Signs from God

John 3:7-18

Did you hear about the “holy cow” that was born last week in Connecticut? If you didn’t hear about it, this brown jersey Holstein calf was born with a distinct birthmark. Just between his eyes, there is a white marking that is clearly in the shape of a cross. People have been coming from all over to see this special calf, which children near the farm have named “Moses.” That’s a great Christmas story, isn’t it? It’s heartwarming. It’s special.

If you read the Bible, you’ll find out that God shows up in all kinds of places. God shows up in chaos of an unformed creation-and shapes it in our world. God shows up in a burning bush, speaking to Moses (the real Moses!). Later, God shows up in Egypt with frogs and darkness, with rivers of blood and locusts, and frees an oppressed people. God showed up in a vision to the Prophet Jeremiah of two baskets of figs. So, maybe God does show up in a white, furry cross on the forehead of a newborn calf.

This image, by the way, gets way more publicity, far more press, than the image we have in front of us today: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come?” This is how John the Baptist greets the crowds who have ventured all the way out into the wilderness to see him and listen to what he has to say. This is the same John, by the way, who Matthew tells us was dressed in camel’s hair and a leather belt, and who ate locusts and wild honey.

When you open your newspaper or turn on your television and see the story of Moses the Calf, my guess is that your response will be something like: “Awww.” When we read about John the Baptist-a half-naked man with bugs in his teeth, shouting at us and calling us names, we may be more likely to go: “Ewww.” And that’s why you’ll hear stories about Moses this calf this Christmas season, and none about John the Baptist.

Who knows if this calf’s special cross marking is more than just a nice story to read in the paper around Christmas time? Who am I to say that God can’t send a vision of Jesus on a piece of toast, or a picture of Mary burned into the face of an iron? How can we know for sure that God doesn’t regularly make Himself known through grilled cheese sandwiches?

But, before Jesus arrives on the scene, God sends us John-shouting about vipers, calling for repentance, and warning us of sharpened axes and fiery flames. The only thing he and Moses the calf have in common is that they both get our attention. And I think that’s the idea. John wants your attention. More importantly, God wants our attention.

This season God calls us to get ready for the coming of Jesus. More than anything, to do this-God seems to tell us- we must pay attention. Pay attention, John says. If you’ve got too much stuff, if you’re constantly grasping after more, and if you’re not treating people with compassion and understanding-pay attention, because now is the time to make a change. Repentance means exactly this: get ready. Give up what you don’t need, stop grasping, and revisit your relationships. Now is the time.

When I think about it, this is probably why we hear more about calves with crosses and visions of Mary on irons, and less about guys like John the Baptist. John brings a mandate for change, and not only is change difficult, but change is often unpopular. We don’t like change.

Whether we like it, or not. Whether we’re ready, or not. In just a couple of weeks a big change is coming. In a couple of weeks, the image in the toast, the cloud in the wilderness, the burning bush, and all those other images will pale in their significance and their impact-when all of a sudden God shows up as clear as day and looks back at us through the eyes of a baby boy.

Jesus and Moses the calf have a lot in common. They were both born in a stable. They were both cute. They both could make us stop and look and say “Awww.” But the most important thing they have in common is that they both bore the mark of the cross. Moses has it gently placed in the fur on his forehead. Jesus carried it on his shoulders.

God shows up in all kinds of places-some are clearer than others. The clearest place, though, is a place that doesn’t always get the most publicity, but it is the most important. The cross stands as a sign of how far God is willing to go for you. The cross is the reminder that there is nothing God won’t give up for you. The cross is the place where God grasps not for life or power, but instead resigns himself to give it all up and die. The cross is the place where God makes sure that you and I will have a relationship with Him forever. It’s like Paul says when he writes: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:38-39) Paul was paying attention. Are we?
If we haven’t been, it’s ok. It’s ok, because there’s still plenty of time. Plenty of time to drop everything and head for the wilderness for awhile. Plenty of time to listen to John’s advice and get ready for Jesus’ arrival. Plenty of time to repent and change.

God may show up in all of those great stories we hear throughout the year-Jesus burned into a piece of toast, Mary on the grilled cheese, and Moses the cross-marked calf. God definitely shows up through John and his message this week to repent and get ready. God always shows up in the suffering world-walking with the crosses we carry and carrying us to new life beyond them. Have you heard this story? Have you seen his cross? Are you paying attention?

God's Positioning System

Luke 3:1-6

Do you have a GPS unit in your car? Do you have a Garmin, or a TomTom? Do you have one that came installed from the factory? Do you find comfort in that voice that guides you along the way as you drive? Have you come to rely on that voice that comes from your GPS unit to get you where you need to go? Are you, at this point, used to typing in your destination and then listening as that familiar voice guides you through each turn?

Did you know that you can download different voices for your GPS unit? So, instead of the standard voice, you could get your directions from Clint Eastwood, or Marilyn Monroe. If you wanted, you could set your GPS so that it was Darth Vader or Yoda who was guiding you along the way. There are tons of voices you could use if you wanted: John Cleese, Sean Connery, Mister T, Knight Rider, Austin Powers, or Homer Simpson. In today’s world, if you have a GPS, then you could listen to any voice you choose as you navigate your way through life.

In our gospel lesson for today, there is a definitive voice that is about to speak. He’s in a remote place, that the residents of ancient Israel may have needed a global positioning device to find. Before Jesus arrives, it’s this voice that is guiding people to God. In the words of Isaiah, his is a voice that is crying out in the wilderness-and his message for the people is: “PREPARE”!

In a way, you might say that John was God’s GPS in those days. Before there was GPS he was calling everyone who would listen to take to the highways-make the paths straight, cut out the crooked roads, and flatten the mountains along the way. He was guiding people, giving directions for them as they prepared for this amazing thing that was coming their way.

It’s no different today. Where are the deep valleys in your life? What lies at the bottom of them? Where are the mountains that stand in between you and your relationship with God? What are they made of? Where have the roads that were once straight, easy paths, become crooked and treacherous? How did they get that way?
The good news is, no matter how deep the valley, how high the mountain, or how crooked the road, God has given us a positioning system-a way to level the rough terrain of life. God has given us a clear direction-a message that takes the twists and turns that leave us dizzy and disoriented and makes them straight once more.

God’s positioning system has a voice, no longer crying out in the wilderness, but speaking to your heart. God’s positioning system is here, closer than the Garmin that sits on your dash, clearer than the TomTom fixed to your windshield, and easier to use than your factory-installed navigation system. His is the voice that John called the people in the wilderness to prepare for. His is the voice that calls us to direct our lives toward God’s unending love. His is the voice that we will hear in just a few short weeks in a baby’s cries from the manger.

God’s positioning system calls us to drop everything during this season of hope and prepare for a fresh start, a new day, a brand new destination. When John stood in the middle of nowhere and shouted-“PREPARE!”-this is what he was talking about.
God’s positioning system will guide us this season by starlight, to an out-of –the-way town where everything will change forever. God’s positioning system will guide us to the stable beneath the inn-open to the night air, and wide open for anyone who wants to come in and see. God’s positioning system will guide us to forgiveness in the flesh, the birth of possibility, and the child who will lead us to new life.

He brought a message that no one before him, and no one since has dared to share quite the way he did. He set his own positioning system for the places in the world that needed God most. He met people who had been buried under mountains of illness-and he healed them. He walked with people who had been living in valleys of rejection and pain-and he guided them into pastures of peace and acceptance. He met people traveling along roads that had become crooked and twisted without the real presence of God-and he straightened them so that people could see that God was there for them all along.

In the end, he navigated a path that led from the table to the garden, then from the garden to the cross-going to the place that leaves us all lost. He charted a course through the darkness of death, walking through that dark valley guided by God, until he emerged on the other side to stand in the sunshine of the resurrection.
You can’t download Jesus’ voice for your GPS, but you can carry it in your heart. No matter where you go, his words can guide your path-leveling mountains of worry, guiding you through valleys of fear, and straightening the twists and turns of life-leading you straight into God’s undying love.

Where are the places in your life that need to be leveled? Where do you need to be lifted up the most? What turns seem to leave you lost again and again? How can you use God’s positioning system during this season of hope to prepare for the one whose voice can guide you through it all? How can you set your heart to God’s guiding voice? There are so many voices out there to listen to, but only His can get you to where you really need to go. Let God’s voice be your guide through the dark valleys, over the mountains, and through the twists and turns, and before long, God promises-you’ll see the Son.

20 Questions with Christ the King

John 18:33-37

Can you remember the last time you played a really good game of 20 Questions? Thanksgiving is coming this week, and I wonder how many times that game has been played by children, sitting in the back seat of the car while mom and dad drive to visit relatives. Before there were dvd players and Nintendo DS’s-it was games like: I Spy, license plate bingo, and 20 Questions that kept children occupied during those long drives.

This morning it may seem as though Jesus is in the middle of a game of 20 questions, but if he’s playing, he’s not doing very well. Everyone but Jesus seems to know that the only acceptable answers in this game are “Yes” and “No”. That’s all that Pontius Pilate wants from him: “Are you a king? Yes or no?” But, Jesus doesn’t seem to get it. He answers Pilate’s questions with some of his own: “Why do you ask?” “Am I a King? You tell me.” “Do you think I look like a King?” And, even though he seems to be toying with Pilate, at this point I think Jesus is done playing games. Maybe that’s the problem.

Or, maybe the real problem is that Pilate doesn’t realize that he’s playing 20 questions with God Himself. I would bet that God loves a good game. I would guess that God is more than willing to play around and have fun with us. But, I also believe that when we play, it’s always by God’s rules. Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea isn’t used to playing by anyone’s rules but his own. Maybe that’s why he’s having a hard time with Jesus.

Have you ever played 20 questions with God? I have. On most days, though, I’ve got way more than 20 questions for God, and on most days I want answers to all of them. If you were standing face to face with the Son of God this morning, which ones would you like to ask?

Jesus is more than willing to help us find answers to even the toughest questions of life. He answered all kinds of questions with the way he lived his life. When people wondered who was welcome, he answered-“Everyone”. When people wondered who was acceptable in God’s eyes he answered the same thing. When people wondered how to have a relationship with God, he answered their question by showing up and spending time with them wherever they happened to be-at work, at the table, drawing water at the well in the hot sun, even in the middle of the night. Jesus is more than willing to sit with just about anyone and help them find answers for the questions of life.

Jesus is more than willing to do this as long as we’re willing to let him. When we try to limit God’s voice in our lives to simple, one word answers-“Yes” or “No” –then we miss out on the great possibilities that a relationship with God holds. Pilate experienced this that day. You and I have, too. When we press God for answers that we’ve already come to all by ourselves, we are bound to end up confused and frustrated. When this happens, I’ll bet God feels the same way.

So much of our relationship with God lives in the questions. In fact, if you think back far enough ,you may remember that your relationship with God began in the questions. They were asked way back when and they sounded something like this: “Do you desire to be baptized?” “Do you believe in God, the Father…Son…and Holy Spirit?”

For many of us, someone else answered those questions. At the font, they held us and they responded: “Yes, and I ask God to help me.”

That day with Pilate, Jesus began to answer the most important questions of life and death for us. If he were like other kings, he wouldn’t have bothered-he would have sent someone else to do it. Or, he would have gathered troops and sent them to face his accusers while he sat safely at home. If he were like any other king, he’d save a place for himself instead of taking your place and mine. If he were like any other king, he wouldn’t be our savior, our Lord, our Christ.

There are all kinds of questions that we ask every day. We find answers for some, and others remain uncertain or unclear. Because of Jesus, we can ask any question we choose…we can pray to God anytime, and anywhere. The answer may not come right away or the way we wanted, but because Jesus answered the toughest questions of life and death on the cross, we know for sure that God’s listening ear is always close by.

So the next time you find yourself wondering about something-anything at all-try asking Jesus about it first, you may be surprised what happens. You may be surprised by the answers, the conversation, and the possibilities that are opened up before you. You may be surprised by the new life you find in the God who took your place, walks with you, and is always ready to help you find the answers you’re looking for. As long as you’re willing to ask the questions.

Time...

Mark 13:1-8

Last week we heard a story about a woman who took her last penny and gave it to God. This week, I’ve been thinking about what we do with our time. In particular, I’m thinking about a question that gets asked all kinds of ways: “If you had one day left to live, how would you spend it?” Think about it for a moment…really think. What would you spend that last 24 hours doing? Would you spend it with the people you love the most? Would you enjoy your last day with family and friends? Would you do something crazy? Steal a car? Rob a bank? Something crazier? Would you spend that last day enjoying your favorite location on earth? Would you drive to the mountains, head to the beach and sit by the ocean, walk through the streets of your favorite city? Would you tell someone something you’ve been meaning to say, but haven’t found the time or words yet? What would you say? “I’m sorry”? “I love you.”? “I really can’t stand you”? Would you, instead, be paralyzed by fear? Would you stay at home and sit and wait and worry? What would you do if you knew you only had one day left to live?

Of course, we have no idea when our last day will come or what we will do with it. But think about it for just a minute.

Essentially, this is what Jesus’ disciples are concerned about. It’s what Peter, Andrew, James, and John are thinking about as they sit on the Mount of Olives with Jesus. Really, who could blame them for thinking about it? Just a few minutes earlier, as they were all heading out of the Temple, one of them happened to mention how impressive the whole structure was-“Look at these stones, they’re huge! Look at these buildings, they’re bigger than anything I’ve ever seen!” Then, instead of agreeing, Jesus told them with a less-than-casual tone in his voice that one day the whole thing would be reduced to a pile of rubble.

Once they’re safely across the way, sitting up on the Mount, they ask Jesus a question like the one I began with this morning. “When will this happen? How will we know?” If we were there that day, we would probably ask the same kind of thing.

I wonder if this same kind of thing was on Paul’s mind when he wrote the letter to the Hebrews. In fact, I think what he writes in 10:24-25 makes a pretty good answer to questions about what to do with the time we have left-whether it’s one day or a hundred years, I think they make good sense:

“Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.” -Hebrews 10:24-25 (MSG)

If you know that the time you have left is limited, then Paul says: encourage love, help out, make time to gather together, and in all of it go above and beyond-be inventive-do it all in ways that the world has never seen before.

This verse becomes even more important when the things that Jesus tells his disciples to watch out for start to happen. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars… When people try to get you to compromise on your beliefs… When there is conflict… When there are earthquakes… When there are people without enough to eat…

You know what? All of those things are happening right now… War, conflict, messages that compete for our attention, natural disasters, hunger… So Paul’s words are important for us today. They were happening back then, too, when Paul wrote those words. They’ve been happening since nearly the beginning of time.

So what do you do when you know that the time you’ve got is limited? I’ll bet Jesus was aware of this question every day of his life. I’ll bet it never drifted too far from his thoughts. I’ll bet he lived with it throughout nearly every moment. I’ll bet he thought about it during those last twenty four hours of his life. From sitting at the table sharing a meals with his best friends to praying in the garden for strength in those final hours. From being arrested and hauled off, to being raised on the cross. I’ll bet he thought about how he had spent his life especially in those last moments as friends scattered while others stayed…as people mocked while others couldn’t bear to look. I’ll bet he thought about it a lot at the very end.

I wonder how Jesus thought about his time on earth on the other side of the cross. When the stone was rolled away and the sun streamed in? When his friends stood in disbelief at his living, breathing body?

Time is precious when you know you don’t have a lot of it. Time may be even more precious when you find some you didn’t know you had, or even better when you get some you thought you’d never live to see.

I think, in essence, this is what Jesus’ message on the Mount of Olives is about. Live your life while you have the time to live it. Be the person God created you to be while you can. Find time for what’s really important when you have the time.

If you’ve got ten minutes, twenty four hours, or twenty four years, then you’ve got time. Time to invent something new. A new person to reach out to. A new friend to make. A new chapter to open in an old relationship. A new message to share with the world. A new stone to turn over. Until that day when everything is new…remember what Jesus did for you and what Paul told you, and live lives that let the people around you know that you’re making the most of your time and they can too.

An Empty Boat

John 11:32-44

I want you to use your imagination for a moment. I want you to imagine that you are in a boat on a river. It can be any kind of boat you choose: a canoe, a rowboat, a kayak… Can you picture it? O.K, you’re in your little boat, paddling along, minding your own business, heading down river. The water is still and calm. The leaves on the trees around you are just beginning to change color and you can see all of the yellows, oranges, and reds reflecting off of the water all around you. An occasional leaf falls off of a branch and drifts gently down in front of you. As you watch it fall, all of a sudden WHAM! Another boat bumps into you from behind. You turn around and see that the driver of the other boat was busy furiously texting on their cell phone, oblivious to where they were they were going when they bumped into your little boat.

Now, let me ask you: How do you feel about that person? What do you say to that person?

Shortly after this happens, you get your boat going back down river, your blood pressure returns to a normal rate, and you once again begin enjoying the still water, the changing leaves, and the ride that you’re taking in your little boat, when all of a sudden WHAM! It happens again. Another boat slams into your little boat. But this time when you turn around you see that this boat has no one in it all. It’s an empty boat. What do you do this time? Do you shout at the empty boat? Are you angry at it? Do you say anything at all? How does life change when you get bumped by an empty boat?

Chuang Tzu was a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 4th century before the birth of Christ. This lesson about the “empty boat” was one of his stories.

Have you ever been bumped? Can you remember the last time you really got bumped in life? When someone or something came along, often without warning, and knocked you off course? When something bumped you out of the comfort and security of the life you were living and left you trying to paddle back on course?

We’ve all been bumped. And when it happens, it’s jarring. It’s startling. It can make us angry. In fact, many of us have been bumped so many times that we’re no longer paddling along through life, enjoying the scenery and the moment, but instead we’re spending all of our time on the lookout for the next boat that may come along and bump us. Can you relate?

Mary and Martha have been bumped. In our lesson for today, they’re still reeling from a big bump-one that startled and shook them. One that has sent their lives off course. Lazarus, their brother, has died, and they are feeling bumped in a big way because of it. They’re angry. They’re tearful. They’re searching for answers and looking for hope. They’re worrying. Really, they’re doing what we would do.
What they learn that day is that God has the power to make every painful experience, every threatening thing, every worry inducing bump in our lives into an empty boat. Jesus, filled with every human emotion his body will hold, as he fights back the tears, appeals to God to do just that. In the face of death, Jesus prays to God and opens the grave. At the end of that day, with the bandages still hanging from his head, arms, and legs, Lazarus’s death is nothing more than a momentary bump from an empty boat.

We still get bumped. Every day. The problem with this isn’t in the bumping, but it’s in what we do with it. If you get bumped enough, you begin to worry about where and when the next big bump will come from and what it might do to you. When this happens, you spend most of your life worrying instead of living. You start looking not at the changing leaves or the still water that God has blessed you with, but at the boats all around you, the one way out there on the horizon…and you worry that it’s coming for you. When this happens, the whole world shrinks to the size of your little boat and you spend all your time wondering how you’ll protect it. The end result is that even an empty boat can rob us of the present-the only time we really ever have.

Jesus came, in part, to liberate us from the idea that worrying accomplishes anything. He told his disciples, at the most uncertain point in their lives: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.”

In Jesus, we are given the power and the strength to become the very thing that we spend so much time running from. In Jesus, we can become empty boats. Chuang Tzu put it this way: “If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world, no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you....” When we become empty boats floating through life, then God becomes the one who charts the course, drives our lives, and watches out for the bumps along the way.

Jesus, seeing the pain that death causes and the power that it holds over the lives of the people he loves, does something about it. That afternoon, he opened the grave, prayed to God, and called for Lazarus to come out. Later, in order to destroy the power of death forever, Jesus ventured right into it. He walked into the darkness that Lazarus emerged from. He set his course for the heart of it and never allowed himself to be bumped off course by anything. Before he did, he emptied himself completely, he prayed for God to take over, and when he set his compass for the cross he became an empty boat-driven by God. In the emptiness, God does something amazing. Death is conquered and new life emerges.

No one likes getting bumped. We’re bumped by all kinds of things and all of them add up in many ways to death and loss. We’re bumped when we lose a loved one. We’re bumped when we lose a relationship. We’re bumped when we lose a job. Every bump interrupts our life. Every bump knocks our little boat off course. Every bump hurts.

In the God who raised Lazarus, in the God who was raised on the cross, and in the God who raised Christ to new life, we’re reminded every day that these bumps cannot defeat us. These shocks cannot drive us off course forever. These traumas will never have the last word…because with this God, one day the waters will become calm once more, the sun will shine again, and even at the end of life, our boat will still sail on.

Becoming Children of God-Reformation and Liam's Baptism

John 8:31-36

Martin Luther, the founder of our church, the “igniter” of the Protestant Reformation, the man who was bold enough to compile a list of 95 issues with the church of his day, and then bold enough to nail them to the door of the castle church in his own Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This Martin Luther, who holed himself up in a tiny room to avoid being burned at the stake, and while he was there translated the entire Bible from Hebrew and Greek into German, so that the average person could read it. This historical figure, who psychologists say, is the only person in history who could be completely analyzed based on the large volume of writing he did…they say he never had a thought that he didn’t put on paper…This man, this “legend” among Lutherans, when it comes down to it…is exactly like you…and me. His name may be in the history books, but he’s no different than us.

When it comes down to it, Martin Luther, with all of his credentials, accomplishments, achievements, and history-making works…is just another disciple of Jesus, another child of God. He’s just another person who heard the words of Jesus when he said:“Follow Me” and did exactly that.

“The truth will make you free” Jesus says. The truth of the matter is, a disciple is anyone who leaves behind the pressures of this life, makes a turn somewhere along the way, and begins following Jesus first.

The disciples did it: Peter and Andrew left their nets lying in the sand and followed Jesus. James and John, jumped out of the boat and left the family fishing business to follow Jesus. Tax collectors and sinners flocked to Jesus’ side, leaving behind their old lives and starting something new. Each of these people, when Jesus came into their life and asked them to “follow”, they stopped what they were doing, and they did it. They followed Jesus. They became disciples.

Just like Peter and Andrew, James and John, our first movement as disciples is to drop whatever it is that keeps us from answering the call, and begin to follow Jesus. Just like Martin Luther, our first task is to let go of anything that stands in the way of our relationship with God and begin to follow Jesus…
Is it easy? Think for a moment about all the things you have to do today. Could you drop them all and never return to them again?

There is someone here this morning who in just a few short moments will make it look really easy. In just a few short moments Liam will come to the font, feel the waters of baptism trickle gently over his forehead, and just like that…become a child of God…become a disciple of Jesus. It’s just that simple…come to font…feel the waters rush.... It’s easy, and it happened exactly the same way for you. Baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we become his followers.

Jesus, in the end, the one we’re following, leads us to the cross…the sacrifice that he makes to bring the unconditional love of God to the world is the sacrifice of his own life. In this supreme gift lies the heart of what Martin Luther discovered: God’s love is free…for you, for me, for the world. God’s forgiveness is free….God’s approval of you…is free. It can’t be bought, not with money, not with good deeds, not with self-denial, or self-sacrifice, or anything else that you or I have or hold. It is God’s to give, and God gives it for free.

Of course, it’s not free for God. For God the cost is huge, it means life and death, it means pain and suffering, it means the cross for his son, the grave for his own flesh. But in this incredible act, God says “You’re worth it”

Today, we remember and celebrate the Reformation, a shift in the church toward the God who is gracious, the God who forgives without charging us a thing. The God who rejoices in the possibility of new and continual reformation and rebirth in the church for years to come. This is the movement that Martin Luther began. This is the Reformation commitment we are called to continue as disciples of Jesus.

The best part of this is that there are as many ways to do it as there are people in the world. The possibilities are limitless. You can do it as a teacher, a mechanic, a tax man, a saleswoman, a doctor, a lawyer, a stay-at-home mome, a cashier, a toll booth worker, a builder, a child, a friend, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a grandparent, a baby… The list goes on and on. At the end of the day, all you have to do to follow Jesus is be yourself. Exactly the person God created you to be. That’s why Liam makes it look so easy-he has absolutely no problem being the person God created him to be. In fact, at his age, it’s all he knows.

Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door. Peter and Andrew dropped their nets. James and John jumped out of the boat. The tax collectors left their tax booths. The sinners found forgiveness. Liam came to the font and was baptized. What will you find in the words of Jesus, standing before you, saying: “Follow Me”? How will you be a disciple, in the spirit of the first disciples, the tax collectors and sinners, Martin Luther and the other Reformers? How can you receive God’s love the way Liam did this morning? How will you change the world tomorrow as a disciple of Jesus? What can you do today with the gifts God gave you and the unconditional love God shows you?

Wild Things

Mark 10:35-45

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him. An angel heard his plea and appeared to him.

"I’m sorry, it doesn’t work that way. You can't take your money with you."
The man begged the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules. The man continued to pray that his wealth could follow him into heaven.

The angel reappeared and informed the man that God had decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathered his largest suitcase and filled it with pure gold bars and placed it beside his bed. Soon afterward, he died and showed up at the gates of heaven to greet St. Peter.

St. Peter, seeing the suitcase, said, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"
The man explained to St. Peter that he had permission and asked him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checked it out, came back and said, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through." St. Peter opened the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaimed, "You could bring anything you wanted, why did you choose to bring pavement?” (The streets of heaven are paved with…)

There was another man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife."

So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.

Well, one day he died. He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!" she had a shoe box with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket.

Then the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away.

Her friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to put all that money in the casket."

She said, "Yes, I promised. I'm a good Christian, I can't lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?"

"I sure did, " said the wife. "I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him one big check. If he can cash it, he can spend it.”
Today, we hear a story about James and John. In it, we find out that just like the two men in these jokes-they want to go to heaven with gold bricks in their pockets and a big check in their wallets. “

Jesus sets them straight, or at least he tries to when he essentially tells them “It doesn’t work that way.”

Others have captured this wisdom over the years. Someone somewhere said “You can’t take it with you.” Another anonymous person put it into these words “Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.” Maurice Sendak, author of “Where the Wild Things Are” understood this too. Here’s what he said about it: “There must be more to life than having everything.”
His book was recently made into a movie that was released this weekend. In short, the book is about a little boy who imagines a world of Wild Things and retreats there when his mother sends him to his room without supper.

When we’re not satisfied with what we have we run the risk of becoming like James and John. When this happens our imaginations run wild with impossible ideas of personal greatness. Ideas that include special seats at the right and left hand of God. Ideas of suitcases that are full of gold bricks. Ideas of big checks to stuff into our wallets.

As we find out in today’s lesson, these are ideas that God cannot bless. If we listen closely, we realize that we are fortunate that God does not bless these ideas.
I think God wants us to use our imaginations to come up with all kinds of wild things. I think those wild things might include working to make seats, not for ourselves, but so that other people will have a place to sit. A wild thing that God could bless might look less like a suitcase of gold bricks, and more like bricks that build foundations for places where people can gather to hear a story of hope for all, not just a few. I think God would like us to make some wild things happen by opening our wallets and checkbooks to find more imaginative uses for what we find there.

Maurice Sendak wrote the book, but I think God is the master of wild things. God created this wild world, but He wasn’t satisfied with it until people like you and I were living here. When we came up with all kinds of wild ideas that God couldn’t bless-God came up with the wildest one yet. Jesus was born. God was born into our world. He lived as we do. He saw what we see. He walked through the world and shared wild things like unconditional love, complete forgiveness, and real life with anyone who was willing to listen. In this wild world, Jesus does all kinds of wild things-but none was wilder than venturing into the wildest, most untamed place we could imagine-into death and back out again. In doing this one wild thing, Jesus frees us from all those misguided imaginings and frees us to be wild things just as he was.

When we’re not satisfied with what we have we become like James and John. We start thinking about ourselves more and more, and thinking about the people around us less and less. When this happens, we come up with all kinds of wild things-seats in heaven, suitcases full of gold, and big checks with our name on them.
I think God wants to let us in on a little secret: When we get to that place where God’s glory shines the brightest, that place where James and John wanted those two special seats on either side of Jesus-we won’t care about most of what we had in this life. It just won’t matter anymore.

But, all of those things we had in this life will be left here when we go. They will speak to what kind of people we were in this life. Will people tell stories about you and I? They certainly will. And you and I will write those stories today. It’s up to us. They can tell stories of the gold bricks we packed up in our suitcases and the checks that went un-cashed and unused. Or, they can tell stories about people with great imaginations who realized that there was more to life than having it all, and upon realizing that-did some really wild things to serve the people and the world that God loves. If we’re successful, one day people will point to the seats that we set, the places we build, and the things we imagine and say: “That’s where the wild things are.”

"how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God"

Mark 10:17-31

Late one night there is a knock on the pearly gates. St. Peter looks out and a man is standing there. So, he goes to grab his clipboard and is about to begin the interview he conducts with all the new arrivals to heaven, but when he opens the door, all of a sudden the man disappears.

No sooner is St. Peter back in his chair when there is another knock at the door. He gets up, opens the door and sees the same man standing there. As he opens his mouth to speak, the man disappears once again.

Finally, at the third knock, St. Peter has had it. He throws the door open and shouts “Why, are you messing with me?!” As the man disappears once more, he shouts back: “I’m not! They keep trying to resuscitate me down here!”

“how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.” Like it or not, Jesus is right. It is hard to enter the kingdom of God.

I think the biggest reason it’s so hard, is because we are so much more accustomed to living in our own kingdoms. It’s hard to enter God’s kingdom, because if we’re honest with ourselves, we’d rather live in our own kingdoms.
The young man who comes to Jesus in our gospel for today learns this lesson-and when he does it shocks him and makes him walk away saddened. His kingdom is one that is full of lots of possessions. Jesus invites him to enter God’s kingdom, but tells him that all of those possessions can’t come with him. Just the prospect of leaving the kingdom of possessions behind shocks the man, and when he realizes he can’t do it-it saddens him.

“how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.”

I thought a little bit this week about all the things that make us comfortable in our own kingdoms.

If we read the gospel stories of Jesus carefully, we will find that the Kingdom of God is vastly different than the kingdoms we build for ourselves to live in.

Our kingdom says that there are winners and losers, and we live in the kingdom trying our best to win as often as possible...but Jesus says: “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake...will save it.” God’s kingdom is for the losers.

When our kingdoms are built for winners- then “how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.”

Our kingdom says that the best indication of blessing is in how much we have-money in the bank, food in the refrigerator, clothes in our closet, cars in the garage...Jesus says: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” God’s kingdom is for the poor.

When we measure our kingdoms in numbers of possessions-then “how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.”

Our kingdom says that a good life is a life that is full of comfort, security, and safety...Jesus says: “If any want to become my followers let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” God’s kingdom doesn’t always call us to the safest, most secure places.

When our kingdoms are marked by comfort and safety-then “how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.”

On top of the need to live in our kinds of kingdoms-rather than God’s, there is another problem that we share with the young man who comes to Jesus. I think, often, we too are asking the wrong questions. Listen again to what he asks: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Looking for something he can perform to get into the kingdom-the young man is crushed when Jesus suggests something he can’t bring himself to do.

Maybe this is another significant difference between God’s kingdom and our kingdom-in God’s kingdom everything is up to God.

You and I have a choice today, as we sit and listen once more to a story about the Kingdom of God. We can look around at the kingdom we live in and become shocked because it is so different than God’s kingdom. We, like the young man, can walk away saddened because we don’t want to give up life in our kingdom. Or, we can see the good news in what Jesus has to say about life in this new kingdom.

You can’t bring the possessions with you into God’s kingdom because God doesn’t want them, doesn’t need them, can’t use them. In fact, God gave you all of those things so that you would use them to make life on this side of the kingdom better for people who have less than you do. God wants you in the kingdom, not the possessions.
God doesn’t care if you’re a winner or a loser. God knows what you’re capable of, who you are, and what you mean to him. God doesn’t need to see a medal around your neck to know that you belong in the kingdom.

God’s kingdom-the eternal life-that the young man asked about will be a place of comfort, security, and safety. God knows that this world is not-but He put you here to live in it and to work for the comfort of others, the security of those who are insecure, and the safety of those who live in dangerous places. God wants you to live in complete safety and security, but not just yet.

“how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.” In fact, Jesus says- for us it is impossible. But not for God. For God, all things are possible.

Jesus didn’t measure the success of his mission based on how much he had-but instead chose to let God provide-in God’s kingdom 5 loaves and 2 fish can feed thousands of people. In God’s kingdom it’s possible for the Son of God to be born into an unsafe world, in an unsafe place. From the manger to the cross, Jesus chose to live among those for whom there was no safety or security, and little comfort. He walked with people who were living in the valley of the shadow of death-and reminded them that in God’s kingdom they would never walk alone. In the end, Jesus was willing to lose everything that God had given him-his reputation, his credibility, even his life-to bring God’s kingdom to this world. The end of Jesus’ life reveals the most striking difference between God’s kingdom and ours. In our kingdom-death gets the last word. In God’s kingdom-death is the gateway to a new beginning. After death comes resurrection-life in a kingdom that is greater than we ever could have dreamed.

“how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God” without the help of God. When we try to go it alone, when we try to build our own little kingdoms to live in, and when we try to resuscitate them over and over again as they fail to give us the life we want-we run the risk of becoming shocked and saddened time and time again. When we learn to trust God to provide, we begin to really live-maybe not the life we imagined, but the real life that God blesses.

In the end, God doesn’t want your awards, your possessions, or your little kingdom…God wants you! Until we reach that day, God wants us to use these things as witnesses to the new kingdom that God is building for us all to live in one day.
God gives us the words to pray when we, like the young man, struggle with leaving our kingdom for God’s: “Your kingdom come, your will be done.”

Receive the Kingdom of God

Mark 10:13-16

Meditate on these for awhile:
What’s the sound of one hand clapping?
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

These are two common examples of what is, in Zen Buddhism, called a “koan”. A koan is a puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening. Ponder them for just a moment and you may find yourself stepping into a whole new reality.

A more contemporary koan is this one: “Why are there locks on the doors at 7-eleven?” Think about it, why does a store that is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year need to have locks on its doors? The path to enlightenment begins here.
While you’re thinking on that one, let me offer you another. Jesus offers us a sort of koan of his own in today’s lesson. “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

I think this is a sort of koan that Jesus offers because, at first glance it seems so easy to understand-children are open, loving, unbiased, creative, caring…the list goes on and on. So, if we recover some of that child-like openness and faith, then we too can expect to enter God’s kingdom. If we can’t recover it, then we may never find the life God intends for us. Easy enough, right?

But, apparently, it’s not that simple. This is the second time in less than a chapter of Mark’s gospel that Jesus has had to make this point to his disciples. First, when they argued about who among them was the greatest-Jesus essentially told them: “Do you want to see who God thinks is great?” and then he took a little child in his arms and said “This is who God thinks is really great.”

And now, as people stream to Jesus with these little children just like that one, the embodiment of greatness in God’s eyes, the disciples only instinct is to speak sternly to them, shoo them away, tell them to get lost. Apparently they haven’t meditated on the koan of the child long enough.

Maybe they should spend some time with the 7-eleven koan, too. Why are there locks on the doors of a store that’s open all the time? These disciples have seen how Jesus is open, to all kinds of people, all the time. And yet, they still feel the need to install locks on the gates of God’s kingdom. They’ve seen it with their own eyes-that Jesus is like a 7-eleven-open all day every day. Yet, today they seem to be telling all of these people, bringing their children that Jesus is closed for business. The doors are locked.

Do you and I need to spend some more time with these two bits of wisdom, too? Are you sometimes like Jesus’ disciples? Do you sometimes see the need to stand guard at the door, at the gate, at the entrance, ready to lock it all up tight if the wrong kind of person happens to come along at the wrong time? Have you ever felt the pressure of feeling like it was up to you to guard something, and you were afraid of what might happen if the gates were left wide open? Have you felt that kind of fear?

Or, are you like the people who bring their children? Do you find yourself wanting some kind of contact with someone who has wisdom to bring to the troubles of your life? Do you find yourself looking for someone who could listen to all the things that fill your heart and mind each day? Do you long for someone who could touch your life and remind you in a meaningful way that it is blessed by God?

The good news today, if you’ve ever felt this way, is that Jesus is here for you. There’s no need to be on guard when he’s around. Stop guarding, put away the keys, leave the door and live your life without fear. Jesus has it covered. There’s no need to carry those troubles alone. You don’t have to look far for that listening ear. Your life is blessed, look around, Jesus is here.

Jesus has a passion for teaching these lessons. They are important to him. Notice how he feels when the disciples stand guard and lock the doors to keep people out- “when Jesus saw this he was indignant.” Indignant literally means: angry, offended, annoyed, pained. Jesus seldom gets this way. In fact, this is the only place in the Bible where it happens.

It doesn’t happen when Jesus is accused of lying about being God’s Son. He doesn’t get angry this way when the accusations turn into a guilty verdict. He isn’t indignant when they lock him up like a criminal, when they dress him up in a purple cloth and a crown of thorn, when they make fun of him. No indignation at all when they lead him to the cross, nail him up on it, and then mock him as he dies. Through all of these things, Jesus expresses no anger at all.
But when he sees someone trying to close up shop on God’s kingdom, he’s indignant.
Indignant, he passes right by the doors that the disciples are trying to close and lock, and he takes the children up in his arms, lays his hands on them, and blesses them. Indignant at the idea that God’s kingdom could ever be closed, Jesus reaches out.

What we find, ultimately from this little koan is that the kingdom of God IS these little ones. It is these little ones and anyone else who is open enough to give and receive God’s love the way they do.

What happens that day is a metaphor for what happens at the end of the story. The disciples tried to lock the doors and close off access to Jesus. The cross and the grave were attempts to lock the doors and close off access to God. But Jesus passes through every locked door, every dark place, every gate that leads to death, and emerges to embrace us with new life on the other side. That day it was blessings for all who came. Today, it is the blessing of the resurrection for all who receive him the way those little ones did.

What’s the sound of one hand clapping? Does a tree that falls in the forest make a sound if no one is there to hear it? Why do they have locks on the doors at 7-eleven? I’m not sure. But, why isn’t Jesus concerned about offending his disciples? Why does he push past them without a second thought? Why does he bless the little children? I think he does it because they ARE the kingdom of God. You and I are as well when we become like them. Meditate on that for awhile and you will be enlightened.

Running

John 6:24-35

Last Sunday morning, the police in Plain City, Utah were busy with a car chase. Although the pursuit never exceeded 40 miles an hour, it was memorable nonetheless. Police followed a white Dodge Intrepid that appeared to be driven by an underage driver. The car drove through the deserted Sunday morning streets, ran through stop signs, and made a u-turn in the local high school parking lot, all with the sirens and flashing lights in its rear-view mirror. The driver even eluded an attempt by one officer to block the road by turning down a side street at the last minute. Finally, the chase ended when the driver-seven year-old Preston Scarbrough, pulled into the driveway of a local home, put the car in park, got out and ran inside.

Inside the home, Preston found his father, sitting in the living room watching t.v. and told him: “Dad, the cops are outside.”

If you saw the story on the news this week, then you’ve seen it: the car slowly winding through the town’s streets, the police following along, and little Preston running as fast as he can up the dirt driveway and into his house. If you’ve seen it, then you also know why he did it all (or, at least why he says he did it). He says he did it all because he didn’t want to go to church.
So let’s be honest here, how many of us have ever felt like Preston did last Sunday? You wake up Sunday morning and think to yourself: “Man, I really don’t want to go.” Or, you plead with your parents to let you stay home. Be honest. How many of us here this morning felt that way today? I wonder how many of our friends felt that way today, and are still in bed or sitting in their pajamas in front of the television, or are out joyriding just like Preston was.

For me, the timing of this story couldn’t be better because today we’ve got a Gospel lesson where nearly the opposite thing happens. It tells us: “when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.” This crowd of people doesn’t spend their Sunday morning joyriding, trying to avoid the Lord. Instead, they’re purposefully looking, searching, pursuing him. Why would they do this?

They do it because they are the same crowd that just one day earlier had been fed by Jesus. This crowd of people was the same crowd, 5,000 in all, who had been fed until they couldn’t eat another bite when Jesus made five loaves of bread and two fish do more than anyone ever imagined.

So now, they’re looking for him because they want to see what he’ll do next. They had heard about his teachings. They had been told about the miracles of healing. They watched as the leftovers were gathered, filling twelve baskets. And now they’re wondering: “What will he do next?” This crowd is running after Jesus because they want to see or experience the next big thing.

We’ve felt like that as well, haven’t we? We spend a lot of time, if we’re honest with ourselves, running after the next big thing. We run after the next paycheck, the next experience, the next relationship, the next … You could fill in the blank with all the “next” things that you’re running after. We spend a lot of time running after things, and often the running leaves us exhausted and worn out.

At other times we’re more like little Preston, running from things. We know what those things are too. We run from the past, the mistakes, the words we never had the courage to say, the words we wished we had the restraint not to say, the relationship that didn’t turn out the way we had hoped… Again, fill in the blank. What do you run from?

In our lesson for today, Jesus invites all of us who run-from the things in our past or toward the next big thing in the future-to stop running. He tells the crowds who pursue him of something that will feed every hunger and quench every thirst…something that is closer to them than they might imagine.

When we gather together to worship and praise God each week we’re reminded that it’s o.k. to stop running. We gather and remember the waters of baptism that washed over us and made us children of God, children whom God was glad to love just the way we were. We also gather at the table and are fed by the bread of life-and reminded that God still loves us just the way we are. Because of all of this, we don’t to run from anything or for anything.

Many people in the crowds imagined that the next big thing for Jesus would be a seat on a throne. Even his disciples may have pictured him heading there. But Jesus didn’t. He didn’t run to the throne, and he didn’t run from the cross. Instead, he stayed true the person he was meant to be, and he did all of it for you. He gave his own life in place of yours and mine.

The next big thing after that was the new life that God raised him to live. It became the new life that you and I now live. A life that is free from running after things and running from things because this is the life God has given to us.

Abundantly Far More

Ephesians 3:20, John 6:1-21

A couple of years ago at a family gathering, a cousin of mine told us all about a restaurant she had visited whose philosophy was summed up in the following statement:

“Yes is the answer. What’s the question?”

Think about what that means for a moment. It’s about a commitment to caring for customers in a way that opens up all kinds of possibilities. It’s an experience where the word “no” isn’t a part of the vocabulary.

The idea came from a man named Cameron Mitchell. The story goes that Mr. Mitchell was in a restaurant with his family, when his young son ordered a milkshake and heard the word “no.” The server didn’t see any other response, because “milkshake” was not on the menu. Mr. Mitchell was frustrated by this because he knew that all of the ingredients needed to make a milkshake were there-“ice cream” was listed under desserts, and “milk” was printed under beverages. He was also positive that somewhere in the kitchen there was a blender. Everything to make a milkshake was there, except for a line printed on the menu. This experience sparked Mr. Mitchell’s philosophy for customer service: “Yes is the answer. What’s the question?”
Today, because of his philosophy, Cameron Mitchell now oversees 24 different successful restaurants that are committed to this kind of customer care.

“Yes is the answer. What’s the question?”

That sounds nice, doesn’t it? But as my sisters and I listened to it, we realized it’s not always possible. Although my cousin didn’t appreciate it, we put it to the test. I asked her: “So if I went to a Cameron Mitchell restaurant and ordered a Brontosaurus steak-medium rare, they would make me one?” Then my sister chimed in: “And if I was really hungry for Dodo Bird sandwich, they would serve it to me?” And finally, my other sister jumped into the mix: “You know what I’ve always wanted to try? Barbecued Pterodactyl wings! Where is this restaurant, anyway?” (It was funny because all of those animals are extinct!) Cameron Mitchell’s philosophy is great, but there’s no way anyone can deliver on it all the time.

Well, almost no one! (Did you see that one coming?) I think God could adopt this as a catch phrase if God chose. But, I think it would get flipped around on us. God might say:

“Yes is the answer…Now what was I going to ask you?”

Ephesians 3:20 is fast becoming my favorite verse in the Bible. Paul writes:

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…”

Notice that the verse talks about the “power at work within us.” God sees something special in each of us, that we may not even know is there. Then, Paul says that God is able to do “abundantly far more” with this power. He needs three words to describe the scope of what God can do with what’s inside of us! Finally, when God does this, we will find that it is beyond anything we could have asked or even imagined! So, God sees something inside of us, and does something “abundantly far more” than we ever could have dreamed of with it.

That’s why God could mean it if God chose to say:
“Yes is the answer…Now what was I going to ask you?”

In fact, this kind of thing is written all over the Bible.

First Samuel 17 tells the story of a young shepherd boy who, with nothing but a slingshot in his hand, defeats an enormous battle-tested giant. The boy’s name was David. The giant was Goliath.

In chapter three of the book of Exodus, another shepherd stands in front of a burning, speaking, bush and hears the voice of God. That shepherd’s name was Moses, and later he stood before the most powerful man in the world and demanded freedom for his people.

Before Paul wrote Ephesians 3:20, he was a really irritable guy who spent most of his time threatening and bullying Christians. One day, God knocked him on his rear-end, blinded hi, spoke to him, and made him one of the greatest followers of Jesus who ever lived.

All three had one thing in common: no one expected much from them and yet they did abundantly far more than anyone imagined they could.

Those are just three stories, but the Bible is full of them. God has a way of seeing things that we just can’t.

“Yes is the answer.”
“Now, will you face Goliath?”

“Yes is the answer.”
“Now, will you free my people?”

“Yes is the answer.”
“Now, will you follow me?”

Just as God did it with David, Moses, and Paul, God sees what’s inside of you and can do “abundantly far more” than you could ever ask or imagine.

Today’s Gospel lesson has two more examples in it…
Picture the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus asks Philip: “Can we feed all these people?” And what does Philip say? “No…We would all have to work six months just to come up with the money to buy all the food…it’s not possible.” But notice also what the lesson says. It says that Jesus asked Philip “to test him.” Jesus already knows that the answer to the question is “yes.” Jesus knows this because he realizes that they have everything they need. They have bread-five loaves of it. They have two fish. Most importantly, they have the God who is able to do “abundantly far more” with those things than we could ever ask or imagine. Just for added emphasis, God makes sure there is a heaping basket of leftovers for each of the disciples to lug back to the boat afterward. Abundantly far more!
T

hen, in the second half of the lesson, when the disciples get into the boat without Jesus (some friends!), and start rowing across a rough sea, they realize how abundantly far LESS they are able to accomplish without God. After rowing for three or four miles, Jesus shows up, doing something no one could imagine-walking on the waves. Then, he jumps in the boat, and “immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.” Twelve men, rowing as hard as they could made it three or four miles, one God jumping on board took them the rest of the way. With Jesus in the boat, they were able to do “abundantly far more” than they could have done without him.

When God is involved, you can always count on experiencing “abundantly far more” than you could ask or imagine, because “abundantly far more” is God’s philosophy. In Jesus, the world receives “abundantly far more” healing, teaching, and feeding. On the cross, Jesus gave us all “abundantly far more” than we could have asked God to do for us. In rising to new life, Jesus offers us all “abundantly far more” than we ever could have imagined.

So, what’s our role in the whole thing? Paul tells us in the first four words of Ephesians 3:21 “to him be glory…” Our role is praise God for this. To open our hearts and minds to this. Our role is to listen for the questions God is asking, and to trust that when God asks them, our answer is always going to be “Yes!”

Cameron Mitchell can’t possibly deliver on his philosophy all the time. “Yes is the answer. What’s the question?” He’ll find this out if my sisters and I ever visit one of his restaurants.
He can’t, but God can, and does. God delivers “abundantly far more” than we could ever ask or imagine, when He looks at us and says: “The answer is yes. Now, what was I going to ask you?”

Water-Processed

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Are you a coffee drinker? How many cups a day do you typically drink? What do you feel like when you don’t have your morning coffee? I used to be a big coffee drinker, but a couple of years ago I switched to drinking strictly decaf coffee.

Recently, though, learned something that surprised me enough to make another change. I learned how they get the caffeine out of the coffee to make decaf. Do you know? My sister told me that the most common way to decaffeinate a coffee bean is to soak it in a variety of chemicals, and the most common chemical used is formaldehyde. Did you know this? We know what formaldehyde is, right?

Formaldehyde is a chemical that is used in, among other things, embalming. Think back to your middle school science teacher’s classroom. If it was anything like mine, there were jars somewhere in that room that held things like frogs, floating in a yellowish liquid. That liquid was formadelhyde! I decided, after I found out that this is what my decaf coffee beans had been soaking in, that I wasn’t ready to be embalmed just yet…even if it was just in small doses through my daily morning coffee.

But, I also didn’t want to give up coffee completely. I was disturbed enough to make a change, but didn’t know if I could live without coffee. It was then that my sister went on to tell me about an alternative to chemically decaffeinated coffee. It’s called “Swiss Water Process Decaffeination” and now I’m a big fan of it. It’s a process that removes the caffeine from the coffee beans using only pure, clean, water. No chemicals, just water.

Because of this change to drinking only water-processed decaf I met a man in the grocery store who knows his coffee. I was there, in the coffee aisle, reading the labels on each bag, searching for those words: “Swiss Water Processed” when he came my way. I must have looked lost, because after he selected two bags and put them in his cart he looked at me and asked: “What kind of coffee do you like?” His question launched us into a conversation about coffee. He told me about his favorites, the ones he and his wife loved, including a variety that you can only get in Vermont. He pointed to bags on the shelf and told me about the flavor-mild or strong. Then, when I told him about my search for the water-processed decaf, he offered a couple of choices I might like. He even told me where to get coffee at the best price.

I called him the “Coffee Man” and told him that he must have been sent that day just for me. He smiled, and I thanked him and then we parted ways to finish our shopping. From our brief interaction, I could tell at least two things about this man. First, he LOVED coffee! Secondly, he enjoyed sharing what he knew about it, especially with someone who was so obviously lost there in the coffee aisle at the grocery store. That day, I was thankful to run into a real “Coffee Man.”

In our gospel lesson for today, there are lots of people who share something in common with my friend the coffee man. Only, they’re not in love with coffee, but with Jesus. These people are running all over the place in Gennessaret by the time Jesus and his disciples pull their boats into town. When they see him, they do exactly what the man in the grocery store did, they start telling people about it. They start running, this way and that way, telling everyone they know and bringing everyone they can to come and see Jesus. And every single person who comes experiences an enormous change in their life once they meet him. We’re told that all who even brushed up against the fringe of his coat were healed of whatever ailed them.

Imagine the conversations that were taking place in the grocery stores, the pharmacies, and the coffee shops of Gennesaret that week. People who loved Jesus, running into friends and even strangers who looked lost, or sick, or unhappy, and saying: “You know who you should go see? Jesus!” And then these Jesus fans would tell them where he was, or they would bring them, some literally carrying friends and neighbors to meet the man who could change everything for them.

So, wherever Jesus was, people would follow. Crowds and crowds of them. Wherever he traveled, there were already people there, ahead of him and waiting.

Imagine how our world would change if all the Jesus fans did this same thing. If we told people, brought people, met people…wherever Jesus was. What if even a fraction of the Jesus fans did what the people in Gennessaret did that week, and rushed to wherever we heard that he was.
Just as only a small fraction of our time each week is spent here in church, only a small fraction of Jesus’ time is spent here. I looked through all of Mark’s gospel this week, and made notes about where we’re told that Jesus spent time. (I could do this because at just sixteen chapters, Mark’s is by far the shortest gospel) Here’s what I found. Jesus spends about 1 ½ chapters in “holy” places: synagogues and the temple. The rest of the time, he’s elsewhere. He’s in the wilderness. He’s at the Jordan river. He’s walking the shores of the sea of Galilee and talking to fishermen. He’s at someone’s home. He’s praying in a deserted place. He’s at a tax booth. Then, he’s at the tax collector’s table, having dinner. He’s in a boat, on a mountain, beside the sea, in a crowd of people. For 14 ½ chapters, the bulk of what we read in Mark’s Gospel, this is where Jesus is. Mark even goes out of his way to tell a story where Jesus is in a grainfield on the Sabbath. On the one day when he’s supposed be in a “religious” place, he’s not. He’s with his disciples, walking through a field.

In his longest stay at a “holy” place-in the temple in chapter twelve-Jesus spends most of his time telling the most religious people around how they’ve misunderstood just about everything when it comes to God and the Bible.

In the culmination of the whole story, Jesus winds up in the least holy place you could imagine: nailed to a cross and hanging among criminals…and then laid in a tomb and left among the dead.

After reading through all of that, I began to think of all the ways that Jesus changes what it means for something to be called “holy.” The shores of the Sea of Galilee became holy when Jesus called fishermen to change and become disciples. The wilderness became holy when Jesus went there and overcame temptation. The tax collector’s dinner table became a holy place when Jesus came and told all of the guests something no one else had ever told them: that God loved them just the way they were. The crowds, in our lesson for today became holy when Jesus came and healed all of them. Even the cross, an instrument of punishment and death, became holy when Jesus went there for us and rose to new life beyond it.

Maybe you’re not a coffee person. Maybe you could talk to a complete stranger about something else: movies, cars, flowers, stamps, sports, birds, politics, restaurants… Maybe you’ve done something for someone like what the coffee man did for me-saw them when they were completely lost and took the time to help them, and tell them about something that you loved.

Maybe you’re not a coffee person, but you are a Jesus person. You became one the same way that the coffee I now drink became decaffeinated: by water. In baptism, Jesus washed us all in pure, clean, water, and when he did, he changed us forever. He changed us, not with something abrasive or harsh, but with water. He does it because he loves us, each and everyone one of us, without exception or condition.

Today, you and I have gone through our own water process, and we’ve been made into God’s children. As we remember this and give thanks for it, can we become also like the people of Gennessaret? Can we become Jesus’ men and women who hurry to wherever he might be-in town, by the lake, in the grocery store, at the bar, in the office, at school, on the street-and tell the people we meet there about someone we love, and someone who loves them just the way they are?

Changing the Rules

On the morning of August 15, 1969, Michael Lang knew he had a real problem on his hands. His concert, planned as a big weekend of music that would include the most popular acts of his generation had been completely overrun. The gates had come down. The New York State Thruway was closed, with cars backed up for 20 miles, some abandoned on the side of the road as their passengers decided to go the rest of the way on foot. 500,000 people had crowded onto Max Yasgur’s farm.

Mike flew over the scene in a helicopter. Looking down onto that sea of people, some still streaming toward the stage confirmed it all: he had a real problem on his hands. So what do you do when you plan a show for 100,000 people and five times that amount show up? What can you do when there isn’t enough food and water, bathrooms, and even, space? What can you do when everything you planned: every detail, provision, and contingency fails? What would you have done?

Here’s what Mike Lang did. He stepped up to the microphone that afternoon, looked out at that sea of people, and told them what was already apparent: “it’s a free concert from now on!”, and then he let the music play. He changed all of the rules: his own and the world’s and because of that, the concert became three days of peace, love, and music, called Woodstock.

Late one afternoon, our lesson for today tells us, King Herod knew he had a real problem on his hands. In the midst of all the excitement of a good party with special guests, he had gotten swept up and promised more than he realized. Maybe it was all the food and drink, or the festivities, but he made an oath to a woman that he would honor any request she had. Now, he was beginning to understand that the word “any” was pretty broad, and what she eventually asked for was tearing the King apart. Every guest was silent, and her words seemed to hang in the air around them: “I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter”. That’s when Herod knew he had a real problem on his hands.

What can you do when you promise something you’re not sure you can, or want, to deliver? What can you do when all eyes are on you, waiting to see what you will do? What can you do when there don’t seem to be any easy options? What would you have done?
As horrifying as it is, we just read the story of what Herod did. Even though he respected John… even though he knew that John was a special person, a holy man…even though he liked talking to John and listening to what he said about God…in spite of all of those things, Herod called for it to be done, and that afternoon John was executed.

Herod was torn up over it. He was devastated by it. But, in the end, in order to save face in front of his guests, he did it. He just couldn’t change the rules. “An oath is an oath…” he thought, “…and I would look like a fool if I didn’t deliver on the oath I made.”

The best fortune I’ve ever gotten out of a fortune cookie said “If you want to be successful in life you have to go berserk every once in awhile.” I think that’s true. Call it “thinking outside of the box”, call it “improvising”, call it “changing the rules”, call it whatever you like, but some of the greatest moments in our lives, and in history come when people go a little berserk. Mike Lang did it when he let the gates come down and made Woodstock a free concert. Herod couldn’t do it, and John lost his life.

People of God are able to do it. The prophet Amos did it when he told people about the vision of the plumb line that God had dropped on him, and what it meant for their lives. John the Baptist did it when he left everything behind and headed into the wilderness, surviving on bugs and honey, all to tell people about the coming of God’s Son

Sometimes when you change the rules, you lose, and maybe that’s why we don’t do it as often as we could. Lang lost money when he made Woodstock a free concert. He and his associates say that it took 11 years before they ever broke even from Woodstock. He was willing to do it, and it went down in American History as one of the greatest concerts ever, and not a complete disaster
King Herod, had he changed the rules, and refused to carry through on his oath, would have lost face in front of all of his guests…he wasn’t willing to do it, and John the Baptist lost his life.

God changed the rules. When man-made gates prevented people from coming to him. When the open roads of faith became backed up, and when the number of people who couldn’t gain access to God became too big, God came to live among us. God changed the rules that said that a god had to be mysterious, far off, removed from our daily reality. God tore down the gates, made the pathways clear and open, and embraced all who came to know Him. Because of this, God lost a Son.

Jesus, throughout his life, changed the rules, and he did it all the time. He turned tables over and turned hearts toward God. He changed the rules about forgiveness and acceptance, and who could receive these things. He changed the rules about what a successful life looked like. In the end, all of it meant that Jesus lost a lot. In fact, he was willing to lose it all, to give up everything he had, to embrace the cross that would mean the end of his life.

Ironically, with God, even when you lose…you win. It’s just another way that God has changed all the rules for us. Saint Paul captures this in Philippians 3:7-8-“whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul found, after living life all on his own, that his life got better when God became a part of it. So he changed the rules, and let God in.

We might find the same kind of new life that Paul spoke about, and that Jesus made possible, if we were willing to forget about saving face and saving ourselves enough to change the rules and see what happens.

Maybe we change the rules and start answering the tough questions about life that we’ve avoided for too long. Maybe we change the rules and offer the real dilemmas, the real problems that tear us up to God. Maybe we change the rules and let down our guard and tear down the gates that prevent us from inviting all people to come and meet the God who changed the rules for us.

Maybe it means we go a little berserk every now and then, and are totally surprised by what happens, how God comes through for us, and where we go because of it.

After Woodstock was over, Max Yasgur, owner of the farm where the concert was held, said this about the people who gathered for the peace, love, and music: "if we join them, we can turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a hope for a brighter and more peaceful future.”

Today, you and I don’t have a big problem on our hands, but instead a big opportunity in front of us. It’s an invitation to see the world as an unchanging, hopeless place…or to look at it through the eyes of God, as a place where rules can change and lives can be saved…as a place where people can go a little berserk and experience the presence of a God who is willing to lose everything to gain the love of people like you and I.

Can we change the rules? Can we go a little berserk when we need to? Can we be the people of God today?

YES!

A couple of weeks ago, Kathleen and I rented the movie “Yes Man”. Have you seen this movie? The movie itself was just o.k, but I thought the plot was really intriguing.

Jim Carrey plays a man named Carl whose default setting is “No”. Do you know people like this? No matter what opportunities, invitations, or possibilities present themselves, he always says the same thing: “No.” When the film opens, we find him at his worst. He screens his calls, and won’t answer, even when it’s from his best friends. When they do track him down and ask him to come out with them he always says no. He works as a loan officer in a bank, and spends each day stamping “rejected” on loan applications, saying no to each one. No matter what comes along, his answer is always the same: “No.”

Again, do you know someone like this? I do. I know lots of people for whom the word “no” is always easier to say than the word “yes”.

But something happens to Carl. An old friend invites him to attend a seminar…and the title of the seminar is “YES!” There, he learns the power of this three-letter word…and is encouraged to use it in response to every single question, opportunity, and possibility that comes his way. Almost overnight, Carl goes from being a person whose default setting is “no”…to becoming a “Yes Man.”

I was thinking about this movie as I read today’s Gospel lesson this week. Jesus’ hometown is full of people whose default setting is “no”. “Could Jesus the carpenter really be this wise?...NO!” “Could Mary’s little boy, all grown up really do these powerful things?...NO!” “Do we really believe all that he’s telling us about God?...Of course not!” Jesus comes back home after stilling a storm, healing, and forgiving…he brings all of this to the people he knows best…places it right in front of them, offers every bit of it to them…and what do they say? “NO.” No thanks. No interest. No faith.

So what happens to them? The lesson tells us…nothing… “he could do no deed of power there.” So, for the people of Jesus hometown, when the Son of God comes to visit…there is no healing, no forgiveness, no stilling of storms…all because their default setting seems to be “no.”
Do you know people like this? I do. In fact, sometimes, I’m a person whose default setting is “no.” Maybe you’re like me. Maybe sometimes it’s easier to say “no” to things because when we say “no” we can control the outcome, it’s more predictable…it’s safer.

Where does this get the people of Jesus’ hometown? Maybe the scariest part of the lesson is how Jesus responds to all those “no’s”. He has two reactions. First, we’re told that he was “amazed by their unbelief”-translation: he is dumbfounded that they have NO FAITH. Then secondly, the lesson tells us: “Then he went…” After offering all that he had to offer, and hearing “NO” over and over again, what does Jesus do? He leaves. “Then he went…” left his hometown and traveled elsewhere. Jesus doesn’t seem to have much time for people whose default setting is “NO”.

Who says “YES” in today’s lesson? There is a whole group of “YES MEN” and they have been saying “YES” ever since they first met Jesus. Maybe that’s why he likes them so much. Maybe that’s why he spends so much time with them.

The disciples know how to say “yes”. In fact, they seem to say “yes” to just about anything. Jesus asks: “Do you want to go out into strange towns and villages you’ve never visited?” and they say “Yes!” When you go will you leave all your food behind? “Yes” Will you leave all your money? “Yes!” Will you leave everything? “Oh, yes!” And that’s what they did. They left everything behind and went out to tell people about God’s love.

In essence, Jesus is asking them: “Will you trust God enough to provide everything that you will ever need?” and they say “YES”.

Disciples of Jesus are people who say “Yes”…they are people who have switched their default setting from “NO” and never looked back.

How do we switch our setting from “no” to “yes”? In the movie, Jim Carrey’s character finds that life begins to change for him when he says “yes” to things? Our lives will change if we begin to say “YES” to things as well.

“Yes” to letting Jesus carry some of the weight of our problems for awhile. “Yes” to opening our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking and doing. “Yes” to new people we have yet to meet, speak to, or know. “Yes” to the forgiveness that we’ve said “no” to for so long… “Yes” to the God who is more than willing to provide everything that we need to live.

In fact, whenever the question relates to us, if you notice…God’s answer is always “YES.” In fact, Jesus seems to be the ultimate “Yes” man. Will you come and heal my daughter?...Yes. Will you help me find meaning for my life?...Yes. Will you quench my thirst?...Yes. Will you forgive my sins?...Yes. Will you help me live?...Yes.

In fact, Jesus is so yes-oriented that when he’s asked to give his own life in place of ours…the answer, without hesitation, is yes.

We have a God who says “yes” to us. Even when our default setting is “no.” Even when we stumble and fall. Even when we make mistakes. Even when we have a hard time getting to “yes”…God still says it.

So what kind of person are you today? What kind of person would you like to be tomorrow? What kind of people could we be, if we only let go enough to say “yes” more often? Could we become the kind of disciples who are yes-men and women..the kind who trust God enough to say yes to the journey and yes to the new life that Jesus said yes to for us?