God's Thunderous Love

Luke 9 “⁵¹ As the time approached when Jesus was to be taken up into heaven, he determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² He sent messengers on ahead of him. Along the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival, ⁵³ but the Samaritan villagers refused to welcome him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and spoke sternly to them, ⁵⁶ and they went on to another village.”

Last night I woke up to the sound of the wind.  It came up so suddenly that it was surprising. I listened for a while and it didn’t seem to subside.  In fact I fell back asleep before it did.  I woke this morning to find a warning of severe weather for our area on my phone for our area.  I watched he radar and yep, about 2:30 last night a storm rolled through.

I find the weather interesting in that though there are things we can do to prepare for what is coming there is nothing we can do to change what is coming.

It is a force that is greater than our ability to affect it. 

God’s love is like that.

God loves you and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.

My nephew was in Michigan over the course of this past week. He lives in San Diego. He’s 28 years old and I just met him for the first time. He’s 28 and he saw his grandma, my mother-in-law for the first time. He is her first grandchild. She has loved him since the day he was born but was never able to be face to face with him until this week. It was a tearful first meeting and a tearful goodbye when they left. She loves him and there’s not a thing that he can do about it.

They spent the last two days here in Ludington with us. We took them out to the break water to see the lighthouse.  The waves were high enough that there were several places where we were getting wet from the spray when they crashed into the wall. I was a little on guard because Eli was having way too much fun running around while all I was seeing was the dangerous churning cold Lake Michigan water.  My experience tells me that there are forces of nature that can easily be too much for us to handle.

When I think of God and what God does I start with psalm 23 “he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Those times when my spirit is at peace I am indeed thankful. When I walk through the valleys of life the promise of God is that he will be with us. For that I am thankful.

God gives us what we need to get through this life. But God has more for us than just getting through doesn’t he?

God has a thunderous love that cannot be stopped.  We cannot convince God to stop loving us. We cannot stop the wind or the thunder or the waves but God so loved the world that he gave his only son who could. 

Jesus can calm the storms of life. When Jesus came and taught his disciples what it means to follow him did he let them stay where the waters were calm? Did he make life easy for them? Or did he challenge them to grow; to go and do. When the people needed food Jesus told the disciples to feed them.

When Peter wanted to do the impossible Jesus invited him to step out of the boat. When Jesus was leaving the work of the Kingdom to his disciples he did say go and rest in the pasture he said go and make disciples. Why?  Because he loves us with an unstoppable love. 

I don’t think Jesus was interested in starting and growing a new religion. Jesus was interested in going to great lengths to demonstrate God’s unstoppable love.

When Jesus said that he would have to suffer. Peter protested.

To this Jesus said “Get behind me Satan.” Because Peter lost sight, or didn’t understand the lengths Jesus was willing to go to demonstrate the unstoppable love of God.

Jesus mission was unstoppable.  He came because God loved the world and wanted to save it. To be a part of that mission is a powerful thing. It feels good and right even though it may not be easy or comfortable at times.

In the scripture lesson today James and John whom Jesus nicknamed “Sons of Thunder” in a different portion of scripture were with Jesus as he was headed to Jerusalem to face great suffering. They were going through Samaria, a land that was a rival to the Jews of that day. They did not support or appreciate religious pilgrims traveling through their land on their way to Jerusalem. So when James and John went to make preparations for Jesus in a Samaritan village it was not surprising that they were not met with warm hospitality.

James and John were the sons of thunder for a reason. It probably wasn’t because they were timid. They were likely very confident fellows to begin with then add on the fact that they are now following a very powerful and convincing man who happens to be the son of god.  

These sons of thunder with all their confidence were rejected by people in the Samaritan village. How dare they?

“Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?”

They misunderstood, or perhaps they forgot that God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

When we isolate ourselves, we miss out on the cross check of ideas that prevents extreme and unhealthy thinking.

James and John were probably by nature bold and aggressive guys. It was a sort of natural reaction for them to say what they said. But it took the intentional teaching and mentoring by Jesus to bring them into an appropriate understanding of God’s will.

We don’t know if they came to that understanding at that moment or they just learned that they ought not to say things like that in front of Jesus. Either way it was learning and a growth moment for the brothers called “sons of Thunder.” These sons of thunder, Jesus called to be his disciples.  He knew their temperaments. He knew their personalities. He knew their weaknesses but he knew that he could use them and he can use anyone because he can and does love anyone and everyone.

Last week we talked about recognizing that the same spirit is in you is also in me when we are in the family of God through Jesus Christ. And with all of our earthly wisdom and the wisdom God has granted us individually, it still is only a fraction of the wisdom that God grants when we are gathered together sharing our spiritual gifts.  

When we place our trust in Jesus and believe that he is the son of God. God doesn't love us anymore because he already loved us enough to die for us.  But when we do believe and trust we start to remove the barriers that are in our lives that prevent us from fully experiencing God’s love. That process of removing barriers will inevitably make us more and more Christ-like in our nature.

I knew my nephews great grandmother.  She died in 1999. She is an example for me of how much Christ can shape a life. She demonstrated the fruit of the sprit not though effort but by being transformed by Christ’s presence her whole life. It is unfortunate that my nephew was never able to meet her. Her direct influence will never be felt.  But there are others that will love him and there are many that he can share that love with. This is the mission of Jesus, to share the love of God as far and as wide as possible.

Letting God’s thunderous love in to transform you is your path of discipleship.

So how is it with you today? Will you seek out and allow the transformation into Christ-likeness into your life.

Answering the Summons

Matthew 4:18-22

This is the first Sunday in September and we shift into a new series.  This is the third series on our core values we have talked about family, stewardship and now we will over the next few weeks talk about discipleship.  Discipleship is at the very center and the very core of what we are about. Jesus said in his great commission at the end of Matthew, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” we are to go and make disciples. The thing is, to make disciples we must first be disciples. Right?

I have some questions for you to ponder. I don’t want you to answer just think about them. How many of you are “Americans”? I suspect most of you. When did you decide to be an American? I suspect that most of you have been Americans all your life.  What is an American?  A native of the continents and islands of North and South America.  But that isn’t what people mean when they say they are “Americans” is it? Think about what that word means to you. What are the best qualities of what it means to be an “American?” For you, what are the defining characteristics of an American? Think about that for a minute…

Even if we all agree that we are talking about citizens of this nation as defined by the borders of the United States of America, we are talking about a very diverse group of people.  It is impossible to choose characteristics of an American outside the legal definition for citizenship.

Now think about this, what makes a great American?

I’m guessing some faces or names of people in American history came to mind.  We may not all agree on that lists but they have characteristics that make them great.  These are the characteristics that we want to develop in ourselves.

How many of you are Christians? I suspect that since we are in a Christian worship service that most of you are.  But I don’t take that for granted! There have been at times and I have been one of these people that come to a church well before they have faith in Jesus Christ just to see what this is all about.  There are people that come to worship because they are brought by a family member.  There are some who come because they have heard they can find help for the problem that they are having.

Story: “I’m just looking for a friend.”

For those of you who are Christian, when did you decide to be a Christian?  Many people have been Christians all their lives, participate in the Christian community and rest assured of their eternal salvation.  Romans 10:9 says “Because of you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who follows Jesus.  Jesus had some particular ideas about what it meant to “believe” in him. I have found no evidence that Jesus taught that believing in him was just about a feeling you have. From what I understand, believing in Jesus is an inner conviction, a trust that connects me to him as the source of life and, as a result, compels me into action.

Peter was with his brother Andrew when Jesus called him. He left his nets.  He decided to leave his net and follow Jesus.  Much is made of this moment but that wasn’t even close to the hardest thing that Peter would have to face in his walk with Jesus.

Jesus decided to follow Jesus but he still needed to be “discipled.” He needed to learn; he needed to grow; he needed to serve; he needed to spend time in Jesus’ presence so that he could be transformed in to the man that Jesus needed him to be. He was constantly surrounded by the other disciples learning, serving and growing alongside each other.

<Peter’s time with Jesus>

                Great confession then comes Jesus rebuke.

                Attempt to be like his master and walk on water, then the failure.

                His words of loyalty, then his betrayal.

                Started as a fisherman turned disciple then returned to fish after Jesus’ death

                Preached the first Christian sermon brought others into the family of God.

Imagine now if Peter had that encounter with Jesus alongside the sea and Peter gave his heart to Jesus with heartfelt emotion, felt assured that he would go to heaven someday when he died and never actually followed Jesus.  All that experience between that day at the sea and the day of Pentecost when he brought thousands into relationship with God is what formed Peter into the great apostle he is.

 I asked you earlier to think about great Americans. Now I want you to think about someone you know who really lived out their Christian walk.  Someone that was a really good example of what it means to follow Christ. What are those characteristics that they have? How did they come to be such a good example?  I can think of a few really good examples.  The thing is, the people I am thinking of had some pretty big flaws.  They weren’t perfect but they let Christ in and they let Christ transform their lives.

Jesus has called each one of us to something better.

Many of you have decided to follow Christ. You have met him at the lakeshore and he has called you name. We are more than just the people who have decided. We are meant to be a people who are disicpled.  It’s not just a decision and a warm feeling. It is a decision that leads to a transformed life.

This month we will be talking about discipleship. The discipleship team has very diligently and intentionally developed a process for people who decide to participate, for spiritual growth and maturity.

No matter where you are on you path you can benefit from this process. In fact it is not intended to be a temporary program but rather the way we will function as a church from this point forward.  Over the next few weeks we will explain fully the process that we have developed. In summary it is a process of intentional discernment of your needs and your growth edges and pairing you with a mature brother or sister in the faith to encourage you and guide you into deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, service and education, all with the support of a small group of believers to encourage you along the way. In short we want the decided to be the discipled. 

It’s the great spiritual Journey. It’s the path of Peter. We follow Jesus, imitate Jesus and when we boldly fail we are picked up by Jesus and supported by our fellow travelers.  

If you are interested in this process, a process which does we need to have a conversation.  I am not going to put out a sign-up sheet.  This is much deeper than that.  Please see me after worship.

Like I said we are all going to move from being the decided for Christ to the discipled by Christ. 

But first things first.  To be discipled we must first decide right?

So I want to invite you today to drop the barriers you have built up to Christ having authority in your life.  Perhaps you do not yet believe, perhaps you cannot remember a time when you did not believe.

Wherever you are in your life; whatever your circumstance, no matter what you have done, Jesus is standing in this place with us inviting you to follow him.  

God who created and sustained the earth set aside a people to be his people.  From those he chose to become one of them, Jesus of Nazareth, God in the flesh walking among us healing, feeding and teaching us what God is like.  Jesus died for our sin; defeated death and lives forever. Through Jesus we have eternal life.

We are standing at our nets. There is a long journey of growth ahead of us. We don’t have to understand everything right now but trust in our lord to show us the way.  Let today be that day. 

Get Set

I could pretend that I added this photo as an illustration of how mind
training is stressed in the training of Jedi in the Star Wars movies.
Honestly.  I just wanted to take a picture of my Luke Skywalker
action figure.  

Luke 4:21-30

Did you know that there is going to be a football game on TV this evening? Be honest.  How many of you have no idea who is playing?

Yeah, I don’t really care either.  I’m gonna watch the game though.  I’ll probably root for Baltimore just because I’m partial to the East Coast. Other than that my head is not really in the game.  I have never been a fan of either team.  I am sure the people of Baltimore and San Francisco are thinking a lot more about football than I am.

It’s interesting how your world is shaped by what you give your attention to.  We give our attention to things that demand it.  When we have pain in our bodies we want it gone so we do something about it.  When someone we love is suffering we try to give them relief.  An ambulance approaches with its lights on from behind us so we pull over. Your husband or wife yells so you yell back. The baby cries so you feed her. The phone rings so you answer it. The television is on so we watch it.

It seems there is hardly a moment when our attention is not being grabbed or demanded by someone or something.  So if we are shaped by what we give our attention to, we are letting others shape who we are if we are not selective about it.

Television news just loves a big tragedy.  You can know just about everything there is to know about a big tragedy if you watch CNN long enough.  If they have run out of details to share they will just repeat the ones they already know so that you can memorize what has happened. You can live the tragedy over and over again.  You can begin to believe that what has happened is the only thing happening in the world.  I remember 11 years ago having to make myself turn of the television because I didn't want to hear any more about the attacks of September 11^th.  I purposely avoided the evening news the day of the tragedy in Newtown Connecticut.  I grieved those things.  I was angered by those things.  But I don’t want to give the evil of this world undue attention. 

Imagine if we were given titles based on what we give our attention.  Think about it what do you spent most of your attention on?  What would be on your name tag just below your name? Would it be Health worries? CNN/Fox News?  Family issues?  Sports? Hunting? Perhaps your mind is occupied by other things.  Would you want whatever it is printed on your name-tag for everyone to see?

What we are striving for is for that name tag to read “disciple of Jesus Christ.” 

What would it take to make that happen for you?

Our Gospel reading today is a continuation from last week when Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.  Remember?  He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and he read the scripture, rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, sat down and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

Remember how we talked about the scripture was defined by Jesus not the other way around? I used the analogy of a race at a track meet.  The starting point is your mark. Our starting point is the Scriptures.  The next command by a track official is “set.” That means “get set” and don’t move a muscle until you get the starting gun.  This is a moment when you are poised for action, singularly focused on the task at hand.  

Jesus read from the scroll and said what he said and they were amazed at the gracious words coming from his mouth.  Then someone said, “Hold on!” Well, scripture doesn't record those words but the feeling is there.  Someone said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

Jesus just had made a bold proclamation about who he was.  He was telling them that he was the messiah.  He is the one they have been waiting for but the one in the synagogue couldn't see past the fact that this was Joseph’s son.  You know Joseph, the one that didn't make it into rabbi school.  He was a year ahead of me in school back in Nazareth.  You've had these conversations.  How could someone who was the son of that guy, a nobody, be the messiah?

Their expectation was that the messiah would be someone important and powerful.   If he is the son of Joseph then it can’t be him. You’ll notice in verse 22 that it wasn't just one person that felt this way it says “they said. Is this not Josephs son?”  It was the mood of the room that Jesus was not really who he was claiming to be. 

So Jesus fires right back and says, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”  And he brought to their memory stories about the history of the Hebrew people when foreigners were blessed when they were not.  This upset them a bit. They drove him to a brow of a hill with the intent to do him harm. 

There is a passage in a book in the Bible called Deuteronomy where is says, “But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak, that prophet shall die.”  This may be their justification for trying to chuck Jesus off a cliff.  They think that he is saying things that God has not commanded him to say.  They get him all the way to the hill top and scripture says, “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Whoever wrote this story down clearly thought that this was vindication for Jesus.  The inability of the crowd to kill Jesus that day was proof that what he was saying was true. 

I also think that this gives us another layer of understanding as to why the crucifixion was so devastating.  On a Friday sometime later, the crowd was able to kill Jesus.  If the one claiming to be messiah was able to be killed then he must have been a false messiah.  But as we know, the crucifixion was not the end of the story.  The resurrection, two days later, was the triumphant defeat of death. Again, attention was paid to the wrong thing.  Jesus sacrificed himself but his followers only paid attention to the apparent defeat. 

We are shaped by that which we pay our attention. 

How would your name-tag identify you?

If come to have faith in Jesus Christ and continue to live the way we have always lived then we are not “set”.  We've joined the team. We wear the uniform.  We know the schedule. We know the rules. We know where the starting line is. But are you getting into the race?

If you are not actively working on growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ then you are actively growing as a disciple of whatever you are paying your attention to.  

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. 

Born For This

Today is Christ the King Sunday.

Jesus taught his followers, and still teaches us today that to lead you have to serve. He taught that Loving God meant loving each other. But Jesus wasn't just a life coach. Jesus wasn't just a philosopher or a teacher. Jesus wasn't just a rabbi. Jesus made absolute claim that he was the word of God made flesh. He claimed to be God's anointed one. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ.

If Christ is King, if Jesus is Lord that means we don't have to be or even pretend to be. That takes a lot of pressure off!

If Christ is king, I will bow before him no matter what the minimum requirement.

If Christ is king and he was rejected, then its alright if I get rejected because I am his disciple.

If Christ is king, then we have to see all of our aspirations, failures and successes in the light of his rule.

If Christ is King then hope and comfort will reign instead of despair and grief.

If Christ is King then violence and hatred are overcome by mercy and forgiveness.

If Christ is king we know someone is in charge.

If Christ is king, then I know that I am not.

If Christ is king then no one else is.

Jesus Christ is a king like no other. Christ the king doesn't call us to rule over others. Our king doesn't call us to violence. Our king doesn't promise riches or material security.

Our king asks us to follow him.

Our king invites us to rest in him.

Our king says to learn from him.

Our king tells us to Love God with all that we are.

Our king says that he and the father are one.

Our king says to love your neighbor as your self.

Our king tells us to go and make more learners and teach them all that he taught us.

Our king spoke often of the Kingdom of Heaven..the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is like a farmer who sows seeds

The kingdom is like a mustard seed

The kingdom is like a field of wheat and weeds.

The kingdom is like treasure in a field

The kingdom is like yeast

The kingdom is like pearls of great value

The kingdom is like a fishing net.

Humanity has largely rejected the idea of earthly kings as a political reality. Our country had its birth when it fought a war to cast off monarchical rule. Now every four years we elect someone that half the country will criticize relentlessly until the next election. We don't trust our fellow humans with power over us. We don't trust those who claim to have the right to rule us. There is a good reason for this. It was never God's plan.

When the Hebrews wanted a ruler, a king like other nations had, the judge Samuel went to God with the request and it was King Saul was made ruler over them. If you have read your bible you know that arrangement didn't work out so well for the people or for Saul. Then David was king. Then a cycle of Bad kings and not-so-bad kings ruled and continued to make a mess of things all the while, the prophets of God continued to call the people back to God. Then God intervened.

Jesus was born. Royalty born in a barn. The King of kings for all eternity born to a young couple in an occupied land making the difficult journey to Bethlehem. He grew up and only a few recognized him for who he was but even they abandoned him in the end. He was crucified. He died. He defeated death. He ascended into heaven and reigns as King.

This is where we find ourselves in the story. What happens next we do not know. Scripture says he is coming back. We cannot predict when that will be or what that will look like. Jesus says don't even try to guess.

Christ is king and he his a king like no other. He didn't come and conquer. He didn't subjugate. Jesus came as a servant. Jesus came and sacrificed himself. As we find ourselves today, in this chapter of God's story, we have a king who has called us to follow him. How will we respond? Where does our allegiance to Jesus fall in our list of loyalties? How does Jesus fair on your list of important things? Spouse, children, parents, siblings, country, culture, politics, where does submission to Christ the king fall in your list?

In the Gospel lesson today Jesus is on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate clearly wants little to do with this situation. He doesn't want Jesus to be his problem. The question of kingship comes up. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my f0ollowers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is ,my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Born to testify to the truth. Jesus said that is what is was born to do. What were you born to do? Can you put your finger on one thing? What were you born for? If you can name something, how often do you do what you were born to do? How well do you do what you were born to do?

Jesus said he was born to testify to to the truth. Pilate asked him “what is truth?” Good question!

A lie is a lie even if everyone believes it and the truth is the truth even if no one believes it. If Jesus said, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” then why are there so many well meaning, intelligent people not listening to his voice? Perhaps its because some of the people who claim to be his followers have forgotten to listen for his voice and have presented a distorted what it means to be a disciple of Christ. If Jesus is not at the top of your priority list, if Christ is not your king then what is? The kingdom of God will be made manifest in those who listen and obey. The kingdom of God will be realized when we let the Holy Spirit inhabit us and transform us. The kingdom of God will be on earth as it is in heaven when those who claim the name of Jesus as lord. How can Christ be king of the world if he is not even king of his believers? How can this world heal, if we don't abide Jesus' rule?

When Jesus was about to leave this world he commissioned his followers to do the work he was doing. He once said that his followers would do greater things than he did. It is only by submission to his will that this is possible.

We all are on this journey of life together. The question for our spiritual lives and our life together is always, “what's next?” The answer to that questions is always to seek a deeper connection to God. We are never done. We can always go further up and further in. We can surrender more and more of our life to our King. On our journey we will discover things that will impede our efforts to get closer to God. These are the things that we will remove. The things that are ineffective in drawing us to the truth, we will leave behind.

So, how is it with you today? Have you accepted Christ as your king? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? I am praying for you my brothers and sisters. May Gods kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

On Kinney Down

I went to my hometown for Thanksgiving.  Eli with his cousin.  

My family's heraldry includes farming symbols.

This is the chimney that goes through the room that
was my bedroom as a child.  My chalk art that
I made to make it more attractive has survived
for a quarter-century.  

Great Hope and Great Trust ("Keep On Askin'")

Mark 10:46-52

Hurricane Sandy is gong to make landfall this evening. We can and should pray for those who will be affected. Will our prayers avert the storm? No they wont. There will be people out of power, there will be damage to property and there may even be loss of life. Does that mean that we give up on prayer? Do we give up on asking God for protection? Do we quit praying for healing? Do we stop praying for restoration?

No! You keep on askin'!

There is one who is in chronic pain. Pain that just wont go away. Pain that is nagging, torturing all consuming in one moment then annoying background noise the next. Always there. Doctors cannot make it go away. There is no therapy that has been able to cure it. So prayers are lifted. Requests are made to God in Jesus name...the pain persists. More prayer. Daily prayer. Dedication to Jesus way of self-sacrifice and service. Study of Holy scripture. Obedience to medical advise. Exploration of alternative healing. Prayer and more prayer. Still the pain lingers.

“What do I do Pastor?” was the question.

Keep on askin'!

You can question your own faith when it is put to the test. You start to ask questions. “Why aren't my prayers being answered?” “Am I being punished?” “Is this a test?”

...Keep on askin'!

Then there are those blessed moments when you fell the presence of God. Through the pain, through the doubt, you know that you are being held in the palm of God's loving hand. I cannot describe to you the feeling I have when I sense the presence of God. I can tell you that its a safe, warm, inviting, peaceful feeling. But that is like describing Lake Michigan as a very large pool of water to someone who has never seen a lake. It just doesn't cover it.

Jesus hears the faithful. Remember the story of the persistent widow and the just Judge? She wanted justice and the judge wouldn't hear her. Kept on askin! She wore that judge out until he gave her justice. Jesus said if even that judge will give justice wont the God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” but then he adds “never the less, when the son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Justice, God's justice, whatever that looks like will be granted. Our task is to have faith. When we rely on our own strength and power there can never be true justice or true healing. Its when we boast in our weakness and lean on God's strength, the presence of God is made known in the world.

How do we do that?

We keep on askin'!

We keep on askin' for God's healing and guidance. We ask for God's wisdom and strength. We praise God for being God and we thank God for all things at all times. In our weakness and in our reliance on God, God transforms us. God begins to mold us into God's image. God begins to use us. God begins to put us in positions where we can be responsive to his will.

When we are responsive to God's will we become part of an interconnected part of God's community where we all find healing, justice and restoration.

When we keep on askin', I find that we start asking on behalf of others more than for ourselves. When that happens the right people come into our lives. The right resources become available. Life on earth gets better.

Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. Was on the side of the road in Jericho. Jesus was heading to Jerusalem. The crowds were gathered. Bartimaeus the social outcast forced to make a living by asking people for money or food.

Can you just hear the people around him? “Oh, that's Timeaus' son” I gave him some food once but he just keeps on asking for it. Some people even give him money but you never can tell what he will spend it on.” That's how we talk isn't it? We are reluctant to give ongoing assistance to people. We don't want people to be dependent on the government, yet we don't want to provide for them either. Bartimaeus kept on asking and yet he remained a beggar until one day he had the opportunity to ask the right person.

Jesus was in town. Bartimaeus said “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Now we know that Jesus was not the son of David but the Son of God. Even if we are talking about Jesus earthly fatherly figure it was Joseph not Mary. The term Son of David was a term used to describe the Messiah, the anointed one of God who would save God's people. God had promised that one of the descendants of David would be on the throne forever. Jesus was indeed a descendant of David through Mary's lineage and by adoption through Josephs lineage. So Bartimaeus recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the conquering king of Israel. And he cried out to him. This social outcast. This blind beggar. Dared to cry out to the one he believe do be his king. A very bold move. Others in the crowd thought so too. They told him to be quiet. But shouted all the more. He wasn't getting justice from his neighbors so he had no choice to appeal to a higher power.

He kept on askin'!

Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, on his way to his own death, stopped and said, “call him.”

so they called him. “Oh, man this your lucky day. He is calling you.”

I heard an interview recently of a reporter that had the opportunity to travel with the president for 6 months to observe and to interview and to get a first hand view of the life of the president of the united states. The reporter said that they were traveling abroad and when they got to their destination, the president went to play basketball at a nearby gym. The reporter said that it didn't even occur to the president that these people had built this gym in anticipation of his arrival. When we have power, and get accustomed to wielding that power, in our human weakness we can lose perspective.

Jesus on the other hand heard the plea of the least of these in the crowd and paid him special attention.

Jesus asked the man, “What do you want me do do for you?” Remember this is the same question he asked James and John from last Sunday's scripture when they approached him about being appointed to Jesus right and left had when he came into his glory. The blind man said, “Rabbi, let me see again.”

Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the road.

Jesus granted this request but denied the request of his two most trusted Apostles his inner circle. Bartimaeus gained more than his sight. He followed Jesus and became his disciple. James and John did not get what they asked for but they were changed. They were set right. They were corrected. That's what a relationship with Jesus does.

When we pray. When we keep on askin' we will be blessed. We will receive exactly what we need.

So, how is it with you today? We can approach the King with confidence even though we are blind beggars. We can speak our needs and we can have utter confidence that if we keep on askin' we will be blessed. Take heart! This is your lucky day! Jesus is calling you to follow him; to trust in his strength; to follow him in his way.   

Life on Kinney Down

This a new feature that will be a regular part of this blog.  This is where I will add family pics and updates.  I call it Kinney Down because we live on Kinney Road and the word "down" is just a nicer way of saying we live on a hill. 

Eli has attached to every member of the family.
We can scarcely remember what
life was like before he came

Nowhere to Hide

John 6:56-

I cannot do anything on my own! There is not one thing. The life I live is possible because of the community around me. The health of the economy depends on people actively participating in it. The food I buy is purchased with a paycheck given me because I fulfill a function. Food that is grown and produced that provides a paycheck for those who grow it; purchased at a store who earn a paycheck for providing their services. I stand in this pulpit, in this Church, on this piece of land because people before me prepared the way.

I preach from the Bible of which the newest parts were written 2000 years ago. Preacher's have been standing in this place <Or in Similar places> trying to be faithful to the faith that has been handed down to them.

All that comes down to this moment, in this, place, right now. The present moment is the only one we really have and God is asking us to be faithful to Him. To cultivate the seed that others have planted before us and to plant seed that will grow the tree, that will bear fruit that we will never eat in this lifetime.

Do I feel adequate to the task? Usually not! Do I trust God bring out the best in whatever we do? Absolutely!

Oh Lord, you examine me and know. You know when I sit down and when I get up; even from far away you understand my motives. You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; you are aware of everything I do. Certainly my tongue does not frame a word without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. You squeeze me in from behind and in front; you place your hand on me. Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; It is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. Where can I go to escape your spirit? Where can I flee to escape your presence?

This is from Psalm 139. Nowhere to run no where to hide usually implies trouble and fear and danger. But here, 'nowhere to run and no where to hide is a wonderful thing.' It means we cannot pretend to be anything but who we really are with God. God knows your strengths and your weaknesses. He knows your victories and your failures. God loves you more than you can possibly love yourself, which may not be a very high bar to clear sometimes.

We all fail. We all fall. When we do we can either trust in God's love to pick us up, build us up and start again or we can let the failure define us and we can stay in the ditch that we fell in. In the story of Adam and Eve in the first part of the Bible, God gave them full access to the tree of life. They could eat freely of its fruit and live forever. They were innocent and unaware. Then came the other part of the story. They were enticed to eat of another kind of fruit which God had said they were not to eat. This was from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. When they ate it they became aware of their own nakedness. They became focused on themselves rather than focused on God. Rather than living in their innocence they hid from God in their guilt.

This story is so beautiful because it describes our human condition so well. We are given so much but through our own desire to be at the center of the universe we miss out on the abundant life.

With Jesus at the center of our lives and at the center of our Community. The fruit of the tree of life is again available to us. This is food that sustains us for eternal life. Life in Christ is something to celebrate. Life in Christ is something to share. But as we have seen in God's word sometimes there needs to be planting, there needs to be pruning, there needs to be constant attention and care given.

Over the next several months a team of people from this congregation in including John, Betty, Erin, Gary and Peg, Deann and my self will be studying and learning and being trained on some fundamental aspects of church health. This 9 month process is the beginning of the Vital Church Initiative. We want to be vital.. we want to be full of life as the body of Christ. In September we will be reading and learning about the 5 practices of fruitful congregations. Next month it will be something else. We will share what we learn and we will hopefully integrate it in the way we do ministry and share the love of Christ.

Chalk art by Rod Snow.  The cross and the empty tomb
are difficult teachings to accept to (post) modern minded people.
Yet, the truth remains that in Jesus we find life. 

This will be an intentional way of moving in the direction God is calling us. But no matter how we tweak things, no matter how many structural changes we make. None of will make any difference we our central focus is not clearly on our Lord Jesus Christ.

What Scripture says about the Lord s life affirming and life giving. Some of what scripture says is challenging but we cannot shy away from or ignore the difficult parts. What does the bible say about the idea of “once saved, always saved?” This week I got a call about the Lord's prayer. That line about forgiveness. Forgive us AS we forgive others? The question was, “does that mean that if we don't forgive others we will not be forgiven? What about all who believe in Jesus will be saved?” This is a good question. What about all the things about judgment that Jesus said? Tough stuff. What about Ananias and Sapphira? Do you remember this story from scripture? It's in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 5. It's difficult story to accept but it's there.

Peter's confession shows that even he found the Lords teaching difficult to accept, yet acknowledges that there is no place else to turn for what Jesus offers.

Jesus offers the word of life. Not just good philosophy. Not just good advise. But the Word that is the spirit of God that will live in you when you submit to Jesus Christ as Lord will give you life that will never end. Human effort is useless. Our will to save ourselves is futile. The live that Jesus gives will never wither away.

The fruit of the tree of life is still fresh and crisp. Jesus is the perfect revelation of Almighty God. In Jesus we find our salvation. Not in learning about him but about taking his life into us. But that doesn't mean that we cannot do things better as his disciples.

There are seven of us who have committed to leaning and training, but we don't go thinking that we are only seven. We go knowing that you all will be praying for the church. We go knowing that we are inextricably connected to this community and that we go only to strengthen and serve the body of Christ.

So how is it with you today on your walk with God outside of the Garden? Do you feel up to the task of cultivating God's orchard? Yes we are aware of good and evil. We do feel shame for our failures. We do work by the sweat of our brow but thank God that Jesus has offered us to eat again of the fruit of the tree of life. Where else would we want to be? Where else could we go?

Jesus our True Savior

John 6:24-35

Jesus went away. The crowds followed him. Jesus cured them. Jesus took the disciples away for a little rest. The crowds followed him. Jesus fed them. Jesus went away. The crowds followed him. Jesus always had compassion for them. Jesus met the needs of those who came to him in faith. Jesus worked miracles to bring some to belief. Everything he did was to bring people to belief that he is the Son of God so that we can have everlasting life in his name. Jesus is our True Savior.

This past week, Monday through Friday the church was filed the the sounds of young disciples having a great time. We put on a Vacation Bible School that had a national Park theme it was called Sonrise National Park. All week the kids sang and danced and learned from the stories of our faith. Each Day they were introduced to a new promise of God. They learned that in God we can find true peace; true riches, true power, true love and true hope. Two hours a day for 5 days these young ones came and got excited about our faith. For 5 days volunteers were here to tell the stories, lead the music, prepare meals, clean up big messes...for 5 days we invested a little time and a little money and a bunch of kids had a great time learning about our true Savior Jesus Christ. I read an article recently that questioned the value of Vacation Bible School in our contemporary culture. Well if you were here you could see the value. And rather than do less of that sort of thing I would think we would want to do more.

Vacation Bible School is just the beginning. VBS is just the open door. It gets kids asking questions about God. What does it mean to trust God? What does it mean to have faith? VBS starts conversations. Parents want to know what their child was doing for two hours at that church on the corner of Morton and Kinney. They want to know why they were so excited about going back the next day. Vacation Bible school builds relationships. I met some pretty great servants of Christ from the Scottville church that came and worked in the kitchen all week feeding us. I met some of your grand kids that I had never met before. All these new people in our lives have gifts from god to share. We all strengthen each other. Hopefully our community will grow so that there will be a greater diversity of gifts in this gathering to Honor and glorify God.

That is why we come. We come to Honor and Glorify God. We come to worship God. We come to serve God. Sometimes, though we get a little mixed up. Sometimes we think that our purpose for coming is to get something. To “recharge our battery” or to “fill our tank” and when that doesn't happen we get disappointed and frustrated. We get disappointed and frustrated because we hear the promises of what Jesus can do. We know part of what he is capable of and we want part of it. But as we see in scripture when the crowds follow him only to receive, Jesus has compassion and meets their needs but only to teach them to have faith in Him then he withdraws from them.

In scripture Jesus does wonderful things but he doesn't let the attention remain on the miracle. The wonderful things he does is a pointer toward who he really is: The son of God, our true savior.

He told the crowd flat out, “you came looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.” The crowd tracked him down because they wanted another hand-out. He said don't do that. He said You are working for food that will be gone. You are focusing on the temporary. You are focusing on the earthly. You need to get your mind, your attention on what's important. Jesus wants us to work for the nourishment that will last forever.

Did you know that Jesus doesn't NEED you to to follow him? Jesus is complete. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus was the one through whom you were created. If you don't follow Jesus He will still be ALL THAT...and much much more. Jesus doesn't need to be needed. Jesus is the one making the offer. Your aren't doing Jesus any favors by accepting his grace/his love.

One time, a long time ago back when I was first dating my wife she said something to me that, at first, I thought was hurtful and mean. She said, “You know something....” She had her finger pointed right at me. “You know something, I don't need you.” I thought she was saying that I was expendable, that I had better watch my step. Until she said this: “I am here with you because I want to be not because I have to be.” What I thought was hurtful turned out to be honoring and loving. Men and women don't complete each other. God makes us complete. Your children don't make you complete. Your job doesn't make you complete; the only one that completes you is the one that created you. If you need to be needed or if you are with someone who needs to be needed you need to spend some time at the foot of the cross offering yourself to God so that He can begin the work he started in you.

Jesus loves us because he wants to love us. He defeated death for us because he loves us. We are not doing Jesus any favors by accepting his love.

He offers it without price. He offers life everlasting. He offers life in abundance. He will do wonderful things with you. But if you go chasing the blessing. If you go waiting on the miracle and refuse to work for the bread that lasts for ever. Jesus may just withdraw for a time. He may go off like he did in the scriptures to be alone with the father, to be alone with those who have dedicated themselves to following him and obeying him.

Okay Jesus, how do we work for the bread that lasts for ever? That's the question the crowd asked when he called them out on chasing him down for some more bread.

Jesus said, “This is the deed God requires- to believe in the one whom he sent.”

They didn't quite get it yet. They started asking for a sign. Apparently they missed the big meal they had the day before that came from only 5 loaves and two fish. Jesus started talking about the true bread from heaven. “For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

he said it to them as plain as can be. Yet still some complained and did not believe. But Those who do believe receive the extraordinary gift of everlasting and abundant life. Today is a remarkable day because we have a little one who's parents are going to commit to raising her in the christian faith. In the sacrament of baptism God's mysterious grace is poured out not because we have merited it but because this is what God desires to do. In this we commit to our participation in God's work as a community of believers to be vessels of his will. Today we will also share Holy communion at God's table where we give our selves as holy and living sacrifices to our God.

So how is it with you on this very special day? Have you offered yourself in completeness to almighty God who has promised to be your true savior?   

Greater Things

Mark 6:1-13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

The Kings Orders

A really cool stool given to me on Father's Day several years ago

Matthew 25:31-46

This stool I have right here was a gift from my family. It was a Fathers Day gift several years ago. It is supposedly a Chiefs stool. I don't know which culture it comes from but apparently a leader of a tribe/community would have something like this and it is a symbol of his authority. It isn't the most comfortable thing though. It is a little too low and there is this metal work that takes away as much comfort as it adds design and beauty.

We, in the adult discussion group, have been talking for the past couple of weeks about Christmas and the best gifts, the worst gifts and the most appropriate gifts to give that demonstrate love and honor Jesus. Rather than being participants in a hyper-consumerist frenzy that ends in disappointment on or about December 26^th every year, we have been exploring ways to make the celebration of the coming of the Savior a more intentional, more meaningful event. And more than that: Not just a day but the whole season can bee steeped in generosity that doesn't have to show it's self in meaningless spending but its a generosity that truly demonstrates the unbounded, unrestrained, unconditional love of god for us.

We were talking about specific gifts we had been given that were meaningful. I failed to remember one very important gift I received. It was a gift that produced in me so much gratitude I couldn't have expressed it adequately with words. What I received on one particular summer day in either 1992 or 1993 I can't exactly remember any more, was one that, though I don't remember the year I will never forget the gift it's self

Now you might expect me to tell about a time when I learned something from a beloved friend or relative that taught me a valuable lesson. Or perhaps I came to a realization about some truth of life through some hardship that I went through. Well, such examples are valuable and can be gifts to be cherished, this, example however is nothing like that. The gift I received was an actual object given to me with out any expectation of return.

It was a t shirt. A single brown cotton blend t-shirt. There were no words printed on the front of it. It didn't come from a particularly special person. I didn't receive it on a particularly auspicious occasion. Just a t-shirt. The thing is, is that the thing I needed most at that moment was indeed a t-shirt and when I needed it, it was given to me.

It was a hot-hot day in that summer of '92 or '93. I was in Grayling Michigan with my National guard unit. We were on a long movement, walking through the woods, ruck sacs full, up and down those hills trying to stay focused, trying to get to where we were going. We stopped. Someone was down. Someone in my unit was suffering from heat exhaustion. We were in too remote an area for an ambulance so we made a litter a stretcher and carried him to the nearest place where an ambulance could pick him up. We moved on. Hot and sweaty we pushed on. When the storms clouds rolled in we saw it as a welcome relief from the heat. When it started to rain we didn't even put our rain gear on because it felt so good. But that turned out to be a mistake. I would find out days later that the National Weather Service reported that the temperature that day dropped 40 degrees in less than 30 minutes. Now I don't know if it was 100 degrees and dropped to 60, or if it was 90 and dropped to 50, I just know that when you are wet, tired, hungry in 40 or 50 or even 60 degree weather it's cold. In fact one of our soldiers went into hypothermia. Sgt. Steed earned a lifesaving medal that day when he lent his own body heat to that down soldier while we waited for the med-evac helicopter to come. We were to far in the woods to carry him back to the point where an ambulance could get to him. We were all cold. I was shivering violently and uncontrollably. I could have been the next one to do down. Until one of my fellow soldiers handed me a dry brown t-shirt. I took of the wet one I had, put the dry one on. Covered it in a rain jacket. Instead fighting to keep my body temperature normal I was able to focus on the task at hand, which was getting out of the woods and going home. I felt such relief and such gratitude.

We serve a Great, Big God. That this great God uses small things to reveal himself to us. He didn't call the elite or the powerful to be his disciples, he called the outcasts and the not-good-enoughs. He wasn't born in a palace but in a barn.

God doesn't call us to to be the biggest and the best. God doesn't call us to draw attention to ourselves with the grand gesture. He calls us to offer water to the thirsty, visits to those who are sick and in prison, food to the hungry and might I add, a t-shirt to those who are cold and wet.

Does this look like a throne of a king?  Perhaps.

This is Christ The King Sunday. This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. At the end of this year we are at the very edge of a new beginning. Next week we begin again a year with the season of Advent. Christ the King, bumped right up next to Christ the baby born in a barn to a teen-aged mom. The baby who lived under Roman occupation, the baby who would be a refugee in another country for a time. That baby would be come Christ the King. Our king! Jesus said, “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory?” I wonder what that will look like.

What will the throne of Jesus look like? Have you ever seen the movie Indiana Jones and the last Crusade? There is a scene in which Indiana Jones has to choose from dozens of goblets the one that belonged to Jesus during his earthly life. He bypassed all the big, bejeweled, and shiny Goblets in favor of a small simple cup. “The cup of a carpenter” he said. We serve a big God, we serve a powerful god. But God is a god of the small, the simple and the humble. Rather than big and shiny and bejeweled, I figure God's throne might look something like this Chief's stool. Simple and wooden.

We might be tempted to make the faith and to make the season about grand gestures and events and really great feelings. But Jesus says it's about giving a cup of water to the thirsty, some food to the hungry and taking care of the stranger.

So how is it with you today? Your King requires something of you. Mica 6:8 says, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? We can't say we never knew what we were supposed to do. Its right here in his Word. If you did or did not do it for the least of these who are members of his family you did or did not do it for Jesus. Simple as that. Would you pray with me?