s gift of grace.

          Afterwards come the works, but they’re not to pay God back for his gift. This work God calls us to we do because we love him and can’t imagine doing anything else. 

          Now some of us think that in order to truly work for God we have to be a missionary in Africa or Central America or China or some remote outpost somewhere in the world.  That could be right, but Jesus said we don’t have to start with something huge like that. We may be called to give a cup of cool, refreshing water to a neighbor.  Or we may be called to sit with a friend who’s struggling with grief or pain or a scary diagnosis.  Or we may be called to just be a friend to someone who has no friends, right here in Walnut.

          Jesus knew this work wasn’t going to be easy and so he said don’t be overwhelmed by it. Start small and work up to the larger tasks. And remember none of us are in it alone.  “We are intimately linked in this harvest work.”

          Friends, faith, trust, grace and the harvest work God calls each of us to, that’s what our lives are all about.  We’re all in this together. And God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are with us every step, every minute of every day until he calls us home.

          Thanks be to God for his loving, forgiving grace. Amen.

Gifts From the Holy Spirit

Usually when there’s a birthday there are also gifts…and cake and/or ice cream. Today as we come together to worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit we come to celebrate the birthday of God’s church and the gift of his Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost the disciples, gathered together in the upper room, were celebrating the Festival of Shavuot (Weeks). This festival occurs 7 weeks or 50 days after the celebration of the Passover therefore the name Pentecost.

So, why do you think God chose to bring the Holy Spirit to the disciples on this particular day? The Festival of the Weeks was celebrated to give God thanks for the harvest of first fruits and to remember when God visited the Israelites in the wilderness to give them the Torah, the Ten Commandments.

Jewish legend has it that the Israelites went to sleep early the night before so that they would be rested when the Lord visited and gave them the Torah. The best laid plans don’t always work out like we planned and it wasn’t any different for them. They overslept and God woke them with thunder and lightening.

So, it was customary when celebrating the Festival of Shavuot that the people would stay awake all night studying and learning the Torah. Jesus’ disciples may have been observing that very same practice of staying awake and learning the Torah.

I wonder if they may have fallen asleep and God woke them between 8 and 9 with this great, loud wind and visions of tongues like fire. I wonder.

Whatever they did throughout the night before, receiving this gift of the Holy Spirit was some experience for them. The noise of the great wind and the vision of tongues like fire were surely something but then to have the folks who had gathered outside understand what they were speaking that was another thing.

Luke doesn’t tell us what they said as they spoke in the different languages but whatever they said was understood by those standing outside. Friends, it may not have been so much that they were speaking in different languages but that those who were listening understood what they were saying. In other words their communication was clear and not garbled.

Think about this for a minute. How many times have you tried to share something important with someone else only to be frustrated by them not understanding what you’re trying to say? And yet these disciples were clearly understood by everyone there.

That, my friends, is a miracle. To have everyone get it with no confusion at all was a miracle, at least for us human beings it’s a miracle. Not for God but certainly for us.

So, that’s what happened on that day in Jerusalem as the disciples were celebrating the Festival of Shavuot. They received another gift from God just as important as the Torah, the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. They were empowered and through this power were enabled to do the things Jesus did and even greater things just as He had told them they would.

That was then; what is God doing today? Do people still receive the power of the Holy Spirit? And if they do how do they know?

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, talks about the different gifts God’s people receive from the Spirit of God, different gifts for each person but all from the same Spirit.

Staying with that idea, assess your gifts, talents, skills. What has God given you that enables you to tell God’s story to those God places on the path you walk everyday? Don’t think you have any special gifts? I doubt that that’s true.

Paul said, “Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good.” Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, to me that means we all have received some good gift that we are expected to use to share God’s Message of Good News.

That I believe. We sometimes aren’t even aware of a gift because we take what we have for granted. I’m just a cook. I’m just a mechanic. I’m just a …you fill in the blank.

So, good friends, don’t take anything for granted, especially your lives. They are gifts from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and they are special. If we are instrumental in bringing just one person to Jesus then the angels rejoice and God is pleased.

Last weeks lesson was about being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and then going out to be witnesses. Friends, the power of the Holy Spirit has brought you here; the power of the Holy Spirit has helped you to interpret and understand my clumsy words. The power of the Holy Spirit will be with you this week and beyond guiding, nurturing, and enabling you to be a witness for Jesus.

Thanks be to God for the gift of his Holy Spirit. Amen.

You Will Receive Power…And Be My Witnesses

Jesus had been preparing the disciples for that time when he would leave them to go back to the Father. In the chapter preceding the one read today Jesus told them that in a day or so he would be leaving them and then in a day or so he would be back. His disciples were confused and couldn’t figure out what he meant.


When he compared their feelings at the time of his leaving to a woman giving birth they got it. It would be hard and painful for them. They really didn’t know how hard it would be. Their feelings at his return would be similar to a new mother’s joy when she gets to hold that new baby in her arms. Remember their excitement when he appeared to them in the room where they celebrated the Passover together?

And now in the reading from Acts they are together for the last time with Jesus and don’t you wonder if they really grasp what Jesus has been telling them about his leaving them? They still want to know if he’s going to restore the kingdom of Israel as it was before.

Jesus doesn’t say it’s not going to happen he says that no one knows the timing of it, only God knows when. The important thing was that when Jesus left they were going to receive power to be witnesses in all the world when the Holy Spirit came. Yet again, they probably didn’t have any idea what that meant.

They didn’t have any more time to ask anymore questions because after he said that he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They must have been standing there for a while staring up in the clouds because it took two angels to break their reverie and bring them back to the reality of the moment.

So what did they do? They went back to their meeting place. They were there supporting each other constantly in prayer, men and women.

Friends, I believe that same power is available to each and every one of us. All we have to do to gain access to this power is believe. When we believe we have access to the Holy Spirit. We, then, are enabled to be witnesses for God and Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The other part we don’t want to miss is that they used this power together supporting each other in prayer, constantly, daily, men and women together. Doesn’t it make you wonder if we shouldn’t come together more often and pray? Don’t you wonder about what might be accomplished if we did do that?

Do you suppose God is just waiting for us to come together and pray? I wonder. Do you suppose we are missing out on real and eternal life right now? Is that possible? I wonder.

Friends, what I do believe is that God is waiting for us. He has given us the Word, the ability to read and reason and to pray. He has given us each other. Are we doing everything God has asked us and expects of us? I wonder.

All of this is rich and full of God’s power. Read these passages again and let the yeast of God’s Holy Spirit work in your mind and soul and then let’s see where God leads us, together.

Friends, remember God loves you. Thanks be to God. Amen.