Monday, January 26, 2015

Sermon from January 25th, 2015



The reading:

Mark 1:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets.  Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

The message:

I want to start off this morning by sharing 2 of my favorite fishing stories. (They are also my only 2 fishing stories so I apologize if you have heard them before).  My first experience with fishing happened when I was probably 12 or 13 years old. I saw a sign near the bike path along the water in Brooklyn that said something like “Free fishing lessons on Saturday, all equipment provided”. I thought it would be something new to try, so my family and I showed up at the appointed time. There was a decent crowd of people waiting to get the equipment. After a few minutes, we were given our free fishing supplies.  I was expecting reels, string, poles, bait, hooks, a hat and all of the other stuff I had seen or associated with fishing.  I was given a soda can with a string wrapped around it, a plastic spoon to dig for worms as bait, and an old hook.  The lesson part can be summarized by “put something on the hook and put it in the water”.  After a half hour or so, we gave up and left. Believe it or not, no one in our group (or any other)  caught anything that morning.
My other fishing experience was 15 or so years later.  In one of my first sermons at my home church, I said something about how boring fishing was and shared the story about the can and string from years ago. Norman, one of the people at my church was a retired captain who spent most of his life on the water working in the navy or at various fishing or boat related jobs. Afterwards, he invited me to go out fishing with him, the right way.  The next week, we went out.  He had a small boat in one of the local bays. It was packed with all different fishing poles, reels, and strings.  There was box after box of bait, hooks, shiny things and even some beeping things.  He also had over 60 years of knowledge about the water and fishing with him.  We were out for 3 hours or so, he taught me the basics and we managed to catch 5 or 6 good fish that morning.       

These two stories have helped me understand Jesus call of his first followers with the invitation “come follow me and I will make you fishers of people” in a more realistic way.   Jesus first followers were fishermen. They depended on the sea for the survival of themselves, their families and even their communities.  In fact many of the people Jesus talks to lived near the water and depended on it for the essentials of life like food and transportation. Stories and lessons about the water and fishing were the clearest and easiest way to communicate with them.   People understood the importance of the sea as well as the ups and downs that came with often thankless job of fishing. Times have changed but this metaphor of fishing for people can still mean something to us today, even in our global world of cement, computers, phones, texts, trains, airplanes, cars and frozen, store bought or processed foods (many of which do not resemble anything that came out of the ocean).              
The most important thing to look at for us today, to focus on in this story is that Jesus does not make this invitation “follow me and I will make you fish for people” and then offer then a soda can and string, Jesus teaches them how to fish for people and provides them with all of the tools and equipment necessary to do this work. Jesus teaches by setting an example, by inviting people to follow him, Jesus invites them to see how he interacts with others, to hear what he teaches, to witness how he treats the poor, different and outsider, to experience the power of prayer for themselves, to show that God is speaking to the world with words of love and compassion though works of love and compassion. Jesus reminds them that they are not doing this work alone by constantly pointing to God and referencing the scriptures. Jesus points to the presence of God in the midst of celebration and suffering through the healing of the blind and lame, the restoration of life, the exorcising and chasing out of demons and eventually in Jesus own trial, suffering, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins.

Jesus does not just teach by example, He also empowers and trusts his followers, along with all of their gifts, skills, abilities, flaws and even doubts. When they are ready, Jesus sends them out to heal, teach, welcome and restore life. Jesus trusts them to share the news of God’s kingdom come, to use their faith and ability to be the church. Jesus celebrates with them in their success, rejoices as God’s work in the world is done and help his followers learn from their failures.  This is one of the times when Jesus is at his most human, excited by understanding and aggravated by doubts, rejoicing in achievement and being annoyed at failures.  

In all this Jesus, confronts the obstacles to sharing faith, addresses every instance of the crippling thoughts like  “ I don’t know enough”, “I’m just a fisherman”, “I am scared or shy”, “no one will believe me”, or “no one will talk to me”.  To each of these and all the other excuses Jesus responds with love, reassurance that God will be with them and focus on the work at hand.  Jesus knows that it is not going to be easy, pretty or nice work.  It is not simple or comfortable to speak to people about truly deep things, to confront long held beliefs with something new, to be open and exposed to others, to risk rejection.  This brings me to one of the most poignant memories I have of my good fishing trip and perhaps the most important reason Jesus talks about evangelism as fishing for people.  Fish do not just jump out of the water and onto a plate as fish and chips, curried fish or a nice piece of stuffed fillet, Fish leave the water pulling, biting and fighting, they need to be dragged in, killed, cleaned and prepared.  Jesus, from the earliest times in his ministry, from the calling of his first followers, knows that to introduce someone to God’s saving work means to take their life and world apart, to tear people out of their lives of sin, anxiety and fear.   The language we often use around baptism, to die to sin and rise to new life is not an accident or exaggeration, it is a description of what God is doing in the world.

Finally, I invite all of you to take Jesus promise seriously, to share the faith, hope, joy and comfort that is in you, to go and be “fishers of people”, to do so trusting that God is with you in the work

Monday, January 19, 2015

Sermon for January 18, 2015 / Martin Luther King



Sermon for January 18, 2015

The reading

John 1
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."  Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."  When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"  Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."  Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these."  And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

The message

This morning, we heard readings about God’s call for us to live good, faithful and committed lives, we hear God’s invitation to the comfort, freedom and joy that comes from waking up, going to sleep, working, and doing all things knowing that we are loved by God.  We also prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. the pastor, civil rights leader, theologian and non-violence activist, named in honor of Martin Luther, the founder of our own faith tradition.   To help us think about both, I am going to share parts of a sermon from Martin Luther King Jr.  called “Three Dimensions of A Complete Life”.  King delivered this message at New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago in April of 1967, about a year before he was assassinated.  This is after the March on Washington, the Nobel prize, Selma, countless acts of non-violent protest, the passing of the Civil Rights act and the voting rights act.  By 1967, King had expanded his vision and view of the power of non-violence to confront other issues and troubles in the world. This quickly grew to include our role in the Vietnam war and poverty around the world: The original sermon was probably around an hour long ( I have shortened it considerably.)  The message is based on John’s vision of Jerusalem in the book of revelation, where he notes, The length, height and breath of the city are equal and it is complete:  The rest of what I am going to say here this morning comes from Martin Luther King’s sermon:   

There are three dimensions of any complete life ; length, breadth, and height. Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare.  In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions.  The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God.  Now you got to have all three of these to have a complete life.
Now let’s turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers.  In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest. A great Jewish rabbi, the late Joshua Leibman, wrote a book some years ago entitled Peace of Mind. And he has a chapter in that book entitled "Love Thyself Properly." And what he says in that chapter, in substance, is that before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly. You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves.  And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So the length of life means that you must love yourself.

And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself. So many people are busy trying to be somebody else. God gave all of us something significant. And we must pray every day, asking God to help us to accept ourselves.  This is what we’ve got to say. We’ve got to accept ourselves. And we must pray, "Lord, Help me to accept myself every day; help me to accept my tools."

Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do.  And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems. We should set out to do that work so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.

A lot of people never get beyond the first dimension of life. They use other people as mere steps by which they can climb to their goals and their ambitions. These people don’t work out well in life. They may go for awhile, they may think they’re making it all right, but there is a law. They call it the law of gravitation in the physical universe, and it works, it’s final, it’s inexorable: whatever goes up can come down. You shall reap what you sow.  God has structured the universe that way. And he who goes through life not concerned about others will be a subject, victim of this law.

So I move on and say that it is necessary to add breadth to length. Now the breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others, as I said. And a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.   This is what God needs today : Men and women who will ask, "What will happen to humanity if I don’t help?  What will happen to the civil rights movement if I don’t participate?  What will happen to my city if I don’t vote?  What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?" This is how God judges people in the final analysis.

And don’t forget in doing something for others that you have what you have because of others. Don’t forget that. We are tied together in life and in the world.  And you may think you got all you got by yourself. But you know, before you got out here to church this morning, you were dependent on more than half of the world.

But don’t stop here either.  You know, a lot of people master the length of life, and they master the breadth of life, but they stop right there. Now if life is to be complete, we must move beyond our self-interest. We must move beyond humanity and reach up, way up for the God of the universe, whose purpose changeth not.  People become so involved in thinking about man’s progress that they forget to think about the need for God’s power in history. We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him.  And I say to you this morning that this is the personal faith that has kept me going. I’m not worried about the future. You know, even on this race question, I’m not worried. I was down in Alabama the other day, and I started thinking about the state of Alabama where we worked so hard and may continue to elect the Wallaces. And down in my home state of Georgia, we have another sick governor by the name of Lester Maddox.  And all of these things can get you confused, but they don’t worry me Because the God that I worship is a God that has a way of saying even to kings and even to governors, "Be still, and know that I am God."

In Conclusion, I say Go out this morning. Love yourself, and that means rational and healthy self-interest. You are commanded to do that. That’s the length of life. Then follow that: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That’s the breadth of life. And I’m going to take my seat now by letting you know that there’s a first and even greater commandment: "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, (Yeah) with all thy soul, with all thy strength." I think the psychologist would just say with all thy personality. And when you do that, you’ve got the breadth of life.

And when you get all three of these together, you can walk and never get weary. You can look up and see the morning stars singing together, and the sons of God shouting for joy. 

When you get all of these working together in your very life, judgment will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

When you get all the three of these together, the lamb will lie down with the lion.

When you get all three of these together, you look up and every valley will be exalted, and every hill and mountain will be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh will see it together.

When you get all three of these working together, you will do unto others as you’d have them do unto you

Amen

If anyone wants to read the complete sermon or learn more about Pastor King’s preaching / writing / life / work,  you can visit here: http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive

Monday, January 12, 2015

Sermon for January 11th , 2015 (First message of 2015)



 The reading
Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

The Message

Things feel a little different here this morning. Our Christmas tree is gone, the wreaths are wrapped and stored away for next year, the poinsettias, those red plants that filled our church are growing in other places (and a few are still available in the office if anyone wants one). The familiar Christmas carols, the beloved songs that tell the story of God’s love for us, are no longer a regular part of our service. Even at our homes, all of the Christmas gifts are opened, used, returned, or exchanged, the wrapping paper and boxes are recycled, many of the lights are off and decorations packed away.  
Growing up, I never wanted to take down the tree or put away the Christmas decorations. The tree would be dried out and spikey pine needles would be all over the living room floor, I would say, it just needs some extra water and it’ll be okay.  I did not want Christmas time to end.  Even now the little star and lights in our front window at home are still on for a few hours each night. I know that the event of Christmas, the birth of Christ our savior, continues to fill may life, work, and world with comfort, joy and peace, but it is still sad to see all of the external signs of it disappear.  

The fact is though, as a church, we have a whole story to tell, we need to talk about what happened after Christmas, what the child born that night taught and did and why it matters. We are now in the season of Epiphany, the time set aside for us to think about what exactly it was that happened on Christmas. This church season will take us from the days rights after Christmas to Ash Wednesday and that start of Lent. At this time, we follow the stories of the first people, the men and women, shepherds and kings, priests and prophets, who figured out, saw or, had revealed to them, exactly who this child born in a barn that night was.

The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,  The words from Pauls’ letter to Titus which I have repeated so often during this Christmas time  are a great place for us to start this transition to Epiphany, The word Epiphany comes to us from the ancient Greek world,: literally coming from the root word for appear or manifest. Back then, it was used to describe the sunrise or dawn, the appearance of an enemy during war or the appearance of a god to a worshipper. It also had a specific meaning in the study and structure of ancient Greek theater; there Epiphany referred to the big moment in a drama when the main character learns or realizes something that completely changes his or her understanding of what is happening.  In the New Testament the word epiphany is used 5 times to refer to Jesus second coming and once to refer to this birth or post resurrection appearance. 

My understanding of the epiphany, the one I want to share today, comes out of that theaterical meaning, The season of the epiphany begins with the same two events each year, the arrival of the wise men or magi with their gifts for the newborn Christ and the baptism of Jesus by John, 30 years or so later. In each story, we see that this child born on Christmas, was no ordinary child, not even close. This child was God with us.  Our understanding of how God interacts with us and our world, of how God forgives, of how God keeps promises, of how God expects us to live and care for each other, all completely changes.    

With the story of the three kings and their gifts, we see God’s plan to heal and restore us. The gifts tell a story: the gold indicating Jesus kingship and royalty, the frankincense (an incense used in worship) shows Jesus divinity and the Myrrh (a perfume used to anoint the dead),  foretells that Jesus would bring salvation to the world through his death and resurrection. We do not know too much about these travellers, although there are a lot of stories around them, we are not really sure who they were, where they came from, or even how many made this trip. (historically, people have assumed one each, 3 gifts = 3 people, but there is no real reason for us to think that). All we basically know is that these travellers are among the very first people to figure out what happened on Christmas and since they are complete strangers and outsiders, they show us because of Christmas, God’s kingdom has plenty of room for all people.       

In the first sentences of Mark’s Gospel, we have the other story that is central to the season of the Epiphany, the story of Jesus baptism. In Mark’s Gospel, there is no Christmas story, no shepherds in the fields, no sheep wandering around, no angels singing, no donkey ride to Bethlehem, no birth announcements, no star and wise men.  In Mark, the story of Jesus, the story of God’s saving work in the world, starts with John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus and the start of Jesus healing, teaching and public ministry. Mark, which is the earliest and shortest Gospel, has a sense of extreme urgency. In Greek, the words “Kai Ethos” (and immedieatly) occurs at the start of every few sentences throughout the book.  Within the first few sentences of his gospel, there is the epiphany, Jesus identity is known, we hear God’s voice declare “you are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” and then Jesus work begins.  There is Christmas in this story too, we hear the forgiveness of sins and the keeping of God’s promises, we see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and we see the grace of God appearing, bringing salvation to all.   

Monday, January 5, 2015

Not a sermon for January 4th, 2015

On Sunday, January 4th we held our Christmas play so I did not have a sermon.  I wanted to post something so I have included my article from our January Newsletter. Come back next week to read the first sermon of 2015

Each Christmas, I have three traditions that are part of my way to express and share the news that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. The first is that at every Christmas service where I can control the decision, we sing “I Wonder as I Wander” after the sermon.  This song, written in the poverty and isolation of rural America, tells the story of Christmas with faith and truth.  For me the first few lines “I wonder as I wander, out under the sky, how Jesus the savior was born for to die, for poor ordinary sinners like you and like I” , express the incredible news of Christmas better than any other carol .  

The second tradition for me is to share civil rights leader and theologian Howard Thurman’s poem “The Work of Christmas” in a sermon, newsletter or other communication at some point in the weeks after Christmas. (Here it is in a newsletter)   

When the song of the angels is stilled,
 When the star in the sky is gone, 
 When the kings and princes are home, 
 When the shepherds are back with their flock, 

 The work of Christmas begins: 
 To find the lost, To heal the broken, 
 To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, 
 To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, 
 To make music in the heart.

The third tradition is my message on Epiphany, the day when we remember the 3 magi or wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, symbols of Jesus power, divinity and death. During my time here at St Jacobus, this story has helped me to understand our ministry of sharing space and providing a place for churches to worship. In the story of the 3 kings, the star leads these visitors to the newborn Christ, pointing to the place where Jesus was.  After they arrive,  leave their gifts and Jesus moves with his family, the star disappears, its work is over, it no longer points to Jesus. Today, almost 2000 years later, the church of Christ in the world is the star, we point to Christ. In a world of darkness, sin, violence, pain, greed and suffering, we offer a light of love and hope.  Here, as 600 or 700 people a week gather in our space as part of 5 different churches, to worship God in 5 or 6 languages, our star shines brightly;  as 150 plus families entrust us to teach their young children with faith and care, our star shines brightly;  as we welcome new people, learn from each other and encourage one another in our ministry, our star shines brightly; as we work together to make our community better; our star shines brightly, as we show the world that God's love is for all people, our star shines brightly; as we to proclaim Christ our savior is born at Christmas; our star shines brightly.

It is my hope that the comfort and joy of Christmas continues to fill your hearts, minds and lives with the peace that only God can offer.