When we become ignited, fired up, disruptive and disrupted,a purifying and warming blaze, it is a glorious sight to behold.
"Going Where You've Never Been Before!"
Jesus said that there was a kind of baptism that he must suffer
through. It was a fiery baptism in which he must endure the burning pain
of crucifixion - its psychological pain of betrayal and the humiliation of
being lifted up before all as a hated criminal when his only crime was to
love and serve. The powers of evil had done their Worst to destroy the
Best.
The blazing heat and fire of love displayed on that cross set against
the blackening sky made people choose. Imperial Rome thought they
had put an end to this meddlesome believer in peace and love. But now,
people had to choose. Which would last? The Power of Rome or the
Power of this Simple Preacher?
Rome fell! Jesus Rose! Jesus was a burning example of the
conquering power of Love - conquered it seemed on the day of the
crucifixion, but vanquished in the days and decades that followed - as
people made their decision between Caesar and God. Jesus said,
Render to Caesar that things that are Caesar's - and to God the
things that are Gods.
They rendered themselves! To render something is to give it
back - they gave themselves back to God from whom they had come -
because they responded to the seed of Hope that God had planted in
them.
There is nothing so bad that God cannot make it good. Even
Jesus being submitted to the fiery baptism of death by crucifixion could be
used by God for good. As the Seven Steeples solos said it so well:
Last night as the blood-red sun went down,
I saw the flames consume my town;
And seven steeples in silhouette
Were set on fire as the red sun set.
I seemed to see the church spires crash,
Amid a shower of spark and ash,
As death stole in and the dark came down
Upon my shattered and burned out town.
And I stood in the cold and dark alone,
Fear in the flesh, dread in the bone,
For I had seen as the red sun bled
How men must die when faith is dead;
And their smoking cities blacken the sky
As they crawl in the clefts of rocks to di.
Then out of the desperate desolate dark,
A flame leaped up from a flickering spark -
And a man burned there like a burning spire
With truth shut up in his bones like fire!
And the wounded crept from rubble and stone,
To bind their wounds by the light he shone;
And I saw how God begins again
To plant himself in the hearts of men.
This is what Jesus mean when he said, "I came to bring fire to
the world."
He wants our hearts to burn with the fire of Love.
He wants our spirits to glow with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
He wants our lives to demonstrate for all to see, the love of God,
the Heavenly Father.
As He said, "I wish it were already burning."
The fire of faith is still burning in your heart and mine. Jesus is King of
Kings. Rome has no kings - no Herods, no Caesars. The true King has
triumphed - or has he!
Are his representatives - that's you - that's me - fiery, alive,
dynamic? Scintillating, intriguing, charismatic? Not according to the
poet, Swinburne: "Thou hast conquered, O Pale Galilean; the world
has grown grey from thy breath."
Perhaps we have not done the King of Kings justice. Is God
planting himself in the heart of man through us - or not?
How alive are we? Not very according to comedian Eddie
Izzard. I would never have seen him had I not been nice to the younger
generation to whom I mistakenly gave control of the T.V. Friday evening.
Through the ease of Netflix (I hope I have that right) he produced this guy
whose makeup was incredibly good, though I wouldn't have said the same
for his get-up! But he was funny. And when he started in on the church,
he had the paleness down pat. He imitated Christians singing hymns - It
was "O God Our Help In Ages Past" as I recall - sung mournfully slowly
as were his "Alleluias" which bore not one molecule of joy or enthusiasm.
I was so grateful that the hymns in our church move right along at a lively
pace and that our solos have included subjects as far out as "The Dieter's
Prayer."
You see, for us to accomplish our Divine purpose we must go out
of our way to be human - not to profess to be better than we are - but to
be ourselves - warts and all.
So, Number One, we must have a fiery aliveness for God.
Number Two: we must take seriously what is seriously called
The priesthood of all believers.
In other words, my task is your task. My task as a preacher,
according to my good friend, author John Killinger, is "to find the switches
that turn on the best inside of us." That's what I attempt to do in the
sermon each week.....and that's what I would like to challenge you to do
this week - not in a sermon (People hate sermons outside a church -
they're bad enough IN church!) - no not in a sermon, but in any way you
can, see if you can find the switch that turns on the best inside of someone.
And please get back to me with any astounding results.
Also, If you're desperate for a subject, you could begin with
yourself! That will count as well!
For you know that you are the one who decides to or decides
not to turn on the best that is inside of you. As I say so often
YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR EMOTIONS. You can be
other directed or inner directed - it's up to you.
You can turn your power over to someone else and let them
ruin your day, or week or Life(!) or you can retain your power and
determine for yourself what kind of day you are going to have.
If you like retaining control, you might not like the new "destination
elevators" that are being used in buildings where they are banks and banks
of elevators. As you arrive you go to a little computer kiosk where you
press the floor you want to go to and the computer tells you which of the
many elevators is going to get you there first. You go to that elevator and
get on it. You will see that there are no buttons in the elevator itself which
means no "kid" can push them all and severely inconvenience you. Having
gone to the kiosk, you can rest assured that you will arrive at your destination
20 - 30 % faster.
In today's Scripture (Luke 12:49-56), Jesus is saying, I'm going
to take you places you've never been before and get you there faster!
All of us are called to be faster pastors! - Moving quickly! Getting
things done!
Jesus said, "Follow me!" and a few did. Twelve at first, then
dozens, then a multitude, despite the risk. He said, "Stick your hand in
the fire and see what happens." And thus was born an incendiary
fellowship spreading like wildfire over the whole world. Jesus said, "I
came to bring fire to the world. I wish it were already burning!"
The Rev. William Willimon, preacher and teacher of preachers
tells of going to Leningrad some years ago during the time of the Soviet
Union. He consulted a map to find out where he was, but he couldn't
make any sense of it. From where he stood, he could see several enormous
churches, yet there was no trace of them on his map. When finally
someone came to his aid, the person explained, "We don't put churches
on our maps!" But there WAS one on the map clearly shown. "No"
his guide said, "that is a museum, not what we call a living church -
it's only the living churches that we don't show!" A living church is
a church where the people are afire with the Spirit of God - real people -
not hypocrites that pretend to be better or more than they are.
We should be on fire enough so that other people can be caught
up and caught on fire as well - not by what we say but by what we are and
by what we do.
Church historian, Martin Marty tells of one of his seminary
professors, Richard Caemmerer who had a tremendous impact on
generations of students, especially on Martin Marty. At his memorial
service, someone said of him,. "We did not climb the stairs to
Caemmerer's office to hear the answer, but to see it."
Will Willemon confesses: " I always feel a dread when we
come to this particular Sunday of the year, this text from Luke, and
this Jesus who runs counter to so much that we've tried to make
him. And in so much of my ministry, in my own discipleship, I have
represented the cement of social conformity, the pleasant, soothing
friend named Jesus. But as Jesus begins to smolder, flicker into
a white-hot flame, well, I get nervous!"
But the fact is that when our church becomes the safe place of
middle class stability and things cool off, cooled down, we have ceased to
be the incendiary fellowship Jesus called us to be - incited us to be! We
should get nervous IF and WHEN that happens.
When we become ignited, fired up, disruptive and disrupted,
a purifying and warming blaze, it is a glorious sight to behold. Jesus
really did come to cast fire on the earth, so that you can be "GOING
WHERE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN!"
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
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)August 19, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 12:49-56
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
18 Angie's Letter
Letter from Miami Beach Community Church member Commander Angie Keith of the U.S. Navy, stationed in Afghanistan.
17 Be Careful What You Get
"Be Careful What You Get!"
Strange that in the last two weeks, just before we tackle today's
Scripture together, the stock market should take the biggest tumble in a
very long time - the text: "Sell the things you have and give that
money to those who need it. This is the only way that you can keep
your riches from being lost."
And in addition to giving thought to what we may lose, we must
also have some concern about what we gain - what we get.. That's why
the title of this sermon is BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET!
Let me illustrate as is my custom. I'll never forget going to pick
out my new puppy after my beloved Rocky died. The new puppy, a toy
poodle was a gift even though she cost $300 a pound. I had done my
homework and this puppy store had another Rocky - an apricot , male
poodle. I found him immediately or rather, he found me - he reached his
little snout through the bars of the cage and grabbed my shirt. I opened
the cage and took him out and took him to the cashier. "I am so happy
you had this apricot male" I said to the cashier. "We do have one, the
cashier said, but that little bundle of love you have in your arms is a
female!" But the little puppy had picked me and she was mine. We
had already bonded. Nevertheless, she was trembling, so when we got to
the car, I opened my shirt and put her next to my heart and held her there,
hoping that its steady rhythm would soothe her. It did, but have you have
tried to drive a stick shift car with one hand? It wasn't easy, but I did it.
And it was worth it. Princess has been close to my heart ever since!
And she was free!
Now let's say that YOU are given a cuddly new puppy, with a
slurpy tongue and a happy gleam in his eye. He's free, right? No. You
know better - but how much better do you know? Over the lifetime of
the dog, how much will you spend on him? - food, tags, shots, vet visits,
boarding etc - $5000? $10,000, $15,000? Well that's a little over the
average - $14,000 is what your new best friend will cost you.
My "free" puppy is worth a lot more than whatever she costs me
over the years. She is unique. When she wants a treat, hops up on the
piano bench and plays a tune on the grand piano. Little dog. Big piano. It
is really a sight - and a sound. If the performance is a little pallid, I say,
"Play some more!" Then she really hits the ivories. And she really
moves her butt - literally! Then I say, "That was good!" at which time
I get up and give her a treat. I think I've already spent a good share of her
lifetime cost on treats!
So for the really great things we are given, we should not count
the cost - only the glory and wonder of what we have been given. When
God gives a child to a couple, it is an unspeakably wonderful gift. But if
they were to count the cost ahead, they might be tempted not to accept
the gift. Fortunately they never do count the cost. (I had to buy some
diapers awhile ago to assist a needy family. I was aghast at how much
they cost - and formula the same! Then there are the sleepless nights to
count and the worrisome days, braces for the teeth, clothes and school
supplies, college tuition, repairs to the fenders of the family car, heartaches
and disappointments, all of which disappear with one crooked smile from
the baby - one "mama" or one "dada." We are wonderfully weird
people. God has made us so. God loves us!
This, of course, is the God who gives us the Kingdom of Heaven.
Maybe if we counted the cost, we would never accept the gift, but we
don't do that. Once in the Kingdom we have some moments that take our
breath away, and the cost becomes negligible.
Daily we rejoice in breath-taking moments. For life in the
Kingdom of God is measured by those, not by the number of breaths we
take.
Our task, is to live in God's Kingdom which is around us and
within us rather than in the secular world that promises everything and
gives very little. Do we focus on our ways or God's ways. Is it "I did it
MY way" or is it "I did it GOD'S way?
Our ways - which is very "get" centered have brought us to a
paradoxical reality: We get more but enjoy less. We spend more, but
have less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences
but less time. We have more degrees but less common sense, more
knowledge but less good judgment, more experts but fewer solutions.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too much, and
laugh too little, rest too little. We watch TV to often and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We
talk too much, listen too seldom, love too seldom and hate too often.
We've gone to the moon, but have trouble crossing the street to
meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We've cleaned the air
(a little) and polluted the soul - (a lot!).
We learned to rush - oh how we've learned to rush, but not to
wait.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character. These are the days of two incomes and one divorce, fancier
houses and broken homes. Somewhere we got off the track.
The good old fashioned values of our faith are foreign to us, strange
to us - like they're from another world - they are from God's world, but to
have those values we have to pay the price - absorb the cost of the discipline
and perseverance necessary to have them and keep them. Only entering
into God's world will deliver them to you.
You are here specifically because you WANT to get into God's
world - and each week you catch a thought, snare a concept, digest a
theory, nourish a hope that keeps you on the Pilgrim's Way.
The Pilgrim's Way is Christ's Way - you are Christ's people -
People of The Way as the early Christians were called. As such you will
look different, sound different and be different.
You will be one who has the courage to believe and practice the
belief that the teachings of Christ are THE most practical teachings that
the world has ever known that the road to true fulfillment is to keep true to
those teachings.
Today we are to learn: Give up materialistic ways, share your
wealth and be constantly on guard for the return of Christ.
Christ may well return in a cataclysmic event in the future, but it is
far more important for US to focus on the fact that he promised to come
to us - to be with us whenever we call upon him. Sometimes he comes
unannounced and we see Him as I did last Saturday at our Luncheon for
the Homeless. Yes, I got a glimpse of him. About 150 homeless were fed
and clothed and given toiletries and medications - and haircuts. Picture
this all taking place in our parking plaza - tables set for 150, tables set to
display clothes - and volunteers - almost as many as the number of
homeless - all milling about together. What caught my eye was the
volunteers - persons just like yourselves - giving "haircuts" - eight stations
of non-barbers barbering by giving their customers a choice of clipper
settings - 1/4 inch, 1/2 whatever - and then proceeding to give them
some relief from the long strands of hair that are so excruciating to have in
such hot weather. I know that some people walking by would say, "I
wouldn't do that for a million dollars." The self styled barbers would
each reply, "Neither would I." I could see Jesus there in that
tableau. I knew that God was blessing those "barbers" even as they
worked. It took my breath away. Again, Life is not measured by the
number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath
away. Those young people, mostly FIU University Nursing students,
had a variety of things they could have been doing, they chose to be here
where God had need of them. They did it to serve the purposes of God's
Kingdom, following the commands of Jesus to meet the needs of "the
least of these." They were laying up treasures in heaven by being charitable
with the poor. The next opportunity for you, other than every day
opportunities eis October 6th when we have another luncheon for the
Homeles and after that our Halloween Party for the children of the area
on the evening of October 31st.
Noted Christian writer, C.S. Lewis said "Charity - giving to
the poor - is an essential part of Christian morality...I do not believe
one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our
expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the
standard common among those with the same income as our own,
we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all
pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought
to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our
charitable expenditure excludes them.
The volunteers who spent a charitable Saturday morning with the
homeless left with a special knowledge - "This is what I am here for."
"This is what life is all about" They made a connection - a Love connection
- Jesus was here - they saw Him. God was here - they felt Him.
We have the power to see God every day - to enter the Kingdom
on a regular basis - not only by what you do, but by what we don't do.
There are some things you learn as you get older and wiser.
Paramount among them is - Don't give anybody a piece of your mind!
We, as persons of God's Kingdom, don't have that privilege. We're not
given it, because doing so creates conflict not comfort. People who lash
out at you do so because they're hurting. Your job is to find and help the
hurt. Your job is not to give someone a piece of your mind, but rather,
Your job is to give others a piece of your heart. I close with this
illustration.
Mike Buetelle, an eighth grader wanted to give more than a piece
of his mind to the eighth grade bully who had punched him in the stomach.
He planned to ambush him by the bike racks the next day. But he made
the big mistake of telling his grandmother what he was going to do. And
though it took her an hour to say it, this is what she said. "Good deeds
bring about good results. Bad deeds bring about bad results.
So, he followed her advice. He didn't do anything to the bully.
Several decades later, he picked up his grandmother at the assisted living
facility where she was living. "We drove to a nearby simple little
family-owned restaurant. I ordered pot roast for Nana and a
hamburger for myself. The good arrived and as I dug in, I noticed
that Nana wasn't eating. She was just staring at the food on her
plate. Moving my plate aside, I took Nana's plate, placed it in
front of me, and cut her meat into small pieces. I then placed the
plate back in front of her. As she very weakly, and with great
difficulty, forked the meat into her mouth, I was struck with a
memory that brought instant tears to my eyes. Forty years
previously, as a little boy sitting at the table, Nana had always
taken the meat on my plate and cut it into small pieces so I could
eat it.
It had taken forty years, but the good deed had been repaid.
Nana was right. We reap exactly what we sow. Every good deed
you do will someday come back to you.
Mike learned the lesson God wants us to learn today - to live by
God's principles because they really work.
Oh, Mike wanted you to know what happened to the eighth grade
bully. He ran into the ninth grade bully. God's mills of justice don't
always grind so slowly it seems.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET - it may indeed be costly,
but it also may be the best thing that every happened to you.
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)August 12, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 12:32-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
Strange that in the last two weeks, just before we tackle today's
Scripture together, the stock market should take the biggest tumble in a
very long time - the text: "Sell the things you have and give that
money to those who need it. This is the only way that you can keep
your riches from being lost."
And in addition to giving thought to what we may lose, we must
also have some concern about what we gain - what we get.. That's why
the title of this sermon is BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET!
Let me illustrate as is my custom. I'll never forget going to pick
out my new puppy after my beloved Rocky died. The new puppy, a toy
poodle was a gift even though she cost $300 a pound. I had done my
homework and this puppy store had another Rocky - an apricot , male
poodle. I found him immediately or rather, he found me - he reached his
little snout through the bars of the cage and grabbed my shirt. I opened
the cage and took him out and took him to the cashier. "I am so happy
you had this apricot male" I said to the cashier. "We do have one, the
cashier said, but that little bundle of love you have in your arms is a
female!" But the little puppy had picked me and she was mine. We
had already bonded. Nevertheless, she was trembling, so when we got to
the car, I opened my shirt and put her next to my heart and held her there,
hoping that its steady rhythm would soothe her. It did, but have you have
tried to drive a stick shift car with one hand? It wasn't easy, but I did it.
And it was worth it. Princess has been close to my heart ever since!
And she was free!
Now let's say that YOU are given a cuddly new puppy, with a
slurpy tongue and a happy gleam in his eye. He's free, right? No. You
know better - but how much better do you know? Over the lifetime of
the dog, how much will you spend on him? - food, tags, shots, vet visits,
boarding etc - $5000? $10,000, $15,000? Well that's a little over the
average - $14,000 is what your new best friend will cost you.
My "free" puppy is worth a lot more than whatever she costs me
over the years. She is unique. When she wants a treat, hops up on the
piano bench and plays a tune on the grand piano. Little dog. Big piano. It
is really a sight - and a sound. If the performance is a little pallid, I say,
"Play some more!" Then she really hits the ivories. And she really
moves her butt - literally! Then I say, "That was good!" at which time
I get up and give her a treat. I think I've already spent a good share of her
lifetime cost on treats!
So for the really great things we are given, we should not count
the cost - only the glory and wonder of what we have been given. When
God gives a child to a couple, it is an unspeakably wonderful gift. But if
they were to count the cost ahead, they might be tempted not to accept
the gift. Fortunately they never do count the cost. (I had to buy some
diapers awhile ago to assist a needy family. I was aghast at how much
they cost - and formula the same! Then there are the sleepless nights to
count and the worrisome days, braces for the teeth, clothes and school
supplies, college tuition, repairs to the fenders of the family car, heartaches
and disappointments, all of which disappear with one crooked smile from
the baby - one "mama" or one "dada." We are wonderfully weird
people. God has made us so. God loves us!
This, of course, is the God who gives us the Kingdom of Heaven.
Maybe if we counted the cost, we would never accept the gift, but we
don't do that. Once in the Kingdom we have some moments that take our
breath away, and the cost becomes negligible.
Daily we rejoice in breath-taking moments. For life in the
Kingdom of God is measured by those, not by the number of breaths we
take.
Our task, is to live in God's Kingdom which is around us and
within us rather than in the secular world that promises everything and
gives very little. Do we focus on our ways or God's ways. Is it "I did it
MY way" or is it "I did it GOD'S way?
Our ways - which is very "get" centered have brought us to a
paradoxical reality: We get more but enjoy less. We spend more, but
have less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences
but less time. We have more degrees but less common sense, more
knowledge but less good judgment, more experts but fewer solutions.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too much, and
laugh too little, rest too little. We watch TV to often and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We
talk too much, listen too seldom, love too seldom and hate too often.
We've gone to the moon, but have trouble crossing the street to
meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We've cleaned the air
(a little) and polluted the soul - (a lot!).
We learned to rush - oh how we've learned to rush, but not to
wait.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character. These are the days of two incomes and one divorce, fancier
houses and broken homes. Somewhere we got off the track.
The good old fashioned values of our faith are foreign to us, strange
to us - like they're from another world - they are from God's world, but to
have those values we have to pay the price - absorb the cost of the discipline
and perseverance necessary to have them and keep them. Only entering
into God's world will deliver them to you.
You are here specifically because you WANT to get into God's
world - and each week you catch a thought, snare a concept, digest a
theory, nourish a hope that keeps you on the Pilgrim's Way.
The Pilgrim's Way is Christ's Way - you are Christ's people -
People of The Way as the early Christians were called. As such you will
look different, sound different and be different.
You will be one who has the courage to believe and practice the
belief that the teachings of Christ are THE most practical teachings that
the world has ever known that the road to true fulfillment is to keep true to
those teachings.
Today we are to learn: Give up materialistic ways, share your
wealth and be constantly on guard for the return of Christ.
Christ may well return in a cataclysmic event in the future, but it is
far more important for US to focus on the fact that he promised to come
to us - to be with us whenever we call upon him. Sometimes he comes
unannounced and we see Him as I did last Saturday at our Luncheon for
the Homeless. Yes, I got a glimpse of him. About 150 homeless were fed
and clothed and given toiletries and medications - and haircuts. Picture
this all taking place in our parking plaza - tables set for 150, tables set to
display clothes - and volunteers - almost as many as the number of
homeless - all milling about together. What caught my eye was the
volunteers - persons just like yourselves - giving "haircuts" - eight stations
of non-barbers barbering by giving their customers a choice of clipper
settings - 1/4 inch, 1/2 whatever - and then proceeding to give them
some relief from the long strands of hair that are so excruciating to have in
such hot weather. I know that some people walking by would say, "I
wouldn't do that for a million dollars." The self styled barbers would
each reply, "Neither would I." I could see Jesus there in that
tableau. I knew that God was blessing those "barbers" even as they
worked. It took my breath away. Again, Life is not measured by the
number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath
away. Those young people, mostly FIU University Nursing students,
had a variety of things they could have been doing, they chose to be here
where God had need of them. They did it to serve the purposes of God's
Kingdom, following the commands of Jesus to meet the needs of "the
least of these." They were laying up treasures in heaven by being charitable
with the poor. The next opportunity for you, other than every day
opportunities eis October 6th when we have another luncheon for the
Homeles and after that our Halloween Party for the children of the area
on the evening of October 31st.
Noted Christian writer, C.S. Lewis said "Charity - giving to
the poor - is an essential part of Christian morality...I do not believe
one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe
rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our
expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the
standard common among those with the same income as our own,
we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all
pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought
to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our
charitable expenditure excludes them.
The volunteers who spent a charitable Saturday morning with the
homeless left with a special knowledge - "This is what I am here for."
"This is what life is all about" They made a connection - a Love connection
- Jesus was here - they saw Him. God was here - they felt Him.
We have the power to see God every day - to enter the Kingdom
on a regular basis - not only by what you do, but by what we don't do.
There are some things you learn as you get older and wiser.
Paramount among them is - Don't give anybody a piece of your mind!
We, as persons of God's Kingdom, don't have that privilege. We're not
given it, because doing so creates conflict not comfort. People who lash
out at you do so because they're hurting. Your job is to find and help the
hurt. Your job is not to give someone a piece of your mind, but rather,
Your job is to give others a piece of your heart. I close with this
illustration.
Mike Buetelle, an eighth grader wanted to give more than a piece
of his mind to the eighth grade bully who had punched him in the stomach.
He planned to ambush him by the bike racks the next day. But he made
the big mistake of telling his grandmother what he was going to do. And
though it took her an hour to say it, this is what she said. "Good deeds
bring about good results. Bad deeds bring about bad results.
So, he followed her advice. He didn't do anything to the bully.
Several decades later, he picked up his grandmother at the assisted living
facility where she was living. "We drove to a nearby simple little
family-owned restaurant. I ordered pot roast for Nana and a
hamburger for myself. The good arrived and as I dug in, I noticed
that Nana wasn't eating. She was just staring at the food on her
plate. Moving my plate aside, I took Nana's plate, placed it in
front of me, and cut her meat into small pieces. I then placed the
plate back in front of her. As she very weakly, and with great
difficulty, forked the meat into her mouth, I was struck with a
memory that brought instant tears to my eyes. Forty years
previously, as a little boy sitting at the table, Nana had always
taken the meat on my plate and cut it into small pieces so I could
eat it.
It had taken forty years, but the good deed had been repaid.
Nana was right. We reap exactly what we sow. Every good deed
you do will someday come back to you.
Mike learned the lesson God wants us to learn today - to live by
God's principles because they really work.
Oh, Mike wanted you to know what happened to the eighth grade
bully. He ran into the ninth grade bully. God's mills of justice don't
always grind so slowly it seems.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GET - it may indeed be costly,
but it also may be the best thing that every happened to you.
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)August 12, 2007 10:30 a, m. Luke 12:32-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
15 Aim For Heaven
Musical selection - Aim For Heaven (Frederick Silver), performed by Lissanne Lyons
14 Wise Up, O Men of God
"Wise Up, O Men of God!"
We get so soon old, so late, smart! I had naively assumed for
years that money in one's pension plan was always there for you - a pot of
money - all your own - just sitting there waiting for you to get old and
decrepit. What I learned in later years is that it could be gone in a flash -
that everything you had looked forward to as something you could lean
on, take comfort it and enjoy in your old age could disappear - even as
we had hints of it this week with the stock market plummeting further than
it had for many years.
So instead of singing "Rise Up, O Men of God" we should sing
'WISE up, O Men of God" - and women too! We get so soon old
and so late smart.
I couldn't be very wise because a friend got me good the other
night. I heard something on the T.V. program that he was watching about
how much money the average person needed to retire successfully and
comfortably. "How much did they say?" I asked. "Eight and a half
million!" he said. I almost had a heart attack. I could have BEEN the
foolish man that gathered the crops into the barns only to die that very
night.
The purpose of this parable by Jesus is not to tell us that we
should not have anything, but rather to share the something that we have.
Yet everything in our culture gears us up for getting more and more - even
the church does it.
I read this week about a young man, a youth minister who was
serving a conservative Christian church. It was o.k. with them when he
involved the youth in anti abortion protests, antidrug rallies and picketing
to protest unfair labor practices, but he was unceremoniously fired simply
because he made a videotape containing a collection of T.V. commercials.
Then, at the youth meeting on Sunday evening, he showed the tape and
led the youth in a discussion of these TV advertisements, discussing the
ways in which television tries to lure us into the acquisition, hoarding and
grabbing of things that TV tells us will make our lives better. They discussed
what this sort of getting and buying does to our family and to our souls.
(Good old Jesus would have LOVED it!) The church leaders didn't! To
them, having a lot of "stuff" meant you were on the right spiritual track - it
was proof of it. Jesus said "One's life does not consist in the abundance
of possessions." Luke 12:15.
Much as I appreciate and practice the underlying law of attraction
that is part of "The Secret", I am made spiritually uncomfortable on the
acquisitive nature of advice in the book. Only if we take what we are
given and use it to help others, will God bless us. Otherwise our lives may
be required of us - our families maybe taken away from us.
A minister involved in a discussion on Christianity and
homosexuality listened to several people who equated homosexuality with
the destruction of the American family. When he could stand it no more,
he rose to his feet and he said, "I've never had a family destroyed by
a homosexual. I suppose it could happen. But I've seen dozens of
marriages ruined and families devastated by nothing more than
simple greed - working too many hours, buying too much, getting
too deep in debt. If you want so save the American family, do
something about our greed! WISE UP O MEN OF GOD - and
women too!
In our Scripture today, Jesus is asked to decide how a father's
things should be divided - one wanted it all - the other wanted Jesus to
make his brother give him the half he "deserved."
"Deserved" is a loaded term. As one who has been the
administrator of a few estates, I have often been amazed that family members
who have not been around to care for the individual or to help the family
member who IS caring for the individual is front and center when its "will
time."
Jesus told the young man: "Be careful and guard against all
kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they
own."
Maybe it's just me, but I have learned that you can have wonderful
beautiful things as in cars and houses and furnishings, but if you have no
one to share them with, they are very little unto themselves.
That's why God wants us to share - not to fulfill some arbitrary
God-rule that he creates, but because in sharing we will have, and not just
with the typical spouse or significant other.
Some people have no one in their lives because they're waiting for
a love interest to walk into it. Love interests tend to walk into our lives
when are lives are filled with interesting and fun people with whom we
share our homes and cars and company - when we have a "family" around
us.
I redefined "family" when I was in seminary. Previously, a "family"
was a mom, a dad, and a kid and a half - at a minimum! But in the
suburban church I served while in seminary, I became friends with a high
school principal. He w as unmarried, and lived with his two sisters. I
noticed that after dinner - every night - they would carefully set the table
for the breakfast they would have together - enjoy together - it was family
time - sacred time. Yes, they were related to each other, but they would
have been just as much a family had they not been. We are to make
everyone "family."
The Pilati family took me in as part of their family when I was in
seminary. I got to know Saul Pilati because he taught at the high school
where a lot of my church kids went to school. He saw me as alone and
in need of a family, but my fellow seminarians were a family, my church
people were a family. Yes, technically I was a "family of one" (Yes, there
is such a thing) but in reality, we're all family - and particularly we are one
in our family of Christ. I've shared with you many times how on getting
ill in the Holy Land I headed for a hospice run by Italian nuns. I headed
for "Family" - we didn't even speak each other's language - except the
language of love and the dialect of compassion and concern.
What God wants you to know is this: The things that you have -
they are to be used for God. Have a car. Give a ride to someone that
doesn't have one. Have a home? Invite someone over. Have a little
extra cash, send some money to a struggling student. People who remained
anonymous did that for me when I was a pre-ministerial student in college.
I knew that it had to be people from the Baptist Church where I attended.
They weren't the wealthy people - they were the Methodists in the church
up on the hill! But these people WERE wealthy in the ways that mattered
-
In next week's sermon Jesus tells us to be like servants who are
waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. The master
comes and knocks, and the servants immediately open the door for him.
When their master sees that they are ready and waiting for him, it will be a
great day for those servants. I can tell you without a doubt, the master will
get himself ready to serve a meal and tell the servants to sit down. Then he
will serve them. Those servants might have to wait until midnight or later
for their master. But they will be glad they did when he comes in and finds
them still waiting.
Be ready, he says, "BE FULLY DRESSED AND HAVE
YOUR LIGHTS SHINING"
Helen Keller who triumphed over being deaf, without speech
and blind, said, "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it
is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were
great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty
shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes
of each honest worker."
So, here we are, shining together. May God bless us as we
come to this Sacred Table.
Come, not because you must but because you
may.......communion liturgy continues.
Communion Meditation Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)August 5, 2007 10:30 a, m.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
We get so soon old, so late, smart! I had naively assumed for
years that money in one's pension plan was always there for you - a pot of
money - all your own - just sitting there waiting for you to get old and
decrepit. What I learned in later years is that it could be gone in a flash -
that everything you had looked forward to as something you could lean
on, take comfort it and enjoy in your old age could disappear - even as
we had hints of it this week with the stock market plummeting further than
it had for many years.
So instead of singing "Rise Up, O Men of God" we should sing
'WISE up, O Men of God" - and women too! We get so soon old
and so late smart.
I couldn't be very wise because a friend got me good the other
night. I heard something on the T.V. program that he was watching about
how much money the average person needed to retire successfully and
comfortably. "How much did they say?" I asked. "Eight and a half
million!" he said. I almost had a heart attack. I could have BEEN the
foolish man that gathered the crops into the barns only to die that very
night.
The purpose of this parable by Jesus is not to tell us that we
should not have anything, but rather to share the something that we have.
Yet everything in our culture gears us up for getting more and more - even
the church does it.
I read this week about a young man, a youth minister who was
serving a conservative Christian church. It was o.k. with them when he
involved the youth in anti abortion protests, antidrug rallies and picketing
to protest unfair labor practices, but he was unceremoniously fired simply
because he made a videotape containing a collection of T.V. commercials.
Then, at the youth meeting on Sunday evening, he showed the tape and
led the youth in a discussion of these TV advertisements, discussing the
ways in which television tries to lure us into the acquisition, hoarding and
grabbing of things that TV tells us will make our lives better. They discussed
what this sort of getting and buying does to our family and to our souls.
(Good old Jesus would have LOVED it!) The church leaders didn't! To
them, having a lot of "stuff" meant you were on the right spiritual track - it
was proof of it. Jesus said "One's life does not consist in the abundance
of possessions." Luke 12:15.
Much as I appreciate and practice the underlying law of attraction
that is part of "The Secret", I am made spiritually uncomfortable on the
acquisitive nature of advice in the book. Only if we take what we are
given and use it to help others, will God bless us. Otherwise our lives may
be required of us - our families maybe taken away from us.
A minister involved in a discussion on Christianity and
homosexuality listened to several people who equated homosexuality with
the destruction of the American family. When he could stand it no more,
he rose to his feet and he said, "I've never had a family destroyed by
a homosexual. I suppose it could happen. But I've seen dozens of
marriages ruined and families devastated by nothing more than
simple greed - working too many hours, buying too much, getting
too deep in debt. If you want so save the American family, do
something about our greed! WISE UP O MEN OF GOD - and
women too!
In our Scripture today, Jesus is asked to decide how a father's
things should be divided - one wanted it all - the other wanted Jesus to
make his brother give him the half he "deserved."
"Deserved" is a loaded term. As one who has been the
administrator of a few estates, I have often been amazed that family members
who have not been around to care for the individual or to help the family
member who IS caring for the individual is front and center when its "will
time."
Jesus told the young man: "Be careful and guard against all
kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they
own."
Maybe it's just me, but I have learned that you can have wonderful
beautiful things as in cars and houses and furnishings, but if you have no
one to share them with, they are very little unto themselves.
That's why God wants us to share - not to fulfill some arbitrary
God-rule that he creates, but because in sharing we will have, and not just
with the typical spouse or significant other.
Some people have no one in their lives because they're waiting for
a love interest to walk into it. Love interests tend to walk into our lives
when are lives are filled with interesting and fun people with whom we
share our homes and cars and company - when we have a "family" around
us.
I redefined "family" when I was in seminary. Previously, a "family"
was a mom, a dad, and a kid and a half - at a minimum! But in the
suburban church I served while in seminary, I became friends with a high
school principal. He w as unmarried, and lived with his two sisters. I
noticed that after dinner - every night - they would carefully set the table
for the breakfast they would have together - enjoy together - it was family
time - sacred time. Yes, they were related to each other, but they would
have been just as much a family had they not been. We are to make
everyone "family."
The Pilati family took me in as part of their family when I was in
seminary. I got to know Saul Pilati because he taught at the high school
where a lot of my church kids went to school. He saw me as alone and
in need of a family, but my fellow seminarians were a family, my church
people were a family. Yes, technically I was a "family of one" (Yes, there
is such a thing) but in reality, we're all family - and particularly we are one
in our family of Christ. I've shared with you many times how on getting
ill in the Holy Land I headed for a hospice run by Italian nuns. I headed
for "Family" - we didn't even speak each other's language - except the
language of love and the dialect of compassion and concern.
What God wants you to know is this: The things that you have -
they are to be used for God. Have a car. Give a ride to someone that
doesn't have one. Have a home? Invite someone over. Have a little
extra cash, send some money to a struggling student. People who remained
anonymous did that for me when I was a pre-ministerial student in college.
I knew that it had to be people from the Baptist Church where I attended.
They weren't the wealthy people - they were the Methodists in the church
up on the hill! But these people WERE wealthy in the ways that mattered
-
In next week's sermon Jesus tells us to be like servants who are
waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. The master
comes and knocks, and the servants immediately open the door for him.
When their master sees that they are ready and waiting for him, it will be a
great day for those servants. I can tell you without a doubt, the master will
get himself ready to serve a meal and tell the servants to sit down. Then he
will serve them. Those servants might have to wait until midnight or later
for their master. But they will be glad they did when he comes in and finds
them still waiting.
Be ready, he says, "BE FULLY DRESSED AND HAVE
YOUR LIGHTS SHINING"
Helen Keller who triumphed over being deaf, without speech
and blind, said, "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it
is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were
great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty
shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes
of each honest worker."
So, here we are, shining together. May God bless us as we
come to this Sacred Table.
Come, not because you must but because you
may.......communion liturgy continues.
Communion Meditation Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)August 5, 2007 10:30 a, m.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
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