Wednesday, August 1, 2007
06 Failed Funeral
I've been giving a lot of thought to what I would like them to say at
my funeral. These are the words I would want to hear: "Hey! He's
movin'!" THAT would be THE FAILED FUNERAL which is the
topic of today's sermon based on Luke 7:11-17 where there was one -
the funeral failed miserably! Jesus comes upon a funeral procession
in which a widow's son and only provider is being taken for burial. He
tells the young man to get up - AND HE DOES!
The closest I can come to that in modern times, is to tell you
about Dr. Ritchie, who was a young medical doctor in the military who
himself took ill. They weren't able to save him and they pronounced him
dead . In true military efficiency, TWO doctors declared him dead, but
he woke up in the morgue! However, the most interesting part of his
"down time" (or I guess it was "up" time) was that Jesus took him on a
tour of the many levels of the afterlife - including one place where scientists
were working on some the console of some very complicated machine.
Ten years later, he saw the console as the new atomic submarine was
being pictured in one of our major magazines.
This should change for us the way we look at "heaven" - not as
some place where we sit on a could and do nothing - which would be
hellish in my opinion (!, ), but instead continue exciting lives in which we
learn and grow and develop from where we left off here - figuring things
out - inventing things. It makes me sort of want to go there, but not just
yet! "I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep" as
the poet put it so nicely. And while I travel those miles, I learn from this
story THE most important kindness to practice - compassion. (There
isn't one of us who hasn't ask ourselves how much compassion we REALLY
have when we sit at an intersection, studiously avoiding looking at the
person there - usually with a sign, describing in summary fashion the reason
for his or her plight. You know his real plight may be caused by alcohol or
drug abuse, so you are disinclined to act with compassion for what may
be a ruse and a way for someone to make a very good living by playing on
the very quality the preacher is always telling you to have. Life is not
easy! Darn those preachers anyhow!)
One well known preacher from years gone by, George Buttrick
was hard at work on a sermon while aboard an aircraft. A seatmate
asked him what he was working on, and when he said he was a
Presbyterian minister working on his Sunday sermon, the man said, "I
don't get all caught up in the ins and outs of religion - the Golden
Rule - that's my religion - "Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you!"
Dr. Buttrick asked, "And what do you do?" "I work at the
university," he said, "I'm an astronomer." "Oh" said the preacher,
"I don't like to get caught up in the ins and outs of astronomy.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star" - that's my astronomy!"
All religions encourage us to be compassionate - like Jesus was in
raising the son of the widow - widows fared poorly in those times. In the
early church, special thought was given to the supporting of the widows.
Now, according to an aunt of mine - "The widows support the church."
(I guess turn about is fair play.)
In any case, compassion is paramount in the philosophies of all
religions. The philosopher, Schopenhauer called compassion "the basis
of all morality."
That's explained by Dr. Walter Brueggemann, a biblical scholar with whom
I almost studied. I missed him by a semester when he was teaching at
Eden Theological Seminary from which I got my most recent degree.
Dr. Brueggemann says that "Compassion constitutes a radical
form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken
seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural,
but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness."
He goes on to argue that we should understand the compassion
of Jesus not simply as his personal emotional reaction but as public criticism
in which he dares to act upon his concern in the face of the numbness of
the society he serves.
We are a society numbed by T.V. and obsessed with celebrity.
Have you checked lately with how many celebrities end up with extensive
coverage on CNN news - on national news?
Have you noticed how they put those stories toward the end of
their broadcast so that you have to wait until then to know what what's
happening - how someone is doing in jail - how they got out of jail - how
they got put back in jail. Celebrities deserve our compassion too, but our
major compassion and our attention needs to go towards being sure that
others are not hurt or maimed because some celebrity thinks they're above
the law and can bread any law and get away with it. Money should not be
able to buy that.
That was the widow's problem - she had no money. In addition
to losing her son - children are supposed to die after their parents, not
before. She lost her security. Her son was the only one available to take
care of her in her old age. Now he was gone. She had no retirement
fund. She had no pension plan, no social security. The loss of her son
meant a life of poverty, hunger, disease and an early grave. This was the
reason for the compassion of Jesus, and Dr. Bruggemann was right. Jesus
HAD to act because society wasn't. This hurt, he declared is not to be
accepted as normal and natural but as abnormal and unacceptable - a
failure - a numbness of society.
Society itself is in a funeral procession - its own. Let's just
hope we hear Jesus' words to "Get up!" We need to move. We need to
have A FAILED FUNERAL. Hey! He's movin'!
A new Board Member of the Counseling Ministry of South Florida
said that she is willing only to work with organizations that can be great -
which I interpreted her to mean - making a difference through their
embodied compassion.
For the church this means raising people up even as Jesus raised
up the young man - taking people from death to life.
Janet Hellner-Burris, now a minister, told of being brought from
death to life as a teenager by Mildred who she calls her "Santa Fe Mama."
She took me into her apartment when I had no place to live, simply
because I was a member of her church and a young person in need.
It didn't matter that she was a middle-aged black woman and I was
a young white hippie. She opened her home and her heart to me.
She adopted me and called me her daughter.
"A few weeks ago," Janet says, "I made a quick trip to
Sante Fe to see Mildred...who had been on my mind a lot these
past few months since her Christmas letter informed me that her
only son, Mike died of cancer. I wanted to see her and tell her "I
love you" in person.
When we visited that evening, she explained in more detail
Mike's battle with cancer. I felt her pain as tears filled my eyes. I
would have moved heaven and earth to take away that pain, but I
knew that I could not. All I could do for her - that what she need
most from me - was to sit and listen to her sorrow."
Jesus calls you today to think of the people around you in your
church in your work in your neighborhood who are bearing grief - grief
over divorce, sickness, disability, unemployment, moving a home, a child
leaving home, the end of a friendship, and perhaps, the death of a loved
one and to listen to them, support them - raise them up!
Allow yourself to be touched by the grief of others. Jesus was not
a professional mourner who was paid to cry for the widow and lead the
funeral procession. He was not a member of the crowd fulfilling a noble
custom of attending a funeral in deference to the family of the deceased -
he was just someone passing by who allowed himself to be touched to the
core of his being.
Christians - the followers of Christ are not those who believe a
certain thing or those who insist that everyone believe as they do - Christians
are those who allow themselves to be touched to the core of their being
by the little deaths that people around them experience on a daily basis.
A kindness extended at such a time can last a lifetime. A kindness at any
time can be memberable.
Let me illustrate as I like to do. Not all that long after arriving here
in the mid seventies, I took the members of our youth fellowship to Channel
10 as a learning experience. I believe it was 1979. When it came time
for Don Noe to do the weather report, we were asked to step out. After
all a group of youth like that could make unwanted noise during such a
broadcast. But Don Noe himself intervened with great kindness and
insisted that we be allowed to stay in the room - which was saying something
to the young people that they so much need to hear - that someone
believes in them - trusts them. Needless to say they were properly quiet
and respectful during the weather forecast.
To this day, I never see Don Noe giving us the weather without
recalling that kindness from decades ago. No wonder he's lasted, not
only because of his skill, and his obvious love for what he does, but
certainly because within himself he has "the basis of all morality" -
compassion.
THE FAILED FUNERAL calls us to have compassion - the
Hallmark of the character of the Christ himself. We remember HIS
compassion - and with our compassion we become memberable.
Let's get movin' and when it's time to be in our own funeral
procession, they're be all kinds of people there hoping to hear these words:
"Hey! He's movin'!"
Sermon Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)June 10, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 7:11-17
"THE FAILED FUNERAL!"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
my funeral. These are the words I would want to hear: "Hey! He's
movin'!" THAT would be THE FAILED FUNERAL which is the
topic of today's sermon based on Luke 7:11-17 where there was one -
the funeral failed miserably! Jesus comes upon a funeral procession
in which a widow's son and only provider is being taken for burial. He
tells the young man to get up - AND HE DOES!
The closest I can come to that in modern times, is to tell you
about Dr. Ritchie, who was a young medical doctor in the military who
himself took ill. They weren't able to save him and they pronounced him
dead . In true military efficiency, TWO doctors declared him dead, but
he woke up in the morgue! However, the most interesting part of his
"down time" (or I guess it was "up" time) was that Jesus took him on a
tour of the many levels of the afterlife - including one place where scientists
were working on some the console of some very complicated machine.
Ten years later, he saw the console as the new atomic submarine was
being pictured in one of our major magazines.
This should change for us the way we look at "heaven" - not as
some place where we sit on a could and do nothing - which would be
hellish in my opinion (!, ), but instead continue exciting lives in which we
learn and grow and develop from where we left off here - figuring things
out - inventing things. It makes me sort of want to go there, but not just
yet! "I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep" as
the poet put it so nicely. And while I travel those miles, I learn from this
story THE most important kindness to practice - compassion. (There
isn't one of us who hasn't ask ourselves how much compassion we REALLY
have when we sit at an intersection, studiously avoiding looking at the
person there - usually with a sign, describing in summary fashion the reason
for his or her plight. You know his real plight may be caused by alcohol or
drug abuse, so you are disinclined to act with compassion for what may
be a ruse and a way for someone to make a very good living by playing on
the very quality the preacher is always telling you to have. Life is not
easy! Darn those preachers anyhow!)
One well known preacher from years gone by, George Buttrick
was hard at work on a sermon while aboard an aircraft. A seatmate
asked him what he was working on, and when he said he was a
Presbyterian minister working on his Sunday sermon, the man said, "I
don't get all caught up in the ins and outs of religion - the Golden
Rule - that's my religion - "Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you!"
Dr. Buttrick asked, "And what do you do?" "I work at the
university," he said, "I'm an astronomer." "Oh" said the preacher,
"I don't like to get caught up in the ins and outs of astronomy.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star" - that's my astronomy!"
All religions encourage us to be compassionate - like Jesus was in
raising the son of the widow - widows fared poorly in those times. In the
early church, special thought was given to the supporting of the widows.
Now, according to an aunt of mine - "The widows support the church."
(I guess turn about is fair play.)
In any case, compassion is paramount in the philosophies of all
religions. The philosopher, Schopenhauer called compassion "the basis
of all morality."
That's explained by Dr. Walter Brueggemann, a biblical scholar with whom
I almost studied. I missed him by a semester when he was teaching at
Eden Theological Seminary from which I got my most recent degree.
Dr. Brueggemann says that "Compassion constitutes a radical
form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken
seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural,
but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness."
He goes on to argue that we should understand the compassion
of Jesus not simply as his personal emotional reaction but as public criticism
in which he dares to act upon his concern in the face of the numbness of
the society he serves.
We are a society numbed by T.V. and obsessed with celebrity.
Have you checked lately with how many celebrities end up with extensive
coverage on CNN news - on national news?
Have you noticed how they put those stories toward the end of
their broadcast so that you have to wait until then to know what what's
happening - how someone is doing in jail - how they got out of jail - how
they got put back in jail. Celebrities deserve our compassion too, but our
major compassion and our attention needs to go towards being sure that
others are not hurt or maimed because some celebrity thinks they're above
the law and can bread any law and get away with it. Money should not be
able to buy that.
That was the widow's problem - she had no money. In addition
to losing her son - children are supposed to die after their parents, not
before. She lost her security. Her son was the only one available to take
care of her in her old age. Now he was gone. She had no retirement
fund. She had no pension plan, no social security. The loss of her son
meant a life of poverty, hunger, disease and an early grave. This was the
reason for the compassion of Jesus, and Dr. Bruggemann was right. Jesus
HAD to act because society wasn't. This hurt, he declared is not to be
accepted as normal and natural but as abnormal and unacceptable - a
failure - a numbness of society.
Society itself is in a funeral procession - its own. Let's just
hope we hear Jesus' words to "Get up!" We need to move. We need to
have A FAILED FUNERAL. Hey! He's movin'!
A new Board Member of the Counseling Ministry of South Florida
said that she is willing only to work with organizations that can be great -
which I interpreted her to mean - making a difference through their
embodied compassion.
For the church this means raising people up even as Jesus raised
up the young man - taking people from death to life.
Janet Hellner-Burris, now a minister, told of being brought from
death to life as a teenager by Mildred who she calls her "Santa Fe Mama."
She took me into her apartment when I had no place to live, simply
because I was a member of her church and a young person in need.
It didn't matter that she was a middle-aged black woman and I was
a young white hippie. She opened her home and her heart to me.
She adopted me and called me her daughter.
"A few weeks ago," Janet says, "I made a quick trip to
Sante Fe to see Mildred...who had been on my mind a lot these
past few months since her Christmas letter informed me that her
only son, Mike died of cancer. I wanted to see her and tell her "I
love you" in person.
When we visited that evening, she explained in more detail
Mike's battle with cancer. I felt her pain as tears filled my eyes. I
would have moved heaven and earth to take away that pain, but I
knew that I could not. All I could do for her - that what she need
most from me - was to sit and listen to her sorrow."
Jesus calls you today to think of the people around you in your
church in your work in your neighborhood who are bearing grief - grief
over divorce, sickness, disability, unemployment, moving a home, a child
leaving home, the end of a friendship, and perhaps, the death of a loved
one and to listen to them, support them - raise them up!
Allow yourself to be touched by the grief of others. Jesus was not
a professional mourner who was paid to cry for the widow and lead the
funeral procession. He was not a member of the crowd fulfilling a noble
custom of attending a funeral in deference to the family of the deceased -
he was just someone passing by who allowed himself to be touched to the
core of his being.
Christians - the followers of Christ are not those who believe a
certain thing or those who insist that everyone believe as they do - Christians
are those who allow themselves to be touched to the core of their being
by the little deaths that people around them experience on a daily basis.
A kindness extended at such a time can last a lifetime. A kindness at any
time can be memberable.
Let me illustrate as I like to do. Not all that long after arriving here
in the mid seventies, I took the members of our youth fellowship to Channel
10 as a learning experience. I believe it was 1979. When it came time
for Don Noe to do the weather report, we were asked to step out. After
all a group of youth like that could make unwanted noise during such a
broadcast. But Don Noe himself intervened with great kindness and
insisted that we be allowed to stay in the room - which was saying something
to the young people that they so much need to hear - that someone
believes in them - trusts them. Needless to say they were properly quiet
and respectful during the weather forecast.
To this day, I never see Don Noe giving us the weather without
recalling that kindness from decades ago. No wonder he's lasted, not
only because of his skill, and his obvious love for what he does, but
certainly because within himself he has "the basis of all morality" -
compassion.
THE FAILED FUNERAL calls us to have compassion - the
Hallmark of the character of the Christ himself. We remember HIS
compassion - and with our compassion we become memberable.
Let's get movin' and when it's time to be in our own funeral
procession, they're be all kinds of people there hoping to hear these words:
"Hey! He's movin'!"
Sermon Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)June 10, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 7:11-17
"THE FAILED FUNERAL!"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
05 Pie Jesu
Musical selection of the week - Pie Jesu - ..................................................................................................
04 Deja Vu 060307
We may well have to be told something three times before we
really hear it -
There is a great deal of DEJA VU in our topic today. Each
week it seems Jesus is telling the disciples he must leave them and
that a Helper in the Person of the Holy Spirit will be there to guide
them. It is all part of a lengthy farewell discourse.
Jesus has to be lengthy and repetitive for the fact is, we don't
listen. We may well have to be told something three times before we
really hear it. That's why in putting the Sunday service together each
week, we deliberately practice reinforced learning - making sure
that, in so far as possible, the hymns, the anthem and the solos carry
the same theme as the Scripture.
Even in sermons we are taught to "tell em you're gonna tell
em" - "tell em!" and then "tell em you told 'em!"
So today, when Jesus tells us in John 16:12-15 that the Holy
Spirit will be around us to help us, we know we've heard that - it's
DEJA VU all over again!
His promise is that the Holy Spirit will give us guidance -
someone to stand beside us - a "paraclete" as the term is in Greek
- someone who will stand beside a defendant in a courtroom and
interpret the legal proceedings with which the average person is not
familiar.
The wonderful Gift that Jesus has given us in the Holy Spirit is a
guide for life's proceedings which we do not understand.
This is not only Communion Sunday but it is also Trinity Sunday
when we gratefully acknowledge that God reveals himself to us as our
Heavenly Father, through what Jesus taught us while on earth, and
through the Holy Spirit - who will share the truth of Jesus with us - AS WE
CAN ACCEPT IT.
It is fascinating that Jesus understood that in those years there
were some things that would be too much for them to understand and
accept. He said, "I have so much more to tell you, but it is too
much for you to accept now"
The people of the time of Jesus were in a world where women were the
property of their husbands and slaves the property of their masters. To
have come out as an advocate for women's rights and civil rights at that
time would have been disastrous for all concerned, so he arranged to
keep the channels of communication open through the Holy Spirit, so
that we can be taught new ways of thinking and understanding.
Understand that this will mean that there may be a discrepancy
between the Scripture of that time and the understandings of our time.
Jesus, remember, said "It HAS been said unto you......thus and
so.......but I say unto you x and y and z - something different -
more enlightened - more Godlike!"
We NEED a "paraclete" to stand beside us and guide us
"through the night with the light from above!"
First, PEACE and REMEMBRANCE are promised to us.
Jesus instituted a new ritual, before he returned to the heavenly
regions. Using the common place elements of bread and wine,
He set up a custom that would be repeated over and over again
across the centuries, even as we repeat it today and WE
REMEMBER HIM - it is as if He is here at our communion table -
which extends out - in and out among all the pews - leaving
the church and stretching around the entire world as His
people remember Him.
And we feel His Peace come upon us - not a temporary
Peace, but a permanent one that even death cannot take
from us - in fact, death takes us further into it.
You may remember that when ABC World News Tonight
anchor Bob Woodruff was reporting from Iraq, he was severely
wounded when a roadside IED drove shrapnel into his head.
"People ask me" he said, "what I remember of the explosion.
Very little...... We were coming to a stand of trees where
insurgents were waiting. They say you never hear the bomb
that hits you, and I didn't. But I recall something even more
profound. I found myself enveloped by a pure white light. It
was peaceful. My body fell back into the tank, but I floated
above it in a place were there was no pain. I don't think I even
knew I'd been hit. The white light felt so good, like soft
welcoming arms. Then it disappeared and I was awake on
the floor of the tank....but it's the memory of the white light
that's clearest. I saw what I think must've been heaven. I can
still feel its peacefulness. Because of it, I have no fear of
death now. Of course, I'd hate to leave my family, but I'm
comforted by the thought of what will come next. (Bob
Woodruff)
The Holy Spirit brings us calm in the midst of chaos, peace
and contentment no matter what we are going through. We are
promised not the contentment that comes when nothing bad is
happening to us, but the peace and contentment that comes no
matter what we're going through - even as the Apostle, Paul said:
"I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content.!" - that's the King James translation - our pew Bible has
"I have learned to be satisfied with what I have and with
whatever happens. I know how to live when I am poor and
when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of how to live
through any kind of situation - when I have enough to eat or
when I am hungry, when I have everything I need or when I
have nothing. Christ is the one who gives me the strength
I need to do whatever I must do." Philippians 1:11-14.
The Spirit teaches us a wonderful truth in that. You could
put it this way: Stop telling God how big your storm is:
instead, tell the storm how big your God is!
The Spirit's role is further described as that of a guide in
the knowledge of truth about Jesus. The Holy Spirit has
already guided you to a special understanding about Jesus.
That's why you're here. And that's why you're here on Communion
Sunday, because you want to COMMUNE with the Spirit of
Jesus as you will during the ritual that He has designed for us that
flows from Bible times to our time.
Intuitively, within yourself, with no one having to teach you,
you know that Jesus is special. Just to enter the church and see
the outstretch arms of Jesus before you is a special experience.
I remember my first time. I'm sure you remember yours.
One of our members, now gone on to heaven, who had
three muses - one in Russian, one in French and one in English
wrote these words when she entered the church and saw for the
first time - the stained glass window and the image of the Christ
with his welcoming, outstretched hands: "I think of Thy
perfection, meek in might here in the quiet church on
Lincoln Road. Through consecrated glass the sunrays
light Thy face and tunic, This is Thy abode. Thy welcome
gesture - loving, outstretched hands invite me here, and I
am fortified In love. My humbled spirit understands that I
must follow Thee, our Holy Guide."
Here in this place, instructed by the Holy Spirit, we know
that Jesus is special - not just a son of God (as we are sons and
daughters of God) but the natural Son - born of God - a Divine
Being - who in earthly form taught us more about God than
anyone ever had or ever will.
His coming to the earth resulted in His coming to us –
entering us - living in us - giving us unearthly - heavenly - PEACE
- teaching us, through the Holy Spirit is Truth for now and forever.
We remember His Kindness, His Sacrifice, His Love - we
hold Him in Kindly Remembrance at this TABLE OF
REMEMBRANCE.
A doctor's daughter named Hope, promised her elderly
father that upon his death, she would burn all the outstanding bills
of all his patients. "Then," he said, "No one will owe me
anything except, I hope, a kindly remembrance."
She did as she was asked. Weeks later, after the news
of her father's death had reached the newspaper, his ninety year
old widow received a letter: Dear Mrs. Bounton, It was a
pleasure to see your picture in our local newspaper and to
read of the doctor's and your lives over the many years you
have lived in our community. And congratulations on
reaching your ninetieth birthday.
In 1925 our daughter's foot was seriously injured.
Your husband, who was our family physician, took care of
it and it healed beautifully. At that time we were having
much financial difficulty and $7.50. of the good doctor's bill
was never paid. This has always bothered me because that
was not the way we did things. Please find a check
enclosed to cover that amount. And thank you for the
doctor's kindness and patience. May God bestow His
choicest blessings on you and your loved one."
Hope reflected that out of all the debts owed him, the caring
doctor got what he really wanted - a kindly remembrance.
As KINDLY REMEMBRANCES of all that Jesus has done
for us, - living for us - dying for us -and giving us the daily Guidance
of the holy spirit, let us come to this table as LIVING KINDLY
REMEMBRANCES
AT THIS TABLE OF REMEMBRANCE.
Communion Meditation Notes
(Not edited nor proofed)
The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community
A sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone who
believes it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)
June 3, 2007 10:30 a, m.
"Deja Vu!"
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
really hear it -
There is a great deal of DEJA VU in our topic today. Each
week it seems Jesus is telling the disciples he must leave them and
that a Helper in the Person of the Holy Spirit will be there to guide
them. It is all part of a lengthy farewell discourse.
Jesus has to be lengthy and repetitive for the fact is, we don't
listen. We may well have to be told something three times before we
really hear it. That's why in putting the Sunday service together each
week, we deliberately practice reinforced learning - making sure
that, in so far as possible, the hymns, the anthem and the solos carry
the same theme as the Scripture.
Even in sermons we are taught to "tell em you're gonna tell
em" - "tell em!" and then "tell em you told 'em!"
So today, when Jesus tells us in John 16:12-15 that the Holy
Spirit will be around us to help us, we know we've heard that - it's
DEJA VU all over again!
His promise is that the Holy Spirit will give us guidance -
someone to stand beside us - a "paraclete" as the term is in Greek
- someone who will stand beside a defendant in a courtroom and
interpret the legal proceedings with which the average person is not
familiar.
The wonderful Gift that Jesus has given us in the Holy Spirit is a
guide for life's proceedings which we do not understand.
This is not only Communion Sunday but it is also Trinity Sunday
when we gratefully acknowledge that God reveals himself to us as our
Heavenly Father, through what Jesus taught us while on earth, and
through the Holy Spirit - who will share the truth of Jesus with us - AS WE
CAN ACCEPT IT.
It is fascinating that Jesus understood that in those years there
were some things that would be too much for them to understand and
accept. He said, "I have so much more to tell you, but it is too
much for you to accept now"
The people of the time of Jesus were in a world where women were the
property of their husbands and slaves the property of their masters. To
have come out as an advocate for women's rights and civil rights at that
time would have been disastrous for all concerned, so he arranged to
keep the channels of communication open through the Holy Spirit, so
that we can be taught new ways of thinking and understanding.
Understand that this will mean that there may be a discrepancy
between the Scripture of that time and the understandings of our time.
Jesus, remember, said "It HAS been said unto you......thus and
so.......but I say unto you x and y and z - something different -
more enlightened - more Godlike!"
We NEED a "paraclete" to stand beside us and guide us
"through the night with the light from above!"
First, PEACE and REMEMBRANCE are promised to us.
Jesus instituted a new ritual, before he returned to the heavenly
regions. Using the common place elements of bread and wine,
He set up a custom that would be repeated over and over again
across the centuries, even as we repeat it today and WE
REMEMBER HIM - it is as if He is here at our communion table -
which extends out - in and out among all the pews - leaving
the church and stretching around the entire world as His
people remember Him.
And we feel His Peace come upon us - not a temporary
Peace, but a permanent one that even death cannot take
from us - in fact, death takes us further into it.
You may remember that when ABC World News Tonight
anchor Bob Woodruff was reporting from Iraq, he was severely
wounded when a roadside IED drove shrapnel into his head.
"People ask me" he said, "what I remember of the explosion.
Very little...... We were coming to a stand of trees where
insurgents were waiting. They say you never hear the bomb
that hits you, and I didn't. But I recall something even more
profound. I found myself enveloped by a pure white light. It
was peaceful. My body fell back into the tank, but I floated
above it in a place were there was no pain. I don't think I even
knew I'd been hit. The white light felt so good, like soft
welcoming arms. Then it disappeared and I was awake on
the floor of the tank....but it's the memory of the white light
that's clearest. I saw what I think must've been heaven. I can
still feel its peacefulness. Because of it, I have no fear of
death now. Of course, I'd hate to leave my family, but I'm
comforted by the thought of what will come next. (Bob
Woodruff)
The Holy Spirit brings us calm in the midst of chaos, peace
and contentment no matter what we are going through. We are
promised not the contentment that comes when nothing bad is
happening to us, but the peace and contentment that comes no
matter what we're going through - even as the Apostle, Paul said:
"I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content.!" - that's the King James translation - our pew Bible has
"I have learned to be satisfied with what I have and with
whatever happens. I know how to live when I am poor and
when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of how to live
through any kind of situation - when I have enough to eat or
when I am hungry, when I have everything I need or when I
have nothing. Christ is the one who gives me the strength
I need to do whatever I must do." Philippians 1:11-14.
The Spirit teaches us a wonderful truth in that. You could
put it this way: Stop telling God how big your storm is:
instead, tell the storm how big your God is!
The Spirit's role is further described as that of a guide in
the knowledge of truth about Jesus. The Holy Spirit has
already guided you to a special understanding about Jesus.
That's why you're here. And that's why you're here on Communion
Sunday, because you want to COMMUNE with the Spirit of
Jesus as you will during the ritual that He has designed for us that
flows from Bible times to our time.
Intuitively, within yourself, with no one having to teach you,
you know that Jesus is special. Just to enter the church and see
the outstretch arms of Jesus before you is a special experience.
I remember my first time. I'm sure you remember yours.
One of our members, now gone on to heaven, who had
three muses - one in Russian, one in French and one in English
wrote these words when she entered the church and saw for the
first time - the stained glass window and the image of the Christ
with his welcoming, outstretched hands: "I think of Thy
perfection, meek in might here in the quiet church on
Lincoln Road. Through consecrated glass the sunrays
light Thy face and tunic, This is Thy abode. Thy welcome
gesture - loving, outstretched hands invite me here, and I
am fortified In love. My humbled spirit understands that I
must follow Thee, our Holy Guide."
Here in this place, instructed by the Holy Spirit, we know
that Jesus is special - not just a son of God (as we are sons and
daughters of God) but the natural Son - born of God - a Divine
Being - who in earthly form taught us more about God than
anyone ever had or ever will.
His coming to the earth resulted in His coming to us –
entering us - living in us - giving us unearthly - heavenly - PEACE
- teaching us, through the Holy Spirit is Truth for now and forever.
We remember His Kindness, His Sacrifice, His Love - we
hold Him in Kindly Remembrance at this TABLE OF
REMEMBRANCE.
A doctor's daughter named Hope, promised her elderly
father that upon his death, she would burn all the outstanding bills
of all his patients. "Then," he said, "No one will owe me
anything except, I hope, a kindly remembrance."
She did as she was asked. Weeks later, after the news
of her father's death had reached the newspaper, his ninety year
old widow received a letter: Dear Mrs. Bounton, It was a
pleasure to see your picture in our local newspaper and to
read of the doctor's and your lives over the many years you
have lived in our community. And congratulations on
reaching your ninetieth birthday.
In 1925 our daughter's foot was seriously injured.
Your husband, who was our family physician, took care of
it and it healed beautifully. At that time we were having
much financial difficulty and $7.50. of the good doctor's bill
was never paid. This has always bothered me because that
was not the way we did things. Please find a check
enclosed to cover that amount. And thank you for the
doctor's kindness and patience. May God bestow His
choicest blessings on you and your loved one."
Hope reflected that out of all the debts owed him, the caring
doctor got what he really wanted - a kindly remembrance.
As KINDLY REMEMBRANCES of all that Jesus has done
for us, - living for us - dying for us -and giving us the daily Guidance
of the holy spirit, let us come to this table as LIVING KINDLY
REMEMBRANCES
AT THIS TABLE OF REMEMBRANCE.
Communion Meditation Notes
(Not edited nor proofed)
The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community
A sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone who
believes it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)
June 3, 2007 10:30 a, m.
"Deja Vu!"
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
03 Guess Who I Saw 052707
Pentecost Sunday - Did you ever have a word pop out at you from a sentence that
causes you to ask - "What does that word REALLY mean?" I had
that happen as I was preparing for this Pentecost sermon - commemorating
the day when the Holy Spirit came in a very dramatic way upon some
seventy disciples who were gathered together in one place - tongues of
fire appeared over their heads - a mighty wind was heard - more
importantly they knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was Present.
The Holy Spirit settled around their shoulders like a mantle that would
encase them forever.
In my preparation, I was, of course caught up in the Gospel of
John who has the highest Christology of any of the Gospels, that is, he
puts Jesus on a higher level - knowing him as God's son - not as you and
I are sons and daughters of God, but born of God - His Natural Son - we
may be a lot like him but not the same - even as our loved ones who pass
on before us watch over us in angelic way but are not angels per se.
There are angels and archangels - all kinds of beings - Jesus is a special
being - He is a Divine Being - "the only begotten son of God" - it was the
word, "begotten" that intrigued me - I had never really thought about it.
The dictionary didn't even have it, so I googled it. (I google at
least once each day - it's SO much fun!) It comes from the Greek
menogenes a compound word - mono - meaning only and genesis
meaning birth. Jesus is the only Son of God by nature. He is one of a
kind.
Jesus, being of the same essential nature as God could reveal
God as non other could do.
According to John, Jesus was the Expression of God - the logos
- the WORD of God. Remember how he said, "In the beginning was
the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was
God and without Him was not anything made that was made.
We have such a vested interest in this because it means that when
we see Jesus, we wee God! If I show you Jesus today, you can go out
from this place and say, GUESS WHO I SAW? And when they ask,
you can say, "I saw God."
Philip asked for clarity as to who Jesus was and he got it! That
reminds me of the homeowner who wrote to Acme Plumbing Company
inquiring about the use of hydrochloric acid in cleaning out pipes in his
house. The plumbing company replied, "Dear Sir: After due
consideration, we are pleased to advise you that the use of this
substance particularly over a sustained period of time could be
extremely disastrous to the integrity of your plumbing system!"
The homeowner wrote back: "Thank you for your kind reply.
I am pleased to hear that I may use hydrochloric acid without bad
effect." The plumbing company replied, "Dear Sir: Please allow us
to explain that we are concerned about what the use of the proposed
substance upon your plumbing system could be, and indeed may
have already been, detrimental to the efficient functioning of this
system. Sincerely, Acme Plumbing."
The homeowner replied, "Dear Acme Plumbing: Like I say,
thank you for your reply. I've poured a bottle of this stuff down the
drain and it works great! Sincerely......"
Finally the company wrote in capital letters, "DON'T USE
HYDROCHLORIC ACID. BURNS THE HELL OUT OF THE
PIPES!
(Clarity. At last we got some clarity - about pipes and about the
nature of Jesus.)
Of course, it is not enough for us to academically know the true
nature of Jesus. We need to get to know him. There is nothing like living
with someone to really get to know them. I wish that young couples had
what they had in Bible times - a society-blessed time in which they could
live together before the final step of marriage. It was called betrothal in
which each of them and their families saw the other as their "intended."
It was more than engagement and less than marriage. It was such a serious
step that if you decided not to go ahead with it you had to get a to break the
betrothal - you had to divorce the other person. - even as Joseph
considered divorcing Mary quietly and privately when he learned she was
expecting a child, not his. Only an angel could have convinced him
otherwise - and so one did!
(There are lots of interesting matings in the Bible as a matter of
fact. In Genesis it is reported that the Sons of Gods dwelt with the
daughters of men - and that from these unions the nephilim - the men of
great renown were born. That's in the 6th chapter of Genesis: "And it
came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the
daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of
all which they chose......There were giants in the earth in those
days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became
mighty men which were of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6: 1-2, 4)
The Bible is a fascinating book, and the New Testament that
contains the life and teachings of Jesus is invaluable in making it possible
for you to live with Jesus.
Like the followers of Jesus, you can get "all fired up" on this day
of Pentecost - vowing to worship better and more often - learning to lean
upon the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say in witnessing about your faith
to others - making praying the first thing you do in the morning and the last
thing you do at night - and "praying without ceasing in between." - looking
to see what those around you need help with - and helping without being
asked - be creative and intuitive in your caring and your sharing - in short,
to see your main task in life as doing everything possible live in
Jesus and to let Jesus live within you - the WORD, the logos, the
Expression of God, THE SON OF GOD.
I open my mouth to speak
And the word is there
Formed by the lips, the tongue
The organ of voice. Formed by
The brain, transmitting the word by breath.
I open my mouth to speak
And the word is there
Traveling between us - caught
By the organ of hearing, the ear,
Transmitting the thought to the brain
Through the word.
Just so do we communicate -
You and I: the thought
From one mind leaping to another,
Given shape and form and substance,
So that we know and are known through the word.
But let me speak to my very small son
And the words mean nothing,
For he does not know my language.
And so I must show him.
"This is your foot"
I say, "And it is meant for walking."
I help him up: "Here is the way to walk!"
And one day "walking" shapes in his brain with the word.
God had something to say to Man,
But the words meant nothing,
For we did not know his language
And so we were shown: "Behold the Man,"
He said, "this is the image, the thought
In my mind - Man as I mean him, loving and serving.
I have put Him in flesh. Now the Word
Has shape and form and substance
To travel between us. Let Him show forth love
Till one day "loving" shapes in your brain with THE WORD.
(The Word, For Heaven's Sake)
The WORD of God, the CHRIST OF GOD - the ANOINTED
ONE is with us always - living, working, calling, healing, protecting -
HE'S NOT A PAST-TENSE PERSON BUT A PRESENT PRESENCE!
A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be
an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his
outspoken Christian friend.
The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend's
witnessing words, even though he heard them often. One night he went to
the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as
the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of
light to practice by.
The young man climbed up to the highest diving board, turn his
back to the pool at the end of the diving board and prepared to dive. He
extended his arms out, and in the shadowy light conditions, saw the cross
that his extended arms formed as he saw his shadow on the wall. It
brought back to him his friend's words about Jesus. He felt as if Jesus
were speaking to him, and he was so overcome that he knelt down, right
there on the diving board and asked the living Jesus to come into his life.
As he stood to go back to the dive, a maintenance man came in
and turned on the lights - revealing that the pool had been drained. Had
he dived, had he not seen the cross - had he not responded to that feeling
within Himself that Jesus was speaking to him, his life would have been
different - it would have ended that very night. Instead, his new life as a
follower of THE WORD had begun. Now he had a story to tell and it
began with the words: GUESS WHO I SAW?
Sermon Notes
(Not edited nor proofed)
The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community Church
A sermon is a simple truth told by someone who
believes it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)
May 27, 2007 10:30 a, m. John 14:8-27
PENTECOST SUNDAY
"GUESS WHO I SAW!"
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
causes you to ask - "What does that word REALLY mean?" I had
that happen as I was preparing for this Pentecost sermon - commemorating
the day when the Holy Spirit came in a very dramatic way upon some
seventy disciples who were gathered together in one place - tongues of
fire appeared over their heads - a mighty wind was heard - more
importantly they knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was Present.
The Holy Spirit settled around their shoulders like a mantle that would
encase them forever.
In my preparation, I was, of course caught up in the Gospel of
John who has the highest Christology of any of the Gospels, that is, he
puts Jesus on a higher level - knowing him as God's son - not as you and
I are sons and daughters of God, but born of God - His Natural Son - we
may be a lot like him but not the same - even as our loved ones who pass
on before us watch over us in angelic way but are not angels per se.
There are angels and archangels - all kinds of beings - Jesus is a special
being - He is a Divine Being - "the only begotten son of God" - it was the
word, "begotten" that intrigued me - I had never really thought about it.
The dictionary didn't even have it, so I googled it. (I google at
least once each day - it's SO much fun!) It comes from the Greek
menogenes a compound word - mono - meaning only and genesis
meaning birth. Jesus is the only Son of God by nature. He is one of a
kind.
Jesus, being of the same essential nature as God could reveal
God as non other could do.
According to John, Jesus was the Expression of God - the logos
- the WORD of God. Remember how he said, "In the beginning was
the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was
God and without Him was not anything made that was made.
We have such a vested interest in this because it means that when
we see Jesus, we wee God! If I show you Jesus today, you can go out
from this place and say, GUESS WHO I SAW? And when they ask,
you can say, "I saw God."
Philip asked for clarity as to who Jesus was and he got it! That
reminds me of the homeowner who wrote to Acme Plumbing Company
inquiring about the use of hydrochloric acid in cleaning out pipes in his
house. The plumbing company replied, "Dear Sir: After due
consideration, we are pleased to advise you that the use of this
substance particularly over a sustained period of time could be
extremely disastrous to the integrity of your plumbing system!"
The homeowner wrote back: "Thank you for your kind reply.
I am pleased to hear that I may use hydrochloric acid without bad
effect." The plumbing company replied, "Dear Sir: Please allow us
to explain that we are concerned about what the use of the proposed
substance upon your plumbing system could be, and indeed may
have already been, detrimental to the efficient functioning of this
system. Sincerely, Acme Plumbing."
The homeowner replied, "Dear Acme Plumbing: Like I say,
thank you for your reply. I've poured a bottle of this stuff down the
drain and it works great! Sincerely......"
Finally the company wrote in capital letters, "DON'T USE
HYDROCHLORIC ACID. BURNS THE HELL OUT OF THE
PIPES!
(Clarity. At last we got some clarity - about pipes and about the
nature of Jesus.)
Of course, it is not enough for us to academically know the true
nature of Jesus. We need to get to know him. There is nothing like living
with someone to really get to know them. I wish that young couples had
what they had in Bible times - a society-blessed time in which they could
live together before the final step of marriage. It was called betrothal in
which each of them and their families saw the other as their "intended."
It was more than engagement and less than marriage. It was such a serious
step that if you decided not to go ahead with it you had to get a to break the
betrothal - you had to divorce the other person. - even as Joseph
considered divorcing Mary quietly and privately when he learned she was
expecting a child, not his. Only an angel could have convinced him
otherwise - and so one did!
(There are lots of interesting matings in the Bible as a matter of
fact. In Genesis it is reported that the Sons of Gods dwelt with the
daughters of men - and that from these unions the nephilim - the men of
great renown were born. That's in the 6th chapter of Genesis: "And it
came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the
daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of
all which they chose......There were giants in the earth in those
days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became
mighty men which were of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6: 1-2, 4)
The Bible is a fascinating book, and the New Testament that
contains the life and teachings of Jesus is invaluable in making it possible
for you to live with Jesus.
Like the followers of Jesus, you can get "all fired up" on this day
of Pentecost - vowing to worship better and more often - learning to lean
upon the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say in witnessing about your faith
to others - making praying the first thing you do in the morning and the last
thing you do at night - and "praying without ceasing in between." - looking
to see what those around you need help with - and helping without being
asked - be creative and intuitive in your caring and your sharing - in short,
to see your main task in life as doing everything possible live in
Jesus and to let Jesus live within you - the WORD, the logos, the
Expression of God, THE SON OF GOD.
I open my mouth to speak
And the word is there
Formed by the lips, the tongue
The organ of voice. Formed by
The brain, transmitting the word by breath.
I open my mouth to speak
And the word is there
Traveling between us - caught
By the organ of hearing, the ear,
Transmitting the thought to the brain
Through the word.
Just so do we communicate -
You and I: the thought
From one mind leaping to another,
Given shape and form and substance,
So that we know and are known through the word.
But let me speak to my very small son
And the words mean nothing,
For he does not know my language.
And so I must show him.
"This is your foot"
I say, "And it is meant for walking."
I help him up: "Here is the way to walk!"
And one day "walking" shapes in his brain with the word.
God had something to say to Man,
But the words meant nothing,
For we did not know his language
And so we were shown: "Behold the Man,"
He said, "this is the image, the thought
In my mind - Man as I mean him, loving and serving.
I have put Him in flesh. Now the Word
Has shape and form and substance
To travel between us. Let Him show forth love
Till one day "loving" shapes in your brain with THE WORD.
(The Word, For Heaven's Sake)
The WORD of God, the CHRIST OF GOD - the ANOINTED
ONE is with us always - living, working, calling, healing, protecting -
HE'S NOT A PAST-TENSE PERSON BUT A PRESENT PRESENCE!
A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be
an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his
outspoken Christian friend.
The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend's
witnessing words, even though he heard them often. One night he went to
the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as
the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of
light to practice by.
The young man climbed up to the highest diving board, turn his
back to the pool at the end of the diving board and prepared to dive. He
extended his arms out, and in the shadowy light conditions, saw the cross
that his extended arms formed as he saw his shadow on the wall. It
brought back to him his friend's words about Jesus. He felt as if Jesus
were speaking to him, and he was so overcome that he knelt down, right
there on the diving board and asked the living Jesus to come into his life.
As he stood to go back to the dive, a maintenance man came in
and turned on the lights - revealing that the pool had been drained. Had
he dived, had he not seen the cross - had he not responded to that feeling
within Himself that Jesus was speaking to him, his life would have been
different - it would have ended that very night. Instead, his new life as a
follower of THE WORD had begun. Now he had a story to tell and it
began with the words: GUESS WHO I SAW?
Sermon Notes
(Not edited nor proofed)
The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community Church
A sermon is a simple truth told by someone who
believes it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)
May 27, 2007 10:30 a, m. John 14:8-27
PENTECOST SUNDAY
"GUESS WHO I SAW!"
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
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