This sermon was heard at The Federated Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Sunday July 9, 2016, the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
While I ordinarily preach using scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary, this is Children's Sunday. The Federated Church just completed its "Fun with Bells (and Parables) Vacation Bible School. Keeping with the theme of the week, I am preaching the parable of the light and the basket.
Genesis 1:1-5
Luke 11:33-36
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer, amen.
This is one of those Sundays when there is too much to say and too many places to start. So let’s start here. Some people will say that the pulpit is no place to talk about politics. I will agree that the pulpit is no place to endorse a political candidate or a political party. Aside from the tax ramifications, which are important, it’s a bad pastoral move. It’s not my role to endorse anyone and you don’t want to hear it. But, to say the gospel is apolitical is misreading the gospel.
In ancient Rome, Caesar was Lord. Caesar was the master over the empire and ruler of all. The word of Caesar was life and death. To declare “Jesus is Lord” was a political statement. To say “Jesus is Lord” was to put the authority of somebody else before the Emperor and was punishable by death. The Romans were pretty lenient with religion; they didn’t care because it kept the locals happy. But to declare a living man was God and Lord of all was to challenge Caesar, and that wasn’t happening.
So if I should ever sound political that’s why and that’s what I consider before I say anything in the pulpit. Yes, the gospel is political.
This week has been a study of contrasts. It’s been hard wrapping my head around it. The news has been filled with lows and the church has been filled with highs! It’s not like we have turned a blind eye to the world, but Vacation Bible School has been glorious. To see the joy in the kids and the volunteers was wonderful!
When I was in Berryville, Arkansas, four churches came together for VBS and it was fun, but there were over a hundred kids and it seemed like as many parents and it became a huge production. Don’t get me wrong, it was great, but by the time it was done I was exhausted. The production was huge. And I didn’t really get to know any of the kids. This week, walking down the street, sitting in The Cup, playing “Telephone,” teaching lessons, hearing the bells, seeing the crafts, and just watching your children and grandchildren, and neighbors; I got to know the kids. I could see and feel the Holy Spirit at work. I could see joy in their faces. I didn’t see pride, I saw delight. Even playing there was love and cooperation and peace that surpassed my understanding.
To hear the questions, the comments, oh, it was so wonderful. We checked out the foundation in the baptistery and they asked me questions about baptism, so it’s probably time for that conversation for some of you.
Let me share this wonderful story, Zach saw the gaps in the Magill’s back patio wall and asked what they were, Terry told him they were to drain the patio after it rained and that very few people ever noticed them. As this was happening I was sitting next to Alice and said he was going to be a Detective someday. Alice suggested he could be an intelligence analyst. Let’s face it, the kid’s got a future.
Just to sit by the pool, watch the children play, watch Lisa juggle, drink a limeade; do you mind if I praise God that you called me to be your pastor? That you called Marie and I to come to Weatherford and The Federated Church? Thank you and praise God!
Then during the afternoons, I would go into the office and check the email. One of the joys of serving The Federated Church is that for four generations, you have figured out how to be one Body of Christ with first two and then three Christian denominations under one roof. You figured that out. God knows the Presbytery hasn’t figured it out, just ask Jody and Bruce, they’ll tell you. You have found the way. The flipside of that is that with three denominations I get triple the newsletters and triple the action alerts. Because of the violence in Baton Rouge, St. Paul, and Dallas this week, that’s been a lot of reading.
Just to add more blood to this fiasco, while editing the sermon, Marie told me about two more on Saturday, another shooting in Alabama and the incident at the Dallas Police Headquarters.
Some of those emails asked how I was planning to modify today’s worship and sermon. Well let’s start here, I wasn’t planning on telling you about my email. I was planning on a lovely extended children’s message. Lighter than usual, a pleasant change for everybody. To help, some folks provided ideas for worship. These included links and letters and resources. These provided food for thought. There was a lot of good information. Some suggestions. A couple of suggestions those weren’t very subtle either.
This quote came from Texas Governor Greg Abbot during a Friday afternoon press conference, “We as a people need to move forward and live our everyday lives knowing that Texas is going to be greater going forward unaltered, unaffected by this act of cowardice.” (Dallas mayor and Texas governor address shooting, http://finance.yahoo.com/video/dallas-mayor-texas-governor-address-001007137.html, retrieved July 9, 2016. Remark found at 11:30.) Really, as a city, as a society, as a people, we need to move forward unchanged, unaffected after a peaceful protest is shattered by sniper fire? The Dallas Police Department, I can’t say they supported the protest, but they supported the rights of the protesters. Then these protectors became victims of this heinous act of cowardice and we’re going to be greater going forward unaltered and unaffected?
I was shown other more conciliatory words from the Governor later in the day. More polished, but not from a dais, not from a microphone. These words came first.
In this great nation we have killings in schools and in movie houses, in homes and in the streets. Police and civilians are killed by police and by civilians. First degree murder and justifiable homicide, warranted and unwarranted killings and for the love of God a seminary classmate from Dallas buried her mother and two cousins last year because they were shot and killed in a House of God. They were members of the Emmanuel AME Church. They are three of the Charleston Nine.
Still we are told we “need to move forward and live our everyday lives knowing that [our world] is going to be greater going forward unaltered, unaffected.” We live our everyday lives unaltered, unaffected, like nothing has changed because nothing has changed. And if we continue to live like this nothing will change. Violence and hatred and rage and darkness will be a way of life until something drastic changes. Unaltered and unaffected is the last thing we need to be.
Like I said, it’s been quite a week.
I try to be subtler than this in my sermons, but one of the things I do is work through the musical question, “So what?” Well, so this…
Jesus said, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy (the NIV text note says this could mean ‘generous’), your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy (the NIV text note says this could mean ‘stingy’), your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” You should have seen it here this week. You got a taste of it earlier. There was a light shining that glowed from within these kids. There was a light that glowed, reflecting the light of the Holy Spirit that burns.
I was filled with such joy because I got to be a part of it! What a privilege! What an honor! These kids were so generous with their love for God and for one another. They shared what they had. They shared time and energy. They made sure no one was left behind. They laughed together, they learned together, and, during the parable of the Good Samaritan, when they discovered the smelly kid in their class at school was their neighbor too, they paused together. At that moment, they became more generous with who they thought was their neighbor. Their light became healthier.
These kids are so generous. They submitted to the Word of God and to learning and the bells and the crafts and most of all to one another. Kids that didn’t know each other on Tuesday were friends on Thursday. The light that shined was full and bright. At the food bank they came to realize that the poor not only needed bread and cereal, but baby formula and toilet paper. The epiphany was obvious; poverty means more than they knew. Generosity means more than they know.
Yes, they learned that they will goof, to use grown up words, that’s the nature of sin. In a world that spends so much time and energy on mayhem, murder, and bedlam, in that darkness there is light. In a world where my internet news feed is 85% chaos or Kardashian, in that darkness there is light. These wonderful children, who live in this circus learned that by love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ redeems the world and their “whole body [will be] full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on [them].”
I saw that in a world full of darkness, the light still shines.
Terry taught them a song, “This little light of mine/I’m gonna let it shine/Not gonna hide it under a bushel/Gonna let it shine on everybody/I’m gonna let it shine. The light shines and we are called to take that light and shine in the world. Genesis tells us, the Lord created the light and separated it from the dark. That’s what the Lord was doing here all this week, taking the light and separating it from the dark.
For those of you who weren’t here last week I asked, “What’s your story?” This is mine. This is a time when Jesus and the church made a difference in my life. During a week when the darkness threatened to swallow everything, your children shined the light of Christ. The light of Christ shines and I pray it can be seen in my eyes. Don’t let your light rest in a place where it will be hidden, under a bowl. We all need to be able to share our light, and let it shine, and the children will lead us all.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Sunday, July 03, 2016
You Want Me to Do WHAT?
This sermon was heard at The Federated Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Sunday July 3, 2016, the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
2Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6:7-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
In this life, there are things we have to do. Our bosses, our parents, and even our children tell us there are things to do. Sometimes it’s society, whether the government, which is just the formal arm of society, or obligation and expectations, like keeping the lawn mowed. Often we don’t want to do them. We’d rather laze around the house, hike in the mountains, sit on the back patio with a beverage of choice, or shoot the back nine. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld said it like this, “A recent study showed that more people are afraid of public speaking than are afraid of dying. That means that at a funeral, the average American would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy.”
Naaman is a mighty warrior. He has won many battles and gained glory in the name of the King of Aram. Of course he doesn’t get to share the spoils with anybody because he has leprosy. A tiny slave girl laments over the fate of her master. She tells her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” If you think your health plan has hoops, here’s a slave girl referring her master to a Jewish Prophet in exile in Samaria through her mistress. So the King of Aram signs off on this and sends Naaman off to the King of Israel with a signed letter and a gift of silver and gold worth about $680,000 by today’s standards.
Unfortunately, when the King of Israel got the letter it said “so you may cure him.” His first response was You want me to do what? “Am I God? Can I cure disease?” He rented his garments, a fancy way to say he dramatically tore his clothes in woe, grief, sorrow, and in this case he wondering if the King of Aram was raring for a fight sending his mightiest General. Elisha caught wind of this and sent the king a note saying send him to me. The king was more than happy to pass the buck. He sent Naaman to see the prophet in Samaria.
Let me set the scene for you. Naaman isn’t travelling alone or with a small cadre of officers. The man is traveling with a small army including the slaves who serve them. He’s got an entourage that would make a Hollywood diva positively jealous. Elisha’s house isn’t a ranch style three bedroom with attached garage a couple blocks from good schools either. It would be more like a Mexican Villa. There would be a main house with a walled courtyard surrounding the larger compound. This is where Naaman knocked and the servant met him.
Now imagine this, you’re a servant, probably the chief steward to Elisha, the prophet of the Lord, you have received Naaman at the gate and seen the army of the King of Aram. You have received the formal request that Elisha heal the General of his leprosy. So Elisha’s in the 9th Century BC equivalent of his man cave and he tells you to tell the General, in front of that army, to go take a bath in a dirty river.
Imagine being that guy, now say it with me, “You want me to do what?” You get to meet an army and tell its General to get naked and take a bath in front of the very people he has defeated in battle. If you’re imagining sudden death, I suspect you’ve put yourself in his sandals. Naaman couldn’t give Elisha’s servant the satisfaction of hearing it, so he says it to his servant, “He wants me to do what?” Instead he talks about cleaner rivers at home. The servants shrug and say “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
Naaman does and his flesh is made anew, baby soft.
Now, did you notice this about the story, the people who move the action along are the people with the least power. When Naaman balks at taking the trip to the Jordan, it is his servants who convince him to go. Before that it’s not Elisha but his servant who delivers the delightful news of the cure. When Naaman arrives at the King of Israel’s throne with an army and the blessing of the King of Aram seeking a cure it’s Elisha who takes this problem off the King’s hands. Finally, and most significantly, it’s a slave girl that gets the ball rolling. Her concern for her master causes her to seek her mistress and tell her where to find a cure. An Israelite slave girl is the ultimate non-person in this place and time. Age, race, and gender all play against her. She is nobody and she sets this chain of events in motion. Over and over I have asked “You want me to do what?” and nobody asked her anything.
After all of this history, and all of this narrative, here comes another question: How many of these servants really wanted to speak up in front of the people with such power? You already have my opinion about the King of Israel sending Naaman to Elisha, he was glad to have him out of the throne room. And the servant of Elisha, going to meet an army alone to tell the General to take a bath. I’m guessing he feared for his life.
What about Naaman’s servants and the little girl? Did they want to speak up? The Naaman’s servants knew giving such bold advice alone could get them killed, and if it didn’t work, it would get their dead bodies stomped to dust. As for the little girl, she wanted the General who conquered her people cured. Now that’s something. She had the least, and she had the purest motive and without her there would be no story of the healing power of the Lord through the authority of the prophet Elisha. People want others to do what is right in their eyes and the eyes of their peers for their own gain. The little girl gained nothing.
Paul warns the Galatians that powerful people want them to be circumcised not for their benefit, but for the benefit of the people in charge of the Synagogue. He writes, “The only reason they do this, is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.” Before Paul became a force in Christianity, the gentiles who wanted to accept Jesus were required to first become Jews. It was logical at the time, Jesus was a Jew, the followers of Jesus were Jews, so to be a new follower of Jesus was to first be a Jew.
It was all to keep the law, but “not even those who are circumcised keep the law,” reminded Paul, “yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.” The truth was the ritual wasn’t so much for the glory of God or Christ, it was for the leaders who wanted the gentiles circumcised. Paul, who was one of those leaders before his conversion, refused to accept those accolades anymore. He cried out, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He would die for none but his Lord Jesus the Christ. What others wanted, Paul knew was worthless, submission to the cross is all that mattered, and he made sure the Galatians knew.
This power through submission theme continues in our gospel reading. Jesus sent the seventy-two to offer his peace upon a household, and if his peace remains to stay. Then “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Of course when they return they tell another story.
When they returned they had fish tales to tell, one pair landing bigger fish than the last. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Jesus says,
“Yeah, you have this power. This is good, but this is not why I sent you out.” He sent them out to share the good news. To heal the sick. To bring in the harvest. Demons and snakes and scorpions were tools to do the work, not the work itself.
Jesus told them, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” The flashy part isn’t the important part. Relationships, that’s what’s important. A relationship with the heavenly Father, that’s what’s important.
In this world, we will be asked to do a lot of things and our first impulse is to answer, “You want me to do WHAT!” We see it in our reading from Kings. Our reading from Galatians offers it up in a form, but Paul has told us that form is no longer required. In Luke, Jesus has paired up 72 disciples and sent them out, but it seems they became more enamored by the frosting than the cake. Here’s what I want you to do.
I want you to remember a time in your life when faith changed your life. Was it a mended relationship, or forgiveness, or healing, or a turning point. Think about it. Really think about it. Then, can you find a way to share that story in a couple of minutes? In evangelism (WAIT, YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT! It’ll be alright, hold on!) these are called “elevator talks.” Share what you want to share in just a couple of minutes, the length of time it takes to go up a couple of floors on an elevator. People don’t want to know theologies, they want to know what kind of difference Jesus, what kind of difference this body of Christ has made in your life.
That’s what I want you to do. Be just like that little girl in 2Kings. She knew there was a prophet, she knew there was healing to be had, and she shared. Now I’m not saying “tell the world” tomorrow. Share the story with your spouse, or someone from the congregation. Share it with me or Marie, we love good stories, and we’ll share our stories with you. This way together we take the first step to share the good news of the kingdom of God with the world… one person at a time.
2Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6:7-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
In this life, there are things we have to do. Our bosses, our parents, and even our children tell us there are things to do. Sometimes it’s society, whether the government, which is just the formal arm of society, or obligation and expectations, like keeping the lawn mowed. Often we don’t want to do them. We’d rather laze around the house, hike in the mountains, sit on the back patio with a beverage of choice, or shoot the back nine. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld said it like this, “A recent study showed that more people are afraid of public speaking than are afraid of dying. That means that at a funeral, the average American would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy.”
Naaman is a mighty warrior. He has won many battles and gained glory in the name of the King of Aram. Of course he doesn’t get to share the spoils with anybody because he has leprosy. A tiny slave girl laments over the fate of her master. She tells her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” If you think your health plan has hoops, here’s a slave girl referring her master to a Jewish Prophet in exile in Samaria through her mistress. So the King of Aram signs off on this and sends Naaman off to the King of Israel with a signed letter and a gift of silver and gold worth about $680,000 by today’s standards.
Unfortunately, when the King of Israel got the letter it said “so you may cure him.” His first response was You want me to do what? “Am I God? Can I cure disease?” He rented his garments, a fancy way to say he dramatically tore his clothes in woe, grief, sorrow, and in this case he wondering if the King of Aram was raring for a fight sending his mightiest General. Elisha caught wind of this and sent the king a note saying send him to me. The king was more than happy to pass the buck. He sent Naaman to see the prophet in Samaria.
Let me set the scene for you. Naaman isn’t travelling alone or with a small cadre of officers. The man is traveling with a small army including the slaves who serve them. He’s got an entourage that would make a Hollywood diva positively jealous. Elisha’s house isn’t a ranch style three bedroom with attached garage a couple blocks from good schools either. It would be more like a Mexican Villa. There would be a main house with a walled courtyard surrounding the larger compound. This is where Naaman knocked and the servant met him.
Now imagine this, you’re a servant, probably the chief steward to Elisha, the prophet of the Lord, you have received Naaman at the gate and seen the army of the King of Aram. You have received the formal request that Elisha heal the General of his leprosy. So Elisha’s in the 9th Century BC equivalent of his man cave and he tells you to tell the General, in front of that army, to go take a bath in a dirty river.
Imagine being that guy, now say it with me, “You want me to do what?” You get to meet an army and tell its General to get naked and take a bath in front of the very people he has defeated in battle. If you’re imagining sudden death, I suspect you’ve put yourself in his sandals. Naaman couldn’t give Elisha’s servant the satisfaction of hearing it, so he says it to his servant, “He wants me to do what?” Instead he talks about cleaner rivers at home. The servants shrug and say “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
Naaman does and his flesh is made anew, baby soft.
Now, did you notice this about the story, the people who move the action along are the people with the least power. When Naaman balks at taking the trip to the Jordan, it is his servants who convince him to go. Before that it’s not Elisha but his servant who delivers the delightful news of the cure. When Naaman arrives at the King of Israel’s throne with an army and the blessing of the King of Aram seeking a cure it’s Elisha who takes this problem off the King’s hands. Finally, and most significantly, it’s a slave girl that gets the ball rolling. Her concern for her master causes her to seek her mistress and tell her where to find a cure. An Israelite slave girl is the ultimate non-person in this place and time. Age, race, and gender all play against her. She is nobody and she sets this chain of events in motion. Over and over I have asked “You want me to do what?” and nobody asked her anything.
After all of this history, and all of this narrative, here comes another question: How many of these servants really wanted to speak up in front of the people with such power? You already have my opinion about the King of Israel sending Naaman to Elisha, he was glad to have him out of the throne room. And the servant of Elisha, going to meet an army alone to tell the General to take a bath. I’m guessing he feared for his life.
What about Naaman’s servants and the little girl? Did they want to speak up? The Naaman’s servants knew giving such bold advice alone could get them killed, and if it didn’t work, it would get their dead bodies stomped to dust. As for the little girl, she wanted the General who conquered her people cured. Now that’s something. She had the least, and she had the purest motive and without her there would be no story of the healing power of the Lord through the authority of the prophet Elisha. People want others to do what is right in their eyes and the eyes of their peers for their own gain. The little girl gained nothing.
Paul warns the Galatians that powerful people want them to be circumcised not for their benefit, but for the benefit of the people in charge of the Synagogue. He writes, “The only reason they do this, is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.” Before Paul became a force in Christianity, the gentiles who wanted to accept Jesus were required to first become Jews. It was logical at the time, Jesus was a Jew, the followers of Jesus were Jews, so to be a new follower of Jesus was to first be a Jew.
It was all to keep the law, but “not even those who are circumcised keep the law,” reminded Paul, “yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.” The truth was the ritual wasn’t so much for the glory of God or Christ, it was for the leaders who wanted the gentiles circumcised. Paul, who was one of those leaders before his conversion, refused to accept those accolades anymore. He cried out, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He would die for none but his Lord Jesus the Christ. What others wanted, Paul knew was worthless, submission to the cross is all that mattered, and he made sure the Galatians knew.
This power through submission theme continues in our gospel reading. Jesus sent the seventy-two to offer his peace upon a household, and if his peace remains to stay. Then “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Of course when they return they tell another story.
When they returned they had fish tales to tell, one pair landing bigger fish than the last. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Jesus says,
“Yeah, you have this power. This is good, but this is not why I sent you out.” He sent them out to share the good news. To heal the sick. To bring in the harvest. Demons and snakes and scorpions were tools to do the work, not the work itself.
Jesus told them, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” The flashy part isn’t the important part. Relationships, that’s what’s important. A relationship with the heavenly Father, that’s what’s important.
In this world, we will be asked to do a lot of things and our first impulse is to answer, “You want me to do WHAT!” We see it in our reading from Kings. Our reading from Galatians offers it up in a form, but Paul has told us that form is no longer required. In Luke, Jesus has paired up 72 disciples and sent them out, but it seems they became more enamored by the frosting than the cake. Here’s what I want you to do.
I want you to remember a time in your life when faith changed your life. Was it a mended relationship, or forgiveness, or healing, or a turning point. Think about it. Really think about it. Then, can you find a way to share that story in a couple of minutes? In evangelism (WAIT, YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT! It’ll be alright, hold on!) these are called “elevator talks.” Share what you want to share in just a couple of minutes, the length of time it takes to go up a couple of floors on an elevator. People don’t want to know theologies, they want to know what kind of difference Jesus, what kind of difference this body of Christ has made in your life.
That’s what I want you to do. Be just like that little girl in 2Kings. She knew there was a prophet, she knew there was healing to be had, and she shared. Now I’m not saying “tell the world” tomorrow. Share the story with your spouse, or someone from the congregation. Share it with me or Marie, we love good stories, and we’ll share our stories with you. This way together we take the first step to share the good news of the kingdom of God with the world… one person at a time.
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