He is Risen! -- A Easter Sunrise Message for 2024

 

GOSPEL — Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 

and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

PSALTER (Psalm 107.1-2, 10-15)
O give thanks to the Holy One, for God is good.
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Holy One say so,
whom God has redeemed from trouble.
We sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons,
for we had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Our hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
we fell down, with no one to help.
Then we cried to God in our trouble,
and God saved us from our distress.
God brought us out of darkness and gloom,
and broke our bonds asunder.
Oh God, we thank you for you steadfast love,
for your wonderful works to humankind.

 

MEDITATION

Forty-five minutes before we gathered this morning, at 6:45, the Sun rose in Skippack. It is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit here. The sun rose in Jerusalem at 5:28 this morning, and it is 70 degrees there.  

If we rewind time by almost 2000 years, we can imagine ourselves waking up early this morning and walking with the women to the tomb. Although it would be around 70 degrees, when you are used to warm days, the air would have felt chilly. The women would have been wearing their robes and cloaks to keep warm. 

I suspect the women gathered up their supplies before they went to bed the night before – they would have had water, oil, and herbs. They needed a vessel with water in it to wash the body off. Jewish people have a custom called to-ho-rah when bodies are ritually washed before being wrapped in a burial shroud. When Jesus was on the cross, he sweated and bled. The women would have wanted to remove his body fluids before his final burial. They also had oil to rub into his body, probably olive oil. They may also have had aromatic herbs with them such as olive, laurel, palm, and cypress to help fight the effects of decomposition. The women loved Jesus and wanted care for his body. They wanted to care for his body as a final act of love for Jesus. 

But, when the women arrived at the tomb, their plans went awry. Jesus’s body was not there. Instead, a strange man dressed in a white robe was sitting in the tomb. He told the women Jesus had resurrected and would meet them in Galilee. The women were shocked by his words and went away afraid to tell anyone what he had said. 

Despite their misgivings and fear, the man’s words were true. Later on that first day of the week, later that Sunday, Jesus began to make appearances to his friends. He was resurrected and they would soon see him. 

I feel for those women. They wanted to do the right thing by tending to Jesus’ body. They wanted to be faithful to Jesus, to the one they loved, to their friend and their messiah. They wanted to tend to his body as a final act to show their love for him. And, they had no idea that Jesus would not be there to receive their gift, to receive their love. 

Like those women, we are called to respond to Jesus with loving actions. In a few minutes, we will walk to the Education Building and gather for breakfast. Our social committee will lovingly prepare food for us, their brothers and sisters in Christ. Our acts of faith don’t always have to be mighty and showy – like those women at the tomb, we can show we love Jesus by wiping off his sweat and wrapping his body…..we can show we love Jesus by making sure there are table cloths are on the tables in the fellowship hall and by making sure your friend’s eggs are cooked just right. 

In our lives, we do not have a lot of opportunities to do the big things – we quite possibly will not donate a stained-glass window to our church or donate enough malaria vaccinations so that we eradicate the virus in our lifetimes. But we can do many little things that express our love to the people we meet each day. We can do many little kindnessses to express our love to Jesus each day. 

In the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” Christina Rosseti wrote: 

“What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.” We do not always have a specialized skill set or luxury goods to donate to the church. We may not be trained as ministers or parish nurses or opera singers. But we are called to give what we can, no matter how humble. We are called to share our time, talents, and treasures with God and with the church.  

 

The women who went to the tomb had servant’s hearts. They found joy in selflessly serving other people, in lifting up the broken, and in bringing hope to the hopeless. We are called to be like them....to share our gifts, to humbly do what we can for Jesus and for the people God calls us to be in relationship with. 

On this Easter day, let us put aside our fears and live lives of service and love. Amen.  

Into Jerusalem -- A Message for March 24, 2024

 

Scripture                 John 12:12-16

 

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

 

Message                                          Into Jerusalem

 

            A few weeks ago, the Oscars aired on a Sunday night. All of the movie stars and celebrities dressed up in the finest attire to walk the red carpet. There were hordes of on-lookers behind protective barriers watching the stars. Tons of reporters asked questions and snapped photos. Every last detail of the famous celebrities’ looks were scrutinized – you could read about their outfits and their jewelry and their hairdos and their makeup. Even their perfumes were covered by the press – we had to use our imagination as we heard about how good the celebrities smelled.

            Many of us find it fascinating to watch celebrities make their grand entrances at these events. Yet, when Jesus made his entrances, the fanfare was a little less spectacular. Jesus was the Messiah – the savior of humankind.  People waited for his entrance into the world for centuries before he came. They expected the messiah to arrive with a lot of fanfare – he was anticipated to be born as a literal prince to a royal family directly descended from the lineage of King David. And, he was supposed to be a priest and an expert Biblical Scholar – a king, a priest, and an academic. 

            They expected the Messiah to be born in a palace, to a royal family, surrounded by advisors and religious scholars.

            And, when Jesus, the true messiah arrived to the world, he was born to a teenaged mom and her carpenter fiancée. He was born in a stable, not a palace. No advisors or religious scholars authenticated his birth – instead he was surrounded by sleepy animals and visited by smelly shepherds.  His beginnings were humble, not grand. His arrival was heralded by angels, but they didn’t appear in the throne rooms of worldly rulers – instead they sang their heralds to shepherds and sheep.

            Jesus was the expected Messiah, but he was unlike everything the people expected.

            On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus the Messiah paraded into Jerusalem – the king had arrived in the royal city. In the first century, when important dignitaries and royalty visited a city, they would have the first century’s version of the red carpet rolled out – they would enter the cities to triumphant fanfare – people would wave palm branches.  The king would ride in sitting atop a mighty warhorse. He would wear a garland of laurel leaves around his head – or a golden crown that looked like a wreath of laurel leaves around his head. He would have worn fine clothes, rode a fine horse, and be led to the finest palace available. 

            In contrast, Jesus rode into town on the back of a young donkey.  He wasn’t met by the rich, successful, or powerful leaders of Jerusaelm ... .instead, the common people who heralded him were very modest in their means. They shouted hosanna, laid down their coats, and waved palm branches. Instead of spending the night in a palace, Jesus returned to Bethany to stay at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  Instead of making a positive and grand impression on the Temple leaders, Jesus’ arrival scared them. The crowds were happy and excited to welcome Jesus to Jerusaelm; the Temple authorities were upset by Jesus’ arrival. His arrival was the catalyst for them to put into action their plan to eliminate Jesus. 

Jesus wasn’t the kind of messiah the Temple authorities wanted. Jesus wasn’t the kind of messiah the Roman authorities wanted. Jesus wasn’t the kind of messiah the rich and powerful nobility of Israel wanted. But, Jesus was the kind of messiah we needed….we all needed even if he wasn’t what we wanted.

Jesus came for the least of these….Jesus came for people who are Jewish and people who are Gentile….Jesus came for people who are monetarily poor and people who are monetarily rich….Jesus came for people who are ethnically Jewish, and ethnically Samaritan, and ethnically Roman, and ethnically Ethiopian – as well as people who are East Asian, and Australian Aboriginal, and European, and Latin American, and Nigerian, and European, and every other combination of ethnic group….Jesus came for young people and old people….Jesus came for women and men and nonbinary people….Jesus came for religious people and irreligious people….Jesus came for people who are imperfect in every way and are trying to be better.  Jesus came for us.

As we live through the next seven days, we will remember the lowest point of humanity, when we met the Messiah and killed him. And we will remember that despite all the terrible things we do, God loves and forgives us. God loves us so much that Jesus gave himself over to suffer and die for us, so that our salvation is assured. Jesus came to save a wretch like me…and like you.

In response, let us live lives full of gratitude to God. Just as Jesus gave of himself for others, let us work to make other people’s lives better. Let us live lives full of appreciation and generosity in response to the generosity we have received from God.

May it be so. Amen. 

Deep In Our Hearts -- A Message for March 17, 2024

Scripture     John 12:20-33

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 

Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 

Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 

Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 

The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 

He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

 

Let us pray….

 

Message                              Deep In Our Hearts

 

            When Lucia was little, we planted a big garden in pots on our sunny back porch. Our yard had lots of critters – groundhogs, raccoons, squirrels and deer -- so the elevated porch seemed like a safer bet if we wanted to eat our produce and not have the animals eat it before we could get to it.  We started little seeds in trays in our kitchen first – Lucia thought they would instantly grow so she checked them multiple times a day. Finally, the seeds sprouted and it was warm enough to transplant our little seedlings into pots.  We were attentive waterers and our garden did indeed grow.   Lucia was excited to eat what we harvested, and I was excited the kid was finally eating veggies.

 

            There is something almost magical about watching plants grow from seeds. When you plant hard little seeds, they sometimes seem quite dead.  … They are so hard they seem like little rocks. But, in only a few days, after water and warm soil do their thing, seeds sprout and grow into a wholly new plant.

           

            In our scriptures, we read about Jesus’s sermons and the miracles. We read about his baptism and his time in the wilderness and the conservations he had with his disciples. Jesus’ years of ministry were brief, and he packed a lot into them. There seemed to be a shift about midway through those years when  Jesus began to prepare his disciples for what Jesus was destined to experience at the end of his human life on earth.  He knew he would be arrested, put on trial, and die. Jesus also knew that his death would not be the end of his ministry, but would be the moment salvation became attainable for all people.

           

            This morning’s scripture is out of sequence in the time-line of Jesus’ life. Next week, in worship, we will remember the first Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king five days before the start of the Jewish Passover. People waved palm branches and honored Jesus by welcoming him to the city. Our reading this morning comes immediately after the Palm Sunday events. In the beginning of our reading, some Jewish Greek people who were in Jerusalem for the Passover festival approached the disciples because they wanted to meet Jesus.  Their request triggered Jesus to tell his followers that the hour had come for Jesus to be glorified – to be killed.

 

            Jesus then gave the analogy about a kernel of wheat falling to the grown and being planted….the wheat kernel dies but the wheat plant that grows out of the former kernel produces many seeds. Jesus knew that he would die, but the events that would result from his death – the Easter resurrection, salvation for all people, and the spread of the Good News across the world to generations of people – these would be the kind of productive seeds the world needs.

 

            Sometimes, we have to let things die in order for things in our lives to grow in a better direction.  Most of us aren’t still friends with our best friend form kindergarten – at some point, we changed or moved away or were assigned to a different 2^nd grade classroom and our friendship died.  But, we made additional friends, better friends. We have known people who dreamed of becoming doctors, and then they got an F in Organic Chemistry, and they let go of their dream of practicing medicine and became something else and are happily living their lives. Some of us have experienced a depression or identity crisis after losing a job, and then found ourselves with a much better fit and much happier outlook in our next position.

 

            Jesus knew he was going to die. And, he told his friends and followers again and again that he must die to fulfill his destiny and make a difference in the lives of all the people of the earth. But, as we remember the events around the death of Jesus, we will recall that his friends and followers did not take it well when Jesus died. They freaked out. They were sad. They were terrified. They were overwhelmed by their fears. As the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday unfolded, Jesus’ followers were devastated.

           

            In the moment of their loss, they had trouble understanding that something good was coming out of their tragedy. They couldn’t anticipate the Easter miracle...they didn’t expect it even though Jesus gave them lots of clues it would happen.

 

            It is important to for us to remember that when bad things happen to us, they are not the end of our stories. As the yard signs we put up for our “It Get’s Better” campaign say – Your mistakes don’t define you.  Our faith holds the promise that each ending is also a new beginning. Yes, Jesus died, but the result of his death was the Easter miracle, salvation for all people, and the opportunity for the Christian message of God’s love and grace spreading to all the people of the world.   We can take heart in the promise of the Gospel….God loves us. Christ died for us. And, the most beautiful part of our lives is yet to come, new life with God and resurrection with Jesus.

Amen.

 

No Matter What -- A Message for March 10, 2024

 

Over the six weeks of Lent, we examine teachings of Jesus and events in his life that led to his crucifixion. This morning, we turn to a portion of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. 

Nicodumus was a Pharisee and a leader of the Sanhedrin – the council of Elders who had judicial, legislative and political oversight over the Jewish people during the first century. Nicodemus was curious about Jesus and his teachings, but was conflicted about allowing his peers to know about his curiosity. So, he snuck out in the middle of the, when the Jerusalem streets were dark and empty, to talk to Jesus and ask him questions.  

The reading we have this morning is part of Nicodemus and Jesus’ initial discussion.  Listen know to their words as we read John, chapter three, verses forteen through twenty-one:

 

John 3:14-21

 

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen

 

Let us pray…

 

Message           No Matter What

 

          Nicodemus and Jesus had a complicated relationship. Nicodemus was curious about Christ, but also was ashamed of his curiosity. He snuck around in the middle of the night, in the dark, to meet with Jesus. And, when he was with Jesus, Nicodemus asked him questions and Jesus gave such profound answers that we are still studying their words.

 

          The first words we read this morning are about the Hebrew people in the wilderness. They spent 40 years in the wilderness on a trip that could have taken three weeks if they followed a direct route. But, the Hebrew people had to work out many cultural and theological dilemmas – they needed to wander so that they would be ready to enter the Holy Land. They spent a long time bickering and arguing and questioning God. When they kept their eyes on the ground, and on their mundane and trivial problems, they didn’t move forward….when they focused on themselves and their self-centered problems, they were stuck in the wilderness. But, when Moses lifted up the symbol of the snake on the pole, the symbol of God and God’s ways, they were saved.  

 

          Jesus was the embodiment of God and God’s ways. When people focus on Jesus instead of their mundane and trivial problems, we will be saved.

         

          The most famous verse in Christianity is embedded in this conversation. We see it held up at sporting events and spray painted on the side of highways…John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The words that Jesus said next are: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” These verses are crucial for how we understand God to work in the world. Jesus came to live among us to save the world. God loves the people of the world so much that God was willing to come to earth, teach us, and die so that we may live knowing God’s teachings and will for us, and for us also to receive eternal life beyond the lives we live on this earth.

 

          In the following verses, Jesus says: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Remember, Nicodemus came to talk to Jesus in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness. These words were a jab at Nicodemus….Jesus was saying that he, the messiah, the truth, the source of enlightenment, was in the world. Jesus had the foreknowledge of what was going to happen to him – he was going to be lifted up like the snake on pole that Moses used to lead the Hebrew people through the wilderness. And, when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, he would die. Jesus, the messiah, was going to be rejected by countless people who weren’t able to embrace his message or the truth of who he was. In a few weeks, on Holy Week, we will journey to the cross with Jesus – we will hear the words condemning him – we will remember how some of the people in the crowds that embraced him on Palm Sunday turned against him on Good Friday. 

 

Although we will remember Jesus’ rejection and crucifixion, it is our work to embrace the light, to embrace the truth of Jesus’ teachings and to work to live following those teachings. 

 

Sometimes, we think we can act like Nicodemus – we can be covertly members of the Christian faith – we can choose to “believe” in God, but not change our behaviors or our lives to embrace that faith – we can carry on in participating in actions or practices that hurt other people.         But, Jesus calls us to be in the light – to be open and truthful about our faith. 

 

We have to remember that Nicodemus did not stay hidden about his conviction that Jesus was God’s representative on earth. When Jesus was under trial, Nicodemus stood up for him.  When the Sanhedrin members were discussing what to do about the problem of “Jesus” – since he was offering a different interpretation of how to faithfully follow God, and interpretation that differed from their teachings – Nicodemus defended Jesus and reminded the other members of the Sanhedrin that the Jewish law compelled them to offer Jesus an opportunity to meet with them and answer their questions before he was convicted — they were supposed to offer Jesus a trial. 

 

And, later, after that trial and after the Romans convicted and executed Jesus for sedition, Nicodemus brought burial spices and he and Joseph of Arithmathea used them to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. Nicodemus didn’t stay hidden – he stepped forward despite the pressure he felt to remain secret about his feelings regarding Jesus.

 

          God loved the world so much that God came to live among us as Jesus, the messiah who lived a human life, with the joys and pains that all humans experience. And, he gave of himself fully, Jesus gave of himself  to the point that he was willing to suffer and die on our behalf. Jesus came to us not to condemn us or judge us or make us feel bad, but instead came so that we will know God loves us and wants us to love each other and to treat all other people with kindness, love and respect. 

 

          In response to the love of Jesus and God, we must be open and public about our choice to be Christians and followers of Jesus. 

 

Beautiful Law -- A Message for March 3, 2024

In the season of Lent, we spend time focusing on events that led to Jesus’ crucifixion.  Jesus knew he had a limited time to reach the people with his message. Therefore, he did more and more things that drew attention to that message. Some of those things Jesus did were so upsetting to the people in charge of Jerusalem they began to look for excuses to arrest Jesus. Listen now to the story of one of the actions Jesus did that led to his arrest, as we read John chapter 2, verses thirteen through twenty-two:

 

Scripture                             John 2: 13-22

 

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 

To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 

His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 

But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

 

Let us pray…

 

Message                              Beautiful Law

           

            Jesus was not a happy camper when he walked into the Temple courts a few days before his final Passover on earth.  He was very aware he was running out of time – Jesus knew there were people in power who were threatened by his message, so threatened that they were looking for ways to eliminate him. And, when he walked into the Temple in the days leading up to Passover, Jesus walked into a chaotic mess. In that day and age, faithful Jewish people were required to worship in the Temple during the major religious festivals. Worship included sacrificing animals. An exploitative economy had grown up around the Temple where people had to exchange their money for temple coinage, incurring an exchange fee, and then use their temple coinage to purchase at a premium animals for sacrifice from the exclusive animal dealers in the Temple. There were many steps each worshiper had to take and many expenses each worshiper incurred in order to “properly” worship in the Temple…Lots of roadblocks were in place.

 

            And, these roadblocks were contrary to what Jesus stood for and taught. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said: “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” For the Jewish people of Israel, the Temple was the place they came together to worship God. Jesus didn’t want any obstacles to stand in the way of the people who wanted to worship – he wanted everyone to have access to God – even if they were poor, even if they were low-born, even if they had unsavory pasts, even if they were viewed as the wrong kind of people to be there. 

 

            Sometimes, we also create barriers for people to worship. When we look around our church, our architecture alone is a barrier. There are people who are not comfortable entering a building that looks so obviously like a traditional church.  When Trinity was built in the 1860s, it made sense to have the sanctuary on the second floor. But, having to walk up stairs or use a stair-lift is not something all people can or will do. Some people can’t hear very well in this space, despite our microphones. Some people can’t see very well in this space. Some people find our pews incredibly uncomfortable. 

 

            There are other, more subtle, barriers that keep people from coming to worship. If you are someone who struggles with knowing how to read, being handed one of our bulletins and hearing that you need to look up things in the hymnal may be a barrier for you. Speaking of hymnals, many people can’t read music and find the way songs are laid out in our hymnals quite foreign to them. People who struggle with addictions may find it alarming to be offered a tray of wine when we celebrate Holy Communion. We unintentionally create barriers during our worship services  that cause people to struggle once they have come to worship.

            But, a big barrier for people who are Christian curious is that we have a cultural assumption that once you become a Christian, you have to be perfect. No more mistakes, no more misbehavior. In a world full of temptations, Christians apparently have to restrain themselves from them all – no more junk food, no more rock music, no more staying up late.  Ned Flanders on the early seasons of the Simpsons comes to mind – he was religious, friendly, and kind, but annoyed Homer because Homer could never live up to his perfection. 

            At a funeral a few weeks ago, I heard the guests joking around that they were surprised God didn’t strike them dead when they walked through the doors of the church….these jokes point to our cultural attitude that in order to come to church, you have to be perfect. We know perfection is impossible. But, we still try to live up to our New  Year's Resolutions or give up so many things for Lent that we are only eating carrots and lettuce for the six weeks.  

            We need to remember that the perfection we strive for is impossible without God and God’s grace. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect – instead, God asks us to strive for transformation. We can always do things better, little by little…but perfection is not ever going to happen.

            We also need to promote the reality that Jesus came for everyone, the holy people and the broken people. Church is for people who have made mistakes and are striving to get things right…we are trying to become better. We are working to do things better all the time. 

            Our responsibility is to work to reduce barriers for people to join us here ...here at worship at Trinity Christian UCC in Skippack PA. We need to invite our friends and family to join us here. When they do, we need to help them understand the things that we are doing during worship – when do we stand up, when do we sit down, where the prayer of Confession is in the bulletin. As a community, though, we also need to think about eliminating some of the barriers that are keeping people from joining us in this particular place. I don’t think we will install an elevator next week or give up liturgy that includes reading prayers together, but we need to work to make our spaces as welcoming as possible and our worship service not strange to people who haven’t been here before.

            Jesus didn’t appreciate barriers making it difficult for people to worship God. Let us work to get rid of the barriers we create, whether they are literally discouraging people from coming to worship here, or if they are attitudes about Christians that make people feel they can’t be perfect enough to be followers of God. 

            May we do so with Love as our guiding attitude today and all days. Amen. 

 

Always Close -- A Message for February 25, 2025

 

            Mark 8:31-38

 

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 

He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 

 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 

Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.  Amen.

 

Let us pray….

 

Message                  Always Close

 

In the 1950s, American churches were bursting at the seams. The young adults who brought their families to church were children during the Great Depression, rallied together during the trials of World War II, and then delighted in the prosperity of the 1950s….These  people were used to becoming part of groups – they went from being in the 81st Infantry Division to the United Automobile Workers Union to the Eagle Lanes Bowling League to the Men’s Brotherhood Group at the Reformed Church down the road. When people went to worship, they ran into their friends from elementary school, their neighbors, their bosses, and their cousins. There was also social pressure on parents to take their kids to church in the 1950s, even if the parents didn’t go to church. The Cleavers on “Leave it to Beaver” never mentioned going to worship, but they made references to the boys going to Sunday School. I have spoken to many people from our community who went to Sunday School at Trinity when they were kids, but their parents didn’t go to worship services and the kids eventually stopped attending when they were teenagers….when it stopped being the “thing” to do.

 

            Some of us experienced this church….and some of us have just heard about it. But, we still see references to it all around us.  All three churches I have served in my 20 years of being a pastor had Christian Education Buildings built in the late 1950s....Buildings that were filled with children when it was expected that everyone would drop their kids off at church for Sunday School.

 

            But, in 2024, we no longer have that expectation. It went away in the 1960s…now, instead of dropping the kids off at Sunday School, on Sunday mornings we have soccer practice, and stage crew, and brunch, and grocery shopping, and sleeping in, and  family day at the Zoo. 

 

            Over the course of a few decades, practicing Christianity went from being widespread to being rare...practicing Christianity went from being something that people were expected to do to being something that is unusual for people to do. For us, when we decide to follow Jesus and start attending worship services, we are doing something that makes us different from our friends, our family members, our employers, and our neighbors. 

 

            When we decide to follow Jesus, we are making a choice to do something unconventional.

           

            For Jesus’ first disciples, they also chose to do something unconventional when they chose to follow Jesus. In first Century Israel, Jewish religious practices were prescriptive….Judaism had a lot of laws the people routinely followed – you said specific prayers at certain times of the day; you washed your hands and bathed your body following purification laws;, you worshiped at the Temple for religious festivals; you offered animals as sacrifices at the Temple; on the sabbath day, everyone rested and refrained from prohibited activities….there was an order to things, rules to follow, and norms that were part of being Jewish. 

 

            Jesus came and broke those rules….Jesus came and said that they were no longer required….and Jesus’ first disciples listened to Jesus. They stopped worrying about following the rules exactly as they had been taught, and started following Jesus’ teachings instead. 

 

            This made the Disciples stand out…and it certainly made Jesus stand out. Jesus knew that his teachings would make him a target of the religious and civil authorities who wanted everyone to follow the rules. He started to warn his disciples that he was at risk of being killed, and that if they chose to keep following him that they would also be at risk of being killed. Jesus told them: “ “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Following Jesus was dangerous – following Jesus would mean that they quite possibly be put to death in the way Jesus was going to be but to death.

 

            The first disciples struggled to be bold about following Jesus. They occasionally had to deal with being ashamed of being different. After Jesus’ arrest, when Peter was asked if he was one of Jesus’ followers, he was too ashamed to admit it.  He denied he was a follower of Jesus three times after Jesus’ arrest. But, Peter eventually got over his shame and embraced his faith in Jesus. Peter became the leader of the Christians in Jerusalem and boldly proclaimed his faith.

           

            We sometimes also struggle to be bold about sharing our faith. Many of the people we socialize with outside of our church community are not practicing Christians.  We may be asked to participate in activities that conflict with our worship services. We may be encouraged to do actions at work that conflict with our Christian values. We may feel peer pressure to treat people in a way that conflicts with our Christian morals. Sometimes, we are ashamed of being different than the people around us.

 

            We must work to be bold. We must boldly proclaim and live out our Christian faith. Two-thousand years ago, Jesus boldly lived out his convictions, and died for them. Like Jesus, we must boldly live out our convictions, even if doing so puts us a risk. Our reward for living out our faith is that we are assured that we are doing the right thing.  Because we are doing what is right, we are confident that God loves us and strengthens us and supports us in our actions and in our convictions.   

 

            We are blessed because of our relationship with God. God gives us the strength to go against the grain and to live out our convictions today and all days. Amen.