“Don’t Be Afraid – Believe and Be
Ready!”
August 28, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
One thing I’ve learned from working
with kids, which I’m sure many of us can relate to, is that even saying the
word “promise” carries a lot of weight. In other words, if you say you’re going
to make a promise, you’re expected to keep it. And if it seems like you’re
going back on what you said, even by not doing it right away, you’re going to
be accused of breaking your promise. Which can lead to a lot of frustration.
In today’s First Reading, Abram (who
is still not yet named Abraham) is afraid and frustrated. God has had him move
to a new place, promising him wonderful things, but the reality seems to be
outweigh the promise. He’s had to leave his familiar home and his family and
move to a new place, one that’s more desolate than where he came from, and
where he’s having to struggle to survive. To make matters worse, God has promised
he would become the father of a great nation – but that’s impossible since
Abram doesn’t even have a son of his own to carry on his family line. So it
looks like everything he has is going to go to his chief servant, and won’t
even stay in his own family. Which is a particularly devastating prospect,
because that would not only mean the end of Abram’s family, but that everything
he was promised would turn out to be a lie – that God would be breaking His
promise. But this is more than just a story: this also happens to us. Like
Abram, we also get frustrated, because even though we are promised good things,
the reality of what we’re going through causes us to doubt whether those
promises are actually going to happen. So we keep wondering, is God ever going
to do what He promised? Is He actually going to make things better, or is He
just going to keep letting things happen as they’re happening right now? For
example, covid isn’t going away any time soon, and seems to be coming in
another wave. Which means we still have to be living with covid and its other
effects. Like Abram, we remember the promise, but then we look at the reality,
and we are afraid that God will never do what He’s promised. So with that going
on, what we cling to is the true reality: God is greater than the impossible.
He is even greater than our fears. He tells Abram to look up at the sky and try
to count the number of stars, then tells him that he will have even more
descendants than there are stars in the sky. Which, in fact is exactly what
happened: Abram’s descendants now do indeed number in the millions – and that
includes us, we can call ourselves Abram’s descendants, because we share the
same faith as him.
And what is this faith? It is
actually more than just believing God exists. It is, as Genesis 15:6 says,
“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited to him as righteousness.” It is
believing that God is our Father, who wants nothing more than the best for us,
and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure we are blessed in every
way. It is also trusting that God is who He says He is: that He is faithful,
loving, and caring to us. More importantly, it is believing, and trusting, that
God does everything He promises. His greatest promise, made even at the
beginning of time, was that He was going to send a Savior. Which is exactly
what He did: He fulfilled that promise by having His Son, Jesus, die on the
cross for the sins of all people, and rise again to destroy both the power and
fear of death. He then promises that all sins are forgiven because of Jesus,
and that eternal life with Him is what awaits everyone who trusts His promise. It
is also believing that God not only accomplishes these eternal promises, but
even the ones He makes for us in the present. Someday, there will be an end to
the dangers and effects of covid. There will also be an end to all of our other
struggles we’re having to deal with right now, whether they be with
relationships, family, personal finances, any other crises. As our Second
Reading from Hebrews reminds us, even though we can’t experience any of these
things right at the present moment, we can still believe they will happen in
the future, because God has promised they will. That’s also what faith is:
claiming the promise of something that’s going to happen even though we don’t
have any present evidence it’s going to. That’s also something that can
counteract fear: the fact that even though things may seem unknown, we actually
know how things are going to turn out, because God has promised they will work
out. They may not turn out exactly the way we expect, or at the time we expect
them to happen, but God will still cause everything to happen at the moment
it’s supposed to happen, at just the right time.
But, because things are still
being worked out, and we can’t see the end of what’s happening, we’re still
afraid. Fear and paranoia have become the driving factors behind what decisions
we make. Even a lot of what we hear in the news is based on fear: about
the lingering effects of covid; war between Ukraine and Russia; and political and
social division. We’ve become so used to hearing bad news, news that causes
fear, that that’s what we’ve come to expect. More than ever before, fear has
become an addiction. Probably because we’ve gotten so used to being
afraid of things that we don’t know how not to be afraid and fearful. But, the
problem with any kind of addiction is it is ultimately destructive.
Being addicted to fear will end up destroying us unless we recognize how
damaging it is, and ask for God’s help to stop it.
And, whether or not we’ve realized
it, a lot of this addiction to fear has been what’s driven us to believe what
we believe, especially about Jesus’ return. Unfortunately, for a long time
preachers and others have tried to use the event of Jesus returning as being a
threat, to cause fear in people: the threat being that Jesus will punish and
destroy everyone who doesn’t believe in Him when He comes back, so you’d better
believe in Him or you will be condemned to hell. That is an abusive misinterpretation
of what is meant to be a wonderful and comforting promise. If we think about
it, a lot of what we might have been taught before was based primarily on fear:
do good or we will be punished; obey the commandments or bad things will happen
to us; believe or think a certain way or we can’t call ourselves Christians; agree
with an idea or position or we will be excluded from the church; even love God
or we will be hurt; and, again, believe in Jesus or we will be condemned. But
fear, being afraid of God, is not what He wants for us – He doesn’t want us to
be afraid of Him, because then we wouldn’t want to be with Him, or be in any
kind of a relationship with Him. But God wants us to love Him, and to look
forward to being with Him.
So the fact that Jesus has
promised to return isn’t something for us to be afraid of: instead, it’s
supposed to be something happy and hopeful for us to look forward to. It’s like
looking forward to seeing a beloved family member or friend we haven’t seen in
a long time, and thinking about all the wonderful times we’re going to enjoy
spending together. We think about all the plans we have for everything we’re
going to do together, and just being able to have fun. Then, when the person
we’re looking forward to seeing arrives at the door, we rush to give them a big
hug. That’s how we are to look forward to Jesus coming again: someone who wants
to be with us, especially forever, who has all kinds of wonderful things
planned for us when He comes, and who wants us to be happy when He comes. Jesus
wants us to rush to meet Him when He arrives, because He’ll be so glad and
excited to see us He’s going to embrace every one of us. That’s what we’re to
look forward to. Jesus also reminds us that where our hearts are, our treasures
will be: in other words, what we’re devoting ourselves to is how we’ll end up.
Just like we heard last week, who we become depends on what we’re hanging on to
right now. If we’re clinging on to fear and paranoia, we will become people who
are ruled by fear and anxiety over everything. We will even continue to be
afraid of and mistrust each other, as we take our fear out on each other. But
if we’re holding on to faith in God, we will become more confident, even
peaceful, because we will be able to give all control and power to God. We will
also be more at peace among ourselves, as we practice trusting God more.
But the best part we hear today is,
while Jesus physically returning is something that’s going to happen in the
future, we don’t have to wait until then for Jesus to come to us. He actually
comes to us every single day, and He’s always with us. Just as God promised to
fulfill what He was going to do for Abram, Jesus also promises what He says:
that He’s always near to us whenever we need Him, and He’s always there for us
in every situation. He is as close to us right now as we are to each other. We
don’t have to wait for Jesus to be excited to see us in the future: He’s glad
to see us now. He’s preparing an eternal home for us for the future, and He’s
also making things ready for us now. He has blessings and promises beyond what
we can imagine, which He is preparing to unleash upon us in the present. But we
still have to wait. And that’s where faith comes in: claiming these promises
and believing they will happen, even though they’re not taking place right now.
Jesus could even physically come back at any moment, and that would be the best
of all. But we do have to be ready – not out of anxiety, but out of joyful
anticipation. We ought to be waiting with excitement, every single day, for the
idea of us being able to see Jesus face to face and running to meet Him. So
let’s abandon fear – and look forward to what we’re promised instead, because
Jesus will make it happen.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
“What’s it
Worth?”
August 21, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
A long time ago, there was a popular
kids’ TV show called “Howdy Doody.” The star of the show was a cowboy puppet by
the same name, who would always open the show by asking, “Hey kids, what time
is it?”. To which his audience of kids, called the “peanut gallery,” would
respond, “It’s Howdy Doody Time!” I imagine that, back in the day, this was a
time during the day or week that a lot of kids looked forward to, a special
time made just for them. It was a break from all the other times of obligation.
I’m sure many of us have something similar nowadays we look forward to: a TV,
radio, or internet show; a regular sports game; time out with family or
friends; a special time we can say is just for us, to give us a break from
everything else we have to devote our time to, something enjoyable we consider
to be worth our time.
If we think about it, a lot of the
choices we make are determined by what we consider is going to be worth our
time, what’s going to be the greatest benefit to us if we devote ourselves to
it. Everything we do is governed by time, even if we can’t see it, or control
it. If we think about it even more, every moment of our days are occupied with
some activity or other, with little or no break. We wake up, and get ready for
the day by eating breakfast and grooming ourselves. We then head off to our
schools or places of employment. When we’re done with school, we have sports or
other activities to participate in. When we finish with our jobs, we have
family obligations and household chores. Occasionally, we have other things to
do on certain days, like doctor’s visits; taking our cars in to be repaired;
grocery or other shopping; or different meetings for the school, community, or
other organizations we belong to. And, while all of this is going on, we
generally always have our phones on, which means that, at any moment, we can
receive a phone call, text, or email to respond to, to add one more obligation
to our already busy days. At the end of the day, we fall asleep – but sometimes
we’ll fall asleep watching a TV show, or listening to music or a podcast. So
our minds are still occupied even while we’re falling asleep. Whether or not
we’ve come to realize it, our days are literally packed – with all kinds of
activities, which we’ve just gotten used to as being normal.
Yet, as we are reminded in
Ecclesiastes this morning, in the long run, all of these things are ultimately of
less worth. The old King James translation for chapter 1, verse 2, uses the rather
poetic phrase “Vanity of vanities”: the word “vanity” means something that is
superficial, that may seem like it has an important appearance on the surface,
but really isn’t as important as it looks. The word that is used in our
translation, “Meaningless,” is maybe, on the surface, a bit harsh: of course
the activities and everything else we’re involved in right now do give us
meaning, and are worth our time. But what we are encouraged to think about is
that even though we may devote ourselves to certain things by striving,
sweating, and toiling, there is something – or someone – even more important to
devote ourselves to. It’s all a matter of where we give our time. Everything
else that may seem like an important priority actually pales in comparison to
what our true priority ought to be – God.
We also hear more about this in today’s
Gospel Reading, in what is traditionally called the Parable of the Rich Fool.
In the story, two brothers are arguing over an inheritance, and so they call
upon Jesus to try to resolve their dispute. This is actually a logical thing
for them to want to do: in Jesus’ time, rabbis, or teachers, were frequently
called upon to interpret the Law, especially when it came to disputes between
family members or neighbors. Also, Jesus, already being recognized as an
influential authority figure, is someone they believe they can appeal to try to
get the outcome they want. However, Jesus sees right through this, and instead,
warns them to be on their guard against greed. In other words, just like Ecclesiastes,
don’t be so concerned about this life and the problems of it that you lose
sight of what’s really important and worth your while. To illustrate His point,
Jesus tells this parable. A rich man decides that, in order to hold his large
harvest crop, he’s going to tear down his barns and build bigger barns. Then
he’s going to devote the rest of his life to pleasing himself. But then, his
life is taken from him, and then he’s asked, who will get everything he has now
that he’s gone? Now, here we have to be careful: the usual approach most
preachers, if not most people, take towards this story is to interpret it as a
kind of threat. That is, if we focus so much on this life that we ignore God,
then we will be punished. That’s really not the point of the story at all.
Instead, it’s to encourage us to think about things that are permanent versus
things that are temporary, and to remember what’s really going to last forever.
Here are a couple of examples: I’m going
to guess some of us still have at least one or two favorite toys we’ve kept for
many years – but we’ve also had either to give away or throw away many others
over time. Many of us also probably still have a favorite shirt or other
article of clothing which we still hang on to – even though we probably outgrew
it a long time ago, or it’s no longer suitable to be worn in public. There are
probably even some foods or beverages we used to enjoy, but as we’ve grown
more, no longer do so. We probably used to listen to certain types of music at
one time, but then our tastes and preferences changed. These are instances of
things which we may have thought were permanent at one time, but have
turned to be only temporary as time has gone on for us. But even then,
again, none of this is meant to intimidate us in any way: God doesn’t
want to have a relationship with Him based on us being afraid of Him. Instead,
all of this is meant to be a promise from God, something meant to comfort
us: that all the things we’re having to commit to, all our obligations, are
someday going to come to an end. But what will always remain is God’s
relationship with us: a relationship where, no matter what else is going in
life, He shows His special love and care for us in many different ways.
In the midst of all of our struggles,
we can remember that God has something greater in mind for us than just to live
and be worried about how we’re going to make it from day to day. Do we still
have duties and obligations in this life? Of course we do. Are we still, as
Christians, called upon to give our best efforts to everything we are called to
do in this life? Yes, we are! All our earthly duties, as Ecclesiastes reminds
us, are also blessings from God for us to treasure and maintain. Our families help
to encourage, nurture, and sustain us; our education helps us move forward into
the life God has planned for us; and our jobs help us to support both our
families and our education, as well as help us to enjoy times of rest and
relaxation. These are gifts which God gives to everyone, including us. And yet,
even these come and go. What we will be known as after we all are gone is
determined by where we put our energies and attentions to in this life: and
what we hopefully will ultimately be known for being is Christians,
children of God.
You see, we have an even greater destiny
than just living this life: we are here to grow. Our lives are a process
of growing physically and mentally, yes, but we also have to remember we are to
grow spiritually – in close relationship with God. It’s easy to allow
everything else to distract us from even remembering who we are. As Paul encourages us in Colossians, we are to
grow every day by letting our old selves, who we used to be, die off, and
letting our new selves take over. And we can know which is which by watching
what we devote our time to: if we are involved in things which are selfish;
which satisfy us but end up hurting other people, especially anger, malice,
slander, and abusive language, then that is our old nature. But anything that reflects
who God is: that is, kindness, generosity, compassion, love, gentleness,
encouragement, upbuilding, is our new nature. To use the example of clothes
again: the reason we discard old clothes to be able to put on new ones is
because those old clothes either no longer fit us, no longer reflect who we
are, or are no longer comfortable. In the same way, certain behaviors we may
have may no longer reflect who we are, or no longer make us feel good, and so
we have to get rid of them, just like we do old clothes. Then, as Paul further
encourages us in verse 10, we are to let God “put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” That’s what growing
spiritually is: becoming more who God has created us to be.
So the question to ask is: what is
growing spiritually worth to you? What worth does your relationship with God
have, and how important is it for you? Remember – everything you’re involved in
right now is important, but there’s something that’s going to be worth your
time even more if you devote yourself to it now – letting God cause you to grow
in faith, love, and generosity. Even as Thomas Edison once said, “Your worth
consists in what you are, and not in what you have.” And it is a choice: today
you can choose whether to go from here to continue to live as you’ve always
lived, or you can live the life of growth and newness God wants for you. So,
what time is it? It’s time for God – it’s always time for God!
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
“It’s Okay to
Pray”
August 14, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
There are many things I continue to
enjoy about being your pastor, but one of the most rewarding things I get to do
is be able to pray for you. Believe it or not, it’s wonderful and rewarding to
be able to listen to your struggles and concerns, and be able to bring them to
God in prayer for you. I also have really appreciated your prayers for me, especially
the ones you offered on my behalf during my struggle with chronic pain a few
months ago – and, as you can see, your prayers worked, and they continue to
work, for which, once again, I thank you all. I also want to encourage all of
you to keep praying for each other; each of us have specific needs which we’ve
asked each other to pray for, but we also have things we’re choosing to keep to
ourselves, but we still need prayer for. So we can pray for each other’s unspoken
and secret needs as well as the ones we know about. Prayer is the best way we
can help each other feel supported.
(Slide:
Lord’s Prayer cross)
There’s one part of our worship service which still needs to be covered, and one which we may take for granted because we do it every Sunday, but which is still important: the Lord’s Prayer. And it’s especially important because it’s part of today’s Gospel reading. Usually, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer it’s simply as a rote ritual, but it’s meant to be much more than that. The reason we pray the Lord’s Prayer as part of the worship service is because it covers everything: we start by calling God our Father, believing that is who He is, and that, as our heavenly Father, He has a special care and concern for us. We ask God to keep His name holy by living the way He wants us to live, living as people who are part of His Kingdom. So we pray that how we live here on earth would reflect how things are in heaven. We ask God to give us everything we need to live every day; especially during this time as many of us are struggling financially and are worrying about certain other necessities, we pray, and believe, that God will give us what we need out of His fatherly love for us. We recognize that we need God to forgive us of things we have done to hurt ourselves or other people, and ask Him to help us forgive people who have hurt or wronged us in any way. In times of temptation, conflict, or any other kind of trial, we ask for God to fight our battles for us, and bring us safely through those moments to victory. Finally, we are praising Him for who He is, acknowledging Him as our glorious and powerful King who reigns supreme forever. We end by saying “Amen,” which is an ancient word meaning “Yes, it shall be so”: by saying “Amen,” we are saying that we believe everything we have prayed for is true, and is going to happen the way the prayer promises. Also, it’s important to note that the version we pray, while it’s the one most familiar to us, is not the only one in use today. Our brothers and sisters at the UCC and Slifers, for example, use the words “debts” and “debtors” instead of “trespasses” and “trespass,” because those words are taken from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew rather than Luke, which is the version we use. In our LBW, there is also another version, one that is in more contemporary language and is meant to be one that can be prayed by all Christians. All these ways of praying the Lord’s Prayer are equally valid. What is important is that we recognize why we pray the Lord’s Prayer, especially why we pray it together: when we do so, we are asking for God to give all these things to us individually, to each other, to our church, and to the whole world, asking Him to give everyone the same good things He gives us. But, of course, the Lord’s Prayer, while it is a prayer that covers every area nicely, is not the only kind of prayer. So, with that in mind, let’s start by remembering one of three special things about prayer:
There are many different ways to pray, and there is no right or wrong way to pray. Some of us may prefer to pray in silence, others out loud. Most of us may think of praying by bowing our heads, folding our hands, and closing our eyes, which is fine, but we can also, if we’re comfortable with doing so, also pray just by talking to God while we’re doing what we’re doing. When I was on Internship, one of the shut-ins I visited told about how the woman who came in to clean for her complained that she never had a chance to be able to pray because she was always so busy. The shut-in suggested to her that she could just pray while doing the dishes – something she had never really thought about before. Praying doesn’t have to be limited to one time or place, and we don’t have to feel like God doesn’t hear our prayers just because we’re doing something else while praying. Some of my own best prayer time, for example, happens while I’m mowing the lawn. Just as every version of the Lord’s Prayer is valid, every way to pray is perfectly valid. We don’t even have to keep our eyes closed, or our hands folded. Some of us may like to raise our hands while praying, which is actually the way the earliest Christians prayed. Also, the way we end up praying depends on the circumstances: for example, the way we pray at desperate moments can be different from more calmer, regular times. God hears our prayers either way: all He wants us just for us to talk to Him. Which leads to the second point:
God is our friend. God wants us to relate to Him one on one, on a personal level. He is our God and King, yes, but He is also our friend, someone who wants to be close to us, and who wants us to feel close to Him. We might tend to worry about whether we’re using the right words, or the right kind of prayer. God wants us to feel free in talking to Him. Sometimes we might also worry about what we tell God is appropriate, whether it’s the right thing we ought to be praying for. Believe it or not, God still listens to us whether we use formal or informal words, we use certain phrases, we say something once or we repeat it over and over, or we just speak what’s on our minds. All that matters to God is that we’re talking to Him openly, freely, and we’re pouring out our hearts to Him, without holding anything back.
Also, when you pray, believe in the power of prayer. But, believe that prayer is powerful not because of your own effort with prayer, or the words you use. Instead, believe in the power of God to hear and answer your prayer. God hears and answers your prayers because He loves you, and, whoever you are, He looks on you with special favor. If you ever wonder whether prayer really can make a difference, the answer is yes. Prayer even has the power to change situations. We especially see this in today’s First Reading from Genesis, where Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous people, including Lot and his family, who are still living in them. God heard Abraham’s prayer because He looked on Abraham in a special way. And you also can believe that, since you have the same trusting faith in God that Abraham did, that God looks on you in the same special way He looked on Abraham. That means that, just as God heard and answered Abraham’s prayer, He also hears your prayers. You also have the promise that God hears your prayers because Jesus died on the cross, then rose again, giving you free and full access to God – meaning that God hears you and takes you seriously. On the other hand, prayer does not depend on the strength of your faith: how strongly you believe at any time in no way influences God – He still hears and answers your prayers no matter how much you actually believe and trust Him at any moment. Sometimes there may be times when you pray not even knowing if God is really there, but He still hears your prayer. Also, never stop praying. Jesus Himself encourages us to be persistent in prayer, meaning to keep praying until our prayers are answered. If there is any one particular thing we’re worried about or struggling with, we can keep praying about it until God gives us a response. Which also means:
We
usually think that prayer is just a one-way conversation, where we talk and God
listens. And that’s only partially true. When we pray, we also listen to what
God has to say, as well as speaking to Him. Sometimes the answer we get may not
be the one we expect, but, with God, everything has a way of turning out for
the best. Jesus promises us that whatever we ask for from God, especially if it’s
something He wants for us, will be given to us. So while we’re praying, after
we’ve talked, we can take some time just to be silent, to listen to our minds
and hearts, to see if God answers us through those. If not, then we can pray
about it again, and expect God to give us an answer in some other way. I myself
had an experience earlier this week, for example, where I was struggling with a
decision, but not getting an answer, which, I’ll admit, was a little frustrating.
Well, as it turns out, later on in the day, I got the answer in a conversation
with my dad. So God can answer our prayers in many different ways – if we are
willing to listen. But the important thing is always to pray. Never be
afraid to pray – God wants to hear you. You’ll be amazed even at how much your
day will change just by praying. No matter how you pray, or when you pray, just
pray. It’s okay to pray – God’s always waiting for you.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
