Pastor Craig's Sermon Blog

Deep Spirit: A Life That Matters

2012-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

(Note: This is the last full sermon to be published to this blog. The Sermon Archive on the church website is operational again. The Sermon archive is found on the website at http://www.pocatelloumc.org.)

Deep Spirit: A Life That Matters

Sermon, February 12, 2012

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Matthew 4:12-22

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:  ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,  on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—  the people who sat in darkness  have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death  light has dawned.’  From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Opening: Dinner Conversations
Story of Kiki and Mike– 2 friends from college who got married. After we all had gone to Graduate School, we got together again one night for dinner. I was just starting to serve my first church in Sheridan. During the course of dinner Mike asked me some serious questions concerning the Christian faith, Church and religion. I remember clearly at one point that he asked with great earnestness, “What I’m looking for is how to be a better person.”

How to be a better person. That is the center of the spiritual quest. It is what drives people after years of going their own way to find their way to the church. After all, isn’t that what we are all about? Sadly, however, it is also what drives many people away from church.

I ran straight into this very critique of Christianity and the Bible at a party I attended one December a few years ago, in which I got into a conversation with a man from Switzerland who felt that the whole Old Testament should be thrown out, that it was full of barbarity. He acknowledged that Jesus taught many good things, but few people follow them. He even challenged me to come up with a set of my own 10 Commandments. He asked me, “If you could write your own 10 Commandments that you want to live by, what would they be?” A good challenge, eh? It reminds me of the famous quote by G. K Chesterton, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”

In another conversation, I was talking with a person who knew I had studied Buddhism as part of my doctoral work, and had some questions concerning Christianity and Buddhism. He had been raised Christian, at least nominally, and had turned to Buddhism because he perceived that Christianity was more concerned about believing things, and agreeing with certain doctrines than it was concerned with the actual spiritual transformation of people. Buddhism had spiritual practices that appealed to his deep desire to be changed, or to be, as my other friend expressed it, “to become a better person.” He was surprised to learn that Christianity has had a number of very well-defined and venerable spiritual practices that are as old as the faith itself. But few people are aware of them.
There is a longing, a hunger for a life that is personally transformative, morally integrated, ethically exacting, socially just, and intellectually fulfilling. But what often passes for Christianity in our society does not meet these cravings.

I have been pondering these matters for some time. Can Christianity be intellectually satisfying, socially viable, and spiritually transformative in our contemporary situation? I believe that it can, and should and must be in order to be true to its divine mandate.
But where to begin? This brings us to this morning’s scripture. Jesus begins his ministry with call to change directions. He calls out “Repent!” The Greek word we translate as “repent” is from metanoia, whch means to transform your mind. Not just feel sorry, but to allow your mind be transformed. Your way of thinkingm your attitudes, your assumptions about the world.

Take those fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Think about wat their lives were like, plying their trade day in and day out, mending nets, taking their boat out each day, casting their nets into the water, hoping for a decent catch to sell to the roman fish buyers who came to purchase fish for salting and curing to take back to Rome. Along comes Jesus who tells them to leave everything they knew behind to follow him, and have their lives transformed. Metanoia indeed!

What does it mean for us to follow Jesus, each of us, in our own situations?
What do we need to leave behind in order to fulfill the Purpose of our church: the purpose of Pocatello First United Methodist Church is to build a caring community of Christians where we accept, renew and change lives by sharing God’s love in ways that make a difference in our world.

I’m wondering if we might need to leave behind the idea that Church is something we do only one hour once a week? Or maybe that someone else is called to build a caring community? Or that we can’t share God’s love because we have to be some sort of super spiritual person to do that? (Do you think those 4 fishermen were super spiritual?) So just what do we each need to leave behind, adn what do we need to bring along?

Issue the challenge.

Jesus' State of the Union Address

2012-02-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

Sermon, February 5, 2012

Luke 4:14-21

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

I. State of the Union Address

A. Long history, rooted in the Constitution: Article II, Section. 3 of the Constitution: “(The president) shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient…”

II. In many ways, today’s reading from Luke depicts Jesus giving what might be termed a combination Inaugural and State of the Union Address.

A. Inaugural, because in the Gospel of Luke, this appearance in the synagogue in Nazareth marks the true beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

B. But it is also like a State of the Union address in that Jesus is both describing, in a fashion, the state of affairs in the world, and what his plan of action will be concerning these affairs. So let’s look at what he says once again.

III. Identifies with the message of Isaiah 61:1&2.

A. Places himself within the prophetic tradition

1. Addressing corporate spirituality of the people of God

a. Both corporate and individual at same time.

b. Recall John Wesley: no Personal holiness without Social holiness, and no social holiness without personal holiness.

2. He proclaims that he is its fulfillment

B. State of the world – look at four groups specifically addressed

1. Poor, captive, blind and oppressed

2. Must be careful about overly spiritualizing this – in both Isaiah and Luke they refer to identifiable social groups. Not just the “poor in spirit,” not just those captive to sin, not just those who are spiritually blind, not just those oppressed spiritually.

3. “Both and.” Inner dimension and outer manifestation of same reality.

4. Later when the disciples of John the Baptist were uncertain as to whether Jesus was the Promised one or not, he said to them “go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.” (Luke 7:22-23)

5. Jesus was concerned with the very real, physical and social circumstances of people.

C. Story of John Wesley’s ministry to the poor. Wesley was what we would call an entrepreneur. These were the social conditions of his time, and a few examples of his creative responses:

1. During his time, the poor and laborers were shut out of the churches.

2. Cheap alcohol, especially gin, was readily available, even encouraged by business owners, even for the children. No health care was available, no education, no social services of any kind. People were routinely thrown into debtor’s prison, which only served to make their situation worse, and tore apart families, insuring that people remained in poverty.

3. John Wesley recognized, like Jesus, that you could not address the spiritual needs of people without addressing their physical needs, and he likewise recognized that the gospel was not only personal, but also deeply social.

4. Wesley and the early Methodists set up schools for the poor. Wesley set up a special loan fund in which the poor could take out a loan to start a small business of their own. And no interest was charged. Helped set up health care clinics for the poor and indigent.

5. These things all helped to transform English society. In fact, many people credit the work of John Wesley and the Methodist movement with preventing the French Revolution from happening in England as well.

IV. The leaders and committee members of our own church who gathered a couple weeks ago and came up with our purpose statement also met as committee groups to identify projects and goals to help us achieve and live out our purpose. These are all designed to help us build a caring community of Christians where we accept,renew and change lives by sharing God’s love in ways that make a difference in the world. For example:

A. We have several small groups and Lenten studies forming. Cheries has details. We also have a group forming that will study Methodism. There is a small group studying 10% Giving and Living. The Senior High youth will be having a special study of the book the Shack, and they are inviting adults in the church to join them. All of these are opportunities for each of us to grow as followers of Jesus Christ.

B. There are several ways you can be in service to people in the community. If you have not taken a turn serving at the Community Breakfast, they are always welcoming servants to come assist and serve our neighbors. Contact Scott Jepsen or sign up through the office. The annual Feeding the 5000 Families food drive is starting later this month, there is an especially great need to collect food for the food bank. We need some people to help spearhead our efforts in tis church to collect money and food for this. We are also staritng a congregational care group who will coordinate visitations to persons in the hospitals, nursing homes and other times of crisis. We will need members of the congregation to help us with this.

V. Closing

A. If Jesus came today, what would he consider to be the State of Our Union? What would he look at in our world, and see in need of change? Where would he direct the power of God’s grace, mercy and love? And whom would he enlist to help him?

B. I recently heard the story of a hospice chaplain, who befriended an eighty-year-old woman named Mary who was a hospice patient. He visited her many times, and he was impressed by her faith. One day, he got a call that she had taken a turn for the worse. He was told, if he wanted to see her alive, he’d better go that day. Larry went to visit his friend, and found her in a very deep sleep. The nurse said she really needed to sleep, she’d been in a lot of pain, so Larry didn’t wake her up. But just as he turned to go, she opened her eyes wide and stared right at him. She looked intently and then said to him, "O for a minute, I thought you were Jesus." They laughed about it for a moment. Larry said to her, "Mary I want you to do something." "What’s that?" she asked. He said, "When you arrive at the gates of heaven and finally do see Jesus, I want you to look at him for a moment and say, "Oh, I thought you were Pastor Larry!" Mary smiled and said she would. Two hours later, she died, and she had that opportunity. I believe we all ought to be mistaken for Jesus, every once in a while. God has given you a mission, just as God gave a mission to Jesus. If you’re living it out, if you’re showing his unconditional love, if you’re treating other people with caring and compassion, if you’re bringing good news to the poor, and healing to the sick, and freedom to those whose lives are being torn apart—then maybe someone will look at your life and say—at least inside, "oh, for a minute I thought you were Jesus." (Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Sermon: “What God Gives”).

The Challenge of Isaiah

2012-01-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

The Challenge of Isaiah

Sermon, January 29, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel

Isaiah 61:1-4

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, 
because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, 
to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and release to the prisoners;  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, 
and the day of vengeance of our God; 
to comfort all who mourn;  to provide for those who mourn in Zion— 
to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, 
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.  They shall build up the ancient ruins, 
they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, 
the devastations of many generations.

One week ago Saturday, a group of over 20 people gathered in the Fireside Room to engage in an extraordinary act. We gathered to receive a vision from God. Now I suppose that putting it that way may sound a bit grandiose or that we had an inflated sense of ourselves. But the fact of the matter is this: we are a community of followers of Jesus Christ, so it behooves us to get instructions from our boss. And I believe that we did.
This is what we did: We first gathered in worship. We read three scriptures in which we heard what Jesus said his mission in the world was all about; and that Jesus gave that mission to us after his ascension into heaven; and that we would do even greater things. Wow! That’s what Jesus is expecting of us. So we got down to it, asked God to guide us and to speak to us and through us and give us a vision for our church. We did a lot of talking and thinking and dreaming and planning. This is what we came up with:
Purpose: the purpose of Pocatello First United Methodist Church is to build a caring community of Christians where we accept, renew and change lives by sharing God’s love in ways that make a difference in our world.

Objectives of the church:
1. Develop experiences that strengthen our connection and communication with one another and with God;
2. Empower the laity to witness to and to be the difference God has made in their lives;
3. Identify significant needs in our community and develop projects that address these needs.

This planning and visioning time was very important. I have been aware of a sense of dissatisfaction and uncertainty here in the congregation for a while. I wrote about this in the Tower and in the State of the Church article that I handed out at the Charge Conference in November, and that I have made available to anyone who wants to read it. In that report I stressed the need for a congregation-wide strategic planning so that we could have a common vision and sense of direction.

We are in a time of rebuilding. We are rebuilding our Education program and our youth ministries. We are rebuilding our small group ministries. We need to rebuild our congregational care ministries. We have been in this mode for the last several years. It is easy in this midst of all this rebuilding to get discouraged and to feel like we are not getting anywhere.

The prophet Isaiah’s words this morning are directed to another group of people who were faced with a colossal rebuilding task: the people of Judah who were returning from 50 years of captivity in Babylon. The city was in ruins. The temple was devastated. Things were actually better back in Babylon. These words are meant to instill a renewed vision and hope and even enthusiasm to carry them along for the long haul. Basically God says, “I am in your rebuilding. I am doing it with you.”

It is important to have just such vision in the midst of rebuilding. We are in the midst of rebuilding and reviving ourselves. We can receive these words of Isaiah as if they are spoken to us directly. What do they tell us?

1. It is going to get better. Setbacks are only temporary if we place our trust in God, and if we dedicate ourselves to God’s work.
2. God is going to unleash us from the negative thoughts, fears and even blindness that has held us back.
3. God is going to release into the joy of fellowship and working together, and growing in the Spirit of Christ.

But this vision from Isaiah is also directing us outward and giving us a vision for what our greater vision is: rebuilding and reviving the greater community around us. How can we extend our ministries further and take them to their logical conclusions? If people are hungry, what are the causes of their poverty?

(Look at the objectives again of the church.)

I don’t have all the answers. In fact, my main role is to pose these questions and guide a process whereby all of our creative energy is focused and directed.

Next week, Jesus gives us guidance when he gives his State of the Union Address.

The Long Arc of Justice, Part 2

2012-01-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

"The Long Arc of Justice: Part 2"

Sermon, January 22, 2012

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Isaiah 58:1-9

Shout out, do not hold back!  Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion,  to the house of Jacob their sins.  Yet day after day they seek me  and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness  and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements,  they delight to draw near to God.  ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?  Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’ Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,  and oppress all your workers.  Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight  and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today  will not make your voice heard on high.  Is such the fast that I choose,  a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,  and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast,  a day acceptable to the Lord?

 Is not this the fast that I choose:  to loose the bonds of injustice,  to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free,  and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,  and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them,  and not to hide yourself from your own kin?  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,  and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you,  the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;  you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

Biblical understanding of justice is rooted in the recognition that God is a God of justice – is a God who is justice. The people of God must therefore be just as God is just. For example:

Psalm 9:8, 16 - He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands

Psalm 11:7 - For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.

Psalm 89:14 - Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.

Psalm 103:6 - The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Psalm 106:3 - Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.

Psalm 140:12 - I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

God is justice. This is fundamental. If you want to get back to the fundamentals of Biblical faith – and there are many who claim to want to do this - justice is fundamental.

Intimately connected with the idea of aligning the inner spiritual reality with the outer physical reality is the notion that the means create the ends. That is, the way we go about doing something determines, in fact, what we get as an outcome. And for this reason Dr. King embraced the practice of nonviolence in the struggle to secure justice. Dr. King was fond of quoting the 18^th Century transcendentalist preacher Theodore Parker: “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

From “Nonviolence and Racial Justice:” “Finally, the method of nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is this deep faith in the future that causes the nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. He knows that in his struggle for justice he has cosmic companionship. This belief that God is on the side of truth and justice comes down to us from the long tradition of our Christian faith. There is something at the very center of our faith which reminds us that Good Friday may reign for a day, but ultimately it must give way to the triumphant beat of the Easter drums. Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but one day that same Christ will rise up and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name.* So in Montgomery we can walk and never get weary, because we know that there will be a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice.”

Nonviolence drew its power from the fact that it is rooted in love – and because the Bible affirms that God is love, then nonviolence is rooted in the very nature of God. Violence is the antithesis of God, and could not be adopted in order to secure justice, which also reflects the nature of God.

(from ”Where Do We Go from Here?”): “Now, we got to get this thing right. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on.”

There is much that we can learn concerning the Biblical and Christian understanding of justice from Dr. King. And even as much as I have stressed the idea that justice involves adjusting the outer material circumstances of life to more accurately reflect the inner spiritual reality – there is also a need to be maladjusted to some things. I quote from his 1957 address, "The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma:”

“There are certain technical words in the vocabulary of every academic discipline which tend to become stereotypes and cliches. Psychologists have a word which is probably used more frequently than any other word in modern psychology. It is the word "maladjusted." This word is the ringing cry of the new child psychology. Now in a sense all of us must live the well adjusted life in order to avoid neurotic and schizophemic personalities. But there are some things in our social system to which I am proud to be maladjusted and to which I suggest that you too ought to be maladjusted. I never intend to adjust myself to the viciousness of mob-rule. I never intend to adjust myself to the evils of segregation and the crippling effects of discrimination. I never intend to adjust myself to the tragic inequalities of an economic system which take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to become adjusted to the madness of militarism and the self-defeating method of physical violence. I call upon you to be maladjusted. The challenge to you is to be maladjusted--as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day, could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, "Let judgment run down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream;" as maladjusted as Lincoln, who had the vision to see that this nation could not survive half slave and half free; as maladjusted as Jefferson, who in the midst of an age amazingly adjusted to slavery could cry out, in words lifted to cosmic proportions, "All men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." As maladjusted as Jesus who dared to dream a dream of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men. The world is in desperate need of such maladjustment.”

Dr. King closed his address "The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma," with these words, and I close with them this morning:

In closing let me urge each of you to keep faith in the future. Let us realize that as we struggle for righteousness we do not struggle alone, but God struggles with us. The God that we worship is not some Aristotelian unmoved mover who contemplates merely upon himself; He is not merely a self-knowing God, but an other loving God. He is working through history for the establishment of his kingdom. … This is our hope. One day, by the grace of God, we will be able to sing, "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

The Long Arc of Justice, Part 1

2012-01-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 15, 2011

Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration

Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel

“Free at Last” – I’m going to begin this morning where Dr. King ended in his famous speech on August 28, 1963 outside of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

James Cone in his book, The Spirituals and the Blues, points out that many spirituals have double meanings – one is spiritual but also a particular political or material meaning, which was often the hidden or coded meaning.

E.g. today’s hymns:

“Over My Head” – “I see trouble in the air – there must be a God some where.” Or, “Wade in the Water” – “God’s gonna trouble the water.”

Reminds one of the story of the Pool of Siloam in Jesus’ time, where people with afflictions and ailments waited for an angel to “trouble the water.” The first person in the pool after it was troubled would be healed. Notice carefully that word “trouble.” When God troubles the water, healing occurs.

Recognition that this is often how God operates in establishing justice for God’s children in the world – by troubling the waters that have been kept artificially placid and stagnant by a status quo that favors the few and treats the rest with contempt.

“Free at Last” - this same double layer of meanings can be discerned:

“free at last, free at last, thank God a’mighty I’m free at last. /Surely been ‘buked and surely been scorned/ but still my soul is a heaven born. /If you don’t know that I been redeemed / Just follow me down to Jordan’s stream.”

Spiritual, inner level of meaning talks about salvation – being “heaven born” because of having been down to “Jordan’s stream.”

Relays a powerful truth – that regardless of my external circumstances – the rebukes and scorns of life – I partake of an inner reality that that is sealed in the power and reality of heaven – in the reality of God. You may put me down, lock me up, keep me in chains, beat my body and cause a thousand sufferings, but you can’t touch my soul. I am somebody – even when you call me less than nobody. I am somebody because God has made me somebody.

The second layer emerges as a result of reflecting upon this inner spiritual reality: If God has made me somebody; if I am indeed made in the image and likeness of God; if indeed God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and I am part of that world, and if I do indeed believe in his name, and I therefore am indeed a child of God – then there is something that stirs up within my soul that compels me to see to it that the outer material circumstances of my life accurately reflect my inner state of being.

This is precisely the work of justice when viewed from a Biblical and Christian point of view.

There are over 130 references to the word “justice’ in the Bible, not counting “just”, “Justly,” or “judgment.” It is a significant concern in the Bible.

The concern of the Bible is to align the inner and outer realities, the spiritual and the material realities. Work of Justice is to align the external material conditions with the internal spiritual conditions. E.g. song “Free at Last” speaks of being redeemed by God – a term very specifically referring to slavery and being bought out of slavery. Paul uses this terminology to speak of our salvation. Thus when Black people came to understand their worth as persons redeemed by God in Jesus Christ, then the next step was to actualize that freedom in their material conditions. Dr. King illustrates this in his essay, “Nonviolence and Racial Justice:”

“Living under these conditions, many Negroes lost faith in themselves. They came to feel that perhaps they were less than human. So long as the Negro maintained this subservient attitude and accepted the "place" assigned him, a sort of racial peace existed. But it was an uneasy peace in which the Negro was forced patiently to submit to insult, injustice and exploitation. It was a negative peace. True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force--tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force--justice, good will and brotherhood…. A myriad of factors came together to cause the Negro to take a new look at himself. Individually and as a group, he began to re-evaluate himself. And so he came to feel that he was somebody. His religion revealed to him that God loves all his children and that the important thing about a man is "not his specificity but his fundamentum," not the texture of his hair or the color of his skin but the quality of his soul. This new self-respect and sense of dignity on the part of the Negro undermined the south's negative peace, since the white man refused to accept the change. The tension we are witnessing in race relations today can be explained in part by this revolutionary change in the Negro's evaluation of himself and his determination to struggle and sacrifice until the walls of segregation have been finally crushed by the battering rams of justice.”

In All Our Particulars

2012-01-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Sermon, January 8, 2012

Second Sunday After Christmas

Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel

Matthew 2:13-18

Now after the magi had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:  ‘A voice was heard in Ramah,  wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children;  she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

There is a poignancy to the drama that unfolds in this story relating the birth of Jesus:

· The new family and the rush of events around them

· The unscheduled birth in Bethlehem.

· the visit of the magi

· the dreams and threat to the baby

· rushing off into exile

· the living in fear

It surely is a strange scripture reading to place right after Christmas, with all its tinsel and glitter, its stories of sweet babies and sheep and cows in a manger. But it is a part of the Christmas story, and perhaps the most important part. You see, Matthew doesn’t want us to forget what the first Christmas was really like, in spite of our pretty Christmas cards and sweet carols. Jesus wasn’t born into a dream world, Matthew is saying. Jesus was born into the real world. The real world of Caesars and Herods, where newborn children pose threats to the rich and powerful. Where families already on the edge of society are forced to flee for their lives.
Robinson Jeffers poem:

Only an hour, only an hour from wars and confusion turn away
to the islands of old time when the world was simple and gay,
Or so we say.

And light lay the snow on the green holly
While oxen knelt at midnight,
Or so we say.

Caesar and Herod shared the world,
Snow over Bethlehem lay,
Iron the empire, brutal the time, dark was that first Christmas day.

(quoted in H. Laron Hall, "A Tale of Two Kings", in No Darkness at All, p. 50)

But Matthew is not writing about bad news. Matthew is writing good news, which is what a Gospel is. The good news is that it is right into the middle of all the bad news of our world that God chooses to come. And God cares about all the particulars of our world. The Gospel-Good News is all about God dwelling in the particulars of our world.
In all our particulars:

· Not generalities. Not a general birth divorced from human history. Not general and vague good news. Very particular.

· A particular people.

· A particular government enforcing particular policies

· A particular tyrant

· A particular place: Bethlehem

· A particular family: Mary, Joseph and Jesus

· Particular fears and tragedies: massacre, threats to the baby’s life, hasty flight from death, life of exile as a political refugee

· Return to a particular village: Nazareth

Many of you were here for the Christmas Eve service. Christmas eve services are always a wonder to me. The church often full of magic in the candlelight and full of people - often people we haven’t seen for awhile, often family returned for the holidays, and often people who visit twice a year. From where I sit I see other things as well. I see a person who struggles with alcohol. I see a family who has lost a father and husband. I see women whose husbands have died. I see people who have been on the wrong side of the law, and are trying to find their way back. I see people who may be celebrating their last Christmas. All of these people, in all their humanness, with all their particular problems and situations come and join their voices, "Joy to the world! The Lord is come!" they proclaim. The Good News is that it is just to us in all our particulars that God comes.
God is in all our particulars:
a. God not a concept, not a vague philosophical exercise.
b. God took on a particular human flesh and experienced particular human joys and terrors. Not enough to speak of fear, it has to be the fear of a new father and mother for their infant child facing the rage of a paranoid and ruthless tyrant. Not enough to speak of uncertainty, it has to be a family traveling the rough road between Bethlehem and Egypt, to live in an unknown place and among foreign people. Not enough to speak of healing, it has to be these ten lepers or this man’s daughter, or this particular disciple’s mother-in-law. Not enough to speak of love, it has to be this man’s tears by the tomb of his friend, or this man sharing his last meal with his friends. Yes, God does dwell in all of us, but the incarnation of God in the particular person Jesus of Nazareth proclaims that God cares for the particulars.
It doesn’t matter whether you view this story as historical fact, a creative retelling of events, or the mytho-theological creation of the early church. What matters is how you are captured body and soul by the story. What matters is you in all your particularity, you with your own infirmities and ailments of the body and soul, with your own fears about your future, or your own tears shed for your children, or your own medical treatments, or your own marital or relationship problems - you in all your particularity - this is what God cares about - this is what God comes to soothe, to salve, to shelter, to shatter, to set right, to rescue. All the particulars of your own flesh and all the particulars of your own situation - this is what matters. That is what the story is all about.

Prepare Him Room

2011-12-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

Sermon, December 11, 2011, Advent 3

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

LUKE 3:7-18

3:7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

3:8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

3:9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

3:10 And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"

3:11 In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

3:12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

3:13 He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."

3:14 Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,

3:16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

3:18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

A few years ago as the world watched the beginning game of the World Series in San Francisco there was suddenly an interruption of the opening interview. The screen blinked and went blank. When the program resumed: A Special News Bulletin. The San Francisco metropolitan area had experienced a serious earthquake. Maybe you remember this. We all watched the live pictures as the huge fire in the Marina area burned. A remote camera crew was there and we saw the firemen fighting the fires. One scene that was most arresting, however, was a group of people standing around just looking at the destruction and looking at the fire. All of a sudden a cop came up to the crowd and yelled out to them: “What are you people doing just standing there. You must get prepared immediately. Go home and fill your bathtubs up with water. Be prepared to live without city services for 72 hours. The sun will set in another hour and your time is running out. Go home and get prepared!”

A long, long time ago a man came on the scene by the name of John the Baptist. John's message was not told in soft monotones, but rather there was an urgent screaming in his voice. “Why are you not getting ready?” he yelled to the people of Judea and beyond. Why are you just standing there? Don't you see that your time is running out on you? You need to be preparing the way. You need to make the path straight. Go and get ready.

Another way to think about this is that John is telling us it’s time to do a little housecleaning. I don’t know about you, but there have frequently been times in my life in which I needed a little help in cleaning my house. It’s not that I couldn’t clean it myself, it’s just that I needed the proper motivation. What I have found works the best is to invite people over to my house. That way I knew I had to get things cleaned up: wash the dishes and put them away, clean off my kitchen table from all the mail and papers that seem to spontaneously collect there, sweep the floors, maybe even mop, clean the bathrooms – you get the picture. The right motivation leads to impressive results.

Well, John the Baptist is essentially saying the same thing: prepare your hearts, get your lives ready because company is coming, a very special guest is coming to your home. Get it ready!

John is talking about housecleaning of an internal sort, only he uses the language of repentance. Repent means to turn, turn one’s mind, change direction. But John says that just changing the direction one’s mind is headed is not enough. We need to bear fruits – not just changing ideas, not an intellectual exercise.
Actions and mind together: brain research shows ideas flit around the outer layers of the cerebral cortex, but for thoughts to habituate into behaviors, they have to imbed in the neural circuitry a little farther down. When we engage in behaviors that match our intellectual commitments, then the ideas become behaviors and even habits. Habits of the heart. Changing our actions reinforces our intellectually-made commitments.
“Get ready! Be prepared! Prepare the way! Clean up your house because a special guest is coming!” John says. But who is this guest? One who will baptize us with fire and the Holy Spirit. Someone who will immerse us completely in the power of God Almighty. John says that Jesus, this burning fire, will gather the wheat and burn the chaff. This is what Jesus does, he gathers all that is good and holy within us and he burns away all that is false, that is destructive, evil, sinful. Everything that will hold us back form a full and clear relationship with God, Jesus will clear away, if we let him in. that’s what John is telling us.

What might that mean for you? What might it mean to make room in your life for Jesus Christ? Let me tell you about what it did for one man.

Some years ago a military airplane crashed at Sonderstrom Air Force Base in Greenland. Twenty-two people were killed. The runway and the nearby fields were strewn with bodies. It was a tragic and horrible moment. There was only one chaplain on the base at the time… and the entire burden was laid on him to bring comfort and the Word of Christ to a shocked community staggered by the horrendous accident. But there was little time to mourn that day. The grisly task of gathering up and identifying the bodies needed to be done.

And so, the chaplain, along with a young lieutenant who had been assigned the duties of a mortuary officer and a group of volunteers went about the awful business of picking up the mutilated bodies and trying to identify the dead, so that their families and loved ones back home could be notified. The people worked in shocked silence well into the night until they almost dropped from fatigue. When every last remnant of death had been picked up, they each went silently to their individual rooms.

That night, after midnight, there was a knock on the chaplain’s door. Outside stood the young lieutenant, the Mortuary Officer. He said nothing. He just stood there and wept. After some moments, the young lieutenant spoke through his tears and he said to the chaplain, “As we were picking up the bodies today, I realized something. I realized that the only other people out there with us were the people who go to church here. I have always been an unbeliever, and I used to ridicule these same people who were out there with us. Yet they are the only persons who would, or perhaps could, do what we had to do today. It must have been their Christian spirit that could help them see beyond the horror to the hope.”

That tragic day turned around the life of that young lieutenant. From that time on he was a new man. Christ was born in his heart because Christians around him living out the deepest commitments of their faith. They were bearing fruits. From that time forward, he took an active part in the Christian ministry of that base. The power of the Christian Hope had changed his life.

If you want to give your loved ones a great Christmas present this year, give them the gift of Christian Hope. Once each year, Christmas comes along to renew our hope and to remind us that the darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of the world.

This is the one who is ready to enter our world. This is the one who stands at our door and knocks. So this Christmas, if he is not a regular guest in your house, I would like to extend you an invitation to let him in. Get yourself ready. Clean up your house, but let him in. Christian mystic Angelus Silesius said it doesn’t matter if Jesus were born a thousand times in Bethlehem if he is not born in your heart.

Imagine This!

2011-11-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Sermon, November 27, 2011

Advent 1

Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel

Luke 1:68-79
Luke 3:1-6

Luke 1:68-79

67John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come and has redeemed his people.

69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

71salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us--

72to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear

75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace."

80And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Luke 3

1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

"A voice of one calling in the desert,

'Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.

5Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight,

the rough ways smooth.

6And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

I I love watching science fiction shows. Not the horror kind, but the kind that depict possible futures, exploring space, time travel and the like. Science fiction functions as a vehicle for people to think about alternative ways of living or ways to address current social problems. Some of my favorites have been TV series such as Star Trek (all the various series), Star Wars, Firefly, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Aeon Flux, Solaris, among others.

What especially appeals to me is how these shows imagine and then depict a different world from that which I experience everyday. Occasionally the things imagined come true in “real” life. Think of the communicators from Star Trek. They look and act just like today’s cell phones. I’m still waiting for the convenience of transporters to be able to teleport to work, rather than just telecommute via computers.

II The ancient prophets had a similar imagination.

A Lions laying down with lambs, leopards eating grass with sheep, and today’s magnificent vision of great and powerful mountains being brought to the same level as the valleys, and the crooked places being made straight.

B Where would we be with out imagination? Some quotes:

1 “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” Jamie Paolinetti

2 “Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein.

3 “A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

C This is the crux of the matter – what we apply our minds to and especially the resources of our imaginations, that is what we will create and become.

1 Imagination creates a world.

2 Process of creativity externalizes what exists only as an image or an idea.

3 Jesse Jackson puts it this way: “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.”

III John the Baptist in this morning’s scripture reading is giving voice to God’s imagination for human existence. What the prophets conceived in their imaginations, John the Baptist believed, and prepared the world to be achieved in Jesus Christ. But what he believed in was a very different world. John came to prepare the world for the coming of a new world – a world conceived in the imagination of God. Listen to what John’s father Zechariah prophesied about him:

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come and has redeemed his people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us--

to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear

in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace."

A Salvation from our enemies and from all who hate us

1 Jesus achieved this by teaching us the way to transform our enemies into our brothers. This is what loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us is all about.

B Enable us to serve God without fear and in holiness and righteousness

1 John imagined a world in which righteous living was possible. Before that time, achieving a righteous life was not really considered to be possible – that is why it was necessary to have the whole sacrificial system – to ameliorate the effects of sinful living.

2 Jesus taught a way of life that was the way of righteousness. It was based upon a new way of living together as people, a way that Rowan Williams calls “communion”: “a relation of profound and costly involvement with each other and receiving from each other.” (The Truce of God, p. 27).

C To guide our feet into the path of peace.

1 How far we have gone off this path!

IV This imagination of God has persisted in the Church over the centuries. I would like to tell you about an amazing bit of inspired and imaginative thinking and action taken by the church around the time of the first Millennium after Christ. It was called the Truce of God, or the Treuga Dei.

A The Truce of God arose amid the anarchy of feudalism as a remedy for the powerlessness of lay authorities to enforce respect for the public peace. There was then an epidemic of private wars, which made Europe a battlefield bristling with fortified castles and overrun by armed bands who respected nothing, not even sanctuaries, clergy, or consecrated days. It forbade fighting or hostility from Thursday through Sunday, and later included certain seasons of the Church year, such as between Advent and the octave of Epiphany, from the beginning of Lent through the octave of Easter, and from the Feast of Rogations through Pentecost.

B Through this the church attempted to limit the scourge of war and violence through non-violent means. The punishment for violation was excommunication.

C It met with very limited success, but its chief strength was in articulating a different way to be. It was an attempt to conceive the world God had conceived, to believe that it was possible, and to take the steps to achieve it. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.”

D The imagination of God created this world, and the imagination of God envisioned how it is that people should live. Today, our world is very far from that vision. But this is also a time of year in which that vision creeps back into human consciousness. But it requires more than lip service to a vision, a nod of the head to an idea. It requires a new way of being, a new way of thinking, a new way of acting and relating. That is what repentance is all about. John the Baptist says start there. Start with a new way of thinking, and put your mind to living in the new world that God has imagined for us.

1 J. G. Gallimore: Image creates desire. You will want what you imagine.

2 Antoine de Saint Exupery : If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

E So this season of celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace, use your imagination. Yearn for that vast and endless sea. Think about what that might mean for our world. And then start living it.

Here We Are: Send Us

2011-11-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sermon

November 20, 2011

Consecration Sunday

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’  The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

If you go to the Vatican Museum in Rome, one of the interesting statues you will encounter is a bust of a man’s head with a face in front and a face in back. This is a bust of the Greek God, Janus or Ianus. According to a legend, he had received from the god Saturn, in reward for the hospitality received, the gift to see both future and past. Janus is, of course, the namesake for our month of January, which is a time of looking back as well as looking forward into the future.

On Consecration Sunday, we look both forward and backward. We look backward and recall all that God has blessed us with. We give thanks for these blessings and then reflect upon how we might pass those blessings on to others. A blessing hoarded is a blessing lost, so we keep those blessings alive by moving them on! We look to the future by considering how we can be a part of blessing the world.

This morning, I would like to look backwards and forwards by thinking for a moment about the legacy of blessing of which we are the beneficiaries every time we walk through these doors. We are all the inheritors of many legacies, in our lives and in this church especially. What is the legacy you have received from the fact that the Pocatello First United Methodist Church exists here in this place? How has God touched your life through the ministry and presence of this church community?

What will be your legacy? How will the world be different for your having been here? What legacy for the next generation of worshippers at Pocatello First United Methodist Church will you leave?

Here at this Church we are part of a long ongoing stream of history that goes back not only 100 years, but hundreds and thousands of years. We have each entered this stream at various points in time, but we each contribute to it with our own unique individual gifts.

So what is the legacy you will leave for this church? As Paul says, to each of us a grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it. We have gifts that can be used in service, we have gifts that can be used in prayer, we have gifts of our active and engaged presence, and we have gifts of money that we can give to enable ministries to happen, to pay for future leadership of the church, to go out across the world in mission and in response to disasters.

Here We Are:

Isaiah’s Call Vision in Isaiah 6:1-8.

Call of God: Who will go for me?

But this call occurs after Isaiah has been ushered into the presence of God, and after he has confessed his uncleanness and unworthiness, and then been cleansed and made ready.

Then and only then is it that he steps forward, in response to God’s action.

All followers of Jesus Christ, who have had their lives touched and cleansed and forgiven and transformed by Jesus, are in the position of Isaiah. Isaiah is a model for responding to the Grace and Love of God. The visitation of God within any believer’s life carries with it the next step: a step into commitment and service.

This is echoed by Jesus:

· Go into all the world… ("All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20)

· Follow me… (Matthew 4:19-22)

· Not only will you do these things, but you will do greater things… (“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14)

· As I have done, so should you… (“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” John 13:15

As followers of Jesus, we are the body of Christ, engaging in the ministry and mission that is his. We are not on our own mission. Remember that Paul says, “you have been bought with a price.” We are no longer our own. We are the servants and friends of Jesus, sent out on his mission. Jesus has no hands but our hands. Jesus has no feet but our feet. Jesus has no mouth but our mouth. Jesus has no time but our time. Jesus has no bank account but ours. We are the presence of God in this community. We make God’s grace and mercy and love and justice real in the world through what we do in this community.

So now, I bid you to be in an attitude of prayer as you fill out or finalize your commitments and pledges to God and to the mission of Jesus Christ through this church this next year.

Let us be in prayer.

Consecration litany:

Leader: Romans 12:1 reads, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

When we consecrate something, we set it apart for God's use. It is the setting apart of all we are, all we have, and all we expect to have or be, to God first of all. We recognize that consecration is not easy, but it is worth the discipline and the sacrifice. In the act of consecration, we acknowledge with Paul, that we were “bought with a price,” and in deep, everlasting gratitude we offer ourselves and our substance to God for the ministry of Jesus Christ in our world.

All: All that I have and all that I am is a gift from You. O Lord.

Here I am: I give myself to You.

Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my entire life.

Receive and consecrate this commitment of my prayers, my presence, my gifts and my service.

I lay it on Your altar.

Do what You want to do with me and with these commitments.

Make a difference in your world through me.

You have everything about me available to You for You to utilize according to Your plans and purposes."

The Challenge of 10%

2011-11-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

Sermon, November 13, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Leviticus 27:30-34

Malachi 3:6-12

Leviticus 27:30-34

All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the Lord’s; they are holy to the Lord. If persons wish to redeem any of their tithes, they must add one-fifth to them. All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. Let no one inquire whether it is good or bad, or make substitution for it; if one makes substitution for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy and cannot be redeemed.

These are the commandments that the Lord gave to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Malachi 3:6-12

For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In your tithes and offerings! You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Opening Joke

Left on a sinking ship were the captain and three sailors. The captain spoke first. "Men, this business about a captain going down with his ship is nonsense. There's a three-man life raft on board and I'm going to be on it. To see who will come with me, I am going to issue this challenge. I will ask you each one question. The one who can't answer will stay behind. Here's the first question: What unsinkable ship went down when it hit an iceberg?" The first sailor answered, "The Titanic, sir." "On to the next question: How many people perished?" The second sailor said, "One thousand five hundred and seventeen, sir." "Now for the third question," and the captain turned to sailor number three. "What were their names?"

(Steve Templeton in Woodmen of the World Magazine.)

What is life without a challenge?

Challenges help us to grow, keep us in shape, help us to heal. Doctors have found that a good way to combat the ill effects of osteoporosis is to exercise, especially weight training. When bones are challenged through lifting weights, they grow stronger, and put more mass on. The same is true of preserving muscle tone and mass. The only thing that maintains muscle is exertion – challenging the muscles to work. The same with our brains. That’s why crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Scrabble, chess and games such as that are good ways to keep our minds active and nimble. We need challenges to grow, to stay in shape and to heal.

Examples of challenges:

Walking Challenges through Virgin Health Miles – challenge to get us out walking even more than the basic 7000 steps per day. After church, the youth group is sponsoring a session of “Stump the pastor,” in which I am going to be asked questions about the Bible with the object being to find something that I can’t answer or explain. Talk about a challenge! But it’s good. Challenges move us out of our comfort zones. They force us not to become “life potatoes.” You know what a couch potato is, right? A life potato is someone who doesn’t try to grow or to learn new things or to change in any way. Challenges set the bar higher, and give us something to aspire to, something to achieve. Nobody is served by setting the bar lower.

It should be no surprise, then, that our spiritual lives need to be challenged as well in order to remain healthy. If we are to grow as servants and disciples of Jesus Christ, then we need to challenge ourselves to get up out of comfortable couches and get serious about following Jesus.

Next year: the year of the challenge

Continual since arriving in 2009, I have heard the comment expressed that “our church needs to grow.” Usually people are referring to numbers, as in “we need to grow in size.” But I would suggest to you that the first and most important way we need to grow is spiritually. My task as your pastor is not to do the work of ministry for you. Rather, I am trained and equipped to cultivate disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is basically my charge and mission according to the Discipline of the United Methodist Church. And to that end, I am calling this next year the Year of the Challenge. I am challenging us to grow as individuals and as a church. I am challenging us to get serious about what it means to follow Jesus Christ. As part of that challenge, I’m issuing today the Challenge of Stewardship, and as part of that, I want to tell you about the 10% Challenge.

Challenge of Stewardship

This last week we mailed out to all our membership a packet called “Returning the Blessings.” In that packet, we explained that there are many ways we can return our thanks to God for all the many blessings we receive each day. The greatest gift we can return to God is the gift of living as disciples of Jesus, and to do the things he did in service to the world.

In addition to this, as members and friends of First United Methodist Church of Pocatello we are committed to uphold its ministries through our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness. This year, you will be given the opportunity bless the world through our church in various ways through our ministry to church members and missions that reach out into our communities. Information is included in that packet about these needs, missions and ministries. By pledging, you personally empower these ministries and missions.

10% Challenge

The 10% Challenge is based on the basic Biblical principal of tithing, that is, setting aside 10% for God. The 10% Challenge is going to get serious about exploring how dedicating 10% of ourselves to God will deepen our walk with Jesus Christ, not only as individuals, but also as a church.

Biblical

10% is dedicated to the LORD:

Genesis 14:20; 28:22

Spiritual

Giving 10% of our time and/or money is a spiritual discipline

As a spiritual discipline, tithing challenges us to live according to biblical and spiritual principles and practices. It becomes an avenue to deepen our walk with Christ, to expand our devotion to God and to practice radical gratitude.

Discerning

The 10% Challenge is not for everyone. In fact, I am seeking only 10% of our membership to take the 10% Challenge. The 10% Challenge is for those who are willing to step out in faith and explore tithing their time and/or money for the cause of Christ. It is a spiritual discipline, which is why all who take the 10% Challenge will be a part of the support group. It requires prayer and discernment to take the challenge.

Who: 10% of our membership (40 persons)

What: Dedicate themselves to one of the following set of disciplines for Spiritual Renewal.

How long: Entire year 2012

Choose Your Challenge:

· Challenge A: Tithe 10% of your income; be part of a Soul Group

· Challenge B: Tithe 10% of your waking hours per week to Jesus (about 11 hours); Soul Group

· Challenge C: 10% of your income, 10% of your waking hours, Soul Group

· Challenge D: As you make out your will and plan your estate, make provision to leave at least 10% to the church; be part of a Soul Group.

· Challenge E: 10% of your income; 10% of your waking hours; 10% of your estate, Soul Group.

Issue the Challenge

Not everyone will be called of God to take the 10% Challenge. But the challenge I issue to all of you is to prayerfully and carefully and even darefully challenge yourself to do more for the cause of Christ this next year through this church. If you are comfortable with your faith, get uncomfortable, challenge yourself to do something you haven’t done before, or in a long time. Join a small group. Serve at the Community Breakfast. Help out with Feeding the 5000 Families, or support a Mission Project. Pledge more than you have in the past. Faithfully pray for our church and all of its missions and ministries. The Challenge of Stewardship is not just for 10%, it’s for all.

Conclusion

I want to close with a story from a book that Karen McCall dropped by for me, “A Taste of Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul:”

The fields were parched and brown from the lack of rain, and the crops lay wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched the sky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came.

The ministers of the local churches called for an hour of prayer on the town square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring an object of faith for inspiration.

At high noon on the appointed Saturday the townspeople turned out en masse, filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands – holy books, crosses, rosaries.

When the hour ended, as if on command, a soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. From the middle of the crowd one faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the others: a small nine-year old child had brought an umbrella. (pp. 19-20)

There are people who have said, “No one will take the challenge. We don’t have the money for our ministries. We need to cut things. It’s tough economic times. You can’t ask people to do these things.” The packet you have received, the 10% Challenge I have laid before you – they are my umbrella.

I’m praying for rain.

Returning the Blessings

2011-11-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Psalm 116

1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD :

"O LORD, save me!"

5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.

8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling,

9 that I may walk before the LORD

in the land of the living.

10 I believed; therefore I said,

"I am greatly afflicted."

11 And in my dismay I said,

"All men are liars."

12 How can I repay the LORD

for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his saints.

16 O LORD, truly I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant;

you have freed me from my chains.

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you

and call on the name of the LORD.

18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the LORD—

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD.

Opening joke:

A man had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He could receive little company and was not to be excited. While in the hospital a rich uncle died and left him a million dollars. His family wondered how to break the news to him with the least amount of excitement. It was decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man. The preacher went, and gradually led up to the question. The preacher asked the patient what he would do if he inherited a million dollars. He said, "I think I would give half of it to the church." The preacher dropped dead.

I want to tell you a story that warmed the cockles of this father’s heart. And it’s a sort of brag or shout out about my youngest daughter. She’s not here, and she doesn’t know that I know about this. Last weekend when I was in Portland for a meeting, I stayed with my mother. As I was standing in the kitchen, I had an opportunity to glance through some of the mail she had received and came across a card sent to her recently from Dawn. The card was a thank-you note from Dawn, in response to a Halloween card my mom had sent her. Inside was a nice long note telling Mom what she was doing in school, the play she was in, finishing cross-country and so on. I know my Mom loved getting that note, and tears almost came to my eyes that Dawn would remember to take time out to hand write a thank you note. What really touched me was that she had received a blessing from her grandmother, and she returned the blessing with a personal note.

What blessings will we return to God for all that we have received from God? That’s the question I would like us all to consider for the next three weeks. What will we return?

This is the question the Psalmist deals with in this morning’s scripture litany that we read together. The Psalmist begins out by describing how dire his situation was:

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the LORD :

"O LORD, save me!"

But God came to the rescue, God blessed the psalmist with life, because God is compassionate and merciful. Then the psalmist asks the crucial question:

“How can I repay the LORD

for all his goodness to me?”

We have been blessed. What will we return? How can we repay the LORD? The Psalmist immediately knows the answer:

“I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.”

Stewardship begins as the spiritual practice of recognizing and acknowledging that we owe our very existence to that which is beyond us, that which is greater than us. All of life is given to us – as an act of grace. The question is – how will we care for this gift given to us? This question is perhaps the most basic and the most profound human question. We are all gifted in many ways, and caring for the gifts given to us is a deeply significant act of gratitude. But the gifts are not for us alone, they are for the world. They are for our families and communities as well.

Stewardship reminds us that we are part of what I call the Great Chain of Blessing. Blessing flows through us. Our purpose in life is to be agents of accomplishing God’s will in the world/universe.

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

When we pray this we are dipping into the stream or flow of intentionality, of purpose present in the universe – the universal, cosmic expression of the will of God. Giving is being in the flow of God’s intentionality. Give is verb form, gift is noun form. World is a gift of God. We are most like God when we give: “God so loved the world that he gave…”

We are approaching the time of year in which many of us will gather with family or friends or members of the community to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is appropriately set at the time of year after much of the produce grown in our communities has been harvested. We pause at this time not only to eat of this bounty, but to stop and give thanks to God for the bounty.

Giving thanks reminds us that we really have very little to do with producing all that we have been blessed with. Think of it, in regards to food:

Did you put together the DNA in those seeds to organize itself to grow, and to convert air and water and minerals powered by sunlight into proteins and carbohydrates to form into roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits?

Consider what you are made of

Consider all the things that sustain your existence

Consider all the things that you use at your place of work –

· Where did they come from?

· Who made them?

· Where did the raw materials come from?

· Where did the rain and sunshine come from?

· Where did the silicon, the copper, the gold, the iron come from to make up our computer circuitry?

· Where did the petroleum that is made into plastic come from?

· Meditate upon your cell phone, or your computer, or your TV or CD player…

Giving reminds us of this flow, this continuity of intention and blessing, of which we are a part. Spiritual problem: we forget our place in the universal flow of blessing, of intention. Spiritual solution instituted by God: practice of giving. That is what stewardship is all about: returning the blessings we have received in order to become more like God. Genesis declares that humans were made in the image of God. When we give, we are most true to this divine image: “God so loved the world that he gave…”

The Church exists in order to be a conduit of blessing – to allow God’s blessings to come to us, go through us and out into the world. We are all called here to be instruments of God’s blessing of the world. We have been blessed. What will we return?

“How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me?”

Closing story:

At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian's personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.

When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. "My son," he said, "when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, 'Take good care of this kiss--it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.' I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it."

God says the same thing to us. We have been showered with blessings too numerous to mention. But when we come to church, God comes and gives us one kiss on the forehead. “Take good care of this kiss. It is the kiss of life. It comes from my Son who gave his life that you might have yours. Take good care of this kiss.”

(From Andor Földes, "Beethoven's Kiss," Reader's Digest, November 1986, 145. One online reference is at http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=4530)

What will we do with that kiss?

What will we return to bless this world that God loves so much?

2011-10-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Bearers of the Mysteries

All Saints Sunday

October 30, 2011

INTRODUCTION:

How do you explain who a saint is? How about someone who is like a grandparent who loves you very much and shows you how to do neat things. A saint is like that. They show us how to live, they show us how to love, they show us what God is like. We have a whole congregation full of people who match this description. We have a congregation full of saints.

Perhaps we need to redeem the word saint from its impossible connotations. Saints in Roman Catholic canon law have developed such a fantastic and idealized definition that our modern conception no longer matches Paul's. When Paul refers to the "saints", such as when he says "I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love toward all the saints," he is referring to all the people gathered there in Ephesus who have decided to follow Jesus Christ. There is nothing esoteric or other-worldly about them at all.

A. Saints in my life:

Are saints stuffy people who do no wrong? Saints remain loyal to God. Saints have perspective and wisdom. A saint in my life would be Grandpa Schroeder. Not a saint in the religious sense, but in the sense of accepting me, loving me, and imparting special knowledge to me. He told me about his younger days, when people still rode horses everywhere, and Nez Perce Indians using his father's corral to break in their horses. He once got lost while out on horseback, and finally allowed the horse to find its way back to camp. He knew how to hold your hands when walking out in the brush so as to discourage rattlesnakes from biting you. He once went out to the lower ranch to work one day, and when he came back in the evening, he had shot a couple hundred rattlesnakes that day. Grandpa was someone who had secret knowledge and he was willing to impart it to me. Saints are people who have beheld the mysteries. They are the beholders and bearers of mystery.

Another saint, though also not in the religious sense, was my Scoutmaster, Mr. Dennis. He also taught me various mysteries, such as how to pitch a tent, how to fold it up, how to roll up my sleeping bag so it was neat and compact, how to make a fire, how to cook over its coals, how to use a pocketknife safely, how to carve a neckerchief slide that really looked like something, how to use semaphore and Morse code, how to use a compass, how to read a map (my dad helped me with that, also), how to make a sling out of rags for a broken arm, how to do CPR, and lots of other stuff that was really neat and fun at the time, but were also important ways to help me know how to live with myself, with other people, and with God as well. I also learned from him to trust myself, and to trust my knowledge and abilities.

Another saint would be Jessie Allen, the perpetual teacher of the kindergarten age Sunday School class. She had taught Sunday School for years before I ever arrived on the scene. All through grade school and high school she taught Sunday School. I was amazed to return some time in college to discover that she was still teaching that age level, even though she was in her 80s and could barely walk. She was loyal. She had given her life to Jesus Christ, and she was in his service. She took her membership vows seriously.

B. Definition of a saint: One who bears the mysteries of life and is willing to pass them along.

II. Saints in our midst: We are them.

A. That is what a saint does. They convey the mysteries to us. I know that the churches I have served are filled with saints, because I have learned more about life and its mysteries and about the mysteries of our faith from each and every person. From some I have learned that a lifetime of living and practicing my faith can provide a center of strength and a source for healing in the midst of traumatic and potentially life-threatening injury.

From some I have learned equanimity and perseverance in the midst of declining abilities. From some I have also learned how many years of experience, reflection and faith can mature into wisdom and stability. I have learned the grace it takes to step back and marvel at the world and allow a new generation its place in shaping the future.

From some, I have learned how to not let crises and physical setbacks act as stumbling blocks. From some of you, I have learned the importance of loyalty and dependability. I have learned the importance of my word, of remaining true to what I profess and claim. I have learned the importance of acting upon my beliefs.

From some, I have learned how the attitudes of faith can be enacted in everyday life in various small but important ways. I have learned the importance of sticking up for what is right and for what I believe. I have learned the necessity of common decency and neighborly caring.

These are all mysteries. These are all secrets into how to live a life that really matters. That is what sainthood is all about: finding out how to live the life that really matters, and then passing on that secret. Faithfulness, trustworthiness, loyalty, courage, honesty, and integrity are at the heart of sainthood, but an equally important ingredient is a willingness to share the information. Generosity and gratitude are equally important ingredients.

B. Saints are bearers and imparters of the mysteries of life and faith. Many of these mysteries have to do with basic values such as integrity, honesty, self-giving, community service, trustworthiness, etc. These are mysteries because there is no instruction booklet that tells you how to have integrity, or to be honest, or to give of yourself. You just have to do it, and you learn how to do it by observing someone else do it. That’s what a saint is – someone who just does it.

III. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, whom some scholars think might actually be Phoebe, the benefactor of Paul, waxes eloquent about all the biblical figures who demonstrated their faith in whatever set of circumstances life met them with. “By Faith…” “By Faith…” We can add to the list people we have known who have borne the mysteries of life for us. “By faith…”

IV. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

V. Run the race – for the sake of joy. Saints are those in our midst who persevere, and who show us how to hang in there, knowing the joy that lies, sometimes hidden, in very core of each moment, even the cross-filled ones. We are surrounded.

What Will you Return?

2011-10-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Sermon Series: Getting It Together, Part 7

October 23, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

The Basic Point

The final step of wisdom is to return to your community and offer the gifts of your experience for the betterment of the world.

Matthew 25:14-30

For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

When I was in the sixth grade, my aunt and uncle gave me a book that was to introduce me to an entirely new world that exploded in my imagination. The book was The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book is the story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, who travels to a far land, battles spiders, cavorts with elves and dwarves, and survives the riddles of a dragon. He returns home much the wiser for his adventure, and in possession of singular ring that enables him to disappear. Very quaint.

Of course, this is all preparation for the epic story that follows as a sequel, The Lord of the Rings, which I read several times in Jr. and Sr. High. That story is really the story of the various journeys and trials undertaken by several of the leading characters. The Lord of the Rings is really another of the many stories of the Hero’s Journey that I talked about at the start of this series on Wisdom. Take, for instance, Frodo Baggins, Aragorn and Sam Gamgee, who each return from the battles over the One Ring with specific gifts of wisdom, experience, perspective and courage. Aragorn takes his rightful place as king, and Sam becomes mayor of Hobbiton. Frodo compiles his memoirs, and leaves them as a record for others.

The final step of the hero’s journey is to return home with gift of self-knowledge and the boon of insight that they have acquired in order to offer it to their community. This is true of wisdom as well. We do not live unto ourselves alone. We are members one of another, as Paul says.

All of our individual journeys are like the many streams and trickles of water that fall down a mountainside following a rain, joining and merging into larger streams and rivers. The wisdom we each acquire is added to the great flow of life. Paul says to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. What this means is to take all that we have experienced and learned in life and use it as a means to wisdom under the guidance and transforming power of God, and then allow God to use that wisdom wherever it is needed in our communities and world. That is the ultimate destination: back where we began, at home in our hearts, in service to our world.

Often when I am talking with families who have lost a loved one I will ask them what qualities they admired in a person. After they share a few things, I will say that the best way we can honor someone is to embody those characteristics that we valued in them: “One of the best ways to honor those we have lost in a tragedy is to dedicate our lives in service to others in memory of our loved ones and friends. Perhaps you can join groups dedicated to assist with other survivors of tragedy. Perhaps you can assist with relief work overseas or at home. As you do things that make the world better, you begin to transform what has been painful and destructive into something filled with life and hope.”

Jesus tells a story that illustrates the importance of offering our gift of wisdom to the world. A master of three slaves divides up some of his property among the slaves. Two of the slaves shrewdly invest and trade the property, and increase the value of their master’s estate. But one slave hides his share, and complains to the master, whereupon he is punished and cast outside of the community. Our lives are given to us as precious gifts, and even the traumas and tragedies we experience can be transformed by the power of God into jewels of wisdom that can enhance and help the lives of others around us. What we experience and go through can give us a unique insight into the experiences other people go through. For instance, my own experience with being divorced twice has been very difficult, even traumatic for me. But the experience of my first divorce taught me that how I went through my second divorce would set the stage for what was to follow. I urged my congregation not to take sides, but to continue to love and support each of us. I urged them to hold me accountable to behave in a manner befitting someone who bears the name of Jesus Christ, and as a minister of the Gospel. I engaged in a time of deep introspection as to what my part in the dissolution or our marriage was, and what was not. Out of that experience I emerged with a greater understanding of the things in my own life that needed to be resolved, and even discarded. That showed me that it is possible to survive, and even thrive, after divorce. And that process also taught me much about the path towards wisdom, much of which I have been sharing with you these past several weeks.

Each of us is on a hero’s journey of some sort. Our lives will be buffeted and bruised by life. We will indeed face dragons and spiders and monster of various sorts that we will have to engage and perhaps battle. The Way of Jesus illuminates that journey for us, and shines light on gifts and gems of wisdom that can arise from the journey. What will you return to your community? What commitments will you make with your lives that will strengthen others, or make our world just a little better?

One final story from The Lord of the Rings. There is a song that Bilbo Baggins , sings as he leaves the Shire on his way to Rivendell. The song expresses an invitation to a journey, the journey, really:

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Whither then? None of us can say. But with a good map, and good companions, the journey is worth it.

Change Your Heart ⇔ Change Your Life

2011-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sermon Series: Getting It Together, Part 6

October 16, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Basic Idea:

As we seek to become whole persons in Christ, adopting a set of spirit-guided practices reinforces our new lives fashioned by faith.

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Opening Joke:

An actress, a costumer and a stage manager found an old bottle in a pile of junk backstage. The actress rubbed it against her sleeve, and poof! A genie appeared.

"You got me fair and square," the genie said. "So you each get one wish."

"I want a world tour in a starring role," the actress declared.

"Granted," said the genie, and poof! The actress was off on her tour.

"I want a yacht and unlimited funds to cruise the exotic ports of the world," wished the costumer.

"Granted," said the genie, and poof! The costumer was off on his cruise.

The stage manager rubbed his chin, thought for a minute and said, "I want them back after lunch."

I have spent over half of my life doing things in the theatre in one way or the other. One of the hallmarks of life in the theatre is the amount of time spent going over and over things. In order for any actor to be prepared for an actual performance, they must run through their lines and movements on stage many, many times in order to memorize their part. This is called “practicing.” Similarly, athletes on a team practice together as a team over and over so that they develop their skills and learn how to work as a team. They have certain “plays” that they need to know as a team in order to compete in a game. In order to compete well and effectively, these plays must be so well-rehearsed and practiced that they are second nature to each player and to the team as a whole. In essence, through repeated practice and rehearsal, actors and athletes each internalize their lines, parts, routines and plays to the extent that the actor fully embodies their character such that they seem to actually be that character, and the athlete executes their plays so well that they seem to have been born to the game, or such that they are football or baseball itself.

We all have this same capacity to shape our lives according to something we wish to achieve or be by the constant repetition or practicing of those actions or thoughts that embody that change we want. Of course, it isn’t easy. It requires discipline, and we don’t always appreciate discipline. Tom Landry, the football coach, has said, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be.” This is the purpose behind any sort of discipline.

Throughout the last several weeks we have been looking at the wisdom path to wholeness and healing in our lives. This is how I’ve described this path:

Wisdom as a process:

· Know your Big Picture, how the universe is put together, Who put it together. Our Destination in life: To become whole persons in Jesus Christ, to “...grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

· Tell the truth of your life in context of that Big Picture

· Identify experiences of injury, trauma and seek healing in order to become whole persons.

· Integrate these experiences into your life and help others from your unique experience.

Last week I talked in depth about the power of ritual to enact and embody some of the inner healing we seek. By doing these physical rituals, we help unlock the painful grip these events have upon this, and work with the healing power of God’s Spirit. These rituals help mark or enact the big changes or transitions in our lives. Today we are going to look at how spiritual practices and disciplines cement into our consciousness the changes we want to make.

Think of it this way: It’s like after surgery or an accident, when you have broken bones or had something replaced, like a joint, you have to regain your strength. You do therapy, which consists of small activities repeated daily over and over. Spiritual practices are therapy for the mind and heart.

But in order for this therapy to have lasting effects, we must find ways of acting that are in accord with this new direction. We must redirect our thoughts and attitudes along lines that are in concert with this new direction. What we need to do is to adopt a set of practices that serve to reinforce our new life and to help establish the change as permanent. These practices are called spiritual disciplines.

THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICES OF JESUS

Jesus was a practicing Jew in first-century Palestine. The Jewish spiritual disciplines for which we have evidence that he practiced include the following:

· Prayer and meditation,

· Study of the Scriptures of his time,

· Acts of charity,

· Devotional practice and worship,

· Observance of religious rituals and festivals.

· Time alone in the natural world,

· Fasting,

· Urged repentance (basically continuous self-examination),

· Performed works of mercy and justice as well as works of love and compassion.

· Simplicity of life,

· Acts of forgiveness and reconciliation, and

· Worked to establish a new form of community among his disciples and followers.

(For a fuller discussion of these disciplines go to "A Life Disciplined" in the Journey to the Heart of God section of the Pocatello First United Methodist Church website.)

The power of prayer arises from the fact that it is first and foremost an activity of the will of God. Because God is holy, prayer needs to be grounded in God’s will for the world. That is, our intentions, as voiced in our prayer, must be rooted firmly in God’s intentions. Prayer is a way of attuning our wills to the greater Will that pervades the universe. Thus, the discipline of prayer focuses our own individual wills on the Big Picture of God’s will and love for the world. We come to know and understand that will more closely through careful, guided study of the Bible, which is another spiritual discipline. Devotional practices such as reading The Upper Room, daily prayer, even doing a form of what’s called the Daily Office, are forms of devotional practice. By gathering every week for worship, we literally put our bodies where our intentions are. By gathering in worship we:

· Acknowledge our dependence upon God
· Conform ourselves to God’s will who has commanded us to observe and hallow the Sabbath
· Give praise to Jesus Christ and seek to be his disciples by gathering to learn about his Way
· Support one another as members of the Body of Christ by holding one another in prayer
· Confess our need to remold and remake our lives after the image of Christ.

Fasting is a means to purify oneself and prepare for a deeper encounter with God. The constant need for food occupies much of our time and energy as humans. By temporarily stepping away from the all-consuming need to consume, our mental energy and attention can be directed to practices such as prayer, meditation and contemplation. As the body no longer needs to direct its energy resources to the acquisition, preparation, eating and digesting of food, it has more energy available for the work of the brain as it engages in these exercises of the mind.

Jesus lived a life of simplicity that was free of the craving after riches and material possessions. He urged this lifestyle upon his followers. The rapacious greed, rampant materialism and wanton exercise of power of his day and ours has always resulted in wide disparities in wealth, in the oppression of whole segments of society, and the need to use military force to protect the vested material interests of the rich and powerful. Jesus knew this and urged a different lifestyle and a new community of people. Jesus did not simply provide a critique about the failings of the social systems he found around himself – he showed people an alternative way to live and be. At its best, the Christian community is just such a community of love, justice, mercy and compassion in the world. In order to adopt this new way of being and acting in the world, we need to have the support of like-minded people who will assist us in our journey.

These are all examples of the time-tested things the church has used over the years to help the followers of Jesus to become whole persons in Christ, to “...grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

One final note. Ted Williams, baseball superstar of 40's & 50's was known as a "natural hitter." Once was asked about this natural ability and replied, "There is no such thing as a natural born hitter. I became a good hitter because I paid the price of constant practice, constant practice." (Ted Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader, p. 95.)

Our growth into wisdom takes just such constant practice. The integrated life that can be ours, even after being buffeted by trauma and tragedy is an ever-present possibility, but it requires that we do our part. But that is the point of being a community of the followers of Jesus Christ. We sow the seeds of new life through the spiritual disciplines Jesus practiced and the church has nurtured for 2000 years. By carefully nurturing these practices and disciplines, we can reap a harvest of wholeness.

What's Done in the Body Settles in the Heart

2011-10-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sermon Series: Getting It Together, Part 5

October 9, 2011

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

The Basic Point
What we do in the body affects what settles in heart and mind. Rituals help us enact and embody new life.

Mark 7:31-37
Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

Opening Joke:
A preacher was becoming terribly distracted by a man who came to church every Sunday and slept through the entire sermon. One Sunday the preacher decided to do something about it. As he began to preach, the man, true to form, fell fast asleep. Whereupon the preacher said quietly, “Everyone who wants to go to heaven, stand up.” The entire congregation immediately stood up, except the sleeping man. When they sat down, the preacher shouted at the top of his voice, “Everyone who wants to go to hell, stand up.” This startled the dozing man. Still half asleep, he jumped up, looked around to see what was going on, then he said to the preacher, “I don’t know what we’re voting on but it looks like you and I are the only ones in favor of it.”

Ah yes, we should always be careful what we do in the body because what we do in the body articulates what we want to be in the world. Today, as we continue with this series on wisdom, we are going to focus upon what our bodies have to do with wisdom. Now this might sound strange at first, because we tend to think of wisdom as being this very intellectual process, something relegated only to the mind, wherever that may be. So what do our bodies have to do with wisdom? In order to answer this question, let’s first review this process we have been speaking about for the past 4 weeks.

Wisdom as a process:
• Know your Big Picture, how the universe is put together, Who put it together. Our Destination in life: To become whole persons in Jesus Christ, to “...grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
• Tell the truth of your life in context of that Big Picture
• Identify experiences of injury, trauma and seek healing in order to become whole persons.
• Integrate these experiences into your life and help others from your unique experience.

Two weeks ago we spoke about the importance of telling the truth about our lives, and last week we looked at how part of the process of telling the truth is to identify those traumas and points of pain and injury we have experienced in life. The healing we are seeking is from these very wounds we have suffered, and we all have them. But once we have identified these wounds, how do we receive healing?

There are many ways to seek healing, of course. We can seek counseling from qualified and trained therapists and counselors. We can participate in support groups such as 12 step groups or groups for survivors of divorce or abuse or natural disasters or whatever. In the context of church we can engage in such support groups, but also engage in specific rituals that help us enact the healing we seek.

Body as symbolizer, expresser of meaning and intention.
Think of what we symbolize in our bodies: shaking hands, kiss at weddings seals the contract, when we are happy we do a happy dance or wiggle (even football players), think of all the body gestures we do when we are flirting, everyone of our facial expressions are symbolic, commencement exercises, etc.

How rituals work:
• Ritual is based in human expressiveness
• Ex-press – “to press out.”
• But we are also impressionable – we take in information, new states of being, etc. through the body. We enact our changes bodily. We are all actors in a way.
• We express our inner life through actions, and we are affected internally by what we do externally.
• Performing a ritual helps our inner convictions and intentions to become present realities by enacting and settling them in the body. As we move bodily in the world, we affect that part of with which world we connect.
• Ritual assists with our inner healing by physically symbolizing the change we wish to achieve within ourselves.

In today’s scripture reading, Jesus engages in a very embodied ritual to heal the man who was deaf and mute. He takes him aside, and then he puts his fingers into the man’s ears, enacting the inability to hear physically. Then he spits and touches the man’s tongue. This symbolizes the loosening of the tongue in order to speak. Then he looks to heaven – did you notice that? – and he says “Ephphatha! Be opened!” He’s looking up as he says this. What is being opened? Heaven or the man’s ears? Or both?

Wisdom Process includes finding rituals to accompany and symbolize our healing. Examples:
• Communion: Deep rich language exploring many levels of meaning, Break bread – breaking of Christ’s body but broken for us, healing of our own brokenness by symbolically partaking of Christ’s body which is given as an offering on our behalf – thus eating participates in what is originally and always a propitiation, a cleansing. Not enough simply to acknowledge it, we need to enact the healing by enacting the ritual.
• Cursillo and Emmaus: writing confessions of our brokenness or how we have hurt others in past or even how we have been hurt by others on pieces of flash paper, nailing it to a cross, and then touching a flame to it.

The power of a ritual to assist with our healing comes from how closely our ritual actions mimic or re-create what we are trying to achieve. If we seek release from something, then a powerful representation of this might be to bind our hands with something representing what is holding us in bondage. And then to say prayers asking for God’s Spirit to release us, and then to throw off the bonds dramatically with force and conviction. Say loudly and commandingly, ”In the name of Jesus Christ, I am set free!”

Our hurts and wounds reside in our bodies. The memories of our injuries and abuse and trauma situate themselves physically in our bodies. By doing these physical rituals, we help unlock the painful grip these events have upon this, and work with the healing power of God’s Spirit. I am willing to work with any of you here who would like to work in this manner on healing something in your life. Come and talk with me, and we will pray about it and find the right ritual to use.

God became flesh in Jesus Christ precisely in order to bring us into wholeness through the body. Jesus was a fully human person, the embodiment of the Spirit of God, and he touched the persons he healed in their bodies. This is the wisdom of God, who knows that our need for wholeness includes our bodies.

What we do in the body affects what settles in our hearts and minds. As we seek to become whole persons in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit can touch us and heal us. What life has cast asunder, God can pull together, body and soul.