"the Touch of God" John 3: 1-17; Ruth 2: 7-14

On Trinity Sunday I finish the "Touched by God" preaching series with renewal of baptismal vows. My thoughts are racing back and forth between touch, Trinity, and baptismal vows.  As live sermon illustrations, the gathered congregation has the opportunity to touch the baptismal waters and be touched as I anoint them.

Interestingly, Martin Luther ties baptism into the a Trinitarian conversation as follows:   Luther continues “Hence, not only are sins forgiven in baptism, but we are also made sure and certain that God is well pleased with it that he together with Christ and his Holy Spirit, propose to be present when it is administered and he himself will be the baptizer; although this glorious revelation of the divine majesty does not now occur visibly, as it did that time on the Jordan, since it is sufficient that it occurred once as a witness and a sign.” http://www.ctsfw.edu/document.doc?id=288;  AE 51:318-319; from BAPTISM AS CONSOLATION IN LUTHER’S PASTORAL CARE Seminar Presentation: Tenth International Congress for Luther Research, Copenhagen, August 2002; -John T.Pless Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana USA IX. 8.2002

I also have a couple of touch stories I have not used.  Well, I did use the story of my brother who likes to rub ears as as sign of affection (usually with his son, or when he was younger with my mother).  I mentioned it one week in the Time with Young Disciples, but I have not expanded it in a sermon yet.

I also have an interesting story from a soccer game about being touched that I might share.

The text I picked for this sermon at the beginning of the preaching series is from the Gospel of John in which Nicodemus is told by Jesus that he must be born again.  Not sure why I picked it or how I am going to preach it Sunday.

I added another Scripture lesson from the story of Ruth (right after she meets Boaz).  As Eugene Peterson translates it, Ruth says to Boaz:  She said, “Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don’t deserve it. You’ve touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don’t even belong here!”  I was struck in those words by the God who touches us, we who do not deserve it, but are still treated by God as one of God's own.

Do you have a touch story to share before this series ends?

Reflections on "Touched by the Spirit" Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2; 1-22

Pentecost Sunday!  I had a new insight on the Acts story -- when the people who were given the gift of another language realized that God had given them that gift so that they could go to new places, it was scary for them.

The dry bones of Ezekiel are always a great image to preach, although I did not focus exclusively on that vision.

we were not full-speed on our technology today, but it would have been fun to have shown the commercial that I detailed in the conclusion.  

“Touched by the Spirit” Ezekiel 37: 1-14; Acts 2: 1-2; FPC, Troy; May 24, 2015; Pentecost

introduction: On the Pentecost Sunday, we read of Ezekiel being touched by the hand of the Lord and the spirit, the breath of God, breathing life back into dry bones; and we read of the Spirit sweeping among the early Christians; and we are reminded that to be touched by the spirit means we are people of hope and people with amazing, scary possibilities.

Move 1: To be touched by the Spirit means we are people of hope.

a. A vivid image from Ezekiel that speaks to the plight of Israel at that moment in its history.

1. The Israelite had been defeated by the Babylonians.

2. the Israelites had been uprooted from their homes and taken into captivity.

3. Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed.

4. For the Israelites deported to live in Babylon, “the future seemed a black hole into which the people were destined to disappear.” http://jointhefeast.blogspot.com/2009/04/may-31-ezekiel-371-14-joshua-t.html

b. God takes Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and ask Ezekiel: “Mortal, can these bones live?”

1. Ezekiel knows the answer. The dry bones are death. He cannot say it, but he knows: there is no future...there is no hope...death has arrived.”
2. The dry bones are Israel, the clicking sounds reverberating with the sound of death.
3. But Ezekiel cannot speak of the death of Israel, so he answers God's question with “only you know.”
4. A sliver of hope, perhaps.
5. An acknowledgment that even in a moment of utter despair, only God has the final answer.

c. God has a word of hope, not death.

1. God's breath will blow into the bones and bring them back to life.

2. Israel was lost and given up for dead, but God is not done.

3. God will breathe life back into Israel.

4. There will be a future.

d. On this Pentecost Sunday we claim our hope.

1. On a day when we remember those who have died in war and pray for those who are still at war today, we dare to hope for future of peace because God's breath is in us.

2.. On a day when we pray for the divisions and injustices in our own country, we dare to hope for a day when love and reconciliation will reign because God's breath still fills us.

3. In a time when we can read article after article about the decline of the church and diminishing role of faith in people's lives, we dare to hope for God to fill us with the Spirit and lead us into the future God has in mind.

We are a people of hope.

Move 2: To be touched by the Spirit also means to be filled with exciting, maybe scary possibilities.

a. We read the familiar Pentecost story.

1. Imagine with me for a moment that you were there that day.

2. that you were one of those who was already a follower of Christ.

3. You were there gathering with the others in your faith community.

4. You have already made the leap of faith and decided to believe in the resurrected Christ.

5. There is comfort in being with others who have taken that same risk, claimed that same faith.

6. People like you, who evens peak the same language, probably Aramaic.

b. then the winds sweep through, tongues of fire appear.

1. You open your mouth, and you speak another language.

2. You are bi-lingual in an instant.

3. Scary enough that you have acquired this skill, but then you consider the possibilities.

4. Why has God given me the gift of another language?

5. Does that mean that I am now expected to go somewhere else, some place where others speak this new language.

6. Does this mean that God is calling me to move out of my comfort zone and go to a new place to do a new thing?

7. you thought you had this follower of Christ thing figured out, but now the game has changed.

100. Here you are, most of us in the same pew where we always sit.

1. We have our comfort zone.

2. We profess our faith and try to contain it as best we can!

3. But here comes the Holy Spirit.

4. new possibilities that demand you follow, that demand you do a new thing.

5. We may sing “Breathe on me Breath of God,” but we're not taking that thought too seriously.

6. Watch out. The when the spirit touches you, your life changes in an instant.

Conclusion: Blog showed an old General Electric wind energy commercial: begins with young boy (perhaps Italian) running the last few steps with wind blowing across him, onto an overhang is on a overhang above the ocean with a jar that he opens, holds up in the air to capture the wind, and then seals tightly with the lid. He begins a journey back to somewhere;runs down a path; takes a trains across a bridge (pretty young girl is sitting across from him); steps across a stream rocks; walks through an open field with snow-covered mountains in the background; rides in a sidecar of a motorcycle (complete with helmet and goggles);runs up a dirt path to a home and burst in the door where a birthday party, complete with a birthday cake and lots of candles (it appears to be his grandfather celebrating his birthday); cake covered with candles; he gives jar to his grandfather, who opens it and wind blows out candles and windows of house and even moves the clothes on the clothesline outside; they all look shocked and mother's hair is askew; then smiles; voice over "Capturing the wind and putting it to good use" found on Milton Brasher-Cunningham's blog, http://donteatalone.com/run-and-catch-the-wind/ "run and Catch the Wind" May 31, 2009,

We cannot bottle the Holy Spirit – it sweeps into our lives bringing life and inviting us to new possibilities.

Amen.

"Touched by the Spirit" Ezekiel 37: 1-14 Acts 2: 1-21; Pentecost

Two illustrations that are impacting my sermon work this week:

1.  General Electric wind energy commercial: begins with young boy   (perhaps Italian) running the last few steps with wind blowing across him, onto an overhang is on a overhang above the ocean with a jar that he opens, holds up in the air to capture the wind, and then seals tightly with the lid.  He begins a journey back to somewhere; runs down a path; takes a trains across a bridge (pretty young girl is sitting across from him); steps across a stream rocks; walks through an open filed with snow-covered mountains in the background; rides in a sidecar of a motorcycle (complete with helmet and goggles);runs up dirt path to a home and burst in the door where a birthday party, complete with a birthday cake and lots of candles (it appears to be his grandfather celebrating his birthday); cake covered with candles; he gives jar to his grandfather, who opens it and wind elbows out candles and windows of house and even moves the clothes on the clothesline outside; they all look shocked and mother's hair is askew; then smiles; voice over "Capturing the wind and putting it to good use"  found on Milton Brasher-Cunningham's blog, http://donteatalone.com/run-and-catch-the-wind/ "run and Catch the Wind" May 31, 2009,

2. a  poem by Walter Brueggemann:

Blown by the Spirit...We Know Not Where

We hear the story of the wind at Pentecost,
     Holy wind that dismantles what was,
     Holy wind that evokes what is to be,
     Holy wind that overrides barriers and causes communication,

WE are dazzled, but then -- reverting to type --
     we wonder how to harness the wind,
        how to manage the wind by our technology,
        how to turn the wind to our usefulness,
        how to make ourselves managers of the wind.

Partly we do not believe such an odd talk
     because we are not religious freaks;
Partly we resist such a story,
     because it surges beyond our categories;
Partly we had imagined you to be more ordered
     and reliable than that.

So we listen, depart, and return to our ordered existence:
     we depart with only a little curiosity
                       but not yielding;
we return to how it was before,
     unconvinced but wistful, slightly praying for win,
                        craving for newness,
                         wishing to have it all available to us.

We pray toward the wind and wait, unconvinced but wistful.

Journal for Preachers, Volume XXXIII, number 4, Pentecost, 2010 (38).  Used by permission from Prayers for the Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann, Abingdon Press, 2008

The hand of the Lord takes Ezekiel down into a valley of dry bones.  The Lord asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?"  Ezekiel rightly answers, "O Lord God you know."  the story of hope in the face of despair that Israel feels after the Babylonian invasion.

It seems to me that our great hope, God can breathe life back into dry bones, might also be our greatest fear, that God will call us to new places.  I wonder what the people filled with new languages  in Acts felt as it became clear that were going to be sent to a new place?

Reflections on "Is the Touch for Sale?" Numbers 27: 18-23; Acts 8: 14-25

One more week of the "Touch of God" series.  As part of the response to the sermon, we received new members, and I laid on hands on them as part of the ritual.  I didn't mention it in the sermon, but it was an obvious illustration of being touched.

 

I think the sermon held together ok.  It was shorter than usual because of the added new member reception and recognition of the graduating high school Seniors that took place in the worship service.  No one complained about a shorter sermon!

 

“Is the Touch for Sale?” Acts 8: 14-23; Numbers 27: 18-23; FPC, Troy; May 17, 2015

Move 1: The laying on of hands has been going on among God's people for a long time.

a. We read the passage in Numbers and are reminded that Moses laid hands on Joshua to confer on him the mantle of leadership of God's people.

1. As Moses laid on hands it was a symbol for God's people that Joshua had been chosen.

2. But it also conveyed to Joshua the power of God that will be at work through him as he leads God's people.

b. Peter and John have been laying on hands.

1. Their touch carries the power of God and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit.

2. A symbolic ritual that shows forth the presence of God.

3. But also the conveying of the power of the Holy Spirit.

100. Meet Simon.

1. A believer; he's been baptized; he hangs out with Philip watching all that Philip does. Mesmerized and amazed by what he sees.

2. He perhaps appreciates what the disciples are doing more than most because he himself is a magician.

3. He does amazing, magical things.
4. But he recognizes that the disciples offer something more. 

5. And he wants what they have.

6. He wants the power to confer God's touch and the Holy Spirit with a touch.

7. He asks Peter is he can buy what Peter has.

8. Simon is not really a bad guy. In fact, when Peter challenges him for wanting to buy God's power, Simon repents.

9. I suppose he could not help himself. He recognizes the value of God's touch, and he wants it.

Two thoughts about this story this morning.

Move 2: The touch of God is not magic.

a. Notice the contrast created between Peter, Christ's disciple who baptizes and lays on hands, and Simon, who is a magician.

1. In fact, astute readers might remember that Peter is also known as Simon Peter in other places. The point being made that Simon and Peter are not far apart.

2. Except that Simon is offering magic and Peter is offering God.

3. It would not have been unusual for a magician to be part of the daily life in this time.

4. magicians doing things that amaze and cannot be explained.

5. No doubt some thought that Jesus was a magician with all his healings and miracles. At least until his magic ran out, so to speak, with his death on the cross.

6.   Probably some thought the disciples were magicians as well.

b. But this story announces to the world that Jesus' followers are not magicians -- their touch conveys the power of God.

1. The touch of God is not magical.

2. The touch of God is not merely a tactile experience.

3. but a new life given to the person by the power of God.

Move 3: The touch of God is not for sale.

a. Not the first time people have turned God into a business.

  1.  Indulgences of the Catholic Church. Indulgences may have solid ground as a theological concept, but by the late Middle Ages, the buying of indulgences was little more than buying God's favor for yourselves and for you relatives who have died. (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/286800/indulgence)

2. Robert Tilton – purchase his handkerchief. If he's wiped his brow, then it costs a bit more.

3. Sometimes we link our giving back to God with buying God's favor. If I give enough, surely God will be present for me. .

b. For Simon, purchasing the touch of God is purely a business transaction.

1. The word translated "power" (exousia) in vs. 19 denotes the legal authority to make decisions (New Interpreter's Bible).

2. is suspect there was a market then, and there will always be a market for those who desperately seek God's presence and will buy anything that might bring them God's touch.
   
   3. it would have been lucrative for Simon if he had been able to buy the ability to convey God's touch and the power of the Holy Spirit.

100. But God's touch is not for sale.

1. it is a gift.

2. A gift given by those who serve God to those who desire to have God present in their lives.

3. A priceless gift because there is no price attached to it.

4. the gift that comes free from God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

5. Simon can have it, but he cannot buy it.

500. Jim Harrison – fist bump.

1. Some of you may remember Jim Harrison. He was a regular in the Chapel service. In fact, he was part fo the usher brigade of men who told people where to sit and hand out worship folders each week.

2. He sent most of his adult like as a baseball manager. I suppose that's where he got the idea, but every week when I walked down the aisle after the Benediction, he would give me a fist bump.
   
   
3. A free touch.

4. Probably too dramatic to liken it to Peter's touch, but it was there every week, good sermon or bad; no price to pay; just a free touch.
   
   5. I never asked him why and he never offered an explanation. I figured it was his way of offering support, of acknowledging that we were connected, of noting our common ground we shared as fellow followers of Christ. Of course, he could have just liked to give fist bumps!
   
   6. Each week a free touch. A gift from Jim.

Conclusion: As you leave worship this morning, the youth will be handing out a free gift. A simple bracelet in Presbyterian blue with “touched by God” inscribed on it.

A free gift for each of you to remind you that the touch of God cannot be bought at any price, but it is given to you. A free gift.

"Is the Touch for Sale?" Acts 8: 14-25; Numbers 27: 18-23

Admittedly, most biblical scholars are focusing less on Simon than on the Holy Spirit in this story! But, I thought it was a great story since Simon wants to have Peter's ability to lay on hands and have the power of the Holy Spirit bestowed.  Initially, Simon seems to want the power; when Peter calls him on this, he seems to repent from that desire.

Notice the contrast that is created between Peter, Christ's disciple who baptizes and lays on hands, and Simon, who is a magician.  In part, this story announces to the world that Jesus' followers are not magicians -- their touch conveys the power of God.

The word translated "power" (exousia) in vs. 19 denotes the legal authority to make decisions (New Interpreter's Bible).  For Simon, it is a business deal by which he will acquire the power of the touch of God.  Peter is not interested.

The story reminds us that not only are people desiring to be touched by God, but that some want to be able to offer the touch of God.

I am reminded that when we read about the touch of God, it is not just a tactile experience, but a new life given to the person by the power of God.

One of our former members who ushered each week in the Chapel (and was there when he did not usher) used to fist bump me every week as I walked down the aisle at the end of worship.  not sure if it fits in this sermon, but I thought about it as I reflected on this week's passage.

The Numbers passage reminds us that the laying on of hands to bestow God's power is not new to Jesus' disciples and the stories in Acts.

We are receiving new members after the sermon.  I have added into the service a bit where I touch each new member as I recite a charge.  It is part of the liturgy, but I have always left it out, but given the series on touch I have added it back for this service.  It will be interesting to see how it feels as part of the new member ritual.

Reflections on "More Than a Healing Touch" Mark 8:22-26

I had fun working on and preaching this sermon.  I'm not convinced the opening illustration fit the sermon, but I've had that story in my sermon file for about 20 years and wanted to use it.  In fact, it's a story someone told to me back when I was not very concerned with source citations (before the Internet meant illustrations were being read by lots of people), and I cannot remember the name of the person who told me the story.  Admittedly, the person who told me the story may have exaggerated, but I repeated the story as it was told to me.  

this is another one of those sermons that when I finally get to the third point, I don't develop that part of the sermon enough.  The "so what?" question did not get answered very fully.  but, I love digging into the text and exploring it.  I could have done more with the John Griffin illustration at the end of the sermon.  It seemed to set the stage well for answering "So what?" 

In the Sanctuary service, I spoke the first paragraph of the sermon before reading the Scripture lesson, and then started the "official" part of the sermon with "There's a lot of touching...." That worked better than reading the Scripture lesson and then starting with the reference to the sermon series as the first line of the sermon.

I was freelancing quite a bit with the sermon yesterday (which is usually a sign that I don't have it worked out well enough before it it preached), which means that what was heard yesterday might be quite different than what is written below.

“More Than a Healing Touch” Mark 8: 22-26; FPC, Troy; May 10, 2015

Introduction:  We continue our preaching series, “Being Touched by God” in which we read different biblical stories in which people are touched.

There's a lot of touching going on in this story we read from the Gospel of Mark.

Presumably, the people who brought the blind man t Jesus had to lead him by hand.

I had a conversation at college with a blind student.  He started telling me some off the crazy things that had happened to him. 

A blind person tells this story on himself. It seems he was driving through campus one night with a friend giving him instructions about where to turn, etc. They got pulled over by the campus police. When the police officer approached the car, he asked for a license. Blind driver asks officer why they were pulled over and was told they did not have the lights on. Driver then tells passenger to give officer his license. Officer says no, he needs license of driver.

Driver says he doesn't have a license.

“Why?” asks the officer.

“Because I'm blind, which by the way, means I don't need lights on to drive anyway.” 

The officer somehow agrees and sends them on their way.

The blind man living in Jesus' time was totally dependent on others.  He needed someone to hold his hand as he walked.  No raised bumps on the sidewalk or crosswalk signals that ding.

He had to be led by hand by friends, who want Jesus to touch him, presumably to heal him.

Jesus takes the blind man by hand and leads him away from the crowd and touches his eyes not once, but twice, as he heals him of his blindness.

Jesus leads the blind man by hand away from the others .Let's dig a little deeper into this story by looking at how Mark tells this story; what it tells us about Jesus; and what it might mean for us.

Move 1:  Background to the story.

            a.  This story in Mark is not paralleled in the other three gospels.

1.              It is unique to Mark's gospel.

2.              It is possible to read Mark's gospel as a journey, with each section separated by the place where the action occurs.

3.              The journey is headed to Jerusalem, where Jesus will be crucified and then resurrected.

b. In reading the Gospel of Mark as different stops on the journey, this is the last section before arrival in Jerusalem.

1. The section begins with the first verse we read that notes that they were in Bethsaida.

2.  The section finishes a couple of chapters later when they move on to Jerusalem.

3.  The section will begin with the healing of the blind man that we read this morning, and the section will finish with the healing of Bartimaeus, another blind man.

4. IN between, is another healing story – this time a young boy who cannot speak.

5. The section also includes Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah.

6.  The transfiguration of Jesus.

7.  Jesus telling them a couple of times that he must die and then be resurrected.

8. The story of the rich young man who wants to follow Jesus.

9. And several other comments from Jesus about how difficult it will be to follow him.

10.  In summary, the final section before Jerusalem is book-ended by the blind being made to see, with the stories in between about the disciples mostly not being able to see what Jesus is trying to tell them about being his disciples.

11. a certain irony in the text – Jesus can heal the blind, but he's having trouble making his disciples see (I referenced The Interpreter's Bible's notes on this passage for background to the sermon).

            b.  This passage also makes it clear that the prophet Isaiah's words about the coming Messiah are fulfilled in Christ.

                       

1.              The prophet Isaiah had described the day when the Messiah comes as one when  (Isaiah 35:5-6) “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” (NRSV)

2.              After this section in Mark, it is clear, or at least it should be clear, that the one about whom Isaiah prophesied has arrived.

c.    If we were to title this section of the Gospel of mark, we might call it “What you need to know about Jesus before he goes to Jerusalem to die for you.”

Move 2:  Jesus bring more than a healing touch

            a.  It's Mother's Day.

1.    if I asked most of you to reflect on a time your mother touched you, particularly if you were hurt or were sick, you could probably come up with a nice memory.

A cool touch on a feverish forehead;

Holding  your hand at the doctor's office, or at the ER when you were getting stitches

the comfort and reassurance of a mother's touch.

2.    One of the reasons we celebrate Mother's Day is to give thanks to our mothers for those times they touched us.

3.    In fact, I picked this story for this week because I had planned on using a nice Mother's Day story to parallel the healing touch of Jesus.

b. But as I studied the text, I realized that this story is not about a sweet Mother's touch.

1.  As Tom Long, professor of preaching at Candler School of Theology, notes that 'sermons preached from the Gospel of mark these days tend to be far too timid."

2.  He suggests that we do not acknowledge the "warrior" role Jesus has in Mark as he does battle with the powers of death that "hold humanity captive" (Journal for Preachers, "Whose Work? Whose Healing?" Volume XXXVIII, Number 4, Pentecost 2015, 31).

           

                        3.  Long also argues that all the "strange bits" in the healing stories in Mark are important because they remind us that "Jesus is not just doing a good deed...but instead making apocalyptic warfare on the reign of death that holds sway over him and over us all"  (Journal for Preachers, "Whose Work? Whose Healing?" Volume XXXVIII, Number 4, Pentecost 2015, 33).

            c.  The title of the sermon changed from This is making me think of the sermon as more than "A Healing Touch."  In fact, the title perhaps should be "More Than a Healing Touch."

1.    Jesus has come to do more than heal the blind.

2.    Jesus has come to do more than make the mute speak.

3.    Jesus has come to take on sin and death for us as he redeems us and the world.

4.    We are singing "there Is a Balm in Gilead" as the hymn after the sermon. It's melody and soothing sound suggest a soft touch;

5.    but the words, "to make the wounded whole" and to "heal the sin-sick soul" speak to the power of God to transform lives in the face of sin and death.

6.    Not a minor healing, but a major transformation.

7.    In other words, the healing touch comes with the punch of the one who does battle with evil to save us.

Move 3:  Welcome to following this Jesus.

            a.  I find it curious that Jesus had to rub the eyes twice. What is that about?

1.    It seems implausible that Jesus could not do the healing in one shot.

2.    Maybe it was to make the point that the blind man has more than some eye irritation that anyone could heal; Jesus had healed a completely blind person.

3.    Maybe it's an indicator of how hard it is to cure blindness, which might also be a metaphor for how hard it is for the disciples to see what Jesus is trying to show them.

4.    That seems to fit with this section in Mark.

5.    Peter makes the confession that Jesus is the messiah, and then when Jesus talks about dying, Peter no longer gets it.

6.    The rich young ruler is ready to follow Jesus, until he sees how hard it would be to sell his possessions and follow Jesus.

7.    The vision to be a disciple of Christ is not easily attained.

c.  John Howard Griffin, Scattered Shadows, describes what it is like to regain sight after being blind for ten years. 

1. An accomplished pianist, he lost his sight in accident while serving in the Army Air Corps. In 1946. 

2.            Almost ten years later he regained his sight.

3.            Very difficult to adjust to seeing again.

4.            Physically it is hard.  The eyes have to be retrained.

5.             Mentally, it is exhaustive as well.  The new possibilities his regained vision came him were overwhelming.

6.            Jesus' disciples face that challenge just as we do.

7. What will be make of the opportunity for new vision and new life that Jesus brings us?

Conclusion: Jesus comes with more than a healing touch.  He overcomes sin and death for us.

He invites us to a life of new possibilities.

Can you see that vision?

 

"A Healing Touch" Mark 8: 22-26

This story in Mark is not paralleled in the other three gospels.

The final segment of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem begins with this story and end with the healing of Bartimaeus.  In between are stories of the disciples (and others) not getting it.  It suggests that Jesus can heal the blind, but he cannot make the blind see!

Tom Long, professor of preaching at Candler School of Theology, notes that 'sermons preached from the Gospel of mark these days tend to be far too timid."  He suggests that we do not acknowledge the "warrior" role Jesus has in Mark as he does battle with the powers of death that "hold humanity captive" (Journal for Preachers, "Whose Work? Whose Healing?" Volume XXXVIII, Number 4, Pentecost 2015, 31).  This presents a challenge to me in my preparation, particularly since it is Mother's Day, and I was anticipating using the idea of a mother's touch as part of the sermon.  If I understand Long correctly, that would be reducing Jesus in Mark to something far less than Mark presents him.

I find it curious that Jesus had to rub the eyes twice. What is that about?  Long also argues that all the "strange bits" in the healing stories in Mark are important because they remind us that "Jesus is not just doing a good deed...but instead making apocalyptic warfare on the reign of death that holds sway over him and over us all"  (Journal for Preachers, "Whose Work? Whose Healing?" Volume XXXVIII, Number 4, Pentecost 2015, 33).

This is making me think of the sermon as more than "A Healing Touch."  In fact, the title perhaps should be "More Than a Healing Touch."

We are singing "there Is a Balm in Gilead" as the hymn after the sermon.  It's tune suggests a soft touch; but the words, "to make the wounded whole" and to "heal the sin-sick soul" speak to the power of God to transform lives in the face of sin and death.  In other words, the healing touch comes with the punch of the one who does battle with evil to save us.

Reflections on "The Touch Confirms" Isaiah 6: 1-9; Jeremiah 1: 4-10

I probably should have written two sermons on Sunday, one for the Chapel service and one for the Sanctuary service.  The sermon was geared toward the two confirmands joining the church, and they were present in the Sanctuary service.  Consequently, I was trying to translate the sermon for the Chapel service to that context in which we did not have confirmands present and were not going to have the anointing and baptism as responses to the sermon.  As it turned out, I added a bit about drinking Drano as a kid in the Chapel sermon when I was noting the live coal that touched Isaiah's lips.  I also did not include the Tony Campolo story at the Sanctuary service because I had less time for that sermon.  Plus, when I arrived at that point in the sermon, it did not feel like it fit the flow of things in the Sanctuary sermon.

I would love to do more work on Anathoth if I were to preach this sermon again.  And, I would like to preach about live coal on the lips if I were to use the Isaiah passage again.  I can hear the title:  "To Hot to Touch?"  already!

“The Touch Confirms” Isaiah 6: 5-8; Jeremiah 1; FPC, Troy; May 3, 2015; confirmation Sunday

Introduction: Molly and Megan, this sermon is for you two.

Someone jokingly (I think) mentioned that this was the week they did not have to listen to the sermon because I was only preaching to the confirmands!

You can listen if you want, but if you have something better to do over the next 10-15 minutes, feel free!

You did not have to do confirmation this year.

Today, I suspect you are glad that you did it because you are done – no more sermon outlines; no more daily bible readings; no more reflection questions; no more mentor worksheets

Last August I suggested that we skip a year of confirmation since only two of you were going to be in the class. Wait for year and go through confirmation with a larger group.

But, you two wanted to do confirmation. You were ready.

Before the baptism and anointing, I want to reflect for a few moments on the call stories of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Two of them, like two of you; young people like the two of you; two guys, not so much like you two, but two people who heard God's call, like you two have.

Move 1: God has a plan for you.

a. Not just any God, but the God who knew you in the womb.

1. not just any plan, but the plan that God has in store for you.
2. You have spent time learning, but today we are reminded that the God about whom you learned has claimed you in a very personal way.
3. You are not only professing belief and committing to follow Jesus Christ, the person about whom you have learned, but you are laying claim to a personal relationship with Christ.

b. Consider Jeremiah

1. he was raised in Anathoth, a small village in the central highlands of Israel in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

2. Anathoth was also the town to which the priest Abiathar, was banished when he sided with Adonijah, instead of Solomon in the battle to succeed King David.

3. Jeremiah was raised around priests, their conversation, and their actions.

4. Because of this unique context, Jeremiah's life was fairly early fixed on the things of YHWH and YHWH's service.
5. So, as he reflects on what made him a prophet, his conviction is an incredibly strong one. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I consecrated you (or "ordained" you). I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jer 1:5). Jeremiah's calling from God is certain, and was known to God before his birth, even before his conception.

Read more: http%3A%2F%2Fwww.patheos.com%2FProgressive-Christian%2FGods-Odd-Choices-John-Holbert-01-30-2013.html#ixzz3YiyCnw5f

5. Into the particularity of Jeremiah's life, God calls him for a task for which he is particularly well suited.

100. today you acknowledge God claim on your life.
     1. This is not the beginning of you journey as a disciples of Christ.
     2. This is not the end.
     3. But today is an important moment that we mark.
     4. a day when you claim for yourself what God is doing in your life.

God has a plan for you and today you tell the world that you commit yourself to following God's plan.

Move 2: God touches you.

a. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah experienced physical touches in their call stories.

1. Jeremiah – the Lord touching his lips
2. Isaiah – get the burning coal touching his lips
3. Not sure which I would prefer! [Chapel – drinking poison]

b. You have been touched in a variety of ways.

1. Not all physical.
2. Story from Kathy Wehrman: While attending training at Edison to learn how to handle preschoolers in a teaching situation, I learned that you can affect their agitated/antsy behavior by not touching them.  If you simply move your hand close to their upper back area, they can sense that energy!
3. Look around today at some of your Mentors; parents; grandparents; church school teachers; PYC leaders
4. Remember the prayer shawl you were given earlier in the confirmation process – the reminded that people were praying for you.
5. The God who claims you has sent people into your lives to touch you and shape you as disciples of Christ.

c. Tony Campolo says that whenever anybody asks him, “How were you called into ministry?” he replies that when he was a little boy, his mother used to say to him, “You were brought into this world to love other people in the name of Jesus Christ, to serve other people, especially the poor and the oppressed. Do you understand that, Tony?” People ask Tony, “How did you get called to the ministry?” and his response is that he never once was called, his mother decided!

(By the way, sometimes people tell Tony that parents can’t decide things like that for they children. His response is, “Why not? Everybody else is telling their children what to do with their lives: the media, their peer group, the counselor at school. What is wrong with a parent standing up and saying, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ My calling to serve Jesus Christ came from my mother and that’s a good place for it to come from. I advise all mothers and fathers to do that for their children.”) (1) Tony Campolo, “Becoming What God Intended You to Be,” sermon and interview broadcast, Chicago Sunday Evening Club 30 Good Minutes, January 25, 2004. www.csec.org.

God has touched you.

Move 3: In a few moments, you literally will be touched as you are anointed.

a. by your words you profess your faith. You join Isaiah who hears God's call and says: “Send me.”

b. By the touch of the sign of the cross on your forehead you confirm your commitment.

1. the touch becomes the reminder that you have now committed to God by following Christ.
2. It is not a magical touch that will make you immune to challenges or issues.
3. It is not the touch of the fairy godmother that makes you life perfect from this day forward.

4. If we read further into both Isaiah and Jeremiah, we discover that is was not easy for them to be God's prophets. They have plenty of challenges and setbacks.
5. But the touch of the cross will be your reminder that you have committed to following Christ in both the good times and the difficult times.
6. The touch is also a reminder that the God who has claimed you, the God who has a plan for you, that God is always with you.

The touch that confirms your commitment this day and confirms the God who is with you all your days.

Amen.