No Limits

This is the message given at the ecumenical service at Oahe Manor Sunday, February 9, 2014.  The Bible verses used are 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.

            There were sixteen verses in that reading, but I want to just focus on one of them.  Verse nine.  It says “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived--those things God has prepared for those who love him.”

            To me, that’s a really profound verse.  Because I think that too often, you and I allow ourselves to be defined by our limitations.  In other words, we spend way too much time focusing on the things we cannot do.  We do that in the church all the time.  We think, “Well, we’re just a small church.  We don’t have much money.  We really cannot do a whole lot.”  We do it in our personal lives, too.  We think, “Well, I’m only one person.  I don’t have much money or much power.  I really cannot do a whole lot.”

            While I don’t know this for a fact, I suspect that in here, it’s even easier to be defined by your limitations, because you’re reminded of those limitations every single day.  There are all kinds of things you used to be able to do that you cannot do.  There are all kinds of things you used to be involved in that you can no longer be involved in.  And I’m sure that bothers you.  You would not be human if it did not.

            But while it’s natural to be bothered by our limitations, we need to not let those limitations define us.  We need to not be so focused on the things we cannot do that we miss the chance to do the things we can do.

            I assume most of here, maybe all of us here, claim to be Christians.  And a Christian is supposed to serve God.  Not because God will send us to hell if we don’t, but because we love God and we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and because of that we need to serve God.  And that need to serve God never goes away.  We’re never allowed to retire from being a Christian.  No matter how old we are, no matter what our physical condition is, if we claim to be Christians, we still love God, we still believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and we still need to serve God in some way.

            Do we need to be realistic about that?  Of course.  God does not ask us to do things we cannot do.  God is not going to ask you or me to go run a marathon, or to lift heavy things, or to anything else that we physically cannot do.  God does not ask us to do things we cannot do.  But God does ask us to do as much as we can do.

            And while we need to be realistic, we also need to remember who the God is that we serve.  We serve the God who created the universe out of nothing.  We serve the God who made it rain for forty days and forty nights.  We serve the God who produced food for the Israelites when they were starving in the desert.  We serve a God for whom the impossible is possible.  In fact, we serve a God for whom the impossible is not even hard.

            And that’s where our bible verse comes into it.  God has prepared things for us that are beyond our ability to understand.  God has prepared things for us that no eye has ever seen.  God has prepared things for us that no ear has ever heard.  God has prepared things for us that no human mind has ever conceived of.

            So while we need to be realistic about our limitations, we should not place those same limitations on God.  We serve a God who is not limited by anything except God’s own decisions about what’s right and what’s wrong.  The only limitations God has are the ones God creates.  God can, literally, do anything God chooses to do.  We should not place limitations on God.

            And we also should not place limitations on what we can do with God’s help.  Because that’s simply another way of placing limitations on God, the same God we just said had no limitations other than the ones God creates.  Our verse says that God has things beyond our imagination planned for those who love God.  If you love God, that means you.  And, it means me.

            I know some of you probably have a hard time believing that.  You look at yourself and at your condition and you think, “What could God possibly have planned for me?”  Well, I don’t know what God has planned for you.  I don’t know what God has planned for me, either.  What I can tell you is that eight years ago, I had no idea that God was planning for me to become a pastor.  It did not seem like a realistic thing for me to do.  But God was not limited by my definition of what was realistic.  And here I am.

            God is not limited by your definition of what’s realistic, either.  So stay open.  Most of all, keep your heart open.  God gives each one of us chances to serve God every day.  That’s true even when you live in the manor or the villa.  God gives each one of us chances to serve God.  Sometimes, those ways to serve are things we never dreamed of.  But if we pay attention, we’ll notice them.  And if we trust God, we’ll follow through on them.  We’ll stop putting limitations on ourselves.  Instead, we’ll trust the leading of God.  Because nothing is impossible for God.

Heart Burn

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 9, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Luke 24:13-35.

            One of the things about living in a small town is that wherever you go in town, you run into people you know.  When you go to the store, or go to the cafe, or go to the game, or wherever, you’ll see people you know and people who know you.  To Wanda and me, that’s one of the really cool things about living here.  One of the things we did not like about being in the Sioux City area was that we’d never see anyone we knew when we went to the grocery store.  Even the checkers seemed like they were different every time.  We like being in a place where we know people and where people know us.

            But you know, even when you like that, it’s kind of nice once in a while to go where you can be anonymous.  And as we finish our sermon series, “Road Trip!”, that’s one of the neat things about a road trip.  For a week or two, you can go someplace where nobody knows you.  We would not want to do that all the time, but just for a little while, for a break, it’s kind of a nice thing.

            Once Jesus’ ministry started, of course, he never had that.  Everywhere he went, people know who he was.  He was a celebrity.  We read last week about when he entered Jerusalem and all the people were cheering for him, but that was just one of the many examples of when Jesus attracted a crowd.  People followed him everywhere.

            The only way Jesus could talk to anyone anonymously was to die.  And that’s what happened in our reading for today.  This is pretty much the last road trip Jesus took on earth.  It was on the road to Emmaus.  It took place after Jesus had died and was raised from the dead.  

As our scene opens, two people are walking along the road.  We have no idea who they were.  We’re told one of them was named Cleopas, but we have no idea who Cleopas was.  There are theories, but that’s all they are.  We’re told nothing about him here, and he never shows up in the Bible again.  We’re not even told that he’s a he:  Cleopas appears to be a male name, but nothing in the Bible says Cleopas could not have been female.  But at least we get Cleopas’ name.  We don’t even get the name of the other person.

So they’re talking about the events of the day, about Jesus having been crucified.  And then, Jesus shows up and starts talking to them.  They don’t recognize him.  We’re told “they were kept from recognizing him”, which would indicate that maybe Jesus had done something to disguise himself or something, but in fact it probably would not have taken much to keep them from recognizing him.  I mean, if I knew that someone I cared about had died, and all at once they came up and started talking to me, I probably would not recognize them, either.  I might think that they looked kind of like my old friend, but I would not think it was my old friend, because, well, I knew my friend was dead, so it would not be possible.

Jesus asks them what they’re talking about, and they cannot believe it.  How can he not know?  I mean, this would be like if it was September 12, 2001 and we were talking about the Twin Towers collapsing and someone comes up and says, “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”  How could somebody not know this?  But still, they tell Jesus all about it.

At least, they tell Jesus about it to the best of their ability.  They tell Jesus what’s happened, but they don’t tell him what it means.  They cannot do that, because they don’t understand.  So then Jesus starts explaining it to them.  He tells them the meaning of everything that’s happened.  He goes back to Moses and all the prophets, explaining to them how through Jesus all those old prophecies have come true.

And they still don’t know who he is.  But, they invite him to spend the night with them.  They sit down to eat.  Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and breaks the bread, just like what happened at the Last Supper.  And then, suddenly, they recognize Jesus.  And then, just as suddenly, Jesus disappears.

Why did he do that, do you suppose?  Why, when they recognize Jesus, does Jesus disappear?  We’re not told.  The thing is, though, it’s okay.  It’s okay because, as Cleopas and the other person say, their hearts were burning within them while Jesus talked with them and opened the Scriptures to them.  And they could not wait to go and tell others what had happened to them.

It was quite a journey of faith the followers of Jesus went on.  When Jesus was around, when he was preaching and teaching and everything, his followers were really excited.  Their faith was really strong.  But then, things went bad.  Jesus was arrested.  Jesus was killed.  And the faith of his followers became really weak, almost non-existent.  They pretty much gave up, thinking it was all over.  

Then, Jesus came to them.  And even though they did not know who he was, just the fact that he was there made their faith stronger.  Then, they started to understand some things, and their faith got even stronger.  And when they recognized him, their faith got stronger still.  It got so strong that, even though he left immediately, his leaving did not weaken their faith.  They now knew who Jesus was.  And they knew that, even though he was not physically present, he would be with them in their hearts through the Holy Spirit forever.

Does that sound a little bit like the journey of faith we go on in our lives?  I think it does, at least for some of us.  We start out, young in our faith, and we get really excited.  Our faith gets really strong.  But then, we start to have trouble.  We start to have problems.  Life beats us down.  We get discouraged.  And our faith gets pretty weak.  In fact, sometimes, it feels like our faith is pretty much non-existent.  We start to give up, thinking it’s all over.

And then, Jesus comes to us.  We may not know who he is at first, but just the fact that he’s there makes our faith stronger.  Then, we start to understand some things, and our faith gets even stronger.  And then, we recognize him, and our faith gets stronger still.  It gets so strong that, even though Jesus is not physically present, that does not weaken our faith.  Because now we know who Jesus is.  And we know that he will be with us in our hearts through the Holy Spirit forever.

You know, one of the things we talk about sometimes is how to tell the difference between God’s will and our will.  Because we can be really good at fooling ourselves sometimes.  We humans can rationalize almost anything if we want to badly enough.  We can be really good at convincing ourselves that what we want to do is what God wants us to do.  We may not be able to convince anyone else, but we can convince ourselves, and that’s all we need to do.

But I think what Cleopas and the other person experienced shows us how to tell the difference.  When we are in the presence of God and we feel that burning in our hearts, then we know.  We know that what we’re feeling actually is real.  We know we’re not just fooling ourselves.  We know it because we feel God in our hearts and in our lives.

You see, there’s a reason Jesus could not go anywhere and be anonymous while he was on earth.  God does not want to be anonymous.  We’re not supposed to go through our lives not knowing who God is and what God does.  God has no desire to be an unknown God or an anonymous God.  We’re supposed to come to know God and to love God.  We’re supposed to do that with our all of our hearts, all of our minds, all of our souls, and all of our strength.  Every bit of our selves, everything that makes us who we are, is supposed to know God and to love God.  That’s what God wants.

And maybe that’s why Jesus disappeared when Cleopas and the other person recognized him.  Because once we know who Jesus is, once we know him and love him with all of our hearts, all of our minds, all of our souls, and all of our strength, once our hearts burn within us, Jesus has nothing more he needs to do.  The Holy Spirit takes over and leads us the rest of the way.  Then, we do what Cleopas and the other person did.  We go and tell others what’s happened, and we encourage them know God and love God, too.

God does not want to be anonymous.  As Christians, we’re not supposed to be anonymous, either.  So let’s do what Cleopas and his friend did.  Let’s welcome Jesus into our hearts and into our lives.  And then, let’s go and tell others what’s happened, so they can welcome Jesus into their hearts and into their lives, too.

Here's Our Chance

This is the message given in the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 2, 2014.  The Bible verses are Luke 19:28-44.

            We’ve been doing a sermon series called “Road Trip!”, looking at things that happened to Jesus and the disciples while they were on the road.  You know, we usually think of a road trip as something that’s fun.  We’re going to go to different places, we’re going to see different things, we’re going to do things we don’t usually do, and we won’t really have to worry about anything.  And we usually have people we really care about along with us:  our family, or maybe some close friends.  We think of a road trip as something we’re really going to enjoy, something we’ll look back on with happy memories for a long time.

            And I’m sure there were times when Jesus’ life on the road was like that.  He did, after all, have the disciples with him, and those were people he really cared about.  He cared about everyone, of course, but these were the closest friends Jesus had while he was on earth.  And they did go to different places and see different things.

            Still, I suspect there were times when Jesus’ life on the road was anything but fun.  After all, it was not exactly a worry-free, carefree time for him.  He was constantly teaching, constantly healing.  Everything he did, or at least everything he did that we know about, was done with a reason and for a purpose.  Jesus never really had a time when he could just let go and relax, and least not for very long.

            And even though the disciples were the closest friends Jesus had on earth, I suspect Jesus was lonely a lot of the time.  Because even though the disciples believed in him, they never really understood him.  They never really understood who he was and what he was doing.  That’s probably one of the reasons we read about times when Jesus went off by himself to talk to God the Father.  There just were some things he could not talk about with the disciples, because there was no way he could make them understand.

            And there’s one other thing that makes Jesus’ time on the road different from the road trips we take.  For us, a road trip is a temporary thing.  We’ll be gone for a week, maybe two, maybe a little longer.  But then we come home.  And usually, we’re happy to be home.  We may not like having to get up early and go to work and all that, but even so, there’s a part of us that’s happy to get back into our regular routine.

            Jesus did not have a regular routine to get back into.  Jesus did not have a home to go to.  We read last week about how he said that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but that he, the Son of Man, had nowhere to lay his head.  Jesus knew that his road trip was not going to end happily.  His road trip was going to end up on the cross.

            And in our reading today, Jesus is nearing the end of the road.  This is a reading we usually have for Palm Sunday, where Jesus is making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  And the crowd is going nuts.  They’re cheering for him, they’re spreading their cloaks in front of him, sort of like rolling out the red carpet, you might say.  We’re told they were shouting, “Blessed is the king, who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

            And of course Jesus knows that all this cheering, all this excitement, all this spreading of cloaks and all the rest, does not mean a thing.  He knows that in just a few days, all these people are going to abandon him.  Some of them are even going to demand that he be killed.  Even his closest friends, the disciples, are going to abandon him.  All this cheering, all this applause, and it’s all totally meaningless.

            How would you feel, if you were Jesus, and you knew all that?  I don’t know about you, but I think I’d be pretty mad.  I’d be ready to chew them out.  All these people claiming to love me, and none of them are going to stand by me.  Not only that, but if I had Jesus’ power, and I got mad, I’d--well, I’m not sure just exactly what I’d do, but I don’t think anyone would want to be in the way when I did it, I’ll tell you that.

            But that’s not what Jesus did.  Jesus did not use his power to do anything to these people.  He did not chew them out.  He did not even get mad.  What did he do?  He cried.

            He did not cry for himself.  He did not cry because of what they were going to do to him.  Jesus did not feel sorry for himself at all.  He felt sorry for the people.  He cried because of the chance they were missing.  Here was their chance for peace, and for salvation, and they were missing it.  And they were going to miss it.  And it made Jesus sad.

            You know, sometimes people have the idea that God is a vengeful, punishing God.  We get the idea that God is watching everything we do, just waiting for us to do something wrong so God can nail us for it.  I don’t think God works that way, and our reading for today is one of the reasons I don’t think so.  If ever Jesus had a reason to be angry with people, it would be here, knowing that soon he was going to be killed.  But Jesus was not angry.  He was sad.

            I think that’s how God reacts when we turn away and do our own thing instead of following God.  God is not angry with us.  God is sad.  God is sad for us. God is sad because of the chance we’re missing.  God knows that if we would just live our lives the way God wants us to, if we would just say the things God wants us to say and do the things God wants us to do, our lives would be so much better.  God knows that if we would just trust God and let God guide us and direct our lives, we would be so much happier.  We would have so much less to worry about if we would just turn our lives over to God instead of insisting on doing things our own way.  We have this wonderful chance to live lives of peace and joy, and we’re missing it.  Not always, not a hundred percent of the time, but a lot of the time.  And it makes God sad.

            Now, don’t take this the wrong way.  There are passages in the Bible that talk about the day of judgment, and that talk about condemnation, and I believe in those passages, too.  God is loving and forgiving, but God is also just and righteous.  But while I believe those passages, I don’t think for a minute that God enjoys condemning anyone.  I don’t think for a minute that God wants to do that.  That’s why God gives us chance after chance after chance to turn around, to trust God, to follow God.  God never gives up on us.  God keeps working on us, and working with us, even when we turn away, even when we refuse to believe.  God always stands ready to forgive us and to welcome us back into God’s presence.  Not only is God ready to do that, God is eager to do that.  God wants to do that for us.  God wants us to take advantage of that chance to live lives of peace and joy that God offers us.

            But God gives us free will.  God allows us to make choices.  The people of Jerusalem had a choice.  They could have chosen to stand by Jesus.  They could have chosen to really believe the words they said when they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.  But they did not.  And because they did not, Jerusalem was destroyed, just as Jesus said it would be.  Jesus took no joy in predicting the destruction of Jerusalem.  It made him very sad to do it.  But it was not the result of what Jesus did.  It was the result of the choice the people made.

            We have choices to make, too.  We can choose to stand by Jesus.  We can choose to really believe the words we say when we claim to accept Jesus as the Son of God and as our Savior.  We can choose to really mean it when we pray, “Thy will be done.”  We have that choice.  But we also have the choice not to mean those words.  If we don’t, that choice will have consequences.  God takes no joy in enforcing those consequences.  It makes God very sad to do it.  But it’s not the result of what God does.  It’s the result of choices we make.

But here’s the good news.  It’s not too late for us.  It’s not too late for you, and it’s not too late for me.  We can turn our lives around.  Again, it’s not that we’re all terrible, horrible people, but we can do better.  We can truly living our lives the way God wants us to.  We can truly say the things God wants us to say and do the things God wants us to do.  We can truly trust God and let God guide and direct our lives.  We can turn our lives over to God and stop insisting on having our own way.  We can stop missing out, and truly live lives of peace and joy.  We’ll still have problems, of course, but we’ll have peace and joy anyway, because we’ll know that God is there with us, despite our problems.

            God has given us an incredible chance to live lives of peace and joy.  Let’s take advantage of that chance.  Let’s stop missing out.  Let’s turn our lives over to God.  When we do, the results may truly astound us.

Get Closer

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, January 26, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 21:18-22.

As you noticed, our Bible reading for today was very short.  Only five verses.  But of course God can say a lot in just a few words.  As we continue our sermon series “Road Trip!” we have another incident that happened while Jesus and the disciples were walking down the road.  Even though this a short reading, there’s a lot in there to make us think.

It starts out with Jesus walking along and getting hungry.  He sees a fig tree and goes over to get some figs to eat, but there are no figs on the tree.  So Jesus curses it.  He says to the tree, “May you never bear fruit again!”  And the tree immediately withers.

We’re told that the disciples the asked, “How did the tree wither so quickly?”  Frankly, that’s not the question I would’ve asked.  It’s not a bad question, especially if we don’t really quite realize who Jesus is.  But if we accept that Jesus is the divine Son of God, then we know how the tree withered so quickly.  It withered quickly because Jesus told it to.  Jesus had divine power.  He could do stuff like that.  It’s pretty much that simple.

But the more interesting question, as it often is, is “Why?”  Why would Jesus do that?  Why would Jesus curse this poor, innocent fig tree, which had done nothing to hurt him other than that Jesus wanted figs and it did not have any?  What’s the point of that?

Well, we’ll come back to that.  Next, we’re told Jesus’ answer to the disciples question of how the tree withered so quickly.  He says, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’, and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

That’s one of those verses we struggle with.  I do, anyway.  We don’t think it can possibly be taken literally.  I mean, most of us don’t really believe that anyone, just through prayer, could physically make a mountain fall into the sea, no matter how much faith we have.  After all, have you ever known anyone who could do that?  Have you ever heard of anyone who could do it?  Jesus could have, because again, he’s the divine Son of God, but who else?  I mean, even if we grant that it would take an awful lot of faith to do something like this, there has to be somebody, once in a while, who has that kind of faith, right?  So if even they cannot make this happen, it must not be meant to be taken literally.

But on the other hand, if we don’t take it literally, how do we take it and still do justice to the actual words we’re told Jesus said?  If we put any qualifications on Jesus’ statement, if we put any limitations on it, we’re adding words that Jesus did not say.  Jesus did not put qualifications or limitations on his statement.  So, if we don’t take what Jesus said literally, but yet we don’t want to add our own words to what Jesus said, what do we do with this?  

And now you see why we’re only dealing with five verses today.  There’s more than enough in those five verses for a sermon, or even several sermons.

So let’s look at it all.  Why are these five verses in the Bible?  What are we supposed to learn from them?

Well, let’s think about the fig tree first.  What’s the purpose of a fig tree?  Well, it’s to produce figs, right?  An apple tree produces apples, a peach tree produces peaches, a fig tree produces figs.  It’s not there to be a shade tree, and it’s not there to look pretty.  A fig tree has one job and one job only:  to produce figs.  That’s the sole purpose that a fig tree has in life.

Therefore, a fig tree that does not produce figs is not doing it’s job.  A fig tree that does not produce figs has no purpose.  A fig tree that does not produce figs has no reason to exist any more.  So, Jesus curses the fig tree and it withers.  But really, in a sense, the tree had withered before Jesus got there, because it no longer served the purpose for which God had created it.

So what does that have to do with what Jesus says next?  How does it relate to what Jesus said about how if our faith is strong enough, we’ll get whatever we ask for in prayer?

Well, this is not the only time Jesus used trees to make a point.  Earlier in the gospel of Matthew, in Chapter Twelve, Jesus says this:   “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit...how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in them, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in them.”

So, if we read that along with what we’ve said about the fig tree and apply it to what Jesus said about prayer, what do we have?  Well, I’m not sure.  As I said, this is a verse I struggle with.  But try this.

A tree is recognized by its fruit.  Or, in the case of the fig tree in today’s reading, by its lack of fruit.  Jesus recognized that the fig tree was a bad tree because it did not produce any figs.

Similarly, of course, we, as humans, are recognized by what we produce.  Or, again, what we don’t produce.  If we are good, we will produce good fruit.  We’ll do things that are pleasing to God.  If we’re not good, we’ll produce bad fruit.  We’ll do things that are not pleasing to God.

Okay, so far, so good.   But how does it relate to prayer?  Well, here’s how I think it relates to prayer.  What does it mean, exactly to be “good”?  What does it mean to be a “good tree” that produces “good fruit”?  If that’s our goal, to be a good tree that produces good fruit, how do we do it?

I think the way we do it is by getting as close to God as we possibly can.  There are a lot of ways we can do that.  We can spend time in prayer.  We can spend time reading the Bible.  We can read or listen to devotional materials.  We can devote ourselves to helping people.  We can listen to Christian music, whether you like traditional hymns, gospel music, contemporary Christian music, or whatever.  We can spend time in nature, contemplating the beauty and wonder of God’s creation.  There are lots of other ways we can do it, too.

But however we do it, we need to do it.  And it’s not enough to just do these things once, or even once in a while.  At least it’s not enough for me.  I need to do them consistently.  I need to do them frequently.  If I don’t, I’ll start to slide away from God.  If I want to get as close to God as I can, I have to work at it.  And I suspect that’s true for some others here, too.

And if we get close to God, and we stay close to God, we’ll find our faith increase.  It’ll get stronger.  We’ll be in tune with God.  Maybe not one hundred percent of the time, because we remain flawed, sinful people.  But a lot of the time.  We’ll be able to say the things God wants us to say.  We’ll be able to do the things God wants us to do.  We’ll be able to live the way God wants us to live.

And we’ll be able to pray the way God wants us to pray.  We probably won’t pray for God to throw a mountain into the sea, because what would be the point of that?  But we might pray for God to help us serve others better.  We might pray for God to help us love others better.  We might pray for God to give us strength and keep us encouraged and keep us enthusiastic.  We might even pray for God to help us raise the money for an addition to this church.  We might pray for God to help us overcome our weakness, overcome our doubts, overcome our fears, and give us the courage to be the people God wants us to be.

And when we do that, I absolutely believe God will answer that kind of prayer.  Because when we’re close to God, when we’re in tune with God, we won’t be praying selfishly.  We won’t be praying pointlessly.  We’ll be praying for things that honor God and please God.  And God will hear, and God will respond.

A fig tree that does not produce figs is not doing what it was put on earth to do.  When we act selfishly, when we fall away from God, we’re not doing what we were put on earth to do, either.  But the difference is that you and I have the ability to correct that.  You and I can change our ways.  You and I can do the things we need to do to get close to God, to get in tune with God, and to start producing good fruit again.

So let’s do that.  This week, think about what you need to do to get closer to God.  Then, do it.  Let’s all figure out what we need to do and do it.  And then, we’ll find that we will receive what we ask for in prayer.

What's Stopping You?

Below is the message given in the Wheatland Parish Sunday, January 19, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Luke 9:57-62 and Romans 5:20--6:22.

            This is the time of year when lots of people head South. Some people go to Texas or Arizona or Florida for the winter. Some people can’t afford to be gone all winter, but take a couple of weeks’ vacation in one of those places, or maybe they go to somewhere else like Hawaii or Cancun or the Bahamas or something.

            Sometimes, those of us who stay here all winter get a little envious of that. When we hear about someone going on one of those trips, we say something like, “I sure wish I could go with you.” The thing is, of course, that we can. There’s nobody stopping us. It’s just that to do it, we have to be willing and able to pay for the plane tickets and the motels and the food and all the other things it takes to be able to take a trip like that. In other words, to take a trip like that, we have to pay the price.

            We’re doing a sermon series called “Road Trip!” taking a look at the things that happened while Jesus and his disciples went on trips. One of the things that happened, as we heard today, is that people would say to Jesus, “I sure wish I could go with you.” But the thing is, they could have. Jesus did not stop them. Nobody stopped them. It’s just that to do it, they had to be willing to pay the price, and they were not.

            In our reading from Luke, three different people come to Jesus and say they want to go with him. The first one says, without qualification, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And that sounds fine. But Jesus says to him, I don’t have any resting place I’m going to. If you follow me, you’re going to have to keep on going and going.

            The second one says he wants to follow, but “first let me go and bury my father.” That sounds reasonable to us. But Jesus says, there’s no time for that. Go proclaim the kingdom of God now.

            The third one says, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” That sounds reasonable to us, too. And Jesus says, there’s no time for that, either. If you’re going to keep looking backward and saying good-bye, you’re not going to be able to go forward and serve the kingdom of God.

            Now, if you read about this section, you’ll read explanations that try to soften what Jesus said. For example, I’ve read that when the guy said “let me go and bury my father”, that this was an expression. His father was still alive. What he was saying was that he would not be able to follow until his father died. And there are ways people interpret this to soften the other things Jesus said, too.

            I think, though, that looking at the specifics like that misses the point. Regardless of how you interpret these things, what Jesus was saying is that if we are going to follow him, we have to be willing to follow unconditionally. There can be no putting it off. There can be no waiting until tomorrow. There can be no putting other things first. There can be no putting other responsibilities first. Even if those other things, those other responsibilities are good things, they cannot be put first. Everything else in our lives needs to be second to following Jesus Christ.

            We can follow Jesus. There’s no one stopping us. The only one who’s stopping us is us. Ourselves.

            Most of us here, maybe all of us here, would say we are Christians. But can we honestly say that we always follow Jesus? Can we always say that we, at all times, in all places, and in all circumstances, put following Jesus Christ first, ahead of everything else in our lives?

            Maybe you can. I don’t know. I cannot. I’m more like the people Jesus was talking to. I want to follow Jesus, all right. I absolutely do. But…

            I want to follow Jesus, but I want to be able to watch the football playoffs, too. I want to follow Jesus, but I want to be able to watch Doctor Who, my favorite TV show, too. I want to follow Jesus, but I want to do lots of other things, too.

            Now, it’s not that the other things I want to do are bad things. They don’t hurt anybody. Chances are the things you want to do are not bad things, either. Chances are they don’t hurt anybody, either. But the question we need to ask ourselves--the question I need to ask myself--is whether those things are getting in the way of following Jesus Christ. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there are times--not all the time, but sometimes--when we allow those things we want to do to get in the way of following Jesus Christ. I suspect for many of us, the answer is yes.

            Most of us probably know that. But what we do--what I do--is to make excuses for it. We say, “Well, after all, I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect. I cannot be expected to follow Jesus Christ 24/7/365. No one can say they’ve given one hundred percent of their lives to the Lord.”

            Well, that could be. It would be extremely hard, if not impossible, to give one hundred percent of our lives to the Lord, to have absolutely everything we ever say or do every day of our lives be something that serves God. It would be really hard to never have a time, even if only for a little while, where something got in the way of following Jesus Christ, to give one hundred percent of our lives to following him.

            And it’s also true that God knows that. God knows we’re are flawed, imperfect, sinful people. God knows we’re going to fail at this. And God will understand and forgive our failures.

            But the thing is that we are not allowed to use that as an excuse. That’s why we read the passage from Romans today. People were making that argument to Paul. They were saying, look, if God knows we’re sinners, and if our sins are forgiven through the death of Jesus, and if we’re saved by our faith and by God’s grace and mercy, then why should we change anything? Why can we not just go on living our lives the way we have been and trust that God will forgive us?

            The thing is that unless we change our lives, we cannot really say that we have faith in Jesus Christ. Because if we have faith in Jesus, if we truly believe that he was and is the divine Son of God, then we’ll do what Jesus told us to do. We’ll live the way Jesus told us to live. We’ll be willing to give up those things that get in the way of following Jesus, not because God will send us to hell if we don’t, but because we’ll want to. If we truly love Jesus, we’ll want to please Jesus, and the way we can please Jesus is by doing what he told us to do and living the way he wants us to live.

             The people who came up to Jesus on the road said they wanted to follow Jesus. And they may actually have believed that they did. But they all had reasons why they could not follow right now. They all had reasons why they could not follow all the way. They wanted to be able to follow Jesus part of the time, and go part of the way, but they also wanted to be able to do other things part of the time. They wanted following Jesus to be part of their lives, but they did not want following Jesus to be their whole life.

             What Jesus told them is exactly what he tells us. He told them it does not and cannot work that way. We cannot just follow Jesus part of the time and go part of the way. We cannot just have following Jesus be one of the many things we do. It won’t work. If we try to do it that way, then whenever things get tough, whenever we run into someone who does not like our faith, whenever our faith gets us into trouble, we’ll abandon it. Or we’ll hide it. Or we’ll soft-pedal it. Or we just won’t talk about it. And when we do something like that, we all of a sudden find that we’re not following Jesus any more. We’re just following the crowd.

The only way we’ll be able to follow Jesus is if we make a total commitment with our entire lives. Is that easy? No. Will we fail sometimes? Yes. But we’re not allowed to use that as an excuse. When we fail, we need to ask God for forgiveness and re-dedicated ourselves to following Jesus. And when we fail again, we need to ask God for forgiveness again and re-dedicate ourselves to following Jesus again. Because we will fail. We’ll fail many times. But God knows the difference between when we’re trying and failing and when we’re failing because we’re not really trying. And deep down, we know that difference, too.

So what are the things that are getting in the way of you following Christ? What are things that are getting in the way of me following Christ? Let’s ask ourselves those questions until we get some answers. Then, let’s ask God for forgiveness and dedicate ourselves to following Jesus. Because we can follow Jesus. No one is stopping us but ourselves.

Greatness Defined

The message given Sunday, January 12, 2014 in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses are Mark 9:30-37.

Jesus was called a lot of things while he was on this earth.  He was called Rabbi, he was called Immanuel, God with us, he often called himself Son of Man.  But one of the things he was often called was “Teacher”.

That is, of course, one of the reasons Jesus came to earth--to teach us.  Jesus taught us with words and Jesus taught us by his example.  Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever walked on the earth.

One of the things about being a teacher is that a teacher has to have a ton of patience.  A teacher has to go over stuff, and then go over it again, and then go over it again.  A teacher has to present the same stuff in different ways, at different times, hoping desperately that one of these approaches get through and the student will finally get it.  And then, just when the teacher thinks maybe the student really is starting to get it, the student does something or says something and the teacher’s heart just sinks, because the teacher knows the student still really does not have a clue.  It takes a ton of patience to be a teacher.

I suspect that sort of thing happened to Jesus a lot.  He’d tell the disciples something, and then he’d tell them again, and then he’d show them, and then he’d go over it one more time just to make sure, and he’d think they were getting it, and then they’d do something or say something that showed that they were nowhere near getting it.  It had to be very frustrating for the divine Teacher to have to work with students as dull as the disciples.

Our reading today described one of those times.  As we continue our sermon series “Road Trip!”, looking at the times Jesus and his disciples were on the road, today we read about the disciples having an argument.  Now, that in and of itself is not so bad.  Even the best of friends will get into an argument once in a while.  But here, we’re told that the disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest.

When Jesus found that out, he must have just shaken his head.  Of all the things for Jesus’ disciples to argue about.  He’d told them so many times about needing to be servants.  He’d told them so many times about how they needed to be humble and how they needed to put others ahead of themselves.  And there they are, arguing about which one of them is the greatest.

But, Jesus was a teacher.  He had patience.  And so, Jesus tries to teach them again.  He tells them, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

And then, the way this is written, you can just see Jesus thinking, “Telling these guys is not going to be enough.  I have to show them.  I have to give them an illustration, or an example, or something.”  So, he takes a little kid who’s there, he picks him up and he says to the disciples, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

We’re not told how the disciples reacted to that.  Mark leaves the story there and moves on to talk about something else.  Did they get it, do you think?  Do you think this time they really understood what Jesus was telling them?  For that matter, do we?

We understand that Jesus tells us to be humble.  But there’s more to it than that.  Let’s think about this for a minute.

What are little children?  Little children, by definition, are people who can do nothing for you.  I mean, that’s not their fault.  They cannot help being little kids.  They’ll grow, and they’ll learn, and they’ll be able to do stuff.  But a little kid, one or two or three years old, cannot do anything for you.  I mean, yes, we can get love and affection from them, and that can make us feel good.  But from a practical, real-world standpoint, a little kid cannot do anything for you.  There’s no advantage to be gained by being kind to a little kid.  They cannot help you financially, they cannot help you socially, they cannot help you accomplish anything.  And this was especially true in the society in which Jesus lived, where little kids were not considered of any value at all until they got old enough to work.

So, when we welcome a child, when we’re kind to a child, when we help a child, we’re doing something for someone who cannot return the favor.  We’re acting with no selfish motives whatsoever.  We’re acting simply and purely out of selflessness and love.

That’s what Jesus was trying to tell his disciples to do.  It’s what he tells us to do, too.  To act with no selfish motives.  To do things for people with no thought about whether they can do anything for us.  To act simply and purely out of selflessness and love.

But Jesus does not just leave it there.  He goes on to say, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.”

When we see a little child, we are seeing Jesus.  When we look into the face of a little child, we’re looking into Jesus’ face.

Now some of you, if you have to deal with little kids every day, may be a little skeptical of this.  Because we all know that little kids do not always appear to us to be like Jesus.  Little kids don’t always do what they’re told.  Little kids misbehave sometimes.  In fact, sometimes little kids can get into big trouble.

But you know, that might not be so unlike Jesus after all.  You know, Jesus was a little kid once, too.  We’re not told much about what Jesus was like when he was a little kid, but I would not be surprised if, when he was two or three years old, Jesus did not always do what Joseph and Mary told him to.  I would not be surprised if Jesus misbehaved sometimes.  I’m not saying Jesus sinned, because he was the divine Son of God, but a two- or three-year-old kid misbehaving is not sinning.  They’re just doing what two- or three-year-old kids do.  

Jesus said that when we do something for a little kid, we’re doing it for him.  But that’s not all.  Jesus went on to say that we’re not just doing it for him.  When we do something for a little kid, we’re also doing it for God the Father.

That’s pretty awesome, because you know, it usually seems like there’s really nothing we can do for God.  I mean, God is all-powerful.  God is all-mighty.  God sees everything and knows everything and can do anything.  What can we do for God?

Well, this is what we can do for God.  Love people.  Especially love people who cannot do anything for us in return.  That’s how we do something for God.  

Yes, God can love them, too, and God does, but God asks us to love them as well.  And when you think about it in this context, this is an honor from God.  We are given the honor of being allowed to do something for God.  God could do it without us, but God chooses to do it with us.  That’s a privilege!  That’s an honor!  The all-powerful, all-mighty God who sees everything and knows everything and can do anything allows us to do this for God.  That’s an awesome thing, when you think about it.  God does not need our help, but God allows us to help.  What an incredible honor that is.  

The disciples wanted to become great.  And Jesus said yes, you can become great.  Here’s how.  You can become great by taking advantage of the opportunity God gives you to serve God by loving the people God created.  And you can especially become great by loving the people God created who cannot do anything for you in return.  Those are the people God especially wants you to love and to help and to welcome among you.  Jesus said, whenever you do that, you’re doing it for me.  And when you do it for me, you’re doing it for God the Father, too.

We don’t know how the disciples reacted.  Maybe, this time, they finally got it.  More likely, they again did not understand.  Or, if they did understand, it was just for a litle while, and then they went back to being who they were before.  Because that’s what usually happened with the disciples.  No matter how many times the Teacher tried to explain things to them, they never really seemed to understand.

And so often, we don’t understand, either.  But the Teacher keeps working with us, just like he worked with the disciples.  We’re allowed to read and re-read the Bible, so that eventually we can get the message.  And the Holy Spirit works on our hearts, too, so that we truly can understand and be changed people, God’s people, people who accept the honor of doing things for God the Son and for God the Father.

When we look into the face of someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re looking into the face of God.  When we do something for someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re doing something for God.  When we love someone who cannot do anything for us, we’re loving God.  And when we do that, then we truly become great in the eyes of God.

The Power For Good

Below is the message given at Oahe Manor Communion on Thursday, January 9, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Psalm 29.

It almost seems like I might have talked about this psalm out here before, but even if I have, I’m going to do it again, because it is such an awesome psalm.  You probably noticed a phrase that the psalm uses over and over.  That phrase is “the voice of the Lord”.  Let’s look at what it says about the voice of the Lord.

It says that the voice of the Lord “thunders over the mighty waters”.  The voice of the Lord is “powerful” and “majestic”.  The voice of the Lord “breaks the cedars”.  The voice of the Lord “strikes with flashes of lightning”.  The voice of the Lord “shakes the desert”.  The voice of the Lord “twists the oaks and strips the forests bare”.

Think of the power God has, as described by that psalm.  And then think about this:  God does all those things with just God’s voice.  Nothing else.  Just the voice of the Lord.

That’s pretty amazing.  But I guess we should not be amazed when we remember the first chapter of Genesis.  There it says that God created the universe and everything in it with just God’s voice.  Remember?  God says “let there be light” and there is.  God says there should be dry ground and there is.  God did it all just by speaking.  Can you imagine how much power God would have if God really rolled up God’s sleeves and went to work?

Now, on the one hand, thinking about God’s power can be kind of scary.  Because, after all, if God can break trees with just his voice, if God’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning, think about what God could do to us if God chose to.  God could wipe us out in an instant.  God would not even have to work up a sweat.  God could just say, “Let there be no more Pastor Jeff” and I’d be gone without ever knowing what had happened.

And the reason I say God’s power is scary is that we all know that we’re sinners.  Each one of us.  We sin over and over and over again.  I do, and you do, too.  The Apostle Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  I’m not saying you’re the worst people in the world, and I’m not saying I’m the worst person in the world.  I’m just saying that none of us is who we should be.  None of us is who God wants us to be.  God looks at each one of us, you and me and everyone else, and sees the same thing:  a sinner.

And because we know we’re sinners, we know that we are not worthy of God’s love.  We know we have not earned it.  We know we don’t deserve it.  And so, we think, what if God’s mad at me?  We think, God would have every right to be mad at me, because of my sins.  If God’s mad at me, God could do anything to me and there’d be nothing I could do about it.

Now, that’s all true.  And yet, even though it’s true, it does not matter.  It’s not relevant.  it does not matter that we’re not worthy of God’s love, because God loves people who are not worthy.  It does no matter that we’ve not earned God’s love because God loves people who have not earned it.  It does not matter that we don’t deserve God’s love, because to God, there’s no such thing as a person who does not deserve love.  God loves sinners.  God loves every one of us unworthy, undeserving people.  God loves you, and God loves me.

And because God loves us, we don’t have to be scared of God’s power.  God would never use God’s power to hurt us.  God would never use God’s power to harm us in any way.  God uses God’s power only for our good.  For your good, and for my good, and for the good of everyone else.

Bad things still happen, of course.  But those things don’t happen because of God.  They happen because people make choices, and sometimes they make bad choices.  They happen because things like disease and natural disasters are part of the world.  We wonder sometimes why God allows those things to be part of the world, but that’s a question we’re not going to get answered in this world.  We just know that’s the way it is, and that we have to deal with those things as best we can.

But even in those bad things, God is still there, and God still uses God’s power for good.  God does not promise to keep us away from bad things.  God just promises to be with us in the bad times and guide us through them.  Remember, in the twenty-third psalm, it says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”  It does not say that God will keep us from having to go into the dark valleys of our lives.  We still have to go through them.  But we know that, even when we’re in the dark valley, God is still with us.  God will guide us through that dark valley, and eventually will lead us back into the light.

God has incredible power.  The voice of the Lord can do amazing things.  But as Christians, we don’t have to fear God’s power.  If we just trust God, and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can know that God will only use God’s power for our good.  And we’ll also know that, when the time comes, we will go to be with God, and live not just in the presence of God’s power, but in the presence of God’s love.