Author: Mark Mong

Isaiah 2:2-4

² In days to come
            the mountain of the Lord’s house
  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
            and shall be raised above the hills;
  all the nations shall stream to it.
³      Many peoples shall come and say,
  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
             to the house of the God of Jacob;
  that he may teach us his ways
            and that we may walk in his paths.”
  For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
            and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
            and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
  they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
            and their spears into pruning hooks;
  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
            neither shall they learn war any more.

My Parents once lived in a flood plain.  Unbeknownst to them when they purchased the house, but the new housing development in which they purchased the second house was next to a creek and the creek liked to overflow.  But, the developer, built the house on a hill, higher than the water level when the creek floods.  So, when the creek overflows, the water goes over the road and into the fields but yet the house stood dry because it was built on a high hill and the water would not come up to it.

So too, is it with the house of Yahweh.  The prophet Isaiah says, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills.  Just as my parent’s house stood on the crest of a hill above the flood plains so too has the “house of Yahweh” been established on the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills.  Isaiah was looking and thinking of a time to come when the temple of Solomon was considered to not be the highest in physical elevation, but the highest in spiritual elevation.  The passage takes on new meaning, when the house of Yahweh is transfigured from the Temple of Solomon made of cedar and brick into the Temple of Jesus made of flesh and bones.  A temple is the building or container in which the divine spirit rests.  Jesus is in fact the new temple of the Holy Spirit, and due to his exaltation, He has been established as the “highest of the mountains and raised above the hill.” 

The point Isaiah is longing for is the time when all the nations shall stream to it.  Many peoples shall come and say, Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.  Not just a Jewish thing, excluding all others deemed unholy or unclean, but a time when the house and mountain of God receives true glory, when all peoples desire to approach God through the temple.  Once again, he is probably thinking of a time when everybody worships in the temple of Solomon, but however takes on new context in Jesus Christ.  Instead of tied to a physical location require a physical pilgrimage on the behalf of the human, the temple of Christ now makes a spiritual pilgrimage to be where the man or woman is.  The pilgrimage longed for by Isaiah is no longer people making pilgrimage to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem but the people making pilgrimage to the Temple of Jesus Christ inside them.

But what would be the point of such a journey, either to Solomon’s temple or Jesus’ temple?  That he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  The point of coming to Jesus’ temple is to be taught his ways or perhaps way of life, and that we may walk in his paths or perhaps his attitudes and behaviors.  The way of life, the way of righteousness, these are the reasons for being instructed from the Word of God which comes from the House of God. 

But what would be the point of such instruction?  He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples.  They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.  The point of the instruction is for God to instruct and teach his people peace.  Through the Word of God going forth and the instruction from God leaving the temple, God teaches people peace and wellbeing instead of conflict and warfare.

After only a cursory glance at our world, one can easily see the need for our world to continue our studies in peace and wellbeing.  How many bombs and bullets are spent each day to maim and obliterate lives and livelihoods?  How many words and accusations are spewed each hour to divide and attack both allies and enemies?  How many blows, either physical or emotional are thrown at our friends and family, to control and hurt?  Nations against nations, peoples against peoples, neighbors against neighbors, destruction, and ruin, instead of wholeness and well-being.  Swords and spears instead of plows and pruning hooks.

But, if God’s house is the highest, if the nations stream to Jesus Christ, if instruction goes forth from Zion, if Jesus shall judge between parties, then… they will beat their swords into plowshares.  The very tools of death and destruction become the tools of life and creation.  Nation shall not life up sword against nation.  Instead of lifting instruments of violence and ruin, those instruments will be lifted against each other for love and compassion; because of Christ.  This means that now is the time for the swords and spears to be transfigured from tools of destruction to tools of creation.  Now is the time for war and conflict to become unity and edification.  Now is the time to build up instead of blowing up each other.  Now is the reign of Peace and Well-being of Christ and the doom of war and destruction!

Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³ they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸ Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

When I was in middle school, I was on the soccer team.  One of the drills that I did at home to hone my reflexes was to kick the soccer ball at the side of our woodpile.  The edges of the woodpile were not smooth due to the unevenness of the wood logs, and this resulted in the randomness of the ball’s return.  I would kick the ball into the side of the woodpile and the ball would bounce off and return to me in a random direction.  Sometimes it would bounce back to the left or to the right, sometimes straight up and sometimes over my head.  But I knew that every time I kicked the ball into the pile it would always come back to me. 

Thanksgiving is exactly like my soccer ball.  God has given us many gifts and now is the time for us to give back to God.  The ball is kicked, and it returns to the kicker, God has given many gifts to us, now is the time for us to give back something to God.  In our story of the ten lepers, Christ has given the grace of healing to ten individuals burdened by an incurable skin disease.  But only one, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  The one leper recognized the gift of healing and returned to give back something to Christ.  He came back to give back thanks and praise.  God, through Christ, gives to us, we return to God, through Christ to give something back: thanks, and praise.  Giving back thanks becomes Thanksgiving to and for God.

For some of us, this day finds us like the leper having been given gifts of healing from our illnesses and injuries.  But for many of us, this day finds us unhealed, coping with many infirmities and difficult circumstances.  Certainly, many are struggling with COVID-19, many are wrestling with financial insecurities of being in quarantine, many are combating loneliness and separation from our families in our self-made bubbles (and we should be).  But we most certainly look at our situations and see the overwhelming problems.  Instead of giving back thanks and praise to God, we see our difficulties and give back to God angst and anguish.  Instead of giving back gratitude and words of blessing to God, we gripe and complain about our sufferings in life.  We do not thank and bless God for what God has given us, we criticize God for we do not have.

I do not have much love, if any, for the old gospel songs, but the message of one of them is so dreadfully important.  The song is “Count Your Blessings,” and if we can get around the style of the music for just a moment, the message strikes home with us.  For all the things that we can see and experience of pain, struggle, and sorrow, we can also see and count the blessings given to us by God.  Instead of naming and counting our troubles we can instead name and count our blessings.  If we can criticize God about what God has not done, we can certainly thank and bless God for what he has done.

Let me suggest three blessings that we all enjoy to this day, regardless of our circumstances, or the circumstances of our world around us:

1. The Breath of Life – We are all dust and to dust we shall return, but we also are animated by the very breath of God.  God in His loving, freedom chose to form us from the ground and to animate us with his own Breath from his own mouth, giving us life in creation.
2. The Son of God – We have been given the life and death and resurrection of God’s only beloved Son.  In order that our sins may be forgiven, and we might inherit new and everlasting life.  God in His loving, freedom chose to redeem us from sin and death at the great personal cost of giving over his Son.
3. The Kingdom to Come – We have been given the new creation, under the Lordship of Christ.  Justice instead of oppression.  Life swallowing death.  Health overcoming infirmity.  Communion defeating isolation.  Joy destroying sadness.  Peace obliterating conflict.  God in His loving freedom chose to give us a blessed eternity in his new creation.

In whatever our circumstances are, whether fair or foul, we have at least these three things and perhaps even a hundred more that we could name and count.  But the point is that no matter what we are dealing with, or struggling with, or trying to carry, or being consumed by, on this Thanksgiving day we have reasons to give back to God words and deeds of gratitude and blessing.  We will give back to God something this Thanksgiving, it will either be gratitude and blessing, or it will be criticism and ingratitude.  What will you give back?  Complaining about the pandemic or appreciation for the breath of life?  Whining about politics or admiration for the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus?  Moaning about what we do not have or the expectant hope for the Kingdom to come?  You absolutely will give something back to God this Thanksgiving season, but you have a choice of what that will be, nastiness and vitriol or gratefulness and glory.  May God be given the Glory, the Honor, and the Praises of his people for all that God has given to us.  Amen and Hallelujah! 

Psalm 146

Praise for God’s Help

¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
² I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in mortals, in whom there is no help.
⁴ When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
    on that very day their plans perish.

⁵ Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
⁷     who executes justice for the oppressed;
    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸     the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
    he upholds the orphan and the widow,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!

One of the prizes collected during beggar’s night is the occasional temporary tattoo.  A piece of plastic that one can apply to any spot of skin with a wet rag and thirty seconds.  The tattoo always made us feel like adults sporting our image of a cat or Spiderman and our hearts burst with pride showing our friends our tattoo and our hearts burst with grief as they rubbed off in a few days.  But while we enjoyed the albeit too brief presence of our tattoos, we were always reminded of their temporariness.

While many things are temporary in our worlds, like carnival tattoos, Yahweh, our LORD and God, is neither temporary nor brief but eternal and permanent.  The Psalmist sings:
      Praise the LORD, O my soul!
               I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
            I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
“As long as I live,” “all my life long,” these descriptions are to remind us that Yahweh is not temporary or brief in time, a temporary tattoo that wears off in two weeks, but eternal and permanent.  If Yahweh is perpetual, then Yahweh needs to be praised every day “as long as I live,” and “all my life long.”  Not just for a brief span of time: days, weeks, months: but the entire span of our lives.  Just as Yahweh is eternal, so too does our worship of Yahweh need to be.

But if Yahweh is eternal, then why do we look to others to be our Yahweh?  Certainly, many in our country look to politicians, scientists, and others in power to do and provide what only Yahweh can truly do?  To the point, many are looking to President-elect Biden to “save” our country, provide “security”, re-establish “dignity.”  I wish neither to denigrate or insult Mr. Biden.  He is worthy of the respect and honor due his position, as President Trump is due the respect and honor of the office of President.  But that position is not Yahweh’s place.  The Psalmist sings:
      Do not put your trust in princes,
          in mortals, in whom there is no help.
      When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
          on that very day their plans perish.
The Psalmist reminds us that ultimately the only source of our trust is Yahweh, because princes are mortal and Yahweh is eternal.  Men and women are temporary, and Yahweh is forever; and that means that human plans fail and die because we fail and die, but Yahweh lives forever because Yahweh is forever in Power and Glory.

For those who place their trust in Yahweh instead of humanity, they are then blessed and happy because Yahweh’s work as LORD and God far surpasses all others.  The Psalmist sings:
      Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
            whose hope is in the LORD their God,
      who made heaven and earth,
            the sea, and all that is in them;
            who keeps faith forever;
       who executes justice for the oppressed;
            who gives food to the hungry.
What human creation can compare to the one who created heaven and earth out of nothing?  What human creation can be equal to the one who created the sea and the entirety of the oceans and lakes?  What human and therefore temporary faithfulness can compare to the faithfulness of Yahweh, which is eternal?  What human justice for the oppressed can equate with the justice of Yahweh?  What human providence of daily sustenance can liken to the Providence of Yahweh?  All these things are temporary constructs of a finite and provisional creature, how are they even remotely like the creations of the eternal and almighty Creator, Yahweh?  Blessed are they who trust in Yahweh and not people!

Why do we then try to “set the prisoners free” without Yahweh?  Why do we try to “give sight to the blind” without Yahweh?  Why do we “lift up those that are bent over” without Yahweh?  Why do we try to “love the righteous” without Yahweh?  Why do we watch “over the alien” without Yahweh?  Why do we “sustain the fatherless and the widow” without Yahweh?  Why do we most certainly “frustrate the ways of the wicked” without Yahweh?  Because we don’t want to Trust and Obey Yahweh, we want to be Yahweh!  So, we trust and obey people, who are temporary, instead of trusting and obeying in Yahweh, who is eternal.  The results are always less than what Yahweh can do: freedom, sight, strength, love, inclusion, sustenance, justice, ruin, according to us instead of according to Yahweh.  Because we are temporary and they thus fail and perish, and Yahweh is eternal and therefore succeeds and lives forever.

But for those in the Covenant with Yahweh, they are content with just being creatures who place their trust and praise in Yahweh alone and not in people.  Please make no mistake, I am not a rebel or a slanderer, interested in bashing any politician or political party in power.  They are due the honor and respect of being in their position regardless of whether I voted for them or not.  My point is entirely different.  They are not due what we give to Yahweh and Yahweh alone. 
      The LORD will reign forever,
            your God, O Zion, for all generations.
      Praise the LORD!
Let our praise and trust be in Yahweh alone, for Yahweh is LORD and God forever and for all generations.  Yahweh for ever; even while its Biden or Trump for now!

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I used to work in a drug research lab as a Laboratory Animal Technician.  My responsibility was the health and well-being of our animals.  This means that one of the many tasks I had to do was the changing of the animals’ bedding.  Whether this meant the changing of papers or a corncob bedding, I had to change them regularly for the animals in my care to remain healthy.  But I absolutely hated this part of my job because as you can imagine, it was smelly and dirty.  I never enjoyed doing it, but I had to do it, even times against my will, because of the pressure laid upon me to take care of the animals.  They needed it, but I did not want to do it.

Just as I was compelled to change the animals’ bedding every few days, so too is it with the Church.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Simon of Cyrene was compelled by the Roman guards in Jerusalem to carry the cross of Jesus from the guard barracks to Golgotha.  After having been scourged, Jesus lacked the strength to carry the cross, and one certainly was not going to expect the Roman guards to carry it, so the guards forced another to carry the cross, and they compelled or conscripted Simon to do the task.  Simon did not want to, but he was forced and pressured into doing so.

In today’s world, we see on the news, or on our phones, force being used by many groups in our world.  In the political sphere, politicians use political force on each other and on American citizens to force or compel a desired result.  In the sphere of life, armies and police use physical force on each other and on citizens to keep the peace and to enforce laws and policies.  In the education sphere, teachers and educators use force upon students to study ideas and courses, taking tests, reading books, and learning concepts.  In the sphere of families, parents use force to have children eat their vegetables, clean their rooms, and brush their teeth.  Even in the sphere of Church, ministers and congregations use force upon their members and upon the world around them to maintain control and produce results. 

But as we see in the story of Simon of Cyrene, force is used by the guards upon Simon.  Simon does not use force upon the guards.  Simon did not want to carry the cross but was made to and I am sure he did not enjoy it, nor was motivated to do it again.  He probably was even relieved after it was over.  What ultimately is the result when forced to do something?  Force does not create commitment or responsibility.  Force creates bitterness and resistance.  Being forced to do something does not encourage someone to repeat something, but instead creates a resentment at having to do it and a stubbornness to having to do it again. 

What Christ was calling his disciples to do was not being forced to do something or forcing themselves upon others, that was the behavior of the Roman guards. What Jesus was nurturing was the freedom to make the right choice.  Jesus was not forcing faith from the people, that was the role of the power people.  Jesus was empowering the people to make the right and responsible choice for themselves.  Jesus did not come to compel people; Jesus came to give freedom to people. 

This means that Jesus was going to have to exercise patience.  He was going to have to give time and space for people to make the right choice in their lives.  Time for people to make the responsible choice and space for them to choose for themselves.  But for him to be patient means having to suffer every poor choice and its consequences.  To be patient and give people the freedom to make the right choice, means Jesus must carry his cross until they get it right. 

The Church needs to remember this especially important lesson of Christ.  We are called to be a people that gives and empowers freedom instead of forcing our ideas upon others and getting results for Christ.  Freedom creates time and space for responsibility and choice.  Force removes time and space, taking away choice and responsibility and replaces them with bitterness and resentment.  We cannot force someone to make the right choice, do the right thing, or choose Christ, we only create a stubborn or stiff-necked people when we act like the Roman guards.  Rather we need to give all people the freedom to make their own choices, even the wrong ones, and that means becoming a patient people.  We cannot force anyone to do anything even in the name of Justice and Love; and if we do, we have become the guards of America instead of disciples of Christ.  Which I wonder will you be?  Force or freedom?  Are you prepared to suffer the poor choices of others to nurture faith or will you force the choice of others to nurture your control?  I pray you choose wisely!

In Christ,

Rev. Mark

YouTube Worship Service

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of us have over the years seen at least one of the movie series Back-To-The-Future.  Marty and Doc speed through time from the 80’s to the 50’s to 2019 and even back to the 1850’s.  We see reminders of the golden age of rock-n-roll, flying cars in the future, and the frontiers of the Wild West.  Over the course of the three movies, the characters make better choices in the past which have a way of making the future better.  Marty’s Dad stands up to Biff resulting in a better childhood for Marty and his siblings.  Marty learns to not freak out when called a chicken.  Doc Brown finds love and a family in the Old West.  Who would not want to go back in time and change decisions to make our lives better?

But, wanting to go back is not always the healthiest choice.  In the story of Lot, fleeing the destruction of his home, Lot’s wife looks back at the city as it is being destroyed presumably lamenting the loss of everything they had.  No longer having the prosperity and luxuries of living in the ancient world’s Sin City and being stuck in the wilderness with nothing; the feelings of loss and grief overcome her, and she looks back with a longing to go back in time.  But in the act of looking back, she turns into a pillar of salt.  Turns out that wanting to go back to a town being destroyed for its sinfulness, ends up bringing destruction upon herself.  Wanting to go back to a more prosperous and “better” time forfeits the “best” time God is creating.  Going back results in never moving forward.

No doubt many in our congregation have reflected upon and desired that we could go back to the way things were before the quarantine.  We have ample time on our hands to reflect and consider how things differ now compared to before.  No doubt we are overwhelmed with many feelings and thoughts, perhaps even to the point of being unable to discern what day it is, what time it, how many days in quarantine we have been, but one thing we almost all have done is to desire our present to become more like things were before the self-isolation.  We could do so much more than we can now: trips, visits, shopping, eating out, and much more.  Like Lot’s wife we spend our time now looking back toward before and desiring that things now were more like then. 

Bur regrettably that turning back and looking and desiring that things were the way they were are likely to turn us to salt.  While we were able to get our hair cut, or shop for leisure instead of need, or have a dinner anywhere but the kitchen or dining room, were things better “then” than “now.”  Think and reflect of how things were in our church.  We were capable of being an anonymous member.  We could come to church, we didn’t really need to interact with anyone, we could be entertained for a brief moment, we could skip coffee hour, we could ignore the pleas of the committee for volunteers, we could fulfill our duty for the week.  We always had an attitude of scarcity instead of abundance.  I heard endlessly about “how we are asking for more money again.”  We had injustices, poverties, broken relationships, no kids in Sunday School, someone else cleaning the church, and everyone going to Florida.  Was it better than now?  To turn back and look at how it was, I feel like I am turning to salt.

But what if now is a possibility given from the Grace of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to move forward; because I am not sure we really want to go back to the ways we were before.  Imagine, for a moment, if instead of anonymous members hiding in the Sanctuary and hoping no one asks me to get involved, we were willing to invest in each other.  Imagine if we were bound to each other in commitment, just as God has bound us to God.  Imagine if we were to emotionally and financially and physically invest in each other.  Not hoping to leave before someone spots us or hoping that we never get asked to serve as a Church officer, even never joining the Church so we can never be asked to do anything.  What if we sacrificed for each other, building relationships of mutuality instead of selfishly considering only our wants?  What if we participated in each other’s lives like the Father and Son participate in each other by the Love of the Holy Spirit?

Well my friends, we would not be an institution, we would be a group of people.  We would not be a non-profit organization in the eyes of the State, we would be the body of Christ.  But we cannot go back to the way we before the quarantine because we were not yet the body of Christ.  We cannot go back to the way we before the quarantine because the Kingdom of God lies ahead of us.  We cannot go back to the way we before the quarantine because we are not the same people than before.  We cannot go back to the way we before the quarantine because, maybe just maybe, it really was not all that great.  But most importantly, we cannot go back to the way we were before the quarantine, because God is making now better than we were before.  We cannot go back to the way we before the quarantine because we need to disciple God forward. 

So when we can meet together, and at some point we will be able to, will we have the commitment, the self-sacrifice, the love to become the Church as a group of people called and created to assemble for God or will we have yet another excuse to remain an Anonymous Christian, which is really no Christian at all?

In Christ,

Rev. Mark

April 29, 2020

Colossians 1:15-23

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶ for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

²¹ And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— ²³ provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

To be a fan of any Cleveland sports team is a study in frustrations.  To be a fan of the Indians is to be a fan of the organization with the longest World Series drought.  To be a fan of the Browns is exhausting because we have quite a large amount of hype and then disappointment.  The Cavaliers have been the only team in recent memory with a championship title but now we are in the basement.  The point of this study in the Factory of Sadness is that many fans in Cleveland are fair-weather fans.  When the teams are successful, they pay attention and cheer and invest themselves heavily in them.  But when the teams stink, they quickly root and follow other teams that are always successful and competing for the championships.  Even if that means they root for the Steelers.  Boo!

But what happens when like fair-weather fans we shift from discipling Jesus Christ to something else?  What happens when we become fair-weather Christians?  Paul writes, provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard.  The Church in Colossae was on the verge of shifting their faithfulness and discipleship from Jesus Christ to another.  They were amid the struggles and temptations to leave Christ for another more palatable and perhaps less challenging philosophy.  To that end, Paul writes to remind them of who Christ is and how no other Mediator or Philosophy could replace him.

He begins by reminding his congregation that for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.  The first thing the Colossians had forgotten was that Christ is the Creator, through him and for him all things were created.  Not through any elemental powers or forces in heaven, they too were created by Christ.  What is at stake for Paul is not the how but the who.  Jesus is the Creator of the entire universe and the purpose for its creation.  Any other person or thing in heaven or earth any other power or principality was created by him and for him.  Therefore, why shift our hope from Him to something else?

But the point of reminding them that Jesus is the Creator of the universe is to remind them that He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Jesus is not just the one that existed before Creation, but the one that continues to hold and sustain all of Creation.  All things are held together by Christ.  Christ is the glue, the force, the power that keeps all of Creation together, despite the forces that seek to rip and tear it apart.  Therefore, why shift our hope from Him to something else?

But he continues, He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  Not only is he the Creator of the universe, but by nature of his resurrection, He is now the Re-Creator.  By virtue of His second birth all things are made new and given re-birth.  That means that He has first-place, He is the head over all things, He is Lord over all creation.  No other thing can be first or head or Lord.  Therefore, why shift our hope from Him to something else?

But if he has been resurrected to be the Lord over all things, then through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.  By virtue of his cross and resurrection, God has through Christ reconciled or exchanged hostility for peace.  Through Christ, God has exchanged the relationship between Father and Son in the power of the Holy Spirit with the relationship of rebellion and defiance from us wayward children.  Therefore, why shift our hope from Him to something else?

But, it continues, the whole point of reconciliation is so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him.  The entire purpose of Jesus is to bring us back to God, without sin, without stain, without blemish and to live before God forever, to enjoy and be blessed by God.  Therefore, why shift our hope from Him to something else?

My friends, Jesus is the one who has done all this: creates and sustains the universe, resurrected to be Lord in the first place over all things, reconciled all things to God through his death, in order that we might be presented to God without sin.  Why should we then shift our faith and hope from Christ unto something else?  Can any politician be Jesus?  Can any scientist or scientific breakthrough be Jesus?  Can any fortune or CEO be Jesus?  Can any actor or athlete be Jesus?  Can any sickness or injury thwart Jesus?  Can any power in hell or scheme of humanity overcome Jesus?  Then, let us continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.  Let our discipleship not waver from Jesus Christ and shift to any other person, philosophy or lifestyle.  Let us hold fast to Christ and place our hope upon him alone.  Let us not be fair-weather Christians, but steadfast in our faith.  Amen.

Prayer

O God of Grace and Glory, we thank you for the mighty work and deeds you have done for us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Help us to seek our hope in him alone without shifting to any other person or philosophy.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

John 15:12-17

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷ I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Growing up, my family never really went out to eat at expensive restaurants.  We always tended to eat at a place with a buffet line.  Everything laid out on tables and each customer allowed to take what one person loved to eat.  If you wanted meat, they had various options to choose from.  If wanted a salad, they had vegetables aplenty.  Dessert, they had it.  Bread, they had it.  But, while the variety and options were many, one still had to choose what it is you wanted to eat. 

Just as it is with a buffet line so too is it with Jesus Christ.  Except while you and I can choose the steak or the fish, Jesus is choosing people.  In our text from John, Jesus says, you did not choose me but I chose you.  Out of all the people in the ancient world of Palestine, Jesus chose these 12 disciples.  Handpicked by Jesus, selected not because of qualification but despite liabilities.  Jesus chose these 12 people to be his followers, to receive his words, and to be his.

But no sooner than we hear the revelation of God’s choosing people, first the 12 and then ourselves, then temptation begins to creep in and around our hearts.  The moment we hear about being “chosen” people, then our hearts and egos, swell with that most demonic and devilish force, hubris and pride.  “I” have been chosen; we tell ourselves.  Certainly, that makes me better than those not chosen.  I know, I have been saved, I am bearing God’s Spirit.  But to understand being chosen and to truly be chosen is not to be swollen with vanity, but instead quite the opposite.  The point is not that one is chosen, the point is that one is chosen by God, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Jesus chose Peter the coward, James and John the brash, Judas the traitor, Thomas the doubter, Paul the murderer.  Which of these knew anything if not for Jesus teaching and helping them to listen?  Which of these could do any deeds of power if not for Jesus empowering them to do it?  Which of these disciples cowering in fear in an upper room, running in terror at Jesus’ arrest could find courage if not for Jesus’ own courage being imparted to them?  These are the chosen ones of God, not for their abilities or capabilities, but despite their issues, and disqualifications.  These are the chosen ones of God, not because they were chosen, but because it is God’s good pleasure to choose them.  It is a gracious choice, not a choice of merit of quality.  To understand God’s election is to lead and bring one to humility and gratitude not to pride and arrogance.  Because it is about God’s good pleasure, not humanity’s worthiness.

But, the 12 were not just selected to be students, or followers, the text continues to say that they were chosen and appointed to be fruit-bearers.  They were chosen for a reason, to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. He is not talking about grapes and apples; he is talking about love.  And in truth he is not talking about love as we know it, but as love revealed in Jesus Christ.  Love that washes feet.  Love that lays down one’s life for one’s friends.  That is the kind of love that the 12 and us are chosen to bring forth into this world.  This is the whole point; this is the goal of all of God’s work.  Through Christ and with Christ, we should become christs and love like Christ.  With a love that is willing to lay down our lives for each other.

Many people are in our world, which lay claim to the title and privilege of being disciples of Christ, but not all are sincere.  Because remember that we do not choose Christ, but instead Christ chooses us and chooses us to love sacrificially and humbly.  For those that claim to be Christians but will not behave and act such as this, then they are not Jesus’ disciples, they are liars and thieves.  Because only Jesus chooses his disciples and only those who love like Jesus are truly chosen.  Which are you?  Do you hear the call and command of God through the Spirit of Jesus Christ?  Will you obey that command in humility and faithfulness?  Will you love as you have first been loved?  Or will change Jesus into something more palatable?  Something involving flags, guns, money, power or politics?

My friends, the true disciple of Jesus Christ is first chosen by God’s good pleasure despite our flaws and failures.  To understand that is to be led to humility and gratitude.  But once we understand Grace, we are always led to graciousness and the call to love one another.  Let this therefore be a season once again of God’s Grace.  With humility and gratitude let us lift the deeds of God despite us but because of us.  With this deep, deep love of God for us, let us remember our election, but let us choose instead of swelling our egos, to love each other sacrificially.  Then and only then we will become the disciples Jesus has chosen us to become.  Amen.

Prayer

O God of love and grace, thank you for your good pleasure in choosing us to become your disciples.  Surround us with your love in order that we might be lovers of humanity.  Use us to bless all those in need this day.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

By Amber Balista

This week I am going off the daily psalm path and reading psalm 116, the psalm is one of the texts for this Sunday, it is worth sitting with a little while. This is the Common English Bile (CEB) translation, it keeps the meaning of the text but not necessarily the exact Hebrew words. It is a bit easier for me to read today.

Psalm 116

 I love the Lord because he hears
    my requests for mercy.
² I’ll call out to him as long as I live,
    because he listens closely to me.
³ Death’s ropes bound me;
    the distress of the gravefound me—
    I came face-to-face with trouble and grief.
⁴ So I called on the Lord’s name:
    “Lord, please save me!”

⁵ The Lord is merciful and righteous;
    our God is compassionate.
⁶ The Lord protects simple folk;
    he saves me whenever I am brought down.
⁷ I tell myself, You can be at peace again,
    because the Lord has been good to you.
⁸ You, God, have delivered me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    and my foot from stumbling,
⁹     so I’ll walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I have remained faithful, even when I said,
    “I am suffering so badly!”
¹¹     even when I said, out of fear,
    “Everyone is a liar!”

¹² What can I give back to the Lord
    for all the good things he has done for me?
¹³ I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.
    I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁴ I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
    in the presence of all God’s people.
¹⁵ The death of the Lord’s faithful
    is a costly loss in his eyes.

¹⁶ Oh yes, Lord, I am definitely your servant!
    I am your servant and the son of your female servant—
    you’ve freed me from my chains.
¹⁷ So I’ll offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you,
    and I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁸ I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
    in the presence of all God’s people,
¹⁹     in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
        which is in the center of Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

I have two bird feeders in my back yard, and typically as I drink my morning cup of coffee, I get to watch them. For me, it is a sign of hope. Even when I have not filled the feeders with birdseed they still come around, checking it out gathering up bits that were lost to the ground. Somehow, these birds know they will be provided for- if not by the feeder than by God who has made creation to care for even the smallest creature. It is a sign of hope and a call to praise God! 

Like God cares for the birds, we are also cared for. The psalmist remembers that the Lord saves us from death, from tears and from stumbling! We can walk free, in service to our God. This is good news, yet sometimes difficult to remember. It has been a difficult week, some weeks for many folks. Knowing the saving presence of God might not be easy these days. We might feel more chained than free and more grieved than at peace. In a time of fear, it is easy to say along with the psalm, “everyone is a liar!” We may have a tendency to feel like we are the only one suffering, the only one anxious or pulled in too many directions. Feeling out of sorts without control over the situation looking for somewhere to place blame or something to distract from the grief we are faced with.

The highest one, the God of all creation who loves us perfectly listens closely to us- we can call on God for help in times of trouble. We know there is peace to be found when we call out to God, but calling out can be so hard. God can feel far away as we struggle. Looking for some other way to escape either by our own effort or by looking for someone to tell us what to do. We need some direction because our and the people around us have needs that keep stacking up, real physical needs for food, for enough money to pay our bill, for good health of those we care for. We have needs to feel connected to our friends, family and neighbor and a need to be seen and know we are loved.

It is vital to remember that God who in grace provides is with us. While we wait, we can confidently praise God, who is our only master. The one who in grace has done good to us. The one who sent Jesus Christ and left his Spirit to stay always with us, loves us unendingly. The energy it takes to look for help anywhere else is a wasted effort. When it becomes clear that we rely on God who is revealed to us in Christ we can see how much we are loved. We are seen, and known by the God who never leaves us. We remember to call on God, and we can join the psalmist in proclaiming we are God’s servants! Set free from anxiety, fear, suffering, and loneliness. God is at our center- as close as our very breath – sustaining us to life and to hope.

 God bless you and keep you.

.

April, 22 2020

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

Trying to take a picture of a marching band is much like herding cats.  The photographer gets one section right where they want them and then another section moves out of place.  Putting the tubas in the front always covers up the flutes in the back.  The tall musicians standing in the front of the shorter musicians covers them up and one cannot see their faces.  No sooner than the photographer gets everyone in place and then someone needs to use the restroom, or someone gives bunny ears to the person in front and then they move.  The sun glares in the trumpet section’s eyes and then they move.  Getting a picture of a marching band is tremendously difficult because the players have great difficulty staying.

Jesus also has a lot of trouble getting people to stay.  But while the photographer needs to get the musicians to stay in their place and not move or fidget or annoy their neighbor, Jesus has difficulty getting people to stay with him.  In our text from John, Jesus says, abide in me as I abide in you.  The word in Greek for abide can also mean remain or stay.  So, the text reads, stay in me as I stay in you.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has come to the heart of the believer and chosen to live or dwell or remain there.  The great difficulty is that while Jesus is staying with us, the person tends to drift away from Jesus, they tend to stray away from Jesus.  Hence the command or the exhortation from Jesus to stay.  Stay with me as I stay with you. 

Why is this staying with Jesus such a big deal, why not some time in Jesus and some time away from Jesus.  I am thinking of the average course of our week.  We have time we spend with Jesus in prayer, study, worship, and service, but we also have time we want to spend apart from Jesus perhaps in work, leisure, or fun activities.  We have moments for sure when we want to stay with Jesus, but we also have moments when we want to leave Jesus.  Jesus gives the reason why, because apart from me you can do nothing.  He is not saying that we cannot do things apart from Jesus, but he is saying what those things we do will be like without Jesus.  Without Jesus what would our careers be like?  Without Jesus what would our relationships be like?  Without Jesus what would our leisure time be like? 

A career without Jesus is prone to harmful tendencies and temptations, selfish ambition, insatiable greed, environmental destruction, and consumerism.  Relationships without Jesus are also susceptible to destructive and traumatic tendencies. abuse, neglect, manipulation, and violence.  Give someone free time without Jesus and one is vulnerable to self-destructive tendencies, chemical abuse, over-consumption, spiritual malaise, and rampant hedonism.  But the most sinister of all is a religion without Jesus; these temptations are the most destructive.  A religion without Jesus is cruel, judgmental, divisive and snobbery; and we can see that today.

The reason why we can see some in our religion without Jesus is because some in our religion are without love.  To stay in Jesus is to stay in love and to love.  As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  To stay in Jesus continually is to stay in love, and to stay in love is to love each other.  But some in today’s religion are quite without love and therefore without Jesus and therefore have left Jesus.  Many in the spotlight are cruel to others in the name of ideologies or selfish agendas.  Many in the news are judgmental, particularly around politics and elected officials, even going so far as to condemn someone for voting for the “devil’s” candidate.  Some are even with loud and obnoxious voices dividing the Church of Jesus Christ into a uniform belief system, which have you ever noticed is always theirs.  Does this look like and sound like disciples abiding in Jesus because he abides in them?

Perhaps then the Father needs to do a little pruning.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.  Those that have been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit that will not stay in Jesus and bear the fruit of Love, are removed from Jesus and fit only to be burned.  The warning is that God has gone to great lengths and at great personal cost so that we might produce bushels and bushels of Love.  By giving us Love, God wants us to Love each other and to Love him.  If we will not, if we only fight and defy, then what course does God have, but to do some pruning.  The removal of the stubborn and nasty and the replacement by those who will obey by loving.

But the text says after the warning, but you, you have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  Being attached to vine, cleanses the branch of all its stubborn defiance giving it a new will and attitude of obedience and subordination.  The key is to stay.  In Jesus, we have the heart and mind of Jesus, a willing obedience to God.  In Christ we have a new attitude and a new priority on life.  But we all too foolishly refuse to stay, to remain to abide in Jesus.  We foolishly choose to leave, to drift, to stray.

My friends, I understand all too well how difficult it is to stay.  Many of us are even unable to stay home during the quarantine and look at the mess that makes.  But the most important place to stay is not in a physical place, but a spiritual place.  The most important place to stay is in Christ; to remain in Christ, to abide in Christ, to stay in Christ.  And the harsh and iron-fisted truth is that only those who Love like Christ are those that truly abide in Christ.  So, stay.  Stay where God has put you, baptized into Christ, baptized into Love, baptized into God.  Stay in God as God stays in you, and in God continue to be godly.  But that means Love not hate, nastiness, cruelty, judgment and divisiveness.  To be godly is to Love as Christ Loves us, in humble service; a lesson American Christians need to learn.  Will you stay and learn it?

Prayer

O Holy and Loving God, we thank you for the pouring out of your Holy Spirit.  Give us the mind and heart of Christ, that we may gladly choose to spend all our lives abiding in you.  Help us to Love each other as you have loved us, in humble service.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.