Daniel 3:26-30

Daniel 3:26-30 

English Standard Version 

  I was driving home yesterday afternoon and noticed that there are still piles of snow in parking lots where snowplows piled up the snow.  The snow in most places, where it wasn't piled up, is long gone, but in places where there was lots of snow piled together, some of that remains.  

  It made me think of Shadrach and his friends.  On their own, isolated from their religious community, it's tough to survive.  But the power of God was with them, even in the fire, and so they were able to endure.  They weren't alone, and so they could survive the heat.  

  When I think of the Ukrainian church, how can the global church connect with them?  How can we support them?  How can we remind them that the Holy Spirit is still at work, and through the power of God, they will be able to endure what might otherwise be unendurable, because they are not alone?  May the Spirit make us one with our brothers and sisters in every time and place, that we may be knit together as one body, one community, serving and praising God together.

Sermon for Sunday, February 27, 2022 -- Mark 5

Daniel 3:19-25

Daniel 3:19-25 

English Standard Version 

  Oh, the best laid plans do not always go as planned, do they?  Here is the King, thinking that he is the most powerful being around, thinking that everything is under his control, with his fiery furnace so hot that the men throwing the others into the fire are consumed by the heat.  Here is the King, demonstrating that no one shall resist his orders and live... and he looks into the furnace and sees a fourth man, like the son of the gods, walking around.  

  That'll make you realize that perhaps you're not the most powerful person in the room, right?

  God is always with us, but sometimes it is only in the furnaces of life, in the deepest trials we endure, that we fully see the presence of God with us.  I don't know why that is, but Nebuchadnezzar realized it here, and we all find it at some point -- that we aren't on our own when we end up in the furnace, but Jesus is there, and his glory is with us, and though the fires rage, we shall not be hurt, because our king is with us.

Daniel 3:13-18

Daniel 3:13-18

English Standard Version 

  One of my favorite parts in the entire Bible is right here -- Shadrach and friends know their fate has been determined.  Because they're unwilling to worship a false god, they're going to be case into the furnace.  The temptation was to compromise, but they're entirely uninterested in giving any part of their souls over to worship of a false god, no matter how small or mindless the act would have been.  Oh that we are all granted such courageous hearts!

  What they say to the King is indicative of where their true treasure lies, their complete trust in God, and their perspective on eternity.  They tell the King that God can save them with no doubts at all.  But the choice to save them is God's, and God alone has that choice.  They know they cannot force God's hand, but that doesn't change their behavior.  Even if God doesn't save them, they say, they're unwilling to change their behavior.  Just because God doesn't choose to save them from the furnace doesn't mean that God isn't God and worthy of our worship and praise.  It merely means that God had plans bigger than what they could see in the moment.  

  God, grant that we may have the same perspective, the same trust, to know that even when our most desperate prayers go unanswered, that we believe that God is still God and we are still in God's hands!  

Daniel 3:8-12

Daniel 3:8-12 English Standard Version 

  I think it was St. Augustine that talked about how our hearts have disordered loves -- we love the wrong things too much and the right things too little.  If we made a list of the things we really thought about, we dreamed about, we pursued, and we did so with complete self-honesty, we'd discover that things are a bit out of order on that list.

  What I so appreciate about this story is that Shadrach and friends lived in such a way that everyone knew they weren't worshipping this false god.  It was clear what they loved most of all, and others were jealous of that.  

  I'd love to live in this way -- where everyone knew my priorities, whether they liked it or not, and my priorities were in line with what they should be!  May we all strive for such lives, and may we get a little bit closer, day by day!

Daniel 1:8-15

Daniel 1:8-15 

English Standard Version 

  This is surely one of the most applicable Bible passages for everyday life, right?  If you eat vegetables and water, then you'll be better in appearance than everyone else, right?  

  It doesn't exactly work that way for us all the time, but it's a great story.  Daniel and friends are determined not to bow the knee before any false gods by eating the food sacrificed to idols, and so God creates a path forward, by miraculously strengthening them despite only eating vegetables and water.  This is but one small step on their journey in faith.

  God's always preparing us for something bigger.  That's the promise of Scripture -- until we reach the garden at the end of Revelation, there is always something bigger to prepare for, even when God is doing something miraculous.  So may we keep our eyes fixed forward, even when God is doing something miraculous in our midst, and know God is at work now and into the future. 

Daniel 1:3-7

Daniel 1:3-7 

English Standard Version 

  Here we are with the changing of names.  We see God doing this to Abram (Abraham), Simon (Peter), and Saul (Paul), signifying a new identity.  Here, they're attempting to do this to Daniel and his friends, trying to change their identity from Jews into something new, something different, something foreign.  They eat the food the king eats, which has been offered to false gods, and they're to be educated in foreign ways.  The King of Babylon is trying to water down the culture of the Jews, changing them to be like everyone else.

  It's a fine line we walk as part of culture.  We engage with culture and we learn how to be in it, but we always have to hold on to who we are.  We cannot give ourselves over completely to culture and lose our grounding in faith.  We always walk as a people of faith in the midst of the world, letting the light of Christ shine in us and through us.  We should be able to think critically about culture, to recognize the good and the bad, and be a thoughtful influence in the world around us.  We can excel and succeed, but always led by faith first.

  

Isaiah 52:7-10

Isaiah 52:7-10 

English Standard Version 

  What are you waiting for?

  In some way, we're all waiting for something, be it someone or some event or some gift or some promotion.  We're all waiting for something, and we invest countless hours thinking about how receiving that thing will change our lives.  We spend much of our lives waiting, and it's so easy to invest so deeply in what we're waiting for that we can miss out on our current lives!

  In the meantime, we're also waiting for God's Kingdom to come in fullness, and as we wait, we do so with such anticipation, such joy, that it should enrich our lives now, because it's active waiting.  The joy we have in knowing that God's Kingdom will come, the confidence in knowing that all things will be set right, should prevent us from despair and give us hope that we can share, knowledge that we don't have to cling to what we have but can rather spread our blessings to others.  The hope we have as we wait for the good news allows us to spread the good news while we wait!

  As we wait, we can break forth into singing now, that the world may be enriched as we wait, as we love, as we serve.

Proverbs 8:1-3

Proverbs 8:1-3 

English Standard Version 

  Wisdom is calling.

  Many other things are shouting aloud as well.

  What part of your life is quiet enough to hear wisdom's voice?

Sermon for February 13, 2022 on Mark 5

Proverbs 3:1-4

Proverbs 3:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  May the steadfast love and faithfulness of God stay with you this and every day -- the closer we keep them to us, the better our lives go.  We often forget them, but they're still with us.  Just imagine if we could spend every day with a consistent awareness of the in depth love of God!  How that would transform us!  Instead, we get distracted, going this way and that, forgetting all about the love of God, when that is the most constant thing in our lives, now and forevermore!

1 Peter 5:6-11

1 Peter 5:6-11 

English Standard Version 

  How much of a difference does it make for you today to know that God cares for you?  Peter is telling the church that it should enable us to cast our cares upon God.  Augustine tells us that our loves are disordered, and so many of our anxieties are driven by the fact that we love some things too much, turning good things into ultimate things, and then we get anxious about these things because we believe them to be ultimate things.  But when we put God in God's rightful place, by resisting the calls of the devil to make other things our ultimate God, then we're less anxious and more focused on God and God's Kingdom, which in turn leads us to love one another with the time we have on this planet.

1 Peter 5:1-5

1 Peter 5:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  Having children, I often find myself telling them what to do.  Sometimes, it's a reminder to practice basic hygiene, while other times it is a reminder to do homework.  They're still learning basic tasks, and we try and help them understand why they do these things now so that when they're older, they'll do them on their own.

  The same is true of faith.  As we start our journey in faith, we look for direction as we understand the Gospel.  But as the Gospel settles into our hearts and we grasp the wondrous thing Christ has done for us, we no longer need to be told -- we serve God and others willingly, because we see what God has done.  And if God has done everything for us, then we should naturally serve God with gratitude and praise in return!  We have been given every good gift, and we do everything in our power to rejoice, to celebrate, to serve, and to love!

1 Peter 4:12-19

1 Peter 4:12-19 

English Standard Version 

  For the record, no one ever posts 1 Peter 4:12 as a sign for their church growth campaign!  Rejoice in your fiery trials!  The church has been avoiding that message for some years now.  We try and keep suffering at an arm's length, for understandable reasons!

  But suffering is a part of life.  And if your faith doesn't prepare you for suffering, then I believe the church has done individuals a disservice.  If we believe that a comfortable life is evidence of God's favor, then suffering shatters that illusion and leaves us in pieces, which is a shame, because we're all going to suffer at some point.  

  But if our faith points out that suffering is a part of life, and that God loves us enough to enter into our world and suffer on our behalf, that's something different entirely.  Then suffering isn't a sign of God's displeasure.  Suffering is simply the remains of something that is wrong with life, but that God is trying to set right!

  Jesus lived the perfect life, and he suffered more than anyone else has ever suffered.  So we can't say that we don't deserve suffering.  But we can say that suffering is not the end of us, because of the suffering that Christ did on our behalf.  In that, we can rejoice!

1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Peter 4:7-11 

English Standard Version 

 What would you do if you knew the world was going to end in a week?  Or a month?  

  In the early church, there was a sense of anticipation that the world could end any day, that Christ would return and bring an end to all things.  Over the last 2,000 years, we've certainly and understandably lost some of that sense of urgency.  While it doesn't seem like Christ will return any day, we are wise to remember that we have no guarantees for tomorrow.  

  I suspect that if you took a survey around the world about what people would do if they knew the world would end, you'd get a wide, wide range of answers.  Peter's advice, however, is to embrace the community in love, so that you spend your last hours, however many you may have, in service.  In a way, you're preparing for eternity.  When we think of the Kingdom of God as a place where there is nothing but selfless love devoted to the larger community, then how we live on earth should be practicing for this eternity.  When we use our gifts in service to one another, then we are preparing ourselves for our eternal lives, living into the Kingdom of God while we're here on earth. 

Sermon on Mark 4 for February 6, 2022

1 Peter 3:18-22

1 Peter 3:18-22 

English Standard Version 

  There's a few things going on here -- the Bible is great in that way, in that it's often operating at different levels.  It speaks to us in human terms, teaching us how to live among one another in peace, with grace -- this is the horizontal aspect.  It also helps us understand how we relate to God -- this is the vertical aspect.  As with everything in the Bible, these two aspects intersect most fully at the cross, where Jesus' perfect humanity and the fullness of his divinity combine to make him the one perfect sacrifice that enables him to bring us to God -- his human death brought us to life.

  Peter also talks about Jesus going and proclaiming to the spirits in prison, referring to those who have died beforehand.  You may have a lot of questions here.  I, also, have some questions.  You may wonder exactly what happened.  I, too, wonder what happened.  I don't have a good answer.  I don't know that we do.  But what we can say is that Jesus' sacrificial death is likely far more dynamic than we can understand.  Death is tearing apart the fabric of creation, and God is working to sew those back together, to restore us to life, and perhaps that works in many different directions and likely in ways we don't fully understand.  

  I don't know what happened, but I give thanks that we worship a God who makes the effort to save, to liberate, to bring us into the same heaven where we were formerly unworthy to go!

1 Peter 3:13-17

1 Peter 3:13-17 

English Standard Version 

  This makes me think of Superman's fortress of solitude.  I don't remember the details, but I grew up on Christopher Reeve as Superman and remember him visiting the fortress of solitude, a safe and quiet place.  Peter is sort of urging us to have the same thing in the center of our being, formed out of the knowledge that we are loved and protected by God.  When we truly believe that the only thing death can do to us is make us better, and when we pair that with the knowledge that we are ultimately loved by the God who created the universe and holds all things together in God's powerful right hand, then we need not fear the storms that rage and the winds that howl and the things that go bump in the night.  

1 Peter 3:8-12

1 Peter 3:8-12 

English Standard Version 

  I deeply wish every single politician in this country would read this section of Peter's letter.  We all read the words 'Do not repay evil for evil' and think, "As soon as [insert opponent here] does that, then I'll back down."  Peter is telling his listeners (and us) to take the first step.  Concede something graciously, even to your most strident opponent.  When tempted to do evil, because they probably deserve it or because they did it first or because it's Wednesday or whatever, bless.  Let us lead one another away from evil by walking away from it first. 

  Yes, it's incredibly risky.  Yes, you might not 'win'.  But that's not the point.  There aren't any trophies given away for being the one to sustain a grudge match the longest.  Let us be gracious to a fault, not afraid of losing face because the God who created the universe already loves you with all the love that can be.  This God cannot and will not think less of you, and by taking the first step in grace, perhaps we can invite someone else to take a look at the love of God working in and through us.

1 Peter 2:18-25

1 Peter 2:18-25 

English Standard Version 

  Isn't it interesting that Paul is writing to a congregation that includes servants as well as those who are wealthy?  The church brought people together from every facet of life.  We should ensure the church continues to be a place where people from every walk of life are welcome.  

  I don't envy Paul.  The Gospels are written in such a way that they're easily presented to a general audience.  They present a summation of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, with the focus on presenting the truth of the matter.

  When it comes to Paul, he is writing letters to specific congregations about specific things.  He's addressing certain controversies and is intimately aware of the details of the situation, and he's speaking directly to that.  There's so much we don't see, and we miss much of the nuance, because we don't understand the culture as well.

  Regarding Paul's words on servants, I think we have to be careful to listen to what Paul is saying to us today.  I do think in other places Paul makes slavery untenable, for he calls all parties to treat one another with selfless love, which makes the thought of owning another human being impossible.  When we look into the Gospel and begin to see how we fall short, and yet are loved, it's impossible to mistreat another person, because we know that despite our failings, we are loved and welcomed with grace.  Should we not then treat one another with infinite love, grace, and patience?  There simply isn't room to mistreat or abuse another when we have grasped the fullness of the Gospel, and all we can do is occupy ourselves with selflessly serving one another.