A Lectionary Garden of Thoughts and Sermons

Advent 4B Luke 1:39-56 The Magnificat

2011-12-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

I once read, "What if God had sent Gabriel to many women before he came to Mary many times and they had all refused?" Was he giving Mary a choice? She seems to voice consent. What if she had said no?

Mary said, "Let it be to me according to your word." Wow. What faith it took to say that. She had no idea what she was getting into. None of us who sign up for parenthood, or have it thrust upon us "surprisingly," really know what we are getting into until we experience it. But Mary has more ahead of her than just parenthood. She has the potential disgrace of being unmarried and pregnant. She has the prediction of Simeon, "A sword shall pierce your heart." She has the pain of watching her son leave for ministry; and then the unspeakable horror of watching him die a tortured death.

Advent 3B John 1:1-28 Announcing the One

2011-12-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

John 1 from the cotton patch version of the Bible

When time began, the Idea already was. The Idea was at home with God, and the Idea and God were one. This same Idea was at home with God when time began. Through him the universe was made, and apart from him not one thing came to be. In him was life, and the life was humanity’s light. And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness never quenched it.

6. A man arose—sent from God—whose name was John. This man came forward as a witness, to testify for the light, so that people might be convinced by him. He wasn’t the light himself, but a witness for the light The true light, which enlightens every man, was entering the world. In the world he was, and the world was made by him, and the world ignored him. He came into the things he had made, and the people whom he loved turned their backs on him. However, to those who did let him in—who lived up to his name—he gave the right to be God’s children. Such children were not fathered by bloody sacrifices, nor by a moment of lust, nor within wedlock, but by God himself.

14. Well, the Idea became a man and moved in with us. We looked him in the face—the face of an only son whose father is full of kindness and integrity.

15. As John preached, he had this to say about him: "This is who I meant when I said, ‘The one coming behind me has gotten ahead of me, because he was here before I was.’"

16. All of us got one favor after another from his overflowing abundance. Moses gave us rules; Jesus the Leader gave us kindness and integrity.

18. While no one has ever actually seen God, the only One—the Father’s dearest One—has revealed him.

19. Here is John’s testimony when the good white folks of Atlanta sent a committee of preachers and deacons to ask him what he considered himself. He admitted right off the bat and stood his ground, publicly asserting, "I am not the Leader."

So they asked him, "Well, what are you, then? Are you an Elijah?"

"No, I’m not," he replied.

"Are you ‘The Prophet’ ?"

‘Nope."

"Look, we’ve got to make a report to those who appointed us," they said. "What are you? What claims are you making for yourself?"

"I am what Isaiah the prophet said—a voice crying in the wild, ‘Straighten out the Lord’s road.’

24. Since they had been appointed by the denomination, they inquired, "Well, if you aren’t the Leader, nor an Elijah, nor ‘The Prophet,’ then why are you initiating members?" John told them, "Indeed I am initiating—in water. But right in your midst is standing one who you fellows don’t recognize. He follows me, but I myself am not fit to shine his shoes." All this happened in Jonesboro, across the Chattaboochee, where John was immersing. (from the Cotton Patch Version of the Gospel of John, translated by Clarence Jordan) http://rockhay.tripod.com/cottonpatch/john.htm

That translation of John 1 may be one you have never heard. It was translated from the original Greek by Dr. Clarence Jordan, founder of Koinonia community, a farm near Americus , Georgia started in 1942. The Koinonia community was a Christian place, which pooled its resources, absolutely refusing to participate in the racial segregation that was the norm in the South at that time. His farm welcomed every race, and everyone worked and ate side by side. Even in the face of persecution from the KKK, Jordan and his fellow community members never swayed in their commitment to biblical freedom and equality. (Jim Wallis & Joyce Hollyday, The Cloud of Witnesses. New York: Orbis Books, 2005. Pages 60-65)

When I was a young religion major, I was introduced to the cotton patch version of the Gospels by some of my friends one day when we were goofing off in the library instead of studying. We giggled as we read the strange phrases applied to familiar passages like Jesus was wrapped in a blanket and laid in an apple box at his birth, he was killed by lynching, and he came out of a vault on Easter morning and said Howdy to his disciples. However, as we learned more and more Greek (when we actually did study), we found out how close to the original meaning Clarence Jordan’s translations were.

Because Clarence Jordan, the civil rights activist, thought that Americans should hear the Gospel in their own language, and that perhaps if they put Jesus into their own context, then they might catch the true meaning of a his life lived under persecution of the “GOOD CHURCH PEOPLE” of his day.

On this Third Sunday of Advent, we have a unique opportunity to identify the role that all persons of faith are called to by God. Each one of us who has heard the words of this text have seen the importance of John the Baptist's witness to Jesus. Like John, God directs us to bear witness to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the one who has come in the flesh, the one who is here with us, and the one who will come again in his reign as Lord of all.

In the Cotton patch version it is the good white people of Atlanta who send representatives to ask John, Who are you? In the NRSV it says The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask the same question.

What were they asking? Were they asking for proof of credentials? Where did do your studies? Where is your college degree? I don’t see hanging anywhere. What they wanted to know is by what authority is he doing this?
He was displaying characteristics of the prophets of old: Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah. This had to make them nervous, because even though those prophets were important historical figures to their faith, they were radical, too radical for their carefully constructed Temple religion. And any craziness that drew crowds was sure to attract the attention of the Roman governor who in turn might decide to persecute as he had done not many years previous when a Jewish insurrection had broken out, the romans crucified so many that blood ran in the streets of jerusalmem.

But what those Jewish leaders did not know at this time was that the disruption was only in its earliest infant stages. They had no idea what they were going to face for the next 3 years as John faded into the background and Jesus surfaced as the greatest preacher and gatherer of crowds their country had ever witnessed.

John the Baptist is a sign, he is the thunderstorm before the F5 tornado. He points us to the One who is to come, and who has come, and who is with us always. John the Baptist is not the One. We are not the One. We merely point to the One. But if we look to the One we will find a way.

Throughout John’s gospel Jesus, there are seven “I AM” sayings of Christ

1. I am the bread of life. John 6:35.

2. I am the light of the world the one who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. John 8:12

3. I am the gate. John 10:9

4. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. John 10:11

5. I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in me will live even when they die. John 11:25

6. I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6

7. I am the true vine and my father is the vinedresser. John 15:1

But here John the Baptist says clearly I AM NOT THE CHRIST.

He is not the Christ. He is the humble one who comes before, the prophet who declares and then fades into the background before he meets his end at the mercy of Herod’s mistress who asks for his head on a plate.

John is easy to overlook but humility is always easy to overlook. That is his role.

There came a man sent from God whose name was John

He is not fit to shine shoes. Who has the shoe shining jobs? Who is willing to kneel in front of you at the airport and wipe the scum off your boots? I have only had a shoe shine once because I’m not usually wearing leather shoes in airports anymore, I’m wearing something that will slip off easily, usually flip flops for the security screening. However, I get pedicures a lot, and I sit there and wonder how I would feel if I got to scrape nasty callouses off dirty feet and saw off thick toenails all day.

(How do we treat these people? If you don’t get your shoes shined, what about the ones who do your manicure /pedicure? What about the waiters? What about the bus boys? What about the Walmart cashiers?)

He is not fit to untie Jesus’ sandals. Disciples served their masters in every way that slaves served their masters. Except one: Disciples were expected not untie the straps of the sandals of their master. That was too disgusting and derogatory of a task for anyone but a slave.

I remember once when my brother & I were 10 & 11, my dad asked us to rub his feet. We knew better than the say no. We went in the utility room and got clothes pins, pinned them to our noses, and put on our winter gloves. Daddy was not happy.

And John says he is not fit to do the lowliest of slaves’ tasks for Jesus. This reminds me of a line in My Best Friend’s Wedding. When Julianne finds out the man she has been best friends with for 10 years is getting married, she tries to break he and his fiancé up.

Julianne: I have done nothing but under-handed, despicable, not even terribly imaginative things since I got here. But I was... Michael, I was just trying to... to win you. To win you back. But that doesn't excuse any of it. I'm... pond scum. Well, lower actually, I'm like the fungus the feeds on pond scum.

Michael: Lower. The pus that infects the mucus, that cruds up the fungus that feeds on the pond scum....(“My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Dir P.J. Hogan. Writer Ronald Bass. Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz. Film 1997.)

That’s what John the Baptist is saying about himself. But not because he has done anything repulsive—unless you count eating locust, but that he is NOT the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God.

He is a prophet,

a precursor,

a preparer,

but he is NOT the one.

John knows who HE IS and he knows what he is calling is, and that is to announce the coming, advent, of the Messiah WHO IS THE ONE.

Everyone single one of us who come after him has the very same task. We are not the Messiah; although some of us try to be. But we announce who he is and what he has done for us to the world, and what he will do for everyone else. We have a specific task this Advent season,

and that is to tell the world that

There is more to life than fighting over sale priced holiday gifts

There is more to life than fretting about the fallen economy.

There is more to life than wars, guns, bloodshed, and bombs.

There is more to life than sexual abuse scandals and failed presidential campaigns.

There is more to life than protests and riots and rising energy bills.

There is more to life than terrorists, tanks, and talk shows.

There is more to life than housework, homework, and hate crimes.

Because our Hope has already come , is here, and is coming, and we know his name.

The Lion is the Lamb.

The King is the servant.

Royalty is born in a barn, and the world is still turning upside down because of it.

But then this very man whom his cousin and preparer declared he wasn’t worthy to loosen his sandals unties his robe and kneels down in front of his own disciples, unties their sandals, and washes their feet. Therefore, he sets the example for all of us.

Let us declare to the world that we know who has come and who is here and who will come.

In the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Confederates Hugging Yankees and Other Impossibilities our Church Promotes - Nazarene Grace and Peace Magazine

2011-12-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Confederates Hugging Yankees and Other Impossibilities our Church Promotes - Nazarene Grace and Peace Magazine

This is an article I wrote, just published in Grace and Peace Magazine.

advent week two 2B Mark 1:1-8

2011-12-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

John the Baptist seems to have a lot of humility. Sure, he is screaming in the wilderness that there is one coming. It seems that is not very humble, to call attention to one's self in such a way. But he is not yelling about his own fame, but he simply prepares the way for another.

Is humility something we think about just before Christmas? It doesn't seem that our culture speaks to humility in any way shape or form. Two days before the beginning of Advent, we see people knocking each other down to get a good deal on toys. I don't think that has anything to do with humility.

If you find yourself on the floor of Wal-mart sometime in December, think humility.

advent week one 1B

2011-11-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

"It all started with a mouse and a dream" Walt Disney
How big that dream became.

But what about God's dream for his son? What about God's dream for us? What is God dreaming for you this advent? Ask him. He will show you.

Where will that dream take you? God's imagination??? It is limitless...

Garden pictures of God's great creation John 1:9

2011-10-20T12:55:00.001-07:00

Today I was overwhelmed by the beauty of my fall garden. This summer in Oklahoma was extremely hot and dry. I watered and watered, thinking I would lose many of my perennials. Thankfully, the loss was minimal. This mum was planted last year in the fall. It has bloomed beautifully. The one shiny yellow flower reminds me of Jesus, a lone light in the dark world. John 1:9, NIV, The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

These are my Oklahoma roses. They are a smaller rose, seem to grow wild. This bush has been whacked and cut and pruned and it still comes back every year. It has been covered in disease and dried. I have cut it down almost to the ground, but it still blooms. May our lives do the same.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5

Reformation Day

2011-10-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

Above is the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany, where Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses on that day 494 years ago.

Oct 31, Reformation Day, celebrated by Protestants all over the world. October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 Thesis to the Wittenberg Door. This would be the equivalent of posting the Theses on a popular facebook page today. He protested certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church, thus, "PROTESTant."

The work is not done. John Wesley (1703-1791) said in his sermon "On the Church" that differences must be allowed to exist in the church or continued reformation will not happen. Advancement of the church depends upon our toleration of each other's differences.

We don't all have to have the same opinions. We know what we agree upon: The Trinity, The incarnation, the resurrection. Let us seek unity among all Christian churches, even in our diversity. We do not have to be one denomination to work together for the cause of the Gospel.

Jesus turns everything upside down, Proper 26A, Ordinary 31A, Pentecost +20, October 30 2011, Matthew 23:1-12

2011-10-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12 NRSV

Jesus criticizes the religious establishment in this passage. He points out those with privilege who show off their knowledge and even their clothing. Servants? Who wants to be called a servant?

Our Example became a servant (Philippians 2:5-11).

Matthew 22:34-46, Proper 25A, Pentecost +19, October 23, 2011,

2011-10-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ³⁷He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:34-46 NRSV

Just two commandments after the Sadducees had learned all 613 and could quote them all by number back to Jesus?

Sure, love God, love neighbor. But who is my neighbor? That is answered in Luke 10 by the parable of the Good Samaritan.The one who shows mercy is the neighbor.

Perhaps the hardest commandment of all is loving the neighbor when the neighbor is not lovable, showing mercy to those who do not show mercy. Yet this is the benchmark of Christianity, the "hinge" upon which all hangs.

Easter evening for all years Luke 24

2011-04-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Every year the easter evening lectionary post is Luke 24:14-36. Two unnamed disciples seemingly accidentally stumble upon Jesus, but they do not recognize him. This passage is so easy to preach. How many preaching paths can you count? I have preached it many different ways, but tonight the act of hospitality by the disciples stood out to me.
I know it was the culture to invite someone in to stay. I know it is accepted, but Jesus dealt with some who did not even show him cultural civility. Remember the dude who did not offer him water to wash his feet nor oil for his head, so a woman came in and washed his feet with her tears?

So Jesus sits down at the table with them, breaks bread, and immediately they recognize him. He disappears. I can see them looking under the table, outside the house, on the roof, everywhere and puzzling. Then they realize they must tell everyone & they run back to Jerusalem. In the dark. Didn't anyone tell them it's not safe to travel the road to Jerusalem in the dark? The excitement of seeing the risen Christ cast out their fears.

And Jesus showed up in Jerusalem too. His way of transporting certainly beat foot travel.

Nanny McPhee & Nanny McPhee returns are movies in Mary Poppins style that tell the story of a Nanny who comes when a family needs her. Her rule is, "When you need me and don't want me, I have to stay. When you want me and don't need me, I have to go."

I was reminded of this while reading this passage tonight. The disciples certainly wanted Jesus to hang around after he was resurrected. But they did not need him. He had prepared them well, and he prepared them further when his physical absence allowed the holy spirit to be sent.

Baptism of Christ Year A Acts 10

2011-01-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

The lectionary passage focuses on a small portion portion of this chapter, but I will focus on the entire Cornelius story.

The chapter begins with Cornelius. He is a Roman centurion who loves God and gives alms. But he is not a Jew. It seems God has already begun to work on spreading the Gospel without the help of the Apostles in the case of Cornelius. But in a vision, God tells Cornelius to send for Peter. Unbeknownst to Cornelius, God has also given a vision to Peter. Peter is a good Jew who has probably never sat down at a table to eat with a Gentile.

I have to laugh at Peter's answers to God. Peter knows it is God speaking. God sends a sheet of unclean animals and he tells Peter to eat them. Peter replies that he has never eaten what is unclean. Why would God tell Peter to do something God commanded people not to do in the Torah? This passage speaks heavily about the importance of experience. The Wesleyan tradition of which I am a part emphasizes experience must go along with Scripture. If Peter had screamed "I only listen to the Torah, not God," then we Christians would be practicing Judaism.

This passage also teaches us that God has no favorites. Really? This is one of the hardest lessons to grasp. Nothing I can do can make God love me more or less.

Luke 19:1-10 Shake you up

2010-10-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

The gospel of Luke is full of ironies. Those who seek their lives lose them. Those who refuse to give away their money walk away sad. The one who gives away his money rejoices. Those who sacrifice their dignity receive recognition.

Which brings us to today’s text: A short tax collector climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus. But there is no way to receive the full meaning of the story without reading the chapter that comes before. There was a rich man in chapter 18. He asked Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to give away his riches and he went away sad, for he was rich.

In a HUGE contrast, we stumble onto the story of Zacchaues, the short tax collector who climbs the sycamore tree. He doesn’t even ask Jesus what he must DO to inherit eternal life. It seems to be nothing but his encounter with Jesus that inspires him to give away his wealth.

There is a system in our world. It screams, “There is not enough for everyone, so we must hoard what we have.” If you have ever watched the show "Hoarders" you know what damage this idea can bring when taken to its extreme. Have you ever tried to pry someone’s hand open? I remember trying to get little dangerous choke hazard-like objects out of my toddler’s hands. Their little fingers can hold tight. It takes some skill to pry without hurting, doesn’t it?

Then there is the system called the Kingdom of God. This system screams, “There is enough for everyone, so share what we have.” The fingers do not need to be pried, because when one embraces this system, the wealth comes flying out the door.

There are two ways you can open a soda can. One is without shaking and one is with shaking. Without shaking you get a calm, cool drink. With shaking you get an explosion that cannot be predicted. Jesus shook up the soda can of Zaccheaus life. And when it was opened, there was no end of the spraying of joy to the entire community.

Let Jesus shake you up. Embrace the Kingdom of Abundance, let go the Kingdom of Scarcity. Enter into the Kingdom of God where the short become tall and the rich become poor.

Luke 10:38-42 Erma Bombeck or Martha Stewart

2010-07-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

"My theory on housework is, if the item doesn't multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?" Erma Bombeck

If Mary is Erma Bombeck, then Martha is Martha Stewart. Who am I? Everyone who knows me screams "Erma Bombeck/Mary." In my senior pastor days I have been known to prop up commentaries on cannisters of sugar while cooking. The only reason I cooked was to keep my kids from starving. I have never been known to cook for pleasure. While other girls were learning how to prepare meals, I had my nose in John Wesley's Journal. Am I saying this is one of my favorite passages? Yes! Validation for neglecting housework!

I know kids today are not going to know who Erma Bombeck is...but my child did laugh when I told her last night that the title of one of Erma's books was If life is a bowl of cherries, why am I living in the pits?
My favorite of Erma's titles is The grass is always greener over the septic tank. Mary may have laughed at this title, but Martha was too busy trying to keep the house clean.

Really Martha, give it up. It's just going to get dirty again. If you make the bed in the morning, I promise it will be unmade at night. If you wash the dishes, they are just going to get used. Order takeout and sit at Jesus' feet.

This passage is about priorities. We get too busy to listen to Jesus. We get too wrapped up in nonessentials to care about essentials. Mary and Erma know what is important. Do you?

Wanted Help from an Unwanted Helper Luke 10:27-37 Good Samaritan

2010-07-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

While studying the passage this week I kept thinking that I must turn this around. We always see ourselves as the hero in the story; of course I would help that person. Of course I would stop. I would give. I would love. Or at least I thought that as an innocent child the first time I heard it. Then I grew up and realized how dangerous it was to stop and offer anyone help along the road. People get killed doing such things. What in the world was Jesus talking about? Is he really asking us to risk our lives to show compassion? (That is a sermon for another day, but I'm sure most of you can guess the answer based on the story of the Gospel.)

So that was my first response...but then my mind kept moving and I remembered the time (see my earlier post on this passage by search the Gospel of Luke, cause I can't figure out how to link back), that I was broken down on the side of the road and I received unexpected aid. Perhaps part of the message of this passage is in how we receive aid, not just how we give aid.

Jesus does not label the man going from Jericho to Jerusalem, but we assume it was a Jew. Most likely he is going from Jericho to Jerusalem because that is the last leg of the journey for Jews traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem while avoiding Samaria. The man is on the road because he is avoiding Samaritans. It was a dangerous road, and the travelers knew it. They knew the risk and took it anyway to stay away from those they despised.

The inevitable happens and the man is stripped, beaten, and left for dead. No one knows his social, religous, or economic status now. The "nice" people avoid him. They certainly don't want to touch an unclean, bloody body. They are on their way to religious service anyway and they don't have time to stop. The original listeners expected this. Of course no one expected Priests and their helpers, the Levites to show compassion to ordinary people. But they did expect the one who showed compassion to be LIKE THEM. The next guy to come along is supposed to be the average everyday Joe. Ouch.

Average Everyday Joe is the one beat up in the ditch. He is not the one stopping to help. The one who stops to help Average Everyday Joe is Average Everday Outcast. The very one Average Everday Joe hoped to avoid on the road is the one who stops and helps him when he is down. Average Everyday Outcast does not just stop, he is moved with compassion the way Jesus is moved when he heals (the only other time this word is used of another person other than Jesus in Luke is when the father welcomes the Prodigal home). He doesn't just stop to see if the guy is OK, he poors oil and wine on them (not cheap supplies here), bandages him (risking uncleanness or infection himself), and puts him on his own animal...this would be like putting the bruised and bloody in the backseat of your Buick.

He takes him to an inn and pays...and then he says, whatever other charges are encured, I will pay. Do you know what a risk that was? It's like saying, "Here's a blank check" or even better, "here's my credit card, use it however he needs it."

What happens when Average Everyday Joe awakens? That is the part of the story I wish Jesus had told! How did he feel when he found out he had been helped by Average Everyday Outcast?

Most of the time we think we are showing the grace of God when we work: when we stop to help, when we give money to a cause, when we feed the hunger, when we give a week for a mission trip...and that is true: we are.

However, this story tells me that sometimes we show the grace of God by receiving the love and care of another human, maybe even one that we had once despised.

Monday, Sept. 24, my 2 daughters & I took a road trip to a state park. After we swam for a while, we drove to a small SW OK town where I went to high school. I only lived there 2 years, but graduated from HS there....had not been back for over 10 years and neither one of my children had ever been there. It is a town of less than 2000, so there is not much site-seeing to be done...

After a brief hike cut short by the sound of a rattler in the grass, we got in the car and drove the 10 miles to M------. If you have never driven in SW Oklahoma or West Texas you cannot imagine what it is like to drive where the land is flat, flat, flat, and you see so much sky you wonder why God made hills. We are about to M----- with the music cranked as high as it will go and my 7-year-old says, "Mommy, I just heard a pop." I said, "So." She said, "Mommy the car is shaking." I still didn't notice anything...then I heard this awful sound...and well, turned off the radio. Blowout. We are in the middle of NOWHERE. M---- is about 2 miles away...so I drove at 25 with blinkers on until we got to town. Pulled off in a parking lot and got out to look at my shredded tire. I started digging in the back of the station wagon for the jack and spare. A loud, old 68 Ford pickup with 2 guys in the truckbed rattles by. I see them turn around. The 2 guys in back jump out before the truck stops. They almost have the tire off the car before the hit the ground.

"Need some help?"

"Sure. But my jack is sorely lacking."

"Don't worry. We can lift the car if we can't get the jack to work. We ain't afraid of work."

The two guys bent over the tire are 20-somethings...wiry, tall, heads shaved, wearing nothing but boots and jeans. Tattoos cover their heads, faces, backs, chests, arms, hands....Their dad and older brother stood back and watched If this had been the city I might have been scared, but I figure if I started talking we'd figure out we went to high school together.

"I'm Kelly."

"We're the _______." They say in unison. I vaguely remember the family name. I ask them if the remember my brother.

The guy behind the truck. "Yeah I remember him."

They have the tire changed by now, and tell me where I can get a decent used tire for a fair price. They jump back in the pickup and tell me to follow them to the tire shop. So I do. Tattoed arms waving, they point to a tiny auto shop.

I don't know how you remember high school, but there are certain families that are labeled in small towns as losers. I don't know how it started with this family, but they had a certain label. It may have been something their great-grandpa did...but teachers and kids at school have a certain idea of a kid with a certain last name. Sometimes the kid chooses to live up to it, sometimes they try hard to overcome it.

Here I am in a tiny farming town in southwest Oklahoma living inside the parable of the Good Samaritan. Believe me, no one would have guessed the dust covered 90 Ford Taurus I drive is the car of a college professor. At the moment I looked like an Okie (I do say it proud, Vince Gill, but I did look like one). My station wagon is loaded down with junk cause we have been on a day trip at the lake. My 2 kids & I have just been swimming and digging clay. I had my hatch up and junk spread around on the gravel, just trying to dig for the spare tire. Did cars drive by and see my distress? Oh yes. Who was it that stopped? The guys that got beat up in school because their family was labeled.

He has risen just as he said. John 20, Luke 24

2010-04-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

I posted on my facebook page Saturday, "waiting for the Son to rise." Someone posted, "He already has."
I know that. However, liturgically, I was waiting for the resurrection after witnessing the Tennebrae, or service of Darkness Friday evening. The sadness had filled my heart, esp. due to a difficult situation of which I had been made aware Thursday night in the life of someone that I care about. I needed Jesus to rise. I needed to be reminded of his resurrection power. He answered. He arose. Just as he said.

It's Friday. But is Sunday coming?

2010-04-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

A popular phrase among American Christians is "It's Friday but Sunday's aComin'"
To embrace the true meaning of Good Friday, we must embrace the pain the disciples felt. They did not know Sunday was coming. Their despair did not include a little note in the back of their heads that said, "Yes, but this sorrow will pass." True sorrow, true despair does not know hope. That is what they felt. Did he tell them he would rise? Yes. Did they listen? No. Would you listen if one of your friends told you they would rise on the third day? It has been a difficult day for me. I need Sunday. But first I must get through Friday and Saturday's pain.

Wednesday of Holy Week. Jesus was bullied.

2010-03-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

An educational website aimed at kids defines bullying in the following ways:
"Punching, shoving, and other acts that hurt people physically.
Spreading bad rumors about people.Teasing people in a mean way.
Getting certain people to "gang up" on others."

I found this to be a description of the way Jesus was treated during Holy Week.

Luke 22:63-65 "The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, 'Prophesy! Who hit you?' And they said many other insulting things to him." (Punching, shoving, and other acts that hurt people physically. Teasing people in a mean way)

Luke 23:1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king." (Spreading bad rumors about people. Getting certain people to "gang up" on others)

What does it say to us that our Lord and Savior was bullied?

Tuesday of Holy Week Isaiah 42:1-9

2010-03-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Songs of the Suffering Servant echo across the ages, through dark times and light, through hope and despair, we hear the sound of the Servant.

It is Tuesday. In two days he will eat the Supper. In three days he will die. In four days he will descend. In five days...well, we don't know that yet, do we?

Let us wait. Let us ponder the suffering of not only Jesus, but all of those who suffer in Jesus' name.

Monday Holy Week Isaiah 42:1-9

2010-03-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

"I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42:6-7

Everything for which we hope has come to pass in Jesus Christ. Yet now we ponder, we hope, we wish he would be the powerful warrior prince. Monday. All our hopes are tied up in one Man. But the chief priests and scribes seek to kill him. What will Jesus do? Will He show them He is God?

Maundy Thursday Lent Year C

2010-03-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

One week from yesterday will be Maundy Thursday. This is the day when we remember the last supper Jesus ate with his disciples. Our church will observe the day with a dinner, and then a service in which we wash each other's feet. Some churches may observe this regularly, but it was a new thing for our tradition a few years ago when we started. Of course its not required. One may ask a pastor to wash his or her feet, or ask a friend or loved one, or one may offer to wash another's feet. It's a holy occasion to get down on one's knees in public and wash someone's stinky feet. It helps us to remember his humility.

Holy Week is coming

2010-03-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Sorrowful anticipation for Good Friday
Happy anticipation for Easter
Holy Week is coming. Let us remember his Passion.

When I started observing Holy Week as an adult, I couldn't believe the meaning it put into the events of Jesus' last days for me. As I child of 7 I watched a movie about Jesus (can't remember which one) and remember I almost vomited when the whipped and killed him. It wasn't even at the level the "Passion of the Christ." A teacher of mine read us The Day Christ Died once. I shook the entire time. I don't advise reading that book to children. I know we can't be shielded from the horror of the event. Over the years I have tried to push the feelings down. I avoided Good Friday services and any visual that had to do with the crucifixion. Now I believe it is best to embrace the feelings of horror. It WAS the worst thing humanity could ever do. It was obscene and horrific and violent and gory. I tried to watch the "Passion of the Christ" when it came out in theaters. My students were asking about it. I felt I owed it to them. I went by myself. I sat behind a group of people that were laughing and joking and eating popcorn. I sat in front of a group who were loudly sobbing. I sat alone. I couldn't cry, the pain was too deep. Finally when they shoved the crowns into his scalp I left. I shook all the way home. I confessed to my class I couldn't get through it. I have never managed to finish it.

More on Palm Sunday Year C John 12:12-16

2010-03-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today I was talking to my Biblical Interpretation class about the historical reasons behind Jesus' death. I was struck by the idea that he could have avoided Jerusalem during Passover...knowing it was already a hotbed of political strife, why did he go? Of course we have the theological and biblical answers...Luke 9:51 "And he set his face to Jerusalem." He made up his mind he would go, humanly knowing what Rome did with "insurrectionists." What was he thinking as he rode the back of the donkey into Jerusalem? For just a moment did he wish that he could accept the praise, use his power, knock Pilate and Herod off their thrones, and take over? I know, he settled that back in the Temptation narrative...but did it ever come back? We welcome him with open arms, and then turn so quickly. God, don't let me do that this year.

Liturgy of the Palms Liturgy of the Passion Year C John 12:12-16

2010-03-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Triumphal Entry in the Gospel of John is placed strategically between Mary of Bethany's anointing of Jesus and the Greeks' wishing to see Jesus. Therefore, Jesus has been anointed for death--foreshadowing of crucifixion, and Gentiles begin to seek him--foreshadowing of salvation offered to all. Unlike Luke, John does not spend much time on the Entry.Only four verses set the stage for the pain and the passion. Mark's account gives us more material also. John seems to enjoy having people state the obvious without knowing why they are saying it.

The people proclaim, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord--the King of Israel!"

What is the obvious?
Jesus rides on the back of a donkey entering Jerusalem at Passover?
Mighty Messiah?
Military Mayhem?
Maybe More?

Expectations and hope fill the air. Palm branches wave. Some scholar say the waving branches of Palms stem back to Maccabean times, celebrating military victory.

What are my hopes this Palm Sunday? Do I wish for God to do violence to get revenge on my enemies? Do I wish for God to punish the "sinners" of the age?

Or do I expect God to forgive and forget? Do I expect grace to be offered to even those who stand in the crowd crying crucifiy him five days later? Do I realize I am in that crowd?

Lent 5C John 12:1-8 Mary's Anointing of Jesus. "What if I gave it all?"

2010-03-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've been meditating on this scripture for the past 2 days. The thought that keeps rising to the top is, "What if I gave it all?" Interesting that John places this passage directly after the raising of Lazarus. Mary's brother has just died, and she did not use this perfume on his body? I've never thought of that. She saved it for Jesus. And ask she pours it out, does she truly realize that his death is coming? Some scholars say she would have heard the evil heartbeat of the Jewish leaders who sought to kill her friend. She bought if for his burial, but she pours it on his feet before he dies. Is she telling Jesus she understands that he will give it all? Is she saying she is giving all she is because she knows he will give all he has? Why does Judas question her motives? There is always someone out there who will question one who gives without wanting something in return. For those who cannot do that, they cannot believe anyone else will. Judas believes everyone has a scheme like he does. Perhaps he thinks Mary is after a blessing. Interesting that Judas will be the vehicle by which Jesus is sold into death. We know what his motives are.

What if I give it all to a crucified man? There's nothing left he can give if he dies (according to Mary). Therefore, she pours out her year's wages at his feet. Would I do the same? Or am I Judas, sitting there wishing I could be like her, but knowing I cannot due to my own selfishness?

Lent 4C Luke 15 The Jealous Older Brother and the Loving Father

2010-03-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

I don't think this parable should be called the Prodigal Son. I would like to rename it, "the Jealous Older Brother." I remember the first time a teacher pointed this out to me...that the message might not just be the father who forgives and the son who returns. There is the older brother who sits home and gets angry when the spoiled brat returns. The parable never says the older brother changes his mind. Perhaps the message to most of us sitting in the pew that we are the older brothers. Are we envious because God is generous? Yes. What about all the years I gave to God while "They" were out sinning? Don't they count for something? No. Not really. Its about God's love and forgiveness...not about our righteousness.

Lent 3 C Luke 13:1-9 Did they deserve it?

2010-03-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

This passage concerns Jesus discussing the idea of "Did those bad people deserve what they got?" Apparently the people are asking Jesus' opinion of a horrible act of violence by Pilate (how about that for foreshadowing) against Galilieans who worshipped at Jerusalem, and the fact a tower collapsed near the pool of Siloam. They seem to be thinking perhaps the collapse of the tower was retribution for the massacre. But no one in particular caused the collapse. We call that a natural disaster. But these people had no frame of reference for natural. It was only God or nothing.

I fear we are often guilty of that same reasoning. Sadly some religious leaders have jumped on this and publically proclaimed that God was judging (fill in the blank). Today it is Haiti and Chile. Tomorrow there will be more disasters because that is the way the earth works. Plates shift, tornadoes rage, hurricanes flood, and blizzards freeze.

Jesus' message here needs to be our message. "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

We are all sinners. We all deserve death. Yet Jesus offers us forgiveness if we repent. All of us are in the same boat. We will all drown without the Lifesaver.

Everyone who thirsts Lent 3 C Isaiah 55:1-13

2010-03-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

"Eat what is good" Now that is a good quote for Lent!!! Have you ever seen the movie, Chocolat, in which a woman opens a candy shoppe in a Catholic village DURING Lent?

Ok, I will confess I gave up sugar and wheat for Lent. So far so good...only one lapse into Mardi Gras (Pink Swirls, I was weak)...I'm finding it easier than the year I gave up Ebay.

Back to Isaiah, this text is about feasting on that which we did not earn--a beautiful picture of God's grace. In a bad economy, no one gets a "free lunch." We work our fingers to the bone for pennies and hope we have enough at the end of the day to feed our babies. I feel guilty that I long for wheat and sugar when there are so many starving for any food in this world.

So may the God who provides manna in the wilderness and quail from nowhere, and water from rocks provide for us. May those who have plenty, give, and those who have none, receive. Amen.

Changing face of education

2010-03-04T12:26:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I know this doesn't fit the category of Lectionary Thoughts and Sermons. But it is a THOUGHT. I was observing today on how education has changed in the past 20 years. Yes, I am admitting my age. Some of this material is not original as I'm sure lots of people my age and older remark on it. I am closer to thirty than forty, and I graduated from college in the early nineties...That's as close to admitting age as I'm gonna get. I am a professor at a private college.

When I was in college Scantrons were High-tech
Now I give even essay tests in an online format. No paper needed, thank you. Save the trees. I am old fashioned perhaps by making my traditional students bring laptops to class rather than take the test anywhere.

When I was in college, my professors caught plagarizers because they were familiar with the subject matter. For instance, one professor for which I served as Teacher Assistant, instantly recognized a student's paper on sin as the first chapter of a book from his bibliography list--word-for-word.
Now I use turnitin.com. Students upload papers, and it checks the paper against every published book and internet source in its exhaustive database, and against every other students' paper.

When I was in college my professors wrote on chalkboards
Now I use powerpoint presentations with a laptop and overhead projector, and my school is behind times. In the public school classrooms in buildings next to ours, they have smartboards. Large touch screens...like a large iphone...
I do teach in the classrooms in which I sat as a student. And we still have the same chalkboards--hidden under the projection screen. Occasionally I resort to the old fashion chalkboard for variety's sake....cause students get bored with powerpoints!

When I was in college (dorms), we were happy to have phone-jacks that we plugged our phones into and had phone service that was included in our tuition. Now they have removed the phone jacks cause everyone has a cellphone.

I predict that traditional college classroom education has a limited lifespan. If you can take classes via your iphone and go to class while lying on the beach....are students going to keep "going to college" geographically? Any thoughts???

And welcome to my new regional women minister friends---please leave comments--

Easter 3 B Luke 24:36-48

2009-04-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

The road to Emmaus is one of my favorite passages. There is something so refreshing about Jesus showing up while someone is traveling down a lonely road. The two travellers accuse Jesus of being clueless, but they are the ones who are clueless. I love the way Jesus tells the story without revealing who he is until they sit at the table. And thanks to Luke, wow, what an easy message to preach! Jesus reveals himself at the Table. And he reveals himself at our Tables over and over and over again. The painting to the side was in my house growing up and has always spoken to me. I always pictured myself walking down the road. But of course, I would have recognized Jesus (this is my arrogant childhood self talking). Sadly, I realize as an adult I don't recognize Jesus as often as I should. Usually he is beaten and bruised and it hurts to look upon his wounds.

Lent 4B Love Darkness? Love light?

2009-03-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, Moses saved the people from the bites of snakes. All they had to do was look up to his snake rather than focusing on the snakes around them.

What a pictures that Jesus draws when he speaks, "So must the son of man be lifted up."

Look at the cross. Don't look at the snakes crawling around you. Especially the ones tempting you into sin.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan 18-25, 2009

2009-01-24T19:07:00.000-08:00

The world council of churches has proclaimed this a week of prayer for Christian unity.

Ecumenism "refers to initiatives aimed at greater religious unity or cooperation. In its broadest sense, this unity or cooperation may refer to a worldwide religious unity; by the advocation of a greater sense of shared spirituality across the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. "(http.en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Ecumenism)

Jesus prayed in John 17 "that they may be one."

Let us be one. Let's quit arguing over nonessentials and work for peace and love throughout the world.

There is only one God. This God loves us all. Let us love another as God loves us.

Christmas Eve Luke 2:1-4 Year B

2008-12-20T17:46:00.001-08:00

Today my family & I delivered groceries, something we do once a month with the local Catholic worker house. It is a chaotic sort of crazy event, esp. the Christmas delivery. About 30 people fill over 200 bags of groceries & then we divide up and deliver them all over the city.

We are given lists of people who have requested food. Today we approaced a door that had a padlock on the outside. The mail was overflowing from the mailbox. Obviously there was no one home. What to do? The next delivery was a duplex. I knocked on the wrong door. "They are over there." She pointed. Four tiny children ran outside, one a 3 year old boy in only a shirt & underwear. It was 38oF. I asked her if she needed food. She said yes. We brought the bags we had left.

The grateful thank yous from the children break my heart. Last month some kids came screaming to the door when we delivered, so glad to see us.

Our leader calls this organized anarchy. It's called Food Equality and redistribution. Whatever it is, it feeds hungry children at Christmas.

So different, the two views I've had this weekend. Last night I shopped at SuperTarget with the rest of the city. Lots of last minute runs for toys and stocking stuffers. I saw no tree or lights at the house where the hungry children lived.

I ask, which is closer to the stable where Jesus was born? What child understands Christmas better, the one receiving food in their hungry belly, or the one seeing a pile of gifts under a fancy tree? Don't get me wrong, I love giving & receiving gifts...but my heart is breaking today. Because I saw Jesus with a runny nose and bare legs run out in the cold, so glad to get a box of Rice Krispies 5 days before Christmas.

Advent 4B Luke 1:26-38

2008-12-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

"For nothing will be impossible with God." This is the message of Advent. I have witnessed a true miracle this week. A situation that looked hopeless, God worked. He set someone free who was in chains.
Sure it's a miracle that God's son came to earth...that he lived inside a girl's womb for 9 months and came screaming into a cruel world, represented by a dirty stable and a feeding trough. We hear it every year and we don't get it.
Do you get it? God came screaming into the world through a peasant girl! God crashed into an occupied land where his own people were being oppressed! God can break chains and make highways in the wilderness!
I was at ToysRUs last night and found empty shelves everywhere. Apparently the whole city had been Christmas shopping. Sure we want to make sure our kids find toys under the tree. But let's make sure they find peace on earth too.

A Great Place to Be

2008-12-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the annual staff Christmas party for our church. Can I say I am so glad to be a part of great team of pastors!!! I LOVE IT!! I admire my sisters who are out the solo pastoring. I did it. But I love being part of a team.

"Just Because it is doesn't mean it should be."

2008-12-13T21:32:00.001-08:00

I saw the movie "Australia" last night. What a statement against racisim. LOVED IT. "Just because it is doesn't mean it should be" is my new favorite quote. It also explores the importance of song and story in creating a culture and a people. I am so full of new sermon illustrations I may have to write a sermon.

What I want for Christmas

2008-12-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

1. No more hurting children. When will adults learn that children are the most treasured gift anyone could ever receive? When will we learn to treat children as people with feelings? When will we learn to take our children to church when they wake up and cry Sunday morning to go to Sunday School?
2. No more hatred. Jesus talked about murder beginning in the heart with hatred. If people learn to forgive and control their feelings by giving them to God, there would be no more violence.
3. No more hunger. According to the United Nations World Hunger Program, every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of starvation. I see my Christmas wish coming true when I see a community willing to help its hungry people.
4. No more gossip. Nothing can be more destructive to a church or community than idle words that spread like wildfire. This Christmas have a deaf ear and a mute mouth. If you don’t hear it you can’t spread it. If you do hear it, don’t spread it. If you hear an item of concern about an individual, ask that person, not everyone else in town. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
5. No more alcoholism.
Don’t buy the liquor this Christmas. You might drink too much, get angry, hurt someone you love—even your child or your spouse. It’s not worth it. Drunk driving accidents go way up around the holidays. We don’t want anymore tragedy. Leave the alcohol alone.
6. True Peace. The biblical idea of peace is found in the Old Testament concept of shalom. Much more than an absence of war, this peace permeates into the very heart of humanity. It means more than serenity, more than calmness, more than safety. It is the idea of complete harmony between God and humanity that leads to complete harmony within oneself, with creation, and with others. As we continue to read the Bible, we find the only way to shalom is through God’s Christmas gift to the world, his Son Jesus Christ. If you search for this peace, ask Jesus to forgive you of all wrong and to come into your life. Contact a local pastor for spiritual guidance.
7. An optimism of grace. This optimism tells me that my list is not just idle wishes, it is the hope of Christmas, the desire of a God who sent his only begotten Son into the world to make all these wishes come true.

Ordinary 28A Matthew 22:1-14 Violent Kingdom Parables AGAIN!

2008-10-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

"Many are called but few are chosen" used to scare me to death as a kid. I had been called to preach at 10 but feared I would not be worthy of the call. I was scared that because I had been called that God held me up to some kind of impossible standard. Nothing I did was ever good enough. I was the first at the altar at every revival. I had to be the most spiritual. I had to be perfect. And I never was.
But let's go back to the beginning of the passage. The king invites everyone to a wedding banquet. They do not come. So he kills them. Then he invites the society's outcasts to the banquet. One does not have a wedding garment so he is killed too.
Power and violence thrown around in another parable.
Barbara Brown Taylor calls this parable one of the 'biblical tales of terror'
http://web.archive.org/web/20030211005052/http:/www.theotherside.org/archive/mar-apr00/taylor.html
She talks about the real terror of obeying God and not knowing how it will turn out. Like Jesus heading to the Cross not knowing what would come on the other side.
Ugh. I don't like this passage AT ALL. As stated before, I don't like tales of violence. I can't watch violent movies because I feel the pain of every gunshot, gutpunch, or even dogbite.
Why do we have tales of a violent God included in the Bible? This is something I intend to explore this week.

Ordinary 27A Matthew 21:33-46

2008-10-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

The parable of the vineyard owner hurts. I hate it when Jesus talks about violence. Usually the violence points to his own death, as this does. It is amazing the way he makes the listeners fall into their own trap. I wish I could tell stories as he did. What will God do with the slaves who kill the son? Take it away and give it to someone else. I think I have been guilty of saying, "boy am I glad I am not one of those slaves." Perhaps we are too quick to judge those who rejected Jesus.

Epiphany 8A Matthew 6:24-34 On Anxiety

2008-10-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Note: note this is a full formal exegetical paper and not a sermon.

LITERARY/HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

"Do not be anxious," sounds easier than it is. The following is a detailed outline of Matthew 6:25-34

I. Do not worry about your life.

A. Do not worry about what you might eat.
B. Do not worry about what you might drink.
C. Do not worry about what you might wear.

II. Consider the birds of the air.

A. They do not sow.
B. They do not harvest crops.
C. The heavenly Father feeds them.
D. Are you not more valuable than the birds?

III. Can any of you by worrying add to his or her life a single hour?

IV. And why do you worry about clothing?

A. Consider the lilies of the field. They don't work.
B. But not even Solomon could match their clothing.
C. Now since God clothes the grass will he not clothe you?

V. Do not worry

A. Do not say "What are we to eat?'
B. Do not say "What are we to drink?"
C. Do not say "What are we to wear?"
D. For the people of the world are the ones who seek these things.

VI. You keep seeking the Kingdom and his righteousness and all these will be yours.

VII. So do not be filled with anxiety for tomorrow.

A. For tomorrow will have its own worries.
B. For each day has its own supply of evil.

Matthew the tax collector mentioned in the book is traditionally attributed with writing this gospel. However, some scholars say that a later Jewish Christian living in Antioch penned the book. He wrote for a church that was made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. (Hare, 2). Most scholars think the writer of Matthew used the Gospel of Mark and a source called "Q" that many believe all the Synoptic Gospel writers used. (Anchor, 622)
The theme of this passage is quite obvious. If only all biblical passages had such an apparent theme. "Do not worry." This is pretty simple to say, but almost impossible to practice.
Throughout the Old Testament, there seems to be anxiety over the pressures of everyday life in mostly agricultural land. Drought and famines do come. Yet Jesus seems to preach that those in the Kingdom have the power to keep from this normal angst. (Craddock, 155)
The overall genre for this passage is Gospel. The passage is a teaching straight from the mouth of Jesus. Red-lettered authority, my friend. There are poetic elements to it, as Jesus taught using poetry. Some call this section of Matthew's Gospel "Jesus demands on Israel."
Matthew and the other Gospels are an extension of the keryma about the fulfillment of the kingdom brought by Jesus. Matthew and the other Gospels are an extension of the kerygma about the fulfillment brought by Jesus. This fulfillment is described as especially the death and resurrection. The saying "sufficient to the day as its evil" has a proverbial ring to it. There have been no exact parallels found to this "proverb" but Proverbs 27:5 is similar. (Hagner, 166).
Geographically, this is the "Sermon on the Mount." In Matthew 5:1, Jesus climbs to the top of a mountain to preach this message. In Luke the same passage is the "Sermon on the Plain." Does it matter where he preached it? I'm not sure. I think the mountaintop preaching may have been connecting him with Moses and the Jewish people in Matthew's audience will appreciate the connection.
The overall theme of Matthew is that Jesus preaches and brings the Kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount is a large portion of the Gospel. This passage is included in that Sermon on the Mount. The passage shows the thoughts of Jesus on committing all worries to God. Jesus shows that even in his death he commits all to God and trust God to bring victory even out of his own death. (Hare, 3-5).
Matthew 6 is a message of Jesus that he preached at the beginning of his ministry. The storyline of the New Testament begins with Jesus' birth, continues with brief remarks on his childhood (Matthew 2:23, Luke 2:41-52). The story of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, continues with his being baptized by his cousin, John, known as the "Baptist." (Matthew 3:1-17).
Jesus then enters the wilderness to be tempted. (Matthew 4:1-11). The first preaching of Jesus is recorded in Matthew as "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17). He then calls his first disciples. In Matthew he calls two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. They are fishing and Jesus tells them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people" or in older translations, "I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:20). He then calls James and John, who also leave their fishing nets to follow Jesus.
Jesus begins healing in Matthew 4:23-25. It is a general statement about his healing. He heals the diseased, those in pain, and the paralyzed. This is all seen as signs of the Kingdom of God come to earth.
Matthew 5 begins with the Beatitudes. Jesus then gives a lengthy ethical discourse. Jesus discusses fasting, loving enemies, lust, and all kinds of practical instructions. Matthew 6:25-34 comes right in the middle of this long discourse. After he finishes this statement on worry, he goes into a statement on "Do not judge."
The Gospel continues with more accounts of sermons, healings, and finally ends with Jesus going "up to Jerusalem" to be crucified. He is buried in a borrowed tomb, but praise God he rises on the third day. The resurrection is the central event of the New Testament.

The economic conditions in Palestine in the first century were not good. Almost all of the famines that Josephus mentioned are in the first century. There were several natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, drought, and famine. (Theissen, 37-38) Herod had taken over much of the land through confiscation. Some in the world today, yes even still in Palestine, struggle with the same issues. Personally I don't fear drought and famine because even when Oklahoma had a horrible drought in 1998, other people in the country brought in water and crops. Telling people not to worry about food and water is one thing when they are well-fed such as those in my church. Telling a homeless person who is glad to get one meal a day at the City Rescue Mission not to worry seems almost callous. Is it callous or is it asking them to seek something higher than food and clothing? But how can one say such things when their children are hungry? I don't fully understand, but I am trying. I talk to people who have lived in Africa who tell of Nazarene pastors' families who eat only once every four days. They are not bitter of ungrateful to God or the church. They are simply grateful that God has provided food every four days. I think those families understand and believe this passage. I'm not sure I do. I don't really want to worry about it. I will say there have been times in my life when there was very little food in my house as a child. We never went hungry. God did provide in the form of Christian friends who brought food or let my parents know of jobs.

Theological Analysis
Matthew uses the word basileia (Greek for "Kingdom) more frequently than any other of the Gospel writers, nearly three times as many as Mark. Everything in the Gospel somehow relates to this theme of the Kingdom (Hagner, 1x, 1xi, 1xiii). Matthew also uses the term dikaiosouna (righteousness) which is common only to this Gospel. The righteousness which Jesus teaches his disciples is a higher righteousness.
In Matthew, the ones who know God as their Father are the ones for whom the best in life is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom's righteousness. To strive after the Kingdom means to strive after the righteousness of God (Matthew 6:33); and by receiving the Kingdom we receive the righteousness that comes with the Kingdom. Righteousness, the way the Jews perceived it, was a human activity. The rabbis taught the people that righteousness had to be a human work, including obedience to the Law and doing acts of mercy.
Jesus taught the people that righteousness was both God's demand and God's gift. Only a person whose righteousness exceeded those of the scribes and Pharisees was allowed entrance into the Kingdom. "Here is the very heart of Jesus' teaching, the renunciation of self-attained righteousness and the willingness to become like children who have nothing and must receive everything." (Ladd, 65, 79).
God is at work in the text through his own Son, Jesus Christ, come to earth to not only tell us that God loves us, but to show us. Jesus preaches that those who live inside this Kingdom of God do not need to worry about everyday things like food, clothing, and lifespan. Why is this so? There are Christians who go hungry. There are Christians who die young. The ultimate answer to these questions will not be found in this passage, but at the end of the Gospel when Jesus rises from the dead. If a follower of Jesus dies of starvation or of persecution, their hope is in the Resurrection, never in physical survival.
This passage seems full of grace. God is giving the gift of peace of mind. However, the passage immediately following says, "Do not judge lest you be judged." Biblical themes of trust, hope, and faith are also present. The birds and the lilies are not symbols of prosperity, but testimonies of God's care. The passage also assures that God cares for the poor and values them. He takes care of those the world abandons. Throughout the Old Testament, God condemns his people for abandoning the poor, the widow, the orphan and the sojourner. Jesus reminds the people of the same thing. (Hare, 74)
The human condition is all over this passage. We all worry. Some have more reasons than others. If one doesn't have the money for basic necessities one usually worries. Those in Christ long to live this way. We don't want to worry about our needs. Yet we do. Somehow Jesus wants us to get this message that the Kingdom of God is all that matters. How do we as humans even begin to grasp that? When we have empty bellies and our children go hungry? When disease, famine, and natural disasters threaten our existence? What really matters? Jesus says to human beings that the only thing that matters is faith in God. Being human means one has needs of food, shelter, clothing…basic, yes, but necessary for life. Jesus wants us to rise above that and trust in his resurrection hope.
As mentioned above, there is an indirect quote to Proverbs 27:5. Jesus refers to the Torah all over the Sermon on the Mount. He assumes his Jewish audience will know the Torah. Boys were required to memorize the Torah starting at the age of five.

Hermeneutical Analysis

"Anxiety and wordy need not govern the disciple who has known the grace of the Kingdom. This is not just sovereign care about the Father that should be trusted, but his fatherly grace and love." (Hagner, 167) When we read this passage, deep questions are brought to mind, including: "Droughts and many other catastrophes can shorten the lives of birds and flowers as well as that of humans who trust in God." (Hare, 74). We also ask, "Are we not supposed to care if we eat or have proper clothes to wear?" We ask, "Does this give permission to people to be lazy, and not work, since we are not supposed to be concerned about material possessions?"
These are difficult questions to answer. In a land filled with oppression and poverty the Galileans knew the harsh reality of wondering if they or their children would have enough to eat or proper clothing for the weather. The Romans controlled the economy with their own, and not the Jewish peoples' interests in mind. The Jews who had money usually got it by cheating other Jews, such as tax collectors.
How do we get away from everyday life to "seek the Kingdom?" Is it even possible?
Somehow, Jesus seems to be saying that worrying will not change things. He does not say, "Do not work so that you will not have enough food or clothing." He seems to be saying for us not to be so consumed by everyday living that we leave the Kingdom of God out of our thoughts.
It is easy to get caught up with everyday living. We don't leave time for the kingdom. Just yesterday I was faced with the dilemma of getting this paper done, grading done, housework finished, taking my kids to the orthodontist, and I had an opportunity to serve food to the homeless down at OKC Compassion.
Living as a part of the Kingdom requires strategy. We must give up some things. Greed. Desire to be the best, climb the corporate ladder, getting ahead, keeping up with the Joneses. We must leave some things in God's hands. We must do our best to feed and clothe ourselves and our children, but do we need as mush as we Americans think we do? We consume way too much of the world's resources. Perhaps one of the messages we must learn from this passage is "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle."
"Live simply so that others may simply live." Ouch.
In the Beatitudes, anxiety is simply a natural reaction to poverty, hunger, and the pressures of everyday life. Yet the Kingdom has the power to change natural reactions. The lilies Jesus mentions are probably not lilies at all, but a certain type of wildflower that blooms in the spring on the hills of Palestine. (Crawford, 562). Since they are wild, God is seen to be caretaker of them. Are we like the wildflowers, depending upon God for our needs? Growing where planted? Being content where we thrive? Or are we hothouse flowers that must have constant incoming worldly goods?
One of my colleagues is known for saying this at the beginning of every sermon. "I hate this passage." He always hates his passages. Because when we start "digging in" to the Word of God, we find it rips us up, convicts us, and makes us look at everyone around us as real people needing love and attention. How are we supposed to live in our own little safe places if Jesus keeps throwing these words at us? How are we supposed to seek to get rich if he tells us to quit worrying about money? How in the world will I ever get that new house if I am moved with compassion towards those who have no place to live?
The Kingdom enters our lives violently. The Kingdom changes the very reason for our existence. Instead of being concerned for food, drink, and clothing as the "nations of the world" are, we are concerned for the Kingdom. The Kingdom is our life.

Works Cited
Craddock, Fred B. Luke. Interpretation Commentary. Louisville, KY: John Knox, 1990. 155-65.
Crawford, Patricia. "Lilies." Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. 1 vols. San Francisco, CA: Harpers, 1985. 562.
Hagner, Donald. Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word P, 1993.
Hare, Douglas R. Matthew. Interpretation Commentary. New York: John Knox, 1993. 1-86.
Ladd, George E. A Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991.
Markquart, Edward F. "Thanksgiving: anxiety about money, food and clothing. A Gospel Analysis." Sermons from Seattle. 1 June 2007. 3 Oct. 2008 .
Tashjian, Jirair S. "Tax Collectors and Sinners." Christian Resource Institute: The Voice. 1 Jan. 2006. Christian Resource Institute. 3 Oct. 2008 .
Theissen, Gerd. Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress P, 1979.
Waldrup, Jody. Holman Bible Dictionary. Ed. Trent C. Butler. New York: B&H Group, 1991.

Ordinary 21A Matthew 16:13-20 Who is this guy anyway?

2008-08-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've said that many times. Who is this Jesus anyway? What in the world does he expect of me and how does his life lived 2000 years ago relate to mine.

In a class I've been teaching recently, my students decided that Jesus must have been killed because he was just too good. I agreed. That was one reason. As Plato said hundreds of years before Jesus, the world could not handle a truly righteous (good) man. We couldn't. What happens when we meet someone whose behavior makes ours look bad? We usually hate them.
When someOne came to earth long ago and behaved in a way that made everyone around him look bad, many around him decided he must die.

In this passage known as Peter's Confession at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks his disciples "Who do the people say that I am?" If Jesus was living today, he could just simply Google his name like the politicians do to see what people think of them. However, he asked for hearsay...didn't he? Or was he probing to see if his disciples had "gotten it" yet that he was more than just a good buddy to take fishing.

Peter's confession echoes throughout history: through the Basilicas to the Camp Meetings...from the priests to the baptized babies...from the mountains to the waters...from the prisons to the palaces..."YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."

No other words have shaken the foundations of the world as these did. Yet if they shook the world and continue to shake them, then why is our world not changed?

Easter 3C John 21 Peter's Failure (again)

2008-07-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, you've seen this Scripture before. That's because I preach it often. Mostly to remind myself what Jesus does with failure. Tonight I preached at City Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter.
Instead of preaching Doubting Thomas I preached Betraying Peter. Peter failed his best friend when he needed him the most.

Tonight I stood before a group of about 3o men who live in the homeless shelter and preached this message. I felt completely unworthy to speak...and completely filled with the Spirit. I have no question of God leading me to this place and this time. I am called to preach.

Last night I dreamed a dream I often dream before preaching. Something goes wrong and I can't. Usually it has something to do with me losing my notes (I preach without notes) or something stupid like that. Last night I dreamed I went to preach at a church and suddenly the people decided I could not preach for them and they would not tell me why. They politely asked me to sit in the back while they did some poor excuse for a sunday school lesson. In the dream I figured out they would not let me preach because I am a woman. I got mad and left.

Tonight I preached at a rescue mission. No one seemed to care I was a woman. I sang a few simple songs with my guitar and believe it or not I got my first encore!

Believing Thomas John 20:19-31 Easter 2A

2008-07-28T21:23:00.001-07:00

So why isn't he called "Believing Thomas" rather than "Doubting Thomas?"
He believed in the end, right? Yet we remember the poor guy only for his doubts.

I am embarassed to say this: but for the first time I am preaching at an urban mission. I am not embarassed to be preaching there...only embarassed at the age of 35 after 15 years of ministry I have not done this yet.

Yes, I have this passage listed on this site already. I know I am to preach it to this crowd. Yes, it's not the lectionary passage for the week.

I read over what I have preached on this passage before...and now I am faced with listeners who absolutely are at their end of hope...and isn't that what the Gospel is for?

Talk about no hope: your best friend has been crucified and you think you are next and you are hiding in fear...and then Jesus appears and offers peace. I need to give this message. Help me, God. Help me to preach the hope of Christ.

Easter 4A Psalm 23 Letting God love me

2008-04-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

"He sits me at the table in the presence of my enemies, he anoints my head with oil, my cup runs over."

He sits me down at a table and well, he waits on me basically. GOD WAITS ON YOU.

Sit down & let God love you. Quit trying to DO DEVOTIONS & just let GOD LOVE YOU. That's my message for today.

I'm sitting here with Pastor Tie Dye for those of you who click on the links next to my blogs! We are at a conference together.

Easter 3A John 20:1-18

2008-04-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sunrise Service. A guitar playing. This song. My favorite Easter song by one of my favorite musicians of all time.
So I haven't figured out how to put a video connection here. Someone comment and tell me how. But here is the link to the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbSnk1R31vg

The whole Easter sermon is right there. Who needs to preach?

A friend said to me after the service, the phrase, "Every fear I ever had just melted into peace" is the best description of the resurrection she has ever heard.

"He raised me to my feet and as I looked into his eyes/love was shining out from them like sunlight from the skies/Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release/and every fear I ever had melted into peace"

As he said, "Peace I leave with you my peace I give you."

Good Friday John 18:1-19:42

2008-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

The depths of despair
The bottom of the bottom of the bottom.
Could the disciples have thought, "Well, we can't go any further down, it has to go up from here?"
I don't think so. I think they were thinking what if we get arrested and killed?

Every raw emotion in the disciples was felt that day: the cutting uneven edge of fear, the aching emptiness of despair, the dashed hopes of a new kingdom and the grotesque execution of their dearest friend
The candle burns out. The doors are locked. The uneven breathing of a group hiding in terror. Nothing brings comfort. No one can eat. No one can sleep. Every movement outside and all jump.

What if the soldiers come for them next? What if? What if?

Hearts race. Waiting. Waiting for what? Resurrection? Did it even cross their minds? Did they remember him saying, "Three days and the son of man will rise?" I don't think so. Even if they heard him say it, did they understand? How could they?

Well, they had seen him raise Lazarus.

But who would raise Jesus?

Tuesday Holy Week Year A B C Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 71:1-14, I Corinthians 1:18-31, John 12:20-36

2008-03-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Light to the nations for the salvation of the earth hanging on an execution stake beaten and bloody?
Foolishness to the wise and wisdom to the foolish?

Holy Week holds a basketful of parodoxes that we often overlook.

We get caught up in the beauty of Easter and forget the pain of Good Friday.
While shopping for Easter finery we overlook the homeless on the street corner with the sign that says, "Will work for food."

The cross is foolishness. A stumbling block/scandalon. We trip over it or we don't believe...
We find it in the path on the way through life. We can't believe a God would become human and allow himself to be killed by us. But he did.

May this Holy Week find you stumbling over the cross. You can't go around it.

Monday of Holy Week Year A B C Psalm 36:5-11, Isaiah 42:1-9, John 12:1-11, Hebrews 9:11-15

2008-02-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

“There is no single action that can be claimed as the exclusive embodiment of Christ in the world. Perhaps Christ becomes flesh in our world in a variety of ways as long as there are people who make themselves available to God for that purpose.” Jirair Tashjian at http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Clent5nt.html.

In John 12, Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with $12,000 worth of perfume. Judas Iscariot accuses her of wasting money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus affirms Mary’s gift to him instead of agreeing with Judas.

Being available for Jesus’ work is never boring, and usually we find he leads in ways we never imagined possible.

Palm Sunday/Liturgy of the Passion Year A Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 50-4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16

2008-02-21T14:05:00.001-08:00

Today Jesus comes in riding on a donkey.

We waved our palm branches and sang our songs. We welcomed our king. Any king, senator, or prince who comes into Jerusalem gets the same welcome. Only VIPS. It’s like rolling out the red carpet for the president. It’s like being on your best behavior when the principal comes to visit your classroom. It’s like wearing your best suit to meet your boss. It’s common behavior, meant to impress and welcome the king. But is Jesus a king? All he has done up to now is hang around with poor folks and sinners. He sleeps in fields and doesn’t even own his own home. He is a homeless wanderer, sweaty and dirty.

Today I proclaim the liberation of the captives and the coming of the peace of Christ

Passing the Peace means just that. When we greet each other in the name of Christ we spread his peace. Peace is not simply the absence of war. Peace is all of your children safe under one roof, with fresh clothes, clean sheets, open windows, full bellies, and the hope of a safe tomorrow. Peace is knowing you can take your kids to church in the morning without risking arrest. Peace is being right with God, no guilt, Romans says There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

What does the story of holy week mean to me?
It means that I must be willing to be a servant. We have lost the meaning of this word. A servant is low, the bottom of the totem pole, the one everyone either spits on or ignores. Instead of understanding servants we go to fast food joints and expect great service. A fast food employee would probably be the closest we understand to a servant. Wash tables, minimum wage, scrub toilets, fry burgers, drop fries in grease, and deal with people all day who could care less who you are and what kind of person you are deep inside.
Jesus is asking me to be like that?
He is showing by example, riding on a donkey when he has every right to ride on a stallion…he’s driving a sputtering, stalling ford escort when he has every right to be driven in a luxury limousine. He’s refusing to place himself above anyone else.
He’s the last one home when the church has a potluck because he’s sweeping up the food on the floor and washing dishes at the sink, and carrying out trash. Jesus is mopping floors at the church when he has every right to sit in the new recliner watching TV on his new big screen. Jesus is the one who takes food to his neighbor who is laid up with a broken leg and may even be late to work because of his stop. Jesus is the one who invites people over after church and cooks a meal for them when he’d rather be eating out, being served, rather than serving, and then heading to bed for a nap.

Riding into Fayetteville, Arkansas, in a sputtering old car, leaving his limo behind, Jesus stops at every corner to give money to the homeless beggars with signs that say, “Will work for food.”

But while he’s driving that sputtering, stalling vehicle people get the idea that he is the presidential material and not just an average joe. So they start screaming out, “Jesus for President” “Run for office, we’ll elect you!” Jesus only smiles, the sweat pouring down his back because the air conditioner is broken. They get out their checkbooks and tell Jesus if he’ll just run for president, they’ll finance his campaign. If he could just straighten out this country that’s going you-know-where in a handbasket, and make these streets safe again, then everything would be a-ok. They’ve seen his power, they know he has healed that woman who had breast cancer, and that man who had colon cancer. They know Jesus has been hanging around the homosexuals with aids and curing them left and right. They know Jesus has even raised a child from the dead whose single mother was on welfare and didn’t have the money to take him to the hospital. And just before driving into Fayetteville, Jesus was in Pea Ridge at the little league field healing a child whose face was swollen from being slapped around by his stepfather. Day before yesterday he was at the Benton County women’s shelter healing all the bruises and the broken bones left by angry men.

So if Jesus will just become president then everything will be ok again. He’ll put prayer back in schools and give every teacher a copy of the Ten commandments to hang on the wall. He’ll make every principal go to Bible college and teach Sunday school lessons in the cafeteria. Why Jesus will make the hospitals stop fighting the insurance companies and give everyone better care. Why if Jesus has his way when he becomes president he will make science teachers teach creation instead of evolution. Why when Jesus becomes president all the violence will be taken off of TV and instead good, wholesome family entertainment will be shown every hour. Lassie will come home and leave it to beaver will say Yes, sir.

When Jesus comes driving into town in his sputtering, stalling car we will get out our checkbooks and finance his campaign. We will knock on every door with flyers and open voting booths at every church. We’ll get him out of the ripped up pair of ancient jeans and old ratty t-shirt and we’ll put Jesus in a 3 piece suit with a shirt and matching tie.

But the night of the national convention Jesus doesn’t show up in this three piece suit and Regis shirt and matching tie. We are all ready with our campaign posters waving and NBC, CBS, CNN, ABC cameras all fired up and waiting.
The crowd grew impatient and the leaders tried to calm them down but all of a sudden they started crying “assassinate him”
One of the messenger boys comes running in with a report that they’ve found him.
He’s down in a trailer in beaver hollow road
What those people don’t go to church. What’s he doing hanging around them. They got in their cars and ran down there…
They found the escort in the driveway. Jesus was in the trailer with a single mother. Her four children had the flu in various stages. Jesus sat next to the little girl’s bed and held her hand.
“What are you doing here when you could be out making a difference?” Asked his campaign leader. These people don’t vote! That child can’t even reach the voting booth.
I am making a difference Jesus replied.
Where’s the suit and tie? Where’s the clean shaven image? Jesus we told you to get rid of that beard!

By now all the reporters had crammed into the tiny room.

Why aren’t you at the convention?
I’m doing the work for which I was sent.

The child whimpered. Jesus reached for the cold cloth for her head.

One of the more hot-headed men began screeching! Give us back our campaign money.
This guy is a fraud!

The crowd crammed into the tiny trailer. It began to shake on its rusty rims.

Someone ran back to his fancy pickup and got the shotgun off the rack
He took aim through the tiny window.
How dare he take my campaign money and not show up to be nominated to my political party! He was going to take evolution out of the schools and put the 10 commandments back into the curriculum.

The kick of the gun knocked the man back into the ditch behind the trailer. The bullet went wild and hit the ceiling of the tiny trailer.

Jesus fell over the child. The bullet hit him instead.

Lent 5A John 11:1-45

2008-02-21T13:54:00.001-08:00

The story of resurrection...if you have ever stood at a grave and wept like Mary & Martha you identify...

Rising again. What a concept. When my grandpa died in 1987 I prayed that he would rise out of that coffin until I heard they had already flushed his body fluids out and replaced them with formaldehyde. Only then did I think it was hopeless.

Imagine Mary & Martha who have been hopeless. His body stinketh already. And here comes Jesus saying "Roll away the stone."

One "Year A" I had just experienced the worst day of my life as I read this passage. My 20 month-old daughter had had a seizure and turned blue. I thought she was dead but she breathed again. I read this and started sobbing, sitting down to email a New Testament professor friend. If only I could find that email, but it is lost to cyberspace. I explained to him my experience of resurrection and sudden understanding of Mary & Martha.

Now, many of you may say, "But my child did not breathe again." I'm sure my response to the passage would have been different if that had been my case.

But at the bottom of the page I read, "I am the resurrection and the life, no one comes to the father except through me."

Our hope.

Lent 4A Psalm 23

2008-02-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

See Post April 22, 2007

Lent 3A John 4:5-42 Come and see

2008-02-20T18:50:00.001-08:00

In the summer of 1997 in OKC we went eight weeks without rain. I have never seen such a drought. The last time we mowed our grass was June. It just shriveled and died. We got to a point where the city banned all lawn watering. Then on the news, they warned home owners to water their foundations because they would crack without moisture.
We need water to live. Without it we will do more than crack, we will die. Jesus offered this woman living water, a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. She thought he meant ordinary everyday water, but she would find out that this water was more than she had ever imagined. She would also find out that a typical day at the well turned into the best day of her life.
Just an ordinary day…could anything be more ordinary than going to get water? But so many unordinary things happen. First of all a Jewish man asks her for a drink. Why is that so unusual? Why can’t you just ask for a drink if you are thirsty? Why must all these barriers get in the way?

Jesus using something very ordinary to break down barriers, to call this woman to believe in him.

She thinks he’s a Jew
She judges him based on his ethnic background, his religion. He takes her for what she is. Last week the lectionary talked about Jesus talking to Nicodemus, a ruler, a rich man, a prominent V.I.P. This week the Scripture describes conversation Jesus has with someone almost completely opposite of Nicodemus. A woman, no one would even speak to a woman in public. She is a nobody, of no importance to anyone. She is also a Samaritan, hated by the Jews. If you are from Oklahoma, she is from Texas. If you are from Michigan, she is from Ohio. If you are a white from 1960s Alabama, she is black.
She takes him literally when he offers her living water. She asks him if he’s better than Jacob.
Life is being offering to a Samaritan woman. John wants to show that Jesus did not come to just reach the rich and privileged, although the Gospel is open to them. Jesus offers this eternal life to the outcast. He then tells her to call her husband. But she has no husband. Do you notice that he doesn’t condemn her? He just states the fact of her lifestyle. She realizes he must be a prophet if he knows about her past. It sounds like she lives in Hollywood in today’s time, doesn’t it?

She thinks he’s a prophet
Then she draws him to a conversation about worship.
But he points out that the place doesn’t matter, that it’s the God being worshipped that matters. He draws the focus off of her and points her to God. She knows about the Messiah. He tells her he is the Messiah.

She thinks he’s the Messiah
The disciples come back but they know by now to keep their mouths shut when Jesus is doing something controversial even when he’s talking to a Samaritan woman. The woman leaves. She runs “Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah can he?”
WHOA! Do you realize the significance of what happens here? Jesus empowers a beaten down immoral outcast of a woman to be a PREACHER OF the gospel! These men listen to her and follow her leadership to Jesus! And many believed because of her testimony.

She knows he’s the Savior
IF YOU ONLY KNEW
What is this gift of God? (verse 10)
When is the last time you ran, not walked to someone with only the excitement that Jesus gives and said, “COME WITH ME TO SEE HIM!”
What makes the transformation in this woman’s life possible? What makes the transformation in our lives possible?
GRACE OF GOD provides the life offered by the Savior
What is the grace of God?
We have a hard time understanding GRACE why?
Because in our place and time we don’t understand how anyone can offer a gift with no strings attached. When we receive something we wonder what is expected of us. When you receive a Christmas card you think OH I didn’t send them one.. When you receive a birthday gift you think oh you didn’t get them one….and on and on.
God offers us a free gift: his love. His life. No strings attached: oh but you say God Expects me to do such and such at church. I OWE him.
That is not what grace is about. It’s not about owing. Now you do respond to his grace but you don’t owe him anything. That would make it an obligatory gift and God doesn’t give to us with strings attached.
Let me relate this to the celebration of the LORD’s supper. It’s a feast. When you give a feast it costs money, etc., but you don’t lose anything because you gain so much by eating with the others (fellowship)
Is this why God created us?
Is this what Jesus offers this outcast, this adulterous woman? He offers her a free gift, with a new life thrown in! What changes her? HE DOES. Only an experience with Jesus Christ can truly change you.
Jesus moves from a dialogue about spiritual water to a conversation about spiritual worship. He goes from offering this woman living water to directing her to true worship, pointing away from herself to God. That is where salvation lies. Getting our focus off of ourselves and pointed to God in true worship. This is not worship just every Sunday morning: but every living breathing moment of our lives.
True worship is not “What I get out of it” It’s putting my focus completely on God. As Arleta has reminded the children in this church what prayer is: putting everything else out of your mind.
Jesus directs this woman away from her troubled life to God himself. She trusted him enough to do it. To get a glimpse of this LIFE he offered. She became so excited she had to run and tell.

If you only knew

If you only knew the gift of God
who is talking to you
you would ask me

If you only knew today what life is like fully trusting in the Messiah you wouldn’t refuse him. You would ask him into your life and he would tell you every thing you ever did.

"He knew everything about me he knew where I’d been and what I’d done come with me come with me to see the holy one." from "He knew everything about me" by Candy Hemphill

Lent 2A John 3:1-17 Ask a question and get a sermon

2008-02-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Dontcha love it when you ask a question and get a sermon?

Nicodemus was probably coming to talk theology with another rabbi. Instead of a nice intellectually stimulating theological conversation he gets a challenge to live a changed life.

He finds that Jesus is more than a teacher and Nicodemus needed to believe in more than signs and more than his religion. You see the Pharisees had constructed a system so precise that one didn’t really need God. He just needed to follow the laws, the rules, in order to be religious slash righteous. The Pharisees formed about 400 years before the opening of the NT. They decided that they need to make this Jewish religion something that could be practiced without a Jewish country or king since they lost all of that. So they constructed a system that could be followed whereever a Jew lived. They also accepted the prophetic writings as Scripture, something their Sadducee counterparts did not. The Pharisees are actually the open-minded ones of the day. They believed in miracles, angels, resurrection. The Sadduccees believed in none of the above, only the law, the first five books of the Bible.

Nicodemus has been living this lifestyle all of his life. He is so righteous, so squeaky clean, no one could find a thing wrong in his past to use against him. He could have run for president. He has worked hard to get to be where he is: one of the leading teachers of the Jews…and hear he finds this guy who has come from no where (Nazareth) and has flocks of followers and performs miracles! It’s like if you were a famous concert pianist and had worked all of your life to be the best and ran into a guy from the back woods who could play and charm audiences with no music training at all. How would you feel?

Nicodemus tells Jesus there is no way he could do what he does without God. A good observation…but see Nicodemus thinks Jesus is just a fine teacher. He doesn’t realize he’s sitting there talking to God himself. It didn’t even cross his mind.

Signs become quite the negative issue in John. Those who seek after signs have a serious lack of faith.
we think we have all the pieces put together and then we find someone like Jesus. He is unlearned, untrained and we have studied all of our lives to know the answers. How in the world does God use someone like him? And what about me?

If Nicodemus is not good enough for the kingdom of God, then who is?
It’s not enough. Then what is?
All of my righteousness is as filthy rags. It’s being born again. What in the world is that? You ask, like Nicodemus did. How can a person enter his mother’s womb and be born? Wesley said this of being born again, “Inwardly being changed from all sinfulness to all holiness.”

Easter 3C John 21 What Jesus does with failure

2007-11-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

That night of arrest started out well for Peter. He cut off the guard's ear in defense of Jesus and then followed at a distance even after the others went away. But when he got to the courtyard where the soldiers were abusing his friend, he lost his nerve. When questioned about his association with this alleged criminal, in the heat of the moment, he chose the answers that would save his skin. According to the Gospel of John, this story is the 3rd appearance Jesus had to his disciples. Peter has seen Jesus. Yet obviously Jesus thinks Peter needs some reassurance that he is forgiven. So Jesus comes to meet Peter where he had first met him. On the shore of the lake.

Seven of the disciples have traveled the 2 day journey back home…back to Galilee, back to familiar faces and familiar smells of the sea. Peter says, "Let's go fishing." I don't know if any of you have ever been criticized for going fishing, but poor Peter and six have been torn apart for that fishing trip for 2000 years. Poor guys. Probably they just wanted the familiar…after the worst week of their life, why should they not do something to keep busy? But many, many people have said this is a sign those 7 gave up after Jesus died. He told them to fish for people but instead they go back to the fish. But really, I think it is ok, Peter, it's ok that you wanted to go fishing. Don't grief counselors advise that we return to our comforting routines after loss? It's ok. Go fishing. Even if they were trying to run from their assignment to do Jesus' work, guess what? Jesus found them where they were.

When we return to the familiar after living so long at the forefront of life…Jesus will find us there.

When are you going to stop looking at your failures and look at me instead? When are you going to feed my sheep?

When are you going to stop looking around at what the others are doing and do what I ask you, Peter?

So what did Peter do?
1. Preached message at Pentecost
2. Went to jail for healing a crippled man and was flogged
3. Arrested again and rescued by an angel
4. Baptized the first non-Jewish believers.
5. Led the council at Jerusalem where it was decided that we didn't need to be Jewish to be Christian.
6. Wrote 2 New Testament books
7. Is credited with being the "rock" of the church.

Jesus sits across the table from you. You have failed. Whether it was simply a test or a serious sin or betrayal, his response will always e the same as that of the one he gave Peter. Feed my sheep. Get back to work. It's not over. You are not going back to what you did before. I have called you. I have given you a purpose greater than you ever dreamed possible. You are valued, skilled, and you are just what I need for this task. You will put aside your insecurities and go forward, doing my work and you will be remembered as one who did not let their failure stop them.

When I was a senior, I encountered my most difficult class to date. Church History Raise your hand if you have taken that class. I studied until my eyes were about to drop out of my head for the crazy tests and would make a barely passing D. After making A's and B's in all of my classes until I reached this one, my self esteem began to suffer and I began to question whether I was cut out for this thing we call college. Yet one day one of my other professors said, "We don't hold it personally against you when you make low grades." I had realized I was ashamed of my low grades…and I was trying…but I kept going and even though I never brought that grade up as high as I wanted it, I kept going.

Jesus wants us to give people the same chances he gives to them. We don't want to do this, usually, until we experience failure ourselves and want forgiveness.

I used to judge people who claimed depression and their reason for not working. A friend of mine lost his job and became seriously depressed to the point he would spend days doing nothing. In my counseling with him, I encouraged him to keep trying and to feel better….but in my heart of hearts I judge saying, why don't you get off your backside and go find another job?

Until one day depression struck me. I found myself on the floor in a fetal position unable to work. I had managed to get 2 college degrees by the age of 23, become ordained at 24, married, had 2 children, and was pastoring a church. I was superwoman. Yet I could not work. I felt I had failed. I hated myself and what I had become. I tried a long time to simply hide it. I only broke down when alone. And I remembered judging someone else for the same thing and I did not want to be judged. I sat in front of my therapist and told her the same. She said you are in school to learn how to respond to people who feel the same way you do.

And as I walked along the shore of Galilee with Jesus after eating that fish and bread in the cool morning fog, I heard him say, do you love me?
Yes
"Feed my sheep."
But I have failed you, Jesus.
I am not worthy of feeding your sheep or anyone else's.

Do you love me?Yes, of course.
Feed my sheep.

I have failed.
Do you love Jesus?Only you know the answer to the question.
Jesus asks DO YOU LOVE ME? DO YOU LOVE ME? DO YOU LOVE ME?
If your heart is crying out right now YES
Then he is asking you to move forward. Keep going. Finish the semester. Finish the year. Finish the course. Keep the faith. Leave behind the failure. Think of it only as a bump in the road that drew you closer to him. Get to work.

On April 21, 2004, Jennifer Hudson stood before the judges and world on American Idol. She saw the score and realized she was voted off the show, finishing seventh out of twelve. I don't know how she felt but I can only imagine how her heart sank all the way to her shoes and she may have wondered if she would ever face success.

But most of you know but to Jennifer Hudson that was a small bump in the road. In December 2005 she landed the role of Effie White the smash hit movie Dreamgirls and recorded the famous song "And I'm telling you I'm not going, which hit the top 20." She received 29 awards for that role including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

I can hear Peter singing to the disciples after that conversation with Jesus.
"And I'm telling you I'm not going."
But Peter let's go fishing
"And I'm telling you I’m not going"
But Peter let's forget about this discipleship stuff. It may get us killed.
"And I'm telling you I'm not going."
I'm staying in this faith. I'm staying as a disciple
. I'm staying in relationship with this Jesus I betrayed.

He could only say this to that group that knew what he had done in the courtyard when faced with the question did he know Jesus?
Only because of what Jesus had said to him that day at dawn by the Sea of Galilee and what he says to us.

Tear down the mountains,Yell, scream and shout.You can say what you want,I'm not
walkin' out.Stop all the rivers,Push, strike, and kill.I'm not gonna leave
you,There's no way I will.

(From And I'm telling you I'm not going Written by Tom Eyen and Music by Henry Krieger)

And I'm telling you
Jesus will never give up on you.

Ordinary 28C Episcopal Reading Ruth 1:1-18 For the love of a Mother-in-Law

2007-10-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Naomi & Her husband Ed moved to Austin, TX, from Norman, OK, in the 1980s because of the oil bust. They bought a house near Austin but they never lost their ties to Oklahoma. Especially Oklahoma Sooners football. Every year they cheered for Oklahoma. They wore red and white when everyone around them wore an ugly color of orange. They were saddened when their two sons, Mark & Charles decided to attend University of Texas instead of University of Oklahoma, but they could do nothing about it. What hurt them more was when their sons married Longhorns. Mark married a University of Texas cheerleader. Ruth did not even own anything red and white. Her car was orange, her shoes were orange, even her apartment was painted orange.

Time passed and Ed had a heart attack and died. Mark & Charles took good care of their mother, along with their wives Orpah and Ruth. One awful day Mark & Charles were driving home from a Red River Shootout game and were hit by a drunk driver. Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth were devastated. Naomi decide she would return to Norman, OK. She managed to sell her home in TX and buy her old family farm outside of Norman. She offered a home to Orpah and Ruth. They are packing the U-Haul when Naomi turns to them both and says, Orpah, dear, Ruth, darling, you don’t have to come with me. Go back to UT get your master’s degrees or maybe meet another man and remarry. Orpah gets in her orange pickup and drives away. Ruth says to Naomi,

"I will go with you to Norman. I will buy a Sooner T shirt. I will learn to listen to Boomer Sooner without choking. I will wave an OU flag. I will paint my car red. I will leave behind my loyalties to Texas and embrace Oklahoma because I love you and want to take care of you."

Ruth. Identity. Who is she now that her husband is dead and she is a foreigner? Will those labels haunt her? Foreign poor widow woman? Yet she loves Naomi. Is love enough to give us identity? Last fall I experienced one of the longest illnesses I have ever had (next to depression anyway). I was diagnosed with mono. Yes, I’ve heard all the jokes, and the only people I kiss were not sick (my husband & 2 daughters) and they never caught it.

Anyway, for a few days I did nothing but sleep. I got up to take my kids to school and pick them up, grab a bite to eat from the fridge, and fell back in bed. I missed so many weekends with my daughters as their daddy took them to the state fair, etc, while I lay at home on the couch with swollen glands, sore throat, and extreme fatigue. Walking from the car to the house wore me out. Walking for 20 minutes put me in bed for 2 hours for months afterward. At one point I look at the ceiling and asked God if I would ever recover. He answered what if you don’t? Then I ask what good am I to my family if all I can do is lay here? A question I’m sure many of the ill ask. God told me all I had to do was love. Loving my husband and daughters was enough. Yes, I did recover. A year later I can finally walk 3 miles at a time without having to sleep for days. I can do aerobics again and stay awake all day (most of the time)…but I find myself much more sensitive to the ill.

Ruth loves Naomi. She lets that define her. The cruel labels of poor foreign widow do not.

We glimpse the Kingdom of God and we find out God’s world is just the opposite of ours. The women have power and baby boys become king.

“What you see around you are people unable to love each other.”Ruth teaches us to love. She left everything to love an old mother-in-law. That is the true loves story here. It is not a young attractive woman finds young attractive man, fall in love, get married & have a baby. It is a cursed foreigner (here I ask you to insert whatever slang term you have heard for foreigners in our land. I won’t say them aloud) the only home she knew and the only god she knew for the love of an old woman and her mother-in-law to boot. God took that and turned it into this story about the ancestor of King David.

An old woman and a cursed foreigner took a huge risk and called a powerful man to use his power to save them. They risked everything. If Boaz would have called upon his servants to kill her, no one in power would have ever missed a foreigner. If Boaz would have refused to listen to her and simply assumed she was there why most women came to the threshing floor, to take advantage of the men’s drunken state in hope of making a few bucks. If he had even called the men’s attention to her by speaking loudly…her reputation would have been ruined forever.

They called up on him to follow the law of God and save them. Reminds me of a group of people that called upon a president to sign a certain bill. JFK signing the civil rights bill. Reminds me of a group of religious leaders who rose up to protest their gov’t’s doubling the gas prices and oppress the people. Reminds me of a group who asked congress to call a mass killing of a certain race what it is: genocide

Many times this asking of people in power to change doesn’t turn out so well. For Ruth it did, but it doesn’t for everyone. Some people--including one of her descendents--end up on the cross when they challenge the powers that be.

The Sounds of Silence, a sixties hit by Simon and Garfunkel, describes people as afraid to love and afraid to hope because of their disconnect with each other. When I preached this sermon on Oct. 14, 2007, I ended with a video of Simon & Garfunkel singing this song...let their words inspire us to love each other in order to change the world: as Ruth did. Click the link to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZGWQauQOAQ

Ordinary 15C Luke 10: 25-37 Small Town Social Justice

2007-09-25T18:31:00.001-07:00

Monday, Sept. 24, my 2 daughters & I took a road trip to a state park. After we swam for a while, we drove to a small SW OK town where I went to high school. I only lived there 2 years, but graduated from HS there....had not been back for over 10 years and neither one of my children had ever been there. It is a town of less than 2000, so there is not much site-seeing to be done...

After a brief hike cut short by the sound of a rattler in the grass, we got in the car and drove the 10 miles to M------. If you have never driven in SW Oklahoma or West Texas you cannot imagine what it is like to drive where the land is flat, flat, flat, and you see so much sky you wonder why God made hills. We are about to M----- with the music cranked as high as it will go and my 7-year-old says, "Mommy, I just heard a pop." I said, "So." She said, "Mommy the car is shaking." I still didn't notice anything...then I heard this awful sound...and well, turned off the radio. Blowout. We are in the middle of NOWHERE. M---- is about 2 miles away...so I drove at 25 with blinkers on until we got to town. Pulled off in a parking lot and got out to look at my shredded tire. I started digging in the back of the station wagon for the jack and spare. A loud, old 68 Ford pickup with 2 guys in the truckbed rattles by. I see them turn around. The 2 guys in back jump out before the truck stops. They almost have the tire off the car before the hit the ground.

"Need some help?"

"Sure. But my jack is sorely lacking."
"Don't worry. We can lift the car if we can't get the jack to work. We ain't afraid of work."
The two guys bent over the tire are 20-somethings...wiry, tall, heads shaved, wearing nothing but boots and jeans. Tattoos cover their heads, faces, backs, chests, arms, hands....Their dad and older brother stood back and watched If this had been the city I might have been scared, but I figure if I started talking we'd figure out we went to high school together.
"I'm Kelly."

"We're the _______." They say in unison. I vaguely remember the family name. I ask them if the remember my brother.
The guy behind the truck. "Yeah I remember him."
They have the tire changed by now, and tell me where I can get a decent used tire for a fair price. They jump back in the pickup and tell me to follow them to the tire shop. So I do. Tattoed arms waving, they point to a tiny auto shop.

I don't know how you remember high school, but there are certain families that are labeled in small towns as losers. I don't know how it started with this family, but they had a certain label. It may have been something their great-grandpa did...but teachers and kids at school have a certain idea of a kid with a certain last name. Sometimes the kid chooses to live up to it, sometimes they try hard to overcome it.

Here I am in a tiny farming town in southwest Oklahoma living inside the parable of the Good Samaritan. Believe me, no one would have guessed the dust covered 90 Ford Taurus I drive is the car of a college professor. At the moment I looked like an Okie (I do say it proud, Vince Gill, but I did look like one). My station wagon is loaded down with junk cause we have been on a day trip at the lake. My 2 kids & I have just been swimming and digging clay. I had my hatch up and junk spread around on the gravel, just trying to dig for the spare tire. Did cars drive by and see my distress? Oh yes. Who was it that stopped? The guys that got beat up in school because their family was labeled. I have never seen myself in the parable as the one on the side of the road....

Ordinary 24C Luke 15:1-10 Welcoming Sinners

2007-09-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

I recall a scene from the movie The Man in Black. Johnny Cash has just been through detox hell. He has had a "come to Jesus" crisis with the aid of June Carter and her parents. He goes to his record company and says he wants to do a concert in Folsom Prison.

Record Company Executive says, "Your fans are church folk, Johnny. Christians.
They don't want to hear you singing to a bunch of murderers and rapists...
trying to cheer them up."
Johnny Cash replies, "Well, they're not Christians, then."
Record Company Executive: "I'm fine with you doing a live record. Just not at a prison. That's my compromise."
Johnny: "January 13th, I'll be at Folsom Prison with June and the boys. You listen to the tapes. You don't like 'em... you can toss 'em."
I can't tell you how many times I have heard complaints of the same thing. Growing up in the parsonage I heard good "Christian" people's constant complaints about "those kind" not being wanted in church. Apparently many think church is a club for people just like me.
I don't like it either. Why do I want God to rejoice over one sinner rather than the ninety-nine righteous people? It seems we spend most of our time as pastors taking care of the righteous, right? Perhaps we are looking at it all wrong.
Brennan Manning has shaped a lot of my thoughts along this line...after reading his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. He is a monk/alchoholic. Yes, both. He goes sober for a while and then hits the bottle again. He speaks of his journey in the book.. Evangelicals have a hard time accepting that a man can be a Christian and an alcoholic???? Can God use a ragged ol' monk who can't stay sober? So when does one of the fold become one of the sought after lost? Will Jesus leave the fold and go and seek an ol' preacher who gives into addictions over and over? Does he ever give up? Does he ever write us off and give us over to the evil one? These parables he tells us remind us that he can't let go.
Most of us don't like having sinners invade the church because they remind us of our own sin. Shutting out people who "shack up" make us feel better when we indulge in any type of sexual sin.
Ask friends who have known me since high school and they will tell you I pointed fingers and judged all the time. I preached at people constantly. It was a serious bout with temptation in my early 20s that taught me a lesson. We are all capable of sin. When we can confess that in honesty and say we are all just trying to seek God in the best way we know how we forget to judge people.
A youth pastor intern I had once started bringing in all kinds of kids to church. One of the older ladies whispered to me as I joyfully watched a huge group of kids playing basketball in the church yard, "That kid does dope." I looked at her and said, "Praise God he's here."
Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from the Man in Black.

______________________________________________________

Ordinary 19 C Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 What is a hero?

2007-08-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

My perspective on heroes changed as I lay flat on my back once again looking at the ceiling of an ambulance. One hero inserted an IV into my left hand as the other hero attached the heart monitor. The first hero kept assuring me I was stable now and to try to relax as I shook with horrific shock. I knew I must be stable when I did not hear the sirens as we drove down the country road at 70 miles an hour. Yes, they were speeding, but I must be ok. I'm breathing, my heart is beating, I must be OK.

Earlier that evening as I worked at church camp on the Oklahoma/Texas border I had made the stupid mistake of wearing flip-flops in the grass. I KNEW I was allergic to fire ant stings since I had another ambulance ride 3 years previous due to a tiny sting. Why had I done something so idiotic???

As I felt my heart race and my face swell, my daughter saying, "Mommy, use your shot!" (EpiPen), she & I ran to the camp nurse instead. Let's just say there was a horrible mistake and the EpiPen did not go into my leg. I fell on the floor and told Lisa (a close friend) to call 911. Someone ran to get my husband.

Everything is foggy from then on until I got in the ambulance. For 10 minutes I faded in and out...never quite losing consciousness but "zoning" and not able to speak or move. Lisa and her husband, Doug, took control and found an inhaler and a nebulizer to try to keep me breathing.

Lisa and Doug are heroes. Dwight, the camp director and a long time friend, is a hero. I heard his voice through the haze...and he drove my husband to the hospital and drove us both back to camp...I heard the prayers of the camp director through the haze as 200 campers were in chapel and knew what was going on in the back of the room....Yes, a little ant can cause such a fiasco.

Hebrews 11 is about heroes of the faith. When Abraham set out on his journey he was simply obeying God and not planning to be a hero. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she simply did what mothers do...love their sons. None of these biblical heroes set out to be famous. They did the task in front--sometimes with protests (Moses)...yet finally obeying God...and the community of faith remembers the journey they took.

Lisa, Doug, Dwight, Chris, Shane, you are heroes.

Trinity Sunday John 15:26-16:15 Review of "Into Great Silence"

2007-06-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sat with 5 friends in the downtown OKC Art Museum theater and watched a breathtaking film, "Into Great Silence," a documentary on the life
of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, way up in a remote area of the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). When I say "watched" I mean it in every sense of the word since "listening" only happened occasionally. 2 hours and 40 minutes of near silence with occasional French words with English subtitles. When there was natural sound we heard it...rain falling, chairs scraping, steps in the crisp snow...the monks live in silence except for a few hours on Sunday. I did not realize it until 20 minutes into the movie when I finally heard a sound and breathed a sigh of relief that sound is comfort in a noisy world.

Today is Trinity Sunday. Like most theologians, I have attempted to wax eloquent on the Trinity in the past. I've read the books and written the papers. Yet I do not understand. The monks do understand. Trinity is about unity; togetherness; community. It is about staying together no matter what. It is about living and breathing the air of the other. It is about a vow to live communally not taken lightly.

The 30something monk rubbing ointment on the shriveled back of a skeletal octogenarian brought flashbacks of another 30something washing feet.

Could I live this way? I could live without technology. For a few weeks. I could live without shopping. For a few days. But it would take a major duck taping on the mouth to keep me from talking for a week at a time.

You can read more about the film here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Great_Silence or the official website at http://www.intogreatsilence.nl/. The official website is a little hard to navigate, esp. if you pull up the German version. If you are looking for a brief description, go to the wikipedia link.

Pentecost Acts 2:42-47

2007-06-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:42-47

The early church was devoted to the Apostles' Teaching.
What is this? That Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again. The Apostles had lived as part of Jesus’ story and by being devoted to the teaching the people were becoming a part of the story too. How do we do this? Preaching, yes, but there has to be more. That is why we have Sunday school. To share the story of why we are here. If you don’t come to Sunday school you don’t have a grasp on why we are here, then it becomes much easier to not be here( in the church).
Fellowship
"We shall have to break our habit of having church in such a way that people think they can be Christians and remain strangers."
Ordinary Christians living ordinary Christian life before people
EVERYONE WANTED TO BE TOGETHER! Sure they were different. Sure there were fishermen and shopkeepers and widows and children and so many differences! But they cared more about what they had in common—belief in this story Jesus crucified and raised. Why? Because it gave them more hope than hanging out in the streets. And. . . ……..
Worshipping
Breaking of bread—worship. Jesus commanded his disciples to share communion every time they met for worship. They did it EVERYDAY and it didn’t get old!! Boy I sure need it more than once a month that’s for sure. They were not coming together to sit on pews and have someone preach at them or see a spectacular show on the big screen…they were coming together to worship GOD.
Praying TALKING to this JESUS CHRIST They preached about.
Unified ONE PURPOSE>>>>IT'S ALL THAT MATTERED! Sure tomorrow they could be crucified the same leaders still walked the same streets….sure tomorrow they could be thrown in prison ( and were) sure tomorrow they could die of starvation but TODAY WE WILL BE TOGETHER
Generous and honest
The church gave all and lived communally. Now This would be extremely difficult with the size of the church now but we still have a taste of it with our belief in tithing. Malachi 3:8 We also have a taste of it with our offerings for missions…we still owe $1200 for our World Evangelism fund.
The Holy spirit doesn’t like it when people lie. Peter could have thought, this is just over a piece of real estate. Who cares if they lie?
Tithing is 10%. God says in the Bible that we are robbing him if we don’t pay it.
This church would have no financial problems if everyone who attended regularly gave 10% of their income. That’s just the way God wants it to work. Now you may say that you’re not very blessed financially. Ends may not be meeting at all for you. I’ve been there too. I read in my diary which I have kept since I was nine this week a few pages when my family was experiencing financial hardship. I was 14 and praying for some new shoes. I was thanking God for sending me a babysitting job where we had earned $5 so I could go and look for shoes on the clearance rack of Wal-mart. But I know that I gave 50c of that $5 to my church. How could I not? God had sent me the money so I would give him his portion or be ungrateful.

Praising
WHY? BECAUSE JESUS SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT
As a RESULT OF THIS
GOD ADDED TO THER NUMBER DAILY
WHY? BECAUSE EVERYONE WANTED TO BE LIKE THEM! THEY SHARED EVERYTHING! THEY ATE TOGETHER…THEY PREACHED ABOUT SOMEONE WHO OVERCAME DEATH…SOMETHING THEY FACED EVERY DAY.
None of the nice-smelling formelyhyde at funerals—it was a stinking dead body buried that day or else. Children died often…

God did the adding! They went about being the church. Doing the things that Jesus commanded them to do, being GOD”S PEOPLE. And when they DID THIS
GOD ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER!

The church is the only organization that exists for those who are not members.
What does that mean?
Do we have a purpose? Does God have a purpose in mind for this church? If he does, do we believe in it wholeheartedly? Enough to pour time, energy, money and talent into it?

Easter 7C John 17:20-26

2007-05-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Unity. This week I went on a field trip with my daughter's class to Little River Zoo in Norman, Oklahoma. I have never learned so much about animal life in one day. I did learn that very few animals like to live alone. Even different species are fenced together for companionship. If you look closely you can see a turkey and a goat standing side by side. Neither seems to notice the other is different. The geese live with the ducks...the wolf lives with a dog...and both pace with saliva dripping as the chickens walk by their cage.

In John 17, Jesus prays for our unity...people. It seems we have something to learn from animals. We all need each other. Let's try to get along.

Mother's Day

2007-05-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I break from the lectionary once in a while. I'm a mother. It's mothers' day. Sorry lectionary lovers.

We learn the love of God in the arms of our mother. In my earliest memories I am always crawling out of bed (so I've always been a night owl) and walking up to my mom who sat on the couch in a t-shirt & jeans watching Mary Hartman or Johnny Carson with a bowl of popcorn & a glass of iced tea with lemon..."Mommy, I can't sleep. There are monsters in the closet." Or "Mommy, there are needles in my hand (my hand was asleep)." Or "Mommy, baby brother won't quit crying." Now, I don't know what you moms say but I usually say "Go back to bed."

My mom usually got around to that, but first there was a hug...a solution (God won't let monsters in your closet)...

More later....I think my kids are up.

Back...they weren't up. It was the cats. What I'm trying to say...my mom is always ready to listen to my problems...from monsters in the closet and now to questions about how to handle my own children. I find such metaphors in motherhood about God's love...Whatever I bring to God, God listens. More later. Mom & Dad are at the door. The kids & cats are going crazy cause they brought Uncle Xander (the Dachsund). Maybe I'll finish this post before Mothers Day. Maybe.

Easter 5C John 13:1-5

2007-05-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

When my family and I came to our current church in about four years ago, I had just resigned from the pastorate of a church, completely devastated emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I sat in SS class and in worship services and sobbed for 2 months. I had 2 degrees in theology and 8 years of full time ministry, pastoring was all I had ever planned to do. Yet in July of 2000 I experienced severe post partum depression after the birth of my second daughter. After two years of attempting to pastor in spite of the black clouds of depression, I had to leave the stress of the ministry to heal.
In the beginning, I was so broken all I could do was cry. I couldn’t sing. I could barely participate in Sunday School. All of my adult life, I had done nothing but lead, teach, and preach and here I was simply occupying a pew, absorbing God’s presence. Yet God knew that is exactly what I needed. No one asked me to be any different. No one insisted I stand and praise when all I could do was sit and cry. Anytime Pastor gave an altar call, you could find me kneeling. When I needed someone to pray with me, I looked up and there was someone. When I couldn’t look up into anyone’s face, I still felt the pressure of a pastor’s hand on my back, letting me know that I was not alone.
I was given space to find where I best fit into this community. My husband and I were welcomed into a wonderful Sunday School class that three years later—we now teach.
The first year I served as a sponsor in the senior high group. I didn’t do much but attend one fall retreat and lead a discussion group on wed. night. I felt so guilty thinking here I am educated, ordained, and experienced and this is all I’m doing in church. But no one belittled me for that. The teens befriended me, ministering more to me than I ever did to them.
I found grace in the nursery. My daughter was welcomed with open arms. In the children’s department, my older daughter the same welcome from the children's pastor.
I was graciously asked to join in Women’s Bible study. When I needed advice, the leader invited me to her home where we prayed and I received God’s grace.
When we moved to another house a few months later I called the church to ask the adminstrative assistant if she knew of anyone who could help us load a truck. She offered to help us and she and her husband came to load and unload our truck.
When I tried to teach children’s church and discovered I was still too wounded to handle it, the children's pastor wiped my tears, hugged me and said let me know when you’re ready to serve. This year that time came.
I had to learn to allow others to not only wipe my tears, but wash my feet.
I learned this
1. By participating in a worshipping community of faith
2. By allowing the pastors to minister to me.
3. By listening to Pastor preaching about the grace of God that has no limits. God would go to any lengths to rescue me…. God continues to rescue me from the depths of my own depression and despair.
I have seen God reaching out through Christ to embrace me through this church. I experience this transforming grace in this community of faith. I continue to heal in order that I might praise God and anticipate eternal celebration with God and redeemed creation.
John 20:1 says, “Early on the first day of the week while it was still dark Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away.” I know this is true because I have experienced resurrection hope in this community of faith.

Easter 4C Psalm 23

2007-04-22T15:39:00.001-07:00

I remember very clearly the last time I preached this passage before a congregation. My life, along with the other pastors of our little town, had been threatened. There is something about preaching God leading me beside quiet waters and green pastures when everything inside of me screams chaos and fear.

I have never raised sheep. I have never been close to a sheep other than a petting zoo. Yet I preached this message in a farming community where everyone knew more about farm animals than I did. Sometimes the preacher learns more from the congregation than the congregation learns from the preacher.

What does it mean to have complete confidence in the shepherd? Does it mean I am never afraid of death? Does it mean I know the shepherd will take care of me even if I die? Does it mean the shepherd will care for those I leave behind? Do the green pastures and quiet waters last beyond the grave?

An excellent book about Psalm 23 is A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller.

Easter 3C John 21:1-19

2007-04-22T15:38:00.001-07:00

I have preached this passage: the reinstatement of Peter since the first year I began preaching. I travelled with a ministry group in college and all my friends in the group heard me preach this passage more times than they ever wished! Why do I love it so?

I have felt so often like a failure. I have felt like I failed Jesus. No, I did not deny I knew him while he endured abuse at the hands of the soldiers. Yet I know I have let him down.

Perhaps this passage showed me a glimpse of grace that I needed to see. Jesus asked him,"Do you love me?" once for every time Peter denied him. Would Jesus do the same for me? Better yet, would I do the same for others?

Good Friday in Easter Season

2007-04-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

I remember very clearly April 19, 1995. I live in Oklahoma City. The sound of the bomb exploding...the constant jumping at any new reports of friends being found dead, alive, or injured. I was 8 miles away from the Murrah Federal Building.

Yesterday another trajedy struck our nation. How much more can we endure? April 19 was the day after Easter. April 16 was the day after the second Sunday of Easter. I remember my pastor saying that we experienced Good Friday after Easter in 1995. In 2007 we have yet again experienced Good Friday after Easter.

My prayers go out to you experiencing the loss from Virginia Tech directly.

A helpful website for those trying to speak to congregations concerning this event click here

http://www.textweek.com/response/vt.htm

Easter 2C John 20:19-31

2007-04-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Good ol' doubting Thomas. Wouldn't you hate to be remembered for your doubts? To doubt is to wonder if something is true. It does not mean you are convinced it is not true. We all doubt.

The other disciples huddled together in the upper room, but Thomas had crawled into a hole to lick his own winds after viewing the crucifixion. Off in his solitary confinement, he had missed the appearance of the resurrected Christ.

Yet when he finally sought the company of the community given faith by the resurrected Christ, his own wounds healed when he touched the wounds of Christ.

Jesus appeared in front of me a few weeks ago. Walking along an urban street on the way to a church conference, a homeless man approached me. He asked if I could spare some change so he could eat. As I pressed a few wadded bills into his hand, I felt a nail print.

As a young pastor, I entered 90-year-old Sadie's house as I heard her "Come in!" I finally found her in the bedroom, her shriveled body bent over thick, yellowed toenails. Arthritic hands could not fold around the clippers or apply enough pressure to get through the nails. My body in advanced pregnancy could not kneel, but I could sit. What a pair Sadie & I were, laughing at ourselves as I sawed on her toenails. As I clipped and sawed, I felt a hole that another type of nail had left.

As for his side, every time I hold a hurting person I feel that wound.

Like Thomas, I have had my doubts. Resurrection is a crazy, wild, unprecedented event that has never been repeated. I can't find evidence that it has happened when I try. When I forget about trying find proof and focus on the needs in my world that I have power through Christ to meet--then my belief resurfaces.

“The question is not to prepare but to live in a state of ongoing preparedness so that when someone who is drowning in the world comes to your world, you are ready to reach out and help." Henri Nouwen

Easter Sunday Evening Revealed at the Table Luke 24:14-33

2007-04-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Revealed at the Table

Luke 24:14-33

They had seen it. They had seen the crucifixion of Jesus, prefaced by the crowds crying Crucify Him. They had heard Peter’s account of the resurrected Christ. All the events together swirled in confusion. They wanted to rejoice that Jesus was alive, but they had seen him die. So they talked, trying to make sense of everything. Meanwhile someone came up behind them. They did not recognize him.
“What are you discussing with each other as you walk along?” They just stood there, sadness showing on their faces.
Cleopas said, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”
He asked, “What things?”
“The things about Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” But we had hoped…
Haven’t we hoped? Haven’t we all hoped to find meaning deeper than what we see everyday? There must be something deeper, better than the everyday drudgery.
All of our hopes and dreams were tied up in this man called Jesus. But he died! He died! And you can’t imagine our despair. But some say he is alive.
This evening most of us can identify with the idea of broken dreams. All of us have had our worlds come crashing down around us. Whether it was someone we loved and hoped to spend our lives with dumping us or the death of a family member, or a job we had hoped and prayed and worked to get that was denied us. Or maybe our despair is tied up in church. We attend hoping to see something change in our lives and leave disappointed that we were bored stiff. We hope to find meaning in such rituals as communion and singing together (like today) but we admit sometimes instead we feel despair.
THERE’S A REASON WE FEEL DESPAIR. Many communion services we have to admit, remind us of a funeral. Why? Because we stop at the remembrance of the death of Christ! We must not stop there. This do in remembrance of me connects to more than just his death. It connects to his resurrection. Why? Because the world has an earth shattering change between Luke chapters 22 and 24. He dies. Yet he rises again. The whole universe rests on that “yet.”
Jesus shares the supper with two believers AFTER he dies! He sits and celebrates all that has been fulfilled. He shows by this event that every time we come together to share the supper, to feast at his table HE COMES TO US! But like Cleopas and his companion, we must invite him.
When we invite him to come among us, he will reveal his resurrected presence to us.
And if you say, “But I can’t see him,” Remember what he said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who don’t see and yet believe.”
Let’s not give Jesus an opportunity to say this to us, “You’re foolish! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”
May our times together at his Table be party time! Jesus has introduced us to HIS KINGDOM by his resurrection. He has shown us another way to live, an alternate reality. We may try to escape from the nightmares of our own lives by drowning in alcohol, drugs, lust. We may try to forget our own reality by losing ourselves in a movie or TV show or comic book. But the best way to change your reality is to live in the kingdom by responding to this resurrected Christ.
Ask him in. Invite him to come to the table of your life: to sit with you, to walk with you, to eat with you. Invite his preaching of peace and compassion to fill your life so full of love that you have no more room to hate. No room to hate your parents, your boss, or anyone who has betrayed you. Come live a life that celebrates the Table of his love for you. Come, every week as we sing and rejoice that Jesus Christ has broken into history.
What will you say to those who ask you tomorrow “How was church yesterday?” You will say, “Well, you kind of had to be there.” There is no way to describe this! You have to experience it! Why don’t you come and see next week?
He interpreted to them everything about himself in the Scriptures.
He needed an invitation to stay. They wanted him to stay, for they had FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE STORY. “Please tell us more”
HE SAT AT THE TABLE WITH THEM. HE TOOK BREAD, BLESSED AND BROKE IT AND GAVE IT TO THEM.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. He vanished.

And they sought his resurrected presence continually.

WERE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US WHILE HE WAS TALKING TO US ON THE ROAD, WHILE HE WAS OPENING THE SCRIPTURES TO US?

Were not our hearts burning within us? I invite you to join me in the party of the burning heart. Do you know what it means to have a burning heart? Do you know what it means to have news so exciting you have to share it with someone? Do you remember what it is like to fall in love? You can’t hide it! You may try, but someone is going to see it written all over your face. You think about your love all the time, their face creeps into every conversation. You can’t wait to see them, to touch them, to hang on their every word. Your heart burns.
I invite you to fall in love with Jesus. Invite him to your table. You will see him. And love for him will fill your soul to an extent that you will overflow. Everyone who sees you will wonder. You will tell them that you are in love. You’re in love with Jesus Christ.

That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. Running all the way, found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying:

“THE LORD HAS RISEN INDEED AND HE HAS APPEARED TO SIMON.”
They told what had happened
Again Jesus came and stood among them.
PEACE BE WITH YOU
He came in the midst of telling the story.

Why, you ask, must we tell the story of Jesus over and over? Must we hear every week that he lived, died and rose again? Why must we take the bread and the wine over and over? Isn’t once enough?

The early Christians met daily! You thought weekly was enough? They met daily, praising God, praying, eating the feast, and listening to the apostles’ teaching. Why?

Because the world they lived in was so awful they had to! They had to meet together to be reminded that this present evil age had come to an end. A new day had dawned. The Kingdom of God had come. When the present evil crept into their homes and lives they ran to the Table to remember Jesus. He appeared to them and assured them his presence had shattered the evil. They clung to his feet and begged to stay in his presence. Yet he reminded them he was with them, always, that his spirit had come and set them on fire. Their hearts burned within them and they ran back out into the streets to let his love overflow once more. But the next day, they had to sit at the table with Jesus again.
Come; let us tell His story together. Let us be reminded once again that the evil has been shattered by the presence of the one and only Son of God.

Easter Sunday HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID John 20:1-18

2007-03-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Woman, why are you weeping?

John 20:1-18

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him”

“He is Risen! He is Risen Just as He said!”
“I have seen the Lord!”
“I’ve seen him! I’ve seen him! He said my name!”

After you, John, and you, Peter, left the tomb, I stayed. I couldn’t leave. I stood outside in the garden weeping. I bent over, and I looked into the tomb. I saw two men inside. But now I think they must have been angels. They said to me, “Woman, why are you weeping?” I wanted to scream, to shout, to throw something at them. How could they not know? I said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” After I finished speaking, I turned around. I saw a man standing there. He seemed to have come from nowhere, but I thought he must be the gardener. He asked me the same thing the others asked, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
I wondered why everyone kept asking me this. I said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Then he said, “Mary.” He might as well have said, “SURPRISE! It’s me!” It was him! I said “Teacher!” His face shone like the sun. He looked the same, yet different. I didn’t recognize him because I wasn’t looking for him. But when he said my name, I knew him. My heart knew him. Oh, my brothers, you shouldn’t have left the tomb so fast. I think you would have seen him too.
Oh, I’ve got to go tell some others. Can you believe it? Jesus is alive!
Oh, hello. Did you know Jesus is risen from the dead? You don’t know me? It’s more important that you know Jesus, but I will tell you how I know him. I will tell you what he did for me.
I’m from Magdala. Magdala means tower. It is found on the western shore of the sea of Galilee. It’s on a main highway, and like most towns on main highways, it’s a place where lots of evil happens. I lived there all of my life. I was like most citizens of Magdala, I guess. We’re not known for our morals. I lived a life that I’m quite ashamed of now. By the time I met Jesus, I had seven demons tormenting me. They controlled my life, and I was quite sick both in mind and body. HE IS RISEN
I remember when I first heard of Jesus. Someone came running into town one day and claimed they had met the Messiah. The Messiah! We had hoped for the Messiah so long we had almost given up on him. The man said he had seen Jesus cast demons out of people. I couldn’t quite comprehend why, but I knew I had to find this man Jesus.
I left everything then. I went searching for him. He wasn’t too hard to find at that time. Openly he healed and preached and everyone in the countryside knew of him. Even the scribes, sadduccess, and pharisees. But they didn’t like him.
I remember the day I first saw him. He taught in the midst of a circle of men I knew later to be his twelve disciples. I walked right up to the group, but when I got close enough for them to see me, I couldn’t say anything. I had been taught all of my life that women don’t speak to men in public, esp. important teachers. I just hung my head and tears fell from my face to the ground to mingle with the dust.
He read my mind. I heard him speak to the demons within me. After a struggle all seven of them left me. They had no power to resist this man of God. I fell on the ground. The next thing I remember, I was close to a flickering fire. The firelight shone in his eyes as I looked into them. I had never seen such love. Certainly no man I had ever been near had ever looked at me with love. I knew I could never leave him. I had to find out where that kind of love came from. HE IS RISEN
So I joined the group of women who traveled with Jesus and his disciples. We worked, sewing, weaving, washing for others. We used the money we earned to provide for Jesus.
Soon after I joined Jesus, the Pharisees accused Jesus of having a demon. I wanted to scratch their eyes out. How could this man have a demon? Obviously they didn’t know demons as I did. Jesus stood up to them. He always did. I had never trusted anyone until I met him. I trusted him completely.
Once Jesus mother and brothers came to see him. They could not get to him. I had met his mother before. She came to see him often. But this time Jesus said “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word and do it.” I knew then that I had finally found the family I had never had. James, John, even Peter they now talked to me, following the example of Jesus. Those who didn’t know us often showed the shock on their faces as they heard these men have conversations with us women. Jesus broke down barriers we had never thought to touch. He showed me that I am a valued person, someone worthy of love and care. HE IS RISEN
Jesus treated everyone with the same love and respect. He touched lepers as if they were his close friends or family. He talked to tax collectors as if they hadn’t even tried to rob him. He healed women without a thought that he might be considered unclean. He taught with authority. Everyone had to listen. They just had to. I never even considered going back to Magdala once joining his followers.
After a while, Jesus began to talk of death. His own death. We didn’t listen. We couldn’t understand how the Messiah could be killed. He had too much power. Hadn’t we seen with our own eyes what he could do? Sometimes after he had gone away to pray he would come back with tears and such a sad face. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew I couldn’t. Nothing could. HE IS RISEN
Now that I’ve seen what happened I understand his anguish. I was there as they brought him to trial, as the crowds cried crucify him. I heard the whips lash his precious back. Each time I felt the pain as if it were hitting me. As he stumbled under the heavy beam, I tried to get close to him, to touch him, to let him know I hadn’t left him. The soldiers threw me to the ground. I stood in the crowd as they pounded the nails into his hands and feet. Mary, the wife of Clopas, and I tried to shield his mother, Mary, from the scene. She wailed and couldn’t be comforted.
I don’t know how to describe to you the anguish we felt. We followed Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus to the tomb, to prepare his body with spices. But we didn’t have much time since it was the Sabbath. That Sabbath was the longest day of our lives. We stayed together, the disciples keeping a low profile in fear they too would be crucified. I didn’t care. I would have taken his place. But I stayed near my friends. We didn’t have many words of comfort to say to each other. Mostly we just cried. HE IS RISEN!
We never slept. When finally the first day dawned, the Sabbath over, I could stay in hiding no longer. I went back to the tomb. Maybe just being near his body would bring comfort, and we had to wrap the body better and add the burial spices. Darkness still filled the air. I could barely see. The sun had just barely reached the horizon when I reached the tomb. The stone had been removed. I knew someone had taken his body so I ran to tell the others. Peter and John ran back with me. They ran into the tomb and saw the grave clothes lying there. They didn’t say much, but ran home. I couldn’t leave. Maybe they would bring his body back.
But as I already told you, I found Jesus there that day, or rather he found me.

I wish I could explain to you the excitement, the joy. But you have all lost people you love. Remember Lazarus? How Jesus raised him? Imagine that, but 100 times better! Jesus took our dashed hopes of all that we had believed and made them anew. Renewed. His death devastated us, but his resurrection restores us. I just saw the risen Lord this morning. Now I’m ready to face anything the world has to throw at me. Nothing else matters. Just that he’s alive. HE IS RISEN!

What difference does the resurrection make in your life? It took Jesus saying my name for me to believe that he had risen. And he had told me about it hundreds of times. What will it take for you to believe today? John said he’s going to write all this down so no one forgets. He said he would write everything down so that others will believe in Jesus. I believe. Do you? HE IS RISEN!

Palm Sunday Year C Luke 19:29-47

2007-03-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

(photo courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.org)

Finding Ourselves in the Crowd

Luke 18:31-34 And taking the twelve, he said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentile sand will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; they will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise. But they understood none of these things; this saying was hid from them, and the did not grasp what he said."

Four chapters later, James and John request that they could sit on his right hand and his left.

Did you even hear what he said, James and John? The son of man must die! He's going to die and all you're concerned about his who gets to be first in line. Does anybody understand who he really is? Why must you put your anticipations upon him? Why can't you let him be himself? Why are your only concerns selfish when your master is about to suffer and die? Is it because you really can't believe anything will ever happen to this powerful man? Is it because all you can think of is that your dreams of a Messiah overthrowing the Romans has blinded your vision and made you deaf? And you James and John, might dare to dream you are able to drink the cup he is about to drink? Surely, you think, surely, if it leads to glory we can do anything...

The rest of the disciples become angry with James and John. Is it only because they didn't think of making the request first? And how does Jesus handle this dispute among his friends? "Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader, as the one who serves."

And they could not understand...they didn't know how quickly Jesus would show them exactly what he meant by that statement...

"Son of David have mercy on me!" Cries blind Bartimaeus as Jesus enters Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Jesus heals him. His impending week of sorrows does not keep him from having compassion on those who cry out to him.

He prepares to enter Jerusalem, knowing what will happen if he does. They come to Bethany, near the Mount of Olives. Jesus tells his disciples to go into the city to get a colt for him to ride upon. The people are curious; the disciples tell them what Jesus had said...the Lord has need of this colt. It seems perhaps then the curious followed the disciples to Jesus. The people begin to gather. They throw their cloaks on the colt, they spread leafy branches...

This is the man who had heals the blind. Who had fed the five thousand. How many in that crowd had been fed? This is only one with any kind of power. The Zealots had not been able to free them, with their system of vigilante justice, attacking Roman soldiers and officials. Their own religious leaders were so corrupt the common people found no direction from them. Where is God? Surely he must be found in this man acting just like the Messiah prophesied in Scripture. Not all these thoughts crossed everyone's mind, of course, but it is so easy to get caught up in a moment, to get caught up in what the mob is doing

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

He had said when John's disciples asked him in if he was the Messiah that the lame walk the blind see the hungry are fed...hadn't he said himself that he was the one they were all waiting for? Waving and shouting they followed him into Jerusalem

But the nagging question in the back of their minds continued to pound...why is he riding on a colt, and not a stallion? Echoes of Zechariah 9:9-10 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cutoff, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." But how many people remembered this passage? How many people instead, remember stories of the mighty military power of David, and cry out, "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" Hosanna means Save us! For even in their praises they were asking him to deliver them from what they thought was the worst oppression. They didn't know their true oppression lay in the evil of their own hearts...as they would show later that week.

He is deliberately showing he is the Messiah, but a Messiah without arms, without weapons, riding down the road of the Suffering Servant.

The people crowded and pushed each other, each trying to get a glimpse of the Son of David atop the colt. Shouting joyfully they stepped on each other's toes, no one minding because their minds were on one thing....at last, at last God has fulfilled his promise to us. Nothing else matters because the Messiah has come. Tomorrow Rome will see who is boss. Pilate will be run out of town, his fancy chariots breaking down under the immense speed as the Lion of Judah pursues him...to destroy him. And on to Rome!!! We'll show them. The center of the world will be the holy timeless city of Jerusalem, not the pagan city of Rome. Tomorrow he won't be sitting on a colt, but a white stallion. He will be clad in robes of scarlet...

The gods of Rome will be overthrown by the Son of God, the Messiah. The only true God will show the world who rules...

This is the one who healed you in the past as you lay dying from a serious illness. This is the one who brought you out of poverty and led you to a decent job. This is the one who transformed your life so completely your old comrades don't recognize you...but today, today you say, he let you down. A huge crisis came and went and things didn't go the way you prayed for them to go. Not everything you expected has happened. Yesterday you were waving palm branches, lifting your hands and praying, praising him. Today you cursed him, wondering where he is in all this grief and sorrow. Today you cried crucify him because he didn't live up to your expectations.

But tomorrow has come and all he's doing is throwing out moneychangers from the Temple. He is angry...showing power and the people hope he his beginning his takeover. But instead of heading to Herod's palace he returns to Bethany and the home of his friends.

The week progresses and nothing the people expected happens. And then he is arrested...

Philippians 2:5-11 "who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness...."

Today we want to celebrate...but we must realize in shadow of the palms lies a whip, a crown of thorns, three nails, and two beams. And if you found yourself in the procession crying Hosanna, you might not believe it now, but you will inevitably find yourself in the mob crying crucify him--in only five days!

Lent 5C John 12:1-11

2007-03-13T20:27:00.001-07:00

John 12:1-11
Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with 12,000 dollars worth of perfume. Where did she get that money? My first response is a feminist one. It is the woman who understands who Jesus is and the man who condemns her. Did she know he would soon die? Is that why she anointed him? Why did she not save it for his burial? Did she not believe what was about to happen. Those in power sought to kill both Jesus and her brother, Lazarus. Some of you reading this may be facing similar persecution. I have no right to say anything to you about such things. Why are there always powers out there ready to condemn anything generous? One of my favorite movies is Pay it Forward….a movie that illustrates what happens when a person decides to live a life of selfless giving. Somehow the world cannot stand that.
This looks forward to Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples. Did he get his idea from Mary?

Both "prepare" Jesus for burial -- she by the "anointing" and he by the betrayal.

Lent 4C Luke 15:1-32

2007-03-08T06:41:00.001-08:00

Lent 4C Luke 15:1-32

Please note this is not a complete sermon as the others were. I’m simply posting some thoughts and notes before I complete the sermon.

Luke 15:1-7
I have never understood the parable of the lost sheep until I heard a preacher preach it a couple of years ago. His name is Tim Green & he teaches at Trevecca Nazarene University. He illustrated the lost sheep this way:What does it mean to leave the ninety-nine and go search for the lost sheep?If you were the security guard for a high dollar car lot, and you noticed that one car was missing from your one hundred…and you left the lot unguarded in the most crime-infested part of town to look for it…then you would understand the search for the lost sheep.
Luke 15:8-10
A woman loses a coin…she has ten silver coins…now this I can understand. I remember losing a 20 dollar bill once. I think it went down the seat in the car. Never found it. Whoever bought the car must have been happy…I also lost a cell phone down the panel of my van once. See, I understand losing stuff!!!
Luke 15:11-32
The crown jewel of Luke 15 must be the prodigal son story. I know there are tons of messages in this little passage, but what I keep coming back to is the older brother.
I grew up in the church and worked hard on my righteousness…and to understand God’s grace, I must understand that God loves all of us the same…nothing I can do will make him love me more or less…yet God rejoices when one that has left returns…
Lord, I want to rejoice…and remove my jealousy…for I have been the older sibling.

Lent 3C Luke 13:1-9

2007-02-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

GIVE THEM ONE MORE CHANCE
Luke 13:1-9
Isaiah 55:1-13

Am I being punished for my sins? At some time or the other we all ask this question. When tragedy strikes: we search high and low for a REASON.

Photo courtesty of bigfoto.com

Someone tells Jesus, Pilate, the Roman governor, murdered some people from Galilee while they were sacrificing in the Temple. The question, “Were they worse sinners than we are? Is that why they were killed?”

If only Jesus had answered, “Yes.” We would be happy to know that, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Life would be neat and clean. Only bad people would reap bad consequences. The good would get good, the bad would get bad.

Jesus did not answer yes.

Instead he says, “not at all. Unless you repent you’ll all perish.” Sounds heartless and cruel. You’re all going to end up like them if you don’t get your act straight.

He goes on to site another tragedy “18 men died in the tragedy of Siloam by a tower falling on them. Unless you repent you’ll end up just like them.”

OUCH

“Tragedies occur, whether intentionally by oppressive governors such as Pilate or accidentally by imperfections in the kind of world we live in. In neither case must one conclude that tragedies are necessarily an indication of divine judgment against sinners. Rather, in view of the uncertainty of life and the unpredictability of the future one must be warned to examine one’s own life and repent.” (Jirair Tashjian www.crivoice.org)

We don’t have reasons for most tragedies. We would like to say, “those sinners in ________ pay for it by their earthquakes, mudslides, and floods.” We like to pat ourselves on the back and say they are worse sinners than we are, therefore those things don’t happen to us. We read the Bible. We go to church. Then terrible twisters tear up our state we wonder if our sins will wipe us out too.

Many times when we hear of or even experience tragedy we examine our own lives and say, “What if that were to happen to me? Would I be ready to die?” This is the right way to respond! That is what Jesus is saying, “Yes, yes, bad things do happen. We don’t know why. But when they happen let’s see if there is anything in our lives that needs changing.”

When we hear of a child dying because she found a gun in her father’s drawer, we all go home and check the safeties on our guns and buy gun cabinets with locks.
When we hear of a child overdosing on Tylenol from the medicine cabinet we go home and lock ours up even tighter.
When we hear of a dog getting rabies and biting someone we make vet appointments and take our animals in for shots.

Often it takes a tragedy to wake us up, to make us live responsibly, to examine our inner selves.
When we hear of someone dying we wonder, “When will it be my turn?” Until we face a death of someone our own age we think death is all for someone else.

What does a fig tree have to do with a tragedy?
Will the fig tree produce fruit next year? God longs for it to happen.

In other words, let’s give them one more chance. Jesus tells us its time to repent. Repent means to open your eyes, realize you’re heading the wrong way, and turn around and go the other way. If you turn on the wrong side of the exit ramp heading to the interstate you open your eyes right away to the problem and get out of there! You see the consequences in front of you in the form of an oncoming tractor trailer rig that make you into roadkill. It doesn’t take long to turn around when you’re scared.

Repentance means you open your eyes to the consequences of your behavior, and you turn around as fast you as you can to get away from it.

In the first part of the passage Jesus judges, “REPENT OR YOU WILL PERISH.”In the second part, “GIVE THEM ONE MORE CHANCE”two sides of the same God Judgment and grace

Oh how he longs for you to bear fruit

"Is anyone thirsty come and drink even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!" Isaiah 55:1-2 NRSV

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near Let the people run from their wicked deeds. Let them banish form their minds the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Come and eat at God’s table.
And when you do the the trees of the field will clap their hands because God’s salvation has broken into the history in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lent 2C Luke 13:31-35

2007-02-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

The Fox and the Hen

Luke 13:31-35

Luke 13:31-35 Jesus, having been warned that Herod, a Jewish king given power by the Romans, wanted to kill him, smartly remarked, “Go and tell that fox…”
Now calling someone a fox in this respect is NOT a compliment. This is not the Fonz talking about a girl he met! This is an insult, and the rumor that Jesus had insulted him was enough to send Herod into a rage and order Jesus to be executed.What does a fox do? My only concept of foxes comes from cartoons. The fox runs after the chickens. Many have seen the Fox and the Hound, a story about a hound dog and a fox becoming friends as cubs but having to part ways because of their differences. Foxes are generally seen as cunning, sneaky.Sometimes they kill all the hens in one roost. It is a man like this that Jesus tells, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem”

And then he calls himself a hen as he mourns Jerusalem. “I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”

“Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem.…” Jerusalem was a symbol for the entire nation of Israel, the holy city, the place where prophets are killed. How Jesus longed to comfort his people and to show them He LOVED them! But they are not willing!
If you ever loved someone who resisted your protection, then you understand the pain of Jesus’ lament. All you can do is open your arms. You cannot make anyone come into your embrace. Meanwhile, you find yourself in the most vulnerable posture in the world –arms (wings) spread, breast exposed. If you really want to protect, then you find yourself in a vulnerable position.
Even chicks know to stay close to their mother. And human mothers know the sound of their baby’s cry…the baby who doesn’t want to be separated from the place where love, food, and care comes from.
It is the fox who chases the hen…Herod, the king, chasing Jesus. Who is going to win when the fox enters the henhouse? But the story plays out a different way then expected.

Once a firefighter came upon an eagle’s nest after a forest fire had raged across the landscape. The eagle, stiff, charged, dead—the firefighter kicked the bird away. All of a sudden peeping filled the air. The chicks had survived because the mother had given her life to save them.
Jesus did this for us.

Yet even when Jerusalem kills prophet after prophet, God keeps sending more. This gracious God is the mother hen who makes repeated attempts to gather her chicks, but the chicks refuse and go their own way. God coaxes, he pleads, but he does not force.

God allows us to go our own way when we choose, and then we suffer the consequences of being outside of his spread of wings.
Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his pinions (the outer part of a birds wing, the part that enables flight), and under his wings you will find refuge.”

When we insist on going our own way God opens up his arms to us. When you sit with arms crossed, aloof, you are giving the sign you want to protect yourself. But when you open your arms to anyone you not only risk rejection, you expose your heart to the world. You make yourself completely vulnerable.
The hen spreads her wings to protect the chicks and they are nailed to a cross.
And the hen sees the fox coming and when he slithers up to her she sounds an alarm and the chicks scatter. But the fox kills the hen.

She told the fox she would rather die than let him have her chicks.

And she does.

(A special thanks to Richard Fairchild at http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/c-le02se.php for inspiring and influencing this sermon)

Lent 1C Luke 4:1-13

2007-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

First Sunday of Lent, Year C
Luke 4:1-11

“Just this once”

When I was in college, I had a few friends who influenced me to skip class. The conversation usually started like this, “Did you study?”
“No. Did you?”
“No.”
“Do you really want to go to class?”
"Let’s go to the bookstores!” That was our temptation (When I preached this on Sunday, Feb. 25, a room full of college students/grads yelled this at me, NERD!)
So James & I got in his little Honda Civic & drove to pick up David who as usual was late for class. We threw David in the backseat as he knew where all the best bookstores were. We drove away to David’s wife screaming, “David, don’t you spend all the grocery money!”

I gave in to temptation this morning. A quilt magazine advertising… (for my blog on quilts see my likes to the right of this post) it’s like they knew me…quilts, shortcuts to making quilts, lots of bright colors, glossy pictures and oooh stickers! So I stuck the stickers on the little cute card & popped it in the mail counting the days to getting my first magazine & oooh free book! Forget the 24.95 plus 5.97 shipping. That’s way off in the future.
Last night I was walking through Wal-Mart and just tried to step back and see what temptation had to do with walking down action alley the center aisle…Everything screamed "buy me buy me" and with a credit card that is not maxed in my purse, well, that is temptation. There is a blanket softer than mine there is a new DVD I don’t have in my collection and oooh look at that new sweater than would just match my eyes…. You know most people call this advertising but the Bible calls it temptation.
We get a wrong picture of this scene with Jesus if we think he is out in the wilderness & an ugly devil in a red suit with a face like an Orc and a voice like Vader. That is not how temptation works. In the book of proverbs temptation is a sexy woman seeking to devour. As much as I hate to refer to this because it makes women look bad, I can’t get away from what Proverbs really says.
How is Jesus tempted? First it is about feeding his own hunger. Turn these stones into bread. Anything wrong with this? How about using your power for selfish gain just this once. Just this once. It’s like one drink won’t hurt you or one indulgence in porn or just one affair one little lunch
Jesus resists because he knows human nature even his own human nature….and there is no such thing as just one lay potato chip or krispy kreme…whatever you gave up for lent in the blank…just one just one.
The next temptation is about bowing down to the authority of the world. Just this once the devil says play the game and step on the other on the way to the top. Google your homework subject and turn in someone else’s paper as your own. Just this once it won’t matter.
Annie had been married a year when she meets the man she thinks was meant for her. Now this is what she thought of her current husband before she married him and found him not quite as romantic as he was when they were dating. He squeezed the toothpaste in the middle and he always hogged the remote and he was too busy to pay attention to any kind of romance. They both got busy with their jobs and then Annie met Gary. Gary was attentive when George, her husband was distracted. Gary was poetic when George was matter of fact. Gary complimented her when George didn’t see a new outfit…and George never meant any harm and neither did Gary. But suddenly she found herself seeking Gary’s attention more than George’s and wishing she had waited one more year to get married…if only she had waited then she would have met Gary first and her life would not be miserable. Gary was single and perhaps naïve and perhaps he didn’t know what his attention was doing to Annie or maybe he did. She did not know. But one night when George was out of town and Annie and Gary had a late night business meeting she found herself walking out of her office building with him. He was being gallant and offered to walk her to her car and when she got there she realized she was shaking. If only he wouldn’t leave. Suddenly she remembered feeling this way about George. She remembered all the times they had shared together and thought of their dreams and wondered what would happen to them if she just asked Gary to get in the car with her. And then she knew. She could not do this. She could end her marriage for one night with Gary. She could not destroy the future of her community with just one night. She said good-bye to Gary and got in the car and drove home to an empty house. Maybe she could catch George on the phone before he went to sleep.
Sadly many stories similar to this do not end this way. Soaps and movies tell us that we are unable to resist temptation because we are just made this way. For some reason people begin to think that there is “nothing wrong with love” and destroy homes with just one time. But what would have happened if Jesus had bowed to the authority of Satan? I can’t imagine it.
Then we have the final temptation of falling off the pinnacle of the temple. Letting angels catch him fame fame fame everyone would know his power and there would be no doubts about who he was. Kingdom come and kingship and overthrowing Caesar would be nothing. Lightning bolts flashing he could ride into Rome on the back of a white stallion with the whole Jewish nation behind him….
I was trying to picture a temptation scene & this is what came to mind (I showed a clip of the movie Cars where Lightning McQueen is imagining what fame will be like) perhaps because it is watched over and over at my house. What is the temptation here and why is it similar to Jesus’ temptation? Fame. Glory. No road to the cross and no Pharisees harassing him because they could not deny his power if they saw it, right?
Later when Jesus performs miracles even in front of the Pharisees, a leading religions group, they still deny who he is. They see him heal with their own eyes and THEY STILL DON’T believe. Have you ever met someone in complete denial of their own problems? Nothing you can do will change their minds.
What is the end of fame? Usually a lonely death of a drug overdose, plane crash, or huge scandal that the media sets up for you. We may even think Jesus would have been better off doing it this way…but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the famous usually end up last weeks’s news when something bigger and better comes along.
So what does Jesus do? He refuses the devil’s offers now matter how attractive. He knows charging up a load of stuff at Wal-Mart on the credit cards will eventually land you a huge bill in the mail, turning in a copied paper will get you a poor academic record and you cheat yourself out of your own education, breaking a home in the name of love will only get you broken pieces after a huge adrenaline rush and fame will get you perhaps a reality TV show where you share a house or an island with a bunch of other stinky has beens wishing for a way to climb to the top—usually by voting you off the island.
So why do we give in when Jesus didn’t? He is supposed to be our example, right? Most say well of course he did not give in he was God. Orthodox Christianity affirms that Jesus is fully human. Temptation means nothing if isn’t possible for us to give in…or for Jesus to give in for that matter.
Someone said to me yesterday that evil people don’t bother him and good people don’t bother him but someone who is both good and evil do bother him. I think that is because we don’t want to admit that we are fully capable of evil.

But those capable of evil are fully capable of accepting the grace offered to us. The grace offered to us by the one who could have given in but did not and who stands with open arms waiting for us at the table…because we need this strength if we are going to resist the voices screaming at us when we walk out of this room…to give in to the things our bodies are craving but that will bring chaos and pain to the community if we give in. So join me here at the table as we together beg the one who resisted evil to give us the strength to unite and to resist as well.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Scriptural Influence

2007-02-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

The story of God has influenced me. I will be sharing some thoughts and prayers on Scripture while following the Revised Common Lectionary.