You give them something to eat...

Excerpt from yesterday's sermon...

Jesus Christ is always affirming, renewing, redeeming, and restoring us.  Instead of guilt, Jesus offers us forgiveness; instead of hunger, food; instead of loneliness, his caring presence; instead of death, life; instead of alienation, adoption and belonging.  Jesus takes our need and reaches through it to restore us. 

 Like the disciples, we are called to participate in his miracles;  To reach out in Christ name, in his love and with his power to those in any need.  To give witness to the power of God in Christ and to bring hope into lives that have been left abandoned or broken.  We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give rest to the weary, bring good news to those held captive.

Live peaceably with all

From today's reading:  Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  Romans 9:12, 18

Sometimes Paul seems so obtuse and so often can be confusing.  And he seems to contradict himself even in a single sentence. You are supposed to hate what is evil and yet bless (and not curse) those who persecute you.  Isn't persecution evil?  Paul says, "live in harmony with one another" and "never avenge yourselves."

We look at the world around us, this same creation that God proclaimed "good," and we see it at war, passenger airliners being shot out of the sky, whole families being slaughtered.  Who is living in harmony?  Who is seeking revenge? God is crying in his heaven over the atrocities we commit on one another.

I have friends who have suffered persecution on Facebook and/or been "unfriended" because of political or religious beliefs/conflicts.  The border crisis here in the US is just the latest of Satan's long line of attempts to divide us as a country, and as a religious people.  Instead of trying to work together to solve a very real problem, people are at each others' throats dividing into extremist camps that will never solve anything. Jesus said, "Let the little children come..." and "As you do unto the least of these, you do unto me..."  Where does all this discord stop?

Jesus, come to us, help us to find unity in the midst of division.  Lord Jesus, we need you - your love and compassion.  We need your grace and mercy to remain strong in the face of dissension, so that we might live peaceably as a witness to a world torn by strife.   Amen.

 

The extravagant sower

This parable of the sower is very familiar.  We have heard it and its interpretation too many times.  We think we know it and we have a tendency to dismiss it casually.  Sam was telling me that he’s sat in church before listening to this parable and thinking, “Yea, I know people like that…”  and we do.  We’ve all heard the interpretation and we’ve all known people like those mentioned in conjunction with each kind of soil.  (Hold that thought, we’ll come back to it later.)

When Sam and I lived in Austin the first time, we had a garden, and in that garden we planted all kinds of vegetables for eating.  I remember getting out my graph paper and drawing the garden and deciding on what plants to put where.  We always had two rows of corn on the west side of the garden and two rows of okra next to the corn.  There were potato plants, squash plants and sometimes watermelon or cantaloup in the middle.  On the east side we had tomato and pepper plants.  Along the fence on the north side were cucumbers and green beans.  Sam bought a tiller and turned the soil, and he and I very carefully planted the precious seeds.

Now, I understand that a farmer planting acres of ground can’t do it that way.  He’d never get finished – and he and everyone depending on him would starve to death.

Someone asked once where I get my inspiration for sermons.  Well, one place I get not only my inspiration, but my passion, is from reading sermons.  And the sermons that give me the most inspiration and passion are those I disagree with.

I read 4 commentaries, two articles, and three sermons that all talked about the sowing of seeds in the first century.  And they all agreed that there were two ways common for sowing seeds in Jesus’ day.  One method was to plow first, then they would tie a seed sack to a donkey, poke a hole in it and lead the donkey up and down the plowed field allowing the seed to fall out of the sack in the rows.  The second way was to sling the feed sack over your shoulder, reach in and grab a handful and throw it on unplowed earth – this was called the broadcast method.  Then the field would be tilled after the seed had been distributed.  Now each of the commentaries and articles agreed that using the broadcast method, the sower couldn’t tell what kind of soil his seed was falling on and couldn’t really control where his seed went.  

My response to that is “baloney!”  One preacher talked about casting grass seed in his yard and only one in four seeds falling on good ground – the rest fell on the driveway, the sidewalk, the street and the bushes.  Now I don’t know about you, but I know I could walk around my yard broadcasting seed with much better results.  I can see the bushes and the cement and keep most of the seed off.  I figure all these guys have got to be city boys with no idea of the cost of the seed.  The main problem is that they are trying to make this example of farming sensible to us and for the people at that time.

This reading is a split reading.  The first half is Jesus telling the parable, but after the people had gone home and the disciples were left alone, they asked him, "What did that parable mean?  We don't understand."
You see, if this parable had made sense to the people of Jesus' time, then Jesus would not have had to explain it to the disciples.   But it didn't make sense agriculturally or any other way and that was the whole point.  I can hear them now – “We don’t understand – why would the farmer waste good seed?  And what’s that got to do with the kingdom of heaven?”  It’s true that using the broadcast method, you’re going to lose some seed – but not three out of four.

This parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven – and about how it’s different from our human experience, not how it’s like it.  In this case, our sower is God, and God is extravagant!  If you don’t believe it, take a look at the world around you.  God is the great and reckless sower, and he has sown his seed everywhere.  That’s why you will find wildflowers growing out of cracks in the sidewalk, and bushes growing on the side of cliffs.  In Hawaii we saw flowers blooming in the middle of vast expanses of lava.    God’s extravagance is why there are thousands of varieties of trees, and more than just rice to put on the table alongside the meat.

The seed that is being sown is the word of God.  Jesus is the sower and his extravagance matches God’s.  He didn’t just teach to those who were considered to be good enough.  He taught everywhere: in the synagogues, in the market place, in people’s homes, along the dusty roads, at people’s dinner parties, up on the mountain top, out at the sea shore, - even in some of the gentile villages.  He didn’t worry about who was listening to his words – he let them fall wherever they might.  He didn’t worry about whether or not the people hearing would bear fruit… Remember at the beginning of this sermon I told you to hold on to the thought that we’ve all known people like those in the interpretation… well…

Most of us can point to times in our own lives when we’ve been each kind of soil; times when we just couldn’t understand what Jesus was talking about; where what he said was so foreign that it bore no meaning for us.   These are times when we may be on a different path from the one God calls us to travel.

We can relate to the people on rocky ground.  Maybe when we heard the word and understood it and rejoiced in it…   but when we tried to share it, friends made fun of us, or ridiculed us for our beliefs.  We have second thoughts and shy away.

And we can relate to the seed that fell among the thorns…  We don’t like to hear things like “sell all you have and give to the poor”…  Today’s business world doesn’t like to hear about God’s sense of mercy and justice.  We want a car that’s faster and fancier…  We want a house we can entertain in…  We want the newest computer and software…  We want to be attractive to the opposite sex…  We want to party and have fun…

Truth is, it’s hard to follow Jesus – the cross is often too much to bear.  The things he asks are hard to do.  We know that we are not innately good soil.  The world and human nature pulls us away from the things of God.  And some people lose hope and think they can’t make it.

But thank goodness, God is not looking for ‘good soil’ because we can’t make ourselves into good soil.

The good news is that God doesn’t leave us where he finds us.  But God himself is the sower and he gets to work to produce in us the soil needed to receive the seed.  He breaks up the hard clay of our life and plows it under.  He picks out the rocks and deepens the soil there.   He clears the thorns bushes and prepares the ground.

Isaiah tells us, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven…and water the earth making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth…  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose….”

This is a parable to encourage us to be like Jesus.  It says, don’t be scared to go out and sow the word of God in those you meet.  It’s not our decision (or responsibility) who is ready and who’s not.  Not all people you meet will be ready to receive the word, but God will begin to prepare their hearts and make them ready to receive the seeds of faith and growth.  We are simply called to plant the seeds and we can trust God to take care of the rest.

Amen.

Gathered under his wing

From today's reading:  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  Matt 23:37

How often does God call us and we are not willing....?  Like the father of the prodigal son, he did not pursue, but the left the gate open - ready for the son's return.  But I believe that God, in his own way does pursue us - subtly - ever calling us back, giving us gentle reminders that he is indeed waiting for our return and he gives us every opportunity to return.  Still - it is up to us to take that first step.  

For whatever reason this morning, as I was waking, I remembered Jane in her last days - I remembered reading scripture to her - she would tell me what to read and a beautiful smile adorned her face as I read and she rested in the words of faith.  God was gathering her under his wing, and she gladly sheltered in his love.

As we prepare to make our summer trip to Idaho to visit with Sam's brother who has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, I can't help but remember Jane's last long car trip was up to visit Danny.  What a gift that they were able to do that before she died.

One of my favorite song, as I think on these things...

There's a family gathering, and it won't be long,

There's a family gathering, can you hear my song.

I'm calling my children from the ends of the earth,

They're coming on home, they're my sons of new birth,

And there's a gathering, they're gonna feast at my table!

 

In the end, God does gather his family and shelters them under his wing, in his new Jerusalem.  It's never too late to open your eyes and see the glory of God's kingdom and to find rest in his presence.

He must increase. . .

From today's reading:  John answered, 'No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, "I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him. . .   He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:27-28, 30

John the baptizer was always clear about his mission.  He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  His was a ministry to call the people to repentance, to prepare their hearts to receive the greatest gift that God would give - the gift of God's own son.  "One is coming, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."  

The thing that John knew was that once Jesus appeared on the scene, he would become the focus, the prominent one.  "He must increase, but I must decrease."  John did not have to have center stage, he was willing to step back and let Jesus flourish.  This also becomes the pattern that should dictate our own relationship with Christ.  He must increase, and we must decrease.  As we get to know Christ, as we allow him to grow in us, then that should become visible in the way we live our life.  He should be seen more and more in us as we learn to live our life more and more for him. 

Lord Jesus, come fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may decrease and allow you to increase in us. Grant that wherever we may go, we may be agents of your grace and others may know your presence.  Amen.

Ascension - the promise of hope.

From today's reading: I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation..., so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.  Ephesians 1:17-18

Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension - the day Jesus was taken up into heaven.  After the devastation of seeing their teacher put to death as a common criminal, they were given an opportunity to see him again and to be with him, to ask questions, to pay more attention to what he was saying, to be with him for a little longer..

As Jesus is taken up out of their sight, he assures them that he will not leave them comfortless, that he will send an advocate, to guide them and to be with them.  Jesus has a task for them to accomplish - the spreading of the gospel and they will need power and wisdom as they move out into the world.

These are the same gifts that Jesus gives us today if we are willing to open up  our minds to the power of the Holy Spirit.  He has been taken up and we no longer see him, but he is now with us at all times and in all places, inside us; ready to respond when we call on him.  And that hope to which he has called us?  The establishment of God's kingdom on earth and the promise of eternal life!

Jesus calls forth life out of death

Ezekiel was one of the Israelites taken captive at the fall of Jerusalem and moved from his home in Jerusalem to Babylon. Basically his world has been destroyed - his home ransacked - his career as a priest crumbled when the temple was demolished and he was taken off along with thousands of others.   

So instead of being a priest leading the people in temple worship, he becomes a prophet - seeing visions from the Lord and hearing the words of the Lord.  In this visitation of the Lord, Ezekiel is transported to a valley and the valley is filled with bones - dry bones - that seem to have been there for centuries.  And the Lord asks him, "Can these bones live?"  Well, what would you say?  Ezekiel, says, "You know" - implied in that is "how should I know?  You're Lord, you tell me."  And God tells him to prophesy - prophesy to the bones. 

 

Ezekiel looks out over that valley of dry bones - hopeless, unredeemable.  They represent all that is lost in Israel - the destroyed temple, the lost homes, the broken and bleeding people, the lost jobs, all the hopeless and helpless situations that can go along with the aftermath of a conquered, defeated people. 

 

(What are the hopeless situations - the dry bones in our lives?  So many possible out there - a lost job, a bankrupt business, a failed marriage, a broken relationship, unfulfilled dreams, lost loved ones, illnesses and death, a house in rubble following a hurricane or tornado...)

 

Ezekiel faces all that and more when he looks at this immense graveyard - total desolation - but he follows what the Lord tells him to do and he begins to prophesy - and as he does, an amazing thing happens, what he prophesies begins to come true.  The bones begin to rustle - they come together and sinew and muscle appear and flesh covers it all.  But there is no breath and so God has him prophesy to the breath - the winds - the spirit - and that breath (or spirit) comes and enters the body and they live and stand and they are more Ezekiel can count.

 

And God says, "this is the whole house of Israel and they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost'."  But God has an answer - "I am the Lord and I will open your graves and raise you up.  I will put my spirit within you and you shall live."  God brings hope and life out of the hopeless and helpless in our lives.

 

This is the hope of Israel - the resurrection that the Pharisees claim - here is that starting point for the kind of faith that God is calling for.  This is the hope of the nation - the whole house of Israel. This is a communal hope - not an individual hope. 

 

America has seen that kind of hope more than once.  Pearl Harbor and 9/11 both were a defeat – death and destruction that could have crumbled our nation – but it didn’t.  Out of that death and destruction were sown the seeds of resurrection – the determination to rise out of the rubble – a unifying hope.  What Ezekiel reported seeing gave hope to a defeated nation - the hope that they would indeed live again.  God does not leave us in those barren, dry, parched places - crying over those dry bones.

 

Our world cries out for that kind of hope - the kind of hope that brings life and resurrection.  Two of a number of movies that use the image of death and resurrection are Harry Potter and Flight of the Phoenix.  In Harry Potter - Professor Dumbledore has a very unique bird - a phoenix - Harry sees it wilt away, burst into flames and becomes a pile of ashes.  When the professor comes in, Harry, devastated at having witnessed this scene is assured by the professor that this was a part of life and that the bird will indeed rise again out of the ashes.

 

The second movie is the Flight of the Phoenix – a story about a plane that goes down in the desert - a hopeless situation with seeming insurmountable odds - and yet hope arises from unexpected places.  It is a story of faith - faith which almost crumbles when they find out the person designing the escape craft isn't exactly what they think and only has experience designing model airplanes.  But out of hope and necessity, they pull together and overcome the odds to live again. .

 

These stories demonstrate the need for the story of resurrection out of death - the need of the people for the kind of hope that is presented in these stories.  The understanding that we can live again.  We need to understand that when things seem the darkest, we can have still have hope and that the Lord is there with us.

 

We find the same kind of situation in our gospel lesson when Jesus brings that kind of hope to the individual level.  Here is not a valley of dry bones - here is a single person, in the grave four days.  The 'four days' seems strange to us - especially since we find Jesus raised in three days.  But the four days is significant - the Israelites believed that the soul or spirit of a person stayed in the vicinity for three days before rising up to heaven.  So the four days means the soul has departed - making the miracle even more unlikely.

 

Jesus was late - and what do we do when God doesn't come through when or like we think he should?  Mary and Martha berated Jesus - "Lord if you had only been here..."  God doesn't always act in the way we expect - and how do we handle that.  But you see, Jesus had come  -  Jesus calls forth life out of the conditions of death. 

 

Just as people looking out over that valley of dry bones would call it hopeless - so the family of Lazarus called the loss of their brother hopeless.  And Jesus comes - not when they wanted him to, but he does come - and he comforts them, his presence is tangible - he weeps with them at their loss.  Although Martha tells Jesus that she believes that God will give him whatever he asks for, she doesn't believe that this is possible - the spirit has already left that place.

 

"Lord, if you had only been here - our brother would not have died..."  In our darkest hour, Jesus comes.  Jesus calls us forth from the tomb of broken hearts and disappointments, from the tombs of rejection and loneliness, from the tomb of self-loathing and meaninglessness.

 

As humans, we fix our eyes on a goal, quite often to the exclusion of other possibilities.  As humans in this world, we too often want what we want, the way we want it, because we've been convinced by the world around us that we are in control.  But the truth is that we are not in control and sometimes our hopes and dreams must die before we become capable of accepting a new idea, a new dream.  Sometimes we don't see or even look for the window of opportunity that is open for us until the door we are focused on is slammed shut.

 

Jesus comes to open new doors, to cry with us when we are devastated and then to help us to new understanding and new life.  He comes to restore the spirit that has left our bodies.  Out of the conditions of death and devastation can arise new life.  Jesus calls forth life even amid the conditions of death.  Can you hear his call?

 

I'm a recovering smoker.  I smoked for 30 years.  After my first year in seminary, Jesus called me out of the tomb of destruction - I was having to use my inhaler two or three times a day - pre-cursors of the conditions of death - and yet I kept smoking.  God finally told me that if I was going to live to proclaim his good news - I was going to have to come out of that tomb of death and destruction and walk in life.  I quit smoking.  Recovering alcoholics and recovering drug addicts can tell you the same story, Jesus calls forth life even amid the conditions of death. 

 

Please pray with me.  Lord, open our hearts and minds to hear you when you call, to follow you where you lead and to trust you to restore our spirit and to bring new life and hope in all the situations and circumstances of our life.  Amen.