I don’t think Matthew was a very good story teller. Its intriguing, and engaging, and all of that stuff. But, there is one pretty hard and fast rule when it comes to good storytelling that one should never break. And that is…never explain what you mean.
I’ll explain what I mean.
You know when you tell a joke to a group of people, and everybody laughs, except one person who says, “wait, I don’t get it.” And you have to explain the joke? Its never funny. It doesn’t matter how funny the joke is, if you have to explain the meaning, then it loses its humor.
For example. A string walks into a movie theatre, and tries to buy a ticket. But, the cashier says, we can’t let you into this movie, you’re a piece of string! So the string goes outside, twists himself all around, messes up his hair, and goes back in to buy a ticket to the movie. The cashier says, “didn’t I just tell you that we can’t sell a ticket to you because you’re a piece of string?” And the string says, “I’m a frayed knot!”
Now if I explain it. Even though that joke is hilarious. It won’t be funny anymore. You see. It’s wordplay. When he says I’m afraid not, it has a double meaning that both the string is disagreeing with the cashier. AND he is a frayed knot. A knot in the string. That is fraying on the end…because he messed up his hair? Get it?
So now that joke isn’t funny anymore, because I explained it.
That is where a tremendous amount of power comes from in any art form. And really, in any experience. Listening to a symphony, and you know if it is good, you don’t want experts telling you why it was good. That the melody perfectly balanced the harmony in a way that enlivened synapses in your brain that made the music “good.” Reading a poem that really affects you. As soon as you read an essay explaining why it affected you, it won’t affect you that way anymore. That the rhythm used in the first three stanzas set you up emotionally for a change in the fourth makes the poem, “meaningful.”
And I’m all for understanding. But sometimes I like things to remain meaningful…and people sometimes explain away the meaning.
Preachers do it with the book of revelation or the writings of the prophets all the time. They say this symbol means that. Or this horseman is really this. Or this ancient city really represents this modern city. When the truth is, no one knows. They are just guessing. And it is when you think that this symbol has one direct interpretation that you miss the beauty and artistry of the book.
And in our reading this morning, Matthew’s version of the parable of the Sower is told. And immediately after it, eight verses later, it is explained. The mystery is solved. No real reason to continue to search for meaning in that story, here it is. So that is what I mean when I say that Matthew broke one of the most important rules in storytelling. He explained its meaning.
A sower, God, spreads some seeds (the good news). Some fell on a rocky path (that is a type of soil that has no hope for growth whatsoever, you might as well throw it on Asphalt). And the birds came and ate it (that is the evil one claiming those seeds for themselves.) Some fell on shallow soil (that is the type of soil that gets really excited at first, but there is no depth, so they don’t pursue their faith). And the sun bakes the plants away. Some fell on thorns (that is the soil that is distracted by so many other things, that the good news cannot compete and gets choked out by the influence of everything else). And some fell on good soil (that is the people who hear, understand, persevere, and continue to grow) producing a hundredfold of the plant (the abundant grace of God.)
But maybe I’m not giving Matthew enough credit. Because while it is still explained. There is still a lot of mystery involved. And I think we still make mistakes in its meaning.
I think we mistakenly think this parable is about the seed. We think that we need to go out and spread seed, and to make sure we find good soil.
That is what a smart farmer does. And I know a lot of you are smart farmers, and know a lot about soil.
Now I don’t farm, or even have a garden. I tried once, but failed. I tried another time, and failed. I wasn’t very consistent in my gardening. Well, I was consistent I guess, just not in a good way.
But I think if I were to take it more seriously, I would try to find the best soil possible to plant my seeds. Make sure it is in the right amount of sunlight. I would take samples, and check PH balance. I would know when is the right season for planting what types of seeds, and I would try to build and foster an environment where the seeds could flourish. I would set up a watering and fertilizing schedule.
That is what a smart farmer does. A smart farmer checks the soil.
So there wouldn’t be any risk of seeds falling on the path, or in bad soil, or in thorns; because we wouldn’t spread our seeds there.
So why does this sower do that? Why even put the seeds on the path? Thorns are pretty easy to spot, why not steer clear of that section of the yard? Seems a little haphazard in his farming techniques.
And we already know that the sower is God. So why would God just go spreading the good news seed willy nilly like that?
That is a difference between us and God.
In our church, in all churches, we try to find the best soil. We try to find the techniques, we try to get the training, we try to read the right books, we try to find the best demographic report, we try to do all of it to ensure that our seed is falling on good soil.
We evaluate and analyze to make sure we in the good soil. And we can see evidence that we are in good soil, because disciples are being made. People who come, and join, and participate, and serve, and are in ministry. All the right things. It is the people who get excited and drop out that we wonder about. It is the people whose hearts are so hard that they can’t hear the gospel that we worry about. It is the people who are so distracted by other things that it chokes out the gospel message that breaks our heart.
You know these different soil types.
But we like good soil. We want our ministries to fall on good soil. And good soil is made up of all kinds of different things, and you need it all! It feels good to get your hands dirty in good soil! You heard the story; when seeds fall on good soil, these seeds produce a hundred fold! That is enough to retire on in one year’s crop!
And so, smartly, a lot of what churches do is try to make sure we are in good soil.
That is a difference between us and God. God is the sower, and spreads the good news everywhere.
Because God has a hope and trust in his promises that we can’t fully grasp. God promised that the whole world would be redeemed. The good soil, and the path, and the shallow soil, and the thorns. All of it.
That means, that the criminals, the hard hearts, the dishonesty, the pain, the tears, the totality of creation, can all be turned into good soil in God’s hands.
We try to stick to a successful plan and make sure we get to the good soil. God has the hope that we will all be good soil. And so he spreads seeds everywhere, let it fall where it may, because God is working the soil too.
Many of you are educators, and I’ll bet you can remember a student that you had that you thought was going to make your hair turn white. Always in trouble, never paying attention…and then you see them years later, and learn that they are a model citizen, and wonderful person.
It happened to us just last week. We were at the Franklin County baseball games, and a man came up to Mr. Bridges. Introduced himself, and we chatted for a little bit. He is a good person. Who cares deeply for his family. And lives a good solid life. And as we were walking away, Mr. Bridges shared with me that he would have expected to see that guy on the evening news, and not in a good way with how much trouble he used to get into. So even when we try to determine what is good soil, and what isn’t…the sower knows more than us.
Soil can change. The ground is shifting under our feet by the promises of God. And the ground is shifting without us even knowing.
To quote Bebe Campbell Moore, Our God told us to expect the best. And there is enough for everybody.
So while many read this and think it is all about the soil. Are you the good soil? Is our church sowing its seeds in good soil? Are your friends good soil? Is your family good soil? Does our demogaphic report show that we are accurately reflecting the community? Does our worship style make people feel better or less about themselves? How can we make sure we are the best soil we can possibly be?
Maybe the meaning that is still there in this parable, that isn’t explained, but instead is drawn out in our imagination by the telling of the story; is the mystery about the sower.
Who just gives good news away like that? Who spreads seed on a road, or in thorns? Who just invites anybody into their place of worship? Who hears about someone sick and puts aside everything to be by their side? Who heals people who don’t seem to give a rip about anyone but themselves? Who travels to places they have never been, to be with people they have never met, to do things they have never done, all because God asked them to? Who gives to a project that a church is doing that they will not directly benefit from?
Who does that?
The sower does. And if we are lucky enough to be good soil now, to have had the grace of God in our lives to prepare us to hear the good news so that it blossoms within us, maybe we can be more like the sower, and help change the soil around us.
It is not what a smart farmer would do. It is not what a good business would do if it wanted to make a profit. But it is what The Sower calls us to do.
Go, and preach the Gospel.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Past Isn’t Past: Exodus 32: 1-14
Happy 4th of July weekend everybody! I know that for a lot of you this weekend is filled with time on the lake. Seeing friends, eating hotdogs. Blowing stuff up with fireworks. Everyone is on pins and needles to see if Georgia’s own Gravy Brown from Newnan will be able to bring home the championship in tomorrow’s hot dog eating contest on Coney Island.
America can be great.
Lately you hear a lot about our founding fathers. Whenever you hear some politician refer to them, usually incorrectly, to gain some kind of historical traction for whatever agenda they are trying to pursue.
Founding Fathers are the new buzz words used.
But I’ve told you before that I love and respect history. Especially our own country’s history. I am the son of a preacher and a librarian, and my grandfathers both fought in World War II. And my family has deep roots in the South.
But it is my grandmother on my dad’s side that instilled my love of history. Going to her house in Decatur, GA growing up we would play with plastic army men. Not surprising, but at grandmama’s house our army men wore blue and grey, and she would set up and re-create Civil War battles for us. It was pretty incredible.
We would spend all afternoon learning and fighting civil war battles. And we would go to sleep hearing tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris, where we heard the stories and learned the lessons of the old South.
I say this because knowing your history is important. It is not a political football to be kicked around as some have recently used it. Knowing how it happened, when it happened, and why it happened is powerful knowledge. It is he story of how our country became what it is. It is why we talk the way we do. It is why our prejudices are so deeply rooted. It is why we are America, named after a map-maker.
And it is said, that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, and I think that is true.
Knowing the history is important. And there are too many people who don’t know. Who don’t know how we came to be a country. Who hear words and names and have no association for them.
Names like Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Greene. Whose dedication helped win the American Revolution. Or people hear words and don’t put them in the right place. Words like, I have a dream, Ask not what your country can do for you, or bring me your huddled masses. We hear those words and know the nobility that is possible in our country. It is possible, but sometimes we mess it up.
In the preamble to the constitution it states that the purpose of our country is to form a more perfect union.
I like that.
Because America isn’t perfect. But we are on our way. We can wake up every day and know that we are a work in progress. And patriotism should never get in the way of our faith.
We are forming a more perfect union.
We need to remember that, and we need to remember our history.
But part of our history, that is very often overlooked is the book of Exodus. It is the history of the chosen people’s relationship with their Creator and Redeemer. We learn about how they escaped from Egypt, and were delivered to the Promised Land…only to find that someone was already there.
So while we hear words about our “founding fathers” like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson tomorrow…we should remember our founding fathers of Moses and Aaron. What they did for the people of Israel, and God’s involvement in all of it.
We hear the story this morning of a dark moment in Israel’s history. It is a sad thing that the Israelites turned their back on God. They melted down their gold jewelry to worship a god who would make the desert in which they were living a place to live. They wanted to trade the promised land, a land of freedom, and a land flowing with milk and honey; for the land they already had, the desert.
They became impatient. Forming a more perfect union was taking too long, so they decided they were just find where they were.
Being who God called them to be when he rescued them from Egypt was taking too long, so they decided that they would just sit and do nothing.
Wanting things fast and wanting them, NOW, you see, is nothing new. And if we don’t know our history, we are doomed to repeat it.
How many times in our own lives have we sacrificed what could have been for what is comfortable. For the thing that won’t make us work as hard?
Why else do you think the lottery is so popular? Instead of working, and doing good solid work in their life, people spend all their money on lottery tickets, to instantly become rich. Gambling to strike it big all at once.
That is what the Israelites are doing…and it is what we do too! Gambling with our lives. Putting things off until tomorrow what could be done today. Taking God out of the equation and putting ourselves in control.
Every so often, when I am getting swamped with everything that is going on in my life, I say a prayer that might help you too. God, get me out of my way. Because I am traveling on God’s way, not my own. And my trust in God needs to outweigh my trust in money, my trust in systems, and even my trust in power.
God, get me out of my way.
The church has tremendous potential for ministry. That is our promised land. It isn’t expanded territory, with more money and prestige, but our promised land is that we will become servants of one another. And if God is calling us to do something, why put it off because of time, and resources, and all of the other limitations that we can think of…to settle and stay right where we already are?
VBS is coming up in one week. There are ways you can help with it. There is no such thing as, “I have already put in my time there, let someone else do it for a change.” And there is no such thing as, “let the parents of the kids who are benefiting from the program do all the work.” And there is no such thing as, “that just isn’t the part of the church work in which I’m interested.”
Vacation Bible School is a perfect opportunity to share the love of Christ not only with kids, but with their parents too. And maybe, the kids will have such a good time here that they tell their mom and dad that they want to come back on Sunday. And maybe, those parents will come, and they will meet Jesus, too. And maybe, their lives will be completely changed by the love of Christ.
God has put this in our path. And it is going to take time, effort, and money to do it. And some people see that and wonder, is it really worth the effort? I can just let others handle it, since its not really my thing, and stay at home.
That is us turning from God’s way, onto our own way. Sacrificing promises for permanence.
Now, the other thing that is interesting about this scripture is the conversation God has with Moses. So many people say that God never changes. And when it comes to how much God loves us, and provides for us, and calls us to be the wonderful creation we are supposed to be, I would say that is true.
But you see here that God gets angry with the Israelites!
They have turned from me, so I’m going to turn from them! They want another god that doesn’t exist? They want to stay in the desert? Fine…let them.
And Moses reminds God of his promises. To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He reminds him of the Covenant that has just been written into stone with the finger of God. And God changes his mind.
Essentially Moses says…see who we are without you? We each follow our own path that will lead to our own destruction. We end up as slaves in Egypt. We act with violence toward one another. We are vulnerable to evil things.
You promised to be with us. And God remembers his promise, and guides them back to the right path. God changed his mind.
Exasperation is something we all feel. Powerless to do anything about something we encounter. Poverty is one example. Family relationships can be another. No matter what we tell people or what we try to do, or what we sacrifice and give…it still just seems like a drop in the bucket with the overwhelming odds that are stacked against us. A child is always going to do things their way, no matter the advice and experience of the parents. A sibling won’t listen. People will do nothing to help themselves.
And it is tempting to throw up your hands and say, I’m done!
It is the temptation God is facing right here, but it is Moses who says…remember what you promised.
Remember your history. And turn back to the right path.
We are sharing this meal together. To remember. We celebrate the fourth of July to remember that we are forming a more perfect union, that should not be at the expense of others, but constantly striving for perfection.
But we share this meal to remember that God keeps his promises. And will continue to keep his promises. And that if we could get out of our way, and onto God’s way…then we will be delivered to what has been promised. Life eternal, for all of God’s creation.
Take your time this morning to remember those who were put in your path that helped you hear God’s claim on your life. Remember those times you were called to ministry, but ignored it. And pray, “God, get us all out of our way.”
America can be great.
Lately you hear a lot about our founding fathers. Whenever you hear some politician refer to them, usually incorrectly, to gain some kind of historical traction for whatever agenda they are trying to pursue.
Founding Fathers are the new buzz words used.
But I’ve told you before that I love and respect history. Especially our own country’s history. I am the son of a preacher and a librarian, and my grandfathers both fought in World War II. And my family has deep roots in the South.
But it is my grandmother on my dad’s side that instilled my love of history. Going to her house in Decatur, GA growing up we would play with plastic army men. Not surprising, but at grandmama’s house our army men wore blue and grey, and she would set up and re-create Civil War battles for us. It was pretty incredible.
We would spend all afternoon learning and fighting civil war battles. And we would go to sleep hearing tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris, where we heard the stories and learned the lessons of the old South.
I say this because knowing your history is important. It is not a political football to be kicked around as some have recently used it. Knowing how it happened, when it happened, and why it happened is powerful knowledge. It is he story of how our country became what it is. It is why we talk the way we do. It is why our prejudices are so deeply rooted. It is why we are America, named after a map-maker.
And it is said, that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, and I think that is true.
Knowing the history is important. And there are too many people who don’t know. Who don’t know how we came to be a country. Who hear words and names and have no association for them.
Names like Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Greene. Whose dedication helped win the American Revolution. Or people hear words and don’t put them in the right place. Words like, I have a dream, Ask not what your country can do for you, or bring me your huddled masses. We hear those words and know the nobility that is possible in our country. It is possible, but sometimes we mess it up.
In the preamble to the constitution it states that the purpose of our country is to form a more perfect union.
I like that.
Because America isn’t perfect. But we are on our way. We can wake up every day and know that we are a work in progress. And patriotism should never get in the way of our faith.
We are forming a more perfect union.
We need to remember that, and we need to remember our history.
But part of our history, that is very often overlooked is the book of Exodus. It is the history of the chosen people’s relationship with their Creator and Redeemer. We learn about how they escaped from Egypt, and were delivered to the Promised Land…only to find that someone was already there.
So while we hear words about our “founding fathers” like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson tomorrow…we should remember our founding fathers of Moses and Aaron. What they did for the people of Israel, and God’s involvement in all of it.
We hear the story this morning of a dark moment in Israel’s history. It is a sad thing that the Israelites turned their back on God. They melted down their gold jewelry to worship a god who would make the desert in which they were living a place to live. They wanted to trade the promised land, a land of freedom, and a land flowing with milk and honey; for the land they already had, the desert.
They became impatient. Forming a more perfect union was taking too long, so they decided they were just find where they were.
Being who God called them to be when he rescued them from Egypt was taking too long, so they decided that they would just sit and do nothing.
Wanting things fast and wanting them, NOW, you see, is nothing new. And if we don’t know our history, we are doomed to repeat it.
How many times in our own lives have we sacrificed what could have been for what is comfortable. For the thing that won’t make us work as hard?
Why else do you think the lottery is so popular? Instead of working, and doing good solid work in their life, people spend all their money on lottery tickets, to instantly become rich. Gambling to strike it big all at once.
That is what the Israelites are doing…and it is what we do too! Gambling with our lives. Putting things off until tomorrow what could be done today. Taking God out of the equation and putting ourselves in control.
Every so often, when I am getting swamped with everything that is going on in my life, I say a prayer that might help you too. God, get me out of my way. Because I am traveling on God’s way, not my own. And my trust in God needs to outweigh my trust in money, my trust in systems, and even my trust in power.
God, get me out of my way.
The church has tremendous potential for ministry. That is our promised land. It isn’t expanded territory, with more money and prestige, but our promised land is that we will become servants of one another. And if God is calling us to do something, why put it off because of time, and resources, and all of the other limitations that we can think of…to settle and stay right where we already are?
VBS is coming up in one week. There are ways you can help with it. There is no such thing as, “I have already put in my time there, let someone else do it for a change.” And there is no such thing as, “let the parents of the kids who are benefiting from the program do all the work.” And there is no such thing as, “that just isn’t the part of the church work in which I’m interested.”
Vacation Bible School is a perfect opportunity to share the love of Christ not only with kids, but with their parents too. And maybe, the kids will have such a good time here that they tell their mom and dad that they want to come back on Sunday. And maybe, those parents will come, and they will meet Jesus, too. And maybe, their lives will be completely changed by the love of Christ.
God has put this in our path. And it is going to take time, effort, and money to do it. And some people see that and wonder, is it really worth the effort? I can just let others handle it, since its not really my thing, and stay at home.
That is us turning from God’s way, onto our own way. Sacrificing promises for permanence.
Now, the other thing that is interesting about this scripture is the conversation God has with Moses. So many people say that God never changes. And when it comes to how much God loves us, and provides for us, and calls us to be the wonderful creation we are supposed to be, I would say that is true.
But you see here that God gets angry with the Israelites!
They have turned from me, so I’m going to turn from them! They want another god that doesn’t exist? They want to stay in the desert? Fine…let them.
And Moses reminds God of his promises. To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He reminds him of the Covenant that has just been written into stone with the finger of God. And God changes his mind.
Essentially Moses says…see who we are without you? We each follow our own path that will lead to our own destruction. We end up as slaves in Egypt. We act with violence toward one another. We are vulnerable to evil things.
You promised to be with us. And God remembers his promise, and guides them back to the right path. God changed his mind.
Exasperation is something we all feel. Powerless to do anything about something we encounter. Poverty is one example. Family relationships can be another. No matter what we tell people or what we try to do, or what we sacrifice and give…it still just seems like a drop in the bucket with the overwhelming odds that are stacked against us. A child is always going to do things their way, no matter the advice and experience of the parents. A sibling won’t listen. People will do nothing to help themselves.
And it is tempting to throw up your hands and say, I’m done!
It is the temptation God is facing right here, but it is Moses who says…remember what you promised.
Remember your history. And turn back to the right path.
We are sharing this meal together. To remember. We celebrate the fourth of July to remember that we are forming a more perfect union, that should not be at the expense of others, but constantly striving for perfection.
But we share this meal to remember that God keeps his promises. And will continue to keep his promises. And that if we could get out of our way, and onto God’s way…then we will be delivered to what has been promised. Life eternal, for all of God’s creation.
Take your time this morning to remember those who were put in your path that helped you hear God’s claim on your life. Remember those times you were called to ministry, but ignored it. And pray, “God, get us all out of our way.”
Acts of Grace: Hebrews 13:1-2
Today is the last day in a series of sermons we have been having on hospitality. And the scripture we read, was actually the basis of the entire series. Hebrews 13: 1-2. Two verses, placed near the end of a letter that many believe was actually a sermon.
And there are a lot of different patterns for sermons. There is your “three points and a poem” sermon. There is your “tell them what you are going to say, say it, then tell them what you just said” pattern. And there is your “make one point, and say it over and over and over again in different ways until someone gets it,” pattern. All used by preachers throughout the centuries, and all still used today.
I’m willing to bet many of you have heard one of these sermons somewhere or another, and can probably fit them into a different category.
But usually, no matter the pattern of the sermon, it ends in the same way. That there is some sort of change in behavior or action as a result of studying scripture together in this way. And this sermon in Hebrews is no different. It is basically, what do you want to happen as a result of people hearing this sermon?
And one of those changes is the hope I have as a change in our lives. Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
My father-in-law wrote his doctoral thesis on hospitality, and it is at the center of most everything their church is about. Welcoming the stranger. He learned it from his father, who upon retirement, began attending Dee’s church. And every Sunday, he would stand in the parking lot and help people into church, particularly older, single women, and those with children. If it was raining, he would bring an umbrella right to the door of the car. If it was cold, he would wear a heavy coat. And Dee commented that more people knew the church by the actions of his father in the parking lot, than by anything else that was going on inside its walls.
When I was at Chamblee First United Methodist, a group of people came to me asking what they could do with the 40 plus acres we sat on inside the perimeter of Atlanta. I asked them if they were willing to welcome the stranger, not for the purpose of them one day becoming members of the church, but just give them a place where they were welcome and comfortable. They said they were, and we built a nine hole disc golf course. The result of which had people walking on our property all day every day, and a couple who first came to the church to play disc golf, I eventually officiated their wedding, and they just had their first child, who they named Jordan. I get choked up just thinking about how such a small act of hospitality brought them into our lives.
And there are thousands of examples I can give you of showing hospitality. But my hope is, that we, as a church will begin to take an introspective look at our hospitality practices, and see where we can do better. Because we never know when we might be having angels to our Vacation Bible School, our Christmas program, or eating hot dogs at the Coggins’ farm.
And I hope it is a practice you will consider in all aspects of your life, not just when you come to church.
Because I believe God has shown us the ultimate hospitality, and that hospitality is at the core of who God is. Today is Trinity Sunday, the one Sunday of the year where we talk about this foundationally important doctrine, but it is so confusing that preachers tend to just acknowledge it and move on.
But I think the Trinity shows us hospitality. Because the trinity, while difficult for us to imagine as we are constricted by special limitations, in essence is about community. God the Father, serving as and alongside God the Son, who serves as and alongside God the Holy Spirit.
The three interacting together, none more important than the other, but serving with each other, welcoming everyone in to be a part of the beloved community.
The trinity is a foundation from which we can build our lives. A foundation that takes community seriously, takes family seriously, and can inspire the fact that the greatest joy and achievement we can ever achieve has nothing to do with money, or reputation…but with being with one another.
I know this church hears this calling upon our lives. I know it does. But I also know that we need to step further out of our comfort zones to welcome the stranger.
Imagine you are at the grocery store, and you are checking out. The people who are scanning and bagging your groceries are people too. Doing their jobs, but what would happen if you welcomed them into your life. Got to know their name. Do you know what would happen to their day if the next time you walked in, you remembered their name? That is an act of grace, freely given, just as God gives grace to us.
Or as the youth are on their mission trip this week. You will be welcomed to the campground by Randy Strickland and all of the wonderful volunteers who work with GAP, but what if when you went to someone’s house to do some work, you learned their story? You let their lives influence your own.
This week at annual conference, we had elections for delegates to general and jurisdictional conference. And some people I was excited to see elected, and some people I wasn’t. That just an honest feeling I had as I seek to be the best Christian I can be in the United Methodist Church connection.
And there was a good bit of negativity coming from some people. Saying that our United Methodist Church is in decline and we need to do something to stop the bleeding. To stem the tide of this trend.
But Bishop Alfred Norris preached at the ordination service that changed all of that for me. The first words out of his mouth for his sermon were, I declare a moratorium on negativity. Our church is bursting out all over, and we need to be there to help it burst to its fullest potential. And as I read report after report, I know it to be true. Good work is being done. And one of the keys to help the church burst forward as much as it can is to be hospitable and welcoming to the stranger. Welcoming them into our lives. All of those who no matter who they are, or where they are on life’s journey, to welcome them, and share with them the good news of Jesus Christ.
It could be the repairman coming to your house. It could be a neighbor with which you haven’t connected in a while. It could be a child who is so busy that you have to squeeze time into see them, but go drive them to the softball practice. Go sit at their baseball games and meet the other parents.
And I know you are busy. You want to get the groceries, pick up the kids, and go home to start dinner. But are we really too busy to do what God has called us to do? Are we too busy to welcome the stranger….which means we are too busy to entertain the very angels themselves.
There is always room for one more at God’s table. There is always room for one more in God’s life. And there is always room for one more on God’s pew. You were that one more at some point in your life, won’t you help someone else be one more, too?
It is the difference between getting through the day so you can mark through the to-do list so you can get back into the bed again…and welcoming the day, with all of the possibilities it brings.
And one of those possibilities is to welcome the stranger, and entertain angels.
It may call you to talk to someone who is different, looks different, maybe smells different, maybe has different priorities…but angels don’t always look like us. They come in all shapes and sizes, and are all loved by God.
Welcome the stranger, show hospitality. It can mean the whole world.
I have a friend, who when he was in middle school went to church to help deliver meals to people in the community. Kind of a meals on wheels thing. He traveled with an adult, and took meals to all of the different houses. When he got back to the church, another one of the adults came up to him, and shared this story. He went to a house, and dropped off some meals, and a young girl answered the door. About the same age as my friend. And as they were talking and learning more about one another, it turns out that this child was in my friends same class at school! And so they asked her if she knew him, and her eyes lit up. She said, I love him. He is so nice to me, no matter what. And when this adult was back at the church relating this story to my friend, he couldn’t remember the girl’s name, and my friend to this day has no idea who that girl was.
But hearing that a stranger, who needed love, received it from him just for showing hospitality to all, completely changed his life. He never found out who that girl was, but he figures it was an angel.
We all can experience the love of God this way, and I hope we all do.
And there are a lot of different patterns for sermons. There is your “three points and a poem” sermon. There is your “tell them what you are going to say, say it, then tell them what you just said” pattern. And there is your “make one point, and say it over and over and over again in different ways until someone gets it,” pattern. All used by preachers throughout the centuries, and all still used today.
I’m willing to bet many of you have heard one of these sermons somewhere or another, and can probably fit them into a different category.
But usually, no matter the pattern of the sermon, it ends in the same way. That there is some sort of change in behavior or action as a result of studying scripture together in this way. And this sermon in Hebrews is no different. It is basically, what do you want to happen as a result of people hearing this sermon?
And one of those changes is the hope I have as a change in our lives. Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
My father-in-law wrote his doctoral thesis on hospitality, and it is at the center of most everything their church is about. Welcoming the stranger. He learned it from his father, who upon retirement, began attending Dee’s church. And every Sunday, he would stand in the parking lot and help people into church, particularly older, single women, and those with children. If it was raining, he would bring an umbrella right to the door of the car. If it was cold, he would wear a heavy coat. And Dee commented that more people knew the church by the actions of his father in the parking lot, than by anything else that was going on inside its walls.
When I was at Chamblee First United Methodist, a group of people came to me asking what they could do with the 40 plus acres we sat on inside the perimeter of Atlanta. I asked them if they were willing to welcome the stranger, not for the purpose of them one day becoming members of the church, but just give them a place where they were welcome and comfortable. They said they were, and we built a nine hole disc golf course. The result of which had people walking on our property all day every day, and a couple who first came to the church to play disc golf, I eventually officiated their wedding, and they just had their first child, who they named Jordan. I get choked up just thinking about how such a small act of hospitality brought them into our lives.
And there are thousands of examples I can give you of showing hospitality. But my hope is, that we, as a church will begin to take an introspective look at our hospitality practices, and see where we can do better. Because we never know when we might be having angels to our Vacation Bible School, our Christmas program, or eating hot dogs at the Coggins’ farm.
And I hope it is a practice you will consider in all aspects of your life, not just when you come to church.
Because I believe God has shown us the ultimate hospitality, and that hospitality is at the core of who God is. Today is Trinity Sunday, the one Sunday of the year where we talk about this foundationally important doctrine, but it is so confusing that preachers tend to just acknowledge it and move on.
But I think the Trinity shows us hospitality. Because the trinity, while difficult for us to imagine as we are constricted by special limitations, in essence is about community. God the Father, serving as and alongside God the Son, who serves as and alongside God the Holy Spirit.
The three interacting together, none more important than the other, but serving with each other, welcoming everyone in to be a part of the beloved community.
The trinity is a foundation from which we can build our lives. A foundation that takes community seriously, takes family seriously, and can inspire the fact that the greatest joy and achievement we can ever achieve has nothing to do with money, or reputation…but with being with one another.
I know this church hears this calling upon our lives. I know it does. But I also know that we need to step further out of our comfort zones to welcome the stranger.
Imagine you are at the grocery store, and you are checking out. The people who are scanning and bagging your groceries are people too. Doing their jobs, but what would happen if you welcomed them into your life. Got to know their name. Do you know what would happen to their day if the next time you walked in, you remembered their name? That is an act of grace, freely given, just as God gives grace to us.
Or as the youth are on their mission trip this week. You will be welcomed to the campground by Randy Strickland and all of the wonderful volunteers who work with GAP, but what if when you went to someone’s house to do some work, you learned their story? You let their lives influence your own.
This week at annual conference, we had elections for delegates to general and jurisdictional conference. And some people I was excited to see elected, and some people I wasn’t. That just an honest feeling I had as I seek to be the best Christian I can be in the United Methodist Church connection.
And there was a good bit of negativity coming from some people. Saying that our United Methodist Church is in decline and we need to do something to stop the bleeding. To stem the tide of this trend.
But Bishop Alfred Norris preached at the ordination service that changed all of that for me. The first words out of his mouth for his sermon were, I declare a moratorium on negativity. Our church is bursting out all over, and we need to be there to help it burst to its fullest potential. And as I read report after report, I know it to be true. Good work is being done. And one of the keys to help the church burst forward as much as it can is to be hospitable and welcoming to the stranger. Welcoming them into our lives. All of those who no matter who they are, or where they are on life’s journey, to welcome them, and share with them the good news of Jesus Christ.
It could be the repairman coming to your house. It could be a neighbor with which you haven’t connected in a while. It could be a child who is so busy that you have to squeeze time into see them, but go drive them to the softball practice. Go sit at their baseball games and meet the other parents.
And I know you are busy. You want to get the groceries, pick up the kids, and go home to start dinner. But are we really too busy to do what God has called us to do? Are we too busy to welcome the stranger….which means we are too busy to entertain the very angels themselves.
There is always room for one more at God’s table. There is always room for one more in God’s life. And there is always room for one more on God’s pew. You were that one more at some point in your life, won’t you help someone else be one more, too?
It is the difference between getting through the day so you can mark through the to-do list so you can get back into the bed again…and welcoming the day, with all of the possibilities it brings.
And one of those possibilities is to welcome the stranger, and entertain angels.
It may call you to talk to someone who is different, looks different, maybe smells different, maybe has different priorities…but angels don’t always look like us. They come in all shapes and sizes, and are all loved by God.
Welcome the stranger, show hospitality. It can mean the whole world.
I have a friend, who when he was in middle school went to church to help deliver meals to people in the community. Kind of a meals on wheels thing. He traveled with an adult, and took meals to all of the different houses. When he got back to the church, another one of the adults came up to him, and shared this story. He went to a house, and dropped off some meals, and a young girl answered the door. About the same age as my friend. And as they were talking and learning more about one another, it turns out that this child was in my friends same class at school! And so they asked her if she knew him, and her eyes lit up. She said, I love him. He is so nice to me, no matter what. And when this adult was back at the church relating this story to my friend, he couldn’t remember the girl’s name, and my friend to this day has no idea who that girl was.
But hearing that a stranger, who needed love, received it from him just for showing hospitality to all, completely changed his life. He never found out who that girl was, but he figures it was an angel.
We all can experience the love of God this way, and I hope we all do.
God’s Hospitality; Deuteronomy 24: 17-22
oday is a very appropriate day to talk about the hospitality of God, as all are invited to this table to freely eat and drink. God has set a table before us, and invited us in, out of his goodness and hospitality. It is a gift of grace that we are able to come to the table together. To eat and remember all of the wonderful things God has done for us.
I’ll be the first to admit that I like new things. I like things that are fresh. And so, I like technology. I like my ipad and my iphone, and my macbook. I am constantly looking for ways to integrate them into my life because it is new and exciting.
I like new clothes. When I was a kid, whenever I would get something new, I would put it on, and wear it constantly, until my parents finally would have to peel it off of me to wash. Even tshirts and other seemingly everyday things I would wear everyday.
I wear new shoes out of the store, and put the old ones into the box.
But when we get something new, something old gets pushed aside sometimes. Because we forget the feeling that it was once new, too. It once had that same magical quality of being new. But over the years, the familiarity of it has worn off its luster, and we take it for granted.
Growing up, I can remember eating every meal around the dinner table. Hamburgers and chicken pot pie were the staples of what we ate. And now that I’m an adult, and realize the cost of things and have had some conversations with my parents I now know that the reason we ate our meals at home and never went out to eat was because we couldn’t afford it. On the rare occasions when we did go out, I would have to ask my parents what I could order on the menu because I couldn’t just get anything I wanted, we couldn’t afford it.
Except on your birthday. On your birthday, you got to pick what restaurant you wanted to go to. And you got to order ANYTHING you wanted on the menu. It was so special. For me, it was Red Lobster. And I would get to eat my favorite food in the world, crab legs.
Now, we eat out with my parents all the time. And we can always pretty much order whatever we want. Going to red lobster is not as special. In fact, we never go there anymore. Where once it was the highlight of my year.
Deuteronomy is a book of instructions. Do this, don’t do that. And many of them seem pretty archaic and trivial. Its about how to settle conflicts, and property rights, things like that.
And in the section that we read this morning, Moses is instructing the people of Israel about something that seems kind of trivial to many of us. When you harvest your crops, and some is left, don’t go back for it, but leave it for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. Same for when you harvest olives from your olive trees or gather grapes from your vineyard, don’t go back to make sure you picked up every single piece of fruit, but leave it for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant.
Leave a little bit, for those who need it.
Because God knew the success of the people of Israel. God knew the blessings in life that were in store for them. But he did not want them to take for granted the time when THEY were the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. He did not want them to become like the person who is born on third base and think they hit a triple. He wanted them to remember the amazing power and grace that was freely given to them by rescuing them from Egypt where they were once slaves. And he is instructing them to leave a piece of their harvest for someone else. And it just might be that that piece that was left is someone else’s entire sustenance.
Many of us can remember stories where we once were like that. Stories about when you were young or first married. Looking at your bank account and wondering how in the world you were going to make it to the next month. I want you to think back to those times.
Now, when you were in that moment, did anyone ever give you a gift? It could have been taking you out to dinner, or a birthday card with twenty dollars in it, or something else. Do you remember the tremendous gratitude that you felt in that moment? Did you earn or deserve to be given that gift? No, it was given by someone else. Someone else left a corner of their field, so that the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant might have something on which to live.
That is what God’s hospitality is like. It is a gift, freely given at the time when we need it most. This world. This air. This freedom. This church. This community. All are gifts from God, and show how God’s hospitality influences our lives. But we’ve had them for so long that we take it for granted. Its not as special anymore, and so we forget to leave parts of our field unharvested for someone else. We think it is ours. And we believe in fairness and boundaries, when God’s love is never fair.
Flannery O’Connor is one of the South’s most influential writers, and one of the most influential writers in seminaries. We were constantly reading her short stories in our exploration of the Bible because she put it in words that we could better understand.
One of my favorite stories now, it wasn’t when I first read it, but it is now, is the short story called “Revelation.” In the story, a woman is in a waiting room. She is a proper, decent woman. She goes on and on about how other people aren’t living their lives properly, like she is. She calls other people white trash, and classless. All in an air of self-righteousness.
And there is a girl in the waiting room named Mary Grace. And she is reading a book, all the while listening to this woman talk about how good she is. How self sufficient she is. And toward the end of the story, Mary Grace becomes enraged, and throws the book at the woman, hitting her squarely in the nose. And calls her an old warthog.
The woman leaves, with her feelings and her nose hurt. Why would anyone attack her like that? And that night, she has a dream. She sees people going to heaven…all kinds of people. All of the people that she was putting down in the waiting room. The white trash, those on welfare, all of them going to heaven, before her, and all of her “good Christian folk” who are going to heaven, but are at the back of the line.
Her Revelation, is God’s hospitality. And her revelation is, that its not fair.
God’s grace isn’t fair. It is given to everyone. Because no one can earn it. And its not fair. So we need to stop thinking in categories if our ministry is fair or not, and whether our gifts given to the church are fair or not. We give freely, because God gives freely.
God gives grace completely to all creation. It is God’s nature. And it should not be taken for granted by completely harvesting our fields, and leaving nothing for somebody else.
Now for many of you, you might think I’m talking about money. And if you are thinking that, I probably am talking about money to you. But it is more than that. It is the idea that all of our new things. All of our possessions. All of our constant dinners out that are no big deal now, will trap us if we don’t leave a piece of it. If we take all that is given to us for granted, like it is an everyday occurrence, then we will have forgotten the feeling of being in love with God, and experiencing the grace of Jesus Christ.
And Deuteronomy teaches us, the best way to remember, is by finding some suffering, and doing something about it. Because someone once did something about your own suffering.
I love to do mission work. I love to wear dingy clothes and go anywhere I can to build or plant or wash or give. And I have had many opportunities to do that in my life. But I truly love it. And I am constantly looking for ways to do it even more. Even if it is a sacrifice or time, money, or energy. Because by doing the work, I remember what it felt like to be liberated by God. Of being set free from the troubles that consume me. And that, to me, is so life-giving. Leaving a part of me behind for someone who is in need.
So many people have left pieces of their life behind for all of us. And while it may have been really far in the past and we are more stable now, and living on our own, now its our turn. To give, more than we have received.
Because God gives us more than we could ever give him. And the only response is thanks. It is humbling to receive such a gift as that, but it is also so desperately needed. The world needs more people to give as God gives. Not get bogged down in talks of who “deserves” it. The world needs more people to leave pieces of their harvest. To expand our world by inviting others in.
It is God inviting you into his house, and setting a table for you, and saying, have as much as you want.
As you take communion today, which is open to all people. If you are here, you are welcome to come, there are no requirements. But as you take communion today, I want you to think of it as what God left in his own harvesting, so that we; the widows, the orphans, and the immigrants might have something to eat. And remember what Jesus Christ has done in your life, and think of ways that we can give that grace to others.
And I don’t usually do this, but today it just feels right. If you don’t think that you have been liberated in this way in your life. By the free gift of God that inspires you to give to others, pray about it. And talk to me whenever you want. I want this whole church to remember the incredible gifts that God lavishes upon us, so that we might lavish it upon others.
I’ll be the first to admit that I like new things. I like things that are fresh. And so, I like technology. I like my ipad and my iphone, and my macbook. I am constantly looking for ways to integrate them into my life because it is new and exciting.
I like new clothes. When I was a kid, whenever I would get something new, I would put it on, and wear it constantly, until my parents finally would have to peel it off of me to wash. Even tshirts and other seemingly everyday things I would wear everyday.
I wear new shoes out of the store, and put the old ones into the box.
But when we get something new, something old gets pushed aside sometimes. Because we forget the feeling that it was once new, too. It once had that same magical quality of being new. But over the years, the familiarity of it has worn off its luster, and we take it for granted.
Growing up, I can remember eating every meal around the dinner table. Hamburgers and chicken pot pie were the staples of what we ate. And now that I’m an adult, and realize the cost of things and have had some conversations with my parents I now know that the reason we ate our meals at home and never went out to eat was because we couldn’t afford it. On the rare occasions when we did go out, I would have to ask my parents what I could order on the menu because I couldn’t just get anything I wanted, we couldn’t afford it.
Except on your birthday. On your birthday, you got to pick what restaurant you wanted to go to. And you got to order ANYTHING you wanted on the menu. It was so special. For me, it was Red Lobster. And I would get to eat my favorite food in the world, crab legs.
Now, we eat out with my parents all the time. And we can always pretty much order whatever we want. Going to red lobster is not as special. In fact, we never go there anymore. Where once it was the highlight of my year.
Deuteronomy is a book of instructions. Do this, don’t do that. And many of them seem pretty archaic and trivial. Its about how to settle conflicts, and property rights, things like that.
And in the section that we read this morning, Moses is instructing the people of Israel about something that seems kind of trivial to many of us. When you harvest your crops, and some is left, don’t go back for it, but leave it for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. Same for when you harvest olives from your olive trees or gather grapes from your vineyard, don’t go back to make sure you picked up every single piece of fruit, but leave it for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant.
Leave a little bit, for those who need it.
Because God knew the success of the people of Israel. God knew the blessings in life that were in store for them. But he did not want them to take for granted the time when THEY were the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. He did not want them to become like the person who is born on third base and think they hit a triple. He wanted them to remember the amazing power and grace that was freely given to them by rescuing them from Egypt where they were once slaves. And he is instructing them to leave a piece of their harvest for someone else. And it just might be that that piece that was left is someone else’s entire sustenance.
Many of us can remember stories where we once were like that. Stories about when you were young or first married. Looking at your bank account and wondering how in the world you were going to make it to the next month. I want you to think back to those times.
Now, when you were in that moment, did anyone ever give you a gift? It could have been taking you out to dinner, or a birthday card with twenty dollars in it, or something else. Do you remember the tremendous gratitude that you felt in that moment? Did you earn or deserve to be given that gift? No, it was given by someone else. Someone else left a corner of their field, so that the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant might have something on which to live.
That is what God’s hospitality is like. It is a gift, freely given at the time when we need it most. This world. This air. This freedom. This church. This community. All are gifts from God, and show how God’s hospitality influences our lives. But we’ve had them for so long that we take it for granted. Its not as special anymore, and so we forget to leave parts of our field unharvested for someone else. We think it is ours. And we believe in fairness and boundaries, when God’s love is never fair.
Flannery O’Connor is one of the South’s most influential writers, and one of the most influential writers in seminaries. We were constantly reading her short stories in our exploration of the Bible because she put it in words that we could better understand.
One of my favorite stories now, it wasn’t when I first read it, but it is now, is the short story called “Revelation.” In the story, a woman is in a waiting room. She is a proper, decent woman. She goes on and on about how other people aren’t living their lives properly, like she is. She calls other people white trash, and classless. All in an air of self-righteousness.
And there is a girl in the waiting room named Mary Grace. And she is reading a book, all the while listening to this woman talk about how good she is. How self sufficient she is. And toward the end of the story, Mary Grace becomes enraged, and throws the book at the woman, hitting her squarely in the nose. And calls her an old warthog.
The woman leaves, with her feelings and her nose hurt. Why would anyone attack her like that? And that night, she has a dream. She sees people going to heaven…all kinds of people. All of the people that she was putting down in the waiting room. The white trash, those on welfare, all of them going to heaven, before her, and all of her “good Christian folk” who are going to heaven, but are at the back of the line.
Her Revelation, is God’s hospitality. And her revelation is, that its not fair.
God’s grace isn’t fair. It is given to everyone. Because no one can earn it. And its not fair. So we need to stop thinking in categories if our ministry is fair or not, and whether our gifts given to the church are fair or not. We give freely, because God gives freely.
God gives grace completely to all creation. It is God’s nature. And it should not be taken for granted by completely harvesting our fields, and leaving nothing for somebody else.
Now for many of you, you might think I’m talking about money. And if you are thinking that, I probably am talking about money to you. But it is more than that. It is the idea that all of our new things. All of our possessions. All of our constant dinners out that are no big deal now, will trap us if we don’t leave a piece of it. If we take all that is given to us for granted, like it is an everyday occurrence, then we will have forgotten the feeling of being in love with God, and experiencing the grace of Jesus Christ.
And Deuteronomy teaches us, the best way to remember, is by finding some suffering, and doing something about it. Because someone once did something about your own suffering.
I love to do mission work. I love to wear dingy clothes and go anywhere I can to build or plant or wash or give. And I have had many opportunities to do that in my life. But I truly love it. And I am constantly looking for ways to do it even more. Even if it is a sacrifice or time, money, or energy. Because by doing the work, I remember what it felt like to be liberated by God. Of being set free from the troubles that consume me. And that, to me, is so life-giving. Leaving a part of me behind for someone who is in need.
So many people have left pieces of their life behind for all of us. And while it may have been really far in the past and we are more stable now, and living on our own, now its our turn. To give, more than we have received.
Because God gives us more than we could ever give him. And the only response is thanks. It is humbling to receive such a gift as that, but it is also so desperately needed. The world needs more people to give as God gives. Not get bogged down in talks of who “deserves” it. The world needs more people to leave pieces of their harvest. To expand our world by inviting others in.
It is God inviting you into his house, and setting a table for you, and saying, have as much as you want.
As you take communion today, which is open to all people. If you are here, you are welcome to come, there are no requirements. But as you take communion today, I want you to think of it as what God left in his own harvesting, so that we; the widows, the orphans, and the immigrants might have something to eat. And remember what Jesus Christ has done in your life, and think of ways that we can give that grace to others.
And I don’t usually do this, but today it just feels right. If you don’t think that you have been liberated in this way in your life. By the free gift of God that inspires you to give to others, pray about it. And talk to me whenever you want. I want this whole church to remember the incredible gifts that God lavishes upon us, so that we might lavish it upon others.
Hotels and Hospitality. Genesis 18: 1-8
I first want to begin by saying that I have really missed preaching here. I am so thankful and excited for the wonderful preachers that you had over these past four weeks, and after hearing them I realize that I should really work on my preaching because now you have gotten used to a certain standard after hearing them, and I shouldn’t let you down!
But I have missed preaching. Not everyone gets the wonderful privilege that I do to seek out and tell a word from God to God’s people. And I am so thankful that you are my church, and that you allow me to do such a thing.
So, back to it!
After Elizabeth Grace was born, life was a whirlwind. Juggling a baby and a 20 month old as well as all of the emotions surrounding the birth, and the tornados that came through, are enough. But after the dust had settled a little bit, and we got into some semblance of a routine and getting back into working, I began to think about our church, and what directions we are taking. Taking a step back, to see what the big picture was.
And as you tend to do with a newborn, you stay up all night. And, as I am tend to do, I flip through channels. Well, I don’t know how many of you have seen late night TV lately, but there are A LOT of religious channels. And I kind of like to keep my ear out with these, see how other churches do things and hear what people are saying and what other people are hearing, hoping that I might be able to more fully understand the church, and what is happening in it.
And in many of the sermons and Bible studies that I saw in those late night sessions, There wasn’t a tremendous amount of joy and excitement in what they were saying. And also, it was all about accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. If you accept Jesus Christ, then all the world’s problems will go away. And in many of these late night religious shows, if you accept Jesus Christ, you will receive a monetary blessing.
But I think its more than that. It is about receiving Jesus Christ. Not accepting. There is a difference. Accepting is a passive action. Accepting is saying, okay. But to receive. That is a much higher calling. Because when you receive Jesus Christ, you have to make room in your heart. And make room in your life. And get things ready. Because whenever we receive a guest into our home, we cook, we clean, we wash sheets, make room arrangements, everything we can.
And in my late night wonderings once I thought about this distinction, I wondered, how can our church best receive Christ? And I think the answer is by receiving others. It is the answer that Abraham stumbled upon, receive those who come into your life, because you are then receiving Christ. And the focus of how to do this is how well we practice hospitality.
When I was in high school I was privileged to take a trip to the Middle East. My dad put together trips to the Holy Land, and he brought me along. It was a great trip, and we toured Israel for the first part of the tour. I have some great pictures and stories from that trip. But then we headed onto the bus and traveled to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, and the water is so salty that nothing can live near there, and is undrinkable. However, it is a lot of fun to visit because no matter what you do while you are in the water, you cannot sink.
Its true. I jumped in a bobbed back to the surface. I was able to reenact that scene from Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise suspended by wires while skimming along the surface of the water. I became that buoyant.
And, the saltiness of the water has led to that location being known for its spas. They take the minerals found in the dead sea and make it a relaxing place to visit with salt scrubs and massages and everything else. They have even transferred some of the water to an indoor pool that draws toxins out of your body as you swim in it. And everyone in our group brought home soaps and oils made from the dead sea.
From there, we traveled through the desert to the border of Israel to Egypt. And before we crossed the border we stayed at a resort area on the Mediterranean. And the food was wonderful, the music was wonderful. There were artists and street performers all around. And anything we wanted, was provided, for a price.
We were able in those two nights to be able to enjoy the hospitality industry.
But that doesn’t compare to the hospitality we were given on the night and day in between those stays. While traveling through the desert, we came upon a Bedouin family. And we stopped. They invited us into their tent, made of goat hair. And we sat on the ground, but they put blankets down, and the woman in the family baked bread for us while we were there, and gave us water to drink. It was an amazing display of hospitality that I will never forget. Because while the night before and the night after we were in plush accommodations with wonderful food and everything else. The hospitality industry could not hold a candle to the hospitality we were shown by this family. Who couldn’t afford much, but gave to us.
Our scripture today kicks off the start of a group of sermons that I will be doing on one subject because I think it is important for our church to explore; hospitality.
The practice of hospitality is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Because without the hospitality of others, I would not be able to survive in this world. So many people brag about how they built their life on their own, with no help from anybody. And when I hear that I usually think two things. First, they are kidding themselves, because no one exists apart from other people. There are always people outside of us who affect our lives in ways we might not even be able to perceive, but it is there.
And secondly, I feel tremendously sad for them. Because receiving hospitality is one of the most wonderful experiences in the world. And…God asks us to receive his hospitality all the time, and we run into trouble when we think things are ours, rather than gifts of our heavenly host.
There are traditions from all over the world about the importance of hospitality, and we live in a culture that is defined by Southern Hospitality. So, it really should be something we pay more attention to in our own lives, and in the life of our church. And I’m talking about going beyond good signs, clear directions, and friendly greeting. Though all of those things are important, and are things we should do. Hospitality goes deeper than that, and we are called to practice hospitality to all that we meet.
Abraham was just sitting in his tent by the oaks of Mamre. And three men approached. And Abraham begged to be allowed to care for them.
How many of us do that today? Practice that much hospitality?
And because of his loyalty to a deeply rooted biblical call to care for the stranger, Abraham and Sarah were promised a son. The beginnings of the nation of Israel.
Hospitality is the basis of the hospitality industry, such as hotels and restaurants, as well as the word hospital.
In the middle ages, the monasteries were the hospitals. Because in the rule of St. Benedict, he states that receiving guests is one of the main ways that we receive and welcome Christ. So it wasn’t just because the monks had access to the best medicine, and would also pray for their patients. But any traveler who needed a place to stay could go to the doors of a monastery, and they would be received. They would be given a place to sleep, and food to eat, even if the monks had very little themselves.
And, in order to sort of quarantine the sick guests that would come, the monks would section off part of the monastery as the hospital. The place where they would be shown hospitality. And, where other travelers stayed would be the hostel, also, where they would be shown hospitality.
Eventually, these buildings separated from the original buildings of the monastery, and some gained specific skills to manage a hostel or treat patients. And on down through the years, hospitals and hotels were born…the hospitality industry.
So what was started by Benedictine monks became an entire industry. And the practice of hospitality was given over to the industry as well. So much so that where once people relied on one another for hospitality; a place to stay, and a meal to eat, that responsibility was relinquished and people were told they could get it elsewhere, as long as they paid for it.
But I think the practice of hospitality needs to make a comeback. Especially in our churches. So many churches, in their practice of hospitality, mistakenly think that should mean that they add amenities.
I remember when I was shopping for my apartment in Atlanta, the amenities that they offered were very important. Did they offer a security gate, recycling, a gym, a pool? And the more amenities you have, the better it was, and the more you had to pay for it.
And churches began to follow this model. They would build Disneyland type worlds for children. Climbing walls for youth. Gyms for church members. Concert halls, and stages. Schools. And they would call it, hospitality.
But, like in the monasteries losing their hospitality to the hospitality industry, calling church amenities the practice of hospitality still falls short of the mark of the true practice of hospitality.
And so our first step in trying to figure out God’s hospitality is to know when we felt it? Who helped receive you into this church? Was it a pastor, or a friend? What did they do to receive you? I’m guessing they got to know you. Took an interest in your life. Looked out for your children. Called you when you were sick. Introduced you to others. And helped guide you in things that might not have been so familiar to you.
We still have people in this community and in this county and in this world that need to be received like that. God is not done with us yet, and is not done with them yet. And we are able to receive Christ once again every day by receiving others.
By welcoming them into this church and telling them the one message that is no secret but seems to be kept from too many in this world. That all of us are valid. All of us are loved by God. We matter, because Jesus loves us.
We all have been received here. Lets reach out, and receive others. Because sometimes, I think we get the order wrong. We think, once someone believes in God, then we will receive them. But what if it was someone came to know what a life-giving relationship with Christ is, because they were received first?
We should practice doing that. So in these next few weeks, we will learn about the hospitality God shows to us, the hospitality we should practice towards God, and the hospitality we should practice for others.
Do you all have family blessings? My parents always had one, and we still say it from time to time.
Well, I have been looking for a family blessing to use with our family. Georgia is beginning to be at a point to say a blessing before meals.
And I came across one from Scotland, and I think it is appropriate for us learning how to practice hospitality. It goes.
Bless, O Lord, this food we are about to eat; and we pray you, O God, that is may be good for our body and soul; and, if there is any poor creature walking the road, may God send them in to us, so that we can share this food with them, just as Christ shares his gifts with all of us. Amen.
That is going to be my prayer for this church. And in these next few weeks, we are going to learn how God shows hospitality to us, and instructs us to do the same. And we are going to learn how this church can practice hospitality in our own lives, so that we might learn the true value of receiving others into our life, and thus receive Christ.
But I have missed preaching. Not everyone gets the wonderful privilege that I do to seek out and tell a word from God to God’s people. And I am so thankful that you are my church, and that you allow me to do such a thing.
So, back to it!
After Elizabeth Grace was born, life was a whirlwind. Juggling a baby and a 20 month old as well as all of the emotions surrounding the birth, and the tornados that came through, are enough. But after the dust had settled a little bit, and we got into some semblance of a routine and getting back into working, I began to think about our church, and what directions we are taking. Taking a step back, to see what the big picture was.
And as you tend to do with a newborn, you stay up all night. And, as I am tend to do, I flip through channels. Well, I don’t know how many of you have seen late night TV lately, but there are A LOT of religious channels. And I kind of like to keep my ear out with these, see how other churches do things and hear what people are saying and what other people are hearing, hoping that I might be able to more fully understand the church, and what is happening in it.
And in many of the sermons and Bible studies that I saw in those late night sessions, There wasn’t a tremendous amount of joy and excitement in what they were saying. And also, it was all about accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. If you accept Jesus Christ, then all the world’s problems will go away. And in many of these late night religious shows, if you accept Jesus Christ, you will receive a monetary blessing.
But I think its more than that. It is about receiving Jesus Christ. Not accepting. There is a difference. Accepting is a passive action. Accepting is saying, okay. But to receive. That is a much higher calling. Because when you receive Jesus Christ, you have to make room in your heart. And make room in your life. And get things ready. Because whenever we receive a guest into our home, we cook, we clean, we wash sheets, make room arrangements, everything we can.
And in my late night wonderings once I thought about this distinction, I wondered, how can our church best receive Christ? And I think the answer is by receiving others. It is the answer that Abraham stumbled upon, receive those who come into your life, because you are then receiving Christ. And the focus of how to do this is how well we practice hospitality.
When I was in high school I was privileged to take a trip to the Middle East. My dad put together trips to the Holy Land, and he brought me along. It was a great trip, and we toured Israel for the first part of the tour. I have some great pictures and stories from that trip. But then we headed onto the bus and traveled to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, and the water is so salty that nothing can live near there, and is undrinkable. However, it is a lot of fun to visit because no matter what you do while you are in the water, you cannot sink.
Its true. I jumped in a bobbed back to the surface. I was able to reenact that scene from Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise suspended by wires while skimming along the surface of the water. I became that buoyant.
And, the saltiness of the water has led to that location being known for its spas. They take the minerals found in the dead sea and make it a relaxing place to visit with salt scrubs and massages and everything else. They have even transferred some of the water to an indoor pool that draws toxins out of your body as you swim in it. And everyone in our group brought home soaps and oils made from the dead sea.
From there, we traveled through the desert to the border of Israel to Egypt. And before we crossed the border we stayed at a resort area on the Mediterranean. And the food was wonderful, the music was wonderful. There were artists and street performers all around. And anything we wanted, was provided, for a price.
We were able in those two nights to be able to enjoy the hospitality industry.
But that doesn’t compare to the hospitality we were given on the night and day in between those stays. While traveling through the desert, we came upon a Bedouin family. And we stopped. They invited us into their tent, made of goat hair. And we sat on the ground, but they put blankets down, and the woman in the family baked bread for us while we were there, and gave us water to drink. It was an amazing display of hospitality that I will never forget. Because while the night before and the night after we were in plush accommodations with wonderful food and everything else. The hospitality industry could not hold a candle to the hospitality we were shown by this family. Who couldn’t afford much, but gave to us.
Our scripture today kicks off the start of a group of sermons that I will be doing on one subject because I think it is important for our church to explore; hospitality.
The practice of hospitality is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Because without the hospitality of others, I would not be able to survive in this world. So many people brag about how they built their life on their own, with no help from anybody. And when I hear that I usually think two things. First, they are kidding themselves, because no one exists apart from other people. There are always people outside of us who affect our lives in ways we might not even be able to perceive, but it is there.
And secondly, I feel tremendously sad for them. Because receiving hospitality is one of the most wonderful experiences in the world. And…God asks us to receive his hospitality all the time, and we run into trouble when we think things are ours, rather than gifts of our heavenly host.
There are traditions from all over the world about the importance of hospitality, and we live in a culture that is defined by Southern Hospitality. So, it really should be something we pay more attention to in our own lives, and in the life of our church. And I’m talking about going beyond good signs, clear directions, and friendly greeting. Though all of those things are important, and are things we should do. Hospitality goes deeper than that, and we are called to practice hospitality to all that we meet.
Abraham was just sitting in his tent by the oaks of Mamre. And three men approached. And Abraham begged to be allowed to care for them.
How many of us do that today? Practice that much hospitality?
And because of his loyalty to a deeply rooted biblical call to care for the stranger, Abraham and Sarah were promised a son. The beginnings of the nation of Israel.
Hospitality is the basis of the hospitality industry, such as hotels and restaurants, as well as the word hospital.
In the middle ages, the monasteries were the hospitals. Because in the rule of St. Benedict, he states that receiving guests is one of the main ways that we receive and welcome Christ. So it wasn’t just because the monks had access to the best medicine, and would also pray for their patients. But any traveler who needed a place to stay could go to the doors of a monastery, and they would be received. They would be given a place to sleep, and food to eat, even if the monks had very little themselves.
And, in order to sort of quarantine the sick guests that would come, the monks would section off part of the monastery as the hospital. The place where they would be shown hospitality. And, where other travelers stayed would be the hostel, also, where they would be shown hospitality.
Eventually, these buildings separated from the original buildings of the monastery, and some gained specific skills to manage a hostel or treat patients. And on down through the years, hospitals and hotels were born…the hospitality industry.
So what was started by Benedictine monks became an entire industry. And the practice of hospitality was given over to the industry as well. So much so that where once people relied on one another for hospitality; a place to stay, and a meal to eat, that responsibility was relinquished and people were told they could get it elsewhere, as long as they paid for it.
But I think the practice of hospitality needs to make a comeback. Especially in our churches. So many churches, in their practice of hospitality, mistakenly think that should mean that they add amenities.
I remember when I was shopping for my apartment in Atlanta, the amenities that they offered were very important. Did they offer a security gate, recycling, a gym, a pool? And the more amenities you have, the better it was, and the more you had to pay for it.
And churches began to follow this model. They would build Disneyland type worlds for children. Climbing walls for youth. Gyms for church members. Concert halls, and stages. Schools. And they would call it, hospitality.
But, like in the monasteries losing their hospitality to the hospitality industry, calling church amenities the practice of hospitality still falls short of the mark of the true practice of hospitality.
And so our first step in trying to figure out God’s hospitality is to know when we felt it? Who helped receive you into this church? Was it a pastor, or a friend? What did they do to receive you? I’m guessing they got to know you. Took an interest in your life. Looked out for your children. Called you when you were sick. Introduced you to others. And helped guide you in things that might not have been so familiar to you.
We still have people in this community and in this county and in this world that need to be received like that. God is not done with us yet, and is not done with them yet. And we are able to receive Christ once again every day by receiving others.
By welcoming them into this church and telling them the one message that is no secret but seems to be kept from too many in this world. That all of us are valid. All of us are loved by God. We matter, because Jesus loves us.
We all have been received here. Lets reach out, and receive others. Because sometimes, I think we get the order wrong. We think, once someone believes in God, then we will receive them. But what if it was someone came to know what a life-giving relationship with Christ is, because they were received first?
We should practice doing that. So in these next few weeks, we will learn about the hospitality God shows to us, the hospitality we should practice towards God, and the hospitality we should practice for others.
Do you all have family blessings? My parents always had one, and we still say it from time to time.
Well, I have been looking for a family blessing to use with our family. Georgia is beginning to be at a point to say a blessing before meals.
And I came across one from Scotland, and I think it is appropriate for us learning how to practice hospitality. It goes.
Bless, O Lord, this food we are about to eat; and we pray you, O God, that is may be good for our body and soul; and, if there is any poor creature walking the road, may God send them in to us, so that we can share this food with them, just as Christ shares his gifts with all of us. Amen.
That is going to be my prayer for this church. And in these next few weeks, we are going to learn how God shows hospitality to us, and instructs us to do the same. And we are going to learn how this church can practice hospitality in our own lives, so that we might learn the true value of receiving others into our life, and thus receive Christ.
Springing: John 20:1-18
Do you remember that big snow storm we had back in January? With all the snow and ice, with impassable roads, and fears of power failure? It almost seems like a distant memory now, doesn’t it? I remember watching a truck hitch a boat to the back and it ride down the road. I remember braving the ice to go to the grocery store, only to find nothing there, so I had to borrow milk from a neighbor for Georgia.
Wow, things were shut down for that storm. The Atlanta Hawks had to postpone a game because they couldn’t fly in to Atlanta. And I remember images from newscasts that showed an interstate, with bumper to bumper traffic, but no one moving because people had abandoned their cars rather than sit in a frozen river called I-20.
Seems like a distant memory, but it was only 3 months ago! We look outside now, and we wonder how in the world could it have been that way. Because NOW things are green and lush. Pastures are beginning to grow taller. In the yard at the parsonage, flowers just shot up out of nowhere it seemed like. Daffodils, Tulips, and Lilacs burst forward…because of no effort on my part I assure you. They were always there, and needed the right conditions to come out. Our azaleas in the front of the house look beautiful, and our trees are growing rich and full with leaves where before, they were just branches. The days are nice and long…cool in the morning and evening, warm enough to wear shorts during the day. Baseball is being played.
It really is the perfect time of year if you ask me.
And with all of that surrounding us, it is no wonder why it is so difficult to remember when our world was covered in ice.
That is the beauty of seasons.
But that, my friends, is also the beauty of resurrection.
The world was one way. It was a dark and scary place for the disciples. The person they had followed and pledged themselves to was tried and executed by the Roman government. And he was dead.
And as Mary approached the tomb, she came in the dark. Still confused. Still grieving. Still upset. With spices to prepare the body because there wasn’t enough time before. Spices that assure everyone that their Teacher was dead.
And she saw the tomb opened, with the stone rolled away. She turned tail and ran back to tell the first people that she sees, Peter and the other disciple. Someone has opened the tomb! And they run to see what was going on.
And the other disciple gets there first. But Peter is the first to go in, and they see that there is no body, just some old burial clothes folded up. And they go away confused, because they still live in the frozen world.
But then we have Mary.
This section from the Gospel of John is almost like seeing one of those videos of an extremely long process in fast motion. You see them where they fix a camera on a seed from fertilization to germination, and before your eyes you see the plant grow. I saw a video on the Internet recently that did the same thing. A guy hiked the entirety of the Appalacian Trail, all 2,181 miles of it, while holding a camera. And he sped up the whole thing, and in five minutes time, you could see his entire journey. It was truly amazing to see.
Mary is sitting by open tomb, wondering what to do next. And then the seasons change. She sees a man, that she doesn’t recognize, but we know its Jesus. She asks him if he knows anything about this open tomb, here.
He does.
And he calls her by name. Marking the moment when Resurrection and life became poignant, and real. He speaks her name, and lets her know that because of his Resurrection, not only is everything going to be alright, but she is going to become ten times the person she ever could have been when it was still winter; when it was still dark.
I’ve spoken with you many times about Camp Glisson. How it is a wonderful place, and how I grew up going there, and how I was a counselor there, and how that is where Meredith and I met, and that is where Georgia was baptized. But it was also the place where I learned what Easter means.
It was during communion. I had a counselor, named George. And at the end of each week of camp, the entire camp has a time of communion together. It takes a long time, because there are a lot of campers. It’s at least 2 and a half hours long. But I knelt at that altar, and heard George go down the line of campers with the bread, “the body of Christ given for you, the body of Christ given for you,” and on down the line he went. When he came to me he said, This is the body of Christ given for you, Jordan.
He said my name, he knew me. And all of a sudden I came to the realization that this is how Christ knows me. And that my name itself comes from his lips. And your name does too. At that point when Jesus says, “Mary” the Bible might as well read, “Insert Your Name Here.” That is what we hear at that moment. And because of Resurrection, the snow and ice of life melt away and gave way to spring.
Easter is a special day. It is at a time of year when things are changing. We go all out for Easter. Many churches have special music, special musicians. Some bring in guest preachers. Have extra services. I even know of one church in our conference that is extending the start time for the Easter worship service to start at 10:30 so they can fit it all in!
And, we dress differently for Easter. At least I do. I do every year. I want to do something to mark it apart from every other Sunday. So I wear my bow tie.
We have the living cross outside, we will have pictures, and brunch with family.
Easter is a special day.
But what makes it most special, is something we sometimes don’t even give a second thought. And that is, that Easter changes us.
In every sense of the word. This is the main Sunday we get ready for all year, and the main Sunday that we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out. We were once one way, and now we are another.
So what changes are we going to make in our lives, or in the lives of others?
Are we going to leave Easter where it is, eat our brunch and move on with our lives?
Or are we going to make Easter who we are, resurrected disciples of Christ, where death does not separate us or anyone else from the love of God? Neither does pain, or grief, or hate. Nothing separates us anymore.
Because Christ met us in the garden, and said, look around you, life is everywhere. Winter is a distant memory. Its time to come out into the sunshine, and help others do the same.
Wow, things were shut down for that storm. The Atlanta Hawks had to postpone a game because they couldn’t fly in to Atlanta. And I remember images from newscasts that showed an interstate, with bumper to bumper traffic, but no one moving because people had abandoned their cars rather than sit in a frozen river called I-20.
Seems like a distant memory, but it was only 3 months ago! We look outside now, and we wonder how in the world could it have been that way. Because NOW things are green and lush. Pastures are beginning to grow taller. In the yard at the parsonage, flowers just shot up out of nowhere it seemed like. Daffodils, Tulips, and Lilacs burst forward…because of no effort on my part I assure you. They were always there, and needed the right conditions to come out. Our azaleas in the front of the house look beautiful, and our trees are growing rich and full with leaves where before, they were just branches. The days are nice and long…cool in the morning and evening, warm enough to wear shorts during the day. Baseball is being played.
It really is the perfect time of year if you ask me.
And with all of that surrounding us, it is no wonder why it is so difficult to remember when our world was covered in ice.
That is the beauty of seasons.
But that, my friends, is also the beauty of resurrection.
The world was one way. It was a dark and scary place for the disciples. The person they had followed and pledged themselves to was tried and executed by the Roman government. And he was dead.
And as Mary approached the tomb, she came in the dark. Still confused. Still grieving. Still upset. With spices to prepare the body because there wasn’t enough time before. Spices that assure everyone that their Teacher was dead.
And she saw the tomb opened, with the stone rolled away. She turned tail and ran back to tell the first people that she sees, Peter and the other disciple. Someone has opened the tomb! And they run to see what was going on.
And the other disciple gets there first. But Peter is the first to go in, and they see that there is no body, just some old burial clothes folded up. And they go away confused, because they still live in the frozen world.
But then we have Mary.
This section from the Gospel of John is almost like seeing one of those videos of an extremely long process in fast motion. You see them where they fix a camera on a seed from fertilization to germination, and before your eyes you see the plant grow. I saw a video on the Internet recently that did the same thing. A guy hiked the entirety of the Appalacian Trail, all 2,181 miles of it, while holding a camera. And he sped up the whole thing, and in five minutes time, you could see his entire journey. It was truly amazing to see.
Mary is sitting by open tomb, wondering what to do next. And then the seasons change. She sees a man, that she doesn’t recognize, but we know its Jesus. She asks him if he knows anything about this open tomb, here.
He does.
And he calls her by name. Marking the moment when Resurrection and life became poignant, and real. He speaks her name, and lets her know that because of his Resurrection, not only is everything going to be alright, but she is going to become ten times the person she ever could have been when it was still winter; when it was still dark.
I’ve spoken with you many times about Camp Glisson. How it is a wonderful place, and how I grew up going there, and how I was a counselor there, and how that is where Meredith and I met, and that is where Georgia was baptized. But it was also the place where I learned what Easter means.
It was during communion. I had a counselor, named George. And at the end of each week of camp, the entire camp has a time of communion together. It takes a long time, because there are a lot of campers. It’s at least 2 and a half hours long. But I knelt at that altar, and heard George go down the line of campers with the bread, “the body of Christ given for you, the body of Christ given for you,” and on down the line he went. When he came to me he said, This is the body of Christ given for you, Jordan.
He said my name, he knew me. And all of a sudden I came to the realization that this is how Christ knows me. And that my name itself comes from his lips. And your name does too. At that point when Jesus says, “Mary” the Bible might as well read, “Insert Your Name Here.” That is what we hear at that moment. And because of Resurrection, the snow and ice of life melt away and gave way to spring.
Easter is a special day. It is at a time of year when things are changing. We go all out for Easter. Many churches have special music, special musicians. Some bring in guest preachers. Have extra services. I even know of one church in our conference that is extending the start time for the Easter worship service to start at 10:30 so they can fit it all in!
And, we dress differently for Easter. At least I do. I do every year. I want to do something to mark it apart from every other Sunday. So I wear my bow tie.
We have the living cross outside, we will have pictures, and brunch with family.
Easter is a special day.
But what makes it most special, is something we sometimes don’t even give a second thought. And that is, that Easter changes us.
In every sense of the word. This is the main Sunday we get ready for all year, and the main Sunday that we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out. We were once one way, and now we are another.
So what changes are we going to make in our lives, or in the lives of others?
Are we going to leave Easter where it is, eat our brunch and move on with our lives?
Or are we going to make Easter who we are, resurrected disciples of Christ, where death does not separate us or anyone else from the love of God? Neither does pain, or grief, or hate. Nothing separates us anymore.
Because Christ met us in the garden, and said, look around you, life is everywhere. Winter is a distant memory. Its time to come out into the sunshine, and help others do the same.
Simple Times: John 21:1-19
He is Risen indeed.
I am so excited about being here, in this place, at this time, with all of you.
I have heard more ministers whine and complain about the sunrise service. How you have to get here early. It makes you tired for the later services. Yada, Yada, Yada.
But not me. If I were to have only one chance to go to one service the entire year, this would be it.
I’ve always been wired a little bit differently than most, I guess.
Because I like things simple.
If you gave me the choice between two things, I will usually choose the simpler option.
I prefer writing on a piece of paper with a pen than typing on the computer.
If you were to give me the option of driving a speedboat or paddling around in a canoe, I’ll take the canoe.
I know a lot of you are campers. So am I. But if you were to give me the option an RV with a satellite dish, stove, bed, etc. Or a backpack with a tent strapped to it, I’ll pick up the backpack and start walking.
It’s just how I have always been.
And on Easter Sunday, churches go all out. Special music. Fancy clothes. New decorations.
As they should. I mean, its Easter for crying out loud!
The day we spend the entire year preparing for, and the rest of the year trying to understand. The day around which our entire faith is based. Where the gracious love of God is shown in its most purest form. Where we learn and know that God is merciful and grace-filled. Where we look forward to a future with hope because of who Jesus Christ calls us to be.
But it is at the sunrise service, where we gather simply. With close friends and family. Outdoors, with the sky as our ceiling and the grass as our carpet. With folding chairs as our pews, and a rickety lectern as our pulpit. Celebrating together, the love we know is the most powerful force in the world.
I like things simple.
Because I get overwhelmed when things are complicated.
Thank God I’m married to the wonderful woman that I am because without her, our finances would be in sorry state. I don’t like dealing with money, because it is complicated. Trying to haggle for the best deal or the best price. Trying to arrange things for the biggest tax breaks. Trying to “play” the stock market. I don’t know how people “play” the stock market, because that seems like one of the most complicated games in the world.
Or when my schedule gets too busy, I get overwhelmed. Trying to coordinate and evaluate and prioritize; it just gets to be too much. And my typical response is that I have so much to do, that I rarely get anything done.
You probably know this feeling. With kids schedules. Baseball games and practices to coordinate. Meals to plan and cook. Shopping to be done. Work to finish. Stores to manage. Animals to feed. Family to see. All of it, a part of life. It gets too complicated and overwhelming at times.
And we grasp at things to help. We grasp at a self-help book. New technology to help us coordinate. We buy our food already prepared, or order it from somewhere else. And sometimes, just sometimes, we grasp at blame to help us cope.
It is our spouse’s fault for not doing enough, it is the government’s fault for putting an extra burden on us, it is the school’s fault for asking us to volunteer.
And sometimes, we turn to what we know we can do, rather than face the complications surrounding us. We know we can check our brains out and watch TV or play on facebook. We know we can immerse ourselves in our work or family, and neglect everything else. So we turn to that. We turn to something else, anything else, rather than dealing with life.
I feel that too. I think everyone feels this way sometimes, but we don’t like to admit it. And Jesus disciples felt that too.
They had just been through an ordeal! Following Jesus, seeing the trial, seeing the horrific death, meeting him again after life…it just got to be too much to handle.
So Peter said, I’m going fishing, and the others agreed.
Basically, Peter is announcing, I’m going to do the one thing I know to do rather than deal with everything else that has gone on. It was a great experience, following Christ, I’m glad I went through it, but its over now, so I’m going back to what I know, and the others agreed.
Probably a good idea. Its more secure. Got to have food on the table and a roof over our head after all.
But it doesn’t work. At least, not until Jesus shows up again. Then, they get more fish than they can handle. Then, they are told, there is even more fish to come! Then, they are asked, do you love me? Then you need to look after my sheep.
In the church, Easter is a big deal. Ministers all over the country will collapse on their couches this afternoon in exhaustion. People will go to their homes or restaurants and eat brunch. And will get up tomorrow at 6am, get the kids clothed and fed, and send them on their way, kiss our spouse goodbye then go to work, and think, back to the same thing.
But then Jesus shows up again! This is tremendous news!
Jesus shows up where we work and tells us that he is still calling us loved. I tell Georgia and Meredith every day that I love them. Every day. And I mean it every time I say it.
And Jesus shows up where we are and says it to us. In every way.
And to tell you the truth, that complicates things a bit. It complicates things for the disciples. Now they have been called to something more.
When they tried to run back to their old routine, Jesus calls them to something more. The old routine is still there, but now Jesus is there too.
The classroom is still there. The kids are still there. The sports are still there, but now Jesus is there too.
We are called to love one another. And so when we meet someone, we share the love of Christ with them.
One day, a priest was walking down the street. He was traveling through a part of town that he really shouldn’t have been in, because he was white, and there was a law in South Africa that said he was better than the people he was walking among. He passed a young mother and her son. And he smiled and nodded, and continued on his way. He shared the love of Christ with them, in however a small way. That young man decided that if a priest can share love like that, then he wanted to be a priest. He grew up and studied, and changed the world. His name was Desmond Tutu. The priest’s name was Father Trevor Huddleston.
Easter does not call us to escape from life with our faith. But instead reminds us that Jesus is Life. Jesus shows up in all places. And in every aspect of our lives tells us to love one another.
Easter tells us that Jesus is risen. And continues to rise. Just as the sun rises every day over our world, and we rise from our beds, Jesus rises every day in our heart.
I am so excited to be here. In this garden, with you, and with our risen savior Jesus Christ. Who no matter how layered and complicated our lives may be, enters in, and gives us life abundant.
The question that is before us, is not whether we will escape or not, but will we invite others into this higher calling? Because Easter is not just one day, but every day. And Easter is not just in the church, but sometimes its Jesus showing up on the shore of a lake. Jesus showing up in our lives. Every day.
And so I want to close with the command that Jesus commands at the end of scripture. I’m alive and I am life…follow me.
I am so excited about being here, in this place, at this time, with all of you.
I have heard more ministers whine and complain about the sunrise service. How you have to get here early. It makes you tired for the later services. Yada, Yada, Yada.
But not me. If I were to have only one chance to go to one service the entire year, this would be it.
I’ve always been wired a little bit differently than most, I guess.
Because I like things simple.
If you gave me the choice between two things, I will usually choose the simpler option.
I prefer writing on a piece of paper with a pen than typing on the computer.
If you were to give me the option of driving a speedboat or paddling around in a canoe, I’ll take the canoe.
I know a lot of you are campers. So am I. But if you were to give me the option an RV with a satellite dish, stove, bed, etc. Or a backpack with a tent strapped to it, I’ll pick up the backpack and start walking.
It’s just how I have always been.
And on Easter Sunday, churches go all out. Special music. Fancy clothes. New decorations.
As they should. I mean, its Easter for crying out loud!
The day we spend the entire year preparing for, and the rest of the year trying to understand. The day around which our entire faith is based. Where the gracious love of God is shown in its most purest form. Where we learn and know that God is merciful and grace-filled. Where we look forward to a future with hope because of who Jesus Christ calls us to be.
But it is at the sunrise service, where we gather simply. With close friends and family. Outdoors, with the sky as our ceiling and the grass as our carpet. With folding chairs as our pews, and a rickety lectern as our pulpit. Celebrating together, the love we know is the most powerful force in the world.
I like things simple.
Because I get overwhelmed when things are complicated.
Thank God I’m married to the wonderful woman that I am because without her, our finances would be in sorry state. I don’t like dealing with money, because it is complicated. Trying to haggle for the best deal or the best price. Trying to arrange things for the biggest tax breaks. Trying to “play” the stock market. I don’t know how people “play” the stock market, because that seems like one of the most complicated games in the world.
Or when my schedule gets too busy, I get overwhelmed. Trying to coordinate and evaluate and prioritize; it just gets to be too much. And my typical response is that I have so much to do, that I rarely get anything done.
You probably know this feeling. With kids schedules. Baseball games and practices to coordinate. Meals to plan and cook. Shopping to be done. Work to finish. Stores to manage. Animals to feed. Family to see. All of it, a part of life. It gets too complicated and overwhelming at times.
And we grasp at things to help. We grasp at a self-help book. New technology to help us coordinate. We buy our food already prepared, or order it from somewhere else. And sometimes, just sometimes, we grasp at blame to help us cope.
It is our spouse’s fault for not doing enough, it is the government’s fault for putting an extra burden on us, it is the school’s fault for asking us to volunteer.
And sometimes, we turn to what we know we can do, rather than face the complications surrounding us. We know we can check our brains out and watch TV or play on facebook. We know we can immerse ourselves in our work or family, and neglect everything else. So we turn to that. We turn to something else, anything else, rather than dealing with life.
I feel that too. I think everyone feels this way sometimes, but we don’t like to admit it. And Jesus disciples felt that too.
They had just been through an ordeal! Following Jesus, seeing the trial, seeing the horrific death, meeting him again after life…it just got to be too much to handle.
So Peter said, I’m going fishing, and the others agreed.
Basically, Peter is announcing, I’m going to do the one thing I know to do rather than deal with everything else that has gone on. It was a great experience, following Christ, I’m glad I went through it, but its over now, so I’m going back to what I know, and the others agreed.
Probably a good idea. Its more secure. Got to have food on the table and a roof over our head after all.
But it doesn’t work. At least, not until Jesus shows up again. Then, they get more fish than they can handle. Then, they are told, there is even more fish to come! Then, they are asked, do you love me? Then you need to look after my sheep.
In the church, Easter is a big deal. Ministers all over the country will collapse on their couches this afternoon in exhaustion. People will go to their homes or restaurants and eat brunch. And will get up tomorrow at 6am, get the kids clothed and fed, and send them on their way, kiss our spouse goodbye then go to work, and think, back to the same thing.
But then Jesus shows up again! This is tremendous news!
Jesus shows up where we work and tells us that he is still calling us loved. I tell Georgia and Meredith every day that I love them. Every day. And I mean it every time I say it.
And Jesus shows up where we are and says it to us. In every way.
And to tell you the truth, that complicates things a bit. It complicates things for the disciples. Now they have been called to something more.
When they tried to run back to their old routine, Jesus calls them to something more. The old routine is still there, but now Jesus is there too.
The classroom is still there. The kids are still there. The sports are still there, but now Jesus is there too.
We are called to love one another. And so when we meet someone, we share the love of Christ with them.
One day, a priest was walking down the street. He was traveling through a part of town that he really shouldn’t have been in, because he was white, and there was a law in South Africa that said he was better than the people he was walking among. He passed a young mother and her son. And he smiled and nodded, and continued on his way. He shared the love of Christ with them, in however a small way. That young man decided that if a priest can share love like that, then he wanted to be a priest. He grew up and studied, and changed the world. His name was Desmond Tutu. The priest’s name was Father Trevor Huddleston.
Easter does not call us to escape from life with our faith. But instead reminds us that Jesus is Life. Jesus shows up in all places. And in every aspect of our lives tells us to love one another.
Easter tells us that Jesus is risen. And continues to rise. Just as the sun rises every day over our world, and we rise from our beds, Jesus rises every day in our heart.
I am so excited to be here. In this garden, with you, and with our risen savior Jesus Christ. Who no matter how layered and complicated our lives may be, enters in, and gives us life abundant.
The question that is before us, is not whether we will escape or not, but will we invite others into this higher calling? Because Easter is not just one day, but every day. And Easter is not just in the church, but sometimes its Jesus showing up on the shore of a lake. Jesus showing up in our lives. Every day.
And so I want to close with the command that Jesus commands at the end of scripture. I’m alive and I am life…follow me.
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