02 Jesus, Present In His Absence

Mother's Day - Instead of rushing through the storm shouting "Where's God,Where's God?" - we need to slow down - increase the visibility - help us to see God's help all around us - not in mysterious ways, but in verypractical ways - through our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,friends and neighbors, fellow church members: A young monk arrived at the monastery. He is assigned to helping
the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by
hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from the
copies, not from the original manuscript. So the new monk goes to the
head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a
small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that
error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk
says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you
make a good point, my son."
He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery
where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that
hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees
the old abbot.
So the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him.
He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing, "We missed
the "R." We missed the "R!" His forehead is all bloody and bruised
and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot.
"What's wrong father?" With a choking voice, the old abbot replies. The
word was CELEBRATE!
It's easy for clergymen to miss things. Last week was a very busy
week for me, getting everything ready for Sunday early in the week because
I was going to a church conference for two days at the end of the week.
As it was, I heard no news - I never learned that a whole town in Kansas
had been leveled by a tornado - with many injured and several killed. But
I missed it, so I didn't mention it in my morning announcements, prayer or
sermon.
Today, in our church it's Mother's Day, but if you look at the texts
and sermon materials chosen for this Sunday by the lectionary people,
they are not connected in anyway with paying tribute to your mom and
mine. A preacher could easily miss the opportunity to put a good word in
for our mothers. What percentage of the sermon will be designated to
mothers will vary from pulpit to pulpit....some will say the preacher said
too much - others will say he said to little.
The wife of an acquaintance of mine, was listening to the movie
that her minister husband was watching. The movie simply took the Gospel
of John, (our Gospel for today) word for word. About halfway through
one of Jesus' many long speeches, his wife had had enough. She looked
up and said, "Will Jesus ever shut up?!" (So if I get criticized for
saying too much or too little, I won't mind at all.
Our Gospel text today is lodged in the middle of Jesus' longest
speech, one lasting the better part of chapters 14-17 of the Fourth Gospel.
Thank Goodness Jesus DIDN'T shut up, because those early disciples
were told that despite the fact that Jesus was leaving them, He would be
Present in His absence through the Holy Spirit which would come upon
them and give them peace far beyond the peace that the world could ever
offer - though some things - some people come close - like our mothers -
or at least mine!
Years ago, I was asked to give an invocation at a Breakfast of
Champions. I sat next to the featured athlete, the diver, Greg Louganis. I
asked him what he thought of just before his critical dives. He said it was
a question he was often asked and that his answer was always the same,
"No matter what I do here, my mother will always love me."
Knowing we are loved makes all the difference in our lives, the
way we think of ourselves, the confidence we have, the ability to move
forward in life.
In last week's Scripture, the Apostle Peter broke tradition by taking
his Jewish self into the home of Gentiles - something forbidden by Jewish
law. But God had directed him to do it, so we was not surprised that
when the people in that household of Cornelius committed themselves to
Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon them just as it had come upon Peter and
the other disciples on the Day of Pentecost. They felt different. They
were changed.
Couples walk into this church for their wedding ceremony. When
they walk in they are unmarried. When the walk out they are married. It's
a mystery - it's a miracle. I most often ask them if they feel married.
Without exception, they all say they do - because they do. God has given
us watershed moments that mark our transition from one state to another.
As a teenager, I listened as a missionary told me about Jesus and
invited me to be a follower. The missionary was from California, living in
New York State on his way to Brazil. I was from Ohio, but temporarily
living in New York State and working in Pennsylvania as was the missionary
- that's where we met.
After I dedicated myself to Jesus, I felt different - accompanied -
that no matter what I did, Jesus would love me. It changed the way I felt
about myself and the people and events around me. No, there was no
tongue of fire above my head - at least that I know of - but now there was
a fire burning within my heart to be like Jesus - to follow his teachings - to
do His work.
There was no sound of rushing wind, like at Pentecost, at least as
far as I knew - but there was a mighty, overwhelming feeling rushing through
my being - almost mind-blowing - that I was a child of the King of Kings.
My mother was a very humble person. She didn't yearn for great
wealth or even to have the best of things. If one placed three things in
front of her and asked her to choose, she would choose the thing of least
value. She would say, "This is good enough for me." The truth was,
nothing was good enough for her. Trust me, there wasn't a thing about her
that God would change. She lived for her family and friends and worked
tirelessly from dawn to dark and more to make a wonderful life for her
husband and children.
The Bible says "How hard it si to find the perfect wife. My
father had no trouble at all. He found my mother. The Scriptures in the
31st chapter of Proverbs describes the perfect wife. Excerpting from the
passage we learn:
How hard it is to find the perfect wife. She is worth far more than
jewels. Her husband depends on her. He will never be poor. She
does good for her husband all her life. She never causes him trouble.
She wakes up early in the morning, cooks food for her family. She
works very hard. She is strong and able to do all her work. She
works late into the night. She always gives to the poor and helps
those who need it. She is a strong person, and people respect her.
She looks to the future with confidence. She speaks with wisdom
and teaches others to be loving and kind. She oversees the care of
her house. She is never lazy. Her children say good things about
her. Her husband brags about her and says, "There are many
good women, but you are the best!" Grace and beauty can fool
you, but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised. Give
her the reward she deserves. Praise her in public for what she has
done." (Why don't the lectionary people choose THAT passage for
Mother's Day?!)
All of us here have a relationship with Jesus. Like all relationships,
they will vary from close to distant, from dramatic to not so dramatic.
When a married couple leaves the church after their wedding
ceremony, nothing is different in one way, but in another way everything is
different. A few words have made the difference.
These words of Jesus make a difference to you and me: MY
FATHER AND I WILL COME TO YOU (THEM) AND LIVE
WITH YOU (THEM....THE HELPER WILL TEACH YOU
EVERYTHING AND CAUSE YOU TO REMEMBER ALL THAT
I TOLD YOU. THIS HELPER IS THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT THE
FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME.
One of the best ways to see how God has been with you is to
look back upon times when you have gone through difficult times. At the
time, you may have wondered where God was. After the time, as you
look back upon it, you know that had God not been with you, you would
never had made it through.
I thought about that in driving back from the church conference in
St. Petersburgh - it began to rain very heavily. You could see very little
in front of you - a glimmer of flashing tail lights at best, and you hope
THEY stayed on the road! But I noticed too, that if I looked in back of
me by looking in the rear view mirror, the visibility was far better. I was
making my own visibility crisis by rushing through the storm.
Instead of rushing through the storm shouting "Where's God,
Where's God?" - we need to slow down - increase the visibility - help
us to see God's help all around us - not in mysterious ways, but in very
practical ways - through our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
friends and neighbors, fellow church members.
Barbara Brown Taylor says that "When God and Jesus move
in with us, they make lots of keys - keys for the Holy Spirit, keys
for the other disciples, keys for all kinds of indwelling cousins in
Christ. Coming and going we learn to recognize each other and to
call upon each other for everything that people who live together
do."
In other words, we who follow Jesus are not only part of the
band of his disciples, and friends, but we note that they have become a
family. When we come here, we come into the family home.
Like your family, my family is quite scattered across the globe.
But family is family wherever they are. One of my nephews called me
recently to ask if I was going to come "home" for the Mount Union College
reunion as I had hoped to do - at which time we would have a family
reunion.
Unfortunately, the Florida Conference of the UCC decided to
meet yearly instead of every other year, and the meeting was the same
weekend. I couldn't go to Mount Union College - (MUC) because I had
to go to the UCC - PRONOUNCED "UCH". I couldn't go to MUC
because I had to go to UCC. I couldn't go "home" to Ohio.
A nephew and niece email me regularly - a piece of home. My
sister-in-law writes me monthly from Virginia - yet I said to here in my last
letter - it's good to hear from "home" despite the fact that I'm from Ohio.
It's the people that make the difference.
People are home - God's home is full of people who know us,
love us - sometimes because of us, sometimes in spite of us. If we keep
close to them - God keeps close to us. God's home is his people.
Something special happens when we come through our newly reconstructed
and refinished doors - this is none other than the gate of heaven.
A member of a church, who previously had been attending services
regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit
him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone,
sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the
man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and
waited.
The Pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave
silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.
After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a
brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the heart all alone.
Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet
contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished,
there was a momentary glow and the its fire was no more. Soon it was
cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor
glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood
up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of
the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth
of the burning coals around it.
As the Pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear
running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and
especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next
Sunday."
This is the home where JESUS IS PRESENT IN HIS
ABSENCE. Happy was the home where our mothers were present
with their love and care. Today we honor them - pay them tribute and
thank God for them. Let us sing to God's Praise.

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A sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone who
believes it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)

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01 If We Let THOSE People In Here

From exclusion to inclusion; from I to We:
The title of this sermon is "If We Let THOSE People In Here!"
I hate to tell you, but WE are THOSE PEOPLE! Almost the only
people IN the early church were, of course, Jews. Jesus was a Jew as
were the majority of his followers. Early on, they weren't meeting in
churches. they were meeting in the synagogues. The people in the early
meetings of the church were scandalized when they heard that the Apostle
Peter, was admitting THOSE PEOPLE - (Gentiles - that's us) into the
fellowship of the followers of Jesus. It was hard to believe that he would
do that - he was so concerned about the survival of the Jews who were
under Roman domination, that, like other zealots or nationalists, he carried
a sword on his person to be able to defend the Israelite nation at a moments
notice. Letting THOSE people into their fellowship was inexcusable -
what was he thinking? They called him on the carpet - or what passed for
carpet in those days!
What Peter said in essence was, "Don't argue with me, argue
with God!", explaining that GOD had shown him in a vision that the
fellowship of the followers of Jesus was to be an inclusive one. He readily
admitted that God had to show him - tell him - three times before He
himself could come to terms with the fact of coming into contact with
THOSE PEOPLE .
In Jerusalem we Gentiles were THOSE PEOPLE. In Miami
Beach in our time, the Jews were THOSE PEOPLE - If we let THOSE
PEOPLE In here....!"
Strange, isn't it. God made everyone in creation, why should we
not welcome those whom God has made. The Jewish dietary laws had
prohibited them from sharing at the table of the gentiles. But Jesus dined
with them all. (And I was thinking as I was driving along and developing
this sermon) that Jesus would invite everyone to come to His table. Over
the centuries, the church has made His table a very exclusive place for the
very few.) Too bad!
Like Jesus, now Peter was doing what Jesus had done - entering
into the homes of the Gentiles, dining with them, inviting them to follow the
Risen Christ.
Right after his vision, three men were waiting for him to invite him into a
Gentile home - the home of Cornelious who had been visited by an angel
and instructed to send people to get Simon Peter who would tell him and
his family about the new thing God was doing through Jesus.
God is hungering for us to know and welcome all of his people.
How welcoming are you? How charitable are you in your thoughts about
persons different from yourself - who worship in other ways - who vote
differently than you do - whose skin is of another color. How do you treat
THOSE PEOPLE in your thoughts? How do you treat THEM.
The first thing we can do to put God's vision to Peter into
effect in our lives is to cross some things out of our vocabulary.
Cross out "them". Cross out "those". There is only us!
In a premarital counseling session the other day, I asked the groom
who was saying "I - this" and "I - that: "When are you going to
transist from "I" to "We" You're not on your life's journey
alone any more.
Has your "I" turned to we - Has it finally dawned that all on Space
Ship Earth are your fellow travelers?
How long has it been since you expanded your circle of friends?
Can I guess who's coming to dinner?
Who have you invited to church lately. Who has the church
invited to church? Again this year, under the sponsorship of the Counseling
Ministry of South Florida - A Samaritan Center, persons of all faiths will
be here the night before Thanksgiving to that the Creator for blessings
received.
At the last one, I was so saddened to hear a sarcastic remark
from one of the rabbis when the Islamic speaker got up to address us.
We can either kill each other or learn to understand and get along with
each other.
Unfortunately, we so often judge a group by the worst person of
that group. I like to pick the best person I know that is in any ethnic, racial
or religious group than my own, and judge the group by that person.
I am listening now to Barak Obama's book in which he tells of a
man who used very bad language when referring to one racial group - until
at work he got to know and appreciate several members of that race. His
thinking changed. His vocabulary changed. His attitude changed.
Our coming to understand and appreciate each other and
care for one another is the very thing that can save us from
ourselves as fellow travelers on this terrestrial ball. And those of us
who practice a religious faith have possibility than any other group to
make a difference. We have allowed our faiths to divide the world and be
responsible for more wars than anything else. It is time for us to turn that
around!
But to do that, we must practice what we will call "Sacred envy"
First, we look at other denominations than our own - and other faiths than
our own and find some things to envy. The Rev. Thomas Goodhue,
Executive Director of the Long Island Council of Churches says that he
loves the infectious joy of African American congregations where worship
is exuberant praise as in Latin and Korean congregations. He loves the
churches that emphasize that "God is still speaking". He likes the
ways Muslims and Bahais focus on doing good rather than avoiding
evil.....the way Buddhists and Quakers gently nudge us to unplug, turn off
the noise, shut up, sit down and just be silent for a while. He is indebted
to Judaism for teaching him over and over again that we are called to
"tikkun olam" - to repair the brokenness of our world - and for raising a
certain Jewish kid who he strives to follow. Practice religious envy!
Remember that the is something larger than self, family, tribe and
nation. It's name may vary: God, Kosmos, Higher Power, Universal
Spirit, Source of the Sun that is greater than the parts. Let us expand our
circles of care and compassion and bring about a more peaceful world -
as we join the Prince of Peace at His table - his inclusive, around the
world table to which He welcomes all.
Come to this sacred table, not because you must, but becauseyou may.....