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?

The Downward Spiral

In Mark 5:21-43, Jesus finds himself dangerously close to one of the most dangerous places in the world. In fact, he seems to be in this territory at every turn in our lesson for today. It’s a place the you and I have encountered as well. We’ve been dangerously close to it. We’ve felt it’s power. We’ve walked right into it, and we’ve spent time there.

There are all kinds of names for it, but my favorite is the one that Benjamin Zander, author of “The Art of Possibility” gives to it. He calls it “The Downward Spiral.”

Zander describes the downward spiral this way, he says it: “stands for a resigned way of speaking that excludes possibility.” He goes on to say that the downward spiral “tells us compellingly how things are going from bad to worse.”

So, you and I know the downward spiral and we are all too familiar with downward spiral talk.
When was the last time you visited the downward spiral? When was the last time it popped into your life? When was the last time you found yourself spending time there…or teetering on the edge of it? Maybe you spend a lot of time there. Maybe you’re there right now.

Jesus was there…or at least near it in the lesson that I just read. Listen to some of it again. It’s there for the woman who had suffered for 12 years, spent all of her money, and “was no better, but grew worse.” She lives in the downward spiral-no possibility for healing, things going from bad to worse. Then there’s Jairus, whose daughter is on the verge of death… Both of these people are on the edge of a downward spiral.

There are plenty of people who are more than happy to tell the two of them how things ARE going from bad to worse, and how there are no possibilities. The woman has been to doctors, religious people, healers, anyone who will take her money and all of them have told her the same thing: IT’S HOPELESS! No healing is possible.

Jairus, when he brings Jesus to his home to heal his daughter is met at the door by friends, and what do they say to him? “Your daughter is dead.” Give up, Jairus. It’s hopeless, Jairus. She didn’t get better, Jairus.

Even Jesus experiences it. When he stops to see who touched him in the crowd, his disciples give him a hard time. “how can you say ‘Who touched me’?” Come on Jesus, be serious. And in front of Jairus’ home, when he tells the crowd to step aside because he’s going to wake Jairus’ daughter up…they laugh at him.

The downward spiral-the talk, the feeling, the idea that there is no possibility, that things can only go from bad to worse-is written all over this lesson...and the voices sound pretty compelling.
The problem, too often for many of us, is that the downward spiral gets written all over our lives…and we are compelled by it. In fact, the birthplace of the downward spiral is right here. Well, not in this church per se, but here, in our hearts and minds. It’s in you and it’s in me because sometimes when we look at our life, or the world around us, or the things that are happening to us, we begin to talk less about the hope and more about the hopelessness…less about the ways things could get better and more about the ways in which they seem always to be getting worse…And when that happens, you and I inch closer and closer to one of the most dangerous places in the world-the downward spiral.

One thing we might notice, though, is that Jesus may get close, but he never falls into it. He may walk right on the edge, but he never falls in. When the woman whose condition is hopeless touches him, he stops, approaches her, and finds out why. Even when his disciples tell him it’s not possible, he goes. When Jairus comes to him, Jesus goes to the home, to meet the crowds, the laughter, the worst-case thinking…and even when they tell him that it’s too late, it’s not possible, he still goes to the little girl…and wakes her up.

Jesus walks on the edge of the downward spiral, but never succumbs to it. He does this every day of his life. Facing the hopeless talk with eternal hope. Confronting the worst-case laughter with overwhelming optimism. Walking into the dangerous places marked only by the darkness of death and bringing the light of life with him when he goes. Jesus does it for the people around him who are living in the downward spirals of life…and he does it for you and I.

In his own life, Jesus found himself always drawn into the downward spiral. People told him that the world couldn’t work the way he said. They told him that relationship with God couldn’t be as easy as he made it out to be. They reminded him, every chance they got that life is less about forgiveness and starting over and more about guilt and remaining in the spiral. He saw it, he heard it, and he felt it…and at every turn he challenged it. The cross is the ultimate symbol of the downward spiral-that there is no more possibility, that all hope is gone…that things have surely gone from bad to worse. Jesus went to the cross, embraced it, and in the process turned it into an eternal symbol of hope…of new life. He made it for us, a reminder that when God is present…the downward spirals of life, have no power over us.

When the woman with the hemorrhage and the man whose daughter is dying are on the verge of a downward spiral, what do they do? They go to Jesus. “If I but touch his clothes, I WILL be made well.” And she was made well. “Come, lay your hands on her and she WILL be made well.” And she was made well. When everyone and everything around them said it’s not possible…Jesus reminded them that “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

When we’re on the verge of a downward spiral, we can do the same thing. We can listen to the crowds, the voices, and even our own hearts…and sink further into the downward spiral. Or, we can go to God. We can take our problems, our pains, and our fears, and bring them to Jesus, knowing that if nothing else, he won’t let us sink into the spiral…he won’t laugh at us…he won’t tell us how hopeless everything is…he won’t turn us away. Instead, he’ll do what he did for Jairus, and the woman…he’ll give us his undivided attention and his loving presence.

So, the next time you feel as though you’re on the edge of that dangerous place-the downward spiral-remember, Jesus will walk with you…talk with you, and remind you that no matter what anyone says-with God all things are possible.

We are Never Sunk!

Mark 4:35-41

I think the biggest mistake that Jesus disciples in the boat, in the middl of the storm make is that they have convinced themselves that there is no possibility for survival. Notice what they say to Jesus in verse “Do you not care THAT we are perishing?”=the same as saying: “We’re sunk!”

As far as I can tell from the story, though-even though they stopped bailing, stopped rowing, stopped straining to go to the back of the boat to get to Jesus, wake him up, wait for him to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, and then look at them and say “What’s up?” so that they could say “Do you not care THAT we are perishing?”…in all the time that it took to do all of that-we have to assume that the boat is still floating, they are still in it, not tossed into the sea, and even though they are probably wet, cold, and trembling-still alive. NOT, as they put it, “perishing.”
These disciples made the mistake of making up their minds to fail, instead of to succeed. Making up your mind to fail, by the way-and you can look this up in a thesaurus-is the opposite of faith. Which is why Jesus responds the way he does: “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” It’s the same as saying: “Boy, you ARE sunk!”

This is a story about a mistake, but it’s a mistake that every disciple makes every now and then. We jump in our metaphorical boat, we push off from a metaphorical shore, and we expect to coast through life as if it were a metaphorical sea that always stays as still as glass. But, before long, a metaphorical “mega-storm” suddenly arises-and when it does the wind, and the waves, and the water that rises around our feet seems awfully real. And when it happens, sometimes we make the same mistake Jesus’ disciples made-we look at it all, and we say “We’re sunk!”

Guess what? When we get to that point, we are sunk!

It would have taken a miracle for the disciples in the boat to feel anything other than that the end was near. Fortunately for them a man who was capable of miracles was in the boat with them, lying in the back, asleep on the cushion.

Sometimes it seems it will take a miracle for us to feel anything other than the deadly power of all those metaphorical winds, waves, and deluges. Fortunately for us, the man who is capable of miracles is always nearby.

I want to share a story with you of a group of people who felt that the end was never near. It goes like this. A long, long time ago there was a ruthless king named Nebuchadnezzar who built an enormous golden statue-it was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. When it was finished, he called everyone in his kingdom, he gathered them together and he told them: “This is what you will worship. So, from now on, when you hear my royal band strike up a tune, when you hear the horns blowing, the pipes whistling, the strings strumming and the drums beating-you will know it’s time to worship. And when that happens…” he said, “I don’t care what you’re doing, you’ll worship. At the sound of my music, you will stop whatever you’re up to, and you will look to my golden statue, and you will fall down on your knees and you will worship with all your heart.” Then he added: “The ones who don’t do this will be gathered up and thrown into a furnace of blazing hot fire.”

Now, in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, there were three guys. You may have heard their names before: Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego. If you have, then you know that this is their story. When they heard this decree, and when they saw the enormous golden statue, they looked at each other and said “Where have we heard this before?” Then, at once, they remembered a story from their Bible-about the time when the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness and they made a golden statue of a calf and said to one another: “This is what we will worship.” And they did. They bowed down to it and worshipped it. Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego remembered this story and they agreed with one another that the golden calf seemed eerily similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, and that the people bowing down to that golden statue seemed eerily similar to the Israelites who bowed down to the golden calf. Well, Abednego looked at Mesach and said “What happened to those Israelites? How did it turn out for them?” And Mesach looked at Shadrach, who had gone to fetch his Bible and was just opening to that story. And as Shadrach read silently, he shook his head, looked at his friends and said “It didn’t turn out well for them. The golden calf was a fake god, and unfortunately for them, the real God was nearby as they worshipped it…and that God wasn’t happy about it.” And right then and there, Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego decided among themselves that they would worship the God they knew from the Bible, not the god that Nebuchadnezzar had created. Furnace or no furnace, they agreed, they would never bow down to it.

Before long, word got back to King Nebuchadnezzar that three men in the kingdom weren’t worshipping. They weren’t stopping what they were doing, they weren’t fixing their gazes on the statue, and they weren’t falling down to worship. Needless to say, Nebuchadnezzar was not thrilled. He called for these three men to be brought before him. When Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego arrived, he gave them one more chance. “I’m going to strike up my band” he said, “and when they do, you will fall down and worship my statue. If you don’t, I’ll have you thrown into the fiery furnace.”

And do you know what they said? They looked at the king and told him “Don’t waste your time. Don’t strike up the band. We would rather go into the fire. If the God we believe in, the God we worship , saves us, then He saves us. If he doesn’t, then he doesn’t. But we will NEVER worship anyone or anything else.”

So, into the fire they went. The king stoked the flames, and made it seven times hotter than normal. His had Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego tied up, and ordered them thrown into the fire. It was so hot that the servants who threw them in died themselves. And the king stood and watched. But then, something strange happened. While the 90 foot tall, by 9 foot wide golden statue stood on the hill in the distance and did nothing, the real God…the one of the Bible, the one that Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego knew, stood in the fire with them. Not a hair on their heads was singed. Not a scrap of their clothing was burned. When they came walking out of the furnace, they didn’t even smell like smoke! These three men were ready to die before they worshipped any God but the God they trusted for everything.

I tell this story again because I don’t believe that the words “We’re sunk” were in Shadrach, Mesach, or Abednego’s vocabulary. They walked into the most dangerous place on earth, expecting to find God there…and they weren’t disappointed.

Unfortunate though it may seem, mega storms and mega fires seem to make themselves at home right in the middle of our lives. We don’t want them there. We didn’t invite them to come. We wish they didn’t, but the reality is: they arise. That’s life.

The good news is, God doesn’t mind walking right into even the fieriest of furnaces. In fact, God feels right at home in the middle of the raging winds, the drenching downpours, the thunder, the lightning, and the high waves. If you don’t believe me, go back and re-read today’s lesson and look at what Jesus is doing when the mega-storm arises: “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.” Storms don’t bother Jesus. Fiery furnaces won’t scare God away.

When people told Jesus to worship their way, practice their religion, and play by their rules…or die….well, you know what he did. He walked straight toward the cross and the grave because he believed that God would be waiting for him there. Then, when he walked out of the tomb, he didn’t look like death, because as painful as the whole thing was-God was there!

So, the next time you’re getting ready to sail your metaphorical boat out onto that metaphorical sea, and that very real mega-storm arises, remember that Jesus isn’t phased by storms. And the next time you’re standing in front of what feels like a fiery furnace, remember if you walk into it-God will too. But, if all you can say when the wind and the waves and the rains pound against you is “I’m sunk.” Then chances are, you will be, because faith in the God that walked Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego out of the flames…and the faith that turned the mega-storm into a mega-calm doesn’t know the meaning of those two words.

How many of you know who Ian Ferris is? Does that name ring a bell for anyone here this morning? I’ll give you a hint: he made news earlier this week in Red Sox nation. In case you missed it-Ian Ferris is the Yankees fan who planted “Yankee” grass seed in the infield at Fenway Park.

He did it while attending the recent Phish concert that was held inside the ballpark while the Red Sox were on the road. [The first indication that Mr. Ferris is trouble is that he was attending a Phish concert.] I am sure that most of us agree the only suitable punishment for this kind of thing would be to lock Mr. Ferris up and throw away the key, right?
But, I guess that’s only half the story, though, isn’t it? After all, if you asked Mr. Ferris he would probably tell you he was just returning the favor after Gino Castignoli, a member of Red Sox nation planted a David Ortiz Jersey in wet cement while the new Yankee stadium was being built.

Whether you side with Mr. Ferris-or you’re a member of Red Sox nation- you have to agree it’s fun being a fan. Strange, at times, but fun.

As for that Yankee grass, it’s not a problem-because as St. Paul wrote: only God can give the growth, and as we all know, God must be a Red Sox Fan.

The problem is, even if God were a Red Sox fan, God might be an even bigger Ian Ferris fan, because God is always a fan of growing new things. To be more clear, I think God is a fan of anyone who plants a seed-because planting a seed is an act of hope. Planting a seed is an act of complete faith. Planting a seed means being willing to let go of control and enter into the growth only God can bring. And God loves growing.

Maybe that’s why Jesus loved children so much. Children are just like the seed that sprouts without the farmer knowing how it happens…it’s automatic-Children grow. When they’re little it seems that this is all they do-each day growing a little bit more. It’s more than just, physical, as well. Children, if we let them, aren’t afraid to grow, to try out something new. They don’t have the same fear of failure that we do. For them, growing is just a part of everyday life.

God is a huge fan of little things. Jesus tells the story of the hidden power of the mustard seed-a tiny little package of potential just waiting to sprout and grow. He spends the time, standing in front of an enormous crowd of people, to tell them about a tiny seed and what it means for Gods’ kingdom.

Just as the farmer in Jesus’ story that we read today planted seeds, he was also planting hope. He hoped that they would grow. Then, when they do, he is full of faith. He is humble and honest, because when he looks at the little sprouts that emerge from the ground he has to admit, he has no idea how they do it.

“Automatically” is the word the original text uses to describe this kind of growth.
Today, God reminds us all that he is one of our biggest fans…and there is nothing we could do to ever change that.

God loves things that grow, and I think he loves it when we grow-when we take chances, when we step out on a limb, when we risk failure to try something new. God will always give us room to grow…permission to plant seeds and make mistakes…and God promises to offer plenty of forgiveness when we do.

Jesus was planted into our world to bring hope, to fill people with faith. He taught a kind of love that was meant to be just like the way a seed sprouts and grows-automatic. He shared a kind of acceptance that was just as sure-without bias, open, and growing to embrace every kind of person. Jesus, like the farmer, scattered powerful seeds of forgiveness everywhere he went-sitting by the well in the hot sun with a woman who thirsted for new life-inviting tax collectors to come and share a meal when no one else would ask them-touching the hands of those who were untouchable-he did it all to grow a new kind of love in the world that God created.

In the end, Jesus found that he had made many fans-crowds and crowds of them. But he also found that there were many who weren’t a fan of what he was growing in the earth-they couldn’t see the potential to live the love he planted. So, instead, they cut him down. They raised the cross. They tried to stopped the spread of his growing message of love.

But, like I said, God is a huge fan of growth…so three days later, somehow, that love sprouted again, and kept on growing with new life that can’t be contained-this is the new life that God wants to grow in your heart-a new life that isn’t afraid of letting the growth of God become a mysterious, certain, automatic thing in your life and in the world around you.

Today we’re reminded by them what it means to grow in God’s grace-it means that you become the kind of person who sees that God’s love for all people is “automatic” and even if we don’t know how it happens, we’re thankful to spend our time living in it and trying to live it out for the world around us.

Holy Trinity

John 3:1-17 Holy Trinity

On this first Sunday after the day of Pentecost, we celebrate the Holy Trinity.
Holy Trinity=One God, Three Persons-God (Father)-God(Son)-God (Holy Spirit)=all one God, yet three distinct persons. Any questions? Yes, of course we’ve got questions.

First, some background on “Trinity.” It’s not a term found in the Bible. It’s a term that we-the church have made up. Here’s how I picture it: some theologian years and years ago read his Bible and noticed this language- Jesus refers to God as “Father” himself as “Son” and tells his followers of the Spirit that will come after he returns to heaven. That theologian read this and said “I’m going to make this really simple to understand-I’ll call it the “Trinity” and tell everyone that it’s one God, three persons.” And from that moment on, people like you and I have heard this and said things like: “What the heck does that mean?”

Also, since then, some people have been offering all kinds of crazy explanations. They talk about how H20 can be water, ice, or steam-all are H2O, but in different forms. Someone once told me to think of a pie cut into thirds. It’s all the same pie, but three separate pieces. Or, what about an egg? You’ve got one egg with three distinct parts: yolk, white, and shell. So God is like H2O? God is like a pie? God is an egg? I don’t know how you feel, but these images leave me with more questions, and less understanding.

Leave it to us to take something that God has freely given us and make it really complicated and confusing…sometimes it seems that it’s just what we do best.

But it’s also good, because it makes us think. It makes us wonder. It makes us ask questions, even if those questions are as simple as just saying “What the heck does that mean?”

And if ideas like the “Holy Trinity” cause us to ask questions of faith, then I guess Nicodemus is the perfect person for us hear about today-he’s full of questions. The problem is, he’s afraid to ask them. Why? Because he’s under the completely incorrect assumption that everyone around him knows everything. He’s believed for a long time that he’s the ONLY one with questions about God and how God works. So, he’s afraid if he asks the questions that are rumbling around in his heard. He’s afraid that if he does, he’ll look foolish…so he goes to Jesus at night…when no one else will see or hear him.

Have you ever felt like Nicodemus? I know I have. In fact, I feel like Nicodemus all the time. When it comes to faith, I think most often I have many more questions than I have answers.
Sometimes we live under the false assumption that our faith is a faith of answers. For too long, this is the image the church has presented of itself…a house of answers, absolutes, and definitions, when in reality, if we’re honest, we are house full of people whose hearts are full of questions. In reality, if we’re honest, faith itself is almost always more concerned with the questions…lots of them.

Jesus didn’t come to give answers, at least not easy answers, but to inspire people to ask the questions that others were afraid to give voice to.

What does he say in Luke 11:9 when he’s speaking to his disciples who have posed a question about how to pray? He tells them: “Ask and it will be given you, search, and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you.”

The emphasis here, if we notice, is not in the answers, the destination, or the opening, but in the willingness to ask, to search, to knock on the door even though we have no idea what lies beyond our questions, our searching, or the door itself.

Nicodemus did all three-and he got a good, simple answer about who God is and what God does… “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

In fact, this is the answer God gives to the whole world about who God is. God is love. The kind of love that is willing to endure hardship, and struggle…hunger and temptation…rejection and despair…shame and injustice…suffering and death…all so that we won’t have to. God is the kind of love that triumphs over all of these things with a new life that no one can explain, but everyone can share. God is the kind of God who is so big that one term, one person, one word isn’t enough to adequately illustrate God’s largeness.

This week, after visiting someone at the hospital, I saw a sign in one of the stairwells with a quote from Aristotle that read: “We are what we repeatedly do.”

Now there’s a thought-provoking statement that begs the question: “What do we repeatedly do?”

Maybe we need to think more about this on this day when we remember a term we invented that just might make understanding God a little more confusing than God really needs to be.
When we repeatedly become a place that offers answers, before long we’ll have a hard time welcoming people who are struggling with difficult questions. When we repeatedly stifle the creativity of people who are seeking the new things that God is saying in our world, then before long people will stop searching for God here. When we become people who see our primary task as guarding doors and keeping them secure, then before long, we’ll stop knocking on them looking for God.

God doesn’t seem to mind if we ask questions…in fact, when we read the Bible carefully we just might find that Jesus loved it when people like Nicodemus who asked things like, and I’m paraphrasing here, “What the heck is life all about?” On the other hand, read the Bible closely and you’ll find that he had a very different relationship with the people around him who claimed to have all the answers…he had a special word for them, but that’s a sermon for another day.
Today, I’d like to ask: “What questions do you and I need to be asking God?” Better yet, what questions do you and I need to be asking ourselves about life with the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, and no matter which words we choose…God, time and time again…repeatedly…chooses to love the whole world enough to give us everything?

"All Together in One Place"

Acts 2:1-21

Nearly every time we gather here, the same person takes center stage. I don’t even need to name him, do I? We celebrate his birth on Christmas. We remember his baptism on another day. We remember the time he called his first disciples, those fishermen on the lakeshore. We listen to the time he went to a wedding and made it the party of a lifetime. We remember his life. We tell the story of his death. We gather on Easter and remember surprisingly that, for him, death was not the end. And because of all that, every time we gather here, no matter what part of the story we hear, we are reminded that because of him, for us, death is not the end, either. He is the main attraction. The center of attention. The man of every hour when we gather. Well, nearly every hour.

Today is different. Go back and re-read the lessons we just heard from Acts and Romans and you’ll find that his name isn’t included in any of them. We hear his words in the reading from John’s Gospel, but that’s it. Today, the man of the hour takes a backseat to someone else…and he’s glad to do it.

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

That mighty wind rips through the room, filling the house. Those “tongues” of fire ignite among them, above them. The Holy Spirit fills them, giving them new ability, new voices, new words that they’ve never spoken.

How could we not give a day for something that makes these kinds of things happen? How could we not gather, for at least an hour and remember the morning when everything in the lives of this young community of faith changed forever? Each year, on this day-fifty days after Easter-we give a little time to the Holy Spirit. Today belongs to the Holy Spirit…but it also belongs to us, too.

Something that may be even more amazing than the violent wind, the tongues of fire, and the spirited words is the fact, that when the day arrives: “they were all together in one place.” All of them, together, in one place. When I think of that one fact, I am amazed that Pentecost-the day the Holy Spirit claimed us-even happened. All those followers of Jesus-reclaimed by the risen Christ and reunited-were actually “all together in one place.” The day of the Holy Spirit’s arrival is equally the day of the disciples’ sticking around, together.

Today, when you and I gather to remember this, we remember this same thing-it’s about the Holy Spirit…and it’s about us. So really, today is no different than any other day since the beginning of time-every day of your life and mine, because they’re all about the same thing-they’re about God and about us.

As I think of this, it also occurs to me that those first disciple’s lives were different than ours. They didn’t have cell phones or blackberrys that rang, buzzed, or beeped with a steady stream of phone calls, emails, and text messages. They didn’t have 9-5’s or 7-3’s or 3-11’s or 11-7’s like we do. That first group that gathered didn’t have mid-terms or finals, no book reports, or research papers. They didn’t have family that lived hundreds or even thousands of miles away. So maybe being “all together in one place” was a little easier for them. Which makes this Pentecost, and the fact that we are here together in one place-even more special.

It is especially important that we continue to find ways to be “all together in one place.” Together, we need to commit ourselves, more often than just on the day of Pentecost…more often than just one hour each week. Together, we need to give one another permission to turn off the cell phones and the blackberrys, to take a day off from the 9-5’s and to put the mid-term’s on hold. Together, we need to find ways to be “all together in one place.” Because it is important for us, for the world, and to God.

Imagine if those first disciples hadn’t made the time to be together. Just think if they couldn’t schedule that day to be all in one place. What would have happened on Pentecost if they were “all alone, in different places.” Maybe the wind would still have rushed, but there would have been no one to turn to and say “Did you feel that?” Maybe the flames would have ignited, but there would have been no one to look and say “Can you see that?” Maybe the words would have come, but there would have been no one there to look back at us and say “Could you repeat that?”

For as many reasons as the disciples could have come up with not to be together, each one of them knew that there was one very important reason why they needed to be together. So, once again, today becomes about that one person who came and changed everything-we just can’t get away from him. It was Jesus, who after he gave his life for them…and rose again for them…gathered them together and said “You are my witnesses…so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Jesus invites us all today to hear his words with open hearts, and to remember that it’s awfully hard to live lives, spend days, or even share hours that are about God and one another when we don’t make a point of being all together in one place.