God Meets Us in the Spaces Between … Ambition and Vulnerability

Isaiah 55:1-9; Luke 13:1-9

February 28, 2016

© 2016

As a young adult Candy’s Mother wandered from the faith and church of her parents. She described those years as wild and wayward. The she contracted tuberculosis and had a long recovery in a sanitarium. She credited her bout with tuberculosis with bringing her back to a close relationship with God. Now, I don’t think God specifically steered some TB bacteria her way. Her less wayward sisters also contracted tuberculosis. Rather, I would suggest that God had been graciously calling to her all along, and during her recovery in the sanitarium she was ready and quiet enough to listen.

Whether you are grimacing or smiling, you have certainly had occasion to ask why something particularly bad has happened to you or to someone you know. We’ve all said, “They didn’t deserve that,” or asked, “What did I do to deserve that?” When my friend Wes Kennedy was going through all the procedures following a cancer diagnosis, intending sympathy, his doctor asked, “Do you ever wonder, why me?” To which Wes responded, “Why not me? I don’t expect to be exempt from the realities of life.”

In the spaces that bad things open up in our lives, be ready to listen attentively for God’s call to renewal.

As I’ve already said, during Lent we are journeying with Jesus to the cross. In Luke 11-12, Jesus’ teaching to the people on his path had become increasingly confrontational. In Luke 13:1-9 he was not yet in Jerusalem, but it was on his mind as he headed there and was brought gossip from Jerusalem.

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

⁶Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ ⁸He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

The first thing to notice is that Jesus asserted that the tragedies were not punishment or even natural consequences for the behavior of their victims. We can’t be sure of the specific events Jesus was speaking about, but some things did happen that could have connected.

Galileans were not too welcome in Jerusalem. Many rebel movements started in Galilee, so the Romans were suspicious that Galileans in Jerusalem were fomenting insurrection. Their fellow Jews considered them to be uncouth and impious, not really worthy of bringing a pure sacrifice to the Temple. On more than one occasion Pilate was known to send soldiers into the Temple to assassinate any he thought might be using piety as a cover for conspiracy. The Jerusalem Jews might suggest that because the Galileans were ritually impure, God allowed the Romans to kill them before they got to the altar. Maybe these deserved it.

Pilate wanted to build a Roman style water works in Jerusalem, and he confiscated some of the Temple offerings to pay for it. The Jews he hired to build it were considered wicked traitors. We don’t know if the tower that fell was part of that project or if those killed were working on it, but the Pool of Siloam was a water source for Pilate’s project. Gossip may have been that God purposely pushed the tower on them.

While Jesus specified that neither Pilate’s human cruelty nor the accidental collapse of the tower were God’s punishment, he said in them God’s urgent invitation to repent could be heard. Recognize that life is uncertain, and God is calling. Don’t miss your opportunity to reply.

That is the point of the parable of the fig tree. Like the gardener, God is giving you an opportunity to be fruitful, but it is limited. The time will come for the ax and saw, and the opportunity may be missed. I doubt Jesus had this in mind, but the gardener’s cultivating and spreading of manure can also be a parable for us about life’s difficult times. These spaces stir up our lives and dump stink on us, but those may be the triggers for our spiritual vigor.

Scholars debate exactly how, who and when the book of Isaiah came to be what we know. Exploring that could be a fun Bible study, but they all agree that Isaiah 55 comes from the section written for Judah when they were in Exile in Babylon. It is God’s word of hope in the darkest space of their history.

In vv. 2-3, God calls, “Listen to me, and I will lead you to joyful, vivacious bounty. The dark space is temporary.”

In vv. 6-7, God calls, “This is the time of opportunity. I am near right now. Turn to me and receive my mercy.”

In vv. 1-2, 4-5, God calls, “I want you to flourish, to be so conspicuously inviting that you attract all people to me.”

The ancient examples of Israel’s history match Jesus’ commentary on tragedies of his time. Tragic events in our time teach us to listen for God’s voice, turn to God, be nourished by God. In the spaces that bad things open up in our lives, we may be ready to listen attentively for God’s call to renewal.

I hope you do not think of my time with you as your interim pastor as God’s punishment. I know that the interim between pastors is a time of uncertainty. It is often a time of anxiety in which seeing God’s bounty can be difficult. As an act of faith, I encourage you to pray and step up your giving and involvement, building hope and expectation for the ministry bounty God has waiting. Holding back with a “wait and see” attitude, is to spend for that which does not satisfy. Instead, use God’s resources to buy into God’s bounty.

Lent reminds us that our journey with Jesus is not always a level, smooth path. Ignatius of Loyola imagined it as a rhythm of consolations and desolations. (Spiritual Exercises, 313-327) Of the 150 Psalms, ⅔ are laments or complaints. Passing through the dark spaces does not mean we have lost our way. When we know we are vulnerable, we are more inclined to listen for the voice of God and depend on the mercy of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Whether the challenge is health, career, family, financial or relational, listen for the voice of God.

The recent political posturing of the presidential campaign reminds us that many things over which we have no personal control can plunge us into uncertain spaces. Though not nearly as extreme as Judah’s Exile in Babylon, the prescription is the same. Informed by Scripture and attuned to the Holy Spirit, listen for the voice of God – not about how to vote but about how to respond to God’s invitation to spiritual renewal for you and your church. How to become a flourishing community of hope so attractive, people trapped in their dark spaces with flock to Jesus because you embody God’s bounty.

God Meets Us in the Spaces between … Purpose and Proof

Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13

February 14, 2016

© 2016

Lent is a 40 day space between recognizing Jesus as God among us after Epiphany and rejoicing in his resurrection on Easter. We seek spiritual renewal and listen for God with greater attentiveness. What is God saying in the spaces?

Personally we are always living in the spaces between stages of family life (marriage, birth of children, school age, adolescence, adulthood, empty nest, children-in-law, grandchildren). Stages of career and job. Stages preparing for the prime of life and declining from our prime. The spaces of interruptions longer than times of stability.

In this interim time, this congregation is in the space between pastors, the familiar and the unknown. The space between ministry as we’ve done it and as we will do it. This is not like hiring a CEO or manager. It is a process of patient spiritual discernment.

Jesus’ testing warns us not to take shortcuts on our journeys as his disciples.

Luke 4:1-13 tells how Jesus was tested by the devil in the space between his baptism and starting his ministry. The Holy Spirit descended on him at his baptism so he could begin.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,²where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³The devil said to him, “Since you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”⁴Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” ⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’¹¹and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” ¹²Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

The 40 days of Lent are modeled after Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. Sundays are not counted, and call us back to resurrection joy. The 40 days of Lent also remind us that Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days receiving the Law, and the Israelites were 40 years in the wilderness.

You may have noticed I said Jesus was “tested” not “tempted.” The word can mean “tempt” but much more often means “test.” The devil was not trying to trick Jesus into a sin but testing to expose him as disqualified for his redemptive ministry. I also said “since you are the Son of God” not “if you are.” The devil was not trying to get Jesus to prove he was the Son of God. He knew that. He was testing for what he would do as the Son of God. Luke used the Greek word diabolos from which we get devil. Job uses the Hebrew word hasatan from which we get Satan. The idea was a prosecuting attorney bringing accusations. That is what the devil was doing here. Testing to get Jesus to take a shortcut on his mission.

Jesus’ testing warns us not to take shortcuts on our journeys as his disciples.

Neither Matthew nor Luke report what happened during Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, but they do describe these 3 tests that kept coming, which prepares us for the tests we expect.

To turn a stone to bread was not just about satisfying Jesus’ immediate hunger but an attempt to get Jesus to use his power as a magic shortcut to his ministry of meeting human needs, such as hunger. All of the Gospels show that Jesus typically hid his miracles and met a need rather than proved a point. Instead of a magic shortcut to address the needs of people today, Jesus calls us to lifelong justice and compassionate generosity as his disciples.

Though Jesus knew that God is sovereign over the universe, he did not dispute the devil’s claim to the glory and authority of the kingdoms of the world. He refused the shortcut offered by the devil. To worship was not just to kneel and say some worship words, it would have been to adopt the devil’s means of maintaining worldly glory and authority: the force and violence of political and military power. As we read in Romans 10, renouncing worldly power may feel weak, but God assures us that “no one who believes in him will be put to shame.”

Central to Jesus’ mission was forming a band of disciples through whom the Holy Spirit would build the Church. The devil suggests the shortcut of a spectacular leap from the Temple pinnacle that would surely attract a crowd. Jesus knew the difference between testing God and trusting God. He refused the shortcut of instant results and stayed with the long term plan of making disciples. While they may be legitimate tools, multi-media worship with contemporary music, wiz bang advertising and electrifying preaching are not shortcuts to evangelism and church growth that build disciples. As we read in Romans 10, God’s long-range plan is for us to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. Word of mouth may seem slower than mass media, but it is God’s solid way.

Jesus’ testing warns us not to take shortcuts on our journeys as his disciples.

If we are listening for the voice of God in the space of Jesus’ test between his baptism and ministry, what can we hear that will help us avoid shortcuts on our journeys as his disciples?

Jesus’ answer to each test was a word from Scripture – all three of them from Deuteronomy 6, 8. Maybe you feel you don’t know enough Scripture. Count on God to give you what you need to recognize a shortcut and choose the path of discipleship. But don’t be complacent. Commit to a lifetime of continuous learning the Bible, not just the information but get so saturated with it that it changes you and becomes you. I love Abba Poeman’s image. A stone is hard and water is soft, but a stone can be shaped by repeatedly dripping water on it. Our hearts are hard and scripture is soft but by repeatedly exposing our hearts to God’s Word, they are shaped to match the heart of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism. He was full of the Holy Spirit when he went to the wilderness to be tested. After the testing, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit when he returned to Galilee to start his ministry. Sensitivity to the nudges of the Holy Spirit will steer us away from shortcuts. Openness to the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit will give us the ability and fortitude for the journey of discipleship.

When we refuse the devil’s shortcuts, we are committing to the path of patience. Instant maturity is an oxymoron, but just getting older doesn’t necessarily produce maturity. That requires awareness and discipline. Lent is an opportunity to awaken our awareness of God and renew our spiritual discipline: Bible, prayer and worship with God’s people. Whatever you have chosen for a Lenten discipline, the persistence it requires is certainly less than Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. Like training camp for athletes, those 40 days were preparation for Jesus’ ministry. Our Lenten disciplines are not an end or goal in themselves but are preparation for ministry of meeting human need, building an outpost of the reign of God as a congregation, inviting people to become Jesus’ disciples by word of mouth.

Jesus’ testing warns us not to take shortcuts on our journeys as his disciples.

Prayer Unveils God’s Glory

2 Corinthians 3:12-18; Luke 9:28-36

February 7, 2016

© 2016

Twenty some years ago Candy and I lived in the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario for four months. I worked in the Woodery where I got to know Dave. Though he could not read, he was able to operate a couple of the power tools. He was constantly frustrated by his life struggles. Shortly after coming we attended community worship in which Dave helped Father Henri Nouwen celebrate communion. When Dave put on the alb, his face lit up. He treated the bread and wine with reverent care. He knew he was handling the holy. He was beaming as he served us. After worship I said to Candy, “That must have been something of what Moses looked like after he had been with God.”

At first Moses was unaware of the supernatural glow on his face. Paul wrote of Moses’ glow in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as we see the reflected glory of God, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. When we have been close to God, we can expect God’s glory to radiate from us, just as it did from Dave.

Prayer lifts the veil on God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

Luke’s emphasis on Jesus’ praying is the context for the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28-36. But it started in verse 18, when Jesus was praying and asked his disciples about who he was. When Peter answered that he was “The Messiah of God,” Jesus told them he would suffer and die and rise again. Then he said that anyone who wanted to be his disciple would have to take up a cross and follow him, and that some of them would not die before seeing the Kingdom of God.

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not knowing what he said.³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The Transfiguration was a crucial turning point in Jesus’ ministry. From here forward everything took him to the cross. Just as at his baptism when he started his ministry, now as he headed to the cross, the voice of the Father affirms him as the Son with the Father’s blessing.

Luke told the Transfiguration with words and images that recall Israel’s Exodus from Egypt under Moses.

Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai. Elijah met God on Mount Horeb. Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives, and was Transfigured on “The Mountain.”

The cloud of God’s glory covered Mt. Sinai. Jesus will return in the clouds, and a cloud overshadowed the Mount of Transfiguration.

For 40 years in the wilderness the Israelites lived in shelters as Peter proposed for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

The Exodus was the great redemptive event of Israel’s history, and the word for “departure” that Moses and Elijah spoke about to Jesus is “exodus.” The “exodus” Jesus was to accomplish at Jerusalem was the great redemptive event for all humanity: his death and resurrection.

Prayer lifts the veil on God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

Jesus’ prayers mark the beginning of two parallel sections meant to be seen together. In verses 18-27 the order is: he was identified as Messiah, he foretold his suffering and ended with coming back in glory. The order reversed in verses 28-36 for the Transfiguration. His glory was revealed while he was praying, he spoke with Moses and Elijah of his departure, and the voice of the Father identified him as the Chosen Son.

Luke wanted us to be sure we knew Jesus was praying at this momentous turning point in his ministry. Since our prayers tend to be asking God to do something for us, we may assume Jesus was asking the Father for something: revelation of his glory, confirmation of his identity and mission, strength for the ordeal ahead, maybe even a precursor to his prayer in the Garden to let this cup pass from him. While these things might have been included, I think Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah about “his departure that he was about to accomplish” points in a different direction. I think Jesus was having a conversation with the Father about the significance of his death and resurrection and what it would bring to people, which continued with Moses and Elijah who had anticipated that redemption in their times and could now see it far more clearly and full of glory.

God does not need our prayers to be informed and instructed about what to do. That is not to say we shouldn’t ask God to act, but if that is most or all of our prayer life, we will miss out on God’s glory. But if our prayers are a conversation with God in which we do most of the listening, glory will shine through on us and we will glow. The seventeenth century Russian mystic Dimitri of Rostov (1651-1709) defined prayer in a way I think gives us insight into Jesus’ praying at his Transfiguration. “To pray means to stand before God with the mind, mentally to gaze unswervingly at [God], and to converse with [God] in reverent fear and hope.” (The Art of Prayer, Igumen Chariton, Faber and Faber, Boston, 1936 Russian, 1966 English; p. 50)

Prayer lifts the veil on God’s glory, so we may be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

Even if only for the moment, Dave was transformed from his frustrating disability to a degree of glory when he distributed the communion bread and wine. We may not glow like Moses, but as our praying brings us into God’s presence, we will be transformed from one degree of glory to another. Like Moses, we may not notice it ourselves, but others will know when we have been with God.

The departures of Moses and Elijah from this life were singularly attended by God. God buried Moses outside Canaan. God took Elijah by a whirlwind. Death is under God’s sovereign control and points to Jesus’ resurrection.

Though I thought of Moses when I saw the radiance on Dave’s face at communion, I can’t say I’ve seen the supernatural glow of Moses. However, I have been with many people as they are dying and believe some of them have seen the glory of God absorbing them. The account of the 4^th century Desert Father, Abba Sisoes rings true.

When Abba Sisoes was at the point of death, while the [Brothers] were sitting beside him, his face shone like the sun. He said to them, “Look, Abba Anthony is coming.” A little later he said, “Look, the choir of prophets is coming.” Again his countenance shown with brightness and he said, “Look the choir of apostles is coming.” His countenance increased in brightness and lo, he spoke with someone. Then the old men asked him, “With whom are you speaking, [Abba]?” He said, Look, the angels are coming to fetch me. … Once more his countenance suddenly became like the sun and they were all filled with fear. He said to them, “Look, the Lord is coming and he’s saying, ‘Bring me the vessel from the desert.’” Then there was a flash of lightning and all the house was filled with a sweet [fragrance]. (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers; tr. Benedicta Ward, SLG; Cistertian Publications,1975; p. 215)

The Most Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 12:31b-14:1a; Luke 4:21-30

January 31, 2016

© 2016

Today we pick up where we left Jesus teaching in the Nazareth synagogue. Luke 4:21-30 is a flashing series of snapshots of the people reacting to Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61:1-2. As was the custom, he was seated for teaching.

Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”²³He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” ²⁴And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.³⁰But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Verse 22 is difficult to translate. Jesus read in Hebrew and he and the people in the synagogue were speaking Aramaic, which Luke translated into Greek. The typical English rendition seems to suggest the first response to Jesus was positive. That is a possible translation but probably not the best sense of the event.

“All spoke well of him” could be rendered “all bore him witness” that they realized he had stopped reading before the line “the day of vengeance of our God.” They took offense at that because they expected Messiah to vent retribution on Gentiles.

“Gracious words” could better be translated “words about grace.” The people figured out Jesus was extending God’s grace to Gentiles, and they were perplexed and offended that someone who grew up in their town would break from common opinion.

Jesus was anything but a politician. As the hostility of the people’s reaction increased, Jesus did not reassure them or soften their take on him. He purposely went on to give examples of Gentile enemies who received God’s grace. The widow of Zarephath through Elijah and Naaman the Syrian through Elisha. Not only that, but Jesus used examples from Elijah and Elisha in the collapsed Northern Kingdom that gave rise to the despised Samaritans. Jesus gave this hostile audience the same message Paul gave in 1 Corinthians 13. The most excellent way of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to love those who are hardest to love.

From 1 Corinthians 12:31b to 13:3, Paul asserted the superiority of love over piety. He was not denigrating the gifts of the Spirit, but he was clear that love is superior.

His dissertation on spiritual gifts ends with “I will show you a still more excellent way.” Many translations use the comparative “more.” Some use the superlative “most.” Exclamative: “Most Excellent!” Living love is great!

This paragraph suggests that great communication, great understanding, great action and even great self-sacrifice can all be done without love. We may think we’re working by the power of the Holy Spirit, but if it doesn’t grow out of and extend love, it’s useless.

Paul did not stop writing about the Holy Spirit between chapters 12 and 14. They are connected with the “Most Excellent Way!” Love is the culmination of the work of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can radiate God’s love to the people around us. Our human love is inadequate. Some people are just too difficult to love on our own. The most excellent way of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to love those who are hardest to love.

Couples who are about to get married often describe why they love each other like this: “She makes me feel secure.” “He makes me laugh.” “She brings out the best in me.” “He helps me grow.” Romantic love is measured by what the lovers get from each other. You may know that the New Testament uses the Greek word agape for God’s love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 describes love that gives without needing to receive.

These verses sound ideal when read at a wedding. They also need to be heard in the hospital and the courtroom, in the unemployment line and in the in-laws’ house. This paragraph says that love is specifically for when hard times come: when someone is injured or in trouble, when someone is discouraged, when someone has hurt you.

God’s love is always about the one being loved. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” That is the model for the love the Holy Spirit generates and radiates from within us. That is the love of Mother Teresa cradling the dying in the gutters of Calcutta with no expectation of even a thank you.

In the concluding paragraph of his lyrical treatise on love, 1 Corinthians 13:8-14:1a, Paul explains that love is the more excellent way than all the spiritual gifts because the time will come when the gifts will cease because they will no longer be necessary, but love endures eternally. Because God is love!

We all know that this interim time between pastors is temporary. You expect to have a new “permanent” pastor sometime soon. However, even if your next pastor stays with you for 25 years, that is not forever. Other pastors will come further into the future. But we do have a longing for permanence. That why most of us resist change. I believe that is a yearning for God’s eternal Kingdom, but to try to hang onto something that is not God’s eternal Kingdom heads us toward idolatry. That’s why Paul wrote that even the gifts the Holy Spirit gives the church are temporary. They help us on our journey to the eternal. Thus the godly love that we just barely sample now draws us deeper into God’s eternal love.

With the artificial chapter breaks in the Bible we can miss some important connections. So we started with 12:31b “I will show you a still more excellent way.” We also have to include 14:1a to get the full impact of 1 Corinthians 13. “Now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. Pursue love!” The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr put these three in the context of our transitory lives.

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope.

Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love.

“Pursue love!” Paul concludes. Love is the path through the temporary to the eternal, to know God as fully as God knows us. On that journey, conveying God’s love to others takes priority over our spiritual accomplishments. On that journey, by God’s love we have the Holy Spirit’s strength to absorb abuse and disappointment from those we love. On that journey, passing God’s love to others guides us unerringly toward face to face intimacy with God. The most excellent way of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to love those who are hardest to love.

Full of Power

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Luke 4:14-21

January 24, 2016

© 2016

You have already been on the interim journey between pastors for a while. Today I join you on this journey, which I believe can be an adventure with Jesus for all of us. As your interim pastor my role is to coach us in listening for and recognizing the voice of Jesus with us on the journey. To help us with that, I will preach from the Bible passages suggested by the Revised Common Lectionary with the goal of tuning into what God is saying to us. Though I will be somewhat flexible with this, I will not pick passages to play “gotcha” with a hidden agenda. As we listen for the voice of God together, I hope to encourage and guide you in conversations about the congregation’s heritage, mission, leadership, connections and future. 

Two weeks ago we looked at how the Holy Spirit dramatically came on Jesus at his baptism. Today in Luke 4:14-21, we see how Jesus began his public ministry after forty days in the wilderness of testing in which he overmastered the devil.

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. ¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The scheduled reading from the Prophets on the Sabbath when Jesus went to the Nazareth synagogue must have been from Isaiah, since that scroll was handed to him. But he unrolled the scroll to purposely skip the assigned reading to find the passage about the Spirit’s anointing to the ministry of justice. That passage from Isaiah 61 is also quoted in Psalm 146:7-8, which is call a “Hallel” Psalm that the Israelites sang in procession to the Jerusalem Temple on holy days. No wonder the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. He changed the order of worship! What was he going to say about this passage?

Jesus began to speak to them. As we shall see next week, what he said was so shocking that they interrupt him. By saying this scripture was fulfilled, he did not imply that justice had been permanently established. Rather, he claimed that the Spirit had authorized and empowered him for the ministry on which he was embarking.

We are so used to having books in print, radio, television and now electronic media that we may miss the power of hearing Scripture read aloud as Jesus did in the synagogue. As we read from Nehemiah, this same power is clear when Ezra read what quite possibly was part or maybe all of Deuteronomy. Significantly, the people are gathered as a single body to hear from God. Men, women and even children who were old enough to understand. They responded as one body, much as today a congregation’s unity as the Body of Christ is a living expression of God’s justice and compassion, joy and strength.

This was not a dull experience of sitting still in silence while Ezra read. The people were actively engaged and responded with voice and body. When Ezra unrolled the scroll to read, in unison the people stood in respect, much as liturgical churches today stand for the reading of the Gospel. The people lifted their hands and answered, “Amen! Amen!” much as we might see in a Pentecostal church today. At the pauses in the reading, they bowed their faces to the ground to worship, perhaps somewhat like we might see in a mosque today. In these pauses, the reading was translated for those who could not speak Hebrew and then interpreted or explained so they could understand and have their questions answered.

The people responded emotionally to hearing Scripture read. They wept! They wept for joy to hear God’s Word after generations of exile in Babylon. And they wept in repentance, knowing that had not been living by Scripture. But Ezra thought the weeping defiled the Scripture, so sent them out for a festival that included the wine of joy.

The people responded to hearing Scripture read with a celebration of sending festive food to those who couldn’t afford their own parties. Rich and poor alike were one single community of God’s people. Justice and compassion demanded that everyone share the joy.

Jesus read from Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth some four centuries after Ezra read from Deuteronomy at the Jerusalem Water Gate. In both cases the reading of Scripture aloud made a powerful impact on those who heard it. In both cases the theme was justice and freedom for people who were brittle, broken and bound.  As we have heard these two stories today, are you hearing the voice of God for you and First Christian Church of Albany, TX? I am just starting to get to know you and the people of Albany, but I am certain there are people in this congregation and in this community who are poor, captive, blind, oppressed, who have no celebration prepared.

On your interim journey with Jesus, I believe he will let you know who they are so you can be Jesus to them. I am not necessarily suggesting programs but personal relationships with people, paying enough attention with spiritual sensitivity for the Spirit to prompt you.

Twenty some years ago Candy and I took a four month sabbatical, living in the L’Arche Daybreak community for mentally disabled adults in Richmond Hill, Ontario. We were coached to be alert for the presence of Christ in the pain of the disabled core members. It was one of the most transformative experiences of my adult life. I continue today with a spiritual discipline at the end of each day of identifying a wounded person I contacted that day and asking how I saw Christ in them. This has been my spiritual reward while driving funeral cars for 7 months.

As I have walked this journey with Jesus, I have learned to recognize his voice when I face my own wounds.

Jesus came to Galilee filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Nehemiah and Ezra turned the mourning and weeping of the people into joy and strength by sending them to share the celebration of God’s Word with those who had nothing prepared. As we listen for the voice of Jesus on this interim journey, I believe we too will receive God’s joy and strength.

Let us soak in Scripture until we are so saturated with the voice of God that the Spirit can echo when we speak.

Let us pray for God to fill us with power and joy that draws us into intimate relationship with Jesus on this interim journey.

Let us find and celebrate the joy of Christ’s presence by including the wounded people God sends us in our individual circles of relationships and into the embrace of this congregation.

Dare to Pray

Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-18, 21-22

January 10, 2016

© 2016

In 313CE the Roman Emperor Constantine claimed to have converted from paganism to Christianity, and in 346 CE he made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. However sincere he may or may not have been, he saw Christianity through the lens of empire building. He had his soldiers “baptized” by marching his army along a river as priests used tree branches to fling water over them, so they were now officially Christians. In that atmosphere, the spiritual fervor and strength of the Church declined precipitously. In response, a revival movement began, but they had no illusions that the Empire could ever nurture authentic spiritual vitality. Many people with spiritual passion withdrew to desert communities where they not only pursued their own spiritual lives, but also instructed and encouraged spiritually alert pilgrims who came seeking advice. We know them today as the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Abbas and Ammas). They left us both their own writings as well as legends, some of which seem rather fantastic but often point to an important spiritual truth. Abbas Lot and Joseph is one of my favorites.

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I  fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flame.” (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers; tr. Benedicta Ward, SLG; Cistertian Publications,1975; p. 103)

Whatever Abba Lot saw when Abba Joseph lifted his flaming hands, it was a sign that God was present with him in a remarkably immediate way. Throughout the Bible fire is a sign of God’s presence, from Moses’ burning bush to the tongues of fire at Pentecost. This week you might want to think about how often the image of fire in the Bible connects prayer and the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:14 says that the Holy Spirit is God’s pledge of our inheritance of redemption. The idea is repeated in Ephesians 4:30 and 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5. Having the Holy Spirit living in us now is God’s pledge we’ll be in God’s direct presence in the resurrection to eternal life.

Like Abba Lot and Abba Joseph, I aspire to become spiritually all flame. For me, I understand that as a prayer life of total intimacy with Jesus. I encourage you to think about your spiritual dreams and aspirations during these days of seeking a new pastor for your future.

Luke gives more emphasis to the Holy Spirit and prayer in Jesus life than the other Gospels. The account of Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:15-18, 21-22 introduces Jesus ministry with high priority on the Holy Spirit and prayer.

As you listen, remember that Luke is not presenting systematic, abstract theology but is describing the free work of a divine person. In both Hebrew and Greek the same word can mean breath, wind and spirit, which the New Testament writers often use in plays on words that we miss in English. John 3:8 gives us a feel for this when Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John the Baptist’s preaching attracted a large following.

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

During this time when you are seeking a new pastor, noticing Jesus praying at his baptism can shape your praying to ask for the Holy Spirit with confidence that you are loved by God and give pleasure to God.

So Luke makes a very specific point that Jesus was praying when he had been baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. George Hendry taught theology at Princeton Seminary for 24 years. “To take the measure of other theologians, he would read what they had to say about prayer. If a theologian took prayer seriously, Hendry took that theologian seriously. ‘Prayer is the life line of theology,’ Hendry said.” (Christian Century, December 12, 2012, p. 8)

Luke 11:13 concludes Jesus’ teaching on prayer that is close to what Matthew included in the Sermon on the Mount, with a very Lucian emphasis on the Holy Spirit. “If you … know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more with the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Would you like the Holy Spirit to be more active in you? Jesus says, “Go ahead and ask! The Father will joyfully give you the Spirit.”

Acts 8 says that Peter and John prayed that the new Samaritan disciples would receive the Holy Spirit. We need to understand that the Church was still very young, and things are just starting to unfold and not make sweeping principles out of their experiences. I am sure we can recognize in those new Samaritan disciples our own experience of not being aware of the Holy Spirit. I would also conclude that praying for the Holy Spirit to be present and active is not just acceptable but good.

During this time when you are seeking a new pastor, noticing Jesus praying at his baptism can shape your praying to ask for the Holy Spirit with confidence that you are loved by God and give pleasure to God.

When Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon him. Our prayers may be inadequate but Romans 8:23 assures us that “The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” So the Holy Spirit recasts our prayers to be in congruent harmony with the will of the Father.

A central significance of baptism is the cleansing of water that assures us that Jesus has washed our sin away. Fire also purifies. Chaff burning fire may not sound like “good news,” but deep inside we all long to be rid of spiritual contaminants. Getting pure may not be fun, but being pure is wonderful! So pray that the Spirit will purify you.

 When Jesus was baptized, he identified himself with us – broken, sinful humans. When we are baptized, we identify with Jesus, the beloved Son well pleasing to the Father. As we pray, the Holy Spirit sharpens our awareness of the presence of God in the ordinariness of our lives.

Luke’s Gospel presents Jesus, not as a super hero with super powers, but as a human totally empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ insights into people were from sensitivity to the Spirit. Jesus got his direction from the promptings of the Spirit. Jesus did his miracles by the release of the Spirit. When you pray expect to be nudged, sometimes without being fully aware at the time, toward people and situations in which you can represent the grace of Christ. During this time when you are seeking a new pastor, noticing Jesus praying at his baptism can shape your praying to ask for the Holy Spirit with confidence that you are loved by God and give pleasure to God.

Recognizing the Spirit’s Whispers

Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b -15

May 24, 2015

© 2015

The Day of Pentecost
Mark Hewitt

This is my last sermon as I conclude my interim ministry with Highlands Christian Church in Dallas. I hope to have another interim pastorate, but as yet do not have one in place. Thus, this will be the last sermon script posted here until I am serving another congregation. I will post notice of that on Facebook and Twitter when the time comes. Thanks to all who have read and encouraged my ministry.

In Jesus’ farewell message to his disciples he warned them they would be hated (John 15:18-26) but promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. For me this brought together Pentecost Sunday with my last Sunday as your interim pastor. Listen to Jesus’ farewell message to his disciples to recognize and follow the Holy Spirit’s whispers.

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. ²⁷You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. … I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. ¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

To whom are you listening when the Spirit whispers?

Jesus called the Spirit “the Advocate” in 15:26; 16:7. The Greek word is Paraclete which means defense attorney or legal counsel. Jesus envisioned a courtroom in which accusations would be hurled against his followers, and the Holy Spirit stands by them to defend them.

The Holy Spirit is the opposite of the prosecuting attorney called hasatan in Job 1:6-2:7 and Zechariah 3:1-2, from which the New Testament gets the name Satan, whom Revelation 12:10 calls the accuser.

Jesus also called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth in 15:26; 16:13. The Spirit is the one who gives true testimony on behalf of Jesus and us when we are accused.

For what are you listening when the Spirit whispers?

Jesus said the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment (16:8-11). When the accusations seem too much to bear, the Spirit becomes judge of the ruler of this world, handling the condemnation of our accuser. The Spirit whispers truth freeing us from shame.

The Spirit testifies on behalf (15:26) of and glorifies (16:14) Jesus, so when affirming Jesus wells up in you, recognize as the Spirit’s whisper and let it out knowing the Spirit speaks in and through you.

Jesus said that all the Father has is his, and the Spirit declares all that belongs to Jesus to us. (16:14-15) Thus the Spirit whispers that you have complete and free access to all of the spiritual resources of the Father in Jesus.

So, in the cacophony of not just a noisy world but an often noisy church, how do you discern the Spirit’s whispers?

Scripture is the starting place, not just informational knowledge but absorbing it into your whole being as your body absorbs nutrition from food. To change the image, keep filling the reservoir of your heart with Scripture so the Spirit can bring relevant truth to the surface at the exact moment you know your resources are inadequate.

Though Jesus said the Spirit “speaks,” I have intentionally said the Spirit whispers. Noisy, cluttered minds tend to drown out the Spirit’s whispers. Even our prayers can be chatter. We don’t let God get a word in edgewise. One thing to pray for is to recognize the Spirit’s whispers and then be quiet long enough to listen for them.

The Pentecost story in Acts 2 says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, not each one. Yes, we each have the Spirit indwelling us, but it is together as we listen to each other that we recognize the voice of the Spirit in someone else’s words. When the Spirit speaks to and through the church, all sense a confirmation of having heard from God. I know the Search and Call Committee experienced that when they discerned God called Jonathan as the next pastor for Highlands Christian Church.

Though his disciples couldn’t grasp it at the time, Jesus assured them that it was to their advantage for him to go away so that the Holy Spirit could come. I am certainly not Jesus, nor is Jonathan the Holy Spirit, but it is definitely to your advantage for me to go away and Jonathan to come to you.

As the Lone Ranger said to Tonto at the end of every episode, and Mary Poppins said when she left the Banks family, “My work here is done now.” Between what you have accomplished on this interim journey and with Jonathan starting on as your pastor this week, mixing in some Star Trek, you are poised to follow the Holy Spirit into a mission frontier to explore new ways to bring the Gospel of Jesus to new people, to boldly go where Highlands Christian Church has never gone before.

During these last 9 months, I’d like to think God has conveyed some wisdom, experience, insight and stability to you through Candy and me. To boldly go where God is leading you, it is to your advantage for God to send you energy and imagination through Jonathan.

I have mentioned before how impressed Candy and I have been with the spiritual tenor of this congregation. Just as the Holy Spirit came to propel the early church into their mission, recognizing and following the whispers of the Holy Spirit is essential for you to boldly go into the mission frontier God is opening ahead of you. It doesn’t happen magically with the right pastor or the right programs, it happens when you listen to the Spirit’s whispers together. If what you think you are hearing is really from the Spirit others will confirm it. And if the Spirit is leading you into unfamiliar territory, the Spirit will also equip you with all the know-how, energy, ideas, resources, courage and people you need.