Relationships, sermon at Lenten Prayer service March 13, 2019

March 13, 2019       Relationships        Pastor Carol P. Taylor

Ephesians 2 New International Version (NIV)

Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

In our Ash Wed service last week, Pastor Dave Ewing spoke about Reconciliation. Tonight i’m sharing about Relationship. We can not have true reconciliation with God or others without effective relationship.

These Beloit area Lenten services have been going on for decades. As with most things, there’s been an ebb and flow to the churches participating. Over the last few years, we’ve been able to expand the number of churches and pastors who speak so we have a broader spectrum of the community. It’s a nice way for us to see other churches, experience other styles of worship, and to hear different musicians and pastors. Thru our offerings we support two valuable local organizations. And then we get to have some nice conversation over refreshments!  

Lent being a time of 40 days which remembers Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. In the early church, it was a time of repentance and preparation for new believers, who would be baptized into the Christian faith on Easter Sunday morning! And is a time for those of us who’ve been Christians for some time, to repent of wrongdoing and to search for ways God is calling to deeper faithfulness.

My scripture lesson for this evening is from the Epistle to the church in Ephesus.  I came across Ephesians 2:10 a few weeks ago in my devotional reading.. And it just spoke so deeply to me. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Let’s look at the beginning of this chapter.. It’s a very Lenten chapter, isn’t it? The Bible over and over reminds us that humans are flawed and we fail in our relationship with God. We are dead in our sin….BUT GOD!! Rich in grace and mercy, LOVES us even tho we fail over and over…… And redeems us...thru faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. This is Grace.

Found a nice explanation of Grace in my study bible..

"Grace is God's unmerited love, favor, mercy, and action in our lives.

It's by this grace that we receive new life in Christ. God's Grace is pardon for the things we did wrong and power to grow day by day in the image of Christ . by Grace we are forgiven, healed, redeemed, restored, transformed, and Made Alive. by Grace we are saved!

We may sometimes think that we are not good enough to be saved- or we need to prove our worthiness... Ephesians 2 reminds us that God's merciful action in our lives does not happen because we deserve it or earn it we are saved by grace because God deeply loves us.

as recipients of this lavish gift let US in turn be bold in extending Grace to those around us." {CEB Women's Bible}

Grace is the story of Lent. We finite humans, created in the image of God but never managing to be anywhere near as good as God, that silly free will, after all, have the benefit of Grace.

We’re created in Christ Jesus (he was present In the Beginning, was part of the creation of all things AND is the body of the church in whom we live and move and have our being! (acts 17:28)

Ephesians 2:10 The Message (MSG) Paraphrase by Eugene Peterson

God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

We created for Good works! We’re created to live our faith. To love God and Love each other. (of course that is much more easily said than done!)

Someone said “You are a child of God, and so is that other jerk you are arguing with!”

Jesus set the example. Jesus, One with God, present In the beginning, came to earth, as a human, to live as we do. Came as a baby, completely vulnerable and dependent. As an adult, Knew the aches and pains of a long day’s work...as a carpenter, not an easy job by any means! Lived and worked and traveled with ordinary people and even those not accepted by their own society...purely out of Love, to Be ONE with us, and to show us how to be in that perfect relationships for which we’re created.

I believe with all my heart that people living as Jesus did, caring for one another, promoting compassion, and equality-- The Shalom of God for everyone--will prevail. And the WAY it is will be every single person knowing they are a child of God, created and beloved exactly the way they are, the way God wanted them.

One of the main reasons we do these Lenten services is to help two local Ministries, Caritas Food pantry/Diaper bank and Family Promise homeless ministry. I’ve worked closely with both as many of us here have!

This past fall, I had a wake up call about homelessness… we know there is a perception of addictions or just poor decision making being the reasons for homeless, but we’ve heard the statistics, that many homeless are veterans, which is a travesty, that medical expenses are a leading cause of homelessness. The expenses incurred by a devastating diagnosis or disabling accident can bankrupt a family in a heartbeat.

My wake up call came from a pastor I know, who is from KC, about a year ago took a call in Northern California. Andrew’s a great guy, for a KC Chiefs and Royals fan…

One day last fall, within a matter of minutes, his church, his home, and most of his town, burned to the ground. He lived in Paradise Calif.

He posted one day on Facebook, “Never judge the homeless or the refugee, you don’t know how quickly it could happen to you.”

Came across a story about one person living as Jesus did.. A man in Ohio named Keith Wasserman who works with homeless. He periodically becomes “homeless by choice’ as he puts it, to better understand the situation of the homeless in our society. Every few years, he spends several days at a time on the streets and in shelters, in various cities.  His story is fascinating. {good-works.net}

He wrote “I believe that since Christ incarnated himself into our world in order to be a bridge for {people} to have a relationship with their maker, we too then, must incarnate ourselves into the world of those whom we care about in order to understand how they think and how they feel in order to really love and help them.”

He is striving to understand and re-evaluate the experience and treatments of homelessness, to serve in ways that are safe, meaningful and truly helpful.

He has, in these various stays, found that he may be treated as an alcoholic or drug addict. Staff may assume he is lying. He has witnessed staff being verbally abusive to clients. He has been made to sign long lists of rules without being given time to read them. He has experienced an utter loss of privacy and loss of identity. He wrote that "living in these situations, and the constant hopelessness and Fear changes one’s personality and affects a person’s life choices. Prolonged fear can turn you into someone you don’t like and don’t want to be with. Could it be fear that prompts some people to lie in order to survive?"

"I am aware more than ever before how these experiences have helped me to more fully understand that those who experience homelessness are people; human beings made in the image of God; people who in many ways are not much different from myself. Over the years, I have learned that for any of us to understand and help people who are suffering, we must learn how to leave the comfort of our own security and reach out, perhaps incurring some personal risk and pain. As a Christian, I now more fully understand what Christ Jesus has done for me. I am grateful and I want to continue to turn my gratitude into a godly activism."

Eph 2 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Now i am not saying that we all need to go live in a shelter for a while. But we can determine to prayerfully serve better, with more compassion than judgement, and to spend time with our neighbors in need in a grace-filled way. You know, sometimes the best talk you can have with someone is not to talk.. But to listen. To say only, “thank you for telling me. I care for you. We’re praying for you.”  This is living in grace.

Grace is God's unmerited love, favor, mercy, and action in our lives.

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15)

 

Shall we pray! Holy Lord God, this Lenten season, draw us ever closer to you, so that we recognize your powerful Grace. Let us take action to more completely live out the relationships chosen for us, to share that unmerited love, favor, mercy, and action with our all of our neighbors, especially those in need. Thru the Name and Spirit of our Lord Jesus we pray, 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!

Ready or Not! Sermon given Aug 11, 2013

Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

50 The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.

3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah

7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.

22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”

Luke 12:32-40

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Watchfulness

35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

opening humor: “Honest Church Signs” (these are likely the work of someone with good imagination and a lot of time...maybe NOT actual displayed signs)

“If we put a lame phrase up here will you come to our church?”

“Your tithe is important to us.”

“We think our use of power point will draw young people like moths to a flame.”

“Do you only sing songs written before 1900? So do we!”

“Easy on the new ideas, all who enter here.”

My personal favorite: On a Presbyterian Congregational Church sign! “We have a female pastor and most of us are ok with that.”

Psalm―vision of immensity of God, yet personal, recognizing individuals who live in covenant to be faithful, and honoring God in thanksgiving! Having that attitude of Gratitude :)

(READ GOSPEL LESSON)

Our Gospel lesson compares to parts of Matthew's gospel again. The section immediately before this says “Do not worry!” and then, here, Jesus says fear not! This is part of a long section that includes parables...stories and 'preaching' to bring home His point of God comes first. Our earthly stuff and worries are nothing compared to heaven!

Watching...in Bible, the word, “watch” or “Keep” means to be watchful, keep close tabs upon, guard. In other words to pay close attention! For example, if you watch your neighbor's house while they are gone, you pay more attention than you might otherwise. So too here, 'watching for the Master” means to pay attention, to keep track and notice the very moment of the arrival!

be dressed and ready for service...

servants waiting for master from wedding banquet. Servants, ready to work and care for the master! The master of course is Jesus. What is this banquet?

The wedding banquet is The body of Christ, come together for eternity. All believers, and Jesus said he would not lose even one of his sheep!

The wedding banquet, is for the marriage of Jesus who is the bridegroom, and the bride....the Church! The worldwide church! All of us! This church, all other churches and people who are truly honoring Our Lord and working to achieve God's plan here on earth..Jesus said over and over in the Gospels, “the kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus brought the Kingdom near, and His followers are to help bring it to fruition.

We are to keep watch...paying attention to the details, ready for anything to happen, especially ready for the best of all possible things to happen-for the Lord to come to take us to that banquet! Meanwhile we live our Kingdom lives, helping to bring the love of the Lord to each other and to the world. Paying attention to the needs of others, and helping to fulfill those needs. Did you notice in the passage, the Master dresses and serves the servants? Jesus washed the disciples' feet.

The phrases Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven appear in Gospels total of 85 times! But what does it mean!? It means of course heaven, our final reward, but it also means something for the present time.

Our VBS this week was theme Kingdom Rocks, and there were stories of royalty from the old testament and Jesus of course. The stories help reinforce the ways that we can “Stand Strong” for God. God's Love helps us stand strong and the Bible, prayer, family and friends, and trust in God help us.

It's fun and it made great points to the kids about ways of helping our faith.

But I think it's hard for us sometimes today in this era in this country to get the whole kingdom metaphor. The Hebrew Scriptures, over and over refer to God coming to be the ultimate King of the people. Royalty was something people were quite familiar with. The concept of complete control by only one person was what they understood.

But the VBS stories were powerful. King David of course, told about writing the 23^rd Psalm after his life was in danger! Nehemiah taught about the power of prayer in rebuilding the City wall after Jerusalem had been destroyed.

One story was Queen Esther, the Jewish woman who, by winning a beauty contest, became the queen of King Xerxes, and saved the Jewish people from being annihilated by the power hungry Haman. Her story includes her relative Mordecai saying to her, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

I knew someone who felt that was a key verse for them, that they had been called to a certain ministry task for just such a time.

Indeed, who knows, maybe we have become the United Church for just such a time as this?

This is a time of huge changes within 'organized religion'. Although I am beginning to think that phrase is an oxymoron.

Nationally, even world wide, there are changes happening. There is unprecedented fervor for the Word of God in Africa and parts Asia, where persecution is strong. Yet in Europe and the US, mainline churches are closing everywhere.

Our merger is a radical solution that other churches are undertaking. There are many mergers happening within denominations. To do what we have done tho, incorporating 2 denominations is still unusual, it's a bit 'out there'. And others are paying attention to what we merged churches are up to!

In an article on successful mergers, there were several key points. The most significant is that the church members are committed to a larger vision. The merger itself is just a step towards this Larger Vision.

Are we committed to a larger vision? Are we committed to The Kingdom of heaven? To help others see that the Kingdom of heaven has indeed come near? Whatever our specific vision as a church is, it is all about the Kingdom of heaven!

NT Wright

The establishment of God’s kingdom means the dethroning of the world’s kingdoms, not in order to replace them with another one of basically the same sort (one that makes its way through superior force of arms), but in order to replace it with one whose power is the power of the servant and whose strength is the strength of love.

This is what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel lesson. Keeping our eyes on the future...the Kingdom of Heaven, taking care of God's people. Helping to bring to our community the Shalom of God, the perfect peace, wholeness, protection that existed in the Garden and will one day prevail for eternity.

John Ortberg

Community is not built through sitting in the same building and singing the same songs. It is forged in the fires of life. When we know each other deeply ― the good, the bad, and the ugly ― community is experienced. Community grows when we learn to rejoice with one another, celebrating life. Roots grow deep when we know we are loved by others and are free to extend love to them as well. Finally, community deepens and is built when we commit to serve each other and let others serve us. This process of doing ministry and humbly receiving the ministry of others is critical for healthy community life.

Our busy August, including our just completed VBS, the upcoming Book Bag Bash, the August 24 Lay Leadership Retreat-- are all ways in which we are living out our vision, our purpose. We will grow and learn together if we continue to live putting God first. As our Psalm says, those who offer gratitude glorify God! Are we grateful today for how blessed we truly are? And are we living out that gratitude!

Barbara Brown Taylor:

Every morning when you wake up, decide to live the life God has given you to live right now. Refuse to live yesterday over again. Resist the temptation to save your best self for tomorrow... Live prepared! ...{Live your life} ready for God, for whatever happens next, not afraid but wide awake, watching for the Lord!

Let us pray: Holy God, help us to live more attentively and more purposefully for You. Help us to better live as you have called us, not for our own desires but only to glorify you. In Jesus Name, Amen.

What Do You Make?

Sermon "What Do You Make?" given at United Church of Beloit May 5, 2013

Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us―
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

John 5

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie―the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

[*Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed―and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had. ]

5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath.

Hebrew word Beth=House

Hesda=hesed, God's love, mercy, grace. the place was literally house of mercy or house of grace. It was a place known for healing, as the explanatory verse tells us the belief was that when the waters were stirred up, it was by an angel and the 1^st person to step into the pool when it had been stirred would be healed.

This story shows that Jesus' power is much greater than that of an angel or superstition. It also shows that one does not have to profess belief in Jesus to benefit! The man does not say I believe, he doesn't ask for Jesus to heal him, does he?

I find it interesting what he does answer, he doesn't directly answer! Or say yes, he launches into this explanation...i have no one to help me....he is sort of having a pity party here isn't he? “oh me poor me, nobody likes me..”

he does not profess faith in Jesus, in fact later in the text it's clear he has NO idea who Jesus is. So why does Jesus choose to heal THIS man!? Perhaps the longevity of his disability? It shows the power of Jesus' healing ability! Maybe to reward the persistance the man has shown..despite his attitude?

Why is this particular story in our Bible?! Could it be to show that Jesus can overcome even the hardest problems? A disability of 38 years?! Could it be to show that Jesus can overcome our worst attitude? That superstition and “they say...” beliefs are no match for the healing power of God's unconditional love, mercy, grace? What do you make of this?

Yes, all of the above :)

what do we make when we are in a challenging situation? Do we sometimes make an excuse? “no one will help me, someone else always gets to the healing water before me...” “Oh I don't have time, money, energy, knowledge, to do that. If I don't do it, soemone else will and they will probably do it better.”

What can we make instead of excuses? We can make a decision.

We can make a decision to change our attitude. You do know you choose your emotions! A friend of mine who was traveling this weekend said one of the flight attendants said, “Sit back and relax or sit up and be tense. Either way we get paid and we are going home to Chicago.” (yes it was Southwest Airlines)  

You choose to be tense or grumpy, or you can choose to be grateful for life, for freedom, for enough to eat, grateful for little things and big things. Remembering how blessed we are helps us recognize even more blessings.

What else can we make? How about a decision to help someone else. Or a decision to share our time, our talents, whatever they may be. We can make a choice to reach out to others, just to say hello to someone you don't know, to have a cup of coffee together. We can make a choice to pray for them.

When we pray for others, we may be praying for people who aren't sure about Jesus, but they benefit from prayer anyway! People know prayer works, that's why someone who does not have a church family may ask one of us for prayer! And to say “I'm praying for you” is a great way to reach out for others.

What else do we make? How about a choice to work with our church family? We have lots of ways to help, from wiping tables after coffee hour to ushering, serving on boards or committees, helping visit our homebound members. Especially now as we will be looking for a new Sr Minister, we as a church really need to pull together with everyone involved! It would be better if you volunteer now rather than waiting for someone to come asking! ;)

and as we are thinking and planning for our church's future, we need to be clear that it is indeed God's leading. That is why in both of our denominational traditions we appoint committees or boards to discuss and and make decision and we have congregational meetings to discuss and vote on the final decisions.

You see, God speaks to each of us and because God is so vast, and we humans are so finite, we hear from God best in community! No matter how well the pastor and lay leader perceive God's leading, it is never quite the whole picture because God's vision is so much bigger and brighter than a single human can perceive. As scripture says in Ephesians “Now to  him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think..”

We each may hear a bit of God's ideas so that together we hear more of the big vision that God has for us.

I confess, I'm trying to make it sound easy here. Change is not always easy, most of us dislike change. We don't know what's ahead and thats a bit scary isn't it?

You have likely heard 'Church bulletin bloopers” things like

Don’t let worry kill you off – let the church help.

Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow.

Ushers will eat latecomers.

Today's sermon, what is hell? Come early and listen to choir practice.

one of my favorites is one where the pastor's 3 sermon points were in the bulletin:

1. Define your fear
2. Disown your fear
3. Displace your rear

which isn't really a bad idea for the 3^rd step. “Displace your rear” is precisely what the church needs! This church, every church. Needs people to make the decision to be an active participant in the every day, EVERY day not just Sunday EVERY day life of the church.

Foster, Richard J. (2009-10-13). Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation (Kindle Locations 631-644). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

If we continue to choose life apart from God, we will take on an identity that focuses exclusively on ourselves, and we will then try to master our life and our world on our own―just what happened in the Garden, ... But God chooses to be with us in spite of our flight. God the {Creator and } Initiator becomes God the Pursuer―not to destroy us for our disobedience, but to turn us away from it and draw us back to life. The Apostle Paul explains, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Through God’s sustaining presence in Christ, the Unifier of all things on heaven and on earth (see Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:20), the consequences of our disobedience do not have to lead to eternal separation from God. We can choose the freedom of life in Christ... It is a free gift: ... Will we choose this gift―here, now, in this present moment of our life?

We can make an excuse, or we can make a decision to act.

We can decide to feel bad, or we can choose to be thankful for what we have!

We can choose to live for ourselves, or we can choose to live in a way that honors Our Maker. Jesus is more powerful than any angel, than any thing else on earth!

when we make a choice for Jesus, then we make a difference!

Let's make a difference today!

Let's prepare for Communion by prayerfully singing “As the Deer”

Casting Our Nets

Sermon given at United Church of Beloit April 14, 2013

Psalm 30
30:1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
30:2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
30:3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
30:4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
30:5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
30:6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."
30:7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
30:8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
30:9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
30:10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"
30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
30:12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

John 21:1-19
21:1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.
21:2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.
21:3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
21:4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
21:5 Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No."
21:6 He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.
21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.
21:8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
21:9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.
21:10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."
21:11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.
21:12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord.
21:13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
21:16 A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."
21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
21:18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."
21:19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

Our Gospel lesson is from sometime shortly after the first Easter Sunday, after the resurrection. Peter and the other disciples have gone back to Galilee as Jesus told them. This is their home turf, where it all began. They have had extraordinary experiences the past 3 years with Jesus and now, Jesus was crucified, and came back and showed himself to the disciples.

Remember Peter, good old brash Peter, at the last supper said, vehemently, “I WILL NEVER deny you!”....but a few hours later, when the going got tough, after Jesus was arrested, Peter was asked about Jesus and said, “nope I don't know him, no not me, never heard of him”, just as Jesus had predicted.

to deny Jesus 3 times was a legal statement. This was the same as testifying in a court room. Peter had perjured himself. Makes you wonder, doesn't it, what was going through his mind now, some time later, back at home. He has burned his bridges, hasn't he?

He said, I am going fishing. Now this was not, “Oh I'm gonna go relax on the water, drown a few worms.” Fishing was his career, his lifeblood. He fished to make a living, to support his family. Peter went back to his old routine. To his old lifestyle. And the others said, we'll go with you. They went to do what was routine, what was familiar to them.

That's a very human tendency, we tend to do to what's familiar and comfortable. Even after a huge transition, we want to do what we're used to doing. Go to the same places, sit in the same spots.

And they fished, working hard all night, and didn't catch a thing. They didn't have any food, they didn't have anything to take home to the family, they sure didn't have anything to sell! What now?

And a man on the beach called to them, 'cast your nets on the other side of the boat” they did and WOW! There were so many fish they couldn't even haul in the net! This must have seemed familiar to them, it is how Peter and some of the others met Jesus the first time! It's recounted in the other gospels, but Luke 5 has the most detail. They had fished all night, didn't catch a thing and Jesus said, go out into the deep water. And they caught so many fish that their nets began to break and Peter had to call over to another boat to have John and James to come help.

Today, there were again SO many fish, but this time the nets did not break! That first time, they were not yet followers of Jesus. In today's story, they were. They did as he suggested, not even knowing it was Jesus, and were hugely successful! We can do all things through Christ!

And they go ashore and find Jesus is cooking breakfast :) and he invites them to come join him, giving them the bread and the fish. This echoes the stories of the miraculous feeding of 5000 told in all the Gospels, doesn't it? Jesus understands that people need sustanence, that our basic physical needs must be met. After breakfast, he talks to Peter.

Note that he speaks to him formally, He isn't just saying hey pass me another hunk of bread...He says, Simon, Son of John...this is a formal address, much like when I do a wedding and say, Mary Smith, do you take this man, John Jones to be your lawful wedded husband.... Jesus is speaking formally to Peter here.

and Jesus asks Peter 3 times, do you love me, each time saying some variation of “tend my sheep.” note that it is 3 times! This is again, a legal statement! Some of the commentators on this passage make much of the Greek words used here for “love” are 2 different words, one time it's Agape, the deep unconditional love that is of God, others it's Phileos, the more brotherly love! Some of the commentators also make much of the phrasing, feed or tend, my sheep. As much as I love the knowledge we can get from word studies, sometimes fussing over the details can bog us down. This is one of the passages that I think those details actually can distract us from the deeper message. Jesus says, if you really love me, in any way, then I need you to take care of my flock. And the word translated- tend, does indeed mean to care for, to meet the needs of. To feed, care for, watch over.

You see, people have to have our basic needs met before we can work on spiritual, creative labors. We need to be fed, clothed, sheltered. We need companionship. Jesus knew this. That is why He came to earth in human form. To feel what it's like to live in a fragile human body, to know how it feels to be hungry, to laugh, to feel tired, to hold a baby, to weep. And he showed his disciples and us, how to do these things with others. In community.

Love spurs action. God so LOVED the world, he gave God's only son...God loves, God gave...Love spurs action. If we love Jesus we are to care for the flock. Reach out...we, right here in Beloit, we have come together as a United Church for a purpose that is beyond this one hour on Sunday morning. Take a look at our covenant. “We Join together, we seek to reach out in Christian Love....” It means going beyond your normal routine....reaching out, start right here, invite someone you don't know well to sit with you in the pew or over coffee, ask how things are going, ask if you can ride together next week. 'how can I pray for you?” It means continuing to reach out financially, putting quarters in the Goat for Heifer International, giving extra money to help pay off our roof early! It means helping with Hands of Faith, hearing our guest speakers, working this summer with Vacation Bible School, and the Book Bag Bash, attending our extra functions, serving on a board or committee, cleaning up after coffee hour. There are so many ways to help out! And please do pray for each other!

In this church we have had a tough season. Our congregation recently lost some faithful members and several of our folks have had other losses besides, family and friends. Some of our folks are struggling with illness or injury and are probably not going to get back to what they were before. We need a lot of love and prayer right now. We need to love and pray a lot right now. And one of the fastest ways to help yourself is to help someone else.

Jesus says do you love me, tend my flock....and if you cast your nets the way I tell you, you will have astounding success!

How is this church, or any church for that matter, called to cast our nets?

Brennan Manning, the Signature of Jesus

The greatest need for our time is for the church to become what it has seldom been: the body of Christ with its face to the world, loving others regardless of religion or culture, pouring itself out in a life of service, offering hope to a frightened world, and presenting itself as a real alternative to the existing arrangement.

Our United Church is embarking this month on a vision process. Our individual churches did this a few years ago. It was not an easy process, but look where it got us! Our 2 churches have the same core values, but slightly different styles of living those values. We are working on blending those styles, and as we do this vision process, we are going to look at needs in this community and how best we can help. God has created this United Church...yes, we did the work, but this is not OUR creation!! God has created this United Church of Beloit for a bigger purpose! We will reach this bigger purpose by recognizing our own flawed humanity and reaching out with a heavenly love to another flawed human. We can help others to see God at work―even if we can't catch a single fish on our own! Jesus is asking today, do you Love me? How are we responding?

Psalm 27, Matthew 6 From Me to We

Sermon given at Ecumenical Lenten service, Wed March 28, 2012.

Psalm 27 ESV

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

This is a Psalm of David, one of the many times he was fleeing for his life. David wrote this and other Psalms as prayers, and they are intensely personal. but they were prayers to be sung! Sung in worship...in community. The Psalms have been called the Hebrew Hymn book and the Christian prayer book. As personal as the Psalms are, and if one read through them all, every emotion is there! As personal as they are, they are intended to be sung in community.

These Ecumenical Lenten services have been so good. The different types of worship, music, the various sermons, have been wonderful. And it;s so good to enjoy the hospitality and catching up with folks after the services. It's so nice to renew these connections.

After all that's what these services are about. Worshiping God of course! And renewing connections between our churches :)

and we are all connected in some way. You know there is a thing about six degrees of separation...a theory that everyone is connected to everyone else by six degrees, six other people or fewer. I think here in Beloit it's only 2 degrees!

The bible reminds us of connections too. This prayer reminds us of connections! Our Gospel lesson is one you find very familiar. You see, some time ago I heard that the best way to pray is to pray the Lord's Prayer, but take an hour to do it! Wouldn't that be ideal! Yet, to take an hour to pray...well, it's hard to admit, but I can't focus that long, can you? And the phone will ring, or the cat wants to play... but one day I managed. And it changed the way I think about prayer, especially this prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13 NRSV

‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.

(May the Lord add a blessing to this reading of His Holy Word)

What changed the way I think about prayer? The first word, “Our”.

prayer is personal, but the pronouns are all plural! Jesus said, pray this way....

we pray in community! And yes, Jesus taught that one should go into one's prayer closet...to pray effectively we often need to make some space, take time to breathe deeply and clear away some of the hubbub of the day. And in Bible times, you didn’t have your own office or your own room! You lived with your multi-generational family in just a few rooms! So Jesus advised to get away for prayer, because most of the time that was the ONLY way for a bit of privacy to really focus on God.

And yet, the prayer that Jesus taught is a prayer that reminds us that we are all connected, to God and to one another.

When we pray this prayer, we are praying with each other! We are praying with people of faith, of every denomination or none, everywhere- who are praying this same prayer, even at this same moment! It is Wednesday night during Lent, there are midweek services happening all over this country right now! All over the world, perhaps right at this moment, others are praying these same beautiful words –in community with us! At this moment it is morning in China, Laos, where it is not safe to proclaim Jesus Christ. But Christians there are indeed praying this prayer right now. We pray in community with them, and for them. And for all the others who are praying.

We also pray with the great cloud of witnesses. Those who have gone before, even generations before, are praying with us, cheering us on to better live God's will.

let me be clear, When we pray, “Our Father” we are not claiming ownership of God. God is infinite, and perfect, far beyond our ability to imagine or to claim! No we are saying “Our” as a recognition of God's loving claim on us, that we are chosen through Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Henri Nouwen (if you read no other author, read anything by Nouwen!)

When we dare to trust that we are never alone but that God is always with us, always cares for us, and always speaks to us, we can gradually detach ourselves from the voices that make us feel guilty or anxious, and embrace the present moment. If we could, for a few minutes each day, just be fully where we are, we would indeed discover that we are not alone, and that the One who is with us in our hearts wants only to give us the love we need and the power to love others.

The Love we need and the power to love others....when we have the love we need, we are empowered to learn to love others well. This is why we pray in community. Why we live and worship in community. We are to love God with all our heart soul mind and strength, and love each other! When we spend time with other people of faith, like in these worship services, and talk to one another, we connect. We find that we are all connected, by our love of God, by our love of our families. we learn that we are all just regular folks, with stuff to deal with. Everyone has stuff, and once we learn that about each other, we can have compassion. Compassion of course is caring, loving concern. It is what we feel when we identify with another who is going through the SHTUFF of life.

And when we realize that we are all just trying to do the best we can in spite of what is bogging us down, our hearts soften a bit and we become more compassionate, more Christ-like. We care and we want to help.

Richard Foster Life with God

Attending to the needs of others—whether in the physical, spiritual, social, or political spheres—is as central to Christian faith as the greatest commandment: “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37–40)

We know what Jesus did for us. It's Lent, we are in worship on Wednesday night, that's why we are here! But how are we living out our faith outside of church? We are indeed called to live out our faith beyond our church attendance. And that is how we will again fill our churches. Because we all want to see our churches full. But folks don't go to church just because it's Sunday any more! In fact lots of people work Sundays, or nights, and going to church is something that has to be arranged, it takes commitment!

It's challenging. Because a lot of the time we have to just trust God and not see exactly what the next step is. In one of the Indiana Jones movies, Harrison Ford as Indy had to cross a huge rocky chasm. It's too far to jump and there seems to be no way across. He finally takes one step, seemingly into thin air, and a there appeared a rocky step! Each bit of the rocky bridge appears only as he just takes a step of faith.

We, as people of faith, may need to keep taking steps onto a bridge we can not see! We want to help others see Christ in us, and the best way to truly show Christ, is for us to see Christ in others. Every time we pray as Jesus taught, we pray Our Us and We, we are being stretched a bit to see Him in each other and in the rest of the world.

Francis Chan in Crazy Love How would my life change if I actually thought of each person I came into contact with as Christ-the person driving painfully slow in front of me, the checker at the grocery store who seems more interested in chatting than ringing up my items, the member of my own family with whom I can't seem to have a conversation and not get annoyed?

How indeed would our lives change?

We will only be true followers of Jesus Christ –the one who lived, suffered and died for each of us and for all of us! ..When we know that Christ is in everyone we meet, yes even THAT neighbor...and when we respond with care and compassion to each person, because Christ is within us and within them, whether or not they know it yet. How will things change when we are loving God so much that we sense God's presence inside every bit of God's creation.

And--How will our churches change? If they are filled with people who recognize Christ in each other and in the world?

Author N.T. Wright in his book Simply Christian, writes of what the church can be:

“It’s a place of welcome and laughter, of healing and hope, of friends and family and justice and new life. It’s where the homeless drop in for a bowl of soup and the elderly stop by for a chat. It’s where one group is working to help drug addicts and another is campaigning for social justice. It’s where you’ll find people learning to pray, coming to faith, struggling with temptation, finding new purpose, and getting in touch with a new power to carry out that purpose, It’s where people bring their own small faith and discover, in getting together with others to worship the one true God, that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. No church is like that all the time. But a remarkable number of churches are partly like that for quite a lot of time.”

Our churches are partly like that, part of the time. They can be more and more like that if we make it so. We can take this renewed recognition of the Passion of our Lord and our growing com-passion, back to our churches and help others find this profound sense of community. These last 10 days or so of Lent, pray thoughtfully and think prayerfully about how we can help make our churches more like this vision.

God who is our Light and Salvation created humans, created you and me for a personal relationship with himself, and to be in compassionate community with each other. The Infinite , perfect God so LOVED the world....all of the world, that God gave his one and only son, Jesus. Jesus-the One who knew no sin- took all of our sin, our pride, our hate, greed, selfishness, everything that keeps us apart from God, Jesus took upon himself at the cross. Jesus endured the cruelest death that humankind could mete out. He did it purely from love and desire to make us one with God. In these final days of Lent, let us prayerfully remember and honor what Jesus did for us by living out that prayer He taught.