Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew :36-44
Whenever I read anything that sounds apocalyptic I begin to sing
“It is the end of the world as we know it.” by REM. I can't
help it, but I do. As I began to look more closely at the readings
though the theme of being on edge, or anticipation of waiting was
there.
These were all communities who had experienced hardship. Isaiah
took place during the Syria-Ephraim war (Syria and Israel attacked
Judah). In the Roman's community there was a great deal of
persecution by the Roman government, and in Matthew, that community
had been recently rejected from the synagogues and forced out of the
Jewish community. These were people who were tired, who understood
hardship and needed hope. Hope for something new.
Do any of you need hope?
Do you have past wounds, hurts, injuries that you have tried to
harden your heart to but they still remain tender and vulnerable? Do
you need hope?
I do. I know there are many things that I struggle with. I think
for many of us, me included having relationships with people is a
struggle. It is easier and safer to isolate my emotional self. It
is easier to hide and not get to know people than it is to risk being
hurt again. It is hard to be vulnerable, especially if you have been
hurt. Yet is this not what we are called to do?
We are called to be in community, to serve and to live out the
Good News. WE are called to be in relationship with one another and
that is risky business people. You have to risk being hurt. You
have to be willing to forgive, you have to do some hard work and
relaxing in the recliner in front of a tv show is not cutting it.
Matthew reminds us to be ready.
We are to be ready. Are you ready? Are you living in hope? Are
you willing to take some risks? To reach out to someone new and get
to know them? Are you willing to live out the Gospel? Really live
it out? How are you doing it?
The gospel is not a prison sentence, it is new hope. It is
realizing that we do not travel this world alone. That we have God
helping us to navigate this broken world with all of its problems and
short comings. We can stop living out the Gospel when we are
reunited with Christ, until that point we need to be doing some
living! That does not mean that we live life as usual, as those in
Noah's time, but that we are constantly on God watch. We watch for
God moments, we watch for opportunities to be a good person to
someone else, we watch for moments of sharing love with another
person. This does not mean you lecture someone on Christ, you simply
love them where they are. You risk being hurt. You hope in Christ
and you love another person.
This is the season of Advent. The season of Hope. The time to
take a serious look at your life and see if you are truly living in
hope.
Are you like the owner of the house, going about your business as
usual, doing your day to day, letting
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
End Times
Luke 21:5-19
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
After the horrible storm in the Philippines, and all the devastating storms in the last two years people tell us we are living in the end times. We see the terrible wars, the torture, human trafficking, enslavement and we stare in horror and say we must be living in the end times.
The thing is that it is not just our times right now, this has been a fear for all times. We hear today in Luke how Jesus is warning about how times will be hard for those who live in his way, but not to give up he is with us. We hear about the destruction of the temple (both his body and the building). We hear about the false profits and the war and if we are a careful study of scripture we see those paths as well.
In 2 Thessalonians we hear Paul warning people against laziness. The people living in these communities thought the end times was coming – like NOW! Why would they work so hard to do anything. It was time for those who believed to go home. Why bother, it was all over.
Think about this for a moment.
Why bother? Does it really matter? No one cares?
We hear this all the time. I hear, why should I try? No one cares? Why does it matter? We grow complacent. We hear horrible things and we harden our hearts. We see horrific images and we become as stiff necked as those in the Bible. We hear false profits, and we jump on board because it sounds better than what we are doing.
People expect there to be one catastrophic event that ruins the world. They expect things to end dramatically in an Armageddon manner. Yet God does not exist in linear time. God is out side of time viewing all at once. What if we are all living in the “end times now”. All of us are going to have an end time. Jesus tells us this. It is not the end time we have to fear, but wasting our time. Paul tells those in Thesolonica that.
We don't have to worry about dying, about the world ending, about it all being over if we truly believe that Christ came, lived and died for us and our salvation. That through Christ we have a new and everlasting life and can experience the presence of God now in the in-breaking kingdom. If we are truly living out this message than we need to be truly living!
So here is the hard bit – are you living or are you wasting time? Are you gossiping and doing nothing? Are you earning your keep for we all have an end time. We all have a short journey on this earth. What are you going to do with it? You can experience the peace and joy of Christ. You can live out his word and experience joy unmeasured. You can choose to help others, to live outside your comfort zone and make a difference, or you can coast and be a loafer. What is it going to be?
We live in the end times, so will our children, and grand children and great children, just as we follow those before us. What are you going to do with your end time?
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
After the horrible storm in the Philippines, and all the devastating storms in the last two years people tell us we are living in the end times. We see the terrible wars, the torture, human trafficking, enslavement and we stare in horror and say we must be living in the end times.
The thing is that it is not just our times right now, this has been a fear for all times. We hear today in Luke how Jesus is warning about how times will be hard for those who live in his way, but not to give up he is with us. We hear about the destruction of the temple (both his body and the building). We hear about the false profits and the war and if we are a careful study of scripture we see those paths as well.
In 2 Thessalonians we hear Paul warning people against laziness. The people living in these communities thought the end times was coming – like NOW! Why would they work so hard to do anything. It was time for those who believed to go home. Why bother, it was all over.
Think about this for a moment.
Why bother? Does it really matter? No one cares?
We hear this all the time. I hear, why should I try? No one cares? Why does it matter? We grow complacent. We hear horrible things and we harden our hearts. We see horrific images and we become as stiff necked as those in the Bible. We hear false profits, and we jump on board because it sounds better than what we are doing.
People expect there to be one catastrophic event that ruins the world. They expect things to end dramatically in an Armageddon manner. Yet God does not exist in linear time. God is out side of time viewing all at once. What if we are all living in the “end times now”. All of us are going to have an end time. Jesus tells us this. It is not the end time we have to fear, but wasting our time. Paul tells those in Thesolonica that.
We don't have to worry about dying, about the world ending, about it all being over if we truly believe that Christ came, lived and died for us and our salvation. That through Christ we have a new and everlasting life and can experience the presence of God now in the in-breaking kingdom. If we are truly living out this message than we need to be truly living!
So here is the hard bit – are you living or are you wasting time? Are you gossiping and doing nothing? Are you earning your keep for we all have an end time. We all have a short journey on this earth. What are you going to do with it? You can experience the peace and joy of Christ. You can live out his word and experience joy unmeasured. You can choose to help others, to live outside your comfort zone and make a difference, or you can coast and be a loafer. What is it going to be?
We live in the end times, so will our children, and grand children and great children, just as we follow those before us. What are you going to do with your end time?
Saturday, November 2, 2013
A Wee Little Man.
Luke 19:1-10
Today we hear the story of Jesus once more with a tax collector. This one seems to have a few twists and turns however. Jesus plans on going through Jericho. In the first line it says that he plans on passing through – yet he doesn't. He stays the evening with Zacchaeus and eats with him. What happens that changes Jesus' plans? Why?
We hear about Zacchaeus who is the chief tax collector. He knows about Jesus and is so excited that he completely abandons all of the natural social norms. He is so despised despite his great wealth in the Jewish society that they won't let him through the crowd to glimpse Jesus. They won't let him in. They won't even let him through. So he runs ahead – which a man would never do, a rich man especially as this opens up for all sorts of criticism. Not only does he embrace himself to run ahead of where Jesus was going to be but he also climbs a Sycamore tree! How much more humiliating do you want to get for a man of his wealth and stature. He humbles himself completely in order to see Jesus.
Jesus stops what he is doing and calls him down. He tells him that he is going to stay at his house. This enrages the people. The hated tax collector, the one that they think or think they know has cheated them and works for the horrid Romans. This man that just made a fool of himself before the entire town is the one Jesus is choosing to eat with. Jesus puts them in an uncomfortable place. They love and respect Jesus as a healer and teacher, yet they hate the Romans and the tax collectors. They have to forgive Zacchaeus or they have to reject Jesus. The grumbled.
Do you ever grumble? Do you complain? Moan? Do you get annoyed and say some harsh things under your breath? How about grumbling when things don’t' follow your time line? When you think things should get done? What about when someone hurts your feelings? Your pride? Your honor? What about people you just don't agree with? It is a very human thing, especially when we are being challenged by God. We grumble, we mumble, we complain.
Here is the deal though, we are called to try and be like Jesus, so that we can live out his love with others and share the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Notice Jesus does not shame Zacchaeus. He does not mention his job. He does not mention what he does not like. He rejoices in Zaccheaeus, he dines with him which means he accepted him just as he was. He forgave him. He forced the people around him to think about Zacchaeus differently. Jesus made a world of difference to Zacchaeus. Jesus opened up the gates of inclusion in this small Jewish community despite the grumbling. So how do you do the same? How do you forgive those whom you disagree with? How do you love those whom your community does not approve of? How do you rush to see Jesus even if it means losing your pride and doing the hard work of climbing a tree?
Today we hear the story of Jesus once more with a tax collector. This one seems to have a few twists and turns however. Jesus plans on going through Jericho. In the first line it says that he plans on passing through – yet he doesn't. He stays the evening with Zacchaeus and eats with him. What happens that changes Jesus' plans? Why?
We hear about Zacchaeus who is the chief tax collector. He knows about Jesus and is so excited that he completely abandons all of the natural social norms. He is so despised despite his great wealth in the Jewish society that they won't let him through the crowd to glimpse Jesus. They won't let him in. They won't even let him through. So he runs ahead – which a man would never do, a rich man especially as this opens up for all sorts of criticism. Not only does he embrace himself to run ahead of where Jesus was going to be but he also climbs a Sycamore tree! How much more humiliating do you want to get for a man of his wealth and stature. He humbles himself completely in order to see Jesus.
Jesus stops what he is doing and calls him down. He tells him that he is going to stay at his house. This enrages the people. The hated tax collector, the one that they think or think they know has cheated them and works for the horrid Romans. This man that just made a fool of himself before the entire town is the one Jesus is choosing to eat with. Jesus puts them in an uncomfortable place. They love and respect Jesus as a healer and teacher, yet they hate the Romans and the tax collectors. They have to forgive Zacchaeus or they have to reject Jesus. The grumbled.
Do you ever grumble? Do you complain? Moan? Do you get annoyed and say some harsh things under your breath? How about grumbling when things don’t' follow your time line? When you think things should get done? What about when someone hurts your feelings? Your pride? Your honor? What about people you just don't agree with? It is a very human thing, especially when we are being challenged by God. We grumble, we mumble, we complain.
Here is the deal though, we are called to try and be like Jesus, so that we can live out his love with others and share the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Notice Jesus does not shame Zacchaeus. He does not mention his job. He does not mention what he does not like. He rejoices in Zaccheaeus, he dines with him which means he accepted him just as he was. He forgave him. He forced the people around him to think about Zacchaeus differently. Jesus made a world of difference to Zacchaeus. Jesus opened up the gates of inclusion in this small Jewish community despite the grumbling. So how do you do the same? How do you forgive those whom you disagree with? How do you love those whom your community does not approve of? How do you rush to see Jesus even if it means losing your pride and doing the hard work of climbing a tree?