Monthly Archives: August 2018

Thanksgiving at All Times

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A Sermon for 19 August 2018

            A reading from Ephesians 5:15-20.  Listen for God’s word to us.

“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is the word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God!

I’ll never forget the ministry moment from a few years back.  A church member told me about a health scare they were undergoing.  The situation had the potential to be quite serious and we both were pretty worried!  Eventually the person let me know that the tests were back; it was just something minor a medication should alleviate.  What a relief!  . . .  I can’t count the number of times in my life as a pastor that this scenario has played itself out.  Nor have I tracked the numerous times when the news wasn’t so good.  In nearly 25 years of pastoring close to 3,000 different people, it’s been a lot of awaiting scary test results and unexpected surgeries and emergency room trips and oncology visits and funerals and job losses and shattered dreams and heartaches.  I don’t intend to make light of any one of our life-altering challenges.  They’re all awful!  They’re all unwelcome and every one of us just does the best we can to cope as we are able when the storms of life rage.  Some days it’s easier than others.  What sticks out about this one instance is the rest of the story.  Grateful for the news that the health situation wasn’t as bad as it could have been, this person declared:  “I am so excited to get to worship this week just to thank God!”  . . .  We could get all caught up in a debate over whether or not the response would have been the same had the test results turned out differently.  No matter.  “I am so excited to get to worship this week just to thank God” was a message that certainly stood out.  . . .  How often do any of us hear or say those words?

“Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you, God!!!”  The test results were clear.  My friend picked up the phone when I needed most to talk to someone.  The paycheck came before the mortgage was due.  The traffic was merciful when I was running late to get to my child’s school play.  The principal let me into the class I really needed in order to graduate on time.  I passed the test.  The boss gave the raise.  The hot weather broke.  We could go on and on.  And it seems quite a shame that we don’t more often.  A lot of us come here to worship to see our fellow congregants.  Or to enjoy the music.  Or to do our duty as usher, or liturgist, or Fellowship Coffee provider, or maybe even just to be a warm body in the pew.  O for a world – each one of us – every Sunday entering this sanctuary excited to say THANK YOU to God this day!

There’s an old hymn in the maroon Presbyterian Hymnal that some of you may know.  It’s called:  “Safely Through Another Week.”  Interestingly, its tune name is SABBATH.  “Safely through another week,” worshippers sing, “God has brought us on our way; let us now a blessing seek, waiting in God’s courts today:  day of all the week the best, emblem of eternal rest; day of all the week the best, emblem of eternal rest.”  I love the line too about “Here afford us, LORD, a taste of our everlasting feast,” and “May Thy gospel’s joyful sound conquer sinners, comfort saints; make the fruits of grace abound, bring relief for all complaints.”  In 1774, John Newton wrote the words.  In 1824, Lowell Mason completed the tune.  . . .  You may know John Newton, who lived a rowdy life and eventually got involved in the slave trade business – where he excelled.  Then, one day in his travels; he learned of some Wesley brothers whose hearts were strangely warmed and henceforth were on fire with the Spirit of God.  Before you know it, Newton underwent a life-changing conversion to the way of Christ.  Eventually he wrote some words about it that were set to music and still inspire us as a most beloved hymn today.  Newton’s infamous song is called “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound.”  . . .  “Safely Through Another Week” and “Amazing Grace” for that matter, capture the kind of gratitude to God that the letter of Ephesians encourages.

“Make the most of the time,” Ephesians 5:16 purports, as you sing and make melody and approach our God with a perpetual attitude of thanksgiving.  One commentator summarizes:  Christians’ “primary obligation is to praise God” (Feasting on the Word, Yr. B, Vol. 3, G. Porter Taylor, p. 352).  In fact, such thankful worship “redeems the time.  It orients (us) to the Almighty and keeps our life in right relation” (Ibid.).  Coming here to give thanks, that I’m-so-excited-to-get-to-worship-Sunday-just-to-thank-God attitude is the way we are created to live.

If you were here last week, you heard me say it then.  All that we know points to the conclusion that the epistle of Ephesians was a letter that was circulated among the early churches in Asia Minor.  Probably not written by the Apostle Paul, but by one trained by him.  The writer knew that all Christians everywhere need the kind of encouragement given in this little New Testament letter.  The writer knew that from the beginning of the church until now, so much can pull us off center each day.  If it’s not the awaiting test results, then maybe it’s the pressures of work, or family, or friends.  It can be a huge challenge to get through one day – let alone seven each week – with an attitude of thanksgiving intact.  . . .  Ephesians reminds:  we were called by God to a great hope (Eph. 1:18).  We were and are destined for adoption as God’s children (Eph. 1:5).  We have an amazing inheritance from God:  life here and now and forevermore!  God’s grace has saved us (Eph. 2:5) so that today we can be set free from the ways of death.  Right now, in this world, we can live – fully alive in joy – knowing our forgiveness already has been worked out!  For all of us, Ephesians 2:11-22 assures, circumcised and uncircumcised alike.  No matter who we are, regardless of the world situation into which we were born:  we are members of the household of God!  Precious.  Honored.  Beloved!  . . .  Thus:  we are to live worthy of that gift (Eph. 4:1).  To be renewed daily in the spirit of our minds to live in the likeness of our merciful God (Eph. 4:22-23).  “Do not be unwise,” we hear in our reading for today.  For our time is limited.  Make the most of it by living filled with the Spirit of God!  Giving thanks.  Singing praise.  Approaching it all in utter, excited thanksgiving!  (Eph. 5:15-20).  . . .  Take note that not one single thing in the list of blessings in Ephesians has anything to do with our bank accounts, our physical health, or our life circumstances.  Which is great news because all of those wax and wane throughout our days.  Nonetheless, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases.  God’s mercy never comes to an end!” (Lam. 3:22).

We know that many have very heavy burdens to carry.  The tests don’t always come back clear.  We don’t always catch the break we’re hoping for.  . . .  Nevertheless, it takes 21 times to develop a habit.  21 days – just three short weeks of our lives , if it’s a daily discipline we’re seeking to incorporate.  If we want to move from waking up each morning disgruntled, dejected, and depressed to living each day full of thanks – on fire with gratefulness, overflowing with gratitude to God – no matter the details of our lives!  Do it 21 times and see what happens.  . . .  It has been written that “We shape our experience by what we bring to it, how we receive it, and how we are in the habit of responding to it.  To a significant extent, mood is what we make it” (Feasting on the Word, Yr. B, Vol. 3, Paul V. Marshall, p. 352).  . . .  We can be a people who approach each moment in great thanksgiving – not glibly, ignoring the realities of our lives.  But with sheer grit and determination, we can give thanks – honestly, in all circumstances!  And if we can’t yet, then at the least, we can pray for God to give us eyes to see that for which we can give thanks no matter what.  Awareness of what has come as blessing after life has fallen apart.  Patience to wait as long as necessary to catch a glimpse of the ways God will redeem even the worst experiences of life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us endeavor to be filled with the Spirit, giving thanks at all times, in everything.  For our time is short.  Come what may, may our lives proclaim:  Thank you, thank you, thank you God!

In the name of the life-giving Father, the life-redeeming Son, and the life-sustaining Spirit, Amen.

© Copyright JMN – 2018  (All rights reserved.)

Thin Places

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A Sermon for 26 August 2018

A reading of Psalm 84.  Listen for God’s word to us in this beautiful Psalm believed to be inspired by pilgrims’ annual journeys to Jerusalem for Temple festivals.  Listen.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!  2 My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.  3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.  4 Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.  5 Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.   6 As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.  7 They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.  8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!  9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.  10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.  11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; God bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.  12 O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.”

This is the word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God!

I’ve been told that Ireland is beautiful!  Some of you likely have been there.  I never have.  . . .  Rolling hills along rugged coasts.  Green everywhere you look.  Wild weather often blows in off the Atlantic.  And ancient stones sit all over the land.  For those unwilling to appreciate the beauty of nature, it might just seem like a country filled with piles of old rocks.  Others find the land palpable with Presence.  Hallowed spaces where it feels as if heaven and earth meet.  The Ancient Celts called such spots thin places.  In fact, a Celtic saying proclaims that “heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even shorter” (quoted on https://www.irishamericanmom.com/irelands-thin-places/).  From stone circles in places like County Cork to the massive Grianan Stone Ring Fort in County Donegal, thin places teach us that some locations on earth are closer to the spiritual.  Thin places are where God’s Presence is more accessible.

Listen to one passionate Irish American describe her experience of Ireland’s thin places:  “These places bring feelings and emotions, realizations and awareness to the fore.  It is as if the line between all that is sacred and human meet for just a moment.  There is something otherworldly in the atmosphere, transcendent, even divine.  Other dimensions seem closer than usual.  There is a tangible stillness to the silence” (Ibid.).  She continues:  “In a thin place something beyond words causes our spines to tingle, as if awakening our souls.  Even our thoughts seem to be swept away in the moment, and something deep within our beings touches a luminous seat of knowledge.  . . . Returning from a thin place is marked by a feeling of refreshment and renewal.  Our awareness of the world around us becomes heightened” (Ibid.).  She also writes about the lasting effects of being in a thin place.  “In days, weeks, and years to come;” she writes, “memories of sacred landscapes help us see glimpses of nature and the Divine in the chaotic world around our urban existences.  The prayerfulness of these little corners of earth urge us to return to them in our imagination when we cannot physically visit them again.  When overwhelmed by the monotony of daily life, the tedious details of work and living” she writes; “we can listen to our hearts and hear the silent music of thin places.  Our souls guide us back to the peaceful presence of those ancient stones and help us draw strength from the peace and serenity of our thin place experiences” (Ibid.).

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts,” the Psalmist writes (Ps. 84:1).  “My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD!” (Ps. 84:2a).  Psalm 84 might be one of the most beautiful scriptural descriptions of a pilgrim’s experience of a thin place.  It’s unlikely that most of us consider the Temple in Jerusalem as a thin place.  But what else do we think the people of God had been describing?  Since the days of Moses and the wandering Israelites dwelling with the tabernacle of God among them, Scripture is filled with stories of the people of God experiencing the palpable Presence of Heaven coming ever so close to earth.  Of course, the Presence was on the move in the Ark of the Covenant until King Solomon finally had the go ahead to have massive stones moved together on Mount Zion.  The Temple was raised on the mount in Jerusalem for the Sacred to fill the atmosphere.  To bring the other dimension of the Divine closer to human beings.  To cause our spines to tingle.  To awaken our souls and be swept up beyond all rational thought for something deep within ourselves to be touched by the Luminous.  That we might know, truly know, that the One who is beyond us also is among us.  The thin place of the Temple had that kind of effect – not only because the of grandeur of the structure.  But also because it was there worshippers had experienced the wonder-filled meeting of heaven and earth.

A few years ago, when I arrived in the Holy Land with a group of fellow pilgrims; we were told to suspend suspicion over sites we would see being factually in the actual spot where the events might have taken place.  I think I’ve told you this before.  We were reminded that everywhere we were going in that land was where Jesus of Nazareth had walked.  For people of faith, it all was hallowed ground.  And it was hallowed not just by his previous physical presence.  Part of what makes the Holy Land holy is the power of the prayers pilgrims have brought to each spot for thousands of years – from our earliest Israelite ancestors in the faith right up to the worldwide Christian visitors of today.  The land pulses with a Presence – an energy – a Living Presence that feels like an intersection, a thinner veil between heaven and earth.  The Holy Land is full of such spots – though the hustle and bustle of busloads of other pilgrims can make it difficult to notice.  Tough to be quiet in order to hear the silent music of God.  Our hearts and our flesh able to join the Psalmist in singing for joy to the living God (Ps. 84:2b).  It’s just easier to experience God there – for emotions and realizations and awareness to bubble up to the surface so that we want to remain right there forever.

The destruction the of Temple a few decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection might have brought an end to the glory of that building.  But it did not bring an end to the mystical quality of that space.  The stones of the remaining Western Wall – also known as the Wailing Wall – still hold the power of the Divine Presence.  Millions flock there annually to make their wishes as they touch the ancient rock and shove their little prayer papers into whatever crevice they can find in the wall.  Scores of observant Jews (watched by curious spiritual seekers) gather late each Friday afternoon.  Men on one side, women on the other.  They begin the beautiful ritual of preparing for the Sabbath with prayers and songs and joyous dances.  I remember being there, watching one Friday.  And seeing that even the birds were gathered.  Right over the heads of worshippers sparrows and holy pigeons joined with their happy sounds.

I realize this spot (this sanctuary) isn’t anywhere as ancient as the holy spots of Jerusalem or the stone circles of Ireland, but I wonder if any of us notice the palpable Presence here?  So that we long to be here – in this sanctuary – ever singing God’s praise?  When we gather here together, we are saturated by the prayers of the generations.  Their hopes and fears and celebrations.  We are surrounded by the power of ancient ritual.  The sprinkling of water as a sign and seal.  The breaking of bread.  The cup poured out in reminder that our own life-force is to be as freely given for life in the world today.  Hearts attuned.  Voices lifted up.  Hands folded or outstretched.  For years.  The Presence awakening our souls in this thin place that we might go forth refreshed.  Renewed.  Dare I say:  for us to remember that the lovely place in which God dwells is here and is within every last one of us too.  Who long to be together in the Presence of the Living God – like batteries recharged – so that we spread out into homes and neighborhoods and places of daily work to be like walking thin places.  People in whom heaven and earth – Spirit and flesh – intersect.  Creating an atmosphere – not on our own accord but because we’ve gotten ourselves out of the way enough for the Spirit of God, the Light of Christ to shine right through us.  That palpable Presence going forth from us to renew the hearts of those who cross our paths.  Refreshing toilsome souls that long for a taste of the Light.  . . .  Thin places – walking all over the earth for God’s Presence to be a little more accessible to all.

May our lives proclaim how lovely is God’s dwelling place!  May our hearts sing for joy for the palpable Presence of the Living God!

In the name of the life-giving Father, the life-redeeming Son, and the life-sustaining Spirit, Amen.

© Copyright JMN – 2018  (All rights reserved.)

 

Imitators of God

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A Sermon for 12 August 2018

A reading of Ephesians 4:25-5:2.  Before launching into this reading, it might be helpful to remember that Ephesians is an epistle of the New Testament.  It is attributed to the Apostle Paul, who once was Saul.  But as far as we know, Ephesians is what scholars believe to be a circular letter.  The style, language, and meanings are uncharacteristic of the other letters that we know the Apostle Paul wrote to certain church communities.  Additionally, in the opening of the letter, the earliest manuscripts we have of Ephesians don’t mention Ephesus at all.  There’s not some known church crisis outlined and refuted in this letter.  All of which points to the conclusion that the epistle of Ephesians is just a good wholesome letter of encouragement to everyday Christians – probably circulated to several worshipping congregations in Asia Minor.  Perhaps Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul towards the end of his life.  Like a wise old saint, near the close of his days, who passes on his collective wisdom to others on the journey.  If not directly from Paul’s pen, then likely Ephesians comes from someone taught by Paul who similarly sought to encourage other Christians (The New Oxford Annotated Bible NRSV, 1994, NT p. 272).  Which is all to say that Ephesians is for us all – everywhere.  On any old day.  . . .  With this in mind, listen now for God’s word to us in a reading of Ephesians 4:25-5:2 (NRSV).

“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.  26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil.  28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.  29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.  30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.  31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.  1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

This is the word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God!

 

Last weekend I was at the home of my childhood with my parents and surrounded by my sisters.  It was great fun!  Growing up, summers always were the best.  With time to just hang out.  Relax together outside at the beach near our house, in the water, or just wandering through the woods.  As my sisters and I got older, we were alone together a lot.  And it was then – especially in the summer when we didn’t have much else to do but mom’s chore list.  It was then that we eventually turned to provoking each other.  If you’re a sibling or have reared children or grandchildren, then you might know what I mean.  One childhood taunt I dreaded most was when my sister would copy me.  Ever experience it?  If you really wanted to get under the skin of your sister or your brother you’d just start repeating every word they said.  Scrunching your face like they scrunched their face when they protested for it to stop.  Stomping like they did.  Mimicking the whinny tone in their voice.  Relentless – especially when unsupervised ‘cuz then there was no parent to tattle to.  You were totally at your sibling’s mercy!  . . .  I don’t know why children do it – it’s totally immature, yet so incredibly effective.  It can be done without making a peep.  From all the way across the room even once mom has banished you to separate corners.  Still, your sister – or brother – could get 100% under your skin by imitating you!

Imitation’s not always a bad thing.  In fact, it’s also a pretty effect way to grow.  When not done of the purpose of driving your brother or sister absolutely nuts, imitation can lead to mastery.  Think about all the things toddlers begin to do because they see the person in front of them doing it.  Clap your hands with a smile before a little one and they’re bound to start clapping too.  Show a youngster the steps of mastering things like shoe tying or letter writing.  Soon they’ll be at it on their own.  As we age, we go through an entire period of growth called adolescents when it seems imitation will have no end.  Teens wearing the same cloths as their friends just to fit in.  Girls wanting to pierce their ears ‘cuz everyone else is doing it too.  Boys telling silly jokes because the boy who seems to get all the attention tells silly jokes too.  The way to self-assurance developmentally leads through imitation.  As adults observing, our hope is teenagers pick the right ones to imitate!  Avoiding the examples all around of bullying and disrespect and irresponsibility.  Hopefully imitating peers and role models whose values are in line with the way we want them to grow.

I’m not sure the age of those who heard the epistle of Ephesians when it was being circulated around the Mediterranean.  If the letter really was written near the end of the Apostle Paul’s life, then it’s highly likely that those who heard it were at most a few decades in to being committed followers of the Way – disciples of Jesus who early Christians came to believe was the Christ.  The One of God come to deliver the people.  We can debate all day exactly what they needed deliverance from, but it’s clear that some who heard of Jesus were captivated by his teaching.  They were astounded by the way his disciples vowed compassionate care of one another.  They were impressed by the community’s broad inclusion of Jew and Gentile alike.  It would take the established church years to develop the theological doctrines we take for granted today.  In the meantime, those who wanted to be a part of Christ’s movement came to learn just how they were to be in the world each day.

One source tells of early baptismal liturgies that ritualized the expected behavior.  G. Porter Taylor writes:  “in the first liturgies of the church, the baptismal candidates faced the west and renounced the forces of darkness”  (Feasting on the Word, Yr. B, Vol. 3, p. 326).  We see remnants of this in baptismal vows of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  The first vow in the covenant of Baptism reads:  “Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?” (Book of Common Worship, WJKP, 2018, p. 409).  “I renounce them,” the baptismal candidate is to proclaim (Ibid.).  In the PCUSA, after professing the One to whom the candidate for baptism will turn, they are asked:  “Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love?”  “I will, with God’s help,” PCUSA baptismal candidates respond! (Ibid.).  In those first baptismal liturgies, after turning to the west to renounce the forces of darkness; baptismal candidates “then turned to the east at sunrise and proclaimed their allegiance to the light of the world” (G. Porter Taylor, Feasting on the Word, Yr. B, Vol. 3, p. 326).  Taylor goes on to write:  “They literally stripped off their old clothing and put on the new garments of being adopted by Christ as children of God after they were baptized.  They were then brought into the community of faith.  In baptism the old self is killed off, and the new self is raised” (Ibid.).  From that moment on, the baptized live as those aligned to the Light of the World!

“Imitate God,” Ephesians 5:1 declares.  “And live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2).  Imitate God.  . . .  Lest we fail to know what that means, the writer of Ephesians fleshed it out with description after description.  The world may be full of those who want to lie.  Those who imitate God speak the truth.  The world may be full of those who get angry and immediately lose their temper.  Those who imitate God get angry.  We recognize anger and every other emotion as the signal they are from our own body-mind.  Then we act free from sin – not stewing in disgruntlement lest those forces we renounced in baptism have a chance to take hold.  The world might be full of those who labor for their own ends.  Imitators of God labor honestly so as to have something to share with those in need.  Ephesians reminds that the world may be full of those who let all sorts of drivel come forth from their mouth.  Those who imitate God use words to build up others so that grace abounds.  Bitterness, wrath, wrangling anger, slander together with malice may surround us daily in our streets and from our cities.  But those who imitate God practice kindness – in big and small ways.  Imitators of God are tenderhearted – no matter how callous everyone else might get.  Those who imitate God forgive; for we know it’s only so long until we’ll need the same forgiveness.

Imitators of God are beloved children.  A fragrant gift to the world around.  Not always perfect, but still striving for the goal.  We seek to imitate the One we know in full through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord.  In our life together.  In our lives at home.  In our lives wherever we go in the world.  Let us live love, as Christ has loved us.  Let us imitate God.

In the name of the life-giving Father, the life-redeeming Son, and the life-sustaining Spirit, Amen.

© Copyright JMN – 2018  (All rights reserved.)