Reflections on "We Are Witnesses" Acts 10: 34-43

“We Are Witnesses” Easter, 2011; April 23, 2011; FPC, Troy Acts 10:34-43

I had a minister one time tell me that if you can't preach Easter, you shouldn't be preaching.  To a certain extent, I understand what he meant.  The resurrection story sort of preaches itself -- if the preacher can stay out of the way!  Of course, the visual image of the flower cross acted as a powerful sermon.

The first part of the sermon worked really well.  The story about the Souwang house church in Beijing really spoke to me, although it was such a recent addition to the sermon, I'm not sure I developed it as well as I could have.

The sermon also worked better in the sanctuary service.  Sometimes, it seems like the different energies in the two services (chapel and sanctuary do have a different feel to them) mean the sermon will be better in one service than the other.   

Introduction: Christ is Risen (He is Risen Indeed)

We have the theme for the day down, don't we?

Move 1: When I was in about 4^th grade, I was in a play at North Texas State University. My father was a professor of drama and was directing the show.  When he had a little part that was not worth casting, he would me do it.  I was a newspaper boy. Walked on one side of the stage and off the other announcing the headline. I think I did it twice each performance.  It was, of course, critical to the plot development.

Part of my being in a show meant that one of the students with a small role or who might have been the thrid assistant director was assigned to Dr. Culp's kid.  That show Debbie was assigned to me.  On opening night, Debbie came up to me just before we were to go on stage and said, “Break a leg.” I didn't know what that really meant, that it was a common saying among actors and actresses; that it meant “good luck.” Much to the surprise of this college actress, I immediately blurted out, “and you go throw up.”

She then explained to me that “Break a leg” is really a phrase that means “good luck.” A few nights later before the final show, I found Debbie before the show and tried to really impress her with my actor savvy by telling her “Break a leg.” That night during the curtain call she fell off the platform and broke her leg.

“Break a leg.” Words that do not mean what they say, and when if they do, I won't say them.

“Christ is Risen” – words that mean what they say.

Let's be absolutely clear – Christ is Risen is not merely a metaphor; not just a catchy phrase for worship; not just an Easter greeting that has been exchanged for generations.

Christ is Risen is the truth we proclaim.

The tomb was empty.

Christ has been resurrected.

God has acted decisively to overcome death and sin.

Christ is Risen. A truth we proclaim.

a. Does not always have to be spoken.

1. Sarah reminded us this morning with her sign language that “jesus Christ is risen today” is not just for those who can speak or hear those words.

2. Christ is risen is true whether it is spoken or not.

b. Morning news on Internet http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/24/china.easter.crackdown/index.html?hpt=T1

1. Shouwang house church in Beijing, China.
2. Largest Christian house church.
3. Have been planning their Easter celebration for months.
4. 500 members prevented from leaving their homes this morning.
5. 36 church leaders “detained”
6. The outdoor gathering place stood empty this morning as the worship time arrived.
7. “Christ is Risen” was not spoken in a worship service that did not happen.
8. But the unspoken words remain true.
9. Christ is Risen.
   b. WE are witnesses to that truth and proclaim it to the world.

Move 2: Christ is Risen is a truth that the world desperately needs to hear.

a. Lots of death in this community of faith this year.

1. Whether the person who has died had lived many years and was ready to die or died too young with dreams of what they still would have liked to have done, we have joined together and proclaimed that Christ is Risen.
2. The only thing that brings us hope in the face of death.
3. Remember the story of Sarah Winchester, who lived in the late 19^th century and early 20^th centruy. Sarah Winchester's husband had acquired a fortune by manufacturing and selling rifles.
4. Husband and young daughter died from the flu.
5. She visited a spiritist who told her that as long as she was building on her house, she would not die.
6. 38 years later, she finally died. Her mansion had been under constant construction. She had spent over $5 million and the mansion had 150 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, and 10,000 windows. And Mrs. Winchester left enough materials so that they could have continued building for another 80 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House
7. She still died.
8. Our only hope in the face of death is the truth we proclaim today.
9. Christ is Risen.

b. WE live in a world that where violence and bloodshed erupt daily, and still we pray for peace.

1. The prayers of a crazy out-of-touch people?

2. NO, the prayers of people who know that Christ is Risen and with God all things are possible, even peace in our war-torn world.

c. Resurrection also reminds us that anything is possible.

1. Most of us arrive here today hoping for more.

2. We want to be changed, but we are not sure if that's possible.

3. Your marriage needs work;

4. you feel ready for a job change.

5. You do not know what to do with your life and everyone keeps pushing you to do something.

6. the world seems to be closing in on you.

7. As you say the words, “Christ is Risen” you can dare to hope that you can change.

8. The God who raised Christ from the dead joins with you to make those changes possible.

Move 3: Christ is Risen is a truth that demands a witness, both words and action.

a. Peter

1. Talking with Gentiles.
   
   
2. Peter, who before this moment has understood Christianity as growing out of the Jewish tradition. Christianity was for those Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah. No Gentiles allowed.
   
   
3. Now he finds himself proclaiming the gospel and inviting Gentiles to be baptized.
   
   
4. Peter has been changed in a dream by the God who resurrects.

5. So now Peters witnesses to the truth of who Christ is to the Gentiles.
   b. But for Peter it is more than words – it changes his whole worldview.

1. He now acts on the understanding that the gospel is for everyone in the world, not just those coming out of the Jewish tradition.
2. His actions speak to the power of God to resurrect and do a new thing in his life.

3. Peter witnesses to the resurrection by word and deed.

Conclusion: Several years before the collapse of the communist party’s domination of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the leaders of the party were convened in a meeting. It was actually a kind of a pep rally for several thousand members of the party, a time to restate their purpose and to build up enthusiasm among its members.

As a part of the meeting, a Marxist philosopher, lectured the assembly on atheism. He fully explained why there is no God. He spoke for almost an hour.

When the official was finished with his lecture, there was scattered, polite applause.

Then an Orthodox priest was introduced and brought to the podium. He was told that he would have

only three minutes for his response to the official’s lecture.

The priest began by saying he would not need three minutes. He needed only three words. And then he raised his arms and shouted at the top of his voice, “Christ is risen!”

And then the great assembly thundered the response: “Christ is risen indeed!” Again the priest called out, “Christ is risen!” And again the people replied with the words of the Orthodox church’s liturgy, “Christ is risen indeed!”

Yet a third time the priest announced to this crowd of party bureaucrats and nominal atheists, “Christ is risen!” And for a third time, they in unison affirmed, “Christ is risen indeed!”

With that, the priest left the podium. (See “Homiletics” January-March, 1993, p. 41).

Alleluia. Amen.

"We Are Witnesses" Acts 10: 34-43

Easter Sunday's sermon is arriving in the morning despite my lack of blogging.

Notice that the context for Peter's comment, "we are witnesses" is just after he has had a dream that expands the good news to those who were considered "unclean."  The power of the resurrection is not just God overcoming death, but God calling us to change.  To live in response to the resurrection may call us to risk changing.

"Christ is Risen" may be the mantra we shout and proclaim on Easter Sunday, but it is more than a slogan.  The tomb was empty.  Christ has been raised from the dead.  God is at work in the world.  Even as Peter noted that they were witnesses to the resurrection, we are called to witness to the resurrection.

How does the power of the resurrection impact your daily living.

Peace,

Richard.

Reflections on "Waving the Palms" Matthew 21: 1-11

I didn't think this sermon flowed very well, but it must have struck a chord with some in the congregation as I received more feedback than usual as people left the sanctuary.  I'm not sure if they identified with the way I processed the chapter in Unbinding the Heart or if the sermon gave them permission to avoid sharing the faith!

“Waving the Palms” Palm Sunday, 2011; FPC, Troy, 2011; Matthew 21: 1-11

Introduction: Unbinding Your Heart finishes up this week. Small groups. Daily prayer.

Move 1: Palm Sunday

a. The palms reminds us that it is also Palm Sunday.

b. We remember the story.

1. The crowds gathered in the streets of Jerusalem and shouted, "hosanna" and “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
2. Who gathered in those streets?
3. I suspect it was the same people who had been listening to Jesus teach, watching him heal;

c. The same people who did not get it.

c. The same people who did not quite get it.

1. They could not conceive of what Jesus spoke.

2. Not ready for what Jesus asked them to do.

3. Basically, people like us.

4. God, you want me to do what?

5. God really loves me?

6. I suspect the streets were lined with people like us.

500. And by the way, these are undoubtedly the people who shortly will deny Christ.

1. When trouble hits, they are going to scatter to the winds.

2. Peter, of course, is the poster child for this. Peter, Jesus lead disciple quickly forgets he had ever met Jesus.

d. their actions prior to this day in Jerusalem and their actions later give no indication that they can get it right, that they can figure it out.

1. But as Jesus rode by that day in Jerusalem and they shouted “Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” they had it right.

2. Despite the misunderstandings in the past and the betrayals that await, in that moment they recognized Christ as the one whom God sent to save them.

3. Sometimes, we get it right.

4. Sometimes we see Christ in our midst.

e. That moment of clarity when we get it right, that becomes the moment we share with other.

1. The story we tell to others about how God is at work.

2. the reason we feel compelled to invite others to experience God's love and saving grace like we have.

Move 2: Risks involved with getting it right and sharing.

a. Imagine those people who line the streets and shout “hosanna”

1. soon Jesus will be crucified and then resurrected.

2. If they believe what they shouted as he passed by, if they want to follow him, think what it will require?

3. it's one thing to join with a crowd and shout “hosanna,” but to actually follow Jesus?

b. The author this week reminds us that change often takes place when we invite others into our community of faith.

1. In a practical way, imagine how your experience of worship might change if you invite someone to come to worship with you.
2. You might end up sitting someplace differently because there is not room for an extra person in the pew where you usually sit.

3. you could end up having different conversations with different people. Your experience will be different.

4. and if they actually become a part of this community of faith, who knows what ideas they might bring.

Move 3: The moments we get it right give us the content for our faith sharing. How we share grows out of who we are.

a. I have spent most of Lent mis-stating the book title. I have written and said Unbinding the Heart instead of Unbinding Your Heart.

1. A simple mistake? Perhaps. Or, could it be a sub-conscious attempt to keep from claiming the task of sharing the faith for me personally?
2. These things we have talked and prayed about over the last six weeks should be claimed personally, not just in a corporate sense that waits for someone else to share the faith on behalf of the body of Christ.

b. Examples of sharing.

1. Interview with Justice Robert Bork. At age 76 he became Catholic. In describing his religious upbringing, he noted that his parents were split Presbyterians – UPNA and PCUSA; they dropped him off at church, but never went. At 12 yrs. Old, he wanted to join, but the church leaders told him he wasn't old enough to understand. Two years later, they came and told him he was now old enough, but by then he didn't care. Wife had been a nun. The first time he ever prayed before a meal was with her. She converted him to Catholicism through her witness.

2. Marilyn Walker shared with me the story of finding a new church home in NC.

3. Milton Brasher-Cunningham, spent four years in Boston trying to do a new church start-up. Was not their thing. Now his wife serves a downtown church and he is teacher. He adds this story to his failed attempt to do evangelism in a structured way. He saw a new neighbor's request to borrow a lawnmower on a neighborhood lsitserv on the computer. A neighbor whom he did not know. So he offered to loan the new neighbor his lawnmower and invited the neighbor over for dinner. Hospitality is his niche. http://donteatalone.blogspot.com/2008/07/small-thanks.html

100. Each of us has to find our own style of sharing our faith.

1. some of you are very open about inviting people, about naming God and what God has done in your life.
2. Others of you are more subtle.
3. This Lenten study has challenged us to be intentional.

Conclusion:  We have a story to tell to a world where people want to hear it.  

"Waving the Palms" Matthew 21: 1-11

Palm Sunday arrives with the last chapter of Unbinding Your Heart.  Consequently, I have read the last chapter in the context of Palm Sunday.

I have two thoughts (so far) for the sermon:

1.  I have spent most of learn mis-stating the book title.  I have written and said Unbinding the Heart instead of Unbinding Your Heart.  A simple mistake?  Perhaps.  Or, could it be a sub-conscious attempt to keep from claiming the task of sharing the faith for me personally?  These things we have talked and prayed about over the last six weeks should be claimed personally, not just in a corporate sense that waits for someone else to share the faith on behalf of the body of Christ.

2.  When the crowds gathered in the streets and shouted, "hosanna" as cried rode by on a donkey, they had it right.  Despite the misunderstandings in the past and the betrayals that await, in that moment they recognized Christ as the one whom God sent to save them.  Sometimes, we get it right.  Sometimes we see Christ in our midst.  Act on it when you do.

Peace,

Richard

Reflections on "Building Bridges" Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Sermon probably did not do justice the chapter in Unbinding Your Heart or Ezekiel 37.  I did think the author had some useful information for us in this chapter, but I needed more.

Interesting incident:  A visitor left and told me one of your younger members had come back and introduced herself to the woman.  I thought that was nice.  Then, the younger member told me the sermon had "spoken" to her, and she had gone back to introduce herself to a visitor to make sure the visitor was welcomed.  Sort of interesting to get an immediate response to a sermon.

“Building Bridges” April 10 2011; FPC, Troy; Unbinding Your Heart Lenten series, 2011; Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Introduction: Unbinding Your Heart – how is your church doing?

Move 1: Discusses logistics

a. Pyramid of people with whom to connect

1. At the bottom of the pyramid are the easiest group of people with whom you can share and invite; at the top are the most difficult.

2. Bottom are kids – sleepover; invite a neighborhood kid to VBS

3. Top of the pyramid – unchurched people who are not like us.

b. Nursery

1. Clean and safe.

2. I hope visitors and members with kids find our nursery a safe and clean environment.

3. I remember when I first arrived here, before the renovation and new building, you had to enter a maze of turns to find the nursery. If you found your way to the sanctuary, good luck finding your way back to the nursery an hour later!

4. I remember commenting to the Session at some point that anyone who joined with nursery age kids must really want to be a part of this congregation, otherwise they would not risk trying to find the nursery each week (unless the idea of losing the kids seemed appealing!).

100. Name tags

1. Okay, the author does not mention name tags, but you know how I feel about name tags.

2. I do not like wearing name tags, but when you wear them, you extend hospitality to those visiting among us and to those among us whose memories may not be as good as they used to be.

Move 2: Barriers

a. not intentional – not a sign

b. Words we use.

100. Liturgy

1. We sing the Doxology, Gloria Patri, recite the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed.

2. familiar words to those of us who grew up on them.

3. A reminder that you are an outsider if you do not know them.

4. That's why we usually print them in the worship folder.

5. But there is still a disconnect when you are having to read or sing the words from the worship folder and everyone else seems to know it by heart.

500. Sense of family

1. High value among our members.

2. Imagine the moments immediately following worship. You look down the pew and see so and so who you haven't caught up with in a couple of weeks. You quickly scoot down the pew, ask about the doctor's visit, catch up on your families, and then leave, reminded again about how wonderful your church family is.

3. but, no one turns to greet the visitor sitting on the pew behind you. She leaves feeling left out and alone. She does not experience family.

Move 3: Bridges over our barriers.

a. Try to come one week to church with the viewpoint of a visitor.

1. what do you do that if you'd never done before would be challenging?
2. What words do you hear that you only know because you have been here lots of time?
   
   
   b. Relational

1. Recurring theme.
2. Logistics do not make up for the relational.

c. Nursery – good thing about the nursery being at the end of the maze – people had to ask how to get back, or observant members had to help visitors find the nursery and get back after worship.

1. Clean and safe nursery is important.

2. someone extending herself to visitors – more important.
   
   
   c. church in TX.

1. Woman shared her story of why her family joined.
2. They arrived to visit this Presbyterian Church that they'd heard about to find themselves greeted by a church under construction.
3. They stood in the parking lot with their two children facing orange, plastic fencing in every direction.
4. AS she told the story, they were not sure they could even visit.
5. Along comes a high schooler. He apparently saw their perplexed look and stopped and asked, “Can I help you get somewhere?”
6. He then guided them through the maze of construction to the entrance that was open (he knew, of course, the secret to getting into the church)
7. He then escorted them to the area where the kids Church school classes met and found someone to get the kids to the appropriate spot.
8. Then, he showed the parents where the sanctuary was as he took them to where the adults me.
9. So why did they join? The woman says she and her husband figured that any church that would raise kids to take care of visitors like the kids they met, that was the church they wanted to join.

c. Relationships trump logistics.

Move 4: finished the chapter on logistics and found myself feeling like it was not enough.

a. As I reflected on that dissatisfaction this week, I was led to the passage we read in Ezekiel.

1. Powerful story of Ezekiel being brought into the desert valley that was full of dry bones.
2. The Lord asks, Ezekiel – “Mortal, can these bones live?”
3. It hit me – yes, logistics are important, yes, relationships are really important; but what is most important is sharing that which is life-giving to you. Sharing that which is life-giving to the church.

4. what brings our dry bones to life?

5. Knowing the presence of God and being filled with the breath of God. That gives us life.

b. So in addition to the logistics, add the question – where have you found the life-giving presence of God?

1. If you have experienced the life-giving breath of God in the support you experienced in this community of faith. Invite others to experience that.

2. If your work in mission – Breakfast Club, Partners in Hope, Food Pantry, Mission trip – if you have been involved in those things and had a life-giving experience, invite someone to join you the next time.

3. If you have faced a difficult time and discovered hope and God's presence as you gathered here in this community of faith, invite others to join us.

Conclusion: A new blog, Jan Edmiston, authors a blog entitled “A Church for Starving Artists.” Awhile back, she posted an entry which began this way, “In the past seven days, “I’ve…thrown a couple of parties, taken a quick trip to the beach, pondered with multiple friends All Things Church, and realized that I (simplistically) divide the Christian world into two distinct groups: real and not real.

Examples:

Real: Jesus

Not Real: Much of what comes with Jesus

Real: People who gather on Sunday mornings looking for life to be different

Not Real: Pretending life is perfect so that people will believe that I am a Successful Christian.”

www.achurchforstarvingartists.com ; sermon by Lib McGregor Simmons, 6/28/09

what have you experienced that is real and life-giving?

Share that.

Amen.

"building Bridges" Colossians 3: 12-17; Ezekiel 37: 1-14

this week's Chapter in Unbinding Your Heart focuses on barriers we create in our church to keep people from becoming a part of our church.  Or, how to build bridges to cross over those barriers.  I initially chose the Colossians 3 passage with the idea that Paul's challenge to live as God's chosen ones would be the best way to build a bridge to others.

While I still agree with that thought, the Ezekiel passage has captured my imagination.  Instead of thinking about how to live lives that build bridges focus on what gives life to the dry bones.  In other words, what can we do that invites others to know the life-giving God we have discovered in our own lives?

I found this week's chapter to have helpful information, but more about logistics than meeting the life-changing God.  The clean, safe nursery that is easy to find does make visitors feel welcome.  But, what do we do in worship and as we interact with those visitors that gives them a glimpse of the life-changing God we worship?  How can we invite others and follow up visitors in ways that reveal the living Christ in our midst and extend warm fellowship?

If you had one sentence to tell a visitor about why they should join us the next week, what would it be?

Peace,

Richard

Reflections on "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places" Luke 15: 11-32

The sermon struck a chord with several people given the feedback I received after worship.  As I preached the sermon, I really felt the disconnect between how I view church as a person who has grown up in the church and how people who have not grown up in the church view church.  We also had several visitors in both services, and I wondered how they heard the sermon, particularly when I described why people visit and join.  Were those assertions true?  Or did they come across as condescending comments from someone who does not have a clue what is happening in their lives?

I think I could have preached a whole sermon on how we in the church struggle to connect with those people outside of the church. But, it was probably more productive to focus on the relational aspects of sharing our stories with others.  I continue to find myself ending up at the place where the best we can do is tell our story of how God has impacted us, and then wait and see if others want to come and experience part of that.

“Looking for Love in all The Wrong Places” April 3, 2011; FPC, Unbinding your Heart Series

Introduction: Unbinding Your Heart – two question: Why did you visit this church the first time you visited? Why did you join this church?

Move 1: People join because something is missing in their lives.

a. #1 reason new members join because “something missing in their lives.”

1. not because they liked the music.
2. Not because the sanctuary was beautiful.
3. Not because they liked the minister.
4. Not because it is the closest to home.
5. All those might be helpful, but the bottom line is that people want to be a part of the church because something is missing from their lives and they are looking for someone or someplace to find what is missing.

b. Methodist Bishop William Willimon notes that many churches think their membership committee could do a better job of recruiting members than God could. His wife notes that if members were well-balanced, they would have better things to do than come to church. Willimon, Evangelism interview, United Theological Seminary, Fall 2009

1. Laughed while he said it, but the point was well taken.
2. We arrive at a church because we need something.
3. Often, we are in a time of transition – new baby; just moved to town; death of a spouse or loved one; crisis at the job;
4. Life is not complete – so we are looking for something.
   d. Prodigal son – left home to find something better.
   1. Took his money and left.
   2. Spent it on dissolute living. Not sure what that means exactly, but I suspect it was not something we want our children to do!
   3. maybe you know that sense of chasing.

e. Reminded me of the song Waylon Jennings sang years ago when I was still going to dances about people

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of... Waylon Jennings

Move 2: We have this gift to share with others.

a. The gift we have to share with others.

1. God.
2. Forgiveness.

3. Unconditional love.
4. A community of people who seek to live out that forgiveness and unconditional love.
   b. Prodigal son

1. Goes to lots of different places.
2. Where does he end up?
3. At the place where he finds unconditional love.
4. Place where he finds God.

c. A place we call church.

Move 3: People with something missing; a gift to share; help people find that gift.

a. People need help getting to that place.

1. Builds on the relational aspects of God we reflected on last week.

2. Connecting with people

b. Most people visit a church because they have received a personal invitation

1. story of person who prayed for God to show him who needed a church.
2. All the marketing and evangelism tools are not as powerful as a personal invitation.

100. Inviting, not giving an answer.
     1. Stories about kids in other churches.
     2. Never come back with a great story about what your daughter's church believes.
     3. Never come in to brag about the sound doctrine of your son's church
     4. Tell me stories about how your daughter had a crisis and the church supported her in this way.

5. Your son's church identified a need in the community and began a ministry.

100. Proverb “A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
     1. You have a story to tell.
     2. You live a world where people need, where people want to hear that story.

Conclusion: Today we have a visible reminder of that story of God's unconditional love. As you come to the Table to be renewed and connected, consider those people you know who need to come to this Table as well.