Luke 16:19-31; Amos 6:1-7
 
Happy Autumn!  As we begin a new season, we are beginning a program called Fall into Faith. Through worship, the scriptures, and the sermon we will explore the practices of the healthy, evolving church. Or to use a term we have been using all summer, a vital congregation. A healthy, evolving church, a vital congregation, is a church that builds bridges between people and with God. It creates neighbors and disciples between insiders and outsiders. Our readings for the past several weeks have touched upon precisely this: how to overcome divides between sinners and saints. Between those on the inside, those left in the cold. And especially between the haves and have nots.

In our brave new post-covid world, we have experienced this divide acutely. People are divided politically. Economically, who hasn’t felt the pinch at the pump?  Who hasn’t seen prices of groceries, and other necessities rise? Who hasn’t grown insecure?  Long Island Cares reports a 43% increase in visitors seeking help at its food pantries this past year.  The Freeport Food Pantry, which our church actively supports, also reports similar upticks in use.  Yesterday, at the Presbytery meeting, the Springs East Hampton Food Pantry shared a heartbreaking story about a family where both parents lost their jobs during COVID.  The father came to the pantry seeking food on a bicycle; the family car had been repossessed. He came seeking food to feed their five children.  The irony of these wrenching scenarios is that at the same time people have been choosing between rent and food, gas or groceries, 2.5 million millionaires were created in the US alone. It was the highest rate of millionaires added to the world economy last year in the last century. The old adage is true: the richest have gotten richer, the poor, poorer. It is something to remember as our scriptures today introduce us to the world of the rich.  Those with resources are called to practice mercy.

The prophet Amos gives us a vivid picture of the life of a rich person centuries before Jesus lived.  They slept on ivory beds, instead of the floor on a straw mat, like most Israelites did. They had couches to lounge on – instead of the ground.  They regularly consumed lamb and calves’ meat, a delicacy —while most of the hoi polio rarely if ever ate meat.  Instead of working from dawn to dusk, they sat around singing idle tunes, drank wine, anointed themselves with finest oils so that they smelled oh so fresh – while holding their noses at the stench of the rest of humanity. 

There was one critical flaw that Amos noted about the ancient rich- they were not grieved, angry, or upset that the nation of Israel was coming to ruin – or was being seized, forced into poverty, disinherited from the land.  They lacked mercy for the destitute poor.  They had the power to change things, but just didn’t care. As a result, God allowed them to experience the consequences of their distain for the less fortunate.
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Six centuries later, Jesus tells us the story of another wealthy person. A rich man dressed in the most exquisite designer clothes, who feasted, not just ate, feasted - sumptuously every day.  While the Rich Man is feeding his face, a poor man named Lazarus, sits at his gate. Lazarus—was destitute - sick – reduced to begging.  His sores were his clothing.  He who was so hungry, he ached to have the luck of the dogs; since it was custom for the family animals to eat the crumbs that fell during the meal.
The only compassion shown to Lazarus came from the dogs -- who licked his sores and provided some contact, some form of consolation.  We can assume from Jesus’ tale that this rich man never acknowledged Lazarus, although he is a fixture at the wealthy man’s gate.  The Rich man had to see him as he came and went from his house.  But he did nothing. 

Just like the wealthy of Amos’ day – this first century Rich man did not grieve Lazarus’ condition -- this outsider did not rouse him to have mercy or compassion on him.  And so, Jesus says, the rich man upon his death went into eternal exile – Hades -- where he was tormented, in agony and in flames. It is important to realize that the Rich Man went to hell not because he was rich, but because he did not practice mercy on Lazarus. The rich man sees Father Abraham with Lazarus, for the first time he truly sees Lazarus, and begs to Abraham: “Have mercy on me.” The shoe is on the other foot. The merciless man now wants mercy.

Now, not all rich people are blind and indifferent. Many rich people do give back. They are the fortunate and just.   However, a great many of us blessed with wealth, good income, access to abundant social resources, and are sorely tempted to spiritual blindness and indifference of spirit.  The devil would have us dehumanize the poor, ignore them, look down on those who are less fortunate. If we are to be a vital congregation, we need to practice mercy as Jesus did; with abundance and abandon.

At a basic level, mercy means to be spared or rescued from judgment, harm, danger, or trouble.   Mercy means even more than this.  Mercy cares for the needs of those in distress. God expects His people to be merciful to others because God has been merciful to them. Mercy is to be practiced: toward neighbors (1 Kgs 8:31-32 ; Prov. 3:29 ) and in being generous toward the poor and needy (Zech 7:9-10; Ps 37:21; Prov. 14:21; 23; 19:17; 28:8). The church has traditionally recognized seven corporal acts of mercy: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to give shelter to travelers, to visit the sick, to visit the imprisoned, and to bury the dead.

Mercy is a main characteristic of Jesus.  The word is often used of Jesus and by Jesus, in his ministry, teachings and healings.  Jesus shows mercy:  for the multitudes ( Matt 9:36 ; 14:14; 15:32), for the blind (Matt 20:34 ), for a leper (Mark 1:41), (Matt 9:27  ); for a possessed child (Mk 9:20-27 ), for a widow's plight (Luke 7:13 ),  a woman with a possessed daughter (Matt 15:22 ), the father of an epileptic boy (Matt 17:15 ),  with ten lepers (Luke 17:13 ), a penitent sinner (Luke 8:13 ).  Jesus has mercy on those in need. Jesus teaches that mercy is a mark of true discipleship (Matt 5:7 ). Learn, Jesus says, what it means that I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

     Without mercy, we are often like the photographer on an overseas project.  He was commissioned to photograph someone that characterized the wretched condition of humanity; a real-life picture that would demonstrate humankind’s need for mercy. It took a while but after searching the photographer captured his picture.  It was a hungry beggar, lying on the curbside, with his hand stretched toward a storefront displaying bread.  The editor agreed that it perfectly depicted humanity's need for mercy.  After congratulating the photographer, the editor asked: "And what assistance did you give the beggar after the photograph?" The photographer confessed he did nothing.  The editor then responded: "You got the picture, but you didn't get the message."

The Rich Man, the 8th century wealthy, our unbalanced economic system, never gets the picture, let alone the message.  We get the picture.  Do we get the message?

        The message is simple.  The message is mercy. Mercy that refuses to look away.  Mercy that sees hunger and gives food.  Mercy that sees sores and gives medicine.  Mercy that sees rags and gives decent clothing.  Mercy that sees prejudice or bullying and speaks out for those oppressed.  Mercy that sees poverty and works to restore support, resources and dignity. Mercy that sees the migrant and give shelter. Mercy that sees a mistake, an offense, and forgives. Mercy that sees; sees insiders and outsiders and sees neighbors.  

        Ultimately, the Bible teaches us that we all are in need of mercy, which God is quick to give to us.  The author Herman Melville wrote: “Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and Pagans alike, for we are all dreadfully cracked about the head and sadly need mending.”  As Jesus teaches, “Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy” (Luke 6:36).

So our first Fall into Faith lesson is this: for us to love mercy and practice it. To become the church of God’s heart – a church that stands as a beacon of mercy; so that forgotten people, people sitting at the gates, the lost searching for a way out of the chasm, out of their place of torment, can all be led from the gate to a place at God’s table. Amen.


https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/21/business/millionaires-global-wealth-report-intl-hnk/index.html
https://patch.com/new-york/hauppauge/food-insecurity-rising-long-island-food-bank-says https://www.liherald.com/stories/our-shelves-keep-going-bare,141240
 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-08/top-1-earners-hold-more-wealth-than-the-u-s-middle-class?leadSource=uverify%20wall
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/01/how-much-money-you-need-to-be-part-of-the-1-percent-worldwide.html
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2013/09/11/nets-blast-dangerous-growth-income-gap-between-rich-and-poor-forget-
http://www.jokebuddha.com/Change#ixzz2g86MWHoi
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/09/the-top-1-percent-of-the-world/#ixzz2g8A71ceN

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Luke 16:1-13 
 
This past week the world has been riveted by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.  The Queen was the longest serving British queen on the throne for 70 years.  Except for our very oldest, the vast majority of us  grew up with Queen Elizabeth. She was the rock that held her nation together in the midst of dizzying changes, threats, challenges. During her reign Great Britain went from one of the world’s greatest imperial, colonial powers to its much-reduced status as a world power. The queen’s death signals the passing of a generation saw the rise of Nazism, World War II, the shifting of powers around the world, and the development of a technological era that saw a television, or televisions in every room of the house, computers, smart phones social media. Queen Elizabeth II’s generation is coming to a close, bringing into power a new generation whose strengths and weaknesses will lead us forward into a brave new world.  The queen is dead; long live the king.

        It is apropos that this week ahead happens to be the fall equinox:  autumn begins. One season ends, a new one begins. And so also begins a new season in the life of the church.  If I could hazard a guess, Most of us are still coping with tremendous change i this past year following on the heels of and the enduring presence of COVID – especially economic and political issues, and struggles with the trajectory our lives are taking.  What do we have to let go of what do we have to look forward to?

       Churches go through similar life passages. We are facing an evolving Church – but to what?  So much has shifted, hasn’t it?  Nowadays people still love their church – but there are competing obligations on Sunday mornings.  Priorities have changed with two-income families and dwindling leisure time. Despite our commitment to our faith, we just can’t manage to get to worship or get involved in programs.  How do we change this to a win-win situation where church and the demands of our lives?

        Our passage from Luke, one of Jesus’s most unusual parables, is a story about profound change for someone – a loss of a job.  Jesus is telling a tale about a crooked manager whose dirty dealings have come to light, and now this wily employee is striking deals with his boss’s distributors. He’s cooks the books so he will benefit and be taken care of long after he’s fired. Jesus sees the world of white-collar crime all too clearly.  Even the master commends the dishonest manager for his ingenuity, sadly misapplied to selfish gain.  Sadly, it is a common scenario. It’s the business tactic of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”  I’ll cut you a deal with you cut me in on your doings.  Thus, the world turns.

      Jesus uses this stark picture to get us to think of the priorities of our hearts. Do we really want to live the way the world turns? So, Jesus talks to us about honesty, faithfulness, and loyalty.  Our hearts are not created to be divided.  We can’t participate in a dishonest system of personal gains, to blindly accumulate wealth (or possessions) and expect to able to walk with God.   Seeking wealth has its own slippery slope. 
Amos paints a vivid picture of how this corruption permeated his society. People are robbing the poor and needy.  Leaders can’t wait for Sabbath to be over to return to cheating the helpless.  Dishonest measures and scales are common. The rich enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.  Not much has changed over the centuries.  It’s one area that we haven’t been able to change so well.  Yet Jesus says, to learn from this dishonest, put as much energy into planning for good as they do in planning for evil.

          So, our new season raises some important questions for us.  As we move forward – what values will we teach?  What principles will we stand up for?  The world’s or God’s? What riches will we gather and share?  How will we be faithful to God and be examples of faithfulness, loyalty and honesty that will continue to shape our church into the next season of life?  Learn from the dishonest manager, Jesus insists.

         Our Church is in the process of exploring how to be a vital congregation, how to Fall into Faith. The church needs to do this in order to transform itself.  Ironically, Jesus says learn from this dishonest manager how the church should place the next page of the future.  The dishonest manager knew what he needed to do, as his job was ending, and he knew he didn’t want to end up a digger, and he was too ashamed to beg.  Knowing his weaknesses and wants, he had a vision for himself and he went after realizing it.  Act like this shrewd manger, Jesus says.  Not to obtain dishonest wealth, but to think clearly what the kingdom of God needs here and now in Merrick/Freeport. Take stock.  Think through the sacrifices of time, of money, of talent that each of us can contribute to foster a spiritually healthy community.  The dishonest manager aggressively pursued his future so that once out of a job, he would still have money, connections, and be welcomed into people’s homes.   

       Our Church has experienced cut from its past, like the manager who lost his job. The church has to contemplate its future, like the manager does.  Jesus says, pursue our mission and ministries with the determination and ingenuity of the shrewd manager, not for selfish and dishonest pursuits, but to build the kingdom of God in our midst.  Work for the future and the well being of the people of God. Learn from the efforts, the audacity, the ingenuity and insights of the mad manager, just apply it well. Serve God in this process not the gods of wealth and self-interest, as Jesus and the prophet Amos guide us.

        Who knew we could learn about church growth from a crook?  Let us get as ambitious for serving Jesus as the corrupt manager was in serving himself.  Let us make friends and create positive circumstances of growth for the Church. Let us, as Jesus recommends, be wise as serpents, innocent as doves; wise children of light – so we can prepare adequately for the future survival of the people of God. 
        

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1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10  
 
Have you ever been lost?
Years ago, before the age of GPS, the soothing voice of Siri guiding us on the way, I drove upstate to Oneonta to visit friends. I was driving at night on an old country road, in pitch darkness.  There were no streetlights, so I could barely see a few feet ahead of me.   To my horror I discovered there was no way to see addresses.  Driving with two young children in the backseat, I went back and forth along a lonely dark stretch of road, trying to find our destination, white knuckling all the way.  I don’t know how long we spent desperately seeking my friends’ house, until by luck, or more likely divine intervention, we hit upon their driveway.  We had arrived.  I was overwhelmed with happiness to have finally arrived that I gave the kids big hugs and kissed the ground.
Losing things is a part of life.  Who hasn’t lost their car keys or wallet at some point in their lives?  Over the summer I misplaced my mother’s engagement ring, and as some here will tell, I put out prayer requests as I frantically scoured the house.   Weeks later it resurfaced.  Forrest had found it and put it with his grandmother’s heirlooms.  The joy at finding this precious ring overcome my annoyance that Forrest had been watching me franticly upending couch cushions and poking into sock drawers without realizing he had it along!
Having lost and found a number of valuable things, even kids, I get what Jesus says in today’s parables about how heaven reacts when someone lost is found: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
In our gospel lesson, Jesus tells us two parables about loss -- a lost sheep and a lost coin.  The owner of the 100 sheep loses one sheep is clearly not engaged in an “act of frugality” by seeking the one lost sheep.  The 99 are left in the wilderness, not in a safe pen adequately guarded by another farmhand.   It sounds as if the 99 sheep are left on their own – the owner just trusts they will stick together. Doesn’t there seem a sense of recklessness on the owner’s actions since he could, for the sake of finding one sheep, potentially losing the other 99?  It may not be wise human business practices, but it is how heaven’s spiritual economy works.  Jesus is keen to get across the length to which God goes to save even one lost soul.
Jesus also tells another parable about a woman who lost one of her ten silver coins – which corresponds to ten days’ wages.  The coins-- called a drachma—was worn often as an ornament and was vital for her and her family’s welfare.  This poor woman lost 1/10 of her income. For a poor family this was especially significant.    
The woman’s home is typical of the time. It was small room, had a dirt floor, and no window.  The woman does three things; lights a lamp (which wouldn’t normally be done in daylight), sweeps the floor, and searches carefully– with effort and with great care.  Imagine if ten percent of your savings were lost.  In a poor household, a woman on a tight budget would mean the family would have to choose – which meal do we skip? Which child doesn’t get shoes – which child doesn’t get their school fees paid?  No wonder that woman tore the place apart looking for the coin.  When she finds it, she is overcome with joy and shares her happiness with her neighbors.  Jesus is telling us our God is a God who lights the lamp, sweeps the earth diligently to find that one lost soul.
Just as Jesus has been talking to us in the past few weeks about inviting the poor, lame, blind and outcasts to our banquets, so now Jesus describes a God who upends traditional views about piety and faith. The Pharisees and elders are grumbling about how Jesus chose to eat with tax collectors and sinners – all the rift raft of society.  Jesus is showing us a God whose heart is for the lost and those cast aside by conventional society. Nothing gives God more pleasure when someone unloved, rejected, who has sinned and makes mistakes, experiences the profound unconditional love and acceptance of God.  Yet even the apostle Paul, for all his sins, received abundant grace, faith and the love of God.
Paul, the author of our first reading, describes in moving detail in the scriptures how once he was a leader and held in high esteem by the Jewish religious establishment.  Despite his accomplishments and standing, Paul admits he was a violent man the worst of sinners.  Paul declares to his audience, including us today: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”  If Jesus can accept the greatest persecutor of the faith, Paul, how much more will he joyfully accept you and me?
As we begin a new church season, let’s remember what God cares for. To save us, lost wayward people.  We have not only lost things in our lives, who hasn’t been lost at some time in their lives?  We can have straight As, be an ace on the sports team or in extracurricular activities, but still feel emotionally and spiritually loss?  Who has not spent countless hours wondering who we are, why we feel so scared or lonely in the midst of success? Who has not been at the pinnacle of a career, admired for our achievements and success, and feel so empty inside?   We find ourselves lost when a relationship has failed. We find ourselves lost when our lives have been overcome by some addiction or sinful habits.  We find ourselves lost when some illness overtakes us or someone we love.  We feel lost as we navigate the economic and social insecurities of our country.  Let’s admit it, we’ve all sinned, been led astray, wandered off and felt caught in some terrible situation we can’t get out of?  Who hasn’t felt at some point, will I be loved, accepted, if people knew the real me, or what I have done?  Who hasn’t felt lost in our faith, aware of how we’ve lost the fervor, the joy of true discipleship, and we feel like a ship unmoored. 
Our new church season invites us to begin with the experience of being found.  Found by Jesus. Jesus is that shepherd roaming the hills, Jesus is the woman searching her house inch by inch, for us.  Jesus is here, reaching out to each of us, ready to carry us on his shoulders, ready to pick us up out of the dust. Jesus is seeking us in those broken places, our unconfessed sins, in our worries and anxieties.  Let Jesus carry you today. Let him pick you up. May we experience the joy of being found, and as a found people,  may we become the search party that Jesus sends out into the world to find the outcast, the poor, the blind and lame and bring them safely home.
https://interruptingthesilence.com/2013/09/23/when-we-are-good-and-lost-a-sermon-on-luke-151-10/

https://www.sermonsuite.com/free-access/never-lost-ninety-nine

Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 14:25-33

 
Happy Labor Day Sunday! On this day when we celebrate the gift of labor, let’s consider this interesting illustration: A hen and a pig approached a church and read the advertised sermon topic: “What can we do to help the poor?” Immediately the hen suggested they feed them bacon and eggs. The pig thought for a moment and said, “There is only one thing wrong with feeding bacon and eggs to the poor. For you it requires only a contribution, but for me it requires total commitment.” That story serves to illustrate a key point that the Scriptures drive home to us today: Discipleship, following Jesus, must be the primary labor of our lives. Are we casual contributors, we participate gladly but with little real sacrifice or are we all-in committers, making sacrifices when necessary?

In our reading from Deuteronomy, God plainly tells the people of Israel, as they prepare to enter the promised land, that before them was a choice; between life and prosperity, or death and adversity. Would they commit to the covenant, follow the commandments as laid down before them?  In the same way, the scriptures today call us to make equally important choices.  How we live our lives must reflect that we follow Jesus.  Our discipleship must inform how we order our time and resources.   Our discipleship must guide how we treat our family, our friends, our church and all with whom we are in contact. Discipleship orders how we use our work time as well as our leisure time.   Discipleship is a total life-encompassing experience. It’s an all-in commitment, not a causal contribution.

We see this in Jesus’ stunning words: some of the strongest hyperbole common in the Semitic languages: “whoever comes to me and does not hate father or mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Jesus says this disciples must pick up their cross, count the cost, assess the situations they find ourselves in – like builders who must assess if they have all they need to build a tower – like a king who must figure out if he has enough force to overcome an opponent.  Jesus is not saying we should literally hate our family. Jesus’ point, however, is that love of God must be even stronger than our love for our family.  Discipleship requires all our resources. Discipleship must be our priority in all our decision making.  We must be more than contributors; we must be all-in committers.

Jesus began to talk this way because of the large crowds following him. Most of these crowds were attracted to the miracles and healings Jesus did, his charisma, the power of his teaching, the way he took on the local authorities.  Most of the crowds were probably hoping Jesus would perform a healing for them as well. For some it was the latest fad, bordering on entertainment.  But Jesus knew better.  Jesus knew the sacrifices his teachings demands - to love unconditionally, to give sacrificially. To repent and give up selfish habits. So, Jesus warned the crowds about following him.  There would be a cost.  And he said, if you don’t carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.  Discipleship is all-in commitment.

What does it mean when Jesus says to carry your own cross?  When some people talk about bearing their cross, they often mean putting up with an illness, a handicap, or a bad situation that won’t go away.  But Jesus means more than this.  Jesus was not just talking about the suffering that is just part of life, that we don’t choose.  He was referring to the situations we find ourselves in because we love God and are following Christ. Re-ordering or even giving up, rededicating resources. Sometimes we might face rejection, humiliation or hostility for the Christ-like stances we are called to take.  Jesus warns us the walk of faith isn’t always a bed of roses.  There are thorns on the trail.
        To be all in committers, we accept the cross of acting like Jesus, choosing to love and care for others and put the needs of others before our own. We sacrificially love those who need our help.  We must be willing be perform caring tasks day in and day out, over and over again.  Everything we do connects to discipleship.

        We’ve been talking a lot over the summer about our yearning and desire to become a vital congregation.  However, the most blaring dilemma we face is that we as leaders, we as church members, as parents, is figuring out how to put Jesus first. We feel badly about sports and activities being scheduled on Sunday mornings.  Stores that are opened at all hours. Gatherings that conflict with church attendance or programs Yet the truth is, over time communal worship has become optional in the grand scheme of things.  It is painful to say this, but we might have grown accustomed to choosing Jesus and worship only when it is convenient for us.  We hold back from the painful conversations that perhaps we need to have in order to figure out what time does work better for worship or when we can gather together.
 
Faith communities will continue to decline, will continue to be stuck in a perpetual malaise if we refuse to do what Jesus teaches:  put discipleship first. Until we are willing to sacrifice, to fit in Jesus first, and let everything else come after, we will not thrive, we will not be a vital congregation.  This does not necessarily mean giving up Sunday morning sports or other gatherings.  What it does mean is that discipleship must be important enough in our lives that it becomes urgent enough to us to have those important conversations about how to make discipleship work in our day and age. We must come up with a better solution.  The conversation needs to take place.  We don’t know where the Holy Spirit will lead us but the important thing we must do is step out in faith. We must be all-in committers.
 
        Jesus is not looking for crowds.  If he was, he would have been delighted with the throngs that were following him.  As we prepare to enter a new church season, are we willing to make Jesus number one in our lives? How can we turn into all-out committers?

One day a man stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. Once again, he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all."

        The point is Jesus is the rock that we must put in our lives first. Can we commit today to make Jesus number one?  Can we commit to ask the hard questions of ourselves: what do we need to do as a church to help each other make worshiping together, serving together at the core of our lives? Are we willing to get uncomfortable, to change, to turn things upside down, in order to establish new priorities of God, faith, and following Jesus? Can we make the labor of discipleship our primary effort?  The choice is before us like it was before the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land:  life and prosperity: death and adversity.   What will we choose?  I pray we chose life, and may we live, carrying our cross, counting the cost, -- and in doing so, to know what it feels to be overfilled with the love, mercy, joy and peace of turning ourselves into all-in committers to Jesus Christ.  Amen