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. 

July 28, 2019                       Prayer 2.0                                        

         In every church that I have served, I have had a number of people ask me to preach a sermon on prayer at one time or another. When they do this, I have often gone back to the old “My Confirmation” book, and preach on the types of prayer found in the bible. There are prayers of Thanksgiving for all that God has done for us, prayers of petition – asking God for things we need, prayers of intercession – asking for God to intercede on our behalf in some situation we are facing, prayers of forgiveness – where we ask for God to forgive our sins, or to help us forgive others, and prayers of blessing – asking for God to bless our lives or endeavors.

         If I were to guess, I would say that the prayers we most often say are prayers of petition or intercession. Some people give thanks in prayer on a daily basis for their meals, or for the people God has given them. Some people remember to ask for God’s guidance or blessing in whatever endeavors they are about to undertake. But I think that many people often turn to prayer as a last resort, when all their human ways have failed them. It is in this moment that they turn to God for help, hoping, wishing, praying that God will be there for them.

         But this morning, I would like to come at prayer from a different direction. I would like to approach prayer as something that we do daily, something which if we practice it regularly, should help us to grow in our relationship with God, and with one another. I think that is the purpose of Jesus teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, so that by praying it, they may grow in their relationship with God, and ultimately God’s Holy Spirit.

Our Father,…..  Many times I have heard preachers speak about how Jesus uses the word Abba to begin this prayer. Abba is more accurately translated as Dadda, reminding us of a child’s total dependence upon their parent for life. Praying Abba, means believing that it is God who gives us life, not our own strength, knowledge, or power. It also means believing that God knows what is best for us, and will give us the good things that we need.

Who art in heaven……  just a few weeks ago in one of my sermons, I spoke about imagining a better world. Jesus calls us to imagine the kingdom of heaven and what it might look like among us. The Lord’s prayer invites us to imagine the kingdom in which God reigns.

Hallowed be thy name. …. One of the reasons I chose the old testament reading this morning, is because of the dialogue between Abraham and God. God has chosen Abraham to be his servant, and Abraham wants to know if God is a just and merciful God. So we get this back and forth, to determine if God will destroy the innocent along with the wicked. In the end, Abraham seems satisfied that God is indeed just and merciful. And that is where the Hallowed be thy name part comes in. In hallowing God’s name we are remembering that God is just and merciful, so that we can trust in God’s will for our lives.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. … This is a reminder that faith is not simply about our own personal salvation, but it is about the salvation of the world. In praying this we are supposed to orient our lives towards bringing God’s kingdom of heaven into our lives here on earth.

Give us this day our daily bread, ….  The prayer for our daily bread is a reminder to us to ask for the things that we need verses the things that we want. In a world rampant with consumerism, where we are constantly offered every kind of product to satisfy our wants, this part of the Lord’s prayer calls us to focus on our daily needs so that we can be freed from the worldly desires that plague our world.

 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. ….  In a world full of brokenness, we need reconciliation. Forgiveness is the power to overcome the brokenness of human life. We need forgiveness when we go astray, but we also need to be able to forgive others, so that we might be reconciled to one another. Forgiveness is an essential part of the Gospel, so that we might practice in our lives the kind of forgiveness that Jesus practiced toward us.  

And lead us not into temptation…    all kinds of temptation in this world, a reminder to us to be aware of all the different kinds of temptation there are in our lives, and to be ready not to give in or succumb to temptation.

When we look at the ways in which the Lord’s prayer invites us to become more aware of how the world operates in contrast to the way that the Kingdom of heaven operates, it seems that goal of this prayer is to help us to grow in the Holy Spirit, so that we might have peace and strength, blessing, and abundance, in the living of our lives. And that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ!