Fulfillment of the Law

This is the message given on Sunday, August 30, 2020 in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 5:17-22.

            Every society has to have some sort of laws.  They may be written down in to books, or they may be just an understanding among people.  They may be made by a group or they may be made by one person.  But for a society to function, there has to be some sort of rules.  There has to be some understanding of what’s allowed and what’s not.

            In the United States, we’ve always prided ourselves on being a society of law and not of men.  What we mean by that, of course, is that we believe the law should apply equally to everyone.  You’ll hear people use the phrase, “No one is above the law.”  It does not always work that way in practice, of course--you can think of examples, and so can I--but the theory, at least, is that the rules of society apply to everybody, no matter who you are.

            The reason human societies have these laws, as you probably know, is because of sin.  If we all just did the right thing all the time, if we all acted as God wants us to act, there’d be no need for laws.  I suspect that’s how it is in heaven.  There’d be no need for law in heaven, because in heaven our sins will have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We’ll be the people we’re supposed to be, holy and spotless, made perfect by God’s love.  No law will be required to make us that way--we just will be that way by our faith in Jesus as the Savior and by God’s love and grace and mercy.

            The society of Jesus’ time was a human society, too, and so that human society had a lot of laws.  There were the laws enforced by the Roman government.  But there were also the Jewish religious laws, enforced by the religious leaders of the day.  There were a lot of those laws.  It started from the Ten Commandments, which were simple enough, but then there were all the laws of Moses, and then there were all the decisions of the judges, and then all the interpretations by the Rabbis, and so by the time Jesus came to earth there was a lot of law.  Not as much as we have in America today, probably, but still, it was a lot.

            And people believed in strict adherence to the law.  The Pharisees especially prided themselves on that.  And this was no small thing, because after all, these were God’s laws.  The Pharisees believed the way to get to heaven was to follow the law.  If you followed the law perfectly, God would be pleased and you’d go to heaven.  Following the law was, for them, a matter of eternal life and death.

            That’s why the Pharisees were so upset when Jesus did things like breaking the Sabbath law, healing people on the Sabbath.  They did not care so much about Jesus himself.  But Jesus was a very influential person.  If people saw Jesus breaking the religious laws, they might think they could break them, too.  The religious laws, which originated from God through Moses and then through all the judges and Rabbis and teachers, could be lost.

            And sometimes we look at Jesus that way, too.  We read about Jesus breaking the Sabbath law, and we think Jesus did not believe in the religious laws.  We say things like, “Well, when Jesus came, he freed us from the requirements of the religious laws.”  I think I’ve probably said that myself at some point.

            But if we say that, what do we do with our passage for today?  Listen again to what Jesus said about the law:

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Yes, Jesus did break the religious laws on occasion.  But he did not say the religious laws were no longer valid.  He did not say we could ignore them and break them with no consequences.  Jesus said the religious laws were tremendously important.  After all, those religious laws came from God.  Jesus would never have told us that we could just ignore God’s law.

But here’s the thing.  Let’s take the Ten Commandments for example.  Now, the Ten Commandments are wonderful.  They’re awesome.  You’ll never hear me say anything against the Ten Commandments.  One of the things I always do with my confirmation students is have them read the Ten Commandments.  But then I ask them a question.  I ask them “What is the thing Jesus talked about the most that is not included in the Ten Commandments?”

Anyone know what it is?

It’s love.  Love is not mentioned anywhere in the Ten Commandments.  They say we should not have any other gods, but they don’t say we should love God.  They say we should honor our parents, but they don’t say we should love them.  They say we should not speak falsely against our neighbor, but they don’t say we should love our neighbor.  Love is simply absent from the Ten Commandments.

Now, the Ten Commandments are still tremendously important.  Again, they came from God.  But what Jesus knew is that it’s possible to follow all the Ten Commandments, to follow all the Mosaic laws, and to follow all the rules and regulations, and yet not feel love.  Not love for God, not love for our neighbor, not love for anyone.  

And yet, what did Jesus tell us was the greatest commandment?  That we love the Lord our God.  And what did Jesus say was just like it?  That we love our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus was not saying God’s law was unimportant.  Again, he said it was very important.  But what Jesus said is that following the letter of the law is not enough.  We need to do more than that.

In fact, that’s what Jesus goes on to say in our reading for today.  In fact, he uses an example from the Ten Commandments:  you shall nor murder.  Jesus does not say that’s wrong.  It’s right.  We’re not supposed to commit murder.  But Jesus says it’s not enough to just avoid murder.  We need to go beyond that.

He talks about how we treat brothers and sisters, and as you probably know he’s not talking about that in the sense of blood relation.  He’s talking about our fellow believers, male or female.  He says we should not even be angry with each other.  We should not call each other names--“Raca” was a term of contempt in Aramaic.  And if we call each other fools, we are in danger of the fire of hell.

            That’s a tough standard.  But that’s how Jesus says we should look at all of the religious laws.  It’s not enough to just follow the letter of the law, even when it’s God’s law.  We need to apply those laws with love.  

            That’s why Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath day.  It’s not that Jesus thought the Sabbath law was unimportant.  He thought it was very important.  Jesus did not say we can do anything we want on the Sabbath.  He did not say go fishing or go golfing or watch a ball game on the Sabbath because the Sabbath does not matter.  But what he did say is that when you have a chance to help someone and show God’s love to someone, don’t let the fact that it’s the Sabbath day keep you from helping them and showing God’s love to them. 

            Jesus said to apply the Sabbath law with love.  That’s what Jesus said about all of God’s laws--apply them with love.  Don’t just put God ahead of other gods--love God.  Don’t just honor our parents--love them.  Don’t just avoid killing each other or lying about each other--love each other.  Love is the fulfillment of the law.  Love of God and love of each other.

            That’s our goal.  To honor God’s law, to follow God’s law, and to apply God’s law with love.  Will we always do that perfectly?  No, probably not.  I know I won’t.  That’s where repentance and forgiveness come into it.  When we fail, we need to ask for God’s forgiveness and then do whatever we can to change, so we can avoid failing the next time.  But we also should not use that as an excuse.  We should be grateful that God gives us another chance, but we need to do our best to take advantage of that chance.  God knows we are not perfect, but God expects us to do our best.  We should not take God’s forgiveness for granted.

            Jesus did not tell us we could ignore God’s law.  In fact, he said we should follow God’s law.  But he also said we should do more than just follow the letter of the law.  We should apply God’s law with love--love of God and love of each other.  That way, we will not just be following the law.  We will be following the Holy Spirit that gave us the law.

 

Manna, Man!

This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on August 23, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Exodus 16:1-20 and Matthew 6:25-34.

The Lord’s Prayer starts by acknowledging who God is.  We then pray for God’s kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done, hopefully while recognizing that we have a responsibility to do our part to bring God’s kingdom and God’s will closer to our world on Earth. Then comes the next sentence of the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread”.

            We’ve talked about how both Matthew and Luke have a version of the Lord’s Prayer, and how the two versions are different.  This sentence, however, appears in both Matthew’s version of the prayer and Luke’s version.  This was clearly something that stuck with the people who heard Jesus give this prayer.  “Give us this day our daily bread”.

            When the people of Jesus’ time heard this, they would’ve instantly thought of the story from Exodus we read today.  The people of Israel were out in the wilderness.  God, through Moses, had led them out of slavery in Egypt.  But now, they’re out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to eat.  And they’re not very happy about it.  They accuse Moses, and of course by implication accuse God, of having led them out into the wilderness to starve.  They say they’d have been better off to stay in slavery, because at least there they had enough to eat.

            So, God gives them something to eat.  Manna.  Moses refers to manna as “the bread the Lord has given you to eat”.  But, he tells them, they can only gather as much as they need for today.  Don’t try to save any of it for tomorrow.  That won’t work.  God is only giving you enough for today.

            Now of course, people being people, somebody had to test that, right?  Sure enough, some people tried to save some manna for the next day, and sure enough it was no good.  Surprise, God, speaking through Moses, told the truth.  Who’d have thought?  God only gave them enough for today.  They’d have to learn to take it one day at a time.  God would give them enough for tomorrow when tomorrow got there, and not before.

            That’s the story people would’ve thought of when Jesus said this line of the Lord’s Prayer.  And it goes along perfectly with what Jesus said in our reading from Matthew today.  Jesus tells us, don’t worry about whether you’ll have enough to eat or enough to drink or enough clothes to wear.  God knows we need those things.  Jesus says, what you should be trying to get is not food or drink or clothes, but God’s kingdom.  Jesus says that if we get that, everything else will fall into place.

            That probably accounts for the order in which we say these things in the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus tells us to first acknowledge who God is, then pray for God’s kingdom to come.  Only then are we supposed to ask for anything for ourselves.  And when we do, we’re supposed only ask for enough for today, and not worry about tomorrow.

            In fact, it seems to me that the order in which Jesus put things in this prayer is a tremendous example to us about keeping our priorities straight.  Jesus tells us that we need to keep our focus first and foremost on God.  Not on ourselves, and not on the things of this earth.  On God.  

Jesus acknowledges that our earthly needs are important, too.  It’s just that Jesus says they get a lower priority.  Our first priority should be serving God’s kingdom and doing our part to bring about God’s kingdom on earth.  In fact, if you think about it, probably the only reason we pray for our daily bread is that without it, we would not have the strength to do our part to bring about God’s kingdom on earth.  We need food and drink to survive.  But we’re not supposed to pray for those things for ourselves.  We’re supposed to pray for them so we can have the strength we need to serve God.

Which is also probably one of the reasons Jesus told us to pray for bread.  Bread, after all, is one of the staple foods of life.  There’s nothing fancy about bread.  I mean, nowadays there can be.  People bake all kinds of fancy breads now.  But in Jesus’ time, bread was pretty simple.  It was pretty basic.  That’s what Jesus told us to pray for:  just our basic needs.  Just pray for what we need, not what we might like to have.

            That’s not always the easiest thing to do.  There are a lot of times when we’re like those people of Israel who tried to save the manna for tomorrow.  We don’t really want just our daily bread.  We want enough for tomorrow and next week and next month.  

We’re like the people of Israel in another way, too.  Remember, in the book of Numbers, how the people complain about having nothing to eat but manna every day?  They go to Moses and say, “All we ever get to eat around here is manna.  Manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, manna for dinner, manna for supper.  Manna for a midnight snack.  Manna, manna, manna.  Man, oh man, am I tired of manna!  I’d rather eat a banana with my nana in Montana while wearing a bandana than eat any more of this stupid manna!”

And that’s true of us, too.  We don’t want to just have our basic needs met.  We don’t want just enough to get by.  We want a lot of other stuff, too.  We want to have a nice house and a nice car and a nice home entertainment system and enough money to do some traveling and to have some more nice stuff, too.

Now, before we go any farther, please understand that I am not pointing a finger here.  Everything I just said applies to me just as much as it applies to anyone else.  And I’m not saying we cannot be Christians and have some nice stuff.  I think we can.

But it gets back, again, to priorities.  And it also gets back to what we should be praying for.  Our first priority, in our prayers and in our lives, needs to be God’s kingdom.  Our first priority, in our prayers and in our lives, needs to be serving God.  Our first priority, again in both our prayers and our lives, needs to be to do our part to bring about God’s kingdom on Earth.

And our prayers, in terms of what we’re asking God to give us, is enough to give us the strength to do that.  If God chooses to bless us with other things, that’s up to God.  But God does not owe it to us to give us anything else, and Jesus did not tell us to pray for anything else.  Jesus told us to pray the basic things we need to get us through the day.  No more and no less.

What Jesus is telling us to do, basically, is take one day at a time.  And you know, think of how much less stress and worry there’d be in our lives if we did that.  Think how much easier our lives would be if we just asked God to give us enough to get us through today, and trusted that God would give us enough to get through tomorrow when tomorrow got here.

And then, think about how much less stress and worry there’d be in our lives if we carried that principle into other areas besides food.  I suspect a lot of us have “to-do” lists.  I know I do.  And that’s okay.  For me, it’s the only way I can keep from forgetting things, and sometimes I still forget things anyway.

But you know, sometimes, when we look at that “to-do” list, it’s kind of scary.  We look at all the things we have to do for a week, or for a couple of weeks, and then we look at the amount of time we have to do them in, and we think, “How am I ever going to get all this done?”  Have you ever done that?  Happens to me all the time.

But what if we applied the “daily bread” principle to that?  What if we prayed, “God, give me enough time and energy today to do the things I need to do today.  And I’ll trust you that, when tomorrow comes, you’ll give enough time and energy to do the things I need to do tomorrow.”

How much less would we worry if we did that?  How much less stress would we have in our lives?  How much better off would we be, how much happier would we be, how much more able to serve God would we be, if we just trusted God to give us the time and energy to get done all the things we need to do?

God, through Moses, told the people God would give them enough for today.  Jesus told us to pray that God give us enough for today so we have the strength to serve God’s kingdom.  And Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow, because as long as we serve God’s kingdom, God will take care of tomorrow.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  Acknowledge who God is, do our part to bring about God’s kingdom on earth, and ask for God to give us the basic things we need for today.  No more and no less.  If we pray this way, we can be pretty confident that God will answer our prayer.

 

Dealing With It

I got to see my Mom last Friday!  It wasn’t a visit like the old days, of course.  We had to be outdoors.  We had to be six feet apart.  We had to wear masks.  We could not make any physical contact.  And it could only be for a half hour.  But it was a lot better than the visits we’ve had, where we had to try to visit through a window which was open maybe an inch. 

It was the first time I’d seen my Mom in person, rather than through the window, in about six months.  It was really good to see her, even for a short time.  For ninety-five, she’s doing very well.  She has a few problems, but who doesn’t at ninety-five?  She doesn’t have nearly as many problems as a lot of people her age, for which we are grateful.

The restrictions on visits are frustrating.  I’m not going to get into the merits of wearing masks or social distancing or any of that stuff--what you think is what you think, and I don’t suppose I could change your mind even if I wanted to.  I certainly understand the need to protect a vulnerable population, such as you have in a nursing home.  

But even if you believe the rules are necessary, they’re still frustrating.  I want to give my Mom a hug.  I want to see her whole face, not just the part that’s visible outside the mask.  I want to visit her as long as I want, not just for a half hour.  But that’s not the way it is.  I can like that, or I can not like it, but I have to deal with it, because I can’t do anything about it.

A lot of life is like that--we have things we don’t like, but we have to deal with them, because we can’t do anything about them.  That’s especially been true in the age of COVID.  A lot of people have been praying for God to put an end to this pandemic.  But so far, it has not happened.  We don’t know why not, but it hasn’t.  And so, we have to keep dealing with the pandemic and with all the problems and disruptions it causes.

But you know, that happened in the Bible all the time.  Not a pandemic, specifically, but things happened that people did not like.  And they prayed to God to change them.  And--things did not change.  For example, the Apostle Paul wrote about praying for God to remove an ailment he had, what he called a thorn in his side.  And God did not do it.  So Paul just had to deal with it.

How do you react when you ask God to do something, and God does not do it?  Do you keep praying, hoping God will change His mind?  There’s nothing wrong with that, up to a point.  God may be testing us, making us prove to ourselves that what we’re asking really is what we want.  God may be waiting for the right time to act.  Just because God does not do what we ask right away does not necessarily mean that God is not going to do what we ask.

But at some point, we need to recognize that God has heard our prayer, God has considered our request, and God has said no.  How do we react then?  Do we get upset with God?  Do we doubt God?  Do we give up on God?  Or do we trust that God must have a good reason for saying no, even if we don’t understand what it is?  Can we have faith that God knows better than we do, that God’s plan is better than our plan, and continue to trust God even when what God is doing seems wrong to us?

That’s when we see how real our faith is.  That’s when we see how much we trust God.  When we think that what we’ve asked for is the best, not just for ourselves but for everyone, and God says no, our reaction to that is the test of how we truly feel about God.

It’s fine to keep praying.  But when God says no, may we have the faith to trust that God’s ways are better than our ways.  May we continue to trust God.

 

The Choice

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, August 23, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 5:10-16.

            I like compliments.  Maybe you do, too.  I like to hear people say good things about me.  I like it when someone says I’ve preached a good sermon, or written a good song.  I like it when someone thanks me for something I’ve done.  Those things make me feel good.  They make me feel like I’m doing things right.

            I don’t like criticism.  I don’t know very many people who do.  I don’t like it when people tell me I’m making mistakes, that I’m messing up.  I tend to automatically get defensive.  I resist criticism.  Maybe you do, too.

            Now, there are times when the criticism is entirely justified.  And sometimes, after I calm down a little and drop my defensiveness, I can see that.  In fact, I can think of times in my life that I’m very fortunate that someone cared enough about me to criticize me.  There are times when people said things to me that I did not want to hear, and things they probably did not want to say.  But they were things they knew I needed to hear, and they loved me enough to say them anyway.

            But you know, it’s one thing to get criticism that we know is legitimate and justified.  But have you ever been criticized that you knew was not justified?  Have you had a time when you knew you had absolutely done the right thing, and yet people criticized you for it anyway?  Or, have you had a time when people just made up stuff about you, stuff that had not the slightest resemblance to the truth, and criticized you for that?

            I suspect some of us have.  If it’s you, how did that make you feel?

            Probably not very good.  It probably made you mad.  You were probably hurt.  And the hardest thing of all was that some people you knew believed the criticism.  In fact, maybe some people you thought were your friends, people who you thought knew you and cared about you, believed the unfair, unjust, untrue criticism of you.  That goes beyond feeling hurt.  That’s a betrayal.  And a betrayal is one of the worst hurts of all.

            And yet, here’s Jesus.  He’s giving what we commonly call the beatitudes.  And as some of you know, Jesus is stating that lots of groups of people are blessed.  He’s saying things like “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and “Blessed are the merciful” and “Blessed are the peacemakers”.  And we read all that, and we nod our heads in agreement.  Probably his original audience did, too.  After all, all that makes good sense.

            But then, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”

            Now, I’ve been insulted plenty of times in my life.  After all, I used to be a lawyer.  And probably you’ve been insulted plenty of times in your life, too.  You get used to it after a while.  But I don’t think I’ve ever felt blessed by those insults.  And I have certainly never rejoiced about them.  But that’s what Jesus tells us to do.

            But of course, Jesus does not tell us to feel that way about just any insults.  Jesus says we should feel blessed when people insult us because of him.  We should rejoice when people insult us because of our faith in Jesus as the Savior.

            And that makes it make a little more sense, I guess.  But still.  We’re trying to bring people to Jesus, right?  We’re trying to spread the word about Jesus, so people can believe and have salvation and eternal life.  Why should we rejoice when our efforts meet with criticism and insults?

            Well, let’s look at the life of Jesus.  He was trying to bring people to God.  He was trying to spread the word.  He wanted people to believe and have salvation and eternal life.  And yet, what happened to him?  He was insulted.  He was persecuted.  His enemies made up all kinds of stories about him.  They were so desperate to find a way to bring him down, to stop him, that if they could not do it with the truth they would do it with lies.  In their minds, the end justified the means.  Whatever they had to do was okay, as long as it would stop Jesus.

            How did Jesus react to all that?  Did he get mad?  Did he fire back at his accusers?  No.  He really did not do anything.  He pretty much ignored his accusers.  He just kept doing what he did.  He just kept speaking the truth.

            I don’t know if the Bible tells us of a time when Jesus actually rejoiced when these things happened to him.  But I think he may have found satisfaction from it, in a way.  Jesus knew that what he was doing and what he was saying was going to upset people.  Jesus knew there were people who did not want to accept him, who did not want to hear the truth.  And so, when those people attacked him, and insulted him, and persecuted him, I suspect Jesus took that as a sign that he was doing things right.  He was doing what God the Father wanted him to do and saying what God the Father wanted him to say.  And that had to make Jesus feel good, to know that despite everything, he was following God the Father.

            You know, we think of Jesus sometimes as being kind and loving and peaceful.  And of course, Jesus was all of those things.  But Jesus was more than that.  Jesus had courage.  Jesus wanted peace, but not peace at any price.  Remember, Jesus is the one who said “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”

            It’s not that Jesus wanted trouble.  But again, he knew that there were people who would not want to hear what he had to say, and who would do anything to silence him.  And so, he had to make a choice.  He could back off, back down, keep quiet, get along, and go along.  Or, he could stand up for God, stand up for the truth, and deal with the consequences that he knew would follow.

            And of course, the second of those is what he did.  Jesus stood up for God.  He stood up for the truth.  And he dealt with the consequences.  And in the end, I suspect that he did rejoice, knowing that he had stayed faithful to God the Father and had done what he had been sent to earth to do.

            And that is what Jesus tells us to do.  We are supposed to be kind and loving and peaceful, too.  God wants us to be all of those things.  But God wants us to be more than that.  God does not want us to settle for peace at any price.  God wants us to have courage, the courage to speak the truth.  God wants us to speak the truth about Him, and the truth about Jesus Christ.  

            And in our society today, that’s going to cause trouble, just as it did in Jesus’ society in Jesus’ day.  If we speak God’s truth, there will be people who do not want to hear what we have to say.  There will be people who will want to silence us.

            Sometimes we think, in our small towns here in central South Dakota, that we’re isolated from that.  We think, well, standing up for God is not going to get me into trouble here.  Not in our little town.

            But it will.  Or at least, it can.  Not to the extent that it can other places, probably.  At least, not yet.  But even here, there are people who do not want to hear God’s truth.  And some of them will do what they can to silence us.  They probably won’t try to do us any physical harm.  But they may shun us.  They may mock us.  They may talk about us behind our backs.  We can lose friends by standing up for God’s truth.

            And when that happens, we’re going to have to make a choice.  We can back off.  We can back down.  We can keep quiet, get along, go along.  Or, we can stand up for God, stand up for the truth, and deal with the consequences that will follow from that. 

            That’s our choice.  You and I can be that salt of the earth Jesus talked about.  We can be that light of the world.  Or, we can lose our saltiness, and be good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot.  We can put our light under a bowl, where no one can see it.  

It’s the choice each of us has to make.  And I know some of us already have.  If you have not, at some point you will.  And if you have, at some point you’ll have to make it again.  Because every survey shows that in this country, people are less and less interested in hearing God’s truth.  In all kinds of ways, large and small, you and I, as Christians, are told that we should keep our faith to ourselves.  Even here, in small town South Dakota.

So, that’s our choice.  Keep quiet, go along, and get along.  Or stand up for God’s truth.  And rejoice at the criticism and the insults.  Because we know we are staying faithful to God, and that we will get our reward in heaven.

We know what choice Jesus told us to make.  We know what choice God wants us to make.  The question is, will we make that choice?

 

Thy Kingdom Come

This is the message given at the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, August 16, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Genesis 2:4-15 and Revelation 21:1-7.

We start the Lord’s Prayer with, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”.  We recognize that we’re praying to the holy, perfect God, and that’s very important.  Then, we pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’

            Just as with the first sentence of the prayer, this second sentence follows Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, not Luke’s version.  Luke simply says, “Thy kingdom come”.  Nothing about God’s will, nothing about earth, nothing about heaven.  Just “thy kingdom come.”  

I think it’s all implied, though.  I mean, if it’s God’s kingdom, then God rules over it.  That means that in God’s kingdom, God’s will is always done. And when we say, “Thy kingdom come,” that pretty much has to mean come to earth.  After all, heaven is already God’s kingdom.  There’d be no reason to pray for God’s kingdom to come to heaven.  What we’re praying for is God’s kingdom to come to earth.  We’re praying for God’s will to be done on earth, just like it already is in heaven.

You know, we pray that every week.  How many of us have actually thought about what that would really be like?  What would it look like, what would it be like, if God’s kingdom came to earth?

That brings us to our Bible readings for today.  Our reading from Genesis tells us what the earth was like in the beginning, before sin entered the world.  The reading from Revelation describes the new heaven and the new earth.

Listen to what it says in Revelation.  “God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”

Think about that.  No more tears.  No crying.  No pain.  No death.  No mourning.  There will be nothing but love and peace and joy.  We will always be in the presence of God.

That’s what we’re praying for when we pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth.  That’s what we’re praying for when we pray for God’s will to be done on earth.

It’s a wonderful vision.  It’s a wonderful dream.  It’s something we’d all like to see.

And it’s absolutely nothing like the world we live in now.  We live in a world where there are lots of tears.  There’s lots of crying.  There’s lots of pain.  And there’s lots of death and mourning.  On average, I conduct about twenty funerals every year.  And of course there are many other funerals in the parish that I do not conduct.

Everyone has lost loved ones.  Everyone knows someone who’s dealing with a serious physical problem.  Maybe it’s you, yourself.  Everyone here knows someone who’s in pain, whether it’s physical pain, emotional pain, or some other kind of pain.  And again, maybe it’s you, yourself.

When we think about the world we live in, and how far it is from the kind of world we pray for, it makes our prayer seem kind of empty.  I mean, yes, of course, we’d love to live in that world we’re praying for.  We’d love to have God’s kingdom, the kingdom of eternal peace and joy, come to the earth.  But it seems there’s about as much chance of it actually happening as there is of my flapping my arms and flying to the moon.

So, are these just empty words?  Are we praying for something that will never happen until that glorious day when Jesus comes back to earth?

Well, in one sense, yes.  As long as humans are what we are, this world will never be a perfect world.  And even if there was a fundamental change in human nature, there’d still be death and mourning.  Our physical bodies, as they’re constructed, will only last so long.  No matter how many medical advances we make, there will always come a point at which our bodies wear out and we die.

At the same time, I don’t think Jesus would’ve told us to pray empty words.  There has to be a reason Jesus told us to pray this way.  In fact, I think there are at least a couple of reasons.

One of them is that we are praying for that day when Jesus comes back to earth.  Because that is the only way this is truly going to happen.  And while Jesus said no one but God the Father knows when that day will come, there’s nothing wrong with praying for it.  The next to last verse in the Bible says, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.”  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with praying for that promise to be fulfilled.  There’s nothing wrong with asking God to have Jesus come soon.

But there’s another aspect of it, too.  I don’t think that, as Christians, you and I are supposed to just sit back, accept things as they are, and wait for Jesus to come again.  I think you and I are supposed to do what we can to make earth more like God’s kingdom.  You and I are supposed to do what we can to help God’s will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

We cannot stop death, of course.  But we can, sometimes, stop tears.  We can sometimes, stop crying.  We can, sometimes, stop pain.  And if we cannot stop it, we can at least lessen it, at least for a while.

After all, you and I are made in the image of God.  We claim to be God’s children.  We claim to worship God and to serve God.  That means that you and I are not here by accident or by chance.  We are not here to passively observe the world.  We are here to change the world.  The United Methodist mission statement says that we are to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  In other words, we are here to do our part to bring about God’s kingdom on earth.

What’s our part?  It’s what Jesus told us to do.  Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Every time we act out of love, we bring God’s kingdom a little closer to this earth.  Every time we are there to wipe the tears from someone’s eyes, we bring God’s kingdom a little closer to this earth.  Every time we ease someone’s pain, we bring God’s kingdom a little closer to this earth.

There are so many ways we can do that.  A lot of times, all it takes is being there.  A lot of times, all it takes is doing something to show someone we care.  A lot of times, all it takes is doing something to show someone that they’re not alone, that they have someone who loves them.

That can be challenging in these times of social distancing.  We don’t just happen to see people the way we used to.  But it still can be done.  We may need to be a little more intentional about it.  We may have to make more of an effort to make those contacts, to be there for people, to show them we care.  But it can be done.  God will even help us with it, if we ask him.  We can do this, if we decide we’re going to.  

But that’s the thing—we need to decide that we’re going to.  We need to be intentional about it.  That means we need to pay attention to the people around us.

I’ve had two professions in my life--lawyer and pastor.  By the nature of those professions, I’ve had the chance to learn things about people that most people don’t know.  And what I can tell you as a result of that is that pretty much everyone you will encounter is hurting in some way.  It may not look like it.  They may not be letting anyone but their family and close friends know.  In fact, sometimes we don’t even let our families and close friends know.  Sometimes, we suffer in silence.  We think there’s no one who’s interested, no one who cares, no one who could do anything anyway.

As God’s people, you and I need to be interested.  We need to care.  We need to realize that there is always something we can do.  If the church is not interested in people’s pain, who will be?  If the church does not care when people are hurting, who will?  If the church does not try to do something, who’s going to?

Am I perfect at this?  No.  I’m a long way from perfect at it.  I miss chances all the time to help hurting people.  It’s something I need to work at, and keep working at.  It’s something all of us need to work at and keep working at.

And in working at it, we need to rely on God.  Part of our caring, part of our doing something, is praying for hurting people.  We should not just pray and do nothing else, but we also should not run around doing things and not pray.  It’s like the old saying.  We should work as if everything depends on us, and we should pray as if everything depends on God.  Because both of those things are true.

We pray to a holy, perfect God.  We pray for that God’s kingdom to come on earth.  And then we work to bring God’s kingdom closer to coming on earth.  And then, we will be that much closer to the day when there truly are no more tears and there truly is no more pain.  We will be that much closer to the day when there will be nothing but love and peace and joy, and we will always be in the presence of God.

 

It's Who You Are

School started this week.  Do you remember what that felt like when you were a kid?  I always had kind of mixed feelings about it.  On the one hand, I really enjoyed summer and the freedom it gave me.  That was especially true when I was little, before Dad would put me to work.  But on the other hand, there was a part of me that was ready to go back to school.  I was ready for the structure of school, and to go back and start learning whatever it was I was supposed to learn.

But then, even in summer, I never stopped learning.  My Mom was a former teacher, and so she was always teaching all of us, summer and winter.  Not in formal classes, not in the sense of homeschooling the way it’s known now.  She just did it naturally.  Mom was a natural teacher.  She still is, really.  Put her somewhere where there are little kids, and she just automatically finds a way to teach them something.  It’s who she is.  It’s who she’s always been.

God gives each of us certain talents and abilities, more than we know, really.  Each of us has some talents and abilities that we will never develop, whether through lack of interest, lack of confidence, lack of time, or just because of the circumstances of our lives.  Each of us also has talents and abilities that we develop to a certain extent, but no more.  And there are a variety of reasons for that, too.

But I also believe that each of us has at least one talent or ability--maybe more--that we cannot help but use.  It may be something we do for a living.  It may be something we do as a hobby.  We may have never even thought of it as a specific talent or ability--it’s just something we do, something we’ve always done.  But that talent or ability is something God put inside of us.  And God put something inside of us that makes us determined to use that talent or ability.  We cannot help it.  It just comes naturally to us.  We use it without even thinking about it.  It’s just who we are.

And that’s true no matter what our age and no matter what our situation.  Sometimes, circumstances may keep us from using that talent or ability as much as we wish.  Mom is in a nursing home now, and because of the lockdown she cannot have little kids around her.  But that talent is still within her, and it finds ways to come out--with the residents, with the staff, with anyone she’s allowed to come in contact with.  It’s who she is, and it’s who she always will be.

What is it for you?  What’s that talent or ability that you cannot help but use, no matter what your circumstances are, because it’s just who you are?  Embrace that.  That’s something God put inside you.  It’s who God made you to be.  Embrace it, and use it to the extent you possibly can in service to God.

 

Pray and Let Go

The other night I had something on my mind.  What it was is not important.  But it was bothering me.  I went to bed, and it was still bothering me.  I prayed about it, but it was still bothering me.  I wasn’t sleeping very well.  I’d fall asleep, kind of, but not into a deep sleep, and in a little while I’d wake up.  And when I woke up, I’d start thinking about and praying about the situation again.

After a couple of hours, a thought occurred to me.  I thought, “Why am I worrying so much about this?  I’ve prayed about it.  I know God heard my prayer.  I know God will answer my prayer, in God’s way and at God’s time.  So what am I worried about?” 

And almost immediately, I felt better.  Before long I went back to sleep, and this time it was a deep sleep.  I stayed asleep for quite some time.  I had peace, because I was trusting God to handle the situation, rather than worrying about it and thinking I had to handle it myself.

So that’s my message for today.  Yes, it’s kind of short, but that’s it.  If there’s something bothering you, pray about it.  Then let it go.  God heard your prayer.  Trust God to answer your prayer, in God’s way and at God’s time.  And trust that God’s ways and God’s timing are always the best.

It may not always be easy to do that.  But when we do, we’ll feel better.  We’ll be at peace, trusting that God will handle the situation, and confident that God will handle it better than we would have.

Trust God.  And have a great day!

It's Worth It

 This is the message given on Sunday morning, August 16, 2020 in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 4:18-22.

            The Bible is an amazing book in a lot of ways.  But to really understand it, you have to pay attention while you’re reading it.  Because one of the things that happens so often in the Bible is that it will describe an incredible thing in a very matter-of-fact way.

            Take our Bible reading today.  It says, “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew...“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.  Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John... Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

            Think about that.  Here we have four people, two sets of brothers.  They’re all fishermen.  They’re going about their business, getting ready to go out on the water to fish.  And all at once, Jesus walks by.

            The Bible gives us no indication that any of them knew who Jesus was.  It gives us no indication that they’d met him or even heard about him.  And yet, when Jesus says “follow me”, they immediately drop everything and follow him.  They leave their boats and all their equipment on their boats.  They leave their families.  They leave their homes.  They leave their way of life.  They leave everything--literally--to follow Jesus.

            And they leave it for--what?  I mean, yes, to follow Jesus, but did they have any idea what that was going to mean?  If they did, the Bible gives no indication of it.  There is nothing in the Bible that shows that any of them--Peter, Andrew, James, John--had even the slightest clue what they were getting into.  

            And yet, the way this is written, they did not hesitate.  They did not even really think about it.  Jesus said follow me, and they followed.  No fear.  No worry.  Not even any real decision-making process.  They just followed.  Again, they left literally everything to follow Jesus.

            The Bible writes this so matter-of-factly, as if it was no big deal, really.  And yet, when you think about it, it’s one of the most amazing things I can imagine.  I mean, try to put yourself in their position.  You’re at your work, or you’re at your home.  You’re doing whatever it is you do on a normal day.  All of a sudden, some guy you’ve never seen before and never heard of says “follow me”.  Would you just drop everything and follow him?  I cannot even imagine doing that.

            Now, of course, this was Jesus.  And Jesus was the divine Son of God, whether any of these four knew it at the time or not.  There may well have been something about Jesus, some sign of that divinity, that made people want to follow him even when they did not know who he was.  But still, giving up everything you have to follow him.  It’s pretty incredible.

            It says something about the people Jesus chose.  Jesus chose people who had courage.  He chose people who were willing to take chances.  He chose people who were decisive.  He chose people who were willing to make a commitment and stick with it, even if it meant giving up everything.

            I wonder sometimes.  You know we’re told about the people Jesus called who came and followed him.  Were there any people he called who said no?  Now let me be clear that that’s pure speculation on my part.  The Bible does not say anything about Jesus calling someone to be one of the twelve disciples and having them refuse.  But of course, it does not specifically say that did not happen, either.  Could it be that Jesus called someone, and that someone did not have the courage to follow?  They just were not willing to take that chance, to make that commitment?  They were could not decide, they hesitated, and so Jesus just moved on?  You could probably write a pretty good story based on that.  In fact, maybe someone already has, I don’t know.

            For Peter and Andrew, James and John--at this time, they did not know who Jesus was.  Even if there was something about him that made people want to follow, that something was not enough for them to really understand.  And yet, again, they were willing to leave everything behind to follow Jesus.  That’s a pretty awesome faith.

            You and I, of course, know who Jesus is.  At least, we say we do.  We know that Jesus is the divine Son of God.  We know he is the Savior, the one who died to take the punishment for our sins.  And then he rose from the dead, conquering death not just for himself but for all of us, so we know we can have salvation and eternal life through our faith and God’s grace.

            We know all that.  Or, again, at least we say we do.  So could we do what Peter, Andrew, James, and John did?  Could we leave everything behind to follow Jesus?  Could we leave behind a business, our possessions, our home, even our family, to follow Jesus?

            As I thought about this, I thought about how Wanda and I made the decision that I’d become a pastor.  Now, I want to make clear that I’m not putting myself forward here as the role model for everyone to follow.  And I certainly am not putting myself up on a level with Peter, Andrew, James, or John.  That’s not the point.

            I did not give up everything to become a pastor.  Far from it.  We kept what possessions we had and what money we had.  I did give up a business, but I also knew I was going to get a salary as a pastor.  And I did not give up my family--I would not have done this if Wanda had not been completely behind it all the way.

            We did give up some things, though.  We gave up a community we loved.  We were leaving friends behind.  We gave up a life style we were comfortable with.  And while we knew where we were going, it was to a community we knew nothing about.  And we really had no idea what we were really getting into in this new life we were starting.

            We did it for two reasons.  One--the main one--is that we were convinced this was what God wanted us to do.  We truly believed--and still believe--that God was calling us to leave our old life in Wessington Springs and enter a new life in ministry.  There were various things that confirmed that, things I won’t get into now, but we had no doubt that God was calling us to what we called our new adventure, an adventure in ministry.

            But the second reason we were able to do this, to leave behind the things we did, is that we were convinced that what we were going toward was better than what we were leaving behind.  We did not know exactly what it would be.  But we believed that if we followed God’s call, God would lead us to where we needed to go, and would lead us to a better life than we had before.

            And maybe that’s the point.  When we have the courage to follow Jesus, to go where the Lord wants us to go, we can be confident that what we are going toward is better than what we are leaving behind.  

Now, I don’t want that to sound glib.  I don’t want to say it lightly.  The things we leave behind are real things.  We may not be called to leave everything behind, the way the first disciples were, but we will be called to leave some things behind.  They’ll be different things for each of us, because God’s call is different for each of us.  But when Jesus calls, following that call is going to force us to leave something behind.  And it’s not going to be easy.  

But it is going to be worth it.  When we have the courage to follow God’s call, God will lead us to something better than what we leave behind.  That’s not to say it will always be easy.  But it will be worth it.

In the years that Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the others followed Jesus, do you think they ever had any regrets?  Do you think they ever wished they’d said no to Jesus and kept being fishermen?  

I think it’s possible.   After all, they went through some hard times with Jesus.  Certainly, after Jesus was killed and before they knew he had risen from the dead, they might have had second thoughts.  After all, they thought Jesus was dead and that they would be next.  We could certainly understand if they had thought, “Man, I should’ve just stayed on the boat and caught fish all my life.  It was a good life.  I was doing okay.  It was safe.”

But ultimately, if they had those second thoughts, they did not act on them.  Because Jesus appeared to them.  Jesus was alive.  And they knew it had all been worth it.  They knew that what they had gained by following Jesus was much better than what they’d left behind.  Because what they had gained was salvation and eternal life.  And they were determined to do whatever they could to spread the word to others, so they, too, could have salvation and eternal life.

            God is making a call on each of our lives.  God is making a call on your life.  I don’t know what it is--that’s between you and God.  But I know God is calling you.  And I know that, if you want to follow God, you’re going to have to give something up.  You may have to give a lot of things up.  But what you’re going to gain by following God is going to be a lot better than what you have to leave behind.

            So think about it.  Pray about it.  Ask God’s Holy Spirit to show you where God is calling you to go and what God is calling you to do.  And then pray for the courage to follow.  You may not know what you’re getting into.  But I promise you it will be worth it.

 

Who Are You Talking To?

 This is the message from the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, August 9, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Revelation 4:1-11 and Matthew 5:38-48.

            The first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, as I’m sure you know, is this:  “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”

            At least, that’s the first sentence the way we say it now.  The Bible gives us two versions of the Lord’s Prayer, one from Matthew and one from Luke.  And they are not identical.  In the first sentence of the prayer, we use Matthew’s version.  Luke does not say, “Our Father”, he simply says, “Father”.  Luke also does not say, “in heaven”.  He leaves that out.

            We don’t know if Luke left that out for a reason, or if it’s just a different way different people remembered the prayer.  Remember, these gospels were probably written thirty years or so after the death of Jesus.  It would not be at all surprising if, that many years later, there were slight differences in the way people remembered exactly what Jesus said.

            I think there is a point to be made here, though.  God certainly is in heaven, of course.  We heard about that in our reading from Revelation today.  But God is also present on earth.  That may or may not be a physical presence, but as Christians, we believe that God is active in our lives through the Holy Spirit.  In other words, God is in heaven, but God is not only in heaven.  God is here on earth, too.

            The part of the prayer I want to focus on today, though, is the part Matthew and Luke agree on.  They both tell us that Jesus said of God the Father, “hallowed be your name”.

            That word “hallowed” is an old English word.  We rarely use it outside of the Lord’s Prayer.  The only reason we continue to use it there, really, is out of tradition.  There’s a more common word we could use.  That word is “holy”.  Something that’s hallowed is holy.

            So what does it mean to say God is holy?  I mean, just because we use that word more does not mean we necessarily know what it means.  What it means, in this context, is “being entitled to worship as being sacred”.  So when we say that God is holy, we mean that God is worthy of worship.

Why do we need to start our prayer with that?  I mean, God already knows that He is holy, right.  God certainly already knows that He is worthy of worship.  God does not need to hear it from us.  But Jesus told us we need to say it to God.  And Jesus told us it was the first thing we need to say in our prayer to God.

I think at least part of the reason is that, when we begin praying by saying God is holy, it focuses our prayer.  It forces us to think about who it is we’re praying to.  We’re praying to God.  We’re praying to someone who is greater than anyone or anything we can imagine, in every sense of the term.  God is more powerful than anyone or anything we can imagine.  God is wiser.  God sees more.  God knows more.  God is stronger.  God has more ability.  God is more caring.  God is more loving.  God is better than anyone or anything that ever was, ever is, or ever will be.

In fact, God is perfect.  That’s what Jesus says in our reading from Matthew.  God is absolutely perfect, in every way we can imagine and in ways we cannot imagine.  God is so perfect that God even loves God’s enemies.  God is so perfect that God continues to try to change even those who persecute him.  Those are the things Jesus told us to do if we want to be perfect.  The reason he said that is that those are the things our perfect God does.

When we begin our prayer by saying God is holy, we remind ourselves that we are praying to a God who is worthy of our worship.  God is worthy of our worship because God is perfect.  And I think, when we remember that, it changes the way we pray.

How many of us, when we pray, include “the list”?  You know what the list is.  The list is the list of stuff we want God to do.  Now, the list may or may not be things for ourselves.  It may be prayers for healing for loved ones.  It may be prayers for our country or for our world.  And if it is things for ourselves, it’s not necessarily because we’re greedy or selfish.  There are times when we need to turn to God for help with things.  In fact, there are times when we have nowhere else to turn but to God.

Using “the list” is not necessarily a bad type of prayer.  After all, Jesus told us that if we ask, we will receive.  But I think a lot depends on our attitude.  

If we come to God with a list of demands, if we start treating God like some sort of cosmic vending machine where all we do is put in a little money and press a button and out pops whatever we want, well, I don’t know that God really appreciates that type of prayer.  And I think that if we start out our prayer by recognizing who God is, by saying that we worship God because we know that God is better and greater than we can imagine and that God is perfect in every way, including ways we cannot even think of, we’re a lot less likely to treat God that way.  We’re a lot less likely to demand that God do this or that.  

We’re a lot more likely, instead, to come to God humbly.  We’re a lot more likely to recognize what a privilege it is that God allows us to come to him.  We’re a lot more likely to see that it’s an honor to be allowed to pray to God at all.  And we’ll see how arrogant and foolish and just downright ridiculous it is for us to come to God and try to tell God what to do.  Instead, we’ll very quietly and humbly ask God to consider doing what we ask.

And we’ll also be a lot less upset with God when God does not do what we’ve asked.  Because we’ll realize that God, being perfect, cannot make mistakes.  When God does not do what we want, it’s not because God messed up.  It’s because God knows better than we do.  It’s because what we asked for is not what’s best, or because the timing is not right, or because God has something else in mind for us.  We’ll see that it’s we who’ve made the mistake, not God.

That does not necessarily make things any easier to accept, of course.  There are those among us who are suffering very serious medical conditions.  There are among us who’ve lost loved ones recently.  There are those among us who are dealing with family issues, or broken relationships, or family problems.  There are all kinds of things that happen in this world that just seem wrong.  And when we pray about those things, and we ask God to take care of them--not out of selfishness on our part but because we honestly want those things to be made right--and nothing happens, or sometimes the situation even seems to get worse, well, it’s hard to understand why God does not seem to be taking care of things.  And sometimes, we get upset or even angry with God for not taking care of things the way we think God should.

I understand that.  I’ve done that.  I’m sure God understands it, too.  But here’s the thing.  When we get upset or angry with God, what we’re really saying--whether we know it or not--is that God owes it to us to take care of us.  We’re saying that we deserve to have God take care of things for us.  We don’t necessarily intend to say that.  In fact, we probably don’t realize we’re saying it.  But if we think about it, that’s what we’re saying:  that we deserve to have God take care of things the “right” way, the way we want God to take care of them.

But the other aspect of recognizing that God is perfect is recognizing that you and I are not.  We are flawed, sinful people.  Because of that, God does not owe us anything.  We don’t “deserve” any good things from God.  In fact, the truth is that all of us, most definitely including me, are very lucky that God does not give us what we deserve.  Pretty much anything God gives us is much better than what we deserve.  God does that for us because God loves us, not because we deserve it.

Jesus told us to begin our prayers by remembering who God is.  God is holy.  God is worthy of worship.  God is perfect.  God does not owe it to us to even hear our prayers, much less answer them.  God allows us to come to God with our prayers because God loves us.

So when we pray, let’s pray this way.  Let’s remember who God is.  Let’s go to God humbly.  Let’s go to God knowing that prayer is not a right, it’s an honor and a privilege given to us by God.  And no matter what happens, let’s trust our holy and perfect God.