06-24-2012 Camp Sunday Message by Stephanie Claspy

 

 

CHANGE…BUT YET STILL THE SAME

                        By Stephanie Claspy

   How many of you remember what a milkman was?  For those of you who don’t this is 100% true, I am not making this stuff up.   A man actually used to show up at your house (sometimes in the middle of the night) and leave milk for your family in something called a milkbox that sat on your front porch!!!!

  Does anyone remember life before cell phones?   Houses used to have 1 telephone and families often had something called a party line.  I am told this was a line shared by up to 5 other families and you had to wait for the line to be free before you could use it.  You could even listen in on their calls without them knowing it!!!!!  Does anyone here remember those days?

  I know we all remember the days of gas prices being much lower but how many of you actually remember when you could fill your tank for $5???? 

  Television I am told consisted of usually 3 or 4 channels and was only in black and white and you actually had to get up and walk over to the TV to turn it on and off and change the channel.  There was no cable or internet and most houses had some type of antenna on top of their house.

  We have all adapted to the way we get our milk, buy our gasoline, watch television and God help us, what would we do if we couldn’t locate our cell phones????

  So, are you a person who invites change and adapts to it?  Or are you one who resists change and despises it?   Change is inevitable and how we deal with it can often define us.   Sometimes we adjust to change very easily and after a short while we can’t even remember what it was like prior to the change taking place.

  Every family faces changes as the years go by.  For example, I am only 20 years old but not so many years ago, I was peddling my bicycle as fast as I could trying to keep up with my 2 big brothers and be just like them (this included playing ice hockey).    Today my brother Chris lives in Pittsburgh and Manages a bank.   Ryan who used to terrorize every teacher he had from elementary school, to middle school, to high school, just finished Grad school and believe it or not, is looking for a job as a teacher…..   My dad a few short years ago had hair…. And it was dark.   Today?  Well let’s just say his hair is thinning.   My mom never dreamed she would have to battle breast cancer while raising her children.   Thank God, that is a battle she has been winning for the last 10+ years.  And my Grandma Claspy a few short years ago was full of life and laughter.   When I was young she would gladly hang my drawings on her refrigerator and tell all her friends who the drawings were from.    A few years ago she developed Alzheimer’s and soon stopped speaking and for that matter didn’t even know I was her grand-daughter.  In January God took my Grandma home. 

   My stories are not that much different probably from most families.   Everyone deals with the changes life has in store for them.  It is part of who we are as a people.   So why am I up here in front of you today talking about change?   Yes today is camp Sunday.   Traditionally the Sunday following the conclusion of camp, the Staff takes part in the service.  This year it only seems appropriate to make change part of our discussion.   So where do I begin?   Since the conclusion of camp last Summer the following changes were front and center of our Summer Youth Camp.   First, my brother Ryan stepped down as Director.   Yes I am a bit biased since he is my brother, but he was an amazing Director.  He had a passion for this camp and would not take no for an answer when it came to camp.  He left some incredibly large shoes to fill.   In addition, we had a large turnover with Staff.  Over 70% of this years’ staff was either new or in a new position. If you don’t think that created some challenges, I can tell you it did.   Another change was that of changing the name of the camp.  After several years of discussion it was agreed that the word Evolution may not have been the best choice when deciding on the name for Camp a few years back.   So a new name / “Experience the Journey” was born.   So let’s recap…. We had to find a new Director to fill very large shoes,  had almost entirely new Staff to lead the campers, and hope our name recognition wouldn’t suffer with a new name for camp….  Oh, I forgot one other minor change….. Our budget was cut by more than 50%.  

  So where do you start with all these changes square in your face?   There is only one place to start.  GOD.   No matter how drastic the changes are that we are faced with, God doesn’t change.  He is the one constant in all of this.  Sometimes when you look around and nothing seems to look familiar, that is the best time to remember the most steadfast friend we have and who is always there.  He never gives us more than we can handle as people.   It isn’t always easy and it isn’t always clear to us but that is the beauty of how we grow as Christians.  So let’s take a look at how God has been a constant this year for Experience the Journey.  

  Yes, I am a new Director, but I had a huge advantage of seeing first-hand how Ryan did certain things / as well as all the behind the scene work he did prior to camp.   Much of the staff may have been new or in new positions this year, but even Brian Jensen was a rookie Preacher once upon a time.   This year’s Staff was amazing and no doubt had the Holy Spirit working through them with these kids.  Sometimes when so many are new, a group can bond together towards a common goal.  This year the staff came together in amazing ways.   The name change????  Well the name may have changed, but the message remained the same.   Jesus is front and center in all that we do and HE gets the Glory.  Our mission continues to be introducing these kids to more and more about Jesus.  

  That brings us to the budget.  The CE Committee had some rather difficult discussions and decisions to make, and our purse strings were tied somewhat.   We were facing turning campers away and cutting back to one week and eliminating programs as a potential budget solution.  In the end, we were forced to cut a few corners and look for some ways to cut some costs or do things a little different.     The economy has been tough on a lot of people so I decided I did not want to get up in front of you and do a minute for mission asking for money.  Instead I asked Mary to just put a note in the bulletins each week letting you know if you were able to sponsor camp in anyway, we would be greatly appreciative.   Well....the response was amazing.  Without a pressured sales pitch, you supported camp financially at a record level.   No camp programs were cut, the camp remained a two week event, and to these kids, they probably had no idea anything changed…. (except I am a little shorter than my brother and a lot better looking).   The best part though was that every family that applied for a scholarship received one.  On behalf of all the campers, the CE Committee, the Staff, and myself…. Thank-you!!!! 

  But before I give you all the credit, I truly believe God (that one constant) was hard at work here.   He continues to do some of his best work through all of you here at First Presbyterian. 

Finally, as I was preparing this message and thinking about change, I thought back to two years ago when Ryan stood up here and asked all the kids under 21 to stand.  He told all of us that these kids (including myself) were the future of the Church.   That same message has been and will continue to be delivered to every generation of youth.  Yes the names and faces of our youth change as time goes by, but this church has been very blessed over the years with how some of our youth have grown into adults. It has been the commitment to them that all of you have shown as you have nurtured them.  Not so many years ago many of you remember when Miles O’Shea and Pete Hosick were roaming these halls heading to Sunday School?   Times change… Sort of!!!  Miles is still roaming the halls of education but now that is at MASH where he is using his talents to teach the youth.  I understand Pete Hosick is working on his Doctorate and planning to teach our youth at a University level.  Having strong Christian Men in teaching positions, sounds pretty good to me. 

  And how about Mike Kilburn?  Has he experienced change in his life?  Not so many years ago he was in an orphanage in Russia.   God brought him to Meadville PA and the Kilburns and to First Presbyterian, and now he pays back his good fortune by serving in the Armed Forces of our Country.  No make that HIS Country…..

   And let’s not forget Joel DiAngi who was just a big kid himself when just a few years ago he was assisting our youth group.  Today you can walk across town and listen to him preach to his own Congregation.  

  There are so many more success stories of our youth here at First Presbyterian.  They all experienced changes growing up here but they too found God to be a constant in their lives and he continues to be that today for them as they work to make the world a better place.

  And for me…. Yes my brothers and I have grown up and our lives have changed.  But we are still family and remain close.  My Mom may have gone through the toughest battle of her life a few years back, but I now know where my strength will come from when I need it.   And yes my Grandma Claspy may be gone, but God promises she is now at peace and I will see her again.  

With so much change in the world it is such a comfort to know that God will always be that one constant. 

  Thank you for helping all of us at Experience the Journey deliver the love of Jesus Christ to these children.   AMEN.

 

06-17-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART VII

    The Christian Church has long taught that faith does not form in a vacuum.  Faith usually forms through a series of steps.  It begins with Scripture, as one comes to know OF God.  It grows through prayer, as one comes to KNOW God.  It starts to take shape, as one comes to SUBMIT to God.  In other words, faith forms from without…because faith begins with God.  That’s what the Church has taught for centuries, yet that does not seem to be what passes for faith today.

    For example, listen to a May 31^st United Press International story.  It seems a Houston, Texas family is gaining spiritual strength from an image of Jesus they found growing in the mold inside the shower of their home.  “The mold began growing in the bathroom a couple of years ago,” the mother of the family said.  “Recently, it took the shape of the face of Jesus.  It gives me inspiration to be a better person.”  Then she added, “Maybe it means something.”  I think it does mean something.  I think it means somebody ought to clean that shower!  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    My little brother was raised in the church.  Although, rumor has it, he may be heading back there now, for years he had nothing to do with the institutional church.  He always said, “I took a class on the gospel of Mark in college.  The minister never says anything I don’t already know!”  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    A minister friend of mine was recently talking with a man in his community.  The man said, “I had my fill of church when I was a kid.  Now, I’ve had it with institutional religion up to here.  Jesus will just have to get over it when I see him!”  Is that what passes for faith these days?

    Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut recently released data from a survey they conducted among Generation Xers.  Many Generation Xers – those born between 1965 and 1982 – walked away from the church are not coming back.  Sociologists have long taken for granted that teenagers typically rebel against their parents’ religion, but then return to it when they have kids of their own.  But Generation Xers – many now in their 40s and raising high-schoolers – are not following that trend.  Most of them are not coming back…and they’re not involving their children in organized religion either.

    New York Times columnist Ross Douthat comments on that in a book entitled, Bad Religion.  He writes, “This does not mean that our country is filling up with atheistic secularists.  These Generation Xers aren’t leaving spirituality behind.  They haven’t abandoned the whole Christian worldview – just the parts that require commitment.”  Douthat does not call them atheists.  He calls them heretics.  A heretic, in his mind, is one who no longer looks outward for spiritual authority.  A heretic, rather, is one who looks inward for spiritual authority.  In other words, the primary spiritual authority for a heretic…is one’s self.  And that, my friends, just might be our biggest problem these days.  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

    This is the seventh in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro, and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    We talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we should not throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Then we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.

    Three weeks ago, we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  He tells us who we are and where we are going as Christians.  We are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    Two weeks ago, we noted how Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that indentifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and certainly not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather, he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy.

    Last week we discovered that God bestows grace to sinners like us.  Yet the grace of God is a lot like water to a swimmer.  It seems as though there is no possible way it could support us.  Yet like the swimmer, we have to lean forward, lift up our legs, and let ourselves go.  To coin a phrase, we need to learn to let go…and let God.

    Now back to the issue with which we began this sermon.  Does faith come from within, or does faith come from without?  Is the primary spiritual authority one’s self, or is the primary spiritual authority God?  In a manner of speaking, Paul takes a stab at that question in the passage we read from the book of Ephesians.  The way he does so is by contrasting the way their lives used to be with the way their lives are now.

    The church in Ephesus was comprised of Jewish and Gentile converts.  It was no small thing for Jews and Gentiles to learn to get along.  The Jews were the chosen people of God.  The Gentiles were everyone else.  Combining the two was a bit like trying to desegregate schools in the South in the 1960s.  Yet they had managed to do so, in the name of Jesus Christ.  How had they done so?  By conquering their individualism.

    Individualism is the habit of understanding spiritual growth as an isolated self-help project.  The individualist is the person who is convinced that he or she can have faith in God without dealing with God.  The individualist is the person who is sure that he or she can love their neighbors without knowing their names.  The individualist is the person who assumes that getting ahead means leaving others behind.  The individualist is the person who, having gained competence in knowing God or people or world, uses that knowledge to take charge of God or people or world.  The individualist seeks to specialize in God without bothering with people, or to specialize in people without bothering with God.  In Paul’s mind, that rings of heresy.

    Of course, we are inherently individuals when it comes to the use of our own intentions and free will.  God does not remove our individuality when we enter the church.  Church, rather, is where we cultivate a submission to the authority and care of God.  Church is where we try to conquer individualism.  Church is where we come to think of God…and of someone besides ourselves.

    That is exactly what Paul is trying to say in verses 19 through 22.  He writes, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, you are citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”

    Paul is talking about the church here.  You become the people of God not as individuals, but as a community in the church.  Yet perhaps even more importantly, your faith grows not from within, but rather, from without…through what God accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. So what do we say to those who say to us, “I don’t think you need the church to get to heaven?”  I think we say, “Those of us in the church think it’s better to be in the church.”

    Part of the problem, I think, is that we fail to comprehend what the church really is. Far too many people see it as nothing more than a building with a special tax status, or even as a collection of hypocrites.  On a more positive note, perhaps some see the church as a staging ground for getting people motivated to continue Christ’s work.  The problem with both of these views is that they see the church as a human activity to be measured by human expectations.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

    Perhaps what we need to do is to look at the church for what it is, not just for what it does.  The church is the gift of Christ to the world.  Paul says that the church is the body of Christ.  Christ is the head and the church is his body.  In other words, there is far more to the church than meets the eye.  There is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Ladies and gentlemen, that is found nowhere else.  We miss the complexity and glory of the church if we insist upon measuring it and defining it by the parts that we play in it; if we insist on evaluating it and judging it by what we think it ought to be.  For through the church, there is something Christ bestows upon us.

    Paul calls it…peace.  Peace is Paul’s word of choice to help us understand what Christ bestows through the church.  He begins by identifying Jesus Christ as “our peace.”  He goes on to describe Christ as “making peace” and “proclaiming peace.”  The Greek word for peace is eiranain.  When calling Jesus our peace, the literal translation is “harmony.”  Yet when Christ makes peace or proclaims peace, the literal translation is “salvation.”  What Paul is saying is this: Jesus brings us together, Jesus breaks down the walls of hostility, Jesus recreates us as a unified humanity, Jesus reconciles us to God, and Jesus brings us home.   And he does so…through the church.

    To that you say, “Peace through the church?  I’ve been in the church, and I’ve never seen such a bunch of infighting, backstabbing, hypocritical people in my entire life!”  The question now is: Is it God who causes the problems, or is it people?  Listen to this.

    I recently ran into a friend from this church on the street.  She said to me, “There’s a rumor going around about you.”  I rolled my eyes and said, “Now what?”  She said, “Someone said to me that our church pays you over $100,000 a year, provides your house, and pays for your utilities.”  I asked, “Was it a member of our church who said that?”  She said, “No.  I think they go to Stone Methodist.”  I said, “You tell them that’s exactly what I make!” 

    For some unknown reason, people are always trying to stir up trouble.  They are perpetually disturbing the peace.  That’s because Christ’s peace is never a finished product.  It is always a work in progress.  But that does not mean that Christ does not impose peace upon us.

    As many of you know, my mother died last November.  I was sad.  I seem to miss her more as time goes on.  I couldn’t call her and tell her about Travis’ graduation.  I won’t be able to tell her when one of the kids gets married. I won’t be able to tell her when she becomes a great-grandma.  But I did not fall apart when she died.  That’s because I knew in my heart that I would one day see her again.  That’s the peace Christ brings.  That’s the peace Christ brings through the church.

    Today, of course, we want to believe that everyone goes to heaven.  That’s not what Jesus said.  That’s not what Paul says.  Paul says Christ brings peace through the church.  Peace stands for harmony, and peace stands for salvation.  There is more to Church than meets the eye.  Amen.

 

06-10-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART VI

    Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of the most celebrated Catholic priests of the 20^th century.  From 1930 until 1950 he hosted a radio program called The Catholic Hour, and from 1951 until 1957, he hosted a television show called Life Is Worth Living.  As you might suspect of a man of his stature, he often lectured to very large crowds.  One time, however, while giving a lecture in Chicago…he encountered a heckler in the audience. 

    Archbishop Sheen was telling the biblical story of Jonah and the whale.  He spoke of how Jonah fled from the call of God, was cast off the side of a ship in a storm, and ended up spending three days in the belly of a whale.  That’s when the heckler reared his ugly head.  The heckler cried, “It is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human being!”  Sheen was a bit taken aback.  He paused for a second, then said, “Well, the Bible says that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.”  The heckler responded, “It is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human being!  Its throat is too small!” 

    Undaunted, Archbishop Sheen replied, “Well, when I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah myself.”  The heckler said, “What if Jonah is with the Devil someplace else?”  To which Sheen quickly replied, “Then you can ask him!”

    That’s the long way of getting around to the questions with which I want to begin this sermon.  Presbyterians don’t talk about the Devil very often.  Do you think there is a Devil?  And if there is, do you think he holds any sway in the world today?  Do you think the Devil has any impact on the decisions we make on a daily basis?  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

    This is the sixth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Six weeks ago, we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Five weeks ago we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heart-felt convictions of those who serve him.

    Two weeks ago, we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  He tells us who we really are as Christians.  As Christians, we are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    Last week, we noted how Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that identifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and certainly not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather…he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy ones.

    Now back to this Devil business.  Is there a Devil?  And if there is, does he hold any sway in the world today?  Do you think the Devil has any impact on the decisions we make on a daily basis?  I suspect that in this day and age, we tend to have our doubts. 

    Frankly, like any competent theologian, I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible.  For example, where does the Devil appear in the Old Testament?  The first thing you want to say is the Garden of Eden, right?  The Devil tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Truth be told, it was a Serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It may be implied that the Serpent is the Devil, but that is never expressly stated. 

    The first place the Devil actually appears in the Old Testament is in the first book of Chronicles.  In chapter 21, verse one, it says: “Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel.”  So in other words, it was Satan who called for the first census!  Now that’s funny!  But truth be told, this verse reflects an evolution that had begun to take place in Jewish thought.  The word “Satan” comes to replace a Hebrew word which was originally translated, “the anger of the Lord.”  In other words, the Jewish people only wanted to associate God with good things in life.  The concept of a fallen angel named Satan was developed to account for evil and misfortune. 

    Then, of course, there’s the book of Job.  Supposedly Satan made a deal with God to make Job’s life go awry.  Most scholars do not take this story literally.  Truth be told, God himself does not come out looking very good in the book of Job if one does take it literally.  The point is that mainstream Judaism does not have a concept of the Devil akin to what Christians have.

    Of course, in the New Testament, Jesus is tempted by the Devil in the wilderness.  The Greek word used for Devil is diabolon.  It means literally, slanderer or accuser.  Yet the word slanderer can actually be looked at two ways.  It can be construed as an outside entity, such as the Devil.  Or, it can be construed as an inside entity, such as the evil that lurks within all of us.  Like I said, I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible. 

    But listen to this.  I like to practice what is called contemplative prayer.  That’s just a fancy way of saying listening prayer.  Contemplative prayer has to do with listening for God.  Christian mystics have long taught that when one is involved in contemplative prayer, one can actually receive messages from God.  The subject of the Devil once came to mind during the course of one of my contemplative prayer sessions.  I asked the question, “Is there a Devil?”  I immediately sensed the word, “Yes.”  So then I asked, “Why?”  And immediately, I sensed the words, “That’s not for you to know.”

    Now some of you may chalk that up to my vivid imagination, and that’s fine.  But for those of us who know God, that sure sounds like God, does it not?  While I can exegete the Devil out of the Bible, I still have a sneaking suspicion that there is one.  I don’t know why.  It makes no sense to me.  As hard as it is for us to accept these days, perhaps there are some things we are simply not meant to know.

    The Apostle Paul believed there was a Devil.  In fact, he goes so far as to say that that’s who the Ephesians were serving before they came to know Christ.  In verses one and two of chapter two, he writes, “You he made alive…when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” 

    Paul’s word for the Devil is the prince of the power of the air.  And he says that the spirit of the Devil is at work in the sons of disobedience.  Do you understand what he’s saying?  Paul is saying that we are serving God OR we are serving the Devil.  There doesn’t seem to be any in between here.  Either we are serving God, or we are serving the Devil.  How does the spirit of the Devil work?  The spirit of the Devil is that which leads a person away from God.  Ladies and gentlemen, the prince of the power of the air…is alive and well in our world today.

    In order to prove that statement, perhaps all I have to do is mention what is being called a zombie attack in Miami.  Honestly, never in my life did I ever think I would use the word “zombie” in a sermon.  I’m not going to say anything else about it here.  The incident was far too gruesome.  If you know what I’m talking about, you understand.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go look it up.  The prince of the power of the air is alive and well in our world today.

    But that’s too blatant an illustration.  It enables us to point a finger at something and say, “Look at that,” or, “Look at them!”  But it’s my job to help us realize that when we point a finger at someone else, there are always three fingers pointing back at us.  How is the prince of the power of the air alive and well in our own worlds today?  How is the spirit of the Devil leading us away from God?  I think the Devil is really quite subtle these days.

    For example, there is a restaurant that recently opened up by The Movies at Meadville called Timber Creek.  Now since we are supposedly in a recession, I wondered how it would fare…or even how it might affect business at The Montana Rib and Chop House.  I drove past the restaurants on a Friday night not long ago.  The Timber Creek parking lot was full, the Montana Rib and Chop House parking lot was full, and the Movies at Meadville parking lot was full, as well.  What recession, right? 

    In the meantime, church attendance has plummeted all across the country.  Churches are having to trim back their budgets, which means cutting back on mission.  Why, we can hardly find enough people to fill our slates of elders, deacons and trustees!  People seem to have all the time and money in the world to pay for their own entertainment, but they come up woefully short when it comes to the things of God.  Oh yes…the prince of the power of the air is alive and well in our world today.  The spirit of the Devil is having a field day leading us away from God.  And the saddest part of all…is that we don’t even seem to realize it.

    Yet it is to sinners – it is to sinners like us – that God sent his only begotten Son.  As Paul notes in verses four and five, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us – even when we were dead through our sin – made us alive together with Christ.  By grace you have been saved.” 

    By grace we have been saved.  What thus remains for us…is to learn how to live in that grace.  Of course, that’s easier said than done.  Consider the silent reflection portion of your bulletins this morning.  Eugene Peterson writes:

In fifty years of being a pastor, my most difficult assignment continues to be the task of developing a sense among the people I serve of the soul-transforming implications of grace – a comprehensive, foundational reorientation from living anxiously by my wits and muscle, to living effortlessly in the world of God’s active presence.  The prevailing North American culture is – to all intents and purposes – a context of persistent denial of grace.

    So how do we learn to live in God’s grace?  Let me take a stab at what that looks like.  Imagine a swimming pool filled with water.  As you walk into the water, you immediately sink to the bottom.  It seems as though there is no possible way this water could support your body.  But it can.  It can if you trust it to support your body.  So you lean forward, lift up your legs, and let yourself go.  You reach out with ease and confidence…and you find yourself gliding through the water.  The water can support your body…if you let yourself go and trust it to do so.

    Perhaps living in God’s grace is a little bit like swimming.  We can’t see God’s grace.  It seems as though there is no possible way that the grace of God could support us.  It’s so much easier to rely on our own grit and determination.  We have to lean forward, lift up our legs, and let ourselves go.  As someone once said, “Let go, and let God.”  And when we do that, we will find ourselves gliding through life on the grace of God.

    What does that look like in real life?  We’ll get to that in weeks to come.  Amen.

 

05-20-2012 Youth Sunday homily by Libby Volna

THE NARROW WAY

Matthew 7:13-14

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell (the road that leads to destruction) is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

The Narrow Way, it is not easily found, obtained, or traveled. Nor is it always chosen. This “narrow way” is the key to our salvation. This journey in finding the narrow way will be more challenging and difficult than we can even begin to measure.  As modern day people we are easily given the answer to our problems. Even if we have a challenge, the solution is close enough to reach our fingertips. In this case, our solution is not easy enough to just reach our fingertips, nor even measurable.

Let me ask you this. How many of you have cats? You know those long strands of coarse hair billowing off their cheeks, whiskers. Well they are not just for show; whiskers play a key role in a cat’s life. Whiskers provide balance for the cat, sending nerves in and out the tips and back to the nervous system.  They also help detect the width of an opening. When a cat approaches a small enclosed space that is too small, their whiskers send little nerves to their brain letting them know they will not fit. This is similar to our journey to our salvation, except instead of sporting whiskers on our cheeks, we have Jesus Christ. Jesus helps us through every opening, no matter the size. The only difference between our situation and the cat’s situation is that they may not fit through the narrowest path, but with the power and strength of Jesus Christ within us, we can.

We live in a world that is constantly telling us what we can and can’t do. Yes, we are given limitations after limitations after limitations. At some point in your life you will have experienced the wrath of high school. High school can be a great place, full of knowledge, wisdom, and many great experiences, but is the central source of limitations spiritually. As of the 1960’s, religion and public schooling took a spin and somehow ended on opposite poles. This makes no sense, how something as powerful as faith could be scratched from the grasp of our education system. What is learning without growth and faith in Christ? Nowadays, teens rarely go to church or are even exposed to Christianity. The word “God” is rarely even spoken within the walls of school. Students spend large parts of their waking hours in school having to keep faith under the wraps. Church is not considered cool by many unchurched teens, making Christian teens feel uncomfortable wearing a cross around their neck through the hallways. Seven and a half hours a day, seven and a half hours of long, grueling hours that are expected to be spent without God. Without God, that high school hallway is going to be broader, wider, and easier to pass through, making school effortless and carefree. But with God, that hallway is going to be narrower than ever, and the climb through high school will be very rocky. It seems as though all these things are all working against us, but in the end you’ll look down at the view and realize all your time climbing has been well spent.

 

06-03-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART V

    Soren Kierkegaard was a 19^th century Danish philosopher.  He once told a story about a couple of thieves who broke into a jewelry store one night, but who did not steal a thing.  Instead, they rearranged the price tags.  Thus, the next morning, worthless jewelry was sold at a very high price…while priceless jewelry was sold for next to nothing.  The point he was trying to make is that we live in a world where culture has rearranged the price tags on human beings.

    Perhaps nowhere is this switching of price tags more evident than in the realm of self-esteem.  In our culture today, for example, people are valued for how they look, for how far they can hit a baseball, or even for their material possessions.  Rarely are they valued for who they really are. 

    This issue of self-esteem tends to have particularly devastating consequences in the lives of young adults.  Young men perform outrageous, life-threatening deeds just to prove to someone that they are a man.  Young women get involved in unhealthy, even self-destructive relationships…because they believe they are nothing unless they abide by the expectations of their peers.  The question now is: Who puts the price tag on the value of a human being: culture…or God?  You see, when you know what you’re really worth, your life somehow changes.  When you know what you’re really worth, your values are transformed.  Keep that thought in mind as we move on. 

    This is the fifth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Five weeks ago, we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Four weeks ago we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.

    Last week we encountered Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos.  As Christians, we are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

    In the passage we read from the book of Ephesians today, Paul begins by saying, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and your love toward all the saints.”  Your love toward all the saints?  Who are these saints to whom Paul refers?  Let me say, first of all, that they are not a professional football team from New Orleans.  Nor are they people who have been venerated by the Pope in Rome.  The saints to whom Paul refers are average, ordinary, faith-filled Christians. 

    The word “saint” itself literally means, “holy one.”  The word “saint” is actually Paul’s word of choice for the people of God – men and women who follow the way of Jesus Christ.  Paul uses the word “saint” to describe the people of God nine times in the book of Ephesians.  It wasn’t until many years later that the word “Christian” came to supplant the word “saint” as the common designation for the people of God.  In fact, the word “Christian” only occurs three times in the entire New Testament, and not once in Paul’s writings.  As time went on, the word “saint” came to designate only outstanding Christians.  Eventually it was even further restricted to persons officially designated, after rigorous examination, to a kind of spiritual hall of fame.  The early usage of the word “saint” as depicted in the Apostles’ Creed – you know, “I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints” – the early usage of the word “saint” is all but lost to our modern-day vernacular.  

    Yet Paul refers to us as saints.  Paul refers to us as holy ones.  Paul deliberately chooses a word that identifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does in and for us.  He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather…he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us.  In God’s eyes, we are saints.  In God’s eyes, we are holy ones.

    So let’s go back to Soren Kierkegaard’s price tag analogy.  Culture says that you are a collection of cells that evolved from a monkey.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying anything against evolution here.  We’re not talking about how we came into being.  We’re talking about the value of a human being.  Culture says that you are a collection of cells that evolved from a something else.  Well, if that’s the case, then why not live for the moment?  Why not engage in promiscuity for the thrill of it all?  Why not step on whoever we have to step on in order to get ahead?  After all, if we are nothing more than a collection of cells, then life must solely be about what I can glean from it.  Ladies and gentlemen, culture has put a very low price tag on the human being.

    God says you are a saint.  God says you are a holy one.  God says you are of infinite worth.  How does that affect your values?  Suddenly, life isn’t solely about what I can glean from it, is it?  Now, perhaps, the value of life is life itself…and how I might serve the One who created me.  Therefore, I ask you now: Does God exist to serve us, or do we exist to serve God?  Get the answer to that question wrong…and you’re never going to get any of the rest of it right either.  The price tag God puts on us is very high.  Don’t let culture switch the price tags.

    After designating the people of God as saints, the Apostle Paul goes on to tell them that he is praying for them.  Have you ever thought about how much that means?  What does it mean to you when someone says, “I’m praying for you?” Of course, I remember in seminary when I once got into a theological disagreement with someone.  In my mind, I was winning…because at the end of the conversation he said to me, “I’ll pray for you!”  I wanted to say, “No!  Don’t pray for me! I don’t want God to make me think like you!”  But seriously, what does it mean to you when someone says, “I’m praying for you?”  It means a great deal, does it not?

    The Apostle Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus.  He prayed to God that God might give them five things.  The five things were: wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, hope, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power.  The five things Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, he prays for us as well.  These are the things the saints can expect to receive from God: wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, hope, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power.  As Paul notes, they come not because of some great accomplishment on our parts.  They come through what God achieved in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ.  The shame of it all is that there are people these days who fail to see that…and who suffer the consequences of it.

    I’m going to tell you two quick stories now that I think will make what I’m trying to say a little bit more clear.  The first story is about an out-of-town couple that recently came to me and asked me to perform their wedding.  They wanted a civil ceremony.  They wanted no mention of Jesus Christ at all.  Jesus Christ was not a part of their lives and they did not want him to have a part in their wedding either.

    While we were talking, I noticed a series of numbers tattooed up the bride’s left arm.  Not being particularly shy, I asked her what they were meant to represent.  She said, “These are the death dates of four of my good friends.”  I said, “I am so sorry.  How did they die?”  She replied, “Two died from cancer…and two committed suicide.”  Do you sense a certain irony here?  The bride and her friends refused the gifts God gives in Jesus Christ – wisdom and revelation, an enlightened heart, HOPE, the riches of his glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power – and a couple of them felt that the only way to escape their problems…was suicide.

    Contrast that story with a story I want to tell you about our own Julia Marshall.  Julia Marshall was born in 1914. She had a Ph.D. in psychology. She taught at colleges and universities all across the country.  She used to sit right in front of me here in the sanctuary, nearly every Sunday morning.  She wasn’t able to stand for the hymns, but she sat there and sang every one of them without even opening a book.  I think she knew every hymn in the hymnal by heart.  Julia Marshall was a woman of deep faith.  She died on the 6^th of April.

    I went to see her in the hospital shortly before she died.  She was having a wonderful day and we had a terrific conversation.  In fact, she told me something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.  The next day, however, she took a sudden turn for the worse.  When I went to see her, she had an oxygen mask over her face and I was having a hard time understanding her.  She said to me, “I want to go home.”  I said, “You want to go home?”  She said, “I want to go home,” as she pointed toward the sky.  And it wasn’t long…before she did.

    God gives gifts to his saints thanks to what he accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ.  Of course, they matter in the life to come.  But as I think you can clearly see…they matter in this lifetime as well.  Amen.

 

05-27-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART IV

    A good friend of mine passed away last week.  He was only 43 years old.  He leaves behind a wife and three children – a son in college, a son in high school, and a daughter still in elementary school.  He was diagnosed a few months ago with a highly treatable form of leukemia, and seemed to be on the road to recovery.  Then, something went terribly wrong.  He died in the hospital, surrounded by his family, on Tuesday afternoon.

    We have come, these days, to not expect such calamitous things to happen.  So many previously deadly diseases are now treatable.  Life expectancy seems to increase every year.  We all expect to live to a ripe old age.  So when such things do happen, we find ourselves at a loss for words.  We grieve deeply, and then we begin to question God.  “How can a loving God allow such things to happen?” we wonder.  “Why do bad things happen to good people…like us?”

    If any one of us takes the time to take stock of our lives, we will find that a great number of things have gone wrong.  Illness and injuries set us back.  Children don’t turn out quite the way we planned.  A husband or a wife turns out not to be who we thought they were.  The economy collapses and we wonder how we’re going to survive our golden years.  These are not things we typically bargain for, and when we believe we are following Jesus Christ, we expect them even less.  So when they do happen, our faith tends to falter.  “How can a loving God allow such things to happen?” we wonder.  “Why do bad things happen to good people…like us?”  Keep that thought in mind as we move on. 

    This is the fourth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Four weeks ago, we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here.  Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throwaway society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    Three weeks ago we talked about living a worthy life.  A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed not in isolation, but rather, in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.

    A man named Walter Percy wrote six novels in which he made us insiders to the sense of alienation that he found so pervasive in American culture.  His name for this condition was, “lost in the cosmos.”  In other words, from a spiritual perspective, we don’t know who we are.  We don’t know where we came from, and we don’t know where we’re going.  We are lost in the cosmos.  This tends to be particularly true when things go wrong in our lives.  So Walter Percy wrote his novels to wake us up to our desperate condition, and to set up a few signposts to help us find our way.

    Believe it or not, the Apostle Paul knew a little bit about being lost in the cosmos as well, although he certainly would not have used those words.  Yet Paul also tries to wake us up to our desperate condition, and to set up a few signposts to help us find our way.  Paul does so, however, by providing an extensive witness to how God works in the world.

    In the passage I read from the book of Ephesians, for example, it all begins with God.  Paul fires off seven strong verbs that illuminate God’s way of working with us in the world.  The verbs are: blessed, chose, destined, bestowed, lavished, made known, and gather.  Let’s begin with the verb “blessed,” because I think that’s where our real questions lie.  After all, when we take stock of our lives, we find that a great number of things have gone wrong.  How blessed are we, really?

    In verse 3 Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”  That’s two “blesseds” and one “blessing” in a single sentence.  The Greek word for bless is eulogia.  We derive the word “eulogy” from this word.  Eulogia literally means, “a benefit bestowed by God in Christ.”  Yet there are times when we don’t feel very blessed, are there not?  Could it be that this is simply a matter of perspective?  Listen to this.

    A group of students was once asked to list what they thought were the present-day Seven Wonders of the World.  Though there were some mild disagreements, the following things received the most votes: 1) Egypt’s Great Pyramids, 2) The Taj Mahal, 3) The Grand Canyon, 4) The Panama Canal, 5) The Empire State Building, 6) St. Peter’s Basilica and 7) The Great Wall of China.

    After gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one student had not yet finished her list.  So she asked the girl if she was having any trouble.  The girl replied, “Yes, a little.  I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there are so many.”  The teacher said, “Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.”  The girl hesitated, then said, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: to see, to hear, to touch, to taste, to feel, to laugh and to love.”

    The room was so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop.  Perhaps the Seven Wonders of the World are things we overlook as simple and ordinary…and often take for granted.  Perhaps the same could be said about our blessings from God.  If we could learn to dwell on the good things we have – instead of on the things we don’t – perhaps we would begin to see that.  We are indeed blessed by God.

    So first, Paul says that God blesses us.  He goes on to say that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him.  God destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.  God bestowed grace upon us through the person of his Son. God lavished redemption and forgiveness according to the richness of his grace.  God made known to us the mystery of his will through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  And finally, God gathers up all things to him in Christ.

    There it is: your roadmap through the cosmos.  As Christians, we are blessed by God…chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end.  You are a precious child of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life.  Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.  Thus, there remains but one thing left for us to do.  We must receive it.  We must receive God’s gift to us in Christ.  But how?

    On a blustery autumn day, a young man named Bryan Anderson came across an elderly woman standing beside her car on an old country road.  He pulled up behind her brand-new Mercedes Benz in his rusty, old pickup truck and asked her if she needed help.  Yet even with the smile on his face, the elderly woman looked frightened.  No one had even passed by – let alone, stopped to offer help – for over an hour.  And this man looked tired, poor and hungry.  “Was he going to hurt her?” she wondered.

    The young man could see that she was frightened.  He said to her, “I’m just here to help you, ma’am.”  Noticing that her left rear tire was flat, he said to her, “Why don’t you just wait in the car where it’s warm?  I’ll take care of this tire for you.”

    So the woman got into the car while the young man crawled under it and looked for a place to set the jack.  He got the job done – skinning his knuckles a time or two in the process, and getting pretty dirty.  As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him.  She told him that she was from Philadelphia, and was only passing through.  She could not thank him enough for his kindness. 

    The young man just smiled as he put away the jack and closed the trunk.  The woman then asked how much she owed him.  Any amount would have been all right with her.  She had already imagined the terrible things that could have happened to her had he not stopped.  But this was not a chore to the young man.  This was helping someone in need.  God knows, there were plenty of people who’d helped him out in the past.  He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to live it any other.

    He told her that if she really wanted to pay him, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed.  Then he added, “And think of me – Bryan Anderson.”  He waited until she started her car and drove off.  It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home. 

    A few miles down the road, that elderly woman stopped at a small café for a bite to eat.  It was a dingy-looking restaurant, but it was the only place in town.  The woman went in and sat down, and the waitress brought a clean towel over so she could wipe down her wet hair.  The waitress had a sweet smile – one that even being on her feet the whole day could not erase.  The woman also noticed that the waitress was pregnant – very pregnant.  The woman was touched by the waitress’s kindness…and then she remembered Bryan Anderson.

    After the woman finished her meal, she paid the tab with a one hundred dollar bill.  The waitress went to get change for the woman, but by the time she got back, the woman was gone.  Then she noticed something written on the napkin.  It said, “You don’t owe me anything.  I have been where you are.  Somebody once helped me the way that I am helping you.  If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.  And under the napkin, the waitress found four more crisp one hundred dollar bills.

    Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill and people to serve…but the waitress made it through another day.  That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about what the woman had written.  How could she have known how badly she and her husband needed it? With bills to pay and the baby due next month, it was going to be really tight.

    She knew how worried her husband had been about expenses.  As she crawled into bed and he lay sleeping next to her, she whispered in his ear, “Everything’s going to be all right.  I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

    The issue at hand was receiving the grace of God.  The question was, “How do we do that?”  Maybe the way to receive God’s grace…is to simply pass it on.  Amen.

 

05-06-2012 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART III

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an early 20^th century German theologian. He was educated at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and rose to become President of a theological seminary in Germany while he was in his early thirties. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant scholar.  He was also morally outraged by the tyranny of Adolph Hitler.  In fact, he was so upset by the atrocities committed by Adolph Hitler that he actually became involved in a plot to assassinate him.  The plot failed, and Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo.  He was executed a mere 23 days before Germany’s surrender in World War II.

    On that day – April 9^th, 1945 – a fellow inmate wrote: “Pastor Bonhoeffer held a little worship service that touched the hearts of all.  He had hardly finished his closing prayer when the cell door burst open. Two evil-looking soldiers came in and barked, ‘Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.’  The words meant only one thing…the scaffold.  But as Pastor Bonhoeffer bid us goodbye, there was a light in his eyes.  He said, ‘For me, this is the beginning of a new life – eternal life.’”

    Like I said, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a brilliant theological mind.  During his 24 months in prison he continued to work out his theological convictions.  In what was then referred to as the modern era, the consensus among theologians was that God had been pushed to the gaps of human existence.  In other words, God was only relevant in places where human logic and sound reasoning failed.  Why, it was almost as if God was being kept offstage in the play of human drama – until all was apparently lost – and then only lowered into the fray on stage in order to solve the unsolvable and explain the inexplicable.  According to the best theological minds of the day, God had been pushed to the gaps of human existence.

    Bonhoeffer wrote, “It is wrong to use God as a stopgap for the incompleteness of our knowledge.  We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t.  God wants us to realize his presence not in unsolved problems, but in those that are solved.”  What he proposed was what he called a “religionless” Christianity – a faith that looks for God in what we know, and not in what we don’t.

    Bonhoeffer’s reflections raise many important theological questions.  By no means did he deny that God has acted and continues to act in human history.  But he did reject the notion that God’s activity is only to be found in the mysteries of human existence.  Yet if God is not to be found only in the gaps – if God is not the hypothesis we only use to explain what reason cannot – does that mean that God does not intervene in human history at all?  What, then, does the Christian faith mean when it affirms that God acts or intervenes in the world as we know it?  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

    This is the third in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross.  The thesis of the first sermon was pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4^th chapter of the book of Ephesians.  There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus our Lord.”  In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.

    Last week we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth.  We said that the kingdom is here, but not fully here.  Could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church?  Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ?  While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away.  After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.

    It is generally believed that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome.  As it says in verse 1 of chapter 4, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”  Perhaps the first question, then, is this: What does it mean to lead a worthy life? 

    Allow me to begin by citing the work of a great Methodist theologian by the name of John Wesley.  He taught what is now referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.  Although John Wesley never used the word “quadrilateral” himself, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral was nevertheless inferred from his work.  He taught that we lead a worthy life by building on the foundations of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience.  In other words, we base our decisions in life first on what the Scriptures say, second on what our tradition teaches, third on what our reason infers, and finally on what our experience tells us.  Scripture, tradition, reason, experience…in that order.

    My theory is that, these days, we have reversed the order.  We base our decisions in life first on what our own experience tells us.  Then we might consider reason.  Since we don’t really know what our tradition teaches, and now that biblical illiteracy is rampant, we hardly consider them at all.  How can we lead a worthy life if we don’t even know what a worthy life is?

    The Greek word Paul uses for worthy is axios.  An axios is literally a set of balancing scales; the kind of scales formed by a crossbeam balanced on a post, with pans suspended from each end of the crossbeam.  For example, you place a one-pound weight in one pan, and then measure out flour in the other pan, until the two pans are in balance.  Balance means to be in equilibrium.  So does a worthy life.  A worthy life is a life lived in equilibrium.

    The question now is: What are the two things that need to be in balance?  Paul says to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.  Therefore, perhaps the two things that need to be in balance are these: God’s call…and our walk of faith.  Again, the two things that need to be in balance are God’s call, and our walk of faith.  For you see, when God’s call and our walk of faith balance…then we are truly growing up in Christ.

    A man who is probably the best preacher I’ve ever heard graduated from Wooster College in the early 1970s.  He became the senior minister at a large Presbyterian church in New Jersey while he was still in his twenties.  Trust me, that doesn’t happen very often.  About ten years later, he became the senior minister at one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the country, the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas.  Not long after that, he became the senior minister at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in downtown New York City…one of the most prestigious pulpits in the world.

    That sounds like a man who was leading a balanced life, does it not?  He was clearly balancing God’s call upon his life with his own walk of faith...and with a great deal of success, I might add.  Then he hooked up with a seminary intern who was working at his church.  He lost his wife, he lost his family, he lost his church, and he lost his ordination to the ministry.  Then the husband of the woman with whom he had the affair sued him for a million dollars…and the church for three million more.  That’s what can happen when God’s call and our walk of faith fall out of balance.   

    God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve.  For example, I think of a woman who was appalled by the fact that there are so many couples who are not raising their children in the church.  Young people who grew up in the church now have nothing to do with it, and thus, their own kids have nothing to do with it either.  So she formed a group that gets together to pray for those kids – some of whom are their grandchildren.  The group is called Grandmas in Prayer.  And if God doesn’t listen to grandmas in prayer, I suspect he doesn’t listen to anyone.

    I think of another woman who was appalled by the fact that the high school no longer held baccalaureate services for graduating seniors.  So she formed a committee out of the high school’s senior council members to bring back the baccalaureate service.  She involved her husband as an advisor to the senior council, and she involved me as a member of the Meadville Area Ministerial Association.  Since her husband and I are both afraid to tell her no, we agreed to take part in the cause as well.  The baccalaureate service has been growing every year for the past 8 years.  Like I said, God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve.  This applies to each and every one of us.  And by the way, in case you were wondering, the word “retirement” is not in the Bible.   

    There is a catch, however.  God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve.  Note that I said, “God calls US,” and, “God equips US.”  In other words, this is not just a conversation between God and me.  Jesus is more than my personal savior.  This is a conversation God wants to hold with each and every one of us.  Thus, a worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community.  Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer.  In other words, if we are to grow up in Christ, we have to do it in the company of others who are responding to the call of God as well.  Whether we happen to like them or not…has absolutely nothing to do with it.

    Now back to the questions Dietrich Bonhoeffer posed at the beginning of this sermon.  He said, “It is wrong to use God as a stopgap for the incompleteness of our knowledge.  We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t.”  The question was, “What, then, does the Christian faith mean when it affirms that God acts or intervenes in the world as we know it?” 

    I think the answer to that question…is us.  God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us.  In fact, that may be the most convincing argument for the existence of God there is.  We see how God acted in the past when we read the pages of Scripture.  We see God acting today...when we witness the heart-felt convictions of those who serve him.  Amen.