Morningstar Sunday Sermons

February 5, 2012-"What does Ephesians 5:22 mean?"

2012-02-06T06:53:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2012-"Can You Explain The Trinity?"

2012-01-30T10:10:00.001-08:00

January 22, 2012- "If God is Good Then Why . . .?"

2012-01-24T10:39:00.001-08:00

January 15, 2012: "IS THE BIBLE TRUE?"

2012-01-15T13:43:00.001-08:00

January 8, 2011-WHAT'S UP WITH HELL?

2012-01-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

January 1, 2012-LUKE 2:22-40

2012-01-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

December 24 & 25, 2011- No recording Available.

2012-01-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

December 18, 2011-REVELATION 21:1-6

2011-12-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

December 11, 2011-REVELATION 20:7-15

2011-12-11T13:43:00.001-08:00

UNFORTUNATELY THIS WEEK'S SERMON WAS NOT RECORDED. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

December 4, 2011-REVELATION 12:1-6

2011-12-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

November 27, 2011-REVELATION 1:9-18

2011-11-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

November 20, 2011-THE LETTERS OF JOHN

2011-11-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

Some material in this week's sermon was adapted from "The Advent Conspiracy"by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder and from a recent Sermon by Pastor Brian Erickson at First United Methodist Church of Alabaster.

November 13, 2011-JAMES

2011-11-14T06:48:00.001-08:00

November 6, 2011-HEBREWS

2011-11-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

(Older sermons may be found in the "BLOG ARCHIVE" on the right hand side of the screen.)

October 30, 2011-THESSALONIANS

2011-10-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Older sermons can be watched through the links located in the Blog Archive on the right hand side of the screen.

October 23, 2011- COLOSSIANS

2011-10-23T10:23:00.001-07:00

October 16, 2011-PHILIPPIANS

2011-10-16T13:34:00.001-07:00

[I neglected to give proper credit to two sources in the recorded version of this sermon. Some ideas were not the original thought of the preacher but came from two great communicators: Christine Caine and Andy Stanley. This was corrected in the second service!]

--OLDER SERMONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN--

October 9, 2011-EPHESIANS

2011-10-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Older sermons may be found in the "Blog Archive" on the right hand side of the screen.

October 2, 2011-GALATIANS

2011-10-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Older Sermons may be accessed through the "Blog Archive" on the right side of the screen.

September 25, 2011-CORINTHIANS

2011-09-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

At this time, due to an issue with Blogger, we are only posting one sermon on the front page of the Sermon Blog. If you would like to watch an older sermon, please use the Blog Archive links on the right hand side of the screen.

September 18, 2011- ROMANS

2011-09-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

The last minute of this sermon was cut off due to running out of videotape toward the end of the service.

Due to a problem with the video embed, we are now placing just the most recent video on the front page of the blog. Older videos may be accessed using the Blog Archive on the right hand side of you screen.

September 11, 2011- ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

2011-09-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

Due to the length of this week's service and the recognition of the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, the video camera ran out of tape before the sermon could be recorded. We apologize for any inconvenience.

September 4, 2011- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

2011-09-06T20:03:00.001-07:00

August 28, 2011-THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

2011-08-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2011- THE GOSPEL OF MARK

2011-08-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2011-THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

2011-08-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2011-MALACHI

2011-08-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

August 7, 2011-MALACHI from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

July 31, 2011-ZECHARIAH

2011-08-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

July 31, 2011-ZECHARIAH from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

July 24, 2011-ZEPHANIAH

2011-07-25T09:12:00.001-07:00

July 24, 2011- ZEPHANIAH from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

July 17, 2011- PANDAMANIA VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

2011-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

On July 17th, we had our Vacation Bible School Celebration Sunday. It was a fun Sunday of singing, dancing and celebrating all God did in this terrific week of ministry!

July 10, 2011- NAHUM

2011-07-15T10:42:00.002-07:00

July 10, 2011- NAHUM from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

July 3, 2011- MICAH

2011-07-15T10:42:00.001-07:00

July 3, 2011-MICAH from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

June 19, 2011-JONAH

2011-06-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2011-JONAH from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

June 12, 2011-AMOS

2011-06-12T17:24:00.001-07:00

June 12, 2011-AMOS from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

June 5, 2011- JOEL

2011-06-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

May 29, 2011- HOSEA

2011-05-31T12:23:00.001-07:00

May 29, 2011-HOSEA from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

May 22, 2011-DANIEL

2011-05-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

May 22, 2011-DANIEL from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

May 15, 2011- EZEKIEL

2011-05-16T08:27:00.001-07:00

May 15, 2011-EZEKIEL from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

May 8, 2011-JEREMIAH

2011-05-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

In the excitement of preparing to Baptize his daughter, Pastor John forgot to set up the video camera to capture his sermon. Apologies!

This morning, we continue our sermon series entitled SPEAK: The Major Prophets. In this series we are exploring the these important books of the Old Testament that tell us about these men and women who served as mouthpieces for God in Judah. As I told you last week, these men and women served and important function: They clearly warned the Israelites about idolatry and their constant breaking of the covenants between God and themselves, but they also served as beacons of hope pointing towards God future promise and redemption of the people and the world. So there are two themes we often find in the prophets: warning and promise. And it’s important for us to not just read one or the other, but see the fullness of their prophetic words.

This morning, we begin our time together in scripture. Our final reading from Jeremiah comes from the 30th Chapter and verses 12-22. I encourage you to open your Bibles to Jeremiah 30 this morning, and if you didn’t bring a Bible, I invite you to take one from the pocket in front of you. This passage can be found on page 689 of the Old Testament in those blue Bibles. As you’re looking up Jeremiah 30, I want to once again welcome our first time guests. As our guests, we want you to know that we believe that Scripture is the primary way that God reveals Himself to us. The story of our faith is so important that we want everyone to have access to it. As a guest, we would like to offer you a Bible if you do not have one in your home. Outside our sanctuary doors, across the Gathering Area, there is a small table with brown leather Bibles on it. Those are there for our guests to take home as a gift. There is not cost and there are no strings attached, this is simply a gift from us to you.

I hope you will take advantage of this gift, and I further hope that you have found Jeremiah 30 now. I invite you to join me in standing, as you are able, as we give honor the reading of God’s Word from Jeremiah 30:12-22.

[Read Scripture: Jeremiah 30:12-22]

On Wednesday of this last week, as the weather bore down on Alabama, Denise, our girls, and I traveled south to the beach for a post-Easter vacation. We were looking forward to a relaxing time away and a chance to share a few days with some old friends. We got there around 3:00, right as the world began to fall apart. And throughout the afternoon and evening, we found ourselves glued to our phones and our laptops, watching these tragic events unfold through Facebook and emails. We saw the video of the Tuscaloosa tornado, and watched as it tore through the part of town Denise lived in when she was in school there. We watched as friends sent pictures of Cullman First United Methodist Church, the first church I served as an Associate Pastor, with every stained glassed window in their 100 year old Sanctuary blown out. We saw friends and church members updating their whereabouts and safety. And as the days went on we heard the stories of church family whose extended family had lost their homes, of missing people, and lives lost.

And now we see the pictures of this wasteland of destruction that was left in the wake of these storms. It is utter devastation, with some small communities wiped off the map. Seeing these images and watching the death tolls rise, we found ourselves overwhelmed by this tragedy.

But we are not the first people to feel this way. We are not the first community to know devastation and loss. Our recent memories reveal it to us. The coastal cities of Japan in the wake of the recent earthquake, the Gulf Coast in Hurricane Katrina, New York City on September 11th. And the story of our faith reveals a people who were intimately familiar with devastation. We continue our journey through the Old Testament this morning, and I continue to be amazed how God has brought us the right scripture at the right time this year. Because the book of Jeremiah is about survival is the midst tragedy and devastation.

Jeremiah was called as a young man to be a prophet, and throughout his 40 year career, he carries those words of warning and promise to the Israelites. For the first 25 years he serves God, he acts as the Old Testament equivalent of James Spann, the weatherman. He rolls up his sleeves, he puts on his prophetic suspenders, and he breaks into their regularly scheduled lives.

He tries desperately to get the attention of the people by violating some social norms. He does not marry or have children, as a sign of Israel’s broken future. He breaks an earthenware jug in front of the priests, saying God’s going to break the people in the same way. He gets in the faces of the chief priests and tells them that Babylon will conquer them. He walks around with a draft animal’s yoke strapped to around his neck as a sign they are to submit to Babylon.

He warns them that death and destruction are coming their way, but the people refuse to hear the words he speaks. They would not go to their safe places. They stayed there, in the path of the storm and refused to seek shelter in their Yahweh basements. They chose to stay in their flimsy mobile homes of their own making.
And then the storms came.

And Babylonians did everything that Jeremiah said they would. They conquered the Kingdom of Judah. They actually invaded the land on three separate occasions. They tore down the walls of the city of Jerusalem, they killed scores of people, they leveled the King’s palace, and brought down the Temple. Few remained in the city and most were taken into exile in Babylon.

And there was nothing left. The people were shaken. This time was a time of turmoil and upheaval: politically, socially, theologically. The role of the Israelites as God’s chosen people was called into question. Had God forgotten his people? Was the covenant between God and the Israelites broken? Were Babylon’s God’s more powerful than Yahweh? Could the community be restored?

As Israel suffered, so did the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was an introspective prophet. He did not like his calling or the words God asked him to speak to Israel. He laments the life he has been called to, and he endures hardship beyond measure. God commands him to remain unmarried and have no children, a sign of the end of life in the land of Israel. He was arrested and imprisoned. He was beaten and mocked. He is thrown into an empty cistern, a well, and left to die. He sinks into the mud and is abandoned, barely escaping with his life. He witnesses Babylon conquer this Holy Land.

But he somehow survives all this.

How do you survive all this? How do you survive when your world is turned upside down and devastation is all you can see?

In the 32nd Chapter of Jeremiah, we find Israel under siege. The Babylonian armies are laying waste to the land, and Jeremiah stops and buys a small plot of land. He seals the deed to the land in earthenware jar, so that it might last for many years. Because God is not done with this land or this people. This destruction and exile will not last forever and God promises that houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

In the middle of fires burning and armies marching, he purchases land as a sign of a future hope. He holds onto hope in the face of devastation. We all need a plot of land. We all need a future hope when all seems lost. The victims of this tragic loss in the wake of these tornadoes are seeing that. And we are witnessing churches, The United Way, The Red Cross, Fire Departments, Police Officers, builders, and communities coming together and saying, in the midst of devastation there is hope. This will not be forever. Houses and fields and vineyards shall again arise in this land. But our job as the church is to shine the light toward that future day. To be the hands and feet of Christ in the world, responding to tragedy with a hope that burns brighter than our fear.

We may not know what it is like to lose so much in a natural disaster, but we know what it means to feel overwhelmed and like there is no hope. I remember a time, not so long ago, at a Wednesday Night Bible Study. A young pastor, let’s call him John Shmulshmany, in the time of prayer was lamenting the hardships that he and his family were going through. They wanted a second child and roadblock after roadblock was thrown up before them. Infertility and loss, hardship and tears. And adoption process that dragged on with hopes rising and falling so many times, that they had decided they could only do bare this a little longer. It was just so hard.
And a dear member of this congregation, as we gathered outside as we often do, came up and said, “You’re going to get that baby. I just know it.” And I believed her. She purchased a field of hope in the midst of my devastation.

And at 11:00 we baptized the fruit of that field of hope.

Let us all be so bold.

May 1, 2011: ISAIAH

2011-05-02T10:27:00.001-07:00

Isaiah

Pastor John Mullaney was out of town this week, but left a video sermon in his absence.

May 1, 2011: ISAIAH from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

April 24, 2011-EASTER: "Do Not Be Afraid"

2011-04-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

EASTER: "Do Not Be Afraid"

April 24, 2011- EASTER: "Do Not Be Afraid" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

April 17, 2011-PALM SUNDAY & HOMECOMING

2011-04-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

April 17, 2011- PALM SUNDAY & HOMECOMING from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

April 10, 2011-SONG OF SOLOMON

2011-04-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

Song of Solomon

April 10, 2011-SONG OF SOLOMON from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

April 3, 2011- PROVERBS & PSALMS

2011-04-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

PROVERBS & PSALMS

April 3, 2011- PSALMS & PROVERBS from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

March 27, 2011-JOB

2011-03-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

JOB

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

March 20, 2011-NEHEMIAH

2011-03-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Nehemiah

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

March 13, 2011-EZRA

2011-03-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

"Ezra"

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

March 6, 2011-ESTHER

2011-03-08T12:29:00.001-08:00

Esther

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

February 27, 2011-RUTH

2011-02-28T09:08:00.001-08:00

RUTH

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

February 20, 2011-CHRONICLES

2011-02-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

1 & 2 CHRONICLES

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

February 13, 2011-1 & 2 Kings

2011-02-15T15:14:00.001-08:00

1 & 2 Kings

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

February 6, 2011

2011-02-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

Due to user error with our video camera, we were not able to get video of the this week's sermon. Apparently, you need to PLUG IN the video camera for it to work properly. Pastor John now knows this.

January 31, 2011

2011-02-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

"Joshua & Judges"

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

Sermon Video Hiatus

2011-01-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

Pastor John and his family are in the midst of adopting their second child, Lucie. Due to their need to stay in the state in which they are adopting, we are not able to provide video at this time. We should be back up and running in the next week or two!

Many thanks to Dr. Mickey Morgan preaching on January 23 in Pastor John's absence.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

January 9, 2011-EXODUS

2011-01-12T17:43:00.001-08:00

Exodus

Untitled from JB Mullan on Vimeo.

January 2, 2010-GENESIS

2011-01-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

"Genesis"

Untitled from JB Mullan on Vimeo.

December 26, 2010

2011-01-03T12:39:00.001-08:00

Dangerous Gifts

December 26, 2010- "Dangerous Gifts" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

December 19, 2010

2010-12-21T07:18:00.001-08:00

"Why Are You Singing?"

December 19. 2010- "Why Are You Singing?" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

December 12, 2010

2010-12-13T13:13:00.001-08:00

"Overwhelmed"

December 12, 2010-"Overwhelmed" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

December 5, 2010

2010-12-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

"How Long Must We Wait?"

December 5, 2010-"How Long Must We Wait?" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

November 28, 2010-The First Sunday of Advent

2010-11-30T09:25:00.000-08:00

"Bridging Eternity"

November 28, 2010-"Bridging Eternity" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

November 21, 2010

2010-11-22T11:41:00.001-08:00

"Rest & Thanksgiving"

November 21, 2010-"Rest & Thanksgving" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

November 14, 2010

2010-11-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

"Momentum"

November 14, 2010 from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

November 7, 2010

2010-11-14T08:12:00.001-08:00

"Encounters"

November 7, 2010- "Encounters" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

October 31, 2010

2010-11-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

"Reverence"

October 31, 2010- "Reverence" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

October 24, 2010

2010-10-25T19:15:00.001-07:00

"Discovering Joy"

October 24, 2010- "Discovering Joy" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

October 17, 2010

2010-10-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

"Making a Plan"

October 17, 2010- "Making A Plan" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

October 10, 2010

2010-10-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

The Important Invitation

Untitled from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

October 3, 2010

2010-10-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

"Conquering Fear"

Part One of the Sermon Series, "Giving Up: Trust + Generosity"

October 3, 2010- "Conquering Fear" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

This sermon series relies, in part, on some of the writing and preaching of Andy Stanley, pastor of Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

September 26, 2010

2010-09-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

"I believe in God, but not in sacrifice."

September 26, 2010 "I believe in God, but not in sacrifice from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

September 19, 2010

2010-09-20T13:07:00.001-07:00

"I believe in God, but not in His Church."

September 19, 2010 "I believe in God, but not in His Church." from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

September 12, 2010

2010-09-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

"I believe in God, but trust more in money."

September 12, 2010 "I believe in God, but trust more in money" from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

September 5, 2010

2010-09-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

There was a technical problem with our video recording this week--we should return to normal NEXT Sunday!

In this sermon series, we are looking at the practical elements of our faith that we often fail to practice. Even though we believe in God, many of us fail to live out some of the practices that are asked of us as Christian men and women. This self-evaluation is not meant to make us feel guilty, but to help move us toward a deeper and more abiding faith. Because we ALL have some element of our faith that needs work. There is something that we’re not doing that we KNOW in our hearts we should be doing or should be doing better. So far, we have looked at the practices of prayer and forgiveness. And this morning, we continue the journey by talking about what its like when we believe in God, but we won’t share our faith.

We begin this morning, as we always do, in scripture. Our scripture reading this morning is from John’s Gospel, Chapter 4, verses 1 through 30. If you didn’t bring a Bible with you today, I encourage you to grab one from the pocket in front of you. The bible is broken up into two parts, the Old and the New Testaments, and this passage is found in the New Testament on page 89 of most of the pew Bibles. As you are looking up John 4, on behalf of the church, I want to offer our guests a gift. If you do not have a Bible in your home, we would like to give you one. On the table across from the Sanctuary doors, there is a stack of Bibles. You are welcome to take one home with you today as a gift from us to you and your family, because we believe that God’s Word is the greatest gift we can give you. Hopefully , now you have found John 4:1-30. I now invite you to stand as you are able as we give honor to the reading of God’s Word from John 4:1-30.

John 4:1-30
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, ‘Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John’— although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.

Why do we do all the things we do as church to welcome people? Why do we offer gift bags, and deliver mugs, and offer free Bibles? Why do we make a special effort to make sure each guest is greeted and welcomed? Why do I stand up here and explain what prayer is, and what the offertory is, and how to find the scripture passage in the Bible? Why am I going to explain Communion again in a few minutes? I give a LOT of instruction up here. We practice these acts of hospitality as church and I communicate this information in worship week after week. Why?

I really don’t think you’re dense and you don’t get it.

We do it because there is someone out there who does not know.

We do this because this church has to be the most welcoming, loving, accepting, easy to access and understand place that a guest can enter. When a person comes into this church, we need to help them understand why we do the things we do and how to do it. We need to answer as many questions as we can up front. Because if they were brave enough to walk in the door, we have to be ready. And we do a pretty good job of that. We’re prepared to receive the guests we invite when they walk in the door.
Excuse, me. Invite may have been too strong of a word.

When people we don’t know wander in the door.

When they are proactive is searching out a church home.

When they find the church website by searching “Methodist Church Chelsea, Alabama.”
When they drive past the sign on the road and are brave enough to come up the long drive to see if there actually is a church up here in the woods.

When they get stopped by a train or are late in getting to another church and decide to give us a try since there is no way they are going to make it in time to that other church.

As a church we welcome guests every single week. But most of them find their own way to us. And I’m grateful for any way that someone finds a home here at Morningstar, but I can only imagine what would happen if we embraced a spirit of evangelism as a church. What would it look like if we didn’t just offer hospitality when they walk in the doors of the church, but invitation when we meet them in the streets? Sharing our faith is a struggle for many people. Evangelism is become a dirty word in our culture, even among Christians. We don’t want to be seen as pushy or offensive. We don’t feel like we know enough about Jesus, God, the Bible to talk about our faith. Or we feel awkward or insincere when we start quoting scripture.

Or maybe you had a bad experience of evangelism yourself. Maybe someone tried to threaten or scare you into believing. Maybe someone tried to manipulate through the five steps to salvation. Maybe someone just quoted scripture at you and told you that if you died tonight you’d burn in hell forever.

Our culture has turned evangelism, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, into a spiritual invasion. It’s a D-Day style assault, and we are storming the homes of the lost and the faithless. And we’re leaving wreckage behind us as often as we are transformed lives.

I’m sorry, but I do not believe that is the model for effective evangelism. But we are all called to evangelists. Every single one of us. It’s not an optional part of the Christian faith. Jesus told the Disciples to go and make Disciples of the nations. It’s the Great Commission of the Church. It’s part of our purpose here at Morningstar as we GATHER people together, GROW people in Discipleship, and GO out in service to the world.

And yet most of us fumble and fail when it comes to sharing our faith. We feel unprepared, unqualified, and unsuitable to effectively share our faith. But there’s good news. You’re in good company. Because Jesus never called anybody qualified to share the Good News. He called fishermen, tax collectors, adulterers, tent maker, Pharisees, undervalued women, and this Samaritan woman we have read about today.
If you are afraid or unwilling to share your faith, I want you to look at this story we have read today. This woman that Jesus meets at the well is all wrong. She’s not the right religion, she’s not living the life she should, and she knows next to nothing when it comes to faith. She has a vague idea about a possible savior. That’s the extent of our scriptural knowledge. She does not know the 5 steps of salvation, she’s never read Romans, and she doesn’t have a script.

What she has is an experience of Jesus Christ and a story.

You have that! You have an experience of Jesus Christ and a story.

Whether you realize it or not, you have story. The problem is most of us never take the time to do as we are instructed in 1 Peter 3:15—“Always be readymake your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hoep that is in you.” We have to be READY when someone wants to know what difference Jesus has made in our lives. Sadly, most of us, when presented an opportunity to share our faith fumble the ball. We get flustered or freeze up and end up saying something like, “I like church! We sing the God songs and the man in the dress says the words. Jesus loves you. Okay BYE!!!!”

A great, first, practical step in sharing your faith is knowing your own story, and being able to condense it down to 200 words or less. Your story is simple: What was your life like before Jesus and what is your life like now? Your answer to that question should be brief, coherent, and TRUE.

Here’s my story:

I grew up in the suburbs, in an upper middle class family. My parents are happily married, we went to church occasionally, and we never wanted for anything. We were comfortable. But in all that comfort, I felt like there was something missing in my life. I felt unfulfilled and restless. So I started looking for the thing that was going to fill up the void inside me. I tried to fill that longing inside myself with girls, drinking, drugs, education, possessions, work, success, but the void remained. I always wanted MORE. But it was in Christ that I found I didn’t need something, I needed someone. And that’s why I’m here today. I’m still seeking that someone. I keep coming back here looking for Him every day. And the more often I look for Him the more often I find Him. And I’m a better husband, a better father, a better friend, and a better Pastor because of it.

That’s my story.

I’m challenging you this week to write your story. Can you briefly, coherently, and truthfully tell someone how your life was before Christ and what your life is like now. Practice it in the mirror, tell it to your spouse, your mom, your dad, your children. You have to be prepared to share your faith. And all you really need is an experience of Jesus Christ and a story. You have that, you’ve probably just never thought about it.

Think about it. Write it down. Share it.

My daughter if four years old. Both her mom and I are pastors. When we go to McDonalds or the bookstore, to the park or playground, she often will ask me questions about strangers. She always asks me, “Does that person go to your church Daddy?” She assumes if they don’t go to Denise’s church they must go to mine. And most of the time I say, “No, no he doesn’t go to my church.” Maggie’s response is always the same. “Why not?”

Why not? Why doesn’t that person come to church here?

The only answer I can come up with is because I didn’t invite them.

Because I wasn’t brave enough to tell my story.

And that is not a good enough answer.

You have a story. Learn it. Own it. Share it.

August 29, 2010

2010-08-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

August 29 2010 from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

August 22, 2010

2010-08-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

August 22 2010 Sermon from John Mullaney on Vimeo.

August 15, 2010

2010-08-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2010

2010-08-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

August 1, 2010

2010-08-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2010

2010-07-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2010

2010-06-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2010

2010-06-24T12:19:00.001-07:00

This morning we are continuing to delve deeper into the meaning of what we say when we recite the Apostles’ Creed. In the course of this series, we have been looking at individuals lines from the Creed, and asking the questions, “Why does this matter to my faith? What does it mean when we say this together as the Body of Christ?” The last two weeks have been focused on Jesus Christ, as we have looked closely at Jesus’ nature as the messiah. We’ve talked about Jesus’ dual role as God’s only begotten Son and our Lord and Savior. And last week, we talked about the dual nature of Christ, as He is both 100% human and 100% divine, as it is revealed in the virgin birth. But today’s sermon is deeply rooted in Christ’s humanity, as we explore what it means when we say that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”

We’ll begin in Pontius Pilate’s questioning of Jesus as it is found in John 18:33-38. I invite you to turn in your Bibles to John 18, and if you did not bring a Bible with you, you are welcome to take one from the pocket in front of you. The Bible is broken up into two sections, the Old and the New Testaments. This passage can be found in page 107 of the New Testament in most of the pew Bibles. Please join me in standing as you are able for the reading of God’s Word.

[Read Scripture] You may be seated.

Our scripture reading this morning ends with a rather famous question asked by Pontius Pilate: “What is truth?” Now, most spoken interpretations of this question give it a rather snide and dismissive sound to it, but I think it is an important question. Isn’t this the question we’re all trying to answer when we gather together as God’s people? I believe we’re all looking for something real and authentic. Something that goes beyond what the world promises us, something that lasts. We’re looking for truth. And we see what Pilate could not see. Pilate had Jesus, who was the Way, the Truth, and the Life right in front of him, and he STILL asked that question. We believe, that in Jesus, we have found the answer to that question.

But there will always be those who refuse to see, refuse to acknowledge, or refuse to even hear the TRUTH. Even as we live in a culture that is full of seekers, full of spiritual, non-religious people, and people who are yearning for something that fills the God shaped hole in their lives, there are many who won’t or can’t hear the truth that God is trying to reveal to them in Jesus Christ.

And this statement about God’s suffering and death is about our refusal to hear. And I don’t think we like this part of the Apostles’ Creed. I believe that it makes us uncomfortable, even this simplified, edited for TV version of the trial, crucifixion, and death of our savior. Our culture likes to be happy! We feel we deserve to be happy, and this is a downer, this makes us feel guilty and sad. It’s why in Holy Week, so many Christians jump from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and skip the arrest, the trial, the mocking, the torturing, the death on a cross. I had a congregant once say after the stripping of the church on Maundy Thursday, “I HATE this service, it feels like a funeral for Jesus.” Well, yeah . . .because it is. The reality of saying this statement aloud week after week is that we are remembering the gruesomeness and brutality that came about when we refused to hear and recognize the truth.

So we need to talk about what we would rather not see.

The Creed says that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate was the prefect of Judea, the appointed Governor the region. He and Mary are the only two human beings who get their names mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed. And they are polar opposites, one is a young Jewish girl, obedient, and favored by God, and the other is older Roman man, appointed with earthly powers, and a stranger to the God of Israel. One represents meekness and humbleness and the other power and authority. Pilate was known to be an especially cruel prefect. He had disdain for the Jews, but he tolerated them. He siphoned money from the Temple treasuries to build Roman aqueducts. He marched soldiers into Jerusalem, the holy city of God, under the banner of the divine Caesar. He was in charge of appointing the high priest, he controlled the tax collectors, the military, and the court systems. Scholars believe that at this time, the Romans were the only ones who could call for the death penalty. He maintained order, and he was good at what he did. Imperial power was not to be challenged. EVER.

In the Creed, Pontius Pilate represents the ultimate worldly authority. He is the highest power in the region, but he is not the only one to blame for Jesus’ death. We ask that question a lot: Who was to blame for Jesus’ death? I remember when the movie The Passion of the Christ came out, my Jewish friend Josh refused to see it, because he believed it was anti-Semitic. But here’s the thing about this trial. The Romans arrest him. The Jews hand him over the Pilate and say, “Get rid of him.” Pilate hands him back over to the Jews. The Disciples scatter and deny him. No one wants to be responsible for Jesus’ death. And therefore everyone is to blame. Christ’s suffering came at the hands of Pilate, but his death is on all our hands. And the question really shouldn’t be “Who was responsible for Jesus’ death?” but “For whom did Jesus die?” And the answer to both questions is EVERYONE.

But before Christ death came the betrayal, trial, the beatings, the scourging, the mocking, and the crucifixion. And this is something we would really rather not see. Crucifixion was a death sentence that the Romans used often, but it was reserved for the truly guilty. When there was no doubt in anyone’s mind about the person’s innocence. It was an execution meant to humiliate and shame the executed and terrorize the people into submission. Slave rebellions and Jewish uprisings ended with mass crucifixions. Even the Jewish people viewed crucifixion as an especially horrid death reserved for the guilty. Deuteronomy 21:23 says, “Cursed be anyone who hangs upon a tree.”

And part of the cursing, the humiliation and the shame, is that this was an up close and personal death. Five inch nails piercing the hands or wrists. Nails driven through the sides of ankles as they straddled the cross. The movies and images we see that show crucifixion like to lift the person high in the air, and remove them from the people. But archeologists of the region have found that the upright beams used in crucifixions would have placed the crucified only a foot or two off the ground. Close enough that Mary and John and the others gathered at the foot of the cross could have touched Jesus’ face. They witnessed closely the agony and the torture of his death, as he spoke his last words, and breathed his last breath.

And we would rather turn away. We would rather not see or think about this. Because like, all those that came before, we would rather not be responsible. We would rather not think about Christ’s humanity. That he possessed the same frailty and human weakness that we all possess. But we have to realize that all we believe and understand about Christ only make sense in light of this death. All the miracles and wonders, the healings, parables, and words, they didn’t amount to much without this horrible death and the resurrection that came three days later. So we cannot turn away from it.

My friend in ministry, Sherry Harris, once told me the story of the day her younger sister stole her pink, patent leather watch. It was her most precious possession, so when she saw it on her three year old little sister’s pudgy little wrist, she promptly stabbed her in the hand with her number two pencil. Their mother was so shocked, so angered by this assault that she grabbed Sherry by the neck and pushed her face close to her sister’s wounded hand as she screamed and cried. And she said, “Look! Look at what you’ve done! Look!”

This is what we are doing when we recite this part of the creed together. We are forcing ourselves to look at what we have done. We tried to prove that Jesus was NOT the Christ. We tried to snuff out the Light of the World. We said, “See, he’s in the grave. Where’s your anointed one now? His life ended like Judas, like Simon, like the other Jesus and all those other false messiahs. The revolution is over. If he was truly divine, if he was truly the Son of God, he would have saved himself. So go on home now. And remember this the next time someone says, ‘Follow Me.’”

And so we look. We look at the cross. We look at what we have done.

Christ’s willingess to take on human suffering and death tells us about his humanity. But it also tells us about his remarkable love for us. There is no where he would not go for us and nothing he would do for us, nothing he would not endure for us. And therefore we are called to follow him, just as Paul wrote to the Roman Church in Romans 8:16-17. “We are bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ—if in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

June 13, 2010

2010-06-24T12:18:00.001-07:00

This morning, we continue on in our sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed. Over the course of these summer months, we are spending a significant amount of our time exploring this statement of faith and exactly what it means when we say it together. This belief statement is part of our ancient tradition, and has existed for almost as long as there has been a Church. So we join with a long history of professing Christians when we say this statement aloud as the Body of Christ today. So far in this series, we have talked about what it means when we say we believe in God and we began talking about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ last week. And as I told you last week, we are going to spend more time talking about Jesus Christ in this series, because He is the defining element of our faith. This week and next we are going to be delving deeper into Christ’s divinity and humanity. And we’ll begin that journey, by discussing what it means when we say that we believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

Please join me in turning in your Bibles to Luke 1:30-37. If you didn’t bring a Bible with you today, there should be one in the pocket in front of you. Our passage today can be found on page 53 of the New Testament, in that Bible. Please join me in standing, as you are able, for the reading of God’s Word.

Ahhh, the Virgin Birth. For some people, this is a bedrock belief, and for others it raises some difficult questions and doubts. While I don’t believe it is nearly as divisive as the Creation versus Evolution debate, there are a fair number of people who have questions about how this all really works. And I can understand that. Living in the 21st century, at the height of human understanding, we live in a rational world of cause and effect, and we KNOW where babies come from and we know HOW they get there. So, the highly rational person may struggle with the idea of the Holy Spirit working something miraculous in a virgin’s womb 2000 years ago. So we ask, how can this be? Is this REALLY true? Is this REALLY how it happened?

And for others, this is such a bedrock belief that it has become a theological test question for newly appointed pastors. In every appointment I have had, I have had at least one person ask in the first few weeks, “Do you believe in the Virgin birth?” Oddly, no one EVER asks, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” or “Do you really believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross can atone for the sins of the world?” Nobody ever asks those questions. The test of a good and appropriate pastor seems to rest on the gynecological condition of a 14-15 year old girl who lived 2000 years ago.

But it’s okay. It means that people have deeply held beliefs and it means that others are wrestling with their faith and the questions they have. And I firmly believe that asking questions is a good thing that leads a deeper and more abiding faith. But the reality of those questions, whether they be based in faith or curiosity, is that we get a little too wrapped up in the biology of this statement and lose track of what is really being said about Christ. Because this statement says a lot about Christ’s humanity and Divinity.

And the reality of our world is that a large number of us struggle with Jesus’ divine and human nature. We believe that Jesus was both 100% human and 100% divine. We say that as a theological statement. A LOT. In Sunday School, in confirmation classes, and elsewhere. But most of us, if we’re being truthful with ourselves, probably can admit that in our personal view of Jesus, he leans more one way or another. We view him as more human or we view him as more divine. Even the Gospel writers vary in how human or how divine and otherwordly they portray Jesus. And part of that lies in our desire to make the world and our faith make sense. So we lean towards a more divine Christ or a more human Jesus. And we lose track of the fact that there is only one Jesus Christ and He is both 100% human AND 100% divine.

As your pastor, I can tell you that in this argument surrounding the virgin birth I am biased. I believe in the Virgin Birth. I believe that the Holy Spirit acted in the life of a no name girl from a no name town, and that action produced a miraculous birth from a virgin’s womb. But if you don’t believe that, you do not need to leave the church right now. Because I also believe that God is big enough to work through two human beings and still create a child who is the savior of the world. If I get to heaven one day and God tells me, “You know what? Joseph was really Jesus’ dad.” I’ll be disappointed, but it certainly won’t change anything about how I feel about who Jesus is, who sent Him, and what He did to save the world. He’s still God’s only Son and our Lord.

But I do feel the need to explain why I DO believe in the Virgin Birth, and why I think this statement is important to our faith.

The first reason has to do with the nature of the Holy Spirit, who both the scripture we have read this morning and the creed says is responsible for Christ’s conception. Why is this important? Well, first of all, this same Spirit was present with God & Christ in creation. Genesis 1:2 says that the Spirit of God blew across the waters of creation. Before there was light, the wind blew. Perhaps this was like God breathing on the dirt to give humanity life. The wind blew across creation before life was sparked. This same Spirit spurred the prophets’ speech as they spoke of the messiah who was to come. This is the Spirit that was present at Christ’s baptism, when God proclaimed Him as His Son. This Holy Spirit guided him throughout his ministry. And this same Spirit was poured out on his followers after Christ’s Ascension into heaven, and it was responsible for enabling the Body of Christ, th Church to prosper. If the Holy Spirit was that active in the Creation of life, and in the life of Jesus Christ, I cannot help but believe that that same Spirit was present and actively participating in the conception of the Son of God.

My second reason for believing in the Virgin Birth has to do with faith. And not my faith, but the faith of Mary. We know from our scripture reading today that Mary was favored by God. That means she was especially loved. Mary, in a religious culture that viewed sexual sin as especially deplorable, was favored by God. That tells me that she was keeping the Law of Moses. She was doing what she was called to do according to her faith. And she was willingly following where God was leading her in her life. In fact, she WILLINGLY takes this on. She doesn’t question it or refuse it. She asks ONE question for clarities sake, “Um, how will this work without the other thing?” And then she takes it on. She has tremendous faith. And I think that very faith is the reason many people question whether it was the Holy Spirit or Joseph. We don’t like the idea of anyone being special or favored. But as I thought about this issue this week, I couldn’t help but come back to this question: Shouldn’t the mother of the savior of the world be a little special? Shouldn’t the woman who carries the very Son of God be a little different? The child in her womb clearly was, so why not the mother who carried him?

My third and final reason for believing in the Virgin Birth rests in the fact that God loves us enough to get involved in our lives. As a parent, I can tell you that I put up with misbehavior for only so long. Our children do some things that they are not supposed to do. They make poor choices, they act in self-destructive ways, they hurt one another. As much as we try to set rules and boundaries for them, as much as we bargain with them, as much as we punish them, they can continue down that same path. But eventually we realize that if they are going to live, we have to get involved. This Virgin Birth is about God getting involved because he loves us. This one of God’s ultimate acts of love, so that we his children might live.
So He sent the Holy Spirit, his divine agent, to his favored daughter, Mary, a human agent, and he worked to create a solution, the only solution that would bring us back to life.

June 6, 2010

2010-06-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

This morning we are continuing our Sermon Series on the Apostles’ Creed that we began last week. The Apostles’ Creed has existed as an element of worship from the church’s earliest days, and when we recite it together in worship, we are connecting with the Communion of Saints that have come before us in professing our beliefs as Christian men and women. Last week, we began by talking about God, the Father Almighty, Creator of the Heaven and Earth. We talked about how, in this simple one line statement, the authors of the Creed showed both the awesomeness and intimacy of God.

And now that we’ve covered everything there is to know about God in one week, we’re moving on to Jesus. Now, I know it may seem odd that God only gets one week, when we’re going to spend the next six weeks talking about Jesus, but there is a reason for the imbalance. The Apostles Creed spends a lot more time talking about Christ because Jesus IS the defining characteristic of the Christian faith. Any statement about what we believe SHOULD talk at length about who Jesus is. Jesus is what differentiates us from the common religious ancestry we share with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters. Jesus defines us. So we need to talk about him more.

We’ll begin this morning by reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Please turn in your Bibles to Philippians 2:5-11, and join me in standing, as you are able, for the reading of God’s Word.

So what does it mean when we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord?” Well, it means quite a bit. There is a LOT of information in those 10 words that our ancient Church family put together.

First, we are saying that we believe in Jesus. Jesus was a real historical, person. There are writings by people who knew him and writings about what he did from people outside of his inner circle. He was a man who walked and talked and breathed and taught, just like you and me. We know that he was given a common name for the time from an uncommon source. An angel of the Lord told Mary she was to call her child Jesus, or in Hebrew, Yeshua. The translation of that name into
English is “Lord, Help.” And in that name, we know exactly who Jesus was and what he came to do. So that was the name he was given. But he was also known by another title. We believe he was not only a man named Jesus, but he was and is the Christ. The Christ was the anointed one of God, and this title carried power and authority beyond the earthly powers that we know. Kings of Jesus’ time were anointed in their coronation ceremony with expensive oils. At the end of these ornate ceremonies, oil was poured upon their heads instilling in them power and wisdom. But Jesus’ anointing did not come by human hands, but by God’s hands.

Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one of God, because he was and is God’s only Son. Jesus is unique; he is different than all the other false messiah’s who came before him. And there were many. Judas, another Jesus, two different Simons. They claimed to be the messiah, they led bloody revolts and met violent deaths. But not one of them was the Son of God. Christ was different in that he came from God. In coming from God, in being the Christ, Jesus was both 100% divine AND 100% human. And that differentiates him from all those other great thinkers and philosphers and social activists. Being the Christ lists Jesus above Socrates and Confuscious, Buddha, and Hillel. Because he was not just another man. He was from and of God.

Bu that doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle with understanding how the Trinity works. If you figure out the whole ‘three-in-one’ thing, please let me know, because it is a deep mystery that has plagued theologians for centuries. And understanding that Jesus stands in equal measure to God is hard for us. Part of that lies in the language that has been used to describe the relationship between God and Christ. We have a hard time understanding how a Son can be equal in power to a Father. If Jesus stands at the right hand of God, doesn’t that mean that mean that God in central? And maybe that is where, another Creed might help us. The Nicene Creed, when talking about the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son, says “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” This reminds us that Jesus was with God and from God from the very beginning of Creation. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
And it is in understanding who Jesus Christ is and from whence he came, that we begin to comprehend the title of Christ as Lord. But again, here we face language that is unfamiliar and frightening in our modern world. Lords and Kings have power that we are not comfortable with, especially here in America, where we value liberty and freedom and rights. Our historical experience of Kings and Lords has almost always been negative. The idea of one person in charge of everything leads to unjust and unfair systems of power. But this is where we have to divorce our experience from what this really means. When we says that Christ is Lord, we equating him with the power of God. In fact the Greek word for Lord, ‘kyrios,’ is the same word used for God in the first sentence of the Creed.

And this Lord is different from those who came before. This is humble Lord, one who came to serve and meet the needs of the people. This is the lord of lords who came into the world as Paul wrote in today’s scripture. He brought himself low, was obedient even unto death. He ate with sinners, He washed the Disciples feet, he fed the hungry and helped the needy. And in accepting Jesus as Lord, we are taking a radical step away from the life we know.

Because when we profess Christ as Lord, we are saying that he has absolute authority over us and our lives. It knocks us out of the central position. No longer is it about what WE want, but it becomes about what GOD wants. Not our will be done, but God’s will be done. It changes the way in which we think about and live out our lives. It forces us to look at things differently. Suddenly I am not the center, God is.

A dear friend of mine in ministry, Rebecca Whited, was playing an organ recital a few years ago with another organist, Lisa Marsh. They called the recital, “Four Hands and Four Feet.” Four hands and four feet, two people playing one organ. She noted how hard it was to share the organ, when you’re used to having it all to your self. Inevitably Lisa’s hand was where Rebecca’s was, and Rebecca’s foot was where Lisa’s was. It was difficult because their perspective was changed. They were no longer in the center. It changed the whole way in which she looked at the organ and how she played. And so it is with our lives. When we realize that we are not the center.
Christ is at the center. At the center of the Creed, at the center our lives, at the center of our faith.

May 30, 2010

2010-06-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

This morning we begin a new sermon series in which we will begin exploring the Apostles’ Creed. This series will take us through much of the summer. So why spend so much time on this particular topic? Why is this important? Well, the Apostles’ Creed has been a part of Christian worship for almost the entirety of the Church’s existence. It was formalized in 325, but it is believed that it existed in some form from the earliest days of the Church. It was originally a litany. A call and response used help new believers profess their faith. The church leader would ask, “Do you believe in God?” and the converts would respond, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” And they would move through the rest of the creed. You may remember that we did this last week, with our Confirmands as they professed their faith for the first time. And when we say this creed together today, we step into a vast stream of Christian history and tradition. We take our place in the communion of saints who have long held this creed as central to their beliefs.

But if I’m being honest, I recognize that a good number of us probably don’t think very much about what we are saying when we say the creed together. And in this sermon series, I hope that we can move from simple recitation of the creed toward this moment being more of an act of worship and prayer. It is my hope that we will think more deeply about these words and what they mean, because our worship should never be ‘just going through the motions.’

As we move through this series, I want you to be aware that the Creed brings up questions and pushes us to think more deeply about our faith. It does not cast our doubt. Instead it offers us a framework to ask important questions about our faith and our lives together. Questions about the creation of the world, the resurrection, our experience, and the nature of God, Christ, and the church.

So with a spirit of openness and a desire to know God more intimately we begin with the first part of the Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” We’ll read this morning from Psalm 8:3-6. Please stand as you are able for the reading of God’s Word.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals* that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,*
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,

You’ll note I began this series on a holiday weekend. That was not on purpose, but I will take it is as providence. Because this is perhaps the hardest sermon in the series. It is an ambitious sermon that attempts to address what it means when we say, “ I believe in God” in 20 minutes. But I’m going to try.

What does it mean when we say, ‘I believe in God?” It means thatwhat we believe in is not some amorphous spiritual higher power. It is not a pantheon of gods that we pray to meet our needs. It is not some unknown distant Creator. Our God is God with a capital “G.” That means the God we love and ser is the one and only God. Yahweh. The Great I Am. The God of Abraham and Isaac. The God of Israel. The God of the Exodus. The God of the prophets. The God who sent his only beloved Son into the world that we might know salvation. The God we believe in is the God that has been revealed to us through Scripture; the God who continues to reveal himself to us through the Spirit and through the Church. If you were to ask a Jew in Israel thousands of years ago how many gods are there, the answer you might here is, “Oh, there are plenty of gods, but we serve only one.” When we say we believe in God, we are saying that amongst the many gods that clamor and claw for our attention, the god of leisure, the god of the American dream, the god of sex, the god of money, the god of pleasure, the god of work . . .none of them compare to the one true God we believe in.

But why should we believe in Him? What is so great and wonderful about this God? He is the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and the earth, according the Creed. Why would the early church choose only these two statements to describe God? Of all the names and attributes we have for God, why would our forefathers and foremothers claim these as so important as to include them in our most basic statement of faith?

I believe that it is because in these two simple descriptors, we can begin to understand the awesomeness and intimacy of God.

When we say this Creed, we are acknowledging that we worship God, the Creator of the heaven and earth. This statement tells us that all of this is God’s doing. It spurs in us an inquisitiveness, a desire to know how all of it works. How is it that God could do all this? And I’m not going to go into the debate between creation and evolution. There will be no talk of seven days or millennia. Because each of you probably have strong feelings and beliefs on this subject, and one sermon is not going to change your feelings about how God did what he did. For me today, I am satisfied to trust that God made the world. How he did it and how long it took have little impact on the fact that it was God who made the world and set the heavens above us. Genesis is a bold declaration of who is the author of the universe. It is about the artistry of the creation and the explosion of life that reminds us that we are not here by random chance, but that we are here for a purpose.

The questions we have today, are similar to the questions that David must have had thousands of years ago. As he laid down under the evening sky and wrote a psalm about the wonder of Creation. There he was, looking at night sky, possessed by that feeling of smallness, as he saw the awesomeness of the night sky. Have you ever done that? The sky we see today is so limited. The lights of the city don’t reveal the wonder David must have seen. I remember as a younger man, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, far from the city lights, spending whole evenings just looking up at the night sky in wonder. And when you see the universe laid bare before you, it hard not feel small. You can’t help but wonder, just as David did, “How does God, who set the heavens in motion, who set the stars to shining and moon above us, have time to care about something as small and insignificant as a human life?”

And that is where that second descriptor comes in. Because God is not just some distant, cosmic creator. He is first and foremost the Father Almighty. He is almighty, omnipotent, all powerful yes. And that might be frightening and scary, if it were not for the fact that he is also our Father. In the Creed that is the first thing we say about God. He is our Father. Not just our Father, but THE Father.

Why Father? Why not mother? Why not Momma? There are allusions in the Bible to God as feminine, but we say Father, because Jesus called God “Abba.” Jesus addressed God with an intimate and loving claim of ‘Daddy.’ And he taught his Disciples to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Now, I know some of you may struggle with this title. We all have our own daddy issues. Because it is easy to confuse our fathers with THE Father. Our fathers may be great. Your Dad may have been wonderful and fulfilled all your needs in. But some of you may have had another experience. Because fathers can be cruel, aloof, abusive, and absent. And as we commemorate Memorial Day, we must remember that there are those who grow up without fathers at all. Be it through the ultimate sacrifice or through tragedy. For whatever reason, there are those who have never known a father’s love. And that is where the Father Almighty’s love is different. The Father’s love is always present. The Father’s arms are always open to receive you, to hold you, to love you and forgive you. To help in your time of hurt, to lift you up when you are weak. That is what it means to say that God is the Father Almighty.

So when we say “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” we are saying that we believe in the one, true God. The God who marries awesomeness and intimacy, power and all encompassing love in a way that all the gods of this world never will. Where they fail us, God holds true.

That we can believe in.

That we can believe in.

May 23, 2010

2010-05-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

Confirmation 2010

2010-05-23T12:35:00.001-07:00

May 16, 2010

2010-05-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2010

2010-05-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

We are continuing to experiment with providing video of sermons--this week's experiment did not work! But we hope to have video available in the weeks to come.

Throughout this series, I have talking with you about moving from being an amateur Christian toward becoming a professional Christian. This is a movement from loving God to committing the fullness of who we are to Christ. It ‘s about a greater commitment and a greater love for the one who loves us, forgives us, and saves us. So, I started this series by talking about the first step of being a professional Christian being showing up as the Body of Christ. Then I talked about the high stakes of the business we are in as the church, and then last week I talked about the need for each and every person to find their place in the Body of Christ.
Now, I know this has been a tough sermon series for some of you. I’ve been stepping on your toes. For some of you, I’ve been STOMPING on your toes. But today, I want to back off a bit and give you a little rest. Today, I want to talk about what you GET for being a professional Christian. So let’s talk benefits as we look at Galatians 5:22-23. Please join me in standing as you are able for the reading of God’s Word.

Galatians 5:22-23
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

I think we can all agree that we live in a culture where we expect compensation for just about anything we do professionally. Sure, there may be a little pro bono work that you do, you may have a generous spirit, but, most of the time you expect to get PAID. If you offer your expertise, your knowledge, you blood, sweat, and tears, you expect something of value in return. My daughter understands this concept at 4 years old. She has an expectation of candy compensation for just about any task. She doesn’t always get it, but she always asks. And I know there are a lot of you who ask you children to do something, and their reply is, “What do I get if I do that?” And your reply is, “You get to keep breathing and live here for free—now do it!” But their response is understandable in our culture. We live in a culture of commerce.

Among our first questions when we start a new job are questions about our salary and our benefits and vacation time. We want to know that we’re working for a reason. That we’re getting something for what we do and we can provide for our family’s needs. And more than that we want to know that when an accident happens or Suzy has a cavity, or Jimmy needs glasses we’re covered. Our needs, as many and multifaceted as they are in our modern world, will be met.

Our work as professionals gives us certain benefits.

And whether you want to admit it or not, most of us expect that we are going to receive benefits for being a professional Christian too. I’d love to tell you that Jesus dying on a cross for the sins of the world was enough of a motivating factor for people to stay connected to the Body of Christ, but this is America. We’re looking for compensation. We’re looking for benefits Pastor John. All Paul’s talk about the fruits of the Spirit, that’s really nice and poetic and wonderful and all, but paying me in imaginary, intangible fruit really doesn’t work for me. What I’m saying is, “Peace and patience don’t pay my gas bill. And I can’t show my gentleness and self-control to my friends and neighbors. Do you have anything else you can compensate me with?”

Well, I’m sorry church. I’d love to tell you that you’re going to draw a salary for being a part of the Body of Christ. I wish I could tell you that by investing in the church you, you were going to be promised wealth beyond measure. I wish that I could tell you that if you pray the Prayer of Jabez fervently enough you’d see an economic boom. But I don’t believe that is the way our walk with Christ works. Our walk with Christ is not as consistent and regular as our paycheck. In fact, I know a lot of a lot of people who have invested their lives fully without pay, understanding that there is a BIG , eternal bonus at the end of their work.

But most of us, I believe, continue to soldier on and do this often difficult and arduous work, because we get the benefits. The pay isn’t always consistent, it’s not a continuous revenue stream, but we get awesome, amazing, awe inspiring benefits for being Professional Christians.

So for those of you who question the worth of the fruit of the spirit, let’s talk benefits. Let’s talk about what you get for being here and being a part of this Body.

You get Casseroles for your family when you have surgery.

You get Casseroles for you after your surgery.

You get Casseroles when you lose someone.

You get Cards when you’re sick.

You get Cards when you’re well.

You get Cards when you lose someone.

You get cards when you’ve been missing.

You get Potluck Suppers.

You get Friends at the hospital.

You get Concerned phone calls.

You get Someone who says “I’m praying for you” and actually DOES pray for you.

You get a pastor who shows up when you have surgery at 5:30 in the morning to pray with you.

You get a pastor whose door is open when your life goes to hell in a hand basket.

You get a safe place to come when your life becomes untenable due to abuse, addiction, divorce, suicide, or loss.

You get a listening ear.

You get a child who asks, “Why don’t we pray before we eat?”

You get a child who tells you a Bible story they learned in Sunday School.

You get a teenager who tells you they feel called to ministry.

You get a middle school student who asks you big questions about faith.

You get children who know the answers to the pastor’s questions during Children’s moment.

You get a community of people who care about you.

You get a supportive group of people who say that their kid did the same stupid stuff your kid did and the world did not end.

You get a supportive group of people who tell you how amazing your kid is.

You get to find something new that you never thought about in the Bible.

You get to hear music that stirs your soul.

You get a gentle hand on your back when you are praying at the altar rail that tells you that you are NOT alone.

You get to lay hands on a child who is remembering their Baptism and giving their life to Christ all over again.

You get a family that is with you through every joy and sadness that life brings.

You get a family that shows you what love is.

You get people who have promised to love you even when you’re unlovable.

You get people who make promises to your kids.

You get people who make promises to you.

You get to witness 9 children being baptized.

You get to witness 1 woman profess her faith.

You get to add four families to our family.

You get to see that peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are really AMAZING benefits of this life we claim.

If you’re not seeing the benefits . . .you need to open your eyes a little wider.

If you’re not seeing the benefits . . .maybe you need to be here more, you need to remember that the stakes are high, and you have a place in this Body. And when you realize that, you can’t help but see.

May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2010

2010-04-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Morningstar is making it's first attempt at using online video for sermons. This will be an ongoing process to improve image and sound quality, but here is out first attempt!

April 18, 2010

2010-04-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

If that made you uncomfortable, well, it should. That’s why I did it. Because for a great majority of people, this is the way they approach church. This is the way my family approached worship for a large part of my childhood. We went when it was convenient, when we didn’t have anything else going on in our lives. A recent study showed that the average number of times people go to church is 27 times a years. That means, taking out all other worship services that happen outside of Sunday morning, people are going to church 52% of the time. Now, understand that I am not a math major, I am not a numbers person, but I do know that a 52% is failing grade in every class I took. And I know that if you showed up 52% of the time to your job, you probably wouldn’t have one.

But you’re a professional. And professionals don’t do that.

Do you know what professionals do? They show up. They go to work, even when they don’t want to, even when they don’t feel like it. They wake up every morning and they go to work. Because people are counting on them. Because they need to provide for their families and they need to fulfill their responsibilities.

We’re talking in this series about moving from being amateur Christians to becoming Professional Christians. And the first step of becoming a professional Christian is showing up. We’ll begin this morning with a word from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. Please join me in standing for the reading of God’s Word from Hebrews 10:19-25.

Hebrews 10:19-25

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Well, if there’s good news to be had, showing up for worship is not a new problem. This letter to Hebrews was written roughly 60-70 years after Jesus was resurrected and the church began. So it only took 60 years for people to start skipping church. Now we don’t know why they started neglecting to meet together, but we can guess. There were leadership tensions and intense theological disagreements as the church laid its foundation in those first hundred years. So there was a degree of internal turmoil. There was also a great deal of uncertainty about the fact that Jesus had not come back to finally redeem the world in the expected allotted time. So some people bailed out because they weren’t in it for the long haul. But most of all, we have to realize that this was a time of persecution. Nero had just rounded up a bunch of Christians and had them executed for burning down Rome. Not worshipping at the feet of Caesar was punishable by torture and death. This was not a good time to be sticking your neck out and professing Christ openly. It was a dangerous time to worship the risen Christ.

The risk of Death is a pretty good reason for failing to come to worship, and yet Paul says, even then not to neglect meeting together and encouraging one another. And here we are 2000 years later, in a country of amazing religious freedom, and we’ll miss church for anything. There’s no fear. No danger. No risk involved in our coming to worship, and yet we find any excuse to be elsewhere. It’s too cold out, too rainy, too snowy, too nice. Super Bowl, Iron Bowl, Talladega. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day. Labor Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day. Martin Luther King Weekend. Three day teacher work day weekends. Spring Break. Weddings, Family Reunions. Soccer, cheerleading, football, baseball. Allergies, Arthritis, migraines. Time Change (Forward or back). Lake houses, beach trips, vacation homes. Oh yeah, and sometimes I just don’t feel like it. Sometimes I look at all our freedom and I can’t help but think, “We have this freedom and this is all we do with it?”

This Scripture we have read today tells us Jesus broke it open for us. We can approach the House of God, and worship the Creator of the Universe who sent his only begotten Son to die on our behalf, with confidence! Because through Jesus Christ’s life death and resurrection, we here in Chelsea, Alabama 2000 years later and an ocean away have been grafted into the tree of God’s chosen people. Through Christ’s sacrifice we can share in God’s grace as Gentiles and Jews alike. As people of every nation, race, and age. In all our differences we are forgiven, loved, and welcomed in and called children of the living God.

That kind of gift and love merits the fullness of our commitment. But most of us aren’t even willing to give the most limited amount of ourselves to God. Most of us aren’t willing to give and hour or two a week.

If this makes you feel bad, or guilty, or upset, it’s supposed to. It’s biblical. I today’s passage, Paul says “Let us consider how to provoke one another.” That word ‘provoke’ in Greek is the same word for pester and irritate. Paul is telling the church that they are called to pester and irritate one another to love and good deeds, and not to neglect meeting together.

But Paul doesn’t leave it at pestering. He says we are called also to encourage one another. And I want to encourage you to commit your lives more fully to worship. Because when you’re not here, you miss something. You miss something important. What a shame that some people missed out on Caden, Colten, and Maddie’s baptisms this morning. That’s never going to happen again. We’ll never experience those Baptisms again. And someone missed Sarah Kaye Carpenter celebrating the remembrance of her Baptism. And the Stewarts joining the church. And we miss out on the music that stirs something in us, hearing God’s Word, we miss the opportunity to pray for one another and connect our lives more intimately to these people that are our family. Because 52% isn’t good enough for the family that lives in your house or your family that lives in God’s House.

So what am I asking you to do?

I’m asking you to come back a day early from the lake to be in worship.

I’m asking you leave your spouse at home sick and bring your kids to church.

I’m asking you to raise a stink when your child has a soccer, football, baseball, or cheerleading competition on a Sunday.

I’m asking you to show up for worship on national holidays.

I’m asking you to come to worship even if your wife is out of town.

I’m asking you to come to worship the Sunday after Christmas AND the Sunday after EASTER.

I’m asking you to remember a three-day weekend is not an excuse to miss church.
I’m asking you to pull yourselves out of bed.

I’m asking you to admit that the time change really isn’t an excuse for missing church.

I’m asking you to come to 11:00 worship when you miss 9:00 worship.

I’m asking you to teach your kids to worship by MAKING them come to worship. And don’t tell me you can’t make your teenager come to worship. YES YOU CAN.

And I know that it is hard. I know it is difficult. Because you get pulled in a thousand different directions. But we worship a God who says he is THE WAY. THE DIRECTION. And we need to make our life with him a priority.

Summer is coming and school will be out soon. YOU ARE NOT EXCUSED.

April 11, 2010

2010-04-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Romans 12:9-13

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

This morning we gather as a family of faith on the other side of Easter. And in the spirit of that new beginning, we begin a new sermon series this week entitled, “Going Pro: Becoming a Professional Christian.” In the course of the next five weeks together, we’re going to be talking about moving from being an amateur Christian to becoming a professional Christian. I know that some of us, myself included, are a little wary of using business language in church, but what we’re really talking about in this series is moving toward a deeper, more meaningful, and more committed faith.

So what is the difference between and amateur and a professional?

Well the conventional difference in our culture between pros and amateurs has come down to money. The amateur does something because they love it and the professional does it because they get paid to do it. If we were going to go by that definition, the staff and I would be the only professional Christians here. But I want to challenge that definition in this series, and tell you that being a professional ANYTHING has more to do with love and commitment than money. One of my favorite authors, Steven Pressfield in his book, The War of Art, put it this way: “In my view, the amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his ‘real’ job. The professional loves it SO much he dedicates his life to it.”*

That’s what I’m talking about when I talking about going pro, becoming PORFESSIONAL Christians: Committing the fullness of who we are to following Christ. Not doing it on the side, not giving a day of our weekend, or an hour of our time, but the fullness of our lives to Christ. Because He loves us that much. Because we love Him that much. Love is the motivating factor in becoming a professional.

This is the difference between playing church and being the Body of Christ.

Being a part time Christian or a full time Christian.

Being a weekend warrior or having a 24/7 faith.

But no one starts out of the gate as a professional anything. We all start as a amateurs. Look at the Disciples. They were clearly a bunch of amateurs when Christ first called them and said, “Follow me.” Here you have a bunch of fishermen and tax collectors who continually screwed up and questioned Jesus and misunderstood what it was he was trying to tell them. They were trying desperately and failing horribly in following in the steps of their rabbi, Jesus. But they had one thing going for them in their amateur ambitions. They loved him. And that’s the definition of an amateur. Did you know that? The word amateur comes from the Latin word amare, which means “to love.” But there is a big shift that happens over the course of those two years with Jesus. And we see very different Disciples, especially after the resurrection. The Disciples look and act and sound different in Acts. Post-Easter, the Disciples start taking their jobs as Christ followers more seriously. There is no more bumbling and stumbling and misunderstanding. They have a new desire and new purpose and whole new way of seeing things. They see their job clearly. They are to love one another and make Disciples. Their love for Christ and for people becomes their vocation. They went pro.

But this journey they are on tells me that there IS a place for amateurs in our story of faith. There is a space and time for being an amateur. Amateur Christians walk through our doors all the time, looking for, as one congregant put it this week, the perfect baby bear church. Not too big, not too small, but JUST RIGHT! And we do not expect those people to be fully dedicated to Christ or this church the first time they set foot here. We don’t expect out children fresh from the waters of Baptism to get it. BUT they expect it from us. And they are looking for a place and a people that will allow them to go pro. That will help them to commit more of their lives and their hearts to the God they love. They are interviewing us to see if we’re that place. If we’re those people.

And our job is to reflect the church that Paul is talking about in today’s passage. Paul’s words to the Roman church read like ad for a job. NOW HIRING: Professional BODY of CHRIST. Are you an ethical, passionate, patient people person? Do you love being part of team? Do you know the difference between good and evil? No experience necessary. Great pay! Gentiles and Jews welcome! Call the Paul’s Body Building (Formerly Saul’s Persecution Emporium).

Paul, in today’s Scripture is presenting to the Roman Church the marks of a true Christian. His words are telling the Roman church of the first century, and all of us here in the 21st century, what a professional church is supposed to look like. When you’re fully committed, when you really love God and each other, this is what it looks like. It looks like ridiculous, relentless, genuine LOVE for God and one another.
And that is our job as Christian men and women. As the Body of Christ, the Church, to move ourselves from an amateur faith to a professional faith. To enter into this life with Christ completely. To dedicate the entirety of who we are to the God who saves us and claims us and calls us to NEW LIFE. This is about being a new creation.
And it’s hard and scary. It’s risky. Ask anyone who has ever gone from being an amateur to being a professional anything and they will tell you that some things had to change in their lives. They had to give some things up and take some things more seriously. More is required of you if you want to go pro. For a long time as a kid I wanted to be a comic book artist. I spent hours and hours drawing vampires and werewolves in our basement, worried my mother death. And I was good, but just not good enough. If I’d put more time into it though, if I’d worked a little bit harder and taken the classes on perspective and geometry and put more of my heart behind the effort, maybe I’d be drawing Spider-Man right now.

But I didn’t. It takes a lot of work and dedication to become a professional, and I wasn’t willing to give up those other things to do it. So I’m an amateur doodler. I’m a really good sketcher. But I’m no pro.

But I refuse to let myself be an amateur Christian. I won’t let this be a hobby faith or a part time gig. This is not a nights and weekends kind of life. This is who we are in the very depths of our hearts and our beings.

I put my heart into what God has called me to be. For me that meant ordained ministry, but I believe that everyone and anyone can put their heart into God’s calling, whether it’s in serving the homeless, worship, singing in the choir, working with children, or anything else. We are ALL called to be professional Christians, because God asks us to give our all our mind, all our heart, all our strength, our whole spirit. But most of us give an hour or two on Sunday, when it’s convenient. Get involved when it suits us. Love other people when it’s easy. Begrudgingly serve.

And that’s between being a professional and being an amateur. Amateurs do it when it’s convenient, when it fits your schedule, your real life, your real job, and your real responsibilities.

And I’m here to tell you that God deserves better. The Body of Christ deserves better. And you know it. I know it. And in the course of this series, we’re going to talk about how we become a more professional, more fully committed church. And it all starts with love and dedication.

*The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Copyright 2002, Stephen Pressfield

New Series- "Going Pro:Becoming a Professional Christian"

2010-04-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

Mastering the Interview
April 11 • Romans 12:10-13

Sick Days & Vacation Days
April 18 • Hebrews 10:19-25

High Stakes Business
April 25 • Ephesians 2:8-9

The Labor Force
May 2 • 1 Corinthians 11:17-18

Do I Get Dental?
May 9 • Galatians 5:22-23

Investing in the Future
May 16 • 2 Peter 1:3-8

Risky Business
May 23 • Romans 8:35-39

April 4, 2010- EASTER SUNDAY

2010-04-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

John 19:41-20:18
Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look* into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew,* ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Our scripture this morning tells us that Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. It hard to even imagine the grief that she is experiencing. So much has happened in these last few days, and here she finds herself further injured by the disappearance of body of Jesus. This is a raw and emotional experience of mourning. This is loss and pain and heartbreak at the edge of the tomb. This is SUFFERING. Throughout Lent, I have been talking about suffering, but in all my talk, I don’t know that there is a clearer picture of suffering than this moment.

Mary Magdalene was faithful and loyal follower of Christ. She was once a woman consumed by personal demons that were destroying her life, until Christ healed her of her suffering. And she followed him from that moment. She supported his ministry to the very end. For she was one of the few who stood at the foot of the cross as Christ suffered and died. The Disciples scattered far and wide, but Mary stood there with Christ. And she was there when Joseph of Arimithea and Nicodemus laid him in that garden tomb. And here in today’s scripture passage, Christ’s faithful follower finds herself outside his tomb in the dark of that first morning.

But things are not all right. His tomb has been disturbed. His body is gone.
How do we begin to understand the pain of this moment? Peter and John have confirmed her suspicion in seeing the stone rolled away. The tomb is empty. Christ’s death was difficult enough. The grief in losing a friend, a teacher, one so loved and so clearly sent by God to save them. But to find his body stolen? His grave site disturbed? What sacrilege. Who would do such a thing? And so she weeps. She weeps outside his empty tomb, in pain, in loss, in rage, and in mourning.

These tears are the raw expression of pain and suffering. Our lives are so difficult at times that there is no other reaction we can have but weeping. Our tears are part of what it is to be human being. And here, today, on Easter Sunday, on a day of resurrection and celebration and praise, we must realize something. One of my favorite writers, Adam Hamilton puts it this way: “Resurrection does not change our circumstances, it changes our perspective.”* We will weep, we will suffer, we will mourn, but through the power of the resurrection we can truly say that “the worst things will NEVER be the last things.” Through the power of the resurrection we find the strength to endure, to struggle, to survive. To seek and see God in the midst of our tears and our heartache.

The resurrection stirs in us a HOPE.

Because in that garden we see the world change. As Christ calls out Mary’s name, and reveals to her the resurrection, he tells her that everything is different from this moment on. He tells her not to cling to him. Don’t hold on to me as you did before. Don’t slow me down, don’t stop me, because there is more to be done. This is not the end.

The Resurrection is NOT the happy ending of the Gospel., and we should not treat it as one. It’s the new beginning. Because the hope and wonder found in that empty tomb is not enough. We are not called to pursue empty tombs. We are called to pursue Christ, and Christ isn’t there anymore.

Christ is risen today.

Christ is alive.

It can’t end there at the edge of the empty tomb. And according to Christ it doesn’t. Because he sends Mary to go and tell. And in that command he tells her that faith is an action. Go and tell. Leave that empty tomb behind as surely as Christ has. We are called to act on what we already believe, and to say what it is that we have seen and experienced in and through Jesus Christ. You believe something or you wouldn’t be here this morning. You believe in empty tombs and risen lords, but you have to do something about it. Go and Tell!

Because today is a day of new beginnings.

And it starts in a garden. John’s gospel tells us that Christ was buried in a garden. Because it was in a garden that our relationship with God was broken. And in Christ’s resurrection we see the first steps of restoring that relationship.

*Adam Hamilton's Easter Sunday Sermon from 2009 at wwww.cor.org

March 28, 2010 PALM SUNDAY

2010-03-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Palm Sunday and that means that we are beginning our Holy Week journey with Christ and simultaneously ending this Sermon Series entitled the Art of Suffering. In the course of the last five weeks, we have been exploring the issue of suffering in our lives. And more than that, we have been looking at how we might reorient or transform our pain and heartbreak into something beautiful. So far in this series we have talked about the freedom that can be found in suffering, the emotional truth that can be expressed, and the opportunities for connection, for transformative action, and focus on what is most important.

Last week, we talked in depth about that focus as we talked about the Art of Elimination. Through this understanding, we see how suffering can help us focus on those essential parts of our lives with God and one another, while at the same time letting go of those unimportant elements that we often cling to. I compared it to sculpture and the removal of stone to reveal the beautiful sculpture inside.

So what happens when we start chipping away all that unessential stuff in our lives? What happens when we try to set the person that God made us to be free? Well, in the course of breaking free we find we have a lot of stuff piled around us. Piles of sins and mistakes. Because the nature of creativity and making something means that there is going to be waste and mess. We’re going to have some piles of failure around us. And this morning, I want to talk about that. Together we’re going to explore the Art of Failure.

Please join me in standing for the reading of God’s Word.

Mark 11:1-11

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Now I know this may be confusing. I told you we were going to talk about failure, and then I go and read a passage about triumph and victory. This doesn’t read like failure, does it? I mean, the heading in my Bible above this passage calls this, “Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.” It does not say, “Jesus’ EPIC FAIL.” Everything in this passage screams winner! From the very beginning, the Disciples are doing what Jesus asks of them. The people let the Disciples use their colt. He rides in according to biblical prophecy, a crowd forms, he gets a spontaneous parade of affirmation and joy, people are whipping off their coats and throwing them on the ground in an ancient near east red carpet celebration, they are tearing branches off of trees, they quoting scripture!

For once it seems like the people are getting it. For once they are greeting him with exclamation points instead of question marks. Usually people throw questions at Jesus: “Who are you? On whose authority are you doing this? Isn’t that Mary and Joseph’s kid? Has anything good ever come out Nazareth?” But here, all he gets are exclamation points: “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest Heaven! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

This feels like one for the WIN column!

But we know where this is leading, don’t we? We know how quickly this is all going to turn, and things are about to spin around. These crowds are going to turn in a few days. Because they are misreading this situation. They THINK they understand, but they have no idea. Have you ever been in a situation like that? I remember feeling like that in college. “John how’d you do on that test? I ACED it!” TOTALLY FAILED. Or maybe in buying a gift for your spouse. You get something you are 100% sure that they will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. You’re so proud that you picked it out all by yourself, you’re confident that it will be their favorite thing EVER. And they . . . HATE it. Or maybe it’s your favorite sports team who gets over confident in the fourth quarter and just blows the lead they had and LOSES. Sometimes we just misread the situation.
And in understanding that, perhaps we can understand the failure of the crowd.
Because they are wrapped up in wave of joy and hope that is INDEED present in Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. They are confident that they know who Jesus is and what he has come to do. Here comes to conquering messiah, fulfilling the prophecy of old! And he is all those things, but they are forgetting what time it is. They are not understanding that they are moving toward Passover. They’ve forgotten what day this is. This is the 10th Day of Nisan. It is lamb selection day for Jerusalem. On this day, the Passover lambs were brought into the city, and over the next 4 days, they would be looked over and scrutinized for blemishes and imperfections. And the most perfect among them would be sacrificed, their blood spilled, their bodies prepared for the Passover meal. This is the day that Christ chose to enter the city of Jerusalem.
The crowds are SURE they know who he is, but they have no idea. Jesus understands that all of this must happen. That the people will indeed be delivered, but not by the sword. No they will be redeemed by the lamb.

The people have failed to understand.

I was struck this week, in reading and studying this passage, that Jesus advances into Jerusalem and they retreats back to Bethany. Have you ever noticed that? He begins the journey in Bethany, which can be translated as “the House of the Poor,” and then moves into Jerusalem. He meets the palm waving crowds then goes to the Temple, and then, it being late, he goes BACK to Bethany. He goes into the city, he sees the response of the people, he goes into the Temple, His Father’s House and casts his eyes around, taking it all in. And then he leaves. He goes back to Beth ‘ani. The House of the Poor. The House of the Afflicted. Because these people don’t understand. Not the people in the streets. Not the money changers in the Temples.

Jesus is surrounded by failure. People who just don’t get it. He’s tried to help them to understand. He’s chipped away at their lives trying to reveal the beauty that exists in them. But it’s a mess. This week will be a week of chasing out money changers, questioning and denouncing, sacrilege and blasphemy, betrayal, arrest, and death. The horizon looks bleak.

But isn’t this where God does his very best work? In mess and muck and mire of our lives? At rock bottom? That’s where I find God all the time. Because I live my life like I imagine many of you do. I want things to go the way they are supposed to. “The way things are supposed to” is code for the way I WANT them to go. I like for things to go according to plan. I’d be very happy never to worry or fret over anything ever again. But oddly, it’s when things don’t go my way that things get interesting. It’s when it goes far out in the other direction, when we reach the ends of ourselves, our ability to understand, our gifts our talents, our ability to control and direct our lives that we come to place where we must trust God. It’s when we’re stretched to the point of breaking, it’s when our life is surrounded with failure upon failure. This seems to be the place where we are willing to let God in.

Some Native American traditions, in their weaving, leave a stitch undone in the corner of their work. It makes the work imperfect, but their belief is that this is where the spirit enters. And the same is true for us. In our brokenness, in our sin, our failure, we see God enters into our lives. We begin to see that there is need for God’s grace and forgiveness because we cannot solve this on our own.

And in the fullness of time, we begin to see the Art of Failure. Every sin, every misunderstanding, every mistake is opportunity. And it becomes our choice whether we let those failures make us BITTER or make us BETTER. More ignorant or more aware. More open or more closed. Our lives are a work of art. And you can’t create without making a bit of a mess. You can’t create without a measure of pain.
Because there is no waste in this life. All that goes wrong can be reused, recast, reshaped so that nothing is wasted, nothing is without significance, and nothing ceases to be precious.

Even Suffering.

Even Pain.

Even Heartbreak.

That is the Art of Suffering.

March 21, 2010

2010-03-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

We are nearing the end of our Lenten journey together. Next week is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week as we move together toward Easter. And Easter, this year, will also mark the end of this sermon series entitled the “Art of Suffering.” Throughout this series, we have been looking at the issue of suffering, but more than that, we have also been looking at how we might reorient our thinking surrounding the pain and suffering that we all face in our lives. Hopefully this is helping those of you who are practicing disciplines and sacrificing in this season to see that this time can also be a time of creativity and beauty.

So far in this series, we have looked at how our suffering can provide us freedom, an opportunity to express emotional honesty, a chance to connect to other people, and serve as an impetus for action and transformation. This week, we continue our journey as we move from the Art of Solidarity into the Art of Elimination. We’ll begin this morning with a reading from Paul’s second letter to the Church at Corinth. If you will join me in standing for the reading of God’s Word.

2 Corinthians 6:1-10
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

In reading this passage, I am particularly struck by that last part of the last verse: “Having nothing, but possessing everything.” Maybe it is because I have SO much stuff. It defies all logic that through all the moves we have made and all the garage sales we have had that Denise and I would still have such an incredible amount of junk. And it was bad when it was just the two of us, but you add a child into the mix and suddenly we mountains or pink plastic and drawers full of Barbie clothes. And those are just a few of the items we can ACTUALLY see. I shudder to think about the boxes in the basement and the garage and the attic. Filled with unknown and unseen important objects that we CANNOT throw away because we might need them one day . . .perhaps . . .maybe.

I imagine many of you have houses bursting at the seams with STUFF. And on some level I think we all believe our happiness, identity and comfort are wrapped up in the objects we own and hold on to. So we keep adding to the collection. More stuff, more money, more toys, more salary, more work, more responsibilities, more to do’s, more goals, more hobbies, MORE STUFF.

But does MORE ever really make us happy? Do our lives feel more fulfilled by the objects we fill them with? Do we feel more at ease of more complete? Does the addition of more elements make our lives more beautiful?

Well, according to artists and designers the answer is NO. Have you ever watched one of those shows on HGTV about selling unsellable houses? A designer walks in and tells the hapless couple what they need to do in order to sell that house. Does anyone know the first thing they always tell the couple to do? DE-CLUTTER. Get rid of all the extra, superfluous, extraneous stuff. Because it is in the space that people get to see the beauty of the home. And it’s not just interior decorators or realtors that know this. Artists see it. Sculptors and painters know that sometimes it’s not about adding more to a piece but leaving space. From the stone, sculptors take away until the art is revealed. Michaelangelo said, “David was in the stone clamoring to be free!” Sometimes music doesn’t need to be complex to be beautiful. One of my favorite bands of the late 90’s, Third Eye Blind had a great lyric that said, “The four right chords can make me cry.” It’s not always about musicianship or complexity or arrangement . . .sometimes it’s just playing four solid chords. Whether you realize it or not, we went through the same process in our mission statement as a church. We used to have a Mission Statement that was three sentences long that no one knew. So we de-cluttered our mission, our purpose to three essential words: GATHER, GROW, & GO.
It’s about pairing our lives down to what it most important. I think we understand the Art of Elimination in our heads, but I think we also need to understand understanding and application are two different things. I know that the idea makes sense in my head, but my desire for more useless and fruitless junk is still pretty strong.

Perhaps this is where our suffering can help us to move from understanding to action. Suffering compels us to eliminate the extraneous and unnecessary from our lives and allows us to focus on the essential. Just ask the person who has been diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening illness if they have any regrets. They will never say, “You know, I really wish I’d spent more time in the office. I wish I’d dedicated more of my life to filling out those TSP reports. I wish I’d spent more time on Facebook. I wish I’d bought more stuff at the mall.”

People who suffer don’t focus on those things. Because when life gets hard they don’t matter. They say, “I wish I had more time with my kids, my parents, my friends, my family. Suddenly there is more time for reconciling and forgiving because resentment and bitterness and grudges seem such a waste. They often have as strong desire to fix that which is broken and revisit those places and people that matter most. And suddenly their faith matters more and their relationship with God becomes more essential. And there is a greater appreciation for the small things. The musician, Warren Zevon, appeared on David Letterman’s show shortly before he passed away from cancer. Dave asked him, “From your perspective, do you know something about life that maybe I don’t know?” Warren Zevon answered, “I know how much you’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich.” In our suffering, we sometimes become more aware of the gifts and blessings that are in our every day lives. Even in mundane, everyday events that we take for granted. The hug from a child, the sound of our dad’s voice, the laughter of our spouse.

And they won’t let all that stuff get in the way. And if it’s in the way, they’ll get rid of it. They’ll eliminate it, because there isn’t time to bother with the junk, the stuff, the things. In the midst of suffering, we give ourselves permission to practice the Art of Elimination. Because then it’s okay to have nothing, so long as we can focus on possessing EVERYTHING important. Paul understood this kind of suffering. He speaks to it in today’s passage as he tells the church at Corinth of all that he has had to endure: the beatings, the imprisonments, the labors, the losses, the sleepless nights. Paul’s suffering actually makes our pain look pretty light. But Paul can see, even in the midst of such heartbreak and pain, even unto death he is more alive than he has ever been. In his poverty, he is rich beyond measure. In having nothing, he possesses EVERYTHING.

That sounds pretty amazing. That’s the life I want.

The question then becomes, why wait for suffering to get it? Because I can practice the Art of Elimination right now. You can do it right now. Because there is something within YOU that clamoring to be free, as surely as David was in that stone. There is greatness within you. You are a child of the Living God, and that means that in your heart rests virtue and truth, commitment and compassion, mercy and forgiveness, worth, loyalty, and LOVE. They are in you somewhere. But you have to chip away the stone. You have to set it free.

March 14, 2010

2010-03-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

This morning we are continuing with our Lenten Sermon Series, “The Art of Suffering.” In the course of this series, we have been looking at the issue of suffering, and how we might reorient our thinking around our own heartbreak and pain. In that, we might begin to see the possibility for creativity and beauty to come out of our suffering. We have talked about the Art of Disruption and the freedom that can come out of pain. Then we talked about the Art of Honesty and the emotional honesty we are afforded out of our heartbreak. And then last week we talked about the Art of the Ache and how, in our suffering, we find an opportunity to connect to one another.

This week’s sermon, “The Art of Solidarity,” continues on that same theme, with a movement toward action. We’ll begin by standing for the reading of God’s Word. John 20:19-20.

John 20:19
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

Well, first I have to acknowledge the fact that I’ve jumped the gun in choosing this passage of scripture. Here we are in the 4th Week of Lent, still marching toward the cross with Jesus and I go ahead and read a passage about Jesus’ resurrection. I know it’s much to early to be reading this, but it speaks to the issue of solidarity that we are talking about today. So please forgive me this liturgical faux pas as we focus on the Disciples in today’s scripture.

This is a ragged and haggard group that we find in this locked room. This group is most likely made up of Jesus’ Disciples and larger gathering of followers. It’s the community of faith that has risen up around Christ throughout his ministry. These are the people who stuck around. But now the people who stuck around find themselves stuck in this locked up room in their suffering and their fear. This is the evening of that Easter morning filled with empty tombs and angels, but they don’t know it yet. Mary reported what she saw, but clearly it hasn’t impacted them very much. They heard what she said, but it didn’t change anything. For them, the crucifixion, the execution, of their beloved rabbi is still a fresh and terrifying reality. They are not only dealing with the death of their friend and teacher, but the death of how they thought their lives would be as his followers. Jesus was their compass, and now they are directionless and afraid. Jesus is dead and in the tomb and they are numb and locked up in their mourning. Add to that heartbreak and healthy dose of dread and fear. There is so much uncertainty. Because if these people could crucify a innocent man, the very Son of God, what would they do to the sinful men and women who followed him?

So they seek safety in numbers. If they are going out, they are not going out alone. They gather in this room and lock it up tight. Maybe the heat will die down in a few days, and then maybe they can slink back to some shadow of the lives they had before Jesus called them, healed them, taught them, changed them.

This is a DARK place we find the followers of Christ in.

I don’t know that any of us know the kind of fear that the Disciples know in this moment. In our freedom and our comfort and our culture, this kind of fear is foreign. But we do know the grief and loss. And we often do much the same thing that the Disciples do in the midst of that suffering. We seek the comfort of friends and family. People who understand, people who love us, people who share our common experience. We cling to one another. Because we don’t want to be along when our world falls apart . . .and that’s part of what we talked about last week when we talked about the ART of the ACHE. They are opening themselves up to the connection that exists in shared suffering.

And that connect is good, but there is more that is needed in our lives than empathy and sympathy. Because in sharing in that emotional connection, we must also be moving toward some action. ACTION is transformative. Without action all we ever have is two or three people suffering together. And while it is good to know you are not alone in your pain, it is not good to live in that pain communally forever. Because we learned last week that the ache is universal, but through the Art of Solidarity, we seek to do something about the suffering pain and that we and others feel.

Imagine for a moment that you are at a public event, like say church this morning, and everyone us asked to stand in response to some statements:

➢ Please stand if you’re an Alabama Fan.
➢ Please stand if you’re from above the Mason Dixon Line.
➢ Please stand if you drive a Ford.

What do you feel in standing with other people? A feeling of brief connection maybe? A little “Rah, Rah!” school spirit perhaps? But those aren’t really deep connections are they? What if we were to change the connection point to our suffering?

➢ Please stand if your life has been touched by cancer.
➢ Please stand if you’ve lost a child.
➢ Please stand if you have struggled with infertility.

That is a deeper and more meaningful connection. Even if you don’t know that other person. As strangers standing next to one another, we feel compassion, empathy, connection, love for those who share a common pain. There is a BOND, because suffering unites like school spirit and where you’re from and what you drive NEVER will. The Art of Solidarity comes from shared experience and it is quick and intimate.
You see it in ICU and Surgery Waiting Rooms. As families sit, often for hours at a time, waiting on news from doctors or the opportunity to see loved ones, they get to know one another. I can’t tell you the number of times I have gone to pray with congregants in these situations. And they introduce their new friends. And we pray together. Not only for a congregant, but with a whole other family and for a virtual stranger who is united with us through the Art of Solidarity.

It happens in infusion rooms with people receiving chemo. It happens at Alcoholocs Anonymous meetings and Grief Support Groups. In these settings, in these moments of solidarity, we realize that what we’ve been through, what we’ve got, what we’ve got before us transcends all our differences. All that separates us in this world fades to the background and we’re together.

At our best, the Body of Christ is about living in the Art of Solidarity. It is in these moments that we forget how different we are, and recognize that we are united in our sinfulness and in the suffering of our Savior.

And perhaps that is part of the reason that God came down to us as Jesus. Because in those 33 years, God showed us that He was not just some omnipotent, cosmic creator, but he was willing to walk with us. Talk with us. Teach us. And scream along with us. Because it makes all the difference in the world sometimes to know that there is someone screaming alongside you.

Maybe that is our connection to the cross.

Maybe that is God’s way of saying, “I know. I know how you feel.”

March 7, 2010

2010-03-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

This morning marks the halfway point in our Lenten journey. So as you have given up and taken on in this season, I want to encourage you to stay strong, to recommit, to continue on. You’re halfway there! And for those of you who are struggling, suffering, this sermon series, I hope, is appropriate and helpful. We are continuing this morning with our series, “The Art of Suffering.” So far, we have talked about the freedom that can be found in our heartbreak and suffering when we talked about the Art of Disruption. Then, last week, we talked about how suffering gives us permission to speak the truth as we talked about the Art of Honesty.

Before we move into our sermon today, I feel the need to revisit the Art of Honesty for a moment. First of all, I want to tell you that honesty is GOOD. But you know what else is good? STAYING MARRIED. Some of you took the Art of Honesty and instead turned it into the TRAINWRECK of Honesty. There is a fine line between honesty and stupidity and some of you need to check to make sure you didn’t stumble across that line. And just so you know, if you’re going to take what I say so literally, I’ve got some great sermons on tithing and service I would LOVE to share with you. How about we try to balance LOVE and TRUTH friends?

Because if you don’t, you’ll find yourself like the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is sometimes called the weeping prophet. Jeremiah was a speaker of the truth, but he wept because the truth left him isolated and alone. He understood, as some of you may understand after this last week, the Art of the Ache.

Please join me in standing for the reading of God’s Word from the prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 15, verses 16-18.

Jeremiah 15:16-18
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.

This passage we have read today is from one of Jeremiah’s laments. He is giving voice to the pain that he is feeling as a prophet of God. This is a further example of the honesty I was talking about last week. This is a fairly bold expression of the hurt and pain he is experiencing. He is expressing an a spiritual ache. As I read this passage, I get what he is talking about. He feels burdened, isolated, alone. He saying, I thought I was going to get the bull, but all I got was the horns. I connect to this feeling, this honesty. I may not understand the experiences, but the feeling—I know that feeling.

As human beings, we have an innate longing to be understood. We want to know we are not alone, that there is someone else out there who feels like we do. We want to know that our pain is not unique. It’s why we ask those questions, “Do you know what I mean? Are you feeling me? Are you picking up what I’m putting down?” We long for connection.

As we talk about the Art of the Suffering, I know that for me, one of the easiest ways that I connect emotionally with other people in through music and art. A few years ago, there was a band called the Verve and one of their lyrics was, ‘I need to hear something that recognizes the pain in me.” That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about the Art of the Ache. We are looking for something in our lives that recognizes and connects to how we feel. We get that in music, whether it is contemporary pop music, classical music, jazz, hymns and contemporary Christian music. Our feeling connect to art. I love that old slave spiritual, “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child.” It’s not my experience, my life is far removed from that of the person who wrote it. I’ve never been a slave, I’ve never known a life without a mother. But I feel it. It touches something within me. Something primal. It touches the ache.

And it may not be music for you, but we all connect emotionally and spiritually to other’s pain. Be it Haiti, Chile, the tsunami, or September 11th. We connect to one another’s pain. And it doesn’t have to be a tragedy or a disaster, does it? My wife tears up any time someone cries on television. During the first season of Extreme Makeoever Home Edition, I was a crying mess every time they told a family’s story. We forget that this type of emotional connection is part of our faith story. Our story with God is a story of heartbreak and redemption, lament and repentance, crucifixion and resurrection. Our story is the story of our ACHE.

Do you feel the ache in Jeremiah’s words that we read today. The deep wounded-ness. The experience of being a prophet may be far from our own personal experience, but the ache we can understand. He feels the burden of being a man of God. He feels the isolation and loneliness, the bitterness and the misunderstanding. He stands at the crossroads of the destruction of his homeland and the exile of his people. And in the midst of this he is trying to speak the Word of God and he is FAILING. His words are falling on deaf ears. No one is heeding. And his hurt comes out in the lament. He feels deceived by the God who called on him.

He takes this suffering very personally, doesn’t he? We often do the same thing. We suffer in silence, in isolation. We feel like this is a private pain. That it is something we have to deal with. Or maybe we revert to that first feeling of heartbreak. Like that time we first got our heart broken. That feeling that NO ONE understands this pain. NO ONE has ever felt this way before. You just don’t understand.

But we do. We understand. Because the ache is personal, but it is also UNIVERSAL. And the challenge in the ache is to let others in. You are not alone. You are not the first, nor will you be the last person to hurt. The ache reminds us that the world is not as it should be. The ache is an opportunity to connect. The ache has the ability to bring together that which has been blown apart. The church is a direct result of the ache. The Israelites were brought out of the ache of slavery. The crucifixion of Christ brought the Disciples together. It is the ache of our sinful lives that brings us to this place and this life and this faith.

Your suffering is an opportunity to connect.

The ache unites us. It brings us intimately together, if we allow it to.

February 28,2010

2010-03-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today is the second Sunday of Lent, and as we journey together through this season, we are continuing with our new sermon series, “The Art of Suffering.” Throughout this series, we talking about reorienting the way that we think about the pain and suffering we face in our lives. More than that, we are also looking at how we might transform our personal pain into something beautiful. Because Lent is a time for sacrifice and discipline, but it is also a time for creativity and beauty. Last week, I spoke about the unwanted freedom and opportunity that are offered to us when our lives get disrupted by suffering. The Art of Disruption is to embrace the opportunity while not denying the crisis present in our pain.

Today, we continue our walk with Christ toward the cross, as we talk about the Art of Honesty. We’ll begin this morning, by standing for the reading of God’s Word. Our Scripture this morning is from Genesis 18:9-15.

Genesis 18:9-15
They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’ The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.’ But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. He said, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’

Verse 12 tells us, “So Sarah laughed to herself.” These words she has heard this stranger promise are just ridiculous. Sarah hasn’t been in on the promises that God has made to Abraham. She’s in the dark as to the divine prophecy and promise that Abraham heard in the previous chapter. All she hears is crazy promises. So she laughs.

Sarah’s laughter is such an honest reaction to an impossible situation.

Honesty is one of those qualities that we are want, isn’t it? Honesty is among the top qualities that both men an women want in a significant other or spouse. Honesty and integrity are qualities that employers look for in prospective employees they interview. Schools, colleges, and universities are huge on academic honesty. Nothing will get you expelled faster than an act of academic dishonesty. As a parent, I know that dishonesty is one thing I won’t tolerate from my daughter. Lies, fibs, and falsifications drive me crazy.

And it’s not just as individuals. Our culture is obsessed with honesty, authenticity and reality. We are looking for truth everywhere. We look for truth outside our own lives because we so rarely get to experience it. We watch the Real World, the Real Housewives, and Reality TV. We play videogames that that look and feel and sound REAL. We like actors and musicians that view as “Real.” John Wayne, Johnny Cash, and Clint Eastwood. We love a musician with a real story, be it a country musician with real blue-collar roots or a rapper that rose from the poverty or the streets to fame and fortune.

Our obsession with truth also means that we despise the opposite.

We hate a faker. We hate a liar. We hate dishonesty. How quickly we turn on them. Tiger Woods, Milli Vanilli, Mark Sanford, Bernie Madoff, Richard Scrushy. Lip synchers and liars. Masquerades and make believe. We deplore a facade and we hate being lied to.

So why is that we have this great hunger for honesty and truth from the world? Maybe it is because we spend so much of our own lives faking it. Have you ever thought about how much of your life is spent dedicated to keeping up the front that everything is okay? We spend vast amounts of time and energy maintaining, pretending, and playing make believe. Because we learn throughout our lives that the truth is unacceptable. We say things liks “Boys don’t cry. Never let them see you sweat.” We say, “I have to be strong for my kids, my spouse, my friend.” We don’t allow ourselves to say how we really feel. What we really think. Even church can be a façade. It becomes a place and time when we feel like we have to look right and sound right and believe right.

Our lives are often dedicated to pursuing some cultural ideal, and when we get it we find ourselves dissatisfied. We look for the spouse, the house, the job, the security, the comfort, the privilege, the freedom and yet we find ourselves bored and listless, numb and dissatisfied. Our lives are predictable and we become indifferent. The suburbs we have so long coveted have become hubs for low-grade depression and despair. We find ourselves dying a slow death by wallpaper samples and paint swatches.

In our scripture, we find that people who express honesty are vilified. Thomas expressed doubt about the resurrection and was labeled as Doubting Thomas. Abraham fell on his face and laughed when God told him he would have a son, but only Sarah get’s remembered as laughing.

We have a personal, communal, historical, and cultural resistance to HONESTY and truth. And it is in this resistance that we actually find ourselves shocked when someone is honest with us. We think, “Oh honesty, that’s SO refreshing.” I bought a rug once that was on sale. When the sales person rang it up, it came up as half of the sale price. I told the girl behind the register, “Look, I don’t want you to get in trouble, the sign said it was twice what the register says.” She didn’t know what to do. No one had ever wanted to pay the advertised price. No one ever wanted to pay more than the register said. And it’s always the same when someone gets too much change and brings it back—there is shock.

When Denise and I were engaged, I decided that as a wedding present, I’d write to some of our favorite musicians, and authors and ask their advice for our marriage. Several celebrities actually wrote back and shared logn winded thoughts on love and marriage and romance and family. But my favorite response was from Woody Allen. It was a single, honest type written sentence. It said, “I know nothing.”

It’s like people don’t know what to do with simple honesty. And emotional honesty is even harder for us to deal with.

But pain and suffering bring out our honesty. Pain and suffering give us permission to be blatantly, unabashedly honest in how we feel and what we think and believe. It is in these moments that, if we’re brave enough, we can brake through the cultural, communal, and personal resistance to honesty and actually say how we feel. Pain is the only place where it is culturally acceptable to speak the truth. Sarah, in today’s scripture passage, was speaking from a deep wounded-ness. In culture where the woman’s role was to provide children, she was unable to have children. And more than that she was so far beyond the age child bearing, that she had given up even the glimmer of hope of ever having a child. And out of this private pain came this honest reaction of laughter.

But we have to be ready, because honesty discomforts us. People’s pain and suffering make us uncomfortable and the reality of what comes out of that heartbreak is an honesty that scares us.

It’s the honesty that comes when a fight reaches it’s fever pitch, and we say, “Oh yeah, well, do you want to know how I REALLY feel?” In that we are admitting that we haven’t actually said everything we feel. It’s like we’ve been pretending up until that point. And there is truth below the surface that we are scared to share. It is our private pain, our deep hurt, that we pretend is not really there.

I remember in my time as a chaplain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, walking with families through the immediate grief of losing a loved one. Some families were somber and sad, but the ones that terrified me were the most honest. They wailed. They sobbed, they were wracked the grief and losing someone they loved. That kind of emotional honesty is intense and scary.

In our suffering and our pain we are given permission to feel. We are given permission to be honest, as scary and terrifying as that can be. But it is a freedom we are rarely given. Look at Joannie Rochette. Lost her mom. Skaters are supposed to be perfect, all smiles and beauty and grace. But here is a woman who was permitted to feel to express her loss, her pain, her deep grief. Her tears were a gift that the world supported.

February 21, 2010

2010-02-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

This morning, we are continuing our Lenten journey that was begun earlier this week in the observance of Ash Wednesday. This Lenten Season is a time of preparation and transformation that occurs in the forty days before Easter. During this time, the church is called to focus our hearts and minds on Christ as we move together toward the cross. Finding and keeping that focus is difficult in the midst of our busy lives. It is even more difficult when we are in the midst of hardship and pain. Our suffering disrupts our carefully ordered lives. Our suffering can disrupt our faith. As we move through this Lenten Season this year, we are going to focus our attention on transforming our suffering. This series is an invitation to rethink the way we view our pain and heartbreak, and how we might transform it into something beautiful. Over the next several weeks, we will begin a time reorientation and transformation.

And our first job is to re-orient our thinking about Lent. Lent tends to be a somber and solemn time in the life of the church. All our talk of discipline and sacrifice tends to accompany the feeling of a death march. But I would like for us to change that this year. I want you to realize that Lent can be an incredibly creative time. It’s not only a time for sacrifice and giving up but for making something wholly new! It is a time in which we can transform that which pains us into something beautiful. That is the Art of Suffering.

This morning, we begin with the Art of Disruption.

If you will join me in standing for the reading of God’s Word. Luke 15:11-32.

Luke 15:11-32
Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’

This is the familiar story of the prodigal son. It’s my favorite parable that Jesus tells, but it is as frustrating as it is beautiful. This parable has a messy ending. Actually, it’s more than messy, the story just leaves you hanging. There is no proper ending—we don’t know what happens, it never gets resolved. All we’re left with is questions:

Did the older son come in from the field?

Did he join the party?

Did he forgive his little brother?

Did he just spend the night out the field all angry and bitter?

Did he EVER get over it?

There’s no wrap up. No Hollywood ending.

Rob Bell, in his book Drops Like Stars, imagines a new ending:

“The older brother enters the party and the younger brother is surrounded by people who want to talk to him but he sees his brother and so he says, “Just a minute please” as he starts walking over toward his brother and the orchestra music in the background gets louder and louder as they get closer and closer until they embrace and everybody at the party circles around them and starts clapping and then the camera pans over to that one last shot—the one of the father holding a glass of champagne with a smile on his face and tear in his eye.

But that’s not how it always goes, is it?

Some brothers never join the party.

Some fathers never throw one.

Some brothers never come back

Some things never get resolved.

This parable, this story that Jesus shares is reflective of our world and our lives. Sometimes we don’t get the neat and tidy ending that we long for. Chapters begin in our lives and sometimes NEVER end. Some chapters get cut off in mid-sentence and never pick back up again. Our lives, our stories are messy. All our carefully laid plans can go up in smoke, can get blown away, or can slowly fade to nothing. Everything we know and understand can go away as the result of one mistake, one decision, one sin, or one failure of nerve. The characters in Jesus’ story see that. The father in this story lost a younger son, welcomed him back, and in the process may have lost his older son. The younger son told his father he wished he was dead, experienced heartbreak and loss and got welcomed back. The older son obediently stayed home but found himself angry and bitter in his brother’s return.

There’s little in the way of resolution.

There is MUCH in the way of disruption.

So how are we to live when our lives get disrupted? Continuing on the same path we were on before is often not an option. When suffering enters our lives, often we find that our plans get radically changed. Our course changes and suddenly, by virtue of our suffering we have a tremendous amount of unwanted freedom. These events in our lives FORCE us to realize that it’s not a question of thinking inside the box or thinking outside the box, they make us ask say, “Oh, there’s a box?” They shatter our understanding of the way the world works and force us to think and live in a new way. And that is really what we’re talking about today. Harnessing that forced freedom that comes out of suffering.

Often we find ourselves very much wrapped up in our pain and our heartbreak. They can paralyze us. It can feel like there is no way to move, forward or backward. We’re just stuck in the mire of our suffering. And I do not want to minimize the pain. The pain is real. It can tragic and brutal what one person must endure in this life. We cannot ignore it or pretend it isn’t there. But in the fullness of time, we have options when it comes to our suffering—to live in that pain or transform it into something else. Because either way the world is going to be radically different tomorrow on the other side of our suffering. Our lives simply will not be the same. But it is what we choose to do after the disruption, in the unfinished and incomplete story that defines who we are as Christian men and women.

My friend Sheri Ferguson, who is a pastoral counselor here in Birmingham, has been working with our youth. She told us that the Chinese character for conflict has two parts: One character for crisis and one character for opportunity. People who embrace the art of disruption live into the opportunity, while not denying the crisis. They seek to transform their pain.

Story about Mickey & Mary (Improvised)

Be it a cancer diagnosis, a life change, a divorce, or the loss of loved one.

It is not an easy thing to do.

In fact it can be heart-wrenchingly difficult.

But it’s possible.

Sometimes you have no other option but imagine a totally new tomorrow.