Who Has the Keys?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, 8/21/2011
Based on Matthew 16:13-20
How many keys do you have on your key ring? Do you have more than one ring to which you keep keys on? Do you know which key works on what lock? I actually still carry around a few keys to locks that no longer exist. It was once said that you could tell the importance of a person by the number of keys that he or she possessed.
Keys are very important. They give you access to what’s on the “other side” of the door. Many people will give a spare key to their house to a friend or family member. When you are dating an individual and you are given a key to their house or apartment, you are being told that you now have access to their personal space. A key represents “trust” in the individual who holds it.
Every parent of a Teenager goes through one of the worst days of their lives when asked to give their child the “keys” to the car. Before handing over the keys, we start taking mental inventory, “does this child have the maturity to handle this tin can that has the capability to go 100 mph or more?” “Will my child really focus on the serious task of driving on a public street?” “How many stop lights and stop signs are there between here and there?” And the list continues to go on as you surrender your keys to the trusting hands of your child.
I wonder if Jesus really understood what he was doing when he was turning over the keys of heaven to Peter! Peter, who tended to react to situations. Peter, who often spoke without thinking about what he was saying. The same Peter who loses focus when given a task; remember what happened when he started to walk on water, he sank when he started to look around. Just a few verses back in Matthew, Jesus calls Peter “Satan” for setting his mind on human things instead of the divine. Peter was constantly missing the point and even ended up denying knowledge of Jesus when Jesus most needed the support of his friends. How does someone give the keys to the kingdom of heaven and build the church upon them with a track record like Peter’s? Clearly Peter’s authority is not based on his rightness or righteousness. Then what is its basis?
Back at the beginning of this passage, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”(v 13) Their response seems to depend on what particular faction they are a part of – whether they are partial to John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. In the Protestant church today, people might respond by interpreting Jesus through the lens of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Karl Barth, Aimee Semple McPherson, Billy Graham, or even Marcus Borg. The tendency, in other words, is for people to project onto Jesus their particular cultural, theological, and denominational allegiances.
In the next verse, however, Jesus responds by making the question to his disciples more pointed: “But who do you say that I am?” (v.15) Simon Peter, as he often does, speaks first and replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (v.16) Jesus responds, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (v.17-18)Feasting on the Word, YR A, Vol. 3, pg 382
Peter did not receive this promotion, if you will, because he had the answer that Jesus was looking for, but rather, Jesus was responding to Peter by what his “testimony” was about Jesus! Peter wasn’t describing Jesus by his theological understanding, but rather by the experiences he had had with Jesus. It was because of what was in his heart, not in his head, that Jesus singled Peter out to give the “keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” too.
Over the last couple of millennia, Christians have been arguing the point as to the meaning of Peter being the foundation that the church is built upon. In the Roman Catholic tradition, it is believed that Peter, through the response that we just read by Jesus, literally gives Peter the authority of Christ, here on earth, and in turn, each succeeding Pope receives this direct authority over the church.
I personally look at what Jesus said to Peter, from the understanding that it was not Peter himself that the church is built upon, but rather it is the “faith” to which Peter was “testifying” about Christ, that is the foundation in which the church was built upon and continues to be built upon today. This then makes the church a living organism that survives because of its “profession” of Christ, which can only come through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In the United Church of Christ, we would say the church is alive today because of the Ever Speaking God!
We call ourselves the “Church of Christ”; we as part of this church carry the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”, pretty impressive isn’t it! When you look at your key ring, do you see the key to heaven there? What does it look like? What do the doors look like that this key open? Do you believe that you and you alone are the rock, the foundation in which Jesus is building up his church?
Jesus told Peter that even the gates of Hades, would not be able to stop this church. Do you believe this? I mean, do you really believe that the First Congregational Church of Christ is a part of this reality and that it will never die? Just last year, we experienced the death of one of our sister churches in this community. Why did that church not survive? The “gates of Hades” that Jesus is referring to here is not the image of “hell” but rather it refers to a physical death. So why do some churches burst at the seams while others are withering on the vine? Do not all churches hold the keys to the kingdom?
Jesus was asking a very important question to the disciples when he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” We need to be asking that question of First Congregational, “Who do people of Rock Springs say that we are?” Are we seen as a social group? Are we seen only through the eyes of the annual bazaar? Are we seen as a non-biblical people? Are we seen as a church that is open to all peoples? Are we seen as a spiritual people?
The rock that Christ was speaking about is not founded in a person of Peter, but rather it is founded in the Testimony that we have about who Christ is. “Who do you say that I am?” This is the question that Jesus asks each of us. Whether we have the key to the kingdom of heaven will be revealed in our answer to Jesus’ question. Who do you say Jesus is? The answer isn’t found in theology. The answer is found deep within your heart. Amen
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Even the Crumbs, First Congregational UCC, WY 8-14-2011
Even the Crumbs
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 8/14/2011
Based on Matthew 15:21-28
What is your “image” of Jesus of Nazareth? Is this reading from Matthew consistent with your image of what the Son of God’s actions are supposed to be? If not, then what is making this reading inconsistent with what we are reading in the Gospel? How would you react if you went up to Jesus and asked for help and was treated in the manor as this Canaanite woman was treated by Jesus? Would you continue to badger him for help or would you turn around and as Jesus himself said to his disciples that “if you are not received in a community dust the dirt off your sandals and leave that town?” Today’s lesson is dealing with “outsiders” and the topic of “who is really welcomed
Every so often, we here in the United States get a dose of this story as we struggle with whom is considered equal. From 1950 – 1980’s we labeled this story, “the civil rights movement.” Since 1976 thru now, a major segment of the church has labeled this story, “the gay agenda.”
I think another upcoming label to this story is going to be labeled “Migratory habits of aliens” and I don’t mean those beings from outer space. As followers of Christ, we Christians have to translate what we read in scripture in order to help make what we read relevant to us. Specifically, when we read words such as “Israel” we generally translate that to mean, the Christian church. We do this because the word “Israel” as used in scripture is generally the vehicle in which God interacts with Creation.
When Jesus was telling the Canaanite woman that, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus was indicating that Israel meant “those who are called by God.” It would translate to us as saying, “I was sent only to those lost sheep of Christianity.” It is also true that as we read scripture, we within the church, take on the teachings of Jesus, his actions, and his temperament to be a path in which we are to follow. Jesus says, “Love one another”, we try to incorporate that within our lives; Jesus says, “feed my sheep”, again we work at providing food for the hungry. With this understanding in mind, does today’s reading provide a loop hole in which we can use to deny someone or some peoples group and not be held to the basic teachings that in general Jesus has taught during his ministry? Are we really allowed to see some people as being on the level of an unwanted “dog?” Are we able to turn our backs on some who cry for help?
It would seem Jesus was doing this; at least at the beginning of the text. There are however some interesting aspects of this story that need to be brought into light. First off, Jesus was not in an area where the general population were Jewish. Rather, he was truly in a foreign region, a region of Tyre and Sidon, which was home to Gentiles. It would be as if Jesus was in Mexico, still in North America, but out of the United States. Jesus was the foreigner not the woman who came up to him seeking help. This interchange between Jesus and the Canaanite woman reminds me of the “ugly American” image that has developed with those Americans who feel privileged and empowered, who while visiting in a foreign country, are offended by the customs of that country and vocalize to the locals the idea that the way we do things in the United States is the correct and proper behavior and that they, the locals, need to change to accommodate the tourist.
Matthew just doesn’t say to us that a woman came up to him and started shouting. This woman was a “Canaanite woman”. This is a powerful word to any Israelite. The use of this word brings up images of “ungodliness”, of “idol sacrifices” and “idol worship”. It would bring up images of Elijah the prophet and his quest to help bring back the Hebrew leadership to worshiping the true God of Israel and not the god of Queen Jezebel, which was Baal, which was one of the stories that the children studied this last month in VBS. The prophets of Baal and Elijah had a show down on which god was more powerful. After an all day frenzy by the priests of Baal to bring down fire to accept their sacrifice, nothing happened. Then Elijah, after preparing his sacrifice to God, upped the ante by pouring water, not once, not twice, but three times on the wood, making it so wet, that it could not be light by fire. Then prayed to God and God sent down a blaze of fire, consuming the offering as well as the alter itself. Meaning God accepted Elijah’s offering.
Today, a large portion of the church would use words that are just as highly charged as did Matthew, when they say, “the Homosexual agenda”. The word Homosexual brings up tremendously negative feelings to many people when they hear it. It is a proven fact that when the topic of who should serve in the military was discussed, when the word “gay” men and women was used, the majority polled were favorable, but when the word “homosexual” was used the polls showed a far less support about “those” people serving as defenders of our country. The word Canaanite was just as explosive to the first generation of readers of the Gospel of Matthew.
The disciples were highly bothered by this Canaanite woman, crying out to Jesus to help her daughter. They were obviously not able to get rid of her and so they ask Jesus to send her away. At first, Jesus even ignores her cries for help. But out of persistence, he finally sits down and tries to reason with her, saying that his mission was only for those who God counts worthy.
That’s a shocker! Does this statement mean that there are truly those who are counted as favored by God and the rest are going to hell? Undeterred this mother continues to beg Jesus to help heal her daughters illness. Then Jesus actually likens her, solely because of her being a Canaanite, to that of a dog! “It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs.” And she once more responds with, “You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table.”
I would like to point out that this story comes after a serious of stories where Jesus is confronting the Pharisees over questions of ritual purity and obedience to the law of God, and Jesus quoting from Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy not sacrifices.” Jesus is now being confronted with exactly what he had been chastising the Pharisees of doing. It is a story of a woman putting a mirror up to Jesus’ face and calling him on his own prejudices and limited scope of what and to who his mission was about. Finally, as I understand this story, Jesus has an epiphany as to who is equal in the sight of God. It isn’t just about who gets help, who we in the church give assistance to, but rather a point of “who is equal in the eyes of God”, which translates for us, “who do we see as equal”, as “brothers and sisters – as family?” This is a profoundly important message to the church! It is a profoundly important message to us – are we truly seeing even the most undesirerable of our society as being not just acceptable to receive the word, the love of God, but truly “acceptable” to God?
I mentioned earlier that the civil rights movement was one of those labels for the Canaanite woman. Much of America feels that we have moved into an era of being less racist, yet I hear language being used every day that says we are still struggling with racism; if you don’t believe me, then who comes to your mind when I use the word “terrorist?” If your first thoughts are “Arabs”, “Muslims”, “Iraqis”, or “Afghanistan’s” then you are thinking as a racist. There is a population of people who are crying out to the church to be let in and accepted as children of God, and yet the church fears them and sees them as undeserving of God love or being equal. Yet they are still marching, still raising their voices, asking the church to have “mercy” on them, to welcome them as brothers and sisters.
Our text today is truly speaking about God desiring “mercy over sacrifice”. Sacrifice is form and doctrine; mercy is love, acceptance, and equality. God is telling us, that every person, regardless to race, social standing, educational level, sexual orientation, even mental illness is equal in God’s kingdom. It is a challenge to us to recognize that “even the crumbs” are there for everyone. In reality, if we can come to such an understanding and reconciliation within our own hearts, then there will be no need to discuss who gets the crumbs for everyone will be eating at the table. Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 8/14/2011
Based on Matthew 15:21-28
What is your “image” of Jesus of Nazareth? Is this reading from Matthew consistent with your image of what the Son of God’s actions are supposed to be? If not, then what is making this reading inconsistent with what we are reading in the Gospel? How would you react if you went up to Jesus and asked for help and was treated in the manor as this Canaanite woman was treated by Jesus? Would you continue to badger him for help or would you turn around and as Jesus himself said to his disciples that “if you are not received in a community dust the dirt off your sandals and leave that town?” Today’s lesson is dealing with “outsiders” and the topic of “who is really welcomed
Every so often, we here in the United States get a dose of this story as we struggle with whom is considered equal. From 1950 – 1980’s we labeled this story, “the civil rights movement.” Since 1976 thru now, a major segment of the church has labeled this story, “the gay agenda.”
I think another upcoming label to this story is going to be labeled “Migratory habits of aliens” and I don’t mean those beings from outer space. As followers of Christ, we Christians have to translate what we read in scripture in order to help make what we read relevant to us. Specifically, when we read words such as “Israel” we generally translate that to mean, the Christian church. We do this because the word “Israel” as used in scripture is generally the vehicle in which God interacts with Creation.
When Jesus was telling the Canaanite woman that, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus was indicating that Israel meant “those who are called by God.” It would translate to us as saying, “I was sent only to those lost sheep of Christianity.” It is also true that as we read scripture, we within the church, take on the teachings of Jesus, his actions, and his temperament to be a path in which we are to follow. Jesus says, “Love one another”, we try to incorporate that within our lives; Jesus says, “feed my sheep”, again we work at providing food for the hungry. With this understanding in mind, does today’s reading provide a loop hole in which we can use to deny someone or some peoples group and not be held to the basic teachings that in general Jesus has taught during his ministry? Are we really allowed to see some people as being on the level of an unwanted “dog?” Are we able to turn our backs on some who cry for help?
It would seem Jesus was doing this; at least at the beginning of the text. There are however some interesting aspects of this story that need to be brought into light. First off, Jesus was not in an area where the general population were Jewish. Rather, he was truly in a foreign region, a region of Tyre and Sidon, which was home to Gentiles. It would be as if Jesus was in Mexico, still in North America, but out of the United States. Jesus was the foreigner not the woman who came up to him seeking help. This interchange between Jesus and the Canaanite woman reminds me of the “ugly American” image that has developed with those Americans who feel privileged and empowered, who while visiting in a foreign country, are offended by the customs of that country and vocalize to the locals the idea that the way we do things in the United States is the correct and proper behavior and that they, the locals, need to change to accommodate the tourist.
Matthew just doesn’t say to us that a woman came up to him and started shouting. This woman was a “Canaanite woman”. This is a powerful word to any Israelite. The use of this word brings up images of “ungodliness”, of “idol sacrifices” and “idol worship”. It would bring up images of Elijah the prophet and his quest to help bring back the Hebrew leadership to worshiping the true God of Israel and not the god of Queen Jezebel, which was Baal, which was one of the stories that the children studied this last month in VBS. The prophets of Baal and Elijah had a show down on which god was more powerful. After an all day frenzy by the priests of Baal to bring down fire to accept their sacrifice, nothing happened. Then Elijah, after preparing his sacrifice to God, upped the ante by pouring water, not once, not twice, but three times on the wood, making it so wet, that it could not be light by fire. Then prayed to God and God sent down a blaze of fire, consuming the offering as well as the alter itself. Meaning God accepted Elijah’s offering.
Today, a large portion of the church would use words that are just as highly charged as did Matthew, when they say, “the Homosexual agenda”. The word Homosexual brings up tremendously negative feelings to many people when they hear it. It is a proven fact that when the topic of who should serve in the military was discussed, when the word “gay” men and women was used, the majority polled were favorable, but when the word “homosexual” was used the polls showed a far less support about “those” people serving as defenders of our country. The word Canaanite was just as explosive to the first generation of readers of the Gospel of Matthew.
The disciples were highly bothered by this Canaanite woman, crying out to Jesus to help her daughter. They were obviously not able to get rid of her and so they ask Jesus to send her away. At first, Jesus even ignores her cries for help. But out of persistence, he finally sits down and tries to reason with her, saying that his mission was only for those who God counts worthy.
That’s a shocker! Does this statement mean that there are truly those who are counted as favored by God and the rest are going to hell? Undeterred this mother continues to beg Jesus to help heal her daughters illness. Then Jesus actually likens her, solely because of her being a Canaanite, to that of a dog! “It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs.” And she once more responds with, “You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table.”
I would like to point out that this story comes after a serious of stories where Jesus is confronting the Pharisees over questions of ritual purity and obedience to the law of God, and Jesus quoting from Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy not sacrifices.” Jesus is now being confronted with exactly what he had been chastising the Pharisees of doing. It is a story of a woman putting a mirror up to Jesus’ face and calling him on his own prejudices and limited scope of what and to who his mission was about. Finally, as I understand this story, Jesus has an epiphany as to who is equal in the sight of God. It isn’t just about who gets help, who we in the church give assistance to, but rather a point of “who is equal in the eyes of God”, which translates for us, “who do we see as equal”, as “brothers and sisters – as family?” This is a profoundly important message to the church! It is a profoundly important message to us – are we truly seeing even the most undesirerable of our society as being not just acceptable to receive the word, the love of God, but truly “acceptable” to God?
I mentioned earlier that the civil rights movement was one of those labels for the Canaanite woman. Much of America feels that we have moved into an era of being less racist, yet I hear language being used every day that says we are still struggling with racism; if you don’t believe me, then who comes to your mind when I use the word “terrorist?” If your first thoughts are “Arabs”, “Muslims”, “Iraqis”, or “Afghanistan’s” then you are thinking as a racist. There is a population of people who are crying out to the church to be let in and accepted as children of God, and yet the church fears them and sees them as undeserving of God love or being equal. Yet they are still marching, still raising their voices, asking the church to have “mercy” on them, to welcome them as brothers and sisters.
Our text today is truly speaking about God desiring “mercy over sacrifice”. Sacrifice is form and doctrine; mercy is love, acceptance, and equality. God is telling us, that every person, regardless to race, social standing, educational level, sexual orientation, even mental illness is equal in God’s kingdom. It is a challenge to us to recognize that “even the crumbs” are there for everyone. In reality, if we can come to such an understanding and reconciliation within our own hearts, then there will be no need to discuss who gets the crumbs for everyone will be eating at the table. Amen
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Why Do You Doubt?, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 8-7-2011
Why Do You Doubt?
By Rev Steven R. Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 8/7/2011
Based on Matthew 14:22-33
Last week we struggled with the concept of preparing enough food for five thousand plus with only five loaves of bread and two fish. For some of us the idea of a truly physical multiplication of these meager items might seem too impossible, as it goes against natural reasoning. On the other hand, if we look at that particular story as understanding the concept of taking what we do have and trusting it will be the start of something bigger, then the feeding of the five thousand plus is more understandable.
This week, the story that we are studying, seems to be even more unbelievable. You have the disciples once again out on their own, in the middle of the sea and finding themselves in the midst of a storm. Scared half out of their wits, they then see a man who appears to be walking on the water. Of course, it would be very natural for any one of us, seeing this same scene to image that what we were seeing was either a mirage or possibly a ghost walking on the water.
In the midst of this fear, Jesus hears the disciples crying out and so Jesus spoke to them saying, “Hey guys don’t be afraid, it’s just me, walking out here on the water, during this really bad storm, with the strong winds and the waves crashing all around me.” Evidently, Jesus wasn’t convincing enough, because nobody really seems to believe that it was Jesus. After all, it isn’t everyday that you see someone walking on the water. Usually, you would find them swimming at best. What was he wearing, sandals that had little life preservers that inflated, allowing him to be walking on the water. And what keep him from being knocked down by the waves as they came crashing up against his body. No, I think I would rather stick with assuming what I was seeing and hearing was a ghost.
Yet Peter decided to give Jesus a challenge saying, “If you really are Jesus, then command me to come to you, for if you command me, then I too will be able to walk on the water.” Although scripture doesn’t say this, I can imagine that Jesus extended his arm and held out his hand and simply said to Peter, “Come.” So Peter, trusting in Jesus, gets out of the boat, leaving the rest of the disciples on board, watching Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. Peter gets a good distance from the boat, and then he probably starts to think to himself, “What in the Egyptian Dessert am I doing? No man can walk on top of water. I don’t care if Jesus did tell me to come to him, it’s humanly impossible for me to be outside of the boat, walking on water, what am I thinking about?” At which point Peter takes a dunk into the sea, and he probably isn’t a very good swimmer either. As he is bobbing up and down like an apple in a barrel, he cries out to Jesus, “Save me, Lord.”
Jesus reaches out and grabs Peter, pulling him up out of the water. I have a sneaking idea, that Peter was probably saying a few choice words to Jesus, inquiring as to what made Jesus think he, Peter, could possibly walk on water. Then Jesus responds with, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus pretty much drags Peter over to the boat and throws him back in, and once Jesus himself got into the boat, the storm stopped and the sea became calm.
Then scripture tells us that those in the boat worshipped Jesus saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!” So, this makes a really good story line for children in Sunday school or an Indiana Jones style movie, but what could it possibly be saying to us, especially those of us who don’t live by water, who don’t like to get into boats, and have no intension of trying our luck at walking on water.
Have you ever started in a direction and at some point wondered if you had made the best choice? This story talks about our human nature and how easily we can become disoriented, confused, and have the sense that we are lost. It is a story about how at times we don’t recognize God being with us, because God’s presence doesn’t fit into our “perception of reality”. It is a story of how we often decide upon an activity or path and as we get into it, encounter problems or rough times, and we begin to doubt ourselves and then many times stop what we have set out to do, because we don’t have the faith in what we are trying to achieve.
A common scenario for a church would be to embark on an intentional growth program. Everyone decides that being intentional in going out to recruit new members is what the church is being asked to do by God. So, the excitement is there, everyone has studied really hard on how to go out and invite new people into the church. There has to be some new programs started so that the new members will have things of interest to study and learn once they come. Then after about a year or two, the recruiting has paid off, and about a third or more of the church consists of new members.
But then the long term members start to realize that with all these new people, things are starting to change. There are new ideas and new ways of looking at things. Eventually, it becomes obvious that many of these new folks are wanting to work on church boards, which means that those who use to have the main voice in what was happening, no longer had that strong of say in business meetings. The long term members start to panic and begin to act out in behaviors that actually drives away the new members and then one day, the church which started out with a direction from God, finds itself once again sinking, because when the storm of change came, they got scared and lost faith in what they were wanting to accomplish.
I struggled this week with the conversation between Peter and Jesus, particularly over the word “command” which was the word Peter used in order to make sure that the person he was seeing out on the water truly was Jesus. After all, if Jesus is the son of God and he commands, then I will be able to do what he says. I struggled because Jesus simply said, “come”. There was no command by Jesus, but rather an invitation. There seemed to be an inconsistency between the two words. Finally, I figure out what was bothering me. It was a matter of “responsibility” more precisely, self-responsibility.
If Jesus had done what Peter had asked and had “commanded” Peter to come to him, then Jesus was the responsible person for what would happen to Peter. If Peter was able to walk on the water and made it safely to Jesus, then Jesus was the man! If however, Peter went out to Jesus and started to become side tracked and sank as he did, had Jesus commanded him to come out, then his failure to walk on the water would have been Jesus’ responsibility. But Jesus doesn’t command Peter to come out; he invites Peter to join him. In this way, Peter is the person responsible for his own conduct. If Peter falls into the water, it is Peters fault, not Jesus’.
Too often I hear people in their conversations, refer to something that has happened to them as a result of God. It’s not that we shouldn’t be giving praise to God for the good things that come our way in life, but when we use language like that, it is taking away personal responsibility. We so often use this type of language when trying to console someone who has lost a loved one, especially if it’s been in a premature death, like a car accident. We say things like, “It’s Gods will” or “God just needed that person to help them out in heaven”.
God does welcome us, yes, but I cannot believe that God is responsible for that person dying. We say God sent His son in order to save the world – meaning God sent Jesus to die. Yet scripture tells us Jesus, while in the garden of Gethsemane chooses to go down a path that will surely result in confrontation with the religious community and probably death. It was Jesus’ responsibility for this action, not God’s.
Today’s lesson is teaching us about personal responsibility, and what happens when we lose sight of God in our life. God invites us to do many things; it is we who decide to take that invitation. Then when the storm of change comes along, we often get so caught up in the uncomfortableness that our faith wavers and we find ourselves sinking. Then you hear things like, “we really want this church to grow, but God just doesn’t seem to think it’s the right time yet.” It isn’t God who’s not ready.
The story ends by stating that once Jesus get’s into the boat, the waters calmed and the storm stopped. It begins with the disciples not recognizing Jesus, but once they see who he is, and have him come aboard, once Jesus is among them, then the storm stops. Always remember that Jesus is beside you, all you need to do is recognize him, then and only then will the storm stop. Jesus asks each and every one of us at one time or another, “Why do you doubt?” It is a question for all of us to ponder on as we come to the table Jesus has prepared for us all. Amen
By Rev Steven R. Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 8/7/2011
Based on Matthew 14:22-33
Last week we struggled with the concept of preparing enough food for five thousand plus with only five loaves of bread and two fish. For some of us the idea of a truly physical multiplication of these meager items might seem too impossible, as it goes against natural reasoning. On the other hand, if we look at that particular story as understanding the concept of taking what we do have and trusting it will be the start of something bigger, then the feeding of the five thousand plus is more understandable.
This week, the story that we are studying, seems to be even more unbelievable. You have the disciples once again out on their own, in the middle of the sea and finding themselves in the midst of a storm. Scared half out of their wits, they then see a man who appears to be walking on the water. Of course, it would be very natural for any one of us, seeing this same scene to image that what we were seeing was either a mirage or possibly a ghost walking on the water.
In the midst of this fear, Jesus hears the disciples crying out and so Jesus spoke to them saying, “Hey guys don’t be afraid, it’s just me, walking out here on the water, during this really bad storm, with the strong winds and the waves crashing all around me.” Evidently, Jesus wasn’t convincing enough, because nobody really seems to believe that it was Jesus. After all, it isn’t everyday that you see someone walking on the water. Usually, you would find them swimming at best. What was he wearing, sandals that had little life preservers that inflated, allowing him to be walking on the water. And what keep him from being knocked down by the waves as they came crashing up against his body. No, I think I would rather stick with assuming what I was seeing and hearing was a ghost.
Yet Peter decided to give Jesus a challenge saying, “If you really are Jesus, then command me to come to you, for if you command me, then I too will be able to walk on the water.” Although scripture doesn’t say this, I can imagine that Jesus extended his arm and held out his hand and simply said to Peter, “Come.” So Peter, trusting in Jesus, gets out of the boat, leaving the rest of the disciples on board, watching Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. Peter gets a good distance from the boat, and then he probably starts to think to himself, “What in the Egyptian Dessert am I doing? No man can walk on top of water. I don’t care if Jesus did tell me to come to him, it’s humanly impossible for me to be outside of the boat, walking on water, what am I thinking about?” At which point Peter takes a dunk into the sea, and he probably isn’t a very good swimmer either. As he is bobbing up and down like an apple in a barrel, he cries out to Jesus, “Save me, Lord.”
Jesus reaches out and grabs Peter, pulling him up out of the water. I have a sneaking idea, that Peter was probably saying a few choice words to Jesus, inquiring as to what made Jesus think he, Peter, could possibly walk on water. Then Jesus responds with, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus pretty much drags Peter over to the boat and throws him back in, and once Jesus himself got into the boat, the storm stopped and the sea became calm.
Then scripture tells us that those in the boat worshipped Jesus saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!” So, this makes a really good story line for children in Sunday school or an Indiana Jones style movie, but what could it possibly be saying to us, especially those of us who don’t live by water, who don’t like to get into boats, and have no intension of trying our luck at walking on water.
Have you ever started in a direction and at some point wondered if you had made the best choice? This story talks about our human nature and how easily we can become disoriented, confused, and have the sense that we are lost. It is a story about how at times we don’t recognize God being with us, because God’s presence doesn’t fit into our “perception of reality”. It is a story of how we often decide upon an activity or path and as we get into it, encounter problems or rough times, and we begin to doubt ourselves and then many times stop what we have set out to do, because we don’t have the faith in what we are trying to achieve.
A common scenario for a church would be to embark on an intentional growth program. Everyone decides that being intentional in going out to recruit new members is what the church is being asked to do by God. So, the excitement is there, everyone has studied really hard on how to go out and invite new people into the church. There has to be some new programs started so that the new members will have things of interest to study and learn once they come. Then after about a year or two, the recruiting has paid off, and about a third or more of the church consists of new members.
But then the long term members start to realize that with all these new people, things are starting to change. There are new ideas and new ways of looking at things. Eventually, it becomes obvious that many of these new folks are wanting to work on church boards, which means that those who use to have the main voice in what was happening, no longer had that strong of say in business meetings. The long term members start to panic and begin to act out in behaviors that actually drives away the new members and then one day, the church which started out with a direction from God, finds itself once again sinking, because when the storm of change came, they got scared and lost faith in what they were wanting to accomplish.
I struggled this week with the conversation between Peter and Jesus, particularly over the word “command” which was the word Peter used in order to make sure that the person he was seeing out on the water truly was Jesus. After all, if Jesus is the son of God and he commands, then I will be able to do what he says. I struggled because Jesus simply said, “come”. There was no command by Jesus, but rather an invitation. There seemed to be an inconsistency between the two words. Finally, I figure out what was bothering me. It was a matter of “responsibility” more precisely, self-responsibility.
If Jesus had done what Peter had asked and had “commanded” Peter to come to him, then Jesus was the responsible person for what would happen to Peter. If Peter was able to walk on the water and made it safely to Jesus, then Jesus was the man! If however, Peter went out to Jesus and started to become side tracked and sank as he did, had Jesus commanded him to come out, then his failure to walk on the water would have been Jesus’ responsibility. But Jesus doesn’t command Peter to come out; he invites Peter to join him. In this way, Peter is the person responsible for his own conduct. If Peter falls into the water, it is Peters fault, not Jesus’.
Too often I hear people in their conversations, refer to something that has happened to them as a result of God. It’s not that we shouldn’t be giving praise to God for the good things that come our way in life, but when we use language like that, it is taking away personal responsibility. We so often use this type of language when trying to console someone who has lost a loved one, especially if it’s been in a premature death, like a car accident. We say things like, “It’s Gods will” or “God just needed that person to help them out in heaven”.
God does welcome us, yes, but I cannot believe that God is responsible for that person dying. We say God sent His son in order to save the world – meaning God sent Jesus to die. Yet scripture tells us Jesus, while in the garden of Gethsemane chooses to go down a path that will surely result in confrontation with the religious community and probably death. It was Jesus’ responsibility for this action, not God’s.
Today’s lesson is teaching us about personal responsibility, and what happens when we lose sight of God in our life. God invites us to do many things; it is we who decide to take that invitation. Then when the storm of change comes along, we often get so caught up in the uncomfortableness that our faith wavers and we find ourselves sinking. Then you hear things like, “we really want this church to grow, but God just doesn’t seem to think it’s the right time yet.” It isn’t God who’s not ready.
The story ends by stating that once Jesus get’s into the boat, the waters calmed and the storm stopped. It begins with the disciples not recognizing Jesus, but once they see who he is, and have him come aboard, once Jesus is among them, then the storm stops. Always remember that Jesus is beside you, all you need to do is recognize him, then and only then will the storm stop. Jesus asks each and every one of us at one time or another, “Why do you doubt?” It is a question for all of us to ponder on as we come to the table Jesus has prepared for us all. Amen
Monday, August 1, 2011
You are the Miracle, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/31/2011
I would suggest watching the two videos that I showed for todays worship, prior to reading the sermon as it will help round out what I spoke about. I used one video during children's time and the other at the start of the sermon. Titles in order are: What is your " 5 Loaves & 2 Fishes"?, the other was, Fish Eyhes - Feeding of the 5000 (US Film version) staring Jason Hildebrand and Ted Swartz. These can be found on Youtube. Remember, You are the start, and you are the miracle!
You are the Miracle!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/31/2011
Based on Matthew 14:13-21
We have had several versions this morning in looking at the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, through the two videos that we watched as well as with the reading from Matthew. I hope that you haven’t come this morning thinking that I will be able to explain to you how Jesus was able to turn those few loaves of bread and two fishes into a banquet that could feed over five thousand men as well as all the women and children that were also there listening to him, because I can’t do that. But I can address how Jesus was able to use those few loaves and fishes, so that everyone was not only satisfied but there were left-over’s.
Are you aware that “reality” is fluid? No two people sitting in this room, has exactly the same experience as to what is going on in this service. Take the glass with water that is filled to the middle. To some people the glass may be half filled; to others it may be half empty. Ink blots on a card are always interpreted differently by everyone who looks at them. If you were to take two people, one who is colored blind to say, green, the other who is not color blind, have them look at a garden filled with flowers, the person who is color blind to green’s will see the garden very differently from the person who isn’t color blind. Reality of the garden is different to both of the onlookers.
Today’s lessen isn’t really about how the bread and fish were able to multiply enough to feed everyone who was hunger, but rather it is a story dealing with perceptions. As you saw in the video presentation, when Andrew and Peter were asking Jesus to send the people away, to go back into town, so that they may eat, Jesus gives them the opportunity to feed them. In the eyes of the disciples, they did not have enough resources in which to feed such a massive crowd. Jesus asks them, “What do you have?” After they looked around, they discovered they only had a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, hardly enough to feed 5,000 hungry men much less all the women and children who must have been there.
To the disciples, the glass was half empty. To Jesus, it was a start. Think about the number of people who have placed their faith in the actions and teachings of Jesus over the past two thousand years. Jesus started out with only a few followers, and they told their friends about Jesus and his teachings, and eventually there were twelve disciples. A small core of men for such a great undertaking of spreading the “Good News” that Jesus was teaching. When he looked at the twelve disciples do you think he saw this core group as not being enough to accomplish such an important mission? Or do you think he saw them as, “it’s a beginning”?
The heart of Jesus’ ministry and his teaching is what we call today, “social justice”. Jesus saw the injustice of those who had more than “enough” to live on, and how they gave very little concern to those who were poor, des-enfranchised, needing health care, needing adequate housing, needing food to eat, those suffering with mental-illness, those who are victims of racism and sexism. It is the same topics we struggle with in today’s world.
Today’s sermon is ideal for a stewardship lesson, an opportunity for us to look at the abundance that we have and examine our perception of what we have been given by God and about our attitudes toward Social Justice issues. As a nation we have been teetering on the verge of a financial collapse not experienced since the Great Depression. We have had some recovery but according to some economic experts the worst is not over and we will see even a larger economic dip in about a year and a half from now. This is very disturbing news, and should this actually occur, it is going to be through our perceptions as to how well we will survive through that period of time.
I bring this up to point out an observation about how we as a society and as individuals react and handle prosperity and depression. During the Great Depression, when practically nobody had any money, to speak of, there was a willingness to help out our neighbor, or the stranger who was in more need than you. Winnie VanValkenberg shared a few weeks ago of how her parents house was marked by the hobo’s as a house to come to for food. Their home was not unusual. Yet today we live in untold wealth, compared to the 1930’s, yet we keep our house locked, we are hesitant to speak to strangers, and we give less to charities and to our churches, per capita. The point that I am bringing out is, it seem that the more wealth that we accumulate the less giving we become. When we are in a position to share from our abundance to those who need, we actually give less. Why do you think that is? It comes from a perception of scarcity, “If I give, I may not have enough for myself.”
We speak of God’s economy in the church, about the abundance of God’s love. We speak about extravagant hospitality, yet we give to social need with the attitude of scarcity. We need more money to do a program, we need more members to survive, and we need more help, God. We don’t have enough; it is up to you God to do something about this.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! When the disciples asked Jesus to act, he said, “No, you do something about it.” “You figure it out and do something about it.” The late President John F. Kennedy said it this way, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather, ask what you can do for your country.” The church needs to ask less about how God is going to help us, but start asking more of God, “What do you want us to do?”
Once the disciples started to look around, asking, working with what they had, they realized that they had more than what they needed. When Jesus gave a blessing over the food, it wasn’t blessing the food so much as it was, blessing God for God’s faithfulness. Two years ago, this church was asking, “How are we going to keep the doors open?” Now we are asking, “How are we going to make the budget?” Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full? Are we like the disciples, wanting to send people home hungry because we don’t have enough faith to recognize the abundance that God has given us?
Two years ago, there was no Sunday school for the children. Two years ago, I heard people asking where are the children? Through the concern and dedication of some of our people, we provided a program for our children. Bingo! We average 15 children during the year in Sunday school. Out of this has come the opportunity to hire someone to work at developing even a better program for our children. We started out with two fish and some bread, we are now experiencing more than what we started with!
Are we going to be true to the call of Jesus, to not look at what we can’t do, but rather, trust in the extravagance of God to provide what we see needing to be done? Are we just two fish and some loaves of bread or are we the start? I think if Jesus was here this morning, He would see you as the start, He would see you as the miracle! Amen
You are the Miracle!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/31/2011
Based on Matthew 14:13-21
We have had several versions this morning in looking at the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, through the two videos that we watched as well as with the reading from Matthew. I hope that you haven’t come this morning thinking that I will be able to explain to you how Jesus was able to turn those few loaves of bread and two fishes into a banquet that could feed over five thousand men as well as all the women and children that were also there listening to him, because I can’t do that. But I can address how Jesus was able to use those few loaves and fishes, so that everyone was not only satisfied but there were left-over’s.
Are you aware that “reality” is fluid? No two people sitting in this room, has exactly the same experience as to what is going on in this service. Take the glass with water that is filled to the middle. To some people the glass may be half filled; to others it may be half empty. Ink blots on a card are always interpreted differently by everyone who looks at them. If you were to take two people, one who is colored blind to say, green, the other who is not color blind, have them look at a garden filled with flowers, the person who is color blind to green’s will see the garden very differently from the person who isn’t color blind. Reality of the garden is different to both of the onlookers.
Today’s lessen isn’t really about how the bread and fish were able to multiply enough to feed everyone who was hunger, but rather it is a story dealing with perceptions. As you saw in the video presentation, when Andrew and Peter were asking Jesus to send the people away, to go back into town, so that they may eat, Jesus gives them the opportunity to feed them. In the eyes of the disciples, they did not have enough resources in which to feed such a massive crowd. Jesus asks them, “What do you have?” After they looked around, they discovered they only had a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, hardly enough to feed 5,000 hungry men much less all the women and children who must have been there.
To the disciples, the glass was half empty. To Jesus, it was a start. Think about the number of people who have placed their faith in the actions and teachings of Jesus over the past two thousand years. Jesus started out with only a few followers, and they told their friends about Jesus and his teachings, and eventually there were twelve disciples. A small core of men for such a great undertaking of spreading the “Good News” that Jesus was teaching. When he looked at the twelve disciples do you think he saw this core group as not being enough to accomplish such an important mission? Or do you think he saw them as, “it’s a beginning”?
The heart of Jesus’ ministry and his teaching is what we call today, “social justice”. Jesus saw the injustice of those who had more than “enough” to live on, and how they gave very little concern to those who were poor, des-enfranchised, needing health care, needing adequate housing, needing food to eat, those suffering with mental-illness, those who are victims of racism and sexism. It is the same topics we struggle with in today’s world.
Today’s sermon is ideal for a stewardship lesson, an opportunity for us to look at the abundance that we have and examine our perception of what we have been given by God and about our attitudes toward Social Justice issues. As a nation we have been teetering on the verge of a financial collapse not experienced since the Great Depression. We have had some recovery but according to some economic experts the worst is not over and we will see even a larger economic dip in about a year and a half from now. This is very disturbing news, and should this actually occur, it is going to be through our perceptions as to how well we will survive through that period of time.
I bring this up to point out an observation about how we as a society and as individuals react and handle prosperity and depression. During the Great Depression, when practically nobody had any money, to speak of, there was a willingness to help out our neighbor, or the stranger who was in more need than you. Winnie VanValkenberg shared a few weeks ago of how her parents house was marked by the hobo’s as a house to come to for food. Their home was not unusual. Yet today we live in untold wealth, compared to the 1930’s, yet we keep our house locked, we are hesitant to speak to strangers, and we give less to charities and to our churches, per capita. The point that I am bringing out is, it seem that the more wealth that we accumulate the less giving we become. When we are in a position to share from our abundance to those who need, we actually give less. Why do you think that is? It comes from a perception of scarcity, “If I give, I may not have enough for myself.”
We speak of God’s economy in the church, about the abundance of God’s love. We speak about extravagant hospitality, yet we give to social need with the attitude of scarcity. We need more money to do a program, we need more members to survive, and we need more help, God. We don’t have enough; it is up to you God to do something about this.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! When the disciples asked Jesus to act, he said, “No, you do something about it.” “You figure it out and do something about it.” The late President John F. Kennedy said it this way, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather, ask what you can do for your country.” The church needs to ask less about how God is going to help us, but start asking more of God, “What do you want us to do?”
Once the disciples started to look around, asking, working with what they had, they realized that they had more than what they needed. When Jesus gave a blessing over the food, it wasn’t blessing the food so much as it was, blessing God for God’s faithfulness. Two years ago, this church was asking, “How are we going to keep the doors open?” Now we are asking, “How are we going to make the budget?” Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full? Are we like the disciples, wanting to send people home hungry because we don’t have enough faith to recognize the abundance that God has given us?
Two years ago, there was no Sunday school for the children. Two years ago, I heard people asking where are the children? Through the concern and dedication of some of our people, we provided a program for our children. Bingo! We average 15 children during the year in Sunday school. Out of this has come the opportunity to hire someone to work at developing even a better program for our children. We started out with two fish and some bread, we are now experiencing more than what we started with!
Are we going to be true to the call of Jesus, to not look at what we can’t do, but rather, trust in the extravagance of God to provide what we see needing to be done? Are we just two fish and some loaves of bread or are we the start? I think if Jesus was here this morning, He would see you as the start, He would see you as the miracle! Amen
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Weeds In the Garden, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/17/2011
Weeds in the Garden
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/17/2011
Based on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 & Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19
Last Sunday we looked at the Parable of the Sower and I shared with you my childhood experiences of gardening. This week we are again looking at a garden and what to do about those unwanted plants that seem to thrive more abundantly than what we'd like.
I grew up in a very large extended family, where my maternal grandmother was the strong Matriarch of the family. It was through my grandmother that the family’s religious education was passed down (not from formal reading of scripture, but rather through verbal teachings); the primary basis for morality was implanted by her understanding and experience from her childhood education in the scripture, of behavior within the church, and from life experiences. One of the axioms that I grew up with was: Why do I need to go to church? I can be just as close to God and am probably more Christian in my actions and believes than those ‘Hypocrites’ who go to church every Sunday. Has anyone ever heard that justification for not going to worship? How about this one: I can’t stand so and so, and until they die or leave the church, I’m not coming back. Or possibly, I’ve been so hurt by Joe Blow, I can’t step foot back into that sanctuary. (The reality generally being, they don’t step foot in any sanctuary.)
Matthew is writing this parable, supposedly taught by Jesus, to a church that was young and gaining new members and as a community of faith, was struggling with the reality that not everyone who had joined them had the same goals, or looked at or understood the teachings of Jesus in the same way. In other words there was internal struggle.
We struggle today with the same issue of not being unified, both as local congregations and as Christian Churches worldwide, usually around theological understanding. So much so, we within the larger church family have divided ourselves into categories or labels such as “liberal”, or “conservative”, or more sever “fundamentalist”, we have set up a situation that creates division and disunity by creating an “us” and “them”. I hear this same language to some extent used by some who volunteer at Broadway Bargains and by non-volunteers who attend First Congregational, openly use “us” and “them” language, setting up an adversarial atmosphere, instead of us all recognizing both bodies as being one and working toward the same goals. It is because of the adversarial atmosphere within and between churches and church related organizations, the non-churched folk’s question, “Why would I want to belong to something where so much fighting going on?” Weeds in the garden!
Last week’s parable focused on the planting of the seed and how it produced, this week the parable presumably uses good ground, but also gets mixed results because of the actions of an enemy (someone came in during the night and sowed seeds that were weeds among the field of good seed.) Let me remind you that ‘parables’ are not stories that give direct answers, but rather are designed to speak more to the “heart” and less to the mind. For when we think we have “understood” a parable, chances are we are more likely to be mistaken in its meaning. But if we’re made uncomfortable by the challenge of a parable, we’re probably getting a little closer to the heart of its meaning. Sermon Seeds, UCC, 7/17/2011 Kathy Huey
When we look at this parable within the context of the church, we can understand that it is God who has planted the good seed. Yet what church has not experienced weeds within it's congregation! Remember a little thing in the life of the church called, “The Crusades”? The church justified on “spiritual” reasoning that it needed to go to Jerusalem and purify the Holy City. We have sense been able to understand a more basic reason of “greed” to have been the underlying motivation. Weeds in the garden!
This past Thurs, I was reading in the New York Times, an article that was discussing the battles over abortion. “Taking Fight Back to Wichita, Doctor Seeks Abortion Clinic”. Listen to some of the article: Not long ago, Dr. Mila Means, the physician trying to open an abortion clinic in this city, received a letter advising her to check under her car each morning – because maybe today is the day someone places an explosive under it.” The note said. There was reason for concern: the last doctor to provide abortions here was shot to death (at the church where he worshipped, by a Christian from Kansas City), because of his work. I recall reading on face book the comments made by my fundamentalist Christ believing niece, praising the actions of the murderer – as doing God’s will in order to prevent the killing of unborn children. Weeds in the garden!
I am bringing this topic as an example, because it holds two sides of theological reflection within the church, those who we call “prolife” and those we call “prochoice”. Depending on which side of the issue you find yourself, the odds are that you have set up a “them” vs. “us” stance, and know full well that God is on your side. When we live with attitudes of “us” vs. “them”, we are unable to approach an issue in order to discuss it and find solutions that everyone can live with.
Here in Matthew, we can see where the evil doers will be judged, but by who? Not by the church, and not by humanity, but rather, will be collected at the end of time by the angles and judged by God. Then we have a much softer version in our reading from the Wisdom of Solomon, where it is written, “Although you [God] are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us. Through such works you have taught your people that the righteous must be kind, and you have filled your children with good hope, because you give repentance for sins.”
Boy this is a true blow to those of us who feel we need to take “righteous” actions towards those that we perceive to be doing evil. Barbara Brown Taylor describes the frustration of “good” church members who recognize “weeds” in the midst of the church that ought to be a refuge from the tainted world saying: ‘If God really is in charge, then why isn’t the world a beautiful sea of waving grain? Or at least the church – couldn’t the church, at least, be a neat field of superior wheat?’
Then as now, “however the weeds get there, most of us have got them – not only in our yards but also in our lives: thorny people who were not part of the plan, who are not welcome, sucking up sunlight and water that were meant for good plants, not weeds”. Doesn’t this kind of attitude set up an either/or, Us and Them situation, where some of us are “wheat” and others are “weeds”? Who can tell the difference, and who can presume to pull the weeds without harming the tender wheat?
Religious communities, that’s who…at least we often presume to do just that, according to Richard Swanson: “even communities that affirm the radical otherness of God, that claim that God is above and beyond all human distinctions, even such communities assume that, if we must divide Us from Them, God is properly on our side of the dividing line [as was the thinking of the man who shot the Dr of the abortion clinic in Wichita, KS]. Carefully developed theologies, balanced and properly in awe of the majesty of God, hide in the other room when Us/Them divisions are being made.”
Kermit the Frog may claim that “It’s not easy being green,” but Barbara Taylor again observes that it’s not easy being wheat, either, having to compete with the weeds for fertile soil. How many people have thought they were doing the right thing, even if they use “hostile means” to rid the church of troublesome weeds, when they’re really doing the same thing as those they are fighting against? But, Taylor points out, “God said no!” Is it possible that the mystery of the parable has something to do with God’s timing, and our inability to judge or, for that matter, our unwillingness to trust in God’s own judgment? God’s judgment, of course, is always better for someone else than it is for us. Still, there is evil and wrongdoing, and surely we’re supposed to do something.
Taylor says that “what God seems to know is that the best and only real solution to evil is to bear good fruit. In the movie "The Greenlantern", the head lantern asked the Immortals to fashion a ring made from the lake of firery fear, in order to combat the force of "fear" that was killing the universe. The newest green lantern begged the Immortals not to go down that path - for there would b no return and there would be only destruction! Our job, in a mixed field, is not to give ourselves to the enemy by devoting all our energy to the destruction of the weeds, but to mind our own business, so to speak – our business being the reconciliation of the world through the practice of unshielded love. If we will give ourselves to that, God will take care of the rest…”
“Thank God, God judges us” this takes the burden off of us. Thomas Long writes, “It is easy for Christians to look through the church windows at the world and to think of ourselves as God’s special insiders, the ones who will ‘shine like the sun’ in the end. We can relish with smug self-satisfaction the thought of worldly types being rounded up at the great final, collected like weeds and burned up in the everlasting fire. However, we are, ourselves, a mixture of good and evil. Sometimes we are faithful, and sometimes we are not…”
Let us be reminded that God sends both sun and rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. If God shows such generosity of spirit, can [we] do any less? It’s hard to be a faithful follower of Christ, yet we must remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies. Sermon Seeds UCC, 7/17/2011 If we can work at doing this, we will be helping to stop the division that comes with the Us verse Them, and will allow us to place our energy on cultivating the “good” seed that God has placed within each human being. Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/17/2011
Based on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 & Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19
Last Sunday we looked at the Parable of the Sower and I shared with you my childhood experiences of gardening. This week we are again looking at a garden and what to do about those unwanted plants that seem to thrive more abundantly than what we'd like.
I grew up in a very large extended family, where my maternal grandmother was the strong Matriarch of the family. It was through my grandmother that the family’s religious education was passed down (not from formal reading of scripture, but rather through verbal teachings); the primary basis for morality was implanted by her understanding and experience from her childhood education in the scripture, of behavior within the church, and from life experiences. One of the axioms that I grew up with was: Why do I need to go to church? I can be just as close to God and am probably more Christian in my actions and believes than those ‘Hypocrites’ who go to church every Sunday. Has anyone ever heard that justification for not going to worship? How about this one: I can’t stand so and so, and until they die or leave the church, I’m not coming back. Or possibly, I’ve been so hurt by Joe Blow, I can’t step foot back into that sanctuary. (The reality generally being, they don’t step foot in any sanctuary.)
Matthew is writing this parable, supposedly taught by Jesus, to a church that was young and gaining new members and as a community of faith, was struggling with the reality that not everyone who had joined them had the same goals, or looked at or understood the teachings of Jesus in the same way. In other words there was internal struggle.
We struggle today with the same issue of not being unified, both as local congregations and as Christian Churches worldwide, usually around theological understanding. So much so, we within the larger church family have divided ourselves into categories or labels such as “liberal”, or “conservative”, or more sever “fundamentalist”, we have set up a situation that creates division and disunity by creating an “us” and “them”. I hear this same language to some extent used by some who volunteer at Broadway Bargains and by non-volunteers who attend First Congregational, openly use “us” and “them” language, setting up an adversarial atmosphere, instead of us all recognizing both bodies as being one and working toward the same goals. It is because of the adversarial atmosphere within and between churches and church related organizations, the non-churched folk’s question, “Why would I want to belong to something where so much fighting going on?” Weeds in the garden!
Last week’s parable focused on the planting of the seed and how it produced, this week the parable presumably uses good ground, but also gets mixed results because of the actions of an enemy (someone came in during the night and sowed seeds that were weeds among the field of good seed.) Let me remind you that ‘parables’ are not stories that give direct answers, but rather are designed to speak more to the “heart” and less to the mind. For when we think we have “understood” a parable, chances are we are more likely to be mistaken in its meaning. But if we’re made uncomfortable by the challenge of a parable, we’re probably getting a little closer to the heart of its meaning. Sermon Seeds, UCC, 7/17/2011 Kathy Huey
When we look at this parable within the context of the church, we can understand that it is God who has planted the good seed. Yet what church has not experienced weeds within it's congregation! Remember a little thing in the life of the church called, “The Crusades”? The church justified on “spiritual” reasoning that it needed to go to Jerusalem and purify the Holy City. We have sense been able to understand a more basic reason of “greed” to have been the underlying motivation. Weeds in the garden!
This past Thurs, I was reading in the New York Times, an article that was discussing the battles over abortion. “Taking Fight Back to Wichita, Doctor Seeks Abortion Clinic”. Listen to some of the article: Not long ago, Dr. Mila Means, the physician trying to open an abortion clinic in this city, received a letter advising her to check under her car each morning – because maybe today is the day someone places an explosive under it.” The note said. There was reason for concern: the last doctor to provide abortions here was shot to death (at the church where he worshipped, by a Christian from Kansas City), because of his work. I recall reading on face book the comments made by my fundamentalist Christ believing niece, praising the actions of the murderer – as doing God’s will in order to prevent the killing of unborn children. Weeds in the garden!
I am bringing this topic as an example, because it holds two sides of theological reflection within the church, those who we call “prolife” and those we call “prochoice”. Depending on which side of the issue you find yourself, the odds are that you have set up a “them” vs. “us” stance, and know full well that God is on your side. When we live with attitudes of “us” vs. “them”, we are unable to approach an issue in order to discuss it and find solutions that everyone can live with.
Here in Matthew, we can see where the evil doers will be judged, but by who? Not by the church, and not by humanity, but rather, will be collected at the end of time by the angles and judged by God. Then we have a much softer version in our reading from the Wisdom of Solomon, where it is written, “Although you [God] are sovereign in strength, you judge with mildness, and with great forbearance you govern us. Through such works you have taught your people that the righteous must be kind, and you have filled your children with good hope, because you give repentance for sins.”
Boy this is a true blow to those of us who feel we need to take “righteous” actions towards those that we perceive to be doing evil. Barbara Brown Taylor describes the frustration of “good” church members who recognize “weeds” in the midst of the church that ought to be a refuge from the tainted world saying: ‘If God really is in charge, then why isn’t the world a beautiful sea of waving grain? Or at least the church – couldn’t the church, at least, be a neat field of superior wheat?’
Then as now, “however the weeds get there, most of us have got them – not only in our yards but also in our lives: thorny people who were not part of the plan, who are not welcome, sucking up sunlight and water that were meant for good plants, not weeds”. Doesn’t this kind of attitude set up an either/or, Us and Them situation, where some of us are “wheat” and others are “weeds”? Who can tell the difference, and who can presume to pull the weeds without harming the tender wheat?
Religious communities, that’s who…at least we often presume to do just that, according to Richard Swanson: “even communities that affirm the radical otherness of God, that claim that God is above and beyond all human distinctions, even such communities assume that, if we must divide Us from Them, God is properly on our side of the dividing line [as was the thinking of the man who shot the Dr of the abortion clinic in Wichita, KS]. Carefully developed theologies, balanced and properly in awe of the majesty of God, hide in the other room when Us/Them divisions are being made.”
Kermit the Frog may claim that “It’s not easy being green,” but Barbara Taylor again observes that it’s not easy being wheat, either, having to compete with the weeds for fertile soil. How many people have thought they were doing the right thing, even if they use “hostile means” to rid the church of troublesome weeds, when they’re really doing the same thing as those they are fighting against? But, Taylor points out, “God said no!” Is it possible that the mystery of the parable has something to do with God’s timing, and our inability to judge or, for that matter, our unwillingness to trust in God’s own judgment? God’s judgment, of course, is always better for someone else than it is for us. Still, there is evil and wrongdoing, and surely we’re supposed to do something.
Taylor says that “what God seems to know is that the best and only real solution to evil is to bear good fruit. In the movie "The Greenlantern", the head lantern asked the Immortals to fashion a ring made from the lake of firery fear, in order to combat the force of "fear" that was killing the universe. The newest green lantern begged the Immortals not to go down that path - for there would b no return and there would be only destruction! Our job, in a mixed field, is not to give ourselves to the enemy by devoting all our energy to the destruction of the weeds, but to mind our own business, so to speak – our business being the reconciliation of the world through the practice of unshielded love. If we will give ourselves to that, God will take care of the rest…”
“Thank God, God judges us” this takes the burden off of us. Thomas Long writes, “It is easy for Christians to look through the church windows at the world and to think of ourselves as God’s special insiders, the ones who will ‘shine like the sun’ in the end. We can relish with smug self-satisfaction the thought of worldly types being rounded up at the great final, collected like weeds and burned up in the everlasting fire. However, we are, ourselves, a mixture of good and evil. Sometimes we are faithful, and sometimes we are not…”
Let us be reminded that God sends both sun and rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. If God shows such generosity of spirit, can [we] do any less? It’s hard to be a faithful follower of Christ, yet we must remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies. Sermon Seeds UCC, 7/17/2011 If we can work at doing this, we will be helping to stop the division that comes with the Us verse Them, and will allow us to place our energy on cultivating the “good” seed that God has placed within each human being. Amen
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Is Extravagance at odds with Wisdom?, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/10/2011
Is Extravagance at odds with Wisdom?
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/10/2011
Based on Isaiah 55:10-13 and Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
A large portion of my childhood memories relate to the business of growing plants. Since we were a poor family, it was most important that we gave focus to the vegetable garden and less to the things that I really enjoyed growing, which were ornamental plants. It was my thought that it was important to provide plants that helped bring beauty into the world; it was my mother’s opinion that growing plants that produced food for the body was of more importance.
When it comes to vegetable gardening, I have only memories of huge gardens. After moving out to a farm, not many miles from the town that I had started my life in, dad decided that with forty acres and free slave labor of three children, he would utilize as much of the land as possible and become a truck farmer. A good share of this land was very sandy and of low quality. We had no real farm equipment, so most all the working of the soil was done with hand tools. There was only one water well, near the house with minimal water spickets in which to water the plants that we were cultivating.
It’s a marvelous thing to farm and to plant. You plow up the soil, get the clods chopped up, and get the ground smooth and ready to plan; then plant the seeds or the starter plants, water them, and watch them grow. What is interesting is everything else that is in that soil will also grow. The technical term for the “everything else” is called “weeds”. I remember long days of handling a hoe, chopping at the weeds, which seemed to thrive better than the plants that I was supposed to be tending. Then after hoeing out the weeds, the next step was bending over and pulling out those weeds which grew right up next to the plants.
As I said, dad, wanted to utilize as much ground of the forty acres as possible, and become what I am now positive, to be the sole vegetable supplier for the whole community of Kingman, KS, a town of 3,000 residences. Our green bean patch had 16 rows, each a city block long. The potato patch was located more than a quarter mile away from the house; a full five acres of seedlings. To utilize the remain acreage of that site, we planted 500 tomato plants. You must understand that the closest water was back at the house and dad believed that instead of running pipe out to this remote spot or buying enough hose to reach those tomato plants, his children would carry water out to them. Well, you can image how well those poor plants survived; they didn’t. As the summer temperatures of over a hundred degrees advanced, and by the way you could not work in those temperatures, those tomatoes eventually dried up and died because of the lack of water.
The lectionary readings today speak to my experiences on the farm and our efforts to truck farm. Where we had the opportunity to work the plants and to nurture them with water, de-weeding, and providing manure, those plants produced in abundance; where we planted seeds and plants and were not able to provide any one of these needed tasks, those plants provided much less fruit, or withered in the heat of the sun, or were choked out by the persistence of the weeds.
I find this particular story interesting with respect to where it is placed in Matthew. At the end of chapter 12, we read where Jesus has been healing and preaching to a group of people and of course getting the Pharisees very upset, so much so, they are beginning to plot as to how they might be able to kill Jesus. Then his mother and brothers come wanting to take Jesus back home with them, at which point Jesus asks, “who is my mother and who are my brothers?” With this response, he indicates that those who have been following him and learning his teachings were truly his brothers and sisters.
It is at this point that Jesus decides to tell the story of what we now call “The Parable of the Sower”. The usual way of reading this parable is to study the types of soil that the seeds are being planted in.
When we think about what it takes to plant a new church, it is prudent to examine the type of community in which to plant a new church. A lengthy study of demographics, city potential of continued growth, what type of nitch can the new church provide that presently isn’t being met.
In church revitalization, such as the present need of this congregation, conversations that focus on growth should be asked: what type of pastor would best help us grow, what type of programs would work best in revitalizing this ministry, what type of people do we want to minister to? These are examples of tiling the soil, of determining the best soil, of plowing it, and of nurturing the effort that will be put into it.
This is what any good farmer would be doing, yet is this really what the deeper meaning of this story is about, especially when you read it within the context of being a response to what he says about his mother and family?
The other day, Rev Nick Natelli, stopped by to take a look at the church and visit just a little, catching up on what is currently going on in the life of this congregation. For those of you who have joined this family of faith after 1971, you might be interested in knowing that Rev Natelli is the minister that was serving this congregation as it moved from “B st” to this location. When he left, this sanctuary was filled at every worship with a membership of over 300. He was sad to hear that we are now averaging in the upper 70’s during the school year and with only 136 members.
His response to me was, “I had whispered in ears before we built here, but maybe I should have whispered harder.” He was referring to the location of this building, being at the end of a street, meaning that there was little exposure, since cars wouldn’t be driving by and realize that there was a church in which to visit, should the driver be so inclined to do so. I remember a comment that Sharon Pribyl made to me when I first arrived. She said, “How do you like the sign at the end of the street that says, ‘dead end’?” Finally that sign was removed. Although the sign was descriptive of the fact that this street was a cul-de-sac, a more subtle message about the church was being given by its presence.
Even in the clergy text study group, that meets weekly to discuss the upcoming lectionary readings, there was discussion as to the “wisdom” that we should have in where and who we share the “good news” of God. A reference being made that we were not being good stewards of God’s word by spending our time with people who would never respond to it.
As a business person, I might, and I say might, agree with that insight. However as a person of faith, I have to look at this parable in a slightly different manor. As I read this story, I see the meaning speaking about the person of faith and what can happen to them. This directly relates then to speaking about a congregation, a faith community, since it is an identity unique unto itself as well.
As a community of faith, we have received the word of God, the seed planted. The question that needs to be asked is, “What type of soil is this congregation made up of?” Are we hard and rocky, who gives only the birds nourishment, as they directly eat the seed that doesn’t take root? Are we soil that is full of weeds, there by choking the work of the Holy Spirit? Are we soil where the distractions of the world take away focus from the needs of being nourished? Are we the soil that receives God’s word and allow it to be nurtured within our hearts, to grow and be able to feed the needs of those we come in contact with?
The focus is on the sower. The story is asking what type of soil is the sower. It is God who originally planted his word within us? How have we received it? God did not contemplate his love to be bestowed on some and not others. That is a teaching that came about as a way to gain followers and to control people. God loves beyond abundantly. God loves extravagantly, giving the gift of reconciliation and healing to every broken heart.
The question is this: How have your received this seed from God? Is your spirit one of hard packed soil? Is it one who received the love of God but because of life’s circumstances has found this love withering? Or is your heart the type of soil that has received the love of God and has allowed it to flourish, thereby giving it freely to all that you met?
I wish to close with a couple of thoughts given to us this week through the Psalm 119 and Isaiah 55. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeeded in the thing for which I sent it.”
The first part is the recognition of the person who has received the seed from God. The second part is the promise that God makes to those that receive this word. As long as we, as a congregation, have open hearts to receive the extravagant love of God, we will continue to do the work that God has asked us to do, and we will reap abundance through Gods promise to us! Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/10/2011
Based on Isaiah 55:10-13 and Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
A large portion of my childhood memories relate to the business of growing plants. Since we were a poor family, it was most important that we gave focus to the vegetable garden and less to the things that I really enjoyed growing, which were ornamental plants. It was my thought that it was important to provide plants that helped bring beauty into the world; it was my mother’s opinion that growing plants that produced food for the body was of more importance.
When it comes to vegetable gardening, I have only memories of huge gardens. After moving out to a farm, not many miles from the town that I had started my life in, dad decided that with forty acres and free slave labor of three children, he would utilize as much of the land as possible and become a truck farmer. A good share of this land was very sandy and of low quality. We had no real farm equipment, so most all the working of the soil was done with hand tools. There was only one water well, near the house with minimal water spickets in which to water the plants that we were cultivating.
It’s a marvelous thing to farm and to plant. You plow up the soil, get the clods chopped up, and get the ground smooth and ready to plan; then plant the seeds or the starter plants, water them, and watch them grow. What is interesting is everything else that is in that soil will also grow. The technical term for the “everything else” is called “weeds”. I remember long days of handling a hoe, chopping at the weeds, which seemed to thrive better than the plants that I was supposed to be tending. Then after hoeing out the weeds, the next step was bending over and pulling out those weeds which grew right up next to the plants.
As I said, dad, wanted to utilize as much ground of the forty acres as possible, and become what I am now positive, to be the sole vegetable supplier for the whole community of Kingman, KS, a town of 3,000 residences. Our green bean patch had 16 rows, each a city block long. The potato patch was located more than a quarter mile away from the house; a full five acres of seedlings. To utilize the remain acreage of that site, we planted 500 tomato plants. You must understand that the closest water was back at the house and dad believed that instead of running pipe out to this remote spot or buying enough hose to reach those tomato plants, his children would carry water out to them. Well, you can image how well those poor plants survived; they didn’t. As the summer temperatures of over a hundred degrees advanced, and by the way you could not work in those temperatures, those tomatoes eventually dried up and died because of the lack of water.
The lectionary readings today speak to my experiences on the farm and our efforts to truck farm. Where we had the opportunity to work the plants and to nurture them with water, de-weeding, and providing manure, those plants produced in abundance; where we planted seeds and plants and were not able to provide any one of these needed tasks, those plants provided much less fruit, or withered in the heat of the sun, or were choked out by the persistence of the weeds.
I find this particular story interesting with respect to where it is placed in Matthew. At the end of chapter 12, we read where Jesus has been healing and preaching to a group of people and of course getting the Pharisees very upset, so much so, they are beginning to plot as to how they might be able to kill Jesus. Then his mother and brothers come wanting to take Jesus back home with them, at which point Jesus asks, “who is my mother and who are my brothers?” With this response, he indicates that those who have been following him and learning his teachings were truly his brothers and sisters.
It is at this point that Jesus decides to tell the story of what we now call “The Parable of the Sower”. The usual way of reading this parable is to study the types of soil that the seeds are being planted in.
When we think about what it takes to plant a new church, it is prudent to examine the type of community in which to plant a new church. A lengthy study of demographics, city potential of continued growth, what type of nitch can the new church provide that presently isn’t being met.
In church revitalization, such as the present need of this congregation, conversations that focus on growth should be asked: what type of pastor would best help us grow, what type of programs would work best in revitalizing this ministry, what type of people do we want to minister to? These are examples of tiling the soil, of determining the best soil, of plowing it, and of nurturing the effort that will be put into it.
This is what any good farmer would be doing, yet is this really what the deeper meaning of this story is about, especially when you read it within the context of being a response to what he says about his mother and family?
The other day, Rev Nick Natelli, stopped by to take a look at the church and visit just a little, catching up on what is currently going on in the life of this congregation. For those of you who have joined this family of faith after 1971, you might be interested in knowing that Rev Natelli is the minister that was serving this congregation as it moved from “B st” to this location. When he left, this sanctuary was filled at every worship with a membership of over 300. He was sad to hear that we are now averaging in the upper 70’s during the school year and with only 136 members.
His response to me was, “I had whispered in ears before we built here, but maybe I should have whispered harder.” He was referring to the location of this building, being at the end of a street, meaning that there was little exposure, since cars wouldn’t be driving by and realize that there was a church in which to visit, should the driver be so inclined to do so. I remember a comment that Sharon Pribyl made to me when I first arrived. She said, “How do you like the sign at the end of the street that says, ‘dead end’?” Finally that sign was removed. Although the sign was descriptive of the fact that this street was a cul-de-sac, a more subtle message about the church was being given by its presence.
Even in the clergy text study group, that meets weekly to discuss the upcoming lectionary readings, there was discussion as to the “wisdom” that we should have in where and who we share the “good news” of God. A reference being made that we were not being good stewards of God’s word by spending our time with people who would never respond to it.
As a business person, I might, and I say might, agree with that insight. However as a person of faith, I have to look at this parable in a slightly different manor. As I read this story, I see the meaning speaking about the person of faith and what can happen to them. This directly relates then to speaking about a congregation, a faith community, since it is an identity unique unto itself as well.
As a community of faith, we have received the word of God, the seed planted. The question that needs to be asked is, “What type of soil is this congregation made up of?” Are we hard and rocky, who gives only the birds nourishment, as they directly eat the seed that doesn’t take root? Are we soil that is full of weeds, there by choking the work of the Holy Spirit? Are we soil where the distractions of the world take away focus from the needs of being nourished? Are we the soil that receives God’s word and allow it to be nurtured within our hearts, to grow and be able to feed the needs of those we come in contact with?
The focus is on the sower. The story is asking what type of soil is the sower. It is God who originally planted his word within us? How have we received it? God did not contemplate his love to be bestowed on some and not others. That is a teaching that came about as a way to gain followers and to control people. God loves beyond abundantly. God loves extravagantly, giving the gift of reconciliation and healing to every broken heart.
The question is this: How have your received this seed from God? Is your spirit one of hard packed soil? Is it one who received the love of God but because of life’s circumstances has found this love withering? Or is your heart the type of soil that has received the love of God and has allowed it to flourish, thereby giving it freely to all that you met?
I wish to close with a couple of thoughts given to us this week through the Psalm 119 and Isaiah 55. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeeded in the thing for which I sent it.”
The first part is the recognition of the person who has received the seed from God. The second part is the promise that God makes to those that receive this word. As long as we, as a congregation, have open hearts to receive the extravagant love of God, we will continue to do the work that God has asked us to do, and we will reap abundance through Gods promise to us! Amen
Sunday, July 3, 2011
The Devil made Me Do It!, Rev Steven Mitchell, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/3/2011
The Devil made Me Do It!
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/3/2011
Based on Romans 7:15-25a & Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Not long ago, during a pastors meeting, the Rev Leroy Jones, pastor of the “Church of What’s Happening Now”, was sharing a situation much like what the Apostle Paul is sharing in Romans 7. It seems that one day the Reverend came home from the office to find that his wife, Lillian, had purchased another dress. Now they had agreed several months earlier that she had been spending way too much money on dresses, in fact, her closets were over flowing with dresses that she had purchased just that past year.
So Rev. Leroy’s wife begins to explain just exactly what had happened and why she had that dress. She starts out: I was doing my morning power walk in the White Mountain Mall, minding my own business, when I stopped in front of the Herberger’s display window to see what the new Summer fashions were, when up from behind me comes the Devil. He stopped and said to me, “Hey momma, what cha doing there looking so fine?” I told him, “I was just looking through the window to see what was on display.” “I also told him to get lost because I didn’t need to be talking with him.”
The Rev Leroy said, “That sounds fine, but I don’t understand what that has to do with you buying this dress.” Rev Leroy’s wife then said, “The devil wouldn’t go away and asked me if I was going to go in and try on the dress.” “I told the devil that I wasn’t going to buy that dress, so I didn’t need to try it on!” Then the Devil said, “Oh go ahead, try on the dress. You at least owe yourself a try on!” Then I told the devil, “Devil get behind me!”
“Okay,” said the Rev., “Then what happened?” The Rev’s wife continued her story by saying, “He got behind me, and then he started to push me into the story. He just pushed and pushed until I was at the rack where the dress was hanging.” “So I thought I would out smart him by trying on the dress so that he would be satisfied and would leave me alone.” “After I tried on the dress, he told me how ‘fine I looked in it on me’.” she continued, “I told him I had promised you not to buy any more dresses for awhile and that I wasn’t going to buy this dress, and to just leave me alone!”
The Rev. then asked, “What happened? Didn’t he leave you alone?” “Well,” said his wife, “after I pleaded with him to leave me alone, I found myself standing at the counter, where the devil was forcing me to get out my check book from my purse. All the time I was screaming, ‘Devil, get behind me. Devil leave me alone!” “Well, then what happened?” asked Rev. Leroy. “After all that pleading and me telling him I wasn’t going to buy that dress, he pulled a gun on me and forced me to sign your name to the check!”
The Rev Leroy then asked her, “why is it that the devil always seems to benefit you and get you things that you want and he never seems to do anything for me.” The Mrs. Rev. replied saying, “I asked him about that! And he says he already has helped you. He said, ’If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t even have a job!’”
How many times have we not taken responsibility for our own actions and have placed the blame on someone or something other than admitting our short comings and admitting that we truly are responsible for our actions? This is the struggle that Paul is sharing with us this morning. He says that, as a follower of Jesus’ teachings, he still was finding that his actions were not always what he was wanting to do or at times not proud of.
So, instead of saying “the devil made me do it”, Paul insists that it is the sin that is a part of being human that keeps him doing those things that he wishes he wasn’t doing. This is the basis for the late 4th century theologian Augustine of Hippo and later, the early 16th Century Theologian John Calvin, in their development of what we now call, “original sin.” The simplest explanation being: we are all born with a sinful nature and only through Christ are we given the freedom of life.
This point of view actually comes from the Hellenistic point of view, that the Spirit is good but that the physical body is evil. Paul, even though he was a Hebrew, was heavily influenced in this philosophy, which accounts for his conflict between his behavior and his intellectual desires. “I know what the right thing to do is, but somehow, I seem to do the opposite. I don’t wish to do the wrong thing, but it just seems to happen.”
So, does the devil truly make us “do it?” Or are we born with sin that was started with the disobedience of Adam and Eve? These are questions that humanity has asked itself for generations. Paul speaks that by one man, Adam, came death, but by Jesus comes life. This thought process developed the whole idea that sin is passed on through the “sin gene”, and because Christ was born without sin, he was able to provide the avenue for life. This then developed the theology that Mary, his mother, also had to be conceived not by a human father but by the Heavenly Spirit, as was Jesus.
I am not sure that I personally buy into the “original sin” theory as it has been passed down through the ages. I do however understand the theory “free will” and tend to attribute my behavior more with this outlook than that of original sin. The reason is that if I am born this way, with original sin, then this can lead me to not taking responsibility for my actions (the devil made me do it!), whereby if I believe more in the concept of “free will”, it places the burden of my actions directly upon my shoulders and not that of someone else’s.
Over the past couple of years, I have received so very nice cards from many of you, talking about all the good qualities that those who sent them, see in me. Quite frankly, I wonder if they are talking about the Steve Mitchell that I have to live with. I know, as Paul speaks about, the conflict that I have in “not doing the right things verse doing the wrong things.” We all do I suspect.
When we think about how we don’t act upon the right things that we could be doing with our lives, we can run the risk of becoming very negative about ourselves. Paul, asks the question, “who can save me from myself?”
His answer is, “God! Thank God, God has saved me from myself.” In other words, we do not accumulate on our balance sheet of life, all the negatives and have them weigh against all the good that we also do. We are a forgiven people. It is Jesus who calls us to himself. He says, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
It is just as the song says, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. Calling for you and for me; See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me. Come home, come home, You who are weary, come home; Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner, come home!
As we come before Christ’s table this morning, listen to your heart. Are you burden with those things that you do, but wish you haven’t done? If so, release them into the arms of the God who lovingly calls us to come to His table of love and forgiveness. For whether we are by nature prone to do the things we shouldn’t and not do the things we should, or whether we just choice to take the lesser paths in life, it is through the love of God that we are abundantly welcomed and extravagantly forgiven. For walking with Jesus is a lighter path than walking on our own. Amen
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 7/3/2011
Based on Romans 7:15-25a & Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Not long ago, during a pastors meeting, the Rev Leroy Jones, pastor of the “Church of What’s Happening Now”, was sharing a situation much like what the Apostle Paul is sharing in Romans 7. It seems that one day the Reverend came home from the office to find that his wife, Lillian, had purchased another dress. Now they had agreed several months earlier that she had been spending way too much money on dresses, in fact, her closets were over flowing with dresses that she had purchased just that past year.
So Rev. Leroy’s wife begins to explain just exactly what had happened and why she had that dress. She starts out: I was doing my morning power walk in the White Mountain Mall, minding my own business, when I stopped in front of the Herberger’s display window to see what the new Summer fashions were, when up from behind me comes the Devil. He stopped and said to me, “Hey momma, what cha doing there looking so fine?” I told him, “I was just looking through the window to see what was on display.” “I also told him to get lost because I didn’t need to be talking with him.”
The Rev Leroy said, “That sounds fine, but I don’t understand what that has to do with you buying this dress.” Rev Leroy’s wife then said, “The devil wouldn’t go away and asked me if I was going to go in and try on the dress.” “I told the devil that I wasn’t going to buy that dress, so I didn’t need to try it on!” Then the Devil said, “Oh go ahead, try on the dress. You at least owe yourself a try on!” Then I told the devil, “Devil get behind me!”
“Okay,” said the Rev., “Then what happened?” The Rev’s wife continued her story by saying, “He got behind me, and then he started to push me into the story. He just pushed and pushed until I was at the rack where the dress was hanging.” “So I thought I would out smart him by trying on the dress so that he would be satisfied and would leave me alone.” “After I tried on the dress, he told me how ‘fine I looked in it on me’.” she continued, “I told him I had promised you not to buy any more dresses for awhile and that I wasn’t going to buy this dress, and to just leave me alone!”
The Rev. then asked, “What happened? Didn’t he leave you alone?” “Well,” said his wife, “after I pleaded with him to leave me alone, I found myself standing at the counter, where the devil was forcing me to get out my check book from my purse. All the time I was screaming, ‘Devil, get behind me. Devil leave me alone!” “Well, then what happened?” asked Rev. Leroy. “After all that pleading and me telling him I wasn’t going to buy that dress, he pulled a gun on me and forced me to sign your name to the check!”
The Rev Leroy then asked her, “why is it that the devil always seems to benefit you and get you things that you want and he never seems to do anything for me.” The Mrs. Rev. replied saying, “I asked him about that! And he says he already has helped you. He said, ’If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t even have a job!’”
How many times have we not taken responsibility for our own actions and have placed the blame on someone or something other than admitting our short comings and admitting that we truly are responsible for our actions? This is the struggle that Paul is sharing with us this morning. He says that, as a follower of Jesus’ teachings, he still was finding that his actions were not always what he was wanting to do or at times not proud of.
So, instead of saying “the devil made me do it”, Paul insists that it is the sin that is a part of being human that keeps him doing those things that he wishes he wasn’t doing. This is the basis for the late 4th century theologian Augustine of Hippo and later, the early 16th Century Theologian John Calvin, in their development of what we now call, “original sin.” The simplest explanation being: we are all born with a sinful nature and only through Christ are we given the freedom of life.
This point of view actually comes from the Hellenistic point of view, that the Spirit is good but that the physical body is evil. Paul, even though he was a Hebrew, was heavily influenced in this philosophy, which accounts for his conflict between his behavior and his intellectual desires. “I know what the right thing to do is, but somehow, I seem to do the opposite. I don’t wish to do the wrong thing, but it just seems to happen.”
So, does the devil truly make us “do it?” Or are we born with sin that was started with the disobedience of Adam and Eve? These are questions that humanity has asked itself for generations. Paul speaks that by one man, Adam, came death, but by Jesus comes life. This thought process developed the whole idea that sin is passed on through the “sin gene”, and because Christ was born without sin, he was able to provide the avenue for life. This then developed the theology that Mary, his mother, also had to be conceived not by a human father but by the Heavenly Spirit, as was Jesus.
I am not sure that I personally buy into the “original sin” theory as it has been passed down through the ages. I do however understand the theory “free will” and tend to attribute my behavior more with this outlook than that of original sin. The reason is that if I am born this way, with original sin, then this can lead me to not taking responsibility for my actions (the devil made me do it!), whereby if I believe more in the concept of “free will”, it places the burden of my actions directly upon my shoulders and not that of someone else’s.
Over the past couple of years, I have received so very nice cards from many of you, talking about all the good qualities that those who sent them, see in me. Quite frankly, I wonder if they are talking about the Steve Mitchell that I have to live with. I know, as Paul speaks about, the conflict that I have in “not doing the right things verse doing the wrong things.” We all do I suspect.
When we think about how we don’t act upon the right things that we could be doing with our lives, we can run the risk of becoming very negative about ourselves. Paul, asks the question, “who can save me from myself?”
His answer is, “God! Thank God, God has saved me from myself.” In other words, we do not accumulate on our balance sheet of life, all the negatives and have them weigh against all the good that we also do. We are a forgiven people. It is Jesus who calls us to himself. He says, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
It is just as the song says, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. Calling for you and for me; See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me. Come home, come home, You who are weary, come home; Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner, come home!
As we come before Christ’s table this morning, listen to your heart. Are you burden with those things that you do, but wish you haven’t done? If so, release them into the arms of the God who lovingly calls us to come to His table of love and forgiveness. For whether we are by nature prone to do the things we shouldn’t and not do the things we should, or whether we just choice to take the lesser paths in life, it is through the love of God that we are abundantly welcomed and extravagantly forgiven. For walking with Jesus is a lighter path than walking on our own. Amen
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