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A sermon preached by Bob Keller on June 27, 2010 based upon Luke 9: 51 – 62.

Mother Teresa said, “One filled with joy preaches without preaching.”

Being here with you, as it does every Sunday, fills me with joy and, according to Mother Teresa should negate the need for me to preach, but I’m going to go ahead and preach anyway because I know how disappointed you’d be if I said, “Service is over. You can go home now.”

The bright, warm days that we’ve had over this past week took me back many years.  I was about 12 or 13, I guess, and I had a paper route delivering the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in my hometown of Turtle Creek, PA.  I liked getting up at 4:30 in the morning on those bright summer days because I knew I would see Patty Kane.  Patty was an old man in the mid-1960’s so he must have been born in the late 1800’s. 

What I liked about seeing Patty on those mornings was that I could hear him well before I saw him.  My paper route took me through the downtown, or as we called it – downstreet, section of our small town.  It was an area of storefronts with two, three or four stories of apartments above them.  It formed a kind of canyon that amplified any sounds made during those still, quiet hours before most of the world awoke.  Patty would sit on one of the benches in the small park in front of the elementary school and play Irish tunes on his harmonica.  Often I would deliberately walk slowly just so I could take in the joy of the music being produced by this old man.

When I would finally reach the bench where Patty sat, I would ask “What are you doing, Patty.”  I tried to call him Mr. Kane, but he told me that all of his friends called him Patty and he asked me to call him by that.  I never knew anyone that called him Mr. Kane.

He always responded that he was waiting for his paper.  I always made sure I gave him an unwrinkled paper and was kind of relieved that I wouldn’t have to walk up the three flights of stairs to his apartment to drop the paper at his doorstep.

As I would get ready to leave I would always ask, “Feeling OK today, Patty?”  His response would always be, “I woke up on the right side of the grass today so I guess I’m OK!”  He would share a smile with me and that always made me smile back. 

That little exchange would warm my heart and put a lift in my step that frustrated my attempts to walk slowly so I could hear his music as long as possible.

I’m so glad that I had that memory come back to me this week because it was a frustrating and, in some ways, a frightening week for me.

It was about a month or so ago that Pastor Jeff asked if I would fill in for him today so he could spend some time with his son Andrew who is visiting from Colorado.  Of course I agreed and checked the lectionary for today.  Did you hear the passage that Linda read for us this morning?  I put it away and tried to forget about it.  I couldn’t.  The Jesus in this passage isn’t the loving, accepting, warm-hearted, joyful Jesus that I like to think about.  This isn’t the Jesus that offers me eternal hope.  This Jesus wants something from me.  My frustration came from questioning my ability to give it to Him.  My fright came from questioning my desire to give it to Him.

In just a few sentences, Luke tells us of Jesus’ encounters with three “potential” disciples and the demands He places on them.  Let’s look at them.

The first man that Jesus meets says, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  How many of us would say that?  How many of us could say that?  Could we have known then where Jesus was going?  If we did know, would we have been willing to follow?  Jesus “set His face” toward Jerusalem.  He was headed to fulfill His mission – death on the cross.  Would we have followed?

And what was required to follow?  Just everything!  No less than everything!  Jesus said to this man, “You better know what you’re getting into, because you better be willing to give up everything!”  Foxes have their holes, birds have their nests, but I don’t even have a place to lay my head.”

Jesus left heaven, His throne in glory, to come to the earth and live and die for us. He exchanged wealth for poverty. He left the ivory palace and came to a crude cattle shed. He exchanged kingship to become a servant.

He had no earthly security. He was loaned accommodation by those who loved Him. He borrowed a coin to tell a story. He borrowed a donkey to ride into Jerusalem and fulfill prophecy. He was even buried in a borrowed tomb! He gave up everything when He came and stood by you and me.

It’s not the security of possessions or money. It’s the security of God’s faithfulness, and a life beyond this one that NOTHING can take away! Though the Christian has nothing to his name in this life, he is more secure than the richest and most powerful of men.  Jesus was asking this first man to count the cost – following Me may cost you everything!

In Luke chapter 5 we read just a few weeks ago about Jesus getting into the boat with Simon to preach.  When He finished preaching, He told Simon to put out from shore and cast the nets.  Simon wasn’t happy with Jesus’ request.  He was tired, but he did as he was told.  They had such a catch that the boats started to sink.  When they got the boats to shore everyone, including James and John – Simon’s partners, was astounded at the catch.  Then Jesus told Simon to follow Him.  And they dropped everything – the catch, their nets, their boats – and they followed.  Following Him may cost you everything!

The second man that Jesus met didn’t offer to follow.  Instead, he was called by Jesus.  He said, “Follow me.”

“Yeah, Jesus.  Sounds like a really good plan you got going there, but let me go bury my old man first.  Yeah.  That’s it.  I gotta bury my Dad first.”

Now there are two possibilities here:

Jews in that day buried their dead right away.  If this man’s father had just died, it’s highly unlikely that the man would have been anywhere other than making funeral arrangements.  If the man’s father had died previously, the man would be in a mourning period of up to a year until his father’s bones could be removed from the grave and placed in a small box for final entombment.

The other possibility is that the man’s father was elderly and it was the responsibility of the child to care for the parents, especially the father, in their old age.  In this case there could have been no timeline for the man to follow Jesus.

For all we know, if the man had agreed to follow, Jesus may have led him back to his father and who knows what might have happened.  Funny things happened when Jesus got around dead people. Remember, dead folks had trouble staying dead around him.  Jesus is not insensitive around those who grieve.  In Scripture He has a way of turning their sorrow into joy.

The bottom line is the man was saying, “I’d like to follow, just not right now.  Maybe later after _________  and you can fill in the blank.”  And don’t we do that?  I’ll follow Jesus after I finish my education, after my career gets established, after the kids are grown up,  after my nest egg is set, after I find a church that I like, after, after, after…..

You might as well say after the Cubs win the World Series!

Jesus can’t wait that long!  We’ve got to be willing to leave it behind and go.

The third man wanted an opportunity to say goodbye to his family and friends first.  Now here’s another example where it helps to know the customs of the time.  Farewells weren’t done quickly or quietly.  This man was likely telling Jesus that he would follow, but like guy #2, it was going to take a while.  Farewells took time.  Parties, probably several of them, were held for those going on long journeys. 

Jesus told him to “forget about it” when He said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

A straight furrow can not be plowed if you’re looking behind you.  What good is said about those that looked back?  Think of Lot’s wife, Judas and Demas who loved the world and deserted Paul. 

Consider the cost of following Jesus.  Be willing to do it now, and don’t look back.  That’s what Jesus has asked in this passage.

And that’s why I was frightened this week.  Jesus isn’t interested in our excuses.  He is interested in our obedience.  He will take care of the rest if we will just let him.

Because we are no longer talking about what we believe, but the way we live.  These three men said they wanted to follow Jesus, but they couldn’t do what he asked them to do.  How can you follow someone if you can’t or won’t do what they ask?  Think of how long you would last at your job if you showed up one day and said, “I believe in the company and its mission statement and its products and its services, but I will no longer do what you ask me to do.”  Bye-bye now!

Jesus said I do not care what you believe if you are not willing to do what I am telling you to do.  God sees this a lot, I’ll bet.  In fact, that’s just about each and every one of us.

What are the two greatest commandments?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.
And Love your neighbor as yourself, or better yet, as I have loved you.

That eliminates a lot of us right there.

And those are supposed to be the easy two.  That is the limbo stick set at 6 feet off the ground.  It shouldn’t be too hard to get under that one.
Yet, here we are…

How do we meet that measure that Jesus has set for us; with our fears and doubts and excuses, or our trust and obedience? 

The rewards for service to Jesus are great, but the demands of that service are equally stringent.  Are we ready to give up everything for Him?  Remember those early disciples.  They had no idea who Jesus was.  They didn’t know where they were going or the harsh realities of what would be required of them.  Yet they followed, and 2,000 years later we still marvel at the magnificence of what God did in the lives of these men through his Son Jesus Christ.
And we still wait, hope, and pray that he will do it again through us.

When Jesus says, “Follow me,” are we ready to say, “Here I am Lord.”

I’ve asked Barb to help us out here by playing the tune to what our response should be:

Here I am Lord

Is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord

If you lead me

I will hold your people in my heart.

Please pray with me:

Lord, we want to be your disciples and to do what you ask of us.  Please open our ears and our hearts to hear what you would have us do so that our lives may testify to our belief in You.  Help us to follow even if we don’t understand all the time. Help us to want to be used by you for the greatest hunger is to be left unused.  Let us not ask what we want to do with our lives, but to ask what you can do with our lives.  In your precious name we pray.  Amen

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on April 11th, 2010 based upon John 20: 19 – 31.

We all have our favorite Bible stories and the one that was just read for us from John’s Gospel is one of mine.  It’s also one of the very few scriptures that always appears in the same place in the lectionary year-after-year.  But its familiarity is not why it’s one of my favorites.

For me, it embodies the very nature of my walk with Christ.  In the next few minutes I hope to tell you why.

Let’s go back 2,000 years.  Imagine yourself to be one of Jesus’ disciples.  You followed this man for the past three years.  You witness the wonders, the miracles, and the signs.  You had hoped that he would establish God’s kingdom on earth.  But it ended.  It ended horribly.  Something went terribly, terribly wrong.  Your faith was shattered.  Even Jesus’ faith may have been shattered as you remember him crying out as he hung on the cross – “Father, why have you forsaken me?”  The blood drained from his body and, in the disciples minds, so did the hope for God’s kingdom.  It is finished.

They were afraid, very afraid.  People had seen them with this man.  Would they become victims, too?  Now imagine yourself in this position.  Go ahead and close your eyes if you have to – it’s early enough in my message that you won’t fall asleep.  You run.  You have to hide.  You gather with your co-conspirators as you were likely being called, and you hide.  You find a room and you seal the door.  You cover the windows, if there are any, and you tremble.  “What if they find us?  Will they crucify us, too?”  One of the 10 urges the others to “shhh”, we might be heard.

Then in the quiet they hear “Shalom,”  “Peace be with you.” 

If you had your eyes closed, open them now, just as the disciples would have to see Jesus standing before them.  None of them heard the door open, yet here was Jesus standing before them.  They knew it was Jesus because he showed them his hands and his side.

Then he said again, “Shalom.” 

Thomas wasn’t there for any of this.  We don’t know where he was or why he wasn’t there, but we know he joined the disciples sometime after Jesus appeared to them.  They were excited to tell Thomas what they had seen. 

A little background on Thomas:  Contrary to popular belief, Thomas’ first name was not ‘doubting.’  Though his skepticism is what he seems to be remembered for.  Remember it was Thomas, ever-faithful Thomas, who, when Jesus heard of Lazarus’ death, said let’s go and die with him.  The other disciples didn’t want to go back to Bethany.  They feared the crowds that wanted to stone Jesus.

Remember it was Thomas who asked Jesus one of the most famous questions. “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

But Thomas is remembered for saying “Unless I see it for myself, I will not believe it.”

We’re told that a week goes by.  I can’t imagine what that week was like, so maybe some of you can help me out with this.

 Imagine being cooped up with 10 people for a week – all of them telling you that they saw Elvis, no, really, it was Elvis!  He was at Dunkin’ Donuts.  We saw him – right there with the cream-filled donuts!”  Would you have doubts about the sanity of your friends?  Would you go mad?   The disciples, meanwhile, were likely just as crazed as Thomas for they had seen the risen Christ.  HE IS RISEN! 

Notice how Thomas deals with his doubt. He shares it. He tells them that their tale is unbelievable – unless I see for myself.   He also stays with the group. He is willing to stay to see how things work out. 

Let’s play a little game. I’ll say a word, and you tell me its opposite. Don’t be shy, just say the answer.

Black
Boy

Left

Up
Faith

The response took a little longer on that one, didn’t it?

What exactly is the opposite of faith? Faith – a confidence, belief or trust in someone or something without proof.  I’m not sure what the best answer is. Maybe the opposite of faith is unbelief. Often it seems that the opposite of faith is fear – You of little faith, why are you afraid?

One thing that I am sure about is that doubt is not the opposite of faith. Many people of faith, I’d venture to say all people of faith, have times of doubt or areas of doubt in their lives. We hush that up tough, don’t we?   We prefer to say that we are confused or that we don’t understand, but, in our hearts and minds, we have doubts.

Thomas’ doubts had a purpose.  Thomas hung in there because he wanted to know the truth.  Thomas is consistent in his character.  He struggled in his faith despite what he may have felt.  He didn’t hesitate to follow Jesus to Bethany with full knowledge, and belief, that Jesus and all of them might be killed.

Have you ever struggled with doubt?  I mean REALLY struggled?  I know I have.  We doubt ourselves.  Am I making the right decision?  We doubt others.  We likely doubt our faith. 

But doubt has a purpose for us, just as it did for Thomas.

The heroes of the faith all had doubts. Abraham laughed in disbelief when God promised to make him the father of nations. David, the man after God’s own heart, was guilty of adultery and murder. Doubt that much would come of him!  And there is that famous story in Mark that tells us of the father of a troubled child who cries out, “Lord I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”

Doubt encourages re-thinking.  It sharpens the mind rather than changing it.  Doubt asks the questions, gets the answers and pushes for a decision.  Doubt is like lifting your foot.  You’re poised to either move forward or backward.  But there is no motion until you put your foot down. 

Let’s play another game. Guess what I’m holding in my hand. Do you have any idea? What if I told you that I am holding a coin? Do you believe me? Do you have faith in what I say?   Now I have opened my hand and you can see that I was holding a coin. Now you have sure knowledge that I was holding a coin. Does that mean that your faith in me has diminished? No, in fact you may see me as a tiny bit more trustworthy than before.

The Rev. Tim Zukas summarized that little exercise by saying:  Many of us treat faith and knowledge as mutually exclusive. We think like this. In the universe of everything that might be, some of it we know for sure and we accept the rest by faith. Therefore, as knowledge increases, the need for faith declines. Because we have heard scientific accounts of the beginning of the universe, we feel that we no longer need God as an explanation of the event. As we unravel the chemistry of life, we assume that we have diminished the divine mystery of life. We think that faith and knowledge are mutually exclusive and we replace one with the other.

That is a profound misunderstanding of faith. Faith has more to do with relationship than with ideas. Faith is more concerned with the purposes, the why’s of life, than it is with the mechanisms, the how’s of life. Learning about ourselves or our world should increase our awe and bring us closer to our creator. It should not push us apart.

There are other common misunderstandings of faith.

Faith is not a feeling. Those who are in search of religious experiences can become nothing more that religious junkies looking for the next high.

Faith is not performance. It is true that as we develop in our relationship with God we will evidence the fruits of the spirit. However, the fact that we sometimes fail is not an indication that our faith is not real.

Faith does not mean that we get everything right. We can have a genuine relationship with God and still have serious errors in our understanding. Discovering that we have an error someplace in our understanding does not invalidate the relationship we have had with God.

So what if you find yourself with serious doubts. What should you do?

Think about this. It is often said that human beings have deep psychological needs for assurance and acceptance. It is argued that a common response to those needs is to imagine the existence of God who satisfies them. But isn’t the opposite more rational. Couldn’t it be that we have this need for God because God does exist and created us to live in a relationship with him? Imagine a three-year old child lost and alone in a store crying for his mommy. Now a store clerk comes and tries to calm the child. “I know that you have insecurities and a desire for a nurturing presence in your life. Those feelings, while real, have caused your psyche to create this imaginary mommy figure. It is time that you realized that there is no such thing as mommy and that you learn to address those needs in other ways.” That is nonsense, of course. Just because mothers meet real psychological and emotional needs does not mean that mothers don’t exist. In fact the opposite is true. We are wired to seek a nurturing relationship with our mothers, and mothers have a maternal instinct, precisely because the mother-child relationship is real. The needs wouldn’t make any sense if no such relationship existed.

Thomas had needs.  He needed proof positive that it was the risen Jesus that the disciples saw.  Jesus knew this.  He didn’t say, “Too bad, Thomas.  You’ll just have to go on faith that I rose from the dead.”

Instead, Jesus appeared again.  The doors to the room were again locked, yet Jesus stood among them.  He said, “Shalom – Peace be with you.”  Jesus offered his hands and his pierced side for Thomas to see and touch and he told him “Stop doubting and believe.”

And Thomas’ eyes were opened, his doubt dispelled.  He said, “My Lord and my God.”  The first time those words were spoken, the words that recognized the deity of Jesus, the ‘oneness’ with God, they came from Thomas’ lips.

Be encouraged by Thomas.  Doubt is OK.  But don’t stay in your doubt.  Thomas allowed Jesus, he required Jesus, to bring him to belief. 

Be encouraged by the countless others who have struggled with their doubts.  The answers that God gave them may help you.  Remember, Thomas had doubts because he was alone.  He wasn’t there to see originally.  Move on to decision and belief through faith.

We’re all kind of scarred and lumpy in places.  And Jesus, though in His resurrection body, kept the scars that Thomas might see them and believe.  He keeps them today

These scars became part of the fabric of evidence that the Resurrection was not a rumor or a figment of imagination brought about by grief and denial. The Resurrection was real.

What do these scars mean to us?

For us, they serves as a reminder of the humanity of Christ.

There is something about our scars that makes us real, believable, trustworthy. Maybe it is because we know that life hands out its damaging blows to all of us.
It is sometimes easy for us to accept the divinity of Christ, and to forget the humanity of Christ. But Christ was both divine and human.

In Philippians, Paul said (2:6-7), “Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Those scars remind us that Jesus remains human, just as he remains divine.
Those scars remind us that Jesus felt pain, just as we feel pain.
Those scars remind us that Jesus suffered, just as we suffer.
To Thomas, the scars meant evidence of the Resurrection.

Here is Jesus, the man, appearing to his friends and showing them the scars that his life, his suffering, and his death, inflicted on him. Isn’t it amazing that, in whatever occurred at the time of the resurrection, the scars were NOT obliterated? They remained.
We have a permanently scarred God. And he comes, scarred, to be with us with whatever scars we bear, with whatever wounds we carry, and with whatever doubts we harbor.

That’s an amazing demonstration of God’s love for us! That he would continue to carry the scars, the reminders of the pain and humiliation he went through.

Thomas needed those scars and maybe we do, too.

God breathed the breath of life into Adam.  Jesus breathed the spirit of God on the disciples and charged them with delivering God’s word to the world.  And we are God’s disciples.  God’s chosen.  All of us.  Doubts and all.  God loves us.

Please sing with me:

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me,

Let us pray:

Heavenly God, we thank you for breathing life into us and we thank you for the gift of your son that that life might be eternal.  Help us with our doubts when they arise that we may move closer to you and proclaim you as My Lord and my God.  AMEN

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on December 27th, 2009 based upon Matthew 2:1 – 11.

That was a beautiful, and very appropriate song that Barb sang.  It is indeed a pleasure for David, Dave and myself to be able to give Pastor Jeff that “Silent Night” that he deserves.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas!

David just read the familiar story of the three wise men and the revelation of the birth of the Christ child as they experienced it.  This story is in sharp contrast to the story we read on Christmas Eve.  On that evening, we read from Luke’s gospel of how the birth was revealed to the humblest of God’s creatures, the shepherds.  Shepherds of those days were kind of the outcasts of society.  They spent long hours away from the cities as they tended the flocks.  Oftentimes the sheep weren’t even their own, but belonged to their masters.  Yet the birth of God’s son was first reveled to these outcast creatures.  Some Bible scholars believe that Luke did this to cast Jesus in the same light as their ancient king, King David, who was himself a lowly shepherd before rising to be the greatest leader of Israel.

Matthew, however, tells the story of how Christ’s birth was revealed to the relative royalty of the day, the magi.  They were the “Kings of the Orient.”   They, too, sought out the Christ child – not really knowing for sure who or what he was, but believing He was something they should be seeking.  They proved this by the gifts they presented.  They brought gold, a gift that was fit for royalty to present to a King.  They brought frankincense, a gift that was presented to God, a gift that purified and sanctified the temples.  And they brought myrrh, a gift that was used to dress dead bodies – a gift that foretold of the death of the new king.

It’s the giving of these gifts that are used as the basis for the gift-giving cycle that we just experienced – the gifts we give to one another at Christmas.  In some cultures, the gift giving comes after Christmas at the celebration of the feast of the Three Kings.

 So today we’re going to talk about giving.  “Giving” is not a topic that many preachers and a lot of churches like to talk about.  There’s this fear that the congregation will see it as “Here they go – asking for money.  I give what I can, but they always ask for more.” 

 Well, you can’t please everyone when talking about gifts, can you?  There’s a story about a new pastor at a church.  He was having a discussion with some of the elders of the church about when to take the offering.  One suggestion was at the very beginning of the service.  Another countered that wouldn’t work because it will look like the church just can’t wait to get its money as soon a people get in the door.  Well, how about in the middle of the service?  No good – it interrupts “the flow.”  At the end, then?  Nope – doesn’t give people time to properly reflect on the message.

Don’t get concerned.  I’m not going to suggest reworking when the plate is passed.  But I am going to talk about what we do with it when it’s in front of us. 

You may have noticed that this is the last Sunday of the year.  Now if you think back over the year, you’ll notice that no one has yet discussed stewardship.  Stewardship is NOT giving a gift to God.  If you want to think in contemporary terms, one might be more correct to call it “re-gifting.”  That’s the relatively new term that describes the process of “passing on” a gift that one has received that he has no real use for or that one thinks someone else can put to better use.  You know how it works – a bride-to-be gets three toasters at her bridal shower and rather than go through the hassle of exchanging them for something else, she puts them in the closet and “re-gifts” them at the next shower or engagement party that she’s invited to.

 The practice is legitimate.  After all, it’s mine.  It was given to me.  I own it.  If I choose to give it to someone else, that’s what I can do.

 Stewardship, however, is a little bit different.  It recognizes that we are not owners, but merely caretakers.

In 1 Chronicles 29 we hear David as he prays as the people donate to build the temple:

¹⁰ David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,  ”Praise be to you, O Lord,  God of our father Israel,  from everlasting to everlasting.

¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,  for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;  you are exalted as head over all.

¹² Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.  In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.

¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. ¹⁵ We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.

“Stewardship” means: using God given abilities to manage God given resources, to accomplish God ordained results.

When I think of Stewardship, I often only think of money.  That’s giving of my resources. But giving money to the church is not stewardship; it is merely part of stewardship. Although you can’t be a steward without giving of money.
If stewardship isn’t about money, maybe it is about doing some good works.  That’s giving of my abilities. But what good you do for God in the church is not stewardship either. It is a part of good stewardship and you can’t be a steward without giving of your abilities.

Well, if stewardship is not about what I give and not about what I can do… what is it about?

Stewardship is about having the HEART OF STEWARDSHIP. In other words, good stewardship is a matter of ATTITUDE that stands behind your giving and your service.

It’s not what you give to, or what you do for, God, it’s why you do it.

Pastor Jeff Strite examined the parable of the Good Samaritan and wrote of three “attitudes” present in the story.  You’ll recall that a man had been robbed and left for dead in a ditch by the side of the road.  Some priests passed by the injured man and kept on going.  The Samaritan stopped and cared for the injured man.

The first attitude is What’s yours is mine and I’m going to take it.  We, as Christians know this is wrong.  In fact, the world understands this is wrong. 

In Malachi 3:8-10 God speaks to Israel…
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse– the whole nation of you– because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

  The 2nd attitude is What’s MINE is MINE and I’m going to keep it.

Who does Jesus say passed by this man in the ditch?  It was a Levite and a Pharisee. These were men of ministry. These were religious leaders. These were the DOERS in the congregation. They were trained to serve God, but they didn’t do anything for the beaten man.

In order for them to help this man, they’d have to give up something important to them… their time, their resources and their personal comfort.

They’ve been trained to do “religious things.” They’ve been trained to do ministry. But when the time comes to do “real ministry” they turn their heads away. Their attitude is “What’s mine is mine – I’m going to keep it.

Then there’s the third attitude – What’s MINE is YOURS and I’ll share it with you.

This Samaritan was not “trained in ministry.” The Samaritan was probably not any wealthier than the Levite or Pharisee. This Samaritan probably had other things to do in his life, and yet he stopped where the others walked on by.

What made the difference? – His attitude. The Samaritan’s attitude helped him to overcome his prejudice, ignore the inconvenience and to give up his possessions to take care of this man.  His attitude was what made his story worth telling.

To be a good steward, we have to settle the idea of ownership.

As I said before, a steward is someone who takes care of something for someone else. If you’re a steward, you don’t own what you have. So, if I’m going to be a “steward for God” I need to make up my mind that I don’t own…
1. My Time
2. My Money
3. My Possessions
4. My Relationships

They’re all His. They don’t belong to me. They belong to God and he’s entrusted me to manage them.

Think for a moment of that promise from Malachi – Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

If the promise was good for those under the Law… how much more do you think God will be faithful to us who are under His Grace.

Ask anyone why they came back to this church.  I’m sure you’ll hear that it was because they were made to feel “part of the family.”  Indeed, we are a welcoming congregation.  We are all accepted as part of the family and family doesn’t care where you came from, what you look like or what you have to offer.  I’ll paraphrase POGO here:  “We have seen the family and it is us.”  As such, we care about, and care for, one another just as we would for members of our own families.

But that may actually be the start of a problem for us.  We need to recognize that the teaching of Scripture is not to give to needs but to give back to God.

It’s especially difficult in this economic climate to talk about giving.  Many of us are retired and living on a fixed income.  Others are unemployed or under-employed. The country is in a major mess and you can blame the sub-prime mortgage lenders, or the adjustable rate mortgages if you want to.  Or you can blame the ability to drive the brand new car by “just signing here.”  Want the big screen TV? You can have that, too.  But there’s something underneath that; a hunger to have more than what God gave us.

Many are in perilous situations.  However, and you can trust me on this – when God spots you teetering at the edge of a cliff, one of two things will happen if you have faith and believe in God with all your heart, mind, body and spirit – either God will catch you or he’ll teach you how to fly! 

Now, I may regret closing with this thought because I don’t want this to be the only thing you remember as you contemplate stewardship.  We were designed to be giving.  We were made to be generous.  We’re told that the Father knows every hair on our heads and that nary a sparrow falls from the sky without the Lord knowing about it.  He gave it all to us and we’re to care for it as His stewards.  But we can’t just take it all in without giving it back.  To do so causes spiritual, emotional and financial constipation.

You know that feeling – it’s uncomfortable isn’t it?  You keep taking in and taking in, but nothing passes through.  It’s painful.

Why am I not satisfied?  Because we weren’t made to take in and take in, but not give out.  Love is like that.  We don’t feel love and then give love.  It’s the reverse – we give love and then we feel it.  God gave us everything we have, including His Son.  We can find joy in generosity.  We can be happy in helping.  We find God’s grace in being good stewards.

The new year is just days away.  Perhaps it’s a good time to look at what will fulfill us as members of the body of Christ.  God said, “What’s mine is yours and I share it with you.”  Can we honestly do any less?

===============

Heavenly Father we thank you for the year that is about to close as we eagerly look forward to a new year and a new opportunity to serve you and your body.  Help us to recognize all that you’ve entrusted to us and to be good stewards of all that is yours.

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on July 5, 2009 based upon Mark 6: 1 – 13, entitled “Independence and Inter-dependence.”

 

‘Independence’ led me to ‘freedom.’  I found the definitions of the two words dependent on one another; kind of interconnected.  However, the definitions of the two words, curiously, used the negative voice – telling me what they were not rather than what they were.

 

For example, ‘freedom’ is not being under the direction, control or regulation of another; the absence or release of ties or obligations.  Likewise, ‘independence’ was freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others. 

 

That’s when it hit me.  The very essence of this great nation – its independence, and the freedom provided by it, seem to have undergone a shift of some sort.  We complain about what is wrong with it, but only occasionally make any effort to right the wrongs.  And many of those efforts are merely asking someone else to fix it for us.  And we get upset when they don’t.  Who among us hasn’t complained about the bums in Washington, or Trenton or even our local town halls?

 

The large majority of us haven’t earned the freedoms we enjoy.  Only a few of us, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your sacrifice, fought for them.  Most of us have not shed our blood & sweat & tears for them.

A poet expressed it well, saying: “We eat from orchards we did not plant. We drink from wells we did not dig. We reap from fields we did not sow. We are warmed by fires we did not kindle. We are sheltered by roofs we did not build. We are blessed by moneys we did not give.”

 

We are a capitalist society, but capitalism without conscience becomes a cruel and ruthless form of life where competition and success and greed and materialism and ‘me first’ and ‘my hurry is more important than yours’ and road rage all combine to corrupt and we lose our concern for others.

 

Remember that scripture passage during the children’s message this morning:  Even though I speak the languages of men and even of the angels, but if I have not love, I’m nothing more than a clanging gong or a crashing cymbal.  Today’s translation:  Without love, I’m just the ‘noise’ of society.

 

We sacrifice our freedom, or, at the very least, we become burdened by it.  We forget that to think of independence we must also think of interdependence.  It’s that sense of community and interconnectedness that we all long for and that we must rely upon.  William James, an American psychologist and philosopher from the late 19th century, pointed to the importance of both individuality and community.  He said: “The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.”

 

 

Let’s look again at the scripture passage that David read for us this morning.  Jesus had returned to Nazareth, his hometown, but, though the people were amazed at some of the things he did, they rejected him.  For a better explanation as to why they rejected Jesus, let’s look at the companion scripture from Luke.  (Luke 4:16-21)

”He (Jesus) went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

 

If you listened to David’s reading, he told us the reaction of the people as recoded by Mark:  “Where did this man get these things?”  “What’s this wisdom that’s been given to him?  Isn’t this the carpenter?  Isn’t he Mary’s son, the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?   Aren’t his sisters here?”  Then Mark tells us “they took offense at him.”  Luke tells us they drove him out of town and were ready to throw him off a cliff.

 

It was all because he didn’t meet their expectations.  The Jews wanted their promised King.  They wanted a strong leader that would release them from Roman rule.  “Hey, we know this guy!” they said.  “In fact, we know his whole family!  How can he claim to be the anointed one?”

 

The people from Jesus’ own hometown limited him.  They limited God.  This man was too weak.  After all, he’s only a carpenter who’s now tying to be a rabbi who must have too much wine because now he’s claiming to be the messiah.  He’s nuts!  Throw the bum out!

 

Our world calls us to be strong, to succeed, to be upwardly mobile, to make more to buy more to ‘make more noise’, but our God calls us to surrender, to be dependent on him, to be concerned about our neighbor, to treat others with kindness, humility and honesty and to love. 

 

 Jesus came as a servant. He came to show that God didn’t want men of superhuman ability, but he wanted men who would believe in God’s power for their lives. He showed that God wanted people who would live in a new way.  He showed that when you are weak, believing in God and not self, then you are really strong.

 

Paul said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

In our weakest moments, God’s grace is sufficient for us.  And that grace gives us strength.

 

Jesus sent his disciples out telling them to take nothing but the clothes on their backs.  Can you imagine leaving on a business trip or for a vacation without taking “things” with you?  No extra clothes, no money, no credit cards, heaven forbid – no laptop, cell phone or Blackberry – nothing.  Just take your faith.  My grace is sufficient for you.  And Mark’s gospel tells us that the disciples were successful.

 

The disciples chose the freedom, the grace, offered to them by their teacher. 

 

Connie is reading a book – The Shack – she recommends it – and she told me a story from the book about a bluebird.  In the story, the bluebird – very much looking every bit like a bluebird looks – chose to hop about rather than to fly.  His hopping made him no less a bluebird, but it certainly did limit him.  The book also attempts a description of the Trinity.  A man can be a husband a father and an office worker; fulfilling his role as one does not negate his roles as the other two.

 

 

Our God is like that, and our community can be like that.  We can place limits on what our God is just as we place limits on our freedom.  We can place limits on our God by neglecting the independence granted to us by the Christ that went to the cross to give His life to gain our freedom from sin. We can limit our strength by refusing our weakness.

 

As we approach the communion table today, let’s remember the new way of looking at strength that Jesus gave us by revealing his weakness.  Let’s remember that our independence relies on interdependence.  And let’s remember that God’s grace is, and always will be, sufficient.

 

 

 

 

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on May 17th, 2009 based on John 15: 9 – 17

The Gospel lesson that David just read for us is part of what is often referred to as Jesus’ “farewell address” to his disciples.  Last week we learned about “connectedness” as Jesus used the metaphor of a grapevine and its branches.  Being tended by the gardener, God, we are pruned and cared for so that we can bear much fruit.

Today, Jesus talks about love and the complete joy that results from that love.  Love can be a tricky word in the English language.  For example, I can say, “I love a good plate of lasagna,” or, “I love living in Parsippany,” but that word doesn’t have the same meaning as the word does when I say, “I love you,” to my wife or to my boys.

Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  …..  My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you.”

We need to love others the way He loves us.

But how does God love us?

He loves us by seeing us more than just skin deep. Therefore, if I’m going to have God as my role model, I need to see others underneath their skins.

In 1 Samuel we read, “People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   In order to start loving people like God loves them I’m going to have to start seeing people like God sees them!

Fred Coleman sent me an email the other day called “Clay Balls.”  Maybe he sent it to you, too. 

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore.  In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.  It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.   They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.  As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.  

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock.  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! 

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure.  He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.   

Then it struck him.  He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.  Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!  

It’s like that with people.  We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside.  It isn’t always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.  

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy.  But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.  

There is a treasure in each and every one of us.  If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. 

God is calling us to be like Him, to love others in spite of their outward flaws of appearance and personality quirks and bad habits and aggravating attitudes. We need to love them in spite of our differences. ###

Then we need to be willing to give.  Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: that he lay down his life for his friends.”  Does this mean that we throw ourselves in front of the bus for someone else?  Peter must have thought so.  Remember when they were still at the table at the Last Supper when Peter said, “I will lay down my life for you.”?  Well, we know how that turned out.  Peter, at that time, couldn’t even live for Jesus let alone give his life for him.  Jesus’ statement doesn’t mean to give unless it’s inconvenient, troublesome, or there’s some personal risk involved.  It means to always give.

 

Putting our lives on the line for others is compassionate. It’s sharing.  It’s giving of your abilities or talents, or maybe it’s just giving of your time.

Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois did something several years ago that is simply an amazing example of giving.  They reported in the summer 2003 edition of the Christian magazine “Leadership” that they had called the homeless shelters and asked what they really needed. They said shoes. So one Sunday at the close of the worship gathering they ended with a challenge to use that day as a marker if they were really serious about having a Christ-centered heart about helping the poor. “We invited them to come forward,” Pastor Bill Carroll reported, “take communion, remove their shoes and leave them on the stage, and return to their cars barefoot. Besides 1,600 pairs of shoes, people also left coats, hats, and gloves.”

George Bernard Shaw puts it: “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” Leo Tolstoy said, “Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.”

Paul lists joy second in the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians saying,: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Nothing is more indicative of Christian love than giving and the joy that comes from giving.

In verse 14, Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” 

Our human nature could react negatively to these words.  We could say, “So, I can only be Jesus’ friend if I jump through His hoops?  No thanks!  I don’t want a friend that keeps a checklist on what I am and am not doing.”

Who is being hurt if we ignore Jesus’ commands?  Think for a moment of a family dispute.  Someone has done something wrong.  The fellowship of that family member may be severed for a while, but the relationship never dies.  The fellowship ,ay be interrupted, but the relationship never dies.

We’re the ones who impair our own chances at fulfilling relationships by disregarding Christ’s commands – commands and instructions that He gives us for our own good. He wants our joy to be “complete.” He wants our relationships with Him and with one another, to be satisfying.

Then Jesus says one of the most astounding comments in all the Scriptures, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Christ said He isn’t interested in us just being His servants. He wants us to be His friends.

 

A lot of people have a terrible misconception about what following Christ is all about. They think its just about following this long list of rules. Keep the checklist handy – do this, don’t do that, check, check! Well, if we were just servants then that would be the case. But Jesus clearly says here that He wants us as more than servants. He wants us as friends!

Following Christ is not just about rules – it’s more about relationships!

 

Earlier I mentioned that the word “love” is a tough one in the English language.  Well, “friend” isn’t much easier.  A friend is a lover, literally. The relationship between the Latin am?cus “friend” and am? “I love” is clear, as is the relationship between the Greek philos “friend” and phile? “I love.”

Jesus is saying, “I want you as my friend. I want to be your friend!”

We need Jesus as our friend.  Without that friendship with Him we are just servants following, and most likely failing, the checklist.

It’s been said that a friend is someone you can call at 4 AM to come bail you out of jail.  However, a true friend will be sitting next to you in jail saying, “Dude!  That was a blast!  When can we do it again?’

 

Now I’m not suggesting doing anything illegal in the name of friendship.  And maybe that’s not the best example to use in a sermon.  But I hope you get the idea.  A friend is someone we can share with: our ups and downs, our hopes and our failures, our smiles and our tears.  We choose our friends carefully, don’t we?  While working on this sermon, I got to thinking of the number of friends I’ve had over the years.  Some I still have.  Some I only have occasional contact with.  Others have completely faded into the mist of my life’s journey.  My solace, as I sat and thought about whatever happened to…..was that maybe they were at some point in their life saying the same thing about me.  And these were people that knew, at the time, my deepest secrets.  They saw me unmasked and I saw them.  But having Jesus as a friend is everlasting, eternal.  Yes, we may interrupt the fellowship, but the relationship is always there.

Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you….”  Jesus called the disciples just as He calls us.  I can’t think of a single disciple that ran after Jesus calling, “Hey!  Hey, Jesus.  Can I join your club?”

 

 

In Revelation, Jesus said,  “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”

I asked Barb if she would mind changing our closing hymn today.  It will be #526 – What A Friend We Have In Jesus.

More than a century ago, on the streets of Port Hope, Ontario, a man could be seen walking along carrying a saw and a sawhorse. One day a rich man from across the street saw him and said to a friend, “He looks like a sober man. I think I’ll hire him to cut wood for me.” “That’s Joseph Scriven,” the friend replied. “He wouldn’t cut wood for you. He only cuts wood for those who don’t have enough to pay.” And that sums up the philosophy of Joseph Medlicott Scriven.

Scriven was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1819. At age 25, he finally settled in Canada.

His faith led him to do menial tasks for poor widows and the sick. He often worked for no wages and was regarded by the people of the community as a kind man, albeit a bit odd.

In 1855, a friend visited an ill Scriven and discovered a poem that he had written for his ailing mother in faraway Ireland. Scriven didn’t have the money to visit her, but he sent her the poem as an encouragement. He called it “Pray Without Ceasing.”

 When the friend inquired about the poem’s origins, Scriven reportedly answered, “The Lord and I did it between us.”

Scriven never intended for the poem to be published, but it made its rounds, and was set to music in 1868 by musician Charles Converse, who titled it “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” It has since become one of our greatest hymns.

Scriven died in 1886. In his memory, the town of Port Hope erected a monument with this inscription from Scriven’s famous song: In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.

As you sing this hymn, please listen to the words with your heart.  Know that Jesus is God, but, more importantly, He is your friend.

Please pray with me:

 Heavenly Father, we thank you for the words of your son, Jesus, that we heard today.  Please help us to love as Jesus loved us and to accept His offer of friendship as our own.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on Mother’s Day, May 10th, 2009, based upon John 15: 1 – 8 and 1 John 4: 7 – 12, entitled “Being Connected”

 

The topic today is ‘being connected.’  The current state of our world economy demonstrates our interdependence.  However, our connectedness as Christians makes us unique.

 

Let’s look back to the Gospel lesson from John that David read just before the children’s sermon.  In summary, we can look at this passage in some distinct parts that make the whole.

 

First, Jesus says, “I am the true vine.”  The vine is the source of life and it carries the burden of creating the fruit.  If a branch is cut off of the vine, it withers and dies.  It certainly can bear no fruit.

 

Second, God the Father is the Gardener.  Now what does a gardener do?  We’re told in this passage that God does several things to ensure that the vine bears fruit.  Most modern translations tell us that God “cuts off” or “takes away” every branch that does not bear fruit.  On the surface this can be quite disturbing.  How can a God that claims to love me simply “cut me off?”  How can we read in the passage from 1 John chapter 4, that greatest truth of the Bible, that “God is Love” and have Him just cast us away?  This really troubles me.

 

However, the original word from the Greek texts is “airo.”  Airo has as many as four possible meanings. It can mean “to lift up or pick up”. It can mean “to lift up figuratively, as in lifting up one’s eyes or one’s voice”. Third, it can mean, “to lift up, with the added thought of lifting up in order to carry away”. Last, it can mean what most translators have taken it to mean, that is, “to remove”.  But doesn’t that removal go against the overall theme of Christianity?  There is compassion and forgiveness to be found everywhere else in Scripture and I think it applies here if we use the definition of “lifting up” rather than “removing.”

 

Admittedly, I had to do some reading about grapevines.  What I found out seems to better fit that Jesus meant that God, the Gardener, lifts us up.  After winter’s end, a vintner will survey his vines and pick up those that have fallen to the ground.  Grapevines have these little shoots on their branches that will attempt to take root on their own if they are left in contact with the ground.  It’s Jesus’ desire that we remain in Him and Him in us.

 

Next, God prunes us.  Is this an example of “Why God lets bad things happen to good people?”  Several volumes have been written on that topic and we’ll not go there today.  Here’s another occasion where the original Greek text better tells the story.

 

The word “prune” also means “to clean.”  A vintner will always check his vines for parasites and moss growth that can impair the production of good fruit.  When he finds them, he prunes, or cleans, the vine so that it can be even more fruitful.

 

Then Jesus comes to His promise.  He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ….If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

 

The story is told of a native from a remote mountain village that had the opportunity to visit a large modern city for the first time. He could not bring much home with him, and he had little money. But he was amazed at the electric lights which he saw everywhere. So he bought a bag full of electric light bulbs and sockets with switches so he could turn them off and on.

Arriving home he hung the light bulbs in front of his home and on his and his neighbor’s trees. Everyone watched him with curiosity and asked him what he was doing, but he just smiled and said, “Just wait until dark–you’ll see.”

When night came he turned on the switches, but nothing happened. No one had told him about electricity. He did not know the light bulbs were useless unless connected to the source of their power.

 

That’s what Jesus was talking about.  Being connected and staying connected and allowing Jesus to be in control of our switches so we can be useful lights, lights than dispel the darkness.

 

Can you see the parallels to motherhood?  Today we recognize mothers, but, since an ever-increasing number of Fathers are “stay-at-home” Dads, I’m going to include them, too.

 

Can you imagine a child growing up who’s disconnected from proper parenting?  Parent and child both lose.  A child needs to have guidance.  Remember, “Bring up a child in the way he should grow and when he is old, he will not depart from it?”

 

Those among us with older children know it all too well and those with younger children will learn it all too soon – there is joy and pain in parenting.  And if God is our Father, He knows this as well.

 

We’ve taken the training wheels off of bicycles and watched them fall.  And we’ve been there to pick them up.  And then we watched them ride to the end of the street, wobbly at first, but making it there because we taught them how to ride.

 

We’ve watched them wander off in a crowded store because they were “a big kid now.”  And we kept a watchful eye on them and were right there when they started to cry because they felt they were lost when they could no longer see you.

 

Of course we’ve kept them away from real injury.  We didn’t allow them to touch hot stoves or to go in the deep end before they could prove they could swim in shallow water.

 

We’ve also exposed our hearts as they grew and were there when their hearts were broken for the first time.  And their tears blended with ours as hearts healed and became the stronger for it.

 

It’s a process of “lifting up” and “pruning” their development. 

 

Like I said before, some of you have been there, done that, and many of you even have the T-shirt to prove it!  Many of you are on the parenthood journey now.  Some have yet to start it.  But we all have at least witnessed it from the child’s-eye view.  If not from our own parents, we can witness it as being children of God.

 

Do you see the “connectedness?’  In the passage from 1 John we learned that God is Love.  And that “everyone that loves has been born of God and knows God.  …..This is Love; not that we loved God but that He loved us.  …..since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 

We can only accomplish this when we stay connected to God.  Whether the example of the grapevine works for you or perhaps you’re better suited to think of being “plugged in” like the light bulb.  Whether you think of being a child of God or think of your role as a Mother makes no difference.  We can only find joy in our lives when we’re connected to God and to one another.  He is the Gardener that will lift us up, prune us when necessary and He delights in us when we bear good fruit.

 

I’d like to conclude today with a tribute to Mothers written by the late Erma Bombeck: 

When God Created Mothers

When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of “overtime” when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order?

·       She has to be completely washable, but not plastic;

·       Have 180 movable parts… all replaceable;

·       Run on black coffee and leftovers;

·       Have a lap that disappears when she stands up;

·       A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair;

·       And six pairs of hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands… no way.”

“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”

“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “Go to bed. Tomorrow…”

“I can’t,” said the Lord, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick… can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger… and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.

“But she’s tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”

“Can it think?”

“Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You You were trying to push too much into this model.”

“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”

“What’s it for?”

“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”

“You are a genius,” said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said.

Please pray with me:

 

Father, we thank you for Jesus and that we can be connected to you through him and through your Word.  We thank you for giving us the responsibility of motherhood and for so many examples of those bearing fruit by going through it with You.  We ask you now to help us see your Love as a shining light to follow toward being better connected with You, through Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen

 

A sermon delivered on April 5, 2009 (Palm Sunday) by Bob Keller based upon Mark 11: 1 – 11 and Mark 14: 1 – 15, entitled “Step-by-Step from the Palms to the Passion.”

 

 It’s Palm Sunday.  Earlier, David read the account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem from Mark’s Gospel.  The prophecies of Zechariah and from Isaiah were fulfilled as he rode into Jerusalem that Sunday on a colt, the foal of a donkey – one that had never had a rider upon it.

 

Now I’m not sure how the crowd formed, but it did form.  There were thousands upon thousands of Jews in the city for the Passover celebration, the holiest time of the Jewish calendar.  Word would have, could have, spread quickly through a crowd like that.

 

Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

 

These are words the Jews had been longing to hear – and they heard them that day.  Imagine being there.  You move toward the crowd.  And you can’t see a thing!  You crane your neck.  You stand on a wall.  You push and shove – and you’re shouting Hosanna!, too!  You watch little children squeeze between the legs of adults just to see what the fuss is about.  And then, then, you see him.

 

It is just as it was foretold.  These people had sung from Psalm 118 – “O Lord save us, O Lord, grant us success.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

They knew the words of the prophet Zechariah – “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

 

Our king is finally here!  Now the Romans will be forced out of Jerusalem.  No longer will we have to watch our backs.  Our Holy City will once again be ours!

 

Expectations couldn’t have been higher for the salvation of Jerusalem and the emancipation of the Jews.  So they danced.  They sang.  It was a celebration to end all celebrations!  They shouted Hosanna!

 

There is a story told of a young boy that lived on a farm on the outskirts of a city, probably somewhere in Nebraska or Iowa, many years ago.  This was in the days before TV brought images into every living room in the land.  Well this boy was on his way home from school one day and he saw a few men putting something up on a fence.  When they were finished, he went to have a look. There on the fence was a poster – a big poster announcing that the circus was coming to town!

 

The boy had never seen anything like what was portrayed on the poster.  Pictures of roaring lions and tigers and elephants and a man on a trapeze were on the poster.  About the most exciting thing the boy had seen to date was the county fair. 

His eyes were as big as saucers as he ran home with the image of the circus poster fresh in his little head.  He found his father and said, “Dad, Dad – can I go? Can I go?”

 

His father was confused and said, “Where?”

 

“Dad, it’s the circus.  It’s coming to town!  Can I go?  Can I go?”

 

Money was tight back then, but the father agreed, as long as the boy did his chores.

 

The day arrived for the circus and the boy could hardly contain himself.  All of his chores were done early and he went to his father. 

 

“Dad, all my chores are done and the circus is coming today.  Can I go?  You promised.”

 

The father reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar.  He handed it to the boy and said. “Have a good time!”  That was more money than the boy had ever seen before and he tucked it carefully into his own pocket.

 

The boy ran to town and got a spot among the anxious crowd.  Then he saw it. It was just like on the poster!  It was the circus parade!  The band passed by.  Then there were the beautiful performers in their circus costumes.  He spotted a man that looked just like the trapeze man on the poster.  And there were tumblers and jugglers and horses decorated with fancy ribbons and plumes.  What a sight!

 

Then the wagons came with the roaring lions and tigers.  He was scared, but he was frozen in awe and what he was seeing!   As he looked down the street he saw puffs of smoke.  Were they bringing a locomotive down the street?!?  Then he heard it!   It was the steam-powered calliope.

 

Then the elephants came.  They were the biggest animals he had ever seen!

 

At the very end of the parade was a single clown, complete with funny costume, made-up face and big, floppy shoes.  The boy ran up to the clown and put his dollar in the clown’s hand.

 

He thought he had seen the circus.  He thought that was all there was.  He went home satisfied.

 

And just a few short days after Jesus entered Jerusalem, their Hosannas would turn to shouts of Crucify him!  Crucify him!

 

Why?

 

Their dreams, their expectations, met the stark brick wall of reality – Jesus’ reality.  They just didn’t understand.  Luke’s gospel tells us that even Jesus wept as he rode into Jerusalem, for he knew the dreams of this day would turn into the reality of pain, suffering and death.

 

Jesus wasn’t the warrior king that would come to destroy the Romans.  He came to destroy death. Jesus was a suffering Messiah, a king who would suffer for the sins of all the people.

And the people could not understand this.  Their expectations of a conquering king were not fulfilled.  They cried crucify him because Jesus had let them down. They were celebrating Passover, but they didn’t understand that Jesus was the lamb who was to be sacrificed. 

The people missed the point and they were angry.

 

In the passage that David read just before the sermon, also from Mark’s gospel, we learn of someone who did understand.  Here we meet a woman, but only in John’s gospel does she have a name – Mary.  Was she Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus?  Mary Magdalene?  We don’t know.  But she was a woman so overcome with love for the Lord that she lavished quite an extravagance on Him. 

 

Now, admit it, we’ve all done some pretty extravagant  things for love, haven’t we?  We do it because our love has no bounds – we’ve spent too much, stayed too long, let other things go.

 

But this woman poured out the equivalent of a year’s pay on Jesus head.  She had to.  She broke the jar.  What can be saved in a broken jar?  Then she took down her hair – hair was a woman’s ‘crowning glory’ in those days – and wiped the feet of Jesus.

 

We were told that those in the room were indignant, especially the disciples.  That perfume could have been sold and the money distributed to the poor, they said.

 

  But Jesus said, “Leave her alone.”  He added. “She did what she could.  She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.  ….Throughout the world, what she has done will … be told, in memory of her.”

 

When the day comes that I stand before God’s throne, I hope to hear Jesus say, “Father, this is Bob. He is mine, & he did what he could. Many others did more. Some did less. But he took what we gave him & he did what he could.”

 

That is being like Mary and, in a way, that is being like Jesus.  Jesus didn’t ride halfway into Jerusalem.  He never “half-healed” a leper.  He never restored partial sight.  He never let a lame man go with a slight limp.  No!  The leper was healed.  The blind saw.  The lame walked and ran and danced.

 

And Jesus went all the way to the cross.  Please, this Holy Week, don’t jump from the triumphal entry to the empty tomb.  Take it step-by-step.  Go from “the palm” to the passion. 

 

Remember why Jesus wept as he entered Jerusalem – because he knew that so many just didn’t understand, but he died for them, and for me, and for you, anyway.  We need to focus on the passion as well as the palm; the future as well as the present; and we need to see Jesus as God.  It will only be by looking to the cross that we can realize just what kind of sacrifice Jesus made for us out of His love for us.

Remember the One who came to take our place.  Remember that He who died for us is still living today, and He is still loving us today.

 

As we remember these things, let’s not come halfway, but all the way to the Lord’s Table as we celebrate the love and grace provided to us.  He chose us as His own and He showed that grace by going all the way to the cross for all of us.  His life, His death and His resurrection give us the power to see Him, to love Him, as He first loved us.

A sermon preached by Bob Keller on December 28, 2008 based on Luke 2: 22 – 40.

 

If you listen, and you don’t have to be listening that carefully, you’ll hear it.  FWUMP! That’s the sound of the big after Christmas letdown.  We’ve all seen it and maybe some of us have felt it.  All the anticipation that builds and builds through the days and weeks of preparation and then, then it’s all over.

 

Anticipation?  Christmas is something that the retail industry tells us that we should start preparing for before Halloween is in full swing.  The common refrain is, “It seems to start earlier every year!”  And what happens to all that anticipation?  It’s over in a day or two?  Or maybe you have a week of celebration with family and friends?  Then that inevitable FWUMP comes!  And trust me, that FWUMP may come even sooner if Christmas wishes were not fulfilled exactly as anticipated.

 

What of the anticipation of the two characters we met in the scriptures that David read for us this morning?  This reading is sandwiched in between Luke’s very familiar story of the birth of Christ and picks up again when Jesus is 12 years old’

 

First we learn that Mary and Joseph were followers of the Law.  They went to the temple in Jerusalem, a journey of about five miles from their temporary home in Bethlehem, for Mary’s purification after childbirth and to consecrate their first-born son to the Lord.

 

 So Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are in the temple courts and we meet Simeon.  This is the only place in the Bible where Simeon is mentioned.  However, he must have been someone special.  In the reading we learned that the Holy Spirit was upon him, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Christ, and the Holy Spirit moved him to go in to the temple courts.  There Simeon saw the parents bring in the child.

 

Now I wonder what Simeon may have been anticipating.  We have no idea how old Simeon was, nor do we know how long he had the promise from God that he would not die before seeing the Christ.  Some scholars suggest that he must have been an old man.  But what was he expecting?  A king?  A warrior?  A liberator that would free his people from Roman rule?  Surely this new leader of the nations would not be a mere baby!

 

But remember, Simeon was a man full of, and led by, the Holy Spirit.  He went right to the baby and took him in his arms and he praised God for fulfilling His promise of salvation in sight of all people for both revelation to the Gentiles and the children of Israel.  In other words, to everyone.

 

Mary and Joseph marveled at what was said about their son.  Then Simeon blessed them both, but spoke to Mary.  He gave Mary a warning that her son would cause rising and falling in Israel.  If you think of Jesus as a rock, he can be the rock on which you build your life or he can be the rock that you stumble over.

 

Now something else that Simeon said while praising God deserves separate attention.  Simeon says “dismiss your servant in peace.”  In other words – “Lord I can die now – I’ve seen your promise fulfilled.  I’ve held the Messiah in my arms.”    Wow!  What more of a thrill could a human ask for?

 

This time of year – this upcoming FWUMP time – is a time when depression and suicides typically rise.  It’s because what was anticipated wasn’t fulfilled.  There is an emptiness, but note that Simeon is ready “to go” because all HAS been fulfilled.  He is full of hope and joy at knowing that God’s promise has been fulfilled.  He has seen and held the Christ.

 

Now we meet Anna, a prophetess.  Anna was an 84 year old widowed woman.  She had been married for seven years, but since losing her husband, she’s dedicated herself to living in the temple, worshipping night and day, praying and fasting.  The assumption is made that Anna, too, was anticipating the Christ child.  At the moment she saw the holy family, she came up to them, gave thanks to God, and then spoke of the child to everyone that was anticipating the redemption of Jerusalem.  Was Anna expecting the Redeemer to be a baby?

 

Simeon and Anna are seldom seen as characters in Christmas plays.  Never seen on Christmas cards, nor are there any carols about Simeon and Anna.  But let me suggest to you that these two are just important to the Christmas story as the shepherds or the wise men.  Why, because of their anticipation.  They were relying on God’s promise that his Christ would come.  They were waiting.  They may not have known what to expect, but they knew Him when they saw Him.  Their anticipations were met.

 

Anticipation can lead to two things – and these are the words I’d like you to take with you today – FRUSTRATION or FASCINATION.

 

Let me illustrate by telling you a story that appeared in “Bit & Pieces” magazine.  The author is Rob Gilbert who is editor of that magazine.

  

Last spring I was walking in a park. A short distance ahead of me was a Mom and her three-year-old daughter. The little girl was holding on to a string that was attached to a beautiful heart shaped balloon.

All of a sudden, a sharp gust of wind took the balloon from the little girl. I braced myself for some screaming and crying. But, no! As the little girl turned to watch her balloon go skyward, she gleefully shouted out,

“Wow!” as it played with the (unseen) winds and bounced its way into the clouds. (And I’m positive that she made sure that her mother saw it, too.  I can see the little girl tugging on her mother’s hand and then pointing to the ever smaller dancing balloon.  She wasn’t unhappy about losing her balloon – she was happy that it was going someplace.  Then saying, Wow!)

I didn’t realize it at that moment, but that little girl taught me something.

Later that day, I received a phone call from a person with news of an unexpected problem. I felt like responding with

“Oh no, that is terrible.” But remembering that little girl, I found myself saying,

“Wow, that is interesting! How can I help?”

One thing is for sure – life’s always going to keep us off balance with its unexpected problems. That’s a given. What’s not preordained is our response. We can choose to be frustrated or fascinated.

No matter what the situation, a fascinated “Wow!” will always beat a frustrated “Oh, no.”

I’m sure that both Simeon and Anna were frustrated.  After all, they had been waiting for quite some time for God the Father to fulfill his promise of delivering his Christ.  But then they saw Him.  Simeon actually held him.  I’m sure that, if in the first century when Luke wrote his Gospel, if the word “Wow” existed, that would have been the first word out of the mouths of both Simeon and Anna.  The word “Wow” not at their disposal, they praised God and gave thanks.

 

Now to our anticipation.  We know that inevitable “FWUMP” is coming.  It’s not one of life’s unexpected problems.  How do we deal with it?  Are we frustrated or fascinated?  Let me suggest the latter, and here’s why:  God gave the gift of his only son some two thousand years ago.  He gave that gift to everyone.  Remember, just as Simeon said, For my eyes have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

He gave His Son that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

And he still gives His Son today.  Through this Christmas season we were reminded of that most precious gift that we received 2,000 years ago, but it’s a gift that we can still receive today.  When that FWUMP hits, don’t be frustrated.  Remember God’s gift.  Remember that anticipation and be fascinated by it!

 

And be moved by it.  Remember that Joseph moved.  Mary moved.  The shepherds and the angels moved.  Even the wise men moved.  And lastly Simeon was moved, moved by the Spirit.  Trust your fascination at God’s gift to move you past the FWUMP and into a closer walk with Jesus.  It will be a fascinating journey.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Please pray with me>>>>>>>>>>

Heavenly Father, we confess our frailties.  We set our expectations so high and then try to reach them ourselves only to allow the same inevitable “let downs” into our lives.  Help us to be tired of hearing the “FWUMPS”

Please teach us that all we need comes from you and comes abundantly from you.  Help us to learn to be fascinated by the wonderful things you have provided for us, most of all, that precious gift of your son, Jesus Christ.  Amen

“What the Church Means to Me,” words spoken in worship by Justin Cogan

 

Pastor Jeff asked if I could take a few minutes this morning to come up here and describe what our Church means to me.  Under normal circumstances, I’d be a little anxious addressing a crowd this size, but it occurred to me as I prepared my message earlier this week that I was not feeling nervous, and I think the main reason for that is that I’m not up here addressing a group of strangers…I’m just talking to my family…my Church Family.

 

In many ways, I feel like the congregation of the PUMC is like family, and I know that I am not alone in that belief.  When Alison and I first came to worship at PUMC 11 years ago, we immediately felt welcomed into the community here.  That warm embrace of Christian fellowship has only gotten stronger though the years – particularly as our family has continued to grow.  I think back to Eddie and Cassie as babies sitting with “Grandma” Eleanor Cochrane while Alison and I practiced with the Bell Choir, or when little Beth was about to have her kidney surgery, and it seemed like the entire Church came forward onto the altar here and laid their hands on us in prayer.  I can remember the joyous surprise we had that first Sunday we got to introduce our newest foster placement TJ to our Church Family, and how special it was to have little Marissa, barely a year old, play a distinctively feminine baby Jesus in the Christmas Pageant.

 

Alison and I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful group of people here at PUMC to make our children feel special and loved.  There have been some Sundays, mind you, when Alison and I have been almost certain that we deserved to be asked to stay away.  Since I was raised a Roman Catholic, I often feel an extra sensitivity toward the sacredness of worship service.  The church I attended as a boy had a soundproof room at the back of the sanctuary where parents with young children were expected to sit.  No doubt an offshoot of the whole “children should be seen and not heard” mantra.  Here at PUMC, I am always amazed that my sometimes “disruptive” (you’ll never believe how long it took me to carefully choose that word) children are always welcomed back with open arms each Sunday. 

 

Children, not just mine, are truly nurtured here at PUMC.  You can see it in how their eyes happily shine during the Passing of the Peace.  You can hear it in the simple wisdom they share during Jeff’s Children’s Sermon.  You can feel it in the eager anticipation they have, bouncing in line to snag a tasty treat from the Coffee Hour Crew. 

 

The unconditional love that this Church Family has for its children is just one of the many gifts we are blessed to share with each other here at the Parsippany United Methodist Church.  I would humbly ask that you keep this special grace in mind as we approach Consecration Sunday on December 7th.  Thank you, and may God bless you.

A sermon preached on November 2, 2008 (All Saints Sunday) by Bob Keller, based upon Revelation 7:9 – 17 and Matthew 5:1 – 12

Today, All Saints’ Sunday, we respectfully recognize all of the Saints.  During our prayers today, we recalled the names of those Saints that have gone before us.  But who are (were) they?  And why are they Saints?  What qualifies one to be called a “saint?”