Everyone has probably heard
the old joke about what you get when you cross a Presbyterian with a Jehovah’s Witness.
The answer being someone who goes through town knocking on doors, but when someone answers they aren’t sure what
to say.
I think this unfortunately taps into the real discomfort we feel about the subject of evangelism. We are not sure what we mean by it. Many feel that the term
evangelical or evangelist describes a way of thinking or being that may not describe the way they live their Christian faith.
The passage from the gospel of Matthew explores this discomfort. The idea
and the act of evangelism is based upon a sense of authority – that a believer is authorized to make claims and to offer
an invitation that is not solely their own. This is what the chief priests and
elders cannot fathom about Jesus – “where is your authority coming from to do what you do and say what you say?” Jesus wants the religious folks to accept the amazing idea that God authorizes people
to share God’s love and to issue God’s teaching and warning with wisdom and care.
This is why he tells this wonderful parable that we can all understand. If we are religious people then we are saying that we believe in the living reality
of the free and independent and powerful Lord of heaven and earth. We are like
the son who says yes to the request to go and work for his father. Jesus says
to them and to us – but you hesitate, and you put it off, and often, the opportunity comes and goes and it is past. Then there are those who do not claim any status or title or membership who somehow
do the very thing that God is looking for. Jesus says that he has seen the tax
collectors and prostitutes succeeding at this God-given work – they are accepting and putting into practice this same
authority.
Jesus says it is about changing our minds and believing. An authorization
comes with this, and I am suggesting that this is what opens the way to evangelism.
Now, let’s do a little word study here. If you will look in your
bulletin at the sermon title, there is the word Evangelism. Now, with your fingers
cover up the first two letters – e,v – and then the last three letters – i,s,m. What word do you have left? Yes, angel. When we think “angel” we likely envision wings
and halos, we may have in mind that picture of the children being spared calamity by a guardian angel, or we may think of
Michael the fighting angel in the book of Daniel – but the main idea of angel is found in what the word means in its
original language of Greek – angel means “messenger”. The e,v in Greek is actually an e,u like the first letters of the word euphemism, eulogy – a
prefix that means good. So evangelism is the bringing of a good message –
it is telling the good message that we have to tell. In fact, in Greek the word
euangellion is translated one of two ways – either with the old English word, gospel, or the modern translation of the
term – good news. Evangelism means telling the message of the good news.
You might remember Charlie Brown as he tries to organize the Christmas pageant.
He is kind of bummed out by the lack of meaning characterized by Snoopy’s crass holiday decorations and he is
burdened by the distracted kids who will not cooperate with the rehearsal. He
is at his wit’s end when he cries out whether anyone can help him know what this is all about. And Linus, sensitive to Charlie Brown’s pain, walks to center stage and in the beam of the spotlight
says –
“And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were sore afraid. But the angel said to them, “Fear
not, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: for to you is born this day in the city of David
a savior who is Christ the Lord.”
This is an evangelical message
– an angel’s message – a message given by a human being out of care and compassion for another human being
– albeit, cartoon humans, but they stand in pretty well for the real thing.
One night a few years back I was doing some chore at home when the phone rang and I answered it. It was a high school class mate whom I had not talked to since my sophomore year in college. We bantered back and forth a bit, doing a very quick and cursory catching up. I was wondering why she had called when she began to tell me about how she had been in a serious car accident
only days before and had very narrowly escaped what would surely have been a mortal injury.
As I listened I realized that she had called me, half a continent away, because of all the people she knew in the world,
she was sure that I was someone who professed the Christian faith. And so I listened
intently. And I raised careful and caring questions. And I prayed with her over the phone. And I arranged to call
her again.
I think this has parallels to everyone in this room. At school, or at
work, or in your neighborhood or family, at some point someone is going to present themselves to you as my friend did. Because they know that you are a person of faith.
It may be someone you know well, or it may be a relative stranger. And
they may put their personal struggle to you directly, like Charlie Brown, or they may hem and haw and beat around the bush
like my classmate, causing you to figure out the mystery, but it happens all the time that people are looking for assurance,
not from you, but from the maker of their lives; assurance about the present and the future, and help with dealing with the
past. The very thing that Jesus entered the world to do.
And when you and I are in that place, where we have an opening and an opportunity, we are messengers. You are an angel, and you have the euangellion to share – the good news of the love of God revealed
in Jesus Christ. The evangelical message.
I know, you may be thinking – but what will I say? Should I have
a crib notes with five theories of the atonement and a tract with the plan of salvation printed on it?
I don’t know for certain, but I am guessing the tax collectors
and the prostitutes had none of these things. What you have is what Linus
had – even without the exact words – what you have is the message that has been spoken to your heart and that
fills you and strengthens you with the knowledge and assurance of God’s grace.
You may not have the perfect words, and you may not have the doctrines of the church down pat, but what you do have
is the love of Christ so that you may do what I think are the essential tasks of evangelism:
1. – Give assurance of God’s love and forgiveness and care: Jesus makes this available to everyone.
2. – Listen with acceptance and compassion, offer challenge that is appropriate, and offer to pray, if they wish,
and simply put all you have heard them say into your words.
3. – Invite them to come be part of the community of the church so that they can join themselves to Christ and
the church, or renew their faith in him.
The Christian writer D.T. Niles’ best known quote about our faith is this: “Christianity
is one beggar telling another where to find bread.” This is the evangelical
task – telling the good news with our own words and conviction. Or as St.
Francis of Assisi said, “Go into all the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and if necessary, use words.”
I think that is the beauty of the story in Exodus where the people are miserable in a harsh and endless wilderness. God provides water in the desert, but not without the assistance of human beings,
human agency so that the water comes to quench their thirst. This story is a
perfect metaphor for our calling to be messengers because we come into contact with people all the time who are struggling
in the wilderness places of their lives. They may have every material thing they
need, or not, but the common ground is thirst for God and for God’s way. We
carry the message in us. How can we not use our faith and our creativity and
our love to tell the message?
This is the most precious gift we have been given by God. At the heart
of Northminster this is what makes us who we are and this is what we are truly all about.
The best stewardship is found in sharing, and the most important thing we can share is the message, the good news of
God’s love revealed to us in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the message that is planted
in our hearts.
Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that is for all the people, to you
is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.
Everyone has probably heard
the old joke about what you get when you cross a Presbyterian with a Jehovah’s Witness.
The answer being someone who goes through town knocking on doors, but when someone answers they aren’t sure what
to say.
I think this unfortunately taps into the real discomfort we feel about the subject of evangelism. We are not sure what we mean by it. Many feel that the term
evangelical or evangelist describes a way of thinking or being that may not describe the way they live their Christian faith.
The passage from the gospel of Matthew explores this discomfort. The idea
and the act of evangelism is based upon a sense of authority – that a believer is authorized to make claims and to offer
an invitation that is not solely their own. This is what the chief priests and
elders cannot fathom about Jesus – “where is your authority coming from to do what you do and say what you say?” Jesus wants the religious folks to accept the amazing idea that God authorizes people
to share God’s love and to issue God’s teaching and warning with wisdom and care.
This is why he tells this wonderful parable that we can all understand. If we are religious people then we are saying that we believe in the living reality
of the free and independent and powerful Lord of heaven and earth. We are like
the son who says yes to the request to go and work for his father. Jesus says
to them and to us – but you hesitate, and you put it off, and often, the opportunity comes and goes and it is past. Then there are those who do not claim any status or title or membership who somehow
do the very thing that God is looking for. Jesus says that he has seen the tax
collectors and prostitutes succeeding at this God-given work – they are accepting and putting into practice this same
authority.
Jesus says it is about changing our minds and believing. An authorization
comes with this, and I am suggesting that this is what opens the way to evangelism.
Now, let’s do a little word study here. If you will look in your
bulletin at the sermon title, there is the word Evangelism. Now, with your fingers
cover up the first two letters – e,v – and then the last three letters – i,s,m. What word do you have left? Yes, angel. When we think “angel” we likely envision wings
and halos, we may have in mind that picture of the children being spared calamity by a guardian angel, or we may think of
Michael the fighting angel in the book of Daniel – but the main idea of angel is found in what the word means in its
original language of Greek – angel means “messenger”. The e,v in Greek is actually an e,u like the first letters of the word euphemism, eulogy – a
prefix that means good. So evangelism is the bringing of a good message –
it is telling the good message that we have to tell. In fact, in Greek the word
euangellion is translated one of two ways – either with the old English word, gospel, or the modern translation of the
term – good news. Evangelism means telling the message of the good news.
You might remember Charlie Brown as he tries to organize the Christmas pageant.
He is kind of bummed out by the lack of meaning characterized by Snoopy’s crass holiday decorations and he is
burdened by the distracted kids who will not cooperate with the rehearsal. He
is at his wit’s end when he cries out whether anyone can help him know what this is all about. And Linus, sensitive to Charlie Brown’s pain, walks to center stage and in the beam of the spotlight
says –
“And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were sore afraid. But the angel said to them, “Fear
not, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: for to you is born this day in the city of David
a savior who is Christ the Lord.”
This is an evangelical message
– an angel’s message – a message given by a human being out of care and compassion for another human being
– albeit, cartoon humans, but they stand in pretty well for the real thing.
One night a few years back I was doing some chore at home when the phone rang and I answered it. It was a high school class mate whom I had not talked to since my sophomore year in college. We bantered back and forth a bit, doing a very quick and cursory catching up. I was wondering why she had called when she began to tell me about how she had been in a serious car accident
only days before and had very narrowly escaped what would surely have been a mortal injury.
As I listened I realized that she had called me, half a continent away, because of all the people she knew in the world,
she was sure that I was someone who professed the Christian faith. And so I listened
intently. And I raised careful and caring questions. And I prayed with her over the phone. And I arranged to call
her again.
I think this has parallels to everyone in this room. At school, or at
work, or in your neighborhood or family, at some point someone is going to present themselves to you as my friend did. Because they know that you are a person of faith.
It may be someone you know well, or it may be a relative stranger. And
they may put their personal struggle to you directly, like Charlie Brown, or they may hem and haw and beat around the bush
like my classmate, causing you to figure out the mystery, but it happens all the time that people are looking for assurance,
not from you, but from the maker of their lives; assurance about the present and the future, and help with dealing with the
past. The very thing that Jesus entered the world to do.
And when you and I are in that place, where we have an opening and an opportunity, we are messengers. You are an angel, and you have the euangellion to share – the good news of the love of God revealed
in Jesus Christ. The evangelical message.
I know, you may be thinking – but what will I say? Should I have
a crib notes with five theories of the atonement and a tract with the plan of salvation printed on it?
I don’t know for certain, but I am guessing the tax collectors
and the prostitutes had none of these things. What you have is what Linus
had – even without the exact words – what you have is the message that has been spoken to your heart and that
fills you and strengthens you with the knowledge and assurance of God’s grace.
You may not have the perfect words, and you may not have the doctrines of the church down pat, but what you do have
is the love of Christ so that you may do what I think are the essential tasks of evangelism:
1. – Give assurance of God’s love and forgiveness and care: Jesus makes this available to everyone.
2. – Listen with acceptance and compassion, offer challenge that is appropriate, and offer to pray, if they wish,
and simply put all you have heard them say into your words.
3. – Invite them to come be part of the community of the church so that they can join themselves to Christ and
the church, or renew their faith in him.
The Christian writer D.T. Niles’ best known quote about our faith is this: “Christianity
is one beggar telling another where to find bread.” This is the evangelical
task – telling the good news with our own words and conviction. Or as St.
Francis of Assisi said, “Go into all the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and if necessary, use words.”
I think that is the beauty of the story in Exodus where the people are miserable in a harsh and endless wilderness. God provides water in the desert, but not without the assistance of human beings,
human agency so that the water comes to quench their thirst. This story is a
perfect metaphor for our calling to be messengers because we come into contact with people all the time who are struggling
in the wilderness places of their lives. They may have every material thing they
need, or not, but the common ground is thirst for God and for God’s way. We
carry the message in us. How can we not use our faith and our creativity and
our love to tell the message?
This is the most precious gift we have been given by God. At the heart
of Northminster this is what makes us who we are and this is what we are truly all about.
The best stewardship is found in sharing, and the most important thing we can share is the message, the good news of
God’s love revealed to us in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the message that is planted
in our hearts.
Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that is for all the people, to you
is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.
A couple of months ago I planned my schedule for preaching. I selected the scriptures for each Sunday and anticipating themes and emphases, put down a few initial
thoughts about the direction of the sermon. I knew that today was going to be
in the middle of our stewardship emphasis, and this was the Sunday I chose to talk about money.
Of course, none of us
knew that the nation’s financial problems would worsen. Is this a bad time
to talk about money? Often we avoid the topic that is most apparent when it is
right in front of us. Perhaps now is the very best time to talk about money.
When the Israelites were
in their wilderness time they came to the end of their provisions and they were hungry.
It seemed an insurmountable obstacle. The future lay before them but they
had no way to get there. The initial response to this problem was to start cutting
the program, look back to an earlier point at which basic needs were met, not matter how miserable they were. Their ability to hold onto their dream was linked to what they needed right then and there. And what did they do? Facing an insurmountable obstacle, they
complained to the Lord. They prayed. They
told God what they feared and what this meant concerning their hope. And they
were heard.
Maybe we are facing an
obstacle in this unpredictable economy. I know many people who depend on the
income from their investments must be sweating it out. People in business and
in not-for-profit businesses are feeling the pinch. A struggle for us in a society
that stresses self-sufficiency is doing what the Israelites did – and asking for help when it is needed.
I get the picture from
the Scripture passage that the Israelites were not real excited about quails and this fast dissolving bread-like substance. It was better than nothing, though. It
is something they wrote down and remembered in clear language to this day – that they asked and God provided.
What we may wrestle with
is that when we have finally been willing to ask – to ask with expectation – to then be able to receive what is
given and to trust that it will be enough.
When Anita and I were
students in seminary we worshipped at a little congregational church in Richmond. Our
minister was Ineke, a very forceful woman from the Netherlands. The church faced
a lot of challenges, but they had a habit of talking around their obstacles and not facing them. One of the church leaders told Ineke she should refer to the dollars in the offering plate as “resources”,
not “money”. “No,” she said, “it is money. Let’s call it what it is.” And
so, in all of her prayers of dedication for the offering, she thanked God for the offering of money. When the church was in need, she said the church needed money. When
it was time to assure commitments for the next year, she asked, “How much money will you promise to give the church
next year?”
A lesson Ineke taught: Let’s call it what it is. God,
we need money to go the next step in our journey together. God, your people need
to give money to the church for the coming year. Help us as we think about how
much money we will promise to give the church next year.
Even as I say that I
feel myself starting to tighten up. My hand feels the urge to move back and check
the location of my wallet.
Part of our struggle
is the money we have, the money we anticipate, and what we expect to be able to do with our money. We look over at other people and what they are doing with their money, or we are bombarded by the advertisers
who make us discontent with our lot in life, and think if only we had a little bit more money we could be faster, cooler,
and better looking. We wonder if we are getting a fair shake in this deal we
call life.
The workers in the parable Jesus told are a good study in human behavior. When the fellows who had worked for an hour get their pay first, after having come last to the master’s
vineyard, the folks who had been out there all day start seeing those dollar signs – surely they will get eight times
what these last workers get, surely they will be counted as more deserving than those who came late. Funny how what they agreed to and anticipated in the morning has been devalued. Not because the master is not good to his word, not because the master ripped them off – but because
it no longer appears fair.
There are lots of ways
to think about this parable. The fellows first hired kept getting additional
help all day. The task facing them at 9 am was qualitatively different at noon
because more people were there to work. And those folks hired at 5, remember,
they had spent the whole day waiting, hoping to get work, worrying about their families and all, but having nothing.
The way these two passages,
from Exodus and from Matthew, intersect and overlap is in the generosity of the one who is doing the providing – of
Manna and of work and money.
My father in law, Larry,
has been treasurer of his little church in Berea, Kentucky for years. He knows
what everyone gives and the role everyone plays in the life of that church. He
has stories of little old ladies on fixed incomes who give very generously to the church and quietly do their part in the
work of the church. He has stories, too, of landowning businessmen who give poorly
to the church but demand to be obeyed in matters of the business and policy in the church.
Larry holds his tongue, but it is a lesson to him about how believers in his church see their money differently –
some see it as a generous blessing from a loving God to be shared and used for God’s purposes; and some see it as their
own to be controlled by them and used as a tool to harness power.
The workers in the vineyard
who complain reveal an attitude that Jesus pointed out – an envy that can wreck the spirit and can harm others. A person could look at the devastation in our nation’s finances, and recognize
that most of us, the rank and file folk, have had no control over these things. Those
determined to get that bigger piece of pie than someone else have run the financial ship onto the rocks.
I like to imagine a different
ending of the parable, that some of those vineyard workers received their pay and looked out over the work they had done and
clapped their coworkers on the shoulder and said, “Hey, man, we did great work today, and now we have some money for
our families. God has been good to us today.” And they rejoice in the generosity of God to them and to the others they worked with. These workers faced an insurmountable obstacle, their own needs and no work to do, and it was God’s
grace that they finished the day with reason to be thankful.
In both cases, the Israelites
in the wilderness and the workers in the vineyard, what is important but almost unnamed is the other people who are present
who come together for God’s good purposes. Transcending envy and greed,
going beyond worry and fear about obstacles in the path, God’s people are together for something bigger than themselves. My father-in-law’s little church keeps plugging along – money continues
to be given to God’s glory and lives are nurtured and strengthened in that congregation.
The Congregational Church in Richmond eventually built a new sanctuary and entered a whole new life with Ineke holding
together their hopes and dreams with the insistence that money was God’s provision and their obligation to give.
Two things to beware
of: the Israelite’s fears that almost made them give up, and the destructive envy of the workers in the vineyard. And two things to hold onto: the courage of Moses and the Israelites to ask God for
what they needed, and the gratitude that should flow from lives blessed by the generosity of God.
To be the church –
to try to tell the good news of Jesus in worship and in our mission, to teach and learn, to keep up these buildings and grounds
and share them, to pay for minister, and educator, and music staff – it can seem like an insurmountable obstacle. God has been generous to us. We have
been given money to meet the needs of our lives. Surely God has given us money
enough to continue the journey of this church. This is the time for us to answer
the question, “how much money will we give to the church next year.” We
are in this together by God’s grace, and God will work wonders among us. Amen.
Two blocks east of Wrigley Field on Chicago’s North side is
the location of Lakeview Presbyterian Church. The sanctuary was built to hold
five hundred or more, but the congregation is more medium in size now – kind of like Northminster, so they have reconfigured
their sanctuary to both fit their worship numbers and to reflect their way of being the church. The pews have been turned so that instead of facing forward in rows, they more or less face in an almost
circular fashion toward the pulpit, table and baptismal font. The people can
see each other. The one Sunday I worshiped with them there was a baptism of a
young child. The font was located at the center of the space so that when the
action was happening, the family, the minister, and the child were literally surrounded by the community of the church. The emphasis was clear – you – baby, family, preacher – you are
part of us – and – clearly, it went the other way – you, congregation, are part of what is happening here
in this sacrament.
Something that is clear
in the Bible is that no one can be a believer in an individual sort of way. The
story of the Passover in Exodus is clear that though the power of God is at work to save the people, the meal, and the lamb,
and the blood on the doorpost to ward off the angel of death, these are not things that are meant just for me, or just for
my family, these are things that are shared among all the people so that no one is left out.
In the old Ten Commandments movie with Charlton Heston, the bad Hebrews in the story are the ones who neglect others
for their individual benefit – these stories show up in the book of Numbers. It
is clear that the real treasure at the heart of Israel is first, God, but other than God, the treasure is the people. The community of believers – it is true that they each make a difference for
the others.
Lately I heard a church
member tell how he was looking to be part of a group where he was accountable to others.
I thought that was very important, because it is easy in our culture to neglect that aspect of relationship –
of being responsible to and for others in a positive way. I think that is a way
that the culture has influenced the church negatively. Religious faith has become
so individual that the church twists itself this way and that to try to teach and guide and instruct
and worship in ways that do not intrude on an individual or challenge individuality.
The Bible is not so interested in rampant individuality – but in individuality within community. This is the teaching of Jesus we find in Matthew 18, applied to the church.
Nowadays if there is a rub between church members chances are someone is going to leave and either find another church
or quit church altogether, but it seems that Jesus is saying that this is actually an opportunity, that the community has
been brought together by God’s grace and so holding onto each other, being accountable in positive ways with each other,
provides a greater chance for growth and knowledge and wisdom and love. If we
turn each other loose – some heavenly blessing is lost – if we hold onto each other – something we do not
yet know will come to us. Because if we are gathered in Christ’s name –
Christ is there! Clearly it is in the community we experience Christ. You make a difference in me!
As we baptize young Cooper
Manuel today words are said that testify to accountability – his parents make promises and so do we to help Cooper know
the Lord and grow up in the Lord – promises that will be lived out in all kinds of ways – from Sunday School and
worship – but also in watching out for him on the playground and chatting him up and teasing him in loving ways and
supporting him in the wider community – being accountable to him and he to us.
Baptism is not just a check in a box for his life, it is a promise and a link between us and him and his family forever. Dare I say it, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but that is a Biblical
value. Cooper cannot say it but what we do today means that we make a difference
in him.
And this is the stewardship
angle. What if, on this important day for Cooper, there was just me and his parents
and extended family here? It would be meaningful, but a big piece would be missing. That you are here, another baptized person, testifies to the awesome truth of God’s
good creation of the church – the community of believers. You being here
makes a difference in everyone else who is here. We feel good when we come and
worship, but when we come and the pews are full, and the sound of many voices are joined in song, and there are numerous people
reaching and touching each other, a great hope is confirmed in all of us. This
is a matter of stewardship of time and energy and presence. When Jesus is confronted
by the Pharisees about the legality of paying taxes to Caesar he takes a Roman coin and asks whose image is on it. It belongs to Caesar, his image is there – so, he says, render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s
– but where is the image of God to be found? Not on a coin, not on a idol
or in a painting – Genesis teaches us that God’s image is in us. Jesus
says, render unto God what is God’s – our being here matters to one another in a way, admittedly, mysterious and
divine.
In the old southern Presbyterian
Church the membership certificates had a place to sign, to attest to your accountability to certain promises, one of which
stated, “I will be faithful in my attendance upon the services of the Church.”
In every aspect of the church’s life, our presence helps others – our merely being there offers an opportunity
that cannot be had if we are not there. Woody Allen’s great quote is true
– “Eighty per cent of success is showing up.” This is true
in worship, witness, service, prayer, support, friendship – your coming in the door increases the chances for everyone
else.
We think of stewardship
most often as money, and sometimes as time and talent, and we will talk of this things in the coming weeks – but presence,
your being present, it makes a difference to me. Each one of us being present
makes a difference for all the others. For where two or three are gathered in
his name – Christ is there among us. Amen.
People who attend church regularly may wonder about the very subtle
changes in the seasons of the church. The book mark on the pulpit is a different
color at different times; the name of the Sunday listed in the bulletin changes. You
may know that there are some high, holy seasons and days – Advent and Christmas, Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, Lent and
Holy Week and Easter, and Eastertide and Pentecost. These are the great and grand
days and extraordinary seasons of the Christian year reaching back nearly two thousand years.
If you will notice, though,
most of the church year is not extra-ordinary. Most of the church year is called
Ordinary Time. The color for Ordinary Time is green – earthy, natural,
growing. We live most of our lives in Ordinary Time. And this is good. Thank God for Ordinary Time!
The calendar of the church
year is called the liturgical calendar – because it directs the focus of our worship and devotion. The word liturgy means – the public work, or the peoples’ work.
So our Christian Calendar tells us what kind of work we ought to be about as worshipers. And it is clear, that most of our work and worship is not on the mountain top, nor is it down in the trenches. Most of our work and worship is Ordinary.
I wonder if Moses thought
of his life as ordinary. I wonder if he considered what kind of man he was and
what his life was going to become. Maybe he did not know what to make of his
adoption into Pharoah’s household; maybe he did not consider the significance of his being raised as a royal family
member despite being of Hebrew heritage; maybe he was conflicted in his heart and impassioned on behalf of his people; maybe
he did not realize how important his knowledge and experience of crossing the wilderness would be for his future. But all these things were in him, they lay in his heart and his memory.
They formed him for his work.
On this particular day,
Moses is doing ordinary work. He is a simple man, now, watching not his own flock,
but the flock of his wife’s father. And in the middle of an ordinary day,
the many pieces of his life are brought together in an experience of God.
A business man I knew
felt that his life was ordinary. Though he had a few powerfully impressive moments
in his life experience, his job was ordinary and his income sufficient. During
his early thirties, leaving his wife home with a couple of children, he went to Montreat for a Christian Men’s conference. And there, listening and praying and worshiping, he felt something move in him. He awoke in the night while there, and went out to stand on a porch while a powerful
thunderstorm moved through the valley – and he became convinced in his heart that God wanted him for a great work.
Has this happened to
you? Have you felt the Spirit of God move in your heart and life? It does not happen in the same way for all people. For some
there is a definable moment of transformation. For many others there is no great
sense of this, and many sense a deep assurance without question. Have you longed
to know that what you do has significance? That what you are about and your being
here matters in some way more than simple existence?
I don’t think this
is what Moses wanted. But as it turned out, Moses stumbled onto holy ground,
or perhaps, more accurately, God met Moses on his ordinary pathway.
The business man returned
home from Montreat. He tried to explain to his wife what had happened to him,
and she listened but could not picture why he was so urgent. Finally, he called
his minister and made an appointment. The minister read every year the denominational
letter that said to encourage people to consider the ministry as a vocation. Before
the man came the minister prayed and when the man came, this was his burning question – “Pastor, how do you know
if you are being called into the ministry?” The preacher asked him –
“What do you mean by ministry?” The man stopped and thought –
“Well, helping people, being a friend and a guide and using my abilities to strengthen others. Showing the love of God, teaching the love of Christ”
“Yes,” the preacher said, “I can see that you are moved to deep care. Can you tell me what has changed?”
“For the first time in my adult life,” he said, tears welling in his eyes,
“I believe that God is real.”
“Then give yourself a few days,” the preacher told him, “and see how
God is real in your life each day. See how you experience and acknowledge God
in your business, and among your peers, and with your family. There is time to
talk about whether preaching is your calling. But remember that from the moment
we are baptized as God’s own, we are called to ministry in all our experience and in all that we do.”
On the mountain God awakened
Moses to consider the plight of the Hebrews, and to recognize that God was deeply concerned about them. Moses began to understand that his experience and his passion for the Hebrews was connected to the great
concern of the eternal God.
Has this happened to
you? Have you recognized that God’s concerns and your experience have come
together? I know it has – I have heard you before. I heard the nurse tell how she helped a man who, sitting alone, waiting in a wheelchair, wet himself, and
was miserable. And though it was not her job, and he was not her responsibility,
that great call of dignity and concern moved her to help him. This is not just
nursing, this is ministry. I saw the business owner who saw that a student would
have to miss participating in a special and rigorous program because she could not pay for it.
Networking among a few others, the business person put together funds so that a young woman qualified by academics
and merit could participate even if she could not afford it. This business person
did not seek credit, but wanted to make a difference for young people. This is
more than business, more than civics, this is ministry. Think about it –
you have been moved to respond to a call that is from God. From the moment we
are baptized as God’s own we are called to ministry in all our experience and in all that we do.
Moses asks the question
we might all ask – “But, Who am I, that I should be called like this?”
Moses question was huge – who am I to go and deliver God’s message to Pharoah? Actually, he was the one perfectly prepared. We too might
ask – Who am I, an ordinary person in ordinary time, to even consider that God’s calling me, that God is working
in my ordinary work? It may be we are the one perfectly prepared, and certainly
available in the present moment. The answer for Moses was simple and the same
that is given to us. God said, “I will be with you.”
In our ordinary lives,
in our ordinary work, with our ordinary experience, God is with us which means the ordinary may become the extraordinary. Perhaps not in overt ways, with trumpets blaring and angels descending to confirm
that this is of God, but I think it echoes with what Paul tells us: let love
be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing
honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute
to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
In the ordinary we humble
ourselves before the interests and power of God. God’s concerns sweep us
up, being so much greater and broader than our own. Expecting this extraordinary
in our ordinary lives, we are guided by God’s hand and led by God’s calling to what ultimately are the best works
and acts for others, for ourselves, and for the will of almighty God.
Finally, Moses asks the
question that is right to ask of this power moving in our hearts and lives, that prompts us to be concerned and to take action
– “Who are you?” God is personal. Not a proposition in philosophy or only an idea captured on a page, but that One who is in our forming
and growing days and who gathers all our life together to bless us and redeem us and claim us and send us. “I am”, says God. God of your fathers and mothers
– God of your past – God forming the future – God of right now. God,
who gives and cares for the ordinary, and who comes to make extraordinary every human life.
Amen.
I have always been a radio listener.
Growing up in Lenoir I kept my dial to 1340 AM WJRI – pop music, news, local sports, morning local color. On Sunday morning early, though, mountain preaching.
One of the catch phrases
that came often over the airways was this, “Brothers and sisters, you better get right with God!” The preachers were ready to tell listeners the way to do this.
Now, you might think
that mountain preachers and folks in churches like ours would have little common ground, but actually, we meet in the same
place, even if we come from different angles, because the question behind mountain preaching and our preaching is the same,
“Who do we say that Jesus is?”
Here on Christian Education
Sunday I believe this is what we are trying to teach everyone – from the toddler to the senior citizen, to raise that
question wherever we are: “Who do we say Jesus is?”
It may seem that it is
simple enough to get this done. We may read the Bible and go to a study or two;
unfortunately, many complete confirmation class and believe this is graduation from Christian Education. Jesus asks his disciples the test question from the books – “Who do people say that the Son
of Man is?” And the answers given are scholarly kinds of answers –
relating to quotable citations, which is good, but then we must take what we know on the road to reveal “Who we say Jesus is.”
Simon Peter has an answer. Jesus points out – Peter’s answer did not come from a book or from
a teacher – it came from divine inspiration – God put it out there and Peter, bless him, picked it up. Jesus says, this is the foundation of the church, the inspiration of God and the faith of the people –
just like Simon Peter. The church’s authority is by the same route –
divine inspiration and the people’s faithful response.
There was a woman related
to someone who worked at our family hardware store who had terminal cancer. Her
doctor recommended that she use the services of hospice, to help she and her family with her final days. Her preacher was skeptical of such a thing – it sounded like religion gone scientific. So the folks at hospice invited him to come and see for himself.
He met with a preacher from a different Christian tradition than his own and together they argued and talked, and then
visited someone who was an acquaintance, who was in hospice care. The preacher
was there when the doctor came, and saw what the nurses did, but it seemed like a hospital to him, just with nicer furniture,
until his minister friend asked him if he would like to pray with this acquaintance.
So he stepped to the bedside, and took her hand, and the nurse in the room joined him, and the doctor also, and the
preacher prayed. And when he concluded there were words of thanks, and hands
extended to him, and love shown to the woman who was ill. He went back and told
his church member that he had seen what went on there, and that he thought she would benefit from it. It was a kind of Christian Education that transcended both the promise held by a doctoral degree and the
humility of an adult with an eighth grade education.
That is a moment that
draws the believer into hunger and thirst for the nourishment of scripture and readies us for the inspiration of the living
God.
There, in the intersection
of suffering we understand beyond words how Jesus has come to meet us and to stand with us, breaking the power of suffering
and death in the promise of eternal life. I have always found the presence of
a crucifix a Catholic hospital room an affirmation of the power of Jesus suffering for us and with us. He tells the disciples that this is what it means to be the messiah, to suffer the pains of this world,
and to die, so that the power of evil and suffering and death is overcome, and the experience of this things is redeemed it
wisdom and knowledge unavailable without them.
And this is where Peter
opens his mouth, and, I think, real Christian education begins. It is when Jesus
says what it means to be messiah, and Peter says, “No.” Peter says
that God’s messiah and the way of the messiah is unacceptable.
Martin Buber was a great
Rabbi and teacher who told the story of an angel in heaven who was appalled during a long period on earth when God stood by
while many people suffered. The angel grew restless, and one day while he tried
to sing he saw that God had noticed his confusion of heart. So called forth by
God’s mercy the angel came and begged God to place the administration of the earth in his hands for a year, so he might
lead the world to an era of well-being. The other angels were amazed at his audacity,
but God smiled, and God agreed to the angel’s request.
So a year of joy and
sweetness came to the earth. The angel poured out mercy on anguished children
and poor people. War ended and harvests the world over were incredibly abundant
so that new barns had to be built to hold all the produce. As winter’s
first snows began to fall the angel knew that all would be well for years to come.
But one cold day the
angel heard cries and groans coming from the earth. So disguising himself he
went among the people. When the people had ground the grain into flour and formed
loaves and baked them, once they were cooked the bread fell to pieces and tasted like clay in their mouths. Everywhere the angel went, this was the case, and the people lay on the floor pulling their hair and cursing
the coming of an empty and false blessing.
The angel collapsed at
God’s feet, crying to understand his lack of power and judgment.
God said there is a truth
that is deep and ancient – knowledge too delicate for one so sweet and generous as the angel – that the earth
must be nourished with decay and covered with its shadows that its seeds may bring forth fruit that endures – and so
the soul must be made fertile with flood and sorrow so that through them the great works may be born.
Peter is like the angel. Surely there must be a way, he intimates, a simple, clean and direct way to achieve
glory and blessing – a way to have what is valuable and eternal without cost.
“God forbid it, Lord,” Peter said, “This must never happen to you.”
Don’t we all want the beauty and the goodness, the benefits without any price of struggle. Jesus, fully human as we are, is he not tempted by the same way of thinking? But he knows, as surely as we know, because he has taught us and shown us, the illusion and the delusion
of finding blessing without cost – it will break into dust, and it will taste like dirt in our mouths – even with
its temporary satisfactions - it will not in the end bless us nor will it bless the world.
Yes, we want to avoid
pain and hardship – and we want to keep our children back from it. As a
friend of mine once said, “It is hard and a challenge for us to say, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’
It is nearly impossible for us, but we must still say of those we love, ‘Father, into your hands I commit their spirit!’” Still, despite our trepidation, we know how our lives are strengthened and shaped
by the struggles we endure. We have seen numerous stories from the Olympics of
those who found strength through failure and challenge. Christian history is
filled with those who were transformed through struggle. No, we would not choose
it, but as we come through struggle, bolstered by our faith, strengthened in rough time by our faith – we recognize
the awesome truth of blessing concealed within it. It is divine truth –
a great truth. To seek, at all costs, to avoid any struggle for our faith and
our life – as though this held better blessings through ease – is to set our minds on human things.
Christian Education is
the planting of the seed deep in the heart, to have at hand the tools we need to draw out in the day of challenge, and to
cling to God before the world, and to be able to say on every day, no matter what day it is, “This is the day that the
Lord has made – Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
This tells what it is
to lose our life for the sake of Christ’s way and how we set our minds on divine things.
We know way too much about saving our life – avoiding the right path because it is hard and unpopular –
and so we learn much about losing our life – discovering the wonderful treasure that lies hidden in the hard and rocky
ground we always avoid.
We mimic both of Peter’s
ways - saying with assurance – “Jesus is the messiah, the Son of
the Living God!” and yet discovering the cost of struggling to follow and to stay with Jesus.
Christian Education equips
us to choose Jesus again in all the seasons of life. His love and power support
us in our difficult days, and his love and power are the goal toward which we strive.
Choosing to follow him we come to that benediction at last – that flesh and blood have not revealed this to us
– but God, who loves us as a heavenly parent, has put this in our heart. Amen.
