Love, Love, Love

Last Friday, my parents came up to see Georgia and to hang out a little bit, and we went over to Tuckston United Methodist Church on the eastside of Athnes where my dad was a minister for 8 years, to go to their “Bethlehem marketplace.”

All the members of their church put on their bath robes, they dress up, and act like characters from Bethlehem as guests travel through, going to all the shops, and at each shop the people talk about how some “strange travelers” have come through recently. A young girl, riding a donkey, and a man who is engaged to her…which is quite a bit of a scandal.

Then, as you continue along your journey, you come to the inn. Where the innkeeper is talking about how there is no room, and that it broke his heart that he even had to turn away a young couple expecting a baby, and he wondered where they went. Then, his young daughter popped up, and exclaimed, “I know where they went!” And proceeds to show you the manger, where the baby is sleeping, and angels singing overhead.

It was a fun time to journey through Bethlehem. A lot of people broke character as we walked through to ask about how we were and what was going on. We swapped stories about how children and grandchildren were doing. And as we journeyed through, I thought about our own journey. I grew up in Athens, went to college, went to seminary, got married, had a child, moved here. A lot has happened in the short time we’ve been away from Athens, it has been quite a journey.

Hopefully, we have been journeying toward Bethlehem all of Advent. Shaking off the commercialism and busyness of the season to shed some light on what it means that Christ is coming among us. We light one more candle each week as we go throughout our journey, and many times it is good to look back at our journey to see where we have been, so that we can be better informed to know where we are going.

We started our journey talking about hope. Knowing that hope is something that undergirds our life, and that hope is what Christ brings into the world. I hope you all have shared your hopes with one another, and with your family. We all have hopes…but we learned that we also have Hope, with a capital H. Jesus Christ brings us hope. Hope for a future that is wonderful. And hope that this future is already breaking into our lives every day. Putting our Christmas Hope list together.
Then we talked about peace. Finding peace in the everyday, and becoming peace makers in our community, and the world. Trading in the pieces of ourselves for the peace of Christ.
Relinquishing our control of territory, and giving it over to God for the peace that God offers. That was the second leg of our journey.

Then, last week we talked about joy. How joy is different from happiness. And we have so many things to be joyful about. Mike and Teresa joined our church. This community rallied together to help some among us. The youth sacrificed Christmas gifts to buy a water buffalo for a developing country. We had laughter and music all afternoon at the parsonage, and we even had a joyful administrative council meeting, believe it or not, because there is so much to be joyful about. That was the third leg of our journey.

And now we are on the home stretch.

I ran cross country in high school. And whenever I would run a race, I would always try to pace myself. But then, when you get to that last stretch of the track, seeing the finish line in front of me, I found that I had an extra boost of energy. I run harder and faster that last leg, because you know that once you hit that line, you are done, and you can rest, and get replenished.
And so on this Sunday, we find ourselves on that last stretch of track in Advent. Some of us may want it just to be done. To go back to normalcy in our lives. Where we can take down the decorations, and rearrange our furniture back where it is supposed to be. We can get back into our routines without expectations of entertaining and shopping.

Well, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news for those who want everything to go back to normal.

The good news is that Christ is coming. Christ is coming to be with us. Christ isn’t coming as a war hero who is going to take the world by force. Christ isn’t coming as a political figure who will unite everyone under the same banner. Christ isn’t even coming on a cloud or riding a horse or in an earthquake. Christ is coming…as a baby. The same way all of us came into the world. Christ is coming…as Jesus. As one who is born, grows up, and walks among us. Doing the one thing all the time that we all too often forget how to do…love.

That is today’s candle that we light in expectation of Christmas. Love. The one thing that holds it all together. The love of God is what gives us hope, it is what gives us peace, and it is what gives us joy.

Now for the bad news for everyone who just wants things to go back to the way they were.

It won’t.

Because when love enraptures your soul, things are never the same.

The letter Paul is writing to the Romans is a letter he is writing to people he has never met. He plans to go to the Romans, to preach there, and to take up a collection for a mission trip he has planned for Spain. And his letter to the Romans starts off in a different way than any of the other letters he writes.

Basically, it says: I’m Paul, and here is what I’m all about. I’m all about Christ and who he calls me to be.

If you were to write a letter like that, what is it you would say?
Hello, I’m (Blank), and here is what I’m all about.

Are you all about family? Or all about Children? Are you all about your work? Are you all about retirement? Are you all about hunting? Are you all about sports? Think about that for a second. What are you all about? Where do you invest your time, money, and energy, because where you invest those three things says a lot about who you are. If you are all about your family, then everything you do springs from that well. That is where you derive your source and your strength.

Or if we wrote that letter, together, as a community, what would it say we were all about. If we wrote a letter that was to be distributed to everyone in Franklin County, we would say, “Hello, we are Bold Spring United Methodist Church, and this is what we are all about.”

Might I suggest love? It is the foundation upon which we stand…that God is love.

Might I suggest love, because as the Beatles say, love is all you need.

But I’m not talking about a feeling, and I’m not saying that you can survive on love. We all know that there are other things people need. Shelter, food, clothing; sure, but also vocation, purpose, hope, peace, and joy. But when we are all about love of God and love of neighbor, we want those things for everybody, not just for ourselves.

When we are all about love…everything will change. Love will become the source of who we are, it will become the motivation of our actions, it will be the reason we get out of bed in the morning, and it will be the reason that when we lie down, our minds are churning of what we can do to share love with others.

Because the other thing the Beatles say about love is that in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.

So we must share it.

One of the more interesting phenomena that we are experiencing right now is that there is a third kind of company that is emerging in the marketplace. There used to be two, simple, neat categories of “For profit,” which is a publicly traded company, and “Not-for-profit.” That is not the case anymore as a third category has emerged called “For Benefit.” These companies make as part of their mission to benefit society. The old model used to be that you made as much money as you possibly could, by whatever means you could, so that you reached a point that you were taken care of and you gave the rest philanthropically. The “For Benefit” companies are taking a different approach. They are publicly traded, but want to make their societal impact now. And so they make money, but they make money for the purpose of making a positive impact on the world.

Tom’s shoes is an example. Which is a company based out of California that makes and sells pretty trendy shoes. I heard an interview with the creator and CEO, Blake Mycoskie, on NPR. For every pair of shoes that is purchased, Tom’s shoes donates a pair of shoes to a village in the developing world. That’s it. And they have already given away millions of shoes to children mainly to prevent cuts, scrapes, it helps them receive an education, and stay healthy. For Benefit.

I am intrigued by this model.

Mainly because I think it does what the church should do. Make an impact. Not just exist solely for its members, though there is benefit in being a member here, but also be for benefit of the community in which it exists. Offering the love of Christ. As much love as is created here, as much love is given away. And so on and so on.

Christ is coming among us. So while we are on the homestretch of this Christmas season, we may ramp up our energy to push through the finish line…but I believe that we are pushing through to the starting line. The point at which we begin, which is Jesus Christ coming into our lives.

Then, everything changes. But most importantly, what we are all about. Love of God, and love of neighbor.

The root of our life. And a life-giving presence. I believe we are beginning to see what love can do. And we are beginning to understand that this entire Advent season, as we have been preparing and waiting with anticipation Christ coming to be among us; that when he comes, our lives will change. And we will see what love can do at this church and in this community.
Let’s see what love can do.

Love can break down barriers. Barriers that are hindering all of us. Barriers of guilt, barriers of doubt, and barriers of fear. Whether they are racial barriers, economic barriers, class barriers, or political barriers…we all have things that are preventing us from being in community with one another. Love can break down those barriers.

Love can inspire mission. Can inspire us to give of ourselves. And the youth are leading us in this. The youth go on a mission trip every summer. The youth have been raising money for a water buffalo through Heifer international, and the youth have been volunteering their time at Cornerstone ministries to pack bags of food for those in our community. Love can do that.

Love can make us one with Christ. One with each other. And one in ministry to all the world, the promises that we make week after week. Love is what makes it possible.

Hello, we are Bold Spring United Methodist Church. We are all about love of God, and love of neighbor. We like to see what love can do in our world. And we do it, because of Christ being in our life, and offering us life. Christ saves us, and inspires us. Won’t you join us?

I'm talkin' 'bout joy

I first want to make a correction. With my sketchy memory, I gave you some wrong information on Byron Herbert Reece last week, the poet who wrote the poem I read to you about John the Baptizer. He went to and taught at Young Harris, not at Reindhardt. And, Chowy-Stowy is near Blairsville, not Canton. I’m sorry for the confusion.

But that aside, I think we all learned how peace is coming, and we should follow our cue from John on how to prepare the way for it.

So far, we have talked about Hope and Peace. How they are coming to us in this Christmas season. We do not need to lose sight of that. Despite things ramping up with the holidays approaching, exams coming, Travel plans to arrange, decorating to be done, shopping to think about…all of these things take a back seat to hope, peace, and today’s candle…joy.

Church gurus around the world decided that this candle should not be purple like the rest, but should be pink. They felt that purple was too much of a downer, so they went with a brighter color.

Now too many of us in this Christmas season, and in our country confuse joy with happiness. I think it might have something to do with a whole generation being raised on the Partridge Family where the opening theme song was, C’mon get happy!

Like if you aren’t happy, then there is something wrong with you.

But I think that if we are honest with ourselves, its impossible to be happy all of the time. There are tough days. And Christmas time is no exception.

Some of us have lost people who were very special to us recently. Some of us are worried about closing out the year. Many of us have experienced loss in one way or another, as a lot can happen in our lives. Sometimes it is expected, but many times it is not. If we are honest, as we should be this time of year, we don’t feel very happy.

Yet we feel this pressure all around us to be happy. That as long as we can grip something with our mind vice we can force ourselves to look on the bright side, and forget about the rest.

So on the day when we light the candle for joy…we wonder if it is even possible, because we confuse happiness with joy. Because happiness is a feeling. And feelings come and go. But our joy isn’t based on a feeling. It is based on a relationship. A relationship that will always be there. A relationship that we explore anew at this time every year, but one in which we should explore every day. A relationship on one we call both savior, and friend. Who we call a King, yet is coming among us as a baby.

The people to whom Isaiah was talking felt that too. They were under threats from all sides. Assyrians, Babylonians, Egypt…different kings with different agendas that wanted their land for different purposes. Some practical, some political, but the single truth remained that the land promised to them, and given to them by God, was being taken away from them by forces beyond their control.

We can’t control our lives. We think we can. We operate under the allusion of control with insurance policies and security systems, but we can’t control everything.

Just as we can’t save ourselves. Only God can. We can’t heal ourselves, only God can. You see we feel the same things that the displaced Israelites felt. That we are tired at the end of the day from all of our activities, trying to be good people and doing good, and we wonder if we made any difference. We feel that some things in life just aren’t fair. Why some people are “normal” and many of us are not. Why some have all the luck, and some do not. Like the song by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Sometimes you are windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.

How can we be honest and light a candle for joy in the face of that?

We can light the candle, because Joy is different from happiness.

One of my family’s holiday traditions is that after the late Christmas eve service, we would watch a Claymation Christmas. It was this special that ran on TV one time, and my parents happened to tape it. It was made by Will Vinton, who is a claymation artist. Claymation was stop motion animation where Clay figures were made, and you would move them one motion, take a picture. Move them a little bit more, take a picture, and so on and so on. So when we ran through the pictures quickly, it looked like they were moving. It was a tedious process, but I always really liked it.

Claymation Christmas is the clay figures singing various Christmas carols hosted by a clay tyrannosaurus rex and a triceratops. I just realized how ridiculous that sounds, and I don’t think I could make that up if I tried.

But one of my favorite carols from that show is their rendition of Joy to the world. It is a gospel version, and during it a stained glass window in the church comes alive. And at one point, the bass line of the song is, “I’m talking ‘bout joy.” Repeated over and over and over.

I’m talking ‘bout joy.

I’m talking about praising and worshipping God to the ends of the earth. I’m talking about families loving, forgiving, and eating with one another. I’m talking about the true gift of the season, Jesus Christ coming into our lives. I’m talking ‘bout joy.

I’m talking about living your true calling and true vocation. I’m talking about seeing your kids grow up, and asking the tough questions, and doing wonderful things in their lives and in their communities. I’m talking about giving becoming far greater a priority in our lives than receiving. I’m talking ‘bout joy.

And I’m talking about joy, in spite of our unhappiness, that God is in control of this world, and God is in control of our lives.


One of the more interesting things to me about this passage from Isaiah is that the mute will sing songs, and the lame will leap like deer. Not only are these people given abilities that they did not have before, but they use them to their utmost.

Because when you walk on that Holy Road, we are expected to use whatever gifts God has given us to the utmost. I’m talking ‘bout joy.

Strengthen those drooping hands, and weak knees. When the toughness of the world is crashing down on you. God is coming.

The kids sang last week, and they did a phenomenal job when they interpreted what Mary, the young girl that found out from an angel that she was going to have a child says to God…The answer is yes.

God is breaking through into our lives…say yes, because we are being invited on a wonderful adventure with wonderful opportunity. The iconic character from JRR Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, never would have gone on an adventure, or played in part in the righting of their world had he not done one thing…leave the shire. Leave his comfort when he was invited.

God is inviting all of us this Christmas season. God is inviting us to share the love and joy of Christ that we have. God is inviting us to be a part of something truly special when we say we will become a part of this church. God may be inviting you to work with the children. God may be inviting you to sing in the choir. God may be inviting you to help with the youth. God may be inviting you to a mission trip. God may be inviting you to give a tithe, 10% of your income, which is a scary thing, because you have never done any of these things before and you don’t know if you are talented enough, and you aren’t sure if you will make it. …say yes.

I’m talking ‘bout joy.

Times are tough, and sometimes we are not happy, but I’m talking ‘bout joy. That hope that Jesus is coming and breaking into the dark places in life to shine his light. The peace that will be brought in the world and in our innermost selves.

I see joy in your faces, and I see it in this church. As we are getting closer and closer to Christmas, we honor those and those things we have lost, but joy is coming…and joy is here.

Don’t lose it.

My dad, has always compared me to Tigger, from the Winnie the Pooh books. He says that I have a “bounce” to me. He says he knows that things are tough when I lose my bounce, and sometimes I need to get my bounce back.

I will be honest with you this morning, I was losing my bounce there for a while. I was struggling in my ministry, and was struggling in my calling to even continue to be a minister. I researched teaching and a host of other things that I could do. But being here at Bold Spring. In this community, in this church, with all of you and the great things that we have done and all of the energy and great things that God is asking us to do…I have my bounce back.

What gives you bounce? What gives you joy? Is it seeing new faces among the familiar ones here at our church? Is it great music? Is it the faces of the children?

If you have lost your bounce this year, I hope you are able to get it back, because God is giving it back to us. To restore our relationship with him…he is sending his son.
I’m talking ‘bout joy.

Peace

Last week, we heard from Paul about the hope we have in our lives. About how Christ’s breaking into the world is a reality into which we must live our lives now. I hope you, as I have been, keeping your “Christmas list.” If you weren’t able to be here last week, I would love to talk to you about how to make your own Christmas list, or you can find someone who was here last week who would love to share it with you.
Our hopes are rooted in the hope that Christ brings…so what do you hope for this Christmas?

This week, we hear from John the Baptist. I’ll be honest with you, the worst sermon I ever preached was on John the Baptist. Hopefully, that history won’t repeat itself this morning. But I think one of the reasons that sermon was so bad was because I don’t feel like I’ve ever quite understood John or his role in all of this. He is a prophet, in the same manner as Elijah, quoting Isaiah, and preparing us for Christ. Yet he is a prophet on the outside who shouts things at the religious and political establishment that would never be said in polite company. He is extremely important, but dresses as someone extremely poor, and lives on whatever the land gives to him.

I don’t really know anybody like that. With the courage to stand up against the powers of this world…but also with authority given to him that people listen. I would compare him to a “street preacher,” but his words are not ignored by those passing by. And yet, he also steps aside when people begin to give him more authority than his purpose, showing a tremendous amount of humility.

So this week, while I was working on this sermon I became engaged in a conversation with a good friend of mine who is a brilliant religious skeptic. He is in a master’s program for creative writing and is getting some essays published soon in a journal and was asking for some help forming some sentences and syntax. While I had him on the phone and sharing google documents, I decided to jump on the opportunity to ask him about John, to which he replied to me with a poem by Byron Herbert Reece.

I really enjoy poetry. There is something that a poem can say that just cannot be said in other ways, and I particularly enjoyed this one.

Byron Herbert Reece is a fascinating person in his own right. A son of farmers in the Choestoe community near Blairsville, Georgia. He went to Young Harris, but never graduated because he began getting published. He constantly fluxed between unsuccessfully managing his family’s farm, and successfully teaching and writing at UGA, Young Harris, and Emory. His books and poems had widespread fame, but he had just as equally widespread trouble managing his money, and died in obscurity. He wrote a poem about John that my friend shared with me, and I want to share with you because it tells the whole story of John. The poem is a little lengthy, but I wanted to share just the first and sixth stanza with you as it talks about our text this morning. Its titled: John: A New Testament Ballad.

O, who is that with raven tress
And fire-face, crying in the wilderness?

It’s John

Who is it shouts so loud and rude,
Who speaks so sharp to the multitude?

It’s John

His words seem dark to mate his hair,
The way of Christ the Lord prepare,
Does John

What else are those that come advised?

Repent, repent and be baptized,
Says John.

Though water has no power to save,
And I baptize in Jordan’s wave,

Another cometh after me,
With heaven’s fire baptizes He!
Says John, John, John.


VI
Well, Herod long at rest has been,
Lying the grave’s stark width within.

The good thing out of Nazareth
Has rendered up His mortal breath,

And John the Baptist looked of late
With dead eye from Salome’s plate;

All in time are drowned and dim-
Have we not heard the last of them?

Not so, for Herod lives again
The million lives of sinful men,

And Christ the Lord on Easter morn
Held death’s dominion up to scorn;

And though betimes his rest is deep
John may not always silence keep.

He quiet lies and does not cry
As long as men put evil by,

Keeps silence will men bow to sin
And then we wakes and cries again,
Does John, John, John!


John has a role…one that we should try so hard to emulate, and that role is to prepare the world for Jesus. But before we can prepare the world, we have to make sure we are prepared for Jesus. That is why we come to church, we come to Sunday school, and why we are gathering at the table this morning…to prepare for Jesus.

And in preparation, we need to talk about peace. That is the candle we lit this morning on the advent wreath in our anticipation of Christmas. Peace.

So many times, we confuse the spellings of the word peace. We replace the “A” in the world with an “I”. so in trying to establish P-E-A-C-E, we push each other aside to grab our P-I-E-C-E.

Since we began to establish our own territory, people have fought. Look back to the Garden of Eden. Everything was at peace, until Adam and Eve wanted a piece of what God said was His.

Think back to your history classes, what was the reason a majority of wars are fought? Territory. Someone wanting to add to his or her piece, by taking it from someone else. That’s one of the main problems in every conflict right now in the world…people taking pieces from one another. And by taking each others pieces, we take each other’s peace.

I’ve been in a fight one time in my life. I don’t know why it happened. It was in the fifth grade. A guy named Bryce punched me at soccer practice, and I punched him back. I think it was over a girl. We both cried, which didn’t impress the girl. Then, in talking to the coach, he asked us, “did that make you feel better?” No, we sobbed. And I didn’t. I didn’t have peace. Because as Ghandi said, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

And it was the same problem that John was facing. All the religious and political establishments of the time were trying to assert their authority so that their piece of the pie would remain intact. It says both Sadducees and Pharisees were there at the time John was preaching. Those two groups are NEVER together because they are at odds religiously. They believe different things, yet they both come to hear John because what he has to say applies to all of us. The political establishment feared John, because the pieces they had worked so hard to get suddenly would become obsolete if what John was saying were true. Get ready, because Christ is coming. And all of our little pieces that we have carved out for ourselves, will be consumed into the P-E-A-C-E of Christ.

And so he says “repent, repent and be baptized.” In another way of saying it, give your piece back to God, and God will establish peace in your life. Trade your pieces, for peace.

We have all of these ideas of ownership and territory, especially at Christmas. I don’t know about your family, but ours runs into it. We each have our own things that we bring to the table, and we each have our own priorities, and it is when we bump into each other, that we have conflict.

Meredith and I love the show “Parenthood.” It is a wonderful show, and we both love watching it because we both come from big families with all kinds of family dynamics and subtleties and we are all trying to figure it out together. And two weeks ago, they had a thanksgiving episode. One of the major points of conflict in their thanksgiving dinner was that a guest of the family brought pie. It was the guest’s family tradition. And one of the sisters in the family is the one who made the pie. They infringed on each others territory, so there was conflict.

The same thing happens at Christmas. There is competition in who gets what gifts for who, and how much time is spent with family, and to make sure it is equal and fair. That is one of the hardest adjustments people have to make when they get married. Becoming absorbed in each others traditions. Because there will be conflict. Like does spending two days with one family during the month of December equal spending Christmas Eve with the other? These are the kinds of bartering conversations that happen around the holidays.

And John is telling us this morning…all of those things are human constructs and restrictions you have put on yourselves. Trade those broken pieces of yourself in. Repent, repent and be baptized. Trade those pieces, for peace.

Peace is what we need to offer the world through this church. Where we share what we have because it’s not our piece anyway, it’s God’s. Where in committee meetings and program areas we don’t fight with one another because someone is infringing on our territory, but that we trust one another and work with one another. Our committee meetings should be something that people are excited to be a part of because they are being given an opportunity to serve…not something that is dreaded because people feel ownership over things.

We don’t own this church. God does. We don’t own this world. God does. And God can offer peace when we just turn in the broken pieces of ourselves.

Where do you find your peace? Is it in your family? Is it in reading? Is it in athletics? Is it in the quiet, or is it in the cacophony of noise? Where do you find peace?

Because peace is what is coming. John tells us so. John is like the stagehand who builds the set for the play. He doesn’t get a lot of recognition for the magic of the play, the main character does. But without the set…where is the main character going to stand?

The main character in our lives is Jesus. And Jesus is bringing peace. John tells us how to prepare the place for Jesus to stand.

Personally, I find a tremendous amount of peace in the sacrament of holy communion. Where we gather together, all as one family, none more important than another. Whether you have been here for 30 years or thirty minutes you are welcome at this table. You get the same bread and the same grape juice that everyone else gets. And we are all offered the same nourishment of God’s tremendous grace. There are no restrictions on it. It doesn’t matter what you have done in your life that makes you feel unworthy. It doesn’t matter if you are scared of what people might think of you. We all share it together.

Let this Christmas season be a time of peace for you. Prepare for it. Prepare for Jesus coming into your life. Let go of all those tiny pieces you hold most dear, and give them to God in exchange for peace.

Rethink Hope

So as you have undoubtedly noticed. Today is different. A group gathered last Monday to decorate the sanctuary, and they did a wonderful job doing so. I am now beardless, and even got a haircut. I am wearing a different robe, as I talked with the kids about earlier. We all ate our turkey and saw our family, and now we are back. College students are gearing up for final exams, and we are gearing up for Christmas.

Today is different.

Because Christmas is a big deal. If you are hosting your family, you want everything to be perfect. If you are going somewhere, you have to make travel plans. There is shopping to do. There is decorating to do. And there is baking to do. All of it comes in this season. You want to make sure that you get the right gifts for people, ones that they will use, and not stick in a drawer somewhere. And sometimes it seems, that every year gets harder. We try so hard to keep the magic of Christmas, but for many, it becomes an extra chore in our already busy lives.

When Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome. He fully believed that Christ was going to return during his lifetime. That is why his message is so urgent. Wake up and get dressed, he says, because Christ is coming back, so have your things packed and your affairs in order, because its happening.
Well like the boy who cried wolf, the more Paul said that, and the longer Christ delayed his return, the less prepared people seemed to be. It’s understandable. If someone keeps telling you to run to the window to see something, and nothing is there, eventually you are going to stop running to the window.

So every year that it didn’t happen. The less excited people get. So here we are, 2000 years later, and the magic of Christ’s return is no longer there.
But Today is different.

Because what we have realized together is that Paul is not wrong in his urgency, and he is not wrong in his timing. But the point of talking about Christ’s return is not to talk about a date on a calendar, but it is to talk about the hope that Christ gives.

What do you hope for? Is it health? Is it safety? Is it happiness? Is it love? What do you hope for?

One of the things I always loved about this season is the advent wreath. My dad would always light the candles of the advent wreath on its appropriate day, and we would have tapered candles, much like these. And the first candle that is lit, burns down further than all of the rest. And it just keeps getting shorter and shorter all throughout the season of Advent. So as a kid I watched that candle, because I was so sure that it was going to burn so low that it was going to catch the wreath on fire! I was really trying to make sure it didn’t happen, so my advent was spent watching candles. I just waited in anticipation every year, but it never happened.

But that feeling of anticipation is a wonderful feeling. The feeling that something remarkable is going to happen, so we can expectantly sit and wait. Knowing, that our patience will pay off and we will be rewarded. Anticipation is a good thing.
We need to get that anticipation back. Remember when you were a kid and you looked forward to Christmas so much that you couldn’t fall asleep because you were wondering what would come the next day?

Remember the feeling you had when you asked someone to marry you, and you waited on their answer?

Remember when you took a major risk, not knowing what the outcome would be, and hoping for the best?

We need to get that feeling back…the anticipation of Christ breaking into the world. Because that is what he has done, and is doing. We are in the present, the point where past and future collide, and in anticipation of all that Christ is going to do in the world, how can we not be excited? How can we keep it to ourselves?

So Paul says, wake up, and get ready! Don’t do things that are going to numb your senses, because you need to stay alert. Don’t do anything to harm your relationships with others because you are going to need them, as they need you. Christ is coming, and it is a good thing.

Christmas is coming, and it is a good thing.
Even with lists, and decorating, and cleaning, and everything else that goes on, we don’t need to forget what an incredible opportunity Christmas brings. Christmas brings God among us. Christmas brings hope.

Hope is a good thing. Here is what we hope for.

We hope for a world that does not learn war anymore. That’s not reality for us right now. One of my former youth is stationed in South Korea right now, and with the attacks perpetrated by North Korea and the grumblings of the world’s super powers, the hope of a world that does not learn war anymore looks bleak.

We hope for a world that has no tears, and no pain. We prayed for people this morning that they would experience this in their lives, and we hope for their healing.

We hope for a world where no one is hungry, and all are satisfied. Where equity and justice rule in our world, rather than stratification and class.

We hope our church honors God, in everything that we do, and we pray for His blessings upon our ministry for doing so, and that we have joy in being a part of this community.

What do you hope for this Christmas?

It is so easy to get caught up and bogged down in the busyness of the season that we forget that hope is coming. So wake up, and get dressed.

This past week, while we were at my parent’s house, my dad asked me what we wanted for Christmas. I pulled out my iphone, where I have been keeping a running list for a few months of things that have piqued my interest that I didn’t want to forget just in case this scenario ever were to come up. Because it drives me a little crazy when you ask somebody what they want, and they don’t know. And while I was reading this Christmas wish list of mine…I realized that I had left off a bunch of things.

Here are the things I added to my Christmas list.

That my daughter continue to grow and learn and become the wonderful person I hope she will be.

That the new baby be born healthy.

That my marriage will be strong and joyful throughout our lives.

For health of all those I love.

That God continues to inspire me every day with being called to be a Christian, and to accept the responsibility that entails.

That God bless and use this church to be a shining light to this community, and help make disciples of Jesus Christ.

That God establish his Kingdom on Earth, and war, pain, and fear is gone.

You see, when we make our Christmas list, we should ask for the things we hope for. Because our hope comes from Christ, and the anticipation of Christ’s coming is so exciting, because our hopes will become reality.


What’s on your Christmas list? I have placed a note card in every bulletin. I want you to put this note card in a prominent place in your home. On your kitchen table, on the refrigerator, somewhere. And I want this to be your Christmas list. What do you hope for this year? Pray about it, write it down. Use this note card like you use your other to-do lists…when you think about something, write it down. I think you will realize, that the things that are important to hope for, are not material things, but eternal things that we hope for in Christ.

Christ is our hope. And the magic of Christmas is still there. And the joy of our hope in the coming of Christ is still there. Today is different. What do you hope for this year?

One of my hopes is that this church can be as excellent as it can possibly be. That is why I have taken the note cards that you all allowed me to read from our visioning meeting two weeks ago and made them into a “Christmas list” on our altar. That our visions and hopes are rooted in Christ.

This Christmas, instead of depleting our energy and bank accounts, Christ can renew our spirits and hope.

Let us build our hope on Christ. Let’s build our Christmas list. And when we know what our hopes are…let us lean on Christ, anticipating our help in making them a reality.

Kings

There are a lot of Kings in this world. The Sacramento Kings, the LA Kings, The Lion, the mascot of Franklin County High School is known as the King of the jungle…which is ironic because most of them live in the African Savannah. King Lear, King Tut, King Kong, Don King, Burger King, and Nissan even had a King cab truck that my dad used to own, and it was my sister’s first car.

A King is a ruler. The one in charge of everything. In History of the World Part I, Mel Brooks is playing Louie XIV, and his famous line is…”its good to be the King.” He says it because as king, he can do whatever he wants. Of course the real Louie XIV ended up doing “whatever he wants” a little too much because the people of France eventually had a revolution.

The South was built on King Cotton, and now, it seems, oil is king. Our state is named after King George. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention, “The King.” Elvis Pressley.

Yes, there are a lot of Kings in our world. And today, on the last Sunday of our Christian year, we celebrate Christ as our King. Even as we prepare to welcome Christ as a vulnerable child during the season of advent, we still acknowledge him to be King of Kings.

In talking to the Community at Collossae, Paul needs to remind them that, yes, Christ is King. Because to many people in that congregation, he didn’t really seem like a king.

To the people of Collossae, Kings were the ones who lived in palaces and made war. Not the ones who ate with the poor and sinners. Jesus preached peace and reconciliation. And, he was crucified on a cross, hailed as the King of the Jews.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never met a King. I’ve met a princess, which was neat. I went to college with her. Mary Ebunegwe was an African princess. But I never met her father, so I’ve never met a king…unless you count college football.

I say it in humor, but there is a ring of truth to it. When we talk about Kings we are talking about authority. We give authority away all the time, to things that will give us security in this insecure world, or to help us forget our lives. When we make kings of something, that means that we serve it.

We make kings out of things all the time. College football is a big one. We pay homage to it, we allow it to dictate our lives. But there are other things we make into kings. Schedules is a big one.

We have Thanksgiving coming up, and in mine and Meredith’s first year of marriage we discovered that holidays are rough. You see, my family all lives in Georgia, and Meredith’s family all lives in Georgia. And my dad’s family, my mom’s family, meredith’s dad’s family, her mom’s family, and our immediate families all wanted to get together for Thanksgiving. It was too much. We spent a majority of Thanksgiving in the car…hardly any of it giving thanks.

We have a schedule now…and it is King. It is above all of the directions being pulled.

But we make our schedules into these rulers of our lives. Calendars and watches that dictate where we go and who we are going to be.

Or we make our children king. That whatever they say goes, when really, we need to be parents, and let them know who is the true king.

In our churches we let numbers be king. How many people are coming, how many people are giving, how many members do we have. And numbers become King and tell us how successful we are as a church.

Medical emergencies become king. Fear becomes King. Anger becomes King.
We all are kingmakers in our own way. We allow things to rule and dictate our lives, hoping for some sort of security given to us by our very own King. Hoping one day to be Kings ourselves.

But as we come here on Christ the King Sunday, we get a different story. That is what Paul is telling the Christians here by reciting an old hymn to them. Christ brings peace. All of your earthly kings bring war, but Christ brings peace.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Quakers because they are peacemakers…at all costs. I believe in peace. I believe it can be attained, and I believe it can be attained in my lifetime.

Our planet has 6 billion people on it. And that number is growing. The world is straining under that load as we consume more and throw away more. As we are moving in closer and closer together, and as the world is shrinking through new technology and communication, Christians should be known in the world as bringers of peace. But I’m afraid that we don’t. I feel that the perception of Christians in the world is that we are combative, and I can understand where that comes from as we have started to base our churches on a market model, and if you have ever seen the trade floor on wall street that IS the market model, its combative. But we are called to peace. That is Christ the King. Christ is redefining what a King is, and redefining the kingdom.

And this peace, came as a result of Christ’s suffering and death on behalf of us all. So anyone who tells you that you choose to be saved, I believe is wrong. Christ saves us, because Christ is King, and we can acknowledge it, or we don’t.

When Christ is King, all powers of darkness are overthrown. Not only overthrown, but reconciled to the creator. They are no longer powers of darkness but forces for light when Christ is King. When Christ is King, he is the head of the church, with all churches following him as his disciples. When Christ is King, in every meeting, in every small group discussion, in every program we should stop and ask…does this put Christ first? Because Christ is King.

I think we are grasping at straws when we make other things King. And we do all the time. We make our school king, we make our team king, we make our political ideology king. But when we make Christ King of our lives, we are humbled. Knowing that when Christ is king, suddenly we are called to serve as Christ would have us to serve.

This may mean a new building, it may mean a new program, it may mean more bible study in small groups…it may mean a lot of things, but what it definitely means is that all these other things that we have made kings will be overthrown.

Peter Berger, who is a famous theologian and writer asks this question in one of his books. When a child cries at night, what does a mother do? She wakes up, puts on her robe and goes into the room, cradles the child in her arms and says, “Its all right. Everything is all right.”

When Georgia was really little and cried in the middle of the night I used to sing the song “three little birds” to her by the wonderful Bob Marley. It goes, don’t worry, about a thing, because every little thing, is going to be alright.”

Are we lying? Is the mother in the story lying? Did I lie to my little girl by singing that song? Don’t we know that there is a war in Afghanistan, don’t we know that we are in the middle of the biggest economic recession in history, don’t we know that unemployment in Georgia is at 10%, don’t we know that people can’t pay for their medicines and are dying?

No, Berger says, we aren’t lying, we are confessing our faith. Just like we do every Sunday morning with the Apostles Creed. We are confessing that we are floating on a sea of providence, and that Christ is King. It’s going to be alright.

I watch the show “the office,” its one of my absolute favorites, and there has recently been an episode where they go to church to baptize the baby of two of the characters on the show named Pam and Jim. All of their office coworkers show up, and they make fun of church. Calling the people who are there naïve, and stupid. And the boss Michael, asks them; what’s so wrong with being friendly? What’s so wrong with acting as if there is a purpose in the world? What is so wrong with doing good?

Michael is starting to understand who the King is. Its not Tut, Don, and its not even Elvis. Christ is King. That is our faith, and that is our hope, and that is our peace.

Slow, Costly, and Hard

One day, when I went to a coffee shop in Athens, I pulled into a parking space and next to me was a truck with one of those bed covers on it. And surrounding the bedcover were computer printouts of the driver’s opinion about things, politics, religion, culture. And most of the opinions weren’t very positive. Among the rants, there was a piece of paper advertising the driver’s lawn care business along with a phone number…which I didn’t think was a very effective way to advertise, because that particular piece of paper had smaller typing than the opinions swirling around it.

I didn’t want to think about it too much because I wanted to go inside and just get my coffee and work on a sermon while I waited for an appointment.

No such luck. I went inside, and at a louder volume than was on his truck, the man was telling his opinions to anyone that listened, and the only taker he had was the barista, who kept nodding and listening, not really saying anything.

I ordered my drink, and I sat down. I opened my Bible, and my prayer guide. But could not keep from overhearing everything that the man said about how the government was keeping him from getting a landscaping job, that lazy immigrants were undercutting him in price and that he was being punished for doing the “right thing” and that was someone else’s fault. I couldn’t think. So I packed up my things, and left. And as I left I noticed that there weren’t too many other people sticking around either, whereas I’ve been to this coffee shop before, and it is usually packed.

I thought and wondered about this man, and what made him so angry at everybody. Why he shouts his opinions to strangers both in his truck and in the coffee shop. And then I felt a twinge of sadness for him. Not only because he seemed to be struggling, but that he was also lonely. Something had made him angry, and there wasn’t anyone he could share it with.

And as I left the coffee shop to go back to my car to find another place where I could work, I looked at his truck again. And one of those computer printouts had a verse from the Bible that we read here this morning.

It said; God’s economics: those that don’t work, don’t eat. And it quoted Second Thessalonians.

If that is the only part of the Bible that you read when you think about God’s economy, then it makes sense that you are lonely, because by cherry picking that verse, you are missing the amazing experience of community that surrounds it, and the economy of grace that gushes forth from Scripture.

This letter was written by Paul to a community in Thessalonica that was facing a bit of a crisis. Because while the community accepted Jesus Christ and promised to follow him as disciples, they didn’t quite understand what that meant, which sounds familiar in our time. And we are reading about that misunderstanding.

You see, some people in the community felt that since they had accepted Christ, that they were free from any obligation they formerly had. They didn’t have to work, because what was the point in working if Christ was just going to come back? They didn’t have to care about their family because their family would be enfolded in the Christian family when Christ came back. They didn’t have to worry about governments or other people, because all of those would be overthrown. They just had to sit back, and wait. They were done. They were lame duck Christians.

The term “lame duck” came into use in the 19th century and it referenced that a lame duck could not keep up with their flock so it was more of a target for predators. All you really had to do was to wait it out.

This makes sense with our political system because you just had to wait out a public official if someone else were elected, or they chose not to run again, or their term limits precluded them from running. Other officials would be less likely to work with them because…what was the point? They would be gone, with no one around to defend them.

There is another side of the coin though, that a “lame duck” in office really has greater freedom because they don’t have to worry about political implications of their actions, and therefore can be more genuine than if they were seeking reelection.

So Paul is talking to a bunch of lame ducks in Thessalonica, people who figure that since they are following Christ, they are safe, and his return is imminent, so why bother?

I would dare to say, that this attitude is present in many churches today. They are in, others are out. So why bother? They have their opportunities just as everyone else does, so why bother inviting, or doing mission work, or teaching?

But Paul is saying…because of Christ, you have an even greater freedom and responsibility to do good in the world. His call is clear in verse 13, never become weary of doing what is right!

And the way that this is done is in community. Relying on one another, caring for one another. Showing hospitality. Showing grace, but also defining expectations of what it means to be a follower of Christ.

To be a member of a community, takes discipline. That is why the monks in the ancient church had Rules to live by. Because being a community who follows Christ requires a lot of us.

I read a few articles recently in some United Methodist publications about how the key to vitality in our congregations is high membership demands. That we should require a lot from the people who are members of the church, because when people become members of the church they become a part of the community of Christ. This is an important, life-giving thing, so we should help teach people as such by asking as much from them.

Now don’t get me wrong, Bold Spring is open to anyone who wishes to come, and all will be welcomed with open arms. But I do believe that when we join together here, we need to be asking and requiring of people what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Asking that we know about one another. That we care for one another when we are sick or are in trouble. That people feel free to come to this community for support, because we are known as followers of Christ. Asking that you give your time, your talents, and your gifts to the ministries of this church as we experience the Kingdom of God.

Asking people to give, to invest in the community of faith. Asking people to invite others to be a part of what is going on here. Asking people to volunteer to teach the children, and to help the poor. All of it are what we ask people to do when they become a member of this church, because that is what Jesus requires of his disciples. And if that is what we claim to be, then we need to be up to that standard. To learn about its history, to study scripture…to grow.

“Those that don’t work, don’t eat” could be cherry-picked from the Bible to legitimize people being poor around us…but I think what Paul is talking about is that all should invest in their community of faith, and then the fruits of the spirit will grow within you.

Imagine if we relied completely on others for our spiritual nourishment. That we relied on the preacher to tell us what the Bible says. And that we relied on other people to pray. That we see the poor and the outcast as someone else’s problem. Would we grow? The answer is no. Those that don’t work…don’t experience the fruit. We have to invest in what we are doing here, and growth will come from that.

In a wonderful book called Deep Economy by Bill McKibben, who is one of my favorite authors, he writes that in order to have a truly sustainable economy, we must move from an individualized culture to a communal one. Where we support one another.

I’ve seen this here. I’m not a wonderful handyman, but I am a constant learner. I try to buy my hardware locally, with people I know, who I know can help me. You all have been gracious to give us vegetables, that I swear taste so much better than what I could buy at the grocery store, and that I know I can’t grow myself, because I don’t know how.

McKibben says we need to move away from “fast, cheap, and easy” as our mantra for living. That fast, cheap, and easy has failed us. Because “fast, cheap, and easy” are not three words I would want describing anything I do, and I wouldn’t want to describe anything I’m a part of. Because those are not terms of what it takes to follow Christ. And if anyone tells you different, they are selling you something. It is slow, costly, and hard…but it is good.

Its like when CS Lewis’s characters from the Chronicles of Narnia are listening to the beaver describe Aslan, the Christ figure in the book. They ask, is he safe? And the beaver answers, “who said anything about safe? But He is good.”

Tonight, we will meet together as a community of faith to discuss the vision this church has for the future of its mission and ministries. The biggest highlight will be that your building committee will present what they have been working on in the past year, and they have done truly excellent work.

But what I learned from Paul this week as I thought about our church, I thought about our leadership, I thought about our mission, and I thought about our future while always keeping an eye to the past: is that we need to be this community’s church. That we are poised to have a significant impact on this community, and especially the youth and children that are here, and that might come through here. That we be a community of faith that encourages growth. That we need to not live in idleness, because an idle vehicle isn’t going anywhere, but that we do not grow weary in what is right. It will not be fast. It will not be cheap. And it will not be easy…but it will be good. And we do not need to lose sight of that fact.

That we invest in our church, and we invest in our community. When this happens, I believe that we will see the fruit of God’s mercy grow among us. Giving us even more opportunity for doing good.

This may mean we invest more financially, and we will ask you to do that in the coming year, I’ll be honest with you. It may mean that we invest more of our time, so that we have a real group effort in all of the ministries what we pursue.

Because to be a member of the community of faith requires more from us.

But in it all, we come together as a community of faith. Being a positive presence in the larger community, offering the hospitality and grace to everyone in need. We more fully become Christ’s church, and a community of faith we can call home. Each giving their own part, and each sharing their own part, but all coming together as one.

It will be local. It will be a community effort where we get to know one another on a deeper level than many of us have grown accustomed to in our hyper-individualized world, which means we might risk the exposure of our weaknesses. We risk the exposure of our flaws. And that we share our successes. But I believe that we will grow in faith together through it all.

Do not be weary of what is right. It will require a step of faith for all of us. I believe that when we take these steps together, which is why we are meeting together tonight, we will be doing God’s will for this church, and for this community, and for the world.

I believe it is a noble calling, of which I am excited to be a part. And I hope you are too. Even though it will require more from us, it will be a wonderful journey together. Because it is an adventure with Christ.

A little bit of Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. So he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. The Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed him by, he looked up in the tree. And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down from there, for I’m going to your house today, Yes I’m going to your house today. Zacchaeus came down from that tree, as happy as he could be, he gave his money to the poor, and said, “What a better man I’ll be.”

Hopefully this is a familiar Sunday School song to many of you, and it does a pretty good job at explaining this story about Zacchaeus. Not only is it fun to sing, and to say, but helps to point out the change that occurs when you encounter Jesus.

Back in high school I worked out over the summer with a guy named Tony Campbell. Tony was off to the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship and he had to do the UT weightlifting program before he arrived on campus. Needless to say, he could lift a lot more weight than me, and after that first day, I was very sore. And Tony said to me, “if it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it right!” It didn’t make me feel any better, but it let me know that I was accomplishing something.

When we encounter the living Christ, if we don’t undergo a change, we aren’t doing it right.

I’ve always had trouble identifying with Zacchaeus. Because the Bible is very clear that he is short. And, as you can clearly see…I am not.

It also says that he is rich…I am not, nor have I ever been wealthy monetarily, though compared with many in the world I am. But as far as being known for someone who is wealthy, I wouldn’t come up as someone you would think about.

But I think there is a little bit of Zaccheus in all of us…pun intended.

Zacchaeus wants to meet Jesus. And he is willing to put aside many of his notions of propriety, and is willing to risk embarrassment in order to do so. He climbs a tree, because he is short, but for a grown man to climb a tree in public…when is the last time you have seen that?

He also runs, and if anyone has ever tried to run while wearing a robe, you know how strange that can look.

Because, in all honesty, there is probably a little bit of entitlement in Zacchaeus. And this is where I think we have a little bit of Zacchaeus in all of us. Zacchaeus is a wealthy, chief tax collector. If anyone is going to come into the city, he is the dignitary that you are going to meet. And Jesus is an important person as well, and so it stands to logic that Jesus would go meet with the “important people” in Jericho. So Zacchaeus might feel that Jesus should come to him.

We feel this in the church sometimes, that Jesus should come to us. That we have been coming here our entire lives, so Jesus should come meet us. Or we gave the most offering, so we should get our name on a building. So Jesus should come meet us, and give us what we want.

But he doesn’t. We have to seek Him, in everything that we do…no matter what we have done, or what we will do.

When Zacchaeus does seek Jesus, by climbing that Sycamore tree, the crowds grumble.

I’ve seen this before. Because when anyone goes out on a limb, there will be people who always want it to break.

And…I realize that I’m on dangerous ground here. In my study of scripture, and in my prayers, and in my meditations…I am so saddened by the status of politics in our world. We have elections coming up on Tuesday and it seems whenever anyone tries to actually DO something, it gets shot down by grumbling. Many of the political ads that I have seen are mainly based on anger or fear, which, the last time I checked are not on the list of fruits of the spirit. I think, we as Americans, have lost a complete sense of compassion for our neighbors both in our own country, and in the world. So we don’t go out on limbs anymore, because they are probably going to be sawed off behind us.

I feel it. There are so many opinions and thoughts and ideas that people have on things, but we are afraid to say them because of the repercussions. No matter if we have thoughtfully put our thoughts together, combining our faith, our family, our money, and everything together. And we have opportunities to state our opinions. But many people don’t want to hear it; they want us to say what they already think.

But if we are truly seeking Christ. We go out on that limb of the sycamore tree. We don’t let grumbling keep us from the one we seek. We don’t let the fact that we don’t ever measure up keep us from the one we seek. And it is when we do that, that we find Jesus’s gaze meet our own as he is scanning the crowds, he is ignoring the grumbling too, and he wants to meet us.

And in an instant, things change. Because if they don’t, then we haven’t done it right.

I hope we are all seeking Christ. And to do that, means that we travel out on limbs sometimes. That we leave the stability of the sidewalk to meet Jesus. To see what he is really all about. We listen to so many voices around us that tell us what to think… why not imagine to what the world would be like if we sought Jesus in everything we do?

I believe we would give more, because we know that we didn’t truly earn anything, but it was a gift from God. I believe we would have more compassion on our neighbors rather than grumble about how its their own fault they are in their predicament. I believe we would invite others to meet Jesus, because our lives are changed, we want theirs to be changed too.

The NBA season started this week, and if you have ever watched the NBA draft you hear interviews with the draftees and they talk about how it’s a dream come true. They are given an incredible opportunity. But the great ones know that the draft is when the real work begins. They cannot sit back in their talent collecting their money, because it will run out. They have to go to work, because their greatness is equaled by everyone else around them.

The same is true of Zacchaeus, and the same for us. Once we get “drafted” by Christ. That is when the real work begins. We are given an incredible opportunity to represent Christ to the world. We cannot sit back and collect what is given to us, no. That is when the work begins. To continue the extravagant generosity that Zacchaeus displays. To love and honor our neighbor. All of it, is because of what Christ has given us the opportunity to do.

Zacchaeus, the short, chief tax collector up there in a tree, pushes us further than we ever thought possible, and requires more of us than we want. I think that is the Good News. That our Creator continues to create within us.

The Road to Humility

They always say to start off with a joke. Did you hear about the fire at the circus? It was intense.

Get it? In-Tents?! Because circuses have tents?! And the fire is in them?! And it is also intense, because it’s a fire?!

That is one of my all-time favorite jokes because it makes people both laugh and groan at the same time. And, whenever anyone uses the word “intense” around me I tell that joke.

And the reason I tell it this morning is because times are getting a little intense for Jesus. He is starting to tell parables about the coming kingdom of God, and the afterlife, and God’s judgment because he knows that he does not have much time left. He is going to Jerusalem soon.

It is almost like when your dad comes home and says…son, we need to talk. You know its serious. You now know that this is no joking matter.

Jesus is telling about how some will be with him in heaven, and some will be left when the kingdom of God comes. Jesus tells us about judgment when the Kingdom of God comes. He talks about the difficulties of the rich getting into the Kingdom when the Kingdom of God comes. Its intense conversation, for an intense time.

And in this intense time, Jesus blatantly challenges some self-righteous people. He tells a parable specifically for them, specifically to them. It would be like the time I went to an away Georgia game. I wore all of my Georgia gear. And found out that my tickets were in the middle of the home team’s student section.

He is going to some people who are lost, but think they found themselves, and telling them that, no, God does not look favorably on them. They need to change.

In polite company, after Jesus left, people would turn and look at each other and say, “the nerve of that man,” and go about their day.

But Jesus rarely sits in polite company.

He tells the parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector. And just to give you some information, I want to unpack these two terms for you a little bit. Because Pharisees and tax collectors keep popping up as characters in the New Testament, and we have heard about them for so long, I think we have lost their meaning. We think, Pharisees, bad. Tax Collectors, good. But that is not how Jesus’s audience in this parable would hear it.

A Pharisee is a religious elite. A Pharisee is the person we look up to. A person who seems so in tune with God and how we are supposed to act that we strive to be like them. A Pharisee writes books and goes on TV talk shows to tell people how to live their lives like they do. Pharisees are admired in the religious community, for their commitment, and for their insight.

A tax collector is a blatant sinner. A tax collector colludes with Roman oppression, extorts money from the poor to give to the wealthy landowners, and then extorts even more for himself. A good parallel would be the Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. Taking the very last coin of the poor widow to pay her taxes. No mercy. No regrets. His responsibility is to keep the Romans wealthy, and anything he skims off the top is fair game, as long as the Romans get paid.

So when the two go to the temple to pray. Its clear who the better pray-er is going to be.

One of the more interesting parts about being a minister is getting to observe people, and one of the most interesting things to observe is how people react when you ask them to pray. Even to give a blessing. I have some friends who are convinced that ministers are employed to pray out loud, just to avoid awkward silence at the dinner table and before meetings.

There were probably even some whispers about why the tax collector was even there. He didn’t belong.

I was talking with a friend of mine this past week, and he was saying that there is a whole group of people in our world who feel unworthy to come to church. They can’t let go of something they did, or can’t reconcile a part of who they are. And so they just don’t come to church. They are afraid that people will look down on them for being there because of something they did in the past. I don’t know if this is the fault of the church or not, but it is a real feeling that is in our world. People are afraid to come to church.

I’ve seen this first-hand. In college, there was a Tuesday evening communion service every week. One time, I invited some friends to come along with me. And one girl said, “I hate communion. Everyone is staring at you walking up there. Whispering about what you are wearing or what you did over the weekend. I can’t stand communion.”

How incredibly sad. That the one who calls us and heals us, who we claim to follow in our churches, the one who has the power to truly help people repent and be healed, isn’t believed to be found in our churches…because people will wonder what they are doing here.

That’s the tax collector.

So it must have been a real act of courage for the tax collector to even come to the temple. Walking past the stares, past the whispers, past the conversations he knows will happen throughout the rest of the week, in order to stand before the Creator. Fall on his knees, and say, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

A noble, and humble prayer. One which if you have prayed at some point in your life, you know its power. I’ve prayed it. I know many of you have probably prayed it. The prayer that you pray when you have no idea what to do. You run out of options. There is no way you can “fix” what has gone wrong. It just has. Whether it is by a choice you have made, or by forces outside of your control. The wheels have come off, and you turn to God and say, God, have mercy on me.

And that tax collector goes home justified, because he prayed a humble prayer.

And the opposite of humility, is arrogance.

The Pharisee prays the prayer…thank you for making me so great. Thank you for making me give a tenth of my income, so others can see how great I am. Thank you for allowing me the strength to fast twice a week instead of just once, because I am better than everyone else. Thank you for not making me like everyone else.

I read this in the Bible, and I am skeptical. Because I look around. It seems to me, that those who are arrogant, are the heroes in our world.

Those that push themselves to be the best, are looked up to, and even rewarded. Or think of athletes. Those that are arrogant are the role models. Because they know they are better than everyone else. That they know how to do things better than anyone else, which automatically means that they don’t listen to anyone else…including God.

The CEO who works 23 hours a day who is a “self-made” man is the subject of articles and books of success. The wide receiver who is the best in the game and lets everyone know seems to be rewarded year after year with an even bigger contract giving him millions of dollars. Or the minister, who tells everyone that they have all the answers, and they must follow their prescriptions to get to heaven, gets rewarded with bigger churches, and bigger salaries.

So the irony of Jesus telling this parable to a bunch of people who thought they were justified by their actions…is that they won’t listen to Jesus, because they know better. So we need to pay attention. It doesn’t need to go in one ear and out the other.

Its not right, we scream…but its not our job to judge, that is God’s line of work. We say, God, have mercy on me. Because while it seems that the world rewards the arrogant, you will notice that the ones who are truly great, the kindergarten teacher who spends extra time in school to help a student get on the right track; the firefighter who trains to protect those around them, or the mother, who puts her own career aside to help raise wonderful children…those are the ones God justifies. That is our hope, and those are the ones we recognize as being great. The humble, who give their lives to Christ, and know how much we depend on God for salvation.

What it so hard about life is that we don’t fit neatly into these categories. At some times, we are arrogant. At others, we are humble. So as we are chameleons in our world, what do we do when we don’t fit into these neat categories?

I think there is a way to get from arrogance to humility, and I think that road goes through compassion. To get outside of our selves and see others. To see other people in the world that we may pass everyday. Building on what Rev Mike Selleck said in his sermon last week. Stop and take some time, because you never know what others are going through, because we all make choices everyday, and your kindness may be exactly what they need that day.

Have compassion on one another. When a tax collector comes through the doors of our church, and asks for help, help them. When someone calls, listen to them. Know that if we can just for one moment, help them interact with Jesus, then their lives can be changed. That is what we believe.

Or, if we run across someone who is arrogant, pray for them, that they may step away from the narcissistic mirror, and begin to see that there are other people in the world besides them.

If there is anything in the world that we need it is compassion. Jesus taught it, over and over and over again. Love for our neighbor. I hope, that our church will be known as a place of compassion. So if there are any out there, or any in here, who have turned from the wonderful creation God made you to be, you are not judged here. Your prayer is the same as our prayer. God, be merciful to me.

May God be merciful to all of us, as we strive to be our best selves, and as wonderful as God created us to be.

Less is More

In the Bibles that I tend to use, there are subject headings about sections which you are about to read. It tells you what is coming up, and I find that very helpful. Before the miracles where Jesus feeds five thousand people with two fish and five loaves, there is a heading that says; the feeding of the five thousand. I know what to expect.

But sometimes, when I read a passage from scripture, and when I know what to expect, I sort of make it fit into that mold. From our example of the feeding of the five thousand. If I read the descriptor of what it is, then that is all I see in the passage. I only see the miracle, and I miss the other important details that might give us further insight into the character of God.

Thankfully, the Bibles that I used this week didn’t narrow my view with a subheading this week, because the heading before these paragraphs is labeled…”some other sayings of Jesus.”
So its important that they are in there, but there is no real impetus, no real situation for these things being said. Its just something Jesus says. And because Jesus said it, that is what makes it important, and that is why it was written down.

The disciples come to Jesus and ask him to increase their faith. In fact, they don’t really ask, they demand. They say, increase our faith! With an exclamation point.

I tried to think about it this week, and I don’t think I have ever asked that of Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever asked him to increase my faith. I’ve asked to increase my confidence. I’ve asked to increase my belief. I’ve asked to increase my self-control, to increase my willpower. But I’ve never said, increase my faith.

Faith is something that we talk about a lot, but few of us really understand. We have faith IN something. In our church, we have faith IN Jesus Christ. We have faith that Jesus Christ is Lord above all else. Above money, above power, above racial division, above class, above economies, above health, and above all other things that we can think of, we have faith that Jesus Christ is Lord of it all…or do we?

The reason the disciples ask for more faith is because of what Jesus tells them that disciples do. Disciples cannot allow another to stumble. They must draw from a seemingly bottomless well of forgiveness. Being a disciple is hard, and it requires faith. So, they ask for more, because they do not think that they measure up.

We have just completed our charge conference, and I want to thank everyone who took part in all the meetings, all of the discussions, and everything else to get it ready. It was my first charge conference where I was the only pastor, and I could not have done it without the help of all of you extraordinary individuals, especially Tommy Williams, who guided the administrative board, and me, through the process. It was a good night, as we gathered and planned for our ministry and mission in the next coming year, and at conference we presented some goals. Some are typical of a lot of churches, and some are not.

• Continue to hold our youth and children as a high priority, increasing their participation in the life of our community.
• Continue the progress of the building committee, as we plan and design building space for the ministry needs of our church.
• Further our outreach. This can be done in a variety of ways, but as a starting point try to have one mission project next year that is done beyond our community in which church members actively participate.
• Increase our average worship and Sunday School attendance by offering vibrant worship, and faithful discipleship.
• Enhance and develop an effective music program for the entirety of the church.
• Strengthen our presence in the community. We plan to do this by being present at community events, as well as compiling evangelism materials to give to people in our community who do not attend Bold Spring. Our church wants to be known as a place where people can come to experience the life saving presence of Jesus Christ.

These are lofty and noble goals, and the reason I bring them up is because in order for these goals to be accomplished, I am going to have to ask you, and I’m going to have to ask myself, to do more. I think that was one of the more difficult things about nominating people…I am having to ask you, who already do so much, with your families, in your communities, in your jobs…You are honestly some of the hardest working people I’ve ever come across, to do more. While I was riding around, getting signatures for everything, I went to Wesley’s house, and he had just gotten back from a jobsite, and was heading to another meeting to get a bid, and I just needed a signature for a report…in order to achieve these goals, I’m going to ask him, and his family to do more.

Then I went to Thomas Bridges chicken houses, to get his signature, and he was getting his old curtain houses ready for a load of 25,000 chicks…and he’s retired! And I know how hard we worked at building his family, and working in the school system…in order to be the church God is calling us to be…I’m going to ask him to do more.

I can go through each pew, and tell you that even with everything you have going on, each youth with everything you have going on at school; with what God is calling this church to be, I will ask you for more. Because Jesus, and the world, are asking us for more.

When the disciples heard this, they have a very natural reaction. Well if you are asking us for more, then we need more from you. We need more inspiration, we need more energy, we need more time, we need more knowledge. In order for us to do more, we need more faith. Lord, increase our faith!

You are asking us for more…we need to see results. We need to know what is in it for us. Increase our faith!

And Jesus tells them, even if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can uproot this mulberry tree right here and tell it to go plant itself in the ocean, it will.

A few years ago, it was more popular, but it is still sold today, are necklaces and bracelets that have a single mustard seed in them. It was supposed to inspire people to see how small mustard seeds are, and to know that with just that much faith, extraordinary things can occur. Matthew tells us that a mustard seed faith will move mountains. Luke tells us that a mustard seed faith will uproot trees.

And so, the mustard seed became a metaphor for miracles; what miraculous things can occur with faith the size of a mustard seed. And I believe miracles still occur all the time though we rarely recognize them. I believe it was a miracle that God sent my family here to this church, because where we were was causing me to burn out in my ministry. I believe it is a small miracle that I woke up still a Georgia fan this morning. I’m praying for a miracle in Atlanta today that they can make the postseason. I see a tiny miracle every day as my daughter, Georgia, takes her first steps. There is a miracle inside Meredith right now that actually is the size of a mustard seed as we anticipate the arrival of our second child. Miracles still happen.

But, I think a different approach can be taken with this “thing Jesus said.” Its not all about miracles. The disciples, when faced with being asked for more, ask for more faith.

And I think we can rephrase what Jesus is saying that…you have enough faith for what I am asking. You have enough faith for the extraordinary. You have enough faith for everyday life. Because even a small amount will do the miraculous…and you have much more than that…because you have faith, in me.

We have enough faith for what Jesus is asking us to do, and for who Jesus is asking us to be. We have the time, energy, and inspiration to be God’s church in the world. Because we have Christ, whose faith does not fall away. Because our faith is in a Resurrected Savior who lives and walks with us.

I can understand the hesitancy. We want to be prudent and cautious. Make sure we have enough before we can go forward. So we ask for more. More time, more direction, a clearer sign.

Have you ever heard the phrase less is more?” Its used mainly in acting, that we don’t need to be overdramatic. Less is more. We can feel more with less.

I love homemade ice cream, and I have a preacher friend who is particularly good at making it, and he is my guru when it comes to homemade ice cream.

First off, you can only use a hand-crank ice cream maker. He would put on an ice cream social for a group of us, and the rule was you had to help turn the ice cream maker in order to eat it. It left such an impression on me and my three best friends that as a wedding present, they gave me a pine bucket, hand-crank ice cream maker. It is one of my most prized possessions that I own.

After I got it, I wanted to make ice cream for my friends, and I had never actually mixed the recipe, I just turned the crank, so I made a batch, and the recipe required salt. While I was making it, Meredith looked at me funny when I told her it took salt, but went along with it anyway. Well I had it made, and when I was filling the bucket with ice, and had the canister in there, and everything was ready, when I added the rock salt, a couple of chunks fell down into the ice cream.

The result…was terrible. And Meredith blamed the salt, and she blamed the recipe, and to this day, she still doesn’t trust my hand-crank ice cream maker, and doesn’t trust me making ice cream…we should leave it to the professionals at blue bell.

Less is more.

And so when I come to you asking you to do more…to give more…to receive more…to laugh more…to cry more…to feel more…to carry more…to let go of more…it is because I have the faith that Christ is talking about, that Jesus Christ’s faith is sufficient in us that we would not be called to where we are going unless we had the ability to do so. That the faith we have is enough, and right for what we are being called to do.

We don’t need “more faith.” To do what we need to accomplish. To go on a mission trip outside of our community, to develop a music program, to continue to grow and learn in our children and youth programs, for any of the goals we set for next year, and the ones we hold in our hearts. We have enough. We have the faith that Jesus Christ put within us, and we have the faith of Jesus himself to do what we are being called to do.

And, we have a incredible community of witnesses that are surrounding us and urging us. We have their faith too. We have the sacraments that remind us what Christ’s faith can do. It can save the world. It can save us. It is enough. We don’t need more, we have what we need to do the extraordinary.

Today, the entire world is celebrating communion. We are just a tiny part. But that celebration will be with us, as we are called to be more, and the entire world has enough faith for the coming kingdom of God. To be God’s people, and to serve God’s world.

Would you come, as we not only celebrate with one another, but we celebrate with the entire world.

Money Talks

George Washington has a book out that is attributed to him, though it is not his actual writing. When he was 14, his teachers made him copy down lines from a French etiquette manual to help him practice his writing. The result, is a tiny book that stayed with Washington his entire life…so let that be a lesson to us all…be careful what you use as your examples, because they have a stronger impact than you think. The book is called, “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.”

The rules were things like number 31: If anyone far surpasses others, either in age, estate, or merit, yet would give place to a meaner than himself in his own lodging or elsewhere, the one ought not to except it. So he on the other part should not use much earnestness nor offer it above once or twice.

And there were 110 of these things. All the way from number 10: When you sit down, keep your feet firm and even, without putting one on the other or crossing them. To some that were less practical though very important like number 22: Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

The reason I am sharing this with you is that George Washington had many rules of civility and decent behavior in company and conversation, and among them are rules in talking about money. How it should never be discussed in polite company, and how you should not broach that subject among friends. You do not talk about Money, Religion, and Politics…but Jesus talks about all of them.

That book must have been compiled well after Jesus’ time because he talks about money a lot, like he does in our scripture reading this morning.

He is talking directly to the Pharisees that he describes just a few paragraphs earlier as lovers of money. And, this is two chapters before Jesus says the often quoted passage, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Clearly, Jesus has something to say about money.

And so I want to admit to you that when I read this passage, I didn’t want to preach a sermon to you about it…because one does not talk about money in polite conversation. I looked for some other passage, but I kept being brought back to this one. And it was a note from one of our third graders that gave me courage and conviction that this scripture was the one we needed to hear.

It is from a thank-you note from Anna Varner. Wesley and Jennifer, and I’ll bet Johnny and Helen have something to do with this too, you should be so proud of her. Her thank-you note was for her Bible, that she received as a gift from this church. In it she writes: Thank you so much for my Bible. I have 2 children’s Bibles, but this is my first REAL ACTUAL Bible. I am looking forward to continue to learn about Jesus.

Now it is our job that Anna, as well as the rest of us, learn about Jesus. And Jesus is pretty clear in this story, and he talks about something that we don’t like to talk about in polite company, money.

This is the kind of story that makes us fidget in our seats.

It makes us begin to question value systems and judgments.

It makes us begin to wonder about systems, and greed.

C.S. Lewis, the wonderful author of The Chronicles of Narnia as well as other Christian classics, once spoke on a radio program in London, where he argued that based upon everything that Jesus says and does, there are three options that one can take when making their opinion about him. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

I believe we have three options that we can take when we read a passage such as this. We can ignore it, water it down, or change. My three options don’t have the cool alliteration that Lewis’s does, but I believe they run in the same vein.

We can ignore it. We can say to ourselves that this book we have here was written a long time ago in very different circumstances particularly very different economic circumstances. They didn’t have capitalism back then, and land was the main source of wealth whereas now it is in electronic code that a bank somewhere says you have. So, because the times are so different, we will just keep living our lives the way we want, and move on. We like Jesus, but we don’t like him talking about our money.

In looking at the parable we see two men. One rich, one poor, and there is a huge chasm between them. Both on earth, and in heaven. The rich man feasts sumptuously, while Lazarus, the poor man, begs that maybe some crumbs will fall from the rich man’s table. Then, when they die, the rich man goes to torment, while Lazarus goes to paradise. There is a gap between them.

And the rich man’s sin is not so much that he doesn’t help, Lazarus, though that is in there; his main sin is that he doesn’t even see him. He is ignorant. He has no idea that there are others outside of himself. Others who need food and shelter. He doesn’t even see the poor. He ignores Lazarus, much like many ignore this passage.

There is still a gap today. If you look at statistics, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Just this week a statistical study came out that pays poverty is on the rise in this country. We can blame, because that is easier, but at some point we need to look squarely at ourselves. That is what we have built upon. For every rich nation in the world, there is a poor nation that suffers by its exploitation.

When the movie Wall Street came out with Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, Michael Douglas helped create the iconic character of Gordon Gekko. He is wall street trader, who makes millions of dollars a day and the famous quote from that movie is; greed is good. There is a sequel to that movie that is in theatres right now called Wall Street: Money never sleeps. It picks up the story of Gordon Gekko after he has served time in prison for fraud. And I haven’t seen it, but in the previews Gordon Gekko is giving a speech where he says, “I once said, Greed is good, now, it seems, it is legal.” And that fiction, is based on truth.

So are we really that different? Can we continue to ignore scriptures such as these? I don’t think we can.

So we look at our second option. To water down the passage. This isn’t a new strategy. People have been watering down scripture for years to make it a little easier for people to digest without upsetting how they live their lives. People flock to a watered down Bible because it lets them stay in their security.

Scripture is used to keep people poor as scripture is quoted at them that they will receive their blessing after they die. Preachers and church-goers hear messages that the reason they have wealth is because God gave it to them as a blessing for them being such a wonderful person.

We water it down to a morality play, that if only the rich were a little bit more compassionate, then they would not suffer torment. We don’t notice where we are in this story.

But I do not believe we are called to water-down scripture. We are given scripture as a gift from God, so that we might know Him and know what his Kingdom looks like. When we water it down, we gain comfort, but I believe we lose our soul. And Anna said…I want to learn about Jesus. Not a watered down Jesus, but Jesus.

So our third option…is to change. To work for change in this world where people are not poor. That in all the abundance God has given to us, we give abundantly to others. That we see the world with compassion and grace because that is how God sees us. That we give and give and give, because that is what we constantly ask God to be, and who we know God is…one who gives, and gives, and gives.

We tithe. Every month, my family tithes. And yes, we come into situations where we can use that 10% in our house as we have the bills spread out on the table, some of which have the words FINAL NOTICE on them. But it is God’s money, not ours. And it is more important for us to give because God gives so much to us. We begin to save money for our faith community. We give it away, because we see and have compassion on the poor, and know the healing power of Jesus Christ, and we want them to be healed. We want ourselves to be healed of our attachments and insecurities, so we give as a spiritual discipline so that we might know God on a deeper level, and thus know ourselves on a deeper level.

We change, and we do not use scripture to justify hate, but instead embrace it as instruction on how we can fully live into our inheritance as children of God.

I didn’t want to preach on this text. If I am honest with myself and with you, I don’t really want to change when I approach scripture. But I do every time, because that is who God has called me to be. God has called me to open myself up to new scripture and insight every time I look. Because change is hard, and we should not talk about money in polite company, and some of you may not like me after I preach this sermon. But I believe, that change is what happens when we meet Christ. And while that change may not look “successful” in the eyes of the world…it is change towards truth.

George Washington wrote in number 110: The very last line in the book. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Labor to keep alive that childlike wonder and openness to be affected by Jesus; even about money, religion, and politics. Because that is what is good. And who God calls us to be.

Founder's Day

I have been here at Bold Spring for 80 days now, and it is amazing what all can happen in that short amount of time. Jules Verne, the iconic French Novelist, wrote a book entitled “Around the World in 80 days,” which showed the hero, Phineas Fogg traveling around the world by train, boat, and even elephant, using only public transportation. Now, I can’t say that I have been around the world in these 80 days, but I have been listening and observing all of you, and the community, to see what kind of church we are, and what kind of church we can hope to be.
And here is one of the things that I have observed the most with all of you. This church will do whatever it takes, as long as it takes, until the job is done. And so you inspire me, and this community to do the same. If we see a need, then this church will fill it. Whatever it takes, as long as it takes, until the job is done.

It’s a rare quality in this world, and this church has it in droves.

That is how I view this shepherd and peasant woman in these parables.

In our scripture today, we hear two parables that are essentially the same story. A shepherd, and a peasant woman lose one of many things. And they leave them to go in search for them. Doing whatever it takes, as long as it takes, until the thing is found. The sheep and coin that are lost, can do nothing to help themselves be found, they can only rely on being found by their owner. Then, there is much rejoicing because that which was lost has been found.

When I lose something, I am much like these people. I will be sitting there, minding my own business, doing work, when I will think about one article of clothing or trinket, and I can focus on nothing else until I find it. I will tear the house apart, putting things in all kinds of disarray until I find it.

When I was in seminary, I took P501, which is the introductory preaching course. I held out until my third year to take this course, and I actually took some higher level preaching courses in my time at seminary and purposely delayed taking the introductory course for one reason. I wanted to take the course with Dr. Tom Long when he was offering it to a small group of students.

Dr. Long wrote the book on contemporary preaching, literally. He is a wonderful preacher, and a wonderful professor. So I was really excited that he was going to be reviewing my sermons so that I could glean his insight. (Secretly, I think I was hoping for him to tell me that my preaching was the best he has ever seen, and that I was on the right track.)
When I got into the class, I learned that Dr. Long would NOT be evaluating our sermons, but a local minister from the community would be. I was disappointed by this because I wanted Dr. Long to evaluate me. So, I wrote a draft of a sermon I was delivering later, and made an appointment with him during his office hours, so that he could evaluate it.

We sat at a round table he had in his office. He read my sermon. Put it down, and looked directly at this hopeful student’s eyes, and said something I won’t soon forget, “It’s a good sermon, well written and presented, but you make one, huge, glaring theological mistake throughout its entirety.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear. He went on.

“Throughout the entire sermon you talk as if it is our action, and not God’s.”

That changed my life.

It is God’s action, not ours.

Lately, what has been en vogue when it comes to churches is “seeker friendly” churches. In a society where we choose where we go to church not because of denominational affiliation, and we have become able to travel wherever we want, churches have had to employ marketing strategies in order to entice people to choose their church over another. It is just the culture we live in where churches have even been subjected to the marketplace, and are consumer-driven.

“Seeker-friendly” is the term that has been employed by the mega-churches that you hear about, in that those who are “seeking” God can find access to God through these churches with their particular worship style and offerings. It is not confused by creeds, or sacraments, or traditions. Everything about it caters to the individual who is “seeking.”

Seekers read this parable and see themselves as having lost something. And they would see it as a call to search high and low, tearing their house apart so that they would find God.

But, I think when it is read that way, we make one, huge, glaring theological mistake throughout its entirety. We think it is our action, and not God’s. We make the mistake when we make ourselves the shepherd, or the peasant woman. We are the sheep, and we are the coin. God seeks us. God seeks those who are lost. God celebrates the finding of those that are lost. God celebrates finding us.

We don’t seek God, God seeks us. Its part of who God is. The one who continually calls for us, even when we do nothing to be found. Even when we run away. God searches for us.

The sheep and the coin can do nothing to be found. The sheep is in the wilderness, scared, and doesn’t want to make a sound because the sheep most likely will be found by a predator. Same with the coin. It cannot make a noise or shine any brighter so that it might be found. It can only be in the state it is in.

When I was leading backpacking and kayaking trips for Camp Glisson, I was trained and certified in Wilderness first aid. In that class we learned that if you get lost, don’t move. Because if you continue to walk around, you will continue to move out of reach of those tracking you, and searching for you. Its best if you stay in one place.

If we are feeling lost. That we don’t know where God is. When we hear bad news at a doctor’s office, if a loved one is dying, if we feel trapped in our career. It would be good for us to remember, God seeks us, and calls to us, and God finds us. It is God’s action, not ours.

Today is an important day in the life of this church. It is a day when our third and fourth graders received from this church their Bibles. God seeks us with his words in scripture, that we read and study so that we might be found. So that we might be called to service because we have been found. I want to encourage you kids to read your Bible. Apply it to your lives. Ask questions about it. Challenge it. Embrace it. It is God seeking to find you through words that have been passed down and made holy.

When we are found, the entire community rejoices. So if there are any in our community or beyond who come here because God has found them and brought them here, we will celebrate with God. Because they once were lost, but now they are found. And we can get glimpses of God’s grace embracing us as a community of faith. Only glimpses, because we cannot understand the depths of God’s love for us, but we can be assured, that we are found.

I want us to be a “founder-friendly” church. Those who are found and welcomed by God. Welcoming others who are found, which the scripture tells us, will be everybody. We need to be the church that celebrates with God when another founder comes through the doors. Being the community that is gathered together knowing God will continue to seek, and God will continue to find.


Phineas Fogg traveled around the world in 80 days. And he ended exactly where he started. When we become lost, we end up where we started as well. It does us good to remember that we are constantly coming home. That we will be found. And we will end up where we start, in the palm of God’s loving hand…where we will always be.