Monday, November 27, 2017

Reflections on "A Sneak Preview" Luke 1: 1-24; John 18: 28-40

This was Christ the King Sunday and Thanksgiving week-end, but not Advent.  I decided to combine all three, in part because I was itching to get started with the Advent series on stories we tell that give shape and meaning to our Advent/Christmas celebrations.  To add a visual aid to the sermon, we had a stool at the front of the chancel area, and when I told the story early in the sermon, and then at the end of the sermon, I sat on the stool like it was story time.  It did not really change the content, but it gave a different perspective for the congregation, which seemed to work. 

 I also left he stool and preached the first point on Advent being personal standing in front of the first pews.  Then, I went to the pulpit for the second couple of points.  Not sure that movement added to the sermon.  I'm still learning about preaching in this sanctuary.  It's long and fairly narrow, so leaving the pulpit does not seem to gain much in terms of connecting to the congregation.

Merging three themes had its dangers, but it worked ok for this sermon.  Probably not the best connect sermon ever, but I think it got us focused on how to look for what is doing this Advent.

I also stopped the Luke reading at vs 20 because it felt like a good stopping point when I was reading it!


Luke 1: 1-25  Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first,[a] to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” 19 The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”
21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, 25 “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

“A Sneak Preview”  SAPC, November 26, 2017; Luke 1: 1-24; 

Introduction: 

For you liturgical experts, this Sunday is Christ the King Sunday.  thus, the white paraments and the story from the Gospel of John with Pilate and Jesus discussing whether Jesus is the King of the Jews.

Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar.  The liturgical intent is to celebrate Christ as King before starting over again with Advent next week.  A reminder that as we spend Advent preparing for the birth of Christ, that the Christ-child will become Christ the King. 

Full liturgical circle!

This Sunday, as we gather for worship, you will notice in the liturgy and sermon the merging of three themes – Thanksgiving; Christ the King; and a sneak preview of Advent.  No doubt my worship professor would cringe at this approach.

As you may know, we are going to spend Advent thinking about stories we tell as part of our Christmas traditions. in fact, in the Narthex are  Advent devotional guides that have stories members have shared about what has given shape and meaning to their Advent and Christmas celebrations.

Each week as part of the sermons, we will read a biblical story that is part of the ongoing story of the coming of Christ.  Stories like the one we read this morning about Zechariah and the birth of John the Baptist.

We will also hear a story - maybe a personal story that Lisa and I will share with you; or maybe story from someone else’s Christmas tradition.

 We will make our way through Advent one story at a time.

(Go to stool)  In fact, we’ll even pull up a stool each week and tell you one of those stories.

move 1:  Here’s my Thanksgiving/Advent story.

Most years on Thanksgiving week-end, we decorate the house for Christmas.  Through my growing up years, the Friday after thanksgiving was the day we decorated the house.  That still happens at my mom’s house on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

In my own family, we continued the tradition by decorating our own home in KY or OH Thanksgiving week-end. Christmas decorations around the house, lights up outside, etc.  

One of the items that always goes up with the Christmas decorations is the Advent calendar.  Technically it’s not an Advent calendar because it starts December 1, not on the first day of Advent, but we called it an Advent calendar and it marked off each day from Dec. 1 - Dec. 24.

It is not an elaborate calendar.  It’s is homemade of burlap with a simple, cut out tree on it, and 1-12 down one side of the calendar and 13-24 down the other side. 

 it looks just like the one at my mother’s house because my oldest sister and my mother made a replica calendar for each of the kids when we were married, so the tradition would continue.  And now with the first wedding of the next generation in the family taking place, the next generation of Advent calendars are being made to continue the tradition.

Each number down the sides of the Advent calendar has a trinket pinned to it, which are then transferred to the tree each day of December.

in my family, each Thanksgiving week-end we would have the Advent calendar draft — each kid would pick in order the trinkets they would put on the days they would; thus developed the new tradition, the Advent calendar fight as at least two of the girls would want the same trinket and would see evil intentions in the way another sister chose her trinkets for the calendar.

over time, we collected little trinkets specific to each girl or something the family had done;  the draft has become much easier now as the girls know that the A&M trinket or the figure skating trinket go to a particular sister.

As the calendar fills, it serves not only as a countdown to Christmas, but a personal collage for the members of my family.

Move 2:  I tell you this story as we take sneak preview of Advent this year because I hope you take Advent personally this year.

a.  Begin Advent thinking that this year Advent is about you.

1. Not in a narcissistic sense that all of Advent revolves around you.

2. not with the idea that every gift is for you or every celebration is about you.

3.  Take it personally with the realization that the anticipated coming of Christ into the world has global implications, but also very personal implications.

4.  The stories we tell of a God who comes to saves the world is the story of the God who comes to save you. 

b.  the personal nature of the coming of Christ also makes a claim on you personally.

1.  one of the things we will notice in the biblical stories we read during Advent is that preparing for the coming of Christ, being part of what happens when he arrives, disrupts people’s lives.

2.  Zechariah and Elizabeth have to deal with pregnancy late in life when they least expected it.

Mary has to deal with pregnancy at a young age.

Mary and Joseph have to find a way for their relationship to handle the birth of God’s son.

 Shepherds in the fields find their lives changes by the story told to them by angels in the skies and from their trip to Bethlehem.

3.  Advent invites us to remember and reclaim what it means to receive the Christ-Child into our lives and follow Christ into the world.

Take Advent personally as we retell the stories of the God who comes into our lives and the God who calls us to give our lives over to serving Christ.

Move 2: I am also reminded that there is always a new story in the making.

a.  Zechariah 

1.  Going about his business.

2.  He’s got it down.

3. it’s his turn to go into the sanctuary to burn incense.  Same old story.

b. except, God is doing something new. 

1. The same old story is about to add a new, amazing chapter. 

2. His wife who could not get pregnant will bear a child.

4. And Zechariah, the priest, a teller of the stories of God’s people will not be telling any stories during his wife’s pregnancy because he is made mute for his unwillingness to believe what God is going to do.

b.  As we hear the old stories of our faith tradition; as we tell the stories of Advent and Christmas seasons past;  we look for the God who is always moving forward with a new story.

1.  I hope you will spend this Advent looking for new possibilities of how God is at work in your life.

2. To see the new places God is calling you.

3.  to discover in the disruptions in your life the God who is still at work on you.

3. I love the stories that shape our traditions, but do not let them keep us from discovering the new stories.  

4.  Instead, let the stories we love to tell remind us that the God who has been faithful to us in the past, will be faithful to us in the future as we live out new stories.

Move 3:  a final thought - the Advent calendar always leads us to the Christ-child.

a. each day someone in my family puts the trinket on the tree. 

1. No matter what happened the day before, not matter what we might think will happen that day in our lives or in our world, lives, we pin the trinket and move one day closer to the birth of Christ.

2.  We know a lot can happen over the course of Advent. 

2. Our prayer list each week of Advent will chronicles some of those stories — there will be deaths grieved, lives celebrated, prayers of intercession lifted, and still we move forward to the birth of Christ.

3. the daily news will tell who knows what - think about the last month or so  and project similar stories over the course of Advent — stories of life and death will play out in our world.  And still we move forward to the birth of Christ.

3.  Whatever happens in the our personal lives or the world around us, we still move forward to meet the God who comes in Christ Jesus.

4.  Nothing on earth can stop the God who comes in Christ Jesus.

6. We make the Advent journey to meet Christ.

b.  The same Christ who stands before Pilate as Pilate asks, “Are you king of the Jews?”

1.  Jesus will not exactly tell Pilate.

2.   Jesus suggests that is up to Pilate to decide. He basically says, “you’ve heard what they say about me.  What do you want to believe?”

3.  Advent will take us to the birth of Christ — are you ready to claim Christ the king in your own life?

Conclusion:  One of the stories we tell about the Advent calendar goes way back to when I was really young, maybe kindergarten.

the Advent calendar has hanging on full display, 24 trinkets on various days or the tree.

Until someone walked by and  noticed that it was stripped bare.  Naked.  not a trinket on any of the days down the side of the calendar; not a trinket on the tree.  they had disappeared.

Or, as it was discovered.  the trinkets had been stolen. 

the young neighbor boy about my age was so captivated by the trinkets on the Advent calendar he had to have them.  So he took each one, including the baby Jesus.  Stuffed his pockets full and left for home, with the evidence waiting to incriminate him left in his room for his mother to discover and return.

When we tell that story, I don’t see a trinket thief, but I imagine a young kid whose greatest desire in the moment was to have a part of Advent in his life, to have baby Jesus in his pocket along with all the other trinkets.

I invite you to listen and tell the stories of Advent that lead us to baby Jesus. 


not just listen, but to be filled with such great desire that you give your life over the Christ-child, the one who becomes Christ the king.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Reflections on “Crossing the Line” Joshua 24: 14-25; Mathew 25: 1-13


I did not reference the Matthew passage.  In my original thoughts on the sermon, I was going to add a section on making the commitment now before it's too late, but the sermon seemed to develop without that point being added.  We had a good day of worship with the kids' choir singing, a baptism, and recognition of new members, all of which tend to make the sermon work better -- the better the overall worship, the better the sermon.

I should have worked the Colonel Travis illustration better -- I stumbled though it, and it should have flowed.  I liked this sermon's content, but was not as polished as I would have liked in the presentation.  I did have an error (at least one member caught it) - I noted that "statute and ordinance" in vs. 25 of Joshua is singular in the original "Greek," even though Joshua was written in Hebrew.  not sure how I made that mistake.  I actually referenced the information from a Bible commentary, so i wrote the info down wrong and did not catch it (the person who caught also shared with me that in the King James translation, it is singular).

I am out of town next Sunday, so no sermon preparation this week or reflection next Monday.

“Crossing the Line”  St. Andrew; November 12, 2017; Joshua 24: 14-25; Mathew 25: 1-13 

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 

24 The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.” 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. 26 Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.

Introduction: biblical scholarship can really help us understand bible passages.

for example, biblical scholars would note Joshua begins with God speaking to Joshua in Chapter 1 and finishes with God speaking to the Israelites through Joshua in the last chapter.  Gives us a context to understand Joshua’s role and the position he holds as he makes this speech to the Israelites who have gathered at Shechem.
Or biblical scholars point out how earlier in chapter, Joshua has used a prophetic phrase,  “thus says the Lord your God…”   It might remind us that even though Joshua is considered a book of history, it has a prophetic voice as well.

Biblical scholarship can be helpful.

But I always thought the best way to understand this story in Joshua was found in the 4th and 7th grade TX history classes.  

In those classes you learn about the Alamo, if you hadn’t already.

You learn the story of Colonel William Barrett Travis gathering all the soldiers who were in the Alamo on what legend has the night before the fateful attack by the Mexican army under Santa Anna.  

Travis told the soldiers that if they chose to say in the Alamo, they would die.  He then drew a line in the dirt and invited anyone who wanted to stay with him and die in battle protecting the Alamo to cross the line.

All but two walked across the line.  Jim bowie had to be carried across in a cot; Louis Rose, a French soldier of fortune did not cross the line and instead slipped out of the Alamo that night and escaped.

The powerful image of Travis inviting people to cross the line reminds me of Joshua, standing before God’s people and inviting them to step forward in faith, or go on their merry way.

A few reasons why the Israelites might choose to step forward in faith. 

Colonel William Barrett Fannin gathers the troops together tt

Move 1: Step forward in faith because they know God.

a.  As the Israelites choose to commit to serving God, they recite all the things God has done for them.

1.   god brought them out of slavery in Egypt.

2.  God did great signs for them.

3.  God protected them from their enemies.

4. God drove out those who lived in the Promised Land so they could lay claim to the Promised Land.

5. In summary, God has claimed them, loved them, and given them new life.

b.  this image of God is in contrast to the what the people might have expected from a Lord or master in their time.

1.  Masters who acted erratically and impulsively, whose only concern was how those who served could meet the master’s needs (New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol II, 716).

2.  Masters who had power and used power their own sake, not for the sake of their servants.

3.  Gods with high expectations of what people should sacrifice and give for the sake of the gods.

4.  The God of Israel is a different God, a God who acts with love to save them.

5. he kind of God they can cross the line to follow.

Move 2:  Stepping forward in faith  is a commitment.

a.  Language about God being a jealous God.

1. We do uotknow what to do with that language.

2. Seems odd.

3.   Not about God being jealous of other gods, but God demanding total commitment.

4.  A hen  a pig strolled down the avenue.  The hen looked up at a huge billboard advertising ham and eggs. “Look at those magnificent fried eggs with the orange yellow yolks,” said the hen.  “Look at the fried ham,” said the pig.  After a moment the pig spoke:  “For you, those eggs are a small gift, but for me, the ham is a total commitment.”

b.  Notice when the Israelites rush to say they will serve God, Joshua stops them.

1. “No, no, you cannot do this.”

2.  Joshua knows this is a big deal.  

3.  Giving their lives to God is a huge commitment.

Move 3. Stepping forward in faith is also stepping away

a.  The Israelites have to give up the other gods.

1.  Many scholars believe Chapter 24 written during the time of exile.  

2. In exile they see in full display the many other gods people to which people turn.

3. they also have to turn away from despair.

4.  Hopelessness. 
b.  Bring this story to our context - what do we have to turn away from in our lives?

1.  What are you going to do with the God who demands all of you?  

2.  Maybe that’s why Joshua tries to talk them out of making their commitment.

c.  In original Hebrew, the “statutes and ordinances” in vs. 25 is actually singular.  

1.  Only one statute matters.

2.  the Israelites know that statute:   “I am the Lord you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before you” (Joshua, Judges and Ruth, Carolyn Pressler, Westminster Bible Commentary, 122).

Stepping forward to cross line to serve God moves turning away from lots of other options in our wold.
Conclusion:  Travis drew a line in the dirt and invited those in the Alamo to cross and die for their cause.  

Joshua invites the Israelites, invites you, to cross the line, not to die, but to have new life.



Sunday, November 5, 2017

"Leper Talk" Mark 1: 40-45


We had a nice service today.  We are between preaching series, so I preached a sermon I had preached several years ago when I served FPC, Troy.  Actually, I started with an old sermon, but by the time I had made revision based on some new insights, there was not much left of the old sermon. 

I had a pretty cool Time with Young Disciples.  I had the kids kneel on the area in front of the communion table and ask beg Jesus like the leper did, and then I told them Jesus said, "i choose you," and invited them to come up in the chancel area, which is on the other side of the communion table.  Then, I told them that when Jesus says, "I choose you," it means he is willing to give himself for them, which is why the path from being outcasts on their knees to being with God goes through the Lord's Table.  It seemed work pretty well.

“Leper Talk” FPC, Troy; February 12, 2005; Mark 1: 40-45

40 A leper[a] came to him begging him [Jesus], and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity,[c] Jesus[d] stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy[e] left him, and he was made clean. 43 After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44 saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus[f] could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Introduction: The Gospel of Mark is known for its style that is very direct. For example, Mark does not spend any time with stories of Jesus’ birth - Mark goes straight to Jesus’ ministry.

In the original Greek, Mark’s style reflects lots of verbs.  Action.  Action. Action.

In this opening section of Mark, the action is often Jesus healing.

Let’s reflect for a few moments about this particular healing story.

Move1:   Leper cannot help himself - he has to talk to Jesus.

a.  He thinks he has found the one who can heal him.

1. we do not know what he has heard about Jesus or seen Jesus do already.  

Maybe he was there when Jesus called the unclean spirit out of the man.

Or perhaps he had heard about Jesus healing Simon’s mother when she had a fever.

2. We do not know what has led to this moment; 

we do know the leper has to talk to Jesus.

b.  Not just talk to Jesus, but ask Jesus to heal him.

1.  Not just ask, but get down on his knees and beg Jesus to heal him.

2.  “If you choose, you can make me clean.”

3.  Less a question of Jesus’ power - the leper has no doubt Jesus can heal him;
more a question of what Jesus desires.
5. Is Jesus the kind of person who has the power to heal and wants to heal?

6.  Jesus responds to the leper’s “If you choose” with a resounding, “I do choose.”

Welcome to the son of God, the one who chooses you!

Move 2:   Jesus could not help but touch and heal.

  1. We get the sense that Jesus did not want to focus on healing.
  1. Maybe he knew there would be too much crowd attraction.
2.  Maybe Jesus did not understand himself to be primarily a healer.

        3.  Maybe the news of the healing would make it easier to miss the point that Jesus came to transform lives in many ways, not just healing, as Jesus ushered in the reign of God.

b. But when the leper was kneeling before him, what could he do?

  1. The leper, whose diseased skin makes him an outcast in the world.

2. the leper, who by the Jewish laws is labeled untouchable, both in a physical sense and spiritual sense.

4. the leper kneeling before Jesus has been labeled as an outcast;  a person no one will touch.

  1. Except Jesus.  Jesus had to touch him. Jesus had to heal - that is who Jesus was, and who Jesus is, and who Jesus will be.

  2. The one whose compassion cannot be contained.
  1. the one who choose to free us from that which binds us and holds us back.
  1. the one who chooses new life for us.
  1. Christ could no more walk away from the leper kneeling before him than quit breathing.  
  1. Jesus was a healer.  he could not help himself.

Move 3:  The leper could not help but talk.

  1. Jesus told him not to tell anyone.

    1. Remember, the person asking the leper not to tell anyone is the person who healed him.

    1. In fact, if the leper wanted to respond, Jesus suggested he go to the temple and engage in the rites of purification.

    1. legitimize his healing; certify him as ready to be accepted in society.

    1. But Jesus just doesn’t want the leper to tell anyone what Jesus had done. 

5.  Surely the leper wanted to do what Jesus asked of him.

  1. But the leper could not contain himself.

    1. This incredible healing had happened and he had to tell.

    1. Can you imagine how the scene might play out when he returned home if he chose not tell anyone about Jesus? 

“Son, your leprous skin is healed.  What happened?”  

“I can’t tell you.”  

Or maybe he could give a deceptive answer – “Well, the priest at the temple led me through the rites of purification, just ask him.”

Or if he wants to play top the drama and push the limits:  “Something big happened.  But I’ve been sworn to secrecy. Sorry.”

    1. Instead, the leper cannot contain himself.  He has to tell everyone about what jesus has done.

    1. To keep him from talking would be like keeping a new father from texting everyone in his contact list when his wife gives birth to their new child; 

    1. or asking a new grandmother not to show photos of her grandchild. 


    1. We are not told what the leper said, but it must have been good (of course, when you can show off your healed skin it illustrates your point pretty well!) because suddenly Jesus could not go anywhere without encountering crowds.  People desperately want to me him.

We do not know exactly what the leper said, but we know he had to say it.

 Move 4:  Powerful story - make sure you notice a couple of things.

  1. Note the role reversal. 

  1. The realities of the leper and Jesus are switched within five verses. 

  1. When the story beings, the leper is an outcast who cannot come and go freely in his community.  he is an outsider, shunned because of his physical ailment.  

By the end of the story, he is able to come and go as he wants, released from the bondage of his disease.

  1. On the other hand, when the story begins we see Jesus moving freely wherever wants, healing at will.   he wants suddenly finds himself unable to enter a village and is kept from his role in life. 

4.  A reminder that  when Jesus comes to transform our lives, he is willing to give up himself.  (this point comes from having read the comments of Sarah Henrich,Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1201)

b.  also, imagine how we might responds to what jesus does for us.

1.  Some of us might like the instructions Jesus gave the leper – don’t’ tell anyone.

  2.  but isn’t part of the leper’s experience our experience as well?

1.  I suspect many of you are here today because you have been touched by Christ, you have experienced his love and his presence, you have had your lives changed by him.

2. Or you want to experience Christ. 

3. You want to be in relationship with the one who says, “I choose you?”

You want to be changed. 

4.  Jesus invites us into this life changing, transforming relationship with him.

c.  what do we say in response to having discovered the life-changing presence of Christ in our lives?

1. Are we compelled to speak?

2. To share with others what we have discovered and how God has been a part of our lives?

3. Or do we keep it to ourselves?  Keep quiet about what God has done?

Conclusion:  Jesus had to heal; the leper had to talk; what do you have to do?