5 Steps to Witness a Miracle

John 6:1-21

Two miracles in one Gospel lesson. Powerful stuff.! So powerful that a lot of folk don't even believe they really happened. I was doing my research on this text and in one of the commentaries I read, the starting assumption was that Jesus didn't REALLY feed 5000 men with just 5 loaves of barley bread and two fish. Jesus didn't REALLY walk on water. “Whatever may have actually happened.” is the phrase that the writer used.

Maybe that's the problem! A lot of folk start with unbelief. We don't want to seem uninformed. We don't want to seem unintelligent so we start where the rest of the world starts: the assumption that it really isn't true.

Jesus asks us to believe!

Matthew chapter 9, “When (Jesus) went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, 'do you believe that I am able to do this?' they said to him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then he touched their eyes saying, 'let it be done for you according to your faith.' and their eyes were opened.” Jesus required that they have faith; that they believe. Then the miracle happened.

In Matthew 22 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And what ever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive.”

More left overs than what they started with; Water supporting the weight of a man; Medical conditions instantly cured; a mountain being cast into the sea? These things defy logic. They defy the very laws of physics?

Never mind those things right now. Let's start with something a little easier to chew: You are sons and daughters, adopted by the Lord God! Do you believe that? Does it empower you? Does being a child of God Embolden you to action? What if I said that “You are powerful.” Would you believe it or do you start thinking of ways that you feel powerless. Or perhaps you start thinking of the earthly ways you have influence over others. You are a nation of priests! Do you believe that? Miracles will happen because of what you say and do. Not that the power emanates from us but that because the gathered believers are the body of Christ on earth God will make things happen through us.

We think of mountains being lifted up and cast into the sea and we just keep reading because what does that have to do with me? Jesus walking on water? Nice story. Feeding the 5000? Must be some other explanation. All these have to do with a mindset of faith and trust in God. Don't try to dissect how they happened, know that a crowd of people were hungry and they were fed. Know that the disciples were afraid and in trouble and Jesus came to them in the most unlikely way. Know that those who were blind were able to see. Have you ever been hungry, scared, couldn't see the truth that was in front of your face? I've been all those things. How did you get through? I don't know about you but it is my faith in God that sees me through! It's my faith in God that brings unexpected blessings...miracles.

I've seen God active in this world. I've seen wonderful things happen when His people act in faith. I have yet to see God act outside of the laws of physics though. But that was never the point. Jesus wasn't about “Wowing” a crowd. Jesus was all about getting his disciples to act in faith not fear or doubt.

Miracles can happen in a flash. but a miracle can also be a transformation that takes place over time. You want to change your life? You don't have to change every aspect all at once. But you do have to take a step toward change, as terrifying as that step may be. That's where faith comes in; That's where belief comes in Jesus called us to be his, to follow him and to obey his commands.

Today I want to talk to you about 5 steps that will put you in a position to witness the miracles of God in your life and in the life of this church.

1. Follow Jesus. Not only do we have to intellectually learn Jesus. We have to commune with Jesus. We have for listen for the will of Jesus. We have to have a right understanding of who Jesus is as God's son and that we have salvation through his name. Because Jesus is the only one worthy to approach the throne of Grace. He is the only one with out flaw or blemish. Jesus is the only human to live without sin. So we approach the Throne of grace not in our own name, not in our own righteousness but in the name and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

The Disciples in today's Gospel reading Jesus went away again to the other side of the sea and the crowd followed him again because he was healing them. Wouldn't you? If you were in the crowd and you saw that people were being healed by this man's touch wouldn't you follow him where ever he went. They were following him not as disciples but as those in need. It's good to come to Jesus with your needs but Jesus calls us to follow him in a different way. Jesus wants us to love him. And if we love him we will obey his commands. If we love him and want to follow him we will live as he instructs us. He went up the mountain that day with his disciples, you know the ones that were really following him in the way he wanted. And when the crowd of people came there he tested Philip with a question about how to feed this big crowd. Philip answered the way many of us would: with doubt. Sure it was a logical assessment of the situation. For all we know Philip estimated the cost of feeding the crowd quite accurately. But that's not what Jesus was getting at. Which brings us to step 2 in putting yourself in a position to witness God's miracles. Step 1 was follow Jesus.

2. Look for the faintest possibility of a course of action. As Philip was doing his calculations and explaining why they wouldn't be able to feed the crowd a little kid probably approached the disciple Andrew and offered his food that he brought with him. It wasn't much but he offered it. Andrew could have patted the boy on the head and dismissed him as often happens to people who don't come up with the solution that those in charge are expecting or wanting. But that didn't happen. They had nothing to feed the crowd and this boy had a little. And so Andrew offered it to Jesus. It wasn't a solution but it was something. We don't always have to know the whole solution to take a step toward solving a problem.
3. Take a step toward solving the problem/changing the circumstances. They had 5 loaves of Bread and two fish to work with. They started distributing food. Everyone had what they needed. We may be tempted to try to explain this miracle. Some have suggest that once the boy shared his food, every body that brought food started sharing theirs as well and found that with that supply there was enough. But the text doesn't give us that option of interpretation. “So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves where left by those who had eaten.” The fragments were from the 5 loaves. It was a miracle. The people were so impressed, the text reads, “Therefore when the people saw the sing which he had performed, they said, 'this is truly the Prophet who is come into the world.' so Jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make him king, withdrew again tot the mountain by himself alone.” This takes us to the next step:
4. Stay on course. It wasn't about the miracle! Jesus wasn't about impressing people. Jesus intent was to teach his followers to trust in him. Trust that if they act in faith that they can do all that Jesus did while he was on this earth. Jesus offers us rest. But Jesus does not offer a life of comfort. The crowd was looking for comfort. They wanted to make him king so that all their problems would go away. But this was not Jesus intention. Jesus teaches trust and faith in Him, not reliance and a dependance on miracles. We have to stay on course. Wonderful things happen in the life of faith. One of the challenges we face is being distracted by the mean rather than focusing on the end. Feeding 5000 people is a good and necessary. Jesus commands us to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty and to clothe the naked. But that is not the end. The end is to have and to teach faith in Jesus Christ. Which brings us back to our final step in putting ourselves in a position to witness God's miracles in our life and in the life of the church.
5. Make Sure Jesus is in the Boat with you. When Jesus was on that mountain the disciples went on ahead without Jesus. I don't know what they were thinking. Maybe they figured they had it all figured out on their own and they didn't need to bother with Jesus any more. Maybe they got tired of waiting for Jesus. But when they got a good distance away from Jesus that's when they got into trouble. That's when they got scared and were crying. And Jesus came to them on the water. Now are we going to worry about the details of how this happened or are we going to understand that in the disciples time of trouble Jesus came to them where they were even though they left him behind!

So how is it with you today? Are you chasing Jesus looking for a miracle or are you positioning yourself to be the miracle? 

Interconnected

Mark 6:14-29

I was re-watching one of my favorite episodes of a web based show that's about a couple living in a tiny apartment in New York City. In this episode one of the two main characters has insomnia. He gets up and starts playing with his collection of action figures. He is an adult and he is making his toys speak and interact all the while disturbing his wife who is tying to sleep in the other room. There is a progression of different scenarios and scenes that he acting out until the ultimate in absurdity, he is actually playing with action figures that have not been taken out of their original packaging. At this point his wife comes out to see what all the noise is all about and sees him creating scenes with these unwrapped action figures and his angry wife comes out of the bedroom and asks “are you playing with boxes.” he tries to defend himself by explaining that they could become priceless collectors items some day as she walks away irritated. Realizing he is being cut short he he says, “it doesn't have anything to do with you!”

It doesn't have anything to do with you is where he got it wrong. He was so into what he was doing. He thought he was being judged for what he was doing when in actuality, she was just angry because he was keeping her awake.

God's will for his people, for us, it to be an interconnected community. We are called to care for each other to bear on anther's burdens; to celebrate one another's victories and to mourn each others losses.

The Thing is, we are interconnected whether we intend to be or not. Our actions have an effect on the world around us. When we understand this and keep it near the front of our attention, our actions will surely reflect more clearly what God intends for us."It doesn't have anything to do with you" is not a way we are called to live.

Jesus, when he was teaching his disciples, would use the actions of others as an examples. When he saw a farmer planting seed, he used that as a metaphor on the different spiritual paths people take in this world. Some seed falls on the path, some seed falls on shallow soil, some seed grows among the weeds, but some seed falls on fertile soil. Another time Jesus points a widow putting her last two cents into the temple treasury and explains how that small amount of money was significant because it was all she had and not what was left over. These two people mentioned in scripture may never have met Jesus. They may never have been aware that they were in the presence of the very incarnation of God, yet by their example, as recorded in scripture,they have had an effect on the culture of the wold for the past 2000 years.

You may know your purpose in life and are living it out. You may have such a close walk with God that in every moment you know what God's will for your life is. Even so God is using you for purposes that you are not aware of. By your example people know your heart. It's not just the kind word that you speak to the one that needs to hear it, it is the witness to that moment that is also blessed. It is the encouragement that is passed on from person to person that started from God and passed through your lips.

There is another side to this as well. Because you bear the name of Jesus Christ there are many in the world who think that know your heart. For those of us who have experienced the living Christ within us can, in moments of clarity, recognize the Christ residing in each other. But for those who have not experienced this and have no interest in experiencing this, of those people, there are some who will judge you negatively and put you into a certain category in their mind so they don't have do deal with you. They may speak disparagingly about you. They will say all sorts of things about you. They might even ask you to not be so “Christian” in the way you speak.

But wait! We want to protest. My faith has has nothing to do with them! We want to be connected to God by his grace. We just want to love God and our neighbors and be obedient disciples. Why should anyone care or have anything to say about the way we live our life?

It's because we are all interconnected whether we want to be or not. My faith and your faith has an effect on the world around us.

In the Scripture lesson today we see a great example of this. If you remember from last week Jesus went to his home town and healed a few sick people but couldn't do as much as he normally did because of their lack of faith. He sent out his disciples to bring the Good News about the the Kingdom of God and they were, in fact, very successful. “They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

This is where our scripture lesson for today picks up. King Herod heard of it, for Jesus name had become known. Some were saying “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” but others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “it is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

Then there was a flash-back. The writer of the gospel tells the tale of how John the Baptist met his end. I wont tell the story again. We have already read it. But it is a story of selfish desire, of revenge, of ridiculous abuse of power which ulimited in the death of a man who's only crime was speaking the truth. Herod was at the center of it. It was his actions, his decisions and ultimately his direct order that lead to the death of John the baptist. He knew it was wrong, but he did it anyway.

Like in television the flash-back is intended to give us some background on the current scene. This flash-back was so long that oftentimes when I read it I forget what was for. The current scene is that King Herod is hearing about Jesus and what is happening in his kingdom. And Herod in his guilt over what he did to John the Baptist is thinking that John has been raised from the dead. He made this assessment when he heard of the success that Jesus and his disciples were having in their ministry.

Can you imagine? As you are being obedient to Jesus someone that you have never met nor will likely ever encounter being affected by what you do? The disciples were sent out in pairs by Jesus and their success makes a guilt ridden king think that one that he unjustly executed has come back to life? What they were doing had nothing to do with Herod.

This is God at work in the world using our actions beyond what we intend. We are interconnected whether we intend to be or want to be. The love of God is so powerful and so real that it intimidates people. Jesus' radical, sacrificial love is a standard which we can never reach but one for which we should continually strive. When faced with the reality that, in the presence of His magnificent Love, we cannot go away unchanged, some prefer to stay in the dark rather than enter His light. By our presence and our willingness to be temples of the Holy Spirit the presence of God in known in the world. The presence of God shines a light on all that is unholy and that makes some people uncomfortable.

We cannot choose the actions that will have an effect on the world. We can only be obedient Disciples of Jesus Christ and let God pass out the blessings. When we look for thank and praise for ourselves, we may find it. When we submit ourselves to God's holy word we will be used in powerful ways to transform the world.

So how is it with you today? I what ways can you give yourself more completely to God? In what ways will you submit your agenda to Gods plan for you?

The photo from above is from The Tiny Apartment Show http://vimeo.com/21133949 Warning:  Explicit Content.  Not appropriate for anyone really, but it's pretty funny. 

  

What Story are You Living?

 We love and and our love deepens for that which we spend our attention and energy. Marital relationships weaken when the attention of one or both partners is diverted to something or someone else. Relationships suffer when we focus our attention on ourselves and our own pleasure. Television, Movies and other electronic media are not necessarily bad in and of themselves but when they become a substitute for life, and relationships with real people, they become and insidious evil.

I used to be a big fan of NASCAR.  In the late 1990s stock car racing almost became my religion. I faithfully watched every race on Sunday afternoon. I rooted for the heroes and I anguished over the victories of the villain. The tracks around the country seemed to me to be hallowed ground. The retired and deceased legends of the sport were the saints to be venerated.  The Daytona 500 was the high holy day of this religion that started the racing season.  From then  I knew all sorts of stats and standings as they progressed through the season.  I did this for a few seasons.  Then a measure of perspective came into my life. The champion of any given year is only champion until the beginning of the first race of the next season. And ultimately it is a bunch of cars continually turning left.

The thing is, NASCAR was the story I was living. The story of NASCAR is one of striving for excellence, of pushing oneself to the very edge of performance. Its about getting the best team around you that is possible. In NASCAR it isn't that you have to win every race but you have to consistently do well to be a champion. Striving, trying, excelling. I could sign onto a life like that. And I did, but it was exhausting and ultimately unfulfilling, because, like NASCAR no matter how many victories you have you are only one crash away from unhappiness.

Be strong.  Serve God only.  Know that if you do, beautiful heaven awaits.

The Story that we live matters. Many people don't know that they are living a story, but we are. To get a clue what story you are living (if you don't know) figure out what movie is your all time favorite. Not the one you tell everyone because it makes you sound cool, but the one that you watch over and over again. What is it about that movie you love. You love it because it resonates with your spirit and it is likely telling your story; the story that you are likely living out every day.

It is well known fact in my household that I love stories where the hero of the story sacrifices him or herself in the end. A couple of the movies I love are Gladiator and The Professional. In both the hero of the movie dies in the end. It is not a giant leap to connect this with the story of the Christian faith. Jesus is the prime example of self-sacrificing love. This is the story I strive to live. I fail at it miserably. I am often selfish rather than self-sacrificing. I cling to the material world like a drowning man would cling to a life preserver. However, in those moments when I get it right, I find peace. Nothing like the hollow victories of earthly goals. Not like the unfulfilled striving,and performance based living. When I lose myself in the purposes of God, when I suspend my sense of self, that is when The beauty of this life unfurls before my very spirit.

So what holds your attention? What you spend your attention matters. Spending time with God matters. It is in this that your true purpose will be revealed. Go and be with God in prayer. It is not something to perform or to prove excellence. It is a place to go. It is truly a process of deepening love.   

Oh yeah and now I couldn't care less about professional racing or any other professional sport.  Life is to short and precious to live through other people's victories and failures.  I am reminded of a line from the band Arrested Development in their song Mr. Wendal, "Be strong. Serve God only.  Know that if you do, beautiful heaven awaits."  You may want to argue some minute theological point in this but the point is to wake up to what is important in life and to quit living with our head in the sand.  

Greater Things

Mark 6:1-13

The blessings of God are plentiful and ready to be poured out on us! God's love is more than we can contain or comprehend. I would give the person credit if I could remember who said it but someone once said, “Saying that God's grace is sufficient for us is like saying that the ocean is sufficient for one clam.” God loves you and that's the truth but can that statement encompass the enormity of that truth? God's love is huge. We swim in it and are so used to it that we don't even notice it most of the time.

This past week on the 4^th a few of you were at the _______________'s for their annual party to watch the fireworks over Lake Michigan. I was struck and I heard some of you comment on the beauty of the lake and of the sunset. For those of us who don't see that every day, we are awestruck. What a beautiful scene. The sun was setting. The reflection of the sun on the water. The haze of the day making the light slightly diffuse. The unusual stillness of the air that day. It was something that grabbed the attention. It was the subject of conversation. For those of you who see that everyday, I am sure you can appreciate it but it is easier, I'm sure, to get other things done with out being distracted by its beauty. Familiarity can lead us to take a thing for granted. Even God's love for us.

Were going to have a baptism today; That's a good thing! In baptism we are participating in sharing God's love...God's grace. We will take take water, pray that God will bless and use it to pour out his grace on one of his beloved children.

Our actions are only minutely significant during the sacrament of baptism compared to the action of God at the same time. The mystery of God and the grace of God, God’s gift of blessing on us when we don’t deserve it, are the things that really matter. It is God that is continually calling us to join in an ever-deepening relationship. It is the grace of God that draws us to God, not the physical pouring of water. When we do those things we are partaking in the gift that God gave us. The gifts of his love and grace. God didn’t give us the sacrament of baptism to use as a tool, but as a way of sharing His love.

When a parent is moved to have their child baptized it is the work of God’s grace. When an child is baptized, that child may not have the memory of the event, but will have the blessing of God from the earliest time in their life. When we baptize, we are resting in the mystery of God and asking God to pour out blessings on that child, and we offer up our intentions as the body of Christ to nurture that child as to raise them up in such a way that they will come to know and profess Jesus as Lord on their own. But ultimately that relationship can only be between the believer and God.

The blessing of God is already here. It is our faith that allows us to receive it. God's love is already present. We may have not noticed it. We may have gotten used to it but God's love surrounds us and is pressing in like powerful flood waters.

Every year we hear about the Mississippi river flooding. Each community builds levies, walls of earth to raise the banks of the river, to protect their city from flooding. A year ago I lived in Ashley which is probably the flattest part of Michigan I have ever seen. There is a home owner there that has built a levy all the way around their house to protect it from the the water that has no place to go. If God's love and blessing is like flood waters then the levies we build that keep us from those blessings may be doubt and apathy that comes from familiarity.

In the scripture lesson today Jesus went to his hometown. He went to the place where it was familiar to him, and he was familiar to the people there. “I this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him...and he could do no miracle there except that he aid his hands on a few sick people and healed them and he wondered at their unbelief.”

Jesus is still Jesus the son of God. But in his hometown the people were to familiar with him to appreciate the blessing that he had for them and so they did not receive it. But later he sends out the disciples in pairs and scripture says that “they went out and preached that men should repent and they were casting out many demons and were anointing wit oil many sick people and healing them.”

They brought the message that Jesus sent them with and many was the number of successes. Where Jesus had limited success, the disciples had many successes. In the Gospel according to Luke it says that “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” and again in the gospel of John it says, “Truly I say to you he who believed in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works then these he will do; because I go to the Father.”

Jesus intends for us to do greater things. Jesus as a man on the earth had limitations. Jesus as the everliving Lord of Life has no limitations. Jesus has empowered us with the Holy Spirit to be his body on earth; to tell people about the kingdom of God; To preach repentance and forgiveness of sin. We have to have faith to have the courage to go out and proclaim God's truth even though we may not know that the reaction or result may be. God prepared the hearers heart. God grants the gift of fiath to those who will hear the Good News about Jesus Christ.

We're gonna have a baptism today and that's a good thing. The family of God is growing. This little one will receive a physical sign of God's love. She is being initiated into the family of God. We are placing her in God's hands so that faith may be granted to her. We are participating with God in this act of Divine love so that she can make an apeal to God for a good conscience throguh the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are not brought into the family of God merely for our own good. We are brought into the body to be obedient disciples. The whelming flood of Gods love flows through each one of his believers. We are the crack in the levy of apathy. Where there is complacency we will be the extravagance of God's love that gets people's attention. Where there is familiarity we will be the fresh voice of God's presence.

So how is it with you today? Is there familiarity and apathy in your spiritual walk? Let today be a day that you re-affirm your baptism and step into a new day of intentional, obedient faith to the God that has unending love for each of us.

 

I'm Not Sorry

There are some things I am sorry for. I am sorry that haven't been a better friend to those around me. I am sorry I didn't write those thank you notes to those who feel this is not only a nice thing to do but gesture that is absolutely expected (I must seem terribly ungrateful). I am sorry I didn't call pastor Harry when I knew he was dying (I hope when it is my time, my friends are less cowardly). There are probably many other things that I could come up with. I probably could fill volumes with regrets. However I won't. I don't think it will do any good. The only way it would help is if I could correct a wrong I have committed. If I have offended, please give me the opportunity to make the correction and I will.

There are things that I am not sorry for. I am not sorry that I served six years in the Reserves/Army National Guard. I enlisted not because I believe in global imperialism, or domination-by-strength or any foreign policy that any president may have laid out. I enlisted because I love my country. Not because I think we as a people are superior to any one but because this is my home. I saw that I had strength and ability and I wanted to lend those to the defense of the land that I love. I was willing to die for my country. During my time in service I didn't encounter any real negitivity about it expept for the occasional “you're crazy/I would never to that” kind of comments.As time went on and as I saw the prospect of starting and raising a family I realized that my life could take on a new purpose and so after my six-year enlistment I chose not to reenlist.

Some medals and ribbons I earned while serving.
I have them stored in the basement.

At Central Michigan University Where I was later majoring in Religion with hopes of going on to seminary, a retired pastor at a bible study for students mad the assertion that one cannot be a christian and wear a United States military uniform at the same time. I disagree. In fact that reminds me of another regret. I didn't challenge him on that point. I suppose it was out of a pseudo-respect I had for him. That was the last such bible study I attended.

My decision to serve in the U.S. Armed forces was an effort to be a part of something larger, nobler than myself. I did go on to seminary for similar reasons. I wanted to and still want to give my self. My heart, my soul, my strength and my intellect to the service of God.

I have been surprised to find more overt hostility to my position as a pastor than my service in the Armed forces. Which I can on some level understand. The most famous Protestant figures in American culture are often vapid pretty-boys with a product to sell rather than a message of new life. But that doesn't explain why I occasionally have people, who have never experience me in ministry or heard me preach lay all of their negative assumptions about Western Christianity at my feet. I want to demonstrate love, I want to strengthen relationships, I want people to be free of the things that hold them back. I just happen to believe that the best way to do all of that is through Jesus Christ, and for that. I am not sorry.

I went to the 4^th of July parade today wearing a Captain America t-shirt and a cross around my neck. for some reason patriotism and faith combine in my person. They are not dependent on one another. One does not have to have faith to be a patriot and one does not have to be a patriot to have faith. For its about giving my life for the things that I love and for that, again, I am not sorry.   

My little guys playing in Ludington's version of
Central Park.a small amount of green-space
in the midst of downtown.  

Power Generator

Mark 5:21-43

Jesus could feel the power leave him. In terms of electrical power: there was a load put on the system. When an electrical circuit is charged current is always looking for a way to equalize and find ground. When the atmosphere is charged with electrons there is a lightening strike at the quickest rout to the earth. God the father is the very source of power. The Father is the creator and originator of all that is. God speaks and things come into being. The raw, elemental, creative energy of God the Father is the basis for all that we experience with our senses. God the Father is the source of what we experience with our soul and mind.

You all know something about power and power generators around here. You have been living with the pump storage plant for the last 40 years or so. Drawing water out of Lake Michigan at night only to release it during peak power usage times to turn turbines to produce electricity that we all need. And Now here in our neighborhood we are surrounded by these nearly 500 foot tall wind turbines taking the energy of the wind that blows off Lake Michigan and converting it to electricity. The raw energy of flowing water and of blowing wind mediated through a devise to get electrons flowing so that we can have power in our homes and businesses.

Two nights ago a powerful storm rolled through West Virginia and over a half a million people in that state are still without power. One of the people I follow on Twitter is a pastor and she was listing places where people could go for emergency shelter. Another person I follow, from Colorado simply wrote a few days ago, “My state is on fire.” The first person saw the problem and used this social media as a tool to be a hep and a blessing. The second person I haven't heard from since and I am praying for him.

We know Jesus is the Word of God. In the Gospel of John it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

If God the Father is the raw input then Jesus is like the generator. All things were created through the Christ. And now by the power of the Holy Spirit the system is charged. Like an electrical system, the circuit is charge and is looking for ground.

Jesus felt the power leave him and he said, “Who touched me?”

The disciples where, like... “Come on Jesus, we're in a huge crowd. What are you talking about?”

They didn't get it. Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about. The woman who was suffering for so many years; The woman who was an outcast because of her condition; the woman who looked for help from so many different doctors and found none came to the end of her options, heard about this man Jesus and thought, “If only I could just touch his cloths I will be healed.” if only I could experience the presence of God in what ever minute amount I know that it would be enough.

You ever been there? To the end of your rope I mean. You found yourself with no where else to turn and you are out of options. I have. Its not a comfortable place to be. That is until you turn toward God and then its the best place in the world to be.

“Who touched my cloths?” Jesus said as he looked around the crowd that day. In fear the woman who had subversively sought out the blessing of God was now the center of Jesus' attention. And he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of you disease.”

Jesus didn't go out that day seeking her out. Jesus didn't have her on his mind as someone to heal. In fact she received healing without Jesus' explicit consent. The thing is that Jesus wants all to receive healing and the is the conduit of God's love for all of humanity. He did seek her out. He did want her know that it was her faith that made the healing possible.

Scripture tells us and we believe that as Christ's Holy Church we are his body on earth. That we are charged with the task of continuing his earthly ministry of proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near and about repentance and forgiveness of sin. We are a like an electrical power grid that has been charged and powered. The raw energy of God the father has been mediated by Jesus and flows through all the earth as the Holy Spirit. We are given the task to take the power of God into the world and offer God's blessing to whom ever would receive it.

You see when Jesus was in the crowd that day and the felt the power leave him. He was on his way to the house of the ruler of the synagogue. His intent was to go and heal the rulers daughter but on the way this woman who touched his clothes were healed. In the midst of this holy distraction someone came with news that the man's daughter died. The ones that brought the news were telling the ruler that he need not bother Jesus anymore. But Jesus, paying no attention to what was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John.

I think this is important. He left behind those who were bringing a message of no hope. They were telling the ruler that his daughter was already dead. That they should leave Jesus alone. When we are surrounded by people who encourage us to give up to have no hope then we need to move on. We need to move forward. Jesus headed to the rulers house. When he got there the house was understandably upset. Jesus said to them that the girl was not dead but asleep. They started making fun of Jesus. So do you remember what Jesus did...again. He left the nay sayers behind. He kicked them all out of the house! The only people that were allowed to stay were mom, dad and Jesus friends. They had no faith and were not helping the situation.

Brothers and sisters if you have people in your life who are telling you to have no hope and are leading you away from faith then you need to move on. Keep on moving forward. Keep on moving toward Jesus.

The people in today's scripture lesson that received healing were the ones who found themselves to be powerless and found restoration in Jesus.

We welcome back the youth and adults that went to Savannah Georgia on the mission trip. As the body of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit they were sent bearing God's blessing. They certainly blessed the people of Savannah. The thing is there are people that are receiving God's blessing because of their work that we wont know about until the next life. The powerful and the powerless alike witnessed the love of God in Jesus Christ through their work. I am sure that power flowed from God this past week. The mission team may or may not have noticed but I am sure that Jesus noticed.

Whether we are have earthly power like the ruler of the synagogue or are social outcasts like the woman in the crowd the only path to a spirit filled, power filled, God filled life is through trust in Jesus. Whatever power we think we have generated on this earth is nothing unless we are connected to the power of God through Jesus.

So how is it with you today? Are you starting with Jesus today or are you waiting to get to the end of your rope? Are you relying on your own power or are you filled with the power of the Holy Spirit?

As we celebrate Holy Communion let us understand this as a way of putting further trust in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to use us to bless this world.

Would you pray with me?