Sermon #1
A Nearby God uses scripture from Jeremiah 23:23-29, Hebrews 11:29-12:2, and Psalm 82.
A
Nearby God
Shalom. This is a common greeting in Hebrew used for both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.
However the meaning of this Hebrew word is peace.
Peace.
Peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility.
Shalom.
So what does ‘peace’ mean to you?
Peace
and quiet.Peace of mind.
Peaceful rest.
How about the peace in the enjoyment of God’s gifts?
Feeling the presence of God? How about faith?
The scripture from Hebrews this morning
highlights the phrase ‘by faith’.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry
land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
she
had received the spies in peace /in
Shalom.
The
faith of the Israelites,
their faith in God was stronger than Israel’s opponents.
By
their faith they were righteous, obedient, and
were willing to take chances, and have hope.The book of Hebrews reflects the historical memory of the Israelites,
remembering the early ancestors, the patriarchs,
the prophets, and those who answered God’s call.
So let us look back at those who journeyed
in the wilderness with Moses.
They left Egypt, left behind all they knew, and went out
in faith for the hope of something better:
the promised land.
The Israelites stumbled on their journey
(remember the golden calf),
they complained,
they questioned Moses, and
they died before every reaching the promised land.
journeyed by faith.
Their hope for something better was not just for them,
but for the next generation
and the next.
Moses began the journey, then Joshua continued it.
Faith sustains.
Faith endures.
They were part of the cloud of witnesses.
Those
who came before.Those who begin the journey and
give others a path to follow.
You and I are a continuation of that journey.
We look to our cloud of witnesses….
the presence of this community of faith that
has been here in Berryville since before the Civil War,
think about all those who have been here before you;
they have sat in the pews before you,
other men, women, and children working together in unity,
praising God, supporting each other, learning and teaching;
all in faith;
Former members,
members who have
passed on to God’s heavenly kingdom,members who may have mentored you,
family and friends.
All those who have led you to this point
on
your journey of faith.In faith,
for their times and the present times;
In faith
of what is done now and done for future generations.
Faith,
Sustains believers in the face of the world’s hostility.
Faith,
Enables believers to persevere in the midst of suffering.
Faith, as defined in the first verses of chapter 11 of Hebrews,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Faith in the presence of God.
God
is present in our lives and in the world.
That conviction of tings not seen and assurance of things hoped
for. Faith and Shalom.
Our scripture from Jeremiah began
with a
couple of interesting questions.23 Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off?
24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
God fills heaven and earth.
God, the Creator, is in touch with every aspect of creation.
God is able to discern all that happens.
God is transcendent.
And God is both near and far.
God is hidden (not fully revealed) from human beings,
but human beings are not hidden from God.
Think about that a moment.
God is hidden (not fully revealed) from you and me,
yet, we are not hidden from God.
What are some of the ways we express how we know God?
By anthropomorphizing God:
Those phrases you and I use to express God in human terms and
giving God human form and traits.
This is our way to comprehend the incomprehensible.
Yet, the reverse is not true. God, our
Creator knows us!
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.In the scripture verses from today’s reading of Jeremiah,
Jeremiah is speaking against false prophets.
The false prophets…
They plan to make my people forget my name by their
dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for
Baal.
Let the prophet who has a dream tell the
dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully.
Prophets who prophesy
lies in God’s name;
they are speaking only for themselves:as one theologian puts it:
they are speaking near to their lips
but far from their hearts.
A true prophet has nothing in his life to hide from God.
God knows the true prophet and
the true prophet speaks God’s word in faith.
The true prophets of the Old Testament are admired
for their faith,
for the words of God they spoke,
for the suffering they endured.
They did it all because of their faith:
faith in God
faith in the hopes for the future
faith for the promise of something better.
And something better came forth in the New Testament.
Someone to blaze the trail for others to follow,
a perfect example,
a better hope,
a better covenant,
a better promise,
a better sacrifice,
a better high priest,
a better resurrection.
Jesus.
Jesus is the model of faithful endurance.
On our pilgrimage toward God,
we yearn to be in the presence of God.
Christ acted on our behalf.
Jesus was the first to attain faith’s goal,
presence of God and
Jesus makes it possible for others to have access.
So you and I focus our attention to Jesus for guidance.
The true prophet,
speaking God’s word,
giving hope for the future,
knowing the promises of something better.
Our believing,
you and I taking action in the world as Jesus’ disciples;
we do this by faith
as so many before us have done.
You and I will become part of the cloud of witnesses.
We reach for Shalom,
for peace,
for wholeness, and completeness,
for connections to our faith.
Shalom, my friends. Shalom.
Estimating the Cost
If anyone comes to me and does not
hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their
own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
Wait……What?!
hate father and mother?
What
happened to honor thy father and thy mother?
This
scripture on the surface seems to contradict or cancel out all the calls
to love, care, and nourish others
that
are found in both the Old and New Testaments.
First
Timothy says
Anyone who does not provide for their
relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is
worse than an unbeliever.
So,
how do you and I understand this scripture from Luke?
What
could ‘hate’ mean?
Good
news, this is not the emotion ‘hate’
such as saying “I hate you”.
‘Hate’
in this context deals with actions not emotions.
Hate’
is a Semitic expression
meaning
to turn away
or to detach oneself from.
Jesus
is calling the disciples to change their priorities.
Like
us, the disciples had responsibilities and commitments:
to job,
to their station in life,
to family.
And
Jesus asked them to come and follow him,
To leave behind job, family, and all commitments;
Could
you and I do that?
What
is the cost of being a disciple of
Christ in today’s world?
Are
there things that get in the way of whole-hearted devotion to Christ?
Lets
try this…..
think about things you love….
Okay,
family that is an easy one
…..spouse, parents, children,
siblings, cousins.
Could we move physically and
emotionally away from family?
What
about a favorite hobby?
How much time do you devote
to it?
Ever rushed home from church to be able to get to the next
thing on the schedule?
Whether that
is lunch at your favorite restaurant or kickoff time or planning commitments
for the week ahead?
Then
there is job and career with
responsibilities and commitments…..
this is the way we attain the necessities of life:
shelter and security.
Yet,
does that means we are relying on self and not God to provide for our needs?
Do
you love that time to get away? Vacation
time?
Yes,
respite is needed, but where do you and I look for true rest?
There
is time for self, but is there time for devotion?
Consider on how much you love these
'things' and then think about your love for God.
Was there anything on our lists that we
loved more than God?
Did anything on that list get in the way
of loving God?
Perhaps
one of these quotes sounds familiar……
“I’d love to go on that mission trip, but it is the same
time as the family vacation.”
“Sunday is my only day off from work and I missed church
because I went fishing.”
“I’m already involved in 3 organizations and do not have
time to serve on that committee at church.”
Our electronic 24/7 world does not easily
give us time to pause.
Our worship times may be rushed as to get
on to the next event.
You and I schedule in the
important events of life,
yet we can be
unwilling to schedule in time for fellowship with others of faith and with
God.
Life is hard and busy and that time for
pausing, praying, and worshiping gets swept aside.
In
this scripture from Luke, Jesus is not only requiring a change of priorities,
but also to ‘bear the cross’.
During
Jesus’ time ‘bearing your cross’ was not as simple as taking on extra
responsibilities or bearing up under a burden;
It
meant putting your life on the line as a consequence of following Jesus.
You
could be crucified along with Jesus!
This
is of course, not a danger we face today,
yet,
you and I are called on to make sacrifices in our lives.
What
price have we paid to follow Christ?
Has
there been a need to ‘turn away’ from someone or something you love?
How
do you and I estimate the cost versus the benefits?
Benefits such as the joy…….
in fellowship with others,
in the knowledge of God’s
grace,
in receiving true rest,
in true security of life’s
needs,
in growing, learning,
teaching, and sharing,
in praise and worship of God,
in the new covenant, The New
Testament, in Christ,
in our actions inspired and guided
by the Holy Spirit,
in devotion and commitment to
our faith,
in striving to be a disciple.
The
Old Testament lesson for today,
it is from Jeremiah, chapter 18.
The
people of Israel have turned from God, they are facing exile,
a cost for their turning away/their ’hate’ for God.
Jeremiah
compares God to a potter.
“ So I went down to the potter’s house, and
I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred
in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed
best to him.”
The potter wants
the best vessel possible.
There is a concern
for the quality of the clay and how this may affect what is made, an estimation
of the cost.
Yet, clay is a very forgiving medium; it
lets you start over.
It can be crushed and struck down, yet not
destroyed.
But remember, the
potter is the master of the clay.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not
do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,
Israel.
If at any time I announce that a nation or
kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if
that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on
it the disaster I had planned.
And if at another time I announce that a
nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil
in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had
intended to do for it.”
The potter is the
master of the clay.
Have
you seen a potter crafting an object, a vase, perhaps?
The
lump of clay is taken and centered, on a wheel.
Water
is slowly added as strong hands guide the clay,
molding the clay, shaping it.
The
clay is stretched and grown as it builds up, into a form.
There
is careful guidance,
there is patience,
there is love,
and a form, a vase, is created.
But
what if, instead......
The
potter is throwing clay on a wheel with the vision of creating a vase.
The
wheel gets a little out of control, the clay wobbles, perhaps falls.
The
vase is not possible, but the clay is still full of possibilities. Perhaps, a practical useful mug can be
created.
Then
there is something new.
Jeremiah
sees God creating newness from brokenness.
In
exile they are still the people of Israel.
crushed and struck down, yet not destroyed;
They will return from exile in newness
from brokenness.
And the potter remains the master over the
clay.
Even
in our brokenness,
you and I
are called to be disciples.
We
are called by Jesus
to change our priorities,
to bear our cross,
to follow.
One
quote and one final question:
The quote from author Fred Craddock
“In the network of many loyalties in
which all of us live,
the
claim of Christ and the gospel not only takes precedence but,
in
fact re-defines the others.”
I
leave you with this question to ponder….
How
do you and I
as individuals,
as a community of faith, and
as the church in the world,
estimate the cost of our discipleship?
The
answer lies within each of us,
found in our relationship with God,
and with the Potter’s help we can find the answer.
Keeping
the Glass Full
You are probably wondering why there are
2 glasses with
water in them here on the pulpit.
You may be excepting the question
‘half-full of half-empty?’ This is not
going where you think it is going
–not optimism or
pessimism. Not today.
Today these glasses are what we are going
to use as
a symbol of
brokenness.
I will get back to that a little later.
We are all broken.
Our brokenness is unique to each of us as
individuals.
Our brokenness can be a challenge, an obstacle,
or a limitation that you and I have in our lives.
And our brokenness
can be invisible to others.
The saying “the grass is always greener on
the other side” speaks to this.
In those around us, we see the good, the
‘perfect life’, and the ideal:
-the
happily married couple
-they are
struggling with infertility;
-the
college graduate who got the job of her dreams
-she goes for
dialysis twice a week;
-the
businessman who travels all over the world
-he
struggles with his diabetes:
-the
grandparents who are so proud of their grandchildren
-but one of them
is in the beginning stage of Alzheimer’s.
Each individual has their own brokenness
Each individual has their own limitations.
It does not matter what the issue is,
whether it is
chronic illness, grief, loss, family concerns,
or something
unspoken, everyone is broken in some way.
When you and I face these
challenges what do we do?
Lean on faith, trust in God’s path,
and embrace the
power of prayer.
Appreciate the blessing of each new day,
and takes joy in God’s
creation and the people around us.
How do we deal with the unexpected?
–an illness or any
type of challenge of brokenness?
Accept,
adjust, and amend…
These
three words remind me of a way a friend described having a chronic
condition.
It
is “something
that changes the way you live your life
and affects
everything in your life from that point on.”
Accept, adjust, and amend are about action
and change.
Each individual has their own brokenness
Whether it is physical, emotional, or
spiritual.
What challenges you? What limits you? What stops you?
What can God do with an individual’s
brokenness?
The answers include wonderful things:
giving hope,
offering opportunities, and doing the unexpected.
It does not matter what your challenge or
your limitation is;
God, your Creator, loves you,
guides you,
blesses you,
and gives you
mercy and grace.
From
Psalm 23:
‘You prepare a table before me in
the presence of my enemies……. my cup
overflows.’
My
cup overflows.
In
the worst situation possible, amongst enemies, there is still am overflowing
cup.
{Taking cup
A and pouring it into cup B so it overflows.}
Through despair, you and I are blessed;
Through challenges, you
and I are blessed;
In our brokenness, you
and I are blessed!
No matter the circumstance, we are blessed by God!
Think
about those words a moment.
When
have you been in despair or facing a challenge?
How
did you feel? Blessed?
It
is hard to feel blessed, to have gratitude, when you are the one in pain or
suffering?
In
that moment we may feel hopeless; but, there is hope!
In
Second Corinthians there is the image of treasure in clay jars.
A
better translation from the Greek is earthenware vessels.
Which specifies ‘vessel’ as referring to the human body.
What a wonderful picture Paul gives us!
Treasure in clay jars; something (the Holy
Spirit) working within each individual believer.
God created Adam from the earth,
fashioning him into God’s image and giving life/breath/spirit to Adam.
Now the image of through Christ we carry the Holy Spirit within our earthenware
vessels.
This is also where Paul is depicting the fragility of the clay jars as our
easily broken mortal bodies.
In Second
Corinthians verses
8 and 9, there is pottery imagery in the words.
‘We are afflicted in every way, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.’
Clay is crushed, beaten, and thrown, then
guided and shaped by a firm hand into something of beauty
such as a bowl, a dish, or perhaps a jar
to hold treasures.
As a potter works with clay, it is
discovered that clay is a very forgiving medium.
It
can be crushed and struck down, yet not destroyed.
Have
you seen a potter crafting an object, a vase, perhaps?
The
lump of clay is taken and centered, on a wheel.
Water
is slowly added as strong hands guide the clay, molding the clay, shaping it.
The
clay is stretched and grown as it builds up, into a form.
There
is careful guidance, there is patience, there is love, and a form, a vase,
is created.
But
what if, instead......
The
potter is throwing clay on a wheel with the vision of creating a vase.
The
wheel gets a little out of control,
the clay wobbles, perhaps falls.
The
vase is not possible,
but the clay is still full of possibilities (acceptance).
A
practical useful mug can be created (adjustment),
and when created
still needs something:
a helping hand/ handle (amended).
Then
there is something new.
One
book I recently read discussed chronic illness but it seems to be relevant to
any type of brokenness.
It
says there are 5 levels of coping.
The lowest is crashing,
a state of despair, where you cannot see hope.
Next is quiet
desperation, a state of constant anxiety, what is going to happen
next.
Coping is a good level to be at, it is where the little victories
begin.
Prevailing is where big accomplishments happen, hope is there!
And the final level is conquering;
a place where all tears are wiped away, where there is a complete cure
physically and a complete healing of the soul.
God
can provide that final level, a level you and I may not reach on our
own.
A
place where all tears are wiped away.
‘So we do not lose heart. Even though our
outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.’
As Christians we
can face these trials, afflictions, persecutions, and uncertainties with the
knowledge of the good news of the glory of Christ.
The Holy Spirit touches our lives.
There is renewal.
You and I may be mortal
earthenware vessels but we carry a treasure inside of us.
It is a treasure of hope, joy, glory, and
the good news, the gospel.
God
fills the glass!
For
the Physical there can be wellness.
For
the Emotional there can be gratitude.
For
the Spiritual there is the Holy Spirit.
{Pouring
from a pitcher into an earthenware vessel –mug….so it overflows…..}
This
is where wellness exists;
this is where gratitude is proclaimed;
this is where ministry happens.
The
goal is to keep you glass full so as a disciple you can minister from the
overflow.
Ministry comes from God calling the
individual
even the broken
one,
to be present and
to use his or her gifts.
So
how do you and I, even in our brokenness, minister to others?
-you and I
give hope to one another; -we help;
-you and I are present with the one in need;
-we are willing to listen and to tell our stories.
We
sustain each other through friendships,
fellowship in community,
and our mutual faith in God.
Think
again about a time when you faced a challenge
or where in despair.
Do
you remember the blessings among the brokenness?
What
did someone do for you?
Were
you led to new opportunities?
Did
you find new gifts you had?
Did
it prepare you to help others?
No
matter what the challenge,
you and I
as believers look to God to fill the glass,
we can embrace the challenges and opportunities
put before us, and
discover the gifts and blessings amongst our brokenness.
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