Author: Mark Mong

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—

‘My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    or lose heart when you are punished by him;
⁶ for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
    and chastises every child whom he accepts.’

⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? ⁸ If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. ⁹ Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  ¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.  Hebrews 12:1-13

Running long distance races is quite popular these days.  Whether a marathon or a 5k (5 Kilometer), crowds of people gather to run the races, not to win, but to finish.  Each race will always have the professional runners out front and in the race to win, but each race also will have folk running for the joy of running.  These people will run together for causes and charities, or for fun, or for each other.  A spectator can see a herd of folk running together at times in the back, and at the same pace to just finish the race, not to win it.

If you can understand a group of runners at the back of the race, then you can understand the Author to the Hebrews describing the church as a group of runners surrounded by other participants, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.  The journey of discipleship is compared to a long-distance race, which God sets before God’s people, and the church as the peloton or bunching together of runners.  No Christian is in a vacuum or alone in their journey, they are surrounded by fellow runners or fellow Christians and the great heroes of the faith.  To be surrounded by fellow runners is to find encouragement in mutual journeys: to run together, to carry each other, to be carried and to share in each other’s triumphs.  No runner runs alone, no Christian follows Jesus alone either.

But if you are going to run a long-distance race, you don’t run in heavy garments or in combat boots.  You take off your warmup clothes and you don running shoes.  So too is it with following Christ, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely.  If you are going to run, you take off your warmup clothes, if you are going to follow Jesus you take off every burden and barrier that hampers your discipleship.  If you are going to run, you take off the work boots, if you are going to follow Jesus you take off the sins that snare your feet.  What do you need to lay aside and/or what do you need uncling from your feet to run?  No runner runs in winter coats, no Christian follows Jesus with burdens and snaring sins. 

But no runner just decides one day to enter a marathon without first training the body and mind to run one.  If you want to run a race you must train.  You manage your diet; you start running one mile and then increase to more.  But you must train to be able to run a 5k.  So too is with following Jesus.  If you want to follow Christ, you must train, but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness.  God permits trials and tribulations to train and form us to run the race.  Moments of doubt are opportunities for greater faith.  Moments of sadness are possibilities for greater hope.  Moments of tragedy are potentials for greater love.  No runner runs without first training, no Christian follows without being trained by God through our experiences in holiness. 

Having run my fair share of miles in training, I understand that muscles will start to ache, joints will hurt, and you start to limp, lungs will run out of air, and you slow down, and you contemplate quitting.  So too does it happen for Christians in their training.  The sorrow starts to make our souls ache.  The continued struggle against sin makes our bodies and souls hurt and we begin to limp.  The antagonism from an unconverted world weighs heavy on minds and emotions and we run out of passion and commitment.  From all this and more we slow down, and we contemplate quitting.  But the Author says, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.  He doesn’t care if you must limp your way through life with drooping hands and weak knees, and which of us doesn’t have them?  He cares most assuredly that we finish the race, even if we must limp our way through it.  The great problem is not the difficult running, the great problem is choosing to stop running because it is too hard or painful.  No runner runs without sore muscles and tired lungs, no Christian follows Christ without pains and sorrows in body and soul.

My friends, the Author knows all too well, about struggles and difficulties that weigh heavy and snare our souls, but he encourages his congregation and us, to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  Jesus’ journey was filled with struggles and difficulties and yet he ran with perseverance.  Now he lives to help us on our journeys, during our struggles and difficulties.  Since we are surrounded by heroes past and present, let us keep running.  Let us take off the burdens and sins that snare our feet, let us keep running.  Let us be trained by God through our experiences, let us keep running.  Even if we must limp and crawl at times, let us keep running.  Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our journey, let us keep running.  But most importantly friends, even when it’s hard and you want to quit, don’t stop running.  Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.  The finish line is in sight, keep running toward it.  Amen.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶ She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ ²⁹ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ³¹ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”’ ³² He looked all round to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’  Mark 5:24b-34

My family and I once went to a Pirates game in Pittsburgh.  While that may be not very intriguing, the problem lies in that I was cheering for the visiting team, the Cleveland Indians.  Being a fan for the visiting team amidst a crowd of fans for the home team can be a pretty intimidating prospect.  If you have ever been to any kind of sporting event, baseball or football, being a fan for the “other” team may result in a little or quite a bit of hostility towards you.  So fans for the visiting team sometimes try to stay hidden from the other fans.  Maybe they don’t wear their jerseys or cheer when their team scores and most certainly they do not boast about winning around those who lost.  Or else you may end up getting hit by a beer bottle being thrown at you, or maybe that happens only in Cleveland.

So too, does it happen in our faith.  The many self-proclaimed lords of our communities become greatly hostile towards us when we proclaim to the glory of God that Jesus Christ is Lord and they are not!  When we are forced to choose between loyalty and allegiance to God and loyalty and allegiance to our country, our government, our families, our wealth, our possessions, our ______; we find ourselves in conflicts with those who still follow those things.  Simply put, we are intimidated by being faithful to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of a community that is faithful to a whole host of other gods.  So we choose to try and keep our faith a secret; we hide. 

But, we are not the only people of God who have in ages past desired to keep our faith hidden because of fear.  A woman suffering for 12 years from incurable hemorrhages, who knows and believes that Jesus can cure her in the deepest recesses of her spirit, is afraid to speak with Jesus face-to-face.  Afraid of being discovered, she hides amongst the crowd until she can sneak her way close to him, only to touch the fringes of his cloak.  She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped (Luke 8:44).  Her faith has made her well and she can return to her home with the crowd and Jesus none the wiser.

But, Jesus is not going to let her stay hidden.  He knows.  He knows not only of her faith, he also knows his power healed her, but, he also knows that she is trying to stay hidden.  So he calls out to her, “Who touched me?”  She knows that he knows.  She knows he is talking to her.  The very thing she is afraid of is the very thing that transpires around her and fear seized upon her.  When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed (Luke 8:47).  Her faith has made her well, but she cannot return to her home without anyone knowing; He knows.

But is there rebuke?  Is there a finger pointed at her in judgment?  Is there laughter and ridicule?  Is there scorn and hostility?  No, there is “Go, in peace!”  She was afraid of hostility, she received peace instead.  She was afraid of judgment, she received inclusion instead.  She was afraid of wrath, she received love instead.  Such is the character and actions of Jesus Christ, our Lord! 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, which of us is not afraid?  Which of us is not gripped by fear to be bold and confident in the face of a hostile nation and community around us?  We all fall short of the courage necessary to let our lit lamps sit upon the lampstand.  But the good news for us is the same good news for her, if Jesus can give this woman courage to shine before others, then Jesus can and will do the same for us.  If Jesus is able and willing to minister to this woman, then Jesus is able and willing to minister courage to us.  That in it of itself is worthy of an Alleluia.  To God be the glory, honor and blessings of all his people, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to us.  Amen! 

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.  Luke 10:1-12

As a boy, one of my chores this time of year was the harvesting of the garden and the various trees in the back yard.  When my parents felt the produce was ripe, I was sent out with baskets to collect and harvest everything I was told to harvest.  I dug up the potatoes and put them in a crock.  I picked the apples and the tomatoes and put them in bushel baskets.  I broke off the pea pods and placed them in a metal colander.  When the time came to harvest, I was sent out with an empty container and told to get everything I could, while the time was right and the produce ripe.

Just as I was sent out to harvest by my parents, so too are we sent out to harvest by God.  But while I was sent for vegetables and fruit, the Lord of the harvest sends out laborers into all his creation.  Just as I was the only child at home to do the enormous task of harvesting a large garden and orchard, so too is God’s harvest plentiful but the laborers are few.  God sends us out not for the corn, but sends us out for lost children of God.

Are we all to go out or only some whose specific purpose is to do so?  While this may or may not be the question on many Christian’s hearts and minds, I wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question.  Did Jesus go out for us all?  Then why don’t we all go out for Jesus?  Jesus’ obedience was not just to obey the will of his Father to go out, but Jesus’ love was that he went out for everyone.  Instead of some obnoxious rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to mission, let us replace it with a knowledge of God who is mission incarnate in Christ Jesus.  Since he came for us all, then let us all go out for him.

Are we to go out into our community or some other one?  While this may or may not be yet another question on many hearts and minds, I again wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question.  Did Jesus go only to Nazareth?  Then why don’t we go everywhere for Jesus?  Jesus didn’t just stay in his home town, he went to others as well.  Instead of some rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to their mission field, (if we have one at all), let us replace it with a knowledge of God whose field to harvest is all of creation.  Since Jesus went into all creation, let us all go everywhere for him.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, while I share with you all no small amount of trepidation or anxiety when it comes to mission work, we all share the common purpose given to us in Jesus Christ, to be laborers sent out into the harvest field to collect the Lord of the Harvest’s bounty.  While I might want to hide behind the readymade excuse of “I am not called to go out,” in Christ Jesus we see God coming to us all, so that we all might go out.  While I might want to take shelter in the pretext of “I am not called to go there,” in Christ Jesus we see God going every place we are, so that we might go everywhere he is.   Therefore, let us not dwell in our apprehensions and hesitations about being sent out and being sent out where we do not want to go, let us dwell in Christ Jesus through faith and we will find ourselves being Children of God having already gone out.

¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. ¹⁶ He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ ¹⁷ Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸ and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ ¹⁹ He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ ²⁰ And they brought the boy^[e] to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. ²² It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ ²³ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ ²⁶ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. ²⁸ When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ ²⁹ He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’ Mark 9:14-29

One of the most fascinating characters of the great superhero era was the arch-villain Two-Face from the Batman series.  If my memory is correct, Two-Face was the district attorney of Gotham City, Harvey Dent, who had an industrial accident which left half of his body physically scarred.  Harvey developed multiple personalities to match his half normal face and his half scarred face.  Sometimes he would behave as the good and just district attorney and sometimes he would behave as the maniacal Two-Face and the reader never knew at which time which personality would have control.  He was needless to say double-minded about everything.

We too as Christians are double-minded.  We believe but we also doubt.  We obey but we also disobey.  We hope but we also despair.  We love but we also hate.  We bless God with our tongues but we also curse one another.  We are spiritual but we also are material.  We could add to this list until our list rivals that of the average child’s Christmas wish list.

The Christian is both sinner and saint, wicked and righteous, living in the light and darkness.  We all have our very bad moments and we all have our very good moments.  We all make terrible mistakes and we all make wonderful contributions.  All of this is possible only through the continuing work of our Lord and Brother Jesus of Nazareth.  The only reason that anything of lasting value is present in us is because Jesus was mindful of us to give it; and the only reason that everything of temporary value is leaving us is because Jesus was mindful of us to take it away.

The path of discipleship is a path of duality, a path of conflict, a path of struggle, between the sinner in each of us dying a long, slow death, and the saint in each of us growing into a long, slow life.  The same tongue which blesses God will curse men and women made in the image of God.  The same brain which seeks after wisdom from above also seeks after wisdom from below.  The same hospitality which feeds the poor, visits the sick and clothes the naked is the same hospitality which excludes some people based on their religion, ethnicity or class.  The same heart which believes the Word of God is the same heart that doubts that God will ever keep his Word.  We are people who struggle every moment of every day with our double-mindedness. 

The only hope for disciples following Jesus Christ lies is the power of Jesus himself.  Not only is Jesus the end of our Christian journey because he is God, Jesus is also the way of our Christian journey because he is a human being.  A human being born like us in every way, with the struggle to believe, the struggle to obey, the struggle to curb the mind and the tongue, the struggle to discipline the desires, a struggle to be the human our Father made us to be.  But he might be human like us, but unlike us he is no sinner.  Jesus is not double-minded as we are he is only single-minded on the will of our Father.

Who better to help us with our daily struggles than the Brother who struggled every day of his humanity and won?  Who better to help us overcome our doubts that the Brother who struggled every day and believed?  Who better to aid us in our humanity than the Brother who in his humanity lived the life we should have lived but never could?  Who better to aid us as it is written in the Gospel of Mark, Lord we believe, help our unbelief! 

Therefore, let us remember that the Word of God became this human Jesus of Nazareth to help us humans needing help.  Since God became the fully human Jesus to remove the evil and to grow the righteous within us human beings, let us with Jesus live a human life as he continues to live a human life, a life single-minded on the will of our Heavenly Father.  Let us remember that God is with us, Alleluia, Alleluia!

²⁸“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.” Matthew 21:28-32

When I visit my favorite restaurants, I often have my favorite meals to order.  I also often look forward to them throughout the day.  My favorites give me comfort and in a difficult or challenging time, I seek comfort in my favorite meals.  But I am also pleasantly surprised when visiting my favorite restaurants and see a special that I had not anticipated.  I often change my mind and order the special that catches my eye or my taste buds.  I visit expecting to eat my favorite pasta or chicken and find a special on an intriguing sandwich.  Thus, my mind changes from the old standard to the special of the day.

In our parable of the two sons, both sons change their minds like I change mine.  One son tells his father he won’t work in the vineyard and then changes his mind and goes.  The other son tells his father he will work in the vineyard and then does not go.  But both sons change their minds.  This idea of the changing mind is part of what Jesus is describing for the Jewish Religious leaders of his day and age.  In theological language to change one’s mind describes repentance: to turn around or to alter one’s attitude.  Both sons change their minds, and the church of every age is called to change their minds.

Let’s look at the first son, the one who said no I won’t work and then does.  He changes his mind, but he changes from an unfaithful decision to a faithful one.  He tells his father he won’t work and then realizes that he was wrong and changes to do the right thing.  This is the ideal repentance in that a person who starts off by doing wrong realizes their mistake and then does the right thing.  When our relationship with God is examined, we all too often are the ones that tell God no, but then through the work of the Son and the Spirit, we repent and do the right thing.  We start off doing wrong but then change our mind to do right.

But what about the second son, the one who said yes, I will work and then doesn’t?  he changes his mind, but he changes from a faithful decision to an unfaithful one.  He says the right thing and then does the wrong thing.  This is the worst kind of repentance in that a person who starts off by doing the right thing then fails to follow through and does wrong.  Perhaps we run out of time, or resources, or just plain are not committed to doing the work of the vineyard that God asks us to.  But we have still repented and still repented wrongly.  We repent of the right and do the wrong thing.  We start off faithful but then change our mind to do wrong. 

The entire point of this parable is to show that true repentance is about doing right even if you started wrong.  This is what the tax collectors and prostitutes were doing, and Jesus commends them.  They were wrong in that tax collectors were cheats and oppressive, and the prostitutes were wrong for sexual immorality.  But they might start wrong but change their minds and return to God by believing in Jesus.  But the Religious Leaders are the ones who start right and change into wrong.  They profess obedience and belief, but change their minds and reject God, because they reject Jesus.  Both groups repent, both groups change their minds, but which does the will of God, the sinners who start wrong and become right or the saints who start right and become wrong?

Here is the lesson for us, anyone can change their mind and believe, thanks be to God.  But we also can change our mind and leave.  Which is being truly remorseful, or true repentance, sinners who want forgiveness, or the saints who do not need it?  Both are a change of mind, both are repentance, but only one leads to light and life.  Which are you, the sinner who asks and receives forgiveness, or the religious saint who cannot abide with “those” people in the room?  Let us always remember that anyone can end up right through faith but let us also remember that when we stop believing we can end up wrong.  Change your minds and believe in him.  Never change your minds and leave from him.  Amen.

²² Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ²³ I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. ²⁴ I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶ A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. ²⁸ Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. ³⁰ I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  Ezekiel 36:22-30

In the movie Grumpy Old Men, the two main characters both of which are widowers, John Gustafson, and Max Goldman, spend most of the time pranking and fighting with each other in winter Minnesota.  We see fish left in the car overnight creating a stench.  We see snow drifts falling on heads.  We see fighting over high school sweethearts and fighting over a newcomer to the town, Ariel Truax.  Over the course of the movie, these two grumpy old men just pick and fight with each other, each trying to outdo the pranks done to them and neither really winning anything at all.

We just might have a “grumpy” part inside us all.  Perhaps a better term for grumpy might be cynical.  We have become skeptical in a post-covid age, uncertain about what is true and what is political propaganda.  We have become doubtful in a time of conflicting ideas and theories about what is real and what bears integrity.  We have become mistrusting of each other, seeing the “other person” not as neighbors but as rivals trying to get ahead of us or even harm us.  We have become suspicious, seeing conspiracies about elections, vaccines, economics, cashless societies and much more behind every action, every news story, and every tweet on Twitter.  We have become disbelieving in our present age, realizing that for all our desires to “progress” and improve our societies and the lives of everyone, we might really be regressing in respect, in empathy, and in basic human civility.  To put it into words and perspective, we have become “grumpy” cynics.

But when our attitudes become cynical, our actions soon follow.  When we become “grumpy,” we start using labels for people.  When you load your social media applications, you can see the many labels that we use: Boomers, Millennials, Snowflakes, Woke, Sheep, -phobes, Fascists.  All of which serve only to dehumanize the ones opposing us, reducing them to less than human objects which we can hate and destroy.  But a cynical attitude not just reduces our opponents to pejorative phrases, but also allows us to enter rivalries with them, which must be one at all costs; enter the culture wars.  And if we are in rivalries, winning the culture wars is all that matters.  Then we dismiss the viewpoints of our enemies and belittle them in public with as much vitriol and panache as we can muster, to rally our supporters and to earn likes and advertisers for our webpages.  Our “grumpy” cynicism becomes violence and oppression.  Our cynical attitudes become hearts and deeds of stone.

While our world may have many forces encouraging and nurturing cynicism, the Gospel testifies to us of how as Jesus of Nazareth, God is working against “grumpiness,” a new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  Quite simply put, God has given each of his children a heart transplant.  The old cynical hearts of stone have been removed and a new heart of flesh has been sewn in.  The soul which is skeptical, doubtful, mistrusting, suspicious and disbelieving has been removed and a new heart has been put in its place, a soft heart of flesh.

But what does that look like?  The easy answer is that a heart of flesh looks like Jesus and his life lived for others.  That life is a life of vulnerability before others.  Jesus is not dominant nor selfish nor miserly nor “grumpy.”  He empowers people at the cost of his own power.  He is vulnerable to others as sheep before the wolves.  He is willing to be authentic and to open himself up to others.  But he is open to others even at the cost of being crucified by those other people.  Jesus does not dehumanize and destroy, but Jesus humanizes the other people and creates, not a cynical heart, but a loving heart.

This new heart changes everything.  This heart of flesh creates and generates instead of destroying and killing.  This heart of flesh anticipates in hope the Kingdom of God instead of sinking in cynicism and despair.  This heart of flesh remains present to all in love for God and our neighbor at the cost of vulnerability and self-sacrifice.  This heart of flesh is the heart of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and this heart by Grace lives in us.  This heart can become our heart.  The grumpy old men by the end of the movie became not rivals but friends, caring and supporting each other.  Through Christ, so too can we.  The Gospel friends is that the cynical hearts of stone that live in us can become loving hearts of flesh.  As disciples of Christ, we can learn and become those people, not cynics but saints.  Now let it be so and let it begin with us.  Amen.

²¹ Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church^[g] sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ ²² Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.²³ ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵ and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” ²⁹ Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” ³⁰ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³² Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” ³⁴ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. ³⁵ So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

We live in a day and age of debts.  We have credit card debt, housing debt, car debt, education debt, and even food debt.  A school in Rhode Island had over the course of the year around $50,000 in unpaid debt from student lunches.  Chobani, the yogurt manufacturer, paid the entire debt in full allowing the students to graduate and receive their report cards.  We live in a day and age of debt, but also a time when people take care of others by paying their, at times, unpayable debt.

When it comes to the debts we have with God, we too owe more than we can pay.  The transgressions, the moments we have fallen short and the times we have missed the mark, all of these are debts in our metaphorical ledger with God.  One of the important images in our scriptures and traditions is that the cross of Jesus pays those debts in full.  By his broken body and his shed blood, all human debts with God are covered and paid in full.

But this idea of debts paid is fine when it comes to my debts with God, but the problem lies in other’s debts toward me.  I want mine paid in full and gone, but I will not let others be paid in full toward me.  This is why we have the parable of the unforgiving servant.  We have a large unpayable debt to the landowner.  We have the servant begging for mercy and the Landowner granting it.  This is normal language in the Church.  God’s boundless mercy, the suffering of Jesus Christ, the begging for mercy, these are all things we know well and accept with ease.

But what happens when someone owes us like the First servant to the Second servant.  The money owed is substantially less to the servant than owed to the landowner.  But what is the servant’s actions, have patience with me, and I will pay you.  But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt.  We beg forgiveness and God gives it.  Others beg forgiveness from us and instead we give them “justice.”  No mercy, no forgiveness, no cancelling of debts, no, “you pay in full, because I am the offended and the victim.”  We have been forgiven, but we fail to forgive others.

In our parable, the servants flee and tell the Landowner about the unforgiving servant and here is the response, you wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt.  Failing to cancel the servant-to-servant debt, God cancels God’s forgiveness and ensures that the first servant with the unpayable debt pays in full.  Failing to forgive other people results in the loss of our forgiveness from God. 

What we fail to remember is that Christ has paid everything in full.  When someone sins against you, the repayment is Christ’s blood given to you on their behalf and the debt is cancelled.  When someone wounds you, the reimbursement is Christ’s blood given to you on their behalf, and the bill is paid.  When someone oppresses you, the compensation is Christ’s blood given to you on their behalf, and the invoice is revoked.  The debts are paid by Christ to you, and everything is forgiven.  Now we know why Jesus told Peter to forgive not 7 times but 490 times, because Jesus fully intended to pay all debts, even the debts owed to Peter, in his own body and blood.

My friends, no one finds this lesson more difficult than I, but we need to remember that when someone sins against us or incurs debt with us, those sins and debts are paid in full by Christ.  If His body and blood cover ours, they also cover theirs.  To impose those debts despite Jesus’ blood is impose our debts also.  But if we want Jesus’ blood to cover ours, then that same blood covers theirs.  This means that we are a forgiving church again and again.  Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Now, through the Son and the Spirit, let it be so. 

¹⁹ Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:19-25

Last summer, we received so much rain in such a little time that the road to our house was flooded.  The road has a low spot where the storm drains sit to move the water to the lake and the system can handle so many gallons of water in a minute.  But however, on that day the drainage system could not keep up and the water backed up onto the road completely covering it with about a foot of water.  To get home we would have had to drive through the foot deep flood waters.  I had no confidence whatsoever that I could drive through the road, and the car could stall or the moving waters sweep us away, at the time I could not tell how much was there.  So, we sat on the road for about an hour until the waters receded and we could with what courage we had drive through the water to reach home, and we did safely.

The author to the Hebrews is talking about his congregation having a road that the people could always have confidence in, no matter how much water was flooding the road, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh).  The road to our house was blocked by water, the road to the sanctuary or house of God is open and permanent.  We had no reason to rely on the blocked road, Christians can have ever reason to rely on the road Jesus paves and cares for because the road was paved in his own blood from his own body.  If he makes and cares for the road, every believer can have the confidence to travel upon it, and no barrier can flood or erode it.

But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must still make the journey and go into God upon that road let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Through our baptisms, the inner soul and outer body is washed and forgiven and then able to approach the holy God.  Sins are forgiven and we can go in.  But the hitch always lies in the approach.  Quite simply, do we go in at all?  We can rely upon the road, the door is open, our sins are forgiven, but do we take the necessary steps to walk upon and to go in?  Do we have faith that the road will keep, and the door will stay open and even we are forgiven?  Do we approach or do we retreat?  Faith says, let us approach and never, let us go back.

But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must still hold fast to the hope that while we are on the way, we are not done journeying yet, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.  To hope is to anticipate the filling of the promises of God, but in the present not possessing them, or to be on the way, but not finished yet.  We are still travelling as a community upon the road Jesus paves and maintains, but until we are finished, we must keep travelling, we must hold fast to hope and never waver.  Here is the second hitch, the road at times becomes challenging and overwhelming and the despair of the journey urges us to turn around and go back instead of pushing through.  Do we have hope and keep going or do we retreat?  Hope says let us hold fast, never, let us quit.

But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must learn what it means to truly walk in the way of Jesus Christ, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.  To provoke is like taking a stick and poking a hornet’s nest, the hornets will become angry.  We on the way of Jesus Christ are to provoke one another, but not to anger and offense, but to stir each other up to love and good deeds.  The love here is the self-giving love of God, and the good deeds are compared to the evil deeds or sins from which we are cleansed.  To walk on the way of Jesus Christ is to encourage or provoke each other to greater and greater love and goodness instead of judgment and insult.  Do we provoke each other to greater love and good deeds, or do we make the journey miserable for everybody around us?  Love says let us provoke each other to sacrifice and goodness, never, let us hurt and hate each other. 

But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must remember that we can only encourage each other if we gather with each other, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.  I think the key word here is habit.  We will have circumstances that prevent us from gathering to pray, study, worship and serve, but the hitch is when our staying away from church becomes a habit and not an exception.  You cannot be encouraged, and you cannot give encouragement if you avoid the community.  For the Hebrews they started to drift away into other things because the road became challenging.  We have many more things to pull us away than they did in our society, but it becomes more important to still make church a priority.  Encouragement says, let us meet, never, I have other things to do.

Friends, the road to God has been paved and maintained by Jesus our great High Priest in his own flesh and blood.  This means that we can have confidence to walk and journey upon it.  But at some point, you need to come in by faith and never retreat.  At some point you need to hold fast to your hope that you will finish and never quit.  At some point you need to provoke love and goodness instead of hate and wickedness.  And at no point should your neglecting to gather become a habit.  If we truly are following in the way of Jesus Christ, we will walk in faith, hope, and love, and we will always do so together.  Now, let’s get moving.  Amen. 

¹¹ He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ¹⁴ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. ¹⁸ Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’ 1 Kings 19:11-18

If I have to pull any more weeds from my flower beds and garden, I am going to scream.  I feel like I have done nothing but pull weeds this entire summer and, in a few days, they grow back, plus some that were not there before.  We get a little rain and some warm weather, and they grow in abundance.  Covering them with mulch helped for like five minutes.  Using my Weed Wacker helped for about a week and then I must do it again.  I am at that point where I don’t care what grows and what anything looks like, I am done.  Until the leaves start.  Grrr.

Elijah was also done.  Not done picking weeds but he was burned out from trying to lead Israel from following and worshipping Baal.  He just has his great victory over the hundreds of Baal’s Prophets, but the Queen runs him out of town.  He’s done.  He leaves the country and runs back to God’s Mountain as a tired and frustrated failure of a prophet.  As disciples we can also become done in frustration and burnout.  We tried and nothing worked.  We need more people and more excitement.  We gave of ourselves and nothing much changes from week to week.  The weeds continue to grow, we try new things, and nothing stops.  Like Elijah we are done.

But God is not done with Elijah, nor with us for that matter.  God tells Elijah to meet him on the mountain and Elijah complies.  After the wind, the earthquakes, and the fire pass by, God comes, and Elijah comes out to meet him.  God asks him why he is here instead of being back on the job?  Elijah gives him a reason which looks totally like an excuse: everyone left you/me.  Amid his burnout, Elijah goes from advocating and working toward the goal of a Baal-less society to attending to God.  From working and toiling to conversation and prayer with God.  Instead of focusing on the plan and how to get there, Elijah focuses instead on God and enters a state of attending on God. 

What if we should also, who find ourselves in a similar place to Elijah, cease our fruitless, frustrating, and failed plans to instead attend to God?  What has changed around us and what might we need to change how we do things?  Attending to God and a new possibility and new potentials instead of spinning our tired wheels in the mud in frustration.  Asking ourselves God questions in discernment instead of endless organizational questions, which may not have an answer, about more members, more resources, and more building repairs.  Like Elijah when the plans or programs stop working and maybe never did, we should stop and instead attend to God.

What Elijah gets is a new focus, a new purpose, and a new call.  Instead of fighting the Baal prophets and Queen Jezebel, Elijah is called and commanded by God to go anoint another King, who will rule justly over 7000 faithful Israelites.  What is our new focus, new purpose, and new call?  The plans and programs don’t work, but we do have loving, connectional people.  How do we engage our neighborhood with what we do have?  How do we adjust the leaders and resources we do have?  How do we become covenantal people on mission, not just CEO’s and middle managers of yet another dying institution?  God’s answer is not what we want, but what we need: new focus, new calling, new energy, new tasks. 

We all get tired and burned out as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We all end up exactly like Elijah.  But while Elijah was done, God was not done with him, nor us.  But instead of running headlong to our destruction because we cannot imagine doing things a new way, we can stop the frustrations and life-taking ways from previous times.  Instead of doing things the same old way, we can attend instead to God and a new focus and energy.  Instead of going back to the failed mission, Elijah accepts the new purpose of God and finds renewal.  We can do likewise; to attend to God and to perhaps see and discern the emerging possibilities God is creating.  But we need to attend to God and the new opportunity, instead of putting our heads down and running in mud.  We might be done, but it might be done with the way things were, not the new things that God is doing.  Let us in faith attend to God and God’s emerging Kingdom instead of toiling in the failed enterprise.  God is not done with us, but let us be done with ways things were. Amen.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸ the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.  Romans 12:3-8

We find ourselves in football and marching band season once again.  The sounds of the drums playing the cadences.  The sun reflecting off the sousaphones.  The color guard twirling flags and batons.  The brass section providing deep tones while the woodwinds creating a soaring descant.  But for the performance to be moving to the soul, all the performers must mesh.  No one section or group is enough to drive home the music, they must all contribute and do so complementing each other.  When the band works well together the result is breath-taking and soul-forming.  The band must mesh.

Just as it is with a marching band, so too is it with the church.  People and congregations must mesh.  Each person or group or community is insufficient by themselves but must contribute to the greater whole and must do so complementing each other.  Ministers administering Word and Sacraments.  Elders leading in wisdom and discernment.  Deacons giving care and compassion.  Teachers nurturing in patience and knowledge.  Advocates working toward justice and peace.  Each provides an invaluable piece of the whole and only when each contributes and complements each other does the result become breath-taking and soul-forming.  Each must mesh.

But we all too often imagine the connections in our own congregations and how each person must contribute and complement each other.  The dynamics can also be across congregations.  We at Trinity and Eastside have come to learn and perceive this dynamic.  Elders mesh with elders.  Deacons mesh with deacons.  Teachers mesh teachers.  Advocates mesh with advocates.  Cooks and planners mesh with cooks and planner.  Each provides an invaluable piece of the whole and only when each contributes and complements each other does the result become breath-taking and soul-forming.  Trinity and Eastside must mesh.

Over the summer months, we at both churches have begun exploring what it means to mesh as one Church across congregations.  We worshipped together in rotating worship spaces.  We combined mission committees rotating meeting spaces.  We shared our various activities with the other church.  We learned to be hosts and guests to the other church.  We ate together, we prayed together, we assembled around God’s Word together.  We worshipped together and we worked together.  Trinity and Eastside meshed.

In the next six months, how do we continue to mesh and perhaps even expand?  Could it be more integrated worship?  Could it be more fellowship activities?  Could it be sharing duties across boards and committees?  Could it be including the other churches in the city or even county?  Yes, it could be.  But it will take you, and it will take you choosing to mesh with others instead of choosing isolation.  I know too well the anxiety and risk it takes to enter such a space.  But, if we are following Christ in faith, we push through the fear and vulnerability and follow anyway in courage.  And the results might just be breath-taking and soul-forming.  We just might mesh.  Let the Church play on!  Amen.