Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew 9:9-13 

English Standard Version 

  For Caleb, there are two categories of bad food.  There's foods he doesn't like, and then there are vegetables.  The vegetables are a category unto themselves, they're that bad.

  I've always appreciated the way the Pharisees divide sinners -- you can be a sinner, and then the tax collectors are so bad that they get their own category!  Lumping them in with all the other sinners would give those sinners a bad reputation.  (Tax collectors were working for Rome, which was the invading army, so they were seen as traitors, and then they were often corrupt, so they worked for the occupying army and stole from their own people.)

  Despite this reputation, Jesus goes straight to the tax collectors and invites Matthew, a tax collector, to be his disciple.  With people like Matthew, Jesus formed a community that stretches around the world to this day.

  So let's not assume there is anyone beyond the reach and love and grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.  Not you, not me, not anyone.

Matthew 9:1-8

Matthew 9:1-8

English Standard Version 

  At a certain point, the disciples had to look at people bringing Jesus someone to heal and think it was just another run-of-the-mill healing.  There'd been so many healings, they likely seemed commonplace, which is crazy, right?  Miracles upon miracles, each a wonder to the one receiving it, and yet once you've seen 15 healings, they start to blend together, right?

  It reminds me a little of a comedian who pointed out how easily we begin to view the miraculous as mundane.  I forget who it is, but they talk about how we complain about the food when we fly, despite the fact that we're sitting in a chair, in the sky, going 500 mph.  It's really pretty amazing, but we take it for granted.  

  I think about the things I often complain about each day... and how easy it is to lose sight of the miraculous gift that each new day is.  It's a gift, a true gift, and I can walk into the world knowing that I am infinitely loved by the God who handcrafted the universe.  When this God saw us in a place of need, God reached down and healed the true hurt within us, forgiving us our sins and restoring us to new life in Christ. 

  Thanks be to God!

Sermon for August 29, 2021 (Mark 1:9-20)

Matthew 8:28-34

Matthew 8:28-34 

English Standard Version 

  The end of this passage always gets to me -- here is Jesus, able to restore men so fierce that people wouldn't even go near them, stronger than any force that has ever walked the face of the earth... and the people are afraid and beg him to leave.

  This is what happens when we lower our vision.  When we fix our eyes on heaven, we get the earth thrown in.  But when we focus on earth, we miss out on both, because we're so afraid of losing what we have, we are paralyzed in fear and anxiety.  Our treasures are slipping through our hands, through time or carelessness or enemies, and we can't stop them.  The townspeople only saw the disruption, they couldn't see the treasures.  They were staring at an old building that needed to be torn down, only they couldn't imagine what might go up in its place.

  When we look at our own hearts, may we trust the God who made them, that the longings for eternity held within them should be heeded.  Tim Keller talks about how we invite God in for lunch, thinking it'll be polite, and then God starts tearing down walls, because the shack we live in will be transformed into a mansion.  If we run in fear at the first sign of disruption, we miss out on the mansion.  But if we stay with the process, and endure the discomfort, we discover the marvelous love of God along the way.

Matthew 8:23-27

Matthew 8:23-27 

English Standard Version 

  This summer, we celebrated our 15th anniversary.  Due to COVID and some mild busy-ness at work, it wasn't the celebration we had planned, but it's fascinating to me to look back on the journey we've had over the past 15 years, and I also realize how little idea I truly had of what I was getting into.  We stood at the front of the church and made promises before one another, before family and friends, and before God, but we didn't know where the path would lead and what challenges we'd find along the way.  We've tackled these together, but on our wedding day, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but combining two lives and navigating day-to-day life is a far bigger puzzle than I thought it was going to be.

  When I read this passage, it makes me think how we often can't see far enough to know what things are really going to be like.  The disciples follow Jesus into the boat, but Jesus never tells them what the ride is going to be like.  When they discover there are storms in the midst of the sea, with waves threatening the boat's stability, they understandably panic and wake Jesus, certain of their impending death.  

  Some pastors sell their congregations on the idea that life with Jesus is meant to be calm and safe, but C.S. Lewis sums it up best in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:  "Safe?  Who said anything about safe?  Of course he isn't safe, but he's good."  God is trying to hand us eternal life, but the journey isn't always a midday stroll through a well-manicured park.  That doesn't mean that God doesn't love you or that God's providence isn't still around... it simply means that chaos still exists in the world, and we're walking through it, together, with the sort of man that the winds and the sea obey.  Perhaps we didn't realize how threatening the seas might be or how strong the winds could get, but you've still made the right choice.

  Who else would you rather be with?

Matthew 8:14-17

Matthew 8:14-17 

English Standard Version 

  It's easy to be self-centered.  We think about the world through the lens of how things impact us.  We look out for ourselves.  I wonder what percentage of pictures taken in the world every day are pictures of ourselves.  

  This passage has a tenderness to it -- Jesus sees a woman who is sick, and he takes her hand, and then she uses her freedom to serve.  It's the same thing Jesus uses his freedom for -- to serve the ones he loves.  Jesus takes it so far as to die on the cross for the ones that he loves.  Service is what happens when we are freed from worrying about ourselves and focus ourselves on those around us, and Jesus gives us that freedom.  

  It's a hard thing to think about ourselves less, but that's the invitation -- to go into the world looking for ways to serve one another, and to find delight in the chance to serve.

Matthew 8:5-13

Matthew 8:5-13 

English Standard Version 

  I receive emails from a group called Renovare, and one from Friday stood out, because it said that 'Jesus is always full of compassion but never overwhelmed by human suffering'.  

  That's a good place to be.  It's easy to get overwhelmed -- there's great suffering in Haiti, in Afghanistan, and 1,000 places in between, some of it caused by natural disaster, others by humans treating one another like we're less than fellow creatures made in the image of God.  I look at the loaves and fish that I carry, and I think there's no way that I'll be able to feed such a crowd.  In fact, I grow fearful and withdraw, for surely I'll be overwhelmed if I venture too far into the suffering.  What happens if I, too, become vulnerable, and lose what little security I've been desperately trying to gather?

  Jesus, full of compassion for me as well, comes and tries to show me the authority of God.  This centurion gets it -- he recognizes the divine power of Jesus.  He knows that to be under the authority of Jesus is the only safe place to be.  No one is isolated from suffering -- it just touches us in different ways and in different times, but we all experience it.  

  Let it be done for us as we have believed, that when we gather, people from north and south and east and west, we will gather with our brothers and sisters from Haiti and Afghanistan and Syria and Cameroon and we will sit at the table and feast, one with another, knowing that our suffering has past and our joys are here to stay.

Matthew 8:1-4

Matthew 8:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  When we pray the Lord's prayer, we say Thy will be done-- that's a hard, hard prayer to live out.  Someone once said that the trouble with the living sacrifice referenced in Romans 12 is that living sacrifices keep crawling off the altar.  We want God's will to be done in our lives, but we often only want that will to be done if it's in-line with our expectations and understandings.  We make deals with God, even if we don't admit it.  We tell God to do whatever God wants, as long as it's what we expect.

  The leper comes to God and asks, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

  We've all been sick before.  I've certainly spent my share of sick days, and I have asked God to heal me many a day.  I don't think I've ever given God an out like this before!

  The leper has complete trust in Jesus, even if he's not healed.  It reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace -- they're willing to go in and trust God's power, knowing God can save them even if God doesn't save them.  

  It's a hard thing to trust that God has the ultimate good in store for us, even if that means that in the short run, we might suffer.  May we strive for that kind of faith and trust in God!   

Sermon for August 22, 2021

Revelation 22:1-5

Revelation 22:1-5 

English Standard Version

  Parts of the book of Revelation are tough to read, for certain.  These parts, however, I think about a lot.  There's such elegant beauty in the way the descriptions are crafted, and I believe that it speaks to me, that it speaks to us, because we are made for eternity -- we are knit together with this reality woven into the fabric of our very beings, and so we know that it is the ultimate thing for which we strive.  We are drawn towards eternal light, and just as our eyes were made to receive the sunlight, by which we see, our souls were made to receive the eternal light of God, by which we truly see and are seen.

Acts 10:1-8

Acts 10:1-8 

English Standard Version 

  So Cornelius is a pretty good person -- he prays continuously, gives generously, and is overall pious.  If there was a man who could secure salvation for himself, this might be it.

  But what does Cornelius need?

  He needs to hear the Gospel.  Despite his goodness, he is lost without the Gospel, and so God intervenes to make it so Cornelius hears the Gospel.  

  This is great news for us.  It's a reminder that we are never good enough to save ourselves, but also a reminder that God intervenes to save us from our sin.  We are not hopeless -- we have our hope in Christ.  Our hope is not in our good works, however mighty they might be, but rather in the one who comes to save us.  

  No matter how good we may be, we can never be good enough, but we don't need to be -- we can rest in Christ, who loves us where we are, calls us to himself, and then sends us out into the world to tell the story of a God gracious enough to save everyone, even us!

Acts 6:1-7

Acts 6:1-7 

English Standard Version 

  Football season is back in full swing, with teams practicing and preparing for the season.  The good teams will assign players to roles based on their unique talents.  Some players will be naturally suited to the offensive and defensive lines, while others will play better as wide receivers or running backs.  A good team can discern which role fits which player best, and the team brings their diverse talents together to function together as a team.

  In ministry, there is a similar concept.  When the early church was trying to determine who would play what role, there were complaints that some widows weren't being served.  If everyone tries to do everything, then some people play to their strengths and some end up doing things that aren't their strengths.  Instead, the church functions better when people are assigned to the roles that they play best.  In this case, some were better suited to pray and proclaim the word, while others dedicated themselves to serving widows.  Each was dedicated to a different task of service, but their ministries looked very, very different.  Each was serving faithfully, but it's a good reminder not to judge when someone is serving in a different way than you might expect.  Let us celebrate our differences, that we come together to serve Christ's church.

Hebrews 10:19-25

Hebrews 10:19-25 

English Standard Version 

  The movement from old to new is astounding.  In the Old, only the high priest could enter the place where God was, behind the curtain in the temple.  In the New, Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to enter (with confidence!!) the holy places, because his own flesh was offered up to make a gateway possible for us.  Rather than the altar being sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificial animal, we are sprinkled clean through the waters of baptism.

  Therefore, because we're confident in God and what God has done, we encourage one another to live out acts of love and good works.  What Christ has done should change the way we live, the way we interact, the way we serve.  What Christ has done should change our outlooks, our mindsets, our hearts, our hopes.  Christ changes everything, and because God is faithful, we can live differently, filled with trust and joy.

Romans 14:5-9

Romans 14:5-9 

English Standard Version 

  It was, in so many ways, a tough weekend for the world.  Between Haiti and Afghanistan, it's amazing how quickly life can change.  We don't know what the future holds for either place, or for the people, but we can keep them in our prayers, and recognize that God is at work there.  It's easy to forget that, but God has assured us that we will never be forsaken or abandoned, and so we can trust that just as God is with us in the here and now, God is present and at work in Haiti and Afghanistan.  And our lives belong to God -- that's the great news upon which we can build our lives.  If we cling to life for life's sake, we'll one day be crushed.  But if we cling to the Lord, then whatever storms come our way in the world, we can know that we'll never be lost to God, for God abides with us in life and in death.  Those in Haiti and Afghanistan are also God's beloved creations, unique and wonderfully made, and so may we pray for them, for God's peace, and for hope to abide in those places.

Sermon about hell from August 15, 2021 (Matthew 10)

Mark 16:1-8

Mark 16:1-8 

English Standard Version 

  When the women are at the tomb, they aren't certain what is happening.  This is all new -- no one expects the resurrection, right?  

  The angel does something extraordinary, and sets an important precedent -- the angel invites the women to come and see the place where Jesus was.  The angel invites inspection.  The angel doesn't rush them out the door, anxious they'll discover the trap door that was hiding all along.  The angel gives them a chance to look for themselves, to learn and to think and believe.

  Find a church community that encourages big questions, that helps you learn what you believe and why you believe it.  Inspect your faith -- God is not afraid of our questions.  The beliefs of Christianity have withstood 2,000 years of questions.  There's a pretty decent chance someone else has asked a similar question.  Your pastor and community leaders may not have an answer, but they should be willing to help you find it.  

  See the place.  Then, once you have seen for yourself, go and tell.

2 Peter 3:11-13

2 Peter 3:11-13 

English Standard Version 

  Do you ever ask yourself that question:  What sort of person ought you to be, given that eternity awaits you and that there will one day be a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells?  

  We often go through life on autopilot, moving through checklists of things that seem urgent (some of them are, some of them probably aren't as urgent as we make them out to be).  Sometimes we don't stop and think about things on a bigger picture -- the Gospel should help us lift our eyes from our lists and look around, to see eternity that is held before us and the community of people around us.  If we're going to live forever with God, what sort of person ought you to be?

John 3:31-36

John 3:31-36 

English Standard Version 

  Great foods often hit multiple taste sensations.  They'll be both sweet and sour, or mix something spicy in where you didn't expect it.  It's richer because it's more robust.

  Jesus, as John is telling us, is the best of both worlds.  Jesus is from above, and so he is above all.  Jesus is also of the earth, and so he belongs to the earth and can relate to us.  It's an amazing combination -- and God takes on that combination for your sake, so we, who are constrained to earth, might catch a glimpse of heaven through the love of Christ.  

  When we look forward to the ultimate return of Christ, we know that heaven will descend and be joined with a renewed and restored earth, and the union of heaven and earth will create an amazing peace in which we will dwell in the fullness of God.  

John 3:22-30

John 3:22-30 

English Standard Version 

  John gets it -- we only get what we receive from heaven.  It's such a challenging thing for us to accept.  We want to build our own kingdoms, our own lives, our own legacies, thinking that if we work hard enough, then we'll finally be able to do what we've always set out to do.  Nothing is impossible if we work hard enough, right?

  John understands that what we receive is a blessing from heaven, and that these blessings are richer than anything we deserve or could earn on our own.  John understands that God wants to give us more than we can ask or imagine, that the love God is ready and willing to pour out is immensely more than what our minds can grasp.  In recognizing this, and knowing that God wants more for us than we can want for ourselves, John's joy is complete, and in humbly accepting this, John is able to decrease the attention on the self and increase his attention on Christ.

  In aiming for heaven, we get heaven, with earth thrown in.  May we direct our efforts wisely.

Sermon for August 8, 2021

A sermon on heaven and what happens after we die, based on 1 Corinthians 15.

 

John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21 

English Standard Version 

 

  I'm a big believer that the icing is the best part of a cake -- it's basically pure sugar, so it makes sense that it would be.  Kids understand this -- when picking a piece of cake, they always try and get a corner or some other piece with heaps of icing on it.  Some cakes can be disappointing when you work through the icing to the actual cake.

  When it comes to the Gospel, it's all rooted in love.  It's like icing, all the way through, with nothing underneath that might disappoint.  God doesn't have any ulterior motives.  We sometimes try and come up with complicated other reasons God might act the way God does, but it's all about love.  God desperately loves the world and people God created, and so God did the one thing that it would take to save the world, even at a great cost.  If we define the worth of something by the price someone is willing to pay, then we see that creation has ultimate worth to God, because God was willing to give up God's own Son, Jesus Christ.

  Such is the love that God has for you.  Believe it.  

Revelation 21:1-4

Revelation 21:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  One of the best people I've had the chance to know died Wednesday in a car accident.  He retired on June 30 after serving as the General Presbyter in East Tennessee.

  I've got nothing... simply devastating news.  

  Hug your loved ones.  Life is a gift.  Be careful about always living for the future... stop and enjoy the present.  We never truly know...

  And give thanks for the hope we have that is rooted in the Gospel, for one day there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more death.

John 3:9-15

John 3:9-15 

English Standard Version 

  Nicodemus is here asking the question we all have.  How can this be?

  Sometimes I think about the things we believe, about how audacious and bold they are, and how some of them contradict what we see with our earthly vision.  It takes a lot to believe that a man died on a cross and walked out of a tomb three days later, and that this same man ascended to heaven and has made it possible for us to join him after we die.  

  How can this be?  

  What Jesus is telling Nicodemus, and what Jesus is telling us, is that this didn't happen in isolation.  God has been at work through the Israelites for centuries, and Jesus is a part of God's ongoing work of salvation in the world.  We don't ignore everything else that happens in history and in Scripture -- no, we look to it and see how it is interwoven with the story of Christ, and how Christ makes things clear and is the confirmation of what God has been pointing to all this time.

  How can this be?

  Because the pages of history are pointing to Christ.  And all of creation will one day praise his name.

John 3:3-8

John 3:3-8 

English Standard Version

  What if baseball players started playing according to football rules?  Or you decided to fly to England and drive based on US rules instead of English rules?  There'd be chaos, right?  It's hard to use rules that aren't set for certain circumstances.

  When we think of God's Kingdom, we have to focus on a different set of rules.  In God's Kingdom, things look different, and as long as we try and live in God's Kingdom according to human rules and power relations, it will be a struggle.  We grow up accustomed to the idea that the strong must win and that wealth defines worth, and yet Jesus comes along and teaches us something different.  Jesus teaches us that we need to start over, that life, true life, goes by a different set of rules.  It's hard to wrap our minds and lives around, and yet it's a lifetime's worth of effort, good effort, that brings us slowly into alignment with God's Kingdom.  

  Thy Kingdom come, we pray, into our hearts and minds and lives.

John 3:1-2

John 3:1-2 

English Standard Version 

  I've always admired Nicodemus.  He was brave enough to come to Jesus, even if he had to come by night, and tell him what was on his heart, that the things he had seen had led him to a certain conclusion, even if Nicodemus didn't fully understand everything he had witnessed.  There was enough of a strand for him to follow, and so he let it lead him to Jesus.

  Are we brave enough to be completely honest with God?  It's easy to go to God and pretend you've got it all together.  I do it all the time.  I pretend that I can fool the God who crafted me in my mother's womb, who knit together my inward parts, who whispered my name before the mountains were drawn from the sea.  I convince myself that if I pray my prayers right, then it won't matter that parts of my life may be falling apart or that I've got huge questions with no answers.  Maybe God won't look behind this curtain over here...

  God can handle our big questions, our failures, our joys and our sorrows.  God stands at the door and knocks, longing to come in and eat with us.  I like to imagine a conversation that ranges from the pure delight at the wonder of good food to the deepest disappointments of my life to the greatest wonder and beauty that I have experienced.  God knows all, and God loves us just the same, coming to us in love and grace.  

  So let us come to God with everything, even if it's by night with questions or a confession that may not be fully formed.  That's ok -- we come to Christ and find a love greater than we thought possible.

1 Timothy 6:17-21

1 Timothy 6:17-21 

English Standard Version

  Modernity so closely associates wealth with financial resources.  To be rich seems to almost always means to have a lot of money.  It may also include a large house and a fancy car, but those are often simply evidence of deep pockets.  Anymore, it may also include funding a spaceship, but that's a relatively new phenomenon.  

  2,000 years ago, Paul paints a much deeper picture of wealth.  Paul tells Timothy to look at the people in the church, and if there are people who have a lot of money, Timothy is to instruct them to invest their lives in doing good, so that they may be rich in good works.  Their wealth will come not from their money but from actions that benefit others.  In their generosity and willingness to share, they will discover treasures previously unknown, and then true life will become apparent through service to others.  They will be wealthy beyond compare, but not because of their money, but because of their service, which may (or may not) be enabled by money.  

  I deeply wish we had such a mature and nuanced view of wealth today.  Imagine a magazine based on the lives of the wealthy that contained only stories of the good works they were doing, and the magazine didn't limit itself to people of great financial resources, but rather simply focused on the people who were most invested in serving others, and that these were the lives to be emulated.  Imagine that our celebrities were not the people most skilled at publicizing themselves, but rather the people most able to elevate others.  Imagine that our news stories were filled with inspiring stories of service rather than selfishness.  

  This is the image that Timothy is charged to cultivate in the church, and it's one for us to contemplate as well.

Sermon for August 1, 2021 (Matthew 15:32-39)