September 27, 2020 - How Do We Fix What Is Broken?

 

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This morning’s message is not the one I had planned to offer for today.  My original message was one from the series What Did Jesus Do, with the title, He Took Time to Rest and Recharge.  On Wednesday afternoon, as I was walking across the parking lot at the Serenity Center, I looked at my watch and it was 1:30, the time of the press conference of our state’s Attorney General.  People had been waiting many weeks for that moment, and it was not only the city of Louisville that had been on edge as they waited; the entire nation had been on edge, wondering not only about the decision but also about the reaction to the decision.  The question that came to my mind in that moment, as I thought about all the many difficulties of this year, was, how do we fix what is broken?  Among the many things this year has made obvious, in my opinion, is that we are people, a nation, and a world, that are broken.  How do we fix what is broken?

     

Sometimes, then, events dictate that another message is in order.  The unrest in Louisville, related to the death of Breonna Taylor, is one more in a series of traumas we have faced this year, and we still have three months to go.  Who knows what else might come our way in this strange, difficult year?

     

I want to acknowledge my awareness of the many landmines that await me in this message. There are many ways in which a message like this can go wrong.  You might hear what I am not saying.  I might say what I do not realize I am saying.  I can reveal my own ignorance about the issues we are facing.  I can fail to understand that what I say overlooks the experience of others.  My words can push upon divides that already exist, threatening to deepen them even further. Someone can rightly ask, why didn’t you say this or that?  Why didn’t you support this or that group?  Why didn’t you speak about this injustice?  There are more than a few holes in what I have to say.  I know there will be ample opportunities for hearers and readers to say, yes, but…. It would be simpler to not preach such a message.

     

I believe, however, that in this difficult year of 2020 we must face our brokenness, a brokenness that already existed, but has been aggravated by the many challenges that have come our way.  As we have moved through 2020, I have done my best to offer messages that speak to where we have found ourselves.  I don’t know how successful or helpful they have been.  There are times I have thought it would be simpler to ignore what has happened this year, but that would be an unfortunate course of action.

     

My goal in this particular message is not to get into the politics of all that has taken place this year, but to ask the deeper questions of how we can learn to better understand one another, how we can fear one another less, and how we can bridge the divides that have grown so greatly between us.

     

Our Scripture text for this morning is one I often use at funerals and memorial services. It comes from II Corinthians 4:6-9. Follow along with me as I read that passage – 

 

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 

⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

 

I like the image that Paul uses of a jar of clay.  Such a container is fragile and easily broken.  It makes an apt metaphor, then, of our lives.  We are inhabitors of a very fragile vessel – the human body – and it is one that is easily damaged and broken.  Sometimes that damage and brokenness heals over time.  A broken bone, for instance, can not only heal, but become stronger after it has healed.  In other instances, however, healing might struggle to take place. When the fracture is emotional, spiritual, or psychological, that fracture is very difficult to heal, and can stay with us for the rest of our lives.

     

We also inhabit the larger body of humanity, and it too is a very fragile vessel. The vessel that comprises our community, our state, and our nation, had already been showing cracks, and now those cracks are beginning to pull further apart this fragile vessel we inhabit.  As we have lurched from one crisis to another, we have become a tinderbox that seems to be one match away from a raging flame.

     

We must work to prevent further cracks in that jar of clay.  If we do not, the jar becomes further diminished, and increasingly broken, until it is less able to hold the treasure given to us by God.

     

In thinking about all that has happened, here is what I have to offer – 

 

1.  Stop yelling at one another and start listening to one another.

     

So many conversations today quickly turn into exercises in division.  People immediately go to their respective political, social, and religious corners and begin yelling or dismissing one another. Whether in person or on social media, we seem to be mostly yelling at one another, demonizing one another, or talking past each other.  Too many people seem more concerned about scoring points by putting down someone else, or by criticizing them, or by telling them how little they know or how foolish they are.  After only a few moments, we begin talking past one another, over one another, and then dismissing one another.

     

We need to listen to one another.  We need to stop telling others how they feel or how they should feel.  I cannot speak for the experience of another person, so I must listen when they seek to tell me what they have experienced in their life. I need to hear it as their experience, not as a threat to me, or to my way of life, or to my beliefs.  

     

Time after time, Jesus listened to people.  He did not lecture them or dismiss them.  He did not tell them how they should be feeling.  He listened.  He listened to their stories of pain, of loss, and of heartbreak. People loved Jesus for many reasons, and one reason was because he listened to them.

     

What if we chose to stop our knee-jerk judgments of one another and instead became still, and listened?  As has been said, God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason – he wants us to listen twice as much as we speak.

     

When we fail to listen, the jar of clay that is humanity begins to crack a bit more, and the treasure held within begins to seep out, spilling into the ground, and becomes increasingly difficult to recover.

 

2.  Put down our pointed fingers and open our arms to embrace one another.

     

There is so much anger in our world now, and I understand that there is a great deal about which to be angry.  If we aren’t angry about the things that are taking place in our world today, we are not paying attention, or worse, we don’t care.  But the anger that is so ubiquitous today is one that is far too often misplaced.  It is an anger that is turned towards one another rather than the problems that we face. 

     

People are living within systems that too often perpetuate injustices, trapping people in difficult lives and dehumanizing them.  Instead of working to reform those systems, we too often turn on one another and blame one another.  We focus our anger on those who we believe are out to take something from us, and that anger is now eating us alive.

     

The symbol of our times is, increasingly, a pointed finger or a shaking fist, but what if it was instead that of arms open wide in a willing embrace?  Imagine if we opened our arms, our lives, and our hearts to one another.  Imagine if, instead of yelling in anger at one another, we simply stood, with arms open wide, ready to embrace one another, no matter how different we might be?

     

Every parent knows there is a time to embrace their child.  When a child falls down and suffers an injury, we wrap our arms around them and hold them.  We don’t yell at them, we don’t lecture them, and we don’t scold them, because that is not what they need in that moment.  We comfort them.  We reassure them. We tell them it will be all right.  

     

Jesus opened his arms in an embrace of all people.  He wept over the city of Jerusalem, saying through his tears that if you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes(Luke 19:41-42).  We still do not seem to know what will bring us peace.  We too often believe that violence will bring peace. We have opposing groups in the streets, armed with weapons, as though such weapons could ever bring peace.

     

The only weapon to use against violence, anger, and hatred is the loving embrace of one another.  It is neither an accident nor happenstance that Jesus was crucified with his arms stretched open wide.  The Romans might have seen that as a more effective way to inflict suffering, but what they did not know was the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross was a perfect symbol for his life, his ministry, and his death.  

     

When we fail to embrace one another, the jar of clay that is humanity begins to crack a bit more, and the treasure held within begins to seep out, spilling into the ground, and becomes increasingly difficult to recover.

 

3.  Stop attacking one another and start attack the problems.

     

We too often fail to understand that others are not the enemy.  It is, sadly, a tragedy that our language increasingly expresses our belief that others are indeed the enemy.  In politics – and even in religion – we hear people talk of the need to defeatothers, or of the need to vanquishthem, as though they were an army of invaders rather than our brothers and our sisters.  We are all God’s children, which make us one family, and yet here we are in these times, seeing one another as enemies.  Lest we forget, Jesus told us we are to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), and when we love our enemies, it is impossible for them to remain so defined.  But in political halls and even in pulpits across our land we hear words of attack on one another rather than upon the problems we face.

     

The systems of power pit us against one another, in ways that we do not always realize or understand or even see.  The systems of power, and economics, have created neighborhoods where people are deemed as suspicious simply because they live there.  Sometimes, we ask why people don’t move from those neighborhoods, but we do not realize the way that economic systems trap people in neighborhoods and in the problems those systems have created.      

     

When we attack one another, rather than our problems, the jar of clay that is humanity begins to crack a bit more, and the treasure held within begins to seep out, spilling into the ground, and becomes increasingly difficult to recover.

 

4.  Stop fearing one another and start loving one another.

     

We are told to be afraid of those who will take away what we have, or to be afraid of those who will keep us from getting what we want.  We are told to fear those who look, think, or believe differently from us.  Those false proclamations about others seep into our hearts and minds, so much so that when we see those who are different from us, we react instinctively in fear. We cross the street to the other side to avoid them and stay away from certain neighborhoods, allowing that fear to widen the chasms between us.  Without realizing it, our fears, spoken or unspoken, are passed on to succeeding generations, allowing fear to transmit like a virus even more threatening than the one that has enveloped our world.  The end result is that we become too far apart to see just how alike we really are. 

     

Why are we so afraid of those who are different from us?  Why must we insist that everyone become as we think they should be?  The truth is, we might look, think, and believe differently, but we all love our families. We all want to be free.  We all want to pursue a life that will allow us to provide for our families.  But when we begin to close the chasms between us, those forces of fear intervene, themselves fearing that if we see how much we are alike, they will no longer be able to exploit us for their own gain.

     

When we fail to stop fearing one another, and begin loving one another, the jar of clay that is humanity begins to crack a bit more, and the treasure held within begins to seep out, spilling into the ground, and becomes increasingly difficult to recover.

     

On Wednesday, Tanya and I received a card in the mail from a friend.  The card is printed with an excerpt from the final words of Congressman John Lewis, titled Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation.  Congressman Lewis was also an ordained minister, and his words carry the cadence of a great sermon.

 

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.  In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

 

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21^stcentury, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war.  So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

     

Let us pledge that we will be people of reconciliation as Paul charged us to be (II Corinthians 5:18-21); let us pledge to be people of peace and love, as Jesus charged us to be; and in so doing, may the jar of clay

 created by God contain fewer cracks and thus hold tighter to the treasure that God has placed therein, and in doing so, fix what is broken.

 

September 20, 2010 - What Did Jesus Do? He Told Us Not To Worry

 

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When I have the opportunity to visit a church on a Sunday any time I am away, a number of questions go through my mind, as not only a worshipper, but as an observer.  Chief among the questions are, if I sat in the congregation every week, what would I want to hear, and, more importantly, what would I needto hear?  That has been an especially present question on my mind through these months of pandemic, and the question of what we need to hear has very much guided me in the preparation of sermons during these months.

     

As we continue the series What Did Jesus Do, we come to a passage that struck me as an incredibly obvious passage for this time, and it is the passage in which Jesus tells us not to be anxious or to worry.

     

Um, right.  Who has been worrying?  Anybody? Of course not!  Who has been anxious?  Anybody?  Of course not!  We’ve got it all perfectly together, don’t we?  No problems at all.

     

Well, in all honesty, we’ve had more than our share of worry and anxiety through these months.  Follow along as I read from Matthew 6:25-34 – 

 

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 

30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

When I read that first verse –therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?I can’t help but think about how those words play out in my family.  Do not worry about what you will eat, for instance.  For Tanya, eating is mostly a utilitarian act.  I enjoy eating; Tanya eats because it is necessary to eat.  But occasionally, she does get excited about food, and on those days, she will come home from work and say, I had such a good lunch today, which is my cue to ask, what did you have for lunch today?  And she will say, I had a grape, a piece of lettuce, and 3 Goldfish crackers, and it was so good!  What did you have for lunch today?  My response is, I had a box of Oreos, a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, and I drank an entire 2 liter of Coke. And it was sooo good, and it was sooo much better than that sad little lunch you had! And for somebody who doesn’t really care about food, the first question she generally asks me in the mornings is, what do you want to do about dinner?  When she asks me that question, I’m still stumbling around with sleep in my eyes while she’s already been up for a while (she gets up before 5:00 a.m.).  I don’t think very well first thing in the morning, so I’ll ask, well, do we have any leftover Oreos or Krispy Kremes?  And when it comes to what to wear, there’s another real contrast.  This afternoon, as she does every Sunday afternoon, Tanya will open her closet and pick out all of her clothes for the entire week, and then she will iron all those outfits, hang them on the inside of her closet door, and put out all the accessories and the shoes needed for each outfit.  It is an amazing feat of organization, and a lot of work.  It’s much simpler for me.  Tomorrow morning I will look in my close and know that it’s Monday.  That’s the day I wear my green polo and khakis.  And it’s green.  Not avocado. Not emerald.  Not viridescent.  Green. It’s Tuesday.  That’s the day I where my blue polo and khakis.  It’s Wednesday.  That’s the day I wear my red polo and Khakis.  Tanya often asks what it is with men and khakis.  When you wear khakis every day, you’ve already reduced your decision-making by half, and that’s a big win in my book.  

     

A friend of mine has told me time and again that the words of Jesus in verse 34 – take no thought for the morrow(he likes to use the King James Version) – may be the most important of all the words of Jesus.  Each time I’ve heard my friend make the statement about the importance of those words I’ve bristled a bit, because I do such a lousy job of living out those words that I’d prefer to push them further down the list, but I know they belong at least in the top 10, and maybe the top 5.  Maybe the top 3.  Maybe even the top 2.

     

Now, I want you to notice something very important about this passage.  What does Jesus tell us not to worry about?  Tomorrow.  He does not say do not worry about today.  Have you ever noticed that?  I believe Jesus acknowledges, when he says to not worry about tomorrow, that there are many matters in life that provide genuine cause for worry and anxiety.  Today. Jesus is notsaying that we should not worry; he is, I believe, recognizing the reality of our worry about many matters in life, but tells us that we should not put upon ourselves more worry that we need or can manage.

     

What I am not going to do this morning is offer you a three or four step plan that guarantees you will never again worry. That is totally and completely unrealistic.  Totally and completely.  Instead, I will speak more to what I would call worry and anxiety management, and I will offer three categories to which I will briefly speak – Perspective, Control, and Action.

 

1.  Perspective.

     

When Jesus says, in that first verse, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?he is offering a warning to not raise our worry about the necessities of life to a level that is higher than is deserved.  It is important to note that Jesus is absolutelynottelling us that having food and clothing – the necessities of life – is not important.  What he is saying is that many of us have those needs of life in either adequate or abundant amounts.  When we have enough, then, we should not become so obsessed with our concern over those elements of life that we forget about the needs of others.

     

Here is what we must remember about worry and anxiety – it turns us inward, and if we are worried about not having enough of the basics of life – even if we have more than enough – our attention is diverted from the ways in which we can help other people who truly do not have enough of the necessities of life.

     

Our perspective, as followers of Jesus, should not be only about ourselves, but about others.  All throughout the gospels, Jesus speaks of the need to care for those who are in need. 

 

Matthew 25:31-46 is the great example –  

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

but it is found in the parables as well, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 –  

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ ²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ ³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”, 

 

the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8 – 

¹Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”, 

 

the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 – 

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”, 

 

and on we could go.  This calling is echoed throughout the letters of the New Testament as well, such as Philippians 2:1-4 – 

¹Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

     

I am grateful to not have to worry about what to eat or what to wear. In fact, the worry I have is what to eat out of all the choices I have, and what to wear out of a similar bounty of choices.  But others are not so fortunate, and if I elevate my concerns to an unreasonable level, my perspective becomes turned into myself and away from the very pressing needs of those who are not so fortunate.

 

2.  Control.

     

I really love the Serenity Prayer.  For years I had a medallion on my keychain that had the prayer etched on it.  It belonged to my father, then it was passed on to me, and a while back I passed it on to Nick.  You know that prayer, I’m sure. Written by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, sometime in the early 1930s, it says – God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.  Simple and to the point, it offers us some important truths. It tells us, for one, that not everything is within our control.  In fact, we all understand that a great deal of life is not under our control, and that is one of the reasons why we experience so much worry and anxiety, isn’t it? 

     

To some extent, every one of us is a control freak. Do you agree?  If you don’t agree, you’re most likely a realcontrol freak, because true control freaks are generally in denial.  In fact, I can be such a control freak that I often have to fold and place the towels in our linen closet in a particular way.  I have been very proud that I am learning to not rearrange them if Tanya puts the towels in the closet, because she does it wrong.  Are any of you that much of a control freak?  Thank you to the few who are willing to cautiously raise their hands – it’s good to know I’m not alone!  

     

All of us want to control our surroundings, our circumstances, and almost every facet of life.  And don’t feel there is anything wrong with you for wanting to be in control because it is one of the most natural states of being human.  We aren’t able to control much of what happens to us in life, so that is why we become obsessed with controlling things such as how towels are placed in a closet.  We simply cannot control much of life.  We have no power over market downturns that wreck a retirement plan or portfolio, we have no control over the downsizing or closing of the company for which we work and the impact it has on our family’s finances.  We can work hard to care for our health, but we cannot control the reality of living in the midst of a pandemic (although we can wear masks and take other precautions, which helps to keep others and ourselves safer), so for those of us who are control freaks, we have really been challenged this year. 

     

Jesus spoke to an audience of people who had very little control over their lives.  They struggled mightily for their daily existence.  Their life span was not very long.  Almost half of the children born in the time of Jesus did not live to the age of 10 years old.  To live to my age would have been quite an accomplishment.  They did not have the time or the resources to take vacations or to enjoy even a few luxuries in life.  They had no real conveniences in life.  They had no control over their political destiny, as Rome controlled everything. They did not have the opportunity to elect their leaders.  Okay, maybe they were better off in that respect.  They were people who had little choice but to endure what life brought to them, and what life brought to them was hardship, struggle, and difficulty.  They had many reasons to be bitter, they had many reasons to be discouraged, but in the words of Jesus, they found hope.  God was concerned, Jesus said, about their daily needs, such as food and clothing.  While many people believed their lives had little or no meaning and that their lives mattered little, Jesus told them their lives did matter and their lives had meaning.  We grow up with the idea that we are valuable and that our lives matter and that we can accomplish great things.  Not the people in Jesus’ day.  They had little, if any, hope.  But Jesus gave them hope, reminding them that God is in control.  Not Rome.  Not any sort of fate, but God.  

 

3.  Action.

     

In verse 33 Jesus says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

     

Seek.  Well, we’re always seeking something, aren’t we?  We’re seeking a new opportunity in our work and careers.  We’re seeking a new place to travel.  We’re seeking a new experience.  There is much that we seek in life.  But Jesus reminds us to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

     

When Jesus speaks of seeking, he is speaking of taking action. As a person who is blessed, it is absolutely incumbent upon me to take actionto help those who are struggling in life.  I am not to be seekingonly what I can do for myself but am called to seekways in which I can help others and then take the appropriate actionsto do so.

     

It has been said that the word faithis not only a noun, but a verb.  That is, it is a word of action.  Too often, people use the word faith as a way of describing belief, and, in some cases, the proper kind of belief.  Faith, however, is really about action.  As James says in 2:17-18, in the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will should you my faith by what I do.  Those are very straightforward words about the importance of taking action.

     

We do not come to church in order to be told what to believe (at least not in a Disciples church), but to be challenged by the study of the Scriptures and the prompting of the Spirit to leave our time of worship and to seekways to take actionas the hands and feet of Jesus in our community.

     

When the pandemic began earlier this year, and cancellations came, I started to remove most everything from my electronic calendar.  At the time, it seemed pointless to leave all those scheduled activities on my calendar if they were not going to take place. I chose not to remove them, however. After thinking about it, I decided to leave everything on my calendar for a couple of reasons.  For one, each time I received a reminder on my phone, I would take a moment and pray for those who would have been impacted by the activity, had it taken place.  Second, I wanted the daily reminders I received to prompt me to think about how we can continue doing ministry in such a challenging time. 

     

Yesterday, I had a reminder that a group of us were scheduled to depart this afternoon for eastern Kentucky, where we would spend a week working with the Christian Appalachian Project.  We are greatly disappointed that we cannot go, and I am very sorry for how CAP has been affected by the pandemic.  CAP already had a 2-year waiting list for home renovations.  The waiting list had grown so long that CAP was no longer adding to the list.  Imagine how many people are now waiting for help, as a result of the pandemic.  But CAP is still working.  They are still taking action, providing ministry in the eastern part of our state.  Yes, it is somewhat diminished in size and scope, but ministry is still happening.  Likewise, our church continues to do ministry.  In a Zoom meeting with the Outreach Committee last week, I was impressed with the long list of what continue to take place. Yes, we were doing more before the pandemic, but considering the challenges we now face, it is amazing that we continue to do so much.  Even in challenging times, we continue to take action.  In fact, the challenge of these times pushes us to work harder to take what actionswe can take.  Remember the words of the Serenity Prayer – give me courage to change the things I can.  Jesus never taught acquiescence and resignation, no matter how difficult life becomes.

     

Keep yourperspectivein line with God’s kingdom.  Remember that God is in control, especially when it seems that everything in the world is out of control.  And let’s get out there and take action!  Amen, and amen.

 

September 13, 2020 - What Did Jesus Do? He Said Faith Would Be Tough

 

Video of this worship service can be viewed on Facebook here -

https://www.facebook.com/david.p.charlton.9/videos/10164186539945298

Or on Vimeo here -  

https://vimeo.com/457519361?fbclid=IwAR0QM_X96OwijXE_sYJzBfxEYhVUHclz0YcA7KT3z7zdtLr7QN1_g8FKn0s

This morning I continue the series of messages titled What Did Jesus Do?  The title of the message is He Said Faith Would Be Tough.  

     

To be honest, I really struggled with this message.  Late in the week, as I struggled to put much of anything together in this message, I was about to change the topic or use a previous message, but then I realized, well, that would be ironic.  To work on a message titled “He Said Faith Would Be Tough” and then abandon the message because it was too tough is the very definition of irony.

     

There is a lot that challenges us in what Jesus says in this passage, and to be honest, there’s not a lot of appeal to the line whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (verse 34). I don’t know about you, but I am more than a bit unnerved by the idea of carrying a cross (and I imagine the disciples were more than a bit unnerved also, as they had seen what crosses were used for).  And to read the rebuke Jesus gave to Peter, when he said, get behind me Satan! is more than a bit unnerving as well.  If Peter got it so wrong that Jesus would rebuke him in such a manner, how might I be wrong and how might Jesus rebuke me?

     

As I say, I really struggled with this message.

     

But I think that’s one of the points of this passage – to struggle.  It is possible to make faith so docile, so domesticated, and so tame that it can become marginal, or even irrelevant, to our lives.  

     

So let’s turn to this passage.  Follow along as I read from Mark 8:27-37 – 

 

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 

³² He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³ But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 

³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 

³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

 

One of the difficulties in preaching from this passage is that there is so much to cover in these verses.  This passage could easily become its own series, but I’m giving it a single week, so it’s tough to narrow it down to a few thoughts.  What I am going to do, then, is focus on verse 34 – Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  I think there is more than enough in that verse to tackle in this message.  I will focus on three phrases Jesus uses in that verse regarding what he asks of those who would be his disciples – deny themselves, take up their cross, follow me. 

 

1.  Deny himself. 

     

If you were to take a look around our house you would not be wrong to question whether I have ever denied myself anything.  We live in a world where the idea of denying ourselves anything seems like a foreign concept.

     

Which makes it tempting to say that, in terms of appealing to people in our materialistic day and age, this verse would make one of the worst advertising campaigns ever.  Think about it for a moment – if you want to appeal to people, what is the best way to do so?  Appeal to their self-interest.  If you want to attract people, tell them the benefits they will receive, not what they must give up.  Imagine, for a moment, how different an advertisement for selling cars would become if it was not based on self-interest as a way of appealing to potential customers.  Have we got a deal for you!  We’re asking you to give us $25,000.00 of your hard-earned money.  That’s right – we want half of your annual income for this beauty that we’re trying to sell you!  But we’re going to extract that $25,000 a little bit at a time, month by month, because you have the misfortune of not being able to pay us the entire amount at one time.  And because you can’t pay the full amount at one time, we’re going to charge you interest for the privilege of extracting your money from you!  That’s right – we’re going to take even more money out of your pocket!  So, instead of paying $25,000 for the car, you will end up paying $30,000 for it!  Isn’t that a great deal?  It is for us!  But I’m going to let you in on something – we don’t normally say much about how that’s such a good deal for us and a bad deal for you, because if we tell you that, you might not want to buy our car.  And, not only are we charging you so much for that car, after buying it you will have to pay a lot more money in order to insure it, and to maintain it, and when it’s all paid for, guess what – you’ll suddenly discover that it is a really bad investment, because it’s going to be worth only a fraction of what you paid for it. Isn’t that a great deal!  It is for us!  Who would respond to that kind of ad?  Probably no one.  That’s why, at the end of those ads, the narrator speed through the fine print so quickly that you miss everything that is said.

     

Jesus has no fine print.  There are no surprises.  There are no hidden agendas.  There is no bait and switch.  Jesus puts it all up front.  Verse 32 says, he spoke plainly about this.  Jesus did not hide anything.  In fact, he was so open about the challenges and difficulties of what he was about to face – and about what his followers would face – that verse 32 goes on to say that Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  What’s interesting about Peter’s action in rebuking Jesus is Peter had just confessed his understanding that Jesus is the Messiah, and now he is lecturing Jesus about the way in which he ought to fulfill his role as the Messiah.  That takes some nerve on Peter’s part, doesn’t it?  To be fair to Peter, however, maybe he didn’t fully understand the mission of Jesus (or maybe he just didn’t like what he heard).

     

In the course of following Jesus, there are times when we will be called upon to deny ourselves.  Perhaps it is to deny ourselves something we want in order to provide for someone who has a need.  Perhaps it will be to deny what we want to do in order to devote time to help someone who needs our help and our attention.

     

But here’s what I think is interesting.  In spite of what I said about the appeal of commercials and the need to appeal to people’s self-interest, I also believe that people really do want to be challenged. I believe people really want to be challenged by a cause that is meaningful and represents a higher purpose.  The challenge of Jesus to his disciples certainly does just that.  I believe that as much as we all want to spend some time lying on the beach or relaxing in front of a TV and watching a good movie or a ball game, what we really want is for our lives to matter.  I believe we find a great appeal in being challenged for a calling that makes a difference.  When we are challenged in such a way, we will deny ourselves.  This was true of the disciples.  Even though Peter rebuked Jesus, he quickly came to understand the purpose of Jesus and he responded by offering his life to that purpose.

 

2.  Take up their cross. 

     

As difficult as it is to hear the words deny himself, the phrase take up their cross is in a whole other category.  In fact, it is a phrase that is in a whole other universe.

     

The disciples were very aware of what it meant to take up a cross.  The cross was an instrument of power, it was an instrument of torture, it was an instrument of domination, and ultimately, it was an instrument of death.  For us, the idea of taking up our cross is more of a metaphorical challenge.  We might crucify a particular desire – maybe a desire for success or material gain – but for the disciples, it was very literal. It was especially literal for Peter. In John 21:18-19, Jesus said to Peter, ¹⁸ Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”  In those verses, Jesus again puts together those two phrases for Peter – taking up his cross and following him.  According to church tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, so taking up his cross became a literal calling.

     

We are very fortunate to live in a time and place that provides us with the freedom of worship and the freedom to practice our faith according to the dictates of our consciences.  Some people talk about religious persecution in our country, which is quite a stretch in my opinion.  You can go online to a number of sites and find a great deal of information about the very real persecution that Christians face in a number of countries worldwide.  The U.S. State Department has long monitored the plight of those around the world who are persecuted for the faith.  Other organization, such as Open Doors USA and Voice of the Martyrs on any given day because of their faith. 

https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights/office-of-international-religious-freedom/

https://www.opendoorsusa.org

https://www.persecution.com

 

When the Khai family joined us for worship several years ago, their pastor accompanied them.  If you aren’t familiar with the Khai family, they are the refugee family we helped to settle here in the states several years ago.  We worked with two other churches and with Kentucky Refugee Ministries to bring them to our country.  I asked their pastor to speak to us that Sunday morning, but he initially declined to do so. He said he did not want to take my time. I asked to him to please speak to us, because he had shared some of his story with me, and it was a story we needed to hear.  If you were here that day, you heard him speak of being imprisoned for preaching.  He was imprisoned and told not to preach any more. He continued to preach and was again imprisoned.  When they told him, once again, to stop preaching, he said he could not stop.  Isn’t that amazing?  He knew what it meant to take up his cross.  Persecution for his faith was real to him but it did not in any way hinder him from following Jesus and the calling that was upon his life. He was imprisoned for his preaching. The worst I get is a rolling of the eyes or a yawn.  

 

3.  Follow me. 

     

Throughout the Scriptures, the theme of follow me runs very strong.  But it is a follow me that doesn’t really offer any details.  God invited Abraham, for example, to follow, going to a land yet to be revealed.  Genesis 12:1-2, 4 tells us ¹the Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. There were no details at all about location; there was simply the invitation to go.  When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, he gave them the invitation to follow me.  Matthew 4:18-22 tells us, ¹⁸ Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers. They were Simon (his other name was Peter) and Andrew, his brother. They were putting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Jesus said tothem, “Follow Me. I will make you fish for men!” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹ Going from there, Jesus saw two other brothers. They were James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were sitting in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus called them. ²² At once they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus. Again, there were no details or specifics about where they would be going or what they would be doing; just follow me.

     

The difficulty we have is that we tend to think of following as leading to a destination. When Jesus invites us to follow him, there is a destination, but not a destination in the way we envision it. We think of a specific locale, with a specific path, and a specific length of time involved.  In following Jesus, there are very few specifics.  We simply follow.  There is no address to plug into our GPS.  There is no map to tell us the path.  There are no details about what we will encounter along the way. 

     

Where, then, are we willing to go?  What, then, are we willing to do?

     

I do not know where God is calling or leading you.  I don’t always know where God is calling me or leading me.  But I do know we are being called and being led, so let us deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him.

 

September 6, 2020 - What Did Jesus Do? He Sent His Disciples

 

Video of this worship service can be viewed on Facebook here -

https://www.facebook.com/david.p.charlton.9/videos/10164155695360298

And on Vimeo here -

https://vimeo.com/user38606035/review/455285535/8950cda9e9?fbclid=IwAR0smOcV0LMW2EdQ7KCfSTahSlgFo8R5_ImjRIlyIiITXFbjEOZVuUYUsiI

I appreciate David preaching in my absence last Sunday.  Thanks also to Jordan, Denise, James, and Kim.  Normally, when I am on vacation, and in town, there are one or two churches I like to attend, but because of the pandemic I was unable to do so.  I watched, then, the livestream of our worship service, which was a good experience for me.  I watch bits and pieces of the service each week, but this was the first time for me to have my entire worship experience via our livestream, which made me even more grateful that we have this technology available to us.  

     

We are continuing the series of messages, What Did Jesus Do?  The title of today’s message is, He Sent His Disciples, from Matthew 10:1-16.  The story in this passage takes place early in the ministry of Jesus and tells of when he sent the twelve disciples out to do ministry in his name.  Interestingly, the previous passage is the one in which Jesus famously said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Sending out workers is precisely what Jesus then does, remedying that shortage, by commissioning his disciples to go and do ministry, asking them to be workers for the plentiful harvest.

     

There are a lot of significant words in this passage, and I will emphasize some of them as I read.  I don’t have time to talk about all of them, but I will talk about several of them this morning.  These words tie together, and it is interesting to see how these words do. Some words don’t go together.  The other evening, at the end of the day, I turned on Netflix to watch a few minutes of a science-fiction show I’ve been viewing.  I watch shows in 10 and 15 minute increments.  It’s hard for me to sit down and devote more than small amounts of time to a TV show or movie, so I usually watch them in short increments at the end of each day.  When you open the Netflix menu, at the top, left-hand side of the screen are words that describe the shows that are recommended on your home screen.  When the first preview came up, I noticed an odd combination of words – frightening, disturbing, chilling, romantic.  Romantic?  How did romantic get in the list of frightening, disturbing, and chilling?  There’s someone who needs some counseling!  Someone is in a relationship that needs some help! Those words don’t go together, in my opinion.

     

In this morning’s Scripture passage, however, are words that leap out, and they go together very well as they bring before us the elements of what it means to be sentby Jesus. The words are, authority, proclaim, heal, and give.

 

¹Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 

³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 

⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 

¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 

¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 

¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 

¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 

¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 

¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

 

These four words will frame what I have to say this morning about what it means to be sent by Jesus. 

 

Authority

     

I was in a meeting a while back, and in the course of the discussion, it was asked – who is a person who is admired across the spectrum of society?  Who is someone who would be seen as a statesperson by people of all different political, religious, and social stripes?  Who is someone who has a moral authority and is recognized as a leader?  Those are good questions, and it was hard for us to answer.  I’ve continued to think about those questions and have struggled to come up with names, and maybe that’s a failure of my own imagination and awareness, but can you think of anyone?   Who would you pick, in our current climate, as being such a person?

     

There are two primary kinds of authority.  There is an authority that is backed by official power.  Someone who is elected to a political office has a level of authority that comes because of the office they hold.  The CEO of a corporation possesses an authority that comes with that position.  The CEO has authority over people and over the direction of the company.  If you are a teacher you have an authority in the classroom.  These are examples of “official” authority.  Then there is a power that is a greater and more important authority, and it is what I have already referred to as “moral” authority.  It is power that cannot come through an election and is not a power that can be given by virtue of a position.  Moral authority is a power that comes from natural, God-given gifts of leadership abilities and because of the way a person lives and conducts their lives.  That person has the respect and honor of people in a way that other types of authority can never grant.  This is why, I believe, that Jesus told his disciples do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff (verses 9-10).  People often take this statement as a guideline for how we are to go, but I believe Jesus asked this of the disciples because it demonstrated a level of commitment that provided them with moral authority.  When people see those who are willing to step out on faith and to go with no extra resources, it makes a powerful impression.  For all the power that comes with “official” authority, it is no match for moral authority.  It is, sadly, moral authority that we are so lacking on our world today.

     

Jesus had an immense amount of moral authority that brought with it an authority unmatched by anyone, anywhere.  In fact, it was often said of Jesus in the gospels that ²⁸ when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law(Matthew 7:28-29).  It was a moral and spiritual authority.

     

It is interesting to note not only that Jesus sends out his disciples almost immediately after calling them to follow him, but also to note that they were not “credentialed” in any official way.  That is, they were not theologically educated, they were not trained in the latest leadership techniques, and they were not set aside in any official ceremony, such as ordination.  I want to be careful to say I am not against those things. I have after all, been ordained – twice, actually – licensed, granted standing, and met every official requirement for vocational ministry.  I earned a Bachelor’s degree as a religion major, and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from a fully accredited college and seminary.  All told, I spent 11½ years in higher education, being trained in how to serve as a vocational minister.  I say this not in a prideful way, but to affirm that I believe so strongly in ministerial training that I devoted a large chunk of my life in its pursuit.  What is important to note, however, is that ministering in the name of Jesus does not require any special credentials or training.  We have, to some extent, communicated that people must be “credentialized” before they are qualified to go out in the name of Jesus.  And sometimes I fear that we have communicated the idea that only some people have been designated to go out in the name of Jesus.  As I read the Scriptures, it is obvious the disciples did pretty well in ministering to others without possessing any of what are now seen as ministerial qualifications.  One of the reasons why they did so well is because they had moral authority that came because of their sacrifice and their willingness to go where Jesus sent them. 

 

Proclaim

     

To use the word proclaim carries with it the idea of using words, obviously.  St. Francis of Assisi famously reminded us that we should preach often and use words when necessary. Proclamation comes through more than one kind of presentation, however.  We see it primarily through our words, and that is important, we also proclaim through our actions, which is hard.  Can I tell you something?  I don’t know what it is like from your perspective, but I can tell you that it is hard to preach.  I’ve been doing this a long time, and in some ways, I find it harder to preach now than I did many years ago.  The mechanics of preaching – writing a sermon and delivering a sermon – are not easy, but what is most difficult is the awareness that the message comes through an imperfect vessel, and I am a very imperfect vessel for the message of the gospel.  Please don’t ask my family to confirm this, as they would probably be happy to do so. I am an imperfect vessel for proclaiming the message of God and I will freely acknowledge that fact.  

     

Truth be told, we are all imperfect vessels.  When we proclaim the gospel, people are listening with their ears but they are also watching with their eyes, asking, how well does this match up?  How well does that person’s actions match their words?  And again, I think this is why Jesus challenged his disciples to not take extra resources with them when he sent them out, because their actions of faith would match their words proclaiming their faith. It is well known that when I travel, I take way more than I need to take.  In fact, I had somebody post a picture about that fact on my Facebook page just yesterday.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to go out without an extra tunic, without extra money, and being at the mercy of those who would extend care to you.  But what a powerful way for the disciples to demonstrate that their words and their actions are in harmony.  They proclaimed not only with their words, but with their actions as well.  Someone once said, your actions are speaking so loudly that I can’t hear what it is you are saying.  That is a very sobering comment, isn’t it?  

     

The disciples proclaimedby word and by deed.  We are also called to proclaimby both word and deed.

 

Heal

     

In recent months, we have all come to appreciate even more the work done by our medical personnel, and so I very much appreciate that Wanda mentioned in her prayer about the medical personnel on the frontlines of the struggle against Covid. God bless them in every way possible. They are people who are placing their own health and well-being at risk in order to care for others.  We have all heard too many stories of medical personnel who have lost their own lives as they have provided care.  It is so heartbreaking to hear of those losses, and yet so touching to see those examples of devotion and dedication.

     

There is so much healing that needs to take place.  Did you see the report the other day that estimates are now raising the possibility of over 410,000 fatalities in the U.S. from Covid by the first of January? That’s astounding to consider, isn’t it? Talk about healing that is needed! But not just physical healing is needed, but healing from all the attendant difficulties that have come from this pandemic.  We will all have, to some measure, a sense of PTSD from what we have suffered during these months.  There is so much we have experienced this year and so many difficulties that have come to us, and we understand there is a lot of healing that is needed now and in the months to come.  

     

Jesus sent his disciples to bring healing, and it wasn’t just physical healing. There is much physical healing that is needed, yes, but there is also a great deal of spiritual, emotional, and psychological healing that must come as well.  Anyone who has had surgery understands that, after the surgery, there is more than physical healing that is needed.  This is especially true when it is heart surgery of any sort.  In my experience, I have noted that any surgery or procedure that involves the heart produces a much more profound emotional reaction in the patient, but all surgeries require more than just physical healing.  

     

Some people are the very picture of physical health, and yet they are in need of spiritual, emotional, and psychological healing.  We can generally see when a person is ill physically, but we don’t always notice – and we do not always reveal – when other types of illness are present, such as spiritual, emotional, or psychological illnesses. When the torn meniscus in my knee is bothering me, you will notice it in the way I walk.  When I am suffering spiritually, or emotionally, or psychologically, however, you are not likely to see that pain, as I am very good at hiding it and disguising it.    

     

We are spending billions of dollars and giving countless hours to the effort of finding a vaccine and a cure for Covid – and I am grateful that we are – but we must also remember the other kinds of healing that needs to take place.  The need for that kind of healing will be with us long after the pandemic has passed.  

 

Peace

     

Peace I leave with you, Jesus said, not as the world gives, give I to you (John 14:27). 

     

Healing and peace go together.  I said at the beginning of this message that some words naturally go together; peace and healing are two words that very much go together.  The lack of healing – spiritual, emotional, and psychological – is one of the reasons why we have such a lack of peace in our society today.  Healing and peace are directly related.  How do we bring about healing, for instance, to the tragedy of centuries in which people were enslaved?  How do we bring about healing after centuries of inequality?  How do we heal the divide of economic inequality that has been with us for millennia?  Until we heal the wounds of those divides, we cannot and will not have peace. This is why we are so lacking in peace, because we have been unable – or unwilling – to find healing for the wrongs and the injustices that have plagued humanity from the beginning.  This is why Jesus said, do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).  Jesus brought peace, but it was a peace that was born of the healing of long festering wounds.  If Jesus had not brought his peace, he would not have been very effective.  Sometimes, to bring about peace, it requires the sword of truth that exposes painful and harsh realities, and that is what Jesus did. To say there are some things that should not be taking place, and to bring attention to the wrongs of society means that some people will respond harshly because they benefit from maintaining the status quo, even when the status quo is harmful to others.  To say, I don’t want to create a fuss; I don’t want to create a problem;and I don’t want to upset anyoneis to ignore harmful realities and allow people to be harmed.  That is not real peace.  

     

Jesus, at times, found it necessary to bring a sword in order to expose painful and harmful realities.  I would use this analogy – it is similar to a surgeon using a scalpel. A knife is a tool that has more than one application.  It can be a weapon of harm and a weapon to inflict terror on people or it can be an instrument to bring about healing.  I have been very fortunate in my life in that I have never had surgery. The only time I have experienced a scalpel was years ago when I had a boil suddenly spring up on my upper cheek. The doctor had to use a scalpel to slice the boil and allow the infection to be released.  It was not a pleasant procedure, but it brought healing. Many of you have had surgeries, and you know that while it is unpleasant, that scalpel is an instrument of healing.  This is what Jesus meant when he said he did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Jesus cut through the ailments of the world in order to bring about healing.  

     

Peace will not come to our world until healing comes.  As Hebrews 4:12 reminds us, the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  In the historical moment in which we find ourselves, I believe God is taking a spiritual scalpel to bring healing to his creation to bring about not only the healing that needs to take place, but to also bring about peace, peace which has proven so elusive for so long.  When Jesus says, peace I leave with you, not as the world gives, he is speaking of a peace that comes from healing the ailments of the world.  It is not a superficial peace, it is not a peace that papers over differences and problems, it is not a peace that subdues that voices of those in need or who suffer injustice, but a peace that can only come when our world is healed of its sufferings and injustices.  

     

Let us go, then, with the authority of God, to proclaim the good news, the good news of healing, and of healing that brings peace.