The Pastor’s Words

Text:  John 8:31-36
26 Oct 2008
Topic:  Free for….
 
“If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!”  (John 8:36 CEV)  Do we believe it?  Do we really believe we are free? 
The children who are receiving their first communion today have learned that in Holy Communion we receive three very special gifts.  When we receive communion, we receive 1) the forgiveness of sins, 2) blessings in life for today, and 3) the promise of eternal life in heaven.  With these gifts, we are made free, free to sin no more, free to enjoy life, right here, right now, and free to anticipate eternal life forever.
But too often, we are shackled, we are caught up in the “stuff” of life and we are far from being free, far from being able to enjoy the gifts that come to us each and every time we commune at this table of the Lord.
We have two very good teachers who teach the First Communion class, Laraine Popplewell and Jane Young.  On the last day of the classes, I get to give my input.  In my time with the children, I asked them if they knew what “sins” were, and, if any of them had ever sinned.  And Steven said, “Well, it’s like doing stuff you know you shouldn’t do.” 
Using that definition, I asked the other eight students if they had ever “done stuff they knew they shouldn’t be doing,” and to their credit, every one of them said, “Oh yeh, lots of time, all the time, I’ll still do it….”  They know what sin is and they know it’s not what Christ would have us do.
After this, I asked the parents of these same students if they have ever “done stuff they knew they shouldn’t have done.”  And to their credit, they, too raised their hands in confession.
Why do I say, “It is to our credit that we acknowledge our sin.”  I say this because, in order to appreciate the freedom we have in Christ, we must come to an understanding of our enslavement to sin.   We must look at those things we have done, and, look at those things we have failed to do, and realize God wants more from us.  And then, realize that, in Christ, we are made free from all that “stuff” that keeps dragging us down and we are made alive in Christ, free in Christ, to do some really wonderful and powerful things.
I like to think of being “in Christ” as being “free FOR” loving and serving others in the world, as opposed to simply being “free FROM” sin.  It’s a matter of looking at the positive versus the negative. 
In Holy Communion we receive Christ who makes us free to love and serve one another.  Yes, we are free from the shackles of sin that keep us frustrated and stuck in life, but, more importantly, we are FREE FOR some really great “new stuff” in life.
Let me illustrate:
God communicates to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.  God enters our lives in the Body and Blood of Christ.  The One who created us, the One who inspires life, the One who knows all, and is all, and in all, communicates with us.  God comes to earth in the form of bread and wine and assures us we are always in God’s thoughts, always on God’s horizon, always on God’s radar. 
God communicates to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine and lets us know we are very, very, special people.  Knowing we are special in God’s eyes, we are free to let others know they are special in God’s sight as well.
Everywhere in life, we run into people who are lonely and rarely get out.  In Holy Communion we experience the joy and fellowship of the communion of saints gathered each week.  As we gather, we are blessed to be in the presence of and the friendship of fellow believers.  We are then invigorated to reach out to those who are lonely and need to be touched by the Spirit of Christ we experience at the table of the Lord.
You may, or may not know, we have trained people from our congregation who regularly bring the elements of Holy Communion to those who cannot be here on a Sunday morning.  These people who have been trained are called Visiting Shepherds.  People who are homebound, or living in a nursing home, or for whatever reason cannot get here on a Sunday morning are still a part of our community of faith.  And so, when they cannot get out, we go to them, and bring the Presence of Christ with us to share with them.  These people, who may feel alone, are brought into the presence of this assembly by their reception of Christ’s Body and Blood.
Each of us lives in a specific community.  Some of us live in the Coatesville community, others in the Thorndale community, others in Parkesburg, others in Downingtown, others in Sadsburyville, others in the Honey Brook community and others in surrounding communities.  When we receive Holy Communion we are set free to serve those who live in our community. 
Holy Communion is a dynamic experience, an experience that is not once and done at the altar in this church building, but is an ongoing experience taking us back into our communities from which we have come and urging us to take the very Presence of Christ we’ve received and share that Presence with those who are in our community.
A few weeks ago, three boys were killed in a fire in downtown Coatesville.  We helped those families by taking up a collection to help pay for the funeral expenses.  It was appreciated and it was acknowledged.  We, who are touched by the healing Spirit of Christ in Holy Communion, shared some of that healing Spirit with folks who needed it.
In Holy Communion we are set free to let people be who they are.  Just as Christ loves us and forgives us, we are free to love and forgive others.  We are not on this earth to be the judge of others.  We are not on this earth to tell others how to live.  But, as believers in Christ, we are set free to let others see the Christ who lives in us and allow them to see that Christ can make a positive difference in life. 
There are people in our community, and in our lives, who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.  These folks truly have an uphill struggle in life.  But, we have members who are helping these people see and find a new life.  They do not make categorical judgments about these people.  Instead, they are allowing the Light of Christ shine within them, as they help addicts find a new focus, a new center for their lives.  And who knows, maybe these addicts will find that Christ is the Higher Power in whom they should believe and trust and let go of the drugs and alcohol that is currently keeping them so depressed and despairing. 
As believers in Christ, we are set free to let others see the Christ who lives in us and allow them to see that Christ can make a positive difference in life. 
“If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!”  (John 8:36 CEV)  Yes, we believe it.  Yes, we truly believe that, in Christ, we are free to love and serve others.  In the Holy Communion, God communicates to us and sets us free to commune and care for others.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.
 

Text:  Matthew 22:15-22
19 October 2008
Topic:  “Yes” AND “No” Answers

Leaps of faith.  Sometimes in our spiritual journey, we are given opportunities to make leaps of faith.  One such leap of faith was the creation and construction of Tanzania’s Sebastian Kolowa University College – or in its shortened version – SEKUCo.  SEKUCo is located in the northeastern part of Tanzania and is right now the educational home for almost 500 students from all parts of that country.

Imagine with me for a moment if you were the parent of a special needs child?  What if you were the parent of a Down syndrome child like Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin?  What if you had a child with mental or physical disabilities?  What if we had a child who had had an accident and was no longer able to live in the same way as before?  And what if there were no schools or people to care these children?

In America, we are blessed to be able to care for our special needs children.  But in Tanzania, in not so distant, they had no resources and no people trained to care for their special needs children.  Thanks be to God, today, the situation is different.  Today, they have SEKUCo, a new university located in the Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania, which is now teaching students to have the skills to teach and care for special needs people even as they prepare students to also be lawyers, business people and teachers in their schools.

But, in order for this university to be built, it took a leap of faith.  The Rev. Dr. Anneth Munga, affectionately known as “Mamma Munga,” provost of the university, believed God had called her to build a school that would train people to care for special needs people, even though there was no money and no campus.  She believed God had given her a vision and that vision would not let her go. 

She prayed.  Her church prayed.  Partner churches in Sweden, in Finland, in Germany, and in Pennsylvania prayed.  We prayed that God would show a way for a school to be built that would train people to care for special needs people.  And we prayed for a school that would help aspiring students become productive citizens in their native land.

They began with no money.  They began with no campus. 

And then, the money started coming in.  Each confirmed member of each local Lutheran church in North Eastern Tanzania were asked to give a dollar.   A dollar is about a day’s wage in Tanzania.  So, for someone in America making $40,000 that’s about $150.  For someone making $60,000 that’s about $225.  And, they gave.  Out of their poverty, and in spite of their meager resources, they began to latch onto the vision that God had given to Anneth Munga and they supported the dream of SEKUCo.

After the money came the campus.  A high school which had been deserted for over 10 years was given back to the Lutheran Church in Tanzania.  It had, at one time, been a Lutheran high school, was confiscated by the national government and used as a high school, but then was abandoned.  The buildings were in terrible dis-repair.  But, praise be to God, they were given a campus.  God had seen fit to provide a campus, even if it needed lots of repair and loads of renovation.

The Lutheran churches in Sweden, Finland, Germany and yes, members from our own synod of Southeastern Pennsylvania began our own financial collections and added them to those which had already been collected by the Tanzanian church and suddenly, there was money to begin creating and building a school.  People were hired to repair and re-build the campus and one year ago, at this very time, the campus was dedicated to the glory of God and to the usefulness in God’s Kingdom here on earth.

Now, here’s my connection to the gospel reading for today.  What if someone had gone up to Mamma Munga and asked, “Dr. Munga, is it right to be spending time and money creating a school, when you could instead be helping feed and clothe your own people?” 

It’s not too different from the question the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”  If Jesus didn’t answer correctly, the Pharisees very easily could have handed Jesus over to the government authorities and not had to deal with him themselves.

It was a false question, a trick question, not a question that had an easy “yes” or “no” answer to it.  So, Jesus answered in the best way possible.  He took a coin, showed the image of the Emperor on it, and then said, “Give to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor and give to God what belongs to God.” 

He didn’t answer with a simple “yes” nor with a simple “no.”  He gave the best answer, one that honored the government, but upheld an absolute belief in, and support for, the work and will of God.

In today’s presidential campaign, the candidates are asked point blank questions, and very often the people asking the question want a very simple “yes” or a very simple “no” answer.  Invariably, the best answer is one that is a little bit of this and a little bit of that, one that answers with a “both-and” rather than an “either-or.”

When the presidential candidates were asked how they would rank the pressing needs of our country and what they would address first, to the credit of both candidates, they answered, “We need to address them all, some more than others, but, we don’t have the luxury of doing everything for some and nothing for others.”  They gave a “yes” AND a “no” answer.

If Mamma Munga had been asked whether it was right to build a school when there are pressing social needs in her country, I am confident she would have said, “We need to do both.”  When Mamma Munga began to ask people to give money to SEKUCo, she knew she was asking for money from people who barely have enough to eat and who work really hard to provide the bare necessities of life. 

And yet, she also knows that the future is also part of the present, and unless we change the present, the future cannot change.  With the belief that those who will be graduating from SEKUCo in a few years will re-enter the society from which they have come, and gradually and progressively change that society, she is confident in asking people to help build a school that will help build her country, for the short term, AND for the long term.

It takes a “leap of faith” to believe in and trust in “yes-and-no” answers to life’s questions.  We’d like to live as if there are easy answers, but that’s not real life.  As believers, we face life, and deal with life’s issues, on a day-to-day basis by putting our hope and trust in the One who gave us the original “yes-and-no” answer to the questioners of his day. 

As believers, we can trust that God will see us through every difficult situation, that God will understand when we do “a little bit of this, and a little bit of that,” and that God will show us how to live with the uncertainties of life. 

Jesus understood that life on this earth is a “both-and” kind of world and that God blesses it, and God blesses us.   We don’t have to hold out for “yes” and “no” answers.  Instead, we can rest in God’s embrace, a sure and tight embrace, that helps us make our way in the imperfect world in which we live.   AMEN

Text:  Psalm 23
12 October 2008
Topic:  God is Good, All the Time!
 
God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.  I use this greeting often as we begin the announcements.  It’s short, to the point, and it does what it’s intended to do.  It gets you to stop talking and listen to the announcements for the day. 
But it also does something else.  It reminds us of a truth that we, who believe, can affirm over and over again: God IS good, ALL the time.  And in days like these, days when people are afraid to open their mail from pension accounts and financial institutions, it is very helpful to affirm what we believe to be absolutely true.
Today’s psalm, Psalm 23, is probably one of the most memorized of all biblical texts.  It is something people memorized in their youth, in school, or in Sunday School and is brought to mind each and every time there’s a need to bring us back to our basic beliefs.
The first verse of Psalm 23 in the Contemporary English Version is “You, Lord, are my shepherd.  I will never be in need.”  The King James Version reads like this, “The Lord is my Shepherd.  I shall not want.”  Either one states that the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth is also the one who will always and forever take care of us, just like a shepherd takes care of his sheep. 
Oh, to be sure, we do and we will have needs.  And we do and we will have wants, even though the text says we won’t.  It’s just that our needs and our wants will always be understood and superseded by our belief in the Lord God Almighty as the one and only Good Shepherd who will make certain our ultimate needs and our vital wants are cared for.
Among us this morning are people from Liberia who have come to live in the United States of America.  Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, a country that twenty years ago was fairly stable and offered people who lived there at least a modicum of peace and tranquility.  Those who lived there were by no means rich and didn’t have nearly what Americans had twenty years ago, but, it was a country that was at peace and children could go to school and stores could transact business.
And then came the civil war.  It tore the country apart.  People were shot and killed.  People were forced from their homes and many had to leave their beloved country to live in refugee camps in the neighboring countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast.  Families were separated and children had to fend for themselves.  It was horrible.
After many years in these refugee camps, some decided to find a life somewhere else, to create a new life, to see if life was peaceable and possible in another country.  That’s when hundreds and thousands of Liberians began the process of immigrating to the United States.  Of that huge number who has come to America, many have settled in the Coatesville area, some of whom are with us today.
In speaking with the folks who have come to worship with us, I have come to learn they came from Christian homes where the Bible was regularly read and where children were expected to learn the Christian faith at home and at school. 
The result of this Christian upbringing was that, when the civil war began, they were not left without hope, or without some means by which they could continue their lives, either back home in Liberia, or in some other place like Coatesville, Pennsylvania, USA.  They could confidently rely on the Good and Great Shepherd to lead them and care for them wherever they were living.
Verse four of Psalm 23 in the CEV reads, “I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won’t be afraid.  For you are with me, and your shepherd’s rod makes me feel safe.”  The Liberians whom I’ve met and who embrace the Christian faith, and indeed any Christians who have faced the horrors of civil war or other calamities that befall us on this earth, know that even though we walk through valleys as dark as death, there is no need to be afraid.   How can this be?  Because the Lord is our Shepherd and his rod makes us feel safe.
The Shepherd’s rod, for us who believe, is God’s Word.  It is the written and spoken Word of God that inspires us and leads us to faith.  Indeed, it is the Spirit of God that lives and moves among us and shows us the way, even when that way is difficult.
By being here this morning, we are willingly and openly subjecting ourselves to the rod and rule of the Good Shepherd in whom we believe.  By being here this morning, we are embracing a belief in God’s parameters, in the rod of God, who calls us to live within certain boundaries of life and project our faith onto the situations of life in which we find ourselves.
As the financial markets here and around the world are changing our lives and the lives of the billions of people who inhabit this earth, it is precisely at this moment in time that we need to affirm that God IS good, not just some of the time, but ALL the time, and to affirm that our God acts like a shepherd with a stick who keeps us on a path, sometimes narrow and sometimes treacherous, but safe nonetheless, because our God knows how to keep us safe.
The Liberians who worship with us have found work in America, have found a new life, have been given hope, and are grateful for their new home.  Furthermore, they are here among us giving thanks to God for keeping them safe through valleys that were and are as dark as death.
The psalmist says we won’t have any needs or wants.  Well, we know different.  We have plenty of needs and plenty of wants.  But remember:  the psalmist began his words with, “You, Lord, are my Shepherd.”  As a result, “I will never be in need.”
In this context, when the Lord who is our Shepherd, when the God who was here before there was ever a stock market or a balance sheet, is proclaimed by us to be the One in whom we believe, then, we can affirm with the psalmist in verse four, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.  For thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Every one of us has wants and needs, real and legitimate.  The important thing then is to affirm the Lord as our Shepherd so that these wants and needs can be kept in the proper perspective.
We have a Shepherd, a Good Shepherd.  Let us be comforted.  Let us rejoice in the tight embrace God has placed upon us.  Let us accept the rod of God’s Word, the parameters and the horizons of our faith, and be at peace.  
God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.  AMEN
 
             

Text:  Matthew 21:33-46
5 October 2008
Topic: Fruits of the Kingdom
 
            I found the following story as a modern illustration of the parable Jesus told in our Gospel for today:
            Once, there was a young man who, when he turned sixteen, was given a set of car keys by his father.  The father said, “Happy birthday, son!” and then took his son outside and showed him a five year old compact car that he had purchased earlier in the day.  The father had looked forward to this day and seeing the joy on his son’s face when the son realized the keys were not to the family sedan.  The father was not disappointed.
            However, in the first six months of driving on his own, the young man was involved in three accidents and received – first one ticket – then another. 
            When the young man came home with that second ticket, his father said, “Son, give me the keys.”        
            The young man protested, “But it’s my car.  You gave it me.  I’m working to pay for the insurance.  I even changed the oil the other day!”
            The father answered, “Let me be perfectly clear.  I placed the keys in your hand.  I even called it ‘your car.’  But now, I am taking the keys back and I am now placing them in your sister’s hand.  ‘Your car’ will now be ‘her car.’”
            This story is very much like the gospel story in that God, who is the landowner, gave his vineyard to tenants to care for.  But when they were asked for the produce from the land, the tenants refused.  The landowner then took the land back and gave it to other tenants. 
            The teenage boy in the first story and the tenants in the gospel reading have at least three things in common.  First, they both were given a gift.  Secondly, they both failed to use it properly.  And thirdly, their gift was taken back.
            Just like the father who took the keys from his son and gave them to his daughter, Jesus said at the end of our gospel story, “I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and it will given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”
            It is important for us to understand that the gospel story was told to the chief priests and the Pharisees because they were very familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures.  They knew intimately the words of the prophets, but, in the eyes of Jesus, they were failing to bear the fruits of the kingdom.  Like the Israelites of old, they were ignoring God’s demands of honesty and justice.  That’s why these people ultimately found a reason to have Jesus arrested and to be put to death.  They didn’t like to be told they were being unfaithful.
            Jesus told this story to the religious leaders of his day, and to you and me, to remind us that everything we have is on loan.  Nothing that we claim to “own” is really ours.  We are, in the words of the parable, just “tenants” or “stewards” of the gifts of life which have been given to us. 
            Everything we claim to be “ours”, our house, our car, our job, our paycheck, our pension, our country, our security, our faith, ALL OF THESE have been loaned to us while we are on this earth.  We are simply caretakers, or stewards, of all these gifts, and God wants us to use them to bear fruits of the kingdom with them.
            Today, we have heard of the financial crisis facing our congregation.  You and I are being asked to give a special financial gift toward the Current Fund, either with a one-time gift, or a weekly increase in giving for the remainder of 2008.  We are being asked to be faithful stewards and return to God a greater portion of that which God has entrusted us.
            For some, that stewardship will reap the praise of God who will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”  For others, we will be asked, “Are these what you would call ‘faithful fruits’ of the kingdom?”
            Of course, “fruits of the kingdom” is more than money put into the offering plate.  It is also what we do in our daily lives as we either stand up for peace and justice, or, give in to those who seek violence and a “justice” that cares only about ourselves.
            “Fruits of the kingdom” would also entail our private and public witness to the Christian faith.  We have been entrusted with the most precious of gifts, namely, the gospel message of God’s unconditional love for us.  Do we faithfully share it?  Are we actively engaged in making sure our neighbors and friends and relatives are hearing and seeing the gospel message through us?  Do we really and truly forgive unconditionally?
            The chief priests and the Pharisees failed in their challenge.  How about us?
            The Good News is that our God continues to come to us time and time again asking us to come forward with “fruits of the kingdom.”  Our God does not tire in asking us to turn from our unfaithfulness, but instead, invites us to seek a new faithfulness, and bids us to become loyal stewards of the gifts of life.
            The refrain from the hymn* we just sang says,
            We are called to act with justice,
            We are called to love tenderly;
            We are called to serve one another,
            To walk humbly with God.
 
Let us sing verse one and the refrain of the Hymn of the Day once more as we seek to give our thanks to God for our life, for our livelihoods, and for the opportunities to bear fruit in the Kingdom of God. 
 
Come!  Live in the light!
Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord!
We are called to be light for the kingdom,
To live in the freedom of the city of God.
 
We are called to act with justice,
            We are called to love tenderly;
            We are called to serve one another,
            To walk humbly with God.                   AMEN
 
 
*“We Are Called” text and music by David Haas, ©1988 GIA Publications, Chicago