Philippians 4:4-7 - "Rejoice IN the Lord" (10-12-08)

“The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” (Matthew 22:2). We are reminded today of this great wedding banquet that is being thrown for Jesus Christ and we are all invited. Jesus has invited everyone to the banquet. The table is ready and the party is about to begin. Yet none of those invited are showing up. There were many things going on. The invitation now is for all people; those who are good and bad. Then someone in Matthew 22:12 doesn’t have a wedding garment on and is thrown out. This reminds us all that we gather and are clothed not with our own sense of goodness but with the garment of Christ.

We gather today discouraged by the news all around us this week. Dissatisfaction with the past and those things we have done or failed to do. Discouragement with the present and the uncertainty of our investments that has stole our joy away. We gather with distrust of the future and where things will go from here in our personal life and faith life. We have forgotten the blessings of yesterday. We are indifferent to the calling of today and we are uncertain about the security regarding tomorrow.

Our joy is gone. The lack of joy is a consequence of man’s separation from God, and the presence of joy is a consequence of the reunion with God.[1] Often we think that our joy is only found in things we can control. We often confuse joy with happiness. Happy relates to the word happenings; the situation or circumstances we are in that might bring us happiness.

This Tuesday we have much to celebrate! It was October 14, 1908 that the Chicago Cubs won their second World Series in a row! Dynasty! What a celebration and festival. The banquet of celebration was all around. But now we gather today while the world is in a series of financial troubles and we have no joy.

We find out joy in the LORD! There is great joy IN this invitation and the feast that has been prepared for all of us. As we gather here in this place the table is set and we are called to celebrate IN the lord. We celebrate around this table knowing that God is not far off. The altar’s presence reminds us that we celebrate with Christ really present. We rejoice in the Lord for God is near and we are invited yet again.

Paul was writing to the people of Philippi and was in a prison when he wrote this short letter. Yet Paul used the word joy or rejoice is in this little letter fourteen times! He encourages them to rejoice IN the Lord and not in their circumstance. Rejoice means you had the joy of the Lord once - you lost it, you wander away from it, forgot about where to find it! Re- means to do it again! Just in case you forgot, rejoice IN the Lord and not in any other things or happenings. What is your joy in? When someone’s joy is rooted not IN THE LORD; we will discover the peace of the Lord that goes beyond our human understanding and that will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Yet there are reminders that no matter the circumstance, we are called to rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. As Karl Barth put it, the joy that Paul describes is a defiant "nevertheless,"[2] which draws strength from the gospel story and from laying one's deepest concerns before God "with thanksgiving." The Psalmist said, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice & be glad in it.” Nehemiah wrote during difficult situation, “The Joy of the Lord is my strength.” Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!”

We gather at this banquet to celebrate the birth, life, death and resurrection. This parable of the banquet from Matthew 22:1-14 is just a few days before Jesus will die. The opposite of joy, Paul Tillich stated, is sorrow. We gather knowing that joy is often found in the midst of sorrow. What is the Christmas song about joy? “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart, prepare him room and heaven and nature sing; and heaven and nature sing; and heaven and heaven and nature sing.” Yes, it seems too early for Christmas but every Sunday is Christmas and Easter wrapped together.

Yesterday I was returning from teaching a Diakonia class and wanted to stop at Target to find a new water bottle that is BEP free. I learned a lot at the Mission Gathering this week about Environmental Stewardship. So I’m walking through Target yesterday and pass the Halloween decorations and then I pass one isle filled with… yes, Christmas cards. You can at least get started on this part of the Christmas tradition they were saying. So it connected with what I discovered this week, that the Christmas card as we know it, was designed in 1843 by the artist J.C. Horsley. It measured about the size of a postcard. From this design, one thousand cards were lithographed and hand-colored three years later for Sir Henry Cole, first director of the South Kensington Museum, London. The first Christmas card shows a Victorian family celebrating the gentle spirit of the season around a table toasting with a glass of wine. This was not too well received by church folk. It contained too much revelry. They are making a toast to the health and happiness of their family, friends and nation. Too much joy makes us suspicious (Tillich). But flanking the scene of Christmas cheer and celebration is the carrying out of the biblical concern for "Clothing the Naked" and "Feeding the Hungry." A lettered greeting was printed underneath the picture. This part did not set too well with most church folk because of the reminder to care for the least and lost. The reminder of benevolence was too graphic and hard-hitting.[3] For as we approach Christmas, we will spend too much on stuff that we think will bring us “joy” but will be gone soon thereafter.

We are called to rejoice in the Lord in all circumstances, especially in the difficult ones. Matthew 5:11-12 says that when you experience rejection in the name of Christ, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” We can pray to the Lord in all of our challenging circumstances, making our requests be made known. What you will receive is the peace that goes beyond our human understanding. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Let us pray: Gracious God, we call upon you in all our circumstances knowing that our joy is IN you and not in the happenings around us. Guide us as we gather at this banquet to know and share your grace, in Christ we pray, Amen.

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[1] Paul Tillich, The New Being, chapter 19

[2] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n34_v111/ai_15996088

[3] http://www.homileticsonline.com/

Philippians 3:4-14 - "Pressure Is Off" (10-5-08)

For those Cub fans today, the pressure is off. They don’t have to worry about not winning a World Series for one hundred years anymore. Of course the Sox fans have the pressure of winning this afternoon or go home. But for today, we look back and realize that the pressure is off of us to try to make up for our past or relish in our past accomplishments.

Today, we celebrate that there is a great harvest in the vineyard of our faith. This vineyard in today’s gospel lesson is different than from Isaiah, chapter five, where the entire vineyard is growing wild grapes. Now, the grapes are abundant and the harvest is plentiful. A new community is being formed and new leadership has been called upon to serve in this vineyard as stewards of the vineyard and not as owners.

The vineyard was planted, a wall was placed around it and a watchtower built. The tenants shifted from being the tenants or stewards to wanting to be the owners. Once these stewards thought they owned it all, they controlled the vineyard and the faith traditions. Yet today we read how the vineyard is growing great but the stewards only are going to be kicked out. A great judgment was upon their heads for not managing these gifts and for killing the messenger. There was great pressure for those tending to the vineyard that led them to think that they now owned what belongs to only God.[1]

Well we’ve had our own challenges and pressures lately: illness, falls, unemployment, cancer, grief and pain. We gather today because we know pressure. On Tuesday, it will be the one year memorial after my mom passed away October 7, 2007. There are many of life’s pressures all around us. There is also the pressure of past failures and their impact on current relationships. There is the pressure of past success that someone impacts the expectations of our lifestyle today and into the future. Sometimes the pressures of our failures press upon us to try and make up for the past. Sometimes the pressures of our past success press upon us to do even more to earn favor and appreciation from family, friends or peers.

Yet today, we gather because the pressure is off of us and placed upon Christ. In the letter to the people living in the town of Philippi; Paul is encouraging them to press on toward the goals in life. He recounts his own credentials of being the most orthodox of Jewish leaders keeping the 600 plus laws to prove it. He even admits to persecuting and killing Christians before he had become one himself. He acknowledges his past success as a Jewish leader and his past failures as one who authorized the killing of Christian. Yet he counts all the past success or failures as rubbish. The word rubbish means to throw to the dogs, the way I would hand the lima beans to our dog growing up under the table. All of this other stuff is rubbish, even the Cubs. Paul understands his value is rooted not in position, past failures or success, but as loss. He views it as rubbish and not worth the far surpassing value of knowing Christ. Not only is it knowing Christ but being found in Christ and the power of the resurrection; which means knowing the sufferings and sharing in the sufferings.

Whatever our failures or accomplishments, we lay them aside that we may know Christ and that is only through the sufferings we experience and the sufferings we share with those around us. When we lay them aside we find rest and peace. We feel that pressure in our bodies all day long and when we lay down, our backs rest. I can tell this happens in the morning when I look in the rearview mirror. I actually have to adjust my mirror up in the morning because my back actually feels relieved of the pressures of the past day and I sit and stand up more.

So we forget what lies behind in the rearview mirrors of our lives Because of God's grace and the forgiveness made possible through Jesus Christ, Paul then says that we are to, "forget what lies behind," and "... Press on toward the goal..." The word “press” is dioko and the word Diakonia comes from this word. Press on means to seek after, pursue and strive toward sharing the grace of Christ. Paul calls us to look ahead!

We are called to forget what lies behind. There is nothing you can do to earn forgiveness from the past mistakes. There is nothing you can do about the past failures to make God love you more. There is also nothing in the past that you have done well at that will help you earn God’s grace either. None of those things matter. When we look back on our lives we won’t be defined by the failures and success! Yes, we look back to learn from our mistakes and accomplishments. Be we are called to look forward because we trust whose we belong to!

We are called to press on toward the goal of knowing and sharing the grace of Christ in this world and then the next. The Christian life is about discipline and maturing through prayer, Bible study and generosity. The Christian life is about sharing the grace of Christ with those around us and dying to what we want them to do! The Christian life is future-directed: seeks forgiveness and peace with those around us that they may see this new life. The prize is being called up to God – heavenly realm that a glimpse is seen here and brought to completion then. We look at the past and hear God say, “Forget about it.” We press on.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the funeral of Pastor Robert Edlen. He was a pastor for sixty-two years and married for sixty-two years. He died September 23^rd at the age of 87 years old. I worked with Bob from 1994-1998 while I was the Associate Pastor and he was a visitation Pastor. He was so kind and gentle. He pressed upon me the compassionate presence of Christ in all that he did as a Pastor and friend.

We forget what we have accomplished or where we have failed. We cannot do anything about them! We press on to know Christ. We "forget what lies behind," and "Press on toward the goal." Let us pray,

Gracious God, we gather with so many pressures from the past to either succeed or make up for past failures. You call us to rest in the knowledge of Christ, for he took upon himself the pressures of us all when he died on the cross that we would be set free to press on toward the goal of knowing and sharing that grace. Grant us rest today as we forget what lies behind and press on. Press upon us your presence in, with and under all that we do, in Jesus name, Amen.

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[1] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew, Interpretation Commentary, (1993), 248-251

Matthew 21:23-32 - "Powerful Word of God" (9-28-08)

It was only Monday of Holy Week when Jesus is greeted on by these religious leaders. There was a slow leak taking place in the power of the religious leaders. So they confronted this road hazard Jesus who threatened their power as God was doing something new in growing the vineyard bigger than they could imagine.

Jesus was teaching in the temple without any seminary training. The kingdom vineyard was expanding beyond the traditional expectations. The religious leaders felt deflated with this frontal attack by Jesus on the practices and rituals of a faith rooted not in the promises of God’s word but in the practices. Was Jesus from heaven or from man? The week had only just begun.

Who do you think you are? By what authority do you preach? We should be cautious if someone were to just come up front in the middle of the worship service and start preaching. We would think that is rather odd if someone would boldly claim to have a word from God.

Yet the vineyard of faith was growing and they didn’t know how this could happen? They are driven to drive Jesus off the cliff; knock him off the road because Jesus calls into question the very authority by which they have based their entire system of beliefs. God was acting and they were going to focus only on that past experience with God; doubting that God will act again.

So they ask Jesus where he got his authority. Jesus then asked them about John the Baptist – was he from God or from man. For John the Baptist, repentance was free; John’s message was heard and accepted by two groups whom the temple authorities and the people believed to be outcasts: tax collectors and the harlots. They were left speechless; deflated; and without a spare. They don’t want to answer and Jesus said he will not answer them. Yet this is not a judgment against Israel but against religious leaders. They were a small percentage of the Jews living in the entire middle east and Mediterranean basin.

I had doubts about today when Tammy left to teach a class at McHenry Community College this morning. She informed me that the van had a flat. I figured if I could just take care of it by 1pm and finish to get back to church by 2pm to prepare for our once a month Saturday night worship service, I’d be fine in my preparation. So after breakfast and three different games this morning with the kids, I sought to change the tire and have it fixed. It was flat. The spare took me an hour to get out from underneath the car because the cable and the piece that held it up wasn’t releasing. I laid there and said, “Dear God help.” The first thought was to call my father in law. He would help. But I then studied it more and could tell the piece of metal seemed rusted ant not releasing. So I moved my face from the path where the tired would descend and started pulling on a screwdriver I had wedge in there. Finally it did release and it was replaced. By then it was 12:30pm. I took it to NTB with Nathan where we walked to Chili’s to use up Nathan’s gift certificate for lunch. I returned one hour later. I arrived home by 3:15pm – five hours for a flat tire change and repair. I needed to repent and turn around, even though I did the will of my wife.

So there were two sons called by the father to work in the vineyard. God is calling us to work in the vineyards. One said yes and didn’t - law givers perhaps kept the letter but not the spirit of law. One said no and then did: Tax collectors and prostitutes were the sinful Jewish folks. Yet they were seeing that God was doing something new. Religious leaders are challenged to give up the security which their job as leaders supplied. We are called to look afresh at how this vineyard is called to grow. Our vested interests are called to grow the kingdom. Authority and power are re-defined in terms of the new tradition Jesus would demonstrate

We are called today even when we say NO to God. We believe that it is the Holy Spirit that inspires us to say YES. When we stray – God calls us back through the word! When we stray – the word is powerful gift of Grace. When we stray – the power of God’s word reminds us that we are week and deflated. Paul said, the power of God is made perfect in weakness. When we admit we don’t have any strength to work in the vineyard yet again this next week, God provides. We stake our claim to a unique mission, a mission that relinquishes power in order the share the grace of Christ to those around us. That means we must relinquish power over others and over what God is doing in the world. Christ relinquished power in bringing himself to the world. It was only Monday and we know how it ended on Good Friday. But we are here on Easter again. To believe the word is living and powerful, we must still believe that God is not finished with us.