Faith, Trust, Grace, & Harvest Work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gifts From the Holy Spirit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You Will Receive Power…And Be My Witnesses

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.