Old Testament God/New Testament God

This is a sermon which Elizabeth and I preached together on Sunday, February 24th.  We are writing sermons during the season of Lent which respond to questions the congregation has submitted.  One of those questions was about the apparent difference between the Old Testament God and the New Testament God.

We had a lot of fun working together to write this sermon.  We hope that it speaks to you and that I might give you a chance to reflect on some tough questions.

The sermon is a little long, but I encourage you to read the whole thing.  The black text indicates parts which Elizabeth spoke, and the red text indicates parts which I spoke.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
           
We gather today to worship the one God who is:
God of the Israelites,
God of the Jews,
God of the Gentiles,
God of all creation.

And yet---that one God seems to act in  widely divergent ways.  The one God we worship sometimes seems like 2 very different Gods.

Questions (asked by members of the congregation)
Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so angry?
What kind of God would flood the whole earth?
In the New Testament, we encounter a God of love and  forgiveness.   What happened to judgement?
What is going on with a God who orders the killing of innocent people?
I’m afraid of the Old Testament God.   What is the relationship of that God to the God of the New Testament?

Some of the questions which confound us are unanswerable in this life. We acknowledge the questions,  we live with the questions. But we know----those questions can be answered fully only when we meet God face to face.

As we must accept that we have questions which cannot be answered , we must also accept that each of us asks these questions from our own unique perspective.

Think about where you sit when you come into this sanctuary every week.  Some people sit on the pulpit side, some people sit near the choir, some people sit up in the balcony.  If Elizabeth and I walked into this sanctuary at 11:00 to find everyone sitting in different seats, we would be confused.  Most of us have a tendency to sit in the same area each week because we become comfortable worshiping from the same spot.  We see the service happen from the same angle and this is the angle we get used to. If we got up and moved across the sanctuary, we’d have to get used to seeing everything from a different angle.  We all have a perspective with which we’re comfortable, and to change this perspective would require lots of re-thinking. In the same way, we each view God from different angles.

These unique perspectives influence how we look at the Bible and how we understand God.

Look at the relative thickness of the OT and the NT in the Bible.  Out of the 66 books of the Bible, the Old Testament contains 39 while the New Testament contains 27.  There are over three times as many words in the Old Testament as in the New Testament.

You might think that, with so much more information in the Old Testament we would be preaching, reading, and studying the Old Testament three times as much, right? I have a binder where I collect my sermons. My section for New Testament sermons is about twice as long as my section for Old Testament sermons.

For 30 years, I have studied scripture professionally and for a lifetime I have studied scripture devotionally.  My knowledge of the NT is much broader and deeper than of the OT.  Having preached regularly for more than 20 years---2 ½ file drawers stuffed with sermons from the NT.  Less than ¾ of a single drawer holds my OT sermons.

In a few moments I’m going to ask you to do some doodling.  I am going to ask you to draw two circles.  The size of one circle will represent how much knowledge and understanding you have of the OT.  The size of the other circle will represent how much knowledge and understanding you have of the NT.  If your circles look anything like mine, the NT one will be much larger than the OT.

Our general Bible knowledge and experience leans heavily toward the New Testament even though the Old Testament has so much more material.  I think that we would find that we are much more familiar with the material of the New Testament than that of the Old.

God
Because we are so much less familiar with the Old Testament, we tend to focus on the stories with which we are already familiar.  Many of these Old Testament stories present God in a certain light.

When we consider the stories of the OT we often find stories of destruction and chaos.  Stories that depict a judging, angry God.  When we consider the memorable stories of the New Testament, we imagine a different God.  But there are important moments in the New Testament which remind us of the judging, angry OT God.

Judging: The story of Noah is very familiar.  But we often leave out part of the story.  God sees the wickedness of humankind and is sorry for creating humans in the first place.  God decides to kill everyone on the face of the earth except for Noah.  The story that follows is one of death and destruction by a judging God.  We also read in Genesis the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  God destroys two entire cities because of their wickedness and their lack of hospitality to the stranger.

In the New Testament we hear about a judging God when Jesus describes the separation of those who cared for others and those who didn’t.  Or when Jesus says that the branches which do not bear fruit will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Angry: God is depicted as an angry many times in the Old Testament, most notably when Jerusalem is destroyed because God was angered.  But God’s anger appears in the New Testament as well when Jesus flips over the tables of the money-changers in the Temple.

Senseless Death: Another glaring reminder of this angry God are the stories in the OT in which God seems to senseless kill or senselessly allow others to kill.

There are multiple stories in Joshua of civilizations being wiped out for the sake of the Israelites.  In the 11th chapter of Judges we find the story of Jephthah's daughter.  She is killed for no apparent reason save an ignorant vow made by her father.

In the NT we see a similar story of senseless death in the early church.  A husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira sell property and hide the profits from the rest of the church.  As a punishment, they are struck dead before the very feet of Peter.

These stories may be frightening, but the important thing to notice about them is that they occur in both Testaments.
The God whom we experience as judging, angry, and cruel in the Old Testament is a God who is also judging, angry, and cruel in the New Testament.  The God we experience throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments is one, consistent God.

Loving
I expect, for many of us, the predominant image of the God of the New Testament is of a loving God who sent his son because he loved the world.  
A God who consistently demonstrates love, his grace, and mercy by drawing people into the kingdom.
A God who, despite the unfaithfulness of the people, restores people to  a right relationship with God.
In stories and prophecies, perhaps less well known, the God of the OT also consistently demonstrates his love and grace.
Despite the treachery of Joseph’s brothers, who in their envy, sold Joseph into slavery, God protects Joseph and permits Joseph ultimately to save his entire family from starvation.   Joseph’s powerful affirmation of God’s grace  appears in the final chapter of Genesis.  Joseph says to his brothers,   Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people as he is doing today.  (GN 50:20).

In the OT book of Ruth, we encounter Naomi,  a woman, embittered by the death of her husband and the untimely death of her two sons.  Having no heirs, she implores her daughters in law to return to their homeland where they can create a  new life for themselves.
Ruth is faithful to her MIL, remaining in Moab.  Through God’s bountiful grace, Ruth is given a husband and becomes mother to Obed, from whom David descends.  Naomi’s life is made complete by the birth of Obed who is described as a restorer of life and nourisher of her old age.  (Ruth 4:15)

God’s love is poured out again and again for the people whose stories connect with our own in the Old Testament.

Forgiving
The New Testament is filled with stories in which Jesus forgives the sins of the penitent and even of those who seem oblivious to their sin.  Those encounters offer comfort to us who recognize our own sin.  Among some of my particular favorites is the story of the woman caught in adultery.   Jesus does not overlook her sin.  Neither does he overlook the sin of the crowd, gathered with stones in their hands.   Instead, Jesus dismisses the woman and the crowd with a simple command, Go and sin no more.   (John 8:11)

Luke tells of the paralyzed man, placed in the presence of Jesus by his friends.   Seeing the faith of those friends, Jesus says,  Friend, your sins are forgiven.  

Later in the gospel,  a woman, described as a sinner bursts into the home of the Pharisee with whom Jesus is having dinner.  After she bathes the feet of Jesus and anoints them with ointment, after she shows hospitality and deep love for Jesus, he turns to her and says,  Your sins are forgiven.  (Luke 7:48)

In the OT, we are reminded of God’s bold forgiveness when he rescues a wayward Jonah from the belly of the whale and when he equips Moses to be a leader for  a people held captive in Egypt.   And we see that same forgiveness during the 40 year sojourn in the wilderness. God remains faithful to a people who repeatedly fall away from their faith.   God provides manna and quail and water for the people.  He forgives them when they hoard the daily manna and provides it again on the next day.  God renews the patience of Moses, their weary leader.   In the 34th chapter of  the OT book of Exodus, there is a remarkable affirmation of who God is,  The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. (Ex.  34:6-7)
The God whom we experience as loving and forgiving in the New Testament is a God who is loving and forgiving in the Old Testament. The God we experience throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments is one, consistent God.

Hymn  263  Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise

People
The way that God is represented in Scripture plays an important role in how we understand God.  But there are other factors that play roles as well.  One of those factors is the context in which Scripture was written.  We have to realize that Scripture was not written in a vacuum.  God used people as the means of revelation.  The only method that we have to attempt to understand God is through our intellect as human beings.  This intellect is naturally limited and flawed because we are human.  All of this is to say that in order to come to a better understanding of who God is and how God acts, we have to try to understand the people whom God has created...us.

The people of God in Scripture and the people of God today are people who live in constantly changing culture.  The Jews of the Old Testament, the Gentiles of the New Testament, and the myriad of people who call themselves Christians today view the world uniquely and therefore understand and describe God uniquely.

Despite the changing culture, God's people throughout the OT and the NT are a consistent people.  Though given everything that is needed for fullness of life, God’s people  are prone to sin.   It begins in the garden when the only thing off limits----the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil-----is the thing Adam and Eve most desire.   They fail to appreciate what God gives.  The people do not understand that God’s law is rooted in God’s love.  
They hoard God’s gifts and resist sharing.  They put God to the test, they hunger for more---for more food, more power, more recognition.  They create idols out of what gives--a golden calf in the Old Testament, and, in the NT, we can all relate to the rich man.  When told by Jesus that he must sell what he owns and give the money to the poor so that he will have treasure in  heaven ( Mk 10: 21), the man goes away grieving.  Of his money, the rich man has crafted an idol.  Perhaps, most devastatingly, the people of God throughout history, break the covenant God has established with them.   During our Bible Study at the officer’s retreat last month, your elders and deacons  were looking  together at a passage from Exodus, in which the Israelites are grumbling because they  feel as if God is not treating them fairly.   When asked the question, What do we learn about God’s people?, the almost immediate response was,  We learn they they are just like us.  Indeed, they are.  We take our place beside the stiff necked people of the OT and the those with hardened hearts in the NT.

God’s people, throughout the Old and New Testaments, and God’s people today, sin and fall short of the glory of God.

Just as God’s people throughout history fall short of God’s glory, they also demonstrate their ability to follow God faithfully.

Comfort: God’s people demonstrate many times their desire to be comforted and supported by God.  In the story that our Small Groups discussed this week the disciples find themselves in a storm-battered ship with a sleeping Jesus.  One of the people in my Small Group this week made an interesting observation.  He pointed out that when they saw their peril their first response was not to try to pump out water or abandon ship.  They immediately went to Jesus seeking aid and comfort.
In Psalm 88 the author cries over the destroyed city of Jerusalem begging for God’s comfort.  The author says: O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.  A passionate cry for comfort.

Chosen: The people of God across the ages also demonstrate their desire to be a people chosen by God.  In the beginning of Luke's gospel Mary responds to her conception by the Holy Spirit with a beautiful song which demonstrates her willingness to be chosen to do God's work.  When Jesus calls out to the disciples, they drop what they are doing in order to follow him.
The prophet Isaiah responds in a similar way when he is called to do God’s work. God asks, “Who will I send, and who will go for me?” and Isaiah responds by saying, “Here am I, send me!”
God’s people throughout history long for the relationship God has established with them.

Hymn 376  Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Covenant
Reformed theology is marked by its strong emphasis on covenant theology.  The covenant of grace, initiated by God with Abraham, is renewed by God throughout scripture.  This covenant is born of God’s deep and unchanging love for humanity.  It is marked by the powerful words of God, I will be your
God and you will be my people.

This this covenant of grace is made possible because it is rooted in God’s powerful love. This love is demonstrated in the many covenants that God makes in the Old Testament. After the destruction of the entire world in the flood of Noah's day, God places a rainbow in the sky and says, "I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendents...that never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. After Abraham chooses to follow God, the Lord made a covenant with him.

God makes covenants with most major figures of the Old Testament: Moses, David, Solomon, the prophets, and many others. All of these covenants were established and maintained despite many human failings because of God’s love.
And these were not the only covenants made by God.

THE NEW COVENANT
The covenant of grace is given new and richer meaning through the incarnation of God in the person of JX.  He, who came, full of grace and truth, to live among  us is the complete revelation of God.   Those who have known only in part, now begin to understand more fully.

FONT
This font is the place where we are accepted and grafted into the covenant community. We meet Christ in these waters. We’re reminded that God draws us into a relationship built upon love.

In the Sacrament of Baptism, the great and terrible God of the Old Testament and the loving and forgiving God of the New Testament become one in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the New Covenant.

TABLE
To this table, we, the covenant people of God,  bring our hunger for righteousness, our need for forgiveness, our fledgling commitment to our faith, our hopes for the future.  In the breaking of bread, in the pouring of the cup, faith is nurtured, hope restored, hungers fulfilled.  Jesus Christ is our host.   We come as those invited.

In the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the great and terrible God of the Old Testament and the loving and forgiving God of the New Testament become one in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the New Covenant.   

We worship the one God, fully revealed in Jesus Christ, who is
God of the Israelites
God of the Jews
God of the Gentiles
God of all creation.   Amen.

For God So Loved the World

The words of John 3:16 are some of the most recognizable words of Scripture. They are splattered across billboards, Facebook information pages, and signs at sporting events. When we picture this piece of Scripture in our heads, we are often reminded of loud preachers yelling about salvation and the coming of the end of times. Many Christians have even developed an aversion to this passage.

Yet, this is still a very important piece of Scripture. What does a faithful interpretation of this passage look like? How do we approach a text like this, or any text which is very well known, in a new and fresh way?

When we allow ourselves the freedom to explore this passage and its roots more, we come to find a passage that is deeply informative. In John 3:16-21 Christians find a call to true faith which is three things: inclusive, holy, and active.

INCLUSIVE

One of the reasons that many Christians react so negatively to this passage is because they feel it promotes exclusion. Throughout these verses it seems like the world is being separated into two camps: those who believe in Christ, and those who do not.

This creates an awkward moment, especially as we read it from our position in history, when the world is becoming a smaller place. We find ourselves interacting with good, loving people who believe different things than we do but whom we value.

Scholars believe that John was written for a very unique community. Members of this community had publically professed Jesus as Lord. They were, therefore, kicked out of the synagogues. Because the Gospel of John was primarily written for these people, we will call them the John Christians. There was another group of Christians who refused to profess Christ publically who remained in the synagogues. We will call them the Synagogue Christians.

The John Christians received a lot of pressure from the outside. As so often happens in such scenarios, they bonded together and drew inward to themselves. This created a paranoid feeling within that community, that they were together and that the rest of the world was out to get them.

If we go back to the beginning of the chapter, we find that Jesus is talking with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to Jesus in the middle of the night to learn from him. At a crucial moment in their meeting, Jesus says, "no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus replies to this as we might, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"

As we can see, this is the piece of Scripture that is commonly turned to when we think about "born again" Christians who've had specific conversion experiences. The characteristic of being born again is not necessarily a dangerous one, but Christians who align themselves with this concept tend to begin their conversations with the often heard "when were you saved?" My favorite response as a truly Reformed Presbyterian is "about 2,000 years ago." While the question is an honest one, it has come to be used in a somewhat exclusive way, implying that if you haven't had a certain experience, you are not truly Christian.

However, it's important not to give up on this passage yet. In fact, inclusion is one reason that this passage is so crucial, not a reason it should be avoided.

Raymond Brown describes part of the history of these John Christians when their community was expanded. This expansion brought in many Samaritans and Gentiles, people who were previously considered "outsiders." This inclusion meant that some of the language that the John Christians used was altered, and this becomes apparent in verses 16-17: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...that the world might be saved through him." Jesus' message is an inclusive one because he was sent for the entire world. This passage opens up God's grace to the whole world, not just those who belong to a certain group.

What does this inclusion look like? It could be as small as welcoming someone who doesn't usually sit at the same table or hang out in the same groups. It could be as big as a town bringing in refugees from a foreign country and making them feel at home in a safe space. It means welcoming the outsider. Inclusion can be seen as a political word, but one of the reasons it's important in this passage is because it is something all of us are capable of doing.

HOLY

We must not forget, that, as important as inclusion is, there are still conflicts which exist. An important aspect of the community of John Christians which produced this gospel was its conflict with the outside world.

Through the course of the conversation with Nicodemus, we also experience the conversation that the John Christians had with the outside world. Jesus and Nicodemus essentially act as symbolic representatives: Jesus represents the John Christians and Nicodemus represents the Synagogue Christians.

The Synagogue Christians come across as cowards, unwilling to profess their faith. Yet, consider the situation they were facing. They were facing an empire that only allowed certain people to not worship their Gods. One of these groups of people were Jews. Yet, since the John Christians were being kicked out of the synagogues they were expected to worship Roman gods. It was almost as dangerous for them to profess their faith to the Romans as it was for Jews in the 1940s to profess their faith to the Nazis.

This is the background to the curious conversation about the second birth. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that true faith requires a different birth. This birth is usually described as being "born again", but if we settle on this translation we are likely to make the same mistake that Nicodemus makes. This word refers to two things: being "born anew" indicating a change in the worldly sense, and being "born from above" indicating heavenly involvement. By only focusing on the earthy birth, Nicodemus and others like him are focusing on the human side of things and forgetting how God is involved.

The Synagogue Christians that they are essentially paying too much attention to the things of this world. They were so concerned with membership in the synagogue, that they were not willing to fully accept this birth from above publically.

What does it look like for us to accept God's new birth? Many of us are baptized when we are young, and go through confirmation when we are old enough to claim what we believe. This is when we accept our birth from above.

Yet there are other moments when we can recognize holiness. You know those moments in your life when God's presence just can't seem to be missed? You have to say to yourself, "God was watching out for me!" While we don't have that experience constantly, God is with us all the time. It is when we accept this birth from above and God's power in our lives that we are able to see God's presence at all times.

ACTIVE

In order to understand and live out this passage as best we can, it is important to note the significance of the word "believe". Every time that this word appears in these verses, and throughout John, it appears only in the verb form as "believe" rather than the noun form - "faith". While this seems like a small thing to point out, it makes a big difference. John scholar Sandra Schneiders says that, "For the Gospel of John, faith is not a spiritual acquisition or a state of being but an activity, an ever-active relationship in the present."

The John Christians saw faith as something which was demonstrated through an action rather than a noun. Believing is not something that just happens. It is not something that we earn and then have for the rest of our lives. Believing is something that takes action and effort. It's like the familiar hymn goes, "They will know we are Christians by our love." Not, "they will know we are Christians just because we have a Jesus fish on our bumper." Or, "They will know we are Christians because we told them so and isn't that good enough anyway." They will know we are Christians by our love - a demonstration of the calling that Jesus gave us to love one another and care for one another.

This is a call to us, here today, to align our actions with our beliefs. It is a call to treat those around us with the love that we have been shown by God.

The early Christians were calling others into active faith in Christ, and this calling rings true for us today. It is through an active living-out of eternal life that we demonstrate Christ's saving grace. We must ask ourselves: "How do we live out an active faith?"

By seeing this piece of Scripture for what it is, coming from the community from which it came, we can find new meaning. Rather than thinking God's grace is only for some, we see that Jesus came to save the whole world. Rather than seeing ourselves as the ones who earn salvation, we see that it is a holy gift from above. Rather than sitting back and resting assured that we are saved, we see that this gift of grace motivates us into an active faith.

This is not just the sloganized Scripture of sporting events and billboards, it is a defining message for our lives. This is a piece of Scripture that calls us to recognize the grace we experience as a gift from God. To recognize that this gift is intended for the whole world and we are called to active discipleship. Amen.

Ash Wednesday Sermon on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

As we begin this Lent season, we are bombarded by the familiar onslaught of the numerous things that people are planning to give up for Lent. I have seen a variety of funny, scary, and downright confusing things which people are planning to halt for Lent. Some people choose to give up soda for Lent. Some people choose to give up fast food for Lent. Some people even vow to stay away from the most difficult temptations of them all, the temptation that surely would have made even Jesus stray: chocolate. Lent is coming across more and more as a group dieting time than church season.

But food is not the only thing people give up. Some people choose to ride their bikes to work. Some people decide to walk when they are able to. Even the Pope seems to be getting into the giving up spirit with his resignation this week!

But not everyone gives something up, some people chose to add things. They add a workout routine. They add a weekly phone call to a loved one. They may even add a daily prayer.

Why do we do all of this adding and taking away during Lent? Although Scripture does not specifically mention Lent, we draw our understanding about how Lent works from a few different passages. The reason that Lent lasts for 40 days (not including Sundays) is because we are remembering a number of events from the Bible which reference the number 40. There were 40 days and nights of rain that caused the flood of Noah's day.  The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before they found the Promised Land.  And there were the 40 days which Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted after his baptism. The common thread among all three of these events is that they were challenging times for God’s people, and at the end of that time, we are reminded that God is the one in control of all things.  These time frames of 40s reminded God's people that they owe their faith and allegiance to God.

These times of struggle tell us about when, in our religious past, when we have been reminded of who it is that rules our lives. These times helped people focus on God and encouraged them to set aside the things of this world.

This brings us to our passage and to Jesus' description of devotion during the Sermon on the Mount. It is from this passage that we discover the roots of some of our other Lenten practices. Jesus talks about alms-giving, about praying, and about fasting. Jesus discusses these three practices, but he doesn't just point them out as good things to do, he indicates where the true power of these practices resides.

Jesus is encouraging us to perform these practices, but he is telling us to do so in secret. His point is not that we shouldn't do Christ's work in public, but rather that praying and fasting and giving offerings in secret helps us focus on the meaning of the action rather than the performance of it. We often get caught up in how important it is to do these things that we can forget that the importance of them is the meaning and result.

This is why Jesus says about the hypocrites "they have received their reward". In other words, they have achieved what they set out to do - they have been seen doing good things and they are looked up to for it. But these aren’t the results for which Christ calls us to work.

When we pray, the result is that God hears our prayers, not that we look pious. When we give offerings, the result is that God's work can be extending to those in need, not that we look generous. When we fast, the result is that we gain a greater appreciation for God's presence in our lives, not that we seem holy (or lose weight).

So should we be adding things, or should we be subtracting things? Is Lent a season about restriction, or is it a season of commitment? The answer is that it can be both, because it is really about neither. Lent is a season for reorientation.

The three practices that Jesus emphasized are helpful to aid us in our reorientation. Fasting is intended to help us focus on ourselves - on our behavior and on our commitments, the things that we feel are important. Almsgiving is intended to help us focus on others - on the needs of those around us which we may be able to relieve. And praying is intended to focus our thoughts on God and remind us of God's presence in our lives. We can use these practices - in whatever format we find them. For example, if giving up some kind of food helps you reorient your focus on your personal devotion or on God and those around you, it is an effective practice. But how do we know what kind of reorientation we need?

In our passage, Jesus says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I've heard this phrase many times, but I've always thought that it is kind of an ambiguous, abstract thought. There will my heart be? I think the reason this saying comes across as strange is because we think of the heart as the center of our emotions and our affections. The heart is where we think our love lies.  This may ring some bells with Valentine's Day coming up tomorrow. The day of love. We cut out little red hearts and give them to our sweeties to show that they are our true love and that we have strong feelings for them.

But love is one of those emotions that we can't quite put our fingers on. It's something that we can't really define, which makes this passage inaccessible. But in Jesus' time the heart was looked at differently. The heart was thought of as the center of a person's thought, conscience, and will - more like what we would think of as the brain. The heart was thought of as the center of a person's entire orientation, what they focused on, who they appeared to be, their personality. These things are a little less abstract.

Jesus is saying that we value most, the things that we spend our time on, indicate what we find as important at our very core. The things that we feel are important indicate who we are.

This reminds me of that common adage that if you want to see what is important to someone, look at where their money goes. But in this case, money stands in for our passions and our pursuits. These are the treasures that Jesus is talking about. The things that we invest our time and our energy into are the treasures to which Jesus refers.

What is it that you invest your time and your energy in? What activities in your day are the most important to you, the ones that you spend the most time or the most focus on? What are the things that you might just call your hobby or your diversion and what are the things that you would say are the things you truly care about? Are the things that you really care about objects, possessions, assets or are they people, relationships, loved ones?

Lent is the opportunity we have as a church to ask ourselves these questions. This is the opportunity we have during the year to be honest with ourselves. When we add things or take things away, we are not trying to come across as pious or devoted. We aren't trying to look like we have our act together. We are admitting that we don’t have our act together. We are trying to reevaluate what it is that we are focusing on.

We can use these Lent practices to discover if our treasures are being well invested. We can use this season to try to discover whether these things are suitable locations for our most valuable treasure - the short time we have on this earth.

When we impose ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday we say these words: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return. I invite us to consider the meaning of these words. Our time and our focus and our devotion are precious treasures because they are limited. We have such a short time on this earth to enjoy God’s creation and to try to do God’s work. Consider whether your limited treasure - your time, your focus, your devotion - is being invested in places that truly demonstrate, to you and to God, who you are. Let us all take this season to truly ask ourselves if our thoughts, our consciences, and our wills are directed towards God. Maybe our reorientation can guide us to lives which are more focused on God’s kingdom.

Saying Goodbye

One of the customs that my wife and I have begun is the strenuous task of watching TV shows. I didn't really watch much TV when I was growing up because my siblings were too busy bothering me all of the time. But Claire and I spend time together relaxing and watching TV shows and talking about them.

Most of the TV shows we watch are on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want (The West Wing, Friends, etc.). But we've been watching Downton Abbey and we've caught up so that I now have to wait before I know what happens.

I have been engrossed by the plot lines of this particular show, and the episode we watched this past Sunday particularly drew my attention. I'm going to try not to post any spoilers, but be aware that I'm pretty bad about spoiling TV shows. In the episode one of the characters falls sick and dies. After the person dies one of the main characters is shown saying goodbye. She takes a special moment to kiss the deceased person on the forehead and say "goodbye".

As I watched this scene I was reminded of the times in my own life when I have said goodbye to a loved one, whether it was a permanent goodbye or a temporary one.

I have been blessed to have had a chance to, in one way or another, say goodbye to three of my four grandparents. All of the moments in my life when I had the chance to say goodbyes to the ones I loved were painful at the time, but they are moments that I now treasure. Having the chance to look into the face of someone for whom we truly care and say a meaningful goodbye, even if they cannot return the gaze, is something that far too few people have. I believe that saying goodbye is an important part of our relationships with one another.

There was a patient who came into the emergency room while I was working in Richmond. This man had fallen from a high place and was not identified. As he was being cared for in the emergency room his condition worsened and he passed away. As I was standing there watching a man I did not know depart this life I noticed that he had a wedding ring on his finger. Because we were not able to identify this man we had no way to contact any loved ones. I remember offering up a prayer at that moment for this man's loved ones who did not have the chance to say goodbye.

The last goodbyes are not the only ones we say. We use this word so often in our lives that it becomes one that is mundane. Every time we part company, we find ourselves saying goodbye. I think that this is a great thing because this word can feel so casual, yet it can also be very meaningful. I have to think that these is a reason that the word "good" is part of our process of departing. It is a wish that the person we are leaving will be kept well and cared for, but I think it is also a little hint of the value we give one another. When I say goodbye, I can't help but think that the time we have had together has been good, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. There is something "good" about "goodbye" - it says that we have had a chance to share our moments with someone who has helped us make them precious.

Called - Sermon from 1/13/2013

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Does this man make you want to jump right in?

I'm going to say it right at the get go: John the Baptist is scary. Every time John the Baptist comes into a narrative in the Gospels, he seems to be condemning people left and right, calling people broods of vipers, and making scary threats. Not to mention the fact that he's usually described as eating next to nothing and wearing an odd assortment of clothes. I don't know about you, but he's just not the reassuring picture of someone who was sent to preach good news.

John's purpose in this story, and in general, is to prepare the way for the Messiah. That is John's calling. How does he do this? He tells the people that they must repent of their sins and be ready for Jesus. As scary as John seems, the verses right before our passage today are ones of hope. When asked what the people must do to repent, John's requirement is basic: share with one another and treat each other with the respect that is due to you. Does this sound familiar, maybe like something Christ would say? John fulfills his calling by preaching the good news that Christ would continue. Enter Jesus for his baptism.

The passage says that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove and God spoke directly to Jesus. Now, if that is not a sign from above, I do not know what is! This is where we get to see the calling of Jesus, and how appropriate that it happens right after his baptism. As Jesus prays, God says, "You are my Son. You are beloved, with you I am well pleased." This is God's way of calling Jesus. This is God's way of affirming that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah and that he will be the salvation of all.

But this was not just a gentle affirmation. This was a calling. This was going to be the toughest thing CHrist had ever done. Jesus left from this baptism to be tempted in the wilderness, to be rejected by his community, and, eventually, to his death on a cross. Being claimed as the Son of God meant that Jesus was being led to his ministry, and the Holy Spirit was evidence of God’s presence in the midst of all of this.

A call is as true for us as it was for Jesus. Our baptism may not have looked the same, but in our baptism we are also claimed by God. God says to us, "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased." When we are claimed as children of God, this in itself is a kind of calling. We are called to live lives that witness to this gift of grace. I guess the big question, and the one that it seems like we all ask ourselves is “How do we figure out what God is calling us to be?”

Jesus demonstrates one way in this passage. After his baptism, he prays to God. He takes time to consider his heavenly Father. This is when God speaks to him in Luke. It is through prayer that Jesus hears God’s call and it is during prayer that the Holy Spirit becomes a force in his life.

I truly believe that prayer is a way for us to discern God’s call for our lives. Just this last week I emailed someone to ask them to participate in an activity because I believed she was well suited for it. Her response was, “I’m not really sure that I’m well suited for this. I really need to pray about it.” I thought that was such an incredible answer. She took the time to turn to God and ask God, “Is this really something you are calling me to do? Is this how you want me to share your love?”

She really struggled with the situation. But she described it as a sense of peace that settled over her when she decided to follow this call.

Another way that I think we follow God’s call for our lives is described by theologian and Presbyterian pastor Frederick Buechner. He describes answering a call as taking up our vocation. He says that the place that God calls us to is where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. I would describe our deep gladness as our passions, the things we find important, the things in which we find true meaning and enjoyment.

This is how we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit calls to us and creates within us deep passions which fuel and motivate us. By following these things which make us truly happy, we find fulfillment in the things that we do which have an impact on those around us. This is how we follow God’s call. And it all starts with baptism.

Scripture gives us a neat image to think of the Spirit’s guidance in our lives. John the Baptist talks about the winnowing fork and the wheat and the chaff. All of this seems somewhat foreign to us, but it is a cool image. A winnowing fork was basically like a pitch fork. The farmer wanted to separate useful wheat from the useless husks and straw. So the farmer would toss all of the grain up in the air, and the wind would blow the lighter chaff separate from the heavier grain. This way, the useful wheat could be separated and stored.

This reminds me of the movement of the Spirit in our lives. It is the Spirit’s movement in our lives that separates our calling, or deep passion. It is only through the blowing of the Spirit that we are able to discern what is most important to us. And this movement starts with baptism.

As I have been thinking and reading about baptism, I came across a story. I don’t remember who told the story, but we will call her Delpha. Delpha tells the story of her baptism in a pond near their church. Being a Baptist, this particular baptism involved full immersion when she was a teenager. She and the others who were being baptized went down to the river with white robes on symbolizing being washed clean of sin in the waters of baptism, the cleansing power of God’s grace. Well the pastors were in the pond dipping people as they came into the water and then sending them back out. And Delpha started to notice something about the people as they came out. People went in with white robes on, and came out covered in mud, stinking to high heavens. Turns out the pond that this church used happened to also be a pond with a pleasant mixture of mud and manure as it was frequented by livestock. This seems like an unfortunate location for a baptism.

So the people would go in all white, the pastor would say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” and dip them under the water. They would emerge sputtering and covered in mud. When it was Delpha’s turn she wadded into the pond making that squelching sound your feet make when they sink down in the mud and you have to pull real hard to pry them out. The pastor said the words and dipped her under the water, she came out sputtering with her white robe covered in nasty, smelly mud.

I can just imagine all of these newly baptized people walking out of this little pond covered in mud thinking, “This does not look the way I thought it was going to! What did I sign up for?”

But I think this is such a cool image for baptism. The people baptized in that pond that day were being (fingers) “washed clean” from sin. Yet when they came out of the waters, they were anything but clean. When Jesus emerged from his baptism, he emerged into a world that would condemn and kill him. When we emerge from our baptism, the call that we hear is not to a world that is bleached and starched and pearly white. It is not to a world that is perfect. We emerge from baptism and we are called to service for the Lord in a world that is covered in mud. A world that is filled with brokenness, mistrust, sadness and sorrow. We are  called into a world where the hurts seem endless and the pain can feel even worse.

But, we are called.

None of these things are a surprise to us. We are not surprised that there is so much wrong with the world, and the hope that we find is that God’s Spirit descends. God calls us beloved and issues our call. In fact, I think we know that God has called us, in part, because the world is such a broken place. God has called us because the broken world needs us.

I have a confession: I am a Lord of The Rings fan. It is a wonderful fantasy series written by J.R.R. Tolkien. I remember a quote by Gandalf, a character of wisdom in the book, in response to the despair of a broken world. Another character says to him, “I wish that none of this had happened.” Gandalf says, “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

This is how we answer God’s call, by deciding to follow the guidance of the Spirit and by working for change in the world.

And so I ask you, what are your deepest passions? Where do they meet the deepest hunger, the deepest needs of this world? Where are you called to do God’s work?

May we encounter God in our prayer and in our lives. May God’s Spirit descend upon us as a dove creating within us a deep passion to live out God’s love. And may we go from this place, a people hearing and following God’s call in every way. Amen.

Out with the old, in with the new.

As it is the new year now with many exciting new things, I began to reflect on new things. What is new, and what value we give these new things? I'm sure that it is no surprise that our culture seems fascinated by new things. We are excited by new developments, we want to here the "new" news, and we want the newest products, sometimes simply for the fact that they are new. Many large corporations are able to capitalize on this desire for new things.

I have found myself using the "new" word quite a bit the last few weeks. I catch myself in many an introduction saying, "I'm the new associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Albemarle." While this is an accurate description, at some point I will no longer be the "new" associate pastor. This is not part of my permanent identity.

While our culture seems to be excited and enthused about new things, the opposite is often true about old things. We are hesitant to rely upon things that are old rather than on things that are new. We see old things as in need of replacement by new things.


As I think about the push and pull of old and new, a sermon from one of my mentors comes to mind. His name is Andrew Taylor-Troutman and he published an excellent book called Take My Hand: A Theological Memoir. The book highlights sermons from his first year of ministry at New Dublin Presbyterian Church (here is a link to his blog). In his first sermon in his new church, Andrew describes the intricate balance between the old and the new that is essential to church life. The past and its traditions are important for the present and should be respected. However, the past should also not be worshiped at the cost of losing our hopes for a changing future.

This balance of tradition and innovation is an important part of our church. We have an extensive and rich tradition which needs to play a part of our lives as people of the great cloud of witnesses that is the church. Yet, especially for people of the Reformed tradition, we feel the need to remain applicable to the changing world around us. This is a balance that defines us and informs our worship, celebration, and faithfulness.

While I am primarily concerned with this balance in my daily planning of worship and church life, this balance has taken on new life for me recently. It has also been fresh in my mind as I have experienced the debates regarding the second amendment over the last days and weeks. In particular, I have heard various camps arguing about what the founding fathers meant or what they didn't mean when they wrote those 27 words. To me, this issue, especially in light of the many recent shootings in our country, can be considered in light of our balance between the old and the new. It is important for us to recognize the tradition of this second amendment while at the same time considering the time and place in which we find ourselves today.

If we allow ourselves the luxury and challenge of this balance between the old and the new, I believe we will be able to honor the tradition which we love and respect while at the same time accepting the challenges that modern life presents. I do not claim to know what this looks like, but it is a challenge that I believe requires thoughtfulness and respect. As Andrew says in the close of his sermon, "Let us pray to strike a balance between the old and the new. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to bring new life and maintain tradition." Amen.

The emotions of Christmas

The church does a joint Sunday School on Fifth Sundays. I was asked to do an introduction to the topic of "Keeping Christmas." Here are my thoughts. Keep in mind they accompany group reflection.

There is a huge let-down after Christmas. Many stores are closed. All of the presents have been given, all the stories have been told, all of the cookies have been eaten.

The holidays feel totally over and as often as it feels like a relief to have gotten through all of the stress and anxiety of the holidays, it also feels a little sad.

The excitement of Advent and Christmas filled up this big balloon, and Christmas is when the balloon popped and those days were exciting and fun and loud. But now the balloon has been popped and it lays, deflated on the ground.

How do we keep up the excitement of Christmas? We are so energized at Christmas and we have this whole “peace on earth” attitude going. There is a strong desire to give to others. How we capture that after Christmas and hold that throughout the year?

First of all, the secular world wants us to get over Christmas. As soon as the 26^th hits, the after-Christmas sales begin as does the ramp up to New Years. The secular world has its own liturgical season, and this matches up with Advent well. We both approach Christmas with lots of anticipation and excitement. But once Christmas is over, that’s it.

This is not the case for Christians, because, for us, Christmas lasts until Epiphany on January 6^th. Christmas is not just the celebration of one day, it’s part of season in the liturgical calendar. That’s why we can get away with coming to worship the Sunday after Christmas and singing a bunch of carols.

But we’re looking at making the feeling of Christmas last, not just the season. I know that you’re going to be surprised, but in cases like this, I find it helpful to turn to Scripture.

Luke 2:41-51.

Now every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

As I read this passage, I see that it gives us a method to approach the time immediately following Christmas. This is a story about Jesus getting left behind in Jerusalem when he and his parents make their yearly pilgrimage to the town. It’s kind of a surprising story, but it has some instructive parts. Notice the feelings, emotions, and actions in the story. They are strong.

Mary and Joseph as they searched – great anxiety.

When Jesus’ parents find him after searching for three days – astonished.

Everyone who heard Jesus – amazed.

When Jesus talked – understanding versus not understanding

Mary – treasured all these things in her heart.

When we read this story, we see a lot of the emotions that we might imagine as we read the birth story.

There was an incredible amount of uncertainty on the part of Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the magi, Herod…everyone was anxious.

There was certainly astonishment – the shepherds, Joseph, Mary.

Some people in the stories seemed to understand what was happening, while many of the characters didn’t understand.

This passage ends the same way that the visit of the shepherds does in Luke. Mary treasured all these things in her heart.

I think that this passage is telling us that our faith and the way we live after Christmas should look the way it does as we prepare for Christ in advent. We are being told to experience the same emotions after Christmas that we do – these emotions of anxiety, astonishment, treasuring. To feel the same way about our lives after Christmas as we do before, we can follow the Biblical method – fill ourselves with the emotions we experience at Christmas throughout the entire year.

How do we do that?

Return our thoughts to the four weeks of Advent – Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. =

By revisiting these four themes, we can discover a method for reviving these emotions within us. These themes can stir the feelings of anxiety, astonishment, sometimes a lack of understanding. They can give us life.