February 17, 2013, "Things that Destroy"

Genesis 3.1-8, 21-24; Romans 7.13-25

By the rivers of Babylon … hearts broken, and there we wept … no music left in us … all is gone … 

Like all good parents, they wondered what their children would believe. 

Will our children opt for the gods of Babylon? Will the power of Babylon win them over?

What can we say?

What good does it do to talk about ancient military victories when our armies are no more?

What good does it do to talk about kings and queens when, in the end, all of their palace politics brought us nothing but sorrow?

What good does it do to talk about the beauty of the temple when that temple lies in ruins?

What good does it do to talk about Yahweh when we languish here in a strange land, the laughing stock of the nations … they look upon us with haughty eyes and ask, Where is your god now?

What can we believe about God, life and hope, faith and love? What can we tell our children? What do we tell ourselves?

Crisis of faith prompted big questions!

And from that crisis of faith flow the words of Genesis.

The ancient writers and poets, taken into Exile crafted the first chapter of Genesis, and then put the whole book together … to express the deepest faith in God … a faith beyond their own personal story … a faith larger than the moment … larger than Babylon … larger than Israel and Judah … larger than tears and sorrow … a god their children can believe in … a god worthy of their time … a god for the best of times, and most importantly, a god for the worst of times.

The ancient writers crafted and assembled a collection of documents that were to become the foundation of Judah’s hope for a new day … the Hebrew Bible … the Bible that Jesus studied, loved and memorized … the Bible that guided Paul the Apostle and his work … the Bible early Christians quoted to one another, and the words they used in prayer and worship … the Hebrew Bible … what we commonly call the Old Testament … 

To answer the big questions:

Is there a story bigger than our own story of sorrow and defeat?

Is there a god bigger than the gods of Israel and Judah … our gods failed, but perhaps we failed to really understand God?

Is there a god bigger than the gods of Babylon, the gods of Alexander the great, and the gods of the Roman Empire and their mighty armies?

Is there a god our children can believe in and trust?

The writers and thinkers and theologians penned Genesis 1, In the beginning … before Abraham and Sarah, before Israel and Judah, before Assyrian and Babylon … before everything and anything, God.

And there is darkness all about … plenty of darkness, and chaos, too … dark waters and darker night.

But God says, Let there be light.

A gentle light for the night - moon and stars … bright light for the day, the sun, golden and warm.

In the darkness, light … 

The biggest story of all … 

But the Hebrews are no one’s fool … light there is, the light of God, and the light of hope, the light of God’s mercy, the light of love … lots of light … but still the darkness.

Death and sorrow, war and hatred … we have a million ways of hurting ourselves, hurting those we love … a million ways for destroying what God made … a million ways to make it dark even when God creates the light.

So the ancient writers told the story of Genesis 3 … a clever creature comes along and raises questions about the trustworthiness of God … 

That’s always the question, isn’t it?

Can God be trusted?

The ancient writers sometimes wondered … just like we do.

Abraham and Sarah wondered if God would deliver on the promise on a son.

Jeremiah the prophet accused God of betrayal.

Job accused God of cruelty.

Jesus hanging on the cross wonders if God has abandoned him?

And in such moments, danger …

The Book of Genesis lays it all out - Judah tries to figure out: What happened to us? Why did we get here, in Babylon, drowning in our own tears?

WHAT went wrong?

We overreached our grasp, they said … we ate the fruit of the tree that rightly belongs only to God.

We wanted more … we loved armies and kings, power and glory; we despised enemies, thought we were better than everyone else, thought we had god on our side.

But it all fell apart … 

Judah had to rewrite its own story … 

And part of the story - things that destroy … 

We thought god would always protect the Holy City and preserve the throne of David … but, no, we were wrong … God is very different than what we thought.

Judah had to come up with a new story to fit the times and build a road to the future … the past was gone; long gone. No since crying over spilled beer, as they say … no sense looking back - look what happens to Lot’s wife … no, the only way out of this is the way forward, new ideas, new ways of doing things … the old is gone; gone forever … and that’s okay … because God is taking us to new places … it hurts to go where God is taking us, but we have to go where God leads.

A local church was having some issues, so they invited a consultant who, they hoped, could help them find new purpose.

The consultant arrived in January, when the Ladies Association was beginning a new year - new officers and a new program booklet for the next twelve months, listing times and places, programs and people, luncheons and dinners and Bible Studies.

And it was their fortieth year.

In the fellowship hall, laid out on a table, all the program booklets from the last forty years - an impressive sight - red booklets, green booklets, yellow booklets and blue.

The consultant picked up the first booklet - an old mimeographed booklet stapled together with red construction paper - and began to read the names of the leaders and the programs for the year to come. The consultant was impressed.

So the consultant read the second booklet … then the third, the 10^th booklet, the 25^th, and then the last booklet, the 40^th booklet on the table … she was shocked to see that in the last 40 years, nothing had changed - same programs, same schedule, same topics, same restaurants - and many of the names were the same, too.

Judah had to face a painful truth:

We didn’t change! 

Our god grew smaller and smaller every year for us … and we grew smaller, too.

Our prophets warned us, but we put ‘em in prison, we drove them out, we killed them. We stopped thinking, we stopped growing.

Judah learned a hard lesson - those who will not CHOOSE the future, are HAMMERED by the future when it arrives … for Judah, the future looked like an enemy, a Babylonian soldier, but God said to the people, Even Babylon is my servant.

In the Genesis story, Adam and Eve are driven from the Garden, just like Judah driven from Jerusalem - there’s no going back … angels on the east side of the Garden bar the way with flaming swords.

There’s no going back to Eden, no going back to Egypt, no going back to Jerusalem.

But there’s a clue in the text: fertile land OUTSIDE the garden! Good earth! 

We will make it, and so will our children.

God’s people need the greater story … of a god much greater than we could ever imagine.

The creator-god, the god of heaven and earth - greater than our own story, greater than Israel and Judah, greater than David and Solomon … greater than the temple … greater than Calvary Presbyterian Church, greater than the United States of America … greater than all the nations of the world and all the religions of world … greater even than Christianity itself.

As long as God remains big for us, we will be big, too … big in courage, to face the future … with creativity, to find new ways of serving the LORD … and love … love for one another, no matter what … love that transcends boundaries of race and creed … love greater than we could ever imagine.

Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown!  

Jesus thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart. 

Amen and Amen!

February 10, 2013, "What Does God Want?"

I leave behind even 

my walking stick. My knife 

is in my pocket, but that 

I have forgot. 

I bring no car, no cell phone, 

no computer, no camera, 

no CD player, no fax, no 

TV, not even a book. I go

into the woods. I sit on

A log provided at no cost.

It is the earth itself, I’ve come to,

the earth itself, sadly

abused by the stupidity 

Only humans are capable of

but, as ever, itself Free.

A bargain! Get it while it lasts.

[“Look It Over” by Wendell Berry. Leavings: Poems (Kindle Location 16). Kindle Edition].

A fine poem by one of America’s leading writers, Wendell Berry … who always reminds me of the basic things of life … stuff that counts … what’s important … truth to live on. 

Creation …

It’s never just dirt and trees and water and storm and snow and oceans …

It’s creation … God’s creation!

And every bit of it is Holy Ground.

Which is why children love to run around without shoes.

Children are smart enough to know that it’s Holy Ground they run on … God’s good earth … 

A little dirt between the toes … a little bit of God’s handwork ground into the soles of their feet … 

Creation … God dreamed it up … and made it so.

God said, Let it be, and it is … full of life.

Creative and creating … 

Beetles and bumblebees … humming birds and hawks … whales and walruses … lions and lemmings … alligators and aardvarks … all in their place, and a place for them all.

And when God was done with it all,

God wondered … can I yet make a creature?

To care for it, up close and personal?

A creature to be my hands and feet and mind and heart?

A creature who will love the world as I love it?

A creature who can take the raw stuff and cook it a little bit … take the clay and mold it … take a tree and cut it down with a prayer, because that tree has life, a part of my life … and with love, create a board to build a home … a plank to build a ship … a stave to build a barrel?

What does God want?

A creature to share God’s heart.

God’s heart for creation … and all of its creatures, great and small …

When it comes to creation, to be mindful … to be thoughtful about consuming … polluting … what we buy and what we throw away … 

When it comes to our politicians, women and men who have a heart for creation, let us pray … they don’t have to be Christians, or Jews, or believe anything at all about God … but if they care about the earth, about air and water and land … how we farm it, how we mine it, how we use it - pay attention to politicians who care about the earth, and give them our support.

When it comes to corporations who mindlessly break the earth to please Wall Street, make our views known … protest irresponsible mining of the Appalachian Mountains for coal … the Niger Delta for oil … Peru for lead and copper … and the terrible smelting factories that belch out pollution sickening the population and killing the children in so many third-world nations.

What does God want?

A creature who shares God’s heart for creation.

A creature who understand justice … how to level the playing field …

A creature who looks upon the whole of the human race and sees only sisters and brothers … we’re all in the same race, if you will, the human race … we all share the same ancestors … our blood is red, our tears salty …

We all love our families and our friends … we all have hopes and dreams … we all lay awake at night fretting … and when someone tells a good joke, we laugh our heads off, and when someone close to us dies, we cry.

Justice … to be sure that everyone has a chance … remember the Year of Jubilee … when God told Israel to start the whole game over again - every 50 years - free the slaves, return property, cancel debt - restart the game, so those who have gotten much won’t have too much, and those who gained little won’t have too little.

We can be mindful of charities and their good work … when it comes to politicians, listen carefully to the message … to whom do their words cater? … is it to the wealthy who make a great show of their wealth as they walk up to the offering box in the temple to put in their bags of gold and demand the best seats in the house?

Or to the widow who gives her last two pennies?

Be mindful of the politicians and what they say … 

What DOES God want?

God wants justice … and kindness.

What can be said about kindness? … we all know it when it happens … kindness heals a broken heart; helps a fallen friend … kindness forgives and kindness gives another chance … kindness rejoices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who weep … kindness laughs a lot … restrains the mouth, restrains the hand on the keyboard … thinks before it speaks, and speaks with the heart of God.

Kindness …

That’s what God wants.

And to walk humbly with God … to presume nothing, receive everything … 

Whatever we have, it’s been given … no matter how hard we’ve worked, it’s all by grace … call it chance, fate, luck, whatever … 

Never a reason to pat ourselves on the back and look down on anyone else … Paul the Apostle put it well, I am what I am by God’s grace … and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I’ve worked harder than all the others - that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me [1 Corinthians 15.10].

In the Bible, we’re all just takers … as it should be, and God is the Maker, the Supreme Maker, the only maker of all things good and bright … 

What does God want?

A creature who looks at hungry crowds and wonders they can be fed.

Those first disciples looked at the hungry crowd and got frightened … how can we feed so many? We have barely enough for ourselves. Send them away LORD. They can fend for themselves. They weren’t smart enough to bring extra food anyway, so it’s their problem Why should we worry? Send ‘em away. 

And Jesus said, No, you feed them. You have what it takes. Don’t be afraid. You can do it. Take what you have and let it go. Be open-handed, and open-minded, and you’ll be surprised by what can happen. Besides, here I am. Have you no faith in what I can do with what you can give? Give it to me first, and then you can give it away to the hungry throngs, and I tell you this clearly and directly, they will be fed, they will be full, there will be leftovers, twelve baskets worth of leftovers - enough for another day … but nothing will happen if you give in to fear … if you think there won’t be enough for you; believe me, if that’s what you believe, there won’t be enough for you; you will starve to death on your own greed.

A friend of mine tells of the very first Easter Egg she and her young children were in … she went home discouraged, as she watched the children push and shove one another out of the way to get all the eggs they could.

When she became an early-childhood specialist, she arranged Easter Egg hunts with a twist: each child could find eight eggs, only eight, and then help those who hadn’t yet found eight eggs. 

They learned to count, and they learned to help one another … lessons vital to the good life … life truly good, and life truly life.

What does God want?

Disciples who look upon the hunger of others with compassion and a determination to do something about it …

Disciples who don’t blame the hungry for their hunger … the poor for their poverty … the sick for their disease … 

Disciples who look into the face of the naked and the bruised and see the face of Jesus who was himself crucified naked, and bruised by the whips of Rome.

What does God want?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to answer the question … we can read it for ourselves … page after page of Scripture … the rich traditions of the Christian faith … our hymns and prayers … 

Genesis 2.15-20; Micah 6.1-3, 6-16; Matthew 14.13-21   

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist - it does take some courage … to open the doors, and let God have God’s way.

We can run, but we’ll never hide from God … the will of God will never leave us alone … there is no cave in which Elijah could hide … or far-away land where Moses could run … there is no place of hiding for Jacob … no sea big enough to hide Jonah from God’s purpose … 

But it took courage for Moses to leave Midian and return to Egypt to lead his people out … it took courage for Jacob to return home and face his brother Esau … it took courage for Jonah to finally admit that maybe God had a point … it courage for Elijah to leave the cave and get on with the hard work of speaking to dangerous kings and rulers.

What does God want?

A creature to care for creation …

Someone with God’s heart for justice … who loves kindness …

Wise enough to be humble.

May it be said of Calvary Presbyterian Church, that when this church professed its faith in Jesus, it really meant it … you really believed in Jesus and what he said and what he did … may it be said of this place on the Boulevard, it really took Bible seriously … you paid attention to your politics and fed the hungry … you condemned no one and welcomed everyone … you were not proud, but humble … you spent what you had, and what you had, you spent … you were givers for sure … giving time and treasure … reaching deep into you pockets and deep into your hearts, because you trusted God to do great things with what you could do for the love of God.

Amen and Amen!

God's Lamb - January 20, 2008

John 1:29-42

Can you see what I’m holding in my hand?

Yes, that’s right, a surgeon’s scalpel.

Not the most pleasant looking device, but an essential tool for health … as the expression puts it: we need to go under the knife now and then.

Some years ago, through routine testing, abnormal calcium levels in my blood were detected … further testing by an endocrinologist and a few sleepless nights, revealed a misbehaving parathyroid gland.

Solution: surgery!
It has to come out.
I had to have some knife time.

So, the early morning trip to the hospital … prep for surgery, onto a gurney … a couple of happy drugs later, I was ready … Donna gave me a kiss and I was wheeled down the hall to a bright room seriously cold.

The anesthesiologist put something into my intravenous, had me count backwards … ten … nine … eight … lights out.

Three and a half hours later, eyes open – bright lights again … cold … recovery room … a blood sample taken … the doc comes by – “Calcium levels back to normal, Tom, just like that.”

Thank God for the scalpel and the folks who know how to use them!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The scalpel of grace …

“The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

To take away the sin of the world!

What is sin?

Must be mighty important for the Son of God to be so utterly involved in its removal …

Must be something big … evidently we need lots of help on this one!

Nothing less than divine surgery … no one less than Jesus.

What’s sin?

Ever hear the term “original sin”?

The first one, the biggie … the source, the center … the one and only … original sin.

We associate “the big one” with the image of Eve plucking the fruit and Adam right with her.

But that’s not the “original sin.”

The “original sin” occurred prior to the fruit-picking … the “original sin” – believing a lie.

The Snake in the Grass suggested to Eve that she wasn’t quite up to snuff, suggested that God might have left a few things out of the equation, and further suggested that she misunderstood God’s plan … and it would be just fine to pluck the fruit – because the Tree offers what’s missing from your life.

She believed it … and so did Adam.

Though Eve is the principal actor here, the text is clear: it says pointedly, “Adam was with her” – cheering her on; “you go, girl!”

She believed the lie, and so did Adam – something is wrong with us, something is missing, and you can’t even count on God for it.

That’s the original sin … that’s original lie.

And if you know anything about lies, you know that once started, lies take on a life of their own … compounding themselves until a whole world has been created with lies …

But a lie is still a lie … without truth, without love, without hope and without peace … lies never work … though we often believe them with all our heart … because the first lies are always told to us … they come from people of the lie … parents who were lied to, teachers who were lied to, politicians and neighbors who were lied to, spouses and children who were lied to … the lies are passed on, and every permutation, they grow a little larger, a little stronger … until they have us in their grip.

Think of it …

You’re not up to snuff …
Something is wrong with you …
You’re not fit for the fight …
You’re a flub, you’re a flop, you’re a failure …
You’re a lousy Mom …
You’re a crummy Father …
You’re a terrible student …
You’re stupid, you’re dumb, you’re ugly …
You’re hair is all wrong …
You’re too fat … and too slow …
You’re clothes don’t fit …
Your teeth aren’t pretty …
Why can’t you look better?
Why do you have be so slow?
Why can’t cook better?
Why don’t you get better grades?
Why aren’t your prettier?
Why don’t you lose some weight?
I won’t love until you do!


Serious business!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

To take away the original sin was the toughest thing God ever did …

Creation was a breeze … God said, “Let it be” and it was … but take away the original lie, to free the soul … that’s a horse of another color … it took everything God had, and then some.

Wherever Jesus went, whomever He met, He told them the truth … because “The truth sets us free.”

The first miracle – at the Wedding of Cana – ran out of wine they thought; and to the human eye, the jugs were empty – Jesus said, “No, you didn’t run out of wine. Let me show you.”

Jesus clears the Temple – here’s what a Temple should look like, here’s what a Temple should stand for … too many lies about power and prestige … too many lies about money and influence.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, “This is too much for me. I’m too old. I’ve believed this all my life. I can’t change.”
Jesus says, “Not true. You CAN change; you can start all over again. Sort of like being born all over again. Not easy! But you can do it! Life is resilient. Nicodemus, you can do it!”

The Samaritan woman goes to the well at noon – in the heat of the day, when no one else is there, because she can’t stand the haughty glares and the whispered gossip – she’s tired of their self-righteousness, so she goes to the well alone.
Jesus meets her there … she’s trapped in lies: “There’s no hope for me. A good man will never love me. I’m stuck in a rut, and that’s where it’s going be for me. No way out.”
“Not true,” says Jesus.
“Let me help you.”

The son of a royal officer is ill and dying … and the man comes to Jesus, “Sir, help me before my son dies.”
“He will not die,” says Jesus.
The human eye can only see death. Jesus sees life.

At the pool of Siloam, a man crippled for 38 years … begging …
Jesus asks, “Do you wanna get well?”
“But there’s no one to help me get into the healing water. Every time I try, others push me outta the way, and by the time I get there, the water has stopped bubbling.”
Jesus probes, because Jesus knows that the man has accepted the lie – “There’s no hope for me, no way out – it’ll be this way forever.”
“No you won’t,” says Jesus.

At every turn, Jesus sees the possibility … hope for a new day … the door that no one else can see … because God not only opens doors for us, God creates doors where none previously existed.

“God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do no exist” (Romans 4:17).

“Takes away” the sin of the world, says the text.

God doesn’t wait for us to come around; God goes after it, tackles it by Himself – God intrudes, breaks in, enters the human heart … like a thief in the night, a smash and grab ruffian … God TAKES away the sin of the world

No self-help here … no self-healing at this point … something radical is needed … surgery … the scalpel of grace, and a skilled surgeon.

The Lamb of God who TAKES away the sin of the world.

And it’s “sin” not sins, did you notice that? … singular, not plural.

God goes for the root cause, the beginning, the source, the origin.

And leaves much of the clean-up work to us … with the help of the Holy Spirit.

But the root cause is removed … the original lie undone.

The truth be told!

There is nothing wrong with you.
There is nothing defective in you.

You can handle it … you will make it through … you’re a gifted and capable human being … you already have what it takes …

The original lie has been dispelled in Christ … so we get on with the task of healing … the cause of the wound is removed, but the healing takes time … and we heal with one another … that’s why Christian fellowship is so important … we heal in the company of others.

And we become little Lambs of God for one another …

Every time we encourage someone.

Every time someone wants to give up and give in, we help them take a deep breath and stay the course, and if need be, start all over again – we’re a little Lamb of God who takes away the lie from someone else.

Now, suddenly, we can read self-help books with profit … therapists can really help here.

To build upon the work of Christ!

We don’t believe the lie anymore … well, maybe, just a little bit now and then, but the Spirit intervenes … “Not true” cries the Spirit when we’re discouraged and ready to give up.

You’re a terrific human being …
You have what it takes …
You can manage the challenge … you can climb the mountain, you can solve the case, you can ford the rushing river …

You’re not a victim; you’re a victor.
You’re not a loser; you’re a winner!

You have great reservoirs of love …
You have intelligence and good character …
You have faith, hope and love … even if it’s just the size of a mustard seed, it’s good enough to move mountains!

At the end of the text, Jesus gives Peter a nickname … from now on, you’ll be called Cephas, the Rock!

To all of us, Jesus gives a nickname:

You’re Tom Terrific and Wally Wonderful.
You Susie Stupendous and Marlene Marvelous.

You’re all Servants of the Most High God!

Remember that … that’s the truth!

Amen!