You Will Receive Power…And Be My Witnesses

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope

I want us to think about the hopes we have. Peter, in his epistle, tells us to… “Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have… If someone came up to one of us at this very moment would we have an answer, could we explain the hope or hopes we have?

What is it that gets us going every day? What is the hope in our lives, in our hearts, and in our souls that keeps us looking forward to this day and the next and the next and the one after that? If someone asked us why we keep doing the things we do, what answer would we give.

Or when the world is beating us down what is the hope that keeps us going? Peter is telling us we should have our elevator speeches ready. If the question were asked could we answer with 15 words or less what our hope is?

Think about it. Are the things that we place our trust in earthly things, material things we can hold in our hands or are they goals we want to accomplish while we are living here or are our hopes more than that?

If you were to ask some people they might say, “I sure hope the Cubs win the pennant this year,” or the Cardinals or…the Warriors. Or I sure hope they bring all our sons and daughters home soon. Or I sure hope they get this economy straightened out. Or I hope I have enough saved to enjoy my retirement. Are these our hopes?

Or…do you hope for something more? Are you hoping that Jesus has a room ready for you or that he’s coming back for you? Is your hope in the Word, Jesus the Messiah? Can you explain what it is you hope for?

I imagine Jesus’ disciples were hoping that what Jesus was telling them was real. Even after the resurrection they may have still been struggling with understanding what Jesus was saying.

After all how could he go to be with the Father and still be with them? And who is this Friend, this Spirit of Truth? Their hope and trust was in Jesus and his words. There had never been anyone like Jesus. No one had ever said or done the things he did.

These disciples were hoping they weren’t going to be left alone. They were hoping for this Spirit of Truth. They were hoping to experience Jesus within them and they weren’t sure what that was going to be like. Jesus had always been there for them and so they trusted him even if they didn’t understand how this was going to happen.

Why are we the way we are? Why are we here today worshipping an unseen, unknown God? Can we explain that to our friends?

Picture a 2-year old asking their “why’s.” Why’d you do that? Why do I have to do this? Why can’t I do that? Why Daddy? Now picture you’re neighbor.

Why do you go to church? Why do you give people food? Why do you help people with gas money? Why do you help those who should be able to help themselves? Why?

Why do you believe there’s a God who loved you so much that he came and died for you? Why do you believe that he forgives you? Why?

Friends, my hope is in Jesus and his love, mercy, and grace. God loves me and that’s it for me. I hope for peace and joy and God’s grace and eternal life.

Friends, what are your hopes? Remember God loves you. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rocks & Stones

Stones, there are smooth ones, rough ones, shiny ones, dull ones, big ones, little ones, pretty ones, and plain ones. There are enough different types of stones that anyone can find the exact one or ones that they are drawn to.


When my Dad bought the farm just west of the home place he put me to work picking up the rocks and stones that littered the southwest hill. I never knew there were that many rocks in Iowa. We never had any on the home place. Anyway I found all kinds and colors. I picked up every rock I could see and put them in my uncle’s old duffel bag. They found their way to the home place where they ended up being dumped out on the ground to make a path through the mud. They were a hindrance in one place and a real help in another place. I wonder if they’re still there or has someone else picked them up and moved them to a new location.

Our family took vacations in Colorado when the kids were little and of course the car was always loaded with rocks to bring back to Iowa. I used to think it was the kids putting them in the car but after they left home I still found rocks in the car when we got back home.

Peter talks about living stones maybe these were what he was talking about and they wanted to live in Iowa. Who knows?

Rocks and stone are useful in many different ways. For generations people have used rocks to build strong foundations for homes, cathedrals, city halls, and barns. In New Hampshire the granite is so thick they cut it into blocks to be used for cornerstones and capstones in construction. Flat slabs are sawn to be used for counter tops and floors. Besides making the buildings pleasing to the eye they are strong and once they are put in place they don’t move.

Sometimes stones and rocks aren’t so nice. For instance, if I’m digging a well and all of a sudden the auger begins to shake and then stops because it’s not able to go any deeper. Thirty nine feet deep and that’s it because there’s a rock right where we wanted the well. Or we’re plowing a field that hasn’t been turned over in 10 years and all of sudden our tractors take off without the plow. That rock didn’t look that big. It was only 4 feet around and 6 feet tall. It wasn’t in the most convenient place. It took a bulldozer to dig it up and move it so we could farm there.

Or what about when you’re out walking in the summer in your sandals? You walk along for a ways and then have to stop because a stone has found its way into your sandal. It’s not very comfortable and it’s certainly not convenient.

Rocks and stones can be very good, very useful or they can be a real pain. They can make our homes look better or they can cause us to stumble and fall.

Kind of like Jesus; sometimes, when it’s convenient, he’s a real help for us and other times, when it’s not so convenient for us, he makes us very uncomfortable.

The Hebrew Scriptures talked about the Rock that was eternal. The psalmist wrote of the stone the builders rejected. Isaiah was the one who wrote about the stone that causes men to stumble. He also told a God laying a stone in Zion. It wasn’t until Jesus came and began to use these references to describe himself that people began to understand and believe and get upset and angry.

Jesus talked about stones for building. Those who heard his words and put them into practice were like a man who built his house on the rock.

He knew how stones could be used to hurt and kill. Remember what he told those who brought the woman to him, “…let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” They also wanted to take Jesus out to the cliff and push him off and bury him in stones. Only he slipped away from them without them knowing where he went.

Our reading from Acts shows us how stones were used to kill Stephen. The words Stephen used weren’t kind and gentle words; the words he used cut them to the quick. They covered their ears so they wouldn’t have to listen. They charged him and took him outside of the city to the cliff and covered him with the stones they threw. Those stones hurt and were meant to take his life. Yet he asked God to forgive them as Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified him on the cross.

Rocks and stones, Jesus and the cross, what are they to you? Are they the foundation of your faith or are they the rocks you stumble and fall over?

God leaves that decision up to us. Thanks be to God for his forgiving grace. Amen.

Followers

Sheep are really interesting creatures. We think of them as being all fluffy and white and happy as can be grazing in green pastures. The sheep most people think about are the happy go lucky lambs jumping and playing in the pastures while their moms are busy eating dandelions and grass.


All these images are true as far as it goes. But those of us who have put sheep in the barn to shear or tried to load on a truck may have a different picture in our minds. Or we may picture that ewe that always had to see what the grass was like on the other side of the fence and got her head stuck and didn’t have sense enough to turn it just a little bit to get back out.

I raised sheep for a few years and the one thing I remember is that they did indeed know the sound of my voice. The minute they heard me call “sheep” they would come running because that usually meant I had something for them to eat besides grass and dandelions. They always would come when I called.

Actually it only took one to start and then the rest of the flock would follow. Isn’t it odd that they were like that?

Three of the four scriptures today make a reference to sheep and how we are like them. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing and maybe it’s neither.

People follow leaders they trust because they have charisma or charm or some gift they value. We can find many examples in history of people who have followed leaders, some good and some bad. They trusted them and believed in them. Hitler, JFK, Martin Luther King, Desmond TuTu, Ghandi, Jim Jones, David Koresh are just a few who people have followed.

We are all followers. Just like sheep will follow one other sheep all of us will follow someone we trust. Some of us may not admit that but we do. Think about it. Who or what do you follow?

In our culture today there are so many different things pulling at us, tempting us, enticing us to follow or taste, or buy. Every one of us is tempted every day to stray from the path Christ shows us in the Scriptures. Every time I turn on the TV, the radio, or surf the Web I am confronted with advertisements for one thing or another. Every newspaper and magazine is filled with advertisements tempting me to trade my car for this model that gives me the best gas mileage or can park itself or maybe it’s an ad for the latest fad diet that will get me to lose all the pounds I’ve gained this winter in just 2 months with no sweat. Every ad tries to get me to understand that everything is all about me, what’s best for me.

Every ad, every commercial, is trying to get us to be better looking, more comfortable, and, if we think about it, better off than our neighbors. That’s not what Jesus taught his disciples. That’s not what his disciples taught after he left.

But like sheep we follow the ad men’s hype. After all who doesn’t want to be younger, stronger, and healthier, and better off than our parents were?

That’s the exact opposite of what we are hearing in our lessons today. Luke tells us in Acts 2 how the disciples spent time learning, sharing, breaking bread together, and praying. They sold what they had and cared for each other. They gave to all those who were in need.

Peter talks in a similar vein when he tells those who serve masters to put up with that way of life. He says the way we put up with our suffering and discomforts for being followers of the Way are noticed by God. It’s not the pain and discomfort we deserve when we do wrong that he’s talking about but the suffering we encounter for being His followers. Jesus set the example for us in the way he responded to the suffering and torment he endured for being the Son of God, by taking all our sins upon him. Peter said, “We are healed because of his wounds. Like sheep we have wandered away but now we have come back to the Shepherd of our souls.

In John’s gospel lesson today Jesus talks about sheep and how his sheep know his voice and will follow him. I like to think we get that but maybe we’re no better at understanding that than the disciples were. Jesus changes the story then to make it easier to understand. He tells them he is the Gate and all those who come through him will be able to go in and out freely and find pasture.

Jesus came so that we could have life, real and eternal life, life that matters, life that makes a difference. But we can only have that life if we choose to follow him or come through the Gate.

Friends, we are all followers. Today we are again being asked to make a decision who we will follow, the world or Jesus. I am going to try to stay on the path Jesus shows us. I hope you will join me there and help me not to stray.

Thanks be to God for his abundant grace. Amen.

What Do We Believe?

What do we believe? Let me start by asking you how many planets there are in our solar system, nine or eight? How do you know? What do we base our belief on, facts or what some scientist or scholar tells or do we believe only when we have solid substantial proof right in front of us? Do we only believe when we have something we can hold in our hands or touch or taste or smell? What does it take for us to believe, that’s the question today?

I have looked through a telescope and can honestly say I’ve seen some of the planets. But I’ve never really been close enough to actually verify that they really are planets. I’ve looked at the surface of the moon through a telescope and it was pretty neat but I can’t tell you much more about it than it was pretty cratered. I do see it every morning when I walk Murphy so I believe it’s really there.

But there are some things I can’t see that I wonder about. I’ve never seen an atom but scientists tell us that atoms are the building blocks of everything. I’ve never seen electricity but I have seen what it can do for me.

I see planes that are so huge flying through the air and I honestly don’t know how they are able to do that. And there are ships that are made of steel that should sink like a rock but they are capable of going around the world and carry people and cargo without anything getting wet. It’s just plain amazing. I know the physics behind all these things but I still find it hard to understand how it’s all possible.

So, I guess I either have to just believe or choose to think it’s all an optical illusion. Right? What do you believe? Why?

Now, Jesus, what do you believe about Jesus, and why? How could he possibly come back from the dead? We know from what we’ve read and it can be verified in other historical writings that Jesus was in fact crucified, died, and was buried. But how can we validate his resurrection? Oh I know, it’s written in the gospels but how can we trust what they’ve written? How do we know it’s not just a story?

Do you struggle with doubt? Do you wonder whether Jesus really did come to earth as a baby and eventually was crucified, was buried, and rose from the tomb? How do you resolve these conflicting doubts?

Friends, I believe everyone struggles with doubt. Everyone at one time or another has questioned the existence of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

So, what do we do with our doubt? Are we ever free from doubt? I think not. I think that we will always doubt or wonder until that day when Christ returns and everything is revealed.

The question for us is what do we believe and why? The disciples all believed because they were witnesses to the crucifixion. Some of them saw the empty tomb. All of them looked at the nail holes in his hands and they saw his pierced side. And then they believed. Two of the disciples walked with him and sat down at a table with him and they believed. Mary talked to him. She touched him before anyone else. She believed.

None of us have ever seen Jesus but we believe. Why? What proof do we have? The only proof we have is what we read in the Bible and some of us believe and some don’t. Many of us believe, and we have doubts.

Friends, I can’t explain it. I believe because of the experiences of my life, the nurturing, the teaching, and the examples of my parents, grandparents, and those who taught me the lessons from God’s Word. I believe because there’s this yearning deep within me that keeps me reading and praying and trusting and coming to God with my doubts and questions. I believe because I trust what I read in the gospels. I believe because God has given me faith.

Can I explain how God does that? No I can’t. I just know that he does and that has to be enough for me today.

So good friends, what do you believe? And can you explain why? God keeps bringing me back to his Word. My soul’s longing for Him keeps me coming to him in prayer every day. I think that’s why I believe. God has given me this faith, this trust and that’s why I believe. It’s nothing I can see or touch or taste or smell but it’s as real to me as every one of you sitting here this morning.

May you all be filled with God’s abundant grace and know that he is real. Amen.

Palm Sunday

All through Lent we have been using material created by Roddy Hamilton and his folks and it has been great. At least I think so and I believe our congregation enjoys being involved in the service. Our Sunday school young people make things ahead of time for the next Sunday and it's been wonderful to see their creations which they of course make with the assistance of their teachers.

I have been using a "talking" stick which is being wrapped with a different colored ribbon each week. These symbolize the story being told on that particular Sunday.  Today's was, of course, green for palm branches and gold for King Jesus. Our stick came to us by way of Colorado. It's a piece of twisted pine that I've had in my breezeway for years.  Who knew that God intended it to be a "talking" stick?

Today we had the addition of a banner that 30 young people made Friday and Saturday as they fasted for 30 hours. It's a bed sheet with "30 Hour Famine" spray painted and then each person's hand prints with their name.  It's pretty cool.  Can you imagine not eating one bite of food for 30 hours?  They did it and collected $1,500 for hungry children in the world. They even made their own cardboard shelters to sleep in Friday night.  Pictures will come later.

As a pastor it touched something deep within to see these young folks, all on their own, plan and coordinate the whole thing.  I was just a resource, a chaperone. It was a beautiful thing to watch unfold.

God does some amazing things with very ordinary people. I shouldn't be surprised but honestly I am.

So maybe in a week or so I'll be back to posting my Sunday messages. This has been an awesome week. I'm looking forward to Holy Week services and Sunday's celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

May you all be blessed and graced by God this week.

Spiritual Disciplines

For some reason I woke up early, before 4 a.m., and only God knows why. So after a cup of coffee, heated in the microwave, I'm catching up on things in the ethernet. 

One of the things I've read this morning, and it's something I've been reading and thinking about for a long time is spiritual disciplines. What they are and can they or will they bring me closer to or more aware of God and his presence in the world?

So, on RevGalBlogPals this morning the discussion is on this same topic. Mary Beth noted that in her church they are doing a Lenten study using Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline.  I have the book and have read bits of it in preparation for Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage. I've not sat down and read the whole book. I think that's the story of my life. I have many books that I've only read bits and pieces of .

Anyhow, spiritual discipline is a topic that has been on my mind for a while. I have been doing morning prayers for some time. I find that easier to do when I'm at work in the church than when I'm at home. There I can be centered in prayer whether I'm reading from the Bible or one of my other books I have in the corner of the pew where I sit. 

Prayer is, I think, central to my spiritual discipline. I have a continual conversation with God but I've found that I need to take time to just sit in silence with him everyday. To be honest all I hear is the creaking of the boards in the church but I like to believe it's His footsteps as he let's me know he's there with me. Hokey maybe, but's why couldn't God make his presence known like that. He showed Moses a burning bush and Balaam's donkey talked to him so why not creaking floorboards in the church?

When I was working full-time as a project engineer I would get up this time of day to read, think, and pray but since I retired from that and now work as a full=time pastor I sleep in.  I kind of miss that quiet time and I wonder now why I quit.  Maybe it's because I like to sleep and be warm wrapped in my blankets.

Right now I'm reading Henri Nouwen. It's a book about prayer and how it is so very central to everything. So it is excerpts from many of his different writings on the subject. Here is a person who asks the same questions I do and yet centered his whole life on service to other people and God. God being first.

From what I read it looks as if he struggled with the discipline and the mystery of it too, but he never gave up. He prayed morning, noon, and evening. And probably more I think.

So, how do we discipling ourselves to be near to God and experience his presence? I find that I do it by reading, the Bible, other books, blogs, music, and prayer. Oh, and by visiting, being in community with people in this community where I live. And not necessarily just the folks in my worshipping community.

So, as you can probably see my attempt at spiritual discipline is messy, disorganized, and maybe haphazard but it has helped come closer to God.

One thing has been instrumental in all of this and that has been going to Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage.  When I'm there my whole focus is on what God is doing in and through all of us as we serve him and our guests. I'm not there this month and I do miss it. But I am praying for them all and I know they are praying for us as well.

So, good friends, what are your spiritual disciplines? What are you doing that works for you, that brings you closer to the One who created us and loves us?