Birthing A Promise -- A Message for December 10, 2023

 

Scripture               Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 

to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 

and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 

For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: Gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Message                           “Birthing A Promise”

          As you all know, I was the first pregnant pastor we have had at Trinity Christian UCC.  When you hired a single 40 year old woman, you probably did not expect a pregnancy to be in our future today. But, we make plans and God laughs. So, over the past year or so, you journeyed with me as I experience pregnancy number two and you had your first experience of being pastored to by a pregnant minister.

Pregnancies can be scary. There are things that can go wrong for mom. There are things that can go wrong for baby. Physically, your body takes on a life of its own – your joints become loose – your bones actually adjust themselves into a different position – you gain weight. Your digestive system goes haywire – nausea, vomiting, ugh. And, emotionally, because the hormones are in hyper-drive, the mom is all over the place: happy, sad, depressed, manic, numb…

          Imagine having all of these pregnancy symptoms and being Mary – young, innocent, and virginal.  She would not have suspected the cause of the symptoms because she was only engaged-to-be married. She probably was overwhelmed and worried – why was her body acting so strange? Why did she feel so odd? What was wrong?

          Mary probably felt off-kilter. And, then, the angel Gabriel showed up.

          We imagine angels looking like they do in Renaissance paintings – tall with beautiful human faces and white wings. But, Biblical passages describe some angels has having four faces and some angels having six wings. When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she seemed shocked.  She was greatly troubled by his greeting. The second thing he said to her was for her to “not be afraid.” He may have looked horrifying. Was she afraid because a man had just showed up in her presence? Was she afraid because of how he looked? Was she afraid because of the words he used to greet her?

          And, then the angel shared the shocking news that Mary was pregnant with the son of God. Mary, an unmarried young woman, was pregnant…and she was carrying the Messiah. Which was a huge deal, and anyone who received this announcement would be overwhelmed….Mary was no exception – she was probably terrified and overwhelmed.

          Instead of crying and running away, Mary took the news well. She said: “I am the Lord’s servant,” … “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

          Mary handled this task better than most of us  would have handled it. After this brief encounter with the angel, Mary went on to live out her calling to be the mother of Jesus, the mother of the Messiah. Under her watchful eyes, Jesus grew from a tiny helpless baby to be the savior of humankind.

          In our lives, we often face obstacles that seem impossible. The odds are stacked against us. In our lives, perhaps we faced an academic challenge we thought we would never figure out. Or we sought a job that we thought we would never be considered for. Or we searched for a romantic partner and everyone we met seemed like a dud. Or we sought reconciliation with someone we didn’t think would forgive us.  Sometimes we face impossible obstacles, and we don’t know how we will achieve them.

          Mary possibly thought she was facing an impossible situation. She was young, poor, unmarried, and from a little village in the sticks. Yet, God gave her the strength to carry through with her strange pregnancy, to count on Joseph who was just as unprepared as Mary, to travel to Bethlehem when she was uncomfortably pregnant, to give birth in a stable, to flee to Egypt and escape with her life and Jesus’ life by the skin of her teeth, and then to raise Jesus even though any misstep could have drawn the attention of the Roman authorities who would have probably killed Jesus to eliminate the threat of the Jewish messiah. Mary overcame everything that she faced.  Mary was courageous. And, every action Mary took was infused with hope.

          The Season of Advent is a season of hope. Hope requires a lot of courage. Despite the challenges in her future, when Mary talked to the Angel Gabriel, she felt a burst of hope. And, that hope sustained her during her pregnancy and through the trying years of Jesus’ childhood. If we could control the outcome of our life’s challenges, we wouldn’t need to hope. Hope is what sustains us when we are unsure of what is going to happen. Mary had hope that the baby in her belly would change the world for the better. We have hope that Jesus will still change the world for the better. Hope helps us overcome challenges and get us through those situations that seem impossible. Hope keeps us moving forward, even when we aren’t sure things will work out the way we want.

          In this season of Advent, we must grasp hold of the Hope we have through our relationship with Christ. Whenever we face challenges that seem impossible, we are not alone because God is with us. God supports us, strengthens us, and guides us. With faith in Christ, we believe our hopes will be fulfilled, and the impossible situations we find ourselves in will become possible.

          Let us work to share the hope of the season with other people. Our waiting will not be in vain, because God is with us, and the hopes and fears of all the years will be met in Jesus Christ.

          Amen.  

Messengers of Hope -- A Message for December 3, 2023

 

            This morning, we embark on the four Sunday season of Advent. Despite the dates on Advent Calendars, Advent starts 4 Sundays before Christmas, not on December 1. Over the next 21 days, we will prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts and into our world once again. As we prepare, we return to the stories of Jesus’ first years on earth. John the Baptist was designated by God to prepare the people of the first century for the arrival of the Messiah. This morning, we turn to the opening words of the Gospel of Mark. Mark doesn’t talk about Jesus’ miraculous birth or childhood, and starts his book with John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. Read along with me in Mark, chapter 1, verses one through eight:

Scripture                   Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,

as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 

And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 

I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, Our Rock and Our Redeemer. Amen.

Sermon                                             Messengers of Hope

            John appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

 It is not easy for us to imagine life in the first century, life in an occupied territory. The Jewish believers, and their homeland, had been conquered by foreign armies again and again – Babylonians and Assyrians and Greeks and Romans – each occupying power and army leaving little traces of their rule on the people and their land.

When John the Baptist ‘appeared” in the wilderness, the Romans had more or less been in power for 90 years. They were brutal and expected the people of Israel to follow orders. Over the course of their rule, there were many insurgencies –- often these were led by charismatic leaders who were very devout to their Jewish faith. The Romans and their appointed overseers would have been suspicious that John was going to be a rabble-rouser or a zealot who would eventually lead a rebellion against the Romans.  Therefore, the Romans overlords were keeping eyes on John the Baptist.

But, John did not come to overthrow the Romans. John didn’t come to build an army or an insurgency. Instead, he stepped forward to call people to prepare for the coming of the messiah. He called them to prepare the way for the lord. John called people to commit to God, to commit to our shared faith, to repent for their sins and wrongdoings and to become baptized – to symbolically wash away their sins, to wash away their imperfect pasts, and to prepare to welcome God into their hearts.

John stepped forward in ministry during a period that was particularly grim. The people were oppressed. They had limited freedoms and autonomy. And, John told them to get ready, the Messiah was coming….it was time for them to get their “faith” houses in order, so they would be prepared for the arrival of God incarnate on earth.

At a time when people’s hope was dim, John came forward to tell them to get ready. Hope was coming. The messiah was on the way.

We also live in a time when things can seem grim. The cease-fire in Israel was halted. The war in Ukraine drags on and on. People in our communities struggle with poverty and crime and corruption. In our own families, we have members who struggle with addiction and mental illness and physical illness. It would be easy for us to fall into hopelessness.

But, we know Jesus. We know the Jesus who was born as a little baby to a young mother and a struggling step-father. We know the Jesus John the Baptist was preaching about, who came to teach us that the ultimate point of life is to love God and love each other. And, we know the Jesus who is coming again, to free us from the hardships we face and help us to establish God’s kingdom here on earth. We know the Jesus who we can talk to when we pray, who soothes us when we are brokenhearted, and who answers us when we cry out.

John came to tend to people who lived without hope, to tell them Jesus was coming. WE are also called to become messengers of hope, to tend to people who are struggling around us. It is our work to help people who are contending with their own broken hearts, with their own anxiety, with their own depression. It is our work to tell them they are not alone, we are with them and God is with them. It is our work to tell them that their mistakes do not define them. It is our work to tell them it will get better…things do get better.

Advent is a season of waiting. But, we don’t wait as people who have no hope. We wait in hope as people who know that something wonderful happened on the first Christmas Eve, when a special baby was born in a stable and placed in a manger. And, something happens every day when people accept Jesus as their savior and open their hearts to him. We hope for Jesus’ return to our earth, but we also hope for more and more people to turn their lives towards God and open their hearts to have a relationship with Jesus.

Thanks be to God for the hope of the season of Advent.

Amen.

Reigning Compassion -- A Message for November 26, 2023

 

Scripture                 Matthew 25:14-30

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 

When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 

When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 

I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

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

Sermon                    Reigning Compassion

Today is the last Sunday in the Christian year, a day we have adopted as “Christ the King Sunday” or “Reign of Christ Sunday.”  This is the Sunday that leads into the season of Advent….Today, we celebrate that we believe Jesus is greater than all earthly rulers – our loyalty is to the Christian faith above all loyalties.  Followers of Christ believe that Jesus will eventually rule over the earth – our goal is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and we seek to have all people on earth become followers of Jesus.

When Jesus walked the earth in the first century, he had a limited amount of time to teach his followers. He wanted to prepare them for life without him. He wanted all of us to know strategies for living lives focused on living according to his teachings, according to Christian teachings.

Jesus wanted the people of the world, and especially his followers, to live lives oriented towards God. We are the hands, and legs, and brains, and hearts here on earth to do God’s work. In today’s passage, Jesus delivered a parable pointing this out – we show we care for Jesus by taking care of the “least of these” – people who are hungry or thirsty or outsiders or unclothed or ill or in prison.  We are the group of people here on earth that is directly doing God’s work. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving a few days ago, and in many families or friend groups, part of the meal or prayer was spent with the diners taking turns lifting up things from the last year they appreciate.  Everyone can usually think of things to mention when we look over the past years’ events, even if in addition to those good things, we have had bad things happen. This is novel, because many of us are more likely to focus on negative things than positive things. Often, when we wake up in the middle of the night and take stock of our lives, we focus on the things that are happening in our lives that are bad – poor relationships with family members, sadness about things that have happened with our children, awkward interactions we have had with people at work, worries about our health or our livelihood – we often focus on the hard things or the sad things or the difficult things. But, we have an annual holiday to remind us to be thankful, to be grateful, to appreciate that positive things have occurred lately and good things will happen in the future. 

As people of faith, we are called to be people who help other people have those positive experiences. We are called to pay attention to other people and their needs. Many people are carrying heavy emotional burdens – we are called to notice those people and work to support them and encourage them.  We also know many people in our community are struggling financially – inflation has caused the prices of many items we use to increase.  Food costs more, rent costs more, clothing costs more, things cost more. And many families are making difficult decisions about how to divide their resources. For those of us who are able, this is the time to contribute our extra food to the Daily Bread Food Pantry… This is the time to buy a girls coat to give to the pantry for kids in our community who have outgrown last years’ coat….This is the time to buy an extra tube of toothbrush and an extra bottle of dish soap so that our neighbors in need will not have to do without. We are called to help lift the burdens off the shoulders of people who are weighed down with too much to handle.

            We are easily overwhelmed with we take stock of the problems others are facing. Sometimes the troubles of the world seem enormous. We can’t fix everything as individuals. Fortunately, Jesus anticipated this….he preached to groups…he gathered a band of 12 followers and that group is the model for our churches.  Jesus built into the Christian faith the structure that we don’t do this faith alone – we are supposed to be part of a group of people who practices Christianity together. And, by working together, we can take on projects that individuals are not able to tackle alone.  As individuals, we are not going to rehouse homeless people in our homes. As individuals, we aren’t going to open a soup kitchen in our living rooms. As individuals, we are not going to take a hundred kids shopping for schools clothes and supplies on our dime. But, as the church, as people of faith working together, we can accomplish great things. We can help many people. We can do the work Jesus outlined in today’s parable: feed the hungry, give drinks to the thirsty, welcome refugees and immigrants, provide clothing for growing children whose families don’t have enough, care for people who are sick, visit people who are in prison, and help relieve the burdens people are trying to carry on their own.

            Working together, we can make a much greater difference than we can on our own. Let us do so with love and compassion in our hearts today and all days. Amen.

Extravagant Opportunity -- A Message for November 19, 2023

 

Scripture   Matthew 25: 14-30

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 

To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 

The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 

So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 

But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

^“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 

The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 

So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 

 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 

For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 

And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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

 

Sermon                         Extravagant Opportunity

 

          The parable of the talents is one of Jesus’ best known parables and teachings.  The word “talent” comes into the English language from this parable – in ancient times, a “talent” was an ancient unit of value – some historians believe the value of a talent in Jesus’ time was 13 years wages – other historians think it was worth double that – 26 years wages for a common laborer.  A talent was a lot of money.

          Because of this scripture passage, we have adjusted the meaning of talent to mean an aptitude – our talents are our athletic, creative, or artistic gifts.  Some of our talents are naturally inherent in us, other talents are skills we have practiced and have become experts at over a course of time,

          Although this parable is well-known, we can still be troubled by it. A master leaves his slaves in charge of his resources while he goes on a journey.  One slave receives 5 talents, one slave receives 2 talents, and one slave receives one talent, each according to his abilities. Two of the slaves were good investors – they were able to double the value of the money while their master was away. But, the slave with the least abilities was scared – he buried his talent and it therefore did not increase in value. If they had inflation, the buried talent would have depreciated in value. 

          When the master returned, he was pleased with the slaves who doubled their money and angry with the slave who was afraid to invest his talent.

          This is a parable, though, not an investment course.  Jesus wasn’t teaching about money.

          Instead, Jesus was talking about our relationship with God and our faith in God. God has given us each talents and gifts.  We have also developed abilities and talents over the course of our lives. God wants us to use our talents and share our gifts in order to make the world a better place.  We are called to follow Jesus and help make this world more and more into the kingdom God wants it to be. But, if we are like the last servant, and hide our gifts and talents for fear of losing them, or because we are scared to use them, or because we can’t be bothered to use them, we are ignoring the gifts we have been given by God and are not helping bring about God’s kingdom on earth.

          We are all talented at different things, and some of us have worked diligently to learn other skills.  When I was 7, I couldn’t sit down at the piano and make a song come out….but when I was 17, after 9 years of piano lessons, I could play a song or two.  We don’t have to be innately talented at something in order to share our gift with others – some of the skills we have to share are things we have learned to do. 

          We are called to work to identify our skills and talents and then consider how we can “plug” them in and use them to support the work of God here on earth. A wonderful example of this was the many faithful members of Trinity who stepped up while I was on maternity leave and led worship and preached sermons.  Our members and friends of the congregation were willing to do something most of us find difficult – lead worship, public speaking, write a sermon, speak from their hearts, and take on the unscripted things that happen during worship like the questions of our kids during the children’s sermon and the prayer requests during our joys and concerns.  This is not easy. I have been ordained for almost 20 years and I get nervous every Sunday.  But, our leaders were willing to exercise one of their talents, worship leadership, to help advance the kingdom of God and also help the rest of us have an opportunity to worship together weekly while I was on leave.

          We all have things we are able to do to contribute to the work of God in the world.  We are all able to pray for other people and for things happening in the world.  We are all called to read the Bible and learn the teachings of God. We are all called to be evangelists, and to share the word of God and the call to discipleship with the people we encounter in our lives.  And, we are also called to share our special talents – some of us are able to sing, some of us are able to preach, some of us are able to string Christmas lights, some of us are able to work with the tenacious volunteers at the Food Pantry, some of us are able to plan special events, some of us are able to teach, some of us are able to visit the sick, some of us are able to make investments on behalf of the church, some of us are able to cook meals for people who are recovering from medical procedures, some of us are able to help people find jobs, some of us are good listeners, some of us are supportive cheerleaders for people who are struggling. The opportunities are endless.

          When I was a freshly minted pastor, there were many things that surprised me when I talked to my parishioners. There were a few people in my congregation who said things like – “Oh, I did that activity for the church when I was younger, so I don’t need to help anymore.” But, instead of adjusting and contributing in another way, they felt like they had crossed “sharing my talents” off of their lifetime “to-do” list.  Servanthood is a life-long endeavor.  We may not have the interest or energy to do something we did in the past, which is ok. But, we are called to figure out what we are going to do now.  No matter our age, no matter our skillset, no matter our abilities, there is always work we can do to help bring about God’s kingdom here on earth.

          On this weekend before the Thanksgiving, we are in the mode of thinking about the many things we are thankful for in our lives – despite the serious nature of the pandemic, we are all here to worship God. We have a beautiful and safe place to worship God. We have fellow church members we can turn to for support when we are in need. We have many other blessings in our lives.

          As we consider those blessings, we are thankful to God for the many ways we benefit by being God’s children. Out of regard for those blessings, we are called use our talents and skills for the furtherance of God’s work in the world.

          May we do so with love in our hearts today and all days.. Amen. 

Tending God's Light -- A Message for November 12, 2023

 

This morning, we once again turn our attention to the Gospel of Matthew. Today, we focus on one of Jesus’ parables – a simple story that has a deeper meaning.

Please turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses one through thirteen. 

 

 

Scripture                                Matthew 25: 14-30

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 

³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 

⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 

⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

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

 

Message                                Tending God’s Light

 

          I don’t know about the life experiences of many of you, but I have never trimmed a lamp or lantern wick. I have seen kerosene lanterns lit up, but have never had to rely on one to illuminate a room. So, I turned to a YouTube tutorial about how to light an ancient lamp to learn all about it.  In the first century, the lamps were made of stone, metal, and the most common form of lamps were made out of clay.  In Israel, the oil used in lamps was typically olive oil and the wicks were made of linen rope.

          The virgins who were supposed to meet the bridegroom would have trimmed the wick of their lamps by cutting off the burnt parts of the linen rope so that the light would burn clear.  The burnt part of the linen wick would have made the lamps smoky and the smoke would have blocked the light.

          Our wedding traditions differ from 1^st century wedding traditions, and we don’t have bridegrooms arriving to our wedding banquets at night. In the 1^st century, the virgins would have been relatively young girls, since women were married soon after puberty. I imagine it would have been pretty to have a bunch of little girls lined up with lamps welcoming the groom to the wedding – it would be similar to us having a group of 10 flower girls at one of our weddings. 

Parables have many meanings at the same time. On the surface, Jesus used this parable as an illustration to remind his listeners to prepare for Jesus’ return. In the timeline of Jesus’ life as found in the book of Matthew, Jesus gave this lesson in the middle of his final Holy Week. His followers didn’t know that Jesus was about to die on the cross. They also didn’t know Jesus would return on Easter. So, this parable is foreshadowing that Jesus would surprise his followers by returning on Easter.

This teaching also is about Jesus’s second coming. Christians have long believed that Jesus will return to earth. We don’t know when he will appear, so part of our work is to live out faith – don’t put off being a good Christian because Jesus can return any moment.  So, acting as a Christian is not something we should delay – we can’t start loving our neighbor later….we can’t start praying later….we can’t start keeping the 10 commandments later….because later may be too late. As Jesus said, we won’t know the day of the hour, so we must work to always be prepared.

In this parable, all of the virgins fell asleep while they were waiting for the bridegroom. None of them were perfectly faithful while on duty waiting for the groom to arrive. The parable teaches that the wise virgins were more prepared than the foolish virgins who ran out of oil. But, looking at this through a Christian lens, aren’t we commanded to be generous?  Why couldn’t the wise virgins share with the foolish virgins?  Our work as Christians is to share – to share with people who are foolish, to share with people who are troubled, to share with people who are suffering, to share with people who are in need. Part of our work is to share the Good News and to welcome others to also have a relationship with Jesus – we are called to both deepen our relationship with God and share the Christian message with others who don’t yet have a relationship with God.

Jesus wants us, his followers, to work on developing our lives of faith today – to pray, to study the scripture, to worship, to focus on our faith. And, we are called as believers to not keep our faith to ourselves – we are called to share generously with others, to demonstrate our faith with our attitude, our actions, and our words.

Let us work to be ready. Amen.

Partners in Service -- A Message for November 5, 2023

            I appreciate that many wise members and friends of Trinity who have led worship and preached over the past few months. I loved hearing the gospel proclaimed and the word of God preached by many different voices and perspectives. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to be brave and lead – they say public speaking is one of the most stressful activities people can take on, and everyone did a wonderful job of leading worship.

           

            This morning, we turn to the Gospel of Matthew. The passage we read comes from teachings Jesus said to crowds gathered in Jerusalem – Matthew situates this teaching after Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and before the events that led to Good Friday. In today’s teaching, Jesus emphasizes that his followers must strive be humble and to practice what they preach. Jesus’s words are just as relevant today as they were in the first century.

 

            Hear Jesus’s teaching as we turn to Matthew chapter 23 verses one through twelve:

 

Scripture:                Matthew 23:1-12

 

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:

 

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

 

So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

 

They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

 

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;

 

they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;

 

they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

 

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

 

And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

 

Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

The greatest among you will be your servant.

 

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

 

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

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Sermon                                “Partners in Service”

 

            Americans love stories of people whose hypocrisy is revealed in ugly ways – we have tabloid magazines and 2020 “ex-po-ses'' that delight in describing the path to destruction once great people followed – powerful Harvey Weinstein, a renowned  film producer, who was revealed to be a sex offender who hurt countless victims– Reverend Jim Bakker, a famous pastor and televangelist, who was outed as someone who fraudulently gained personal riches by exploiting his followers – pastor and weight-loss guru Gwen Shamblin who cruelly exploited her church members to gain personal wealth. We read articles in People magazine and watch documentaries about great people whose lives imploded and their hypocrisy was exposed.

           

            In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus challenges his followers to not be hypocritical….don’t show off how pious you are in public – don’t put on a show for others about how wonderful you are when you may not be so wonderful in reality.  We are not supposed to be showy with our faith – instead we are called to follow God in our words and actions without making a big deal out of what we are doing. Jesus knew all people are a mixed bag – we have our moments of faithfulness and we have our moments of selfishness. We don’t always do a great job of following the scriptures, of following the teachings of Jesus. We make mistakes, we hurt other people, and we hurt ourselves.  So, we shouldn’t pretend to be perfect in our faithfulness when we are constantly working on doing better without ever completely achieving our goal.

 

            Things get yucky for people whose identity is tied to their perfection – no one can maintain perfection forever. Our tv screens and Instagram feeds are full of people who are trying to achieve the perfect body or trying to pretend like they have more money than they actually have or trying to show they are the one parent who has everything figured out. But, people who are reaching for perfection have flaws and make mistakes. And, sometimes people’s public posts or presentations are just fake – the posts are just masking the brokenness of the poster’s life.  They may be a tad hypocritical in that what they post on a screen is out of sync with what is happening in reality.

 

            As followers of Jesus, we don’t have to be perfect. We are just supposed to be working on following Jesus, working on following the teachings of the Bible and the teachings of Christianity.  We are all a work-in-progress. We are called to personally make choices that don’t just serve us, our wants and our needs, but we are called to be generous and do things that result in helping other people, especially people who don’t have the advantages we have. 

 

            Part of practicing what we preach is to work to be humble, and to be modest in our needs. This teaching of Jesus goes against the grain of our mainstream American cultural goals – The world tells us to stand out, to strive to be the most popular kid in the class, to be the maverick employee who climbs his way to the top of the pack – but, Jesus says: “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  So, instead of striving to become a Kim Kardashian or a Serena Williams, we are called to be humble….it is better to be known as the person other people can count on, other people can trust, other people can turn to for help, than it is to be person with the fanciest car or the poshest house.  It is better to be the kindest kid in the class than the trendiest kid in the class.

 

            This morning, we sung the hymn “Let Your Heart Be Broken.” Even though it is in our hymnal, this was a new hymn for me. But, the words resonate with today’s teaching from Jesus – we must practice what we preach – feed the mouths that hunger – soothe the wounds that bleed – give the cup of water and the loaf of bread – be the hands of Jesus, serving in his stead.

 

            Jesus is present on earth right now as he lives in each of us. We are called to patiently and humbly care for each other. We are called to care for people in need.  This is why the work of the church is so important: together we can accomplish things that are very difficult for individuals to do alone. We may not personally have the tools to help a young mother in need develop the skills and find the resources to pull herself out of poverty, but as the church we support the work of Every Good Gift and help many young women every year. We may not have enough food in our cupboards to support the hungry people who live around us, but as the church we support the work of the Daily Bread Food Pantry and help feed over a thousand people every month. We may not have the connections or resources to personally help refugees from Ukraine or Afghanistan, but as the Church we support the many agencies that receive financial support through our One Great Hour of Sharing and Neighbors in Need offerings and do the work of helping refugees throughout the world.

           

            Today, we are honoring the Saints of the church, good Christian men and women of time immemorial. This is the day we remember the people who have passed away who made a meaningful impact on our lives – our parents and grandparents, our childhood Sunday School teachers and Boy Scout leaders, the co-workers who rooted for us and the neighbors who were there to help us shovel our driveway when it was too much for us to do alone. This is a day when we remember and thank God for people who humbly demonstrated faithful living for us. Most of the people we remember today were not movie stars or record breaking athletes – they were regular every-day people who were loving, kind and generous. They weren’t perfect, but they were able to teach us despite their imperfections. We have many role-models in the faith who humbled themselves and taught us attributes that are truly important – sincerity, kindness, generosity and grace. Let us humble ourselves to be like them. Amen