Reflections on "Grab Bag: YOLO" Matthew 24: 36-44; I Corinthians 9: 19-23

Our younger generation was noticeably absent from worship yesterday, so the sermon's attempt to connect with a phrase that is now bandied about among the younger generation did not reach most of the segment in this congregation.  I enjoyed reflecting on how God's Word might speak to the current context or worldview of the younger generation.

In the final stages of the sermon preparation, I read an article about how "millenials" are returning to some of the churches with "high" liturgies because the structured, historical liturgy transcends the fads of today.  In part, the author argued that better bands and better media use does not move the "millenials" to come to worship.  Somehow I think that argument  might connect with this sermon, but I haven't had time to pursue that line of thought.

“Grab Bag:  YOLO”  July 28, 2013; Grab bag series; FPC, Troy; Matthew 2436-44; I Corinthians 9: 19-23

Introduction: YOLO…

If you know what that means, you are either part of the younger generation, or you are really hip!

YOLO is an acronym I learned recently from my daughters that means "You Only Live Once."   

Apparently, among some sectors of our younger adults, it is a popular phrase to say to indicate that you ought to seize the moment.

This younger generation, of course, is not the first to express this sentiment.

When I was younger, the movie Dead Poets Society made popular the term “Carpe Diem” as it told the story of the English teacher at a boarding school who urged the young men to "seize the day."

Of course, that phrase itself came from the Roman poet Horace who wrote just before Jesus’ time.

This desire for life to have meaning is not new to us.  Most of us at times want to bring a sense of urgency; believe that life really matters.

Let’s reflect for a few moments this morning about YOLO.

Move 1: I actually saw a young man walking down the street last week with it inscribed on his hat. YOLO

For some reason, the sight of that hat made me wonder if Jesus ever wore hats, and if so, would Jesus ever consider wearing a hat with YOLO written on it.

OK, admittedly that’s a bit strange, but as I reflected on that, I decided that I could see Jesus wearing a YOLO hat. Especially when he was having the conversation with the people about the thief in the night that we read in Matthew.

            a. YOLO seems to express the sense of urgency Jesus calls us to have.

1.      He notes that if the homeowner knew the night the thief was going to rob the house, the homeowner would have been prepared.

2.      Live today as if there is no tomorrow.

3.      Do not wait until tomorrow.  YOLO.

b.       We also see that sense of urgency in how Jesus deals with people.

1.       When he calls the first disciples out of their boats, he does not say, “Meet me in Capernaum next week, or next month, or at some future date down the road.”

2. Instead, he demands, “leave your nets and follow me now.”  YOLO.

3.  Or remember the rich young ruler with the question, “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?” 

4. Jesus responds:  “Sell everything and give to the poor and then follow me” (Matthew 19: 16-22).

5.  Jesus suggests no concern for what will come down the road; he tells him to sell now and follow. YOLO.

6.   If Jesus were to call the disciples today, he might begin with “YOLO, follow me!”

c. We hear Jesus’ urgency, we acknowledge its truth, but then we find ourselves looking for the safe route preparing for the future as if all that matters is how prepared are we for tomorrow.

1. Maybe that’s why YOLO sounds so captivating to the younger generation.

2.  It’s edgier; it’s in the moment.

3. No waiting for the future to find fulfillment; seize it now.

4. Freedom from the responsibility and obligations of the future.

5. I do not think Jesus would be adverse to a YOLO approach to life, at least not that call to urgency, that sense of freedom.  Those seem to complement his call to discipleship.

Move 2:  But we need to think for a moment about what it means to be free. 

a.  Paul understands freedom quite a bit differently than how some might interpret a YOLO approach to life.

1.   If the sense of urgency, the freedom from the constraints of worrying about the future means You Only Live Once, so you better get what you can now, then it does not fit with the life of discipleship that Paul describes to the Corinthians.

1.      Remember Paul is writing to these early Christians to help them understand what it means to believe in the resurrected Christ.

2.               They have probably started to figure out that Christ’s second coming is going to be a bit father down the road than they had imagined.

2.  So how do they live in ways that express the freedom they have in Christ?

1.  Paul does an interesting thing.  He affirms their new found freedom in Christ, but then shows how that freedom actually leads them to a new sense of responsibility.

2.  They are free to act without regard to any restrictions the world might place on them (YOLO at its best, perhaps?).

3. But, the new followers of Christ are connected to others; as followers of Christ called to serve in the world; they voluntarily submit themselves to restrictions in order to connect with others and keep them from falling away from Christ.

4. Parent – a young child, very directive; you can do this, you cannot do that.

5. Child gets older; more freedom; more choices; now, parents note the options;  You can do that, but is that what you want to do? You can do that, but does that choice reflect the kind of person you want to be?  The kind of person God calls you to be?

c. This sense of responsibility is not anti-YOLO, but it calls us to put how we live in the context of whose we are.

1. The question shifts from “What would you do if you knew today were your last day,” to “what would you do as a disciple of Christ if you knew today were your last day.”

2. I suspect the answer might change. 

3.  The sense of urgency is still there.

4.  But a redefining of freedom takes place – not because we have to, but because we want to.

Move 3: My final thought on YOLO is that Jesus outgrows his YOLO hat on the third day in the tomb when he is raised from the dead.

            a. I have been a camp this past week spending where the campers and camp staff are all younger than I am (quite a bit I might add) and probably recognize the term YOLO.

1.  One night as the camp staff and I were sitting around talking after the campers were in their cabents for the night, I asked them (most of them were college age) what they thought of YOLO.

2.  In the course of the conversation, of the staff members proclaimed, “It does not fit our theology.  Jesus lived twice and so will we!”

3. He, of course, is right.

b. Because we believe in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we believe that we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection, we do not have to settle for an understanding of life that suggests that we need to live as if there is no future.

            1.  I have pointed out how a YOLO approach to life might fit with Christ’s image of the homeowner who knows when the thief will come in the night.

            2.  But, there is a cynical connotation to YOLO as well.

            3. I suspect for some, they adopt a YOLO attitude because when they hear Christ say that when he comes again and one is left in the field, they can only see themselves as the one who is left behind.  For them, there is no future beyond what they achieve or enjoy today.

            4. Maybe we are like that some days as well.

5.  They (we) They need to know the hope that we have – a hope in the God of tomorrow; a hope in the God who can even resurrect the dead.

c.  In fact, believing in the God of the resurrection frees to live an even edgier YOLO life?

            1.  We do not have to be concerned about our future because God has acted.

2. WE are not bound to the limitations the world might want to place on us, because God has acted.

3.  Our life is full of meaning because God has claimed us as God’s very own people

            3. The constraints of the world are broken, freeing us to live fully in the present.

                        4.  That sense of urgency, that freedom that is sought after by those who want a YOLO lifestyle is there for those who trust in the God of the resurrection.

Conclusion:  YOLO! 

A term used by the younger generation that speaks to the urgency to which we are called to live our lives or a cynical approach to life that does not care about what God is doing in our lives?

You choose.

Amen. 

"Grab Bag: YOLO" Matthew 24: 36-44; I Corinthians 9: 19-23

Are you familiar with the term YOLO?  I learned it recently from my daughters.  It means "You Only Live Once."  Apparently, among some sectors of our youth, it is a popular phrase to say to indicate that you ought to seize the moment.  I actually saw a young man walking down the street last week with it inscribed on his hat.

It reminds me of the phrase "Carpe diem,"  which was made popular in the late 1980s by the movie "Dead Poets Society" starring Robin Williams.  It followed the lives of boys at boarding school who were encouraged by their English teacher (played by Robin Williams) to "seize the day."

Of course, it has a history that goes back much farther than 1989; it goes at least back to antiquity and the writings of Horace, a Roman poet who wrote near the time of Christ's birth.  In Horace, the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the next (day)[/future]", and the ode says that the future is unforeseen, and that one should not leave to chance future happenings but rather one should do all one can today to make one's future better. This phrase is usually understood against Horace's Epicurean background.^[5] It is important to note that the "Carpe diem" phrase is often misinterpreted and misused in contemporary popular culture. However, it's not about ignoring one's future, but rather not trusting that everything is going to fall into place for you someday and doing those things today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem; 1989 Dead Poets Society

I have been a camp this week spending time on other topics, but I did ask a group of camp staff (college age) what they thought of YOLO.   They did not think much of it.  One said it was a lame excuse for "carpe diem."  Another said it did not fit our theology.  We know that we will live twice because of the resurrection. I suggested that perhaps Jesus' reminders that we do not know when he will come again challenges us to adopt a YOLO attitude.  They grudgingly agreed, and then quickly returned to updating their Facebook statuses!

What does the phrase "You Only Live Once" bring to mind?

Reflections on "Feeling Like Job" Job 42: 1-6; Romans 8: 26-28

Headed to camp this afternoon, so I just have time to add a comment or two before going home to pack.

Job text is much more nuanced and complicated than how I used it in this sermon.  I think the sermon was accurate to God, but not quite as true to the Job text.  

The same could probably be said about the Romans text.

“Grab Bag:  Feeling Like Job”  July 21, 2013; Grab bag series; Job 42: 1-6; Romans 8: 26-28

Introduction:  TV show Motive – police drama;  begins at the end and then goes back to the beginning to explain how the ending was reached.

This sermon is beginning at the end, and then we will go back and see how we get to the end.

Move 1:  Begin at the end with a powerful faith statement: 

a.      Final words

1.       Job –  42:2 “I know that you (that is God) can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

2.      Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:28) “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God…”

b.      To see how we get to those final words, let’s go back to the beginning.

1.      In Job’s case, the beginning takes us back to his suffering.

2.      He experienced loss in every part of his life.

3.      The text is clear that he has done nothing wrong. In fact, from the storyteller’s perspective, it appears that Job is caught up in some type of challenge that Satan, or perhaps a better translation, “the accuser” has put before God.

4.      Regardless of why, Job is in misery with his life falling apart before him, and he has done nothing wrong.

c.      Or consider the Romans to whom Paul writes.

1.      We do not the exact circumstance Paul might have been referring to in his letter, but we know that Paul is trying to explain to these new Christians what it means to believe in a sovereign God. 

2.      To believe that God is alive and in the midst of their circumstances, even when they are difficult circumstances.

d.      What is your beginning?

1.       The sermon grew out of someone sharing their story of going through a difficult time in life.

2.       I suspect most of us can point to a difficult time in our own life.

3.      Battling with a difficult, perhaps even debilitating illness.

4.      Going through an unexpected job loss.

5.      dealing with grief.

6.      Struggling to find friends who build you up, instead of tear you down.

7.      Dealing with again.

8.      Or just an overwhelming time in life.

9.      Most of us can find a beginning to this sermon from our own lives.

Move 2:  how do we get from the beginning, the crisis in which we find ourselves, to the end, the strong faith statement?

a.      Not very easily, and probably not a direct path!

1.      None of us will travel the same path, although our paths may be similar.

2. Probably not the same order of stops along the way, but many of the same stops.

b.      Sometimes we try to find someone or something to blame.

1.  If we read Job’s story, part of his problem I think is that he has no one to blame, and he refuses to allow others to blame him (rightfully so, according to the story).

2.  Ultimately, blaming fails because even if we can discover who or what is actually to blame, it does not remove us from the pain and loss that we are feeling.

3. Sic Flags – death of woman falling from roller coaster; they will figure out what happened, but even when her family knows who or what to blame, it does not bring her back to life.

4.  We can direct our anger and at times it feels good, but the blame game generally only provides temporary relief.  It does not lead directly to the ending we want.

b. We might stop along the way at questioning God or getting mad at God

            1.   Through the years, I have often shared with people that it’s ok to get mad at God or question God.  It’s even biblical.

2.  Job certainly works this angle.

            3. And Job’s not the only one.  The biblical text is full of people who get mad at God.  People who say, “God, I don’t like what you’re doing;” or “God, where are you?” or “God, I’m running away because I don’t want to be dealing with you anymore.”

            4.  I feel certain that God can handle it.

            5.  In my mind, getting angry or asking questions of God is not a sign of a lack of faith, but the sign of a faithful person trying to figure out how to affirm God’s presence in the midst of the crisis.

c. Or we might stop at the nearby stop that is closely related to questioning or getting angry is crying out to God.

            1.  We often hear of how the Psalmist cries out to God.

            2. The Israelites are in captivity and they cry out to God, begging God to remember them.

            3. Jesus from the cross cries out to God.

            4. Paul references being in such a state that we need the Spirit to intercede for us.  The person praying only being able to groan.

5.  Crying out is the desperate plea of the person who has discovered that God is their only hope.

e.       We often find the stop along the way where we turn to your friends.

1.      That move is full of potential pitfalls.

2.      In the midst of Job’s crisis, his friends arrive to help comfort him.

3.      It turns out they tell him a lot of things that he will not accept, and we discover that God will not accept either.

4.  Sometimes I hear people say things to other people in the midst of crises that make me cringe.  Sometimes I say things that make me cringe.

5.  I find that being told that "God needed a tenor or soprano for the choir in heaven” (or something similar) for example.

5.  But, I recognize the need people have to offer words of comfort and to find comfort in the face of challenging circumstances.

                                    6. And I have seen and felt, not necessarily from the words, but from the person being there, comfort from others.

f. another stop -- we can turn away from God.

1.  Person decides that God is not there and they are done with God.

2. Their story ends before it gets to the faith statement.

g.  Another stop -- Cling to faith.

1.  I am reminded of a story I was told about a woman who was suffering daily, but when asked how she dealt with all the misery noted that her time was not spent being miserable because she had conversations with Jesus all day long.    

2.  In other words, her time of misery (as defined by others) did not seem miserable to her because of her faith and opportunity to grow in relationship with Jesus.

Lots of things we can do between crisis and the faith statement that comes at the end of the story.

Move 3: Only get to the end of the story, the faith statement after we look back over what has happened.

a.      Job can only tell this story after it has happened.

1.      We do our best theology from our rear view mirror.

2.        (which takes me back to the country western song "Texas in My Rear View Mirror," which I will not sing as part of the sermon!).  Song describes the person so ready to leave, but then as he looks back recognizes lots of good things that happened.

2.  Paul can only write his words that “all things work together for good”  after he sees what God has done.

3. Job cannot proclaim God’s sovereignty until he looks back over what has been happening in his life.

b. we look back over what has happened and we lay claim to our faith.

1. We see God’s grace.

2. We recognize the comfort.

3.      I have often heard people comment on how they grew in faith or what God did for them in the midst of a crisis.

4.      Not an affirmation that God intentionally sent bad things their way; an affirmation that God is at work in the midst of crises leading us to new opportunities and understandings.

5.      . I can confirm that again and again I have seen people's faith strengthened in the face of crisis, which seems counter-intuitive to me.  

6.      In fact, it is a theological statement about the incarnation, about God coming in flesh to live among us and be with us in the midst of our crises.

7.      There is comfort in Job’s faith, but that comfort can only be heard after the anguish and anger have been expressed.

Conclusion:  We are now back to where the story ends:

Hearing Job proclaim about God:  Job –  42:2 “I know that you (that is God) can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Hearing Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:28) “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God…”

A fitting end, wouldn’t you say?

"Grab Bag: Feeling Like Job" Job 42: 1-6

This sermon grows out of a story I was told by a member about a person who was suffering daily, but when asked how she dealt with all the misery noted that her time was not spent being miserable because she had conversations with Jesus all day long.    In other words, her time of misery (as defined by others) did not seem miserable to her because of her faith and opportunity to grow in relationship with Jesus.

This, of course, is a question that comes to mind in a variety of ways for most of us.  Consider the following examples:

    1.  Sometimes I hear people say things to other people in the midst of crises that make me cringe.  For me, being told that "God needed a drama professor in heaven," (or something similar) for example, offered very little comfort in the face of my father's death.  I also am not sure I can or want to buy into that theology. But, I recognize the need people have to offer words of comfort and to find comfort in the face of challenging circumstances.

   2.  I have often heard people say, "I now know why God made me go through... (fill in the blank with whatever crisis they had dealt with in the past)."  Those comments make me wonder about what kind of God would intentionally cause a crisis in someone's life to teach them a lesson. But, I also want to affirm the God who is at work in the midst of crises leading us to new opportunities and understandings.

   3.  Of course, not too far away from these thoughts is the eternal question - "Uh, God, why did you let (fill in the blank) happen to me or my loved one?"

   4.  I can confirm that again and again I have seen people's faith strengthened in the face of crisis, which seems counter-intuitive to me.  Yet as one who proclaims the incarnation of God means that God finds us even in the midst of our crises, why should I be surprised?

I have been drawn to Job as I have reflected on this passage.  Job seems to touch on all feelings of helpless, desire for faithfulness, inability to grasp God full, and much more.  Interestingly, when I preached my first sermon before a congregation after starting seminary (I had preached once at the church I attended in college on a College Sunday), I chose Job as the text.  I tried to find a copy of the sermon in my files, but (probably mercifully) could not find it.  As I recall, I found great joy in proclaiming Job's discovery that since Job did not create the world like God did, Job was happily content to let God be God and Job be Job.  I must be less agreeable now because that answer does not seem to satisfy.  Or at least it only satisfies with lots of protest.

But I find Job's example instructive in lots of ways:

  1.  Job can only tell his story after the fact with its theological implications after the fact.  In the midst of his crisis, he can call out to God, he can shout and scream, he can grasp at what comforts him, but only later can he look back and see God in his midst.  I often note that we do our best theology in our rear-view mirror (which takes me back to the country western song "Texas in My Rear View Mirror," which I will not sing as part of the sermon!).

  2.  Job has friends that come by to support him -- they don't say the right things, but they are there for him.

   3.  The idea that Job's troubles are part of a game between God and the devil is a bit troubling.  Not sure the biblical writers got that right.

    4.  There is comfort in God's answer to Job (were you there when I created the world...); but that comfort can  only be heard after the anguish and anger have been expressed.

We also read Paul's letter to the Romans in which Paul notes that "all things work together for good." To me, that suggests that God is at work in all things working to redeem and heal us as we move through life; it does not mean that God has deemed the crisis confronting us as good.

Obviously, I have lots of work to do for this sermon!

Reflections on "Grab bag: Between Birth and Baptism" Luke 2: 39-52; Romans 1: 1-4

I had fun reading through the "Infancy Gospel of Thomas."  I had not done that in several years, and probably not really studied it since college!  Through the years, I have continued to give thanks for Dr. William Walker, my New Testament professor at Trinity University.  The text books he used and the methodical way he taught the NT have been very helpful.  If I could go back and take one class in college that I did not take, it would have been his class on the Apostle Paul.

Speaking of Paul, I had intended on making a clearer connection between the Romans passage and the sermon.  I think Paul's words remind us that we tell stories about Christ in the context of his resurrection.  I did not make that point explicit in the sermon.

I added the Lillian Daniels story about the young boy who noted that they were telling the same story the second year of the Christmas pageant.  That was a good add to the sermon and would have helped the Chapel sermon.  More could have been made of the repetition of stories we tell about Jesus.

I also added a line in the Sanctuary service about Jesus being baptized as an adult after someone in the Chapel asking if Jesus was baptized as an infant.

“Between Birth and Baptism” July 14, 2013; Grab bag series; Luke 2: 39-52; Romans 1: 1-4

Introduction:  you now know all the content that will be on the Bible content exam on what we know abut Jesus’ childhood.  You ought to ace the exam.

One story. 

After Jesus is presented in the temple until he is baptized as an adult as he begins his ministry, there is one story about Jesus in the biblical texts.

One story.  The one we just read in Luke.

The good news -- if you don't know much about Jesus’ childhood, you haven't forgotten it because it's not there.

The bad news -- there is a whole segment of Jesus' life about which we know very little.

No wonder one of you asked the question:  "What do we know about Jesus in his growing up years?"  The answer – “not much.”  End of sermon.

Well, not really!

Move 1:  why do we tell stories from childhood? 

            a. You know those stories.

1.      I just spent a week in TX with my family and Leslie’s family.

2.      Lots of stories told. Now, the kids are telling the stories they have heard their parents tell.

3.      I would say that the stories get better over time, but that may or may not be true!

4.      In Luke, we get a “parents leaving kids behind” story.  I bet most of your families have a story or two like that.

5.      Just last week as we were sitting in my brother’s TV room, his wife begins telling stories about how my father used to leave my brother behind.  I listened to the places he’s been left and finally had to say, “I can top all of those.”  My father left me sitting in a grocery cart.  In the parking lot as he drove home.  Thank goodness for the person who wheeled me back inside the store until my my mother asked my father where I was!”

b. Typically, the childhood stories we tell and tell again are fun and they teach us. 

1.  Back to the story we read in Luke.  It actually does not seem that funny, but maybe it got funnier as it was told over time.

2.  Parents leaving a child behind can have a little humor tied to it.

3. But the story reveals something about Jesus when he tells his parents, “I must be in my Father’s house”

4.  Like the stories told about the child who argued with everyone about everything and then one day ends up being a lawyer who gets paid to argue cases.  Those childhood stories that get repeated will become the “aha” stories about how everyone should have known the child would become a lawyer.

5.  I imagine years after Jesus’ death and resurrection when the family got together, they would tell this story from the Temple and nod their heads. 

6. Of course Jesus told his parents, “I must be in my father’s house” (or “I must be about my father’s interests” in other translations).

7. His ministry in later years, the stories that we do have of Jesus, reveal that he was about his father’s interests.

Maybe later Jesus’ family laughed about leaving him in Jerusalem and smiled knowingly at his answer.

Move 2:  the lack of stories of Jesus’ childhood, however, reveals our own struggles, and the struggles of those who put together the gospels, to  understand what it means that Jesus is the Son of God.

                        a. Hard to be funny about Jesus.

                                    1.  I personally think we often miss Jesus’ humor.

                                    2.  If we approached many of the stories Jesus tells or situations in which he finds himself as if there was a chance they would be funny, I suspect we could make the case that Jesus had a pretty good sense of humor.

                                    3. Laughing Jesus – maybe you’ve seen some of those pictures.  Hasn’t really caught on (although there is is a web-site or two). 

4. we can handle an image of Jesus loving, but Jesus laughing?

5. Cuts down on the need for funny stories of his childhood.

b. We are also not sure what to make of Jesus – fully human, fully god.

1 What childhood stories could be told that help explain that?

2.       Biblical texts, but there were other stories told about Jesus' childhood.

2. Stories told that were not accepted by the early church nor made part of the biblical canon.

3. Several of these stories are found in what is known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.  (The Other Gospels:  Non-Canonical Gospel Texts, Ron Cameron, editor, 122-130) 

4.  A kid is running down the street and bumps into Jesus, which makes Jesus mad, so he strikes him dead.  That didn’t make the Bible. 

5.  A story where Jesus is playing upstairs and one of the other kids falls out the window to his death.  Everyone accuses Jesus of having pushed him (sounds like a typical who did what story from childhood, except it is life and death).  Jesus finally gets tired of the accusations and calls the boy back to life and asks him to tell everyone that Jesus did not push him.

3. Or a story told about when Jesus was six years old he drops the pitcher of water he is bringing to his mother, so he miraculously fills his garment with water and takes it to his mother.  That didn’t make the Bible either.

4. Let’s be clear – I am not saying that these are true stories about Jesus’ childhood that were left out of the Bible; they were stories told about Jesus that were determined to not be true.

                        4.  As an author writing about the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas” notes, “The biographic legends of Jesus, at school and at ply, display nothing distinctively Christian at all:  Jesus is portrayed simply as a child of the gods, a Wunderkind in whose life are manifested epiphanies of the divine.  Ironically, the descriptions of the precocious glee of the infant Jesus both hint at his humanity and detract from it as well.  These stories adumbrate the tyranny of the miracle tradition. . (123).

d.  How do you tell stories about Jesus’ childhood that somehow explain how he was fully human, yet also fully God? 

The answer – you probably don’t. 

Move 3:  The childhood stories cannot explain who Jesus is and what God is doing.

a. Consequently, the childhood stories give way to the stories of his birth and his death and resurrection.

                        1.  Somewhere along the way I suspect they decided that these stories are the ones who define the most important things we need to know about Jesus.

                        2. Lillian Daniel in her book When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough tells the story of an unchurched family that joined the church. The first Christmas, their young son was in the pageant.  The next year, he showed up for the first rehearsal and when he hears the story he says, “Oh not, not that same story again!”  She notes that now he has young children and that familiar story has shaped his growing up and his life now in ways he never could have imagined. 

            b. The biblical scholar N.T. Wright reminds us that that "Christianity is about something that happened.  Something that happened to Jesus of Nazareth.  Something that happened through Jesus of Nazareth.  In other words, Christianity is not about a new moral teaching... Christianity isn't about Jesus offering a wonderful moral example...nor is Christianity about Jesus offering, demonstrating, or even accomplishing a new route by which people can “go to heaven when they die... Finally Christianity isn't about giving the world fresh teaching about God himself....Christianity is all about the belief that the living God, in fulfillment of his promises and as the climax of the story of Israel, has accomplished all this – the finding , the saving, the giving of new life – in Jesus.  He has done it." Simply Christian, N. T. Wright (92). .

1.      So we tell stories that about what happened and what happened, what God did in Christ to transform the world.

3.       In other words, what Jesus did at six years old may not matter that much -- the fact that God came in flesh does.

4.      Most of what Jesus did as a teenager, may not matter – the fact that Jesus died a sinless death on the cross and was raised from the dead matter.

5.      As those who are invited to pass down the stories about Jesus that reveal God’s great love for us and God’s desire to save and redeem us, what stories do you tell.

6.      Or what stories about Jesus can reveal the God who is even now alive and in at work in our midst?

Conclusion:  I read this week that the Gospel stories add up to about 1 year’s worth of activities from Jesus’ three years of ministry.  That means that on average 2 out of 3 days of what Jesus was doing as an adult went unrecorded (Craig Barnes,  5/20/13, Christian Century, “Faith Matter:  Holy Small Talk).

A bit better percentage that the childhood stories, but still a lot about Jesus’ life is unknown.

But we know that which gives us life – we know the stories of the God who comes in flesh to live among us, the God who dies in the person of Jesus Christ to save us, the God who raised Christ from the dead to give us hope.  The God who is alive even now.  Amen.