tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12996860546965585792024-03-26T23:35:59.242-07:00Storied FaithThe most recent posts on this blog also appear on the following blog site: https://jabbokinthefoothills.blog Posts on this site (Storied Faith) dated prior to October 29, 2018 are on this site alone. Allen Huff (10/21/20)
Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.comBlogger397125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-4890726775166213102024-03-24T11:48:00.000-07:002024-03-24T11:48:56.047-07:00God's Will, Not Ours (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“God’s Will, Not Ours”</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Matthew 26:36-43<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Palm Sunday<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">3/24/24<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>36</sup></i></b><i>Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>37</sup></i></b><i>He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated.</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup>38</sup></i></b><i>Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>39</sup></i></b><i>And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>40</sup></i></b><i>Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup>41</sup></i></b><i>Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><span class="text"><i>the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>42</sup></i></b><i>Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup>43</sup></i></b><i>Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.</i> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">It’s the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. Judas knows that.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">It’s the night before Jesus’ trial, and after doing business with Judas, the religious leaders know that.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">It’s also the night before Jesus’ crucifixion and death, and while Jesus seems aware of that, he also feels like it’s worth asking for a stay of execution.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Maybe there’s another way for humankind to recognize that their bloodlust—be it for power, land, or revenge—is not only antithetical to God’s will and Jesus’ teaching, it’s also, ultimately, futile. Violence breeds more violence, and more violence breeds more and more violence. And on and on it goes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">That cycle has always been in play in human history. And if there is, in fact, any hope of breaking the <i>us-against-them</i> cycle, that hope lies in practicing, even against all odds, the kind of love Jesus has embodied—a love in which the ego, who does so love to be right and dominant, is named, and tamed, and its energy channeled toward healing and community-building action. For relatively recent examples of that kind of disarming love, think Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Fully convinced that such love is the way forward, and fully committed to it, Jesus enters the quiet and deserted Garden of Gethsemane. Leaving his most trusted disciples to keep watch, he slips off to pray.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>God, </i>he says, <i>if there’s another way to reveal the impotence of the people’s violence, can we please try it? That’s what <b>I</b> want, of course, but I’ll do whatever <b>you</b> ask.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> When Jesus breaks from his grief-wrought prayers, he finds Peter, James, and John sleeping as soundly as the Roman guards who will crumble into unconsciousness at the sight of the angel who will, soon enough, roll away the stone from Jesus’ tomb.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Scolding his disciples into wakefulness, Jesus charges them, again, to keep watch while he prays. And yet, once again, Jesus finds that his hand-picked followers have fallen asleep.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Back in Matthew 8, it’s Jesus who falls asleep in the midst of a high-stakes moment. He and the disciples are in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm threatens the boat and everyone in it. And Jesus lies asleep in the back. Terrified and angry, the disciples provoke Jesus from his sleep, screaming, <i>Don’t you care that we’re dying</i>!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">You hear the irony here, don’t you?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In both cases, Jesus sees into and beyond the things that apparently <i>are</i> to things that <i>can be</i>, things the disciples do not and, at the moment, cannot see. On the lake, Jesus sees through the storm to a breaking horizon, one of calm and well-being. In the garden, he sees through the apparent stillness of night to a storm gathering on the horizon, a storm that will make the next day unimaginable and unforgettable, a day that will begin to make sense only in light of Sunday.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Whatever lies immediately before him, Jesus, seeing through the eyes of redeeming love and transforming grace, perceives hope and new beginnings. He sees God transforming even annihilating violence into revelations of grace.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">To be sure, individuals, groups, nations, animals, and ecosystems often experience annihilation. And those painful losses are hard to endure and even harder to explain. The Creation God loves does suffer. <i>Nonetheless,</i> says God,<i>suffering will not have the last word</i>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">While trying to impose its own will, humankind deliberately unleashes the demons of violence and destruction. And yet, to those with eyes to see and ears to hear, God is always revealing brutality as the fruit of a will consumed by ego. When confusing that will with God’s will, we always end up giving up on faith, hope, and love. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The transformation God has put into play for the Creation is not sustained by violence. No battlefield victory, no humiliation of political or religious rivals, no accumulation of power or wealth has even a chance of revealing the depth and breadth of the realm of God. That revelation always happens through things like <i>poverty of spirit, hunger and thirst for righteousness, meekness, mercy, and peacemaking grace</i>. And those are fruits of Resurrection.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The <i>Hosannas</i> of Palm Sunday mean <i>Save us now.</i> And as a prayer of willful dependence on the swords, spears, and nails of Friday, it stands in stark contrast to Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer of <i>thy will be done</i>. Jesus says it over and over, but we keep choosing to learn it the hard way:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">God does not save through weapons and domination.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">God saves by calling and empowering us to participate in God’s love for all things.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">God saves and redeems by <i>willing</i> us to live in this world, today, as signs of God’s realm of welcome, service, care, and reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-68807121091073124092024-03-17T10:48:00.000-07:002024-03-17T10:48:33.468-07:00An Encounter at the Temple (Story Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“An Encounter at the Temple”</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 69:9-13 John 2:13-22<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">3/17/24<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">9</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>10</sup></b>When I humbled my soul with fasting,<sup>[</sup></span></span></i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+69%3A9-13%2C+18+++&version=NRSVUE#fen-NRSVUE-14946a" style="color: #954f72;" title="See footnote a"><i><sup><span style="color: #517e90; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">a</span></sup></i></a><span class="text"><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">]</span></sup></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they insulted me for doing so.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>11</sup></b>When I made sackcloth my clothing,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I became a byword to them.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>12</sup></b>I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the drunkards make songs about me.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But as for me, my prayer is to you, O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">At an acceptable time, O God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> me.</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">14</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">15</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">16</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">17</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">18</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">19</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">20</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">21</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But he was speaking of the temple of his body.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">22</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">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.</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> My father and I approached Jerusalem late in the afternoon four days before Passover. Because I had just turned thirteen, it was the first time my father had taken me to the temple for the great feast, and I was terribly excited. We were about to enter Jerusalem—the City of David. For generations, psalmists had sung of her. Prophets had visited her and spoken to her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Before we made the descent into the Hinnom Valley and climbed the steep embankment to the gate nearest Herod’s palace, we stopped for a while on the crest of the hill, and just looked at Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> From our vantage point, the light of the setting sun, made the dusty haze hovering over the city glisten like gold—like a halo, or a crown. As the haze began to settle, it reminded me of a veil covering the face of a bride. The veils I had seen never covered a girl’s eyes. So, they concealed neither excitement nor fear. But what could Jerusalem have to fear? Even if the Romans were in control, hadn’t God promised a deliverer? Hadn’t God assured David that, even if his descendants suffered, a redeemer would arise to free Jerusalem and Israel once and for all?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Occasionally, I asked when this Messiah would come, and my father’s answer was always the same: “In God’s time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Yeah,” I wondered. “But <i>when</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> From our hilltop perch, we also heard the ceaseless drone of evening activity rising over the walls. With ten times more people in that one place than I had seen altogether in thirteen years, Jerusalem seemed bigger than life, and I wanted to get there quickly and stay forever.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> My father seemed to sense my eagerness, and while I think it made him proud, he also seemed wary of my naïveté.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Gypsies,” he said in a low voice, and pointed down toward the valley.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I looked and saw no less than twenty groups of people camped out by the stream. Itinerant merchants, the gypsies were surrounded by skinny cattle, spotted sheep, and hundreds of crates of doves and pigeons.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “They come every year to sell their pitiful animals for sacrifice,” my father said. “Don’t be distracted by them. We’ll buy ours at the temple. They’ll cost more, but they’ll please God more than anything we could buy down there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I nodded in what I hoped would be seen as troubled understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Having traveled for almost three full days from our home in Hebron, we were tired. So, my father began to lead us the final steps into Jerusalem where we would stay with an old family friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Along the road from Hebron, we had met many other pilgrims coming from other towns and villages south of Jerusalem. The closer our expanding traveling party got to the city, the closer we all became. I began to understand that the journey itself was holy. It was a time of joyous remembering, anticipation, and community. For many, the journey was almost as important as Passover itself. In fact, my father refused even to live near Jerusalem because of the importance of the pilgrimage itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In Jerusalem, my father’s friend welcomed us warmly. The next day we did nothing but rest and visit. Then, early the second morning, my father woke me and said that we had to go the temple to buy our animals for the sacrifice. We also had to exchange our Roman denarii into Tyrian drachmas in order to pay the temple tax because the authorities did not accept currency engraved with Caesar’s image.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> As we walked the dusty, canyon-like streets of Jerusalem, a sense of belonging washed over me. I thought of my many ancestors who had lived and worshiped in, or just passed through this place. I remembered stories of faithfulness and treachery, of joys and hardships. I felt that at any moment I might and catch a glimpse of Moses finally resting here, or Jeremiah speaking some painful truth to a lost and disoriented people. Or maybe even of Adonai, disappearing around a corner somewhere. Only the presence of so many Roman soldiers kept my imagination in check.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> As we approached the temple, my steps slowed and shortened involuntarily. I had imagined this moment for the last couple of years, but as I stood there, next to the temple, gazing up and down its long, high walls, I struggled to breathe. <i>God lived here</i>. From deep inside, in the Holy of Holies, God spoke to the priests. Awe-struck as I was, I still wondered—to myself—if even such a magnificent building as this could really hold the One who had created the heavens and the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Just outside the temple gate, a large crowd of people had gathered. Drawn by their animated conversations, we walked toward them. At the center of the crowd stood a man who appeared to be a little younger than my father. We couldn’t hear him well, but he was clearly upset. The crowd was agitated, as well. Some were angry, some perplexed. I craned my neck trying to get a better look over the hedge of men surrounding the man. His hair was short and wiry, his beard thick and stringy. And between the two, his eyes flashed with astonishing intensity, a passion like I’d never seen. As if he knew I were looking at him, he glanced my way, and, for a moment, his eyes caught mine. I seized in my tracks, as if immersed in a cold river. It scared me, but when that man’s eyes met mine, I felt very much as I had felt just a few minutes before when I approached the temple for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We asked someone what was going on. He said that he wasn’t sure, but an odd rumor had been circulating about the man. The story was that he and his friends had just been to a wedding up in Cana. The host had run out of wine in the middle of the celebration. He was about to suffer serious embarrassment when this man bailed him out. At his word, six jugs of water had become wine. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">My father’s eyes turned dark and lifeless, and he gave a snort of both disgust and laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We learned that the man at the center of attention was a Galilean rabbi named Jesus. No one told quite the same story, but there was talk of people calling him things like “Son of Man,” and “Lamb of God.” The only thing we heard for sure was someone saying to Jesus, “Please. Just don’t cause a scene.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">After a while of standing there with all the other spectators, my father turned us back toward the temple. Passover was coming, and we had a lot to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We entered through the main gate, and inside the walls, the temple felt like another world. People milled about in a single mass like a flock inside a holding pen. Jewish leaders wearing splendid robes sat beneath colorful awnings. Other men who looked more like my father and me shopped for sacrificial animals, bargaining for fair prices.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Inside the temple, I began to feel more harried and anxious than excited because I saw more in the way of commerce than holiness. It helped to see that my father had been right about one thing. The animals on sale in the temple were beautiful. Surely, they were more worthy sacrifices than anything the gypsies had to sell. We bought a pair of solid white doves in a small crate, then walked across the courtyard to exchange our currency. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> At one of the money changers’ tables, my father counted out his drachma carefully to be sure that the bankers didn’t cheat him. They had tried once before. And right then, as my father was counting his money, that’s when it happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> A sandaled foot flashed in between my father and the tables. As one table slammed into another, both of them fell, and a shrill chorus rang out when hundreds of coins bounced and rolled across the stone floor and through the legs of dumbfounded onlookers and oblivious beasts. Completely surprised, the money changers stared in disbelief at the one who had interrupted their business with such sudden fury.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It was Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">With those same piercing eyes and that same extravagant passion, Jesus stared at the money changers. And while his gaze did seem to paralyze them for a moment, he didn’t threaten anyone. So, I couldn’t tell whether his was a passion of anger, or love, or both. He was certainly not caught up in some indifferent middle ground. So, I couldn’t tell whether it was his composure or his heart that was breaking.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> This was not how I imagined my first Passover experience would go. Then Jesus turned and looked at me again, and while I wanted to run, I froze, again. When Jesus looked at the crate of doves in my hands, I felt my grip loosen and the box begin to slip.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In his right hand, Jesus gripped five or six leather cords, tied together at one end into a kind of flaccid whip. He raised his arm high into the air and hit the stone floor with the leather cords, but it was his words that cracked like a whip. It was his passion that demanded attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Take this stuff away!” he shouted. “And stop making my father’s house a flea market!” And with that, he began to herd the cattle and sheep out of the temple.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> A group of temple authorities stood their ground and challenged Jesus saying, “What gives you the right to do this?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Dragging the leather cords behind him, Jesus walked up to them, looked them, one by one, in the eye, and said, “Tear this place down, and in three days I’ll have it standing again.” After being momentarily stunned, the men then began to look at one another and to laugh nervously.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,” one of them said. “Longer than you’ve been alive! And you’re going to build it from scratch in three days?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> A snicker began to make its way through the crowd, but Jesus didn’t so much as blink.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Everything having been thrown into question and chaos, my father grabbed the doves from my hands and hurried us out of the temple. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> It would be a long time before I would begin making sense of what I’d seen and heard; but even that day, I knew that Jesus’ heart was breaking. And when it was finally and fully broken, something would happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Something extraordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Something that would take a lifetime to believe. And even longer to understand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-13240105366677103842024-03-10T15:26:00.000-07:002024-03-10T15:26:33.481-07:00God's Beckoning Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">“God’s Beckoning Grace”<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Ezekiel 34:11-17 and Acts 2:42-47<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">3/10/24<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>11</sup></i></b><i>For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will sort them out. <b><sup>12</sup></b>As shepherds sort out their flocks when they are among scattered sheep, so I will sort out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. <b><sup>13</sup></b>I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. <b><sup>14</sup></b>I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. <b><sup>15</sup></b>I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. <b><sup>16</sup></b>I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.</i> <span class="text">(<b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><u><o:p> </o:p></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>42</sup></i></b><i>They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i><sup>43</sup></i></b><i>Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. <b><sup>44</sup></b>All who believed were together and had all things in common; <b><sup>45</sup></b>they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. <b><sup>46</sup></b>Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, <b><sup>47</sup></b>praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.</i> (<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Ezekiel, prophet to the exiles several generations after Isaiah, speaks of God as a shepherd gathering a scattered flock and returning them home.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The image of God as shepherd is hardly new for Israel. Since the days of David, the people had been singing a psalm that began, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Both Psalm 23 and Ezekiel’s prophecy rely on concrete and earthy images. Ezekiel adds emphasis by moving from the nebulous language of “clouds and thick darkness” to describe exile, to the language of “fertile highlands…riverbeds…[and] green pastures” to describe home.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">A couple of things stand out. First, Ezekiel makes an intentional connection between the One who delivers and the land to which the people will return. Ezekiel ties intimately to the earth the people’s restoration, their ongoing well-being, and their fundamental identity. So, how the people relate to and care for the earth mirrors the way they imagine, understand, relate to, and love God and one another.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Second, when the prophet refers to God leading the people to <i>fertile highlands, riverbeds, </i>and<i> pastures</i>, he’s saying that God will act<i> </i>directly <i>on </i>them as a shepherd acts on a flock. And once Israel remembers that she is a sheep gone astray, they can begin to understand that God, like a shepherd, is acting on their behalf.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">This remembrance—synonymous with repentance—kindles a transformative theological evolution. The people re-imagine the physical Creation as a part of the revelatory <i>Incarnation</i> of God. As their faith matures, they begin to see all things as truly holy—including the experience of exile! And the more they deepen in their relationship <i>with</i> God, the less God has to act<i> on</i> them—the less God has to <i>herd</i>them. Within their renewed relationship, they experience God <i>inviting </i>them to a lifelong journey of mutuality.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Defined by grace, God doesn’t force us in a given direction; God beckons us. The language of beckoning implies an awakening within those being beckoned. We awaken to what is good, holy, and true within ourselves and others. We find ourselves noticing and even seeking places of abundance, places where cooperation between humankind and the earth yield not only ample food, clothing, and shelter, but God’s presence and wisdom as well.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The spiritual traditions of many indigenous North Americans speak of “thin places.” Places where distinctions between the physical and the spiritual realms are as sheer as a bridal veil. In these thin places, one can experience holiness as a shimmering, immediate presence. And isn’t that the message of Resurrection? Easter is God’s decisive action <i>on</i> Jesus so that <i>through </i>Jesus the Creation may become a continuously thin place. A place <i>through which</i> God works and <i>in which</i>God may be experienced.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In today’s reading from Acts, Luke says, “God performed “many wonders and signs…through the apostles.” Through Resurrection, God is deepening God’s presence in the world by acting <i>on</i> and <i>through</i> the beloved community, just as God acts on and through Jesus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The apostles in Jerusalem live in a posture of radical openness to God. And they do that by living <i>in community</i>—that is to say, <i>communally</i>. They share meals, pray together, pool their resources, and even sell personal property for the benefit of others. Being so lovingly held, they hold nothing back. And in giving all, they only deepen their trust in and love for God. Through the apostles’ faithfulness, God transforms the community itself into a <i>thin place</i> in which people recognize that they’re not only ones <i>on </i>whom God acts. They also become ones who, through their own faith, hope, and love, help to share and reveal<i> </i>God.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In setting a high bar for discipleship, the apostles demonstrate precisely how we embody the unity that Jesus speaks of when he says, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us…completely one.” (John 17:21 and 23a)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In my opinion, in our culture, the term <i>evangelical </i>has lost its connection with the gospel of Jesus. But the very point of evangelical faith is to live in such a way that disciples demonstrate the love with which we are loved. Unable to create that love, we simply open ourselves to God’s compassionate justice, that is, to God’s sanctifying grief over all that is displaced, discarded, and distraught. And we make room for God to act through us. In this way, disciples discover their authority and strength in acts of humble service rather than through the means of violence and domination.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Remember <i>your</i> life. Recall times when you have been loved without judgment or expectation. Those are examples of thin moments when you can say, <i>I was in the presence of God.</i> Recall, too, those equally thin moments when you loved without judgment or expectation, and you can say, <i>God was present through me.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">It’s usually in the simplest acts that God loves us and loves others through us. To share food, work, and prayer is to live in Christ-centered community. It is to know and to love Jesus. And through such things, the Spirit transforms the inevitable difficulties and failures we face into experiences of God’s veil-thinning power of Resurrection.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Last Tuesday afternoon, I visited with a church member who had returned home after major surgery. We sat in his sun room with its tall windows looking out at his garden where daffodils and crocuses were already blooming and where so much else was just waiting its turn to break through warming soil and greening limbs. As we talked, the man reflected on our congregation and how you have been there for him and his wife, and for their whole family over the years. You could feel the air thinning as he said, “It chokes me up a little. Thinking about the church. The people. God. Always there. It helps me know that, no matter what, everything will be okay.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">I think the goal for every congregation is to continue becoming a <i>thin place</i>, a place where God’s real presence opens us to the holiness and beauty inherent in all that God creates and loves. That’s how we embrace our blessing and become blessings to others—whoever they are. Members of the church. Neighbors in the community. Recipients of ministries we support. People we disagree with and don’t understand. Even the earth itself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">I trust that God is beckoning us to be that kind of community in a culture growing increasingly bitter, divided, and not only tolerant of but worshipful toward violence and its agitators.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Now, a congregation that humbly opens itself and joyfully commits itself to God’s welcoming and inclusive grace will never be the biggest or wealthiest church around. Communities of grace live according to very different definitions of abundance than prosperity gospel churches. Nonetheless, such communities become irreplaceable and irrepressible reminders that God is present and beckoning all of us into God’s realm of expansive grace.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">That realm is a place of “fertile land [and] green pastures.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">A place of “gladness and generous hearts.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">A place of “praise” and “goodwill.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A place where exile has ended and Resurrection is still just beginning.</span> </p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-62506133672398661582024-03-03T09:51:00.000-08:002024-03-03T09:51:33.746-08:00The New-Sightedness of Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>"The New Sightedness of Grace"</i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>John 9:1-41<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>3/3/24<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> John tells three chapter-long stories—each a defining moment in his account of Jesus’ ministry. In chapter 4, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman. In chapter 9, he heals a man born blind. And in chapter 11, he resuscitates Lazarus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">With each remarkable act, the religious leaders dig out more of the grave in which they will bury Jesus. And while he seems aware of the implications of his actions, Jesus <i>cannot not</i> continue his prophetic work. With each sign, he exposes more of the futility of self-serving religion and its suicidal inclination to try to save itself by affiliating with violent political power. Jesus does reveal salvation, but only through the most unexpected and paradoxical turnabout.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">More about that on Easter. For now, let’s recall this revealing moment of grace.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. <b><sup>2 </sup></b>His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>3 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>We must work the works of him who sent me<sup> </sup>while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.<b><sup>5 </sup></b>As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>6 </sup></i></b><i>When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, <b><sup>7 </sup></b>saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>8 </sup></i></b><i>The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>9 </sup></i></b><i>Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” <b><sup>10 </sup></b>But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>11 </sup></i></b><i>He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>12 </sup></i></b><i>They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>13 </sup></i></b><i>They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. <b><sup>14 </sup></b>Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. <b><sup>15 </sup></b>Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>16 </sup></i></b><i>Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. <b><sup>17 </sup></b>So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>He said, “He is a prophet.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>18 </sup></i></b><i>The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight <b><sup>19 </sup></b>and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>20 </sup></i></b><i>His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, <b><sup>21 </sup></b>but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>22 </sup></i></b><i>His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah<sup> </sup>would be put out of the synagogue. <b><sup>23 </sup></b>Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>24 </sup></i></b><i>So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i> <b><sup>25 </sup></b>He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>26 </sup></i></b><i>They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>27 </sup></i></b><i>He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>28 </sup></i></b><i>Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. <b><sup>29 </sup></b>We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>30 </sup></i></b><i>The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. <b><sup>31 </sup></b>We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. <b><sup>33 </sup></b>If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>34 </sup></i></b><i>They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>35 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>36 </sup></i></b><i>He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>37 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”<b><sup>38 </sup></b>He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>39 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>40 </sup></i></b><i>Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup>41 </sup></i></b><i>Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”</i> (<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Born blind, the man has felt the warmth of the sun on his skin, but he’s never seen by its light. He’s tasted the earthy goodness of bread, but he’s never watched a field of grain dancing in the wind. He has smelled the flowers of spring, but he’s never even imagined the variety of color.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In Jerusalem, Jesus’ followers see this man and ask a question they consider both rational and justified: <i>Whose sin caused this man’s blindness?</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>That’s not how God works,</i> says Jesus. Then he says something that I find just as troubling as the idea of a retributive disability. Jesus suggests that the man’s blindness occurred “so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him.” It’s the kind of answer that invites the fatalistic declaration that “everything happens for a reason.” Now, take this with as big a grain of salt as you like, but personally, I consider that a heresy. The “everything happens for a reason” mentality allows one to claim not only excess and ease but domination over others and over the earth as rewards from God. It permits us to create communities of exclusion and to distance ourselves from suffering. <i>I’m sorry,</i> we can say, <i>since everything happens for a reason, you obviously deserve your blindness, illness, poverty, grief, oppression</i>…or whatever else. And while some who practice such callous indifference can label themselves <i>Christian</i>, it’s much harder to be a disciple of Jesus and dismiss the suffering of people, animals, land, air, and water. The various aspects of God’s self-revealing Creation are too intimately connected for dismissal of suffering to be an option for people of faith.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering are real and constant burdens for all Creation. And since suffering seems inconsistent with the presence of a loving God, human beings often look backward, trying to connect suffering to past sins.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>The Message</i> version of this story becomes helpful. In that paraphrase, Jesus answers his disciples-in-training saying: <span style="background: white;">“You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines.”</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">I hear Jesus saying, <i>No one purposed this man’s blindness. God is the ultimate opportunist who enters our emptiness and anguish to demonstrate grace and to create new life.</i></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Let’s look backward in a different way. In Genesis 1 we read, “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep…” (Genesis 1:1-3) And in Genesis 2, after organizing the chaos, God uses soil and God’s own breath to form a living, human being. And when the Creator creates life, all the elements—light, water, earth, and air—share a purpose. They proclaim God’s loving providence and sustain what God has created in love and called “good.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Love is one of our faith tradition’s metaphors for God and for what we trust is the <i>Creator’s</i> essence—namely, an eternal yearning and pursuit at the heart of the universe. A yearning for union with the Creation, and the pursuit of wholeness for all things.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">So, when faced with the chaos of the blind man’s anguish, and the cold curiosity of those who would to cast blame for the man’s suffering, Jesus follows the Creator’s creative lead. He reaches down and gathers some earth. He adds his own spittle and breath to make a paste with it. And after smearing the paste on the deep sea of the man’s blindness, he tells him to go wash it off. These details recall the darkness covering the deep in the creation story, the mixing of mud to make bricks for Pharaoh, the passing through the waters of the Red Sea, the blind wandering of exile, and then deliverance into the light of the Promised Land.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Jesus opens eyes born blind, and law-bound religion sees only that Jesus healed on the sabbath. In the darkly comical banter that follows, we’re reminded of Nicodemus asking Jesus, “How are these things possible?”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>You can’t see what’s going on</i>, says Jesus, <i>because your legalism has rendered you blind to God’s grace.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Now, miracle stories are always about more than the miracles themselves. So, what else is there for us to <i>see</i> in this story?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In John 9, we meet a man who, from birth, was burdened with a blindness that excluded him from wholeness, that is to say, from relationship and community. Neither he nor his parents did anything “wrong.” He was not being punished for anything. He was, by grace, simply being restored to community. And when even one person experiences restoration, the whole community is invited into the healing. And isn’t that a kind of microcosm of Jesus’ own story?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">From birth, Jesus is burdened with unassailable grace, with Creation-embracing compassion, and an unquenchable thirst for justice. And yet, as Love Incarnate, he faces, through no fault of his own, relentless opposition and antagonism.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">While there’s no satisfactory answer to the question of why “good” people suffer, much suffering is, in fact, connected to selfishness and bad decisions. And out of the dark chaos we create, God is, nonetheless, creating something as new to the world as life was to the formless void itself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">God continues to create, and God’s new thing is always unfolding. As with sight to the man born blind, it’s often something that just happens to us. It comes as a gift. It also comes to us when we, like Jesus, embody compassion, justice, and joy, especially when and where it doesn’t seem to be deserved. And that’s what makes it <i>grace</i>. That’s what makes it <i>gospel</i>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">We cannot forge salvation through fearful and violent “everything-happens-for-a-reason” manipulation. Nor do we need to wait until death to experience God’s eternal realm. Lent invites us to confess our blindnesses, to surrender them to God, and to welcome the new-sightedness of grace—today.<o:p></o:p></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-50729898539361542692024-02-27T11:51:00.000-08:002024-02-27T11:51:26.666-08:00The Scandalous Cross (Newsletter)<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Dear Friends,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> On the last Sunday of February—in the 24<sup>th</sup> year of the 21<sup>st</sup> century—the sermon had to do with the symbolism of the cross. For 1<sup>st</sup>-century Jews in Jerusalem, the cross represented everything evil and authoritarian in the world. And for good reason. Rome used the cross as an instrument of public torture and execution. The cross was Power’s exceptionally ruthless means of shocking and even <i>panicking</i> subjects into compliance with both laws and Power’s status quo. And it had its effect—but as with all violence, only in the short run. When Jesus showed up, and was accused of claiming to be the king of the Jews, few Romans would have thought twice about crucifying him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> You know the story—most of it, anyway. Since Power continues to use brutality and bullying to achieve political and economic ends, the story is far from over.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">If you are reading this congregational newsletter, you probably trust that the mystery of the resurrection is as real as the fact of crucifixion. No doubt you also are familiar with the cross as an unmistakable symbol of our faith tradition. Is the cross still, as the apostle Paul wrote, a “scandal” to us, though? In that February sermon, we acknowledged that the cross has been, for many, sanitized into little more than a popular piece of jewelry. And in January of 2021, during a violent attack on our own nation, a tall, white cross was militarized by being paraded around the US capitol as if to say that Jesus blessed the idolatrous violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In February 2001, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt died when his car hit the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500. I was living in Mebane, NC at that time, and a day or two after Earnhardt’s death, a local newspaper published a front-page, close-up photograph of items left outside the Richard Childress Racing headquarters. Nestled in among all the flowers, letters, NASCAR hats, mirrored sunglasses, and photographs of “The Intimidator’s” familiar, black #3 Chevrolet lay a white, wooden cross. Painted on the cross, in large, black letters were the words, “IN DALE WE TRUST.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Like the use of crucifixion as a means of crowd control, those words on that cross were an obscenity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Now, of course, Dale Earnhardt’s death was horrific tragedy for him, his family, and for racing itself, but neither his life nor his death has divine redemptive power. He will not and cannot be trusted to restore broken relationships with God and one another. NASCAR fans may find this reflection a bit dramatic, but I think that that <i>de-scandalized</i> cross represents a deep and destructive offense in the suggestion that the unfortunate and untimely death of a sporting icon compares in any way to that of Jesus, the Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> As Lent continues and Easter approaches, I encourage us all to look deeply at ourselves. How and where might we forsake Jesus for more immediate, gratifying, and less <i>scandalous</i> lords? Then, through humility and repentance, let’s prepare ourselves to celebrate and receive God’s trustworthy salvation as it comes to us in the gracious life, the scandalous death, and the death-defeating power of resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><b><i><span style="font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 16pt;">Pastor Allen<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-2465815464874932462024-02-25T14:24:00.000-08:002024-02-25T14:24:01.795-08:00Only One Cross (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Only One Cross”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 22:23-31 and Mark 8:31-38<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">2/25/24<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">23 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">You who fear the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">, praise him!</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>24 </sup></b>For he did not despise or abhor</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the affliction of the afflicted;</span><br /><span class="text">he did not hide his face from me</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">but heard when I</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">cried to him.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">25 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">From you comes my praise in the great congregation;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my vows I will pay before those who fear him.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>26 </sup></b>The poor</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">shall eat and be satisfied;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">those who seek him shall praise the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">.</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">May your hearts live forever!</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">27 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">All the ends of the earth shall remember</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and turn to the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">,</span><br /><span class="text">and all the families of the nations</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">shall worship before him.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>28 </sup></b>For dominion belongs to the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and he rules over the nations.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">29 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">the earth bow down;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and I shall live for him.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>30 </sup></b>Posterity will serve him;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">future generations will be told about the Lord</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>31 </sup></b>and</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">saying that he has done it.</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> <span class="text">(<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">31 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">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.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">32 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">He said all this quite openly.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">33 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">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.”</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">34 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">35 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">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,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">will save it.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">36 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">37 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">38 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Those who are ashamed of me and of my words</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">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.”</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The well-known and beloved preacher and teacher Fred Craddock once quoted another popular preacher who had said that preachers can’t “be successful preaching the cross of Jesus. It is not a message people want to hear,” the man said. “They already have too many problems of their own.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> With tongue in cheek, Craddock said, “It’s no wonder [that guy] is popular.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Paul would agree. In fact, Craddock’s jab comes as a fruit of his own reading of Paul who calls the cross “foolishness,” and “a stumbling block.” (1Corinthians 1:18, 23)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Is that still true for us? Let’s be honest; our culture has, for the most part, domesticated the cross. For many, it’s just a fashionable trinket to be worn on a necklace. But the cross of Jesus is not jewelry. Like Paul says, it’s a scandal. It’s something to be borne, not worn. For people in the sphere of first century Rome, wearing a cross around one’s neck would be like someone today wearing an electric chair pendant.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The cross calls all Christian believers to remember who they are and what it costs to follow one particular convict who died on one of countless thousands of Roman crosses. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In today’s reading, Jesus warns his disciples that he will soon die, because a life of faithfulness to God has profound consequences. Peter will hear none of this. He still believes that Jesus will lead Israel in <i>the</i> apocalyptic battle in which they will defeat Rome, once and for all. Imagine his dismay when he declares his faith and his loyalty only to hear Jesus turn on him saying, “Get behind me, Satan! [Y]ou are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Then, an impassioned Jesus gathers the crowd and says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> This unnerving challenge does far more than rebuke and remediate Peter with a dose tough love. Peter’s challenge returns Jesus to the wilderness. In Peter’s defiance, Jesus faces anew the temptation to dominate—to achieve victory through bloodshed. While the nations might love leaders who incite violence and preach nationalistic fanaticism, such means are simply not alternatives for the Christ and his followers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I think Mark wants us to read Jesus’ unsettling words as his own steadfast refusal to give in to worldly fears and means. Jesus declares his unwavering commitment to the path of holiness, compassion, and peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> When we’re tempted to trust human ways and means, Jesus calls us to take up our own crosses and follow him. He invites us to join him in beating the sword of the cross into the plowshare of resurrection grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Our crosses may be revealed in many ways, but there are not many different little crosses for us to bear. When all is said and done, there’s only one cross, because we have moved into the realm of metaphor. Our cross is itself the life of faithfulness to the counter-cultural Christ. Our cross is the path of discipleship. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> So, our cross calls us to the JAMA food pantry, to Family Promise, into the lives of offenders at the Day Reporting Center. It sends us to advocate for people who are ignored and oppressed. It takes us into the lives of neighbors who grieve, who are sick and lonely. It leads us into prayer and study where, through honest reflection, we become vulnerable so that we might be strengthened. Because the cross also calls us to cease our striving for a day, it has brought us into this sanctuary.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In Alice Walker’s novel, <u>The Color Purple</u>, there’s a powerful little scene in which Sophia says to Celie: “Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for God to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> When we come to worship as willing to share God with others as to seek God for ourselves, God shows up. And in that gathering, where we share stories and support, we begin to understand what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Jesus took up his cross long before the chief priests and the scribes coerced Pilate to execute him on a pair of rough, wooden beams. Jesus’ own cross was and continues to be <i>our</i> need borne of <i>our</i> brokenness. And because Jesus comes <i>not to condemn…but to</i> redeem, he never abandons us to our self-inflicted sufferings. Indeed, his prayer from his cross is for us: <i>Father, forgive them!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Years ago, I read an article about a then-young, African-American attorney in Alabama named Bryan Stevenson. The first sentence of the article was a set up. “For nearly fifteen years,” it said, “his conviction has kept him on death row.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Mr. Stevenson’s conviction was not for some violent, capitol offense. His conviction was that “no one is beyond hope…[or] redemption.” He believes that God called him “to be a witness for hope, [and] for justice” by working with death row inmates to overturn execution verdicts in a state in which, at that time, the average capitol case lasted about three days.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Bryan Stevenson founded and is still active in the Equal Justice Initiative. And he knows that most of the men with whom he works are guilty. He also knows that just because the state gives up on them doesn’t mean that God does. Stevenson discovered that for almost every man on Alabama’s death row, their crimes mark the brutal culmination of their own experiences of relentless abuse and suffering. He doesn’t try to excuse their actions or to put dangerously damaged people back on the streets. Nonetheless, following Jesus, he says, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“[We] we are all more than our worst act.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Stevenson goes where the cross has been left lying on the ground. Taking up that cross, he follows Jesus into what has become the chaotic and destructively violent pain of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “There are times when we get overwhelmed and discouraged…,” he says, “but I have learned that God’s grace is sufficient…[And] I feel really privileged to see…extraordinary…acts of grace, acts of love, acts of redemption, that I wish the whole world could see.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The Lenten journey of shouldering Jesus’ cross guides us to our own death row. It sends us to Friday where we take up our cross and die with Christ. On that journey, we do experience discouragement and pain, because it is, so often, into the discouragement and pain of the world that God leads us. And all along the way, we will be privileged to witness “extraordinary…acts of grace…love…[and] redemption.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> As disciples, we follow and share Christ. We involve ourselves in the blessed things that God is doing in our midst. And through our faithfulness to the journey of Jesus’ cross, there will be many people, ourselves included, who will catch a glimpse of the ever-unfolding miracle of Resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-65494037221665261182024-02-19T05:05:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:05:37.786-08:00Into the Wilderness (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Into the Wilderness”</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 106:1, 6-14b<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Mark 1:9-15<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">2/18/24<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Praise the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">!</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">O give thanks to the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">, for he is good,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for his steadfast love endures forever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">6 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Both we and our ancestors have sinned;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b>Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">did not consider your wonderful works;</span><br /><span class="text">they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">but rebelled against the Most High</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">at the Red Sea.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>8 </sup></b>Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">so that he might make known his mighty power.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>9 </sup></b>He rebuked the Red Sea,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">and it became dry;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">he led them through the deep as through a desert.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>10 </sup></b>So he saved them from the hand of the foe</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>11 </sup></b>The waters covered their adversaries;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">not one of them was left.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>12 </sup></b>Then they believed his words;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they sang his praise.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But they soon forgot his works;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they did not wait for his counsel.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>14 </sup></b>But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and put God to the test in the desert.</span></span></i><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">9 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">10 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.<b><sup>11 </sup></b>And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved;</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">with you I am well pleased.”</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">12 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">14 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">15 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">repent, and believe in the good news.”</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">(<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> As a metaphor, wilderness compares with mountains and seas, light and darkness. It evokes wonder, awe, and even fear. And as creatures made in God’s image, while there’s always something holy and bright about us, there’s also something wild and feral within us. Wilderness speaks to both aspects of this image.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> John the Baptist crawls out of the wilderness like some sort of primordial life form. His prophetic passion is the gift of his intimate connection to the holy wildness that is God. And John comes not to tame and control the wilderness around and within all things, but to prepare the way for God’s Christ within it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> When Jesus arrives, he receives John’s baptism. And when he rises from the water, he sees the heavens crack open above him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> <i>You!</i> says a voice, <i>you are my beloved son.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Then, using the same verb he uses to describe Jesus casting out demons, Mark says that the Spirit “drove [Jesus] out” into the wilderness. So, after his baptism, Jesus gets cast out. He gets exorcised, <i>by the Spirit,</i> into the wilderness where his companions are wild beasts, angels, and his own swirling thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> If you’ve ever spent time in some remote place, especially alone, you may have experienced how quickly your own civilized mind can become as wild and terrifying as the beasts you’re afraid to encounter. But remember, we’re using wilderness as a descriptive metaphor. So, it doesn’t have to be a forest, or a desert, or a swamp. The boundary of spiritual wilderness lies along that ever-shifting line between who we are and who we’re becoming in God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> For forty days, Jesus <i>consciously</i> walks that line, discovering what is true for all of us: His life is not his own. Within him there stirs a wildness that surpasses even that of his locust-eating, thunder-voiced cousin John. Jesus’ wildness is the life and death kind. It is resurrection wildness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> When God reveals this inherent wildness to Jesus at his baptism, a door to unprecedented possibility opens. He may be Joseph and Mary’s boy, but things lie at <i>his</i> fingertips that the greatest prophets and kings never knew. Out in his wilderness, Jesus realizes that he’s a man on whom God has laid a sanctifying call, a call that demands exceptional holiness. And God has given him remarkable gifts with which to be faithful to that calling. Uniquely called and empowered, what will he do?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Mark’s quick, two-verse account of Jesus’ temptation seems rather anticlimactic. Still, wandering in the wilderness “with the wild beasts” while being “waited on” by angels is a compelling image of the human soul in conflict with itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> For Jesus, wilderness is that conflicted place where he stands utterly vulnerable to the temptation to use his extraordinary gifts for selfish gain. Luke and Matthew include specific details for something only Jesus experiences, while Mark just lays the issue before us in all its metaphorical starkness. Like all of us, Jesus wrestles with his own inner beasts and angels, his own light and darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Yes, I said darkness. If Jesus didn’t face the real possibility of using his gifts for selfish gain, what good is it to say that he was tempted?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Docetism is an old, old heresy, but it remains alive and well. In an effort to protect Jesus from the taint of human weakness, docetism claims that Jesus only <i>appeared</i> human. Docetists get no support from Mark, though. Even in his fleeting account of Jesus temptation, Mark reveals a man bound up in the kind of tortured struggle that all humans deal with.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">We all wrestle with temptation. We’re never completely free of the spiritual tug-of-war going on between the wild beasts and the attending angels within us. Writing to the Romans, Paul pens one of the most memorable expressions of that struggle saying, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want…but the evil I do not want is what I do.” That’s not quibbling. That’s the language of honest, deep-wilderness struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We all have characteristics that we cherish. And we all have parts of ourselves that we keep hidden—things about us that we’re ashamed of, or were <i>told</i> to be ashamed of, and things that we find contrary to the self we want to project. Our hearts know these things about ourselves even when our minds deny and repress them. Because of that struggle, when we recognize our dark tendencies in others, we tend to despise those folks. We pile our self-loathing onto those we label as beasts, while <i>we</i> claim to be angels.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> If you want to see this in action, just watch a race for political office. The whole right/wrong, good/bad rhetoric is pure wilderness wrangling. Whether in a government, a business, a church, or a family, every personal attack, every demonizing power play, becomes, in some way, an outward expression of the spiritual struggle going on inside us. To become conscious of that struggle, and to live in that new consciousness, is to discover wisdom and clarity. It is to be healed of our fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In the synoptic gospels, Jesus leaves the wilderness and jumps immediately and fearlessly into his counter-cultural, Caesar-defying ministry. He lives a life that will get him killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In John’s gospel, there’s no temptation-in-the-wilderness scene, but Jesus does square off with his mama. At the wedding at Cana, Mary challenges her son to claim his gifts and to spare the oblivious host a bitter embarrassment, and the chief steward a punishment that is, potentially, even more bitter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Tempted to remain safe and anonymous, Jesus tries to put her off, but <i>Mama</i>won’t have it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Do whatever he tells you,” Mary says to the servants.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Following the revelatory water-to-wine event in Cana, Jesus goes straight to Jerusalem and clears moneychangers from the temple with a whip—another prophetic act he cannot undo, and which neither the powerful nor the penniless can forget.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Through temptation, we can come to understand ourselves more deeply. The temptations that really matter put us face-to-face with our most debilitating fears and our most transcendent gifts. Overcoming temptation means repenting from greed and committing our gifts to the well-being of all rather than to selfish gain. And by definition, selfish gain always comes, in some way, at the expense of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Old Ebenezer Scrooge epitomizes the man of selfish gain. And not only do his miserly ways make life hard for Bob Cratchit and his family, even Scrooge himself lives a meager existence, so obsessed is he with getting, having, and controlling. Not until the wilderness experience of his Christmas dreams does he confront the full weight of the suffering he causes to others and to himself. And only when he recognizes both himself and his wealth as gifts to be shared, does he repent into a life of joyful witness to the at-hand realm of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God’s realm of grace is present. At hand. Within and among us. You are uniquely gifted for grateful and joyful witness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">What will you do?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-56670502568487205052024-02-04T16:15:00.000-08:002024-02-04T16:16:04.360-08:00Feverish Living and Sabbath Rest (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Feverish Living and Sabbath Rest”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Isaiah 40:21-31 and Mark 1:29-39<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2/4/24<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Isaiah 40:21-31<o:p></o:p></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Have you not known? Have you not heard?</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Has it not been told you from the beginning?</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>22 </sup></b>It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,</span><br /><span class="text">who stretches out the heavens like a curtain</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and spreads them like a tent to live in,</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>23 </sup></b>who brings princes to naught</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">24 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,</span><br /><span class="text">when he blows upon them, and they wither,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the tempest carries them off like stubble.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">25 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To whom, then, will you compare me,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">or who is my equal? says the Holy One.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>26 </sup></b>Lift up your eyes on high and see:</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Who created these?</span><br /><span class="text">He who brings out their host and numbers them,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">calling them all by name;</span><br /><span class="text">because he is great in strength,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">mighty in power,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">not one is missing.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">27 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Why do you say, O Jacob,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and assert, O Israel,</span><br /><span class="text">“My way is hidden from the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and my right is disregarded by my God”?</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>28 </sup></b>Have you not known? Have you not heard?</span><br /><span class="text">The</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">is the everlasting God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the Creator of the ends of the earth.</span><br /><span class="text">He does not faint or grow weary;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">his understanding is unsearchable.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>29 </sup></b>He gives power to the faint</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and strengthens the powerless.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>30 </sup></b>Even youths will faint and be weary,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the young will fall exhausted,</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>31 </sup></b>but those who wait for the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">shall renew their strength;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they shall mount up with wings like eagles;</span><br /><span class="text">they shall run and not be weary;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they shall walk and not faint.</span></span></i><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mark 1:29-39<i><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">29 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.<b><sup>30 </sup></b>Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. <b><sup>31 </sup></b>He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">32 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed by demons. <b><sup>33 </sup></b>And the whole city was gathered around the door. <b><sup>34 </sup></b>And he cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">35 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.<b><sup>36 </sup></b>And Simon and his companions hunted for him. <b><sup>37 </sup></b>When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” <b><sup>38 </sup></b>He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I came out to do.” <b><sup>39 </sup></b>And he went throughout all Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <span class="text">(<b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I wonder if the first-century writer of Mark wouldn’t have felt somewhat at home in the feverish pace of life of the twenty-first century. As we noted last week, in Mark’s telling of Jesus’ story, much of the action happens “immediately.” In the first chapter, “the Spirit <i>immediately</i> drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness.” (Mark 1:12) That urgency continues all the way through the gospel to the first verse of chapter 15 when, </span><span class="search"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“<i>As soon as</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> it was morning,” Jesus is arrested and handed over to Pilate. In the Greek, “As soon as” is the same word elsewhere translated as “immediately.” After that, in less than a day, Jesus is dead and buried.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Today’s passage begins with that same immediacy. “<i>As soon as</i> [Jesus and the disciples] left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew.” And <i>at once</i> they tell Jesus that Simon’s mother-in-law is bedridden with a fever.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, and afterward she hurries back to work in the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">By sundown, the end of that sabbath day, a crowd stands at the door, pressing Jesus for healing or to watch healings happen. Jesus tends to as many as he can until everyone finally goes home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Feverishness hounds Jesus everywhere he goes, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, to some of you, all this begins to sound rather cliché, but maybe some things become cliché because we <i>need</i> to face them over and over.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Who among us hasn’t experienced the feverishness of life? In our culture, busyness has become a badge of honor. “How are you doing?” someone asks. And most of the time we either say, “Fine,” or we declare that we’re too busy to know what day it is. It seems to me, that even more of the time, all we <i>want</i> to hear from others is that they’re either fine or busy. We’re so caught up in our own fevered lives that we seldom have the physical stillness and the spiritual peace required to listen to and care for one another.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Even young people feel this feverishness. At what age do we start them in organized sports requiring daily practices, and weekend-long tournaments in far-away towns?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The sad paradox is that while many folks try to use busyness to validate their lives, the <i>cost </i>of feverish living is life itself. Frenetic existence is about achieving and acquiring rather than growing and sharing. It numbs us to people we claim to love and to the systemic inequities and iniquities that destroy human community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, here’s the redeeming twist. In today’s story, Jesus rises before the sun and slips away by himself. He escapes to a secluded place to pray. After sunrise, the disciples launch a desperate search for Jesus. When they finally find him, they say, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Everyone is searching for you.” Translation: <i>Let’s go, </i><i>Jesus! We gotta get busy!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus doesn’t disagree, but he does redirect. <i>Yeah, we’ll get moving,</i> he says. <i>But I have other places to go, and other people to see.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While Jesus experiences his own feverish pace of life, he handles it differently. All along the way he prepares for that busyness. He prepares by entering, repeatedly, the relationship-restoring peace of solitude, and the invigorating stillness of prayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I think that Jesus pulling away from the people who need him is the very point of today’s story. Precisely <i>because</i> of his disciplined retreat from the relentless demands, Jesus is able to fulfill his calling as the Christ<i>.</i> In yet another paradox, Jesus regularly <i>avoids </i>people as the only way truly to be <i>with</i> them and to <i>love</i>them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Years ago, I read that the reformer Martin Luther said that the busier his life got the more time he <i>had</i> to commit to the renewing peace of contemplation. As one who kept on the move in order to avoid arrest and execution for heresy, Luther lived a terribly feverish life, and he couldn’t study, write, preach, travel, and <i>thrive</i> if he didn’t carve out ample time simply to sit in the presence of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Folks like me are usually expected to set good examples of faithfulness in prayer. And while I may be well-practiced at cluttering up silences with words, and calling that prayer, I struggle as much as anyone with physical stillness and spiritual peace. I struggle to make adequate time for the kind of contemplation and prayer that causes fevers to break, wounds to heal, and that opens our eyes to the Spirited holiness at work creating and uniting all things in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While such a confession is no excuse, it can be a starting place. If we claim to be the body of Christ, doesn’t it make sense, that, to prepare ourselves for Christian mission, we, too, would regularly pull away from the world? For us as a community, that means more than simply shutting ourselves up in worship one hour a week. It means making time to lay everything else aside so we can sit together in receptive silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There’s a story told about Mother Teresa answering a question about her prayer practice. When asked about her discipline, Mother Teresa said, “I sit there in God’s presence and just listen.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“What does God say,” said the interviewer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Without any hint of guile, Mother Teresa said, “God just listens.”<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We’re talking now about creating sabbath time—time to gather in community to hit a collective <i>off </i>switch and surrender to the embrace of Spirit. And in that embrace, we simply feel and listen. Through sabbath time we place ourselves in the hands of God who heals our fevers, and deepens our capacity for giving and receiving love. And real sabbath takes practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Well known for honoring silence in both individual and corporate worship, Quakers seem to have learned this better than many other Christian groups. The hymn “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” is an adaptation of the poem “The Brewing of Soma” by the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.<sup>1</sup> The story behind the poem is quite interesting, but for our purposes, it’s enough to recognize that this hymn invites us into sabbath.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So, instead of filling more time with my words, we’re going to sing this hymn together. As we sing, I invite you to contemplate God’s healing and comforting presence in sabbath stillness and peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br clear="all" /></span></i><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Benediction</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When I Am Among the Trees</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">by Mary Oliver<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When I am among the trees, <br />especially the willows and the honey locust,<br />equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines, <br />they give off such hints of gladness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I would almost say that they save me, and daily.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am so distant from the hope of myself,<br />in which I have goodness, and discernment, <br />and never hurry through the world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">but walk slowly, and bow often. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Around me the trees stir in their leaves<br />and call out, “Stay awhile.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The light flows from their branches.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“and you, too, have come<br />into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">with light, and to shine.”<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><a href="https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-dear-lord-and-father-of-mankind" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-dear-lord-and-father-of-mankind</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I heard this story from a friend, and couldn’t find confirmation of it as told. The following quotation is close and may actually be the source of the story as it came to me. “God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen. And then we speak to God from the fullness of our heart, and God listens. And this listening and this speaking is what prayer is meant to be…”</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From: The Best Gift is Love: Meditations (ed. Servant Books, 1993) - ISBN: 9780892838141<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“When I Am Among the Trees,” by Mary Oliver. Published in <u>Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver</u>, Beacon Press, Boston, 2006. Pg. 4.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-34893640853382399142024-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:002024-01-28T14:10:09.762-08:00 Called to Both Brokenness and Wholeness (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;">“Called to Both Brokenness and Wholeness"</i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and Mark 1:21-28<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i>1/28/24<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><u>Deuteronomy 18:15-18<o:p></o:p></u></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i> 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. 16 This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’17 Then the Lord replied to me, ‘They are right in what they have said. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.<span class="text"> (<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i> </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><u>Mark 1:21-28<o:p></o:p></u></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. <span class="text">(<b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Mark 1 opens with a grand announcement: <i>Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Son.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Mark affirms that claim by declaring that John is Isaiah’s <i>messenger</i> who prepares the way for the Anointed One. So, when Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near,” the Spirit invites us to join Jesus in his Creation-transforming work—work that often meets resistance because it challenges the world’s greedy power with the spiritual authority of the Christ.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> When we claim to follow Jesus, and yet remain comfortable and complacent in systems that seem advantageous to us, but which cause others to suffer, our own voices quickly become those of protesting demons. To gloss over any dissonance between profession of faith and unfaithful action, many have used rather syrupy <i>falling-in-love-with-Jesus </i>language to talk about union with God. I wonder, though, could entering relationship with God have at least a little in common with the disturbing convulsions of an exorcism?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">As he does with the man possessed by an unclean spirit in Capernaum, Jesus liberates us from the selfishness and fear that possess us and make us destructive to ourselves, to others, and to the earth. By grace, he wicks the corrupt and corrupting false selves out of us, and leads us into his realm of mystery, mutuality, and truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">While that news is as good as it sounds, it’s also true that Jesus’ liberation tends to be costly. Just imagine the internal chaos of the first disciples as they leave their families and their vocations to follow Jesus. Mark makes it sound as simple as dropping their nets, but how can that be? Beginning something new is hard enough; so, wouldn’t it be excruciating to drop everything and follow Jesus? Maybe that’s why Jesus compares discipleship to death. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life, for my sake…will save it.” (Mark 8:35)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Before any of the gospels were written, Paul made the same argument: “<span style="background: white;">Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?</span>…We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed.” <span style="background: white;">(Romans 6:3, 6a)</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">While Mark doesn’t suggest that the possessed man in the synagogue was trapped within a “body of sin,” it was common in the first century to blame a person’s illness, poverty, or any other suffering on personal sin. So, many if not most people in the synagogue that day would likely have dismissed the man as a sinner and shunned him as a public nuisance—just as many who now claim to follow Jesus dismiss and shun the homeless on city streets.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">The NRSV reads, “Just then” the man was in the synagogue. In the Greek, <i>just then</i> is the same word that appears repeatedly in Mark and usually gets translated <i>immediately</i>. To me, the apparent suddenness of the man’s presence mirrors the suddenness of Jesus’ presence. Both men show up possessed by some powerful spiritual indwelling. And both are capable of causing the kind of dis-ease that any of us are likely to feel when confronted by someone whose presence demands of us more than mere pleasantries.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">Because Jesus teaches with an unfamiliar authority, everyone’s senses are already heightened. When the possessed man appears, <i>immediately </i>people gather their children close. They move their wallets to their front pockets. They position themselves for fight or flight. Then, the man says something that sounds absurd: “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">In Mark, Jesus is cagey with his identity. So, he rebukes and silences the unclean spirit. The man seizes and thrashes like someone dying in terrible pain. The worshipers now have to wonder, <i>Which man is scarier?</i> The man possessed by the unclean spirit and the man possessed by healing authority both seem to be living in alternative realities.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">Mark concludes this story saying that the people were “amazed” by Jesus, and that “his fame…spread throughout the surrounding region.” Mark also seems to suggest that mere amazement falls short of faithful discipleship. While amazement and wonder are hardly weaknesses, Jesus wants followers who move beyond any initial, emotional response and who engage people like the possessed man. He wants people who will live inside a holy reality that embraces chaos as well as <i>shalom</i> because chaos is as fertile with wholeness and possibility as it is laden with suffering.<sup>1</sup></span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white;">Richard Rohr calls this the “cruciform pattern” of reality.<sup>2</sup> “Jesus,” says Rohr, “was killed in a collision of cross-purposes, conflicting interests, and half-truths…[he was] caught between the demands of an empire and the religious establishment of his day. The cross was the price Jesus paid for living in a ‘mixed’ world, which is both human and divine, simultaneously broken and…whole. [Holding together all the primary opposites, Jesus] hung between a good thief and a bad thief, between heaven and earth, inside of both humanity and divinity, a male body with a feminine soul, utterly whole and yet utterly disfigured.”<sup>3</sup></span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white;"> As not only the archetype of this holy paradox, but as the one who comes to restore that paradox in humankind, Jesus heals the man with the unclean spirit. Mark never says what happens to the man, but just because he was healed doesn’t mean that his suffering ended. It seems to me, then, that <i>his</i>disappearance becomes <i>our</i> invitation. The absence he leaves is where we step in to help create a presence of gratitude and witness. His life is now our life. Jesus has freed <i>us</i> to </span>see, hear, think, and act differently. He has freed us to care for each other, and especially for those who suffer. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">We do live in a world where the demons of fear, greed, and violence can torment us and others through us. Andrew Sullivan is a rather controversial figure who nonetheless spoke this demon-exorcising truth: “When you fuse Christianity with power, it isn’t long before Christians start imposing the cross on others rather than taking it up for themselves.”<sup>4</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white;"> Wherever the world attempts to deny or reject the inclusive love and restorative grace of God, Jesus is there to silence our selfish and fear-stunted hearts and minds. And he calls us to take up our crosses and return to the new reality of God’s realm, where all people are welcome, all things are shared, and all Creation is being made new.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="background: white;">1</span></sup>Gary W. Charles, “Exegetical Perspective,” <u>Feasting on the Word</u>, Year B, Vol. 1. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. p. 313.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup>2</sup><a href="https://cac.org/coincidence-of-opposites-2019-02-07/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="background: white;">https://cac.org/coincidence-of-opposites-2019-02-07/</span></a><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="background: white;">3</span></sup><span style="background: white;">Ibid.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="background: white;">4</span></sup><a href="https://libquotes.com/andrew-sullivan/quote/lbc4q9z" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="background: white;">https://libquotes.com/andrew-sullivan/quote/lbc4q9z</span></a><span style="background: white;"></span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-65807131404217585082024-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:002024-01-21T09:52:45.378-08:00God's Realm as Neighborhood (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“God’s Realm as Neighborhood”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1:1-18<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1/21/24<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Genesis 1:1-5<o:p></o:p></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When God began to create[</span></i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A1-5&version=NRSVUE#fen-NRSVUE-1a" style="color: #954f72;" title="See footnote a"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">a</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[</span></i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A1-5&version=NRSVUE#fen-NRSVUE-2b" style="color: #954f72;" title="See footnote b"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">b</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">]swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <span class="text">(<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br clear="all" /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">John 1:1-18<o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He was in the beginning with God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">in him was life,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and the life was the light of all people.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">5 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There was a man sent from God whose name was John.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">9 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He came to what was his own,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and his own people did not accept him.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">12 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,<b><sup>13 </sup></b>who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">14 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">full of grace and truth.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">15 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">16 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">17 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><b><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">18 </span></sup></b></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">is close to the Father’s heart,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">who has made him known.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> While the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 differ, they also affirm the same generative force within the universe. Everything, both animate and inanimate, derives from the willful intention of the One whose essence is creativity, relationship, and, therefore, love. The metaphor Genesis 1 uses for the agent of God’s creativity is speech. Even ancient minds recognized that the eternal energy that precedes perception, imagination, and reason hums, vibrates, and eventually explodes into an incarnate reality, a unified voice—a <i>uni-verse</i>. God speaks and water, earth, wind, and fire tumble forth: “Let there be light…let the dry land appear…let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures…let us make humankind in our image…” That’s why, for us, the <i>Christ</i> is synonymous with the<i></i>preexistent <i>Word</i>—or the <i>Logos</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As people of faith, we look within and without and make the conscious decision to trust that the Creation, fraught as it is with violence glorified and suffering ignored, is still a magnificent wonder. To affirm God’s presence is to proclaim that the Creation has purpose and connection. And God <i>is</i> the invisible connective energy at work in the Creation. The Image of God, then, is relationship, interdependence, community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In his paraphrase, <i>The Message</i>, Eugene Peterson rendered John 1:14 this way, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” The term <i>neighborhood</i> refers to far more than streets lined with houses inhabited by people, pets, and possessions. Anywhere that created things exist together in cooperation, contrast, and even conflict are neighborhoods. Our bodies are neighborhoods. Congregations are neighborhoods. Forests and deserts are neighborhoods. Rivers and lakes are neighborhoods. Oceans are the largest neighborhood subdivisions on the earth’s surface. Beneath the atmosphere, the earth itself is a neighborhood; and beyond it, our solar system, every planet and moon circling the same sun, is a neighborhood.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“What has come into being in [Christ],” says John, “was life, and the life was the light of all people.” As <i>Word, Life, </i>and<i> Light</i>, Jesus comes to scatter all the neighborhood-crushing darkness, all the selfishness, resentment, fear, and greed that not only disrupt God’s creative purposes in the world, but that often seem to be gaining the upper hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Increasingly, humankind does seem hellbent on denying its interconnectedness. Families, communities, and nations are choosing to close ranks and reject kinship with other families, communities, and nations. We isolate ourselves according to skin color, ethnicity, language, religion, political opinion. We judge those outside our narrow boundaries not simply as <i>other</i>, but as villains against whom we must strive, and whom we must defeat. When that happens, those who claim to believe in God reduce God to a tiny, vindictive, human-imaged idol.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Humankind’s self-inflicted chaos destroys community and threatens us with darkness and death. So, says John, God sends the Incarnate Word to reveal God’s heart, to declare that God’s intent and desire for Creation is life and light, connection and neighborliness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While John wrote his gospel long before our New Testament canon was established, he also wrote it well after all other canonical gospels and epistles were written. When he begins his version of Jesus’ story, John specifically connects the Jesus narrative to the creation story in Genesis. To me, this says that the scriptures, laden as they are with conflict and contradictions, create another kind of neighborhood. So, the stories and teachings mean the most when we read them in relationship to consistent and foundational utterances such as: <i>Love God. Love neighbor. Do justice. Follow me.</i> Jesus’ own life says and means the most when we understand him as a presence in and for all of Creation, throughout all of time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As the <i>Logos,</i> Jesus is also the <i>Light </i>which comes to shine into the darkness. For John, the <i>kosmos</i>, or <i>the world</i>, refers to God’s eternally beloved Creation—God’s neighborhood overwhelmed by darkness and in need of redemption and renewed joy. So, God sends the <i>Logos </i>into the <i>kosmos</i>, in the person of Jesus, to reveal the Creator’s love for all things. As the bringer of Light and Life, Jesus’ work is that of restorative justice. He comes to awaken us to paths of awareness, prayer, empathy, and compassionate action for the sake of neighbor and earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In talking about John the Baptist, John the Evangelist says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John…He himself was not the light, but he came to witness to the light.” The shared calling of all who claim to follow Jesus is to live as humble and grateful witnesses to the Light. To commit ourselves to living as signs of the restoring <i>Logos</i> in the midst of a broken <i>kosmos</i> is, according to John, “to become children of God.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When talking about the importance of being children of God who do justice and demonstrate neighborliness, one person comes immediately to my mind. Few people have more overtly and gently lived and shared the Johannine vision of God’s neighborhood than Presbyterian clergyman Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers literally broadcast a vision of God’s holy intervention of the <i>Logos</i> into the <i>kosmos</i>, and he did so with Christlike love and kindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“I believe that at the center of the universe,” said Mr. Rogers, “there dwells a loving spirit who longs for all that’s best in all of creation, a spirit who knows the great potential of each planet as well as each person, and little by little will love us into being more than we ever dreamed possible. That loving spirit would rather die than give up on any…of us.”<sup>1</sup></span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To me, that statement of faith beautifully distills John’s theology of the <i>Logos</i>, especially the great affirmation of John 3:17: “God did not send the (<i>Logos</i>) into the (<i>kosmos</i>) to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The most profound work of the children of God is the work of simply neighboring one another in the name of Christ. Our purpose is to live by the light and love of the <i>Logos</i> in the midst of a <i>kosmos</i> that always needs to be reminded of and restored to its eternal Belovedness.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What are your gifts for bearing witness to the <i>Life </i>and the <i>Light</i>? Our particular gifts reveal God’s purposes for our lives. They teach us that as children of God we are specifically blessed to live as unique blessings for others. Our blessedness leads each of us into our own truest and deepest joy. And that joy helps to lead all of us toward a more grateful, generous, just, and neighborly world.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">1</span></sup><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/32106.Fred_Rogers?page=1" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/32106.Fred_Rogers?page=1</span></a><u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-84641500673723482562024-01-14T10:16:00.000-08:002024-01-14T10:16:30.602-08:00Come and See (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Come and See</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 and John 1:43-51</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1/14/24</span></u></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;"><br /></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">, you have searched me and known me.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>You know when I sit down and when I rise up;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you discern my thoughts from far away.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>You search out my path and my lying down</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and are acquainted with all my ways.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>Even before a word is on my tongue,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">O</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">, you know it completely.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>5 </sup></b>You hem me in, behind and before,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and lay your hand upon me.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b>Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">it is so high that I cannot attain it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">For it was you who formed my inward parts;<br /> you knit me together in my mother’s womb.<br /><b><sup>14 </sup></b>I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.<br /> Wonderful are your works;<br />that I know very well.<br /><b><sup>15 </sup></b> My frame was not hidden from you,<br />when I was being made in secret,<br /> intricately woven in the depths of the earth.<br /><b><sup>16 </sup></b>Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.<br />In your book were written<br /> all the days that were formed for me,<br /> when none of them as yet existed. <br /><b><sup>17 </sup></b>How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!<br /> How vast is the sum of them!<br /><b><sup>18 </sup></b>I try to count them—they are more than the sand;<br /> I come to the end—I am still with you.<span class="text"> </span></span></i><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">(<b>NRSV</b>)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></u></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">44</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. <b><sup>45</sup></b>Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">46</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Philip said to him, “Come and see.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">47</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">48</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">49</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">50</span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” <b><sup>51</sup></b>And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b><span style="background: white;">NRSV</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Tony was a member of my first congregation in Mebane, NC. He was a kind and soft-spoken outdoorsman who especially loved fishing. When the stripers were running in Jordan Lake near Chapel Hill, Tony would go to work with his boat in tow. At quitting time he’d drive down to the lake and catch ten or fifteen big fish before dark.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The next Sunday, an excited Tony would tell me about it and invite me to come join him. If I were available, I’d meet him at the plant where he worked and throw my stuff in his truck. At the lake, we’d launch his boat, and Tony would set two lines that trolled way behind the boat and two downriggers to run deep beneath it. With the fish-finder sweeping the depths, we’d chug slowly around the lake, watching, waiting, talking, and eating junk food while the afternoon sun shattered into glitter on the surface of the lake.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In all the times I went fishing with Tony, I caught exactly <i>one</i> fish. Every other time a pole bent or a downrigger popped up—which was exactly <i>two</i> times—I hauled in a three-pound chunk of waterlogged wood. To make things worse, when Tony took me along, even <i>he</i> caught nothing. Then, a few days later, he’d go back by himself and catch another mess of fish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I don’t know why my fishing luck has been mostly bad luck, but I do know this: When Tony invited me to join him, he went out of his way to share with me the excitement and the peace he found in fishing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">There’s the thing. <i>Fishing</i> was the only guarantee. <i>Catching</i> was never more than a possibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Maybe God prefers that I enjoy the Creation on foot with a camera in hand, or on a motorcycle with a full tank of gas. And that’s fine…unless I’m fishing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We’re currently in the liturgical season of Epiphany, a word which means <i>revelation</i>. Fred Craddock said that “Revelation is never open and obvious to everyone, regardless of their current state of interest or belief. There is always about [revelation] a kind of radiant obscurity, a concealing that requires faith to grasp the revealing.”*<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “There is always a…radiant obscurity” to the revealing of holiness. Maybe it’s sort of like dropping a hook into the water and knowing that whether or not a fish strikes, there are fish present. The radiance is in the gratitude of being where fish <i>are</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It seems appropriate that the first disciples Jesus calls are fishermen. Who better to have a sense of the holiness of the possibility of encountering holiness than fishermen who have been caught by the excitement of the possibility of the excitement of catching? (How’s that for <i>radiant obscurity</i>?!)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In today’s story, Philip offers to Nathanael the Johannine invitation: “Come and see.” Jesus spoke those words earlier to John and his disciples. Appearing in several places throughout the fourth Gospel, “Come and see” are words of witness. They’re a kind of Johannine mantra, and a call to the possibility of encountering the radiant obscurity of God’s presence. And while witness is tied intimately to revelation, the two are distinct. Witness is the casting of lines and nets; and that’s our work. Revelation is the opening of the heart; and that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Through our witness of <i>doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God</i>, all we can do is create situations and conditions conducive to recognizing God’s ongoing revelatory work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> There are times, however, when we experience God as something more obscure than radiant. Times when we are consumed by things internal and external—challenges, fears, and the inevitable uncertainties of faith. Or maybe times when it seems that all we’re doing is fishing, and never catching.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> A sophisticated storyteller, John introduces us to individuals that the synoptics do not. And he uses these folks with creative intention. In John, just as the Son is always deflecting attention toward the Father, these characters represent entities beyond themselves. Nathanael is a good example.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In John’s imaginative hands, Nathanael represents all of Israel, past and present. Crouched beneath that fig tree, Nathanael reminds us of Adam and Eve trying to hide their nakedness after having eaten the forbidden fruit, or King Saul hiding in the luggage, or Peter hiding behind his certainty that his militant messianic expectations and God’s Messiah will match perfectly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Beneath that fig tree, Nathanael is no more hidden from Jesus than Adam and Eve are hidden from God. And Jesus not only sees Nathanael, he sees through him to the “Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Seeing Nathanael through the eyes of love, through the depth-finder of grace, Jesus isn’t dissuaded by Nathanael’s sarcastic question, <i>Can anything good come out of Nazareth?</i> Jesus sees straight into the holiness of God’s image within Nathanael. In that moment of revelation, Nathanael, affirmed and loved, immediately dives into the waters of faith. His confession happens much quicker than Peter’s confession. Even Jesus seems surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> <i>You’re on board already? Well, hang on, because you haven’t seen anything yet.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In verse 51, John switches the pronoun “you” from the singular to the plural. So, he’s addressing not just Nathanael, but all of us, and the image Jesus uses, the image of “angels…ascending and descending [on] the Son of Man,” recalls Jacob’s dream at Bethel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In that story in Genesis, Jacob, on the run from Esau, sleeps with a rock for a pillow. During a dream, he sees that, through him, God will continue the covenant of blessing God made with Abraham. Jacob and his family, imperfect as they are, live <i>Come and See</i> lives, lives of witness to God’s revelation and faithfulness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jesus calls Nathanael, and us, to the same witness—a witness to God’s vision which sees more than the future. God’s vision sees the transcendent possibilities of <i>today</i> by seeing through the selfishness of the Adams, Eves, Jacobs, and Nathanaels within us. The Christ, however, who is also within us, is the fish beneath the surface of the lake. The Christ within us and within the Creation around us is our glimpse of God’s realm of <i>radiant obscurity</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> We are called, then, to live new lives, lives of witness and vision. <i>Come and See</i> lives shaped by the dynamic and tension-wrought threshold where the Creation and God’s realm of grace meet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">So, we’re like fishermen living on the shore where the heights of the firmament and the depths of the waters meet. This liminal place is a place of joyful witness because it’s a place of relentless possibility, profound risk, and trustworthy hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I make no promises, but does anyone want to go fishing?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">*While I always footnote quotations, this one was in a previous sermon and did not include a citation. I only know that it is Fred Craddock’s wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-83977848234538528752024-01-07T15:49:00.000-08:002024-01-07T15:49:23.639-08:00Then He Consented (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then He Consented”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Isaiah 42:1-9 and Matthew 3:13-17<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1/7/24<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Baptism of the Lord Sunday<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Here is my servant, whom I uphold,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my chosen, in whom my soul delights;</span><br /><span class="text">I have put my spirit upon him;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">he will bring forth justice to the nations.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>He will not cry out or lift up his voice</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">or make it heard in the street;</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>a bruised reed he will not break,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">he will faithfully bring forth justice.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>He will not grow faint or be crushed</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">until he has established justice in the earth,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the coastlands wait for his teaching.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Thus says God, the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">who created the heavens and stretched them out,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">who spread out the earth and what comes from it,</span><br /><span class="text">who gives breath to the people upon it</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and spirit to those who walk in it:</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b>I am the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">; I have called you in righteousness;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I have taken you by the hand and kept you;</span><br /><span class="text">I have given you as a covenant to the people,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a light to the nations,</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">to open the eyes that are blind,</span><br /><span class="text">to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">from the prison those who sit in darkness.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>8 </sup></b>I am the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">; that is my name;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my glory I give to no other,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">nor my praise to idols.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>9 </sup></b>See, the former things have come to pass,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and new things I now declare;</span><br /><span class="text">before they spring forth,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I tell you of them.</span></span></i><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></sup></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">13</span></sup></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">14</span></sup></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">15</span></sup></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Then he consented.</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">16</span></sup></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. </span></i><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">17</span></sup></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">(<b><span style="background: white;">NRSV</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In Matthew’s telling of the story of Jesus’ baptism, verse 15 concludes abruptly: “Then he consented.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> What sounds like a simple reference to timing, points to the rolling away of a great stone. Getting to <i>Then he consented </i>involves the same movement of the Spirit we see in, “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him;” “Let it be with me according to your word;” and “He is risen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> <i>Then he consented</i> invites us into something much deeper and broader than John’s reluctant consent to baptize Jesus. When John says that he should be baptized by Jesus, Jesus says, <i>No. For now, you baptize me</i>. Jesus’ own consent to the same baptism to which so many others consent implies much more than acquiescence. It implies trust of and faithfulness to a transforming spiritual reality. And it signals Jesus’ commitment to his own specific calling.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Immediately after his baptism, Jesus embarks on a forty-day wilderness sojourn. And during that time, he agonizes over the consequences of his baptismal consent. He faces a choice we all make in one way or another: He can use his gifts for personal benefit, or he can offer himself to the Creation as a blessing. As a uniquely gifted man, he can live as either the Christ or just another Herod or Caesar.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">For similar reasons, confirmation is crucial in denominations that practice infant baptism. Confirmation gives young people the opportunity to declare that they are beloved children of God, that they have rich, God-given potential, and then to follow Jesus as beloved disciples. And belovedness is most fully realized when we <i>choose</i> to live as blessings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Baptism, you see, is about identity as well as grace. It declares that we, and all things, belong to God, who delights in us, and who wants us to recognize the elemental and indelible holiness within all humanity, and within the earth itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Now, I know that there are some folks we struggle with. They push every button and get on our last nerve. We’ve all experienced people like that. I also know from experience that I can be <i>that person</i> for others. And I’m very often <i>that person</i> for my own, conflicted self. No one causes me more grief than me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Richard Rohr has said that we often look at the world around us and can’t help seeing more darkness than light. And when we can’t get past that, it’s easy to give up and say, ‘That’s just the way things are.’ But Rohr says that when we fixate on brokenness and hopelessness, we’re not seeing things<i> as they are</i>. We’re seeing things <i>as we are,</i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> because broken hearts feel nothing but brokenness, and blind eyes see nothing but darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Listen, it doesn’t happen suddenly or magically, but the journey of baptismal consent does give us new hearts, new eyes, and new minds. Another metaphor for that transformation is, ironically enough, death. Because re-creation springs from death, it’s not by accident that Paul speaks of baptism as dying and rising with Christ. (Romans 6:1-11) Jesus dies at his baptism. He dies during his temptation. He dies repeatedly as he shepherds fickle disciples. And he dies during his agony in Gethsemane, and then, finally, on Golgotha.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Baptism challenges us to take seriously our call to die to all the false selves, shallow desires, and paralyzing fears that would have us live as if the sin of war is just the way things are, as if starving and homeless children is just the way things are, as if school shootings—something no healthy-minded person can simply “get over”—is just the way things are, and as if our own secret self-loathings are all just the way things are.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In one way or another, those realities all point to the ever-present powers of nihilistic greed and fear. And to do nothing about them is to consent to those powers, and to let greed and fear have their violent ways. Jesus does not consent to those powers. Nor does he give us permission to do so. He calls us to consent to his lordship here and now. He calls us to take up our crosses, to die to all that is selfish, fearful, and falsely pious. He calls us to enter the world in all of its heart-wrenching brokenness and suffering and to live as ones being made new in the power of the Holy Spirit. He calls us to declare that God claims all human beings as beloved children. And anything that allows us to avoid or compromise the call to die and rise with Jesus, is not of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span class="m-3197986200929988966font-georgia"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">When making suggestions on how to prepare for reading scripture, Richard Rohr advises—and I hope all new and continuing elders really hear this—to seek </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“an open heart and mind…[to detach from ego-driven] desires to be correct [and] secure…Then…listen for a deeper voice than your own, which you will know because it will never shame or frighten you, but rather strengthen you, even when it [challenges] you…As you read, if you sense any negative or punitive emotions like…feelings of superiority, self-satisfaction, arrogant…certitude, desire for revenge…or a spirit of…exclusion, you must trust that this is not Jesus…at work, but your own ego still steering the ship.”<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I hear Rohr saying that when we claim our baptisms and still seek power or advantage <i>over </i>others, we’re choosing to see things as<i> we are</i>, not as<i> God sees them—</i>and not as<i> God sees us</i>.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Baptism invites us and challenges us into the mystical practice of learning to see as Jesus sees.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Baptism invites and empowers us for new sight, new strength, new courage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Baptism empowers us to see ourselves, our neighbors, and the earth as tangible expressions of God’s gracious presence and creative purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">When we see and engage the world with eyes and hearts transformed by baptism, we live as followers of Jesus rather than followers of worldly politics, economics, and religiosity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">May we all consent—each day—to following Jesus in the new life of baptismal faithfulness, so that our lives and our living may always serve as signs of God’s love and grace for one another and for all Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">From Richard Rohr in <u>Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Second Half of Life</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">2</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/43960629A8B44BD52540EF23F30FEDED/CAEF12FB6B3D7B5544D0DD5392A9C75A" style="color: #954f72;">https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/43960629A8B44BD52540EF23F30FEDED/CAEF12FB6B3D7B5544D0DD5392A9C75A</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-52800790462643017232023-12-26T14:32:00.000-08:002023-12-26T14:32:19.763-08:00The Light of Righteousness and Justice (Christmas Eve Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The Light of Righteousness and Justice”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Isaiah 9:2-7<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Christmas Eve - 2023<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The people who walked in darkness</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">have seen a great light;</span><br /><span class="text">those who lived in a land of deep darkness—</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">on them light has shined.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>You have multiplied exultation;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you have increased its joy;</span><br /><span class="text">they rejoice before you</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">as with joy at the harvest,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">as people exult when dividing plunder.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>For the yoke of their burden</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the bar across their shoulders,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the rod of their oppressor,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you have broken as on the day of Midian.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>5 </sup></b>For all the boots of the tramping warriors</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and all the garments rolled in blood</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">shall be burned as fuel for the fire.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b>For a child has been born for us,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a son given to us;</span><br /><span class="text">authority rests upon his shoulders,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and he is named</span><br /><span class="text">Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b>Great will be his authority,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and there shall be endless peace</span><br /><span class="text">for the throne of David and his kingdom.</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">He will establish and uphold it</span><br /><span class="text">with justice and with righteousness</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">from this time onward and forevermore.</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(NRSV)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Tibetan Buddhists like to say that a Dalai Lama is not chosen. He’s discovered. The elders watch, engage, and teach many boys. And when that one, extraordinary youngster begins to shine, begins to demonstrate the raw traits of a spiritual leader, he begins the long process of training and preparation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> For Tibetans, this child has been <i>born</i> <i>for</i> them. He’s been <i>given</i> <i>to</i> them. And while he is not yet spiritually mature, not yet a fulfillment, he has begun the work of adopting and being adopted by his new name, <i>Dalai Lama</i>, which means “Ocean of Compassion,” or “Ocean of Wisdom.”<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The ancient Hebrews, fumbling through the darkness of defeat and exile, are being told that a new light is shining on them. A child has been born for them, a son given to them. He will redeem and renew them. He will live into and will be known by new names: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> It seems that the great spiritual traditions of the world often have more in common than they do in the way of differences. And one of those commonalities has to do with the metaphor of childhood as a time of immediate, yet not-quite-fulfilled presence. Even the most gifted children, require attention, love, and patience. And <i>we</i> are called to steward these new lights, who represent God’s promise—not because God is dependent on us for whatever success may look like, but because in ways that are as mystical and mysterious as glorias from the heavens, and earthy as childbirth in a stable, we share in God’s ongoing work in and for the Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Another common metaphor is light. And you and I, we’re kind of like candles. We don’t <i>create</i> fire or light, and we don’t last forever, but for a time, we do burn. We shine with a light that is given to us. That light is itself <i>The Gift,</i> the gift of God’s Shalom, which is God’s Peace, Wholeness, and Holiness. God’s great light in the world is the brightness of all our individual wicks burning, side-by-side with the virtues of justice and righteousness—that is of compassion and joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When burning with justice and righteousness, we work for peace and understanding between peoples, nations, and religions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When burning with justice and righteousness, we advocate for fellow human beings who are suffering; and we leave to God all judgments regarding a given person’s worthiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When burning with justice and righteousness, we care for the earth, which is not a resource to be exploited, but a magnificent, personal <i>re-presentation</i> of the Creator, something given to us to steward gratefully in the present moment and with vision for the future. Indeed, in ancient Celtic Christianity, the Creation is considered the <i>First Incarnation</i> of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When burning with justice and righteousness, we become midwives in the Creation’s groaning and labor pains as it moves toward adoption and redemption.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">No matter whom we follow, everything we do, every decision we make declares whom we love and whom we trust. When burning with the selfishness of the world’s Herods and Caesars, we’re not candles but the blazing funeral pyre of humankind’s brokenness. Being fed by Isaiah’s tramping boots and blood-soaked garments, that fire will, one day, burn out. For good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When burning with “the zeal of the Lord of hosts,” however, our little flickers declare that we belong to God. So, our celebration of Christmas includes the re-discovery of our own selves as expressions of the incarnate Christ, whose coming we celebrate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And this Jesus,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> the Christ, born of Mary, frees us from serving the Herods and Caesars of the world. He frees us from the absolutes that they seek to impose through invoking fear and igniting violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In Christ, we live over against the Herods and Caesars. So, while their power can burn with terrifying heat and fury, and while, at times, those things may even consume some part of us, Christ’s gracious authority burns and grows continually with the compassion, the wisdom, and the grace we call love. And Love heals. Love renews. Or, as Rob Bell says, “Love Wins.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In his song “Go Light Your World,” Chris Rice sings:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There is a candle in every soul<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Some brightly burning, some dark and cold.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There is a Spirit who brings a fire,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ignites a candle and makes his home.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So carry your candle; run to the darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Seek out the helpless, confused and torn.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hold out your candle for all to see it;<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Take your candle, and go light your world</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> May your Christmas be more than merry. May it be transforming—for yourself and for others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">May your life be a constant discovery of the living Christ within you and within those around you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And may you light the world with his justice, righteousness, compassion, and joy<span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/04/how-the-dalai-lama-is-chosen/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/04/how-the-dalai-lama-is-chosen/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-71586645612977699982023-12-03T10:15:00.000-08:002023-12-03T10:15:07.238-08:00An Apocalypse of Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> "</span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">An Apocalypse of Grace”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Psalm 25:1-10 and Luke 21:25-36<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">12/3/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To you, O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, I lift up my soul.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>O my God, in you I trust;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">do not let me be put to shame;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">do not let my enemies exult over me.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Make me to know your ways, O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">teach me your paths.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>5 </sup></b>Lead me in your truth and teach me,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for you are the God of my salvation;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for you I wait all day long.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Be mindful of your mercy, O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, and of your steadfast love,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for they have been from of old.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b>Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">according to your steadfast love remember me,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for the sake of your goodness, O</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">!</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Good and upright is the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">therefore he instructs sinners in the way.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>9 </sup></b>He leads the humble in what is right</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and teaches the humble his way.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>10 </sup></b>All the paths of the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">are steadfast love and faithfulness,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.</span> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<b><span style="background: white;">NRSV</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Advent begins today. And while we have decked this hall with signs of the season, let’s remind ourselves that Advent is <i>not</i> Christmas. I’m not trying to be a Scrooge. It’s just that to celebrate something like the Incarnation of the eternal God in the person of a first-century, blue-collar rabbi takes some preparation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Neither Advent nor Christmas were celebrations for the early church. And maybe that’s because they lacked a season of intentional preparation. And maybe <i>that</i> helps explain why, of the four canonical gospels, three show no real interest in Jesus’ nativity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Matthew does tell us about Joseph’s dream, but afterward jumps straight to the visit of the Magi, who would have visited not an infant in a stable but a toddler in a carpenter’s home. Mark opens his story with an adult John the Baptist calling people to respond to an adult Jesus who’s already at work. John starts out with abstract theological reflection: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” Then, like Mark, John moves straight to an adult John the Baptist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Only Luke records a nativity story, and he prepares us very carefully. Before any “good news of great joy,” Luke forecasts the birth of John the Baptist by telling the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Then comes the story of Mary’s Annunciation. When Mary visits Elizabeth, and hears her prophecy, Mary sings her own prophetic song of praise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When Elizabeth’s child is born, a doubt-muted Zechariah names him John. Then, when his voice is restored, Zechariah utters his own prophecy about God sending a “mighty savior [to] guide our feet into the way of peace.” Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s son will be an Advent prophet. He will help prepare the way for the<i>long-expected Jesus</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">At this moment in Luke, though, John is an infant, and Jesus is not yet born. There are years of waiting and struggle before these remarkable prophecies begin to take shape and to stir people’s imaginations and their hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> is the feeling we’re after in Advent. During this indispensable season, we stop and mull over all the prophecies. We prepare ourselves to receive and declare the news that <i>this</i> flesh is God’s chosen medium for God’s self-revelation. In the organ of Creation—in which we live and of which we’re a part—God incarnates God’s own self in a particular human being, and in a particular place, time, and socio-political environment. The four weeks of Advent call us to examine our own hearts and minds, our own spiritual communities, and our interactions with our own earthly circumstances. That’s why we begin Advent with texts like this one:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">25</span></sup></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. <sup><span style="color: #777777;">26</span></sup>People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">27</span></sup>Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">28</span></sup>Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">29</span></sup></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees;<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">30</span></sup>as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">31</span></sup>So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">32</span></sup>Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. <sup><span style="color: #777777;">33</span></sup>Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">34</span></sup></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly,<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">35</span></sup>like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #010000;"> </span></span><sup><span style="color: #777777;">36</span></sup>Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Let’s back up and look at this passage in the context of Luke’s wider story, which doesn’t end with the Ascension, but continues all the way through the book of Acts. Like Mary’s Magnificat and Zechariah’s prophecy preceding the births of their children, Jesus’ entire prophetic life precedes his passion, resurrection, and return in the person of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Always engaging political, social, and economic realities as well as spiritual realities, Jesus’ words can make us uneasy.<sup>1</sup> He speaks of political <i>distress</i> and <i>confusion</i>. He speaks of chaos in nature. And by calling such things <i>signs</i> of the <i>coming of the Son of Man,</i> Luke presents Jesus as an apocalyptic figure—as someone speaking about the <i>end times</i>. And there are two primary voices at work in this passage: Jesus, the prophetic Word of God, and Luke, the first century narrative theologian.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As the first voice, Jesus—<i>the Son of Man</i>—points toward God’s redemption of the Creation, that is, toward God’s gracious gathering up of all things into God’s Self. And yes, the apocalyptic tradition in Judaism often describes a dramatic, even disruptive grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A word of caution, though: Every human attempt to define or identify some culminating, apocalyptic event has proven wrong. And we needn’t think of only within the Judeo-Christian tradition. The ancient Mayan calendar predicted that the world would end on December 21, 2012. Sometimes human effort has proven just plain silly, like Harold Camping and his multiple, failed doomsday predictions based on some absurd numerology. And Camping himself has now been dead for ten years.<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Occasionally, some have tried, with horrifying and deadly futility, to force the issue. Consider the Crusades in Medieval times. Or think of Christian Zionists who, right now, are salivating at the war between Israel and Palestine because they believe that such horrific and ungodly violence is a divinely-ordained prerequisite for Jesus’ physical return. Does that sound Christ-like to you?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While Advent it not<i> </i>an exercise in doomsday preparation, our faith tradition takes seriously the socio-political realities of human existence. That brings us to the second voice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Luke wrote his gospel in the early-to-mid 80’sCE—that means ten to fifteen years after the fall of Jerusalem in 70CE. The <i>distress, confusion,</i> and <i>chaos</i> of the Jewish rebellion and Rome’s over-powering response lingered like the smell of smoke around the ruins of a burned-down home. Having a long history of enduring conquest and occupation, Luke’s Jewish readers would still feel that fresh wound and remember ancient ones. They would wrestle with God’s goodness and providence as they continued to wait for good news and deliverance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Maybe Luke was trying to say that he expected some imminent and apocalyptic act. As followers of Jesus, we trust and proclaim that Jesus <i>is</i> that act. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, born to a Jewish carpenter and his fiancé, in the town of Bethlehem, in the midst of a Roman census, God’s deliverance has come. Embracing news like that means embracing a paradox. We prepare for the fulfillment of God’s promised redemption by intentionally living our lives in the realm of Incarnate love—here and now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Because Christmas proclaims the gift of God’s eternal presence in, with, and for the Creation, Advent, instead of being a time of busyness and acquisition, is best observed as a time of contemplation and release. It’s a time to create space to receive anew God’s ongoing apocalypse of grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The more we clutter our lives, or to use Jesus’ words, the more “weighed down [<i>and trapped</i>] with…the worries of this life” we become, the less “alert [<i>and prayerful</i>]” we will be. And the less able we are to recognize and welcome what God offers in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Christmas may be the headliner, but Advent is the way of life. And without it, this time of year is, even for Christians, nothing more than “The Holidays.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As you come to Christ’s table this morning, may you come with open hearts and unclenched fists so that you may truly receive the signs of grace. And instead of helping you to <i>escape</i> creation’s suffering and struggles, may this sacrament send you out to live as sprouting fig leaves, as incarnate signs of God’s redeeming love at work in a grieving, anguished, and yet beautiful, beloved, and holy Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Like so much of scripture, especially prophetic and apocalyptic texts, Jesus’ words often get misused. Many people find grace a bit fluffy and fragile, and turn to fear (judgement, shame, etc.) as means of proclamation. The gospel, then, gets lost in human efforts to make grace a merited and measurable commodity rather than that the gift it is, and which it must be to be grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-87007242011925908292023-11-27T08:15:00.000-08:002023-11-27T08:15:41.741-08:00Making Room (Advent Newsletter)<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I grew up privileged. It wasn’t silver-spoon-stuck-to-the-tongue kind of privilege. Having been raised by parents who had survived the Great Depression, my parents diligently avoided ostentation. Dad always bought Plymouths, for heaven’s sake. He was a physician, and he was never really “off duty.” He could have bought nicer (and more dependable) cars, but he didn’t. When I was in high school, he splurged and bought, of all things, a light blue VW Rabbit—just for himself. The only time I saw Dr. Dad work on a car or do something less than honest was when he crawled under that Rabbit and performed a catalytic converterectomy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Without the catalytic converter, the Rabbit could burn regular gas instead of unleaded.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Because it was cheaper.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">I learned to drive a straight-shift in that non-street-legal VW Rabbit.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Car talk aside, my three siblings and I never ever lacked for food, clothing, shelter, health care. We <i>always</i> had everything we needed as well as a good bit of stuff we didn’t. Our enough-and-then-some made us privileged in a world in which far too many people struggle simply to meet their basic human needs—which are, themselves, chief among basic human <i>rights</i>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">For some reason, Christmas has become about satisfying desires for extraneous, material stuff. That means it has become as much (more?) about greed as it is about grace. Even when we buy gifts for things like Angel Tree or donate to Salvation Army, we often say that we’re trying to help others “have a Christmas.” As a child of privilege, and as a dad who did his best to “give his children a Christmas,” I get that. I do. As a pastor who preaches Jesus week after week, I have, by God’s incarnate grace, lost a lot of that, too.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Every year, I still buy a few things for my family at Christmas, but we no longer have presents piled under the tree like sacks of rice and beans in a doomsday prepper’s basement. Having said that, our celebration of the nativity of the Christ does involve preparation. In paradoxical contrast to the commercial carnival of Christmas, the spiritual practice of Advent is a season of letting go. It’s a season during which we make space in our harried lives for quiet mystery and subtle miracle. To make that kind of room, we need less feasting and more fasting—which was the principal Advent practice as the season evolved during the late fourth and early fifth centuries.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Advent invites us into a subversive, counter-cultural observance. During these four weeks, we say <i>Yes</i> to surrender, to emptiness, to what Jesus calls “poverty of spirit.” Letting go is how we prepare ourselves to receive the immeasurable gift of God’s eternal <i>Yes</i> to us in Christ. In Jesus, God says to all Creation, <i>I created you. I love you. I am with you. And I send you out, vulnerable as children, to discover the Christ within you and to embody love in the world.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Now, another <i>Yes</i>: Yes, we all need certain material things. We need food, water, clothing, and shelter. We all need health care. We need human conversation and touch. We need sleep and exercise. We need personal, physical interaction with the natural world. We need exposure to and appreciation for music and art.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">It just seems to me that to follow and love the One whose birth we celebrate, we also need to surrender our learned attachments to whatever makes us feel entitled, defensive, and suspicious of others.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">And since it requires less getting and more giving to learn to surrender, could it be that we need to focus more intentionally on Advent so that Christmas truly becomes the gift we proclaim it to be?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Peace,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> <b><i><span style="font-family: "Lucida Handwriting";">Pastor Allen<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-44581687107033482272023-11-27T06:39:00.000-08:002023-11-27T06:39:47.128-08:00Sheep, Goats, and Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Sheep, Goats, and Grace”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Matthew 25:31-46 and Psalm 95:1-7a<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">11/26/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Come, let’s sing out loud to the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">!</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>Let’s come before him with thanks!</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Let’s shout songs of joy to him!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>The</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">is a great God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the great king over all other gods.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>The earth’s depths are in his hands;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the mountain heights belong to him;</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>5 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the sea, which he made, is his</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">along with the dry ground,</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">which his own hands formed.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">6 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Come, let’s worship and bow down!</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Let’s kneel before the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">, our maker!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b>He is our God,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and we are the people of his pasture,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the sheep in his hands.</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b><span style="background: white;">CEB</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">31 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. <b><sup>33 </sup></b>He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">34 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. <b><sup>35 </sup></b>I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. <b><sup>36 </sup></b>I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">37 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? <b><sup>38 </sup></b>When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? <b><sup>39 </sup></b>When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">40 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">41 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. <b><sup>42 </sup></b>I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. <b><sup>43 </sup></b>I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">44 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ <b><sup>45 </sup></b>Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’<b><sup>46 </sup></b>And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.”</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<b><span style="background: white;">CEB</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Every time I face this passage, I reflect on those times when I have come face-to-face with God in the face of someone in need. Like Jacob at the Jabbok, I wrestle with feelings of both concern and inconvenience. It takes a hard heart to look hunger in the face and not feel some compassion. Then there’s the guilt of relief when ten bucks of fast food and a <i>God bless you</i> so easily buys my way out of truly seeing the human being in need. The whole experience leaves me feeling, again like Jacob, out-of-joint.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> It can also be frustrating trying to decide whether an expressed need is real or just a front for some sort of addiction. Feeling used even once can jade us and make us treat all requests as suspect. And when <i>that</i> happens, the truly insidious thing happens: Trying decide who deserves help, we set ourselves in a position to make judgments that none of us are equipped, much less called, to make. Our judgments often fail the test of true grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">If there’s no other hopeful word to hear in these dislocating verses from Matthew 25, there is this one hopeful word: The Father’s judgment will be carried out by none other than the Son; and <i>his</i> love-drenched authority to welcome, to heal, and to redeem knows no bounds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Today, on Reign of Christ Sunday, we celebrate our faith claim that God’s realm is revealed and embodied in a first-century rabbi from Nazareth. And this rabbi not only teaches that God’s realm is manifest in the simplest, most earthy expressions of love and compassion, he lives what he teaches. Even when speaking sharply to those who oppose him, his words well up from his eternal love for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> In the end, you see, as far as this judge is concerned, everyone is a sheep. Some just don’t act like it because they just don’t know it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The story we’re looking at today is Jesus’ final teaching in the first gospel, and Matthew sets up an interesting juxtaposition. Jesus’ breakout sermon in Matthew 5-7 occurs on a mountain before a big crowd of people. The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, the proclamation of blessedness on specific people. And here, at the end of his ministry, Jesus speaks only to his disciples, telling them to go and<i> be a blessing. Tend to the hungry, the thirsty, the lonely, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Reflecting on this passage, Charles Cousar says that the “judgments declared by the Son of Man and the categories describing the needy…carry immense and even threatening power.”<sup>1</sup> He reminds us that in the first century, each of the groups of people Jesus mentions is considered unclean.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Sickness,” says Cousar, “carries the notion of sin and contagion, and nakedness implies shame and powerlessness.” Prisoners represent those whom society has locked out of sight and out of mind. And, while hospitality to the stranger was a crucial part of everyday life, <i>strangers </i>still represent those who lie at society’s outermost fringes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “To be deeply involved with such people,” says Cousar, “means to be…guilty by association. This teaching,” he says, “demands something more profound than” being nice. To live under the Reign of Christ means mixing it up with the very people that <i>goats</i> turn away from in judgmental fear or disgust. To live under the Reign of Christ means to reach out to those who suffer, for whatever reason, and to love them as God loves them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">That means that <i>goats</i> are not people <i>out there</i> who don’t <i>do right</i>. Goats are those <i>within the body</i> who know better and still withhold the transforming power of God’s joy and God’s hope from people in need. The distinction between sheep and goats is hard to assess because the only person whose relative sheep-ness or goat-ness any of us have the right to judge is our own self. Besides, within each of us is an unblemished sheep and an old cranky, spotted goat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Tony Campolo is a writer, teacher, preacher, and out-spoken advocate for people who languish on the fringes of society. I’m going to let him finish this sermon with a personal story that illustrates one facet of the sheep-and-goat dynamic.<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Walking down a street in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA, Campolo met a street person. The man’s clothes were ragged and covered with soot. Neither his clothes nor his body had been recently washed, so his bouquet was arresting. His thick beard was strung with bits of old food like ornaments on a Christmas tree. The man, whom many people today would call a <i>bum</i>, approached Campolo and held out a cup of McDonald's coffee saying, “Hey mister, want some of my coffee?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Initially seized by his inner goat, Campolo politely declined and walked on. Then his inner sheep gave his inner goat a powerful headbutt. So, he stopped and said, “You know, I think I’d like some coffee.” Campolo took a deep breath, then he took a sip, and gave the cup back to the man saying, “You're being pretty generous today.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Well,” the man said, “the coffee was especially good today, and I think that when God gives you something good, you ought to share it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Stunned, Campolo said, “Can I give you anything?” I thought that he would hit me for five dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> At first, the man said “No,” then he said, “Yeah…You can give me a hug.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “As I looked at him,” said Campolo, “I was hoping for the five dollars!” The two men embraced right there in the street—Tony Campolo in his coat and tie, and the street person in his filthy rags.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“I had the strange awareness,” said Campolo, “that I wasn’t hugging a [dirty street person], I was hugging Jesus. I found Jesus in that suffering man.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> “Whenever you meet a suffering person,” he says, “you will find that Jesus is there waiting to be loved in that individual. That’s why Jesus said, ‘when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“You cannot embrace somebody…who is in desperate straits,” says Campolo, “without having that eerie and wonderful awareness that Jesus is coming back at you right through that person.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Are we sheep, or are we goats? Well, we’re both, aren’t we? When we withhold compassion, we are goats. And there is that much more darkness, that much more weeping and gnashing of teeth, within us as well as around us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> And whenever, and for whatever reason, we show compassion to another human being, we are sheep crowning the Universal Christ as Lord. And then and there, some new brightness, some new wholeness, joy, and hope of God’s realm breaks through into our lives, and into the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All references to Charles Cousar come from: <u>Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV—Year A</u>, Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, p. 575-577.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don’t recall where I got this story, but all credit goes to Tony Campolo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-31284457689600536422023-11-20T05:51:00.000-08:002023-11-20T05:51:23.169-08:00A Holy Balance (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A Holy Balance</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Joshua 24:14:15 and Romans 12:1-8<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11/19/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<b>NRSV</b>)<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<b>NRSV</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> When reading through Paul’s letter to the Romans, one notices that the Apostle is both passionate and compassionate. He manages to be candid with his criticism and gracious with his readers. He demonstrates the kind of holy balance it takes to be both prophetic and pastoral. And he challenges us to find that same balance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The word <i>balance</i> may be a little misleading. The dynamic to which Paul invites us is not like a gymnast on a balance beam. It’s more of a one-foot-in/one-foot-out kind of thing. “Do not be conformed to this world,” he says, “but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” This is one of the principal passages from which we extrapolate the adage, <i>Be in the world but not of the world</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Holy balance becomes a kind of paradox that helps us to live amid all the world’s idolatry and fear without forgetting that God’s redeeming love and goodness flow without ceasing at the deepest core of our <i>human </i>being and of all that exists, because the Creation itself is God’s seminal medium for self-revelation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, yes, the world is constantly plagued by both random and human-induced suffering. Then again, the story of Israel and the life of Jesus declare that we experience God no less immediately in the midst of suffering than in the midst of joy and thanksgiving. Being all about transformation and renewal, God demonstrates a particular preference for working through and being known in all that is <i>weak</i> and <i>despised</i> in the world. (<i>1Cor. 1:27-28</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">People who, by sheer luck, are born into contexts of privilege, and who feel empowered in that privilege, almost always dismiss the wisdom of being <i>in but not of the world</i>. Their situation tempts them to associate power and privilege with divine favor. It tempts them to deny things like, “Blessed are the poor…the hungry…the meek…the merciful…[and] the persecuted.” (<i>Matthew 5</i>); and things like, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” (<i>Micah 6:8</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Paul seems to find the Romans lacking in the crucial trait of humility. “For by the grace given to me,” he says, “I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sober judgment</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A philosophy professor named Joe Sachs translated numerous ancient Greek texts, and where the NRSV translators chose “sober judgment,” Sachs would have chosen “temperance.” Either way, says Sachs, the Greek word, <i>sophrosune</i>, refers to the “condition by which one chooses bodily pleasures in the ways and to the extent that they enhance life, not by an effort of self-control but by a harmony of desire with reason.”<sup>1</sup> A willfully-chosen<i> harmony of desire with reason</i>. Talk about a holy balance!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sachs says that the ancient Greco-Roman culture recognized human desire as crucial aspect of human nature that warranted satisfaction. Paul, himself a Roman, would not entirely disagree. Recall what he said to the Corinthians: “<span style="background: white;">I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful…[because] I…won’t be controlled by anything.” (1Corinthians 6:12)</span> So, the Apostle is always trying to temper runaway indulgence by encouraging <i>sophrosune</i>. And according to Sachs, this sobriety/temperance is “the stable state of character which, in any mature human being, replaces the overgrown impulses of childhood.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “When I was a child,” says Paul, “I spoke…thought…[and] reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” (<i>1Cor. 13:11</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mature disciples of Jesus inhabit God’s creation with minds constantly open to transformation and direction. Childish minds are vulnerable to the intoxicating ways and means of the world. Greed and fear can overwhelm a mind that has not learned to recognize its longings as potential sources of blessing for others. Consumed by worldly wants, the untransformed mind fixates on its desire for possessions, power, and attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">How many times has the story been told of people who reach the top of some ladder only to find themselves unfulfilled? How many times have each of us wanted one thing or another, expecting it to complete us in some way, only to have that thing expose nothing more than a deeper emptiness within us? When we strive only to acquire something, we may achieve what economists call “satisfaction,” but we usually end up unsatisfied and wanting more. And that leaves us out of balance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While it’s important to recognize that reality, it’s even more important not to stop with: <i>Quit wanting stuff. Just want God</i>. Aren’t we physical creatures? And don’t we engage the world not only through our minds, but also through our bodies? Paul encourages us to be <i>prophets, ministers, teachers, givers, </i>and<i>leaders</i>, and we can do those things only in the context of physical reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Years ago, the great preacher and teacher Barbara Brown Taylor was invited to speak at an Episcopal church in Alabama. She asked the priest what he wanted her to talk about, and he said, “Come tell us what is saving your life right now.”<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The priest’s invitation made Dr. Brown Taylor stop and think very carefully and creatively. As she thought, prayed, and wrote, she realized that her saving conviction was that “there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends,” she says, “on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Barbara Brown Taylor is describing the holy balance that blurs the lines between secular and sacred. And she discovers that she becomes most authentically human when she trusts that an authentic path to God necessarily involves a faithful embodiment her own <i>human, physical being</i> in a beloved, physical creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Barbara Brown Taylor says all of this in the introduction to her book <i>An Altar in the World: A Geography of God.</i> And in that book, she talks about twelve physical practices through which one can encounter God and deepen one’s faith and one’s ability find blessing in the world and to live as a blessing for others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It seems to me that Barbara Brown Taylor helps us to understand that inhabiting this Creation as Christian humans means accepting a magnificent and often-frustrating paradox. While we always have one foot in this world, as followers of Jesus, we also have one foot in God’s realm of grace—which is our true hope, identity, and home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In this week of Thanksgiving, may we all open ourselves to the gifts God gives to each of us, and to the truest, deepest gratitude we find in the transforming presence of the One who creates all things, loves all things, and provides more than enough for all that has being.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All Joe Sachs references come from: <u>Nichomachean Ethics</u>, Aristotle. Translation by Joe Sachs. Focus Publishing, R. Pullins Co., 2002. P. 211.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All BBT references come from: <u>An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith</u>, Barbara Brown Taylor. Harper One, 2009. Pp. xv-xvi.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-19800069912211880492023-11-12T13:21:00.000-08:002023-11-12T13:21:09.505-08:00 A New Heaven and a New Earth (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“A New Heaven and a New Earth”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Isaiah 65:17-25 and Colossians 3:12-13<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11/12/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">17 Look! I’m creating a new heaven and a new earth:<br /> past events won’t be remembered;<br /> they won’t come to mind.<br />18 Be glad and rejoice forever<br /> in what I’m creating,<br /> because I’m creating Jerusalem as a joy<br /> and her people as a source of gladness.<br />19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad about my people.<br /> No one will ever hear the sound of weeping or crying in it again.<br />20 No more will babies live only a few days,<br /> or the old fail to live out their days.<br />The one who dies at a hundred will be like a young person,<br /> and the one falling short of a hundred will seem cursed.<br />21 They will build houses and live in them;<br /> they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.<br />22 They won’t build for others to live in,<br /> nor plant for others to eat.<br />Like the days of a tree will be the days of my people;<br /> my chosen will make full use of their handiwork.<br />23 They won’t labor in vain,<br /> nor bear children to a world of horrors,<br /> because they will be people blessed by the Lord,<br /> they along with their descendants.<br />24 Before they call, I will answer;<br /> while they are still speaking, I will hear.<br />25 Wolf and lamb will graze together,<br /> and the lion will eat straw like the ox,<br /> but the snake—its food will be dust.<br />They won’t hurt or destroy at any place on my holy mountain,<br /> says the Lord.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (CEB)<o:p></o:p></span></p><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br clear="all" /></span></i></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (CEB)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Most of Isaiah’s audience knows nothing but exile. Then again, for those Hebrews born and raised in Babylon, distinguishing between exile life and “normal” life is probably splitting hairs because Babylonians manage to be relatively progressive captors. After defeating and dispersing a weaker nation, the Babylonians offer the vanquished the chance to maintain some semblance of self—at least they do for those whom they bring home to Babylon. Instead of treating the Hebrews like Pharaoh did in Egypt, the Babylonians allow the Hebrews to practice their faith and, to some extent, flourish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> So the Hebrew’s stories remain. Stories about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Stories about Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David. Stories about Hebron and Jerusalem. These are stories about providence, redemption, and belonging.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Then there’s the flip side of the situation. While things could be worse for the Israelites, Isaiah’s prophetic job in Babylon is to make the Hebrews <i>long</i> for Israel. So, when he paints a picture of a “new heaven and a new earth” in which suffering yields to joy, gladness, fruitful vineyards, and homes of their own, Isaiah is acknowledging the fact that the people’s situation in Babylon includes more than enough sadness, servitude, and a deep and haunting homesickness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As a prophet of hope, Isaiah not only describes a new future, he declares that God is already at work bringing it about. “Before they call, I will answer,” says God. God is already creating something new in the midst of all that is diminishing and disheartening.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Isaiah’s prophecy flies in the face of Solomon’s much earlier, conditional prophecy that has been so revered by revivalists: “<i>If</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> my people…pray, [<i>if they</i>] seek my face, and [<i>if they</i>] turn from their wicked ways, <i>then</i> I will hear…forgive...and heal.” (<i>2 Chronicles 7:14</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">No <i>ifs</i>, says Isaiah. By grace, God is already redeeming Israel. God has already filled out, signed, and turned in a pledge card on behalf of the Israelites. And, because that one nation serves as a symbol for all that God has made and loves, God is acting on behalf of the entire Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As encouraging as that proclamation may be, for the Israelites and for us, Isaiah’s <i>beautiful day</i> prophecy meets some sharp skepticism. What appears real doesn’t look new and promising.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Consider our own context: Poverty. Addiction. Natural disasters, many of which are the result of an out-of-kilter climate. Wars, and not just rumors of wars, but overt threats of escalated conflict. The relentless tyranny of guns and gun violence oppressing us with suspicion and fear. And political rhetoric that crosses the line into hate speech—speech aimed at the very neighbors Jesus calls us to love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Like ancient Israel, we, too, could use “a new heaven and a new earth.” And given the immediacy and the magnitude of our concerns, it’s a new earth that most of us want. Don’t many of us crave an experience of God’s vision for the future in <i>this</i> moment?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">God’s vision declares shalom, that is wholeness and well-being for all. In God’s vision, you and I are aware of, in love with, and eager to celebrate God’s grace by choosing, each day, to live in harmony with our neighbors and the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">According to Luke, in Jesus’ first sermon, he reads from Isaiah saying, “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because [God] has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” Then Jesus lays down the scroll and says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (<i>Luke 4:18-19, 21</i>) That’s what I want—God’s promises fulfilled <i>today</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 4pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> But that just makes me lazy. I say that because isn’t it specifically the work of Jesus-followers to embody <i>in</i> the world God’s vision <i>for</i> the world, <i>today</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In his book <u>Growing Churh Leaders,</u> Dr. Bob Ramey said, “Whatever our denomination…I am convinced [that] we share a common call: [we are] a people called by God to be a sign, a foretaste, and an instrument of the [household] of God.”<sup>1</sup> Dr. Ramey then quoted Walter Bruggeman who said, “The purpose of [our] call is to fashion an alternative community in creation gone awry, to embody in human history the power of the blessing. It is the hope of God that in this new family all human history can be brought to the unity and harmony intended by the one who calls.”<sup>2</sup> Ramey and Bruggeman are describing God’s <i>new heaven and new earth</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 4pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As the Church, we are called to make room for moments in which God’s vision of redemption and reconciliation burst through. It’s our call to embody the promises of God <i>in our own lives</i>. That’s a tall order because we don’t <i>make</i> those moments happen through individual effort. We humble ourselves, empty ourselves, offer ourselves to the Spirit saying, like Isaiah said when he was called, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8b) From there, God’s Spirit works through us for the sake of others, undeterred by our lapses into selfishness and idolatry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 4pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> So, our lives—our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits—are the most crucial offerings, the most important pledges, we make to God. For in offering ourselves completely, in <i>faith, hope, and love</i>, we give more than resources. We give to ourselves the best chance to experience God’s <i>new heaven and new earth</i> right here, right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While we can receive gifts of grace<i>,</i> when we offer ourselves to God by offering ourselves to others in love, we can experience in far deeper and more transforming ways the holy power and presence of the living God. Sure, it’s good to receive a gift. And sometimes they save us. It’s an even higher thing to experience God loving others through us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 4pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> If you haven’t already, I hope you will make a pledge to support the mission of Jonesborough Presbyterian Church. I challenge all of us to commit ourselves to God’s vision for a whole and holy creation. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The relational, hands-on mission to which God calls us is more important than ever right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Writing to the Colossians, Paul reminds us that our collective witness depends on how gratefully and fearlessly we, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…[and how we] bear with one another and…forgive each other.” (<i>Colossians 3:12-13</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This morning, we consecrate far more than money.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We consecrate ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Robert H. Ramey, <u>Growing Church Leaders</u>, CTS Press, 1995, p. 13.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ramey, p. 35, (Ramey is quoting Walter Brueggemann).<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-81150320953894144632023-11-05T10:35:00.000-08:002023-11-05T10:35:02.857-08:00Love Is...Fierce (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Love Is…Fierce”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Psalm 131 and 1Corinthians 13:1-13<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11/5/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord, my heart isn’t proud;<br /> my eyes aren’t conceited.<br /> I don’t get involved with things too great or wonderful for me.<br /><b><sup>2 </sup></b>No. But I have calmed and quieted myself<br /> like a weaned child on its mother;<br /> I’m like the weaned child that is with me.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Israel, wait for the Lord—<br /> from now until forever from now!</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<b><span style="background: white;">CEB</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.<b><sup>3 </sup></b>If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;<b><sup>6 </sup></b>it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">9 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">12 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">13 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.</span></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<b><span style="background: white;">NRSV</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Sometimes I stop, stand outside myself, and like the psalmist, ‘I look at the heavens…the moon and the stars…[and] human beings.” (Psalm 8) In that moment, I get a little overwhelmed by the very fact of existence. What are the chances of oceans and amoeba, consciousness and creativity, ecstasy and agony? What are the chances of tulips, toucans, Tolstoy, and time itself?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While I cannot prove anything, neither can I accept chance as our origin, and oblivion as our destiny. So, I receive wonder as a gift of grace, as the Creator’s own joyous love within me. And wonder takes me back to <i>the</i> origins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “When God began to create the heavens and the earth,” says Genesis 1. “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,” says Genesis 2. The two versions of creation in Genesis do not speak in unison, but they do sing in harmony. And while they are not history, they are magnificent, poetic affirmations of faith in a Presence that precedes, gives birth to, and infuses the Creation with Itself. The ancient storytellers call this generative, outpouring Presence <i>God</i>. So does John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through” this Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Whatever God is (Light, Energy, Grace), and whatever God is not (a huge white guy with a long beard and anger issues), by faith, I am helpless to do anything but affirm that, because the Creation exists, God exists. And the very essence of God is love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Love is patient…kind…” generous, humble, mature, compassionate, level-headed. Love seeks justice and truth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When we consider what Christian theology calls <i>the communion of the saints</i>, I cannot help considering every human being past and present. I say that because I trust that <i>Love</i> knows no bounds. Only the most <i>un-</i>loving side of me casts anyone out, and I have to fend off that guy constantly. I trust that, ultimately, ALL that God has made and loves, no matter how broken in God’s eyes nor infuriating in ours, returns to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Today we observe All Saints Day. We stop to remember those whom we have loved and who have loved us and for whom this life has ended. And in that remembrance, we give thanks to God for everything about those people that revealed love to us. For whenever and however any of us reveals <i>patient, kind, generous, humble, mature, compassionate, level-headed, justice-seeking, truth-telling </i>love, we reveal something of God. And whenever and however any of us do not embody love, we obscure God. And exactly none of us love faithfully all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Now, let’s acknowledge that the word <i>love</i> often becomes so trivialized that it actually avoids the love which Jesus embodies and about which Paul teaches. One’s “love” for a favorite celebrity or pair of shoes is emphatically <i>not</i> the same as the love with which God loves us and the love to which God calls us. Love is for-the-sake-of-others action. It’s a way of embracing and inhabiting the world that sets one who loves over against all the selfishness, resentment, and anything else that allows anyone or any group to ignore, persecute, or exploit another person or group.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This makes me remember two people who are now among the timeless <i>communion of the saints</i>. During his declining years, my dad kept going by talking about what he called “practical thanksgiving.” Briefly, practical thanksgiving involves choosing to be grateful for that person before you at any given moment. It means recognizing them, regardless of background or worldview, as one whom God loves. It means asking ourselves, <i>What is the good and right thing to do with and for this person right now? How can we live as mutual blessings to each other and to our community?</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Practical thanksgiving requires a fierce love. I say <i>fierce</i> because that love includes speaking the truth graciously and without fear of rejection or persecution. That’s how Jesus loved the Pharisees, the Sadducees, Herod, and how he loved his own often-less-than-loving disciples.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Into the institutionalized terror of apartheid, Desmond Tutu loved fiercely. “I wish I could shut up,” he said, “but I can’t, and I won’t.” That angered the minority white establishment. Then, when apartheid ended, he loved even more fiercely, saying to the black majority, who had been tortured, murdered, and exploited, “Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I remember these two saints this morning, and as we gather at the table, I trust that they are with us. “When we gather at the Lord’s table,” says our <i>Book of Order</i>, “the Spirit draws us into Christ’s presence and unites us with the Church in every time and place. We join with all the faithful in heaven and on earth in offering thanksgiving to the triune God.” (PC(USA) <i>Book of Order</i>, W-3.0409)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the end, as in the beginning, God’s fierce love, which surpasses all understanding, prevails. Because of that, I step out in faith and hope to say that I trust that all who have gone before us, those whom we knew and miss, those whom we knew and do not miss, and those whom we never knew, gather with us at this table. For again, in the end, God’s creative and redeeming love makes all things new and all things one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-36699595916798865772023-10-30T08:00:00.003-07:002023-10-30T08:00:28.307-07:00Kenosis (Newsletter Article)<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>A book group I lead recently finished reading and discussing Cynthia Bourgeault’s book</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><u style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The Wisdom Jesus</u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">. One of the central ideas of that book has to do with</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">kenosis</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">. The term</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">kenosis</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">derives from a Greek word that means</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">to let go</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">or</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">to empty oneself.</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">While</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">kenosis</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">isn’t a spiritual practice per se, it is a crucial pathway.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> The intent of a spiritual practice is to make oneself available to God’s <i>Presence</i> and to approach a deeper sense of oneness with God. Through <i>kenosis,</i>one allows all the distractions, all those anxieties, fears, and selfish desires to dissipate and fall away so that one becomes more open to God, who both calms and energizes. And the more one learns to be<i> present to the Presence</i> through a contemplative practice, the more one becomes conscious of and in communion with God in the midst of all those same distractions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"> Contemplative practices include contemplative prayer, chanting, journaling, spiritual walking, <i>lectio divina</i> Bible study. There is no “right” contemplative practice. It is a very personal process of discovering what helps <i>you</i> to let go so that you may experience God’s presence in a more immediate way.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">This may sound self-serving, but one at least quasi-spiritual practice I’ve enjoyed over the last three years is riding my motorcycle. While it’s not so helpful while riding straighter roads or dodging traffic on city streets, when I find myself on roads that have sustained stretches of curves, all that matters is looking through the curve, then into and through the next curve. All I pay attention to is the road, its surface, and the indicators of how tight a given curve may be—the tree line, guardrails, power lines. I don’t look at the speedometer. I just feel the bike, the engine, the lean, and, by now, my hands and feet change the gears as needed without much conscious input. They know by feel, for instance, when to downshift and when not to (i.e. in the middle of a curve!). When negotiating curves, I enter a mindset during which everything else falls away. I am uniquely open to the moment, and my normally highly-distractible mind is both intensely focused and blissfully free.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">A similar <i>kenosis</i> happens when I am in the throes of writing a sermon or a song. Something within me awakens, stirs, and will not be ignored. In attending to that energy, other things fall away, and I am open to what wants to be heard, experienced, and, ultimately, said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Because things like riding and writing are more active disciplines, they are not <i>kenotic</i> practices in the strict sense. They are, however, activities through which one may begin implementing lessons learned through authentic contemplative practices. They become touchstones that reveal how contemplation and <i>kenosis</i>aren’t such foreign ideas after all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">In today’s context, <i>kenotic </i>practice in some form is extremely important, even life-giving. It’s a way to jettison all the unavoidable angst and noise of a world in chaotic flux. Contemplative disciplines help us learn to reflect and respond in healthier and more faithful ways because we do so from a place of intimacy with God.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Almost everything around us is changing. And while tomorrow will not look like the past we remember and romanticize, God remains faithful. God remains the source and ground of being, of love, of hope, and of restorative justice. Making space for people to learn to linger in God’s <i>Presence</i>—and to learn to <i>want</i> to—may be the most important work of any faith community right now.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds today, tomorrow, and always.<o:p></o:p></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-5117582745289061972023-10-29T09:39:00.003-07:002023-10-29T09:39:33.307-07:00The Journey of Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The Journey of Grace”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Psalm 139:1-12 and Romans 4:1-5, 13-17<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10/29/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">O</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, you have searched me and known me.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>You know when I sit down and when I rise up;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you discern my thoughts from far away.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>You search out my path and my lying down</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and are acquainted with all my ways.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>Even before a word is on my tongue,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">O</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><span class="text">, you know it completely.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>5 </sup></b>You hem me in, behind and before,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and lay your hand upon me.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b>Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">it is so high that I cannot attain it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Where can I go from your spirit?</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Or where can I flee from your presence?</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>8 </sup></b>If I ascend to heaven, you are there;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>9 </sup></b>If I take the wings of the morning</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>10 </sup></b>even there your hand shall lead me,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and your right hand shall hold me fast.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>11 </sup></b>If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and night wraps itself around me,”</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>12 </sup></b>even the darkness is not dark to you;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the night is as bright as the day,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for darkness is as light to you.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Psalm 139:1-12<span style="background: white;"> – <b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? <b><sup>2 </sup></b>For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” <b><sup>4 </sup></b>Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. <b><sup>5 </sup></b>But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">13 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">14 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">15 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">16 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">17 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. </span></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<span style="background: white;">Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 – <b>NRSV</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I’ve said this before, but Paul often comes across as if he’s trying to win an argument rather than to share a timeless mystery. And when I read some of Paul’s densest and most convoluted passages, something in me recoils. I feel like I’m back in high school physics—a subject I never grasped and was able to flunk with such efficiency as to make failure look, well, effortless.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Over the years, I’ve learned that, when reading Paul, it helps to step back, as if viewing a pointillist or impressionist painting in which the individual dots or brush strokes reveal their secrets and their beauty only in relationship to the rest of the dots or brush strokes. Paul is using all those rhetorical twists and turns to say that God deals with humankind on the basis of grace. Grace is hard for human beings, though. It’s just too <i>gracious</i>, especially when we stand so close to the canvass that all we can see is the flaws in ourselves and others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When standing back from Paul’s letters, and by that I mean not obsessing over each statement but looking at his work as a whole, we begin to hear him proclaiming that to profess faith in Jesus on the one hand, and then to qualify grace on the other almost inevitably leads to religious legalism. Paul’s own version of that legalism was his Pharisaism—his certainty that those who followed Jesus did not deserve a voice, or peace of mind, or even the right to live. So, he persecuted them until God intervened and made Paul a disciple of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Paul understood that when one’s belonging in God must be proven or deserved, grace no longer refers to God’s radical gift of love. It refers to God merely withholding vengeance. That means <i>we</i> have to suppress God’s anger by regurgitating pious formulas. And if <i>we</i> have to activate God’s redemption—even if only by “accepting” it—we are saved by <i>our</i> action, not by God’s grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now, Paul knows his audience. The Romans argue and debate, and Paul speaks that language. So, he uses complicated dialectic to engage his readers. What makes that tricky is that he’s trying to into invite them into a faith that has more in common with an artistic process than with constructing a winning argument. So, he invites them into the story of Abraham.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We referred to Abraham’s story just last week. And in that story, God tells Abraham, “Go.” And Abraham goes. He leaves his home trusting that God will guide him, accompany him, and meet him when he reaches his destination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Even in the first century Abraham’s story was ancient, so Paul uses it as a kind of mural, a spiritual portrait. The apostle wants his readers to enter and experience the story the same way Abraham begins his journey—by faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When Paul speaks of Abraham’s faith being “reckoned as righteousness,” he’s not referring to a characteristic of law-abiding citizens. He’s talking about the spiritual gift of trust. While trust is a gift that cannot be earned, it does have to be learned. And practiced. Writing to Roman Christians, Paul is trying to motivate and empower them to share the stories of faith with other Romans. He wants them to say to their neighbors, <i>Come, listen to this story about a man named Jesus</i>.<i> Enter it. Experience it. Trust it. There’s new life in it!<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To be transformed by story rather than argument takes a different kind of openness. It takes the openness of faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Faith,” says the writer of Hebrews, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (<i>Hebrews 11:1</i>) Then he, like Paul, recalls the ancient, archetypal stories of faith. In a kind of litany, he says:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“By faith, Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“By faith, Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land…” (<i>Selected verses from Hebrews 11</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">These stories <i>story</i> us toward an identity, purpose, and hope that formulas and arguments cannot convey.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During officer training, the most interesting discussions we have usually occur during our review of Church history. What makes us Christian is not the doctrines we profess, but the story we share. That story goes all the way back to Abraham. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all claim that story. And while each tradition takes a different trajectory, we all have to name and confess the errors and brutalities that our stories have committed and continue to commit in the name of God. Sadly, most errors and brutalities occur when we try to make righteousness a matter of principle and process instead of open-ended, love-actioned faith, that is, when we try to make faith a legalistic matter rather than God’s ongoing story of grace. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus says, “‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and…soul, and…mind…And ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (<i>Mt. 22:36-40</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Paul says the same thing to the Romans: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder…steal…[or] covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love” says Paul, “is the fulfilling of the law.” (<i>Romans 13:9-10</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Neither righteousness nor love can be proved through argument. They’re not academic courses to pass or fail. Because love and righteousness are about relationship, God <i>stories</i> us toward and into the journey of grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Over the centuries, the Church has, in many ways, retreated into the ways of gracelessness, the ways of meritocracy and imperial religion. That retreat has led to the church colluding with materialism and violent power. And nothing about that is consistent with the ways of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Living by grace, dares us to commit ourselves to the unsentimental, action-oriented love that overcomes fear, that defies every institution and every voice that sows selfishness, suspicion, and division.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While our individual lives may often feel as insignificant as single dots or brush strokes on the canvas of Creation, when we live according to the ways of God’s expansive, welcoming, reconciling love, we participate in God’s power of resurrection already at work in the world. Along this path of pure grace, God is transforming all things into one. And on this pathway, righteousness weaves our garment. Joy and thanksgiving inspire our song. Compassion tells our story. And justice is the footprint we leave behind.</span> </p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-7953994322390737352023-10-22T10:47:00.005-07:002023-10-22T10:47:58.138-07:00And He Was Speechless (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“And He Was Speechless”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Genesis 12:1-4a and Matthew 22:1-14<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10/22/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I will bless those who bless you,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">those who curse you I will curse;</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">all the families of the earth</span><br /><span class="indent-3-breaks"> </span><span class="text">will be blessed because of you.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Abram left just as the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">told him.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<b><span style="background: white;">CEB</span></b><span style="background: white;">)</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don’t really like Matthew’s rendering of the parable of the wedding banquet. I much prefer the kinder, gentler version in Luke 14. It helps, though, to understand two things about Matthew’s context. First is the wider context. Matthew is often called the gospel to the Jews, so one can imagine Matthew as a kind of updated version of the call to Abraham. God is telling Israel, <i>Go, to new land! I’ll let you know when you get there</i>. Second is the immediate context.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In Matthew 21, Jesus drives moneychangers and merchants out of the temple. Now, the people aren’t evil, but they have traded faithfulness to God for membership in an institution which has begun to exist for its own sake. That institution cannot fully carry out its call to be a blessing, a call that dates back to the call of Abraham. So, while Jesus is brimming with passion, he’s not motivated by anger or vengeance. His heart is breaking. And rather than saying, <i>All you bad people get out,</i> he’s saying, <i>This is not who we are! We’re better than this!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The morning after Jesus clears the temple, he curses a fig-less fig tree. That seems harsh, but a fig tree without figs is good only for shade, then maybe kindling and compost. Similarly, a spiritless spiritual community is nothing but a consumer of resources. Having abandoned its spiritual center and its prophetic voice, such a community has given up on mystery, holiness, and its <i>for-the-sake-of-others</i>blessedness. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> After cursing the fig tree, Jesus returns to the temple. Still upset, the leaders confront Jesus. They question his authority. And he tells them that tax collectors and prostitutes have a higher standing in God’s realm of grace than those who sell themselves to power by making temple finances more important than the people and their ministry. Then Jesus tells a parable in which a landowner sends his servants, and later his son to collect a harvest. After the workers murder the servants and the son, the landowner obliterates all the workers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Therefore,” says Jesus to the leaders of Israel, “I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit.” (<i>Mt. 21:43</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The leaders want to arrest Jesus, but they fear the crowds who love him. Enslaved to their institutional power and privilege, they are speechless. Into that troubled silence, Jesus tells his next parable:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus responded by speaking again in parables: <b><sup>2 </sup></b>“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding party for his son. <b><sup>3 </sup></b>He sent his servants to call those invited to the wedding party. But they didn’t want to come. <b><sup>4 </sup></b>Again he sent other servants and said to them, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look, the meal is all prepared. I’ve butchered the oxen and the fattened cattle. Now everything’s ready. Come to the wedding party!”’ <b><sup>5 </sup></b>But they paid no attention and went away—some to their fields, others to their businesses. <b><sup>6 </sup></b>The rest of them grabbed his servants, abused them, and killed them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The king was angry. He sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and set their city on fire. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding party is prepared, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>Therefore, go to the roads on the edge of town and invite everyone you find to the wedding party.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Then those servants went to the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding party was full of guests. <b><sup>11 </sup></b>Now when the king came in and saw the guests, he spotted a man who wasn’t wearing wedding clothes. <b><sup>12 </sup></b>He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he was speechless. <b><sup>13 </sup></b>Then the king said to his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet and throw him out into the farthest darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">14 </span></sup></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Many people are invited, but few people are chosen.”</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<b>CEB</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This parable and the stories preceding it unsettle me. And isn’t that the intent? The Pharisee within me cringes because the stories expose my own pettiness, self-righteousness, and laziness. The 21<sup>st</sup>-century Christian in me rankles at all of that violence. The only part of me that tolerates these stories is that smug, first-world <i>religionist</i> within me who allows political and religious institutions to create in me suspicion, fear, and judgment of people I don’t understand and <i>don’t want to</i> understand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I deal with that guy every day. He always hears Jesus agreeing with him. He assumes that God is as small, vindictive, and merciless as I can be. Like those who were invited to the wedding banquet, he makes light of the invitation. He’s more interested in looking busy in an office than he is in following Jesus in the world. Like a shark smelling blood, he enters the feeding frenzy of acrimony and insult where neighbors attack each other with weapons and with words—resentful, polarizing, Christ-crucifying words.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the presence of that spiritless religionist, I lose my voice, and become a speechless wedding-crasher. Even when aware of the brokenness around me, I tell myself that I’m just trying, in trying times, to hold together a congregation of varied theological and political viewpoints. And that’s not a bad goal—unless all I’m <i>really</i> trying to do is hold onto affirming comments and an income. So, I spin my speechlessness as <i>pastoral sensitivity</i>. But whom does a speechless disciple really trust, worship, and serve?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The only time <i>Jesus</i> is speechless is when Pilate asks him if he’s the King of the Jews. Jesus says nothing because he’s already spoken with the Creation-transforming voice of his life.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> When the king in the parable confronts the man who has no robe, the man is “speechless.” He says nothing of gratitude to the king, no congratulations to the bride and groom. He says nothing to lament the short-sightedness of those who ignored the invitation. He says nothing about the injustice of all that God-denying revenge and murder. And no word of solidarity with the other guests.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Could it be that our wedding clothes are woven of words of prophetic, welcoming, and reconciling grace?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Now listen, I’m not advocating for works righteousness. We do not have to earn our place at the banquet. The parable is about responding to the call to live as ones <i>chosen</i> and <i>equipped</i> to bear the tangible and audible fruits of a truth-telling faith. It’s about living as embodied speech.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> As a Trappist monk, Thomas Merton took a vow of silence, but his spirited life was all about speaking, all about doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. Out of his silence he rendered such fruitful speech, both lived and written, that his life and words continue to challenge and nurture people of faith today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Whatever one’s particular gifts, and whatever the situation, speechlessness is not an option for disciples. Our words and actions are our figs, the fruit of our faithfulness. We claim our voice and speak not <i>in order to receive</i> God’s grace, but in bold and grateful response to having <i>already</i> <i>received</i> and <i>experienced</i> it. Speaking truth and justice to power is not easy, because power does not tolerate opposition, especially from prophetic voices driven by the love incarnated in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Christ speech—patient, humble, honest, truth-telling, and yes, challenging speech—is both our robe of righteousness to wear and our cross to bear. As the late John Lewis said, it lands us in “good trouble.” Faithful disciples cry out to humankind, <i>We are better than this. Let’s live our better selves!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> If all we want is a personal savior to <i>get us into heaven</i>, we’ll be satisfied with speechlessness, even in the face of injustice. And we’ll do far more to protect our comfortable religious institutions than to love the holy Mystery that is God. If Jesus is truly Lord of our lives and of our <i>living</i>, then we are more than an institution, more than this building. We are the living body of the living Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Daily concerns and challenges can wear us down, but they’re also opportunities to remember that our true calling is among a humanity who has forgotten that we live in a good and beautiful Creation which is made real and lively by an inviting and welcoming Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As followers of Jesus, our call is to go to “the roads on the edge of town” and invite everyone to God’s banquet, that great celebration where we find our true voice—a voice of gratitude, generosity, and justice-seeking love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-47418045108778681032023-10-15T11:29:00.003-07:002023-10-15T11:29:50.837-07:00Gateways of Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Gateways of Grace”</span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 65 and Matthew 6:28-33<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">10/15/23<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God of Zion, to you even silence is praise.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Promises made to you are kept—</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you listen to prayer—</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and all living things come to you.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b>When wrongdoings become too much for me,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you forgive our sins.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>4 </sup></b>How happy is the one you choose to bring close,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the one who lives in your courtyards!</span><br /><span class="text">We are filled full by the goodness of your house,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">by the holiness of your temple.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In righteousness you answer us,</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">by your awesome deeds,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">God of our salvation—</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you, who are the security</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">of all the far edges of the earth,</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">even the distant seas.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">You establish the mountains by your strength;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you are dressed in raw power.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>7 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">You calm the roaring seas;</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">calm the roaring waves,</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">calm the noise of the nations.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>8 </sup></b>Those who dwell on the far edges</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">stand in awe of your acts.</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">You make the gateways</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">of morning and evening sing for joy.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>9 </sup></b>You visit the earth and make it abundant,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">enriching it greatly</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">by God’s stream, full of water.</span><br /><span class="text">You provide people with grain</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">because that is what you’ve decided.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>10 </sup></b>Drenching the earth’s furrows,</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">leveling its ridges,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you soften it with rain showers;</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">you bless its growth.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>11 </sup></b>You crown the year with your goodness;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">your paths overflow with rich food.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>12 </sup></b>Even the desert pastures drip with it,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and the hills are dressed in pure joy.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>13 </sup></b>The meadowlands are covered with flocks,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">the valleys decked out in grain—</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they shout for joy;</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they break out in song!</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<span style="background: white;">Psalm 65 – <b>CEB</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="woj"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">28And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">31Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">33Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> (<span style="background: white;">Matthew 6:28-33 – <b><i>CEB</i></b>)</span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Late in these fall afternoons, as Marianne is shuffling pots and pans while cooking, or as I am shuffling pots and pans while washing dishes, one of us often hollers at the other from our west-facing living room. “Come look at this!” we say. When all the playful ingredients of physics come together just right, we stand at the window in awe of the brilliant fires of sunset.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Sunrise and sunset happen every day. And some days the colors are more vivid and varied than others. Still, both sunset and sunrise can be hypnotizing wonders, experiences to enter rather than mere sights to behold.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">So, with the psalmist we declare: “You make the gateways of the morning and the evening sing for joy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> To imagine sunrise and sunset as joyful </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">gateways</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> calls our attention to them as holy moments. And while their bright, lava-lamp magic isn’t a unique occurrence, each event is kind of like seeing a new painting by the same artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">There’s never even a moment when those gateways are not singing for joy, because just as it’s always “five o’clock somewhere,” the sun is always rising somewhere and setting somewhere else. Even when it’s noon or midnight for us, at some far edge, someone stands at the gateway of the morning and someone else at the gateway of the evening. Like grace itself, these numinous gateways are a continuous presence on the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The psalmist’s reference to </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">those who dwell on the far edges</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> asks us to think not only of those who live far away, but those who lived before us, and those who lie many generations beyond us—citizens of a future we can’t imagine, but to whom we are responsible. How we live on this earth, the steps we take to treasure it and care for it right now, these are our <i>shouts of joy</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> and songs of praise</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">. They’re signs of our love for ancestors, for neighbors, for descendants, and thus, for God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Praise is itself a kind of gateway. And while songs of thanksgiving can express human gratitude for God’s generosity, praise is about far more than the giddiness of getting or the happiness of having. Whether spoken or embodied, true praise acknowledges the limits of human understanding. The only certainty declared by praise is the incomprehensible fact of existence itself. How did we get here if not by some ineffable love? Beneath and beyond all the terrifying turmoil, life is a breathtaking wonder! Like music, awe is a universal language, and it opens portals to new ways of seeing the world, of knowing and being known, and of loving God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Water is another central symbol of Psalm 65—</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God’s stream, full of water.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> And along with sunlight and earth, the holy flow of water creates the life-giving vibrancy and the life-sustaining abundance on which all things depend. When reading this psalm, one begins to see that the source of the earth’s life and liveliness doesn’t hover in the heavens but churns deep within the earth herself. </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The hills are dressed in pure joy</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">, says the psalmist. </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The meadowlands are covered with flocks, the valleys decked out in grain—they shout for joy; they break out in song</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The affirmations of sun and water, coastline and mountain, meadow and forest invite us to see God’s incarnate presence in the very earth from which all life arises and to which all life returns. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> When we allow ourselves to embrace the Creation as Incarnation, how can we possibly allow ourselves to take the earth for granted? A megachurch pastor once declared that God “intended” for the earth to be a “disposable planet.”<sup>1</sup> It seems to me that the writer of Psalm 65 would weep and gnash his teeth at such ingratitude for and desecration of God’s immediate presence through the Creation. A disposable planet does not <i>dress itself with flocks</i>. It doesn’t <i>deck itself with grain</i>. It doesn’t <i>shout and sing for joy</i>. That pastor’s awelessness leads to more than poor stewardship. It becomes the cancer of selfish apathy that consumes the Creation by allowing us to turn blind eyes toward injustice, poverty, war, and humankind’s wanton abuse of the environment. The earth may have a life cycle, but if it’s disposable, then so are we. And <i>no lives </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">matter</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">. And that is contrary to the witness of scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Psalm 65 presents a vision not unlike Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom in which<span style="background: white;">“The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat…[and] They won’t hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain. [And the] earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the </span>Lord, just as<span style="background: white;"> the water covers the sea.” (<i>From Isaiah 11:6-9 - CEB</i>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The psalmist is convinced of the God-purposed goodness of the Creation, the very same goodness affirmed in the stories of Genesis 1 and 2, and reaffirmed in Revelation 21 with the prophecy of “a new heaven and a new earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In no way is the psalmist unaware of the challenges to that vision or to the arguments that question the Creation’s fundamental goodness. He might be grieved by the horrific violence in the Middle East and in Ukraine right now, but he would not be surprised by it. That’s why confesses human <i>iniquity</i> and <i>transgression</i>. His song of praise is his impassioned <i>Nonetheless</i>. Psalm 65 is his declaration of faith that “God’s stream” will continue to flow and to bless to the earth. It’s also his vow to live in faithfulness to God who<i> calms the roaring waves </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">and</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> the noise of the nations</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">, and who redeems the Creation so that the earth may <i>sing and shout for joy</i>, again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Psalm 65 calls us to live, individually and corporately, as visible and tangible signs of God’s presence. When we pledge ourselves to lives of grateful praise, we can become gateways of grace, witnesses to God’s desire and power to fill deserts with rain, hopelessness with hope, and brokenness with wholeness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">As Christians reading this ancient Jewish text, we claim that Jesus is the unique incarnation of the same God incarnated in the Creation as a whole. As </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God Incarnate</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">, Jesus enters the world as an expression of God’s own praise, of God’s own delight in and pledge to the Creation. As the body of Christ, then, we are called to be a place where every Friday finds its Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Today is the first Sunday of our stewardship month, and when we commit ourselves to God through a particular congregation, we pledge more than money. We pledge ourselves to living as gateways of grace. The praises we sing, the missions we do, the care we offer each other, the study, laughter, tears, and meals we share—all of this is praise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Whatever the constraints and challenges of any given moment, we are called and equipped to be a fertile field, an overflowing pasture, a meadow clothed in flocks, and a valley decked out with an abundance of grain. Even when the tumult around us is loud and violent, God calls and equips us to live in grateful wonder, to “shout and sing together for joy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">1</span></sup><a href="https://theconversation.com/god-intended-it-as-a-disposable-planet-meet-the-us-pastor-preaching-climate-change-denial-147712" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">https://theconversation.com/god-intended-it-as-a-disposable-planet-meet-the-us-pastor-preaching-climate-change-denial-147712</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-42851661038155150002023-10-02T05:30:00.003-07:002023-10-04T06:36:37.323-07:00Neither Death Nor Life (Sermon)<p align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">“Neither Death Nor Life”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Psalm 23 and Romans 8:26-39<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">10/1/23<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">The</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">is my shepherd; I shall not want.</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">He makes me lie down in green pastures;</span><br /><span class="text">he leads me beside still waters;</span> <br /><span class="text"><b><sup>3 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">he restores my soul.</span> <br /><span class="text">He leads me in right paths</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">for his name’s sake.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Even though I walk through the darkest valley,</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> <br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I fear no evil,</span><br /><span class="text">for you are with me;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">your rod and your staff,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they comfort me.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">You prepare a table before me</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in the presence of my enemies;</span><br /><span class="text">you anoint my head with oil;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my cup overflows.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>6 </sup></b>Surely</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">goodness and mercy</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="text">shall follow me</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">all the days of my life,</span><br /><span class="text">and I shall dwell in the house of the</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="small-caps">Lord</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">my whole life long.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">(<span style="background: repeat white;">Psalm 23 – <b>NRSV</b>)</span><b><u><span style="background: repeat white;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><b><u><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: repeat white; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><span class="woj"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><br clear="all" /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">26 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes<sup> </sup>with groanings too deep for words.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">27 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">And God,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">28 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">We know that all things work together<sup> </sup>for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">29 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. <b><sup> 30 </sup></b>And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">31 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">32 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">33 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.<b><sup>34 </sup></b>Who is to condemn? It is Christ</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">35 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">36 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">As it is written,</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">“For your sake we are being killed all day long;</span></i></span><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">37 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">38 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">39 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">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></span><span class="text"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">(<span style="background: repeat white;">Romans 8:26-39 – </span><b><i><span style="background: repeat white;">NRSV</span></i></b><span style="background: repeat white;">)</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> Every human community has its share of hurt to deal with. And while no one in this room is running from drone strikes or dying from malaria, none of us remain untouched by some kind of illness, loss, or anxiety.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> In Romans 8, Paul talks about the Spirit helping us when we are weary, and praying for us when our own words fail.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">He talks about being known by God, about being <i>predestined</i> to bear the image of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> He talks about things working together for good whenever our actions are fueled by love for God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> And when we embody God’s love, says Paul—that is, when we follow the path of humility, compassion, and justice for the oppressed—God stands with us in such a way that any who stand against us don’t stand a chance. Not in the long run.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> I know that Paul is writing to encourage new Christians who are suffering persecutions that we can’t imagine. Still, after reading the assurances of this chapter, it feels a little bit like listening to the Good Witch in <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>. Even when he says exactly what we want to hear, Paul can come across as a little pie-in-the-sky.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">Then again, that’s not entirely fair to Paul.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> While some biblical passages do say that God protects the faithful from suffering, the overwhelming witness of scripture, and of life experience, exposes that idea as wishful thinking at best. And at worst it’s a futile attempt to protect and preserve a distorted and distorting image of God—the image of God as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> Let’s go back to Paul’s promise. With the deep conviction, born of his own experiences of suffering and of<i> causing suffering</i>, he says that God stands faithfully with us and sees us through: “hardship...distress...persecution...famine...nakedness...peril…[and] sword.” And this very assurance itself declares the equally trustworthy promise that human beings will endure such trials. Regardless of God’s presence with us, regardless of our faithful intentions, and regardless of whether we think any given experience of suffering is <i>deserved</i> or <i>undeserved</i>, human existence includes suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> While that sounds depressing, maybe even fatalistic, the gospel being revealed through Jesus does not allow us to associate faith and faithfulness with lives of perfect ease. And it seems to me that to suggest otherwise is to lead oneself and others into denial, and, ultimately, into violence, because the only way one can create the <i>illusion</i> of avoiding suffering is by causing others to suffer.</span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I'm not saying there's a literal and eternal hell. But if there is, it’s not something we have to wait on. To do more than imagine hell: Twist greed into a virtue. Impugn the humanity and dignity of others. Cultivate division. Seek retribution. Do these things and a life of hellish misery will certainly follow, because the only way to do them is by denying the image of God within oneself and others.</span>Paul knows about such hell. As a former persecutor of Christians, he helped to create it. So, when he talks about <i>being killed all day long</i> and being <i>accounted as sheep to be slaughtered</i>, he is both commiserating with the current experience of the Roman Christians and confessing his own past sins. Then, Paul turns and declares hope and deliverance not just <i>from</i> the deep quagmire of suffering, but <i>within</i> it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> “I am convinced,” he says, “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” <i>can separate us from the love of God in Christ</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> I hear Paul saying that even in the midst of the worst that the world can throw at us, we can still love as we are loved. We can still love ourselves and others the way Jesus loves the Pharisees who harass him, the way he loves the disciples who abandon him, and the way Jesus loves even the soldiers who blindly follow the order to crucify him. <i>That </i>is the love from which we cannot be separated. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> You and I, we are equal parts recipients and bearers of the love that is creating and redeeming the universe. And the point of Paul’s teaching, like the point of Jesus’ life itself, is that God calls us to be signs and demonstrations of God’s love in, with, and for a suffering creation. God intentionally makes us aware of suffering so that, as followers and imitators of Christ, we might enter that suffering with healing and redeeming love for everyone and everything that suffers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> This Wednesday will mark the completion of my 13th year as pastor of Jonesborough Presbyterian Church. Over these years, I’ve witnessed you enflesh the gospel in countless ways. You have struggled and suffered with friends and loved ones as they have struggled and suffered. And you don’t withhold that blessing. You don’t make membership in this congregation a prerequisite for care. In love, you have stood in solidarity with neighbors in this community to proclaim that God’s unbounded love does not play favorites, that the household of grace welcomes all people. You have, as Paul also says to the Romans, <i>rejoiced with those who rejoice and wept with those who weep</i>. (Romans 12:15) And, with <i>sighs too deep for words,</i> you have prayed with and for each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> Even now, you are at work declaring the relentless love of God in Christ. And I stand in grateful awe of all of that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> Now, our work is never perfectly done, nor is it ever complete. God continually calls us into a world, a culture, and a denomination that are always changing, always growing and becoming. Our challenge is to allow the ever-present, ever-praying Spirit to lead us into ever more daring and ever more vivid expressions of God’s relentless love for the Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> So, even as we affirm ourselves, let’s ask ourselves: Are there people in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our church, our families for whom we just cannot muster the energy to love with the kind of love with which we are loved? The answer to that question is always <i>Yes.</i> And yet, even now, with deep, wordless sighs, the Spirit is calling us to and equipping us for a love we may not be able to receive or offer right now. We may not even be able to conceive of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt;">If that’s true for any of us, we can take heart. Christ’s table of grace and renewal is set before us this morning. And at his table, he feeds us with his own embodied holiness, with his own prayerful Spirit, and with the very energy and courage that animated his own life. He feeds us with all of that so that we may receive and share the love of God—the love from which we cannot, under any circumstance, be separated.</span> </p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1299686054696558579.post-62037657340399844702023-09-24T09:44:00.001-07:002023-09-24T09:44:23.308-07:00Scandalous Grace (Sermon)<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Scandalous Grace”</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Psalm 105:1-2, 37-45 and Matthew 20:1-16<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Allen Huff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jonesborough Presbyterian Church<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">9/24/23<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="text" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Give thanks to the</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="small-caps" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lord</span></i></span><span class="text" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">;</span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">call upon his name;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">make his deeds known to all people!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>2 </sup></b>Sing to God;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">sing praises to the Lord;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">dwell on all his wondrous works!</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="line" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Then God brought Israel out, filled with silver and gold;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">not one of its tribes stumbled.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>38 </sup></b>Egypt celebrated when they left,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">because the dread of Israel had come upon them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="line" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">39 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="text"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">God spread out clouds as a covering;</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">gave lightning to provide light at night.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>40 </sup></b>The people asked, and God brought quail;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">God filled them full with food from heaven.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>41 </sup></b>God opened the rock and out gushed water—</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">flowing like a river through the desert!</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>42 </sup></b>Because God remembered his holy promise</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">to Abraham his servant,</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>43 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">God brought his people out with rejoicing,</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">his chosen ones with songs of joy.</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>44 </sup></b>God gave them the lands of other nations;</span><br /><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">they inherited the wealth of many peoples—</span><br /><span class="text"><b><sup>45 </sup></b></span><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">all so that they would keep his laws</span><br /><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and observe his instructions.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(<span style="background: white;">Psalm 105:1-2, 37-45 – <b>CEB</b>)</span></span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">he sent them into his vineyard.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">3 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing.</span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.’</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">5 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And they went.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">7 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“He responded, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">8 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">9 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion.</span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">10 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">11 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">12 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">13 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion?</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">14 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">15 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span class="text"><b><i><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">16 </span></sup></i></b></span><span class="woj"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (<span style="background: white;">Matthew 20:1-16 – <b>CEB</b>)</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> In Genesis, God tells Abram, “I will make of you a great nation and will bless you…[and] all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you.” (Genesis 12:2a, 3b)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Unlike other nations, though, this new, <i>blessed to be a blessing</i> nation will linger through the ages not because of glorious cities and powerful armies. This nation-within-the-nations identifies itself by <i>doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God</i>. (Micah 6:8) Israel’s defining characteristics derive from her signature innovation—monotheism. The people proclaim <i>Yahweh,</i> the Holy <i>One</i>who creates, sustains, and redeems, all things, everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> In the experience of the Exodus, and in the giving of the law, we see only the preliminary markings of Israel’s foundation. While under construction, the Hebrews learn to trust and follow God—no matter where they are, no matter their joys or sufferings. And when the people do suffer, God sends prophets to call them back to the ways of <i>hesed</i>—the ways of steadfast love. <i>To be restored</i>, say the prophets, <i>care for those who cannot care for themselves. Work for and demand justice from the powerful and the privileged. Embody humility, hospitality, gratitude, and generosity.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Faithfulness to God becomes complicated, though. And many generations into Israel’s existence, when she is still barely a toddler, God, through Isaiah, says, <i>I understand how difficult this is for you, so remember,</i> “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my” <i>thoughts and ways higher than yours.</i> (<i>Isaiah 55:9</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When Jesus shows up, he reminds us that God’s creation of the new community continues to be a work in progress. With one disruptive teaching after another, Jesus pushes the spiritual, social, economic, and political ethics of <i>hesed</i> to a whole new level. And he reveals that God is, frankly, not entirely fair. And yet it’s God’s lack of fairness that reveals God’s unfathomable grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, those who worked only the last hour receive the same pay as those who worked all day. And like the Hebrews grumbling in the wilderness, those who worked all day grumble at the vineyard owner’s scandalous generosity. When confronted with pure grace, a heart driven by ego and narrow dualism will protest saying, <i>That’s not fair!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A preaching professor in seminary began a sermon one time by saying he had some bad news and some good news. The bad news was that God isn’t fair. The good news was that God isn’t fair.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> It seems to me that the grumbling of the workers sums up human sin. Human beings have always been obsessed with measuring the value of others over against the value we place on ourselves or our groups. And while it is harmful to under-value ourselves, God compels us to accept as equals even <i>those people</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, whoever <i>they</i> are. And this can perplex the dual mind with its <i>black-white, us-them </i>mentality. Indeed, it can become as offensive as the Hebrews’ suggestion that one God, <i>their God</i>, created and watches over the whole world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All around that world today, people cry out in anguish, desperate to be recognized as fully human. And their cries are often met with the grumblings of those who don’t understand, and who feel threatened by calls for equality and action for justice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I feel the anger and grief of those whose humanity has been ignored and attacked. And as a follower of Jesus, I try to stand in solidarity with them because they are children of God who bear God’s image. I am no more valuable than someone languishing in the slums of Baltimore or Bangladesh, or locked up in prison. And when I act as if my life matters more than theirs, I’m a worker grumbling at the end of the day because I don’t want to imagine them as equals before God. And when I’m honest, I have to admit that because of the skin, family, and culture into which I was born, I received more than a day’s wage before I even showed up! So, when I grumble, my own condemnation lies in my grumbling. When I grumble, I reject the grace of God who does not need my permission to love and to value all that God has created. That’s when God says to me, <i>Allen, </i>“</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Now—I also feel angry and grieved when cries for equality and justice turn violent. Violence redeems nothing. That’s the very point of the cross in the Christian faith. The Church has too-often claimed that God was so perplexed and offended by human sin that if there were to be heaven at all, there had to be hell to pay. Someone had to die. So, God sacrificed Jesus to satisfy God’s fury and to restore God’s ability to love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As I’ve said many times: Any god who requires violence to be restored to wholeness is a golden calf, an idol made in our image. The cross does not reveal God’s wrath in the face of human sin. The cross reveals human frailty when it meets the height, and depth, and breadth of God’s grace. God did not demand Jesus’ death. <i>We</i> did. <i>We</i> killed Jesus because he was just too good to be true.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jesus loves beyond the boundaries set by tradition. He offers a full day’s wage to last-hour hires. And yet, because God’s grace has no end, even our brutal violence against God Incarnate, does not condemn us forever. Friday is not the last word. Sunday is. Sunday is also the first word of new beginnings. Sunday lays new foundations. New promises. New hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> “If I were to name the Christian religion,” says Richard Rohr, “I would probably call it ‘The Way of the Wound.’ Jesus agrees to be the Wounded One, and…we…come to God not through our strength but through our weakness.”<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The parable of the workers in the vineyard proclaims God’s incomprehensible grace. And in doing so, it exposes human weakness. It exposes our self-consuming appetite to see ourselves as superior to others. And even <i>that</i> is grace because before grace saves us, it scandalizes us into wakefulness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Before grace can make a difference in our lives, we have to admit our aversion to grace. We confess our religious devotion to things like materialism, individualism, and retribution. And we must acknowledge the various Christ-denying supremacies of race, status, and culture to which that religion leads. When we surrender to the scandal of grace, we begin to recognize and celebrate God’s Sunday love for all people and all Creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I love all of you,</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> says Jesus<i>. There is no black or white, rich or poor, male or female. </i></span><i><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So, receive </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">my love. Receive it for the sake of others as well as for your own sake. It comes to you by grace alone.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And when latecomers receive what you have received, celebrate with them. For you, as a nation-within-the-nations, are a sign of God’s household of grace.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And when you just can’t comprehend God’s grace,</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> says Jesus,<i> share it. The best way to understand that there is enough for everyone is by giving something away—especially to those who don’t seem to deserve it.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1</span></sup><a href="https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/49CA59C9E571AF9C2540EF23F30FEDED/A2AE94689C106E613D3F7F9A22A6E02E" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/49CA59C9E571AF9C2540EF23F30FEDED/A2AE94689C106E613D3F7F9A22A6E02E</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Allen Huffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15121609127351259749noreply@blogger.com0