What Do You Believe? Why?

John’s first letter intrigues me. John makes the statement that we often accept what men and women say but, and I think this is implied, we don’t really believe the testimony of God that he has given about his Son.
Maybe I’m just being cynical this morning. Some of the news I heard this week made me wonder how much good we’re doing. Did you hear about the children of the Congo who were being accused by their pastors of being witches? Then the pastors would exorcise the demons or whatever from them if they were paid a sum of money that was equal to one-half year’s wages. Even when the parents paid the money and the pastor supposedly cast out the demons, the children were ostracized and most often abandoned on the streets or roads of the country. Something’s wrong here and I wonder what God would have us do about it?
In the gospel according to John we heard Jesus praying for his disciples before he left them. He prayed for their protection. He interceded for them before God. He knew it was going to be dangerous for them because they were preaching a new thing. They were preaching that Jesus was the Son of God and that God’s kingdom had come down to earth and was still here. They were preaching peace and non-violence. They believe so much in what they were doing that they gave their all for what they believed. They gave their very lives for what they believed. What do you believe? What would you give your life for? And why would you do that?
I have mentioned before that the confirmation class has written faith statements, putting into words what they believe. And as they did that they realized that they had questions, good theological questions. They believed and they also questioned why does evil seem to triumph in the world?
What do we believe and why? And the other side of this is what do we do with our belief? I am constantly convicted that I’m not doing enough with my belief. I think that the world put a terrible lot of pressure on all of us. We allow the world to complicate our lives and it quietly insinuates itself into our psyches. And one morning we wake up and realize that we are not just in the world but we are the world. And we wonder how’d that happen?
It’s my belief that we allow our lives to become complicated with way too many things that we think we have to have in order to live. I’ve heard many of you say that life was a lot different when you were young. Don’t you think that’s because lives were lived a lot more simply back then? I’m not saying that technology is bad but listen to how much talk there has been lately about the ice caps melting and glaciers calving chunks of ice the size of New York City. And then we read about how fast the landfills are piling up with our refuse. And we complain about how many plastic bags we accumulate?
Sometimes I think that we try to make this way too complicated. First we have to believe that God is real and that he did create everything. If we believe that then we must believe that he sent his Son, Jesus, here to live among us and show us that God is love. Third, we must believe that God loved us so much that he allowed this Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for us in order that our lives might be saved and our sins forgiven. He did this and promised that we would enjoy eternal live with him if we would repent and sin no more.
I believe what do you believe? In last week’s message that Jim gave to you he told you that it all sounds so easy but we find out that it’s not. The reason it isn’t easy is because we try to do it all by ourselves and we can’t. We fail miserably. We have to put our faith in this God who loves us and let him show us the Way.
In the gospel lesson Jesus prayed for his disciples and in the reading from Acts the disciples prayed for guidance in choosing a replacement for Judas. Do you suppose that we might find the answer to many of our questions in prayer?
What do you believe? Why do you believe what you do? As you spend time this week in your daily devotions spend some time thinking and praying about what you believe. It might even help to write some of your thoughts down on paper. Who is God in your life? Who is Jesus and what does he do for you? Who is this Holy Spirit who filled the hearts of the believers? What is God’s word and what does it mean for us today? What do you believe?
Ponder these questions this week. Next week we will celebrate the birthday of the church, Pentecost. Let the Holy Spirit guide and instruct you this week as you spend time alone with God is study and prayer.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Love, Joy, and Friends

Jesus told his disciples to love one another as he had loved them. In fact he commanded them love one another. Commanded, did you notice that? How is it possible to command somebody to love someone? Jesus said it so it’s something we are supposed to do or at least give it our utmost effort. And why you may ask?
It’s so Jesus’ joy might be our joy and that our joy might be mature. And finally he said to them that he would no longer called them servants but he would call them friends because he had told them everything the Father had told him. He had shared everything with them. He gave them his love so that they would be filled with his joy. And one thing that probably filled them the most was being called his friends.
Love, joy, and friends, what more could anyone want out of their time here? But what does this all mean? People have been asking these questions for eons. What is love? What is joy and how can we get it? How important are friends? What does it mean to be called “friend?” There are probably more questions here than I have answers.
We could begin by trying to define what each of these words mean. The word “love” used in the New Testament is based on the Septuagint. The writers used the Greek word agapao, to emphasize choice, selection, and action in the meaning of love, rather than the impulsive desire of eros.
Love usually requires some form of action, but the word is rooted in emotion and affection. This complicates how the word can be understood. Love is an emotion. It’s how we feel for our spouses, our children, our friends, and our community. Love can be shallow or it can be deep.
If love is to mean anything to us at all it must include a depth of caring, for whatever or whoever we love, that is so deep that at times it’s painful. Love seems often to be linked to suffering. In the New Testament we can see that in Jn. 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” In chapter 15 we have heard read today John reflects on the self-giving love from God through Jesus to the disciples. It reaches the climax in verses 12 & 13, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Friends, that’s what love is. It’s caring so deeply for someone that you would willingly sacrifice anything for them; even your life if that would bring them joy.
There’s that word “joy.” How do we define joy? Isn’t it the same as being happy? Well, not exactly. Happiness is usually achieved by luck or good fortune, while joy on the other hand is often described as a vivid emotion of pleasure. At first glance these may seem to be very similar but think about it. You would be very happy if you had purchased a lottery ticket and discovered that you had won the big one. Joy on the other hand would be what fills our hearts and souls when we think of our beloved children or grandchildren. Happiness may give us a warm feeling but joy, now joy on the other hand, creates an emotion that fills us to overflowing. It just about takes our breath away. You know what I’m talking about don’t you?
I’m happy when I find a five dollar bill in my coat that I didn’t remember putting there but I am filled with joy when one of my children or grandchildren calls to ask me for some help or some advice. I am filled with joy every time they give me a hug or a kiss when they’re ready to go home.
What fills you with joy? What takes your breath away? There are times when I’m walking Murphy in the morning just before the sun comes up and we get to experience the sun exploding over the horizon. You know what I’m talking about. It’s when the sky is kind of a steel blue gray and then a pink color that gets rosier and rosier. Then there’s a sliver of reddish orange and before you know it the full power of the sun has burst over the horizon. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the sun rise but it still fills me with joy and awe.
John writes in his gospel in chapter 17 verse 13 that the ultimate joy, immeasurable joy, comes when people live in intimate contact with Jesus. When we relieve ourselves of our burdens and take up Jesus’ yoke we begin to experience the special care and protection that God provides us through His Son, Jesus. In chapter 15 verse 11 Jesus said that when we do what he commanded then we will be filled with all the joy that he has, and that’s more than we can even imagine. Think of the time when you were filled with the most joy you’ve ever experienced, and then multiply that by a gazillion. That might come close to joy that Jesus was talking about.
I’m talking about love and joy and it may sound to you as if it’s something easy to obtain. It isn’t. It takes work. Just think about how much work we put into getting along with our co-workers. Just talk to any married couple and ask them how hard they work to make their marriage one that’s filled with joy and peace. Think of the most difficult person you know of that you have had to work with and then remember Jesus’ commandment to love one another. How easy is that? Not to easy, right?
It’s way too hard for any of us to do, in fact it’s impossible to do it alone. We need help. We must accept Jesus as the Son of God and trust him as our friend before we can expect to have even a glimmer of hope in achieving true love and joy. We need a friend. He’s already called us friends but some of us haven’t accepted his invitation. And that’s really too bad because he just wants us to be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
So if any of us ever expect to be joyful and loving then we need a friend. I don’t mean Larry or Betty at the bakery though they do make very good friends and there is a lot of joy found there. But the joy doesn’t last. It’s kind of like the energy boost I get from eating one of their maple frosted snails. But if we ask Jesus to be our friend then we will be filled with love and joy that will never end. Who wouldn’t want that?
We can have it all just by asking Jesus to be our friend. He’s already forgiven us for our sins. We just have to repent of them and invite Jesus into our hearts. How easy is that? Pretty easy.
Friends, if you want to have love and joy and friends you can have by talking to Jesus. Love and joy could be yours right now just by claiming Jesus as your friend. What’s holding you back?
Maybe you need to think about it for awhile. Okay, but come back next week and see what God has for us then.
Thanks be to God for his gracious love and joy and mercy. Amen.

Who Are We Following, the Good Shepherd or the Hired Men?

The question from the gospel that I would like us to think about this morning is, “Who are we following, the Good Shepherd or the hired men?” We know who the Good Shepherd is, Jesus, but who are the hired men? Who or what is it that we choose to follow but then deserts us when we need them the most?
How often do we stop and realize that Jesus is there for us; has always been, is always there for us. How often do we thank him for the sacrifice or sacrifices he made and makes for us? It’s not often I suspect.
I hadn’t thought about this before, about who the hired men might be that is. Jesus was referring to the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who weren’t caring for the people as God had directed them to in the laws given to them when they entered the Promised Land. But who are the hired men today? I think it is those people or those things which take our focus away from God and the work He has for each of us to do.
Just look at how easy it’s been just this week to take our minds off worrying about the economy to worrying about swine flu. And next week what will take its place?
Friends, we, and I include myself here, spend too much of our precious time that God has granted us worrying about things of the world, things that when our time here is done we can’t take with us and most likely our friends and families will not see as important as we do. We worry about our investments, our money that we have put in different pots hoping that it’s enough to provide for our needs until it’s time for us to go home. We worry about our houses, our cars, our yards, our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters. We worry about our climate, our environment, our nation, and the world. We spend our time worrying about wars that spring up all over the world. We spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about things that, in the long run, really don’t matter at all. Now I know some of you will disagree with me and that’s all right.
The point I’m wanting to make this morning is to remind all of us that Jesus has told us he is the Good Shepherd who cares for us. He intercedes for us before the Father. Behind the Father we are next in importance to him. He even said that he is more concerned for us than he is for himself. So why do we worry? He’s got it all taken care of.
This is the Good News. The Father knows Jesus, Jesus knows the Father, and because they have this intimate connection Jesus willing sacrificed himself for us, those other sheep that weren’t of the original flock.
John reminds us of this fact in his letter we heard read this morning. It’s because of Jesus’ sacrificial love that we are able to experience and understand love, true love. And this is how we are to live our lives, not worrying about the things of this world or its hired men, but living lives that give of themselves to our fellow believers, not just out for ourselves, as The Message translates John’s letter.
Remember Jesus, the Good Shepherd, made the ultimate sacrifice for us and John reminds us that if we turn our backs on or give our brothers and sisters the cold shoulder when they are in need then God’s love isn’t there. We made it disappear.
Jesus was talking in John’s gospel to his disciples who were Jews, God’s chosen people. He told them, though at the time they didn’t understand what he was saying, that he others who weren’t part of the chosen ones that were his also. Friends, sometimes I think we think we are God’s chosen ones instead of the others Jesus spoke of here. In fact I think we Americans believe we’re God’s chosen ones. I wonder where we can find that in the Bible, the USA is the home of God’s chosen ones.
Because our ancestors chose to take the risk and travel to this country we have been supremely blest by living in the wealthiest country in the world. But it could also be a curse. This country could be the hired man we follow instead of the Good Shepherd. Think about it.
Mark 8, beginning with verse 35, says in The Message, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am…Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?” This is losing your life so you can have true life in Jesus. This is what we mean when we talk about serving others without thinking about what we’ll get in return.
Who are we following, the Good Shepherd or the hired man? What is God doing or saying to your heart today?
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Why Do You Wonder (Doubt) At This? Look!

Jesus, when he appeared to the disciples in the locked upper room, gave them “peace.” After he had eaten some fish from the charcoal grill he opened their hearts and showed them how the read the Bible in such a way that they understood how the Hebrew Bible supported the coming of the Messiah. After all they were the first to see and hear him. They were witnesses to the fact that he was a living, breathing, fish eating person with a real body that could be touched and seen. They looked at his hands and his feet and knew that it really was Jesus.
So what, you say! This gospel account was written so long ago, how can we know that it’s really true? Luke wrote it almost 2,000 years ago. How can we trust that what we’ve heard and read in the Bible is the truth? What proof do we have today that Jesus rose from the tomb and is alive and lives in people’s hearts? Who will be a reliable witness to us? Who will provide us with irrefutable evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God? Who or what will open our hearts to the understanding of the Word of God. Who will show us how to read the Bible in such a way that we believe?
Now that we’ve laid it all out on the table that we are nothing but skeptics with maybe just a little bit of cynicism thrown in for good measure where do we go from here? How do we help our unbelief or maybe a better way to put it would be how do we strengthen our faith in what we read in the Word of God? How can our hearts be opened? How can we improve our understanding of God’s Word for us today?
Friends, don’t you think it all boils down to God’s grace? Through God’s good grace we have been adopted into His family as children of God. Through God’s graciousness Jesus died for us and all of our sins have been forgiven. Jesus died for us and our sins have been forgiven. It needed to be repeated because it’s important for us to hear.
Through God’s grace His Word has survived and is read and studied more than any other book ever written. And because we still hope for a better world we come to hear the Word read and proclaimed every Lord’s Day. Through God’s grace when we study God’s Word daily we are given understanding through the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts to God’s goodness. It’s because of this that we are able to be witnesses for Jesus. The more we read, study, and reflect on the Word of God the more capable we become in sharing the meaning of God’s word for us today with our family, friends, and neighbors.
This week there was a letter to the editor in the Walnut Bureau that said in the very last paragraph something that may very well be true. There are more people who don’t know the Word than do. This letter was addressed to the pastors of the churches in Walnut which is where the ultimate responsibility lies. Pastors shouldn’t carry the full burden of this illiteracy by themselves though. I believe we are all responsible. God gave all of us eyes to read, brains with which to reason and question, and tongues to discuss. So let’s ask ourselves, when was the last time we sat down and read the Word? When was the last time we participated in a study group? When was the last time we asked God to help us understand what we just read?
Pastors can teach that’s true. But if there’s no one there to listen how will anyone’s mind be opened to better understand the Word of God?
The Eleven and those gathered around them were the first to see. They were the one who were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. They saw and they believed. It all began in Jerusalem and then was spread throughout the world.
Because of their witness others have believed and gone on to give their testimony to others. They have devoted their lives to serving God’s adopted children by sharing what they have unselfishly with the world.
In the Word we read that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Therefore we are commissioned by Jesus, Matt 28:19-20, to go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations. In the Word, Matthew 22:38-39, we read that the sum of all the commandments is this, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”…And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
In the Book of Order for the PCUSA “The Great Ends of the Church” states that, “The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.”
By these three statements we are called to live as children of God. We are convicted by these statements that come to us from those who have gone on before us.
Why do we wonder; why do we doubt. All we have to do is look! Look in the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to increase our understanding. Just sit back and let the mysterious Being of our Father and His Son, Jesus wash over us. Let it refresh our souls so that we can be witnesses to the wondrous nature of our God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage

Last Wednesday I packed my bags and headed over to Camp Calvin Crest just south of Fremont, Nebraska to serve as a team member on the Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage #5.

I was a guest at GPPP#2 and sat at the table of Rebecca and this time I was honored to be asked to serve as a table facilitator at, you guessed it, the table of Rebecca. At this table I was the only one of my gender.

Believe me when I say that I was a little uncertain about serving in this position. The reason is that the table group has to create posters and work up a skit that describes what they have heard or felt from the talks they have heard presented. I'm just not a very creative person but the rector, Josh Widman, felt very strongly that I was the person God wanted at this table. So who am I to argue with God. If this is where he wanted me then how could I possibly refuse.

Anyway, let me tell you I was supremely blessed to be at this table with these wonderful ladies. They just stepped right up and just amazed me with their ideas and creativity. And what insightful conversations we had after listening to the talks and meditations. By the way the talks were inspiring. Every time I listen I learn something new, just like when I read something from scripture that I've read many times before. I believe it is the work of the Holy Spirit. What do you think?

Folks, every Pilgrimage that I have attended just keeps getting better and better. I can't wait to see what God has planned for October. Joyce Serenil who worships at the Wheeler Presbyterian Church in South "O" is the rector. Folks she would love to have you praying for her as she begins to organize the next event.

And by the way if you haven't ever been to Camp Calvin Crest and enjoyed the wonderful food their chefs put out you have really missed some excellent food. We really have to be careful because it's easy to overdo it. But there are some really good trails to walk so that you can burn off some of those calories.

The day began with the ringing of a bell at 6:15 a.m. waking people so that they could be at the 7 a.m. worship and communion service led by either Darin, Al, or Sally. The worship space was created by Linda and Bruce as they were guided by the Holy Spirit. It was awesome.

When Darin gets up to talk about remembering our baptism you should be warned, you might get wet. Really, you will probably get wet, at the very least you will leave with water spots on your glasses. Just ask the people who worship at Faithful Shepherd.

Friends, it was the most amazing week and I can't wait to see where God wants me to work now. If you haven't attended a Presbyterian Pilgrimage, Walk to Emmaus, Via de Christo, or Cursillo, then I invite you to fill out a registration and send it in. Talk to me, email me, or give me a call. It is the best investment you could ever make in your spiritual life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God loves you and so do I,
David

What Would You Think?

When God came into the world and He really started something. His kingdom came down and the world has never been the same since.
Over 2,000 years ago Jesus was arrested in the Gethsemane, tried before the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate, ridiculed and flogged, nailed to a cross where he died, was buried in a tomb that was intended for someone else, and then when the women or Mary Magdalene, depending on which gospel you read, went there to anoint his body they found the large stone rolled away and the tomb was empty. They were certain that someone, grave robbers probably, had stolen his body and taken it somewhere else.
The first thought that any on them had when they found the tomb empty wasn’t that he had risen from the dead as he said that he would. No, they immediately thought that some unscrupulous scoundrels had over powered the guards or paid them off and then stolen the body from the tomb.
What would you think? If you had been one of Jesus’ disciples and had been there when he told all of them that he would be killed but would rise again in three days would you believe that he had risen from the tomb? If you had been there with the disciples when he told Lazarus to come out of the tomb would you have believed that Jesus would be alive? What would you think?
What would you think if you’d been with the other disciples when Mary came back and told everyone that she’d found the stone rolled away and the tomb completely empty, not one sign of Jesus’ body anywhere, other than the strips of linen cloths Joseph and Nicodemus had used to wrap his body with the spices? What would you think? Would you believe that God could actually raise him from the dead?
Friends, that’s really not the point today is it? The point is what do you think today? What does you faith believe? Do you believe that Jesus defeated death and rose from the tomb, and if you do, why? What evidence do you have that He did rise from the tomb? How do you convince someone that you believe in a risen Savior of the world?
Peter told Cornelius and his family and friends that he was a witness to everything Jesus had done prior to his crucifixion. He said that he and the others were chosen by God to be witnesses to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. They ate and drank with him. We know Thomas was skeptical until he saw for himself the nail holes in his hands and the place in his side where the spear had pierced him. Even Thomas believed then. But we haven’t seen the nail holes or anything.
No one here has actually seen the risen Savior. How do you believe? What do you believe? When someone questions you how do you answer? What do you say when someone questions you about going to church to worship a God who sent his Son to be crucified and suffer for the sins of the whole world? How do you explain that it was because God loved his creation so much that he sent his Son to die for us and suffer beyond anything we can imagine so that we could be assured that we could live for eternity in glory?
In all four gospels Jesus first appeared to women and asked them to tell the others where to go to see Him. They were responsible for getting the message out that Jesus was risen. What a huge responsibility. And did they believe them? No, just like most men they had to go check it out for themselves. These women couldn’t possibly have been seeing things as they really were. They must have missed something. After all they were distraught over Jesus’ death. But friends, the facts, as they are recorded in the gospels written by a man’s hand, was that the women were the first to spread the word about the risen Lord.
And they didn’t do any better than you or I could at convincing them that he really was alive. That is until they saw Him with their own eyes.
So back to my original question, “What do you think?” Instead of coming to me for answers today I would ask you to go to one of our confirmation students and ask them that question. They may not have the answer either but they have been thinking about that same thing for quite a few weeks now.
Every one of them has put some words down about what they do believe and it might be insightful to hear them tell why they believe Jesus is alive.
Friends, I serve a risen Savior. I believe he is in the world today. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Remembering

Many of us were here in this sanctuary this afternoon as we celebrated the life of one of the long time members of this congregation. We gathered here and we remembered Isabelle’s life and how her life touched and interacted with ours.

This evening we are gathered again in this place and I would ask you each to remember the One who sat at the table with his disciples and celebrated his last Passover meal. Remember how he became a servant to them as he dropped his robe and picked up the basin of water and towels and began to wash the dust of the streets from their feet. Remember how he picked up the loaf of bread and the cup of wine and after blessing them offered them to his friends.
Every time they would eat bread and drink wine they would remember that last meal with the Rabbi. It would be like he was there with them again. They would hear his words, “Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you will remember your Lord, until he comes again.”
God instructed Moses what the people needed to do to protect themselves from the Angel of Death that was going to pass over the land of Egypt. That day was to be a day to be remembered, a festival to God to be remembered down through the generations.
A day to be remembered, that’s what we are doing here this evening, we are remembering what God did for the world in His suffering and sacrifice on the cross for us. We remember and we share our memories with our families, our friends, and those other folks God places on the path we walk through this life.

We remember other meals we have shared here. We remember other friends we have broken bread with here, some who are now gathered with the all the saints in heaven. We remember how two disciples on the road to Emmaus weren’t allowed to recognize Jesus until he took the bread and blessed it and gave it too them. Then their eyes were opened and then they recognized him, then they remembered. They remembered how their hearts burned as he taught them from the scriptures.
As we are served we meet the risen Christ “who becomes the very nourishment and food of our souls.” We remember Jesus sitting at the table and we feel his presence again each time we partake of this feast which he has prepared.
Tonight is a time of remembering Jesus the Christ. It’s a time to celebrate the crucified Jesus who is beside us in all the cross-shaped places. Not only that but we celebrate Christ’s triumph over death, his resurrection and the promise it brings us of eternal life in glory, heaven.
We remember and we celebrate.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Invitation to the Journey
My friends, God has called all of us here to a particular work, a particular calling. You may have felt his call; you may be feeling his call tonight. You may be wondering what it is that he is asking you to do. You may be even questioning what is this thing he is calling you to do. But friends you and I have definitely been called and we are on a journey. For some of us it may end tonight or we may be on our journey for many more years. But no matter Christ’s Spirit has called each of us; that’s why we’re all here. And even if we are still resisting his call we can’t escape it. God is nothing if not persistent and patient. He knows what he is doing. Friends join me on this journey and remember your dying and rising again to Christ symbolized in your baptism.
Reflect and meditate on how God has spoken to you this evening. Where is he calling you to go? What is he calling you to do? Is he asking you to let him into your heart? Do you know who this man Jesus is who loves us all so much he suffered and died for our sins and rose from the grave with the promise of eternal life? Do you know him?
The good news is our sins have been forgiven and we have received the promise of eternal life.
Answer the call and begin your journey.