Today's Sermon - Transformers - 2/23/20

Transformers

(based on Matthew 17:1-9)

How many of you have read the poem called Footprints in the Sand about the person who had a dream that they were walking along the beach with God (raise hands)?  So, I read this a cartoon version of it the other day, the first part of it had God with his arm around the person saying, “Where you see one set of footprints is where I carried you . . . ” much like the poem, and then the next line read, “ . . . that long groove you see there is where I dragged you kicking and screaming.”  Sometimes that is so very true, isn’t it?

          We know today’s story from Matthew, we read it every year just before the beginning of Lent.  Each of the gospels includes it.  Today, we read from the account in Matthew who wrote; “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.”  The first time I really studied this text was in 1987, when I prepared my first candidating sermon for two small churches in Ohio.  My first reaction to this story was a very simple curiosity: why did Jesus only pick these three disciples and no one else?  Perhaps this comes out of my grade school experience of always being picked last, but here nine of Jesus’ disciples weren’t picked at all.  It makes you wonder.

Scholars have long believed that Jesus chose Peter, James, and John because these three individuals were his core group of leaders, or the inner circle who would eventually hold very prominent roles in the ministry after Christ’s death and resurrection.  As one commentator affirms, “Peter would take the lead in establishing the church; James would be the recognized leader of the church in Jerusalem; and John would receive the final revelation.”  Witnessing the event on the mount helped to prepare each of them for the responsibilities that where to come.  I suppose it is important to note that Christ brought with him three of the disciples, as it was established in that culture that the account of “two or three witnesses” was necessary for a testimony to be deemed credible.  

Matthew continues, “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.”  In other words, the glory of Christ’s inner Divine nature was revealed to them at that time.  The word transfigured or transformed is the same as metamorphoses – to change (meta-) form (morph).”  The account carries on, “Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him”.  They also appeared in glory and were speaking to him. 

Peter’s quick response to what is going on around him without fully thinking things through, which is exhibited throughout the Gospels, surfaces in this story as well.  According to the account, “Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  As Matthew writes, “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.”  This divine voice interrupts Peter, and not only declares Christ to be God’s “Son, the Beloved” but also establishes his importance over Moses and Elijah, as it instructs, “Listen to him.”  Peter’s response made Moses, Elijah, and Jesus equals in suggesting that dwellings be built for all three of them.  But the Heavenly voice corrected Peter, by telling the disciples that this Jesus was God’s own son and that they needed to listen to him.

Although my first curiosity about this story was about who Jesus brought with him to the mountain, the focus of this story is obviously Christ. The focus of our worship here at church is Christ.  We are not called to gather together on Sunday because of the allure of socializing – our time spent together, or because of good music that we participate in or listen to, or even the food that we share sometimes.  We might have those here, but we differ from ordinary social clubs and gatherings because of our faith in Jesus Christ – the focus of today’s story.  We are called to gather together as a worshiping, praying community.  We gather not just because of Christ’s moving and profound teachings about how to live in the world, but also and primarily to worship our God together as one Body.

Often in the larger church it seems that people have divided into two different camps where you either are focused on the “social gospel” and the works of justice, mercy, and compassion or the camp that is focused solely on putting on sort of a concert or show of worship.  However, I think we can seek both—to hold both together in a profound call to service of the needy, lowly, and marginalized, as an expression of following Christ as our Lord and Savior and to focus our worship as an outpouring of our love of God and God’s profound transformation in our own lives.

The same Jesus who commanded us to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the lonely and those in prison is the same Jesus who, transforms or is transfigured before his inner circle of friends, Peter, James, and John, who performs miracles and heals the sick.  The same Jesus who responded to his disciples bickering about who would be the greatest in heaven knelt down and washed their feet is the very same Jesus, who, when asked if he is the long awaited for Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One, replied with the risky words, “I am”.

This divine Christ said, come unto me and I will give you rest….drawing people to himself.  He also said to his disciples to go out and heal the sick, sending them out.  He said, believe in God, believe also in Me: drawing people to himself.   And then he says to go and love your enemies: sending forth.  This drawing near and sending out is the rhythm of the life of the Church.  We draw near Christ on Sunday and commissioned at the end of every service to go forth in the name of Christ to do the work of the Gospel.

The Gospel in its entirety only makes sense if we are willing to step into the absurdity of a world in which God can, would, and did become human– fully and completely.  Let us with Peter affirm, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In Mark’s Gospel, immediately following the Transfiguration Jesus heals a young boy, and the boy’s father declares, “I believe, but help my unbelief!”  Merge Peter’s acclamation of faith and this father’s honest confession, and in many ways you have a good summary of the faith of the disciples, who gave up everything to follow Jesus, but were shaken deeply by circumstances along the journey, doubting, arguing, and frequently just totally not getting it.  It’s not unlike many of us today. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”… “I believe, but help my unbelief!”

And it is in this journey of faith and doubt, of being pulled into Christ and being sent out into the world that we are also transformed, transfigured and go through our own metamorphosis like Christ and as Moses and Elijah appeared to Peter, James, and John.  Our inner Holy Light is there to shine and show the way of God.

My prayer for us is that we might bring our doubts before Christ, laying them before him as an offering…and also go to the mountaintop with him, into that vulnerable place where he is revealed for who he truly is—both fully God and fully human.  Indeed, I believe that place is right here in our worship as we seek to surrender to God our fears, our anxieties, our insecurities, and in return to receive the blessings, healings, and miracles of God in our lives. 

Today's Sermon - Deep Wisdom - 2/9/20

Deep Wisdom

(based on 1 Corinthians 2:1-12)

In our New Testament reading from the first letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul told how he came to Corinth and found a city that was committed to philosophy and wisdom.  Even after the church had begun there, the Christians were still exalting the wisdom of the philosophers.  But Paul says the meaning behind the cross of Christ undercuts all the pride, all our boasting, and our power and glory.  Instead, Paul speaks of what he calls "the secret and hidden wisdom of God” which can only be made available to us through the Holy Spirit.  

This “secret and hidden wisdom” of God through the Holy Spirit is intended to mold us into the kind of human beings that God designed us to be; to produce knowledgeable and courageous people, who are -- loving, compassionate, strong and yet merciful and tender-hearted, filled with grace, beauty and strength.  That is what knowing the secret and hidden wisdom of God is supposed to do to us.  It is a deeper wisdom than what Paul found in the searching hearts of the people in Corinth.  It is a deeper wisdom than what is sometimes taught by our own leaders today.

Paul also eludes to the belief that this deeper wisdom is the fullness of knowledge, the permanent understanding of truth.  It is something that does not pass away or fade over the years, nor does it change from one cultural bias to another.  It is the center of truth.  It is the essence of God. 

This deeper wisdom is undiscoverable by natural processes.  By this I mean that you cannot learn about it in school; you cannot take a course in it.  No philosopher can unfold it.  No psychologist or psychiatrist can explain it or teach it to you.  "The eye cannot find it," Paul says.  In other words, it cannot be found by observation.  "The ear cannot discover it," Paul says.  So, simply listening to the voices of the past cannot uncover it; you will not read about it in history.  It is not even available to reason, or simply to our  minds.  It is only made known to us through God’s Holy Spirit speaking to our inner spirits – that God spark that is in each of us, that recognizes the divine, that seeks out truth, that stands in utter speechlessness at the awesome works of God.   It is in that spark, in that connection of spirits (ours and God’s) that the deep wisdom of God resides. 

And it is a truth without which we human beings falter and fail, homes break up, violence breaks out in society, and all the evils we see around us begin to flood in.  Therefore, it is the most vital line of wisdom in the world.  We could try and search for it, but without the proper eyes to see or ears to hear or heart to feel, a person can never attain it, never acquire it.

God reveals these deeper wisdoms to us only through the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  For what in us can even know the depths of our thoughts except the spirit within us which speaks to God’s Spirit.  And no one can comprehend the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit instructs us with the Word of God and leads us into the truth of God that changes lives and exposes us to this secret and hidden wisdom of God.  When you finally discover that inner connection to God through the power of the Holy Spirit life changes completely.  This deeper wisdom from God sets us free to become the very person God created you to be.

Do you ever try to tell your troubles to your dog or your cat?  I know a lot of people who do.  There are dog people and there are cat people and there are a few of us that are simply pet people.  One could claim the old adage that a dog is man's best friend; man being used in the generic sense.  But I think this phrase could really be used for most pets; I’m leaving reptiles, fish, and insects out of this as I don’t see them in the same way as I do dogs, cats, rabbits or even pet birds.   

What does your pet do when you talk to it?  It responds doesn’t it.  The dog might whine, the cat might purr, they might wag their tail, hop over to you or flap their wings – all depending on what type of pet you have. Somehow the pet knows you're trying to get something across to them; and they are trying hard to understand, and yet, as comforting as their responses might be, they’ll never fully comprehend the depths of your anguish, pain, sorrow, joy, happiness.  Afterall, they are only a pet.  However, if you were to sit down and tell your troubles to your wife or husband, your brother or sister, your mom or dad, your best friend; they will understand.  Why?  Because the spirits within us can sympathize or empathize with the same kind of emotions, with the same depth of feelings and understandings.  We share a common basis of knowledge.

Now here is this great Being of God in our universe, this fantastic Being of infinite wisdom and mighty power.  How can we know anything about this God?  Paul's answer is that we cannot, except for what God discloses to us.  The level at which God operates is so foreign and unattainable to us, that we simply cannot comprehend it no matter how hard we try – just like our pet at home who tries hard to understand us and does to a certain extent, but not completely. 

So, we cannot find, or discern, or understand God by searching.  Our wisdom alone cannot know God.  Our investigative powers, regardless of how immensely amazing they become, will never fully comprehend the entire dynamics of the natural forces that create, sustain, and move life forward.  Only God knows these things and only reveals to us what we can comprehend through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In order for us to understand a tiny portion of the knowledge and depths of wisdom that God holds, God sent a son, God-made-flesh, so that we might have a visible demonstration of what God is like.  The simplest answer to the question, "What is God like?" is to say God is like Jesus, under all circumstances.  But it is the work of the Spirit, through the written record of Christ, that we comprehend what Jesus is like.  As the Holy Spirit illuminates those pages and makes them vivid and real to us that we find ourselves confronted with the living, breathing Christ himself.  That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  

And that is really what we try to do each and every Sunday when we gather here for worship; in our music, and in our prayers, in the words that we say and the words that we hear.  It is to make the pages of this book come alive through the life of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that our own inner spirits speaking to the Holy Spirit might catch a glimpse of that deep wisdom of God.

On his missionary journeys across the ancient world, Paul lived among the people preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In certain places he adapted his teaching a bit.  When he arrived in Corinth, the people were used to a hierarchy of power.  They had been under Roman rule for a long time and were accustomed to the teachings of philosophers and great orators.  But Paul chose to come to them in a different way.  He did not preach to them with lofty words or to even try to speak of the mysteries of God.  Instead, he spoke to them plainly of Jesus Christ and the purpose of the cross.

Under those kinds of teachings, they were challenged to receive the deep wisdom of God, not because they sought it, but rather because the Holy Spirit convicted them of it.

 That is the process.  It begins with the indwelling of the Spirit in the teachers from the Bible like Paul, who then preached and taught Christ crucified and what that means for the hearers, then comes the indwelling of the Spirit in the hearers lives by belief in that word taught and experienced and finally the illumination of the deep wisdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit who allows each believer to glimpse an understanding of that deep wisdom of God as it fits his or her life directly.  And this process has occurred in every generation from those we read about in Scripture down to us today.  And it is our job to pass on that process to our children and to those whom we come into contact with now.

That is the process by which this great body of fascinating truth, the secret and hidden wisdom of God which is intended for our glorification, will begin to change our lives, our homes, our families, our community, our nation, and ultimately, the whole of the world.  It describes to us why the world can never solve its problems, why it is locked into the same pattern of failure, generation after generation, and the only breakthrough that can ever occur is for someone to opens his or her mind and heart to the word of the Spirit, to be taught by the Spirit, and to begin to live on the basis of these life-transforming things.  Only then will the deep wisdom of God become part of our every day existence with one another.

So, my prayer for you today is that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, impart to you a deeper wisdom for your own life.  AMEN

Today’s Sermon - God’s Case - 2/2/20

God’s Case

(Based on Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12)

To set the scene, picture getting sued by God.  Because that is exactly how the scene is set up in our Old Testament passage this morning.  

“Hear what the Lord says:  

Rise, plead your case before the mountains;

And let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord;

And you enduring foundations of the earth,

For the LORD has a case against his people;

And he is lodging a charge against Israel.”

In these first two verses from the beginning of chapter 6 in Micah, God calls the court to attention, calls the mountains as his witnesses since they’ve been around long enough to have seen what’s been going on.  God then announces that he’s commencing proceedings against all the people of Israel.

God makes his opening argument or statement to the people.

“My people, what have I done to you?

How have I burdened you? Answer me.

I brought you up out of Egypt

and redeemed you from the hand of slavery.

I sent Moses to lead you,

also Aaron and Miriam…

In other words, “What have I done wrong to you that you are treating Me this way?”

Then the people God is suing offer their defense:

The people respond.

“With what should I come before the LORD

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings

with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

So, in other words God asked, “What have I done that you’re treating Me this way?” And the people responded with, “What more do you expect from us?”  Putting it in today’s terms, it would be like saying, “God, we go to church.  We give sacrificially to the offering every week.  We have our devotions and try our best to follow You with our lives.  I know we’re not perfect, but what do You expect from us?  What will make You happy?”

What Does the Lord Require?

In verse 8, God answers the question, “What does God want from us?”  The first part of verse 8 says, “He has shown all you people what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?”

The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible written by Eugene Peterson, puts it this way: “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do…” God isn’t giving us new information.  What we’re about to read is consistent throughout Scripture.  There isn’t some new request in Micah, and it’s not something that only applied two thousand plus years ago.  God’s requirements for God’s people have been consistent throughout history, throughout all of Biblical teaching, from start to finish.

It’s consistent.  It’s also pretty simple.  Anybody can remember three things, right?  And yet, although these three requirements are simple, it seems from this lawsuit that God’s people have a pretty spotty record at how well they do with these three requirements.  

In fact, we could ask, “How well are we doing with them today?”

Verse 8 says, “What does the LORD require of you? To act justly…” I think it’s important to understand the full concept of this part of passage.  What is justice?  Is it just about treating others fairly?  I think so, but it goes beyond that.  The full concept behind this is the idea is of not just treating those you regularly come into contact with fairly, but in promoting justice in all of society.  It’s a concern for justice for everyone; to work for right relationships and justice for all, especially for the most vulnerable.

The issue with justice is how those who have power and privilege treat those who don’t.  The reason why this is so important is because when you read the Bible, God always takes the side of the poor.  God is a God of justice who pleads the cause of the poor, and requires his people to do the same.

Listen to what God said all the way back in Deuteronomy, when God was outlining how his people should live.  Deuteronomy 10:18 says of God, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” In chapter 15:7-9, he says:

“If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.  Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need…Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then, because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything that you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land.”

Justice is essentially how those of us who have look after those who don’t have.  God says, “I don’t want people who just come to church and worship me.  I want them to do something about the inequity and injustice in this world.  I want them to promote justice for those who don’t have.”

If this is one of God’s non-negotiable requirements, the question is, are we doing this?  How much do we speak up for those who are vulnerable in this world?  Churches are usually pretty good at charity, of helping those in need.  Charity is showing kindness, but Justice is dealing with the root causes that made the charity necessary.  And how well do we do this?

Here are some facts for you to consider:

The world is enjoying unprecedented wealth, and yet more than one billion people live in abject poverty, struggling to get by on less than $1 a day. 

Each day, 50,000 people die from preventable, poverty-related causes.  Which means that every 1.7 seconds, another person dies of simply being too poor to get the right medication for preventable diseases or starving to death because they were too poor to have enough food to live.

Today, the richest three people in the world own assets that exceed the combined wealth of the world’s poorest 48 countries.

There are other issues to justice besides poverty, such as racial issues, unjust laws, equality, etc…

I wish I could tell you the solutions to all of these issues, but the answers aren’t easy.  I can’t tell you the solution, but I can tell you that God requires us to do something.  God requires of his people that we promote justice.  In Micah’s day, God was so angry about this that he sued His own people because they weren’t doing it, they weren’t promoting justice.

If anybody should care about these issues, it ought to be God’s people, who share His heart and who have received God’s love.  What does God require?  That we work to promote justice in this world.

The second requirement from God is to love kindness or to act with mercy.  Justice is working to address the causes of racial discrimination, poverty, inequality, but acting with kindness or loving mercy means that we walk alongside those who suffer – showing faithfulness, generosity, and compassion.  It doesn’t just mean showing mercy.  It means actually loving it, making it something that’s what you love to do.  Mercy isn’t deserved. We don’t look at some people and say, “You don’t deserve mercy!”  We give them mercy as freely as it’s been given to us.

One last requirement, to walk humbly with God.  What I would expect to be number one makes number three on God’s list.  I don’t know that these are given in any particular order, but I would have thought that God would have come first and dominated the list, but instead the list is led by how we treat others.

“Walk humbly with your God” includes all the things we normally think of in our relationship with God.  It involves intimacy, cultivating a relationship, staying attentive to God’s will.  It’s being deliberate about pursuing ongoing spiritual growth and discipleship, of becoming more like Jesus.

If you asked the average person in our circles what following God is all about, this would be it.  This is what we should focus on in order to walk humbly with God.  

So, these are what God expects from us individually and as a people of God.  They are how he expects us to live: to promote justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with Him.

We need to ask ourselves and our church; How much do I/we promote justice?  Do I/we care about the issues of justice as they relate to those in need?  Do I/we ever contact the government when they make decisions that are unjust to others?  How much do I/we love kindness and act with mercy?   Does that kindness or mercy flow from a heart that’s grudging and condescending, or from a heart that sees the image of God in another person, especially someone who may not be like me/us?  How often am I/we excited to share the love of God with others?  Am I/are we walking humbly with God?  Does my/our heart reflect God’s priorities?  Do I/we see past my/our own world and see what God cares about?

If these are the big three, how are you doing?  And how are we doing as a church?