Rev. Dr. John Judson
July 3, 2016 Listen Print Version Psalm 146, Luke 10:1-16 He wouldn’t let them do it. Duncan would never let them decorate the sanctuary like a 4th of July float. Every year at my former congregation there were people who would go to my predecessor, Duncan Stewart, and ask to decorate the sanctuary on the Sunday closest to the 4th of July, so that it was awash in red, white and blue. Yet every year Duncan would turn them down, which was, at least on the surface, a bit odd. It was odd because if anyone loved this nation, it was Duncan. I say this because he spent 30 years in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. He had earned a bronze Star and purple heart in the Pacific in World War II. He then served in both Korea and Vietnam. In other words, this was a man who loved his nation so much that he had risked his life on multiple occasions. For whatever reason, I never had a conversation with Duncan specifically about this issue, but I think I have an idea why he declined to decorate in this way, and it had to do with his realization that we are living in two worlds…the world of nation-hood and the world of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. If that seems a bit obtuse I hope that our morning’s lesson will help shed some light on what I mean. As our story opens Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem and the final showdown with the religious and secular authorities. As he does so he can sense around him the growing calls for revolution against Rome. Throughout his life-time there had been would be messiahs who called upon the people to rise up and defeat Rome. The result was they and their followers had all died. (And unfortunately only about thirty-three years after his death the entire nation would rise up and hundreds of thousands of people would lose their lives in a futile rebellion.) So as Jesus proceeds he sends out a message that calls the people to peace and not violence. He tells them that the Kingdom of God is already present in and through his life and work. In other words, they do not need to be politically independent to be at peace. Thus when Jesus speaks of judgment against individuals and cities that refuse his peace, he is speaking of the coming cataclysm with Rome and not punishment from God. He has come as the Prince of Peace and not a military messiah. These then, as I said a moment ago, are the two worlds in which we live. We live in the world of human revolutions that are waged for freedom; freedom to worship as we please, freedom to make our own laws, freedom to speak our minds and freedom to pursue our own dreams and destinies, the freedoms which we enjoy and often take for granted. This world is one that tens of thousands of men and women have fought and died for. This world is one that we are called upon to celebrate and appreciate. Yet we also live in the other world, that is in the world of Jesus Christ, who called upon us to love and pray for our enemies, not return violence with violence, to not hate, but to love, and to realize that true peace is not found in revolutions but is found in the peace that God gives through God’s only Son Jesus; a peace that passes all understanding. What Duncan understood was that our task is find a balance which honors both without allowing one to consume the other. Here is what I mean. If we allow the world of revolutions to become the only world, then we risk being led down a path toward being a people who will do anything to anyone in order to maintain our national security. We will resort to torture and conquest. We will attack and seek to destroy anyone we deem to be the enemy. We will demonize “the other” because they are not like us. And in so doing we run the risk of losing our souls in the name of freedom. At the same time, we run great risks if we choose a pacifism in the name of the Prince of Peace. We risk allowing the real evil in this world to run amok, dealing death wherever it turns. We run the risk of allowing injustice to have its way, while we fail to protect the widow, the orphan and vulnerable. We run the risk of losing our souls as we watch the innocent suffer knowing that we could have done something to prevent it. We live in two worlds. We live in the world of political freedom and obligation as well as the world of the Prince of Peace who calls us to a particular way of life. The challenge for us, as I said, is to find a balance between the two; which is never easy. It is never easy because there will always be competing claims upon us from both sides as well as moral decisions, whose appropriate outcome is difficult to discern. Yet we are still called to try to find that balance. This Fourth of July weekend then I encourage you to do three things. First to give thanks and celebrate the freedoms that have been given. Second, to give thanks to God for the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ that offers us peace even in a war torn world. Thirdly, I challenge you to ask yourself this question, “How am I finding the balance in my life such that I honor the freedoms I have and the Savior of the world who gave his life for me?” Rev. Dr. John Judson
June 26, 2016 Listen Print Version Psalm 72:1-7, Luke 9:51-62 He knew it was coming. He knew that Gordie was going to get even. A couple of weeks ago when Gordie Howe died there were all sorts of interviews and tributes given about him. One evening on the news the sportscaster was visiting with a famous hockey player, whose name I do not recall at this moment…shows that I did not grow up around here…and they were reminiscing about Howe and the fact that if someone ever did something to him on the ice, Howe always got even. This player said that it had happened to him. One game he had accidently high-sticked Howe. The instant it happened, the player said he knew that he was in trouble. The rest of the game the player waited for Howe to get even. But it didn’t come. Then the next time they played, nothing. And the next and the next. Some people might think, the player said, that this meant that Howe had forgotten about…oh no...it was just a matter of time. Then in the very next game, out of nowhere, there was Howe and he clobbered the player. In real life, the player concluded, Howe was the nicest guy you would ever want to meet, but on the ice, he always got even. Getting even…it was what human beings do. In fact, let me ask how many of you have ever wanted to get even with someone; someone who said something mean to you? Bullied you? Hurt you? Took something from you? What is interesting about this is that most of us don’t even have to think about it. Wanting to get even appears to be built into our DNA. It seems to be one of the most ancient emotional responses there is. People have been getting even since the dawn of time. You attack me, I attack you. You insult me, I insult you. Why? My take on it is this, that when someone hurts us, insults us, takes something from us, it is as if they are taking a part of us; that we feel less than we were before. We don’t feel whole anymore. Our very being has been diminished. We are ashamed and hurt. The only way we know how to get back that part of us then is to get even, because in getting even it is like we are taking back from the other person what they took from us. We are restoring ourselves to our full selves. So getting even on or off of the ice is what we do. That sense of getting even is at the heart of our story this morning. Jesus and his disciples are walking from the northern part of the Jewish homeland, where Galilee is, to the southern part of the Jewish homeland where Jerusalem is. The only issue is that right between the two areas, right in the middle, is the territory of the Samaritans, who were enemies of the Jews. Normally Jews would not walk through this territory. They would go all the way around it, adding an entire day to their journey. Jesus and his disciples decided that they would cross it. My guess is that they did so because Jesus had, earlier in this ministry had good relationships with the Samaritans…one of the few Jews to do so. But this time something was different. The Samaritans saw that he was headed to Jerusalem and suddenly Jesus became the enemy again. For this reason, they refused Jesus a place to stay. Jesus’ disciples, believing that the Samaritans had insulted Jesus and themselves and so they had to get even. They decided the best way to get even was the nuclear option. They wanted to reign down fire from heaven, destroy the Samaritans and thus get even. What is fascinating about the story is Jesus’ response. He doesn’t do what we might expect him to do; to say to the disciples, “Hey haven’t you been paying attention. Remember, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Wake up and smell the coffee guys.” No, he doesn’t do that. Instead he rebukes them. For most of us this morning that word rebuke doesn’t mean much. In fact, it’s a word we seldom if ever use. Yet in the stories of Jesus, it is the most powerful criticism that Jesus ever uses. And he uses it only when he is stopping someone or something from destroying what God is trying to do in the world, and that is giving life to all. Jesus rebukes demons who are destroying people’s lives. He rebukes storms that are about to kill. He rebukes Peter when Peter tells Jesus not to go to the cross. In other words, Jesus rebukes someone or something that is life denying and not life giving. Thus the disciples desire to get even is not simply out of alignment with what Jesus and God are about, it is literally destroying the life that God wants to give. It is destroying because it is taking part of another and leaving them less than they were. All of this is not good news for those of us whose first inclination when we are hurt, is to want to get even. So the question this morning is how do we move away from getting even? What I want to offer you this morning then are two practices that I believe can help us all as we try to move away from getting even and move into a more Christ-like frame of mind. The first is based on a simple Christian mantra, or saying that we can offer up every morning. And it is this, “No one can hurt me because I am a child of God.” What I mean by this is that who we are, what we are, our value as human beings, is based not on what our families, friends, enemies or society has given to us, but on the fact that we are children of God; beloved of God. Thus no one can take anything from us. No one can take our honor. No one can take our dignity. No one can take anything from us that will diminish us because all we have that matters is from God and God will never remove it from us. Thus no one can hurt us and so we never need to get even. The second is a positive practice…and that is that we are to love all persons regardless of who they are or what they do to us. It has often been said that the best offense is a good defense, right? Well I would turn that around. The best defense is a good offense…and our offense as Christians is that we are to be constantly loving those around us. I realize that this sounds like nothing more than what I am supposed to say…just love, love, love. Yet the reality of our choosing to love, meaning to look beyond the surface of the person who may be offending or bullying us, is to see that they do so because this is what God does for us. God loves us, God pours God’s love into us so that we can find life, joy and peace. Thus if we are coworkers with God, then our task is to give life as well. My challenge for you for this week is this, to ask how am I resisting getting even and instead being life giving with those around me. Rev. Amy Morgan
June 19, 2016 Listen Print Version Psalm 42, Luke 8:26-39 Maybe it started out small. He said the wrong thing, dressed the wrong way, acted a little different. And he was teased, then ridiculed, maybe even bullied a little. But eventually his behavior, his dress, his manner fell so far outside the norm that he was declared to be possessed by demons. Now, I love it when I get to preach on the demon stories. It immediately conjures up images of The Exorcist and people start to worry that this will end with pea soup. But demons are so much more interesting than Hollywood makes them out to be. Especially the demons in this story. First-century cosmology attributed a wide range of maladies to demon possession, from what we would today diagnose as epilepsy or mental illness, to run-of-the-mill bad luck or ill temper. The power that demons held was supernatural. All that couldn’t be explained or controlled could be blamed on demons. Demons embodied the corporate fears of the community. And so, in today’s story we encounter a man with demons, a man who is demonized by the fears of his community. But what is entirely unique about this demonization is the scale. Now remember, is Jesus’ day, a legion was a very specific military term, a unit of the army made up of as many as six thousand men. This is not a general term for more than a few. This man is possessed by thousands of demons, thousands of fears. We don’t see this anywhere else in scripture. This isn’t epilepsy or mental illness or a behavioral or medical disorder. This man has been demonized. His community has taken all they can’t explain or control, all they can’t fix or cure, and they have focused it on this one person. When he comes too close to town, they lock him in chains. When he breaks loose, those demons of fear run him out of town and he lives among the dead. But when Jesus steps onto their shoreline, things are about to change. Because the demons of fear immediately recognize Jesus for what he is: the one with the authority to command the wind and the waves, the one with the power to destroy the forces of sin and death, the one with a love great enough to cast out fear. And that is just what he does. He casts out the demons of fear this man has carried for so long. The demons of fear enter a herd of swine, and the terrorized pigs drown themselves in the lake. And just like that, Jesus robs the Gerasene community of their demoniac. When the one who was savage and unsafe is suddenly clothed and in his right mind, when he suddenly looks and acts just like everybody else, the people of the community are filled with fear. Their demons have been released from the one they had demonized, and they have returned to their rightful owners. The scripture tells us twice that the people are afraid, and they tell Jesus to get out of town. We are all possessed by demons of fear right now. Every last one of us. It doesn’t matter if our fears are reasonable or unreasonable. We are fearful. And we are faced with a choice. We can be like the man who was demonized, throwing ourselves at Jesus’ feet in our naked vulnerability. Or we can be like the Geresenes, casting our fears onto someone else, finding someone else to demonize. For most of our country’s history, we’ve chosen the latter. We’ve demonized the English, the South (or the North, depending on which side of the Mason/Dixon line you’re from), the Irish, the Jews, the Germans, the Japanese, the blacks, the Hispanics, the homosexuals, the transgender, the Muslims. The demons of fear just keep moving from place to place to place. But we can make a different choice. We can choose trust instead of fear. A child who is frightened of monsters under the bed can sleep because he trusts his parents to protect him. People who live in neighborhoods where they know and trust their neighbors are not afraid to let their children roam freely. Citizens who trust their government are not afraid of their elected leaders, and they can work together for the well-being of all people. The man who trusted Jesus was freed from the demons of fear that plagued him. He met Jesus as soon as he stepped off the boat, fell at his feet, naked and vulnerable, while the rest of the community looked on with suspicion. When the rest of the community became infected with fear, they compounded their ailment by sending Jesus away, filled with mistrust. Mind you, we’re not expecting Jesus to be the great fixer, making our world safer, more prosperous, more peaceful. We are trusting the hope of Jesus Christ to cast out the despair we are all feeling. We are trusting the love of Jesus Christ to cast out the hate that we see building. We are trusting Jesus to cast out the demon of fear that separates us from God and neighbor. The only cure for fear is trust. Trust in God and in the goodness of God’s image reflected in humanity. Trust in God’s promises for a world made new. This isn’t a blind trust, not at all, quite the opposite. We have every reason to trust. We trust in a God who rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. We trust in a God who gave us a plan for living in peace and righteousness. We trust in a God who sent prophets to lead us in that plan. We trust in a God who chose to become one of us, to know the pain of being human, the grief of losing a loved one to death, the ugliness of the demon of fear, the horror of execution. We trust in a God with the power to command the wind and the waves and to cast out fear. We trust in a God with the power to destroy sin and death forever. That isn’t blind trust. We have every reason to trust. When events like the one this week occur, and it sickens me that we can even say that, that we even have other tragedies to compare this to, but each time this happens, we wonder where God is in all of this. Skepticism about God’s goodness and God’s power run high. And the church has done a poor job of responding to that skepticism. We’ve struggled to know what our role is in the face of devastation or what message we have to share. And that is truly tragic. Because we have a message of hope, a word of comfort, and a commitment to justice that is unique and powerful and vital. We, as the church, are the body of Christ. We are Jesus on the shoreline. And falling at our feet are all those who are being demonized right now. And watching from a distance are all those who distrust the church. We are called to follow Christ, to step out of the boat, and cast out fear. And not everyone is going to like it when we do that. Because when Jesus steps out of the boat, we might build a relationship with our Muslim neighbors, and we won’t be able to fear them and blame them for all of the horrific acts of violence carried out in the name of their peaceful religion. When Jesus steps out of the boat, we might have to empathize with the depth and breadth of discrimination and hatred experienced by the LGBT community, and we won’t be able to fear that who they are in any way undermines anyone’s moral or religious values. When Jesus steps out of the boat, we might develop compassion for the plight of people seeking work or refuge in our country, and we won’t be able to fear that they will take all our jobs and blame them for the state of our economy. When Jesus steps out of the boat, we might have to look at our whole culture’s addiction to violence instead of pinning all our fears on the NRA and the gun-rights lobby or on gun-control advocates. When Jesus steps out of the boat, we might not be able to blame Trump or Clinton or any other politician for our collective greed, bigotry, and dishonesty. We might just all have to own that’s who we are. We are humans. And we are possessed by fear. And the only way we know how to deal with that demon is to cast it onto somebody else. And so when Jesus steps onto our shoreline, when the church steps out of the boat, people more likely than not will ask him, ask us, to leave. Because once fear is cast out, once the demoniac is dressed and in his right mind, once the enemy looks and acts just like everybody else, we have to deal with the only thing we rightly have to fear: ourselves. We have to look at our own darkness, our own inhumanity, our own greed and apathy. All those demons that take up residence in each one of us. John Calvin was clear that humanity, at its core, is totally depraved. Not one person or group or institution or ideology. All of us sin and fall short of the glory of God, all of us participate in systems of injustice, all of us have to take responsibility for our own sin and the sin of our society. We don’t get to pin it on someone or something else. Demonization does not cure fear. These are our demons. And if we can own that, then there is hope. Because Jesus is on our shores today. Jesus is ready to cast out fear. Jesus is ready to remake this world, to put us in our right minds, to clothe us in love and justice and peace. If only we will trust. Trust him. Trust one another. And as the church, our challenge is to step out of the boat and use the power given to us as the body of Christ in the world. The power to cast out the demons of fear, the power to speak the truth in love, the power to bring hope in a darkened world. Lying at our feat are the demonized from all sides of the political spectrum. We are Everybody’s Church. And we will not allow any group to be demonized. And we will send those who have been freed from fear to go and proclaim all that God has done for them. It is not enough to come here each week, to feel refreshed, renewed, re-affirmed. We can’t hop in the boat with Jesus and stay there. We are sent back to all those who are still demonized by fear to share our trust, our hope, our peace. Let us go out and cast out the demons of fear. Go and be hope. Be light. Be comfort and peace. Return to your homes, and declare how much God has done for you. Amen. Rev. Dr. John Judson
June 12, 2016 Listen Print Version Psalm 5:1-6, Luke 7:36-49 Inappropriate behavior. Those are the only two words that seem to fit this entire story. From beginning to end everyone in here is completely inappropriate. But to make my point let’s take a quick inventory of all of the inappropriate behavior. First there is the woman who comes to Jesus. Jesus is at supper with the local religious elite. They are probably having some deep theological discussions when this unnamed woman wanders in, stands behind Jesus and begins to weep. Then she bends down, opens a jar of costly ointment and anoints his feet. Not satisfied with that she sheds her tears onto his feet and then dries them with her hair. This is about as inappropriate as one can be. First she enters the male dominion of the dinner. Then she touches Jesus (a really big no-no) and finally lets down her hair to wipe his feet. While this might not seem a big deal to us, the only women in the Roman world who let their hair down were, how shall I put this, women whose reputations and business were not socially acceptable. She was totally inappropriate. But she is not the only one. The second person to be inappropriate is Jesus. Yes, that’s right, Jesus is inappropriate. And he is inappropriate in two unbelievable ways. The first way Jesus is inappropriate is that he lets this woman do what she does. Jesus could have stopped her. He could have and should have castigated her and sent her packing. That would have been the appropriate response. It would have been so because everyone in First Century Judaism understood the rules which governed male-female relationships in public. First there was no physical contact. There were no public displays of affection even between husband and wife. There were certainly no public displays of physical contact between non-related individuals. Second Jesus was a rabbi. Rabbis especially were to not only have no contact with women, they were not even to speak with them, or acknowledge their presence. Finally, Jesus knew what kind of woman this was. She was, as Luke puts it, a sinner; a woman with a reputation. Jesus’ willingness to allow her to touch him was socially and religiously inappropriate behavior. Second, Jesus is inappropriate when he forgives her. So often I think we focus on the woman’s inappropriate behavior and fail to notice that the Pharisees get as upset about Jesus act of forgiving as they do about what the woman is up to. The Pharisees, and as a reminder, were a religious political party that tried to live holy lives guided by the 613 commandments, or mitzvot of the Law of Moses. As such, they believed that only God could forgive. And when God forgave, it was through the rites and rituals of the Temple in Jerusalem; meaning that forgiveness was to be found not in the words of some wandering rabbi. Forgiveness was not and could not be offered by just anyone. If this woman wanted forgiveness there were means by which it could be achieved. She could gather up the requisite sacrifices and head to Jerusalem and find the forgiveness of God there. We can sense this when those around the table asked, “Who is this that forgives sins?” The fact then that Jesus tells her that she is forgiven is the most inappropriate action that takes place at this table. Inappropriate behavior. A story filled with inappropriate behavior…or is it? On the surface that is all that this story is about, yet somehow Jesus manages to take all of this inappropriate behavior and make it appropriate. The woman’s behavior, Jesus explains to his dinner guests, is completely expected because she is showing the deep gratitude she has for being forgiven. Evidently this woman and Jesus had met some time previously and in an act of compassion for her Jesus had forgiven her. Overwhelmed by that gift, by that love, her love for Jesus drives her to show her gratitude. This is the heart of Jesus’ short story about the cancellation of the debt. Her forgiveness was great and so then was her response. Jesus’ inappropriate action of allowing her to carry out her work of thanksgiving is allowed by Jesus because it is an act of hospitality, something that Jesus’ Pharisee host Simon, had failed to offer (which by the way is one more inappropriate aspect of this story). Why, Jesus asks should he stop this woman from doing what Simon ought to have done. Finally, the act of forgiveness for Jesus has never been tied only to life and work of the Temple. Drawing on the great prophetic tradition Jesus understands that forgiveness comes through a changed life that reflects the love and grace of God; something which this woman has demonstrated with her actions…thus forgiveness is warranted. In a sense Jesus offers us a vision of inappropriately appropriate behavior. Being inappropriately appropriate is what the church and all of us in her are called upon to be. I say that because it is what allows us to truly offer the love and grace of God to the world. Let me explain. As human beings, we build walls between what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. We do so in all sorts of ways; in terms of social interactions, manners and cultural taboos. What we fail to realize is that many of those walls are merely social constructs that have no basis other than the traditions of our elders. The problem with those walls is that they divide people. They separate people one from another, allowing certain people in and walling others out. Those who are inside receive all of the benefits society has to offer. Those on the outside are left out and their lives are diminished. It would be nice to think that the church was different. But it wasn’t. In fact, the church has been one of the primary places where the walls separating appropriate and inappropriate exist. There are inconsequential walls; how we are to dress for church, whether or not we are to applaud, or whether we sing from hymnals or screens. These are the obvious walls. But there are also the not so obvious walls; those walls that essentially declare certain people to be inappropriate to be within the community of faith. Those walls have excluded people of color (just look at the slave balconies in older Southern churches), people within the LGBT community and persons with disabilities. While the church would say that God loves everyone, we would make it clear that certain people’s presence was simply inappropriate. And so it is only by being inappropriately appropriate that we can break down the walls that keep some people out and thereby invite everyone in to know the great love that God has for them in Jesus Christ. This past week I began my eighth year with you. And one of the things I value the most about being your pastor is your willingness to be inappropriately appropriate. Once upon a time it was inappropriate for women to be in leadership in this church, whether as elders or ministers. Then the church decided to be inappropriately appropriate and change that. Once upon a time children were not welcome in worship, except to sing as a choir. Then the church decided to be inappropriately appropriate and make children an integral part of worship. Once upon a time, persons with disabilities were not fully welcomed into the church. But then the church decided to be inappropriately appropriate and created Celebration station, then an inclusion program and then call the first pastor in our denomination dedicated to the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Once upon a time, members of the LGBT community were essentially excluded from our community. But then the church decided to be inappropriately appropriate, and tear down the wall of separation and welcome all persons regardless of sexual orientation into the membership and leadership within the church. What this means is that we are a church that is constantly asking ourselves, how do we bring down the walls that keep people from knowing the full love and grace of God in Jesus Christ? How do we follow the example of Jesus in that evening meal when he broke down the walls to invite in an unnamed woman into the love and grace of God? The challenge for us then is to not assume that we have broken down all of the inappropriately/appropriate walls that keep people away from God’s love. It is to continue asking ourselves what barriers still need to be broken…and then break them. So this week, my challenge to you is this, to ask yourselves, how am I being inappropriately appropriate in helping all people know that they are loved and cherished by God. Rev. Dr. John Judson
June 5, 2016 Listen Print Version Exodus 22:21-27, Luke 7:11-17 “I don’t know what to do.” “What do you mean?” “I don’t know how to help all of the people around the world who are in need. I’m not rich. I have bills I have to pay. And the needs of people all over the world are so great that what I could give will not make a dent at all.” “So why don’t you just choose one thing and give to that?” “But how can I choose? If I choose one, then the others will go without.” “So what are you going to do?” “I just don’t know.” The person you have just met has just been afflicted with one of the western world’s great diseases, compassion paralysis. Compassion paralysis is a disease that occurs when limited resources come into conflict with unlimited need, causing people to not do anything because they either cannot decide who to help or they believe that what they can give will not really make a difference. The question this morning then is, is there a cure? The answer is yes there is a cure, and the cure is to look to the compassion of Jesus. I realize that many of you will say, “But John, Jesus was all about compassion. It was his middle name. It was in his job description. He would never have been afflicted with compassion paralysis.” My response would be that if we look at the time in which Jesus was living, if anyone ought to have had compassion paralysis it was Jesus. This is so because Jesus lived in a time when infant mortality was extraordinarily high, the average life span was probably no more than 40 years, diseases were rampant, simple cuts could lead to infections that were incurable thus making life for ordinary Greeks and Jews short and tenuous. You might reply, well sure, but Jesus had the ability to heal. That is right but even so had Jesus healed people twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, he would not have made a significant difference in the overall outlook of life. It would have been easy for Jesus to have just given up and retired to Nazareth. Yet as we see in our story this morning, he didn’t. Our story begins as Jesus and his followers are about to enter a small town called Nain. As they approach, they see a funeral procession. In the procession and mourners, a funeral bier and a weeping woman. Jesus senses that the woman is a widow, meaning there is no husband with her. There are also no other son’s supporting her. Jesus realizes that this woman, without her son, will be left impoverished and alone, reduced to begging without a place to go. As Luke tells us Jesus had compassion for her. He moves to the dead body, commands the young man to rise, and as the man is resuscitated he gives him back to his mother, thereby giving life to two people; physical life to the child and a life with a future to the mother. By this act Jesus demonstrates the heart of the compassion of God. He demonstrated Biblical compassion…the compassion that is the cure for our compassion paralysis. I say this because Biblical compassion, Jesus-like compassion is, simply put, the desire to give life when and how we can. Let me say this again, Biblical compassion, Jesus-like compassion is, simply put, the desire to give life when and how we can. When I say give life, again, I don’t mean raising people from the dead. Life in scripture refers not merely to physical life but to lives well and fully lived; lived with enough to eat, a place to sleep and an opportunity to live to the fullest of one’s abilities. Giving life in scripture means to offer resources and opportunities to enhance the lives of others even if it is in a marginal manner. Compassion begins when we desire to do any of these things for another. Let me ask then, how many of you want to help give life to another? How many of you as a follower of Jesus believe yourselves called to offer life? Great, then your compassion is at work. The second part to curing compassion paralysis is to actually offer life when and how we can. All of us know that the needs of the world are greater than any one person can address. Bill and Melinda Gates with their amazing foundation know they cannot solve all of the world’s problems, and so have chosen to focus narrowly on a couple of significant issues, including Malaria prevention. Former president Jimmy Carter, through the Carter Foundation, decided to focus on getting rid of Guinea worm disease. Even Jesus never raised every dead person that he saw, or healed ever sick person around him. The task of compassion then is to choose to do what we can, when we can, and how we can. It may be to assist with SOS. It may be to buy a Church World Service blanket. It may be to help at Alcott once a week, or with shop and drop, or with meals, or perhaps to give a small gift to the International Children’s Network or similar organizations. It may be to offer a kind word, a smile or a hand up to someone in need. Remember, compassion does not require solving all the problems of the world, or even a single problem, but giving life where and how we can. The cure to compassion paralysis is right in front of us. It is in front of us in the compassion of Jesus, who showed compassion when and how he could. And that is my challenge to you for this week, that as you come to the communion table to ask yourselves, how am I allowing my compassion to give life even as I have been given life? Rev. Joanne Blair
May, 22, 2016 Listen Print Version Psalm 8, John 16.12-15 I’m going to tell you right up front what my goal is for today. My goal is that you leave here this morning still confused…but comforted, empowered, and grateful. For today is Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate the Triune God. That mysterious Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Equal, timeless, three distinct persons in one substance. Some describe the Trinity as an actor wearing many masks. Others describe the Trinity in terms of roles and relationships…I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, etc. Still others explain the Trinity with the analogy of water. Depending on the condition, it can be a liquid, a solid, or steam. But it is still H2O, regardless of what form it takes. Donald McKim, author of Presbyterian Questions/Presbyterian Answers, writes: “Early Christians worshipped the God who had been revealed to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. But early Christians also believed that in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, they encountered God in an altogether unique way. In the early centuries of the Christian church, the church confessed its belief that Jesus Christ was also God. Relatedly, earliest Christians after the day of Pentecost believed that God was present in the church and in their experience in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit also is God, just as is Jesus Christ, and the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God of Israel.” (1) And so in the fourth century, the Nicene Creed was written, articulating that the God we worship is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are at the same time one God. They are eternal and share the same substance. So why would I want you to leave here still confused? Because it defies our human understanding. And anyone who thinks they fully understand or can clearly articulate the Trinity… just doesn’t get it! No pastor, lay person or schooled theologian can fully explain the unexplainable. There is a reason for the phrase “Mystery of Faith!” Not a one of us can adequately explain all that is God. But that does not mean that we don’t believe. It does not mean we cannot have faith and trust in that which we do not fully understand. Rather, we need to do just that! The Trinity helps us understand what God has shown us about God’s self thus far. For surely we do not know all there is to know about God! But we can know God. God has shown us that God desires to be known. Over, and over, and over, God has chosen to have relationship with us in countless ways. The messiah and the Holy Spirit are not unique to the New Testament. They are described and referred to several times throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Today’s scripture lesson is but part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. Four other times in his discourse, Jesus has made mention of the Paraclete, which means advocate, helper, or counselor. He has promised the disciples that this Holy Spirit will abide within them and alongside them. As in the rest of his sermon, Jesus is trying to prepare the disciples for what is to come, and promising them that they will not be left alone, or abandoned. There is a kind of joke among Bible students, in which they call the disciples the “duh-ciples”, because they just don’t get it. The disciples had walked, talked, eaten, and slept beside Jesus for three years…but they don’t really understand what he is saying. Would we? Do we? In this part of John’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking more to the community than to individuals. He is warning them that they are not able to comprehend or handle all that he could tell them. Aren’t we often in that same place-- individually and collectively? We often can’t handle the truth, or aren’t prepared to understand it. But Jesus assures us that with faith and trust, the Holy Spirit will guide us and lead us into truth. Our church has many committees/ministries, and before each meeting we pray. Those prayers are important, and we should not rush through them, for in them we are asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We gather to do God’s work as the Body of Christ, and we should always be asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were not prepared for the road ahead. Neither are we. If not now, then in the past we have, or in the future we will each face difficult, challenging, painful or uncertain times. We cannot fully be prepared for these times because we don’t what they are until they happen. And even if we know what’s coming, we don’t really know what it will be like for us to experience it, until we experience it. What we do know, if we have faith, is that God will be with us. And really, what more could we ask? What greater gift is there than the love and presence of God? Psalm 8, which we heard this morning, speaks of praise to the majesty of God. Praise that is not premeditated, but comes as naturally as the cry of a newborn. Think about it. In all of creation, God chose us to have dominion…to be the caretakers. Why us? What makes us so special? That God loves us and chose us…that’s what makes us special. And rather than try to figure out “why us,” let us realize that once again we are in the midst of mystery … of things we cannot fully understand. James McTyre writes, “…it is quite fitting that Psalm 8 and the Trinity are bound together this Sunday. Two mysteries that evoke wonder instead of explanations harmonize well.” (2) There are so many roads one could walk down when talking about today’s scriptures that it is hard to focus on a single point. But for me, today, what jumps out is the absolute incredible realization of how much God does to have relationship with us. How much God wants to be known. How available God is! And how unselfish! As Jesus speaks with his disciples in today’s lesson, he is not far from the time of his death. He knows what they do not. He understands what they cannot. But Jesus will not leave the disciples (or us) abandoned and empty handed. The Holy Spirit will encourage and guide the disciples in the ways of truth, in the ways of Jesus. These words were not only given to the disciples, they are given to us as well. John is telling us, promising us, that as a community, the Holy Spirit will guide us into truth. Will direct us in the ways of Jesus … if we but listen and follow. But what we also need to recognize and remember on this Trinity Sunday, is that the Holy Spirit is within each one of us. God invites each one of us to share in the Triune Life of God. God invites us to participate in the very relationship that unites the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No matter how much we may be struggling in our personal or communal lives, how can we not be filled with gratitude and joy? It is so fitting to have the visual effects from last Sunday’s celebration of Pentecost still in the sanctuary today. For today we offer special devotion to the Godhead. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three persons in one substance. And we are invited into relationship with this glorious mystery. Mrs. Albert Einstein was once asked if she understood her husband’s theory of relativity. No, she said, but I know my husband. We do not have to fully understand God, to know God. Leave here still confused … but comforted, empowered, and grateful. Know God. Amen. (1) Presbyterian Questions, Presbyterian Answers (2) Feasting on the Word Rev. Amy Morgan May 15, 2016 Listen Print Version Genesis 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-21 “What happens to a dream deferred?” Poet Langston Hughes ponders this question in the context of 1950’s America, the Korean War, McCarthyism, and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Hughes began writing during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of hope and creativity among black writers, musicians, and artists. But he was criticized by other black poets and authors for parading the unattractive aspects of African-American life before the white audiences of America. Hughes’ critics wanted to utilize the opportunity of the Harlem Renaissance to mainstream African-Americans into American culture. They wanted to use their creative powers to show white audiences that blacks were equal in stature - respectable, intelligent, and gifted. Hughes, on the other hand, depicted people as he saw them – unique, individual portraits that did not always fit the image of an idealized American. During the same time as the Harlem Renaissance, a white writer named James Truslow Adams coined the phrase “the American Dream,” a term that came to be synonymous with equal opportunity and upward mobility. What Langston Hughes saw and wrote about was all the ways this idea was bankrupt for people of color. The “American Dream” was a dream deferred. While the term “American Dream” wasn’t coined until 1931, our country has struggled since the beginning with this dream. When our founders asserted that “all men are created equal” and have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” they were giving these rights only to the white men with voting rights – not women, Native Americans, slaves, and many other immigrants and minorities. Even as the dream of this nation was born, many other dreams were deferred. The struggle for the American Dream is the struggle of Babel. It is the struggle to be one people with one language. It is the struggle to unify for the purpose of power and achievement. Most of us feel positively about these values, because they have been our values for centuries. With unity comes power, which gives us security and prosperity. We can be autonomous and self-reliant and successful. Who wouldn’t desire these things? But God confused the languages of Babel for a reason. Because God knows the human temptation to act like God, to desire God’s power, to assert God’s authority. And God knows how devastating this can be for the whole creation. It was this dream of Babel that drove human beings to genocide in the Ottoman Empire, Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Rwanda. The dream of a unified people – one race, one language, one central power. Building a tower to the heavens, becoming so powerful that nothing is impossible for them, not even the elimination of an entire people. The Roman Empire had this Babel dream as well. The Pax Romana, or peace of Rome, had at its core the assimilation of conquered peoples. In the East, including Jerusalem, Greek was the language of Empire. With the exception of the Jews, all citizens were required to worship the Roman gods. Local customs, economic systems, and governments were supplanted by the Roman clothing, manners, coins, and rulers. The Babel dream was one Rome, united across many lands and powerful beyond measure. But this unity came at a cost. Dreams deferred for conquered peoples. The Jewish dream of the Messiah, God’s chosen one, was one of those dreams deferred by the Roman dream of Babel. They had been waiting and hoping for the one who would inaugurate God’s supreme reign over all other earthly authorities. Numerous Jews with Messianic aspirations arose around the first century, and all of them were quickly snuffed out. Including a Galilean named Jesus. People had hoped that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel from her slavery to the Romans. They cheered him like a conquering hero and flocked to him in droves. But as he gained the attention of Roman authorities, some of his own people criticized him. He didn’t follow the Roman custom of dining only with the most important people. He reminded them that their first allegiance was to God, not the Emperor. He taught with the authority of the prophets, not the submission of an assimilated Jew. In order to achieve the dream of Babel, their identity as God’s chosen people frequently had to give way to their Roman citizenship. Finally, the Messianic dream was put to death on a cross. But it was revived three days later with the news of the resurrection. This dream – of God’s kingdom on earth, of salvation for all humanity, and now the added element of life everlasting – was brought back to life. In the days between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus stoked the fires of this dream, promising a power greater than any earthly power, the power of the Holy Spirit. And on the day of Pentecost, that dream deferred, that dream that has been pent up for so long, finally explodes. With a mighty wind and tongues as of fire, this dream explodes. And the dream of Babel is subverted. The disciples do not share the dream in Greek, the language of Empire, though that would have been the common tongue among all those gathered from the far reaches of Rome. The disciples and the crowd do not suddenly acquire a new language which could unite them all, though that would have been effective in communicating the good news. The power of this dream is the power of the Holy Spirit, which allows each person to hear, in their own language, the message of Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah, the dream of God’s people. The diversity God created at Babel, the confusion of languages, stands. And God’s Spirit gives the disciples the power to communicate and cross boundaries without assimilation to the Roman Empire or Nazi propaganda or the American Dream. The Jewish holiday of Pentecost celebrates the giving of the Torah, the formation of Jewish people. And so it is fitting that on this day, God once again formed a people out of the followers of Jesus Christ and all those who hear his message and place their trust in him. And the truly miraculous thing, the thing that tells us this is God’s work and not ours, is that, on Pentecost, a people are made, are unified, not through a single language, race, or culture. They are powerful, but not successful. They are diverse, and become even more so. They are oppressed, and become even more so. And still, they are a people. And they grow. And God’s dream is dreamed all over the world today. Prophets and visionaries and dreamers from all walks of life live this dream of a Messiah named Jesus, of salvation for all humanity, of life eternal. There is no doubt that, as a nation, we are still dreaming of Babel. We talk about wanting a united America, but united by assimilation to our values, our culture, our customs, however we each define them. We talk about bringing back the American Dream, so that we can be more powerful, more secure, more comfortable. But this comes at the cost of other dreams deferred. Oftentimes, our security is the result of someone else’s instability. Our power comes from disempowering others. Our comfort comes at the cost of another’s discomfort. This is the dream of Babel. And this dream is not just about politics and business. We dream of Babel every time we demand assimilation from our peers, our neighbors, even those in our congregation. Everyone who’s lived through the 7th grade knows what I’m talking about. Dressing alike, using the popular slang words and catch phrases, sitting at the same table in the lunch room. It’s all a dream of Babel, it makes us feel more powerful, more safe, more comfortable. And most of us don’t grow out of it. As Christians, this Babel dream is not our dream. We are those people born out of the Pentecost explosion, the people who dream of a Messiah who will inaugurate the reign of God over all earthly authorities. We are those people, unified not by sameness or power but by citizenship in the commonwealth of God, membership in the family of Jesus Christ, and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. And this means that we live differently. We are not governed by the expectations of corporate America. We cross borders and boundaries, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people of every tribe and nation. The Holy Spirit ignites us, again and again, to subvert that dream of Babel, to speak of the power of God, to relate to all of those gathered in this place – in this city, this state, this nation – from all over the globe, in all our diversity, beyond all our divisions. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it explode? Yes, yes it does. Thanks be to God. Rev. Dr. John Judson
May 8, 2016 Listen Print Version Ezekiel 43:1-5, John 17:20-26 Every Sunday many of you pull one of these blue prayer slips from the pew holders, fill it out and by so doing ask us, as a community, to pray for someone special. Sometimes you ask us to pray for family or friends. Other times it is colleagues at work or strangers whose lives have been wracked by war or natural disasters. Sometimes we pray for people simply by name and at others it is for a particular issue; cancer, healing, safe travel or any number of other immediate concerns. But have you ever wondered what it is that Jesus might pray for if he were here in these pews; if he were to pull out blue slips, write something down, place it in the plate and then bow his head? I ask, not simply as an idle thought, but because that is where we find ourselves this morning in this passage from John. Jesus is sitting with his friends in the upper room, praying. As he does so he prays for himself, that he might be strong in the face of what is to come; for his disciples that they might not be lost; and for us. That’s right, Jesus prays for us. He prays for those who will not know him personally but will know him because of the witness of the church. So, the question is, what did Jesus pray for us. What did he put on the blue slips in the upper room? The first thing Jesus prays for is that we would become new people, by experiencing the love of God within us. He writes, “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” For the writer of the Gospel of John, love is the key. Love is the ground of everything. Later in his letters to the church he will in fact say that God is love. For John, love is not an emotion but the very life-changing power of God unleashed in people’s lives. Love will cast out all fear. Love will make us like Christ. Love will make us capable of loving others. Thus Jesus prays that God will take the love God has for Jesus and implant it in our hearts and lives. And by so doing, change us. By so doing make us new people, fit for new possibilities. Prayer slip number one then is that Jesus prays that we be intimately loved by God. The second thing Jesus prays for is that we would become a new kind of community by seeing the Glory of God. He prays, “Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” OK, I get it that this whole “glory” thing might seem to be a bit strange; and my interpretation of it, that Jesus is praying for us to become a new kind of community, might be a stretch. But hang in with me for a moment. The Glory of God, is a concept that is used in the Bible from the book of Exodus to the Book of Revelation. It means nothing more and nothing less than the presence of God in the midst of God’s people, changing them from one kind of people to another kind of people. In Exodus, changing them from a wandering bunch of slaves to the free people of God; in Ezekiel, from a bunch of refugees, to a new faithfully worshipping community. In the book of Revelation, changing them from a mortal people, to those who lived forever. So when Jesus prays for us that we see the glory of God in him, he is praying that the very presence of God will change our faith community from an ordinary church to an extraordinary community in which the love of God is constantly present. Prayer slip number two is that we would become a new kind of church. The third thing Jesus prays for is that we would help to create a better world by being united one with another. He prays, “I ask not on behalf of these (meaning the disciples in the room with Jesus), but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one…and…the glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, even as we are one.” Jesus prays for unity. And when he prays for unity he is not praying for us all to go to the same church, or worship in the same way, or hold the exact same doctrine. He is not telling us to be Stepford Christians, who look alike, dress alike and sound alike. Unity for Jesus means that we are to be intimately connected with God, and Jesus and one another. We are to be intimately connected in order that the Glory of God, which was given to Jesus, which is given to us, might shine forth brightly and change not only the church but the world. The image that I offer you is of a Christmas tree. Imagine for a moment if you had a Christmas tree with only one light. It would not really shine forth and touch people’s hearts. But with each light that is added, something happens. The light of Jesus’ birth expands into the world. This is the reason Jesus prays that all Christians be united, so that the Glory of God, which we are to see and take hold of, empowered by the love of God within us, will shine forth into the world, changing it into the kind of world God desires. We have been given a great gift. Not only have we been prayed for by Christ, but through his death and resurrection, the possibilities of his prayer have been made real in our lives. The love of God has been poured into us. The glory of God is all around us empowering us to be a new kind of community. And every time we connect with other Christians here or around the world, we change the world more and more into what the Kingdom of God ought to look like. The task for us is to open ourselves to that love of God that is within us; to allow it, to feel it welling up within so that as we become new and different people we might see more clearly the glory of God and more intimately connect with others. In these ways we will be fulfilling the prayer that Jesus offered for us. My challenge to you then is this, take some time to experience the love of God; to allow the love that is within you to well up and change you, so that you might be one of those lights that begins to change the world. Rev. Dr. John Judson
May 1, 2016 Listen Print Version Leviticus 19:9-18, John 13:31-35 It was unnerving. They were screaming and yelling and I was totally unnerved by it. I was in the sixth grade and my family had moved to a new neighborhood and I had moved to a new school. I was fortunate enough to have made a couple of friends and was over visiting my friend Keith. I couldn’t tell you what we were doing but in the background I could hear two people’s voices beginning to rise. At first it was a mild annoyance and then it grew louder and louder until they were shouting. What made it even more unnerving was that it was Keith’s parents. They were arguing, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. What you have to realize is that I came from a home where no one ever raised their voices. The only two times my father ever did so was when I did something that, well, deserved for him to speak sternly. So with great trepidation I asked something like, “Are they going to be OK?” Keith looked at me matter-of-factly and said, “Oh their fine. We’re Italian.” This was my first lesson in that every family is different; that every family has their own traditions and their own relational DNA. And the same was true for Jesus and his disciples. As first century Jews they had grown up with their own family traditions and they had their own religious DNA. One piece of that tradition was the command to love neighbor as thyself. You could hear that concept in the reading from Leviticus this morning. And not only could you hear it but you could sense what that meant. One did not show partiality in administering justice. One shared what one had with the poor. One did not lie. This loving neighbor tradition was one that did not end in the Torah, but could be found in the writings and the prophets. It was a core strand of Jewish DNA. In the time of Jesus this could best be seen in that most communities had a social welfare organization that worked to insure that widows had enough to eat. So when in the Upper Room, Jesus commanded the disciples to love one another, he was not plowing new ground. He was however asking them to up their game. He was asking them to not only do the usual in loving neighbor, but within the community, they were to sacrificially serve one another…as he had when he washed their feet. The amazing thing about this new commandment, was that the disciples actually listened. In fact, they listened so well that the early church became known as the Beloved Community. They shared what they had with one another. They made sure that everyone had enough. And this sense of being a sacrificially loving community was what drew people to the church. Folks in the Roman Empire were not used to people caring for anyone to whom they were not related. And so a community in which all persons were loved, regardless of gender or social standing was amazing. But as you might guess, this sense of the Beloved Community did not last long. Within a hundred years the church had moved away from being a sacrificially loving community and had become an organization; an organization complete with rules, regulations, practices and a hierarchy based on that of the Roman Empire. And over the ensuing centuries it only got worse. And in fact the one job I have currently with the Presbytery, the larger church, is not to head a committee intended to create a Beloved Community, but one that insures the Presbytery fulfills its goal and objectives. What then are we supposed to do with this command that Jesus has given that we sacrificially love one another? My response is that we ought to try to reclaim it. We ought to try to reclaim it because it is part of our tradition, stretching back beyond Christ. We ought to try to reclaim it because it is part of our Jesus DNA. We ought to try to reclaim it because it is a command of Jesus. And we ought to try to reclaim it because it is part of the vision that we believe God has given us, that as Everybody’s Church we commit ourselves to serving Christ by cultivating mission (which we do well), inclusion (which we do very well) and community (which we don’t do well enough). How will we do this? I’m not sure. What will a 21st Century Beloved Community look like? I’m not sure. What I do know, what I believe, is that we are called to reclaim this part of our tradition and to allow our DNA to drive our community. This coming weekend the session will begin to wrestle with this idea of Beloved Community; what is it? what does it look like? How should we strive to create it? What they and we need, is your help in this process. Two weeks ago many of you filled out a survey about your experience of community here at First Church. What we are asking you to do is to take a short more in-depth survey with several narrative questions. We are asking this because we believe that our vision for the Beloved Community is not something that I can discern alone, or the session can discern alone, but it is something that should be a vision arising from the entire congregation. My challenge then to each of you is to go to the website, take the survey and help us discover God’s vision for what it means to be the Beloved Community in Birmingham in the 21st Century. Jenny Schlafhauser
April 24, 2016 Listen Print Version John 14: 25-31 When I read this passage I knew I wanted to give my sermon on it because it has been so applicable to my, and I’m sure many of your, lives. There have been many instances in my life where I have experienced the Holy Spirit and the peace that Jesus promises us in this passage. However, there has also been many more times where I haven’t. I immediately started racking my brain for the perfect story to fit this sermon, but it didn’t take me long to realize there was an obvious story to tell. It’s the kind of story that people always say “oh it's bad now but you will laugh at it in the future.” Well I’m still waiting for it to be funny. So I go to Oakland University to take the ACT. I get there with plenty of time to find the building I’m supposed to take it in, but lets just say it took a lot longer than I thought. I went around the entire campus trying to find the building and of course was stressing out. I did end up finding the building only to realize I didn’t have my ACT ticket with me. The ticket was my registration confirmation and was needed to take the test. I knew I had it with me when I was running around campus trying to find the building, so that meant I must have dropped it somewhere along the way. It could have been anywhere in the entire Oakland campus. That is when I really started freaking out. I ran, literally ran faster then i ever did in gym class, all over Oakland retracing my footsteps looking everywhere for it.The whole time I was thinking “ Its getting too late they probably already started taking the test. I need to take the this ACT or my future will be ruined.” And just when I was about to give up and leave and cry the whole way home only what I can describe as an act of God occurred. I saw this white sheet of paper on the grass. I ran to it picked it up and lo and behold it was my soaked by still useable ticket lying in the grass. So I got the ticket and ran to the building the ACT was at, and miraculously I got there in time to take the test. I experienced a lot of emotions that day. I was Scared I wouldn’t make it to the test in time. I was tired from running about two miles around the OU campus. And I was beyond stressed about the test and unnecessarily worried about my future. but I had no peace. I never felt the Holy spirit. But that was a part of Jesus’s promise in this passage, so why didn’t I have it? It is what Jesus says I should have. When Jesus promises peace, he is basically saying you will be okay with God by your side. He also is saying that his peace is different than the world's definition of peace. The world’s definition of peace is the absence of troubles, but Jesus’s promise of peace is to be calm and collected in the midst of troubles. Our lives are partly defined by the struggles and troubles we face. Its a weirdly essential part of life that Jesus knows we can’t escape nor should we. As every gym teacher has said “no pain no gain.” So instead of Jesus promising that we have no struggle he promises that he will be there right next to us during all of our trouble. We just need to reach out and hold his hand. Jesus promises you that if you stick by him and focus on him you will have this peace. This would have been good to remember while searching frantically for my ACT ticket. That all I needed was to stretch out my hand to the Holy Spirit. But Jesus doesn’t just want us to just half-heartedly believe this. He wants us to wholeheartedly believe and trust him. Just knowing a promise anyone makes isn’t enough to make the anxiety about the future disappear. We need to know how the promise will be fulfilled in order to rid us of our worry. The Holy Spirit is the how. The Spirit he sends is what will bring us peace and what will stay with us through all of our troubles. It is the means by which we will receive peace. It is the form God will take in order to be with us. Knowing the Holy Spirit will be with us helps us feel less anxious about future troubles because we know how God is going to help us. This promise helps us understand that we just need to let the Holy Spirit do its work in us and we will be okay. The promises of peace and the Holy Spirit are of course not promises. They are another of the multiple ways God shows his loves us. These promises make us feel so loved and protected. God's love is his greatest gift that he wants us to open and embrace. Wasn’t that what Jesus was trying to do on earth? Love us. And with his love comes comes his care and promises of help. I wish I would have remembered this passage and God's promise when I was running (with burning lungs) around OUs campus. I should have reached my hand to the Holy Spirit that was running next to me the whole time. I then would have realized I would be cared for by God no matter if I found that ticket or not. If I did I wouldn’t have been worried or upset or afraid. Three things I was and three things Jesus tells us not to be in this passage, and three things I didn’t have to be if I only let the Holy spirit do its job. So I just spent a lot of time talking about how I didn’t experience this peace that Jesus promises. But I haven’t talked about what exactly this peace feels like and any experience with it. I am not an experienced and super-wise person, but I will share with you most recent experience where Jesus fulfills this promise. It was just last night actually. I was sitting in bed practicing my sermon when I started to get incredibly nervous about giving it. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this. I was so overwhelmed I just started to cry. I then remembered what my sermon was about and how I just needed to reach out to the Holy Spirit. So I began to pray that God grant me peace of mind, and shortly after I said Amen I stopped crying and this wave of excitement came over me. I was no longer nervous. I was looking forward to giving the Sermon. It was the weirdest and most sudden shift in mood that I ever experienced. I have been continually nervous about giving the Sermon for months and with just one prayer my nervousness was mostly gone and excitement took its place. I was texting my friend about how nervous I was and then I after I prayed I texted him saying, “I’m actually okay now. The Holy spirit is at work!” The Holy Spirit is always here to work. God is always here to love. And Jesus always follows through on his promises. So if I have one challenge for you (sorry pastor John I stole your idea to tell them a story and give them a challenge) it would be, whenever you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed or struggling just reach out to the Holy Spirit and pray. And Peace will be provided. |
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