Character - October 26, 2008

Audio version HERE.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

A little boy was seriously misbehaving!
Mom said, “Go to your bedroom, think about it, and say a prayer.”
About 20 minutes … the little boy came out and said to Mom, “I’ve thought about it, and I said a prayer.”
Mom replied: “That’s good. If you ask God to help you, God will help you.”
“Oh,” said the little boy, “I didn’t ask God to help me. I asked God to help you put up with me.”

Remember getting sent to you room?
Maybe you deserved it.
Maybe you didn’t.
Maybe your older brother blamed you for the broken vase.

Have you ever been the victim of a lie?
Has someone tried to trashed your reputation?
Question your motives?
Malign your character?
Spread a few juicy bits of gossip?

I suspect we’ve all be the target of someone’s ill will … some effort to ruin our reputation, discredit our work …
Grade schools, high schools are notorious for whispered lies and Instant Messaging gossip …
How about water-cooler politics, who cozying up to the boss, who’s in line for the next promotion …
PTAs and neighborhood associations - late-night phone calls and clandestine emails …
When we’re on the giving end of it, it’s kinda fun, isn’t it – who doesn’t like to be on the inside? Talk about somebody else in a slightly off-colored way … but when we’re on the receiving end of it, it hurts, and it hurts bad.

Paul the Apostle was on the receiving end of it …
His reputation maligned …
His motives questioned …
His theology challenged …

Let’s read the text … 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Anyone who breaks from the pack is going to be a target …
Anyone who steps up to the front …
Grabs the bull by the horns …
Sticks her neck out …
Criticism is just around the corner!

Paul broke from the pack … put his life on the line …
Spoke about Jesus …
In synagogue and market place …
On the street and in the park …
In homes and jails …
To Jew and Gentile …
Free and slave …
Male and female …
Rich and poor …

Paul traversed the Roman Empire by any means possible …
Proclaiming the gospel … there is life in Jesus the Messiah … he died on a Roman cross, but death couldn’t detain him; the tomb couldn’t contain him … on the third day, angels rolled the stone away…
Something new has come our way …
A twist no one counted on …
An unexpected direction for the God Project …

Change was in the wind …
But change is tough, isn’t it?

Have you ever tried to change the meeting time for your book club? … or bring up some new business at the neighborhood association meeting? …

We are creatures of habit …
We find a place and settle down …
We eat at the same restaurants … sit in the same pew … watch the same TV programs … style our clothing and do our hair pretty much the same, year after year.

Schools and churches …
Museums and monasteries …
Governments and nations …
Habits and attitudes …

Change is hard.
I think all of us would like to believe we’re flexible, creative, innovative …
But change is hard.

Change generates resistance.

Paul ought to know.
Before he was a follower of Jesus, Paul was adamantly opposed to Jesus …
Paul tried everything he could and then some to stop the Jesus Movement …
Paul wanted nothing to do with change.
If it was good enough for Moses, it was good enough for Paul.
The old ways …
The old thoughts …
Tried and proven …
Paul fought change … fought it hard, until the Damascus Road experience … when Jesus appeared to Paul in a bright light …

What a gift, what a moment …
Ya’ mean there’s more to the God Project? There’s more here than meets the eye? Have I been stuck in rut?

Paul changed horses in the middle of the stream … closed one book and opened a new one … rewrote the script with Jesus at the center!
The man who fought change now fights to change the world.
So the shoe is on the other foot now …
Paul is the target of angry lies and late-night plots …

Attacked by his own people … Paul, how can you believe this stuff? It’s not right. It’s contrary to Moses and the Prophets. What’s wrong with you Paul? Why do you undermine your people, your faith, your God with this Jesus talk? Paul, you got it wrong; you’re not helping the God Project, you harming it!

And if that isn’t bad enough, Paul is attacked by local merchants … the gospel was interfering with business.

In Philippi, a little slave girl told fortunes, and her owners were making a fortune …
As the story goes, Paul and Silas were on their way to a place of prayer … the slave girl followed them, crying out, These men are slaves of the Most High God who proclaim to you a way of salvation.

She did this for days on end.
Finally annoyed by it, Paul turns to the girl and says to the spirit in her: I order you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And that very hour, the little slave girl was set free.
Good news? Maybe for the girl …
But not for the owners …

When her owners saw that the Golden Goose wasn’t going to lay any more golden eggs for them, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the city market, accused them of disturbing the peace, called the sheriff, who arrested Paul and Silas, flogged and imprisoned them.

In Ephesus, much the same thing happened.

A riot broke out … screaming and shouting …
Ephesus was a religious center for the goddess Artemis – huge temple, magnificent artwork, gawking tourists … sidewalk merchants hawking religious wares and gaudy souvenirs … (sounds like Hollywood Blvd) …
A certain silversmith by the name of Demetrius called a meeting of the guild: If this Jesus thing gets going, we’re outta business. This Paul is convincing people all around the territory that gods made by hand are not gods at all … he’s putting us outta business and Artemis is being deprived of her majesty.
They cried out together: Great is Artemis – they left the hall and hit the streets, shoving and shouting … Great is Artemis … we all know that her statue fell from heaven, and we’re the keepers of her temple.

Who can blame them?
They had a lot invested in this business.
Livelihood and family.
Leave it alone Paul. We’re doing fine! What’s wrong with a little slave girl telling fortunes – it’s harmless – folks are happy, and we’re able to make some money. What’s wrong with selling religious statues for Artemis? … they look nice … my grandfather did this, my dad did it, and I’m doing it, too - we’re taking care of our families. What’s wrong with that?

What’s your Artemis?

I suspect we all have a little Artemis in our lives … not a big temple in our backyard, but a temple inside of us …
Beliefs and values …
Attitudes and habits …
Pride and prejudice …
Bias and bigotry …
Faith and religion … set in stone …
It’s called ideology … when we no longer think about it – we just assume it’s true and right forever!

“We all have an ideology,” said Alan Greenspan said to Congress a few days ago: an ideology – an idea how the world works … Mr. Greenspan believed for forty years in an unfettered market able to manage itself and take care of its investors. He admitted to Congress: My ideology was flawed.
We all have an Artemis somewhere in our life … a line in the sand … some unyielding idea … an examined bias …
Even for Christians, we set our jaw and dig in our heels:
We take a few Sunday School stories, mix in a some hymns, a couple of Bible verses, e pluribus unum and God Bless America … and we’ve got it … and don’t try to change my mind!

I’m sympathetic with Demetrius the Silversmith …
Aren’t you?
He faced the end of a livelihood.
He’d made a living fashioning religious figurines …
What about the guys who owned the slave girl? … after all, slavery was part of the economic system … the Roman Empire was built on slave labor …
And now Paul comes along and offers something else.
Not a statue, but a cross.
Not a money-maker, but a messiah.
Not a religion, but a relationship …
Not cheap trinkets, but amazing grace.
And never again at the expense of a little slave girl …

But change is hard … and the people rioted!

The town clerk intervened and settled things down … folks went home - Paul left for Macedonia.

Wherever Paul preached, there was trouble!
Paul was a man under fire.
And when a man is under fire, we see his true colors.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Christian character!
What does it look like?
Is it yellow, is it purple, is it pink?
Does it smell like beef roast in the oven?
Can you touch it, can you see it?
Does it purr when you pet it?

What does Christian character look like?
A monk in his cell?
A nun baking bread?
Lee Gardner & Linda Culbertson in Nicaragua?
What does Christian character look like?
A Philadelphia inner-city Christian commune?
A Gideon bringing Bibles to a Ramada Inn?
Joining a picket line at the LAX Hilton?
What does Christian character look like?
A pastor denouncing homosexuals and abortion?
A pastor advocating civil rights for all Americans and the right of a woman’s choice?
What does Christian character look like?
Defining marriage as only between a man and a woman?
Or marriage as an expression of love between two human beings regardless of gender?
What does Christian character look like?
Voting Republican?
Voting Democrat?
What does Christian character look like?

We have to be careful …
Paul the Apostle and James, the brother of Jesus, had a different take on things.
James Dobson and Bishop Spong disagree.
Of our own Presbyterian family, John Buchanan of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago and John Huffman of St. Andrew’s in Newport Beach offer different answers.
My brother and I see things differently.

So we have to be careful …
We have to speak from the center of the Bible … not from the edges …
We can find a verse to support every cockeyed that comes along … but it’s not about finding a verse … it’s about Jesus …
Jesus is the center!

Jesus is the measure of our character!
What Jesus said and what Jesus did!

He challenged the powerful and welcomed the excluded … he turned the tables but never turned anyone away.
He called Zacchaeus down from the tree … he spoke to the lonely woman at the well - stopped an angry mob ready to stone a woman caught in adultery … healed the blind and touched the leper … he refused to answer Pilate and died at the hands of the Roman Empire … on the Third Day, angels rolled the stone away …

Listen to Jesus:

You are the salt of the earth … you are the light of the world … let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them. If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Not everyone who says to me, ‘LORD, LORD,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Christian character?

Love God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Amen and Amen!

Distinction - October 19, 2008

Exodus 33:12-23

A minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how she was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church roof.
On the Sunday she was the make the announcement, a substitute organist was brought in at the last minute.
The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," she said. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."
During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."
At that moment, the substitute organist played, "The Star Spangled Banner."

Last week Sunday, Roger Dermody lifted up the love of Jesus … for you, for me, for the world …

A great love …
Pure, unbounded …
For the lowly …
For the lofty …
For the lost …

The story of the Prodigal son comes to mind …
That boy did everything wrong …
You name it, he did it.

And it all came crashing down around his ears …
He ran out of money …
He ran out of friends …
Alone and hungry …
Desperate and tired …
He hired himself out to a pig farmer … and for a Jewish boy, nothing lower …
And to himself, in the slop of the pigs:
Why am doing this when I could be home?

Humiliated and frightened … the boy takes the first step homeward.
Along the way, the boy prepares an elaborate apology … I’ll say this, I’ll say that … maybe dad will let me stay awhile.

Before the boy reaches the gate, dad sees him.
Every day, Dad goes to the end of the road, and looks for his boy.
The boy slouches home … dad runs to greet him.

Bring out a robe for the boy, the best robe, says dad. Get a fat calf and let’s have a BBQ. It’s party time … my boy is home … we thought he was dead, but he’s alive … Whoopie and Yipee Kai Yay. Welcome home my boy. We’ve been waiting for you!

Home is a place where the door is always open … a light left on … and your favorite snack in the refrigerator.

To know that we’re loved … a love greater than we could ever imagine!

Paul the Apostle prays;
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father … I pray that you may be strengthened … that Christ may dwell in your hearts … I pray that you may comprehend the breadth and length, the height and depth of the love of Christ …

I ask Donna, Do you love me?
Yes, you know that I love you.

I never tire of hearing it … there’s a hole in my soul, a bottomless pit … a little more love will always do …

Donna, do you love me?

That’s the question, isn’t it?
All around the world …
Husbands and wives …
Parents and children …
Friends and lovers …
Do you love me?

At the Academy Awards, winners thank their families for love … love for the long haul … love in the face of adversity … love during hard times … love given without question … love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things [1 Corinthians 13:7].

Love makes a flower bloom …
A child laugh …
A broken heart better …
Love gets the sun up, and love puts us to bed.

Do you love me?

That’s what Moses asks of God … [read text ...]

LORD, you told me what to do, but do you love me? Are you with me? Do you stand with me in this moment … when I’m weak and weary, when the burdens of life lay heavy upon my shoulders … do you love me? I can’t do it without you. Your love is what makes us distinct among the nations of the world.

What makes us distinct?

Christians have long pondered that question.
What makes us distinct?
Pentecostal women wear their hair long.
Amish men wear beards.
Mormons wear special underwear.
What makes us distinct?

The Jews asked that question repeatedly … much of the Old Testament, an effort to answer the question: What makes us distinct?
Circumcision?
The Promised Land?
Dietary rules?
The temple?
The Torah?

To be distinctive is one thing … but the struggle for distinction can go south in a hurry … we’re bigger, we’re better … inherently better … Israel struggled constantly with the temptation to think of itself exclusively … as if it were better then all the nations of the world …

To be distinctive is one thing; to think of ourselves as better is another …
Paul understands how easily something good becomes something dark; how easily the grace of God is translated into privilege and position.
So Paul says: “Think of others as better than yourselves” – wow and good grief … why does Paul say that?
Distinction needs the discipline of love.
Distinction needs the special grace we call humility.
And there’s never been a time more critical for humility.

There was a time when it was easy for Christians to think of themselves exclusively … we have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth … and the rest of the world be damned!

For my family back in Wisconsin … we never saw a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim … it was a Christian world for us … we sent out missionaries to far-away lands … and when missionaries came home, they regaled the faithful with remarkable stories of converting the heathen, saving them from spiritual darkness and the fires of hell.
We sang heroic hymns with heroic words … onward Christian soldiers marching as to war … to do battle against the forces of hell and heathen gods.
But that was all far away … like a fairy tale.

For a little Protestant white boy growing up in Wisconsin, the real enemy was the C A T H O L I C S … we had plenty of names for ‘em, and I won’t go into any of it … and I’m told that they had plenty of names for us, as well.

And we didn’t like Jews, either … we called them names.
And African Americans … and Asians … we didn’t like them either.
It was a white world … a Protestant world … and we had the truth!

Everyone else was wrong!
Or at least in pretty bad shape.

But God has helped us meet our neighbors …
God brings millions of them to our shores …
From our own Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me.

God opens our eyes to the world … via the internet and news 24/7 …

The world at our doorstep …
Next door and around the corner …
Over hill and over dale …
Hindus and Muslims … Buddhists and Seiks …
Christians and Jews …
Atheists and Agnostics …
People of every color, creed and conviction …
The world next door.

Do me a favor right – let’s get intimate … ask your neighbor to look at the label on your shirt or blouse – if you can…where was it made? [pause].

A global economy … interwoven, interconnected … the world next door.

The neighborhood has changed!
And it’s not all easy.

It’s hard to understand others whose native tongue is different than mine.
It’s a challenge to listen to people of other religions, who believe with the same fervor I do, who love their god or gods, who strive for justice, who love their families … who cook with strange spices and wear odd clothing.
It’s hard for some when “the other” moves into the neighborhood … “those people” … who dress differently, who talk differently …

So what makes us distinctive?
We’re Christians.
We’re followers of Jesus.
What makes us distinctive?

I stand here today, in this pulpit, and I say with conviction and confidence, we are distinctive … we have a story to tell … and should we fail to tell the story, the world will be the poorer for it, and if we tell our story, and tell it well, the world will profit from hearing it.

There’s a hymn I used to sing:
We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall turn their hearts to the right, A story of truth and mercy, A story of peace and light, A story of peace and light. For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noonday bright; And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light. A story of truth and mercy … The kingdom of love and light …
Yes, we have a story to tell …
And I affirm that story with conviction and confidence.

But I also stand here today with a 21st century humility.
A consciousness of others …
Their devotion, their faith, their love.
Their truth and their religion …

I subscribe to a magazine called The Christian Century – I’ve subscribed since 1967, my second year in seminary.
It’s a great journal, cutting edge … edited today by one of our very own, the Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago – across the street from the Hancock Center.

The Christian Century … any idea where that name came from?
Founded in the 19th century … a century called the “Christian century.”
Thousands of missionaries from Europe and the United States fanned out across the seas and over the mountains … to bring Christ and civilization to the world.
Colleges and hospitals were established… wells dug and teachers trained… an unprecedented time of religious fervor and missionary enterprise … the 19th century, the Christian century …
And then, the guns of August … August, 1914, when Christian nation took up arms against Christian nation … when French and Germans and Americans all prayed to Jesus, to have the strength to kill one another … the War to end all Wars? Not a chance … but it sent the curtain of history crashing down on the so-called “Christian Century.”
The Christian century died in the bloody trenches of World War 1

And how have we fared during the 20th century?
And how appears the 21st?
And where are the Christians in all of this?
Where are you?
Where am I?

A 21st century humility is needed!
Aware of Christianity’s failure …
The untold horror of slave ships and the shackled millions wrenched from their homeland and brought to a new world to plant cotton and harvest sugar cane.
The millions of Asians who came to our shores only to work on the railroads … to face discrimination that culminated in the sadness of Japanese-American detention camps – when American citizens were taken from their homes and jobs, made to live out the duration of the war in places called Manzanar, Amache and Mindoka.
Reach back a few centuries …
The Salem Witch Hunts …
The Inquisition …
The Crusades …
Pogroms …
The hands of the church are as bloody as the cross on which Jesus died … Jesus died at the hands of the powerful … and when the church grew powerful, our hands grew bloody.
Our own history as Presbyterians … folks kicked out of the church right and left … accusations and heresy trials … splits and more splits … even as I speak, claims and counter-claims for who’s in and who’s out, who’s right and who’s wrong, who has the truth and who doesn’t.

Those questions never had any value … we just thought they did.
Prove ourselves right by making someone else wrong.
Make ourselves distinct by discrediting what others believe.

There has to be a better way!
A better way for the 21st century.

A new humility … a 21st century humility …
Here’s how I see it, but tell me, how do you see it? Here’s what I believe, but I’d like to know what you believe? May I tell you about Jesus my LORD? Only if you want to hear … And you can tell me about your faith, your God, I want to hear … I promise to listen, and I promise to learn.

We honor Jesus best when we honor the world His Father created …
We love Jesus best when we love our neighbor, whoever that neighbor may be, whatever language they speak, and whatever faith they profess.
We serve Jesus best when we listen to the world with humility, when we speak our faith with gentleness, when we grant to everyone the right to be heard, the right to live, the right to believe and the right to be respected …
We receive Jesus into our heart when we welcome one another as God welcomes us …

Home - a place where the door is always open … a light left on … and your favorite snack in the refrigerator.

That’s what makes us distinctive …

For Jesus and the world … Amen!

Jesus the Lover - October 12, 2008 - Roger Dermody

Audio Version HERE.

Sunday, March 18th, 2001
speaker: Roger Dermody
text: John 8:1-11; Luke 7:36-50; Luke 8:42-48

Jesus the Lover

INTRODUCTION:
My times here at Covenant - Presbytery + CPM
My role & years at Bel Air
Megan and our girls

Commissioning of Linda &

Today’s Goal:
To convince you that Jesus loves you deeply.
We know that in our head…
but does our heart know it?

Many of us feel very unlovable

Illustration: The Blind Date… (gag, cough)
Many of us feel very unlovable

Karl Barth’s summation:
“Jesus Loves Me
This I know
For the Bible tells me so”

Jesus loves you deeply…
Despite what you’ve done,
or what’s been done to you;
Despite who you’ve hurt,
or who’s hurt you;
No matter how low you’ve been,
or how low you are right now;
No matter what any church, pastor,
or televangelist says

Jesus loves you!

Not just some image of you…
Not just what He hopes you’ll become…
YOU!!! as you are right now!!!

So Hard to Grasp:
because we’ve never truly experienced this
type of love…

We all need Love:
Ollie & Olga - “When we were married I told you that I loved you, and if I ever change my mind, I’ll let you know!”

We need a lot more than that!

Too many guilt producing sermons:

Portraits of a Lover:
3 familiar stories
illustrating different aspects of this love:
I. Loving the Lowly:
down & out…
recipients of society & churches scorn

1. Cleanses a Leper (Mark 1:40-45):
Despite “appearances”…
physically validating one broken & despised

The scandal of touch:
Any contact with lepers defiled the
persons who touched them.

The power of touch
illustrate: Russian Babies - neo-natal wards
schizophrenia
catatonic… neuromuscular issues

We live in an age where human touch is increasingly rare (internet age):
illustrate:Relationship via internet
UCLA on-call

Some of us feel so unloveable…
so distant from necessary contact…
so untouchable…

Jesus Loves You
b/c Jesus Loves the Lowly,
& reaches to touch you,

Loves the Lowly…
II. Loving the Lofty:
have it all by societies standards
at least they did before last week!
some at Bel Air…

2. Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10):
An extortionist!
Someone who robbed the elderly of their
inheritance!
& didn’t even work for congress!

vs. 5 “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Transformation
_ to the poor
4x’s back (restitution)

Some of us literally have it all… but there’s an inner ache… we’re missing something money can’t buy…

Some of us feel guilty b/c we know we’ve ruined
others in our climb up the ladder…
some of our ladders are leaning against the wrong building!

Jesus says, “I love you, and today I must stay in your house.”

Jesus loves the lowly, the lofty…

III. Loving the Lost:
you? neither lowly nor lofty…
somewhere in-between?

3. Woman caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11):
Shame… humiliation… where’s the dude?!

Some of us feel the condemnation of the crowd… we know we’re messed up…
we feel so exposed… so humiliated… so lost…

illustrate: Brennan Manning’s story:
“Jesus loved me just as much in my state of disgrace, as he did in my state of grace.”

Some of us feel like junk… we have made such a mess of our lives… we sit here today thinking, “if people only knew me, they’d never tolerate MY being here!”
Jesus says, “You’re not junk… I love you!”

vs. 10 - “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’”

Jesus loves lost people… so much, that He won’t let them remain in that which causes their lost-ness.

The Gospel Summarized:
Bart Tarman (former chaplain Westmont College):
Created by love; fallen from love, visited by love, estranged from love, invited back to love.

“Love did not walk the earth full of condemnation”
John 3:17 - “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Q: What can separate us from this love?
Romans 8:35-39 - “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Image of God vs. Image of Jesus?
Bible Study - questioning…
The Jesus I Never Knew (Phillip Yancy)

Jesus = loving, accepting, tender, gentle,
compassionate

God = strict, demanding, harsh, judge

Q: What else does the Bible say?
Colossians 1:15,19 - “He is the image of the invisible
God…” and “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.”
Hebrews 1:3 - “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and
the exact representation of his being.”
John 12:45 & 14:9 - “And whoever sees me sees him
who sent me.” and “Jesus answered; ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Q: What’s this saying?!
Not only is Jesus a lover… but God is a lover.

Everything we have said about Jesus today,
we need to also say about God the Father!!!

God is just as loving as Jesus!
Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”


CONCLUSION:
illustrate: Jesus loves Porn Stars
Craig Gross @ BAPC for Porn & Pancakes

Lowly -
You’re not junk
I want to literally touch you & reassure you of my love…

Lofty -
Inner ache
“Today I must stay at your house”

Lost -
Know full well the condemnation
of others
of yourself
“Neither do I condemn you…
Go and sin no more”

Jesus the Lover
the exact representation of God’s love
who love’s Porn Stars
who love’s those affected by HIV & AIDS
who loves those in Guatemala
Who love even me, and you.

Faithful - October 12, 2008 - Eggebeen

Preached at St. Luke's Presbyterian Church
Rolling Hills Estates
Presbytery-wide Pulpit Swap

Exodus 32:1-14

Temptation …

Mae West said: I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

Oscar Wilde said: I can resist everything except temptation … and … The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

Temptation …

The Devil tempts good people with good things …

We’re not tempted to mug the neighbor … or kick the dog … well, maybe the cat.

Because we’re good people … the Devil tempts us with “good” things …

Like work and overwork … and commitment and over-commitment … taking on too many responsibilities … after all, “If you want a job done right, do it yourself.”

Good things like our health, until we become sick about it.

Or protecting our children until we turn them into frightened little marshmallows afraid of their own shadow.

Good things … taken too far.

We’re not tempted by evil things … we’re tempted by good things.

Jesus in the wilderness …
He’s hungry … why not turn a few stones into bread …
Feed yourself … feed the world …
Good ideas.
But not now, not this way.

In our story today, God becomes the tempter.

Let’s take a look at the story … [read text]

Moses on the mountain takes longer than expected …
Aaron gets edgy …
Folks grow restless …

How about a diversion?
We’ll make a Golden Calf …
Give me your gold rings … earrings, nose rings, toe rings … rings for this and rings for that …

A project to pass the time …
Keep ‘em busy …
Not a bad idea …

And lo and behold, a thing of beauty …
A sight for sore eyes …
Gleaming in the morning sun …
Party time
Whoopee and Yippee kai yay …

Now here’s where the story gets funny … and I mean humorous … Hebrews sitting around the campfire, chuckling … God and Moses, like parents, a good old fashioned spat about the kids!

When the kids do something really crazy – what does Mom say to Dad?
Does she say, “Our child”?
No, she says, “Your daughter. Takes after your side of the family. That’s your DNA showing.”

God says to Moses, Not my side of the family; your side, Moses.
Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt.

God disavows responsibility:

And then says:
Let me alone … I’m throwing a hissy fit right now; I don’t want anyone trying to change my mind.

God and Moses having a spat over the kids.

So, here’s the temptation: God says to Moses, I’m willing to start all over with a new plan, and just like Abraham long ago, you’re going to be the cornerstone, the head honcho, the Daddy of a brand new nation.

Wow.

Wonder what Moses thought?
Hey, instead of Israelites, they’ll be called Mosites … or how about Mosers … or even Mosanians …

Temptation …
Was God tempted to give up?
Was Moses tempted to throw in the towel?

What with all the complaining, all the setbacks … after deliverance from their enemies, bread in the morning and quail at night, still the constant complaining.
Was God tempted?
Was Moses tempted?

Are we tempted?
New anything sometimes sounds better than what we’ve got … new job, new family, new spouse … new church, new faith, new car, new home … just get me outta here!

There is such a thing called a “fresh start.”
A time for things to end … and a time for something new.

Destructive relationships …
Bad habits …
Angry thoughts, old grudges …

The church needs to quit a few things …
Like hanging on to the 1950s …
Or the 1960s …
Old ideas that once worked but no longer deliver the goods …
It’s time for Christians to quit thinking we’ve got a lock on the truth and everyone else is wrong …
It’s time for Christians to quit name-calling: evangelical, liberal, conservative, fundamentalist … does anyone have a clear idea what those terms mean?
It’s time for Christians to quit all forms of racism and discrimination … and to quit pretending that the church is free of such demonic patterns.
It’s time for Christians to quit small ideas: who’s in and who’s out … who believes and who doesn’t …
There’s lots of things worth quitting …

But now and then, we’re tempted to abandon good things … walk away because it’s too hard to finish …
Mountain climbers defeated 100 feet shy of the summit.
A runner slows down ten feet from the tape.

Not always easy to discern the difference between the legitimate end of something … and abandonment.

In this remarkable story, a twist:

Moses has to tell God a thing or two.
And uses a little psychology on God:
What will the neighbors think if you quit now, LORD?
Won’t our enemies feel smug about it all?
LORD, this is not a good idea.
LORD, remember who you are.
Remember LORD, you made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel …

Moses had to sit God down and give God a talking-to.

And the Text says: The LORD changed His mind!

Why would Israel include such an unusual story in its memory?

Because leadership requires clarity …
And nothing clarifies more quickly than the option to quit.
Was God helping Moses make a decision?
Was God helping Jesus make a decision?

It was the Spirit of God that drove Jesus into the wilderness … to be tempted … because great leaders are forged in the fires of temptation.

Who am I really?
What has to happen to make God’s project work?
Is it all on my shoulders?
Am I ready for the long haul?

Great things require great commitment …
Faith, hope and love.
Grace, mercy and peace.
Marriage, family and friends.
The church, servanthood and mission.
Great things require great commitment!

Jesus has to choose …
Moses has to choose …

Great leaders have to choose … and choose again, time and again …
On every page of the Bible, prophet, priest and king …
Abraham, Jeremiah and David …
Peter, Paul and Mary … not the musical group!
They all have to choose, time and again …

But I wonder, did God have to choose again?
Was God ready to quit?
Would God give up?

Is God using reverse psychology?
Is God playing a game with Moses?

The story doesn’t have any answers!
It’s a better story without answers … it’s good to wonder now and then … what would have happened … if other choices had been made.
But this much is clear … Moses rises to occasion …

Moses stays with God’s project …
Moses takes the high road …
And we know the rest of the story … they’re not called Mosites; they’re called Israelites!

Great leaders are always tempted to quit.
Somewhere along the line, the going gets rough … God has trouble with Israel, Moses has trouble with Aaron … folks have trouble with one another … the row isn’t easy to hoe, and the road isn’t easy to travel.

But what a time to take inventory!
Take a closer look at things.
Are we just a little tired, or are we bone weary?
It is a permanent setback, or a momentary delay?
Is this a bump in the road, or a chasm a mile wide?
What are the core values here?
Is it a good plan?
Is it still a good plan?
What do I have to learn?
Can I weather the storm?
Can I take a deep breath?
Can I hang in there for a while longer, or have I done enough?

All the women and men who’ve shaped this world for good.
Dark moments, bitter thoughts, lots of second-guessing … scary dreams …
Abraham Lincoln …
Dwight Eisenhower …
Winston Churchill …

Great leaders experience profound moments of doubt and uncertainty … only dictators and small-minded women and men never doubt, never raise a question … only dangerous people have unrelenting clarity of purpose and unquestioned motive.
Real leaders have their moments.

Jesus says, Now my soul is troubled [John 12:27].

In the Garden of Gethsemane … Is there any way out? Jesus asks of the Father.

Great leaders experience times of soul-searching and doubt …

Martin Luther …
John Calvin …
John Knox …
St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross with his “dark night of the soul.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. in a Selma, Alabama jail cell …
Mother Teresa on the streets of Calcutta …
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. at Yale and Riverside Church in New York City … called a traitor when he dared to preach peace!

Great leaders always experience times of soul-searching and doubt … but doubt and soul-searching are the hammer and chisel that shape greatness!
To be a Moses …

In a time when impatience rules the day …
When the call to arms is quick and furious …
When folks tells us we have enemies, and we’d better be afraid …
When religious leaders urge their folks to quit the church because we can’t get along, and it’s hopeless, and it’ll never work …
When values are abandoned for a quick fix …
When anger and bigotry raise their ugly heads …

It’s time for great leaders –
Elders and deacons …
Sunday School teachers and pastors …
You and me …

Think it through all over again …
And then stay the course.
Steady as she goes.
Focused and faithful!
God’s project first and last!

We can all be Moses, somewhere for someone!
The times call for it.
Our families require it.
The Presbyterian Church needs it.
Our nation deserves it.

To be a Moses. Amen and Amen!

Freedom - October 5, 2008

Exodus 20:1-22

Audio Version HERE

Eddie Adcock … legendary bluegrass musician … afflicted with hand tremors … made it impossible for him to play the banjo.

Essential tremors … 10 million Americans affected …

Eddie went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center …
Surgery … to bring his hands back to life.

Electrode implanted into Eddie’s thalamus … a pacemaker of sorts … a bolt of energy to jam the tremor … deep-brain stimulation …

Awake during the surgery – 3 1/2 hours; playing the banjo the entire time … music all over the surgical wing; folks gathered at the window… as surgeons sought the exact location of the tremor … doctor and patient working together; Eddie playing the banjo, the doctor pushing the probe deeper … Eddie said, “I knew when he hit the sweet spot.”

Later, in a test … the electrode off …

Eddie could barely write his name, draw a simple spiral, or play his famous banjo …

Then, with a remote control … the doctor turned on the electrode … Eddie, “could feel a tingling” – this time, he could draw a spiral, sign his name, without shaking … and play the banjo freely … a second chance at sharing his gift …

Within hours, back on stage with his wife, Martha, playing their great bluegrass music.

Who doesn’t need a little deep-brain stimulation now and then?

That’s what the Ten Commandments are all about …
Deep-Brain stimulation …
I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
Don’t create an image of me … I am who I am … don’t put me in a box … don’t ever think you have me in your back pocket … I am always more than you could ever imagine.
Don’t take my name for granted … don’t claim to have all the answers, and then slap my name it … don’t use my name to bully and intimidate others … be very careful when you claim to know the truth and use my name to promote your position.
Bear in mind your mother and your father … that’s Abraham and Sarah … your original family, the Covenant, where it all began … remember who you are … where you came from, where you’re going.
Don’t work yourselves silly … I did everything in six days and then took a little time off … you can do the same.
Be careful what you say, especially about folks you know …
Don’t hurt one another … settle for what you have.

So how do we think about the Ten Commandments – just a few more rules to obey, or something to really get out teeth into?

Three objects to help us this morning …

First of all, a box of Kleenix … comfort – tear-wiping, hand-holding, heart-hugging comfort … the Commandments begin with comfort – I saved you and set you free!

Come to me, all you that are weary, and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest [Matthew 11:28].
I am with you always [Matthew 28:20].
Do not be afraid, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom [Luke 12:32].

A pastor was asked to come and pray with a woman’s mother. When the pastor arrived, she found the woman bedridden, with an empty chair beside the bed.
“I guess you were expecting me,” she said.
“No, who are you?” said the mother.
The pastor introduced herself and remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to visit today.”

“Oh, the chair,” said the woman.
“I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter.
But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I heard pastors talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I gave up on prayer until four years ago when my best friend said to me, ‘Betty, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. Sit down in a chair; put an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus in the chair. Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me.’

“So, I tried it and I liked it so much that I do every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd have a nervous breakdown or send me to the funny farm.”

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the woman to keep on praying. Then she prayed with her, anointed her with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her mother had died that afternoon.

“Mom called me over to her bedside, told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek. I left to do some errands, and when I got back from the store an hour later, she was gone.
But there was something strange about her death. Apparently, just before Mother died, she leaned over and rested her head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?”

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt …

Second item - a glass paperweight, a red heart …

When someone tries really, really, hard, goes the extra mile, gives it all they have and then some, we say about them, “They have ….”
Real heart …
A new heart …
A new heart I will give you, says God, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. … [Ezekiel 36:26

A heart for the things of God …

We have to be honest here …
You and me …
It’s easy to pretend … real easy for religious folk.
We look good, don’t we?
We go to church … we know the prayers … we know when to stand and when to sit, and what to say …

But listen to Jesus:
Not everyone who says LORD, LORD will enter the kingdom of heaven …
Lip-service, it’s called.
These people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote [Isaiah 29:13].

Folks who are religious need to be careful …
That’s me, that’s you …
We can slip into the form without the faith …
Folks can be married, without love …
Folks can have children, but not be a family …
Someone can have a driver’s license and be a terrible driver.

Religion without heart.
Churchiness without Christ.
Hymns without hope.
Prayers without power.
Liturgy without love.
Words without wonder.

Been hanging around the church for a while?
We have to be doubly careful about the character of our faith and the content of our soul … the heart can grow cold and become stone … and we don’t even know when it happens!

Religious people need to search their heart frequently … [1 Peter 4:17] - the judgment of God begins with the household of God …
We take the log out of our own eye first before we fuss about the speck in our neighbor’s eye …
From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded [Luke 12:48].

Do we have heart for the things of God?

The last item, martini glass …
James Bond?
Stirred or shaken?

In the last Bond movie, after a brush with death, Bond returns to the hotel, beaten up and tired, and orders a martini.
The bartender asks, “Stirred or shaken?”
To which Bond replies, “Do I look like I give a damn?”

Stirred or shaken … maybe both, now and then …
God stirs the conscience …
God shakes the conscience …

Now I don’t know about you, but I have way of managing my conscience … I put my blinders on and go my merry way …

The other day, I saw a little old lady in big old flannel shirt … pushing a shopping cart filled with plastic bottles and pop cans …
A part of me says, “Turn away – get on with your life; you can’t help everyone.”

Ever do that?
Maybe I settle for sentiment … a gush of love for the little old lady … maybe even say a prayer: O Jesus, bless her … but is that enough?
Sometimes, I rather not think about it.
Are you that way sometimes?

In Ohio this week, a 90-year old woman shot herself … when the sheriff came by to give her the second eviction notice.
She had lived in her home 38 years, and in the last few years became entangled in some kind of a predatory lending scam … and now they’re kicking her out of her home.
I don’t want to think about such things, do you?

Global warming, greenhouse gases, I just as soon not think about it … I like the way I live, and though we have less than 5% of the world’s population, we consume 25% of the world’s natural resources … I don’t want to think about it.
Do you?

Maybe global warming is just cyclical …
Or as Tina Fey says, “It’s just God huggin’ us a little closer.”
Maybe it’s all self-correcting, and I don’t have to do anything about it.

And what about Proposition 8 –
I’d rather not think about it … let fundamentalist preachers set the stage and call the shots … they’re not afraid to speak out … but as for me, I’ll be quite!
Just leave me alone … I don’t care if justice is at stake …
I’m not sure I want my conscience shaken; I don’t even want it stirred … I’d rather be left alone … wouldn’t you?

And the war … American soldiers, American civilians … wounded and maimed … thousands of Iraqi nationals dead – children crippled for life …
I’m not sure I want my conscience shaken, not even stirred … I’d rather be left alone, wouldn’t you?

We guard our conscience well, don’t we?

But God wants something different from us … something more …
A real conscience … to give unto others the comfort given to us …
To do unto others as we would have others do unto us …
To say Yes more often …
To welcome and include …
To refrain from judgment …
Offer grace …
Keep the mind open …
Change our lives to change the world for someone else …
Isn’t that what loving the neighbor as we love ourselves all about?

A woman was brought to Jesus … folks were hoping to see a stoning that day … but not Jesus … something better, something more.
The folks thought Zacchaeus didn’t belong … but Jesus called him down from the tree.
Folks never touched a leper … oh no … but Jesus did.
Folks thought the blind man had sinned, or at least his parents … isn’t that what the commandment says, punishing the children for the iniquity of the parents? … but not so says Jesus …
There are other ways of looking at it.

Remember who gives you life.
Don’t waste time with anything else.
Use God’s name with care.
Remember the long story … where you came from; where you’re going.
Take a little time off now and then … don’t work yourself silly.
Be kind … always kind, before anything else.
Give one another a break; cut each other a little slack, and don’t take anything away from anyone.
Don’t fret and fuss over what you don’t have; learn how to appreciate and give thanks for what you do have.

And the truth will set you free.

Amen and Amen!

Personal Witness - September 28, 2008

My name is Robert.

You probably remember that about two months ago Pastor Tom told the congregation that I had completed the church membership class.

At that time… I had also received the approval of the Session… as a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

I wanted to wait until the time was right to place myself before you… and I thank you for your acceptance.

The time is now right. The purpose of my witness to you… is my hope that the Holy Spirit will take my words… and do its work in each of your hearts.

My time with you is limited… I could easily talk the Congregation to sleep. I promise I won’t do that and I will try to keep it to five minutes. If it’s ok, I’d like the 5 minute clock to start now J… Pastor Tom… please give me a one minute warning of sorts if it looks like I’m running long. If I can’t finish on time, I might have to continue at a later date.

I’m in my mid 40’s.

I have a wonderful wife. She is the best companion and friend God could have given me in the whole world.

I had a rewarding career as a systems engineer working for the Boeing Company. I was gifted to partake in conceptualizing some of the most interesting, futuristic, satellite systems you couldn’t possibly think of.

God has blessed me with good fortune for most of my entire adult life.

You probably see me nearly every Sunday… limping into Church… wearing bicycle gloves on my hands.

My hands feel like they are in the flame of a stove and I can’t pull them out. Every step I take feels like having nails being driven through my feet. The gloves are to protect my hands from touch, which makes the burning worse.

I frequently forget and offer my full hand for a welcome handshake. Several of you have seen the effect of a proper handshake. The typical result is my immediate pulling my hand away in severe pain. If you provided a proper handshake and I didn’t react fast enough, the pain would come close to bringing me to my knees...well it really has brought me to my knees or doubled me over on many occasions. The worst offender I must say is Pastor Tom.

What you probably don’t know is that behind what you see on the outside, I am a real mess on the inside as well. I’ve been one for more than six years now.

What I am about to tell you is not to whine or expect any special treatment from any of you.
It is to let you know how God is working in my life, despite my problems.

I have been a Christian since before I can remember. I’m sorry to say that in the past 25 years or so, prior to finding Covenant, I attended Church probably fewer times than I have fingers.
I have had unbreakable faith, but it was stagnant inside me. I didn’t even pray very often in those years.

Since I was afflicted with this pain condition known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, my life has been turned upside down and inside out.
My identity has been scrambled in a way similar to that of a 1000 piece puzzle being taken apart.

Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy causes the sympathetic nervous system to run out of control. That’s the autonomic system that does things like maintain your body temperature.
It causes you to experience pain far in excess of any injury. This pain continues even after the triggering injury heals. If not diagnosed and treated in the first six months RSD becomes pretty much incurable.

My doctors have told me that it would be an “act of God” for me to get better. My reply has always been that I believe in “acts of God”.

The level of pain is medically described as being many times that of one suffering end stage cancer. This pain is always there. The strongest pain medications provide only a little relief.
Beyond the pain, this affliction has caused severe anxiety and depression, memory problems, severe insomnia, GIRD, and other secondary problems.

The medications to combat the pain aggravate the depression, cause nausea much of the time, aggravate the memory problems, and cause physical dependence. If I forget to take a pill or change a Fentanyl patch, I quickly go into withdrawal, which is very unpleasant.

The extended disability associated with my condition has led to my termination from Boeing.
Most of my identity was based on my science, engineering, and math skills. All of these skills have been significantly degraded as a result of my condition.

The loss of my identity has “broken”… or “deconstructed” me. God has essentially erased who I was with respect to my identity. He has placed the pieces of my jigsaw puzzle, that I was, in a box.

I am scared…no…I’m beyond scared…maybe terrified is a better word.

I don’t know who I am or who I will become. I do know that God has put that Jigsaw puzzle away and has provided me a new puzzle to piece together.

That being said, there is more to this story. I promise sometime in the coming months to continue my story. I will talk about how these seemingly awful things have, in reality, been a blessing…but that will have to wait for another day.

I am really glad to be here and really glad to be a part of Covenant………Amen and Amen