Tuesday, January 1, 2008
43 New Lives For Old
"New Lives For Old"
"When it was the right time, John the Baptizer began telling
people a message from God" - so says our Scripture lesson today.
John the Baptist (as we call him) is obviously known for baptizing people.
Actually, he should be remembered for his message - he should be "John
the Preacher" not "John the Baptizer" because it was his direct,
confrontational preaching that made people remember him. It was his
preaching mouth that got him in trouble, not his baptizing hands. His
message? Repent! He told Herod, the ruler of Galilee to repent for
taking his brother's wife, Herodias, as his own. Herodius plotted with her
dancing daughter to have John's head - literally - killed as if he were an
annoying gnat flying about in the royal box.
But Jesus said, "The truth is that John the Baptizer" is greater
than anyone who has ever come into this world."...(John 11:11)
"Before John came, the law of Moses and all the prophets told
about the things that would happen. And if you believe what they
said, then John is Elijah. He is the one they said would come. You
people who hear me, listen!" (John 11:14)
It was the right time for his message of repentance. Before we
can get new lives, we have to dump a lot of junk out of the old life. That's
a two step process - being sorry for what you have done and asking God
to forgive you for all of it.
There's a time of repentance built into every communion service,
where when we confess our sin, "God is faithful and just to forgive us
of our sin and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
No wonder John's message was also a welcome one - many people
wanted to hear it, and to hear it that had to expend a good deal of effort.
John planted himself in the middle of nowhere. He set up shop in the
wilderness and anyone who wanted to hear what he had to say had to go
to a lot of trouble to get there - borrowing the neighbor's donkey perhaps
or setting off on foot with enough water for the journey, and going down
lonely trails infested with bandits.
To hear John preach you had to trek way off into the blazing hot
desert, traverse relentless hills of thick sand and make you way down to
the Jordan River, far away from any city.
He was particularly hard on people in organized religion, the
Pharisees and Sadducees. They didn't go there to hear him except to
hear enough so they could find a way to do him in - after all, if he became
too popular their temples would be empty of people - worse yet their
offering plates would be empty.
"You bunch of snakes!" John said, "slithering down here to
the river. Do you think that a little water on your snake skins is
going to make any difference. It's your life that got to change, not
your skin! If your life is changed, people will be able to tell. You'll
bear fruit. And don't think you can pull rank because you are a
descendant of Abraham. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a
dozen. God can take these rocks and make them into descendants
of Abraham. What matters is your life. Is your life green? Is it
bearing fruit? Because if it is dead wood then it goes into the fire.
Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is near!"
My advise to you is, "Live your life understanding that only
what's done for Christ will last."
What are these things? Acts of kindness, Works of charity, Visiting
the sick, comforting they who mourn, being more concerned about the
welfare of your wife or husband or significant other than your own.
Carrying about with you a spirit of good will and acceptance. Not being
judgemental, Not complaining.
At our last minister's meeting, one of the ministers came with a
band on his wrist. Each time you complain about something, you have to
move the band to the other wrist. The goal is to see how long you can go
without having to do that. How about YOU? Could you last only an
hour - a day - a week? The program's goal is to go 21 days. Are all of
your branches green - or just a few of them. (A Complaint Free World
by Will Bowen.)
I have a senna polifida tree that isn't doing well at all. I have five
of them in a row. They have exuberant, plentiful yellow blossoms. A few
weeks ago, they all began to bloom - well not all - the one at the end
looked sick - and I thought it was dying. I checked it for any pests that
might be destroying it, but nothing was to be seen. I hate to tell you this,
but I am one of those persons who believe that one species can talk to
another - should talk to each other. I spoke to the tree. I moved its
branches. I showered it with a little more water than the others. Now, it
is in bloom! - not riotously like the others, but a nice grouping of blossoms
on the branches that were not dead after all. Those that are - the
deadwood, I assume I will have to trim off.
This is then the place in the sermon where you need to decide
what deadwood you need to get rid of - repent of. Anything that keeps
you from your goal of Christlikeness has to go. Repent! "He will burn
the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped."
God is speaking to us today - moving OUR branches, nourishing
us with His love - the God who can make our branches bloom with good
works. "He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he ill
put the good part into his barn."
All you have to do is make a conscious decision to give priority to
those things that will grow your spirit.
The Network of Spiritual Progressive is committed to fostering a
new consciousness so that we allow ourselves to know that the most
significant and rewarding part of our lives comes through:
*Acts of love and generosity
*Kindness to humans and animals
*Caring for and giving to other without expectation of reward or
a "return on the investment of our time and energy.
*Work that is fulfilling both in its process and in the sense it gives
us that we are contribution to the public good.
*Awe at the grandeur of creation
*The experience of being recognized on the deepest level of our
being and recognizing others in that way.
*Acknowledging our connection to something larger than ourselves
and seeing our lives in the context of service to the ultimate triumph of
love, goodness, justice and peace.
That's fine for us, but how are we doing as a nation, as a world?
Is it time for a call to repentance there? Is the world getting better or
worse? I always say that progress is backwards. Waiting the other day
for replies to several e-mails and needing one in particular, I had an
amazingly brilliant thought - Why not use the telephone?! That way I
would get an immediate answer, and it wouldn't be just words on a page
but hearing the vibrant, wonderful voice of the friend I was calling, and I
would be able to get a feeling of how he was doing - not just by the
words, but by the tone of voice.
And the internet - much as I love Google - I was appalled by the
cruel trick played by one teenager on another - the one, a girl, pretending
to be a handsome young man, communicating with her neighbor a few
doors down, getting her very attached to "him" then having him dump her
saying all kinds of cruel things to her. Only after she had hung herself, did
her parents learn that there was no such young man, only a girl down the
street playing tricks on an unsuspecting, sensitive soul. What is happening
in our world. Young people are getting more and more cruel to each other
and to the adults around them. The suicide incident was part of
a program depicting the growing cruelty and irresponsibility being manifested
in our young people including a college student who, driving drunk, killed
one girl and made an invalid of another. She fled back to her native Peru
where she continued to drink and drive and even wrote a song bragging
about her driving experiences. Where is John the Baptist when he's needed?
Who will call us to repentance - we all have things of which we need to
repent. Jesus will.
Jesus calls us to repentance, not to make us feel bad about
ourselves, but to free us from the darkness and deadness that drags us
down. Then he setts us on a pathway of service and fulfillment - heads us
for home - the eternal home He has prepared for us from the foundation
of the world.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in
the time of trouble he shall hid me in his pavilion: in the secret of
his tabernacle shell he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy;
I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord.
Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have
changed. A good indicator of that is your checkbook which will show
among other things how much you give to yourself and how much to God.
I hope everybody got the pledge letter from our church Treasurer,
Edwin Scharlau - how anybody could resist it I just can't figure. Since
there are more of you here who haven't pledged than have, I assume
many of you didn't get it. He referred to all the special moments the
church provides you - your wedding, your child's baptism, a
granddaughters 1st birthday, delicious food, the incomparable karaokie
singing by church members, dancing the "chicken dance at the Octoberfest,
- sitting in your pew with some of the same people around you week after
week, being greeted at the church door as you walk in, the sermons for
children, the sermons for serious Christians. He says, "I'm sure you
have your own moments you look forward to on Sunday mornings a
the Miami Beach Community Church - from the spiritual to the
simple. " Then he suggests that we all bear the fruit of good stewardship,
that the Church can go forward in strength and its message heard. Bear
fruit. "Change your hearts and show by the way your live that you
have changed!" (Mt. 3:8)
Today's message is "Repent!". May we pray. Each of us Lord,
have things for which we repent, things we have done, things we have
failed to do, things for which others cannot forgive us, things for which we
cannot forgive ourselves. Even the remembrance of them grieves us
severely. In these moments, as we repent earnestly of our sins, "Forgive
us all that is past and grant that we may evermore serve thee in
newness of life to the honor and glory of Thy Holy name. Amen.
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)December 9, 2007 10:30 a, m. Matthew 3:1-122nd Sunday in Advent
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
"When it was the right time, John the Baptizer began telling
people a message from God" - so says our Scripture lesson today.
John the Baptist (as we call him) is obviously known for baptizing people.
Actually, he should be remembered for his message - he should be "John
the Preacher" not "John the Baptizer" because it was his direct,
confrontational preaching that made people remember him. It was his
preaching mouth that got him in trouble, not his baptizing hands. His
message? Repent! He told Herod, the ruler of Galilee to repent for
taking his brother's wife, Herodias, as his own. Herodius plotted with her
dancing daughter to have John's head - literally - killed as if he were an
annoying gnat flying about in the royal box.
But Jesus said, "The truth is that John the Baptizer" is greater
than anyone who has ever come into this world."...(John 11:11)
"Before John came, the law of Moses and all the prophets told
about the things that would happen. And if you believe what they
said, then John is Elijah. He is the one they said would come. You
people who hear me, listen!" (John 11:14)
It was the right time for his message of repentance. Before we
can get new lives, we have to dump a lot of junk out of the old life. That's
a two step process - being sorry for what you have done and asking God
to forgive you for all of it.
There's a time of repentance built into every communion service,
where when we confess our sin, "God is faithful and just to forgive us
of our sin and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
No wonder John's message was also a welcome one - many people
wanted to hear it, and to hear it that had to expend a good deal of effort.
John planted himself in the middle of nowhere. He set up shop in the
wilderness and anyone who wanted to hear what he had to say had to go
to a lot of trouble to get there - borrowing the neighbor's donkey perhaps
or setting off on foot with enough water for the journey, and going down
lonely trails infested with bandits.
To hear John preach you had to trek way off into the blazing hot
desert, traverse relentless hills of thick sand and make you way down to
the Jordan River, far away from any city.
He was particularly hard on people in organized religion, the
Pharisees and Sadducees. They didn't go there to hear him except to
hear enough so they could find a way to do him in - after all, if he became
too popular their temples would be empty of people - worse yet their
offering plates would be empty.
"You bunch of snakes!" John said, "slithering down here to
the river. Do you think that a little water on your snake skins is
going to make any difference. It's your life that got to change, not
your skin! If your life is changed, people will be able to tell. You'll
bear fruit. And don't think you can pull rank because you are a
descendant of Abraham. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a
dozen. God can take these rocks and make them into descendants
of Abraham. What matters is your life. Is your life green? Is it
bearing fruit? Because if it is dead wood then it goes into the fire.
Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is near!"
My advise to you is, "Live your life understanding that only
what's done for Christ will last."
What are these things? Acts of kindness, Works of charity, Visiting
the sick, comforting they who mourn, being more concerned about the
welfare of your wife or husband or significant other than your own.
Carrying about with you a spirit of good will and acceptance. Not being
judgemental, Not complaining.
At our last minister's meeting, one of the ministers came with a
band on his wrist. Each time you complain about something, you have to
move the band to the other wrist. The goal is to see how long you can go
without having to do that. How about YOU? Could you last only an
hour - a day - a week? The program's goal is to go 21 days. Are all of
your branches green - or just a few of them. (A Complaint Free World
by Will Bowen.)
I have a senna polifida tree that isn't doing well at all. I have five
of them in a row. They have exuberant, plentiful yellow blossoms. A few
weeks ago, they all began to bloom - well not all - the one at the end
looked sick - and I thought it was dying. I checked it for any pests that
might be destroying it, but nothing was to be seen. I hate to tell you this,
but I am one of those persons who believe that one species can talk to
another - should talk to each other. I spoke to the tree. I moved its
branches. I showered it with a little more water than the others. Now, it
is in bloom! - not riotously like the others, but a nice grouping of blossoms
on the branches that were not dead after all. Those that are - the
deadwood, I assume I will have to trim off.
This is then the place in the sermon where you need to decide
what deadwood you need to get rid of - repent of. Anything that keeps
you from your goal of Christlikeness has to go. Repent! "He will burn
the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped."
God is speaking to us today - moving OUR branches, nourishing
us with His love - the God who can make our branches bloom with good
works. "He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he ill
put the good part into his barn."
All you have to do is make a conscious decision to give priority to
those things that will grow your spirit.
The Network of Spiritual Progressive is committed to fostering a
new consciousness so that we allow ourselves to know that the most
significant and rewarding part of our lives comes through:
*Acts of love and generosity
*Kindness to humans and animals
*Caring for and giving to other without expectation of reward or
a "return on the investment of our time and energy.
*Work that is fulfilling both in its process and in the sense it gives
us that we are contribution to the public good.
*Awe at the grandeur of creation
*The experience of being recognized on the deepest level of our
being and recognizing others in that way.
*Acknowledging our connection to something larger than ourselves
and seeing our lives in the context of service to the ultimate triumph of
love, goodness, justice and peace.
That's fine for us, but how are we doing as a nation, as a world?
Is it time for a call to repentance there? Is the world getting better or
worse? I always say that progress is backwards. Waiting the other day
for replies to several e-mails and needing one in particular, I had an
amazingly brilliant thought - Why not use the telephone?! That way I
would get an immediate answer, and it wouldn't be just words on a page
but hearing the vibrant, wonderful voice of the friend I was calling, and I
would be able to get a feeling of how he was doing - not just by the
words, but by the tone of voice.
And the internet - much as I love Google - I was appalled by the
cruel trick played by one teenager on another - the one, a girl, pretending
to be a handsome young man, communicating with her neighbor a few
doors down, getting her very attached to "him" then having him dump her
saying all kinds of cruel things to her. Only after she had hung herself, did
her parents learn that there was no such young man, only a girl down the
street playing tricks on an unsuspecting, sensitive soul. What is happening
in our world. Young people are getting more and more cruel to each other
and to the adults around them. The suicide incident was part of
a program depicting the growing cruelty and irresponsibility being manifested
in our young people including a college student who, driving drunk, killed
one girl and made an invalid of another. She fled back to her native Peru
where she continued to drink and drive and even wrote a song bragging
about her driving experiences. Where is John the Baptist when he's needed?
Who will call us to repentance - we all have things of which we need to
repent. Jesus will.
Jesus calls us to repentance, not to make us feel bad about
ourselves, but to free us from the darkness and deadness that drags us
down. Then he setts us on a pathway of service and fulfillment - heads us
for home - the eternal home He has prepared for us from the foundation
of the world.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in
the time of trouble he shall hid me in his pavilion: in the secret of
his tabernacle shell he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy;
I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord.
Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have
changed. A good indicator of that is your checkbook which will show
among other things how much you give to yourself and how much to God.
I hope everybody got the pledge letter from our church Treasurer,
Edwin Scharlau - how anybody could resist it I just can't figure. Since
there are more of you here who haven't pledged than have, I assume
many of you didn't get it. He referred to all the special moments the
church provides you - your wedding, your child's baptism, a
granddaughters 1st birthday, delicious food, the incomparable karaokie
singing by church members, dancing the "chicken dance at the Octoberfest,
- sitting in your pew with some of the same people around you week after
week, being greeted at the church door as you walk in, the sermons for
children, the sermons for serious Christians. He says, "I'm sure you
have your own moments you look forward to on Sunday mornings a
the Miami Beach Community Church - from the spiritual to the
simple. " Then he suggests that we all bear the fruit of good stewardship,
that the Church can go forward in strength and its message heard. Bear
fruit. "Change your hearts and show by the way your live that you
have changed!" (Mt. 3:8)
Today's message is "Repent!". May we pray. Each of us Lord,
have things for which we repent, things we have done, things we have
failed to do, things for which others cannot forgive us, things for which we
cannot forgive ourselves. Even the remembrance of them grieves us
severely. In these moments, as we repent earnestly of our sins, "Forgive
us all that is past and grant that we may evermore serve thee in
newness of life to the honor and glory of Thy Holy name. Amen.
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)December 9, 2007 10:30 a, m. Matthew 3:1-122nd Sunday in Advent
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
42 What's New?
"What's New?!"
Happy New Year! This is the beginning of the church year -
which begins with the season of Advent - filled with the anticipation of the
arrival of Christ into the world. He came and He comes again - whenever
we invite Him. Even the saints like to have an invitation - a welcome.
But Jesus was rejected while still in the womb - the Inn was full
you remember - and his mother delivered him in the stable - among the
friendly animals. Animals know so much more than we give them credit
for - witness the animals who went to higher ground before the gigantic
tsunami. How does my god know to go which day to go the door to wait
for the maid to come - whom she loves dearly because Elsa stays home
and keeps her company all day, whereas I run off to church. How do the
swallows find Capistrano? How do pengins know where to march to?
In this world of ours, there's a miracle around every corner -
something new to be discovered - something different to understand.
Jesus was something new - something different - we've never
quite gotten used to him. That's because He was none other than God
walking among us - God with us - Emanuel! - which is what Emanual
means - God with us! Because we as mankind never got ourselves to
God, there was only one solution - God had to come to us.
We tried to be faithful. We tried our best to follow God's laws as
we understood them, but we failed.
We poured over the sacred books seeking a better understanding
of God, but things there seemed so strange and incomprehensible.
We built a grand temple in the hope of containing God, a house
grand enough for God to reside in, but following the rituals of the temple
was a pale substitute for the living God.
We listened to the prophets and nodded in assent to their demands.
But agreeing with them was one thing: obeying them was another.
So many of our attempts to get close to God, to walk with God,
to obey God only seemed to drive us further from God. What could we
do?
The answer is that we could do nothing. Something had to be
done for us. We could not come to God, so God came to us.
Advent means, that caught in our old ways, following our
accustomed scripts, going through the motions, God came to us. God
reached out to us, despite the futility of our groping toward him, God
embraced us, stood beside us, and became one with us.
It's that closeness that Communion accomplishes for us if we have
the eye to see the miracle in the common place.
Before His physical departure from the Earth, Jesus chose elements
by which we could remember him - two things that were at every meal -
bread and wine. He gave symbolic meaning to each - a symbol of his
Presence.
Shortly after my father died, I found my mother sitting sadly in a
chair, holding my father's shoes. They weren't his dress shoes - but his
work shoes which didn't smell all that great from years of sweaty use - but
still they were the perfect symbol of the dedicated, hardworking husband
and father he was - who was up before light and finishing after dark to
support a family of nine children.
What would symbolize you? What is the essence of who you are
that could be capsulized into a symbol?
And how does that essence relate to the fierce directions given us
in the Scripture today "We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with
the weapons that belong to the light."
The weapons that belong to the light are the principles of Jesus
that are the only things powerful enough make it possible for our world to
survive - for the earth to be preserved and for wars to cease that could
cause the end of civilization. God doesn't have to bring the end of time,
we're doing a very good job of heading for it entirely on our own.
When I was a kid, we were always crying wolf - saying there was
a crisis when there was none. Once such day, my next older brother
shouted out from the old swimmin' hole that he was drowning. His cries
of "Help - Help, I'm drowning" didn't fool any of us. He went under. We
waited eagerly for him to come back up. The only problem - He didn't!
He WAS drowning - whereupon a family member dived in, found him
below the surface, and dragged him to shore - where he coughed up a lot
of water, came to and continued on in the land of the living.
But he had been through quite an experience. Thinking he was
going to meet his Maker, he said that every mean and terrible thing that
he had ever done passed through his mind in an instant. God didn't have
to judge him, he had already judged himself.
God doesn't have to bring an end to things...we're doing a fine job
of that ourselves....thinking we can war our way to piece - totally opposite
to what Jesus said - totally foreign to the way He was in the world.
As we come to the communion table today, our task is simple, to
examine ourselves to see how like the Christ we have become or need to
become - to ask how concerned we are about His Church, His Kingdom,
His reign as King of Kings - how involved are we in the things of the
Spirit.
It is likely that instead, we have fallen prey to what our culture
calls us to become. A recent church of England report puts it this way:
"Where previous generations found their identity in what they
produced, we now find our identity in what we consume. "
Never at any funeral have I said, He consumed four luxury cars,
to luxury homes and half of the Forge's wine list. Spiritually, those things
won't get us anywhere - they certainly don't stop wars or produce peace.
Jesus gives us the bread and wine to remember him by, but for the
purpose of remembering that we are his hands and feet in the world to
accomplish His tasks. He walks beside us hoping to see us doing things
that will make a difference.
The Church just sent a thousand dollars from our Benevolence
Budget to help keep the Interfaith Worker Justice organization going -
giving them money to help others who earn very little to get a living wage
- pressuring Burger King, Taco Bell and others on behalf of the tomato
pickers who earn very little - or pressuring universities and housing
communities to pay their groundskeepers a living wage. They know in
their hearts to help these people is to make a difference where it counts
most - with whom it counts most.
So what is the symbol by which you will be remembered ? -
perhaps a sweaty shirt from the latest march for worker's wages: or from
serving on the food line at the church's luncheon for the homeless, or a
parking stub from one of the many committee meetings you have attended
to further the work of your church, your service club or arts organization.
"I say this because you know that we live in an important time,
Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation
is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost
finished." (Romans 13:11.)
Into the darkness, the Christ of Light appears - again this advent.
Showing us how Life is to be done and won. - to give us anothr chance.
He came not to consume but to give - to love - to share. That's why we're
here - to learn to walk in that light, to live in that light.
The animals in the stable intuitively understood that. So must we.
In closing, I'd like to share A Dog's Purpose, from a 4 year old.
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten year-old
Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa,
and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were
hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the
family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the
euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made the arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought
it would be goof for four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They
felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's
family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the
last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.
Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little
boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.
We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud
about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned
me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.
He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live
a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice right?"
The four year old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do
that, so they don't have to stay as long."
LIVE SIMPLY. LOVE GENEROUSLY. CARE DEEPLY.
SPEAK KINDLY. LEAVE THE REST TO GOD. MAKE YOUR LIFE
A SYMBOL OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST. Now.....
Come, dance in delight because love has come
and the wine of celebration is being poured
Come, lift up your hearts
to receive the abundance that waits for us
for the Christ is present.
and we touch the life of God.
Come to this sacred table, not because you must, but because
you may..... .
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)December 2, 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.
Happy New Year! This is the beginning of the church year -
which begins with the season of Advent - filled with the anticipation of the
arrival of Christ into the world. He came and He comes again - whenever
we invite Him. Even the saints like to have an invitation - a welcome.
But Jesus was rejected while still in the womb - the Inn was full
you remember - and his mother delivered him in the stable - among the
friendly animals. Animals know so much more than we give them credit
for - witness the animals who went to higher ground before the gigantic
tsunami. How does my god know to go which day to go the door to wait
for the maid to come - whom she loves dearly because Elsa stays home
and keeps her company all day, whereas I run off to church. How do the
swallows find Capistrano? How do pengins know where to march to?
In this world of ours, there's a miracle around every corner -
something new to be discovered - something different to understand.
Jesus was something new - something different - we've never
quite gotten used to him. That's because He was none other than God
walking among us - God with us - Emanuel! - which is what Emanual
means - God with us! Because we as mankind never got ourselves to
God, there was only one solution - God had to come to us.
We tried to be faithful. We tried our best to follow God's laws as
we understood them, but we failed.
We poured over the sacred books seeking a better understanding
of God, but things there seemed so strange and incomprehensible.
We built a grand temple in the hope of containing God, a house
grand enough for God to reside in, but following the rituals of the temple
was a pale substitute for the living God.
We listened to the prophets and nodded in assent to their demands.
But agreeing with them was one thing: obeying them was another.
So many of our attempts to get close to God, to walk with God,
to obey God only seemed to drive us further from God. What could we
do?
The answer is that we could do nothing. Something had to be
done for us. We could not come to God, so God came to us.
Advent means, that caught in our old ways, following our
accustomed scripts, going through the motions, God came to us. God
reached out to us, despite the futility of our groping toward him, God
embraced us, stood beside us, and became one with us.
It's that closeness that Communion accomplishes for us if we have
the eye to see the miracle in the common place.
Before His physical departure from the Earth, Jesus chose elements
by which we could remember him - two things that were at every meal -
bread and wine. He gave symbolic meaning to each - a symbol of his
Presence.
Shortly after my father died, I found my mother sitting sadly in a
chair, holding my father's shoes. They weren't his dress shoes - but his
work shoes which didn't smell all that great from years of sweaty use - but
still they were the perfect symbol of the dedicated, hardworking husband
and father he was - who was up before light and finishing after dark to
support a family of nine children.
What would symbolize you? What is the essence of who you are
that could be capsulized into a symbol?
And how does that essence relate to the fierce directions given us
in the Scripture today "We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with
the weapons that belong to the light."
The weapons that belong to the light are the principles of Jesus
that are the only things powerful enough make it possible for our world to
survive - for the earth to be preserved and for wars to cease that could
cause the end of civilization. God doesn't have to bring the end of time,
we're doing a very good job of heading for it entirely on our own.
When I was a kid, we were always crying wolf - saying there was
a crisis when there was none. Once such day, my next older brother
shouted out from the old swimmin' hole that he was drowning. His cries
of "Help - Help, I'm drowning" didn't fool any of us. He went under. We
waited eagerly for him to come back up. The only problem - He didn't!
He WAS drowning - whereupon a family member dived in, found him
below the surface, and dragged him to shore - where he coughed up a lot
of water, came to and continued on in the land of the living.
But he had been through quite an experience. Thinking he was
going to meet his Maker, he said that every mean and terrible thing that
he had ever done passed through his mind in an instant. God didn't have
to judge him, he had already judged himself.
God doesn't have to bring an end to things...we're doing a fine job
of that ourselves....thinking we can war our way to piece - totally opposite
to what Jesus said - totally foreign to the way He was in the world.
As we come to the communion table today, our task is simple, to
examine ourselves to see how like the Christ we have become or need to
become - to ask how concerned we are about His Church, His Kingdom,
His reign as King of Kings - how involved are we in the things of the
Spirit.
It is likely that instead, we have fallen prey to what our culture
calls us to become. A recent church of England report puts it this way:
"Where previous generations found their identity in what they
produced, we now find our identity in what we consume. "
Never at any funeral have I said, He consumed four luxury cars,
to luxury homes and half of the Forge's wine list. Spiritually, those things
won't get us anywhere - they certainly don't stop wars or produce peace.
Jesus gives us the bread and wine to remember him by, but for the
purpose of remembering that we are his hands and feet in the world to
accomplish His tasks. He walks beside us hoping to see us doing things
that will make a difference.
The Church just sent a thousand dollars from our Benevolence
Budget to help keep the Interfaith Worker Justice organization going -
giving them money to help others who earn very little to get a living wage
- pressuring Burger King, Taco Bell and others on behalf of the tomato
pickers who earn very little - or pressuring universities and housing
communities to pay their groundskeepers a living wage. They know in
their hearts to help these people is to make a difference where it counts
most - with whom it counts most.
So what is the symbol by which you will be remembered ? -
perhaps a sweaty shirt from the latest march for worker's wages: or from
serving on the food line at the church's luncheon for the homeless, or a
parking stub from one of the many committee meetings you have attended
to further the work of your church, your service club or arts organization.
"I say this because you know that we live in an important time,
Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation
is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost
finished." (Romans 13:11.)
Into the darkness, the Christ of Light appears - again this advent.
Showing us how Life is to be done and won. - to give us anothr chance.
He came not to consume but to give - to love - to share. That's why we're
here - to learn to walk in that light, to live in that light.
The animals in the stable intuitively understood that. So must we.
In closing, I'd like to share A Dog's Purpose, from a 4 year old.
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten year-old
Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa,
and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were
hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the
family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the
euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made the arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought
it would be goof for four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They
felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's
family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the
last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.
Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little
boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.
We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud
about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned
me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.
He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live
a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice right?"
The four year old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do
that, so they don't have to stay as long."
LIVE SIMPLY. LOVE GENEROUSLY. CARE DEEPLY.
SPEAK KINDLY. LEAVE THE REST TO GOD. MAKE YOUR LIFE
A SYMBOL OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST. Now.....
Come, dance in delight because love has come
and the wine of celebration is being poured
Come, lift up your hearts
to receive the abundance that waits for us
for the Christ is present.
and we touch the life of God.
Come to this sacred table, not because you must, but because
you may..... .
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)December 2, 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.
41 Musical Selection: I Will Sing New Songs
Musical Selection - Jonathan Burton performs "I Will Sing New Songs" by Dvorak
40 King Me
"KING ME!"
When I came to this community 33 years ago, Miami Beach was
on a downward spiral - which had a very negative effect on the church.
The congregation dwindled, the funds lessened. I realized that I would
have to be the glue to hold things together until the City itself turned around.
That came to my mind when I read this commentary on our
Scripture lesson from the first chapter of Colossians: "The historical
Jesus is here being proclaimed as that grand beginning point of a
whole new creation that will displace the old. In verse 17, the most
sweeping claim for this new king of creation is that "all things hold
together in him" Christ the King is the glue that keeps the cosmos
together."
I don't know about you, but I think we're hanging on by a thread
-as a result of the direction in which we're going ecologically and politically
- we could drown ourselves or blow ourselves up if we don't change.
The Apostle, Paul could pray the same prayer for us he prayed for the
Colossians: "This is what we pray - that you will know fully what
God wants; that with your knowledge you will also have great
wisdom and understanding in spiritual things; that this will help you live
in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every
way, that your life will produce good works of every kind and that
you will grow in your knowledge of God, that God will strengthen
you with his own great power, and that you will be patient and not
give up when troubles come."
The basis for "understanding spiritual things" is to
understand who Jesus is.
Not everyone within the sound of my voice will agree with me as
to my understanding of who Jesus is. Despite my liberal stance on social
issues and my belief that God Is Still Speaking, thus setting aside some
things we have heard or read before - even in the Scriptures - I have a
very high Christology.
I personally believe that Jesus was present at the right hand of the
Heavenly Father when all that is was created. "Without him was not
made anything that was made" as John the gospel writer put it. I
believe what the same gospel writer proclaimed that Jesus was the
"expression of God" the "Word" of God - that He was with God and was
God or as our text today Colossians 1:15 puts it, "He is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." I believe that when
Jesus was here on Earth, God was here on Earth - that to know what
Jesus is like is to know what God is like - that although He had the power
to wipe out and destroy any of His enemies or those of the Jews, or those
of mankind, - he chose to demonstrate the power of loving sacrifice -
the giving of Life rather than the taking of life.
If we as Christians were doing our job, our nation would be
spending as much on peace as they are on war. At a minimum, we
should be working as aggressively to bring peace as we are to bringwar.
Our Department of Peace should receive as much in finding as our
Department of War.
Our denomination, the United Church of Christ has the right idea
- currently collecting money to provide assistance to the over four million
people who have been displaced by the Iraq War - two million internally
and two million who have fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
On a personal level, you miss a world of peace and tranquility by
not living daily in the context of Who Jesus Is - King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Who or what is Lord of your life? Constantine became a
"Christian" and made Christianity the official religion of the State and
Christianity has been going down hill ever since. Christianity was defined,
trimmed, smoothed and changed to fit imperial policy. It allowed
Constantine to continue to rob kill, burn, fight and execute. What is wrong
with that picture. What is wrong with our picture.
To bring "our picture" into focus and to take our first step on our
journey to "real" Christianity, we have to see that Jesus is the King of
Kings.
Knowing that Jesus is "King of Kings" means that YOU are "a
child of the King". As such you have some privileges. Because you're
"family" you are allowed into the Presence of the King of Kings. You live
in the mansion! A place in the Palace is yours!
When Jesus said, "In my Father's House are many
mansions", he wasn't talking about something that is going to be, but
already is. Once we set our foot on the discipleship trail, we are "in
eternal life." And here is precisely where we go wrong, because most
modern disciples give 99 % of their thought into the physical world and
hopefully, at least 1% on the realm of the Spirit in which they now live.
Most of us nod to God in the morning and hurry our devotions in
the evening, more to say we have done them than to get something from
them. I don't advocate giving up set times at the beginning and ending of
your day for giving attention to godly things - but additionally, I advocate
PRACTICING THE PRESENCE.
If we are indeed the King's Kid - and we do live in the palace, in
the Presence of the King - then we should bask in the Nearness of the
divinity.
For some reason we don't expect Divinity in the daily doings of
our lives - but if not there, then where? It's time for "Andy" to make his
appearance. The hymn, In the Garden took some hits because of the
words, And He walked with me, And He talked with me.....which became
paraphrased as "Andy walked with me - Andy talked with me." But
visualizing Jesus walking and talking with you is as good a way to Practice
the Presence as you can find. And Jesus is joined by others.
I'm a big believer in not going anywhere without being "in the
company of the saints." At communion, the liturgy says- "With angels
and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify
Thy Glorious Name." Don't leave home without them.!"
Of course, you will be known by the company you keep! I
mentioned to a friend the other night that reincarnationists believe that to
develop our souls we have many sojourns on this earth - until we get it
right I would guess! AND that they believe we often interact with some of
the same people we have known in other incarnations, although the roles
often change - someone who is a good friend in one incarnation may be a
brother to you in the next. The husband may reincarnate as the wife and
the wife the husband - now THERE'S an interesting thought. Turn about
is fair play it would seem, but he thought I shouldn't mention such things as
reincarnation, lest the men in the little white coats come to get me... in
which case I'll be in good company - Jesus said that John the Baptist was
Elijah who had lived centuries before - and as you recall - they dressed
the same - and had the same mission in life - preaching - and lived on the
same foods. Coincidence? In the realm of the Spirit, there are no
coincidences!
In the realm of the Spirit, there are always interesting concepts to
discuss and consider. I DO believe that some people reincarnate. I
remember one of mine - I was a priest - and I remember only walking and
reading as I made my way around a cloister - which is an area within a
monastery or convent, a covered passage, having one side walled and the
other an open arcade often with a series of columns set at regular intervals
- a colonnade. On my vacation I saw a cloister something like the one of
my past.
Yes, I'm suspicious that so many people claim to have been
Cleopatra or Julius Caesar - or are told that they were by unscrupulous
money makers, but it cannot be dismissed out of hand - if it's good enough
for Jesus - it's good enough for me!
Another advantage in living in the Palace - in the realm of the King
of Kings is learning how God interacts with mankind. Beware, this will
cause you to put away any "Errand boy in the Sky" practice you may have
had. You can no longer have the "Gimme God Blues" - that's when God
won't gimmie what I want him to gimme - and I get the Gimmie God
Blues. ( I try not to go there!)
It is so much more fun to see what I can give because that's the
way people in God's Kingdom get turned on - by doing something for
someone else, by being of service - by being in ministry.
As Palace People we are in full time Christian service, although
the devil tries to get us to believe only paid employees of the church are in
full time Christian service - and that's the way the devil would like it - far
be it from us to please the devil - much nicer to give him a hard time by
taking our ministries seriously.
At the Thanksgiving Eve ecumenical service I told a story told by
The Rev. James Howell, pastor of the Myers Park United Methodist
Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was his own story of wondering
if he should even BE in the ministry: The reason I am still in the ministry
is because of the night I decided to leave the ministry. It was my
day off. The phone rang, and it was the chaplain at a nearby hospital.
Usually we would exchange pleasantries, but all she said was,
"Come to the hospital - now!" I trusted the urgency in her voice
and arrived in about ten minutes.
I found her with a young couple I knew and loved from our
church. I sensed shrieks and sobs lingering in the room, which was
eerily silent: the wife and the husband fell onto my shoulders. I
could hardly bear their weight as they gasped for words. Their
child, Caroline, whom I had baptized a couple of weeks earlier had
just been diagnosed with a malignant tumor intertwined with her
spinal cord at the base of the brain."
Another minister who knew the family materialized. His
demeanor startled me: smiling, confident, speaking many words,
assuring the parents with an utterly confident grin that "God will
save your child if you just pray."
I'm ordained, he's ordained, but I felt no kinship with him.
I oscillated between wanting to strangle him and wanting to be more
like him. Why have I never been able to be pious? When did I
become the grim pastor who expects the worst? Sure, his style of
pastoring seemed trite, absurd - and yet, what good was I doing?
About that time, the pediatric oncologist came in - calm,
intelligent, well-trained, impressive. I remember him as being very
tall. He had a plan. As he unfolded his strategy, I remember those
smart grown-ups who had advised me to go to medical school, and
I wish I had, because as a minister, I had nothing - literally nothing
to offer to these people I loved so much. Had I gone to medical
school, I could do something...."
Then her parents asked me for a favor. "We are exhausted.
Caroline won't stop crying. Could you hold her for a little while so
we can step out and take a little break?" And so I took this child
in my arms and rocked her. She cried and I cried, and then having
expended all her energy, she drifted off to sleep. I kept rocking
her until her parents came back, a little bit rested, relieved to see
her more peaceful. We placed her gently in the crib, and then I left
them, took the elevator downstairs and stepped through the door
into the night.
As I felt the chill against my face, I knew I would not quit
the ministry. It was as if my whole life had been a preparation for
this dark evening. All the wrestling with what career to pursue,
counsel from professors, the books, papers, degrees, hurdles of
ordination: I had been in training for this day, so that on this day I
could drive to Durham and give two parents a little bit of rest - and
to rock a very sick child to sleep, just to hold this little one who
seemed to have as little hope as I did.
It was around midnight that I had to answer a question:
Why did I go into the ministry? To do something grand and
impressive? Or because I thought I might love somebody, some
family, some child, in God's name. Holding Caroline, I wondered:
isn't this what Mary did with Jesus when he was sick during the
night? Didn't she embrace him when he was taken down from the
cross? Isn't this what God Almighty had been doing we me all
these years? And on one night, I was able to help. I held a child.
I fulfilled my vocation, the small impotence of it all turning out to
be the beauty."
Your ministry is simply to be doing what God does with you
- to hold the hurting, to encourage the depressed, to support those
weakened by what life can do to the weary. In fact, if you didn't do
it, God couldn't get anything done, for you're the way He gets his
mission accomplished - as we emulate and follow the King of Kings.
When I was a kid, we played checkers, and I recall that if you got
your single checker across to the other side of the Board, you could yell
out KING ME! And another checker would be added to yours, which
deferred princely powers to the unit - you could do things now, you never
good before! That's the way God does things, as our mission makes a
difference - my mission makes a difference. " KING ME!"
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)November 25, 2007 10:30 a, m. Colossians 1:11-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
When I came to this community 33 years ago, Miami Beach was
on a downward spiral - which had a very negative effect on the church.
The congregation dwindled, the funds lessened. I realized that I would
have to be the glue to hold things together until the City itself turned around.
That came to my mind when I read this commentary on our
Scripture lesson from the first chapter of Colossians: "The historical
Jesus is here being proclaimed as that grand beginning point of a
whole new creation that will displace the old. In verse 17, the most
sweeping claim for this new king of creation is that "all things hold
together in him" Christ the King is the glue that keeps the cosmos
together."
I don't know about you, but I think we're hanging on by a thread
-as a result of the direction in which we're going ecologically and politically
- we could drown ourselves or blow ourselves up if we don't change.
The Apostle, Paul could pray the same prayer for us he prayed for the
Colossians: "This is what we pray - that you will know fully what
God wants; that with your knowledge you will also have great
wisdom and understanding in spiritual things; that this will help you live
in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every
way, that your life will produce good works of every kind and that
you will grow in your knowledge of God, that God will strengthen
you with his own great power, and that you will be patient and not
give up when troubles come."
The basis for "understanding spiritual things" is to
understand who Jesus is.
Not everyone within the sound of my voice will agree with me as
to my understanding of who Jesus is. Despite my liberal stance on social
issues and my belief that God Is Still Speaking, thus setting aside some
things we have heard or read before - even in the Scriptures - I have a
very high Christology.
I personally believe that Jesus was present at the right hand of the
Heavenly Father when all that is was created. "Without him was not
made anything that was made" as John the gospel writer put it. I
believe what the same gospel writer proclaimed that Jesus was the
"expression of God" the "Word" of God - that He was with God and was
God or as our text today Colossians 1:15 puts it, "He is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." I believe that when
Jesus was here on Earth, God was here on Earth - that to know what
Jesus is like is to know what God is like - that although He had the power
to wipe out and destroy any of His enemies or those of the Jews, or those
of mankind, - he chose to demonstrate the power of loving sacrifice -
the giving of Life rather than the taking of life.
If we as Christians were doing our job, our nation would be
spending as much on peace as they are on war. At a minimum, we
should be working as aggressively to bring peace as we are to bringwar.
Our Department of Peace should receive as much in finding as our
Department of War.
Our denomination, the United Church of Christ has the right idea
- currently collecting money to provide assistance to the over four million
people who have been displaced by the Iraq War - two million internally
and two million who have fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
On a personal level, you miss a world of peace and tranquility by
not living daily in the context of Who Jesus Is - King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Who or what is Lord of your life? Constantine became a
"Christian" and made Christianity the official religion of the State and
Christianity has been going down hill ever since. Christianity was defined,
trimmed, smoothed and changed to fit imperial policy. It allowed
Constantine to continue to rob kill, burn, fight and execute. What is wrong
with that picture. What is wrong with our picture.
To bring "our picture" into focus and to take our first step on our
journey to "real" Christianity, we have to see that Jesus is the King of
Kings.
Knowing that Jesus is "King of Kings" means that YOU are "a
child of the King". As such you have some privileges. Because you're
"family" you are allowed into the Presence of the King of Kings. You live
in the mansion! A place in the Palace is yours!
When Jesus said, "In my Father's House are many
mansions", he wasn't talking about something that is going to be, but
already is. Once we set our foot on the discipleship trail, we are "in
eternal life." And here is precisely where we go wrong, because most
modern disciples give 99 % of their thought into the physical world and
hopefully, at least 1% on the realm of the Spirit in which they now live.
Most of us nod to God in the morning and hurry our devotions in
the evening, more to say we have done them than to get something from
them. I don't advocate giving up set times at the beginning and ending of
your day for giving attention to godly things - but additionally, I advocate
PRACTICING THE PRESENCE.
If we are indeed the King's Kid - and we do live in the palace, in
the Presence of the King - then we should bask in the Nearness of the
divinity.
For some reason we don't expect Divinity in the daily doings of
our lives - but if not there, then where? It's time for "Andy" to make his
appearance. The hymn, In the Garden took some hits because of the
words, And He walked with me, And He talked with me.....which became
paraphrased as "Andy walked with me - Andy talked with me." But
visualizing Jesus walking and talking with you is as good a way to Practice
the Presence as you can find. And Jesus is joined by others.
I'm a big believer in not going anywhere without being "in the
company of the saints." At communion, the liturgy says- "With angels
and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify
Thy Glorious Name." Don't leave home without them.!"
Of course, you will be known by the company you keep! I
mentioned to a friend the other night that reincarnationists believe that to
develop our souls we have many sojourns on this earth - until we get it
right I would guess! AND that they believe we often interact with some of
the same people we have known in other incarnations, although the roles
often change - someone who is a good friend in one incarnation may be a
brother to you in the next. The husband may reincarnate as the wife and
the wife the husband - now THERE'S an interesting thought. Turn about
is fair play it would seem, but he thought I shouldn't mention such things as
reincarnation, lest the men in the little white coats come to get me... in
which case I'll be in good company - Jesus said that John the Baptist was
Elijah who had lived centuries before - and as you recall - they dressed
the same - and had the same mission in life - preaching - and lived on the
same foods. Coincidence? In the realm of the Spirit, there are no
coincidences!
In the realm of the Spirit, there are always interesting concepts to
discuss and consider. I DO believe that some people reincarnate. I
remember one of mine - I was a priest - and I remember only walking and
reading as I made my way around a cloister - which is an area within a
monastery or convent, a covered passage, having one side walled and the
other an open arcade often with a series of columns set at regular intervals
- a colonnade. On my vacation I saw a cloister something like the one of
my past.
Yes, I'm suspicious that so many people claim to have been
Cleopatra or Julius Caesar - or are told that they were by unscrupulous
money makers, but it cannot be dismissed out of hand - if it's good enough
for Jesus - it's good enough for me!
Another advantage in living in the Palace - in the realm of the King
of Kings is learning how God interacts with mankind. Beware, this will
cause you to put away any "Errand boy in the Sky" practice you may have
had. You can no longer have the "Gimme God Blues" - that's when God
won't gimmie what I want him to gimme - and I get the Gimmie God
Blues. ( I try not to go there!)
It is so much more fun to see what I can give because that's the
way people in God's Kingdom get turned on - by doing something for
someone else, by being of service - by being in ministry.
As Palace People we are in full time Christian service, although
the devil tries to get us to believe only paid employees of the church are in
full time Christian service - and that's the way the devil would like it - far
be it from us to please the devil - much nicer to give him a hard time by
taking our ministries seriously.
At the Thanksgiving Eve ecumenical service I told a story told by
The Rev. James Howell, pastor of the Myers Park United Methodist
Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was his own story of wondering
if he should even BE in the ministry: The reason I am still in the ministry
is because of the night I decided to leave the ministry. It was my
day off. The phone rang, and it was the chaplain at a nearby hospital.
Usually we would exchange pleasantries, but all she said was,
"Come to the hospital - now!" I trusted the urgency in her voice
and arrived in about ten minutes.
I found her with a young couple I knew and loved from our
church. I sensed shrieks and sobs lingering in the room, which was
eerily silent: the wife and the husband fell onto my shoulders. I
could hardly bear their weight as they gasped for words. Their
child, Caroline, whom I had baptized a couple of weeks earlier had
just been diagnosed with a malignant tumor intertwined with her
spinal cord at the base of the brain."
Another minister who knew the family materialized. His
demeanor startled me: smiling, confident, speaking many words,
assuring the parents with an utterly confident grin that "God will
save your child if you just pray."
I'm ordained, he's ordained, but I felt no kinship with him.
I oscillated between wanting to strangle him and wanting to be more
like him. Why have I never been able to be pious? When did I
become the grim pastor who expects the worst? Sure, his style of
pastoring seemed trite, absurd - and yet, what good was I doing?
About that time, the pediatric oncologist came in - calm,
intelligent, well-trained, impressive. I remember him as being very
tall. He had a plan. As he unfolded his strategy, I remember those
smart grown-ups who had advised me to go to medical school, and
I wish I had, because as a minister, I had nothing - literally nothing
to offer to these people I loved so much. Had I gone to medical
school, I could do something...."
Then her parents asked me for a favor. "We are exhausted.
Caroline won't stop crying. Could you hold her for a little while so
we can step out and take a little break?" And so I took this child
in my arms and rocked her. She cried and I cried, and then having
expended all her energy, she drifted off to sleep. I kept rocking
her until her parents came back, a little bit rested, relieved to see
her more peaceful. We placed her gently in the crib, and then I left
them, took the elevator downstairs and stepped through the door
into the night.
As I felt the chill against my face, I knew I would not quit
the ministry. It was as if my whole life had been a preparation for
this dark evening. All the wrestling with what career to pursue,
counsel from professors, the books, papers, degrees, hurdles of
ordination: I had been in training for this day, so that on this day I
could drive to Durham and give two parents a little bit of rest - and
to rock a very sick child to sleep, just to hold this little one who
seemed to have as little hope as I did.
It was around midnight that I had to answer a question:
Why did I go into the ministry? To do something grand and
impressive? Or because I thought I might love somebody, some
family, some child, in God's name. Holding Caroline, I wondered:
isn't this what Mary did with Jesus when he was sick during the
night? Didn't she embrace him when he was taken down from the
cross? Isn't this what God Almighty had been doing we me all
these years? And on one night, I was able to help. I held a child.
I fulfilled my vocation, the small impotence of it all turning out to
be the beauty."
Your ministry is simply to be doing what God does with you
- to hold the hurting, to encourage the depressed, to support those
weakened by what life can do to the weary. In fact, if you didn't do
it, God couldn't get anything done, for you're the way He gets his
mission accomplished - as we emulate and follow the King of Kings.
When I was a kid, we played checkers, and I recall that if you got
your single checker across to the other side of the Board, you could yell
out KING ME! And another checker would be added to yours, which
deferred princely powers to the unit - you could do things now, you never
good before! That's the way God does things, as our mission makes a
difference - my mission makes a difference. " KING ME!"
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)November 25, 2007 10:30 a, m. Colossians 1:11-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
39 Beginnings and Endings
Audio unavailable - We apologize for the inconvenience. Sermon text follows:
"BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS!"
Our combined texts today speak of endings and beginnings, of
judgement and joy. Our first passage from Isaiah 65 shows a wonderful
ending for the people of God. (We hope that's us!) In the second text,
Jesus tells the disciples all of the things they will have to go through - the
destruction of Jerusalem, families turning against them, authorities calling
them to come before them - not a great future to look forward to - yet
Jesus says to them, "None of these things can really harm you! Easy
for Him to say - you say! Not really. He suffered more than anyone - the
most agonizing death imaginable - but He's alive and well and living any
where in the world He wants - including in your heart and mine. Death
could not contain him or swallow him up. He assures us that nothing can
harm us if we continue strong in our faith while we're going through the
dark times. By your endurance you will gain your souls. (Luke 21:19)
our text for the day.
Are you in a time of beginning or ending? The fact is, you are
always experiencing both BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS.
I always get amused at myself at vacation time. I can't wait to get
away, and yet the time comes when I can't wait to get home! Both
beginnings and endings are good - we just LIKE one more than the other!
We don't like endings, yet some things must come to an end in
order that other things may start. In a very real sense we have many lifetimes
in one. Life consists of many journeys - that begin and end - and wisdom
is understanding the journey process which enables you to deal with all
that comes.
Have faith when something is in its beginning stages in your life or
the life of the world.
Have awareness when things are really going well for you,
stopping to savor the experience, and pausing - daily - to give God thanks
for this part of the journey, and to
Have strength when the going get tough - strength
that comes from knowing that all storms have BEGINNINGS AND
ENDINGS that BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS make up the fabric
of our very existence - rise and fall, ying and yang, slow and stop, begin
and speed up; have and have not. Let us review these three "haves."
Have faith when something is in its beginning stages in your
life or the life of the world:
I'm convinced that the world is at a turning point where what it
decides to do will determine whether it will even survive or not. As a
nation, we searched and searched for weapons of mass destruction where
there were none. We should have looked at home. And everywhere
else we look, we see nations trying to weapons of mass destruction - as if
they were something wonderful to have! That's because we in the world
have been taught by everyone (but Jesus) that having them will give us
security. Domination, we are told is how we get security. But others will
want to dominate - and there will always be wars to decide who's the
most dominate! It makes no practical sense.
What makes sense is that our security depends on the well-being
of everyone on the planet, and working on that well being is what we
should, as Christians, be about. The more caring we are about others'
well being the more secure we will become! Our job is drying up the
cesspools of desperation by our acts of generosity and concern for others
- the Jesus way.
There is a new network of spiritual progressives that feel this way
- would that people in all religions were to agree and to live accordingly.
And we have to have the belief that persons of faith reaching out in concern
can make a difference. What we as Americans have done with our
domination strategy is to increase persons hatred of us, playing directly
into the hands of the terrorists who then become more terrible - because
we have fueled their cause. How's that workin' for us. It's not! But how
are things going in YOUR life?
We need to talk about the times we're halfway between the
beginning and the end - when things are going well.
Have awareness when things are really going well for you,
stopping to savor the experience - and giving God thanks.
It is said that "an unexamined life is not worth living." That's true..
But I am concerned about how we forget to stop and savor where we are
now. I am concerned with how we focus instead on where we have been
or where we're going. THE thing that God wants more from us than
anything else is THANKS, and I am glad that it is THANKSGIVING
SUNDAY when I'm saying it. We need to sip and savor. Instead we
gulp down and go by that which should be riveting our attention - the
things for which we should be expressing gratitude.
Or when things are going well, some of us seem to be waiting for
the other shoe to drop - as if somehow we don't deserve calm waters.
On my cruise I got accustomed to calm waters - except one day! The
same day the tanker split apart off the Russian coast, our ship was hit with
high winds and rough seas. I had discovered that there were lots of
accessible Kawai grands on the ship and was playing one of them - just
for the fun of it when one gigantic wave hit the ship. There was a loud
crack. Is the ship breaking in two I wondered? It was the first time I was
ever afraid on board a cruise ship. Soon there was the voice of the captain
telling us that although it was rough and some of us would not be at dinner,
there was nothing to worry about - that in a few hours we would be out of
the storm. So I found another Kawai grand piano with people around it
and played soothing music - skillfully avoiding "Amazing Grace" - the
theme song of the Titanic - what the band was playing when the ship went
down. I was concerned about the well being of my fellow passengers.
More than anything else we need everyone in the world to be
concerned about everyone else in the world - recognizing that we
are all fellow passengers on the same space ship - where we will all
survive or not survive - together.
This is how God will accomplish His dream as outlined in Isaiah:
"I am creating a new heaven and a new earth. The troubled of the
past will be forgotten. No one will remember them. My people will
be happy and rejoice forever and ever because of what I will make."
Just remember, he will make it by using us to help. He will use
those who commit themselves to a new way of thinking and being - who
believe that what we think and do can make a difference - that we cannot
establish peace with bombs and barricades, but only with generosity and
concern for our fellow travelers on the journey, opening doors of
diplomacy, building relationships, tearing down the walls between us. That
will be a tough one, but Jesus is the one who calls us to do it, not by
forcing His religion or ours on anyone, but by becoming the epitome of
love and peace in our actions. Thus will God create His dream.
Although he could have phrased it more interestingly, the theologian,
John Calvin had it right: "It were cold and lifeless to represent God
as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once and for all,
and then left it. Here, especially, we must dissent from the profane,
and maintain that the presence of the divine power is conspicuous,
not less in the perpetual condition of the world than in its first
creation...After learning that there is a Creator, it must forthwith
infer that he is also a "governor" and "preserver" and that, not
by producing a kind of general motion in the machine of the globe
as well as in each of its parts, but by a special "providence"
sustaining, cherishing, superintending, all the things which he has
made to the very minutest, even to a sparrow. (Institute of Christian
Religion)
To put it in United Church of Christ language, God is still speaking,
teaching us new truth that may conflict with teachings of old, even as Jesus
said, "It HAS been said to you - thus and so, but I say to you, and
then he would tell us something new....even as God the Father is
asking us to see the new thing He is going to do - right now on the
Thanksgiving and Stewardship Sunday - through your committment
to what God can accomplish in this place.
I know from experience that when God get's busy, so do we.
We are the means by which His Will is accomplished in the world, no
matter how difficult the task or the storm we or the world might be going
through at any given time.
Have strength when the going gets tough.
I can't say that a young student I read about had a great deal of
strength when the going got tough for him.....He had planned his whole
future around getting accepted in a particular school of architecture. When
that didn't happen, he called the Dean of the school he was then attending
to say "My life has been destroyed!" The Dean thought otherwise.
He thought it was time for him to make other plans. As it worked out, he
did not study architecture anywhere. He went into the field of industrial
design. Today, he is one of the nation's great designers, having designed
many objects that grace your home.
His life was "destroyed", but he had the strength to see that God
was simply shifting things around in his life. Consider this possibility: "God
is going to shift things around for you today so that things will
work in your favor!"
Do you have the maturity when everything shifts to look for how
God is making things happen in your favor? I hope so. I pray so.
No matter where you are in your life's journey, Have faith.
Practice awareness and most of all, give God thanks. Now Thank We
All Our God!
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)November 18, 2007 10:30 a, m. Isaiah 65:17-25 Luke 21:5-19
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
"BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS!"
Our combined texts today speak of endings and beginnings, of
judgement and joy. Our first passage from Isaiah 65 shows a wonderful
ending for the people of God. (We hope that's us!) In the second text,
Jesus tells the disciples all of the things they will have to go through - the
destruction of Jerusalem, families turning against them, authorities calling
them to come before them - not a great future to look forward to - yet
Jesus says to them, "None of these things can really harm you! Easy
for Him to say - you say! Not really. He suffered more than anyone - the
most agonizing death imaginable - but He's alive and well and living any
where in the world He wants - including in your heart and mine. Death
could not contain him or swallow him up. He assures us that nothing can
harm us if we continue strong in our faith while we're going through the
dark times. By your endurance you will gain your souls. (Luke 21:19)
our text for the day.
Are you in a time of beginning or ending? The fact is, you are
always experiencing both BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS.
I always get amused at myself at vacation time. I can't wait to get
away, and yet the time comes when I can't wait to get home! Both
beginnings and endings are good - we just LIKE one more than the other!
We don't like endings, yet some things must come to an end in
order that other things may start. In a very real sense we have many lifetimes
in one. Life consists of many journeys - that begin and end - and wisdom
is understanding the journey process which enables you to deal with all
that comes.
Have faith when something is in its beginning stages in your life or
the life of the world.
Have awareness when things are really going well for you,
stopping to savor the experience, and pausing - daily - to give God thanks
for this part of the journey, and to
Have strength when the going get tough - strength
that comes from knowing that all storms have BEGINNINGS AND
ENDINGS that BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS make up the fabric
of our very existence - rise and fall, ying and yang, slow and stop, begin
and speed up; have and have not. Let us review these three "haves."
Have faith when something is in its beginning stages in your
life or the life of the world:
I'm convinced that the world is at a turning point where what it
decides to do will determine whether it will even survive or not. As a
nation, we searched and searched for weapons of mass destruction where
there were none. We should have looked at home. And everywhere
else we look, we see nations trying to weapons of mass destruction - as if
they were something wonderful to have! That's because we in the world
have been taught by everyone (but Jesus) that having them will give us
security. Domination, we are told is how we get security. But others will
want to dominate - and there will always be wars to decide who's the
most dominate! It makes no practical sense.
What makes sense is that our security depends on the well-being
of everyone on the planet, and working on that well being is what we
should, as Christians, be about. The more caring we are about others'
well being the more secure we will become! Our job is drying up the
cesspools of desperation by our acts of generosity and concern for others
- the Jesus way.
There is a new network of spiritual progressives that feel this way
- would that people in all religions were to agree and to live accordingly.
And we have to have the belief that persons of faith reaching out in concern
can make a difference. What we as Americans have done with our
domination strategy is to increase persons hatred of us, playing directly
into the hands of the terrorists who then become more terrible - because
we have fueled their cause. How's that workin' for us. It's not! But how
are things going in YOUR life?
We need to talk about the times we're halfway between the
beginning and the end - when things are going well.
Have awareness when things are really going well for you,
stopping to savor the experience - and giving God thanks.
It is said that "an unexamined life is not worth living." That's true..
But I am concerned about how we forget to stop and savor where we are
now. I am concerned with how we focus instead on where we have been
or where we're going. THE thing that God wants more from us than
anything else is THANKS, and I am glad that it is THANKSGIVING
SUNDAY when I'm saying it. We need to sip and savor. Instead we
gulp down and go by that which should be riveting our attention - the
things for which we should be expressing gratitude.
Or when things are going well, some of us seem to be waiting for
the other shoe to drop - as if somehow we don't deserve calm waters.
On my cruise I got accustomed to calm waters - except one day! The
same day the tanker split apart off the Russian coast, our ship was hit with
high winds and rough seas. I had discovered that there were lots of
accessible Kawai grands on the ship and was playing one of them - just
for the fun of it when one gigantic wave hit the ship. There was a loud
crack. Is the ship breaking in two I wondered? It was the first time I was
ever afraid on board a cruise ship. Soon there was the voice of the captain
telling us that although it was rough and some of us would not be at dinner,
there was nothing to worry about - that in a few hours we would be out of
the storm. So I found another Kawai grand piano with people around it
and played soothing music - skillfully avoiding "Amazing Grace" - the
theme song of the Titanic - what the band was playing when the ship went
down. I was concerned about the well being of my fellow passengers.
More than anything else we need everyone in the world to be
concerned about everyone else in the world - recognizing that we
are all fellow passengers on the same space ship - where we will all
survive or not survive - together.
This is how God will accomplish His dream as outlined in Isaiah:
"I am creating a new heaven and a new earth. The troubled of the
past will be forgotten. No one will remember them. My people will
be happy and rejoice forever and ever because of what I will make."
Just remember, he will make it by using us to help. He will use
those who commit themselves to a new way of thinking and being - who
believe that what we think and do can make a difference - that we cannot
establish peace with bombs and barricades, but only with generosity and
concern for our fellow travelers on the journey, opening doors of
diplomacy, building relationships, tearing down the walls between us. That
will be a tough one, but Jesus is the one who calls us to do it, not by
forcing His religion or ours on anyone, but by becoming the epitome of
love and peace in our actions. Thus will God create His dream.
Although he could have phrased it more interestingly, the theologian,
John Calvin had it right: "It were cold and lifeless to represent God
as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once and for all,
and then left it. Here, especially, we must dissent from the profane,
and maintain that the presence of the divine power is conspicuous,
not less in the perpetual condition of the world than in its first
creation...After learning that there is a Creator, it must forthwith
infer that he is also a "governor" and "preserver" and that, not
by producing a kind of general motion in the machine of the globe
as well as in each of its parts, but by a special "providence"
sustaining, cherishing, superintending, all the things which he has
made to the very minutest, even to a sparrow. (Institute of Christian
Religion)
To put it in United Church of Christ language, God is still speaking,
teaching us new truth that may conflict with teachings of old, even as Jesus
said, "It HAS been said to you - thus and so, but I say to you, and
then he would tell us something new....even as God the Father is
asking us to see the new thing He is going to do - right now on the
Thanksgiving and Stewardship Sunday - through your committment
to what God can accomplish in this place.
I know from experience that when God get's busy, so do we.
We are the means by which His Will is accomplished in the world, no
matter how difficult the task or the storm we or the world might be going
through at any given time.
Have strength when the going gets tough.
I can't say that a young student I read about had a great deal of
strength when the going got tough for him.....He had planned his whole
future around getting accepted in a particular school of architecture. When
that didn't happen, he called the Dean of the school he was then attending
to say "My life has been destroyed!" The Dean thought otherwise.
He thought it was time for him to make other plans. As it worked out, he
did not study architecture anywhere. He went into the field of industrial
design. Today, he is one of the nation's great designers, having designed
many objects that grace your home.
His life was "destroyed", but he had the strength to see that God
was simply shifting things around in his life. Consider this possibility: "God
is going to shift things around for you today so that things will
work in your favor!"
Do you have the maturity when everything shifts to look for how
God is making things happen in your favor? I hope so. I pray so.
No matter where you are in your life's journey, Have faith.
Practice awareness and most of all, give God thanks. Now Thank We
All Our God!
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)November 18, 2007 10:30 a, m. Isaiah 65:17-25 Luke 21:5-19
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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