​
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

Luke 14:1-14

 
All this talk about banquets and feasts reminds me of my recent family get-together last week in Ohio.  We had a grand picnic/BBQ, featuring: my brothers Mike and Mark grilling hotdogs and burgers supervised by Mader, Mark’s dog; my sister-in-law’s famous 5 bean casserole, cousin Nick’s favorite fruit salad, cousin Joe’s amazing beet and corn salads, cousin Sandy’s best brownies, and my niece Sarah’s  freakingly awesome bailey’s Irish cream cupcakes.  Someone managed to dredge up my mom’s traditional lemonade recipe which hit the spot. Some of us haven’t seen each other since before COVID, for some it has been 30 years.  Without doubt the BBQ was the highlight of the summer.

So much we do centers on food.  Business deals are seal with food. Wedding vows are usually followed by a reception.  Friendships are forged and cemented around lattes, brewskis, pizzas or ice cream.  What’s a birthday without a cake or something similar? Funerals and wakes traditionally are followed by a meal or repast. Most of life’s transitions, beginnings and endings and all the accomplishments in between, are marked with food – from the humble picnic to the grand banquets. Food brings people together.  Even here at church, Coffee Hour is actually an extension, a sealing of our commitment to service and care of each other and our community.  The Lord’s Supper is the one ritual Jesus asks us to remember him by.  Meals are one way we show love for each other, as Hebrews exhorts us.

That is why rules of table etiquette have endured down the centuries.  To preserve the status quo.  To cement relationships.  Did you pass the salt and pepper right?  Did you use the right utensil, in the right manner?   How did you sit? Did you use your napkin properly?  Following these rules indict if you are a bonafide insider.  Often it turns the banquet from being an inclusive feast, based on heavenly principles, to an exclusive feast where the majority of people are not welcome, considered unrefined, uncouth, not suitable for decent society.

Whether at a banquet or a picnic, where we sit is key.  It tells you the pecking order of community. Who are getting along; who aren’t.  People often vie for the seats closest to those highest in rank.  In many cultures the men and women are segregated.  In our own country and others, meal segregation also fell along racial lines.  The best seats are reserved for the most important people, as our gospel story indicates.

In the Gospel of Luke, meals provide central settings for Jesus’ mission. As our gospel text reveals, it was the custom to invite people for a meal on the Sabbath after the worship service.  The meal in our story is attended by leaders and doctors of the Law. At this Sabbath meal Jesus is among the invited guests.

 Jesus begins his teaching by healing a man in front of him of dropsy (or edema, a swelling of the limbs due to a buildup of fluids).  The leaders were watching closely, as Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath.  Jesus next began to observe them closely, as people began to scramble for places of honor at the table. The Jewish Scriptures gave clear rules about seating order, and so the guests were really not speaking out of turn as they argued about their rank.

Jesus’ criticism of other invited guests seems out of place and impolite. They were following tradition, sitting according to rank.  It is Jesus who breaks with tradition, whose table manners are out of place.

Even though Jesus shared several meals with Pharisees (cf. 7:36), they often complained about his choice of (other) table-fellowship companions (cf. 5:30) and about how his associates secured food on the Sabbath (cf. 6:1-4).  Jesus loved food (cf. 7:33) and his disciples followed suit (cf. 5:33).  So it is at this banquet that Jesus teaches us what right etiquette is.  It has nothing to do with where you are at the table. It’s where you are at in your heart.  What is the banquet God loves? A banquet where the poor, crippled and lame, blind are invited. A banquet where people who can never repay.  Because that’s what God’s banquet looks like. All are invited. And none of us can repay the blessings we receive from God.  All we can do is pay it forward -- Continue the blessing of the feast.

Many years ago, the Boston Globe told the story of an unusual wedding reception. A woman and her fiancée had arranged to have their wedding reception at the Hyatt Hotel in Boston, and as they had expensive tastes the final bill on the contract came to over $13,000. But on the day the invitations were to go out, the groom got cold feet and asked for more time to think about things. When the woman went to the Hyatt to cancel the reception she found that she could not, unless she was willing to forfeit the vast majority of what she had paid.

       It turned out that ten years before this same bride had been living in a homeless shelter. She had been fortunate enough to get a good job and get back on her feet. Now she had the idea of using her savings to treat the down and outs of Boston to a night on the town. So, the Hyatt Hotel hosted a party such as it had never seen before.  She and sent invitations to shelters and rescue missions throughout the city. That summer night, people who were used to eating out of garbage cans dined on chicken cordon bleu. Hyatt waiters in tuxedos served hors d’ouevres to elderly vagrants propped up by crutches and walkers. Bag ladies and drug addicts took a night off from the hard life on the sidewalks outside and sipped champagne, ate chocolate wedding cake, and danced to big band melodies late into the night.   For this jilted bride to be, this unusual dinner party turned a negative experience into a positive one. It sends to us a message:  what is our table etiquette? 

Jesus invites to embrace this attitude as a way of life. To practice a spiritual table etiquette.  An etiquette not based on utensils, china, flower arrangements and five course meals.  But table etiquette concerned with love for God and for our neighbor, an eagerness to serve, a willingness to exalt others – not lording our good luck or our status over someone else. Jesus says, when you give a banquet, remember him.  As we soon enter a new church season, let us remember how Jesus went to banquets and healed. How he went to banquets and forgave.  How he went to banquets to provide new wine.  How he went to banquets of sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes as well as renowned Pharisees. Jesus called a banquet where he broke bread, shared the cup, took on the role of servant as he washed his disciples’ feet.  Remember, Jesus says, every day we are to give a banquet.

​As we celebrate Welcome Back Sunday in two weeks, we are called to hospitality not just based in food, but in feeding the world that craves for love, kindness, creating hope and reconciliation.  That’s the banquet to which we are called to serve, the meal our world needs every day. That’s the meal Jesus sets.  All are invited.  So let us celebrate a new family gathering in our new church season as Jesus did – let us keep the feast.  Amen.
 

​Hebrews 11:29-12:2
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Sermon in part borrowed from: https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-run-the-race-faith-hebrews-12


Who here’s a runner?  (oh brother, our ancient ancestors are rolling in their graves that this abysmal show of hands)!  While some of us may now run for pleasure or fitness, scientists tell us human beings have evolved the way they have because of endurance running.  Our hunter-gatherer ancestors clocked in on average 8-20 miles a day to outfox those hyenas and other competitors for that antelope or ostrich dinner. Over a couple of million years, humans developed a body structure with 26 traits unique to the human body due to running. So, endurance running, and eventually long-distance walking, is hardwired into our very bodies. We are built to run, to be a people on the go.

Life is a race — a race against the clock and a race against others. It's a race to achieve goals. A race to build a future. A race to be our very best selves. It's a race to find love, a race to find purpose, and a race to find ourselves.  Hebrews exhorts us today: “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  As believers in Jesus Christ, we run a spiritual race. It, too, is the race of a lifetime.

This is no ordinary race. The Greek word for race is agon from which we get our word agony. That gives us a clue that the race we are on isn’t always pleasant, easy or fun.  The race reveals an internal struggle of the soul. Our natural bent is toward sinfulness and laziness. Furthermore, the race we are called to is full of obstacles, barriers, and hurdles. Winning this race will require great endurance, perseverance, patience, and resolve. Victory necessitates that we run with steadfast endurance until we arrive at the finish line victorious.

Do you realize the number of hours an Olympian trains? The average Olympian trains four hours per day, 310 days per year, for six years before succeeding. That translates into more than 7,000 hours of training for an event that may last less than sixty seconds. 

This need for training is not only for athletes; it is mandatory for any significant challenge in life - including becoming a spiritual champion. Runners do many things for optimum effort. Stretching and warming up, Exercises for cooling down. Learning to pace the race.  Knowing when to run fast or run slow. Cross training. Getting adequate rest and nutrition.  A lot of factors go into running well.
Races are not always won by the fastest. But rather by the one that keeps hanging on, who refuses to give up. Those who persist prevail. the great need for spiritual races is persistence. Time and time again The Scripture exhort us to persist and endure. The apostle Paul prayed for the Colossians "May you be strengthened with all power . . . for all endurance and patience" (Col. 1:11). In addition to persistence, the races we run, spiritually or physically call us to train wisely. The apostle Paul encouraged his young protégé Timothy to "train yourself in godliness" (1 Tim. 4:7).  So, to win our spiritual race we act with persistence, not giving up when the going gets tough; and train wisely.

Training wisely means we develop habits that help us gain power and strength to become more like Jesus each day, to live a life as Jesus taught and modeled.  Paul reminds us that “everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training” (1 Cor. 9:25a). Consider it all: the activities of prayer, reflection, meditation and self-examination; Bible Study, worship, service, developing the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, stewardship, observing sabbaths, tithing and giving of our time, talents and treasurers creates a spiritual body able to endure the ups and downs of the race. If we want to win the prize, the imperishable crown, there are no two ways about it: we must train spiritually as strenuously as we would train for a marathon, invest as much time as we do to further our careers, put in the effort to deepen our relationships with loved ones.  We cannot expect something for nothing. If we want love we must go after it sacrificially.  If we want a work position, we must vigorously put ourselves forward. If we want to be Christians, we must step in the master’s shoes.  To do any less than this means we have become content to be pseudo-Christians, superficially spiritual. Pius on the outside, empty on the inside.

In even training regime, in every race, eventually comes a plateau. We’ve done well. We have made some accomplishments.  We’ve conquered the mountains; we have slogged through the valleys. Then we find ourselves spinning our wheels. Hitting a wall. Not progressing.  We experience plateaus in diets.  The scale won’t budge an ounce, no matter how faithful you’ve been. It’s physiological - Our body is bound and determined to maintain a homeostasis: a balance – it clings to the weight it has gotten accustomed to.
       We experience plateaus in relationships.  The crush of the daily grind has taken the spark out of the relationship with a friend loved one or a spouse. We end up taking each other for granted.  We start to bicker with each other.

We hit plateaus in our careers.  We aren’t progressing anymore; we fail to delight in learning new skills.  We don’t keep up with continuing education.

We hit plateaus in our spiritual lives.  The passion for the Lord has cooled.  We go through the motions but our hearts have cooled. Spiritual habits fall away or disappear on our daily to do list. We make excuses for ourselves. We fail to confess sin, we are unrepentant, or worse we think we are just fine and become blind to the errors of our ways. The bible tells us “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).”  Without realizing it, we can stay stuck in a plateau.  The danger in this if we don’t intervene to change our ways is that we slowly, imperceptivity, decline. 

The people of Israel were stuck in the wilderness 40 years because of sin and disbelief. The same is seen in the life of the church, we are running in place; we have become content with plateau living. It’s comfortable. At times we become slightly uncomfortable, but not enough to make a change. The truth of the matter is that churches everywhere have plateaued. We’ve accomplished a lot but now we’re stuck.  It mirrors our individual plateaus. Our choices are stark: we can begin to decline. We stay comfortable where we are and refuse to budge an ounce.  Or we come to the awareness that action is needed to continue the race.  Drastic action.  Painful action.  Action that takes us out of complacency and moves us forward to our next best place.  We need action like taking stock of our situations; like repentance. The only way to change is to confess where we are at, and be willing to get uncomfortable, even hurt, to jolt us out of the plateau.

What will it take to get back on track?  Back in the race?  Is it the threat that our church may die? Our relationships fizzle and distant?   We gain back all the weight we lost and then some?  Our values become sinfully compromised?  Hebrews gives us example of plateaus overcome; not by human effort, but by God intervening and when people in faith obeyed. Hear again what Hebrews tells us:
It was by faith that the people crossed the Red Sea as if it were dry land. God intervened and got the people out of the plateau of living in slavery, even while they clamored for their fleshpots in Egypt.
 It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, welcomed the spies and was not killed with those who refused to obey God.  God intervened again and saved the lives of the scouts to help them gain a foothold in the Promised Land.

          It was by faith that the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around them for seven days.  God intervened and got the people of Israel out of the desert and into the Promised Land.
God intervened through Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. When the people were content to live in a plateau of sin, cultural accommodations to pagan ways, God intervened to help them remember who they are, children of God, and because of this, to push them forward.    
Only God can get us through the plateau. God wants us to move forward, God wants our very best, more than we want it for ourselves.  God does these through extraordinary, unconventional means. Through a prostitute named Rahab. Not by traditional warfare, but just circling Jericho seven times with the ark of the covenant. God will do the same for us. What unconventional, extraordinary ways, what opportunity in the guise of a crisis, is God going to work in our lives to move us beyond the plateau?  

As we get ready for a new church season, as seek to be a vital congregation, we need to get uncomfortable with plateaus.  We need to yearn for better, hope for more, be willing to sacrifice to improve.  Whatever race we are in, are we willing to get uncomfortable to continue the race?  Are we willing to switch things up like a runner would?  Or embark on a new plan like someone committed to a healthier lifestyle?  Or put in the time and effort that it takes to save or improve a relationship? Can we have the painful and awkward conversations that are necessary to clear the air and create space for change?

 Let us commit to leave behind the plateau. Can we agree to help each other, to work together to do this? That’s how we succeed in running this race, by turning our eyes to the prize, our heart set on the crown that Jesus promises those who complete the marathon ahead of us.  Let us ask God to intervene and be prepared for the unexpected to happen to open the space, clear the way, remove all that hinders. Through the mercy of God, we can crush the plateau, cross the finish line, and say along with Paul: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

 
 
https://www.irinadubinski.com/450183624

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https://www.coachmag.co.uk/exercises/1492/50-best-running-tips
https://www.goruvi.com/blogs/news/10-tips-to-make-running-a-better-experience?gclid=CjwKCAjw3K2XBhAzEiwAmmgrAtovoBqqjS31zrOCXzg2m_ICVgpQnq_j8R68RImYs1KAFnNYXyx4nxoCEaAQAvD_BwE
 
https://www.quora.com/How-many-miles-did-early-humans-walk-in-a-day
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.htm
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+miles+did+ancient+humans+run+a+day&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS864US864&oq=how+many+miles+did+ancient+humans+run+a+day&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i299l2.13114j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
 
https://www.google.com/search?q=life+is+a+race&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS864US864&oq=life+is+a+race&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i67j0i512j0i67j0i20i263i512j0i512j46i512j0i512l3.2671j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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Genesis 15:1-6, Luke 12:32-34

 
If you were to examine your checking account, your bank statement, your log of spending, or how you spend your time, what would it say about your values?   Some of us may have a mountain of receipts from Starbucks, eat outs like Dominos pizza, taco bell, or McDonalds.  Perhaps that would tell us you like prepared food in your diet.   Some of us have a cleaning service, spend hours a week straightening up the apartment or house.  You value tidiness and cleanliness.   Some of us rack up bills every month on clothing items, accessories, new shoes.  You like to have a great wardrobe.  Some of us pore over our investments and are on the phone or computer tweaking stocks and other financial products.  You value saving and increasing wealth.  Maybe your records show you tithe, contribute to charitable organizations, spend time watching over neighbors and others in need, go to church regularly and read the Bible and pray every day.  Church and giving back are at the top of your list. 

Conversely, churches that are seeking to revitalize  or initiate change are do a self-study, or called a plumb line study in our Presbytery, that includes among other things an examination of the budget and the annual reports from recent years.  Such a study reveals the values, strengths and weaknesses of the congregation.  We discover what percentage do we spend on Christian Education? Mission? Programming? Property and grounds?  Staff to carry out our vision and goals?  Such an analysis, done on a personal or church level, is a starting point to show ourselves our priorities.   The big question then becomes what do we make of our priorities?  Is God calling us to change, or set new priorities in order to become a more vital congregation, a more committed follower of Jesus?

Where your heart is, there is your treasure, Jesus declares.   That which we treasure we naturally invest our time and resources in.  A person’s heart is tied to what they value most in life.  Ideally our goal in life should be that our heart is in synch which that which gives the most value. Our balance statement, as Christ-followers, should reveal a preponderance of heavenly over earthy treasure.  There is nothing wrong with earthly treasure as long as we understand it is temporary. What we share and do on behalf of others and God’s kingdom endures.  Jesus tells us we do this when we seek treasure stored up in heaven, treasure that is of eternal value, that does rust, that can’t be stolen from us, that moths cannot come in and destroy.  Love, faith, service, caring for others, builds up lasting treasure. As Jesus tells the rich man:  “If you want to be perfect (whole, complete), go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matt. 19:21).   Jesus describes how we ought to prioritize the things in our lives with this parable, “Again the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to treasure that was hidden in a field which a man found and hid, and for his joy he went selling everything that he had and he bought that field. (Matthew 13:44).”

The first mention of treasure in the gospels is actually n the story of the wise men in Matthew’s infancy narrative.  The wise men from the east, probably Persia.   They belonged to most highly esteemed caste of their society, yet they personally leave their homes an arduous journey, to follow a star that would lead them to the King of the Jews.  They could have stayed home. They could have send their assistants on their behalf. But they took time out of their lives, at least 4-5 months.  When they found Jesus they were overjoyed, emptied their treasures of gold frankincense and myrrh.  Except for perhaps gold, this may not sound so treasurey. Yet it is their devotion to find the King of the Jews, their grasp of his mission that prompts them to give gifts that symbolize the kingship, priesthood and sacrificial death of Jesus.  This thoughtfulness is also a treasure.  The gift and application of their knowledge, their investment of time, their devotion to Jesus and expression of joy are also treasures that we can emulate in our lives.

What did Mary, the mother of Jesus, think of these exotic foreigners and their gifts?  Although Matthew doesn’t say it, I bet she treasured this experience because Mary is the one person we are told by bible translators as someone who treasures the events in Jesus’ life.  Luke tells us of the time when Mary hears the witness of the shepherds who tell of the angels giving glad tidings of the birth of Christ the Lord.  The gospels often translate Mary’s response to this as “Mary treasured and pondered this things in her heart (Luke 2;19).” Some verses later we hear of how Jesus, Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem to the Temple and Jesus got lost.  On their return, they find Jesus sitting with other wise men, these wise men are not foreigners from Persia, but teachers of the Jewish faith.  Mary observes Jesus listening and answering their questions.  Mary sees how everyone is amazed at Jesus’s depth of understanding and answers.  The text tells us again that Mary treasured and pondered these things. (Luke 2:51)

  So, Mary is a model of how we treasure Jesus in our hearts, his example, his teachings, and like Mary, humbly follow Jesus.  To treasure like Mary, we protect, keep safe, and preserve the message we receive.   To treasure like Mary means Jesus is our primary focus, and his teachings are the foundation and guide of how we prioritize our time and resources. 
​
As we continue our journey to become a vital congregation, to be vital followers of Jesus, let us take the time to examine our spiritual balance sheets.  How are our treasures adding up? How can we increase our heavenly treasure?  Look at Abraham and Sarah, who faithfully waited 90 years, for the treasure God promised, a son Isaac, from whom came descendants more numerous than the stars.  May we be as devoted as Abraham and Sarah, as the wise men, as Mary.  It is never too late to reprioritize. We can make Jesus the center of our lives. For he is truly meant to be our heart’s treasure. May we give up all that gets in the way to claim one as number one in our hearts. amen.
 
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/treasure-in-heaven-jim-keegan-sermon-on-greed-256103?page=1&wc=800
 

 Luke 12:13-21

 
They say that everyone has a price.

        Judging by the recent skyrocketing Mega Millions jackpot this past week the dream of easy money has led to the sales of more than 6000 tickets a minute as of Thursday night.

A recent survey unearthed unsettling images of what people would do for fast money.  Perhaps people are exaggerating but the thoughts are disturbing:

• For $10,000,000?  They would abandon their entire family, abandon their church; would give up their American citizenships or leave their spouses; would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free.
• for $100,000? They would forge a signature or steal from a restaurant or hotel. And for that same amount,  they would enter into a sham marriage, perform a sexual act on a stranger, evade taxes or snatch a purse.
• For $10,0000? They would flash a stranger or steal a street sign, or shoplift; would lie under oath, steal a bike or knowingly spend counterfeit cash for the same price.

For better or worse, money is one of the main motivators in life and not always for the good.  The truth is there are people who would do these acts, other sins or evil for even less money than reported.

Today Jesus is approached by a man motivated by money, he asks Jesus “Teacher tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”   The man is making an ordinary request of a rabbi, who often intervened in family disputes.  The Hebrew Scriptures refer to inheritance over 200 times, and situations could get complex and family relationships turn sour or divisive.  We probably all know of a situation where an inheritance situation caused a family rift.  Even one of Jesus’ most famous parables, the prodigal son, is about inheritance laws and how they can drive family members apart.   
 
Yet Jesus is reluctant to be a judge or arbitrator in this case. Instead of addressing the case straight on, he takes a different tact.  Jesus instead wants to address the underlying problem that drives most cases like this: greed.  We need to be on guard against greed, wherever it crops up; in an inheritance situation or simply in the abundance of possessions we can accumulate in life.

To get this point across, Jesus tells the story about a fellow who becomes rich and whose crops produce abundantly.   What a lucky man! His lands are fruitful. There is little he has had to do personally. The crop is a gift.  He’s so rich he thinks he has to build even bigger barns to hold all excess grains and goods.  Isn’t he exactly the kind of guy we admire? He’s successful and is able to upgrade to a one of these new mini mansions, a fancier bigger ultra-SUV car, designer suits, luxury vacations, all the trappings of the good life.   Isn’t this what our culture teaches us - to make enough so we too can relax, eat, drink, be merry?

Yet the individual who is so admired, perhaps to a degree by us, if not by a lot of people is called a fool by God.   “You Fool!  God says.   This very night your life will be required of you.” The Greek word for “required” is a legal term that implies a loan that has come due.  Jesus implies here that life is a gift, a loan to us. God gave us this gift of life to invest ourselves in the world and each other. Life, in God’s eyes, is not about getting or consumerism.  Life is not for us to squander but for us to engage, to find and express God’s will. The loan of our life is to create a rich relationship with God and with each other not to surround ourselves with riches for our own exclusive benefit.

The absence of family and friends in the rich fool’s life is striking.  Whose life has the rich fool prepared and made better from all his work? There is no one. In his conversation, it’s all about me, myself and I.   When at last he has built his bigger barns to last him many years, he does not envision a better future for anyone but himself.  He has not used his excess grain to feed the hungry, or his goods to help the needy.  God asks the rich fool a piercing question, “These things you have prepared, whose will they be?”  There is no one.  It is all for naught. 

The rich fool’s focus on accumulation of wealth was the ultimate purpose of his life, just like what is pursued by millions of Americans with a dollar and a dream, as the lottery tells us.   Our lives, loaned to us are meant for activity that is redemptive and other focused.  This is the reason for the loan of our lives.  We are meant to use our resources, our money, our treasures, to make the world a better place to live, starting with our neighborhood.

        When I think of a life loan well invested, I can’t help but think of my mother. When I was baby, my mother ran for public office in order to bring some positive change into the community.  My mother had campaign literature printed with my baby mug on it that said, “Time for a new change.”    She ran up against a powerful incumbent, and rumors were even spread that there might be a Vatican infiltration in Strongsville, Ohio.  My mother lost that election, but she didn’t stop fighting to make her corner of the world a better place.

        Unlike the rich fool, my mother, barely had proverbial two coins to rub together.     Her barn was never full.  She understood her life was a loan from God and she was her to prepare something better.  Among the things she did she created a neighborhood watch group that provided loans and grants for home improvement to families of modest incomes.   She always found time to help home-bound people get their shopping done.  She made and delivered care packages to disabled veterans.   She could not pass by wounded animals: she would take the creature to the veterinarian and pay the expenses out of her own pocket.   She was not rich like the man in the parable, but she was rich in how Jesus wants us to be rich:  to help others. To better the world. That’s what it makes to be rich to with God.

        Sadly, our world has reversed these priorities and our culture teaches us to focus on ourselves.  Look at our Old Testament lesson from Exodus.  The Egyptians enslave the people of Israel to build up an empire for themselves. In this scenario, the enslaved Israelites are just a commodity.  Enslaved to their dreams of wealth, they impoverish others.  Sadly, that about sums up the current state of affairs in our world.  2,100 people control more wealth than the bottom 4.6 billion.

        For everything there is a price.  For us, Jesus paid that price on the cross.  As we seek to revitalize our lives and our churches, let us remember all we have is a loan from God to enable us to be givers, not getters. To help others. As Matthew 25 reminds us: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick or imprisoned.  To put God first in all we do. As we put God first, our lives naturally overflow to embracing others, and we too are blessed as a result.  Let us ask ourselves: how’s our loan doing? What does our investment strategy have to say about us?  When that loan comes due, what will we have to show for it? The things we have prepared, whose will they be? Remember the saying, you’ll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. Let us take that loan and transform our energy and resources to building a more just, righteous world. And that would be an inheritance worth sharing.  Amen.

​https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/10-americans-porn-1-million-article-1.2493861

• James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth, 1991
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-07/pandemic-is-golden-age-for-billionaire-wealth-piketty-lab-says#:~:text=The%20share%20of%20global%20wealth,said%20in%20a%20report%20Tuesday.

 

Luke 11: 1-13; Genesis 18:20-32 
 
Based on a sermon by Scott Hozee: https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2016-07-17/luke-111-13/

As we cruise through our summer season, renewing our bodies and spirits through rest and warm weather, we continue our reflection on spiritual renewal of our church body our individual spirits through biblical concepts like being a good neighbor, through the practice of holy hospitality and sacred listening.  Today we add the linchpin of prayer.  What it means to pray like Jesus. To pray with shameless persistence, as the gospel tells us.
The Lord’s Prayer is hands down one of the most famous prayers ever.  It is recited millions of times a day, in hundreds of different languages.   For a prayer of such importance, it has ordinary, humble roots. Luke very casually says that when Jesus uttered this model prayer, it happened “one day” “in a certain place.”  One disciple, who’s name we do not know, saw Jesus praying, and said, “teach us to pray, like John taught his disciples.”  Spiritual teachers like John or Jesus had unique habits that set them apart from other groups.  So, the Lord’s prayer sets us apart as Christ followers. It is a map to the values to a life rooted in Jesus.

Luke records nine prayers of Jesus, more than the other gospels. Jesus prayed ceaselessly, to use Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Moreover, according to our gospel passage, we are to pray with shameless persistence.  To prayer boldly for our needs. Prayer for Jesus was like breathing, it was woven into his very being, and formed the foundation from which all he did flowed.  Ceaseless prayer, shameless persistence prayer, is a hallmark of a vital spirit, a vital congregation.  So how does the Lord’s prayer transform us?  The prayer we call the Lord’s prayer is really the disciples’ prayer, it is a guide we should follow.

We can divide the disciple’s prayer into two parts; the first part of the prayer reveals our relationship with God, and the second part describes the foundation of faith we need to lift up on a day-to-day basis. The disciple’s prayer reminds us:  our relationship with God is intimate: We come to God with the utmost confidence that we would approve a loving father. Note it is not my dad, not your dad, but our dad.  The disciple’s prayer is communal, it includes all people. While each one of us prays alone or privately throughout the day, prayer is more than a solitary act. We are also called to pray together and pray for each other.  We connect to a God whose name is Holy, adored, worshipped, exalted. And before this Holy and precious Father, we claim the realm of God, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, as our most ardent desire. All prayer flows from this foundation. So, our primary orientation in prayer and the life of faith, a vital life, is to lift up God and his purpose for our lives. There is no finer prayer than to say, “thy will be done,” Isn’t that what Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane?

The second half of the disciple’s prayer establishing three interesting spiritual needs.  We pray for our daily bread (actually for all the sustenance we need, perhaps strength of character, the resources to live out and nourish our day).  Second, every day we need forgiveness and to forgive. That is a major teaching of Jesus. To remember we are fallible, we make mistakes, and we need to own up to them. Because by the measure we judge, Jesus reminds us, so we are judged.  Third, we pray to be delivered from evil, because the truth is that the Evil one is always, constantly looking to pull us down, as God is always striving to pick up us. Peter reminds us that the adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8).  The disciple’s prayer begins connecting us to God’s love and will for our lives, roots us in the present, while the pray ends reminding of the reality of evil that tries to subvert us away from the daily resources that we need, to keep us from forgiving and being forgiven, and to ignore the evil in the world, evil that seeks to supplant God’s will.

 While the content of the disciple’s prayer is important for us to meditate on and live out, Jesus stresses the shameless persistence of prayer as vital as well.  Prayer should be ceaseless, imbedded in every thought and deed we do. The two brief parables examples that Jesus includes teaches us about the persistence in prayer.  “The “Friend at Midnight” story reminds us that prayer pops up all the time and does not wait for convenient seasons or moments. The word “impudence” here is better translated as “shameless persistence.”  If someone gives bread at midnight as the annoying persistence of a friend, how much more will God supply our needs?

“What about the father-son (parent child) analogy with which Jesus shares? As any parent can tell you, a son or daughter who asks for a fish or an egg is unlikely to make such a request just once. If anything kids are doggedly persistent.  “Are we there yet?”   “Can I watch TV now?” and so forth. “There are those times when, after being asked by your daughter for the fifteenth time in a row if she can have just one more cookie—and after your having said “no” to this request fourteen times in a row—sometimes even good, conscientious parents will finally throw the cookie at the hapless kid. “There! Eat it! You happy now?!” Our patience can wear thin.”  For the cat lovers among us, who hasn’t dealt with a feline who walks on our face, meowing insistently at 5:00 am for breakfast?   Shameless persistence!  So like our child, we too are to practice ceaseless prayer, shameless persistence.”  If we fallible human beings end up doing right by our badgering children, how much more attentive with God be?  God welcomes our onslaught of prayer.  Because God answers prayer in God’s time and in God’s way, not our time, or perhaps not the way we want it to be answered; we need to maintain courage, shameless persistence, hope in all we ask, in all we seek and every time we knock.

Look at the conversation between Abraham and God about the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham repeatedly goes after God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah. This illustration is a blueprint for prayer.  We talk with God like Abraham does, perhaps more irreverently, when we are praying.  It’s what God wants from us.  To bring to him all our joys, concerns, troubles, thoughts and cares, over and over again.

       Praying like Jesus, we become one with him and each other, and we awaken the Holy Spirit to bring us new life. That’s the purpose of prayer; not to change God, but to change us, so we pray above all things that God’s will be done, with shameless persistence and ceaseless effort.  Such is the hallmark of a vital life, a vital congregation – to pray shamelessly, ceaselessly, boldly for our needs, hopes and for Holy Spirit power, trusting that it is our loving Father’s deepest desire is to grant us what we need, to protect us from evil, and in doing so, to bring about the kingdom of heaven in our lives as it is in heaven.
 
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/scripture/52_115.pdf

Genesis 18:1-10a, Luke 10:38-42

 
        Last week we began a time of summer reflection on what it takes to create a vital congregation; a congregation that is spiritually renewed, turned around, full of the life and the Holy Spirit.  We discussed that at the core of a revitalized congregation is the practice of neighboring (to borrow the phrase from our congregant, Diane Wood)  – acting as a good neighbor, like the good Samaritan was, fulfilling the Great commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Even if that neighbor is difficult, oppositional, negative, perhaps even enemy material.  Today our scriptures invite us to look deeper into the process of neighboring.  Today we see that at the core of neighboring is the practice of sacred hospitality and holy listening.
​
        I remember a conference Forrest and I attended a few years back, when we were co-pastors at the Community Church of Little Neck, in Queens. We belonged to the International Council of Community Churches, formed by the historical joining of a black and white association back in 1950, long before desegregation took place.   So racial unity and cooperation has been at the forefront of the ICCC these 60 plus years.  

The year of that particular conference racial tensions have been ongoing in our country, and it was a particularly acrimonious summer. The conference paused its usual workshops and took a time out. It called all the members, of all races to sit down and talk together about what was on their hearts in light of the racial conflict.  African American members, pastors and high-ranking lay leaders shared their experiences, concerns and hurts. White leaders strove to listen in the presence of the pain and hurt in the room and shared their responses. The racial tension in the room, like in our country seemed an impossible divide.  While we were far from resolving the tension, I witnessed a sacred practice of listening to each other, and the healing power of acknowledging each other’s pain and point of view, even in the -presence of differences.   The gift of listening and sharing is an incredibly hospitable act. It is an act of neighboring. It is an act revitalization.

        Our lessons today seem to present us with impossible situations as well.   Abraham and Sarah offer traditional hospitality to three strangers are reassured of God’s promise of a son.   How impossible is that?   Abraham would be 100 years old, and Sarah 90 years when this prediction came true.  How could this dream, that has filled their hearts all their lives, led them to leave their homeland some 25 years earlier, ever come true?   Yet during the hospitality, the listening, a promise is given, a miracle happens.  A year later, a son is borne.

        For Jesus, if there ever was an impossible situation it was dealing with the two headstrong sisters, Martha and Mary.  Although they have a brother, Lazarus, he doesn’t figure in the story, which is striking.  He should be the one welcoming Jesus into the home.   Yet it is Martha, who is named first.  Martha is busy with the rites of hospitality, which are sacred and not to be ignored, unless shame be brought upon the household.   Yet she is pulled in many directions, the demands of preparing meals, worry that everything will work out, and most of all why her supposedly younger sister isn’t obeying her and helping her get things ready?  

Mary herself is in a culturally impossible situation:  she is bucking the system that would relegate her to preparing the meal and service and choosing instead to sit at the feet of Jesus, in the position of disciple.   Finally Martha, pulled in so many directions, demands that Jesus send Mary to the kitchen to help her. 

 Jesus listens carefully to Martha. However, Jesus defends Mary, as he will again when Judas makes criticisms when Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with a costly nard the week before his death.  Yet Jesus gently lets Martha know it’s not the hospitality that’s the problem; it’s the distractions that are pulling her in many directions that are the problem and making life unmanageable.   Jesus points out that Mary’s focused discipleship is better than distracted and resentful service that results in bitterness and breaking of relationship.  So, Jesus defends Mary, but he reaches out to Martha as well, to heal her spirit, and also preserve the family relationship. Martha’s and Mary’s hospitality, demonstrated in different ways, demonstrate how the church should demonstrate hospitality by balancing action and listening like Abraham and Sarah do. Such hospitality  leads to communication  and connection, which is at the heart of a healthy spiritual life, a renewed life, a revitalized life.

We find ourselves daily in impossible situations that call for us to choose the better part. We find ourselves embroiled in impossible situations as citizens of a polarized society. We face challenging health matters, or family predicaments with Mary and Martha conflicts, or persistent longings of Abraham and Sarah.  All impossible to solve on their own.  We need God’s help to choose the better part.

At that conference I attended, leaders were pleading for direction out of the impossible. For answers.  What do we do next?   How do we get to that better part?   Lots of ideas come forth some conventional others challenging.   Pray and fast. Encourage community development and conversations that includes police departments.   Develop stronger ties between churches of different races, encourage pulpit swaps. All pieces of the puzzle that can help make the impossible possible if we get involve and serve and be hospitable.   So, Jesus calls on us to choose the better half—to do our part in the impossible situations we face.  That’s how we become a revitalized people.  We face the impossible with hospitality and listening to each other.  We take the time to be together in fellowship, away from the business and busyness of church life that distracts us from our true purpose:  a relationship with Jesus Christ grounded in prayer and worship, expressed in hospitality and service of our neighbor.  We may not see eye to eye, but we can, through Jesus, connect heart to heart.  That connection with one another is the foundation of a renewed congregation.

Toward the end of the conference, a long-time youth leader got up and shared.   She shared her observance of groups of youth, black and white, weren’t mingling.    So, she decided to work with them.  She had them write out what they had heard about the other group.  On the list from black a youth commented :“white churches are so quiet” because once at a white church he wanted to applaud a powerful performance, but was stopped because no one else did.  On the list from the white youth was written “not interested in college” The leader probed further.  A white girl began to cry.  She said it wasn’t true, what she was taught.  At the conference she met many black youth very interested in college.  The group discovered they had learned things that were stereotypes.  There was more to the story, the youth learned. It took spending time together to learn what was true.  

Ultimately, each family, each church, each community, must figure out is the better part to what God is calling us.  The 225th General Assembly of the PCUSA, meeting in Louisville KY, in the listening process on race relations, has  recently issued a formal apology for the sin of slavery and its legacy, with a commitment to repairing the breach caused by the ongoing effects of racism.  We have chosen the better part.

To what acts of hospitality and listening are we being called to do so that the love, mercy and justice of God in Jesus be manifest in our midst?   Surely, we can reach out with food like Sarah and Martha did, it’s one of our most common forms of hospitality.  However, like Mary and Abraham, we can be hospitable by listening, listening to the stories that others need to tell.  As we get involved in each other’s lives, from this group here, to all the groups out there, we learn what we once considered impossible becomes possible through the power of divine love.  That is the practice of neighboring. That’s how we begin the process of congregational revitalization, of spiritual renewal of our own souls. 

Abraham & Sarah’s hospitality made possible a new generation to be born. In Mary and Martha’s struggle, a community is born guided to always listen to each other, to balance our differences to serve one another.  In these impossible times, let us choose the better half, found in the practice of hospitality.  This summer, let us begin the process and reach out and get to know each other’s stories.  Can we do this intentional act of hospitality? For this is how we begin to renew, heal, become vital:  through hospitality and listening, loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Just select someone in the congregation that you don’t know well.  Go out for coffee and get to know each other. Give the gift of time to someone and see what a difference it makes in your life.  So by sitting at the feet of Jesus, may we learn to listen and to choose the better part. Amen.

Amos 7: 1-8; Luke 10:25-37


​Sermon inspired by:
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-good-samaritan-edward-hardee-sermon-on-missions-170309
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-good-samaritan-marty-baker-sermon-on-jesus-teachings-55905?page=3&wc=800

This past week, Forrest and I had to take our beloved dog, Betty, whom some of you know, to the vet’s office in Plainview for a post-surgery visit.  While at the vets we ran into car trouble and had to call for a tow.  Andrew was in the midst of a final and could not be reached.  While we were sorting out our options, a couple of people expressed sympathy, but when on their way.  Then a couple, a husband with a scruffy beard and loaded with tattoos, cuddling their pouch, Rambo, came over and offered us a lift. They lived in Shirley, so Freeport was not exactly on the way.  We didn’t want to put them out, so we initially declined.  After another ½ hr., with their offer still in place, we gratefully accepted.  They refused any gas money, and we had a wonderful conversation about dogs and life. 

We live in a day and age where the need is great yet it’s hard to accept help.  We are raised to be rugged individualists, not reach out for help, and not put anyone out of the way.  It’s hard enough to accept help from someone we know well.  Imagine accepting help from a stranger, or worse, someone we dislike intensely, perhaps even consider an archnemesis, or an enemy.  Imagine being at the giving end of things.  We can probably be persuaded to give to someone we know and like. But to someone we despise or feel negatively towards?

Our gospel lesson places such an issue before us. Jesus tells a parable about an injured man who is helped not by a fellow Jew, but by a hated Samaritan.  Jesus is clear:  we too are to help. We too are to give. Even if it’s an enemy.  Jesus is clear and tells us pointedly: 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:25). Paul in Romans 12:20 reinforces this teaching aby admonishing us: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.”  Helping our neighbor, even if an enemy is the plumb line of faith, the gold standard, as the prophet Amos would put it.  A neighbor isn’t just someone who lives near to us on our block.  Neighbors aren’t, as the people of Jesus’ day thought, just fellow Jews.  A neighbor is anyone in our proximity with whom we can share God’s love. Even if an enemy.
This gospel lesson is one of the most well-known stories of the gospel-- we famously call it “parable of the good Samaritan.”  Jesus is posed a hypothetical question by a lawyer or an expert of the law, about how to gain eternal life.  When Jesus responds, “Love your neighbor as yourself” the lawyer presses him further: “who is my neighbor?” 

So, Jesus describes a man, supposedly a regular Jew, taking an ordinary trip to Jericho, but falls into a gang of robbers who beats him into an inch of his life.  

The first person to come by the crime scene was a Priest. He faced an enormous moral dilemma. His office required him to remain ritually pure. If a priest came in contact with a Samaritan, a Gentile, or a dead person, he would be considered ritually defiled. As a result, he would have to go through an extensive purification ritual to be restored so that he could perform priestly duties again.  Not wanting to risk defilement, he doesn’t even investigate if the man is alive or not. So, the priest plays it safe, crosses the road and passes by.  His conduct was acceptable, following the law.

The next person on the scene is a Levite. The Levite was of the tribe of Levi, the tribe from which the priests came, but this Levite was not a priest.  Levites would follow the same ritual law of not touching a dead body.  He looked at the man lying there and he too, walks on by. His conduct was acceptable, according to the law.

If we were in Jesus’ audience listening to this story, we would be anticipating the next character. Jesus started with the priest, and the the Levite, and next in line will be an ordinary Israelite.

Jesus, however, introduces a radical twist to the story. The next character is not an Israelite but a despised Samaritan! The Jews considered the Samaritans as half-breeds, dogs, and the lowest of the low.  If anyone were expected to avoid an injured Jew, it would be a Samaritan.  But not so in Jesus’ story.

The Samaritan came upon this injured man and is filled with pity, or compassion, a feeling usually reserved to describe Jesus in the gospels. The Samaritan stops. He draws near. He kneels and takes wine and oil and applies it to the injured man’s wounds. He then places the man on his own donkey, inconveniencing himself.  He takes him to an inn to recover.  He pays the bill and promises more on his return.  The Samaritan goes up and beyond the call of duty, breaking the taboos that surround the interactions between Jews and Samaritans.

As Jesus comes to the end of this story, he asks the lawyer, "Which person proved himself to be a neighbor?" The lawyer has to conclude, "The one who showed mercy." Jesus commands, "Go and do likewise.”

        It is easy to be good, to be a Christian, to be a neighbor, when times are going well, and the people who need help tick off the boxes as deserving. Down through the centuries the church and larger society made distinctions between the deserving and undeserving poor; people who are not lazy or shiftless, they are old, infirm, or disabled.  Jesus, who teaches us not to judge, asks us in this parable: Who will stop and see?   Who will bandage and pour oil and wine on the wounds?  Who will carry the victims?  Who will find the Inn?  Who will pay the price?   Who will show compassion?   A neighbor is someone near us. Period. Even if we consider them an enemy.  If we are to follow Jesus, we must be willing to turn the law on its head and be willing to help and get involved.  Even if it puts us out of our way and demands our resources, our time and effort.

        As a congregation, we are beginning a process of discerning what it means to be a vital congregation. This parable today is the most appropriate example of what we need to do to turn our church around.  It is easy to be trapped like the Priest and Levite, who are by the way, good people, but stuck in the box of thinking what is the right way to be and do.  Our very religious conditioning traps us and keeps us from transformation. It is only when we are willing to stop, be moved by compassion, help outside the box, even if its somebody who is a stranger, someone we are opposed to. Jesus tells us that is what being a neighbor is all about. That is what we as Christ followers are called to do. Being a neighbor is the key to turning our lives, our churches around. We have to follow the example of the Samaritan in the story.  To become a vital Christ follower, to become a vital congregation, we got to think and act in new ways, foreign ways, perhaps in ways we think are religiously unacceptable.  If we want our church to survive, if we want to thrive, we need to become neighbors. Not just to those we like or approve of, but to all that cross our path. Jesus says, we need to learn to act like Samaritans – the people who didn’t follow the law properly, the people considered impure, half-breeds.  Even undeserving, using the terms of church and society.

We need to challenge ourselves to stop and see the wounded laying at the roadside. And not cross over. We need to challenge ourselves to have compassion.

We need to challenge ourselves to be in the business of binding up the wounds, of pouring out the wine and oil of care and concern. We need to challenge ourselves to get the wounded to a safe place, to pay the price.  To make a difference.  Because Jesus says Love our neighbor.  Because while we were sinners, Christ loved us and he died for us, so we too should love our neighbor. No matter who they are.

Let us love our neighbor. No matter the color of their skin. No matter if they are immigrant and speak a different language. No matter if they are disabled.  No matter if they are religiously different, if they are LGBTQ, if they are of a different political party or social class.  Love that neighbor.

Love will turn everything around. It will make us vital Christians, a vital congregation.  It’s as simple as that.      Go, and do likewise Jesus commanded us.   So let us love and thrive. Amen.

2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10: 1-11; 16-19
J
 
    Happy early Independence Day! On this 4th of July weekend, we celebrate how a scrappy, unorganized, underfed, undertrained army took on the world’s finest fighting force, best equipped navy in the world, and succeeded in spite of all cost.

        War is nothing new in history; battles are nothing new in the bible. Battles for land – to capture or defend territory or resources; or battles for the kingdom of God, spreading the good news of the gospel as we see in our gospel lesson with Jesus sending out the disciples on a mission on behalf of the kingdom of God.  Soldiers of the cross, as the old hymn puts it.

In our Old Testament lesson, we have a story of humor, healing, redemption, of God’s compassion intervening between archenemies, Israel and Aram (or modern day Syria).  The Arameans, trace their lineage back the Noah’s son Shem.  Abraham and Sarah, come from Aram.  Isaac was sent back to Aram to find his wife, Rebekah, and then their son Jacob spent many years in Aram, working for his wives Leah and Rachel and building his wealth, so that the phrase “A wandering Aramean was my father” is a common declaration of  faith, in the Old Testament, highlighting the nomadic roots of the people of Israel, as they travelled ultimately to Egypt and then back again to the promised land. 

Aram, however, became an enemy of Israel, and battles between the two nations raged for centuries.  Naaman, the 5-star army commander of Aram.  He conquered. He set villages on fire. His soldiers pillaged, ransacked and killed. They stole anything of value, including taking survivors into slavery.  There was no stopping Naaman and his war machine.  

There was only one thing in Naaman’s way. Leprosy – the dreaded skin disease. While the text could just mean a skin condition or rash, actual leprosy was feared. There was no cure for leprosy, and death was often slow, painful and frightfully disfiguring. People with leprosy were ostracized by the community. And as we see, in our readings today, leprosy struck the rich as well as the poor.

Naaman, the mighty warrior was used to giving orders, taking prisoners. Now he found himself a captive – a prisoner to a deadly disease determined that could take his life.  Naaman, was saved in the most unlikely of ways – through a young girl captive, taken in a raid into Israel.

This young girl, taken from her family – probably saw them killed before her eyes -- separated from her homeland, from her culture -- forced into servitude; willing shares with her captors. “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria!  He would cure him of his leprosy.”

This girl's actions ran totally counter to our expectations. Instead of taking satisfaction for her captor’s suffering, she was filled with compassion – like Jesus was when faced with people in need. Although a captive, this young girl, has not been conquered by hatred or fear.   She shares the healing power of her faith and its resources with a man who did her great harm.     

Naaman takes this information to official channels. He elicits the help of his king. So, King Ben-Hadad sends to the King Johoram of Israel ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments -- the equivalent of $700,000 dollars – along with a letter which reads, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”  The King of Israel is terrorized; he sees this as a guise for more military intervention from Aram.

 The prophet Elisha caught wind of the request. So, Elisha sent a message to the king saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." Relieved, King Johoram obeys.

We can only imagine the following scene. Here comes the mighty warrior, one of the most important men in Aram, bringing his whole entourage with horses and chariot right up to the modest door of the prophet from Israel. How does Elisha react? Does he appear and accept the deference of the mighty man from Aram? Incredibly, Elisha doesn’t even bother to meet Naaman.

Elisha sends his servant to Naaman saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean."   Naaman is offended. As an important man, he was not used to being treated so dismissively.  Naaman says, "I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprosy!"  Naaman was expecting a show, befitting his rank. What was this, washing in the disgusting, muddy Jordan river! Why Damascus has more impressive, cleaner rivers to bath in! How insulting was that! So Naaman is about to leave in a huff with no intention of washing in the filthy waters in Israel. But another nameless servant arrives on the scene. One of Naaman's servants speaks up, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more when all he said to you was, 'Wash and be clean?'”? Naaman reluctantly obeys and lo and behold, he is made well.

         It is ironic that Naaman, the great commander, must take orders from servants to become well.  First the young, captive girl. Then Elisha’s messenger. Then his servant who coaxed him to follow Elisha’s advice.  Naaman finds healing in a land he conquered, in a river he distains, from people he considers beneath him. Obedience to a foreign God – conveyed by no-name servants, a prophet with a bad-attitude, standing in muddy waters healed Naaman. The God of Israel has mercy on a ruthless conqueror. What kind of God is this?

We face Independence Day in deeply uncertain and troubling times.   It is imperative more than ever to stand up to evil.  We as Christians are called from our place of brokenness to remember, like a little girl, where our source of hope and strength lie.  Like her, like Elisha we are called to help our enemies, whomever they may be.

We are called to share the goodness we know and point the way.   Because there is a healing river, there is a God of love who has taught us in Christ and gives us the grace to not return evil for evil, to point others to blessing and wholeness, even as we suffer.  There is a God, whom Jesus revealed, who gives us grace to not be captive to fear while we live in uncertain times.   There is a God, who this young captive, girl gave witness to, that even if we are stripped of our family, our land, forced into some kind of exile, there is a God who stays with us and gives us the power to be a voice for healing and wholeness.   

As we celebrate freedom, let us especially celebrate freedom from hate. Let us choose to be made clean -- clean from fear, from animosity, from violence. Let us choose to give voice to what we know like the young captive girl did.  To the freedom we have in Christ. Let us be confident that even in our own woundedness, God will use us to point the way to wholeness for others.  What a blessing, we can be.  Amen.