The Pastor’s Words

Text:  Matthew 6:24-34
25 May 2008
Topic:  Not To Worry…
 
Who would have ever thought we’d be paying $4.00 a gallon for gas!  How are we going to keep on driving?  Differently, to be sure. 
Who would have thought that Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer when most people take their vacations, would have people talking about NOT going on vacation but rather staying close to home, all because of increased costs?
Who thought that the Dow Jones index would hit 14,000 only to fall 2,000 points, all within seven months?
Who knows what our health will be today, let alone next month, or even next year? 
What WILL the world be like after a new president takes office?  What changes will be made, what will remain the same?
What kind of world will our children and grandchildren grow up in?  Will they have to fight a war against terror too?
Oh, I could probably go on and on about the various worries that consume us each and every day.   And Jesus would simply say, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.  It will take care of itself.  You have enough to worry about today.”  (Matthew 6:34  CEV)
But if you’re anything like me, you’d protest and say, “Hey, it’s hard down here.  The world around me keeps changing and re-arranging itself, and nobody even asks me what I think should be happening.  If I don’t worry, who will look after my interests, who will take care of me, who will make sure I have enough to live on this year, and the year following?”
And again Jesus would say, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.  It will take care of itself.  You have enough to worry about today.”  (Matthew 6:34  CEV)
At the parsonage, the house you so generously allow us to live in, there is a rhododendron bush, the pretty one out front with the gorgeous pinkish red flowers.  In that bush there is a robin’s nest.  I discovered it the other day when I was looking out the window.   And when our grandchildren, Ali and Matt, came to visit one day last week, I showed them the nest and told them what’s happening.  
Inside that nest there are four bluish-green eggs and the mother robin is sitting on that nest, day and night, leaving only for short periods of time to gather some nutrition for herself and returning to sit on those eggs.
Last week, as you recall, there were some pretty rainy, windy days, and through all of that inclement weather, mother robin sat on the nest, getting wet, but keeping her eggs warm.  The foliage of the bush provided minimal protection, but, I guess, just enough protection, otherwise the robins wouldn’t have built their nest where they did. 
Because I only discovered the nest last week, we don’t know how long she’s been sitting on the eggs.  So, in a few days, or in a few weeks, baby robins will hatch.   And we’ll get to see how God has so wonderfully cared for these birds, giving them food, and shelter, and the joy and privilege of being parents to their offspring.
Jesus said, “I tell you, don’t worry about your life.  Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear.  Isn’t life more than food or clothing?  Look at the birds in the sky [or look at them out your front window]!  They don’t plant or harvest.  They don’t even store grain in barns.  And yet your Father in heaven takes care of them.  Aren’t you worth more than birds?”  (Matthew 6:25-26 CEV)
I guess we sometimes don’t believe it.  We don’t believe that, in the eyes of God, we are worth as much as, or even more than birds.   And yet, that’s exactly what Jesus wants us to know, and to believe.
The gospel for today comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a sermon he preached early on in his three year ministry.  Those in the crowd that day had their own list of worries.  They were Israelites, worried about their country.  It was occupied by a foreign power, the Romans.  In addition to this, they were always worried about the next war, a war in which they would have no part because they were only pawns in a much bigger foray.  They worried about their crops and their economy.  If the government and its hated tax collectors weren’t keeping them poor, the arid conditions of their land made it very difficult to live off the land.  On top of all this, the religious authorities of that day were beginning to get agitated about a certain itinerant prophet roaming the countryside, claiming to be the Messiah, healing people, and generally calling into question the way “things had always been before.”
And now, this prophet, Jesus, was telling them, “Don’t worry…. People who don’t know God are always worrying….”  Was Jesus referring to the religious authorities, was he pointing the finger at those who sat in the synagogues, in the churches of that day? 
He went on to say, “Put God’s work first and do what he wants.  Then the other things will be yours as well.  Don’t worry about tomorrow.  It will take care of itself.  You have enough to worry about today.”  (Matthew 6:31-34  CEV)
Is Jesus talking to you?  To me? 
Is it possible for us to hear these words of Jesus for ourselves?  Is it possible for us to put aside our own worries for a few minutes and rest in the assurance of Jesus’ words, “God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow.  [Don’t you know that] God will surely do even more for you?”  (Matthew 6:30 CEV)
Can we believe that God will literally care for everything in our lives?   Can we believe that God will shelter us, and clothe us, and feed us, just as well – or even better – than what God is giving to the robins outside our window?
Can we muster the faith to believe?  Fortunately, for us, like the birds, we don’t really have to do anything – except stop worrying!  The birds don’t rise in prayer.  They don’t scream at God when they don’t have what they want.  They go about their days, working to find food, building nests, looking out for one another, and tending to their young.  And, amazingly enough, they fly out into the world, expecting to find wind and air beneath their wings.
Can we do any less?  And frankly, is there any other way to live or to find faith?  By living each day, and going about our business, we exercise our belief that God is in the work of our hands, that God is in the respite of the night, that God is out there, ahead of us, taking the worry upon Godself so we don’t have to.   By God’s grace, we find that we, too, can fly out into the world, expecting to find wind and air beneath our wings.  Because God is out there, ahead of us, preparing the way, in the Spirit, in the wind beneath our wings.
I’m going to keep an eye on that nest.  I’m going to believe that God will care for those birds.  And I’m going to transfer that belief into the assurance that someday, wars will end, storms will cease, cancer will be cured, everyone will get along, and the glorious reign of God will be upon us all.  
Someday.  Yes, SOME DAY IT WILL HAPPEN.  Believe it.  AMEN

Text:  1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
11 May 2008
Topic:  Visions from the Spirit
 
She was more than smart, she was brilliant.  She was also determined.  She was going to be different than all the others in her family.  She was poor, and she didn’t have the money to hire tutors and coaches, but still, she won the 1999 spelling bee contest in Washington, D.C. and went on to the nationals and advanced to the third round before she misspelled ecclesiastical, an adjective used to describe churchly things. 
This was quite an accomplishment for Ashley White, a 13-year-old girl from our nation’s capital city, where she lived with her unmarried mother and a sister in a rough part of Washington, D.C.  Early in life, she decided she was going to go to college and she was going to graduate.  This determination drove her to study for hours and hours as she prepared for the spelling bee.  Her resolve caught the eye of a movie maker and a documentary film was made in 1999 of her and several of the other spelling bee contestants that year, an Oscar nominated movie called Spellbound.
Four years later, Ashley did what she didn’t want to do.  She got pregnant.  At the age of 17 her dreams of going to college disappeared.  She left home, was homeless for a while, and lost her way. 
And then, as I will tell the story, by the grace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, Pam Jones came into her life.  It was now 2003, Pam was living in the D.C. area and one night asked her husband to go with her to the movies.  They went to see the movie, Spellbound, the one about Ashley and the other kids who competed in the 1999 national spelling bee.  Pam was so moved by the movie she decided to find out what happened to Ashley. 
After contacting a few people, Pam was able to locate Ashley, met her and her six-month-old daughter for lunch in a neighborhood restaurant, befriended her, saw that Ashley was truly struggling to make it in life, and decided to help her. 
Pam, who had been a teenage mother herself, knew the unlikely odds of Ashley ever making it without some assistance, and found others who would be willing to help Ashley achieve her dream of getting to college and beyond.  Yesterday, the ABC Evening News reported that Ashley T. White graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a degree in communications with the hopes of going on to graduate school.
In an interview not too long ago, Ashley was asked about her remarkable turnaround in life.  She said, becoming a mother changed her.  She said, seeing herself in the movie as a confident and determined kid caused her to look for that same kid in her again.  And, she said, meeting Pam Jones, who helped her fill out a college application and give her a helping hand with child care, enabled her to turn her life around and see the future, a future that just a few years ago had vanished.
This true story tells me that every person on this earth has a gift to share.  This true story reminds me that every person of faith, people like you and me, who have been claimed in baptism and called by the Spirit, have also been sent into the world to become a Pam Jones in the life of an Ashley White.  We just have to look around and see who’s out there….
From our second lesson for today we hear St. Paul say to us, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit.  There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we each do different things.  Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.
The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.  Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can speak with knowledge….To others the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick or the power to work mighty miracles…..It is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us.”  (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 CEV)
It’s Mother’s Day.  It’s also Pentecost.  For most of us, this is the day we remember our mothers, their inspiration and their dreams for us, and we thank God for them.  And yet, for some, it is the day when memories of mom are not easy, even despairing. 
Either way, because it is Pentecost, because the Holy Spirit has come into our lives, we can grab a new lease on life and catch a new vision, like Ashley did.  Even though Ashley’s own mother was a teenage mom, Ashley applied herself, studied hard at spelling, and allowed herself to dream of success, a life different from that of her mother.
And when her dreams were dashed, another mom came to her rescue.  A stranger and a teenage mom herself, Pam Jones stepped out of her comfort zone and extended a helping hand to Ashley.  And now, Ashley is talking to teenage girls in her neighborhood school and telling them, “Hang on to your dreams.  Decide now not to get pregnant.  Keep yourself motivated.  Achieve your goals.”
In your bulletin for today you will see a buff colored insert.  On it is the list of new members, sojourners, whom we received at Easter as fellow disciples on this journey of faith.  This past week, they were asked, “What is God’s Spirit calling you to do, or be, now that you have been baptized or have affirmed your baptism into Christ and the Church?”  Their answer is written next to their names.  Practically every one of these sojourners has been led by the Spirit to declare some form of new mission or ministry, in their homes, at their jobs, here at church, or somewhere in the world.
On that same buff colored insert, you will also see the list of companions in faith for these same sojourners.  They too were asked, “What is God’s Spirit calling you to do?”  And their answers appear next to their names.
Every person on this earth has a gift to share.  Every person of faith, people like you and me, who have been claimed in baptism and called by the Spirit, have also been sent into the world to become a Pam Jones in the life of an Ashley White.  We just have to look around and see who’s out there….
Since Easter, have you asked yourself, “What is God’s Spirit calling me to do?”  In the past week, have you prayed about using your gift abilities, in some new way?  Today, are you going to look around to see who’s out there, to see who might benefit from God’s Spirit living within you?
It’s not that difficult.  Pam Jones, a mother, went to the movies one night, opened her eyes, and her heart, and reached out and helped another mother.  That mother, in turn, is now reaching out to others.  It can be that easy.
Every person on this earth has a gift to share.  Every person of faith, people like you and me, who have been claimed in baptism and called by the Spirit, have also been sent into the world to become a Pam Jones in the life of an Ashley White.  We just have to look around and see who’s out there….
The Spirit of God came among us to spark vision and hope.  The Spirit of God came among us to inspire dreams and renew faith in ourselves and a belief that God has a real, and important, mission for each and every one of us to fulfill.  May we be open to the vision when the Spirit comes and dwells within us.  AMEN
 

Text:  Acts 1:6-14
4 May 2008
Topic:  God’s Work, Our Hands
 
 
On Friday and Saturday of this past week, the 170 congregations that make up our Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered for its annual synod assembly with the theme, “God’s Work, Our Hands”. 
We heard that God invites you and me into God’s mission.  We heard that God invites you and me to enter the world in which we live and be the Hands, and Heart, and Hope of God in a world that so desperately needs the saving Work of God.
During the opening worship, our bishop, the Reverend Claire Burkat, began the two days with an illustration of “God’s Work, Our Hands” by telling the following story: 
“Pastor Violet Little of Holy Communion Lutheran Church in downtown Philadelphia, could not help but notice all the homeless people living on the streets surrounding the center city parish which she serves.  She talked to the leadership at Holy Communion and suggested they begin an outreach ministry to the homeless. 
The leaders agreed and began by inviting homeless people to come into the church during the day to just have a place to have some coffee, eat a little food, and play some cards.  At first, only a few people came, but then, more and more started to come.  Now, a whole lot are coming, and not only are these homeless people being fed, some of them are being allowed to stay in the church as well.  It’s an exciting example of “God’s Work, Our Hands”.”
The bishop continued by saying, “It has started a whole new ministry in that congregation.  And, it has inspired others in the downtown area to ask the question, ‘Can’t we find housing for ALL the homeless?  Can’t we tackle this issue and solve it, once and for all?’  If we truly believe that it’s “God’s Work, and Our Hands” how can it possibly fail?”
Bishop Burkat’s sermon got us thinking in the direction of how God might use each of us in some new form of ministry.  She got us softened up to consider that the Holy Spirit just might be working in our midst.
Then, on Saturday, the bishop gave her yearly address to the assembly.  It’s sort of like the “state of the union address” given by presidents to congress once a year, only this is a “state of the church address,” a statement of her vision for our synod for the next year and the years to come.
In her address to us, she quoted from our first lesson for today, from Acts chapter 1, verse 8, where Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.”
She went on to tell us of the six principles that will drive the life and witness of the synod in the coming years.  Those six principles are: 
1.       It’s God’s Mission, not ours.
2.      Jesus is Lord.  There is no other message than that.
3.      The Holy Spirit guides us.
4.      The mission is right here, right now.
5.      We must tell it like it is.
6.      Vision and leadership will be required.
 
Of course, she fleshed out these principles a whole lot more than just listing them.  But you get the basic message she was trying to convey:   God sent Jesus.  Jesus is Lord.  Together, the Father and the Son sent the Spirit for us to engage in a mission that is right here, right now.   We must find real and effective ways to share this message.  And all of it will require trained, visionary leaders.
That’s our bishop’s vision for the next several years.
In our first lesson for today, Jesus sought to give the disciples a vision.  After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus had been spending the last 40 days with his disciples, preparing them for his ascent into heaven.  On this 40^th day after the resurrection, the disciples had asked Jesus, “Are you now going to give to Israel its own king again?” 
They still hadn’t gotten the message.  They still hadn’t come to terms with their imminent call to mission.  They still wanted Jesus to do the work of ministry FOR them.  They weren’t getting the message that it would be “God’s Work, but THEIR Hands” that would carry out the mission and ministry Jesus had given them to do.
But then it happened.  Jesus was taken up in a cloud.  He left them at the Mount of Olives.  Not knowing what else to do, the disciples went back to Jerusalem, back to their quiet place, back to the upper room where they had been staying.   Once there, they began to pray. 
And then, they remembered his words, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.” 
In that upper room, they began to reflect on what it might mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit and actually become the “Hands of God” on this earth.  Through their prayer, through their reflection, through their conversations with one another, they began to find focus.  They began to find a purpose.  And, in spite of Jesus having been taken up into heaven, they began to see a mission and a ministry they could continue here on earth.
The bishop challenged us to imagine new ways of doing the Work of God in our various congregations throughout the synod.  She challenged us to be open to the working of the Holy Spirit and allow God to use each of us for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so today, I ask, “What’s our focus?  What’s our purpose?  What’s our mission and ministry in this time and place, right here, right now?”
A year ago, this congregation decided our mission would be “To Know, to Live, and to Share God’s Word.”  It’s a wonderful mission.  It’s a clear vision for mission.  But it’s only as good as we, individually and collectively, make it.  In other words, to know, live and share God’s Word will not happen simply because we say the words each and every week at worship.  It will not happen because it’s printed on our stationery.
To know, live and share God’s Word will happen only when each of us dedicates and commits ourselves to the study of God’s Word, applying the teachings of that Word in our lives, and telling others what a difference God’s Word makes in our lives.
Next week is Pentecost.  Next week, we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the first disciples.  Next week, we will be given opportunity to dedicate and commit ourselves to knowing, living and sharing God’s Word.   
Next week could be the day when God’s Work becomes clear to us, and Our Hands are empowered to do it.   So, come back next week.  Come and wait upon the Spirit of God.  Come and see what God’s Spirit has in store for us.    Just maybe, the synod’s theme of “God’s Work, Our Hands” will come alive for each and every one of us.     AMEN