God of hope, God of now.

Romans 5:1-5

Holy Trinity Sunday

In Walter Taylor’s book, “The Secular Age,” he describes secularism as a loss of transcendence.

You see, people don’t expect God to be a part of their lives or world. It happens even to us believers. 

That’s why the assignment I offered last week proved so difficult. We’ve become caught up in looking to the concrete, the things we can touch and feel and see that surround us, as well as the culture we live in to bring meaning to our lives. We’re out of touch with prophetic imagination, we struggle with letting our faith bring definition to our days. We see with earthbound eyes rather than seeing through God’s lenses.

But our material accomplishments end up leaving us in the lurch. We’re left wondering if what we see is TRULY what we get; and lost and confused when what we see leaves us searching for more, for the next big thing to come along. Remember the excitement when you saw the first bag phone, then came the cell phone, and finally today the smartphone. It’s become commonplace, a necessary tool for many of us. And yet having one doesn’t leave us feeling any more connected than when we had to wear down our finger dialing the rotary phone. Dare I say we might even feel less connected, more isolated?

And because the material world doesn’t satisfy us, we wonder what significance our daily occupations, relationships, and even lives have. Walter Taylor asserts that many of us succumb to the haunting suspicion that “what previously satisfied us, gave us a sense of solidity, seems not really to match up, not to deserve what we put into it.

Or in other words, with the loss of transcendence, the ability to let God define our lives, we lose meaning and, worse yet, we lose hope.

So then where do we go? What do we do?...

Paul reminds us today that we are justified by faith; that we receive peace and grace and glory through Christ. Which sounds neat and tidy, pleasant to our ears, but then Paul continues: “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

And Paul, struck blind on the road, knows this hope so very well. This is the very Paul led by God while blind to Ananias who had the power of God to restore Paul’s sight. This is the very Paul who when thrown into prison alone and in chains used the opportunity to open the hearts of his guards. This is the very Paul who when relegated to a distant island wrote letters that led so many to repent, turning toward God, many for the very first time.

So not only is our hope and our meaning rooted in the promises of our God in heaven, but our hope is also found in the trials and struggles of our life here on earth. But how can this be?

It’s because God greatest revelation to us came in the form of the struggles and suffering of a man hung on a tree. And if we lift up the suffering and pain of Jesus to be holy, then how can we possibly look at our own struggles and difficulties and pain as anything else but holy as well?

Now be careful here. I’m not saying that God ever wants us to struggle and suffer in our lives. God did not cause the F-5 tornado in Oklahoma any more than God caused Jesus to die. God does not take joy in our suffering. God does, however, promise to be with us in our suffering, and also promises to use our suffering whenever possible for the greater good.

And then the even bigger promise comes then in Romans 6:5, “For if we are united with Christ in a death like his (or suffering, or pain), then surely we are united with him in a resurrection like his.” Our suffering is redeemed in the cross of Christ.

So as God didn’t abandon Jesus Christ is his darkest hour, and God does not abandon us either. No tear shed goes unnoticed by God. No cry for mercy is unheard by God. No frustration or hurt or loss is unimportant to God. No tragedy – personal, communal, national, or global – is ignored by God, which means that God is present in our suffering and dignifies it by God’s presence.

And because the Father made his true self known in the very concrete form of Jesus here on earth including his suffering, then we today can also look for God in the concrete, the everyday, the ordinary: in our relationships, in our jobs, our hobbies, our volunteer efforts. These are the places to see God at work. And God blesses this, promising to use anything done for the good of a neighbor to extend God’s love and concern to all God’s beloved creation.

So many have wondered this week where God is in Oklahoma? The truth is that you don’t have to look very hard. Because God is working through the rescue workers, God is comforting those who grieve, God is encouraging those who are helping rebuild lives, God is leading those who are designing and planning to alleviate such disasters in the future.

And God is present with us in our struggles, God rejoices in our triumphs, encourages us to care for one another and receive other’s care as well, using us and even our daily routines to care for the people and the world that God cares for so much.

So, I challenge you again. Where do you see God at work in our lives and in the lives around you? Don’t make it difficult. Don’t look for some deep theological concept. Just look around and see God. See God in what the people around you do. And don’t be shy, see God in what YOU do. Only then can we truly know the presence of God not just in a building, but everywhere.

Keep your eyes open. Don’t just look at the at those things you can touch and feel, look for God working through those things you can touch and feel, creation, people, even yourself. Only then can we truly experience God in our lives, in the here and now wherever we might be. Keep your eyes open.

Amen.

Pentecost TODAY!

Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27

The Day of Pentecost, May 19, 2013

Pentecost. The third of the great festival days in the church year. Third in many ways…

There is no Pentecost Tree, no baby church lying in the manger. We don’t have a song of the 12 days of Pentecost. Of course this year there are exactly 200 days of Pentecost—and you thought “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” was a tedious song!

Yes, Christmas has a decorated tree, a jolly elf named Santa, eight tiny reindeer, and lots of presents.

Easter has lilies and bunnies and chocolate. Easter egg hunts and bonnets and pretty dresses.

If it’s lucky, Pentecost has the geranium. Kinda’ scraggly, smells like moth balls.

Pentecost is definitely third. But it shouldn’t be.

So how is your knowledge of Pentecost?

Did you know that the day of Pentecost is often noted as the birthday of the church? That on that day the Holy Spirit lit a fire inside not just those who were seen with tongues of flame over them but so many others present in the Judeo-Christian community that day?

You probably know the most famous line of the Pentecost story. It still makes me giggle when I hear that line, “We’re not drunk as you suppose.” But what a scene that must have been, to see those tongues of fire and hear the rushing of the wind. And it’s been said that to those people that day it was not a jumbled, cacophonous message, but rather very clear and easily understood.

So the day of Pentecost seems to be just another history lesson for us. But if we imagine Pentecost to take place on only that one day 2000 years ago, we are left scratching our heads and wondering what all the excitement is about.

Or in other words, when it comes to Pentecost, 

SO WHAT?

Good question.

Pentecost isn’t a one day, one-time only event. In the book of Acts there are numerous Pentecosts, many times when the Holy Spirit is poured out. 

There’s the time when Philip was sent by an angel down the wilderness road, then was sent by the Spirit to the eunuch to interpret scripture, and finally convinced by the eunuch to baptize him, Philip then snatched away by the Lord to another place, leaving the eunuch to proclaim the good news.

Or there’s the story of Saul, persecutor and murderer of many Christians, struck blind by the Lord only to have Ananias lay hands of him for the scales to fall from his eyes. Soon he was preaching the Christian gospel, the one he had fought against, now being known as Paul, the great missionary and epistle writer.

But pastor, it still sounds like a history lesson.

So then there are the great monasteries of the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Great Awakenings!

Still history.

There’s the rebirth of the church in the form of the ELCA, getting ready to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the great coming together as people of God!

Well, closer, but not quite touching us personally.

It’s the taking of a chance. A small group meeting in a community center every Sunday dreaming of a future that reached out and touched many in Sherwood and other nearby areas.

It’s the people willing to take the risk of building a beacon on this very site 11 years ago calling out to the community the joy of the gospel of the Lord.

Still sounds like history?

It’s the faith of five young men named Louis, Conner, Zach, Hunter, and Andrew renewing the promises others made on their behalf in baptism now proclaiming the baptismal faith in their own words.

That’s so two weeks ago.

But Pentecost really isn’t just 2000 years ago. And it’s not just points in history. In fact, Pentecost is never over!

Because Jesus makes this amazing promise to his disciples: even if the disciples struggle with Jesus’ words, they can believe because of the works they have seen him do. And then he goes on to say, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”

Did you hear that? We who believe in Jesus will do greater works than he! Feeding, preaching, healing, giving life to the dead. 

Well, I know you all heard that, so maybe the real question is, “Do you believe that?” Let me confess here: I don’t always believe that. Often that sounds too far-fetched, impossible, beyond my understanding. And I’m guessing I’m not alone—you probably struggle in the same way.

But the Spirit is active in our lives. Active in the continuing ministry of Christ the King. And if we open our eyes we can see it all over.

We can see it in the bright eyes of our children as we tell them the story of Jesus, bringing the Spirit to life inside ourselves as well.

We rediscover it in the baptism of Ivy, a fresh reminder that the promises she heard today are promises for us as well.

We find it in the coming together to have some fun on the golf course in the process of feeding hungry children. In the camaraderie of a penny war with our sister church in Combined Locks (I hear they’re gaining on us!).

We hear it in the joyous music of the Gospel Singers, having a great deal of fun in the work of praising the Lord and leading us in our worship.

It comes through the ministry of Rez-a-Wreck, as another person gains access to transportation to be able to care for their family.

It’s amazing where you might find a new Pentecost. And it doesn’t have to be a big event! Chances are there won’t be tongues of flame (although the meat ministry might have a few!). It’s a pretty good bet there won’t be speaking in tongues, although one tongue (English) may help shine the light. You don’t even need a big crowd.

Many Pentecosts are quiet, simple, one to one activities. The sitting with someone when they’re in the midst of a horrible time in life. The praying with someone struggling with aches and pains, mental, emotional, and physical, bringing them just a little peace. A quiet moment in the midst of the busyness of this world.

So go ahead this week and email me (link to email) or write it down when you recognize the Spirit active in your lives. And really do this, keep your eyes open. That way, this message this morning isn’t coming to its end. Instead, it’s just at its beginning. I pray that I’m overwhelmed with your responses, or at the very least you’re overwhelmed by what you discover.

Just keep your eyes open.

Amen.

John 20:19-31

The Second Sunday of Easter, April 7, 2013

Today we find ourselves at the very end of John’s gospel. OK, if you looked in your Bible this morning you would be right in correcting me by saying that there is one more chapter. But the last verses of our reading this morning certainly SOUND like an ending. Many believe the next chapter was written later and perhaps not by the same author. But for today humor me and we’ll call verses 30 and 31 the ending and save the other argument for later.

And the best part of this ending is the fact that John doesn’t end the story in the first century. In these verses the gospel writer is writing directly to us.

“These are written that YOU may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and through believing YOU may have life in his name.”

YOU! That’s all of us here, and those beyond these walls who share in the promise of Jesus’ resurrection.

In these two short verses we are named as actors in the story, as in it we have followed Jesus beyond miracles and to the cross and then even further. But this isn’t the first time John places in the middle of the narrative. We’ve all heard Jesus’ words in John 17:

“I ask not only on behalf of those who have followed me, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

This isn’t just a prayer for the people of 2000 years ago; this is a prayer for the world today and tomorrow, a prayer for you and me in this time and forever more! So hear this gospel with new ears, knowing that the words and actions of Christ are for you. You have been baptized just like Christ with the Holy Spirit and for forgiveness of sins. Today, you are welcome at the Lord’s Table.  It’s all God’s gift for us.

And what are we to do? It doesn’t help to try getting a little further up the ladder than our neighbor. In fact, the further we think we have climbed the further we are from the truth! Because only in Christ do we find eternal life; not by our own merit as we could never climb high enough!

No, in all things all we are really asked to do is serve the Lord with gladness. Not that our works will ever earn us anything meaningful, but instead that our works will bring honor and light to the God of our salvation so that others will see the glory of God in this world and know the promise that is ours beyond this world.

And even though we know all that, something inside us brings us to our own doubts. Much like Thomas, we too feel that it would be so much easier to believe if we could just see God. And the funny thing is that we can, we just keep looking in the wrong places.

Because we really want to see is God sitting on a throne surrounded by pillars of fire with angels flying about caring for God’s every need. Or we might imagine seeing God beyond the pearly gates with Peter standing at the entrance with his book of who has been naughty or nice. And while these are great images are certainly helpful to some, they still leave us searching, waiting, and wondering.

Because to really see God, to see Jesus here on earth, we just have to keep our eyes open. When we keep Jesus at the front of our minds we suddenly see God everywhere:

We see God in the meetings where community comes together to enhance our life here in things such as the new library, the fire company, and even our pavilion across the street.

We see God in the neighbor who shovels our driveway without expecting anything in return.

We see God in the smiles of the people who find just what they need at our clothing drive.

We hear God in the squeals of laughter and screams of delight as children play at Ray’s Malarkey Park.

We taste God in the food we share both at the cake walks and the potlucks.

We smell God as we walk through Hickory Run State Park as the Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron blooms.

We feel God as someone offers a hug in the midst of an extremely difficult time.

And those are the images we all need to carry forward as I step away from being your pastoral leader. Because all of you have gifts of ministry within you. Some are already in full bloom while others are still waiting to be discovered and celebrated. So as the offering plate comes by this morning, don’t simply drop in your envelope and wave goodbye. Instead, also consider the other gifts God has given you that you can share either more freely than you have in the past or maybe even for the first time.

Because that is how God’s word and God’s love will flourish here in God’s church. No, not the physical building but instead a different sort of building blocks. With God as the foundation, your talents, skills, and gifts will continue to grow as you continue to share them with all those around you.

Once again, I remind you that the church is NOT this building. If a tornado came tomorrow and wiped this building out, I know the church would still exist. Because the church is all of us, both collectively and individually loving God and loving God’s people.

So as Betsy, Karl, and Olivia, and I leave, in many ways we take St. Paul’s with us. Our ministry that began here will continue several hundred miles to the west, in a colder where people find it fashionable to wear cheese on their heads, growing and advancing by the power of the Holy Spirit. And our ministry stays with you as well, the miracles we have worked together by the power of God will continue to grow and multiply as you remain faithful to the word and obey Christ’s commandments to love God and to love one another.

Remember to see God everywhere you look. Because when you do, you find just a little heaven on earth. And there is no better way to be the church.

As we are given the gift of faith that allows us to believe in things we cannot see, I leave you with my love and hope and prayers, starting with this one.

The peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Amen and Amen.

Christ is risen!