July 3, 2011 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 11:28-30

  16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

   17 “‘We played the pipe for you, 

   and you did not dance; 

we sang a dirge, 

   and you did not mourn.’

   18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

   27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

   28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“Playing or Celebrating?”  

Is this what Jesus is saying?

We are like children playing at religion.  As is said of those in our text they were  “playing at religion...with all their seeming earnestness in reality they are triflers.  They are also fickle, fastidious, given to peevish fault finding, easily offended.  They are hard to please...equally dissatisfied with John and with Jesus; satisfied with nothing but their own artificial formalism.  They are always so sure and so ready to judge.”

They were all hung up on nonessentials.  Jesus wants us to feel with those who hurt, have fun with those who are joyful, experience and share forgiveness as the essence of life - not judgment and condemnation. 

 I hear Jesus saying, “I want you to celebrate life in all its dimensions and possibilities.  Don’t get all hung up on nonessentials - don’t play at it - celebrate it!”

 “My Yoke Is Easy”

Catchy slogans are not necessarily true - just catchy.

These words of Jesus sound like a catchy slogan - but their not.

Like the slogan - “He ain’t heavy Father, he’s my brother.”  they remind us that the yoke which is easy and the burden which is light is so NOT because little is demanded, but because much is first given.

The yoke of Jesus is the commitment to love; it is the call to be kind, loving, good, merciful,

just as we have received mercy.  Bearing one another's burdens in love is light!  No matter how heavy it gets!  To do this we first have to know we are loved.  For only the loved can so love.  

God first loves us; then God demands much from us.  And the much is easy, for it is given in love.  This is the yoke which is easy and the burden which is light.

“A Time To Dance”

“In the world to come, each of us will be called to account for all the good things God put on earth which we refused to enjoy.”  Talmud

Dancing, joy and celebration go together - in ancient religion as well as in our lives.  It is a way to express joy - something we have difficulty doing.

The purpose of religion is not to take fun out of life but to put fun into life - celebration!

Work for justice and dance for joy!

June 26, 2011 2nd Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 10:(34-39) 40-42

 34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

   “‘a man against his father, 

   a daughter against her mother, 

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 

   36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

   37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

   40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

 (When this sermon was preached the text began with verse 34.  These words of Jesus are important for this message so I add them here.)

“Blessed Into Change”

Jesus didn’t come just to bless us into complacency, compliance, contentment; 

He came to bless us into change.  Change which can be disruptive, disturbing, difficult, even destructive on the outside, as it seeks to make more real what is on the inside.

Destructive that is of those systems which are not life giving, just, fair, sensitive, compassionate.  Which are not doing good for the least as well as for the most.

The bottom line with Jesus is always - what is this doing to the helpless.  

“A true prophet is rarely so cocksure of himself and his interpretation of God’s will that he is spared those wrenching moments before God in which he questions his own calling. doubts the veracity of his message and even hopes that he is wrong. “

God does novel and wonderful things and loves to pull surprises on his people, so we can laugh together at our making mountains out of mole hills and cry together at how often we miss the point of it all and become who God wants us to be - not who we want to be.  Then something of God’s Kingdom does come on earth as it is in heaven.

Then hospitality is truly experienced and shared.

Then a cup of cold water has eternal meaning.

June 19, 2011 The Holy Trinity

June 19, 2011  The Holy Trinity

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 “Commissioned As Servants”

With these words we are called to accept a way of life which runs contrary to our way of thinking.  We are called to believe something we can’t help doubting.  We are called to live as if someone has died for us so we can no longer do it our way no matter how much we would like to live as if we were the only ones who counted.  We are called to dare believe that servant hood is the essence of discipleship..

We simply cannot go through life acting as if nothing has happened for us which changes dramatically how we live and move and have our being.  The Cross and Open Tomb stand as constant reminders of the sacrifice paid and the call made which forever changes the way we live.  We are servants not masters!  

“:You were brought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”  I Cor 6:20

“A Great Mystery”  

Without mystery life looses something deep and beautiful.

Without mystery God becomes something less then God.

The Trinity is a mystery.  After all is said and done to help us know God, 

the mystery still remains.

On Holy Trinity Sunday we celebrate that mystery even as we worship God the Father, creator of all things; God the Son, Redeemer of all humankind, and God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of all who believe.  (And maybe even those who don’t.)

“Great indeed”, we confess, “is the mystery of our religion.”  I Tim 3:16

June 12, 2011 Day of Pentecost

John 20:19-23

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

   21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

“Empowered to Forgive”

“Love implies forgiveness.  It is hard for us to realize, but actually the only requirement the loving Father places on us, once we come to know Him...is that we forgive as we have been forgiven.”  “The Other Side of Silence”, Morton Kelsey, p. 68

Forgiveness is a gift of God’s spirit.  It is central to ALL that Jesus said and did.

It is central to what the Church is ALL about.  It is a powerful, renewing, uplifting, hope filling, smile producing, releasing gift which in no way is meant to control or dominate the lives of others.  It is meant to set one free to really live, with new choices and chances,  and renewed vigor.  We are to work at being forgiving until forgiveness works!

It can also be a powerful, loving thing to not forgive - to retain someone in their sins - when the grace of forgiveness will only be used to continue irresponsible and even evil action.

There are times to be tough, unforgiving, to practice tough love, which is love which wants to forgive but can’t - yet!

The goal of not forgiving is not to not be forgiving.  The goal of not forgiving is to help the process get to the placed where we can forgive.  For that is what love always wants to do, and must be ready to do.  For we have been forgiven much!

These words are not permission to give up on forgiveness.  They are a stern reminder

that without forgiveness there is no tomorrow!  Our call is to work at giving away the gift of forgiveness as much and as often as we can, so that no one in our reach needs remain “fastened in their sins”, needs live without the life giving gift of forgiveness