Carried Away

One of the biggest shopping weekends of the year is past.  Did you get a little carried away with your shopping?  According to many reports, the stores were full of people all weekend.  On the days I went out, the stores were pretty full, though we managed to miss the major crush times.  Even so, as we are tallying up our Christmas purchases, we are already nearing the limit of our budget.  When buying things for those we love, it is hard not to get carried away.  However, is it the “Spirit of the Season” that is carrying us away or is it the “Spirit of Consumerism”?     

This past Sunday, I preached a sermon on one of the more challenging narratives in Matthew’s Gospel.  It is the account of Jesus telling his disciples about the end times – what it will be like when he comes again.  Here is the text, taken from Oremus.org

³⁶“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

I good friend of mine from seminary writes a weekly blog, and this week’s post was particularly insightful – so much so, that it really struck home for me.  Here is the link if you want to check it out:  http://omgcenter.com/2010/11/being-taken-on-an-adventure/ 

In a nutshell, she relates a sermon from her own pastor who discusses the word, “taken” in its context in Greek.  The word “taken” in Greek is the same one used when Jesus “took” someone as a disciple.  In essence, when someone is taken by God, they get carried away in mission.  This is a totally different way to read this account.  In essence, Jesus calls people to get “carried away” in mission, service, self-sacrifice, and devotion to God.  What a different way to read a passage that is often being used to put forward a message of judgment, division, and hate.  

What will carry you away this season?  Will consumerism, shopping, stress, and rushing around?  Will you, instead, spend time in worship, study of God’s word and prayer, so that you can get carried away by Jesus’ loving birth?  In the end, Jesus was “carried away” for you, and three days later he rose again to show you the value of following God.

Is the President a Christian?

“Is the President a Christian?”  This question has been all over the media for the past two years, and it has been gaining strength in more recent months.  The president has said that he is a Christian, and his answer to the question seems to be a genuine, “Yes.”   The bigger question that this whole issue raises for me is what difference knowing this information makes.  Does being a Christian make the president more effective in his role as the leader of our nation?  I’m not sure about that.  We have had some presidents who boldly declared their Christianity, and then acted in very unchristian ways.  In fact, these presidents probably hurt people’s perceptions about Christianity, because their actions and lifestyle did not match up with how we believe Christians should live their lives.

Many people claim to be Christian, but do their actions support or contradict this claim?  None of us can know what is in a person’s heart, but we can certainly draw some conclusions from what we observe about a person’s behavior.  To be a Christian first and foremost means loving Jesus and desiring to follow after him.  There are certain behaviors that many people would agree should be a part of a Christian’s life: prayer, reading the Bible, worshipping God regularly, acts of service in Jesus’ name, and being in relationship with other Christians.  These traits and behaviors are essential parts of a Christian’s life of faith.  These activities feed, challenge, strengthen, and renew the Christian life, while also showing our commitment and devotion to God.  Our faith is lived out in our actions.

We need to be cautious about this line of thought, however, because Jesus himself was concerned about false piety.  Jesus told a parable about a very religious person who went to the temple to pray, filling that space with beautiful prayers and rituals.  This religious person looked down his nose at others who came to that temple as being less righteous and worthy than himself.  At the same time, in the same temple there was a truly penitent sinner.  This person came in to confess his sins in very simple words and throw himself on God’s mercy.  The righteous person looked down on the man who came to confess his sins as unworthy of being in the temple, because he had lived such an unrighteous life.  In the end, Jesus praised the penitent sinner, and judged the self-righteous person.  Jesus is suggesting that our actions must flow out of humility and a true love of God.  In the end, we are made right with God by our faith, the God-inspired trust, in our loving and merciful God.   

Finally, none of us can know the true state of another person’s relationship with God.  Instead of asking about whether the president is a Christian, maybe we should be ask ourselves if we are living as Christians.  Would there be enough evidence for a court to convict me of being a Christian?  Can people see and know that I am a Christian?  And if people know that I am a Christian, what kind of conclusions will they make about the values and behavior of Christians, based on what they see in my life.

 As a Christian myself, my first concern needs to be my own faith life, for only I can know what is in my heart.  I cannot know what is in another person’s heart, nor am I in a position to judge them.  God alone will judge us, and at that time, God will do so, based on Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection.  In the end, every Christian is saved, not because of our actions, but solely because of Jesus’ love for all of God’s children.

Be A Bridge

In our day and time, there are many gulfs between people.  There are long-standing divisions between countries and groups of people.  One only needs to listen to the political ads on television and radio to here the anger hatred that flow between people over ideological differences.  How much more so, when there are serious ethnic and racial differences that divide us and make communication more difficult?  Personally, I find it very difficult to deal with someone who has betrayed me or broken my trust.  When someone has done something to directly hurt me or my family, it is like a huge gulf has opened up between us, and only the most amazing act of repentance or reconciliation could bridge this gulf.  Often these gulfs begin quite small, but over time, with misunderstandings and miscommunication, they can grow larger and larger.  We all know of people who are angry with someone else, so they refuse to talk to the person any longer – and even more, they may get upset with us, if we talk with that person ourselves.

When there is a strike at a company, like the one currently threatened at Genesys Hospital, a mediator is called in to help the two sides to talk with one another.  The mediator serves as a bridge between the two sides, helping them to communicate, working toward mutual understanding, and attempting to enforce accountability.  A mediator plays an important role in bridging the gap between people.

In our faith-lives, there is a huge gulf between us and God that is called sin.  St. Paul says in Romans, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…(Romans 3)”  All have sinned and continue to sin.  Even when we try to live according to God’s will, St. Paul would remind us that we cannot on our own power ever meet God’s expectations.  In fact, at times we really mess things up, hurting those close to us and destroying our relationships with them and God.  This past week, someone I have known for some time was caught doing something truly dreadful.  This individual, his family and friends, his church, and countless others will pay for his crime for many years to come.  His sin will lead to a huge gulf in those relationships that will probably take many years to close.

The good news about the gulf between us and God is that there is a bridge over this gulf –a bridge called, “Jesus”.  Jesus came to be the mediator between God and humanity (I Timothy 2), paying the price for our sins, granting us forgiveness, and giving us a new relationship with God.  This forgiveness is God’s free gift to us, and there is nothing that we need to do to earn this gift.  Jesus bridges the gulf between humans and God, and nothing can ever separate us from God’s love – this is God’s promise (Romans 8).    

The bridge does not guarantee that we will not still have differences with other people and that we will not be separated from them.  It also does not mean that there are not consequences for our sins or the times when we hurt those around us.  We are all still human, and we will still have broken relationships that lead to misunderstandings and gaps between us.  At the same time, Jesus calls on his children – all of us – to work to bridge the gaps and begin to act as mediators ourselves.  When asked how often people should forgive others, Jesus told his disciples seven times seven times, which meant that they should forgive them continually and completely. 

As Christian people, we are called to be bridges and to live as peace-makers.  Not only are we to forgive those who have hurt us, but also to encourage others to work toward forgiveness as well.

Rather than building walls, Christians need to be people who build bridges.  Followers of Jesus need to live in ways where we are pointing to Jesus through all we say and do.  One of the greatest witnesses that we can make is when we offer forgiveness to someone who has hurt us greatly.  It is easy to forgive a good friend, but can you forgive an enemy?  Can you imagine a place in God’s Kingdom for the person who hurts a child or abuses the elderly – is God’s grace that big?  Personally, who do you need to forgive in your life?  Can you let Jesus be a bridge-builder, not only between you and God, but also between you and someone who has hurt you or someone else?  How would Jesus call on you to “Be a Bridge”?

To Seek and Save the Lost

We are surrounded by many who are lost….

The college student who after a night of partying and living for the moment finds her life altered forever with an unintended pregnancy, a judgmental family, and lost dreams…

The successful professional who decides to drive after drinking and kills a child in another vehicle, forever changing his future and filling him with guilt…

The 75 year old who loses their spouse to a long battle with cancer and now finds life to have lost its meaning….

We are surrounded by many who are lost….In fact, at various times in life; we all have been the lost sheep. When you are lost, it is nearly impossible o find yourself – you need someone who will help find you. Whether we were aware of it or not, in those times, God has always sought us out. The stories above are very dramatic examples of people who have felt lost, but we all have experienced some time or situation when we felt lost. When we experienced these times of being lost, how did we experience being found? Did someone help us to find our way again?

Jesus tells a story about a shepherd, which may help us to understand his priorities a little better…There once, was a shepherd who had 100 sheep in his care. One evening, this shepherd noticed one sheep was missing. Leaving the 99 behind, he abandoned all caution to go out and seek the one sheep that was lost. Upon finding the lost sheep, he celebrated greatly that he had found the one that was lost.

As we read Jesus’ teachings, it is clear that he sees God as the one who anxiously seeks out those who are lost. Notice that the sheep did not repent and find its way home – the shepherd went out to find it, risking everything to find the one that was lost. Once the sheep was found, the shepherd did not berate or judge the sheep – the shepherd simply celebrated the fact that the sheep was found and returned to the fold.

What does this tell us? The role of those who follow Jesus should be to help seek out those who are lost – those whom the world may view as unworthy of God’s love and mercy, those who struggle with sin and bad choices, those who wrestle with addictions, those who are lost in worlds of grief or loss, those who have lost jobs or hope. There are many in our world who are lost – in fact, all of us are lost at various moments of our lives. If the church is to follows Jesus, we need to be people who make it their job to seek out the ones who are lost.

How do churches take on this mindset after years of worrying about the 99? It begins with filling our hearts with the compassion of Jesus. Too often, the only messages that people associate with churches are messages of hatred, judgment, and retribution. Look at the headlines this week and you will read about a church that will commemorate the 9/11 Terror attacks by burning a copy of the Quran. What will this act of hatred show those who are lost and looking for spiritual guidance? Will people see this act and associate it with a church that will point them to a God who loves them and all of creation? How can the church regain a love for those who are lost and a desire to find them and lead them home? How can we offer the lost acts of grace and compassion that overwhelm the media and put Jesus’ love in front of the eyes of the world.  Wouldn’t it be great if on 9/11 every Christian would make a demonstration of Jesus’ love?  If we did this, then the world would really see the way that God calls the Christian to act, and even more, acts of terror and hatred would then truly lose!  Nothing in all of creation can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How can we be a church that boldly lives the mission of Jesus – to seek and save the lost as we Worship God, Follow Jesus, and Share God’s word? May we listen with our hearts to the call and direction of the Spirit…