September 9, 2012, "Close Your Eyes Now and Then"

James 2.1-7

It’s been a quiet week for Calvary on the Boulevard.

Labor Day is done, and the dadgum calendar flips its pages at us with careless abandon.

Kids are back in school.

Days are getting shorter, and so are some of us.

Deciduous trees are losing their leaves, and some of us are losing our hair … which we don’t like … and what we’d like to lose is some weight, and that’s really tough.

Our choir had its first rehearsal this week, and here they are today, the first Sunday of a new season of song.

Our Designated Pastor Nominating Committee is awaiting its first list of candidates.

Soon we’ll be electing new elders and deacons, and filling out pledge cards for another year of mission and ministry at Calvary on the Boulevard.

We’ve welcomed new members in the last six months, and we’ve said farewell to others … some have moved to faraway places, and some are with the LORD, waiting under the alter, waiting for the Great Gettin’ Up Morning … time marches on.

If time teaches us anything, time teaches us humility.

Don’t take yourself so seriously.

Which reminds me, do you know why angeles can fly?

They take themselves lightly!

Time reminds us that time is valuable … we have but one life to live, and we hope and pray to live it well.

Friend of mine wrote: “If we approach life always trying to carefully avoid mistakes we will make the biggest one of all. God made each of us to cultivate a spirit of adventure. When that is squelched we die a slow death and miss out on the rarefied air of God’s provision and grace. Faith is a verb…”

Faith rolls up its sleeves and goes to work.

Faith isn’t afraid of long days and hard nights.

Faith tackles the big questions and the big issues of life.

And nothing bigger these days than money.

Money seems to be the talk of the town - and does anyone ever seem to have enough of it?

We dream of money … winning the lottery … we live in a world where everything has a price, and anything can be bought with enough money.

In politics these days, we hear a lot about the wealthy - Wall Street brokers, bankers, investment managers - the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson - massive donations to their candidates.

The influence of wealth is a big question in America right now.

And it’s is a big deal for James.

For the Apostle Paul.

For the prophets, and for Jesus.

It’s Jesus who tells us that that a person of wealth has a hard time entering the kingdom of God.

God knows how easily we fool ourselves with our eyes.

If it glitters, it has to be gold.

When I began my interim work here, Al Richards told me he’s a rock hound - a collector of rocks - he gave me a piece of fool’s gold - it sits on my desk.

A reminder - don’t be fooled by appearances.

Don’t be dazzled by glitter.

God knows that sometimes we just need to close our eyes.

Garrison Keillor tells a cute story of two friends, Bud and Bob, putting in a dock in early spring … Bud is in the ice-cold water, with hip waders; Bob is holding the other end of the dock on land.

Wouldn’t ya’ know it - an enormous fish swims right through Bud’s legs; scared the daylights outta him - he slipped and fell into the cold water, filling his waders … and with waders filled with cold water, we’re talking a serious situation.

His friend Bob asked, “Are you all right?”

Which is a dumb question to ask when your good friend is head over hells in an ice-cold Minnesota lake, flopping around with waders full of water.

Bob runs to get a branch, but by this time, Bud’s too cold to even grab on.

Bob runs into the house to call 911.

Meanwhile, the next door neighbor, Roy, who Bud has had run-ins with, again and again, over the years, comes out, walks into the water, grabs hold of him, gets him into the house, gets his clothes off and puts him to bed.

Bud is recuperating and thinking … when you almost die at the hands of your best friend, and it’s your life-long enemy who saves your life, maybe, when you’re selecting friends, competence ought to be a factor … maybe you ought to think about that a little bit, says Garrison Keillor.

There’s more to life than meets the eye … and that’s what James is getting at.

To look at people as God see us!

James writes to his community:

When a person of wealth comes your way, you fall down and make a fool of yourself … you invite them to sit in the best seat of the house.

When a poor man comes your way, you get snotty and uppity and tell the poor man he can stand by the wall, or sit on the steps by the feet of the wealthy.

And, then, just to drive home the point, James says, It’s the wealthy who make life difficult for you. They drag you into court. They have no regard for the name spoken over you in your baptism.

Remember the parable of the Rich Fool?

The rich fool surveys his fields and builds mighty barns, and says to himself, I built it.

I did it myself; it’s all mine.

No one helped me.

I owe nothing to anyone.

I’m in no one’s debt.

And I’m just going to keep on building bigger barns.

No humility.

No realization that God is the great decider on wealth.

The simple truth, the embarrassing truth:

The wealthy don’t work any harder than a man picking strawberries in the fields around Oxnard, or the woman waiting on our table at Denny’s … 

The wealthy are not any smarter than anyone else.

The wealthy play a lot, too … expensive toys, expensive hobbies, and lots of travel to expensive places designed just for them and their expensive tastes.

In the language of the world, The wealthy are just damn lucky.

In the language of faith: 

We give Thee but Thine own,

Whate’er the gift may be;

All that we have is Thine alone,

A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

The wealthy have a hard time telling the truth their wealth - that’s why Jesus says they have a hard time getting into the kingdom of God.

If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, there is only one thing to say: God built it, not me!

If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, they have to admit: God gave every bit of it to me - God gave me my family, my values, my strength, my health, my opportunities, people who believed in me, teachers who taught me, bankers who loaned me money when I needed it, friends who stood by me, and a whole world around me.

If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, the wealthy have to say: I owe all my wealth to God … I’m not smarter than anyone else … I don’t worker harder than the guy mowing my law, the woman cleaning my bathrooms, the young lady walking my dogs, or the guy parking my Ferrari at the hotel. All of these people work just as hard as I do, and are just as smart as I am, and I owe them everything, because they work for me, and I am called by God to work for them.

I have known people of wealth … many of them grow hard and cruel toward others; sure, they love their families and treat their children well - great family people, they may be, but they expect the best seat in the house … often use religion and god-talk to mask their greed and pride ... like the Pharisee in the Temple, praying lovely prayers, eloquent prayers, beautiful prayers, but with a stone-cold heart - proud of himself and contemptuous of others.

I’ve known people of wealth who dare to be Christian … tender toward others; a deep sense of humility, gratitude … they use their power to change the world, to level the playing field, give everyone a fair chance; they respect the people who work for them, honor them with good wages, fair benefits; willing to enjoy a little less so that folks can enjoy a little more … they fly like the angels, because they take themselves lightly and take God seriously!

Wealth is a big deal for James … a big deal for the Bible … because the love of money is the root of all evil

 … these days, the world needs to hear the Christian gospel, loud and clear:

When it comes to people, close our eyes now and then - consider people from God’s perspective … a man wearing jeans and a stained t-shirt is just as glorious in the sight of God, and maybe even more, then a man dressed in the rags of the world, Armani suits and Gucci shoes.

Live the kingdom of God, says James.

Whatever the price.

Live for Christ.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen and Amen!

September 2, 2012, "Careful Listening, Deep Loving"

First in a series of messages from the Book of James.

James 1.19-27

I have come to the Book of James late in my life.

I’ve quoted from the Book of James throughout my ministry - the famous line, faith without works is dead, but it’s only in the last 5 or 6 years that I’ve come to read and love the whole Book of James; to spend time with it … to appreciate the fullness, the breadth and depth, of the message of James …

It’s a small book with big ideas.

Wisdom - ask God for it, and God will give it to us.

Never doubt God’s good intentions.

Wealth - wealth is dangerous.

And to the wealthy, some of the toughest words in all the Bible.

Prayer is powerful.

Patience in hard times.

Be honest with ourselves and honest with one another.

Do not let anger take hold.

Watch the tongue … it’s small, and it’s mighty … like a tiny rudder on a large ship … or a small flame and a forest fire.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak.

Pure and undefiled religion: caring for widows and orphans.

My son tells the story of a 16-year old orphan boy - parents dead from AIDS … no one to pay for his schooling; schooling in Swaziland isn’t free. And he lives where he can.

He took art lessons as part of my son’s last project … the young man learned how to mix colors and use brushes, so he could do mural work on a social center.

Part of the training was to encourage artistic talent in a culture where art is largely missing; to encourage them use art as a profession, that it’s possible to make a living from art, and these lessons were given by professional artists.

Students were also given bristol board with supplies to take home for practice.

My son gave the young man a GI Joe comic book, and the young man did a large rendition of the cover - he had to mix his own colors, but he did it … Josh will show it to you now.

And, by the way, Josh will have a chance to chat with you after the service … and at a later date, will give a report on his Peace Corps work in Swaziland - many thanks to Calvary on the Boulevard and your generous assistance for my son’s work.

But for now, an orphan boy with talent.

And a reminder from James: pure religion, the religion God desires, the love God wants us to share - to care for orphans and widows in the their difficulty … 

Who are the orphans and widows in our world here and now … in Los Angeles … Southern California … the Southwest … or Chicago, Miami or Baltimore, and a thousand other places around the world?

In Los Angeles, how many children live on the streets?

How many widows live on a small Social Security check … eking by, day-by-day?

Some Christians say: Preacher, tell me how to get to heaven. That’s what I need to know. What will it take for me to get to heaven? What must I know? What must I believe?

James tells us:

We get to heaven by loving what God loves here and now … and doing what God does.

James knows full well that we CAN love what God loves … and we CAN do what God does.

Martin Luther, the great Reformer of the 16^th Century, called James, an epistle of straw.

Luther doubted the book of James because James reminds us that good works are a reflection of real faith.

Faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, if it’s real, rolls up its sleeves and gets to work.

We have to be kind to Luther.

Luther suspected James because Luther saw what Medieval Christianity had become - a religion of works-anxiety - have I done enough to go to heaven when I die?

Medieval religion was all about going to heaven, and if you didn’t do things rights, you would go to hell, and if you didn’t go to hell, you would at least spend millions of years in purgatory, because even the really good weren’t that good, and fire-time in Purgatory was necessary to purify the soul so that some day the soul could get to heaven.

Life in the Middles Ages was short, dark and damp … so getting to heaven was everything … 

The church used this to manipulate people with fear.

Luther knew this firsthand.

His early spiritual life was filled with anxiety.

Have I done enough to merit god’s favor?

Have I confessed my sins, all of them?

Will I ever know peace with God?

Luther could see no way out … until he read the Book of Romans and learned that those who are right in the eyes of God live by faith … faith alone … faith in what Jesus has done … to cover our sin, and pave the way for our entrance into heaven, free and clear.

When Luther read the Book of James, Luther was suspicious of anything that smacked of law … anything that would compromise the power of faith.

We might well learn from Luther what troubled him about “good works.”

Luther saw folks trying to be good … not for the sake of being good, but in order to save their own necks!

Luther rightly understood - a deed done for another human being to further our own spiritual standing isn’t a good a deed at all.

The hungry may be fed, and that’s good.

The naked might be clothed, and that’s good, too.

But the giver is damned, for there is no love in such deeds … for the giver loves only herself … the hungry and the cold are used to further the spiritual status of the giver.

We can read James and grow in our faith-understanding … and realize, full and clear: Faith gives birth to works.

Faith in God is our love for what God loves.

Faith in God is our effort to do what God does.

To live a life pleasing in the sight of God!

Quick to listen, writes James.

Slow to anger.

Because anger cannot produce God’s righteousness.

Put away evil, says James.

And what is the evil we’re invited to put away?

Moral filth, as the Common English Bible says.

When it comes to filth, don’t be misled by the last 150 years of fundamentalist preaching.

It’s not about sex and alcohol or card-playing and dancing, or swearing and cussing - as some have preached.

It’s a failure to listen to one another.

A failure to care for one another regardless of social status.

It’s playing favorites with social status - give the wealthy man the best seat in the house, and tell the poor man to stand against the wall or sit at the feet of the wealthy.

It’s the adulation of wealth and the condemnation of the poor … a spirit of carelessness and selfishness.

To counter this moral filth … to resist the contamination of our spirit, James writes: Welcome the word deep inside of you.

And what is that word?

The royal law, says James: Love your neighbor as yourself.

James takes us to Jesus.

And it’s Jesus who takes us to the Father.

And it’s the Father who says to us, This is my son, the chosen one, listen to him.

James has listened well to Jesus.

And it does us well to listen to James.

For in James, we see Jesus.

In the words of James, we hear the Word of God.

Amen and Amen! 

December 5, 2010, "Road Building"

Matthew 3:1-12

I was on the 405 a few days back, over the Sepulveda pass … where the 405 is being widened …

Big machines moving lots of dirt … retaining walls being built … steel and cement for bridges and barriers … so that traffic will flow better on the west side of Los Angeles.

It’s a lot of work to build a road … low places have to be filled in  … mountains cut down … uneven ground made level … rough places smoothed out …

Sounds almost biblical, doesn’t it?

Well, it is biblical.

From the prophet Isaiah …

Chapter 40 … the very chapter that Matthew quotes, to describe the work of John the Baptist … a cry to the people, Prepare the way of the LORD, make his paths straight.

Get busy, build roads … build roads for God … build roads for one another … you see those high and rocky places over there? … take ‘em down a little bit … you see those dark and narrow valleys just across the way? … fill them in a little bit … you see all that rough, uneven ground ahead? …  smooth it out … make it easier for people to meet God …

I can’t think of a better image to describe the Christian life than road building … that’s what you and I are called to do … build roads in the rough and tumble places of life.

On Thursday, our Presbyterian Women held their annual Christmas Luncheon … with a special guest from the Angel Interfaith Network, the Rev. Ann Mills, who presented to us a certificate of appreciation.

Let me read what was written about us:

“The Deacons, Presbyterian Women and members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Westchester have assembled and donated hygiene kits in decorative bags, blankets, baby supplies, greeting cards, and funds for food-assistance for Angel Interfaith Network to distribute to patients every year since 1995, under the leadership of the Rev. Frank Marshall, now an Angel Interfaith Network board member.”

Frank Marshall served Covenant for 32 years and is our pastor emeritus.

In other words, road building.

Smooth out the rough places.

Fill in the ditches.

Make life a little easier for folks who are having a hard time of it.

Friday afternoon, I made a pastoral call on a family where there’s been some illness … and when folks are ill, folks are often cold, even when it’s warm … during the course of our conversation, the sweetest thing: they told me of a friend, whom we all know, who knit a cap and sent it to the husband to keep his head warm and to make him feel a little more comfortable.

Yesterday, two memorial services here … for Dr. Ed Ricketts and Richard Brubaker … men who embodied the very best of road building … their careers and their vision and their faith made life a little easier for a lot of people.

But not all roads are built easily.

In Friday’s LA Times, columnist Hector Tobar writes about Orange County in 1947 … the struggle of Latino families for integrated schools … prior to their efforts, Latino children had to settle for separate and often poorly maintained buildings and second-rate programs.

Mr. Tobar writes of brave and loving parents who went to bat for what was right and good.

They confronted school administrators, held community meetings and eventually went to court, and in 1947, they won the case.

Their victory changed education throughout California and impacted the nation.

These parents were road builders for their children.

In the town of Orange, just a block north of the Plaza is an old theater that today houses a religious center. In the 1940s, it was the Orange Theatre.

Whites sat in the orchestra section, Mexicans in the balcony — until a Mexican American soldier returning from World War II refused to obey the rules.

"If you don't move up to the balcony," an usher told him, "I'll have to call my manager."

"I just came from fighting the Nazis," he said. "I'm pretty sure I can handle your manager."

The soldier was a road builder. In the war, he built a road for freedom.

When he refused to sit in the balcony, he built a road for justice.

I think of Rosa Parks, a seamstress on her way home after a long day’s work, who refused to give up her seat to a white man and sit in the back of the bus.

She was tired.

Tired of the humiliation.

And she became a road builder for a new generation of Americans who would no longer sit in the back of the bus, or drink at “colored only” drinking fountains … or be denied a hamburger and French fries at the local lunch counter … 

All of these examples, from hygiene kits to the knit cap to the solider home from war - illustrate Isaiah’s image of the road builder … take down the mountains … fill in the low places  … make it easier for folks to find their way through life.

As our story goes, John was a man of the wilderness … he wore the clothing of the poor and ate their food … and gained the respect of many.

Folks came out to hear John.

And he baptized them in the Jordan River.

It seems that a lot of people came to see what John was all about … including a good many Pharisees and Sadducees …  read: “important people” … dignitaries from Jerusalem … muckety-mucks and big-shots.

They wanted baptism, too … but John doesn’t welcome them … calls ‘em a bunch of snakes, a brood of vipers … what are you doing here? Who warmed you about the wrath of God?

Whoa … “wrath of God”? … when was the last time we heard anything about that?

God is all love, right?

Well, yes, God is all love.

But tell me, is love blind?

Does God not see religion when it has no heart?

Churches that love themselves more than their neighbors?

Does God not see our cruelty and war and oppression and discrimination?

The financial shenanigans of nations and corporations for whom enough is never enough?

Lying and envy and strife and jealousy and quarrels and factions?

Is God’s love blind to all of that?

Of course not!

The wrath of God is God at work in hard places and tough times.

God’s wrath is proof of God’s love … a love that works hard to make all things new … and sometimes things don’t want to be made new; sometimes you and I don’t want to be made new.

 The world may need a savior, but the world is often quite content with the way things are; the world has little interest in being saved, especially that part of the world that sits on top of the heap.

John doesn’t mince words.

Nor is John buffaloed by these dignitaries.

He cuts to the chase.

And says to them, Bear fruit worthy of repentance … getting wet in the Jordan isn’t enough … God needs to see something real!

I find myself going back to the letter of James … a small letter with a giant message … worth reading this afternoon.

At the heart of the letter that James wrote is a classic statement we all know: faith without works is … dead … not just injured, or weakened, or tired … but dead … flat-out dead … without a heartbeat or brainwaves … dead as a doornail.

James writes the rest of his letter spelling out what a living faith is all about and coins a powerful definition of real  faith:  to care for the orphans and the widows in their distress and keep oneself unstained by the world.

And what are the stains of the world for James?

Partiality to the powerful.

Contempt for the poor.

A failure to act out the realities of faith.

A tongue that doesn’t know when to be quiet.

Boasting about our own powers and abilities.

Bad-mouthing others.

Impatience and irritability.

Failure to pray.

Failure to give thanks.

Failure to join with one another in mutual assistance.

A living faith spends a lot of time listening.

A living faith honors all people regardless of their place in life.

A living faith acts out the realities of God’s mercy and God’s compassion.

A living faith restrains the tongue.

A living faith understands that tomorrow is in God’s hands, not our hands.

A living faith strives to be patient in all places and times.

A living faith prays often, gives thanks eagerly, and sustains the fellowship of faith through mutual support and encouragement.

A living faith builds many roads.

Smoothes out the rough places.

Fills in the ditches.

The gospel of Matthew gives us page after page after page of insight into how to build good roads … roads for God … roads for one another.

Because we follow Jesus.

Who builds a road for us.

Jesus takes down the high mountains of religion that human beings love so greatly – the temples and the trappings, the rules and the regulations, the dogma and the doctrine, the pomp and the circumstance, so that we can approach God with ease.

Jesus helps us out of the ditches into which we’ve fallen, ditches we’ve often dug with our own hands, and then fills them in.

Jesus smoothes out the rough places in our soul.

Jesus levels the uneven ground of our confusion.

Clears the way and charts the course.

Come, and follow me!

We follow Jesus on the very road Jesus builds for us.

So we can build roads for others.

Whether it be a hygiene kit, a knit cap, or a stand for social justice.

We build roads.

Prepare the way of the LORD.

Make his paths straight.

Amen and Amen. 

Finding Wisdom Everywhere

Proverbs 1:20-33

Wisdom is found everywhere!

Over hill and dale, and all around the town:

A busy street.

A crowded intersection.

At the city gates.

Available to all …

Without price.

Without chage.

Wisdom cries out:

Be smart.

Be wise.

Don’t be a simpleton.

With a sharp reproof to scoffers …

Naysayers and complainers …

And to the fool who refuses to learn!

And a warning …

Ya’ better do it now, because there will come a crisis, and then it’ll be too late …

Simpletons and fools will suffer.

Scoffers will find no solace.

But the wise will be secure!

So we might well ask this morning, “What’s wisdom?”

There’s a ton of stuff out there that claims to be wisdom.

Talk radio and TV evangelists … pundits and politicians …

Far-right, far-left, and just plain far out …

How in the world do we sort it all out?

How do we decide?

What’s wisdom, and what’s foolishness?

The truth be told:

Not all that glitters is gold.

Not everything that purports to be wisdom is wise.

But sorting it out isn’t easy.

Proverbs reminds us:

Scoffers and fools are influential.

Their words carry weight.

Folks are taken in by the silver-tongued every day.

Paul the Apostle confronts this matter in 2 Corinthians … Paul speaks of the “super-apostle” – slick words and good shows impressed the Corinthians with a false gospel.

P.T. Barnum said it well: a sucker is born every minute.

And sometimes I get the feeling that American Christians can really be suckers … we fail to be discerning …

Too often the dross, and not the gold.

Too often the chaff, and not the wheat.

Sometimes I get the feeling that American Christianity lacks maturity – the capacity to think clearly and critically …

Dr. Harley Swiggum recognized this in the late fifties when he was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin for adult education.

Bethel Lutheran was a huge congregation – full of influential people, good people, strong people, who loved the LORD.

But “they were defenseless,” said Swiggum.

“Defenseless against the slick talker and the good show. Like sheep, they could easily be led astray.”

Swiggum said, “There’s only one sure way to sort it all out – know the Bible … know it through and through, how it works and what it says, and to study it well for one’s entire life.”

And so Dr. Swiggum developed the Bethel Bible Series, to help folks get wisdom … so they can sort it all out; sit in a pew on Sunday morning and listen responsibly to the reading of Scripture and to the preacher – so they can say the prayers and sing the hymns knowingly, intelligently … and listen to a TV preacher or a History Channel special about finding Noah’s Ark, and be able discern the tawdry from the truth; the real from the unreal; fact from fiction.

I’ve been paying attention to sermons for a long time.

In seminary, I worked in the library – I reshelved books returned by students and pastors … I decided to look at what pastors were reading, and even as a first-year student, I was shocked and disturbed – so much of it was just plain schlock … syrupy spirituality, mediocre moralisms, simpleton ideas and shallow commitments.

The writer to the Hebrews touches upon this very thing – simpleton thinking, always a danger for God’s people – to settle for the simple rather than the sublime … to shy away from the big stuff and go for the small ideas …

In the image of Hebrews, too many Christians are still drinking infant’s milk instead of eating solid food.

Get on with it, says the writer to the Hebrews.

Quit laying the same foundation over and over again – there’s more to this Christian life than conversion and theological ideas.

I get the uneasy feeling that the larger a congregation grows, the more likely it is to feed on milk rather than solid food.

Folks want to hear about heaven, but they don’t want to hear about earth.

I get the uneasy feeling, because I’ve been there, that in the larger congregations, there’s tremendous pressure on pastors to offer milk, and even that watered down, rather than solid food.

This is a problem for God’s people.

In the second letter to Timothy, the apostle writes:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths [2 Timothy 4:1-4].

Maybe even in smaller congregations.

Maybe ever here at Covenant on the Corner.

Reluctance to tackle the big stuff and go for the small ideas.

Talk about Christ, but keep it spiritual.

Talk about faith, but keep it personal.

Talk about God, but keep it private.

The Southern Presbyterian Church formed in the heat of the days leading up to the Civil War – in the course of time, our Southern brothers and sisters developed an interesting doctrine: the spirituality of the church – that pastors should only preach spiritual things, whatever that really means?

In fact, what it means: leave me alone. Talk about heaven, but don’t talk about earth!

Can you see why the Southern Presbyterians developed such a doctrine?

Because their reality was so painful.

They lived in a world of slavery – life was good because life was bad for thousands of slaves working the in the hot cotton fields, lugging heavy bales onto paddle boats, and if you were a young slave girl, beckoned to the master’s bedroom.

It took the Southern Presbyterian Church a hundred years to work it all out … and to this very day, though North and South are now one church again, the doctrine of the spirituality of the church still holds sway in parts of our denomination, and for many conservatives, they want to keep it that way … preach doctrine, preach conversion, preach heaven, but don’t preach the world to us, don’t challenge the way we live, because life is good for us, and we don’t want to hear how bad it is for millions working in sweat shops around the world and just around the corner … the shirts we wear and the skirts we buy and the food we eat are cheap because someone, somewhere, pays the price with sweat, blood and tears.

Don’t preach the world to us preacher.

Just preach heaven.

How do we sort it all out?

The accurate from the inaccurate; the false from the true … the fabricated from the factual?

Here’s where Proverbs is helpful … more than helpful … vital …

To us who claim the name of Christ … we’re Christians … followers of the way …

It’s vital for us, don’t ya’ think, that we deal with truth?

Jesus said, I’m the way, the truth and the life …

Remember the courtroom scene when Jesus stands before Pilate?

Pilate asks: “What’s truth?” and Jesus remains silent.

Why? Why the silence?

Because truth IS Jesus.

Jesus standing there in front of Pilate.

Truth is not a maxim, a principle, or an idea.

Truth is flesh and blood, and love.

Truth takes up a cross.

Truth challenge the powers and the principalities.

Truth refuses to answer Pilate, because Pilate already has his own version of the truth – and for Pilate, it’s all about power and prestige … for Pilate, it’s the golden rule … those with all the gold make all the rules!

Get the picture?

Here’s Pilate, wearing expensive clothing, hair well-done, in a well-appointed palace, surrounded by Imperial Guards with shiny weapons, servants attending to Pilate’s every need, fine food and drink … the lap of luxury … and then Jesus, hands bound with tough leather straps, blood seeping through his tattered robe, hair tangled with spit and sweat … already half-way to death …

You’re standing there, in a shadowy corner – you’re a witness to this encounter – there you are, ten feet away: watching a Jewish prophet from Galilee hours away from death, and mighty Pilate in his palace … and you ask yourself, “Who’s telling the truth?”

How might you answer?

Come one now, tell yourself the truth.

Might you not be inclined to go with Pilate?

Rather than this beaten and tattered man swaying unsteadily on his bloody feet.

Pilate questions him with an imperious voice.

Jesus is horse from thirst, his mouth swollen from the fists that easily found their mark.

Who might you choose?

I posted this to Facebook the other day, and got some interesting replies …

One friend suggested that since we’re now on this side of it all, we can easily choose Jesus.

But I wonder …

I wonder if it’s all so easy.

Think of it as metaphor … Pilate’s pomp on the one hand … the scruffy figure in tattered robe on the other …

In the book of James, the question surfaces about church visitors – those who show up in fine dress are given the best pews in the church, and the man who shows up in shabby dress is told to stand in the lobby or take the folding chair off to the side.

The metaphor still functions ... to whom are we inclined to give the greater weight: a well-dressed CEO or a line-worker?

Perhaps if we were blind, it would be easier, but, then, I suppose, we'd go with the sound of the voice, or something like that.

I think the juxtaposition of Jesus and Pilate, and the well-dressed and the shabby in James 2, suggest that I'm still easily fooled by appearances ... or to put it more personally, to which pastor am I likely to give the greater credence - the pastor of a 15,000 member megachurch or the pastor of a rural parish in Oklahoma?

We’re easily seduced by the very things that mean so little to God …

Size never matters to God.

Listen to what God says to the people of Israel in the wilderness:

It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the LORD loved you [Deuteronomy 7:7].

Power and prestige are of no consequences to God.

Here’s what Paul writes to the Corinthians:

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:26-33].

Gold is nothing more to God than street gravel.

Have you ever wondered why the streets of heaven are paved with gold?

What do we use here to pave our streets, but the cheapest materials we can find? Sand and gravel, because they’re plentiful – they’re everywhere, and that makes sand and gravel cheap.

Heaven’s streets are paved with gold because in God’s kingdom gold is as cheap as sand and gravel. What we use to decorate bathroom fixtures or wear upon our bodies will be nothing more than street material in God’s heaven.

When was the last time any of us wore a piece of gravel as a pendant? Or stored up sand for ourselves?

In heaven, gold will be nothing more than gravel and sand!

How do we sort it all out?

Look to Jesus.

Study the beatitudes.

Ponder the Book of Proverbs.

Feed your soul on good things.

Things that build you up and encourage you to a noble life.

Things that tell the truth and commend you to a life of service and sacrifice.

Pay attention:

Fear-mongers are working over time these days.

Fear mongers warning us about gays and lesbians who “want to destroy our nation and dismantle the family.”

“Muslims are going to take over the world and make us all bow the knee to Allah.”

Jesus Camps and fundamentalist churches harp upon a consistent theme: “nefarious plans are underway to take away our rights, take away our guns, tell us what to eat, and turn us into a socialist state.”

Peddling boogiemen and monsters under the bed and in the closet.

Turn on TV and pay attention to the fear-ads.

Illness is a big fear, “But don’t be afraid, we’ll sell you drugs; and if we have to read the fine print to you about side-effects, we’ll read real fast, even as we play beautiful music and show beautiful people prancing around with health and vigor.”

Home security is a big fear, “But don’t be afraid, we’ll sell you a home alarm system … and you’ll always be safe with us.”

Fear, fear, fear!

Dear Christian friends; pay attention to fear … when fears start to rise, hell draws near.

Fear is Satan’s chief weapon against us … fear is Satan’s medicine to make us sick … sick with trepidation and sick with anxiety.

Ward it off and walk away!

Because Jesus says: “Fear not!”

Don’t be afraid, says Jesus, because it is your Father’s will to give you the kingdom [Luke 12:32].

John writes to his little church:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love [1 John 4:18].

How do we sort it all out?

Trust your own spirit, your own instincts.

What builds up is likely of God!

Even though God will challenge us to the core and push us to the limit, it will feel right.

God always feels right.

When something doesn’t feel right.

That’s a good sign that something is wrong.

That it’s not God, but Satan.

When something agitates without purpose.

When anxiety rises and suspicion grows.

When everyone who’s different begins to look like a threat … when other religions are condemned, when chasms grow deeper and fences grow taller,

A clear sign that we’re dealing with a script from hell.

I close with words from Proverbs:

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

Give heed to my reproof;

I will pour out my thoughts to you;

I will make my words known to you [Proverbs 1:22-23].

Amen and Amen!