Nov. 24, 2019           Shepherd/King                                      

    (I introduced this sermon, by noting that the President of the United States that I used in my story, was not intended to be any particular president, but the idea of what the president was supposed to be.)

Imagine yourself, standing outside on your front lawn, when a dark four door sedan pulls up in front of your house. A man in dark suit gets out of one of the back seat doors and walks up to you, asks you your name, and when you answer, he informs you that the President of the United States has taken an interest in you, and that in the next few days, you will receive an invitation to the White House.

Two days pass, and when you go out to get your mail, you find a manilla envelope, with an official seal of the President on it in your mail, and inside is an invitation, a plane ticket to Washington DC., and a note that a limosine will pick you up the next morning so that you can meet with the president. The next day arrives, the limosine comes, you get in and you are whisked off to the airport. You then board the plane, it takes off, and then lands in Washington. Another limosine picks you up and takes you to the White House, and within an hour you find yourself, sitting in the oval office, waiting to meet with the President.

As you are sitting there in the office you notice that there is a picture of you and your family, sitting on the mantel of the fireplace. And just then, the door opens and in comes the president of the United States, pushing a coffee cart. “Don’t get up he says, just thought we might have a cup of coffee together.” He pours you a cup of coffee, asks you how you like it, hands you the cup and offers you some coffee cake. Then he sits down and spends the next hour, asking about you, where you grew up, how your family was doing, what he could do as president to make life easier for people like me. He seems genuinely interested and concerned, and after a while, you begin to get the feeling that he actually cares about you, and cares about the problems that everyday people have.

At the conclusion of the meeting he stands up, and shakes your hand, and promises that he will follow up on the things “we” talked about, in the weeks to come, you find out that he really is trying to follow through on those things. And when you ask him, why me? why did you invite me to the White House?, he replies, because I am a servant of the people, and I just wanted to get to know you, to know what I could do for you.

In our reading from Jeremiah this morning, Jeremiah rails against the leaders of Israel, whose only concern is for themselves. Who in seeking their own political interests and pursuit of power, divide the people and “scatter the sheep” of Israel. It seems to me, that that is a pretty good description of many of our leaders today. For them it’s all about getting power, or about maintaining power, and at times it seems they really don’t care much about the everyday people of America.

But in my story this morning, of the visit to the white house, I hoped to give us a sense of what it would look like if our elected leaders genuinely cared about us, wanted to know us, wanted to help us. I told that story, because I wanted to envision how a leader, a shepherd who cared for us, would behave. How, rather than be lords and kings over us, they would be servants. And I believe that is the kind of leadership that Jeremiah talks about this morning. The LORD, the LORD of LORDS, will raise up a shepherd, in the line of King David, who will execute justice and righteousness, the righteousness of the LORD God, and that is very different from the righteousness of men. That is our hope, and that hope has been realized in Jesus Christ.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to recognize that the righteousness of men is the will to power, the desire to rule over one another, but the righteousness of God is the call to be servants of one another. This is difficult, it takes patience, understanding, and even a bit of suffering one another in love, just like we do with our children. This is what we are called to do with other people, even other people whose behavior is not so good. Instead of being lords over one another and judging them, we should be servants, seeking to encourage them towards something better. Not just something better as we see it, but something better for them, and that means getting to know them, and genuinely caring about them.

As the criminal on the cross recognizes, as long as we seek to be lords and kings over one another, we are all under the same condemnation of sin, but through Jesus Christ, through the righteousness of the servant king, we can escape the judgement of sin, the division, violence, and death it brings, and we can be together with Christ and one another in paradise. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Nov. 17, 2019    Do not Weary of Doing What is Right                 

This past Saturday morning, the doorbell at the parsonage rang about 9:30 am. It was a couple of Jehovah’s witnesses. Now they didn’t identify themselves immediately, so I introduced myself, “This is the parsonage of Union Congregational UCC, and I am the pastor.” I guess they thought that I would be a challenge, so they began to tell me some of the things Jesus had said about the end of the world, and of course, I knew the passage, in fact, we read it this morning.

And they asked me, what I thought that people could do in the midst of all of the chaos of the world. So I of course responded from the Evangelical Catechism, “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Love God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself,…” and because I had been studying this morning’ passage all week, I added, “Do not be weary in doing what is right.” I guess this answer satisfied them, because they thanked me for my time and left.

After they left, I thought about our interaction. You know, the world does seem pretty chaotic right now. And I think people would like to know what they should be doing today in response to all that Chaos. And I like my answer, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, means we believe in resurrection, life springing forth from the midst of death. And I think that loving God with all our heart, strength, soul, and mind, sets us on a solid path in life, and loving our neighbor as ourselves is the first step in a journey towards peace, fellowship, and hope for the future. And finally, not wearying of doing what is right, keeps us focused and moving forward towards our salvation, and towards God’s kingdom becoming real in our lives.

Now some might say, that’s easy stuff, we did it our whole lives, and indeed many of you, raised in the church, when it was the center of people’s lives, have indeed the joy of looking back on a lifetime of commitment to Christ’s church, to the focus of loving God, and doing what is right. You have the joy of a wonderful fellowship and family in Christ, that continues to sustain you now, especially in times of loss and grief.

But the world is a good bit different now days. Not so much because we are approaching the end of the world, people have been saying that for the last two thousand years, but because so many people in our world have given their lives over to other pursuits, they have lost their focus, and been distracted by so many other things in life. Many of your children and grandchildren have given themselves over to hobbies and interests that consume their lives. Many of them, have been tempted to think that life is all about them and their experiences, or all about their kids, and raising them.

Yeah, those things are important, but what is even more important, is having a spiritual center, a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that sustains them when the world is all falling apart, when their world’s are all falling apart. And that faith, becomes real, in doing what is right, loving God, and loving their neighbor as themselves. This is what keeps us grounded, this is what keeps us focused, so that our lives might bear the fruit of faith, and we might enjoy the life that God intends for all of us.

This morning’s gospel lesson, speaks of endurance in the face of the end times, in the face of rejection by the world, in the face of rejection even by those closest to us. Our epistle lesson talks about people who have given up on faith, stopped doing what is right, believing God will do whatever no matter what we do. The difference is simple, we can lose our focus, become distracted by the chaos of the world, and be alone in our sufferings. Or we can remain focused, doing what is right, and share in the salvation God has prepared for us. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ!  

Nov. 10, 2019         Shelters or Fences                                       

Once upon a time there was an American sheep rancher who traveled to Australia to learn about how they raised sheep. The Australian rancher welcome the American rancher, and took him on a tour of his ranch pointing out all the things that were done, from the grazing to the feeding to the sheering, and on and on. At the end of the tour the Australian rancher asked if the American rancher noticed any differences between the two, perhaps something that might help him in his raising of sheep. The American though about it and said that he could only fine one difference, there were no fences on the Australian ranchers farm, and he wondered how the Australian kept his sheep from wandering away.

The Australian rancher said, well, we provide the sheep with a shelter from the weather, and at these shelters, we feed them daily. For the most part, the sheep don’t wander to far astray, because they have both food and shelter. And then, after a brief pause for reflection, the Australian rancher said, I guess that’s the difference between our ranches, we focus on shelter, and you focus on fences.

Our reading from the gospel doesn’t talk a lot about sheep, but if you give me a few minutes, I think we can get there. Our gospel reading has Jesus answering a question about the resurrection. Now Jesus has just entered the temple the day before, drove the moneychangers and sellers of sacrifices out of the temple, and come back the next day to teach and answer questions. There are four questions in Luke and each one of them deals with whether we are putting God first in our lives, or something else.

The long winded question by the Sadducees, is of course, meant to trip Jesus up, by pointing out how ridiculous faith in the resurrection is, but really, it only shows the foolishness of the Sadducees. I would compare the Sadducees question to the fences above, and Jesus answer about the resurrection to the shelters. Through faith in the resurrection, there is life for those who believe here in this world, and in the life that is to come.

Jesus notes that in this age, marriage is a construction, and a good construction at that. It is a covenant in which a man and a woman, pledge themselves to one another, act in faithfulness to one another, speak the truth to one another, suffer with one another in times of hardship, forgive one another when they have gone astray. Marriage in a way, is a way to teach us how to love one another, and indeed prepares us for that day, in the life to come, when we are called to love all others. Those who see marriage as a ball and chain, are looking at the fences of marriage, rather than the shelter and nurture that a loving marriage provides us in life, and the blessing it can be for those who truly embrace it.

Side note, one does not have to be married, to develop this love for others that is found in marriage. There are people who have this same depth of love and strength of spirit in their lives and relationships with others as well. They are alive to those they love, and live on in their hearts and minds, even after they have passed from this world. And indeed, is in the church, where we hear the good news of the gospel, and through our faith in the resurrection, that we practice this love not just for our fellow members, but through our mission and ministry to those throughout the world.

 And I think that is Jesus point when he speaks about God being a God of the living. The dead and dying, those who do not know God’s love in their lives, pass away and are forgotten. Those who know God’s love in their lives continue to give life to those who remember them. This was my contribution to our text study, because God is not bound by past, present and future, all of those who love God are alive before him, both now and forever.  And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

                   All Saints Remembrances                                           

Della Rohrer was born August 19^th, 1916 and passed away December 24^th, 2018. In my eulogy, I compared Della to Lady Wisdom from the book of Proverbs, she was a strong spiritual woman, who laid a solid foundation for her children, her family and her home. She was active in the community, and especially her church. She worked both as a farm wife and later for almost 20 years at the Sandwich hospital. Della understood her role as a servant in the church, volunteering, baking, helping to clean the church, as member of the Sunshine Band, and attending regularly, even over the age of 100.

Harry W. Watts, passed away on March 29^th, 2019, at the age of 83, in Florida. I visited Harry twice, at his home on lake Holiday before he moved to Florida. I have been told that he attended Union Congregational and even served on the Trustees. He welcomed me into his home, and we enjoyed mostly small talk about his work, and commuting back and forth to his office, life in Lake Holiday, and his family.  Each time I left his home, he would tell me I could come by any time. We thank God for his gifts and his presence and time with Union Congregational.

Richard C. McInturf was born May 11, 1948 and passed away on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. It was Richard’s wish that his life be allowed to speak for itself, and so he asked that there be no funeral or memorial service for him. So we will respect his wishes, and only say that he was much loved by his wife, his friends, and his church family and is missed by them.

Deb Matthews was born October 5, 1954 and passed away September 21, 2019. Just the other day, someone was talking about how we more often see the rough edges of other people’s lives, rather than the solid person they were in life. Deb had some rough edges, but her commitment to her church, to music, to her community, and her country were solid. Almost every other day, with being our organist, with community choir, with being our moderator, choir practices, collecting aluminum cans, Sunshine band, and on and on, I am reminded how much a part of the Church Deb was, and what a huge contribution she made in her life – and that doesn’t even cover all that she accomplished in life beyond that. We already miss her contributions to Union Congregational, and to our lives.

Thomas Egan, was born December 28, 1930 and passed away, October 19, 2019. Thomas grew up in world of hardship and war, and served in the Army during WW2, and then worked at Caterpillar for most of his life. Having lived through these times, Thomas was very grateful for the blessings he had, and for the people who did things for him. Thomas was devoted to two women in his life, he lived with and cared for his mother when she fell ill and passed. Then he met Maureen and was just as devoted to her during her lifetime. Tom and Maureen each cared for each other through their illnesses, and were inseparable during their life together. Tom joined the church when he married Maureen and would often talk about it’s unique architecture, and how he liked the people here. 

Nov. 3, 2019                    All Saints                                         

This past week, at our Sandwich/Somonauk minister’s text study, we tried to break down Luke’s version of the Beatitudes from Jesus sermon on the plain. I admit it was a bit like trying to threat a needle with mittens, but we made the attempt. I hope this is helpful.

Blessed are you…. This phrase is often used in psalms to denote a spiritual blessing which comes from faith in God, and from relying up God, or God’s word for the living of our lives.

Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of heaven. As we know, the kingdom of heaven is one that is built on a foundation of relationships, friends, family. It is in these that the poor find a wealth of blessings, and comfort in time of loss. 

Blessed are you when you are hungry, for you will be filled. Hunger can certainly make you appreciate, even yearn for what you don’t have. This doesn’t just apply to food. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes is often called the spiritualized version. In this version one can hunger, as Matthew points out for justice, righteousness, and more. Hunger makes us appreciate what is necessary in life, and through faith, the promise is that in pursuing those things, we will be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. As a recent movie once noted, “real sadness and loss doesn’t occur in a person’s life until they love someone more than they love themselves.”  Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we learn how to love, and that love can be painful, cause us sorrow and a sense of loss, but it also teaches us to be thankful for those in our lives, and to one day give thanks for them, and to rejoice and be happy at the blessings that love has brought to our lives.

Blessed are you when you are Reviled or Defamed – one of my favorite country songs has a line that goes, “to say the thing that everyone says, isn’t the way man.” When Jesus talks about people being reviled or defamed, it isn’t because of something they have done wrong, but because they have taken a stand, and said what they believe needed to be said. Like the prophets they testified to their faith in God, and were rejected by those who didn’t believe.

Now for the woes, one of the members of our group noted that the Greek translation for woes was more like a warning, watch out! proceed at your own risk! 

Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your reward. Those who rely upon wealth for their lives, will often find that they have fewer and fewer relationships in which they will find comfort. It is possible to have it all, wealth does not imply separation from God, but a wealthy life, has to be grounded in faith and in relationships with others, otherwise it becomes isolated and empty, and that is a difficult task.  

Woe to you that are full now, for you will be hungry. It’s ironic how the wealthy say, no one suffers more in poverty than a rich person. I imagine that might be true, no one knows hunger like someone who has always dined on the best in life. Also, no one hungers for justice and righteousness, more than the status quo, when it has been taken away from them. If we have empathy for others, and seek justice for all, we would all be much better off.

         Woe to you who laugh now for you will mourn and weep. I can only guess that Jesus is talking about the scoffers from Psalm 1. People who look upon the problems of others and laugh at their foolishness. In the psalms, these people really haven’t grown to love others, and make fun of even those closest to them. In time, when tragedy strikes them, they will truly mourn and weep, because basically, no one cares for them either.

Woe to you that are well spoken of… As I noted above, I believe that Jesus is speaking about those who say what everyone wants them to say. They are not boat rockers, trouble makers, and etc. They echo what their leaders say, and they expect others to admire them for it. Our scriptures tell us that God brings down the powerful and raises up the weak. If all we do is repeat what everyone else says, we will be remembered for that.

So, one of our pastor’s asked, what does this have to do with all saints Sunday? As I will note later in our Word’s of remembrance, our saints, whose lives we celebrate today, embodied many of these blessings, and avoided many of these woes. They built their lives on a solid foundation of relationships rather than things.  They appreciated the necessities of life that God provided for them and they hungered for justice and righteousness, through their work in the church, and their love for others. They understood sadness and loss, and were genuinely thankful in the living of their lives for others for others, rejoicing in them. And they were solid people who lived their faith without regard for condemnation or praise. They were truly people worth knowing, and following, as disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen.   

Oct0ber 27, 2019          Sola Gratia                                           

      Contempt. That’s the word that stood out to me, when I did my bible study of the text this week. So I thought about this for a few days this week, how does contempt separate us from God, and from each other? Let’s start with our lesson today.

       This week we have two people coming before God. The one a Pharisee, one of the more well off in the world, who gives a tenth of all his income, who strictly follows God’s laws, and fasts twice a week. The text says he stands by himself, probably at the front of the temple near the altar, not wanting to sully himself with those sinners, adulterers, or tax collectors near the back. As much as Luke has told us about the Pharisees, we are already ready to not like him very much, but the truth is, the Pharisee is not such a bad guy, by worldly standards. He probably does all that he says, and is a good Jew, and an upstanding member of the community, it’s just that contempt thing he has going on, that has him standing by himself, apart from God, and neighbor.

   The other person, coming before God is the tax collector. Now we all know how most people feel about taxes and those who collect them. But in Jesus day, they were liked even less, after all they were collecting taxes for a foreign power, and they had to take their incomes out of the taxes they collected, some took more, some took less. So the world looked upon them as mostly corrupt, and mostly traitors. Even worse, they had to associate themselves with foreigners on a daily basis, so they couldn’t keep the law, and were considered unclean. The tax collector knows he has not fulfilled the law, so stands at a distance.   

    Now here’s the kicker, it the tax collector who goes home justified. Now most of us have heard these parables of Jesus before, so we are expecting the arrogant Pharisee to be taken down a few pegs, but the tax collector, justified? Really?? Does such sincerity really work with God, forprostitutes, for sinners, for thieves, for traitors, for murderers? And how

about drug addicts, those who beat their spouses or kids, who drink tomuch, or even those who are just incompetent? Can they go home justified, if they sincerely confess their sins before God?? And if they can, what does that mean for us? Are we wasting our time with all this religious stuff? The answer of course to that is NO! we aren’t wasting our time.

In the church calendar, this Sunday is called reformation Sunday, the Sunday where we recall reformers like Martin Luther who said, “God does not need our good works, but our neighbors do.” And oddly enough, our scriptures tell us, love of neighbor is part of what it means to love God. Also, other parts of our scriptures tell us that it is far better for us to be a part of God’s plan, to know God walking beside us in our lives, and to share in the joy of God’s power and presence in our lives. But we can’t do that, without humility – like the tax collector, and we can’t do that with contempt in our hearts towards others – like the Pharisee.  

Contempt in our hearts towards others leads us to do some pretty horrible things. It leads us to ignore the poor – after all, it is their fault they are poor. It leads us to not care about those who are not as “good” as ourselves. It leads us to dismiss the rights of those who are not strangers, foreigners, non-citizen’s and certainly non-Christians. Worse than that, contempt in our hearts can lead us to dismiss coworkers we don’t like, family members who don’t agree with us, leaders who don’t live the life we think they should. Oh yeah, contempt in our hearts can lead us to undermine one another, destroy our relationships, and the social groups in which we live. And finally, of course contempt in our hearts can separate us from God.    

I’m sure that most of us, have at one time or another, experienced someone who dismisses us and our ideas, who are unwilling to help us in a time of trouble, who are always looking to find fault with us. These people are suffering from contempt. But here’s the real question, do we suffer from contempt as well?. Are there people in our lives that we treat that way? People that we ignore or dismiss, that we are looking to find fault with, that we are unwilling to help. Are we, like the Pharisee, separating ourselves from God, because of our contempt for someone in our lives?  And how does that affect our friends, our family, our neighbors, our social groups, and even our church?

Now the title of this sermon is Sola Gratia – it is the doctrine that we are saved by God’s grace alone. It was part of the reformer’s criticism of the Catholic church, which at the time, was telling people that by their good works, on behalf of the church, they would be saved. But it really is a spiritual doctrine of how to set ourselves right with God, first by acknowledging it is only by God’s grace and not our good works that save us, and second by recognizing that it is by God’s grace that others are justified, rather than by our opinions of them. When we can do this, we will act towards one another as God intended, and God will be present with us in our lives. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Sept 27, 2019              Deb Matthews                                     

             Deb Matthews passed away on Sept 21, 2019 

         The picture I have up on the screen is from a photo I took some 14 years ago. In the church at that time, we had a sculptor who had read Leo Buscaglia book “Love”. In the book, Leo describes a student in one of his classes, who suddenly stopped coming to class. This disturbed Leo, so that he went out in search of the student, only to find she had passed away. Along the way, he found that she had left a hole in the world, people who knew and loved her had experienced a loss that they did not know how to fill.

         The sculptor, took this idea to heart, and came up with this idea for a cross with a hole in it, a Jesus shaped hole, describing the loss the disciples must have felt when Jesus died upon the cross. Interestingly enough, on the day we put the cross up, I noticed the church steeple in the background, and took this picture, of the church filling the hole that Jesus left behind.

         Now I know that Deb wasn’t Jesus, and neither am I for that matter. But Deb’s sudden loss has indeed left a hole in our lives, and a significant one at that. If you read her obituary, you will see quite a list of accomplishments, 30 years playing organ and piano for Union Congregationgregational, 11 years teaching music at Somonauk School District, 30 years working for the Somonauk Post Office, coaching T-ball, softball, and soccer. She was a girl scout leader for 10 years, member of the Sunshine band, active in the Indian Valley Theatre, active in the American Pool players, pianist and director for the Somonauk community choir, State Chaplain for her union for 25 years, Secretary-Treasurer for the DeKalb county RLCA, and a National Delegate for her state.

         And it is more than just a list of accomplishments that we will miss about her, it will be about who she was. In my two year and a half years that I knew her, she could be thoughtful, patient, kind and gave of herself to others. She cared not only about people she knew, but people she didn’t know who were suffering. She attended a number of church association meetings as our church moderator with me, and was engaged and involved in them. She was very patriotic and very Christian in the way she looked at the world.

         Our church members will miss her leadership, serving as moderator, on the trustees, collecting cans for the angel fund, starting the chime choir, faithfully serving as our organist and choir director, playing for any number of funerals and weddings, both here and at the nursing home. We will miss her laugh, and sense of humor, her gathering us for meals on Wednesdays at Rambo’s, her faithfulness to friends and family, and companionship, shown even to new comers. In fact, one couple that has joined us recently as they sort out their mother’s estate, told me the reason they kept coming back was Deb, who got their number, called them regularly, and made them feel welcome here.

         Now I realize that Deb had her other moments, we all do, but in this time of mourning her loss, we as Christians choose to focus on the blessings that God has given us in the life of Deb Matthews, because it is these blessing that lead us to life. In fact, that is the truth of our human existence, that set of behaviors that give life to ourselves and to one another, that set of behaviors that have been revealed us in Jesus Christ!

         And so, back to my picture, as I noted above, I noticed the church steeple in the background, filling in the hole left by Jesus. Jesus left us the church, as a place for us to not only hear about the good news, but to practice it with one another. After being a minister for 30 years, I know there are some troublesome people in churches, but they are far outweighed by the truly wonderful people you will meet. People who will be a blessing to you, people who will give you life, people who will fill in the hole left by lost loved ones. Deb was one of those people, a disciple of Jesus Christ, and while we feel a sense of loss at her passing, the angels in heaven are rejoicing at her presence among them, and one day too, as Jesus says, we will rejoice as well in the blessing God gave us in Deb Matthews.   

Oct. 20, 2019         Wrestling With God                                                            

Let’s talk about Jacob this morning. Jacob was a thief, a trickster, a cheater, a scammer. You remember the stories about Jacob, how he talked his brother Esau into selling him the birthright for a bowl of lentils? You remember how Jacob, stole his father Isaac’s blessing by dressing up in furs and pretending to be Esau. You remember how Jacob himself got scammed by Laban, working for seven years to marry Rachel, and instead got Leah. But Jacob got even in the end, using a clever trick to con Laban out of over half his livestock. Yes, Jacob was a thief, a trickster, a cheater, and a scammer, but this was all to change.

After Laban asked Jacob to leave his family and take his ill gotten gains with him, Jacob headed back to the land of his father, but along the way, he got word that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. Now Jacob was afraid of Esau, because he had stolen Esau’s birthright and blessing, so he figured Esau would be out for blood. So that sneaky Jacob, divided his group into two parts so that when Esau attacked one group, the other might flee, and he put servants bearing gifts in front, so that maybe he could buy Esau’s forgiveness. And last of all, that sneaky Jacob, stayed well to the rear, so he could get away. Even that night, Jacob, camped his people on Esau’s side of the Jabbok river, and then went back across the river to sleep in safety on the other side. And that’s when it happened. God came.

In the middle of the night, Jacob found himself wrestling with an angel, and Jacob being a good trickster, was a good wrestler, so the match went on till dawn. And at daybreak, Jacob demanded a blessing from the angel, and the angel commended Jacob for wrestling with God and with human beings, and then touched him on the hip, and his hip fell out of joint, so that he now walked with a limp. And the angel told Jacob, that from now on he would be called Israel, which means God rules my life. No longer would Jacob be the trickster, the thief, the con man, now Jacob would play it straight, and rather than seeking to use God for his purposes, he would obey God, and trust in God to see him through.

So that next day, as Esau and his men come to meet Jacob, Jacob sets himself at the head of his people, so that if Esau is angry, the attack will fall on him, and his family might escape punishment. And to Jacob’s complete surprise, Esau hasn’t come to attack his brother, but to welcome him back home with open arms!

I guess I always see this story as the moment when Jacob went from being a trickster to being God’s servant. And I think that for many of us, we spend our youth relying upon our strength, our cleverness to see us through, but at some point we lose our strength, and we find out we aren’t so clever, and for those who wrestle with God, God touches our lives. Rather than continue to play the games of humankind, we turn our lives over and trust in God. At least I think that’s what happens for those who wrestle with God, who seek to know who God is in our lives, and what that means for our lives.

Now for those who choose not to wrestle with God, I imagine their lives are still plagued with the fear and bitterness of growing old. I imagine that the peace eludes them and anxiousness abounds. But what I really like about the meeting of Jacob and Esau, is that it reminds me of the story of the prodigal son, Esau greets Jacob, not with death but with life. The story helps us to imagine that maybe we don't always have to be afraid, that life may be filled with grace and blessing, and that if we give God a chance to rule our lives, we might find something far better than we have already. For those who wrestle with God, God has touched our lives, and although we might walk differently in our lives, God is indeed a blessing that we know we cannot live without. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Sept. 29, 2019     The Rich Man and Lazarus                                

The story of the rich man and Lazarus always reminds me of something I saw on one of my Habitat Trips to Ecuador. Being wealthy Americans, who are well known for their love of shopping, our hosts took us to a Mall in the capital city of Quito. Now Quito is a large city of some 3-4 million people, so they have some pretty good sized malls, with lots of shops in them. The one we went to was in a building some 5 stories high and the length of a football field.

A unique feature of this mall was that it had see through glass walls facing a central square, so you could look in and see the shoppers, and shoppers could look out and see the square. There was just one disturbing thing about this, the beggars who sat outside the mall. Quito has a rather large population of beggars who come down from the hillside looking for work in the big city. When they get to the city, they send out members of their family who can’t work to beg on the streets. Almost every corner seems to have someone asking for a handout.

The mall had even more people like this, cause where there is money, there are beggars. The mall even hired security to keep the beggars away from the glass, so they wouldn’t disturb the shoppers, but you still had to walk through them to get to the mall, and as you looked out the window, they were still in plain sight. Later that evening at vespers, we had a time of sharing, and a number of our youth were quite disturbed by our trip to the mall.

It seems they didn’t like being watched shopping, even if from afar, some said it made them feel guilty of something, some said it made them second guess what they were spending money on, some felt like they should just leave and give their money to the beggars. Others noticed the way people just walked past the beggars as if they weren’t even there, how they sat at the restaurants in the mall and shopped for luxury items, seemingly oblivious to the poor beggars sitting just 15 to 20 feet away outside the glass.  

     The leader of our group, who had devotions that evening, and who knew what we were going to experience that day at the Mall, read to them the story of the rich man and Lazarus, and asked the youth to talk about what they heard in the story. Some noted that the rich man seemed to not notice Lazarus at his gate, just like some of the people seemed not to notice the poor all around them. Other’s pointed out that the rich man must have known Lazarus, because he asked for Father Abraham to send Lazarus to cool his thirst. Some thought the rich man felt Lazarus deserved his fate in life, and was surprised to find that in death, God favored Lazarus. This reminded others about how we treat the poor in our world, blaming them for their situations, saying we can’t help them all, expecting them to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Still others, worried about our place in the world, for compared to Ecuadorians, we are quite a wealthy people, and what that might mean for our afterlife.

It was quite a discussion, and at the end of the discussion, our leader that evening, noted that it was our faith in Jesus Christ, that helps us to bridge the gap between rich and poor, heaven and hell. It is our faith in Jesus Christ that helps us recognize how the world ignores or blames the poor for their situation. It is our faith in Jesus Christ that leads us to missions and ministries that reach out to the poor, hoping that we can make a difference in their lives, even if we can’t help them all. It is our faith in Jesus Christ, that helps us to understand wealth and power as a way to help others, rather than to simply indulge ourselves. And it is our faith in Jesus Christ, that moves us to action, that will be our salvation in this life and in the life that is to come. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ! 

Sept. 22, 2019          Eschatology                                           

This past Monday, I had to drive my youngest daughter Emily to Peoria for a Dr’s appointment. So we drove to Peoria Monday afternoon, and on the way back, because I didn’t have anything thawed out, I chose to stop at a local tavern on the way home. Now about three to four times a year I like to do this, because usually, while I am eating at the counter, someone will talk to me and ask what I do for a living. Of course, I tell them I am a minister, and that usually leads to questions about the bible or about Christianity. And this time, didn’t disappoint.

The young man sitting a chair away from me, was confirmed in a UCC church, but had become an atheist while away at college. It seems he had taken a number of philosophy courses, became a fan of Friedrich Nietzche and came to believe that religion was some sort of scam. According to him, Christianity preached “Pie in the Sky when you Die by and by”, in order to get people to give money, and to get people to be good moral people. Instead of wasting time loving some God, we should really be loving other people.

“You’re talking about the problem of Eschatology” I told the young man. “Eschatology? What’s that?” “Eschatology is the part of Christian theology that deals with death, judgement, and the final destiny of the human soul. Nietchze understood this, in reaction to the Catholic Church of his time, like you said, to get people to give money, and to make them be good moral people, basically so they would do whatever the church told them.  But when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, I don’t think he is talking about what happens when we die, I think he is talking about something else.”

“I think Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, not so we can prepare ourselves for the final judgement, but so that we will live differently in the here and now.  The most important part of that living here and now, is just what you said earlier, its about loving one another, it’s about caring for people, it’s about caring for every human being on the face of the planet. Only then will the kingdom of heaven come, not when we die, but here and now on earth. And that is what the final judgement will be about, not how much money we give, or how morally good we are, but about how we loved one another."  

Now, what I just shared with you, was really a boiled down version of an hour and a half discussion, and in the end, the young man and myself agreed to disagree about the purpose and value of Christianity, shook hands and departed. But you know, if you sow a few seeds, who knows what might grow?

Anyway, I shared this story with the local clergy group, and they said that this was a wonderful opportunity to talk about the dishonest manager this Sunday. The dishonest manager, changes his behavior before he gets fired, so that he might be welcomed into the homes of those whose he manages. The dishonest manager, doesn’t play by the rules of society, but uses his power and position, to make people’s lives better here and now. And yes, he does this all quite selfishly for himself.   

The dishonest manager, chooses God’s righteousness, rather than the righteousness of money or society, so he will be welcomed into the homes of the people. The parallel for us, is that we are called to find ways to live toward a future in which God’s kingdom becomes present among us now!

Last week, we read the story of the Prodigal Son, and in that story, we saw the love of the Father for the Son, that was willing to overlook how far the son had fallen, in order to be reunited with him. This week, we are invited to expand our compassion for others, beyond just family, but to all with whom we work and interact. The gifts God has given us, our talents, our abilities, the positions of power we are given, are meant to be used for the good of all. I am not suggesting we do anything illegal, but to find ways we can use the mammon of men, to bring the kingdom into the lives of those we interact with, who knows, by such kindness God's promise is to welcome us into God’s eternal home. And that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Sept. 15, 2019          Lost and Found                                                            

Late Friday evening, as I was finishing up my paperwork at Casey’s, a young lady came into the store. She had short shorts on, lots of tattoos, glitter make-up on. As I sat in the office, I could hear her conversation with the girl at the register, it seems that she had just auditioned for a job at the local gentleman’s club, and felt really good about her chances. The girl working at the register, rung up the items, wished her well, and the young lady left.

After she left, I came out to the register to clock out, and the girl at the register said, “Can you imagine that, that girl had no shame, she just came up and told me…” and the register girl proceeded to tell me the entire conversation, which I had just heard.  Standing nearby, the other person working up front, waited till the story was finished and turned to me and said, “I thought we were supposed to pray for people like that..” And my reply was “yes, that, and offer them a job at Casey’s”  “What???” the girl at the register exclaimed! So I proceeded to explain.

We are supposed to pray for people like that, because they are far more likely to get involved with drugs, far more likely to be assaulted, far more likely to suffer health problems, and far more likely to end up in jail or worse. But we are supposed to do more than just pray, we are supposed to be a friend to them, we are supposed to offer them the opportunity to do something else, we are supposed to provide them a way out of such a life. After all, she isn’t just some foolish young kid, she’s somebody’s daughter."

Which is where we come to our gospel lesson this morning. I know that our reading is about the lost sheep, and the lost coin, but the extended version of the reading includes the story of the prodigal son. In these stories, Jesus is speaking to a crowd that includes the Pharisees. These stories aren’t about sheep, coins, or lost sons, they are about saving people, saving lives.

The Pharisees don’t save lives, they use the law to separate themselves from sinners. Jesus, on the other hand, is about reclaiming lost lives, and turning those who have gone astray, back to life, back to being children of God. The Pharisees are like the elder brother, unwilling to have anything to do with the younger son. But we are called to be like the Father, who is ready to welcome back his son, even though he has disrespected the father, and squandered all that the father has given him.

The Father is all about relationships, and restoring relationships that are broken. And the Father knows, that in order to do that, we must show mercy, even to those who have gone astray. For, as one commentator puts it, if we are unable to show mercy to others, we will be unable to receive mercy for ourselves, and without mercy none of us will be able to live together.

Now being a spouse, a parent, and a grandparent, I, like many of you out there, have experiences of being disappointed and even disrespected by those close to us. And to be truthful, I would have to say at times, I have disappointed and been disrespectful of others as well. But the ability to show mercy, to forgive those who have sinned against us, is the glue that holds families together, it’s the stuff that brings back the lost, it’s the stuff that gives life to relationships we long thought dead.

Our goal as Christians, is to be that glue, to show that mercy, not just to our own family members, but to all people, for each of them is someone’s son or daughter, and each of them could be a lost sheep, or a lost coin, or a prodigal that we could rejoice over, so that God could also rejoice in us! And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Sept 8, 2019        Cost and Joy of Discipleship                         

Yesterday morning, as I was driving to a personnel committee meeting for my church conference, I saw along the highway, what looked like a huge spider made up of steel girders and beams, not glistening in the sunshine, but red with rust and decay. And I remembered when this huge structure was erected back around 1997, it was supposed to be a church, but something happened along the way.

Now the pastor who led this church, had a grand vision of the future, and the church that he would build. He was a shrewd business man as well, making sure he got the financial commitments all lined up, and the pledges needed to make the payments. He even went to some other local independent congregations, and convinced them to sign on to his project, promising that they would all become one in Christ.

It all got off to a grand start, with the churches working together in project, and worshipping together at each other’s buildings. Soon ground was broke, and the foundation was put in place, and the frame of the building was going up. But then something happened, people began to have disagreements about how the church should be furnished, and what could come along from their old churches. And there were arguments about who gave how much, and how their gifts should be remembered. And there were arguments between the church families over who was being given special consideration.

Soon the pledges stopped coming, and the payments were late, and the work ground to a halt. And so, there stood the building, standing like I imagine the cross stood against the sky on Calvary, a testament to what happened, when Christ was crucified.

You know, I think we all as Christians have a certain amount of pride attached to our church. Many of us grew up in the church, our parents and grandparents before us. We are proud of the work they did, and the church community they created. And we probably can relate to the arguments that the church I mentioned above experienced, because we probably have experienced them also. But the difference between that church and our churches, is that we haven’t lost sight of Christ our Savior. Our church is not here to serve us, although some may believe that, but we are here to serve Christ. For without that belief, our churches would be in danger of becoming empty monuments to ourselves, rather than the communities of God’s love and fellowship that we experience.

Now our gospel lesson this morning, has some pretty strong words in it, about hating, …..mother, father, brother, sister,…. even our own lives. These statements of Jesus are pretty tough, aIl in all, I think they are pretty simple. When we walk through the doors of the church, we are there as disciples of Jesus, when we walk out the doors of the church, we are disciples of Jesus. All of the worldly desires for special treatment, because of our families, our giving, the years we have invested, go out the window. We are there to serve Jesus. And in serving Jesus, there will be disagreements, and there will be sacrifices that need to be made, but that is the cost of discipleship, those are the crosses we are called to bear, but then, there is the joy!

One of my colleagues, at the Sandwich/Somonauk lectionary group, which meets every Tuesday at the pancake house noted, that this passage follows on the heels of the great wedding banquet parable. The focal point of that parable is the joy of the great banquet.

We don’t often think of these joys, because as Christians they are all around us -  the joy of knowing God’s love for us, the joy of knowing the peace that Christ gives to us, the joy of our fellowship and church families, the joy of finding the meaning and purpose of our lives in our creator, the joy of living lives of praise, rather than grumbling, the joy of a life that is full and satisfying rather than empty and disappointing. The joy of helping others, and the joy of being helped by others. The joy of being found when we are lost. The joy of being comforted when we are mourning. The joy of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing when we are broken by sin. The joy of seeing God’s plan for our salvation, and the joy of being a part of that plan, seeing it realized in our lives together, and realized in the world through our Christian service.

Yes, there are a great many joys that God invites all of us to share, the cost is our self-centeredness, and the reward is God’s great banquet of life, and that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ!  

Sept 1,2019                 Invitations                                              

The Christian songwriter, Bryan Sirchio, on one of his albums includes a song entitled, the Table of Friendship and Love. The song talks about a heavy metal music loving kid, who was invited to a local church group, and there he heard about Jesus, and the table of love for all that he spread, through his sacrifice on the cross. But the one thing he didn’t understand, was all the talk about realizing the kingdom of heaven on earth, “yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.”

Now this kid thought about the message that he had received, along with the warm welcome shown to him at the meeting, and he decided to do something about it. So one day, sitting at the table in the cafeteria, where he usually ate  his lunch alone, he put up a sign, Table of Friendship and Love.

A lot of the hipper kids, the popular ones, the jocks, the socialites, snickered and laughed, but one kid, a nerdy looking freshman, came up and asked, “Is this for real?”, and the heavy metal kid answered, “yep!” So the freshman sat down, and they struck up a conversation, and became friends. As the weeks went on, the table of fellowship and love grew, to the point where they made a new sign, and put it on another table, and then another, and another. Finally, even some of the hipper kids, began to hang out at these tables.

And there, in that cafeteria, the heavy metal kid, began to understand, all that talk about realizing the kingdom of heaven on earth, all it took was a sign, an invitation, to make it happen.

This summer, working a “real” job, has opened my eyes a little wider, to the world beyond the church. In most churches, I find a lot of people who are doing just fine, or at least they put a good face on it. I know from our prayer concerns, and from ministering to you in your times of need, that many of you aren’t always doing just fine, that your life is filled with the same kind of heartache, brokenness, and loss that the rest of the people in the world experience. The difference is, that you have the gospel of God’s love for you, and you have a church family. You have people who care about you, who check in on you, who pray for you, who look for you when you are lost. Somewhere along the line, you were invited to this Table of Friendship and Love, that we will soon be sharing later today, and you responded, not with “I cannot come”, but with a “yes”.

Now back to my “real” job. In that job, I have met people who are hurting, mother’s who have lost children, young people who have made mistakes in their lives that continue to plague them, older people plagued with debt, sometimes from the choices they have made in life, sometimes because their spouse died of a long slow medical condition, People in abusive situations, people who abuse drugs, most often because they are depressed and lost. People who have lost close friends, and wonder what the purpose and meaning of life is?

The problem is, these people don’t have a Table of Friendship and Love, Oh, maybe they have some family, and maybe they have someone in that family who looks after them, but not a whole church family. You know, sometimes I think we forget, just how blessed and fortunate we are, to have come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, to know how much God cares and loves each one of us, and who calls us to be a family who is there for one another, watches over and encourages one another. Not everyone has that kind of extended family to help them through their difficult times in life.

So what can we do about this? Every year, in our churches we have special events in the calendar of the church. These events are wonderful opportunities to invite people to join us, even if it is for one Sunday. Rally Day is just such an opportunity, and this rally day we are serving Ice Cream Sundaes in fellowship hour. Yes, I know that sounds a little creepy, but we are inviting them to church. Also, I know that when we think of asking people to church, we go down a list of people we know, and check off all those who go to another church, or family members who we have asked a dozen times before. How about this time, we ask people we wouldn’t normally ask? Someone we bump into at the store, or a restaurant, or in the neighborhood. “Our church is having an Ice Cream Social on Sunday September the 15^th, come join us for just one Sunday, to see what our church is like!”

Who knows? We might just be throwing a lifeline to someone in need, or we might end up, as the writer of Hebrews says this morning, “entertaining angels” Either way, by inviting them, we will be inviting the Kingdom of heaven, to be made real on earth, here in our lives. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ! 

Aug 18, 2019           Disciples of Christ                                         

A few months ago, a colleague of mine was talking about a dispute that some of the church members were having. It seems that the church had received a large gift, and the minister wanted the congregation to do more than just put it in the bank for the future, she wanted them to do some kind of ministry in their community. A ministry that would make a difference in people’s lives, and make the church stand out in the community as productive members of the community.

As she advocated for this before her church and ministry committee, she spoke about how Jesus would want the church to work for even a little bit of the kingdom of heaven to be realized on earth, and to be a part of their community. In response to this plea, on of the members replied, “don’t bring Jesus Christ into this, this is about preserving our church!” My colleague thought about this for a moment, and replied, “Of course, I have to bring Jesus Christ into this, this is what I have been called to do, it’s who I am, and it’s who we are all called to be.”

In the last two weeks, we have been reading Jesus, Sermon on the Plain, from the gospel of Luke. Last week, Jesus told the people that where their treasure is, that is where their hearts will be set. Jesus also alluded to the leaders of Judaism, both religious and political leaders, as thieves who were stealing the kingdom of heaven out from under the people. In this Jesus was asking the people to choose between the kingdom of heaven that he offered, and the kingdom of men, which they offered.

In our gospel lesson this morning Jesus tells us that making that choice will not be easy, especially if it involves religion or politics. It will not be easy, because it will not just separate them from people in their communities, but because it will create divisions within their own families. But the choice is necessary, because it makes all the difference in who we are, and in the world in which we live.

I remember as a child growing up, that I had all the same questions that kids have today when it comes to church. Do we have to go to church every Sunday? Do we have to go to Sunday School or Confirmation? Do we have to give a tithe of what we earn each week? Do we have to go to youth group? Do we have to go on mission trips? “Yes”, my mother would answer, “because we are Christians.” And to my parents, being a Christian made all the difference, in who they were, and in the lives and world in which they served.

In our world today, there are a great many people who have made this choice, and they are proud to be Christians. To be clear, I am not talking about politicians trying to win votes, or the latest crazed Christian caraciture on television or some HBO special. I am talking about the everyday Christians you can find in a church on Sunday morning, or find working in a soup kitchen, or a food pantry, or visiting shut-ins, or raising funds for ministries overseas, or even to tuckpoint the steeple on a church.

I’m talking about Christians who are welcoming to strangers, who help those who are in need, who advocate for all to be treated fairly and justly. I’m talking about Christians, who know that being a follower of Jesus Christ is not easy, that it involves sacrifice – in remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, that it involves humility, and the acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, rather than ourselves, or some other deity. I’m talking about Christians who aren’t perfect, but at least they are trying, and in the trying they have grown closer and closer to God. In a way, being a Christian is the road less taken, but it is a road that leads to life, even in the midst of death!

That’s why I like the reading from Hebrews this morning. Instead of one long reading of the glorious accomplishments of all the great kings and hero’s of Israel. We get this broken list of imperfect heroes, of Rahab the prostitute, of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthat, and David. Of heroes who conquered, but also heroes who suffered and died. And finally, we get to Jesus, not who won a kingdom on earth, and overthrew the romans, but one who won the kingdom of heaven, and stands ready to give that kingdom to all who believe in him. For through faith in Jesus Christ, whatever the world throws at us, we will know God’s presence among us, and we shall one day stand before the throne of God!

And that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ!  

Aug 11, 2019          The Father’s Good Pleasure                          

At General Synod, one of the interesting parables I heard was in the Just Peace Church Seminar. It told the story of a town beside a river, and one day, a member of the town saw some people caught in the river’s current, and organized a group of people nearby to save them. The next day, they noticed that more people were in the river, and they saved them. And so it went for days, and weeks, and months.

One day a young woman was saved, and she was so grateful, that she decided to dedicate her life to saving the others who came floating down the river. She baked goods, she held fundraisers, and organized the townspeople to take shifts to save the people caught in the river.

And one day, there was a child caught in the river, and the young woman dived in, struggled against the current to reach the child, but it was to late, the child had struck his head on one of the rocks in the river, and died. As the young woman came to shore, she held the lifeless body of the boy in her arms, and she kept saying, “Why, …. why,….. why?” “What do you mean why”, the people asked the young woman, and she replied, “Why are people jumping in the river?”

The point of the story at the Just Peace Church presentation, was that the church does lots of good works, feeding the hungry, providing shelters for the homeless, homes for orphaned children, educational programs for kids in the inner city, care giving programs for the sick, the shut-in, the widowed, and on and on. But at some point, it isn’t enough to simply care for the people in the condition that we find them, as member of the church, we are also called to care about the conditions that create this human suffering, and see if we can’t stop some of these conditions from happening. And so that’s what being a Just Peace church means.

I chose this story this morning, because I believe it has something to do with Jesus words to us this morning.  For Jesus, the greatest source of human suffering comes from the love of money, or mammon which includes, money, wealth, and possessions. And as long as our hearts are set on these things, then human suffering will continue, and we will not be able to realize the world that God offers to us in the kingdom of heaven. But if our hearts are set instead, upon love of God, and love of one another, then the way will be cleared for the kingdom of God to enter into the world.

One the comments in our local Sandwich/Somonauk Clergy group, as we talked about the Comment by one of my fellow clergy, that biggest problem we face is not socialism, or communism, or any other ism’s you can think of, but unbridled wealth. The world speaks of the power of wealth to create jobs, and to spur innovation, but the power of wealth can also create poverty, unemployment, suffering and destruction. When wealth is put to use in the service of those seeking power and selfish interest, it can wreak havoc on an economic system. When wealth is used in the service of all, then it can be a blessing to all.

There are a number of issues that we face as a nation that we have more than enough years of study and experience in order to choose policies that will bring about the kingdom of heaven in our lives. We know that there are common sense gun control laws that would reduce the number of mass shootings in our nation. But we don’t choose them.   We know that there are policies that are effective in reducing the number of abortions. But we don’t choose them. We know that there are ways to weed out corruption in our government, increase wages, and bring down deficits. But we don’t choose them. We know that there are ways to regulate banks to avoid the collapse of savings and loans, housing markets, and our economy. But we don’t choose them.  We know that there are ways to give health insurance to all, and in the process reduce our medical costs for all. But we don’t choose them. We know that there are things we can do to make our air cleaner, our waters purer, and our soils productive. But we don’t choose them. We know that there are ways to solve our immigration problems. But we don’t choose them.

  We don’t choose them, because we allow our leaders to drag us around by our self-interest, and our love of money. Our hearts are set upon our tax breaks, our privileges, even our religious traditions. We don’t choose them, because we are so focused on what we think we want and deserve, that we don’t concern ourselves with what others need. We don’t choose them, because we are not willing to suffer ourselves for the sake of others, as Christ suffered himself for us.

It is these leaders who drag us around who are the thieves that steal the kingdom away from us. And as always, I am not talking about those leaders from some other political party, the one we disagree with. I am talking about our leaders, the one’s we vote for, the one whose arguments we buy, who then turn and serve mammon, rather than those who elected them.  

The Good News is, that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. If we choose to love God and our neighbor as ourselves, then God will give to us God’s kingdom. In fact, every time we see injustice and suffering in the world, God is offering the kingdom to us, all we need do is respond, and not just to the immediate need, but to the source of that suffering, the love of money.

So if we want God’s Kingdom to come among us, to see abortions reduced, to see immigration slow, to have stable markets and economies, to have affordable health care, affordable education, reductions in mass killings and gun violence, better wages, a clean environment, and etc., etc. etc. Then we as Christians have to start advocating for these things to come about, and we need to hold the “thieves” accountable when they do nothing. God wants us to have that kind of life, all we have to do is set our hearts upon it.  

Aug 4, 2019                          A Better Way                                     

Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived a full and exciting life. She was not a wealthy woman, although she made a fair living along with her husband. They had a decent home, they had a number of children that they raised and successfully sent off into their careers.

She was a religious woman, who believed in devoting a portion of her life to God. She took her kids to Sunday School, and long after they had left the nest, she continued, during her life to give of her time to the local food pantry, women’s group, and money to the church.

When she reached the age of 65, she decided that it was time to retire, so she bought herself a nice comfortable chair and sat down to watch TV. She stopped her involvements, she stopped giving of her time, she stopped all those social activities that had kept her going, and in less than 5 years she died, her doctor said, of old age.

The point of this story is very much like the point Jesus is making in our gospel lesson this morning. The rich farmer, who has worked hard all his life, is blessed with a great harvest, and decides that it is time to retire, to “eat, drink, and be merry”, for the rest of his life. But instead of this becoming the beginning of a wonderful retirement, it becomes the moment when the rich farmer loses his life, because as I like to think, he has lost his soul.  

         Now in the past when I have preached on this text, I have focused on the dispute between the two brothers over money, and how we are taught by the world to believe that the goal of life is to amass a great fortune, or a loaded 401k, so that we can spend our golden years in comfort, pursuing our hobbies, interests, and pleasures. But this time, I decided to read the gospel lesson more in the light of our reading from Ecclesiastes this morning. Because I think the gospel lesson isn’t just a warning to those who are approaching retirement, it’s a warning to all of us, about believing that the goal of life is to be found in leisure, indulgence, and pleasureable experiences.

         The book of Ecclesiasties, gives a rather dim picture of human life, filled with the pursuit of vanities, and the toil that we endure to seek them out, only to be disappointed in them when we have had our fill, or to lose out on them to others who take what we have so diligently worked for. But over all, I think that the book of Ecclesiastes teaches us, that life is not to be found in the vanities of the world, or to be found for that matter in a fine retirement. No, there is a better way - that life is to be found in the journey. In friendship, in integrity, in faithfulness, in our relationships with one another. It is in the toil, if that toil is done in the correct spirit, that transends the suffering of our toils, and in which life is found. And that spirit is of course, the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

         In the world today, I see plenty of vain pursuits, money, hobbies, indulgences, vacations, foods, even our children. These are all fine things to invest ourselves in, but when we invest ourselves to the point where we become estranged from one another, they take over our lives. If we forget to practice God’s love in our relationships with other, then these investments corrupt us, and we can lose our souls. For life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ is not found in any of these but in the love of God and of one another that gives life to us, and life to all.

If we return to the old woman in our opening story, we find that she found life in the spirit of Christ through caring for others, and she lost that life when she cared only for herself. Hear the good news, and find life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  It’s the Better Way.