Sermon for August 25

The readings

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

The message

We have our second week on the theme of Sabbath and rest.  The Sabbath is much more than avoiding work. The Sabbath is so much more than not doing laundry or sweeping on Sunday. It is a call to be God’s people. Nehemiah 10:30 shows a massive expansion of what keeping the Sabbath means.  "When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.  Debts are canceled because debt is not part of creation, the land rests, abusing the environment is not part of creation, The Sabbath remind us that the earth makes enough food for everyone without our interference, it is distribution that is the problem, Sabbath is a time to remember what we do matters and most of the time in very bad ways. Sabbath stops business as usual

The idea of a Sabbath, a day of rest, is built into creation. God, setting the example for us and showing the world is more than capable of sustaining life. In Genesis God blesses and hallows (makes holy, set apart) the Sabbath, establishing it as a day of rest to think about God’s love, power and presence. It is also a sign that creation is good, capable of functioning on its own, God does not need to micromanage, the sun will come up without God pushing it, the earth will spin without God winding it, gravity will keep stuff in place without God tying all of creation to strings and pulling things up and down, the thousands of perfectly tuned laws of nature will hold life together.

I think back to when I took my first driving lessons, after the first hours in the car, the instructor noticed that I had a habit of constantly adjusting the steering wheel to keep the car strait on the road. I started to think that the car was defective, maybe the wheels were misaligned or some issue with the tires being unbalanced.  My constant mini adjustments to the left, right and back to the middle would make a zig zag pattern and I would do it more and more to keep correcting.  I would constantly worry about drifting out of the lane so I would always end up going from line all the way to the other. After numerous attempts to explain to me that the car would go straight if I just left it alone, the instructor realized, I still didn’t get it, when he said “stop doing that”, I heard “your right to adjust, just do it little less and smarter”, which just led me to worry and correct more.   After this, we got to a stretch of straight, empty road and he tells me “okay, just take your hands off the wheel” and see what the car does. Sure enough for about 20 seconds the car went straight ahead in the lane with no zig zag or veering off to the left or right. It was not the car that was defective, it was me.  That was a truth I had to experience, I had to witness, I had to sit in and see.  After that I remembered that cars were designed to go forward in a straight line and did not need countless mini adjustments.      

John chapter 15 is focused on relationships, the believer’s life in faith, with Christ. These relationships will keep people on the right path, that place us in right relationships. . John 15 starts with Jesus explaining the relationship of believers with him. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^[a] to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed^[b] by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  This is one of the 7 “I am” statements Jesus makes in John’s gospel (I am the Good Shepherd, I am the way, the truth and the life),

Next is about our relationship with each other, this time the defining word is love  "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends

Chapter 15 ends with the believers relationship with the world, 18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.   We are in the world, it is the place we love, we live, we experience but we are also part of the kingdom of God.

We need a Sabbath to realize these things, to remind us God is in control

Sermon for August 18

The Readings

Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Matthew 11:28-30

Deuteronomy 5:12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The message

We are ending our Summer series with 3 weeks on the Sabbath, rest.  I wanted to start with a look back. This Summer, we sent 4 weeks on the book of Psalms, the ancient songs of worship in the temple.  These songs were written to express people’s experiences of God. We looked them in terms of how they shared faith, realistically. Using Walter Brugglemanns breakdown,  some were psalms of orientation, written and sung when things were good, when the world seemed fair and kind. Others were disorientation, when times were bad, collapsing, when there is chaos, loss and there seems to be no way out of suffering. Finally, there is reorientation, things are well again, the suffering endured and triumphed over, a drastically different world but one where the memory of things past remains and God’s presence is still known.

After this we had 5 weeks with the Letter to the Hebrews, written to try and restore, revitalize, wake a church community that started off great but quickly faded, grew dull and confused.  The author writes to try and wake people by focusing on Christ’s death and resurrection. They also define faith in word ( now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.)  and examples of people like Noah, Enoch, Abraham and Abel doing it.

We finish summer with 3 weeks about the Sabbath / rest. This is something I don’t do well. Jen can tell you I am not a fan of resting, its okay in small doses but much more then a hour and I start getting concerned. This leads to Jen and I’s annual vacation debates, Jen will say look at, want a nice hotel, I will say who cares, every moment spent in the hotel is time wasted, time better spent doing something, we need a hotel with a great location so we don’t waste 20 minutes getting to stuff.  If it has a view, balcony, something to look at, I could think of hotel time as doing something

I am coming up to 10 years of ministry here at St Jacobus, here in Woodside, and I must admit my approach to ministry has been very similar to my approach to vacation, we are in a time and world where the best answer to how are things? Is I am busy, I am very busy, I am overwhelmed with how much I have to do, it feels like I will never catch up, all that equals I am important, I am capable, I can list a whole bunch of stuff on the calendar, until whoever I am talking to mentions that enough,  wow you do a lot, that’s impressive becomes are you nuts, why are you doing all that, don’t you have help, cant you find others to work with you (probably, I barely ask and don’t want to put off doing) , how do you do any of that well, intentionally, how do you find time to connect, empower others ( I don’t, there is no time), you can do more together     

Perhaps this is why I have choose this series on Sabbath and rest, words I need to hear as much as you do.  We measure worth by how much we do, what our job is, what we have accomplished, what we are good for, once a week, that all disappears, on the Sabbath, we measure worth because we are loved by God.  I often hurry to see one more thing, get one more thing done without taking the time to ask “why”/  

One of the earliest commands on Sabbath rest (like do not steal, do not commit adultery and  share the good news, Sabbath rest is a command, not a thoughtful suggestion) Points you to the main things, Awake and think on the Exodus. This was the main event of the Old Testament, the God driven, miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt.  

To pause for a Sabbath gives us a chance to remember why we are church,

Sermon for August 11

The reading

Hebrews 11:1-16 [12:1-2]

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and "he was not found, because God had taken him." For it was attested before he was taken away that "he had pleased God." 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old — and Sarah herself was barren — because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

The message

I thought I had just gotten over a cold / sickness that I was dealing with throughout the week and felt okay this morning, until about 2 minutes before church, when I started to feel very sick.  Also half way through my sermon a young kid from church loudly burst through the front door (about 10 ft behind me) just to say hello (I think).  All good stuff when we look at the fact that the point of this text is to call people away from distraction and towards God’s saving power, given to us through the gift of faith.  I also felt thankful that we had a church service / liturgy where God’s word, forgiveness and love was expressed in song, prayer, sacrament and fellowship, in spite of my not making a lot of sense, getting distracted,  not liking my manuscript halfway though and going off on tangents that didn’t make a lot of sense. An experience that reminds me, this is God’s work and having some order to church is good.     

This week, I hosted the Elmhurst Clergy meeting. It’s a monthly prayer group of pastors and other leaders from churches in the neighborhood (this time the woodside people actually outnumbered the Elmhurst folks). Since it was a nice day out and someone was allergic to cats, we meet outside in the backyard. As we meet, there was some construction going on next door, with all of the banging and machine noise that goes along with it.  We briefly thought about moving but all said, well we’re used to noise, even celebrating that we do ministry in life, in a city, with all the distractions that come with that work.  Our days are filled with distractions. We do not wait for things to get quiet, we share the word in all conditions.

Today, we finished our 4 weeks with the Letter to the Hebrews.  There are 2 lenses or ways of understanding the purpose and first audience of this letter.  First, they were Jewish in their history, understanding and tradition. They knew the Law, Old Testament and the expectations for the messiah well. When the first audience heard the stories of people like Abraham, Abel and Noah, they would have instantly said, oh yeah, that’s true.  Second, this communication was written to try and restore a community that had grown dull and lazy in their welcome, faith and attention to the word of God. We do not know if this fading in faith was due to rival teachers and world views influencing the community (like Corinth), persecutions or some other factor inside the community or outside the community.  The initial excitement in faith had been lost.  The community had become distracted from Jesus.

Today, we might call this burnout. It remains a concern for large churches with overwhelmed leaders during times of non-stop growth, adding new people, programs and missions, The joy of growth becomes a monster that must be fed. It is a problem for new or small churches whose members and leaders are overwhelmed with doing it all, frustrated with poor buildings, memories of the not so distant past and the failure of great ideas. Joy of salvation becomes fear for the future. 

All of these examples and countless others, are the same, the biggest distraction is we make church about us, our work, our ideas, our energy, our resources, our triumphs and failures.  Today, the author of Hebrews reminds us, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

To address these distractions, the author of Hebrews focuses on Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. Using the image of Jesus as the great high priest, who like ancient Melezidek, comes from outside the tradition and unlike anyone else whose sin offering is not temporary and whose sacrifice needs no repeating. The author also focuses on faith. 

Today, we end our time with the author’s argument that faith comes through God’s word.  In our tradition, Luther wrote about word alone, that faith comes through hearing, that God’s word, read, preached and shared brings people to faith. (Faith is not simply another work, like keeping the commandments, loving your neighbor or not cheating)

What is faith?  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Last week, the author of Hebrews the structure and order of the temple to illustrate the radical change that Jesus brings.  This week, the author uses examples from the ancient world, the stories of people that the first audience would have known well to show what does faith look like. Faith is not simply defined as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen   The author of Hebrews defines faith through images, stories, the witness to the actions of God’s people. The ones mentioned, Noah, Abraham, Enoch, Abel all take bold, unusual actions with the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.  Abraham moves his family, when they had no logical reason to, becoming refugees in a strange land instead of keeping a good, stable life and inheritance right where they were. He moves with the assurance of things hoped for,  Noah builds a boat when there are no rain clouds in the sky and no history of it ever raining that much, Noah acts with the conviction of things not seen.  Abel, one of the children of Adam and Eve, his faith directed him to give a greater, more acceptable offering than Cain (there is no prosperity Gospel here, after this Abel becomes the first recorded murder, Cain kills Abel)   Then there is Enoch, whose story is mysterious but one where he lives in a certainty about thing unseen, who ascends to heaven (Genesis 5:24  Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away).

The author goes way back into history, focusing on the first people to hear God’s word and respond, reacting with trust (mostly) and obedience (again mostly),  All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,  for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire better country, that is, a heavenly one

Each of them, although only getting glimpses of God’s plan, put faith first, Noah, stops everything else to take on this all-consuming construction project, Abraham walks away from hard earned comfort to go to a new place, endure challenges, Enoch, walks with God, expecting no reward,  Abel, offers his sacrifice with no thought of self preservation, how will my brother react (poorly).   

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God

Sermon for August 4

The reading

Hebrews 9:1-14

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. 4 In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail. 6 Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; 7 but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. 9 This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right. 11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

The message

For most of human history, teachers, leaders, prophets, priests and others have all realized that people remember, connect with and learn from images and stories better than simply facts or words.  Jesus did most of his teaching about the kingdom of God, about what God was doing in the world, who God is, through the use of parables, teaching stories meant to share deep truths we might otherwise miss. Instead of saying your neighbor is anyone, Jesus shares the story of the good Samaritan, where an unclean outsider risks his own life to save someone, Instead of Jesus saying “God is patient and forgives” Jesus shares the story of the prodigal son, who returns home to a great welcome after betrayal, waste and poor decisions.

The Letter to the Hebrews was written to try and restore, light a new fire in a once excited, Christ centered community that had grown dull and lazy Today, we hear the author of Hebrews try to do that through images and story, telling the church, Jesus sacrifice, his death and resurrection brings the forgiveness of sins, once and for all through using the image of the temple, something that was well known to the first audience.

The temple was very carefully constructed, down to every detail, there are about 6 chapters in the Old Testament describing the materials and dimensions of the ark of the covenant, the interior and exterior spaces and the overall layout.  These blueprints were a sign of obedience and a constant reminder that this is God’s temple. The temple was also a hierarchical building, there were areas where only some can pass, spaces only some could enter.  There was the holiest of holies, reserved for the high priest and even then only once a year. This barrier so many could not pass was one of the most well known, protected and respected barriers in the Jewish world.  There were questions of if the disabled or sick could even enter the first part of the temple, (Jesus often heals people outside the temple wall and then sends them in to see the authorities), those who were ritually unclean (having eaten something banned, came in contact with an unclean person) had to be purified first. 

The rituals and work of the priests serving at the temple were a central part of religious life. The most important of these rituals was the annual Yom Kippur sacrifice by the high priest in the holy center of the temple. If someone was asked, how do you know your sins are forgiven, he or she could point to this sacrifice and God’s promise attached to it.  Controversially and shockingly, the author of Hebrews describes this most sacred and ancient of work as incomplete, this sacrifice being unable to perfect the conscious of the worshipper, it would have to be done again and again, every year.  What if you sinned the day after the sacrifice, you would carry that sin all year till the next time the high priest did his work. What if you died in sin, after all, the covenant was still conditional what if what you did wasn’t included for some reason?     

This image of Jesus as the high priest takes us back to last week, Hebrews 8, where the author declares that Jesus is a priest in the same way and authority of Melchizek,.  This is a reference to a king that Abram encounters, right after a war is won and long before the temple, covenant or law exists. Melchizedek is identified as a high priest, blesses Abram and is given a tithe, 10 percent of the soils of war.   Abram’s actions, accepting the blessing and offering the tithe, establishes that Melchizedek, an outsider, not connected to any family, education or tradition, outside any normal or traditional process, is a high priest of God.

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation),  he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

The image of the temple shows just how drastic the changes that take place when Jesus is born, dies and rises again really are. There is no longer a need for the sacrifice in the holiest of holies (an act that will soon become impossible once the temple is destroyed by the Romans around 10 years after this letter is written).  We can look at Jesus words in the days before his death and resurrection, that I will destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days, not one stone will be left on stone, The collapse of barriers: the tearing down of walls,  Faith will now live outside the walls of the temple,   Forgiveness of sins will not come through a high Priest doing an annual ritual, it will come because Christ died and rose again.  This might sound familiar, The reformation, the political and religious revolt that started our church, stemmed from the Roman Catholic church’s attempt to add obstacles to this news,, to put up necessary steps, indulgences, confession, penance, to make their priests the high priest activating and controlling the forgiveness of sins. This could not perfect people’s conscious, we are saved by faith alone, Christ alone can perfect consciousness.     

Perhaps as church, we need to always think of other barriers, I have been calling this church, a place for everyone, which is more ambitious that reality. if someone cannot sing, if they cannot read, if they cannot climb, if robes creep people out, have a bad history, abused by priests, exploited by bad pastors, The occasional phone call “is the building accessible” and the answer is no.  Is the kingdom of God. Yes, that’s what we need to say  

We had a special service here and a woman came up to the front steps in a motorized scooter. I saw her as I walked down the block and immediately knew I would have to tell her, I’m sorry, you cannot get inside the sanctuary. I walked slower and slower, I didn’t want to be the one who told her she could not enter the church, (but I also knew it was my responsibility and there was nothing that could be done about it).  Can I go to the service, no, is she in the kingdom of God, yes.

Several emails from a woman with a Transgendered child who was not welcome at her church, asking if the child would be welcomed by our community.  (you say you are a place for everyone, are you? Will people stare, will people make comments, this took me by complete surprise and I had to say “I don’t think there will be any issues but this has never come up before and im not sure” she ended up working it out with her priest and remaining at her church.  

A young severely disabled girl I meet at a hospital who could not be Baptized because the pastor at her church didn’t think she could make or express an informed enough decision to accept Jesus. Are you fully welcome in that community, no, are you in the kingdom of God, yes (a message we could show through having a baptism then and there)    

Sometimes, we may have to say, no you cannot enter here, join us, attend, but we must also make sure we always say you are in the kingdom of God.