Chris Heavner

Devotion - Tuesday, January 31

2012-01-31T03:32:00.001-08:00

The discussion topic for this conference is how do we evaluate or observe the religious life of young adults. Our presenter is a sociologist, who has done a study of over 3.300 youth/young adults. In her research, she has heard all sorts of answers to questions like, "Would say you are religious?" or "How have you lived out your religious thoughts?"

It is interesting to listen to my colleagues. Our questions reveal what it is that we consider to be "essential" for one who self-identifies as "Christian." Perhaps, as the final weigh-in of the day, the person leading our closing devotion presented materials form a Book of Prayer on Mohandas Gandhi. The responsive reading spoke of one measure of what is sometimes spoken of as essential traits.

"We know, Lord, that the world will never cease to return hatred for love and violence for peace. Still we pray for the courage and confidence to walk in love and peace for the sake of those who have never known love or peace, for the sake of our own treacherous hearts."

I realize that for me at least one of the essential marks of a Christian has to be a willingness to absorb as much of the hatred and violence banging around in the world as I possibly can. That following Jesus means speaking that word or doing that action which reduces the verbal and physical abuse of others. We must learn to replace competition with compassion. We need to return to the central message of Jesus which is that God loves us and calls upon us to love others.

How a sociologist might measure that is beyond me. How one does this requires a lot of courage. But I fear that unless we do this we fall short of the hope God has for us

Devotion - Monday, January 30

2012-01-30T03:23:00.001-08:00

I am attending a conference of my campus ministry colleagues from across Region 9. We have as our guest a Clemson professor who studies religious attitudes and practices of youth. We came here prepared to discuss and learn how it is that faith and religious practices develop.

As we were gathering, our colleague from University of Florida returned to yesterday morning's Gospel text. In Mark 1.21ff, we read of Jesus' teaching in the Temple. It was said of him, "They were astounded at this teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

This "authority" was unique to Jesus. But we can emulate this kind of authority. Many teach what they have learned; Jesus taught what he knew. Too often we tell others what we know about Jesus; the thing we need to share is what we know of Jesus.

As presented last night, the world is in need of persons who are capable (and willing) to share a vision, a hope, a promise. Unlike pieces of information, a vision, a hope, a promise reflect not merely what we know about Jesus but the way in which we are known by Jesus.

Remember those who shared with you their faith. Recall how formative such sharing was to you, perhaps at a critical time in your life. Then, begin to muster the energy and the courage to share similar glimpses with those whom you encounter. Speak to them not merely about Jesus, but of Jesus.

Devotion - Thursday, January 26

2012-01-26T03:24:00.000-08:00

I thought Josh did an excellent job with last night's LCM Program. He shared with us his understanding of the content of Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, It was the kind of program that gets us thinking; perhaps asking more questions than are answered.

In case you aren't familiar with the book (or were not with us last night,) the questions raised by the book have to do with heaven and hell. What are these places/things/concepts and who are the residents of each?

Some of the opinions shared last night were insightful; some were pretty far fetched. All illustrated an important evolution in the life-cycle of a person of faith.

Until faith becomes our own, it lacks the primacy in our lives which it must have if it is going to brace us against the harsh events likely to confront us in the years to come. Until we unpack each theological teaching, examine it, and then re-assemble our own mosaic, doubt will dominate where certainty is desired.

I said last night that faith is a journey. It is a relationship with God that guides us through life and instructs us in our thinking. When faith is reduced to a set of theorems or affirmations it looses it ability to become our own. Dogma and Doctrine are important and essential to the life of the Church and the life of individual Christians. Dogma and Doctrine should not (however) be confused with faith. These things are different.

This is a shout-out to Josh - good job last night. It is more importantly an encouragement for all of us to spend the time contemplating our faith and our beliefs and coming to a clear understanding of what it is that we believe. Much of what we finally affirm will look very similar to what we have been taught - but the process makes it ours, not merely something picked up from someone else.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 25

2012-01-25T03:32:00.000-08:00

A recent visit with a member of the congregation resulted in my carrying away a book on Abraham. This one was written by a local author, a woman in Greenville. Like other books on the same topic, she analyzes the relationship between the "Abrahamic Faiths."

Jewish, Christian, and Islamic communities trace their origins to Abraham. Jewish identity begins with Abraham. Christians emerge from following Jesus, a descendant of Abraham. In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great lenghts to show how Jesus more adequately understood God's promise to Abraham, and thus why one should follow Christian teachers.

The split which gives rise to Islam is rooted in the events of Genesis 16. Here, after Sarai is unable to conceive, she asks her servant girl (Hagar) to lie with Abraham and bear a child for her. When conception occurs, jealously develops between the two. Hagar flees. God comes to Hagar and promises protection for her child; promises that the child will have many decedents. There is also a reference to his "hand against every man and every man's hand against him."

Family fights are the worse fights. Because we know each other well we are able to hurt one another in ways a stranger never could. Most family fights arise out of jealousy. We think there isn't enough love to go around, or we fear one is being preferred over another.

Again, the ability of the ancient stories of scripture to describe what is happening in our lives and in our world is amazing. Again, from scripture we can glean the assurances that we need to be locked in such trivial disputes. God comes to offer words of assurance and to comfort us with Promise.

Devotion - Tuesday, January 24

2012-01-24T03:17:00.000-08:00

In a conversation yesterday afternoon, I discussed the on-going task of applying scripture's instructions to our own lives. The discussion arose out of a question as to whether the Church was becoming less and less convinced of what it is that God expects of us.

At least part of the deliberation is to consider what are God's instructions, and what are the instructions added by those who seek to teach us God's laws.

Phylis Tribble says that Eve is the first Rabbi. "The job of a Rabbi is to build a fence around the Torah." Such fences are built as an outer, protective layer to God's Law. When asked about God's instructions regarding the fruit on the tree in the Garden of Eden, Eve reports that God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree, nor shall you touch it." There had been no mention of "touching" the fruit. But Rabbi Eve builds a fence. She knows that if she does not touch the fruit she certainly cannot eat the fruit.

In Eve's words we find God's instructions. We also find the additions of a wise teacher of the Law; additions which improve the chances that God's instructions will be followed.

Today's Gospel reading is the story in John 5 of Jesus healing the lame man on the Sabbath. For this, Jesus is condemned by the religious leaders. They have reason to contemn him - Jesus does violate the teachings. Jesus seems to imply that these teachings are in the category of those added (with the best of intentions, but still added) to the central instruction of God.

This is not a blanket endorsement of "anything goes," or "everyone decides for themselves." But it does allow us to come together, as God's people, and re-examine the living out of God's instructions. We need to be careful about speaking for God; we must be intentional in speaking God's Word. When we were children, someone told us what to do and how to do it. As we become adults, we must make some of those decisions for ourselves.

Devotion - Monday, January 23

2012-01-23T03:49:00.001-08:00

In Hebrews 8, the writer speaks of the covenant. The intent is to show the new covenant as a promise contained in the old covenant.

The first covenant is established with Abraham. (Jewish teachers encourage us to refer to it as the "Prime Covenant," a reminder that this covenant has not become outdated, as the word "Old" would suggest. Rather, it is the prime covenant upon which another is built.)

The second covenant comes to us through Jesus.

I speaking of this covenant, God says, "I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." In this covenant, we are released from our worry and our anxiety; we are set free to love and serve God.

If this is the promise God has made with us, what is our promise to God? Think of the opportunity you have to establish a new covenant, a covenant between you and God. This may be your first or prime. It might be a second, or perhaps a third or even an eleventh. Regardless, what might be the earmarks of a new covenant between you and God?

Martin Luther taught that as he washed his face each morning, he remembered his baptismal covenant and began the new day with a new relationship with God. Begin this day, with a new covenant in place between you and the God who sets you free from fear and anxiety.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 18

2012-01-18T03:30:00.000-08:00

John 3:16 speaks of God's love for the world. It is a love which saves us; a love which brings to us eternal life.

"Love" is easily spoken of, but difficult to fully comprehend. We say we would offer our life for another, but when the ship is sinking, we seek our own safety and ignore duty or obligation or affection for others. This is an aspect of how we are made. It is the drive toward self-preservation.

St. Augustine (remember that Luther was a monk in the Order established by St. Augustine) spoke of the difficulty of "loving" because our first impulse to love is love of self. "What is the actual history of man's (sic) love? Simply that he loves himself - passionately, toughly, fiercely, relentlessly." This love, as quick as it is to develop within us, is our downfall. It is a love turned in on itself.

"Unless and until the love with which I love finds its proper object in the love with which I am loved by God I am a prisoner of love too small for love's heavenly nature and scope." (Joseph Sittler)

Perhaps this is where Martin Luther King, Jr. got his strength to love (subject of Monday's devotion.) Perhaps it arose from an ability to step outside the circle of self-love and find that proper object.

It is a difficult thing, to love. Perhaps only God can love the world so deeply as to give one's only Son. God has that love and acts on that love in order that we might not perish but have eternal life.

How will we approximate that love? In our lives?

Devotion - Tuesday, January 17

2012-01-17T03:30:00.001-08:00

When we think of something being "lifted up," we tend to associate this with an elevation in status or recognition. I am planning a February trip to the seminary in Philadelphia. The grant which makes that possible includes language of "lifting up leaders for the Church of the future." The Gatorade bath has replaced the practice I remember from my college age of lifting the winning coach on the shoulders of the offensive linemen.

There is even a popular Christian Praise song which speaks says, "I will lift your name on high."

In John 2 there is a reference to "lifting up." The reference includes both a look backward and a look forward. Jesus reminds his listeners that in the wilderness, Moses lifted up the serpent and so also will the Son of man be lifted up.

The serpents had come among the Israelites. Many were being bitten and dying. Moses molds a serpent and hangs it on a wooden pole. The people who are bitten look at that which had been lifted up and they are saved.

You know the story of Jesus' being hoisted onto a tree, outside of Jerusalem, at a place called "The Skull."

The very act associated with being honored (being lifted up) is the act which robs Jesus of his lift. In a wonderful twist, that which robs him of life becomes the gateway to salvation. His being robbed of life is our way to live eternally.

It is too simple to say "God's ways are not our ways," but that is certainly true here. More profoundly true is the lesson that what the world intends is thwarted by what God desires. We may need to look deeply and intently at what is happening in order to see past the simple spin placed upon events. Such attempts at spin are most often attempts to rob the event of God's intentions and make it fit our own.

"The Son of man is lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

Devotion - Monday, January 16

2012-01-16T03:09:00.000-08:00

I have never been one who read sermons. Sermons were intended to be preached, not written. The exception to this are the sermons preached by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His sermons (some of which I have also seen as newsreels) are moving in either format.

The collection of sermons most meaningful to me are those grouped together in his The Strength to Love collection.

Pastor King experienced the hatred of those who opposed him. He knew how it felt to be called names and to be physically attacked. There were earlier attempts to harm or murder him prior to the gun shot which took his life. He spoke to a segment of the population who had also experienced outpouring of hatred.

And yet, as he spoke, he spoke of the strength to love.

Hatred only leads to more hatred. The only way to solve hatred is to begin to love. In an situation where everyone is angry and yelling, it is the one who loves who begins to provide a resolution.

For Pastor King, it was the divisions of race that exposed the hatred. There remain such divisions today and there are far too many who continue to "hate" purely because of skin color. There have emerged hatreds in recent years over religious differences, and cultural divisions.

It takes a great strength to love - to love our enemies. It is easier (and thus the route most often taken) to return hatred with hatred.

On this ML King, Jr. holiday, pray for the strength to hear God's call to love our enemies and pray for those who oppose us. Hear the reminder of God's servant, that until we love, we will never overcome hatred.

Sermon - Epiphany 2 - January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T03:26:00.000-08:00

I Samuel 3:1-10

Hearing the Voice
I don’t know if you are a Saturday morning listener of Public Radio. There is a show which comes on at 10 am that is real hoot and on occasion provides a lot of information. The hosts are also the writers of a column which appears in the Saturday Greenville News, in the Auto Section. They call themselves Click and Clack, the Tappert Brothers, and the radio show is simply called “Car Talk.”

The basic premise behind the show is that you call in with some problem you are having with your car and they try to help you figure out what is wrong. Like I said, it is always entertaining, occasionally the information seems helpful.

What I like best are the callers who are hearing engine noises. “I’ve got this noise in my engine.” “Well, is it a clicking, a pinging or a grinding?” “I don’t know exactly, what does a clinking sound like?” “Well, it is a clink that repeats, sometimes in proportion to how fast the engine is rotating.” “I don’t think it is a click. How does a pinging sound?” And on and on and on.......

I enjoy listening to these exchanges in which the person who has heard the sound tries to gain insight from someone who might know what such a sound could means. I enjoy listening to these exchanges in part because I have been in frustratingly similar conversations. Things would be so much simpler if the one who heard the noise was also the one who could recognize. Diagnosis may be possible - if only the one with the expertise had also been the one present for the mishap.

In our first lesson for this morning, there is a similar sort or unfortunate separation. In our lesson, there is a young boy, Samuel by name, who had the opportunity to witness a wonderful event. God speaks to him. But due to his youth, perhaps due to his lack of experience, he doesn’t recognize the sound. He doesn’t know who it is that is calling to him. He thinks it must be his master Eli.

Eli, you will recall, was the priest serving in the temple when Hannah lifted her voice to God, asking for a son. Hannah is in the temple, wailing and causing quite a scene. Eli first thinks she is drunk and tries to send her away. When he learns the nature of her cries, he blesses her and Samuel is born. In response, and out of gratitude, Hannah brings Samuel back to Eli, to serve him in his service to the temple.

Samuel grows; grows in his dedication to Eli, grows in his attention to the affairs of the temple. He serves well, doing all that is required of him.

But, he serves in lean years. As our lesson indicates, there had not been a lot of activity of which to speak. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. We can’t be totally sure what the writer meant by such a description, but certainly a picture is painted in which constant, sustaining and ongoing activity between God and God’s people has been lacking. The word of the Lord as rare in those days.

“What would God have us do?” “How are we to know? There has been no word.”

The way that we bind the various sixty-six books of the Bible into one volume makes it easy for us to overlook or forget the tremendous periods of time between major events. We think that because the story of David’s coronation comes a mere 163 pages after the entering of the Promised Land that a very short period of time has passed. Or, because we read of Noah’s encounter with the flood and Joseph’s coat of many colors within 14 chapters of Genesis that they must have lived within a few short years of each other. But this isn’t true. Centuries passed between these events.

In biblical times, no less than our own, there were long periods of time during which there came no clear word from Yahweh. Often, the word was rare and visions were not widespread. It was during these times that the people found it most difficult to remain faithful. Scoffers would ask, “Where is your God?” Unbelievers would challenge, “If there is a God, why isn’t something being done to correct this evil?”

Maybe we live in such a time. A time when the word is rare, a time in which visions are not widespread. It appears as if our world lacks a sense of vision, of direction for the future. Even our churches seem to miss the mark or fall terribly short. In the times when the word is rare, when visions are not widespread, surviving can be difficult.

The only real hope we have, in the face of such times, is the knowledge that God never abandons us forever. Whether it be in our personal lives or in the continuation of God’s history with humanity, there comes a word - a vision is received.

However, God’s decision to speak is only half the problem. Look again at our story. God speaks to Samuel, but he doesn’t know who it is. God speaks to him, yet he runs and wakes Eli. The word was rare, the visions infrequent, and as a result the recipient doesn’t recognize that word when it does come.

Some of you know of my love for the writings of novelist Walker Percy. In one of his novels, The Second Coming, the main character, Will Barrett, devises a plan to test for God’s existence. Without leaving any notes, he crawls into a cave, carrying a flashlight, a clock and some pills designed to kill the pain associated with starvation. “If God exists,” Barrett decides, “someone will find me and I will be saved. If there no God, I will die. And if there is no God, it is just as well.”

Something insignificant happens. His alarm clock breaks so he can’t keep track of how long it has been since he took the last of the pain pills. So he decides that he needs to move to where he can see the light of day. As he crawls through the cave, he falls into the underground greenhouse of an escapee of the local insane asylum. She nurses him back to health.

For most of the remainder of the book, Will believes that his “test” has been nullified. It is only after he has fallen in love with the young woman that he sees her as God’s salvation, sent to save him from death; sent to save him from a live of emptiness.

When God’s word comes, we are often so unaccustomed to hearing it that we fail to recognize it for what it is. We go and ask Eli, “You called me?” There are times when God’s word is rare. But is equally true that there are times in which we just are not prepared to hear God’s word for what it is.

Samuel was fortunate, Eli was there to help. Our scripture reads, “Now Samuel did not know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him...(but) Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.

We pass over the story involved here. Eli was the priest. Samuel was his servant. There had been no frequent vision; the word of the Lord was rare. And now, the word comes not to the master, but to the slave boy.

How it must have crushed Eli to know that another was to receive the long awaited vision. How it must have tested his faith to realize that God was going to speak to this young lad not to him.

If we read on, we understand even better how horrible this is, for the word revealed to Samuel is that the house of Eli is to be destroyed. Because Eli’s sons had misused their priestly office, and because Eli had not punished them sufficiently, God is going to remove Eli from his post and appoint another.

How it must have crushed Eli to know that another was to receive the long awaited vision. How it must have tested his faith to realize that God was going to speak to this young lad and not to him.

Samuel is the benefactor of Eli’s wisdom and faithfulness. He does as Eli instructs and receives the Word of God. He will become a great prophet. He will serve long among God’s people. But the first lesson he has to learn is how to learn from others; how to grow from their experience, how to benefit from their insight, how to profit from their history.

Tomorrow is the official observance of the live and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He may just be the best example we have of what it means to learn from another’s insight. King knew that his struggle wasn’t simply for the benefit of black people. He knew that unless the hatred of racism was removed from our nation it would result in the destruction of us all. White churches, in refusing to allow in their black brothers and sisters, were also making it impossible for God to enter. But his assignation didn’t come when all he talked about was racism. He was murdered after he initiated The War on Poverty. His Memphis speech in which he spoke of the “un-holy trinity” of racism, materialism, and militarism is the word which many sought to silence.

All around us there are those who have seen visions, who have heard God’s Word. If we wish to break the silence, overcome the blindness, our first step is to listen to what they are telling us. To do as they have instructed.

For the times in our lives when there is no vision, when there is no word, we remember that God does not abandon forever.

During those times, we must also remember how easily we mistake the word of God for something else and ignore it.

And, as we struggle to hear and to see, we must turn also to those with clearer vision and sharper ears, willing to learn from them how it is that God speaks.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, January 12

2012-01-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

In John 15 Jesus uses the image of a grape vine to express the relationship he seeks with us. He says, "I am the true vine." There are many places one might turn, to find a source of life and meaning, but Jesus invites us to find that source in him and in his words.

Not merely in him, but in the one who sent him. He may be the vine, but he reminds us, "My father is the vine dresser."

He then outlines his relationship with us. He says, "I am the the vine, you are the branches."

Apart from the vine, the branches wither and die. The branches depend upon the vine for their nutrients. Only the vine is rooted in the soil.

At our LCM Leadership Team meeting on Tuesday, I was trying to share an idea with the Team members. I wanted to explore with them ways in which LCM-C might support the "branches" which have become known to us. Not all branches will be connected to the vine in the same way. Too often we (me and the LCM Leadership Team) act as if there is only one way to be connected - we want those branches to become involved in our activities and ministries. We need to remember that there are other ways to be connected; and we need to find a way to support all those options.

Some will find their connection through service. They will discover that in serving others, they are strengthened in their connection to the vine which gives them life and sustenance.

Others will be connected through personal prayer and devotion. There is not always a direct correlation between the number of hours spent in "church" and the amount of time spent in private study and prayer.

In whatever way you (as one of the branches) is connected to the vine, strengthen that connection. Be affirmed in your own way of interacting with God, depending upon God, and striving to do God's will. But stay connected. Apart from the vine, we can do nothing.

Devotion - Wednesday, January 11

2012-01-11T03:32:00.001-08:00

My devotional guide has specific readings for the days immediately following Epiphany (January 6). As a result, two passages from John fall even more closely together. They are verses I speak of often, in theological discussions about differing faith traditions.

In John 14 we read a verse that is often quoted by those seeking to understand that which is particular about being a Christian. Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me." This verse was part of this morning's appointed text.

Yesterday morning I was directed to John 10. There, in the 16th verse, Jesus says "I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd." This verse is helpful to those seeking to understand how we are to approach those of differing spiritual traditions.

Harvey Cox calls this the tension between the particular and the universal.

I want to share with the whole world the Good News of Jesus. In Jesus I find the pathway to shalom. I believe that Jesus is the answer to the questions and fears which plague us and seek to distract us. I have come to this conviction because of the gentle way in which Jesus (and his followers) have shepherded me (remember yesterday's devotion.) This type of care is offered, by Jesus, to all the world's inhabitants.

I can look back and speculate on how the sheep got divided into various folds. I can lament the divisions which make it the way it is. The important thing, it seems, is to follow Jesus in understanding that the end is not reached until we are one flock. The one who shepherds us wanted it that way. And so will I.

Devotion - Tuesday, January 10

2012-01-10T03:41:00.001-08:00

In Jeremiah 23, the prophet speaks of a time when God will send new shepherds to replace the shepherds who have not been attentive to the sheep. In John 10, Jesus speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd, as the one who will tend to the lost lambs. Seward Hiltner writes, "Shepherding occupies a quite unique place in Christianity... No other religion than that of Christ absorbs all ideas of ministration within the idea of Pastorship."

It is terribly important that those who follow Jesus understand the importance of shepherding.

In a flock, there are shepherds and there are sheep. Within the fold which belongs to Christ, the line isn't so permanently drawn. In one instance, we might be the sheep; in another we might be asked to take on the role of shepherd. It is best if we understand ourselves as sometimes occupying one role; sometimes occupying the other.

Start your day with the confidence that God has appointed shepherds for you. That God will provide good and faithful shepherds, who are looking out for your well-being and ensuring that you are cared for and protected. With such confidence, you need never feel alone.

Move through your day looking to identify the opportunities you have to serve as shepherd to another. It is only occasionally that the shepherd is called upon to fight off lions. Most shepherds will spend their whole life without such an encounter. Mostly, the shepherd remembers where there is water and leads the sheep in that direction. The primary task is to use your height (shepherds stand upright rather than all fours) to see where the grass is growing. Help the sheep move in that direction.

Sheep - shepherd. We are each a bit of both. Assuming both roles (at various times in our day) keeps the flock healthy and happy and well cared for.

"Shepherding occupies a quite unique place in Christianity."

Devotion - Monday, January 9

2012-01-09T03:47:00.000-08:00

The traffic flow started increasing last night. The emails in my In Box have changed in tone from, "Enjoy the break," to "this is what needs doing for the spring term." Classes resume on Wednesday, and I imagine that you will spend today traveling back to Clemson, buying books, straightening up your room, and/or catching up with friends and classmates.

I hope and pray that this will be a good semester. For you; for us as a community.

This morning's reading from Isaiah 45:14-19 spoke of the God of Israel as contrasted with the gods of Israel's neighbors. Isaiah writes: "All of them are put to shame and confounded, the makers of idols go in confusion together."

The term will be "good," if the experiences of these sixteen weeks help to clear away confusion. It will have been well spent when we can say that we have set aside any feelings of being shamed or confounded.

I hope and pray that amid all the academic work which is about to put on your planner, that you would intentionally set aside time to reflect on the intentions of God toward you. That you will seek out the opportunities to hear God's Word and to allow that Word to take root in your life. I hope and pray this for you, as result of knowing the clarity and calm which comes into the life of one who embarks upon this way. I bear witness to the power of God to set aside all that might seek to distract us. I speak of the clarity and confidence which comes from beginning each day in communion with Christ.

It is raining in Clemson. If you are still packing, make sure to get your raincoat or umbrella. Be prepared for what you will encounter when you get back to town. Thinking ahead, to what we will need, alters our behavior as we start out. This is true for road trips back to school; it is true for our life of faith.

Devotion - Thursday, December 15

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Throughout the season of Advent, we have been encouraged to be ready for the coming of our Lord. This morning's Gospel reading reminds us that it isn't just his coming for which we need to prepare, but also for his delay.

You know the story (Matthew 25:1-13) of the ten maidens who took their lamps and went to wait for the bridegroom. When the bridegroom is delayed, five had brought a supply of oil for their lamps; five had not. Those unprepared for the wait went to buy more oil, and while they were gone the bridegroom arrived.

There are times in our lives when Christ comes to us. There are also times when our request for His presence seems to go unanswered. In those instances, we are called upon not simply to be ready for his arrival, but ready for his delay.

When I speak of what I think to be one of the advantages of being a 54 year old campus pastor as opposed to a 30 year old campus pastor (yes - I have been at this for 24 years) I speak of the long-term view of life which I am able to share. Delays seem unending when we are in the midst of one. They seem much shorter when looked back upon with many years in between. The injuries and set-backs are real; and they are traumatic to us as we live through them. But they will pass and there will be opportunities for learning lessons.

We need not only be ready for the coming our Lord; we need to anticipate and brace ourselves for those times when He seems to be delayed. This is the message of Matthew 25.

Pastor Chris

PS. The semester ends tomorrow. This will be my last offering till classes resume on January 11. God bless your Christmas and may you have opportunity to share the gifts of God's precious Word and promise.

Devotion - Wednesday, December 14

2011-12-14T03:08:00.000-08:00

Perhaps is it our Advent theme which is causing me to notice scriptural references to hunger, but I am finding them everywhere these days.

UniLu has adopted a theme of hunger for our Advent mid-week meals and worship services. Our spring LSM Retreat will also address issues of hunger.

This morning, I was reading from Matthew 24. As Jesus is giving his final instructions to the disciples he says: "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?"

Perhaps it is this week's busyness associated with exam meals which remind me of the comfort being fed brings. But I can see how much it changes lives and attitudes when the wise and faithful servants set the food before those in need of nourishment.

In our culture we have become so immune to hunger that we fail to notice those for whom hunger is a daily reality. Yes, this is true - not just in the far reaches of the world but also in our own backyards. One of the speakers on last year's Spring Break Trip reminded us that 26% of SC residents had a hunger related incident in 2009.

Jesus tells us to feed the hungry. The scriptures are full of references to do so. Why then are there still so many hungry people in the world?

Devotion - Tuesday, December 13

2011-12-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

I typically don't cut and paste these morning offerings, but I read this this morning, and it seemed to be a good reply to questions often asked me about prayer. Realizing how we struggle with prayer, I thought this piece worth sharing.

"To pray is nothing more involved than to let Jesus into our needs. To pray is to give Jesus permission to employ His powers in the alleviation of our distress. To pray is to let Jesus glorify His name in the midst of our needs.

"The results of prayer are, therefore, not dependent upon the powers of the one who prays. His intense will, her fervent emotions, or his clear comprehension of what he is praying for are not the reasons why his prayers will be heard and answered. Nay, God be praised, the results of prayer are not dependent upon these things!

"To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door, giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them.

"He who gave us the privilege of prayer knows us very well. He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

"That is why He designed prayer in such a way that the most impotent can make use of it. For to pray is to open the door to Jesus. And that requires no strength. It is only a question of our wills. Will we give Jesus access to our needs? That is the one great and fundamental question in connection with prayer."

Ole Hallesby, Prayer

Devotion - Monday, December 12

2011-12-12T02:20:00.001-08:00

I am never sure whether to call attention to finals week, or provide a distraction. TriCounty students have finished up their exams, but the exam period for Clemson begins today. These days are tiring, trying, and have the potential to up us in a really bad mood.

No one likes to be "tested." We might realize that it is the way in which we best discover our ability to synthesize information. We may come to understand that exams are a celebration of all that we have to know. But there is a nervousness about putting forth our best effort only to have someone evaluate whether this is good enough.

The lectionary of readings I follow has me reading through the opening chapters of Revelation. In the third chapter we read the notes to the seven churches. In these, the author speaks words of evaluation. In most, there are things to be commended and things which need attention. Some of the notes are stern; some might be considered harsh. But the overall effect is to realize that in each of our lives there are some things we do well and some things which could use improvement. We stand firmly on the traits we do well, in order to address those which need to be strengthened.

Perhaps it helps to remember that you are not in school merely to pass courses or do well on exams. You are here to prepare for what comes next. It might be difficult to see the correlation between this particular final exam and your contribution to making the world a better place, but there is one. Your desire to serve God and to aid others by means of a productive career is the future which follows your successful completion of these courses.

God be with you during this week; and God strengthen you.

Sermon - Advent 3 - December 11, 2011

2011-12-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

Advent 3B.11
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Making Way for What Will Follow
Who wakes up in the morning and says, “I want to be the one who makes it possible for the one who follows me to do great things?” “I want to be the one that everyone overlooks in order to get to the person who is next in line?” Judi, do you want to be the teacher known as the one who made your pupils appreciate the teacher they will have next? Dr. Gauderer, do you want to be the surgeon who sets the stage for that surgeon who saves the life of the patient?

I don’t want to be the campus pastor who makes it possible for the next campus pastor to make Christ known across the Clemson campus.

It is not a role we seek. It is not a way of seeing ourselves which attracts a whole host of adherents. And yet, this is the role of John the Baptist. His job, from beginning to end, was to call attention to the one who would follow him. John does it well. So well that the whole world comes to know of the one whom he precedes. But any mention of John, in the generations which followed, was due solely to his unwavering dedication to do nothing other than become lost in the amazing events which were unfolding after him.

They come to John, to ask him, “Are you the One we have been looking for?” “NO!” He assures them. “Then are you a prophet?” They were wanting some sort of category or classification for him so they will know what to do with him and with his words. But John could not be placed is a pre-determined box. What he was preparing them for was unlike anything that had ever happened before.

But he is trying. He knows his place. And he is doing what it is that he came to do – preparing them for what is going to come next.

Trained by a world which insists that we distinguish ourselves from the competitors, we are unlikely to wake up in the morning hoping to become the one who proceeds the one who does great things. But there are few roles more important than taking an active role in preparing for the work Christ is about to do.

There are two events in today’s worship which fall into the realm of “important because of what is coming next”. Two opportunities for us to struggle, just a bit, with the awkward discomfort of knowing that even on our best days we are little more than a launching pad. Two opportunities for us to realize, hopefully in a huge way, that unless there is a successful launch little of what follows will meet our hopes and God’s expectations.

Let’s start with the baptism. Baptism is the place where all of us begin our journey. The baptismal waters “wash away our sins.” We must remember Luther’s instructions in the Small Catechism that it is not the water alone which does this but the water combined with the Word of God. There is nothing holy about the water in that font, there is something extraordinary about the about the event which surrounds the pouring of that water over the head of baby Lily. Baptism is the starting point of a life of understanding that regardless of what we might do or not do; regardless what we think or don’t think; and even setting aside what we believe or don’t believe; God has made a commitment to us. God desires a response; God’s love requires a response; but that is what it is – our response to what it is that God has done for us. Anything different is modern-day expression of the ancient heresy of synergism.

The sacrament of Holy Baptism is a sacred gift to the Church and to God’s people. But it is not some magic act, performed by some secret society. It is the beginning of a life-long commitment to making real the love of Christ and the gifts of God’s grace. It is the event which prepares us; it is the launching pad; to what we hope, to what we pray and commit to making real in the life of the one(s) who are baptized.

And then there is today’s Farewell and Godspeed. Whenever asked about the work of Lutheran Campus Ministry-Clemson, I turn the question toward those who have received alumni from this ministry. I remind folks that the true measure is what happened here is what happens after graduation. It can be gratifying to have young adults who look back fondly at their years in Clemson and speak of coming for Wednesday night meals or participating in one of the retreats. But what we are looking to accomplish is something a bit long term – will those who pass through LCM-C remain Disciples of Christ in their new homes? As wonderful as these experiences we share might be, they only truly serve their purpose when they leave one with the unquenchable desire to find a community of followers in your new home. These experiences are the start to an event or a series of events in your interaction with Christ.

No one sets out to be the one who make ready for what is coming next; but preparing the way is an important task, it is an essential task. When done correctly, it makes all the difference. Unless it is done we are likely to lack an understanding of the significance of what is coming next.

This morning we share in to such experiences. When you go home this afternoon you can evaluate your individual opportunity for a third. This third opportunity is one under your control and within your ability. I encourage you to evaluate how much of what you are doing in these next fifteen days is being done as an end in itself and how much is happening in order to prepare for something else. Are your planned Christmas events an end in themselves or do that set the stage for the re-entry of Jesus into your life? Is the emphasis on what you have been able to accomplish (getting family together, keeping them together, setting aside the tendency is to bicker and fight, finding just the right gift for under the tree,) is the emphasis on what you have been able to accomplish – or – is it on what God is accomplishing?

Well planned celebrations of the season will earn us the accolades of family and friends; but that which is eternal is only encountered in those events which serve to point us to the One of whom angels sing.

May your Christmas be merry and bright, and may all your celebrations serve the purpose of making ready the entry of Christ into your life and into the world which you inhabit.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, December 8

2011-12-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

Jesus spends a lot of time arguing against the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a group of folks within Judaism who felt that the laws of Moses were not being emphasized or upheld. They were zealous in their attempts to identify every single law and see to it that they (and their neighbors) lived according to these laws.

Jesus tells them that they are placing the emphasis in the wrong place.

They had developed some rather strange teachings. In Matthew 23:13-26 Jesus speaks of some of these. He says, "'Woe to you, blind guides, who say, "If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath." You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold of the temple that has made the gold sacred?'"

Or course, it is easy to see the errors of others - what is more difficult is seeing the mislaid intentions in our own practices, or beliefs.

Later in this same section, Jesus makes a comment which perhaps can guide us. He says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for your tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."

Following Jesus means continually looking at my footprints and repeatedly asking whether I am where I ought to be. It means being open to hearing that I have strayed and it means accepting correction when it is offered. Following Jesus involves continual motion, moving toward the kingdom and moving in response to those whom Jesus came to set free.

Devotion - Wednesday, December 7

2011-12-07T07:28:00.001-08:00

Our Advent there of "Hunger" receives a new twist with today's appointed Old Testament reading. In Amos 8 we read, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine upon the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it."

Interesting that the prophet does not say that the famine is NO word from God but rather a famine of "hearing" the words of the Lord. God does not cease to speak; the people do not hear.

They dash about but they cannot find the words of God. They fail to remember that the words of God are written on their hearts.

We live in a world which at times seems to. E experiencing such a famine. We search for that which is close at hand but unnoticed or appreciated. We experience a famine of hearing Gods word. This famine is sometimes noticed by us; it is painfully felt by the world-by a world in which indifference and self-satisfying behaviors allows children to go hungry and sisters to have no shelter.

May God save us from the horrible famine which ravages us of our spiritual food and strengthens us for the work of God's Kingdom.

Devotion - Tuesday, December 6

2011-12-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

December 6 is the feast day of St. Nicholas. Bishop of Myra in the 4th Century, he was a generous and giving man. It was rumored (though no one ever saw him) that he would slip out at night and leave gifts for the poor and destitute. Why did the townspeople suspect it was Bishop Nicholas? Because some claimed to catch a glimpse of his red Bishops' Robes, departing from the place where the gifts were left.

One legend tells how a terrible famine struck the island and a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he slaughtered and butchered them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Saint Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, not only saw through the butcher's horrific crime but also resurrected the three boys from the barrel by his prayers. Another version of this story, possibly formed around the eleventh century, claims that the butcher's victims were instead three clerks who wished to stay the night. The man murdered them, and was advised by his wife to dispose of them by turning them into meat pies. The Saint saw through this and brought the men back to life.

In his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him but being too modest to help the man in public (or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man's house.

The legends associated with St. Nicholas are linked to the development of a modern-day imitation. Perhaps this modern-day knock off could learn a few things from the original. Rather than giving gifts to folks whom we want to please or impress, we could provide gifts for those who need them the most?

Happy St. Nicholas Day! Use this greeting in your interactions with others. Perhaps they won't know the history of St. Nicholas, and maybe they too could be reminded of the saintly act of giving.

Devotion - Monday, December 5

2011-12-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

How appropriate that during these opening days of Advent, that the appointed Old Testament readings would come from Amos. I encourage your to open your Bible and re-read the powerful words of this prophet.

His words are particularly meaningful for us, here at UniLu, this Advent. Our Advent worship services are focused on the issue of hunger. Care for those who lack food is a high concern for Amos.

In Prophetic Voices, Hagen Staack writes, "What were Amos' reasons for speaking as he did...? The first is that Israel's faith must manifest itself in concern for the poor, for the underdog, for the suffering, for those at the bottom of the social ladder. Amos insisted ... that the quality of social justice is the gauge of righteousness in people.

"One could hardly ascribe to Amos grand social schemes outlining comprehensive social service organizations to care for the poor and destitute. Of these he knew nothing. What he wanted to see was each individual, each person in the nation, caring for his brother, for his neighbor."

When this Advent reaches its ending, let us hope that it will have moved each of us to consider the hunger in our own lives and to seek opportunities to satisfy that hunger. When this Advent reaches its ending, let us pray that we will see in the Babe the way of God. The message of God's salvation can only be heard after those surrounding the vessel of that message take some long shifts in caring for the vulnerable little baby.

This Advent, in addition to our prayers asking that God would come into our lives and into our world, let us pray that God will come into the lives of our neighbors. And, then, let's be prepared to hear God inform us that we are the means by which that arrival is to happen.

Devotion - Thursday, December 1

2011-12-01T02:07:00.000-08:00

Today is World AIDS Day. For a number of years, the Day was widely noted across campus. A number of events would be held, to call attention to the pandemic and to educate persons on prevention.

We (LCM-C) were heavily involved in this. We hosted a campus/city wide vigil at UniLu. When the AIDS Quilt was brought to Clemson, we were one of the sponsors.

The groups of us who made our way from Clemson to Tanzania observed the AIDS crisis from a global perspective. Three Orphan Homes were built, to provide shelter for families devastated by deaths of parents and/or grandparents.

But of late, World AIDS Day has received less attention among us. This despite a relatively stable rate of infection. (Estimated 56,300 new infections a year - and South Carolina infection rate is among the highest in the US.) It is almost as if we have made our peace with the presence of this murderous entity. Surely we are not so hard of heart to think "That is their problem, and not mine."?

When Christ saw the sick and suffering he had compassion for them. He bound up their wounds and he cared for them. On World AIDS Day, perhaps we can remember his response and reconsider our own.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 30

2011-11-30T03:32:00.001-08:00

At lunch yesterday, Gina relayed a comment made by a professor. Seems he wanted to say that Martin Luther was a proponent of predestination. As soon as she asked me about this, Allen reminded everyone to prepare for a ten minute answer. Since I was only allowed ten minutes, I thought I would return to the subject this morning.

Here is what I wanted to say yesterday: Luther wanted no one to ever question the depth of God's love for them. In his own life, he had struggled with this question. He wanted to take off the table issues of whether we have done enough, or believed enough, or thought the right thoughts - with regard to being welcomed into God's salvation. "That is God's decision." And the decision is decidedly "Yes." Remember the scriptures say "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us."

Another German (Rahner) is reported to have said, "Christian Scripture demands that I believe in Hell. My experience of God tells me no one is there." Like Luther, it was his way of taking from Jesus' followers the fear of God, replacing it with the assurance that God loves us, welcomes us, and has forgiven us of our sins. "Stop worrying about this." Hasn't God done enough to convince us that we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God?

All of this came back to me this morning, as I read the appointed second lesson. From 2 Peter 3.1-10 I pulled this verse: "The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." If God has to wait a thousand years, God will wait. God will be patient with us because more than anything God wants us to know that we are loved. If we are worried that we teeter on the edge of condemnation, we fear God rather than love God.

We are predestined. Predestined to be loved by God, welcomed by God, saved by God. Nothing we have done, nothing we could do, can nullify the act of God. Salvation is ours. Now - go on with your life, living in that confidence. This is what has been pre-determined.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 29

2011-11-29T03:10:00.000-08:00

After Jesus enters Jerusalem, he enters the Temple. We are told that he is displeased with what he sees. In one version, we are told he fashions a whip out of rope. He drives the money-changers out of the temple. He overturns their tables and says to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you make it a den of robbers."

Jesus understood the Temple to be God's. The use he saw of the Temple was not consistent with what he knew the purpose of that place to be. This angers him. And he responds.

There may have been some there that day who applauded. Others may have seen, as Jesus saw, that the Temple had come to be misused. Others were taken aback. They had become so accustomed to the activities in the Temple that they ceased to evaluate whether it was appropriate. It simply was the way things were.

How does Jesus respond, upon observing our practices? This might be asked of what we do together (as the assembled people of God, in our sanctuaries,) or it might be asked of the conduct of God's children (you and me) in our daily lives. Are we making the use of these things which God would expect?

Worship/prayer - these are opportunities to commune with God. They are times in which we express the concerns of our hearts and lift up the prayers of our hearts. They are also times when God comes to us. These encounters with God inform us in our understanding of who God is and what it is that hopes for us. Surely those encounters need a critical eye - an eye which asks whether it is obviously a house (or time) or prayer, or an encounter beneficial for other interests.

Jesus enters the Temple and acts in such a way as to make all aware of how it is that God intends us to order and structure our surroundings and our lives. As we move into these days of Advent, our task is to invite Jesus to enter. This is difficult work in that welcoming him means being prepared to hear his critique of what he sees when he arrives.

Devotion - Monday, November 28

2011-11-28T03:20:00.001-08:00

If there is one thing I dislike about campus ministry it is the way in which the academic calendar upsets the liturgical calendar. Lent is interrupted by spring break; Easter is overshadowed by the end of the semester; and Advent is never allowed to be four weeks long. We sometimes hear critiques of young adults as persons with little sense of delayed gratification. Surely the cutting short of Advent adds to the attitude of "We don't have to wait that long, do we?"

Advent is the beginning of our Church Year. Advent I was yesterday. For the next three Sundays we will continue our slow approach to the events of Bethlehem. During these days we are encouraged to wait, watch, and hope.

Waiting, watching, and hoping do not occur naturally in our culture. We are more inclined to find ways to make it happen, to fix the problem, to go out and grab it. Waiting, watching, and hoping are skills which need to be refined.

These skills can only happen in the lives of those willing to consider the voids in their lives. They are only important to those who long for something, and are willing to admit it is something that must come to them from another source. Waiting, watching, and hoping are traits of those who know their need for God's intervention.

You just returned from Thanksgiving Break. You have a ton of work to do before final exams. How, in the midst of all that activity, can you devote time to sitting quietly, waiting? It is tough.

But only those who recognize their need for Messiah will recognize Messiah's arrival. Only those who give voice to their hope will see those hopes realized.

With a profound understanding of the other demands on your time and the countless interruptions in your life, I encourage you to find opportunity to practice the disciplines of Advent - wait, watch, hope. (And remember these are not to be confused with "getting ready for Christmas." They do not involve putting up color lights.) Become aware of your need for God's presence.

Sermon - Advent 1 - November 27, 2011

2011-11-27T04:13:00.000-08:00

Advent 1B.11
Mark 13:24-37

Wishing for the Right Messiah
If you read this week’s E-News from UniLu, you probably noticed my attempt at a Thanksgiving devotional. The impetus for that arose during staff meeting. I was sharing updates on my sister’s medical condition, and Donna comforted me by saying that a number of you, when calling the Church Office, had asked about her. Donna also said that a number had acknowledged a lack of information about my family. That struck me as odd; I think I talk about my family more than I should.

This sister of mine (Carolyn) is thirteen years older than me. Because my mother was in such poor health when I was born, Carolyn the sister fell into the role of “mother.” A role she continued throughout most of my life, and the life of my brother. That brother is only four years older than me, meaning Carolyn also has nine years on him. My parents reported being teased that they raised a baby-sitter, then the rest of their family.

Carolyn has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is particularly difficult to treat – as several of you are already aware. She is anxious; she is sad; but she is also doing okay. Throughout her sixty-seven years she has always done okay. In no small part due to her confidence that God is in control and that therefore all things will be right with the world.

Carolyn would have been a pastor, if that was an option for girls finishing high school in 1961. She has always been the best theologian in the family.

I grew up hearing the story of her Christmas wish list at age 5. Given the opportunity to ask for three things, her is what she asked for:
1) that everyone would have a home to live in;
2) that everyone would have food enough to eat; and
3) that everyone would have a mother and a father who loved them as much as her mother and father loved her.
Somewhat taken aback, the teacher who asked for her list wondered why she would ask for those three things. “Because,” Carolyn is reported to have said, “if everyone had these things, no one would go to war or hurt others or feel a need to steal.”

Just think of what it was like to grow up with an older sister who gave those kinds of answers.

It has been wonderful.

It is the time of year, when we are likely to be asked what we would wish for. The season of Advent is all about anticipating what will come our way. The Gospel text speaks of being awake, alert, and ready. Jesus speaks to a population who had grown complacent, to a people who had lowered their expectations. He tells them to observe the signs, so as not to miss the arrival of the one who would respond to that which was lacking in their lives. As we re-hear those words, I can’t help but wonder if we have grown complacent, if we have lowered our expectations. Would we even recognize Messiah’s arrival, were it to come, today?

What would that arrival look like? Many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not find in him the one whom they were seeking. They wanted something else, so they did not line up behind him or the kingdom of which he spoke. The way things played out, and the effect which he achieved was not what they were looking for. Some were looking for political power. Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. Some wanted to continue their current way of life, and go out to Jesus when they wanted to hear a really good sermon. Jesus came to their city and their homes and announced that he wanted their every thought and their every action to reflect his presence.

Many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not recognize or were not willing to acknowledge the contours of his kingdom, and so they went away or turned away. Some even joined in the hysterical mob which thought shouting “Crucify him!” would remove from them the pain of knowing that the kingdom had come close to them but that they had chosen something different. They didn’t see what was right before them.

Do we see? Are we prepared to see? Do we even want to see?

I wasn’t here last week; I was at St. Michael, Greenville, helping them with their Stewardship Campaign. But I know the Gospel text you heard last week. It was the story of the separation of the sheep from the goats. They are divided, one from the other, the sheep representing those who do the will of God; the goats those who do not. What they do is feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and visit those in prison.

That text seems to be a justification of works righteousness (that you get to go to heaven if you do the right things, or are sent to hell for doing the wrong things.) Seems to be, until you get to the line where both the sheep and the goats ask “Lord, when did we see you in such a state, and care for you?” The answer exposes that those who do these things do not do them in order to obtain a reward; they do them because they share the mind and heart of God. They do them because they have understood, accepted, and are living the intentions of their master.

That was the text for Christ the King Sunday – the last Sunday of the Church Year, the Sunday on which everything comes to its ending. As we begin the new Church Year on Advent 1, as we return to the state of anticipation, perhaps that ending ought to direct us in considering what it is that we are to look for. Maybe that ending will help us be prepared to recognize (and follow) the Messiah who does speak the word of God and instruct us in the way of God.

It isn’t that God fails to come. The greater problem is our preference to continue to wait and watch for a Messiah more to our liking.

This One, the One spoken of in scripture, will assure us that we have nothing to fear. That neither life nor death nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from God’s love. This one will tell us time and again that God’s peace has come upon us. This one will teach us all things and lead us in all things. This one will help us see that the few loaves and fish is enough to feed everyone, if we possess the courage it takes to share. This one will show us that serving others is the path to life. This one will show us all these things; but many will prefer to wait for another, for something different.

Being awake, being alert, being ready might need to start with being honest about what it is that we are looking for. Are we hoping for some jolly fellow in a red suit who will grant us permission to ask for an IPad, or will we be ready to accept the One whose humble beginnings set the stage for the remainder of his life?

We don’t “wish” for things, we pray for them. And what we pray for is that God would make us aware of how everything we need has already been provided. We pray that what is true for God and in God’s kingdom might also be true in our lives.

Be awake; be alert. Be ready to accept the Messiah and be prepared to live according to what he tells us is the way to eternal life.

Amen.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 22

2011-11-22T03:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving break starts today. I wonder how many of you are already packed, and ready to depart. Holidays are reminders that while we might say we "go to Clemson," or "live in Clemson," Clemson is not our "home." Our home is somewhere else.

My wife and I experienced different childhoods in that her "home" shifted a couple of times. Her first home was in the city of Atlanta. That home was sold when she was in middle school and she has only been back to see that home on one, maybe two occasions. The home of my childhood was built on land given to my parents by my grandfather. It is 700 yards down the road from his home, the home where my mother grew up. When my parents died, I inherited that home. My niece lives in it now. I am heading to that home later this afternoon.

We are familiar with the saying, "Home is where the heart is," and certainly heart and home are connected. Where we find comfort and assurance and confidence is where we are at home.

Give thanks, this week, for the home that welcomes you. Realize that not everyone has the security of such a place. Give thanks, and consider well how that home might strengthen and sustain your efforts to create a safe zone for others. How might you be able to transform the gift which has come your way into a blessing by which others might be blessed?

Above all, enjoy these days. And be safe. We will be back together come Monday.

Devotion - Monday, November 21

2011-11-21T03:31:00.000-08:00

The significance of these weeks on the liturgical calendar are too often lost to the secular calendar. Talk of shopping on Black Friday, or the exciting football games on Rivalry Weekend, or cooking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey overrun and overshadow all talk about Christ the King and/or the beginning of Advent. As I read Maggie's devotion for this past Friday, I realized the importance of her commitment - that we are moving into a culture where being a Christian takes us out of step with what is going on around us.

Christ the King Sunday is the culmination of a year's worth of work. On Christ the King we remember the whole cycle of God's interaction with us - we revisit the hope and expectation of Advent, the joy of Christmas, the darkness of Lent, and finally the exhilaration of Easter. The Pentecost Season has allowed us to step back and recall all of Jesus' instructions to us and now, on Christ the King, we are prepared to celebrate Christ as our King. The celebration is an opportunity for dedication. It is our chance to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus. Come into my life as I give my life to you."

It is a short-lived celebration. On the following Sunday (Advent I) we begin the cycle all over again.

Christian faith is always on the move. It seldom sits down or stops. It is therefore appropriate that the self-centered celebrations of Christ the King occupy no more than seven days of our liturgical year. But I hope they will get their due and be remembered, during these seven days.

And what a difference remembering Christ the King can make, on these seven days.

We gather at Thanksgiving to give thanks. The traditions in our particular family may vary, but the underlying theme is giving thanks to God, to our Lord. Rivalry football games are fun, but let's keep them in perspective - they are only a game, and certainly not an occasion to make disparaging remarks about the opponent. And what of all that shopping? My sister, who has taught me so much throughout my life, has recently taught me that if I really want to do something to bring joy into her life, help her to bring food to the bellies of those with too little to eat. "Send a check to the Food Pantry (where she spends so many days fixing meals.)" It is the perfect way to demonstrate your love; by showing that our love is focused in the same direction.

Yes, Christ the King makes a difference in so many ways. Christ, or King, makes all the difference.

Christ the King - November 20, 2011

2011-11-20T04:05:00.000-08:00

Note: I was asked to assist St. Michael Lutheran with their Stewardship Program. This is the sermon I have prepared for the conclusion of that process.

Christ the King - Year A
November 20, 2011
St. Michael, Greenville
Matthew 25:31-46

Consecration Sunday

A couple of “thank you’s” are in order. I wasn’t sure where they ought to be inserted into the service, so it seems this is as a good a time as any.

The first thank you is to all of you, who accepted the change in schedule, who responded favorably to the invitation to lunch. Change is never easy and seldom welcomed. Thank you for becoming a part of Consecration Sunday and for being here today. I pray that as the morning develops you will come to understand even more clearly why it was so important for all of us to be together, today.

The second thank you is to the Consecration Sunday Team. I began meeting with them on October 17. They had done much work prior to that meeting and they have worked tirelessly since. We all owe them our gratitude and we have all benefitted from their service.

A final thank you is a personal one. I want to thank you all, for allowing me this glimpse into your congregation, into your ministry, and into your lives together. It has been a blessing to me, far beyond the ability of words to express. Thank you. Thank all of you. While my glances from afar had indicated the health and vitality of this congregation, my six weeks working with you have confirmed the wondrous ways in which St. Michael is a community centered on the Gospel and committed to the ministry of Christ.

There is a certain amount of what is going to happen today which is the result of careful planning and meticulous attention to detail. That is why we needed to say “Thank you” to the Planning Team. They have done their tasks well. But their careful planning and their attention to detail could only accomplish so much. What comes after that, the deepest blessings of this day, come our way as a result of plans larger than our own. I asked the Team, at our meeting last Sunday evening, whether their planning had intended for Consecration Sunday to fall on Christ the King Sunday. The answer was “No, not really.” It was more a matter of trying to complete all this before the busyness of Thanksgiving and Advent. Plans larger than our own were at work in making these two coincide. And I want to take a few minutes to point out how appropriate it is that this has occurred.

By now you should have a reasonably good understanding of Consecration Sunday. Even if you missed the temple talks of the past three weeks, your presence here, at 10:00 am rather than 8:30 or 11:00 means you know something about what is going on. Consecration Sunday is an opportunity for us to come together as a community, for us all to come together, and consider what it is that God calling upon us to do. What we will be able to do, as a congregation, is to be built upon what it is that God is calling each of us, as individuals to do. Consecration Sunday shifts the locus of action. Rather than saying, “This is what St. Michael will be doing in the coming year – can you join the effort.” We ask, “What is God calling you to give?” and build the ministry of St. Michael around those offerings. This morning we encourage you to see yourself as one who has been consecrated, for service to God. This morning we will ask you to consecrate your financial resources, making them an instrument for the work of God’s Kingdom.

That is what Consecration Sunday is about.

But today is also Christ the King Sunday. And long before there was a Consecration Sunday, Christ the King Sunday as been on our liturgical calendar as a time to come together and do the same thing. We assemble on Christ the King in order to look back over the previous year, consider all that God has done for us, and then decide whether all of this is going to make any difference in the way we live our lives. The liturgy of Christ the King Sunday forms around the question of whether we will proclaim Christ as our King? Or will we go off looking for another?

Christ the King is a “consecration Sunday,” whether or not it happens to coincide with the Stewardship Committee’s planning.

Consecration Sunday provides us with the opportunity to make tangible our devotion to the one we affirm as our Lord and Master, our devotion to Christ the King.

Neither of these is a gimmick or trick. We are not setting up some sort of “show” for our giving, and we are clearly not in the business of setting up measuring sticks for faithfulness. No one is to feel pressured into doing more than they know they are capable of doing. The presence of any such emotions would mean that all of this is a colossal failure. And let me repeat what you have heard many times already - determining our response to God with regard to financial sacrifice is not to be taken as some sort of test of how deeply we love God. We will have done a disservice to Consecration Sunday and to Christ the King Sunday if any such thoughts are present among us.

That is the disclaimer. Let me return to the main message. Your devotion to Christ is shown through your participation in worship, your personal prayers, and your service to others. Using the image from today’s Gospel reading, we become the sheep of God’s fold, who go about these tasks without ever stepping back to consider them, or perhaps even to realize that they are indicators of our consecration. Today we want to pull ourselves back a bit from the activity and consider the match between what God has entrusted to us and what we are capable of giving back.

In the Gospel lesson, the Son of Man comes and he sits on his throne and he separates people, one from another. At first, those being separated don’t understand why they are being put into one group or another. Notice that both groups ask, “Lord when?” Those who have done the will of their father ask. Those who have failed to care for the least among us also ask. Neither group engaged in their actions with the intention of obtaining a particular reward. Both were living out their lives in accordance with what they considered to be important. When the Son of Man comes, he sits down among them and allows their actions to reveal what they truly value.

The reason for Consecration and for Christ the King is to make sure that we are aware of how our actions reveal what it is that we value in our lives. We need to be encouraged to consider what our behavior says about what we hold dear.

I have said my “Thank yous” and I would never take any of them back. But I hope I won’t offend anyone by saying that in these last four days a few of the well-laid plans were abandoned. As much energy and effort as had been put into Consecration Sunday, and as important as the events of this day are to all of us, everything shifted on Tuesday with the death of Lum Leonard. Nothing we had planned for this morning would be allowed to take precedence over celebrating the life of our brother in Christ and making sure that the news of his resurrection was proclaimed. All of this special stuff we had planned was set aside so we could go back to what it is that we do every day of every week of every year. The “sheep” gathered yesterday to acknowledge one of their own. Yesterday’s gathering is the true consecration, the powerful celebration of Christ as King. Today’s events affirm that we are committed to continuing to do what it is that we have done so well in the past four days.

God has done much. Exceedingly much. Embarrassingly too much. What are we able and prepared to do in return? On Consecration Sunday we have the opportunity to decide. On Christ the King Sunday we join our responses with those of God’s children in every time and every place.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, November 17

2011-11-17T03:02:00.001-08:00

It is getting to be that time of the year - the time when we see the stress levels go up and the self care going down. I feel it too. I realize that when you are the busiest, I tend to get busy, too. I think it is something in the air that affects us all. We fail, during this time of the year, to allow ourselves to find our rest in God.

I not only write a morning thought, I read a couple. This one spoke to me, and I thought it worth sharing with you. It is, as you will be able to tell, part of a short series - on mysticism - and it addresses allowing ourselves to find that rest, in God.

The final experience of mysticism, after the optimistic explosion that we usually call hope, and the ensuing sense of safety, is of deep rest. It’s the verb I’m told that is most used by the mystics: “resting in God.” All this striving and this need to perform, climb, and achieve becomes, on some very real level, unnecessary. It’s already here, now. I can stop all this overproduction and over-proving of myself. That’s Western and American culture. It’s not the Gospel at all.

We’ve all imbibed the culture of unrest so deeply. We just cannot believe that we could be respected or admired or received or loved without some level of performance. We are all performers and overachievers, and we think “when we do that” we will finally be lovable. Once you ride on the performance principle, you don’t even allow yourself to achieve it. Even when you “achieve” a good day of “performing,” it will never be enough, because it is inherently self-advancing and therefore self-defeating. You might call it “spiritual capitalism.”

Devotion - Wednesday, November 16

2011-11-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

Our Tuesday night bible study group has completed the chapters associated with the Old Testament. Our study guide is an overview, introduction to the whole bible. It is a wide swipe, but it is allowing us to get the basic story line, and to note what are referred to as the Major 31 stories in the Bible.

The OT summary spoke of the stories in general terms. The topic which occupied us the most last night was "Called and Claimed." Not dissimilar to one of our Sunday Morning discussions, we talked about what it means to be called by God, what a call is like, and how specific any such call would be. "Does a call from God mean that there is a particular plan for my life?" "Would that call identify for me my job choice, or even better the particular company with whom I would be employed."

Would that our call from God were that specific. It rarely is.

I have shared with you that there are multiple Greed words in the New Testament which are associated with the concept of faith. The one most applicable to this discussion is the one visio. It is a way of encouraging us to see (vision) the world as Christ sees the world. Our call from God is to look at the world as if we were looking through the eyes of Jesus.

This call, is a call from God to see. It is a call to observe. It is a call to perceive things from the position of Jesus.

As a result of this call, we approach the world with compassion. As a result of this call, we are aware of injustice. As a result of this call, we are prepared to make the sacrifices necessary for the betterment of the kingdom.

God has called each of us. God has claimed us as sons and daughters. This call, that claim lie behind and under every decision we will make. It won't tell us where to plant our foot (what our next step will be) but it will tell us where to focus our eyes.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 15

2011-11-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

I wrote to you yesterday of Jesus sending out the disciples. Continuing to read from Matthew 10, we realize that his instructions to them included words of warning. (I probably should have included something about that along with yesterday's encouragement for you to "Go.") He tells them that the going would not be easy.

One of the quandaries we face is whether it was only those first disciples who faced rejection, betrayal, and death, or if it is a warning that remains in effect for us modern-day disciples. Is the danger over? Or is there something about the message of Jesus which continues to make his disciples targets?

Maybe you can arrive at an answer to that question by considering whether the culture around us accurately reflects the vision Jesus has for us?

We have had two deaths in our student population in the past two weeks. The circumstances of the first has not been disclosed; the second is rumored to be the result of alcohol poisoning. We can distance ourselves from that and say, "I am not part of that crowd," but these individuals and their crowd are our community.

South Carolina has a new law regarding undocumented persons. Setting aside the mood or intention of the law itself, the language being used by those discussing the law is painful to hear. These are humans, children of God, yet we speak of them with horrific words.

The first disciples of Jesus faced physical beatings, imprisonment, execution. We may not face these same threats, but speaking the Word of God continues to make us suspect, unpopular, even shunned. The world may say that it "loves Jesus" and "believes in Jesus," but we have a ways to go when it comes to following Jesus.

Until that time comes, those who speak on behalf of Jesus are likely to continue to feel as if we are sent out as "sheep in the midst of wolves." (Matthew 10:16)

Sermon - November 13, 2011

2011-11-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Matthew 25:14-30

No Instructions - Just Gifts
Jesus is talking about the “Kingdom of heaven.” It isn’t immediately apparent that this is the context for today’s Gospel reading. The 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel is all about the Kingdom. The previous parable was introduced with the words, “The kingdom of heaven will be like….” When he finishes that first parable, he moves on to a second. Like the first, it is about the kingdom. Like other places in the Gospel, where Jesus is speaking of the kingdom, he again uses grandiose images and outrageous comparisons.

The kingdom of heaven is as if a man, going on a journey, were to summon his slaves and entrust them with his property. The end of the story answers a question one would surely ask before taking such action – “Are these slaves meritorious enough to be entrusted with the man’s possessions?” Two will prove to be; one will not. At the beginning of the story, we don’t know this. All know is that the master entrusts them with his possessions. And the amounts with which he entrusts them would suggest that he has great hopes for them.

We might miss this point in the story, unless we are familiar enough with units of measure in the times of Jesus’ life. Can anyone convert 5 talents, or 3 talents, or 1 talent into modern-day sums of money? You need to be able to convert the amount in order to realize that in this parable we are talking about a master who entrusts to his servants with a tremendous treasurer. In order for the parable to speak to us, the modern-day servants who oversee the kingdom, we need to be able to understand the worth of that which God has entrusted to us.

I have been stalling. Giving you time. Has any one come up with the conversion? I have done this math with you before, in other sermons. Start with a denarii. A denarii is the amount of money a laborer would earn in the course of a day. A talent was equal to about 6,000 denarii. A talent would represent the amount of money a laborer (a slave or servant) could earn in about 20 years.

To turn this into an actual number, let’s use $7.50 as an hourly wage. In 8 hours they would earn about $60. If we set $60 as the value of a denarii, then a talent would be worth approximately $360,000. The kingdom is as if a man going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave $1.8 million, another $720,000, to another $360,000.

Now, we are an affluent congregation. It might be the case that some of our children work minimum wage jobs, while they are in school, but most of us are far removed from jobs than pay $7.50 an hour. As a result, these numbers might not be as impressive to us as they were for Jesus’ immediate hearers, or as they would be to the households meeting at some of the country churches around Pickens County. So work the math using your own ideas of annual income. 20 years of wages is the amount Jesus is talking about. This is the amount (times five in one instance, times two in another) that he gives to the servants – without so much as a suggestion of what they are to do with it.

How can this be like the kingdom?

The kingdom of which Jesus speaks is known for its grandiose nature and its outlandish gifts. The kingdom of which Jesus speaks is that place where God comes to us and invites us in as sons and daughters. In this kingdom, our sins are forgiven, we are assured of salvation, and promised that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God. That which is entrusted to us, placed in our hands as the waters of baptism are poured over our heads, is a treasure of unimaginable worth. Our master has only “gone away” in the sense that the physical Jesus has been transformed into the resurrected Jesus. As this transformation was taking place he said to you, “Go and teach all persons… baptize them,” and welcome them into the kingdom.

Understanding the value of the talents the master leaves with the servants in the parable helps us to understand the value of that which God has entrusted to us.

These gifts, this treasure, is ours on two levels. It encourages us to think of what God has given us as individuals and what God has given us as a community. In either instance, the point remains the same – our master has given us much, so much, an insane amount of much, and then steps back to see what we will do with it.

What will we do? What have you done? With that which God has entrusted to you?

In the parable, two of the three do as their master had hoped – they make good use of that which they had been given. They double the initial gift. In acknowledging their accomplishments, the master tells them that since they have been trustworthy in a few things, he will put them in charge of many things. They are to enter into the joy of their master.

Given the grandiose nature of the initial gifts – 100 years of wages for the first, 60 years of wages for the second – it is difficult to imagine what more the master might have to give. Perhaps it is a reference to the treasures which are not measureable in coin or hours but rather in things eternal. These two servants are acknowledged for taking what they had been given and putting it to good work. They are good and faithful servants. They are the kind of persons Jesus hopes will be found at every turn in the kingdom.

But what of the other servant. It isn’t that he did anything wrong, does he? He protects that which belongs to the master and is capable, upon the master’s return, of giving back to him all that he given. But this is not what the master had hoped he would do with it.

Any time there is mention of weeping and gnashing of teeth, we can be pretty sure this is not where we want to be. We do not want to find ourselves in the position of the one who fails to make use of that which God has given us. We can be sure that this is not the end toward which we ought to be moving. It is best to avoid the disappointment of the one who has given us that which is nothing short of an absolutely amazing gift.

I started out trying to help you understand a modern day conversion for a “talent.” The other direction that conversation could have gone is to explain how the popularity of this story contributed to the middle ages adaptation of this word as a reference to one’s God-given abilities. It isn’t always money which is left in our care – it is also our ability to tell a story, to communicate the things which are of value, or to be the one who provides love and compassion. These “talents,” as well as our ability to solve a math problem, or build a turbine engine, or keep the accounts of a number of share-holders, are the things which God has given us, to see how we will use them – to discover how these talents might increase the goodness of God’s creation.

Each and every one of us, sitting here today, has been handed at least one talent. Each and every one of us has been entrusted, by our master, with an unimaginable treasure. Each and every one of us struggles to know what to do with our talents. God is the one who gave them to us; but in most cases God has not handed us an instruction manual. I don’t believe that God is “testing” us, so much as God wants to give us the freedom to choose how we will make use of the things he has provided. And his reaction to the third servant may have arisen out of disappointment, or been a reaction to the uncharitable opinion that third servant had of his master. He is pretty harsh in his description of a man who had handed him 20 years of wages. God has handed you and I these talents, and God is watching what we will do.

What will you do?

Amen.

Devotion - Monday, November 14

2011-11-14T03:29:00.001-08:00

Once Jesus has called his disciples, and spent some time with them, he sends them out into the world. He instructs them to preach as they go; heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:5ff) From this, we might come to understand that the prime activity of Jesus' followers is to be out there, somewhere, telling others.

Why has this changed so much?

I was with a wonderful group of individuals last night. Among them were parents of one of our current students; among them were parents of an individual I hope will choose to come to Clemson in 2013. I spoke to these parents of our efforts to welcome students and encourage them to become involved in the worship life at University Lutheran and the programs of Lutheran Campus Ministry-Clemson. I stumbled back over that conversation this morning, as I turned to the bookmark in my bible and read the appointed Gospel lesson. Jesus sent the disciples out; we are stopping short of his expectations when all we do is welcome them in.

Perhaps it has to do with the suggestion (suggestion - not fact) that we live in a "Christian Nation." The assumption is that everyone has heard the story and everyone has had at least a dozen invitations to learn all they want to know about God's grace. Perhaps.

Maybe it has to do with our nervousness. We are fearful that someone will ask us a question or challenge our comments and we won't know how to respond. Maybe.

Unfortunately, the result remains unchanged. We may be very involved in the community which bears the name of Jesus, but choose to remain comfortable inside that community, rather than reach out to others.

After looking inward for a long period of time we may even forget the call to look outward.

Jesus sends his disciples out. They are told to "go." They are discouraged from making a lot of preparations. Just go, and see what happens.

I leave those same instructions with you. "Go." You don't need to have all the answers - it fact it is more helpful when you do not. You need not have a reply for every possible response, you only need one replay. What I find most truthful and most helpful is merely to say, "I have peace and a contentment in my life."

Go.

Devotion - Thursday, November 10

2011-11-10T02:56:00.000-08:00

In Matthew 9, Jesus is approached by a man, whose daughter has died. Jesus goes to the man's house. When he arrives, the "flute players" are already there - the community has begun to gather in order to mourn the child's passing, to prepare her body for burial, and to support the family in their grief. Jesus tells them they are premature, that "the girl is not dead but sleeping." They laugh at him.

Before I go on, I need to share a note from my seminary course on Matthew. It was a part of the culture at the time that the flute players showed up, uninvited, when a death occurred. They would play their instruments, and then then they would expect payment. So, when Jesus speaks of the girl not being dead, their laughter may have been somewhat motivated by the suggestion that they were going to be denied the opportunity to collect their coins. They were a part of the death ritual of the community, but they were there to profit from the death, not genuinely mourn the girl's passing. There is a lesson here - that not eveyone is sad to see a death; that some see death as an opportunity and they seek to exploit it.

Jesus knows that life is God's to give; Jesus knows that even where and when death is all that others can see - he finds life.

Think not so much about those in your family or circle of friends who have been buried. Think of those (perhaps even yourself) who continue to draw breath, but who have ceased to experience the fullness and the promise of the life God has for us. Think of those persons (hopefully not yourself) who fail to see the opportunities set before them but choose instead to face corners and remain tethered. They may not be there totally of their own choosing. Like the ancient flute players, there are persons in the world who look enthusiastically for those susceptible to the suggestion to be dead rather than to live. They attempt to keep us in the places where death is the choice to be made.

Into those lives (and into your own) Jesus comes to announce that life is there, that life is ours, that while others may see death his vision is one of the living.

In Matthew 9, there are no fancy words or actions, nor even a prayerful outcry. Jesus simply takes the girl by the hand, "and the girl arose." Simple, really.

Just as simply, Jesus takes our hand. Just as simply, from him and into us flows the life which is God's gift to us.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 9

2011-11-09T03:12:00.001-08:00

I was reading this morning from Matthew 9. Jesus calls Matthew as a disciple; he ends up sharing dinner with a number of tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees comment on this. Jesus says to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician."

Does this story speak to us in any way? Are we so far removed in time and context that we fail to grasp what is going on here? A fear is that we have become so comfortable with our inclusion in the community of Christ that we no longer hear those words which are meant to shake up that community.

One of last evening's Bible study participants correctly pointed out that we are "all sinners." Perhaps it is our willingness to admit our shortcomings which contribute to our reading Matthew 9 and seeing ourselves in the role of those whose presence with Jesus is questioned. We continue to think of ourselves as the unlikely recipients of God's gracious invitation to sit at his table. And thus we should see ourselves. But we are also those whose names appear on the list of temple keepers; are not many of us among those who arrange the chairs at the table and send out the notices that the meal is being served? We share traits with those who already have a place in the house and around the table. We may be one of the sinners who Jesus beckons to join him; but we are also one of the established guard reluctant to give up our status.

We need to continually understand ourselves to be sinners, welcomed to the table by a gracious and loving master. But we must also be on the lookout for those who are being called to the table, and do not consider themselves worthy. We need to be helpful to Jesus, in making them feel welcome and not part of the reason they feel excluded.

Look around you for the most unlikely of candidates for God's invitation. Look at them with differing eyes, with the eyes of Jesus, and through the experience adjust your understanding of why Jesus came and to whom he came. Allow this to alter the way in which you reach out to those persons and the ways in which you speak to them of God's invitation.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 8

2011-11-08T02:32:00.001-08:00

Matthew 9:1-8 retells an encounter between Jesus and the scribes.

It begins with a healing, of which the scribes are critical of Jesus. When he sees the paralytic, lying on his bed, Jesus says to him, "Your sins are forgiven." This is the reason for their criticism. They would point out that only God can forgive sins. Their opposition to Jesus is that he would announce the forgiveness of sins.

The reply Jesus gives them is intended to show that he does have this authority; it is a message for the early Church that Jesus is the Son of God. But this morning I found something else in his words which stuck with me.

Jesus asks these scribes, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk?'" Having been criticized for announcing the forgiveness of sins, Jesus now gives the command to stand and walk.

Again, this story's purpose in scriptures is to assure us of Jesus' authority. But this morning, with these verses fresh in my head, as I prayed for those of you facing various illnesses and diseases, I found myself thinking how impressed we would be were healing to occur, and yet we overlook the miracle of the forgiveness of our sins.

I don't want to pretend that it is easy to heal someone. Many times disease takes a strong hold of us and will not let us go. But the scribes appropriately understand that healing is in no way comparable to forgiveness. One is an option for many; the other is solely the realm of God.

My prayers will continue to include petitions for healing. May God's grace be with each who suffer in body or spirit. The assurance we have is that our suffering is not a result of unforgiven sin. We can face our challenges confident that Jesus has looked upon us and that he has also said to us, "Your sins are forgiven."

Devotion - Monday, November 7

2011-11-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

Some of Paul's words have been fully and completely heard, accepted, and applied to our lives. Some of what he says, we have truly taken to heart and made a part of our daily lives.

Take, for example, his instructions on eating meat offered to idols. When was the last time you worried (or even considered) whether a meal you were consuming had previously been part of some ritual sacrifice? In I Corinthians 10, Paul gives instructions on how one is to respond, when invited to the house of another. If the meat we are offered does not offend us, then go ahead and eat it. He says.

Have you not applied this to your life? Don't you eat, without concern, as to where the meat was offered?

Perhaps you are thinking, "Sacrifice to other gods is no longer practiced." Perhaps true, but I am anticipating a lot of fires and sacrificial offerings come Saturday as those eighty some thousand gather to adore (if not worship) the god of Clemson football.

I am not attempting to build an argument that we have turned college football into the god upon which we lavish our gifts and devote our time (any attempts to do this would leave me open to questions about my devotion to NASCAR.) But as I read I Corinthians 10 this morning, I thought of all this. Particularly when I got to the first verse of the 11th chapter. "Give no offense... Just as I try to please all.... not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved."

How offensive ought it be that we can turn out 80K+ for a football game, but have a tough time getting 300 to participate in the CROP Walk for World Hunger? What is the value of all those tailgating tents, seen on game day? And why do we find it so difficult to raise enough money to pay for the Homecoming Habitat House?

It might be offensive, to some, when they observe the resources we devote to entertaining ourselves as compared to the resources given to save others.

Some of Paul's words we have heard, accepted, and applied to our lives. Others - well, we might have a ways to go.

Devotion - Thursday, November 3

2011-11-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with a comparison between the person who builds their house upon the sand, and a person who builds their house upon rock. The analogy is that the house built upon the sand is easily washed away when the rains and the floods come. The house built upon the rock stands firm.

Jesus has finished presenting the bedrock of his teachings. He has told us, in the preceding three chapters, what we are to believe and how we are to act. "Follow these," he seems to be saying, "and you will be like the one who builds on rock."

But what if my house is already built? And what if it isn't built on rock? What am I to do?

Most of you are aware of my role in the Clemson Habitat houses. We build the house on campus, on a temporary foundation. The house is then moved to its permanent location. That sounds simple, but it is a lot of work. A lot of work. Moving a house is not easy.

So if I discover (or admit) that my house is not built where it is secure from the rains and the floods, what am I to do? Relocating the house will take a lot of work. A lot of work.

They guys who move our Habitat houses are slick. They have their own set of codes (they whistle instructions.) They go about tasks which seem minor to me, but when it all comes together you can see the reason why they completed that step. Their style might be a model for those wishing to relocate their "house."

First, think about the move. What will it take? Where will the move get you? How can you make sure that the new foundation is secure.

Next, go about it in small steps, not large ones. Few of us will have the opportunity or the desire to pick up, pack up and completely relocate.

Finally, enlist the help of others. Telling them of your desire to relocate and asking for their assistance in completing the task.

Jesus tells us about the foundation which is secure. Sometimes we reside there, happily. Others of us have to move. Moving is possible. It is a lot of work; but it is doable.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 2

2011-11-02T03:16:00.001-07:00

Having written about Reformation and All Saints', it seemed appropriate to continue the series and comment on today's festival - even though it is a festival observed by neighbors more than by us.

In Mexico, today is observed as the Day of the Dead. On this day, family members will make special pilgrimages to the graves of their family members. They will take with them the foods or drink enjoyed by the departed, leaving these on the graves.

Laura and I made our first trip to Mexico some six years ago. It was for the wedding of LCM Alums. It was an October wedding, weeks before Day of the Dead. We ventured into town and discovered all the decorations on sale for the upcoming holiday. We didn't know much about the tradition, by were intrigued by the skeletons dressed up to symbolize various professions, and numerous famous persons.

You might think it odd, but on that same visit, we left the hotel and walked behind the walled cemetery. What we found there was stark contrast to the orderly, sanitized cemeteries we have in the US. The graves were arranged somewhat haphazardly. The markers were not fancy, carved granite but hand poured concrete with names and dates carved with a stick. Some graves were like a mausoleum; elaborate brickwork with glass enclosures protecting photos or personal items we assumed were put there to acknowledge the life of the deceased.

While we were walking around, we came upon a burial. The casket was small, probably that of a child. The mourners were not only carrying the casket, but also shovels. No attempts at denying death or burial; no professional funeral directors; here was a family doing what needed to be done for the one who had died. It was a terrifying scene; the thought of the loss experienced by the family. But at the same time it was very comforting; to see those who loved the one who had died caring for the body and placing it in the ground.

I don't know as much about the Day of the Dead as I would like. What I do know is that we do it a disservice when we buy our trinkets and see it as a day to party. Like All Saints Eve (Halloween), it is a day which brackets All Saints Day and draws its origins from the necessity of acknowledging death.

The promise of Christian faith is that death has lost its sting. That sting is not removed as a result of denying death, but as we look death squarely in the face. Day of the Dead seems to be a wonderful way of acknowledging how it is that those who have gone before us have shown us how to live. They may have died, but their presence continues to be felt and experienced every day of our lives. On one day, November 2, we visit their graves in order to acknowledge them as an ongoing part of our lives.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 1

2011-11-01T03:28:00.001-07:00

"The dearly departed," "The Saints Triumphant," there are any number of ways of referring to those who have been for us models of the faith, but now now "rest from their labors." They are the "Saints of the Church," and they serve to inspire us; their service builds up the people of God.

On this day, we pick up where their labors left off. On this day, we become the models of prayer. We remember them before God and we pray that their witness will not have been in vain. On this day we give thanks for All the Saints, and we petition God to assure us that they are aware of our love and that they are comforted by our remembrance.

A tradition on All Saints' Sunday is to name those who have left us in the past year. Among those, for me, are my mother-in-law and my campus pastor. Representing the two aspects of my life (home and vocation) their deaths left huge voids. On this day of prayer and remembrance, I will remember all the things they gave me and all that they taught me in the hope that I can draw from these the wisdom to live in this family and to work among God's people.

Remember and give thanks for those who have guided your life of faith. Remember and give thanks for their presence among you and for their role in shaping your own life. Remember and give thanks for All the Saints.

Devotion - Monday, October 31

2011-10-31T03:36:00.001-07:00

A weekend away has left me feeling as if today is a day to rest and recuperate, but I look at the calendar and realize it is Halloween. I wonder if you all will rest this evening,or if you will be out in force, reveling in the day.

Halloween is shunned by some in the Christian community. It is seen as an inappropriate nod to the things demonic. We do tend to see more costumes involving witches than resurrected saints. There are all sorts of stories on how the tradition grew and expanded. I am enough of a cynic to believe that its current popularity in American culture has more to do with marketability. Thanksgiving has lost out to "the first shopping day for Christmas," so Halloween is the event you can sell. Folks are decorating for Christmas by the last week in November, but there would be time to put up one set of decorations for October 31, take them down, and get ready for Santa's and snow globes.

Halloween is All Hallow's Eve. It falls on October 31, the day before All Saints' Day. On All Saints we remember and honor all those who have passed, giving thanks for their presence among us and seeking their aid in our continued pilgrimage. There is a passing reference in the Resurrection narratives to the graves opening and the saints mingling among God's people. While this is intended as a reinforcement of witnessing to the faith, some interpret it as ghoulish warnings to those who are unfaithful.

There was no "Halloween" in Martin Luther's day. All Saints' Day was (still is) a day of holy obligation, so all the faithful would have made their way to worship on that day. This made the evening of October 31 the perfect day for Luther to post a notice on the door of the Church, that he wanted to start a debate about the practices of the Pope. Thus, October 31 is observed among Lutherans as Reformation Day.

Enjoy your day. If you are planning an evening's activity, have fun. It is a day for frivolities, not for serious evangelism, but you might store away a few thoughts about the origins of this day and be prepared to remind your fellow party-goers that tomorrow is All Saints, and to encourage them to follow up their day of fright and screams with a day of prayerful remembrance.

Devotion - Thursday, October 27

2011-10-27T03:28:00.001-07:00

The appointed lesson for today comes from the 6th Chapter of I Corinthians. Paul has been addressing concerns about the community in Corinth. Here, he deals with issues of sexual morality. Paul has some stern words for those who fail to realize that bodies are important. He writes, "Do you not know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?"

I must insert a thought which those of you attending our LCM some-what annual "sex talk" have heard me say: Most of the talk we hear about sex is way too simple. Too much of what we are told ignores the complex nature of our sensual selves. These thoughts are consistent with what it is that Paul says about our bodies in I Corinthians.

Our bodies are not like a sweat-shirt, which we use in whatever way we choose. Our bodies are not like a car, which we own and thus have the ability to either treat kindly or badly. Our bodies are a gift from God; the temple for God; and something about which God is deeply concerned.

Let us not forget that the God whom we worship set aside a heavenly body in order to take on a human body. There is something sacred about our bodies.

How, then, ought we to treat them? Certainly with respect and honor. Surely in a way which reflects the value God has for them.

It is too light a thing to say "You can do this," or "that is not allowed." The complexity of our existence should not be reduced to a few simple axioms. When we misuse our bodies, or the body of another, something more significant is going on than merely breaking some rule handed down to us by some interpreter. We are violating the sacred trust God has in us and for us. We are rejecting the role God desires in our lives.

Another unhealthy trend in modern religious life is the privatization of piety. We take everything as a matter "between me and God." We fail to understand the communal nature of our faith. If you want to evaluate whether your actions are appropriate, ask yourself one simple question: "Can I discuss my choices with other members of the community?" If I can, there is a reasonable expectation that my actions are not shameful and potentially hurtful. If I cannot, it may mean that I am acting shamefully.

This issue is way too complex to address in a few short paragraphs. But the Lectionary brought me to this text and thus forced me to reflect on it. Rather than read this offering as answer, use it to begin your own thinking about the sacredness of your body and as encouragement to see in others the same.

Devotion - Wednesday, October 26

2011-10-26T03:24:00.001-07:00

I want to refer, once more, to the experience of Monday evening. I sat with a group of students engaged in interfaith dialogue. The wisdom of the model, developed by the students, was to ask "What does your religion say about the topic, but also share with us how you feel."

There are a number of places where our practice does not match our doctrine. We don't often examine these. It is when we try to explain the foundations of our faith that we bump up against the practice of our faith.

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in Matthew, continues to serve as content for my prayers. Today, I read "You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'"

We stumbled over Sunday's lesson on loving neighbor. This is itself a challenge. Remembering that Jesus had something to say about who all is to be included in the category of "neighbor," we realize that he means for us to love all those we encounter, not merely those who belong to the same social clubs as we.

Now, he tells us to love our enemy; to pray for those who persecute us.

The crisis in Libya is horrific. The murder of Gaddafi has exposed the world's blood thirst. Can our response stand the test of Jesus' Sermon?

Loving our neighbors gets reduced to loving those who are in our family or members of our congregation. This is a lessening of what Jesus teaches. Celebrating the death of another, even one who was a tyrant, cannot be considered an act in line with the words of Jesus.

We sometimes hide behind comments like, "The world now is so different from when it was when Jesus was here." That is certainly true. But Jesus knew the world would change, he only hoped and prayed (served and died) so that the change which was to come might result in a world more aligned with God's vision of what the world might be like.

Devotion - Tuesday, October 25

2011-10-25T03:36:00.001-07:00

A small number of us attended last night's Interfaith Dialogue Dinner. It was an enjoyable evening. After sharing a meal, we broke into two groups and discussed topics identified by the participants. Our sub-group had representatives from the Christian community and from Islamic communities.

One of the topics we picked at random from the slips of paper was "Divorce." We found, for the most part, agreement between us. We realized, as persons talked, that extreme views are held by followers of Jesus as well as those who have chosen the path of Mohammad.

One "Christian" held the position that this is not allowed. Another, from a Roman Catholic background, raised the issue of annulments. The Muslim student with us pointed out that divorce was allowed in her communities, and that contrary to what many Americans think, it is an option for women as well as for men. An older Islamic gentleman, pointed out that a male can divorce by saying "I divorce you" three times, publicly, but that a women must go to the courts for her pronouncement. This slightly differing interpretation brought out some additional views from the Christian perspective - views in which divorce was more acceptable.

This morning, I replayed the discussion in my mind after reading the appointed text. Still reading from Matthew 5, the verses contain Jesus' words about divorce. He speaks of it as unacceptable.

Acknowledging that my primary audience for these writings are the students, I want to use these brief sentences to address the things which are most likely to be of concern to you.

First, some of you come from divorced families. You already understand why Jesus would speak harshly of divorce. You know the tear which occurs, not merely in the lives of those who divorce but also in the lives of those who share life with them.

At the same time, you are aware of the heartache and pain which preceded the divorce. And in most instances, you come to acknowledge that the tearing apart of lives has allowed for more peaceful lives to emerge.

Second, I would lift up for you the importance of understanding the covenant of marriage and encourage you to engage in many conversations about it - long before you are anywhere near saying "I do." We make too many assumptions about our understanding of the bond made by the exchange of rings and vows. Jesus attempts to warn us of the disastrous effects of making bad relationship choices. You are likely to have made a few of these yourself, or seen bad choices in the lives of roommates or friends.

We need to understand that marriage is more than an extended date. It is a pledge to build a life together. It is a promise to support and care for the other. It is an earthly opportunity to experience unwavering devotion and commitment. Those traits are more easily shared when they are linked to the One whose unwavering devotion and commitment gives rise to our faith life.

I commend these inter-faith dialogues to you. They are revealing; they also create an opportunity for you to reflect on issues which are very important, but are too infrequently discussed.

Devotion - Monday, October 24

2011-10-24T03:37:00.001-07:00

It is seldom a good ideal to return to one's own sermon with a thought on Monday morning. If the sermon is over, let it be over! Right? However, as I was reading the appointed Gospel for today, I could not help but notice a common point.

Matthew 5:21-26 contains Jesus' reminder that it isn't only our actions which run us afoul of God's desires, it is the inclinations of our hearts. Much like yesterday's Gospel, in which Jesus told the Pharisees it wasn't keeping all the rules which pleased God, rather loving with all our minds, and heats, and will, which please God, so here, Jesus helps us see that the mood of our hearts and the attitude with which we approach others makes a great difference.

Jesus says, "You have heard it said 'You shall not kill.' But I tell you everyone who is angry with his brother or sister shall be liable to judgement." Those insult another, those who utter "You fool!" are liable. It isn't merely what we do but how we approach another which affects our righteousness.

It is a lot easier to avoid the outward actions than it is to restrain ourselves with regard to how we feel. I may not strike my adversary, I may even avoid saying bad things about them in the presence of others, but the tough test is altering the way I feel about them in my heart.

Jesus told the Pharisees that they were concerned with the actions; he wanted them to look at their hearts and see what they discovered there. What resides in your heart is the strongest indication of whether you have indeed become the person Christ hopes you will become.

Sermon - October 23

2011-10-23T03:28:00.000-07:00

19th Sun after Pentecost - Year A Pr 30
Matthew 22:34-46

The Greatest Commandment

“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” I wonder how that question would be answered, were it not taken directly from the Gospel of Matthew? Heck, I wonder how it might be answered, even though most of us have read Matthew, or even committed 22:37 to memory.

“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

I really wish I had gotten around to this early enough to have taken a more credible, non-biased survey. What I did do was a bit of surfing - looking at phrases and slogans, at mission statements and guiding principles. What I found were a lot of references to “believing in our hearts and confessing with our lips.” I unearthed a number of “making a decision for Christ,” or more commonly “accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.” Now, in fairness, one might say that all such slogans or mission statements assume the first and greatest commandment – but they don’t print it. And if you are doing a quick search you are more likely to find “One name under heaven,” than you are to find “love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Now, I am continually harping on how wrong it is to take a verse out of context. So, let’s make sure that I am not guilty of that infraction here. Jesus is teaching; but more precisely he is interacting with his detractors. We don’t know if he is still in the Temple. We were told back in the 23rd verse of the 21st chapter that that is where he was. There are a number of stories and encounters recorded in the verses which follow. We are never told that he has relocated. There is a reference to “the same day…” perhaps implying that all of these encounters occur during that same visit to the Temple.

Jesus has been confronted by “the elders of the people” (21:23); by the “chief priests and Pharisees” (21:45); by “the Pharisees (and) the Herodians” (22:15); by the Sadducees (22:23); and then, again, by Pharisees in today’s appointed text.

All of these encounters seem to hinge around the question asked of Jesus back there in chapter 21:23. They came to him, wanting to know, “By what authority (is he) doing these things.” They keep coming at him – all of his detractors. And none of them have been able to dethrone him; no one has been able to dispute his presentation of the will and word of God.

Finally, in today’s reading, the Pharisees come at him again. They ask him to tell them “which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Back to context: the Pharisees were legalists. They were a lay movement within the religious community who felt that the rituals and traditions were no longer sufficient. They were looking for renewal through the observance of the commandments. So, when they ask Jesus which “law” is the greatest, they are really interested in his answer. They are masters at keeping the laws; they are zealous in doing what it is that God instructs us to do. The answer Jesus gives he gives in context. Perhaps he might have answered differently if it were someone else asking the question. Perhaps he knew that they would be most satisfied were he to point to a rule or law which supported their zealous attempts at righteous living.

Jesus opens the book they consider most dear, the book of Deuteronomy, and he quotes Chapter 6, verse 5. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

How are they going to argue with him? They can’t. Here they are, the extreme literalist, insistent on keeping so many laws and rules and obligations, and Jesus reminds them that all of that strict attention to sins of commission and sins of omission amounts to nothing unless it is built upon a foundation of love for God.

“You want to say that drinking alcohol is wrong? Fine. But avoiding strong drink isn’t the first commandment, loving God is.”

“You teach your children not to utter four letter words? All well and good. But a clean mouth won’t make a bit of difference unless that mouth is coupled with a loving heart.”

“You insist on baptizing your babies, and make sure that you commune at least once within a twelve month period? That is good practice. But such practices are outgrowths of loving God, not substitutes for it.”

The Pharisees really liked the precision of being able to say, “This is what you DO in order to be saved.” Jesus tells them it is not what you do but whether you love.

Those who have been coming at Jesus have been haranguing him, trying to entrap him. They have wanted to see his credentials and they have wanted to know his school of thought. When they have tried everything they can think of, they finally give him the green light and he hits them precisely where they live. “It isn’t the rules you keep which make you a faithful follower; it is whether your heart, your life, and your thoughts are consumed with love.”

He has them on the ropes. He has supplanted their attention to the “laws” with “loving,” and he isn’t finished. Turning, once more to their precious collection of stipulations, Jesus quotes for them Leviticus 19:18. Not only do God’s instructions regarding “love” mean loving God, it also is the guiding principal in your relationships with others. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

To add his crescendo to his dispelling their well protected notions of what it meant to be pleasing and perfect, Jesus adds, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

It is only in Luke that this encounter is followed with an attempt on the part of one of those who came to challenge him to save face. Only in Luke is just asked, “Well, just exactly who is my neighbor?” There, and there alone, are these words of Jesus followed by the telling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. In both Matthew and in Mark, the verses which follow are about authority and about getting it right. In Matthew, and in Mark, Jesus’ words on the Greatest Commandment are followed with an exploration of whether the one providing the answers might indeed be the One for whom they have been longing. If he is, then surely, they ought to listen to him.

I am about to run out of time. Some would say that I am already over my time limit. So let me bring this home.

We live in a time when there are lots of folks raising rules and regulations and insisting that to truly be a Christian one must abide by this or that code. The religious talk of our day is overwrought with presentations of what one must do to be saved – and way too much of that talk is preoccupied with obeying this or rejecting that. We are too much like the Pharisees. We have ignored “the greatest and first commandment. And a second (which) is like it.”

We are not going to be reading Luke’s rendition of this encounter. I will not try to cram in a short explanation of who it is that Jesus considers to be our neighbors. You already know. At issue here is whether you will follow, or continue search for an alternative path. We search for that other path because we are not ready to embrace Jesus’ words about loving our neighbor – when those neighbors include the undocumented Hispanics, or those with weird social habits, or even the followers of other gods. I don’t need to help you “understand” who Jesus is talking about when he says, “love your neighbor.” You already know and understand. My job – on this day – and with this text - is simply to force you to answer the question of whether you do follow Jesus and therefore are prepared to accept what he says.

‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, October 20

2011-10-20T03:19:00.000-07:00

I found in this morning's Opening Prayer much to think about. As we contemplate the reasons or ways in which we fall short of God's hope for us, this prayer provides insight.

"Almighty God, you who call me to prayer, and who offer yourself to all who seek your face, pour out your Holy Spirit upon me today and deliver me from coldness of heart, a wondering mind, and wrongful desire."

Coldness of heart prevents me from caring for others in the way that God cares for them. My eyes have seen the photos of starving children and my ears have heard the cry of the oppressed but the coldness of my heart causes me to say, "I have taken care of myself, they should do the same."

A wondering mind takes me in many differing directions rather than focusing on and following the way of Christ. Today I may see the path clearly, but the affairs of tomorrow choke the attention to the path and soon I am living no differently than those who have made no commitment to follow Christ.

Wrongful desires arise when what I see are the things that I do not have, when I covet, when I seek my own gratification. Whereas coldness of heart leads to sins of omission, wrongful desires lie behind sins of commission.

In our prayers, let us ask God for assistance in each of these areas. We cannot sit back and merely avoid evil - we must be active in bringing about the good. Our hearts must warm to the needs of others. Our busy schedules cannot serve as justification for failing to study and meditate on the word of God. And while I have never advocated the radical response of plucking out eyes or cutting off hands, we need to realize that any wrongful desire which leads us away from God must be removed from our lives.

This morning's prayer concludes:
"By the power of your spirit place within me steadfast love and devotion, so that today I may worship and serve you with all my life."

Amen.

Devotion - Wednesday, October 19

2011-10-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

We return to class today after two days of Fall Break. (I realized that I failed to remind non-Clemson readers that there would be a two day absence of morning devotions.) Rest is a good thing; rest is an important thing; rest is something God has insisted we have.

"Sabbath" is one of those words we hear rarely and generally only in a specific context. When we hear the word, we associate it with "Sunday," or with the day on which God rested. The insertion of Sabbath into our week is God's way of ensuring that we are forever reminded of the need to take our rest. While one day is set aside for our renewal, renewal is to be an ever present part of our lives.

I spent some of the just completed "sabbath" days rushing around and being about various tasks. I took in the NASCAR Race on Saturday; I participated in the Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Methodist (LARCUM) Bishop's Day. But I was fortunate enough to have days to visit with my brother and sister, to spend time with my wife and father-in-law. If you were on Facebook yesterday, you might have seen that I even got in an afternoon nap.

Today, it is back to classes; our LCM programing resumes and there are several students lined up to come see me and share how God is present in their lives. This is as it should be. What I hope is different is that the experiences of these past four days might trigger within me a remembrance of how wonderful it is to have opportunity to rest, time to enjoy what is wonderful about the life God has given me. That is what it means to have a bit of Sabbath inserted into our lives.

"Back to work," or "Off to class." But remember, God is with you and as much as God expects you to use your time and your talents wisely, God also hopes that you will remember you are not only pursuing a degree, or earning a living, you are also building a life - a life as one of God's precious children. Do what you must; remember who you are and who God has called you to be.

Devotion - Thursday, October 13

2011-10-13T03:10:00.001-07:00

I wrote recently about the parts of the Gospel story so familiar to us that we gloss over them without feeling their full impact. One of the stories which I do my best to pass over without reflection is the slaughter of the children by Herod.

The wise men come to Herod, when they see the star. They assume the child king would have been born in one of Herod's palaces. Herod is troubled by this and asks them to make sure to tell him where the child is found. Being warned by God not to go back to Herod, they depart by another way. Joseph is also warned, and he takes the Baby Jesus to Egypt. When Herod realizes the wise men have not returned, he slaughters all the male children in Bethlehem who are two years and younger.

It is a horrible story. One that is difficult to associate with the feel-good stories of Christmas.

We sometimes forget that the presence of Jesus causes problems. The entrance of God into our world means that everything else must shift a bit, to the sides. There can be only one God and anything that would prefer to be god must rejected.

This is not a repudiation of the promises of scripture that Jesus has come to bring us life, and life abundantly. Rather it is the acknowledgement that this life we receive has core commitments which cannot be relegated to second-class status.

Having Jesus in our lives means that somethings will be disrupted.

The disruptions are (most likely) to occur in the areas where disruptions are called for. The call from God leaves little room for those addictions which diminish life (either our own or the lives of others.) But disruptions are coming.

It is good that the Bible does not gloss over these reminders. We need to be attracted to Christ, but realize that when Christ comes things are likely to change. The change means wonderful things for us; so long as we are prepared to say good-bye to those things which seem dear and precious to us, but in reality are distractions from whom God calls us to be.

Devotion - Wednesday, October 12

2011-10-12T03:13:00.001-07:00

Our Tuesday evening bible study group is making use of an introduction to the Bible called "The Greatest Story." It is a quick survey of all the books of the bible, making note of the stories which have inspired God's people throughout the ages.

This morning, I was reading one of those stories. It is about Elijah. Occurring in I Kings 17, it involves Elijah warning King Ahab (King over Israel, but not faithful to the ways of God) that there would be no rain, except when foretold by Elijah. Warned, Elijah flees and ends up in Zarephath. There he meets a widow and asks her to bring him something to eat. She replies she only has enough for one final meal for her and her son, that she is even now collecting wood to make that meal. Elijah instructs her to do as she has planned but to bring him a morsel of bread first, the prepare for her family. She does. And "for many days," the supply of flour and oil does not run out. God provides for Elijah and for his hostess.

There is more to the story - as you might realize. Read it for yourself. As is true for all stories, there are many messages - more content than could be shared in a collection of declarative sentences.

There is the simple message that Elijah is truly God's messenger. There are wonderful images of what it means to extend hospitality. And through it all are reminders of God's intention to provide for his servants.

Stories make up most of the Bible's content. Even the chapters of lists and laws are set within the story of their being inscribed on parchment or stone. Stories allow us to pass on so much more information than would be possible in listing points in an argument.

The same can be said for your story; for the story of your interaction with God. Too often we suffer from the notion that telling others about Christ involves quoting verses or making definitive statements In reality, the most effective way of sharing the Good News is to share how that news has altered your own life. It is telling the story of your appreciation for what it is that God has done for you.

Elijah's story has survived thousands of years of retelling. As it is retold, it invites others to compare their own story and see that no less than Elijah, we have experiences of being called by God, cared for by God, and reasons to give thanks for the servants of God who have extended hospitality to us.

Devotion - Tuesday, October 11

2011-10-11T03:30:00.001-07:00

I continue to believe that rising early in the morning to read my Bible is the best option. No other time of the day is as protected as the early morning hours. However, at this hour of the day, there remain a few wisps of sleepiness and ever present desire to drift back into my dreams. I depend upon the stories I read to startle my mind and energize my emotions.

Today I read of the assent of Ahab to the throne of Israel (I Kings 16); of the imprisonment of Paul (Philippians 1); and the resurrection of Jesus (Mark 16). As I closed my book and began to reflect on what I had read, I found it easier to remember details of the first two, than the particulars of Mark's presentation of that first Easter.

My devotional guide includes a writing from a prominent person. Today, there was a reading from Paul Tillich's Shaking of the Foundation. In it he warned of the very thing I had experienced - we become so accustomed to the familiar stories that we fail to be startled by their content.

We know that Jesus is only in the grave for three days. As a result, we miss the horror associated with placing him there.

We know that Paul's writings and his work will change the Roman world. So we are not worried when we hear of his ordeal at the hands of the prison guards.

It is startling, to consider the chain of events, as they occur, and allow the shock of each to reach our hearts and emotions.

Tillich writes, "It has been forgotten that the tomb of Jesus was the end of His life and of His work before it became the place of his final triumph."

Replay in your mind today the events of Jesus' life and consider which have become muted for you. The wonder of hearing the story for the first time is recaptured whenever we follow the individual steps along the way, knowing that they are leading us but fully engaging each step along the way.

Devotion - Monday, October 10

2011-10-10T02:53:00.000-07:00

The comments I shared last week, regarding how one's associates affect one's behaviors, was met with a few very encouraging replies. This morning's reading, from Origen of Alexandria (185-254) struck a similar cord. Rather than that which external to us, Origen speaks of that which is internal.

He is speaking of prayer. When it comes to our sinfulness, he includes this, "ask God, first for healing to be delivered of the habit that causes one to sin." We do, over time, develop habits that lead to sinfulness.

The pop-religious will identify the "big three" areas of sinfulness, but we must also look at those sins which are seldom identified and thus never confessed or seldom avoided. We develop glutinous and self-indulgent habits. We ignore the poor and those in prison. Comparing ourselves to those whose social class is bit higher than our own we think we have no money to give to the relief of others. We fall into habits which erode our devotion and impede our spiritual journey.

Habits are formed over time. It will take us time to change those habits. Before we can change them, we must heed Origen's advise by recognizing them, then asking God to deliver us from them. Habits develop slowly; they are slowly altered. But it is possible. And it is a step in the right direction to living as God would have us live.

Devotion - Thursday, October 6

2011-10-06T03:22:00.001-07:00

My daily readings from the Old Testament are about to conclude their coverage of King Solomon. I don't remember writing about him, his accomplishments, his wisdom, and his work at building the Temple which his father (David) was not allowed to build.

Part of the baggage which comes with wealth and power is temptations. As Solomon became more well known and as his might expanded, neighboring kingdoms wanted to gain his favor. One way this happened was for the King from that neighboring nation to arrange a marriage between a daughter and the King he wished to befriend. It is written in I Kings 11 that Solomon had seven hundred wives.

As Solomon grew old, he began to give in to the ways of these wives. Having come from other cultures and other religions, they desired a place where they could worship in the traditions of their youth. Solomon built temples to other gods and he paid for the sacrifices which occurred there. As you could imagine, this displeased God.

How did Solomon change so dramatically?

Those with whom we live our lives affect the way we see life and the kind of life we live. Solomon was wise enough to rule over a great people, but seems not to have bee wise enough to have guarded against something as common as the influence of ones acquaintances.

Obviously, the main point to this morning's sharing is to encourage you to look at the persons with whom you spend your time. Are they strengthening you in your resolve to follow the ways of God? Are they a good influence in your faith journey? Is there any reason to worry that they might be leading you away from your devotion to God?

Secondly, the temptations which often do us in are the ones which it is easiest for others to see but to which we remain blind. I cannot imagine the wisdom and dedication it takes to rule over a great nation; but I am able to see that those who surround a person will eventually affect that person. I have the knowledge to avoid Solomon's downfall, while I would never even approach his wisdom.

Solomon did great things for the nation of Israel. He built the Temple which Jesus would visit. He gave Israel "glory days" to which they could forever look back. But he overlooked the most basic of instructions, given by every parent to ever child - "Select your friends well."

Devotion - Wednesday, October 5

2011-10-05T01:38:00.001-07:00

On our retreat this weekend, the writer who proved to be the least accessible to the students was Thomas Merton. Perhaps it was the introduction I had given for him. He became a Trappist Monk. Trappist take a vow of silence. This was a bit beyond the reach of the students who were asked to read a sample of his writings and share with the rest of us how Merton embodied the spiritual traditions associated with contemplation.

I thought of this today as my lectionary brought me to the third chapter of James. Here, James speaks of how all the wild beast of the earth have been tamed, but no one has tamed the human tongue. James uses the anology of a huge ship which is controlled by a small rudder. So also the whole body is judged and directed by the tongue.

How often do we wish we had been able to hold our tongue? How often do we hear words coming out of our mouth only to realize before the sound has reached the ear of another that it would have been better not to utter those words? We live our lives reflecting God's goodness, we offer our hands in service to others doing the good works which bear evidence to our faith, only to let that small member of our body redirect it all.

James both marvels at this and asks how it is that the same tongue can be used to bless God and to curse God's children.

I doubt few of us will take a vow of silence. We depend upon our tongues for our livelihood, to make known all that we have been learning. But we would be served well by considering the frequency of our speech and to practice holding our tongue a bit more often.

Let me use an image from my activities these days. Working at the Habitat job site, we often tell folks, "Measure twice; cut once." It our our way of ensuring that the board won't be too short when it is put into use. Perhaps we could establish such a rule for our tongue - "Think twice, speak once." Just because a thought comes to our head, does not mean that we must utter it.

Devotion - Tuesday, October 4

2011-10-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

I continue to read from the book of James. This morning's lesson is from James 2:14-26. This is the section of the book which is most often quoted, referred to, or sometimes critiqued.

James speaks of the relationship between faith and works. Those of us in expressions of the church where faith is both our response to God and a gift from God have concern when the issue of works surfaces. We are cautious (appropriately so) when works enters into the equation of salvation. We guard against any suggestion that we must earn our way into heaven. As a result, we look at James with a critical eye.

There are some verses which lack the clarity of the conclusion he reaches. He says, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." With this, all of us should be able to agree.

It is not my works which bring faith; it is not my works which trump faith; but the works I do show the faith that resides within me. Here I would agree with James. It is unimaginable that I would be a person of faith and not also be a person whose good words reflects the central conviction of my life.

We will always need to make sure that it is faith upon which we are building our lives. We can never depend on anything else. But we can and must show that faith; we are to be about the good works which bear evidence of a life of trust in Christ.

Devotion - Monday, October 3

2011-10-03T03:10:00.001-07:00

I was reading this morning from James 2. Here, the writer encourages us not to show preference for the rich over the poor. He writes, "Show no partiality.... If you show partiality, you commit sin."

On the retreat this weekend, I made a reference to Vincent de Paul (1580-1660). He wrote "Christ chose to be born in poverty and took poor men as his disciples; he himself became the servant of the poor."

Also on the weekend retreat, we sang a song with hand motions. At the line, "God's going to turn this whole wide world upside down," those who knew the hand motions flipped right hand and left hand to demonstrate what turning upside down means.

I wonder if we are prepared for that?

I wonder if I am.

At the end of the retreat, I was eager to make my way back to my home. It is a modest home, when compared with those of other members of University Lutheran. But when I remember the homes I visited in Tanzania or Guatemala or even Germany, it is spacious. In that home, I have a thermostat that allows me to either heat the house or cool it. There is running water, a fridge full of beverages and food. I have Wi-fi, wide-screen TV. Do I need to go on?

In a few hours, I will leave this house to go to Bowman Field to work on the Habitat for Humanity House being built by the students. I will go, but can I admit to you that I am dragging myself out there this morning? That I feel the need to have a few more hours to rest and recuperate from the weekend's activities? I have that choice. Because I have the resources to back me up.

Jesus saw in the poor a dependance upon God which is too often missing from those who have plenty. Jesus forsook the symbols and signs of earthly prosperity in order to show that richness in faith is what matters. In doing so, he turned (and is turning) the whole wide world upside down.

Are we prepared for that?

Are you?

Devotion - Thursday, September 29

2011-09-29T03:02:00.000-07:00

This morning's appointed Gospel reading is from Mark 14. It is Mark's presentation of the Last Supper. This meal means so much to the Christian community. It serves a wide range of purposes.

Most of these were covered last night, in Kat's sharing with the group about her year in Mexico with the Young Adults in Global Mission program. Her first slide was something along the lines of "Kat Loves Food."

She spoke of food as that which sustains us. The meal we share as Christians sustains us. It provides the spiritual nutrition we need to be able to face all that the week will bring.

Kat spoke of food as community. We not only eat, we share a table with others. As we share the table, we learn of the others' hopes and their needs. They become a part of our lives and we become a part of theirs.

Kat's love of food involved celebrations. Did you catch the part where her hosts attempted to replicate a "Thanksgiving Meal" for her. They cooked chicken and tortilla - "That is poultry and bread stuffing," they offered. We celebrate at this meal - celebrate what Christ has accomplished for us as we celebrate the presence of Christ in our lives.

Finally, she spoke of justice. The intricacies of international trade are too complicated for me, but those she served spoke of how food choices had changed once trade began. Gone is the great variety of locally developed hybrid corns. Watching the pre-school children drink cola for breakfast raised questions of how food reflects greed rather than an attempt to share and to seek the betterment of others. Surely, our shared meal is about God's will might be done, by God, but also by us.

We are all in love with food; and we love the sharing of meals. They are so important to us and to the life we seek to live. No wonder Jesus made the sharing of a meal the core gathering for his followers. He knew that around the table so much can be accomplished. And around his table, so much is.

Devotion - Wednesday, September 28

2011-09-28T03:14:00.001-07:00

Mark 13 is an interesting chapter. It is apocalyptic in style, meaning it speaks of great cataclysmic events at the "end of time." Somehow I had failed to notice that the first story to follow this interesting presentation is the story of the woman who anoints Jesus with costly oil.

Jesus is at the house of Simon, "the leper." The woman enters and pours the pure nard over Jesus ' head. The writer says it could have been sold for 300 denarii (that would be something around $16K in modern terms.) "The money could have been given to the poor," they insist.

Jesus tells them to leave her alone. "You will always have the poor, and you can choose to help them at any time. You will not always have me." he says.

Then, he says something I remembered, but had not really thought about. He says, that whenever the story of his presence is told, this story will be remembered, and re-told.

Only twice, in all of the gospels, does Jesus say that something will be "remembered." One is the events at the Lord's Supper. The other is the action of this woman. "And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."

The commentaries tell us that her action serves the purpose of anointing Jesus for his burial. The violent nature of his death and the rush to get him from the cross to the tomb means there is no time for anointing. The women who discover the empty grave are on their way to anoint him, three days after his death. This woman's actions ensure that Jesus has a proper burial, according to the religious customs of his day. What she does is important, so important that it is remembered and retold.

There will forever be talk of great and cataclysmic events. There are those who seek to find ways to act which will bring about the greatest possible change in the world; in God's presence in the world. We sometimes overlook the simple acts of anointing, the doing of what is right and proper. The grand vision of Mark 13 is followed with the seemingly wasteful act of preparing Jesus for his burial.

How will you seek to serve God today? Will it be some great and grand event? Or will it be in some seemingly simple act? The cost of the nard is (in my opinion) a device to help us understand the value of this woman's actions. It is a way of calling attention to the view of too many that rituals and rites are a waste. Yet Jesus reminds us that this simple, preparatory act is to be remembered and retold.

How will you seek to serve God? Look for the opportunity to change the world; but don't overlook the chance to do the right thing, the simple thing, the thing which sustains the piety of God's people.

Devotion - Tuesday, September 27

2011-09-27T03:22:00.001-07:00

Our upcoming Fall Retreat will be a welcome break from routines and demands. It will also allow us the opportunity to discuss how it is that each of us approach God.

Too often we assume that there is but one way to show devotion to God. We observe one particular pattern, or are influenced by one spiritual mentor and spend or lives emulating their style. That style may have worked very well for them, but it many not be ours. As a result, we struggle in our response to God. We fail to realize that the style is as much of an impediment as is our lack of discipline.

It should come as no surprise to those who know me well that my preferred spiritual expression is that of service. In fact, starting tomorrow these offerings will begin to reflect the exhaustion associated with building the Homecoming Habitat House. "The Compassionate Life" is but one way to express one's piety.

Other expressions include a "Word-Centered Life," those who fixate on the scritpures; "Spirit-empowered," which would be more of a mystical approach; "Virtuous Life," meaning making a strong moral character our anchor; and finally "Prayer-Filled," which is somewhat like mystical, but is more intentional in the attempts to talk to God.

While we may find one way more comfortable, few of us fall firmly into one category. We typically express our hope in several. But understanding the differing approaches can enable us to find a pattern of interaction which is more satisfying. How is God experienced in our lives?

I am looking forward to the weekend and to the opportunity to explore a bit of this with you. I offer these thoughts in hope that it might get you thinking ahead about our time together; that it might provide content for those of you who will be with us in prayer, but not in body. Keep the participants in your prayers this weekend, and ask that God would help each to better understand how it is that they experience and respond to God's invitation to be his children.

Devotion - Monday, September 26

2011-09-26T06:36:00.001-07:00

For several weeks, my lectionary has been guiding me through the history of David's rise to power, his stumbles along the way, and how he continues to work out his relationship with God. This morning I started in Kings, I Kings 1.1-31.

By this time David is old, very old. At issue is who will succeed him as King. In 1 & 2 Samuel, we had read of the various sons who made an attempt to take the throne. In I Kings, there is another such attempt, but it is decided by David that Solomon would be the one to sit on his throne.

Overseeing all this is the prophet Nathan. Nathan is the one who confronts David with his sin, regarding Bathsheba. Now, he goes to Bathsheba in order to make sure that her son, Solomon, is the next King of Israel.

Most of us know the story of David. Surely we have also heard of Solomon and his mother. There is genearlly a high level of recognition as we speak of Absolom, the son who challenges David. But how much do we remember of Nathan?

The major characters in the narrative are the ones around whom the action occurs. The headliners carry the show and get the recognition which follows. But those who guide the process are the ones who ensure that God's will is done; that the decisions made by those in authority are consistent with the affirmations made in the Temple.

One of the books my campus pastor brought to our attention is by a Brazilian Bishop. In it, he speaks of those who are in the parade and those who watch the parade. Those along the sidelines are more numerous than those who march. It is these folks, the ones observing, who form the majority. And yet, we only given them passing thoughts when speaking of the parade.

Those in the center of attention are not always the ones through whom God is most active. Sometimes it is the Nathan in our midst who has heard the Word of God and ensures that it is followed.

Try to turn your attention from the front of the stage to its sides. Who is there, guiding and directing? How accurately are the principals listening? Can you hear their voice, and listen to it rather than the chatter of others?

Thank God for the Nathans in the world. Thank goodness for those who search them out and hear what they have to say.

Sermon - September 25, 2011

2011-09-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

15th Sunday in Pentecost – Year A (Pr26)
Philippians 2:1-13

Have the Same Mind

A few years ago, I was involved in a forum at the Strom Thurmon Institute. The speaker was William Schulz, executive director for Amnesty International. I bought a copy of the book he had recently published; he was signing them for participants. I found the title of his book to be interesting. It was: In Our Own Best Interest; How defending human rights benefits us all. When asked about the title, Schultz acknowledged that he and many other human rights advocates were finding it increasingly difficult to excite hearers or enlist support by using the line, “It is the right thing to do.” Rather, they were needing to couch their presentations in explaining how becoming involved would be beneficial to the one taking action.

I thought of this, as I heard the Stewardship Committee’s proposals for today’s emphasis. The tagline for this, the third week of our Stewardship Emphasis, is “Acting Together.” I hope you read John’s article in the Wednesday E-News, or will pick up a copy in the narthex. His article identifies one of the obstacles to efforts of this sort. It is the same obstacle Schultz encountered. The article in UniLu’s E-News pointed out that we live in a culture where individualism is worshiped. As a result, “acting together” can be a hard sell. We are more inclined to want to go our own way, make our own path, set our own priorities. All too often, we are reluctant to sign on until it can be shown that acting in harmony with others will in the end be beneficial to “me.” Is “Acting Together” out of the question, until it can be shown that doing so is really in “our own best interest”?

“Acting Together.” It is the sub-theme of our emphasis “Blessed to be a Blessing.” Acting Together is what we do when we throw our lot into a common effort, allowing the whole to set the course and determine the contours of the particulars. It can be a difficult sell. Maybe this is why the Stewardship Committee asked for four weeks of activity. It takes that much time to get enough folks on board that we can safely plan ministries for the coming year. We, the followers of Jesus, fight an uphill battle in a world where the prime criteria isn’t “How can we join together?” but rather, “What would benefit me the most?”

I was on the phone this week with my buddy from VA Tech. Bill is also on the staff at Luther Memorial, where he too is preaching this morning. Our conversation was on the text from Philippians. It suits well his work at Luther Memorial, where he is the Director of their outreach ministries. I was telling him how appropriate it was for our consideration of what it means to act together.

St. Paul writes, “Make my joy complete; be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” I don’t think Paul was referring to any unity around a shared mindset. Would he have celebrated the attitude among those FSU fans at the face-mask call in the fourth quarter. That was the one that kept the final Clemson drive alive and resulted in the touchdown which made the difference in the final score? The FSU fans around me were pretty united. Yet, I don’t think this is the kind of unity Paul is encouraging. Paul is encouraging us to be of “one mind” as in the mindset we share with Jesus. He even speaks of traits he would assume to be present in those who would share this mind. “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy” then we are more likely to find the unity which makes joy complete.

Encouragement, consolation, love, sharing, compassion, sympathy – once again we speak of traits not often enough championed by the culture in which we live. Sure, we hear talk about “love,” but doesn’t it most often refer to sensual love - rather than love of neighbor, or the love of stranger to which God calls us? It is tough to enlist support for the mindset of which Paul writes.

“Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Do we even know where to begin?

It seems that the first place we begin is to speak of the difference between “giving” and “purchase of services.” “Giving” involves taking that which has come our way (do I need to remind you that the catechism says everything which has come our way is a gift from God?), giving involves taking that which has come our way and returning the first fruits for God’s use. Most of us structure our week around work, and Clemson football games. How might our planning differ if we started with Bible Study, worship, and acts of Christian service?

Two of our students spoke at this week’s student gathering about inverting our financial planning. I will paraphrase, because I didn’t have a pen to write it down. But they spoke of “Saving – Giving – Spending” rather than “Spending and then seeing what was left over.

“Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” It begins with an understanding that we have been blessed, so that we might be a blessing. It manifests itself in learning to Act Together.

There is always the possibility that any talk from a pastor about stewardship will come off as self-serving. After all, getting folks to take a turn fixing the Wednesday evening LCM meal means one less thing I have to worry about, right? So let me share a few observations from the perspective of fellow-member of University Lutheran Church.

For the past three summers my baby has been on staff at Lutheridge. While there, he has provided oversight to campers from across South Carolina and the southeast. When we sent UniLu members to camp, we sent them with the assurance that if they needed help while there, they could look for Caleb. He is a great counselor – not my evaluation, but that of those who see him in action. Having acknowledged what he has given, I want to bear testimony to what Lutheridge has given him. Caleb is still a bit unsure as to his career path. That is okay, he will get there. But as he searches, those summers at camp assure him that he has a place in this world; that he is making a profound contribution in the lives of others. He gains so much from those brief ten weeks; it is a benefit which would be denied him, were it not for the faithful stewardship of those who support the camp and see to its upkeep. It is not as a pastor that I express appreciation for those stewards, it is as a father. This would not be possible in his life, nor in the lives of so many others, did we not “Act Together” in supporting the ministries of this Church.

Last May, our family benefited from the promises of scripture with regard to resurrection. When Granna died, it was the message of salvation which gave us the courage to commend her into God’s care. Without that, we would surely have been crushed. That message came to us through the liturgies of the Church and through the sacrament of Holy Communion. Those unchangeable, unwavering promises also came to us through what is so often referred to as the ministry of cards and casseroles. Miriam’s investment in this place – years of taking her place on Sunday mornings, and accepting her turn – returned to her family the assurance that we were not facing those days alone. Her faithful stewardship served as the impetus for other stewards to reach out to her family in the aftermath of her death. “Acting Together” the church eased the burdens and made the transition passable.

“Acting Together” means having a shared mindset among us in which we ask how life might be made better for all of us. “Acting Together” means realizing that all we have is a gift from God and using it as a gift is the best way to ensure that it will move us closer to the joy which comes from God. “Acting Together” does not (yet) come natural to the culture around us, but it is the culture we seek to establish. “Acting Together” means “making our joy complete.”

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, September 22

2011-09-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

When asked, "Which is the greatest commandment?" Jesus hardly catches his breath before he gives and answer. (Mark 12:28-34)

"The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength."

It is the love of God where our devotion to God is shown.

Martin Luther's struggle was that he found it impossible to love a God who was forever looking for opportunities to condemn. In his world, Luther had been taught that unless he did this or avoided that he faced eternal condemnation. Finally, after an extremely long session in the confessional booth, the man hearing Luther's confession blurted out with exasperation, "All that is required is that you love God!" Luther, equally frustrated by the whole enterprise, replied, "Love God? I hate God!"

It is difficult to love a God whom we think to be looking for every opportunity to condemn us. It is easy to perceive God that way when we are taught that being a Christian is following this rule or abiding by that requirement. Jesus does not miss a beat when asked where it is that our justification begins; it starts with a love of God.

We love God because God loves us. We serve God out of this love.

It is my hope and prayer that you will enter this day confident of God's deep love for you. It is my hope and prayer that you will find your joy and your delight in loving God. It is in that relationship that we comprehend the persons God calls us to be.

Devotion - Wednesday, September 21

2011-09-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

I love mornings. I really do. I get up early, make some coffee, let the dog out, let the cat in, get the paper and scan the headlines, then I sat down and read my Bible and say my prayers. It is so quiet and peaceful; in the early morning hours.

This morning, as I was waking, I could hear the gentle rain falling outside. When I went for the paper, I could tell it has just started. By the time I picked up my Bible, it was raining steady. The place I sit to read and pray is by our front door. I opened the inside door, so I could hear the sound of the glorious rain. through the screen.

As I prayed, recalling the requests to remember ailing loved ones and the longings for clear vision, the sound of the rain continued to grow stronger. "Thank you, Lord. For the refreshing rain which enlivens all things."

In my prayers, I acknowledged the things on my "to do list," and I lifted before God my hope that tasks would not interfere with my ability to be available to those whom He will send my way this day. Was I imagining it, or did the rain start to fall a bit faster? "Thank you, Lord. For washing away all those things which seem so urgent to me, but are truly only a means to accomplish that which you have called me to do."

Somewhere around this time, the cat decided she had eaten enough and was ready to go back outside. When she saw the rain, she thought better of it and retreated back into the house, to curl up in the bed where Laura is still sleeping. "Thank you, Lord. You have given me a place of shelter, a place of security amidst the storms of life."

I love mornings; this morning I will cherish for a very long time. When I got out of the bed, I had no idea that all this was waiting for me. What a gift from God!

But then, in our lives, we so often recieve such a gift. God provides for us; God remains faithful to us. Perhaps it is the noise and constant activity which prevents us from perceiving all that God has done.

Find some quiet time for yourself this morning - and re-discover all the reason why you might say, "Thank you, Lord."

Devotion - Tuesday, September 20

2011-09-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

In the Gospels, "the crowd" play a significant part. Those in Sunday School this week got a quick review of Moltman's book, "The Crucified God," in which the author reminds us that Jesus' death does not occur until the crowd turns against him.

In Mark 11, the religious authorities are angry with Jesus, but they don't take action because they feared the reaction of the crowd. Here, the crowd are those who act independently of what they have been told; they reflect the will of God.

Realizing how fickle the crowd can be (they turned from welcoming Jesus on Palm Sunday to shouting for his death on Good Friday) there is still something to be learned here. The crowd plays a correcting role in the unfolding of God's story. The crowd makes sure that the will of God is not ignored.

Toward which end does the crowd in your life move you? Is the crowd more likely to incite you to want to silence God's anointed? Or does the crowd prompt you to seek God's justice and purpose? This is more than a question about whom you consider your friends or peer group. It is an invitation to consider the potential of those who know the will of God, and have the opportunity to see that it is accomplished.

May we be united in our commitment to making known the will of God. Might we be courageous enough to stand for what we know is right. If only we could stand against those things which tear down and destroy. The crowd has the ability to hold firm - regardless of what we are being told to believe or think or do.

In Mark 11, the crowd prevents those opposed to Jesus from silencing him. Might the crowd in our world make sure that his voice continues to be heard.

Devotion - Monday, September 19

2011-09-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

Mark 11 contains one of the stories that slows me every time I read it. Jesus and his disciples are coming from Bethany. They see a fig tree in leaf. They are hungry. Jesus goes over to the tree, but finds no figs. This is understandable. The text tell us, "It was not the season for figs."

Even so, Jesus says to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again."

The next day, as they are passing by the same tree, the disciples see that the tree is withered.

There are two ways to approach this parable. One is an encouragement not to allow ourselves to apportion "times" for our response to God. As a child I was told to "put on my Sunday behavior" as if I were act differently on Sunday than other days of the week. Perhaps you have altered your behavior when the Preacher walked into the room.

There is no season devoid of our devotion. There are no times in which we are to be attentive to God; and seasons when we are free to do as we choose.

A second way to approach this text is to place it in the larger context. After this incident, Jesus goes on to speak of prayer and the ability of God's followers to "say to the mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea.'" The disciples had been impressed that a few words spoken to a fig tree caused such great change; Jesus speaks of even greater change coming as a result of the prayers of his followers.

The change, desired by Christ and sought by his followers, will not happen if we do not devote our full selves to the endeavor. We cannot pay lip service to God on Sunday, on Monday turn our attention to other pursuits, and then expect everything to be different. Our devotion to Christ knows no season - it is a constant in our lives.

If you spent an hour yesterday listening to God's Word and joining in prayer with the saints, how much time will you give God today? If you took time yesterday to reflect on God's working in the world, what will you do during this day?

God is committed to remolding the world in a way which reflects the things he considers important. It is not an occasional concern of God's. It needs to be more than a once a week concern for us.

Devotion - Thursday, September 15

2011-09-15T01:41:00.001-07:00

Today's appointed Gospel text is Mark 10. Here we read the story of James and John coming to Jesus to ask that in his glory they be assigned to the seats to his immediate right and left. They are reminded that they don't know what they are asking; that the way to Jesus' glory is the way of rejection, the way of the cross.

They wanted honorable seats in his glory; they were ignoring what lay between them and that glory.

At last night's LCM program, I tried to share "What makes us 'Lutheran'?" I talked too long as it was, but one of the things I could have included (should have included) is that Lutherans speak a theology of the cross as opposed to a theology of glory. We want to make sure that we don't attempt to arrive at Jesus' glory without having taken up Jesus' cross. We are insistent that in order to experience a resurrection like Jesus, we must share a death like Jesus.

This doesn't mean that our bodies will be struck with whips and hung on a cross outside the city walls. But it does mean that enter each day looking for opportunities to serve; chances to bind up; ways in which a sacrifice on our part might enhance the life of another.

We don't ask Jesus for the seats of honor; we ask Jesus to reveal to us how we might take up the cross and follow his way of humble service.

Theologies of glory abound. They are found in the encouragement to see Christian faith as a salve for whatever ails us. They are revealed for what they are in promises that everything will be fine in our lives if we just make this one confession or recite this one creed.

Jesus responds to James and John by telling them that they will indeed drink the cup from which he is about to drink. But, he tells them, to be assigned to the seats of honor is not his (not even his) to grant. He teaches all of us that as real as the promise of eternal glory might be, it is not to be our aim. Our aim is to follow where he has lead, leaving the eternal things to eternity.

A theology of the cross is a theology which continues to follow Jesus, even when the destination is Jerusalem. It is a willingness to focus on needs of God's creation rather than on the desire for glory.

Devotion - Monday, September 12

2011-09-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

Mark 9 contains some stern words about the things which lead us into sin.

When it is a person who leads another to sin, Jesus says is would be better if that person had a millstone tied around their necks and they were thrown in to the sea.

If it is an eye which leads us to sin - pluck in out! If it is a hand - cut it off!

A wonderful sermon, heard more than twenty years ago, asked why there weren't more one-eyed, one-handed attendees at the morning worship service. Surely, many among us can recall a time when our eye or our had caused offense. And yet, we have not acting on Jesus' instructions.

An offer a few weeks back, regarding our tendency to want to blame "the Devil" for our our misdeeds, generated several responses. Hopefully, I am not misusing today's reading from Mark 9 to support my own thoughts, but the reluctance to cut off hands or pluck out eyes seems to indicate that we understand it isn't the eye or the hand which is responsible for the sin. We can only blame our volition; our desires.

It is difficult to confess a sin which has been deflected or blamed on another. Until we take responsibility for the act, we cannot honestly ask God to forgive. If we blame another (the devil, an eye, etc) then we aren't truly sorrowful, we are blaming.

I do not mean to blame you, or impute a higher level of guilt. Merely to encourage responsibility. I do so with the confidence that God is more prepared to forgive than we are to even ask for forgiveness. Seek that forgiveness, then re-train your eye, or your hand.

Sermon - September 11, 2011

2011-09-11T03:43:00.000-07:00

13th Sunday after Pentecost
September 11, 2011
Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiving Made Ridiculous

The division of responsibilities, between UniLu’s three pastors, allows each of us to work more effectively in our designated areas. But sometimes it leaves us a bit unsure what went on at meetings attended by one, but not all. This is my way of acknowledging that while today’s liturgy sticks closely to established traditions and to the appointed readings, in the sermon I am going to give prime attention to this date, not as it is noted on our liturgical calendars, but as it is being acknowledged in much of our world.

Today is September 11. It is ten years since the attacks in New York, Washington, and the downing of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. And while this day is no different from any other day – in that on each day we need to hear God’s Word, pray for God’s mercy, and ask for God’s wisdom – this is a day which differs enough that it might be worth stepping outside our typical routines. It has been ten years. And while it is the mathematics of the Gregorian Calendar which make this tenth anniversary fall on the Christian Sabbath, this might be seen as a divine invitation to revisit that day in 2001 and to see it through the eyes of scripture, through the eyes of faith, through the eyes of the One whom we call Lord.

Whom one calls “Lord” seems to figure heavily to the discussions regarding 9/11. In too many corners and for too long, the whole thing was blamed on Islamic Terrorist. No one has ever challenged the “Terrorist” part of such a designation, but many have asked whether those terrorist ought to be understood as representative of Islam. We have come to realize that while faith and religion are all too often tragically linked with violent outburst, neither out to be. And even when one (or a dozen, or even a few hundred) adherents to a particular faith tradition decide that their lord is calling them to violence, this should not and cannot be understood as an indictment on all those who claim that faith tradition.

No one, who holds to a faith, would ever be willing to accept that something about the way they practice their faith is “wrong.” We cannot expect those who hold extremist views to turn and admit they are in error. But we might better see them for who they are, by listening to the collective understandings of others who identify with the same faith tradition.

The shared conviction of the religions of the world is that no “lord” is calling us to destroy and murder. It is only those who become radicalized who think this is the way to show devotion. It is in order to justify their political or social ends that extremist begin to invoke their lord’s name.

I am serving on the planning team for today’s community observance of September 11, 2011. One of those bringing greetings this afternoon sent me a wonderful piece, dating back to Cyrus. Cyrus was the King of Babylon, during the time of the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem. Babylon is modern day Iran – one of those spots in the world where religion is sometimes linked with violence. Listen to the words of King Cyrus: "I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them (while) I am alive. From now on, (while) (Ahura) Mazda grants me the kingdom favor … I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it, and if any one of them rejects it, I never resolve (to) war to reign.”

Whether modern-day rulers of those territories will follow suit is a good question. But let’s not pretend that modern-day leaders of so called Christian nations would always be prepared to respect “traditions, customs, and religions”.

The place we find ourselves, on this September 11, 2011, is in a world where there are deep divisions and even deeper disagreements on how to approach those divisions. Ours is not a world devoid of hope and promise; but it is a world in which the voices calling for unity are often drowned out by the noise of war and violence. On this day, the day of the Christian Sabbath, we can choose whether we will be on the side of continued animosity or if we will move toward compassion and reconciliation.

I don’t mean to set you up, and then tip you in a predetermined direction. But I do have powerful arguments to bring to bear. The appointed lessons for this Sabbath, the 11th of September, 2011, seem pretty clear as to how we Christians are to enter the discussion. We start with forgiveness. We offer an abundance of forgiveness. And we do so because we remember that our God has forgiven us.

Peter, the Rock upon which the Church is built, has heard Jesus’ instructions (last week’s Gospel Lesson) that the one offended bears as much of the burden to bring about forgiveness as the one who offends. “Go to them… talk to them,” is Jesus’ instructions to his followers. Peter – representative of all of us – is looking for wiggle room, for a loophole. So he asks Jesus, “How many times should I forgive? As many as seven times?” And Jesus tells him. Jesus’ answer doesn’t leave room to wiggle out of this responsibility.

The words of Jesus (the words written in red) are slightly different in this newer translation. We are now reading from the New Revised Version. In this translation, the answer is “seventy-seven times.” Do you remember how it read it the King James? There, the answer is “seventy times seven.” That would make the grand total four hundred and ninety.

Has there been an offense? An injury? Don’t retaliate, go to the other and seek reconciliation. How many times do I try? As many as seven times? Try upping the number of attempts until you loose count.

This is what Jesus would do; this is what Jesus has done.

Will his words be listened to and followed? It is a difficult thing to do. But if we are going to thump our Bibles and insist that every word is true then it seems we have but one option when dealing with those who have transgressed against them. What is that line, we pray every Sunday? “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trepassesed against us?” Yeah, that is the way it goes, right?

We can forgive the actions of others which have hurt and harmed us. We can forgive the attitude which leads the other to consider us the enemy. And maybe we can even forgive the ignorance which leads another to think that somehow acting violently is going to solve any of our problems. And forgive we must. For only when we start with a willingness to set aside past wrongs will we be able to envision a right future.

Ten years ago today, a horrible event changed the way our generations will forever see the world. It is up to us to make sure that those events do not rob us of everything dear and precious. It is up to us to make sure that the hatred and misguided acts of another do not place in peril our commitment to the way of our Savior. They may take away our naiveté; they might destroy some of our things; they may murder family and friends; but it only we who can preside over any lessening of our core beliefs.

I will not let this happen to me. I pray that you won’t allow it to happen to you.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, September 8

2011-09-08T03:31:00.001-07:00

Acts 19 contains stories from the life and ministry of Paul meant to dispel the notion that faith in Jesus is just another sort of magic. When the "itinerant Jewish exorcists" see the miracles being done by Paul, they begin to include in their incantations "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." Of course this does no good. The evil spirits are said to respond to them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

The name of Jesus' isn't some magic potion we can pull out and use as some sort of a wishing wand. The name of Jesus expresses our faith; our confidence and hope in God. It is from that great storehouse of faith, that we see the world being transformed before our eyes.

The writer of Acts seems to know this, even as he struggles with how to express what has happened, in association with Paul and his acts of healing.

Earlier in Acts 19 it is reported that "handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from (Paul's) body to the sick, and diseases left them." Acts 19's condemnation of magic (it goes on to say "those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them") would not allow us to think that there was some power transferred from Paul's body onto the pieces of fabric.

The writer of Acts understands this, but he struggles with how to express what has been observed.

God has done and will continue to do marvelous things. It is difficult to understand these, and we can never explain. What we must avoid is the temptation to revert to that which is more to our liking. Rather than depend upon faith, which can sometimes be difficult to understand or practice, we look for a miracle worker whom we can hire like some circus entertainer.

Perhaps this is the measure of which way we are leaning: If the "miracle" serves primarily to strengthen our faith, it is more likely to be from God than if the event serves to call attention to some worker of miraculous deeds. Just because someone speaks the name of Jesus, doesn't mean that person is in line with Jesus.

Each of us must come to some understanding of the role and the meaning of "miracles." Acts 19 is a good place to start our study and reflection. Read these events for yourself and consider your response.

Devotion - Wednesday, September 7

2011-09-07T03:23:00.001-07:00

Our Tuesday Night bible study is making use of "The Greatest Story," an overview of the the stories which make up the greatest story ever told. Next week we reach the books which often cause those embarked on a "cover to cover" reading of the Bible to stumble - Leviticus. There are a lot of dry reading this book - not that Deuteronomy is a cake walk.

Currently, I am a bit further along in my reading, but still in one of those parts which sometime fail to hold interest. I am in 2 Samuel, today reading from the 9th chapter.

There are important stories here - of King David and his rise to the throne. There are also a lot of names and twists and turns and things that I had rather not know about the bloodshed among God's chosen people. Finally, with the battles over, David turns to see if there is anyone left from the house of Saul, "that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

Jonathan has a son, Mephibosheth. David sends for the boy and brings him and has him live in the King's house. The fighting which leads to David becoming King had brought about the death of Jonathan. Lamenting this, David turns to the son of Jonathan and welcomes him to his table.

So much of the hatred and warfare in the world is the doing of my generation and beyond. We harbor memories of injuries and insults which drive us to bomb and destroy. How encouraging to observe the work of (as of now) a small group of Clemson students seeking interfaith and intercultural dialogue. It is the children of those who have made the wars which will lead us into the way of peace.

David has much to be sorry for. There were deaths he intended; acting in his name there were deaths which he would later avenge. Finally, he turns to compassion. Let us pray that we don't wait as long as he did. Let us start now seeking the children of our adversary and sitting at table together, sharing the bounty of God's good earth.

Devotion - Tuesday, Sept 6

2011-09-07T03:22:00.001-07:00

With the approaching of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011, there may be other occasions to reflect on the ways the events of that day have changed our lives. So much was lost on that day. Things which can never be reclaimed: a sense of security for those of us living in this land, an identity as persons honored by the world, and over 3,000 lives.

Other things have left us in the years which followed. Things which could be recaptured, with sufficient will.

Most of you reading this had not even reached your teenage years by September 11, 2011. As a result, you may not be aware of what the world was like, back then. It is my feeling, and the opinion of many that our world has become a much more hostile place; a place where divisions are even deeper and hatred even greater. We seem to have lost a large amount of our civility, and our ability to admit that our opponent might have something to say which is worth hearing.

All of this came to mind for me as I read of the documents being uncovered and reported in Libya. We are finding a mixture of tone - some condemning and issuing warnings, others thankful for assistance. It seems that while the world was not happy with Gadhafi, many in the world were willing to accept his help in rendering prisoners of interest. We seem to agree with him that torture and intimidation are useful tools in achieving our goals.

The ancient writings of Israel spoke of ways to break the cycle of violence. There were cities of refuge to which transgressors could flee. There were jubilee years in which resources were redistributed equally so that no one was condemned to watch their children and their children's children live in poverty.

When Jesus came he spoke of refusing to return evil for evil. He told his followers to turn the other cheek. He warned us that ignoring the fate of the least among us was not pleasing to him.

We cannot expect all the world's inhabitants to follow the directives of our Messiah - but we can follow them. And it is at great peril that we ignore them, for some supposed notion of how one must operate in the world.

How will you mark 9/11? Let it be with a renewed commitment to the One who came to set us free of hatred and bloodshed and violence. Follow Jesus in such a way that they will marvel at our love and at our compassion.

Devotion - Monday, Sept 5

2011-09-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

In Mark 8, Jesus seems to be fed up with the disciples. Perhaps it was his argument with the Pharisees which set him off. They had come to him, seeking a sign from heaven, to test him. Jesus "sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign?'"

He gets into a boat with the disciples and they set out for the other side. Then, they realize they only have one loaf of bread.

What follows is a bit confusing; at least to me. Jesus "cautions them saying, 'Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.'" He asks them about the times he fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, then he says to them. "Do you not yet understand?"

What were they to understand? That he would provide for them.? That they ought to be concerned with something other than what they would eat or what they would wear?

Many answers have been given. And much has been made of the inability of the disciples to "understand." Many answers, and not all of them agree.

I realize that it frustrates Jesus when we ask for a clear indication of what it is that he wants us to do. While we may not seek a sign in the same way as the Pharisees, we do pray that God will "just show us the way." But hasn't he already been fully revealed to us? What more could be said than what has been written? If there were an answer for every question how many of us would read the thousands of pages on which they were written. Too few of us read the sixteen short chapters which make up Mark's Gospel.

This is not a condemnation of our asking God for guidance and help. Rather it is a reminder that we do "know ole mortal what the Lord requires." We just need to do it. There will be differing ways of answering questions, many times as a means of putting off action or excusing our unwillingness to follow. Yes, there are many more things Jesus could have said, and some of what he said is confusing. I will never understand all things; but I do understand that I have been provided for and that I have been invited to follow. Following I will discover the answers I need.

Devotion - Thursday, Sept 1

2011-09-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

In Mark 7:20ff Jesus speaks of the things which defile us. He says, "Nothing outside us, which by going into us can defile us; but the things which come out are what defile."

Granted, Jesus is mostly thinking of the food laws which had become so restrictive. He thus declares all food clean. He then goes on to say, "For from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts."

Earlier this week I was in a wonderful conversation about Satan. "I hear you don't put much stock in Satan," was the opening comment to me. In my reply, I attempted to relate the comments of Jesus in Mark 7 to the sometimes popular notion of Satan as the one who is responsible for every evil thing which happens in the world. "We want someone else to blame," I replied. "So we make Satan the offender, absolving ourselves of responsibility."

Granted, there are outside influences which impact us and our devotion to God. But having set our hearts and minds on God, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we rebel against this guidance, we have only ourselves to blame, not some nasty spirit lurking around and whispering into our ear.

We know what God would ask of us, but our willful spirit rejects this in favor of what is expedient at the moment. We know how important it is to read our bibles and pray, but the latest edition of our favorite TV show is airing and everyone else will be talking about that tomorrow, not what I read in my Bible.

It is our own heart and mind which tug us away from that which God would prefer. It is tough to maintain the commitment to God that we seek. But when we fall away, we have only ourselves to blame, not someone or something else. Our confession to God should not be, "The Devil made me do it," but rather, "Forgive my trespass, O Lord."

Devotion - Wednesday, August 31

2011-08-31T03:33:00.000-07:00

We began last evening's Bible Study by asking, "What are you hoping to get out of this study? Or, what motivated you to come?" As is usually the case in a group when you ask such a question, the answers started to fit into a pattern. Not sure what to say, we tend to follow the lead of those who have spoken earlier. Not sure how much to reveal, we are encouraged by those who speak honestly.

Many responded with something along the lines of, "I don't spend as much time reading my Bible as I want." Being the wise, insightful teacher that I am, I offered sage advise, "The only solution to that problem is to pick up your Bible and open the covers."

This morning I was reading another story of the time Jesus spent with his disciples. These disciples are essential to the spreading of the Good News. They become the spokespersons whose accounts form the content of our Bibles. We have stories of what their lives were like before they became disciples. But those stories tell us very little about their piety, prior to deciding to follow Jesus. Where they regular in their study of scripture? Did they attend study groups in order to learn the stories of God's servants in the past?

Only a couple of the twelve seem to have previously have made the decision to follow a rabbi. Most were going about their daily affairs when Jesus came along and said, "Follow me." Something happened to them, that day, which changed the routine of each of the days which follows.

How regular are you in your study of scripture? How often do you allow the Word of God to frame the day and set a tone for everything which follows? It is heartening to turn to those pages which speak of God's love for us. It is not a chore or a duty - rather an opportunity to drink from a refreshing stream. Let this be the day when your routine changes.

Devotion - Tuesday, August 30

2011-08-30T03:09:00.000-07:00

Acts 16 contains the story of Paul's making lemonade out of lemons. Paul had set his mind to go to Birthynia, but "the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." Having been blocked from what he wanted to do, he ends up in Troas instead. From Troas he makes his way to Philippi, where the Church is rooted and the faith is greatly enhanced.

Those of us who have dreamed one dream only to find ourselves redirected, can appreciate the message in this story. Sometimes, what we intend to do isn't what is allowed. What happens has less to do with our volition and more to do with what is helpful.

If we are wise and discerning, we will quickly adapt to the new course and make the most of it from the very beginning. It is not very productive to spend days or weeks bemoaning that which is not allowed.

Too often we continue to try to redirect our path, ignoring the opportunities set before us by God, preferring our own plans or intentions.

It is not as simple as saying whatever will be will be. Rather it is a matter of understanding that our lives have a purpose as well as a plot. The plot line may change; the purpose remains the same.

Devotion - Monday, August 29

2011-08-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

John the baptist is a pivotal character in the Gospel story. He is the one who prepares the way for Jesus. It seems that he was the Jesus' teacher, that from John Jesus gets his start and his receives his training.

Most of us know the story of John's death. Herod's step-daughter dances for Herod and his guests. Herod is so pleased he offer her whatever she wants. Upon counsel from her mother, she asks for the head of John. John is murdered; John is executed; John dies because Herod cannot figure out a way to save face in front of his guests. Mark 6 records, "And (Herod) was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her."

How often we become trapped by our words, by our oaths, by the fear of social embarrassment. We fall prey to the stereotypes and to the hype and find ourselves living the life others suggest to us rather than the life we would choose. Death comes; maybe not immediately by the chopping off of a head, but slowly as actions inform thoughts which establish beliefs.

This is not a blind endorsement for everything you learned in Sunday Church School nor is it a condemnation of everything portrayed as college life. It is encouragement to set you own path and pursue your heart's desire. It is a reminder that all too often we fail to seek the ends we value but find ourselves swept up in the mood of those around us. Like Herod, we make a comment which leads to an action which brings us sorrow. We become trapped; and rather than stand up for what we want and what we hope we go along. Death occurs.

Jesus is the Lord of life. Jesus comes among us in order that we might have life and have it abundantly. Receive this gift and use it well.

Sermon - August 28, 2011

2011-08-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

15th Sunday after Pentecost (pr22) - Year A
Matthew 16:21-26

A Living God begets Living Faith

I made the comment last week how lonely it was, over the summer, with all the students gone. David Jarrett, Maglin Halsey, and Kaitlin Grove heard me and reminded me that they were here over the summer. Their tone, appropriately, asked me what I meant to imply in saying that I was all alone. A similar apology is due to all of you who where here during the months of May, June and July – but might I also get an agreement that things have certainly become a lot more lively in the past ten days?

It is not just the resumption of classes at TriCounty, SWU, and Clemson, this morning we kickoff the Sunday Church School year with our Rally Day. Linda Holt was here for most of the morning yesterday preparing her lesson and classroom. Anita Edge was setting up for Rally Day. And while I am giving shoutouts, how could I forget Jean Askew and the crew of landscapers who planted and watered and trimmed.

Everywhere we turn there are signs of life and living. While spring might be the time of year when the earth reflects the glory of our living God, this may be the better time of the year to see life among God’s followers. Seeing that life; experiencing that life is essential if we are to taste and see the “Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” If we fail to grasp this life, we likely to repeat the mistakes of Peter rather than build Christ’s church upon his witness.

Maybe we need start with a review of last week’s lesson. Jesus asks the disciples, “Who people say that I am?” After a few tried and true suggestions (like Elijah, or Jeremiah or even John the Baptist,) Jesus asks them who “they” say he is. Simon blurts out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus points out that this is not something Simon has come to on his own, rather it is a revelation given to him by God. Then Jesus renames Simon, giving him the name Petros, or “Rock”. Pastor Hartsell pointed out in last week’s sermon that this witness of Peter’s is the confession upon which Jesus says he will build his Church. We are all invited, he reminded us, to join in this confession and bear testimony to this “Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

Today’s text follows immediately upon the previous. This is not so the Gospel writer can build Simon Peter up only to knock him down. It has more to do with a desire to teach - to teach all those who follow Jesus of the danger of confessing with our lips, and yet failing to comprehend with our lives. Simon Peter has the right answer; he simply isn’t prepared for how that answer will alter the world around him.

Simon Peter is not yet prepared to accept that this Messiahship of Jesus would mean going to Jerusalem, experience rejection, and condemnation. “That just isn’t the way this thing ought to play out,” Peter insists.

There are countless commentaries which examine what Peter might have thought identifying Jesus as the “Messiah, the son of the living God” meant. Perhaps he was of the mindset that Divine Messiahship ought to be linked with political coronation. There are numerous hints that among the Disciples there were rebels and insurrectionist. Perhaps they expected their Messiah to lead them on a path similar to that taken by David as he gained a following and the confidence of the Hebrew people. Whatever Peter expected, it was not this sudden turn. He didn’t see this one coming. It is as if he made his confession using the jargon of the religious community; that he repeated the words which he had heard in Sunday school and taken to heart during religious celebrations. He speaks the words, but he didn't understand their meaning. He was totally unprepared for the power and the promise which those words represented.

And I wonder, whether we might have the same problem. Do we know the titles and phrases, and yet fail to grasp their meaning? How many of us blunder and reveal our ignorance when confronted with the presence of Christ, the Son of the Living God?

It seems that the key to understanding lies in the adjective which is used. Peter refers to God as "living". Such a description implies one who is active, interactive and free to respond. God isn't dead; God isn't some set of lifeless doctrines or teachings or codes for moral behavior. God is living. And even though Peter makes correct use of this descriptive language, he remains closed to what that means.

Peter responds negatively to Jesus’ description of where his path will take them. That isn't the way the books say it is to happen. Such a path would not follow the expectations outlined by the prophets. It would not be in keeping with the traditions of the temple. This wasn't the way that John or Elijah or Jeremiah did it. And you can almost hear the argument that if it hadn't been done that way in the past, what right did Jesus have to move out in a new direction.

Jesus' "right" comes from his special relationship to the one we call God. Jesus, the Christ, is the Son of the Living God. And this "living", active, interactive God has chosen to do a new thing. It is not in keeping with what has been done in the past. A “living” God is very different than a God who only lives in history.

Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon son of Jona responds, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And he should have known that those words implied a savior who was not "bound" to what had previously happen. These words bear witness to a God whose prime concern is life and the living. They are the witness to a God who acts, freely and intimately with those who call upon God's name.

God didn't stop living when the cover was placed around our bibles. The God to whom the scriptures bear witness continues to live and to interact. And we have to be careful that we don't allow ourselves to forget this. We have adopted language for use in worship which illustrates that God is alive and active, and yet if we simply repeat the words and don't pause long enough to consider their meaning, we too can misunderstand what we are saying. This is why it is so important that we continue to study and to learn. If we pretend that we have mastered the information and have no further need for growth then our faith has be¬come as dead and as lifeless as the codes of moral behavior which all too often are substituted for Christian faith. Bible study is not research into the past so much as it is an attempt to discover what God is saying to us now.

God is alive. God's people are alive. And the faith we possess lives within us. If our faith isn't active, interactive and free, then it is as good as dead.

Upon hearing Peter's rebuke, Jesus responds with: You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. "Human things" cause us to want to stay where we are. To live with business as usual. To retain our ability to predict and to control. "Divine things" are quite different. They are living, changing, unfolding. You never know exactly where they are moving, all you can do is follow.

It is the nature of our God to be living. God acts, interacts, and reveals to us the way we should go. Setting our minds on God means we follow where God is leading. Learning from the past, for sure, but primarily seeking to understand the signs of life emerging around us and through us.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, August 25

2011-08-25T03:22:00.000-07:00

Having just last evening preached a sermon inviting all of you into a deeper relationship with Jesus, I probably should hold off on this morning's reflection. But one of the reasons I make use of an established lectionary is so I won't pick the passages pleasing to me, but be directed to the whole of God's scriptures.

This morning from Mark 5 I was reading the story of the demonic whose possession was Legion. The evil spirits ask to be cast into the herd of swine, who drown themselves in the sea. The herdsmen flee and go into the village. The townspeople come out, see the man who had been cleansed, and Jesus. Mark tells us, "They were afraid... They began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighborhood."

It is a wonderful thing, to accept Jesus' invitation into relationship. Aware of how our human friendships alter our routines, why would we not realize that a relationship with Jesus will do the same. And yet, we are sometimes unprepared for the change when it comes. It may even frighten us.

As a result of my interaction with Jesus, I have been cleansed of my insecurities, of my fear that I am not loved; but that relationship places me in frightening situations - like when I know that it is up to me to speak out when the conversations around me become abusive or demeaning. I want to join in the conventional wisdom of this age, but I realize that God has spoken to me of a differing way to see His creation.

I remain committed to this deeper relationship with Jesus. As a result, my life is so much better than it could be otherwise. And those moments when I become frightened and nervous only serve to strengthen my resolve to live the way Jesus would have me live; to follow the path which leads to the Life of which he speaks.

Devotion - Wednesday, August 24

2011-08-24T03:42:00.001-07:00

Mark 4:35-41 records the events of Jesus calming the storm at sea. He sets off, with the disciples, to cross the sea. As they are making their way, the storm arises. The text tells us "the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion."

I thought this morning of the storm. This is an appropriate image for the day we are facing. Perhaps I need to say something more about this storm. Those of us who make Clemson our home year round are very aware of how the surface has changed in these past five days. We spent our summer dodging the construction crews reworking the downtown. But the trucks and graders are nothing compared to the crush of cars and laptop carrying young adults. We saw the long line of cars on move-in day and we have seen you all in the stores, setting up your rooms and preparing for the term about to start.

Since you arrived with the storm, you may have little idea of what it was like, before it all got started. You may not realize that there is a calm, below the surface and pre-dating the crashing waves we see around us now. There is a storm brewing; not only for our little town, but also for you. What will this year bring? How will your life be changed?

What has intrigued me the most about Mark's story isn't that Jesus was able to calm the storm. What catches my attention is that even as this storm was raging, Jesus isn't anxious or concerned. In fact, he is asleep, on the cushion, in the stern of the boat.

I want to offer this as an image for our ministry. That as all the waves crash around you there is one place where a slice of tranquility exists. That while so much is happening and so many things are tossing you around, there is the opportunity to turn to Christ and have your calm restored.

Jesus does speak to the storm. He tells it that it is limited in its power. And in retelling the story Mark reminds us that we are not forever tossed to and fro by the raging waters. We can take our rest, in the stern, on the cushion.

God be with you this day; allow God to calm the storm.

Devotion - Tuesday, August 23

2011-08-23T03:33:00.001-07:00

Continuing in Mark 4, Jesus tells a number of parables about the Kingdom of God. In Verse 34, Mark tells us, "With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything."

The first part of Mark's assertion is obvious: Jesus tells a lot of parables. It seems that most of what he says, he says in parables. Whenever we are trying to understand this teaching or that belief, we most likely to refer to one of these parables. Even the longest of his sermons (the Sermon on the Mount) consists of a number of shortened parables.

But what of that last part in Mark's assertion: that he explained everything to the disciples? There are several instances where the Gospel writer will include one of these explanations. But not in every instance.

By the time the Gospel writers were doing their work (Mark is the first of the Gospels to be written, and the references to the destruction of the Temple would lead us to think that its writing was as late as 70 a.d.) it was already obvious that folks wanted some definite answers. These parables were too open-ended. They lacked the specificity desired by the masses.

Even if the full explanations for the parables were not included in the text, the reference allowed one to have confidence that we knew exactly what Jesus was trying to say.

But do we? How many sermons have your heard on the same parable? Did they all agree? One of the beautiful things about a parable is that it allows enough openness of thought that it might lead me in one direction today, and another tomorrow. It isn't that the parable has changed; rather the circumstances in my life have changed. Jesus could not give a guidebook which would address every instance, but he could tell a parable rich enough in its imagery to speak to wide variety of human experiences.

I am leading to the notion of a living word of God. The words spoken by Jesus reveal a Word which follows me all the days of my life and guides me in all things.

This is what a parable is able to do. This is how Jesus' voice remains fresh every day of my life.

Devotion - Monday, August 22

2011-08-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

I should begin with a word of greeting. After three months, you may have forgotten that you were on the list to receive these morning reflections. It is good to be back with you; it is a blessing to be able to share this spiritual journey.

How appropriate that the appointed Gospel text for today is Mark 4:1-20. Here we have the parable of the soils. Jesus speaks of the sower who generously casts his seed. Some falls on the path, some in rocky soil, some among the weeds, and some on the good soil.

I grew up on a farm. Not one of those huge, industrial size places. More like a dirt-farm. My parents worked in the mills, but we maintained an apple orchard, cow pasture, and various other cash crops on the 84 acres my great-grandfather farmed. Regularly, we would sow seed by hand. Seed had to be purchased. My father taught me not to waste it. When you were sowing by hand, you have a lot of control as to where the seed is going. No sower, concerned with the effectiveness of their sowing, would cast seed along the path, among the thorns, or into the rocks.

This parable begins with a statement of God's generosity in spreading the Word. God is not frugal; God does not prejudge the worthiness of the receiver.

Turn to Mark 4 and read this parable for yourself. Reflect on where you find yourself in the storyline; are you one of the soils? Are you the one who has been asked to help sow?

Rejoice in that regardless of the type of soil you might think yourself to be - God's Word is coming your way.

Remember, God makes the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous - How can a servant of God judge someone unworthy of an expression of God's grace? Share the Good News with all you meet!

This journey we share is one in which all are to come to know the joy of God's presence in our lives. This journey will continually remind us that the measure of a Christian life is the service rendered to the least among us. This is the seed which has been planted in our lives; this is the Word taking root in our lives. May we experience the thirty-fold, hundred-fold growth of God's grace.

Sermon - July 31, 2011

2011-07-31T03:13:00.000-07:00

Matthew 14:13-21

God's Satisfying Bread

Now when Jesus heard (about the beheading of John the Baptist,) he withdrew from there ... to a deserted place.

The disciples came to (Jesus) and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

This is a deserted place. Matthew repeats his description twice, once in acknowledging where Jesus has gone and then again in the concern lifted by the disciples. What do they mean, "a deserted place"? And if it is so deserted why is it that everyone ends up there? Jesus, the disciples, and this crowd of over 5,000; they are all there, in this deserted place.

I was giving directions to the church last week. It was during the middle of the week, one of those hot afternoons when all the workers had stopped for the day and few students were milling around. I found myself saying, “It is a deserted looking place. But don’t give up; step over all the construction materials and come to the back door.”

We refer to places as “deserted” for a number of differing reasons. In using this description, perhaps the disciples meant it was a wilderness; a place in which food and shelter were difficult to come by. Perhaps the countryside was rugged and traveling in the dark was dangerous. Perhaps the disciples realized how far everyone had traveled and how long it would take them to return to their own homes. "This is a deserted place", they tell Jesus, "Send the crowds away."

But places can be deserted for reasons other than isolation or barrenness. In fact, the worst of the deserted places are those which we encounter in the midst of activity and bounty. The most frightful of deserted places are those which expose our vulnerability and weakness. Maybe the place at which our gospel lesson occurred was isolated and barren. But it occurs to me that its true desertedness may be a result of the reason why everyone found themselves there, in that place, together.

The opening verse of our reading tells us that Jesus with¬drew to this deserted place when he heard that John the Baptist had been behead¬ed. Our reading began with the 13th verse. Verses 1 through 12 of chapter 14 retell the story of Herodias' daughter dancing in celebration of Herod's birthday. Herod is so pleased he offers her whatever she may ask. At her mother's prompting, the girl asks for the head of John, presented to her on a platter.

Jesus hears what had happened and he feels the need to with¬draw, to a deserted place, to a place where he can reflect on the life of his teacher and consider what this means for all those who seek to serve God. The place is deserted because Jesus has come here to acknowledge that being a messenger of God doesn't mean that one is protect¬ed from all harm. Evil prowls like a lion, looking for those whom it would devour. It has claimed the life of John; perhaps Jesus is beginning to realize the tenuous nature of his own life. The place to which Jesus goes is a deserted place precisely because it is the place where he goes to be alone in his hurts and in his fears.

But when the crowd heard where Jesus was going, they followed him, on foot, from the towns. And when he came ashore, they were there waiting for him. The text tells us that he looked out and saw them, he had compassion for them, and cured their sick. And we realize that the crowd didn't come to this place because it was a great tourist spot. They had come because of their need. No words need to be spoken. Jesus simply has to look at them and something about them tells him that this is a crowd in need of compassion. Their need was written all over their lives.

The place where they encountered Jesus was a deserted place: deserted because there, in his presence, they could not conceal the desperate nature of their existence.

This is a deserted place, not merely because of its barrenness but because of those who have come.

I have wondered if it was this neediness which made the disciples so eager to be done with the crowd. Nothing gives you the jitters any worse than being bombarded on all sides by those whose very existence is a cry for help. The disciples plead with Jesus, "Send them away, please send them away. This, this is a deserted place."

Places can be deserted for reasons other than isolation or barrenness. The loneliness of this place seems to have resulted from the reasons why everyone found themselves there, together.

Which brings us back to this place. It isn’t the construction which makes us seem deserted, that feeling of desertedness comes from some other source. Isn’t it always a deserted place and time when we come together to intentionally set ourselves up to encounter God. It is a deserted place because we come here out of our need - our desperate need to be fed.

It is a deserted place, wherever the people of God gather. Because anytime we intentionally set ourselves up to encounter God our need is plainly written upon our lives. This is a deserted place. We didn't come here out of strength, out of confidence, or out of wholeness. We came here because our lives are lacking these things and we are hoping, hoping that we can call an end to our search and leave this place satisfied.

This is a deserted place. Not because of its isolation or barrenness but because of the reason why we are all here, together.

The disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away." The loneliness is too much to bear. There is no cure for all their illnesses. No one can expect such a large crowd to be cared for by just one man. Just send them away and have it over with.

But Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." Jesus is talking about food here, but not really taking about food. They have come, to this deserted place, and the hour is late, but Jesus will not send them away. "They need not go...you give them something." And the text tells us that they all ate and were satisfied. There was so much left over that twelve baskets full were collected.

It is deserted for us to come to this place and to acknowledge our need. What if we acknowledge it only to find ourselves being sent away? This is a deserted place, and no one likes deserted places. No one that is, except Jesus, who sought a deserted place. Maybe Jesus knew that the deserted places are the best places to go if one is trying to find God.

Here, in this deserted place, God does God's greatest work. All who come to this place are satisfied.

AMEN.

sermon - July 24, 2011

2011-07-24T03:49:00.000-07:00

6th Sunday after Pentecost - Year A
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Like Nothing We Have Known

The kingdom of heaven is like so many things, yet it is like nothing we have ever known. The kingdom is so different that the best Jesus can do is to give us images, images which might allow us a peek. Glimpses of that which can be illuminated through so many things - yet is unlike anything we have ever known. The kingdom of heaven is like so many things, yet it is unlike anything else.

Even so, Jesus realized the importance of giving his disciples a glimpse. Jesus felt the need to share with those who would follow him an insight to this mysterious thing called the kingdom. He under¬stood how important this would be to them as they continued the ministry of proclaiming the kingdom's arrival. It was important for them; it remains important for us.

In Mark, Luke and John, the reference is to the Kingdom of God. Matthew, the Jewish writer of a gospel, finds it difficult to freely use the proper name. Jewish law forbade the speaking of God’s name. Thus he prefers to substitute "kingdom of heaven." A concordance check reveals how often Jesus spoke of this "kingdom;" and how seldom he speaks of heaven itself. The kingdom of heaven is an image wider and more inclusive than the notion contained in so much of the talk we hear about “heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven differs greatly from the idea of an exclusive country club in the sky, reserved for those we perceive as righteous. The kingdom may be like some of our mental images, but it cannot be fully captured in those images either.

Our first parable makes precisely this point. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, it may appear very small in its beginnings, but it quickly grows into something larger than would have been believed possible. The kingdom of heaven appears to be a simple reference to a place where God reigns - but it rapidly expands to include so much more.

Remember the story of Jesus as he approaches the city of Jerusalem? He laments over the city's inability to receive her prophets. He acknowledges that Jerusalem stones those who are sent to her; the inhabitants of the city murder those whom God sends. Jesus knows this, Jesus acknowledges this, and yet he cries for the city. He will not feel bitterness against them.

Contrast this with how quickly we write off those whom we consider to be uncooperative with God and God's plan. We are very fast to cry out against the sinners. Thomas Aquinas wrote that it would bring the Christians in heaven an added joy to watch the evil-doers burn in hell. The kingdom of heaven does not include such past-times. The inhabitants of the kingdom lament the fate of non-believers.

Seemingly small - the kingdom which Jesus describes is large enough to encompass more than we realize. It grows and provides shelter to all those in need of rest. The kingdom of heaven is not exclusive - it is inclusive. It welcomes all to come and live within its shade.

The kingdom of heaven is like yeast. It does not exist for itself; rather its purpose is to have an impact on that with which it comes into contact.

Heaven, and talk of heaven, so often centers on MY getting to that blessed and promised place. All too often, talk of heaven becomes some sort of a pep-rally, encouraging us to strive for the prize. The kingdom of heaven is different. In the kingdom, one looses oneself in the process of impacting the lives of others. The yeast interacts until the whole loaf rises.

Understanding the Christian life as an invitation to positively impact the lives of others is the measure of faithfulness encouraged by Jesus’ parable. In listening to religious talk, listen for references to what the individual thinks they will get from all of this, contrasted with references to the good which will come for others. In the kingdom, we are the leaven which makes the whole loaf rise.

It is important to consider the impact the followers of Jesus have upon the world, especially as we consider the next two parables. In these, Jesus addresses the insurmountable worth of this kingdom. It is like a treasure found in a field or a pearl of great value. In these, Jesus is stating what he will repeat time and again; Seek ye first the kingdom of God. There is nothing which is to be a higher priority.

But I can only imagine myself making the kingdom my first priority - I can only believe that it is the pearl of great worth - when I am allowed to see the kingdom as a reunion of all that God has made. It can only be the precious treasure, hidden in a field, if it in¬cludes more than the pious few.

Don’t you just hate it when you hear someone expounding their “I got mine, too bad about you” theology? It is so disappointing to encounter that mindset which seems to rejoice in the leaving behind of others. How terribly self-centered, to allow ourselves to fixate on our eternal fate while ignoring those whom Christ came to save.

We Protestants are quick to criticize the Roman Catholic Church's practice of veneration of the saints. But in our criticism, we may have lost a very important lesson taught by such veneration. Veneration of the Saints remind us that there is no greater act of faith than to pray for others. When we call upon the saints, we are asking those who have proven their faithfulness to include us in their prayers. Calling upon a saint is a reminder that God's most faithful children are those who devote their lives to intercession on behalf of sinners. In asking the saints to pray for us, we are reminded that salvation will only come when all are saved.

A wide net is cast into the sea. It catches fish of every kind. Our fifth parable acknowledges that contained within the net are the bad and the good. The kingdom of heaven is like such a net - it reaches out to gather everyone. It pulls them in, and does not concern itself with differentiating between the good and the bad. Heaven may be the exclusive country club for the pious. But the kingdom of heaven welcomes us all, leaving the final division to God and God's angels.

The kingdom of heaven is like so many things, yet it is unlike anything we have ever known. Jesus asks his disciples if they have understood this. He tells them that to understand means they will pull out of their resources much which is old, much which is new. It is this blending together which makes them priests of the kingdom.

We can hold on to our tried and true notions of what heaven is like. We can bring those old images out and share them with others around us. But as scribes for the kingdom, we must also set before others a new vision – a vision of a kingdom where God's reign is secure, where all of creation is welcome.

The kingdom is like so many things, yet it is unlike anything we have ever experienced. May these glimpses move us ever closer to this marvelous gift of God.

Amen.

Sermon - July 3, 2011

2011-07-03T04:36:00.000-07:00

4th of July - Preserving our Nation

Happy 4th of July Weekend. I know that there are at least a couple of folks who are able to be here today because of the 4th. It is great to have you with us. I hope that all of you have some sort of a celebration planned, or at least a relaxing outing.

I was in a conversation this week with Bill and Ada Lou Steirer. I told them I had vacation coming, but that first I had to prepare today’s sermon. Bill asked me if I was planning to preach on the text, or address the day. He asked me, “Have you ever preached a political sermon?” My initial reply was, “Aren’t they all?” And from there the conversation moved into what it means to be “political.”

In the first year of the ELCA, a statement was agreed upon and released, outlining what it means for our Church to be engaged in political or social issues. Another conversation this week (with Farrell Brown and John Broadwell) helped me to understand that some do not see the actions of our Church as consistent with that initial statement. Never-the-less, allow me to refer to it here, and then move on to what might be appropriate for us to consider, on this July 4th weekend.

The first of the ELCA Social Statements addressed the fine line that we hope to walk between ignoring issues and blatantly telling members of our congregations what they are to think and/or how they are to vote. It is the goal of our Church to assist its members in making sound decisions, drawing from Biblical and theological resources, yet avoiding the temptation to insist that there is but one correct position to be taken.

Walking that line is difficult; and there is always going to be a tendency to hear the comments of another as an endorsement or a condemnation of our own views.

I know – I have heard it said – that the press releases which come from the Office of the Bishop, seem to some to cross that line. I will not disagree that these statements raise a perspective which often differs from our own political or social views. My regret is that we live in a society, in a culture, in a nation which is becoming so polarized that everything said by another is summed up as either an endorsement of our side, or a statement from the other side.
I had started this sermon before my Thursday golf outing with John and Farrell. Twice during the day I tried to test the waters with them. Partially to see if a “political sermon” would fly; partially to find words which would unify rather than divide. We didn’t get past the opening sentences. Mixing politics and religion proves to be extremely difficult. So difficult, that we tend to give up and never try.

A possible role model on this matter is Senator Paul Simon. Do some of you remember him? He was a Senator from Illinois, a Missouri Synod Lutheran, with a fondness for bowties. He spoke at several Chicago area events during the years I was in seminary there. In that setting, when asked a question, he would begin his answer by bringing forth the Biblical stories and passages which he saw as connected to the issue at hand. After he had considered these, he would go on to articulate how he might vote, when particular issues came up in Congress.

Now, I want to be careful, and I want to remain honest to his presentation. There are very few (if any) instances where there is a Bible verse or even a collection of Bible verses which settle a modern-day decision. It is not the outcome of his deliberations which deserves our accolades, it is the method.

And that method is what we desperately need to recapture. That way of addressing political decisions is what the social statements of our Church are attempting to do.

We have become so divided between this political party and that political party that gridlock is upon us. It seems that too many of the votes have more to do with which party will win the next election than with the matter at hand. Everything is a battle between this side of the aisle and that side. And these deep divisions have made their way all the way out of Washington and into our small villages and even into our congregations.

We seem to have lost the ability to engage in civil discourse.

I hope, when this day is over, that you won’t go home and talk about Pastor Chris preaching a “political sermon.” I hope what you will hear me saying is that a confusion about what it means to separate Church and State has resulted in a separation of Christian and State. (Did you get that?) Confusion about it means to uphold separation of Church and State has all too often resulted in a separation between Christian and State. It is not, nor has it ever been the intention of our Church to tell you how you should vote or which candidate you ought to support. However, it is the stated intention of our Church, that as Christians voice their position, they need the benefit of Biblical and theological reflection. Every vote cast, every voice raised by a Christian, reflects what it is that that follower of Jesus believes. It is not the role of the Church to tell us what to do, but one of the purposes of the Church is to establish an opportunity for us to reflect, discuss, and decide how we will vote.

Every word, spoken by Christ, is political. Everything he said affects and directs how it is that his followers are to live in the world. Unless Christ rules every aspect of our lives, our faith remains a sideline or a hobby.

We all have our own short statement of what it is that has made this country great. I would suggest that it is our democracy. What makes us great is our ability to take a wide range of political opinion, create a place where those opinions can be expressed, and then somehow manage to reach the compromises which allow us to set a course for the common good. Losing the ability to engage in civil discourse places this greatest in peril.

As Christians, we know it takes to return to civil discourse. It begins with an openness to the other, to their person and to their perspective. We call it hospitality. More than tolerance, it is truly an acceptance of the other.

From there, we humbly acknowledge our own limitations. Look at the 19th verse from today’s reading from Romans 7. Paul writes: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” We have a name for this in our Christian tradition – this is what we call “Original Sin.” It is the inability of any human being to know all things. It is the limitations associated with this body of clay. When opinions or view are expressed with a remembrance of these words of scripture, our arrogance is muted by our honesty.

Finally, as Christians, we have a wonderful model for what it means to embrace those whose views differ from our own. Haven’t we learned to co-exist with a myriad of denominations? Are we not able to honor our own tradition without insisting that all the Methodist become Lutheran or all the Catholics become Episcopalian? We live with differences, refusing to insist that only one view is correct.

I hope I have not offended you this morning. And I pray that I have not misused the pulpit by implying that one way of doing Church is right and all the others are wrong. I do not embrace the notion of a Christian Nation, we are a secular nation, one in which there is (and hopefully always will be) a separation between Church and State. It is a wonderful structure and one which has allowed us and our forebears to achieve great good. We owe it to those who have gone before to engage in political discourse with passion and integrity. For us to be the nation we hope to be, we must relearn what it means to enter a room with differing opinions and leave with a deeper appreciation for those who gathered there with us. Only then might we achieve the common good we desire.

I hope some of this might prove helpful…..

Sermon - June 19, 2011

2011-06-19T03:53:00.000-07:00

Trinity Sunday

We Are Triune Christians

They took the Athanasian Creed out of the new ELW. Somehow, that had slipped past me until this week. I don’t want to over-state what this means, but it is quite interesting to me.

The Athanasian Creed is the third of the Creeds officially accepted by our Lutheran Church. We use Apostles and Nicene regularly. The Athanasian Creed has typically been used once a year – on Holy Trinity Sunday. Written later in church history (sometime around the 6th century), it is the only creed in which the equal natures of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated. It is also the only one of the Creeds which states that those who do not hold to the statements of the creed are condemned.

Having (seemingly) expressed my dissatisfaction at the non-inclusion of the Athanasian Creed, let me say that I found it troubling to throw it out there, year after year, with no real explanation. It’s language is harsh. I wondered how the seekers or searchers responded to it its insistence that “those who do not believe these things are condemned already.” On the other hand, I do believe it to be a good teaching tool. And I am all about teaching. Especially on a concept as difficult to explain (and understand) as the Trinity. But understand we must. Otherwise we run the risk of slipping into christomonism, or worshippers of created matter. Our Christian faith is a faith in a Triune God. We worship One God, in three persons. And if it takes the jolt of the Antanasian Creed to remind us how serious all this is, so be it.

You would be hard pressed to find a modern day gathering of Christians who don’t make use Father-Son-Holy Spirit language. But not all of them will be observing Holy Trinity Sunday. We do. Just like Christmas and Easter and Pentecost, Trinity Sunday is set on our calendars as one of the major Church festivals.

One God, three persons; indivisible, yet distinct. This is the way we talk about God; this is the way we understand God. But such an understanding may not have been articulated in the early church’s worship services.

Before they were called “Christians,” the followers of Jesus were referred to as participants in “The Way.” Before there were official Church statements, there was a whole plethora of statements of understanding. Yes, it is completely true (and never denied,) that there are other “gospels” out there, in addition the four collected in our bibles (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and it is also true (and never denied,) some of these other accounts speak quite differently about Jesus and about his relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Church statements, developing over time, decided which perspectives were to be embraced (some would want to say “allowed”) and which were to be relegated to informative, but not normative.

This perspective, which we now share, was not universally shared by all those who in the first century A.D. were trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus.

In the beginning, members of “The Way,” would not have referred to God as Triune. They had the core teachings which lead to the formation of the Doctrines associated with God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But, they would not have used that formula, nor insisted that each worship service begin and end with it.

So, while the ELCA (and practically every other modern expression of Christianity) insists on a Trinitarian perspective, it is true that this perspective has not always been present, and would not have flowed so freely from the lips of Jesus’ earliest followers.

Over time, the understanding of God as one yet three is the perspective which the followers of Jesus came to share. They/we found this perspective to be helpful and informative. Seeing God as One God, in three persons, allowed us to see in its entirety the message which Jesus taught.

Father – Son – Holy Spirit. These are the “names” associated with the Triune God. Some prefer to refer to the functions of these three, so you will hear formulas like Creator – Redeemer – Sanctifier. The perspective being sought is one in which God is understood as larger than and more complete than anything we could envision or describe. God needs three names to even begin to speak of who he is and what he does.

God the Father/God the Creator, is an acknowledgement that in God all things find their ground of being. Who we are is rooted in God. We are all God’s creation; everyone one of us. The God whom we worship is the maker of all things. The God to whom we offer our prayers, is the One who called all things into being. When we insist on a Triune perspective we are instructing followers that no one in the whole of God’s creation is to been seen as anything less than one of God’s children. Their ethnic heritage or the color of their skin, nor even the creed they confess changes or denies that they are God’s. Everyone, and everything, in the whole of creation, belongs to God.

In talking about the Son, it is helpful if we begin with the opening words of John’s Gospel. John writes, In the beginning was the Word, he tells us that this Word of God called into being everything which is. After painting a marvelous vision of the power and strength of this Word of God, he tells us that this Word has become flesh and dwelt among us.

The Son, the Redeemer, is that part of God’s person which seeks to be known. It is the facet of God’s person which allows us to understand. It is that self-expression of God which liberates us from the fears associated with darkness and death. We have come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the One sent among us to save us.

Within the Trinity, the Son embodies what it is that we believe and teach. It is the invitation from God to think right thoughts.

The name of the third person of the Trinity is the one which varies the most. Like many of you, I grew up referring to the third person as the Holy Ghost. “Ghost” language begins to be changed to “Spirit” language sometime around the early 70’s. “Spirit” is a better word. And “Ghost” has too many non-religious connotations. In scripture, this third person is referred to as the “Paracleat,” or more simply, “Helper.” In another part of John’s Gospel, the Spirit is called “the Advocate.” The Spirit is that part of God which guides us into righteous living.

The Spirit is concerned with how we live. The Spirit addresses the realization that God not only concerns God’s self with who we are and what we think but also with what we do. Salvation may be associated with the second person of the Trinity, but our relationship with God isn’t complete unless we are also actively seeking sanctification.

Father – Son – Holy Spirit; Creator – Redeemer – Sanctifier; who we are – what we believe – how we live or lives; this is what it means to embrace the concept of a Triune God.

Who we are – what we believe – how we lives our lives; all three are important to those who continue to desire to participate in the Way of Jesus.

The Doctrine of the Trinity is one of those Church statements which developed over time, reaching it final formulation centuries after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Those who formulated the Doctrine (and those accept the Doctrine) believe that all of the parts are there in the earliest writings. Most importantly, we see in the Doctrine of the Trinity a way to direct the perspectives of those who would seek to become Christian, encouraging them to see all that there is to be seen when one considers who God is and what it is that God calls upon us to do.

Father – Son – Holy Spirit.
Creator – Redeemer – Sanctifier.
Who we are – what we believe – how we live our lives.

Our identity as Christians includes all three.

Amen.

2011-06-05T03:50:00.000-07:00

Easter 7
John 17:1-11
Service at the Lake
June 5, 2011

In the World

At the Council meeting this month, Marion Fisher was asking about anniversaries. The talk was over how many years each of the three of us have been under call to University Lutheran. This year I will have been at UniLu for 18 years. I started here June 15, 1993. But the date on the calendar which stands out in my mind so much as the first time I gathered with the congregation. It was actually two days before I started my employment – Sunday, June 13. The day was memorable to me for two reasons: First – it was hot. Very hot. We had loaded our moving van in Upper Michigan on the 9th of June. That day, in Houghton, it was 54 degrees. Two days later, we were in Clemson, and guess what the high temperature was for that day? 94 degrees. A forty degree change! Neither our house nor the church in Houghton had air conditioning. We almost melted.

The second reason that day stands out for me is that that first Sunday was UniLu’s annual out-door service. That year the service was at the YMCA Beach. Does anyone remember how many years it was held there? I remember that for a few years we traveled to Twin Lakes – but then they instituted the per-car admission fee and we switched yet again. I can’t remember how long we have been using Biggerstaff, but it is enough so that we no longer refer to it as the service at the lake, or the out-door worship service, but merely Biggerstaff Sunday.

Did any of you have a tradition like this in a previous congregation?
We did, in my home congregation. And it made such an impression on me that I started the tradition at my first two parishes. The tradition, at my home congregation, is much like the one we have fallen into at UniLu. It wasn’t merely a service be the lake, it was a service at our Lutheran Church Camp. The trip of my childhood was around 75 miles. Its destination was Lutheridge. Cedar Grove was one of the initial investors in that facility. We owned a lot, and members donated time to the construction of the initial buildings.

I know that for some, meeting at the lake is a hassle. One of our members (and a dear, dear friend) recoiled at the suggestion that we hold a committee meeting at Biggerstaff, after the service. “I have managed to miss that outing for nearly ten years and I don’t see a change coming this year.” It’s okay. Really it is. The service at Biggerstaff is not for everyone. I am a fan. But I am not a fan because I prefer the hot out-of-doors, with poor sound quality to our beautifully adorned house of worship. I am a fan because meeting out here gives us at least one opportunity to remind everyone that “Church” is not the building at 111 Sloan Street. “Church” is the community of folks who follow Jesus and seek to reach out to others with that which we have first received. “Church” is being God’s hands and heart and voice in the world which Christ came to save.

Today’s Gospel lesson comes from a section which is often referred to as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” He is praying for the disciples. In this prayer of his, we see what matters most, to him, as he considers what will be necessary for us.

There is language here of completion; Jesus says that he has “finished” the work that The Father gave him to do. What, exactly, is he referring to here? This is not a post-resurrection appearance. I guess it would be possible for this reference to having finished what he was sent to do to be referring to his impending crucifixion. Possible. What Jesus has done, at this point, is to make God known throughout the region. What Jesus has done is show God’s delight in all of His children, including (and sometime particularly) those whom others might ignore or overlook.

Jesus is about to depart. The trip to Jerusalem and all that it entails is just around the corner. So much so that Jesus has already begun to check out. He acknowledges in this high priestly prayer that he is “no longer in the world.” He prays for the disciples because “they (remain) in the world.”

We are part of the Church in order that we might be in the world. We don’t go to church, in order to avoid being contaminated by the world. When we do gather, in our church buildings, we repeat stories of a God who set aside the heavens in order to make his home among us. We worship a Messiah whose “work” involved walking the dirty streets of Jerusalem and who only once seems to have taken the teacher’s seat inside a house of prayer. Jesus is no longer in the world. But his followers, those whom God has given him, continue to live in the world. His work ends where ours begins, and ours is to be his hands and his heart and his voice in the world.

We don’t “go to church;” we “are the Church.” And we are at our best when we step outside the confines of the walls and make known to all the world the saving message of Jesus Christ.

Some will read in these words an invitation to isolate ourselves from the world. At one point Jesus prays, “I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.” The Gospel next week is even more critical of that which is here referred to as “the world.” He will note that “the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world.” From here, many have taken their cue and spoken of a deep division between the followers of Jesus and “the world.” But such a division is misguided. Jesus isn’t wanting us to disengage from everything around us and flee into the nearest red brick building with a steeple on top; he is acknowledging that when one sets their hearts and minds on the things of God, the culture and the conventional wisdom will do all it can to bring that one back in line.

“The world,” the culture and conventional wisdom of Jerusalem, imprisoned, beat, and murdered Jesus. “The world,” the culture and conventional wisdom of 16th Century Europe condemned Martin Luther as a heretic. It would be appropriate for me to name modern-day martyrs, but the culture and conventional wisdom operative among us is likely to result in some (if not many) of you disengaging and dismissing everything I am saying.

Steven Carter is an ethicist teaching at Yale. Lately he has taken to writing fiction. But his earliest books were in the “ethics for the laity” genre. In "The Culture of Disbelief" he had a chapter entitled “God as Hobby.” His critique of modern day American Christianity is that we treat it as a “hobby,” rather than the center and core of our existence.

Want some examples? We all know that Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, right? Haven’t we also been carefully taught that Jesus expected this of him because he had become so attached to his possessions – implying that so long as we aren’t so deeply attached, it is okay for us to keep our stuff.

In Acts 5 there is a terrible story of Ananias and Sapphira. After joining The Way, they sell a piece of land, but rather than give all the money to the elders they keep back a bit for themselves. Both of them die when their withholding is acknowledged.

How many weeks has it been, maybe 10 or 11, since we read Jesus’ instructions on what we are to do when someone begs from us? If they ask for our coat, we are to give them our shirts also. Doesn’t our culture and conventional wisdom tell us that if you feed a stray dog it will only keep coming back for more – never developing the drive or initiative to provide for itself?

Jesus sends us into the world, but he knows that the world will do all it can to mute the message we proclaim. And in muting the message, we lose the cutting edges which are capable of removing the fear and anxiety which stands between us and the peace which Christ brings.

One of my Facebook pastor friends said it in a message yesterday. The opposite of faith is not apathy, not unbelief. We become apathetic. We sell short the powerful message of Christ. And, yes, I do believe this happens the most when we are shut up inside our red-brick buildings, doing our own little rituals, without ever exposing this message to those whose lives are crying out for the Good News Jesus came to make known.

With my family, I have just come through a time when I needed the Church’s aid. From the day that my mother-in-law was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, we depended upon the prayerful support of you, our fellow church-members and friends. We would not have had the courage to commend her to Almighty God where it not for the constant reminders that God would take better care of her than we could. What a glorious escape, from the harshness of “the world,” to gather with others, singing hymns and offering prayers of hope and promise. It has now been three weeks – the amount of time it takes for so many to forget and go back to what they were doing before. But it is the faithful, our sisters and brothers in Christ who continue to remember and to comment and to lift us up with prayers and promises. It is at times such as these that one really comes to deeply appreciate the relationships formed through week after week of sharing a pew and fumbling through the familiar liturgy. I am not dismissing the importance of knowing that we are part of a community, that we belong to a group, and that we have a clubhouse where we can get together with our fellow travelers.

But we only got to that place as a result of someone somewhere in our past reaching out to us and inviting us in. We would not have know the peace of Christ which passes all understanding had there not been an understanding person encouraging us to be a member of God’s family.

The ministry of the Church starts out here, in the world. It is only after the promise is given and the opportunity presented that we can then come inside to experience the comfort and assurance.

Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer is for those who will remain the world when he is ascended to heaven. He knows how difficult it is for us. He knows that we will only be able to face those difficulties if we have one another; if we are joined in mission and in purpose. We join together to celebrate what has been given to us; and then we look for opportunities to give it to others.

We can’t sit inside that building at 111 Sloan Street and wait for them to stumble in the door. We need to go out, into the world, sharing with them what it is that calls us inside, only then will they be able to hear the invitation and come inside.

Amen.

Devotion - May 5

2011-05-05T02:57:00.000-07:00

When Jesus sends out his disciples, he sends them out two by two. This was a wise thing to do.

Having a traveling companion meant you had someone to support you when you were weak. Having a fellow servant meant you had someone with whom to explore insights. Having a buddy meant that you didn't feel so alone, even when the way was lonely.

You have been my companion these past months. Over the course of the academic year we have carried on a conversation. Knowing that you are there provides fuel for my prayers and an additional purpose to my mediation.

I will miss you over the summer.

It is more difficult to maintain my prayer discipline over the summer. Without you there, it is easier to sleep in, or sleep right up to the time I need to be out the door. Without responses and updates, names begin to fall off my prayer list - assuming that the crisis is over or the need met.

I do better when I have a traveling companion.

Perhaps some of this applies to your summer as well. Many (most) of you report home congregations with small (or non-existent) youth groups. Who will be there as a spiritual travel companion as you return home. You have grown and developed and matured in your faith. Even those who were with you in past years may have grown in ways which have lead you to differing places.

My prayer for you, my prayer for all of us, as we conclude this year together, is that you will intentionally seek out someone with whom you can spend the summer, traveling your spiritual path. It might be a high school friend. Perhaps that pastor who you barely listened to in confirmation but is eager to have you return now and ask all those questions. It might be your parents, or a trusted member of the congregation.

Jesus sent his disciples out two by two. There is a lot of wisdom in that decision. Perhaps one of the wisest things we can do is apply this instruction to our own life.

God will be with you. God will watch over you. Remember me in your prayers and I will remember you. And we will renew our conversations come August.

Devotion - Wednesday, May 4

2011-05-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

In addition to my role as campus pastor, I am also under call to a congregation. In addition to these roles, I am also a son-in-law. I spent a good deal of time yesterday in these latter two roles.

My mother-in-law is dying. While it was only seven weeks ago that the doctor confirmed she has pulmonary fibrosis, she is experiencing rapid deterioration. She came home from the hospital two weeks ago, with Hospice Care. In these weeks, I have laughed as she faked a breathing attack (only to use the increased attention as an opportunity to ask for more chocolate), observed her and my son singing various hymns, and occasionally been surprised at the stories of her past she has decided to share. The last 36 hours have been the sharpest decline. She is now beginning to loose much of her cognitive function.

A dear member of the congregation is also under Hospice care. She has been treated for abdominal cancer over the past couple of years. The treatments in January and February had such negative side effects that she decided to discontinue treatment. Yesterday she shared with me that she feels so much better now. She was wondering if she was premature in setting up Hospice care. She did point out, however, how much she was enjoying sitting in her chair and looking out the windows at the birds, and not really worrying about trending the yard or accomplishing various tasks.

Both of these are aiding me greatly, as I make my own way through life, as I move ever closer to my own death.

There are so many things which I consider to be so damn important - but they really are not.

There are great ends toward which I direct my energy - but these ideals too often look too much like my own ego.

There are appointments to keep and calendars to follow - but there are also flowers blooming and butterflies migrating back to the north.

And all of this is happening as we end the school year and say good-bye to our graduating friends.

I thanked Lucy and said a prayer over Granna that I would not allow their impact on my life to be muted. And so I share it with you, to encourage you to thank God and think of all that God is sending into your life. There are important tasks; but it is even more important that you live your life. We have shared so much in the year about to end, in the years which went before this one. It all finds its meaning and purpose when it serves to remind us nothing in life is as important as living a thankful life.

Let us thank God; and let us promise God that we will not fail to take notice of all the wonderful things and all the beautiful people He has placed in our lives.

Devotion - Tuesday, May 3

2011-05-03T03:37:00.001-07:00

My appointed readings are from John 17. This is a section of Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer." In this prayer, Jesus remembers before his Father all the things that he holds dear.

He speaks of being in the world but not of the world. He speaks of being protected from "the evil one." And he prays for those whom he has "sent into the world."

Living a life modeled after Christ is easy when we are in the Church. Living in the world is where things become difficult.

As a person of faith, I am having difficulty living in the world this day. The military assault which resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden has given rise to a whole host of events - many of which are appropriate; some of which smack of the very thing we are seeking to eliminate.

I am thinking back to this morning's appointed reading. We must always be careful to equate scripture's references to "the evil one" to any human. Surely, Bin Laden organized and directed many evil deeds. He fell under the influence of "the evil one," and "the evil one" convinced him that violence and murder were acceptable means to an end.

Those whom Christ has sent into the world will always rejoice when evil is held in check. Our status of being "in the world but not of the world" means that we understand the impracticality of ending violence with violence.

I have not been on campus enough to know what is being said there. I imagine it is much like what is being said other places. Perhaps the busyness of exams has muted the reaction and the comments. I encourage you to be "sent into (your) world" with the message of Christ. That you might interject into the conversations and the discussions a regret that the world which God made and declared "Good" is all too often a world in which there is hatred and bloodshed.

The hope we all have is of a time when "the evil one" will hold no sway in this world. We may choose not to challenge the legitimacy of Sunday night's assault, but we must speak out for a world in which God's peace rules rather than hatred and war and destruction.

Devotion - Thursday, April 28

2011-04-28T03:11:00.001-07:00

I continue to read from John 15. In today's appointed lesson, Jesus speaks of his relationship with the disciples. He says to them, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends." The use of the word should not conjure up images of some Buddy Jesus, rather it helps us to understand that Jesus invites us into a relationship which is two way. He isn't only looking for followers, he is looking for companions. Companions in making known the will and the promise of God.

"I chose you and appointed you," Jesus tells them, "that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide."

We are not equal to Jesus. But we are more than servants; we are friends.

Oswald Chambers writes, "It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration. That is why there are so few fellow workers with God and so many workers for Him. We would far rather work for God than believe in him."

It is humbling to think that God would entrust us with the message of salvation. It is essential that we take up this trust and bear fruit. It is Jesus' request that we work with him in bringing Easter into the lives of all those around us.

The Father has pruned us, making us fit for the work. The Son has chosen us, and instructed us on what we are to do. The Holy Spirit remains with us to guide us and to strengthen us. Are we not ready to be more than workers for God, but fellow workers with God?

Devotion - Wednesday, April 27

2011-04-27T03:40:00.001-07:00

We are so far separated from an agrarian society, that many of the Bible references are missed. In John's 15th chapter, Jesus speaks of himself as the vine, as the Father as the vinedresser, and of us as the branches. I wonder how much of this imagery we catch or comprehend.

The part which struck me this morning is the reference to those branches which don't produce fruit. They are "taken away." As for the branch that does bear fruit, these "he prunes." If you have had the opportunity to visit a vineyard, you probably noticed that the vines look rather stark. The best vineyards are those in which the pruning takes away all but the few, strongest branches.

The grapevine in my grandmother's back yard was this huge umbrella of branches. As a child I would crawl under the branches and look up at the bunches of grapes. This was my grandmother's vine. It produced grapes, but was seldom tended.

Imagine my shock, when my grandfather took cuttings from that vine and established a production style vineyard. The posts and wires held the vines and the branches. But there was no canopy of branches. Only the select few and those carefully pruned. When time came for harvest. It amazed me how large and delicious the grapes in the vineyard were, compared to those which has grown on my Grandmother's vine.

In yesterday's devotion I used the word, "Repent." Those of us who have always been a part of God's Church, seldom think of our need to repent. We are already in a right relationship with God, right? But if I take these musings on grape vines, and apply them to the concept of repentance, I might find ways in which the two intersect.

We are the branches. Branches remain forever in need of pruning. After each season, the vinedresser looks at the branches and cuts away that which holds back or limits. We might apply this to our lives by realizing that even our best attempts to follow Christ will fall short. We need, in season, to experience some pruning. We need to have removed from us that which restricts or limits us.

The vinedresser does this because of his love and care for the vines. It is not punishment; is the the means by which the branches reach their purpose.

Where are the needs for pruning in your life? And, when God comes to cut away that which is not helpful, can you be ready to receive the aid and let go of that which needs to be removed?

If we had the opportunity to join a vinedresser for a day of pruning, we would have ample opportunity to reflect on this. As it is, we will need to think it through, perhaps asking a trusted friend to aid us in the process.

Devotion - Tuesday, April 26

2011-04-26T03:19:00.001-07:00

"How do we go on? Now that Jesus has been taken from us?"

If these words were not spoken, their question rang out in every action and thought of Jesus' earliest followers. They were worried, they were frightened, they were unsure where to turn for continued instruction.

Jesus had already told them where to turn; what to expect. In John 14 he has spoken of the days when he would no longer be among them. He has promised them, "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you."

It is the Holy Spirit who sets aside our fears, our concerns.

In Acts 2, when the people realize the horror of what they have done to Jesus, they ask, "What are we to do?" Peter tells them, "Repent, and be baptized... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to know what we are to do.

The Resurrected Jesus will make several visits among his followers. The Resurrected Jesus sits at God's right hand and continues to intercede for us. The third person of the Trinity, that Holy Spirit, remains with us.

Devotion - Monday, April 25

2011-04-25T03:30:00.001-07:00

Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!

But for most of you, it is back to the books! And back to the books hard. This being the final week of classes, there is little time to savor the celebrations of yesterday. I fear that it may too quickly be "business as usual." For 40 days, we anticipated our arrival at the empty tomb; how many days will we remain there, contemplating what has happened and what it means for our lives? None. If the academic calendar has its way.

This year is weird. The Liturgical Calendar (based on the seasons of the moon) placed Easter very late. As a result, we are up against the end of the year, and graduation. The various calendars are cutting short our time to observe the joyous news of Easter morning.

While the way in which the calendars coincide is unique this year, what remains constant is the temptation to allow other schedules to direct our lives. There will always be demands and commitments and encouragements to set aside our faith journey for the sake of some other agenda. Having been defeated at the cross, the devil looks for other ways to separate us from God.

The early Church found ways to make sure that these attempts were not successful. A good example of that is Christmas. It is true - December 25 is not Jesus' birthday. That day was selected because the pagan world was celebrating the winter solstice. Christians joining in celebrating, but they celebrated the arrival of the Light of the World, while all those around them celebrated the crated light, rather than the creator.

I will be on campus today, along with the rest of you. I will go back to my routines and fall into step with the rhythm of the academic year. But I will continue to hear the rousing chorus of yesterday's choir, and I will see in each unfolding blossom a reminder of the new life which has come to the world as a result of my Savior's resurrection.

I invite you to join me.
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!

Sermon - Easter Sunrise

2011-04-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

April 24, 2011
Matthew 28:1-10

A few years ago I said something to my colleagues. I told them how much I loved the Easter Sunrise Service, that I ready didn’t mind getting up extra early on Easter morning, in order to gather outside for worship.

That is what I said to the other pastors at University Lutheran. And ever since I spoke those words, whenever the issue comes up as to who is to preach at the sunrise service, I am reminded of what I said. It is not that Larry and Danielle look for reasons not to be the preacher. I think it has more to do with testing me, to see if I really do enjoy Easter Sunrise enough to not only get up at this hour, but be ready to preach. Nor do I think they are trying to shame me or poke fun at me. It has more to do with an underlying doubt that anyone would really “enjoy” getting up this early and be ready to take a role in worship.

I do enjoy Easter Sunrise services. Unlike any other worship service, they carry me back to the roots of my faith; they affirm for me the certainty of the Resurrection. There – I have said it again. And as many of you who choose to do so can remind me that I said it. And, should there come an Easter morning when you don’t see me at this early morning gathering, you are more than welcome to call me and ask me why my actions displayed such a flagrant disregard for my words.
Saying something doesn’t make that something true. Truth stands on its own. But speaking the truth commits us to the truth and forms a covenant between us and the truth which we have spoken.

Twice, in this morning’s Gospel lesson, the witnesses are told, “Go and tell.”
“Go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead.”
These instructions are more than filler. They do more than expand the reading. They are the verses which complete the Easter morning story.

The story isn’t over until the witnesses “Go and tell.”

There is no way to miss the importance of this – they are given these instructions twice. First, by the Angel whose appearance was like "lightning, and … clothing white as snow". It is in Matthew’s account that witnesses see the arrival of this angel. Other accounts simply tell us that they found the stone rolled away from the entrance. In Matthew, they are present when the earthquake occurs and the stone is rolled away. The angel arrives, rolls away the stone, sits on it and says to them, “Go and tell.”

The second time these instructions are given, it is Jesus himself who speaks. The witnesses have departed from the empty tomb. As they are going in order to tell, Jesus intercepts their path. Forgetting for the moment their mission, they take hold of him. I think we can all imagine the firmness of that grip. Can’t we understand how forcefully they would cling to him.

That is what we are most tempted to do – isn’t it? Forget our mission and cling to Jesus. Set aside the instructions to “Go and Tell,” and just remain there, clinging to Christ.

And we can be sure that Jesus felt the urgency of their arms as they embraced the one whom they loved. He had to have been able to sense the desperation within their hearts as they held on for all they were worth. But he won’t let them hold on. He instructs them, “Go and tell.”

“Telling” isn’t what makes the Resurrection true. The Resurrection stands on its own. But speaking of its truth commits us to the truth and forms a covenant between us and the truth which we have spoken.

“Go,” and “Tell.”

Jesus once again proves that he is wiser than the average joe when he insists that the witnesses to the Resurrection cease their clinging to his resurrected presence. Instead he insists that they busy themselves with the task of telling others.
Telling others of the Resurrection doesn’t make the Resurrection true. The truth of the Resurrection stands on its own. But speaking of this truth to others has a way of committing us to the truth and forms a bond between us and the truth of which we have spoken.

There are many reasons why I love Easter Sunrise Services, but one of them is as simple as the location. It is outside; in a public place; without the all the trappings of a pipe organ or padded pews. There is a rawness about proclaiming the Gospel in the open square. There is a reminder that Jesus’ Resurrection is more than a secret to be shared among members of The Club, it is the Good News the world needs to hear. Jesus’ resurrection accomplishes all it was intended to accomplish when the faithful raise the strain of triumphant gladness.

“Telling” isn’t what makes the Resurrection true. The Resurrection stands on its own. But speaking of its truth commits us to the truth and forms a covenant between us and the truth which we have spoken.

Amen.

Devotion - Maundy Thursday

2011-04-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

There are some phrases which roll too easily off our tongues. The sayings (instructions) of Jesus have in too many instances become catch phrases, easily repeated without grasping what they are saying.

I thought of this as we were announcing the liturgy for this day. The traditional liturgy for Maundy Thursday includes the washing of feet. The service begins with confession and absolution, moves to washing of feet, then Holy Communion, and finally the stripping of the alter.

"In that order?" I was asked. "It seems you might want to do the dirty part later, so as to have clean hands for the Communion."

It is a liturgy which raises eyebrows. It is a service which always has at least one negative comment.

And yet, no one ever responds negatively to the lesson appointed for Maundy Thursday. Jesus says, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you are to love one another." Washing the disciples' feet is the way Jesus made real his love for them.

Sometimes we minimize the offense of the washing service by speaking of the historical necessities of feet washing. In Jesus' day even more were open toed shoes. Or, the walked everywhere and their feet were dusty. I don't know that it was all that different in Jesus' day than our own. Washing feet is dirty business. It is a lowly service. It is an act one does if you are serious about loving, as Christ has loved.

The objection is to the act; the words we accept without question. Either we don't understand the words, or we are fooling ourselves.

Love one another. As Christ has loved us, so also we are to love one another. It is a difficult thing to do. It is the "commandment" which gives Maundy Thursday its name.

Devotion - Wednesday, April 20

2011-04-20T03:39:00.001-07:00

Some misunderstand confession. They think of it as being beaten down or brought low by God. It is anything but. Confession is the opportunity to come clean, it is a chance to be honest - with God, but also with ourselves. There is an art to confession, and as with most art it takes dedication and diligence.

We began our Lenten Season with an elongated confession on Ash Wednesday. You should already be thinking, "Elongated confession, but no absolution!" Maundy Thursday (tomorrow) is the opportunity to hear that word of forgiveness. And you will hear it. Before moving to that absolution, there will be one more opportunity for confession. Shorter than Ash Wednesday, this confession is one in which we provide the instances of transgressions. After all, we have had thirty-eight days to identify our sins.

This morning's reading in my devotional guide prompted me to consider additional areas where sin might be hiding in my life. I share it with you as a way of aiding you in your continued efforts to be honest with yourself, with your companions, with your God.

It is from Ditlev Gothard Monrad, a 19th century Danish Statesman and writer.

"It is very important that we are without pretense when we come before God's countenance. All adornment, all excuses, must be cast aside. We must not give ourselves out as anything other than we are. Wares often pass in trade under false names in order to win easier sale; but it is still more common that the human heart houses cravings to which it gives false names in order to justify love for the. Deceit is called cleverness; greed is called concern for spouse and children; hatred and anger are called zeal for truth and justice. No sinful desire is found in the human heart that does not sail under a false flag and steal a name that does not belong to it. It is a great step forward when we are able to give the right name to all that lives within us. It is one of the blessings of prayer that it calls upon us for serious self-examination and brings into the light of God's countenance that which steals around in our souls, half conscious, part truth, part falsehood. Everything that lives within us should be laid bare in prayer."

Devotion - Tuesday, April 19

2011-04-19T03:41:00.001-07:00

This morning's Gospel is from John 12:20-26. It informs us that among those who had come to worship were some Greeks. They ask to see Jesus. When Jesus hears of this, he (in the style of John's Gospel) responds to this occurrence with a statement of what all this means. The desire of the Greeks to see him signals for him that "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified."

What triggers this? For Jesus?

Remember that in Matthew's Gospel the birth stories include a visit from the wise men from the East. These non-Jews are a sign and a symbol that Jesus' birth has significance for the whole of the creation, not merely for those who are of his clan or his congregation of faith.

Similarly, here, we find an acknowledgment that Jesus' message is finding a foothold in the lives of all of God's children. Jesus' time has come.

I am preparing a sermon for Easter sunrise service. I realize few of you will be there, so there is no harm in using a bit of that outline in this devotion. All too often we have allowed the Easter story to become a private message. We have let it turn into our little secret, the event which molds our hearts and directs our thinking. All too often we forget that the Easter message is a proclamation. That it is what it is intended to be when it is shouted out.

Jesus knows that he has completed the will of his Father when those who would have been strangers to the way of God seek him to desire more of what it is that he comes to make known. We do the will of God when we share the Good News of Jesus with those who have become separated form God and God's hope for their lives.

Be careful - this is not an invitation to join in some condemnation of undesirable behaviors. It is not a call to blast "heathens" and frighten them with warnings of Hell. It is a commitment to telling God's children, particularly those who are languishing, that they are loved and cared for and that God would not give up on them or forsake them. It is for them that Jesus came into the world and it for them that Jesus endures the cross.

The hour has come. Glorify God in your actions; make God known in your words.