"I Am a Child of God” Reinbeck United Methodist Church April 15th 2017

I Am a Child of God”

Reinbeck United Methodist Church

April 15th 2017

Let me play a game with you. I'm going to ask you a question and you can't give me the same answer twice. Who are you?..(Repeat)

When we start asking who we are, there a lot of different ways we can answer that question. We can talk about roles that we fulfill: rolls like husband, father, child, parent, employee, employer and many more. But who would we be if there were no other people around?

In the US we identify people by their jobs.  I am a preacher. You are a farmer, or a teacher, or retired, or a student, or a golfer, or an athlete.  But we are so much more than our jobs and what happens when we retire?

We can also talk about who we are on the Outside. I'm a redhead; you’re a blonde, tall, short, thin, or overweight. But we are not just the flesh in which we live.

What about who we are on the inside? I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm busy, I am bored, I am satisfied, or unsatisfied, and much more. But our feelings change with our circumstances so they can’t really define who we are either.

So who are we? I mean really, who are we at the core of our being?  Who are we when we are by ourselves? Who are we when we are not doing something? Who are we deep inside? Who are we beyond our feelings?  Who are you when you wake up in the dark of the night and it is just you and the darkness?

 Maybe we are too close to the question.  Maybe we need to ask someone smarter than ourselves.  Who better to answer the one who shaped the first person out of the dust of the earth and breathed life into him?   Who better than the God who first dreamed up the creature we call human.

 We read John’s answer today, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”  Before anything else, after everything else, in the depths of your being when everything else is stripped away, you are a child of God. As John says, “And that is what we are!” Children of God.

Even before we are someone’s earthly child, we are God’s child.

And it makes sense because I do see something of a family resemblance… not in the way we look, or the way we talk, but in the way we love.  Being created us in God’s image does not have anything to do with our roles, our Jobs, out outsides, or our feelings.   Being created in God’s image means, just like God, we all have a unique need and capacity for love. God created people to love and be loved.  That is the image in which we are created.   The image of love. We are created in the image of the God who created people to love, and in turn, love God back. (Genesis 1:27)

 God says, “I know everything about you” (Psalm 139:1)

God offers us more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7:11)

God is the perfect father (Matthew 5:48)

God is our always loving, all knowing, generous to a fault, perfect father… that makes us what?... his children.  We are children of God… that is what we are.

A beggar lived near the king’s palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments is welcome.

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. "Please sir, I would like to speak to the king."

"Wait here," the guard replied.

In a few minutes, he was brought before the king. "What do you want?" the king asked. "Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?"

The beggar was trembling in fear of what the king might do. "You have been wise in coming to me," the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. "Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes."

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared to even hope for. "You are now eligible to attend the king’s banquet tomorrow night," said the prince. "But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last forever."

The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank you," he cried. But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old clothes again? Quickly he gathered them up.

The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he couldn’t enjoy himself, as he should. He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.

Time proved that the prince was right. No one came to ask for the royal clothes. Still, the poor beggar was doubtful, clinging on to his old rags. As time passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags.

Years later as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the sad look on the king’s face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince’s words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of joy. He cried bitterly at his foolishness to hold on to those old rags.

We are children of God, 1 John declares. We are children of God. adopted into God’s household, clothed with God’s finest,  promised that there is so much more to come… but how many of us are still hanging on to old rags? How many of us are holding on to images of ourselves that have nothing to do with being a child of God. Are you holding onto a pile of old rags say I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm not smart, I'm a victim, I'm not lovable, I'm not forgivable? Are you holding onto a pile of old rags just in case this child of God thing doesn't work out? John writes it, and I am telling you once and for all that you are absolutely for sure a child of God. Nothing can change that. No one can take that away. We can never lose it. You are a child of God. You really are, so why are you still hanging on to the rags of your old self that prevent you from being the child that You were created to be? Let’s talk about how to let them go.

 In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus says “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Being humble means not trusting in our own ways, our own powers, our own abilities, but humbling ourselves to completely trust God’s ways.

I think of a child shouting. “Catch me, Daddy. Catch me.” with total confidence that dad will not fail them. That is trust. I think of the child who asks Dad to come in and check for monsters under the under the bed. One only chooses someone they trust for such an important job. I think of a child who trusts their dad so much they think their dad can do anything.

Three boys were boasting about how fast their fathers were. The first one said, “My Dad’s so fast he can shoot an arrow and run and catch it before it hits the target”. The second one said, “Well, my Dad works on high-rise buildings. He’s so fast he can drop a brick off the veranda of the tenth story and run down and catch it before it hits the ground.” “So what!” said the third boy, “My Dad works for the government and he’s so fast that he finishes work at 4:00pm, but gets home by 2:30pm”.

If we are to become like little children we have to totally trust in God, God’s kingdom and God’s grace. We have to trust that God will never abandon us. We have to trust that God will never fail us. We have to trust that God's love for us will never fade. Can you give up the rags of trusting in yourselves, your money, your own intelligence, and your own abilities and place your trust completely in God?

The second thing we have to do in order to live as children of God is to give in to transformation.  We have to give up control of who we are becoming. This passage from 1st John says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” We are God’s children and, and God isn’t finished with us yet.  What we shall be has not been revealed. We are a work in progress.  But how many of us are holding on to the rags of who we were before God?  How many of us are holding on the tattered rags that remind us of who we once were? How many of us are holding on to parts of who we were, unwilling to give up control so we can become the person God wants us to be.

I know that when John says “what we will be has not yet been made known.” he's talking a bigger picture when Christ returns, but the kingdom starts today and the transformation starts today. “Be renewed by the transformation of your mind.”   “You are new creatures.” Behold I have made all things new!” We can't even imagine what we will be, but if we really believe that God isn’t done with us yet, we have to give up control and allow God to do God’s thing.  We have plans and dreams, and we should. But then we have to learn to pray, “Not my will but thine.” The truth is that our control is an illusion. So being a child of God means letting go of the old rags of being in control. We have to be open to change open to the nudging, leadings, and sometimes this kick on the seat of the pants from God that sends us a different direction, maybe even a direction we don't want to go. As works in progress, we are clearly not our own masters. Can you give up the rags of being in control and place your future in God’s hands.  

We have to release our old rags so we can trust completely on God, and so we can be made into what God wants us to be.

 Finally becoming a child of God means that we have to accept that we are loved no matter what. Many of us walk around with bad self-images. We say to ourselves I'm fat, I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I'm a failure, nothing ever goes right for me, you name it we all have our own negative self-talk. Personally, it's that I'm never good enough, or a fear that people are going to find out that I'm not good enough.

Whatever your negative self-talk is, God's answer is I love you anyway. God's answer to our negative self-talk is always “but I love you anyway.”  We say I'm fat. God says I love you anyway. We say I'm not as smart as other people. God says I love you anyway. We say I'm not good enough. God says I love you anyway.

We have to come to grips with the fact that nothing we are or aren't, nothing we can be or can't be, nothing we have done or haven't done, is ever going to keep God from loving us. Romans 8:38 and 39. I am convinced that nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God our Heavenly parent. Paul says “neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come, neither heights nor depths nor anything else in all of creation will separate us from God’s love.” I have to add even if we think we are unattractive, even if we think we have no friends, even if we think no one could possibly love us, even if we think we could never be good enough, even if we think we are total failures, even if we think that we have no value at all…God loves us anyway.  … None of that and nothing else in creation can stop God from loving us as God's children. Bottom line is God loves you and there is nothing you can do to stop that.

Today I want to call you to let go of you rags so you can trust God, give up your control and accept God’s love.

You are holding a rag today. What does that rag represent? Does it represent trouble trusting God? Does it represent needing to be in control?  Does it represent believing that you can’t be loved for some reason? Maybe it's something else that keeps you from being a child of God.

 If you are to live a full life as a child of God you have to give up those rags. Don't let them ruin your life or steal your joy like the man in the story I told. Don't get to your deathbed and wish that you had let go of those rags that you thought you needed but really didn't and realize that they kept you from living as a child of God. I'm asking you to give up those rags today.  No, let me say that again, Jesus is asking you to give up those rags today. Take a risk, leave those rags behind, and be the child of God you were created to be.

I've asked Jim to play some music for us and while he's playing I invite you to come up and lay your rag on the cross. Give those rags to Jesus. Let go of whatever it is that is holding you back from the joy of being God’s child. Then on your way back to your seat, without disturbing those who are still inline bringing their rags to the front, as you return to your seats you can share the Peace of Christ with one another I encourage you to use the words “you are a child of God” and to reply “and so are you.”

The faith of doubting Thomas--- confirmation sermon

Sunday Confirmation 2018

RUMC 4/8/18

Poor Thomas.  We have given him such a bum rap over the years.  We’ve placed him in the disciple hierarchy somewhere just barely above Judas and just below the disciples whose names we can’t remember—Thaddeus and Bartholomew and what’s-his-name. There are even videos and children’s stories that encourage kids not to be like Thomas. I feel bad for the guy. He’s endured a centuries-long shaming.

The Sunday after Easter is traditionally the day we read what we usually call the “Doubting Thomas” story.  I was drawn to that because I have to admit I have always felt an affinity to Thomas. I have always connected with Thomas because I think Thomas is the patron apostle for all the imperfect people who seriously search and yearn for a personal experience of Christ. The more I studied, the more I thought, in spite of his negative name, Thomas is really is a good model of discipleship for Sylvana on her confirmation Sunday and honestly for all of us.

 I have known Sylvana for about half her life, watched her grow up in the faith, and I relish in the opportunity to confirm her today.  I have felt a special connection to her because of something she did several years ago, and she doesn’t even remember doing it. After LIGHT one night, and it had been a particularly hard day, I found this note from her on the altar rail.  Obviously, it meant a lot to me because as you can see I keep it taped to my computer monitor.  To me it is not really about Sylvana, but about reminding me that what I do makes a difference even if I don’t always know it. But, of course in my heart Sylvana’s name will always be attached to that important reminder.

Thomas appears in scripture three times. All in the Gospel of John.  John 11, John 14, and John 20. I get the feeling that Thomas was a cautions person.  I think his mom was probably the type to ask, “If all your friends were jumping off the bridge would you jump too?” Looking at his whole story recorded in scripture, and the legends that surround his character, I think he was the kind that considered carefully before he jumped in to something.  In each of these three stories, however, Thomas makes the leap of faith in just a little different way.

Let’s take them one at a time. 

 You will find John 11 starts on page 104 of the New Testament in your pew Bible. We are reading the story about Lazarus’ death. 

In verse 7 upon hearing that Lazarus was sick Jesus waited two days. Then suddenly Jesus said, “OK let’s go to Judea.” The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”   In other words, “You would have to be crazy to go back there.”  Jesus started to teach. You can follow along with me starting in verse 9

“Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.  But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”

 In other words, if you are doing what is right and walking in the light you have nothing to fear.

When Thomas heard that, he took his first leap of faith in verse 16

“Let us also go, that we may die with him.”  The first quality of Christian discipleship Thomas models an active faith.

We can all learn a lesson from that. If it is the right thing to do, then the right response for a Christian disciple is not, “No I can’t.”  “No, I’m busy.”  “No, I’ve done my part.” Even just “No, I don’t want to.”  There is a growing idea around here that it is OK to say no to everything because someone else will do it. The pastor, the leadership team, someone… anyone else can do it, but don’t ask me to do anything. But that’s not what discipleship is. 

Thomas’s answer was not “let someone else do it.” Thomas teaches us that the disciple’s response to Jesus call is “let’s do it.” The disciple’s response when there is ministry to do is “where do I sign up?”  The disciple’s response when there is a risk to be taken, or a sacrifice to be made for the sake of Jesus and the kingdom is “let’s go so we can die with him…” or in our culture and this church we can translate that into , “Let’s do it because that’s what Jesus would do.”

I think we can learn something from Thomas:  that discipleship is not a spectator sport.  It requires real personal investment of our time, our gifts, and in extreme cases, our lives. Maybe we should change his name from doubting Thomas, to “Active Thomas.” Because he believed in discipleship in action.

 The second Thomas story is in John 14.  You can find that on in your pew Bible on page 108. We start reading at the beginning of the chapter.

             “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  And you know the way to the place where I am going.”

All the rest of the disciples are looking at each other saying, “Do you know where he is going?” or “What’s he talking about?”  And Thomas pipes up.  “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Which sets Jesus up to say, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Just like Thomas is a model for discipleship in action, he also a model of growing discipleship. Thomas is a learner.  He wanted to understand.  He wasn’t afraid to ask questions.

Sylvana is great at that. She has asked some of the hardest questions in Faith Xploration class, but I wish more people were like that. She really wants to understand, and she really wants to grow. Please don’t lose that, Sylvana.

Thomas teaches us that disciples are learners. We are always students of the faith. None of us are masters.  And it is OK to ask questions even if there is no real answer available. Don’t be content with what you know now about discipleship the Bible, the faith, or the world. Disciples are always growing, always learning,   always trying to understand God better. Maybe we should rename Doubting Thomas “Growing Thomas. “Because he believed in discipleship that was always growing.

 So, studying Thomas we have seen that Thomas is a model for active discipleship and growing discipleship.

Then here in John 20 is the story we read today and the story for which Thomas is best known.  It so happened that Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them the first time. We don’t know where he was. That sounds like something I would do; step out to the restroom just in time to miss the biggest event of the day. You know, “a day late and a dollar short.”

When he does return, the other disciples are excited about what they experienced and tell him that he missed it!  Jesus was here! 

Thomas response is perfectly understandable. “I want to experience that too.” He only wanted the same spiritual experience that the other 10 disciples had. They stood face to face with Jesus, and he wanted the same experience. 

He didn’t say, as some read it, “I don’t believe you.”  The word translated “believe” in this passage might also be translated understand or comprehend.  I really don’t think there was a problem with what Thomas believed, the issue was comprehending what had happened. And why not?  He knew Jesus died. Dead people, as a general rule, do not get up and appear to their friends in bodily form after they have been dead and buried.

Thomas teaches us that a discipleship requires a personal relationship with Jesus. A relationship with Jesus that is personally experienced.  When Jesus did appear to him, on the following Sunday night, what was his response?  “My Lord and My God!” No hesitation. NO doubt. No second thoughts. He just wanted to experience Jesus for himself.

Thomas teaches us that there is no second hand discipleship. Disciples can’t be content with the stories others tell. They can’t be content with standing on the sidelines and watching. They can’t be content with hearing about the spiritual experiences of others. Disciples must have a real personal relationship with Christ.

Perhaps instead of doubting Thomas we should rename him Real Thomas because he believed so deeply and he yearned for his own REAL personal encounter with the risen Christ.

Thomas teaches us that our discipleship should be active, growing and real.  And that is the kind of faith I have tried to teach you Sylvana. I think you get it. You have some growing to do. So do I and so do all the rest of these folks.  But shortly, we will vow to help you grow. And we will undoubtedly also learn from you as we continue on our discipleship journey together.

 Faith is hard. We talk about taking a leap of faith. There is something to be said for that image.  But to tell you the truth, we don’t really leap into the unknown. Jesus has made the way for us. The leap of faith is not so much a leap as it is a step. Taking the hand of Jesus and stepping out to a faith that is active, growing, and real. Discipleship is taking the hand of Jesus every day of our lives and taking that step every day of our lives. 

I want in invite Sylvana to come up front as she leads us all in taking Jesus hand and stepping into a faith that is active, growing and real.

“When Jesus Calls your name” Easter 2018 RUMC

  “When Jesus Calls your name”

Easter 2018 RUMC

Well, this is my last Easter sermon for you guys, so I wrote a good one. The only problem is instead of 5 pages of text it turned out to be 50 pages. So, sit back relax and the flight attendants will bring around a beverage cart. Then, about half way through the sermon, they’ll bring the meal cart down the aisle.  

Sorry, we had to get the Easter in April fool’s joke out of the way to start with. There've been so many memes about April fool’s and Easter, I have to share a couple of them with you.

     

The truth is Easter is no April fool’s joke.

  Does this look like a joke to you?...

  Well neither is this.

 The only joke is that death thought it had won. Satan thought he had won. Sin thought it had won. Evil thought it had won.   The April fool’s joke is on them not on us. So the thing I want to share with you this year is that Easter is not some out there wild and crazy metaphysical event that has nothing to do with our lives. Easter is very powerful and Easter is very personal. 

  In today’s scripture reading Mary went to the tomb to pay her respects. The tomb is empty. She went back to get Peter and John and they found the same thing. The tomb was empty. Jesus was not there. After the men left to tell the other disciples, Mary stayed in the garden weeping she was sure that someone has taken Jesus’ body and hid it.

Just when she hits rock bottom… Just when she was consumed by despair… just when she was completely without hope… Just when all the life has been sucked out of her… Just when she thought the last chapter had been written… she hears a voice … “Mary.”

Jesus appeared and called her name and a whole new chapter started in her life; actually, all humanity, and to tell you the truth all creation.  Just when she thought that maybe she had been duped by the biggest April fool’s joke in history, and she was feeling like the biggest fool ever, Jesus appeared and called her name and everything changed. There's something that happens to us when Jesus calls our name.

 For Mary, Jesus calling her name confirmed that all he had said was true. All she had hoped for was possible. Darkness vanished. Death lost. Sin was vanquished, and life was right side up again.  She was as dead inside as Jesus was when they took him off the cross and when he spoke her name, she found life again.

There are other times in the gospels when Jesus calls a person by name.

“Andrew, follow me.” and he found life in following Jesus.

“Peter, follow me.” and he would become the living rock upon which Jesus built his church.

“John, follow me.” and he discovered a life of love.

Jesus called “Zacchaeus, come down from that tree. I’m having lunch at your house today.” and the outcast was invited to life in Christ. The tax collector who died a thousand deaths from the sneers and jeers of his fellow Jews was called to new life as a disciple.

At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus says three times, “Peter, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And Peter who was dead in his guilt and shame of denying Jesus found life once again.

Do you see that all of those people were dead inside in some way? Dead in grief. Dead in meaninglessness. Dead in hope. Dead in rejection. Dead in guilt.   But when Jesus called their name and each one experienced a resurrection of sorts. Each one found new life.

That brings us to today’s scripture, the raising of Lazarus.

Jesus received a message one day that Lazarus was about to die. Instead of hurrying to Bethany, we waited until he had been dead 4 days.  Hebrew belief was that the spirit of the deceased hung around the body for 3 days. Then the spirit leaves and the person is completely, irreversibly dead.   Lazarus had been dead 4 days.

When Jesus went to Lazarus’ tomb, he asked for the stone to be rolled back.  The sisters say, “Um you probably don’t want to do that, He’s been in there 4 days now and you know it is going to be unpleasant”.

Jesus ignores that warning and calls out “Lazarus, come out.”

I am certain that people thought he was crazy… didn’t he hear 4 days?! 

But lo and behold, Lazarus came walking to the entrance of the tomb still wrapped in his grave cloths.

This was no April fool’s trick. This was no trick at all.  The one who said, “I am the resurrection and the life” called Lazarus by name and Lazarus walked out alive and well. This is what Jesus offers all of us.

  When all of our resources are exhausted, the risen Christ comes and says, _________ come out.

When we don’t have any more ideas of where to turn, the risen Christ comes and says, _________ come out.

When we have are exhausted and can’t take another step, the risen Christ comes and says, _________ come out.

When our hearts are broken beyond repair, and we think life is over, the risen Christ comes and says, _________ come out.

Come out of your personal battles, and death: depression, anxiety, bipolar, alcoholism, drug abuse , heart disease, diabetes, cancer, pain, arthritis, workaholism, and just going through empty motions;   accept the power of the resurrection to come out and be made whole “for God so loves you that he gave his only begotten son”.

Come out of your interpersonal battles; unforgiveness, guilt, fear, hatred, bigotry of all kinds, broken friendships, broken families, alienated children, estranged sibling, marriages on the rocks, old grudges, loneliness, rejection, not feeling loved, not belonging anywhere; accept the power of the resurrection to come out and be made whole  because “My peace I leave with you.”.

Come out of the tombs we inherit from our culture; racism, black lives matter, blue lives, matter, mental health disaster, homelessness,  veterans suicide rates, the jobless rate for mildly and moderately rate for disabled adults, political word bombs across the aisles, fake news from both ends of the political spectrum, school shootings, gang violence, sexual abuse and misconduct, greed, immigration, an unequal justice system that grinds to slowly, high incarceration rates, low humility rates, and greed, fear, and hatred  all the way around… I could go on all day… but add your own favorite injustice, whatever it is, Jesus says, accept the power of the resurrection to come out for “I have come to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

 Jesus says come out of the tombs of a broken world; terrorism, religious intolerance, refugees, international bullies, perpetual victims, hunger, natural disaster, political oppression, war, and all kinds of divisions; accept the power of the resurrection to come out and be my church for “Behold I am with you even to the ends of the earth.”

Come out… Jesus says… come out. But the power of the resurrection does not make all the world’s problems go away. No, Lazarus lived for a while and died again. Peter stumbled. Marry faltered. The church was persecuted. People still sinned, the Roman Empire still oppressed the people, and the world looked pretty much like it did  Thursday night before the last supper.

The difference was not what happened outside, in history… in politics… in families… the difference was inside.

What breaks your heart?  What weighs you down? What is killing you from the inside out? What is robbing you of peace and hope and joy?  Jesus says to you today come out. ..Come out of your tombs whatever they may be…come out because I am the resurrection and the life.    The resurrection is Jesus is not an April fool’s trick.  The resurrection of Jesus is the exclamation point guaranteeing us that being alive in God’s love is the one power on this earth that no nation, or disease, or persecution, or hatred, or fear, or anything else will ever defeat.  When Jesus calls ________ come out. (x5)

Come out and be alive in the love of God.