Praying for the Future

The sermon below was written on Friday Nov. 6, 2020 in preparation for preaching on Sunday Nov. 8, 2020.  I didn't know as I was writing that the cough I was ignoring would lead to getting tested for COVID-19 and being advised to isolate until we know the results.  I also didn't know as I was writing that Biden and Harris would be declared the projected winners of the presidential election the next morning.

This was written to end short so that Christian Dashiell could talk more about praying for our children, and specifically for foster and adoptive families, as Nov. 8, 2020 is Stand Sunday.  When our committee originally was planning for this day, Christian had offered to preach and give me a vacation week.  I said no because I wanted to be involved in this special day.  God had other ideas and needed to have Christian in the pulpit on this day. I only regret that I didn't decide that sooner so that Christian could have more time to prepare.  

All of which reminds me that God is working even when I'm clueless, and that we should always be praying and hoping, for the future is in God's hands.

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Praying for the Future – Matthew 25:1-13 (The Parable of the Bridesmaids)

Theologian Walter Wink said:

“History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being. . .”[1]

An intercessor is someone who prays for other people.  History belongs to the intercessors who believe the future into being...people who pray for the future.

Our gospel reading today is about the future.  It’s part of a whole set of teaching about the future that we find in Matthew 24 & 25 in which Jesus was teaching his disciples as they sat on the Mount of Olives not long before he was arrested and crucified.

We are used to hearing parables in Matthew that start like this one.  The kingdom of heaven is like…  But this one doesn’t say “is,” it says “will be.”  In the future.

It will be like a group of bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom.  Half of them brought enough oil to last through the unexpectedly long time of waiting.  The other half didn’t bring enough oil and had to go to the store at the last minute and buy some more.  By the time they got back, it was too late and the door to the wedding was closed and locked.  And the bridegroom wouldn’t open the door.  He says, “I didn’t know you.”  So be ready, because we don’t know the day or the hour.

In this story, Jesus is the bridegroom.[2]  Jesus got started on this teaching about the future because he’d told them that someday the temple would be destroyed. The disciples asked him when this would happen and would this be the end of time.  In typical Jesus style, he doesn’t tell them when, he says in v13 that we won’t know the day or the hour. Earlier, in Matthew 24:36, Jesus says, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

By the time Matthew is writing this gospel, the temple has already been destroyed, as Jesus predicted, but unlike they thought, this didn’t bring about the end of time or the second coming of Jesus. So they were still left wondering about the future.  How much longer, Lord?

Maybe you’ve been wondering the same thing.  How much longer, Lord?

Again the answer is that we don’t know, but Jesus says at the end of today’s reading that we need to be ready.  So how do we do that?

Make good use of our time.  Psalm 31:15 says that our times are in God’s hands.  We don’t know how long, so we need to make the best use of our time while we’re waiting. 

How do we do that?  By doing the good works that God has called us to do. (Eph. 2:10).  In the rest of this chapter Jesus tells parables that talk about using our resources wisely, investing for the future, and we’ll talk more about that next week, and then the end of the chapter is taking care of people.  That’ll be our focus in two weeks.

Doing good works and staying ready to keep doing those good works.  How do we continue to have the power to do that?

In the story, being ready is having oil for our lamps.  In modern terms, this might be having enough electricity.  But this is a parable, so the oil or electricity is symbolic. What do you think the oil represents?   . . . The Holy Spirit.[3]

Proverbs 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked goes out. Jesus said that we are the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14)  To be the light to the world, we need the power of the Holy Spirit.  We need to use the power of prayer. 

There was a little town that had two churches and one distillery.  They were often at odds with each other.  The two churches decided to hold a prayer meeting to ask God to intervene and settle the matter once and for all, and so they all gathered together one night for prayer.  All through the prayer meeting a terrible storm raged.  During the storm, lightning hit the distillery, and it caught fire and burned to the ground.  The next Sunday both pastors preached about the power of prayer.

Insurance adjusters told the distillery owner that they couldn’t pay his damage claims because his insurance policy didn’t cover “acts of God.”  The distillery owner was furious and sued both churches saying that they had conspired with God to destroy his business.  The churches denied that they had anything to do with the cause of the fire.

When they came to court, the judge said that he found the case most perplexing.  The plaintiff, the bar owner, is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants, all faithful church members, are denying that very same power![4]

Did prayer cause lightning to strike that factory?  There’s no way to know for sure, one way or the other, but this raises an interesting question:  How much do we really trust in the power of prayer?  I think most of us do, or at least we want to.  Jesus definitely did.  He prayed all the time.  And he told us to do the same.

As we pray for people, we need to keep on praying – We never know how long it will take. There was an older widow that lived next door to a family with a boy who would come do chores for her.  As part of his pay, she would always have him sit down in the kitchen to eat a piece of apple pie, usually freshly baked.  He would eat it as quickly as he could so he could get out to go play with his friends, but then she would bring him another piece of pie, and he would have to listen to her endless talking as he ate it.  Ten years later, he gave his life to Jesus at a college event.  He didn’t know who to tell, and then it occurred to him to go tell the widow.   He found her in her back yard enjoying the beautiful spring day.  He asked her if she knew Jesus, and she said she did.  So he said, “Well, the other night, I committed my life to Jesus.”  She looked up and said firmly, “You stay right here.”  She hobbled up to her back door and up the steps, and came back ten minutes later with a huge piece of chocolate cake.  As he ate it, she was smiling broadly but silently, and finally after a while, she said, “For the last fifteen years, since you moved in next door, I have prayed every day for you.  I prayed every day that you would come to know Jesus.”[5]

I consider it a bonus whenever we get to see the results of our prayer like that widow did.  I think more often than not we don’t get to know the outcome when we’re praying for someone.  In the book of James it says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and produces results (5:16).  Sometimes that may seem like a pipe dream and we may wonder if our prayers really are helping.  The Bible says they are.  We just have to keep praying and trust that God will bless our faithfulness to his call to us to pray for one another.

Richard Foster said, “If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer. Intercession is a way of loving others.”[6]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that “Christ stands between us and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through him.”[7]  I think this is true.  There’s a connection we make with people as we pray for them that’s different than if we don’t.  Our connection in Christ transcends the bonds of time and space.

Praying for children is praying for the future, for they will live beyond our lifetimes.

Here are some ways to pray for families who are fostering and adopting children.

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[1] Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 93). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

[2] “The idea of Jesus being the bridegroom of the parable is easily established, since already in Matthew 9: 15 Jesus himself alludes to it.” –Sammy G. Alfaro in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship. Ed. Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby, Carolyn J. Sharp. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition (Kindle Locations 14818-14819).

[3] https://biblehub.com/greek/1637.htm

[4] Bob Russell, When God Answers Prayer (Howard Publishing, 2003), 43-44.

[5] Phillip Yancey, Prayer: Does it make any difference? (Zondervan, 2006), 303. Adapted.

[6] Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2008), 204. As quoted in Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 93). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

[7] Cost of Discipleship, 305.

The Rise of Hope, Angel Armies and Prayer

In a friend's video, his three-year-old son says, "I want to go somewhere where there's no corona virus."  Me, too.  That's my problem today.  I just want it all to go away.  God, make it all go away.  Make the confusion go away.  Make the virus go away. Make the division and hatred go away.  Make the hurting and sadness go away.  Make the loneliness go away.

I know it doesn't work that way, but I also know we can ask, and keep on asking (Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 18:1-8, James 4:2-3).  So I'm asking.

This encouragement to keep asking is why I love what happens in the last Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker (2019). (**spoiler alert**)  In this movie and the previous one, there's been a running thread of waning hope because the resistance keeps sending out a call for help and no one comes.  Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) has had an idomitable spirit throughout all the seemingly insurmountable challenges, and he's even taken flack for his willingness to jump in a fighter and fly fearlessly into battle no matter how bad the odds.  In the last battle, one that most would have said was unwinnable because the resistance is so enormously outnumbered and outclassed by the First Order fleet, Poe has charged ahead anyway, certain that their distress call will be answered and help will come.  When it seems they've tried everything there is to try and still no allies have arrived, even Poe's spirit is crushed and he's on the verge of giving up. Defeat seems imminent.  And then suddenly the sky is filled with allies, so many that the ships from across the galaxies far outnumber the huge empire fleet.  The resistance fighters are not alone after all.  Hope rises again.

This Star Wars scene reminds me of a story in 2 Kings 6.  The prophet Elisha and his servant are in the city of Dothan.  The enemy king of Aram has sent "a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city" (2 Kings 6:13).  When Elisha's servant sees them, he cries out in fear.  Elisha tells him, "Don't be afraid, for there are more on our side than on theirs" (v.16).  And then Elisha prays and asks God to open the servant's eyes.  God does, and the servant looks up and sees that the hills around them are filled with horses and chariots of fire.  God's angel army is surrounding Dothan, and the angels outnumber the Arameans.  Hope renewed.

It's interesting, however, that it isn't the angel army that solves the problem, though I'm sure their presence helped Elisha and his servant to have the courage to get through it.  Instead, Elisha prays.  I think I would have asked God to have the angel army scare off the Arameans, but Elisha asks God to blind the Arameans.  Then Elisha tells the Arameans that they're in the wrong place and leads them to Samaria.  Because of their blindness, they didn't see that the one who was leading them was the very person they'd been sent to kill. 

Also surprising, the king in Samaria follows Elisha's advice and doesn't kill the Arameans.  Instead, he feeds them and sends them home.  After that, the Arameans stayed away from Israel, probably afraid they'd be fooled again.

I love this story because it reminds me that God is greater than our fears, and that though we cannot see the angels who surround us, they are there.  I think we need to pray like Elisha more, asking God to open our eyes.  What would we ask to see?  What are we missing?

We don't always have enemies quite so clearly as they do in this story in 2 Kings, but is there ever a time to pray for confusion or blindness for someone?  Blindness is what stopped Paul in his rampage against Christians (Acts 9) and in his blindness he met Jesus and became a Christian. So maybe sometimes blindness is helpful.

God, I struggle with my own blindness.  Help me to see what you need me to see and to learn what you need me to learn, and to do what you need me to do.  (Is need the wrong word?  Do you need anything? Maybe want is better.)  Am I blind sometimes because you're slowing me down or pretecting me?  Or trying to help me focus on you instead of the problem, or on today instead of the future?

Thank you, God, for your presence with me right here, right now, and always, and for whatever you let me see.

Love Wins

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. --John 15:12-13

My husband and I have been Star Wars fans since the beginning.  One of our first dates was  seeing the first Star Wars movie at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California.  We've seen all the Star Wars movies in the years since, and when our kids were old enough, we showed them the original trilogy, calling it their "cultural education." 

Lately there hasn't been much new TV to watch since the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down productions. Since we're staying home to stop the spread and needing entertainment, we've been watching the Star Wars series, this time in the order of the story. (I remember our surprise when Episode 1 came out in 1999 and we learned then that the 1977 movie was actually episode IV.)  Watching the later movies first, we've been impressed by the high level of continuity between the later movies and the first three.  We're enjoying the stories we remember, and we're seeing new things we'd missed before.

Yesterday we watched Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi (1983), and today the scripture above has me pondering the scene in which Luke fights Darth Vader on the Death Star as Emperor Palpatine watches with devilish glee. 

(**Spoiler Alert** . . . if that still matters.  Hasn't everyone already seen these movies by now?)

In the previous movie, Empire Strikes Back, we'd had a chuckle at discovering that we all slightly misquote the now famous line, "Luke, I am your father." (Vader actually says, "No, I am your father.")  At this point, Luke's hatred of Vader has been growing, and he foolishly rushes into a lightsaber duel with the villain.  The duel comes to a halt when Vader cuts off Luke's hand.  Then Vader's paternal revelation turns Luke's world upside down, and soon Luke finds himself literally upside down, hanging from some space station scaffolding.

By the time they meet again in Return of the Jedi, Luke has been fitted with a prosthetic hand, and become much more skillful in his use of the force and his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Darth Vader and his evil master Emperor Palpatine have been looking forward to an encounter with Luke so they can turn Luke to the dark side. Emperor Palpatine goads Luke, trying to bring out the hate that still remains from before he learned who Vader really is, and hate would have gained the upper hand if Luke did kill Vader. When they duel, Luke slices off Vader's saber-holding hand and this brings the duel to an end.  Luke could have easily killed Vader at this point, but the sight of Vader without his hand flashes us back to the scene in the previous movie in which Luke has his own hand sliced off by Vader and  learns who Vader really is. It seems in this moment that the flashback reminds Luke of his mission - to turn Vader back to the good side.

Sparing Vader's life does the job, as Luke has left himself vulnerable to attack by Palpatine and in essence laid down his life for Vader.  Love wins.

In the next scene, there's a tender moment as everyone is scrambling to get off the Death Star before it explodes:

Darth Vader:  Luke help me take this mask off.
Luke:             But you will die.
Darth Vader:  Nothing can stop that now. Just for once let me look at you with my own eyes.
                      [Luke takes mask off] Now go, my son, leave me.
Luke:             No, you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here. I've got to save you.
Darth Vader: You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister, you were right.

Luke was right, there was still some good left in Darth Vader, and it was that good that drove Vader to turn on his master, the Emperor Palpatine, and stop Palpatine from killing Luke. Vader is redeemed. Love wins again. Luke lays down his life for Vader.  Vader lays down his life for Luke.

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for another. Jesus did this for us all. 

Jesus is the prophesied Messiah and Savior of the world who died to conquer sin and death.  In Star Wars, Vader is the messiah of sorts, the one the Jedi prophets said would bring balance to the force. In watching the movies years ago, I had thought the balance came because Vader's children Luke and Leia lived, and Vader and Palpatine died.  And I had always wondered why some people like Darth Vader so much.  We have a friend whose young daughter often dresses up as Darth Vader and I had wondered at her wanting to emulate an evil character. 

But now I get it.  The balance does indeed happen in Vader himself. Vader is the one who shows us that no matter how much evil we have done, in the end, love still wins.  Vader is redeemed as he lays down his life for Luke. 

And we too display the redeeming power of love as we let go of our selfish ways and show concern for one another.  During this pandemic, we've seen this as people stay home to stop spreading the virus, as people help each other get through this time, and as doctors, nurses, and first responders expose themselves to the virus to help the sick.

Unfortunately, the voice of Emperor Palpatine also seems to be making a comeback, as people are being encouraged to stand up for themselves and defy the guidelines that have been designed to keep the virus from spreading.  Protestors are filling up the streets demanding freedom.

We have a long history in America of fighting for our liberty.  When our country was being founded, Patrick Henry declared, "Give me liberty or give me death!"  It's important to note, however, that Henry meant his own death.  Those who are crying out for liberty today are more likely choosing someone else's death, since those who are young and healthy enough to be out protesting are less likely to die from this virus.

The chaos and arguing that fills the news right now is discouraging and disheartening.  Tyranny and selfishness seem to be winning.  But we need to hold on to hope.

In the Star Wars movies, there an ongoing succession of hope.  At first, Obiwan thought Anakin Skywalker was their hope.  Years later, in A New Hope, Princess Leia's desparate video message recorded on the robot R2D2 says, "Obiwan, you're my only hope."  Obiwan tells Yoda that Luke is their last hope.  Yoda tells Obiwan that Leia is their last hope.  The problem with all of these is that their hope is in human beings.  In the end it's their first hope Anakin who destroys the most evil and powerful character in the story, but it's the power of love that wins, and it's love that brings us hope.

God is love.  Jesus, Emmanuel, God in the flesh, came to show us how to love, by being willing to sacrifice and serve each other.

Life isn't always so black and white as it is in the movies.  And though Star Wars is pretty clearly good versus evil, maybe one of the reasons we love these movies and keep rewatching them is that we see characters making tough choices in situations that aren't so clear. 

But in the end, love wins.  May we remember that this is also true in real life, and may that renew our hope.

Further Thoughts on Wrestling

" . . . a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break." -Genesis 32:24

“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” -Luke 18:2-5

I preached last Sunday about wrestling, and, as these things go, I should be moving on to the text for next week, Colossians 1:11-20.  But I can't seem to stop wrestling with thoughts about wrestling.  We pastors do a lot of praying for people to have comfort and peace, which seems like the opposite of wrestling, but it occurs to me this morning that maybe it's not.

One reason I can't stop thinking about wrestling is Nancy.  She's a character in Oliver!, the musical our local high school put on last week.  I didn't talk about Nancy in last Sunday's sermon, but she's most definitely a wrestler, much like the widow in the parable Jesus told in Luke 18.  Nancy wrestled with her love for a man who treated her horribly.  Nancy wrestled on behalf of Oliver so that he wouldn't be mistreated, and ultimately wrestled to the death with that man she couldn't stop loving.

Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” -Genesis 32:28

It was Nancy's refusal to let go that got her killed, which isn't to say that it was Nancy's fault.  Bill Sikes was the one with the uncontrollable temper and the blatant disregard for Nancy's life.  But if she'd been willing to settle for things as they were, or for the direction things were going for Oliver if she didn't intercede, she might not have been murdered.

If she'd been willing to settle for the way things were.  Here, again, is the paradox of what we pastor's preach.  "Be thankful in all circumstances," Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.  In 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain."  Somehow the two ideas, thankfulness and wrestling, are so much at odds and yet both so much a part of being followers of Christ, and so much a part of being people who are engaged in life. Paul himself was wrestling to spread the gospel when he wrote these words.

Maybe I can't stop thinking about wrestling because there's a wrestling match happening in my house, as you can see from my husband's post on Facebook this morning:

This post makes it sound rather simple and uneventful, but it's been a real walk through the fire for Rob. I've been doing my best to help him wrestle, but I can't be there for every moment, and I am thankful that in those lonely, endless moments when I'm asleep or at work, Rob doesn't give up.  He's still saying, "I will not let go until you bless me."

How do we know when to keep wrestling and when to let go?  The widow didn't give up on badgering the judge until she got justice.  Nancy wouldn't let go until Oliver was safe.  Rob won't let go until he's free of Tramadol.  Whatever the blessing is that makes things right, we keep on wrestling until we get it.

Just like Jesus.  Like Nancy, he wrestled to the death, but because he was God, his death was overturned.  And because he was God, his death was for us all, and obtained our grace.

Maybe it's when we are wrestling that we are most like Jesus.

Maybe that's why in a nation that is predominately Christian we do so much wrestling.  We don't all agree, and we're willing to fight for our truth.  We don't always fight like Jesus, though.  We don't always listen or try to understand our opponent's perspective.  We make judgments out of fear, and we allow ourselves to hate.  We say we hate the sin and not the sinner, but in reality we have a really hard time separating the two.

So we need to keep on wrestling, and sometimes that will mean wrestling with ourselves, and with the feelings we are having that may not be ok.  Hatred and anger are dangerous, and need to be addressed. 

"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. . ." -Hebrews 12:15

So that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.  Sometimes, though, maybe it's grace we're wrestling over.  Somehow we feel like we need to work harder to earn it.  Somehow we feel like it's ours to dole out.  But we don't, and it isn't.  Jesus wrestled with death so that grace would free to all.

Whether we're wrestling with God or with someone or something else, we need to make sure God is part of the conversation.  And if our opponent is willing to die for whatever it is they're wrestling over, we ought to listen seriously and carefully.

Is it possible to have comfort, peace, gratitude or contentment in the midst of our wrestling?  I think it is, but it's hard to explain.  At the core, I think it's hope that drives us to wrestle, and it's hope that brings us peace and thankfulness, when it's hope that's based on trusting Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit.  Because another thing we pastors pray for, and sometimes even out loud in our worship services, is for the Spirit to stir us up.  I sometimes hesitate to say those words, because they're a call to wrestle with the things that aren't the way they could be or the way they will be after we let God lead us into our wrestling matches. 

So let's wrestle.  Prayfully, carefully, courageously.  And let's not let go until God blesses us.

Jesus is Already Coming Again

This is a sermon that was preached on Sunday, December 3, 2017, the first Sunday in Advent, at United Presbyterian Church in Sterling, KS.  

Listen to the audio here.

Read Isaiah 64:1-11, Mark 13:24-37

The End of the Beginning 

Did you know that we recently survived the apocalypse?  According to Christian author David Meade the world was supposed to end on Saturday, September 23, 2017. Meade had figured out, using the Bible and numerology, that the Planet Niburu was going to crash into Earth on that day.[1]  I don’t have to tell you that it didn’t happen. We’re still here.  We survived.  Yay!

In other news, on a road through a desert in Arizona, a preacher named Nathaniel Evans walked every day, preaching to the many people who roared past in their cars, yelling, “Repent, the End of the World is Near!”

One day, as he was walking, he came to a big lever in the middle of nowhere, just by the side of the road. It had a sign next to it that read, “Pull this to end the world”

Nathaniel saw this as the perfect spot for him to preach, and soon many automobiles were parked nearby. All was well, until there were so many people, and so many cars, that the road was nearly blocked. Then a big 18-wheel rig came down the highway, and couldn’t stop in time. The driver had a choice: run over Nathaniel, or run over the lever.

As the driver later explained to the Highway Patrol, he had no choice. Pointing to the red smear on the road that used to be Nathaniel Evans, he said, “Better Nate than Lever.”[2]

People have been making predictions about the end of the world throughout the course of history.[3]  One that got lots of attention back in 2011 was Harold Camping.  He was so certain that he knew when the world was going to end that he spent $5 million on billboard advertising to warn the world.[4]  As you might imagine, Camping’s prediction got lots of media attention, and became a common topic of conversation.  One morning in the car, my kids were talking about it, and they reminded each other of our scripture reading for today from Mark, because in it Jesus tells us two very important things about the apocalypse:

Verse 32: But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 

No one knows except God when it will happen, not even Jesus knows, so there’s no point in trying to figure it out. 

Verse 26: Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.

They = everyone.  We’ll all know when it’s happening. My kids were wondering, since Jesus told us this, why anyone would pay attention to the predictions?  It’s an interesting question, but I’ll admit I was too busy being proud of my kids for knowing these verses to answer it.

The verses we read from Mark 13 are part of a longer speech that Jesus makes to his disciples about the future.  At the beginning of the chapter, they are admiring the temple in Jerusalem and Jesus tells them that it will be destroyed.  This did happen in the year 70 CE, but even before that people were wondering why Jesus hadn’t returned yet.  Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians both address this and encourage the people to keep on being faithful.

Now, more than 2000 years later, Jesus still has not returned.  Some of us may be wondering whether he really will, and if so when?  

Do we really believe that Jesus will come again?

The Bible says that he will. 

• The 24^th chapter of Matthew has this same speech (v36). 
• Luke refers to it in his gospel (Ch.21) and in the first chapter of Acts (v7).
• The book of Hebrews talks about it (9:28).
•  John writes about it in his letters (1 John 2:28) and gives us great visions of it in Revelation. 

So we don’t need to worry about whether it will happen, and there’s no point in worrying about when it will happen, so what, then, are we supposed to do?

There was a Bible study group that was discussing the mystery of Jesus’ second coming and the end of the world. The leader of the discussion asked the group, ”What would you do if you knew for certain that the end was happening in four weeks?”

One man said, ”I would go out into my community and minister the Gospel to those that have not yet accepted the Lord into their lives.”

“Very good!” said the group leader, and all the group members agreed.

One lady said enthusiastically, “I would dedicate all of my remaining time to serving God, my family, my church, and my fellow man with greater conviction.”

“That’s wonderful!” the group leader commented, and all the group members agreed.

One gentleman in the back who’d been fairly quiet said, “I would go to my mother-in-law’s house for the 4 weeks.”

Everyone was puzzled by this answer, so the leader asked, “Why your mother-in-law’s home?”

“Because that will make it absolutely the longest 4 weeks of my entire life!”[5]

In the passage that we read from Mark, Jesus tells us quite clearly what we are to do.  Four times he says, Be alert, keep watch, stay awake (vs. 33, 35, 37).

Hold on to hope.  Radical, expectant hope.

When Jesus came the first time, that night more than 2000 years ago, Israel had been waiting and watching, hoping and longing for the messiah to come for hundreds of years.  Isaiah expresses that longing in the verses our advent candle-lighters read for us this morning:  Lord, tear open the heavens and come down! (Is. 64:1) Jesus’ explanation of the second advent in our reading from Mark describes just that:  “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.” (Mk 13:26)

We sometimes pray, “Come, Lord Jesus!”  In fact, every week when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “thy kingdom come.”  “Lord, tear open the heavens and come down!”

Do we really expect that to happen?  Do we really want that to happen?

I think we do….and we don’t.

We have the 20/20 vision that comes with looking backward through history.  We know what happened when Jesus came the first time.  People were waiting for the messiah, and watching for the messiah, but they didn’t know when it would happen, and they didn’t know where or how it would happen.  But it did happen.  And it changed everything.

Are we ready for Jesus to come again and change everything?

It’s already happening. Jesus is already coming again. Not the big dramatic, clouds parting, trumpets blaring, world ending kind of way yet, but the daily, ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in new places and new ways kind of way.

• Jesus comes again whenever someone newly puts their trust in him and their heart is changed.
• Jesus comes again whenever we take a step in faith and reach out to help someone or take a stand for someone or tell someone about God’s great love for them.
• Jesus comes again whenever we break out of sleepy patterns and try something new.
• Jesus comes again whenever we overcome the safety of apathy and ignorance and wake up to the hurts and challenges people are facing in their lives.
• Jesus comes again whenever we lay aside our worldly priorities and focus instead on God’s priorities.

Keep alert.  Be on the lookout.  Watch for these things.  These things do happen and are happening and will keep on happening.  This is our radical, expectant, Advent hope.

Isaiah’s prayer, “Lord, tear open the heavens and come down” is my prayer, too. 

Lord, come again today into our hearts and lives and do the radical, wonderful things that only you can do to change our hearts and our lives, so that we might be not only reflections of your glory, but beacons of it shining in the darkness, bringing your amazing, undying, radical hope to our world.

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[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/20/world-end-saturday/685041001/

[2] http://www.myhyena.com/2011/05/20/funny-end-of-the-world-jokes/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping

[5] http://www.myhyena.com/2011/05/20/funny-end-of-the-world-jokes/

Jesus, Give It To Me Straight

This is a sermon that was preached on Sunday, July 30, 2017 at United Presbyterian Church, Sterling KS.

Read Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 here.
Read 1 Kings 3:5-12 here.

Listen to sermon audio here.
Listen to the offertory here.
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The kingdom of heaven is like . . . swiss cheese. . . It’s very holy.[1]

In our gospel reading today from Matthew 13, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like….a mustard seed, yeast, treasure, a pearl, a fishing net. Five different analogies, and these after Jesus has already told about the four soils that we talked about two weeks ago, and the weeds that we talked about last week.  These analogies or similes give us different ways to understand the kingdom of God, the same kingdom we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

That word “kingdom” is common in the gospel stories.  Matthew tells us in several places that Jesus was preaching the good news of the kingdom (4:23), and that Jesus sent the disciples out telling them to go preach the good news of the kingdom (Luke 9:2).  The idea of God’s kingdom would have been familiar to people in that time who had heard the words of prophets like Isaiah saying it would come.  Daniel had said that God’s kingdom would bring earthly kingdoms to an end and establish God’s reign forever (2:44). 

The prophets had also made it clear that it is God who establishes kings and kingdoms.  God had promised King David that his house, his line would have someone on the throne forever (2 Samuel 7).  That promise referred to Jesus, but back then people thought it meant there would be another king like David, an earthly king.  They expected to be rescued from the Romans by someone with great power using dramatic action. 

Jesus was trying to help them see that the kingdom of God is not like earthly kingdoms.  So Jesus tells these parables.

1.     The kingdom of God is like a Mustard Seed

a.     I’ve been joking lately about how the Bible talks about fruits of the spirit but there’s never anything about vegetables.  I was wrong.  Mustard is a vegetable.[2]

b.     There are over 40 different types of mustard.[3]  The kind we planted two weeks ago with the kids is a very tiny seed that will become leaves for a good salad. Jesus refers to a different variety that will become a large bush or tree.

c.      The idea of birds nesting in its branches is likely a reference to Daniel 4:20-21 where Nebuchadnezer’s kingdom is likened to a great tree in which birds roost. Nebuchadnezer’s kingdom came to an end, but God’s kingdom will only increase.[4]. . and be a benefit to those who find rest in it.

d.     Basically, the idea is that where God’s at work, tiny things can have big impact.

2.     Yeast is also a tiny thing that has big impact.

a.     Something super fun about yeast – it’s a fun guy.  (A fungi)  I thought that might get a rise out of you.

b.     Before there was written language, people were already using yeast to make alcohol and bread.  It’s shown in Egyptian hieroglyphics.  But we didn’t really understand what it was until the 1860’s when Louis Pasteur used a microscope to see that it is a living organism.[5]

c.      The way yeast works is it makes gas and that’s what makes the bread rise.  So if anyone has ever told you that you’re full of hot air, you can tell them that so is the kingdom of God, and that’s a good thing.

Both of these parables encourage us to hang on to hope, and to keep on trusting that God is at work in our world and in us, even when we can’t see it.  In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives us this same idea in another way.  He says, God “is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Eph. 2:20).

These two analogies, the mustard seed and the yeast, and the idea of the big and unexpected impact of even small faith, remind me of my favorite picture of Jesus. It’s in Revelation 1.  It’s not the nice, friendly Jesus with children on his lap.  In Revelation 1 Jesus is blindingly bright, his eyes are like fire, his tongue is a sword, and his feet are bronze.  This is John’s vision of the mighty resurrected Jesus.  For some people that’s a scary picture, but I find it comforting because when I’m afraid or worried about big things, I want to know that Jesus is bigger and stronger than my fears and worries.  My hope in the face of trouble is in this Jesus.  Strong Jesus.

3.     The kingdom of heaven is like treasure in a field.

a.     In Jesus’ time there were no banks, so burying stuff in the ground was a good way to hide it.

b.     This parable sounds like a pirate hunting for gold with a treasure map, except that the parable says that the treasure was found unexpectedly, not that anyone was hunting for it.

4.     The Pearl, unlike the treasure, was found after searching.

a.     God tells us we will find him when we seek him if we seek with all our hearts (Jer. 29:13). “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” (Msg version)

b.     We may not always know what we’re searching for, but when we do find God, in all the various ways that we find him, there is joy unlike any other joy.

These two parables probably made good sense to those who had given up everything to follow Jesus, like Paul who says in Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as loss compared with knowing Jesus Christ.”  Our relationship with Jesus is our treasure in a field, our pearl of great price. 

Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you,” a verse that characterizes well what we see happening in the passage that Christian read for us from 1 Kings 3.  In that passage, Solomon, who has just inherited the kingdom from his father David, has a dream in which God tells him to ask for anything (v5).  Solomon asks for pearls – pearls of wisdom.  The NRSV says he asks for an “understanding mind” (v9).  What the Hebrew words literally say is that he asks for a listening heart. What a great treasure!  It’s not surprising that God granted that request.

5.     The kingdom of heaven is like a net (funnicello. . . no, just kidding, a fishing net)

a.     The net gathers fish of every kind, but the kingdom gathers people.  All are welcome in the kingdom of heaven.  The Bible tells us in  Isaiah and Revelation[6] that at the end of time God will establish his kingdom forever here on earth, and everyone will stand before God.

b.     One commentator says that this parable is reminding us that “Jesus, unlike the Pharisees of his time, had no interest in forming a pure church composed only of the perfect.  God, in his good time, will judge” us all.  In the meantime, it is our job to tell everyone about Jesus’ offer of salvation and forgiveness.[7]

c.      The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of what this future kingdom looks like.  In Revelation 4 it says there are people of every tribe and nation, every kind there is.  The more we are welcoming diversity, the more we are helping to build that future kingdom now.

After Jesus has told all these parables about the kingdom, he asks a question to check whether the disciples are understanding. “Are you getting this?” he asks.  And they say, “Yes.”

But I don’t think they really did.  Because later, after Jesus had died on the cross and been resurrected, just before he ascended into heaven, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).  So I wonder what they were thinking about when they heard Jesus explaining with all these different analogies.  They didn’t quite get it.

What about us?  Do we get it?

Maybe we do and maybe we don’t.   The simplest, most straightforward explanation of the kingdom of God is that it’s here and now, and visible whenever we do the will of God.  God’s kingdom is in us, because the Holy Spirit lives in us, and the kingdom comes through us whenever we bring peace, joy, love, hope. 

But putting that into practice isn’t always simple and straightforward.  Knowing God’s will isn’t always easy.  And the kingdom comes even in spite of us.  It’s the work of the Holy Spirit, not the work of Melissa or any one of us.

We’re all a part of the work of the kingdom, and so Jesus illustrates this with one last parable.

6.     Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household…

a.     This is the description of a disciple, a priest in what we refer to as the priesthood of all believers, which includes all of us. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we have a priceless treasure, a bottomless resource, continual access to God whose amazing power raised Jesus from the dead. 

                                                              i.      The power of love,

                                                            ii.      the brightness of joy,

                                                          iii.      the anchor of hope,

                                                          iv.      unexplainable peace,

                                                            v.      the strength of a kernel of faith. 

b.     When we think we don’t have any of these, all we have to do is say to God, “help me,” “guide me,” and we will find that we have what we need to take the next breath, the next step, and the next.

Why does Jesus tell so many different parables and what does this tell us about God?  It tells us that God wants us to know him, wants us all to be a part of his kingdom.  Jesus keeps on telling us about God’s love in different ways, and showing us in different ways,

·      so that we’ll get it and share it,

·      so we’ll grow in our understanding,

·      and grow in our relationship with him,

·      and tell others so that more and more people will come to know him.

I think Jesus tells so many different parables and gives us so many different analogies because he knows that we all think and understand in different ways.  We all have different personalities, different learning styles, different life experiences and backgrounds.  Some of us may grasp one analogy better than another. 

This is one of the challenges of being the church together.  We are all different.  Some of us do well listening to sermons. Some will need to be doing something else while they listen to stay on track – taking notes, drawing pictures, knitting. Some of us connect with God more through the singing or the prayer times.  Others of us get more out of the time before and after the service when we get to interact with people, or in the discussions in Sunday school or small groups or Bible studies.

One of our challenges is to keep trying to connect with God in different ways so that we keep connecting with God.  Figure out what works for you so that you are connecting with God daily.

In seminary, I had the opportunity to figure out my learning style.  There are lots of different models for this. I’m using VAK – visual, audio, kinesthetic.  I learned that I use all three, but that I am dominantly a kinesthetic or tactile learner, which means I need to touch things and interact with information.  Discovering this was a big AHA moment for me, so I was anxious to talk about it.  As I was telling one of the ladies at our church at that time, a retired educator, she said, “Yes, I already knew that.”

There are three things her response taught me: 

1.     One is that it’s fun to talk to people because you’ll find out they know lots of interesting stuff.

2.     Two is that knowing and being who we are rather than trying to be like other people is freeing and lots of fun and allows us to be better at doing what God made us to do – each of use uniquely created for our particular life.

3.     Three is that even if we think who we are is a big secret, it’s not.  It shows in our lives in big and small ways.  That lady knew I was a tactile learner because she knew what to look for, but also because there was evidence to see.  What seemed subtle or invisible to me was obvious to her.  It’s the same with our lives as Christians.  The more we let the Holy Spirit work in us, they more we are the unique individuals God made us to be, and the more we bring the kingdom of God with us wherever we go….in what we do and what we say, and don’t do and don’t say.  In what we talk about or post on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and in email.

The more the Holy Spirit works in us the more we bring love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control with us wherever we go.

God is at work in our world building his kingdom.  I saw it at work this week on Facebook, when Debby Oller posted the obituary of her husband who died on Thursday.  Many of you know her because she used to attend here. I know her because she was the real estate agent that sold us our house.  Within minutes of posting the obituary, there was a long string of prayerful and comforting comments from people helping to bear the burden of her sorrow.

So the kingdom of God is like friends struggling through life together, helping each other get through the rough spots.

There are a lot of stories we could tell – analogies of how we understand what the kingdom of God is like, stories of how we’ve seen God’s Kingdom at work – in our own lives or in the world around us. 

What stories would you tell? 

How is the kingdom of heaven growing in you? 

Who can you tell your stories to? 

Who do you know who might need to know that there is love? 

            That there is hope?  That there is joy?  That they’re included?

Stories help us understand.  

But sometimes we just want to say,

“Hey, Jesus, give it to me straight.”

Maybe in response to that he’d simply point to the cross and say,

            “God loves you all so much that he sent me to show you.”

The more we say yes to him, the more we’re saying 

“thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” 

The more we say to God,

“build your kingdom here in our hearts, in our lives and in our world,”

…the more we find those moments of clarity,

 when we can see straight into the eyes of love.

Listen to the song by Rob Krabbe written in response to the sermon:

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[1] http://www.funny.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Funny.woa/wa/funny?fn=CDOJC&Funny_Jokes=Kingdom_Of_Heaven and of course I had to use this one because it’s very much like a pun my dad makes. 

[2] https://extension.illinois.edu/veggies/mustard.cfm

[3] https://www.thespruce.com/mustard-seed-types-1808086

[4] The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol.7, p416 (Abingdon Press, 1952)

[5] http://www.dakotayeast.com/yeast_history.html

[6] Romans 14:12, 2 Cor. 5:12, 1 Peter 4:5 All of us will give account.  Revelation 21 and Isaiah 65, according to Richard Mouw in “When the Kings Come Marching In” proposes that all will be brought into the kingdom to be judged, and God will make all things new.

[7] The Interpreter’s Bible, p421