Child of the light RUMC 9/25/15

Child of the light

RUMC

9/25/15

The olm is a salamander like creature that lives its life under water and in total darkness, so it has no need for eyes.

 The cave snail lives in the total darkness of a cave, so it has developed the ability to glow in the dark.

 The bats that fly around here on summer evenings have sonar like hearing that enables them to fly in the dark.

The owl has huge eyes that collect more light kind of like night vision goggles, so it can see its prey in the dark. Four different creatures, and four different adaptations to living in darkness.

People are like that. We are born in the darkness of sin and we get used to it.

Biblically the original sin we inherit is not sinful behavior. It is our separation from God. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s hopes for us. All of humanity, of which we are a part. Not some. Not most. All: men, women, and children. We are born in the darkness of sin, and live in that darkness until we discover the light of Christ.

In time, however, people adjust to the darkness. Just like the olm, or the cave snail, or the bat, or the owl. People adjust to the darkness of sin. They get so used to the dark that they don’t even notice the evil around them: the rampant sexualization of everything, unashamed greed and conspicuous over consumption, callousness to those judged to be inferior or even just different, financial irresponsibility in the family as well as at the highest levels of government, a disregard for truth as long as it furthers a personal or political agenda, the gang shootings in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids (our own back yard so to speak), the constant dehumanization of anyone who disagrees with the popular opinion.  And it is not just “them.” Good church-going folks either close their eyes to it, or adapt to the darkness around us in order to survive. We have gotten so used to the darkness, and have adapted so well, it is easy to forget that we were not created to live in the dark.

As Christians, however, are not called to adapt to the dark. We are not called to adapt to the evil around us. Jesus was not a fan of the status quo. He does not say “Behold, I keep all things the same,” but “behold I make all things new.” Not “I am a little candle in the darkness,” but “I am the light of the world.” Jesus did not instruct us to hide our lights under a bushel. He did not call the disciples to sit at home in the dark. John says, that in Jesus “the light has come into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.” Therefore, Jesus commands the disciples to "Go therefore into all the world and be a light.” “Go therefore into all the world and baptize.”

That is what today’s passage from Romans is about. That is what baptism is about. Paul starts out asking “Should we just continue the status quo and let God take care of it? NO. BY NO MEANS.” Paul responds. He says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

The word “baptismos” means to dip or to go down. Now I know we practice baptism mostly by pouring here, but you have to understand that in many traditions, and in Paul’s day, baptism is by immersion or going down. So the going down is compared to being buried with Christ and the coming up is compared to being resurrected with him. The key phrase in Paul’s passage for us today is “so we too might walk in newness of life.”

When we come up from that grave, up from baptism, we are not the same person who went down. We go down dying to our old selves. We come up filled with life in the Holy Spirit, alive to God in Jesus Christ. We go down condemned sinners. We come up forgiven saints. We go down into the darkness-- filled with darkness. We come up into the light-- filled with the light of Christ.

During a sermon, a pastor asked the congregation, "What is a saint?” A little boy looked up at the stained glass windows of the apostles and blurted out, "People who let the light shine through!" [i] That’s not bad. That’s not bad at all. Baptism makes us like stained glass through which the light of Christ shines into the dark world. And the world will never be the same.

If we let our lights shine for Jesus, the world will be a different place, a brighter place. Rev. Robert Alden was made famous because Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about him preaching at that little Walnut Grove church in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE. He was a real preacher and is quoted as saying "There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."[ii] There is not enough darkness in the whole world to put out the light of Christ shining through one lone Christian. “The light has come into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.”

Those who are baptized into Christ are the beacons that keep others from crashing on the rocks of sin. Those who are baptized into Christ are the exit lights, showing the world the way out of the darkness of godlessness. Those who are baptized into Christ are the lasers that penetrate the darkness when the darkness seems impenetrable.

But… but… we have to choose to let the light shine through us.

One night a motorist was hit and killed by a train at a grade crossing. The old signalman in charge of the crossing had to appear in court. After a severe cross-examination, he was still unshaken. He said he had waved his lantern frantically, but all to no avail.

The following day the superintendent of the railroad called him into his office. "You did wonderfully well yesterday, Tom," he said. "I was afraid at first that you might waver." "No, sir," replied Tom, "but I was afraid that old lawyer was going to ask me whether or not my lantern was lit!"[iii]

The church can swing the lantern of the gospel all we want, but if the folks sitting in the pews, and going into the community, and having coffee at the corner café, and going to work do not have the light of Christ in them, it won’t save even one life. But if you carry with you even a small spark of the light of Christ--- nothing, nothing, nothing, can put it out.

So what does all this have to do with Livy Rae’s baptism today?

Today we have the honor and joy of receiving one of God’s precious children into the family by baptism. I am sure that she has already brought light, and love, and joy to your family. How could such a precious child do anything else?

But baptism is not just a quaint little family ritual provided by the church to put our stamp of approval on a child. Not at all.

It is hard to imagine looking at her now, but Livy was born into the darkness of sin. So were you and so was I. Being human she is subject to the same congenital sin with which the whole creation struggles.

Today, in baptism, Christ places the light of salvation in Livy. (To be clear, remember that God is a graceful God and children who are not baptized are given grace upon grace no matter what. Please do not hear me say something that I am not saying)

Today, in baptism, Christ places the light of salvation in Livy. And after today, she becomes a light to the world. She becomes one who shines in the darkness. She becomes one whom the darkness cannot overcome. That will be her life mission, just as it is your life mission and mine. That is what the baptismal candle represents. The light of Christ filling every dark corner of her being.

However, notice, when I light the baptismal candle off the altar--- which is a symbol of the light that Christ places in her--- I will not hand it to Livy. Who gets the candle? Either Matt or Robin. Why?  Not just because it would be really dumb of me to hand a baby an open flame. No. It is symbolic that you are the keepers of her light of Christ. You are the ones who will tend her light, fan her flame, and teach Livy what it means to be a light to the world for Jesus Christ. By everything you do: the way you talk to her, the way you love her, the way you protect her, the way you show her what it means to forgive; but especially by the way you teach her to pray, and teach her the stories of Jesus, and bring her to church, and when she gets old enough to put her in a Christian Education class, and eventually confirmation so she can claim for herself the light of Christ that you nurtured and encouraged from this day forward. You will teach her that the light changes everything for her, for those around her, and even for the world.

Today you will promise to raise Livy in the light of Christ and as a family in Christ’s church by teaching and example as you yourself live out the light of Christ in your lives. Are you ready to make that promise?

Today, however, I am doing something different too. After giving you Livy’s light to tend, I am going to take a minute to take candles to some people in the congregation. Just random people. No one in particular. Because it is not just up to Robin ad Matt and the family to care for the light in Livy, it is up to all of us. Nurturing and encouraging Livy’s faith in Christ and growth in the light of Christ is the responsibility of every single one of us here. You will be her teachers, mentors, examples, and heroes in the faith. You will be the community in which she learns that she is loved and accepted. You will be the community in which she will learn to Know God for herself. You are the community that will help her to grow in her faith. You are the community that will encourage the development of God’s gifts in Livy so that she serves others as a shining example of Christ’s light set on a hill and not hidden in a basket. Each and every one of us; all of you and me. That is the vow that we will take today. That is the promise we will make. Are you willing to accept her as God’s child entrusted to our care and be all that she needs you to be in order to become a faithful and light filled child of God changing the world one ray of love at a time?

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or to be the mirror that reflects it."[iv] Christ is the candle… Christ is the light. Along with Livy, we are the mirrors that reflect Christ’s light. We are the stained glass that brings that light to life in this world.

Let us shine brightly-- for Livy and for all the world.

AMEN

---

[i] Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com

[ii]   Robert Alden

[iii] Sunday School Times. 

[iv] --Edith Wharton 

Being Christian or Doing Christianity September 20, 2015 RUMC

There is something about me that you don’t know.

I am a physicist. Well, I took physics in high school. I can recite a few things like the First Law of Thermodynamics and Einstein’s equation. I even enjoyed a physics book in the last several years on Chaos Theory. Therefore, I must be a physicist.

There is something else you don’t know about me. I am a physician. Well, I’ve been to the doctor’s office, read those pamphlets about prescription drug side effects, and I even assembled a “visible man” (you know one of those see through plastic models) when I was a kid. That ought to make me a physician, right?

By that same logic, watching the movie Apolo13 makes me an astronaut, visiting the Brickyard museum makes me an Indy car driver, and picking a tomato makes me a farmer, right?

Of course not. So why do people think they can read a few verses of the Bible, show up to church when they don’t have anything better to do (if at all), call upon God only when they get in trouble, and call themselves Christian? Being baptized, going through confirmation, or having you name on the old black membership book makes you a member of the church, but being a Christian is a whole different matter. You see Christianity is not merely a belief system… it is a way of living.

I read about a man in New York City who died at the age of 63 without ever having had a job. He spent his entire adult life in college. During those years he acquired so many academic degrees that they “looked like alphabet soup” behind his name. 

Why did this man spend his entire life in college? When he was a child, a wealthy relative died who had named him as a beneficiary in his will. It stated that he was to be given enough money to support him every year as long as he stayed in school. And it was to be discontinued when he had completed his education. 

The man met the terms of the will, but by remaining in school indefinitely, he turned a technicality into a steady income for life. But he never got around to doing anything with his gift.

Similarly, there are many, many people who spend years sitting in pews, attending Bible studies, even reading their Bibles, and they are technically Christian. But they never get around to taking their faith out of the pew, the classroom, or off the page. They may know everything there is to know about being Christian; they have the belief system down pat. But they never get around to living it.

That is what James is addressing in this morning’s passage from chapter 2. “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”[i]

That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Maybe you expect that I will do some magic with the Greek words here and tell you that it really does not mean what it says, but not today. James is very simple and very clear. Hearing is not enough. Believing is not enough. Studying is not enough. Preaching is not enough. Being Christian is not enough…. If we never get around to doing Christianity, our faith is lifeless. In James’ words, Faith without works is dead.

You may remember similar words in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”[ii]

The life built on mere head Christianity and heart Christianity may be beautiful but it has no foundation. The life lived by practicing what Jesus preached, however, is a life built on a solid foundation that cannot be shaken.

There are three mistakes people make with this passage. One is they take it too far the other direction, and start to think that salvation depends on what we do. That is not what James is saying here. James does not claim that good works in any way earn us salvation, (salvation is based entirely on faith in Jesus Christ), but James does state boldly that good works are a result of salvation. They are the fruit of faith. If a person has faith, you should be able to tell it by their behavior. So don’t make the mistake of pushing this toward salvation by works.

The second mistake is turning it inside out. You might say, “I don’t lie, I don’t steal, I don’t cheat on my spouse, I don’t hurt other people.” Well and good, but James is not saying be circumventers of sin, or be evaders of evil, or dodgers of darkness. Even a moral atheist does that.

When I am long gone and you have almost forgotten about me I don’t want to be defined by what I didn’t do. I don’t want to be remembered as old “What’s his Name” that couldn’t spell or wasn’t a very good singer, or didn’t do this or couldn’t do that. I would much rather be remembered for what I did.

The Christian life is not best defined by the absence of evil, but by the presence of works of love, and justice, and service.

The third mistake some people make with this passage is to assume that it is talking about other folks. You know like the hypocritical Pharisee who says, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like that sinner over there.” It would be easy to preach about “them” because “they” are not looking me in the eye. It is much harder to preach into the mirror and realize that to paraphrase POGO[iii] “we have met the sinner and he is us.” No, don’t make the mistake of thinking that James is writing about someone else.

One of the best sermons on this topic is only 7 lines long

·         I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.

·         I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

·         I was naked and in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance.

·         I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

·         I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

·         I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

·         You seem so holy so close to God. But I'm still very hungry, and lonely, and cold.[iv]

Look in that mirror… do you see yourself anywhere? <<<silence>>>

I do… I see me… and I see you.

But, you say, I have several good excuses… I know…so do I. Here is the top ten list of reasons for not serving as determined by a survey published in Leadership magazine. Say them with me because if you’re honest you will find one that you have said before.

·        10. I don’t want to

·        9. I’m afraid I won’t be very good

·        8. I’ve never been asked

·        7. I’ve already served my time

·        6. I’m not qualified

·         5. I don't know what to do.

·        4. I don't want to commit.

·        3. I just need to be home with my family.

·        2. I did and I didn’t like it.

·        1. I’m too busy.

o   The truth is that we know our excuses for not serving just don’t add up.

o   The truth is, we know that we need to do more than be students of Christianity.

o   The truth is that we know Jesus said loving our neighbor is the least God expects.

o   The truth is that we know what God requires, “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

o   The truth is that we know that if we haven’t done something for the least of these, we have failed Jesus.

o   The truth is that James is right. Each of us at one time or another has been a hearer of the word, but we fall short on the doing.

You all know whose logo and slogan this is? Well I think Nike stole it from James, because if Bible books had tag lines, James’ would be “Just do it.” No excuse, No finger pointing, No holding back. Just do it.

There are no freeloaders in the kingdom of God.

Both Jesus and James are clearer than we would like in saying that being Christian doesn’t count if we don’t DO Christianity. If we don’t spend our lives loving and serving our neighbor.

Just do it.

James picks up this theme again n Chapter 2, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? …If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”^[v]

So just do it.

Do you want to know something funny? I decided on the topic for this sermon last week. I was preparing it but most people didn’t know that. Wednesday at the leadership team meeting, we were setting goals for 2016. Guess what the very first suggestion was…to set a goal that “every person be in ministry.” For every person to be not just hearers of the word, but doers. For every person to just do it. Do you think that, maybe, we’re on to something here? I do. It is the path on which we started 2 years ago when we started talking about a new committee structure. We did that because we had too many people sitting in meetings and talking about ministry, and not enough people doing ministry.

We no longer have that problem. That monkey is off our back. No one will be asked to be on the mission committee this year. No one will be asked to be on the worship committee this year. The leadership team’s intention, and what I am asking, is for every person to identify a way to serve, and just do it.

Just teach the children, just visit the elderly, just welcome new neighbors, just feed the hungry, just join a prayer group, just make and serve food for LIGHT, just be a liturgist, just help with kids Klub, just plan the Christmas program, just help with worship technology, just give a ride, just build a handicap ramp, just make worship guests feel welcome, just deliver meals on wheels, just organize the pork burger stand, just keep up the building, just be a communion steward, just sing in the choir, just go on a mission trip, just adopt a family at Christmas, just walk in CROP walk, just … well, what would you like to do for Jesus? Whatever it is… Just do it!

The leadership team and I are here to do two things.

1. To help you figure out what the passion of your heart is (The “open your gifts” retreat would be a great place to start)

2. To get out of the way and make sure you have everything you need to "just do it" for Jesus.

So by now, I really kind of hope that you have stopped listening to me… “Be not just hearers of the word.” I actually hope that you have stopped listening to me and started to ask yourself, what is my ministry? Where to I fit in? What is Jesus asking me to do? What can I do for Jesus? Maybe even where do I sign up for a Ministry Action Team?

You are, each and every one of you saved by God, not to be knick-knacks on God’s shelf, but to be tools in God’s workshop, workers in God’s field, servants in God’s kingdom, his hands and feet ushering in the Kingdom of God by loving and serving your neighbors. So JUST DO IT.

---

[i] James 1:22

[ii] Matthew 7:24

[iii] ie Walt Kelly

[iv]  “Listen Christian!" (by Bob Rowland)? Some say anonymous.

[v] James 2:14-17

A tribute to my dad

My wonderful farther died on August 24. We had a beautiful celebration of life at St. Marks UMC, cedar rapids (thank you pastor Bonnie.)  I wrote this testimony to my father's faith.   Thought some of you who knew him would be interested in seeing this.

Richard Ralph Plocher. You  may have known him as “Dick” or “Rich” but I knew him as Dad .
God gave us the gift of his life for 76 years and called him back to his glorious home on August 24 while mom and I were reading devotions at the foot of his hospice bed. We were reading Psalm 118 which says, “THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.” Moments later Dad took his last breath here on earth and experienced the glorious sunrise of the new day that we call heaven. Suddenly Psalm 118 takes on a whole new meaning for him, and for me.
I am going to ask you to say that verse with me several times while I speak. I will begin. “This is the day that the lord has made.” You will respond,  “LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
“This is the day that the lord has made-...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
There are so many stories I could tell, and memories I could share, but each of you have your own memories too. So I want to take this moment to just testify to my father’s faith and faithfulness. When we moved to Cedar Rapids and joined St. Mark's, dad almost neve missed Sunday worship. As important as worship was, however, for him that faith started on the way out  the church door and was really a way of life.

Dad went the extra mile, or should I say the extra several hundred extra miles, because he knew both his customers and his family depended on him. Some days he would leave home so early that he would be halfway across the state before I got up to go to school so that he could make it to some far corner of the state, fix wheel balancer, and most nights be home for supper. Dad lived the golden rule. “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”   “This is the day that the lord has made-...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
Dad was a neighbor to anyone in need whether it be a stranger alongside the road, a neighbor experiencing an illness, a friend who needed help moving, or anyone who needed a ride. I used to tease him about taking in strays, because he was always willing to help people whom other people didn’t even notice- the ones Jesus would call “the least of these.” Dad lived by Matthew 25 “When you have done it to the least of these you have done it to Jesus.”  “This is the day that the lord has made -...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
Dad loved being in mission. He loved working at the Clothes Hanger next-door to the church , delivering Thanksgiving meals, volunteering with Matthew 25, and supporting the Habitat for Humanity Restore.
He especially enjoyed going on mission trips. When Orrin and I were youth, he drove that big FMC van to Tennessee with us on two mission trips. Of course, most people thought FMC stood for First Methodist Church. After two more mission trips to the UMCOR Depot in Louisiana, and many years later, mom and dad jumped at the opportunity to help me out when I needed a couple more adults on a mission trip to Colorado . They were so proud to have three generations of Plochers on that trip. They became grandma and grandpa to every one of those 80 kids that week. And at least one of them is in the congregation this morning. Dad never failed to ask about whether I had heard from Matt because he hoped that maybe that trip had some small part in Matt's decision to enter the pastoral ministry. Dad truly tried to be faithful to Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor” “This is the day that the lord has made -...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
Recently I asked my dad how many of these crosses he thought he had made and given out across the country. He had no idea, but was sure there were several hundred. (I suspect that's quite conservative.) We mused together that day about who might be wearing them and what kind of witness they might be spreading after all these years.
Of course, there were also the toy vehicles, ranging from the beautiful train he made for Orrin, to the suitcase of simple wooden cars he sent with me to Haiti to put a smile on the faces of orphans who had no other toys. He loved that he could turn his hobby into a ministry. We recently talked about how those children have probably worn the wheels off those toys, and how he wished he could send more.
He even found a way for his tools to be in ministry when he no longer needed them. He sold many of his tools - large and small - at fire sale prices to a pastor who sent them to the Congo to be used in ministry there. Dad really tried to live as a faithful witness to Christ.”  “This is the day that the lord has made -...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”
Even his 14 year battle with cancer became a ministry.  He took every opportunity he could to encourage others who were just learning to live with the disease. I was also amazed that he always had the idea that even if a treatment wouldn't help him, the doctors might learn something from him that would help someone else. He would be so happy to know that after he no longer needed them his corneas went to help someone else to see. “This is the day that the lord has made -...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”

Now let me be clear, that I am not here to saint my father today, no one is perfect. My point is that dad tried his hardest to live most of his life for others, and all of his life for God.
Sure, Dad taught Orrin and me lessons like “use the right tool for the job,”  “a little blood won't hurt you,” “you’ll never be able to keep that a secret from your mother,” “be nice to girls,” “keep gas in the tank and check the oil,”  and “keep a spare key in the wheel well.” (That was when wheel wells used to be made of metal). There were other lessons, however, that we learned from Dad that were even more important. Lessons like loving your neighbor, doing unto others, the joy of servanthood, the value of sacrifice, and most importantly, that we were always loved, no matter what. “This is the day that the lord has made -...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”

My prayer in these last months has been that dad would have as many good days as he could have, and when he could have no more, that God would give him peace. God answered my prayer. The night before he died, I read him this passage from Revelation 21. “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away, and the new has come.” Then I played a song by Jeremy Camp which we will play in just a few minutes. The Lyrics say, “There will be a day with no more tears-- No more pain, and no more fears --There will be a day when the burdens of this place --Will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face.-- But until that day, we hold on to you always.”
We still hold on to the wonderful memories of a faithful man of God, a good man, a good husband, and a great dad whom we love very much. But we also give thanks that, for him, the battle with cancer is over and the great a glorious new day has come in eternal life. And we can almost hear his voice from heaven saying with us as we say together, “This is the day that the lord has made-...-LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.”