Monday, June 30, 2014

Reflections on "Gambling on God" Acts 1: 1-14; 21-26

I forced the sermon title into the text of the sermon (sort of), but the original idea for the sermon did not fit the final product.  I began with the idea that we ought to risk it all and trust in God, which probably could have worked, but I ended up with what we can learn as the church from the early church.

The World Cup story was certainly fitting for this time, but I don't think I was able to integrate it properly in the sermon.  It was a late minute addition to the sermon.  It probably would have fit better if I had more time to consider how how it fit with the sermon.

I also basically left out the Holy Spirit in the sermon, even though it is clearly present in the text.  As I was writing the sermon, that seemed like another sermon by itself, but it did seem to me that I neglected the role of the Spirit in the early church.  Of course, the one story most people know from Acts is the Pentecost story, so maybe it was good to move beyond the Spirit in a sermon about Acts.

I had some fun with the sermon.  As you read the sermon (if you did not hear it), think tongue-in-cheek for the comparison with the Nominating committee.

Gambling on God” June 29, 2014; FPC, Troy Acts 1: 1-14; 21-26

Move 1: How would you like to serve on this Nominating Committee.

That's right, in the Presbyterian world of church we have Nominating Committees that meet to find people to present to the congregation for election as elders, deacons, and trustees.

Nominating committees sound so formal, so well, so Presbyterian!

But how would you like to serve on this Nominating committee.

You would only have to meet once. No fall spent going to multiple meetings.

And the meeting would last about 5 minutes or less. No long discussions about the gifts and talents needed to be a trustee who looks after the physical plant of the church; or conversations about who might be good as a deacon, providing pastoral care to members; or who has the gifts for being an elder and shaping the vision of the church and dealing with all the issues that come before it.

No phone calls to people to see if they might be willing to serve, and then waiting as they prayerfully consider the opportunity.

None of that. Instead, all the names of the members of the congregation are put into a big bowl, someone prays over the names and basically says, “God you pick.”

Then the names are drawn – first three are elders; next four are deacons; final two are trustees; or vice versa.
5 minutes or less and the work of the Nominating committee is done.

Who wants to serve on that Nominating committee.

What that doesn't sound quite like the committee ought to work?

But, in fact, it sounds a bit like the way the early church did it in Acts.

They have to replace Judas, who have removed himself by first his betrayal and then the taking of his life, so they cast lots and Matthias gets chosen.

Sounds rather random, doesn't it? Almost like rolling the dice and gambling.

Move 2: That's how the book of Acts begins.

This summer we are spending the sermon time reflecting on the significant moments in Acts.
    these stories of the early church.
    These stories of how the followers of the resurrected Christ engage the world after Jesus has ascended to heaven and as they wait an undetermined time for Christ to come again.
      The stories that Luke believes are important enough to write down and tell a a way of instructing those who will follow.
      Instructing us as try to live out our calling as the body of Christ in our time and our context.
Move 3: what do we make of how they select Matthias to replace Judas?

a. Importance of the twelve – connects us back to the disciples Jesus called; connects us back to Israel. We have a history with God. God has been at work among us since creation. We are not the first group of people to try and serve God.

b. Church is going to around for awhile. We live into our calling as the body of Christ. Our business is to do Christ’s business until he comes again.
    1. Prayer – notice that they pray before they cast lots. In fact, the reason they cast lots is because they want to take their human biases out of the choice; they want to resist the temptation to pick the person they want, and instead let God choose through the casting of lots.
This is a pattern we discover throughout the Book of Acts. Prayer precedes every major event in Acts (study notes from The New Interpreter's Study Bible, 1956)

What may seem random and uninformed now to our reading was actually a prayerful attempt to allow God to be at work in the process (of course, that's why we Presbyterians pray before every meeting, including meetings of the Nominating Committee).
    1. In fairness (that is, taking out Richard's exaggerations), when they cast lots in the story in Acts, they have already narrowed the list down to two people who were qualified. To use the example of the Nominating committee, the only names in the bowl would be those who were deemed qualified to serve as officers.
      Highlights one of our tasks as the church – empower and enable people to develop and use their gifts to serve God.
To find those who are qualified does not suggest that they arrive in our midst qualified – we have to continually help people, help ourselves, to grow in our faith and develop skills for serving as the body of Christ.

Notice that the only criteria mentioned was witnesses to the resurrected Christ. In the case of Matthias and Barsabbas it meant literally seeing the resurrected Christ. But I like that image for us – developing the gift of witnessing to the resurrected Christ. That is, becoming people whose words and actions reveal the life-changing, life-saving hope of the resurrection.

Baptismal vows – part of nurturing Trenton is providing him opportunities

Conclusion: World Cup tie-breaker rules – four criteria based on each teams' play; but if still tied, they draw lots to see who advances (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2061793-brazil-world-cup-2014-clarifying-group-tie-break-scenarios-and-rules)

sounds rather random.

On the other hand, there are two teams equally prepared to move on in the tournament. Why not cast lots? And I bet lots of prayers would be said just prior to the casting of lots!

If we do our work well as the body of Christ. If we equip those in our midst to witness to the resurrection. If we prayerfully seek God's guidance, then choosing those for leadership should be as easy as casting lots.


Thursday, June 26, 2014

"Gambling on God" Acts 1: 1-26

this sermon begins the summer series on "significant moments in the Book of Acts."  I am looking forward to looking at some of the different stories in Acts.  As I laid out the summer sermons, I already lament some of the stories that I will not address.

the Book of Acts is actually titled "Acts of the Apostles," although some could argue that it is mainly what Paul is doing, although in the first few chapters there is quite a bit about Peter.  These are the stories that Luke has decided need to be shared to tell the story of the early church.  As we read these stories, we do so from the context of being part of a faith tradition that has be at work for a couple of thousand years.  Yet, we can still learn something from the early church, particularly their commitment and willingness to tackle difficult issues.

The first story we read shares how the disciple to replace Judas is chosen.  some thoughts on that story and the book of Acts.

1. Prayer precedes every major event in Acts (study notes from The New Interpreter's Study Bible, 1956)

2.  Greek word adelphoi is the word translated as "brothers" in 1:14.  It can refer to brothers, sisters, fosters brothers and sisters, cousins,

3.  Imagine a Nominating committee meeting in which the committee draws the names of the people to serve out of a hat.  Is that any different than casting lots?  of course, in the Acts story we are told that two men who were qualified had casts lot to see who would be chose.  i guess it would mean that the Nominating committee would only put the names of those who were qualified in the hat.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Reflections on "Man of God" I Timothy 6: 11-16; I Kings 17: 8-24

As I mentioned in Thursday's blog, I began the sermon preparation with the idea and then sought out Scripture, which is a dangerous way to approach sermon writing because it can lead to shaping the text to what I want it to say, instead of the text shaping the sermon.  Additionally, I had the challenge of trying to make the sermon personal to Mario (our former youth intern who is about to be ordained), while also making it meaningful and accessible to all who gathered for worship.

I can't address how the second issue resolved itself, but I ended up preaching a sermon that meant a lot to me.  It felt very much like it was Richard preaching to Richard about the claim my call to ministry has on me.  I hope it worked that way for Mario and the others who gathered in worship with us.  In fact, I intended to have a very short sermon due to time constraints, but I could not contain myself and kept preaching!

Man of God” June 22, 2014; I Timothy 6: 11-17; I Kings 17: 8-24; FPC, Troy; Mario Bolivar; Send-off service
Introduction: When I was growing up, and even when I was first in ministry, I thought "man of God," was about the highest compliment a person could pay another person.
it is not flowery, doesn't go on and on about the accomplishments and successes the person has, but declares that the person has lived a life that reflects their service to God.

I don't hear the term “man of God” much anymore. Maybe because it leaves little room for a woman of God.

Maybe because in our time of pushing everything to the limit, “man of God” seems rather simple.

I don't know. But as I reflected on our gathering this morning when we send two people from our midst, that is Mario, who has served with us for what seems like forever, and Mel, who is a member of this congregation, I thought about that term.

In the Old Testament, “Man of God” was used to describe people like Moses, or Samuel, or as we read this morning, Elijah.

Move 1: Elijah, the great prophet, is called a man of God.

a. Called “of God” because of expectations of others and what they have seen him do to mediate God for them.
  1. Mario – as you enter the faith community in Skaneateles, you will discover that people have expectations of their newly ordained Teaching Elder.
    1. they may overwhelm you with what they expect from their new Associate Pastor. Forget what the job description says – that's merely a list of tasks – what they want is for you to be someone who reveals to the them the love of Christ.
    1. Much like when we call ourselves Christians. In a way, it is just a definition for those who follow Christ; but to a world who is looking for God's presence, those who claim the title Christian take on the responsibility of acting and speaking in ways that reveal Christ.
    1. How many times have you heard people share the irony that the cranky driver who just angrily cut them off has a fish symbolizing their Christian faith on their bumper.'
    1. perhaps the worst traffic jam I have been in here in Troy was the night of some Christian concern at Hobart. It was clearly the wrong time to be traveling down Market St.. So many honked horns; so much frustration; I had to laugh when I realized that it was a bunch of people who follow Christ acting so angrily toward one another.
    1. But recognize that beneath the stories of drivers who actions do not reflect the Christian symbol on their bumper is the expectation that Christians be different as we seek to mediate God's life-saving grace to the world.
b. How did Elijah live out his calling as a “man of God?”

1. sometimes he was very dramatic.
    1. he brought fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifice when challenged by the prophets of Baal;
3. Mario – you have a flair for the dramatic – not sure you'll have a sacrifice burning contest with the prophets of Baal, but do not be afraid to boldly proclaim the gospel.

c. Elijah stood up for God in a world of changing alliances and leaders.
  1. In the time of Elijah, Israel was going through different leaders and changes.
2.  Into that time of change and confusion, Elijah sought to bring God's word to God's people.

3.  In our world that seems to be full of rapid change, there is a need for people to share God's word and reveal God's grace to the world.

4.  a challenge for each of us as we live out our calling – a challenge that will be in the forefront of Mario's work as an Associate Pastor, articulatory with the youth.

5. The youth who will be trying to figure out who God is in their generation will need leaders to help them in that endeavor.
  1. King Ahab addresses Elijah: “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” (I Kings 18: 17)
  1. Elijah, the one who pushes and prods God's people.
    1. Elijah who calls the leaders of Israel to accountability.
3. Elijah who will get in trouble for reminding people of God's expectations of them.

e. in the passage we read today he brings life-saving grace to the widow.
  1. She has invited Elijah into her home and now she needs God's help as her son is in trouble.
2. Elijah offers God's healing powers to her.
  1. We may spend our whole lives of discipleship and not have something that incredible happen;
  2. Mario may retire from ministry without ever having been involved in something like that.
  3. But, you will be invited into people's homes and lives; you will be looked to with the hope that they will discover God's life-saving grace with you.
Move 2: Man of God.

a. Colleague in ministry shopping story (in seminary, I was in a prayer group, and then after seminary we wrote letters – now emails – sharing stories from our ministry).
  1. Friends ran into a member of the congregation she served in the aisle at the grocery store.
    1. what are you doing here? I didn't know you went to the grocery store!”
    2. As if it never occurred to the member that my friend, her minister, had to buy food, and then cook it to eat dinner. She probably did the dishes as well.
    1. A few years ago, one of our young disciples thought of me as God. She would come to church and if she didn't see me would ask, “where is God?”
    2. She arrived on Vacation Bible School to find me wearing shorts, sandals, and an Hawaiian shirt. She blurted out in amazement: “Look, God is in shorts!” She has since grown out of that skewed understanding of God!
    1. In Skaneateles, kids may grow up in that congregation believing God speaks with a Colombian accent.
b. But none of us is God.
  1. Elijah was a “man of God.”
he also pouted on occasion, got frustrated with God and with God's people.

3. Later in the story, he will run away.
  1. In the story we read this morning, he is staying with the woman because he has gone into hiding.
    1. Even on our best day, we can only hope to mediate God's presence for those around us.
c. Mario – as you serve the community of faith in Skaneateles, they will discover your vulnerabilities and inabilities, even as they will celebrate your gifts.
  1. But it is in our humanity that we connect with others.
  2. As they learn to laugh with you (at maybe at you); as you make mistakes and achieve your goals; as you share tears with others; in those moments when your humanity is fully revealed, you will be able to invite people to know the God who loves us in the fullness of our humanity.
    1. that is what we do as a community of faith – connect with each other in our humanity as we seek God's life-saving grace.
Move 3: Interesting shift in I Timothy.

a. Shift from man of God being someone like the prophet Elijah to a member of the faith community.
  1. for Paul, anyone and everyone in the faith community, should seek to be a “man of God.”
    1. a person worthy of their calling as disciples of Christ.
b. As Mario leaves our midst, we send gifts with him and the promise to pray for him and support him.
  1. But we also send those gifts as a from of blackmail.
  2. The reminder to Mario that we who have nurtured him; we who have identified gifts for ordained ministry in him; we who will continue to pray for him; we have expectations of him.
  3. Mario, we expect you to work at being a “man of God.”
  4. Indeed, that is the expectation Paul has for each of us. That we will be men and women of God.
Amen.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

"Man of God" I Timothy 6: 11-16; I Kings 17: 8-24

This Sunday is the send-off for our former youth person from Colombia, who has accepted a call to serve as an Associate Pastor for  First Presbyterian Church, Skaneateles, NY.

Basically, I am violating the sermon writing rule of starting with the text, and instead starting with the idea that I want him to consider what it means to be a "man of God," or I suppose in our world today,  "a person of God."  In the day, I always thought "man of God," was about the highest compliment a person could pay another person.  it is not flowery, doesn't build on the success of the world or on all the accomplishments of the person, but declares that the person has lived a life that reflects their service to God.

Elijah is called a man of God.  That has me pondering the different ways Elijah worked -- he brought fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifice when challenged by the prophets of Baal; he gives Naaman silly advice about washing in the river to remove his leprosy (it works, by the way); and  in the passage we read today he brings life-saving grace to the widow.  he mediated God's presence in different ways.

But, he also pouted on occasion, and he happens to be staying with the woman because he has run away.  He has this human side that is full of his human vulnerabilities and inabilities.

I also notice that in I Timothy the assumption is that a man of God could be anyone in the community of faith, not just the prophet (like Elijah) who was in their midst.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Reflections on "Freed by the Spirit" Numbers 11: 24-30; Acts 2: 1-13

I had  fun with this sermon, but it ended up being very different than I had anticipated.  To begin with, I wanted to focus on the Numbers passage instead of the traditional Pentecost story in Acts.  When I began working with Numbers, the Israelites' complaining that led up to this story caught my attention.  From that perspective, the complaints against Eldad and Medad seemed like more of the same, and then the sneering in the Acts story seemed like complaining as well.  Suddenly, the sermon had complaining as a central point.

When I tried to think of examples of complaining for the introduction, the sermon became very contextual because we had a big city-wide festival over the week-end and somehow the organizers forgot to mention to us that the street to our parking lots was going to be blocked off and that they were going to put garbage dumpsters across our entrance, which also blocked our handicapped parking.  Saturday I was complaining about it, and I was hearing complaints from other members.  It seemed like a good example of how we have to be careful so that our complaining does not keep us from doing our ministry in downtown Troy.  Now the sermon became very contextual.

Sort of interesting response, though.  In the Chapel service the introduction was met with laughter and people seemed to interpret the introduction as laughing at ourselves.  In the Sanctuary service, there was some laughter, but there also seemed to be a sense that the intro was my pointing out faults in the congregation, rather than all of us collectively acknowledging ourselves as we laugh at ourselves.  That, of course, might change how people heard the sermon.  For those of you reading it, please note that all the examples of complaining in the introduction are real complaints I have heard (or spoken), but they are lifted up as a fun way of laughing together at ourselves, not my attempt to point the finger and anyone or any group in the church.

"Freed by the Spirit" Number 11: 24-30; Acts 2: 1-12; FPC, Troy, 6/8/14; Easter series;

Introduction: Can you believe they blocked off our street on a Sunday. How are we supposed to be the church downtown if we can't even get to church? They think red stands for Strawberry Festival. Don't they know that red is for Pentecost?

I am so tired of those new hymns they keep making us sing in worship. Why can't we just sing the good old ones that everyone knows? If the Gloria Patri was good enough for my parents, it's good enough for me! (For those reading the sermon, the past two weeks we have used a different choral response instead of the Gloria Patri in our worship).

Great. General Assembly is about to meet again. No telling what crazy things they'll approve this year. Why do they even need to have a General Assembly. Every time they meet it's a problem. I want to pretend I'm not Presbyterian when I read the newspapers.

Do we really cancel communion on the first Sunday of June and July? If they can't get enough elders to serve communion in the summer then maybe our elders are not committed enough.

The way the world is now, are we supposed to the church. Soccer, hockey, softball, baseball, no on respects Sunday mornings anymore.

What complaint do you have? Take those complaints and get in line behind the Israelites, who seem to have won the award for biggest complainers.

Leading up to the story we read in Numbers, the Israelites have complained about how long they have been in the wilderness.....they have complained about the lack of food....they have complained about the lack of water.....they have complained about the leader Moses.....in the passage we read today, they are now complaining about Eldad and Medad who have skipped the meeting and still are filled with the Spirit.

you name it, and the Israelites have probably complained about it.

On this Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit, when we finish the sermon series reflecting on how the resurrection frees us to be the person God calls us to be by looking to the power of the Holy Spirit to shape us and equip us for ministry, maybe the most appropriate title for the sermon should be "Freed from Complaining!"

So let's reflect for a few moments about complaining.

Move 1: When the Israelites complain, they become so focused on the current moment, that they forget what God has done, they lose any sense of what God might be doing in the future, and they drown out God's voice.

     a. It's sort of ironic that the Israelites have so many complaints about life in the wilderness since they had begged God to hear them when they were enslaved in Egypt and wanted to be saved.

         1. They suddenly have forgotten that God had rescued them from slavery.

         2. They have forgotten how Pharaoh refused to let them go until plague after plague had been visited upon the Egyptians.

         3. They have forgotten how the angel of death passed over their homes and only visited the Egyptians.

        4. They have forgotten that Pharaoh's soldiers chased after them to bring them back.

       5. They have forgotten how God parted the Red Sea so they they could escape the clutches of Pharaoh's army.

      6.  They have forgotten that when they needed food to eat, manna appeared on the ground.

     7.  They have forgotten that when they were thirsty, Moses could even strike a rock and water would flow.

    8.  They are so busy complaining about their situation that they have forgotten the God has provided for them and save them again and again in the years leading up to this moment.

       9.  Do our complaints keep us from remembering what God has done?

b. When the Israelites spend their time complaining, they cannot look forward and envision the future that God has for them.

      1.  The Promised Land awaits with flowing milk and honey flowing, but the Israelites cannot see that possibility because they are stuck complaining about what they do not like.

       2.  The Israelites cannot imagine what God might be about to do.

        3.  They cannot see the day when King David would rule or the riches and power of King Solomon's reign.

       4.  They cannot imagine a day would God would come in flesh to live among us.

       5.  They cannot conceive of the possibility that God's own son will die on the cross to save the world.

       6.  They cannot imagine a community of believers that will spread out across the face of the earth.

       7.  They are too caught up in their complaints to imagine the possibilities of what God can do.

  c.  Their complaints drown out God's voice.

        1. Remember that prophets were called on to mediate between God and God's people. ("Would That All Were Prophets" By Tracey Mark Stout Copyright © 2003 The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 9-12)

       2.  These leaders who gather around Moses have a job to do – listen and hear what God has to say and share it with the people.

        3.  Not much listening going on; or at least not much hearing.

       4.  They briefly prophesy, and then they are done.

d. Except for Eldad and Medad, who become the primes example of how complaining is keeping most of the Israelites from being a part of what God is doing.

       1. we have no evidence of the Spirit being at work among the 68 who went to the meeting.

        2. Maybe they were too busy worrying about the rules or complaining about the two who were not there.

        3. Eldad and Medad have skipped out on the meeting with all the other elders.

        4. And then they have the audacity to show sign of the Spirit, to have God working through them when they didn't even show up for the meeting.

        5. As an aside, not how complainers love structure and rules – it gives them something to use for their complaints.

        6. “you can't be filled with the Spirit.”

        7. “You can't prophesy about what God is doing.”

        8.  “God can't work through you.”

e. Notice the way the Israelites are thinking – we have a box that we control, and if Eldad and Medad do not fit into the box, then they can't do anything.

      1. But Eldad and Medad – they are off doing their job, listening to God, sharing what God is doing with God's people.

      2. I love Moses' response the complaints about the two men who did not go to the meeting: "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would be his spirit on them."

      3. Maybe that's a veiled way of Moses saying, "Would that all the complainers quit complaining and let God's Spirit be at work through them."

      4. I see something of a connection between the complainers in Numbers and the "sneerers" in the Pentecost story -- you know, the people who sneered, "They are filled with new wine,"

      5.  They miss the work of the Holy Spirit because they are too busy criticizing.

Move 2: The Holy Spirit, however. frees us to look beyond our predicament at the possibilities that God has waiting.

a. The Spirit is about expanding opportunities and the power of God to do a new thing.
     1.  The early church had a lot about which they could have complained.

     2.  Jesus gone off to heaven and left them behind to do his work.

     3.  they are still stuck with each other and all their human frailties and inabilities.

     4.  the Temple authorities and the Roman authorities are upset with them.

     5.  They have never done this before and it is not easy.

b. But Jesus has promised the holy Spirit would be with them.

     1. And on this day the Spirit arrives with tongues of fire and blowing winds.

    2. A visible reminder that God has not forsaken them; that God is in their midst; that God has plans for them; God does have a future for them.

      3. Others can sneer; God's people see the power of the holy Spirit and imagine the possibilities of preaching the gospel to people who need to hear a word of hope and salvation;

       4. of going into new places and starting communities of faith;

       5. of reaching out to the widows and orphans sharing God's love and care with them.

      6. Who has time to complain when the Spirit is sending them into the world to be the body of Christ?

b. Not just sending, but also equipping.

     1.  How amazing is it that suddenly the followers of Christ are speaking all the languages of the earth?

     2.  Not some miracle to show off what God can do (although it is pretty amazing, isn't it?), but the giving of the gift of language so that the followers of Christ can go into the world and share the gospel in the language of those to whom they are sent.

      3.  The Holy Spirit moves among us, giving us the gifts we need to live into that future God has in store for us.

      4.  We do not have to settle for complaining about the world around us because we have the Holy Spirit in our midst shaping us and equipping us for the ministry to which God calls us.

c.  Right here in the midst of blocked streets and garbage dumpsters, tomorrow we will feed people at breakfast and children at lunch, who would go hungry otherwise.

      1.  In our world where people seem to be moving away from God, we will have children from the neighborhood and Garden Manor join with out kids for Vacation Bible School to hear the stories of Jesus.

     2.  We will continue to engage in mission and supporting mission around the world.

     3.  What else can you imagine that we could be doing?

Conclusion: A final word about complaining. I confess to spending a good part of yesterday complaining about streets being blocked and garbage dumpsters.

In some ways (probably not my complaining yesterday) complaining is good when it expresses our dissatisfaction with the way things are.

Surely as the people of God we cannot be satisfied with the world around us – there is too much violence, too much need, too little focus on what God is doing.

But our dissatisfaction ought to send us back to God to be freed by the Holy Spirit to serve God in new and exciting ways in our world.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

"Freed by the Spirit" Numbers 11: 24-30; Acts 2: 1-12

Maybe the sermon title should be "Freed from Complaining!"  I have been struck in the Numbers passage about all the complaining.  The people have been complaining about everything, and now they complain about the two men who have the power of the Holy Spirit, even though they did not go to the meeting with everyone else.

I see something of a connection between the complainers in Numbers and the "sneerers" in the Pentecost story -- you know, the people who sneered, "They are filled with new wine,"

I've been reflecting on how complaining hinders the work of the Spirit.  the complaints grow out of looking at the present and not being able to see beyond what is right there. The Spirit is about expanding opportunities and the power of God to do a new thing.    And equipping us to do a new thing, as evidenced by the speaking of many languages in the Acts story.

I love Moses' response the complaints about the two men who did not go to the meeting:  "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would be his spirit on them."  Maybe that's a veiled way of Moses saying, "Would that all the complainers quit complaining and let God's Spirit be at work through them."

Series of complaining in Numbers -- how does complaining keep us outside the spirit. Complaining causes energy to be spent solving the complaints not freeing ourselves up for what God is doing.

We should remember that the prophets were representative of the
task assigned to all Israelites, who, as God’s people, were to be a kingdom
of priests mediating between God and the rest of the world. The Book of
Numbers contains an interesting account of seventy elders who were chosen
to help Moses bear his burden of leadership over the Israelites. The
people were complaining about their situation in the wilderness, particularly
their boring and steady diet of manna. After the newly appointed
elders received the divine spirit, they prophesied in the wilderness; two
other men who were named as elders but remained in the camp also prophesied.
Joshua urged Moses to rebuke them and retain a unique position
as prophet or spokesperson for God, but Moses replied, “Are you jealous
for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the
LORD would put his spirit on them” (Numbers 11:29). Joshua was worried
about Moses’ leadership in the face of these others prophesying; Moses
was concerned for the community’s obedience to the Lord. Moses desired
that all God’s people be able to speak to one another regarding their obligations
as people of the covenant. "Would That All
Were Prophets" By Tracey Mark Stout  Copyright © 2003 The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 9-12

Monday, June 2, 2014

    The sermon went pretty well.  It worked as I intended. 
    It would have been fun to explore a bit more the Proverbs passage I mentioned at one point in the sermon.

    "Free to Be Patient" Romans 8: 18-30; Psalm 37; FPC, Troy, 6/1/14; Easter series;

    Introduction: In his book Flash Boys, Michael Lewis explores some of the technological issues that helped create the most recent market crash.
    He describes how important speed became in the futures market. If a trading firm could increase the speed of information traveling from the Chicago exchange to the NY exchange by just a 2.5 milliseconds (that would be about the 1/25th as long as it takes to blink your eye, then that firm could make millions of dollars (Michael Lewis, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, 9-10).

    Blink your eyes (don't close your eyes and go to sleep). Now imagine 1/25th of the time that it just took you can be the difference in millions of dollars.

    Time is money. And we now live in a world where very little time can mean lots of money.

    Not only does technology allow us to move quickly, but there are also huge benefits to moving faster.

    In this world, it is had to preach patience; hard to be patient.

    On the other hand, God may not be choosing the speed of fiber optics to be at work, so we may have to learn to be patient.

    Move 1: the resurrection frees us to be patient.
         a. In an obvious way, the resurrection reminds us that waiting three days can lead to a dramatic difference in how the world looks. 
             1.  Perhaps you have heard some variation of the stories that are out there about a wise older person who share his or her philosophy of life that is grounded in the idea that one should always wait three days before passing judgment on something because if God can resurrect Christ in three days, God can do anything in three days.
            2.  When I was a kid, I lost my temper too often. My parents tried to convince me to count to 10 before I responded.
          3.  In truth, counting to ten or patiently waiting three days probably is good advice.
    b. But when we look to the resurrection, we see more than the passing of three days.
        1. The resurrection is about God acting to turn death into life.
       2.  It may not be how we envisioned it – Christ's death on the cross then resurrection, but it is how God has been at work.
        3. In the resurrection, we discover that God has a life-changing, life-giving response to what has happened.

        4.  the resurrection calls us not to just wait three days, but to wait for God to be at work.

    c. the resurrection frees us to patiently wait as people of hope.
    1. In her book Bird by Bird, Ann Lamott mentions hearing a “preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience;” she goes on to add that as a writer she has learned that “Hope begins in the dark; the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.” (Bird by Bird, xxiii)
    2. We are people of hope who believe that the God who resurrects is still at work.
    3. We patiently wait for God.
    Move 2: Part of being patient involves recognizing the difference between God's time and our time
    a. In Greek there are two words for time: thinking about kairos and chronos: 
         1.  In the New Testament chronos means the specific time or amount of time or some measurement of time like a millisecond, or an hour, or a day.
         2.  kairos means "the appointed time in the purpose of God", the time when God acts (e.g. Mark 1.15, the kairos is fulfilled). Kairos (used approximately 81 times in the NT) seems to be an indeterminate time, a "moment" or a "season," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos
        3.  to use the example of the resurrection, chronos would be the three days as the actual time between the death and resurrection of Christ.  Kairos would be the moment that God changed death into life.

    b.  We tend to live our lives counting time as chronos
        1.  how many milliseconds does it take to send an stock purchase order from Chicago to NY;

        2.  or how many hours can I shave off the driving time from here to the beach in FL if I cut down on the bathroom breaks and go about 10 miles over the speed limit
        3. Or how quickly can I get that job done so I can move on to something else.
         4.  Or how long will this sermon last?
         5.  Waiting gives way to action to eliminate as much waiting as possible.

    b. But God's time is measured in kairos.
        1.  How much time does it take to transform a life?
         2.  What has to happen for you to be a new creation?
         3.  When we baptize Benjamin in a little bit, you take vows to help his grow to profess Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. How to you measure growing in faith?
         4.  In the 25th chapter of Proverbs, we are told that " With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue can break bones."
         5.  that type of change cannot be measured by chronos, but by kairos.
    c. Paul's letter to the Romans we read this morning.
         1.  Waiting for God to be at work.
          2.  Not that all things are good, but that the God who is at work in all things is shaping us and pointing us to new places where we can discover God's saving grace.
         3.  The resurrection frees us to patiently wait for God's time.
    Move 3: In a separate but I think related point, I find it fascinating that the theme of patience in the biblical text leans toward how we deal with the presence of evil or how we handle it when the people doing bad things seem to be succeeding.

    a. Psalm 37 exemplifies this.

       1.  The Psalmist looks around and wonders why evil and evil people seem to be prospering.

       2.  In fact, the Psalmist is apparently jealous of those who do evil because things seems to be working out well for them.

    b. But the call from God is to be patient.
        1. to not fret about what others are doing, but to trust in God.
       2.   In time, the wicked will be no more and the ones who have put their trust in God will be vindicated.

    3. Waiting patiently means giving up worrying about what others have and what others are doing and focusing on what God is doing in our own lives.
    4. again, we are called back to people of hope, trusting and waiting for the God who can resurrect and not worrying about what others are doing around us.
    Move 4: A final thought about being patient – it is a call to allow God time to work, not a call to do nothing.
         a. The Psalmist says, “trust in the Lord and do good” (Psalm 37: 3)
            1. Patiently waiting on God means being prayerful and seeking out what God desires you to do.
            2. Remember, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is at hand.
    3. what we do matters in this moment, even as we wait for God's transforming power to be fully displayed.

    4, Troy Lunch Club – we wait for a day when God's desire for no one to go hungry is met; but we still serve lunch to hungry children.

    b. Patience means using our time, that is chronos to seek God out, even as wait for kairos, God's time to arrive. Amen.