"Meeting Titus" Titus 1: 1-5

I am beginning a brief, five week series on Titus.   I suspect I may have to help people find Titus -- it's in the New Testament, by the way, between 2 Timothy and Philemon.  I remember it because it finishes out the T's (1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, then Titus!).

It is attributed to Paul, but many biblical scholars do not consider it to be an authentic letter of Paul.

Here are a few tidbits about Titus.

1. Titus is never mentioned in Acts, but we read about him in letters of Paul.
   1. Titus was a Gentile who accompanied Paul on his famous conference with the Jerusalem apostles (Galatians 3: 2)
   2. Titus was the key administrator of the collection of the saints in Jerusalem that Paul collected from the church in Corinth (2 Cor. 8: 16-17, 23; 12: 18).
   3. Titus also acted as a diplomatic envoy, so to speak, from Paul to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 2: 13; 7: 6-7, 13-16).
2. A typical opening, although other Pauline examples would have used “servant (or slave) of Jesus Christ” rather than “of God.” (1:1).
   1. In Old Testament writings, Moses and other prophets are sometimes referred to as “slaves of Yahweh.”
   2. “Slave” or “servant” stresses the completeness of the commitment to one’s master, in this case God.
3. The expected thanksgivings are left out of this letter.
   
   
   4.  Titus has been left in Crete, although there is no other indication in the biblical texts that Paul had a mission to that island.
   
   So what takes this text and this information about Titus and makes it a sermon?  What should the point of engagement be?  Next week, I will be focusing on the types of people that get called into leadership (working off the rest of Chapter 1), but what is the "hook" to these opening verses of Titus?  If you figure it out and let me know by Sunday morning, you may get to be part of the sermon!

Reflections on "A Subversive Approach": Matthew 13: 31-35

The last sermon on parables this summer.  In my earlier thoughts, I had not focused much on the parable of the mustard seed.  I did mention it a bit in the sermon.  I think that whoever put Matthew together linked the parable of the mustard seed and the parables of the leaven together, which odes not do justice to the parable of the leaven.  By linking them together, it suggests that parable of the leaven is about the growth from small to big like the mustard seed, but I really think the leaven is about how the world is transformed into the kingdom of heaven, rather than the size of the kingdom.

As I reflected on preaching the Sunday after the shooting in Aurora, CO, I thought about throwing out the sermon and focusing just on how we might reflect on that tragedy from a faith perspective.  I opted not to do that because I thought that could be addressed in the context of the expected sermon.  The danger, of course, is to skew the sermon or to trivialize the tragedy.  I hope that the way it was handled in the sermon was both helpful and true to the text.

funny how differently sermons seem to be received in the Chapel and Sanctuary services.  Not a single comment from people attending the chapel service, which is unusual for that group; lots of comments from the Sanctuary service.

If I preached the sermon again, I would focus only on the leaven and leave the mustard seed out of the sermon.  The power in the text comes from this idea of how the world is transformed in comparison to how the leaven transforms the flour.

“A Subversive Approach” July 22, 2012; FPC, Troy, Matthew 13: 31-35 Kirkmont Parables

Introduction: Last sermon on parables. Next week on to Titus.

Move 1: I am not sure what transpired as Jesus told this parable, but I think it went something like this.

a. The crowd is gathered to hear Jesus teach.

1. a somewhat serious crowd, wouldn't you say?
2. Looking for the answers for life.
3. More like a church crowd gathering to hear a sermon than a Saturday night crowd gathering at the Comedy Club to hear a comedian.

b. I suspect they do not know how to take Jesus when we tells these two short parables about the kingdom of heaven.

1. In fact, I think Jesus is having some fun as he tells these parables.
2. Sort of the silly story that you might want to dismiss, but then keeps eating at you.

100. Put yourself there with the crowds as they heard Jesus talk about the kingdom of heaven.
     d. First all, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that grows into a mustard tree.
     1. Are you going to focus on the point about the little seed becoming the big tree before or after you realize that Jesus has just compared to kingdom of heaven to a mustard tree.
     2. In truth, it's not really a mustard tree. It's more like an ugly shrub or bush.
     3. It's an herb bush.
     4. Not the kingdom of heaven is like a rose bush, something beautiful and magnificent; not the kingdom of heaven is like the cedars of Lebanon, strong and powerful standing over them.
     5. No, the kingdom of heaven is like an ugly herb bush.
     6. Are you laughing yet?
     d. Move on to the next few sentences – the kingdom of heaven is like the woman who mixes leaven into three measures of flour.
     1. do you notice that Jesus mentions an absurd amount of flour -- it would have been enough to feed 100-150 people.
     2. Maybe you immediately jump to the idea that the kingdom of heaven is going to be really big, but then you notice a couple of other things about what Jesus said.

3. Jesus suggests that leaven is at the heart of the kingdom of heaven. But you know that leaven is bad, it corrupts. In fact, in both biblical writings and other ancient writings leaven has a negative context. How is the Passover celebrated? With unleavened bread. In just few years Paul will write to the Corinthians about cleaning out the leaven of malice and evil and living the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
4. Leaven is a concrete example of how the flour is corrupted. And Jesus is using it to explain the kingdom of heaven?
5. Maybe not in that moment, but later when you replay his words you are reminded how Jesus said that the woman hid the yeast in the flour. The word used is the Greek work krypto, which means hiding for selfish reasons. (For example, hiding money for you to spend later on yourself). Krypto is never used to describe mixing leaven and bread (Hear Then the Parable, Bernard Brandon Scott, 324-329)

Move 2: The kingdom of heaven is like an ugly herb shrub or like corrupting leaven.

Is he kidding?
a. Maybe. I do think that Jesus uses the ridiculous to jar us from our preconceived notions about him or in this case about the kingdom of heaven.

b. But Jesus also has the difficult task of trying to explain what the kingdom of heaven is like, what the reign of God is like, to a people who only know the world and the worldly values of power.

1. How can Jesus describe a kingdom of heaven that will have as its foundation his death on the cross?
2. What illustration adequately describes the kind of power that begins in an act of powerlessness as God allows Christ to be nailed to the cross?
3. How can Jesus describe a kingdom of heaven that has as one of its guiding principles “turn the other cheek.” the people hope for a Messiah to come and vanquish the Romans; instead they get Jesus riding on a donkey and submitting to roman authorities.
4. How can Jesus tell them about the kingdom of heaven that calls people to forgive, even as Jesus in his dying breath asks forgiveness for those who crucify him.

100. Where can Jesus turn to find adequate illustrations of that kind of kingdom?

500. Maybe the mustard bush and the leaven make pretty good examples, after all.

Move 3: As the listeners laugh a bit at these ridiculous examples, they can begin to think about the kingdom of heaven in a new way. Maybe we can, too.
a. In fact, I sort of like the idea of the kingdom being like leaven.
1. In other words, the kingdom is revealed as our worldview and expectations get corrupted.

2. the subversive nature of the kingdom means that it happens outside of the power structure of our world.

3. the kingdom cannot be legislated. It cannot be forced. It arrives subtly,a t work in surprising ways.

b. I had a seminary professor who got remarried late in his life. He had been widowed about 15 years earlier and had been single all that time.

He married a much younger woman, who was about the age of his own adult children. She also had two younger kids that she brought to the marriage. He found himself in his 60s helping raise kids again.

His youngest step-daughter was about 5 or 6 years older than Caitlin, my oldest daughter.

I was visiting with him when his step-daughter was in high school, and he was excitedly telling me about a great parenting feat he had recently accomplished. He had taught his daughter how to change her habit of leaving lights on. Apparently, she now turned off lights whenever she left a room.

He was quite proud of himself. He told me that in his first go around raising kids, he would tell them to turn off lights, send them back to their room to turn off lights; even yell at them about wasting electricity.

Not this time around. Instead, he just turned off the lights without comment. He told me how she began to notice that he turned off the lights. Apparently, his turning off the lights led to her turning off the lights. No yelling, no ordering her to turn off light, just showing her the better way.

He inspired me to try it. I quickly gave up. Yesterday, I was still trying to compel my daughters to turn of the lights when they leave a room. And I wonder about the better way my friend had discovered.

100. On a more serious note.
     1. Today is the one year anniversary of the random killings in Norway, when a armed man killed 77 people with bombs and then going to a children's camp and randomly shooting children.
     2. This seems particularly poignant as we in the United States reel at the recent random killings that took place in CO. at a movie theater.
     3. The shock; the senseless; the sense of powerlessness.
     4. Already the Twitter feeds and FB pages, articles in newspapers are arguing over how these deaths could have been prevented.
     5. You know the arguments – do we legislate more gun control so that weapons cannot be used; or do we encourage people to arm themselves so that they can be armed and ready when someone begins shooting. And lots of other variations.
     6. As I read those arguments while reflecting on Jesus' parables, it occurred to me that we cannot legislate so that people will not kill one another.
     7. As we live as part of the most powerful nation in the world, we also recognize that even with all our power, we are at war, with soldiers dying.
     8. We cannot force a world to love.

Conclusion: But with that realization and the helplessness we feel, we hear Jesus telling some ridiculous stories. The kingdom of heaven is like the leaven that transforms the bread; the kingdom of heaven is like the little mustard seed that becomes a big bush.

The kingdom of heaven cannot be legislated and will not depend on the power structures of the world; it is subtle and faithful – like a Messiah who dies on the cross. Like a Messiah who calls us to go into the world to serve the least among us.

"A Subversive Approach" Matthew 13: 31-35; Exodus 12: 14-20

Sort of an interesting little parable when you study it a bit.  Here's some things to consider about this passage.

1.  In almost all other instances in biblical literature and other ancient literature, leaven has a negative connotation.  It generally exemplifies that which spoils and corrupts.  A NT example can be found in Paul's use of leaven in I Corinthians 5:6.  So what do we make of Jesus connecting leaven with the kingdom?

2.  There were defined roles in the making of bread -- the woman kneaded the bread; children gathering wood; father kindling the fire.  The family image is left out of this parable.

3. Greek word for "hiding" (krypto) is also used in a negative connotation generally referring to hiding something for selfish reasons.  There are no other examples in literature at that time where krypto was used to refer to mixing leaven and bread.

4.  Jesus mentions an absurd amount of flour -- it would have been enough to feed 100 people.

5.  Perhaps Jesus is having some fun as he tell this parable.

6.  By linking it to the mustard seed (if they were paired as Jesus told them, instead of being linked by the person who put the gospel together), it suggests that the point of the parable is how big the kingdom will be relative to the little, inconspicuous start.

7.  I sort of like the idea of leaven as being corrupting. The kingdom is revealed as our worldview and expectations get corrupted.    Anyone have any stories about a little insignificant thing becoming a big thing along the way?

Peace,

Richard

Reflections on "Separating" Matthew 25: 31-46

Not sure what to make of this sermon.  It didn't feel particularly good or bad.  It might have been better if I had focused on one particular aspect of the text instead of just a general approach to it.  It is a challenge to preach a text that is fairly well know.

The conclusion did not work particularly well.  The Will Rogers quote could have been used more effectively in another place perhaps.  Not knowing how to conclude the sermon was probably a sign that it was not focused enough.

Introduction: Continue looking at parables Jesus told that are also being taught this summer at Kirkmont Center, although many biblical scholars would not include this passage as a parable. It lack the classic marks of a parable; it is generally treated as some type of statement by Jesus on judgment.

Nevertheless, Kirkmont included it as a parable, so it makes its way into our preaching series on parables!

Move 1: Simple parable, or story, or vision, or whatever it is.

a. Very visual.

b. Sheep and goats

1. Different animals.

2. Mingle together during the day, but the shepherd separates them at night.

3. I think if you can conjure up an image of goats and sheep, you would have visual distinction as well.

100. And if you are not a shepherd or goat herder, you have the image of right hand and left hand.

1. Pretty basic distinction.

2. most of us can see the difference.

500. Jesus uses this simple imagery to describe judgment day.

1. some inherit the kingdom; other head off to eternal punishment.
2. Again, pretty straight forward.

Move 2: But, when we start to engage the text, it gets complicated.

a. Study it.

1. Turns out that in Jesus' time sheep and goats looked a lot more alike than we might imagine.
2. Sheep's wool is a lot different in the hot climate of the Middle East. And there's a lot of dust. So the sheep and the goats were harder to distinguish than they are at the Cincinnati Zoo.

3. I read that the easiest way to tell the difference between a goat and a sheep is that a goat's tail stands up and a sheep's tail hangs down.

4. I confess that that knowledge makes me no more confident to distinguish the difference between a goat and a sheep than before I learned that information.

5. And now I am pondering if Jesus uses the image of goats and sheep to introduce a bit of uncertainty into figuring out who is will end up n the right hand of God and who will end up on the left.

6. not so simple.

b. Interpretations of the image Jesus shares.

100. Some hear these words of Jesus and it immediately kicks their guilt into overdrive.

1. They can quickly list all the times they did not give money to the person on the street asking for help.

2. Or how many times they did not go and visit their neighbor who has sick and bedridden for several weeks.

3. And they've never visited anyone in jail.

4. The guilt overwhelms and paralyzes them.

5. It reminds me of why the Reformed theologian John Calvin developed the doctrine of predestination. After breaking away from the Catholic church and its system of determining for a person whether they were going to heaven or hell, the people in the reformed movement were paralyzed by their concern about salvation. Calvin's response was to assure the people the God had salvation figured out – they did not have to spend their time, effort, and money worrying about salvation – they could go and serve Christ.

6. But some people hear this story from Jesus and rush to judge themselves.

100. Some of us go the other direction.

1. we hear Jesus talk about goats and sheep and we quickly recognize ourselves as the sheep and just as quickly, or maybe more quickly, know who the goats are.

2. This image of judgment seems to invite us to sit in judgment of others.

3. And, I suspect, we can often be much more judgmental of others than we are of ourselves.

4. In fact, when we name the goats among us it makes our status as sheep seem even better.
   
   
5. In the race to affirm ourselves and judge others, we miss the tension in Jesus' words and skip over the challenge he offers us.

6. We never stop and seriously examine how we are doing feeding the hungry; giving drink to the thirsty; welcoming the stranger; clothing the naked taking care of the sick; or visiting those in prison.

7. not sure that is what Jesus had in mind.

500. We also make this story confusing by our desire to figure out who among us are the hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, and imprisoned that Jesus is describing.
     
     
     1. Surely Jesus did not mean the poor people who make bad choices and had created their own mess.
        
        
     2. Maybe if someone has lost a job because their company downsized they are worthy of our help, but others have chosen their plight in life and are unworthy or our help.
        
        
     3. I suspect that it is not quite that cut and dried, but we sometimes find ourselves going to great lengths trying to figure out who really deserve our support.
        
        
     4. Jesus did not seem to have that same issue.

e. No surprise, of course, that this gets complicated.  Consider the prophet Joel

(Joel 2:11-13) Truly the day of the LORD is great; terrible indeed--who can endure it?

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.

(NRSV)

1. One verse proclaims God's judgment; the next the God who relents from punishing.

2. It's hard to figure out what God is doing in all this.

e. This simple story of judgment day suddenly seem rather complex.

In fact, about all I can relate to with certainty in this story is that the people were confused and did not know whether they were goats or sheep.

Move 4: But that's not a very good place to end, so hear the good news we find in this story.

a. First of all, God alone judges us.

1. We do not self-select ourselves as sheep or goats. This story is not a call to beat ourselves up for all our failings

2. We are not called upon to judge others. We do not have to waste our time or effort worrying about what others are doing.

3. Others do not get to judge us. They may want to judge us; they may make judgments about us, but their judgments are not what matters – God is the one who separates the goats and the sheep.

b. Think about what that means.

1. God, who desires to redeem us, is the one who judges us.

2. God, who sent Christ to die for us, is the one who judges us.

100. Secondly, Jesus gives a pretty straightforward list of what to do as his followers.

1. feed the hungry;
   
   
2. give drink to the thirsty
   
   
3. welcoming the stranger
   
   
4. clothing the naked
   
   
5. taking care of the sick
   
   
6. visiting those in prison.

7. Surely in that list we can find a place to respond.

8. Good news – Jesus invites us to share with him in his work.

Conclusion: “It doesn't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep” (Will Rogers).

it only takes a faithful follower of Christ to be a sheep.

"Separating" Matthew 25: 31-46

A parable about judgment.

It seems to me that we are usually at extremes about final judgment.  We get down on ourselves and wonder if we God is really going to save us, or we focus on all the stuff that keeps us from being worthy of being saved.  Or, we immediately accept that we are saved (we're pretty good people, really, aren't we?) and quickly move on and dismiss what Jesus is telling us.

I also suspect that most of us are more sure about whether others we know are sheep or goats, than we are about ourselves.  I would guess we tend to judge others more harshly than we hope God judges us.

We spend a lot of time trying to figure out who among the hungry, thirsty, homeless, and imprisoned are deserve our support; Jesus does not seem to have that same concern.

This story comes just before Jesus begins sharing details of his death, which gives it the power of being something like his last words.

Sheep and goats were often fed together and kept together during the day, but at night they would be separated because goats wanted the warmth of being inside and sheep wanted the freedom of being outside. sheep were more valuable.  Visually, sheep were white, which could stand for righteousness and goats were black, which would stand for unrighteous, although I read somewhere once (can't find it right now) that sheep were so dirty it was hard to distinguish the sheep and the goats based on color.

Any good sheep or goat stories?

Reflections on "Worth the Search?" Luke 15: 1-10; Psalm 147: 1-11

Several challenges in preaching this sermon.  First of all, there are two very familiar passages.  When they get read, everyone already knows them and has them deciphered.  I did not have any "new" approaches to offer, so I was working with material that was "old" to the listeners.  One aspect of the text that is generally not noticed is the context of repentance in which we find these two parables.  It might be an interesting sermon one day, but I did not explore it very much in this sermon.  

Secondly, the Sanctuary service was in the Social Hall (due to some work being done in the sanctuary), which has a very different feel to it.  even though the Social Hall is smaller than the sanctuary (I think), it's design made the congregation seem very distant and unapproachable.  I tried to bridge the distance by moving out from behind the lectern, but I hadn't practiced that and had to shuffle my notes, so I did not do that very effectively.

Thirdly, we had a medical event with one of the members as I started preaching, so the first part of the sermon had distractions for the congregation.  I also was watching the response trying to figure out if or when we needed to stop the service to deal with the issue. Fortunately, the person responded quickly to the help provided and seemed to be doing better as the sermon continued.

The sermon had two mini-illustrations that I took from my own life experience, and then I inserted my own response to the lifeguard story, which meant the sermon was heavy on personal stuff.  After the last fall when I preached sermons that grew out of my experience while on the renewal, I have been freer about sharing personal stories.  But, I think I may need to cut back on my personal stories as they seem to be too prevalent in the sermons lately.

“Worth the search” July 8, 2012; FPC, Troy, Luke 15: 1-10; Kirkmont Parables

Introduction: familiar parables; fairly straight forward; No surprises this week on how we ought to read the parables. 

three things: what we learn about how God values us; what we learn about the kingdom of God; what it learn about ministering in God's name.

Move 1: how do we determine the worth of something?

a. What gives something value?

1. Establish parameters – for example, money.  We know how much a penny, or nickel, or dime, or quarter, or $1, or $5, or $10 and so on.  If I offered you a $100 bill or a $1 bill, most of you would know to take the $100 bill.

2. But, even then, it has different value to different people.

3. If I see a penny or a nickel or a dime on the ground, I generally leave it for the next person. Someone is really going to enjoy finding that, and besides, then I do not have to bend over to pick it up. If it's a quarter, however, get out of my way!

4. The man, who has scoured for gems in other people’s junk for 20 years, had a hunch about a painting at the yard sale, an Impressionistic landscape of a grove of olive trees. The surface was grimy in spots and marred by minor rippling and crackling. But the brushstrokes were so fluid, the style so masterful, that the price — less than $100 — seemed like a gamble worth taking.

He gambled — and won the yard sale lottery. The painting, confirmed by experts as a previously unknown work by American Impressionist Frederick Carl Frieseke, dates to around 1920 and is expected to sell at auction today for $50,000 to $70,000. http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2011/01/28/a_lost_masterpiece_yields_quite_a_markup/

5. Trinity pullover shirt. Bottom of trunk. Almost see through it is so worn. I would have to lose 75 pounds before I could wear it. But it has the emblem of the soccer team where I went to college, and it's the shirt we would wear on game days.  it might be worth a nickel at a garage sale, but it's worth so much to me I won't part with it.

b. The value of the coin.

1. A day's wage for an hourly worker?

2. In our time that would be roughly $56 before taxes; a little less than that after taxes.

3. how much effort would you put into looking for a lost $50 bill?

4.  Or Maybe part of a headdress piece that might have been part of a dowry.

3. Do not want to suggest the coin had no value, but it certainly had limited value to the world in general.

100. The value of the sheep?

1. One out of ninety-nine.

2. WE are not told that his was some kind of special sheep, or the owner's daughter's favorite sheep.

3. Just a sheep.

4. Do not want to suggest the sheep had no value, but the other 99 were just like it, and they were a lot easier to find at the moment.

d. the value of the sheep and coin are not defined by their market value, but by how much they meant to the shepherd and the woman.

1. The woman goes to a lot of trouble to find the coin.

2. The shepherd leaves the rest of the flock to go find the lost sheep and carry it home around his shoulders.

3.Their actions give great value to the coin and the sheep.

e. Our value comes from God's concern for us.

1.  Our value is not determined by the market or the world. If we sold ourselves on eBay, that would not be our value in God's eyes.

2. look in the mirror, and what do you see?

3.  a person worth enough for God to create.'

4.  A person God values enough to invite into relationship with Christ, God's son.

5.  The mirror reveals someone who is worth God sending Christ to save.

6. In the context of the parable, the your mirrors shows a person God cares enough for to call to repent.

Value comes from God's love for us that is characterized by God seeking us out. God giving you value by God seeking you out.

Move 2: What does the kingdom of heaven look like?

a. The use of a woman as the protagonist in the parable is rather striking given the role of women in their world.

1. How might we characterize the place of women in the society? Consider the well-known prayer from that time, “Blessed be God that God has not made me a woman.”

2. Now Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom and the God-figure is a woman.

3. That designation alone demands to the listener to rethink what the kingdom of God might be like.

b. What shepherd leaves the 99?

1. What did the other 99 sheep think when the shepherd left them to chase the one sheep?

2. Story of lifeguard July 3, 2012|By Ihosvaniodriguez, Sun Sentinel

HALLANDALE BEACH As lifeguards are paid and trained to do, Tomas Lopez rushed down the beach to rescue a drowning man — and then got fired for it.

Lifeguards in Hallandale Beach work for Orlando-based company Jeff Ellis and Associates, which has been providing lifeguard services for the city's beaches and pools since 2003.

Company officials on Tuesday said Lopez broke a rule that could've put beachgoers in his designated area in jeopardy. The firm could ultimately have been sued, officials said.

"We have liability issues and can't go out of the protected area," said supervisor Susan Ellis. "What he did was his own decision. He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do."

Lopez said he was sitting at his post at about 1:45 p.m. Monday when someone rushed to his stand asking for help. Lopez said he noticed a man struggling in the water south of his post. The man was previously swimming in an "unprotected" stretch of the beach, city officials confirmed Tuesday.

"It was a long run, but someone needed my help. I wasn't going to say no," he said.

Company officials said the rescue took place about 1,500 feet south of the company's protective boundaries. The unprotected area has signs alerting beachgoers to swim at their own risk.

The problem: Lopez stepped out of the beach zone his company is paid to patrol, a supervisor said Tuesday.

"I ran out to do the job I was trained to do," said Lopez, 21, of Davie. "I didn't think about it at all."

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-07-03/news/fl-hallandale-beach-lifeguards-20120703_1_lifeguard-services-jeff-ellis-beach-rescue

3. I have to confess that after my initial thought that this is crazy, I read the article and sort of understood it.

4. Maybe not the firing of the lifeguard, but the company's position that their lifeguards need to stay and take care of the beach areas they are paid to protect.

5. the person chose to swim in an area that was marked “no lifeguards,” so live with the consequences.

6. The ninety-nine swimmers, if you will, that are in the assigned area need to be protected and were put at risk when the lifeguard left his zone.

7. The company does not like the exposure or the liability or the breaking of rules.

8. I get that.

9. But someone needed to be saved.

The kingdom of God is about more than exposure, or liability or rules – the kingdom of God is about the one who needs to be saved.

move 3: We minister in the name of the God of the particular.

a. Ministry is about the person that is looking us in the eye in the moment.

1. Not the Breakfast Club as a nice concept in the community's approach to dealing with hunger issues; but the person who looks you in the eye as you hand her the plate of waffles.
   
   
   2.  not the strategic plan of growing the church by increasing membership; but the person who is hurting and searching that gratefully agrees to come to worship when you invite him.

3. Not the desire to have a big crowd at Vacation Bible school, but the child whose eyes grow big as she hears the story of how Jesus healed the Roman centurion's servant.

b. WE minister in the particular.

1. yes, there is a need to plan and bring structure to our ministry and think big picture.

2.  I suspect that both our local congregation and our the larger church could vision and plan much more effectively than we do.

3. but we cannot forget that the God who sends us into the world sends us to find the that particular coin that is lost, or that particular sheep who has wandered away. Or that one person who needs to know the value God gives to her.

Conclusion: Sermon title was a question: "Worth the search?"

I noticed when I drove by the church sign that the question mark was left off. I thought about whether it was worth having Roger, our custodian, go back out to the sign and add a question mark.

I kept driving by the sign. And then it occurred to me that maybe the sign had it right – there was no question in God's mind about whether the coin or the sheep was worth the search.

In fact, if I did it over I would put an exclamation point to mark the resounding “yes,”God gives to searching for the lost coin, the sheep, and even us.

"Worth the Search?" Luke 15: 1-10; psalm 147

Two familiar parables -- the lost coin and lost sheep as we typically title them.

Initial thoughts that have not formed a sermon yet.

1.  What did the other 99 sheep think when the shepherd left them to chase the one sheep?

2.  The use of a woman as the protagonist in the parable is rather striking given the role of women in their world.

3.  The parables are told in the context of sinners repenting.

4.  The value of the coin and the sheep is defined by the concern of the woman and the shepherd.  Our value comes from God's concern for us.

5.  The summary phrases of both parables is about the joy in heaven when one sinner repents.  Interesting to note that those phrases suggest the sinner acting to repent, but in both parables the story focuses on the person doing the searching.  Does that mean that God searches us out, but we still have to repent?  Does the shepherd arrive at the lost sheep and wait for it to jump into his arms?  Certainly a coin has no ability to choose whether to repent or not.

Any good stories about looking for something you have lost?  Or choosing not to look?  Or giving up the search?

peace,

Richard