Sermon Jan. 19, 2014 "Who is My Neighbor?"

Deuteronomy 6: 4-12
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him{Jesus} to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Our favorite verses:

Opening joke....A young lawyer died and was escorted to the pearly gates. Upon arriving the lawyer started protesting for he was only 32 years old, and there must be some mistake. The listening angel agreed that perhaps it was a mistake and agreed to look into it. After a few minutes the angel came back and said “I’m sorry sir but I am afraid there is no mistake, we calculated your age by how many hours you billed your clients, and you are at least 96.

Deuteronomy 6, very familiar words, we read this for a baptism! “hear oh Israel, the lord is One...One God”. Not a god of sun and a god of the harvest and a goddess of moon and gods of fertility and whatever..but One God. YHWH. The creator, God who made a covenant with Abraham, saying your descendents will be like the stars in the sky...the Lord who freed the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt.

The Lord who is not to be forgotten, when we have homes and enough to eat....this was told to the Israelites after their 40 years in the desert, when they were about to enter the land that had been promised to them. Remember Who brought you to this...who was WITH you thru the 40 years, God was with them..as a cloud during the day...a cloud is protection from the sun when you are in the desert...and as a pillar of fire all night...a source of light and heat and protection from animals. Even tho the israelites had to wander, taking 40 days for a 2 week trip...God was with them thru it all. And in deuteronomy, Moses is reminding them of all of that.

this is the beginning of the Great prayer, the Shema, prayed daily by Jewish people every day-for 5000 years! When Jesus said this, his listeners would have known immediately what he was referring to.

Jesus did refer to this prayer...our passage from Luke is one of the times that Jesus said we are to Love God and Love one another. And he told a famous story to illustrate it.

Imagine you are in the crowd around Jesus. Listen to what He has to say...

READ GOSPEL LESSON

now this is a story Jesus told, it didn't actually happen, but it could have. The setting was a road that was well known and known to be dangerous. But Jesus' telling of this story would have challenged his listeners. A priest went by! A holy man, the person perhaps most trusted in the whole community! Remember in these times, one went to temple every day, prayed several times a day. The priests and levites were the most influential, important people in the Jewish community. And Jesus says this man crossed to the other side of the road, from the poor victim. A Levite, was another religious leader who assisted in the operations of the temple... and did the same thing. Not only ignoring the man, but crossing over to avoid him. Jesus -and there may well have been some of these people IN the crowd, was saying that someone could be hurt or dying and the community leaders just might ignore you and continue on their way. Now there were strict rules about cleanliness. If either of these 2 men were on their way to temple, helping the dying man would cause them to become 'unclean' and they would not be able to perform their tasks in a timely manner. But it seems from Jesus telling of this story that there is something else going on here...

now in our times, we speak of “Good Samaritan laws' and so on. We don't truly get how the Samaritan in this story would have challenged Jesus' listeners. You see the Jewish people and the Samaritans hated each other. There had been centuries of bad blood between them. They feuded over worship, over many traditions and by this time in their history, they completely avoided each other. There was hate, mistrust. So for Jesus to say a Samaritan helped the injured Jewish man, well this was radical stuff. I'm not even sure how we can envision today how radical this is.

And Jesus said, which one of these is the neighbor?! And told the lawyer, go and do likewise. Go and put aside all your differences with anyone! Treat others as you would want to be treated, as you would want your nearest and dearest to be treated!

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King day. He spoke on this very passage the last night of his life. I want to share a bit of what he said....

Dr King:

But I'm going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It's possible that those men {the Priest and the Levite} were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. {did you get that? You descend 3400 feet in a 20 min drive) {Dr King continued} That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked -- the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

This is what King said...he said we are to reverse the question. We are to ask what will happen to that person if I do not help. What will happen to my neighbor, if I don't help? What will happen, not to me, but to that child—if I do not help. What will happen..., to this community, to this church? If I do not help?

This is what we need to be asking. Every day. What will happen...

Whether they be young or old, spry and fit --or tired & weak of body and soul, whether they be married or single, straight or gay, even male or female. Whether a person has addictions, is recovering from disease or injury, whether they live in a grand home or in a shelter. Whether they just came to this country or have been here since the Mayflower, or are Native to this land, which so few of us are. What will happen if we do not help?

We just read our covenant..in the Reformed Protestant tradition, we 'covenant together' we mutually agree to be together as a gathered body. In that covenant we say “we seek to affirm”. That means we uphold even defend others, no matter their age, marital status, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, health....we choose to AFFIRM, not condemn. We choose to think, what will happen to them....that is at the core of the values of this church, of the 2 churches that came together. Let us think and pray today and every day about how how WE can be better neighbors to each other and to our community and beyond.

What do we need? We need love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice. We need to remember who is our neighbor, and what will happen to that person if I do not act. If I do not give, if I do not care.

Let us pray...

Let's sing together hymn Red 637 Instruments of Your Peace.

Christmas Reflections 12/24/2013

Dec. 24, 2013 Christmas Reflections Pastor Carol P. Taylor

Scriptures read during the service:

Lesson 1 Genesis 1:1-5, John 1:1-5

Lesson 2 Isaiah 9:2-7

Lesson 3 Isaiah 7:14

Lesson 4 Luke 1: 26-38

Lesson 5 Matthew 1:18-25

Lesson 6 Luke 2:1-7

Lesson 7 Luke 2:8-14

Christmas Reflections

Jesus is God's plan from “in the beginning”. Gospel of John deliberately modeled first 5 verses on first 5 verses of Genesis, to show that Jesus was indeed God, was present in the beginning.

You will notice in our readings there is a lot of mention of the contrast of light and dark. Remember in ancient times, there was no electric lighting, when it was dark out, it was REALLY dark! In a city at least, we now don't get that sense of utter darkness now. But we are affected a lot by light or its absense.

During the short days of winter many of us, get a bit grumpy. If there is an extended time of no sunshine, oh my, people get crabby! The short days of winter, which are often dark too, get tiresome.

Author Wendell Berry said, "It gets darker and darker and darker, and then Jesus is born."

Jesus is the Light of the World! (bulletin cover verse)

Light here means light that is energy,-daylight, not pigment.

Immanuel (God with us)

Jesus born as a human being, living as part of His own creation! Becoming human in order to fully experience life as we know it! God became vulnerable... sounds like a fairy tale?!

Yet we who believe, and maybe never even told our kids fairy tales, but we KNOW down deep in our hearts that this story is true.

and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

ahhh Peace....that quality we seek that can be so hard to find...at least this time of year. Yet God's peace is special, and it can be within us even in hectic seasons. God's peace is in the Hebrew, Shalom! The Peace that passes understanding...The peace that encompasses protection, wholeness, prosperity, the peace in which the wolf will lie down with the lamb.. and a little child shall lead them! The peace that brings hope, and joy even in the midst of life's trials.

Thru Jesus, Emmanuel, Spirit lives in us, when we listen and follow, we are living our faith, we are glorifying God.

When things go badly, when the stuff of life happens, and it will....we ask why?

If God is good, etc....we want life to make sense. But often it doesn't. And that just rankles. When Shalom prevails, things make sense. One day it will all make sense, we won't ask why any more, because we will understand, but until that day comes, when someone asks why? It may be that the best thing we say or do is 'I don't know either, but I am here for you.”

We live out God's love and light by caring for others, by sharing our love, our time, yes our money, giving to church and to charities. The word charity is derived from the Greek work Charis... which means “Grace' the Grace of God, the blessing and love of God, lived out and shared.

Our church, like many others, supports organizations that help individuals and families with needs like food and clothing. There is so much need out there, and once a person or family is in the position of needing assistance, sometimes they need help to get out of that position too. There is a cycle that can be a real challenge to overcome. So our church supports organizations that provide various kinds of assistance, to help with immediate needs and agencies that help people obtain knowledge and skills to overcome their circumstances. Folks learn resources and skills to become empowered and move beyond the cycle. And then they are able to help others as well!

The light spreads to others. The protection and well being-the Shalom of God spreads to others. This is one of the ways we honor God.

This is modeled by the shepherds in our final reading

“Lesson 8: Luke 2:15-20

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

When we live our faith, we glorify God. When we sing and pray in Jesus' Name we are praising God and praying to help spread the light, the shalom of God. In just a few moments we will see just how a little bit of light, shared, can spread far and wide!

Tonight we celebrate the birth of a baby, a very special baby.

But there is a shadow over the manger.

A few years ago, I was 'multi-tasking” in the Bible. I was preparing Advent Bible studies and so read thru the Christmas stories, the birth narratives. I'd been asked what is the significance of the baby being wrapped in swaddling clothes. And I explained that is a sign that the baby Jesus was well cared for. Later that day, I was going to write a devotion for a Lenten publication, and read the Good Friday story. And was struck by parallelism in the texts.

Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.

(Luke 23) Then {Joseph of Arimathea} took {down the body of Jesus} and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone.

The shadow of the cross lies over the manger, this baby, Jesus, was born to go to the Cross...for us.

Jesus came to be with us, to fully experience life as a Human being, in a human body. Because of Jesus we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will guide and help us. That is God within. Thru Jesus, we have God with us and within us. Just as in the beginning, Jesus was with God and was God, Jesus is us and is with us. Imagine that...the God who is and was and ever shall be, SO LOVED, that he chose this! By living out that love, by caring for others, we spread the light, and the darkness can not overcome it!

1/12/14 Our Favorite Verses: God Presides

Psalm 82

English Standard Version (ESV)

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of Asaph.

82 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!

Matthew 25

The Final Judgment

31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? 40 And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Sermon series “Our Favorite Verses”

I am enjoying hearing from some of you what scriptures you love, that have meaning for you. And I look forward to hearing more!

I said last week, that I would not embarrass you, I am not going to say Susie Q loves this verse because when she was 7...

this is a fascinating Psalm and I have really enjoyed prepping this week.

Last week Darrah told me after worship that this was his fave psalm and my first thought was 82? who likes Psalm 82? Are we playing “Stump the Pastor”? I wasn’t sure exactly which psalm this was, I knew it was in a section of psalms not written by David, songs of feeling separated from God because of mistreatment by outside forces. Darrah read the psalm and we talked about it then, and I knew immediately which Gospel lesson to use with it!

So who or what are these “gods” in this psalm? There are a few schools of thought here...Bible scholars LOVE to argue over various things in the bible, One pastor friend said that bible scholars love to write their books and then throw them at each other! and this happens to be a passage that has evidently provoked a fair amount of throwing of books!

The “gods” here may be thought of in different ways...

There are several explanations of who the “gods” are in verses 1 and 6. The first is the view which understands the “gods” to be the mythical gods of the surrounding nations. Another is that the “gods” are the human rulers of the nations which are oppressing Israel. Yet another explanation is that they are angels,...

this is what the (online) Reformation Study Bible says :

 This short psalm presents some difficult problems. Chief among them is the “gods” mentioned in vv. 1 and 6. A number of scholars take this as a reference to angelic powers, lesser spiritual beings who make up God’s heavenly council.

A second interpretation understands “gods” literally, as deities made subordinate to Yahweh.

The most commonly held interpretation is that the “gods” are human judges. --People in authority. In ancient times Judges were believed to have been appointed by God!

this psalm is perhaps a lament for unjust rulers over the Israelites, and a cautionary tale for those leaders, with a prayer at the end asking God to bring true judgment! Whatever the meaning, and it could well be more than one interpretation is correct- God presides over all and God has the final authority!

Who are our 'gods' today? Government and judges, certainly, people in positions of authority that may or may not use their power well. What else maybe in our personal lives, keeps us from following God to the best of our ability?

Jesus referenced this Psalm in John chapter 10, when challenged by religious leaders for calling himself 'Son of God'

and in the Gospel of Matthew we see a picture of 'the final judgment”..that is a bit uncomfortable. This passage challenges us doesn't it? It certainly challenged me this week, individually and as your pastor! I am quite certain I am personally not doing enough, and I am praying over whether our church and community are doing as much as we can!

This comes at the end of what is known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus' teachings that come at the end of his final journey to Jerusalem. The next chapter of Matthew's gospel begins with “the Plot to Kill Jesus”. Jesus is teaching here about the end times. There are several parables about final salvation and what signs of the end times may be. “no one knows the day and hour”.

In this parable, Jesus links final judgment not with military might, as might be expected—he is speaking to people living under the thumb of the Roman Empire! God's judgment comes not with wealth and power, but with works of healing and forgiveness. Of care and compassion. God has the power to 'smite' evil, but Jesus helps us see that God's real work is to care for others, especially those who do not have wealth, power. In other words folks who seem to be out of favor! (the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek...)

Jesus said as you have done to the least of these, you have done to me! These are not just words...no pat on the head to the down and out, saying I will pray for you. Jesus is in the hospitals, in the streets and the trenches, in the prisons, in the homeless shelters. Jesus lives & walks with those who are suffering, and He is with us in our worst moments, even if we are not in prison or in the hospital or homeless.

Because Jesus is God Incarnate, here to be part of our lives! Even the worst of life. Especially the worst of life.

Nadia Bolz-Weber

This is our God. Not a distant judge nor a sadist, but a God who weeps. A God who suffers, not only for us, but with us. Nowhere is the presence of God amidst suffering more salient than on the cross. Therefore what can I do but confess that this is not a God who causes suffering. This is a God who bears suffering. I need to believe that God does not initiate suffering; God transforms it.

and God transforms suffering through God's followers. Through you and me, caring for folks, visiting, clothing, feeding, sharing, walking with each other. Helping to right a system that has no cure for poverty. Through us acting not as “gods” but as human beings each trying to figure out this thing called life. Through us praying for those in need and for those who are in positions of authority to act in ways that help people- not promote selfish gain. God presides over those in authority, and God resides with us through Jesus!

Our Favorite Verses: The Lord is My Shepherd

Psalm 23

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

1 Corinthians 11

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for[e] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[f] 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Did you ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?

Starting a series on “favorite” Bible passages. I really want to hear from YOU all what your faves are and why? What does this verse mean to you?

And if you are interested in a Bible reading plan...many people start the new year with some resolutions...i have reading plans to read thru either the New Testament or the whole Bible in 1 year!

Psalm 23, most people's favorite, even younger folks who have not grown up in a church like this one for funerals especially. But it is more than a reading for funerals.! there is so much here in these few verses. It is full of hope for every day.

A Shepherd's rod was to ward off predators..a wolf or whatever, and the staff was for guiding the sheep, directing them. The shepherd offers protection, guidance, and is always there. God with us—always!

When Jesus said I am the good shepherd, his listeners would have surely thought of this psalm. They were well educated in their scriptures and would probably have sung this psalm many times.

The reminder and assurance of this Psalm is that God is always with us, even in the darkest valley.

The psalm also speaks of God's provision. Preparing a table in the midst of enemies! “Sit at the table, have some nourishment to help you for the rest of your journey.” And the hospitality overflows!

God's provision is abundant. God's grace and mercy are abundant.

that's why we come to the Table.

Our NT lesson, Apostle Paul is teaching—scolding believers in Corinth. They were folks who do not seem have a worshipful attitude. They are putting themselves, their wants & desires ahead of their worship.

And he says “For I share with you as it was given to me....”

Reminding the people that we come not because of ourselves but because of Jesus, because of what the LORD said and did for each of us.

these are what we call the “Words of Institution” in the Communion liturgy. Very often you will hear exactly these words. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to liturgy, but have come to realize that story is important, people relate well to stories –that's why Jesus told them! and so I combine these words with the story from the Gospels, especially Luke in which he also uses the phrase 'in remembrance of me'

To remember-re-again, member-a part of-- means to recall, to put together again in your mind...to bring back and renew in your mind an image or images. To be mindful. Do this in remembrance of me...do this recalling me, thinking of me, honoring me...Jesus said.
Years ago when I was first becoming a pastor, I had given my Aunt some of my sermons, and she was telling me how proud she was of me. And she gave me a ring, right off her finger. Saying “when you wear this, remember me!” and my first thought was, well you are my Aunt, I am not going to forget you! Then I realized she was talking about an older meaning of “remember me'. Meaning, keep me in your heart, pray for me!'



I think this is what Jesus was saying, keep me in your heart!



The Lord's supper,-Communion (with together) is the one of the purest ways we have to put Jesus first. We set aside several minutes to quietly pray, meditate, with some music playing, or perhaps scripture being read....and we serve each other...isn't that a beautiful thing? Isn't it just what Jesus told us?



Isn't it a mystery? The bread which is broken makes us whole....and drink which is poured out refills and renews us?



What if we treated our Bible like we couldn't get along without it?
What if we used it to receive messages to stay connected?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being turned off because Jesus already paid the bill.

Let's make 2014 the year we renew our faith regularly. Let's make this year the best we've ever had, because we are connected –to God thru the Bible and prayer, and to each other.