Where am I going?

For whatever reason, Sam has been singing the opening lines from Paint Your Wagon a lot lately, and it’s gotten stuck in my head. “Where am I going, I don’t know.  When will I get there, I ain’t certain, all I know is I am on my way.”  Do you ever feel like that?  Not sure where you are going or how you are going to get there?  Or even what to do once you do get there?

Sam and I had the pleasure of spending the past week down in Galveston with 20 other retired clergy couples.  There were also 7 members of the Church Pension Fund who led us through a series of talks, exercises and discussions designed to help us look at our life and our goals for living out our retirement and Christian vocation as couples.  The Credo conference that I attended in September did very similar things, but was focused only on clergy.  But this conference acknowledged that spouses are an important part of our life, planning and future.  

So in essence, this conference helped us address that burning question in Sam’s mind, “Where are we going...”. I think the disciples, after the death of Jesus had some of these same burning questions.  Where am I going?  What do I do next?  How do I get to my next assignment?  If you remember last week, after baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip was whisked away by the Holy Spirit and set down in Azotus.  But mostly the apostles had to walk where ever they went.  

In today’s lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, our focus is on Peter who is preaching to the household and friends of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion.  Peter is breaking a lot of rules just being in Cornelius’ home and preaching to these Gentiles.  Because the leaders considered this new sect to still be a part of the Jewish religion, they insisted that only Jews were acceptable in their movement.  They wanted to limit who could be included in God’s salvation.  But God had other ideas and He was beginning to spread his net over all people, not just Jews.  

So even though these are not circumcised believers, as Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell on them all and they began to speak in tongues and extol God.  This is one of those examples where the disciples/apostles had to make an about-face and hurry to catch up with what God was doing in this place.  They not only had to accept the gentiles, but they realized that they also had to baptize them. 

When Peter got back to Jerusalem, he had to defend his decision before the counsel.  He had done at least four things that were wrong.  He stayed with Gentiles in their house.  He ate their food.  He preached to them.  And He had them baptized.  The church was not happy with Peter.

But Peter, even though he had broken the rules, knew that he had done what God wanted him to do.  And that was more important that any rule that had been imposed.  God’s will, not mine, be done.  So, what does that mean for us today?  It means when God leads the way into something new, whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, we at least need to pay attention.  

The Gospel lesson tells us that we are to abide in God’s love – to obey the commandment is to love one another as God has loved us.  It also tells us that we are no longer servants, but friends.  That means something special - it has deepened the relationship between us and God – we are no longer slaves, but now are friends because the master has made known to us what he is doing in the world.  God is always navigating new pathways into our broken and torn world, and we sometimes have to run to keep up with what he is doing and the way he is reaching out to all people.  

His desire is that all should be saved.  In Chapter 2 of Acts, Peter preaches his first sermon and says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Not if they are good enough.  ..  Not if they believe exactly like us...  Not if they are without sin...  But if they call on the name of Jesus, then they shall be saved.  

Our two lessons from John both speak of love and abiding in the grace of the Lord. Jesus also says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.”  To many of us, in our humanity, question whether we are good enough to be chosen, but the truth is that we are all created in the image of God and he has chosen every single one of us.  All we have to do is answer his call to love, both God and one another.

And if we love him and choose to follow him, then we need to be prepared to go to uncomfortable places and live into the kind of love that he has for all creation.  When I started the journey with God, I told him, “If you open the door, I will step through it.”  That’s the way I’ve lived for the past 18 years.  Walking through open doors and trying not to look back when a door closes.  Following where God leads and very grateful that this last door he opened was right here at my home.

I’m not sure where I will go from here.  I have several short term plans for next month and Sam and I want to do some traveling.   Our collect says, “You have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding...”  We plan to continuing to follow the Lord, because he has already led us into more wonderful places and relationships than we could have imagined.  I plan to continue preaching the love of God to those who will listen and to seek his will for our lives.  I also plan to continue singing a new song to the Lord whenever and wherever I can. I know that God is going to be here with you after we leave and that he will make a way for us to return someday.  

I believe that God has great plans for Grace Church, but you need to be willing to step into whatever role God has for you in follow him.  What is your plan for following the Lord?  What doors are you willing to step through for the Lord?

Living in the power of God's Spirit

Listen to the Gospel Reading   

Pentecost – when the spirit moved and blew the church into existence.  The Spirit moves where he wants to move.  We can’t make the spirit move.  He moves in different places at different times.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can make the spirit move if you just do the right things or say the right things or feel the right things or sing the right music.  Those things can help put us into a receptive frame to receive the Spirit, but they are no magic formula guarantying the coming of the Spirit.  

There is an old movie called “Leap of faith.”  The story is about a charlatan, Jonas Nightingale (played by Steve Martin), who goes around the country putting on “healing revivals.”  It’s interesting to see the shams they pull to make people think healings are happening – and the miracles that are not quite miracles.  

So when a local young crippled boy comes up to be healed, Jonas begins to hedge his bets – he sees the local sheriff – and he tells the ‘congregation’ that if even one person doubts, there can be no healing – and he points to the sheriff and claims he is the reason there is no healing – but then the boy begins to walk – and Jonas – after initial shock – comes through, as the showman he is, praising God.  

But the personal effect on Jonas is that it undoes him.  As long as he is in control making the false miracles happen, Jonas can do anything, but when the true Spirit breaks into his life – he can’t handle it.

Our first lesson from Numbers – is an interesting study.  Moses is overwhelmed by the responsibility of being the sole judge to the thousands of people he is leading through the desert.  So he calls together 70 of the elders of the tribes to receive the spirit to help him in his duties.  Apparent only 68 show up and God comes down and takes some of the spirit that rests on Moses, and divides it between the 70 identified elders.  And they begin to prophesy.  They prophesied one time, and then it didn’t happen again. A gift of the Spirit can be given for a one time use.  Here the gift is the manifestation of the giving – it wasn’t the end result.  These 70 people were empowered to help Moses to administer justice to the people.  

Now I said that only 68 showed up.  Eldad and Medad missed the bus – so to speak – they forgot to come. 

  But the interesting thing is that they didn’t miss out on the blessing.  God still placed some of the spirit on them also and they started prophesying right where they were.

Joshua doesn’t have a good reaction to Eldad and Medad.  Because they were not with the rest, because they were not in that space where the show of power was – Joshua wants to inhibit them from using that power.  (There are some people who would love to dictate when and where God's power is made manifest.)   Moses tells him, “Don’t be jealous for my sake.  I wish everyone were prophets and had God’s spirit.”  

I heard one story, a Hasidic tale – these are stories, tales, and myths told by the Hasidic Jews to teach or to make a point – not unlike Jesus’ parables.  In this one, the rabbi asks his student, “Where is the Spirit of God?”  The student answers with the biblical phrase, “…the whole universe resounds with his glory.”  The rabbi says, “No.”  The student, puzzled, asks, “What do you mean, no?”  The teacher replied, “God is where you let God come in.”  The Holy Spirit is the power that ushers God into our lives - when and where we allow that to happen.   

Last week, we read about Jesus telling the disciples to go back into the city and wait for the Holy Spirit.  In today’s lesson from Acts, we find them waiting in the upper room – about 120 of them.  Matthias had already been chosen to replace Judas and they don’t know what is going to happen, but they are faithfully waiting.  And the Holy Spirit comes and fills the whole house – and tongues of fire kiss each person there. 

A friend of mine, who made this stole I’m wearing, was so inspired by this passage, she made a quilt of Pentecost called "9 O'Clock in the Morning."  In it you see all the people with flames dancing over their heads, and they are falling out the windows, and rushing out the door and tumbling off of the roof - all in a hurry to get out of the building to spread the word of God’s presence and his power.

When filled with the Holy Spirit, they can’t stay hidden away in that upper room.  They rush out – drunk in the power of the Spirit – and Peter preaches his first sermon to those who have stopped to witness this phenomena.  

There were many people in Jerusalem because it was the Pentecost – the celebration of the giving of the law to Moses in the desert.  And once again God gives on Pentecost – first the law to Moses – now the Spirit to all believers. 

This world we live in is in desperate need of the Spirit of God – many people are searching for a spiritual base – through new age revelation – through the ancient eastern religions – through earth worship.  We visited Sedona Arizona on one vacation – this is a city where they say there are 7 vortexes of spiritual energy.  We went up to watch the sunset and there was a great crowd gathered – a man played a didgeridoo to impart spiritual aura to anyone wanting to experience this spiritual power.  People are hungry.

The world is hungry for spirituality – the world is hungry for God – whether it knows it or not.  It is our commission to go out in the name of God.  Broken and wounded we may be, but we are also touched by God.  And as a people touched by God, we go out – even in our woundedness - and share that which has given us life - and hope - and power.  

In our Gospel reading this morning, we tried to give you a little taste, a little flavor, of what happened on that Pentecost Sunday.  There was some confusion, and it may have seemed a little chaotic, but there was great joy as the disciples were given the power of that Holy Spirit.

I invite you to open up your hearts and minds to receive the power of the Lord at this time and make a renewed commitment to God’s presence in your life.  Invite Him in and allow him to fill you to overflowing.  Share the stories of his place in your life and let others know that they, too, can experience God's grace; his forgiveness and healing power.  

Amen.

Living in-between time

Listen to the sermon.     

Have you ever watched a little child with a helium-filled balloon?  Kids are fascinated by helium balloons.  They love to hold on to them and look up.  The safest thing, of course, is to tie the string around their wrist so that they don’t loose it.  If you go to large indoor events where balloons are sold, you will always see balloons that have escaped up among the rafters – or outdoors, you will sometimes see them drifting off in the breeze.  And I know you‘ve seen kids crying because their balloon got away – as they stand there looking up watching it go up and up and away.  

Sam tells the story about his brothers, Ted and Harry, who had built a perfectly balanced glider.  It was their pride and joy.  It was quite large and they loved to take it out in the pastures around their house and sail it on rather calm days when it could catch the air currents and stay up for a long time.  One day it caught several good updrafts and literally sailed away.  They watched it go, thrilled at the beauty of it, but even though they chased it, they never did find it.

Three days ago (Thursday) was the feast day of the Ascension.  Our first lesson has the disciples watching Jesus rise up into the heavens.  Imagine how they felt on that day as they watched him go.  It was probably one of the most magnificent sights they had ever seen, but at the same time it both confused them and scared them.  During that 10 days between the ascension and pentecost, they were living in the in-between times:  in between the ascension of Jesus and the coming down of the Holy Spirit, in between heaven and earth, in between the present and the coming kingdom, in between the local (what was happening then and there) and the global (the commission to go out and preach the word.)

After all this time they had been with Jesus, they heard him preach, they saw the miracles, they witnessed his death

 and his resurrection, and he made all these appearances to them and now they are on the hillside.  And the first 

question the disciples ask him is, “Lord, is now the time you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”  They are still 

expecting a military victory – an overthrowing of the current Roman government.  They still didn't get it. 

He tells them, “You don’t need to know the times,” because the kingdom that Jesus talked about had nothing to do with the political structures of our earthly governments.  The kingdom that Jesus talked about had to do with our interior state of being – our attitudes toward one another – and our love and caring, not only for  God, but for one another.

Jesus tells them here that they “will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that they will be witnesses to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  This could be an overwhelming job – so they went back to the upper room where they were staying.  And for 10 days, they devoted themselves to praying together.  And I’m sure – trying to figure out what it was that Jesus had been trying to tell them.

They didn’t have a clue what it meant to have the Holy Spirit – the nearest concept they could entertain was probably the stories of the prophets of old who were filled with the Spirit of God.  But it hadn’t happened yet, and they couldn’t quite imagine themselves as the prophets of old.  They were living in-between.  They were planted firmly on the ground, living in the present time, day by day, in Jerusalem waiting for what would happen next.

In our second lesson, Peter tells us to humble ourselves before God – to cast all our cares upon him – and to discipline ourselves, keeping alert at all times.  And he tells us that Christ will restore, support and strengthen us.  Peter learned this during that in-between time in Jerusalem and with the coming of the Holy Spirit.  I’m sure it was hard not to become discouraged – waiting.  

I don't wait well - I find it hard to just sit and do nothing.  Different people wait in different ways, and some people wait in different way at different times in their lives.  

My idea of waiting is to stay busy, find something to do.  At one time in my life that meant coming down here to this church and spend hours praying and reading scripture.  At another time it meant spending hours singing and playing spiritual songs.   Especially Change my heart, O God...    ----    At another time, it meant spending hours in the hospital visiting and working with people there.  At another time it meant sitting still praying with beads or contemplating scripture or centering prayer.  

We live in the in-between – we are in the world – right here in this time and place - and while we are here, we are to be present to those around us and live in the moment for Christ. Grace Church is in an in-between time, between Father David and whoever will be called as your new rector.  

This is your time to strengthen your ministry - to build up your church - to come together to find what God is calling you to be and do - both individually and as a church.  God doesn't want you to just sit on your hands doing nothing -

he wants you to be active, remembering that the person preaching to you isn't the be-all and end-all.  

The future of this church does not depend me or whoever comes next.  The future of this church depends on you!  

Our gospel lesson is Jesus’ prayer for us.  He doesn’t pray for world harmony – he prays for the disciples – for us – for unity – that we are able to work together to live and bring about his kingdom on this earth.  

How can you make this place a little better for someone else?  How can you reach out to someone in need or pain?  Some of you do this on a daily basis – praying for each other or helping each other out working and planning for ministry.

In his prayer, Jesus begins, “The hour has come…”  Now is the time – to pray for others - to reach out to help others – to live into God’s purpose in your life.  Not later, but now.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed by the things that I have to do – the sheer volume – that I become less than productive, less than effective.  

Learning to live in the moment, what is happening this very minute – and not worry about what I have to do in the next hour, or tomorrow, or the next day – is one way I can begin to live into what Jesus wants me to be.  And I invite you to contemplate what it is that Jesus is calling you to be and do.

Let us pray,

Most precious Father, send your Holy Spirit onto us, into us, 

that we may live into your plan for our lives and for our church.  

Help us to live in the tension of this world, 

keeping the promise of your kingdom 

always on the horizon of our consciousness.  

Help us to see those around us here in this world, 

And to see your heavenly purpose in their lives also.

This we ask in the name of your son, Jesus, 

as we await the coming power of His Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Identifying an Unknown God

Our Tuesday Bible study has been studying the letters of Paul. The bulk of the letters in the New Testament were written by Paul.  Last week we got the first reference to Paul in the book of Acts.  We heard the story of how the men who stoned Stephen gave their coats to a young man named Saul.  Saul and Paul are the same person, so I think it bears taking a closer look at exactly who Paul is and why God chose such a person to bring the Good News to the Gentiles.

After the stoning of Stephen, Saul/Paul made it his business to track down and arrest everyone who called on the name of Jesus.  Acts 8 tells us he went house to house in Jerusalem to arrest both men and women.  And once he got everyone he could find in Jerusalem, he went out to track them down in the rest of the world.  He was zealous for God, and wanted to rid of world of these people he considered blasphemers.

Now the question is, why would God want to use a person like this as his chosen instrument?  Why did God want to send Saul out into the world as his witness to the Gentiles?  Part of the answer is that zeal for God that Saul had.  If God could take that zeal and channel it where he wanted it, then Saul could be a powerful witness for Jesus.  

The second reason was because of his upbringing.  Saul had been raised in Tarsus, a Mediterranean city in what is now Turkey.  His father was a Pharisee and a Roman citizen.  Being raised in this area of the Diaspora, Saul not only received the traditional Jewish education, but he also received a classical Greek education.  He was skilled, not only in the Jewish scripture and traditions, but also in philosophy.  He was familiar, not only with the Jewish Midrash, but also with the philosophical rhetoric of the day.  Paul grew up knowing Plato and Socrates as well as he knew Moses and Elijah and David.  

Today's lesson from Acts shows us just how important it was for Paul to have these skills in knowing and dealing with people.  Our lesson from Acts picks up after Paul had been run out of both Thessalonica and Berea.  He was taken to Athens to wait there for Timothy and Silas.  But Paul was not the type of person to sit quietly and wait.  He walked around the city and observed the people and the many temples there.  The Greek culture in Athens included the worship of many gods (little "g").   There were temples and shrines everywhere.  

Paul was greatly distressed over all the different temples and shrines and the idol worship.  He sought out the Jewish community and began to preach and teach in their synagogue.  He preached to the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles as well.  

He preached the Gospel of Christ - the Good News of Jesus and he moved out from the synagogue into the marketplace where other Greeks heard him preach.  What he was preaching was different from anything else that these people had ever heard.  He got into a debate with the Epicureans and the Stoics in the market place.  

Now the Epicureans believed that the gods were inaccessible and did not interfere with human life.  They stated the presence of evil as proof that the gods either were impotent or uncaring.  They saw no purposeful design so they lived life to seek out happiness and pleasure.  Madonna’s Material Girl might be an example of Epicureanism.

The Stoics on the other hand believed that God was everything – the soul of the Universe.  They believed in logic and reason and self-control – stiff upper lip - sort of like "Spock" from Star Trek - no such thing as emotion in their world.  So they didn't quite understand what Paul was saying about a God that you could have a relationship with.  They took him to the Areopagus to explain what he was saying.  Now the Areopagus was a hill where aspiring philosophers sat and debated ideas all day.  

Now look what Paul does - he doesn't condemn the people of Athens for their many gods or false ideas - he compliments them.  He compliments them for their desire to find meaning in life - "I can see that you are religious people - you have many temples and many gods.  I even saw a temple to “An Unknown God.'"  

Now, isn't that strange?  Why would they have a temple to an unknown god?  Many people of that time believed that everything that happened to them was controlled by the gods.  This Greek concept is something like having God in a box.  They have a particular god in a particular place and if something goes wrong, they can go sacrifice to that god and he will do what they want him to do.  If something bad happened, they thought they must have offended one of the gods.

There was a story that during the time of a terrible pestilence in the city.  The powers that be released a flock of black and white sheep in the city from the Areopagus.  Wherever a sheep lay down, they would sacrifice it to the god or goddess who's temple was close by.  If there was no temple nearby, they would erect a shrine to "An Unknown God."

Now Paul keys on that, "Let me tell you about this unknown God."  And he proceeds to tell them about the God who made both heaven and earth.  The God who created everything that exists - including us.  This God is not bound by the things of earth.  Paul explains that gods made by human hands have no power - and that the true God can never be contained in any temple or shrine.  Paul does eventually get around to telling them that God raised Jesus from the dead - and that's where he lost his audience.  

Most of the Athenians couldn't accept that God could and would do that.  For one reason, it was preposterous to think a person could come back from the dead.  And even if it were true, then that would place Paul's god above all the rest and then their debates would be over.  The Athenians loved to talk about religions, but they didn't want to make any conclusive decisions.

Actually, the Athens of Paul's time doesn't sound a whole lot different from the world today.  There are many different religions - not to mention numerous sects of the major religions.   Many people today want to sit around and argue religion or philosophy - or the absence there of.  Sigmund Freud argued that God does not exist apart from human beings, and that God is only a figment of our imagination.  He says that humans have a certain basic psychological need to create gods.  

As human beings, we do have a basic need for God.  Walking into any bookstore would give evidence to that - just try looking up spirituality - the world is filled with people looking for religious experiences - but not necessarily in our Christian churches.  The vast majority of books on spirituality have absolutely nothing to do with the God of Abraham.

The middle of last century – doesn’t that sound strange to say that about the 1940s and ‘50s?  The middle of the last century saw a stoic kind of movement.  A person’s relationship with God was a private affair and you sucked up and accepted life as it was dealt out.  It was a very philosophical time with great teaching about the doctrinal issues of the church.  A spiritual experience was looked upon with great distrust in the Christian church.  That’s why my former parish of Redeemer was such an enigma.   

The truth is that most major religions contain elements of truth.  Many of them promote similar ideals - philosophies.  The so-called "golden rule" can be found in most religions - but there is a difference between its statement in Christianity and in all the other religions.  

All of the other religions say something to the effect of "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you."  Very negative in connotation and focuses more on mistreatment.   Christianity is the only one in which this is stated in the positive "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  This very action orientated and focuses on the positive ways we can reach out to one another. 

There are some non-Christians living grace-filled lives in fellowship with God - Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims, and probably others, too.  God can and will, by whatever means, reach out to and save those we disagree with and even those we don't like very much.  God can and will work through whatever means are available to draw in his children - all his children - through whatever means they will respond to.  But the difference is that in Christianity, we find the fullest expression of God's love and presence with us - Jesus Christ.  This is the same Jesus Christ that the Epicureans and the Stoics of today still don't want to hear about.  

Jesus Christ, who says, "I am the vine, you are the branches - abide in me and bear much fruit."  Jesus Christ offers us relationship - up-close and personal - part of the body extending down from God.  Jesus Christ offers us the opportunity to be a part of the saving grace in this world.  

Too often we hesitate to speak out for Christ.  The reasons may be many and varied.  Some people are afraid that others will look at them funny - that their works will be rejected - that people will think they are a "Jesus Freak."  I think instead of being afraid, that we should be aware - aware that there are some people who need the love of Christ in their life.  They need the healing power that comes from a life in Christ.  They need to have some place of hope for their life and their future.  Sometimes just sharing our story is a catalyst for new believer.  I look back behind me and find the landscape of my life littered with the evidence of God's presence and his guiding hand.  And I am willing to share any of it at any time or place.  You should never hound people, but given the opportunity don't be afraid to speak out - "Let me tell you about this 'unknown' God."  "Let me tell you what God did for me...".   

Jesus Christ invites us to make a difference in the world around us by reaching out and by telling others the story of God’s love for us.  In a world that still has many gods and many religions, what can we do?  We can treat others with understanding and respect, tell the story of Jesus Christ, live the gospel and trust that God will use us to further his purpose on earth.

Amen.