“It’s finally over. . .  or is it just beginning”

RUMC December 27^th 2009

Everybody take a deep breath.  Christmas is finally over.  Maybe there are a few pending celebrations, like my family.  However, for the most part it is over.  Santa is hibernating or whatever it is that he does.  The gift-wrap has been ripped off the gifts.  The toys are assembled, charged, or broken.  The turkey has been gobbled up.  The tree will soon be taken down and the lights will once again be a tangled mess.  About all that’s left is the cookies, good memories and a desire to hibernate until spring. Right?

And that’s exactly what some Christians will do.  They will crawl into a spiritual cave until Easter and emerge to celebrate the risen and glorified Christ.  Not us though.  We want to read more than the dust jacket on the book of Jesus life. 

NOT ORDINARY- EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED

Christmas may seem like an ordinary holiday, like Memorial Day or thanksgiving.  But when thanksgiving is over it is over.  I promise you when Christmas day is over- Christmas is just beginning.

Notice the end of the Christmas narrative we read today- what did the shepherds do?  Did they just go back to work and forget about what happened?  NO_ they went back glorifying God and praising God for all they had seen.  Do you think they were the same after that?  I doubt it.

What about the Magi- do you suppose they were the same after their long journey that ended in worshipping the King of the Jews?  No- and the Bible alludes to that when it says they returned by a different route.

Do you suppose the innkeeper was the same after he saw this miracle?  Do you suppose he just put the animals back in the stall and went back to work?  Maybe, but I’ll bet his heart was changed.

No one walked away from that first Christmas unchanged.

And neither should we today!

John writes in the beginning was the word.  The word was with God and the word was God.  That word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Eugene Peterson writes this chapter in a tremendously earthy way.

“¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood, 
      and moved into the neighborhood. 
   We saw the glory with our own eyes, 
      the one-of-a-kind glory, 
      like Father, like Son, 
   Generous inside and out, 
      true from start to finish.

“The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”  God himself became flesh and blood and made himself at home in our hearts.   God in our own hearts.  How could we NOT be changed?

You see God does not just move into the neighborhood, he moves into our hearts.  Indeed God doesn’t just move into our hearts- he changes our hearts and lives.  God sets up camp right smack dab in the middle of our lives.

Christmas is not just about the new life of a baby in the manger.  Christmas is about life itself:  lives touched by God; lives changed by angel songs;  lives transformed by God in the flesh.. 

No one can really celebrate the Christ in Christmas without being changed forever.

CROSSROADS

SO- Here we stand at the crossroads;

Ø      God himself has created this intersection of the “eternal” and the “now” that we call Christmas? 

Ø      God Himself has created this meeting of the human and the divine? 

Ø      God Himself has caused this collision sinfulness of my heart  runs smack dab into the perfection of God in the flesh of Jesus Christ?  How can anyone walk away unchanged?

Instead of saying “Whew- I’m glad that is over let’s move on to the next thing.  I want us to stop for just a few minutes and let the spirit of Christmas really soak in.  Let’s marinade in it for a few minutes and think about how we have changed.  Or how we want to be changed because God has moved into our lives and changed everything.

LIFT OUR EYES UP, REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE.

First I want to suggest that this year we LIFT OUR EYES UP, REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE.  That is called worship.  Raising our eyes that our faces glow with the light of God’s love.  It includes raising our

Ø      voices in song,

Ø      our heats in praise, and our

Ø      Offerings in thanksgiving.

Worship is the number one most important purpose of human existence.  The Westminster catechism tells us that the chief end of man is to “glorify God, and know and enjoy him forever.”  In other words to worship.  Worship is

Ø      not getting charged up; though we hope that will happen.

Ø      It is not learning something; though we hope that will happen.

Ø      Worship is not first and foremost to help us  grow in our faith; though of course we hope that happens. 

The number one purpose of worship and in deed our lives is to adore God.  To humbly reflect back the same love to God that God has revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  In other words to Know God and glow with God’s love.

LIFT YOUR HEARTS DAILY SEEKING TO LIVE IN GOD’S LOVE.

Second, I call you to this year to LIFT YOUR HEARTS DAILY SEEKING TO LIVE IN GOD’S LOVE.  That is called discipleship.  When God’s love intersects with our lives, it doesn’t leave us the same.  We can’t help that. But it is quite a different thing to intentionally and habitually raise our heart to God asking God to change it and make it more like his.  Did you notice the Epistle reading from Philippians? Paul writes “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,”   I would say, not just the same mind, but “Let the same heart beat in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  A heart that beats with humility rather than pride. Obedience rather than self-satisfaction.  Sacrifice is more important than victory. 

Ø      Discipleship is praying “Not my will but thine,” AND MEANING IT.

Ø       Singing “Have thine own way lord.” AND MEANING IT  

and that is the second way Christmas should change us.

LIFT OUR HANDS TO GOD INTENTIONALLY SHARING GOD’S LOVE IN EVERY WAY WE CAN

Finally, a gift never given away is not really a gift is it?  So we LIFT OUR HANDS TO GOD INTENTIONALLY SHARING GOD’S LOVE IN EVERY WAY WE CAN. As we emerge from Christmas we have an obligation to share the gift we have received.   We found a lot of ways to practice sharing the gift through

Ø      OFFERINGS AND GIFTS this advent haven’t we? Society of Saint Andrew, Philippines, Operation Threshold, apportionments, and today, student day offering.  At Christmas his love flows through our

Ø      WORDS as we offer words of blessing and peace and joy to those to whom we might not normally speak.   We are called to let Christmas

Ø      LOVE flow through us as we love those whom we don’t understand or even like.  We let Christmas

Ø      PEACE flow thorough us as we make amends with those we have hurt or who have hurt us.  We let Christmas

Ø      HOPE flow thorough us as we walk and sit and live next to people who feel beaten down and powerless.   We let Christmas

Ø      JOY flow through us as others see us  respond to the disappointments and frustrations that abound in life.

Find ways then- Find ways to lift your hands to God- intentionally sharing God's love with everyone you can.

Now, I might get booed for this, but I am going to say it anyway.  Do you remember the series the dangerous church?  What I am talking about today is being a MANGEROUS CHURCH!

Sorry about that.

I am talking about being a MANGEROUS CHURCH one that changed once and for all. By God's miraculous and wonderful coming to us in Jesus Christ.

Consider midnight new year’s eve as an opportunity to not only stop smoking, start loosing weight. I call upon you to do something spiritual with it this year.

John Wesley encouraged his followers to renew their covenant with God as often as they could.  He created what he called a watch night service that was to be celebrated on New Year ’s Eve or day.  Maybe we will do that sometime, but this year- I call upon you to come to the church sometime on New Years Eve day or next weekend and spend some time in prayer.  Spend time praying about where you have been, how you have been changed and where you are going.  Make some simple plans to lift your eyes to God in adoration, your heart to God regularly and your hands to your neighbors even when it seems hard.   And then pray this covenant prayer we will pray in a few minutes.  Just you and God.  And really listen to the words.  If you listen to the words too closely, you will realize that next to “thy will be done” this is probably one of the most dangerous prayers of all time.    I’ll have copies laying here on the altar for you.  Come, use them, and then next Sunday we will gather again, pray the prayer together again and seal the covenant renewal with communion.

How will you respond to God's great gift in Christmas?  Hibernate until Easter?  Or start the New Year with a MANGEROUS faith?  It’s up to you.

I AM NO LONGER MY OWN, BUT THINE.

PUT ME TO WHAT THOU WILT, RANK ME WITH WHOM THOU WILT.

PUT ME TO DOING, PUT ME TO SUFFERING.

LET ME BE EMPLOYED FOR THEE OR LAID ASIDE FOR THEE,

EXALTED FOR THEE OR BROUGHT LOW FOR THEE.

LET ME BE FULL, LET ME BE EMPTY.

LET ME HAVE ALL THINGS, LET ME HAVE NOTHING.

I FREELY AND HEARTILY YIELD ALL THINGS TO THY PLEASURE AND DISPOSAL.

AND NOW, O GLORIOUS AND BLESSED GOD, FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT,

THOU ART MINE, AND I AM THINE.

SO BE IT.

AND THE COVENANT WHICH I HAVE MADE ON EARTH,

LET IT BE RATIFIED IN HEAVEN.

I AM NO LONGER MY OWN, BUT THINE.

PUT ME TO WHAT THOU WILT, RANK ME WITH WHOM THOU WILT.

PUT ME TO DOING, PUT ME TO SUFFERING.

LET ME BE EMPLOYED FOR THEE OR LAID ASIDE FOR THEE,

EXALTED FOR THEE OR BROUGHT LOW FOR THEE.

LET ME BE FULL, LET ME BE EMPTY.

LET ME HAVE ALL THINGS, LET ME HAVE NOTHING.

I FREELY AND HEARTILY YIELD ALL THINGS TO THY PLEASURE AND DISPOSAL.

AND NOW, O GLORIOUS AND BLESSED GOD, FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT,

THOU ART MINE, AND I AM THINE.

SO BE IT.

AND THE COVENANT WHICH I HAVE MADE ON EARTH,

LET IT BE RATIFIED IN HEAVEN. AMEN AND AMEN

Principles of generosity from Crown Financial

			December 2009
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		The principle of Generosity By Chuck Thompson MONEY MATTERS EDITOR & Jim Armstrong MANAGER OF CONTENT RESEARCH, WRITING, AND INTEGRITY When God taught us to give, He made Himself the ultimate example. Philippians 2:7-8 says that Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (ESV). Our Lord gave us the ultimate gift: Himself. And, He gave that gift willingly. In John 10:18 Jesus said regarding his life, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (ESV). Christians have much to be thankful for, and every reason to be generous. As King David said to God, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!” (1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT). Our giving is a reflection of God’s generosity to us. It’s an intentional plan by which we organize our lives. As part of that plan, here are five practical expressions of generosity that will allow God’s love and goodness to flow through you to others. 1. Establish the tithe as an expression of giving to God from the first of all you receive. The word tithe means tenth, and when you give back to God, you acknowledge His Lordship over every aspect of your life. This tangible act of your grateful heart is the foundation of generosity. In other words, it should never be considered a cap on your giving but a starting point. Examples of tithing appear early in the Bible. The first occurs when Abraham met Melchizedek, who was “a priest of God Most High,” and gave him one-tenth of all the goods he had recovered in battle (Genesis 14:17-20 NLT). The second occurs just 14 chapters later, when Jacob promised to give back to God one-tenth of all that God would give to him (Genesis 28:20-22). Later, God included tithing in Israel’s Mosaic Law, and in the book of Malachi, He tells the Jews to test Him regarding the tithe. “ ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows’ ” (Malachi 3:10 NASB). 2. Respond to God’s promptings to give from obedience. Obedience is the fruit of a relationship of trust between you and God. Abraham is an example of this trust. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (ESV). Crown cofounder Larry Burkett noted that Christians “who share as God commands receive the blessings of the Lord and the great harvest promised in Scripture.”1  In 2 Corinthians 9:8 Paul wrote,“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (NASB). Regarding this verse, Larry noted three promises: • God will make all grace abound in each one of us; • We will always have sufficiency for our needs; and • We will have an abundance for other good deeds.2 3. Get personally involved sharing time and talents. Money can never heal a broken spirit, cheer a grieving heart, or grow a relationship of love. But, a touch, a word, and a gracious act are valuable things that belong to God just as surely as your money. God dispenses them through you when and where, and to whom, He pleases. In his book, LifeFocus, Jerry Foster tells of a man named Jack, who coached his son’s youth basketball teams and organized and participated in basketball teams at his church. Recently Jack also bought season tickets for the college team in his town, and he enjoys taking other guys to the games with him.3 Foster also shares the story of Della, a craftsperson, whose “greatest joy is teaching crafts classes to small groups of women in her church and community and seeing others awaken their artistic skills.”4 4. Develop a systematic plan to cheerfully share from your abundance. Regardless of your individual financial state, you have some degree of abundance that can be shared. However, in God’s Economy, your good intentions only go as far as your faithful execution of them. Giving requires a plan and diligence in carrying out that plan. An example of this can be found in Paul’s instructions regarding a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem and the delivery of that collection. “On the first day of the week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once. When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem. And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me” (1 Corinthians 16:2-4 NLT). 5. Share sacrificially when called to do so. Ephesians 2:4-7 says that “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (NASB). In light of this, when you keep in mind the sacrificial love of God through Jesus, giving to others in His name—no matter the cost—results in joy. So, watch for sacrificial opportunities to become more closely conformed to His image through being generous!

God of Mercy and Justice- (Rev Robyn Plocher) 12/13 sermon

Sunday December 13, 2009

3^rd Sunday in Advent

Genesis 21:14-20A  Hagar’s Story

Matthew 23:23-24  Woe to Pharisees

God of Mercy and Justice

I was in my first appointment as a campus minister at Ball State University, Muncie, IN. Christy was one of our students at the Wesley Foundation.  During her freshman year, Christy began to experience unusual and frightening symptoms.  To make a very long story short, Christy traveled literally all over the world seeing specialists before she received the devastating diagnosis.  Christy had two extremely rare brain tumors.

 I was also nearing the end of my seminary years and writing my comprehensive theology.  In this paper I was expected to write in a comprehensive way all my beliefes about God.  I would be  graded on  how complete my theology was and how well my various beliefs about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, God's relationship with the church, how God works in history etc etc. –how well all of that hung together in a consistent and complimentary way.  I decided the foundation upon which I built my entire paper would be the premise that God is a God of love and justice.  In the final days of writing that paper, during lent of 1986, Christy and her parents flew to Argentina where she would have a still experimental surgical procedure.  This surgery had been done on only 11 people in the world.  6 had died on the table and five survived with permanent brain damage.  Whatever happened, Christy would set the odds.

We were thrilled to get the call from Christy’s grandmother that her surgery was over and she was awake and alert and doing wonderfully.  We rejoiced and praised God.  Then less than 24 hours later the second call came.  Christy threw a blood clot and died-at the age of 21.

Maybe I could still argue that God was love.  The testimony and integrity of Christy’s faith would allow for nothing less.  But if I were going to build by theology on the premise that God is just—God and I had some serious work to do, and a looming due date just days away. 

It may seem strange to talk of God’s mercy and justice in the same message, but it actually makes a great deal of sense.  Both mercy and justice are essential aspects of God’s character.  It is impossible really to consider one without consideration of the other.  It may seem as though they should be mutually exclusive – perhaps in this life they are.  But in God they cannot be. 

Let’s begin with Hagar’s story:  Hagar was a slave belonging to Abraham and his wife Sarah.  Abraham and Sara had been promised by Yahweh-God that Sarah would give birth to a son and through that son Abraham would become the father of many decendants-greater than the number of stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach.

But Sarah’s biological clock was ticking as they say.  She was already past child-bearing years and still no baby had been born to Abraham.  That’s when Sarah got the idea that she would give Hagar to Abraham and Hagar would carry and deliver Abrahams son.  It might seem a plan obviously fraught with difficulty if not immoral, but this was before God gave the ten commandments to Moses.  The Code of Hammurabi allowed for this type of arrangement between a man and a servant.  The man was obligated after the birth of the child not to sell this servant for money but to retain her as a maidservant. 

Hagar had no options.  She was a woman and a slave--powerless.  So the deal was done. Abraham slept with Hagar.  Hagar became pregnant.  And surprise, Sarah became jealous.  Hagar was not discreet about her joy over carrying Abraham’s son.  What followed had to be the longest 14 years in human history.  At one point things got so bad between Sarah and Hagar that Hagar ran away--and this was even before the child was born.  In the wilderness God came to Hagar and spoke to her.  God told her to return to Sarah and Abraham and take whatever was doled out to her.  But God also gave her a promise that her son, Ishmael, would be the father of a great nation.  After 14 years -When Abraham was 100 years old- Sarah finally became pregnant.  She gave birth to a son and named him Isaac.  Sarah can no longer abide the presence of Hagar and Ishmael in her home.  She asks Abraham to send them away into the wilderness.  He is deeply reluctant to do so, but God affirms this is the action he is to take.  Perhaps this was the only way to establish peace and marital harmony to Abraham’s household.  In any case, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away.  Days later, with no food and no water, Ishmael is near death.  Unable to watch her son die, Hagar lays him under a bush and moves away from that spot.  In despair she cries out to the God who once was audacious enough to speak to a slave woman…and God in mercy again hears her plea.  This is the scene you see depicted in the art on the screen.  Hagar in the Wilderness, unaware as yet that her plea has been heard and even now an angel descends to bring the message of God’s mercy.

The Hebrew word for mercy comes from the same root as the Hebrew word “womb”.  Mercy conjures images of brotherly love -love shared by those who have shared the same womb and motherly love. But mercy is more.   Mercy is God’s faithfulness, God’s steadfast love, God’s righteousness and God’s judgment. Mercy is all the loving deeds of Yahweh-God by which he faithfully keeps his covenant relationship with his people  & always these deeds are made known in a particular moment in history.

In the Hagar story we see God’s mercy in action when he makes the promise to her about her son’s descendants becoming a great nation.  We see it again when God saves Hagar and Ishmael after they have been banished from Abrahams home and tribe. In other  OT accounts we see God’s mercy in forgiveness that leads to reconciliation; deliverance from enemies; fulfillment of promises; return from exile and restoration of the land and cities; provision in the wilderness…and always God’s fulfillment of  the Mosaic covenant not out of obligation  or a sense of duty but out of love. 

This thought leads us rather nicely to our Gospel lesson.  Matthew 23: 13-26 begins what I like to call “The woes”.  Jesus is angry and he is calling to account the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy.   Al Robertson calls this passage “The rolling thunder of Christ’s wrath.”  Woe is a word that means both wrath and sorrow.  Jesus repeatedly pronounces “Woe to you, Pharisees…blind guides and hypocrites”. Jesus’s anger is real, but remember what I said last week about anger and love (cross fingers).  Jesus anger stems from a heart broken by the stubborn blindness of the men he addresses. 

Everything the Pharisees did they did out of obligation and duty, not because they had a heart of love for God or mercy for their brothers and sisters.

In this particular ‘woe” Jesus holds them accountable for that part of the law (Deut. 14:22) that says you shall give a 10^th of yield of seed from your crops as a tithe to God.  Well, the Pharisees gave a tithe of dill, cumin and mint-garden herbs used in the cooking and for medicinal purposes.  A 10^th of these herbs was next to nothing.  As in most everything else the Pharisees did the very least they could get away with and still technically meet the demands of the law.  Yet Jesus points out they are ignoring the greater demands of the law-justice, mercy and fidelity or faithfulness.   Jesus embodies the fulfillment of the Law of Moses which is the blue print for how to live in love with God and others.

In God’s justice there is no such thing as good guys and bad guys--all have sinned and stand in need of God’s grace.  The Pharisees were no better than those they looked down on and we are no better than those we look down on or are so quick to criticize.  In God’s justice there are no “degrees” of sin. If you tend to be self critical or feel like a failure hear this:   there is nothing you can do no wrong deed or action that can make God love you less.  If you tend to be proud, quick to judge or criticize others heart this:  There is also no deed, nothing you can do to make God love you more.  There is great grace and freedom in twin truths.   That this divine equity or justice exists does not mean that sin is meaningless or of no consequence. Sarah’s   choice millennia ago gave birth to the most bitter rivalry in history -the battle between Arabs and Jews-  the consequences of which still tear our world apart today.  God's justice which is often incomprehensible to us, this equity between those who live their entire lives as “good and faithful servants” and those who repent and confess their sin on their death bed- this justice exists  because God’s mercy means so much more  and is so much greater than our sin. 

Sheila Walsh in her book “Let Go” which inspired this series of sermons, writes:

The ground at the foot of the cross is even.  There are no podiums for those who feel most worthy.  There are no pits for those who feel they don’t belong.  The only way to break free from dead, stale religion is with the glorious gift of fresh-baked grace every morning for the rest of our lives!” 

God’s is, God was , God always will be our God of mercy and justice.  This assurance  sustains us when all the world spins out of control -  When a 21 year old good and faithful servants dies.  Be still and know these truths as we sing “He is”   

 

Back to the Basics of Christmas- so true

Article From Dave Ramsey's Personal Finance Newsletter

Back to the Basics of Christmas   No matter what your budget is this Christmas, remember to be thankful. Take a deep breath in the middle of all this craziness. You might have a lot. You might have a little. If you are driving a beater, be thankful for that beater. You would rather drive that than walk, wouldn't you? There is always something to be thankful for. That's what contentment is all about. When you understand and really grasp contentment, it becomes easier to save money and invest. Stress slowly disappears. Budgeting is easier. Relationships improve. Be happy with what you have. More than three billion people, almost half the world, live on $2.50 a day. Sometimes we need a little perspective to become content with our current situation. Without contentment, it's easy to be bitter and apathetic. Happiness is sold to us, especially during this time of year. We think if we can just get one more piece of stuff that "true" happiness will be right around the corner. We say things like, "I'll be happy when I get that house!" or "I'll be happy when I get that new car!" But happiness cannot be bought. Sure fun—in the form of a house, a car, a new LCD television—can be bought, but fun is temporary. True happiness, or contentment, is lasting. You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until you realize that stuff doesn’t bring contentment, you will always feel stressed and unhappy. Contentment brings peace. And isn’t this time of year about bringing "peace on earth and good will toward men"? Remember what this deal is all about. It's not about trees, lights, gifts, baked hams, and shopping malls. It’s about a little child who was born in a manger and grew up to die on a cross. It’s about peace on earth and good will toward men. So if the Christmas frenzy is wearing you out, you've missed the point of Christmas. Make a plan with your money, and make a plan to get back in touch with the true meaning of this special day. See the rest of the Newsletter here