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!

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.

Treasures Sermon given at United Church of Beloit Aug 4, 2013

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story―
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

Luke 12:13-21 (NIV)

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

I suspect a couple of you are thinking Oh NO! We give her a few consecutive weeks in the pulpit and It's a sermon on stewardship!

No it isn't. I am NOT going to tell you to give more money to the church! Well unless you want to!

I am using the Lectionary gospel lessons as I preach, the lectionary is the set of 'prescribed' readings that churches can use or not as they feel led. Each week there is are readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, an Epistle, and a Gospel lesson. If one were to go through the entire lectionary, in a 3 year time span, you would have read/and or preached most of the Bible.

psalm is about those who have wandered, no home, no permanence (perfect for hands of faith week...) Their hunger and thirst is physical from being in the desert, but I suspect the Psalmist here is also speaking metaphorically, telling a story, about a spiritual hunger and thirst, which God satisfies!

The Psalmist reminds us to 'let the one who is wise ponder these things' and the Gospel lesson is about a 'fool'! Interesting contrast there, isn't it?

Gospel lesson from Luke, this one of many of Jesus' parables.

Parables. simply defined a parable is “usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle” Merriam-Webster online dictionary ...an earthly story with 'heavenly meaning”

Jesus did not invent the parable, in fact rabbis of this era told stories like this all the time. Jesus did polish the art of story telling :)

Jesus' story here refutes the belief of that time that if you were right with God, you would be blessed materially. A rich person was viewed as being blessed by God. Jesus is not reinforcing this belief is he? In fact, when God says, “you fool!”...the word used here in the original Greek means not only someone who is not bright, acting unthinkingly, but it also means a non believer! Jesus' story equates the rich man with someone who is not believing or cherishing God. He is not wealthy because of his faith, but in spite of it.

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Is Jesus speaking to us about possessions or about our preoccupations?

treasures are not just material things! Also attitudes. That is why we sometimes pray for forgiveness for 'thought, word and deed'

Gerald May in Addiction and Grace

I am convinced that all human beings have an inborn desire for God. Whether we are consciously religious or not, this desire is our deepest longing and our most precious treasure. It gives us meaning. Some of us have repressed this desire, burying it beneath so many other interests that we are completely unaware of it. Or we may experience it in different ways―as a longing for wholeness, completion, or fulfillment. Regardless of how we describe it, it is a longing for love. It is a hunger to love, to be loved, and to move closer to the Source of love.

People are HUNGRY! Hungry emotionally and spiritually, Hungry for love, a sense of belonging, wholeness, fulfillment, for peace...for Shalom! The wholeness, peace and protection of God. People were hungry, physically, emotionally and spiritually, 2000 years ago, that's why Jesus referred to himself as the Bread of Life, as Living water! People are hungry today, literally going hungry, going without food, yet every single day 263 million pounds of food are wasted in this country. And yet people go hungry. And they are hungry, emotionally and spiritually, yearning to know that they are loved, cared for. That there is more to life than scraping by every day, that there is hope and rest. That there is shalom.

That is why we do Hands of Faith, VBS and Book Bag Bash, Meals on Wheels, why we support Caritas and other local groups and missionaries in this country and abroad. To help people know that someone cares! there is satisfaction for their hunger. Their hungers! the physical and the emotional and spiritual hungers!

Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness,

of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given. -Mother Teresa 

THE TREASURE OF THE CHURCH

St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 CE, but we remember him not for his martyrdom. We remember him as the Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was Archdeacon, the Governor of Rome took Pope Sextus captive and demanded, "Where is the treasure of the church?" The Pope would not tell, and they tortured him to death. 

Next the Romans took Lawrence captive. "Where is the treasure of the Church?" they demanded, threatening with the same fate that befell the Pope. Lawrence replied, "Governor, I cannot get it for you instantaneously; but if you give me three days, I will give you the treasure." The governor agreed. Lawrence left. 

Three days later he walked into the governor’s courtyard followed by a great flood of people. The Governor walked out onto his balcony and said, "Where is the treasure of your church?" Lawrence stepped forward, and pointed to the crowd that accompanied him – poor families, the disabled, those considered to have no value to that society. "Here are the treasures of the Christian church."

these are the treasures of the Christian Church. The ones who hunger and thirst physically, emotionally and spiritually. The ones who God cares for and satisfies, through God's own followers! The ones called “the Least of these” are the treasures. And so are we, if we treasure others as God treasures us.

You do know that God treasures you, right?

There is a great quote by Max Lucado

“If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning… Face it, friend. He is crazy about you!”

God treasures each and every bit of God's creation, especially us! When we recognize that we are loved so well, so treasured, we want to live out that love. Love doesn't need to be saved up like a possession, love grows best when

we give it away!

Share a bit of that love today! Get to know one another! Reach out to someone you don't know at all, by helping with our church outreach events and with other opportunities in our area. Reach out, right here in church, to someone you don't know well, share a story or two. Sit down to coffee or tea together or a meal.

Henri Nouwen

When we invite friends for a meal, we do much more than offer them food for their bodies. We offer friendship, fellowship, good conversation, intimacy, and closeness. When we say, “Help yourself…take some more…don’t be shy…have another glass,” we offer our guests not only our food and our drink but also ourselves. A spiritual bond grows, and we become food and drink for one another. In the most complete and perfect way, this happens when Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as food and drink. By offering us his Body and Blood, Jesus offers us the most intimate communion possible. It is a divine communion.

In a few moments we will share in that Divine Communion. We will pray together the prayer taught by Jesus. That prayer that helps us to recognize we pray in community, we reach out in community. We grow in love by giving it away, by giving of ourselves-- And yes, of our treasures.

Let us prepare for that Divine Communion by singing together Let Us Break Bread Together.  

Weigh to go ME!

Wow! I am down a total of 32 pounds in 31 weeks. Thank you God for helping me find a healthy plan that i can live with! thank you Spark People website for great information and tracking tools and community to help along this path! (SP is free! www.sparkpeople.com)

Has it been easy? Not always. There have been days where I was tired, hungry, ornery...and blew the plan. But there have been a LOT more days of feeling good, feeling empowered! feeling, dare i say it? beautiful and strong! Feeling muscles work as i walk...my arms look more toned, and being able to carry grocery bags with ease. I walk faster, further and enjoy it more. 

and i have learned that one mess up of the plan is not a disaster. Just log-track the foods and water and exercise, and journal. Get back on track, and pay attention to what i was feeling and thinking that led to 'blowing' the plan. Then i can take steps to avoid more disasters. Paying attention to the details of of the food tracking, looking at the total intake of carbohydrates and protein helps me see where i might need to adjust my plan. 

and the clothes problem! the clothes i wore the last 2 summers are huge on me now. I got out jeans I hadn't worn in ages, i was too fat for, and now the jeans are too fat for me! 
GREAT problem to have :) 

SO today is a new day, a new day to eat clean, nourishing foods, to be active and enjoy my healthy lifestyle. and it's a new day for YOU too! Join me! 

Sermon given at United Church of Beloit, July 28, 2013

 Lord, Teach Us to Pray 

Psalm 138

Of David.

1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
3 When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.
5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.

6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
8 The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever―
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Luke Chapter 11:1-13

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

-----

I love the humor Jesus uses in the latter part of this passage. Jesus was of course an excellent speaker and humor is a tool speakers use to help people be put at ease, feel comfortable and remember things! “if you son asks for fish would you give him a snake?” that's hilarious! I think people were cracking up, but they were also remembering what He said!

The prayer is similar to the longer prayer in Matthew ch. 6, part of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke's version is shorter. There has been a lot written comparing the similarities and differences between Matthew and Luke's passages. Among those differences, is the intended audience for the original writings. Matthew was writing to Jewish people, people raised to worship Yahweh, the One True God, to help them know that indeed their Messiah had come, Jesus was the One! So there are many references to their faith, to their scriptures and prophecies.

Luke's gospel is written to people who are not Jewish, have not been brought up hearing the Hebrew Scriptures, so Luke's gospel is for people with a vastly different background and spiritual values. Also different concerns in their day to day lives.

So, Jesus' disciples say, “Lord, teach us to pray as John did.” (some of the disciples had been followers of John the Baptist before they met Jesus)

Teach us to pray. They were Jewish, they were already men of prayer! But there was something different, something special about Jesus' prayers, there was some connection there. (well OF COURSE! He was God's SON―we know that, we read the end of the book already!) They just knew there was something profound and they wanted it! So Jesus gave them this model prayer, that now has been prayed daily for 2000 years! We say it in church, many of us say it at home every morning or evening. Because it is so familiar, it can become routine, as anything can that we do or say over and over. It's a good reminder to read these Gospel lessons again to see the context, the connections with other texts and to remind ourselves of the depth of this prayer.

I'm going to touch on the highlights of this passage and the Lord's Prayer, but not go into a lot of depth...tho I could! I would suggest that you spend some time with it. Take your Bible or a written copy of the Lord's Prayer and spend time just reading, and thinking about the prayer, meditating on it and see what comes to you in that quiet time. “be still and know that I am God” scripture says...it's sometimes hard to find true quiet time in this day and age. But we reap benefits when we do!

So what is prayer? There are many types of prayer, thanksgiving, adoration, petition, confession, intercession. First and foremost though, Prayer is expression of our relationship with God. We are created to be in relationship with God and with others. Which comes first? Yes, God does! That's easy to say here in church isn't it. Once we are out the door, however....it's still SUPPOSED to be true, but it's a lot harder to keep God First. Especially in a day & age that is increasingly noisy, rude, materialistic, self-centered. That's one of the reasons we pray! To help us not be all those things, but to be more God-centered.

There's a little prayer that gets posted online now and then: Dear Lord,

So far today I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and I'm probably going to need a lot more help. Amen

Ok so back to the text...Jesus said pray this way, Father, some translations say, Our Father, or our father in heaven. Notice the plural pronoun. It's not MY Father, my parent, --ours! We pray in community-which literally means with together, we pray together with Christians everywhere!

Hallowed be your name...we revere you, God! We pray that you are revered everywhere, always. Knowing the promises in the bible that one day ALL people will bow before God, that all of God's creation will rejoice! Isaiah says even the trees will clap and the mountains will sing!

Give us this day our daily bread.... we pray for our daily needs. We can pray about seemingly simple things! You are not 'bothering” God with simple prayers. Yes God has big things going on, but God is detail oriented too, Jesus said not one sparrow will fall to the ground without my father in heaven knowing. That's detail! God cares about every aspect of God's creation, including, especially US and our lives! Our Psalm talks about this too, that God is exalted, yet is personal, intimate! God within, that is what Jesus is, because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. So God is intimate, closer to us than anything or anyone. We can share anything with God even our anger, our despair...all our junk!

As Author Richard Foster writes:

..what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.

We are to pray for our daily needs. Because God's kingdom is a kingdom of provision, of shalom, of Peace, wholeness and healing, protection. Forgiveness, for ourselves and others. That's part of Shalom too. God's perfect love and mercy help us to find forgiveness and to give it. One author says God is FOR-giving, in favor of giving, but also FORE giving -giving ahead of time, that's why God forgives, why we are to forgive, because God is all about giving. (God so LOVED, God GAVE...) to be loving means to be giving and forgiving.

And I believe that part of this prayer is that we are to recognize how blessed we are, that we have our daily bread, and clothing and shelter, and we are to help bring these things to those who do not have enough. That we are to BE part of God's provision in this world. In our corner of it, at least. So when we pray, we are grateful for our own blessings and asking to be shown how to help others.

A book was given to me by a friend, is called Transistioning, Leading Your Church Through Change. There's stuff in that book that I disagree with. HOWEVER there are some gems. The author reminds us that healthy churches are open to change. Change is part of life, every living organism goes through change, change is normal in life and in church life!

That challenges us doesn't it, because most people are uncomfortable with a lot of change, we like our routines. Maybe we like to drive the same road, to park in the same spot, sit in the same pew...we have our routines. And routines can be helpful. But we need to be able to recognize if a routine is no longer working well or needs to be updated. That's where our relationship with God comes in. Our prayer time can help us discern when change is needed.

Some people say that change is the only constant in life. I would argue that, because I am a person of faith-a Reformed Tradition Protestant-a person of the Bible. God is constant! The God who is and was and ever shall be does NOT change. However.... God is always moving forward, always leading us forward to new things, so...to change. So the only constants in life are...God and change.

So our prayer life can help us discern where God is leading us, individually and as a church. This week, the Pastoral Search Committee will publish a survey in the newsletter. The committee asks that everyone think about it and fill it out to help the Committee know what YOU all are thinking about the qualities and goals for our church and for the Sr Minister that needs to be hired. Think carefully, Prayer-fully, about this survey and think about what is on YOUR heart for where God is leading our church this year, next and beyond! Don't be afraid to think and dream BIG! We have this incredible opportunity as a church, a leader in both denominations! Think and pray for BIG -GOD-sized dreams for this United Church! Next month we will also have our Lay Leadership retreat, and keep thinking and praying for those big dreams for all of us!

So we can pray for personal, intimate stuff, daily needs, and we can pray for BIG things, for vision, for God's view of our future! Prayer is versatile, can be many things. Richard Foster again:

The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.

Communion...to be together with the Father, by the power of the Spirit, to be more & more like the Jesus...this is the life of faith. This is prayer.

This is a true story from Brennan Manning in the book, Abba’s Child

Once a woman asked me to come and pray with her father, who was dying of cancer. When I arrived, I found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. I assumed the old fellow had been informed of my visit.

“I guess you were expecting me,” I said.

“No, who are you?”

“I’m the new associate at your parish,” I replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bed-ridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, I shut the door. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man, “but all my life I have never known how to pray. At the Sunday Mass I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.

“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” he continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because He promised, “I’ll be with you always.” Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.’

“So, Padre, I tried it, and I like it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d send me off to the funny farm.”

I was deeply moved by the story. Then I prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the rectory.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell me that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he seem to die in peace?” I asked.

“Yes. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange―kinda weird. Apparently just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside his bed.”

We can rest on Jesus. We can talk and listen, just as with our dearest friend. Even if we don't have the right words, we can count on Jesus knowing because we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us, to put the deepest sigh and groan into words. We can lean on our Loving Lord to help us be together with the Father, becoming more like the Son through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray and dream together for ourselves, for our church and for our world!

Holy God, thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for teaching us to pray. Thank you for the gift of Jesus Our Lord. Amen.

Let's close by singing together What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

Traveling Heavy

Sermon given at United Church of Beloit July 7, 2013

Psalm 66:1-9
66:1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
66:2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.
66:3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
66:4 All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name." Selah
66:5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him,
66:7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations-- let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
66:8 Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
66:9 who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.

Luke 10:1-11
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’

(humorous story about traveling in Florida...)

Gospel lesson today is from Luke 10. starts off “After this...” so I looked to see what was before this! Chapter 9 has stories of healing and miracles. And Jesus has determined to go to Jerusalem, knowing the fate that awaits him! The next several chapters have more stories of healings, miracles, people questioning and challenging Jesus and He responding, and challenging them, especially for their lack of faith. This particular section, chapters 9-11 are all about the Kingdom of God, putting God first, and everything else comes after.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus sends out a large band of his followers. He had the 12 disciples, but as time went on in his ministry, more and more folks began to follow along with the 12. Here we learn there were about 72 and he sent them out to the towns where he would travel next.

READ Gospel lesson

Jesus sends out his followers to minister to folks, telling them, “The Kingdom of God is near!” Did you notice that Jesus sent out the 72 in pairs, 2 by 2? It's practical. It's safer, you are company for each other. You can care for each other. And it's what we are created for. We are created to be in relationship with God and each other, aren't we? And Jesus stresses that relationship with God aspect. Tell them the kingdom of God is near....and that kingdom of God brings healing, brings other things too, enough to eat and a place to stay while traveling. And Jesus tells his folks if someone rejects the message, just move on. It's not personal, it's that they are rejecting God. If they accept the message, they are accepting God. yet he says even if they reject you, shake the dust off your shoes and move on, but tell them, the Kingdom of God has come near you. You may not want to see it, hear it or be part of it, but it's near you and it will affect you one way or another.

I read this passage was while we were in Florida, the morning the National meeting started. I knew I would be preaching this Sunday, and at these meetings, there is worship, music, many speakers, and I make notes to report back to you, but also stuff that I can use preaching or in Bible study. So I read through these texts beforehand. And being away from home, reading this, really spoke to me. Especially that part about 'do not take a purse or a bag or sandals...” I took all of those things. And a lot more. I do not travel light. I prepare for any eventuality. I may even pack a few of my favorite chocolate bars--one never knows where there might be a shortage!

So reading this challenged me. And I was thinking about this in terms of the big picture. We as a culture -Americans in the 21^st century, do not travel light. We travel heavy. People today, our culture, we love our stuff. We love to shop for more of it, we watch commercials to see what we should shop for next. Not just the big stuff either! We go to the grocery store, there are umpteen varieties of bread, lunch meats & hot dogs, ketchup even! There is spicy ketchup, no salt added, no high fructose corn syrup, and oh yes, there is plain, regular ketchup too. In about 10 different size bottles. There is so much stuff from which to choose! We are so accostomed to having SO many options, so much food, so many things, we don't even realize how heavy all this stuff is in our minds and our lives.

We have gotten so far away from the culture Jesus lived in.

at the national meeting, one of the missionary groups represented is called Bread of Life. It's a mission in Florida, serving needy families to provide basic needs, education for adults and children and to share the word of God. Their help for folks includes shoes and school supplies for children, assistance with food and clothing. This is the group the Youth were working with during the meeting and they had a project that the adult folks helped with too. It was to make blankets to give to needy folks. You see in Florida most of the low income folks don't have central heat...a mobile home or small home may have a heater, but it's small, because, well, it's FLORIDA, they don't need heat but a few nights out of the year. But when they do, it's a huge challenge, especially for needy folks. So there were blankets made to give out to families. They were precut fleece and we cut and tied on colorful tassels. 90 blankets were made, and money collected as well.

I admit, I don't often think about blankets. at home I have light weight blankets on the bed, and heavier ones in the closet. And a few of those inexpensive fleece blankets in the tv room to get cozy while we watch a movie or a game...i don't really think about blankets because I have several. It was a good reminder to help those who don't have even one blanket. That's a good reminder of the real meaning of the Kingdom of God coming near!

We Americans and we Protestants, especially Congre--terians (Presby-Gationals?) LOVE our independence. We love our individuality. I mean We in general, in this country, not just this church and not anyone in particular, but each of us has an aspect of this feeling, don't we! We may want everything to be JUST the way WE like it, the way we are used to doing things. We want it comfortable, familiar.

But God's ways are not our ways. God's plans are far beyond the scope of our plans, and beyond our perception. We may have to allow God to lead us when we can not even see the next step! We have to keep on, even when we are feeling uncomfortable.

We have to do this as a church, don't we? We are in yet another transition. Someone said last week, “well, we were comfortable for about 15 minutes there!” We don't know what's next. And that can really challenge us. It makes us grumpy when we don't have control and changes happen.

We as a church family need to focus every single day, what brought us together. Our love of God, of coffee and a meal together, of reaching out to those in need....helping to bring the Kingdom of God near to people who need help. and we can keep on doing those things day by day while the big picture gets sorted out. God has the big picture. God is waiting for us to lay aside some of that heavy stuff-the burdens, the worrying, the 'we've always done it like this” attitudes so we can focus on the Kingdom. God will keep taking care of us, we have to pay attention to see it!

The Kingdom of God doesn't weigh one down, it enlivens and lifts us! It doesn't travel heavy, it's light.

“come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”

in the book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, the authors tell that during the Jewish Sabbath liturgy every week, is a recalling of the Exodus story, the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea so the people could cross on dry land. This is told every week! God's mighty power reached down and intervened with the natural world and saved his people. That is what our Psalm is referring to. There were other instances of water parting in the Bible too, that echo the Exodus story. The Jewish people remember the Exodus story in every worship service.

We do too, in our Communion liturgy. Jesus, when he took bread and broke it, was at a Passover supper. This meal commemorates the Exodus story. That was another time God told people to travel light, not heavy. Prepare the meal quickly, eat it quickly with your shoes on and your robe tucked into your belt because you are going to leave right away! Jesus was retelling the story of the Jewish people and making a new story for all people. His body, his blood, would become new life for each of us, for all of us. We don't need anything else. We can lay down all our stuff, all our attitudes, all of our heaviness... lay it at the cross. Because he left all of it there for us. We don't need it. All we need is Him. Let's travel light!