tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30924253272652268842024-03-13T14:22:36.608-04:00HappeningsNews, Notes, and Thoughts From Emsworth U.P. ChurchUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-63847093350709071292015-06-21T16:34:00.000-04:002015-06-21T16:34:39.983-04:00Closing Litany and Prayer Warming -- June 21, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Video used in worship service on June 21, 2015</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LITANY FOR ENDING A MINISTRY<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">(adopted from a litany shared by Rev. Deb Avery, Oakland, California. The prayer warming of the crosses is an idea from Rev. Dave Carver who led our </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">group from Pittsburgh Presbytery</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> to </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">South</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Sudan in January, 2015)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L: The church
of Jesus Christ is constantly changing. Our church is changing as well. Babies
are born. Children grow up. People commit themselves to one another. Loved ones
and friends die. Newcomers join our community and our church. Others leave,
moving on to new places and new opportunities. It is important that we
recognize these times of change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2011, you
called me to serve as your temporary supply pastor. Today that call comes to an
end. I thank all of you, members and friends of Emsworth U.P. Church. Your
kindness and support, your caring and love, have sustained me, and I shall
remember you with gratitude to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PRAYER FOR PRESENCE, FORGIVENESS AND THANKFULNESS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us pray for
the saving presence of our living Lord:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In your world,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be present, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this
congregation,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be present, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this
community,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be present, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this
presbytery and the whole church,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be present, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the homes
and hearts of all your people,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be present, Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us pray for
the mercy of the Lord: For work begun but not completed,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord, have mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For
expectations not met,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord, have mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For wounds not
healed,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord, have mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For gifts not
shared,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord, have mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For promises
not kept,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord, have mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us give
thanks for our journey together in this place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For friendships
made, for joys celebrated and for times of nurture and growth,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For wounds
healed, expectations met, gifts given and promises kept.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our
fellowship in Jesus Christ, and for the love of God which has sustained us,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RECOGNITION OF THE SYMBOLS OF MINISTRY<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor:
Friends, you called me into your midst, to serve with you in the ministry of
Word and Sacrament. The Bible is the symbol of the ministry of the Word among
us. May God<b>’</b>s Word continue to challenge, nurture, and inspire you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All: We will
continue to place Scripture at the center of our life. The Word of God lives
among us. Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor: The
font is the symbol of our baptism, the place of our birth into the Body of
Christ. May you continue to welcome new members through the living waters of
our faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All: We will
continue to celebrate new life in baptism; the font of blessing welcomes all.
Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor: The
table is the symbol of our communion in Christ, the source of nourishment and
strength. May you continue to share the bread and cup, remembering the One who
is the Bread of Life and True Vine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All: We will
continue to break the bread and share the cup; the table invites us to taste
and see that God is good. Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor: The
towel and basin are symbols of our calling to justice and service, according to
the example of Jesus, who washed the feet of his friends. May you continue to
walk the way of the cross of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All: We will
continue to serve others and to work for justice, following in the way of
Jesus, friend and servant of all. Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor: As a
congregation we are called to love and serve each other, to care and to heal,
to teach and to witness to the Word. May you continue to love one another as
God has loved you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All: We will
continue to offer care, challenge and encouragement to one another, sharing all
that we are and have. Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PRAYER WARMING
OF THE CROSS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">L: </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">In the end, what remains for all of us is the promise
symbolized most powerfully by the cross of Jesus Christ. This what we have to
lean on and support us as we face the forces that fragment life. We sense its
potency. We can rest upon its strength and have our faith renewed as we
worship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the last of our gatherings in Yei, South Sudan, each member of the
community of faith we had formed was given a small Jerusalem cross. The cross
is formed by one central cross, representing the centrality of the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surrounding the central cross are four smaller crosses representing the
four gospels to be taken to the four corners of the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition, the larger cross is made of four shapes that are symbolic of
an ancient crutch, reflecting the truth that the gospel, intended for the
healing of the whole word, can only be carried by those who have been wounded
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You and I, brothers and sisters, are the wounded people that Christ has
called to be his own, his messengers for peace and healing in a troubled and
hurting world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In South Sudan, we received our crosses by means of a “cross-warming”
prayer wherein each of us held the cross of a fellow team member and prayed for
them by name, and then passed that cross around the circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the conclusion of this exercise, we
were all wearing crosses that had been prayed over by the other members of our
small group.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is how we will end our worship together today. The crosses you see
here on the table have been prayed over by me earlier today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to give one to each of
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then each one of you at
the table will take turns, passing the cross around to your brothers and
sisters at the table, and each person will take a moment to pray over the cross
as it comes around the table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of our prayer time, we will gather together here at the front
and pray over the remaining crosses that will be sent to our at home members so
they too can be remembered and connected to all of us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Closing
Prayer<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">O God, we give thanks for remembered
time when we, together, have shared the life of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thank you for the moments we have
shared over the past four years in worship, in learning, in service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray that all of us in this place
will be aware of your Spirit’s guidance as we</span><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><span style="line-height: 150%;">moveto </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">new and unknown places</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">, in the name of Jesus the Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God, whose everlasting love for all is
trustworthy, help each of us to trust the future which rests in your care. The time we were together in your name
saw our laughter and tears, our hopes and disappointments. Guide us as we hold these cherished
memories but move in new directions, until that time to come when we are
completely one with you and with each other, in the name of Jesus Christ we
pray. Amen.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-43012121699392340442015-06-21T16:33:00.001-04:002015-06-21T16:33:47.813-04:00Ordinary 12B -- June 21, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<h2>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Who’s In Charge Here?</span></b></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aydeHwQKwHU/VYceyQsazQI/AAAAAAAABlw/GICMT0_MLWQ/s1600/charleston-shooting-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aydeHwQKwHU/VYceyQsazQI/AAAAAAAABlw/GICMT0_MLWQ/s640/charleston-shooting-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">NOTE: </span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">not </span><em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. There is no audio this week, and the sermon as delivered contained more than the usual ad libs</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></em></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></em></span>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Job 38:1-11</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then the Lord answered Job
out of the whirlwind: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without
knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall
declare to me.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Where were you when I
laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who
determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars
sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the
sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set
bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here
shall your proud waves be stopped’?</i></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mark 4:35-41</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us
go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with
them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm
arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being
swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up
and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up
and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind
ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have
you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one
another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the book of Job, we hear about the man who tried to do
everything right only to be repaid by having everything go horribly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And according to the text, all of the
misfortune that falls upon Job is not even his fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the terrible things that happen to Job are a direct
result of God and Satan making a bit of a heavenly wager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satan bets God that this wonderful,
faithful, upright man named Job only behaves as well as he does because his
life is so awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Job is rich,
happily married with an adoring family, and every material and physical comfort
he could possibly want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why
wouldn’t Job be a good man?” Satan says. “When you have it good, it’s easy to
be good. Take all of his blessings away, God, and then let us see how blameless
and upright Job really is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, you know the story about what happens next. In short
order, Job loses it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lose
everything he cherishes most – children, animals, home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Job continues to bless God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Job says, “The Lord gave and the Lord
has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Satan still isn’t impressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the next time Satan meets with God, he decides to
double down on his wager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satan
says, “Let’s see what happens when Job has to put a little of his own skin in
the game.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So God allows Satan to
give Job unbearable physical pain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quiet “patience of Job” doesn’t last long after sores
begin to cover Job’s body and he finds himself sitting in an ash heap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Job has nothing left to lose, when
you get the sense that he has hit rock bottom, he finally cries out from the
dung heap, “God, I have done everything you asked me to!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is this happening to me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Answer me!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, God answers Job out of the whirlwind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God speaks to Job for four whole
chapters, but God never does answer Job’s questions because Job’s questions are
about human justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God’s
answer is about divine omnipotence. The only answer we really have about why
things happen the way they do is that God is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only God knows why things happen and God knows
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And none of us is God.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many, many people, this is the place where their faith
hits a brick wall. God’s forceful
response to Job seems to discourage our daring to question why there is
persistent injustice in the world and why God so often seems silent in the face
of great suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since none of
us were there when God laid the foundation of the earth, it seems we not going
to get the answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we know is
that God is God, the world is filled with horrible things, and even a man as
faithful as Job will not escape suffering.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The church often muddles its way through terrible situations
by falling back on cherished truisms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We might say, “God is good all the time.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could you blame the mother of a dead child if she said to
us, “Really? Is God really good all the time? Because I dare you to find
something good in this situation.“ Or, we might say to a friend who has lost a
job, “God will not give us more than we can handle.” They may not say it, but
could you blame them for thinking, “Maybe God can handle this nightmare of overdue
bills, damaged self-esteem, and depression so bad I can’t get out of bed in the
morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I can’t handle
it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How about the families of the victims in Charleston on
Wednesday night? How about the members of the Emanuel AME Church who lost a
beloved pastor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you like to
explain to those people where God was the shooting began? What do you have to
say to a 5 year old child who played dead to escape being shot at point blank
range by a man who hated him simply because of skin color?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where was God in Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday night?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the church should spend less time trying to defend
God when bad things happen and spend more time being Christ to one
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often never do receive
an answer about why good people suffer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We cannot explain why racism still exists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cannot explain why hatred insists on imposing itself as
violence committed against innocent people. Our hearts continue to break when
we see injustice and violence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The disciples in the little boat being swamped by a wild
raging sea ask a question of Jesus that resonates with Job’s plea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The terrified disciples scream at
Jesus, “Show us your power!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
you care?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus says to them,
“Where is your faith?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
disciples’ lack of faith is a failure of their imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are too frightened by the wind and
the waves to imagine that even a life threatening storm can be ridden out with the
one on whom they have staked their very lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus wakes up and sees the panicky, frightened men in the
boat with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are on their
way to the “other side,” the other side representing the territory of the
Gentiles, a foreign place, maybe even a dangerous or inappropriate place for a
Jewish person to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is
what happens when you decide to follow Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus crosses many social and spiritual boundaries. He eats with
unsuitable people, breaks Sabbath laws, associates with the unclean and heals
them at the wrong times, and communicates with unclean spirits. Crossing to the
other side with Jesus is a risky, unpredictable proposition, and in this
passage, the wind and the sea create demonstrate the dangers of being in the
boat with him.</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the middle of the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing but darkness all around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wind and waves are rocking the
boat, and the disciples can barely see Jesus with eyes stinging from seawater
mixed with frightened tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
disciples are in a terrifying place on their way to a terrifying place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we are certain all is lost, when we are certain we are
so lost we might never be found, when we cry out to God and listen for a word
from God, one word is always spoken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be still.” The
howling wind begins to die down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon there is utter silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All that is left is the sound of your own heart pounding as you begin to
catch your breath and realize that you have been deeply touched by something
far more powerful than the storm that threatened to swallow you whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One little word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little
word and an all-powerful word spoken amidst the noise and chaos of our
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A word of peace spoken over
a raging storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One little word
can undo whatever darkness threatens to undo us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One little word of peace can utterly change the world if
enough of us believe in its power to undo all the messes we make, all the hatred
we sow, all the injustice we create as frightened human beings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cannot promise you that there’s nothing to be
afraid of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the situations
that frighten us are real as real can be, as real as Job’s grief and pain, and
as real as the wind and waves that threatened to drown those disciples on a
terrible night at sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Over the past four years in </span>conversations with many of you, I have heard you talk about fears that run
deeply – fear of illness, pain, loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fears about money and fears of growing older.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fears that everything you hold dear and familiar may be
slipping away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fears about aging
parents and broken relationships. These are all real fears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are the truth of your lives and my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when we dismiss the
realness of our fears, or cover them up, we are lying to ourselves and to one
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But fear is not the whole truth and our fears become
dangerous when they become so powerful that we cannot move into the deeper
truth. Our fears don’t have to paralyze us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fears do not have to dominate us. Our fears do not have
to own us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fears do not have
to lead us to hate and mistrust and violence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one in the boat with us desires that we
acknowledge our complete dependence upon him and him alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one in the boat wants us to risk
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one in the boat
invites us to focus on the awesome reality of God who still speaks out of
whirlwinds and storms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are cared about; you are known and loved just as
you are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is this affirmation of
Christ’s peace for you that will make it possible to navigate even the roughest
seas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the racist shooter was apprehended this week, he
appeared in a Charleston courtroom. The surviving family members were given the
opportunity to address the young man who had repeatedly shot and killed their
sons and daughters, sisters and brothers. A New York Times reporter said, “It
was as if the Bible study had never ended as one after another, victims’ family
members offered lessons in forgiveness, testaments to a faith that is not
compromised by violence or grief. They urged him to repent, confess his sins
and turn to God.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“You took something very precious away from me,” said
Nadine Collier, daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, her voice rising in
anguish. “I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her
again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study
with open arms,” said Felicia Sanders, the mother of 26-year old Tywanza
Sanders, a poet who died after trying to save his aunt, who was also killed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“You have killed some of the most beautifulest people
that I know,” she said in a quavering voice. “Every fiber in my body hurts, and
I will never be the same. Tywanza Sanders is my son, but Tywanza was my hero.
Tywanza was my hero. But as we say in Bible study, we enjoyed you. But may God
have mercy on you.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title="">[1]<!--[endif]--></a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, the man named Job who had been to hell
and back and somehow lived to tell the tale, speaks this prayer to the Lord: “I
know you can do all things, and nothing you wish is impossible…I have spoken of
the unspeakable and tried to grasp the infinite…I had heard of you with my
ears, but now my eyes have seen you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore I will be quiet, comforted that I am dust.” (Job 42:1-6)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-81833982864317779142015-06-18T14:36:00.003-04:002015-06-18T14:36:45.474-04:00Goodbye and Thank You -- From Pastor Susan<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4AI3Zat--DY/VYMPDH-AtHI/AAAAAAAABlE/A9yayDliXtc/s1600/IMG_4980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4AI3Zat--DY/VYMPDH-AtHI/AAAAAAAABlE/A9yayDliXtc/s320/IMG_4980.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
The past four years of ministry here with you have been an
amazing journey. You have extended unfailing generosity, tenderness, and grace
to me and I am grateful. I could not have imagined a more loving church for my
first call as a teaching elder. It has been a blessing to serve as your pastor.</div>
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With great sadness, I am resigning as your temporary supply
pastor effective June 30, 2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
final Sunday in the pulpit will be June 21st. </div>
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You may be surprised by this decision. Frankly, I did not
expect to be sitting here today. I had every intention of being with you at
least through the end of 2015.</div>
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I know it sounds like a political cliché to say that I am
resigning to spend more time with my family, but it is true. Over the summer, I will be
doing the tough work of getting our house ready to sell so we can respond
quickly to looming changes for our family. Over the past few months, I
have prayerfully wrestled with this decision, and I am certain that God is
calling me to focus on family transitions, at least for now.</div>
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I do not know exactly where or how God will call me in
future ministry. I will continue working with the Unglued Church project, as
well as in mission, peacemaking, racial justice and reconciliation, and, more
broadly, helping with the on-going discernment of how God is calling our
denomination into the future. I do not know if I will receive a call to parish
ministry, or if I will serve the Church in some other capacity. I will continue
praying for clarity in how I may best use my gifts for the sake of the Gospel.</div>
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Over the past year, we have shared as a congregation the incredibly hard work of discerning how God is
calling Emsworth U.P. into the future. I know it’s been difficult. I truly believe, however,
that you have every tool you need to make a faithful decision about the future
of this church, and that the work need not slow down when I leave you.</div>
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As I have said from the very first day I arrived at Emsworth
U.P. more than four years ago, the mission of this church isn’t about the
pastor or her vision. It is about <u>your</u> sense of who God is calling you
to be and how you will faithfully participate in the mission of Jesus Christ in
this community.</div>
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You should also know that Rev. Sarah Robbins will serve as moderator of the session, and will continue working with you to provide the
support and resources you need to carry out the decisions you make as a
congregation.</div>
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Okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
another cliché that happens to be true. This church will always be in my heart.
As long as I am in Pittsburgh, I look forward to seeing many of you at
presbytery meetings, branch gatherings, committee meetings, and other
gatherings of our close-knit Presbyterian family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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My deepest prayer is that you will not treat my departure as
a reason to abandon the work you’ve been doing to move into God’s future for
this church. You can depend upon the
faithfulness of God and the love you have for one another. Each one of you will
be in my prayers, just as I’ve prayed for you every day for the past four
years. I can’t wait to hear how Jesus continues to live and work through you. </div>
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After June 21st, this blog will largely inactive, although I will leave it up as a resource for the church and your next pastor. Otherwise, I encourage you to visit Emsworth U.P.'s brand new website at <a href="http://emsworthupchurch.org/">http://emsworthupchurch.org</a></div>
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With love and gratitude,</div>
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Susan</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-10681317678154231812015-06-14T18:29:00.000-04:002015-06-14T18:29:20.362-04:00Ordinary 11B -- June 14, 2015<h2>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Leaving Home</span></span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_THRaEvgrVI/VX3_1lJclzI/AAAAAAAABkU/sdAbplFP7ng/s1600/yatpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_THRaEvgrVI/VX3_1lJclzI/AAAAAAAABkU/sdAbplFP7ng/s640/yatpic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Yat Michael, one of the two SSPEC pastors imprisoned in Sudan</td></tr>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. </em></b></b></div>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/june-14-2015-10-17-19-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/june-14-2015-10-17-19-am</a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 Corinthians 5:6 - 17<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we are always confident; even
though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—
for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at
home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for
what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Therefore, knowing the fear of the
Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I
hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not commending
ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so
that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in
the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our
right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are
convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for
all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him
who died and was raised for them. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>From now on, therefore, we regard
no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human
point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has
become new!</i><i> </i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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In our prayers over the past several weeks, we’ve included two
pastors from the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church who are currently
imprisoned in Sudan. The two men have been accused of spying in the Sudanese
capital of Khartoum when they traveled there to support Presbyterian churches
in the city. According to published news reports, the two men have recently
been moved to a more dangerous facility and denied visits from their families
and attorneys.(<a href="http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/christian-pastors-in-sudan-face-grave-new-dangers-attorneys-denied-access">http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/christian-pastors-in-sudan-face-grave-new-dangers-attorneys-denied-access</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But despite facing potential death
sentences if convicted when their trial resumes later this month, one of the
pastors asked this of all of his fellow Christians around the world in a recent
interview shortly before being moved:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“We want you to pray that this test be for the glory of God in this
place . . . and for us to be in peace with our people and the ones who are
against us.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also said, “I am
not afraid of anything…I am never afraid of anything because it is my love, it
is my being…I’m not afraid of doing my ministry.”(<a href="http://blogs.cbn.com/globallane/archive/2015/06/01/imprisoned-south-sudan-pastors-unafraid.aspx">http://blogs.cbn.com/globallane/archive/2015/06/01/imprisoned-south-sudan-pastors-unafraid.aspx</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not so sure I believe that
God is testing this pastor, and I am not sure I believe that he is not at least
a little bit afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing I
do believe is this pastor earnestly hopes that something good will come out of
his suffering and that God’s glory will shine through a pretty dismal situation.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also believe if the Apostle Paul
were around today, odds are that he’d be sharing a jail cell with these two
incredibly brave pastors – or if not the same jail cell, he’d be in some jail,
somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul spent a lot of
time in jail, as you know, mostly because he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut
about Jesus. The courage of his convictions and the depth of his faith were so
over the top that it seems he simply didn’t care who he made angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some people are like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people really do seem to walk by
faith and not by sight, as Paul says in our text. Walking by faith and not by
sight means that people like the South Sudanese pastors and Paul ignore the
flashing red danger signs that would stop the rest of us in our tracks. People
like Rev. Yat Michael, Rev. David Yein and Paul don’t seem to care how many
dangers, toils and snares they face. Answering God’s call is what they were
born to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are going to
preach the Gospel, no matter the personal cost or danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow trust in Jesus outweighs their
fear of being laughed at or imprisoned or ostracized or even killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Paul says – most people look at
the cross and say, “foolishness.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But a few people look at the cross and they get it – they see promise
and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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So Paul is entirely confident, at home with who he is, even if he often finds
himself at home in a jail cell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although Paul longs for his ultimate home with Jesus, in the meantime,
he’s not afraid to make other people mad by proclaiming the foolish Gospel of
Christ crucified for all people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 that the only thing Christians
need to fear is that we just aren’t doing enough to make the world mad at us in
the name of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul writes this letter to the
church in Corinth, after hearing that the church is in chaos and that pretty
much everyone is blaming him for the mess. Some new pastors are coming in and
telling the church in Corinth that this trouble-making Paul has no credentials,
isn’t really a very good preacher or organizer, and is physically unappealing,
-- in short, the pastors showing up in Corinth are try to persuade the church
there that their founding pastor, Paul, is not fit for ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few of these “super apostles” are even
accusing Paul of being a swindler and a cheat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rumors and accusations about Paul are flying fast and
furiously, and Paul is, of course, upset – you can sense his crankiness about
the whole situation throughout 2 Corinthians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul admits to being “beside himself” – a polite translation
for being royally ticked off with the jagoffs hanging out in Corinth, all those
shiny people who are questioning Paul’s integrity and motivation in preaching
the Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul is so upset that
he decides not to make things worse by going back to Corinth but will instead
write this letter to defend his ministry against the hysterical claims against
him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is as if Paul is standing up to
his critics and saying, “Is that all you’ve got?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is that all you’ve got – that I’m weak and pushy and
unattractive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know what –
you’re right. I am all of those things, and more. But you know what? You’re not
the boss of me and your judgment of my ministry doesn’t really matter one bit.
I’ve got one boss, one judge, one reason for doing what I do and living the way
I live and loving you the way I continue to love you even though you are being
incredible knuckleheads. None of what I’ve been doing in starting up all these
churches is about what I think or you think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not preaching Paul gospel or Corinth’s gospel or Rome’s
gospel or even the synagogue’s gospel. I’m just a weak, wounded, foolish, testy
fool for Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So take another
look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got all day. I don’t
mind suffering and I don’t mind bearing your burden. I love you, my dear church
in Corinth with all your squabbling and nagging and complaining simply because
Jesus loves me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus loves
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is Paul, in a vernacular
nutshell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Paul, it’s all about
the love of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Paul’s
anger comes not because he’s being criticized or challenged; the anger in Paul
is a product of his heartbreak in seeing his congregation split apart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Paul of 2 Corinthians is
entirely at home in his own skin. Paul knows who he is because he knows
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul loves the prickly
folks in Corinth because he sees them through the eyes of Jesus. Through it
all, Paul loves the people of Corinth, even those shiny perfect preachers
trying to take over, split the congregation, and make Paul look bad. Paul is at
home with who he is in Christ Jesus, and that makes him able to get mad and
become angry and write long-winded and scolding letters that may even
occasionally contain language he may wish to take back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The love of Christ urges Paul on,
to places where he is mostly unwelcome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sort of places with all sorts
of red flashing lights<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sort of places with all sorts
of red flashing lights that mean Paul most likely will get into serious trouble
with somebody.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sort of places with red
flashing lights that Paul completely ignores. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know how those pastors
being held in Sudan could take the risk they did to go and preach the gospel in
a place run by a government openly hostile to their faith. I don’t know how
Paul did what he did. I don’t know how Paul managed to be who he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know why Paul didn’t at some
point decide that, all things considered, life was a whole lot better when he
was a respectable Pharisee instead of a much maligned church planter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe Paul knew there was no going
back because the man he once was had been blown away like so much dust by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe he realized that the only person he could truly
be was a new creation in Christ. Maybe Paul was so lost in love with Jesus that
the red flashing lights no longer had any power over him. Maybe he knew that
the only way to get out of the crazy, difficult situations God had placed him
in was to go more deeply into them and trust that God would lead him out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the Rothenberg house, we’ve
spent much of the past two weeks helping Rachel prepare for her summer of study
in India. We’ve been washing and sorting clothes, visiting with friends and
family, watching Bollywood movies, all the while keeping an eye on India’s long
range weather forecast which, unfortunately, hasn’t changed one bit for the
better – highs in the 100’s, lows in the 80’s for the foreseeable future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachel has traveled on her own
before, but this summer feels different, probably because there are so many
other changes happening in our family – job changes, selling a house, think
about a new house, dealing with a parent’s decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s safe to say that not one of us feels anything
like grounded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the last
couple days, as I’ve watched Rachel goof off with her brother, talk with her
grandmother, reconnect with her Pittsburgh friends, pull out her sari’s and
recheck her passport, I realize that our family’s definition of “home” is
changing quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our family is
changing quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rachel is our
heart, but she is also a citizen of the world, and called to all she can
discover and learn and contribute. David will soon follow her, in his own way,
but as his own man who will move as God calls him into a life that is his
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I probably do not need to
point out that all of you are also undergoing change that you didn’t ask for,
wouldn’t have asked for, didn’t want, but here it is anyway. Losing a
pastor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Losing key leaders.
Wondering what can possibly be next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And for those of you suffering from the pains of aging and other
physical challenges, you probably share Paul’s longing for a body that wouldn’t
make it so difficult to do the things that please God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I believe God is in all of
this change and challenge, I can say it is all good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is all loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And loss hurts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Loss of
strength. Loss of certainty. Loss of seeing clearly where it is we are headed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet, we can view faith, not as
matter of adding more things to believe or to have, but a stripping away of
everything until all that is left is the restless heart’s true home – which is
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 14<sup>th</sup> century
mystic, Meister Eckhart once observed, “The spiritual life is not a process of
addition, but subtraction.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
We slowly but surely lose the earthly tent, the stuff we can count and hold and
see. Loss can make us more fearful than grateful. Loss can make us angry,
cranky, and use words we do not mean to use.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as we move through loss and longing, we just might find
the place where we belonged all along, in the light of God’s new creation in
Jesus. If we walk by sight, distracted by fearsome flashing lights that warn of
the highway’s ending or the canyons edge, we’ll get stuck in place for fear
we’ll misstep or get in trouble, or fall off the edge of the world altogether.
If we walk by sight, we’ll miss the new thing God is doing. If we walk by
faith, God’s newness is as plain as the nose on your face. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul knew how to walk by faith
better than anyone. He was always on the move, finding new expressions of
faith, new people to love, and new opportunities to proclaim the gospel. Every
church Paul founded was new and different – the churches in Corinth and Galatia
and Philippi and Thessalonians and all the others faced particular challenges,
disappointments, failures, and all sorts of crazy people acting in all sorts of
crazy ways that threatened to bring whole gospel business to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the while, Paul had to leave
things behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left everything
safe and familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left behind
congregations he deeply loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’d have one small taste of success and then find himself in prison
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he did all of it
without any assurance whatsoever that the church of Jesus was going to make it
out of the first century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
Paul had to leave behind everything he’d ever been taught about what success
looks like and what power looks like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He had to leave his certainty of what religion looks like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worst of all, he had to look at himself
every day and feel that thorn in his side and deal with being a very broken,
flawed, ordinary man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And knowing
full well his weakness, Paul had to leave behind any certainty that he was up
to the task of doing what God was calling him to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he could hold onto is grace, and the deep desire of his
heart to please God, not human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And somehow he had to keep loving human beings who quite often could not
bring themselves to love him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that is the messy, difficult,
fantastic faith in Jesus we have inherited from our brother Paul and our
brothers and sister in Corinth, and all the saints in every time and place who
have been where we are and know something about leaving home. We’ve already
taken the faithful first step in our baptism and in professing our faith. We
are saved by grace that we have not earned, but that pleases God to give to us
anyway. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that’s just the first step.
Like a 23 year old getting ready to step into a long flight to Delhi, we have
left the comfort of home and gotten ourselves on the plane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have buckled up and been lifted high
into the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first step is
completed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second step.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this life of faith, there is
always a second step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we can
no longer trust anything but God to walk beside us in a strange new place with
strange new people, though peaks and valleys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stuff of real life, new life, redeemed life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is where the journey of
subtraction ends. When we lean in to God, who is as near to us as our
breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(PAUSE)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When everything is gone, when you
are far from home, where you do not know where you will land or what you will
find when you get there. God’s grace is sufficient.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
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<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Mark Barger
Elliott, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feasting on the Word, Volume 3
Year B</i>, 135.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Ibid, 139.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-17069538505345288962015-06-08T06:21:00.001-04:002015-06-08T06:21:11.886-04:00Ordinary 10B -- June 7, 2015<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Who Told You You Were Naked?</span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-azkZTner8/VXVp6ZTrYFI/AAAAAAAABjs/loCoPRZ3LjQ/s1600/dna.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-azkZTner8/VXVp6ZTrYFI/AAAAAAAABjs/loCoPRZ3LjQ/s640/dna.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<o:p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. </em></b></b><br />
Audio: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/june-7-2015-10-14-23-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/june-7-2015-10-14-23-am</a><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Genesis 3:8-15</span></b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They heard the
sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,
and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among
the trees of the garden.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the Lord
God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said, “I
heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said, “Who
told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded
you not to eat?” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The man said,
“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I
ate.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the Lord
God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The
serpent tricked me, and I ate.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Lord God
said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all
animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust
you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you
will strike his heel.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My children
have become hooked on a genealogy service called, “23 and Me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span>submit saliva
samples swabbed from the inside of a male family member’s cheek and send them
in to 23 and Me. The company then matches the DNA from that one sample with
people all over the world who share similar DNA. Last year, Rachel swabbed David’s cheek, sent the sample to
“23 and Me”, and the kids have heard from literally dozens of people with whom
– according to David’s DNA -- we share distant relatives on both my and my
husband’s side of the family. This
genealogical study is really sort of fascinating. We’ve learned that I have
ancient ancestors who lived in Spain and France and even Italy. I always
thought of myself as pretty boring white bread Scots Irish kind of girl, so
it’s sort of fun to imagine there’s something at least a tiny bit exotic in my
family tree. (<a href="https://www.23andme.com/">https://www.23andme.com</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not at all certain
DNA is destiny, but as I’ve grown older, I am increasingly aware of the power
of family history to shape and influence how we see ourselves. Families are
where we first learn about ourselves. Every family has hopes, dreams,
successes, loves, losses, unfinished business, hidden violence, secrets,
mysteries; all these things and more filter down through the history of our
families, playing themselves out in the present and beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we search the past for clues
about the present, maybe hoping that we are a little more interesting than we
think we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of what we inherit
from our families is good – a strong work ethic, a kind heart, a flair for
telling jokes, or stubborn persistence in the face of adversity. Some genetic
tendencies are more worrisome, like alcoholism, mental illness or a genetic
marker for cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But more damaging than
cancer, I think, is that moment in which someone, usually in our family, tells
us a lie about ourselves that sticks and burns into to our psyche like a hot
penny on a sheet of ice. Someone tells us we’re just not very bright. Or ugly.
Weird. Worthless. Not manly enough. Not pretty enough. Too sensitive. Someone
tells us a lie and we believe the lie with all our heart. It’s amazing the
damage families can do with just a few thoughtless words. Someone tells us a
false story that makes us feel ashamed – ashamed of being who we are, ashamed
of being the person God created us to be in all of our beauty and all of our
brokenness. All it takes are just a few cutting words – especially to a child
-- and we buy into the lie that we are somehow less than a worthy and beloved
child of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that is some of
what is happening today in this story about Adam and Eve and the fallout after
their encounter with temptation. The couple believe the lie the serpent tells
them – that they are less than they should be, that being creatures made by God
is not enough. That being human beings created by God is nice and all that but
don’t Adam and Eve really want to be divine instead of merely human? And like
the young and impressionable human beings they are, Adam and Eve believe the
serpent’s lies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book of Genesis isn’t
written as literal history or even as a precise explanation of how good and
evil entered into the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nowhere in the entire Bible, in fact, are the words “fall” or “original
sin” ever used to refer to this story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those labels were applied much, much later. At its heart, this text from
Genesis is written simply as a story about our early ancestors in the
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a story that invites
us to reflect on our own encounters with God and our relationships with the
rest of God’s creation. And despite all the baggage with which this story comes
to us, it is not a story to shame us. Instead, it is a story that can open our
eyes to God’s persistent longing for us to return to the freedom and security
of God’s story for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam and Eve’s eyes were
opened when they crossed the line that God laid down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God laid down the line not to test them or tempt them or as
a trick them, but to ensure their well being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the pair also saw, for the first time, their
ingratitude for what they received from God in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they did what most people would
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tried to hide from
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as we so often try to
hide when we are engulfed in sorrow and shame over the terrible decisions we
make and the terrible things we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet God does not allow
that to be the end of this story. Our ancient mother and father eat the fruit
of the forbidden tree, yet they do not die on the spot. In their moment of
paralyzing shame, God comes looking for them. The man and woman have given up,
thinking their story is over, but God hasn’t given up on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it is the most
beautiful image in all of Scripture -- God walking in the garden, enjoying a
cool evening breeze, desiring nothing more than conversation and communion with
the people God loves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God calls
out and cannot find the humans because they have hidden themselves away back in
the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God calls out to them
with one of the saddest but most hopeful lines in all of Scripture – “Where are
you?” “Where are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the man calls back to
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I heard your call, God, but
I was afraid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know about you,
but for me that exchange sort of sums up the entire relationship between God
and humanity. God calls out to us and we often reply, “I heard your call, God,
but I was afraid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was afraid of
who I am and who I am not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
naked and ashamed and I do not believe I am deserving of your love or
forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the story
plays out in a form that is entirely predictable. The man blames the woman and
even goes so far as to point out that it was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God’s</i> idea to create her, as if nothing bad would have happened if
God had just left Adam alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eve
– well -- she says it was all the serpent’s idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fingers are pointing hither and yon, and the man and the
woman are both willing to sell the other out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing is sacred anymore, apparently. These two are willing
to sacrifice their integrity and their relationship in a frantic effort to
cover up their nakedness, all of which gets them nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard not to feel a
little sorry for these two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
all, they are so much like us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
live with similar lapses of judgment every day, and make mistakes both big and
small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all want something –
that one thing, whatever it is -- that is just beyond our grasp, and hardly any
of us take the time to see how much God has already done and appreciate how
much we have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing much has changed
in all the generations since the very first generation of humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are a culture that is built on
desire for more, more, more – greed fuels our economy, fills our airwaves, and
informs nearly everything we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are an anxious people, thinking we can secure our own well-being
apart from God. Desire for something that doesn’t belong to us has been the
human story since the very beginning of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is our story, reflected in the law of Moses, the
preaching of the prophets, the life of Jesus Christ and, even now, in our
alienation from our Creator and our alienation from one another which is played
out in war poverty, greed and misery all over our earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, God searches us
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is with us. God loves us.
God keeps telling the true story of who we are, and sees clearly who we are. This
story from Genesis is not so much a story of what happened to our earliest
ancestors but of what happens to each one of us as we walk on this earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago in our
adult Sunday school class on spiritual renewal, we watched a video featuring author
Erwin McManus (<a href="http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/naked-and-unashamed">http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/naked-and-unashamed</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ) </span>McManus talked
about a childhood memory that came back to him as he was driving to an event in
which he’d be doing a talk in front of some high-powered executives. As he got
closer to the event, he became more and more nervous. And in his nervousness,
he suddenly recalled a time when he was ten years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a child, McManus had a habit of
taking a shower and forgetting to take a towel into the bathroom with him. He
would yell out from the shower to other family members, asking them to bring
him a towel so he could dry off and cover up when he came out of the bathroom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One day, his family
decided they were tired of bringing him towels, so when McManus called out from
the shower, two of his older siblings broke into the bathroom, dragged him out
of the shower, down the stairs and pushed him, naked and dripping, out of the
front door of the house and locked the door behind him. As McManus told the
story, he recalled a feeling of incredible embarrassment and shame as cars and
bicycles passed by him, this little, crying naked boy on the front stoop of his
home. He pounded and pounded at the front door, to no avail. In fact, he could
hear his family laughing at him from inside the house. At some point, he tried
to hide behind a rather scrawny bush, which did little to hide his nakedness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">McManus admits it’s a
funny story in retrospect. But it wasn’t funny at the time to a 10 year old
boy. That feeling of shame stayed with McManus for a long, long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in the video, as
McManus reflects on the event, he recalls this text from Genesis that we read
today. He thinks about Adam’s shame and nakedness and how God calls out to him,
“Who told you that you were naked?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And McManus realized that it wasn’t God who told Adam he was naked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He realizes that that the source of
Adam’s shame was the fact he turned away from God’s story and listened to a
very different story, the wrong story about who humanity is and can be in
obedience to God’s loving claim on creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam turned from the story of God and God’s love and God’s
abundance. Instead, Adam and Eve bought into the story of the serprent who
tells Adam and Eve that God can’t be trusted, and that God’s story isn’t enough
for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">McManus concludes the
story by saying that he wishes he “could go back to the moment when I was ten
and they threw me out of the house, but realize it wasn’t my shame, it was
theirs. It was theirs. And I wish I had heard those words from God, ‘Who told
you that you were naked?’ I wish I had met the God who had seen through my
nakedness and takes away my shame.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cannot go back to the
place of pure innocence anymore than Adam and Eve could. Once we’ve heard the
lie, we cannot unhear it. But we can repent, turn away from the lies about
ourselves, turn away from the lies about other people, and live into God’s
story that was true from the beginning. As human beings, we are capable of
great love because each one of us has been created in the image of infinite
love and goodness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us step into the
certainty of God’s love as we gather at this table for the sacrament of the
Lord’s Supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us embrace the
mystery and grace that shapes our history as God’s family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is room at this table for
everyone and there is enough for all of us: saints and sinners, losers and
winners, souls who are lost and souls aching to be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the table in which we can be
exactly who we are, content in who we are, naked and unashamed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us come to this table, all of us
long-lost cousins, hidden and discovered, whole and hollow, restless and
redeemed, connected by body and blood and spirit of the Living Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-65551595171488568602015-06-01T09:47:00.001-04:002015-06-01T09:50:07.618-04:00Trinity Sunday B -- May 31, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Coming Undone</span></h2>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Isaiah 6:1-8</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting
on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs
were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their
faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one
called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole
earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices
of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of
unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a
live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph
touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your
guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am
I; send me!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some events are so momentous that we remember exactly where
we were and what we were doing when they occurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such was the death of a king in the ancient world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we want to appreciate the full
impact of King Uzziah’s death, we should imagine the impact of the assassination
of JFK, or the morning of 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
we can remember how the world convulsed when these events occurred, we will have
a sense of the cultural and political climate at the time when Isaiah has his
vision in the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the year 740 BCE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uzziah had been a very successful and powerful king for
around 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2<sup>nd</sup>
Chronicles tells us that 10 years earlier, Uzziah had been struck by leprosy
because his regal pride led him to make an offering normally reserved for a
priest in the Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make a
long story short, Uzziah challenged the sacred worship rituals of the Temple
and lost, big time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consequence
was the leper formerly known as King lived in quarantine until the day of his
death, and a regent had been ruling publically in his place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The king’s death under such
circumstances would cause enormous political uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things were slowly unraveling in
Judea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems appropriate Isaiah
might feel the sharp and weighty call of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God always seems to show up in unraveling places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God’s people also tend to show up when things are falling
apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When big events such as
9/11 occur, churches often see an uptick in attendance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In cities like New York and Washington,
D.C., and all around the country, many churches threw open their doors during
those days in 2001, some staying open 24 hours a day, to accommodate the large
numbers of people seeking solace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suspect many of the people who went to church in 2001 were the kind of
people who hardly ever step foot in a church, but thought they might find
comfort within the walls of a place that is holy or sacred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that is why Isaiah found himself
in the temple on this day. Maybe Isaiah just needed to find comfort in the
rituals of worship in hopes that familiar things would ease his troubled mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some of us, church can still feel like the safest place
in the world to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Days like 9/11
don’t happen often, thank goodness, but life does happen to us everyday, and we
are often undone by the mundane and ordinary struggles of an average week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many of us church is the place
where we find comfort and sense of well-being when things outside are not going
well at all. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If a peaceful, comforting worship experience was what Isaiah
was looking for, what he got was quite opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our text today is not about the quiet comforting presence of
God, but about awe, about shuddering, about being completely overwhelmed and
undone by the vast power of the Holy One of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A power so searing that even angels have to cover their eyes
because they cannot bear to look upon the face of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A presence so huge that the hem of
God’s robe fills every nook and cranny of the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A force so great that the entire temple shakes from its very
foundation and is filled with smoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isaiah’s worship experience in the Temple on this day is
anything but comforting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
shattering, humbling, astounding, and terrifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a God revealed neither as an adoring father, nor as
a gentle shepherd, but a fearsome God whose name is too holy to utter and whose
face is more likely to blind your eyes than open them. Isaiah encounters the
One who effortlessly holds the entire cosmos together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he quickly realizes God can just as
easily tear apart a sorry sinner like himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One commentator speculates <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Seraphs are actually crying out not in melodic song when
they sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” but in the pain and agony because they have
wandered too near to YHWH’s unmediated holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the presence of all that glory, Isaiah feels small, lost,
and diminished. Instead of being comforted, Isaiah is confronted by his
brokenness, and is very nearly destroyed by the realization of his smallness in
comparison to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Woe is me,”
Isaiah says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am lost, I am
unclean, and I live among people just as unclean as I am.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hebrew word translated as “lost” in
our English Bibles is actually a word that is closer to being “undone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah is undone, coming apart at the
seams, driven to his knees by the presence of the Holy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more than that, I think, Isaiah is
undone by the vast chasm between himself – a completely messed up person in a
very messed up world – and the absolute unmessed-up majesty of God. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is not exactly the kind of script <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we</b> expect to encounter when we arrive at church on a Sunday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is a script that is crucial to
the tug of war at the heart of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are always struggling to stand in the gap between the complete
otherness of God, and the intimacy God craves with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Images of God as both frighteningly
omnipotent and exquisitely vulnerable exist in scripture. Both images of God
are crucial in our lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that is the genius of this text from Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand, we see the immenseness
of God’s presence in the Temple, but we also see something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as Isaiah is undone by a painful
awareness of his deep unworthiness, Isaiah is suddenly, passionately and
intimately touched by an utterly forgiving God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah does not perish as he might imagine, but is lifted
up, forgiven and healed completely. No more guilt, no more shame, no more
anguish. All of it gone, not tenderly or painlessly, but in the blinding
burning flash of a white hot coal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I am an introvert, I have always felt closer to God
in a quiet sanctuary, with quiet people, worshipping a God who does not talk
back in the manner Isaiah encounters, or in the way in which the apostles
encounter the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I feel much more at peace in a time of silent, centering prayer than I
do in a raucous worship service with waving of hands and loud music. My guess
is if you’re sitting here this morning, you may feel similarly drawn to a quiet
space of contemplation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I wonder if we limit the power of God to transform us
when we want to keep God quiet and dignified and manageable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s be honest with ourselves as we
ponder this question: do we want God messing with us in the same way God messes
with Isaiah?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we really come to
worship each Sunday morning only to find ourselves blown away by the Holy One
of Israel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we want to find
ourselves on the receiving end of a white hot coal? Do we want to become undone
like Isaiah?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after
Pentecost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have said it before
and I will say it again, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
Trinity itself is a mystery beyond anyone’s comprehension and
understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I will also say
we can’t give up the Trinity, not matter how badly it makes our heads hurt
trying to figure it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
reason we need the Trinity is we have to somehow keep in balance the various ways
in which God is experienced in Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We need the God who is entirely Other, the God of glory and
power and might.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need the
Spirit of fire and wind, who blows where it and as it will, sometimes as a
gentle comforting breeze and sometimes as a tornado that knocks us off our feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we need the Son, the peasant baby
who shed the glory and majesty of God to come down to us, close to us, so we
could become more like God, not through any effort of our own, but simply because
it pleased God to claim us as God’s beloved and holy children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, there would be no Trinity had it not been for the
mystery of Jesus, this man who lived and died like a martyr but was
resurrected. Ever since the mysterious event of the cross and resurrection,
Christians have found the mystery of God’s deep love and God’s unapproachable
holiness brought together in sharp and inescapable focus in Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Trinity is a way to get at that
tension between what is wholly human in the Son, wholly divine in the Father,
both of whom are wholly present to us in the Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the text from Isaiah ought to tell us something about
how we think about this life we are called to as people of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because at its heart, this is a story
about being called by God into a redeemed life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must wrestle with the reality of being changed, sometimes
uncomfortably, as we are marked by the touch of God, which, as Isaiah
discovers, both burns and heals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moments of wonder and awe like those described by Isaiah do
not often happen for we are human beings, imperfect and understandably
frightened to get too close to the awesome majesty of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, sometimes moments of awe and
wonder come close to us when we least expect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In moments, sometimes very small moments, when we are really
paying attention to the movement of the Spirit in our lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be a moment you’ll find yourself in the temple –
or in your living room or on a crowded street or on a plane to South Sudan or
in bed at 2 a.m. when sleep is elusive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In those moments, you’ll hear a voice that says, “Whom shall I send into
this terrible, beautiful world?” And if you are not careful, you’ll become
undone enough by the voice to find yourself saying, “Send me.” And who knows
what will happen then? Only God knows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The message Isaiah is called by God to speak to the people
will not make their lives easier. In fact, life is Judah is going to get a
whole lot worse before it gets better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Listen to this terrible message God gives to Isaiah:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #010000; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Go and say
to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do
not understand.’ </span><sup><span style="color: #646464; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">10</span></sup><span style="color: #010000; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Make the mind of this people dull,
and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their
eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and
be healed.” </span><sup><span style="color: #646464; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="color: #010000; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two verses after saying “Here I am, send me!” Isaiah blurts
out, “How long, O Lord?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And who
can blame him? He’s been called to deliver a hopeless word to a stubborn and
feckless group of people. But that’s what prophets do when they decide to say
ok to God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a commentary on this passage, Dr. John Holbert says:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“By all means, call your people to follow the Lord, bid
them give their lives for God’s service. It is what we do! But to follow God
rightly does not always lead to great congregations, vast religious campuses,
and budgets that rival those of small nations. What we are called to say to our
world is that the last are first, the least are greatest, and the greatest
among us is a servant. Such two thousand year old words have regularly been met
by dull ears, sightless eyes, and clouded minds; all of which have led again
and again to wasted cities and empty lands, ravaged by wars and famines and
hopelessness.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am no prophet,
but I live my life striving to hear what God has to say. I prefer a small still
voice, I admit, as opposed to the pyrotechnics Isaiah experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I know all of us crave the presence
of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crazy part of it,
though, is we don’t get to dictate the terms of how we’ll experience the holy.
For ourselves or anyone else. We cannot control God and how God will work in
our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When have you found
yourself undone and on your knees and feeling about as unworthy as a person can
feel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When have you experienced
the deep forgiveness and love of God? </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes God’s presence is creative -- nurturing new ways of being in
community and creating hope through word and deed. Sometimes God’s presence is
sustaining -- keeping all the systems that govern our lives working efficiently
and effectively. Sometimes God’s presence is healing -- caring for those the
world has forgotten or reaching out to someone in need. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And sometimes, God’s presence will undo us and lead us to places we do
not choose, would not choose, for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes God’s presence will disorient us as a new vision
obscures our old ways of seeing the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And often God’s presence will disturb us as we are unable to
turn away from the world’s deep pain and injustice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter how we experience the presence of God, we can never be
separated from the promise of God – to be with us, to be for us, to be in
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is the best kind of
promise, especially when the pivots of the threshold are shaking
and it looks like the whole place is about to go up in flames. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=328">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=328</a>,
accessed May 29, 2015.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-87226933059803659642015-05-17T18:16:00.000-04:002015-05-17T18:22:26.307-04:00Easter 7B/Ascension Sunday -- May 17, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">What Are You So Happy About?</span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7R62ZVDoaU/VVkSnvBeQRI/AAAAAAAABhc/0rB85cHhk7w/s1600/screen320x480-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7R62ZVDoaU/VVkSnvBeQRI/AAAAAAAABhc/0rB85cHhk7w/s640/screen320x480-1.jpeg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. </em></b></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Audio: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/may-17-2015-11-14-57-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/may-17-2015-11-14-57-am</a></em></b></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Luke 24:44-53<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to
you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of
Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their
minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written,
that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see,
I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until
you have been clothed with power from on high.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his
hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and
was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ascension is one of those days we pretty much ignore in
the Presbyterian Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ascension
Day is always on a Thursday, because it is observed 40 days after Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Catholic Church considers
Ascension Day to be a holy day of obligation, even the Vatican moved the
observance to Sunday because it had become just too difficult to convince
people to show up for mass on a Thursday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which makes sense. People have to go to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even the most faithful Christian
business owner shuts down on Ascension Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I can’t help but think I’d get a raised eyebrow from
David’s teachers if I sent a note saying, “Please excuse David’s absence on
Thursday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were celebrating
Ascension Day.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not like you can even buy a Ascension Day card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And really, how can Ascension Day truly
be considered a legitimate holiday if there’s no greeting card to accompany
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, why do we even bother to mention the ascension of Jesus
in a Presbyterian church? Unlike our Catholic brothers and sisters, it’s not a
mortal sin for us to skip observing the ascension. Even at the presbytery
meeting last week – which was scheduled, as it has been for the past few years <u>on</u>
Ascension Day – the sermon during opening worship was NOT about the ascension
for at least the third year in a row. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You and I have heard literally hundreds and hundreds of
sermons about the incarnation, about Jesus’ trial, death and resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We celebrate Resurrection for 40 whole
days, but we only get a couple verses in Luke and Acts about how Jesus leaves
his earthly ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
gospels ignore ascension entirely and say nothing about how Jesus departs from
earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only Luke seems compelled
to give Jesus’ story a tidy, definitive earthly ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew, Mark and John are not
interested in how the story ends at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it because ascension is just too strange to believe, let
alone talk about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was telling
Tom and Mark in the car the other day on the way back from presbytery that when
it comes Jesus’ resurrection, I’m totally on board. But ascension is just so
odd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe it’s because, if we think about the ascension at all,
we think about it as it is depicted in paintings – with Jesus rising up, up, up
into the clouds, his feet hanging from mid-air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such pictures made complete sense to Christians who believed
in the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy’s geocentric model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ptolemy said heaven was literally above
us, the outermost region of whole universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for centuries, people believed heaven to be a place up
beyond the stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such a belief persists even today, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I read about a popular phone
app named, “Jesus Jump” in which Jesus bounces from cloud to cloud on his way
up to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game is over
when Jesus misses a cloud and falls back to earth.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure the game developers
appreciate what terrible theology Jesus Jumps represents, but they certainly
share most people’s vague understanding of heaven being somewhere up
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that getting there is a
very, very difficult journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probably all of us know and are willing to admit that heaven
is probably not a far away place that exists somewhere way up there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But knowing that Jesus isn’t floating
above our heads still doesn’t answer the question about where Jesus has gone.
All we know for sure is Jesus is right in front of the disciples one minute
and, poof, he’s gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sort of like
Elvis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our understanding of the
ascension is limited to this idea that Jesus has left the building and gone to
heaven, whatever that means and wherever that is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have often thought of this whole scene in both Luke and
Acts as sort of, well, sad. Jesus is gone. When he told Mary not to hold on to
him in the garden, I guess he really meant it as a warning, because he was
wasn’t planning on sticking around much longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But notice there are some guys today in our text who are not
the least bit sad when Jesus leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their voices of the disciples do not sound sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, they sound glad. The last few
verses of Luke sound a little like Who-ville on Christmas morning. The disciples
aren’t boo-hooing, but are whooping it up out there on Bethany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are worshiping!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are filled with great joy! They
aren’t mad or sad or confused about Jesus leaving them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, look at them -- there they are
in the “temple blessing God.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are they so happy about?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it possible the disciples are not fully grasping the
situation here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, maybe it’s us – the modern, enlightened disciples – who
don’t know what the heck is going on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember – at this point in Luke, the disciples have just
emerged from the crucifixion, shaken, confused and grieving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on Easter evening, just three days
later, these sad, defeated disciples powerfully experience the Resurrected
Christ – first on the Emmaus Road, and then later on in Jerusalem where Jesus
reveals who he is in the breaking of bread and in showing them his hands and
his feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, Luke tells us that
Jesus opens the disciples’ minds so they can understand, finally, how his life,
death and resurrection is a fulfillment of all Moses and the prophets
foretold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples have
gotten Jesus back, have just barely absorbed the reality of his resurrection,
and before you know it, he’s getting ready to up and leave them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, at least in Luke’s rendering, the disciples aren’t sad
in the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could it be that the disciples experience the ascension not
as Jesus’ leaving or disappearing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could it be that what they experience is not the beginning of Jesus’
absence from them, but the assurance of Jesus’ continued presence with them and
with all future disciples, in every time and place?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is that we think of heaven as another
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not sure where heaven
is, but we’re pretty certain it isn’t here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Jesus has gone to heaven, then he must be in a different
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in Luke, the kingdom of God, which many people assume to
be heaven, is portrayed not so much as a reality in some distant future place,
but rather a future that -- in Jesus’ death and resurrection -- has broken into
the present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Kingdom of God is
both already here, but not yet complete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we can let go of the notion of heaven being a completely
different location, removed from earth, and think of it as the Kingdom of God
breaking in every day, the ascension becomes very good news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we can think of the ascension as
being the moment when Jesus joined God and he is with God, that means Christ is
no longer bound by time and space, but available always and forever with all of
us. If we can stop thinking about going to heaven, and begin thinking of our life
being a progressive journey to the very heart of God, the good news about Jesus
gets even better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the gospel of John, Jesus says: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>27</sup>Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid. <sup>28</sup>You heard me say to you, “I am
going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I
am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 14:27-28)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Jesus does not leave us in the ascension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He goes away, but becomes even more
available and accessible, not just to a particular people in a certain time and
place, but to everyone in every time and place. The Kingdom of God is very near
to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that makes the
ascension very good news indeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is why the disciples are able to rejoice even
as the visible Christ leaves them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because, despite how unprepared and off-balance they may feel, they are
equipped do the work of Jesus now. The work the Father had given Jesus to do
has become the disciples’ work – to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit
those in prison, wage peace and not war, love our enemy, be salt in the world,
be light in the darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as
Jesus preached in his first sermon in the gospel of Luke:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>18</sup> ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> because he has anointed me</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to bring good news to the
poor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and recovery of sight to the blind,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>19</sup> to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favour.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Lk 4:18-19)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ascension affirms to us that Jesus’ work is now ours,
and that people who have never seen Jesus will see him in us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a beautifully blessed and
somewhat overwhelming responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ascension is not about the mysterious disappearance of Jesus
into heaven, but the eternal presence of Jesus with us, which equips us to do
His kingdom building work as faithfully, fully, truly and gently as we are
able.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And next week, on Pentecost,
we receive the Holy Spirit, which gives us the strength to do the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Ephesians text today, Paul we can be certain of our
ability to do the work Christ has called us to do:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what
is the hope to which he has called you…God put this power to work in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and
above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to
come.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the hope to which Jesus has called you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What power has God placed in you
through the freedom of the risen and ascended Christ and the presence of the
Holy Spirit? </span></div>
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What is the hope to which Jesus has called this church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What power has God placed in us?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be meeting again on Tuesday night as we look at the
directions we can take as a congregation moving into the future as part of the
Unglued Church work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of the
three teams will report on what they’ve discovered in what such a future may
look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we will be meeting in the shadow of the most recent Pew
report, released this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to the survey, s<span style="color: #262626;">eventy-one
percent of American adults were Christian in 2014, the lowest estimate from any
sizable survey to date, representing a decline of 5 million adults and 8
percentage points since a similar Pew survey in 2007.</span> Those numbers are
huge, and losses cut across all Christian denominations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Christianity as we’ve known it in our own context is
shrinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably didn’t
need a Pew report to tell you that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But is Christianity dying?</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may seem Jesus has abandoned us, but is it not possible that
precisely here, in our hour of greatest need, he is more fully present than we
could dream? “If the gospel is to be trusted, we should never imagine that a
season of struggle signals Jesus’ absence. The same is true for the
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should not assume
that a season of difficulty signals that the church is dying.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ascension tells us the relationship at the core of who
we are as God’s people will not die, cannot die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relationship we have with the human Jesus, who walked on
Palestinian mud and healed human flesh and ate fish and drank wine and was
rejected by his religion and killed by the State and overcame death itself –
that relationship is the core of who we are called to be and cannot be
destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter how much we
mess up in the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter
how deeply we mess up our own lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing can separate us from God’s love in Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our hope is not in the survival of the church – this church,
any church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our only hope is the
power of the resurrected and ascended and living Christ that keeps us at work
in the world. Paul tells us --<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only
in this age but also in the age to come.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus reigns above every denominational rule, every church authority,
and every secular power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So maybe the ascension is about the freedom we have in
Christ to follow him wherever he goes, fearlessly, joyfully, worshipping and
whooping it up just like the disciples who, although they could no longer see
his body, could experience the power of Jesus in one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the disciples would go on to
experience the living Christ in the people they had yet to meet – Gentiles,
eunuchs, women, Jews, hustlers, gamblers, sinners, even in that rotten guy
named Saul…all of whom we meet in the Book of Acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is in the mystery of the ascension that the Jesus
movement began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in the
mystery of God’s working in the world that the Jesus movement continues
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The manner in which the
movement is expressed will look different in every future generation, just as
it has been expressed differently over the history of Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we have built over the past
century in the mainline churches of North America is giving way to a different
expression – nobody knows but God what it will look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how is this good news for us, you may ask? Why should we
be happy about all of these changes in the church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What have we got to smile about, Pastor Susan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why are you smiling, Susan, when it looks
like everything is falling apart?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am smiling because the more we let go of the structures
we’ve built around the mystery that is the heart of our faith, the closer we
will move to the heart of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s not that we do not need structures, or some order to temper our
ardor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do. I am a Presbyterian
after all, and doing things decently and in order is part of my pastoral
DNA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when we worship our
structures more than Jesus, or mistake our structures as the source of our
faith, then it is time to rethink our priorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the love of God we know in Jesus Christ, there is no
ending to fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, if you
think about it, there is only one ending worth talking about, and it is the
ending to which we look forward with great happiness – when God finally gathers
all creation together and the kingdom of God, -- this heaven which we receive
only glimpses of in this life -- becomes complete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus’ earthly ministry in the Gospel of Luke ends not with
a bang or whimper, a curse or a judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It does not end in tears or a final embrace or a conclusive
goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It ends with the
ceaseless blessing of Christ.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the effect of Christ’s ascension
creates a holy space for disciples of every time and place to continue Christ’s
mission. And that, brothers and sisters, is something to celebrate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/2844/lets-not-overlook-the-ascension</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Sheldon Sorge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Thomas H.
Troeger, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feasting on the Word,</i> Vol. 2
Year B,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(521-525)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-4841830143247750972015-05-11T09:28:00.000-04:002015-05-11T09:28:24.299-04:00Easter 6B -- May 10, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Best Friends</span></span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mark Shannon -- Guest Preacher</b></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John 15:9-17<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As the Father has loved me, so I have
loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I
have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy
may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you
servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is
doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you
everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose
you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that
the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these
commands so that you may love one another.</span></i><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Bible is an amazing book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we
read a novel or work of nonfiction, the events in that volume are typically
confined to a specific time and place and relevant to a few pertinent
characters or subjects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
Bible is unique in that even though the words of a text may apply to a narrative
story in Scripture, or even directed to certain individuals in an epistle, the
Holy Spirit’s words reach across the generations and speak to our own hearts
and minds and engage us in the story of God’s plan for the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
it is in today’s text from John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In these verses Jesus is speaking to his disciples, those twelve men He
has chosen to teach and to witness the events of His life and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these are the people that have to
carry on in His place after Easter and His subsequent ascension forty days
later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet
even though these words of our Lord were spoken shortly before His arrest and
crucifixion to a group of confused and bleary-eyed followers more than two
thousand years ago, I do not think any theologian would disagree that the words
in this text can equally be said to be addressed to Christians and those who
will become believers around the world today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such is the power of Scripture that the words Jesus spoke to
His disciples can inspire and inform our walk with Him this morning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
what is Jesus saying to us in this passage?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
thing He is saying is “Congratulations!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other spiritual leaders and worldly teachers regard their followers as
servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In exchange for lessons
that impart one person’s idea of the truth and how to live one’s life these
leaders and teachers put themselves in positions of authority over their
listeners and consign them to lower-class status.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
Jesus will have none of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead of servants, He has declared us to be His friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has elevated us—and not demeaned
us—by sharing with us all that we need to know about Him and what He wants us
to do in His strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not
mindless servants who blindly obey without understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are friends of the Son of God and
not because we claim to be but because He has announced that we are His friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So again “Congratulations! And
rejoice!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Did
you know that today the word “friend” is a verb?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On sites like Facebook you can approach someone online and
ask them to “friend” you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
they can decide whether to include you on their list of followers or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by the same token, you can be
unfriended-another new verb, if you fall out of favor with that
individual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, here’s some more
good news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you become the
friend of Jesus, and He becomes your friend through your acceptance of His saving
work on the cross, He doesn’t have a button that He can push that renders you
“unfriended”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His promise of
friendship is an ironclad guarantee that He will never desert you or turn away
from you as long as you draw breath in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I know what you might be thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about after you die?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear not, the hand he extends in
friendship will be the hand you see in Heaven, pitted with a hole where the
nail to the cross has been pounded through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This promise of friendship includes an eternal lifetime
guarantee.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
the wonderful thing about this guarantee is that it is now in effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not just reserved for our
Heavenly home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through His
resurrection power Jesus is alive today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is He who lives in us and through us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And only because He is alive in us are we able to carry out
His commands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
what does it mean to be a friend of Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all sounds well and good….as long as I don’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have to go share my faith with that guy
that leaves his cigarette butts outside the back door of the apartment
building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And don’t count on me to
be a friend in deed if it means I have to go someplace wet and hot with big
hairy spiders coming at me with poison in their fangs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friendship with Jesus will probably
cost us something—won’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not like hanging out with the neighbors over a cup of coffee and catching up
with their family and comparing notes on who got kicked off “Dancing with the
Stars”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What
does the Bible say about friendship?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Right
off the bat the verses that came to my mind are from the book of Proverbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There we read that a friend loveth at
all times and that there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we make the mistake of
putting ourselves in place of the word “friend” in these verses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who among us can measure up when it
comes to loving the other person at all times or being closer than a blood
relative to someone else?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Take
heart friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes much more
sense to say that Jesus Himself is the Friend that loveth at all times and it
is indeed He who sticks closer than any relative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes in the Old Testament we catch glimpses of the
Savior before His incarnation—and so it is in these verses, I believe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
don’t be afraid to be considered one of Jesus’ friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve heard it said in this church
from many different people down through the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus won’t send you somewhere that He hasn’t equipped you
to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will accompany you
whether it is across the street or around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And another adage that’s become familiar to members of this
congregation is that Jesus hasn’t taken us all this way so far just to drop us
abandoned and alone somewhere totally unfamiliar to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make no mistake, Jesus doesn’t promise
us that the path will be an easy one and that the journey will be pleasant all
the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But His companionship
means that He will walk along side you, surrounding you on every side, helping
us to accomplish what He has for us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to jump the gun on next week’s message but as
if the very Presence of Jesus with us was not enough, He also plants within us
the Holy Spirit to remind us of the Word and the promises made in those
pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no way He will
abandon us to the world or take His Holy Spirit from our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is indeed a friend that is “stuck”
with us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now
what about that line in today’s text that says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You are my friends if you do what I command”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sentence has always bothered me
somewhat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words sure sound
like something a bully in the schoolyard would say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you give me your lunch money I won’t beat you up…I’ll
even say you’re a pal.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this
what Jesus is talking about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
kind of friendship is that?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read the text again a
few times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What could that
sentence mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does Jesus
command us to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly a light
bulb gleamed just like in the comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last verse of today’s text, verse 17, says it plainly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“This is my command:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love one another.” Could it be that
simple?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the same token Jesus
couldn’t have said words much more difficult to obey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
couple of weeks ago Mitzi and I were talking about the words found in verse
13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Greater love has no one than
this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What prompted our discussion was something Susan said in her
sermon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said that if her kids
were awakened in the night by someone holding a gun to their heads and asking
them if they were Christians or not, she hoped that they both would answer with
a question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Which answer is going
to keep me alive?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in our
discussion we wondered if denying that we were Christians in order to stay
alive meant that Jesus would deny us to His Father in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because elsewhere in Scripture that is
just what He does say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked
about stories we’ve heard about. In times of warfare one man throws himself on
a live grenade in order to save his fellow soldiers—even if he knows he’s going
to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We call those people that
do commit such acts heroes and we know that they are the exception—not the
rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in peacetime there are
stories in the news about somebody jumping in front of a speeding subway car to
rescue somebody else who has fallen onto the tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are just as much heroes as the sacrificial
soldier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One conclusion I made
during our talk was that even if we fail to confess the truth about our faith
in the event that someone’s holding a gun to our head, we don’t need to fear
that we have denied Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be
honest, if we think about it, we deny Jesus all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When was the last time you reprimanded
somebody for saying “Oh my God” by telling that person:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hey, watch your language that’s my
Lord you’re talking about”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
we fail to say grace at mealtimes, aren’t we failing to acknowledge that God is
the one who provided the food and the money to purchase it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus won’t abandon us for failing to acknowledge
Him to other people in circumstances like these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks be to God for that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once
again, I believe that Jesus is telling His disciples in this passage that the
greatest example of love for one’s friends, laying down one’s life for them, is
a foreshadow of what He is about to do on the cross for them—and for us as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is giving them an example
to aspire to, and a foretaste of what is about to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve heard it said that Jesus is the
Pioneer and Perfector of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His life is recorded for us to learn from, not to duplicate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can never come close to doing the
things He calls us to do with any degree of perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is because no matter our
intentions, our motives are so beset with sin that the end result falls far
short of perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But His life
is meant for us to be a model of how to live, a measuring rod to aim for, full
in the knowledge that we can never equal much less surpass His accomplishments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
you think about it, in one respect the Lord’s command to love each other isn’t
SO terribly difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all,
it’s somewhat easier to love our friends, isn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those people we’ve come to know over time get something of a
pass when it comes to the things about them that would make strangers
unappealing to us. It’s easy to overlook a character flaw or a sharp retort
when we consider the time spent together with friends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Remember,
it is only because Jesus is alive and living in us that we are able to carry
out His command to love one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He loves people through us—it is not by our own doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are completely reliant on Him to
accomplish this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What an amazing
idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus gives us a command and
then only by His power can we carry it out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Throughout
my life I’ve enjoyed knowing a number of friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of them I got to know through childhood
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others were introduced
to me through work experiences, and many of them worship here in this
congregation I’m happy to say.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
of my friends was a paratrooper in the Army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another friend thought that the best way to spend a vacation
was to take two weeks and travel to Churchill, a little town in Canada where
polar bears roam wild every year around Halloween.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And another friend was nominated for an Academy Award for
her role as a blind woman in the movie “A Patch of Blue”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these people and
others besides them have a special place in my memory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
friends have a way of leaving us, don’t they?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They move away or get married and have kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they also leave us by their death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Studies
show that one of the keys to a healthy and long life is the quality of our
social contacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we have at
least a few close ties to other people as we grow older, we will be more likely
to enjoy good mental and physical health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is a concern of some scientists that men have a harder time
cultivating close ties with other people in their senior years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men who haven’t bonded with teammates
in sports activities when they were younger are at somewhat of a disadvantage,
I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a lot to be said
for the tight-knit relationships that athletes form in team sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ties often are points of
reference for reminiscing and for assessing the skills of the current crop of
players.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
I challenge myself, and I also challenge you, to keep making new friends at each
stage of your lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today’s text
says we are called by the Lord to bear good fruit that lasts for the
Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are content to stop
exploring the possibility of making new friends we may well be cutting
ourselves off from what Christ is calling us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Where
do we find potential friends?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look
around you as you leave the sanctuary today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are infinite possibilities to explore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may literally run into your next
new friend at the grocery store or that person may be the parent of one of your
children’s classmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if it’s
a romantic relationship you are pursuing, try making a date with a real- life
Christian matchmaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked
for me and my wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
definitely an area where prayer would be beneficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praying to meet a new friend seems like just the kind of
prayer that God enjoys answering.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
real challenge in following Jesus’ command is to love those people that are
difficult to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we
are thrust together with people we would cross the street to avoid. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do we do then?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once
again it is good to consider Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus says “Apart from Me you can do nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because He lives and is alive in us we can carry out this
command.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years ago the author
Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of the Holocaust, happened to see a guard she
recognized in the hospital where she was visiting a friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I recall, the man was very ill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite all that he had done to her and
the other Jewish prisoners in the camp, she felt a strong urge to say a word of
forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She noted in her
account of the incident that she didn’t want to offer this man
forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she did so
knowing that it was only Christ that enabled her to say anything to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her own strength she was paralyzed
and kept from speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jesus
worked through her and accomplished a great work in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s
always a good idea to find common ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shared interests and opinions can go a long way<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>toward overlooking those things that we
find unappealing in another person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s also wise to try to determine if the people you inwardly shy away
from belong to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that is
the case then a world of common experiences and points of reference open up
before you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through conversations
with strangers who are Christians, we develop a keener awareness of how Jesus
is at work in the world and what He has been doing in the lives of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those kinds of conversations can form a
strong basis for friendship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Notice
that in today’s text the disciples have no idea what awaits them in the next
few hours and days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite some
pretty explicit descriptions they fail to realize that very soon their friend
Jesus will be taken away from them and put to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the same token they also have almost no conception of His
coming resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
don’t know what will happen to our church in the days ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have some ideas and some strong
indications about how things might proceed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we have something the disciples didn’t have during their
final lessons with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
the assurance that no matter what happens the Triune God will be up to His
elbows in the midst of events with us every moment along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The building may crumble and the
hymnals may fall apart and be forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Jesus will abide.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And
finally what better way to end this sermon—and maybe every sermon—than to
repeat the Lord’s command.
Friends: love one another.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-21386527998683522802015-05-11T09:17:00.001-04:002015-05-11T09:17:50.035-04:00Florence Taylor Memorial Service -- May 9, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Satisfied</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B5cGFMOhU2c/VVCr0qbMXJI/AAAAAAAABg0/tBfERX9486Q/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B5cGFMOhU2c/VVCr0qbMXJI/AAAAAAAABg0/tBfERX9486Q/s640/Unknown.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Psalm 103:1-5</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p>Bless the Lord, O my soul,</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and all that is within me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> bless his holy name. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bless the Lord, O my soul,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and do not forget all his benefits— <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who forgives all your iniquity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who heals all your diseases, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who redeems your life from the Pit,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who crowns you with steadfast love and
mercy, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who satisfies you with good as long as you live<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884"><sup>*</sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> so that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’re here together today because Florence’s time to die had
come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve lost someone we loved,
loved a lot, for a very long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So we cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We grieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We embrace one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is what we do when someone we love
dies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s not all about grief and sadness today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Florence lived to a good old age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hit that sweet spot I think all of
us would choose if we were able to write our own ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did not die too soon and miss out
on too much of life’s sweetness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She did not live too long; despite her physical limitations, Florence
had amazing light and life within her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She looked forward to each day with joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even her physical therapists were amazed at her sunny
outlook and energy and stubborn determination to keep living as well as she
could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, thanks be to
God, her death was not drawn out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her last days were spent peacefully, without pain, surrounded by her
children and her grandchildren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everyone got to say goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For that, I know Florence’s family is truly grateful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not all about grief and sadness today because it is
also a time to keep and laugh over all of the good memories we have of
Florence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, I will never
forget the way her face lit up when Tom and I went to visit her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was always ready with cookies and
candy and a good story about her grandchildren in whom she took so much delight
and pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I was so grateful
for her prayers and her encouragement and the way she always made a point to
ask me about my family, particularly my son whom she saw only once a year when
we came at Christmas time to sing carols for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was one of the folks that I would say formed me as a
pastor in a very real way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
sad that I’ll no longer be able to sit and chat and laugh and pray with her in
her cozy living room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am
happy that she’s completely safe now in the arms of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not all about grief and sadness today because days like
this provide a time for peace and love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a day to reacquaint ourselves with folks from whom we may have
drifted away and touch base with one another as family and friends connected by
this incredible lady we have come to celebrate.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the great mystic Julian of Norwich put it, we are feeling a
“marvelous mixture of well-being and woe.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life is sort of always like that, but days like today make
that more apparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Florence did not miss out on life’s good stuff, but she
didn’t miss out on life’s bad stuff either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody gets through life without a certain level of sorrow
and disappointment. But what we most certainly know about Florence is that her
deep faith sustained her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
faced many challenges, yet emerged from those challenges renewed thanks to her
reliance on God’s goodness and mercy and blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is not surprising that one of Florence’s favorite
scripture texts was from the Psalm you just heard read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psalm 103:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bless the Lord, O my soul,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and do not forget all his benefits— </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who forgives all your iniquity,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who heals all your diseases, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who redeems your life from the Pit,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who satisfies you with good as long as
you live</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I could think of a word to describe Florence it would be,
“satisfied.” “Satisfied” is a funny word, isn’t it?</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s probably a word many of us would want to avoid as a
description of ourselves.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact,
many of the people I know are never satisfied – they want more.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Better jobs.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More money.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More love.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A slimmer
waistline.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bigger car.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems in our modern
understanding, being “satisfied” has become equated with settling for something
less than we deserve. We don’t normally celebrate “satisfied” people.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We tend to lift up those who are
strivers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in Biblical terms, being satisfied as the psalmist
describes it means being deeply grateful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Satisfied means being overwhelmed by the overflowing goodness of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satisfied mean remembering
all the good things God gives to us and trusting in God’s love and mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satisfied is a deep sense of
thankfulness for all that is good in our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so much of Florence’s life was good because she chose to
see life as sheer gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lived
from a position of great gratitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I arrived at the church a few years ago, I was
astonished to meet the half dozen or so women who defied all of my
pre-conceived notions of what a "little old lady" should act and look like. I
have been trying to figure out how it is these women who live well into their
90’s manage to be so incredibly awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have learned so much from them. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s a couple of things I’ve observed about Florence and
all of the so-called "little old ladies" of this congregation…</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They do not hold back from loving deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several of them have loved and lost,
and some of those losses have been incredibly painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they go on loving anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nancy told me that Florence said she’d
gone through at least four sets of friends in her long lifetime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you live to be 95, I guess that’s
inevitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the friends
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some moved away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But loss of people dear to her didn’t
stop Florence from reaching out to new people, make new friends, and love them
just as dearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, they keep their priorities straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for all of these long-lived women,
their first priority is family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They keep their focus on the people God entrusted to their care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Florence loved her children and
grandchildren, fiercely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those
children and grandchildren responded to that love by flourishing in the way
well-loved people usually do flourish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And best of all, those children and grandchildren have grown up to
become loving people themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly, these are all women who are deeply faithful and
thankful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are SATISFIED
people, in the best sense of the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Florence knew who she was, and to whom she belonged, in life and in
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she was frightened,
she trusted Jesus to keep her strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When she was sick, she trusted Jesus to be with her in her pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she was with the people she loved,
her youth was renewed like an eagle again and again by the Lord she loved
deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any questions that Florence might have had about life and
about death have been answered for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She has entered into eternal life with her Savior. And when she met
Jesus face to face, I have no doubt that his face lit up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Florence had that in common with Jesus,
I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His face lights up when
he is with the people he loves.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of us still living have plenty of questions still
about life and death, love and loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not satisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know we have work to do. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But we can live lives in the manner that Jesus taught us,
and that Florence did her best to follow in this life:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To love deeply and unconditionally.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To love the people God has put in front of us, and all
around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our family, neighbors
and friends.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To love God, trusting that God’s provision is certain and
secure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can live satisfied
lives, knowing we are God’s children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And nothing can ever separate us from the love of God made known to us
in Christ Jesus.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I think of Florence, I am reminded of the lyrics of the
old Shaker hymn:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And when we find ourselves in the place just right,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When true
simplicity is gain'd,</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To bow and to bend
we shan't be asham'd,</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To turn, turn will
be our delight,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Till by turning,
turning we come 'round right.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of
"me",</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And when we hear what others really think and really feel,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-59763577356762076432015-05-03T17:59:00.000-04:002015-05-04T05:59:18.787-04:00Easter 5B -- May 3, 2015<h2>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Not One Good
Reason</span></span></h2>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dpv41FPEyVM/VUaZQbHsTHI/AAAAAAAABgM/bR8zBsbGdDg/s1600/mission%2Bco-workers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dpv41FPEyVM/VUaZQbHsTHI/AAAAAAAABgM/bR8zBsbGdDg/s1600/mission%2Bco-workers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharing a meal with our PCUSA mission co-workers in Juba, South Sudan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. </em></b></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/may-3-2015-11-19-38-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/may-3-2015-11-19-38-am</a></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Acts
8:26-40<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward
the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness
road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court
official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire
treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in
his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip,
“Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him
reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get
in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was
this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before
its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was
denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from
the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the
prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to
speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news
about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and
the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being
baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the
eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up
out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw
him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus,
and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all
the towns until he came to Caesarea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe you remember about 5 or 6 years
ago, when an organization called, “City Reachers,” raised over $600,000 to
print and distribute 250,000 copies of the New Testament to subscribers of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you
remember that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copies of the full
color, glossy New Testament with scenes of Pittsburgh on the cover was given
out to pretty much everyone in the Pittsburgh region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember at the time being vaguely
uncomfortable with the fact that the organizers chose to only distribute the
New Testament, effectively leaving out half of the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also wondered how effective it is to
merely put a Bible into someone’s hands without a community of faith attached
to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our story from the book of Acts
today, someone has gotten Scripture into the hands of the Ethiopian
eunuch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The text tells us the man
had gone to Jerusalem to worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we can safely assume that his attempt to worship had probably not
gone especially well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The text
doesn’t say it, but we know from the book of Deuteronomy (23:1) that a eunuch
would most likely have been barred from entering the synagogue due to Jewish
purity codes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as a Gentile, he
would probably not have gotten beyond the court of the Gentiles.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But despite all that would have
prevented him from worshipping in the synagogue, this outsider is reading a
scroll of the prophet Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The eunuch is probably a tad
confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand, he just
experienced outright rejection from the gatekeepers of religion, who considered
him an impure and unacceptable outsider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the other hand he probably keeps running into verses like this in the
prophet Isaiah:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to
recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from
Pathros, from Ethiopia,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884"><sup>*</sup></a> from
Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea (Is. 11:11)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or this one:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For thus says the Lord:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who choose the things that please me<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and hold fast my covenant, <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will give, in my house and within my walls,<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a monument and a name<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> better than sons and daughters;<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will give them an everlasting name<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that shall not be cut off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Is. 56:4-5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What he reads in Isaiah doesn’t quite
line up with what the eunuch experienced in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what is going on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the eunuch invited to God’s party or
not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he in or out of God’s
household?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With only the words on
a page to guide the eunuch, it’s impossible to know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is what he’s reading only about Isaiah and his
situation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or does Isaiah have
something to say to the eunuch as well?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People spend a lot of time debating
what is the “authority” of Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it seems that Luke, the writer of Acts, is less interested in the
literal authority of Scripture and more interested in the authority of those
who interpret and read Scripture in light of the good news of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like all of those people in Pittsburgh
who received a New Testament with their Sunday paper, the eunuch has got a
Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also has life
experiences. What he needs is someone to read the Bible with him, engage him
exactly where he is, and help him to see how God is present and active in his
life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this case, that encounter is not
going to happen in a synagogue or a church or any other divine place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s going to happen out in the middle
of nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a wilderness
road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy Spirit is about to
blow and what happens next is amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As many of you know, I grew up in the
church and spend my entire childhood deeply involved in all sorts of church-y
stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to Sunday school,
youth group, sang in the choir, went to three different vacation bible schools
every summer, and played on the church basketball team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By any measure, I was a well-churched
child. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here’s the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know much about the
Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think, like the eunuch, I
wanted to know more about God, I wanted to understand Scripture, but I couldn’t
find the key to making it relevant beyond a rule book of do’s and don’ts and
how to be a good girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the
book in my hand, and I could read all the words, but none of it shaped my heart
or my mind or anything in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And once I went to college, I left my Bible on a bookcase in my old room
with my basketball trophies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn’t until much later that the
Bible began to open up to me in a real way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came to love Scripture because I love literature; as a
passionate reader, I was slowly drawn back to Scripture because so many of my
favorite authors framed their stories by referencing Bible stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was in conversation with those
authors that I began a life-changing relationship with Scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy Spirit was at work, I have no
doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, my curiosity
about these stories led me to a weekly lectionary study group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There I encountered a really wonderful
teaching elder and a group of people as curious as I was about what was up with
this Bible that most of us had heard about all our lives but still understood
so little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At some point, I said to myself, with
great fear and trembling, “What’s to prevent me from going to seminary and
maybe, maybe spending the rest of my life living into and talking about and
thinking about these stories?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually, I couldn’t keep that question inside my own head anymore and
I began asking it out loud. And it was that little group of fellow travelers
and my trusted teacher in that lectionary study group who said, “Why there’s no
reason at all you shouldn’t go to seminary.” No good reason at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our text today, Philip has been
sent away from the action in Jerusalem and out to a wilderness road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shouldn’t be too surprised that all
of this action happens out in the middle of nowhere, because that seems to be
where the Holy Spirit does most of its best work in most of the Bible
stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as Philip is traveling on this
wilderness road, he runs into the eunuch who is reading scripture and, as was
the custom back then, he’s probably reading it out loud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There would be no reason on earth for
Philip to approach this man of an entirely different race and ethnic group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Philip is a second string player for an
upstart religious movement, and the eunuch is a royal court official riding in
a really nice chariot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet the
Holy Spirit sees the possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What might happen if two very different men of very different
backgrounds<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have a
conversation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the Holy Spirit
sends Philip over to the chariot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Do you understand what you’re
reading?” says Philip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How can I, unless someone guides me?” says the eunuch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And although we are not told all of
the details of the conversation that occurs between Philip and the eunuch, we
can tell that something important happens in that chariot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That in the conversation of the two
men, side by side, reading the text together, the eunuch learns that God’s
story of redemption, resurrection and love was not just a story for the
religious folks back in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Through his conversation with Philip the eunuch began to another
possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He reads the text of
Isaiah with Philip and sees the connection between himself and Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This outsider to the temple discovers
that the story of the suffering servant who was rejected, despised and
humiliated is his story as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The words on the scroll came to life in a way the eunuch could not have
discovered all by himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
needs Philip to help him see that God’s story is his story as well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I am pretty sure something also
happens to Philip in the conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>New Testament scholar Mitzi Smith notes that in the book of Acts, the
Holy Spirit continually brings the new church into contact with unlikely
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Philip was snatched up by
the Holy Spirit doing as it pleases and not boxed in by human expectations or
limitations.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And soon, Philip finds himself bending
and moving with the Holy Spirit in ways he wouldn’t have imagined before his
encounter with the eunuch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What is to prevent me from being
baptized?” says the eunuch, eager to enter into a new life and new
understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Philip could
probably have come up with at least three good reasons to not baptize the
eunuch – Gentile, foreigner, impure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Philip could have used any one of these reasons to exclude the eunuch
from the household of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in the end, the Holy Spirit
drives both men into the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because as far as Philip could tell, the good news of Jesus meant he had
no good reason at all to not baptize the eunuch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the two men studied the words
of Isaiah together, the text was a bunch of words on a page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the words come to life as the two
men leap into the baptismal pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A joyful, crazy, unlikely but entirely splashy and visible sign of an
always present, always active, often quiet and invisible grace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we can send all the Bibles into
the world – into hotel rooms and on front porches and over vast oceans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can drown the
world in Bibles, stacked on top of one another, circling the globe. Again and
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But until we send our bodies into the
world and climb into unfamiliar chariots and encounter the story of God’s grace
for ourselves, the Word of God stays dusty and dry, ink on a page, signifying
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can read the Bible night and day,
safe in our churches and our living rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can quote scripture chapter and verse.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But until we send our bodies into the
world, none of our personal piety will make one bit of difference in another
person’s life or in our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our understanding
of God will stay very, very small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Word of God will remain locked in a small box, tucked up on a shelf,
gathering dust while eunuchs and inner city kids and frightened police officers
wonder it is that God seems so far away from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For too long, the church has been
locked up, unavailable for comment, and primarily concerned for its own purity
and safety and image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too afraid
to change its mind and scared to death of being sullied by the muck of everyday
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we look at Jesus, we
know that’s not the path we’ve been called to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many chariots do we walk by,
every day, preferring the safety of our own space?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can we learn to tell the difference between an
accidental encounter with a stranger and a holy opportunity created by the
winsome and wildly unpredictable Holy Spirit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many opportunities do we miss
everyday to have our understanding of God enlivened by the dozens and dozens of
Philips that God sends to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
often do we prefer to hold on to our own understanding of how God works instead
of allowing someone else to tell us how they see God at work in us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had the deep privilege of meeting
the head of PCUSA World Missions this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rev. Hunter Farrell was in Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday,
fresh from a meeting in Louisville in which it was announced that World Mission
will have a funding gap of a little less that $1 million dollars in 2016, which
means we will lose nine mission co-workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2017, the gap will be $4.5 million dollars, which will
result in the loss of 40 missionaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Right now we only have 165 mission co-workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only 165 people to cover the entire globe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is at work in the PCUSA, I
think, is not a literal poverty, but a poverty of spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we prioritize our own buildings, our
own property, our own theologies, our own way of being in the world, and do not
fund the sending of missionaries equipped to help heal a world in deep need,
then why are we here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why does the
church – any church – exist at all?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because there are days in which I do
not have the good sense to keep my mouth shut, I told Hunter and others
gathered at the meeting that the PCUSA does not have a money problem despite
all evidence to the contrary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
have a spiritual problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
enormous spiritual problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
give lip service to resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit when the
truth is we are too worried about our own survival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are too freaked out by our convictions about who is pure
and who is not and what heresy someone is committing to see our own heresy in
not doing what Jesus told us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe the North American church
will only be saved by relationships with people who are not like us, just as
Philip and the eunuch were saved by one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We write off the need for mission in our cities and in the
world at our own peril. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we keep going as we’re going, we
will indeed lose the message of the Gospel entirely and be nothing more than a
nice group of people in a rapidly shrinking social club who will not be missed
by anyone when we finally disappear for good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are days when I cannot keep my
mouth shut.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The prophet Isaiah says, “On that day
the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is
left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884"><sup>*</sup></a> from Elam, from Shinar, from
Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.”(Is. 11:11)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
From Assyria to Egypt to Pathros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From Emsworth to Homewood to Baltimore to South Sudan to Nepal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What in the world are we doing here
this morning, brothers and sister?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What in the world are we doing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the church can’t answer the
question, I can’t think of a reason for us to be here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not one good reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But maybe we’ll begin to find an answer
at this table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because that’s
where the Living Lord, Jesus Christ, meets us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our unknowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In our confusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our
sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus greets us joyfully, knowing
us fully, and loving us deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The new reality the whole church
faces is difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we are
Easter people, and just like Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection, there was
doubt, there was fear, there was a struggle as to what should be done next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But through it all, it was the power
and presence of the Spirit of the risen Christ which gave them hope to be
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the outmost parts of the world.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn3" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May it be so for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Paul
Walaskay, Feasting on the Word, page 457 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Mitzi Smith,
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1235</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Statement
from former General Assembly moderators on funding crisis of mission
co-workers. “Presbyterian Outlook” April 28, 2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://pres-outlook.org/2015/04/statement-from-former-general-assembly-moderators-on-funding-crisis-of-mission-co-workers/</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-45573264582798406452015-04-26T14:23:00.000-04:002015-04-26T14:32:54.095-04:00Easter 4B -- April 26, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Truth and Action</span></h2>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26-8cjDmFQM/VT0uqKWHuRI/AAAAAAAABfw/GIvwUtLePC0/s1600/bigFamilyParty50sEveryoneHR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26-8cjDmFQM/VT0uqKWHuRI/AAAAAAAABfw/GIvwUtLePC0/s1600/bigFamilyParty50sEveryoneHR.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned. In today's sermon, the preacher also mistakenly referred to Garissa University College as located in Ethiopia. The school, which suffered such a tragic loss of life in early April, is located in Kenya. The text below has been corrected.</em></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></em></b></div>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-26-2015-11-21-56-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-26-2015-11-21-56-am</a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>1
John 3:16-24<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and
we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in
anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet
refuses help?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little
children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will
reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is
greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness
before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his
commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we
should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just
as he has commanded us. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in
them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given
us.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you think of when you hear that command to lay down
our lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell you what I
think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may think something
very different, but here’s how I respond…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first response is to remember the martyred Christians who
died for their faith, from the very earliest Christian martyrs like Peter and
Paul, people like Joan of Arc or Sir Thomas More, to the more recent examples
like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Archbishop Oscar Romero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, so many Christians in
the Middle East and Africa who are being killed on account of their faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are the first people I think of
when I hear John saying, “we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My second response to the command to “lay down my life,” is
to get up from my desk and go take a nap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because, God knows, I am not a martyr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No getting around it. Not even close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I’m pretty much the closest
thing there is to being an anti-martyr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s a line from an old Woody Allen movie, “Annie Hall,” in which
Annie wonders out loud how she’d stand up under torture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Woody Allen says, “Are you
kidding?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Gestapo threatened
to take away your Bloomingdale’s charge card, you’d tell them everything.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago, there was a terrorist attack in Kenya at
the Garissa University College in which 147 students, mostly Christian, were
shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There has been a string of
attacks against Christians by Islamic terrorist groups, although most of the
people killed by these groups such as ISIS are not Christians, but Muslims who
refuse to go along with the ISIS worldview and brutal tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if facing death in order to prove faithfulness is what
this text is about, I think I’m ready to tell Jesus that I’ve been re-thinking
our relationship and I want a trial separation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I’m afraid to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m really not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, you see, I have this daughter I
adore more than anything in the world who seems determined to trot all over the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if she woke up in a
foreign country, in the middle of the night with a gun to her head and a voice
asking her, “Are you Christian or not?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know exactly what I would want her to say<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– “Which answer is going to keep me alive?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would say the same thing about David.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And about the rest of my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And my friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s be clear. I don’t want anyone to be a martyr for their
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True confession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think martyrdom is highly
overrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I believe the
world would be a much better place if everyone stopped thinking that the best
way to prove how much we love our God is to be willing to kill or be killed on
God’s behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this laying down your life stuff really is about dying
for Jesus, then I want no part of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was sitting thinking about Jesus and Rachel and kids dying in dorm
rooms and people being beheaded on beaches and I was really ready to give up on
this sermon altogether and find an old sermon that wouldn’t make me feel so sad
and awful and then I looked again at the first reading from the gospel and I
felt about a million times better about life and Jesus and pretty much
everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don’t have to die for Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is the good shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus died for us, was raised for us, and lives for us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus isn’t in the business of creating more martyrs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite the contrary. Jesus died
willingly to put death-dealing systems out of business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And through the power of the Holy
Spirit, Jesus continues to be in the business of bringing life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said it himself, “I have come so
that you may have abundant life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(John 10:10).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The God who created us isn’t out to destroy you or me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or anyone else for that matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even people who seem intent on evil,
awful destruction are not outside the concern of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s like this according to the gospel of John -- like the
good shepherd he is, Jesus keeps searching for the sheep not in his fold, even
the really pesky, difficult, hard to love sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus hasn’t given up on ISIS and the KuKluxKlan and members
of Congress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus hasn’t given up
on the nasty waitress at Eat n’ Park, and the homeless guys under the
interstate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus hasn’t given
up on you and me, sitting here in this respectable Christian church and still
just as needy as anyone else when it comes to grace, love and forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are all sheep, prone to wander,
prone to leave the God I love like the feckless sheep I am.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus keeps trying to get everyone together, inviting
everyone to take a break from our usual death-dealing activities and come over
for dinner, have some wine and bread, and get to know one another better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is like the matriarch/patriarch of
the whole human family who nevers stops trying to get us all to live peacefully
together under one roof of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s
creation, one flock with one shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus isn’t about creating more martyrs willing to die for
something, but about creating new and more communities committed to live for
one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, back here in Emsworth, Pa., the odds of us
becoming martyrs for the faith are pretty slim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does this text from 1 John have to say to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If laying down our lives doesn’t mean
dying for Jesus, what are we to do?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just as Jesus did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not in
word and speech, but in truth and action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are to love in ways that are palpable, and visible, and real.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And before you say to yourself, “There she goes again,
preaching that soft and squishy love stuff…” remember<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>loving
the way that 1 John describes is actually a whole lot more difficult than
dying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loving in truth and action means sacrificing something about
ourselves for the sake of the gospel, but it’s not a one-and-done kind of
sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a daily struggle
to understand and hopefully respond to the needs of people around us by laying
down some things that we need to lay down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just our money or our stuff, but even more precious
things like our time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our need to
be right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our prejudices and
preferences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our discomfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our grudges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our old hurts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our love for what used to be that blocks us from imagining what might
yet be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laying down our lives
means giving up whatever it is that is keeping us distant from a brother or
sister who needs us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Lord
knows, those are the most difficult distances to bridge.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the writer of the epistle insists that we lay down our
lives for each other, he’s getting nebby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’s going in close, down from lofty theology and into the daily grind
of life together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says that it
is here, in our community, that we must practice giving ourselves away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We give away things that are dear to us
so that we can learn what is truly dear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We learn to empty ourselves for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is by doing it that we learn to love. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This lay down your life love is not an emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is active.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It moves us into places we never expected to be, but we can be certain
Jesus will meet us every single time. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the way Jesus moved through his life on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t solve or eliminate large
social problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He touched and
healed and cured and comforted individuals who suffered because of social
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus didn’t eliminate
leprosy or design a new health insurance plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He cured lepers and said it was ok to cure people on the
Sabbath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He dealt in specifics and
he told his followers to do the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One person at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Close enough to touch.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The writer of 1 John tells us that we will know love<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- real Christian love -- when we lay
down our lives for one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But sometimes love feels kind of pointless when we see how often it is
that our efforts fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We give and
give and give, and we see no movement toward things getting better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we despair that we will ever
solve anything or save anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
pour ourselves into people, and they disappoint us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a while, we begin to feel beaten up and sick. If we are
honest, we admit that our efforts are very often vain, that we have, like the
servant in the Suffering Servant psalm in Isaiah, “spent our strength for
vanity and nothing” (Isaiah 49:4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in a world that likes to be able to measure, analyze
and quantify our efforts in everything we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We like a sense of control that reassures us -- if we put a
certain amount of effort into a task or a job, we can expect a certain output.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When an effort fails, or seems to, we
often blame ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “if-onlys”
creep into our brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If only I
were a better person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only I
had thought of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only I
hadn’t done or said that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or we
begin to blame the other person, “If only you would take my good advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only you were more like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only you were less like that.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most often, it is our own hearts that condemn us, says the
epistle writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things done and
things undone; things said and unsaid; our hearts latch onto such things, gnaws
on them like a bone, and we experience the kind of self-condemnation that, if
we are not careful, becomes self-loathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things I often say to many of you when you become
discouraged like this is, “You didn’t do it and you can’t fix it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you can do is keep loving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when it seems to have no
effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t worry about wasting
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an infinitely
regenerating power that we do not create ourselves – we receive it as God’s
good gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like faith
and hope, love never ends.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we have decisions to make about how we will live
together as a community, we can know we are on the right track if we measure
our motivations by asking, “Are we doing this out of love?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it is impossible to know
where our motivations come from and whether we’re doing what is right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially in the church, where the old
metrics of membership and money and perfect Sunday school attendance no longer
seem to work as a measure that we are faithfully serving God.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully, the writer of 1 John reminds us, “God is greater
than our hearts and God knows everything.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God knows where our impulses come from, where our insecurity
chokes us and where our guilt resides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And God loves us, blesses us and forgives us anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And sends us out again, despite our
doubts and perfections, asking only that we trust Jesus and keep loving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if we’re not sure we doing it
well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barbara Brown Taylors says it well:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When it comes down to being a provider
of God's love, there is really only one provider, who sends us out with nothing
at all and with everything we need: healing, forgiveness, restoration,
resurrection. Those are the only things we really have to share with the world,
which is just as well, since they are the only things the world really
needs."</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our reassurance, then, is that we still can’t get over the
impulse to love despite everything in the world working against love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love that is willing to give of
itself and, more importantly, get over itself is a gift of the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that gift when we reach out to
the unreachable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To lovingly offer
our treasure to one another, even if we do so imperfectly and even if the
result cannot be measured or even seen by human eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If God is good, and God is love, then God will bring out the
best in us, even in those moments in which we are terribly uncertain of our own
goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God sees strength in us
when all we feel is weak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God sees
ability in us when we feel most feeble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God sees faith in us when we are ready to chuck it all and just go take
a nap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God sees hope for us when
all we see is a tangled mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And sometimes, taking a nap is really good idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know about you, but one thing I have discovered to
be reliably true in my life is that every thing seems to get better when I
remember that it’s not about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I remember that the church is not about what makes me comfortable
or makes me look good or makes me feel good about myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about how the goodness of God can
show up when I least expect it and push me forward into what seems to give life
to someone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loving one another like Jesus loves takes all of our
self-perfecting, self-criticizing, self-doubting energy and funnels it toward
the ones who need, the ones who do not have enough, the ones who are hungry,
the ones who are lonely and sick and bereaved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are you willing to lay down for the sake of this
community?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we deeply care, and risk everything we have, so
others may have fullness and quality of life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How will God’s love be expressed by this congregation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How will we be bold before God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will we be a reflection of the truth -- not only that Jesus
had the power to lay down his life, but the power to take it up again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I leave you today with these questions, because the answers
can only come from your own hearts, and the trust that God actually is greater
than our hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even when you
think you have the answers, and even if they are good answers, none of them
will mean anything at all until you put flesh on the Word that gives you life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brothers and sisters, let us love not in word or speech that
cost us nothing, but in the costly way of truth and action.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-42955179938363462722015-04-19T16:13:00.001-04:002015-04-19T16:13:15.717-04:00Easter 3B -- April 19, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">You Are the Witnesses</span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Xk9y-mL2Pk/U4sAY87GsiI/AAAAAAAAA-0/UAPl6Z5KO_U/s1600/everybody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Xk9y-mL2Pk/U4sAY87GsiI/AAAAAAAAA-0/UAPl6Z5KO_U/s1600/everybody.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-19-2015-11-13-53-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-19-2015-11-13-53-am</a><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned.</em></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></em></b>
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Today's sermon includes an update on the Unglued Church work being done by the Emsworth U.P. Church. </em></b><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></em></b>
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></em></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Luke 24:36b-49</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus himself stood
among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>37</sup>They were
startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>38</sup>He said
to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>39</sup>Look at
my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>40</sup>And when
he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>41</sup>While in
their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have
you anything here to eat?” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>42</sup>They gave
him a piece of broiled fish, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>43</sup>and he
took it and ate in their presence. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>44</sup>Then he
said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the
psalms must be fulfilled.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>45</sup>Then he
opened their minds to understand the scriptures, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>46</sup>and he
said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise
from the dead on the third day, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>47</sup>and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>48</sup>You are
witnesses of these things. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>49</sup>And see, I
am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you
have been clothed with power from on high.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us begin with
prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh holy God, be with us
this day in our hearing and our speaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Open our minds to the truth of your mercy and love. Let us be true and
faithful witnesses to your resurrection power, here in this place, and in the
fullness of each day we are granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Christ, the risen savior, we pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing nobody warned me about before having children
is that they quickly become a relentless reflection of everything that is good
about their parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That part of
raising children delights parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We like that part.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, our kids also reflect many of our bad
traits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may believe we keep our
quirks and weaknesses cleverly hidden, but our kids pick them up anyway. That
part of raising kids often horrifies us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The great cosmic joke in parenting is that the apple hardly
ever falls far from the tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
least it hasn’t at our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rachel
and David have inherited some fine qualities from their parents, but they have
also absorbed some annoying and painful ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the same is true for all of us grownups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who among us hasn’t had that occasional
moment in which it seems all too true that we are turning into our mother?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or our father?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not always in a good way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not sure that means parents do a poor job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s how human beings operate –
it is a simple thing to talk about the kind of people we want our kids to
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an easy thing to talk
about the kind of people WE want to be, or imagine we already are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But putting flesh on our good
intentions is something we often do poorly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And very often, our kids are on to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we only recognize our less
sterling qualities when we see them in our kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the same thing in our lives of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a young man, the great Indian leader
Mahatma Ghadni studied in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After learning about Christianity and particularly after reading the
Sermon on the Mount, he decided that Christianity was the most beautiful and
complete religion in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later in his life, after living with a Christian family in East India,
he changed his mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a few
months actually living with Christians, Ghandi discovered that Christian
behavior rarely reflected the teachings of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ words were beautiful, but the words did not become
flesh very often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ghandi is often
quoted as saying, “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians - you are
not like him.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ouch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ghandi
was on to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not sure it’s entirely fair to say Christians are doing
a poor job of following Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
want to be Christ-like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want
our words and actions to line up in a faithful way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But like the disciples in our text today, I think we are
terrified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scared sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worried about what the future can possibly hold for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So frightened of death, that we cannot
see the possibilities of resurrection life, much less live into it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when it’s staring us in the face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even when Jesus is right up in our face, there’s so much
negative stuff blocking our vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But that doesn’t discourage the risen Christ from seeking us out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus comes to the disciples in Jerusalem after appearing to
Cleopas and his buddy on the Emmaus Road on Easter Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you may recall, that story
begins with the two men telling a stranger about their broken dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We had such hopes,” they cry and moan as the stranger
sidles up beside them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We had
such hopes that this Jesus of Nazareth would be the one to redeem Israel.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that’s all over now, as far as they can see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they walk along the Emmaus Road, all
they can see is blood, pain, despair and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had such hopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing turned out the way in which we imagined it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No overthrow of Rome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No warrior Messiah on a chariot taking
on Caesar’s legions. No miraculous triumph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just death.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, as the story continues on, the stranger, Jesus,
begins to talk with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as
Jesus talks, we see him slowly bringing the men out of their despair, inviting
them back into the larger story of God’s promises and God’s goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus speaks to them in a way that they
can begin to make sense of the pain and see what it all means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ presence with them moves them
from death to life, from despair to hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two disciples are so transfixed and transformed by
this stranger that when night falls, they ask him not to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want Jesus to stay and continue
the conversation about the very things that are troubling their minds and their
souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have come down with a
serious case of holy heartburn and it feels too good to let go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As they sit down for supper, they recognize Jesus for who he
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The One who has taken
all their broken hopes, and redeemed them in a way that seemed unthinkable just
a few hours before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After their encounter with the Living Christ, the two men
rush back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what they have seen, how Jesus
became known to them when they sat down to break bread together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the disciples in Jerusalem want no part of this holy
heartburn and will do everything they can to resist resurrection
possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus comes to them and they are startled and afraid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resisting resurrection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus comes to them and they think they see a ghost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resisting resurrection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus comes to them and they doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resisting resurrection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus shows them his hands and feet, flesh and bones and
they disbelieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resisting
resurrection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus offers them the chance to touch him and still they
still wonder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resisting
resurrection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, Jesus eats a piece of fish and tells them – you can
trust me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can trust all that
you have read in the law and the prophets and the psalms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See what I have done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have put flesh on the bones of God’s
promises so you can trust what is burning in your hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can trust what your eyes see, even
if your mind is telling you it cannot be possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are the witnesses to all
that is now possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You, Jesus says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You are no longer have to be crippled by fears of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You. Jesus says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You have been given not only open-minds, but new-mindedness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will have the Holy
Spirit so you may see the world in an entirely new way, and will tell the world
what you have seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have been given new life
to live in a new way so that they world will see my Word in your bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And ever since, the Holy Spirit has put flesh on the
Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy Spirit continues to
enter into broken hopes and grief over what used to be, or what is, or what
will not be, and transform it all into joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>New Life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abundant
Life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eternal Life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big case of holy heartburn that has
the power to set the world on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the best possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are the witnesses of these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We</b>
are the witnesses of these things. We have inherited both the despairing
resistance and the crazy joy of Jesus’ disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where will we go from here?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How shall we witness to the resurrection, brothers and
sisters? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is the question of the “Unglued Church” project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will we be witnesses to the
resurrection for a new generation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How do we release the anxiety and fear and frantic technical fixes that
only serve to drain us, and move into adaptive change that frees us to serve
God with joy in this time?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the past year, we have talked about many things, all of
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About the past of this
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The good and the bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About the present situation in this
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have talked about the
incredible gifts of this congregation, and the many challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these conversations have been
hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have been filled with
laughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some with tears.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is tempting to stay exactly where we are, as we are, just
as the disciples did when they realized that their hopes about who Jesus would
be for them had been wiped out on Calvary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We resist resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is easier to stay where we are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Jesus won’t leave well enough alone. Jesus won’t let us
stay stuck. Jesus continues to speak to us through the power of the Holy Spirit
in the voices of this congregation, your pastor, your community, and through
the Unglued Church project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are
challenged to see where Jesus is calling us as a community of faith, and to be
open to the Spirit’s urging.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many options, many paths we could take as a
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At our last meeting, a few
weeks ago, our Adaptive Change Apprentice, Rev. Sarah Robbins and I put
together a range of nine possible directions – not plans, but general directions
we could begin to investigate more fully and pray about specifically in order
to continue moving forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nine options are printed on the insert in your
bulletin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you can see, the
possible options range from dissolving the congregation and turning the keys
over to the presbytery to completely re-inventing the church.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For each of these options, Sarah and I determined based upon
our knowledge of other churches experience the amount of energy, money and
spiritual depth that would be required to explore and execute each of the nine
paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the beginning of the last meeting, we reviewed where our
congregation is on its life cycle – and determined that the majority of
participants agreed that we are where we believed we were a year ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a downward slope, with the majority
believing we are on the cusp of becoming unviable, or already there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We talked about where we are as a congregation in terms of
energy, finances and spiritual depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most felt our energy is low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have an average Sunday attendance of between 30 and 35
people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have 59 members “on the
books.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only a small percentage of
our congregation is active in leadership and/or other activities outside of
Sunday morning worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a
substantial percentage of our members on the books are shut-ins or folks who
live out of town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most felt our financial resources are low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a modest memorial account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our current offerings are sufficient to
sustain a half-time pastor, other part time staff, and maintain the
building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2014, we spent around
$88,000, with $79,000 going to staff costs, administration and building
maintenance. Our mission giving has been sustained at between 7% of our total
budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we have had to make withdrawals from the memorial
account from time to time to deal with building repairs or utility bills, we
have been fortunate that rising earnings in the stock market have kept our
investments fairly steady, at least over the past few years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the participants in the last meeting felt our
spiritual depth/fortitude is between low and medium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which means that we have a modest ability to endure
significant changes in worship, mission, and the nature of our congregational
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many in our congregation,
their spiritual life is centered on this place, this building, this
congregation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have commented
that if this church closed, they wouldn’t go to church at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we heard over and over again that
there is a strong desire to stay in this building.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So given that honest and realistic assessment of who we are,
the group narrowed the nine general directions down to three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only one of the three directions
includes the possibility of selling the building:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Age in
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continue as we have,
finding one outward-focused mission activity that has legs (garden, feeding
ministry, homeless ministry).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep the
building, but lease/rent out all or part of the building, use space for Sunday
worship, and use income from lease to continue as long as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sell the
building and “nest” with another congregation, and explore merger
possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are asking the congregation, together with the
leadership, to form three “working groups” to consider the implications of each
direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each working group will
begin to put “flesh on the bones” of each general direction, assess the
positives and negatives of each, the costs, the challenges, and the
possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I realize that all of you cannot be at our next meeting on
Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. when we will form the working groups to consider
these directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So today, we’re
going to replicate an exercise we did at the last meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of these three directions – where do you see
possibilities?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of these three directions – where do you see yourself giving
some time and energy to explore how it may come to pass for us?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of these three directions – where do you sense the Holy
Spirit may be calling this church?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember, we are not making a decision today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just getting a sense of where the
congregation might be right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And giving you an opportunity to begin thinking about where each of
these three directions might take us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us pray:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, we confess to you that
we are frequently slow to believe what you have promised through your prophets
and in your Son Jesus. We succumb to fears of death as if it were the end
of everything - and all too often we live as if there is nothing to live for
beyond death. Forgive us Lord: forgive us our doubts, our disbelief, and
our deafness to the witness of other believers, and our silence when we could
give witness to the faith which we have... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lord of mercy, God of the living, grant that we might see
beyond the ruins that lie about us; that we might take to heart the lessons of
Scripture which testify to your willingness and ability to bring new
life to dry bones. Give to those who despair a vision of the
resurrection which awaits all those who believe, all those you have
chosen. Help them to order their lives by the principles of your
everlasting kingdom—that kingdom in which faith, hope and love transfigure all
that they touch... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Father, help us be a people who are prepared for the journey
which lies ahead. Take from us all evil desire; remove from us any refusal we
have to forgive others; lift from us any reluctance we have to love our enemies
and to bless, in your name, those who curse us. Send unto us the desire
to love one another as Jesus loves us, the yearning to bring your saving word
to those who hunger, the longing to reach out and touch another person
with your love and to speak to others—and to ourselves—your truth. Help
us to be ones who are prepared; help us to be ones who live Christ-like lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-46895865651784708652015-04-15T07:00:00.002-04:002015-04-15T07:00:11.272-04:00Mae's Memorial Service Meditation -- April 12, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<h2>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">What Is Left</span></span></span></h2>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yqo8rJhLkGY/VS5D_vqHxbI/AAAAAAAABXU/kXtr0O-igzI/s1600/gods-heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yqo8rJhLkGY/VS5D_vqHxbI/AAAAAAAABXU/kXtr0O-igzI/s1600/gods-heart.jpg" height="397" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Romans 8:31-39<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> What then are we to say about these things? If God is
for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up
for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will
bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to
condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right
hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884"><sup>*</sup></a>
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> we are accounted as sheep to be
slaughtered.’ </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I did not have the privilege of getting to
know Mae the way many of the people here remember her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I met her four years ago,
her illness had already begun to affect her memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I am not entirely sure that Mae ever knew
exactly who I was when I came to visit her, over the years, I think I got a
pretty good sense of the essential “Mae.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She had lost many things, but what remained was lovely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most striking thing about Mae, of course, was her
beautiful smile, which could only have emerged from an incredibly gentle and
loving spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Mae smiled,
she glowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even toward the end of
her life, when conversation became more and more difficult, the glow did not
diminish, at least in my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When everything else had become so hard for Mae, the loving glow
remained. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I see that same glow today in the faces of those Mae
loved so dearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Jim, her dear
husband of more than 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
her devoted son and daughter-in-law, Bruce and Aline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And most particularly, her granddaughters, all of whom seem
to have inherited her smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mae has died, but the love she embodied has been beautifully planted in
all of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even now in this sad
space it blooms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings to mind the Romans text we just read. “For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard for us to believe that promise sometimes when we
see the people we love being separated from us – especially bit by bit, as it
did for Mae.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many, Mae’s
failing memory may have caused some of you to feel you lost Mae long ago. That
you had been separated from the Mae you had known for so long – the warm and
kind woman playing the piano before Sunday school for 20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The engaging grandma baking<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>endless dozens of cookies in her
kitchen. Upon her passing from life into death – that separation that felt so
painful and gradual seems now to be complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Paul reminds us – this is not the case. While many
things in this world seek to separate us from God and one another – nothing can
separate us from the love of God. Nothing – not even death itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are reminded in this letter to the Romans that God’s love
is the only thing we can count upon in life and in death. That the cross is the
strong evidence of how much we are loved. It is in this love that we find our
identity. It is in God’s love that we find what we thought was lost, what we
thought was being taken from us forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When everything else is gone, what remains is God’s love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mae knew she was embraced by the God who made heaven and
earth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mae was held in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>love that reaches into the depths of
human despair, embraces those who live in the shadow of death, that challenges
the rulers of the world and shows them up as a sham. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A love that looks at the present with stubborn faith, and at
the future with sure and certain hope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A love that is not dependent on memory or words, but rubs off
from one person onto another like wet paint from a bucket that never runs
dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A love that claims us in our
baptism and completes us in our death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A love that overpowers all powers that might get in the way, and
declares to the world that through God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ, love has
won the victory – the victory over all powers in the world – including death
itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul points out to us and asks many questions: “Who is to
condemn? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or
distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword?” Paul’s
answer is always the same – NOTHING.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>NOTHING has more power than God’s love for us. God’s love is perfectly
expressed in Jesus Christ who came to take everything that is broken in us or
by us, and put it back together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The healing power of God’s love still happens in every moment of our
lives through the creative breath and healing power of the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while it may have felt as though Mae was slowly being
taken away, that we were being robbed of her gifts and her presence – Paul
assures us of the exact opposite. That while horrible things like Alzheimer’s
happen, God is still at work making things new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of these things – not even death itself – can separate
us from God’s love and from the power of the resurrection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When everything else has gone from us – youth, memory,
beauty, health, even our very lives – one thing endures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This constant love of God, which is the
earth’s heart beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The love of
God that seeps into our lives and moves from human heart to human heart, not
requiring words, but the shared experience of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when our lives on earth are over, that pure
and gorgeous love takes us, redeems us, and plants us in the very heart of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The loving smile of Mae has returned to the heart where
love begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heart of God who
created her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heart of God who
loved her through each moment of her life, the joyful stuff and the scary stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing will separate her from that
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is God’s heart,
God’s everlasting love, which will keep us connected to Mae.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forever.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-7712691271855443862015-04-12T20:30:00.000-04:002015-04-12T20:31:39.727-04:00Easter 2B, April 12, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Scarred For Life</span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCpqmaLJgto/VSsNeg5ZReI/AAAAAAAABXA/24oQROj6TUk/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCpqmaLJgto/VSsNeg5ZReI/AAAAAAAABXA/24oQROj6TUk/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-12-2015-11-17-16-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-12-2015-11-17-16-am</a></span></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned.</em></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>John
20:19-31<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">19</span></sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the
doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” <sup>20</sup>After
he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. <sup>21</sup>Jesus said to them again, “Peace
be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” <sup>22</sup>When he
had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. <sup>23</sup>If
you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained.” <sup>24</sup>But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one
of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. <sup>25</sup>So the other disciples
told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark
of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my
hand in his side, I will not believe.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">26</span></sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was
with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, “Peace be with you.” <sup>27</sup>Then he said to Thomas, “Put your
finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not
doubt but believe.” <sup>28</sup>Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” <sup>29</sup>Jesus
said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have come to believe.” <sup>30</sup>Now Jesus did many
other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. <sup>31</sup>But these are written so that you may come to believe that
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have
life in his name.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the sun sets on Easter Sunday, the disciples have gone
underground, laying low, waiting for the ruckus to die down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples are no doubt undone by
grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wracked with guilt about
what they did and should have done differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe their guilt is fed by their sense of relief that they
can finally go back to fishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can almost hear them saying to themselves, “Well, we tried, but the
establishment won.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rich and
the powerful always win. Why did we think it would be any different this
time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boy, were we stupid to
imagine that Jesus could take on the Romans and actually win.” Or something
like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of all their
earlier bravado, the disciples failed miserably at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were probably ashamed that
everything had gone so very wrong, and a little embarrassed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And never underestimate the power of fear to keep even the
most faithful disciple stuck in place, even an incredibly uncomfortable place
like a darkened room with the door locked tight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You don’t have to knock very hard on any door to find
someone stuck by fear, by shame, by doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young adults locked in low self-esteem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Couples locked in miserable
relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Older folks locked
in by regret or pride. I am convinced though, that fear is the root of what gets
us stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us are locked in
prisons of fear of one thing or another, at one time or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Author Katherine Pershey describes what
it’s like to be locked into a prison of fear:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Fear is a physiological response to tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is almost always about death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear causes us to live in a perpetual
state of anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear is
exhausting and depressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Generally, the calamities I expect do not come to pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I replace them with new ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time and energy that could be used
constructively – for prayer, dishwashing, learning to quilt – I sacrifice to
cultivate apprehension.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garrison Keillor once said, “We always have a backstage view
of ourselves.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We carefully
orchestrate what people know and see about us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of those around us, even our closest friends and
family, see only the neatly arranged part of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We imagine that if we let someone peek
behind the curtain, they’ll see all kinds of things lying around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old failures, hurts, guilt and
shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the stuff we try to
hide, just as the disciples were hiding that dark Sunday evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were hiding in the dark to escape
the dark truth about themselves -- that they were not what they wanted to be,
or even what they pretended to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were not the faithful ones they had hoped to be for Jesus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the Gospel of John, Jesus the word made flesh,
the light of the world is sent to a hostile world that is locked in fear in
dark room. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our passage today,
darkness is about to be kicked to the curb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Testament scholar Richard Hays comments
on this passage: “Isn’t it curious that God could raise Jesus from the dead but
didn’t heal the nail wounds in his hands? Was this an oversight? Surely not.
The power of death is conquered, but the [scars] remain.” When Jesus showed the
disciples his scars, he was saying, “Here is my signature.” Here is how you
will know me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mess and muck
and scars that signify human life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scars remind us that we are human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remind us of our capacity for
healing, as long as we are alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And each scar has a story behind, doesn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About an accident, a surgery, a baby, a moment when that
ball hit us in the head, or we fell on our faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we have a much harder time dealing with our own
scars than those belonging to somebody else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took my friend Kathy forever to look at the scar on her
chest after her mastectomy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
there’s a story in that scar for her, although it is still a story being
written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all hope the ending
will be something like, “This scar is a reminder of how Kathy kicked the
you-know-what out of cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that is at least part of the reason
that Jesus makes the point of showing the disciples his hands and his side on
that Easter evening when he enters the locked room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scars are a vivid reminder of how far God was willing
to go for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how far God is
willing to go with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t
Jesus’ face or hair or clothing or voice that convinces the disciples that they
are in the presence of the resurrected Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is those scars that prompt their recognition of their
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the point of
recognition for them, even in their fear and grief and terror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
In the first appearance, Jesus moves into the locked room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His first word to the disciples breaks
into the darkness of the evening – Shalom, peace -- echoing the message Jesus
spoke earlier to the disciples as part of his farewell promise at the last
supper on Maundy Thursday, “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not give to you as the
world gives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not let your hearts
be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The perfect word of peace lifts the cloud of fear hanging
over the disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jesus goes
on and shows the disciples his scars and invites them move out of their fear
and back into relationship with him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As if to say…it’s me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s ok.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, using the same verb for breathe as
is used in Genesis when God breathes life into the first human being, John
signifies that the old world as the disciples had known it is passing
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a new world, a new
reality coming to pass as Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples are sent to not only go
and preach like Jesus, but also to be Christ in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, the disciples’ first real effort at
telling of the resurrection does not go very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomas returns to the group who are just bursting with
excitement about what had happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They say to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” echoing the testimony of
Mary Magedeline just a few verses earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have seen the Lord!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is Risen! Hallelujah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notice what Thomas says to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does not say, “I do not believe.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says, “I won’t believe…” Thomas needs
to see for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And who can
blame him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can Thomas
reconcile the violence of Christ’s death and the good news of Christ’s
resurrection without seeing and touching the truth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Peter running to the tomb, Thomas wants to see for
himself if the good news is truly good or just too good to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember this is the same Thomas that was
ready to rush headlong into dangerous territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was ready to go and die with Jesus when he was headed
back to heal Lazarus in Bethany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the same Thomas who wanted to know the way to the place Jesus had
prepared and believed Jesus’ answer, “I am the way, the truth and the
life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomas is not a skeptic nor
unfaithful, and his first name is not “doubting.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why is Thomas missing at the beginning of
the story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he was out
looking for Jesus after hearing the report of the women when they return from
the empty tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth is, we
don’t know why Thomas goes or where he was, but he misses the first appearance
of Jesus to the rest of the disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But what this story from the gospel of John teaches us is that Jesus
will always come looking for us, like the good shepherd he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when we are too sad or too busy or
too distracted the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas just wants what I think all of us want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want to see Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because, really, who does not have
questions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who among us has not
spent a long dark night of the soul locked up and tangled in doubt?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who does not have moments when we
wonder what exactly it is that we believe, and why it is such a difficult thing
it is to live into those beliefs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much has been made in biblical criticism
about whether or not Thomas actually touches Jesus’ wounds when Jesus comes
back to the disciples again a week later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The text does not tell us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it does tell us that Jesus shares the scars that recall not only
Christ’s pain, but also the possibility of healing and new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is the scars that seem to move Thomas into the
resurrection life. He could not find resurrection in the jumping joy of the
disciples, but in the peace of Christ and in the sharing of remembered pain
made flesh in Jesus’ scars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every kind of scar is a mark of
possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your physical body
is sound enough to put itself back together even after the most traumatic
event, that means you are still alive. And where life exists, there’s always an
opportunity for healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the
scar remains as a reminder of the event born of accident or necessity, cruelty
or abuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it tells a story
both of pain and possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
scars are the mark of healing and new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early on in our trip to South Sudan, we
noticed that a number of the pastors in the South Sudan Evangelical
Presbyterian Church had six horizontal scars across their foreheads. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of our group finally asked about the
scars and one of the pastors told us that they were from the Nuer tribe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Nuer tradition, when a boy is 14
or 15 years old, they undergo a ritual cutting performed by the community’s
tribal doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pastor
described the cutting process to us, including how after the cuts in the skin
were made, the tribal doctor rubbed dirt into the cuts to ensure that healing
wouldn’t be immediate, but would take a long time, resulting larger, more
well-defined scars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the boy
recovers from the cutting, he is no longer considered a boy, but a man, with
all the respect and responsibility that comes with it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After hearing this story, we were all sort
of staring at the scars on the pastor’s forehead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of us asked, “Didn’t that hurt?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the pastor’s credit, he didn’t point
out the obvious stupidity of the question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just said, “Of course it hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hurt like hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But these scars tell me who I am and where I came from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My son will not have these scars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will carry the legacy for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can be who God has made him to be.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus, our Lord and our God in the glory of
the resurrection, still bears the wounds of his experience of God with us on
earth. The resurrection did not remove his human experience. The risen Lord
still bears on his body the scars that speak of his solidarity with human
suffering in all of its forms. These scars serve as a reminder that God is with
us through all things, especially the appalling, destructive and death-dealing
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus bears the scars for
us so we can be who God has created us to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer afraid of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, no longer afraid of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that is what Thomas saw in that moment
before his confession – “My Lord and my God!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the fulfillment of John’s Gospel – that the divine
Word has been made flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
seen his glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have seen his
grace and truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in this
moment Thomas receives grace upon grace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tradition says that Thomas was the only one
of the disciples to proclaim the gospel to people and regions beyond the
purview of the Roman Empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
the experience in the locked room with Jesus, he emerged like a shot to take
the good news out into the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, there are ancient documents that attest to Thomas travelling as
far as southern India where he is still revered by Christians today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This text challenges us to do exactly as Jesus did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let down our guard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expose our wounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reconcile with our enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive one another again and
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have the courage to be
vulnerable so that people will know we really do mean it when we say there’s
something about this Jesus that has opened up our lives in ways we never
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That Jesus is present in
our suffering and present in our healing and still present in our witness to<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> God’s presence in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those disciples had every good reason to stay in that room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a dangerous time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had followed a dangerous leader,
so dangerous to the authorities that he was put to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy Spirit breathed upon the
disciples by Jesus freed them from their fear to allow them to move out and
search for new possibilities of resurrection life.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Thomas is the twin for all of us who need Jesus to reach
into our side, to touch our hearts, to soften its hardness and warm its
coldness. We need Jesus to touch our hands, so that our fists are unclenched
and we are able to embrace and to share.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need Jesus to touch the scars we keep hidden so when we
encounter other doubters like us, doubters who are as broken and scarred as we
are, they will see and believe what we profess to believe:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, Jesus…it’s you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-55262377197601595002015-04-05T18:02:00.000-04:002015-04-05T18:06:38.146-04:00Easter Sunday/Day of Resurrection -- April 5, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Neither/Nor. Both/And</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-5-2015-11-19-04-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/april-5-2015-11-19-04-am</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">NOTE: </span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">not </span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned.</em></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>John 20:1-18<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from
the tomb. <sup>2</sup>So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” <sup>3</sup>Then
Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. <sup>4</sup>The
two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the
tomb first. <sup>5</sup>He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings
lying there, but he did not go in. <sup>6</sup>Then Simon Peter came, following
him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, <sup>7</sup>and
the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself. <sup>8</sup>Then the other disciple, who
reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; <sup>9</sup>for as
yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. <sup>10</sup>Then
the disciples returned to their homes.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><sup>11</sup>But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she
wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; <sup>12</sup>and she saw two angels
in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and
the other at the feet. <sup>13</sup>They said to her, “Woman, why are you
weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know
where they have laid him.” <sup>14</sup>When she had said this, she turned
around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. <sup>15</sup>Jesus
said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing
him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell
me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” <sup>16</sup>Jesus said
to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means
Teacher). <sup>17</sup>Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have
not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” <sup>18</sup>Mary
Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she
told them that he had said these things to her.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Thursday night, we gathered at Community Presbyterian
Church of Ben Avon for a Maundy Thursday service in the fellowship hall in which
we remembered the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples, how he blessed
them by washing their feet, and fed them his last supper, sanctifying the bread
and the wine as a way to remember him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Jesus did that blessing and feeding, knowing that his
time was growing short, that the plot to kill him was already in motion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, he blessed and fed knowing that
someone at the table would betray him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He blessed and fed while knowing that the rest of his friends would
abandon him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we followed Jesus to Good Friday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the sanctuary of Community church,
we heard the familiar and terrible story of Jesus’ suffering and death, each
reading punctuated by the pounding of the nails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shadows lengthened as candles were extinguished and the
sun set outside as Jesus’ life unraveled before us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Pastor Donna read the solemn reproaches from the
cross, the readers carried every parapet and symbol out of the sanctuary, and
Pastor Donna and I draped the cross in black. The remaining lights in the
sanctuary were extinguished, leaving the congregation sitting in total
darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not know how long the lights were out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on Thursday night, I felt the
heaviness and the depth of all that darkness more keenly than I ever have
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sat in the sanctuary,
I heard my own breath catch a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I heard hearts breaking in that room and everywhere on earth. I felt my
heart pounding with a million other hearts, and realized the earth’s heart beat
had fallen into a rhythm that reminded me of a hammer forcefully pounding nails
through flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I felt myself
falling, through time and space:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of Jesus’ death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of Mary who helplessly watched her
son be torn to bits and couldn’t do anything to save him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of mothers in South Sudan who watch
their children die from malaria or malnutrition or gun shot wounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of the mothers in Kenya who lost
their children in a senseless massacre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of every mother, and father too, in
every time and place, who have stood as helpless as Mary in the face of human
violence being waged against their deepest heart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Falling under the weight of every friend, every family
member, every colleague and every parishioner who face unutterable losses –
children, relationships, careers, health, mind, body and spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I heard God’s heart own breaking, as the story of
humanity continues to unfold, still bleeding red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still falling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still dying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Good Friday, my sister in Christ, Rev. Liddy Barlow wrote
a sonnet that captures this falling and dying that has not ended: </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today my Lord is
kneeling on a beach,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cowering behind a dorm
room door,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screaming as the Alps
rise up beneath, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wincing as the lash
comes down once more. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today my Lord is
doused in lighter fluid, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today he's slain for
Skittles and iced tea, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Takes pentobarbital
into his veins. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today my God is
gasping, "I can't breathe." <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cross of long ago
was not the end. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Name a pain: today,
that pain is his. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to ease a twisted
Father's spite, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But simply out of love
for all that is: <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unless he goes himself
where evil would, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we ever call
this Friday good?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In that dark sanctuary, listening to hearts, so many hearts,
beating as if they were only beating to be broken, I prayed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God of mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Forgive us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We killed you again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We do it every year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We crucify you every day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just don’t know what to do about it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to think I could do something if I prayed hard enough
but now, I just don’t think I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t save Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t save anyone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death keeps happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God of mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Forgive us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the lights came up in the sanctuary at Community
Presbyterian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor Donna and I walked out quietly, and went back to her
office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I changed out of my robe
and was getting ready to go home and celebrate what was left of David’s
birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I realized I had
left my folder back in the sanctuary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I walked back in, do you know I heard playing on the organ?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Jesus Christ is Risen today, Alleluia!!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This really ticked me off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The choir was rehearsing for Easter Sunday, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was absolutely nothing wrong
about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it made me
angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It made me realize Easter Sunday can feel forced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Holy Week, we rush from Palm Sunday
to Good Friday to Easter at breakneck speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, our observances feel as forced as the tulips and
the lilies and the hyacinth blooming freakishly early in our warm
sanctuaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Outside, all the spring
bulbs we planted last fall or years ago are still buried outside under the cold
mud of early Pittsburgh spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I walked
into our church on Friday morning, we also had made the switch over to
Easter pretty quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smell
of the flowers hit me immediately with a familiar scent that screams “EASTER,”
even while the earth struggles to find its footing after winter darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps that is as it should be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the gospel stories about Sunday morning, none of the
original witnesses seem to be much more in sync with Jesus’ resurrection than
we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples are also trying to find their footing -- grieving, denying, misunderstanding, trying to catch up to Jesus, struggling to
make sense of what defies human logic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two gospel lessons assigned for this day, and
you’ve heard them both this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both Mark and John begin their story of Easter morning with a walk to
the tomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Mark, there are three
women, and in John, there’s just one, Mary Magdalene, who goes to the tomb
alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In both stories, the women
arrive to find the stone in front of the tomb has been rolled away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here is where the resemblance between the two texts
mostly ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The response of the
women to resurrection is very different in the two texts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Mark, the women, “...said nothing to
anyone because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In John, Mary Magdalene practically bubbles over with the
news that “I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Mark, the women are not yet prepared to follow the
instructions of the man in the white robe to go tell his disciples that Jesus
is no longer there, but on his way to Galilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Mark, the women are so filled with grief and terror that
they are not ready to go tell anyone anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gospel of Mark ends not with a bang, but a
whimper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The footnotes in my Bible
tell me that there were “two attempts to provide a more satisfactory ending to
the Gospel of Mark,” but those attempts have been largely rejected because they
were written much later than the oldest manuscripts, and because the added
verses are clearly different in style and understanding from the rest of Mark’s
gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if we want to stick to
Mark’s authentic story about Easter morning, we have to accept this abrupt
ending cloaked in fear and trembling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John, of course, gives us a far different and more
satisfying rendering of Mary’s reaction on Easter Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we see Mary running back to the
disciples to tell them what she has seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the disciples return to their homes, still not understanding what
is happening, Mary weeps at the tomb and is visited by Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she hears him call her name, she
recognizes him and is filled with courage to proclaim his resurrection to the
disciples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So where are you this Easter Sunday?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you think about the
resurrection?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most preachers will
choose either Mark or John to preach on this morning, but this year, I thought
we needed both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because these two
responses to the resurrection seem to represent the gamut of human possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark’s account seems to give us
permission to say nothing about resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And John’s text seems to suggest than we can say
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you and I can fall
anywhere in between nothing and everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bible gives us permission to do that, even if official
church line of this day is, “Jesus Christ is Risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is Risen indeed!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can say that we don’t know everything about what this day
means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can say that yes, the
tomb is most cetainly empty, but we’re still not sure where Jesus has gone or
where we will find him or even what to look for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can even mistake Jesus for someone else – a gardener or a
just a guy in a robe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or we can go
home like the disciples in John and wonder what all that fuss was about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let’s sit with these possibilities for just a moment
before we rush into anything.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because it seems to me that figuring out resurrection is the
crucial work of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are
we able to see – and I mean <u>really</u> see -- the world in all its beauty
and all its terror and all its messiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can we see all that and proclaim that death has
been defeated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly,
how does resurrection appear to us in those moments when it really matters – by
the bedside of someone who is dying, looking into a casket at someone you love,
sitting in the pew at a funeral, or hearing the diagnosis you didn’t want to
hear?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes right down to it, resurrection life is very,
very hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the end, despite
what we sing and say and shout on Easter morning, resurrection is very, very
personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in the joy of
Easter, we know that no churchy promise quoted by scripture, creeds or
confessions will suffice when we are figuring out what resurrection looks
like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tastes like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feels like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smells like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lives like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t
understand resurrection in sweeping generalizations, but only in the mess and
muck of human life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is our work because it is what we have to say to the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resurrection is our
audacious proclamation that there is something beyond what we can see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That resurrection is not only for some
future point to save us from hell, but also truth that matters deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because how we see God’s future has the
power to change the world right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In her sermon for Palm Sunday last week, my friend Mary
Louise quoted a book by Ronald Rolheiser, <i>The Holy Longing</i>, in which the
author says that there are two kinds of death. There is terminal death, and
there is paschal death. “Terminal death is one that ends life and ends
possibilities. Paschal death, while ending one life, opens a person to receive
a deeper and richer form of life.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading that statement made me realize that are also two
kinds of resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
terminal resurrection, which says that the only resurrection that matters
happened more than 2,000 years ago, and we either believe in that one or we
can’t believe at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or we proclaim that the resurrection didn’t stop with that
one moment 2,000 years ago, but unleashed the power of new life that happens
every day, available for every person, and we are invited into resurrection
life in every moment we are alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some days we’ll see resurrection so clearly that we’ll be
nearly blinded by its light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
some days we’ll be so deep in the shadows that we’ll have to rely on someone
else to believe in resurrection for us until we can do it again for
ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is what the
church is about. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We may not always see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not always understand it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not even believe it sometimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But God is there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we can only hold on to the
most simple statement of faith – that Jesus is risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though it may be hard to find any objective evidence of its
truth, when we come together in this community of faith, we hear the Word
again, and through the power of this table we are pulled again into the story
of new life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter where you are on the day of resurrection day, I
can only promise you this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Resurrection doesn’t make life perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you probably already know that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But resurrection makes new life
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Resurrection and new life will not happen unless something dies,
and this is part that makes us nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the part that drives us to fight the Holy Spirit until we’re
bloodied and bruised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not one of
us wants to give up that very thing that needs to die in us for new life to
happen:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whether it’s a dream, a
grudge, or our own bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
especially our bodies. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But like that acorn on the banner that Clyde has created for
us, until something falls and dies, nothing will ever be more than what it
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the seed falls to the
earth and dies, all of the potential it holds for bold new life will be
wasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only way the acorn can
realize its dream of new life as an oak tree is to die to its old life as an
acorn. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can we do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Can we let go of what needs to die in us, so that new life may flourish?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today
is not about triumph but thanks be to God, Easter is about hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope
that even in godawful darkness, we will never again have to live without the
possibility of light.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope
that when we are walking in the valley of every thing we fear about life and
about death, we can gulp and say, yep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can stare
into the depths of an empty tomb on a cold morning in April and trust it means
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can trust enough to get
up, turn away from that empty place, and go see what the living Christ is up
to.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wanna
come with me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s
Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resurrection is loose in
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us follow wherever
it leads us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks
be to God. Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3092425327265226884#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Liddy Gerchman Barlow</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-17717075144260994292015-04-03T10:42:00.001-04:002015-04-03T10:42:25.564-04:00Good Friday<h2>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Solemn Reproaches From The Cross</span></span></h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jL0lqT77kPY/VR6mSYd1_8I/AAAAAAAABWQ/NyAArKgiNlY/s1600/6a0120a969aca7970b0133ec6b5e9d970b-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jL0lqT77kPY/VR6mSYd1_8I/AAAAAAAABWQ/NyAArKgiNlY/s1600/6a0120a969aca7970b0133ec6b5e9d970b-800wi.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px; text-align: left; text-indent: 13px;"> Exodus by Marc Chagall</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">O my people, O my church,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">what have I done to you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">or in what have I offended you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Answer me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I led you forth from the land of Egypt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and delivered you by the waters of baptism,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Holy, holy, holy
God, holy almighty God, holy, holy almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I led you through the desert forty years,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and fed you with manna.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I brought you through tribulation and penitence,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and gave you my body, the bread of heaven,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Holy, holy, holy
God, holy almighty God, holy, holy almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">What more could I have done for you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">that I have not done?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I planted you, my chosen and fairest vineyard,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I made you the branches of my vine;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but when I was thirsty, you gave me vinegar to drink<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and pierced with a spear the side of your Savior,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I went before you in a pillar of cloud,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have led me to the judgment hall of Pilate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I scourged your enemies and brought you to a land of freedom,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have scourged, mocked, and beaten me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I gave you the water of salvation from the rock,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have given me gall and left me to thirst,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I gave you a royal scepter,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and bestowed the keys of the kingdom,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have given me a crown of thorns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I raised you on high with great power,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">My peace I gave, which the world cannot give,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and washed your feet as a sign of my love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you draw the sword to strike in my name<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and seek high places in my kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I offered you my body and blood,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you scatter and deny and abandon me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I sent the Spirit of truth to guide you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you close your hearts to the Counselor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I pray that all may be one in the Father and me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you continue to quarrel and divide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I call you to go and bring forth fruit,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you cast lots for my clothing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I grafted you into the tree of my chosen Israel,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you turned on them with persecution and mass murder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I made you joint heirs with them of my covenants,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">but you made them scapegoats for your own guilt,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I came to you as the least of your brothers and sisters;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I was hungry and you gave me no food,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">naked and you did not clothe me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">sick and in prison and you did not visit me,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">and you have prepared a cross for your Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy, holy, holy God, holy almighty God, holy, holy
almighty God, have mercy upon us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-36172430032929887922015-03-29T15:00:00.001-04:002015-03-29T15:00:40.975-04:00Palm/Passion Sunday -- March 29, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Divine Politics</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_GF65Il9rNc/VRhKJbImkAI/AAAAAAAABV4/0WLqe1Kpg-U/s1600/9311670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_GF65Il9rNc/VRhKJbImkAI/AAAAAAAABV4/0WLqe1Kpg-U/s1600/9311670.jpg" height="488" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/march-29-2015-11-24-18-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/march-29-2015-11-24-18-am</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned.</em><br />
<em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></em>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>The sermon on Palm Sunday was cut short by a medical emergency involving one of our members attending worship. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. We pray for her wholeness and healing, and are thankful for the members of our congregation who tenderly cared for her while waiting for medical help. </i></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Philippians
2:1-11<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>If then there is any encouragement
in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion
and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or
conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of
you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Let the same mind be in you that
was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a
cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is
above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of years ago, I
read a book called, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Savior, A
Novel of Divine Politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>At
the beginning of the book, we meet<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Russ
Thomas, a TV reporter, who is sent to cover a story of a young child who had
fallen three stories, seemed dead, and came back to life when a stranger came
up and touched him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people
were calling it a miracle, but Russ remained skeptical. Later, he's sent to a
hospital where the same stranger has visited a young girl and seemingly cured
her of a chronic illness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stranger becomes known
as "The Good Visitor," and he turns out to be Jesus Christ. One day,
Jesus calls Russ and tells him that he's running for President of the United
States and would like for Russ to work on his campaign. Russ is not convinced
at first, but finally agrees when Jesus visits Russ's girlfriend in a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus assembles a ragtag
campaign team and heads out on the road as the candidate for The Divinity
Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus runs an unusual
campaign - he doesn't criticize his opponents and he's always available to take
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know – very unusual,
right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus' chances of being
elected seem slim as he faces skepticism from both ends of the political
spectrum over his platform of kindness and goodness and the fact that he names
his mother as his running mate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of the book, a
woman in a crowd screams out her accusation that the candidate is not really
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I might not
be," he said slowly. "I might not be. But my question to you is this:
would you know him if he came into your midst? If he came into your midst and
did not look the way you expected him to look, and did not speak as you
expected him to speak, would you know him?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe I am the only one
who thinks like this, but the gospel stories of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem
at the beginning of Holy week, seem as inadvertently satirical as this
intentionally satirical book I’ve just described.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike a polished politician who spends his or her early
career amassing money and connections, and crafting a carefully cultivated
public image, Jesus has spent most of the gospel narrative up until today
recklessly abandoning his home, family, reputation, and safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of ingratiating himself to the
powers that be, Jesus has become a scandalous figure in the eyes of the temple
authorities. and a terrible pest to the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone else who meets Jesus wants to claim him as being on
the side of <u>their</u> particular cause, <u>their</u> particular tradition, <u>their</u>
particular theological view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Jesus refuses to be
boxed in by human expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus goes through life on the side of nobody but God, which often puts
him at odds with pretty much everyone else except those that nobody else will
claim and whom God seems to always side with -- marginalized, sick, despised,
and forgotten people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are
the kind of folks who will throw their lot in with Jesus because they have
nothing left to lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But on this Sunday, Palm
Sunday, it seems as if Jesus has finally woken up and gotten with the
program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s high political
drama, Jesus entering into Jerusalem, greeted by the crowds of people who want
him to be their king, to save them from Rome, and be their shiny new Messiah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Jesus will have none
of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He soon turns his back on
the shouts of “Hosanna!!” It’s like he didn’t even hear the roar of the
crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once they sense that this
Jesus is not the candidate they’d been hoping for, the crowd becomes
disillusioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty soon, their
enchantment with Jesus will morph into anger, which will finally boil over into
shouts of “Crucify him!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing will change Jesus’
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the fear of disappointing
his public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the heartbreak of
leaving his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of that
can stop him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He keeps walking and
walking as everything keeps getting darker and darker, but Jesus doesn’t stop
walking until the very end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this text from
Philippians, Paul tells us why Jesus ignored every opportunity to save himself
and take over the whole human operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because Jesus had the mind of God, Jesus had to give himself away
completely, to give himself completely over to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus had to turn his back on the power that could have so
easily been his by getting down on his hands and knees to serve people who
couldn’t do a thing for him in return and abandoned him in the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus ends up dead because that’s what
usually happens when power meets a threat it cannot master or tame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing more threatening to
power than genuine, self-giving, self-sacrificing love that is the mind, the
very essence, of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus resisted any attempt
to make his message or ministry the private domain of a particular culture,
government, or group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By being on
God’s side, Jesus was on everyone’s side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As this became clear, the crowds begin to melt away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holy Week always makes me
feel a little uncomfortable because I know that I do not have the mind of
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy Week makes me feel
uncomfortable because I know I would have a difficult time resisting the
impulse to grab the power that Jesus had at his fingertips and strike back
against the tyranny of the Roman Empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy Week makes me uncomfortable because I know I
would be one of those people who shouted Hosanna on Sunday, and leave Jesus on
his own in a garden a couple of days because this suffering servant has let me
down and it’s becoming much too scary and dangerous to follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any fool could see what was going to
happen to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy Week
always makes me uncomfortable because I know<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>deep down that I am an amateur at love, that I will fall
asleep when the going gets tough, that I will not answer his call when it
really matters, and I will abandon him if it means I have to give up my own
assurance of being right about everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holy Week makes me
uncomfortable because it reminds me that walking with Jesus all the way to the
cross means I must not only have the mind of God, but also be of the same mind
of others who seek to walk the same road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can’t claim Jesus as the one who supports my views, my opinions, and
my preferences as if that’s all that interests Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to think about other people first, and care more
about them than I do for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have to shed my own little ambitions and my own little
prejudices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once I do that,
what will be left over for me?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This discomfort came into
sharp relief for me this week when I was sitting with a group of pastor
colleagues talking about a vote on same gender marriage coming up in May at a
meeting<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of Pittsburgh
Presbytery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it has
already received support from enough presbyteries to change the wording about
marriage in our Book of Order, the presbyteries that have not voted on it yet
are still required to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have sat through pretty much every single meeting of the presbytery over the
past decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been to three
General Assemblies where this topic has been front and center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have heard pretty much every endless
and heated public debate, and countless private ones, on the matters related to
homosexuality and the PCUSA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By my
count, I have suffered at least 32 migraine headaches as a result of listening
to the arguments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I am sure
many of you do, I have a very specific point of view on the topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when it comes to how we talk with
one another in these gatherings, I find those debates nothing short of
soul-sucking awful, no matter the result.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I sat with my
colleagues this week, I wondered out loud:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we do this differently this time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of talking past each other on
the floor of presbytery, could we instead seek to honor one another?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could we look not to our own interests,
but to the interests of someone else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could we intentionally reach out in humility and maybe love to those
with whom we disagree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could the
headline in the Post-Gazette on the Friday morning for once not be, “Pittsburgh
Presbytery approves or disapproves gay marriage after a bitter battle,” but “In
a Surprising Turn of Events, Pittsburgh Presbyterians Love One Another.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, “In Surprising Turn of Events,
Pittsburgh Presbyterians Unite To Devote Their Energy to Mission and Ministry
Instead of Dividing?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wouldn’t that be the
craziest thing ever?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty
sure my colleagues wondered what I’d been drinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this is why Jesus’
divine politics made people so mad during Holy Week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the parade ends, nobody can claim him as their own
personal Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus openly refuses
to side with anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not with the
religious leaders who hear his claims and see his actions as intentional
blasphemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not with the disciples
who can clearly see how badly this project is going to end and will deny that
they ever knew the man in order to save their own skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not with Pilate who despite endless
contortions to try to keep Jesus off the cross cannot make a deal with this
guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the crowds who had
started out screaming for Roman blood and are now shrieking for the execution
of this faker who led them on with his healing and feeding miracles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where’s the bread now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why won’t Jesus save us, all of us, the
way we want to be saved?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If anyone could claim to
know the mind of God, it was Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And what we see in Holy Week is a God who is driven not by power or by
might, but by love and mercy so deep, so wide, so broad that it cannot be
contained by one side or another, but is poured out for the sake of
everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that makes Holy Week
uncomfortable for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should
make us uncomfortable and if it doesn’t, maybe we’re doing it wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve
spoken to you before about a great pastor named Will Campbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will was born in the very poor deep
south of Mississippi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
ordained at a local Baptist church when he was seventeen and eventually played
a central role as white activist on behalf of African Americans, working with
most of the civil rights leaders of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, in 1957, Campbell was one of four people who
escorted the nine black students who integrated Little Rock’s Central High School,
and he was the only white person invited to attend the founding of the Southern
Christian Leadership conference by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
as the years went on, Campbell began to feel uneasy about his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He realized that he was beginning to
hate those redneck bigots who hated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Campbell discovered how easy it is to play favorites and to oppress the
oppressors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He realized that after
20 years in ministry, he had become little more than a social activist, which
is different from being a follower of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had created a God in his own image.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What
happened was that he realized Jesus died for bigots as well as the people whose
civil rights Campbell had spent his life fighting for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Campbell said, “Anyone who is not as
concerned with the moral soul of the dispossessor as well as the dispossessed
is being less than Christian.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acting
upon this conviction, Campbell reached out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the night before the Grand Dragon of the North Carolina
Ku Klux Klan was shipped off to Federal prison, Campbell celebrated communion
with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, he ministered to
James Earl Ray who had murdered his friend, Martin Luther King, Jr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When people asked Will Campbell if he
really expected to save the souls of such men, Campbell said he thought it
would be presumptuous to think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said, “They might, however, save mine.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Campbell
made civil rights activists uncomfortable because did things like becoming
friends with bigots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Campbell made
bigots uncomfortable because he stood with civil rights activists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the end, following Jesus meant
more than comfort to Campbell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
bad news of the Gospel on Palm Sunday is that God will never be God on our
terms. God will never be the answer to our own, self-defined questions. God
comes to us in Christ and demands that we let go of our questions and instead answer
God’s question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God’s question
to us is simply this: “Who do you say that I Am?” Who is this man who lives
life wholly for others, who makes himself nothing, who does not regard equality
with God as something to be held onto, who empties himself, who though he was
rich for our sakes was made poor, who having loved those who were his own,
loved them to the end even when they turned their backs on him.—who do you say
this person is? Who is this one who loved infinitely? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
answer the church gives is that this man who lived wholly for others is God
incarnate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
for us to say yes to God, we must submit ourselves to the severe mercy of
having our hopes dashed. This is the lesson of Palm Sunday: that only when we
have our hopes dashed are we set free to receive the saving grace we do not
expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if its costly grace
and not the kind that comes cheap, it will most certainly make us
uncomfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Palm
Sunday is a reminder to us that God came, not to fulfill our hopes, but to
bring them to nothing, and that by so dashing our hopes, we will receive more
than we could ever ask or think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
this week’s issue of Christian Century, John Buchanan writes: “We become fools
for Christ because Jesus was still loving and forgiving even as men were
driving nails through his wrists and ankles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of Easter, we dare to believe that the resurrection
drama points to God’s ultimate power and authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death did not defeat Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power of empire, human hatred, cruelty, and bigotry did
not prevail on that dark Friday because three days later, there was Easter.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks
be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-60320123690622938222015-03-23T15:23:00.000-04:002015-03-23T15:24:26.524-04:00Fourth Sunday of Lent -- March 15, 2015<div class="Section1">
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Going
to the Other Side</span></h2>
<div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Guest Preacher: Reverend Sharon Stewart</span></h2>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q6KlbvBVV8s/VRBoA4yAOqI/AAAAAAAABVY/GwKQ3Xw0b-Q/s1600/IMG_3501_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q6KlbvBVV8s/VRBoA4yAOqI/AAAAAAAABVY/GwKQ3Xw0b-Q/s1600/IMG_3501_2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<h2>
<br /></h2>
</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Isaiah 43:14-21</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">God</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s Mercy and Israel</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">s Unfaithfulness</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">14</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This is what the Lord says</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">—</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">your
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For your sake I will
send to Babylon</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and
bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in
the ships in which they took pride.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">15</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I am the Lord, your Holy One,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Israel</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s Creator, your
King.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">16</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This is what the Lord says</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">—</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">he
who made a way through the sea,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a
path through the mighty waters,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">17</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">who drew out the chariots and horses,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the
army and reinforcements together,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and they lay there, never to rise again,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">extinguished,
snuffed out like a wick:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">18</span></b><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">Forget
the former things;</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">do not dwell on the past.</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">19</span></b><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">See, I am doing a new thing!</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">I am making a way in the
wilderness</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;">and streams in the wasteland.</span><span style="color: #fe5e02; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">20</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The wild animals honor me,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the
jackals and the owls,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">because I provide water in the wilderness</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and
streams in the wasteland,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to give drink to my people, my chosen,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">21</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the
people I formed for myself</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">that
they may proclaim my praise.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Mark 4:35-41; Mark 5:1</b></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus Calms the Storm</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">35</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That
day when evening came, he said to his disciples, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let
us go over to the other side.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">36</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Leaving
the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were
also other boats with him. <b>37</b></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was
nearly swamped. <b>38</b></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to
him, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Teacher, don</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t you care if we drown?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">39</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He
got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-size: 12pt;">Quiet! Be still!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Then
the wind died down and it was completely calm.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">40</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He
said to his disciples, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why are you so afraid?
Do you still have no faith?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">41</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">They
were terrified and asked each other, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Who
is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">5:1</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> - They went across
the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus said, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s
go to the other side: going to the other side.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This
can mean many places - the other side of the lake; the other side of the
street. In Pittsburgh we know a lot about going to the other side of the river;
more than 29 bridges cross the three rivers. If you cross a bridge in
Pittsburgh, you will experience a different venue, on the other side; a
different type of landscaping;
homes and neighborhoods</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">…</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">You begin to
see life from a different perspective. That is what it was like for the
disciples. They were called to a new experience as followers of Jesus. They
were going from a predominately Jewish area to a Gentile region, the Gerasenes.
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In this story from the Gospel of Mark, after J</span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-size: 12pt;">esus </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">spoke with the
crowds he said, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">let</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s go to the other
side.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The disciples trusted him; he was their teacher
and they knew he was tired. So they began to take care of the rowing as Jesus
slept in the back of the boat. Many of the disciples were experienced fisherman
so they knew the sea well. Suddenly a storm came upon them. Remember when you
were a child and you could hear the thunder and wind; it shook the house and
could be very frightening. In the similar way, the disciples were in this
thunderous, explosive squall as the wind was blowing and the water was
splashing into the boat. Yet Jesus remained asleep on the soft cushion; they
wondered, doesn</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t he care; why is he
not helping? They woke him up. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">So Jesus stood up; he rebuked the demonic fury
of the wind and waves. Then, what followed was a dead calm.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was so profound that it sucked the life out
of the chaos and it restored order to the sea. This dead calm had a life of its
own. After the waves were coming into the boat and the wind tossing them to and
fro, there was quiet. We can imagine that it was so quiet it must have been
unnerving. Instead of celebrating the calm and order that came from Jesus
rebuking the sea, the disciples were terrified. The Greek work used here is fo-be</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ō</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
- to be struck with fear. Why was
this calm so unnerving? Perhaps there is another window into the story that we
need to see today. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe we need to reflect on his questions to
the disciples: Why are you afraid? Why are you now afraid? </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Remember Jesus</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">disciples
were very accustomed to storms/the chaos.
Almost half of them have been fishermen their whole lives. The storms
were disruptive to their flow of rowing across the sea yet they had experienced
these kinds of storms before; <b>what they were not familiar with was this kind
of calm. </b></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus seemed to get that they were reflecting
on what just happened. There was the storm and then this sudden calm. He asked
them, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why are you
terrified, don</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">t you have faith?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
calm came suddenly, there was no more frantic rowing, the wild crazy winds were
gone. Notice that it was after Jesus calmed the wind and waves that they were
terrified. Often times we have the adrenaline rush and the intuition to deal
with the chaos, the storms but it is in the reflecting about the storms and the
chaos that can be unnerving. In the calm and quiet time of reflection we think
about how we reacted, we begin to breath and recover. In the calm, we begin to
grow from past experiences.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As Jesus and the disciples went to the other
side, they were given a time of calm; a time to recover and a time prepare for
the next thing. They were going to a place to learn, cross ethnic barriers and
to experience the work of the Lord in another culture. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Today, I want to share a story about modern
day disciples or apostles who were also sent to the other side of the ocean to
be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We were sent during the calm; calm
from months of civil war in South Sudan. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In January of 2015, five pastors and one young
adult traveled from Pittsburgh to
Washington, DC to Dubai and finally to Juba South Sudan in Africa, it took 24
hours to go to the other side.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the scriptures we read about Sudan. It is
referred to as Cush, Nubia and Ethiopia. Cush is a term for the people
descended from Cush; the grandson of Noah, and it refers to the country
immediately south of Egypt along the Nile.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We hear about the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8
who was the treasurer of Queen Candice who ruled in present day Northern Sudan.
He traveled to Jerusalem to worship. When the Eunuch met Philip he interpreted
the scriptures from Isaiah that the eunuch was reading; then Philip Baptized
him. He became a baptized
Christian convert. We see here that back in the 1st century, God was doing a
new thing. The history of the Christian church in Sudan began in AD 37 with an
Ethiopian Eunuch.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The church in Sudan grew steadily, and in the
third century many coptic Egyptian Christians fled to Sudan to escape the persecutions
of the Roman emperors. Strong Christian communities were flourishing in Sudan
(Cush). By the 6th century, Christianity had become the official religion of
these Sudanese kingdoms. Archaeologists have unearthed over a hundred churches
dating back to this period. Many of these churches have elaborate Christian
paintings on the walls. Sudan contains the oldest community of Christians in
Africa - who have suffered some of the worst persecutions in the world.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As the scriptures state in Isaiah 18:2, The
Sudanese <i>are a tall people, a smooth skinned people, with a violent history.</i>
The Christians in Sudan have been longing for independence; to be free from
persecution and most recently from Islamic, Sharia law. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In 2011, the people of South Sudan finally
achieved independence after years of struggle and warfare. As a result of the
peace agreement, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese were forced to leave their
homes in Khartoum and other parts of north Sudan in order to come back to their
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ancestral homeland</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in
the south. They were not allowed to take much property with them, and they
arrived in an under-developed land</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">with
little infrastructure and very few
resources. The world</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s newest country was among the world</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">s poorest countries. But they had hope; they
had religious freedom and they were away from oppression. For 2 years, there
was growth and joy in South Sudan, the beginnings of a plan for self-governance
and a longing to emerge into a more developed future.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">However,
in December of 2013, a political conflict developed into a clash within the
South Sudanese military. The ethnic and tribally-based violence erupted into a
full-scale civil war. Within months, two million people were displaced from
their homes. And although the situation has improved enough for us to visit,
the fighting continues even to this day in different parts of South Sudan. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">So,
why, why did we go to the other side to a place where there has been years of
stormy chaos? Perhaps it was because, just like the disciples needed to go to
the other side of the Lake, we desired to expand our relationships; develop
relationships with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the ocean; to
love one our brothers and sisters in Christ from different ethnic groups. In
South Sudan there are 74 ethnic groups.
We met with the pastors from several ethnic groups all from the South
Sudanese Presbyterian Evangelical Churches. For a long time Christians in Sudan
felt alone and abandoned. We heard them say, </span><i><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">“</span></i><i><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">We are a hidden people fighting a forgotten war.</span></i><i><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">”</span></i><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"> It has been so important to let
them know: You are not alone. You are not forgotten. There are people who are
praying and who care enough to have sent us to be present with you.</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Most
of these pastors came from the North Sudan; recently they had to build new
churches with new congregants; then when the tribal war broke out in December
of 2013, they lost these buildings, homes were looted and many friends and
relatives died. Thousands of
displaced people sought shelter at the U.N. South Sudan Mission in Juba; Many
of the displaced <i>fear going home </i>even though Juba has been relatively
calm.</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Some
of the pastors we were with have not been out of the UN camp since the war
broke out in December 2013. The purpose of our trip was to spend time with
leaders and mission co-workers in worship, retreat, celebration, and listening.
We invited them to go with us out of the city into a to place where there was
calm, a retreat center called RECONCILE in the town YEI. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">During
our week at the retreat center, we learned that many of the pastors living in
deplorable conditions in the UN Camps had very little privacy. All day long
they hear the sounds of discontent children crying; restless teenagers,
frustrated parents and there is very little to do. Most of them did not feel
well; malaria, colds and stomach pains are some of the concerns that spoke to
us about.</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Our
brothers and sisters in Christ have experienced post traumatic stress; the
pastors struggled with talking about their past; what they have seen and
experienced. Thinking about the past was too painful. It many ways it was terrifying. One of the workshops
that we went through was about Post Trauma Stress. Watching the looks on the
faces was so telling; there was pain yet amazing hope. During free time, they
began to talk about the fighting that has occurred between tribes, what has
caused the conflict; how to solve it; they talked and laughed into the night.
You could see relief and joy in their faces. Hope for the future; hope for a
peaceful nation where there is freedom to preach the gospel. During this calm
on the other side we heard our brothers and sisters talk together; they were
breaking down barriers as these pastors from different tribes were developing
deeper relationships and beginning to trust each other. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">At one
point, I said to the general secretary; My heart aches for tall of you; so many
of you have lost your homes; families need to live in another country; and you
have experienced such trauma and suffering. He said, </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We are
grateful that you are here to stand with us; to listen to our stories. You need to remember that this is our sin; we need
to learn how to get along with each other. Our tribes are fighting; we are using this time
of calm for God to teach us; for us to learn about each other. Thank you for giving us this
calm space to talk and to heal. We need to teach our church, our community; pray for
peace; pray that we may have peace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Not
only are they dealing with their own brokenness but they have the pressures
from many countries trying to control and influence them. There are many other
nations interested in their oil and other resources. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Yet,
Philip did not blame others; he was able to name the chaos of his country. He
said, it is our sin; we are fighting; it is our doing; we need to learn how to
get along. We are recognizing our own sin and talking about it together; owning
our part in the storm. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">During
this calm at the retreat center, it was a sacred time of sharing. It was a time
to build relationships, cross tribal and ethnic barriers and begin to see ways
of reconciliation as a nation. You must understand, the Christians in Sudan
have experienced years and years of warfare; the current generation in South
Sudan has never lived without war. Yet, they are strong; they have learned to
have faith; a faith that drives out fear. They are learning to break down the
barriers between ethnic groups; to talk and to listen to each other. It was a
time of reconciliation and healing.</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">How
refreshing! As we got to know our brother and sisters on the other side, we
realized how much we can learn from them. In one way or another we all
experienced transformation in South Sudan. As areas in our personal lives were
awakened that week; some of us began to see areas in our own lives that need
healing; in the calm we were reminded that ALL are broken; all of us have areas
of fear during the storms and during the calm times in our life. </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">As we
returned to North America, we could not help but ask; what is God saying to us
now? Do we have our own version of ethnic and tribal wars? What kinds of
barriers do we need to cross for reconciliation in our family? In our
neighborhood? In our church? In the denomination? In political parties? </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">As
Jesus</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">disciples we can
be assured that Jesus is with us during the storms. We are also called to
listen during the calm. As individuals and as a community we can ask, what is
on the other side for us? Are we willing to be unnerved by the calm and to get
clarity about ways to break down barriers? Are we willing to seek
reconciliation; to seek forgiveness and to forgive? What is on the other side
for you? Will it be freedom from a burden; a relief?</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="Default" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
said, I am with you. I will show you the way! Jesus said, get in the boat and
let</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="color: #0d0903; font-size: 12pt;">s go to the other
side! Be Still; be quiet..Do not be afraid. Have faith. I am with you!</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-33584535292170569742015-03-19T11:23:00.000-04:002015-03-19T11:23:37.291-04:00Third Sunday of Lent -- March 8, 2015<h2>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> A Forgetful, Forgiving God</span></o:p></b></h2>
<div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guest Preacher: Ruling Elder Keith Mihelcic</span></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></b></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XkRQ8UNz4Ik/VQrpTfdiANI/AAAAAAAABU4/N3i25rOnArI/s1600/Letting_go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XkRQ8UNz4Ik/VQrpTfdiANI/AAAAAAAABU4/N3i25rOnArI/s1600/Letting_go.jpg" height="400" width="321" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></b></div>
<div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Exodus
20:1-17<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then God spoke all these
words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not
make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God
am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third
and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to
the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You
shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will
not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it
holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a
sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your
daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in
your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and consecrated it.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Honor your father and your
mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is
giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not
steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not
covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male
or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>1 Corinthians 1:18-25<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>For the message about the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one
who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God
made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the
world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of
our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks
desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser
than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
2:13-22<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went
up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and
doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords,
he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also
poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told
those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making
my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written,
“Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign
can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been
under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three
days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the
scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.</i></span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">I know, I know. You’re thinking what is up with
three readings - in a row! You ought to thank me, I almost put the Psalm
reading in there too! Trust me, I think I know what I am doing! I wanted them
to all come at you like that. Boom -boom-boom! I guess I just wanted to try to
recapture the effect that it had on me when I read these passages. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Do not get me wrong, it’s not as if when I read
these three passages I immediately had an idea for a sermon pop into my head.
That hardly ever happens. Usually one passage will pop out at me I will let
that marinate for a bit. I will kick it around in my head, re-read it a few
times a day. Usually, something will come to me - an idea, a theme, a general
outline - something that I believe I can work with. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sometimes it comes relatively easy. Sometimes
not so much. This week was neither hard, nor was it easy. I was just a bit
lost, I suppose. I read the passages several time, but nothing was really
jumping out at me. I guess I could have forced something, but usually when I do
that I end up throwing away an almost written sermon, at the last minute, in
order to go in a different direction. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Usually, like most people who preach. (notice I
did not call myself a preacher; I just think of myself as someone who preaches
sometimes. Think of it this way, just because you can bake a cake that does not
make you a pastry chef!) </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I digress, I usually, like most people who
preach, pick two passages from the lectionary readings. Out of those two I will
typically focus on one and maybe, manage to work in the other reading as well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">This time it was different. As I mentioned, I
could not come up with any one idea that I really liked. Then, as I was reading
through them all again, in order, just like we heard this morning, it hit me. I
think I know why this sermon wasn’t coming so easily. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let me preface this by saying that no one likes
to be told all about themselves. You know that moment. It’s awful. We have all
had moments in our lives when someone - a wife, mother, brother, sister,
friend, etc - has taken us to task. However, what makes these moments worse is
when you know, in the very depth of your heart and mind that the other person
is right. All that you can do is listen. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">I think that is what God is doing in these three
passages. He is telling us all about ourselves. I believe that we should
listen.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let us start with the Exodus passage. The Ten
Commandments. What exactly are the Ten Commandments? Sure, obviously, they are
commandments. Well, duh. I mean, commandment is in the title. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">This is an instruction manual. A behaviour
manual for the human race, if you will. We obviously were not then, and are not
now, going to figure it out for ourselves. I mean, think about it. Have we
really come that far from those days? Sure technology has advanced the way we
break the Commandments, but it hasn’t changed that fact that we still break
them. Constantly.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">We don’t bow down to actual golden calves these
days. Instead we bow down to and create idols of a myriad of other things. We
sit in front of a box and let it entertain us, we bury our faces in our phones
and our computers. We make idols out of all of these things we have. Things
that really do what? Distract us. Amuse us. Make us feel good. At least
temporarily, they do. Where does that get us?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Think about some of the ways that the Lord’s
name in used these days. If that is not taking his name in vain what is?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Consider this: when is the last time you truly
rested on the Sabbath?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Have you heard the way that some kids talk to or
about their parent’s these days? Very little honor there. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">We don’t kill each other with rock any more. We
have bombs and guns for that. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">People still commit actual physical adultery
these days, for sure. Why do that? Get all the lust you want by turning
on the TV or getting on your computer. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">People still steal, but now people can steal
with a few keystrokes. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">We all still lie and we all still covet, Oh my,
how we all still covet. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">God knows how people are. When I say the way
“are” I don’t mean he knows how we are in this day in age. God knows man and
what is in him on a level we can’t comprehend. He knows that we need to be told
how to not behave badly. We need reminders of what bad behavior is.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">I have heard many preachers divide the
the Ten Commandments divided into two parts. 1-4 are about how our
relationship with God should be and 5-10 are about how we should interact with
each other. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">These are reminders from a holy God as to how we
are to interact with Him and with all of those around us. Think we don’t need
reminded these days? Turn on the news or read a paper.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Then we get to Paul in 1st Corinthians. At it’s
heart it is a really affirming passage. It speaks of the power of the cross of
Jesus Christ to save. Read it a little closer, though. Between the lines if you
will. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">There is a huge difference in the thought
process of God as opposed to the thought process of man. Verse 25 says it all,
“<span style="background: #F9F9F9;">For God's foolishness is wiser than human
wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength”. </span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">While this passage is mainly
comparing believers and unbelievers, are we that different from the Jews and
Greeks that Paul is talking about? We think that we are pretty smart sometimes.
I know I do. I also believe that we rely on our own strength way too much.
Especially when you consider that the creator of everything is on our side and
in our corner. Paul tells us we have Jesus. The power and the wisdom of God on
our side. Yet we still don’t trust God’s wisdom. We still don’t rely on his
strength.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Then there is the John
passage. What a passage. Angry Jesus. But first, a word from the prophet
Malachai. (More Scripture!) <i>“ </i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger
of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> Almighty.</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But who
can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be
like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and
silver. Then the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> will have
men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and
Jerusalem will be acceptable to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>,
as in days gone by, as in former years”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">What a passage! That describes
Jesus perfectly at the temple. Who can stand when he appears. Apparently, no
one can! This picture of Jesus has always stood out in my mind.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is Jesus so mad that a
harsh rebuke will not suffice! He makes a whip! He is flipping over tables! He
is confronting those in positions of authority and telling them all about
themselves. Why at this time? Why at this place? What was going on here that
caused such a visceral response from the person who extols living peaceably and
turning the other cheek? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Well, to be certain Jesus had
the right to do what he was doing. I have read in a couple of commentaries and
study Bibles that Jesus was showing his authority here. That is, he was
putting people on notice. He was doing a task that only he had the proper
authority to do. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, I think there is more to
this. I always picture Jesus as very frustrated during all of this. The reason
why? These people are just not getting it. If I may quote my study Bible
directly, Jesus “has a zeal for God and keeping holy ordinances holy”. Why does
he feel so strongly about this? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is his Father’s house. It
is not a place to be abused. This is a place to draw near and worship. A place
to be still and know the Lord. We need that. We need that holy place we can go
to. Now, I am not talking about a building. If you really read the text Jesus
was not talking about a building. We all know that now. In hindsight even the
disciples knew it. Jesus, when he was talking to the leadership of the day,
made a direct correlation between himself and the temple because that is the
place where the Holy Spirit now rested. That was the only temple that mattered
in the long run. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Jesus knew how important
that relationship with himself, with God, is. That is one of the reasons, in my
opinion, that he is so heated about this. Jesus knows what we need. We need as
direct a path to God as we can get. We need not to encumber ourselves in
that journey. This can be done when we put obstacles in our own way, or when we
trip over the ones already there. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus knows what we really need
and this day at the temple he had enough of seeing people clogging the path to
God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you think about it I guess
it can get a little depressing. I wrote an outline for this sermon and I had
these section heading for each of the readings labeled as such. Mind you this
is from God’s perspective, at least in my opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Exodus - This is how you people
need to behave</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Corinthians - This is how you
people think</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John - Just stop it already!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like I said. Kind of
depressing. I think that the main thing is that we have to keep this in
perspective. Yes, we are sinners. And, yes, we are good at it. Yet we are
forgiven and loved beyond measure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">My older brother, being a
typical older brother, believes that he know a lot more than me about various
topics. One of his favorite sayings, usually when we are talking about music,
is “I have forgotten more about music than you will ever know”. God can say a
similar thing.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">God has forgotten more about
us than we will ever know about ourselves. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">We were made for relationship
with God. Each and every one of us. Jesus knows this.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were not made to hate, kill,
envy or lust. But we do. We always have and we always will. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">All of this talk of
commandments, and the way we think, and what we really need in our lives, do we
really need to be reminded of all of that?</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe we do need to be
reminded. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that we should dwell on our
own sins or dwell upon all of the evil in the world. But we must think about
it. We need to think about the ways we all go astray and the things that get in
the way of us deepening our relationship with God. To paraphrase Paul, we need
to start thinking like Jesus. We need the mind of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the end result of all
of this? What if we obeyed the commandments just a little better, individually
and as a society? What if we started thinking just a little more like Jesus?
What if we all tried to remove just some of the clutter in our spiritual lives?
Where do you think that would leave us? Where do you think that would leave the
world?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">I know where it would leave us.
It would leave us in a much better place. It would leave us really meaning it
when we prayed “on earth, as it is in heaven” because we would be actively
trying to make that happen, bit by bit. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-9107413538178908482015-03-01T13:54:00.000-05:002015-03-01T13:54:07.529-05:00Second Sunday of Lent -- March 1, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">How Jesus Ruins Everything</span></h2>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NAlFg1slR6M/VPNfGVsaceI/AAAAAAAABUE/oEM6efkQPrk/s1600/Unknown-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NAlFg1slR6M/VPNfGVsaceI/AAAAAAAABUE/oEM6efkQPrk/s1600/Unknown-1.jpeg" height="376" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/march-1-2015-11-25-05-am">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/march-1-2015-11-25-05-am</a></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">not </span><em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned (h/t: Rev. Slim Wilson)</em></div>
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<em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></em></div>
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<em style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></em></div>
</div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark 8: 27-38</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea
Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
<sup>28</sup>And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and
still others, one of the prophets.” <sup>29</sup>He asked them, “But who do you
say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” <sup>30</sup>And he
sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><sup>31</sup>Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man
must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests,
and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. <sup>32</sup>He
said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. <sup>33</sup>But
turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind
me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human
things.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><sup>34</sup>He called the crowd with his disciples, and
said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and
take up their cross and follow me. <sup>35</sup>For those who want to save
their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the
sake of the gospel, will save it. <sup>36</sup>For what will it profit them to
gain the whole world and forfeit their life? <sup>37</sup>Indeed, what can they
give in return for their life? <sup>38</sup>Those who are ashamed of me and of
my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will
also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So if you were sleeping on Thursday night, like a normal
person, you might have missed the latest controversy to blow up the
Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn’t your standard Internet scuffle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The controversy wasn’t over war or
peace, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t include the usual suspects
like politicians, climate change or immigration policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those squabbles are child’s play in
comparison to the debate that began percolating on Wednesday afternoon and
morphed into a full blown, international controversy on Thursday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latest Internet-fueled controversy
to divide families, friends, co-workers and even members of the U.S. Congress
had to do with a dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The debate was over this question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did the mother of the bride wear black and blue?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or gold and white?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days after a wedding on the Scottish island, a member
of the wedding party was posted a picture of a dress on the Tumbler website and
asked her followers for their feedback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The photo soon was posted on Buzzfeed, Facebook and Twitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At its peak, more that 670,000 people
were simultaneously viewing the photo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every one had an opinion, it seems, about the color of the dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And everyone was convinced that he or
she was right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the heart of this silly on-line debate was a curious
mystery – how could different people see the same article of clothing so
differently?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like many questions,
the answer hinges on the question of perception, how people interpret the world
through different lenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in
the case of the dress color, it isn’t about ideology, or politics, or
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether you see the dress as
black and blue, or gold and white, has to do with how your brain processes
visual information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every human
being’s brain is wired differently, and the dress controversy certainly
illustrates that fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You and I look at the same photo of a dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say it’s white and gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You say black and blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which one of us is perceiving reality
and which one of us is not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
answer, as best as I’ve been able to figure, is this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what did the creator of the dress intend the color of the
dress to be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll save you the
trouble of going to the Google when you get home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dress designer says it is black and blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then again, that’s the perception of
the designer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the designer
got it wrong as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is all slippery, unsettling stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes blue blue?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes gold gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is color only in the eye of the beholder?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s exactly the same kind of
question being considered in our scripture this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes the Messiah, the
Messiah?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does the Messiah
look like? What is the Messiah supposed to be and do and behave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our text today, Peter thinks he
knows what he’s seeing when he looks at Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter’s brain has been trained and wired in such a way that
his perception of The Messiah is one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he is soon to discover that Jesus’ perception is quite
different, in a way that will soon unsettle all the disciples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just remember what Peter has witnessed in his time with
Jesus up to this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What Peter
has seen is Jesus at his most dazzling. The gospel of Mark provides a narrative
in the first eight chapters that seems to go out of its way to highlight Jesus’
amazing power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus has going
head to head, toe to toe with Satan and emerging victorious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus casting out demons, calming a
storm, healing countless sick, giving sight to the blind, raising a girl from
the dead, feed 5,000 people with some scraps of bread and fish, and walking on
water. Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first eight chapters
of Mark, what we see when we see Jesus is power, power, and more power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Power over sickness, power over death,
power over Satan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter sees all powerful stuff happening when Jesus is around
and he is pretty sure that he has figured out the puzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter is pretty sure that he knows
exactly who Jesus is and says it out loud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hope of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter thinks Israel has finally gotten what
they’ve been waiting for since forever -- a successful, powerful Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what Jesus has in mind for the future of his ministry is
very different from what Peter is anticipating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Jesus perceives with the mind and eyes of God, and
Peter has the mind and eyes of a human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus tells his disciples that, from this moment on,
their lives will be lived in the shadow of the Cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sigh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big sigh.
Jesus has ruined everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
once was a beautiful picture of a light-filled and powerful Messiah has been
transformed to black and blue suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus paints a clear picture. No parables this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No folksy metaphors for what is about
to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus speaks clearly
about suffering, rejection and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over and over again from this point on in the gospel of Mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And at every point, the disciples don’t
see what Jesus sees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And how could they? In the disciple’s religious imagination,
the Holy One of Israel should be about accomplishment, glory, wisdom, and above
all, power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Power to defeat the
Romans, not to be killed by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Power to be the living breathing hope of Israel, not a dead criminal on
a cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disciples are
scandalized, confused, maybe a little embarrassed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably even angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to save them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What good is a dead Messiah?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of Jesus’ gloomy talk is going to completely destroy
this ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t Jesus know
that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus tells
Peter to get a grip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is how
its going to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus turns to the crowd that had been following him around
and says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and
take up their cross and follow me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, will save it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is very clear about what it means
to be his follower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly,
following Christ isn’t about power, power, and more power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, following Christ isn’t about
success and glory and accomplishment and wisdom in all the ways we think about
it as human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly,
following Christ isn’t about solving problems and making life easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following Jesus is about complicating
your life in ways you never imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it begins by being willing to lose everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know that question – how do people make it through life
without faith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hearing what
Jesus has to say, maybe a better question is – why would anyone want to go
through life with faith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least
in this guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because what Jesus is
promising to the disciples in this text doesn’t look very promising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, you wonder why anyone would
want to follow Jesus at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first half of Mark’s gospel is all about how to
live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the first
chapters, Jesus gives instruction of one kind or another on how to best fashion
our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, at this
moment, Jesus makes the turn and begins to show us how to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Playing it safe is no longer an option,
says Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is sacrifice
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death stops being a
reality to be feared, but one to embrace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now that we have been given new life in Christ, Jesus shows us how to
give it up or give it away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
much to the crowd’s disappointment, and maybe to our own, Jesus points to the
cross and insists that it is the only way we will be saved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus could not have chosen a more vivid and terrifying
image than the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In first-century
Palestine, the cross meant one thing – death, the cruel tortuous death that
awaited anyone who dared threatened Caesar’s kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Romans put up crosses like billboards advertising
Caesar’s supremacy and the fate of anyone who dared to challenge it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ hearers knew exactly what taking
up the cross meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 6 AD, they
had watched the Romans crucify 2000 Galilean insurrectionists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the impression that must have
made on the disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the
impression this must have made on young Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This invitation to lose one’s life is a terrible slogan for
the Christian church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody is
much interested in dying or picking up an extra burden for the sake of the
gospel. What Jesus is saying here is not going to attract flocks of people to
our sanctuaries. At least, not people who would join a church because it makes
them feel good or confirms their own way of living or doesn’t require much of
them in the way of change or growth or sacrifice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the church were really following Jesus, we would say that
if you’ve been viewing your faith as a security blanket to make you feel warm
and cozy, it’s time to give it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’ve been using your faith as a weapon to judge and exclude other
people, stop it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have been
coasting on something you once believed a long time ago and are not currently
wrestling with your whole heart about what it means to follow Jesus, you better
start struggling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your goal as
a church is merely to survive, give up that idea right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus embodies a different logic --the
logic of the cross that says it is only in suffering and struggling and dying
that we will be saved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That sound you hear in the gospel text today as Jesus makes
the turn to the cross is the ideal of a powerful Messiah crumbling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the sounds we hear in the pews
these days are the sounds of our perceptions of the church of Jesus Christ
beginning to fall apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that
is good news. Because when our beliefs begin to unravel, we learn to quit
worshiping our own beliefs, our own experiences, our own community, and finally
begin to worship God alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus ruins everything for Peter because Peter’s perception
of who Jesus should be, blocked his ability to see Jesus as he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are also guilty of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We assume that we know what we know
about God’s intention for us, so much so that even a powerful word from Jesus
cannot dissuade us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We still live
as people blinded by our prejudices and preconceptions of the way we think
things should be for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We think
if we are faithful enough, our lives will run better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We think if we are smart enough, our church will get
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Jesus comes along and
ruins everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because we have so much more to learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the God revealed in Jesus
Christ shows up not in our successes, but in the broken places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Peter, we are often disappointed
that we do not get the God we want, the God we’ve been taught to worship, or
the God we believe we have a right to expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Peter, we want to hang out with a winner who attracts
the popular crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a suffering
servant who very may well get us killed as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news is that the Jesus we get is the Messiah we
need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Messiah who lowers
himself to join us in our earthy, stumbling humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Messiah who sheds every bit of heavenly glory to enter
the little hells we have created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Messiah who abandons all the trappings of power so that God can get
close enough to embrace us and redeem us at our places of weakness and brokenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps this is what Jesus meant by saying that those who
want to save their life – along with all our expectations for what Messiah
should be – will lose it and those who are able to shed those expectations and
the lives they’ve built around them will find life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the last paragraph of his great book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mere Christianity,</i> C.S. Lewis has these
important lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The principle
runs all through life, from top to bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give up yourself and you will find your real self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lose life and it will be saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Submit to death – the death of
ambitions and secret wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep
nothing back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing in us that
has not died will ever be raised from the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look for Christ and you will find him, and with him,
everything else thrown in.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let it be so for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let us keep nothing back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let us look for Christ in own lives and in the life of our church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-38423218271581310162015-02-25T10:08:00.003-05:002015-02-25T10:11:06.204-05:00Lent at Emsworth U.P. Church<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday Evenings
During Lent</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25</span></b></div>
</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 p.m. – 8 p.m.</span></b></div>
</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come
and gather with our brothers and sisters at Community Presbyterian Church of
Ben Avon for an evening of dinner, worship and study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The topic of our study during Lent will be, “The Jesus
Creed,” based upon the book by Scot McKnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RBPGSepuWUs/VO3j7AYCNMI/AAAAAAAABTU/RhI8xKh9v7k/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RBPGSepuWUs/VO3j7AYCNMI/AAAAAAAABTU/RhI8xKh9v7k/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Jesus Creed is based upon Jesus’ words in Mark
12:29 – 31. The words Jesus speaks
are taken from the Shema from Deuteronomy 6 –</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You shall love the Lord you God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will study what it means to
follow the Jesus Creed – in our writing, learning, praying and living. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some
weeks, the program will be intergenerational, with everyone together. Other weeks, we will separate into
age-specific activities for children, youth and adults. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brochures with more information
are available in the narthex, or talk with Pastor Susan.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">South Sudan Trip Information</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have three upcoming opportunities to learn more about
Pastor Susan’s trip to South Sudan with five other pastors from Pittsburgh
Presbytery.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lCllxTQyok8/VO3kHfpmO5I/AAAAAAAABTc/n47z0PkgTG8/s1600/IMG_3509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lCllxTQyok8/VO3kHfpmO5I/AAAAAAAABTc/n47z0PkgTG8/s1600/IMG_3509.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Monday, March 2 at
6:30 p.m. at Pittsburgh Presbytery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></b>All six team members will be making a presentation to the
International Partnership of Pittsburgh Presbytery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also of interest will be an update on Malawi, including a
report on the recent flooding as well as an update on the trip scheduled for
this summer, 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sunday, March 15 at
11:00 </b>The Rev. Sharon Stewart will be our guest preacher and present her
perspective on South Sudan and what she experienced there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sunday, March 22 at
11:00 a.m.</b> Pastor Susan will be discussing the trip as part of our regular
worship service. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worship Schedule for March/April</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, March 8<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Elder
Keith Mehelcic preaching at 11:00 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(Pastor
on Spring break from March 5 – 15)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sunday
school at 9:45 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, March 15<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rev.
Sharon Stewart preaching at 11:00 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(Rev.
Stewart is one of the pastors from Pittsburgh Presbytery who</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>traveled
to South Sudan in January.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sunday
school at 9:45 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, March 22<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prayer
group for Emsworth U.P. at 9:15 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sunday
school at 9:45 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>South
Sudan Worship with Pastor Susan at 11:00 a.m. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, March 29<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prayer
group for Emsworth U.P. at 9:15 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sunday
school at 9:45 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Worship
at 11:00 a.m. (Palm/Passion Sunday)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, April 2 <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maundy
Thursday/Good Friday supper and service at 6:00 p.m. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(Community
Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Sunday, April 5 </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Easter
worship at 11:00 a.m.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-58645272332778836462015-02-22T14:45:00.000-05:002015-02-22T14:51:51.393-05:00First Sunday of Lent -- February 22, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Dust-Filled Faith</span></h2>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/february-22-2015-11-20-36-am"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://soundcloud.com/emsworthup/february-22-2015-11-20-36-am</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">NOTE: </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Sermons are aural events; they are meant to be heard, not read. The text below -- which was </em><span style="font-size: 14px;">not </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">delivered exactly as written -- may include errors not limited to spelling, grammar and punctuation of which the listener might be unaware and with which the preacher is unconcerned (h/t: Rev. Slim Wilson)</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mark 1:9-15</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and
was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the
water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on
him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He
was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild
beasts; and the angels waited on him.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee,
proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, the weather totally trashed our observances of
Transfiguration and Ash Wednesday, so most of us are beginning Lent at somewhat
of a disadvantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a shame, really, because there is a liturgical logic to
the days leading up to the observance of Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The transfiguration points us to the glory of God as
revealed in Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up on
the mountaintop, the door between this world and the next cracks open for a
moment, and the light reveals the glory of the Son and the love of the Father
for Jesus and for us. It’s a disorienting moment for the disciples, and
I’m not sure that they knew what to make of it any better than we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is no mistaking the
reassuring voice of God breaking into the mountaintop scene, proclaiming who
Jesus is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voice reminds us
that Jesus is the beloved one, the Son of God, the One we can listen to and
trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voice reminds us that we
can’t stay up on that mountain, but we have to follow Jesus down, down,
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the way down the
mountain toward Jerusalem and right smack dab into the mess that trip will
entail all the way until Easter morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If transfiguration reminds us who Jesus is, then Ash Wednesday is the day on
which we are reminded who <u>we</u> are – human beings, just in case the fact
had slipped our minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
transfiguration reminds us of Jesus’ divine otherness, Ash Wednesdays reminds
us of our human ordinariness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
words, “You are dust and to dust you will return,” is a shocking yet obvious
reminder that our time as creatures on earth is limited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you ask me, I think Ash Wednesday is
designed to shake us up a little, maybe a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it might make us take inventory of the direction in
which our lives are going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
ashes imposed on our foreheads or hands remind us of <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">our mortality and sin, but also give us the assurance of God’s
forgiveness and salvation</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ash Wednesday means time is
running out for everyone, but it’s still not too late to turn our lives around.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we missed transfiguration and Ash Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we still have Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the season of Lent tells us it’s to
get going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get closer to God,
to close the gap or remove the roadblock between the human and divine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which, when you think about it, is a
completely futile endeavor since the stumbling block of being merely human is
one we cannot change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet we
take on the challenge of Lent each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each year, we vow that we will get it together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To repent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
live as if we actually believe what Jesus says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That the good news that the kingdom of God has come near.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, lets be honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most years, Lent doesn’t even leave a mark on us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will be the first to admit that I’ve totally failed at
living up to Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I bet you’d
admit the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, if we give up chocolate or sugar, we might end up a
slightly skinnier version of ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we give up social media, we may end up with slightly more rested,
less bug-eyed version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we give
up coffee, we’ll sleep a bit better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we participate in a Lenten study, we may adopt a more holy outlook
for a few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have one friend
who gives us swearing every year and she’s certainly much nicer to be around
during Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all of those are
good Lenten practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of them
can be useful and faithful ways to observe the 40 days stretching ahead of us
until Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are certainly
more challenging than limiting our Lenten practice to hitting a different fish
fry every Friday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that there’s anything wrong with that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But will our observance of Lent change us in a way that
lasts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we come through this
wilderness time not merely improved, but changed in a real way?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will anyone notice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will Lent leave a mark on us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it matter if it doesn’t?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe some brief historical perspective would help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of our biblical evidence suggests that the earliest
Christians were, to put it mildly, somewhat odd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first Christians stuck out like sore thumbs against the
backdrop of the Roman Empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
just couldn’t help it. They were zealots, certain that Jesus would return any
day, and troubling the authorities so much with their strange ways of speaking
and living that they often got themselves eaten by lions or executed in other
horrible ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the first Christians figured out that Christ wasn’t
coming back anytime soon, they put a wooden cross on the wall and settled back
into their comfortable routines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the world didn’t end as Jesus said it would, his followers stopped
expecting so much from God or themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So they lost their enthusiasm, their zeal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little by little, Christians began to
get comfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They began to
stop standing out so much in a crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They blended in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did
not make a fuss about injustice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They did not love boldly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They did not get arrested or eaten by wild animals for standing up on
behalf of poor orphans or widows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Christians became, in fact, model citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They decided to be nice rather than holy. Somewhere along
the line, Christians forgot that the soul of Christ’s ministry is risk and
vulnerability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They began to value
the safety of large buildings and state approval.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, someone suggested it was time to bring the
church back to its senses and the Bible offered some clues to how it could do
that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The people of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness
learning what it meant to trust YHWH.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elijah spent 40 days there until he heard that small still
voice of God on the same mountain where Moses spent 40 days listening to God’s
giving of the law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, there were the gospel stories about Jesus and the
40 days he spent fasting and praying and being tested in the wilderness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the early church engaged in the season of Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>40 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To remind Christians what it is to open our eyes and see
what remains when all the comforts are gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To venture out into the wilderness like the people of God
had been doing for centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
remember what it is to live by the grace of God alone and not what we can do
for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, even
Jesus had to have that time of testing and tribulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lent became a practice for Christians
to remember who they are and what their lives are to look like.(1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure even Jesus knew what his life was to be about
before he encounters John on the banks of the Jordon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems Jesus discovered more about himself as time went
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walking town to town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eating with tax collectors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Healing lepers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eating grain on the Sabbath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the wrong fork and knocking over
accepted ways of being. Worrying more about being holy and obedient to God, not
so worried about being nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
fitting into the religious establishment of Jerusalem but opening people up to
what God is doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it all begins in the wilderness for Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is out there in the middle of
nowhere and, what’s more, it is the Spirit of God who put him there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the thing about wilderness is that all the markers you
usually depend upon to tell you where you are and who you are have
vanished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilderness is disorienting beyond
description.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus was led out into the wilderness to find out what it
meant to be Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what
happened in those 40 days freed him from every thing that would attempt to
distract him from his true purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And he learned to trust the Spirit that drove him out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the sin that dwells within all of us is not so much
the propensity to do what is bad or harmful, but a mistrust of God’s promises
to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voices we hear every
day tell us we cannot or shouldn’t trust God – you may go hungry, you do not
have enough, you are not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of us are naturally insecure in so many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But even Jesus’ trust in God was something he had to
learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our impulse may be to say,
wasn’t it enough that Jesus was Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wasn’t it enough for him to hear, “You are my beloved Son?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wasn’t it enough for him to be
baptized?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus had to do the work of Lent just as we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out there in wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The long days of prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The long days of hunger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of feeling lonely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of not knowing when it would end or how
it would end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus had to learn
what life feels like with no pacifier, no anesthesia, no comfort but God
alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had to learn to trust
where God was going to lead him, just like we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he had to learn to discern between the voice of God and
every other voice that would show him a short cut, an easy way out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are in a wilderness place, brothers and sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard the anxiety in your
voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen the fractures in
relationships between people in this congregation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of you want to go in one direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of you want to go in another
direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others just want to sit
where you are and not move because every path out looks much too
dangerous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just as it
was for the Israelites, out in the wilderness it’s easy to begin blaming one
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy to blame people
who aren’t here anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy
to blame the people who never showed up to begin with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you blame your pastor or the
session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you blame
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe you blame
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you are just sick of
the wilderness and just want to go back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or maybe the Spirit drove us out here for a purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we need to learn something
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we need to endure the
temptation that tells us to save ourselves by any means necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we need to trust ourselves less,
and depend upon God’s provision once and for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if we hate everything the angels have to offer us in
their bag of tricks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if we’d
rather be eaten by a wild beast lion than spend one more minute out here in
this dust-filled nightmare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was in South Sudan, you want to know the one thing
that frightened me more than anything else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t the dust or the prospect of disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t the rats in our rooms or the
guys with machine guns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t
dangerous roads or the land mines hidden on the side of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What frightened me most is that I would
come home and be mean to you, saints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That I would come home and say terrible, thoughtless things like, “Why are
you complaining – you with a roof over your head and clean water and reliable
electricity and a place to worship on Sunday even if it is running out of money
and people?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who are you with your
first world problems when the majority of the world can even begin to conceive
of how good you have it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I might have said that if hadn’t learned something much more
important while in that difficult and troubled place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I learned instead was that – every wilderness is
different, but what we share with every human being on this earth is that
sooner or later, we will end up in that disorienting place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it leaves a mark that cannot be
rubbed off or hidden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
wilderness is different from the wilderness of our South Sudanese brothers and
sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what we share is the
deep need to know where we are and where we are going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guilt isn’t the point. Anger isn’t the
point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Repentence isn’t about
feeling bad about what we’ve done, or feeling bad about what we have, but about
turning around and submitting to what God wants us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What was so remarkable about the people I met in South Sudan
is that they knew very well they were in the wilderness and spent more time
trying to discern the voice of God than finding someone to blame for their
predicament, although I could come up with a very long list of villains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the fact that they had
every reason to give up hope, or plot vengeance against their enemies, our
partners in South Sudan realized that their time in the wilderness is a gift in
the sense of bringing them closer to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus comes out of the wilderness and the first thing he
hears is that John has been arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Knowing who he is, knowing the power he commands, Jesus could take on
the Roman government and establish God’s kingdom by force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus could rescue John and avenge his
suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jesus doesn’t
emerge from the wilderness as a zealot ready to smite the human race on behalf
of an angry God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
God’s kingdom comes through the One who goes to the cross so that history’s
endless parade of victims can come to an end, and who resurrection will end the
reign of death and violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lent begins for us, as it does for Jesus – by first knowing
who we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we are, as Paul
tells us, a new creation in Christ through our baptism. We are a new
creation, co-crucified, co-buried, and co-resurrected with Christ, afflicted,
then exalted. Marked for life as God’s beloved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Created out of dust by a love so deep, so broad, so high
that it will sustain even in the wilderness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a few minutes we will sing a hymn, “O Love So Deep So
Broad So High” with lyrics written by a 15<sup>th</sup> century priest named
Thomas a Kempis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kempis also wrote
“The Imitation of Christ,” which contains this quote that I find incredibly
encouraging : “The Lord bestows his blessings there, where he finds the vessels
empty.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />O love so deep, so broad, so high</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how beyond all thought and fantasy,<br />that God, the Son of God, should take<br />our mortal form for mortals’ sake!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For us baptized, for us he bore<br />his holy fast and hungered sore;<br />for us temptation sharp he knew,<br />for us the tempter overthrew.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For us he prayed; for us he taught;<br />for us his daily works he wrought:<br />by words and signs and actions thus<br />still seeking not himself, but us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For us to evil power betrayed,<br />scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed,<br />he bore the shameful cross and death;<br />for us gave up his dying breath.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For us he rose from death again;<br />for us he went on high to reign;<br />for us he sent his Spirit here<br />to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All glory to our Lord and God<br />for love so deep, so high, so broad —<br />the Trinity, whom we adore<br />forever and forevermore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have to sit with the silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The loneliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The hunger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The panic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is awful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are empty vessels, worn out with
worry. But that emptiness is not a sign that we are doing something wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is that God shaped space in us that
only God can fill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing else on
earth will do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even this church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we allow the wilderness to have its
way with us, we will fall out of love with everything that separates us from
God, anything that isn’t God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But God is with us in wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God provides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With angels that look an awful lot like the ordinary saints of our
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this table and this
holy meal to sustain us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has
always cared for God’s people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The historical review of Lent is adapted from Barbara Brown Taylor's sermon, "Lenten Discipline," in <i>Home By Another Way.</i></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-34497083483943574492015-02-17T12:13:00.001-05:002015-02-17T12:13:29.635-05:00The Lenten Season Begins Tonight<h3>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOZBzE1CKNs/UxYfFY5Bt2I/AAAAAAAAAvA/UjT7C3hV_JA/s1600/pancake-tuesday-mardi-gras_1392910660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kOZBzE1CKNs/UxYfFY5Bt2I/AAAAAAAAAvA/UjT7C3hV_JA/s1600/pancake-tuesday-mardi-gras_1392910660.jpg" height="270" width="320" /></a></div>
Fat (Shrove) Tuesday</h3>
Tonight, we'll be enjoying pancakes and bacon here at Emsworth U.P. Church with our friends from Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon. Stop by at 6 p.m. and enjoy the fun as we celebrate the last night before Lent begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--8bztjtGTlo/UxYfFHGFZmI/AAAAAAAAAvE/74Z8IPQyM1g/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--8bztjtGTlo/UxYfFHGFZmI/AAAAAAAAAvE/74Z8IPQyM1g/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<h3>
Ash Wednesday</h3>
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<div>
Tomorrow, we will gather for an Ash Wednesday Service including imposition of ashes and the Lord's Supper at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-86802115572066848402015-02-15T09:49:00.001-05:002015-02-15T12:35:26.729-05:00Transfiguration Sunday -- February 15, 2015<h2>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stumbling Around in the
Light</span></h2>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ns3RTA_PmCU/VOCuyUtnL8I/AAAAAAAABSk/JbdJp7-EcYA/s1600/shutterstock-112858771lo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ns3RTA_PmCU/VOCuyUtnL8I/AAAAAAAABSk/JbdJp7-EcYA/s1600/shutterstock-112858771lo.jpg" height="303" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>See the complete order of worship below, including hymns and prayers:</b></span></h3>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.9pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mark
9:2-9<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six days later, Jesus took
with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by
themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became
dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared
to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus,
“Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were
terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a
voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked
around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>As they were coming
down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen,
until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to
themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
Corinthians 4:1-12<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Therefore, since it is by
God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have
renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or
to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend
ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the
god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from
seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and
ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let
light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>But we have this treasure
in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power
belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death
of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For
while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that
the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work
in us, but life in you.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Let us begin with prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy and gracious God, we do seek your light, your glory,
your Word for us revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and the power of your
Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speak to us this day,
we pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somewhere along the line, we were told a big, fat lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somewhere along the line we were led to believe that when
life feels steady, secure, predictable and comfortable, God is close to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or maybe we weren’t taught that exactly,
but we somehow picked up the notion that God is most present when life is going
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s not true. The
reason I know this it isn’t true is because the Bible tells an entirely
different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In Scripture, t</span>he entrance of
God into human experience is almost always accompanied by disruption, and not
always of the most comforting kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like today’s story from
Mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is any scene in the
Bible that defies easy interpretation, and disrupts the world of those who
witness it, it is the transfiguration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus takes three of his disciples up a mountain with him and right
before their eyes, Jesus is radically changed. Jesus’ clothes become dazzling
white in a way that even Mark has trouble describing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are white “like no one on earth could make them,” lit
up with a shimmering glow that is beyond the ability of our minds to
comprehend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then something
even more mind-blowing happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah -- the heart and soul of Israel’s
history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are Moses and Elijah
the representatives of the law and the prophets, they also share the
distinction of having been dead for many centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet there they are, alive again and talking with Jesus who
is lit up like a firecracker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scene is crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dream that makes no sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For centuries, preachers and teachers
and all manner of holy people have tried to make meaning of the
transfiguration, to make it more orderly and, well, preach-able.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is understandable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, that’s what Peter tries to
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tries to make meaning out
of what he’s seeing by placing it into a theological framework that he knows
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Peter sees Moses and
Elijah talking with Jesus, he thinks “this must be it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This must be the “Day of the Lord,”
when God draws history to its climax and defeats Israel’s enemies – a day which
is associated with the Feast of Booths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Peter takes this incomprehensible scene on top of that mountain and does
his best to fit it into a framework he already knows so be can make sense of what he sees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without
the framework, what he sees makes no sense. That’s why Peter offers to build
the dwellings or booths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
an odd or misplaced impulse at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s the wrong
impulse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter is interrupted by
God’s voice – “This is my Son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
beloved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to him!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter almost misses what God wants him
to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter wants to fit what is
happening into a plan of his own, a framework he can understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God, however, seem to wants Peter and the others to simply experience
the wonder and mystery of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We do the same thing as
Peter – all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something
happens that is disturbing, confusing or frightening for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We try to fit a disruption in our lives
into a “divine plan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or come up
with a new plan of our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
wonder if we sometimes we just need to sit down, shut up and experience the
mystery and wonder and work of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which is filled with all the meaning in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it is meaning that is sometimes
beyond us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is as frustrating for us as it must have been for Peter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the deep privileges
for me during my trip to South Sudan was the opportunity to meet with the PCUSA
missionaries serving in that part of Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the civil war broke out in late 2013, the missionaries, all of who were scattered throughout the country, had to be evacuated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some went to Uganda or Ethiopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, as the situation stabilized, they all moved to Juba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are now waiting for their return to the field.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stories they told our Pittsburgh
group when we gathered with them around a dinner table were, to put it mildly,
quite harrowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of them were
based in Malakal, the capital of the Upper Nile state in South Sudan, which
endured horrific violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schools
and churches were burned to the ground, along with most of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patients in the city’s one small
hospital were executed in their beds by soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is literally nothing left of the once bustling town of
150,000 people except for 8,000 civilians still crammed into a UN camp outside
the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The PCUSA missionaries in Malakal held out as long as they could, but as the violence grew, they were
evacuated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the missionaries talked about lying in her bed, hearing nearby
gunfire, and debating whether or not she would be safer in her bed with bullets flying outside her window, or under her bed where she’d most certainly
have to deal with rats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our missionaries in South
Sudan are extraordinary, awesome people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of them have faced situations that are difficult for us to
imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, I have to also say,
that they are, without a doubt, the most faithful people I have ever met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which makes no sense to me. They
have seen the worst of what human beings can do to each other and yet, they
continue to persevere with crazy, seemingly misplaced hope that God is present
and active and creating something new and maybe even beautiful in South
Sudan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t try to make
meaning of what they have seen, and they call it part of some
divine plan. They may be the most foolish people I’ve ever met, but they are
fools of the very best kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are fools for Christ, or, as I like to put it, goofballs for the gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are the kind of people who can
endure the most extreme and violent disruptions in their ministry and lives,
and still somehow manage to point to the glory of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know how they do
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, I think they have
something to teach those of us whose tolerance for disruption and dislocation
is pretty low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our text from 2
Corinthians, Paul is also facing extreme challenges in his ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is preaching his heart out but
seeing very little success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, he is, as he says, “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed,
but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be made visible...” Paul knows that anything good that might
come out of his work has nothing to do with him, but everything to do with
God’s mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul is entirely
realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul knows how the
world works, all too well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
understands that some people are going to “get” what he preaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For others, the Word of God will bounce
off them like Teflon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s Word
doesn’t depend upon Paul’s skill as a preacher or church planter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything depends upon the glory of
God, not the glory of Paul’s plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All Paul can do is continue to create a space for those to whom he
preaches to discover the living Christ for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God’s glory shines
everywhere, and yet we in the church continue to stumble around, even in the
dazzling light of all that glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And part of our problem, I believe, is that as much as we desire to
encounter the living God, we are also scared to death of what that means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are frightened out of our wits that
being in the presence of God means we will have to be changed or transformed or
stretched in some deeply uncomfortable and unfamiliar way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when God comes near to us – even in
an event not as nearly as dramatic as the transfiguration, or the civil war in
South Sudan or the conversion of Saul to Paul – we try to cram that disruptive
experience into a plan that we can manage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or a plan we think we can manage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christian Church has been doing just that for nearly
2,000 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve tried to stuff
the glory of God into a manageable box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not that the church is a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just not the whole story of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And perhaps the most
frightening prospect of all is this – maybe there is no “plan,” divine or
otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there’s only
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe our job in the church
isn’t to help people fit their disruptive experiences of live into a “divine
plan,” but simply to create a space for people to experience the wonder and
mystery of God’s divine love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe the task of the church is not to help people believe correctly or
behave correctly, but simply to help people remove whatever veil that is
blocking their view of Jesus, and help them fall more completely in love with
him so they can follow him wherever it is he calls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The transfiguration isn’t a story about <i>our</i>
going <i>up </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">to somehow be more
like Jesus</span>, it's a story about <i>Jesus</i> coming <i>down</i>, all the
way down into our brokenness, fear, disappointment, and loss to be with us.
And, of course, Jesus goes even further than that. We will soon watch Jesus
travel to the cross, embracing all that is hard, difficult, and even despicable
in life in order to transform death itself so we might live in hope knowing
that wherever we may go, however badly we stumble, Jesus has already been
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can look at our
brokenness through the lens of hope and redemption, taking a God’s eye view
just as the disciples witnessed on the mountaintop.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Transfiguration does not change what is going
to happen in Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it
certainly doesn’t change the way the disciples are going to react to Jesus’
arrest and crucifixion and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, when all is said and done, Jesus never really is going to give
them a detailed plan for how to build a church when he is gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find that comforting because we too
enter into moments that we believe are moments of transformation, thinking we
finally have a plan, only to find ourselves no further along in our journey of
faith than we were when we began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we enter into the story with same
imperfect understanding as Peter, James and John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up on the mountaintop, the door between this world and the
next has cracked open for a moment, and the light reveals the glory of the Son
and the love of the Father for Jesus and for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light also reveals who we are…a bunch of tired, dusty pilgrims
with blisters on our feet from the long climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not a light that will keep us always from
stumbling when things get messy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it is a light that will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beloved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s listen to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks be to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The order of worship for today would have been:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>EMSWORTH UNITED
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>February 15, 2015<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>11:00 A.M<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>Transfiguration Sunday<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b>The Rev. Susan Maxwell
Rothenberg, Supply Pastor</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-weight: normal;">Meditation<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-weight: normal;">“On
Transfiguration Sunday, this epistle text and the Gospel reading from Mark 9,
in drawing upon the motif of Moses’ shining face, together point us toward the
glory of God as revealed in Christ. These images remind us that it is the glory
of God and not that of his disciples (then or now) that makes possible the
proclamation of the Gospel, a proclamation that is not guaranteed to convince
all who hear it in spite of the clear glory of Christ that is attached to it.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-weight: normal;">Craig Vondergeest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Preacher.org. </i>https://www.goodpreacher.com/backissuesread.php?file=13406<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">PRELUDE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">CALL TO WORSHIP<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L: The world is changing
rapidly before us;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: God’s love endures
forever.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L: Our ways of
understanding have been challenged and stretched;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: God’s love endures
forever.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L: What we once knew has
passed away, and we do not know what lies before us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: God’s love endures
forever.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L: May we move forward as
the body of Christ, assured of God’s presence;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: May we embrace the
future with hope. May we know God’s love endures forever. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*HYMN OF PRAISE <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>156<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Sing
of God Made Manifest<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></i></b>
<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><lyrics>Sing of God made manifest</lyrics></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><lyrics>in a child robust and blest,<br />to whose home in Bethlehem<br />where a star had guided them,<br />magi came and gifts unbound,<br />signs mysterious and profound:<br />myrrh and frankincense and gold<br />grave and God and King foretold.<br /><br />Sing of God made manifest<br />when at Jordan John confessed,<br />"I should be baptized by you,<br />but your bidding I will do."<br />Then from heaven a double sign--<br />dove-like Spirit, voice divine--<br />hailed the true Anointed One:<br />"This is my beloved Son."<br /><br />Sing of God made manifest<br />when Christ came as wedding guest<br />and at Cana gave a sign,<br />turning water into wine;<br />further still was love revealed<br />as he taught, forgave, and healed,<br />bringing light and life to all<br />who would listen to God's call.<br /><br />Sing of God made manifest<br />on the cloud-capped mountain's crest,<br />where both voice and vision waned<br />until Christ alone remained:<br />glimpse of glory, pledge of grace,<br />given as Jesus set his face<br />towards the waiting cross and grave,</lyrics></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b style="background-color: white;"><lyrics>sign of hope that God would save.</lyrics></b></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">* PRAYER OF CONFESSION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We all have so many
idols and false gods, which draw us away from you, God of our lives. The
seductions around us cry out so loudly, we are not able to hear you calling to
us. Your forgiveness is a mystery wrapped in your love and revealed to us
in this and every moment. Open our hearts so we may listen to you
whispering our name, even as we would follow Jesus Christ, your Beloved, into
our world.</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*ASSURANCE OF PARDON<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: Whether we hear a voice from the heavens or a
still</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">small
voice in our hearts,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">listen carefully for the love of God. Believe
and accept God’s love and live in God’s freedom.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: Thanks be to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*CHORAL RESPONSE <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>132<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Good Christian friends rejoice with
heart and soul and voice<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Now ye need not fear the grave; Jesus
Christ was born to save<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Calls you one and calls you all to
gain the ever lasting hall.<br />
Christ was born to save!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ
was born to save!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*PASSING OF THE PEACE <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When we were strangers, Christ welcomed us. Let us
share the peace of Christ with one another.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The peace of Christ be with you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
also with you!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD OF GOD<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">GOSPEL READING<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mark
9:2-9<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">MINISTRY OF MUSIC<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">EPISTLE READING<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>2
Corinthians 4:1-12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">SERMON<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rev.
Rothenberg<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stumbling Around in the Light</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Cambria;">RESPONSE
TO THE WORD OF GOD<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--
from the PCUSA Brief Statement of Faith (1991) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release
to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing
the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving
sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel. Unjustly condemned
for blasphemy and sedition, Jesus was crucified, suffering the depths of human
pain and giving his life for the sins of the world. God raised this Jesus from
the dead, vindicating his sinless life, breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal. With believers in every time and
place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*HYMN OF RESPONSE<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>189<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">O
Wondrous Sight, O Vision Fair<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></i></b>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></i></b>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />O wondrous sign, o vision fair,<br />
of glory that the church shall share,<br />which Christ upon the mountain shows,<br />where brighter than the sun he glows!<br />
<br />
From age to age the tale declare,<br />how with the three disciples there,<br />where Moses and Elijah meet,<br /> the Lord holds converse high and sweet.<br />
<br />The law and prophets there have place,<br />two chosen witnesses of grace;<br />the Father's voice from out the cloud<br />proclaims his only Son aloud.<br />
<br />With shining face and bright array<br />Christ deigns to manifest today<br />what glory shall be theirs above<br />who joy in God with perfect love.<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And faithful hearts are raised on high</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by this great vision's mystery,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for which in joyful strains we raise</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the voice of prayer, the hymn of praise.</span><br />
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">PASTORAL PRAYER/LORD’S PRAYER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: We are your house, O Lord, and the people of
your promise;</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in
your saving glory.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: God of Glory, the God of this city:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">as
you once revealed yourself to Moses face to face,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">so you have shown
yourself to the world in the glory of your Son.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Help us by your Spirit
to know him by faith, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">to love him with all our heart,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">and
to serve him with all of our being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in
your saving glory.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: God of Glory, the God of this city:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">your
disciples once saw Moses and Elijah point to Jesus</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">as
the fulfillment of the covenant of Sinai and all the prophets’ words.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Reveal
yourself now to us in your Scriptures</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">that we may behold him whose
suffering and death </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">give life to the whole world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in
your saving glory.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: God of Glory, the God of this city:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">you
once came to a world lonely and afraid</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">and showed to us the face of
love and hope.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Use us to reflect your glory and grace in our world</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">and
so represent you here to those who are alone,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">those troubled by fears
and sins,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">and
those whose hearts are grieved by their own faulty decisions</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">or
the harm of others.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in
your saving glory.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: God of Glory, the God of this city:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">your
Son came to reveal your kingdom</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">through words and works of
mercy. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Give to the sick your healing and to the suffering
your hope. May your saving will and the glory of your steadfast love</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">support
all who call upon you in the day of trouble.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in
your saving glory.</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">L: God of Glory, the God of this city:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">you
once spoke through a cloud to your disciples of old</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">that
they might see Jesus by faith even when earthly eyes cannot see.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Grant
to us this bold and courageous faith </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">that we may see Jesus,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">trust
in him for our salvation,</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">and be ready to receive him when he comes again in
clouds of glory.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">We are your house, O Lord, and the people of your
promise;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">P: Help us to hold fast our confidence in your
saving glory. </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">L:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now we pray boldly the prayer that
Jesus taught us, saying…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">A:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
Father, who art in heaven…</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">OFFERING AND OFFERTORY<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*DOXOLOGY <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>606<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">L: Let us give thanks, for
God is good and God’s love is everlasting!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">P: Thanks be to God – whose love creates us.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks be to God – whose mercy redeems us.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks be to God – whose
grace leads us into the future.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*CLOSING HYMN<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>666<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">O
Splendor of God’s Glory Bright<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*BENEDICTION <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*CHORAL RESPONSE<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Threefold Amen</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>601<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*POSTLUDE<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">++++++<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*Please stand in body or spirit.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3092425327265226884.post-75421052613941492312015-02-15T08:56:00.004-05:002015-02-15T08:56:57.354-05:00Worship and Congregational Meeting Cancelled -- February 15, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X0M22jhUt_o/VOCknanArpI/AAAAAAAABSE/q1SjcQigUXc/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X0M22jhUt_o/VOCknanArpI/AAAAAAAABSE/q1SjcQigUXc/s1600/images-1.jpeg" height="435" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worship is cancelled for today, Sunday February 15, due to the extreme cold and poor road conditions. Please stay warm and safe!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do not forget these special events happening this week as we move into the season of Lent:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. -- Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper at Emsworth U.P. Church!</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. (with supper at 6:00 p.m.) -- Ash Wednesday service at Community Presbytery Church of Ben Avon. Join us for a quiet service of reflection, scripture, communion and imposition of ashes. </span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0