Praying to the One God Sermon at United Church of Beloit, Sept 22, 2013

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!

4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

1 Timothy 2:1-7

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

~~~~~~~~

A young child was asked to say the prayer before dinner. The child began, asking God to bless Mommy and Daddy, siblings, and friends, each person at the meal, naming by name. Then the child thanked God for the meal, for each food, the roast, the potatoes, the gravy, bread & butter, the milk and juice, and then there was a long pause. Very LONG pause...and the child whispered to her parents, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know I am lying?”

Paul is doing some teaching here on prayer. This is part of a lesson on correct worship.

2:5 there is one God. This is the fundamental affirmation of the Jewish religion

The phrase "there is only one God" echoes the Shema which is the central tenet of faith in Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Here Paul uses this language to compare the oneness of God with the plurality of all-the “many” of humanity.

one mediator between God and men.There is One who arbitrates between God and humanity and reconciles them.

the man Christ Jesus. Paul’s focus is on Christ’s humanity, perhaps because the false teachers had denied that Christ was truly human. The full humanity of Christ is essential to His serving as Mediator of the covenant of grace. Jesus MUST be both fully human and fully divine in order to be the bridge for us who are only human, and God who is only divine.

Paul is teaching on worship and specifically here on prayer. Interesting that he specifies to pray for “kings and those in high positions”

he specifies 4 types of prayer.

supplications, a request, sense of urgency

prayer- to pray earnestly -sincerely, also a place to pray-set apart

intercessions-literally means to come together. intercession." Paul uses the verb form in Romans 8:27 to denote the intercessory role of the Holy Spirit and in Romans 8:34 to describe Christ's intercession for believers

To pray means to turn toward God. A deliberate act..to turn our attention, thoughts and desires to God!

Psalms help us with the turning towards God process. That is why I generally use a Psalm as the basis for our call to worship each week.

When we pray, sing, “bless the lord”, we are not 'blessing” God, but we are giving recognition, Love and honor, giving God the glory, thanks and praise!

This comes right out of the hebrew tradition of saying a 'blessing prayer' of thanks for everything.

thanksgivings―giving of thanks, Greek word is Eucharista -from Charis-meaning grace..God's grace.

And Paul says to pray with thanksgivings for all people! The word in the bible for people is also translated nations, it is the word Ethnos...from which we get the word ethnic...we are to pray for ALL kinds of people aren't we!

So why pray? We are not going to change God with our prayers? God already knows our hearts, God knows our needs, why pray?

Prayer is part of our relationship with God. It is like when a small child tells parent what's on his/her mind through the day. Don't you sometimes feel better when you talk out something with a loved one? Prayer is like that too. Prayer does not change God, but it helps us in our relationship with God.

Henri Nouwen,

It is important to nurture constantly the life of the Spirit of Jesus―which is the eternal life―that is already in us. Baptism gave us this life, the Eucharist maintains it, and our spiritual practices―such as prayer, meditation, bible reading, and spiritual guidance―can help us to deepen and solidify it.

“to deepen and solidify it” that is our goal, to help our faith life which is what gets us through the daily life.

Do we NEED to deepen our faith life? Well, think in terms of what is going on around us in society....

Richard Foster

We are always being formed by something. If we remain passive, we are being formed in the likeness of our surrounding environment. That thought alone should give us pause before dismissing the importance of disciplined effort.

To follow Jesus, we need to nuture His Holy spirit within, through prayer, bible reading, other ways of 'spiritual formation'. We will talk about these over the next few weeks. The churches that are bearing fruit these days are all about this spiritual growth. It all comes out of a deep desire to follow Jesus.

THIS is how we as a church will determine our future together. This is how we will perceive our vision, move forward into our next chapter. I suspect right now many of us feel adrift, as tho we are on the water, but not moving with purpose. Maybe even without an anchor.

Personally, I don't see it that way. I see us reaching out to our community as we always have! And reaching out well, very successfully. Because of our people! You all! Recognizing a need and taking care of it. Helping to take care of each other and of our community! We are making a difference in lives of people here in Beloit and elsewhere through our mission and outreach! I see new folks coming to worship. I go to meetings, introduce myself and hear, 'Oh you are from THAT church! Tell me more!”

We are 'That church!” and we are doing a lot of things well!

There's a story about prayer...
When a nightclub opened on Main Street, the only church in a small town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility.

After hearing both sides, the judge said, It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in prayer, while the church doesn't. {-Herb Miller, Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually }

ouch...

do we believe in the power of prayer? I am NOT advocating that sort of prayer. but do we believe that it could happen!? I do! Do you!? How about if we pray to see more people here in our community, fed, clothed, sheltered, living in safety instead of fear & violence....and we pray to be part of that solution?

Now, please know that I do not always find prayer to be easy. There are times I have no idea what to say and take great comfort in the knowledge that God DOES know what is on our hearts and that the Holy Spirit does interecede for us! That we do not have to be articulate and use 'correct' words or say 'thee and thou” to make our prayers heard. Because sometimes all I can think to say is God, You know all things...you know how my friend is hurting, please, help!!! and God has shown me that a lot of times, words aren't even necessary....the best prayer can a hug, and maybe even to cry together.

Remember, Jesus wept.

I think that one sentence --that one verse, John 11:35, Jesus wept, is one of the most powerful sentences ever composed. Jesus wept, with his friends, sharing in their anguish...taking on their pain, as he would later take on our sin.

We love and follow Jesus not simply because of what he said, but because of the way he lived, died, and was resurrected. Jesus does not ask us to agree with him but to follow him. He takes us on a journey, toward truth, toward a Kingdom we would not have entered without his saying, "Follow me" (Mark 1:17).

Prayer is one of the ways we follow Jesus more closely. Today, tomorrow, this week, please make a bit more time for prayer. Pray for (5 finger prayer) those closest to you, for those pointing you in the right direction (including your pastor and church leaders!) pray for those in leadership of our nation and world, pray for those who are weak, ill, grieving, in economic straits...and pray for yourself, to follow more closely, to learn how to reach out in His love!

What's First? Sermon Sept 8 United Church of Beloit

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither―
whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Luke 14:25-33

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters―yes, even their own life―such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

What a lovely Psalm! This one is considered to be a preparation for prayer :)

so what does it mean to meditate on the Law of the Lord...the Scriptures! The Word of God! The word here in Hebrew literally means to mutter or murmer the word to oneself repeatedly.

“Blessed is the one...” in Hebrew, the word blessed means not only to have God's favor, but means also to be guided by God, as in guided along a straight line. So when one is spending time in the word of God, learning it, pondering it by repeating it, until it sinks in! Keeping a thought or devotion, or prayer in front of you can have a profound effect on your day, helping transform your thinking into positive channels.

Then, one is like a tree growing by streams of water...a tree that thrives, that will always have green leaves and bear good fruit.

Our Gospel Lesson today is from Luke, continuing the various stories and encounters from Jesus' ministry as he is traveling along on his final trip to Jerusalem.

{READ Gospel}

it's a challenging passage isn't it? I find it interesting that Luke mentions “large crowds following Jesus' and he turns and says this to them. He knows what is awaiting him in Jerusalem, the crowds will cheer for him as a King, and only days later shout “Crucify him!”

his followers of course don't get this. He has told his disciples what is coming and they don't get it.

When he says here, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate...” it is a comparison. TO love less. Much less. He is saying to come to me, you must love me SO much that everything else you love, even the love for your dearest family members, will be nothing in comparison to the love you have for me! It will seem like you hate them because you love me so much!!

which brings me back to our Psalm....What really struck me here is the word “Delight”. To delight in the word of God....to delight in prayer and bible devotional time! do we delight in our devotional time? Do we delight in our worship, in our prayer time? Or are these things to do, part of the routine, something we are comfortable with? something to tick off on the daily checklist?!

To come to Jesus, we must DELIGHT in him, in His love, so much that our love for everything else pales....because His love for us is like that!

I have a little story...when I was a kid, I had a few aunts uncles and cousins. There was one aunt and uncle who never had children of their own, so they spoiled the socks off of their nieces and nephews. And being with them, I always felt so special. I knew that they sent great gifts to all my cousins, but I always knew that I was the one they loved best.

Well, when I grew up and my uncle, then my aunt passed on, my cousins and I were talking, and it turned out that every one of us was convinced that we were the favorite. Somehow they managed to make ALL their nieces and nephews feel so special that each of us thought they loved us best.

That's how God's love is, the love of Jesus. He loves You BEST. And he loves YOU best. And he loves YOU best...and me too. Somehow, because He IS love, his love for each of us is the best. All of us is the favorite! He DELIGHTS in us!! so he asks us to delight in Him.

And Jesus says if we do not delight in him! If we do not love that much we can not be his Disciple. Because it's a hard road.

he seems to almost be antagonizing the followers?! Telling them to take up their own cross! They all knew what it meant to carry the cross, crucifixion was fairly common in these days, and the prisoner was made to carry the crossbeam on which he would be executed. Could it be that as the group was traveling along the road they passed an execution? That a prisoner was carrying his cross and Jesus used that imagery deliberately with the sight of a beaten bloodied man staggering under the weight of the load right there nearby?

I wonder if any of the followers said, oh well never mind I am outta here....

and Jesus talks about counting the cost...planning ahead, understanding what is needed. We do that with tangible things. With buildings, cars, even groceries! Well we are SUPPOSED to plan ahead, some people just use credit cards, but that's another story.... But our faith life is not tangible, so we may not 'count the cost' because we don't know how. So Jesus said we need to love Him SO very much that everything else in comparison seems like we hate it.

And we 'take up our cross' and I looked up the Greek word here for take up and it means to take up, bear, or lift up. So we bear the burden of our cross...our stuff. And I don't mean just the tangible stuff. Yes, that's what Jesus said in this text. But some of us are even more burdened by other things...frustrations, anger, unforgiveness, “if onlys” “if only-this...if only that, then my life would be perfect...” this is all stuff that can greatly impede our faith life. But other things, possessions, can and do get in the way of our faith life too. I do not believe that every one is supposed to give away all our possessions and money. But I think most of us-and I mean ME too!-- could simplify a LOT and life just as well...or better.

And yes there are other obstacles to our faith life. Your health maybe...yet you can always pray. And there is always something or someone to pray for! And maybe you are not sure you have a ton of faith...the kind of faith that someone else has. I felt that way for a long time. I actually thought I was not capable of that steady strong faith that I saw in others. And a friend said to me, 'you can pray for more faith'. And I did....and that is one of God's favorite prayers to answer!

We can pray for more faith and love, we can pray to delight in our Lord Jesus. And so to be better followers. We can pray to better live out His love. To Put Him first!

This is Rally Sunday, the start of a new program year in our church, new season of Bible study & Sunday school and choir! We can continue to pray about all those things, and pray for a new vision for this United Church of Beloit. We can pray to love our Lord and Love others as He would have us do. We can pray to help bring God's love and Shalom, that perfect peace to Beloit and beyond!

One of the best prayers for this is the Prayer of St Francis. I made copies of this lovely prayer for each of us, can we take those out and pray it prayer together.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much

seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

You Are Free Sermon given at United Church of Beloit Aug 11, 2013

You are Free

Isaiah 58:9b-14
58:9b If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

58:10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

58:12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

58:13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

58:14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Luke 13:10-17
13:10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
13:11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."
13:13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
13:14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
13:15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?
13:16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
13:17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

(opening humor)

A parishioner called his minister, very angry on a Monday morning. "Pastor" He said "I tried to get you on Friday, but you weren't in." 
"It was my day off," the pastor replied.
"Day off?" the parishioner stormed. "The Devil never takes a day off."
"Well, if I didn't have a day off," the pastor rejoined, "I'd be just like him!"

----

This text from the Prophet Isaiah reminds the people to care for one another and to honor the Sabbath.

In our Gospel lesson, from Luke, we see Jesus teaching on the Sabbath, and some of the leaders getting upset with him, (again..) this time for performing a healing on the Sabbath!

READ GOSPEL LESSON

Jesus broke with another tradition here. In the synagogues, men and women were in different areas. (today in this country, mostly that is not the case any more) So Jesus called this woman forward, most likely into the “men's area”. Can you imagine how that might have felt, to have everyone staring as you make your forward? But she went! And Jesus said to her, You Are Free.

Remember in the Ten Commandments, the 4th is “Remember the Sabbath  day by keeping it holy.” this is part of the instructions to the Hebrew people to honor God, whom they called Yahweh. The sabbath is a day of rest because after the 6 days of creation, whatever time period each of those 'days' encompassed, after all that work God rested. And people should too. God made a provision that we rest, right in with Honoring God, honor your parents, do not murder and do not covet thy neighbor's stuff.

In Jesus' time, in the Hebrew tradition, the sabbath was a Big Deal. The sabbath began at sunset Friday and went until sunset Saturday. There was to be NO work done. All the cooking had to be finished before sundown. You had a special meal, (eating is not work!) with special sabbath prayers and songs, and enjoyed a restful day on Saturday. Then at sundown, you would be renewed for a new week. In this era, the rules for this observance were followed very strictly. No work of any kind, was to be done. So the synagogue leaders complain to Jesus that he was “working” by healing this woman. And blamed her, telling her she should have come to be healed on a different day.

Jesus' response is interesting, isn't it? He calls them hypocrites, and a hypocrite is literally an actor wearing a mask, a false face. He says you hypocrites, you will untie your work animals and lead them to water on the Sabbath, that's part of your definition of work...but you care for your animals enough to break this rule. Surely this woman, a child of Abraham, is worthy of healing, no matter what day it is!

(Abraham, with whom God made the very first covenant...all Hebrew people are considered children of Abraham. (and Muslims and Christians) so he is saying, she is a child of Abraham, JUST like you... how dare YOU deny her this?

Jesus seems to be saying that care and compassion are at least as important as honoring the rules of the Sabbath. That someone who needs help is important.

I don't think he is saying 'rules are made to be broken'. I think he is saying think big picture here.

You see in this time the Hebrew people had not heard from a genuine prophet of God in 400 years. They were yearning to hear from their Yahweh, yearning to be freed from the taxation and even oppression of the Roman empire. The common belief was that they had not heard from a prophet and were struggling so because they weren't being “Good enough” So there were all these rules and regulations to follow and people eager to call you out if you slipped up just the tiniest bit! It's as if one person untying an ox on the sabbath was the SOLE reason that God was silent. And the Sabbath rules, well to disobey those is directly dishonoring God. So people became very legalistic and regimented about all the rules in their scriptures. We aren't talking just the 10 commandments, here. there are over 600 rules in the old testament, the Hebrew scriptures.

And Jesus poked holes in their legalism. Their legalist ideals are getting in the way of care and compassion for one another! For a child of Abraham! One of their very own.

He seems to be saying YOU are the ones who can only see just a little bit around you. Your focus on minutia is inhibiting your ability to look up and look around! You are ones who are bent over.

Sometimes we are all a little bit bent over. We don't look around and see the needs of others close by. We don't always remember to look at the big picture of the way Jesus lived and cared for people no matter. We forget that we are Free to look up―to Jesus.

This is one of the stories from the Gospel of Luke from Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem. He journies along, healing folks, telling many stories and talking about the Kingdom of God. And encountering leaders of that society that challenge him. There are other examples of Jesus healing on the Sabbath and talking to people over and over for their failure to put God first.

In these times, author NT Wright says,

The sabbath was the day when human time and God’s time met, when the day-to-day succession of tasks and sorrows was set aside and one entered a different sort of time, celebrating the original sabbath (when God rested) and looking forward to the ultimate one. (When we are all together in heaven-the New Jerusalem!)

The ideal for the Sabbath is the meeting point of God's time and ours. Jesus is the meeting point of God and humans. Fully human, fully divine, Jesus is where WE can begin to grasp, the infinite, omnicient, ever was, is now and ever shall be God of the universe! and we, finite, limited humans can get a sense of God's perfect love, compassion and Shalom.

Thru Jesus, God knows exactly what it's like to live in a human body, what it's like to be tired, hungry, what it feels like to hold a baby, or to slam one's thumb with a hammer. How good it feels to have someone care for you, washing your feet after a long day's journey, and how it feels to care for your friends, washing their feet.

Jesus was on his way to his destiny. To the earthly meeting point of Humankind and Creator―the Cross. On the way, he worked to convey the incredible love and compassion of God and to help us learn to follow, to honor God by sharing love and compassion to others. We are Free to do so!

Whenever we help another we are following Jesus. This is our calling! Individually and as a church. When we serve, giving a drink of water, meals, shelter, a loving ear and a shoulder to cry on, we are following Jesus. When we help with VBS, Project 16:49, Hands of Faith, Caritas, Book bag bash, when we support any local or international mission group, we are following Jesus. If we do not, we are bent over, not like the daughter of Abraham, but like those who scolded Jesus because they refused to look up to see His loving compassion.

Martin Luther King, Jr was quoted as saying, “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” 

Jesus lived Love. We are called to do so also. The One who journeyed to the cross, did so freely. He did it so we could be free too. You are Free to choose!