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The Voice - April 17, 2016

4/18/2016

John 10: 22-30; Acts 9:36-43; Rev. 7:9-17; Psa. 23

So which team are you routing for?
Team Adam Levine?
Team Blake Shelton? Team Christine Aguilera or Team Pharrell Williams?   Some of us may – or may not -- have recognized the trademark names of the reality TV series, “the Voice,” which like the widely popular shows like American Idol (which just ended after 15 seasons) and X Factor, seek to bring the best and brightest talent, the next singing sensation, the greatest singer, to the American audience.

Whether you watch these shows or not, we are in a season of discerning the voices. For the past year, no matter where your politics lie, we have been listening to presidential candidates try and convince us they are the right man, or woman, for the job. This church is in a season of discernment.   Where is God calling us? What shall we do with the resources at hand? Each of us must discern our faith journey and how we devote our time, energy and resources.

The challenge for us is to discern God’s voice among all the voices we hear. There are a lot of voices out there telling us who we are, what we should want, who we should be.   What voice, whose voice are we listening to?

There are voices telling us to do this, don’t do that. Eat your vegetables. Don’t eat that greasy hamburger! Buy this, drive that, wear this, go there. On and on the voices come at us – through TV, radio, ads, our neighbors, friends, family, the church -- It is too much – no wonder we’re exhausted from all that listening.

In our gospel lesson, a Jewish faction gathers around Jesus and asks, “tell us plainly, are you the messiah? “ Jesus doesn’t answer them directly because he knows they aren’t true believers.   They would just use his words against him. So instead, Jesus tells them: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

If we are Jesus followers, we will know his Voice, and be able to pick it out from the din that surrounds us. What a powerful, comforting thought. Scientists tell us that newborns know their mother’s voice from the womb. Doctors also tell us that the last sense to leave us is hearing, and encourage us to speak gently and lovingly to a comatose patient. So we, from birth to death are shaped by the life of faith, through baptism, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to know The Voice of Jesus.

We know the voice of Jesus, but it can get muffled by the sheer variety of voices and messages we hear. We can even listen to our own voice and confuse it with God’s. It is difficult to tune out all other voices to discern the voice of Jesus speaking to us. We can get to the place where we are not aware of our lack of hearing The Voice.

I came across a humorous example that spells out this point. A man decided his wife was getting hard of hearing. So he called her doctor to make an appointment to have her hearing checked. The doctor said he could see her in two weeks, but meanwhile there was a simple, informal test the husband could do to give the doctor some idea of the dimensions of the problem.

“Here’s what you do,” he said. “Stand about 40 feet away from her, and speak in a normal conversational tone and see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”
That evening his wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he’s in the living room, and he says to himself, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.”

“Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.

So he moves to the other end of the room, about 30 feet away.

“Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.

So he moves into the dining room, about 20 feet away. “Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.

On to the kitchen door, only 10 feet away. “Honey, what’s for supper?” No response.

So he walks right up behind her. “Honey, what’s for supper?”

She turns around and says, “For the FIFTH time, CHICKEN!!!!”

        The man learned he was the deaf one after all. If we are not hearing God it is not because God is deaf. We need to get closer to God.

Our texts today help us with how we are to listen to the true Voice. It is the actions and the scriptures that accompany the voice that tell us the identity of The Voice, and whom we should follow. The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.

In our reading from Acts, Peter raises from the dead a beloved follower named Tabitha, or Dorcas, who cared for the widows of Joppa.   The word widow in Hebrew comes from a root that means “mute,” or “silent.” It aptly describes the status of widows in the ancient world: powerless, defenseless, vulnerable, most often poor and destitute. So Tabitha had a ministry with widows, those who were silenced. Peter, after praying, tells Tabitha to get up. Peter takes Tabitha by the hand and helps her up. Tabitha is alive again.

We know The Voice of Jesus because The Voice originates from the care of those who are powerless and most vulnerable in our world. We know The Voice of Jesus because it tells us, like Peter did, to get up. The Voice of Jesus raises those aspects of us that have been long dead and buried back to life. To dream. To hope. The ability to forgive and move on. The ability to see with new eyes. All brought back to life. The Voice of Jesus takes us by the hand and helps us up, and restores us to life.

The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
Our psalmist describes our Lord as a shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us to still waters. God cares for us.
The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
God restores our soul. When our soul have become wearied or worn down, God is our restorer.

The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
God leads us right paths; God leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. God guides and protects.

The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
Even in our trials God sustains us, anoints us and makes our cup overflow.

The actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
So we find The Voice of God whenever we too, care for one another, when we work to restore one another, when we companion one another on right paths, those paths through the darkest valleys.

We find The Voice when we sustain and bless one another through trials.   Even our reading in the Book of Revelation reminds us that the multitudes, from every nation, tribe and peoples and languages, coming through sacrifice, cry out and sing to God in praise.

Their actions in the scriptures confirm The Voice.
Ultimately we find the beautiful, ancient yet ever new voice of God in the acts of caring for others. Do we want to be sure that we hear God? Let us listen to those in need: whatever the need, within our congregation and in our larger community. This is where we will hear God speaking.

Let the actions of God speak to us so we will listen with full attention. Let us tune out the voices of despair, of judgment and fear. Instead let us listen to The Voice.

The Voice that cared for widows.

The Voice that says, “get up.”

The Voice that reaches out a hand and helps up.

The Voice that can summon the dead to life.

The Voice that nourishes, restores, leads and protects, that voice that feeds through affliction and blesses.

The Voice that praises through suffering. Do we hear that voice? Do we hear that Voice? Let us get close to it.

That is The Voice of Jesus. It will become our voice too, if we listen faithfully to it.

It will become our voice too if we follow it with all our hearts.

It will become our voice too if we act, like Peter did, like the Good Shepherd does. It will become our voice too if, in Jesus’ name – we choose to speak – on Team Jesus.
Amen.

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Do You Love Me? April 10, 2016

4/12/2016

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Acts 9:1-20; John 21:1-19

Whatever one may think of him, there was a time Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America, in not in the world. He came to America from his native Scotland when he was a small boy, did a variety of odd jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. At one time he had forty-three millionaires working for him. In those days a millionaire was a rare person; conservatively speaking, a million dollars in his day would be equivalent to at least twenty million dollars today.

A reporter asked Carnegie how he had hired forty-three millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him but had become millionaires as a result.

The reporter's next question was, "How did you develop these men to becomes so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?" Carnegie replied that men (or shall we interject in our modern ears, people) are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt and mud; one goes in looking for the gold.

Our scripture lessons today tell us the stories of two men, Peter and Paul. By no means could they be considered the robber barons of their day. They remained most likely in humble financial circumstances all their lives.   Yet together they built the foundation of the early Christian church as we know it. Peter was the rock, the patriarch of the Jerusalem church, eventually moving to Rome and becoming an influential and revered figure there.

The spread of the gospel throughout the Greek speaking Roman Empire is largely due to the tireless efforts of the apostle Paul. Peter, a humble Galilean fisherman, Paul a Roman, Greek speaking citizen and highly trained Pharisee, a “Hebrew of Hebrews” in his own estimation. .   Two men with a zeal and love for Jesus and his gospel. Two men specifically chosen by Jesus to establish his divine purposes on earth – the establishment of love in action- the kingdom of heaven. Two unlikely men; yet with one thing in common:   To reach the gold in each man, Jesus had to mine through a lot of dirt. Reach gold, however, the Lord did.

In our story from John we find the disciples traveling back to Galilee to go fishing.   The last time they were at the Sea of Tiberias (the sea of Galilee in other gospels) was back in chapter six when Jesus fed at least five thousand from five loaves and two small fish.   Here, on the seaside, at dawn, with a catch of 153 fish, Jesus feeds his small band of disciples. Jesus is concerned with feeding people, body, mind and spirit.

Unlike the last supper, we could call this the first breakfast, for these are the two meals that bracket Jesus’ death and resurrection. At the last supper, after they had eaten, Jesus spoke of a new commandment for his disciples to love one another (13:34-35). That they should be recognized as disciples by their love.   Jesus spoke of his love for his disciples    He told them to remain or dwell, in that love (15:9). Twice he said anyone who loved him would obey his commandments (14:15; 15:10).   He said that anyone who loved him would obey his teachings (14:23).

Here, after they had breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside and asks him three times, “Do you love me?”   A startling question that Jesus asks no one else, not his mother, or the beloved disciple, of Thomas or Mary Magdalene. Just Peter. The Lord, who knows all hearts, knows that Peter loves him like all the rest. The most likely question is that Jesus is excavating through the dirt and mud. We know that Peter denied knowing Jesus three times on the night of his arrest. So Jesus, never vindictive, wants to clear the mud of the guilt and shame Peter feels.

The best way is the direct way. Jesus wants to remind Peter of all he taught about love, that night of the last supper.   A new commandment I give to you, to love one another as I have loved you.    If you love me you will obey what I command. If anyone loves me, she will obey my teachings. If you obey my commands you will remain in my love.   Three times Jesus emphasized this in his last discourse. So now again, he emphasizes it with Peter.   To heal Peter. To help Peter find the gold within.   So he says, when Peter says of course I love you: Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

Peter, Jesus says, I believe you. You have the gold of love in your heart. Now use it to care for others. Once more like at the beginning of his ministry Jesus issues the command: Follow me.   The next thing we hear of Peter is on the day of Pentecost, when he is boldly preaching outdoors to the crowds of Jerusalem.

With Paul, the encounter is no less dramatic. Paul has been successfully persecuting the growing Christian movement, with encouragement from the high priest in Jerusalem. Acts tells us that Paul, originally named Saul, fixed to destroy the church (Acts 8:3). He dragged people off to prison and approved the stoning of the first martyr, Stephen.

Paul, with great missionary zeal, is armed with letters to arrest Jesus followers in Damascus. Jesus intervenes with Paul as he does with Peter. With a blinding light that knocks Paul to the ground, Jesus asks Paul one question, “Why do you persecute me?” There were many who persecuted Jesus in his life and afterwards, but it is to Paul that Jesus appears and pointedly asks the question, “Why do you persecute me?” Jesus wants to find the gold in Paul. He doesn’t condemn Paul or damn him to hell. He wants Paul to think of the people he is hurting, to truly understand his actions, and to know who Jesus really is.   Jesus doesn’t wait for an answer but tells him to go into the city and wait to be told what to do.

So feared is Paul that a Jesus follower, Ananias, is troubled by the Lord’s instructions to go to Paul.   Jesus reassures Ananias, calls Paul, “my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. v. 15.” Underneath the dirt and the mud, Jesus knows that gold is there.

Jesus’ faith in both Peter and Paul pays off. Before long, Paul has done a 180 and is proclaiming, “Jesus is the Son of God.” Close to 1/3 of the New Testament is attributed to Paul’s writing or influence.   Jesus knew there was dirt in both men’s lives. However Jesus also knew there was gold and was willing to dig for it.

Our texts tell us that this is the work of the body of Christ, of each one of us in our walk of faith, and of each of us called to leadership in the church. We all sit here together, and we know there is probably plenty of dirt. However, there is gold and plenty of it as well. Our task is to not be afraid of the dirt, the hard work, not to be deterred by failures and setbacks trusting there is gold. This is what Jesus sees in us. The gold – even before we see it, God does.

We may not be people with the stature of a Peter or a Paul. However we can still relate to them as human beings because they somehow got beyond the dirt and let the gold in their life shine. They were able to do this because Jesus believed in them and commissioned them to serve. In that way we are no different from them. Jesus believes in us – in each of us. Jesus says we are each worth the digging to extract that which is precious. Jesus calls us to serve, to feed and tend his sheep, to spread the message of love. In serving the dross is removed and we shine.

So today as we hold our congregational gathering let us celebrate new leadership, and the call and gifts of each of us to serve. Let us celebrate the particular gifts of Union Church as it is called to be a spiritual leader in this community. Let us dig, and through the power of Jesus, knowing we will shine. Amen.

http://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/3766/andrew-carnegie/

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Scars Heal April 3, 2016

4/2/2016

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John 20:19-31

        Like most loved ones of murder victims, the disciples withdrew behind locked doors. They had witnessed someone they loved, Jesus, wrongly arrested, horribly tortured and crucified. They no doubt felt guilty for abandoning and denying Jesus, in his time of need. They sat behind locked doors, wounded by shame, in fear of the Jewish leadership, worried they were next to be killed.

So when Jesus appears in spite of those locked doors, he finds a traumatized group. Jesus doesn’t berate them or judge them.   His first words are “Peace I give to you.” In fact Jesus offers peace three times in our passage. The scarred Jesus brings wholeness, well-being, completeness and security to his hurting disciples. He then issues them their marching orders: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”   The scarred Jesus breathes on them, giving them Holy Spirit.   With this breath of peace, Jesus commissions them to engage in a ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation.   Jesus chooses scarred people, not perfect people, to continue his work.

One person was missing from this amazing encounter, the disciple Thomas.   Thomas is the disciple who spoke up when Jesus decided to go to Bethany where Lazarus his friend had died. “Yes, let’s go there that we might die with him” Thomas declared. Thomas unlike the others, didn’t need convincing that Jesus would die. But once Jesus was dead, Thomas clung to that fact. Thomas needed to be convinced that Jesus was indeed, alive. I must see his scars, Thomas insists. So Jesus returns, a week later, goes to Thomas, and invites Thomas to touch the scars.   Thomas responds with that powerful exclamation of faith, “my Lord and my God!”
Our text makes it clear:   the resurrected Christ is identified by his scars. Thomas had it right. Thomas knew the nail prints Jesus bears, the wound in his side, would forever mark the Risen Jesus. Resurrection does not mean that scars go away – but that life continues in spite of them. Scars remain even if pain subsides and life goes on.   Scars heal, but scars can also heal, if we follow the example of Jesus. Jesus does not hide his scars. He let himself be known by his scars. Jesus says, if you want to find me, look to your scars. Look to the scars in those around you.   You will find me in the scars of the world.

That’s a tall order.   Who likes to face their hurts?   My husband Forrest has helped me understand the sacredness of scars. If you were to look closely at Forrest’s arms and hands, you would see his scars. Scars from a house fire that claimed his mother’s and sister’s life when he was just a baby. He clung to life for months.   He bears these scars as a fact of life. He is not embarrassed by them nor does he draw attention to them. But these scars, and the life-long suffering they represent, have forever shaped Forrest to be the kind of loving, giving, sensitive man he is, respectful and gentle with the scars of others.

Not all fires are made of flames. Not all scars are visible to the eye. We carry most of our scars on the inside. Scars of mental or emotional pain. Traumas we have endured. Scars from rejection, or past failures, or hurts or conflicts that have or continue to sear us our minds, our spirit or our emotions.   We ask: what good can come from our scars? We are trained to keep a stiff upper lip. Hold it in. Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Lock it all up.   Yet, Jesus, the sinless one, did not hide his scars, but transformed them into sources of healing.   Jesus now turns us into wounded healers-capable of bringing hope, forgiveness and wholeness into the world—scars and all.

There’s another ancient story that reminds us of the potency of scars. In The Odyssey, there is a scene that takes place towards the end of the story. Odysseus (o-dis-e-us) returns home after twenty years after the Trojan War and other delays. He is in disguise as an old man. At first no one recognizes him; not even his wife and child.   One night before bed, Odysseus’ aged nurse bathes him. At first she thinks of him as a stranger, but then she recognizes scar from his infancy. It is through the scar that Odysseus is finally known. As Christians so it is with us. Will we let our scars heal, and be known by them?
Several years ago I was moved by rap artist Jefferson Bethke’s controversial poem on YouTube, “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.” It has garnered close to 32 million views over four years, in addition to a lot of responses and spin-offs.   There is one line of the poem that strikes a nerve:   Bethke says “Church is not a museum for good people; it’s a hospital for the broken, which means I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to hide my sin because it doesn’t depend on me, it depends on him.” What a concept – that us – Jesus’ church – is as scarred as he was! That the church is where we can freely encounter our wounds without judgment--with no shame--and find healing through our scarred, Risen Savior.

Our text reminds us today that Peace and forgiveness are possible because Jesus is able to reach us behind our locked hearts.   Scars heal – and so we are called to listen and to action where there is hurt and pain. It has become well known in Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in at least 41 countries around the world: South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Bosnia, Canada are among some of them. It’s in part what the Black Lives Matter movement is striving to achieve.    It happens in prison groups where survivors of crime and offenders are brought together for dialogue.   It happens at coffee shops where estranged friends meet to talk things over. It happens in worship when we publicly confess our sin.  Through it all we learn to hold each other’s scars as holy, we are touched and transformed by each other’s wounds – through the power of the Holy Spirit moving among us.

Legend tells us that Thomas, scarred and healed of his trauma, went forth to new lands to preach the Good News.   He is thought to be the only Apostle who went outside the Roman Empire to share the gospel.   It is said that Thomas crossed the largest area, even more than Paul, which includes the Parthian Empire, and is said to have brought the gospel to India.

This same scarred Jesus is calling us to new places, because scars heal.   What shall we do? Shall we lock our scars away and through away the key? Shall we just continue to pretend we’re OK—when we know how much hurt we have borne?   Or will we- like Thomas – let God use our scars and imperfections to heal and to bring forgiveness and peace to our hurting world?

The writer Ernest Hemingway once observed: “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” So this is our Easter promise: that we can be strong at the broken places.   In Christ, our scars heal. They enable us to enter locked hearts, to dismantle fear, to breathe peace, to forgive. Wounded healers, let us hold the scars of the world sacred, because that’s where Jesus is.   Like Thomas may we gaze upon the brokenness around us, and see in it our savior’s face – and respond—“My Lord and my God!”
Amen.

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The Voice - April 17, 2016

Do You Love Me? April 10, 2016

Scars Heal April 3, 2016

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