Jesus Gets Scary

Jesus Gets Scary

Psalm 16; Mark 13: 1-8

City Methodist Church [SLIDE 2] was opened in Gary, Indiana, in 1926. The construction cost was $800,000, today around $14,400,000. [SLIDE 3] It boasted a 3,000-seat capacity Sanctuary and adjoining buildings which included a 1,000 seat theater, corporate offices, a gym, Sunday School, a dining hall, and soon to be a bowling alley. [SLIDE 4] It was the crowning jewel of a growing Midwestern town, and put on incredible plays, services, and became a hub of all things Gary, Indiana. Today, it stands as a desolate ruin. [SLIDE 5] In fact, the church lasted only about 49 years, closing its doors for good in 1975. [SLIDE 6] Now it stands as a testimony to a very beautiful failure in a city that has declined into near ghost-town status. 

In many ways the images are hauntingly beautiful. There’s a strong emphasis on the haunting part, because we sometimes look at these abandoned churches as all too prophetic of the direction of faith. But they are also a reminder that when we build on our own pride and self-righteousness, we are sure to fail because God has been forgotten. 

In our Gospel lesson, the disciples have a conversation with Jesus where they compliment the beauty of the Temple. They refer to the Temple structure as “magnificent buildings” with “impressive stones” in the walls. [SLIDE 7] The problem is that this was Herod’s Temple, built by Herod the Great. That would be the same King Herod who had the male children of Bethlehem murdered after the visit of the Magi. The Temple he built was not a testimony to God, but to the brutality of his reign and the godless pride that reigned in his soul. But he used his alleged ties or conversion to Judaism to lure people into believing his authority. 

Jesus will have none of it. He tells the disciples, awed by the beauty of this building, that it will be destroyed and every stone torn down. And indeed, years later, that very thing happens. The truth is you cannot build something new or rebuild in a better way unless what’s there is already torn down. A friend of mine lives in East Cobb, and in the mid 2010s, developers and wealthy folks went on a rampage tearing down the old 1950s ranch style homes in the area to build these giant mansions. [SLIDE 8] Every cul-de-sac had a whole set of new estates where formerly plain, older, and maybe somewhat run-down houses used to be. 

But this is not just Jesus making a scary prediction, it’s also a reminder to us as followers of Jesus. It is easy for us to find points of pride that make faith harder for us. If we don’t tear down the Herod’s Temples in our own lives, then we cannot make room for what God is building in us and doing through us. If we are not willing to let God break down the walls, the hold-out places, the angry places, the hurt places, the years of trauma places…if all those Temples to Herod do not get torn down in our lives, we won’t have room for God. 

Jesus talks openly to the disciples about all the scary and bad things happening and things to come. He tells them of people who will come promising to be a messiah, a savior to all the people around. And to a deceived people convinced they need saving from anything but God, any snake oil will satisfy. [SLIDE 9] That is especially true when times are difficult. Living in a time of wars, threats of wars, nations rattling the sabers of battle, earthquakes, famines, and all manner of scary things, can make people distrust God and look for a human to help them. Jesus says not to panic and not to be deceived. There is but one loving God for us, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. 

The promise Jesus gives is that out of every bad and fearful place of life, something good can be built or birthed. From the carnage of violence and war, we can learn the vital importance of peace. From destruction and natural disasters, we can learn the importance of neighbors, love, and helping one another. And in this day and age we need it. 

In the politically charged climate we live in, I’ve seen friends call it quits. I’ve seen families distance and no longer desire to see each other. We have built Herod’s Temple and called it politics. But out of our brokenness, we can still find love and grace. We can still live the peace and hope that Jesus teaches. Faith has to rise above this, indeed above everything. No matter how angry and upset we may feel, or the world may seem, as Christians, we follow a Jesus who went to the cross for all the world. Jesus suffered and gave life and hope to the closest disciples as well as the Pharisees who shouted, “Crucify him!” But to be Christ followers, we must understand that very point of who Christ is. 

The Psalm makes the point very clearly. Verse 4 says, “Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.” But for those who remain faithful, verse 11 says, “You [O God] will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” We have to tear down the idols, the temples to Herod, and the broken places we continue to cling to in our lives. Or we shall surely fail. 

I did a little deeper research on what took down City Methodist from a congregation of more than 1,500 to barely 100 in only 49 years. [SLIDE 10] In no surprise it was politics, racial issues, and money…struggles that never seem to go away. The minister who had the church built believed in integration and interfaith ministries, and the congregation grew very tired and dissatisfied with that. Some of the church wanted more involvement in the civic-minded work, others did not. But the biggest toll on the church was a changing demographic. The congregation was mostly middle to upper middle-class white, and when the city fell apart in the 1960s and 1970s, the congregation was simply gone. 

Growing up, I used to hear a lot of sermons on how evil forces “in the world” would wage war against Christians, and we would have to fight or suffer and die. It was a very fear-inducing, fight-driven type of faith. But as I have gotten older and seen churches close and end their ministry, I have learned something. Maybe we all have learned it. Very few churches fail because of a hostile attack from without. Usually, they are torn apart from within. 

That is why Jesus offers the hope of building and creating something new. We talk about it in terms of being born again—born anew. Here after all the dark and scary predictions, Jesus tells the disciples, “But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” It wasn’t a prophecy stopping right at the bitter end. It was a reminder that before God can build something new and beautiful in our churches, our communities, and our lives, we must tear down the old, decaying things within, and clear the path for Jesus’s work. 

So where in our lives do we find the clutter? Where have we built Herod’s Temple testifying to those things we hold onto and won’t let go? Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham, preached a sermon series years ago entitled, “Jesus, plus nothing, still equals everything.” [SLIDE 11] But the opposite is true as well. Everything minus Jesus equals nothing. City Methodist was a beautiful crown jewel of Gary, Indiana. But it was little more than a beautiful failure because it was built for pride and not for worship. 

Remember that when Jesus’s predictions and teachings get scary and worrisome in the Gospels, it is not just to instill fear. Jesus talks about the troubles of the present to remind us of the hope that is eternal. If we feel things being broken down around us, life is changing too fast to keep up, or like we’re just a bit overwhelmed with things, remember this: Jesus was a carpenter, and he’s not done building in our lives. So then, may the way be cleared for God, the master architect, to build and create anew in us. 

Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1471934513483457

Good Endings

Good Endings—Ruth 3: 1-5; 4: 13-17; Mark 12: 38-44

I have always loved to read. And up until high school, I always enjoyed getting to a well-resolved, comforting, stress-free, happily ever after ending in the books I read. However, first day of Freshman English, we started Romeo and Juliet. It was hard enough to understand what was actually being said, but then the ending came. They die. It’s sad, and it’s miserable. That was followed by Henrik Ibsen plays and John Steinbeck both of whom write stories of suffering. The next year we did an entire unit on writings from the Holocaust. And then they wonder why teenagers are sullen and depressed? But I learned an important lesson. There is a difference between a good ending and a happily ever after ending.

Many would call the story of Ruth a “happily ever after” story. In the end, she finds some form of love, marriage, and a whole family in Boaz. We often read this as a lovely second-chance love story. Unfortunately, it’s not. As a woman, Ruth was the property of her husband. Marriage in that day was not a fairy tale, but a bartered agreement. A woman was sold into marriage by her father. And what was worse for Ruth is that her first husband died. Widows the lowest of any class in Biblical days. They couldn’t own property, trade, engage in legitimate work, or anything like that unless they had children. They basically had to live off the begging and generosity of those who would help just enough to keep them out of starvation.

The interim between Ruth’s widowing and meeting Boaz would have been filled with stress, fear, and cruelty. There are fears that the men working the fields may abuse her as she gathers the scraps. She and Naomi would have endured the scorn of everyone in town and the pity. The only way out for someone like Ruth was to find a male relative of her husband and marry him to redeem herself. And this wasn’t even redeeming the person. It was the land attached to the family that was the basis of the redemption. Boaz, in Ruth 4, first asks the family redeemer if he will redeem the land. Ruth is the afterthought. In order to get the land, he has to marry her. The man refuses, leaving her only option as Boaz. And lest you think these policies didn’t filter down the centuries, may I remind you that it was only in 1974 that woman could open a bank account without her husband’s permission.

Ruth did not have a happily ever after ending. She had to fight and struggle until a man was willing to redeem her through her dead husband’s birthright. She got a good ending. Boaz was a kind man, cared for her, and she had a child which legitimized her in the eyes of the law and protected her rights. But a good ending is not always a happily ever after ending.

In our Gospel lesson we learn the secret to good endings. Jesus teaches then he provides a real-life illustration. He warns that people should be wary of the teachers of religious law. They would have been savvy, wealthy, and powerful in that society. They love to dress up in fancy clothes, parade around, have people greet them as kings and saviors. Jesus points out their fake piety in public with their long prayers and visible religious actions. But behind that façade of righteousness, Jesus says they always bring bad endings. They cheat the widow and the poor. Their goodness is fake, and their truth is cheating and exploitation.

To show this, Jesus points to the collection box at the Temple. There were often two types of offerings: the required offerings that were an obligation, and the free will offerings where people could give out of their generosity. Likely, this box would have been the free will offering. There were many rich people who came through and gave much money. But this one widow only gave two coins. Now, most people would believe that it was fantastic and amazing to give large amounts and donations like the rich people who came through before the widow. But Jesus singles out her faith and her giving.

The rich people who came through and donated gave a drop in the bucket. She gave everything she had. She paid her legal debts and obligations to the Temple, and then she gave everything else she had to offer. Jesus doesn’t like people who fake their faith for personal gain, and Jesus doesn’t like people who hold on to their riches and hold back from God. He says so very clearly, “Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”

Hypocrisy, greed, and faking faith for one’s own benefit are an abomination in Jesus’s sight, and he calls them out as evil over, and over, and over again in the Gospels. They and those who support them will face severe consequences from Jesus who valued the woman giving all for the good of others in the free will offering than those who simply made a show with a tiny portion of their immense wealth. Sometimes Jesus made people uncomfortable, and I would say a few of his words still do that today. But we must remember that even where Jesus’s teaching is most uncomfortable, we still claim him as Savior, Lord, and King, and we should order and conduct our lives accordingly.

So, what does that mean for us? We are called to be the woman with the two small coins. If we are unwilling to sacrifice, then we can’t follow Jesus. The rich man couldn’t give up his wealth and power to follow. Nicodemus struggled to give up his position in the religious authority to truly follow. King Agrippa was almost persuaded, but he couldn’t give up what he had. Faith is a call to be willing to sacrifice. Riches, power, and prestige may give you a happily ever after in this life, but you won’t get a good ending.

The Christ we follow came down from the majesty and glory of Heaven. Lived in poverty and cruelty on this earth, and was killed, wrongfully, by self-righteous religious leaders with the tacit permission of Rome. It’s not a good philosophy. It’s not a self-help book. It’s not something we do because of social acceptability in the southern United States. We follow because God is God, the creator of all, the redeemer of humankind, and the guide and guardian of our walk on earth.

We can say we believe, we can sing, we can pray, we can listen to passably decent sermon once in a while, but if we don’t actually make the effort to follow Jesus, we have failed. That hymn, “Almost Persuaded” as old and passe as it might be in our day and age still reminds us this: “Almost persuaded, harvest is past. Almost persuaded, doom comes at last. Almost cannot avail. Almost is but to fail. Sad, sad the bitter wail—almost, but lost.”

I used to think that the only way to end a book was a happily ever after. Everything needed to turn out perfectly just the way I wanted it to. But that’s not the case because I have learned I’m not in control. God is the author and finisher of faith. And together we have to trust that just as God gave a good ending to Ruth and Naomi, we have all received a good ending through the grace of Christ. Life does not spare us hardships and difficulties. But life is made sweeter knowing that it is lived with a God who loves us. So even if your happily ever after looks a little skewed, remember that God is not done writing your story, and God will always make a good ending.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/2060586197729142/

All things New

All Things New

Isaiah 25: 6-9; Revelation 21: 1-5

I had a debate the other day. You see, I love fall. [SLIDE 7] It’s one of my favorite times of the year with pumpkin, the beautiful leaves, cool mornings, Thanksgiving…all these wonderful, comforting things. A friend of mine, though, called it horrible. She said it was the most atrocious season of any year because everything is dying. Those beautiful colors are not some inspiration for a Thomas Kincade painting. They’re the leaves losing life, falling off and dying. She added that she hates the cold. It’s painful and chilling. You can’t swim in the fall and winter. And to top it off, she prefers not to eat pumpkin if she can help it. 

That is, perhaps, a common theme for folks. We tend to prefer one season over another and have personal, experience-based reasons for our choice. It is much the same with human life. We glorify and worship the abilities, beauty, and fun of youth, and we live in sheer terror of what it means to grow old and eventually die. I want you to understand something about being God’s faithful though. This process isn’t a start to finish. You do not put a period at the end of one’s life, for God has written a semicolon and a whole new paragraph to follow. God is the author and finisher of life…not just our earthly life, but our eternal life as well. 

We read in Isaiah a prophecy of God’s goodness. It’s a good place to start. God will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death hanging over the earth. God will swallow up death forever. Tears will be wiped away, and people will know that the God they trusted in and relied on will have saved them. The people of Israel often got a lot of prophecies of doom and punishment. They often strayed from God, and a prophet came to call them back to rights. But every single prophet also offered a word of hope for the people for their future. The punishment, the struggle, the broken relationship was never the final word for God’s people. The prophet always had words of hope to come. 

In Revelation that same word of hope is echoed centuries later. God will bring a new heaven and a new earth. [SLIDE 8] God will make all things new. The writer of Revelation lived in a time of great oppression. Whereas in Jesus’s day, he was persecuted by the religious powers, by the point of Revelation Rome was ramping up its worst persecutions of the church. Revelation focuses the readers away from the world of difficulty and to the God’s realm of hope and peace…the coming kingdom, not the struggles of now. 

Indeed, the words of the gospel are words of hope echoing through eternity not just today and tomorrow. Too often we look at death as the end, but Jesus taught us to consider it a beginning. And as a reminder, the beautiful fall colors, the barren trees of winter, all eventually come back around again in the spring. The dying leaves are never gone for good. Something new and amazing happens. Other reminders are all around this world we live in. [SLIDE 9] A caterpillar wraps itself up and disappears entombed in a cocoon. But in just a short time, a gorgeous butterfly emerges from what appears to be death. Our God is a God of life and hope. 

I can understand that fear though. Death is an unknown. It’s something you only experience once, and you don’t really get a preview of it. An older comedian I follow said, “People tell me to act my age. I don’t know what that means. I’ve never been this age before…we’re learning together sweetheart.” When we face the unknown, it gives rise to fear within. I remember a long-time member of this church, Barbara Wright, and I were talking one day as she was getting near the end of this life. She died more than a decade ago, so many of you don’t know what a character she was. I remember she said, “I’m not afraid of death. It’s the dying part I’m not too keen on.” 

That makes sense. We’re told in God’s Word there is no sting in death and no victory for the grave. Fear is pretty normal and not always controllable, but we have to take our fears and remember that God has designed a plan of hope for us. John writes those words of hope for us: “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’” That’s both a prophecy and a promise—God will wipe the tears from our eyes. God will end death, sorrow, crying, and pain—permanently and forever. 

All of our songs talk about that promise of God making all things new for us. [SLIDE 10] “In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity, in our doubt, there is believing; in our life, eternity. In our death, a resurrection, at the last, a victory.” We hear it again in the closing hymn, “Gather with the saints at the river that flows from the throne of God.” And we hear it in Andrae Crouch’s famous anthem, “No more crying there, we are going to see the King; no more dying there, we are going to see the king.” It’s a promise we can rely on that death is not an end, but a beginning. 

And so today, we gather to light candles in memory of our beloved saints here at First Christian Church. Every year we honor their memory, their work, and we take the time to give thanks then honor them by learning from the faith they lived and experienced. Joanne Ogilvie was one of the sweetest, most loving humans you can find. And even in her late 80s, she loaded as many women from Magnolia Manor as she could fit in her Nissan Sentra and brought them to church. 

Carolyn Symons was a solid friend whom you could count on to love you and help you. She always had her sweet dog Lola in tow, and a warmer, friendlier pair could not be found. And John Carroll was a man of incredible faith, who brought this church back from the brink of closure and brought me into the ministry. Each of these people have left an indelible, unforgettable mark on the people they intersected with and the lives they touched. They have earned their reward. That doesn’t make our grief any less real or any less painful that they are no longer here. 

Hold fast to those promises of hope. God will soon be with God’s people. God will wipe every tear from our eyes. God will make it so there is no more death, sorry, pain, or crying. Behold, God makes all things new. It is easy to let the pain that we feel in the here and now convince us that God’s truth and promises are not real. Do not let present circumstances rob you of your hope. God, we are told, gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. And nothing, no one, and not a single painful moment, day, or season is ever, EVER, going to rob us of that promise God has made to us. 

[SLIDE 11] I like the fall season. Some may say it’s hard because the leaves are dying. Some may not like it because things are getting colder, and winter can be barren and difficult. But to me, there’s a sense of beauty in the fall season. Even in their dying and falling off, the leaves burst forth with glorious colors, radiant images of a long and amazing spring and summer. And somewhere, just waiting behind the limbs of the tree is a whole new life of leaves, soon-coming. [SLIDE 12] And so it is with our lives. Death is not the final word. For even in death we hear the refrain of God’s hope: “My Lord, what a morning!” 

Worship Service video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1292803551879958/

All Creation Signs ! Series

Created for Healing—Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Mark 10: 46-52

Vampires. Bet you didn’t that would be the start to a sermon, did you? In traditional tales and lure, they are frightful creatures. In the romanticized Hollywood portrayal, they are less undead and evil and mostly handsome and alluring to those in the movies. The basic gist of the evil creature, though, is that it sucks the life out of you by draining your blood. A good friend of mine used to say that you didn’t need to worry about vampires as they’re not real, but she’s met quite a few spiritual vampires which should be utterly terrifying in life. 

In today’s Gospel, we encounter Bartimaeus, a blind beggar on the roadside. When he hears that Jesus is close to him, he begins shouting and hollering, “raising a ruckus,” as we say in the South. He calls on Jesus to have mercy on him… “Son of David, have mercy on me.” His words were not condemning, angry, irritated, nor anything like that. He was a man used to begging. He could have asked for enough money, for something to make life easy. He could have shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, fix my sight!” But instead, he simply asks Jesus for mercy. 

And the response to him was swift and severe. The people yelled at him to be quiet. They attempted to silence him, shut him down, and stop his attempt to get to Jesus. He wanted new life and healing. They wanted him to go away and be quiet. I think it is safe to call the crowd a group of spiritual vampires. They wanted to suck the life and hope right out of Bartimaeus. There are people and situations like that in our own lives. Sometimes it is folks at work, situations in our social lives, differing circumstances in the world, our own minds, or even someone very close who becomes the very one who tells us to be quiet and disrupts our ability to find Jesus. I have found too many people in my own life that I had to let go because they tried to steal the life and hope right out of me just like a vampire takes the life of every single victim. 

Both of the readings for today, though, talk of hope and restoration. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet, and frankly, there is not much about the book that is uplifting. But here we see a prophecy of restoration and healing for Israel. Jeremiah’s words say, “I will not forget the blind and lame, mothers, and women in labor.” Too often we focus our attention on the rich ruler we read about a few weeks ago. We look to strength, might, wealth, and influence. But here we see Jesus take special time and attention to those who are particularly vulnerable. Bartimaeus. He was a beggar, unclean most likely, and disregarded by society…told to be quiet. But that’s who Jesus made a point of calling Bartimaeus to him and healing him. 

Look at how strong Bartimaeus’s faith is. The crowd yelled at him. He couldn’t see where Jesus was. He didn’t know if Jesus would even entertain him. But when he makes his way to Jesus, yelling, begging, calling for mercy, Jesus says to him—“Go for your faith has healed you.” Jesus didn’t do a dramatic multi-step process of rubbing clay in his eyes, or anything else like other healing miracles. The man had sufficient faith for God to restore his sight. The vampiric crowd tried to steal that from him, but his faith held firm. He had faith beyond their yelling and cruelty. He had faith that if he only got to Jesus, all would be well. Jesus recognized his faith, and Jesus met his needs. 

To his credit, Bartimaeus had a strong response to his encounter with Jesus. The rich man went away sad and couldn’t follow Jesus. Bartimaeus, we read, threw aside his coat, ran to Jesus, then followed him down the road. He was willing to follow Jesus not even knowing as much as the rich man did because Bartimaeus knew Jesus could give him all he needed. Sometimes we live like the rich man. We don’t recognize how much we need Jesus because we find comfort and fulfillment in worldly things. That’s why Jesus said it’s so hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom. There’s too much stuff to enjoy in the way from them to Jesus. Bartimaeus was a beggar. Jesus gave him everything he could ever want. It wasn’t riches, houses, gold, a happy life. Bartimaeus was still dirt poor and a beggar when the story is done. What Jesus gave him was hope. 

Speaking of vampires, in case you didn’t know we have an election coming up soon. I hadn’t realized this as I missed the 20 texts a day, 200 emails, never ending ads on television, and the 5 million mailers that have junked up the mailbox. There’s a bit of a rock and hard place on this. I absolutely hate to mention anything about such events in a sermon, yet if I don’t address it, it would be like missing a moose in the middle of Cherry Street downtown. I was asked once, “How should I vote?” and my rather snide answer was, “With a voting machine.” 

It’s not my business nor the church’s business to tell you who to vote for…both because that’s not the job of the church, and there is a law that forbids for churches being tax exempt. What I can tell you, though, is Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight, and I believe God still speaks and gives us vision even now today. My role, and the role of the church, is to help you know more and more about God’s word and the context in which it was said as well as helping you to know Jesus more. 

For Bartimaeus, when he tried to come to Jesus, the crowd held him back. The same happens today as well. The harder we seek Jesus, the more we get pushed back by illnesses, life struggles, negativity bombarding us all around, fighting and bickering, and all the like. If you want my best advice and encouragement, sit and read the Gospel of Luke, then conduct yourself accordingly. And most importantly, too many people are losing their minds over this. God is still God. God’s love for God’s people will not change. Whatever difficulties elections may bring, you are never separated from God’s love, for that is eternal and unchanging. Tens of thousands of kings, queens, presidents, and leaders have come and gone. But God’s love and God’s grace have never been lost. 

One of my favorite scary movies is the old Bella Lugosi’s Count Dracula movie. In light of modern films, it’s a bit dated and hokey, but it still stands the test of time. Renfield, the one who listens to the vampire and allows himself to be controlled in the movie is driven to absolute insanity. His willingness to let the vampire ruin his life ends up being his ultimate demise. Van Helsing, who resists the vampire, ends up being the hero. 

In our Gospel, if Bartimaeus had listened to the crowd of vampires, he would have sat back down, never met Jesus, continued being blind, and likely have died miserably. Physically, Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight back. But the reality is Jesus gave him hope. Think on that verse of our closing hymn, “What have I to dread, what have I to fear leaning on the everlasting arms?” Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight and his hope. And in return he followed Jesus. 

If you are worried about what will happen November 5, that’s fine. I think sometimes it’s quite normal to have a healthy concern. But never forget how Jesus worked in this world for healing, for mercy, and for hope. Bartimaeus called out to Jesus—“Have mercy on me!” Not only was Jesus merciful in granting Bartimaeus’s request, Jesus also gave him healing and hope. None of that could be taken away from Bartimaeus. And when you are leaning on Jesus in the good times, the bad, and the times of worry, no one can take that mercy and hope from you either. 

Jesus—mercy, healing, our role. 

Worship Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/426544840482642/

All Creation Sings! Series

Created for Service—Isaiah 53: 4-6; Mark 10: 35-45

I saw a funny cartoon the other day that said, “Cooking together is NOT romantic, now GET OUT of my kitchen.” It remined me of the sight to behold that was Sunday dinner at my Granny’s house growing up. There would be anywhere from 10-12 people all crammed into my grandparents’ small kitchen and dining room. Granny did the cooking, and you had better stay out of her way. As soon as we got home from church, the food was ready to come out onto the table. I never knew how she managed such. But the duties were always shared—my aunts would help do the dishes and clean up. The men would go out and check the garden or wash the cars in the family, whatever needed done at the time. The work, the living, and the tasks at hand were shared. Everyone had a role to do. 

In our Gospel for today, James and John come to Jesus asking for a favor. They have, thankfully, accepted the idea of who Jesus is and believe in his holiness. But now that they understand, they want to sit in a place of glory next to him. But Jesus tells them that to have a place of glory and honor, they must first endure suffering and struggle. Jesus hints at the suffering he must soon endure calling it a “bitter cup” and a “baptism of suffering.” 

The Isaiah lesson hints at what this baptism of suffering and bitterness would be. Jesus carried our own struggles on his shoulders. Jesus endured physical suffering at the hands the religious authorities. The story of Jesus is a story of someone who came to serve—and that service was willingly enduring suffering and pain on our behalf, so we wouldn’t have to eternally pay for what we had done wrong in this life. 

So, when the two disciples ask to share in Jesus’ honor and glory, he tells them they must also share in the suffering. And they did. James was martyred, and John was tortured and exiled. But the bigger problem is the bickering that their request created amongst the disciples. They become indignant that James and John should ask such a privilege. Jesus teaches them an important lesson about power and service. 

Ancient empires and powers used to make a big exhibition of their power and authority. It was common to have the Romans parade through the streets. It was a display of power and oppression to the conquered Jewish people. But even within the halls of the Temple, they found themselves experiencing power and authority being lorded over them. The religious leaders were often just as oppressive as the Roman conquerors. 

But Jesus offered a different way—that last shall be first and the first shall be last. The greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who is a servant. Jesus came for service and sacrifice. Jesus didn’t come to get rich, to gain silver and gold, to create a vast army and kingdom. No, Jesus didn’t come for any of that. He came to love, to heal, and to serve in suffering for humankind. His literal words are this: “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In God’s kingdom, everyone has a role to do. If Jesus himself is not exempt from service, neither are we. As pastor of this church, it’s my role to look after you, be a spiritual presence, and teacher for you to the best of my abilities. As elders, some of you all are tasked with guiding the faith and life of the church and members. As deacons some of you are called to serve in administration, keeping up with the day to day needs of the church. And in a small church, that’s about half the folks. But those who haven’t yet been called to an office, your church needs you to give, love, visit, share. Faith is miraculous in that we all come and play a role in this sometimes messy, but always beautiful gathering of God’s people. 

I think many of our leaders today could learn a lot about what it means to be a servant. It is a rather cynical picture. The social leaders have morphed from Hollywood to a bunch of wild Instagram and TikTok influencers. Our politicians should wear advertisements, so we know who has bought and paid for them. It seems like everyone who seeks a leadership position craves the power and authority and perks instead of the call to service. 

As much as I’d like to stand and complain about politics from the pulpit, I have to confess the same struggles have infiltrated our churches. Taylor Swift donated $5 million to the hurricane relief efforts following the damage of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Dolly Parton has donated $2 million and helped raise a total of $9 million to help those victims of the hurricanes. Now, how much did Rev. Joel Osteen, who allegedly makes more than $50 million per year, How much did Rev. Kenneth Copeland donate? How much did Rev. Jesse Duplantis, who asked for donations of $50 million for a private jet, donate? How much did any of these alleged faith leaders making millions upon millions of dollars give? I researched for almost an hour and could find nothing. Once in 2021, one of their ministries gave $100,000 to buy generators for Hurricane Ida victims. 

Faith does not work unless each one of us is willing to participate. Faith leaders cannot follow a Christ who went willingly to a cross to suffer and die and sacrifice while hoarding millions of dollars. Each one of us has a role to play, a calling from God within the church and within our communities. Sometimes Jesus taught in synagogues. But most of the time, Jesus taught in the streets, the hills, and even in the midst of the sea. He healed wherever he went. He served far beyond the bounds of the place of worship. He brought faith to the people where they were and as they needed from him. And he did not oppress people like Rome and the religious leaders of his day. As the Rev. Benjamin Cremer says, “Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbors to be loved.” 

As Jesus said in this Gospel, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and give his life [for the many]. And Jesus did not shy away from or ignore the reality of suffering. He was honest about his suffering. He was honest with James and John that life in this world would not be easy whether or not you follow Jesus. Instead, he turned their attention towards the knowledge that we are saved from suffering and pain having the last word in life. 

In an election cycle, you may hear a lot of promises about policies and politicians saving us from trouble. Make no mistake, you’re choosing a human leader. The only one who truly and completely saves us in this life and beyond is Jesus. And in his kingdom, we all have a role to do. On Sundays my family would gather for dinner after church. One cooked, some set the table, others did the dishes, others tended the garden and other chores later on. In the family of God, we all have an important role to play. 

So may we celebrate the good work we can do. In a community and society that needs to see and experience the grace and love of Christ, may we be enthusiastic about the role we have been called to do. For when we work in service to those who need us, we are living exactly like Jesus, who sacrificed and served for every single one of us. 

Worship Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1903993886792394/

All Creation Sings! Series

Created to Follow Jesus—Psa.90: 12-17; Mark 10: 17-31

During law school, a professor said to us, “Money doesn’t buy happiness.” My good friend, who was not rich, but also didn’t have to eat ramen with frozen vegetables to get by, replied, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it’s a lot better to cry in a new Mercedes Benz than in a broken-down Geo Metro.” Today’s Gospel lesson shows us a man given a choice between what he has and what Jesus can offer, if he’s willing to give up with earthly goods to follow Jesus. There are three lessons for us from this scripture: first, following Jesus can be difficult; second, we must be willing to give up what we have and not hold back; and finally, there is a great return on the investment of following Jesus. 

So, first we see in the Gospel that following Jesus can be difficult. A man came to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life—the same as Jesus was describing in his teachings. Jesus advises him to follow the Ten Commandments, living justly and ethically throughout his life. The man tells Jesus that he has done this since he was very young. He has kept the commandments and lived well. He wanted to be a part of Jesus’s work, but there was one thing holding him back. He couldn’t give up his power and wealth in this world to invest in God’s kingdom. 

He leaves sad when he is told that he has to give up his earthly treasure and influence to follow Jesus. Then Jesus says another one of his challenging, difficult teachings: “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” He follows this up by saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. A little context is needed to know why this is so shocking. In Jesus’s day, it was believed that wealth and power meant you were closer to God. The more you had, the higher your status would be…minus the tax collectors and cheats. If you were born with money or rightfully earned it, this gave you power and prestige in social and religious circles. It gave a person influence in the community. 

To ask the man to give up his goods and influence would have robbed him of everything he had built and worked for on this earth. It was a sacrifice he was not ready for and did not expect to have to make. He assumed his wealth and power would be of great use to Jesus. But Jesus was looking for followers not wealthy investors. Jesus called on him to give up his point of pride and follow Jesus instead. It’s much like our current climate. We live in a world that is saturated with demand for pleasure and instant gratification. Jesus’s call is to sacrifice this sense of comfort and pleasure to seek the Kingdom of God. Following Jesus is difficult because Jesus often asks us to sacrifice, to assume some inconvenience, or to give of ourselves in some way. In our society, that can be hard. 

But secondly, what Jesus is asking is for his willingness to give up and not hold back. Too often the focus on this parable is the single fact that the man was rich. Many attribute the wrongdoing here to the man having wealth. That’s not the case. It is not a sin to have money. The Bible says that the LOVE of money is the root of evil. When it came time for the man to choose whether Jesus or his wealth and power were more important, he chose the latter. 

The problem for him was more about the divided mind he lived with. As much as he wanted to follow Jesus, to be a disciple, he was never going to choose Jesus over his wealth and influence. This kind of status brings obligations, social necessities, expectations which can often conflict with the Kingdom of God. And it was apparent that this man, who loved Jesus, and who was loved by Jesus, would not be able to choose the right thing. That’s why in the preceding scripture, Jesus tells them to have the faith of a child. A child has nothing, lives simply, and only relies on what blessings are given. There’s nothing we really bring to influence God. We simply trust and choose to follow. 

Two examples mentioned in the commentaries were St. Francis and Mother Theresa. Both of them sacrificed everything they had to follow the call to serve the Kingdom of God. Just as Peter said to Jesus, “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” we must be willing to devote ourselves to following Jesus instead of holding on to everything. You may have tremendous blessings in life, but you have to remember you follow the gift-giver and not the blessing itself. 

Having good things is not sinful. But hoarding up money, desiring (or even lusting) for power and influence, worshipping and clinging to all the worldly things you can get your hands on…how does that mirror Jesus? It’s not a question of what you have. It’s a question of the heart. How can someone who’s first and only love is great, pleasure, and worldly satisfaction understand “blessed are the poor,” from Luke’s Gospel? We must be willing to choose the Kingdom of God and give up what things we have in this world. 

Lastly, the promise is a great return on this investment in God’s kingdom. After Peter has noted that they have given up everything to follow Jesus, he hears Jesus’s reply that for every sacrifice, they will receive a hundred times over the blessings. There will be persecution, but the blessings here or eternal will be worth the sacrifice. The Psalm uses the words, “Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.” Whatever we give up for the Kingdom of God, the love of God is worth it. 

The work of the kingdom is powerful because in the world we are taught to run from evil, to avoid suffering, to get away from things that are uncomfortable, painful, or difficult. But the follower of Christ marches straight into the middle of the struggle to try and help. Our calling is to bring faith AND hope to this world. We do that by following Jesus. Jesus never shied away from the struggles of life—he healed, loved, offered grace and mercy. Our calling is to be like Jesus, as hard as that may be sometimes. 

Not every endeavor is a success. Many years ago, when I was relatively new here, a member came to me and asked me to help her grandchild. He was a good kid who wrestled with addiction issues. At the time we talked, he was finishing up a stint in jail for testing positive for whatever was his drug of choice. I began writing letters to him and corresponding till he was released. We worked here at the church to give him things to do, keep him occupied, and find an outpatient support group for him to join. It seemed like his life was getting back on track. No more drugs, no more bad behaviors, no more gang affiliation. 

But one night he was in his female friend’s car. And the police tried to pull him over. Old habits kicked in and he sped away. He ended up crashing while speeding and succumbing to his injuries. It would have been easy to focus on what he did wrong, his short, wayward life, or any of the sins he had committed. They were most certainly numerous. And the other preacher at the funeral had a field day bringing up those wrongs. However, I had letters. I had letters where he wrote, “It’s a lot I want to know, and I’m truly trying to turn my life over to God. It’s not the life I want to live. I just want the proper guidance in my life with the Lord and the people I’m around.” Or where he wrote this, “Pastor Will, I’m so very determined to do everything in my power to live up to God’s calling in my life.”

He may have lost his life. We may not have been able to save him from all the troubles he lived with, but I know this day he loved God and followed Jesus even if he didn’t get it right. His heart and soul sought Christ, his mind simply kept letting him down. Following Jesus is a hard task. It calls us to make a choice between all that we have in this world and the Kingdom of God. We may not get it right all the time, but at the end of the day the question that measures our life is this: whom do we choose to follow? Amen.

Worship Video 

https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/851998143764958/

All Creation Sings! Series

Created for Relationships—Genesis 2: 18-24; Mark 10: 2-5, 13-16

In Genesis 2, God decides that man needs a helper because being alone is not a good thing. So, in response, God creates all the living things, and allowed man to name them, but they are still not right for a helper. I think…this week…I’ve learned the answer to this. On Friday, I took my cat to the vet for a yearly checkup. This is never an easy outing, and I double dreaded it this year. Thankfully she is all good minus being chubby and cantankerous. It was the 7-minute ride there and back that truly brought the nightmare. [SLIDE] 

On the drive over, I hear the familiar “uck, uck, uck,” sound that signals an impending throw up. And sure enough, the cat carrier took a hard hit. The vet very kindly wiped her down and cleaned/replaced the padding in the carrier for me with a towel. On the way back, I opened the top of the carrier for her to poke her head out. For a minute, all was well, then she climbed out and got very still. My cat, who has to take a fiber medication to help her go to the bathroom did the biggest number two ever between my seat and the center console. To top it off she walks over and tinkled on my lap right after. 

If I wanted all this, I would have adopted a child and not a cat. Send help, O Lord. And yet, two hours later I have this sweet, purring kitty snuggling up next to me while I work acting like she hadn’t been a complete terrorist that morning. God created us to be in relationships. Whether it’s family, friends, furry family, romantic relationships, or otherwise, God has created us as relational creatures. [SLIDE]

In Genesis 2, which is a retelling of the creation story, we see that man is alone in the garden God has created. God, in an attempt to help this, creates a number of other creatures to keep man company. And while they are all nice, there’s still something missing. God has to create a help which mirrors the man, made in the image of the man. When man sees woman, made in man’s image, he rejoices. “’At last!’ the man exclaimed. ‘This one is bone from my bone, flesh from my flesh!’” Pause here to think for a moment. The man is beyond excited to see a creature made in his own image. Remember that humanity is made in the image of God, and how pleased God must be with that creation, and how hard it must be when we go against God. That’s why we use the image of a child rebelling against a parent because of the overwhelming grief. [SLIDE]

But now I want to challenge you a bit. Many of you came from backgrounds where this story of woman being pulled from man’s rib was taught as women are lesser than or weaker than a man. I grew up hearing it. But it’s not true, especially if you look at the original language. The word for “help” used to describe woman is “ezer.” That is not a subservient word. It is also the same word used when the Bible says God is the help of humankind. God intended this relationship to be an equal partnership based on love. The concept of hierarchy in a marriage, and the man ruling over woman was introduced in Genesis 3:16—when sin entered. Power, ruling over, hierarchy…all those are marks of sin, not God’s design. 

But this introduced another problem for all of our relationships—strife. Sin replaced the blissful harmony that God intended with contention, strife, and a struggle to maintain the joy of being in relationships with one another. We see from the outset that God gave human’s wide abilities to make decisions in relationships. After all, a human named every one of God’s creatures and also called them good. But when sin came into the mis, that decisions making capability also became very problematic because it, too, was corrupted. 

We fast forward then to our Gospel lesson. Sometimes, the lectionary gives me really good scriptures. And sometimes it gives Jesus’s most incredibly uncomfortable teachings on divorce, which if I were picking scripture, would CERTAINLY not be in the mix. But let’s consider for a moment literalism versus sarcasm. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus. John the Baptist had been imprisoned and executed for challenging King Herod’s divorce and marriage to his brother’s wife. They were now hoping to trap Jesus in the same political conundrum. What Jesus says is that a breakdown in relationships, whether marital or other, comes from a place of cruelty and hard heartedness. Two people who are being loving, kind, and gentle with each other do not tend to dissolve a relationship. 

Jesus advocates to the religious leaders that the role of faith in marriages, relationships, families, and other connected relationships is to participate in healing and reconciliation, never exacerbating when cruelty and hard heartedness strike. I remember a story years ago. A man and wife had been married for 5 years. He came in one night and gave her divorce papers. The cause of the breakup was because she kept eating potato chips in bed and he was tired of the crumbly bits. This is the kind of hard heartedness, flippancy, and frankly strange behavior Jesus was targeting in his words. Relationships fail because people often look for reasons to be hard hearted or difficult instead of coming back to the question of loving their neighbor and being kind one to another, tender hearted and forgiving. [SLIDE]

But Jesus doesn’t stop with just marital relationships. We get another story where the disciples turn parents and their children away. Children in that day were never supposed to be that front and center in public. But Jesus welcomes them in. Children were expected to be dependent on the father and obedient in this time. In using this example Jesus emphasized the profound need for the people to be in a relationship to God…wholly dependent and reliant on God. 

Relationships tend to be hard and messy. Some of us would say our dating lives look like a comedy sitcom. Some of us struggle in friendships. Some of us have family that we cannot be around because there’s old trauma, hard heartedness, and toxic behavior. Some of us have failed marriages that we may not want to talk about without adding a little humor to soften the sting. Make no mistake, living in relationships with one another is a supremely difficult task. 

But faith is a relationship. God called us out of the old behaviors of how faith was practiced in Jesus’s day. We don’t have the rules, regulations, and requirements. We have a relationship. And we have God’s Spirit with us. If you live in love which is giving, kind, gentle, joyful, honest, and all good things, relationships can be beautiful thing our lives. But Jesus warns us that hard heartedness, coldness, cruelty, and the assertion of “I’m right!” can sneak in and make life difficult. In those moments we come back to how Jesus lived and related to others, and the love and care he showed. [SLIDE]

Nothing proves the messiness of relationship’s more than my own grandparents on my dad’s side. When I was in high school, I was in our living room, and you could see their house from our windows. This is the joy of growing up rural. Midafternoon on a Saturday, I watch as my grandfather takes the trash out to the bin. Suddenly I hear my grandmother yelling, “I’m going to divorce you, you sorry old man, I’ve wasted 50 years in this mess.” He turns to yell back, “Ah, shut up you mean old woman.” And suddenly a shoe, pan, or hairbrush (I can’t tell which) comes flying out of the house towards him. 

A couple of hours later I walk over to make sure there’s not a homicide scene. I can see through the kitchen window into their living room. They’re sitting together on the couch watching and old John Wayne movie just as happy as 75-year-old couple married for 50 years can be. There was no doubt they loved each other. But love and relationships can be messy. [SLIDE]

As difficult as it may be, the whole of the stories in the Bible are a message to us on how to live in relationship—both with God and with one another, for we are created in God’s image and placed on earth to live together as God’s children. So may your relationships be filled with prayer, love, and may you be the one to reflect that image of God to all. 

WORSHIP VIDEO https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1697817214337036

Mr. Rogers Series

Exploring the Neighborhood—John 14: 1-6a

            History is filled with people trying to create the kingdom of God somewhere on earth. Doomsday cults, strange offshoots of more common religions, fake prophets and preachers, and folks who just want to disappear into the woods have all tried at one time or another to say they are the kingdom of God, the only city on a hill on earth, or their leaders say they are divine somehow. Most of them have a rather catastrophic failure rate. The Crusades failed to make Jerusalem the kingdom of God in the Middle Ages. Other failures include the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Waco, the Shakers, the Koreshan Unity, and so on throughout the ages. 

            The problem is that Heaven is not on earth, and it will not exactly be found on earth. My grandmother says caramel ice cream is “heaven on earth,” but that’s about as close as we’re going to get. And yet this idea of the kingdom of God on earth still exists. To truly understand it, we must realize that that it is more than a physical location. We need to look within. That kingdom of God is within us as we live our lives following Jesus each day.

            In some ways, I believe Mr. Rogers made his “Neighborhood,” which is often called “make believe,” a sort of image of God’s kingdom. Mr. Rogers grew up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and aside from being bullied early on in school had a very privileged and happy childhood and adulthood. His neighborhood looked like and reflected much of his upbringing in Latrobe. Because that life was good for him, he wanted to share it as the heart and soul of his work with children. Conflicts were resolved, everybody found a way to be happy and live well, and all feelings were worked out in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. But there was also a deeper point. 

            Jesus says to us in the scripture for today, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” We always get a little caught up on the “way” part of that and leave off the truth and the life. We tend to jump on the bandwagon that if we believe, we get Heaven, and we’re done. But what’s the point of believing in Jesus if we have no intention to live like him following the example he gave us? Yes, Mr. Rogers created a little make-believe community that he wanted to be like a slice of heaven for children, but the true lessons are in the way he lived his life, following Christ. Christ is still the way, the truth, and the life.

            If you want to find the kingdom of God here on earth, it lives and dwells in each one of us, when our faith encourages us to live and be more like the example of the Savior we believe in. Fred Rogers believed in patterning his life on that of Jesus, and following him in everything Mr. Rogers did. Heaven is the reward of a life of faith, but it’s not our mission. Our calling is to be Christ-like in a world that is cruel and often-times ugly. The kingdom of God is within you. It is you. Luke 17: 20-21 says, “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” For the King James members, it literally says that the Kingdom of God is within you. 

            So how do we live as the kingdom of God, if it is us? Jesus spent his time on earth teaching, healing, loving, and helping. If you want to see the example, look to Mr. Rogers and the neighborhood he created. In the idyllic world of make-believe, he created episodes that addressed turmoil and strife with peace balloons to send a message of hope. In a time of racial strife, he put his feet in the pool with a black man. When war threatened the neighborhood, he had smart women in the characters go and find out that there was no looming threat. He called in the show for investments in education and childcare over bomb-making, and for hope and peace in the background context of the Cold War. 

            But Mr. Rogers also lived that outside of the make-believe neighborhood. He wrote constantly to children and young adults. He highlighted Jeff Erlanger in his wheelchair as just a normal kid. When the cameras stopped rolling he continued to live what he spoke and displayed on the show. 

            When we give belts and clothes to the donation bin, give food for the food bank, when we collect for the rescue mission, we are being the kingdom of God. When we sit and talk with those who are different form us, when we listen in love, when we set a wider table and invite more people to join in, we are being the kingdom of God. The hardest work of faith is not getting into Heaven. That only takes you believing. The hardest work of faith is life we live here on earth. Can people look at the life we lead here on earth and know that we meant it when we said, “I believe, and I will follow Jesus?” 

            I’m reminded of my favorite Flannery O’Conner short story when I read this scripture, and in preparing this sermon. It’s entitled “Revelation.” In it, we meet Mrs. Turpin, a pig farmer, who seems to misunderstand her faith a bit. She tends to look down on others she sees as less than her. The first part of the story sees her at the doctor’s office with her husband, Claud, to get some treatment. She puts people in the waiting room in their categories according to how she perceives them: the “lady” in the room, the white trash, the commoners, those less than her because they don’t own a home or don’t have land. 

            Mrs. Turpin engages in polite conversation with each of them, but the reader is given her innermost thoughts on each person, and the thoughts are typically less than kind. But there is a girl, Mary Grace, who keeps staring at Mrs. Turpin as if she can read every thought. The girl then throws a book at and attacks Mrs. Turpin, choking her. Once subdued, Mrs. Turpin asks her what she has to say, and the girl, Mary Grace, says, “Go back to the hades you came from, you old wart hog.” 

            Later that day, Mrs. Turpin goes to the farm to feed the pigs. She interacts briefly with the hired help, then goes to the pen, still stewing on the altercation and words of Mary Grace. She then has quite a confrontation with God, challenging God on how all of this should work. She is then given a vision of a vast horde of souls marching into heaven. At the front of the line are the bands of “white trash, black folks, freaks, disabled people, the intellectually challenged, dancing and singing in joy and hope for the promise of Heaven. At the very, very back of the line are the ones she says, "who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right." While she was so busy with the “proper order” of things, she forgot the ones whom Christ ministered to, the least of these, our brothers and sisters. 

            Jesus said unto them, “I am the way.” But Jesus didn’t stop there. He added, “I am the truth, and the life.” The hope and promise of our faith is Heaven, a place of holiness and perfection. But the kingdom of God is within us, and we have a calling here on earth, to live every moment as if we really do believe in Christ. The hardest part of our faith is not the belief, but the living from then on. 

            Mr. Rogers once said, "If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person." And what they should see in meeting us is Jesus. 

Worship Video https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=754249043493622

Mr. Rogers Series

Sharing as Act of Love—I Kings: 17: 8-24

Sometimes, life is a bit confusing. As a child, we are taught to share from a very young age. [SLIDE—CHILDREN SHARE] When we cling to a toy, parents and teachers will remind us that we need to share our toys with other children. When we cry or fuss as children, we’re told, “Tell me what’s wrong.” Sharing feelings, sharing what we have, sharing our lives are all concepts taught to us as a kid. And then we grow up, and adults are routinely trained in the world that sharing is bad—keep, save, and store up everything. [SLIDE—GREEDY ADULT] And in our society and economy, if you’re not somewhat greedy, you’ll starve. Adults are also told to stop sharing our feelings and thoughts unless you’re paying $200/hr to a therapist. Whatever is going on, hide it, and be professional. 

But Mr. Rogers plugged children and often adults back into this idea of the power and inherent goodness of sharing. To share is to love. Our scripture in I Kings for today supports that idea that sharing is very powerful. A little context is needed, however. Growing up, we were taught that this was a story right in the heart of Israel’s rebellion against God. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were on the throne, and Israel had turned to the worship of false gods, namely Baal. There was a drought as punishment for the wickedness and faithlessness of the people. 

But to understand the power of this story, we have to zero in on one key fact. [SLIDE—WIDOW MAKING BREAD] This widow in whom Elijah seeks refuge is not Jewish. She most likely did not believe in God; instead, she was probably a follower of Baal. And she lived in Queen Jezebel’s hometown in Phoenicia, or modern-day Lebanon. More importantly, however, she was poor. In Elijah’s day, widows were considered the poor of the poor. She was a destitute woman, at the point of eating the last food and preparing to starve to death. There was nothing left for her to spare and no societal expectation for her to do so. But she still, out of a heart of generosity and God’s inspiring, shared her final resources with Elijah. But a miracle happened. Because she followed God’s call, her oil and flour never ran out. Their act of sharing led to them being saved and not starving to death. 

As people of faith, we see two types of sharing in this story of Elijah and the widow. She shared her resources, the last bit that she had with Elijah, in faith that God would provide just as Elijah said, but he also shared with her. Shortly after this exchange, her son dies. But through Elijah’s prayers and intercessions, God restores life. [SLIDE—SON RESTORED TO LIFE] She shared her resources with Elijah, and he shared something spiritual with her: the hope that comes from the God of life. 

The lesson for us is clear—being strong, healthy people who live our lives as God would have us means that we are to share. First, we are to share resources. I am grateful in my life for those who have shared with me. In college, I didn’t laze around—I worked. I taught piano lessons one or two days per week. I played at the Lutheran church every Sunday morning. I worked summers. I sometimes substitute taught at the local Christian school. I sometimes played dinner music when asked. But when you go to a private school, no matter the music or merit scholarships you may get, it’s expensive. And if it weren’t’ for my mother and my uncle sharing generously, I don’t think I could have paid the bills. 

As people of God, we should be troubled by the fact that we live in a world where goods and wealth are hoarded while children go hungry. This happens in the richest nation in the history of the world. In Acts 2, we read of a church that shared every resource together—food, goods, talents to build a place where God’s faithful flourished. In a system where greed is the fuel which powers everything, we must be the ones who seek love, sharing, grace, and giving to those who suffer. Had the widow in I Kings rejected Elijah’s words, God’s last remaining prophet would have gone hungry, turned away. The world we live in operates according to greed. We must respond with kindness and generosity just like a Savior who has given life so generously to us. 

But we must also share the spiritual aspect of our lives. When the people who knew Mr. Rogers most were asked when they saw him most vulnerable and human, they answered with stories of him sharing feelings. When his long-time housekeeper was at the end-stages of cancer, he wept loudly. When his friend Henri Nowen, a theologian, died, or his director on the set died, he cried inconsolably. He also often addressed anger and ways to safely work through it. For Mr. Rogers, feelings mattered, and they were part and parcel of what was holy. 

But Jesus also shared his feelings—he wept at Lazarus’s tomb, and he unleashed a righteous anger in the defiled temple. The writer of the book we have studied along with this sermon series said this about Mr. Rogers, “Grief wasn’t a burden to be lifted or a problem to be prayed against. It lived among the intricacies of loss, waiting patiently for the work of healing, meanwhile, [unbothered].” 

Too often we are hesitant to share the places we feel vulnerable. When the widow’s son died, she came to Elijah and said this: ““O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” Her words were filled with pain, suffering, shame, and blame over the death of her son. All of her emotions were racing—she both accuses Elijah and blames herself. 

Sharing faith and love. Sharing through how we live and feel. And for his part, Elijah does not hold back. He cries out to God, saying, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”

Too often we’re taught not to be honest, direct, or even question God. But here, Elijah, one of God’s most significant prophets in the entire Bible, does just that. It is never disrespectful to openly share your pain with the God of all love and comfort. And truth be told being honest with God makes for a much better relationship with God. If you’re mad, God knows it anyway, just be honest. 

Sharing is one of the most powerful tools we have in faith. In sharing our resources, talents, and abilities, we help a world in need. We alleviate suffering, just as Jesus did when he was on earth. No one wants to hear about faith if they’re hungry, worried about where they will sleep, or are so overwhelmed with suffering that life doesn’t make sense. But we are also called on by God to share spiritually as well. That means talking about feelings, understanding how to manage anger, acknowledging and working through hurts, and talking about how faith has helped us. In a world that is so overwhelmed by everything, we need this stories of courage and hope more than ever. And in this sharing, we find love. 

I want to share with you this clip of Mr. Rogers talking about sharing and working together, hear the words he says at the end. [VIDEO CLIP][FINAL SLIDE AFTER] Remember those words when you share and help others and when you share from your spirit as well: I’m proud of you. You know that. And as Mr. Rogers always said, “I like you just the way you are.” May we be willing to share of our gifts and our spirit, for to share is to love.

Worship Video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/otyg4M8QdMGSkq4C/?mibextid=KsPBc6

Mr. Rogers Series

In Some Ways, We Are Different—John 13: 3-5

            One of the most beautiful phrases in hymnody is from our anthem, “All things bright and beautiful, all things great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.” It’s a bright and cheery reminder of a Loving Creator during a week filled with sadness, pain, and terror. Some of you, I know, have struggled with bad news and continued issues of great difficulty. And in the backdrop of the daily routine of surviving, we watched the unfolding of yet another school shooting, this time far too close to home. In the time the church has had Facebook, I’ve posted close to ten times some form of thoughts and prayers following a mass shooting, and that’s just the ones where I was able to post.

            There are many dozens of ways we can respond: rage, sadness, blame, fear, becoming despondent. But at the root of it all is a sense that life is a cheap commodity. [SLIDE] In a 1999 acceptance speech for the TV Hall of Fame Induction, Fred Rogers had this to say: “Last month a 13-year-old boy abducted an 8-year-old girl, and when people asked him why, he said he learned about it on TV. ‘Something different to try,’ he said, ‘Life’s cheap; what does it matter?’ Well, life isn’t cheap. It’s the greatest mystery of any millennium, and television needs to do all it can to broadcast that … to show and tell what the good in life is all about.”

            But now I want you to focus in on the young man who is with him—Jeff Erlanger. And I want us to watch the first time he and Mr. Rogers met on the set of Neighborhood. [PLAY CLIP]

            The truth of life is that in some ways we are all different. We have different types of “raising,” some different ideas and beliefs, personal tastes. Some of us have differences in ability be it physical or cognitive. Some of us are different colors, ethnicities, from different countries. And each time we encounter the ways in which we are different, we need to remember that song, “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.”

            There is no one and nothing on this planet that God did not create, consider, and call good. There is no human outside the love of God, and there is no soul that is unable to find redemption in his or her Creator. What we struggle with in our modern world is understanding the value of life, and the kind of respect and maturity of faith it takes to value life over believing that life is cheap.

            This was no different for what Jesus dealt with. Look at the Disciples—a tax collector, gruff fishermen, Peter the denier and stubborn one, Judas, a betrayer. They were a very different and unique group of twelve in the context Jesus lived in. But Jesus valued those who were different and outside. He spoke with and blessed Samaritans and the Gerasenes, and others who were not quite as close to the fold. In many ways those who sought Jesus the most were all very different people.

            And how did Jesus handle them? In our Gospel for today, we read how the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God took off his robe, put a towel at his waist, filled up a basin with water, then washed the feet of his followers, then dried them off one by one. [SLIDE] And I have to wonder, that if the Son of God can stoop down and wash the feet of his followers, why can’t we? The problem in our day and age is that too many people pick up a weapon instead of stooping to wash feet. The single goal of any weapon is to kill and destroy, but no one ever died from a little humility and grace in life.

            In seminary we talk about two types of sin—our own personal shortcomings, and systems of sin in this world which we can’t escape. A perfect example is an entire world fueled by greed. If we don’t participate in that world in some way, we’d starve. One of the most devious types of sin that permeates our world is this belief that difference is something evil, or something we must categorize and segregate or isolate. It makes us believe that people different from us are going to somehow harm us or take from us. But I’m going to ask the question, if we encounter someone very different, radically different from us in this life, who created them?

            The hardest thing to accept in this life is that the same God who created the victims in this tragedy Wednesday also created the 14-year-old who killed them. Now, this idea doesn’t mean we ignore or fail to punish bad and evil behavior. But it calls on us to ask ourselves some hard question: how many times have we picked up weapons, whether it be a gun, a pen, or our words, instead of stooping to wash our neighbor’s feet?

            I remember an old judge went on a rant one day. We were close enough I could fuss and debate with him outside of court. He hollered one day about participation trophies, and how all the kids are ruined because they get participation trophies instead of actually working for something. So, I looked at him and asked, “And, Judge, who gives a fourth grader a participation trophy? Because I doubt that child bought it themselves.” Children will mirror what they see. A child doesn’t just conceive of taking up a gun and killing people one day. He or she has learned violence from somewhere.

            The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 3, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The same God who created you created the human who is different in every way from you. The same God who created each and every living, breathing thing on Earth and called it good, calls upon us to recognize that life is not cheap. It’s a beautiful gift.

            In 1984, Mr. Rogers wrote a song that speaks directly to this. You heard a version of it with him and Jeff Erlanger. Here are the original words, “It’s you I like, it’s not the things you wear, the way you do your hair, but it’s you I like. The way you are right now, way down deep inside you, not the things that hide you, not your toys beside you, but it’s you I like. I hope you’ll remember even when you’re feeling blue, that it’s you I like.”

            Until we agree with one voice that a child should not be bullied or taught violence, mental health struggles should be discussed and treated appropriately, that violence is a sin and not an answer, and that all of God’s creation is beloved and made in the image of the Creator God, we will continue to see evil done. We will continue to see weapons taken up, more weapons than any human society could ever need. We will continue to see violence plague us. The answer to life’s struggle is not to see who is stronger, a better fighter, more powerful, and who can exact pain and suffering with mastery because life is cheap.

            As Mr. Rogers said to a full audience, life is not cheap. Life is a precious gift. And that means every single life no matter how amazing or how wasted the potential may be. God created every single one, and God loves each and every one. Suffering in our time and day will not end unless we are willing to make a radical change. It’s past time for us to put our weapons away and choose to stoop down, tie a cloth to our waist, fill a basin with water, and wash the feet of our neighbor. I pray we all make the right choice.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/3836078396612062