Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14
Change Is Not Optional
October 12, 2014
The invitation read “Black Tie Optional”.
I knew that that meant that I could wear Tux or a nice dark suit and tie. Since I did not at that time and still do not, own Tux I opted for the dark suit. In fact, I had “outgrown” ( in width, not height) my dark “Preaching suit” and needed a new one, anyway. So I bought a new suit and was ready.
The invitation was to the “2 Those Who Care” Awards Dinner that WFMY TV station in Greensboro holds to honor community volunteers. I had nominated one of our volunteers at the Reidsville Outreach Center, which I was the Director of while I served the Wentworth Presbyterian Church, and she was one of those chosen for the award. Since I had nominated her and it was her work at the Outreach Center where I was the Director that was being recognized, I had to be there. That evening at the ceremony, which was televised, I was shown on TV sitting at the table with others listening to the volunteer I had nominated accept her award. It was a fun evening and I’m glad I was able to be there. I’m glad I accepted the invitation and attended the banquet.
In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus tells about some invited guests who fail to show for the wedding of the king’s son. You know, people don’t usually fail o show up for a palace wedding. When a king’s son or daughter gets married, everyone wants to come, but in this parable it seems a king invited people to his son’s wedding, and nobody showed up. They gave excuses. They even mistreated the servants that the king sent to them. So the king sent his servants to invite whomever they could. “Go into the streets.” he said, “Find me some guests.” So the servants went to the streets and invited everyone they saw. They filled the banquet hall with guests, which is what the king needed. He couldn’t have a party in an empty hall! But then the king noticed a guest who was not wearing a wedding robe. Everyone else had robes, but this man did not. The king told his servants to throw the man out. Then Jesus concluded this parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Now maybe you’re thinking: “That story doesn’t make sense!” Frankly, the first time I read it, I thought the same thing. But then I studied it and learned that it does make sense and that it has something important to say to us today. So let me explain it briefly. I know we have to be careful when we allegorize scripture, but I think making this passage an allegory will be helpful.
Let’s say that – in this story, the king is God, and let’s say that the invited guests are Israel. And let’s say that the mistreated servants are the prophets, God’s messengers. Israel was infamous for mistreating the prophets. Then let’s say that the people from the streets are Gentiles. This, then, can be seen as a story of Israel rejecting the prophets and rejecting Jesus. It can be seen as the story of God wanting faithful people and opening the door to all sorts of people to fill the banquet hall. But it is also the story of people offering to follow Jesus and then failing to do so. It might be our story. We are always tempted to accept the invitation to follow Jesus, and then to balk when it comes time to pay the price.
Sometimes following Christ is difficult. Will Willimon used to be the Dean of Duke Chapel at Duke University and is now the Bishop of Alabama for the United Methodist Church. As bishop, he assigns pastors to churches. He told recently of moving a pastor from one church to another, with the result that the man took a $7,000 pay cut. Willimon was almost apologetic about the move but the man said, “Bishop, you don’t have to apologize. I came into the ministry from a $100,000 job with Mobil Oil. There’s nothing you can do to hurt me as bad economically as when I did that.”
Sometimes following Christ involves real sacrifice! I doubt that Christ has called you to quit your hundred thousand dollar job to go to seminary, but he has called you to faithful discipleship.
What does that mean?
It might mean that Christ has called you to be faithful with your time. Christ has called you to devote time to prayer, to public worship, and to service in the church. It might mean that Christ has called you to be faithful with your money. Christ has called you to tithe, to support the church financially, and to help needy people. It might mean that Christ has called you to live a life that will draw people to Christ.
calls all of us to do — but he probably has other plans for your life as well. He might want you to feed the hungry. He might want you to reach out to others with His love and touch their lives. Listen to Jesus’ invitation to you and take Him up on it!
Don’t be like those who refused the invitation of the king but accept Jesus’ invitation in your life.
But accepting the invitation is only part of what we have to do. In my opening illustration I told about the invitation to the “2 Those Who Care” banquet and how I accepted the invitation. I also told about how I bought a new black suit I could fit into for the occasion and that I could use for other events, also. Just accepting the invitation and having an appropriate suit to wear was not enough, though. The day of the banquet happened to be a Monday, and it happened to be one of the Mondays the Outreach Center would get food delivered from the Food Bank. This was in August, and unloading the truck full of meats and canned goods and putting everything where they needed to go was a hot, dirty job. Needless to say. I was not wearing my black suit. I had on khakis and an old knit shirt and some of our volunteers had on shorts and T – shirts. After we finished, we noticed the time. It was mid – afternoon and the banquet was going to begin in Greensboro , 45 minutes away, at 6:00. We looked at each other and saw how hot, dirty, and sweaty we were and decided we all needed to go home and change before going to the banquet. “I don’t think we can go like this” one person said. “Nope” — I replied – “changing is not optional”
Apparently it was not optional for those who finally accepted the invitation to the wedding banquet, either. Jesus told about the man who came to the wedding in the wrong clothing. He was supposed to wear a wedding robe, but he came in his grubbies. The king had the man cast “into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
What was that all about?
Again. if we take the story allegorically, the wedding robe in this story can stand for letting Jesus change our lives. The man who came to the party without a robe is like the Christian who says that he will follow Jesus, but who continues to live in sin. It would be as if the volunteers from the Outreach Center and I had gone to the banquet shown up in our dirty clothes, sweaty and looking like we had just finished unloading a truck! That is almost worse than not showing up at all.
I believe Jesus is warning us that He won’t tolerate the person who claims to be a Christian but continues to live as always. He expects us to show up, but then he also expects us to grow in grace, to become new people whose lives reflect that we belong to him. That doesn’t mean that Christ requires us to be perfect. Far from it! Christ is happy to forgive our sins, and we all need forgiveness! But there are limits! This parable teaches us that when we give our lives to Christ, He expects that to make a difference. He expects us to begin to change. He expects us to let the Spirit begin reshaping our lives. If we insist on coming to the party unshaven and unwashed and dressed in our grubbies, it is as bad as never showing up at all.
Letting Christ change us is not optional.
Changing is not optional – it is a requirement.
So there are a few responses we can make to Christ’s invitation to us:
First, listen for Christ’s invitation. Listen so that you will hear where He wants you to be and what he wants you to do. When you hear his call, answer it. Come to the party!
Second, examine your life. Have you given your life to Christ? Has that made a difference? Do you spend time in worship? In prayer? Are you willing to let God change you?
Christ has big plans for you. He has big plans for you personally. He wants you to accept His invitation, but He also wants to change you.
Let Christ reshape your life. Let Him make you into a new person. If you will be faithful to Him, He will be faithful to you. He will give you a better life than you ever expected. For this life in Christ, He must change you.
Changing is not optional.
Soon after the “2 Those Who Care” banquet a “group shot” of those of us from the Outreach Center who attended hung over my desk. I must say we looked nice, all of us dressed up in our suits and long dresses. About a month later one of our clients looked at the picture and asked who the people were. I began to point out each one, and finally the client looked at some of the same volunteers packing bags for the food distribution but dressed in shorts and T shirts and looked at me in my Khakis and knit shirt. The client finally said: “Y’all cleaned up real good for that picture”
Yea “cleaning up”, changing, letting Christ clean you, letting Christ change you, is not an option. It is a requirement. Amen.

Exodus 20:1-21, Philippians 3:4(b)-14, Matthew 21:33-46

Exodus 20:1-21
Philippians 3:4(b)-14
Matthew 21:33-46
Communion
October 5, 2014
“Commanded To Love”

We’ve splashed our rules all over the sanctuary walls.
So many rules we don’t have time for dancing …
Our grafffiti defiling the house of God.
God’s graffiti is different: God writes: Love upon our hearts.
Some night, let’s sneak into the sanctuary and paint over the rules
and write God’s graffiti all over the walls … Love Love Love Love.

So writes the Presbyterian minister and author Ann Weems.
A few moments ago we listened once again to one of the most important passages in the Bible, a passage that serves as one of the cornerstones for two of the great religions of mankind – the Jewish and the Christian faiths, the 10 Commandments. These commandments have also been used by some of the greatest societies of all time as a pattern for behavior.
But how should we view and consider the 10 Commandments? What are they?
Are they laws written in stone by God, who will strike us down if we attempt to break them?
Are they 10 laws meant to do away with any fun we might have, or think about having, and handed down to us by a God who is a killjoy and continually spouts forth a litany of “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots”?
Are they 10 laws that restrict what we do, and that are handed down to us by a God who is only interested in limiting our actions?
Or —
Are they 10 rules to closely follow and to keep track of our obedience to, and to take great pride in our ability to follow, while at the same time looking down on those we do not feel keep the Commandments as well as we think we do?
Both ways of interpreting the 10 Commandments are fairly prevalent. Some people see them as rules that restrict us while others see them as rules that cause us great pride when we feel we follow them better than others.
But are there other options for interpreting the 10 Commandments and other options for visualizing God?
Let’s take another look at God giving the 10 Commandments to the Israelites and see if we can come up with another way to interpret the 10 Commandments and another way to visualize God. God had just freed the people of Israel from slavery. Through Moses God had worked miracles and mighty deeds that made clear God’s will for freedom for God’s people. They had been freed by God, but maybe they felt — now what?
Should their freedom change how they live? Are they to live any differently because they have been freed from slavery by God?
Certainly.
The glorious fact that they had been freed from slavery by the power of God was to be the deciding factor in how they lived. They are to live differently from others because God had blessed them with their freedom.
But how were they to live differently? At Mt. Sinai they found out. In the fire and the smoke and the quaking of that holy mountain they found out how God wanted them to live. They had been freed from slavery by their freeing, life-giving God, and now they were to have undivided loyalty to God. They were to have a loyalty that would not allow them to try to manipulate God by carving idols or to take God’s Holy name lightly and that would require them to take a Sabbath day of rest out of every 7 days to remember and worship God. They were also to live in a special relationship with others, honoring their parents — refraining from murder, adultery, stealing, lying and coveting or doing anything else that might keep them from living in this special relationship with God and others.
The 10 Commandments were indeed commandments but they were not Commandments that restricted what the people could and could not do as much as they freed them to love God and to love others, to honor and respect and worship God and to treat others with love and honor and respect.
The 10 Commandments are commandments to love God and to love others. They are not commandments to restrict us or make us feel proud, instead they are commandments to us to love.
We are commanded to love
Jesus understood what the 10 Commandments were all about. When He confronted the Jewish leaders who for centuries had thought that they were better than all others and who used the Commandments as a measuring stick to see how much better they were than others, Jesus made it clear that just having the Commandments, just being in the vineyard, so to speak, is not enough for the Kingdom of God. Unless you let the Commandments lead you to be open to God, loving and respecting God and loving and respecting all people, you are not living in the ways God calls you to live, no matter how good a person you are. If you do not let God lead you to love for Him and others, you are not living in the ways of God.
The tenants in Jesus’ parable thought they had it made there in the vineyard. They thought they had it made and did not care about the landlord’s servants or his son. They didn’t let having the vineyard change them and their attitudes towards the landlord.
Having the love of God, having salvation, should change us and it should bring about a change in our attitudes. It should bring about a change in our devotion to God, and in the love we have and share with others.
That’s what the 10 Commandments are all about. Love. Love Love. Love.
We are commanded to love.
Paul finally understood this. He thought his life was perfect until he met Jesus and saw just how imperfect he was. Then he began striving to live in love. He began striving to live in love for God and love for others. He finally discovered that his life was not meant to be spent feeling superior to others, but loving others. Those 10 Commandments he had taken such great pride in were actually commandments to love God and to love others. He was commanded to love.
So am I. So are you.
We are all commanded to love. We are all commanded to love God and commanded to share the love God has given us with others. We are all commanded to love.
We can not let ourselves become so proud that we look down on others. We also can not let ourselves become so legalistic that we can not show love to others, no matter who they are. No, we must learn to live in love with God and with others.
This is not easy. Paul understood how difficult it was, and yet he let God strengthen him as he strove to fulfill this commandment to love. It is only as we let God do something that is indeed impossible through us that we can love others. It is only when we let God’s love take root in us that we can truly love others. Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as yourself.
Today is worldwide Communion Sunday.
This is the day when Christians throughout the world come together around God’s table. Some who come we will find it easy to love, for we know them and can easily love them, or they are just like us and it will be easy for us to love them. Others may not be as easy to love. They may be from other lands other cultures. They may be completely different from us. But we are commanded to love.
How much do you love?
How much do you love God?
How much do you love others?
Do your actions show a love and commitment to God and others?
Does the way you spend your time show your love for and commitment to God and others?
As you partake of the Sacrament, learn once again what it means to love. Learn again what it means to be open to God in your life and to be open to others. Learn again what it means to be loved by a gracious God, who can lead us to love Him and the world.
Use this time in this place and around this table with these people to reflect on how well you do show a love for God and others in your life. Use this Sacrament to strengthen your love for God and for the world.
Who knows – – maybe we can even take Weems up on her dare:
Some night, let’s sneak into the sanctuary and paint over the rules
and write God’s graffiti all over the walls … Love Love Love Love.
We are indeed a people who are commanded to love. Amen.

Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16
Thank God That God Is God (And We Are Not)
September 21, 2014
Some of you may remember, as I do, Chevy Chase when he was part of the regular line up on “Saturday Night Live”. One of the skits he would do almost every week would be a satirical look at the weekly news. He would always begin by saying:
“Good evening. I’m Chevy Chase – and you’re not!”
That line still gets laughs.
If I were to teach a class entitled Religion 101 one of the first lessons may be entitled: God is God – And You Are Not
Maybe you remember the CitiBank credit card commercial from a few years back featuring a guy telling of his family vacation. while scenes from that outing flick by on the screen. The family goes on a trip, stops at a souvenir tourist trap and the kids want a zillion pieces of plastic junk. The guy narrating sighs and states: “So I pay. I’m the Dad. It’s my job.” More vacation scenes flash across the screen. The family stops at a restaurant. After everybody chows down, the guy again concludes: “So I pay. I’m the Dad. It’s my job.” The concluding scenes go by with the family car breaking down and a mechanic coming out to fix it. Yet another sigh from the long-suffering father: “So I pay. I’m the Dad. It’s my job.”
Yes, sometimes we are in charge, it’s our responsibility, and the buck stops squarely in front of us. And although we may grump and grouse about those times, most of us kind of like knowing that we are in control of what is going on and what is coming up next. In fact, we like it so much that we tend to try to take over the reigns of control when we are clearly no longer qualified to be running the show. We try to act like we know what we are doing when really we don’t. We try to be in control of things we have no control over. At times we try to be something we are not, and usually we get in trouble when we do that.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes we even want to act like we are God. Worse than that sometimes we act like we can tell God what to do, or who to love and who not to, or what is right and what is wrong. We are constantly tempted to, as I like to put it — “play God.”
Why are we so quick to forget that God is God , and that we are not”?
Maybe we need to have a basic conversation with ourselves every morning. I recently heard of a minister who urged his congregation to revisit the conversation in John 1 between John the Baptist and the crowds when they asked him if he was the Messiah. John emphatically replied “I am not the Messiah” Maybe every day we need to look in the mirror and emphatically tell ourselves “I am not the Messiah!” or “I am not God”
God is God – and we are not
Over the centuries, forgetting this fact has led to countless tragedies, large and small, personal, national and global.
Adam and Eve thought they had godlike freedom, but they did not.
David thought he had godlike authority over who lives and dies, but he did not.
The Israelites thought they had godlike exclusiveness, but they did not.
Peter thought he had godlike loyalty to Jesus, but he did not.
Saul of Tarsus thought he had a godlike mission to wipe out Christians, but he did not.
The Romans thought they had godlike ruling power, but they did not.
Americans thought they had a god-like manifest destiny over all who lived in the country they wanted, but they did not.
Medical science sometimes thinks it can play god, but it cannot.
The bottom line is that God is God, and we are not. What that means is that we have no right to decide who God will love, how God will act, or what God will do.
He’s God. We are not. It’s His job to decide who to love, how to act, or what to do.
But that does not stop us from questioning God, does it? Sometimes we might want to question what God does, or look at someone and say: “Certainly God could not love them!” But – it’s not our job to tell God what to do, or who to love and who not to love, or what is right and what is wrong. He’s God. We are not.
Let me ask you a question:
What if you got to heaven and found out that God had decided to let everybody in?
How would you feel about that? Republicans and Democrats, doctors and dope pushers, lawyers and lay-abouts, merchants and murderers, hookers and horse thieves.
How would you feel about that?
Certainly that will never happen! you might think. But that’s our opinion, and God might have a different opinion. Who God loves is God’s business, not yours. He’s God. You are not.
David Leinenger is a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania who tells the story of some controversy that surrounded a First Anniversary September 11 service in September of 2002 that was held in the town where he is pastor. It seems that they decided to have a community wide interfaith service to mark the 1 year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 tragedy. David was quoted in the local paper as saying the service would be open to all religious faiths and that representatives from many religious faiths would take part in the service. Well, he began to get letters. A lot pf them. One read:
Dear Pastor Leininger, While visiting in Northwest Pennsylvania last summer (from my present home in Tampa), I read a newspaper article concerning your invitation to the Director of the Islamic Cultural Center in Jamestown to speak to your church members. A week or so ago, once again visiting the area of my birth, I read of the Warren Area Ministerial Association’s plan to hold a Sept. 11th memorial service at the Library Theatre. In this article you are quoted as emphasizing that “It will not be just a Christian service. Instead, it will help people of all faiths to ‘reach to the depths of their souls and their own understandings of the God of the universe.'” As a Christian who believes in the whole Bible as the truth of God, I strongly take issue with this position of yours. We Christians are to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and none other! As you must know, Jesus said (as quoted in John 14:6), “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The woman continued trying to tell Pastor Leininger who God would save and who God would not save. The fact is that she may have been trying to tell God who He could and could not save. But you know God is God and she is not.
God is God and we are not.
You may not think that you try to “play God” or tell God what to do or who to love or who to save, but do you choose who you will pay attention to and who you will not, or do you choose who you will speak to and who you will not, or do you choose who you will feel sorry for and help and show God’s love to and who you will not? Isn’t that a form of trying to “play God” or judge who God will and will not love, or tell God who He can and can not love? Do you ever judge someone by thinking: “I can’t waste my time reaching out to that person, they are a hopeless case!” Isn’t that a form of trying to “play God” or judge who God can and can not love, or tell God who He can and can not love? Too many times we “religious people” keep trying to “play God” and judge who God can and can not love. We keep trying to do God’s job for Him. And we don’t do a very good job of it.
Maybe that’s why Jesus had more trouble with and controversies with “religious folks” than folks who were not very religious. In the parable Jesus told in Matthew 20 Jesus provides us with a glimpse at the difference between what God’s will is and what we might want God’s will to be. The landowner’s generosity is bestowed on these last-hired laborers for a reason known only to him. He does not explain or apologize for giving the same wage to everyone hired, regardless of the amount of time logged on the job. The only response the landowner has to the disgruntled first-hired workers is “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”

Well, is God not allowed to do what God chooses with what belongs to God? God is God, and we are not. Maybe we would not pay the last laborers hired as much as the first laborers hired. But it’s not our job to question why the landlord decided to do it the way. Maybe, if we were God, we would not love all people, regardless of who they were or what they had done or how they had lived their lives. Maybe, if we were God, we would not forgive all people, regardless of who they were or what they had done. We might say to someone: “I’ll never forgive you! You don’t deserve it”. Maybe, if we were God, we would not show our love to all people or feed the hungry regardless of why they are hungry or help those in need regardless of why they are in need or show love even to the most unloveable people.
But God is God and we are not, so it is God’s job to decide who He will love nd save and show love to, and it is our job to do what God tells us to do. It is up to God to call us to love and care for all people, regardless of who they are, and it is only up to us to live the Christian life in the best way we know and show God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion to all people, whether we think they deserve it or not. God commands us to reach out to all people with His love, welcome all into our fellowship, invite all into our fellowship, and show His love to all people, whether they are people we would normally reach out to or not.
God has chosen to show His love to those He has chosen to show His love to. He’s God. That’s His job. Our job is to follow God, not lead God. Our job is to show His love as He calls us to show it, not as we would want to do it. But here’s the thing — I am glad that God is God and that we are not. If we were God , if people were God, if God judged us by the standards we set for others, we would all be in trouble. None of us would have a chance for God’s love or the salvation God gives us. The truth is that we all have been in the position of the laborers who were hired last but got as much pay as everybody else. The truth is that we all have been dependent on someone who showed us God’s love, even when we did not deserve it. The truth is we all continue to depend on God’s gracious love for our salvation.
There’s a story of a man who lived a wild life until he gave his life to God. He finally attended Seminary and upon graduation was ready to begin his ministry. Being a Presbyterian, he had to be examined on the floor of Presbytery before he could accept the call to the first Church he would serve. While being examined, he talked about God’s love for sinners and how, in his ministry, he wanted to share God’s love with all people. Finally someone asked him if he thought everyone would be saved, and he replied: “I don’t know if God will save everyone. But I do know he saved me when everybody else had given up on me, and if he could do that, he could save just about anybody.”
Yea. I thank God that God is God and we are not. God has freely forgiven us. It’s not up to us to judge who else God will love or forgive or show His grace and mercy to .He’s God – we are not. Deciding who He will love is His job. Our job is to follow Him and show His love, compassion, grace, and mercy to all people. That may not be that way we would do it if we were God, but that’s why I thank God that God is God , and we are not. Amen.

Matthew 18:21-35

Matthew 18:21-35
“Forgiving Others”
September 14, 2014

Have you ever noticed that Jesus places a great deal of emphasis on our need to forgive others? Forgiving others is one of the most important of Jesus’ teachings, and one of the keys to living the Christian life. In fact, Jesus even goes so far as to say that if you’re not willing to forgive others, you can’t experience the fullness of God’s forgiveness in your life. In the Sermon On The Mount Jesus said: “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Jesus teaches this same principle here in Matthew 18. Here in Matthew 18 we learn a lot about forgiveness, how much we’ve been forgiven, and how much we need to forgive others. We also learn that being forgiven and forgiving others are inseparable concepts.

The “big idea” of Matthew 18:21-35 is this: If you are going to follow Christ, you need to forgive as you have been forgiven.

If I were to ask you to think of someone you’ve had to forgive recently, or someone you need to forgive, it probably wouldn’t take very long for you to come up with a name. It’s a fact of life, as you live your life you will have many opportunities to forgive others. If you’re married, you’ll have many opportunities to practice forgiveness. If you have a job, go to school, have neighbors, go to Church, or do anything else, in whatever you do in life, you are going to have many opportunities to practice forgiveness. And guess what? You, yes even you, will give many people many opportunities to forgive you. Opportunities to forgive are a part of life. So the question is: how do you do it? How do you forgive others as God wants you to forgive them? What does it mean to forgive as you have been forgiven?
As we look at Matthew 18 we see several guidelines for forgiving others. When someone comes to you asking for forgiveness, here are several things to keep in mind. But be warned , these are not easy.
First of all, if you are going to practice forgiveness as Jesus teaches you to do, you need to forget about keeping count. In this passage Peter comes to Jesus and asks, “Lord how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Where did Peter come up with the “seven times” figure? Well, in the Jewish belief system, seven was the perfect number — the number of completion. Therefore, forgiving someone seven times “completed” your obligation to forgive, and you weren’t required to extend it further.
Jesus said to him, however,”Not seven times but seventy-seven times,” The point is that you are not to keep track of the number of times you forgive someone. In other words, each and every time they come to you seeking forgiveness, you are to forgive them.
Now, it’s important to know that Jesus is not talking about someone who hurts you and does not feel guilty about it or does not ask you to forgive them. He’s talking about someone who is truly sorry for what they have done and comes to you asking for forgiveness. In that case, Jesus makes it clear. If you are going to be the forgiving person He calls you to be, you forgive those who ask you to forgive them, no matter how many times they may offend you and have to ask for your forgiveness.
Jesus makes it clear to Peter, and to you, and to me, that we are to forgive others an unlimited number of times. He also makes it clear that God doesn’t expect you and me to do anything that he’s not willing to do Himself. The truth is that you and I are to forgive others an unlimited number of times because God forgives us an unlimited number of times. In other words, you can forget about keeping count when it comes to God’s willingness to forgive you. If you ask God to forgive you, He will. In the same way, you need to forget about keeping count if someone asks you for forgiveness. If someone asks you to forgive them, do it, regardless of how many times they’ve asked in the past. Forgive others as you have been and continue to be forgiven. Forget about keeping count.
There’s a second guideline Jesus gives here in Matthew 18. That is when someone asks you to forgive them, don’t just forgive, but cancel the debt. Sometimes when you forgive others you have the power to cancel their debt, to let them completely off the hook, and you need to do that whenever you can. In Matthew 18 Jesus tells the parable of a man who owed his king a huge sum of money. He owed him millions of dollars in today’s way of thinking about it. There is no way he could pay the debt, so the king ordered that everything the man owned, and even his wife and children, be sold, and the man sold into slavery also. In that way the debt, or at least part of it, would be repaid. The man who owed the debt begged and pleaded for mercy, and the king took pity on him. He took pity and canceled the dept all together. Just like that, with just a word, millions of dollars of debt was wiped away. This man had gotten in over his head and he owed far more than he was able to pay back, but the king understood something about forgiveness, and so he cancelled the debt and let him go.
You know, there are some times when you forgive others that you simply have to cancel the debt and let them go. When someone does something wrong, they should do whatever they can to make it right. But sometimes people wrong us to such an extent that they can never make it right. If they come to you seeking forgiveness, and you have the power to cancel their debt, then cancel their debt. Let them off the hook. Forgive them completely.
Maybe you’re wondering why you should forgive someone completely and cancel their debt, or just let them off the hook. If you are wondering why you need to do that, remember the principle to forgive others as God has forgiven you. When God forgives you. The Bible says He doesn’t remember your sin any more. It’s forgiven and done away with. You need to forgive others in the same way. When you forgive others, remember how God forgives you, how God forgets your sins. That will help you forgive and forget theirs.
So, we have seen two guidelines for forgiving others as God has forgiven you. Forget about keeping count, and cancel the debt.
A third guideline about how to be the forgiving person Jesus calls you to be that we see here in Matthew 18 is that, even though you forgive them and let them off the hook, you still need to keep them accountable. In this parable in Matthew 18, the king forgives the servant’s debt, and then the servant goes out and refuses to forgive someone else of a much lesser debt. The king then throws the servant he has forgiven but has refused to forgive someone else in jail
What’s the lesson here? What can we learn from this? We can learn that along with forgiveness comes accountability. The king didn’t cancel the servant’s debt and give him free reign to run up more debt, and neither did he give him free reign to treat his fellow servants ruthlessly. He forgave him, he cancelled the debt, and he also held him accountable. In forgiving others, this is the area where you might often drop the ball. When someone comes to you asking for forgiveness, the best response is to say, “Absolutely, I will forgive you. I will cancel the debt. Now, what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?” When you forgive others, even though you completely wipe out their debt from the past, you need to help them establish terms of accountability so that they will be able to overcome their past and move on toward being the people God wants them to be.
Remember that you are to forgive others as God has forgiven you. Remember that God forgives you absolutely and completely, yet He makes you accountable to Him and others for your actions.
With forgiveness comes accountability, so when someone comes to you asking for forgiveness, give it to them. Also, give them the opportunity to establish terms of accountability so that their striving to be the person God wants them to be can be complete.
So we have seen 3 guidelines for being the forgiving person Jesus calls you to be. Forget about keeping count. Cancel the debt. Keep the offender accountable. But there’s a fourth guideline, and that is really the most important one of all. When someone comes to you and asks you to forgive them, remember the mercy God has shown you and show them the same. God wants you to forgive others and Jesus teaches you to forgive others, because we have been forgiven. Your debt to God is much greater than anyone’s debt to you, and yet God forgives you, and because of that, you can forgive others. None of us deserve God’s love and forgiveness, but He forgives us anyway. All of us fail again and again in the same areas of our lives, and yet God continues to forgive us again and again. There is no way you could ever need to forgive anyone else more than God has forgiven you. When we consider God’s mercy in your life you find yourself compelled to show mercy to others. The wicked servant in this parable was punished because he was willing to receive mercy but wasn’t willing to give it, and Jesus said: “This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
God takes forgiveness very seriously. He expects you to forgive others completely, because that is how He forgives you. He takes forgiveness so seriously that He was willing to send Jesus into the world to die on the cross for your sins and to pay the debt for your sins, a debt that you could never pay yourself. God’s forgiveness is not because you deserve it, but because He’s merciful. He doesn’t keep count of your offenses. He cancels the debt completely. He makes you accountable to him and others so that you can become more holy, more like Him.
So – I’ll ask the question again I asked earlier — do you need to forgive someone?

Forgive them as God has forgiven you. Forget about keeping count. Cancel the debt. Help them establish terms of accountability. And most of all, never forget how much God has forgiven you for, and share the forgiveness God has shown you with others.

That’s how to live a life of forgiving others Amen.

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Exodus 1:8-2:10

God Has Big Plans
August 24, 2014

Moses is one of the most fascinating men in history. I’m sure that many of you remember, as I do, watching Cecil B. DeMille‘s movie “The Ten Commandments” when you were younger. Who can forget scenes such as Charleston Heston, playing the part of Moses, holding up his hand and parting the Red Sea or standing atop Mi. Sinai with the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments in his hands as the lightning flashes around him? More recently Disney came out with “The Prince Of Egypt”, an animated film about Moses, and a new generation became impressed with the life and character of Moses, I remember taking a group of young people to see the movie and, as it showed Moses parting the sea and the people walking across, one of the young people looked up at me and said, with wide – eyed amazement: “Now that’s something you don’t see every day!”
Indeed, Moses’ life is an interesting story, filled with things you don’t see every day, but it is much more than that. As we take a closer look at events in his life there are many lessons to be learned, not the least of which is that God has big plans for God’s people. God placed a special call on Moses’ life. God had big plans for Moses.
We need to realize that God has big plans for us as a Church, and big plans for each of us individually as His followers.
God used Moses in a great and special way. God wants to use us as a Church, and you as an individual, in a great way. It appears that Moses always had a sense of God’s call on his life, but it took him some time to determine exactly how he was to fulfill it. The lesson Moses eventually learned is that a person becomes most effective in life when he or she decides to do God’s will in God’s way.
I see 2 major themes in Moses’s life that illustrate God’s plan for Moses, and the plan God may have for you.
The first theme I see is that Moses’ entire life lead up to God’s call. As we look at the life of Moses we can see how God prepared him from the very beginning for the work God had in mind for him to do.
Our passage for today from the first and second chapters of Exodus tell us that when Moses was born, the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, felt threatened by the growing number of Hebrews, so he ordered that all newborn Hebrew males would be put to death. Moses’ mother couldn’t bear to turn him over to the Egyptian authorities, so she hid his birth as long as she could. Finally, in a desperate attempt to spare his life, she placed him in a basket and put him in the Nile River, hoping and praying that somehow, someway, God would protect him and guide him to safety. Well, God answered her prayer; Moses was discovered in the Nile by the Pharaoh’s daughter, who took him and raised him as her own.
God had big plans for Moses.
Even though he was born a Hebrew slave, God worked it out that Moses would be raised in the house of Pharaoh and educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians. At an early age Moses had the desire to rescue his people from the torment of their Egyptian captors. One day he witnessed a Hebrew man being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he killed the Egyptian. Moses then fled the country and lived in the land of Midian. It may have appeared that his dream to save the Hebrew people had gone up in smoke, but God was not finished with him.
God had big plans for Moses.  For the next 40 years Moses tended flocks belonging to his father-in-law. It would appear to a casual observer that Moses had been forgotten by God, that he had failed and had become nothing more than a “could-have-been.” But God didn’t forget about Moses and he didn’t forget about the plight of his people. During this time, there were some important changes taking place in Moses’ personal life. This 40 years as sheep-herder was a time of character building. God was waiting for the day when he could use Moses in a great way, and that’s exactly what God did.
God had big plans for Moses. Plans to use him in a great way, just as God has big plans for us as members of Edgewood Presbyterian and plans to use us in a great way. There is a reason that we as the congregation Edgewood Presbyterian are here in this place, in this community, at this time. God wants to use us in a great way in this community and at this time. here and now. God has big plans. In the very same way, God has a big plan for you a plan to use you in a great way. God can use the events of your life as points of preparation for the plan He has for you. There is a reason you were born into the family into which you were born, there is a reason you grew up in the geographic area you in which you grew up, there is a reason you are alive in this generation. All the events of your life, both good and bad, are part of the process of preparation for the great things God has planned for you to do.
God has big plans.
Maybe you feel that your life to this point has been a total failure. Maybe you had a dream for what you could accomplish, and right now it appears that you have fallen desperately short of the mark. Maybe you have made some mistakes and have made a complete mess of everything, and it’s caused you to believe that your only choice is to give up and quit. Maybe something painful happened in your childhood or in your past, something that causes you to wonder, “Why me? Why did I have to live through this?” The truth is that God can use the events of your entire life, even your mistakes, even the things that are beyond your control, to design your life in such a way that it will bring Hm glory. Right now, today, you are being trained for God’s purpose. God is using this time to prepare you for the work He has called you to do. Remember: Even our worst experiences become part of the process of preparation. God has big plans for you, and your entire life has been leading you toward his plan for your life.
God has big plans for you and your life, ad can use each event in your life to prepare you for that plan, just as He did Moses.
God has big plans for us as a Church – and you as an individual.
God has big plans!

The second thing I believe we you discover about God’s plan as you look at the life of Moses is that God will wait until you’re ready to be used.
Have you ever noticed that there is a difference in the way professional football teams and professional baseball teams prepare their rookies? Most NFL teams will sign a hot-shot rookie, for example a quarterback to a multi-million dollar contract and expect to get their money’s worth the first season. It rarely happens. A few years ago the rookie Adrian Peterson made a great impact as a running back for the Minnesota Vikings and last year Andrew Luck did well as a quarterback, but it’s rare that a rookie becomes a star in the NFL their first season. Many people have forgotten the names and unspectacular careers of Heath Shuler, Brian Bosworth, and Ryan Leiif, all who were expected to make a huge impact in the NFL their rookie seasons but did not. These are all players who excelled in college football and were highly touted as rookies, but simply were not ready for the challenges of playing professional football. Only time will tell what impact Johnny Manzell will have in the NFL this year. Major League Baseball , on the other hand, uses a completely different strategy. It is not uncommon for a baseball team to sign a rookie to a high-priced contract, and send him to play Double A ball in a town like Birmingham or Omaha or Triple A in Durham until they are ready to play in the Major Leagues. When I lived outside of Greensboro I got to see Derek Jeter, one of the biggest stars the New York Yankees ever had, begin his career playing Single A ball for the Greensboro Bats before he moved up to the Major League club. The American League rookie of the year last year, Will Myers, played for the Triple A Durham Bulls last year until the Tampa Bay Rays organization decided that he was ready to be moved up to the Major League team in Tampa in mid season last year, and he proved that he was ready when he hit a grand slam home run his first at bat in Tampa and went on to win rookie of the year honors.
God’s method is more like the baseball model than the football. God will not ask you to do more that you are able to do. God will not use you until He has put you through a time of preparation, much as Moses went through.

God has big plans, and is preparing you, and us as a Church for great things!

God has big plans!

God will us the events in your life to prepare you for the work He has called you to do – the big plans, the great things, He is planning for you. God will us the things we experience as a Church to prepare us for the work He has called you to do .
God has big plans! Big plans for how to use you and big plans for how to use us as a Church. Moses, and so many others in the Bible and throughout history, let God prepare them for the great things He had in mind for them to be doing. Let God prepare you, and let’s let God prepare us a a Church, for the big plans, the great things, He is planning for you and for us.
God indeed has big plans! Amen.

Genesis 45:1-15

Genesis 45:1-15
How Do You Treat Those Who Mistreat You?
August 17, 2014
Have you ever felt that people were mistreating you? Have you ever been hurt by someone and had the feeling that the way they are treating you, or the things that they were saying about you, were just not fair? Or have you ever thought that someone was mistreating you by their words or actions, even if they were not?
How does feeling that someone is mistreating you make you feel?
What do you want to do to someone who you feel in mistreating you?
Do you want to retaliate and mistreat them? Do you want to hurt them as much as they have hurt you, or worse? Do you want to “get even” with them? These are indeed human emotions and may be our natural inclinations towards those who mistreat us.
Get even. Get revenge. An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I wonder if that’s the best way to treat those who mistreat you. That may be our first inclination, but I am not sure it’s our best. Not only might it put a lot of dentists, optometrists and ophthalmologists out of business due to the number of toothless and eyeless people in the world, but I wonder if it would really solve anything, and I really wonder if it’s the way God would have us act.
I wonder — is there another way to treat those who mistreat us?
Chapters 37 – 45 of Genesis tell us the story of Joseph, Jacob’s youngest son. You are familiar with the story. Joseph is sold to some traders by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, where he is fvalsely accused of taking advantage of his master’s wife and thrown into prison. In prison he befriends others who promise to work for his release, but they forget about him after their freedom. Joseph seems to be accumulating a long list of names on his list of people who have mistreated him. A long list of folks to “get back at” or “get even with” once given a chance to do so. You can picture Joseph in prison just plotting his revenge against his brothers, Potiphar, those who forgot about him, and everyone else who had mistreated him, can’t you?
But God had a different plan for Joseph than his extracting revenge on those who had wronged him. After his release from prison he becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt as he gets the people ready for the coming famine For the next seven years he did his job well, storing enough food to help the entire nation prepare for the years of famine. And sure enough, after seven years, famine struck – but the country of Egypt was ready. But Joseph’s family in Canaan was not ready. – Jacob sent his sons to purchase grain in Egypt, and who do they stand before to ask for grain? None other than Joseph, the younger brother they had beaten and sold and thought they would never have to bother with again. Now, Joseph was the governor of the Egypt, the one who sold grain to the people. We can only imagine what Joseph is thinking as his brothers, who do not recognize him stand before him. What would you be thinking if you were in Joseph’s position in our passage for today? I know myself well enough to know that I would probably at lease entertain thoughts of how to extract revenge on these brothers who had mistreated me. They had their laughs at my expense, now it would be my turn! But when the opportunity came for him get revenge, he instead reconciled with his brothers and received them with open arms instead of trying to punish them for what they had done to him.
Yea – how do you treat those who mistreat you? You know – our stories may not be as sensational as Joseph’s, but we share something in common with him. We are all, at some time or another, treated unfairly. We all know what it’s like to be given worse than we deserve. We’ve all been mistreated at some time in our lives. Maybe it was by a parent, or sibling, or employer, or coach, or spouse, or child, or friend — regardless of who it was – we all have had times we have been mistreated – and will probably continue to have these times in our lives. I believe we can all learn from Joseph’s story a better way to treat those who mistreat us.
What can we learn from Joseph about how to treat those who mistreat us?
First of all, if you’ve been mistreated, recognize how God has adapted the situation for good.
Notice what Joseph said to his brothers…
(v. 5) “…it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”
Even though the events of his life had been challenging, to say the least, Joseph recognized God’s hand in the details. Listen to what he says in verse 8:
(v. 8) “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.”
Regardless of where you may feel you are in your story you can know that God has not abandoned you. Do you remember how the Bible said that the Lord was with Joseph when he was a slave, and the Lord was with Joseph when he was in prison, and the Lord was with Joseph when he served before the Pharaoh? In the very same way, the Lord is with you, whatever your situation in life may be. Maybe today you can see how God has worked out negative events in your life for good, or maybe that yet hasn’t been made clear to you. Either way, God is at work in your life just as He was in Joseph’s.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Learn to recognize God’s “good work”, even in “bad times”.
Obviously, Joseph’s brothers didn’t have his best interests in mind when they sold him into slavery. They didn’t mistreat him with the idea that it would help him become a high-ranking official in Egypt. They intended to hurt him, but their intentions backfired, because God was with Joseph. For you, God can and will turn your curse into a blessing. He can turn the times people mistreat you into times of blessings. blessings for you and others.
So, the first thing you can do when you are mistreated by others is recognize. the “good’ God has brought out of a bad situation.
Here’s the second thing you can learn about how to treat those who mistreat you — Release the Offender . Joseph reveals his spiritual depth in the words he speaks to his brothers…
(v. 5) “And now, do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here…”

Joseph could have given his brothers a long speech about the terrible things they had done to him. He could have said, “Now it’s your turn; you will suffer as I have suffered.” But Joseph wasn’t interested in revenge. He just wanted to let the offense go. Joseph understood that when you release the offender, you release yourself. As long as you hang on to your bitterness and resentment, you will never be free, no matter how much success you achieve.

God is willing to turn the curses of your life into a blessing. Don’t waste it by clinging to the past. Let it go. Release the offender.

Augustine said, “If you are suffering from a bad person’s injustice, forgive him, lest there be two bad people.” When you are mistreated, don’t hang on to the hurt. Don’t cling to the past. Forgive whoever you have to forgive. Release the offender. In fact, more than just forgiving the offender, you need to go to the third step — Repay Them With Kindness. This is what Joseph did for his brothers. He said…
(v. 9-11) “Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me…I will provide for you there…”
In spite of the fact that he had been sold as a slave for 20 shekels many years before, when he had the opportunity, he repaid his brothers with kindness. It may seem outrageous to do good to someone who has gone out of their way to do harm to you, but that is exactly what God has called us to do. And remember that God leads by example — Jesus was beaten, mocked, and spat upon, though he had done nothing to justify such treatment – but while he was hanging on a cross he didn’t deserve to bear, he said, “Father, forgive them.”
If you’ve been mistreated, look for an opportunity to repay the person who has mistreated you with kindness.
When Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking, he was lambasted by many theologians and religious leaders. One leader, the Methodist Bishop of New York State, was particularly outspoken in his criticism of Peale, to the point of publishing mean-spirited articles about him. Dr. Peale was also a featured book reviewer for a national magazine, and a book by this hostile Bishop came across his desk. Here was his chance to get even, to say everything back to this man that had been said about him. So, how did Peale review the book? Peale said, “It was a fine piece; accordingly I wrote a favorable review.”
Repay those who mistreat you with kindness. .
For example, your parents may have mistreated you as a child, but don’t withhold your kindness from them now. Your brother or sister may have made life difficult for you in the past, but if you have the ability to do good for them now, do it. Your neighbor may have offended you or taken advantage of you, but if you now have the opportunity to do them a favor, take advantage of it. Repay them with kindness.
Jesus teaches us to repay people who mistreat us with kindness in Matthew 5:43 when He talks about returning persecution and mistreatments with love.
The fourth way respond to those who mistreat you is to re-invent the relationship. Listen to how Joseph reinvented the relationship with his brothers:
(v. 14-15) Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterwards his brothers talked with him.
It’s as if Joseph was saying, “Let’s start over, and let’s do it right this time.”
Some of you are probably asking, “Does this mean I should let my abusive husband back in the house, as if nothing has happened? Are you saying I should re-hire a dishonest employee and make my business vulnerable again?”
No. I didn’t say “resume the relationship”, I said “re-invent” it. Make it the way it should have been all along, with the proper boundaries and the proper understanding of each other.
Reconciling with someone who has hurt you in the past doesn’t mean that you’re setting yourself up to be hurt all over again. Change the terms of the relationship. Make it the way it should have been all along. This is what Joseph did with his brothers.
It’s inevitable that you will be mistreated. Maybe in big ways, maybe in small ways, but it’s sure to happen.
The thing is that mistreatment can be the catalyst for God doing something great in your life, or it can be the catalyst of your undoing. How you respond to mistreatment will determine whether or not you experience God’s peace and joy in your life.
Here are 4 tings you can learn from Joseph – and apply to your own life – so so you can learn how to treat those who mistreat you:
1. Recognize God’s hand in your life and trust him to turn the curse into a blessing;
2. Release the offender, because in doing so you release yourself;
3. Repay them with kindness when the opportunity presents itself;
4. Re-invent the relationship to make it what it should have been all along.
Good advice – no – make that God’s advice – for how to treat those who mistreat you. Amen.

Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21
“Counting On Jesus”
August 3, 2014
Several years ago Bill Murray starred in the movie “What About Bob?” In it he plays Bob Wiley, the patient of a psychiatrist who is desperately trying to take a vacation with his family, but Bob does not think he can make it a month while his psychiatrist is on vacation. He takes the bus from New York to the psychiatrists’ vacation home in New Hampshire and spends the entire month with the psychiatrist and his family. In the process the psychiatrist learns how much good he is doing others and decides to continue the practice, although at the start of his vacation he was ready to quit.
At one point the psychiatrist says : “You know – I never thought anyone was counting on me!”
It’s a funny movie, and it shows how we need to be available for others, even when it’s not convenient to us.
Jesus was certainly willing to be available for others, even when it was not convenient for Him. In the passage directly before our passage for today, John is killed by Herd, and Jesus seems to want to get away for awhile. He seems to want to take a break, to take a vacation. He seems to want time alone with the disciples and with God. It’s not really all that unfair a fair a request when you think about it.
His cousin, his predecessor in ministry, had been killed. and Jesus probably wanted some time te to sort things out, so to speak. Time to think about what He was doing. Maybe some time to pray about God’s will for His life. Time away from the increasingly pressing crowds. But the crowds follow Jesus and the disciples. They can not get away.
What does Jesus do?
Does He yell at them and tell them to go away, to come back later? Does He
refuse to see them? No, He has compassion.
He has compassion
He has compassion for the crowds and compassion for their needs.
He heals many of them and teaches them.
He has so much compassion that the day gets late, everyone is hungry and no one has any food.
Now what does Jesus do? The disciples want Him to dismiss the crowds so they can go into the nearby towns and villges and get something to eat but what does Jesus do?
Again, He has compassion. He refuses to send the crowd away.
“You feed them” He tells the disciples.
But — how? How could they do that? they ask. They don’t have enough food to feed so many. They figure there must be at least 5.000 people there. They are not prepared to feed such a crowd, and don’t have the money to buy enough food. They found 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, but what were they in such a large crowd?
How could they give them something to eat?
You know what? There was something the disciples had forgotten how to do. They had forgotten how to count. Not in the traditional way, but by Jesus’ way, a “new math” of abundance! They saw the situation by the following mathematical equation: (5 loaves plus 2 fish) divided by (5,000 people) = a desperate need they could not meet. They know how to “count” in the sense of world, but they did not know how to count in Jesus’ new way, the “new math” of abundance! They forgot one important factor in the equation – JESUS. They forgot that, whatever they had, Jesus could take it and bless it and use it for His work and will in the world. They forgot that they could always count on Jesus, and when they counted on Jesus, a miracle occurred! What they thought was just a small amount of food just 5 loaves and 2 fish, suddenly became an enormous amount of food!
You may remember the episode of the “I Love Lucy” show where Lucy is baking bread and glances down at her cookbook and reads that she needs to add in 12 cakes of yeast. When her friend Ethel arrives she questions whether that is too much, but Lucy says “that’s what the cookbook says”. They look at the cookbook again, and discover that Lucy had misread the cookbook. She only needed to put in 2 cakes of yeast, not 12. But they figure the cakes of yeast are very small and won’t be any problem. They go shopping, and when they return home Lucy notices the door of the oven is ajar. Opening the door to investigate, an enormous loaf of bread emerges, so big it pins Lucy against the cabinets on the opposite side of the kitchen. Ethel runs to get a huge lumberjack saw and rescues Lucy from the monster loaf of bread!
Like the small cakes of yeast can do powerful things — Jesus can take small things, and do powerful things. Here’s how the true mathematical equation the disciples were facing in trying to feed the 5,000 should have looked like:
(5 loaves + 2 fish) plus JESUS divided by (over 5,000 people) = A Miracle!
A miracle occurred when they gave what they had to Jesus and let Him do His miracle!
Like the psychiatrist in the movie “What About Bob” the disciples learned to care and have compassion that day, but they learned more than that – they learned how to count on Jesus’ ability to care, Jesus’ ability to meet needs and work miracles. They learned that, when they step up do what they can Jesus can do the rest. In other words, they learned to learned to count on Jesus.
OK – so – what about us?
Well, aren’t there times we are like the disciples? Aren’t there times we feel so overwhelmed by needs around us in world and community that we just want t get away? Aren’t there times we feel like saying:
“God – take care of those needs I see around me” But feel Jesus saying “No – you do it!”
Aren’t there times we want to ask –
God, surely you don’t expect me to take care of all these needs!
Like the disciples, we forget how to count, not by the world’s standards, but by Jesus’ “new math” of abundance! The mathematical equation for how we see it may look something like this:
(Our limited resources) divided by (the world’s great needs) equals disaster!
This story before us today is a word for every weary disciple, and a word for us. Although we may feel we are confronted with impossible expectations we are supported by Jesus’ promise to give us more than enough to reach out to those in need, if we will just do it. The mathematical equation we should be looking at is:
(Our limited resources) plus (JESUS) divined by (the world’s great needs) equals A MIRACLE!
How can we do all God has called us to do?
How can we find enough to meet the needs of so many people?
How can we visit the sick, console the distressed, find a word of hope for others, and help those who desperately need it?
Well, the task is obviously impossible, but, like the disciples, if we will simply do what we can and depend on Jesus for the rest things will get done.
Yea (our limited resources) plus (JESUS) divined by (the world’s great needs) equals a miracle!
You see, Jesus is not really saying “ you do it”, instead Jesus is saying: “Let’ it together!”
When we look at needs and situations around us we might be overwhelmed, but we need to count Jesus into equation
(Our limited resources) plus (JESUS) divined by (the world’s great needs) equals A MIRACLE!
Instead of feeling overwhelmed, remember to count on on Jesus!
Matthew West has a song that’s getting a lot of air play on the Contemporary Christian radio stations these days where he sings about a man who asked God why He didn’t do something about all the problems in the world — and God replied;
“I created you!”
In other words, God created us to work with Him, to put what we can do with what He can dom through us and see the miraculous difference we can make together.
Feel for the needs of others, and do what you can to meet their needs.
Feel compassion for others, and do what you can to help them.
Think of what you can do – what we together can do – what we together with Jesus can do – to meet the needs of others
Think of what can be done when we add Jesus to the equation
Think of what we can do when we count on Jesus
We don’t have to feel like the psychiatrist in “What About Bob” whose patients would not leave him alone — or the disciples overwhelmed by needs of those around them –
We can count on Jesus. and find our needs met, and, find His miraculous power when we willing to do what we can and count on Jesus to do the rest!
A minister tells the story of one day, while walking into the Hospital to visit someone, a mother and her young daughter were ahead of him. Just before they got to the entrance, the little girl noticed the closed door and asked her mother how they were going to get inside. The mother smiled, walked forward, and the electronic eye opened the door and they walked in. As they were walking in, the little girl turned to him and said: “It’s ok – just step up and a miracle will happen” Jesus says to us – “It’s ok – step forward in faith – and a miracle will occur!”
Step up – in faith – and count on Jesus! AMEN

Genesis 29:15-28

Genesis 29:15-28
Dare To Be Different
July 28, 2014
The Trickster Is Tricked
So might the headline read if this were a story in our local paper. Jacob – the one who had tricked his older brother Esau out of his birthright and blessing – Jacob – the one who had deceived his dying father Isaac into blessing him instead of Esau – Jacob – the ultimate trickster – is now tricked.
We smile when we read the passage – don’t we? 7 years of labor to marry his love –
then a dark night, a veiled bride, a shared bed, then in the light of morning – surprise!
Surprise, indeed! The trickster is tricked. The tables are turned. We may think: “Turn a bout is fair play!” It may be hard for us to feel sorry for Jacob. We may feel he is only getting what he deserves. We may feel he is only reaping what he has sown.
Maybe you think that’s the message of this passage. You Reap What You sow. Maybe you think that God may forgive, but that we still have to pay for past actions. We,, this is much too easy to be lesson in this passage. Something else is going on here. Something below the surface. Something that is more important than the first conclusions we easily jump to.
The answers to what else is going on here may be in the character of Jacob in this lesson. Look at Jacob. How is he acting? Is he acting in the same old self-seeking, self-centered, self-serving – I’m going to get my way even if I have to cheat you to get it – way he has acted in previous passages? No. Something is different about Jacob here. What is it? He’s letting himself be tricked. He’s letting himself be taken advantage of. He’s not just taking what he wants – he’s working for what he wants, and even working double the agreed upon deal. The Jacob we have known from previous lessons may have just taken Rachel without even consulting Laban or maybe tricked Laban into giving him Rachel without doing any work, especially after the way Laban tricked him. But this time he doesn’t! The time he complies with Laban’s rules, even when Laban changed the rules in mid-stream.
This is not the Jacob we have seen in the past! This is different! This is new! Jacob is different! He’s not the “same old Jacob” we’ve seen before! He’s different!
What has made the difference in Jacob’s life? Is it love? Well, yes. So he’s different because of his love for Rachel. We’ve seen love for a woman change many a man. But – Jacob’s love for Rachel is only part of the difference. The difference is love, but to understand that love we have to go back to its source. We have to go back to last week’s lesson. We have to go back to God, who made himself known to the desperate fugitive Jacob. We have to go back to God, who made his love known to Jacob. God, who changed Jacob’s life! His encounter with the love of God changed Jacob. The encounter with God at Beth – El changed Jacob and made him a different man. He travels on to Haran and his encounter with God but it is a changed man who arrives there. He’s a man who is no longer pre-occupied with himself, with what he wants, with what’s good for him and serving himself. He is now concerned with others, with doing for others, and serving others. He is a completely different person with a completely different attitude. He has been changed by God!
Instead of behaving in old, selfish ways, he dares to be different. He dares to be loving and to be caring, even if it means others may take advantage of him. He dares to be different.

Jacob loves! He sacrifices! He cares! He dares to be different.
So – there is much more going on here than just the trickster being tricked. Much more. This is not just a story of having to pay for past actions, but it is a story of the life-changing, difference-making love of God. This is a story of the love of God that can change us and make us different people. This is a story of God’s love that can change our lives and give us a new way to live. This is a story of how God can change us and how we can dare to be different.
We don’t need to laugh too much at Jacob, the old trickster getting his due from Laban. No, we need to look at the change, look at the difference in Jacob’s life, and see how we can have such a change in ours. God’s will was for Jacob to be a different person. God’s will was for Jacob to be a person that was not self-centered but God-centered, or centered upon God’s will and the good of others. God’s will was for Jacob to be a person who was willing to do for others, even if it made very little sense, and even when it may have meant being taken advantage of. God’s will was for Jacob to be loving, even if it meant risking looking like a fool. God’s will was for Jacob to dare to be loving, dare to be caring dare to be different. And this is God’s will for us, too!
It’s God’s will for us to be loving and caring. It’s God’s will for us to be different. We can not do God’s will if we worry only about ourselves, or what’s good for us, or what we want. God’s will for us is for us to be different from all of this. God’s will is for us to make a difference in the world as we use our gifts and abilities to show God’s love to all people. Sometimes others will take advantage of us, much as Laban did Jacob, but that’s OK – God’s will is for us to be loving, to be caring, to be different! God’s will is for us to dare to be different!
Jacob dared to be different.
Jesus dared to be different.
The Gospel, or the Good News of Jesus Christ, is that we can dare to be different people. We can dare to let God make a difference in our lives, just as Jacob let God make a difference in his life, then, like Jacob began to make a difference in the lives of others because God had make a difference in his life, we can dare to be people who are committed to make a difference in the lives of others and a difference in our community and the world because of the difference God has made in our lives. We can dare to be people who make a difference in our world, in our families, in our community, and in our church because God has make a difference in our lives.
In other words, we can dare to let God make a difference in our lives, then we can dare to be different people because of the difference God has made in our lives.
The poet Ann Weems wrote a poem entitled “Our Lord Is Called Hope.” She writes:
Our Lord was a Lord who turned
things upside down and inside out
a man who dined with sinners
a man who befriended prostitutes and tax collectors
a man who was called heretic
a man who broke the Sabbath rules
a man who changed water into wine.

And he bids us o follow Him
to turn things upside down and inside out
to go where the hurting is
to change water into wine
to change who we are into the Kingdom of God.

Yes, my friends. Go into the world. Follow Christ. Turn things upside down and inside out. Go where the hurting is. Change who we are into the people of God.
Jacob experienced God’s love and he dared to be different. Our calling is to experience God’s love – then dare to be loving, dare to be caring, and dare to be different.
Dare to follow Christ and make a difference with His difference making love in the world.
Dare to be different. Amen.

Genesis 28:10-19(a)

Genesis 28:10-19(A)
You Can Run – But You Can’t Hide
July 20, 2014
Have you ever had one of those times when it seemed that everything is going against you, that no one cares for you, that you are desperate and alone – but suddenly in the midst of that desperation and loneliness something happens and somehow you experience God in a new way, in such a way that it becomes clear to you that God is with you and suddenly you no longer feel so alone but feel a part of a community that includes none other than God, God’s self?
Ever had an experience like that?
Many of us can tell stories of times God has come to us and shown us His presence and His love, His care, just when it may have seemed to us that no one cared.
If Jacob could be here he would certainly have a story to tell
He could tell us a story of loneliness. A story desperation. A story of feeling that no one cared. But in the midst of the loneliness and desperation his would be a story of how God came to him. His would be a story of God’s love, God’s care and God’s promise, just when he needed it the most.
In our passage for today Jacob is a fugitive. He is a loner. He has just cheated Esau out of his birthright by tricking his father Isaac into blessing him instead of Esau and now Esau is wanting to kill him. He is running for his life. I’m sure he feels alone and scared. He must feel desperate. He may have felt that there was no one to care for him, and that especially God didn’t care for him.
How could God care for a person such as he had turned out to be? Sure, he had received the blessing from Isaac, but – was it true? Would God really bless him? After all that he has done? Indeed, as he traveled toward Haran, we can imagine that he felt alone, uncared for, guilty and desperate.
But he couldn’t run 24 hours a day, could he? Ne, he must stop and rest at night. One night he stopped at a place and rested his head upon one of the rocks, but his sleep was interrupted. In his loneliness, his desperation, his running away from Esau and all he knows, there was God. God came to him. He dreamed of a ladder connecting heaven and earth. He was not alone. His world was not simply a place of loneliness and despair, but it was also a place of God, a place of God’s presence, a place of God’s promises. God made God’s self known to him. God renewed the promises he had made to Abraham. Jacob may have been able to run from Esau, but he was not able to hide from God’s love, God’s care, God’s promises, and God’s presence .He awakened from his dream and realized that God was there all along, he just had not realized it.
In his despair, his loneliness, He discovered that he was not alone at all. He discovered that he was not uncared for at all. He discovered that God had been with him all along, and he had not realized it. So now he moved on in his life with a new perspective, the perspective that God was with him caring for him, loving him, renewing promises with him – at all times of his life.
He realized that he could run, but he couldn’t hide from God.
He learned a truth that night – when it comes to God –
you can run – but you can’t hide.
How about you?

How have you experienced God’s love and grace, God’s presence in the midst of loneliness and despair? How have you experienced God’s presence, especially at the very time you did not realize it?
Maybe it was in the midst of grief over a friend or loved one who died. Maybe it was in the midst of despair and guilt over something you did or something you felt should have done but didn’t. Maybe it was in the midst of a debilitating illness, whether yours or someone you love. Or maybe it was one of those times when it seems everyone is against you. But – in the midst of that grief – or that despair, or that guilt, or that illness, or that loneliness, God in some way made Himself known to you and let you know that you are loved and cared for, that there is no place or no condition that is separated from His love, letting you know that you can run but you can’t hide -from His love.
When it comes to God and God’s love for you, you can run, but you can’t hide.
It doesn’t matter how deep your pain is. It doesn’t matter how desperate or how alone you feel. You are not removed from God’s love and care.
There seemed to be no way God would care for Jacob. He was a lonely, guilty fugitive. God doesn’t love folk like Him, does He?
Yes He does!
God still loved him, still called him, still cared for him, and still made promises to him. God was still with him.
Wherever he went, whatever he did, whatever happened, God was with him.
Indeed – he could run but he couldn’t hide from God’s love, and neither can you – and neither can I. You can’t hide from God’s love, God’s care, and God’s presence. God is always there loving you and caring for you.
It’s important to remember just how guilty Jacob was. He had done wrong. He had cheated his brother and lied to his dying father. And yet – God was still with him. We may be able to understand God’s love and care when things happen to us that we are not responsible for such as death or illness. At the times we have done nothing to deserve the desperate feelings and loneliness it may be easy for us to understand and experience God. But what about those times when we deserve to feel desperate and guilty? What about those times when our actions have brought us to our lonely and desperate place?
Does God still care then? Does God still love us? Yes. Regardless of how far away we may have wandered from being God’s people, God cares. Regardless of what we may have done, how guilty we may feel, how much we may want to run and hide from God, regardless of how far down that road we may have gone, we can run, but we can’t hide from the love of God.
God is there. God still loves you. God still cares for you. God still saves you.
A friend once gave me a wise saying they got a great deal of peace and reassurance from. They suggested to me that I look at it every time I feel alone and unloved — regardless of why. The saying is anonymous, but wise and true. The slip of paper I was given with the saying on it is now tattered. I have pulled it out and looked at it, and taken comfort from it, more times than I can count. Here’s the saying;
“These feelings — strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself.
The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am a chosen child of God — precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”
Regardless of how Jacob felt, the truth was that he was still loved by God. Regardless of how you may feel at times, the truth is that you are still loved by God. When you feel alone, desperate, that no one cares, I may not know why you feel that way, — but God knows, and God wants you to know that He is with you!
If it is because of the death of a friend or loved one, God is with you! If it is because of guilt over things you have done or things you feel you should have done but didn’t, God is with you! If it is because of illness, whether yours or someone you love, God is with you! If you feel that everyone is against you, God is with you! God is with you, loving you, calling you, and is ready to make promises and keep promises to you. If the feelings of despair and loneliness are brought on by things you had nothing to do with, God is with you. If, like Jacob, the feelings are brought on by your actions, God is with you.
Jacob’s life was changed by his experience of God. He still made mistakes, but began trying to live in God’s ways. He experienced God’s loving presence in the midst of his despair, it made a difference in his life, and he quit trying to run from God but began living in God’s love and God’s ways. He saw that he could run, but he could not hide from God’s love.
Yea – you can run, but you can’t hide from the love of God.
Amen.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
“A Dirty Church”
July 13 2014

Not many people like dirt. It’s usually something you try to get rid of. Things that are dirty are usually considered bad. Most people like things clean instead of dirty. When your house is dirty, you clean it. When your car is dirty, you want to wash it so it can be clean. When your clothes are dirty, you wash them so they can be clean. When you are dirty, you take a bath or a shower so you can be clean.
Most of us like things clean instead of dirty.
Unless, of course, you are a kid.
Most of you know that I was the Pastor In Residence at Camp Monroe this past week. They had an over abundance of Day Campers, kids ranging in age from 6 to 9 at Camp this past week, There were 24 little ones from 8am to 5pm every day, although it seemed like there were thousands of them! My only real duties at Camp were helping lead the opening of the day worship in the morning and the closing of the day worship at night. The rest of the day I was supposed to be free to rest, work on sermons, or whatever else I wanted to do. Well, I did what I wanted to do. My heart went out for the counselors and the Day Campers, and by Tuesday morning I was helping herd the 24 little ones to their activities and taking part in the activities with them. I did everything from playing soccer – both regular soccer and crab — swimming, which I must admit felt pretty good at 2 in the afternoon, to helping with the horses to crafts – those of you who know me realise that I had a wonderful time! But I was reminded last week that kids don’t mind getting dirty! In fact when I came to be meal time or time to get in the pool we would almost have to hose them down t get them clean! No – kids don’t mind being dirty! I bet you know what the first thing I did was when I got home Friday afternoon – I dumped my clothes in the washing machine and myself in the shower!
Besides being a kid, there are other times when dirt is not that bad.
Being a potter, Sally likes nothing better than to have her hands in the mud making pottery. Back when she was pottery she comes home covered with dirt – clay – and mud from head to toe. But before she would leave the studio you know what she does? She would clean her wheel and her work area. And when she got home she would put her clothes in the dirty clothes basket so they can be washed. and took a shower to get the mud – clay – dirt off of her.
I know the joke about being made to take a bath every Saturday night whether you needed it or not – but the truth is most of us like to be clean instead of dirty. And we like things around us to be clean. We take great pride in things being clean, and spend a lot of effort getting things clean. Most of us do not like dirt.
Unless, of course, we enjoy planting flowers or growing vegetable.
When I was growing up we had a man that would help Mom and Dad with yard work on occasion named Nick White. Nick was an elderly gentleman who could tell people where to plant plants. He would dig around in the yard – getting “soil samples” as it were – then would announce:

“You can plant here. It’s good dirt.”
Sometimes you just need good dirt. What makes for good dirt? A proper balance of nutrients to start with, some fertilizer can’t hurt, maybe a little Miracle Grow, then some water and sunlight. These things can help plants grow. But frist you have to have good soil – or as Nick would say – good dirt. To have healthy plants you have to start with good dirt. And you have to be willing to get dirty.
The Parable before us today is a story Jesus told about a farmer who sowed seeds, the different types of dirt the seeds fell into, and what happened in each type of dirt. Now most of you know I am by no means a person of great horticultural skills, which is say I am no farmer. But even I wondered at the farming practices of the man Jesus told about in His story. But these were normal practices for the farmers of the first century. First century farmers usually broadcast the seed by hand as they walked through their field. The fields were small by today’s standards, and the sowing very imprecise. It was natural that some seed would land in unproductive areas. Many times pathways interlaced the fields, and were packed hard by many feet. Much land had a shallow layer of soil over a stone base. The rock would absorb heat during the day, releasing heat to the seed during the night, causing the seed to spring up quickly – as happened in verse 5 of our text. Then there was the problem of borders of the fields that would be infested with thorns, and the seeds would blow onto this soil instead of the freshly plowed ground. The farmer would not be able to see them, but in time they would sprout and choke out the good seeds the farmer was sowing.
The hard ground, the rocky soil, the weed infested soil. Problems every farmer in the first century had to deal with. Problems all of Jesus’ listeners could relate to. But then there was the good soil. The good dirt. But Jesus had more in mind when He told this story than telling a tale of a farmer and what happened to his seed.
Why do you think Jesus told this story? I believe that Jesus knew that, as His disciples and others were doing His work , not all “soil” or not all “dirt” would be “good soil” or “good dirt”. Not everyone would believe in Christ. Things would interfere with the growth of God’s Spirit in their lives. Some wouldn’t even listen. Others would, but not let it “take root”. Still others would listen but let the world choke it out God’s Spirit out of them. And there would be other “seeds” that others would spread that at times would seem to take root quicker and be more productive than the “Gospel seeds”. But sometimes there would be seeds that would land in the “good soil”, the “good dirt”, and these would take root and bear fruit, and God’s work would be done.
We know that still holds true today. We can do everything we can, We can be as faithful as we can be, but there are still those who don’t listen as we try to spread the Good News of God. There are still those who don’t let the Good News of God’s love make a difference in their lives. There are still those who let the concerns of world choke out the message we try to give them about God and God’s love for them. There are still others spreading other seeds that are not the love of God and sometimes these seeds seem to take root and be more productive than the “Gospel seeds.” But then there are still those who let God’s love make a difference in their lives and change their lives! We live in a world where a lot of different “seeds” are being sown. Some are seeds of hatred and violence. We see evidence of these seeds being sown every day. Some are seeds of addictions. We see the results of the sowing of those sees also. Some are seeds of poverty, hunger, homelessness, loss of jobs and despair. But there are others who are sowing seeds of hope, of love, of God’s love – as a response to these other seeds that are being sown. Even though these do not always bear fruit, we can sometimes see what happens in people’s lives when they do and can work to continue spreading those seeds of God’s hope and love in the world.
Let me give you an example of 2 people who spread God’s seeds – “Gospel seeds” in the world – in a place where it was dangerous to do so – but continued spreading the seeds. In 2002 Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer were workers in Afghanistan trying to bring Christ into that war torn country. One of the families they showed the Jesus film to betrayed them to the authorities. They were arrested by the Taliban, but freed when our forces drove the Taliban out of their area. They still hope to return to Afghanistan to continue their work there. When asked if they would do anything differently next time, Dayna Curry said: “I know particularly that we did not have that many people praying for us the day we were arrested. Normally we did, but on that one day we didn’t. If you are going to do something like show the Jesus film, make sure there’s a whole lot of prayer coverage” Dayna and Heather are examples of faith, and knowing that sometimes it may seem your work for God is unproductive, but you can’t give up because that productive time, that good soil, that good dirt, is out there, you just have to make sure the seed gets to it.
Every day we have to spread the seeds and share God’s love with the world. Certainly some will take root and produce fruit and some won’t. But we still have to spread the seed.
How do we spread the seeds of God’s love to the community around us? We can do this every day as we work to help those around us. We can spread seeds of God’s hope and God’s love as we reach out to those in need. We can do this through volunteering for organizations that help others or donating to organizations that help others or visiting someone who is sick. We can spread seeds of God’s hope and God’s love as we share a smile or a friendly word with a stranger. We can spread seeds of God’s hope and God’s love by working for legislation that helps those in need. We can spread seeds of God’s hope and God’s love by praying for those who are in need, those who need to experience God’s hope and love in their lives and for those who are working to bring God’s hope and love to others.
There are so many ways that we can spread God’s seeds of hope and love in our community and the world. The Lee County Presbyterian Youth Group is going to be doing this all over our community this week. The Mission Week to our community may not sound as exciting as going to Atlanta or Washington DC, but every day we will be touching the lives of folks in our own community and making a difference as we serve at the Br ead Basket or help out at CUOC. Every day we are going to be spreading the seeds of God’s love and hope to those whelement o deperate need it, right here in our community. Some of us are going to help the youth and their leaders by proving lunch on Tuesday.
Everyone is going to have an opportunity next Saturday to help distribute the Bags of Love to the homeless people here in town. What a on hands ministry that will be!
Sure, there will be those who don’t let the Good News of God’s love make a difference in their lives as we reach out to them. here will still be those who let the concerns of world choke out the message we try to give them about God and God’s love for them. There will be others who will be spreading other seeds that are not the love of God and sometimes these seeds will seem to take root and be more productive than the “Gospel seeds.” But I promise you that there will be those who will let the “Gospel seed” we sow take root in their lives and in whom the Gospel will take root and bear fruit. We just have to sow the seeds.
But there is another angle to this story we also need to consider. We do not only have to sow the seeds, but we also need to see what kind of dirt we have here! Do we, here in this Church, have an environment in which God’s seeds of love and hope that we plant can grow and be nurtured? Do we have an environment where the seeds God has sown in each of us can grow and flourish? Is our Church “good soil” – is it “good dirt”?
We need to have a “Dirty Church”! My apologies to all of you who work so hard to keep our Church clean but there are some respects in which our Church needs to be dirty! We need to be “dirty” in that we need to create an environment in which the seeds God sows in us can grow and flourish so we can go out and sow more seeds. What kind of “dirt” – what kind of “soil” do we have here? Is it the kind of soil that is like the path Jesus spoke of? Is it well worn and omfortable, traditional but not exciting and refusing to try new things God may be wanting us to try? A Church that is like the well worn path is a Church that does not give the seeds God plants within us a chance to take root. Or is our Church like rocky ground where the seeds God plants within us can quickly grow but not have any opportunity for nurture and no opportunity to take root and grow? Or is our Church like the thorny ground, choking out the excitement and enthusiasm God plants within us before they can begin to produce fruit? Or is our Church good soil, good dirt that promotes the growth of the seeds God plants within each of us?
We need to be a “Dirty Church” . We need to be a Church of good soil, good dirt that promotes the growth of the seeds of God’s love and hope that God places in us.
Earlier I mentioned some things that made for good soil – good dirt. Things like a proper balance of nutrients to start with – some fertilizer can’t hurt – maybe a little Miracle Grow – then some water and sunlight. These things can help plant seeds grow. What about God’s seeds? What about the seeds God plants within each of us? What makes for good dirt, good soil, for these seeds?
For these seeds to grow – they need things like Worship – Worship that is exciting and also inspiring. Worship that opens us up to what God may be saying to us – and the directions God may be moving us. These seeds study – study that is challenging and that opens us up to God’s word and God’s will for our lives. These seeds need service – service that helps us spread the seeds God has planted in us. these seeds need fellowship – fellowship that helps strengthen the bonds God has blessed us with – strengthen the love we have for each other and the love God has for us and helps the seeds God has planted within us grow.
These are the things that make for good dirt, good soil, where the seeds God has planted in us can grow and mature and produce fruit and from where we can go out and spread God’s seeds of love and hope in the world and the community.
Let’s be good soil. Let’s do what we can to be a Dirty Church. Let’s do what we can to be a Church that is good soil for the seeds plants in us can grow. Not a well worn path where no roots can take hold or a rocky ground that does not promote growth of God’s seeds in us or thorny ground where the seeds are choked out — let’s be good dirt – good soil. A Dirty Church that promotes growth of the seeds God plants in each of us and then let’s go out and spread more seeds for God’s glory in our community and the world. Amen.