God Called...

How many voice mails, texts, or phone messages or Facebook messages do you get in a day? Are you excited when your phone beeps or rings or sings or you notice that you have a message from a friend on Facebook? Can you hardly wait to get the message or messages? Or are you filled with dread when you come home and the answering machine is beeping, letting you know that someone left you a message or two while you were out?


Some folks like to get messages and others don’t. That’s just the different ways we’re all made. Now, have you ever received a call or a message from the Big Guy? What did you think?

Today’s readings from the Scriptures all remind us that God calls people. Whenever I read about God calling people I almost always wonder what it was like for them. And when did they realize it was God who was calling?

Not everyone is like Moses or Elijah or Job. Not many of us get to see burning bushes or hear that still small voice. Yet I still believe that God calls us, all of us.

I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again this morning, you are all here because God called you. In the way only God can do it he called you to be here in this place at this time. Why, only God knows but I’m sure you will find out soon enough.

The thing to think about today is what do we do when God calls? Do we try to ignore the call or do we do like Andrew and follow when he says, “Come and see.”

John, the Baptizer, got the whole thing started with his baptizing in the desert. Jesus showed up at the river asking to be baptized and then, as he’s walking by, John says to his disciples, “There goes the Lamb of God.”

And so they begin to follow along behind him. They weren’t trying to hide the fact that they were there. So, Jesus stopped and asked them, “What are you after?” They just wanted to know what kind of a person he was; what made him tick. So he invited them to “Come and see.”

I believe that Jesus is still doing that today. He invites people to “Come and see.” Come and see what my gospel is. Come and see what God is like. Come and see what God has done for you. Come and see.

Andrew and his friend accepted the invitation to come and see. They followed him to where he was staying and they hung out there the rest of the day. Apparently Andrew was impressed by what he heard and saw. So much so that he went to Peter, his brother, and told him he had found the Anointed One, the Messiah.

Peter was curious enough, and he must have trusted his brother, to go with him to see Jesus. He went and saw. Jesus knew he was the one he would use to build his kingdom upon. He was the Rock.

So, God calls people. And sometimes they hear and come and see. When they do sometimes they’re changed by what they see, maybe every time they come they’re changed.

So, have you ever followed anybody? Why? Where did they go? What did you learn? Were they bothered that you were following them? Did you stay with them?

Are you, today, following anyone? Are you following Jesus? What are you or have you been learning as you follow them? Would you call yourself a disciple?

My friends, God is calling us. He is calling us to join him in fellowship. He is calling us into discipleship, to learn his ways. He is calling us to join him in mission. God is calling us.

If God is calling do we really have a choice whether we answer or not? I don’t think we do. Oh, we might delay and drag our feet for a while but I believe that when God calls he really wants us and we will answer. Some of us may feel like the Prophets who didn’t think they were qualified to do what God was calling them to do but that doesn’t make any difference to God.

God made us and he knows what we are capable of doing for the kingdom. So, it’s futile for us to resist. When God calls we have to answer.

Friends, God is calling today. Do you hear him calling? How long are you going to keep him hanging? Answer the call. Go and see where he is staying today.

Friends, God loves you. Thanks be to God for his wonderful grace. Amen.

Water

What is water…to you? How important is it…to you? What do you do with water? Would you be able to survive without it?


Now, let me change those questions, just a little bit, by substituting one word. What is Jesus…to you? How important is He…to you? What do you do with Jesus? Are you able to survive without Him?

Nobody can answer these questions for us. We are the only ones who know how we would answer. Just one more question. Would God be pleased with our answers?

Let’s go back to the easier questions concerning water. What is it to us? Isn’t water one of the most important elements in our lives? It’s so necessary to our existence that we don’t think about it until we don’t have it or aren’t able to get it because the well has run dry or the electricity is off. Then we begin to worry. How many of us can say that we’ve gone a day without anything to drink? I don’t think I ever have. In fact I can’t imagine what it would be like to even have just one drink in a day. How many times do you drink in a day, five fingers or ten or more?

Okay, next question. How important is water to us? Can we live without water? How long can we survive without it? I think water is one of the most important elements right after air. We need both to survive. Without them we’re dead.

I think we’ll all concede that water’s pretty much a necessity. So what do we do with it? My day pretty much begins with me using water right away, washing hands & face, brushing my teeth, making coffee, hot oatmeal, flushing, washing dishes, filling the humidifier, and the list goes on and on.

It looks and sounds as if water is pretty important and we wouldn’t be able to survive without it.

What about Jesus? Can we survive without Him? I can’t. Without him I’m dead. When I don’t take time for Jesus, when I ignore him because I think I’m too busy, I’m dead.

How important is Jesus to you? Remember he gave his life for you and me. Remember he took time to teach his disciples and made some to be apostles so that you and I would get to hear the story. So we could make the decision to ask him into our lives. So we could be filled with his refreshing presence.

Friends, God loves us so much that he sent his Son to teach us, to heal our brokenness, to cleanse us from our sinfulness, to offer us redemption in his life and death. And he leaves it all up to us to decide what we will do with Jesus.

Thanks be to God for his gift of grace in his Son, Jesus. Amen.

Words

So many words, so much to think about, words like grace, blessings, life, light, truth, believe, praise, glory, forgiveness. So many different words, so many different thoughts, what does it all mean for us today?


I think it all boils down to the love God feels for us. Why else would he come to be with us and live as one of us with all our weaknesses and frailties? God certainly didn’t need to do any of that. What could we give Him that he doesn’t already have? If God wanted anything he could have it.

The only explanation for everything God did in Jesus is love. He cares for us so much; he desires an intimate relationship with us. Even when we sin by turning our backs on him he has forgiven us completely and willingly takes us back into his arms. It has to be love. What else could it be?

Go back to the Old Testament and notice how many times his people rejected his teachings to follow other gods, to worship their handmade idols and bring their offerings to other shrines. Sure, he became so angry with them but God always forgave them and welcomed the remnant back home. They may have been battered and bruised but they were accepted back into the fold and loved by him.

How is it that God who creates using only words still puts up with us? How can he possibly still love us enough to give us the grace of his forgiveness? It has to be love, a love that’s impossible for us to ever totally get our heads around.

We have received a gift that is so magnificent that many of us cannot fully comprehend the magnitude of it. In the beginning God, when he created us, made us in his image. He chose a small band of people to be his people. The family of Abraham wasn’t large but he chose them. He promised that he would make them a great nation. And so we read the stories of Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Jesus. It wasn’t until God’s people had so mistreated all his prophets that he sent his Son, Jesus.

Even then his own people rejected him as the Messiah. The Creator lived as a pauper teaching those who had little if any education. He called disciples to him who were, for the most part, common laborers. Friends, it has to be because God loves us so deeply that he goes to such extremes to give us his grace.

Good friends, if God loves us so much that he gave us his Word to be the Light in our darkness what are we to do? Is there nothing we can do to repay him for this great gift?

Wait a minute. There is one thing we can do. And it’s so simple. Maybe that’s why we’ve missed it. All we have to do to give back to God is believe. It’s really that simple. We just have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Light that gives us life. Believe that’s it.

That’s the whole reason John wrote his gospel. He wrote it so that we would believe that Jesus was the Son of God and that by believing we might have life in his name.

That’s it folks. We just have to believe. Just believe. Such an easy thing but still we resist because we haven’t seen God. We haven’t felt God. We haven’t heard God. Really, is that it?

Friends, it’s all up to us now. God loves us. He gave us a gift in Jesus, the Word made flesh. All we need to do is trust in God’s truth and believe.

Go to the Word. Read. Sit. Read again. Pray. Wait. Read again. Listen. Pray. Believe. Read again. Trust in God’s goodness and forgiving grace.

Thanks be to God for his truth and grace. Amen.

The Messiness of Life

I suppose you've noticed how messy our lives are. In fact, if you're like me, you've probably even complained about how life hasn't been fair to you.


Have you ever considered how Joseph must have felt when he found out Mary was pregnant? Then he had a dream and an angel spoke to him. Then there's the census Caesar required which meant a trip by foot with Mary about to deliver a baby. And then they can't find accommodations in Bethlehem. So it's the stable or nothing for Joseph and his new family. And then there's the shepherds and later the wise men from the East. And then, another dream and another angel and another trip that takes them even further away from their home and families. When they finally get the all clear message from another angel they find they still can't go home because Herod's son's in power and he's every bit as bad as his Dad. So, they're detoured to Nazareth. Besides all that happened to them there's all those babies who were ordered killed by Herod. Life sure is messy.

Have you also noticed how Joseph behaved through all this messiness? We don't read anywhere that he questioned God's messengers or say, “No, I'm not going there.” Not once do we hear that Joseph balked at God's instructions. It makes me wonder how we would have responded in the same situations.

Maybe the gospel writers were being easy on Joseph. Or maybe he was one of a kind and God knew that this was the perfect man to be the human father to his Son, Jesus. God probably knew that Joseph could deal with the messiness and the changes that were going to come into his life.

So, what do you think the Message God wants us to take from this gospel lesson? I think there's more here than the slaughter of the innocents. Jesus was saved but all those other little babies died. We know now that God was just waiting for a later time for Jesus to die, to be the sacrifice that would save the whole world. What other Message does God have for us here?

One thing I'm noticing is how God spoke to Joseph. He spoke to him in dreams through angels. The other thing is how Joseph reacted to these messages and the messengers.

I've kind of skimmed over these parts up 'til now. It makes me wonder how many times God may have spoken to me in a dream and I missed it. Or I listened, in my dream, but when I woke up the devil chased it out of my memory. But maybe God doesn't speak to you, or me, in dreams or with angels. Has he spoken to us and we haven't heard or listened or paid any attention? Or maybe we heard and we just rejected the Message. We didn't like what we heard and so we chose to disobey God. Hmmm.

God chose Joseph because he was just as God had created him. He was meant to be the father to Jesus. God knew how he'd respond to all the messiness that surrounded him. Not that Joseph couldn't have thrown a wrench into the works but he didn't and I believe that's all because it was part of God's intricate plan for the world. Now don't get me wrong. Joseph wasn't a puppet. He had to make many choices. But because of how God knit him together in his mother's womb he made the decisions that needed to be made that kept God's Son safe until his appointed time.

I wonder, though, if Joseph ever had any questions for God about some of these trips He sent him on. It sure was an awful lot of walking. And he probably didn't have all of his tools with him when he had to go off to Egypt. I mean it's not easy being the breadwinner for the family when the economy's in such turmoil. Do you think Joseph was ever worried? I think he had to be but, you see, he trusted God, and so did Mary. That had to help immensely.

So how do we respond when God asks us to do something that we think is way out there? I think we can learn from Joseph. Maybe Joseph can help us learn to trust our God more and be willing to take a risk just because it's God who's doing the asking. Maybe, after hearing this story again, we will be more attuned to God's voice as he speaks to us.

Friends, God speaks to us in many ways, even when things are messy and chaotic. I pray that you will now take some time every day to sit alone with God and listen as he speaks to you. I pray that you will listen to that voice that's in your mind as your go about your work. It just might be one of God's messengers with a special delivery for you. May God give you the courage and the strength to respond to his direction even if it sounds a little messy. Trust in God. He knows what he's doing because he is the Master Planner for the whole universe.

Thanks be to God for the wonderful grace-filled gift he gave the world. Amen.

What Brings Us to Church?

I know I’ve asked this question before but I believe it’s something we need to unpack again. And, it’s also the question Jesus asked those who were with him when he was questioned by John’s disciples. He said, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” He didn’t ask them just one time, but three times he asked them, “Why did you go out?”


That’s a good question for us to reflect on today. Why do we come here? What do we expect when we come? Do we come expecting something different? Do we come here to see miracles, to feel the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, or to experience God’s power at work in his Word? What do we hope for when we come to this church?

If I were to take a survey of this entire congregation this morning I imagine we would hear many different reasons why we all come to church. Some might come because they love to sing the hymns or to hear them sung. Others may come because they enjoy being with other folks who are just like them. They’re comfortable and feel at home among this group of people. Others may come because they are able to sit and feel God’s presence as the whole liturgy is performed, prayers, songs, reading of the Scriptures, proclamation, and the charge and blessing. Others come hoping that God will somehow fix them so they can cope with all the world bombards them with.

Such a simple question, “Why do we go to church,” can actually turn out to be very difficult to answer. That’s because worship is different for each of us. God didn’t make us all alike so why would our reasons for coming to church to worship be any different?

Whenever I come across a question I’m having trouble coming up with an answer that makes the most sense I like to go to the Confessions to see what our ancestors had to say about it. The Confession of 1967 has this to say about worship, “The church gathers to praise God, to hear his word for mankind, to baptize and to join in the Lord’s Supper, to pray for and present the world to him in ownership, to enjoy fellowship, to receive instruction, strength, and comfort, to order and organize its own corporate life, to be tested, renewed, and reformed, and to speak and act in the world’s affairs as may be appropriate to the needs of the time.”

When you decided that you were coming to church this morning what were the reasons you came? As I said God created all of us to be different therefore we’ve each taken different paths to get here. That means that none of us have experienced the same things and even if we have, how they impact us and how we remember them will be different. So why wouldn’t our experiences or expectations be different?

Many of us come to church to worship God and when we do we come carrying a whole lot of baggage. Sometimes we want nothing else but to be able to take that burden from our shoulders and lay it at the foot of the cross hoping that Jesus will pick it up and carry it for us. Sometimes we come with our problems not sure if God hears our prayers but we don’t have anywhere else to go and so we come here praying that he will notice us and help us. Sometimes we come knowing that we need to change, need to repent, but we aren’t able to do it by ourselves and so we come praying that God will provide just what we need. We don’t know what that is but we come hoping.

So, have you answered my question in your mind why it is you came here this morning? I pray that whatever the reason God led you here this morning that your questions were answered through the power of the Holy Spirit and that you leave here strengthened and encouraged to be the storyteller God needs this week as you walk the path he’s put you on.

Thanks be to God for his grace-filled peace and joy. Amen.

Are We Ready?

Today we begin the second week of Advent and I wonder if I’m ready. Are you ready? Really, are you ready?


You probably think I’m talking about Christmas and in a way I am but not in the way you’re thinking, presents, Christmas trees, lights, and so forth. That’s not where I’m going. Are you ready for the King of Peace?

Now that you know where I’m coming from some of you are saying, “Sure, I’m ready. Come, Lord Jesus, come.” And there’s the rest of us who say, “Uh, I’m not quite ready yet. There’re some things I need to change first.”

Everywhere I look I see people who are all stressed out. Some are worried about the weather. Others are worried because they can’t come up with that perfect gift for Mom or Dad or their best friend. Some are worried because they’ve been laid off from work and don’t know how they’re going to keep the heat and lights on for another month. Some are stressed because they’re hosting the Christmas dinner this year and they want it to be just right.

Is anybody stressed out because there are so many people trying to make it this winter without shelter? Is anyone worrying about those who are struggling with their addictions to the mind altering substances they can’t seem to live without? Is there anyone who thinks that all the money spent on our military operations is excessive? Is anyone worried about peace? Is anyone worried about the ax John’s talking about? Are we really ready for Jesus, the King of Peace?

Every word we heard read this morning was either about hope or about peace. Friends, I don’t think we’re living in very peaceful times. Our country is still sending young men and women to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and there’s the threat of nuclear war from the North Koreans. There’s not much peace on the African continent or in Central America and some parts of South America either.

With so much uncertainty where is our hope? I’ve place my hope, my trust in Jesus the Christ, the King of Peace. There are some who wonder how anyone can place their hope in Jesus when he still hasn’t returned as he promised his disciples. My answer is he never said that he’d be right back. In fact he said that he didn’t know the time when he would return. No one does. And so we wait…and hope.

I still put my trust in God. Why, you ask, do you still have hope that Jesus is coming back. I trust that God will keep his promise because if everything in the Bible was all just a story I don’t believe it would have survived for over 2,000 years. I believe because of God’s words to us in the Word, Jesus.

I’m ready because I have placed my hope in what God has planned for all his children. Isaiah said it verse 10 from chapter 11, “the new king from the family of Jesse will stand as a banner for all peoples.” The Prophet said the new King will stand for all peoples. That is good news for us because Isaiah was talking about the foreigners in the land. Even then God was getting things ready for us.

God is ready to receive us; are we ready to receive him? Since you’re here this morning I’m assuming that you’ve already taken the first step. God called you and you responded by coming here to worship and sing praises to Him.

My question for all of us was, “Are we ready?” Maybe we’ll never be completely ready but if we believe in Jesus and his Message of Good News that God’s kingdom is here right now then I think you and I are as ready as we’re ever going to be. When we put our hope and trust in the One who cares for us then we’re ready.

My hope is that I’ll live to see a world that’s totally at peace, a world living in harmony the way Jesus wanted. It begins with you and me. When we live lives filled with God’s love and peace living in harmony with our neighbors even when they’re nothing like us then we’ve taken the first step to bring peace into this world.

John was preparing the way for the Messiah with the Message that change was needed. The Message is no different for us today. If we are to be ready then we need to, “Do the things that show you really have changed your hearts and lives.” And we can’t think that just because we call ourselves Christians we’re safe from the ax John talked about.

Advent always asks us to look again at our lives and reassess our spiritual health. Friends, take time this week reading the Word. Spend some time in quiet contemplation letting God speak his Message of hope and peace to you. Then you may be ready. It’s all up to God and his grace. Thanks be to God for his Message of hope and peace. Amen.

What Are We Waiting For?

When you woke up this morning did you think that Jesus may have come while you were sleeping and you missed it? Have you ever slept in and woke up to the hustle and bustle of the rest of the family already up and doing whatever they do when they get up? How did that feel to you? Did it feel good because you were more rested or did you feel like you were behind all day because you woke up in the middle of everything?


Paul admonishes us in his letter to the Romans to “wake up from our sleep” because salvation is nearer than first believed. Matthew has Jesus telling us to stay awake, alert because no one has any idea when the Master, Jesus is going to return.

I wonder, have we become complacent to what’s going on around us? Have we heard this Message so many times that we’ve become de-sensitized to its urgency? Or don’t we believe what Paul and Matthew are telling us?

I wonder. What do we think is going to happen? Do we really believe that this world will exist forever? Do we believe that we are going to live forever? Do we think that we still have time to change and be everything God desires us to be?

Are we so absorbed in our work and our families that we are unaware of the urgency to slow down and listen for God’s voice? What is it? No one seems to be heeding the warnings. The whole world just seems to be going on as if there is nothing more important than the present moment. Almost like in the times of Noah before the flood.

Another year has passed and Advent is beginning. We’ve been waiting our whole lives for Jesus to return and we’re still waiting. Perhaps there are those who don’t believe that he’s ever coming back. Maybe we think that because we’ve given our hearts to Jesus we don’t have to do anything else.

I think the Message for us today has more urgency now than it did when it was first read. Isaiah is talking about God teaching us his ways and turning weapons of war into farm implements. The psalmist tells us to pray for peace in Jerusalem. Paul says that we all we owe is to love each other, wake up because salvation is near, live in a right way as people of the day, and clothe ourselves in Jesus Christ forgetting about satisfying our sinful selves. Jesus is saying to us in Matthew’s gospel that we should always be ready because no one knows when the Master is coming.

Most of us aren’t thinking about anything else but getting ready for our families and friends on Christmas Day. Paying attention to what’s going on in our communities isn’t one of our top priorities. As I’ve already said there are so many pressing things in our lives that we find it almost impossible to focus on God and what he’s doing in our community and the world around us.

It’s like we’ve lost our connection to Him. We forget that God was in the beginning, he is present with us at this very moment; he will always be with us, always. He’s not going away.

Advent has always been about waiting, watching, preparing, and anticipating the return of Jesus the Christ. Mostly we remember the baby Jesus born in the manger in Bethlehem. We remember the gospel stories about the angels singing, the shepherds watching flocks, and the magi who came bearing gifts. We don’t think about Advent as also being a time when we are reminded that we are also waiting in joyful anticipation the coming of Jesus again.

That’s what today’s Message is for us. Jesus was born in a manger. He did grow up learning the carpenter trade from his father, Joseph. He was a great rabbi who recruited disciples and made some apostles. He was crucified on a cross as we heard last Sunday. He defeated death when he rose from the tomb. His disciples bore witness to that fact.

The gospels give us his words and the Holy Spirit reminds us of them. He said that he was preparing rooms for us and that he was coming back. Friends, that’s what we are all waiting for today and every day. Christ to come back for us.

The good news is that while we are waiting God is here now connected to us in the Word and in our prayers. And while we wait we have been given the task to love others and the work of making this world a place of peace.

Most of us don’t think there is anything that we can do to bring about peace in the entire world but if we would just begin right here in Walnut I think we’d be amazed at how fast it could spread. Of course it’s not about us but about what God is doing through the power of the Holy Spirit in us as we minister to others.

A couple of things to take home with you today: 1) pray for peace in Jerusalem, 2) love others, 3) be awake, awake to what God is doing all around us, 4) and always be ready for Jesus whenever he returns.

Friends, God loves every one of us and he wants all of us to join him in the New Jerusalem one day. Thanks be to God. Amen.