Triple Refuge

Matthew 2:13-23

This ceramic figurine was painted and cured in 1969. I know that because that is the date that is etched in the bottom. 

How does a ceramic figurine survive for over 40 years?  It survives because it is cared for and protected. It is cared for and protected because there is some value or some meaning seen in this lump of formed silt that was painted and hardened.  This little figurine has been a part of my Christmas all the years of my life.  It wasn’t until adult hood that I realized that it wasn’t a part of the Christmas story.  This is what happens next.  It’s Mary on a donkey with her baby.  They are going somewhere.  Where were they going?  It was home from the hospital after his delivery.  They were headed to Egypt. We think about images of a serene Bethlehem has we sing our Christmas hymns.  I thought of the song Silent Night as I looked at this object.  But whatever serenity there might have been whatever peace Mary and Joseph had in their hearts, they needed it for what was coming. The king wanted their special little baby to be killed.

  “There are approximately 2.3 million refugees who fled the war in Syria to neighboring countries over the past 1,000 days.” He added that UNHCR expects this figure to “jump to 4.1 million in 2014.”  “Children are suffering from the psychological impact of the conflict in Syria and have lost their sense of wellbeing and psychological and social stability, not to mention social skills.”

“Fifty two percent of the Syrian refugees are children, with 290,000 in Jordan and 385,000 in Lebanon,”

http://www.aawsat.net/2013/12/article55326069

Whatever we may think about the situation in Syria, the fact remains that there are mothers and fathers who love their children trying to make them safe in a very dangerous situation right now.

The scripture we read today from the Gospel according to Matthew has at its center, the Holy Family becoming refugees in a foreign country. His parents fleeing to save his life. It was not yet Jesus time to offer his life for the sins of the world. He needed to grow up and accomplish other things first.

Jesus suffered in his earthly life as he faced his own temptations. He became like us.  God became human, born in a barn, placed in a manger and lived a human life. Almost immediately was forced to live a life as a refugee in Egypt. He knows what it’s like.  When he commands us to care for the least of these, he means it.

Jesus defeated the devil. Jesus destroyed the devil’s power by dying on the cross and pulling himself up out of death to live for ever and ever. Yet the evil in humanity persists.  All around the world there is suffering because of the evil deeds and intentions of humanity. Jesus came as the light in this dark world.

Jesus freed us from the fear of death because he offers us eternal life.  Even though we die, we will live eternally in him.  So we have nothing to fear in this life when we trust in him. When we go as bearers of Jesus Light into the world of darkness we go knowing that no matter what happens we live eternally.  That gives us the freedom to serve Him without abandon

Becoming like us, defeating evil and offering us eternal life: Three wonderful things that Jesus did for us.

How did the infant Jesus survive to be able to accomplish all this?  Because Joseph, the man God chose to be Jesus father, listened to God.

Joseph had three dreams.

The first one Joseph had in this portion of scripture was the one that warned Joseph to flee.  It warned Joseph of the danger that his family was in. It is time to withdraw, to retreat.

The second dream was a message to come home, come back, and re-engage.

The third dream was another warning about danger so Joseph altered his original plans and made their home in Galilee.

Those months and years, that Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived as refugees, were necessary.  Sometimes life throws us a curve ball.  Sometimes life throws a pitch strait at our head. It is in those times that we need to take a step back. Sometimes we need to withdraw, take refuge until the danger passes. But God doesn’t call us into withdrawal or retreat or isolation to stay there. God may set us aside for a time but there will be a time when he expects to reenter the arena, to re-engage in the battle, to begin to fight the good fight and to live the good life for Him.

Joseph brought his family back. There was an estimated 1 million Jews living in Egypt at that time.  It is likely they made a life for themselves there living in that community.  They could have stayed. It wasn’t home it wasn’t what they were used to but it could have been good enough. But Joseph brought his family BACK.

When we come back, when we reengage, life is invariably different.  God is doing a new thing constantly. Just because all things are being made new does not mean that we are not without comfort.  We may not be refugees any more but we are not without refuge. In fact whether we are retreating or advancing we always have a refuge, not only that we have a triple refuge. First:

Jesus

We seek refuge in Jesus Christ, The Person himself, the one who is seated at the right hand of God the father and reigns forever and ever. We go to him, we speak with him.  Jesus promises his presence.  We are taught from the time that we can listen that God loves us and that love looks like Jesus Christ. No matter what circumstance, no matter what danger we face Jesus is our Lord and nothing can snatch us from his hand. We receive his council. Those that where his disciples wrote down what he taught.

Scripture

That is the second refuge of the triple refuge.  We seek refuge in the Holy Scriptures. We search the scripture to know the mind of God.  We read about how God has interacted with humanity over time.  In scripture we see the story of God with humanity growing, building and finally where it is all headed. When Scripture is a part of our life it transforms us.  Whether we have a Bible with us or not the scripture that we carry with us cannot be taken away.

The Church

The third refuge is the church, the gathered community of believers who have been called out and who have responded to God and said yes. The church is those who have said “I will let you live in me.  I will be made into something new.  I will be the bearer of God’s light.”  The Church is a gathering of those who know what it is to take refuge in Jesus and his teaching.

Joseph brought his family to Galilee.  There they lived.  It is suspected that Joseph died sometime during Jesus childhood, because we have no mention of him after the trip to the temple when Jesus was 12. Jesus likely took over the role of being the village craftsman. Jesus probably took care of Mary and his younger siblings until he was about 30. Jesus was born to be the savior of the world but he took care of his family responsibilities first. He was set aside for a time, then his time to act came.

Paul was called by Jesus to follow him.  Paul withdrew to Arabia for 3 years before he reengaged in the mission of Jesus Christ.

So, how is it with you today?  You may be withdrawing, or advancing or in the process of moving from on to the other.  Where ever you are on your spiritual journey, may you always know that you can find refuge here. Would you pray with me? 

Christmas for Everyone

John 1:1-14
A video to promote a program to fight malaria
in Africa doesn't feel like a traditional
Christmas eve service thing to do does it?
Perhaps it should.
Miracles surround his entire life. He was born
of a virgin. An Army of angels announced his
birth to a group of shepherds. Jesus grew and
did wonderful things. He turned water to wine,
He healed people both in person and from a
distance, he cast demons out of people, he
caused a large catch of fish, he raised the dead,
the calmed the sea, he healed more people, he
fed 5000, he walked on water, fed 4000, healed
and cured many more people, withered a tree
that produced no fruit, and the ultimate miracle
he defeated death af
So what does that have to do with Africans
dieing of Malaria?
What does Christmas trees, Santa clause, and
Christmas carols have to do with the suffering
of the world? Everything.
“The true light that shines on all people was
coming into the world. The Light was in the
world, and the world cam into being through
the light, but the world didn't recognize the
light.”
Christ existed before Jesus was born. I am not
saying they are separate. The people;e knew of
the word of God. And they knew that God's
Messiah would come to rescue them one day.
The whole world was created. The whole
world was created by the very word of God.
The foundations of creation are infused with
the creative energy of God Himself. This
creative force is the
piano and see wood and fabric and cables and
nails, but in those elements we find their origin
in the very Word of God. The very essence of
everything that we see in the created world is
infused with the word of God. It is all around
us. This is a gift for humanity. We were put
here in this place to be stewards of this Godinfused
garden. God surrounds us. God is in
everything that we see and touch and feel and
hear. Nothing that was created came into being
without him. The Word of God is the structure
in which we live. Scripture says that the Word
of God became flesh.
Is it any wonder that he could calm a storm?
is it any wonder that he could multiply loaves
and fishes?
Is it any wonder that he could turn water to
wine?
His very nature is in the
fact. Jesus came because we forgot that God
gave us all this. Jesus came to remind us of the
reality that we constantly swim in.
He came because we lost our way and went
down the wrong path. And he came to teach.
He came to sacrifice. He showed us our
brokenness. He showed us that that brokenness
is contrary to his nature and his order and his
creation.
He wants that brokenness to be healed. Jesus is
stronger than any human brokenness. He
sacrificed himself to that brokenness and then
he defeated death and now lives forever. So it is
in him that we have power
some who can recognize and convey a piece of
truth, but Jesus was full of grace and truth.
So back to the Malaria question. What does the
eternal God made flesh, and the celebration his
birth have to do with fighting Malaria in
Africa?
The light of God is everywhere. The light of
God shines in Africa, as well as here in West
Michigan. The thing is, not everybody
recognized the light. The light is there but they
are too busy caring for their children who are
dieing of Malaria to look for it. They have so
much money trying to treat it that the poverty
they live in blocks a bit of that light and it is
hard to see sometimes, let alone recognize it for
what it is.
Why doesn't Jesus just work another miracle
and fix the whole thing? We have already said
that he is capable right? Remember when the
crowd was gathering and the dis
they can go to the surrounding countryside and
villages and buy something to eat for
themselves.”? What did Jesus say?
Did he say “You are right. Its not our
problem.”? Did he tell them to do nothing that
he would take care of it and Poof!Made food
appear?
No he said, “You give them something to eat.”
God doesn't expect us to have it all figured out
but he does expect us to take a step toward
solving the problem.
We have this strange way of talking about
Jesus. We understand that he was born over
2000 years ago in a specific place under
specific circumstances. But we also anticipate
is birth every year. Not just a celebration of his
birth but Jesus being born anew every year.
That is because the Word of God, the creative
fore of God is ever-flowing, ever-sustaining us.
And we are constantly being invited into that
ongoing process of creation with Go
invited to point attention to the light that has
come into the world. Christmas is for
everybody. We want the light to shine whether
you are in Juba Sudan or Ludington Michigan.
So, how is it with you this Holy Night? You
who have welcomed Jesus into your life, who
have believed in is name, you have become
children of God and are continually being made
into something new.. If you have not done that,
may Christ be born into your life this Christmas
and may he transform you with all the blessings
he desires for you.

A heart-shaped ornament secretly placed each year on the
church Christmas tree by one who loves deeply and looks
forward to a reunion one day. 

Finding Joe

Matthew 1:18-25

You say this is from God but I didn’t ask for it! I asked for love but I never asked to have my heart broken.  I asked for a family but I never asked for the worry that goes along with it. I asked for a beautiful place to live with sandy beaches and rolling hills, but I never asked for the snow.
Did you know that last night was the longest night of the year?  Beginning today the days get longer. The darkest day of the year is behind us.  We will get increasingly longer days until June 22. The thing is, this is the second darkest day of the year, and we anticipate the coming of the birth of Jesus into our lives.
We try to live in the light of Christ we try to live into the joy of the Christmas season but for some of us there is little to no joy this time of year. The holidays only bring up memories of what is past.  This season opens old wounds because what could have been… never was.  Sadness, depression, anxiety, these are some of the things that mark the holidays for some. Striving for perfection, disappointment, disillusionment over unmet expectations, this is not what God intends for us.
In the midst of struggle, some wonder where God is. Where is God in my darkness? Where is the light that we so desperately seek?
The light is among us.  Jesus came to be the light of the world. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives within you.  Our task is to uncover the light that is hidden.
We have expectations and people let us down so we put up walls and barriers. A little light is blocked. We suffer great loss and pain so we protect our hearts. A little more light is blocked. We fall into habits and routines and it's all too easy to forget where the light came from in the first place.
The light may be diminished in your world but it never will be gone.  This may be the second darkest day of the year but greater light is coming.  There is HOPE.
(Light the first Advent candle)
At the beginning of the Advent Season we lit this first candle.  It the candle of the prophets that looked forward.  It’s the candle of hope.  A prophet is not a fortune teller. A prophet is a person who walks with God and can see where Things are heading for Gods people.  The prophet understands God’s promises and boldly challenges people to live into them.
But that rarely feels safe.  It always seems more prudent to hold back.
There’s this guy in the Bible named Joseph.  Joe had a fiancé. A young girl named Mary. This is the one he was going to spend his life with. This is the one he would raise a family with.  However it may have come to be, whether they had an arranged marriage or if they fell in love we don’t know but this was the girl.
Things were falling into place for Joe. But then she got pregnant.
We always talk about how good a man Joe was; how he decided to quietly call of the engagement. Can you imagine the sting of rejection when he found out she was pregnant? He had to decide what to do. We know what he eventually did but I don’t want to minimize that moment…that process. In one moment had his life together, he had the plan to move forward in place and in the next minute it all fell apart. “Joseph, I am pregnant and it’s not your baby.”  I imagine he struggled with this news. I imagine he agonized over it. But he loved her. He must have loved her because if this were only an arranged marriage well then this would be no reflection on him he had been betrayed, he could just let the law deal with her.
But no, he must have loved her so he discreetly decided to end the engagement.  He was probably thinking long and hard about these things.  He must have been considering how this was all going to play out. And he probably went to bed one dark night resolved to take care if this problem and thinking on these things. You ever do that?  You ever think about things just before you fall asleep? You ever keep yourself awake at night because you just can’t seem the stop the thought train from chugging down the tracks? I’ve done that.  It isn’t until your body is completely exhausted before you fall asleep.
I imagine it was a long night like that for Joseph when he decided to do this thing; when he decided to cut Mary loose and go on with his life.  I imagine it was difficult to come to that decision because the girl that he loved would not be a part of his life.  I imagine the light in his life was diminished that night. And then after a time he fell asleep on that very dark night of his life.  What he needed was peace
(Light the second candle)
Then he had a dream.  Joe had a dream.  In that dream God came and spoke to him through and angel and said “Joseph, don’t be afraid. Take Mary as your wife. Not only that I want you to name him Jesus.” In the morning he woke up.  God told Joseph to take Mary as his wife and give her unborn child a name.  The child would be born and Joseph was to give him his name.
Let’s think about that God wasn’t asking joseph to get out of the way.  It’s not like God and Mary had a deal and joseph just happened to be hanging around.  God said you give him the name that I have given you.  He was telling to take Jesus as his own.  We like to talk about how blessed Mary is and it true but Joseph was chosen by God to be Jesus’ earthly father.  It wasn’t his child, its true.  But the light was starting to shine through. This is bigger than his plans.  This is bigger than his desires.  He had hopes, dreams and expectations but this was God’s will and God’s will trumps everything else.  God was asking Joseph to be a partner in nurturing the baby that would grow to be the messiah that would sacrifice himself to be the savior of the world.
Last week we had the children’s program and we didn’t light a candle on the Advent wreath.  The third candle is the pink on that represents Joy.
Josephs Joy candle was not lit that dark night as he lay down to go to sleep. But joy can be present in our lives even if we don’t feel happy, even if we are not content, even if we are not comfortable. Joseph woke up that next morning with a changed heart and mind.  Life didn’t get any easier.  The circumstances hadn’t changed but he was following the will of God.  God wants to make your joy complete. Remember the parable of the talents? When we are faithful God says to us, “Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.”
Joseph had the opportunity to be the earthy father of Jesus.This was of God but it was not what Joseph asked for.  It was not in Josephs plan.  But he followed after God and God fulfills his promises.(Light the Joy candle)So now we come to the last candle.  This is the last Sunday of Advent.  This last candle represents love. We know that God is love.  We have just come out of the longest night of the year.  We face some long nights ahead.  What do you think about on those long nights?  God has promised to live in you and transform you if you only let him.  In the darkness let God’s light of hope, peace, joy and love carry you through. In our dark moments we can ask Jesus, “Where are you in this?” Whether it’s in unmet expectation, disappointment, pain, suffering, loneliness or loss Jesus will begin to heal the hurts you have. Jesus will show you the way.  Joseph didn’t know what would come next but he gave himself to God experienced that great love.Remember God loves you and there is not a darn thing you can do about it.(Light the Love candle)Would you pray with me?

Conceiving a Miracle

Conceiving a miracle

The scripture today talks about Jesus coming at a time we don’t know, like a thief in the night, and a  lot of times we take that as “you better watch out!”, because you don’t know when it’s coming. Like it’s a warning, like it’s a negative thing. It reminds me of that awful song Santa Clause is coming to town.  “He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you are awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!” and what’s the reason to be good in that song? To please Santa so that Santa will bring gifts?  So the only reason to be good is to receive gifts? That sounds more like Old Testament theology.

Jesus brought a new covenant.  He fulfilled the law.  He brings forgiveness. He brings restoration. That view of Santa in that song is not Christian. Jesus brings hope. Santa Clause, once seen properly, is a good and powerful symbol of the Holy Spirit. He wears red like that flame on that cross.  He comes to all the good little boys and girls and the bad ones too. He is a symbol of unconditional love.  The coming of Santa Clause should not be a dread thing. 

But what do we believe about Santa Clause and what are we teaching. Have we confused the tradition of the church with the poem “T’was The night before Christmas”? Let’s remember where the idea of Santa comes from. 

Do you know the story of St. Nicholas? He was a bishop of Myra, which is a town on the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Turkey.  He was an orphan and had a sizeable inheritance from his parents.  He got word that a man in that town lost all his money.  The man had three young daughters.  The daughters wouldn’t be able to marry if they didn’t have money for a dowry. If they didn’t marry, it was likely they would have to live by working on the street.  When the first daughter came of age to be married Nicholas came and tossed a bag of gold through the window of the man’s house. Providing enough for a dowry.  Nicholas did this when the next two daughters came of age as well.  It wasn’t about toys and abundance.  It was about saving people from a life of suffering.  It was about compassion.  It was about doing the right thing with the gifts we already have.

As parents we let our children experience the joy of being showered with unconditional love.  We let them experience grace and forgiveness.  But when they start to grow up, when they start come to that threshold of adulthood and they start to figure things out, that’s when they are taught a new lesson. 

Tribal Initiation rites.

When _____________ discovered this, he told me I ruined the magic of Christmas.  And it can feel like that. Until you mature into what God intends for us.

Just because there isn’t and actual guy that flies around in a vehicle designed to glide across snow, visiting every house on the planet doesn’t mean that that character doesn’t represent a truth. There is something real that Santa represents.  There is a Spirit of God the moves people to do what is good and right. To offer unconditional love.  

So we look at the scripture today and we read about some who are taken and some who are left behind. And that he will come at an unexpected time. It’s not a thing of dread. It is a promise of hope.  The admonition of scripture is that we should be ready for it.  We should open our hearts and minds to the will of the Holy Spirit.  We should prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ into the world and into our lives in an unexpected and powerful way. 

Isaiah prophesied about a virgin who would give birth. Hope.

Our Christmas traditions in my family include gathering together for a meal. And we eat the finest food. We celebrate together as we give each other gifts. The food hasn’t always been the same. Our idea of fine food has changed as we have had more resources available and as the ability to cook has grown in the younger members of the family.  Most of our family traditions surrounding Christmas tend to focus on make us feel good and comfortable. Even the act of gift giving.  We take pleasure in seeing the joy on the face of those we love when they receive a gift.  But Jesus says “if you only give to those who will repay you, what credit is that to you?”  I am more than repaid when I see delight on my child’s face. I get no credit for being generous to them.  It’s a good thing but it doesn’t make me a better person.  One tradition that we have is that we have our own advent wreath in our home.  Every time we gather for lunch after church on Sundays we light another candle on that wreath.  And that focuses our attention on that baby that we celebrate every year.  We celebrate that Jesus Christ is the center of it all.

Jesus came with a particular mission, to bring healing and recovery of sight. We can’t forget that; we cannot ignore that during the celebration of his birth.  We ought to be about his work.  We ought to be focused on what he came as a human being to do, because that was the beginning of his earthly life.  At Easter we talk about his death and resurrection and what that means for our salvation, and that is the pinnacle, the high point of the Christian year, but this is the other one.  This is the beginning of his earthly and what he did on earth and what he set us to do after he was gone. 

We are fortunate to have been born in this place. I don’t know if you have heard but there is a debate out there over the health care system in the United States.  You may have even formed an opinion about the matter.  But think about this.  Even if our health care system is at its worst, would you rather trust your child’s health care to that or to what they have in Africa? The truth is we have some of the best health care in the world.  We will live longer. We will have food.  But if we were born in Africa it would be a different story. 

Should the place of your birth determine whether you live or die?

It doesn’t matter how good you are. It doesn’t matter how many of the rules you follow in Africa you are more likely to die of Malaria just because of where you were born.

What would Nicholas the bishop of Myra, The bishop who gave his inheritance to that three young girls wouldn’t have to sell their bodies to survive, The pastor bishop who’s legend has become the very symbol of generosity, what would he do if he were placed in sub-Saharan Africa and saw children dying of a preventable disease?

What would Jesus do in that place?

There are things that can be done there. Our denomination, the United Methodist Church, is on the leading edge on the fight against Malaria.  Someone said this and I believe this to be true. If you want to eliminate poverty in Africa, eliminate Malaria. Sub Saharan Africa spends 12 billion a year dealing with the effects of malaria.  If we can eliminate malaria as a problem that $12 billion gets spent in other ways, which will help to grow an economy and advance a culture.  Then a people can begin to feed and take care of themselves.

Imagine no Malaria is the name of the initiative. Our bishop has set a goal for the Michigan Area to raise 1.5 of the 75 million needed to fund this initiative.  That amounts to $10 for every Methodist in the state. Why $10? $10 will purchase an insecticide laden mosquito net or it will by 2 rounds of medication for someone diagnosed with malaria or it will purchase 5 kits to test for malaria.  In short $10 can save at least one life.  Imagine no malaria will be our Christmas Eve offering this year.  We have a membership list with 138 names on it. Look around there aren’t 138 people in the room. If we are to reach our goal of $1,380- $10 for every member we will need to get creative. 

The Other Baby

Luke 1:67-79

This is Christ the King Sunday. This is a tradition that started in the early part of the 20^th century. When political powers were rising in the world to such a degree that people found it necessary to align themselves to one side or another, the church decided to make a statement; to make a stand to say that no matter what your political affiliation, no matter how powerful an earthly ruler is Jesus Christ is still our king! In fact Jesus Christ is our only king. It is fitting that the last Sunday in the church calendar is set aside to affirm Jesus as the Centerpiece of Civilization (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX_7j32zgNw ).

Today is the end of the Church year.

This is it! This is the last Sunday before Advent.  Next week the sanctuary will be decorated; the candles will be lit and our preparations for Christmas will have begun.

Four weeks of preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus the messiah; the anointed one; the Christ! Four weeks of songs, parties, pageants, and gift giving. For four weeks your favorite TV shows will have Christmas specials. We will hear about massive crowds at shopping malls; we will hear about civil liberties groups bringing suit against cities to have nativity scenes removed from public places.  For some of us we will spend the next those four weeks preparing our hearts to have new life born again in our lives through Jesus Christ. 

All that because a baby was born over 2000 years ago.

But today we are going to talk about the other baby that was born back then.  There is always the “Other baby”

About 6 months before Mary the mother of Jesus gave birth, her cousin Elizabeth gave birth.  They named him John (actually they name him Ἰωάννης which sounds nothing like the English name “John”).

Zechariah went to make an offering of
incense when he was visited by an angel
of the Lord. 

Like Jesus, an angel of the lord visited a parent of John before he was conceived. Only it was John’s father Zechariah who was visited by the angel in the temple, in the Most Holy Place.  Zechariah didn’t believe the angel so he was struck mute.  He was unable to speak until the things that the angel said came true. 

When the time came Elizabeth gave birth.  She and Zechariah named him John as the angel instructed and Zechariah was immediately able to speak. 

The words he spoke might have been high hopes for a beloved first born son but they turned out to be prophesy. 

Because Zechariah’s son John grows up to be John the Baptist.  The one in the wilderness preparing the way for Jesus. 

John the Baptist is the “Other Baby” in the Christmas narrative.  I have never seen a Christmas pageant with a baby John, Just a baby Jesus. Who do we relate to more, Jesus or John? John is the one that points to Jesus so many people may feel that they relate more to John.  We point the way to Jesus.  We don’t claim any credit for saving people we know its Jesus that saves.  We know it that restored relationship with God through Jesus that is transformative.

But Jesus is the one that calls us to be like him.  Jesus calls us to do as he does.  Jesus calls us to do even greater things. 

Jesus is our Rabbi, he is our master.  We should be like him.  We should identity with Jesus. Only John the Baptist is John the Baptist. And there is only one you. We all have our own unique place in the Kingdom. We all have our own gifts that God has granted us to use for God’s glory. Just because John was the one that made the way straight doesn’t mean that we have the same ministry. Our ministry is to use our gifts in a way that Glorifies and honors God and fulfills the great commission (Go; make disciples, baptizing, teaching.)

We are called to be like Jesus but we lift up the other baby this morning or rather his daddy’s words about him 8 days after John was born. 

He knew that God’s promised messiah was coming.  He knew that his son John had a part to play in the unfolding of events that was about to take place.

“And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn form on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide or feet into the way of peace.”

When my first born came into this world I had great hopes for him and I still do.  But the difference between now and 17 years ago, is that the blanks that have been filled in.  When he was born it felt like he was the only child ever born and I was the only father to feel such pride.  But then I know most first time parents feel something like this.  My baby and all other babies are the “other baby.” 

The first 17 years of my son’s life have been written and they are no longer a mystery.

When John was born His father didn’t know what John’s life journey would look like, but he knew the destination.  He knew his son had a purpose.  If the angel told Zechariah that his son would live in the wilderness, wearing cloths of camel hair eating locust and wild honey for sustenance, would he have ever let him go?  If Zechariah knew that his son would one day speak against the king and get arrested would he have trained him to keep his mouth closed?  If he knew that he would be unjustly executed would he have done all he could to break him out of prison.  Probably.  Wouldn’t you?  We don’t know what lies ahead.  We don’t know what difficulties we will stir up when we follow God’s will. But we know the destination.  We know that if we use the gifts God gave us to go and make disciples; if we glorify god with thoughts, words and deeds, God will use all of that to grow his kingdom.  There are lots of different ways that we can do that; there are many opportunities to use our gifts.  We may not have the same path as John the Baptist but we all have the same purpose. We are to be obedient to the call of God on our lives “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide or feet into the way of peace.”

I love the description from Malachi 4:2 “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves form the stall.” Have you ever seen that?  The way a calf leaps?  It is unrestrained; uninhibited.  And if you stand too close it could be a little dangerous.

So how is it with you today?  Have you ever felt like that?  Have you ever had unrestrained joy flowing through you because of the freedom God has given you?  Malachi looked forward to that.  Zechariah knew it was coming; John the Baptist pointed to the one who would provide it; Jesus offers it.  Jesus was born in a manger he is the one baby who grew to be the savior of the world. The rest of us are the “Other babies” that grow up to grow His kingdom. 

Connected

Luke 20:27-38

I went to Traverse City yesterday for the District Conference. This is like our church conference where people are elected to serve as leaders; the budget for 2015 was presented and accepted; we had worship and fellowship and learning opportunities.  At mid-day we had lunch.  In the middle of the room where tables with three big piles of shoebox sized boxes with our lunch in them, they were labeled “Turkey,” VEG.,” and “Ham.” I wend for the Turkey.  I got my drink, sat down and opened my lunchbox.  I pulled out a turkey sandwich as I expected I would. I pulled out the bag of cheddar Sun chips. I saw a peanut butter cookie that I knew that I would get to shortly; and I saw a plastic soufflé cup filled with potato salad. I skipped the potato salad.

When I go to these events I am reminded of our denominational connectedness.  I am reminded of how our combined efforts are impacting the state and the world with the good news about Jesus Christ. Our own neighbors in this northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula are working in all corners of the world to bring the light of Jesus Christ.  But there is resistance.  There are always obstacles. There are good people with different perspectives and different approaches to living well on this earth.  Isn’t that always the case?  I cannot seem to convince the world that potatoes are meant to be served hot and without mayonnaise.

This is a scripture that demonstrates how Jesus met those who opposed him with integrity. He met them on their own ground and argued in their own terms.  Right off the bat the stage is set for a confrontation. 

Some Sadducees, those who say thee is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question.  They asked a very detailed question about how a very narrow circumstance would play out in…THE RESURRECTION! They don’t believe in the resurrection so how much integrity to these folks have in asking this?  Jesus could dismiss them as trolls (for those of you who are confused by this reference, look up troll in the urban dictionary) but he doesn’t.  He meets them where they are. Jesus knows that the Sadducees are ones who only rely on the books of Moses as a source of God’s law and they do not regard the writings of the prophets as Holy Scripture.  So Jesus meets them where they are.

First he affirms the reality of the resurrection then he shows them the truth of it in the scripture that they accept as true.

In Luke 20:37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  Now he is the God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.

Jesus made a connection with those that were there to try to embarrass him. The Sadducees thought they were right. They wanted to be heard but Jesus brought the truth.

These two pictures were taken seconds apart. Its amazing how our perception of the world changes when we focus on different things. 

The message that we have about God is good news.  The message that God loves us; the message that God came and lived among us; that in Jesus we can find restoration and renewal to a state that God originally intended for each of us is really good news.  It should not divide; it should not be controversial, but in our human brokenness it is and it does.

When we have a potluck and I pass by the bowl of potato salad that you brought, salad I don’t mean any offense.  I just prefer my potatoes hot with butter, or gravy or even ketchup.

The good news is that God loves us unconditionally and was willing to sacrifice himself for us so that there could be an eternal connection between us.  God is love.

When there is love there is an implication of relationship.  God is calling us into relationship with him.  Does that mean that God needs us?  No.  By God’s very nature God is already “relationship.” We believe in a 3 in one God.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons.  Each of the same substance, each in perfect, seamless agreement but individual in character.  The Holy Spirit is God, Jesus is God, and the Father is God, one God.  The three persons of the trinity of God is by nature already a relationship.  God wants to invite us into that relationship. We are brought into that holy relationship through Jesus Christ. We unite our spirits to his. Jesus imparts his righteousness to us.  We become one with Jesus just as he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  And that perfect love is grown as it is shared.

If God is love and love implies relationship, then to have a relationship there has to be a connection.  Jesus established a connection with the Sadducees over the issue of the resurrection where before there was only division.

You and I may disagree over the status of potato salad as an acceptable source of food but we may agree that potatoes are not all bad.

Finding points of connection when we disagree is the beginning of relationship. Relationship is the door to love.  And love is really where it’s at.  Love is the goal.  God is love and I want more and more of God.

The difficulty comes when we lose focus on what God wants.  I am going to propose an experiment.  It’s a long experiment but the long-term benefits to us as individuals and to our church will be great.  I want to be very intentional over the next 60 days about our connectedness to God.  Connection leads to deepened relationship which, in turn, leads to greater love. This is called the 60-60 experiment. For the next 60 days beginning now and ending on January 9 I want you to ask God the question “What would you have me do in this very moment?” and pause for the answer.  I want you do to do this every 60 minutes, while you are awake.  Every 60 minutes for the next 60 days we will seek God’s presence and will for our lives.  If you have a journal you can record your experience.  I will record my experiences weekly on Wednesdays on the blog.  I expect this will open our awareness to the awesomeness of God’s working in our lives.  So set your watches, or your phones or whatever you have that can remind you every hour to bring your awareness to God’s presence and lets just see what happens in this 60-day experiment.

Shortly after these sixty days we will have a church conference to vote on the recommendations of the consultation team. If we, as the gathered body of Christ, enter into these sixty days truly seeking God’s will and truly open our awareness to God’s presence the path forward will be much clearer.  Whatever you decide in January, whether you say yes or no to the recommendations we will be able to celebrate.  If you vote no then I will be filled with joy because you have clearly discerned that God has something even better for us.  If you vote yes I will be filled with joy because you have discerned that this is the way God would have us go.  Either way, we are connected. Either way we are in relationship. Either way God’s love flows through each us because of Jesus Christ, and that is the good news we have to share.

So how is it with you today?  As you come forward to receive communion, come knowing that this is a gift of God for deeper connection to God and to each other.  Let’s begin the journey.  

Whose Father?

Philippians 2

The Apostle Paul is calling us to embrace a life of self-giving self-emptying love.  He says if there is any encouragement, if there is any consolation, if you have received any good thing, by bearing the name of Jesus Christ, then be of the same mind. Don’t do anything out of selfishness but give of yourself for each other. Love each other courageously. Love each other sacrificially. This isn’t just Paul’s own ideas. He lifts up Jesus as the prime example.

 Jesus is the incarnate God. Christ existed from the beginning of time but Jesus was born as a human in Bethlehem. Jesus was the embodied realization of the Eternal Christ which is the second person of the holy trinity.  This Jesus who was God in human form, Paul says, did not exploit equality with God, but made himself like a slave.  He was a servant to all. Jesus could have commanded Heavenly armies; Jesus could have led a huge earthly following. Jesus could have been an earthly king but he rejected all of that to teach us Gods way; to teach us self-emptying love.  Jesus had an earthly father who raised him, that was Joseph. Jesus has a heavenly father who is the first person of the Trinity God the father. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, when we believe in him, we receive the power to be children of God.

God is our father.

About 5 years ago I spent the weekend in prison with Pastor Bob Henning.  We were there to share with a select group of inmates who showed receptivity to the Gospel, an experience of unconditional love while teaching about our Jesus.  These guys weren’t hearing about Jesus for the first time.  These guys were ones that were already reading the bible.  In fact, a few of them knew the bible very well.  That is how they devoted their available time.  Studying the scripture, finding hope in those wonderful words that reveal how God loves us.  These guys were the ones most trusted by the guards.  These guys were a family.  I have to tell you I did not like the experience of being in a prison.  The layers of security it takes to get through just to get in makes it very clear that getting out quickly is not a possibility.  And while you are on the inside the utter lack of security for any individual is even more disconcerting. The inmates far outnumber the guards.  We had a lot of instructions.  A lot of “what to do if…” situations. The one situation that sticks with me was what one of the guards said of the guys selected to take part in this weekend program. He said that if there is a riot, these guys would give their lives protecting us because it means so much to them that someone from the outside would come and give of their time to be in that place with them. 

It was a partnership of self-sacrificial love.  We risked our comfort, security to be in that dark place and they were willing to sacrifice their safety to preserve what was being offered. 

Is there a place where we feel uncomfortable going to share God’s love?

This past week D’Ann and I went visiting the neighborhood.  Along the way there was some discussion about who to visit and who to not.  Ultimately it was only time that prevented us from visiting anyone.  We stopped at every house in our path, including one that was beyond a sign that said something like “Keep out.” Or “Private Property”

We learned that when surprised at home most people cannot come up with any examples of needs in the community.  We learned that it would have been valuable if we had a better grasp of the Spanish language.

During that weekend in prison, there was one practice that the insiders had that I liked.  One of the guys started the Lord’s Prayer by asking “Whose father?” then the rest would respond with “Our Father, who art in heaven…”

The Lord’s Prayer is not just words to be recited but truth to be savored. The parenthood of God to each of us is a reality we can live into.  It’s a reality that those guys reflected in their prayer life and in their actions.

Whose father?  Our father. We are all brothers and sisters under the fatherhood of God. We are each blessed with gifts from the father and those gifts are intended to lift up his whole family. We are given the commission to go out and make new disciples or to say it another way to go and make new siblings. 

We pray, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Our Fathers will is done when we go and make more disciples, teaching them all that we have learned. When we live in a manner that is self-emptying, when we love in a way that is self-sacrificial, that is when our Fathers will is done. When we are all brothers and sisters under the same god when we are all loving sacrificially, when we are all living in a way that is self-emptying no one will have to worry about where they will find their daily bread.

When we can let go of hurts and forgive, we are free to love.  When we can confess that we have wronged another and receive forgiveness from god and from others we are freed from the guilt and fear that hold us back from giving of ourselves completely.

The good news today is that we have a good God who wants to carry the good news about Jesus Christ to every person.  To be a light in the darkness.  Our God wants to use his children to transform this world.  Our God wants to heal our brokenness so that His love is evident. 

Jesus defines family as those who does the Father's will.
Biology has little to do with it. 

And to what end?  What is the purpose of all this.  Paul says it at the end of the passage we read today.  He says that we should have the same mind that was in Christ.  Christ is our example.  God the Father exulted Jesus, lifted him up; glorified him.  Those who are in Christ will have Christ’s righteousness imparted to them.  And so we are glorified in Christ.  And why was Christ glorified?

“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and to the glory of God the Father.”

Whose father?

Our father; Jesus’ father; the father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the father of many generations that came before us and many that will follow us.

So, how is it with you today?  Have you experience the self-emptying love that glorifies God?  If you haven’t, you can experience it by demonstrating it.  

Fwd: Local Need

Hopefully you saw the excellent news article by 9 & 10 news last night about the plight of many people in our area facing utility shut off.  With the funding cycle changes for the Department of Human Service and FiveCAP, and the financial struggles of the Salvation Army, HELP has been called upon to "fill the gap" in assisting those in or near shut off.  In September, and October to date, HELP has provided $6769 in utility assistance.  HELP has on the books another $5,793 in requests.  This has taxed HELP's budget, and funds have been shuffled from November and December to provide as much assistance as possible in this current crisis.

Eleven families currently have their utilities shut off, and three others have shut-off notices.  More request arrive at HELP daily.  On 1 November  DHS and FiveCAP will again be able to assist people with utilities, either with all of a family's bill or in part.  Meanwhile, they have no heat or electricity, or both.  Some of the homes have children.  Some have medical needs, such as an oxygen machine.

I would like the area churches to prayerfully consider an "emergency" benevolent gift to HELP for assistance immediately, so that families don't have to continue to endure the cold for another week before DHS, etc. can assist them.  If your church can pledge an amount, I will disburse it immediately with the promise that the funds will be provided in the near future.

Another option:  If your church is willing to "adopt" a family so you can assist them directly, please contact HELP and we can provide you a name of a family (with their permission of course) in your neighborhood.  

Thank you for any consideration you may give this request, and God bless you as you seek to "be open handed to the poor and needy" in our community.

Gene McClellan, Executive Director

Hands Extended Loving People (HELP)

231 843-6811

help@help-ministry.org

Two Questions

Mark 8:34-38

Jesus asks his disciples to follow him.  The first time he asks was the invitation to be fishers of men.  Mark 1:16-20

·         Rabbis are respected

·         Rabbis preserved the culture and traditions

·         Only the best students  become disciples/Rabbis

[Have 4 or 5 random people stand up to represent various rabbis.  Have the people surrounding them stand up as their students.  Have some sit down as “wash out” of the program. The one or two left are the future rabbis.]

Simon and Andrew, James and John were getting the chance of a lifetime to follow any rabbi.  But Jesus is special isn’t he?  His disciples get plenty of clues of how special he is.  At one moment they seem like they get it and in the next, it seems like they are clueless.  But every failure is a teaching opportunity.  We read from scripture and we see the failures of the disciple of Jesus and we see ourselves.  At least I see myself.  And we hear the teachings of Jesus in response and so we have this ongoing dialogue with scripture that speaks to our lives.  It speaks to our failures and it gives us a direction and it gives us hope.   The ones that Jesus hand-picked to be his disciples are just as big a screw up as I am.  Hallelujah!

  Jesus asks us to follow him even though we are flawed.  He asks us to follow him even though we are broken.  Or, another way to think about it: He asks us to follow him because we are flawed and broken. Jesus offers healing.  Jesus offers restoration.  Jesus offers abundant/ eternal life. Jesus offers salvation.  You’d be crazy not to take that offer. 

But then there is the second question:  which is really just a clarification of the first.  “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  When we follow our rabbi, we follow very closely.  When we follow we do as he does.  We learn his teachings. We do as he commands.  If we are ashamed of our rabbi and his teachings; if we distance our self from them in public; if we only want the benefit of eternal life and ignore the commands of Christ, scripture says he will be ashamed of us when he comes in the glory if the Father and the holy angels.

The two questions are.  Will you follow Jesus? And will you take up your cross?

We all know what a cross is.  But what does Jesus mean?

The cross is not some trinket. The cross is not some beautiful piece of jewelry that gives us warm fuzzy feelings. The cross was and instrument of execution.  The cross is an ugly thing.  Execution is an ugly, ugly thing. When the king’s edict sent Daniel into the Lion’s den He knew it was a terrible thing.  A criminal was put on the cross not just to kill but also to punish; and not only to punish but to be made an example of because it was a slow, ugly, public death.

So when Jesus “let them take up their cross and follow me.” When he says take up your cross, it wasn’t that he was saying, “Take up your social responsibility and live in that and put my label on it and call it Christian so that you feel better about yourself.  It’s not about the extra charity that we do.  Our cross is not even the problems that we have to deal with in this life.  Those things are not the cross that Jesus is telling us to take up. Jesus is talking about that ugly thing that he has seen his fellow Jews hanging on.  He’s talking about that thing that human flesh gets tacked to and slowly loses its strength and dies.

So what does Jesus mean when he says we need to take up our cross? Does he mean that we should go and get our own cross and die on it?  Not literally. But he is saying that we need to let our sense of ‘self’ die.  Whatever will get us to get our minds off ourselves and our own lives and set our minds on the big picture, on God’s picture. Whatever can do that in our life is our cross. The real cross is indiscriminant.  It’s not your cross.  All crosses do the same job really.  Jesus wasn’t saying look for your ministry.  He wasn’t saying look for your own path.  He was saying, “Follow me.” “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And you need to die to yourself and to your way and your priorities before you can truly follow me. This was right after Peter’s rebuke of him and Jesus said “get behind me Satan.” Peter was thinking of earthly things. Those who want to save their life will lose it.

If we try to hold on to this life, if try to hold on to this fleshly existence and everything that is in this world, it will slip through our fingers.  Sooner or later we will all die. There is nothing that we can do to make ourselves immortal. We can have all the riches in the world and it won’t matter because we will all die.  Eternity is a long time.

Jesus offers us eternal life. Jesus offers us abundant life.  In fact Jesus is the source of life itself.  It’s a gift. We cannot earn it, buy it or seize it.  We can only receive it as a gift.  And the things that we have in this life are a gift so what can we possibly give, what could we possibly offer God in return for life when everything is from him in the first place?  Nothing that we can possibly possess can even remotely measure up to the gift of life that Jesus offers.

Jesus says those who are ashamed of me I will be ashamed of them.  But there is a flipside to that coin.  Those who proudly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, who live into Jesus call to abandon their nets and fish for people, for people who crucify all their selfish desires and put Jesus first that’s who Jesus will lift up when he comes in the Father’s glory. 

That’s the second question. It’s that living beyond ourselves question.  Both question need to be affirmed.

We need to follow Jesus in this world serving the needs of those around us and demonstrating love. And we also need to follow Jesus in a way that takes us beyond ourselves.  Jesus asks us to trust in him.

Two question.  Follow Jesus? Take up your cross?

Know Christ? Make him Known?

So, how is it with you today? The only way to make Christ known is to have Christ living in you.  The only way to do that is to take up the cross of Christ.  Would you pray with me? 

Start Swinging

Numbers 13:25-14-9
Matthew 3:1-10

Start Swinging

A good harvest is a gift of God given through the work
and understanding of His people.

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked advance against me
    to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
³ Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

Psalm 23 The words of King David as he faced almost certain death at the hands of his son.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

He had confidence in the Lord since his youth. When David faced the Giant Goliath it wasn’t in fear.  David said, “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head…  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

We have that confidence and more! There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ! Jesus is the Good Shepherd that protects his flock.  Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

But we face our own giants.  It isn’t a 9’ tall warrior challenging us to a duel to the death.  It’s not even the giants that face most congregations in the United States.  I have been talking with several of you and I have come to learn that this gathering of God’s people is particularly skilled at managing challenges and moving forward with courage and vision.  But we do have giants to face.  The giants we face are the ones we see every morning in the mirror.

The Israelite spies went into the land that God promised them and they reported seeing giants and they were afraid.  They saw a land flowing with milk and honey but they determined the danger to be too high to risk entering this land. They came back with some fruit of the land.  It was good fruit but it wasn’t enough to convince many to risk what they already had. 

In the Gospel lesson John the Baptist referred to producing fruit.  The good fruit, the land flowing with milk and honey, the good fruit that we ought to be producing is not only a reference to food for sustenance but is more about living on, and trusting in the food that God provides; the eternal food; the spiritual sustenance of trusting in God. 

There is nothing in this world that can separate us from that.

But there are giants.  There are those things that cause us fear. There are those things that prevent us from entering the Promised Land, things that prevent us from living the life that God intends for us. So what are these giants? Is if fear of our neighbors, what they’ll think of us?  Is it fear of the government? What holds us back from being fully the people that God intends us to be?

The Giant that we must overcome and overcome on a daily basis is our in-born, broken nature.  Our nature is brilliantly illustrated in the story of Adam and Eve.  They were given everything they needed to live a happy, eternal life.  But they wanted what they were told they could not have.  They reached up and took fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The one tree God said they could not eat from.

We do that don’t we?  Humanity I mean.  Just think of the “enlightenment.” The advances in scientific knowledge to describe and understand how things work in nature is astounding.  Human mastery over our environment miraculous.   Many tend to have the understanding that the human has been elevated and we have become self-sufficient and have outgrown our need for religion to explain the world. Our understanding has evolved and now sees ourselves as masters of our own destinies.  But just like Adam and Eve, we wouldn’t have anything unless God made it available in the first place. 

I love science.  I appreciate science.  We should embrace science.  But understand also that it is merely understanding better, the way God ordered the universe. 

But the trap is to understand the world like the story Jack and the bean stalk.  In that story Jack was given some special ability (magic beans) and he was able to ascend to a different world.  Where he ceased the Goose that laid the golden eggs.  He came back to his world.  Was pursued by a giant who was the guardian.  So Jack severed the connection with this other world because he got what he wanted.

It was jacks power to ascend.  It was his power to take what he wanted.  It was his power to decide what we would and would not let in his world from that other world.

Contrast that with the faith filled world view. 

We live in a world that is constantly being breathed into existence by God.  At its very foundations is God.  We are not physical bodies with a soul.  We are souls with a physical body. 

In Exodus chapter 20 where the Ten Commandments are given it says, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”  We are not to worship the physical. But everything that is physical was given by God.  The trees in the garden were all from God.  We are gifted with an intellect and a free will to investigate all these gifts from god but not to worship them or our mastery over them.

However when Jesus came, he came in a body.  He came in physical form.  Jesus sanctified the incarnational existence. Only his flesh was not corrupt.  Only his flesh knew no sin.  Only his flesh was broken and given for your salvation.

And when we accept the gift of salvation the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us and Jesus promises that if we have just the tiniest amount of faith the Holy Spirit will do great things through us.  But we have to face our giants. You all have trusted God in the past.

We have to trust God as we travel on this road of discernment.  How can we see our mission as a community of Christ followers through the lens of what God envisions for us?  Blessings have flowed down from heaven to us.  So we have to discern what it is that God would have us do next.  But before we can move forward we have to defeat the giant.

So what are the specific giants that stand in our way? What are the things that frighten us about this discernment process? More than a couple people have come to me and have said “Pastor Jon, I do not want to go door to door evangelizing. Well I know how I have received folk who have come to my door and I have come to the conclusion that that is not the best way to share the love of Christ. I don’t particularly want to do that either. But I do want to reach out to the community more.  I want to demonstrate Christ’s love in multiple ways. By sharing resources, by providing services. By reaching out with compassion in times of trouble, in times of need and in times of want. By reaching out in times of celebration of their victories.  So that they know that this is a gathering of people in whom the presence of Christ can be felt.

The sacrament of Holy communion we have Christ with us in a very unique way. Do this in remembrance of me. We eat the bread and drink the cup and we find forgiveness for our sins as we confess them to the lord.  We find healing where there was brokenness. Those things in us that are unholy can be transformed and healed and they need not be a hindrance to us anymore because they are no longer a hindrance to God. When we look in the mirror we are supposed to see ourselves the way God sees us, not the way we often see ourselves when se see the sin, the failure.  But when God looks at us he sees perfection.  He sees his son Jesus who is the very reflection of himself. He sees Jesus in us. And he is waiting for us to claim our inheritance and his children as brothers and sisters to Jesus.  We need to start to envision this community of his Children the way He sees us. And start to do the work of making our perceived reality look more and more like His envisioned reality.

So, how is it with you today?  If John the Baptist is right that the axe is laying at the root of the tree and  God will remove anything in me that does not produce fruit, then I say “Lord, start swinging”  if we have to take up our slings and face a giant like Goliath, then I say, “Brothers and sisters, start swinging.”