Sermon Notes for December 4th

December 4, 2005
Isaiah 40:1-11
“Here is Your God!”

1. The controversial 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote “One day the wanderer closed the door behind himself and wept. Then he said,' This burning desire for truth, for what is real, for what is not only apparent, for what is certain - how I hate it!"

Well, we all know this anguish. Yet there is no escape from the burning desire within each of us for the true, the good, the beautiful. Each of us lives with the unrelenting expectation that life is supposed to make sense and satisfy us deeply. And even an atheist feels cheated if he doesn't experience some kind of meaning, purpose, and peace - in a word - happiness in this life.

But just where does this universal expectation of personal fulfillment come from? It isn't exactly something we drum up or manufacture on our own – is it? No, this burning yearning for "what is real" seems somehow to be incorporated into our very nature as if put there by God. And it is this burning desire which can lead either to the torment of pain (as Nietzsche pointed out) or to the power of love which we see in the great saints of the church.

What this means is that, if we don't surrender ourselves to the Source of that deepest longing - to God himself - then we could actually come to hate the very thing that remains the key to fulfilling our destiny. It’s either a case of “Joy to the World … or Bah, Humbug!!!

2. Well, the holy season of Advent is supposed to set us the path of the good, the true and the beautiful – the path of Joy. The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival” and the focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and to create the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.

Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating the truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God.

3. Now much attention in recent biblical scholarship has focused attention on the details … the so-called historical facts contained in the Biblical witness. But, as I have mentioned before, the Bible is more than history. So, in order to understand the Biblical witness we have to take off the glasses of historical and scientific research … from time to time … and realize that the genre of choice in the ancient world was not factual history … but rather story …

In fact, all ancient people lived by stories which were more than just facts … the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer …for example … are both factual and mythical all at the same time …are they not? So, also the sacred scriptures which we call the Bible … The purpose of the Bible, we sometimes fail to realize, is more than just to give a factual account of things …for the stories of the Bible are, according to Biblical scholar, Don Benjamin, an enduring incarnation of Israel’s faith … and way of looking at the world. They continue to challenge us to look at life in new and exciting ways. The Bible seeks not just to give us the facts … it seeks to change our lives by revealing who God is …

4. So, we have these stories … such as the Advent story of Joseph and Mary and the Baby Jesus and the Wise Men … and the shepherds … (all of whom will be here next week – by the way – during the Children’s Christmas Pageant) … well, these stories are there for a purpose … which is to take us on a sensual pilgrimage in order to hear, see, smell, taste, and feel the world with new recognition and increased reverence. They are not mere facts, they are poetry, literature, and art – which are meant to challenge our imagination and touch our hearts (as well as our minds). Does this make sense?

Stop for a moment and consider how the Bible stories have inspired music, sculpture, architecture, paintings, weaving, and literature … And there is, of course, much more than just stories in the Bible … there are also, trials, drama, teachings, hymns, poetry, laments, even romance and war and it is all in the context of the overarching spiritual presence and reality of God and all His angels.

This is because, as I have been saying recently, one of the main purposes, if not THE MAIN PURPOSE of the Bible is to help us to understand God – our Creator.

Ad, one of the best ways to learn about God is through stories … which challenge our imagination …

5. Today’s scripture reading or story is about Isaiah … or Yesha’yahu …in Hebrew.

The time Isaiah was born was not a wonderful time for the people of Israel. In fact, they were very troubled times. First, the nation’s prosperity was in decline (they were having a depression); second, a killer earthquake struck the nation and caused much upheaval and suffering; third, the Assyrian armies began a series of attacks which signaled trouble ahead. On top of that, the King of Judah – King Uzziah became ill with leprosy and died. Not good!

Sounds almost like today!

Well, things went from bad to worse in the next 150 years … and eventually total chaos struck and the people of Israel were ripped from their land and enslaved in Babylon. What’s that phrase? “It’s all downhill from here!”

6. Well, the famous Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky once said, “he who desires to live a quiet life, did poorly to be born into the twentieth century. He ought to have known, because after Stalin came to power he was exiled to Mexico where he was murdered with an ice pick! So much, for Trotsky. Stalin, who had millions of people imprisoned and murdered, died in his sleep, apparently. Apparently, life is not fair!

Well, we might also say that Isaiah did poorly to be born into the 7th century … that is the 7th century BC!

Actually, nowadays, most Biblical scholars believe that there may actually have been two Isaiahs … because after the first Isaiah died … about 150 or more years passed and another prophet came on the scene … also named Isaiah. This was because it was not at all uncommon, in the those days, for someone to be named after a previous person – just as the Gospels in the New Testament are named after the disciples but were also likely written by someone else. Remember, it’s the story that matters – not just the facts.

Now, it turns out that whereas the first Isaiah …in Chapters 1 through 39, is mostly a prophet of judgment …

Let Sodom hear the word of Yahweh, Let Gomorrah listen to the commandments of the Lord, Trample my courts no more, bring no more worthless offerings, Your incense is loathsome to me. Your new moons, Sabbaths, assemblies, music, and festivals I detest …

The second Isaiah is more merciful …

“comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Get you up to high mountain, O Zion, lift up your voice and sing … say to the cities of Judah … Here is your God!

7. Well, which one is right? Which one speaks for God? Or, haf things changed from the time of Isaiah #1 and Isaiah #2? Correct answer ??? Times had changed!
Wait a minute? You ask. “Can God change His mind?” What is going on here?

The answer again, is YES.

Well, not exactly. God, you see doesn’t necessarily change His mind … but the circumstances change … and, as a result, God’s response changes.

So, then, you ask, “So, God doesn’t control every event?”

Answer: No, God does not control every event. That should be rather clear.

But, I thought God was all powerful. What is going on here?

Well, it should also be obvious that while God continually seeks to guide, direct, comfort, and challenge us to do what is good, right, and beautiful … which we know because we seem to have this burning desire always within us … we also, or some people, have the ability to just turn that idea off … and even hate it – as Nietzsche said.

Therefore, it should be clear, that people can decide not to listen to God … can actually turn a deaf ear …to justice and mercy and righteousness .. and when this happens … God is not pleased … Listen to the words of Isaiah:

You lift your hands, I close my eyes … the more you pray … the less I listen … Your hands are full of blood … wash yourselves clean … Get evil out of my sight … learn to do good … make justice your aim … redress the wronged … hear the orphan’s plea … defend the widow. ..

8. The answer, then, according to Isaiah, is that people bring upon themselves much of their own trouble … what do you think?

What then is God’s response … not to listen … right?

Recently, a lot of people have tried to say that the recent devastation in New Orleans was caused by the sins of the people who live there …

But, I was watching a television program about how various environmental groups and scientists were saying almost … a year ago that something bad would happen … and no one was listening … no one … it’s a fact!

So, who caused the hurricane? Was it God? No, not at all …

In fact, the Bible tells us that God is not pleased about disasters … not really.

We know that because of 2nd Isaiah … who prophesied for God in the midst of disaster … in Babylon saying … “Comfort, O comfort my people. See, the Lord God comes with might …he will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms …”

How can this be? How can God turn a deaf ear at one moment … and be caring and merciful in the next?

The answer lies in understanding what the prophets are telling us about the nature and purpose of God.

9. Back in the seminary, I had trouble with the Old Testament … and especially the prophets … it all seemed irrelevant to modern times … and the Biblical studies courses were all rather dry … and outside the windows it was the l960’s and there was rioting in the streets … and protesting … and people were passionately involved …and I wanted to be involved … What good is all this? I thought.

But, then I discovered in the seminary bookstore … the writings of the great Jewish theologian, Abraham Heschel. It wasn’t a prescribed text for any course. After all Heschel was Jewish and this was a Christian school. But, I started to read the most powerful account of the Jewish prophets I have ever read …

The prophet, according to Heschel, is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul …frightful is the agony of man (echoes of Nietzsche – don’t you think?).
Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the poor … it is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet’s words.

Wow, no kidding! That woke me up…

A God who really cares about what is going on in the world … who even cares about me! Now that was really saying something I could relate to!

10. But not everyone has this view of God. “Human affairs are hardly worth considering in earnest, and yet we must be earnest about them – a sad necessity …” wrote Plato in a melancholy mood.

And the great Cicero said, “the gods attend to great matters; they neglect the small ones.” Even Aristotle wrote that “the gods are not concerned with the dispensation of good and bad fortune or external things.”

But, Heschel said, “To the prophet, however, no subject is as worthy of consideration as the plight of men and women. Indeed, God Himself, is described as reflecting over the plight of man rather than as contemplating external ideas. His mind is preoccupied with men and women. In the prophets message nothing that has bearing on good and evil is small in the eyes of God.

Man is rebellious and full of iniquity, and yet so cherished is he that God the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is saddened when forsaken by him."

Well, that got my attention! Heschel, at times, seems almost to speak like one of the prophets, himself. And why not? For he had lost members of his own family in the Nazi holocaust. The voices of the prophets, I realized, were not to him something irrelevant or abstract – by any means!

And, what I want to say today is that the purpose of the prophets, all throughout the Hebrew Bible is to get our attention. To call us to repentence …to get us to wake up … to see what is going on in the world … to take into account our words and actions … because they really matter … not only to others around us … but TO GOD HIMSELF!

Even little old you and me. Imagine that!

Seems impossible, doesn’t it? And yet, when you consider the Universe … what is not possible to God? What is it that God cannot do? Think about it. Did you create yourself? Not hardly …

10. So, Advent then is about getting to know God better … and about beginning our journey toward discovering how God wants to get to know us better. And to discover how the coming of God in Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God’s love … first in the great prophets … and finally in Jesus …

And what other man, I ask you, fits Hesschel's description of a prophet … than the one born in Nazareth … who was born to be the one prophet above all others … about whom Mark would write:

1The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[a]
2It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"[b]— 3"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "[c] 4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And after John the Baptist …came JESUS.

11. Advent, then, is the beginning of the journey that we, like the wise men and shepherds … are on once again as we seek to answer that burning desire for truth, for what is real, for what is not only apparent, for what is certain

Which is also the path of the good, the true and the beautiful – the path of Joy.
And, as we journey let us also journey together … as we share in the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion …

This morning let us open our hearts and our minds … and our hands …this morning to God and to one another … in peace and love … Amen!

Let us pray …

Sermon Notes for November 27th

November 27, 2005
Mark 13:24-37
“Keep Awake”

1. Whether or not you believe in intelligent design or evolution, or both, there is a great deal of hard evidence to the effect that human life has been on this planet for no more than about two million years and no less than about one hundred thousand years, depending on how one defines human life. And, if you assume that to be fully human, then a person must have a brain sufficiently developed to become both self-conscious and self-aware, something that would include the ability to live in the medium of time. To be conscious of time as we now know it means that we are able to remember the past and to anticipate the future. It also involves the ability to think abstractly so that sounds can be turned into symbols called words, which in turn enables language to develop. If this is your definition, then one would probably have to say that human life has not really existed for very long at all – in the bigger scheme of things. This is because, by this definition, we are talking about recorded history. Recorded history being something that requires a written language.

Now there is a huge emotional price to pay for being what we are as self-conscious, self-aware, time-oriented abstract thinking human. And that price involves living with chronic unabated anxiety, because we necessarily are forced to anticipate our own deaths and thus are forced to wage an unending, but always losing, battle for our own survival. In short, we are born, we live, and unless somebody comes up with some miracle discovery – we die.

In fact, this weekend, a good friend and I were discussing retirement. One of his acquaintances has parents who lived to be ninety. So, figuring that he might live that long or longer, he is planning to go on working into his seventies in order to build up a larger retirement fund. Something he might not do, if he expected to live a shorter life.

But, as my friend lamented, we just don’t know how long we will live so it is hard to know how exactly to plan your retirement. You may smile at this idea … but my friend is one of those people sometimes called control-freaks. He likes to have things under control. But, unfortunately, it just can’t be done!

2. Well, we would all like to have things under control wouldn’t we?. Because, whether we believe in creation science, intelligent design, or just plain hard evolution … the reality is still the same. Life is uncertain … and there is a lot of anxiety which comes along with being a fully conscious self aware human being.

In fact, one of the basic indicators we have of being human in the first place is that we have anxiety. But, its not fun. And people will often try to eliminate that anxiety in many different ways. Drugs, for instance. And alcohol are good ways to temporarily block out that anxiety. Used in relatively small amounts – they can provide an enjoyable experience at a party or a wedding or celebration. But used in large amounts they become addicting both emotionally and physically and they can destroy a person’s ability to function, make decisions, and even love other people. Not good.

Same thing with all other substances and behaviors that become addicting (like workaholism, for instance). They all are ways of temporarily removing anxiety. But, in the long run, they destroy our humanity. Which is why a workaholic doesn’t like to take a vacation … because … with too much time on ones hands to think about things … bang … back comes the anxiety.

Religion and Politics can also be ways of eliminating anxiety. I’m talking, of course, about the more extreme forms of religious and political belief. In these forms of behavior, people strive to forget who they are in their absolute adherence to some form of ideology and are even willing to die for it. Sometimes they are called martyrs and when they are willing to kill others as well as themselves they are called terrorists. In Jesus time there were many who were willing to sacrifice themselves in the Jewish struggle with the Roman Empire … they were called Zealots. Jesus, however, did not wish to kill anyone. He died for a different reason. Jesus was a martyr. But that’s another story for a different time – like Lent and Easter.

3. Of all the world religions, the Hebrew religion is the most historically based of all. The Hebrews were conscious of history from the very start. It all began with a promise from God – to Abraham to make him the father of many people and nations. The God of the Jews dwelt among them and acted within history. Through Moses … he led them out of Egypt. When dark times came … God spoke to the prophets and they spoke to the people. In the Old Testament reading for this Sunday, Isaiah prophesies these words from God:

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people.

4. 1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!!

Isaiah’s word were part of the historical and religious background in which Jesus spoke to his followers. In those days it was not doubted for one moment that the Jews were God’s chosen people and that one day they would be lifted up before all people … but they had long since given up the idea (at least most of them) that this would happen through ordinary means. After all, had not God intervened to save them in Egypt – why would not God do it again.

And so, the people waited for the day of the Lord, which would be a time of terror and trouble in which the world would be shaken to its foundations … and the judgment would come to be followed by a new age and new glory – the millennium.

Now, what is the point of believing something like this? What did this do for the Jewish people?
Well, it gave them an unalterable hope. Hope that in spite of all things to the contrary … God had not abandoned them … and that God would come again to save them …

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!! – the words of Isaiah are really a kind of prayer.

This is the world into which Jesus came preaching the “Good News.” A world in which God acts in history.

And naturally, the disciples wanted to know how Jesus would interpret these prophecies which were well known to all far and wide.

5. Now Jesus faced a difficult problem. He knew that the people were waiting. He understood that the people were desperate. They needed hope. He could not disappoint them.
Yet, at the same time, Jesus understood that were he to become too specific about he details … it would transform this whole business of the last judgment into a waiting game.

Waiting for Jesus.

And it would become a guessing game. And instead of living out their lives as God wishes, people would become totally absorbed in the business of interpreting the sign and events …as harbingers of the future. They would become control freaks … trying to know exactly in advance when and where it would all happen.

And their ultimate sense of hope in the very immediate presence and power of God’s love would be transformed into a formula … for further despair. For to believe in the immanent return of Christ is to despair … of life itself … and to give up … totally.

So, while Jesus does not specifically prophesy the exact nature, time, and place of the end of the world and the last judgment … he doesn’t deny it either. Be alert, he says. Be awake. It could come any time … even without warning. What a disappointment!! Here we thought we would get the definitive answer and know for sure … what a bunch of control freaks we are – aren’t we? But Jesus doesn’t fall for it.

What does he say? But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father.

It’s right there in the Bible … plain as day … Mark chapter 13 verse 32.

6. To be a Christian then is to live with the expectation of God’s ultimate authority over human life … and to know that no matter what happens … God is with us … and because of this … we can live with hope … and expectancy … no matter what happens.
And this is how we are to live … as human being in the midst of history … in the midst of uncertainty … in the midst of all the anxiety … about what the future … might bring and even about our own death – the greatest mystery of all.

Hope in the midst of uncertainty … that’s the message of Jesus on this first Sunday of Advent in the year 2005.

What’s the alternative? Hopelessness and futility. Back when I was in college, the memory of the devastation of World War II, especially in Europe was still in the air … and the ominous possibility of nuclear war hung over modern civilization … and the existentialist writers like John Paul Sartre and Albert Camus were all the rage … in short, as far as they were concerned there was no hope … as exemplified in Thomas Becket’s famous play … Waiting for Godot … who never shows up …! For civilization seemed, at that time … to be hopeless … like the famous Greek myth of Sisyphus who the gods had condemned to ceaselessly rolling a rock up to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. As a result, the Gods thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.
And, if that is all there is … to life … then it is all absurd … it is futile … meaningless …
And, Christian or not … who has not felt that way sometime in our life … when it all seemed for not … and life wasn’t working out … and you wondered “what is the point of it all?”

7. The alternative … then … is that the ultimate meaning … the hope for our lives comes from outside of history … from God …

This is the message of Jesus … this is the Christian message of Advent … a message of hope in the midst of hopelessness.

But, nevertheless, it is a hope that must be lived out in the midst of anxiety … and uncertainty … for it is not a magic wand … which will sweep away all our fears … it is not a magic pill that we take that will suddenly … make us forget our humanity …

No, there is no ultimate remedy from being human in this life …

Let’s face it, being human requires courage … courage in the face of uncertainty …
And the courage to look within ourselves … with honesty …

8. And to look within ourselves … is to go on a journey … a spiritual journey … for all spiritual growth means going somewhere we have never been … or where we have forgotten …
And that is what the season of Advent is all about … a journey …

So, like the famous wise men … the magi … we will journey back in time … following the star … to Bethlehem … to see once more the Christ child born in a stable which is really just a metaphor for Christ being born in our hearts …

And, this is both an inner journey … and an outward journey …

And to go on this journey we will have to let some things go … in order to get there…
What will we let go this Advent season? … Think for a moment … what are the things that you need to let go of if Christ is to be born in your heart …?

What will you let go of ….?

9. Nowadays, Christmas is such a mixed bag … The other day I read about the recent uproar about how Bill O’Reilly believes that the greeting “Happy Holidays” is offensive to Christians who are celebrating the Christmas Season.

Some people are so upset that they plan to sue schools and businesses who attempt to censor the celebration of Christmas.

Wait a minute? I thought that was what churches were for …? In fact, I have often resented the co-optation of Jesus by the commercial world. Oh, I’m not that upset. I’m not going sue anyone for trying to make money selling Christmas ornaments and Santa Claus decorations. It just seems to me that it’s all about stuff that is on the surface… that’s right … superficial stuff. And, if anything, it seems to me that Jesus was anything but superficial.

I’m all for presents and getting together with friends … and having a nice meal but let’s not let it get out of control.

10. Well, we just got down with Thanksgiving … and all the hoopla about the Pilgrims. But, the truth is those same Pilgrims believed that Christmas had gotten totally out of hand with all the drinking, eating, and partying, so they got rid of Christmas all together. That’s right; there was no celebration of Christmas in the New England colonies from the time the Pilgrims landed until the American Revolution – over 200 years.

It all started with the Puritan Revolution in England. Once account states that:

In 1641, the King, at the request of Parliament of January 8, 1641, had ordered a monthly fast, which would be kept on the last Wednesday of each month. [10] As it happened, Christmas fell on the last Wednesday of December, 1644. Parliament was then faced with a dilemma: the feast or the fast. On December 19, 1644, after some debate, Parliament made up its mind and decreed that December 25th was to be observed as a day of fasting and repentance.

Parliament wrote, in part:

Whereas some doubts have been raised, whether the next fast shall be celebrated, because it falls on the day which heretofore was usually called the feast of the nativity of our Savior; the lords and commons in parliament assembled do order and ordain, that public notice be given, that the fast appointed to be kept the last Wednesday in every month ought to be observed, till it be otherwise ordered by both houses; and that this day in particular is to be kept with the more solemn humiliation, because it may call to remembrance our sins, and the sins of our forefathers, who have turned this feast, pretending the memory of Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights, being contrary to the life which Christ led here on earth, and to the spiritual life of Christ in our souls, for the sanctifying and saving whereof, Christ was pleased both to take a human life, and to lay it down again. [11]

It is said that many contemporaries reported that this pronouncement was met with widespread opposition and disturbances throughout England – even including a few Presbyterian ministers. It turns out that the people did not want their Christmas – however flawed in its observance – to be abolished. [12]

11. Feast or Fast! Talk about mixing politics and religion! No wonder, the founding fathers made it clear that they wanted a distinct separation of church and state.
Well, the whole Christmas business has been a dilemma ever since the Catholic Church made it an official feast day … or celebration … in part to counter the tendency of pagan Rome to worship the sun … on the winter solstice …

In short it is a mixed bag … frankly I am a little tired of it … I’m for common sense … really … for instance when I was in Spain three years ago … they weren’t even putting up decorations until about two weeks beforehand …

My view is for moderation … don’t over do it … after all you can’t enforce religion on someone and have it work … and there is no guarantee that you can make yourself happy just by overeating, spending too much money … or by inviting people to dinner that you normally don’t see the rest of the year …

On the other hand, you can make yourself happy … by spending a little time … being grateful for what is good in life …by appreciating relationships with those you love and who love you … by giving something to those who are needy … (like filling one of the food baskets our church will be putting together) … by donating blood at the blood drive … or serving at the food shelf or the soup kitchen (our UMW will be doing the one between Christmas and New Years) … or, by turning off the TV and the radio … and lighting a few candles and watching the snow come down outside on a winter’s night … or taking time to call a good friend in a far away city who you haven’t talked to for a while …

12. But most of all – you can make the Advent Journey a successful one … by letting God come down into your heart …

And I’m not talking about Jesus returning for the Last Judgment … but about Jesus being born in your heart … right here and now …

And if Jesus does come into your heart … well, the outside world … may not be changed all that much … trouble will still happen, wars will continue … and life will still be uncertain … but, I think you just might see life a little differently … and little more hopefully … a little more lovingly … than you do now.

But, and here is the catch … you might have to travel a little lighter on this Advent Journey … you might even have to let go of some things … Have you been thinking about it? How about it? What could it be? What one thing … could you let go of this Advent … that would make your Journey to Christmas a more joyful and peaceful one …

Would it be to let go of some resentment … some disappointment … some sense of grief and loss … some doubt or fear … What is it?

Well, let’s all think about it … this week. And, in the meantime, let us heed the words of Jesus … who said … “It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his workers in charge, each with his work to be done, he commands them to be on the watch.”

“Keep Awake,” the master says. “Keep Awake.” Keep Awake during this Advent … for Jesus is certainly coming … but we just don’t know when …”

Sermon Notes for November 20th

November 20, 2005
Matthew 25:31-46
“You Did Not Welcome Me”

1. Today, one of the world’s most popular rock stars goes by the stage name of Bono … and his band is called U – 2. Unfortunately, I am getting a little too old to be a big fan of this group -- whose leader is now about 45 years old. But, having grown up with Rock and Roll – I get the basic concept pretty well.

But, it is important, I think, whether we are fans of Bono or not, to take into account his willingness to be a leader not only in Entertainment but also in today’s world of international politics at the very highest level.

In short, Bono is not your everyday pot-smoking sensation driven entertainment celebrity … nor does he seem to suffer from any of the scandals associated with people like Michael Jackson either.

For, aside from his world wide success – Bono seems to be concerned mostly about the poor of the world – especially those in Africa.

2. Imagine for a moment, you are Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson. You grew up in a middle class home … in Dublin, Ireland with a Catholic father and Protestant mother. At age 14 your mother, who you love very much, dies. Your father is not your favorite person, it turns out. So, you grow up an angry teenager … what’s new about that? But, then you get involved with your friends and start a band which goes on to become enormously successful.

But, unlike many musical groups, U-2 band members are basically religious … in a traditional sort of way …for they are attracted to neither the popular born again Pentecostalism of many today … nor the more new age cosmic spirituality either. On top of that there are no drugs, alcohol, or infidelities. Bono, it turns out, is still married to his first wife, Ali who he met at age 16. They and their four kids go to the Church of Ireland – which is traditional Episcopalian … a compromise, as the Church of England is … between Catholicism and Protestantism.

3. With all his success and world wide fame, in recent years Bono has sought to bring his case for aid to the poor in Africa before world leaders …Because of his international reputation as a performer he has been able to meet personally with many political leaders including Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Gerhard Schroeder, and Jacques Chirac. He has even met with Microsoft’s Bill Gates and numerous famous movie stars like George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz …

Imagine now that you are Bono and you are on your way to meet President Bush to talk about AIDS in Africa. You arrive a the White House a little early, and so you tell your driver to circle the block a few times … while you sit with your Bible in your lap … hunting for a passage about shepherds and the poor … it is getting later and later … and finally you find the passage you are looking for … and it’s the one from Mathew 25 …

For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and yet took me in …”

And after the meeting… you give President Bush a special edition of the Book of Psalms for which you have personally written a forward. How different is that?

Now, he’s not just some unrealistic visionary … for Bono sees things pretty realistically … real down to earth … here and now … as is revealed in the words of his song: Crumbs Under Your Table …You speak of signs and wondersI need something otherI would believe if I was ableBut I'm waiting on the crumbs from under your tableWhat kind of guy is this?

(Kari tells me that rumors have it that he may be invited to the next national Methodist Youth gathering in Knoxville.)

4. Now to the scripture for today:

I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and yet took me in …”

The last few weeks, as we come to the close of the lectionary year … we have been reading from Revelations and Thessalonians about the so-called end times prophecies … the message of the Apocalypse, the Day of Lord, the return of Christ and other ideas which seem to be up in the air so much these days. What with lots of people wondering about all the upheavals, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, and all the rest.

So, is this the end? Well, people wonder. And many are convinced, it seems, by various preachers and self-proclaimed prophets … that the various prophecies written in the Bible some 2,000 years ago are directly related to current events today. Failing of course, to realize that people have been interpreting current events about the end of the world ever since the time of Jesus and no one has been right yet!

But, that doesn’t stop people from trying … or apparently people falling for it, either. And I have to be honest, having grown up listening to the radio in the 1950s, I continue to be fascinated by these strange words and symbols which if they are carefully cut and pasted together … which is what is often done … seem to predict Christ’s return and the final judgment which was very much part of the expectations of both Jews and Christians in Jesus’ time.

5. And yet, the truth is … that these various prophecies do not all agree. And in the Bible there simply is no clearly defined picture … that can allow anyone to say for sure … when life on this planet will end and the millennium will be at hand. It can’t be done!

And yet, there still are all these passages about God’s judgment in the Bible … what are we to think?

And how do these passages about judgment contrast with all the other passages about how God so loved the world … and with Jesus words about forgiveness and turning the other cheek … and loving your neighbor? They seem to contradict each other at times, don’t they?

Well, as I told the confirmation class recently … the whole purpose of studying the scripture … attending church … praying … and all the rest is to better understand who God is … and what God’s purpose for our life is … so we can fulfill the great commandment to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves. Isn’t that right?

So, what kind of God is God? That is the real question! Wisdom about God – then -- is what we seek. But what is this Wisdom and how do we know it when we see it?

6. Paul the Apostle says that this wisdom is not what we think it is … for it is not the same as the wisdom of the world … but, rather, a deeper wisdom of the heart and soul … and Paul tries to explain this in I Corinthians, where he says, 6We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

In other words, one should be a bit careful about what one says … about God … because who are we to speak in matters of faith and the spirit … about that which we may not be all that knowledgeable … rather, it seems, we ought to be striving to get to know God better … before we speak too quickly and think that our own opinions are the same as Gospel truth …

Think, for a moment, how often we encounter those who with fine sounding phrases … act as if they know God personally … and therefore are ordained to speak on His behalf …

7. Perhaps the most familiar and flagrant example of this kind of sophistry is the Televangelist, Pat Robertson … who, as you may know, recently warned the citizens of Dover, Pennsylvania, that God might strike them with a disaster since they voted out the School Board members who favored "Intelligent Design?"

This totally off the wall remark prompted one articulate critic to respond by saying:

I wonder who, other than Pat himself, designated Pat Robertson to be God's spokesperson? How dare Pat assume that the God revealed in the Jesus I serve is filled with all of Pat's peculiar prejudices. Why does he not understand that God is God and Pat Robertson is not? Why does he not see that when he tells the world with an unashamed certainty what God thinks and what God will do, he is only revealing what he thinks and what he would do if he had God's power? Pat needs to understand that he is acting out the very meaning of idolatry. He has confused God with himself.

8. So, let’s not do that. Let’s not confuse our own particular prejudices and opinions with God’s eternal word … as if we, and no one else has the inside track. That, for starters, is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom, first of all is to know what we know and what we don’t know about God and to know the difference. And from this wisdom comes the humility to not presume to know more than we know and therefore to speak for God in absolute terms. This is the meaning of faith. Which is to know that faith is different from certainty? And absolute certainty in matters of faith is a basic form of idolatry. There is way too much of that in the world today … and the real outcome of idolatry is terrorism.

Consider for a moment, then, this same passage from Mathew’s Gospel which Bono read to the President. Consider how different it is from some of the other passages about the end times … and yet how powerful it is … with it’s imagery about the sheep and the goats and … and its very different sounding message about …

For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and yet took me in …”

9. A very different message, we must agree, from that in Revelations which speaks about the faithful not giving in to the worship of Caesar and how they will be rescued in the midst of the time of tribulation.

For this is another vision of God’s judgment which has nothing to do with religious faith … nothing to do with doctrine … nothing to do with going to church … really …

It’s all about how we relate to “the least of these …”

Now, of course, the standard approach to interpreting this passage is to lay a guilt trip on everyone … because of all the poverty, the underfed, the imprisoned … in the world. We’ve all heard that before, haven’t we?

But, the reality is that the Gospel in this passage is that what Jesus is talking about is not about how the church relates to the world but how the world relates to the church … For the church, in Jesus’ time was the poor … the downtrodden … the sinners … the tax collectors … that was who Jesus’ followers were … right? It wasn’t the wealthy Nicodemus or the prestigious Scribes and Pharisees … it was the down and out – including, probably, Jesus, himself – a poor Mediterranean peasant, born in stable. So, the question here is not just about how the church needs to help the poor in the world merely because they are poor or because we feel guilty because of the injustice of it all … as if we are just another kind of do-good relief agency … which in the end, despite our best efforts, just ends up being rather self-serving in itself – if you get my drift … but instead, it appears, from this passage that what we are really called to do, first of all, is to identify with these people … the least of these … our brothers … and in doing so we will actually enter into the Kingdom of God! For, as Jesus said, it is to them to whom the Kingdom of God belongs.

So, it’s really not about doing good to earn our salvation … to prove our righteousness … and get brownie points with God. That’s not exactly it, at all.




10. To further make this point, notice how Jesus in his story … reveals that those who do help the less fortunate and those who do not … both fail to fully realize what they are doing … because both fail to understand – or see Christ’s presence in those who are suffering from poverty … and misfortune … and perhaps … we might say, also, that it is the poor, themselves, who also do not realize it … either.

This is rather shocking … because it removes the whole question of judgment and salvation from our hands entirely – doesn’t it? … And it places it where it belongs … in God’s hands … or in Christ’s. Who, then, is to judge? Not you, not me … not any person … no, not anyone at all … for no one is God … and just as no one can rightfully speak for God … so also no one can pass judgment on another person or group of persons … for that is usurp God’s will and make it our own.

Yet, as the church we must confess how often this is done, especially by religious people. Sadly, despite Jesus’ admonishment to “judge not, lest ye be judged,” it is the church itself which often ranks as one of the most judgmental organizations in the world. Isn’t that, sadly, the truth?

11. And so, just as some try to predict the end of the world … according to current events … which is to abrogate God’s authority in an idolatrous way … so, also, there are those who claim to pass judgment on others in the name of God …

And it is to these persons and to all of us, really, that Jesus’ words in Mathew 25 become a reminder of our inability to adequately judge even our own actions … let alone those of others …

'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

When did we see thee …? When? Do we really know all the time?

The well known author Kathleen Norris says that what is lacking in all of us is imagination. Imagination, she writes, is vital if we are to see Christ in others. And, to do this, she says, we must resist the all too frequent temptation to look a starving child … with a swollen stomach … and say, “Well, thank goodness, it’s not my kid.” Or, to see an old man alone in the park and say, “It’s not my dad.” What is at the heart of it all is that unfortunate capacity we all have to look out upon the world and everything that God made and say, “I don’t care.”

12. But, wait a minute, we do care? Do we not? We have responded! Have we not? For yes, our church raised over $ 14,000 this past year for Tsunami relief and for Hurricane Katrina. We also have given over $ 7,000 to Habitat for Humanity, the Food Shelf, Churches United, and other groups. We let the Soup Kitchen use our church every week. Many of our members volunteer for Community meals on Thanksgiving … and we support the Africa University and Black College fund. And there is more.

Yes, we have been generous … more this past year than any year previously in a long time … much more …

And we have seen the images on television of disasters … and the hungry and the starving … which have stirred our imagination …

And I hope we are all thankful and grateful … for being able to be together with family and friends … most of us … this week for Thanksgiving in a safe and warm place with good food it eat. Something that many will not have …

So, how comfortable are we? How blessed are we? A lot … really when you consider what is going on in other parts of the world.

13. And that, perhaps, is the message of Mr. Bono ... a very wealthy individual because of his success as a musician … who continues to tirelessly work to persuade the great nations of the world … the richest nations … to help the poor in Africa.

Simply, it would seem, because he reads the Bible … and takes seriously what he reads there … especially in Mattew 25.
And also, because, for whatever reason … he also has the imagination to see in the starving … the poor … the face of Jesus Christ. And, he seeks to inspire others to have that same imagination. People like us … Can this be done? We must wonder … but Bono is not easily deterred from mission …

In fact, it is reported than on a recent trip to the US, Bono even went to visit Senator Jesse Helms who had been very tough on the concept of foreign assistance and very bleak on Aids. Afterward, Bono told his friends, Helms is a very religious man so I told him that 2103 verses of scripture pertain to the poor and Jesus speaks of judgment only once - and it's not about being gay or sexual morality, but about poverty. I quoted that verse of Matthew chapter 25: 'I was naked and you clothed me.' He was really moved. He was in tears. Later he publicly acknowledged that he was ashamed..."

Can you believe that?

14. Now, today, many people, in light of the recent disasters, are worried about donor fatigue.

Too many more disasters … and people will run out of money …
which, on top of the fear of increased gas and oil prices, will mean a reduction in generosity – that’s what worries people lately.

Well, so far … it hasn’t happened at least in our church. And I am happy to report to your that our church stewardship campaign is on target for next year … for we are estimating that we will reach our goal of $ 194,000. That’s up by $ 14,000 - or about 7.5%. That’s great! All on top of what we gave for UMCOR.

But, let’s not be too complacent. The purpose of Jesus words in Mathew 25 is to keep us on our toes and to get off the “poor me” attitude. To get us off all the narcissistic concentration on ourselves and what we “deserve” which is rampant in this country and to try to focus on God’s way of looking at things for a change.



So, who are the least of these? Well … all of us … really … some more than others of course … but the truth is we are all in this world together … and if one part of the world is poor then we are all impoverished by it … if not economically then spiritually … and if God cares for one … then God cares for everyone … and it is just not acceptable for us … for anyone … to say … “It’s not my problem … because I just don’t care.”

So, for a moment, try your imagination on these lyrics from the song “Yahweh” by Bono …

Take these shoesClick clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoesAnd make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirtAnd make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

May you all have blessed Thanksgiving!

Sermon Notes for November 13th

November 13th, 2005
“More will be Given”
Mathew 25:14-30

1. I don’t normally read the New York Times, except when people send me articles on the internet. Of course, for many Americans, the proper paper to read is the Sunday New York Times which currently costs $ 5.00 and weighs about a ton. I discovered that you can buy it in Bemidji at Luekens if you get there early on Sunday morning before they all sell out.

The problem is that the Sunday Times is really meant to be read leisurely at your favorite coffee shop on Sunday morning and I always seem to find myself in church on Sundays! I am not sure if that means the Times is really written for people who don’t go to church or not!

Now, reading the Times out here in the Midwest also kind of implies that you are a snob or sorts … too good to be satisfied with the local Bemidji paper or perhaps the Star-Tribune or the Fargo Forum.

The best example of this happened back in St. Paul. Once or twice a summer we used to go family camping with other couples in our church. One time a new younger couple and their daughter decided to try it out. However, after barely surviving a horrible thunderstorm during the night … when the wife found out that she couldn’t even buy the Sunday New York Times at the St. Croix State Park camp store … well, that was the last straw! They immediately packed up their gear, jumped in their SUV, and took off! It was all the rest of us could do to keep from laughing … at least until they were out of sight.

2. Now, since I can’t read it on Sunday morning over coffee … there is the additional problem that after church I usually go out to eat lunch, then I watch football, after which I go for a walk and then it is time to eat supper, and by then it is just too late in the day to indulge in the Times – so, if I do occasionally buy it, which I do about once a month -- it just sits there for days or weeks until I get enough spare time to pick away at it.

So, this past week I finally picked up the September 19th NY Times magazine and discovered a very interesting article about the recent Billy Graham crusade in New York – written by a professor from the University of Chicago – Mark Lilla.

In the article, the author very insightfully discusses how while growing up in a working class Catholic family in Detroit in the l970’s, he discovered Jesus. It turns out that as a teenager, at age 13, he first decided he was an atheist. Then a year later he attended a Christian rock concert at the high school. On the way out he was given a copy of the New Testament. He immediately went home and stayed up all night to read it. After that, he soon came to believe that he was saved and became involved with several evangelical groups which continued on into college – but eventually, his enthusiasm waned and after belonging to a larg Pentecostal mega church which seemed rather dogmatic and cold …he describes how the feeling of comfort, belonging and the love and power of God left him never to return. Now he is a well read professor of philosophy and social theory at a prestigious University.

3. So, as you might imagine, for Professor Lilla, going to a Billy Graham rally after some thirty years was quite an eventful experience. And, despite the fact that he no longer can go along with the modern evangelical approach to religion, he offered some insightful comments about Graham … which got me thinking … as I read the article.

For, this is what he wrote, in summary: The primary thrust of Billy Graham, he said, is that we must be “born again” … he never dwells on the evils of the world (like the old style preachers) … nor does he present Christianity as a success religion (like many of the younger preachers on TV and in the mega churches who promise wealth and popularity). His approach, Lilla comments, is almost pure existential. Graham’s intended listener is someone whose life hasn’t gone too badly … no bouts with cancer or trips to prison …


Billy simply looks you in the eye and says … “I know what you know … You aren’t happy. You may have a decent job, a loving spouse, healthy children, and a pension plan. But there are moments when you sit out on your lawn and wonder … Why do I feel so empty inside? What does it all mean?”

Well, what is the answer? Billy goes on … “I also know what you need. I’m not asking you to forsake mother and father, wife and children. I not even asking you to forsake your car and vacation home … not because those things are valuable … but because they are irrelevant … All I am asking is that you accept Christ’s invitation to come into your heart … and start your life anew.”

4. At this point … Billy asks people to come forward … and during the three day crusade … more that 8,700 people did come forward hoping, apparently, to be “born again” – like Nicodemus in the famous story in the Gospel of John.

Not a whole lot different, really, from the rallies that were held by the Methodist revivalist, Rev. John Wesley, himself, back in England.

So, what does it mean to be “born again?” Well, looking back over his earlier life as a teenage evangelical Christian … Lilla now thinks it had to do with the desire to be changed … to be somebody new … different from what he was … a short, lonely, near sighted, teenager with pimples who wasn’t very popular with the girls … in other words … as he puts it: A NORMAL TEENAGER!

This desire to escape … to be somebody else than who you are … … can be very attractive … especially in America where the pressure is on always to be good looking, successful, popular … and all the rest.

Get a life …! we hear that so often. Get a life….!

And here Jesus seems to be saying … you can have a new life … be a new person … be born again …

A very appealing message, wouldn’t you say. Or, is it really all that simple? Is this just another way we, in our American culture, want to get rich and be happy – all by finding Jesus?

5. In Lilla’s analysis of Billy Graham’s message, he states that it is almost pure existentialist and this struck me as strange … for I had never thought of existentialism in the same context as Billy Graham. But, maybe it is … in a way …

For most people, existentialism is often associated with atheists like the French writers and philosophers: John Paul Sarte and Albert Camus. But one can also be a Christian with an existentialist outlook as well. In fact, the first modern existentialist was Soren Kierkegaard … who lived in Denmark.

Now, Kierkegaard is not usually thought of as being funny, at least not in the hah-hah way … but he could be ironical and liked to poke fun at people’s pretentiousness … much in the same way Jesus could say that “we should take the stone out of our own eye before taking the speck out of another’s eye.” Do you see the rather subtle humor in that phrase?

Well, Kierkegaard, the philosopher, tried to raise in our minds the ultimate questions of our existence … to a new level … “How did we get here in the first place …?” He asked. “Why were we born at all …? And whose idea was this … anyway?

6. After all, when you come right down to it … none of us chose to be born … did we? It just happened…right? Nobody asked us … if we wanted to be born.

And so, Kierkegaard asks … “If I am compelled to be involved … in other words to go on living … where is the manager? … who is in charge here? … Because, I want to say something … Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?

Well, that does make us chuckle … doesn’t it? And, yet, we are humbled by the reality that by and of ourselves alone, we don’t know the answer, do we? And, yet, here we all are … Amazing!

Now, of course, we have all, at one time or another, had that same sense of wondering … “Why am I here?” And, no doubt, would also like to ask, “And, whose idea was this… after all?” Just like the example of the man in Billy Graham’s sermon sitting out on the lawn … asking “Why do I feel so empty inside? What does it all mean?”

In fact, I would have to say that one of the main reasons we are all here in church this morning … is because we realize that WE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR BEING BORN … and, if we are really honest with ourselves and each other, --- we DO WANT TO GET TO KNOW THE MANAGER AND FIND OUT WHAT HIS THOUGHTS ARE about life … and most particularly our own life … isn’t that right? Isn’t that one of the main reasons we are here this morning?

Well, we are not alone. For instance, the great play write, Tennessee Williams, said almost the same thing when he was asked why, in later life, he joined the Catholic Church. He said, “Well, if I am eventually going to the Big Hotel in the sky, I thought I’d better get to know the management!”

7. Getting to know the management …well, whatever you think about Billy Graham’s methods and whether or not evangelical religion always works for you or whether it is the only way to find God (which it is not) … one would have to say that 8,700 is still a lot of people … a lot of people who evidently felt disconnected … from the management …(from God).

And the truth is there are a lot of people out there right now who are so absorbed in their every day lives … that they scarcely think about God … until something happens … or something goes wrong in their lives.

Or, maybe they just got turned off to the church somewhere along the way … like Professor Lilla, and they find going to church not all that meaningful … or relevant to their lives …



Incidentally, it is really people like these who are the ones who the Methodist TV advertising campaign (Open hearts, open minds, open doors) is trying to appeal to … people who are disconnected from God – same as Billy Graham.

8. Now, in the scripture reading for today … we encounter the very familiar parable of Jesus …. about the man who entrusted his workers with his property while he went away … and while he was gone two of them invested the money and did very well … and one, out of fear and uncertainty, refused and did nothing … thereby incurring the wrath of the manager when he returned. “To those to whom much is given, more is expected,” Jesus says. “… and more will given in return …”

Now, this passage is supposed to be a great one to use during Stewardship …

In fact, I was reading how recently a little book came out called the Kingdom Assignment and it tells about a certain pastor got the idea to give out $ 10,000 in $ 100 increments … asking each member of his church to invest it in God’s work. He then gave them 90 days … to report back … which they did … and so many remarkable things happened … that it was even reported on NBC Dateline … It would be interesting to try, but I don’t think we have 10 Grand to hand out at the moment!

Well, even it sounds good … but is that really what Jesus was talking about…?

Not quite … I think …

9. Actually, to understand Jesus’ parable, we must first understand what the word “talent” meant back in those days … which is not the same as what we mean by “talent” today.

Imagine, for a moment that a “talent” was not a term for a metal coin … but was actually a heavy measure or weight … and depending on whether it was gold, copper, or silver its value could vary. But, I looked it up, and here is approximately what it a talent would be worth in Jesus’ day:

It turns out that a talent is a weight equal to three thousand shekels. In the New Testament, a talent weight was calculated at 58 to 80 lbs. The value would differ according to the metal, but the buying power was enormous. Five talents would make one a multi-millionaire!

In other words … Jesus is not talking about a small amount of money … Jesus is talking about an amount equal to all the money you might make in your whole lifetime!!

10. So, this is not about the fall Stewardship campaign … this is not about increasing your pledge for next year … by 5 or 10% because we need it to pay for the church heating bills this winter … WHICH WE DO NEED… by the way …

No, Jesus is not talking about your church pledge … He is not talking about the small percentage of your total income which you donate to keep the church running ...

No, Jesus is talking about the whole ball of wax … Jesus is talking about your whole life … everything … all of it …

Jesus is talking about the Stewardship of your whole life … No less … no more …

Now that is getting pretty existential …!!

And once we see what this means existentially … the parable makes a more sense … doesn’t it?

11. This is because, as we noted earlier, we do not chose to be born … right?

However, like the workers in the story… whether we like it or not we are entrusted with a great amount of treasure … are we not?

And what is that treasure? Well, there are two ways of interpreting the meaning of the great value of the talent:


A. One is that the talent is the same as our entire life. For like the master who goes away … it is God who gives us life, right? And how much is that worth? How much is your life worth? How much is any person’s life worth? Well, most of us would say that no amount of money … can equal a life … really.

So, stop and think for a moment …and ask yourself … How much to you value your own life? How do you take care of it? How grateful are you for it? And then ask … who entrusted you with your life … and lastly, what have you done with it? What do you plan to do with it? Good questions for this snowy Sunday morning in November, 2005!

B. Or, one could interpret the idea of the talent as being
the gift of salvation … the grace of God … revealed in Jesus Christ. It is really the power of the God’s love. How much is that worth? And, therefore, we might all ask the question -- how have we, as a church, who have been entrusted with God’s grace … endeavored to use not only our money …(our financial resources)… but also our time, and gifts … and prayers … to further the work of God’s kingdom in our lives and in the lives or others. In short, what kind of servants are we?

12. Now, before we start feeling guilty and get down on ourselves too much, let us remember that as we all know, there are big churches and small churches …Which means that some are given more resources … and some are given less … does it matter? Not really. God only expects each church to do the best with what they have. Interesting, isn’t it? That’s what the parable says …

The same thing may be said to be true with each of us … for some have more talents, more resources … more gifts … and certainly not all of us are alike … not all of us are equal. So, does this matter to God. Not really. God only expects each of us to do our best with our life and not to compare ourselves with others who may have more or less than we do. Now do you understand what the parable means?

Sounds easy enough, right? So, what’s the problem?

Well, the problem is that life is uncertain. Things happen. Life is not always clear and we can’t foretell the future. We want to play it safe. We want to be cautious. We want to look out for ourselves etc. etc.

But, as in so many of Jesus’ stories … there is no such time in this life for extreme caution. No time for playing it safe. Which is because life is short. We don’t live forever. Time is shorter than we think…

13. In other words, it is just like with the warnings about the last judgment which we have been talking about the last several weeks … Jesus really seems to have no time for waiting or being reluctant to use our talents and gifts right in the here and now.

For if you look carefully at Jesus’ parables and stories there is always a sense of urgency in Jesus’ message. “Don’t wait.” He seems to saying. “Don’t hesitate. Don’t be afraid. Don’t put things off. Get on with your life – live it NOW!”

Our time, Jesus seems to be saying … is running out. You should be living your life today … don’t put off things for tomorrow … for you never know when things will happen … you never know when your life could be over … don’t waste it.

On Friday, I visited with a long time friend who is a pastor in Duluth … Mark Johnson. Some of you may remember how his wife was badly injured in a car accident about 5 years ago. She lived, but continues to suffer from serious spinal injuries … and has had to quit teaching. Today and every day she must restrict certain activities. But she is still alive and enjoying life, despite her handicaps.

Well, as you might imagine, Mark and Mary look at life quite differently these days. Things that were important before the accident are no longer important today. And, overall, life itself is much more precious, today, than it ever was before.

14. Now, in conclusion, we don’t necessarily have to go to a Billy Graham rally to get the message which Jesus is expounding in today’s scripture reading. Its plain enough … I think. In fact, just visiting with Mark and Mary, I found myself asking some important questions about my life as well.

And, we don’t necessarily have to be “born again” in exactly the way that some Christian evangelicals view that concept.

But, we do need to endeavor to keep ourselves connected to God and keep always before us the words of Jesus about how our lives are entrusted to us for a purpose …

And we don’t need to spend undue amounts of time worrying about the future -- which is in God’s hands anyway …

But, instead –if we accept this message of the Gospel today, we are freed up from fear … to live … and live abundantly … living in God’s grace every day … doing God’s will as best we are able … and doing what we can to spread the “good news” to those around us who seem empty and disconnected. That ought to be enough to keep us occupied and busy for the rest of our lives, don’t you think?

And yet in the midst of all this … a person might even find a little time to occasionally read the Sunday New York Times!

Let us pray ….