6-28-2009 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

THE FIRST RESORT

     I believe it was William Shakespeare who once wrote, “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”  Joseph Heller, in his book Catch-22, made a slight modification to Shakespeare’s line.  He wrote, “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.”  Well I’m going to put my own little spin on Shakespeare’s line as well.  Be not afraid of humility: some are born humble, some achieve humility, and some have humility thrust upon them.  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

     Dr. Kenneth Cooper is recognized as a leader in the international physical fitness movement and is credited with motivating millions of people to exercise.  In fact, Dr. Cooper is also credited with coining the word aerobics in a book he wrote in 1968 by  that title.  Dr. Cooper – one of the world’s leading experts on physical fitness – has often commented that of all the professional people he sees, ministers are in the worst physical shape.

     A 2002 Duke Divinity School study seems to back that statement up.  According to that study, 79% of all male clergy are overweight, and 52% of female clergy are over-weight as well.  In spite of these glaring statistics, nearly 75% of the clergy rate their health as either “excellent” or “very good.”

     That very same study reported that 60% of the clergy never doubted their call to ministry, and 70% have never thought about leaving their profession.  The good news    is, we clergy know that God has called us.  The bad news is, apparently we clergy hear Krispy Kreme calling us as well.

     As many of you know, I had a little blood clot issue after some shoulder surgery about a year and a half ago.  I was hospitalized for several days and after I got out, I had to give myself Heparin shots in the stomach for three or four days.  Now I lift large amounts of weights and even did a little boxing when I was young and foolish.  I am not afraid of much, but needles make me weak in the knees.  (I’m afraid of dentists too, but that’s another story.)

     The nurse at the Meadville Medical Center was explaining how I was to give myself the shot.  She said, “Just take hold of a little roll of fat, push the needle in, and press the top.”  I said, “How am I going to do that?  How am I going to push a needle through these rock-hard, washboard abs?”  The nurse said, “Lift up your shirt.”  So I lifted up my shirt and she said, “You won’t have any problem.”  She was all business!

     How did that saying go?  Be not afraid of humility: some are born humble, some achieve humility, and some have humility thrust upon them.  Ladies and gentlemen, in that particular instance, I truly had humility thrust upon me.

     Such was the case with Jairus in the passage we read from the gospel according to Mark.  Who was Jairus?  The Bible simply calls him “one of the leaders of the synagogue.”  What does that mean?  It means Jairus must have been a man of considerable importance.  He would have been the administrative head of the synagogue.  He would have been president of the board of elders.  He would have been responsible for the conduct of services.  Oh, he may not have taken part in the services – the rabbi would handle that – but he was the one responsible for the services taking place.  The leader of the synagogue was one of the wealthiest, most important, most influential, and most respected people in the community.

     How would Jairus have seen Jesus?  Truth be told, he would have seen Jesus as some-thing of a rabble-rouser.  Here’s this man upon whom the people are designating the title of Messiah, and he doesn’t seem to deny it.  Here’s this man who heals on the Sabbath, eats with tax collectors, and talks incessantly about the kingdom of God.  Jesus was doing his level-best to upset the religious establishment – the religious establishment Jairus was sworn to uphold.  Surely Jairus would have seen Jesus as a threat to all he held dear.

     But there was a problem.  Jairus had a little girl, and he loved that little girl more than life itself.  For her, Jairus would have moved heaven and earth.  His little girl was ill – she was at the point of death – and Jairus was desperate.  So he put aside his pride, he put aside his prejudice, he put aside his dignity, and he put aside the thought of what people might say.  Jairus came to Jesus, dropped to his knees, and begged Jesus to come and heal his daughter.  He came to Jesus as a last resort.

     Do not be afraid of humility: some are born humble, some achieve humility, and some have humility thrust upon them.  Jairus had humility thrust upon him because of the condition of his daughter.  And much to Jesus’ credit, he responded to Jairus.  A lot of us might not have been so gracious.  A lot of us might have made Jairus squirm.  “How do you like me now?” is the catch-phrase of the day.  Jesus, however, responded to Jairus’ pleas.  Of course, by the time he arrived at the home of Jairus, the little girl had already passed away.  Yet Jesus went in and raised her from the dead.  The point of the story is that Jesus has power, even over death.  Jairus humbled himself, and God granted him a miracle.

     Now I could end this sermon here on a pretty high note.  Jesus raised that little girl and Jesus will raise your loved ones as well.  If I ended this thing now, you could all leave in a few minutes and beat the Methodists to Perkins.  But something happened on the way to the home of Jairus, and that’s what I want to focus on now.

     Jairus made his plea, and Jesus acquiesced.  As they made their way to the home of Jairus, a large crowd surrounded them and people were pressing on every side.  But there was this woman in the crowd – a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for 12 long years.  She’d been to many physicians and no one had been able to help her; in fact, if anything, they’d only made things worse.  This woman would have been considered ritually unclean; she would have been ostracized from society.  She would have had to keep her distance from her friends.  She would have had to keep her distance from her husband and from her children.  She must have felt alone in this world.  No one could help her, so she turned to Jesus as a last resort.

     As Jesus moved through the crowds and the crowds pressed upon him, she came up with a plan.  If she could just touch him – maybe just touch the hem of his garment – maybe then she could be healed.  So that’s what she did.  She maneuvered her way through the crowd to where she thought Jesus would soon pass.  And as he passed, she reached out and in one desperate lunge, she got her hand on Jesus’ cloak.  It worked!  She felt the healing immediately!  As she slunk back into the crowd, she must have felt jubilant at her success.  After all these years, she was finally healed and no one was the wiser.

     But then Jesus stopped abruptly and said, “Who touched my garments?”  His disciples thought he was crazy.  “You see the crowd,” they said.  “How can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”  But the woman who had been healed knew exactly what he meant.  Trembling, she came and fell down before him and confessed what she had done.  Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

     Ah, another happy ending.  “Can we stop this sermon now?” you say.  “We can still beat the Baptists to Perkins!”  Sorry, there’s one more thing that needs to be said.  Jesus said to the woman, “Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”  Most of our English Bibles say that this woman had a disease.  The Greek word mastigos can be translated “disease.”  But more literally it means a punishment or a chastisement – specifically, a punishment or a chastisement from God.  So what Jesus is really saying to that woman is this: “Go in peace, and be healed of your chastisement from God.” Are we insinuating here that God caused her affliction?  How could a loving God ever cause one of his precious children affliction?

     I’m going to tell you a story about how a father once caused his child affliction, but I will not mention any names.  Once, a father was coaching one of his sons in football when he heard a lot of sirens off in the distance.  Seems there was a brushfire in the neighborhood and the fire department was rushing to put it out.  Shortly thereafter, a woman told that father that her son, his son, and another boy had started that fire.

     A few minutes later, that father’s son and the other boy came strolling up to the foot-ball field.  The father said to his son, “What’s with all the firetrucks down the street?”  The two boys shrugged their shoulders and said, “Beats me!”  The father growled, “Don’t you lie to me!” as he watched the color leave the boys’ faces.  “Get in the truck.  We’re going down to the police station.”

     There the truth came out.  It was the third boy who started the fire, but the father’s son was guilty by association.  The boys got their hands slapped a little bit, but didn’t get into too much trouble.  As the father drove his son and the other boy home, he said, “You guys got off easy.  The next time, you won’t be so lucky.”  The father knew he had done the right thing when his own son said, “There won’t be a next time.”  The other boy just snorted and stared out the window.

     A father clearly afflicted his son, but he did it to teach him a lesson.  The police had no idea who started the fire.  The boys could have gotten off scot-free.  Instead, one boy was afflicted – by his own father – and he grew from his affliction.

     Can we perhaps now see how God might afflict us or chastise us for our own good?  No one knows the story of why the woman with the hemorrhage was afflicted.  Regard-less, though, it did draw her to Christ, did it not?  Having experienced the grace of God for herself, she would never be the same.  Perhaps God sometimes withdraws from us as well in an effort to get us to turn to Christ…in an effort to get us to dig a little deeper.  Perhaps that’s exactly what God is doing when we sometimes go through what we call the dark night of the soul.

     Something else strikes me about this story of the woman reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe.  Think of the crowds pressing upon Jesus as the Church.  People come to church for any number of reasons – some good, some not so good.  Some come out of habit.  Some come because it’s the right thing to do.  Some come to watch their children perform.  Some come because it’s good for business.  Some come to see what so-and-so is wearing.  Some come to count the hypocrites.  But some come because they have a deep, pressing spiritual need.  They have something that lays so heavily on their hearts that they just want to scream, “God!  Can you hear me?  Will you help me?”  It’s something that no one else knows about – perhaps it’s something they dare not even speak – and nobody seems to be able to help.  Some come to the church out of a deep, pressing spiritual need.

     There’s someone like that here today.  God wants to help you.  God wants you to turn to him, and he will do whatever it takes to get you to do so.  That’s where that empty, hopeless, helpless feeling comes from.  To you, I say, “God is here.  God can help you.  And he will help you, if you let him.”  Don’t make God the last resort.  Instead, try making God the first resort.  Amen.

 

6-21-09 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

GOD IS NEVER IN A HURRY

     Life is full of little lessons, is it not?  Since it’s Father’s Day, let me tell you a story about a lesson a father once taught his son.  It seems the young man had recently gotten his driver’s license and he went to his father – who was also a minister – and asked him about getting his own set of wheels.  The father replied, “We can talk about it, son.  But here’s what I want you to do first.  I want you to improve your grades in school, I want you to start reading the Bible, and I want you to get a haircut.”  A few months later, the boy went back to his father.  He’d improved his grades.  He’d started reading the Bible, but he hadn’t yet gotten that haircut.  The father pointed that out to the son.  The son said, “But Dad, Noah had long hair.  Samson had long hair.  Moses had long hair.  Even Jesus had long hair.”  To which his father quickly replied, “Yes, my son, Jesus did have long hair.  And as you recall, he walked everywhere he went!”

     Life is full of little lessons, and sometimes those lessons sting a little bit.  And some-times, those lessons shake us to the very core.  Tony Campolo is a noted author and speaker who began his professional life as a Baptist minister.  Specifically, he was a youth pastor.  One day, Tony Campolo came home from work a little early.  As he pulled up in the driveway, he saw his son tossing a football with one of his friends.  As Tony got out of the car, he heard his son’s friend say, “Hey, great!  Now that your dad’s home, he can play football with us.”  Campolo heard his son reply, “Nah, my dad only likes to play with other people’s kids.”  It was a lesson that struck Tony Campolo to the core.  He soon got out of youth ministry and the rest, as they say, is history.

     Jesus was giving his disciples one of those lessons that shook them down to the core in the passage we read from the gospel according to Mark.  But before I get into that, I have to set the scene.  Earlier in the day, Jesus delivered what we call the Parable of the Sower.  A sower went out to sow.  As he scattered his seeds, some fell along the path and the birds came and quickly devoured them.  Some fell amongst the thorns and the thorns quickly choked them out.  Some fell on rocky ground and they quickly sprang up, but having no root system, they soon withered and died.  Yet some of the seeds fell on the good ground and they produced grain, some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundred fold.  The disciples didn’t understand the parable, so Jesus had to explain it to them.  Now a parable is often defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  But a parable also always contains a twist and a central truth.  So maybe the Parable of the Sower isn’t so much a parable as it is an allegory.  In any case, Jesus explained it to them.  The seeds that fell on the path are like when the word of God comes to a person and the devil quickly devours it.  The seeds that fell on the thorny ground are like when the word of God comes to a person, but the cares of this world quickly choke it out.  The seeds that fell on the rocky ground are like when the word of God comes to a person and they’re all excited about it, but having no faith foundation, they quickly wither away.  But the seed that fell on good soil is like when the word of God comes to a person and it takes root in their souls.  It truly makes a difference in the way they live their lives.  I think of a mighty oak tree that grows to be 50 or 60 feet tall.  What keeps the wind from blowing the tree over?  It’s a deep-seated root system that keeps it from blowing over.  God can raise a mushroom in a day.  But to grow a mighty oak tree, it might take 30 or 40 years.  God is never in a hurry.  To build a foundation to our faith takes time as well.  Okay, so back to our passage.  Jesus has just given his disciples this lesson on faith when they put out to sea in their boats.  Jesus crawled up in the stern of the boat and fell asleep on a cushion.  Suddenly, a great storm of wind arose and the disciples were terrified.  They ran to Jesus and cried, “Master, do you not care if we perish?”  Jesus had just taught his disciples about faith and then this incident proves that their faith is not very strong.  So Jesus got up and calmed the storm.  Like I said, God is never in a hurry.  God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time.  Again, God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time.

     Many years ago, when I was in Minnesota, I had a wise, old minister friend who was probably about 25 or 30 years older than I was.  His name was Gordon Bloemendaal, and he was a minister in the Reformed Church, sometimes also called the Dutch Reformed Church.  Their motto was, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.”  Gordon Bloemendaal – obviously a Dutchman himself – taught me a lot.  One of the wisest things he said to me was this: “If you’re not doing a great work for the Lord, the Devil’ll leave you alone.”  Pretty good, huh?  When Gordon was in seminary, he was married and already had two or three of his four kids.  One Sunday morning, as the offering plate was being passed, Gordon saw that he only had one dollar to his name.  How was he going to feed his family?  The cupboards at home were bare and he only had a dollar.  So he put that dollar in the offering plate and as he did so, he said a little prayer: “Lord, I don’t know how you’re going to work this out for us, but I trust that you will do so.”  That very afternoon – I’m not making this up – that very afternoon, five or six carloads of families from the church drove up to his house, each one loaded down with several bags of groceries.  It was truly a transformative moment for Gordon and his family.  He learned that God is true to his word.  Perhaps he also learned that God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time.

     Today, a lot of people are struggling financially.  But are they turning to God as my friend Gordon Bloomendaal did?  No, they’re turning to drinking and they’re turning to gambling.  Do you realize that just last week more than 47 million dollars was wagered at Presque Isle Downs?  And over the course of the year so far, in Pennsylvania alone, more than 21 billion dollars have been wagered?  It makes me think of a quote from Gary Eberle’s book, The Geography of Nowhere.  He writes:

In the middle ages, people spent vast amounts of time and money to pilgrimage to shrines and to the Holy Land.  Today, the object of travel is more likely to be the mall or Disney World.  In a spiritual society, people hope to see the face of God.  In a postmodern one, they opt for Mickey Mouse.

     Perhaps we need to turn to God once again.  Maybe that’s what God is waiting for.  After all, God is never in a hurry…but he’s always right on time.  Amen.   

 

6-7-09 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

IS YOUR GOD TOO SMALL?

     As many of you know, my wife is a music teacher at East End Elementary.  Just last week, another teacher B obviously affiliated with the Academy Theater B approached her about their next production.  He told her they=re doing South Pacific, and he wondered if I=d be interested in being part of the cast.

     As my wife told me about this man=s request, I was truly flattered.  What role would they want me to play?  Would they want me to be the entrepreneurial Luther Billis?  Would they want me to be Lieutenant Joe Cable?  Had Kevin Dill or Becky Borthwick let it slip about what a talented singer I really am?  So I said to my wife, AWhat role do they want me to play?@  To which she quickly replied, AThey=re looking for drunken sailors!@

    Okay, okay, that was a little bit humbling.  And truth be told, I didn=t really think they=d ask me to play a major role.  But it=s nice to be asked.  It=s really quite flattering.  And as all of us suspect deep, deep down, flatteryYwill get you everywhere.

   In a manner of speaking, that=s exactly what Nicodemus was trying to do in the passage we read from the gospel according to John.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin B what we might call the Supreme Court of ancient Israel.  Now since Jesus had caused a bit of a stir amongst the Pharisees, Nicodemus came to Jesus by cover of darkness.  Upon gaining an audience with Jesus, Nicodemus said to him, ARabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.@  Why it was almost as if he had borrowed a page from Dale Carnegie=s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.  You know, flattery will get you everywhere!

     Nicodemus probably expected Jesus to reply with something like, AWhy, yes, I do come from God.  How perceptive of you to notice!@  But that=s not what Jesus said at all.  Jesus knew why Nicodemus had come, and Jesus knew the question that burned in his heart.  Jesus quickly put the small talk aside and said to him, ATruly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.@

    Nicodemus wanted to know how to attain the kingdom of God for himself.  He wanted to know how to attain eternal life.  And that=s the question Jesus answered.  AUnless one is born anew,@ he said, Aone cannot see the kingdom of God.@

     The Greek words translated Aborn anew@ here are gennaythay annothen.  They can actually be translated two ways.  One way implies that one must be physically reborn.  The other way implies that one must be spiritually reborn B literally, Abegotten from above.@  Nicodemus misunderstood.  He assumed Jesus was talking about physical rebirth, and he did not understand how that could happen.  How important it is that we   be on the same wavelength when we=re trying to communicate!

     For example, I came across an interesting story about a miscommunication just the other day.  It seems the children in a particular family really wanted a hamster and they begged their parents to buy them one.  They promised their parents that if they got said hamster, they would take care of it themselves.  So Mom and Dad purchased a hamster for their kids and the kids named it Danny.

     After a month or two, the mother found herself responsible for feeding and cleaning up after Danny.  Thus, she located a prospective new home for him, and she told the children about her plan.  Surprisingly, the children took it pretty well.  They actually said, AHe=s been around here a long time.  We=re really going to miss him.@

     AYes,@ the mother replied, Abut he=s too much work for just one person, and since I=m that person, I say he goes.@  One of the children said, AWell, maybe if he wouldn=t eat so much and wouldn=t be so messy, we could keep him.@

     But Mom was firm.  AIt=s time to take Danny to his new home,@ she said.  AGo and get his cage.@  Suddenly the kids cried out, ADanny!  We thought you said Daddy!@

     Like I said, how important it is that we be on the same wave length when we=re trying to communicate.  Jesus said to Nicodemus, AUnless one is born anew, one cannot see the kingdom of God.@  Nicodemus thought in terms of physical rebirth, but Jesus was speaking in terms of spiritual rebirth.

     This simple passage has probably caused as much confusion in the church as any passage in all of Scripture.  The question is asked, AHow does one get to heaven?@  And the answer is posited, AYou must be born again.@  The confusion is this.  Is our spiritual rebirth something we accomplish on our own, or is our spiritual rebirth something God accomplishes in us?

     I truly believe that conventional wisdom in America today leans toward the former. 

You know, in order to be born again, we must accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior.  I don=t know where exactly that language came from.  Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus say, AIn order to see the kingdom of God, you must accept me as your personal savior.@  Yet try to look at this as a theologian.  If the onus of being born again rests with us, then does this not become salvation by works?  We do not B nor have we ever B espoused a doctrine of works-righteousness.  Salvation comes by the grace of God and the grace of God alone.  Or, try to look at this from a psychological standpoint.  If I have accepted Christ as my personal savior and you have not, aren=t I inclined to look down upon you B to see myself as being superior?  It=s this very attitude that has given Christianity such a bad name in recent years.

     That=s why Jesus clearly indicates that it all begins with God.  To Nicodemus, he says, ADo not marvel that I said to you, >You must be born anew.=  The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.@  That=s what the Church has taught for the last 2000 years.  That=s what we call orthodox Christian theology.  It all begins with God.  We still have free will.  God can come to us by way of his Holy Spirit and we can choose to reject him.  But I=ve always been of the mindset that if God wants you, God=s going to get you.  Our spiritual rebirth begins with God.  It=s orthodox Christian theology.  And if it begins with God and not with us, that ought to humble us as well, don=t you think?  We didn=t first choose God, rather, God first chose us.

     Yet the question is often asked, AHow do I know that I=m born anew?@  How can I tell if I=ve been begotten from above?  How does that old saying go, AThe proof is in the pudding?@  The proof of our spiritual rebirth is evidenced by the way we live our lives.  Again, the proof of our spiritual rebirth is evidenced by the way we live our lives.

     A recent United States President claimed to be born again, did he not?  His spiritual rebirth got him to stop drinking.  And perhaps that=s a good thing.  Yet I recently encountered a startling essay that questions his sincerity.  I=m not going to say who wrote the essay because some of you might know him.  And I don=t mean to offend anyone, but I do want you to think.  The essay says:

Many persons supported George Bush because they believed him to be a devout Christian, a man of prayer, a man of God.  Certainly Bush lets no opportunity pass to let the public know that he is a born again Christian.  I have been asked whether I believe him to be a godly man.  It is not for me to judge, but I am not persuaded that he is.  For one thing, none of the people whom I have known in my lifetime whom I would characterize as Agodly@ have every publicly paraded their godliness.  And among widely known public figures, the only one that comes to mind (who is godly) is Mother Teresa.

      The essayist goes on to contrast former President Bush=s actions with Jesus= Sermon on the Mount.  ABlessed are the peacemakers,@ Jesus said.  The essayist says Bush is a war maker.  AHe waged an unjust war in Iraq.@  ABlessed are the meek,@ Jesus said.  The essayist says, ABush and his cronies are the epitome of arrogance and toughness.  They mocked John Kerry for suggesting that we show some sensitivity in dealing with those who disagree with us.@  The list goes on and on, but I=ll stop here.  Again, I am not trying to offend anyone.  I just want you to think about what it means to evidence our faith by the way we live our lives.  Consistency is imperative. 

     Compare that to the man about whom Don Skinner wrote in last Friday=s Meadville Tribune B a man named Millard Fuller.  Skinner wrote:

Highly successful and an early millionaire, Fuller could have been forgiven for being satisfied with his achievements.  He might also have evaporated into oblivion.  He was one of several men I=ve personally met who sky-rocketed into economic orbit, only to look around and ask, AIs this all there is?@  Indeed it was all B where he was at.  But not where he was going.  He hadn=t gotten off the ground yet.

     Who was Millard Fuller?  Millard Fuller was the founder of Habitat for Humanity.  By the year 2009, Habitat for Humanity volunteers had erected 300,000 homes, occupied by more than 1.5 million people.  As Fuller himself put it, AWe know that by doing what we can, we make a difference.  We know from experience that when we move on faith, God moves with us.@  Now there=s a man who was born anew.  He truly figured out that life was not all about him.

     J.B. Phillips was the author of a book entitled, Your God Is Too Small.  When is our God too small?  Our God is too small when we believe the world revolves around us.  Our God is too small when we think we have all the answers.  Our God is too small when we think we=re better than somebody else.  Our God is too small when we equate God=s desires with our own.  Our God is too small when our faith doesn=t guide every aspect of our lives.  Our God is too small when he impacts only our lives and not the way we deal with others.  Our God is too small when we think that being born again has only to do with spending eternity in heaven.  Our God is too small when he doesn=t impact what we do in the here and now.  So I ask you now: AIs your God too small?@  Amen.