Author: Mark Mong

Acts 16:6-15
⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Driving in the city is challenging enough, but then when the water company starts digging up streets to replace the lines and connections, driving becomes impossible.  Day after day it seems, a new detour springs up taking you the long way around or a new closed road sign forces you to have to find a new route around.  If I didn’t have an application on my phone that would give me directions to where I wanted to go, I would have even more difficulty trying to get to work or school.

Just as it is with road construction signs, so too is it with the direction of the Holy Spirit.  In the book of Acts, Paul and company are directed where to go by the Holy Spirit.  But, like the detours, they were forbidden to enter Asia and Bithynia.  The Holy Spirit was steering them to a specific time and place and that meant a do not enter command to those places which were not.  What if the Holy Spirit is steering us to specific places and people?  What if we are being directed to a conversation or interaction under the purpose and plan of God?

The Apostles must have been discouraged because they literally ran out of road.  After coming to Troas, they could not go anywhere.  The only place was across the see.  But that was always the plan and after a vision, the Apostles become convinced this was the direction to go.  Have we ever had a dead end on our journey?  Have we been told not to go here or there, and we are facing a cul-de-sac with no way to move forward?  Even when we cannot see the way forward, the Spirit of Jesus Christ still has a journey in mind, just as Paul was told the way forward and he went.

The results of following the steering of the Holy Spirit is the interaction of Paul and Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth and the founding of the first church in Europe and the one dearest to Paul’s heart.  This was the plan, but Paul was never shown it until he obeyed and followed.  What if it’s the same with us?  What if we are only shown the plan in stages and the stage right in front of us?  We might be kept in the dark as to the whole process and result until we follow and obey, and then the purpose of God is made known.  What if the plan of God is hidden from us until we follow in faith?

Friends, might God be steering us through the Holy Spirit?  Avoid here.  Go there.  Tell Lydia.  Plant a Church.  Speak the Gospel to them.  Like the Apostles the Spirit is still leading and guiding us, keeping us from going there, but steering us to go here.  But the Spirit is also hiding the entire plan and process from us as a test of our faith.  Will we follow in faith instead of seeing the results?  Are we yet like Paul with the faith to trust the lead of the Spirit, and to follow the signs trusting God knows the way and the path and the result?  Maybe we need to entrust our roads and our journeys more into the hands of God and just follow wherever we are led.  Amen. 

10 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.

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.

Hebrews 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In the Tour De France, one of the words that the spectator or viewer must come to learn is the idea of the Peloton.  It is the group of bicycle riders that group together to pace themselves during the race.  They ride together in a large clump of riders sometimes with teammates and sometimes with rivals.  But, throughout the many days and the many miles of riding, the contestants draw together to ride and race together.

So is it with the Church.  The Church is an assembly of people summoned by God to follow Jesus Christ.  But the great advantage of being in the Church community is that one does not follow alone.  Every believer is surrounded by other believers just like in the Peloton every rider is surrounded by other riders.  But we are not just surrounded by other believers, but we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.  We are not only surrounded by other believers but also the great heroes and witnesses of our faith.  We are surrounded not just by each other, but by Peter, Paul, Mother Theresa, Dr. King, Archbishop Tutu and many more.  We have the support of not just our faith community, but every person and community in every time and place. 

But perhaps the important word of this passage is the word “since.”  Since we are surrounded, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  The advantage of being surrounded is that we can overcome the obstacles that hold us back and we can throw off the sinful behaviors that tie us up.  Those obstacles can be many and varied depending on the time and season.  But in this moment as we are heading into Labor Day weekend, what we might need to throw off are those bad habits of not participating in our faith communities.  September is our “Back-to-Church” time and season.  Where we re-connect with each other and with God, but also where we re-commit to the life of discipleship that has perhaps waned in the past few weeks and months.  Perhaps what we need to throw off and untangle is the many distractions and priorities which have caused us to float away from the Peloton, from the community of Faith. 

Perhaps then our life together, or to continue the metaphor, is about running the race set before us.  But “since” we are surrounded, we not only throw off the obstacles holding us back and keeping us away, but we run with perseverance, the race marked before us.  The Tour De France is not won in a day, it is marathon mixed with moments of sprinting, and moments of climbing, and moments of descending.  Our church life is no different.  We will have moments marked out for us by God, that will differ depending on the circumstances.  We will have hills to climb, like covid, wars and recessions.  We will have sprints to power through, like rummage sales and picnics.  We will have descents to coast through, like Christmas and Eastertime.  But we run the race set before us with perseverance.  Not just when life together is easy, but especially when life together requires learning, growing, adventure and change.  We run, but we run together with perseverance.

But just as a bicycle rider focuses on the finish line, we are to focus on Christ who is at the finish line and summoning us to himself.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  A pioneer is someone who paves the road or blazes the trail.  A perfecter is one that ensures the road is finished and drivable.  With Christ as pioneer and perfecter, we can run the race of faith because it has been created and finished already.  We must simply follow the road by fixing our eyes on the one who made it and who finished it, so that we can simply follow along behind him to the finish line.  If we see him having finished the race, can we not finish it ourselves.  The hard work has been done, the victory has been accomplished, we can merely enjoy the ride and be ensured of finishing strong.

If then our eyes are fixed on Christ, then we can consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  The main reason we quit the race is because we grow weary and lose heart.  Times become tough, challenges and difficulties overwhelm, we lose the joy of our life together, and Church becomes tedious and dull.  But if we consider Christ, who endured opposition on his race, we can endure our opposition and run on, fixing on Christ, running with perseverance, throwing off the bad habits that hold back and sins that cling, since we are surrounded by a faithful cloud of witnesses.  But if we consider Christ, we disciple on until the race is finished and God’s Kingdom comes.  Friends, let us consider Christ and let us run the race set before us with perseverance, never quitting, because we are surrounded by fellow believers by also every faithful witness.  Amen. 

Jeremiah 1:4-10
⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

⁵ ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

⁶ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.’

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’

If you have a phone, whether it be a smartphone, or a flip phone, or even a house phone, someone has called you.  In the days of yore, we had party lines where several households shared one phone line and you had to pick up and see if someone else was on it, and your neighbor always seemed to be on when you needed to call someone.  We had answering machine with those annoying cassette tapes to make sure we never missed a call and to begin screening our calls from annoying credit card salespeople.  In today’s world the caller might be a spam risk or even a robocall, but we all have been called and we have become quite selective in who we answer.

But just as people and organizations have called us, so too has God called.  Just as a salesperson reaches out to us to talk about our car’s extended warranty, so too does God reach out to us.  In our text, God calls Jeremiah by reaching out to him, now the word of the Lord came to me saying.  Your friend takes the initiative to call and invite you over for tea, your family reaches out to invite you to a Sunday evening fried chicken dinner, your boss calls you to ask you to work overtime.  God always is the one to take the initiative to reach out, to move towards, and to begin the dialogue, the discussion, and the relationship.  God always calls us, like God called Jeremiah.

But the purpose of God calling is not to invite your over for tea, nor to gossip about the latest Marvel movie, but to summon us to the purpose and plan that God has prepared for us, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’  Before we were created, God had a purpose for us and for Jeremiah it was to be a prophet to the nations.  For us we have been summoned to be disciples of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and all this before we were created.  Before we were formed and before we took our first breath, God knew us and knew what he appointed and now summoned us to do for God’s sake.  God always appoints us, like God appointed Jeremiah.

But just as you can ignore your phone calls, or screen out your spam calls, or even swipe your calls when you do not want to talk to someone, so too can you do with God.  Jeremiah did so, when called he says, God I can’t, then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’  Which of us when summoned to our callings has not answered with I can’t, if we even answer at all?  No sooner than God calls us, and we reply with excuses and avoidances.  I can’t be a minister I can’t speak.  I can’t be an elder I have no time.  I can’t be a deacon I don’t like people.  I can’t be a teacher I hate kids.  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.  We quite often answer God’s call with refusal and disobedience, like Jeremiah refused God.

But even though we can refuse God, God never ceases to call, and God never accepts our excuses, But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’  Every excuse offered by us to God, is met with a correction from God to destroy that excuse.  I am only a boy how can I go; you can go because I am going with you.  I do not know how to speak; you can go and speak because I will tell you what to say.  I am afraid, how can I go; You can go because I am with you to deliver you.  Every “I can’t” offered to God, is met with God’s reply of “why can’t you?” 

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God doesn’t just call us to impossible and unfulfillable tasks, but God also equips us with everything needed to do so, then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’  God not only summons us, but does and gives something to us, to empower us to success for God’s sake.  God empowered Jeremiah.  The challenge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the power of God to obey as commanded.  Jeremiah still had to go. 

My friends, we all have a calling, and that calling is unique as you are.  That calling is to a specific task appointed by God, before your creation, to you and to you alone.  But while God may have called you, God also has equipped you with all the gifts necessary to fulfill it.  But we must answer that call from God with the total devotion of our embodied souls.  We must answer that call with the obedience of Jesus’ Christ as His disciples.  Never ignoring God’s call, never screening God’s call, never swiping God’s call, and never giving excuses why you can’t, but always answering that call, with all that you have and all that you are, to the Glory of God.  Amen. 

Matthew 8:5-13
⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”  ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

As a boy of 16, my worst fear when learning to drive was merging onto the expressway.  I had a terrible fear that I would be driving onto the on-ramp and when I would go to merge over into the right lane of the interstate, a tractor-trailer would be in the place on the road I wanted to get to.  Obviously the two of us could not occupy the same spot on the road and if we did, my little car was going to lose that fight.  What my driving instructors taught me was that if that ever happened, I just needed to wait until the truck passed me and then I could merge in behind.  I just needed to yield to the bigger truck.

We need to yield to the bigger Lord.  When God and we come together, both of us can’t be in the same spot.  Both God and us when we are merged together, cannot be the same thing.  With God united with us through the Son and in the Spirit, we both cannot be in the same driving lane.  Both of us cannot be Lord, one needs to be Lord and one needs to be follower.  We need to yield to the bigger truck, we need to yield to God who is already Lord.

In the gospel of Luke, we have a centurion of great authority, great wealth and great respect yielding to a person of greater authority, Jesus of Nazareth.  The centurion built the Jewish people of his town a synagogue.  The centurion was so well respected by the Jewish elders that they testify to Jesus of how worthy he is. Obviously this centurion is a man with just about everything we Americans desire, power, money and respect.  But with all the authority this centurion possessed, he still lacked an authority over the power of sickness, that his most treasured servant lay dying. 

But his ears pick up the town gossip that a man whose name was Jesus had this greater authority, even an authority to speak and people are cured.  So this centurion who commands Roman soldiers, who can afford to build a synagogue, this centurion yields to the bigger truck. This lord over people, yields to the bigger Lord over all things.  The centurion says to Jesus, Only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,” and he comes and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.  A centurion with authority over others yields to the one with God’s own authority set over him, Jesus the Christ and Lord.

How slow we are to recognize what the centurion recognized?  How slow we are to see what the centurion saw.  This is what John the Baptist foretold, God has come down to his people as the man Jesus of Nazareth.  If this Jesus is God with us, then how slow we self-proclaimed lords over others, yield to the one with the ultimate Lordship over us, the very Son of God!

But thanks be to God that Jesus is not only Lord over us, but also that Jesus is Brother inside us.  Not only does Jesus possess power over evil and death, but Jesus also possesses humility which yields to his Heavenly Father.  Not only does Jesus have authority over everything making him the Lord.  But Jesus also has compassion to help us yield to God, making him the Brother.  Who better I ask you to help us yield to almighty God, than the Son who yielded his entire life to the will of what his Father asked of him?

So, if Jesus is Lord and Brother to all who will have him as such, then let us so filled and held by the Son’s tender embrace, learn to be sons and daughters of the Father, yielding to God’s will.  I can think of no bigger truck we merge with, therefore let us yield to God and just simply fall in behind.  After all, when we yield to God, we just might find that is where Jesus already is, yielding to God. 

In Christ,
Rev. Mark

Luke 19:11-27

¹¹ As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. ¹² So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. ¹³ He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” ¹⁴ But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.” ¹⁵ When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” ¹⁷ He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.” ¹⁸ Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” ¹⁹ He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.” ²⁰ Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, ²¹ for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” ²² He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.” ²⁴ He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.” ²⁵ (And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) ²⁶ “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.”’

In my high school economics class, we learned about the stock market and investing resources.  Our teacher gave us an assignment over the course of several weeks to teach us the basic lessons of playing the stock market.  We were given a fictional ten thousand dollars to invest in any stocks of our choosing and several weeks later we were to see how much we gained or lost over that period.  We learned about how volatile the stocks were and we learned the most important lesson, investing in the market is not for the cautious but for the risk-taker.

Just as our teacher gave us resources to invest in a fictional stock market, so too does Jesus give us resources for us to invest in.  The slaves in the parable from Luke are Jesus’ disciples and the Kings’ going away is Jesus’ departure to heaven.  The King gives his slaves ten pounds or about 3 months’ worth of wages; Jesus gives his Word and Spirit to his disciples to use in the interim period from when he leaves or ascends until he returns at his second coming.  We have been given the Divine resources from Jesus to use and invest for Jesus’ mission until Jesus’ return.  What has Jesus given to you?

In the parable, the King returns to judge or hold the slaves accountable for what they did and did not do.  The two slaves were faithful with their pounds and have returned interest along with the principal.  What do we have to return to Christ as “interest” along with the principal?  We have Jesus’ Word; will we have brought that Word to people and people to that Word?  We have Jesus’ Spirit; will we have brought that Spirit to people and people to that Spirit?  Will we have been responsible investors and brought more than we were given back to Jesus?  Or will we be like the one slave who was afraid to lose the pounds and failed to do anything good with it?  The one slave was cautious and fearful, more afraid of falling short and losing the pounds, than having the risk or nerve to invest even in a basic savings account and earning basic interest.  Fear so overrides the slave that he was even unwilling to take a minimum risk to earn even a minimum reward.  When the King judges him, he has the original principal but nothing to add to it; and he is judged as faithless.

No greater barrier exists to responsibility than fear, because to be responsible implies a modest amount of nerve.  In the eyes of God, being afraid of loss and doing nothing is judged as being faithless compared with a bold and brave community suffering total loss from taking risks.  A community simply cannot gain anything for Christ if it is afraid of losing what it already has.  The Church simply turns inward upon itself, turning away from the source of its life and blessing, Christ her head.  Resources are used not to invest in the neighborhood but instead to pander to its members.  The congregation’s time, people and treasures are spent on personal agendas of staving off scarcity rather than investing in the Gospel and maybe or gaining everything.  Fear and anxiety rule instead of the Power and Love of God’s Messiah.

Perhaps no greater lesson is needed for Churches today, struggling with dwindling resources, than this.  To have a new result, a new growth, or a new life, one must have the nerve to invest everything you do have for the sake of Christ.  You cannot gain “interest” for Christ, if you are clinging in fear to the “principal.”  What today’s Churches might just need to re-claim is the Spirit of Adventure.  Whether it be the nerve to be different, or the courage to witness to the Kingdom of God, or the boldness to sacrifice everything, to gain everything for Christ; this is the Spirit Jesus left for us, not a Spirit of fear to fall back into anxiety, but the Spirit of Adoption which drives us ever forward to risk it all for the Christ and Christ’s Gospel.  But it requires us to let go of what we are desperately clinging to in fear of loss and to invest everything we have and are in order that God might gain the world.

My friends, true faith means nerve.  To truly be responsible stewards of what Jesus has left us means courage and risk-taking not worry and anxiety.  To truly be faithful disciples might just mean we are willing to risk everything, so that Christ might gain something.  But if we are clinging to our somethings for fear of losing what we do have, we will never have the possibility of having anything new: new growth, new success, new energy, and new most importantly new life.  Let us take the risk of investing everything, that Christ might gain everything; and Christ might just judge us good and faithful servants.  Amen. 

Isaiah 43:16-19

¹⁶This is what the Lord says—
     he who made a way through the sea,
     a path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
     the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
     extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
     do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
     and streams in the wasteland.

As I sit here and type these words, I will have been Minister of Word and Sacrament for both Trinity and East Side Presbyterian Churches for 30 days.  Time seems to have sped up as I cannot grasp that my first month has gone by.  But, over the course of this time, I have had to learn not only how to Pastor a second congregation, but I have had to adjust to balancing time between them.  But one thing that remains constant and steady over the entire “yoke” process is the Word from God that says, look, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  New work also means new energy, and God not only is doing this new thing, but giving us a new means and power to fulfill it; and we truly have only begun to see the plans God has for us.

But, with the new energy and joy that comes with a new focus or endeavor also comes new struggles.  Entering into unfamiliar territory means surprise difficulties that no one could foresee but still must be navigated.  Questions of policies and processes and procedures have to be worked out between congregations.  Times must be adjusted and people must adapt to every changing circumstances.  For the people of Israel while in exile about to experience God’s deliverance once again, they also faced the joy and difficulties of God’s new work.  But Isaiah reminds them not only of God’s faithfulness but also of God’s power. 

Not only was God doing a new thing, but God had planned and made a way forward, I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  God knew the barriers standing in their way.  God knew the difficulties they would have to face.  God knew what they needed to accomplish a second Exodus.  But God made a way through for them in exile, exactly as God made a way through Red Sea on the first Exodus.  Since God was faithful and mighty then, in God’s new thing now, God is still faithful and mighty.

So too with us, we are in the midst of God’s new thing, but we have a long history of God making ways through; through the Red Sea, through the exile, through the cross, through the dark ages, and the middle ages and the reformation ages, and the renaissance, and the industrial age, and the atomic age and information age.  God is still faithful and mighty to make a way through.  Even a way through this time of yoking together one church to another: faithful to love us abundantly and graciously, and powerful to create everything good out of nothing. 

Perhaps then the faithful response on our part is to press forward instead of looking to the past or going back, forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  We are not called to forsake or abandon our histories or those who came before us, that would be absurd and detrimental because those memories and history have formed who we are.  But we are called to be re-formed into the new people God has provided for us to be.  We are called to be formed by our past and to be re-formed by our present situations. 

My friends, no one faces more struggles and daily surprises than I, but I rest content not in my own abilities or strength.  But I rest solely on the foundation that this is God’s new thing and God will make a way.  This means that our Yoke has divine help.  Our Faithful God to love us through and our Mighty God to carry us through.  But if this is our help, then our challenging discipleship is to follow through the waters or the fires with faith and hope and not to quit because we seek the familiarity and security of the past.  Let us press forward through the next 30 days and through all the time God has commanded us to yoke together because God is Faithful and Mighty.  Amen. 

¹⁹ When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

A new neighbor of mine, after moving in, noticed that the neighborhood had many feral cats, who loved to torment his inside cat.  To keep them away from upsetting his indoor cat, he built a fence from the ground up to about seven feet.  The feral cats could not climb over it, nor dig under it, and his cat would not feel territorial and must fight off the “invaders.”

Just as my neighbor built a fence to keep the cats out, so too does the church.  As is written in the Gospel of John, when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.  The disciples locked the doors to keep the Jews out, in order that what happened to Jesus may not happen to them and so they hid.  In many times and in many places, the Church has been threatened by the community around them and in an effort of self-preservation, the church builds fences, the church locks its doors, and the church hides.

But, while the Church might be protecting itself by locking the doors to keep the world out, the flip side is that the Church also might be keeping Jesus out.  To keep outsiders out, might just mean Jesus is treated as an outsider.  To protect oneself from the world, might be to create a barrier between Jesus and the Church.  To create self-security, might be to sever oneself from the covenant with God in Jesus Christ.  To lock the doors and keep others out, might just mean Jesus is one of those others, and we unintentionally or intentionally keep Jesus out.

But no matter how hard the disciples tried to keep the Jews out, Jesus comes right on in, Jesus came and stood among them.  No locked door could keep the Risen Jesus out.  No barrier could separate the Risen Jesus from his people.  No fearful will could push the Risen Jesus from his mission.  The risen Jesus goes through them, around them, over them, and comes and stands among his people.  Even when we push away, or build fences or walls, or lock ourselves away, we cannot create any obstacle or barrier to keep the Risen Jesus out.  He comes right in and meets us in our time and space.

But he doesn’t just come to be with us, he comes to give us gifts of Grace.  “Peace be with you.  Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Blessings not condemnations are what Jesus brings.  Peace, which is not the absence of conflict, but well-being is the gift Jesus brings.  Peace to overwhelm our fears.  Well-being which calms the anxious storms over our heads.  Wholeness which grants courage to face life in freedom and responsibility.  These are what Jesus gives while breaking through our defenses and locked doors.  Jesus comes to us, through our walls and self-defense mechanisms to bestow the abundance of the Kingdom.

But the challenge lies in that after breaking through the locked doors and after bestowing the Holy Spirit and Peace, Jesus sends them out.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  Equipped with the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ Peace, the disciples become apostles, sent with a mission and a purpose.  No longer cowering the upper room, the apostles are en-boldened to not only leave, but to courageously fulfill their mission.  Jesus not only breaks through to us, not only give us Peace and Holy Spirit, but Jesus also sends us with a purpose and mission.  To go out and speak in faithful witness.  The ones who hid became the ones who went.  Will we?

My friends, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus finds us, even through our resistances and our security measures to bestow Peace and Spirit for our fears and worries.  But the challenge of discipleship is to no longer hide in our upper rooms, but to hit the mission path in faithful service.  This is our calling as Resurrection people.  Jesus is risen, in order to raise us.  Let us no longer try to keep the world out in fear, let us go out into the world to proclaim the Gospel of the Risen Jesus.  Amen. 

¹⁸ Do not remember the former things,
    or consider the things of old.
¹⁹ I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.
²⁰ The wild animals will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
²¹ the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

In the strongest Man or Woman competition, one of the trials that all the competitors must complete is to pull a semi-truck from a complete stop to a finish line a distance away.  The competitors must use brute strength to overcome the inertia of the truck and pull it the desired distance.  Inertia is the property of matter which wants to keep it either at rest or in motion.  It must be overcome by the athlete to change the rest into motion.  Inertia is the tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.

Just as objects are affected by inertia, the tendence to stay at rest or to stay in motion, so too is the church of Jesus Christ.  We tend to stay in places of comfort and resist change or transformation to another place.  Moving a semi that is at rest takes a large amount of strength, trying to move a body of people that is at rest also takes a large amount of strength.  The body of people want to stay as they are, with a status quo, and a comfort level that gives both security and surety on the path of discipleship.

But what the past few years and past few weeks has done is to overcome the inertia of congregations.  Whether the agent be the pandemic, or inflation, or political turmoil, or invasion of the Ukraine, these agents have overcome the inertia of our congregations and have forced us to move or change.  We cannot rest where we were in 2019, we had to relearn church in a global pandemic; and our life together in worship and work has changed.  We cannot rest where we were, we had to relearn church amid rising costs; and we have yoked together with East Side.  We cannot rest where we were amid political turmoil, we are being called by God to work in our communities; and so we have built new connections with the people around us.  We have not been allowed to rest in the ways things were, or a status quo of our own design, we have been disputed in our comfort zones.  God has overcome the inertia and forced us to adapt and to relearn.  God has led us to change.

But while the forced change has been challenging, the overcoming of inertia should not be surprising.  After all even in Isaiah’s time the people of God in Israel were told that I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  In exile, God was still doing new things, the new thing was a return from exile.  But even in exile, the people had inertia.  While Babylon was not Canaan, the people still had a routine and a status quo of doing things.  They might have been under the boot of an oppressor, but the way of life together was a status quo.  The people had inertia and God was doing a new thing to get his people moving and changing.  The question was could the people recognize the new thing God was doing?

Can we recognize the new thing(s) that God is doing in our communal life together and embrace the new path forward or are we mired in inertia, resisting the change from God and clinging to old ways that are both comforting and provide security from the chaos?  I think it is important for us all to realize that we all have a certain amount of flexibility and adaptability.  For some we can tolerate a large amount of change and perhaps treat it as a grand adventure.  But for some, change is best kept in small amounts.  But each of us can handle only a certain amount of anxiety before the defense mechanisms kick in, anger and resentment, fear and worry, panic and desperation.  Are we as a congregation at this point where we have been forced to deal with so much, in so small a time frame, that we are unable to see the new thing(s) that God is doing because we are overwhelmed?

But while the Gospel might challenge us as disciples to embrace and follow the new thing(s) that God is doing, the good news of the Gospel is that we given the means to do so.  Not only is God doing a new thing, but God is also giving drink to my chosen people.  When we lose the comforts of familiar situations, we are reminded of the true comfort that only God can give.  When we are pulled forward out from behind our literal and emotional defenses, we are reminded that Christ is our true defense against the world.  When we are forcibly removed from our sanctuaries, we are hidden in Christ, our only true and stout strong tower over us.  When we are challenged to grow and to become better disciples, we are reminded that we have been buried and resurrected with Christ, of what else could we ever need more to overcome our inertia?

My friends, I have no doubts that we are in a challenging time and place, being called to change weekly in ways we could not imagine or desire years ago.  But the Prophet reminds us, that God maybe the one doing a new thing, but can we see it?  But the good news of the Gospel is that even though God might be pulling us forward as pulling a semi, God is for us and not against us.  We have Christ to keep us and protect us along the way.  Let us therefore in our difficult and everchanging circumstances seek refuge and comfort only in our covenant with God in Jesus Christ. 

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

⁷ But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. ¹¹ For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

If you have every eaten at a restaurant, at some point you have had bad service.  Perhaps through circumstances out of their control, the server was poor in attention to your needs, but also just because of ineptitude, the server was quite inadequate in service to you as the customer.  They never took your order, the food was cold, the food was wrong, you never received silverware, etc.  We all have had a bad experience with poor service.

But we have also had poor service when it comes to church leaders.  Whether the Minister, or the church board, or your deacon, or even just another person sitting in the pew, we all have a bad experience with someone in church.  Perhaps the Minister was impatient with us when we asked for some information or advice.  Perhaps the Pastor was not even available to talk, or even willing to return a phone call or email.  Perhaps the Teaching Elder was unhelpful when he or she offered advice.  Whether the poor experience was having no answers, no solutions, no growth, or transformation, or having plenty of criticisms, judgments and complaining.  We all have had a bad experience with poor church leaders.

The results from this poor service are the same in the restaurant world; we stop coming back.  In our being offended, we disconnect from the congregation and from the leadership.  We transfer our membership elsewhere, we resign our commission, and/or we stop attending church believing the whole endeavor to be hypocritical nonsense.  But this is not the first time and place for a congregation or people to be offended or in conflict with church leadership.  The Corinthians had a problem with Paul and Paul had a problem with the Corinthians.  Many in the Corinthian congregation thought Paul had issues and they had bad experiences under his leadership and were really interested in replacing him with one more to their liking.  Thus, we have the Second Letter to the Corinthians.  Paul trying to reconcile with the Corinthians and some of the Corinthians being offended by Paul.

Paul has many points, but one of the most important for our situations where we also have poor leadership, is that we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.  Every church leader, the good and bad, are the clay jars and the Gospel of God is the treasure.  Clay jars are fragile and breakable, so too are church leaders.  None are the treasure; they only are the vessels for the treasure.  None are the message, but only the messengers.  Paul’s point is that no church leader is Jesus Christ, the church leader’s calling is to point to Jesus Christ.  Perhaps then our expectations are too high for the church leaders, when we simply expect them to be Jesus Christ instead of merely a human disciple and witness of Jesus Christ.  This doesn’t mean that Church Leaders can’t and shouldn’t be better, it means they are not yet perfect.  Treasure in clay jars, not the treasure themselves.

I make no attempt to justify the poor decisions and poor attempts at leadership of church leaders and of myself.  But our calling is not to be the treasure, the church already has that in Jesus Christ.  Our calling is to be faithful clay jars amid our situations, as best we can, with what we have, with our strengths and our weaknesses.  That means we are going to break, and we are going to fail.  We will lose our self-control, we will not have the answers, and we will have moments of being Pharisees instead of being apostles.  But what else can we really be, but the clay jars we are in this moment and in this place with our weaknesses, with our issues, and with our limitations? We are the clay jars.

Perhaps then the real point Paul is trying to make is that our faith should be in the treasure and not the clay vessels.  Christ Jesus and He alone should be the object of the Church’s faith and Christ alone.  Will he ever be impatient even when the Minister is brash?  Will he ever be unwise and unknowledgeable even when the Pastor is clueless?  Will he ever be Pharisaical even when the Teaching Elder judges guilty?  If this is who He is and what He does, then the object of our faith can only be Christ and no other, including Christ’s ministers and leaders.  Christ is the treasure.

Does this mean then that we don’t need church or any leaders of any churches?  It means no such thing.  It means that our covenantal lives together are under the Lordship and Grace of Jesus Christ.  But because we are under Christ, we are also under the ones appointed by Christ to bear responsibilities for others.  But their responsibility is never to be Christ, but to serve under Christ.  We will always be clay jars, but we always graciously bear the treasure also.  We can trust church leaders but only because we trust in Christ.  And if we have no faith in church leaders, we might also not have faith in Christ who appointed them in the first place.

My friends, I have no doubt that you have had a bad experience with some church leader, and it might even be me.  I have no wish to justify our poor decisions, and our poor leadership.  I only wish to remind you that we all are also clay jars, just like you.  This means our calling was never to be your Jesus, our calling was to be a human witness to the already perfect Jesus.  You can put your trust in him, and we can live our lives together under his rule.  But you can trust Jesus’ ministers not because they are perfect, but because we have this treasure in clay jars.  Even when we stink at our callings, and we do and we will, the object of our faith and our Master is really Christ and never the Church leader.  But we can follow our church leaders because Christ is the treasure within His leaders, cracks and all.  Amen.