Friends, tell me, what’s important to God? Come on. I know someone here has an opinion about what’s important to God. In fact I’d wager that all of us have our very own thoughts about this. And we’re probably pretty certain that what we believe is the way it is or at least the way it should be. Am I right?
I think it would be very helpful for us to know what’s important to God. Because whatever’s important to God should be what’s important to us, right? So where do you go to find out what that is?
Maybe you are one of those who are blessed to hear God speak to you. Now I’m referring to those who actually hear God’s voice in their ear or maybe in their mind. Whatever it is they hear God speaking and they know first hand what’s important to Him. But what about those who haven’t been blessed with this gift? How do they find out what’s important to God?
I’ll tell you how I find out what’s important to God. The first place I go, the place I believe has the most authority, is the Bible. Reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating God’s Word for us is how I believe we can discover what’s important to God.
The Word read this morning is God speaking to us. He shared with us this morning what was important to Him. What did you hear Him saying to you? I think it’s not the same for everyone. Why do I think that?
Well, it’s this way. Men, you know how your wives are always telling you something, something they would like you to do or some bit of information they want you to retain in your memory banks. You know how it is that later they ask you something about what they said or they remind us to not forget to do this chore and darned if we didn’t hear and interpret what they told us differently from what their original intention was. You see, in case you haven’t heard this before, men and women are different, our minds take in information and process it in different ways and therefore what is said and heard is not always the same. And to make it even more difficult, two or three men could have heard the same directive and each heard something different.
I believe it’s the same way when we hear God’s word read. Men and women hear it differently. God speaks to us differently. And I guess he would understand since he created us, each of us, just the way we are. Since we’re all different and in different stages or places in our walk with the Lord then what’s important to God for us may be different for each of us.
But what does his word speak to us today? What’s he saying to us that’s important to Him as our Creator? Which reading should we start with?
Let’s begin with James’ epistle. What’s important to God here? James, I believe wants us to know that we can’t just listen to what God speaks to us and then not act on what we hear. We shouldn’t just let God’s message for us go in one ear and out the other. We are mandated to Act on the word we hear from God. But what’s important to God from the epistle of James?
What’s important is “reaching out to the homeless and the loveless in their plights, and guarding against corruption from this godless world.” Friends, this is what’s important to God. Is it important to you?
We must ask ourselves, “Are we living out God’s word today?” If we aren’t, why aren’t we? Is what’s important to us what’s important to God, that’s the question?
We all know that we should try to live as Jesus lived. Jesus is the model we should try to emulate. So what’s important to God in the gospel lesson from Mark?
Jesus was saying, “It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”
I hear Jesus telling us we need to look at our church rules, the written and the unwritten. What’s important to God? Traditions that enhance our worship and that enable worshippers to be closer to God are not bad but traditionalisms that keep people from entering the church to worship and pray to God for forgiveness because they aren’t clean or like us is wrong.
It’s not what we look like or how we dress or what kind of work we do that’s important to God. It’s the condition of our heart that’s important to Him. It’s not what’s on the outside but what comes from our hearts.
Friends, what’s important to God? I go back to how Jesus answered the question about what the greatest commandment was. Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. Care what God wants and desires and care for our neighbors as we would like to be cared for. Take care of the homeless and the loveless that’s what’s important to God.
Friends, it doesn’t get any clearer than that. Let those with ears to hear, listen. Thanks be to God for his grace and love. Friends, God loves you and so do I. Amen.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Make a Meal of Jesus
The gospel lesson from John begins where we left off last Sunday with Jesus explaining to his disciples that only by eating his flesh and drinking his blood are they able to enter into him and him into them. In the same way that the God, the Father, gives him life and he lives because of the Father so anyone who makes a meal of Jesus lives because of him, Bread from heaven…Whoever eats this Bread will live always.
Jesus invited his disciples to make a meal of him and many of those who were following him had problems with his words. They understood him to mean literally eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This repulsed them because the Law given to the Moses by God strictly prohibited drinking blood from any animal and eating human flesh just wasn’t right. So you can understand how people might have been put off by Jesus’ words.
When you hear these words what comes into your mind? As you hear these words of Jesus again what words or phrases speak to you? For me it was, “…the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.” How can we begin to “make a meal of Jesus?”
If we take what Jesus is saying literally it is “tough teaching, too tough to swallow.” I don’t think he meant for us to take his words literally especially after hearing his explanation in verses 61-65, “The Spirit can make life…Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making.”
So we make a meal of Jesus spiritually? How do we do that? Friends, in the words of Jesus, “…no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.” It’s God’s grace that allows us to make a meal of Jesus.
And it’s only by hearing God’s word read again and again and again that we are able to be fed with the Bread of heaven. It’s only when we hear, meditate, pray, and contemplate the Word that we are truly fed by the body of Christ.
I’m in the process of finishing a book that I started a year ago and just this week picked up again. I realized that I had never finished it. It’s called “Eat This Book” by Eugene Petersen. What I read this week was about how we can make a meal of the Word of God.
I would imagine that everybody here this morning has a Bible in their homes. Maybe you have more than one. And I suppose that you pick it up and read it every day. Now, let me ask you, do you read it silently or do you read it out loud so you can hear the words echoing off the walls, so you can hear the different inflections and different nuances?
The Israelites only heard the word God spoken. Even in Jesus’ day most of those who went to the meeting place to worship didn’t read a Bible or from the scroll, they heard the Word read. And it was through the reading and hearing the Word that it came alive and became part of them. The Word went into them and they were fed by God.
It’s through the hearing of the Word that we are fed. It’s, as Jesus said, a Spirit-filled Spirit-led experience.
So to make a meal of Jesus we have to hear with our ears the Word read. And it’s probably not enough to hear it just once but we need to hear it multiple times in order for the particular Message God has for us to sink in and nourish our souls.
What do you think? When you hear the Word read do you hear the voices of those saints who have gone on before us, the ones who are gathered in heaven watching us and cheering us on as we make a meal of the Word, Jesus the Christ?
Before we can fight the battle against evil that Paul talks about in his letter to the Ephesians we have to be strengthened by eating the Bread of heaven. We have to take in the Word and make it a part of us. And it’s only through God’s grace through faith that we are able to do that.
I asked you last Sunday what you would ask God for if you could have anything. I pray that you ask him to fill your body and soul with his Word. Because if you are filled with Jesus then you have everything you could ever want, love, peace, forgiveness, quietness, everything.
Friends, make a meal of Jesus and be fed by his Spirit. God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Jesus invited his disciples to make a meal of him and many of those who were following him had problems with his words. They understood him to mean literally eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This repulsed them because the Law given to the Moses by God strictly prohibited drinking blood from any animal and eating human flesh just wasn’t right. So you can understand how people might have been put off by Jesus’ words.
When you hear these words what comes into your mind? As you hear these words of Jesus again what words or phrases speak to you? For me it was, “…the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.” How can we begin to “make a meal of Jesus?”
If we take what Jesus is saying literally it is “tough teaching, too tough to swallow.” I don’t think he meant for us to take his words literally especially after hearing his explanation in verses 61-65, “The Spirit can make life…Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making.”
So we make a meal of Jesus spiritually? How do we do that? Friends, in the words of Jesus, “…no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.” It’s God’s grace that allows us to make a meal of Jesus.
And it’s only by hearing God’s word read again and again and again that we are able to be fed with the Bread of heaven. It’s only when we hear, meditate, pray, and contemplate the Word that we are truly fed by the body of Christ.
I’m in the process of finishing a book that I started a year ago and just this week picked up again. I realized that I had never finished it. It’s called “Eat This Book” by Eugene Petersen. What I read this week was about how we can make a meal of the Word of God.
I would imagine that everybody here this morning has a Bible in their homes. Maybe you have more than one. And I suppose that you pick it up and read it every day. Now, let me ask you, do you read it silently or do you read it out loud so you can hear the words echoing off the walls, so you can hear the different inflections and different nuances?
The Israelites only heard the word God spoken. Even in Jesus’ day most of those who went to the meeting place to worship didn’t read a Bible or from the scroll, they heard the Word read. And it was through the reading and hearing the Word that it came alive and became part of them. The Word went into them and they were fed by God.
It’s through the hearing of the Word that we are fed. It’s, as Jesus said, a Spirit-filled Spirit-led experience.
So to make a meal of Jesus we have to hear with our ears the Word read. And it’s probably not enough to hear it just once but we need to hear it multiple times in order for the particular Message God has for us to sink in and nourish our souls.
What do you think? When you hear the Word read do you hear the voices of those saints who have gone on before us, the ones who are gathered in heaven watching us and cheering us on as we make a meal of the Word, Jesus the Christ?
Before we can fight the battle against evil that Paul talks about in his letter to the Ephesians we have to be strengthened by eating the Bread of heaven. We have to take in the Word and make it a part of us. And it’s only through God’s grace through faith that we are able to do that.
I asked you last Sunday what you would ask God for if you could have anything. I pray that you ask him to fill your body and soul with his Word. Because if you are filled with Jesus then you have everything you could ever want, love, peace, forgiveness, quietness, everything.
Friends, make a meal of Jesus and be fed by his Spirit. God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
What Would You Ask God For?
If you had been in Solomon’s place what do you think you would have asked God for? If you had been the his age, a teenager actually, do you think you would have asked God for “wisdom?” I don’t think it would have entered my mind. But then I’ve never thought of myself as Solomon.
Let’s put ourselves in Solomon’s place and think for a moment about what we would ask God for if he spoke to us in a vision like he did to Solomon. Some of us have lived a few decades and so have more life experiences to draw from than others gathered here today so those who are more senior may have an advantage of our less experienced in life members.
Solomon asked God for a God-listening heart so he could lead God’s people well, discerning the difference between good and evil (1 Kings 3:9). Did Solomon know what to ask God for because he had lived in David’s presence so long that God was a personal friend he talked with? I don’t know but he did have the advantage of growing up in the royal household and had the advantage of being instructed by the best scholars of his time. At any rate he was very astute in answering God. I’m afraid I might stutter and stammer quite a bit if asked the same question.
Friends, God is speaking to you today in the Word. What have you heard him say to you and how will you respond? Solomon asked God to bless him with a heart that was tuned to God, Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus and told them make the most of every chance God gave them and to sing songs to Christ from their hearts, sing praises for everything. In the gospel of John Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life and if we include him in our normal diet we will live forever. And not to leave the psalmist out, he praises God for everything with everything he has. Everything from God is a gift, a blessing, never out of date, never poor quality, lasting forever. God has paid the ransom for all of us and this good life begins in our reverence of God, the fear of the Lord.
You may not have ever asked God for anything specific or you may have asked him for many things but they weren’t like what Solomon asked for. But today, God is offering you whatever you desire, what will you ask him for? What’s the most important thing for you to receive from God?
Every one of us is different and we’re all at different points in our lives and in our walk with the Lord so of course we may need different things from God. But what is your heart yearning for today that you know only God can give you?
Friend, take the time right now and make your thoughts known to God. I know he is listening and he wants to hear you put into words your deepest desires. Let him know what you need.
Jesus wants us to be filled with him inside and out. He wants us to take our nourishment from him by being in his Word. You may not have considered eating the Word but that’s what Jesus is asking us to do. Take the Bread of Life, Jesus, into our very souls and be filled and nourished by him. And then, friends, whatever you need for the work God has for you will be given to you.
Quite a few people in the last weeks have gone away from home on trips for work or vacation and what’s the first thing they need to do when the get home? No, it’s not the laundry! They need to replenish their pantries. Most of them don’t have any bread or milk or eggs. Friends, aren’t these the basic necessities for us to have in our kitchens? You can’t make a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich without bread. Nutritionists tell us that bread should make up a large percentage of our diets. The vitamins and minerals and the fiber are things our bodies need. And we’re so used to having these things in our kitchens that we never think about them as the staff of our lives.
Do we think of God and Jesus in the same way? Have we become so complacent to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that we don’t understand the importance of having daily communion with them? Have we quit asking God for the things we need?
What do you want from God today? What would you like Jesus to give you today? How is God’s Spirit talking to your heart today?
Right now, right where you’re at, ask God for what your heart is aching for. Don’t wait until you get home. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. Do it right now.
If you haven’t asked the Bread of Life to take up residence in your heart now is the time to do that. If you have let your relationship with God slip today is the day to let him know you need him. Just open the door of your heart.
What do you need today, bread, peace, forgiveness? Whatever it is, ask. God is waiting to hear from you today.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let’s put ourselves in Solomon’s place and think for a moment about what we would ask God for if he spoke to us in a vision like he did to Solomon. Some of us have lived a few decades and so have more life experiences to draw from than others gathered here today so those who are more senior may have an advantage of our less experienced in life members.
Solomon asked God for a God-listening heart so he could lead God’s people well, discerning the difference between good and evil (1 Kings 3:9). Did Solomon know what to ask God for because he had lived in David’s presence so long that God was a personal friend he talked with? I don’t know but he did have the advantage of growing up in the royal household and had the advantage of being instructed by the best scholars of his time. At any rate he was very astute in answering God. I’m afraid I might stutter and stammer quite a bit if asked the same question.
Friends, God is speaking to you today in the Word. What have you heard him say to you and how will you respond? Solomon asked God to bless him with a heart that was tuned to God, Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus and told them make the most of every chance God gave them and to sing songs to Christ from their hearts, sing praises for everything. In the gospel of John Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life and if we include him in our normal diet we will live forever. And not to leave the psalmist out, he praises God for everything with everything he has. Everything from God is a gift, a blessing, never out of date, never poor quality, lasting forever. God has paid the ransom for all of us and this good life begins in our reverence of God, the fear of the Lord.
You may not have ever asked God for anything specific or you may have asked him for many things but they weren’t like what Solomon asked for. But today, God is offering you whatever you desire, what will you ask him for? What’s the most important thing for you to receive from God?
Every one of us is different and we’re all at different points in our lives and in our walk with the Lord so of course we may need different things from God. But what is your heart yearning for today that you know only God can give you?
Friend, take the time right now and make your thoughts known to God. I know he is listening and he wants to hear you put into words your deepest desires. Let him know what you need.
Jesus wants us to be filled with him inside and out. He wants us to take our nourishment from him by being in his Word. You may not have considered eating the Word but that’s what Jesus is asking us to do. Take the Bread of Life, Jesus, into our very souls and be filled and nourished by him. And then, friends, whatever you need for the work God has for you will be given to you.
Quite a few people in the last weeks have gone away from home on trips for work or vacation and what’s the first thing they need to do when the get home? No, it’s not the laundry! They need to replenish their pantries. Most of them don’t have any bread or milk or eggs. Friends, aren’t these the basic necessities for us to have in our kitchens? You can’t make a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich without bread. Nutritionists tell us that bread should make up a large percentage of our diets. The vitamins and minerals and the fiber are things our bodies need. And we’re so used to having these things in our kitchens that we never think about them as the staff of our lives.
Do we think of God and Jesus in the same way? Have we become so complacent to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that we don’t understand the importance of having daily communion with them? Have we quit asking God for the things we need?
What do you want from God today? What would you like Jesus to give you today? How is God’s Spirit talking to your heart today?
Right now, right where you’re at, ask God for what your heart is aching for. Don’t wait until you get home. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. Do it right now.
If you haven’t asked the Bread of Life to take up residence in your heart now is the time to do that. If you have let your relationship with God slip today is the day to let him know you need him. Just open the door of your heart.
What do you need today, bread, peace, forgiveness? Whatever it is, ask. God is waiting to hear from you today.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Looking for Free Food
It seems that today there are so many people who are looking for things that are free, free food, free housing, something for little or nothing. But isn’t that just human nature you ask? It would seem so.
The people of Galilee came looking for Jesus because he had fed them the day before with just 5 barley loaves and two fish. And so they came looking for him to feed them with free food again. But Jesus said enough is enough.
Jesus told them to quit wasting their time looking and hoping for things that wouldn’t really satisfy them. And they wanted to know what they needed to do. Not so different from all of us today. Isn’t everyone looking for something to satisfy the cravings of their souls? Aren’t we all looking for something to make our lives more full and meaningful?
The problem is that we are all looking in all the wrong places as the country song puts it. So where do we go you ask?
What did Jesus say? He said, “Throw your lot in with God. Work for food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.”
But what do we do? What is required of us? Remember when the Pharisees asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. Remember the answer he gave. Listen, Israel. The Lord your God is one: so love God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. And love others as well as you love yourself.
When we read and study the Bible we find the word “love” used quite often. And that, I believe, is what it’s all about. Love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We can’t love our neighbors without loving God and we can’t love God without loving our neighbors.
Friends, we need the Bread of Heaven for nourishment so we can love. We need this bread that Jesus provides us so that we can be filled with compassion for our neighbors who are suffering because of the poor choices they’ve made in the lives. Even so they deserve our love. We are commanded to love them, unconditionally.
And friends, the Bread of Heaven is free. It’s a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it. There is no price put on this bread. It’s been paid for by Jesus.
So accept this free food provided by God for our nourishment and we will never again be hungry or thirsty. Trust in the Lord and you will be filled with the bread that never runs out.
Ask God to come into to your heart today. Believe in his Son, Jesus the Christ. And through the power of the Holy Spirit you will be convicted of your sin and God will forgive you and welcome you as one of his children. And friends, your life will be fuller than you’ve ever imagined.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
The people of Galilee came looking for Jesus because he had fed them the day before with just 5 barley loaves and two fish. And so they came looking for him to feed them with free food again. But Jesus said enough is enough.
Jesus told them to quit wasting their time looking and hoping for things that wouldn’t really satisfy them. And they wanted to know what they needed to do. Not so different from all of us today. Isn’t everyone looking for something to satisfy the cravings of their souls? Aren’t we all looking for something to make our lives more full and meaningful?
The problem is that we are all looking in all the wrong places as the country song puts it. So where do we go you ask?
What did Jesus say? He said, “Throw your lot in with God. Work for food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.”
But what do we do? What is required of us? Remember when the Pharisees asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. Remember the answer he gave. Listen, Israel. The Lord your God is one: so love God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. And love others as well as you love yourself.
When we read and study the Bible we find the word “love” used quite often. And that, I believe, is what it’s all about. Love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We can’t love our neighbors without loving God and we can’t love God without loving our neighbors.
Friends, we need the Bread of Heaven for nourishment so we can love. We need this bread that Jesus provides us so that we can be filled with compassion for our neighbors who are suffering because of the poor choices they’ve made in the lives. Even so they deserve our love. We are commanded to love them, unconditionally.
And friends, the Bread of Heaven is free. It’s a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it. There is no price put on this bread. It’s been paid for by Jesus.
So accept this free food provided by God for our nourishment and we will never again be hungry or thirsty. Trust in the Lord and you will be filled with the bread that never runs out.
Ask God to come into to your heart today. Believe in his Son, Jesus the Christ. And through the power of the Holy Spirit you will be convicted of your sin and God will forgive you and welcome you as one of his children. And friends, your life will be fuller than you’ve ever imagined.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Five Loaves and Two Fish
Jesus had gone to the land by the Sea of Galilee. The people followed him there because they were intrigued by the healing power in his touch and the common sense in his teaching.
On this day there were more than 5,000 gathered to listen and to watch. They apparently didn’t pay much attention to the time or to the growling in their bellies. Jesus knew they needed to be fed with more than his words and his touch so he asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed them.
Can you get a picture of this in your head, 5,000 people, no money, and your Master wants you to tell him where to buy bread? Was he crazy or was he trying to make a point? He was the Teacher so you know he wanted us to learn from him.
In Mark’s gospel he says that Jesus said, “You feed them.” In John Andrew brings the food that a young boy had brought with him for lunch, five loaves of bread and two fish.
Do you think what Jesus did was a miracle, feeding more than 5,000 people with just one boy’s lunch? How did it happen? How did God make it enough to feed them all?
Do we really need to know the answer? I don’t think so. The point, and I need to be reminded of this often, is, God can do great and wondrous things with the smallest contributions from us.
What did Paul say in his letter to the Ephesians? “God can do anything …far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
Friends, it’s all God’s grace and our faith, and that’s a gift from God too. When we are called by God to do something like feed his children we are to be reminded of what God did through Jesus on that grassy knoll by the Sea of Galilee with five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus fed 5,000, actually about double that when you count the women and children, with one boy’s lunch. Just think what he can do with what you bring to his table. You might think that you don’t have anything God could use to feed his children but you do.
God made everyone of us for a particular purpose. He has granted all of us with a gift to be used to further his kingdom. We may be afraid to step out of the boat and take the first step but Jesus tells us, “Don’t be afraid.”
Jesus has asked us to feed them. Jesus asks us to feed each other. Jesus asks us to make disciples. We might think he’s crazy but remember he’s God and he can do anything.
What’s in your basket? What are the five loaves and two fish that you bring? Will you let God bless them and multiply them so that his children can be fed? I pray that you will trust enough in God to let him increase the gifts he has blessed you with.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
On this day there were more than 5,000 gathered to listen and to watch. They apparently didn’t pay much attention to the time or to the growling in their bellies. Jesus knew they needed to be fed with more than his words and his touch so he asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed them.
Can you get a picture of this in your head, 5,000 people, no money, and your Master wants you to tell him where to buy bread? Was he crazy or was he trying to make a point? He was the Teacher so you know he wanted us to learn from him.
In Mark’s gospel he says that Jesus said, “You feed them.” In John Andrew brings the food that a young boy had brought with him for lunch, five loaves of bread and two fish.
Do you think what Jesus did was a miracle, feeding more than 5,000 people with just one boy’s lunch? How did it happen? How did God make it enough to feed them all?
Do we really need to know the answer? I don’t think so. The point, and I need to be reminded of this often, is, God can do great and wondrous things with the smallest contributions from us.
What did Paul say in his letter to the Ephesians? “God can do anything …far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
Friends, it’s all God’s grace and our faith, and that’s a gift from God too. When we are called by God to do something like feed his children we are to be reminded of what God did through Jesus on that grassy knoll by the Sea of Galilee with five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus fed 5,000, actually about double that when you count the women and children, with one boy’s lunch. Just think what he can do with what you bring to his table. You might think that you don’t have anything God could use to feed his children but you do.
God made everyone of us for a particular purpose. He has granted all of us with a gift to be used to further his kingdom. We may be afraid to step out of the boat and take the first step but Jesus tells us, “Don’t be afraid.”
Jesus has asked us to feed them. Jesus asks us to feed each other. Jesus asks us to make disciples. We might think he’s crazy but remember he’s God and he can do anything.
What’s in your basket? What are the five loaves and two fish that you bring? Will you let God bless them and multiply them so that his children can be fed? I pray that you will trust enough in God to let him increase the gifts he has blessed you with.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Redemption, Forgiveness, and Grace
How many of you here today remember S & H Green stamps? Just for those who may be younger and never heard of Green stamps I’ll tell you what they were.
Every time we would buy things in grocery stores or gas stations we would get so many Green Stamps. When we got home we would lick them and put them in books. There was a catalog with different things that we could purchase by redeeming the books of stamps. We would take the books to the redemption center and tell them what we wanted and they would take the books, count them and make sure that all the pages were filled with stamps. Sometimes whatever we were buying wouldn’t need a full book and then they’d tear out just the pages needed. It’s kind of like the stamps that Subway issues when you buy their sandwiches.
It seemed as if everyone collected stamps. There were gold ones, green ones, and then there were coupons that came with cigarettes that could be saved and redeemed for items from catalogs. It gave us something to dream about and plan what we do with the thing we were saving stamps for.
Paul uses the word redemption in his letter to the Ephesians. Instead of stamps or coupons our lives are redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ. So what does it mean to have our lives redeemed?
In the times when the Old Testament was written the people of the Mediterranean area were divided into different social classes and whatever class you were born into was the class you were in for the rest of your life. That is unless you got yourself in debt and you lost the family property. Or you broke the law of the region and you were thrown into prison. Then your social status changed, dramatically. And you could only regain your place on the social ladder if someone would redeem you. In Israel this could only happen if one of the next of kin were able to perform the task. They in fact were obligated by Jewish law to assume the role of the redeemer. The next of kin almost had to be someone of great wealth in order for this to work. You couldn’t be restored to your original status without some money or something of great value being exchanged for whatever it was that had put you where you were.
In the Old Testament God usually isn’t portrayed as the sponsor of redemption but the one from whom beings were redeemed. In other words something of value had to be put up as a substitute to make compensation for the wrong that was done.
Just about all the way through the Old Testament the basic understanding of redemption is very close to the basic social meaning. Something of value had to be exchanged for redemption. If a person lost their social status then God would make it happen for them they would be restored to their former position on life’s ladder.
In the New Testament the work of redeeming lost souls is a joint effort with God and Jesus working together. Sometimes the redemption took place in a person’s lifetime and other times Jesus talked about redemption happening sometime in the future, in the end times.
Now we can understand having to pay a price for a wrong that’s been done but we have a very difficult time understanding and getting our head around forgiveness that’s freely bestowed on anyone. We like it when it happens to us but we find it hard to accept when someone else gets off the hook without suffering. That’s the human point of view.
God on the other hand doesn’t do things the way we would. He’s willing to forgive us for our sins; in fact he has forgiven us for our sins. He doesn’t say that we’ll get off without punishment but we are promised that our sins will be forgiven. And that’s good news for us, since most of us couldn’t come up with enough to compensate God for the things we’ve done wrong in this life.
Friends, that’s grace. That’s a free gift from God and even though we feel indebted to God for it there’s nothing we can do to pay him back for it.
He has forgiven us. The slate has been wiped clean. Our sin is gone from his mind. He doesn’t keep bringing it up to remind us how bad we’ve been. It’s gone forever from his book.
Now if we could just do a better job ourselves of forgiving each other for the things we do that hurt our family and friends. Jesus taught that in order for us to receive forgiveness we are obligated to forgive others. It’s not that easy to do.
It’s not an easy thing, this being a follower of Jesus, admitting our sin, accepting forgiveness, forgiving our brothers and sisters, being disciples, and sharing this love and forgiveness freely with everyone around us.
And sometimes it can be downright dangerous. There are people in this world who don’t want to hear about Jesus and they’ll hurt and maybe even kill you for talking about Jesus. Look what happened to John when he let it be known that what Herod was doing was wrong. Eventually it cost him his life. The same thing happened to Jesus. He stood up and held the religious of his day accountable for the wrongs they were doing to the children of God. It cost him his life to go against the political powers of 1st century Palestine.
It was all part of God’s plan to save the world but it wasn’t easy knowing the pain and anguish that was required.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus for us God lavishes on us the riches of his grace. I don’t think we can even begin to understand what that all means. We may never totally understand it until we feast at Christ’s table in glory.
God has redeemed us through the blood that Jesus poured out on the cross. We have been forgiven totally for our sins against God and each other. And it’s all grace. We have been restored to new life. Our lives have purpose.
That’s why we come here to worship. Since we have been redeemed we can then spend the rest of our lives praising God and giving him all the glory.
As we hear every time we witness a baptism, we are marked with the seal of the promise of the Holy Spirit. We are free to be all that God has planned for us to be.
We may think we’re already free but unless we give our lives totally to Jesus we haven’t even begun to experience the true joy of freedom in the Lord.
Friends believe the good news. You have been redeemed, forgiven, and given new life in Jesus Christ. Accept it, believe it, and share the good news with everyone you meet.
Brothers and sisters, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Every time we would buy things in grocery stores or gas stations we would get so many Green Stamps. When we got home we would lick them and put them in books. There was a catalog with different things that we could purchase by redeeming the books of stamps. We would take the books to the redemption center and tell them what we wanted and they would take the books, count them and make sure that all the pages were filled with stamps. Sometimes whatever we were buying wouldn’t need a full book and then they’d tear out just the pages needed. It’s kind of like the stamps that Subway issues when you buy their sandwiches.
It seemed as if everyone collected stamps. There were gold ones, green ones, and then there were coupons that came with cigarettes that could be saved and redeemed for items from catalogs. It gave us something to dream about and plan what we do with the thing we were saving stamps for.
Paul uses the word redemption in his letter to the Ephesians. Instead of stamps or coupons our lives are redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ. So what does it mean to have our lives redeemed?
In the times when the Old Testament was written the people of the Mediterranean area were divided into different social classes and whatever class you were born into was the class you were in for the rest of your life. That is unless you got yourself in debt and you lost the family property. Or you broke the law of the region and you were thrown into prison. Then your social status changed, dramatically. And you could only regain your place on the social ladder if someone would redeem you. In Israel this could only happen if one of the next of kin were able to perform the task. They in fact were obligated by Jewish law to assume the role of the redeemer. The next of kin almost had to be someone of great wealth in order for this to work. You couldn’t be restored to your original status without some money or something of great value being exchanged for whatever it was that had put you where you were.
In the Old Testament God usually isn’t portrayed as the sponsor of redemption but the one from whom beings were redeemed. In other words something of value had to be put up as a substitute to make compensation for the wrong that was done.
Just about all the way through the Old Testament the basic understanding of redemption is very close to the basic social meaning. Something of value had to be exchanged for redemption. If a person lost their social status then God would make it happen for them they would be restored to their former position on life’s ladder.
In the New Testament the work of redeeming lost souls is a joint effort with God and Jesus working together. Sometimes the redemption took place in a person’s lifetime and other times Jesus talked about redemption happening sometime in the future, in the end times.
Now we can understand having to pay a price for a wrong that’s been done but we have a very difficult time understanding and getting our head around forgiveness that’s freely bestowed on anyone. We like it when it happens to us but we find it hard to accept when someone else gets off the hook without suffering. That’s the human point of view.
God on the other hand doesn’t do things the way we would. He’s willing to forgive us for our sins; in fact he has forgiven us for our sins. He doesn’t say that we’ll get off without punishment but we are promised that our sins will be forgiven. And that’s good news for us, since most of us couldn’t come up with enough to compensate God for the things we’ve done wrong in this life.
Friends, that’s grace. That’s a free gift from God and even though we feel indebted to God for it there’s nothing we can do to pay him back for it.
He has forgiven us. The slate has been wiped clean. Our sin is gone from his mind. He doesn’t keep bringing it up to remind us how bad we’ve been. It’s gone forever from his book.
Now if we could just do a better job ourselves of forgiving each other for the things we do that hurt our family and friends. Jesus taught that in order for us to receive forgiveness we are obligated to forgive others. It’s not that easy to do.
It’s not an easy thing, this being a follower of Jesus, admitting our sin, accepting forgiveness, forgiving our brothers and sisters, being disciples, and sharing this love and forgiveness freely with everyone around us.
And sometimes it can be downright dangerous. There are people in this world who don’t want to hear about Jesus and they’ll hurt and maybe even kill you for talking about Jesus. Look what happened to John when he let it be known that what Herod was doing was wrong. Eventually it cost him his life. The same thing happened to Jesus. He stood up and held the religious of his day accountable for the wrongs they were doing to the children of God. It cost him his life to go against the political powers of 1st century Palestine.
It was all part of God’s plan to save the world but it wasn’t easy knowing the pain and anguish that was required.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus for us God lavishes on us the riches of his grace. I don’t think we can even begin to understand what that all means. We may never totally understand it until we feast at Christ’s table in glory.
God has redeemed us through the blood that Jesus poured out on the cross. We have been forgiven totally for our sins against God and each other. And it’s all grace. We have been restored to new life. Our lives have purpose.
That’s why we come here to worship. Since we have been redeemed we can then spend the rest of our lives praising God and giving him all the glory.
As we hear every time we witness a baptism, we are marked with the seal of the promise of the Holy Spirit. We are free to be all that God has planned for us to be.
We may think we’re already free but unless we give our lives totally to Jesus we haven’t even begun to experience the true joy of freedom in the Lord.
Friends believe the good news. You have been redeemed, forgiven, and given new life in Jesus Christ. Accept it, believe it, and share the good news with everyone you meet.
Brothers and sisters, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Called
If someone were to ask you what it’s like to be called by God to a particular mission or work how would you describe it? When God called you how did you respond? Do people who know you know that you’ve been called by God? How do they accept that? Did they know you when you were growing up and making the usual teenage mistakes? Do they remember those mistakes and have a hard time believing that you’ve grown up, both physically and mentally?
That’s kind of the problem Jesus encountered when he went home to Nazareth. He went to the meeting place to teach. More than likely he was invited because they knew he was a rabbi and they’d heard about the things he’d taught and the people he’d helped.
Mark tells us they were amazed at his teaching. They knew him when and they couldn’t believe that he’d become so wise. How’d that happen? Has anyone ever said the same thing about you?
They were amazed at his wisdom and his debating abilities but then just as quickly they turned. After all they’d seen him grow up and he wasn’t anything special then. He was just a carpenter’s son who repaired doors, roofs, wagons, anything made out of wood he fixed it or learned how to fix it. His home town “friends” couldn’t believe it was possible for him to be a learned rabbi with disciples.
And so Jesus wasn’t able to do much good there because his hometown just didn’t believe in him. Not that they needed to have faith to be healed but even if he had cured lepers, made lame people walk, and cast out demons would they have believed that he was God’s Son? Not likely so why expend the energy to do something that wouldn’t make any difference in their belief. There were others in Galilee who wanted to hear the Good News and were willing to have their faith made stronger.
Have you ever experienced anything like that? Have you ever been rejected by your old friends because they couldn’t believe that you could ever change from what you were when you were growing up? If you have, then you have some idea what that feels like and you can empathize with Jesus.
Mark doesn’t say that Jesus knocked the dust from his sandals in Nazareth but he does say that he left there and went to other villages where he taught.
So he wasn’t received well in his hometown. He just moved on. There was no need to waste anymore time there. There were others who needed to hear the Message of the Way.
Jesus knew at some point his work here would end. Spreading the Good News would then rest solely on the shoulders of his disciples. Before he left them he had to be sure that they understood what it was they were being called to do.
So Jesus sent them out in pairs to preach. If someone called and said you will be leaving today with a friend to go to, oh let’s say Alabama, you would immediately begin thinking about what clothes and shoes you should pack and how much money you would need so you could buy food and so forth. But Jesus didn’t give his disciples time to do any of that. They were to go with just what they had right then, nothing extra. They didn’t have any vouchers that would allow them to stay in any Super 8’s or Comfort Inns or even a Motel 6. No, they were going to have to depend on the hospitality of strangers they would meet in the towns they traveled to. What about that? That required quite a leap of faith.
Now before you jump to the conclusion that you could never do that remember that they had been with Jesus for a while. They had been sitting at the feet of the Rabbi listening and learning. He had been preparing them for this work. And he sent them out in pairs so that they could encourage each other, help each other, and protect each other. He gave them authority, power over evil opposition, unclean spirits.
He didn’t promise them that they would be accepted everywhere they went. But he told them what to do if they weren’t. Just shrug your shoulders, accept that they weren’t interested in hearing the Message and go on their way to the next village.
But still, we can see that this required a huge amount of faith, not only in God’s providence but in the hospitality of their fellowmen. I’m trying to imagine what that would be like for me if I used this philosophy when I take off on RAGBRAI. Just ride into town and stop at a house and ask if I can camp in their yard. And, “Oh by the way would you be able to put me up for supper? And do you suppose I could use your shower?”
It sounds funny doesn’t it? But I’m not going on RAGBRAI to spread the Good News. I guess I don’t really know what God has planned for me. Who knows who I might meet.
The whole point of this gospel lesson is about faith, trusting in God’s providence. It forces us to think about our own faith, the strength of it or the lack of it whichever the case may be.
The Twelve trusted that Jesus knew what he was doing and so they went out. They may have had some doubts when they first stepped out but that changed as they began to teach and heal and cast out evil. Their faith grew and they came back filled with excitement over what they were able to accomplish.
So what about you? You knew I was going to come to this point sooner or later, didn’t you? What has God called you to do? What is he calling you to do? What is he asking you to leave behind or to give up before you begin?
It’s at this point, when the question is directed at us, that we begin to look at our lives and do an assessment. We come face to face with our priorities and they may not match what God is calling us to do.
Jesus calls us to give up our old life and follow him. We are called to leave everything behind, pick up our cross, put on the yoke of Jesus, and go out and make disciples of the world.
Friends, Jesus is calling us to go out into the world and spread the Good News. Leave all our bags behind and trust in God to provide. If no one listens to our story, so what, we move on to the next place down the street.
I don’t know for sure if God is asking us to give up our savings entirely but I do believe that God is asking us to go out and share our stories about how God is working in our lives with our families and friends so that they can hear and see what a great God we worship.
I believe that God would like us to make our lives less complicated so that we could work for him with fewer things to worry about.
Last week I talked about when healing began. I said that I believe healing begins when we have faith. It may not be a very big faith but it is faith. I also believe that we can be sent by God to proclaim the Good News if we just have faith, faith in God and faith in the folks we are sent to visit.
As John Ortberg said, “If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.” If others are going to know about Jesus and God’s love for them we all have to tell our stories.
You’ve been tagged by God. You’re it. It’s your turn to step out onto the road with faith that God is beside you all the way.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
That’s kind of the problem Jesus encountered when he went home to Nazareth. He went to the meeting place to teach. More than likely he was invited because they knew he was a rabbi and they’d heard about the things he’d taught and the people he’d helped.
Mark tells us they were amazed at his teaching. They knew him when and they couldn’t believe that he’d become so wise. How’d that happen? Has anyone ever said the same thing about you?
They were amazed at his wisdom and his debating abilities but then just as quickly they turned. After all they’d seen him grow up and he wasn’t anything special then. He was just a carpenter’s son who repaired doors, roofs, wagons, anything made out of wood he fixed it or learned how to fix it. His home town “friends” couldn’t believe it was possible for him to be a learned rabbi with disciples.
And so Jesus wasn’t able to do much good there because his hometown just didn’t believe in him. Not that they needed to have faith to be healed but even if he had cured lepers, made lame people walk, and cast out demons would they have believed that he was God’s Son? Not likely so why expend the energy to do something that wouldn’t make any difference in their belief. There were others in Galilee who wanted to hear the Good News and were willing to have their faith made stronger.
Have you ever experienced anything like that? Have you ever been rejected by your old friends because they couldn’t believe that you could ever change from what you were when you were growing up? If you have, then you have some idea what that feels like and you can empathize with Jesus.
Mark doesn’t say that Jesus knocked the dust from his sandals in Nazareth but he does say that he left there and went to other villages where he taught.
So he wasn’t received well in his hometown. He just moved on. There was no need to waste anymore time there. There were others who needed to hear the Message of the Way.
Jesus knew at some point his work here would end. Spreading the Good News would then rest solely on the shoulders of his disciples. Before he left them he had to be sure that they understood what it was they were being called to do.
So Jesus sent them out in pairs to preach. If someone called and said you will be leaving today with a friend to go to, oh let’s say Alabama, you would immediately begin thinking about what clothes and shoes you should pack and how much money you would need so you could buy food and so forth. But Jesus didn’t give his disciples time to do any of that. They were to go with just what they had right then, nothing extra. They didn’t have any vouchers that would allow them to stay in any Super 8’s or Comfort Inns or even a Motel 6. No, they were going to have to depend on the hospitality of strangers they would meet in the towns they traveled to. What about that? That required quite a leap of faith.
Now before you jump to the conclusion that you could never do that remember that they had been with Jesus for a while. They had been sitting at the feet of the Rabbi listening and learning. He had been preparing them for this work. And he sent them out in pairs so that they could encourage each other, help each other, and protect each other. He gave them authority, power over evil opposition, unclean spirits.
He didn’t promise them that they would be accepted everywhere they went. But he told them what to do if they weren’t. Just shrug your shoulders, accept that they weren’t interested in hearing the Message and go on their way to the next village.
But still, we can see that this required a huge amount of faith, not only in God’s providence but in the hospitality of their fellowmen. I’m trying to imagine what that would be like for me if I used this philosophy when I take off on RAGBRAI. Just ride into town and stop at a house and ask if I can camp in their yard. And, “Oh by the way would you be able to put me up for supper? And do you suppose I could use your shower?”
It sounds funny doesn’t it? But I’m not going on RAGBRAI to spread the Good News. I guess I don’t really know what God has planned for me. Who knows who I might meet.
The whole point of this gospel lesson is about faith, trusting in God’s providence. It forces us to think about our own faith, the strength of it or the lack of it whichever the case may be.
The Twelve trusted that Jesus knew what he was doing and so they went out. They may have had some doubts when they first stepped out but that changed as they began to teach and heal and cast out evil. Their faith grew and they came back filled with excitement over what they were able to accomplish.
So what about you? You knew I was going to come to this point sooner or later, didn’t you? What has God called you to do? What is he calling you to do? What is he asking you to leave behind or to give up before you begin?
It’s at this point, when the question is directed at us, that we begin to look at our lives and do an assessment. We come face to face with our priorities and they may not match what God is calling us to do.
Jesus calls us to give up our old life and follow him. We are called to leave everything behind, pick up our cross, put on the yoke of Jesus, and go out and make disciples of the world.
Friends, Jesus is calling us to go out into the world and spread the Good News. Leave all our bags behind and trust in God to provide. If no one listens to our story, so what, we move on to the next place down the street.
I don’t know for sure if God is asking us to give up our savings entirely but I do believe that God is asking us to go out and share our stories about how God is working in our lives with our families and friends so that they can hear and see what a great God we worship.
I believe that God would like us to make our lives less complicated so that we could work for him with fewer things to worry about.
Last week I talked about when healing began. I said that I believe healing begins when we have faith. It may not be a very big faith but it is faith. I also believe that we can be sent by God to proclaim the Good News if we just have faith, faith in God and faith in the folks we are sent to visit.
As John Ortberg said, “If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.” If others are going to know about Jesus and God’s love for them we all have to tell our stories.
You’ve been tagged by God. You’re it. It’s your turn to step out onto the road with faith that God is beside you all the way.
Friends, God loves you and so do I. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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