Victorious Living through Christ pt 6
“When God is revealed”
First Congregational UCC & (Mt of Olives Lutheran), Rock Springs, WY 3/6/2011
Based on Exodus 24:12-18 & Matthew 17:1-9
This is the last Sunday of Epiphany, and this coming Wednesday we start the long journey to the Hill of Golgotha, as we celebrate Ash Wednesday; the official start of the Lenten season. The whole season of Epiphany has been one of “revealing” to the world who Jesus was and what his mission on earth was about. This mission of course was to reveal the Glory of God to a world that so frequently loses sight and to let the world know the depth of love God has for us.
One of the definitions of Epiphany is: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple commonplace occurrence or experience. Scripture is filled with many “epiphanies”. One such epiphany occurred with Moses as he encountered God on the top of Mount Sinai, and waited for the Tablets that contained the Law, as read from the book of Exodus this morning.
Another epiphany came by way of three outsiders of the Hebrew race; we call the ‘wise men’ or ‘kings of the East’. As the three men approached Jerusalem looking for the new born king of Israel, Herod had a new understanding of his limited reign and lack of knowledge of God’s plans, as laid out in scripture.
This morning’s reading in Matthew speaks of the most dramatic epiphany to date in the lives of Peter, James, and John, as they travel up the mountain with Jesus, leaving the rest of the disciples at their camp. While they were up on the mountain, a great light suddenly appeared around them, and they saw Jesus enveloped completely within this light. Then they saw both Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus; Jesus seemed to be having a conversation with them both. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Then as Jesus and the three disciples start their way down from the mountain, Jesus tells them, “not to say anything about what they had witnessed until after he has been raised from the dead.”
Over the life of the Christian Church, we have come to know this story as the “Transfiguration of Christ!” As I read and re-read this story of what happened on this mountain top, I come away with a lot of questions. Questions such as: Why did Jesus only take Peter, James and John on this particular journey? Why was it Moses and Elijah who appeared and spoke with Jesus, and not God personally? Why did God think it necessary to speak to the three disciples during this occurrence, and once again say how “pleased” Jesus has made God and that the disciples needed to “listen to what Jesus tells them?” And why did Jesus want these guys to keep silent about what they had witnessed until after his death and resurrection?
Last weekend, Jonathan Firme and I, spent our time with 40 Confirmands at our conference retreat center, La Foret, located near Colorado Springs. The major focus of this time together, was to help the youth explore various images of God, and to give them permission to start expanding their concepts of what God looks like, and to ignite their interest of asking questions of how God works in their life’s.
At one of the secessions the story of Jesus’ first miracle was discussed; another epiphany story. In the story, Jesus, his disciples and his mother were guests at a wedding banquet, where the wine starts to run short. Jesus’ mother urges Jesus to take care of this problem. Jesus is not willing to help, so being a good Jewish mother, Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Being forced into dealing with this problem, Jesus then directs the servants to fill ceremonial barrels with water, then to take a pitcher of water from one of the barrels to the host where at that point the water had become wine. Jesus did all this while staying seated. After the wedding, Jesus then tells his disciples that they will perform greater miracles than that. That story has stayed with me during this week as well as the question that I posed to the group at large and then again to the three confirmands that went from this church, “What type of miracles can we recognize that we have either already preformed or are able to perform that are greater than what Jesus has done?” After all, as a minister, I have yet to turn water into wine. I have never been able to walk on water, and I have yet to heal anyone or bring someone back from the dead. So what miracle am I as a disciple of Christ able to do that by Jesus’ standard would be greater than what he did during his ministry?
That is a question that I am going to let you struggle to find the answer, as I think it is a personal question and only you will be able to find the answer for yourself.
Many times the epiphanies in our lives’ come through what we would call a mountain top experience. For the three disciples it came with Moses and Elijah visiting with Jesus. I think the reason why Moses and Elijah are the two visiting with Jesus, is Moses was the one who brought Israel up out of Egypt, out of slavery and has always been referred to as their redeemer; Elijah is representative of the prophet who never died, but rather was taken up to God in the firer chariot. So in this mountain top experience you have the giver of the law from God and the prophet who was delivered from death and was expected to return before the messiah came, thus a fulfillment of the prophet writings.
I have been preaching a sermon series called, Victorious living through Jesus, which is based on the AA 12 step program. This week I am combining step 6, “Being entirely ready to have God remove all the defects of character” and step 7, “Humbly asking Him to remove our shortcomings.” You might ask where does this figure into the story of Jesus’ transfiguration.
I would like to share with you a conversation that I had early in my week with my secretary. We entered into a discussion on the topic of “faith” versus “knowing”. For some people, faith is good enough in order to move forward in their walk with God. For others, those I like to call, concrete thinkers, those who need actual proof in order to believe in God, like doubting Thomas, faith just leaves too much of a gap to believe in. When Thomas was finally able to put his hands into Jesus’ wounds, he then was able to believe, this was Thomas’ epiphany, and this was the point where Thomas was able to ask Jesus to remove his shortcoming of “doubt.”
Peter, James and John all three had a physical encounter with an event that most likely took away any doubt about who Jesus was. My personal epiphany came at 32,000 feet when I had an audible encounter with God, which I have shared with some of you; and from this encounter, there is no doubt in my mind about the degree of love that God has for me. There will be people who will say, my experience can be explained by the lack of oxygen being so high in the atmosphere. It doesn’t matter whether anyone believes what my experience was, because for me it has moved me from operating beyond faith into the understanding of a fact, and it took away my defect which was in doubting the love of God for who I am. I think the reason why Jesus told Peter, James and John not to say anything about what they experienced until after Jesus died and was resurrected was because, no one would have believed them before hand. Possibly, they were still in disbelief.
The point of an epiphany is that through a new revelation, or perspective of life, we are able to move forward in a way that we would not be able to do prior to that epiphany. Before we are able to ask God to remove those things within our lives that keep us from moving forward in our lives, allowing us to become successful in our spiritual walk with God, we need to have our own personal epiphany; our own transfigurational event.
I would like to share a prayer that I have used many times that I think can help us put into perspective the concept of living our life in a transfigurational understanding. It goes like this: Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger women and men. Do not pray for tasks equal to our powers, but for power equal to our tasks. Then the doing of our work will be no miracle – we will be the miracle. Every day we will wonder at ourselves and the richness of life which has come to us by the grace of God. The epiphany found in Christ is that we go beyond whom we are and with the help of God, we are able to overcome many adversities in our life when we let God take away those things that hold us back, and we then become the miracle, which becomes the blessing to this world. Amen
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Victorious Living through Christ pt5 "Looking for the Sacred in the Secular", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ pt 5
“Looking for the Sacred in the Secular”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 2/20/2011
Based on Matthew 5: 43-48 & 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
What do the “Simpson’s”, “South Park”, the singing group “U2” and famed rape artist “Kanye West “all have in common? One of their commonalities is they are all considered to be a part of the arena we call secular entertainment. Another commonality with these and other secular groups is how much they deal with the concepts of “spirituality” and “sacredness”.
This past week, Paul and I attended what is called the annual “Pastor/Spouse retreat”, but it was what I refer to as a working retreat. We were at 9,000 to be closer to hear God speak; at a place where God’s creative nature provided natural hot springs to help keep us warm as well. As a person who was on the planning committee, I was very pleased with the speaker that we were able to bring in for this retreat, Jim Luck. Jim is a reformed Southern Baptist minister, who is now in the UCC family in South Carolina, as well as holding a degree in Psycho-therapy.
The focus of this working retreat was to explore the sacredness that is being discussed in the secular world, a discussion that is being handled by and for people who are not connected to a traditional faith community; that which we call, church and through the act of “worship.” One of the groups that were presented during these discussions was a group known as “U2”. This group has spent its entire existence staying away from the religious world, yet has a growing number of churches using their materials within the context of worship, with specific focus at the communion table, being labeled “U 2cherist”. (Just a warning, I now have been supplied with resources to where we will be observing a worship that will be a U 2cherist in the not so distant future, that not only featuring U2, but also a speech by Bishop Desmond Tutu, as well as a homily delivered by Bono, lead singer of U 2, at the 2007 Presidential prayer breakfast.)
Just a little back ground on U 2, it is a group that comes out of the turmoil of the Irish Protestant/Catholic war that lasted for generations. The groups background is 3/5th Catholic, 2/5th Protestant. A part of the Christian world looks to U2 as presenting the Christian message, while another part of the Christian world rejects them as “not having the answer” and the group U2 does not identify with any faith community that uses the word “Christian” in its name. Yet, their words and music speak to millions of people at a very deep spiritual level. Let me share some of the words of the song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for” as one example.
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
Vs 3….I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
The discussions at this retreat that Jim Luck asked us to focus on were questions such as: Why do singing groups, movies, and T.V. programs have such impact on millions of listeners concerning spirituality; How is it that discussions of “the sacred” are occurring with such frequency outside of the church; Without the wisdom and guidance of religious teachings, what will the answers look like, with only secular input?
I think there is a huge assumption with many churches, who are struggling to keep their doors open, a conclusion that those on the outside are not interested in “spiritual” matters. I recall in one of my very early sermons asking how many of you have heard the phrase: I’m Spiritual, not religious. The answer in itself speaks volumes to how the church has failed society. We have failed to speak to people at an honest level. An honest level about the hardships that come in life, giving platitudes that like: this is God’s will; you’re not praying hard enough; there must be something wrong in your life to be experiencing all these troubles. We have failed to address the evil that happens in the world. We feel that we must have all the answers to spiritual questions and use formulated words at sacred moments in order to show the power and the “omnipresence” of God.
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile…” The church continues to think that it has all the answers to life’s questions. That unless you come to us, you on the outside, will never know the love of God. Jesus, warns us about this type of conceited thinking by telling us,” This is what God does. He gives the Parental best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.”
We, meaning the human race, are standing at the threshold of a new paradigm of understanding our connectedness to God. This new paradigm started with teachings such as those that Christ taught. It comes through many other prophets such as Mohammad, Buddha, and others, teaching us about our interconnectedness with one another, with our environment, and with God. It has been moving forward for several thousand years. But if all we can do is look through the lens of our arrogance, we will be misplacing our energies; to resist this new shift and will not be a part of the next level of reality in truth, but will become extent as an ancient teaching that has no value to it. We will not be around to help minister to folks as they continue to ask those most intimate questions of God, we will not be around to help people celebrate those most sacred moments in their lives.
As a church, as a people who profess to know God, we are not the only source of comfort and help or knowledge of God. Organizations like AA have filled the vacuum that the church left when it chose not to address the issue of alcoholism. Current estimates say, AA has around one and a quarter million members. They do not talk about God directly, but they do address spirituality and sacredness of life at a level that the church has not.
One of the purposes for my doing this series of Victorious Living through Christ, which is based on AA’s twelve step program is to help us as Christians renew our connection to God for spiritual growth that is based on a program that has been super successful in the secular setting. Another one of the steps that we need to take and work, not only on an individual basis but as the church at large is to: Admit to God, to ourselves, and to humanity the exact nature of our wrongs. As people of God, we must admit our arrogance and our tendency to “exclude, diminish, and marginalize” those we believe do not fit within our image of what God wishes for. The greatest sin of the Christian Church has been and continues to be in our arrogance and self-conceit that we have all the answers.
You see, it doesn’t matter if you believe in a God or not, as human beings we all are asking the questions of life. Questions about why does evil exist, why do others seem to be luckier in life, while I try to do good, but get dumped on all the time? Why did I get cancer when I did all the healthy things that you are suppose to do, yet Joe Blow over there, drinks a case of scotch a week, smokes a carton of cigarettes a day and has no health issues. Why does John Doe who has thousands of dollars in his investment portfolio win the mega millions lotto, while I am in bankruptcy, losing my house and will have my children living on the streets, because I can’t find work? Where is the justice I hear that God is so interested in?
There is sacred and spirituality outside of the church. We as the church have been failing humanity by thinking we have all the answers. We continue to fail humanity by expecting them to conform to our church language, to conduct their experiences of the sacred in the way that we understand the sacred. We are guilty of “institutionalizing” God instead of making God accessible.
In reality, God is always accessible to all; we in the church have forgotten this. I think we are the ones, who sin against God the most, and we need to recognize this and go and confess this, not among ourselves, but with those we have excluded and to those that are marginalized by society. Let us not exclude the secular but rather embrace what it has to offer and see how we within the church can enter into the conversation that is going on outside of these walls. Amen
“Looking for the Sacred in the Secular”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 2/20/2011
Based on Matthew 5: 43-48 & 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
What do the “Simpson’s”, “South Park”, the singing group “U2” and famed rape artist “Kanye West “all have in common? One of their commonalities is they are all considered to be a part of the arena we call secular entertainment. Another commonality with these and other secular groups is how much they deal with the concepts of “spirituality” and “sacredness”.
This past week, Paul and I attended what is called the annual “Pastor/Spouse retreat”, but it was what I refer to as a working retreat. We were at 9,000 to be closer to hear God speak; at a place where God’s creative nature provided natural hot springs to help keep us warm as well. As a person who was on the planning committee, I was very pleased with the speaker that we were able to bring in for this retreat, Jim Luck. Jim is a reformed Southern Baptist minister, who is now in the UCC family in South Carolina, as well as holding a degree in Psycho-therapy.
The focus of this working retreat was to explore the sacredness that is being discussed in the secular world, a discussion that is being handled by and for people who are not connected to a traditional faith community; that which we call, church and through the act of “worship.” One of the groups that were presented during these discussions was a group known as “U2”. This group has spent its entire existence staying away from the religious world, yet has a growing number of churches using their materials within the context of worship, with specific focus at the communion table, being labeled “U 2cherist”. (Just a warning, I now have been supplied with resources to where we will be observing a worship that will be a U 2cherist in the not so distant future, that not only featuring U2, but also a speech by Bishop Desmond Tutu, as well as a homily delivered by Bono, lead singer of U 2, at the 2007 Presidential prayer breakfast.)
Just a little back ground on U 2, it is a group that comes out of the turmoil of the Irish Protestant/Catholic war that lasted for generations. The groups background is 3/5th Catholic, 2/5th Protestant. A part of the Christian world looks to U2 as presenting the Christian message, while another part of the Christian world rejects them as “not having the answer” and the group U2 does not identify with any faith community that uses the word “Christian” in its name. Yet, their words and music speak to millions of people at a very deep spiritual level. Let me share some of the words of the song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for” as one example.
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
Vs 3….I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
The discussions at this retreat that Jim Luck asked us to focus on were questions such as: Why do singing groups, movies, and T.V. programs have such impact on millions of listeners concerning spirituality; How is it that discussions of “the sacred” are occurring with such frequency outside of the church; Without the wisdom and guidance of religious teachings, what will the answers look like, with only secular input?
I think there is a huge assumption with many churches, who are struggling to keep their doors open, a conclusion that those on the outside are not interested in “spiritual” matters. I recall in one of my very early sermons asking how many of you have heard the phrase: I’m Spiritual, not religious. The answer in itself speaks volumes to how the church has failed society. We have failed to speak to people at an honest level. An honest level about the hardships that come in life, giving platitudes that like: this is God’s will; you’re not praying hard enough; there must be something wrong in your life to be experiencing all these troubles. We have failed to address the evil that happens in the world. We feel that we must have all the answers to spiritual questions and use formulated words at sacred moments in order to show the power and the “omnipresence” of God.
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile…” The church continues to think that it has all the answers to life’s questions. That unless you come to us, you on the outside, will never know the love of God. Jesus, warns us about this type of conceited thinking by telling us,” This is what God does. He gives the Parental best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.”
We, meaning the human race, are standing at the threshold of a new paradigm of understanding our connectedness to God. This new paradigm started with teachings such as those that Christ taught. It comes through many other prophets such as Mohammad, Buddha, and others, teaching us about our interconnectedness with one another, with our environment, and with God. It has been moving forward for several thousand years. But if all we can do is look through the lens of our arrogance, we will be misplacing our energies; to resist this new shift and will not be a part of the next level of reality in truth, but will become extent as an ancient teaching that has no value to it. We will not be around to help minister to folks as they continue to ask those most intimate questions of God, we will not be around to help people celebrate those most sacred moments in their lives.
As a church, as a people who profess to know God, we are not the only source of comfort and help or knowledge of God. Organizations like AA have filled the vacuum that the church left when it chose not to address the issue of alcoholism. Current estimates say, AA has around one and a quarter million members. They do not talk about God directly, but they do address spirituality and sacredness of life at a level that the church has not.
One of the purposes for my doing this series of Victorious Living through Christ, which is based on AA’s twelve step program is to help us as Christians renew our connection to God for spiritual growth that is based on a program that has been super successful in the secular setting. Another one of the steps that we need to take and work, not only on an individual basis but as the church at large is to: Admit to God, to ourselves, and to humanity the exact nature of our wrongs. As people of God, we must admit our arrogance and our tendency to “exclude, diminish, and marginalize” those we believe do not fit within our image of what God wishes for. The greatest sin of the Christian Church has been and continues to be in our arrogance and self-conceit that we have all the answers.
You see, it doesn’t matter if you believe in a God or not, as human beings we all are asking the questions of life. Questions about why does evil exist, why do others seem to be luckier in life, while I try to do good, but get dumped on all the time? Why did I get cancer when I did all the healthy things that you are suppose to do, yet Joe Blow over there, drinks a case of scotch a week, smokes a carton of cigarettes a day and has no health issues. Why does John Doe who has thousands of dollars in his investment portfolio win the mega millions lotto, while I am in bankruptcy, losing my house and will have my children living on the streets, because I can’t find work? Where is the justice I hear that God is so interested in?
There is sacred and spirituality outside of the church. We as the church have been failing humanity by thinking we have all the answers. We continue to fail humanity by expecting them to conform to our church language, to conduct their experiences of the sacred in the way that we understand the sacred. We are guilty of “institutionalizing” God instead of making God accessible.
In reality, God is always accessible to all; we in the church have forgotten this. I think we are the ones, who sin against God the most, and we need to recognize this and go and confess this, not among ourselves, but with those we have excluded and to those that are marginalized by society. Let us not exclude the secular but rather embrace what it has to offer and see how we within the church can enter into the conversation that is going on outside of these walls. Amen
Monday, February 7, 2011
Victorious Living through Christ pt4 "Searching the Interior", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ pt 4
“Searching the Interior”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 2/6/2011
Based on Isaiah 58:1-9a and 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
If you are looking for a truly good movie to go and see, may I suggest going to “The King’s Speech”, which is currently showing at the local cinema. It is a story about King George VI, and how he strove to overcome a speech impediment. As the second son of King George V, Albert was not anticipating his eventual ascent to the throne of the United Kingdom standing in the shadow of his older and more charismatic brother, Prince Edward VIII.
Prince Albert, was plagued with a sever stammer when speaking. He went to the best therapists of the day, trying a range of techniques going back to ancient Greek medicine to more modern treatments. Nothing seemed to help, and after his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, one which was an ordeal for both him and the listeners, Prince Albert resolved to never see another therapist. Out of desperation and through a friend’s reference, Albert’s wife Elizabeth (mother to Queen Elizabeth II, current Queen of England) encourages Albert to go and see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist. Wikipedia on line.
Mr. Logue, used very unusually methods in treating Prince Albert, with the most being, having Albert go back into his memories and recall portions of his life that might have set the stage for his stammering. This was met with resistance by the Prince, but over time, along with other methods such as breathing exercises, the Prince took on the challenge to recall incidences in his childhood, thus doing internal examinations, looking for experiences that kept him from speaking without stammering. Eventually with lots of work and understanding some of his childhood experiences, Prince Albert, was able to overcome much of his stammering.
One of the twists in the movie comes when the Arch Bishop of Canterbury is challenged by the future King of England (which also meant, holding the title as ‘Head of the Church of England’) to have Mr. Logue, at his side during the coronation, it is revealed that Mr. Logue had no formal education or credentials to back up his methods, thus having his success with Prince Albert being diminished and not worthy of standing next to the future King of England.
Have you ever had anyone throw out the “superiority” card at you, thus trying to diminish or dismiss your abilities, your opinions, and your validity as a person? I suspect we all have at one time or another. This was an issue with the Church in Corinth. Paul is addressing a church in conflict, because there were people in this church that felt they were superior to the common member of that faith family.
Paul started his address to the church in Corinth by saying, he came not to bring to them “a greater knowledge”, but rather he came and kept the message simple; first telling them about Jesus and who he was, and then what Jesus had done for every person. Paul then goes on to say, “6-9We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out God's best in us…”
Paul then says, to be able to overcome what is holding us back, we need to not rely on the wisdom of the day, but rather go to God’s way of providing healing and growth. “God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of God’s purposes.” Paul shares this can only come once our feet are on firm spiritual ground. What does that mean to you, this being firm on Spiritual ground? How do we get our feet on firm Spiritual ground? Again Paul helps us out by saying, “Spirit can be known only by spirit – God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing…”
Last week, I suggested that the next step in living a Victorious life through Christ was to turn our will over to God and let God become the guiding person in our life. Yet how do we do this? What do I functionally, turn my life over to God? How do I let my Spirit talk to God’s Spirit?
We need to take time alone, without distractions and search our soul. We need to trust in God’s love and take a deep look at who we are. We need to take a moral inventory of ourselves. This was Mr. Logue's method for Prince Albert. "Albert, look at what went on in your childhood that caused you to become afraid of your potentiality!"
God told Isaiah to shout out and don’t hold back and tell those who called themselves God’s chosen people, to look at their own sin. God asked, “How do you expect me to commune with you and bless you when you forsake My ordinances; Why do you fast in My name when you serve your own interest and oppress others; You come to worship only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
We are experiencing this type of behavior in this session of our legislation. We have a large group of elected officials who are presenting their agenda’s on fear and ignorance, of trying to pass laws that are discriminatory and taking away dignity and freedoms at almost every level of life in this state; being directed at our educators, at the GLBT community, and even toward Federal laws.
To deepen our Spiritual growth, both individually and as a faith community, we need to take a moral inventory of ourselves, by asking hard questions like: do I really care about what happens to my neighbor? Do I really believe in equality of all people, or am I afraid of losing my privilege by actually working toward justice for all? Am I really willing to put myself out on the line and speak out about protecting the rights of all people, when I might not agree with the way those people act and behave?
God told the people of Israel, “Is not this the worship I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
This isn’t something that I am telling you, this is God’s message to us. Without opening up our Spirit to God’s Spirit, we will not be able to hear God’s true message. God’s love is not for some, it is for everyone. It is through our actions that this love, this will of God is experienced here in our physical world.
If anyone thinks that the church shouldn't be political, I would suggest taking a closer read of what the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are saying. God's call and Jesus' message is for Social Justice, to reconcile humanity to humanity, to balance out the differences between those who have, and those who have been disenfranchised. It attacks political power that creates injustice.
We think that when we come to church and give prayer, give our tithes, sing pretty hymns that talk about loving God, that God is pleased with us. The honest truth is, God doesn’t care one eye-ode about those things. God is more impressed when we are busy taking care of business. God asks us to take a moral inventory of our most inner self, so that we, like King George VI can overcome our fears, our stammering and speak out against injustice.
The economy of those who are self-seeking is that of fear, deceit, and of self-interest. The economy of those who’s spirit is in communion with God’s spirit is one of joy, of freedom, of hope, and of selflessness. As we come to Christ’s table, let us remember what Christ spent for our lives and understand that through that same sacrifice we too are called. Amen
“Searching the Interior”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 2/6/2011
Based on Isaiah 58:1-9a and 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
If you are looking for a truly good movie to go and see, may I suggest going to “The King’s Speech”, which is currently showing at the local cinema. It is a story about King George VI, and how he strove to overcome a speech impediment. As the second son of King George V, Albert was not anticipating his eventual ascent to the throne of the United Kingdom standing in the shadow of his older and more charismatic brother, Prince Edward VIII.
Prince Albert, was plagued with a sever stammer when speaking. He went to the best therapists of the day, trying a range of techniques going back to ancient Greek medicine to more modern treatments. Nothing seemed to help, and after his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, one which was an ordeal for both him and the listeners, Prince Albert resolved to never see another therapist. Out of desperation and through a friend’s reference, Albert’s wife Elizabeth (mother to Queen Elizabeth II, current Queen of England) encourages Albert to go and see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist. Wikipedia on line.
Mr. Logue, used very unusually methods in treating Prince Albert, with the most being, having Albert go back into his memories and recall portions of his life that might have set the stage for his stammering. This was met with resistance by the Prince, but over time, along with other methods such as breathing exercises, the Prince took on the challenge to recall incidences in his childhood, thus doing internal examinations, looking for experiences that kept him from speaking without stammering. Eventually with lots of work and understanding some of his childhood experiences, Prince Albert, was able to overcome much of his stammering.
One of the twists in the movie comes when the Arch Bishop of Canterbury is challenged by the future King of England (which also meant, holding the title as ‘Head of the Church of England’) to have Mr. Logue, at his side during the coronation, it is revealed that Mr. Logue had no formal education or credentials to back up his methods, thus having his success with Prince Albert being diminished and not worthy of standing next to the future King of England.
Have you ever had anyone throw out the “superiority” card at you, thus trying to diminish or dismiss your abilities, your opinions, and your validity as a person? I suspect we all have at one time or another. This was an issue with the Church in Corinth. Paul is addressing a church in conflict, because there were people in this church that felt they were superior to the common member of that faith family.
Paul started his address to the church in Corinth by saying, he came not to bring to them “a greater knowledge”, but rather he came and kept the message simple; first telling them about Jesus and who he was, and then what Jesus had done for every person. Paul then goes on to say, “6-9We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out God's best in us…”
Paul then says, to be able to overcome what is holding us back, we need to not rely on the wisdom of the day, but rather go to God’s way of providing healing and growth. “God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of God’s purposes.” Paul shares this can only come once our feet are on firm spiritual ground. What does that mean to you, this being firm on Spiritual ground? How do we get our feet on firm Spiritual ground? Again Paul helps us out by saying, “Spirit can be known only by spirit – God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing…”
Last week, I suggested that the next step in living a Victorious life through Christ was to turn our will over to God and let God become the guiding person in our life. Yet how do we do this? What do I functionally, turn my life over to God? How do I let my Spirit talk to God’s Spirit?
We need to take time alone, without distractions and search our soul. We need to trust in God’s love and take a deep look at who we are. We need to take a moral inventory of ourselves. This was Mr. Logue's method for Prince Albert. "Albert, look at what went on in your childhood that caused you to become afraid of your potentiality!"
God told Isaiah to shout out and don’t hold back and tell those who called themselves God’s chosen people, to look at their own sin. God asked, “How do you expect me to commune with you and bless you when you forsake My ordinances; Why do you fast in My name when you serve your own interest and oppress others; You come to worship only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
We are experiencing this type of behavior in this session of our legislation. We have a large group of elected officials who are presenting their agenda’s on fear and ignorance, of trying to pass laws that are discriminatory and taking away dignity and freedoms at almost every level of life in this state; being directed at our educators, at the GLBT community, and even toward Federal laws.
To deepen our Spiritual growth, both individually and as a faith community, we need to take a moral inventory of ourselves, by asking hard questions like: do I really care about what happens to my neighbor? Do I really believe in equality of all people, or am I afraid of losing my privilege by actually working toward justice for all? Am I really willing to put myself out on the line and speak out about protecting the rights of all people, when I might not agree with the way those people act and behave?
God told the people of Israel, “Is not this the worship I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
This isn’t something that I am telling you, this is God’s message to us. Without opening up our Spirit to God’s Spirit, we will not be able to hear God’s true message. God’s love is not for some, it is for everyone. It is through our actions that this love, this will of God is experienced here in our physical world.
If anyone thinks that the church shouldn't be political, I would suggest taking a closer read of what the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are saying. God's call and Jesus' message is for Social Justice, to reconcile humanity to humanity, to balance out the differences between those who have, and those who have been disenfranchised. It attacks political power that creates injustice.
We think that when we come to church and give prayer, give our tithes, sing pretty hymns that talk about loving God, that God is pleased with us. The honest truth is, God doesn’t care one eye-ode about those things. God is more impressed when we are busy taking care of business. God asks us to take a moral inventory of our most inner self, so that we, like King George VI can overcome our fears, our stammering and speak out against injustice.
The economy of those who are self-seeking is that of fear, deceit, and of self-interest. The economy of those who’s spirit is in communion with God’s spirit is one of joy, of freedom, of hope, and of selflessness. As we come to Christ’s table, let us remember what Christ spent for our lives and understand that through that same sacrifice we too are called. Amen
Monday, January 31, 2011
Victorious Living through Christ pt3 "A Greater GPS in Life", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ:
“A Greater GPS in Life” part 3
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/30/2011
This last week I was in New York City attending a workshop on “Finding the Preachers Inner Voice”. For those of you who are not familiar with NYC, the city in general is very easy to navigate around. Once you understand how the city is laid out, you can pretty much get around and not use a lot of brain power trying to figure out directions. Needless to say, there is a world of difference between NYC and Rock Springs; especially when it comes to navigating around town.
The majority of NYC is platted in a grid, running North to South and East to West, with most of the streets being named in numbers. For instance, my hotel address was 59 W. 35th St. It was between 5th and 6th Avenue. Have I already confused you? Once you learn that 5th Avenue is the dividing line between East and West, you are on your way to easily getting around town. You also have to know that Avenues run north to south and Streets run east to west. With this amount of information, you will be able to navigate.
Growing up in Kansas, where almost all the cities were laid out in a grid, it is pretty easy for me to understand the system that NYC has. Growing up in Kansas, I was also privileged to have full view of the sun, so I could always look up to the sky, knowing what time of day it was and know which direction was east, west, north, and south. I also grew up learning that each block has its own “100” series of numbers; meaning the dividing line would start out with 0-99, the next block would then be 100-199, and so on.
In NYC there are very, very tall buildings, which block out the direct view of the sun, so understanding the numbering system is very important, since you can’t just look up and use the sun to figure out if you need to go to the left or right, or up the street or down the street. Another thing I learned as a child in Kansas, is that blocks are generally even in length. In NYC, they have long blocks and short blocks! When walking north and south on the Avenues, you are walking the short blocks. When walking the streets, which are east to west, you are walking the long blocks. This being another thing different than what I grew up learning. Finally, the other interesting thing in NYC is that each block doesn’t necessarily hold to the numbering system that I understood. I discovered that both on the Avenues as well as on the Streets that you might have two or three blocks with the same “100s”.
For example, using the corner of 5th Avenue and W. 35th Street and I want to walk south on 5th Ave to an address of in the 1300 block, and I was in the 1500 block, you would assume that I would be walking only two blocks south. Not true, I actually would have walked 6 blocks south, for the “100” block ran for three of their blocks before changing. Now luckily these were the short blocks. But if I were needing to get to an address that was on an Avenue, I could not use my understanding of distance based on the length of a Street, because Streets are longer in distance.
Okay, once I have all this new information stored in my and I have tested it by walking a number of miles on the sidewalks, able to judge my estimated time of arrival, not only by foot, but had gain sufficient knowledge to be able to judge timing by using taxis as well, I then decide to rely on my newly adjusted internal GPS and get onto the subway system. From my hotel, I decided I wanted to go to the north end of the theater district, and walk back to the center of the Times Square area. I get off at 53rd Street, walk in the correct direction to Broadway (an exception to the numbering system of Avenue/Street) and then on Broadway down toward 42nd Street, allowing me to view many of the theaters that not only lined Broadway but also those off Broadway. After lunch I took the subway back to the 34th Street station, which was just three building from my hotel.
Well, when I got up to the street level, I discovered that I wasn’t on 6th Avenue but rather on 7th Avenue. I walked to the opposite end of the block realizing that I was now at 8th Avenue. Not sure by this point which way was east so I could get to 35th Street, I did the cardinal seen for men, I asked a woman for directions. I followed her direction for one block and realized she sent me in the wrong direction. But, I had gained enough wrong information to correct my internal GPS and headed back to my hotel without incident or needless walking.
This morning’s Gospel on the Beatitudes is a bit like my experience in New York City. I was raised with a set of foundations designed to help me navigate in my environment, and based on those foundations, should I find myself lost in a wilderness area, I could use to help me become un-lost. We call those foundations, “Conventional Wisdom”. Be when I found myself in New York City, I easily became confused and going in the wrong direction because my conventional wisdom wasn’t large enough to help me find my way. I was needing a greater GPS than what I was operating with.
So, what does conventional wisdom give us to help deal with life experiences? Conventional wisdom tells us that the wise person, will be happiest when they have amassed great wealth, for you can buy anything with want with enough money. A wise person should possess power, for then they will be in control of their environment and they will not get pushed around. A wise person will have independence and should be clever enough to get what they want out of life, even at the cost of others.
This is the conventional wisdom we are being bombarded with on every level, every day of our life. T.V. ads tell us, that we will be happier if only we own this type of cell phone, to be able to receive information at 4 g. We will be more comfortable if we only live in a Mac Mansion, where we have more bathrooms than we do bedrooms. Reality shows like Donald Trump, tell us that stepping on people to climb the corporate latter is not only acceptable but desirable.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul states, “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise… For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.’” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught this same lesson. The word “blessed” translate into “bringing happiness”. Hear how Eugene Peterson helps in translating this challenge to conventional wisdom. Matthew 5:
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
The next step toward a Victorious Life in Christ, is to turn our will and our lives over to the Care and understanding of God! When we turn our lives over to God, we are allowing for a greater GPS to become internalized. With the wisdom found in turning over our will to God, even though it goes against the conventional wisdom of the world, we will become blessed, we will be “happy”. For we only find closeness to God when we are in need, we only recognize that we are in need, when we have become empty; empty of what the world teaches will make us happy. The truth is, we are always looking for something, to fill the void in our internal life. We can either continue the chase by listening to the GPS that is standardized by the foolishness of the world, or we can look to a greater being, to the one who has greater wisdom than ourselves, the one who can provide a greater happiness if we chose, but it means giving up what we’ve been taught and listening to God’s teachings and letting go of the old and letting God become our guide, our map quest, our ultimate GPS. Amen.
“A Greater GPS in Life” part 3
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/30/2011
This last week I was in New York City attending a workshop on “Finding the Preachers Inner Voice”. For those of you who are not familiar with NYC, the city in general is very easy to navigate around. Once you understand how the city is laid out, you can pretty much get around and not use a lot of brain power trying to figure out directions. Needless to say, there is a world of difference between NYC and Rock Springs; especially when it comes to navigating around town.
The majority of NYC is platted in a grid, running North to South and East to West, with most of the streets being named in numbers. For instance, my hotel address was 59 W. 35th St. It was between 5th and 6th Avenue. Have I already confused you? Once you learn that 5th Avenue is the dividing line between East and West, you are on your way to easily getting around town. You also have to know that Avenues run north to south and Streets run east to west. With this amount of information, you will be able to navigate.
Growing up in Kansas, where almost all the cities were laid out in a grid, it is pretty easy for me to understand the system that NYC has. Growing up in Kansas, I was also privileged to have full view of the sun, so I could always look up to the sky, knowing what time of day it was and know which direction was east, west, north, and south. I also grew up learning that each block has its own “100” series of numbers; meaning the dividing line would start out with 0-99, the next block would then be 100-199, and so on.
In NYC there are very, very tall buildings, which block out the direct view of the sun, so understanding the numbering system is very important, since you can’t just look up and use the sun to figure out if you need to go to the left or right, or up the street or down the street. Another thing I learned as a child in Kansas, is that blocks are generally even in length. In NYC, they have long blocks and short blocks! When walking north and south on the Avenues, you are walking the short blocks. When walking the streets, which are east to west, you are walking the long blocks. This being another thing different than what I grew up learning. Finally, the other interesting thing in NYC is that each block doesn’t necessarily hold to the numbering system that I understood. I discovered that both on the Avenues as well as on the Streets that you might have two or three blocks with the same “100s”.
For example, using the corner of 5th Avenue and W. 35th Street and I want to walk south on 5th Ave to an address of in the 1300 block, and I was in the 1500 block, you would assume that I would be walking only two blocks south. Not true, I actually would have walked 6 blocks south, for the “100” block ran for three of their blocks before changing. Now luckily these were the short blocks. But if I were needing to get to an address that was on an Avenue, I could not use my understanding of distance based on the length of a Street, because Streets are longer in distance.
Okay, once I have all this new information stored in my and I have tested it by walking a number of miles on the sidewalks, able to judge my estimated time of arrival, not only by foot, but had gain sufficient knowledge to be able to judge timing by using taxis as well, I then decide to rely on my newly adjusted internal GPS and get onto the subway system. From my hotel, I decided I wanted to go to the north end of the theater district, and walk back to the center of the Times Square area. I get off at 53rd Street, walk in the correct direction to Broadway (an exception to the numbering system of Avenue/Street) and then on Broadway down toward 42nd Street, allowing me to view many of the theaters that not only lined Broadway but also those off Broadway. After lunch I took the subway back to the 34th Street station, which was just three building from my hotel.
Well, when I got up to the street level, I discovered that I wasn’t on 6th Avenue but rather on 7th Avenue. I walked to the opposite end of the block realizing that I was now at 8th Avenue. Not sure by this point which way was east so I could get to 35th Street, I did the cardinal seen for men, I asked a woman for directions. I followed her direction for one block and realized she sent me in the wrong direction. But, I had gained enough wrong information to correct my internal GPS and headed back to my hotel without incident or needless walking.
This morning’s Gospel on the Beatitudes is a bit like my experience in New York City. I was raised with a set of foundations designed to help me navigate in my environment, and based on those foundations, should I find myself lost in a wilderness area, I could use to help me become un-lost. We call those foundations, “Conventional Wisdom”. Be when I found myself in New York City, I easily became confused and going in the wrong direction because my conventional wisdom wasn’t large enough to help me find my way. I was needing a greater GPS than what I was operating with.
So, what does conventional wisdom give us to help deal with life experiences? Conventional wisdom tells us that the wise person, will be happiest when they have amassed great wealth, for you can buy anything with want with enough money. A wise person should possess power, for then they will be in control of their environment and they will not get pushed around. A wise person will have independence and should be clever enough to get what they want out of life, even at the cost of others.
This is the conventional wisdom we are being bombarded with on every level, every day of our life. T.V. ads tell us, that we will be happier if only we own this type of cell phone, to be able to receive information at 4 g. We will be more comfortable if we only live in a Mac Mansion, where we have more bathrooms than we do bedrooms. Reality shows like Donald Trump, tell us that stepping on people to climb the corporate latter is not only acceptable but desirable.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul states, “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise… For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.’” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught this same lesson. The word “blessed” translate into “bringing happiness”. Hear how Eugene Peterson helps in translating this challenge to conventional wisdom. Matthew 5:
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
The next step toward a Victorious Life in Christ, is to turn our will and our lives over to the Care and understanding of God! When we turn our lives over to God, we are allowing for a greater GPS to become internalized. With the wisdom found in turning over our will to God, even though it goes against the conventional wisdom of the world, we will become blessed, we will be “happy”. For we only find closeness to God when we are in need, we only recognize that we are in need, when we have become empty; empty of what the world teaches will make us happy. The truth is, we are always looking for something, to fill the void in our internal life. We can either continue the chase by listening to the GPS that is standardized by the foolishness of the world, or we can look to a greater being, to the one who has greater wisdom than ourselves, the one who can provide a greater happiness if we chose, but it means giving up what we’ve been taught and listening to God’s teachings and letting go of the old and letting God become our guide, our map quest, our ultimate GPS. Amen.
Victorious Living through Christ pt 2 "What Are You Looking For?", First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ, part 2
“What Are You Looking For?”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/16/2011
This morning’s Gospel reading tells us how Jesus begins gathering his disciples. It all seems very innocent with John the Baptist declaring every time he sees Jesus, to be the “Lamb of God”, suddenly two of his own disciples leave him to go and follow Jesus. I wonder what John was feeling when Andrew and the other unnamed disciple left him to follow this Jesus.
How would you feel if this happened to you? Lets say for example, two families, we will call them the Smith’s and the Jones, had found their way through the front doors here at First Congregational. As a congregation, we receive them in, we extend our emotional support to them, we spend time teaching them the lessons of scripture, since neither of these families have ever been to a church before, we baptize them, invite them to become members of our faith community; in essence they have become a part of us.
Then one Sunday morning I announce from the pulpit that a new church has been started down town and that the minister there seemed to be doing a good job in preaching the “Good News”. A few weeks pass by and there is a community gathering of praise being held in this church. The guest speaker just happens to be the new minister of this new church, named The Church of What’s Happening Now. I introduce the new minister as a person who is one who “understands” the word of God and that this new church specializes in healing ministry. After the service is over, the Smith’s and the Jones become acquainted with the new minister. The next week we don’t see the Smith’s or Jones in church. It isn’t long before we find out that these two families, who had been so warmly nurtured by us, have left First Congregational and are now attending the services of the newly formed Church of What’s Happening Now.
Our first response might be one of anger, not toward the new minister, but rather of the Smith’s and Jones for leaving us for that new church and following that new minister. And these thoughts would be logical from the stand point of the amount of time and emotional energy that we as a congregation invested into them. Our negative thoughts would stem from a sense of betrayal and of rejection; rejection because we had opened ourselves up to them, making ourselves vulnerable. It brings up questions like, “what’s wrong with us”, or possibly “why aren’t we good enough for them” and maybe even deeper questions might be asked such as: “aren’t we preaching the gospel here?”
I think this particular segment of the Gospel that is being shared with us today, is probably one of the most important that we will ever find in scripture. It is important because it asks a question that not only sets the stage for Jesus’ ministry, but is the basic question that all of humanity continues to ask itself, day in and day out. After John the baptizer has pointed out the man who was walking by as being “the Lamb of God”, Andrew and another disciple of John’s start following Jesus. Jesus stops, turns around and asks the question of all questions, “What are you looking for?”
When we personalize this question to be “What am I looking for”, we begin to ask one of life’s most challenging question, which seems to have plagued human kind since its origins. Andrew and the other disciple didn’t leave John for Jesus because John was not preaching “truth”, but rather because they saw that in Jesus, they would find more than what they already were experiencing. Andrew is like most of us, we are looking for something that will bring more meaning into our lives!
Last Sunday, I presented the first of a number of steps that we need to recognize and then work through in order to experience the most out of ourselves and life, which God would wish for us. That first step was to: recognize that we are powerless of the sin within our lives, and that through that sin, our lives are unmanageable. The second step that I would suggest in our journey to seeking a Victorious life through Christ is, to come to believe in the love of God, who forgave us and accepted us in spite of all that we are and have done.
The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans by saying, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” I like the way Eugene Peterson puts it, “But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”
After we admit that we are by nature filled with sin, the next step then, is to seek out that which is pure love. A love that is more radical than that which we have most likely experienced. The Greeks have three differing words for love: Eros, Phileo, and Agape. Eros is the lowest form of love, as it deals with the physical. It is the physical passion that comes when two people are attracted to each other. Phileo love is what we normally think of the words "brotherly love". Phileo love is about feelings, and is what friendships are built upon. Agape love is about how we act toward others, it is also the type of love that we attribute to the actions of Jesus and of God.
Agape love is the type of love that is “unconditional” as opposed to conditional love. Conditional meaning that there is some condition that must be met in order for something to happen. If we are talking about love, then it means that there is some sort of action that must be taken in order to receive that love which is given conditionally. A large number of the people have been raised with some degree of “conditional love”, which affects how they will react to both receiving love and acceptance, or in how they give love and acceptance.
The love that Paul is sharing in today’s text is about God’s “unconditional love” for us. “…when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” In the 1990 American thriller film, Flat liners, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt as medical students using physical science in an attempt to find out if there's anything out there beyond death by conducting clandestine experiments with near-death experiences, a common experience occurred with all five medical students. They all encountered a person whom they had done something bad to as a child, and all of the victims were still living, except for the beautiful Julia Roberts experience. She was experiencing an encounter with her father who had committed suicide when she was a child. Ultimately the story line presented its self as the reason for these events were due to the fact that each of these medical students was holding onto the “action” or the “guilt” of their action toward the person they encountered.
This is the thought that I want to leave you with this morning. It is the burdens that we carry around with us, that keep us from fully accepting the loving forgiveness that comes through Christ. These things have already been forgiven, but even once we ask for forgiveness we often do not turn loose of that action. We walk around carrying it and eventually, it bogs us down. This is where the second step comes into play, we must come to believe in the love of God, who forgave us and accepted us in spite of all that we are and have done. Until we turn loose of all those hurts, of all those lost dreams, of all the wrong things that we have done toward others, then we really are not trusting, not believing in the forgiveness that God has already given us. If God has forgiven us of our offenses, then who are we to tell God that we want to carrying them around with us?
This believing in the love of God in a personal way leads us to the word we speak so freely, the word being “grace.” What is Grace? Without over simplifying it too much, it is “forgiveness of our sinful nature, by God.” Coming to believe in the love that God has toward us starts as we accept God’s forgiveness of our less than perfect lives, and the believing is demonstrated by our willingness to let go of that which we have been forgiven. “What are you looking for?” Jesus has responded with, “Come and you will see!” Amen
“What Are You Looking For?”
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/16/2011
This morning’s Gospel reading tells us how Jesus begins gathering his disciples. It all seems very innocent with John the Baptist declaring every time he sees Jesus, to be the “Lamb of God”, suddenly two of his own disciples leave him to go and follow Jesus. I wonder what John was feeling when Andrew and the other unnamed disciple left him to follow this Jesus.
How would you feel if this happened to you? Lets say for example, two families, we will call them the Smith’s and the Jones, had found their way through the front doors here at First Congregational. As a congregation, we receive them in, we extend our emotional support to them, we spend time teaching them the lessons of scripture, since neither of these families have ever been to a church before, we baptize them, invite them to become members of our faith community; in essence they have become a part of us.
Then one Sunday morning I announce from the pulpit that a new church has been started down town and that the minister there seemed to be doing a good job in preaching the “Good News”. A few weeks pass by and there is a community gathering of praise being held in this church. The guest speaker just happens to be the new minister of this new church, named The Church of What’s Happening Now. I introduce the new minister as a person who is one who “understands” the word of God and that this new church specializes in healing ministry. After the service is over, the Smith’s and the Jones become acquainted with the new minister. The next week we don’t see the Smith’s or Jones in church. It isn’t long before we find out that these two families, who had been so warmly nurtured by us, have left First Congregational and are now attending the services of the newly formed Church of What’s Happening Now.
Our first response might be one of anger, not toward the new minister, but rather of the Smith’s and Jones for leaving us for that new church and following that new minister. And these thoughts would be logical from the stand point of the amount of time and emotional energy that we as a congregation invested into them. Our negative thoughts would stem from a sense of betrayal and of rejection; rejection because we had opened ourselves up to them, making ourselves vulnerable. It brings up questions like, “what’s wrong with us”, or possibly “why aren’t we good enough for them” and maybe even deeper questions might be asked such as: “aren’t we preaching the gospel here?”
I think this particular segment of the Gospel that is being shared with us today, is probably one of the most important that we will ever find in scripture. It is important because it asks a question that not only sets the stage for Jesus’ ministry, but is the basic question that all of humanity continues to ask itself, day in and day out. After John the baptizer has pointed out the man who was walking by as being “the Lamb of God”, Andrew and another disciple of John’s start following Jesus. Jesus stops, turns around and asks the question of all questions, “What are you looking for?”
When we personalize this question to be “What am I looking for”, we begin to ask one of life’s most challenging question, which seems to have plagued human kind since its origins. Andrew and the other disciple didn’t leave John for Jesus because John was not preaching “truth”, but rather because they saw that in Jesus, they would find more than what they already were experiencing. Andrew is like most of us, we are looking for something that will bring more meaning into our lives!
Last Sunday, I presented the first of a number of steps that we need to recognize and then work through in order to experience the most out of ourselves and life, which God would wish for us. That first step was to: recognize that we are powerless of the sin within our lives, and that through that sin, our lives are unmanageable. The second step that I would suggest in our journey to seeking a Victorious life through Christ is, to come to believe in the love of God, who forgave us and accepted us in spite of all that we are and have done.
The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans by saying, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” I like the way Eugene Peterson puts it, “But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”
After we admit that we are by nature filled with sin, the next step then, is to seek out that which is pure love. A love that is more radical than that which we have most likely experienced. The Greeks have three differing words for love: Eros, Phileo, and Agape. Eros is the lowest form of love, as it deals with the physical. It is the physical passion that comes when two people are attracted to each other. Phileo love is what we normally think of the words "brotherly love". Phileo love is about feelings, and is what friendships are built upon. Agape love is about how we act toward others, it is also the type of love that we attribute to the actions of Jesus and of God.
Agape love is the type of love that is “unconditional” as opposed to conditional love. Conditional meaning that there is some condition that must be met in order for something to happen. If we are talking about love, then it means that there is some sort of action that must be taken in order to receive that love which is given conditionally. A large number of the people have been raised with some degree of “conditional love”, which affects how they will react to both receiving love and acceptance, or in how they give love and acceptance.
The love that Paul is sharing in today’s text is about God’s “unconditional love” for us. “…when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” In the 1990 American thriller film, Flat liners, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt as medical students using physical science in an attempt to find out if there's anything out there beyond death by conducting clandestine experiments with near-death experiences, a common experience occurred with all five medical students. They all encountered a person whom they had done something bad to as a child, and all of the victims were still living, except for the beautiful Julia Roberts experience. She was experiencing an encounter with her father who had committed suicide when she was a child. Ultimately the story line presented its self as the reason for these events were due to the fact that each of these medical students was holding onto the “action” or the “guilt” of their action toward the person they encountered.
This is the thought that I want to leave you with this morning. It is the burdens that we carry around with us, that keep us from fully accepting the loving forgiveness that comes through Christ. These things have already been forgiven, but even once we ask for forgiveness we often do not turn loose of that action. We walk around carrying it and eventually, it bogs us down. This is where the second step comes into play, we must come to believe in the love of God, who forgave us and accepted us in spite of all that we are and have done. Until we turn loose of all those hurts, of all those lost dreams, of all the wrong things that we have done toward others, then we really are not trusting, not believing in the forgiveness that God has already given us. If God has forgiven us of our offenses, then who are we to tell God that we want to carrying them around with us?
This believing in the love of God in a personal way leads us to the word we speak so freely, the word being “grace.” What is Grace? Without over simplifying it too much, it is “forgiveness of our sinful nature, by God.” Coming to believe in the love that God has toward us starts as we accept God’s forgiveness of our less than perfect lives, and the believing is demonstrated by our willingness to let go of that which we have been forgiven. “What are you looking for?” Jesus has responded with, “Come and you will see!” Amen
Victorious Living through Christ, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY
Victorious Living through Christ:
Preface to this series
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/09/2011
I would like to say at the onset of today’s message that we are going to start a series of messages dealing with our personal growth that comes through Jesus Christ. There are many avenues that one can take in an attempt to grow as a person – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. But, I think that when we choose to take the path that deals with Christ at the starting point and leads to God as the ending point, we have taken the most complete path possible for total personal growth. For what goes on within us “spiritual” affects every other aspect of our lives. It affects our energy, which affects our willingness or ability to be physically active; it affects our mental abilities, which will guide how we process information, as well as our outlook and attitude toward various things, to name just a few examples.
I hold a strong conviction that we all need to grow within our lives. As we grow from infancy to maturity, we need to work intentionally on our psyche and spiritual maturity. Over the next number of weeks we are going to examine specific steps that can lead us to living a more holistic life; emotionally and spiritually, based on the “twelve step program.” You might be thinking, “I’m not an alcoholic, why would I need to use the twelve steps program?” First off, the “twelve step” program is a “spiritually” based program, this is the reason that so many people over the decades have found recovery from their addictions, and as a “spiritually based” program, we within the church can benefit by studying and working it.
Mainline Denominational churches over the past several decades have been losing not only numbers in membership, but more alarmingly, have found it harder and harder to create a vision of what it’s purpose should be. There is a correlation with the decrease in church attendance with that of the individual Christian not nurturing their personal Spiritual and emotional growth.
“I can do it Myself” part 1
Based on Matthew 3: 13-17 and Romans 7:7-25
Children are a great source of information that as adults, we can learn from, if we take the time to observe and then think upon the lessons that they so unselfishly offer to us. This is one reason why Jack Linkletter’s “Kid’s say the darn-dest things” was such a popular segment of his T.V. program. Children are so full of energy and physical activity; you can almost see them wiggling inside their own skin! More times than not, when a child decides that they want to do something, they just do it, not thinking through how that might affect the world around them. As a parent, this becomes the challenge of how do you let your child grow, experience the things that they wish to do, and yet keep them safe in the process and more importantly, not crush that natural will of “self?”
We don’t have a lot of information about Jesus when he was a child, so it is very difficult for us to know what he was like as a child. Was Jesus a typical boy, getting into fights, throwing stones at birds, playing soldier, those things that we tend to associate in general behavior of little boys; or was he more of the sensitive type, interested in reading, music, overly obedient and polite?
We do have one story that does give us just a little insight about Jesus as a child. It was when his family had gone to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage and as they were journeying home, couldn’t find Jesus. In a panic they retraced their 3 days of journey back to Jerusalem and finally found Jesus sitting with the elders at the temple discussing theology. On the surface of the story, we tend to think highly toward the actions of Jesus, and less favorably about the reaction of his parents as they scolded him for not being with them. Yet, the story implies that Jesus is still under parental care of Joseph and Mary, and that Jesus didn’t tell his parents of his intensions, or possibly, he asked if he could stay and being told no, directly disobeyed. We don’t know what actually happened behind the scenes, but the fact is, Jesus’ actions, created a huge distress to his parents.
Paul gives us a clue as well into human nature when he writes as a confession, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do: No, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep doing.” We too often think of the disciples as well as the Apostle Paul and others that are mentioned within scripture as being “saints”, which generally translates into an image of a person who never did anything wrong. We know that isn’t true, but from a subliminal thought process, this often is the case. Of course we all know what the true definition of a saint is, “A person who we no longer have to put up with.”
The church has done this with Jesus. We read story after story with the lens of two thousand years of theology and we don’t always detect the “humanist” of Christ and that there were things he said and did that really are not consistent with Christian-Judeo Theology, making Jesus not human. Yet, Jesus himself understood the need to go through the ritual of being baptized, even to the protest of his cousin John. If Jesus was God, and never knew sin, then why would the king of kings need to go through baptism? The reason is, by going through baptism, you are surrendering yourself to a higher power, and this is why we look to baptism as a sacrament.
As Christians, we tend to think that once we have been baptized, especially if we do this as a teenager or an adult, that we will magically become Christ like and that we will not have struggles with those things that we perceive as “negative behavior” or feelings that we previously recognized as the reason to be baptized. Then comes the reality that we still have the old behavior, that old nature within us and we can become dis-allusioned about the saving grace that comes from God.
Again, if we look at the stories about Christ, we can gain insight that after Jesus was baptized, he was confronted with his demons, while he was out in the wilderness for forty days. He had to deal with those things within his grasp that could have turned his mission into self gain and not a greater good. We see time and time again, where Jesus went off into solitude, so he could reconnect with the power that was greater than his; to re-align himself with God.
Paul, who was the early churches most aggressive evangelist, points out in his letter to the Romans, that as Christians, we still fall short of what God desires for us, which is the reason why we need to be in constant prayer with God. The truth that comes from what Paul is sharing, is this, “We all struggle with sin issues – whether we are Christian or not. We all are plagued with not living in harmony with God’s desires for us. Paul asks, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks are to God … Through Jesus Christ our lord.”
Paul is telling us there is hope and there is a rescue from sin, it is Christ. What we, especially as Christians need to do, is to go back to our first love. Christ! To be able to do this, we first need to admit that we are truly powerless over sin in our life and that our spiritual lives are unmanageable. This is the starting point for us to become healed children of God and live what we call a victorious life.
The first step is confession. One of the acts that the Roman Catholic church encourages is going to the confessional each week. We as protestants tend to resist this action, out of a theology of what we call “Priesthood of believers”, which means that we as individuals can go to God directly and plead our case and not needing to go to a Priest to intercede for us before God. Yet, there is truly a healing value by using a third person in the act of confession.
In AA meetings, the very first step to recovery is to stand up before everyone and admit to all that you are an alcoholic. The success of this first step only comes by admitting this condition before another person. The sin issue that plagues our life is no different than that of a drug addition, healing and growth only starts with admitting that issue, not just between you and God, but by including another person. Many Christians use their pastor as this third person, but it doesn’t have to be; this person could be your best friend, a parent, even your hair dresser. The difference for the Christian is when doing this in prayer, admitting we are powerless over that thing which controls us, that is when Christ is able to enter in and start working in the healing that is promised to come to us, through the holy spirit. “Hi, everybody, my name is Steven and I’m a sinner.” Amen.
Preface to this series
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/09/2011
I would like to say at the onset of today’s message that we are going to start a series of messages dealing with our personal growth that comes through Jesus Christ. There are many avenues that one can take in an attempt to grow as a person – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. But, I think that when we choose to take the path that deals with Christ at the starting point and leads to God as the ending point, we have taken the most complete path possible for total personal growth. For what goes on within us “spiritual” affects every other aspect of our lives. It affects our energy, which affects our willingness or ability to be physically active; it affects our mental abilities, which will guide how we process information, as well as our outlook and attitude toward various things, to name just a few examples.
I hold a strong conviction that we all need to grow within our lives. As we grow from infancy to maturity, we need to work intentionally on our psyche and spiritual maturity. Over the next number of weeks we are going to examine specific steps that can lead us to living a more holistic life; emotionally and spiritually, based on the “twelve step program.” You might be thinking, “I’m not an alcoholic, why would I need to use the twelve steps program?” First off, the “twelve step” program is a “spiritually” based program, this is the reason that so many people over the decades have found recovery from their addictions, and as a “spiritually based” program, we within the church can benefit by studying and working it.
Mainline Denominational churches over the past several decades have been losing not only numbers in membership, but more alarmingly, have found it harder and harder to create a vision of what it’s purpose should be. There is a correlation with the decrease in church attendance with that of the individual Christian not nurturing their personal Spiritual and emotional growth.
“I can do it Myself” part 1
Based on Matthew 3: 13-17 and Romans 7:7-25
Children are a great source of information that as adults, we can learn from, if we take the time to observe and then think upon the lessons that they so unselfishly offer to us. This is one reason why Jack Linkletter’s “Kid’s say the darn-dest things” was such a popular segment of his T.V. program. Children are so full of energy and physical activity; you can almost see them wiggling inside their own skin! More times than not, when a child decides that they want to do something, they just do it, not thinking through how that might affect the world around them. As a parent, this becomes the challenge of how do you let your child grow, experience the things that they wish to do, and yet keep them safe in the process and more importantly, not crush that natural will of “self?”
We don’t have a lot of information about Jesus when he was a child, so it is very difficult for us to know what he was like as a child. Was Jesus a typical boy, getting into fights, throwing stones at birds, playing soldier, those things that we tend to associate in general behavior of little boys; or was he more of the sensitive type, interested in reading, music, overly obedient and polite?
We do have one story that does give us just a little insight about Jesus as a child. It was when his family had gone to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage and as they were journeying home, couldn’t find Jesus. In a panic they retraced their 3 days of journey back to Jerusalem and finally found Jesus sitting with the elders at the temple discussing theology. On the surface of the story, we tend to think highly toward the actions of Jesus, and less favorably about the reaction of his parents as they scolded him for not being with them. Yet, the story implies that Jesus is still under parental care of Joseph and Mary, and that Jesus didn’t tell his parents of his intensions, or possibly, he asked if he could stay and being told no, directly disobeyed. We don’t know what actually happened behind the scenes, but the fact is, Jesus’ actions, created a huge distress to his parents.
Paul gives us a clue as well into human nature when he writes as a confession, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do: No, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep doing.” We too often think of the disciples as well as the Apostle Paul and others that are mentioned within scripture as being “saints”, which generally translates into an image of a person who never did anything wrong. We know that isn’t true, but from a subliminal thought process, this often is the case. Of course we all know what the true definition of a saint is, “A person who we no longer have to put up with.”
The church has done this with Jesus. We read story after story with the lens of two thousand years of theology and we don’t always detect the “humanist” of Christ and that there were things he said and did that really are not consistent with Christian-Judeo Theology, making Jesus not human. Yet, Jesus himself understood the need to go through the ritual of being baptized, even to the protest of his cousin John. If Jesus was God, and never knew sin, then why would the king of kings need to go through baptism? The reason is, by going through baptism, you are surrendering yourself to a higher power, and this is why we look to baptism as a sacrament.
As Christians, we tend to think that once we have been baptized, especially if we do this as a teenager or an adult, that we will magically become Christ like and that we will not have struggles with those things that we perceive as “negative behavior” or feelings that we previously recognized as the reason to be baptized. Then comes the reality that we still have the old behavior, that old nature within us and we can become dis-allusioned about the saving grace that comes from God.
Again, if we look at the stories about Christ, we can gain insight that after Jesus was baptized, he was confronted with his demons, while he was out in the wilderness for forty days. He had to deal with those things within his grasp that could have turned his mission into self gain and not a greater good. We see time and time again, where Jesus went off into solitude, so he could reconnect with the power that was greater than his; to re-align himself with God.
Paul, who was the early churches most aggressive evangelist, points out in his letter to the Romans, that as Christians, we still fall short of what God desires for us, which is the reason why we need to be in constant prayer with God. The truth that comes from what Paul is sharing, is this, “We all struggle with sin issues – whether we are Christian or not. We all are plagued with not living in harmony with God’s desires for us. Paul asks, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks are to God … Through Jesus Christ our lord.”
Paul is telling us there is hope and there is a rescue from sin, it is Christ. What we, especially as Christians need to do, is to go back to our first love. Christ! To be able to do this, we first need to admit that we are truly powerless over sin in our life and that our spiritual lives are unmanageable. This is the starting point for us to become healed children of God and live what we call a victorious life.
The first step is confession. One of the acts that the Roman Catholic church encourages is going to the confessional each week. We as protestants tend to resist this action, out of a theology of what we call “Priesthood of believers”, which means that we as individuals can go to God directly and plead our case and not needing to go to a Priest to intercede for us before God. Yet, there is truly a healing value by using a third person in the act of confession.
In AA meetings, the very first step to recovery is to stand up before everyone and admit to all that you are an alcoholic. The success of this first step only comes by admitting this condition before another person. The sin issue that plagues our life is no different than that of a drug addition, healing and growth only starts with admitting that issue, not just between you and God, but by including another person. Many Christians use their pastor as this third person, but it doesn’t have to be; this person could be your best friend, a parent, even your hair dresser. The difference for the Christian is when doing this in prayer, admitting we are powerless over that thing which controls us, that is when Christ is able to enter in and start working in the healing that is promised to come to us, through the holy spirit. “Hi, everybody, my name is Steven and I’m a sinner.” Amen.
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Word With Us, Frist Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY Jan 2,2011
The Word with Us!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/02/2011
Based on John 1:1-18 & Ephesians 3:1-12
This morning’s Gospel reading happens to be one of the traditional nine lessons that are read at any “Lessons and Carols” candle light service. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Out of the four Gospels only two, Matthew and Luke give a birth narrative; of Joseph and Mary being told that they were to become a part of the greatest event this world has ever known, the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark forgoes the birth story and start’s with the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The Gospel of John actually starts not with the story of Jesus once he was born or start of his ministry, but actually goes to the beginning of time and talks about the existence of Christ prior to his appearance here in this world.
There is a childhood saying that we all grow up learning, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” Of course, we parrot this as a kind of shield, hoping to stop “those words” before they are spoken. Words are in fact very powerful. They have the ability to build up or to destroy, whether they were intended to do so or not. Every child that is born, is born with unlimited potential. This potential is either encouraged and re-enforced or crushed and restricted by the words that are spoken each day to that child.
John shares with us in the opening lines of his Gospel, that the word is truly powerful. The word is an instrument of God, the word in and of itself has no power to do anything until it is spoken. It is in the “speaking” of the word, that God does any creating. John does this interplay with Christ, God, and the Word. All three seem to be a part of each other, yet nothing happens until the Word is spoken. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” “And the Word became flesh and lived among us…”
So, John establishes that Christ is a part of God and was present in the beginning just as God was present. It is then through the word of God, that of God speaking that brings “life”, and that life ultimately becomes the “light” of all people. Now John throws a new twist into the story by saying, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh (meaning sexual intercourse) or of the will of humanity, but of God.” It is within this statement that we then find our own reality within the working of God.
What I understand this passage to say to me is this: when we allow God to be born in our heart, we to begin a journey in our life as a part of God incarnate. This is consistent with the teaching of Jesus when he consistently refers to God not only as his Father but also as our Father, or through the parable where he speaks about how the head of the house doesn’t confide with the servant, but rather with other members of the household, and there are the reference where Jesus calls us as his brothers and sisters. It is within the “Word” that we too become the “light” to all people. The “Word” was active through Christ and the “Word” is now active through us! “The Word, then, isn’t an intellectualized, conceptual God but an enfleshed, living, breathing God who shares our sorrows and joys, our sufferings and struggles and hope.”UCC sermon seed 1/02/2011
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he states that he is a prisoner of Christ. This is a significant statement to those who first heard these words, as Paul was stating, even though he was in jail, he wasn’t held captive by Rome, but rather his heart was being held captive by the words, the teachings, by the resurrection of Christ. Paul also states that his ministry is because of this “light”; this mystery of God goes beyond the original understanding that God was god of only the Hebrews, but rather, this “light” is for the gentile world as well.
The reason for Paul constantly landing into prison was because of his devotion, his commitment to God. Do we carry within our hearts this same sense of “imprisonment” as Paul did? What does this ultimately mean to us, this being imprisoned by the Word of God? It means that, “Submission to God’s gift of light carries the obligation to accept and proclaim the inclusion of all people” William Self, Feasting on the word, pg 211
I am always talking about the importance of “the mission of the church”, about the need to have a vision of what this mission is, for without it, then the church will eventually wither and die. “When the church catches the vision and commitment about being a “prisoner” of Christ, its mission is defined, and all that is done is measured by this. This revealed truth is held in stewardship William Self, Feasting on the word, pg 211 What we have: money, charity, grace and mercy, is then in abundance and not seen as something to monopolize and withhold and dispense sparingly.
This means that we will not be able to turn our backs upon “social justice” and “peace” issues. Over the years my focus and involvement on social justice issues has changed widely. Back in Kittitas, I served more on local boards that dealt with issues that directly affected the local population. While living in Seattle, my attention and energies seemed to focus more in public relation type organizations that would address issues that were focused on the GLBT community. Since I have been here in Rock Springs, I see my efforts working at state levels as well as local. This coming Saturday, Jan 8th, a workshop on “The Churches response to Immigration”, will take place in Cheyenne.
Immigration is a core value to us all. As individual’s, we will approach the topic with either a fear based perspective coming from scarcity and monopoly, or we will approach it from an understanding of abundance and sharing, which comes out of an understanding of God’s abundance of grace and giving to us.
I find for myself much in the same state of mind as the Apostle Paul, of being a prisoner to God and of Christ’s teachings. I cannot come to the communion table this morning and not recognize the abundance of which God gives daily in my life. My ability to be sustained in my ministry, whether it was as a lay person or through my vocation, comes because of the vision that I have, my personal mission of what God’s Word is; it is through my submission (this being imprisoned) to God’s gift of light that obligates me to share on many differing levels with all of God’s children.
As we come before God this morning at his table of abundant love and grace, I challenge you to examine your hearts and see where you stand with God. Is God, just an intellectual concept, something that is “outside” of where you live, or is God a spoken word within you, one that is enfleshed, living, and breathing, who shares your sorrows and joys, your sufferings and struggles and hope.
I have shared with many of you about the change in spirit, in this room, that I have felt within the first few months of my coming. It wasn’t long after that, we reached what I call critical mass, which gave us a sense that things were turning around as a congregation. What I am speaking about today, that of allowing “the Word of God” to be spoken within your hearts, will be another turning point for this church. As more people start to experience this depth of imprisonment that Paul speaks about, then this church will begin to capture its own vision of mission, and there will be a new song being sung in the life of this churches life! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 1/02/2011
Based on John 1:1-18 & Ephesians 3:1-12
This morning’s Gospel reading happens to be one of the traditional nine lessons that are read at any “Lessons and Carols” candle light service. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Out of the four Gospels only two, Matthew and Luke give a birth narrative; of Joseph and Mary being told that they were to become a part of the greatest event this world has ever known, the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark forgoes the birth story and start’s with the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The Gospel of John actually starts not with the story of Jesus once he was born or start of his ministry, but actually goes to the beginning of time and talks about the existence of Christ prior to his appearance here in this world.
There is a childhood saying that we all grow up learning, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” Of course, we parrot this as a kind of shield, hoping to stop “those words” before they are spoken. Words are in fact very powerful. They have the ability to build up or to destroy, whether they were intended to do so or not. Every child that is born, is born with unlimited potential. This potential is either encouraged and re-enforced or crushed and restricted by the words that are spoken each day to that child.
John shares with us in the opening lines of his Gospel, that the word is truly powerful. The word is an instrument of God, the word in and of itself has no power to do anything until it is spoken. It is in the “speaking” of the word, that God does any creating. John does this interplay with Christ, God, and the Word. All three seem to be a part of each other, yet nothing happens until the Word is spoken. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” “And the Word became flesh and lived among us…”
So, John establishes that Christ is a part of God and was present in the beginning just as God was present. It is then through the word of God, that of God speaking that brings “life”, and that life ultimately becomes the “light” of all people. Now John throws a new twist into the story by saying, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh (meaning sexual intercourse) or of the will of humanity, but of God.” It is within this statement that we then find our own reality within the working of God.
What I understand this passage to say to me is this: when we allow God to be born in our heart, we to begin a journey in our life as a part of God incarnate. This is consistent with the teaching of Jesus when he consistently refers to God not only as his Father but also as our Father, or through the parable where he speaks about how the head of the house doesn’t confide with the servant, but rather with other members of the household, and there are the reference where Jesus calls us as his brothers and sisters. It is within the “Word” that we too become the “light” to all people. The “Word” was active through Christ and the “Word” is now active through us! “The Word, then, isn’t an intellectualized, conceptual God but an enfleshed, living, breathing God who shares our sorrows and joys, our sufferings and struggles and hope.”UCC sermon seed 1/02/2011
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he states that he is a prisoner of Christ. This is a significant statement to those who first heard these words, as Paul was stating, even though he was in jail, he wasn’t held captive by Rome, but rather his heart was being held captive by the words, the teachings, by the resurrection of Christ. Paul also states that his ministry is because of this “light”; this mystery of God goes beyond the original understanding that God was god of only the Hebrews, but rather, this “light” is for the gentile world as well.
The reason for Paul constantly landing into prison was because of his devotion, his commitment to God. Do we carry within our hearts this same sense of “imprisonment” as Paul did? What does this ultimately mean to us, this being imprisoned by the Word of God? It means that, “Submission to God’s gift of light carries the obligation to accept and proclaim the inclusion of all people” William Self, Feasting on the word, pg 211
I am always talking about the importance of “the mission of the church”, about the need to have a vision of what this mission is, for without it, then the church will eventually wither and die. “When the church catches the vision and commitment about being a “prisoner” of Christ, its mission is defined, and all that is done is measured by this. This revealed truth is held in stewardship William Self, Feasting on the word, pg 211 What we have: money, charity, grace and mercy, is then in abundance and not seen as something to monopolize and withhold and dispense sparingly.
This means that we will not be able to turn our backs upon “social justice” and “peace” issues. Over the years my focus and involvement on social justice issues has changed widely. Back in Kittitas, I served more on local boards that dealt with issues that directly affected the local population. While living in Seattle, my attention and energies seemed to focus more in public relation type organizations that would address issues that were focused on the GLBT community. Since I have been here in Rock Springs, I see my efforts working at state levels as well as local. This coming Saturday, Jan 8th, a workshop on “The Churches response to Immigration”, will take place in Cheyenne.
Immigration is a core value to us all. As individual’s, we will approach the topic with either a fear based perspective coming from scarcity and monopoly, or we will approach it from an understanding of abundance and sharing, which comes out of an understanding of God’s abundance of grace and giving to us.
I find for myself much in the same state of mind as the Apostle Paul, of being a prisoner to God and of Christ’s teachings. I cannot come to the communion table this morning and not recognize the abundance of which God gives daily in my life. My ability to be sustained in my ministry, whether it was as a lay person or through my vocation, comes because of the vision that I have, my personal mission of what God’s Word is; it is through my submission (this being imprisoned) to God’s gift of light that obligates me to share on many differing levels with all of God’s children.
As we come before God this morning at his table of abundant love and grace, I challenge you to examine your hearts and see where you stand with God. Is God, just an intellectual concept, something that is “outside” of where you live, or is God a spoken word within you, one that is enfleshed, living, and breathing, who shares your sorrows and joys, your sufferings and struggles and hope.
I have shared with many of you about the change in spirit, in this room, that I have felt within the first few months of my coming. It wasn’t long after that, we reached what I call critical mass, which gave us a sense that things were turning around as a congregation. What I am speaking about today, that of allowing “the Word of God” to be spoken within your hearts, will be another turning point for this church. As more people start to experience this depth of imprisonment that Paul speaks about, then this church will begin to capture its own vision of mission, and there will be a new song being sung in the life of this churches life! Amen
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