Hope In The End

Romans 5:1-5, May 26, 2013
Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness combined with our faith,q we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3 But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  CEB
We begin by re-reading the text line by line and inviting people to call out words that 'stick'.
The I will re read and ask for questions that arise.
such as: What is peace, really?
Access by OUR faith (is this our responsibility) or access by Christ’s faith (already done for us)
Does this really explain Jesus’ God and the Spirit

Traditionally this is Trinity Sunday -with a typical focus on understanding God, who reveals Godself in many ways.

Historically those ways can be gathered into three main areas,
1.    The Creator of the Universe, the ‘I Am’ who was revealed to Abraham, Moses and led Israelites.
2. The “Word and Wisdom” of God found in Jesus1
3. The ‘abiding Spirit’ that Jesus’ promised and which came on the disciples and then followers of Jesus as related in the NT. And ever since!
Big picture questions
TODAY, I WANT TO MAKE SOME LEAPS INTO THE BIG PICTURE OF OUR LIFE AS CHRISTIANS.

Mainly because I never stop asking big questions
    what does this text, this story, these words mean for my life? For OUR lives, as Christians working and living in 2013?

Paul was asking and answering the same questions when he wrote to the Romans around 58 CE.
    Professor Mary Hinkle Shore described Romans very simply;
    In chapters 1-4 Paul is writing about the big ‘what’ of the Jesus’ event in the history of humanity.
Then in chapters 5 through 8, he answers the, “Now what?” question for all of life! 2

We never sit and read all of Romans so we miss the big picture Paul was describing. And when we forget the BIG picture, all kinds of misinterpretations happen. I’m sure I’ve done it.
But even in the small sets of verses like we heard this morning, we can get glimpses of the big picture.

Big Picture

So think for a moment, ‘What’s the big picture of faith for you?’ I wonder if we’re all on the same page? (it's a tough question that takes a minute so I’ll not ask you to share...yet.)

All or most of you have made a life commitment to follow the Jesus’ Way and been baptized to confirm that promise and bring you into Christ’s church. (or at least you’ve been thinking about it). Many of you have joined as members of THIS particular church, like I am.
How does your commitment to follow the Jesus’ Way effect your relationship with others?
    Do you want to help them find what you have?
    Do you wonder if they are ‘condemned’ because they DON”T think or believe like you do?
ASK...How DOES your commitment to follow the Jesus’ Way effect your relationship with others?
    (answers)

I found an interesting answer this week ...from the Pope!
 

(The commentator speaks quickly so listen and you’ll get the drift.)

All the excitement around the Pope’s statement this week, shows there are many understandings about how God redeemed the earth & humanity thru Christ.
ASK: What do you think of the Pope declaring that God redeemed EVERYONE thru JC?

The Pope (who sometimes sounds like he grew up brethren...) has disturbed the people who have built tight walls around those who are IN and those who are NOT.
Paul ran into similar problems as you will remember.
    His initial problem was trying to expand the minds of the disciples who naturally thought that Jesus, a very good Jew, had come to redeem the Jews. . . and they were right, only God didn’t stop there.

In Acts, right before the Pentecost story;
ACTS 1:7-8
Jesus replied, “ It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. ”

Jesus, (remember we say he is the Word and Wisdom of God embodied in a human)...never intended for his mission to end in Jerusalem, but to continue to the ends of the earth.

We of course, accept this, since including non-Jews directly benefitted us. But how quickly the non-Jews drew a line around redemption and claimed it for their own.  -   even reversing things to exclude the Jews, as we sometimes read in the words from John’s community written 30- 40 years after Paul wrote to the Romans.

Still even tho he understood inclusion, Paul had troubles.

He got the point of God’s redeeming ALL humanity.
What he DIDN”T get was why the Jews didn’t jump on board. Why didn’t they get it?

Tom Long and Richard Hays (2 awesome scholars) say Paul was a little worried, he could have been SHAMED by his own Jewish heritage if they weren’t getting with God’s program.3

But Paul had HOPE and claimed God’s promise - no matter what.
    “...standing in Grace, claiming the hope of God, believing that “trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Paul wouldn’t be shamed by God including more than anyone expected nor would he be shamed by Jews who didn’t join him. Because he hoped for a different end, one where even “those Jews” were included... And so was EVERYONE else.

As Pope Francis said, “Everyone! (he shares a dialogue) ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists,” he said, “Everyone! And this blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the blood of Christ has redeemed us all!”

ALL, that means, Democrats, republicans, even tea party activists, John Birch Society, and ultra green actvists and 3rd party liberals.
. . .Whew, that’s enough to make anyone uncomfortable.


It’s all about our hope.
    And a different idea of ‘the end’.

Some of you are old enough to remember the song...
"Eve of Destruction"  in 60-70's many songs tried to warn us of what could happen, now we had the means to literally END the World.

I watch a couple videos on (You Tube) to see if there was one appropriate to show today, but they brought me to tears.

The images were Reminders of times when Hope was hard to find. Wars -- just in MY lifetime, conflicts, shootings, lynchings, death.
The images were of students shot by our own national guard, of whites and blacks beaten by police officers, of men, slightly older than children in years, firing weapons to kill other children...and knowing none of them would never enjoy childhood again.

The words, ‘....eve of destruction’ sound all too correct.
The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'
....
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
....
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin' 4
...and you tell me over again you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction... (see YouTube for video)

ASK: Were their times in your life when you lost hope & feared the end? - WHEN?
    Times like, the Cuban Missile crisis,
    Assignation of a president (or attempt) the series of killings JFK, MLK, RFK
    The fires and riots in DC, MLK, LA, Rodney King

On this Memorial Day weekend, we do recall the dark times when hope was hard to find.
You’ll find poster boards near some of your seats. Take one and read just the bottom statistics to us. These boards are part of a Stations of the Cross exercise called “Count Well The Cost”, but today we will look only at the  war statistics.

Tomorrow around the country many will be remembered, especially those who died  in military coflicts of our country.
As Christians, and more specifically as members of a ‘PEACE CHURCH’ how do we avoid shame when we recall these numbers?
. . .

I believe the answer is by hoping in the END, God’s end.
Paul’s words help and so do these, words HE relied on;


From parts of Isaiah 2:2-6 that speak of God’s END:
ASV 4"The LORD will settle international disputes. All the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end. 5 Come people of 'Israel,' let us walk in the light of the LORD!

We too can find our hope in the END, God’s end, where wars stop, and military training comes to an end.

Tomorrow, rather than lift up these dead in a way that encourages sons and daughters to follow in footsteps that will give their lives to WAR,
we can lift up this scripture.
We can HONOR these many dead and their memory BEST by giving OUR lives to the Jesus’ Way, and praying for GOD’S End of World.

Then our hope becomes a promise that NO ONE will ever give their life to WAR, but that we ALL can work for Peace; (even giving our lives for Peace rather than offering to kill someone else)
We can tell anyone who will listen that God's peace,
    includes justice, includes sustainable agriculture that uses our former weapons of destruction for plows.
In this peace ALL nations will till the earth and plant food to fill ALL bellies, children, adults, Christians, Jews, Muslims, even atheists! :-)

OUR HOPE IS IN THE END!
Can we pray for THIS end to come?
Can we Sing about THIS end and really mean it?

Can we work toward this end?
Knowing that it is not up to us, alone. But that we labor alongside the spirit of the Prince of Peace. 


footnotes:
1 Barry Howard quoting Marcus Borg from the Meaning of Jesus Living the Word in Christian Century May 15, 2013, Vol. 3130, No. 10 p. 21
2 Mary Hinkle Shore Workingpreacher.org for May 26, 2013
3 Thomas G. Long Preaching Romans Today, Interpretation (Vol. 58, No. 3, July 2004)265-275
4 http://artists.letssingit.com/barry-mcguire-lyrics-eve-of-destruction-s1m88lj#axzz2UKaaKHJZ

Hi friend, Last week was a nourishing vacation of golf, beach, and friends. Thank you for the time away and for the welcome you extended to Rev. Jessie Syms last Sunday. I wish I could have seen the Pentecost Play. It sounded wonderful! Our 'Players' do a great job and we do love drama. Here's a few thoughts that came to mind after I changed my daily routine to include a walk to the beach. I saved this picture for you! Vacation is a needed part of life. One can only allow the creativity of God's Spirit to enter our lives, when we've cleared out some of the concerns and appointments that fill our days. Nature; whether beach or mountains, the perfect greens of a golf course, even the sand traps and water hazards, seem to offer me a refreshment that I can't find indoors. Now I'm extremely sensitive to mosquitos and other biting insects. (They will ignore you and come to me if we're together.) the month of May in Kitty Hawk was perfect as the bugs were just getting started, the weather alternated between very warm and rather cool, so I could spend as much time outdoors as I wanted to. Even my (golf) drives improved....a little. Mostly I felt rested again. I trust you will find time to get away and get outdoors soon! Many of you will take advantage of this holiday weekend to do so. I know these vacations can take you away from morning worship and you ARE MISSED! Yet time away is important for our spiritual growth. Just don't leave God behind when you ditch the world. Grab your Bible or save a favorite psalm to your smart phone. We will be using some visuals to pray Psalm 8 this Sunday, join us if you're away by looking up at the sky and praying, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!" If you miss us, you can always catch up here on the web, Link to our website We do try to post sermons either written or audio and sometimes both. But they are not quite they same without your input in our new 'Multi-voiced" style - so hurry back! For those who will be here this weekend, (Message: Hope in the End) the weather will be awesome so perhaps our lunch bunch should eat outdoors! Meanwhile, we will have a picnic the following week when we celebrate all the ministry that happens in this building. JUNE 2, is our "UNITY WORSHIP" at 11:00 followed by a carry-in picnic of multi-ethnic foods. This service is fun. It's not always comfortable. We don't understand everything that happens in the three languages that are native for our three congregations. But it is important to be here to remind ourselves that God works in very different ways in a LOT of different places. The Spirit of God moves in our midst at such times, most powerfully, showing us that we don't need words to worship and we need only smiles to welcome each other. We are ONE in Christ Jesus, is a new song we will sing in two of our languages. "Somos uno en Cristo" We trust the Cambodian congregation will be able to sing in English with us as the IRPE and our own Spanish-speaking members sing in Espanol! Ephesians 4:4-6 undergirds our lives together, don't you agree? Well those are my thoughts for now. I think I'll post this on my blog and perhaps add to it when I can. Link to my blog If you like this kind of note, let me know and I'll write a couple times a month. Enjoy God's creation until I see you - soon! Pastor Nancy

A Peace of God's Action

Scripture - John 14:23-29
There are ALL Kinds of Peace
(This week’s CoB Newsline included..

During the past several weeks, friends and family members of the lifting team have been pledging their monetary support for the Lift-a-Thon which began on Sunday April 28, a bit after 10 a.m., when various weight-lifters joined forces to pump iron.
The money raised supports the 3,000 Miles for Peace fund started in memory of Paul Ziegler, who had been a student at, McPherson College in Kansas
Manchester College’s Peace Week
    (with associated events)

Everyone seems to have their own ideas of what ‘PEACE’ means. I know those who think working for Peace means protesting.


Of course, (we hope) Peace means lack of war.


Other’s work for peace in Environmental action.


And of course, there’s WORLD PEACE! (who doesn’t want that?)

What kind of peace do YOU want?
    I’ll give you time to talk about it. Form small groups about 3 people in your pews. Get up as needed move around, go sit with someone you’d like to talk to and answer this question.
(slide) What kind of peace do YOU want?
(Click in “Let’s talk about it.)
        5 minutes max

Ask: What are the kinds of peace you want?
    A few you mentioned (
    World Peace
   
    Gettysburg anniversaries

    Peace Ying Yang

Our many ideas of Peace are all TRUE and all fall within God’s desires for humanity & creation. = true ‘peace on earth’.
Stay on SLIDE Work for Justice - hold on this
Scripture text
There is a fullness in Jesus’ words found in today’s scripture which express his desire that his followers have his ‘peace’. He tried to communicate this within the limits of human speech. There is quite a variety of words in Jesus’ discourse in John. (unity, abide, peace, love, obey)
Extending before and after today’s passage, we read the many assurances that Jesus shared with the disciples. Jesus was
going to prepare a place’ for his followers’
they knew the way to this place (a place of his peace) because they knew him and had already been following HIS WAY
that Loving Jesus means keeping his commands (his word)
That he wasn’t leaving the disciples (including us) alone
Believing in Jesus means doing the same work he had been doing
That a companion, parakletos will be sent to help us with this new way of living. . .
And ALL of this means PEACE. . . . . 

    Christ’s peace is the place or state of being where we find the wisdom of God.1 this is the Christian definition of Peace.

    (on slide) British Museum. It is a Russian icon from the late 17th century, depicting Sophia, God's Wisdom, along with Christ, the Theotokos ('God-bearer', Mary), and John the Baptist (a.k.a. Forerunner).a
This image of a Russian Icon helps us re-imagine Peace so we can learn what Jesus meant by ‘MY PEACE’.

PEACE is God’s way of acting in the world.
   This is not a false promise of security, and it is
        not an immediate end to all conflict.

PEACE is a PRESENCE, it is the entire sphere of Jesus’ life that enacted God’s great, generous, and abiding love for all people.2 making it visible in a human life.
We SEE peace in Jesus.

Today we are reminded that following, obeying, all the things  that Jesus’ taught and did are part of what sustains his followers.
We LEARN peace by following Jesus.

If we want PEACE, we need today's scripture before us:
   
    “Whoever loves me will keep my word.”
“It is the word of the Father who sent me.”
“The Companion, the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything.”


“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you.”
“I give to you not as the world gives.”
“Don’t be troubled or afraid.”

The words of Jesus sustain us, the other part of what sustains Jesus’ followers is called the Holy spirit or Parakletos.
So, We See peace in Jesus
We Learn peace by following Jesus and
We receive “PEACE” with Christ’s spirit (parakletos) 

Just as Jesus is sustained by God’s presence in the trial he faces, we, his followers, ARE also sustained by God’s own presence found in the parakletos, the companion . .

Which means WE, all Christians, ‘Jesus Followers’
     have already received the wisdom we need to act justly.
(The Sophia or Wisdom of Christ that comes with his Spirit)
We have wisdom,
We have the strength we need to work for peace in all venues.
We have the ability to obey Jesus command to serve others and to give up our lives to something much greater than this life -- which is God’s Peace.

Thanks to the parakletos (and today’s text as a reminder)
    We who have committed our lives to follow Jesus, already have the accompanying presence to bring Christ’s own Spirit of Peace to places where conflict seems to rule, where hate threatens to overcome life so that ALL PEOPLE may live ANOTHER WAY - the Jesus’ Way.

This is what PEACE means.
    & This is the peace WE NEED.
        In fact, This is the peace the whole world needs.
“Can We” (slide)
        IMAGINE

“A life of Peace” !

We can because we have been given the Spirit to LIVE it!

Disturbing Visions or Pigs In A Blanket

Based on Acts 11:1-18

Have you ever been ‘called on the carpet’?
    (care to tell us about it?)
Me: I was once stopped in the hall in HS. Back in the day when we GIRLS - were 1st allowed to wear pants to school. The VP stopped me, “Nancy, are those JEANS you are wearing?”
    (Jeans were NOT allowed) this was a pair of denim slacks, “Technically” NOT Jeans... So I defended myself by pointing out the facts, “Look, no outside double seams! See, these are NOT jeans, Sir.” . .
Defense - Peter had to think fast. He defended his actions by a detailed personal account of what had happened.

Peter has a vision; remember Peter is a Jew, one of the head leaders of the Jesus’ movement among Jerusalem’s Jews. He and James follow the feet of Jesus himself.
His vision is about eating. But includes non-Kosher animals.   Animals that no devout religious person would ever consider eating are lowed to him in a blanket. He is told to, “GET UP, Peter, KILL & EAT”

Domenico Fetti.

Even in his dream he declines. But the message is repeated. THREE times he hears, VOICE: “What god has made clean, you must not call profane.”    Making the Subtitle: “Pigs in a blanket”1

Then Cornelius (the devout but GENTILE follower of God) sends messengers who arrive AT THE GATE, & ask for Peter.
(Important for Gentiles to stay at the gate, if they enter a Jewish home, the house and everyone in it becomes unclean.!!!!!)
God’s Spirit moves Peter, he realizes, “These men came for him and he is to go with them without hesitation. SENT BY GOD.
He goes and spends time in the HOME of GENTILES and has another incredible experience.
It is while he is with the Gentiles, preaching that the Holy Spirit FALLS on them and Peter realizes they have already been included by God...so he’d better get with the plan and gets them baptized with water. (The reverse of the normal order.)

We call this kind of experience a ‘conversion’.
    Whose conversion usually get’s the most publicity in Acts?
    (What do you remember about it?)

http://people.ucsc.edu/~jexcoffi/moderncontext.html

(Right!) or Note, previous in Acts, you will find the story of Paul’s conversion from persecuting Jews who follow ‘The Way’ to believing in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and following the Way, himself.

Then Paul is Sent, by God with the (somewhat reluctant) approval of the church, to the Gentiles. But the Jerusalem church is not completely on-board. (Sending Paul solved one problem and ended up causing them another one.)  When Peter comes to Jerusalem, they do not even ask about the Gentiles. They question Peter’s actions: “So you ate a meal together with Gentiles, hmmm?” The indictment is clear. They were concerned with making sure that Peter was acting as a proper Jew, maintaining his identity as one of God’s holy people.2

So the ‘Jesus Jews’ are a bit reluctant to welcome EVERYONE and there is an underlying assumption that ‘those people’ have to become like us; Jewish, before they can be included.
It was possible to become a Jew..proselyte. “Becoming a proselyte meant circumcision and placing oneself under the Law of Moses. Gentiles were only accepted and acceptable to Jews as Jews, but never as Gentiles.”3
Paul believes this is not necessary and NOT what God demands for acceptance.
Now it’s Peter’s turn to be  fully ‘ENLIGHTENED’. 1st by a vision, then by the reality of his visit.

But the ‘church’ back home doesn’t have either of these mens experiences. They are good devout Jews and are OUTRAGED at Peter’s behavior.
Bob Deffinbaugh writes, “The apostles seem to be angry that Peter acted independently from them and their approval, and that he did what they would not have allowed, if consulted.
Peter was an apostle, and thus his actions set a precedent, one which the “circumcised saints” did not like. Peter committed them to a course of action they thought was wrong.”4

(so) Peter is confronted.
Are you surprised at the Jerusalem followers reaction?(why/not)


When Peter is confronted, he processes out loud. Recalling all of God’s faithfulness like he did while he was with Cornelius and was ‘confronted’ by the action of the Holy Spirit.
Can you image this kind of confrontation happening today?

Name times when ACoB has been ahead of the curve, out in front on issues where there was some disagreement by others?
    How did people react?
. . .

Some commentators, especially Lewis Mudge, said the folks back home were more repulsed by what they thought Peter was eating than by the people he was staying with.
There was some kind of ‘gut’ reaction that doesn’t respond to theological argument.”5

Care to name some modern problems that cause this revulsion within the church?
. . .

***Can you recognize what helped Peter gain acceptance, where other movements did not?***

Peter’s defense was based, in the final analysis, on what God had done and on the way God perceived the Gentiles.201
‘God’s salvation was to come both to the Jews and through the Jews.
Deffenbaugh again says, “In assuming ownership of God’s blessings, rather than stewardship of them, Israelites (even Jesus’ Jews) tended to think that salvation was for Jews alone, rather than “to the Jews first.” Bob Deffinbaugh points out. “What a difference, he says, “between God’s way and Israel’s way in this matter of salvation.’”6
I hear an echo of this possessiveness when some Christians talk about whom will be saved.
. . .
The perceived authorities [in the church], end up playing catch-up with God’s work.7
Where is this happening today?(where do you see God accepting and Christians reluctant to come along)

point
A different feeling or reaction results depending on WHERE the change begins. (the acceptance) 
“Had the recent conversion originated within the Gentile mission field, [inclusion] would likely have been long if ever, accepted by the Jerusalem Church.8 Lewis Mudge makes the point.
But the ‘conversion’ happened to Peter, not someone out among the Gentiles, but to Peter, a leader of the INSIDERS. . . and so people listened. They believed him when he said, ‘the Holy Spirit came on these people.’ And ‘God’s showed me.’
It makes a difference, doesn’t it?
    ? Why does it make such a difference that it was Peter?

A unique combination of authenticity, respect, and experience occur to help a congregation or church accept someone else’s conversion and begin to open themselves to God’s power - that enlightens us to new ways.

What is Arlington’s Experience that tells us that changes are often from God?What in our history has happened to help us SEE differently?
        Co-Pastors, one a woman, when no that common
        Immigrant Family assistance, live-in, when not so accepted
        Last spring/summer welcome of homeless man

Whom (what voices) do we respect enough to listen to their ideas?
    Where do we go to listen for God?   
 What are the stories of God’s faithfulness HERE, that we recall to reassure ourselves that we ARE listening to God?


When Peter was confronted FIRST by God, [he] “concluded that he had to change his own point of view TO God’s point of view, and to bring his own actions into alignment with God’s actions.
He was compelled to see that God thought and acted differently than he, and it was he who must change, so as to bring himself into alignment with God.9

Let us keep asking God to remind us of those stories of God’s faithfulness right HERE, so we will keep listening for God’s latest revelation that we may be in alignment with God.

. . And then find ways to share it authentically with others.


footnotes
1 Kit on RevGalBlogPals
2 Kyle Fever Working Preacher.org April 28, 2013 1st Reading
3 Bob Deffinbaugh, Also bible.org
4 http://bible.org/seriespage/peter-called-carpet-acts-111-18)
5 Lewis Mudge, Feasting on the Word - theological (Louisville:WJK,2009)452 6 http://bible.org/seriespage/peter-called-carpet-acts-111-18)
7 Kyle Fever Working Preacher.org April 28, 2013 1st Reading
8 Lewis Mudge, Feasting on the Word - theological (Louisville:WJK,2009)450
9 Bob Deffinbaugh (Also bible.org ref same as below)

What's Our Promise?

We make promises all the time.
    (Congregation responds with promises.)

When Jesus was asked 'what is the most important commandment', he answered with a promise.
It was a promise he made every morning, along with all faithful Jewish boys & men (officially, and the women too, I’m sure before their own early morning chores) It’s call the ‘Shema’.

Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God is One, You shall love the LORD, your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. (In Mark’s story, Jesus adds ‘mind’ to the list, which helps those of us who grew up influenced by Greek thought and philosophy about the seat of our thinking.)

But there was another one of the 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible (our OT) that Jesus quoted. It was one that the prominent Rabbi Hillel taught as extremely important.
Jesus says it is second only to loving God. We find it in Lev 19:18 (b) “...you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Brethren like this part.)

Scouts have many sayings and have to learn some promises and priorities.
ASK: What are they? (You’ve already said one...)
Jesus is making a point about priorities that goes beyond numbering. He says these two commandments or RULES, are actually equal. These are the ‘law’ for all Hebrews and all followers of Jesus. He says you can’t have one w/o the other.
Then it’s not commandment 1 then commandment 2, Jesus says it’s 1 AND 2 TOGETHER.

Scholar Won Hur wrote; "To love one's neighbor without loving God would be mere humanism, losing profound connection to God."1

You might ask, but what is MORE important, my own connection to God OR DOING and ACTING lovingly to my neighbor(s)?

Great consideration of Humanism

 v Christian

There is no better week to ask this question than the one we just lived thru.

After evertything that went on this week, the bombing and man-hunt, the explosion and deaths in Texas, it has been a week of compassion between neighbors. It has also been a week of fear and mis-trust of other neighbors.
I was touched by something else Won Hur wrote and went back to read it again. "In loving God, one gains a deep awareness of God bringing hope and strength in times of despair."
You can see why that jumped out at me this week. All people need hope and strength in times of despair, especially when we are afraid.

It has been a week filled with fear. I follow Josh DuBois on Twitter and he wrote, "Fear is at our national doorstep. [Our primary question] is how will we respond?2

ASK: What were some of the responses you saw or heard this past week?
(Congregation responds)
I believe the greatest commandment holds the key to our response for followers of the Jesus’ Way.

In his article about fear, Josh wrote about how the Israeli and Pasestinian communities responded to the 4 years of terror, bombing, public conflicts called the Second Intifada, that ranged from rock throwing to shooting into crowds. It was a 'war' of sorts that claimed many many lives. (and the terror continues in many places.)

He noted that during those four years, the two communites ‘leaned In’. Each community clung together within themselves, leaning on the other members of their group and using the repeated traditions of their faith to remember other difficult times in their individual histories.

I thought he chose a difficult example, considering the shared Abramhamic traditions and continuing struggle in the middle east, but perhaps that's the point.
It is in extreme difficulty that we most notice our need for someone or something that lifts us to live beyond fear.

Have you seen responses to fear where people struck out instead of leaning in?
OR wondered HOW forgiving ‘the enemy’ fits the picture?

We can look back at our own history and find an example of one who lived beyond the fear that plagued his life.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the eulogy for the four little girls killed in 1963 at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL.  Dr. King said,
"Life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters.
And if one will hold on, we will discover that God walks with us, and that God is able to lift us from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace. And so today, you do not walk alone.”3 . . .

Jesus never walked alone. Thru all he suffered, from daily rejection to accepting death at the hands of the powers that be.
Even when HIS community of disciples DIDN’T lean together but disserted him, he never walked alone. And HIS assurance gave him the strength to forgive, even as he hung dying from their assault.  .  .

In JESUS people saw the reign of God draw near to them, not because he died, but because he died forgiving those who killed him.

We see the reign of God in his life because Jesus LIVED to a higher LAW, ‘LEANING IN’/ON to - a power greater than his earthly life. He never let fear of death stop him from doing what was right all BECAUSE he loved God, before all else. . ... .then acted in love to his neighbors.

When God affirmed JESUS' way of self-giving love by raising him to new, resurrected life, JESUS then promised his followers that WE would never walk alone and sent His very own spirit to accompany us.

Weeks like this one show how much we need the presence of the Divine in our lives because these experiences require us to love and it is NOT a pleasant emotion, but more a difficult skill that takes practice.
Greg Jones and Celestin Musekura wrote a book called, “Forgiving as we’ve been forgiven” They describe forgiveness as dance steps to learn. Difficult contortions for some of us (like me, who are not graceful). Sometimes the lessons seem unconnected and the instructor, a harsh task master.
Then the music of the waltz is played and the instructor takes a student and twirls around the floor in graceful circles showing the beauty of the end product.
But learning the dance of forgiveness is not easy,

 (They write) Our hearts, souls, minds and bodies are deeply formed by the habits of sin and evil. Despite our destiny for communion (with each other), we human beings do not typically give and receive freely with one another, and certainly not with any trusting expectation. 7
Instead, we often attempt to secure our lives at the expense of others. In short, we are well practiced in the steps that lead to mutual destruction and death while we know precious little of the steps that make up the divine dance of forgiveness.

***Jesus knew and experienced that the promises we make, the commands we commit to follow are the first lesson in learning the ‘dance of forgiveness’. And eventually they lead us to beauty - the beauty of truly living in harmony with people and the earth.

Love God, Love Neighbor

Love God, Love Neighbor, Journey with Jesus, is the central Christian message. It is what we teach our children, it is how we are to live our lives.
It all begins with loving God. It all comes from following Jesus.

When we are asked WHY?
Why isn't it enough to do good?
Surely you know someone who says, .... “I know someone who is ALWAYS generous with her time and money and never misses an opportunity to serve neighbors. She doesn’t attend church and I don’t ever hear her mention God. Yet isn’t she LIVING the commandment Jesus lifted up?”

I think [it is] a question we all ask from time to time is,    “Why isn't it enough to help my neighbor, what does GOD have to do with it.?”
Yet it if we stop there, obeying the ‘love commandment with right living alone, we are shortchanging ourselves and those we teach.

Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm was one of my professors at Bethany Seminary. She wrote about this passage, and she answers our “why” question by getting to the heart of what LOVE MEANS. 
 "To love God and neighbor means more than believing or even understanding the right thing. IT MEANS offering the WHOLE OF OUR LIVES in service to others, as God in Christ love us.
In this way, we enter the reign of God that has already drawn near to us thru the presence and power of Jesus Christ.”4

We are mistaken when we think we know how to express love without help from God.5  We wrongly define love as an emotion; an unconscious response.
Dawn help me remember that,
    "Jesus makes love a matter of conviction, reflection, and behavior.
To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is to love as Christ loves."6

This is the promise we make when we choose to follow Jesus. The bonus is we get to experience life without succumbing to fear.

When we promise to FIRST love God and live it, then we will BE ABLE to love our neighbor as ourselves!




Closing Litany

Christians find in the OT prophet, Micah, the words that justify our desire for DOING, because these are good words,
    “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
yet the words we say last, are the promise we need to make 1st. Loving God is a humbling walk, but it is the true GIFT of life, now and always.

I Invite you to join me in reading this scripture that embodies our promise.
Scripture of Promise                    Micah 6:6-8
L
All: We promise to ‘do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.”
I invite you to stand and sing these words as our departing hymn.


1 Won Hur Clergy Journal Vol. LXXXV, No5 May/June 2008 (Nov. 1, 2009 Focus: Mark 12:28-34 The Most Important Commandment) p. 62
2 Joshua DuBOis The Daily Beast Defeating Fear, from Boston to Texas April 20, 2013, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/20/defeating-fear-from-boston-to-texas
3 ibid quoted in the Daily Beast
4 Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm Preaching Mark (Louisville: WJK, 2008)214
5 ibid 215
6 ibid 215
7 http://www.faithandleadership.com/node/3533?page=full

153 cold slimy fish

ASK: Have you ever felt ‘emotional overload’?
    (Congregation answers)
if yes, When? Describe those feelings...

Think about the disciples at the point of today’s scripture. They have been thru some incredible emotions.

Emotions

Gary Jones described it like this,
    “For the disciples, the general landscape of life over the last week of Jesus’ life had been overwhelming. The tension-filled, emotional high of their entry into Jerusalem was followed by extraordinary events in the temple, a Passover meal unlike any other, an intense experience in the Garden of Gethesmane, an unexpected betrayal, an armed arrest, a series of denials, a mock trial, a jeering mob, and a bloody execution. Surely in the hours following Jesus’ death, the disciples were crushed and numb. The human spirit can take only so much.          Then came the events that brought an emotional overload of another sort altogether--news of the empty tomb and resurrection appearances that had to be seen to be believed.     These events would not only overwhelm and change the lives of the disciples forever; these events would change the entire world forever.”1

After all this, Peter says, “I’m going fishing!” and several guys respond with, “We're with you!”. They attempt a return to ordinary life; the trade they know, to find some normalcy EVEN as they process all the NOT-normal events that have happened. But they find that the ordinary is no longer ordinary because out on the shoreline, is Jesus!

We could talk debate what they saw:
    A man on the shoreline
    Heard someone call to them.
 Peter responds rather strangely (it seems to us) by first clothing himself, THEN jumping into the water.
 The beloved disciple again, ‘sees and believes’
 And there’s the 153 cold slimy fish. . .that certainly must have some meaning?
. . .
Yet I think we should look closer at what WE see in this story, not just what the disciples saw. We know this story, because in many ways it echoes the whole story of Jesus’ ministry.
Let’s Investigate a bit: What other stories have ‘fish’ in them?
   (Congregation answers) Calling disciples in Luke,  a large catch of fish in Luke,  Feeding 5,000,
  this story has 153 large, cold slimy fish, and what does Jesus’ cook for breakfast? Fish!

Multi-voice: Questions to probe.
 Knowing what you know about the miracle of feeding, how do you see that miraculous feeding reflected here?
    Why is it important for Jesus to serve breakfast?
        What is important about the menu?
Now, what do you think is the take away for disciples?
    For us?

There’s an ABUNDANCE of fish. #153 may only be there to show volume. . Just as there was an abundance of wine at Jesus’ very first miracle in John.
It seems wherever Jesus is, there is plenty! And we are to project this understanding forward into the early church AND into our lives.

There’s even more reflected in this story that reaches back into John’s gospel and forward into our lives.
Jesus says, ‘cast your nets’ or DRAW your nets. It’s the same word he used when he spoke about ‘drawing’ all people to himself.
The disciples ONLY catch fish AFTER Jesus is present and commands them to ‘draw’ their nets on the other side. It’s his final in-person lesson for them.

    “Without Jesus the disciples can’t catch fish no matter how hard they try, but with his direction, they bring in an enormous, ABUNDANT catch of fish. . .anticipating their future catches..of people.”2
    *** If the disciples needed Jesus in order for them to be able to tell the story that ‘catches’ peoples’ lives, certainly we do too! ***

It took hard work to pull in that net full of fish. And the gospel doesn’t begin to tell us about the work of cleaning 153 large, cold, slimy fish. How do you feel about cleaning fish?   

There are times when ‘fishing for people’ seems to be more than we can do. Whether we feel inadequate, or we are dealing with our own Emotional Overloads that seem to come with life,
    We can find help in this story. (of calling, abundant gifts, and lots of work)

• When the abundant gift we receive means the hard work of exercising our muscles to pull the nets into the boat.

• And when the abundant gift we receive gives us a whole lot more messy work (like that of cleaning 153 cold, slimy fish).

We discover what the disciples discovered, that Jesus is HERE, - right here with us, waiting to serve and nourish us with all that we need to go out and invite others to the mission of serving the world.


This story is not just about fish, it’s a story of commissioning for the ministry of making disciples. (Even here Jesus says, 'Follow me'.)  It’s hard work AND it’s the work we are called to.

Through these beloved stories that we tell again and again, we recall that we have the abundant gift we need to accomplish the work we are given. - the very real presence of Jesus, with us!

So even when we are overwhelmed with life,
    when our emotions are on overload,
         when we can’t even THINK past the mess in front of us,
we too can look up to see Jesus on the shore,
         there to feed and nourish us until we are ready to go out and ‘fish’ again.

1 Gary D. Jones Feasting on the Word Pastoral (Louisville:WJK,2009)422
2 paraphrased Craig R. Koester (Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel Minn:Fortress, 1995) 119
3 Gary Jones Feasting on the Word - Pastoral (Louis:WJK,2009)422

Pictures from Holy Week

Unseen Forces

Palm Sunday Waving

Sunday morning transformation

Good Friday's Darkness

Maundy Thursday's Love Feast (Feetwashing)