A Taste of God

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 3/8/15




Read Psalm 19


As a kid growing up I went through two big phases of things that piqued my interests. First came my love for dinosaurs, but next came my love for space.  This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to most of you, it’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Star Wars, but my love for space went much further than just the movies. In my room at home I taped planets to the top of my wall and had little glow in the dark stars to admire as I went to sleep. I had the order of the planets in our solar system memorized and loved when we would get to make models of it in class. My mom often took me to the Science Museum of Virginia, and there my love for space grew even more. There were experiments dealing with gravity, with air pressure, and even a model moon landing capsule that you could climb into. If you were really lucky, the IMAX theater would be showing a movie about space.

            As I grew older my passion for space may have waned a little, but I am still at times find myself amazed by it. Nothing beats a meteor shower that lights up the night sky. Nothing can put your rough day in perspective like coming home at night to a sky lit up, and where the constellations are so bright you have no trouble finding them. Even in college when space was the last thing on my mind, I remember being sad the day scientists decided that Pluto wasn’t really a planet.

            There is such a beauty, an awe and wonder that space presents. It is the final frontier. It is so vast and large and it is almost impossible to comprehend. In that awe and wonder, I feel as though something about God is being revealed. It was after all a star that led the way for the Magi to find Jesus. The psalmist for our scripture this morning certainly seemed to agree that space spoke to the wonders and glory of God. The psalm starts out, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,
    and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words;  their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth  and their words to the end of the world.” The psalmist recognizes that space, that nature itself proclaims the wonders of God. Space is so incomprehensible and yet it is something that God not only comprehends, but created. Without words the heavens proclaim God’s handiwork to the end of the world, the psalmist says. As we admire space, as we admire nature, we sometimes can catch a small piece of that song, we can get a small taste of God revealed to us, but it often leaves us wanting more. We want more answers, we want to understand this awesome and amazing God who can create such amazing things. In the vastness of space we feel so small, and even so distant from God, and we want something to draw us closer.

(Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

            As we stand in awe of God in the splendor of God’s creation, it may be surprising to us that what can draw us closer, what can give us a greater taste of God revelation is the Law; that is God’s commandments and precepts. When we think of beauty and awe and wonder we do not normally think of law. Law seems crude, crass, a means to and ends. The psalm describes the Law as perfect, reviving the soul, righteous, and causes rejoicing in the heart. This is probably not how we often think about the Law of God. The Law is not just a list of requirements to keep us and check and make us be “good.” That is where we in today’s society often get it so wrong. For the Israelites, the Law provided a way for the people to be in covenant with God. The laws were not arbitrary, and the laws were not just legalistic or moralistic, the Law was designed to bring you closer to God. Even in the Bible we see that over time this understanding was often lost. The Pharisees became staunch defenders of the Law and the letter of the Law. For them following the Law was the ends in and of itself. But Jesus reminds us of its true nature. The Pharisees get angry at Jesus because he breaks the command of not working on the Sabbath. But what was he doing, healing someone. The Pharisees had lost the intention of the Law.  It makes sense then when Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is he replies, “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Loving God and loving People, isn’t that Thomas Road’s motto. It is not that Jesus says this replaces the Law, but that all of the Laws of God hang on this, loving God and loving people.”

            When I was in college I joined a fraternity, Kappa Sigma. Before I became a full-fledged brother there was a ten week period called pledging that I had to go through. During this pledging period, me and the other pledge brothers had many rules we had to follow. We had information about the history of our Fraternity and its principals that we had to memorize and would be tested on almost weekly. We had mandatory meetings with the brothers sometimes to discuss business, sometimes to do outreach, and sometimes just to hang out. We were assigned mentors that we called Big brothers to help us not just through the pledging period, but also throughout our time in the fraternity. We had mandatory study hall to make sure that as we were studying our materials for the Fraternity that we stayed on top of our school work as well. Finally we had this little book, the book with all of the information in it that we needed to know. This book was to be treasured and cherished, you did not lose this book, you did not let away from your side, and you didn’t come to a meeting without it.

            Now as I was going through all of this pledging it seemed kind of ridiculous. It was intense trying to memorize all of that information and to be at all of those mandatory meetings. The rules seemed overbearing and made life a lot harder at the time. As I went through the process however and when I was finally initiated it all began to make sense. All that we did, all of those rules, all of that studying made me learn more about the organization I was joining and love it even more. That mandatory time spent with brothers, and the times we sought out each other’s help on our own, helped us to bond with each other and grow together. That time we had together, though tough, was priceless and I came to love it.

            The Law of the Lord is in a way similar to this experience. As Jesus showed us, the laws were not arbitrary, they were designed in order to help us love God and love people. As we follow the Law, we don’t do it like a checklist that gets us to heaven; that misses the point entirely. And we certainly don’t follow the Law as a way to judge and call out others. The Law draws us closer to God, and draws us closer to each other. If this is the case, then like me and my experience in my fraternity, following the Law and the instructions leads to a greater love and appreciation for the One you are following. The Law makes us in fact fall more in love with God. It makes sense then why the psalmist would celebrate the Law, rejoicing in the heart and calling it perfect. It makes sense now that it is described as being more desired than gold and sweeter than honey. If nature and the wonders of space can give us just a taste of  God’s wonder, the Law can give us that sweet taste of honey. The Law can draw us closer in a relationship with God and with each other.

            As Christians following the Law of God can be quite confusing. Some may say, “Didn’t Jesus live and die so that we don’t have to follow the law anymore?  Others will point to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he says, “⁵ He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances.” Jesus Christ’s ministry to the world can make it seem as though the Law has become obsolete, but if we really read what Jesus and Paul and the other early writers were saying we find that this is not that case. . Through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God established with us a new covenant by Water and the Spirit. By establishing this new covenant, Jesus did abolish the laws in the fact that the Laws do not save us, but Jesus’s ministry was not a rejection of the Laws, but rather a fulfilment of them. It goes back again to how and why we are reading them. If we are following the laws as a means to be saved, then we have missed the point of Jesus’s atonement for sins If on the other hand we are using the laws to better know God and to grow in a right relationship with God and with others then the Law is still sweeter than honey to our lips.

            In this season of Lent it is this sweetness that we desire to taste. This season is a time in which we remember that new covenant that we have entered into through our baptism, and we strive to honor and life out that commitment. It is the Law, or maybe it is easier for us to say the Scripture, that helps to convict us of our sins and lead us to the changes necessary for growing closer to God.  This is why for many Lent is such a bittersweet time. No one really wants to be convicted of their sin. No one really wants to admit their faults, and not many truly want to repent, especially if that means they have to change the lives they know and have grown comfortable with. For this reason Lent can be a difficult time, as we wrestle with our own faults. As we wrestle and as we are convicted however we begin to grow closer and closer to God. That which once hindrance to our relationship, is no longer a stumbling block. As we grow in closer relationship with God we realize that we were convicted not because we are worthless, but because we are precious in God’s sight and God wants more for us than the life we are living today. The Law, Scripture, the Word of God, whatever you want to call it in today’s context can help convict us, can help lead us through the Spirit’s discerning, and can be that sweet honey upon our lips.

            As we approach Scripture, and in particularly the Law, we should approach it with a certain preparation in our hearts. We should prepare ourselves for the power that it holds, and pray for God’s guidance that we may rightly speak and live out that which we read. It is why the psalmist ends with a line that you may have heard before. It is a line often used by pastors as a prayer before their sermon, but it should also be our prayer each and every day as we seek to be led and serve God. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer.”

            This should be our earnest prayer each and every day. We should pray that what we utter day to day is acceptable in God’s sight. We should pray that our hearts are stirred by the majesty of God, both through the wonders of nature but also through the wonders of his Word. The psalmist gets this. Thomas McGrath points out the uniqueness of this psalm that, “star gazers and tree huggers will welcome verses 1-6 while the Ten Commandments crowd will salute verses 7-13” But doesn’t the uniqueness of this psalm in a way sum up the majesty and wonder of God. That through different means, both nature and Scripture, God is revealed to us and draws a wide array of people into this wonderful new covenant.  And in this covenant, may it be our hearts desire to live out the commitments that we made before God and each other.  May we truly love God and love one another. May we pay attention to  nature’s declaration of God glory. May follow the Law of Lord in a way that draws us closer to Christ, making the precepts of the Lord more precious than gold, and sweeter than honey. But most of all as we strive to live as a covenant people, may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts, by acceptable in in thy sight, O Lord,  our Rock, and our redeemer.

A Dream Deferred

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 3/1/15

Read Mark 8:31-38

Image Courtesy of Pitts Theology Library

Ever since I first read it in High School, Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred”  has spoken to me and in a way haunted me.  “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags  like a heavy load.   Or does it explode?.” I absolutely love this poem; the heartbreak, the desperation, the lingering hope are all so powerful. I recently stumbled across this poem again and it got me thinking. What happens when we are called to intentionally defer our dreams?  You see, this poem speaks to the external circumstances that crushed or at least delayed dreams of many African Americans in the early part of the 20^th century. Issues such as segregation, unjust laws and even War forced many to postpone or delay their dreams. My question on the other hand is what if our dream was obtainable, but we were called to let it go? Would we do it?

            All of us have dreams. Many of us share in similar dreams. There would be no such thing as the American dream if it wasn’t something shared by so many. What is that American dream? To become successful in our jobs, To have a house to call our own, To have a spouse and children and be able to provide for them with the best education, best extra-curricular activities so that we may leave them in a better position than even we ourselves are in. The dream is to be able to be self-sufficient and not rely on anyone else.  Our religion sometimes even feeds into this dream that we have. Sadly God is viewed by many Christians around our country as a means to achieve our dream. If we pray hard enough, if we give enough to our churches, if we are there every Sunday in Worship then God is going to bless us. God is going to make sure we have the money we need and then some. God will make sure our children get into the school of their dreams. God will get us the job that we want or the dream house we have been saving for. God will take away any burden, any hardship, any suffering we may be facing. If we truly believe, then God will make our dreams a reality.

            Jesus however explicitly tells us that this is not the case. In our passage this morning from Mark Jesus talks about his own suffering that is to come. He openly declares that the chief priests and elders will reject him, and that he will be killed. Peter responded the same way I feel many Christians would today. Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. This word rebuke had already been used in the Gospel by Jesus usually when he was casting demons out of people. In essence, Peter is calling Jesus mad, saying that he is acting possessed. Peter believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but in his mind there is no way that the Messiah would be called to suffer; that’s not how the dream went. The Messiah would come and use the power that Jesus has already demonstrated that he has, and use it to destroy the enemies of Israel and return nation to its glory. In Peter’s mind the Messiah would not be called to suffer, for if that were true the Messiah’s followers would be called to suffer as well.

            But in fact that is exactly what Jesus is saying, and Jesus doesn’t say so lightly. “Get behind me Satan” Jesus cries out to Peter. Imagine the position Peter is in. Peter was bold enough to call out him leader and his boss, to practically call him possessed; and now he is the one who is being called Satan. Peter questioned whether Jesus knew what he was talking about, and Jesus makes it abundantly clear that what he said was no mistake. He tells Peter, “For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He then calls out to the crowd, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?  

            A life of discipleship, a life of following the Messiah, is a life in which there will be suffering. As Christians we hear Jesus calling us to take up our cross and follow him. Unfortunately, this means at times we must put down our own dreams to lift up that cross. We must take our minds off of human things, off of those personal dreams, and set our minds upon the things of God. If we don’t believe this is true, If we still doubt that Jesus is really calling us to put aside the things of this Earth, then just look at the story of the man who just lost his father. When the man asks Jesus to let him first bury his father’s body before following him, Jesus replies, “Let the dead bury the dead.”

            Following Jesus is no joke. Jesus asks a lot of us, but it is nothing that he has not already done for us. Still I feel like many of us are today are just as bold as Peter was. We say to God, “ Um God, are you sure you know what you are talking about here? Instead of calling us to suffer with you, wouldn’t it be better if you showed people how great you were by making your followers dreams come true? Wouldn’t it be better if you just gave to us everything we ask if we ask hard enough and are good people?” Now we might not actually say that to God, but isn’t this often what our actions are saying. But Jesus calls us to set our minds not on our earthly dreams, but to set them upon Christ. We are not called to gather up things that make this world better for ourselves, in fact we are called to  lose our lives for Christ. Now this is certainly a difficult thing to ask, and please do not here me saying that I have gotten it right, but God knows I have failed. God knows that I have missed opportunities for ministry or service because it did not fit my plan, it was not part of my dream of schools, or jobs, or even ordination. God knows I have been quiet in the face of injustice because of the fear of how it might affect my dream, my status, or even what people thought about me. God knows I have failed, and God knows you have too, and so it is in fact such a blessing that we are able to gather together for Worship in this season of Lent, able to confess of our failures, confess that we have been earthly minded, and strive together to take up our cross, to intentionally put our dreams on hold, so that God may come first.

            So what happens to a dream intentionally deferred?  Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—And then run. Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.   Or does it explode? I think it does explode, for when our dreams are put aside for the sake of Jesus, there is a power in it,  like an explosion, that cannot be contained.

When Caffeine and Dishes Just Aren't Enough

Sermon as prepared for Lambs and Evington UMC on 2/22/14 (Services Canceled)




Read 1 Peter 3:18-22

                                                  Image  Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library


This Sunday marks the first Sunday in the season that we called Lent. No, we’re not talking about the fluffy stuff found in your dryer; Lent is a season of preparation for the good news of Easter. In Lent we follow Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness for 40 days; and we ourselves look at our own lives during these 40 days for what tempts us and draws us away from God. There are many customs and traditions that are usually associated with this season of Lent. Traditionally it was a time in which people fasted; that is gave up eating food in order to remind themselves about their reliance upon God. While fasting has become somewhat a lost art in the Christian tradition, more recently there has also been the observance of not eating meat on a certain day. For Catholics, this day used to be Fridays, and some of you might even remember being served only fish on Fridays during Lent at school. In today culture, the common practice during Lent has been to give something up, such as chocolate or soda, or to start going to the gym, or to make some other pledge similar to a New Year’s resolution.

            I remember when I was in high school and in college I used to always give up caffeine. Many of you are lucky to not see me first thing in the morning when I wake up, because Heather will tell you, I need my caffeine. As I went through those 40 days without caffeine, it was amazing all of the food and drinks I couldn’t have. No coffee, No tea, no soda unless it was caffeine free and at that point what’s the point, and then there was the unexpected catcher; Chocolate has caffeine too.  The first few days of no caffeine were miserable. My head was pounding, my hands were shaking, I was falling asleep in class; but as time went on I got used to it. The more I did it, the more I would puff up my chest and lift my head up high every time I got to say, “No thanks, I gave up caffeine for Lent.”  I was such a fool, I’m pretty sure there is something in scripture, especially used on Ash Wednesday that talks about not practicing your piety for others to see. What was the point of not having caffeine? How did this help me to grow closer to God? Did  this really help me prepare for Easter? To be truthful this might have even hurt my Easter celebration because one of the things I was looking forward to the most was not the celebration that Jesus rose from the dead, but that at lunch I was going to chow down on some chocolate bunnies and drink a big gulp of Mountain Dew. For me, this act of giving up something for Easter failed me; something that was supposed to draw me closer to God, became a way to focus even more on myself. Now I’m not knocking this practice of Lent, but there has to be something more to this important season. Preparing for the good news of Easter, mimicking Jesus’s temptations in the desert has to be more than saying no to a bottle of Coke.

            As we begin this season of Lent, it may seem odd that our scripture for this morning begins by talking about baptism. We do not often associate Lent with a joyous occasion such as baptism. In fact there is a practice in many churches that during Lent you do not use the “A” word. No not that “A” word, alleluia (but don’t tell anybody I said it). In a time known for penitence and self-denial, it seems odd that we would be talking about the joyous occasion of Baptism. As we dig deeper into our scripture however, we will find that this is in fact a perfect passage for us to read as begin this journey of Lent.

            Our scripture this morning from 1 Peter is written to a community of believers living in a culture around them that is anything but Christian. Peter tries to comfort the people throughout the letter and gives them hope for how to live as Christians in such difficult times. As he comes to our passage for this morning, he begins to teach about another story in the Bible that would resonate with this group of believers; the story of Noah and the Ark. Peter presents this story as a story about the salvation and redemption of humanity. This is a story that most of us have heard many times since the times we were kids, but I doubt that we have ever heard it presented as a salvation story.

            In the story, God looks at the Earth and sees that humanity has become wicked. There is even an odd text that usually just gets swept under the rug that suggests that angels and humans have been breeding together. God sees that the beautiful creation that he made has become anything but beautiful and plans to wipe it all away, possibly to start over again. God is going to send a great flood to end this wicked life on Earth. Then God looks at Noah and his family and sees that there are still a few human that are righteous and decides to save them. The great waters that were intended to destroy humanity now become waters that save it. It is hard for us to think of a great flood that killed hundreds of thousands of people as waters of salvation, but to the people Peter is writing to it would make perfect sense. As humanity got further and further away from God, God chose one family that has stayed faithful, in order to essentially start over, to give humanity at least a chance to begin anew.

            Peter compares the waters of baptism to the waters of the great flood. This is probably odd for to hear, because typically when we talk about the waters in Baptism we talk along the lines of the washing away of sin. We compare the waters to the waters that we bathe ourselves with to make our bodies clean; but Peter explicitly states that baptism saves us, “Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Now maybe it would be better to say that Baptism is not just the removal of dirt, but Peter is on to something here. So often we view Baptism as the act of ridding ourselves of our sin; almost as a one-time deal that once we are baptized we’re good to go. We can go ahead and lead the same lives we lived before and it’s all ok because we’ve been baptized. But Baptism isn’t the end of our journey as Christians, it is just the beginning. The waters are not just a removal of our filth but a flood of New Creation.

            Just as  the waters of the flood for Noah took away the wickedness of humanity from the face of the Earth and left Noah and his family to begin anew; so too Baptism allows us to “renounce the evil forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of our sins.” And like Noah at Baptism we are left to begin anew. And yet if we look at Noah’s story, if we track the course of his children and his children’s children we see that even with this chance to begin new, sin and wickedness prevailed. Likewise, even though we are Baptized, we still fall victim to sin, and what is sin but that which separates us from God.

            What is needed then is a commitment, and dedication, a covenant, and that is exactly what Baptism is. It is first and foremost a covenant made by God, claiming us as God’s children, including us in the salvation narrative. It is a gift to us that that nothing we have done or can do can merit. Like the covenant of the rainbow given to Noah that God would no longer flood the Earth, a covenant not dependent on anything Noah did, God’s part in the Baptismal covenant is not dependent on anything we do. We can fail over and over again, and God still extends his grace to us no matter what. But still there is some responsibility that falls on us in this covenant. God is going to keep extending that grace to us, but we have to be willing to receive it. We have to be ready to respond to that grace of God, and act in accordance with God’s will. In Baptism we commit to God’s holy church, promising to be faithful to its ministries through our presence, prayers, gifts, service, and witness. These are all things that serve the Church, but are also means in which we receive God’s grace and grow closer to being perfected in love, or to that “good conscience” as Peter describes in our scripture. Baptism is a covenant, one that we live out on a daily basis.

            In this season of  Lent in which we prepare for the good news of Easter by recognizing our own sin and faults, starting by talking about Baptism makes sense then. What is Lent really than a chance to reflect upon our humanity and at the wickedness that we renounced at our Baptism, and to dedicate ourselves to living out our Baptism and the vows that we made.

            We don’t really talk much about vows anymore in our society today. The one time that we are used to talking about it is with wedding vows. On that wedding day the couple make vows to each other, but the vows themselves are not just a part of the wedding ceremony, but last throughout the marriage. So too our vows at baptism are not just something done on that day, but are something we carry out the rest of our lives. So during this time of Lent, as we attempt to remember and live out our vows, often by strange ways of giving up something like chocolate or caffeine; I wonder what it would look like if we approached our vows with our partner the same ways.

            This snow that we got I can say really shone on light into what marriage vows mean.  There is nothing like being stuck inside a house for days with a person to really put dedication to the test. In particular Heather and I went at it about some of the duties and responsibilities in the house. (Don’t worry she gave me permission to tell this story.)  On a day in which you are trapped inside, what better thing is there to do than clean all that you had mean meaning to get to?  So I went and did the dishes that had piled up during the week. Well as Heather and I started to get into it about our responsibilities around the house and to each other, I kindly pointed out that I had done dishes. Now ya’ll can imagine how that went over. As if my washing the dishes was somehow a fulfillment of our vows of marriage. In sickness and in health, til dishes are clean. 

            It sounds ridiculous right? But this is how we often live out this season of Lent. We offer up our giving up of caffeine or soda or chocolate as some meaningful fulfillment of our baptismal vows. Isn’t this kind of as foolish me saying to Heather, look at me I did the dishes, as if my duties as husband had been completed. Now I’m not saying this to bash giving up something for Lent, like I said earlier, this is something I used to do all the time, but maybe its time we think about what it that we are giving up. Is giving up Chocolate or Caffeine really drawing me closer to God? Am I living out my commitment to presence, prayer, gift, service, and witness through not having soda?  Now it can, in that moment in which my head pounded and my hands shook from a lack of caffeine, I realized that my life had become dependent on so many other things than God, even a common chemical. In this regard giving up something for Lent had its intended effect, it turned me back towards God, and that is the goal of any type of fasting.

 In this season of Lent we must be aware of the purpose of what we are doing. Are we living into our Baptismal covenant by striving to grow closer to God each day? As the waters of the flood gave a new chance for redemption for humanity, so too the waters of our Baptism gives us the chance for New Birth. It gives us a chance for redemption, that we may start new, and through Christ’s resurrection and God’s unmerited grace we may grow into those vows we made until we are perfected in love. As we examine this gift, as we recognize our sin and our faults during this season of Lent, are we offering to Jesus the dishes we’ve cleaned hoping for some holy pat on the back, or will we offer ourselves, that we may truly live out our sacred covenant.

Star Struck

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 2/15/15


Read 2 Kings 2:1-12

Read Mark 9:2-9

In 1964 the Ed Sullivan show hosted a little band from Liverpool called the Beatles for their first performance in America, and from that day Beatlemania spread across the country.  Fans at the concert were screaming as if they were witnessing the most important event in their lives, girls were crying and fainting just at the sight of the Beatles. The Beatles had become rock stars in America. This of course is not the first star that has captured the hearts and the minds of the American people, just a decade or so earlier the King, Elvis, caused the same reaction wherever he went. Famously, a crowd was waiting for Elvis after a concert had to be official told that, “Elvis has left the building.” In our culture, it is normal to get pretty giddy when you are in the presence of stars.

            This doesn’t just mean rock stars either, sadly I have to admit that during my time at Duke me and many of my classmates also became star struck by some of the world class theologians that taught there. In particular, everyone seemed to get a little extra jump in their heart when they were in the presence of Stanley Hauerwas.  Hauerwas is one of the most influential theologians of our day, in fact in the early 2000s Time magazine named him America’s best Theologian. In the future his named will probably be listed among the great theologians like Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr, or C.S. Lewis. He also has a pretty eccentric personality, Texan pacifist theologian who curses like a sailor, walking around with his shirt and tie tucked into a pair of blue jeans. By the time I was there, Hauerwas was really only teaching the doctoral students, so when you ran into randomly in the hall it was a sight to see. I sadly can remember poking my friends in the halls like little children, look, look there’s Hauerwas. So imagine the joy when after chapel one day Stanley Hauerwas started talking to Heather about her passion for disability ministry and shared his own passion for it as well.

            Hauerwas was not the only “star” that I encountered while at Duke, many of our professors were at the top of the class in their fields, and many had done extraordinary things in their ministry, maybe none more the Peter Storey, a former bishop in South Africa. Storey was one of the leading voices calling for the end of the brutal Apartheid in South Africa. He worked side by side with Desmond Tutu, and even had the honor of being Nelson Mandela’s chaplain while Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island. So imagine my awe when I find myself at a dinner table in South Africa being asked about my call and my experience in ministry by Peter Storey. I was star struck.

            Now both of these great men would probably not be happy as being viewed as stars, but I think it is human nature to grasp onto individuals such as these. It is not that we worship them, or they become false idols, but it is helpful, especially when it comes to faith to have figures in which we can look up to, figures that have done wonderful things through their ministry, figures who we aspire to learn from. Sometimes which just need that star that points the way for us and makes us say to ourselves, “I want to be like that.”

            There are no shortages of stars of faith in our Bible. Especially in the Old Testament there is Noah, and Jacob, David and Moses. There is even Abraham who was told by God that his descendants would even be like and as numerous as the stars in the night sky. But out of all the stars in the Old Testament, none may have been as big as the prophet Elijah. This may sound strange to us now, since we are probably more familiar with these other legends of faith, but Elijah was highly revered by the Jewish people in the time of the Bible. Elijah was the great prophet who foretold of a great famine, and then miraculously provided water for a poor widow. Elijah later even brought this poor widow’s son back from the dead. Elijah is the prophet who taunted the prophets of Baal who couldn’t start a fire on their own altar, by pour water on his own altar, and still lighting it by calling on the Name of the Lord. Elijah is the prophet who witnessed that still small voice of the Lord while hiding in a cave. But for all of the stories about Elijah, none are more spectacular than our scripture for this morning.

            Our scripture this morning tells of the last days of Elijah on earth. Elijah has already built up quite a following, we read about 50 prophets who are keeping up with Elijah and following his movements; in fact they too know that his time on Earth is ending. And then there is of course Elisha. Elisha is the faithful sidekick to Elijah, he seems to look up to Elijah and never wants to leave his side. Multiple times Elijah tells Elisha to stay behind for the journey will be long, but Elisha refuses to leave his side. Even after these 50 prophets tell Elisha that Elijah will soon be leaving them, Elisha refuses to leave. And so there in the presence of Elisha, as the 50 prophets looked on from a distance, something amazing happened.  A chariot of fire and horses came and separated the two men, and as Elisha cried out in horror, Elijah was taken up to heaven in a great whirlwind.

What a pretty impressive way to go right? Rock stars at concerts are always looking for that perfect way to end the show…. well I think Elijah nailed it. What can beat chariots of fire and great whirlwinds taking you up to heaven? The Israelites had never witnessed something quite like that before. All of the great leaders in the past had simply died;  Moses even died before he crossed into the Promised Land. Elijah did not die, but was simply taken away. The closest thing they had to this was Enoch, father of Methuselah and  great-grandfather of Noah, who were are told was simply taken by God. Still this story does not match the fiery chariots and whirlwind we see with Elijah. Because of this as I have mentioned, Elijah became quite a star in many Jewish circles. Because he departed in such a spectacular way, and because he never really died, The people believed that Elijah would come again to restore justice for Israel.  Jesus was even asked on multiple occasions if he was Elijah returning. In fact, multiple gospels even allude to John the Baptist being second coming of Elijah.

            All of this goes to show that Elijah was a big deal. He was the prophet of all prophets, rivaled in legend only by someone like Moses, the giver of the Law. And  so we fast forward from our story of Elijah’s ascension to now a moment where Jesus and three of his closest disciples venture up a high mountain, and it is here that it is revealed who the greatest star truly is. For as they get to the top of the mountain suddenly Jesus shines in a great white light, and there behind Jesus is Moses and Elijah.  And yet with these two legends of faith standing in the presence of the disciples, it is Jesus who steals the show.  Jesus is the one shining light a star, transfigured as we call it. This man that they have been following, who has been teaching them, whose birth let’s not forget was signaled through the shining of a star, now shines before them and reveals to them the greatest revelation of all. This man, who is fully human, is also God. Moses and Elijah in all of their greatness, in all of their lore, pale in comparison to the glory of Christ.

            In both stories we read today, those who witnessed the great acts had no idea how to react. Elisha, witnessing the loss of his friend and mentor tears his clothes in two, a sign of mourning in those times. Peter, not knowing how to react to the great revelation, suggests building three dwellings, one for each figure on the mountain. There is debate about what this suggestion actually means, but we see from Jesus’s reaction that whatever it means, it was the wrong suggestion. As the disciples hear the words from heaven proclaiming the words heard at Jesus’s baptism, This is my Son the beloved, listen to him” and as the Elijah and Moses disappear, I can imagine the disciples didn’t know how to react. So as they are coming down the mountain, Jesus tells them not to tell anyone what they saw until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.

            This last line is interesting because it once again links the stories of Elijah and Jesus. Elijah is one of the figures on the mountain during this transfiguration, but Jesus’s insistence on not telling anyone until he has risen from the dead, takes us to a story that is actually more similar to the story of Elijah we read this morning, because in a way Jesus’s ascension is very similar to that of Elijah’s. Fast forward to Acts chapter 1, and Jesus now has already died and risen from the grave and now once again surrounded by his closest disciples, when suddenly Jesus is taken up to heaven in a great cloud.

            If we consider this story and Elijah’s, then we find a great many similarities, especially when we look at the followers of these great men. Both Elisha and the followers of Jesus closely follow their leader, they do not want to leave their side for the fear of losing them. In the disciples case, it was the fear of losing Jesus again. So when the time came for these leaders to ascend, their followers tried to hold on for dear life. Jesus even has to tell Mary Magdalene, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” But then something of note happens in both stories. Elijah asks Elisha what he wants before he leaves, and Elisha replies, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” In other words Elisha wants the power to be like his role model Elijah. Likewise in Jesus’s ascension, Jesus promises the disciples that he will leave them with the power of the Holy Spirit, and that they will be Christ’s witnesses for the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.

            Sometimes it is easy for us to become star struck. We bask in the glory and revelation of Jesus Christ that we read in our scriptures. We look up to these great figures in our Bible such as Elijah and wish that we could be like them. While it is proper to respect these great figures of the Bible, and it is certainly right and expected that we should give Jesus Christ all honor and glory and praise; we cannot afford to stay here star struck.

            For the good news is that through the Holy Spirit that is with us, we are able to be like Elijah, and we are able to continue in Christ’s mission for the world. Like a wick of a candle that has come in contact with the true source of light, we now can be witnesses to the world of Christ’s glory and power. We ourselves though this power of the Holy Spirit can become like tiny stars ourselves, shining Christ light into areas where darkness has reigned. And like the bumbling idiots we were in seminary, we can also look to other stars who have shone the light of Christ in the ways in which they have lived their lives in faith. We call these people saints, and they doesn’t have to be someone extraordinary Mother Teresa, but can even be your own mother who taught you the love of God through her life. Like Elisha, let us be bold to ask for a double portion of God’s spirit, so that we too may grow closer to walking in perfect love with Christ and so that through our lives, Christ light might shine into the hearts of others as bright as it did on that mount of Transfiguration.

Have You Not Heard?

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 2/8/15



Read Isaiah 40:21-31

My grandfather was a wonderful man. He fought in the Navy during WWII, and was even an amateur boxer on the side. When he returned from the war he received his calling into the ministry and became a Methodist pastor. My grandfather lived and served during one of the heights of Christianity in America. He served in a time in which it was a given that you would go to church on Sunday mornings, attend the dinners and the Bible Studies. He served at a time in which so many felt a call to ministry that there was no shortage in dedicated and well trained ministers. He served when blue laws still existed and businesses were not open on Sunday. Churches did not have to compete against work or soccer practice or dance recitals. He was able to experience the beauty of our churches all around our state from Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore, to Richmond, to even our area, serving in Bedford, at Hurt for a year, and even at Bethlehem, the church Heather is now working at. Everything wasn’t roses for my Papa though, he also served during one of the most volatile times in our recent history. My grandfather fought for the desegregation of our schools and for it received a lot of backlash. The KKK burned crosses and his yard and the local gas station refused to serve him.

            I say this because like many of you, my grandfather served in a very different time than I and many in the younger generations have ever known.  For us it is just a given that everyone would go to the same schools, restaurants, and even bathrooms, and it blows our mind that it wasn’t always the case. Our generation has grown up not hearing about the boom of the church; but have steadily seen its decline. We get frustrated that Chick Fil-A isn’t open on Sunday because we always seem to crave it when we can’t have it, and soccer tournaments that took us out of town for the weekend and away from worship was just the way it was. So as we here about all of the lamenting about the fact that the church is not the way it used to be, or that like most mainline denominations, the United Methodist Church is in a statistical decline, we are kind of like, “so what, that’s all  we’ve ever known.” The generational differences in the church now tell the story similar to that of the exile of the Israelites that we hear about in our scripture from the words of the prophet Isaiah.

            The Israelites faced many hardships throughout their time in the Bible, there was slavery in Egypt, their wandering in the wilderness, many battles and wars, and struggles with leadership and authority, but what may be one of the pinnacle events of the Israelites history is the Babylonian Captivity. Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem, destroying the Temple, and then took many of the Israelites to Babylon, especially the well-educated and skilled workers, while leaving others behind to fend for themselves. While in captivity, many of these Israelites were actually treated rather well, but they still had no power, no freedom, no authority, and their religion was one that was sometimes tolerated, but often mocked. Then Cyrus of Persia attacked Babylon, freeing the Israelites who had been in captivity for about 70 years.

            One thing that many people do not realize about the book of Isaiah, is that portions of the book were actually written at different periods of the exile. The first section of Isaiah is from before the Babylonian exile and has many strong words and warnings for the people of Israel. The next portion of the book is written while the Israelites are captives in Babylon. Finally the last part of the book is written after the Israelites have returned from exile back to Jerusalem. Our scripture for this morning most likely is written in the last days of the exile while the Israelites are preparing to head back to Jerusalem.

            We have to remember though that it has been 70 years since any of the Israelites have been in Israel. If there were any of them that were their when Jerusalem fell, they would have been children, teenagers, or young adults. Their memories of Jerusalem would be extremely nostalgic. They would remember the good times they used to have, they would remember the stories that their parents and grandparents would tell them about the great Kings of Israel. Most importantly they would remember the Temple and how life in the city center around the events of that sacred place. Sadly, one of the burning memories of their youth would most likely also be seeing that mighty Temple crumble to the ground.

            That memory of the Temple crumbling would serve as a reminder that the Jerusalem they were returning to would be nothing like the one they used to know. There would be no King waiting for them, no set economic structure, no jobs, farms or vineyards would have had no one taking care of them. Most importantly there was no Temple. No center of faith, no place to gather in the presence of the Lord. No place to offer sacrifices for atonement of sin. This new Jerusalem that they were heading towards was not like the one of their youth. It would take a great deal of work. That is if they ever arrive. Remember they still have to make it back in the first place, here are so people in their 80, 90s and 100s traveling miles and miles in the scorching heat with no real source of water or food, that’s tough enough for someone in their 20’s. While being free from exile was certainly a joy, the journey back to Jerusalem and the work that awaited them when they arrived certainly did not seem to have much hope.

            While all of this is going on, we have to remember that a good portion of those “returning” to Jerusalem are not actually returning, but going for their first time. If the exile lasted 70 years then that means any of the Israelites who are 70 and younger were Israelites born and raised in Babylon. The grew up with Babylonian schooling, listening to Babylonian music and hearing stories of the Babylonian culture on a daily basis. Babylon was not foreign to them like it was for their parents or grandparents, Babylon is all they know.  But they have certainly heard stories of this place called Jerusalem, this holy city. They have heard about the great Temple. They have heard the Jewish scripture read to them, and have heard their loved ones sing the songs of Zion. This younger generation heads towards Jerusalem conflicted in a way different than that of their elders. They are leaving what they know, to go somewhere that they have only heard legends about. They go in the tension of trying to honor God and the heritage of Israelites before them, while trying to stay authentic to who they have grown to be.

            Our scripture are words from Isaiah to the people in the middle of this tension, it is a message of hope in the midst of this struggle, that God is with them, and that through them God will work to extraordinary things. This message is different than that which we often hear in our society today. It is not a call for the young to step up, it is not calling upon “the future of the church” it is a message of empowerment to older members of the Jewish people. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning.” These words from God through the prophet Isaiah are a reminder to the people. You have seen me in work. Have you not known me before? Do you not remember the great city and the Temple in which I dwelt amongst your people. Have you not heard me speaking to you through my prophets even all these years you were captive? It is a reminder they are the ones who remember the times of great prosperity in Israel. It is a reminder that they are the ones the ones who remember the heartbreak of its demise, and it is a call for them to be active in the ministry of rebuilding Jerusalem. It is not that the work will be easy and it does not mean that Jerusalem will be just like it was before. God says work done not through the Spirit of God will be impossible. Those who do not know the Lord, who have not experienced his truth like many of the youth returning to Israel with their own plans in mind, will surely fail. He says, “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

            Now we shouldn’t act like this is some false dichotomy where all the youth will fail and all the more experience with succeed, this is not what the Lord is saying. But God is saying that all of those who wait and call upon the Lord, shall run and not be weary, shall walk and not faint.

            We find ourselves in the Church in our own kind of exile story. The Church and the prosperity it enjoyed while my grandfather served, and that many of you grew up in is no more. In essence our Temple has been torn down. Church is no longer the epicenter of society, it is no longer a given that people will come. Other things now compete for the time and space that was once owned by the Church. For many who lived through this decline this is something to be lamented. Like the Israelites in exile who remember the glory of the Temple in Jerusalem; many of us remember the height of Christianity in America and weep that we are no longer there. While at the same time, like the younger generation in Babylon, our younger generation has known nothing else other than this state of the Church. While others lament, our younger Christians have found ways to live their lives faithfully not in spite of the world around them, but through it. There is certainly something to be learned from this younger generation, there is a reason there is a push for younger clergy, and outreach to families and their kids, but have you not heard, have you not seen?

            Just because we have something to learn from a younger generation, it does not mean they should not also learn from us. Many of you have lived and seen extraordinary change in our society. Many of you have seen what it was like for a Church to be on fire for Christ. Many of have seen what Christians can do when they pull their resources and work together. And all of you who still call on the name of the Lord are called to still do it. God does not let you off of the hook just because you have already lived a full life. God does not let you off of the hook because you have already served. God does not let you off the hook because Church isn’t like it used to be when you were younger, and God does not let you off the hook because you think you have nothing to offer now. Have you not heard? Have you not seen?

            God is calling you, just as the Israelites were called as they returned back to Jerusalem, for there is work to be done. And though you have toiled through the pain of exile, though you have worked throughout your life, it is still you who God is working through. But God gives us hope. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can walk and not be weary, we can run and not faint. God gives us the strength and the power to do extraordinary things that would tire even the athletes who played last Sunday night on the biggest stage. Because we have experienced God working in our lives, we know what God can still do with our lives.

            So as we gather together in an almost exilic state, gazing at what lies ahead for the future of this church and the Kingdom of God, how are you going to respond? Will we attempt that journey towards the New Jerusalem, or quit because we have gone far enough. Are we going to continue to serve and lead, or hand the responsibility off to the next generation as their problem to deal with. Will we sit and remember what things used to be like, or will we work together with our brothers and sisters and knowing that through the power of the Holy Spirit we can transform this church and this world into something greater than we have ever experienced? Do you truly believe this is possible? If not, may God’s word through Isaiah be a reminder, Have you not heard? Have you not seen?  If ever you have heard or witnessed the power and majesty of God, then remember through Christ all things are possible. And he will lift us up on eagles wings, and we will walk and not get weary, we will run and not faint.

Not Me, Then Who?

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 2/1/15


Read Deuteronomy 18:15-20

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” These words are found at the end of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax.” It is amazing how a book written for children by a man known for his nonsensical writing can produce words like these that are so simple but also so profound. We as humans are so good at being able to look around us and see all the evil and wrong in the world today. We can look and recognize that sad fact that many in our community are poor, struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table.  We can look and see that there is a distrust in our government and in our politicians. We can look and see that men, women and children are still dying overseas from diseases such as Malaria and Ebola. We can even look on this Super Bowl Sunday and recognize that this day is one of the largest days for Human Trafficking here in our very own country. We see these things and we recognize that they are wrong, but unless someone like you care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”

            Over the past couple of weeks we have been diving into the Bible to see examples of prophets who have been called to do the mighty work of caring a whole awful lot. We learned about Samuel’s call by God to lead the Jewish people, and we heard Eli’s call to allow room for it to happen. Last week we heard about the reluctant Jonah who after fleeing from his call, becomes so successful at converting Nineveh, even against his own wishes. I feel though, that as we hear these stories we don’t picture these prophets as being like us, but instead imagine them as being some extraordinary humans with some amazing gift that we do not have, doing things that we could have never done. There is often a disconnect between recognizing God calling these prophets in the Bible and God calling us here today.

            Our Scripture for today challenges this idea a little. Our scripture is not about some specific great prophet like Jonah, or Samuel, or Moses or Elijah.  Our scripture isn’t even about some great act that was performed in the Biblical times. Our scripture is a call for prophets.  The people had been complaining that witnessing the Lord directly was becoming too much for them, they couldn’t handle the burning bushes, or pillars of smoke, or great storms and fires that had accompanied God’s appearance to the people, they said if it kept up they would surely die. And so God tells the people he will lift up prophets who will be like Moses, who will be able to speak and share the truth and love of God. This is so opposite of the ways things are today. We as Christians want those fires, we want the storms and the rains, and whatever signs we can get to remind us of God’s presence with us. And yet we would just open our eyes we could see God’s presence all around us, because God has called his people to be those signs in the world.

            What is maybe more shocking is that in our scripture God says,   “The Lord will raise up a prophet like Moses, from among your own people.” It’s not going to be some outsider or some particularly special person who will be the one to speak and live to word of God for others, it’s going to be you; from among your own people. Now I know in our Scripture God is referring to the Israelites, but I think this concept can translate to our context now. If we were to think out of your people, let’s say Christians, I will raise up a prophet, then we start to see and understanding for ordination and for the role of clergy;  that there are those people in the Church as a whole that are set apart to be leaders. This is all well and good, but what about a more specific group of people. What if we aren’t saying God is calling some within Christians as a whole, but that God will raise up prophets here out of Lambs/ Evington United Methodist Church?  Because its true that I as a pastor bring certain gifts and leadership to this congregation, but true change, true revival for our Church comes from you. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”

            The truth is that God has called you, out of your own people, to live and speak the Gospel, to be that person that cares a whole awful lot and works to see change. Now I see a lot of ducking and dodging, was he looking at me when he said that?  Often when we hear that God is calling us, we almost act like we’re playing that cookie jar game like we did as kids. “Who took a cookie from the cookie jar, Daniel took a cookie from the cookie jar, Who Me, yes you, not me, then who?” We hear that we are being called and we say who me? Not me, then who.” We always think that is our neighbor who has the gifts and the talents, and the truth is they probably do, but it doesn’t mean that you too are not being called.

            In psychology we call this the bystander effect. It is the idea that when there is an immediate need and there are multiple witnesses or bystanders, that people typically assume someone else will respond. The classic case of this is the story of Kitty Genovese.  Kitty was attacked by a man late one night in New York City. As she was stabbed she cried out for help. Numerous neighbors heard the cry, and out of fear the attacker ran away. Kitty tried to get away for help, but when the attacker realized no help was going, he returned and fatally stabbed Kitty. When the police interviewed the neighbors they told them that they heard her screams, but thought someone would have already called the police; but no one did.

            Are we abandoning the call to be Kingdom builders because we assume someone else will take care of it?  Do we hear that God is calling us, and look over our shoulder because you most certainly don’t mean me?  If our scripture teaches us anything, is that we hear that God will raise up out of you people who will speak and live the Good News. Are you willing this morning to be one of them? Are you going to be the one that cares an awful lot? When we accept the call that God places on our lives then we may find another Dr. Seuss quote to be true, “If you never did you should, these things are fun, and fun is good.”