Pentecost Sunday
Acts2:1-21;Ps.104:25-35,37; Rom 8:14-17; John 14:8-17
May 25, 1969 "But You Know Him" John 14:15-21 Confirmation
It's not what you know but who you know that counts.
It makes a difference - knowing Jesus - it really does!
It makes a difference in what we see when we look around. For we see only what we are prepared to see. Faith is a great perspective for life. To know Jesus is to be able to see His hand at work in the affairs of life around us. It is to see Jesus with us in the good times and the bad. It is to know I will never be alone nor will I ever be forsaken by a God who loves me so much.
Who you know determine who you are. "You know him, even the spirit of truth who remains with you and lives in you."
Let this determine who you will be!
Trinity Sunday
Prov. 8:1-4,22-31; Ps 8; Rom 5:1-5;John 16:12-15
June 1, 1980 "Guide You Into The Truth"
When I go fishing in Canada I want a guide with me but I do not want the guide fishing for me. Even if Iose the big one.
Life is like fishing - we often need a guide but the guide cannot live for us.
Truth is something we discover in the process of living. We learn truth as we live.
We have to experience what we know before we can know it. We have to be vulnerable to make discovery.
The Holy Spirit guides us into the truth of life lived in God's name, confessing Jesus as Lord. As we go we discover what it all means - and it is far beyond our wildest imagination.
Pentecost 2
Prov. 8:1-4,22-31; Ps 8; Rom 5:1-5;John 16:12-15
Aug 14, 1966 "Empowered To Love" (Was Trinity 10)
Before it is possible for us to truly love God, it is necessary for us to experience the love of God. Simon was not aware of his need for forgiveness; thus he was not able to be forgiving. The woman was - and could. What ever love he might have had was self-generated; hers was forgiveness generated. To be loved is to be forgiven. To be forgiven is to be able to love, beyond human imagination.
June 22, 1980
It is the nature of God to forgive, not to condemn. To accept, rather then dismiss. To reconcile, rather than reject. God forgives first - as much as needed - grace sufficient to cover what ever sins - then waits for something beautiful to happen. Those who are forgiven much (and know it) will love much ( and show it).
It is not moral perfection which pleases God - perfection which creates an attitude of condemnation rather then compassion. It is being forgiven much which pleases God, for then our lives will make a difference and the Kingdom of God will come - through us!
June 19, 1983
Two stories about forgiveness: David and the Woman at Simons house.
Simon reminds us that we are as guilty as the next person - even the worst person.
David reminds us that we can never forget the bad which happens because of our sin - which others have to bear. To be forgiven is to know we have sinned - much. To be forgiven is to be opened up to love - much. To be forgiven is to remember - and hurt because of what our sins did - but not without hope. It is to also not forget how much we
have been forgiven!
July 5, 1992 "Love Rooted In Forgiveness" (Was Pentecost 4th after)
Without forgiveness, nothing can make us happy, (OT Lesson)
With forgiveness, nothing can keep us from being happy, (Gospel)
As King David thought he had a right to Bathsheba. He took her.
We do the same, living by our "rights" rather then seeing all of life - including our rights - as a gift. A gift to be received and a gift to be given. We as a nation need to hear this!
A forgiven person (gospel) is a happy person who does crazy things to express great love and gratitude.
June 5, 1983 ( alternate text: Luke 7:1-10) " A Miracle Of Faith"
This is a story primarily about faith, not faith healing. It is an example of someone from
the outside whose faith put the shame those on the inside. He was a Roman, a centurion, yet a sensitive man who was open to the mystery and miracles of life. He cares about his slave enough to go to Jesus to see if something might happen which could be called nothing short of a miracle.
Such faith is a miracle!
He presents his case and Jesus is impressed. Impressed by his honesty, compassion and faith. Jesus commends the man for his faith and does as he requests. It is a miracle of healing which points to faith as that which is to be remembered and duplicated. A strong faith which is open to miracles and leaves room in life for the mysterious presence of a loving God.
Sept 13, 1964 "God Has Visited His People" Luke 7:16, was Trinity 16)
It is no small thing to say and believe that God has visited his people. It means God reveals who God is; we believe as God is, not as we would have God be. It is no small thing to say Jesus is God; it is with fear and awe that we say such a thing.
Faith is not a matter of understanding God; it is a matter of recognizing my need for God, and then recognizing the God I need - who has revealed himself in Jesus. Faith is not a possession; it is a possessor. It is, as P.T. Forsythe so ably describes lit, "A power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of life."
Oct 3, 1965 "God Has Visited His People" (Luke 7:11-17, was Trinity 16)
The secret of resolving the dilemma of death lies in faith; in daring to believe the message and promise which God has made to us in the face of death - fear not! The gift of God is life; the enemy of life is death; the gift of God is victory over death through Jesus Christ.
Sept 26, 1971 "Touching and Trusting" (Luke 7:11-16, was Trinity 16)
God cares about people; all people. God touches us with healing grace and trusts us to live as a child of grace. Touch is so important in our lives; as is trust. There is no better way to commmunicate caring then to touch. It is a beautiful thing to be touched.
It also is beautiful and powerful to be trusted. Youth once said,
"If you don't have trust you don't have anything."
June 4, 1989 "No Human Invention" Luke 7:11-24 (was 3rd of Pentecost)
We didn't invent God. God created us, and God comes to us in the mystery of revelation, in the mystery of grace present in Word, Sacraments, and people.
The only thing which keeps God our of our lives is US. Our egos, wills, pride.
Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. In is the source of all true art and science. ( We can add religion.) He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and be rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."
Einstein also said, religion " consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding can comprehend of reality."
God's promise is that He will wait us out, and come to us for the awesome truth is, God cares about us and tries His hardest to intervene in our live with the miracle of a love which never dies and a dazzling grace which always is!
June 21, 1992 "All Are Welcome: Luke 7:1-10
Jesus came with what sounded like a different Gospel then what the Israelites heard and knew. No one is excluded! (Acts 10:35)
Grace is always unmerited and undeserved. Mercy is not getting what I deserve. Grace is getting what I don't deserve.
God is a God of grace who does and will and won't stop until He can - love us all!
Pentecost 3
Pentecost 4
I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Ps 16; Gal 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62
July 10, 1977 "Follow Me"
Discipleship is following Jesus. He calls, we follow.
Nothing can stand in the way of our commitment to follow Him.
No conditions to our following; just trusting that he knows the way.
July 6, 1980
Single minded devotion is demanded of those who would be disciples of Jesus.
this is not narrow mindedness, which leads to judgment and condemnation rather then understanding and compassion. This is to be servants of one another through love.
To trust one another and trust the spirit of Christ., and walk in love.
June 29, 1986 "Free To Love"
Hans Kung: "True religiousness, in whatever faith, functions not to enslave but to free, not to injure but to heal, not to destabilize but to stabilize."
True religion lives by grace which sets people free. Free to be who we are. Free to struggle with our purpose in life. Free to choose without fear of reprisal, yet with responsibility for our choices. Free to live knowing that I will always be loved, and also knowing that I have to choose how I am going to use my freedom - as an excuse to indulge in self-gratification at the expense of others, as a license to destroy myself and others, or as an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself, to love as I have been loved!
Free to do good to all people! That's what freedom in Christ is all about.
For "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against such things." Gal. 5:22,23
And there is no stopping those who live by the spirit!
June 25, 1989
We are called to total allegiance, but not blind allegiance in the call to discipleship.
Ollie North was guilty of blind allegiance; as was Nazi Germany. A man who supervised
Ollie North in the Marine Corps said, "Ollie North needed boundaries set every month."
What are our boundaries for our call to discipleship?
1. We are not to call down damnation on anyone.
2. We are not just to talk the talk, but walk the walk.
3. We are not to get stuck with the dead. Life is a gift. Live it to the better end.
4. Don't look back; let go and press on. "god will know how to draw glory even from our faults." p. 208, Daily Prayers
July 19, 1992 "Following Jesus"
Whatever else it means to follow Jesus, it is a radical departure from what has been to what is yet to be, and it is an all consuming adventure which is full of uncertainty, vulnerability and openness to God's surprises as they come upon us at the most unexpected moments, in unconventional ways and ask us to be ready to " proclaim the Kingdom of God" in the very essence of our being.
It means being a servant, a steward, a slave. We cannot do it our way - we have to do it His way. We cannot consume one another, we are to serve one another in love. "through love become slaves to one another". cf Douglas John Hall, The Steward, pp.255-257
Pentecost 5
Is.66:10-14;Ps66:1-8; Gal6:(1-6)7-16;Luke10:1-11,16-20
March 6, 1966 "Our Reason For Joy"
Joy is a central theme in the Bible. Look up the word in a concordance; the Bible abounds with joy. It is also the keynote of the Christian faith, the heart beat of the Christian life.
A lady once said to me, "You can't be a Pastor; you smile too much." There is a lot to smile about when "our hearts leap for joy!" (Lk 6:23)
This joy comes not by our own doing - we don't create it.
It comes by God's doing - it is a gift! A gift of grace.
We rejoice knowing that our :"names are written in heaven."
Repentance is the joy of returning home.
Suffering ends in joy, for we can be defeated but not destroyed.
Discipleship becomes a joyful duty, serving long and hard in the kingdom labor force.
Life takes on a different perspective as we dare believe that God is for us, not against us,
and "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. " Rom 8:38
This is our reason for joy!
Jan 22, 1967 "Pray Therefore...Send Laborers" (Evangelism Sunday)
There is no question about the need; the harvest is plentiful. There is no question about the importance of prayer as a part of the task; the question is, who are the laborers we are praying might be sent out?
Praying was never meant to be a substitute for doing. It is "me" who is to "go"!
To pray for the harvest is to pray that I might be one of the laborers sent out to struggle in the hart of the day whit the task of reaping the harvest. This is a dangerous prayer for we might be caught up in the answer.
George Eliot in his poem "Stradivarius" puts it this way:
"This God gives the skill
But not without men's hands;
He could not make Antonio Stradivarius violins
Without Antonio."
Feb. 27, 1972 "Rejoice For The Right Reason"
Do not rejoice in what you are able to do, even in Jesus name. Rejoice rather in what has been done for you - by sheer grace your name is written in heaven!
We are not saved because we believe so strongly;
We are not saved because we are religious;
we are not saved because of who we are;
we are not saved because of what we do for Jesus;
we are saved "by grace through faith, it is not our own doing; it is the gift of God-not the result of works, so that no one may boast." Eph 2:8,9
Rejoice not in what you can do; rejoice for the right reason - rejoice in what has been done for you - by grace your name is written in heaven!
July 21, 1974
It would be easy to hear these words as permission to judge others. This would be to hear the wrong thing. What it says is that unless the Gospel becomes human it cannot be divine; it cannot truly give hope. No judgment implied in shaking off the dust of feet -
no force intended. What counts is the relationship through which the Gospel can be expressed and lived. If this is not possible - wait until it is! In hope!
Sept 29, 1974 Luke 10:17-20
Jesus feels the same towards us whether we are important or not. We are to rejoice not in what we can do but in what has been done for us. Rejoice that we are of value without our successes. We don't have to succeed to be loved. In fact, our value can best be discovered not through our accomplishments but through our failures. Children need to know they are loved when they are failures. So do we. This is what grace does. Loves no matter what!
July 17, 1977 "God's Great Nevertheless"
God doesn't delight in judgment. God delights in grace. There is a great nevertheless
which never gives up; always holds open the possibility that grace will happen and mortals such as you and I will see that the Kingdom of God has come near - to us.
The Kingdom of God can be rejected but it cannot be stopped. It comes near, like it or not.
The eyes of faith see it, embrace it, even extend it as it comes among us in human form still.
July 10, 1983 "Rejoice That Your Names Are Written In Heaven"
The Good News today is not that we can do remarkable things in Jesus name but that our names are written in heaven no matter how much or little we do. God possesses us; we are His. We belong to His Kingdom. God has seen to that. No matter what, we do not have to worry about the end. It is in the hands of a loving Father who will not let us go.
No panic necessary. Our urgency is for living each day as God's child, not trying to become God's child. Confessing and forgiving; caring and giving; celebrating and being compassionate; - being spiritual in the finest sense of the word.
July 2, 1989
Discipleship is not just for the professionals; it is for all who would follow Jesus. Who can count the good done by the multitudes of those who go about doing good, in the name of Jesus.
We are not responsible for the harvest; God is! We are not to judge; that is God's doing and God even used judgment to save. With God nothing is impossible; and grace is the last word.
We are not to rejoice over our success stories but over our own salvation story.
We exist for mission. To announce that the Kingdom of God is near.
July 26, 1992 "Being A Disciple"
It is no easy thing, being a disciple. Listen to the second lesson for list of what a disciple is to be like. We are to announce by word and by life style that the Kingdom of God has come near to us - we are not to condemn anyone - just let the good news out.
The call to be a disciple is a call to take risks and open doors; become vulnerable to the challenges and conflicts of life. See Douglas John Hall, The Steward, pp122,127,130-32
The joy of it all is not in what we accomplish but that our names are already written in heaven.
Pentecost 6
Is.66:10-14;Ps66:1-8;Gal 6:(1-6)7-16;Luke10:1-11,16-20
March 6, 1966 "Our Reason For Joy"
Joy is a central theme in the Bible. Look up the word in a concordance; the Bible abounds with joy. It is also the keynote of the Christian faith, the heart beat of the Christian life.
A lady once said to me, "You can't be a Pastor; you smile too much." There is a lot to smile about when "our hearts leap for joy!" (Lk 6:23)
This joy comes not by our own doing - we don't create it.
It comes by God's doing - it is a gift! A gift of grace.
We rejoice knowing that our :"names are written in heaven."
Repentance is the joy of returning home.
Suffering ends in joy, for we can be defeated but not destroyed.
Discipleship becomes a joyful duty, serving long and hard in the kingdom labor force.
Life takes on a different perspective as we dare believe that God is for us, not against us,
and "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. " Rom 8:38
This is our reason for joy!
Jan 22, 1967 "Pray Therefore...Send Laborers" (Evangelism Sunday)
There is no question about the need; the harvest is plentiful. There is no question about the importance of prayer as a part of the task; the question is, who are the laborers we are praying might be sent out?
Praying was never meant to be a substitute for doing. It is "me" who is to "go"!
To pray for the harvest is to pray that I might be one of the laborers sent out to struggle in the hart of the day whit the task of reaping the harvest. This is a dangerous prayer for we might be caught up in the answer.
George Eliot in his poem "Stradivarius" puts it this way:
"This God gives the skill
But not without men's hands;
He could not make Antonio Stradivarius violins
Without Antonio."
Feb. 27, 1972 "Rejoice For The Right Reason"
Do not rejoice in what you are able to do, even in Jesus name. Rejoice rather in what has been done for you - by sheer grace your name is written in heaven!
We are not saved because we believe so strongly;
We are not saved because we are religious;
we are not saved because of who we are;
we are not saved because of what we do for Jesus;
we are saved "by grace through faith, it is not our own doing; it is the gift of God-not the result of works, so that no one may boast." Eph 2:8,9
Rejoice not in what you can do; rejoice for the right reason - rejoice in what has been done for you - by grace your name is written in heaven!
July 21, 1974
It would be easy to hear these words as permission to judge others. This would be to hear the wrong thing. What it says is that unless the Gospel becomes human it cannot be divine; it cannot truly give hope. No judgment implied in shaking off the dust of feet -
no force intended. What counts is the relationship through which the Gospel can be expressed and lived. If this is not possible - wait until it is! In hope!
Sept 29, 1974 Luke 10:17-20
Jesus feels the same towards us whether we are important or not. We are to rejoice not in what we can do but in what has been done for us. Rejoice that we are of value without our successes. We don't have to succeed to be loved. In fact, our value can best be discovered not through our accomplishments but through our failures. Children need to know they are loved when they are failures. So do we. This is what grace does. Loves no matter what!
July 17, 1977 "God's Great Nevertheless"
God doesn't delight in judgment. God delights in grace. There is a great nevertheless
which never gives up; always holds open the possibility that grace will happen and mortals such as you and I will see that the Kingdom of God has come near - to us.
The Kingdom of God can be rejected but it cannot be stopped. It comes near, like it or not.
The eyes of faith see it, embrace it, even extend it as it comes among us in human form still.
July 10, 1983 "Rejoice That Your Names Are Written In Heaven"
The Good News today is not that we can do remarkable things in Jesus name but that our names are written in heaven no matter how much or little we do. God possesses us; we are His. We belong to His Kingdom. God has seen to that. No matter what, we do not have to worry about the end. It is in the hands of a loving Father who will not let us go.
No panic necessary. Our urgency is for living each day as God's child, not trying to become God's child. Confessing and forgiving; caring and giving; celebrating and being compassionate; - being spiritual in the finest sense of the word.
July 2, 1989
Discipleship is not just for the professionals; it is for all who would follow Jesus. Who can count the good done by the multitudes of those who go about doing good, in the name of Jesus.
We are not responsible for the harvest; God is! We are not to judge; that is God's doing and God even used judgment to save. With God nothing is impossible; and grace is the last word.
We are not to rejoice over our success stories but over our own salvation story.
We exist for mission. To announce that the Kingdom of God is near.
July 26, 1992 "Being A Disciple"
It is no easy thing, being a disciple. Listen to the second lesson for list of what a disciple is to be like. We are to announce by word and by life style that the Kingdom of God has come near to us - we are not to condemn anyone - just let the good news out.
The call to be a disciple is a call to take risks and open doors; become vulnerable to the challenges and conflicts of life. See Douglas John Hall, The Steward, pp122,127,130-32
The joy of it all is not in what we accomplish but that our names are already written in heaven.
Pentecost 7
Gen 18:1-10a; Ps 15; Col 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
Jan 31, 1972 "Don't Just Do Something - Listen!"
Martha was busy doing something; Mary was busy listening to Jesus.
It is easy to get caught up in being busy and not have time to listen.
"It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood." Paul Tournier
Children need to be listened to; husbands and wives need to be listened too (by each other); we need to know that God listens to us.
One thing is needful: to listen and be listened too. For it is in so doing that we discover the mystery of another person and the meaning of our lives together with each other and with God. Don't just do something. Listen...listen...listen!
July 31,1977 "One Thing Needful"
It is not Martha's actions which are chided, but her attitude.
The one thing needful is an openness to the presence of God when ever and where ever and how ever God chooses to touch us in our lives.
Openness to that which is ever new; willingness to be stretched, to be different, to be surprised. The one thing needful is to be open to God in our lives NOW, and let nothing keep us from this.
July 27, 1980
There are times to be like Martha; organized, efficient, concerned about the basics.
There are times to be like Mary; spontaneous, free, flowing with.
The struggle is to find the balance between the two to find "planned spontaneity".
The challenge is to be open to the presence of God when God comes into our lives,
often in forms we do not quickly recognize, and then embrace it. To be open to receiving God as well as serving God.
July 21, 1986 "And Sarah Laughed" Gen 18:1-15
Sarah and Abraham laughed at the notion they would have a baby. It was preposterous at their age. We laugh at what we find hard to believe. Our laughter is in amazement at something too wonderful to believe, too astounding to comprehend; so we laugh our way into believing it.
This is healthy laughter - good for the soul. It "flushes out the nervous system" and the belief system. It reminds us that the wisdom of God is hidden in what we can only first laugh at. Then believe! We might even say, "All things work together for good for those who laugh with God."
Aug 9, 1992
It is easy to pick on Martha and praise Mary. The problem with Mary was not all her good work, but that she was too busy to experience the moment and savor the specialness of what was happening. She was distracted.
This is how we miss God present in our lives - by being too busy.
"We...need to practice the 'art of no agenda' - to live in such a way that we begin to respond to the rhythms of life around us rather than control or initiate all of them. We must, in prayer, seek to be open to and content with whatever the days brings. We must allow ourselves to be 'interrupted' for God visits in interruptions."
Otherside, July-Aug '92,p.11
Take time to listen for the still small voice of God. Be quiet and sit at the feet of Jesus; take time to do nothing. "The question that must guide all organizing activity in a parish (and in a family) is not how to keep people busy, but how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence." Henri Nouwen, The Way Of The Heart, p. 47
Pentecost 8
Gen 18:20-32; Ps 138; Col 2:6-15 (16-19); Luke 11:1-13
May 15, 1966 "The Mystery of Prayer"
There is something mysterious about prayer. About unanswered prayer and answered prayer. And about our inherent need to pray. There is mystery in the power of prayer which defies explanation.
Jesus directs us to enter into the act of prayer, to break into this mystery and let what will happen happen. It all begins by asking; and being persistent about it. Then follows being open to hear the answer. The answer God would give, not the answer we would have.
The gift of the Holy Spirit, and the grace sufficient for all days and all needs.
May 11, 1969 "The Mystery of Prayer"
The mystery of prayer is that it always works, sometimes better than we dare believe.
Prayer is always heard and answered; sometimes in ways different than our asking.
Prayer takes a lot of nerve. Like banging on a neighbors door at midnight to ask for something to eat. Jesus is telling us to bug Him, pester Him, bother Him with our needs for he is a friend who will not leave us standing along in the dark. He will give you what you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking!
What a Friend we have in Jesus! We can take anything and everything to him in prayer!
He will choose what is right for us and answer accordingly. Not always what we ask for; but always more than we asked for!
July 31, 1983 "How Much More"
This is a dangerous text. It seems to give us the power to get what we want from God, rather then be open to what God wants to give us. God does not just give us what we want; God gives us more then we want. God gives us the Holy Spirit which means we can never do lit our way again and also that we never have to go it alone again. How much more this is then what we ask for or expect!
July 27, 1986 "How Much More"
Pray with shameless persistence and then watch out! For as Mother Teresa reminds us - "Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing god's gift of himself. Ask and seek - (take trouble to pray, love to pray, feel often during the day the need to pray) and your heart will grow big enough to receive (God) and keep him as your own." A Guide to Prayer, p. 233
Prayer of an Unknown soldier from the Civil War:
"I asked God for strength that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humility to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do great things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;'
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for - but everything I hoped for;
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men, most richly blessed!
July 23, 1989 "Pray With Shameless Boldness"
Importunity is to pray with a shameless boldness like Abraham in OT Lesson.
Prayer is more then something we do to get our way with God. Prayer is something we do to discover God's way with us, and discover how true it is that God's grace is sufficient for all our needs.
Mother Teresa:; "Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive God and keep God as your own."
Harry Emerson Fosdick, " Importunity in prayer is not needed to coax God, but to deepen our eager readiness for the good we seek."
Prayer is one of the most important spiritual disciplines by which we open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Henri Nouwen: "
"It is impressive to see how prayer opens one's eyes...prayer makes (us) contemplative and attentive. In place of manipulating, the (person) who prays stands receptive before the world (and before God). He no longer grabs but caresses, (she ) no longer bites, but kisses, (they ) no longer examine but admire." Prayers for Servants, p. 234
Prayer is a joy, not a duty' a privilege, not an obligation; it is talking to PAPA - who loves us and will give us more then we ask for.
Pentecost 9
Eccles. 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23; Ps 49:1-11; Col 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
May 28, 1967 "Pronoun Problems"
The two men use the possessive pronoun freely, but never the pronoun which points to a relationship - 'our'.You can to a large degree determine a person's theology by the pronouns used. Pronouns give direction to life. They point to what is important in one's life. Mine...yours...ours...Thine.
What a difference it makes when we are able to look at our possessions and say "Thine".
Then our possessions fall into their rightful place in life. Then they are not ours in a selfish way, but ours to use in a redemptive way.
May 31, 1970 "Rich From God's Point Of View"
Possessions do enhance our freedom to enjoy life. Yet how dangerous they are when they take possession of us. The rich man was a fool because he failed to keep a clear space between himself and his possessions. As well as between himself and others.
He tried to live by bread alone; pile up riches but be void of meaningful relationships which enrich life.
"Ah, there is only one problem, only one in all the world. How can we restore to man a spiritual significance, a spiritual discontent; let something descend upon them like the dew of a Gregorian chant...don't you see, we cannot live any longer on refrigerators, politics, balance-sheets, and crossword puzzles. We simply cannot." Author unknown
Aug 7, 1983 "The Rich Fool"
There is a subtle twist in the texts for today.
Gospel is a warning.
Epistle a word of admonition
OT an antidote of greed or covetousness. What it really is saying is "let go and let God."
Anyone who thinks they can live alone even with great wealth is a fool.
It is a fool who thinks he/she can be greedy and happy at the same time.
The truth we all have to discover is until we share we will not be happy.
Happiness is a by-product of how we live - it is a serendipity.
Happiness is not found in grabbing all we can grab; but in giving all we can give.
Aug 23, 1992 "Give The Gift"
We were created for more then just abundance. We were created to know and be known by God. Our spiritual needs cannot be satisfied with material goods - no matter how hard we try.
Jewish proverb: "When you have everything, something is missing."
We were created to be rich toward God which means to accept life as a gift and give the gift! Life is a gift. Life is found and experienced in giving the gift.
Pentecost 10
Gen15:1-6; Ps33:12-22; Heb 11:1-3,8-16; Luke 12:32-40
Jan 5,1964 "The Gift Of The Kingdom"
God wants to give us a great gift - a tremendous, valuable, priceless gift. We are not sure we want it. God wants to give us His Kingdom! We are afraid to accept it for the gift cannot be kept to ourselves - we in tern must give it.
God's Kingdom is a free gift, but God is never thrown at you for free; it costs us our lives given in thankful service for so great a gift, freely given. For God's Kingdom, freely given, joyfully received, becomes not a possession we have but a possession which has us!
We become possessed by the gift and all of life becomes a means of giving the gift.
Aug 25, 1974
It all begins with a gift; not with our faithfulness. "Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
Gifts are special; God's gift is very special. Once God's love and grace become our treasurer, everything else is secondary.
Life with God is not just a matter of being religious; it is a matter of falling in love and being possessed by that love, living it our in our lives.
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God's goodness is a gift. Seeing God's goodness is not a matter of deserving it, it is a matter of tuning into it, and being awake and ready for the surprises which will come.
Aug 14, 1983 "Our Treasurer and Our Hearts"
What we live for is what we become. I will end up - my heart will lend up - where I put my energy and hope. We become possessed by what we set out to possess.
i.e. addictions of all sorts.
We need to remember that life is a gift not a possession; and so is the Kingdom of God.
To lose life is to find it; to be possessed by the gift of the Kingdom is to become a servant in the work of the Kingdom.
Aug 6, 1989 "To Live By Faith"
Gospel feels like a double whammy.
It contains grace pure and clear - God is pleased to give us the Kingdom.
It contains a warning - we can miss the kingdom by living for the wrong reasons.
To live by faith is to live in openness to God as the faithful promise maker and promise keeper. It is to live in readiness for the unpredictable arrival of God's grace; it is to journey through life seeing more then can be seen and certain of that which cannot be seen.
Aug 30, 1992 "The Form Of A Servant"
In the Kingdom of God the servant is center stage.
We don't want the Kingdom God wants to give us.
For to relieve such a gift is to have to live our lives giving the gift!
Being a servant wherever we are and whatever we are doing.
The right resources and the right people together in the right place equals the kingdom happening on earth as it is in heaven.
Pentecost 11
Jer 23:23-29; Ps 82; ;Heb 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
Sept 16, 1973 "Live In The Now"
It is possible to miss what is happening in our midst when we fail to see the uniqueness of this moment. It is possible to miss God in our midst when we fail to see God present in this moment and in those we never expected to be God for us. For God still comes in human form even as God came uniquely and completely in Jesus.
Aug 28, 1977 "Division not Peace"
This text is about "The fire of a new faith or religion, a burning enthusiasm in believers creating fierce antagonism in unbelievers; deplorable but inevitable."
When what we hold sacred is challenged - no matter what it is - division is going to result.
Jesus challenged a lot of sacred cows in his day - and there was division!
Yet Jesus did not let this keep him from the sacredness of life. He did what he had to do to show God's love and mercy to all and let no religious tradition keep him from entering into the sacred of life.
To be redeemed by Jesus is to not need to have any sacred cows anymore. It is to not have to create division but to live in harmony even with those with whom I don't agree, yet still respect and even love in the name of Jesus.
Aug 24, 1980
The Bible doesn't contradict itself - we do, by how we use the Bible to defend our beliefs.
Prime example: "Kill a Commie for Christ."
Jesus calls us to live with a different set of rules for the game of life - "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." He is our centering point and love is our calling.
Leave the judging to God - who sees more, knows more, and loves more!
Aug 17, 1986 "Is not My Word Like Fire?
There are things we do not want to hear. Even in God's Word! The Prophet Jeremiah (and other prophets) got in trouble because of what they said what God wanted them to say.
God's word is not only a word of peace; it is also a word of challenge which brings unrest.
It is not just to comfort the afflicted; it is also to afflict the comfortable!
It does create division among people between those who hear and those who don't want to hear. This is true because God's Word is fire and it creates a dangerous spirit - the spirit of love! The kind of love which brings God's kingdom to this world in ways which make it a different and better place for all.
Sept 6, 1992 "Fire On Earth"
A difficult text. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not of division.
What we forgot is that God's Word is like fire and like a hammer which seeks to create in us a dangerous spirit - the spirit of love - and calls us to a radical way of living - as those who forget not the name of God no matter what price has to be paid.
To live as God's chosen people does not mean we can have our cake and eat it too!
That we can presume on God's generosity and take it for granted; keep our faith and our love private; live off the fat of God's love with little thought for others; judge and condemn those who are different; gloat over what we have and condemn those who have not.
To live as God's chosen people is to live as radicals who dare believe in love as the most powerful and most important thing in all of life. Nothing, not even our most honored and sacred relations must keep us from living as those who are servants of love; disciples of a God of love. i.e. Young man down south: "I wasn't brought up to love integration; I was brought up to love Jesus. ... That's why I am here, standing up for integration."
Teilhard de Chardin...when we harness for God the energies of love, " then, for the second time, we will have discovered fire."
Pentecost 12
Isa. 58:9b-14; Ps 103:1-8;Heb 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17
Pentecost 13
Prov. 25:6-7; Ps 112; Heb 13:1-8; Luke 14:1, 7-14
Oct 3, 1971 Luke 14:1-11
Is it a trap - set by the Pharisee's to discredit Jesus? This is what Pharisee's do - then and now. Could Jesus have waited until the Sabbath was over to heal the man? Yes, but why? There was no reason to not do it now. There is no religious reason to not enjoy life right now. Jesus was a rebel; to follow Jesus is to be a rebel.
Sept 15, 1974
Jesus is doing more then changing social customs. He is challenging the games we play; the sham which is ours because we don't know how to be real with each other or with ourselves. We find it hard to affirm our strengths and acknowledge openly our weaknesses. Being humble is often a cover up for our feelings of pride. Yet, the best thing we can do for ourselves, others and even God, is to be ourselves and accept ourselves as a child born in the image of God.
It is good to be human; we don't have to play games to try hide our strengths or weaknesses. We can be who we are, in the grace of God. A forgiven sinner who is loved by a gracious God. Jesus died to show us our value, our priceless value to God our Creator. Our challenge is to be real with ourselves, others and God in the light of this awesome truth!
Sept 11, 1977 "Humility - Power To Be Myself"
Humility is a sigh of strength. It is a fruit of healthy ego-strenth; liking myself but not hung up on myself. It comes out of the honest struggle with my weakness; and the gracious acceptance of forgiveness. It comes when I forget myself and remember who I am - a sinner - and who my God is - a gracious, loving, forgiving God. Humble people like themselves and don't need the acclaim of others to do so. They just go about being their forgiven selves.
Sept 7, 1980 "Doing More For Less"
The point of the parable is: we re not to become so closed in our thinking, so self serving in our good deeds, that we exclude those whoa re different from us. Especially those who are less fortunate. We are not to keep what we have to ourselves and use it only in self serving ways.
His words confront us with our ulterior motive syndrome, our interest in what we can get out of life rather then what we can give to live. Time reveals the truth of our words and our self interest. The Kingdom of God challenges us to do more with less; to give more and take less;l to lose ourselves so we can find ourselves and really be happy.
Sept 4, 1983 "He Enjoys Us"
The parable has to do with the intent of our actions; what's in the heart? What's behind what I am doing? The Kingdom of God challenges us to not live the lie but to be fair and honest, even if it costs the prize. This is almost un-american but it is the way it is with God and in God's Kingdom, where each one of us is a special guest and God actually wants to be with us, actually enjoys us. So be all you can be - be yourself by the grace of God.
Sept 20, 1992
These words are about how it is in the Kingdom of God and how God would have us be.
With God there are no "greats"; no " inner circles"; no "less or more important"; no social status. No game playing, pretending to be humble so we can be great.
"Half of the harm that is done in this world, is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm - but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." T. S. Elliot _"The Cocktail Party"
We live by grace not by our accomplishments. Humility is our key word.
cf. Phil 2:3,4; Col 3:12; Prov. 3:34; James 4:6; I Peter 5:5; Micah 6:8; Phil 2:8
"True humility doesn't consist of thinking ill of yourself but on not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you'd be apt to think of anybody else. It is the capacity for being no more & no less pleased when you play your own (bridge) hand well then when your opponents do." Buechner, "Wishful Thinking", p. 40
Humility is loosing oneself in living and not keeping score. It is letting the love of God consume us until nothing is more important then the privilege of being a servant.
It is getting lost in doing good. And letting God keep score, if God want s to, which God probably doesn't.
Pentecost 14
Deut 30:15-20; Ps 1; Phil. 1:10-21; Luke 14:25-33
June 4, 1967 "The Cost Of Discipleship"
These words can hardly be said to be tactful. Nor can they be misunderstood. They are too clear and blunt for that.
It costs to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
1. For to be a disciple is to be called, and the price paid is my own right of choice.
No one chooses to follow Jesus. We are chosen to follow. It is not our doing. We are not in control of our life. Nothing comes before being a discipleship - not even the most intimate relationships of our lives.
2. For to be a disciple is to have to obey, and the price of obedience is the renunciation of self. Renouncing, that is what we most do not want to give up.
3. For to be a disciple is to suffer and the price to be paid is 'bearing one's own cross'. That is, to endure suffering which would not be ours if we were not a disciple.
It costs to be a disciple. But the rewards far exceed the cost - the crown of life!
June 7, 1970 "Our Discipleship"
These are radical words designed to set us free from that which really destroys the joy of living - luke warm religion. To play with religion is worse than no religion at all. To want a little bit of God, but not enough to make us have to change our ways, is worse then having no God at all. At least then we are honest!
Jesus is not advocating that we 'hate' in his name. He is advocating that we place first things first - and that means discipleship!
July 1, 1973 "Our Discipleship"
These words were spoken at a time when Jesus was popular. As such, they were designed to shatter the illusion that discipleship is a mass movement. Jesus would have us go where we don't want to go and do what we don't want to do. Many drop out. There are times when to be near Jesus is the most dangerous place to be. i.e. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
There is no relationship as complete as our relationship with Jesus. No human relationship is 100%; our relationship with Jesus is. Follow Jesus and discover who you are and the joy of life abundant.
Sept 3, 1989
Possessions and people can possess us. They can smother us with love, paralyze us, dominate us so we never become the person we were created to be and never answer the call to live out our God given destiny. Our love of self can also cause us to miss the secret of life - to lose oneself in life is to find life.
Discipleship demands something from us; it demands much from us.
We are not here to avoid suffering but to redeem suffering by entering into the suffering with a redeeming love.
Being a disciple is not something we do because it is convenient; it is something we do because we have to - no matter what the cost.
Sept 27, 1992 "The Cost Of Discipleship"
The Kingdom of God is here to challenge us to live for more then personal gain. It is not only a blessed assurance...it is also a blessed disturbance for I am His and that means I cannot live as if only I count. Jesus first - a demand both scary and consuming.
Take up your cross - suffering there will be.
Give all our possessions - all can be used to Kingdom glory.
We will never know how well it works until we try it.
Pentecost 15
Ex. 32:7-14; Ps 51:1-11; I Tim 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-10
Sept 25. 1977 "God Of The Lost"
We who are religious like to see repentance first, then God will forgive.
God forgives - or offers love and forgiveness to the lost - to help them repent.
God is open to the lost and rejoices on their being found. It is in the process of the
celebration that repentance takes place. It is done because I have been found, when I didn't think anyone, certainly not God, would want me. What a joy to be found and loved before I could do anything about it; to have a party thrown for me before I could even mumble my repentance.
To be saved is to trust that God loves me enough that I dare get lost again, for He will surely find me! It is risky living - as only love enables life to be.
Oct 4, 1992 "Be Lost - Be Found"
The heart of the Gospel is in Luke 15.
These two parables are about how it is with God and how God is with us.
Problem is: we have to be lost to see it. And we don't want to admit our lostness.
We are more interested in having our religion keep us from ever thinking we are lost then we are in having it help us be found when we are lost. We are afraid of that much grace!
And we miss the joy of being found; the joy of living each day knowing that we are loved by a God who will not let us go, and will not stop looking for us when we are lost, and who rejoices with us when we are found.
Pentecost 16
Amos 8:4-7; Ps 113; I Tim 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
Aug 11, 1963 "A Bad Man's Example"
Jesus parables come out of real life. This one is very baffling. It only becomes clear when we discover that the theme of this parable is not the man but money - "unrighteous mammon". It should be used to make friends. That is, used for something constructive and good in the lives of others. Money is not an end in itself; it is a means to a greater end.
It is to be used to build relationships and make the Kingdom of God come - on earth as in heaven.
Jesus never justifies what the unrighteous servant does. Sin does not parade around in the name of good. What he did was wrong; how he did it was an example of how we should do it - hallow the unrighteous mammon of this world by the way we use it.
"Our pocket books can have more to do with heaven, and also with hell, than our hymnbooks. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Helmet Thielicke
Sept 15, 1965 "Money - Idol Or Servant?"
The theme of this parable is money - "unrighteous mammon".
How is it to be used by a person who seeks to be obedient to God?
Money is power; we have a power struggle here. It can easily become our idol; we are called to make it be a servant.
Money can isolate us from even ourselves as well as others and God.
Money has the power to cause us to forget about God. It appears to be able to do what God cannot do. It appears to be the answer to our problems in life.
Money is to be a servant in our lives, binding us to God and each other.
Make friends with money - not buy but bind together. Use it in a way which builds friendship.
People who have been helped seldom forsake the helper. When we have been given a gift we trust the giver, and have a strong bond of friendship between us.
"Our pocket books have more to do with heaven, and also hell, then our hymnbooks." Dr. Helmut Thielicke.
Oct 6, 1974 "Money: Idol or Servant"
"This is the most difficult of all parables and no interpretation is wholly satisfactory." (?-who)
To discover its meaning we have to risk being wrong. Or at best only partially right, as we do the best we can. The key is not the man who is a negative moral example.
The key is money - which plays such an important part in our lives. Does it use us or do we use it? The first clear point of the parable is that money is to be used! Used to make friends! That is what it is really for; to be used in ways which bind us together and deepen our trust and friendship.
This is not to say we can buy friendship; it is to say that money can create genuine friendship, deepen relationships, and strengthen love and trust.
Money is a powerful tool to be creatively used to build life's relationships.
There are times when I can't afford to not spend it. (How's that for a double negative.)
I can use it to draw people to me and I even have to risk using it to help when the results
are not sure.
"Our pocket books can have more to do with heaven and also with hell, then our hymn books." Helmet Thielkie
Sept 28, 1980 "Money: Idol or Servant"
Money - do we use it to isolate ourselves from others or bind ourselves to others?
To manipulate others or to serve others?
"If a purely materialistic child of the world like the dishonest steward can manage on his level to compel money to serve his own ends and thus give it its relative importance, how much more - and at the same time, how differently - should the children of light do this on their level." Thielkie, "The Waiting Father" p. 101
In God's Kingdom even money can be a means of grace; can be used redemptively.
Sept 23, 1983 "Money: Master or Servant"
Money can make us alone forever or it can gain us friends for the Kingdom, It is an enigma; a mysterious riddle.
"The point of the parable is not to approve what the steward did wrong, but to applaud how rightly he did it. We are to do rightly what is right, even as he did rightly what was wrong." Proclamation, Pentecost 2c, p.53
Money is to be used. If it isn't it will use us. It is to be used shrewdly, wisely, creatively, faithfully, with mercy and compassion.
Sept 17, 1989
Is the servant acting as shrewdly as the master would have, had he been in the same situation? Is the master actually more dishonest then the servant and thus admires such dishonest action?
What Jesus is dramatically laying before us is that we are to be as shrewd and cunning as those who don't care - and we are to do it as those who do care.
Money is the theme of the parable - how we use it or it uses us.
Money is to be used or it is no good.
"Our destiny with God is rarely decided by our reflecting upon dogmas and all kind of otherworldly problems, Our destiny is rather decided by what we do with the altogether real worldly questions and temporal problems which play a part in our life, such as sex, money, and personal relations.
Use money to make friends.
Pentecost 17
Amos 6:1a,4-7; Ps 146; I Tim 6:6-9; Luke 16:19-31
June 13, 1971 "Faith Is For Living"
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus does not tell us it is a crime to be rich.
Or that those who have a good time of it here will get their suffering in eternity.
It sounds like it does, but it doesn't!
Nor does it give us a clear picture of the way it is in heaven.
Anymore then our jokes abut heaven do.
"To use this story as warrant for a doctrine of a brimstone hell, or to deduce from it the dogma of the absolute and irrevocable separation of the good and the bad hereafter, is to transplant it violently from its native soil of parable to a barren literalism where it cannot live."
Parables of Jesus, Geo Buttrick, p. 140
The point of the parable is that life is to be lived, not evaded. The rich man was guilty of evasion; running away from real life into his pretend world where he didn't have to see Lazarus - really see him. He was afraid of the smell of poverty and used his riches to evade facing the poverty all around him.
Like it or not, we are the rich man. We too run away from life, evading those places and people where our God has chosen to meet us, even as God meets us in the man Jesus who said, "What so ever you do for the least of these, you do it unto me."
Living in the Kingdom of God is not a matter of having heaven all figures out; or the mysteries of death and eternity solved. It is a matter of loosing oneself in life, giving oneself away, hurting with those who hurt, weeping with those who weep, laughing with those who laugh, and discovering that life comes not by evading but by jumping in.
This takes faith; faith which comes by hearing the Word of God, and doing it.
Faith is for living, not just for dying.
Oct 9, 1977 "Let Them Hear Them"
What this parable is about is not first of all riches, but taking the right attitude toward the Word of God. The Word of God which leads us to consider how our riches keep us from life as well as help us in life.
The Rich man hid behind his riches. His riches were not a gift; they were his curse. They helped him not to have to see life and the Lazarus's of the world. They helped him stay an arms distance from the human need which cried out for someone to care.
God's Word will not let us stop with our riches. It pushes us into the business of caring and loving with little time left to even worry about heaven or hell. That is in the hands of God and God is gracious and merciful!
God's Word is to be trusted; it's promises are sure. It is enough. And it seeks to make us more human, not less, it opens life up not closes it down; it enlarges not confines, increases not decreases; it is positive and affirming, not negative and judgmental. It is a word of Life for all who dare believe it. It is enough!
Oct 2, 1983 "Rich And ..."
We can't get away from talking about money today. All three texts deal with it.
Amos: when money leads to indifference it makes for evil.
Paul: money is a trap; to love it is to be in danger of being led into all sorts of evil.
Jesus: Excess money leads to wanting more and enjoying it less; or at least properly using it less.
It is not enough to be rich; this does not make for happiness or a sense of joy and purpose in life. If all we can say about a person is that he was rich; that isn't much!
It is not a sin to be rich; it is a sin to be indifferent. The rich man didn't even see Lazarus at his door. He was an idle, indifferent, care - less man who didn't use the gift of wealth in the work of God's Kingdom on earth. He was a selfish man interested only in making it and enjoying it - not in sharing it and giving it.
Sept 28, 1986 "Not Indifferent To God's Word"
This parable is radical. It was then and it is now. It stands as a bold 'slap in the face' to all who saw/see God's wealth as a sign of God's blessing and poverty as a sign of God's curse. Thus justifying indifference towards the Lazaraus' of this world.
This parable makes us face our indifference which keeps us from trusting God's Word as we have it and living it our in our lives. Indifference Elie Wiesel says is to "observe without emotion." It is a passive, destructive force which lets evil prevail because it has no mind to get involved, to make a difference.
The sin of the rich of Samaria in our text from Amos is not that that were rich, but their gross indifference to what was happening around them. The sin of the rich man in our parable is not his wealth, but his cold indifference towards Lazarus.
Abundance can make us indifferent. The call of this parable is to not let what we have and enjoy keep us from hearing what God's Word says and who God places at our doorstep, whom to serve is to serve God himself!
Our sin is not having wealth but what we do with our wealth. "Materialism and over consumption are tow of the clearest characteristics of twentieth-century American life. Indifference to the needs of others, the responsibilities of the nation, and the Word of God continues in new forms, but its consequences are no less severe." Proclamation, Pentecost, 1986.
What can we do to not become indifferent? allen Boasak, who spent 10 years in prison in South Africa, tells us to pray. Pray until we can no longer sleep, no longer be indifferent, no longer fail to see the injustice of what is happening. Then we will know what we have to do and we will have the energy to do it!
The Word of God today reminds us that we are called not just to live as those who are save and save in God's grace. It also reminds us that we are called to live as servants of this God of mercy, justice, love. And this means we can no longer be indifferent about the least of God's children - who are everywhere!
Pentecost 18
Heb. 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Ps 37:1-10; 2 Tim 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10
Oct 12, 1980 Luke 17:1-10
Three distinct messages for us from these words:
1. The life of faith demands avoidance of actions that may harm others, and forgiveness of others whose actions harm us.
2. Faith is not only conciliatory; it is also daring, risking, doing big things with little resources.
3. Servants are called to selfless performance: getting the job done the master wants done, with little concern for getting the credit. "There is no limit to what a good person can do if they don't care who gets the credit." We are called to be servants not celebrities.
And to be thankful that we can b e Jesus' servants.
Oct 5, 1986 "Only Done Our Duty"
When we have done every thing we can do we have only done our duty, and even then we are not worthy to be called children of God. We are never good enough to be worthy of that!
It is our duty to do what God calls us to do - to forgive as we have been forgiven!
"Those who live by forgiveness must in fact live by it." That means we don't just receive it; we pass it on. Grace brings duty; duty becomes grace. This is what the Kingdom of heaven is all about, and those who are servants of the Master are duty bound to be faithful instruments of grace.
Pentecost 19
2 Kings 5:1-3,7-15; Ps 111; 2 Tim 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19
Sept 23, 1962 "Where Are The Nine?"
We expect much from life; we take much for granted.
The secret to having much is to be thankful with what we have.
Thankful people are happy people.
Turn back and thank God.
God becomes real when we return to thank Him.
Thankfulness leads to thankful service.
Oct 27, 1974 "Remembering To Say Thank You"
Take time to be thankful! It enriches and deepens life at its most important places.
Dr. Rogness: "I feel sorry for the person who feels a great surge of thankfulness, and has no one to thank."
Life tastes better when we are thankful. It takes the bitterness out of life.
Oct 16, 1983 "Just healed...Or Made Whole?"
It is easy to pray when we hurt; and forget about God when all is well. To be whole is to be thankful enough to be changed and see life in a new way. Even in bad times; to see life with hope and thankfulness. It is a healthy thing to give thanks; it is a sign we have been made whole.
Pentecost 20
Gen. 32:22-31; Ps 121; 2 Tim 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8
Oct 30, 1977 "Pray Like You're Worth It!"
She persisted until she got what she wanted. He gave in to get her off his back. She is our example; he is not. We are to pray like the woman.
To do this we have to believe that I am worth it and He will do it.
To go through life feeling like a nobody or at least somebody who doesn't deserve much is to end up a looser. A nobody does nothing but whine, and blame others. And end up a scoffer.
A somebody goes after what he/she wants. And persists until he/she gets it.
What I hear Jesus saying to us is that God doesn't want us going around whinnying about the dirty tricks life pulls on us and doing nothing about them. he wants us to fight for the best we can get out of life and to take our case all the way to His throne of mercy, expecting great things from God. For God will do lit and even more then we ask!
God is like the Judge in only one way; He doesn't give us what we want until we ask, and that persistently. It has no value to us if we don't want it. The truth is, God waits for us to want the best from Him before God gives us what he wants to give. For it is while we plead faith persistence that our patience is perfected, our humility is deepened, and our purpose in life is clarified. We need to want deeply before we can appreciate the gifts God is waiting to give us. So prayer becomes a "tireless beseeching, before God can richly reward it."
Oct 26, 1980 "Praying From The Heart"
This parable is about more then persistent praying. It is first of all about faith. About not loosing heart when all seems lost and God seems silent. What do we do then?
Persistent prayer is not our trying to convince God to do it our way; but trusting that God is still with us and cares even when everything seems silent. It is faith which dares to trust God when there is no intimation that God even cares or hears or will respond.
It is meditative prayer - a lost art in our hectic world. It will be good for our blood pressure as well as our souls!
Oct 23, 1983 "Always Pray And Do Not Lose Heart"
This parable is not about God and how God answers prayer. It is about us and how we pray. It is not about God and what God will do for us if we beg him long and hard enough; it is about us and what we can do to not lose heart, and all around us goes smash.
We can pray! And keep on praying until something good happens! And it will!
It may not be a healing: it may be the strength and faith to match the burden.
It may not be a solution to a problem, solving it for us; it may be the strength and insight and determination to solve the problem ourselves.
It may not be a bolt of lighting, like Martin Luther; but it may be a gradual awareness of a pull and tug towards God's will for four lives which will not stop until we go with it.
Something happens when we pray. Our faith is strengthened, our hope is encouraged, and we do not loose heart. It gives a sense of balance and perspective to our lives.
Again, meditative prayer is the way to go - if we only dared believe it enough to try it.
Oct 19, 1986 "Will He Find Faith?"
This parable is about the faith which is behind persistent praying. The faith which will not give up, give in, throw in the towel no matter how impossible things seem to be. The faith which is able to hang in there, persisting in God's goodness, justice, fairness, love, mercy and kindness even when there seems to be no evidence that God even exists!
As Elie Wiesel says:
"There were many periods in our past when we had every right in the world to turn to God and say, 'Enough. Since You seem to approve of all these persecutions, all these outrages, have it Your way: let Your world go on without Jews. Either You are our partner in history, or You are not. If you are, do Your share; if You are not, we consider ourselves free of past commitments. Since You choose to break the Covenant, so be it."
And yet, and yet...We went on believing, hoping, invoking His name...We did not give up on Him...For this is the essence of being Jewish; never to give up--never to yield to despair." A Jew Today, p. 164
This is also the essence of being a Christian! To never give up no matter how bad it gets, to confess with the unknown person in a cellar in Cologne during the bombing of WWII,
"I believe in the Sun even when it is not shining;
I believe in love even when I feel it not;l
I believe in god even when He is silent."
The point of this parable is that God is much more then the unjust judge. (It is, in the Hebrew way of thinking, an argument from the lesser to the greater. If this unrighteous judge can be moved to act, how much more will God respond to our persistent prayers with not just justice, but grace and mercy as well. God is a God of grace whose steadfast love endures forever! This we can count on no matter what!
Pentecost 21
Jer 14:7-10,19-22; Ps 84:1-6; 2 Tim 4:6-8,16-18, Luke 18:9-14
Sept 2, 1963 "The Pharisee and Publician - In Us"
This parable seems to be simple, black or white, right or wrong.
But it isn't. And we have to see ourselves in both; take the good with the bad.
For there is good and bad in both. The pharisee is everything we might wish to be
in terms of religious commitment and dedication. But it carries him to self righteousness,
the last thing we want to be. The Publican is everything we don't want to be in terms of life style yet his prayer of the heart is the best he or we can pray.
Both need God's grace; neither deserve it; both get it. One appreciates it. Let's be like that one!
Aug. 22, 1971 "There Is Wideness In God's Mercy"
Isn't goodness good for anything in the eyes of God? Not when it is falsified by hidden motives; done in order to gain attention; done out of pride or arrogance.
It is possible to be bad yet forgiven and it is possible to be so good that we see no need of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the door which opens God's Kingdom. Guess who gets it!
Our goodness isn't good enough. God's forgiveness is!
Nov. 15, 1992
Parable is to wake us up to the truth that "nothing, nothing, nothing I can bring can earn, deserve, be worthy of, or pay off my debt, - it is all grace.
Grace is not reserved for those who are close to God; grace is for all and those who admit they need it are the first to receive it.
Grace is not about a nice God being nice to nice people. It is about a loving God being gracious to hurting people, no matter who. It's about receiving what I do not deserve and never can deserve no matter how holy I become.
To live in God's grace is to never stop praying the prayer of the tax collector even as I live with the zeal of the pharisee - knowing that a God of grace will never let me down, never let me go, nor never let me off.
Pentecost 22
Is 1:10-18; Ps 32:1-8; 2Thess.1:1-4,11-12; Luke 19:1-10
Oct 13, 1977 "To Seek And To Save"
One thing worse then being lost; having no one to look for you.
It is important that I want to be found - climb the sycamore tree with Zaccaheaus.
It is important that we say "I am lost; I need help." Rather then choose to stay lost.
i.e. - "Midnight Cowboy" - "There's got to be a better way to make a living."
God waits for us to want to be found; waits for us to want what God wants to give us.
God respects us enough to let us be lost and wait for us to want to be found.
God loves us enough to never stop looking for us, and hearing even the faintest cry for help.
To lives our lives so cautiously that we never risk getting lost is to live only a fraction of what God intends for us. To live thinking we will never be lost and never admit it if we are is to miss the joy of being found - the joy of salvation coming to our house.
Nov 9, 1980 "Jesus and Zacchaeus"
Zaccaheaus does two foolish things.
1. He climbs a tree to see Jesus pass by; and thereby opens the possibility of something redemptive happening in his life. He was sensitive to a restlessness within which left him less then happy and he took responsibility to do something about it. He was lost and he opened himself up to being found, rather then wallowing in self pity.
2. He becomes overly generous; his money became a symbol of his heart. It proved that what had happened was real. Money does say something about who we are and what has happened to our heart. Where a person's money is - there is his heart.
Nov 6, 1983 "Jesus and Zacchaeus"
What ever happened in Zacchaeus house before he started giving his money away - one thing is for sure - it was something powerful - described by the words "salvation has come to this house."
We can't can what happened and make it happen again and again in the same way.
We can seek that which brings wholeness and joy to our lives. We can admit we are lost and let ourselves be found. That we do try live by bread alone. Spiritual lostness is a condition we all experience. To confess it is to begin the process of being found.
To climb the tree with Zacchaeus is to open ourselves to the possibility that the impossible is possible in our lives. And then nothing is tied down anymore - not even our money!
Pentecost 23
Job 19:23-27a; Ps 17:1-9; 2Thess 2:1-5,13-17; Luke 20:27-38
Nov 13, 1983 "God Of the Living"
It is dwarfed minds which want detain rather then vision; specifics rather then promise.
Their trap questions reveal how small of mind they are. They want to know in human terms what cannot be put in human terms - it is too big to be made so small.
When we try to put the mysteries of heaven in human terms - trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in logical sequence, or throwing up our hands and saying it can't be done so it doesn't exist - we end up with nothing worth anything.
If we try live too much for heaven we will not live for today. If we live only for today we have no hope for tomorrow. The key is to live with a loving God today letting tomorrow be in God's loving hands. This is the source of our sure and certain hope.
Eternal life cannot be reduced to conditions of temporal life. We are in God's loving hands.
God of the living and of the dead; God of yesterday, today and forever. We live in love and with love waiting for the day when all things will be new and only love will remain.
Nov 9, 1986 "God Of The Living"
Jesus is running up against - again - the religious who were of a different kingdom. They didn't want him to be the final answer; they wanted to be the final answer. They wanted to keep God in the box of their own making, so God would not ask of them more than they were willing to give. Jesus didn't fit in their Kingdom!
Just as Mother Teresa didn't fit for the 'religious' man who spoke these words when confronted with the possibility that Mother Teresa was close to what Jesus taught.
"Someone should tell Mother Teresa about triage. In battle the medics don't work on what they judge to be hopeless cases. They work on the ones who have a chance to make it. Mother Teresa is impractical. Think how much better it would be if she helped people who were going to live and taught them a skill that would enable them to earn a living and maybe even help others. She needs some business training."
The Kingdom of God as seen in Jesus (and those who follow him) is impractical. Yet it is what Jesus was all about and what we are to be all about - being merciful as our God is merciful!
Do we dare believe that who we are and what we do, say, give, and how we live and treat even the least can be a part of God's impractical, unexpected, and creative acts at work in our world through which God's Kingdom does come on earth a small bit like it is in heaven? They we will be impractical, yet loving as we have been loved!
Our religion will not be in our rituals, but in our living!
Pentecost 24
Mal. 4:1-2a; Ps. 98; 2 Thess. 3:6-13; Luke 21: 5-19
Nov. 16, 1986 "Not A Hair Will Perish"
The American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once said:
"The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them better."
This certainly is the mark, of faith which often has to hope against hope and act in love in spite of all the hate. This is what this text is all about.
It is about the faith which is sure of what it hopes for and certain of what it cannot see.
It is about the love which dares to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.
It is about being witness to the truth in the face of evil and daring to believe that not a hair on our heads will perish.
As one writer put it:
"Christ risen from the dead shows that there is nothing rebellious creation can do to cause something to perish that God wants to preserve."
It is not the evil which shall prevail; it is faith in the goodness of God which will prevail!
Indeed, not a hair will perish of what God wants to preserve!
Christ The King
Jer 23:1-6; Ps 46; Col 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
Nov 24, 1974
Jesus didn't spend much energy trying to be the Messiah; he spent it being his authentic self. Therefore he didn't have to wear a mask - pretending to be someone he was not.
Don't try to be someone...just be! Be you. The beautiful you that is uniquely you. The you that is different from every other you in the world. The you that has something to offer no other you can offer. Just be you!
Nov 20, 1977 "The Gift Of Hope"
Jesus gave the their on his right the gift of hope and this changed even his dying.
We need hope to live today; it sets us free to be able to experience this moment.
To live in hope is not to live in tomorrow; it is to live not fearing tomorrow - no matter what!
Our calling as those who have been given the gift of hope is to give this gift to others; and our challenge is to find ways to do this - every day with anyone.
Nov 23, 1980
Seems strange to end Pentecost with Good Friday.
What a contrast between what we think should be and what is!
For the King of Kings and Lord of Lord's is of another Kingdom and his power is made perfect in weakness. His power to forgive and thereby take away the destructive guilt which robs life of its joy and peace. Forgiveness - which reaches to the depth of the heart and soul and there does what nothing else can do - releases one from "sin, death and the power of the devil." It is the gift of gifts given by the Lord of Lords!
Nov 23, 1986 "A Different King"
What ever we say about Jesus and his Kingdom, however we try to understand the manifestation of power and glory which was his as the King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right; how ever much we are moved by the powerful words of the Hallelulah Chorus which shouts "King of Kings and Lord of Lords, forever!"
We are reminded today that Jesus Kingdom is not of this world and is not like anything else in this world. It is not made up of that which makes up our kingdoms. it is as different as night is from day.
For it is not a matter of power politics; nor of deceptive promises. It is not a matter of domination and manipulation to owns one gain. Jesus Kingdom is made up of compassion, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, joy, peace and is found in places of weakness and foolishness, where the power and wisdom of God is revealed in all its power and glory.
Robert MacAfee Brown relates the following life experience.
"The story is a true one. It takes place on the roof of one of the crematoria at Birkenau, the death camp of Auschwitz, on a gray, cheerless day in the summer of 1979.
A group of us are standing on ruins the Germans tried (unsuccessfully) to obliterate, to hide evidence that sex million Jews had been shot and gassed and burned in such places, solely because they were Jews.
I reflect: if Golgotha revealed the sense of God-forsakenness of one Jew, Birkenau multiplies that anguish at least three and a half million times. for the rest of my life, this crematorium will represent the most powerful case against God the sp;ot where once could -with justice-denounce, deny, or (worst of all) ignore God, the God who was silent.
On what use are words as such a time? So many cried out to God at this spot and were not heard. Human silence today seems the only appropriate response to divine silence yesterday.
We remain silent. Our silence is deafening.
And then it comes - first from the lips of one man, Elie Wiesel (standing in the camp where thirty-fife years earlier his life and family and faith were destroyed), and then in a mounting chorus from others, mostly Jews, the great affirmation: 'Shema Yisroel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai echod, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.' "
Oct 18, 1992
The parable of The Rich man and Lazarus is about indifference and idolatry; about how easily we 'miss the mark' for which life and possessions are intended.
We prize winning, having, owning, possessing, controlling, dominating, enjoying, yes,even wasting. With Tivia we "wish I were a rich man" and live the illusion that money will solve all our problems. Yet nothing could be more false. For, "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
The purpose of life is NOT to acquire wealth; the purpose of life is to 'pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. to take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and for which you were made." I Tim 6:11
That is, do something which makes a difference in the Kingdom of God; not just makes a buck. The rich man lived his whole life for the wrong reason. He became an indifferent, cold hearted man who couldn't see or hear God's call through Lazarus to live for more then being rich.
See Robert Capon, The Parables of Grace, pp. 156-157
Jesus is challenging our indifference which leads to idolatry which leads to a whole life of wasted energy, of missing the mark, or living for the wrong reason.
And calling us to live by grace; that is, to live, as Mother Teresa says, not doing great things, but doing small things with great love.
Pentecost 18