Sunday Sermon: Things to Come - John 12:20-33

vv20-21          Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.

“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

            I think that most ministers, when they reach the end of their ministry, must ask themselves this question: “Did I help the people see Jesus?” It might not be something that other people worry about, but I believe that most congregational pastors feel troubled by this challenging question. When I speak with my clergy peers, many of them carry a similar burden in their hearts and on their minds. They feel that they cannot do enough, be everywhere, and see to every need that each church member requires of them. And the longer pastors stay in a church, there are more occasions where people can feel let down, dissatisfied, and uncared for. This is why I believe most pastors only stay with a congregation between 4 to 7 years and move on to a new place, a new people, and new opportunities.

           

            When I became a Christian almost forty years ago, all I ever wanted to do was to make people aware of who Christ was, what He did for me, and how they could experience the same blessings. I gave out Gospel tracts in the busy downtown streets of Glasgow; I preached, sang, and witnessed to folks at street corners; I gave messages, played my guitar, wrote songs about Jesus in a young people’s Gospel Club. My whole life at that time was to help others see Jesus.

            These days, I preach, teach, write, and draw for the very same reason: I still want other folks to see Jesus – to know Him and love Him – to be known by Him and loved by Him. And this is not just because I’m a pastor or a Presbyterian; this is because I’m a Christian, sometimes a not very good one, whose only purpose is to serve and follow Christ. But this is not just my calling – it is the same calling for all Reformed Christians because we fundamentally believe in the priesthood of all believers, in the ministry of all followers, in the pastorate of all those who put their faith in Jesus.

            Today’s Gospel passage shows us something similar. Some Greek people, who have come up for the Passover feast, have heard other folks talking about Jesus. They have heard some interesting stories and amazing reports about this Carpenter-preacher-prophet from Galilee. Now they want to satisfy their own curiosity. They want to personally see and encounter Jesus. They want to come into His presence and experience His preaching, teaching, and healing for themselves. We may not realize it, but this was a pivotal moment in Christ’s ministry. His work went from being regional to becoming international. His fame was spreading and this meant that the Kingdom was advancing, not just all over Galilee and the Holy Land, but into the hearts and homes of Greek Mediterranean people, who would take His message when they went back home, and share it with their own families and friends, colleagues and peers.

Christ is pleased with the request from the Greeks, but He also uses the opportunity to present one of His special teaching moments.

v26      “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.”

            We no longer belong to a servant society, so a lot of Christians don’t understand what Jesus is actually saying here. We want other people to serve us continually – the restaurant server, the grocery clerk, the public servant, or the company representative for our cable, telephone, or internet service. We want immediate attention and instantaneous results. We pay for our taxes, rates, purchases, and even our church offerings with our hard earned dollars, so we expect results and demand respect. We sometimes don’t know how to serve, but we do know when we are not being served properly, fittingly, and satisfactorily.

            Do we misunderstand Jesus? Have we forgotten that we are His servants? Have we managed to set aside what He purchased for us with His blood? He saved us from our sins, and yet we still continue our selfish ways. He bought our souls with His sacrifice, and yet we still say ‘No’ when asked to serve. He gave everything of Himself, so that we might have everything from God, and yet when asked to give anything for Him, it takes too much time, too much effort, too much trouble. In other words, we want Christ to serve us – our prayers, our projects, our ideas, and our dreams.

            This week has seen our denomination redefine marriage as between two people, no matter what gender they belong to. It’s part of the ongoing Interpretation Wars that are destroying denominations and creating chaos across many congregations. How we interpret the Bible is important because it reveals to the world what we believe, who we are, and how we actually serve Jesus. And if you don’t think this has any relevance to what the Gospel passage reveals to us today, then let me introduce you to the beliefs of a PCUSA pastor on the West Coast. Just recently, he wrote these words:

“I believe that: Religion is a human construct

The symbols of faith are products of human cultural evolution

Jesus may have been an historical figure, but most of what we know about him is in the form of legend

God is a symbol of myth-making and not credible as a supernatural being or force

The Bible is a human product as opposed to special revelation from a divine being

Human consciousness is the result of natural selection, so there’s no afterlife

In short, I regard the symbols of Christianity from a non-supernatural point of view.

And yet, even though I hold those beliefs, I am still a proud minister. But I don’t appreciate being told that I’m not truly a Christian.

So who does he serve? Who does he follow? In whom does he place his beliefs? And how on earth has he been able to remain as a PCUSA pastor? Remember Christ’s words:

v26      “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.”

As well as teaching the Greeks and the others around Him of what following Jesus meant, he also used this incident to remind His disciples of His mission – He wasn't here for fame or fortune, His popularity or pride. So He told them:

v31      “Now is the time for judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the Earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

            Judgement is not a very popular word in Christian circles. It very quickly gets transformed into ‘judgmental,’ which is something that Christians are continually told that they should never be. Judging and judgement belong to God, or in this case, Jesus Christ His Holy Son. As He expresses it, the world is presently being judged by God. However, when folks tell Christians to stop being so judgmental, what they are really saying is this: no one has the right to judge me, not even God.

            When Jesus talked about judgment at this time, He was confronting evil and telling it that its course, time, and hold over humanity had run out. He would bring all the conflict in the world to a climatic point when Jesus Himself would be lifted up on the Cross to draw all evil from the past, present, and future and pinpoint its destruction on Himself. This is why we are constantly told that He who was sinless became sin itself. Christ bore God’s wrath for our sinful behavior. He took upon Himself the judgment of His Father so that we may be totally forgiven of every single one of our mistakes, in order to be fully cleansed, made holy, and eternally reconciled to God. Without Jesus, we would be eternally annihilated by God; with Jesus, we are entirely accepted by God.

So, what does all this mean for us here in church this morning? What should we do about Christ’s words and deeds from this Gospel passage?

Firstly, as Christians, we need to remind ourselves that we are the vehicles of faith, the channels of mercy, and the instruments of God’s love to enable other folks to see Jesus. We are not only meant to be believers or followers or disciples of Jesus, we are supposed to be witnesses of His grace and truth.

Secondly, we are servants of Christ and not just seekers of God. This requires commitment and consistency, humility and faithfulness. Servants are not meant to choose to come to church in order to get something out of it; servants are supposed to obediently come to church in order to give something into it – whether it be time and talents, money and meaning, or service and faith.

Lastly, judgmental Christians make poor witnesses, however setting aside or ignoring the fact that Christ is actually judging the world is spiritually dangerous, and may cause people to wander down into dark tunnels of their own misunderstanding, instead of paying attention to Christ’s words and ways, which are meant to lead us toward His Light and God’s gift of everlasting Life. In Christ’s Name. Amen.

Prayer & Apostles’ Creed.

(As we say the Creed, let’s be reminded of the fact that when Christ returns, He comes to judge the quick (those still alive) and the dead – in other words, everyone who ever existed in the past, lives now, or will be born until the Day in which He returns).

Sunday Sermon: Two Commandments - Matthew 22:34-46

            For as long as I can remember, I've always loved God. I can’t say when or where this actually began, but I do know that as a young child, God was always in my heart. I guess it first started with the bedtime prayers that my parents taught me when I was very young. It grew as the years went by and was confirmed to me by great Sunday school teachers in my childhood. They exemplified a real, loving Christianity to me and, because of their witness, I still love God today. I may not be the best Christian that I could be; I may often be subject to sins like everyone else, but that love of God, which was shaped and molded in my heart as a child, is still with me today. I hope and pray that when it becomes my turn to leave the surly bonds of Earth, my love of God will sustain me during that mysterious and unknown journey that is yet to come.

            I’m not alone in this. I am certain that many of you here today have loved God since childhood and continue to do so even in the midst of trying times and serious circumstances. To me, loving God is what makes us distinct in the animal kingdom. We have a greater awareness of the universe around us; we have a better understanding of how life evolves and works; we have a greater knowledge of history and geography, astronomy, and science than any other living creatures on Earth. Ultimately, I believe that this knowledge leads us towards God and because we experience life on a greater scale than any other life form, we are drawn closer to Him, to worship Him, to revere Him, and, of course, to love Him.

            In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is challenged once again about His beliefs. This time, a religious lawyer asks Him to state what He considers to be the greatest commandment in the Jewish Scriptures. Everybody knew that there were Ten Supreme Commandments, so Jesus was being asked to pick one. As usual, He was being tested. Whichever commandment He chose, His theological opponents would choose one of the remaining nine, in order to argue with Him. It was just like being on Facebook – you know the experience. You state something on Facebook like “Chocolate mint ice cream is the best ice cream in the world” and within a short time you get people you get people stating: “Vanilla peppermint is better than that” or “You haven’t tasted Mayfield’s Neapolitan” or “Ben and Jerry’s Triple chocolate is way better” or the inevitable “You do know that ice cream isn't good for you? Too much sugar and fat. You should be eating frozen broccoli spears!”

            People never change, do they? No matter which commandment Jesus chose, the Pharisees were ready to pounce on Him and ridicule His choice. As usual, however, Jesus took the higher ground. He wasn't about to get involved with foolish and stupid arguments, because He knew that they only led to quarrels. Instead, He spoke the truth from His heart, not to silence His critics, but to enlighten them – to open up their hearts, souls, and minds to a greater understanding and a better way of following God’s commands.

            So Jesus told them, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  Jesus was actually re-framing all of the commandments in a simpler fashion. To love God with all of your heart meant to love God in the exact way that we were created. God created human beings in His likeness for this very purpose: to love Him and enjoy His creation forever. He didn't make us love Him; He didn't force us to love Him; He simply created us to love Him, freely and sincerely, of our own volition and free will. Loving God is not compulsory; it is meant to be experienced directly from the heart. Just as in the mysterious way that we love or fall in love with someone else, we are meant to love God. I think this is why we cannot say when or where we first started to love God – the love is either there or it isn't.

Jesus also stated that we are meant to love God with all our soul; this means that our spiritual nature is meant to be connected to God. Again, it’s a free-spirited connection – it either exists within us or not – and only we and God know this. However, through the work of the church, our spirits can be nurtured and nourished so that our spiritual side is drawn closer to God through the teachings of Christ. If our pulpit preachers and Sunday school teachers, our guiding elders and team leaders are doing the work of Christ sincerely, then everything we do in church has a deep spiritual connection to God.

In a world which has mistakenly broken its soul-connection to God in order to have a religious connection to its navel, the spiritual work of the Church is very important. This is why I keep trying to emphasize and reinforce in your hearts, souls, and minds that regular worship, prayer, and Bible study are immensely important in all of our lives, as well as the souls of our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews. In my experience, there is nothing so empty as a soulless person; there is nothing so sorrowful as a spiritually stunted child.

            Jesus then emphasizes the need to love God with all of our minds. He was saying this specifically to the Pharisee lawyers because they had used their minds to focus upon the laws of God. They had memorized each and every one of them. They had even broken down the original Ten Commandments into 317 amendments, which meant that they had 317 by-laws to keep. Their minds were fully focused on not breaking any commandment or amendment. They upheld God’s Word as an everlasting Constitution which should never be re-interpreted, reformed, or revised unless it was considered to be a holy amendment.

            The trouble with these amendments was that they became idolatrous and broke their connection to God. The amendments were a means to keep God at a distance and became a wall of separation between themselves and God, as well as God’s people. In fact, the word ‘Pharisees’ means ‘The Separated Ones.’ Initially, it was meant to be a religious process where people separated themselves from the ways of the world to grow closer and become more spiritual – much like the cloistered monks and nuns in the European Middle Ages. Instead, it became a way of becoming religiously elite – separated from both God and man, in order to pursue a religious idealism which piously glorified the devoted individual Pharisee in the eyes of God and man.

            There’s a saying that we all know: a mind is a terrible thing to waste. This is exactly what Jesus was expressing to the Pharisees with His answer to their question. He was telling them that their minds were created to love God, not rules and regulations, or by-laws and precepts. Their minds were meant to contemplate the works of God, not man’s way. Their minds were supposed to meditate on God’s mercy and grace, justice and love, not sentences and phrases, interpretations and amendments. They were wasting their minds by focusing on trivial religious pursuits; they were wasting their lives on fruitless thoughts and mindless meanderings.

            So Jesus told them to love God with all of their hearts, souls, and minds, for to Him, this was the greatest commandment of all. But then, Jesus being Jesus, added something new, something unexpected, and something to challenge them. He said to them, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now Jesus knew that the Pharisees absolutely loved themselves – most conceited people are – you only have to look at the Kardashians on television or magazines to understand that. The Pharisees had a deep pride in themselves and sought each day to add to their esteem. Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican – The Pharisee tells God how good he is at keeping all of the laws and then brazenly thanks God that he is not like the publican. That’s what conceit does – it makes us love ourselves more than other people – it makes us thankful that we don’t live in a Third World country, or have grown up in a ghetto, or that we don’t have an addiction, or that we don’t watch seedy programs or read dirty books. It’s called ‘self-righteousness’ and we all suffer from it. Thank God, we’re all saying right now, that we’re not anything like those conceited Pharisees – if we had been there, we would have shown them how to follow Jesus, right?

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”       Wow. It’s a simple statement which, if fully acted upon, would end all wars, violence, poverty, and disease all over this paltry planet. If we could all love one another as neighbors in the same way that we love and take care of ourselves, we wouldn't need welfare, or Food stamps, or homeless shelters because we would all be taking care of one another.

You see Jesus was not only challenging the Pharisees, He was challenging the first readers of Matthew’s Gospel, just as He is presently challenging us today! If we, as Erin Presbyterian Church loved the community where are located in, as much as we love ourselves, we could make an immense impact on this part of Knoxville, but only if we are willing to do so. Next Sunday, we get that opportunity by donating blood to Medic before and after the church service. We get a further opportunity to join our Outreach team on Saturday 22^nd November to distribute food to those in need over at the Fish Pantry on Weisgarber. If we love only ourselves, we’ll probably avoid participating; if we honestly love our neighbors, then we’ll give blood to save other lives; and we’ll give out food to feed families.

So, to sum things up, Jesus said it best:

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Sermon - Mark 1:4-11 - That's My Boy!

Psalm 29:4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.

When Psalm 29 was written, it took place during the Bronze Age, when human understanding about physics, nature, and the climate was very limited. Because of this, they supposed that the sound of thunder, the howling of a hurricane, the eruption of a volcano, or the roaring of a flood were all the mighty, powerful, and majestic voices of God.

And because these elements were so destructive, most of the time the people felt that when God spoke, it was to judge the sins of the people and punish them for their evil. Think about it – if the thunder announced the coming of a terrible storm, which then devastated a whole community, the religious leaders would be quick to pounce upon this as a sign of God’s retribution. And if you don’t think that that kind of misrepresentation of God occurs in our sophisticated, modern world, then we only have to go back to the 1980’s when the Moral Majority, and the rest of their self-righteous brood, declared that AIDS was sent into the world as a divine condemnation of gay people.

These days, we understand more about the natural world and what causes volcanic eruptions, thunder and lightning, and floods and hurricanes. We no longer describe them as the voice of God; instead we call them forces of nature. But that leaves us with a quandary: where and when do we hear the voice of God? Added to that is an even more difficult question: if God is speaking to us today, are we listening?



There’s an interesting case currently going through the British courts. It involves a religious organization called the Christian Voice, which is suing the metro underground system in London. The action surrounds the controversy of adverts that appear on the subway trains with these words:

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

The Christian Group claims that the advert contravenes the Advertising Standards Authority, which insists that advertisers must prove the claims that they make about their products. In other words, because the advert insists that “there’s probably no God,” the advertisers have to hold evidence that God probably doesn’t exist. If they can’t do this, then the adverts will have to be taken down.

The agnostic advertisers are now considering a change in their campaign. They plan to put up a poster which reads: “There’s no evidence that God exists, so stop worrying and enjoy life.” If the Christian group contends that ad, then they’ll have to produce evidence in court that God exists. I guess if He makes a personal appearance before the judge, then the Christians will win their case.

How do we know legally and scientifically that God really exists? We don’t, and that’s why we call our beliefs ‘faith” and not facts. And this faith is increasingly becoming a hard sell in our modern culture. God may have been good enough for Bronze Age monotheists who thought that the world was flat and that the thunder was God’s voice, but for us 21st century techno-savvy, computer using, space age people, we want a lot more facts to support our faith. Just because someone hears the rumble of thunder in the distance doesn’t mean that God is angry with us. We are far too knowledgeable and sophisticated for those kinds of simple beliefs.

So where do we find God? When do we hear His voice? How do we know that there’s something bigger and better beyond life, and out there somewhere in the enormous universe? The short answer is this: we don’t know.

So why do we come here, Sunday after Sunday, week after week, to a religious gathering where everything is sacred and yet nothing is certain? Why do we collectively say prayers to a distant deity, who may not even be in range to hear our heartfelt pleas? The short answer is this: because we trust Jesus.

We trust His words, His work, and His ways. We place our hopes into His hands and our hearts into His keeping. We live our lives as followers of the faith He planted, and we worship the God that Christ proclaimed.

We learn about Jesus from the Gospels and in today’s story, we hear about Him being baptized in the River Jordan. That holy river was a sacred place to His people, the Jews. It marked the barrier between the land that God gave to His Chosen people and the rest of the world. It was at the Jordan that the Hebrew children stopped wandering in the wilderness and settled in the land of their forefathers.

Crossing over the Jordan was symbolic of starting a new life, so when Christ was baptized in the Jordan, as He came up from the waters, a new life, a new journey, and a new faith in God began. Even today, when we talk about someone getting a new start in life, we talk about crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. And in many of our beautiful African-American spirituals, crossing the Jordan means passing from this life into the next.

When Jesus rose up from the waters of baptism, the Gospel tells us that a voice from heaven was heard, saying, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." It was the voice of God, but not in that ancient Bronze Age sense. This wasn’t the roaring of flood waters, or the howling of a hurricane, or the terrifying claps of thunder. This wasn’t the ancient destructive divine proclamation that punishment was imminent and disaster was only seconds away. This wasn’t the powerful and majestic voice of a vengeful god, this was the cheerful and enthusiastic shout of a delighted father, saying:

Attaboy, Jesus. I am really proud of you! Or in other words, “That’s My Boy!”

On Jan 11, 1933, a group of pastors in Altona, Hamburg in Germany signed a statement which is now known as the Altonauer Confession. They were protesting against Hitler and his henchmen and were trying to make the German population aware of the wickedness that was going on. Six months previous to this, they had seen a group of German Communist workers placed against a wall and shot to death by a Nazi firing squad. The wall behind the unfortunate victims belonged to one of the Altona churches. This is what made the pastors realize that their country was being taken over by evil monsters.

The Confession begins with these words: “It is the first task of the church to hear God’s voice and have its conscience sharpened by the Gospels.” (repeat)

On that fateful day in the summer of 1932, as the crack of Nazi rifles was heard at the church wall, the Altona pastors heard the voice of God and started a movement which was to become the courageous Confessing Church of German Christians, who constantly preached against Hitler and Nazism. Rather than hear, listen to, and accept the words of the monster that 99% of the German population revered as their Fuhrer, this brave band of pastors listened to, and acted upon the voice of God.

So, how do we apply this lesson? Where and when do we hear the voice of God? And if God is speaking to us today, are we listening?

We hear the voice of God in church, when we read, retain, and receive the Gospels. God speaks to us across the centuries through the life, work, and ministry of Jesus. The real question is this: are we listening?

If we are then one day, when we cross the Jordan, we will hear the cheerful, enthusiastic, and delighted voice of God say to each one of us:

“Attaboy! Attagirl! I am really proud and pleased with you! Come and enjoy my Kingdom forever!”

Sunday Sermon: Advent 4 - Mama's Little Miracle

Psalm 89:19 Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said:” I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people.

It was given as a Christmas gift to President Lincoln. For three grueling months, he had anxiously awaited such a resounding victory. General Sherman had scorched the earth from Atlanta all the way towards the Atlantic coast, and on this day, Dec 21, 1864, the proud Southern city of Savannah surrendered unconditionally.

Sherman had given them no other choice. In his letter to the Savannah leaders, he had written that should he ‘be forced to resort to assault, or the slower and surer process of starvation, I shall then feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures, and shall make little effort to restrain my army—burning to avenge the national wrong which they attach to Savannah and other large cities which have been so prominent in dragging our country into civil war.’

Sherman got what he wanted and Lincoln received his Christmas present. The South was broken due to Sherman’s unremitting total war strategy of scorched earth, ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. He was a brutal warrior and unforgiving general. He was totally focused on what had to be done to win the war, no matter how terrible, terrifying, and tragic it would be to any Southern inhabitants who got in his army’s path. He had been given his orders and he saw it as a crusading mission against the Confederacy. He was the President’s chosen warrior and nothing would stop Sherman from completing his campaign.

Two thousand years earlier, the Jews were also looking for a strong and mighty warrior who would rid them of the despised Roman invaders, expel and extinguish the Herodian usurpers, and restore the power, dignity, and honor of Jerusalem as being the center of the world, and of Judaism being elevated to the heights of the truest religion on earth.

They longed for a military Messiah, who would scorch the earth and purify the Holy Land, making it clean and perfect, without the contamination that the dirty Gentile, Greek, and Roman dogs had brought to the land of God’s Chosen people. Whenever the Jews were severely oppressed, they held on to their hopes dearly. People and priests had sacrificed their lives to keep the Temple clean and to honor God above all else.

So the people were looking for a mighty miracle to be bestowed upon them. They felt that God was moving among them; they were promised such a leader for generations. They expected and felt entitled to having such a bold warrior to be raised up among them. It was a promise that God had to keep. It was something that He had to do. It was something that the times needed and the people demanded. God would fulfill their hopes in their ways, and not His own.

If ever the people needed a Messiah, it was then. If ever they needed God to keep His promises, it was now. They wanted God to bestow a warrior with His almighty strength and they expected God to exalt such a military, powerful, and majestic general from amongst them. In other words, they were looking for a Sherman to be their Savior. They were hoping for a commander of armies to be their Christ.


Luke 1: 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.

But God had other plans. Instead of raising up a mighty warrior king, God sent the angel Gabriel to a teenage girl. The whole Jewish world was expecting a cataclysmic event to usher in the new Messiah; instead God privately speaks to a young maiden. The Jews wanted a strong, masculine hero; God communicates to a simple, native girl. The zealots hoped that God would turn the Romans’ world upside down; instead God turns the prophecies upside down and inside out. His ways, His thoughts, and His plans.

Mary, who may have been fifteen years old at the time, is confused and petrified at what the angel tells her. She must have been thinking something like: why me? Why am I being chosen? I’m nobody, nothing, not any one important. Why doesn’t God go to the wife of the High priest in Jerusalem; or to some important family with a better ancestry than me? I’m going to be wed to a carpenter, not a commander. Why have I been chosen? What makes me so good?

But that’s the way God works. Nobody’s perfect, nobody’s good enough, and nobody is worthy. God chooses people because He favors them. Mary didn’t have to be interviewed, evaluated, or recommended. God’s favor was upon her. God chose Mary; she didn’t choose to be the mother of the Messiah for herself. It all started with God through His promises hundreds of years before this sacred encounter of Gabriel and Mary. And no matter what the prophets, priests, and people believed how His promises would turn out, God did it in His own time, in His own way, and for His own sake.

You know, we’re kind of like the Jews of that time. We believe that God will do things our way, when we want it, and however it suits us. Take for instance the Pilgrims fathers or the Mayflower people, whatever you want to call them. On this day, in 1620, they landed at Plymouth Rock. They were a bunch of impractical Christians, who believed that God was telling them to go to the New World to escape religious persecution in England and plant a new colony where they could freely practice their faith.

Could you imagine what happened in Heaven when their prayers were being said? Let’s say an angel takes their prayers to St. Peter.

Angel: Sorry to bother you, St. Peter, but we’re just receiving prayers from a religious group who are looking for God to bless them on a special journey.

Peter: Why do they want to do this?

Angel: They feel that they’re being persecuted and need to find a new place where they can start their own community.

Peter: Oh, so they’re Separationists. They don’t want to remain in the Established Church that we’ve been working on for over 1600 years. Okay, where do these troublemakers want to go?

Angel: To the New World, sir. They think that it will give them a new start.

Peter: A New World? Has God created a New World? Why wasn’t I told about this?

Angel: No, sir. It’s what they call America – all the Europeans think it’s a New World.

Peter: But that’s across the Atlantic Ocean. How are they going to get there?

Angel: On two boats. One is called the Speedwell and the other is the Mayflower.

Peter: Well, if it’s journeying mercies that they need, you should take this over to St. Christopher. He handles all the travel arrangements.

Angel: We tried that, sir, but he says that this is bigger than he can handle.

Peter: Oh I understand, you need me to get involved because they’re traveling on the sea. Being a fisherman, I know what it’s like to sail through choppy waters. Did I ever tell you about the night the Lord invited me to walk on the water during a storm?

Angel: Yes sir, many times. But I’m afraid that this group is going to need more than you or St. Christopher to help them out.

Peter: Why?

Angel: Well you see, sir. They want to set up a community, build their own cabins, grow their own food, make their own laws, and remain healthy, become wealthy, and stay strong.

Peter: That sounds reasonable. When do they want to do this?

Angel: About December 21st.

Peter: IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER! OY VEY! You’d better take this one all the way to the top!

(c) 2008 John Stuart

Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God."

The beauty of this passage is that God brought all of His power all the way from the top, all the way from the highest throne in heaven, to this little Palestinian lassie in the Holy Land. God was fulfilling all of His promises in a way that is mysterious, miraculous, and mighty. It defies all of our logic, all of our wisdom, and even all of our current sciences.

The Virgin Birth, the Holy Conception, the creating of Christ in Mary’s womb, Mama’s Little Miracle, is one of the most incredible things that God has ever done. Physicists, biologists, geneticists, and atheists tell us that this could not have happened. According to Barna, an organization which tabulates church beliefs, 80% of the adult church going population believes in the Virgin birth. And I think I know why.

It’s because of verse 37: For nothing is impossible with God. That verse trumps every argument under the sun. Scientists may say it’s physically impossible, but nothing is impossible with God. Atheists might say it’s humanly impossible, but nothing is impossible with God. We can write a hundred million books saying why we think the Virgin Birth is impossible, but each of them can be answered with this simple faith statement: nothing is impossible with God.

And that’s how God always works – in His own way, in His own style, and in His own time.

Think about it: The Jews look for a Messiah to save their people, and God ends up bring a Messiah into the world who’s going to save the whole planet – nothing is impossible with God.

A group of persecuted pilgrims seek to set up their own private community in the New World, and God grows a mighty nation that espouses their faith values – nothing is impossible with God.

In 1877, a group of Scotch-Irish immigrants set up a wee church for themselves, which becomes the longest established church in this part of Knoxville – nothing is impossible with God.

And, in the same year that the wee church is celebrating its centenary in 1977, across the Atlantic, God picks up a young drunken Scotsman out of the gutter to become its pastor twenty years later – nothing is impossible for God.

And in 2009, that same wee church may begin a new journey of faith, which will make a significant impact in its community, throughout its Presbytery, and in the denomination itself, because nothing is impossible with God.

Erin, we are the Lord’s servants, May it be to us as God pre-intends.

Prayer:

Lord God, nothing is impossible for You and we are so glad to be called as servants of Your Son. We thank You for the continuing mission that You have given us for over 130 years. As we prepare to meet Jesus this Christmas, may we also be ready to do His bidding and fulfill Your will throughout 2009. In Your Holy Name, we joyfully pray. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: High School Antics

Lectionary reading: Matthew 22:34-46

35,36 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

When I was a boy, our family lived a hundred yards away from some amazing tennis courts and soccer fields. They belonged to the local elementary school and after 4pm, the iron gates at the entrance to them were locked. A bold sign next to the gate solemnly declared in frightening capital letters: “TRESPASSING PROHIBITED.” Beneath those fierce words, another terrifying phrase was written: “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted.” The notice was dutifully signed: H. Bain, Director of Education.

To a young boy like me, those words acted as a prohibition and a great temptation at the same time. I didn’t know then what “prosecuted” meant, but I had seen enough war movies to know that it probably involved a wall, a blindfold, and a firing squad. I was terrified of the consequences and yet those pristine soccer fields were so appealing. Every day, after 4pm as I walked alongside the tall iron fence, the soccer fields called me be name. I was itching to do what I shouldn’t do, just like my heroes Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. There had to be some way of getting to play soccer, or as we called it in Scotland, football.

I couldn’t break the law, and if I did, I imagined that I would become a fugitive running away from home, carrying my ball, and shouting in my defense, “It was the Devil that made me do it!” The Law was not to be made fun of either, and for an eight year old soccer loving boy, it was agony. I didn’t know what to do, so day after day, I was despondent.

Salvation came from unexpected quarters. My elementary school teacher was giving my class a history lesson on Mary, Queen of Scots and someone asked her why Mary wasn’t given the title “Queen of Scotland.” Our teacher then told us that the Scottish Kings and Queens were rulers of the people, not the land. Scotland belonged to the people and there was no law of trespass, unlike the English.

The effect that history lesson had on me was as liberating as the American Constitution. At 4pm, the great iron gates to the soccer pitches were locked as usual. Five minutes later, after the gatekeeper had gone, a street-load of historically-educated schoolboys climbed the gates and played soccer until the sun went down. We were not trespassers because no such law existed in Scotland. And the bold sign no longer terrified us – in fact, we used it as a goal post next to the iron gates.

When Jesus was interrogated by the Pharisees, they were trying to get Him to highlight their own attitude towards religion. They were tyrannical purists and self-righteous hypocrites who gleefully enjoyed other people failing. And whenever anyone failed, the Pharisees would be amongst the first to pick up stones to slaughter the offenders. Whether it was for picking up a woman on a Friday night, or picking up sticks on a Saturday morning, the consequences were the same: death by stoning.

Jesus knew this and understood that these unforgiving religious devotees were just waiting for Him to fall. If he said the wrong thing or made the wrong move, they would annihilate Him on the very first chance that he gave them. So when the religious lawyers demanded of Him an answer to their very slick questions, Jesus had to be careful, or at least if it was anyone else other than Jesus, they would need to be.

As usual, Jesus used the moment to drive a home lesson to both the Pharisees and His followers.

Without hesitation -37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

This would have sounded like music to everyone’s ears. Jesus was repeating the Great Shema, which every Jewish person knew since childhood. It comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad – it’s part of a prayer that is usually spoken first thing in the morning and said last thing at night by every Jew, even to this very day.

Thus by answering the question this way, Jesus was connecting to everyone around Him. It was a satisfying answer for His critics and followers alike. If there was anything that united Jewish factions and itinerant Galilean preachers like Jesus, it was this saying. His audience was very receptive to His words. But were they prepared for what happened next?

You see Jesus was not just a teacher of religious commandments; He called upon His listeners to practice them. It was very easy to focus faithfully upon God and feel smug about it. But how do people practically express their love of God; how do they show the world that they truly love God with all of their heart, soul, and mind?

Is it just a simple question of emotionally loving God from the inside? Does it only involve an inward spiritual connection of the soul to the Great Heavenly Spirit? Is it just an intellectual pursuit of only meditating on the scriptures of the past and memorizing them? To the Pharisees of His day, it meant precisely those things – as long as they were recognized as being divinely separated by God, revered for their long public prayers, and admired for their ability to quote the scriptures, then everything was alright in their legalistic, holier-than-thou, elitist existence. But woe betide the religious Teacher who came along to upset their divine Disneyland of a dream. And that’s precisely what Jesus did with His following remarks.

You know I love being a Presbyterian preacher in the Bible Belt. It’s full of some wonderful Christians and people who are truly in love with God. I have never seen so many people eager to do good works, to feed the poor, to help the homeless, to support the needy, and offer Christ’s love to the lonely and the outcast.

But I have also seen the dark side of our faith here, too. I’ve seen and heard Bible bashing Christians taunt our teenagers and harassing them about hell. I’ve listened to callous, insensitive and heartless people use the scriptures as a weapon to bludgeon other people and condemn them as reprobates. And before I get too smug, too self-righteous, too holy for my own good, I’ve been just as guilty at times.

Jesus never meant us to become 21st century Pharisees; He wanted His own people, as well as us, to become every century servants of God. That’s why He added this extra bit to the question He was asked. That’s why He didn’t stop with only one command about loving God.

Jesus continued:

39 And the second is like the first: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

To Jesus, you cannot love God without loving your neighbor. You cannot be an isolated Jew or an alienated Christian. Christ and community go hand in hand. We cannot just joyfully worship Jesus in here and let the world outside go to hell. If we’re involved with God, we need to be involved in the world. After all, Jesus showed us how much He loved God by dying for the world.

Jesus fully practiced what He preached – He loved God completely by completely giving His life for us. And God loved us so completely that He allowed Jesus to complete the plan of redemption and salvation for us.

There are no high school antics, or religious entrapment, or philosophical disagreements here. Jesus was telling His followers and the Pharisees that to totally love God, we have to love the folks beside us. And if the Church hadn’t screwed up that simple message over two thousand years, there would have been no Crusades, no religious wars, no bigotry, no schisms, no slavery, no segregation, and no self-righteousness that has unfortunately cursed, tainted, and damaged the witness of Christ in and to the world.

Until we learn to love God by loving our neighbors as ourselves, we will always be Pharisees and not followers. Until we practice Christ’s words, instead of just memorizing them, we will be a divided church in the world. And until we use our hearts, souls, and minds in the service of God for our community, like an almighty spiritual Manhattan project, we will fail to convince our neighbors at home and abroad that Christ is the Prince of Peace, the Healer of the Nations, and the Savior of the World.

Sadly, if we fail to love God and our neighbors, all that the Church will accomplish is the setting up of signs that will say to the entire planet: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted. We will have forgotten that Christ is the King of all the people – as Psalm 24 initially states: the earth belongs to the Lord and all of its people – there is no law of trespass where Christians truly love God and all of their neighbors.

Let us pray:

O Lord, You words challenge our cozy theologies and comfortable beliefs. You confront our rigid religiosity and concrete Christianity. Help us to learn how to truly love God by loving our neighbors. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: Seeing is Believing

Experiencing the Reality of Christ in a Spiritually Blind World

Last night I was watching a program from the History Channel called “The Naked Archaeologist.” It’s hosted by an Israeli-born Canadian Simcha Jacobivichi, who is one of the professors of archaeology at the University of Toronto. Simcha is a bit of a comedian and his off beat approach to the sometimes dreary subject of archaeology is very entertaining. In fact, I think that he is so good at it that we’re going to be discussing a few of his programs at the Monday Night Bible Study group starting tomorrow night. So, if you’d like to come along and be educated and entertained by Biblical Archaeology, then you’re welcome to join us tomorrow in the parlor at 7.15pm.

Enough with the church commercials, the reason I started talking about Simcha is that in a recent episode he revealed the fact that the Pool of Siloam from today’s chapter in the Bible, has just recently been discovered. I can remember almost thirty years ago, one of my New Testament professors disputing whether or not this incident ever took place. “After all,” he concluded, “if there’s no evidence for the Pool of Siloam’s existence, why should we believe that Jesus actually healed a blind man at this spot?” I wish I could now see his face – I’d love to show him the program with Simcha standing on the very steps of the pool.

Seeing is believing is quite a common theme when it comes to having faith in Jesus. A lot of people want proof that Christ existed and that He still exists in the world today. Personally, with millions of churches and billions of believers across the world, I honestly don’t know what kind of world non-believers are looking at. And the fact that so many people still worship Jesus after two thousand years, should tell us all that His Spirit still remains in the world. I tell you, if a college basketball team or a national football team had two billion supporters through the world, they would make front page news and be in the TV headlines every single day. If anyone person had two billion supporters in the world, their eminence, influence, and dominance over the earth would be absolute. Christ has all of these things, and yet people are still foolish enough or consistently stubborn to disbelieve Him.

But what about this passage: what do the people in Christ’s time actually see happening when He is with them? What do they experience in their lives that we can apply ourselves?

Well, the disciples seem to think that people who are sick deserved it. Illness and disease were considered to be punishments from God. If you did something bad, God plagued you with a disease. If you committed a sin, you and your children were made ill. Whatever sickness you had, it was God’s way of revealing to the community that you were an evil person. And if you died of that illness, then God never forgave you.

Now this might seem very judgmental, highly superstitious, and completely intolerant to us. We know that illness and diseases, sickness and ailments are not punishments from God. Or do we? It’s not all that long ago when AIDS came into our world and the Church pronounced it was a punishment from God upon homosexuals. I can still remember those days when bitter Christians castigated the gay community for being promiscuous and left them to die horrible deaths. I can still hear pious preachers and bigoted Christians protesting hatefully against gays. It was a terrible and terrifying time.

I remember upsetting a few folk (so what’s new), when I preached about this in 1988. It was the last Sunday in January, which in British churches is meant to commemorate World Leprosy Day and raise money for the Leprosy Mission. Instead of talking about Hanson’s Disease, I preached about how we were creating a whole new generation of lepers and outcasts by condemning those people with AIDS and HIV suffers to a living hell because of the lack of Christian compassion, love, and understanding. It was highly controversial and some people didn’t get it. They didn’t get it because they didn’t want to understand it. And because they didn’t get it, they left the church, especially when some of them found out that my brother Alan was gay. They didn’t want to see nor believe that Jesus would compassionately help and heal anyone who was ill or diseased.

John 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

I love how Jesus answers His disciples. He doesn’t criticize them for being so judgmental, nor does He humiliate them for being so foolish. He just gets straight to the point – nobody sinned causing this blindness. It just happened. But now that we’re here, let God’s glory be displayed.

In other words, Jesus is going to use the opportunity to do some good in the world. The religious bigots and narrow minded zealots might say that this man was blinded because of his sinful parents, but as far as Christ is concerned, here’s a blind person, who is not an object lesson for a theological study session, but a man who needs help and healing, compassion and caring.

Jesus does this quite often. On Wednesdays, we’re looking at the Gospel of Mark in our Coffee Club groups. We’ve seen something like this before when Jesus heals someone on the Sabbath or in the synagogue. All the religious clerics hate Jesus for healing people in a holy place or on a holy day. In fact, they hate Him so much, that they want to kill Him. Instead of seeing the amount of good that Christ can do, instead of believing in a God who actually cares about people, all the religious bigots want is for Jesus to conform to their rules, their understanding, their ways of maintaining religion.

You know there a group in Topeka, Kansas who claim to be Christians. They’re from the Westboro Baptist Church and they go to funerals of soldiers all over America with posters that say things like “God hates Fags” or “America is going to hell” or “God is judging You.” They call themselves Christians, but they’re really hateful bigots who have nothing to do with Christ. They just hate people who are different from themselves, and they spew Satanism from their pulpits and posters. They are self-righteous people who emotionally crucify soldier’s families and friends with their ungodly protests and un-Christ-like behavior.

I feel sorry for them because they are warping the message of love and grace that Jesus has given us through the Gospel. They set themselves up as judge and jury of society, forgetting that Christ went out to heal the sick and save the lost. They are unforgiving and completely intolerant. It makes me wonder how they say the Lord’s Prayer each day…how they say “Lord, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us?”

It was the same for the disciples – they were asking if the blind man sinned and so deserved his blindness; but the disciples were also sinners, so shouldn’t they also have been sick? Or were they saying to Jesus, Lord, we know that we are perfect, strong, and healthy and that’s why You chose us to be Your disciples; but what about this blind guy, why is he so imperfect, weak, and diseased? What is he guilty of?

They just don’t get it. Just like the people who didn’t want to show compassion to AIDS sufferers in the 80s & 90s. Just like the Westboro Baptist Bigots now. They just don’t understand that illness and sickness, weakness and imperfection happen, not because of sin, but because we are all human - frail in mind, body, heart, and spirit.

John 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Just before Christ heals the blind guy, he reminds His disciples of Who He is. He is not an itinerant preacher, or quack medicine merchant, or con man, he is not a one man show, circus, or entertainer. He is not a carpenter turned into a prophet roaming around Galilee. He is the Son of God, the Lord of creation, the Light of the World.

It’s not just the blind man who is blind, but the whole of Christ’s society. The disciples are just like everyone else and the darkness of ignorance, intolerance, and insensitivity blinds the whole community. Christ is come into the world to reveal things that have not been seen since Time began. Christ is come to earth to reveal the Kingdom of God in ways that people will understand and accept. He’s not there to shore up religion – Christ is there to inspire and enhance faith. Religion is all about having a belief in God and trying to do the right thing. Faith is much more than that. Faith is trusting God totally, not just believing in Him, and doing what He wants done.

Let me give you an example of this: this week, in Mesa, Arizona a High School issued a proclamation that the kids in school cannot hug one another. It seems that so many kids have been kissing and cuddling in the school that the teachers want to put a stop to it. Now its being going on for years – My name is John Stuart and I was sent to the Principal’s office for kissing my girlfriend in the school library – but in order to stamp out this “vile” adolescent behavior, the hugging police have prohibited this kind of contact. The High Schoolers protested and the principal relented. The students can now hug one another for up to 2 seconds only. I can now picture teachers in the school hallways with stop watches for all of those hugging kids. That’s legalism gone wild and a complete waste of time. Thankfully, the students held a wonderful protest that cut through the absurdity….they had a 20 minute hug-athon and got detention for doing so. I just love free speech in this country.

Anyway, it’s that kind of narrow-minded legalism that bolsters religion. In Christ’s times, the clerics declared that illness and sickness were punishments from God, so the people believed it. But Jesus showed His world that this wasn’t how God operated – God was more interested in compassion, kindness, and care than rigid, legalistic religion. In fact, it wasn’t faith that killed Jesus on the Cross; it was hard-hearted, narrow-minded, belligerently bigoted religion that nailed Him to the tree. Faith had nothing to do with it.

So, what have we learned today? Religion is a sickness that we bring upon ourselves. Faith is a gift of God’s grace. Blindness is an illness of the spirit that is fed by ignorance, intolerance and injustice, whereas Christ is the light of the world, who seeks to show us the holy ways of God’s Kingdom through help and healing, compassion and caring.

Seeing is believing, especially when we look for Christ’s presence in our world. There are two billion Christians in the world today, so if we were all to show compassion and care to just two other people this week, then we would witness to the whole world. And if the world could see and experience Christians such as us, as truly loving people, then would also believe and put their faith in Him, the King of Kings and Lord of Life. Jesus Christ, our Savior forevermore. Amen.

John Stuart is the Scottish Pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Sermon: What Must I Believe? John 3:16-18

I cannot imagine Evelyn and I ever giving up our children for anything in the whole world. At the moment, both our daughters are in New York City for the weekend and will be returning home later today. They’ve both grown up in Knoxville and this church, and through the attention, love, and care that they have received from Erin Church, they are now beginning to discover who they are and what God wants them to become. They might roast their parents’ hearts from time to time, but we would never give them up or sacrifice them for anything in the entire world. And I’m certain that every parent in this sanctuary would heartily agree when it comes to their own sons and daughters. We all love our children dearly and we would all give up our lives for them.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But God works in mysterious ways. He deeply loved Jesus His Only Son and God was well pleased with His life, ministry, and mission. And yet, when it comes to making a final choice between saving His Son from the agonizing death on the Cross and saving the world from sin, God chooses the world. Instead of rescuing Jesus who loves Him completely, God chooses to save the world that totally disrespects Him. Rather than shield Jesus from the shame of Calvary, God sacrifices His Son for a shameful world.

That’s absolutely crazy and if there was an inter-galactic Social Service department, God would be up on charges of child abuse and possibly murder. It’s just not natural, so I guess it must be the divine way that God deals with things. None of us would do it, but God does: which leaves us asking this question: WHY? What so good, so unique, so unusual about humankind that causes the God of all Creation to sacrifice His Son. Why does the Most Supreme Being in the Universe leave His Son on a Cross to die? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we be the ones sacrificing everything in order to placate, appease, and please God?

Way back in 1972, on Feb 17, on the very same day that President Nixon flew out from Washington to China, the British parliament voted to join the European Union. It didn’t have much of an affect over here, but throughout the British Commonwealth, it was a major decision. You see Britain was at one time at the heart of the British Empire and all its territories like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand exported a lot of their produce to the United Kingdom. When the British Parliament decided to join the EU, it was sacrificing the productivity and economies of Commonwealth countries all over the globe, in order to sustain itself. When I was a child, I can remember eating Canadian bacon and New Zealand Lamb, but when Britain became part of the European Union, they couldn’t be found in the supermarkets or grocery stores. The Mother Country sacrificed its Commonwealth children in order to sustain itself.

When God sacrificed Jesus, He wasn’t sustaining Himself. He was sustaining the world, as wicked and as wayward as it was. In the Good Old Testament days, when God got fed up with sin and sinners, all He had to do was stretch out His arm and smite them. God even tried to destroy the whole world once, flooding it completely, whilst only allowing eight to survive His wrath.

But this time, God fulfilled the plan of salvation by sacrificing His One and Only Son. It’s almost as if He’s stretching His own faith to its absolute limit. After all, is there anything worse than the death of a dear child?

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Let me give you an example of this:

One of the saddest prayers that I have ever heard was voiced by a mother in her seventies, whose fifty year old son had just died of cancer. It occurred in the church sanctuary, during a special mid-week prayer time. The church was open in the morning, to allow people to come in and quietly talk to God. In the background, a tape was played, which included some favorite hymns and contemporary choruses. I happened to be in the sanctuary at the time, doing my own prayers and devotions.

One of the songs on the tape was an upbeat version of Psalm 63. Its repeated refrain was “because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” In the middle of this song, the aged mother made a heart felt cry: “How can your love be better than life, Lord, when You have taken my son away from me?”

It was one of those holy moments when the reality of life confronts the reality of God. The woman’s heart was bleeding with grief, and her faith was being sorely tried. Each time the tape played the song’s refrain, she would ask that disturbing question. When the tape finished, the mother got up silently and left the church sorrowfully. I wanted to reach out and help, but something stopped me. It wasn’t the right time, and neither was it my place to answer a question directed to God.

The following Easter, our church held a Good Friday service. Usually during Holy Week, we held a Maundy Thursday service, but I thought it would be good if we tried something different. When I preached about the Cross that night and talked about God losing His Son to death, and feeling the grief of that separation, it was as if a light went on for the grieving mother. For the first time, since her son’s death, she could relate to God. He shared her heartbreak and knew the emptiness, hurt, and grief that she bore. God’s love was indeed better than life, not because it was holier or more perfect; God’s love was better than life because it was grounded in the reality of pain and suffering, loss and loneliness, sadness and grief.

Some of us may be carrying a grief that continues to hurt us and separates us from God. Perhaps if we remember that God understands our wounds because He experienced the same, it will draw us closer to Him, instead of keeping us at a distance.

That’s why God sacrifices His Only Son. He doesn’t want to deal with us at a distance. He doesn’t want us to be separated from Him forever. God loves the world and its entire people, but because we are so prone to be sinful and faithless, deceitful and proud, we end up putting ourselves against God, instead of being for God. And no matter what the circumstances, our background, our culture, our country or tradition, we can’t justify our sins before the Holy, Sacred, Perfect and Supreme Being in the Universe. That would be the equivalent of a flea standing before a wooly mammoth and blaming it for having so much hair, causing the flea to bite. We cannot stand before God and expect Him to hear what we have to say. It doesn’t work that way. The Only Way that we can get God to listen is through Jesus: He is our Advocate; He is Our Savior; He is the One who restores us to God’s favor and love.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

And this brings us to the last point from this passage. Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already – why? Because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son.

A lot of people miss this part of what Christ says to Nicodemus because they don’t want any judgment or condemnation to be a part of Christ’s ministry. They like the ‘love one another’ stuff and look to be accepted by Christ totally. They don’t want to make any exclusive commitment to Jesus as their only Savior and Lord. They also want Him to fully accept their lifestyle choices. And heaven forbid, if any of Christ’s followers ask them to change their ways.

An example of this occurred the other day when NBA star Charles Barkley was asked about his reasons for supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama, instead of Hillary Clinton or any of the Republican candidates.

"I've got great respect for Sen. McCain, great respect, but I don't like the way Republicans have taken this country," said Barkley. "Every time I hear the word 'conservative,' it makes me sick to my stomach, because they're really just fake Christians, as I call them. That's all they are."

"I think they want to be judge and jury," Barkley said. "Like, I'm for gay marriage. It's none of my business if gay people want to get married. I'm pro-choice. And I think these Christians, first of all, they're not supposed to judge other people. But they're the most hypocritical judge of people we have in the country. And it bugs the hell out of me. They act like they're Christians. They're not forgiving at all."

Yes, Christians of all persuasions can be judgmental and unforgiving at times, but when the true word of God is preached and the Gospel gives us an either/or, the world condemns us as being judgmental, unfeeling, and unchristian. But we forget that when it came down to the basics, Christ could be as conservative as anyone. After all, how would you interpret what He says to Nicodemus: whoever believes is not condemned, but whosever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s Only Son – tell me honestly folks: is that a liberal, progressive statement or basically a religious conservative one?

Charles Barkley may have trouble with conservative Christians being judgmental; but I put it to you, he would also have the same trouble with Jesus being forthright about what we must believe.

In the end, we must all make our own choices about what we must or cannot believe, but realize this: at the end, based upon those beliefs, Jesus will decide where we will go. After all, He sacrificed His life so that we could be given a choice. Without Him, we would not even have that opportunity.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Erin Church Sermon: Epiphany

Taking Our Treasures to Christ

There’s a phenomena that we call in Scotland “Scots’ Mist.” It occurs in the middle of a summer’s day when suddenly a dark cloud envelops the top of a mountain. The cloud is jet black and anyone who is unlucky enough to be on top of the mountain at that time is quickly overwhelmed in absolute darkness. An electrical storm usually ensues and the cloud remains over the mountain for a while. From the outside, it looks dark and ominous. From the inside, it’s fearful and terrifying.

I’ve only once been caught in it with a bunch of Scouts on the Campsie hills just above Glasgow. When the Scots’ mist came down, our summer’s day was turned into a winter’s night. We stopped hiking and just waited until it went away. When we started to hike again, we suddenly realized that we were on a cliff edge. If we had kept walking during the mist, we would have fallen over a hundred feet to our certain deaths.

Isaiah 60:2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

For the people of the Old Testament, the absence of light and the darkness of night were times of fear, superstition, and vulnerability. They didn’t have our instant electric bulbs and streetlamps. Whenever the oil ran out or a candle was finally snuffed, they had no light to keep out the dark. They were completely enveloped in the darkness and shadows of their own homes. And unless it was a beautiful starlit night, no one ventured outside of the protection of their own homes.

Hopelessness was imagined as a darkness of the soul. Illness and death, trouble and turmoil were regarded as dark passages of life, where no brightness of light could penetrate. Even in death, there was no hope. The Jews believed that all souls went down into the depths of the earth to a place of shadows, where eventually their spirits would wander in the darkness for all of eternity. There was little hope in life, and there was no hope in death.

In the Church of Scotland Book of Common order, there’s a great phrase that goes something like this: “we were not meant for the darkness of death, but for the light of life.” I use it as funerals, for it’s a reminder that God created us to be creatures of His everlasting light, not beings that are bound for a dungeon of eternal darkness.

In this passage from Isaiah, written at a time when the Jewish people had lost all hope of returning to the Promised Land, God declares through the prophet that the darkness which threatens to cover the whole earth will not overwhelm them. The Lord God, who has delivered and been with His people for centuries, will still remain loyal to them. He will rise above the people; He will brighten their futures, He will bring and become the Light of the World. As Isaiah writes in another passage: to the people walking in darkness, He will be their great light.”

Light becomes the symbol of hope to the people in the midst of dark and uncertain times. Light becomes the hope for a community that has lost its way. Light becomes the sign that the Lord is amongst them and that He will lead them again to the Promised Land. Light is what is needed in the hearts and souls of the people. Light frees them from the darkness of despair, tyranny, and hopelessness. Light is God’s first act of love and His final revelation.

And so, seven centuries later, when some astrologers look at the Western sky, they see a great light, a new light, a remarkable light…one which attracts them and leads them. One that captivates their hearts and souls, One that sets them on a quest, for when such a star is created in the heavens, then it can only mean one thing: that a new king, a great king, a godly king has been born on earth.

Matthew 2:2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

So this group of astrologers and mathematicians called Magi head west following the star. At some point they realize that they are near to the city of Jerusalem, so they presume that the new king who has been born must have been born at the royal palace. This must mean that they stop following the star, either because it’s too cloudy to see anything in the sky, or they feel that their calculations are slightly off course. Whatever their reason, it made them stop in Jerusalem, to seek the local king and find his newborn son.

A lot has been made about this diversion on their journey. Years ago, I preached a sermon that suggested that this was an example of how believing in astrology can take you down the wrong path. I even mentioned that those who read their horoscopes each day are doing an unchristian thing and that this incident with the wise men proved my point. If astrology was so good at predicting the future, then why do the wisemen make such a disastrous mistake?

These days I don’t see it that way at all, but the detour into Jerusalem still puzzles me. Were they predestined to make this mistake? Did God plan this detour, and if He did, what was its purpose? Did God plan to upset Herod and all Jerusalem with him by revealing that a new king outside of the palace had been born? Was this God’s way of telling Herod that his reign was coming to an end and that the real kingdom of heaven was just about to be ushered in?

The more I thought about this, the more perplexed I became. What was God up to letting a fearful tyrant like Herod know of His plans? Why was it so important for the wisemen to go to the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in front of the wrong king?

And then when I read and re-read Herod’s request to the wisemen, it all became quite clear. Look at verse 8 and see what the king says:
Matthew 2:8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

It’s not about astrology, or mistaken calculations. It’s not about confronting Herod with an advanced warning that God’s kingdom is imminent. It’s not about upsetting the king and the people in Jerusalem that a revolution was about to occur. It’s about what Jesus actually represented: salvation through God’s grace. Herod the tyrant is actually being given an opportunity to repent of his ways, accept God’s forgiveness, and sincerely come and worship Jesus! This is an incident of amazing grace, where Christ’s vulnerability is at stake. The Lamb of God has no protection, but Herod has the opportunity to use his free will to make amends, to fix his life, to come before God, and seek forgiveness. God didn’t have to let the wisemen go to Jerusalem, but in order to give Herod the chance to be redeemed they had to turn up at his palace.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Herod had accepted that moment of grace? Christ would have been brought up in a palace where forgiveness and love, restoration and redemption were experienced. He would have been a Prince of Peace amongst His people and Christianity would have traveled along a different path. God’s grace knows no bounds. Any sinner, even one as cruel, adulterous, and as murderous as Herod could be forgiven, but the key to salvation does not lie in the gift or the giver. The key to salvation, as always, lie in the response of the one to whom it is given.

Sadly, and perhaps predictably, Herod did not grasp at this godly opportunity. Too many years of tyranny and cruelty kept him from recognizing this gift and realizing his salvation. Instead, he chose to use the moment secretly and insincerely. Rather than worship the Christ child, he simply wanted to kill him.

Mathew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

So the wisemen travel on. They see the star again and rejoice. This time they will not lose sight of it. This time they will reach their goal. And so they come to the house where the child was and bow down to worship Him. And not only do they worship Him, they present their treasures to Him, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

A lot has been said about these gifts. Because Christ is the King of Kings He deserves a gift worthy of a king. Gold was the most valuable and precious metal of that time, so they offer Christ their money.

Incense was used by priests in their temples as a means of offering a sweet perfume to God, to please Him and to ask His favor. As Christ would become known as the high priest of Melchizedek in years to come, this gift was also highly appropriate.

Myrrh was used as an ointment, not just to embalm dead bodies, but also as an instrument of healing. Christ would be known as the Healer of the Nations, so this gift was also worthy of Him.

It all happened so long ago and we delight at Christmas when we see images and receive cards that depict this wonderful scene of three wisemen offering their gifts to Christ. But how do we apply this lesson, this story in our own lives. How do we encounter and experience a moment of Epiphany, of transformation and revelation in our own faith.

We also bring our treasures to Jesus. We may not have gold coins or bars to give Him, but we do have money. When we give an offering to the church each week, we’re actually humbling ourselves before Jesus and worshiping Him. When we place our tithes and gifts in the offering plate, we’re saying to Jesus, “I want You to have this because You are my King.” We don’t do it routinely or dutifully, we give it to Him cheerfully and gladly because Christ is the head of this church and he is the King of this congregation.

We may not have perfume or incense to offer to Christ, but we are all priests in His eyes. He looks to us to please God by ministering to one another and serving the community where we live. If we work effectively, sincerely, and faithfully as Christians in our homes, our schools, and our workplaces then we become the sweetness of Christ to the world. God will favor our good works, not to bring success to ourselves, but to attract other people to His Son Jesus Christ. If we offer our lives as something beautiful to God, then we will make a positive difference in our community and in our world.

We may have myrrh to offer to Christ, but we can be healers in our homes, with our families and friends. We can learn to say sorry and seek forgiveness for our mistakes. We can repair our damaged relationships and look for peace with our partners. We can take the high road of forgiving those who hurt us and restoring those who have disappointed us, instead of carrying bitterness and resentment, hostility and hatred in our hearts.

We have all these treasures to bring to Christ, but it is up to us to give them. Are we going to be wisemen and women and offer Christ our all, or will we choose to reject this time of Epiphany and grace, and become a Herod? As always, the choice is ours and ours alone. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Erin Church: Sunday Sermon: Mary's Boy Child

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

When my mom suddenly died seventeen years ago, our whole family was shocked. She was only 57 years old. Years of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day finally caught up with her and she took a massive heart attack, which killed her instantly. My dad had just stepped out to go to the library, which was just a five minute walk from our house. He was gone for 20 minutes, choosing books for my mom to read. When he arrived back, he found her slumped to the floor and there was nothing he could do. He called the emergency services and when the paramedics arrived, they just confirmed what he already knew. She was gone.

The effect on our family was a mixture of shock and relief. We were shocked because of the suddenness of her death, but we were relieved that her years of physical pain and mental torment were over. Mom was in a better place, surrounded by loved ones and angels. Her days were over and our lives had to go on.

All my brothers and sisters had their own families and partners to look after, except for my youngest sister Jane. She was fifteen years old when our mother died. She was the only one of six children who was still living in our family home. She missed mom terribly, but the rest of us didn’t realize that. We all reckoned that Jane was old enough to take care of herself. We didn’t know that she felt a great emptiness in her life. We didn’t understand that she had suffered a great loss.

Just after she turned sixteen, Jane dropped a bombshell on our whole family. She announced that she was pregnant. She wasn’t going to marry the father and she would look after the child on her own. She would be a young unmarried mother and she was determined to keep the baby. Having an abortion or putting the baby up for adoption was not something that she was willing to go through. She was pregnant, she wanted the baby, she wanted to love the child unconditionally and fill the emptiness of her heart with the baby in her womb.

My brothers and sisters all wondered how our Dad would react. We could picture some sort of Victorian melodrama occurring with Jane carrying her child in her arms and being forced out into a snowstorm for bringing shame upon our whole family. But my Dad stepped up to the plate and handled the situation beautifully. He accepted Jane’s situation lovingly and never once criticized her for her. He welcomed his grand-daughter Daytona and was proud to hold her in his arms on the day she born. It never crossed his mind to abandon his youngest daughter Jane. And, because of that paternal acceptance, Jane, despite being so young, became a marvelous mother.

Why am I telling you all of this? It’s because I find a parallel with my dad’s response to Jane’s situation and Joseph’s treatment of Mary.

Mary was just a teenager, betrothed but not fully married, who was expecting a baby. She was a child having a child and in her culture it was a recipe for disaster. People still belonged to the Stone Age in Mary’s time – in other words, a young girl in Mary’s condition could be stoned to death for bringing shame to her betrothed husband, and all the families involved. The whole community would be enraged by such a disgrace. She would either become an outcast, destined to live her life as a prostitute on the margins of society, or, she would be cut to pieces, bashed and crushed to death with rock and stones. The outlook for Mary and Mary’s boy child was not wonderful. Whatever happened to her and the baby all depended upon Joseph’s response to the situation.

His initial reaction was to send her away quietly and not bring attention to her situation. Either he was trying to avoid public humiliation or there was something else more powerful than the avoidance of shame. I think that Joseph truly loved Mary and despite receiving bad news about her pregnancy, he did not want any harm to come to her. He may not have been the father of the child she was carrying, but he still loved Mary sufficiently to protect her from the religious zealots who would probably want to kill her. Theological bigots and spiritual fanatics would have demanded that Mary’s impurity be purged from their midst. They would not have listened to any story about angels or the promised messiah. All that they would have seen was a pregnant teenager who sullied the community’s reputation and totally disrespected the laws of God.

Sixty one years ago today in 1946, one year after the end of World War II, the University of Tennessee issued a statement on behalf of their basketball team. They were due to play Duquesne University, but they refused to do so. Why? Because Duquesne had informed UT that they might use a black player in their game. Instead of recognizing that times has changed and that during the war, people of every color across the United States had fought together to rid the world of a fascist monster, our beloved University allowed the bigots and racists to dictate the sports policy of our basketball team. The game was never played because racism had sadly won the day. No one was willing to show acceptance and adopt an attitude of gratitude for the freedom that had been won for all the people in the world. Thankfully today, when our UT basketball team plays there are people of all colors on the team and amongst the crowd. Racists may still exist, but their voices are not adhered to anymore.

Joseph’s love for Mary caused him to do what was morally right rather than being religiously right. He wanted to make sure that Mary and her child would be given a chance to survive. He did not want to cause any fuss or shame; he was disturbed by the situation, but he was perturbed.

And then God did a beautiful thing that shows us how much He loved Joseph. He sent an angel to Joseph in a special dream, who told him not to be afraid and confirmed all that Mary had told him. God loved Joseph so deeply that he didn’t want him to be disturbed by the situation. God took time to reach Joseph in a unique and individual way, where no one could distract or dissuade Joseph – in his dreams. Think about it folks – the most isolated time that we all experience is when we sleep. We are at our most personal time when we dream. I cannot dream for you and you cannot dream for me. We dream alone – it’s that sacred time when our souls are in a holy state where time, space, and matter cannot touch us.

God isolates Joseph in his dreams and helps him to confront his worries. The boy child that Mary is carrying must have a protector. If Mary is cast out, who will keep her and the child safe? And how will Joseph be able to live with himself if he is the agent of their abandonment. This dream, this wonderful, miraculous dream is a life changing moment for Joseph and much more besides. The entire history of the whole world rests upon Joseph accepting guardianship over Mary’s Boy Child.

Way back in 1776, six months into the War of Independence, Thomas Paine wrote those powerfully inspiring words: “these are the times that try men’s souls.” On this very day, Thomas Paine’s words were printed as a pamphlet and distributed throughout the Thirteen Colonies of the newly formed United States. After reading it, General Washington ordered that the pamphlet be read to all of the army under his command. It was a glorious success in rallying the troops. They were in the midst of a dire situation. They need something to give them a reason, a purpose, a vision of why they were fighting.

Close you eyes and listen to the words of the first paragraph. Picture yourself as either a trooper in Washington’s Army fighting for independence, or as a woman struggling to keep her family safe during the uncertainty of war.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us – that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right not only to tax but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever,” and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then there is no such thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.”

Those words inspired thousands of men to re-enlist in the Continental army and to keep the struggle for independence alive. The new fledged United States would be protected by the individual commitment of patriots all across the country and keep the war going until freedom, which Thomas Paine called a “celestial article” was won.

Joseph’s soul underwent the same kind of trials and tribulation. He either had to enlist into God’s service and become Mary’s protector, or he could freely choose to abandon her completely. Before he decides this, the angel in his dream tells Joseph that the child will be called Jesus which means Savior, Deliverer and Liberator all rolled into one. The stakes are now higher than before. Joseph will no longer be just looking after Mary and her boy child: the whole nation of Israel now depended upon his acceptance of this crucial role.

Now why didn’t God just take over everything, cast Joseph aside and surround Mary and Jesus with thousands of angels to protect them? Why is God giving Joseph the opportunity to do something that He could easily do with His Almighty power? This is where God works in mysterious and poetical ways. It all goes back to the Garden of Eden. Eve causes humankind to fall into sin by firstly yielding to temptation. When Mary accepts God’s child Jesus in her womb, Eve’s sin is eradicated and God redeems woman-kind. Adam’s sin was not so much that he accepted the forbidden fruit from Eve in the garden, but that he failed to protect her from the serpent and morally abandoned her. When Joseph accepts the role of protecting Mary and Jesus, Adam’s sin of forsaking his wife is eradicated and God redeems man-kind. It’s what I call gender redemption. I guess God would call it the balancing of history, and the reconciling of human-kind.

Christmas is less than two days away and when we gather with our friends and families, we will remember Mary’s Boy Child with all of the love and adoration that we can muster. But let’s also take time to remember Christ’s earthly parents and how their decisions to accept God’s will changed the world and changed our lives. Their devotion to one another and their dedication to bring God’s child into the world; their courage in the face of humiliation and shame; their faith in God’s word and His promises are great examples of how simple, lowly people can aspire to overcoming their circumstances, and applying noble characteristics of duty and responsibility, devotion and respectability that make all the difference to their dire situation and to the lives of all those around them.

We thank God for the blessings of our salvation through Jesus Christ, but we are also grateful to Mary and Joseph for accepting the roles as parents to the Boy Child who would restore everlasting hope to the entire world. In Christ’s Name. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee