Take Your Marks

Luke 4:14-21

Spring is nearly here. It’s less than two months away.   The snow will be gone.  The roads will be clear, But not yet.  It’s still January.

How are you all with anxiety?  You know when you have some big thing coming up, or some issue that persists and there is that nervous energy that starts off in the background of your being then for some of us, it becomes ever more consuming.  How do you deal with that energy?  It was this time of year; two years ago now that I found out that I was coming here to St. Paul.  My family and I moved into the parsonage in June of that year.  That’s 4 and a half months of living between worlds, knowing that I would be leaving but not gone yet.   I had some idea of what was ahead but I didn't know for sure.  The day that the moving truck arrived was a very happy day.  Not because I was happy to be leaving but I was happy the wait was over. 

I never want surgery but if I have to have it I would rather get it over sooner than later.  I always volunteered to go first for a class presentation because I hated public speaking and leaving it chance when I would get called for my turn was just too much.  If I have to deliver bad news I just do it.  The truth is what it is and the sooner we can get to it the sooner healing can begin. 

That energy isn't all bad though.  Sometimes we need that energy to get a necessary job done.  When I played football, that pre-game energy helped me perform at my peak during the game.  I had a Junior Varsity coach in the 10^th grade that didn't understand that.  When we had away games he would make us go silent 10 minutes before we arrived at the field where we were supposed to play.  He calls it “quiet intensity.”  Well what it actually did was relax us; it took away that heightened energy. We lost every game that year.  Sometimes we need that boost of energy to propel us into action.  We may need a little discomfort to live into the lives that God truly intends for us.

I love this scripture.  Jesus is bold.  He is unafraid. He is who he is. Judge him; love him; the choice is yours! That won’t change him! Scripture is how we know about Jesus.  Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we are guided into greater and deeper knowledge of God that goes beyond the printed word. 

To truly know Jesus we have to experience the presence of Jesus. The promise of our faith is that when we gather together in the name of Jesus Christ, his presence is among us. We are the body of Christ on earth when we gather in his name.  We are human.   We are flawed.  But in the midst of all that Christ is present and we can come to know him in these gatherings. 

Yes I am saying you need to come to church!  Jesus did it.  He set the example.  He went to the synagogue ‘as was his custom’.  Why was he going?  He is the incarnate one, The Anointed One.  He is the son of God.  We already know that he talks to the heavenly father not in crowded places but in lonely places like mountaintops and wildernesses.  But it was Jesus custom. That means he did it regularly.  Even though he already knew everything he went. (So what’s your excuse)?  In this particular scripture Jesus went to the synagogue.  The attendant gave Jesus the scroll, it was the prophet Isaiah.  He opened it to the portion I read earlier, read it, sat down and gave his teaching.  “Today this has been fulfilled in your presence.”  Jesus is the word made flesh. The Old Testament and New Testament are shadows of Jesus’ being.  The scriptures are recording of god’s action in the lives of particular people.  Jesus is God.  We read scriptures to know about God. To get closer to god through understanding how God operates.  Jesus went to the synagogue that day and read the scriptures.  He wasn't defining his ministry by the scriptures, he was merely pointing out that the scriptures are defined by him!

He is the only one that can say that (although we are guilty of trying to say that).  We like to take the scriptures and define them in the light of our own experience.  But we are not God.  We are not the Messiah.  His starting point is himself because he is God. He is the messiah.  Our starting point has to be the scripture.  When we take ourselves as the starting point then twist and shape the word of god to justify our sin.  But God isn’t interested in justifying our sin he is interested in justifying the sinner. God is interested in making us to be in accord with Him.

When we make the scripture as our common starting point we, open the scriptures together as a community, God’s truth is revealed. It’s not just me as your pastor; it isn't Bob, Den, Bob, Ray, or Forest that had the truth. It is every one of us in this sanctuary.  We approach the scriptures together.  We interpret as a community what God is saying to us today.  You may not agree with me.  I may not agree with you and there’s gonna be a bunch of people who don’t fully agree with either one of us but together, when we are in conversation when we engage the scriptures honestly and openly  the Holy Spirit will work through each one of us, then the truth of God will emerge. Where two or more are gathered in his name he is there among them.  It’s the community where truth is found. As individuals only see dimly as in a dark glass.

It may not seem like it now but spring is nearly here.  Track season will start.  The runners will get the command to take their mark.  The race, the thing that they have been preparing for will begin.  Friends we will be going through a process of discernment as a church in the coming months.  Seeds that were planted month ago will start to sprout.  And whether or not they eventually bear fruit will have a lot to do with the nurture that we provide.  Tomorrow the conceptual building committee will meet with the architect to see what the dream of an improved facility looks like on paper.  The Vital Church Initiative Team continues to be trained and inspired about the possibilities of the future of this congregation.  This spring some significant changes will be suggested by an outside consultant to improve what we are already doing.  All this change can cause anxiety because we may have an idea about what the future holds but we are just not sure.  These things are our race.  This is our big game.  We need to be in prayer.  We need to search the scriptures.  We need to be in communion with God and each other so that his will is revealed.   Changes if they are coming will happen in their own season.  Our task is to prepare for whatever God may have for us. 

On Kinney Down

Alex and I visited Michigan State University on Saturday.  Yes, it's a little early for college selection.  He is only a sophomore.  But our trips are more than just choosing a college they are about anxiety reduction...mine.  Alex is our firs-born.  He has been in my life for 16+ years, and the thought of him leaving home breaks my heart.  I fell in love with him the moment I saw him the day he was born.  The day will come, probably sometime in August of 2015 when he will leave for whatever college he chooses.  I pray that both he and I can celebrate that day of transition with gladness in our hearts.  We will soon be making trips to Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, perhaps even Houghten MI.  I am confident that what ever Alex chooses to do with the first chapter of his adult life it will do it well. 

Just Ordinary

John 2:1-11

A story about a wedding, I can’t tell you how many weddings I have officiated.  I can’t. I haven’t kept track.  I probably should have in retrospect but when I try to remember the list changes every time.  Then I try to remember all the weddings I have attended and the list even more muddled. When I was a kid, it seems like all the weddings I went to had a reception at the KC Hall #3651.  I remember that number because that was the number of my Cub Scout troop that also met there.  Every my memory of those receptions have all blended into one memory because the band was always in the same place.  The food was all basically the same.  The same relatives were dancing the way they do. The loud music, the cool night air, the exhausted bride…it was always the same.  The next day, as far as I was concerned, life returned to normal. Everything was ordinary again. It’s interesting how the ordinary life can, at times, become extraordinary.

                For example in a couple of weeks, on February third, a two professional football teams will be in New Orleans.  They will spend several minutes trying to carry, throw and kick an oblong ball to opposite ends of a great big green rectangle.  Whichever team does it the most will win and will be the champion of pushing an oblong ball to the end of a big green rectangle.  That’s football.  And there will be a lot of little green rectangles traded for beverages, chips, wings and hot dogs.  And there will be lots of little green rectangles paid for advertising on television while you watch the game to convince you to buy things a bit more expensive than beverages, chips, wings and hot dogs.  This is part of our culture.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, then a month later, Super bowl.  And I like it. 

                I like it like it like I like weddings, and graduation open houses.  I like it like an impromptu summer dinner around a grill in the summer or a night out with my wife, just because.  I like it because it is a celebration of the ordinary life.  Last night there was a party out in the Activity Center.  We played some silly games, heard some less-than-stellar jokes and ate some good food.  The theme was football, but we would have had a great time even if the big game was cancelled.  We laughed and enjoyed each other’s company because we love each other.   We gathered in the name of Jesus as a community of disciples.  We didn’t have a bible study but we felt the love of God.

                When Jesus is at the center the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

                In the Gospel Lesson today Jesus is at a wedding.  The writer of the Gospel didn’t say who was getting married, this may be because he didn’t want to distract from his main point by identifying the bride and the bridegroom or it may be like me, by the time he wrote it down he didn’t remember which wedding it was that he was at.  He just remembered that Jesus was there.  He remembered that Jesus’ mother was there. He remembered that Jesus disciples where there.  He remembered that something very special, something extraordinary happened at that wedding. He saw Mary and Jesus discussing something. He saw his lord give instructions to some servants.  He saw one of those servants draw some liquid out of a stone jar that was usually used for ritual cleansing and bring it to the head waiter. He saw the delight on the head waiters face as he tasted the contents.  And the celebration continued. The next day life went back to being ordinary.

                Now the same event from the perspective of the newlywed couple was that the celebration was underway.  The head waiter came and complemented the bridegroom for the good wine and the celebration went on and the next day life went back to being ordinary.

                The same event from the perspective of the average attendee of the celebration was that they went, every proceeded as these things usually do and the next day life went back to being ordinary. 

                For the disciple, the bridegroom and the average attendee the ordinary life meant different things.  For the disciple who witnessed these things and followed Jesus life was never like it was before.  Life had purpose and meaning.  The wedding at Cana was a turning point. I have had the thought before and I have others say it as well, that ‘I wish I could feel the way I felt when I first believed.’  You know that feeling of complete peace mixed with exhilaration and joy.  The knowledge of the eternal balanced with an appreciation for the earthly. “Thank you Jesus! Thank you God for breaking down the walls of my ego and pride!” I would be nice to stay in that state, but the kids need to be dropped off at school, the taxes need to be filed and, you know, my bad knee is acting up today.

                 For the newlyweds the ordinary life was also different because he now has a wife, she has a husband.  The party was over and life begins. They had a wonderful party.  There was a situation where at that party that could have embarrassed the family. But Jesus came through for them.  Good thing he was invited. But now regular life begins. The ordinary life begins. The day in and day out of life can sap you of your spirit. How can you go every day to a job and do the same thing over and over again and find fulfillment.  How can you clean your house every single day only to have it thrown into disarray moments after your family walks through the door and receive little to no appreciation for the work you have done? What is the cure for this ordinary life?

For the average attendee of the wedding the next day may have been just like most days.  The party came and went. For them it was just an ordinary party.  But if they knew where the wine that they were drinking came from, they would have a different perspective.  Who gonna tell ‘em?  

                But there is a fourth person I haven’t mentioned.  The servant who filled those jars with ordinary water then drew out wine and brought it to the head waiter. He saw everything that happened yet had no understanding.  I’ll bet he didn’t sleep well that night.  I’ll bet that he spent many hours contemplating what had happened. My Hope is that he sought out the one who instructed him that night to fill those jars and ask who he is and how that extraordinary thing happened.  I don’t think there is any measure of normal for this fellow until he gets some answers to explain the things he experienced?  Who’s gonna guide him?

                We spend a lot of time and energy on things that are impermanent.  If we hinge our joy on a sports team then our happiness is diminished when our team fails.  Those of you who are Lions fans have had to grow spiritually and lean more and more on your faith over the years while you Packers fans have had an easier go of it!

God want us to have joy! At the wedding feast the wine ran out.  Mary came to Jesus. Jesus took care of it.  It wasn’t his time to reveal himself as the Messiah so he did it discretely. The party went on the celebration continued. That’s what we have to do. We have to celebrate.  We have to celebrate the things of this life. The wedding is a celebration of the love two people have for each other. The party yesterday was a way to celebrate our life together, a way to find joy.  In a book in the Bible called Hebrews it says “ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” When we are gathered together in the name of Jesus he is among us and he makes the ordinary extraordinary.

Brothers and sisters we need to keep Christ at the center of everything we do. It’s there we will find joy.  If we are in the practice of prayer and worship, if we study the bible and meditate and it does not lead to joy then we are doing it wrong.  If we don’t find joy in the Christian life then Christ is not the center of it. 

So, how is it with you today?  Does your walk as a disciple of Christ lead you to joy?  I pray that it does.

Whose You Are

Luke 3:15-17, 21, 22

You are my son; with you I am well pleased. 

YOU are my family.  YOU bring me joy just by being you.  We all need to know that we are loved. We need to know that we are accepted. We need to know that we belong somewhere, and whether we admit it or not, we all desire affirmation. 

You are my son; with you I am well pleased. 

God loves you.   God’s love for you is perfect.

Savannah and I at a Cross Country meet last Fall.

The perfect love of God is also filtered through the imperfect people around you.  And the love of God that flows through you also travels an imperfect vessel.  Who among us has not failed someone with the best of intentions? 

One time my dad was saying how some of his work colleague’s children were getting into a lot of trouble and how lucky he was that I didn’t screw up like that.  I took that as “You are my son; with you I am well pleased.”  That’s one of the things we have to do for each other. We have to listen for the voice of God behind the flawed human words and actions and hope others do the same for us.

God loves you and God’s love is perfect.   

In one of the letters written to the early Christian Community it says “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” 1 John 3:15.  If you hate, you have no eternal life in you.  That’s because when you hate, the Grace of God, the love of God is not flowing through you.  Think about it.  When you decide you hate someone, or decide that they are your enemy or you say to yourself “I just don’t like them”, nothing they do will be able to please you.

“Oh look at her, eating those crackers like she owns the place.” 

Think for a moment on the mistakes you have made in your life.  Think about the words you have used were hurtful.  And yet the Heavenly father says, “You are my child, with you I am well pleased.”

You might be thinking, “Now hold on God said that about Jesus, not me.”

He said it about Jesus so he could say it about you!

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

God loves you and God’s love is perfect!

The fullness of God is glimpsed in today’s text.  Jesus of Nazareth the incarnation of God-God in the Flesh came to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  The Holy Spirit the very power of God came down and rested on him and the Words of the Heavenly Father affirmed it all.  You are my son; with you I am well pleased.”  All three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit are present and in accord.  It’s a relationship.  It is unconditional love and unity. 

It was that unconditional love and unity that was extended to us when Jesus offered himself as an eternal sacrifice for us. 

Yes it was the Father who said to Jesus, “You are my son. With you I am well pleased.” But by spiritually joining with Jesus we join also in the Fathers pleasure. 

In his earthly life Jesus extended the invitation into this family of God.  His flawed and imperfect followers didn’t fully understand.

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

You are invited to be part of that family of God.  We all are!  God loves you and God’s love is perfect!

This Cross that we have at the front of the sanctuary, most of you know that it is made from wood from a part of this building and is now repurposed to Glorify God in a new way.  This cross or the one that is around your neck is a symbol of the lengths that God has gone through to show you love.  Just for a moment I want you to look at the cross.  I want you to look at it in a new light.  As you look at the cross I want you to see it as a lens.  The cross is a lens that God looks through to see us.  God sees us everywhere and at all times of course.  He sees all of our flaw and failures.  He sees wars and greed.  But when he sees us through the lens of the cross, when he sees us in light of Jesus he only sees the righteousness of his son in whom God is pleased.  When we join ourselves to Jesus we are made right with God.

"This is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Jer. 23:6

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If the cross on the wall is a lens through which God sees us, it must also be a lens for us to see God and indeed it is.    If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus and the Father are one.  When we know Jesus we know the Father and are blessed with the Holy Spirit. 

God loves you and God’s love is perfect.

God has gone to great lengths to show you his love.

God became human to relate directly to us.  Jesus started his ministry be being baptized not because he needed to be washed of sin but to relate to the people he was serving. 

I had a discussion recently about the necessity of baptism for salvation.  The answer that always comes up is that the thief on the cross that Jesus promised paradise was not baptized.  No ritual was needed only the unconditional perfect love of God. But to be baptized is to participate in an act that God has poured out his love publically to his son. What a wonderful thing.  When was the last time you said with a warm heart “I am baptized”? It’s a statement of identity.  It’s a statement of the power and the love of God to overcome the darkness of this world.

So how is it with you today?  Is the perfect love of God flowing through you? I want to challenge you to look inside.  Where ever you find resentment, fear, anger or hatred let the perfect love of God dissolve it so that you may have eternal life. 

Kneeling Before a Baby

Though we understand God to be
ever-present.  We symbolically understand
God to be present specifically at the altar.
Above is the Altar at the United Methodist
Church on Third Ave. In Big Rapids, MI.
That's my good friend Mike to the left. 

Matthew 2:1-12

They came and Knelt before a baby.  When you find God you kneel before him.  If you find Him in truth; if you find him in your faith; if you find him in your service you kneel before him.  Does that mean you actually take the posture of resting on your knees?  Perhaps, but what it really means is that you give God honor, you give praise, your acknowledge God’s presence.   We don’t always notice the presence or the action of God in our lives.  Not everybody is the type that walks around looking for the presence of God.  We are doing what we feel called to do.  There is work to be done.  So what do we do?  How do we find spiritual nourishment from the God who came as a human in the form of a baby?  How do we worship a God that lived as a human 2000 years ago in a region of the world that most of us will never see?   We look to scripture and we witness the action of the three wise men, the three kings, the astrologers the magi, whatever you want to call them, they came and they knelt before a baby.  This is a strange thing. 

I mean, love my kids, but kneeling before a baby?  Scripture says they paid homage to him. They brought gifts of Gold, frankincense and myrrh. To a baby!  Who were they trying to impress?  A baby doesn’t notice anything but its own comfort or discomfort.  The baby’s parents were a young couple traveling from Nazareth; they seemed to be no one special so why kneel before a baby?

Alex just had his 16^th birthday.  17 years ago I had very different visions of what parenthood would be than I do now.  In fact a lot of those visions were shattered about this time of year 16 years ago.  While we were waiting for Alex to arrive I had a chart hanging in the hall in the upstairs of Diane’s grandmother’s house where we were staying.  It was an illustrated diagram of the development of a fetus month by month.  I had written in Alex’s due date at the end of the fold out piece of glossy paper and I worked backward adding dates along the diagram to the current date.  I would look at it. And marvel at it as if it were an actual picture of our unborn child.  I didn’t realize then, just how clueless I was.

I wasn’t even the one that was responsible for feeding him and it wasn’t long before I felt exhausted.   Up several times a night crying.  He was hungry, so Diane fed him.  He was messy so we cleaned him. He got sick and we worried over him.  One night he wasn’t any of these things that I could tell and yet he was still crying and I irrationally asked him “What do you want? Just tell me and I’ll do it!” of course a baby cannot answer with words. A baby is not interested in your desires or your wellbeing.  As wonderful and as miraculous new life is, babies are the most selfish creatures on the planet. 

You’ll notice in the scripture the wise men didn’t stick around. They left.

They brought all this great stuff for Jesus.  Joseph may have been like, “Oh hey, why don’t you stay for a few weeks?”

Then (With the baby crying in the background) the wise men were like, “Oh, no. We really need to be getting back.  We gotta go to work.  You know astrology stuff.  Uh, take care.  Good luck with the Herod thing.  Enjoy the incense and the…balm. Hope the gold helps.”  Then they were gone!

By the way, I was asked about the gold that was given them.  Mary, Joseph and the baby almost immediately after this were on the run for their lives from Herod.  They lived in Egypt as refugees until Herod’s death.  I don’t imagine there was a lot of time for Joseph to find work.  I think the Gold was very useful and necessary during this time of their lives.  

The wise men gave their best.  They gave their gold, they gave their frankincense, and they gave their myrrh.   They came from Persia and they brought their best. We come to this place of worship to be in the presence of our God.  We come from Fountain and Ludington, and Scottville, and Pentwater, and Muskegon.  And we bring our best. 

What is our best? 

Back when I was in seminary I volunteered at my church as a Stephen Minister.  The Stephen Ministry is a congregational care program where people are matched.  Someone who needs care is paired with a caregiver.  It is spiritual care.  It is a relationship.  It’s a friendship.   I was paired with Wally. Every week I visited him.  I would sit in his home for an hour sometimes more seldom less.  We talked about all sorts of things.  He was a sports writer for many years so when March Madness came around our visits were mostly about watching basketball.  He had a stroke one day which meant that he couldn't stay in his home any more. He moved to a nursing home. So I visited him there.  I was going to school in Holland at the time.  In the middle of one of my theology classes I got a call that Wally wasn't doing well.  That the end was probably near.  So I asked to be excused.  I drove the hour and a half back to Greenville and when I got to the nursing home there was a worker in his room cleaning.  No Wally.  I was too late.  He was gone and they had already taken him away.  I didn’t get to say goodbye.  

I loved him. In all my pastoral classes they say that I should keep a professional distance from the people that I will serve.  I understand why they say that and to a certain extent I agree because if I took on everyone’s hurts, I don’t know if I could survive.  When Wally died I questioned if this was the right profession for me. I wasn’t sure I could endure that kind of pain on a regular basis.  But to not love, to not give your best, to hold something back, to hold back a blessing that God has for you, which He wants to give through you, to hold that back is a sad thing. So I said “okay” to God.  The same is true of each one of you. You each have blessings to give. You have your best to give. The commandment is to love one another.

Something may have happened that has prevented you from fully giving of yourself, which makes you hold back.  When that happens, the Adversary has a victory.

The wise men gave their best. They sacrificed everything for something unknown; for an unsure thing but they had confidence they would find it. They found it in a baby. They left that day. They couldn't take anything from the baby.  They didn’t get any material gain or imparted wisdom it was a baby! They just wanted to be in the presence of this hope, this potential, this promise that is only in the beginning of being fulfilled.  They gave their best not knowing how it would end.  Even if they would have stayed none of them would have lived long enough to experience anything of Jesus’ adult ministry.  But they came and they brought their best.  They knelt before a baby.

When Jesus was an adult just before he gave his life, he gathered his disciple for a meal.  He told them that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood.  Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus tells us, “Do this in remembrance of me.” 

This is my Body broken for you.  This is my blood of the new covenant shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus is present.  Jesus is here!  So come! Take this gift of his presence. If you haven’t noticed his presence in your life, if you are unaware of how God is working in an through you, then take this opportunity to receive Holy Communion and know that he is present and kneel before him and give him your best. 

A Note for the St. Paul family

Happy New Year my brothers and sisters in Christ. The long nights of winter are here. It is as if the earth begins its long winters nap around this time. Autumn was the season of gathering and preparing for this time and now its time to rest. The flourish of activity all culminating in the festive season has come to an end. The crescendo and cacophony of the holiday season has come and gone. We were reacquainted with friends and family as we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ and now they are back in their homes and the tempo of life is begging to slow just a bit.

We turn our gaze inward. In just a few weeks we will enter into the season of Lent. We will prepare ourselves, spiritually for the celebration of the most holy, the most wonderful event in human history, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The focus for the next three months in our worship, our Sunday school classes and our communion together will be that inward journey of self-examination. We will spend time looking at our own personal spiritual health as well as the spiritual health of St. Paul as a community.

Please take this time of and let God bless you. As a help and an opportunity, I am making a couple of things available. First, every day, Monday through Thursday I will be having prayer time in the sanctuary from 11:30-11:45. This is a time of worship that will be spent in scripture reading, prayer, and silence. Then beginning in Lent there will be a Thursday evening program of fellowship and spiritual formation. I will be leading a group through the book Companions in Christ (ISBN 978-0-8358-9843-0). If you have been through is book before it is is certainly worth doing again. These evenings are meant to be a help spiritually and temporally. Bring a dish to pass and we will have a fine meal together and you will only have one dish to clean at the end of the night.

I thank God for each of you. May this season be a blessing to you.

In His Love,

Pastor JonS