Reflections on "Free to Change" Luke 19: 1-10; Joh 4: 4-26; 39-42

I think I am going to like preaching this post-Easter series.  I love the two stories referenced today.  So many things that could be done with Zacchaeus' and the woman at the well's stories.  
Probably should have found a good story about change, although the biblical text provided two good stories to tell in the sermon

"Free to Change" Luke 19: 1-10; Mark 16: 1-8; FPC, Troy, 4/27/14; Easter series

Introduction: Notice the white – a reminder that we are still celebrating Easter.

Last Sunday was the beginning of Easter, not the glorious end.

Last Sunday we declared Christ is risen – now we get to reflect on what that means for our lives.

Free to be the person God wants you to be.

Free to change. We look to Zacchaeus and the woman at the well as our examples this morning.

Move 1: Zacchaeus wanted to change.

a. Remember Zacchaeus.

1. The “wee” little man that we sing about in VBS or Sunday school.
2. Frederick Buechner's description of Zacchaeus:  Zacchaeus stood barely five feet tall with his shoes off and was the least popular man in Jericho. He was head tax-collector for Rome in the district and had made such a killing out of it that he was the richest man in town as well as the shortest. (Here is Buechner’s description of Zacchaeus, originally published in Peculiar Treasures and again later in Beyond Words as found in Weekly Sermon Illustration: Zacchaeus; http://frederickbuechner.com/content/weekly-sermon-illustration-zaccheus).

3. He was in a position of power as chief tax collector and he was rich.

4. but he had something going on inside of him.

5. his life did not satisfy.

6. he wanted to change.

7. Maybe you know what Zacchaeus was thinking because you want to make a change in your life.

b. As we read the story, we discover that Zacchaeus really wanted to change.

1. In fact, he seems almost desperate to change.
2. He wants to connect with Jesus but he's too small to see Jesus in the crowds, so Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs up in a sycamore tree.
3. We do not know why Zacchaeus wanted to change, but we do know that a man of his stature in that culture would never run. He was too dignified.
4. And a man of his stature would never climb a tree (Julia Wharff mentioned this in her sermon and attributed it to Kenneth Bailey; The Interpreter's Bible section on this passage also mentions this).
5. But there is Zacchaeus, desperate to change, taking desperate measures to see Jesus to somehow connect with the one whom he thinks can help him become a new person.

    6. Zacchaues reminding us that if we want to change our lives, we have to be really committed to making the change.

100. Zacchaeus also has to claim this change for himself.
     1. In his job as chief tax collector, Zacchaeus probably had men who went out and did most of the dirty work of collecting the taxes.
     2. Zacchaeus would reap the reward of their work.
     3. but he cannot send one of his men to climb a tree for him; or to meet Jesus for him; or to change for him. Zacchaeus has to claim the change in his life for himself.
     4. Just like the people the woman at the well tells about Jesus. Did you notice that interesting point made in that story. The people who believed in Jesus did so not because of what the woman had told them, but because they had come to believe in Jesus themselves.
     5. No one could do it for them.
     In the resurrection of Christ, possibilities for what we can do and who we can be abound – but you have to want to change and you have to claim that change for yourself.

Move 2: Jesus offers the possibility of change.

a. Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus.

1. We do not know if he's seen Zacchaeus around town.

2. or maybe Jesus figures that any man crazy enough to climb a tree to see him must really want to some help.

3. we do not know how Jesus knew Zacchaeus need, but we know that Jesus meet Zacchae3us in the need and offered him the chance to change his ways.

b. Or remember the woman at the well.

1. Jesus knows all about her.

2. He knows the dissatisfaction she feels in her life.
3. And he invites her to make a change in her life.

100. That's the Risen Christ we proclaim.
     1. The God who comes to us in Christ to offer the hope and power of the resurrection – to give us new life.
     2. Your desire to change is met by the God who comes to empower us to make those changes.

Easter means that God can change death into life; it means we can dare to believe that in Christ we can make changes to our lives.

Move 3: Notice that Zacchaeus makes a concrete change in how he does business that day.

a. Notice that Jesus does not look up in the tree and make an appointment with Zacchaeus for next week.

1. No, “today” Jesus says he wants to come to Zacchaeus' house.

2. Zacchaeus does not commit to next month changing his tax collection plan. No, in the moment he makes a commitment to radically change how he does business.

3. They both realize that to make a change means acting in the moment – change that gets put off until later becomes wishful thinking.

4. Jesus and Zacchaeus realize that they have to act in that moment.

        5. think about the change you desire in your own life. Why put it off?

b. Notice that Zacchaeus takes a concrete action.

1. I am reminded of something Carl Jung wrote in his book Carl Jung in his book The Practice of Psychotherapy comments; “we seldom get rid of an evil by merely understanding its causes….and for all our insight, obstinate habits do not disappear until replaced by other habits.”
2. For Zacchaeus to change his life, he has to alter what he does.
3. He has to replace the bad habit with the good habit.
4. Our desire to change can happen only when we act in specific ways to make that change.
5. We cannot just close our eyes and wish for a change.
6. Living into the new creation God calls us to be demands that we work at how we live our lives.
   c. I heard a sermon on Zacchaeus at the last presbytery meeting.
   
   
   1. I took some notes on what the minister we preaching, but soon found myself writing in free-flow some questions that might one day make it into a poem.
   
   
   2. It went like this:
   
   
   Whatever happened to little 'ole Zacchaeus.
   Did he go and give away his money like he said?
   For a year? For two years? How long could Zacchaeus go.?
   When he looked around and noticed that he could not longer buy as much, did he reject his commitment.
   Did he go back to to what he had been?
   Or did his see the new life he had?
   
   
   That's the last question I had.
   
   
   3. I suppose that was kind of cynical. Maybe a comment on how hard change can be.
   
   
   4. but as I reflected on those questions for this week's sermon, I realized that the Zacchaeus' story does not worry about the future.
   
   
   5. It is about today.
   
   
   6. today Jesus comes to Zacchaeus' house.
   
   
   7.  today Zacchaeus commits to making changes in his life.
   
   
   8. Today, Christ empowers Zacchaeus to change.
   
   
   9. Change will never happen if we worry about the tomorrows – what change are you making today? Amen.

"Free to Change" Luke 19: 1-10

The Easter sermon focused on being free to follow Christ.  As we move out from Easter, the sermon series will be based on the idea that the resurrection frees us to be the person God wants us to be and the person we want to be.

This first week is free to change.  the examples are Zacchaeus and the people who heard about Jesus from the woman at the well.

Thoughts as the sermon develops:

1.  Kenneth Bailey, as quoted by Julia Wharff in her sermon for presbytery, notes that dignified men in the Middle East don't run and dignified men don't climb trees.

2. anne Lamott -- we are our best selves when our ligth is brighter than the shimmer of our own candle.

3.  How long did Zacchaeus continue to give away his earnings?  One year?  Two years?  When he realized that he could not add as much to his savings or buy as much, did that change his mind.

4. Zacchaeus' response seems to fit Nouwen's description of a "generous response."

5.  Zacchaeus' change was big -- do we need to do big?

6.  Frederick Buechne's description of Zacchaeus:  Zaccheus stood barely five feet tall with his shoes off and was the least popular man in Jericho. He was head tax-collector for Rome in the district and had made such a killing out of it that he was the richest man in town as well as the shortest. (Here is Buechner’s description of Zaccheus, originally published in Peculiar Treasures and again later in Beyond Words as found in 

Weekly Sermon Illustration: Zaccheus  http://frederickbuechner.com/content/weekly-sermon-illustration-zaccheus)

7.  The phrase “if I have defrauded” is not quite an admission of guilt in English, but greattreasures.org says that the word εἰ (if) with the indicative mood (as here) assumes the hypothesis as an actual fact, the condition being unfulfilled, but no doubt being thrown on the supposition. That would mean ‘yes, I have defrauded, but I intend to pay back fourfold.’ (http://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2013/10/who-then-can-be-saved-this-guy.html)

"Free to Follow" Colossians 3: 1-4; Mark 16: 1-8

Easter sermon.  Several authors helped me frame this sermon, as indicated by my endnotes.  Some Easter sermons I try and hit just one thought; this year, I had a more detailed sermon.  In the Sanctuary service I had different screen shots showing each of the points of the sermon, which I think was helpful for some people.  Made me wonder if I could incorporate the screens in more of the sermons.

The Gospel of Mark story is probably my favorite telling of the resurrection because it ends so abruptly (as least in its original version).  If I did the Colossians passage again, I think I would do a little bit later in the chapter, although I referenced that in the sermon.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!

"Free to Follow" Colossians 3: 1-4; Mark 16: 1-8; FPC, Troy; Easter, 2014

Introduction: Movies – as a kid riding my bike to the local movie theater to see McHale's Navy or Pippi Longstocking movies;

Grew up watching movies with my father: the Thin Man series; or Abbott and Costello movies; or North by Northwest; the last thing we did together was go to a movie!

still remember the excitement of being in a full theater to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark;

I will go to most movies, by myself or with others – just give me some fresh popcorn and a movie.

Actually, that's an exaggeration. I won't go to any movie. I don't particularly like dark movies or fantasy movies, and I really don't like dark, fantasy movies. Over the last few years, I find myself watching the previews of movies and again and again thinking, “I don't want to see that movie. It's dark. Or someone turns into a wolf. Or everything seems to happen in a cemetery. I saw Noah the other day, and it was even dark scary

I read somewhere that these dark movies reflect the world we live in – no joy, no hope, no happiness, and no room for faith and God. The person had a rather gloomy outlook on life and the future that awaits us.

But recently it occurred to me that the dark and foreboding movies do no reflect the world rejection of joy and hope, but a crying out to be rescued. The darkness of the movies begging for light to shine into their world.

The are looking for someone to give them hope, to give free them from the dark and hopeless world they see around them.

Today we declare to all the world that the tomb is empty, and by his resurrection, Christ has set us free to follow the light into the world.

FREE

Move 1: F is for “Fear”

a. the gospel of Mark's story of Christ's resurrection has fear running through it.

1. The women are alarmed when they discover the stone has been moved.

2. Terror and amazement had seized them.

3. IN fact, the earliest versions of the gospel of Mark finish where the reading finished this morning – the women silent, telling no one what they had discovered because they were afraid.

b. Barbara Brown Taylor discusses why the followers of Christ were scared by the empty tomb. (1)

1. one of the reasons the followers of Christ were scared was because they did not know how to react to an empty tomb.

2. They knew what to do with a dead body. They knew how to prepare the body for burial with spices and ointment.
3. They knew how to grieve the death of someone.

4. The dead body might bring tears to their eyes as sadness overwhelmed them, but they knew what to do with a dead body.

c. but what strike fear in them is the discover that there is no body.

1. Christ has been raised from the dead.

2. their reality and their world had been changed.

3. Now that's scary.
4. What do they do now? How do they follow the resurrected Christ?

500. That's the question that hangs in the air this morning.
     1. what does it mean for us to be united with Christ in his death and resurrection?
     2. what does it mean that sin and death no longer rule our lives?
     3. Imagine the possibilities that wait for us as people of the resurrection.
     4. now wonder the followers of Christ felt fear when they discovered the empty tomb.
     5. It's scary being free from sin and death and free to follow Christ forever.

Move 2: R – the resurrection of Christ Releases us.

a. The release those first followers of Christ felt cuts both ways.

1. Initially when Christ died, the disciples were off the hook.

2. That following Christ stuff, that giving their lives over to Christ, that preaching the radical message that Jesus preached, that giving up self for serving others – all that went by the wayside went Christ died.

3. the disciples were released from their obligations: they could return to their boats and fishing; spend more time with their families; quit getting in trouble with the religious authorities.

4. their lives could return to normal.

b. but the tomb is empty, which means instead of being released from following Christ, they are now released from that which holds them back.

1. they are now free to follow Christ.

2. nothing, not even death can command their actions.

3. they are free

100. we too are released from the sin and death.
     1. You are free to not just dream about that person God calls you to be, but you can dare to change your life and grow into that new creation God calls you to be.

2. You are free to turn away from your sins and repent.

3. You can look at our world that knows violence and bloodshed and dare to work for peace because Christ is raised from the dead.

4. You are free to work to change the world because God has already acted to change the world forever in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We are released from the worldly ways that hold us down and are free to follow Christ.

Move 3: E for Exhort, as in Paul's exhortations to the Colossians and to us that we read this morning.

a. Scholars describe the verses we read from Colossians as the beginning of the exhortation part of the letter (2).

1. Up to this point, the tone of the letter has been primarily one of instruction, telling the believers in Colossae what they need to know--or, perhaps more to the point, reminding them of their former instruction in the light of conflicting teaching that they have recently received.

2. Now, however, the tone shifts. The verbs become imperatives.
3. These early Christians are called to a new way of life.

b. A way of life marked by “seeking things that are above.”

1. Paul exhorts us to be people who reveal Christ through the way we live our lives.
2. Our earthly way of life is not enough.

3. I other words, to ask ourselves, if we die and are raised with Christ, how then ought we to live?

4. If we read more of Paul's letter to the Colossians we discover that being raised with Christ means clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.

5. it means bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

6. It means clothing ourselves in love.

Christ is raised from the dead and Paul's exhorts us to live lives that reflect that.

Move 4: E for Explaining, as in we cannot explain the the resurrection of Christ, we can only witness to it.

a. Good luck trying to explain the empty tomb.

1. A few years ago I read an Episcopalian bishop who was describing what it was like to discuss the resurrection with his daughter who has a PhD in physics. Bishop Spong asks, “My daughter has a PhD in physics. How on earth is she expected to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus?” (3)

2. As much as we who believe in the resurrection might want to explain it rationally, we just cannot.

         3. The whole world knows that dead people stay dead.

b. Instead of explaining the resurrection, we have to witness to it.

1. Most of us remember Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a dream” speech that we gave at the Lincoln Memorial. It might be the most memorable vision shared about the purpose of the civil rights movement.


2. what you may not know is that King has not planned on sharing his dream that day.


3. he had written a speech for the occasion that would give fresh analysis and articulate the case for the situation confronting African-Americans in seeking freedom and justice.


4. he began his speech sticking to his text – undoubtedly a powerful analysis.


5. sitting near him however, was the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who had heard King share about his dream. Apparently, she wanted him to tell everyone about his dream, so she shouted out to him – “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” He kept on with his speech. She shouted out again, “Tell them about dream.” (4)


6. he hesitated for a moment, then moved his notes to his speech aside, and launched into sharing his dream.


7. He moved the country not with his analysis, but his witness.


c. when we leave here this morning to proclaim the resurrection, our analysis of why the tomb was empty will not matter to a world crying out to be saved.

1. what will matter is when we witness to how our lives are changed by the resurrection.

2. people will believe in the resurrection when they see the followers of the resurrected Christ living lives that are clothed in love.

3. We are sent into the world not to explain, but to be witnesses to what God had done, to what God is doing, and to our hope in what God is going to do.

Conclusion: People often ask me (as well as other ministers as indicated by this author's stroy) "You must be relieved Easter is over." I know what they mean. The extra activities of Holy Week and the energy put into arguably the biggest service of the year are done. But Easter is not over when the last trumpet sounds in the postlude. Easter is the beginning! (4)

Endnotes:

    (1)  Barbara Brown Taylor's Easter sermon preached in April 16,2006, at Cannon Chapel , Emory University, as shared in Journal for Preachers, Easter, 2008, p. 13)

    (2)  Sandra Hack Polaski;Commentary on Colossians 3:1-4

     (3)  This illustration was found many years ago before I carefully documented my sources.

   (4) Joseph Harvard, III.  Journal of Preachers, "Preaching the Easter Texts: Can I Get a Witness," Easter, 2014, p.3) and  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mahalia-jackson-the-queen-of-gospel-puts-her-stamp-on-the-march-on-washington

"Free to Follow" Colossians 3: 1-4; Mark 16: 1-8

 as I contemplate the Easter service on Sunday, I am trying to express how the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ frees us to act in new ways.  WE are no longer bound by our worldly expectations, our sinfulness, or even death iteslf.  

here are some thoughts racing through my mind as I work on the sermon.

1.   If we die and are raised with Christ, in Christ--how then ought we to live? Much of the letter to the Colossians is taken up with contemplating these questions. The author reminds his readers that the "earthly" way that they have lived is not adequate to their current existence in Christ. Examples of the old existence (e.g., Colossians 3:5--10) contrast sharply with doxologies such as this one, which celebrate the opportunities of the new life.

Commentators often note that this passage (3:1--4) begins the "exhortation" section of the letter to the Colossians. Up to this point, the tone of the letter has been primarily one of instruction, telling the believers in Colossae what they need to know--or, perhaps more to the point, reminding them of their former instruction in the light of conflicting teaching that they have recently received. Now, however, the tone shifts to a hortatory one. The verbs become imperatives, or other verb forms that carry imperatival force. Like other New Testament letters that contain a section of instruction followed by a section of exhortation, Colossians is a directive to its readers both to know and to do. Both are necessary in the Christian life.  Sandra Hack Polaski; Commentary on Colossians 3:1-4

2.  Joseph Harvard, III:  ""Barbara Brown Taylor points out how extraordinary the Easter claim is that God has raised Jesus from the dead ("Dust to Dust" The Christian Century, 3/27/02, p. 32).  This is not a message that we could have ever imagined.  It is not the natural turn of events, business as usual, what we expect.  People who die stay dead!  That is the way the world functions.  Now we have to stand up and bear witness to a different reality. It is not our task to explain something taht defies conventional wisdom and reality." ( Journal of Preachers, "Preaching the Easter Texts: Can I Get a Witness," Easter, 2014, p.3) Harvard goes on to tell the story of how Martin Luther King, Jr. "felt the anxiety of delivering the most important speech of his life.  He had his "Dream" speech, but hut his adviors had told him not to use it, so he worked ona fresh analysis of the sitaution faced by Afriacn American seeking fredom and jusice in our country.  MLK, Jr. had just begun his speech when Hahalia Jackson, who was sitting on the podium near Dr., King, shouted out:  "Tell the about the Dream, Mart!  Tell them about the dream!"  So he launched into his "I Have a Dream" speech.

The story that has been told since that day has Mahalia Jackson intervening at a critical junction when she decided King's speech needed a course-correction. Recalling a theme she had heard him use in earlier speeches, Jackson said out loud to Martin Luther King, Jr., from behind the podium on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, "Tell them about the dream, Martin." And at that moment, as can be seen in films of the speech, Dr. King leaves his prepared notes behind to improvise the entire next section of his speech—the historic section that famously begins "And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream...." http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mahalia-jackson-the-queen-of-gospel-puts-her-stamp-on-the-march-on-washington

3. People often ask me (as well as other minsters) "You must be relieved Easter is over." I know what they mean.  The extra activities of HOly Week and the energy put into arguably the biggest service of the year are done.  But Easter is not over when the last trumpet sounds in the postlude.  Easter is the beginning!

4.  Barbara Brown Taylor discusses why the followers of Chirst were scared by the empty tomb.  she notes these reasons:  they were scared because they knew how to act in the face of death, but they didn't know how to react to an empty tomb.  they were scared  becuase they had ralized at his death that they didn't have to do, believe or hope anymore that radical message Jesus preached, but now they are not let off the hook.  They were scared becuase if they were united in Christ, then they were connected to his resurrection and there was nothing that could hold them back (the Easter sermon she preached in April 16,2006, at Cannon Chapel , Emory University, as shared in Jouranl for preachers, Easter, 2008, p. 13)

Reflections on "Listening to Jesus" Matthew 21: 1-11; John 3: 1-15

Not much to add to this sermon.  Love the story in John.  It did not add to the sermon's content particularly, but I did note in the sermon that I preached that in John darkness means confusion and not quite understanding. Thus, when Nicodemus comes to see Jesus in the dark, he is confused and does not understand; Jesus, of course, is the light that shines on our darkness.

I decided to tie the week's chapter with Palm Sunday, and although that's not the context Nouwen had for this chapter, I think it worked well.  In fact, I may have done a better job of incorporating Nouwen's chapter without being confined by it than I have done in other weeks.

“Listening to Jesus” April 13, 2014; Lenten series; FPC, Troy; Matthew 21: 1-11; John 3: 1-15

Introduction: Jesus has entered Jerusalem riding a donkey with the crowds lining the streets shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is the one who comes int eh name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

As we hear the story told in the Gospel of Matthew, this leaves the whole city of Jerusalem asking, “who is this?”

Soon, they will get another chance to discover who he is as the crowds gather to shout “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Move 1: The crowds do not know it, but soon they will be have to make a choice about whether to follow this man riding into the streets or to turn away from him.

a. Is Jesus the one to cheer as the Savior and follow into the world or is Jesus the one to ignore or even crucify?

b. It seems to me we ought to be able to identify with the crowds lining the streets of Jerusalem.

1. We too are going to have to decide whether we are going to follow Jesus in our world or listen to other voices.

2. And we might not even know when that point of decision will arrive.

3. It may be later today; or maybe tomorrow; or maybe later next week that we will be faced with a decision or confronted by a situation in which our answer will reveal whether Jesus is guiding us or something else.

100. Obviously, your presence here today indicates that you already made that decision at some point, or you are in the process of making that decision, but it's a decision that confronts us again and again.

1. Maybe not in as dramatic fashion as choosing whether we follow Jesus or join in crucifying him.

2. But again and again we find ourselves confronted with choices – choices that reveal whether we are listening to the voice of God we discover in Christ or not.

Move 2: IN many ways, this is why Henri Nouwen's letters to his nephew Marc that we have been studying this Lenten season matter – they invite us to develop a spiritual life from which we can better make decisions about how to follow Jesus.

a. Nouwen believes that we must connect with Christ in our hearts and then listen to our hearts.

1. Following Jesus cannot be done by memorizing a set of answers about Jesus.

2. Wouldn't it be nice if we merely had to learn a half dozen, or maybe a dozen response answers about Jesus that would apply in the specifics to every single situation we might encounter.

3. But following Christ is not about memorizing answers, it is about “being attentive at all time to the voice of God's love inviting us to obey, that is make a generous response.”

4. Think about the variety of decisions that might confr4ont you in the coming days:
5. We will probably face issues about how to respond in relationships – how to foster loving relationships or repair broken one.
6. Or we may have to develop the criteria to use when making a decision about our future.
7. or we may find ourselves making decisions about a loved one's medical issues.
8. Or we may encounter injustice or people in dire need of help.
9. How do we make what Nouwen calls a generous response? By being connected with Christ in our hearts.

b. That's why Nouwen has referenced the story we read in the Gospel of John about Nicodemus.

1. Nicodemus is coming to Jesus looking for answers.

2. Jesus reminds Nicodemus that he is a teacher, he should know where to find answers.

3. but I suspect Nicodemus problem may be that he is in fact a teacher. He's looking for book answers.

4. but Jesus is calling him to be born again – not born from the womb a second time, but born again spiritually.

         5. For Nicodemus to follow Jesus, for us to follow Jesus demands us to grow spiritually.

c. In addition to listening to the heart, Nouwen also invites Marc and us to listen to the church and to listen to the Bible.

1. By listening to the church, he specifically notes we should take part in the church's liturgical life, which unites us “more and more intimately with the divine life he [Jesus] offers]” (83).
2. 2. In other words, as we go through the seasons of the church the follow the life, death and resurrection of Christ, we begin to recognize who Jesus is.

3. as Nouwen invites us to listen to God's Word, he again emphasizes how the spiritual life is different than the way of the world. Instead of reading just for the sake of gaining knowledge, or “owning” the word, allow God's word to work its way into your heart.

500. Once again, we are back to allowing Christ into our hearts.

1. Nouwen gives us a concrete way to allow Christ into our hearts – 10 minutes of prayer each day.

2. nouwen suggests that “ten minutes each day for Jesus alone [prayer] can bring about a radical change in your life (84).

Conclusion: Palm Sunday sets the stage for decisions to be made.

Who or what is going to be the guiding force in our lives? Jesus, or someone or something else?

A decision we revisit again and again.

All of Jerusalem wants to know. Who is this man? And our answer is revealed through our spiritual lives.

"Listening to Jesus" John 3: 1-15; Matthew 21: 1-11

This sermon is based on the last chapter of Nouwen's book Letters to Marc.  It is also Palm Sunday.  I'll be working on how to connect those two events.  It seems to me that as we hear the crowds shout "hosanna, hosanna" and recognize that in a few days they might be shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" we have the choices before us -- listen to Jesus, or listen to the world.  Our choice.

Below are my study notes for this week's chapter.

Letters to Marc – April 13, 2014

1. This is Nouwen's final chapter that he uses as a final exhortation to his nephew Marc.

a. Note that it has taken Nouwen seven months to write the letters, instead of completing them in the seven weeks of Lent.

b. Nouwen has now moved to Canada to live at Daybreak, an L'Arche community in Toronto.

c. He notes that his time in France awakened in him the burning question, “How best am I to follow Jesus?” (81). This, of course, is a very good question for all of us to ask of ourselves.

d. Nouwen indicates that even as he has written the letters to help Marc get to know Jesus better, it has helped Nouwen himself get to know Jesus better (81)

2. Nouwen discusses how he has discovered himself “secularizing” Jesus, which he defines as looking “to Jesus for a cheap liberation, a solution to my problems, help with my desire for success, getting even with my opponents and a good measure of publicity” (82)

a. Instead, he believes we should “see Jesus as the gospel presents him: as the Lord who calls us to be spiritual freedom, shares our suffering, shows us the descending way, challenges us to love our enemies, and secretly reveals God's love to us.” (82)

b. Do you see the difference between secularizing Jesus and seeing Jesus as the gospel presents him?

Conversation starter: Share your image of who Christ is in your life.

3. Nouwen explains that” spiritual life is life lived in the spirit of Jesus” (82).

a. No surprise that he sees the eucharist as the center of the life lived in the spirit of Jesus (82).

b. I continue to believe that the Catholic life rooted in the norm of daily eucharist impacts Nouwen's reflections.

4. Nouwen notes that he and Marc are both called to be disciples of Christ.

a. The differences between them (i.e. – age, upbringing, etc.) do not count; what counts I “being attentive at all times to the voice of God's love inviting us to obey, that is, to make a generous response (83).

b. I like his phrase “generous response,” and I wish that he had spent some time reflecting on that phrase.

5. Nouwen then asks the question “How can we keep listening to this voice in a world which does its best to distract us and get our attention for seemingly more urgent matters?” and then answers with three forms of listening (83)

a. “Listen to the church” (83). He notes that this means specifically taking part in the church's liturgical life, which unite us “more and more intimately with the divine life he [Jesus] offers]” (83).

1. I wonder how Nouwen understands the role of church dogma in his suggestion that Marc listen to the church?

2. I find it fascinating and powerful that even as Nouwen is speaking of the spiritual life, which many in our time interpret as private, he connects it with the church.

Conversation starter: Can you see in your own life how the following of the liturgical calendar at church has impacted your life of faithfulness?

b. Next. Nouwen exhorts Marc to listen to the book, which means “read the Bible” (83).

1. actually, Nouwen does not suggest just reading the Bible, but also reading books about the Bible, and about spirituality, and about the great saints of the church (83).

2. Nouwen notes the difference between reading a book for information and listening to a voice that addresses Marc directly (84).

3. Nouwen notes that Marc's “thirst for knowledge and information often makes you desire to own the word, instead of letting the word own you” 84).

c. Finally, Nouwen tells Marc to “listen to his heart” (84)

1. No surprise that Nouwen ends up back at the heart!

2. Nouwen indicates that to listen to Jesus who dwells in the depths of our hearts requires us to engage in prayer (84).

3. Nouwen notes that “ten minutes each day for Jesus alone [prayer] can bring about a radical change in your life (84).

6. Let's finish with this statement from Nouwen: “When you admit Jesus to your heart nothing is predictable, but everything becomes possible. I pray that you will venture on a life with Jesus. He asks everything of you, but gives you more in return” (84-5).

Conversation starter: How can you better listen for Jesus?

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Resources: Letters to Marc: Living Spiritually in a Materialistic World, Henri Nouwen

Reflections on "Jesus: The Hidden God" Colossians 2: 1-3; I Corinthians 2: 6-13

WE continue in Henri Nouwen's book Letters to Marc, which has been our Lenten study book.  This week we reflected on "Jesus:  The Hidden God."

Best part of sermon was probably the introduction!

Nouwen noted in this chapter that God is at work in the people who pray for him that he never knows are praying for him.  If I did the sermon again, I would probably build a section around that thought.

The text below is probably not as close to the actual sermon as usual.  I didn't have the sermon prepared as well as I like, so I was free-lancing a bit more at both services.  Not free-lancing in a good way like when I really focus on a point in the sermon presentation, but free-lancing as a sign that I was still trying to sort the sermon out as I was preaching it.

“Jesus: The Hiddenness of God” April 6, 2014; Lenten series; Colossians 2: 1-3; I Corinthians 2: 6-13

Introduction: “that’s as far as my arm can reach….everyone is just going to have to squeeze in.”

“Hurry up and take the picture!”

“1, 2, 3 – cheese!”

“Are you going to put that on FB? If so, be sure and tag me.”

“No, I just Snap chatted it”

‘Oh, I thought you were going to Tweet it!”

“Wait till everyone sees where we are and what we are doing right now!”

One more photo with faces squeezed into the frame has hit the world of FB, Twitter, or Snapchat.

A question for our world today – can an event really happen if it is not posted somewhere in the world of social media?

Or better yet? Can an event even take place in private?

We live in a world where public expression of the story seems to be more important than the story itself – almost as if the story is created just for publication, or the event does not really happen unless it is made public.

Move 1: In contrast to that worldview, Henri Nouwen invites us to reflect on the hiddenness of God (a reminder that we are studying Nouwen’s Letters to marc as part of our Lenten journey).

a. As Nouwen describes God, he depicts a God who “Prefers to work in secret” (68).

1. Truthfully, Nouwen has not convinced me that God values hiddenness for the sake of being hidden.

2. Rather God works in hiddenness because being hidden or not being hidden does not matter to God.

3. the bottom line - it does not matter if God's action are public or not because it is the act itself that matters, not what the world knows or thinks about it.

4. It is the saving grace of God at work, not the publicizing of it that matters to God.

5. If a life is changed and it is never announced to the world, it matters just the same to God.

b. We see the hiddenness of God in the hiddenness of Christ.

1. Let’s face it – in the world in which he lived, Jesus was a pretty obscure person.

2. yes, we know about him because the gospels tell his story that is central to our beliefs.

3. Yes, the resurrection of Christ was a pivotal moment in the history of the world when God acted decisively to end the reign of death and bring the hope of the resurrection to the world.

4. But, if we read historical commentaries from the 1^st century world, there is barely a mention of Jesus.

5. what he did was done in relative obscurity.

6. and yet in the hiddenness of Christ, God changed the world.

Move 2: Challenge of hiddenness of God.

a. The world calls into question whether God is really there if God is not highly visible.

1. The crisis becomes visible.

2. the need for God seems very visible.

3. but where is God?

4. Why is God not center stage, visibly interceding in the events of the world?

5. . Challenge for the faithful to see the demand for God to be made visible, and then proclaim the God who works in the hiddenness of the world.

b. Nouwen also points out the irony that so many in our world today shout Jesus’ name all the while missing the God who is at work in the hiddenness of our world and our lives.

1. I am reminded of how easily some point to the heavens or proclaim their God when they’ve scored a touchdown or won an award.

2. the public God or our triumphs seems very different than the God who works in the hiddenness of our lives that Nouwen describes.

Move 3: Which is why the spiritual life is so important to Nouwen.

a. As Paul writes to the Colossians, it is by connecting ourselves with the hiddenness of Christ that we can discover all the treasures.

1. as Nouwen describes it, Jesus makes himself known to us in secret, which requires that we start looking for him “in your own seclusion; It is his [Jesus'] seclusion, his hiddenness, that invites you to enter into your own” (74).

2. this takes us back to our hearts, which Nouwen suggests we avoid because we are afraid of it (74).

3. thus the need to be prayerful and work at our spiritual lives, to work at joining with Christ in his hiddenness.

b. As an example, Nouwen offers the Frenchwoman Marthe Robin.

1. Nouwen notes how many people attributed their faith in Jesus to Marthe Robin.

2. He shares her story. If you want to learn more about her, you can do an Internet search and read about her.

3. A life of suffering and paralysis. She reportedly was unable to eat or drink anything except the bread and wine of the Eucharist that were shared with her once or twice a week.

4. she was sustained by her connectedness with Christ. Not a triumph of power announced to the world and made public, but a triumph of solidarity.

c. Nouwen also notes that when we look to the heart to find Chris, that is when we find ourselves.

1. the spiritual journey that connects us to Christ helps us discover who we are.

2. or as Nouwen puts it, “The more you learn to love God, the more you learn to love yourself” (75).

Conclusion: as we come to our Lord’s Table today, we come to the place where we can discover the God who works in secret and with divine patience (77).

A Table not set to be a post on FB, but a Table where we are invited to meet the God who works in the hiddenness of our lives and our world.