Sermons by the Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham

Apocalypse Now: How to Lose and Gain Your Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:29:00 +0000

SERMON: "Touch and Go with Jesus"

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:08:00 +0000

Sermon title: "Touch and Go with Jesus"

I preached this sermon on Super Bowl Sunday as the whole country gathered around their TVs seeking healing through a communal activity. We have community here. How do we get the word out? According to the gospel story, it began for Jesus with prayer away from the maddening crowds. So it may begin with us. May God richly bless you now and may you become aware of how you are a blessing to many others. (By the way, I forgot to mention in the sermon the part about "Eli's coming.")

We Would Be Known as Healed Healers

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

The sermon from January 29, 2012, is called "We Would Be Known as Healed Healers" and is based on the gospel reading from Mark 1:21-28. Later in the service many people came forward for prayer for healing of body, mind or soul. Like the man with the unclean spirit, our healing starts with Jesus in the sanctuary. But as with Jesus, whose fame spread throughout the land after this healing, God wants to extend our healing and our influence beyond the walls of our sanctuary. We are blessed in order to be a blessing to others. May God bless you today. You are already a blessing to me and to many others.

Three Steps You Must Take in 2012 1. Decipher Where You Are; 2. Envision Where You Want to Be; 3. Take Action to Get There

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:29:00 +0000

2012 lies before you like a path not taken. This new year brings you new opportunities in your spiritual journey. Today, January 1, is a time for reflection and preparation for a new leg on your spiritual journey.

The sermon scripture for today is Matthew 2:1-12. Listen for God's word to you.

2:1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

2:2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

2:3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;

2:4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

2:5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

2:6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

2:7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

2:8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

2:9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.

2:10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

2:11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Here ends the reading.

- - -

Life is a journey. The wise men were on a journey to find Jesus. They were experts in the field of astronomy. They had come perhaps from the royal courts of Persia to visit King Herod in Jerusalem. When they saw a special star or a shining angel above Bethlehem they knew it signaled the birth of the Messiah. They knew this because they knew both astronomy and the holy scriptures that spoke of the birth of a messiah.

The wise men presented baby Jesus with certain gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts have been given many symbolical meanings. Traditional Christianity says the gold symbolizes Jesus' royalty, frankincense his priestly duties, and myrrh points to the prophet's death he would suffer. More important than the gifts was the thought behind the gifts. The magi believed this baby was the Messiah and had come to worship him.

The wise men brought gift to baby Jesus. They brought the newborn king gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Like the wise men, you may have the gift of giving. You may have the gift of giving as expressed in giving money, time or talents in service to Christ. The magi had the gift of encouragement. Their gifts would have encouraged Mary and Joseph. You may have the spiritual gift of encouragement. You notice what other people contribute and thank them for what they do. We need more of that gift in our world today.

The wise men had studied astrology and the sacred texts. They also kept abreast of what was happening in the world. So they noticed the new shining star that appeared in the heavens and knew what it foretold. What signals or signs help you to locate the Christ within? You have the sacred texts, study opportunities, prayer groups, meditation times, and other spiritual disciplines. You know what is going on in the world and all the challenges we face as a species. The first step you need to take today is to decipher where you are in your spiritual journey.

Along the journey we encounter certain road blocks. The wise men encountered an evil ruler who wanted to use them to thwart God's plan. King Herod wanted to kill the Messiah. He wanted to shut up the Truth. He wanted to use the wise men to accomplish his evil purpose. But God reached out to the wise men in a dream and helped them find a way around the road block of King Herod. God warned them in a dream not to return by the same road. God will help you find a way around the road blocks in your life. God will show us the way forward even when we feel trapped. Yet God's purposes cannot be thwarted; God's purposes will prevail. The second step you need to take today is to envision where you want to be and trust God to help you get there.

There is a medieval woodcut that shows the earthly world contained within a great bubble. Outside the bubble lies a celestial realm filled with stars and moons and with the mechanisms that make creation run. In the picture, a man is poking his head through the bubble and gaining a glimpse of that wondrous creative realm that had previously been invisible to him. The wise men were aware of a spiritual realm beyond our five senses. Their heavenly vision was based on a combination of the science of astronomy and a spiritual discipline that connected them with a realm beyond this earth. We too have moments when it is as if our head has momentarily burst through that bubble and we get a taste of a new world spread out before us. [Spangler, David (2008-10-01). Everyday Miracles: the inner art of manifestation (Kindle Location 281). Lorian Press. Kindle Edition.]

The wise men took action on what they knew and believed. Taking action is what you must do as well. When we act on our knowledge and faith God honors our energy and things change for the better. Perhaps today you know what is happening and you see what God wants you to do. Take action now. Get yourself going in a way that is in alignment with God's will for your life. Take action to get where you want to be. That action may be subtle rather than forceful. We do not acquire what we desire, we become it. The smallest change can have a very large effect. This has become known as the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect suggests that something as seemingly tiny and inconsequential as the flutter of a butterfly's wings can set up a chain of cascading consequences, such as a growing interaction of atmospheric disturbances that eventually could result in a tornado or hurricane many thousands of miles away. Any small change we make in moving toward our goal may make a huge difference in our lives and in the world. So let's not feel overwhelmed or underprivileged. Let's not get discouraged with the enormity of the change we desire and say there is no way we can achieve that goal. Let's just take an action, however small, in the direction we want to go. God may multiply our small step way beyond what we had thought possible.

We are not astrologers so we may never see a sign in the heavens such as the night star over Bethlehem. That star led the wise men to Jesus but that is a star we will never see. There is another star that we may see every day. That star may lead us to Jesus birth. That star is the sun. We sit with God in silence in the morning time. We read and meditate upon God's word. And as we pray, there, through the window, we see another star rising. It is a star called the sun. The sun rising, shining through our window in the morning, that is our sign that the Christ wants to be born anew in our heart this day. Let's take that sign of the sun star rising as God's sign to us that this is a new day, a new year, a new era in our lives and in the life of this congregation. As we focus on God's star we find a wise way on life's joyful journey.

There are three steps you must take today: 1. Decipher Where You Are; 2. Envision Where You Want to Be; 3. Take Action to Get There. This is important to you because today, on the first day of 2012, you have the opportunity to turn your life in a more positive direction. God has a claim on your life's journey. You have a purpose in life. The wise men's purpose was to find and worship the Christ. Your life's purpose is to find and connect with the Christ within you.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 on January 1, 2012, Epiphany Sunday. Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

The Whimper and the Roar of Christmas Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:42:00 +0000

Luke 2:1-20

2In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

- - -

Some of you with small children had an exciting night last night. Christmas Eve at my childhood home on 7th Avenue in Morton, Mississippi was an exciting time. There were already many presents under the brightly colored tree. We had a live cypress(?) tree with those large colored light bulbs with red, green, blue, orange and yellow lights. My body literally shook with excitement when I thought about my presents under that tree. I had closely examined my gifts under the tree. I gently shook each gift to see if it made a sound. One gift sounded like a board game when I shook it. Hopefully, it was the Risk game or maybe Monopoly. Another gift made no sound when I shook it. It was probably a book, a pretty heavy book, most likely a new Living Bible. Mama had made a cake for Santa Claus and it was time to put it on the table along with a glass of milk. Why, that big, hefty, lovable ole Saint Nick would certainly be hungry when he got to my house, considering all the heavy lifting he would have to do bringing in my gifts, hopefully he would be bringing me a new bicycle, one with the twisted handlebars like a ram's horns. That would be so cool!! And now we were watching Santa Claus on our TV. There he was, right there, making his way across the state of Mississippi. You could see the outline of Santa and his reindeer on the radar right there on the screen. Oh my goodness, there had been another Santa spotting two counties over from where I lived. It was be time to get to bed about now. If we were awake when Santa came with our stuff, we may scare him away. Best to get to sleep and awaken early in the morning to see what he brought us. So off to bed we went. My older brother and me slept in the same bedroom. It was night, night and sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs night. No, no, no. Not on Christmas Eve.

We live in fear with good reason. Death is ever near. There is no guarantee that any of us will make it home alive today or any day. Life is contingent. I was never afraid to die but always afraid to live. Why? Here are three of my fears that are common among many people: I fear will make a mistake. I fear rejection. I fear I will not achieve God's purpose for my life.

Some variation of "Be not afraid" or "Do not fear" occurs 40 times in the New Testament. This theme of do not fear carries over from the Old Testament in texts such as Psalm 23: "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil." So in our text today an angel says to a group of shepherds, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Banishment of fear is a common thread throughout the synoptic gospel birth narratives. Mary was afraid the first time the angel of the Lord appeared to her to announce she was carrying the Christ child within her. The angel's message to Mary was "Be not afraid." The shepherds were afraid when the angel appeared to them to announce the birth of Jesus. The angels told the shepherds: "Be not afraid."

We are afraid when we become aware of the potential to bear the Christ child within us. The angel says to us: "Be not afraid."

The shepherds and angels bear witness to what God is doing in your life. Think of the shepherds as the human mentors who have guided you through your life. These include parents, teachers, coaches, pastors and friends. The angels are the spiritual entities who accompany your spiritual journey. They have been called guardian angels. The shepherds and the angels in your life bear joyful witness to the birth of Christ within you.

A lost lion was adopted and raised by a herd of sheep. When he was three years old, the lion was bleating in the field with his brother and sister sheep when an older lion found him. The older lion was shocked to find this young lion acting like a sheep. So the older lion said: "Hey, what are you doing?! You are bleating like a sheep. You are not a sheep. You are a lion. Wake up. Get yourself together. Be a lion." The young lion was amazed to hear this and even more amazed to see this older lion since he had never before seen a lion. The young lion did not respond to the older lion but it made him start questioning his identity. A few days later the young lion who thought he was a sheep was standing by a stream when suddenly he saw another lion. It was his own reflection in the stream! And when he saw his reflection in that stream, he suddenly realized that he really was a lion and for the first time in his life, he roared! In a similar way, we have lost sight of our true identity. We have forgotten that we are made in God's image. We are God's children. We are not mere descendants of apes. We now stop acting like apes. We stop living out our animal nature. As we stare in wonder into the eyes of the baby in the manger, we see our own reflection staring back at us. We get in touch with the wonder and innocence of life. We bring that back to the world. Boxes and bows are good. But Christmas is about the gift that's inside the package. Christmas is about the birth of Christ within us.

In the jungle, a middle aged man hears the roar and footsteps of a tiger behind him. He takes off running as fast as he can. Up ahead he sees a precipice that leads to a his sure death if he jumps over it. Yet in his fear of the tiger behind him the man decides to jump over the cliff. As he falls down over the cliff he hits the side of the mountain and grabs hold a blueberry bush. Hanging there between heaven and earth, he notices that the blueberries are ripe on that bush. He reaches out and takes a handful of those blueberries and puts them in his mouth. They are the best thing he has ever tasted! (The stories about the lion and the tiger are adapted from some stories told by Anthony de Mello, a list of whose books are available for sale here.)

In our daily lives, we find ourselves between a rock a hard place. We realize the wonder and joy of life without fear. The man being chased by the tiger finally reached a point of not fear. He didn't cae whether he was eaten by a tiger or whether he was crushed on the rocks below the cliff when he juped. Every day of your life we have a similar choice. Every day we can choose to be not afraid. Thus, every day can be sublime. I have heard more than one story of a person who has been diagnosed with a terminal disease and then, only then, were they able to really live without fear.

Back when Jesus lived 1 out of 4 infants or mothers died in childbirth. Yet, Mary gives birth to Jesus without fear. Your job and mine is to give birth to the Christ within us. Let us do that today, on this Christmas Day, without fear. Do not be afraid of the good news that Christ is ready to be birthed in your heart today.

Early on Christmas morning, really really early, while it was still dark, someone awakened me.

It was my older brother, Tim. "Jon, Jon, get up! It's Christmas morning. Let's go look at our gifts. Let's go see what Santa Claus brought us."

"No. I'm still asleep. You go see what he brought and come tell me," I mumbled, half awake.

"No!" said my older brother. "He might be still in there!! I'm not going alone. You come with me."

"Okay. Okay. Let's go!"

So we fearfully and expectantly crept from our bedroom through the hallway into the living room, hoping that Jolly Ole Saint Nick would not be still in the house or we would scream in fright.

When we got to the living room, hey, no one was in there. We could see from the glowing lights on the Christmas tree a brand new bicycle! A blue one! With ram's horn handlebars!! Wow. Unbelievable! Santa Claus really came through this year! We were thrilled with the mystery and wonder and joy of life on that Christmas morning.

It's hard to put in words what it feels like Christ is born in your heart. Let's just say it feels something like the combination of joy and wonder and dread I felt when my brother and I were creeping down the hallway to peek into our living room to see what Santa had brought us. What is the present you were hoping for today? What is the bicycle you want for yourself? Imagine yourself getting that for Christmas. May such joy come into your life as Christ is born in your heart today.

Your role, like Mary, is to treasure all these words and ponder them in your heart. May this Christmas day be a day of treasuring what God has done in your life. Ponder what God is doing in your life now. The mystery of how Christ gets born in your heart is the greatest mystery in the world. May you, like the young lion who thought he was a sheep, see your own reflection in the eyes of the baby in the manger and may the Christ within you roar!

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on Christmas Day, 2011, at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035, Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com.

God's Christmas Wish for You: Experience Miracles Like Mother Mary

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:56:00 +0000

You are a walking miracle and you don't even know it. You are blessing people right here in this church and all over the world by being who you are and doing what you do. The difference between a life filled with wonder and a boring so-called life comes down to one word: Perception. Let us see what we find as we look and listen for God's word to us today from Luke 1:26-38.

Text: Luke 1:26-38

1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

1:28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

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

1:31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.

1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.

1:33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

1:34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

1:35 The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

1:36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.

1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God."

1:38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Ramp: Last week I ate some delicious home baked gluten free bread. I put some raspberry jam on it after toasting the bread. It tasted fantastic. My wife had cooked the bread in a little bread oven. She had bought it the day before at the Kroger grocery store. It tasted great.

An American businessman was in a small town in Israel when he came across a Jewish bakery. He first smelled it from a block away. His mouth was already watering by the time he came to the bakery door. He loved fresh baked bread. Put some butter on top of it. Watch the butter spread like sunshine on the bread. So he could hardly wait to get his hands on some of that fresh baked bread he smelled. He could tell it was his favorite kind: Irish sourdough bread. But when the pushed on the door to enter the door did not move. With and a tinge of anger, he noticed the "Closed" sign on the door. He had just missed the deadline and with a sense of great disappointment he kept on walking down the street. A few blocks he later he heard a loud whistle. It was a policeman, standing with one hand behind his back, motioning him to come hither. The surprised man walked to the policeman who took his hand from behind his back and presented him with a loaf of fresh baked bread. The policeman had seen the man standing at the bakery door and could tell he was disappointed it was closed so the policeman talked to the baker and brought a free loaf of bread as a sign of good will for the American tourist. The American businessman sure did enjoy that bread.

Which of those two stories tells about a miracle? In both stories a man gets to eat some delicious bread. But the second story seems more miraculous because of the dramatic delivery mechanism. What makes that story seem miraculous is not the outcome but the process by which that outcome appeared. In the story of the American businessman there is wonderment involved, a sense of something happening that transcends the boundaries of the normal world most of us live in. In short, there is a feeling of the miraculous. What differentiates what we perceive as miraculous from other forms of acquisition, then, is not the results but the process by which the results are achieved. (Spangler, David (2008-10-01). Everyday Miracles: the inner art of manifestation (Kindle Locations 247-250). Lorian Press. Kindle Edition. )

Your birth was full of mystery. If you have given birth or witnessed the birth of a baby you may have felt like this birth was somehow a miracle. A birth gets us in touch with the sacred. Yet there is something about the birth of Jesus that goes beyond even the natural feeling of miraculous that we experience at the the birth of any child.

The miraculous nature of Jesus' birth goes back to the very announcement of her pregnancy. The Angel Gabriel announces that Mary will give birth to a Messiah who will sit upon the Throne of David. Mary wonders how she will give birth when she has never slept with a man. Gabriel tells Mary even her cousin Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son, "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)

According to our text today, the Angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary. She was a young Jewish girl whose fiancee was from the royal lineage of the House of David. Mary allowed God to work a miracle in and through her even though she had 3 strikes against her in the eyes of her culture as a poor, pregnant, unmarried woman. Mary had some things going for her. She was engaged to a man from the royal House of David. She was looking to God. She was open to miracles in her own life. She was open to the "revelation of the mystery." Mary responded to God in faith.

What are the strikes against you? Do people say you are too young or too old? To pretty or too ugly? Too rich or too poor? You can hinder miracles in your life by focusing on the wrong things. You can facilitate miracles in your life by focusing on God.

Members of this congregation are good at looking to God. You are among the most generous people I have ever known. Remember the church with an end of the year if you are able. Rest assured whatever you give to this congregation will be multiplied many times over in vital ministry. If you spent as much time as I do in the church office building, you too would be astounded at all the ministry and outreach that goes on here. The loving energy that passes through this building and out into the world is palpable. And this is but one hub for the ministries that each of you carries out in the fullness of your life at home - listening to a child, caring for a parent, praying for a friend; and at work - dealing with difficult situations, meeting deadlines, being a peaceful presence for your colleagues.

Your life is a gift to God that is expressed in many ways, one of which is in and through a faith community called St. John's. Let me take this opportunity to THANK YOU for your generosity to me, the church staff, this community, this city and the world. You are inspiring people. You are gifted for ministry. You are committed. And you are generous. Do not hesitate to express your generosity with an additional gift to St. John's at this time of year. You may think of it as your Christmas gift to Jesus. No doubt you will a Christmas gift to every other important person in your life. Consider also giving a special gift to St. John's above and beyond your pledge.

Speaking of pledges, if you have not pledged for 2012, cards are in the pew racks and in the church office. If you've never pledged, it is a wonderful spiritual discipline that will help you grow in your faith. If you've never done it, perhaps you may start by pledging a dime a day to support Christ's ministry through this congregation next year. The attitude of commitment to Christ and the desire to be a part of this successful enterprise matters more than the amount of money pledged for those who are new to this spiritual discipline.

Christ's birth may not be acknowledged in the secular world but it will most certainly be acknowledged in our hearts, in our lives, and in the worship and ongoing ministry of St. John's Presbyterian Church. If God has blessed you in such a way that you are able to do so, write an additional check to St. John's today in honor of the baby who was born in a manger long ago and who is reborn in our hearts during this holy season. Think of this additional check as a way of acknowledging the true reason for the season, the birth of Christ our Lord.

Closing: The biggest miracle you may experience is the miracle of learning to view life in a different way: As a gift from God to you. Just because you purchase your daily bread from a local grocery store does not mean it not a miracle. God gave you the money to buy the bread. Use of some of God's bread money to you to feed the world. Get excited by the possibility that God wants to work miracles in and through you. Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. God's Christmas wish for you is that you will believe that nothing is impossible with God and allow the Holy Spirit to work miracles in and through you.

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The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on December 18, 2011 - Advent 4B, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035, Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Among You Stands One Whom You Do Not Know

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:22:00 +0000

It's easy for us to get distracted this time of year. We have coaching changes in college football. There are the important questions of which is better: The iPad2 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab? We have family arrangements to consider. Who will be home for Christmas? What presents will we give them? In the midst of such considerations comes a strange man in weird clothes with one of those off-beat Southern California kind of diets. His name is John the Baptist. His message sounds like it is straight out of a science fiction movie about aliens in our midst. He claims there is one among us whom we do no know.

John 1:6-8, 19-28

1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

1:7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

1:19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

1:20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."

1:21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No."

1:22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

1:23 He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said.

1:24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

1:25 They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"

1:26 John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,

1:27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."

1:28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

= = =

One of my favorite sci fi movies is called "They Live." A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth. The turning point in the movie comes when the drifter wears those special sunglasses for the first time. As he walks along a busy sidewalk in the city, words on signs and magazine covers morph from advertisements into blunt propaganda such as "OBEY." "STAY ASLEEP." "DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY." Money now changes from regular bills to papers that read "THIS IS YOUR GOD." And what's even spookier is that certain people's faces now look like scary reptiles. Clearly, all is not as it seems on the surface. Some of the most successful people are revealed to be reptilian aliens who are in control of the media and politics. The drifter forces a friend to wear the sunglasses and together they seek other humans aware of the situation. They organize a resistance against the powerful aliens from Andromeda and their associates.

Like the drifter in the movie "They Live," so John the Baptist is hard to classify. He's not an Old Testament prophet and he's not one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He is a first cousin of Jesus to whom he was introduced while still in the womb. His mother and Jesus' mother were very close family members. John baptized his followers in the Jordan River preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In the early days after Jesus lived there was a competition between the followers of John the Baptist and the followers of Jesus. Some of the original disciples, such as Andrew, were first disciples of John the Baptist. His followers today, the Mandeans, of whom there are about 70,000 members, still baptize themselves today as a sign of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptist shares much in common with Jesus. They are related by blood and faith. They are cousins whose mothers are close. They share a Jewish heritage and the Jewish Bible. John the Baptist dies beheaded by King Herod. Jesus dies crucified by Pontius Pilate. John the Baptist's head is said to be entombed in the Umayyad (meaning "Great") Mosque of Damascus in Syria. It is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world and it is considered the fourth-holiest place in Islam. After the Arab conquest of Damascus in 634, the mosque was built on the site of a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist which heralds from the time of Roman emperor Constantine I. Back in my seminary days, I had the pleasure of visiting this mosque and seeing the Christian basilica within it that is said to entomb the head of John the Baptist.

In the gospel stories, John the Baptist points the reader to "one who stands among you whom you do not know." That one is Jesus. Jesus is the one we do not know. He is the one who comes to us from God. "He came from God but God's own people did not know him." The unique quality of Jesus is that he is God come down to us in human form.

John's gospel goes to great lengths to show us that John the Baptist is inferior to Jesus. We read in John 1:20 where John the Baptist says: "I am not the Messiah." John the Baptist says of Jesus: "I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."

John the Baptist refers to Jesus, saying, "Among you stands one whom you do not know." The one he refers to is Jesus. You do not know him, says John. John the Baptist says, "Follow Jesus not me."

The one we do not know is the Christ within us. We are not well acquainted with the Christ within. We either ignore the Christ within or try to subdue it out of fear. We are afraid of letting Christ loose in our hearts. Changes may come. We may become more vulnerable. Getting to know the Christ within can be scary and uncomfortable. It sometimes feels as if the Spirit is shining a light around in the basement of our unconsciousness. Hidden sins are brought to light. This is what John the Baptist was all about, revealing the darkness within us.

A BOY was hunting for locusts. He had caught a goodly number, when he saw a Scorpion, and mistaking him for a locust, reached out his hand to take him. The Scorpion, showing his sting, said: "If you had but touched me, my friend, you would have lost me, and all your locusts too!" [Translated by George Fyler Townsend. Aesop'sFables (p. 16). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.] We fear if we get in touch with our inner John the Baptist we will lose ourself and everything we have worked for but the exact opposite is the truth. As we get in touch with our inner John the Baptist, we discover our true self. As we see our inner sinfulness mirrored back to us in the waters of our baptism we come to know our true nature as sinful human beings. Yet is is precisely sinful human beings whom Christ comes to redeem.

A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away. [Translated by George Fyler Townsend. Aesop's Fables (p. 18). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.] When we fight our inner John the Baptist we fight against ourselves. We waste our energy attacking shadows. We do not realize we are seeing another aspect of ourselves.

A GOATHERD had sought to bring back a stray goat to his flock. He whistled and sounded his horn in vain; the straggler paid no attention to the summons. At last the Goatherd threw a stone, and breaking its horn, begged the Goat not to tell his master. The Goat replied, "Why, you silly fellow, the horn will speak though I be silent." Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid. [Translated by George Fyler Townsend. Aesop's Fables (p. 22). Amazon Digital Services, Inc..] Do you think you can hide your inner nature from others? Well, you can't. It's impossible. Some people know you better than you know yourself. Certainly, God knows us better than we know ourselves. And yet, here is the amazing part, God loves us just as we are. Self acceptance is the foundation of charity.

John the Baptist reminds us, "Among you stands one whom you do not know." The one you do not know may be Christ. Or the one you do not know may be yourself. Or the one among you whom you do not know may be the Christ within you, the hope of glory. Get in touch with your inner John the Baptist. The part of us that we try to avoid. The part of us we think is secret but it is there for everyone else to see. The connection to the Isaiah text would be that we are the spiritually oppressed, the brokenhearted, the captives who need to released from prisons of our own making. (See Isa 61:1) The one among us whom we do not know is neither John the Baptist nor Jesus: It is we ourselves. We are strangers to ourselves.

A German city was recently evacuated after unexploded bombs from World War II were found in a nearby river. The dramatic story of the defusing of these weapons inspires reflection on the "unexploded bombs" that lurk beneath the surface of so many of our relationships with family members and friends.

As the holidays approach, what bombs will we encounter as we gather around tables for meals and conversation? Alcohol abuse, infidelity, drug abuse, mental illness, sexual addiction?

What bombs will we bring with us? Anger, resentment, jealousy, bitterness? And perhaps the most important question of all: How can we defuse these bombs?

During the Christmas season, we are bombarded by cards, gifts, music, ads and parties. All promise happiness. But many people enter the season feeling hurts, losses, disappointments and grief. How can this pain be acknowledged?

The early disciples interaction with Jesus was experiential. Jesus invited them to "come and see" and they came and saw. They gained insight found only at the level of profound trust. Jesus invites us to experience transcendence for the mystery of our lives is in our midst. Superseding John the Baptist, Jesus invites us to explore the Christ within us. There we may find the "God of peace" that passes all understanding. This Advent may the lyrics of that anthem become our inner battle cry: "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on December 11, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

The Bad News (The System Is Broken) & The Good News (Jesus Offers a Superior System): Here's How We Get It

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:34:00 +0000

The Tea Party yelled it two years ago. Occupy Wallstreet hollered it this fall. The Congressional Super Committee who couldn't agree on budget cuts whispered it once again last month. Polls of public opinion tell it time and again. The system is broken. According to Mark, the birth of Christ is going to bring about some big changes in human society. Yet Jesus claims his kingdom is not of this world. Welcome to Jesus' politics of the spirit. Jesus offers a superior system and Mark suggests how we can get it. It all starts with our text today from the beginning of the Gospel According to Mark.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,  who will prepare your way;  3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" '

 4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, 'The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'

The beginning of Mark's Gospel may be read as a political document. Here is a literal translation of the Greek text of Mark 1:1, "Beginning the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son fo God." While that sentence sounds familiar and tame to us it would have sounded like a dynamite explosion to the original audience. The statement sounds like a direct frontal assualt on the Priene inscription that celebrated the birth of Augustus and it was written 9 years before Jesus' birth. The last sentence of the Priene inscription celebrating the birth of Augustus, written 9 years before Jesus' birth, reads as follows. "The birth date of our God, August Ceasar, has signaled the beginning of good news for the world." So the first sentence of Mark's Gospel turns the world on its head by subverting the language of a political/religious document of the Roman world.

This is more than just an interesting historical fact. This is a direct line into the purpose of Mark's Gospel at the time when it was written and a vision of its proper interpretation for us today. Mark is saying that the Realm of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, stands in direct opposition to the Realm of Caesar Augustus, son of Julius Caesar, son of God. That is a bold and risky statement. The rest of Marks' Gospel will attempt to prove that point and bring its readers into an alternative realm - the Realm of God. For according to the testimony to King Pilate by Jesus himself, "My realm is not of this world."

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom outside and other than the current power structure of the world.

Our current political system is built on monopolistic greed supported by the rule of law and the power of the military that supports the government.
Jesus' Realm is based on going the extra mile in human relations, turning the other cheek, and giving ourselves away while asking nothing in return.

Mark raises the question of citizenship. Whose system are you supporting more: The American Empire or the Kingdom of Heaven? The American Empire is funded by taxation. The Kingdom of Heaven as expressed in our faith tradition is funded by pledges and gifts. Here is an exercise that will help you know where you stand. Sit down and figure out how much money you pay for all your taxes including income taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes. Then figure out how money you pay for all charities including what you pledge to St. John's and other non-profits. Subtract the second figure from the first figure. That number will tell you how much more you are supporting the kingdom of this world than you are supporting the kingdom that is not of this world. Do you feel good about that? What can you do to change it? These are excellent ways to think about our personal stewardship our stewardship season comes to a close.

God's Word challenges us to count the cost and pay the price. Mark presents Jesus as an alternative champion instead of Augustus Ceasar. Yet Jesus as victor is complimented by Jesus as victim. For the birth of baby Jesus is not even mentioned in Mark. It is the political, cosmic implications that are of primary importance. Throughout the gospel Mark will show us how Victor Jesus becomes Victim Jesus. The irony is profound and has implications for our own discipleship.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is concerned with the finer things in life such as joy, peace and love. Isaiah shows us a vision of a peaceable kingdom where the lion will dwell with the lamb without trying to eat the lamb for dinner. This is a world in which the extremely wealthy do not take advantage of the extremely poor. In this world a person's worth is not judged by her bank account by the quality of her sense of purpose in life.

Our political system is broken. The polls say that. The Tea Party says that. Occupy Wallstreet says that. The failure of the Super Committee to agree on how to cut the budget says that. Our political system is broken. What will arise in its place? That is a question for the next decade. According to Marks' gospel, we need a better system, a system that is out of this world. We need a system such as the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed. This is not a kingdom not of greed, corruption and waste like the current system. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace, love and joy. It is a kingdom based on different principles and goals. That is the kind of alternative system proclaimed in the Gospel According to Mark.

The Good News of Jesus proclaimed by Mark is cosmic in scope. Mark's concept of "good news" was not limited to military and political victories. It is deeper than that. In the prophet Isaiah "good news" is transferred to the inbreaking of God's final saving act when peace, good news, and release from oppression will be showered on God's people (Isa 52:7; 61:1-3). For Mark, the advent of Jesus is the beginning of the fulfillment of the "good news" heralded by Isaiah."

Imagine a different political system: One that actually works. This system represents the people. It enables ordinary people to make contact with their elected officials. The elected officials live in the same neighbohood as the people who elected them. Yet they serve on the national level. Imagine instead of the couple of hundred people who serve in congress we instead had 20,000 people serving in congress. Instead of meeting in DC to conduct business they meet online in a virtual hall of congress from the convenience of their own home. Imagine each neighborhood, Meyerland, Westbury, and Bellaire, had their own congressman who lived in that neighborhood year round. They had no need to travel to Washington DC because all their meeting are held in a virtual reality. No longer would our political system be vulnerable to a terrorist attack on one place such as the Hall of Congress in DC. What good would it for a terrorist to take out one congressman if there 20,000 of them? How would rich corporations have such influence over 20,000 people as they have over the 200 we have now? That kind of change will become more possible and more likely as technology and public opinion are refashioned over the decade ahead. Such a large scale change is what Mark has in mind when he talks about the "Good News of Jesus Christ" but Mark's vision is much greater than this. Mark's gospel is like a joke in this sense: It is designed to seduce us into a new way of seeing and experiecing life. The difference is that a joke seeks to seduce us temporarily while Mark's gospel attempts to seduce us permanently. Mark's gospel seeks to seduce us to live our new lives in God's realm, not in the realm of our current, broken political system.

Where do we start to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth? We don't start in Washington, DC or London. We don't start in Tokyo, Moscow, or even Houston. The first place we start is right here, inside of ourselves. We need to change the way we think about success. We need to change the way we live our lives. We need to prepare the way of the Lord in our lives.

Get in touch with the John the Baptist within yourself. Get in touch with the part of you that does not care what the world thinks about the way you dress or what you eat. Get in touch with the part of yourself that hungers more for God than for public opinion. Get in touch with the part of you that says of Jesus Christ, "He must increase but I must decrease." Get in touch with your inner John the Baptist. He will lead you to the renewing waters of baptism in the River Jordan. He will lead you to Jesus Christ who will baptize you with Holy Spirit. The way to prepare for the birth of Christ within you is to let your inner John the Baptist come out. We are talking about more than alternative Christmas gifts here. We are talking about an alternative way of life. We are talking about bearing in your soul the fruit of the spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control. Those are the gifts you can bring to the newborn king: Christ the Lord. Those are gifts fit for a king whose kingdom is not of this world.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on December 4, 2011, 2nd Sunday of Advent, at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Very Good News Going Forward: How Additive Manufacturing will Change Our Experience of Church

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:26:00 +0000

We stand face to face with the First Sunday of Advent. This new liturgical year heralds a new beginning in our church. Things are going to get very creative over the next ten years as we make the transition to a new system of production. A Renaissance is in the works during our lifetime. The link below presents a brief overview of 3D Printing and will be my source document along with the text of Isaiah 64:1-9. Churches such as ours that intentionally incorporate the principles of additive manufacturing will prosper.

Isaiah 64:1-9

64O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
   so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 *as when fire kindles brushwood
   and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
   so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
   you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ages past no one has heard,
   no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
   who works for those who wait for him.
5 You meet those who gladly do right,
   those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
   because you hid yourself we transgressed.*
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
   and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
   and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
   or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
   and have delivered* us into the hand of our iniquity.
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
   we are the clay, and you are our potter;
   we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
   and do not remember iniquity for ever.
   Now consider, we are all your people.

There are two primary ways a sacramental object such as a communion cup may be manufactured. One way is to take things away from it. This is the pottery method of construction. Remove every part of the clay except that which is the form you want to create. The subtractive manufacturing technique is the metaphor Isaiah uses for the relationship between God and God's people when he says, "We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8) Yet there is another form of manufacturing called additive manufacturing and that is what Isaiah has in mind when he talks about a powerfully disruptive experience of God, "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence." (Isaiah 64:1) Another other way to manufacture is the tinker toy method. You add this piece to that piece to that piece until you have created the object you desire. This is the additive or 3D method of construction.

The Hanging of the Greens is an additive process. You don't just snap your fingers and the sanctuary is magically decorated. It is a process. First you gather the supplies. Then you put up the greenery. Next you add the decorations to the greenery. Then you put the chrismons on the tree. Hanging the greens is similar to working with Lego blocks. This part adds with that part and another part to make something that was not there before. The green wreaths added with the red bows added with the Chrismon tree creates a beauty that before was not present.

We saw a similar manifestation of this principle in the Community Thanksgiving Service here in this sanctuary last Sunday afternoon. The St. John's Handbell Choir plus the adult choir plus our ladies who produced the reception plus the Cantor from Temple Beth Israel plus the preacher from Westbury United Methodist plus the Director of BIM plus the youth choir that sang plus all the other worship leaders and participants created a sense of unity of purpose in this community that was more than the sum of its parts. It felt so good look around at faces you know and some you've never seen and know that we are united in providing food for the hungry in our community. Additive spirituality creates opportunities and provides results.

Beyond the church in greater society, the way things are made is undergoing a fundamental transition that will lead to a Renaissance in human productive capacity. Yes, that is a big claim but it is true. When you think of transformative technologies you think of the steam engine, light bulb, atomic energy, or the microchip, to name just a few. These technologies transformed our world. Such breakthroughs take decades to develop from the time when they are invented to the time when they become ubiquitous. 20 years ago, I doubt the Defense Department had any idea how the World Wide Web would transform the communications system of humanity. Repeated small, incremental improvements have a big benefit over time. We feel the sense of such a change in our text today as the prophet recalls a time when God "did awesome deeds that we did not expect."

Now another new technology is coming along that will change the world. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a revolutionary new technology that could change the the way we design and manufacture products from cars to combs. It has massive implications in the world. For instance, production of goods will move away from nations such as China back to the United States.

Additive manufacturing will change the world by adding rather than subtracting. It is amazing what a difference that can make. Say goodbye to assembly lines full of parts shipped from dozens of factories from around the world. Products will be printed on demand at a location near your home. Instead of your car being built in a factory in Detroit or Tennessee, it will be built in a lab in Downtown Houston or even closer to your house.

Today you can email a document from your house to your child in Africa. He can then print a paper copy of your email and hold it his hand. Ten years from now you will be able to email a design to your son in Africa. He will be able to take a copy of that design to his local maker space and they will print a 3D copy of your design. That design may be anything from a new cell phone to a set of legos. Any physical object could be delivered and produced that way. What has happened in terms of words (type anywhere and email anywhere and read anywhere you have internet access) will happen with object (design anywhere, email anywhere, print anywhere).

Let me describe the technique of additive manufacturing then we'll consider the implications of this method for the church. Additive manufacturing adds layer upon layer of material until a final object is printed. Additive manufacturing adds and adds and adds, layer by layer, until a product is complete. For example, in 3D printing you take a raw material such as tiny plastic pellets, load them into the printer, insert a software design of an object you want to produce such as a wrench or hammer, push a button to start the process, and the printer uses the plastic to print the hammer layer after layer until you have a finished project. When the print is finished, remove the hammer from the printer and it is ready to nail a nail. In time you will be able to print not just a hammer but a car or cellphone or computer chip or replacement part for any object in your house or business.

Churches who are able to apply the principles of additive manufacturing will prosper. Here is how this will look in the church. For centuries the church has operated under the idea of subtractive manufacturing. If we are doing one thing in a church - such as hanging banners in the sanctuary - then we cannot do another thing - such as project images on a screen. Subtractive manufacturing led us to believe there are a limited number of things we can do. If you have one wall you can either put a banner on it or project an image on it. It's either - or. This is based on the idea of limitation. Beyond the church this expresses itself in society as the idea of limited resources. Additive manufacturing teaches another way to look at things. In additive manufacturing you add and add and add and add until you get what you want.

Here is another example of the principles of additive manufacturing in the church. In the old way of making a church budget, ten years ago and older, you had a unified church budget. Everyone was asked to give to that budget. Everyone agreed what the budget was going to be for each item and some items were not included (they were subtracted from the budget) because they were not affordable based on the pledges received. The additive model of making a church budget is to say here is what we agree we want and here is how much money we have to spend on that and then here is what we want to do but we don't yet have the money for it. But rather than subtract that from the church we will add it to a "Wish List" and ask people to give for that specific thing. We did that recently with several items from new cribs in the nursery to a new church sign and people gave - in ADDITION - to their regular pledge. This is additive budgeting. Another way we do additive budgeting is through our various memorial funds. We have certain memorial funds such as a college scholarship fund. People may choose to give money to that fund in addition to their regular pledge and offering and those monies will be used That is our version of additive budgeting. Although we primarily rely on pledges, we have income that we receive in addition to our pledges.

Finally, additive technology will vastly multiply our mission efforts. We now take a few months to gather needed materials to build a water system and then have to pack all the parts in an airplane. We then take a week long trip to Cuba or Haiti to install a clean water system. Ten years from we will take a week long trip to install a 3D printer in a village and teach them how to use it. They will then be able to use the 3D printer to build the parts for a clean water system right there on site. In addition to that, they will be able to use the 3D printer to manufacture any number of useful items that will increase their standard of living. Imagine being able to create solar panels right on the mission site. Imagine being able to create dental implants right on site. Or perhaps a surgeon is present and needs a leg implant. She can create is on site on the 3D printer. And someone is there to teach the villagers how to use the 3D printer because it stays behind after we leave. This will multiply our mission efforts a thousand fold for the same amount of money which will be the cost of a 3D printer and plane tickets for the missionaries.

Additive manufacturing teaches us to say, "Yes, and this ..." rather than "Either this or that." There is a profound difference between those two. It is as profound as the difference between subtractive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing. This slight shift is transformative in the life of a church.

Subtractive thinking says that each person - each member - must participate in each activity. So if we don't have a sizable crowd at a particular activity then that activity is considered a failure. On the other hand, additive thinking says that each person is not expected to participate in each activity. So if we have an activity in which only a few people participate we may still consider that activity a success.

One of our members who returned from a mission trip to Cuba was struck by all the activities they have going on at a very small church. There are guitar lessons during the daytime, English lessons at night, choir practice, lectures, mission projects, the church building is always buzzing with activity. That is an example of additive thinking. Not every participates in every activity in that small church and that is okay with them. By having a large number of small and smaller groups they add up to a total number of people blessed than if they had fewer activities that were attended by a large group of people.

We are moving toward the additive model here. Look at what happened last Sunday morning. We had several church school classes at 9 am last Sunday. There was a Session meeting to receive the confirmands at 10 am. The choir and handbell choir were practicing at 10 am. During worship we recognized the confirmands, remembered Lee Shoemake and then had a reception for the confirmands. The choir had a prayer of dedication for Lee's brick in the columbarium after worship too. Then at 4 pm we hosted the Community Thanksgiving Service here. The church was literally packed with people. After the service we hosted a reception for the community. The day before several people had spent time preparing for the reception and the Harvest Sunday and everything else. Sound exhausting? If you participated in every event it could have been. But the way it works with additive thinking is you add and add and add activities and then let people pick and choose which ones they want to participate in. Then you don't judge success by numbers. If an activity has 3 people involved but it transformative for those three people then it is a success.

What we don't want is to wear people out with too much activity but that will happen only if people feel like they have to participate in every event offered.

This is the most energetic, creative church I've ever been around. We have SO many great ideas. Each of them is free to live and prosper if someone makes it happen. Our challenge is how to be free and creative and additive in nature and still do things "decently in order" as is our Presbyterian inclination. The foundation for that is TRUST. The more we build trust within this congregation the more additive we can be and the more successful we will be at making disciples and meeting human needs.

The additive process is a trend in the Presbyterian Church (USA). You can see it in the new Book of Oder that was passed. The book is shorter and meant to provide for greater flexibility in how we operate. We are already moving toward the model of additive manufacturing in church and society. Once this technology takes hold in the world we will all benefit beyond our dreams. Truly, additive manufacturing is a game changer for the good in both society and the church. Let us embrace it and prosper. For you see, God is not out to get us. God is out to change each of us, the church and all human society for the better through additive manufacturing.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on November 27, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com | November 27 - 1st Sunday of Advent / YEAR B

Christ's Church in Transition: Moving Beyond People and Place

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:56:00 +0000

One of the topics we cover in our Confirmation Class each year is "What is a Christian?" We often answer that question in one of two ways. We say the church is the people of God or we say the church is the facilities where the people of God gather. According to modern theologian Jurgen Moltmann, there is third way of viewing the church. The church is the body of Christ. It sounds esoteric but it has practical implications. You will learn more about his view of the church today and how it changes everything. Now let us turn our attention to the reading and hearing of God's word to us today, from Ephesians 1:15-23.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

When I was a child we would drive an hour in our brown station wagon to go to Grandaddy's house on Thanksgiving Day. When we arrived there were many cousins, aunts, uncles, dogs, cows, chickens, squirrels and crickets on my grandaddy's farm. The food would fill a three big tables to overflowing. Grannie's chicken and dumplings were always a big hit and her black bottom pie for dessert was unstoppable. Before lunch the women would be preparing the table while the men sat in the living room and watch the Dallas Cowboys play the Detroit Tigers. No one cared who won the game. There was not much small talk. Just an occasional, "Look at him go!" Or "Did you see that?!"

After lunch the men would get their guns and go tromping off into the deeply wooded forest in search of squirrels. A couple of squirrel dogs would be set loose to tree squirrels and let us know where to look. I felt proud to be walking with this group of cousins and uncles. One Thanksgiving Day when we were walking through the deep woods I saw large pieces of tin that had flown off the chicken house miles away and wrapped themselves around an oak tree. Other trees had fallen there where a tornado had touched the group. The power of that tornado on display made a big impression on me.

We Christians tend to think of the church as being the hunters in the woods or the trees themselves. But really, in this analogy, the church is to be found in the tornado. Gods Holy Spirit gives life like the very air we breath. Sometimes that air is stirred up into an overwhelming storm that causes destruction wherever it touches down. Yet that power that caused the damage in that storm is often only evident in retrospect. So it is in the church. We come to this sanctuary and see the evidence that God has been here before. Yet we have lost contact with the power of God which is the very church. So Moltmann would say the Church exists in the power of the Spirit. Wherever the Spirit of Jesus is moving, there is the church. So let's never get puffed up thinking that WE are the church. We are NOT the church. This building is not the church. The power of the Holy Spirit is the church.

Just like that forest that was damaged by a tornado, so you've been through tough times that changed the way you viewed the world. That is what the church is going through now. This is nothing new. Israel went through a transition in how they viewed themselves after they were exiled into foreign countries. The Old Testament prophets helped Israel understand God in a new way in that time of transition. Today, in this time of transition for the church we have theologians who are leading the way in helping the church re-imagine who we are and who God is during this time of transition and decline. One such theologian is Jurgen Moltmann. His book, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, shares his understanding of the church.

Jesus said God's kingdom is not of this world. Moltmann says the church is not of this world. The power at work in the church is the power of God that raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to heavenly places. Do you see what this shift does? It changes the question for the church. We no longer question why the church as an institution is losing influence in society. Instead, we wonder how we can get ourselves into alignment with Christ because Christ is the church. That is what we mean when we say the church is "the body of Christ." We know what happened to the body of Christ. The body of Christ was ripped and torn and crucified on the cross. So the present decline of the church becomes a symbol of the suffering Christ bore in his own body. Moltmann's view helps us reconstruct our image of the church in a way that fits with our exile from influence in society.

You belong to something greater than yourself when you belong to this church. You will see this principle in even greater detail at the Community Thanksgiving Service this afternoon. God is at work in this community through Salem Lutheran Church, Westbury United Methodist Church, Southwest Church of Christ, Temple Beth Israel, Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Corpus Christi Catholic Church, St. John's Presbyterian Church and all the other churches that compose our Southwest Houston Ministerial Association. God is at work among the people of this community. We are part of God's work in this place. That is what we will celebrate this afternoon.

Remember the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He did not ride into the city inside a taxi cab or a limousine. He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Small children threw palm branches on the path before him. Old men and young women threw their cloaks on the ground to pave the wave for his entry into the city. Yet three days later this same crowd who welcomed him with open arms will vote to have Jesus arms stretched out on a cross, naked, on public display. Remember the suffering of the King of Jews. That is the key to understanding Christ's Kingdom that is not of this world. This is a kingdom where suffering leads to glory. This is a kingdom where it is better to give than to receive. This is a kingdom where those who mourn will be comforted. This is a kingdom in which those who are persecuted will rejoice. This is a kingdom which is not of this reality. This is an alternate reality to which we belong. We must learn to view reality with the eyes of Christ. This is a different way of seeing. It takes practice to see things in this way. It does not happen overnight. We must develop our spiritual eyesight through spiritual practices such as prayer, study, meditation, and service to others in Jesus' name.

Last Monday my wife's van needed to have the wheels aired up and rotated. We drove to a repair shop and left her van there. We wondered whether the tires would need to have an alignment. The mechanic said you'll know you need an alignment on your car when it starts veering off course. Have you ever had your tires go out of alignment on your car? You find your car veers to the right or to the left when you are driving on the freeway. When your wheels are out of alignment you can set your steering wheel straight ahead and remove your hands and your car will move off of dead center and start veering to the left or the right depending on how your wheel is out of alignment. You take your car to a mechanic and he will put your wheels back into alignment. You want to get your wheels back into alignment because driving when your tires out of alignment is dangerous and costly. It is dangerous because by veering off course the car could cause a wreck. It is costly because a tire that is out alignment requires more gasoline to make it run. An out of alignment tire will also wear out a tire faster. Our role as Christians is to align ourselves with Christ. When we get in alignment with Christ it takes less energy to get more done in the church. When we get in alignment with Christ we are all going in the same direction as Christ. There is no veering off course such as happens when we are out of alignment. Moltmann wants to get the church back into alignment. Confirmands, and all Christians, keep your life in alignment with Christ and you will stay in alignment with Christ's church.

As our text tells us, right here in Ephesians 5:22-23, "the church is Christ's body." To the extent that our lives are in alignment with Christ, then we are part of the church. To the degree that our lives are out of alignment with Christ, we are not part of the church. Even when we are in alignment with Christ, we do not own the church. To think that we somehow "own" the church is to think that we somehow "own" Christ. Of course, that is a silly thought. We do not own Christ. We do not own Christ's church. Christ is the head of this church. This church is Christ's body. If you are joined to Christ, you are part of Christ's church. Today we celebrate three young people who are wanting to live their lives in alignment with Christ's vision and mission. Take this service as you invitation to rededicate yourself to following and obeying Jesus.

The image of the church as the body of Christ relieves us of the responsibility of saving either the world or the church. That is beyond our ability to accomplish. Yet it leaves us with a clear responsibility. We must follow and obey Jesus. We live our lives in alignment with the vision and mission of Jesus. That is how we know we are part of the church. Those who make the daily effort to obey Christ are the Church. Your efforts at following and obeying Christ are either sincere or they are not. Today let us rededicate our lives to Christ. Thus will we be joined with the suffering body of Christ, the Church.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on November 20, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Wield the Power of Life and Death - Stewardship of the Tongue

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:49:00 +0000

You recognized the sound of your mother's voice while still in your mother's womb. The sound of her voice spurred your growth and accompanied your birth into this world. The tongue is a powerful force that may be used to bring death or life. Jesus demonstrated the power of the tongue to kill when he destroyed a fig tree with his words. God demonstrated the power of speech when God created the world through speaking it into existence as described in Genesis. Our text today challenges us to use our tongue for building up rather than tearing down. Listen for that message in this reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

- - -

Frank is sitting in his car in a large mall parking lot, and nobody is coming near him because he's holding a shotgun to his throat. The SWAT team and the hostage negotiation team are called in. The SWAT team takes positions behind other cars and vehicles, trying to not agitate the man. As they wait, they fill in the background details.

They're looking at a man in his early thirties who lost his customer service job at a large electronics store six months earlier for yelling at customers and coworkers. He'd interviewed for several jobs, but didn't get any of them. He was abusive verbally to his wife and two young children. A month earlier, his wife and kids moved in with her parents in another city. She told him that she needed a break, and he needed to get his act together. The landlord of their apartment kicked him out at the same time because they hadn't paid the rent. He moved into a shabby room in a poor section of the city. He stopped bathing and shaving and ate next to nothing. The last straw was the restraining order he'd received the day before he ended up at the mall parking lot.

Now the lead negotiator is talking calmly to the man. "Frank, this is Lieutenant Evans, I'm going to be talking with you, because there is another way out of this besides hurting yourself. I know you don't think you have any choice, but you really do."

Frank exclaims: "You don't know anything. You're just like everyone else. Leave me alone!"

Lieutenant Evans replies: "I don't think I can do that. You're here in the middle of a mall parking lot with a gun to your throat, and I need to help you find another way out of this situation."

"Go away! I don't need anyone's help!" Frank replies. And so the conversation proceeds for an hour, with stretches of silence lasting several minutes or more.

As the information about Frank comes in, it becomes clear that he's not an evil person, just a very disturbed and angry one. The SWAT team is poised to "take him out" if he threatens anyone else with his gun, but everyone except Frank would like to end this peacefully. However, the odds of that don't look so good.

After an hour and a half, another negotiator, Detective Kramer, arrives. Kramer is a graduate of one of the hostage negotiation training sessions I've delivered to police and FBI hostage negotiators. Detective Kramer's been briefed about Frank's background and the status of this negotiation and offers Lieutenant Evans a different suggestion: "Here's what I want you to say to the guy: 'I'll bet you feel that nobody knows what it's like to have tried everything else and be stuck with this as your only way out, isn't that true?'"

Evans replies, "Say what?"

Kramer repeats the suggestion: "Yeah, go on, say this to the guy: 'I'll bet you feel that nobody knows what it's like to have tried everything else and be stuck with this as your only way out, isn't that true?'"

Evans complies and when he says that to Frank, Frank too replies with: "Say what?" Evans repeats it to Frank, who this time responds: "Yeah, you're right, nobody knows and nobody cares!"

Kramer tells Evans, "Good, you got a 'Yes'; now you're in. Let's build on that." He adds a second question for the lead negotiator to ask: "Yeah, and I'll bet you feel that nobody knows what it's like to start every day believing that there's more chance that something will go wrong than go right, isn't that true, too?" To that, Frank replies: "Yeah, every single day! The same thing happens."

Kramer tells Evans to repeat what he's heard and get an additional confirmation: "And because nobody knows how bad it is and nobody cares and because nothing goes right and everything goes wrong, that's why you're in your car with a gun wanting to end it all. True?" "True," Frank replied, his voice showing the earliest signs of calming down. "Tell me more. What exactly has happened to you? When was your life last okay, and what's happened since then to turn it to crap?" Evans invites. Frank starts to recount the events since he was fired from his job. When he pauses, Evans responds with: "Really . . . tell me more." Frank continues describing the problems he's had.

At some point, with guidance from Kramer, Evans says: "And all of that's caused you to feel angry? Or frustrated? Or discouraged? Or hopeless? Or what exactly?" Evans waits for Frank to pick the word that best fits how he feels. Frank finally owns up to: "Fed up." Evans follows up with: "So you felt fed up and when you got that restraining order, that was the breaking point?" "Yeah," Frank confirms. His voice, once hostile, is quieter now. In a few sentences, Frank's gone from refusing to communicate to listening and beginning to have a conversation.

What just happened? The most critical step in persuasion—the step I refer to as "buy-in"—has begun. That's the step where a person goes from resisting to listening and then to considering what's being said. What caused Frank to start listening and begin to "buy in" to what Lieutenant Evans was saying? That shift was no accident. The secret lay in saying the words that Frank was thinking but not saying. When the lieutenant's words matched what Frank was thinking, Frank leaned into the conversation and began to say, "Yes." [Goulston M.D., Mark; Keith Ferrazzi (2009-09-15). Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through toAbsolutely Anyone (p. 5-7). AMACOM. Kindle Edition.]

Our role is to encourage one another in Christ. We are to build one another up. We do that through our words and deeds. How we speak and what we say are the ammunition we use to strike one another or the power we use to heal one another.

Jesus demonstrated the negative power of the tongue when he cursed a fig tree that did not produce good fruit and the fig tree withered and died. So did he symbolically illustrate the power of the spoken word to have effect on material objects.

On the positive use of the tongue, in Genesis we read God created the night and the day and God said that it was good. We try to escape the night, the darkness, our shadow selves. But there is much power there inside us. Our shadow selves may be binding us. Our shadow selves may cause us to sleep walk through life unaware of what is going on in our lives or how. For example, share story of my mom and dad laughing when I asked why they needed another child other than me? They thought it was a funny question from a child but I took their laughter as mockery which is not how they meant it. That moment was a significant one in my development and left a scar in my shadow self that only recently have I been able to recognize and heal. The little things we say and how we say them are the things that will replay before our eyes when we see our life relived before we die. So let us be mindful and awake to how our words and actions effect other people. That is the message of our text.

On this Stewardship Sunday the most significant gift we may give God is control of our tongue. No other body part may be used for such good or such evil. No other body part is harder to control than our tongue. Self control is a foundation for Christian living. We cannot encourage one another is we do not have control of our tongues.

Jesus once told a crazy parable about a wedding banquet. A king invited his courtly, wealthy friends to his son's wedding banquet and none of them showed up. So he sent his servants out to invite people from the streets, anyone they could find, to come to the wedding banquet. Then when these common people showed up, pulled in from the street, and they were having a great time eating and drinking. Then the king spotted a guest who was not wearing the proper attire and he went ballistic. He demanded this inappropriately dressed guest be thrown out of the banquet feast.

This is a parable about us. We come to church dressed in our church clothes because we know on Sunday morning that is what we are supposed to wear. We come to church with our Sunday language and nice words to each other. Then we go home and deconstruct every conversation and encounter we had with someone at church that morning, what the preacher said or did that was wrong, any mistakes we noticed the liturgist make, any wrong note sung by the choir or the person in the pew next to us in singing a hymn. And Jesus says to us, that is wrong. You are not getting it. You are missing the point. You must wear the right clothes at all times in all places. The right clothes refers to your tongue and how you use it as an instrument of healing or destruction.

You must wear wedding clothes every day all day means you must use positive words that build up rather than tear down every day all day. Otherwise, just because you show up on church on Sunday morning and use nice words from 9 am until noon on Sunday does not mean you belong here at the wedding banquet of the king's daughter. It is insane to think that every person on the street should wear their finest wedding banquet clothes every single day just in case the king should on the spur of the moment invite them to his son's wedding banquet. That is absurd. And Jesus uses that absurd image to make his absurd demand that every moment of every day at all times we must be aware, awake, and using our best language to build people up rather than tear them down. That is a tall order. It is just about as hard to do that as it would be to wear your finest dress clothes around your house all day just in case President Obama calls you up to come attend a wedding banquet in the White House. But we must be prepared to get such an unlikely call because that "staying on your toes" attitude is the one that Jesus is after. That is the key to the kingdom. Paul said he was always prepared to preach the gospel whether in a boat or in a jail, whether in winter or summer, in season or out of season, in Rome or in Jerusalem. This is a radical interpretation of the Boy Scout motto: Always be prepared.

Jesus is more interested in what we say than what we wear. He scolded so-called religious people who wore the proper clothes but did not use their tongues to build people up. Remember Jesus in the temple with the publican and the Pharisee. The Pharisee cut the publican down but the publican used his tongue to repent. Jesus approved the publican and castigated the Pharisee.

Our text today says we are to encourage one another. In the New Testament book of James we read the tongue is a raging fire that can get out of control. We also find this advice: "Be slow to speech." I took that literally when I was in Junior High School. That is why I speak so slowly today. We are to think before we speak. That is good advice for everyone.

In 1996, Powell was the keynote speaker at a national conference for a leading residential real estate company's top producers. By that point, he'd achieved tremendous popularity with the American public and was being considered as a presidential nominee. General Powell had the audience in the palm of his hand. He urged the audience to give back to their communities. He spoke passionately of his gratitude for his family, childhood, and friends. And he exhorted us all to "do well by doing good." At the end of his talk, he called for questions. Still feeling the warm glow of his inspiring words, we were totally unprepared for what happened next. "General Powell," the first questioner said, "I understand that your wife once suffered from depression, had to take medicine, and was even in a mental hospital. Do you want to comment on that?" You could hear all 8,000 people in the auditorium gasp at the inappropriateness—not to mention the cruelty—of the question. In the silence that followed, we all wondered how Powell would react to being blindsided. Edmund Muskie had thrown away his presidential hopes years earlier when a reporter asked about his wife's sanity, and he started to cry. What would Powell do under similar circumstances? Here's exactly what he did. He looked at the questioner. He paused for a moment. And then he simply responded: "Excuse me—the person you love more than anyone is living in hell, and you don't do whatever you can to get her out. Do you have a problem with that, sir?"

He reached everyone in the audience and touched them to their core. And I have no doubt he reached the questioner just as powerfully as a fist in the face would have—without having to lift a finger to do it. That's poise under pressure. And if you can achieve that same poise, it'll get you successfully through any stressful, high-stakes encounters that life hands you. [Goulston M.D., Mark; Keith Ferrazzi (2009-09-15). Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through toAbsolutely Anyone (p. 35). AMACOM. Kindle Edition.]

Watch what you say and how you say it so that you are building people up rather than tearing them down. Wield the power of life and death with subtlety and wisdom. Practice stewardship of your tongue.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on November 13 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Stewardship Dedication Sunday at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com.

Sign the Card for the Spiritual Survivalist Society

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Sermon Text: Matthew 25:1-13

25"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' 10And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' 12But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' 13Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

People react in different ways to today's tough economy. Some people take action by protests and political involvement such as joining the Tea Party movement or the Occupy Wallstreet movement. Others become proactive about learning to survive off less money and less things. They are called survivalists or preppers. They stock up on food, gold and guns in anticipation of the breakdown of society. I don't think it's going to happen as they envision it but you have to respect the way they act on their beliefs and try to be self reliant and prepared. If they wrong, so what? What have they lost? If they are right, well, they have saved their lives and the lives of their families. . It is a sign of the times that such people may be considered radical by some. How radical an idea is it to follow the Boy Scouts motto and "Always be prepared?" This is also the main point of Jesus parable of the ten bridesmaids.

The survivalist movement is concerned about the risk of a coming societal meltdown. They prepare for the consequences. The true message of survivalism is to prepare oneself and one's family for dire possibilities. The typcial survivalist lives in the city but seeks a rural retreat for safety and freedom from the coming storm. Rural self-sufficiency requires a lot of hard work and specialized knowledge. Thus, survivalist tend to be seekers of knowledge as well as supplies. James Wesley Rawles is a survivalist from the United States who prefers to live in a rural retreat. Rawles is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness, especially regarding food storage and advocates relocating to lightly populated rural "retreat" areas. His preparedness philosophy emphasizes the fragility of modern society, the value of silver and other tangibles for barter, recognition of moral absolutes, being well armed, maintaining a "deep larder," relocation to rural retreats, and Christian charity. In an interview in The New York Times, Rawles referred to himself as a "guns and groceries" survivalist.

Another branch of survivalist thinks the city is the safest place to be in during a societal breakdown. The reason is that governments in such a case would likely concentrate what resources and security they can muster on the inner core of urban areas in their attempt to maintain power and control.

Fernando Ferfal Aguirre is survivalist from Argentina who recommends riding out the storm in a city. He is the author of The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse and the Surviving in Argentina blog. FerFal lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina when the city experienced the trauma of hyperinflation. He gives a fascinating account of what life was like before and after that event in 2001. He now lives in Dallas, Texas as well as Beunos Aires.

James Wesley Rawles and Fernando Ferfal Aguirre are recent manifestions of an old idea: Always be prepared. The Mormon Church teaches its members to be prepared spiritually, physically, financially, and mentally for any unforeseen disaster. They are strongly encouraged to live within our means, get as much education as is possible, and prepare for a rainy day. Historically, there have been different levels of preparedness. Each family should have a "72-hour kit" which includes food, water, clothing, medications, etc, which will last the family 3 days. Usually outside help takes 2 or 3 days to arrive in the case of an emergency. Consider when helpers started arriving after Katrina. This kit should be in a place where you can grab it and run. Each family is asked to have food, water, and cash reserves for one year. (Online: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2320063#ixzz1cYsOW5rl)

As Presbyterians we do not emphasize such intentional prepareations but perhaps we should. We struggle with this question in the stewardship of our resources. For example, if our budget was based only on the pledges of our members we would have to cut everything by ten percent. In reality, we receive gifts other than what is pledged. In the past few years we have been blessed by significant additional gifts from the estates of a few families. Some people include the church in their wills and that makes a huge difference in how we are able to fulfill our misison of making disciples and meeting human needs. We wonder how much money we should hold in reserve for unexpected expenses such as when the air conditioning system dies. These are the kinds of questions the elders wrestle with each year. And these are the kinds of questions addressed in our text this morning.

Our Christian hope is that one day God will make everything right. God to tie up all the loose ends. Yet, in the parable of the ten bridesmaids demonstrates, Jesus challenges us to tie up the loose ends in our own lives. God calls upon us to take responsibility for our own success. The bridegroom, who represents God, appreciates the self reliance of the five wise bridesmaids. God shuts the five unprepared bridesmaids out of the kingdom. If we think of the kingdom of God as being located within us, the message of the parable is clear. When we neglect to keep our inner lamp burning we shut ourselves out of the kingdom of God. When we block the flow of the oil of Holy Spirit within in, our inner lives run dry. We express that inner lack with a lackadaisical attitude toward life. The purpose of this story is not to scare us about the possibility of being locked out of heaven after we die. The purpose of the story is to wake us up so we live each moment fully awake and in anticipation of the coming of Christ within us.

Even the Old Testament has its spiritual prepper stories. Moses had followed God's call to become the leader of the Israeli Revolution in Egypt. Like the Occupy Egypt group last Spring that ousted Mubarak, the Israelites under Moses wanted to oust the Pharaoh of Egypt. Either the Pharaoh had to go or the people had to go. Pharaoh finally let the people go. But he only did that after a series of ten terrible plagues. The last plague was the death of the firstborn of each Egyptian household. Actually, this plague was to apply to every family living in Egypt. The only way to escape this plague was to paint your doorframe with the blood a lamb so the angel of death would pass by your house. Those who knew about this secret sign and followed it were spared. The other families were not spared. Painting your doorpost with the blood of a lamb is another sign of the concept of being spiritually alert and prepared.

After the people of Israel made it out of Egypt they spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. Then they set about conquering the land. This is symbolic of the inner landscape we must conquer in our spiritual journey. When the Israelites wanted to take the fortified city of Jericho they came up with a plan. They sent Joshua to scout out the promised land and in particular the city of Jericho before the Israelite army attacked it. Joshua recruited a harlot named Rachel who helped the Israelite spies. She opened the gate to the city so they could take the city. Joshua the scout would later follow Moses as the leader of the Israelites. Advance preparation is key to spiritual victory. We see this concept over and over in the Bible in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

From the New Testament comes a Reformed belief called "The Priesthood of Believers." This belief was revolutionary when it was established. It came about in a day and time when the church served as the middle man between God and the people. No one could get to God except through the church. The church and church tradition was more important than the Bible. The church was more important than the state or nation. The church held the keys to eternal bliss or eternal torture because the church could determine whether you would spend eternity in heaven or hell. The local church representative, your local priest, served therefore as a kind of mafia don. Whatever he said went. He (it was never a she) called the shots about who could marry whom for instance.

The Protestant Reformation took the radical step of removing the priest from the equation. The church was no longer the middle man. There was nothing allowed between the believer and God. This concept is called "the priesthood of believers." It meant each believer, each Christian, was his or her own priest. Each Christian was responsible for doing what the Apostle Paul called "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Each Christian was their own priest. So it was that the church was to be run not by a hierarchy of religious mafia dons called the priesthood but by consensus of individual believers that formed a local governing body called a "Session" in a local church. Each church would be connected to other churches in the body of Christ by higher ordering of assemblies of believers called a presbytery and then a general assembly. But the real work, the heavy lifting in the spiritual life, was up to each individual believer. This greatly reduced the importance of the local priest and greatly increased the responsibility of the individual believer. Jesus points to this concept in our parable today as he says each bridesmaid is responsible for her own oil which represents the Holy Spirit. Remember when David was anointed as king of Israel the oil was poured over his head as a symbol of God claiming and sustaining him for this important role. So with the oil in the bridesmaids lamp, it represents God claiming and sustaining each person to be a missionary, a missional person, a blessing to the world. The bridesmaids who do not put oil in their flasks are like Christians who do not fill their lives with the Holy Spirit. Once again we are back to the basics here. We cannot stress enough the importance of the personal daily devotional in the life of the believer. Allow God's Spirit to fill your flask, your body, on a daily basis. Keep your flask, your body, filled with God's oil, God's spirit. Then you will be ready to welcome Jesus when he appears in an unexpected way in your daily life.

It feels good to know that God cares enough about us to give this wake up call. If God didn't care about us, God wouldn't say anything. If God were a trickster, God wouldn't reveal the secret of how to be a spiritual prepper. Yet you must take action today. You need to put more emphasis on developing their spiritual lives. You are responsible for your own spiritual growth. You cannot rely on a priest, preacher, or guru to grant you access to God. You are responsible for your own spiritual life and if you do not give it time and nourishment you will wither away and die like the five bridesmaids who are trapped outside the presence of God and not allowed to enter the kingdom.

Here's my lesson. Here's my story. A lesson from a spiritual survialist. I remember walking my dog around the back yard where we lived way out in the countryside. Walking my dog in the heat of the summer. Walking and praying. Desperate praying. "Here I am, Lord, do you want me?" There was no response. There was just the sound of one dog walking and the heat. It was so hot you could practically hear the heat. I kept walking that dog. I kept praying that prayer. Just like Israel in Egypt. Let my people go! That was my prayer in a nutshell. God's only response was silence. In time, after many walks, after many prayers, after many miles, I learned to enjoy God's silence. Let it cover me. That's all I need now. God is always there for me in the silence. That is how I became a spiritual survivalist.

You have an opportunity this week to make a spiritual commitment with your money. This week you will receive a pledge card in the mail. Take it as a sign of your spiritual commitment to Christ's church, which is the body of Christ on earth. This is a great opportunity for you take a step toward spiritual growth. Some churches require a pledge of ten percent. Our standards are more open. We ask you to give whatever you feel good about giving. Use the question of your pledge as an opportunity to do a spiritual evaluation of where you are and where you plan to go in your relationship with Christ. Use the money you plan to give to the church as a way to plan your family budget. Use this physical method of giving money to serve as a signpost of your spiritual intentions. Are you really committed to God? Are you really committed to Christ? How much? The figure you submit on your pledge will help you to know where you stand. Don't be like the five foolish bridemaids who did not bother to purchase oil for their lamps. Don't depend on other people to provide the oil you need for your own spiritual life. This purchase is between you and God. I don't know how much you give. God does. And so do you. That tells you where you are in your spiritual journey right now and where you want to be in 2012. Seize the opportunity before you to become a spiritual prepper. Your pledge card will help you to do that.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on November 6, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 | Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Victors United

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Sermon text: Revelation 7:9-17

Even though I am the pastor of a Presbyterian Church no one gave me tickets to the World Series this year. Imagine that. Now if we were living in the 1950s or 1960s a Presbyterian pastor would have been more likely to be given those tickets. You see, back in those days Presbyterians had some clout in society. When the President of the United States wanted to hear the concerns of the religious community in America, he would want to speak with leaders from the Presbyterian Church. In contrast, very few people in our pews can tell you name of the current moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Practically no one outside the PCUSA could name the moderator. The Presbyterian Church USA has lost influence in the culture. We have very little clout these days. No one comes knocking on our door wanting to know what we think. So we have self doubts. We have nagging questions. Are we still playing on a winning team? Do we have a chance of making it to the spiritual world series? Or should we put down our spiritual bat and gloves and go home and forget about it? These questions are answered by our text this morning.

Before dawn's early light my family and I met the rest of the little league team at a service station on the edge of town. We filled up our tanks and prepared ourselves for the long drive to Atlanta where we would compete in the Little League world series. We had won our state championship but how would we compare to championship teams from other states? As we joined the convoy leaving town, I put the little white headphones from my iPhones in my ears and listened to a spiritual song. It started with our reading from today in Revelation 7:9-10:

"After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

As our caravan pulled out of the gas station and onto Highway 6 East in Mississippi, I felt connected to all the other families from all over the country who were starting out on a similar journey to Atlanta that morning. The big drive had begun. We were on our way.

The hotel in which we stayed in Atlanta was not an expensive hotel. It was not in the best part of town. It was clean but not fancy. An Indian family ran the hotel. There was some dissension about the hotel among the team. Some of the folks on the first floor did not feel safe there. They did not feel comfortable. Others of us who were more accustomed to the smell of Indian food liked the hotel. Before the tournament ended, we all moved to a larger, fancier hotel. That did not help us win the game but it made some of the folks feel safer and more comfortable. God's purpose in life is not always to make us feel more safe and comfortable. In fact, sometimes God's purpose is to make us feel less safe and comfortable. This may challenge us to greater growth. The great players in the World Series this week did not hone their skills by practicing what they were already good at. They had coaches that pushed them to develop skills and get better at doing what they were not good at doing. Such pushing beyond our comfort level is what improves their skills and makes them great players instead of just good players. That is the difference between playing in the world series and playing in a little league tournament in Atlanta. The skills of the world series players have been fine tuned by always being pushed beyond their comfort level. God does that to us in our inner lives as well. We find ourselves facing challenges that we feel unable to meet. The old saying "God never gives us more than we can handle" is true. And sometimes we wonder just how far God can push us before we break. That is how spiritual growth happens. That makes us better players. That makes us a better team.

God's standards for us are way higher than we thought. God is not satisfied with mere Sunday worship attendance. Jesus himself was never much impressed with worship attendance. One of his biggest fights with religious leaders came when he was passing through a wheat field one sabbath day. His disciples were hungry so they picked some wheat from the field and ate it. When the religious leaders saw this they felt outraged because picking wheat was considered work and you were not supposed to work on the sabbath day. In our congregation today are folks who grew up in a time when neither work nor play was allowed on the sabbath day. Strict Presbyterian parents required that children be silent and still all day Sunday. If they had to do something they could read the Bible. Other than worship attendance, no other activity was allowed on a Sunday morning.

The Rev. Ted V. Foote, Jr., pastor of the Texas A&M Church told the story of his grandparents generation in central Texas. They had ordered a shipment of special wood to build their sanctuary. The wood arrived on a Monday and they rode their horses out to pick it up. One of the men delivering the wood said it was a good thing they were able to ride all day Sunday or they wouldn't have gotten there on time due to the rain. The Presbyterian elders told the delivery men that they would have to make another delivery of that order and under no circumstances were they to move the wood on a sabbath day for this was holy wood to be used to build a sanctuary. They paid for that wood and took it back to their community where they divided it up among themselves to build barns and outhouses. They would not use wood that had been moved on a sabbath day to build a sanctuary.

The pastor said today in his community not so far from where his grandparents had lived there are many activities on the sabbath day. Presbyterian elders in his church today have no problem with shopping on the sabbath or having their children play soccer on the sabbath. Yet they still have a sense of propriety at that church. This was recently expressed in a community worship service sponsered in the sanctuary of their church on a Sunday afternoon. It was a service in which many different religions participated included Buddhists, Jews and Muslims. It was a memorial service for the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. The pastor said on that day he couldn't help think about the difference between the community of a hundred years ago and the community there today. All the difference races and religions gathered under one roof in a solemn memorial service. He said he thinks Presbyterian elders today still have a good sense of propriety and what is right as we live out God's calling for us in this day and age.

Worship was serious business for those Presbyterian elders of old. So it is in our text this morning. In Revelation 7:11-12, we read:

They cried out in a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.'

The church universal depicted here has overcome the world. We are part of the church universal. Thus our victory over death is sure. Even though the outcome is sure, we may lose some tournaments along the way. The Batesville Blaze little league team did not win that tournament in Atlanta. We won some games and lost some games but each player got better. We improved our skills. We created some lasting memories. For a week we learned what it means to belong to a tight nit team. There were arguments among team members about who should get more playing time and who was going to pitch. There were fights over whether the boys should be allowed to go swimming on the afternoon before a big game in the evening. We couldn't even agree on which hotel we should be staying in. Even so, when the first pitch was tossed in each game we pulled together and rooted for our team. We all stood together for a common goal. We were on a on the winning team. That is how it is in Christ's church. We have fights. We have disagreements on little things that sometimes become big problems. Yet we are working together for a common cause of glorifying God by making disciples and meeting human needs. This God project in which you are involved is destined to succeed.

Today, on this All Saints Day, we remember our team members who have gone on to the Big League. They are now on God's home team in heaven. We will join them there one day in the World Series of the ages. In the meantime, we will play in a tournament here in Meyerland, in Westbury, in Houston. We won't win every game. We may not even win this tournament. But we are honing our skills for the Big Leagues. We are preparing for that World Series in the life to come. They say practice makes perfect but that's not really true. Proper practice makes perfect. How we practice is the key to our growth. We must push ourselves beyond what we think we can do. We must work on those skills that do not come naturally. Skills such as how to worship God, how to participate in and lead a small group. We will continue to work on treating one another with patience. We will show more loving kindness to the people who irritate us. We will work on controlling our tongue and what we say and how we say it so that we build people up instead of tearing them down. We will do our daily devotionals to cultivate more love, joy and peace in our lives and in our community. In the end, ultimately, we will win because we are playing on the winning team. With God as our manager, Jesus as our pitcher, and the Holy Spirit as our coach, there is no way we are going to lose the World Series in the skies.

Such is the vision presented to us in our text today from Revelation 7, which concludes with an image of our team, the home team, in our white uniforms.

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?'
I said to him, 'Sir, you are the one that knows.' Then he said to me, 'These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

Here is the encouragement of this text and of this All Saints Day. Our people are taken care of. The players who have gone before us into the Big Leagues - into the church universal - are being taken care of. We have a future in heavenly places and in that future our success is ensured. We have a place on God's roster. God will never give up on us. Our retirement plan is ultimately secure. As the revelator closes it out in our reading today from Revelation 7:16-17:

They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat;  for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'

We live with the confidence that as children of God we are on the winning team. So let's focus on building our individual skills so we can contribute to the success of the team. Team work is the key to victory in this life and in the life to come. We are only as strong as our weakest player. Go with the confidence that this is a championship team. Our success is sure. So let's stay focused and let's stay hungry. We are on the winning team. We will win the cosmic World Series. You can count on it. It says so right there in the Bible. Let's act like the winners we are. Show respect for your team mates. We will win not because of who we are but because of WHOSE we are. We belong to God. We play on Christ's team. The Holy Spirit will ensure our success. Go with the confidence of children of God on this All Saints Day.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 on October 30, 2011.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Worship Is Work

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Psalm 96:1-13

O sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be revered above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Honor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts.

Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, "The Lord is king!

The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the Lord; for he is coming,

for he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with his truth. (Psalm 96:1-13, NRSV)

- - -

You are here because you want to experience something. You want to feel better. You want to feel closer to God. You come here to take a break from your weekday life. Yet worship is work. Worship is work beyond just the business of showing up at a particular place at a certain on a Sunday. The Latin word liturgy from which we get our word liturgist, literally means work of the people. Today we will explore the connection between the inner spiritual work and the worship of God.

The psalmist's description of worship begins this way: "O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth." Singing is a joyful activity in which we forget ourselves and join a community of people in working on a specific task. A church choir has a choir director who leads the singing but the song is not sung for the choir director. The song is is sung to the Lord. The psalmist challenges us to sing s a new song to the Lord. What does he mean by a new song? He gives a hint in the next verse when he says: "Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." That day to day salvation is the key to this psalm about worship. Daily inner work on our relationship with God is what will electrify our worship service.

And let's face it, everyone wants a more exciting worship service. The so-called worship wars are fought out in congregations across the country week by week. One faction wants the hymn lyrics displayed on screens and another wants the lyrics read from a hymnal like we've always done it. One faction wants contemporary music with electric guitars and lead singers and another group wants traditional music with the organ and a volunteer choir. Some churches get so caught up in the techniques of worship that they miss the point of worship. Regardless of the method of worship employed, the style of music and how the lyrics are displayed, the deeper question is what is going on inside the worshipers.

Jesus told a parable about this very thing. The story goes like this. Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee struck a dramatic pose and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this publican. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus commented, "This publican, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." (Luke 18:11-14, The Message)

We come to worship just as we are and aware that we are not great. We are not perfect. We are in need of spiritual growth. We need to grow in spiritual maturity. The awareness of our own sinfulness and lack is the proper attitude that leads to our being filled by God's Spirit during worship.

Just in case there is any misunderstanding about what he meant in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, Luke adds this story immediately after Jesus parable. Luke says, "People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." (Luke 18:15-17)

Come to worship as a child who expects something to happen. Children do not come to worship to sit back and judge the performance of other worshipers. Children come to worship open and ready to experience whatever may happen. Come to worship open to experience God.

Jesus said we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. We are not to worship God in a spirit of judgment. How good is the children's sermon? How perky is the preacher? How does the choir sound today? These are not the central questions of worship. The central questions of worship are: Are you ready? Are you ready to worship? Did you come hear today with clean heart and a focused mind? God is the only judge of worship and God is judging your performance during worship.

You may recall the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Their conversation moved from talking about drinking water to talking about living (spiritual) water. This led to a discussion about worship. The woman says where you worship is the most important thing. Jesus insists how you worship is the most important thing. Jesus says we are to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Worship is more than attendance at a church service. Worship is a way of life. When we are living worshipful lives during the week Sunday morning worship takes on a whole different meaning. It becomes part and parcel of what we are doing with our lives. Suddenly the lyrics to the hymns touch our hearts. The sermon speaks to our souls. Our minds are focused on what God is saying and doing in our lives and the entire experience glorifies God.

Worship is not a spectator sport. It is not about sitting in a pew and being entertained. It is not meant to be like watching a TV reality show in which we judge the actors based on their performance. Worship is called liturgy because it is the work of the people. It's not the duty of the preacher to make you feel something inside. The preacher has no power to do that. If you come to the service with your mind and heart closed, planning to sit in judgment of the service, you are going to leave empty and dissatisfied. I know how that works. I've done that myself when I sat in on other people's sermons. It doesn't feel very good. What you get from the service or the sermon has more to do with you than it does the preacher. If you expect the preacher to live your spiritual life for you, you will continually be disappointed. The preacher cannot live your spiritual life for you. The preacher cannot break your bitterness. The preacher cannot melt your heart. The preacher cannot make you repent. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. If that needs to happen in your life, your issue is not with the preacher. Your issue is with the Holy Spirit. Your relationship with God is your own responsibility. It is not the preacher's responsibility. The preacher cannot repent for you. Reformed theology talks about the "priesthood of believers" which teaches that each believer is to be their own priest. That means you are responsible for your own spiritual growth.

Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard envisioned worship as the work of the congregation. People in the pews gather not to watch the show but to participate in the play. We are actors in the divine drama of worship. We are not spectators. We are actors. The liturgist is not a performer but a prompter t help you remember your lines. The preacher is part of the production but not the star of the show. God is the audience and the members of the congregation are the performers. God is the audience and will judge your worship performance. How well did you participate? Was your heart really in the performance or were you just going through the motion. Are you sitting in judgement of the actors and performers or focused on your own performance? These are the questions the Holy Spirit has in mind for you during this and every worship service.

Worship flows from a daily lived relationship with God through Christ. Worship is a weekday love affair with God. As the Psalmist says, "Sing to the Lord, less his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." The quality of your relationship with God in Christ during the weekdays will determine the quality of your worship experience on Sunday morning. As Jesus said to the woman at the well: "Those who worship God must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." (John 4:24)

What would it look like for you to "sing to the Lord a new song" as the Psalmist recommends? What would it take for you to become excellent at worship? It would take more than you think. Nothing comes easy in life. Excellence in worship participation takes constant practice. The mistake we make in churches is the way we lower the bar. Anyone who walks through the door is accepted. The barriers to entry are extremely low. Consider the Mormon church in which young adults are required to sacrifice two years of their life doing missionary work. In contrast, we give our young adults those years off. We don't even expect them to attend worship during their college years. We figure they will come to church later, in the 30s or 40s when they have children whom they want to educate in church school. But they rarely come back to church.

Our expectations are too low across the board in the church. Harvard Business Review published a paper called The Making of An Expert which demonstrates the journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient. The development of genuine expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self-assessment. There are no shortcuts. It will take you at least a decade to achieve expertise, and you will need to invest that time wisely, by engaging in "deliberate" practice— practice that focuses on tasks beyond your current level of competence and comfort. You will need a well-informed coach not only to guide you through deliberate practice but also to help you learn how to coach yourself. Experts are not born they are trained. All the superb performers investigated had practiced intensively, had studied with devoted teachers, and had been supported enthusiastically by their families throughout their developing years. These facts come from more than 100 leading scientists who have studied expertise and top performance in a wide variety of domains: surgery, acting, chess, writing, computer programming, ballet, music, aviation, firefighting, and many others.

Do you want your worship participation to improve? It will take years of concentrated effort. Plan to get up earlier. Learn to meditate. Study the scripture. You may want to practice a spiritual discipline such as fasting. Seek God with all your heart each day during the week. Concentrate on developing your relationship with God. Then your worship experience will improve. You will find the sermon speaks to you. The lyrics of the hymns will take on new meaning. The anthem will seem like a spiritual feast. Worship is the work of the people in the pews. Like any other work, you can't just show up and expect to be an expert at it.

If you do put in the time and effort to improve your worship participation, things will start to come together in a new way in your life. You will begin to "sing a new song to the Lord." This is the Biblical vision for you and me and all of creation. As the psalmist says: "Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth."

God will judge your worship performance. Not how well you sing. Not how much money you put in the plate. God will judge your attitude. God will judge your worship performance not by your Sunday worship attendance but by your Wednesday devotional attendance and how you treat your loved ones on Friday night. Worship is work. It's your job 7 days a week. If you think it's easy, you've been misinformed. Nothing is tougher than the self discipline required for spiritual growth. Nothing is harder than becoming an expert in worship as a way of life. That's what Jesus meant when he told his would be disciples to sit down and count the cost before they started following him. The disciples who did their homework, who did the math, they figured out it cost a lot more than they had figured. Some of them never came back. They were among the most honest of all the disciples.

Worship is not about you. It's not about how you feel or what you get out of the service. Worship is about God. Worship is about how well you open yourself up to the Divine Flame within and without. If you are living a worshipful life during the week then you will have a meaningful spiritual experience on Sunday morning. But ultimately worship is not about us. Worship is about God. So sing a new song to the Lord.

O sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be revered above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens. (Psalm 96:1-5)

Let's reach for the stars. Worship starts inside us. That is where the work must start.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on October 16, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

You've Got a Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;

for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

- - -

You may have been through some hard times in your life but imagine the life of Viktor Frankl. Frankl is a Jew and a psychotherapist who survived six months in various German concentration camps but his wife did not survive. You may experienced the death of a loved one. You may still be grieving and wondering why you were left behind and they were taken.

Frankl describes how once, an elderly general practitioner consulted him because of his severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Frankl wondered how he could help him? What should he tell him? He refrained from telling him anything, but instead confronted him with a question, "What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?" "Oh," he said, "for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!" Whereupon Frankly replied, "You see, Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it is you who have spared her this suffering; but now, you have to pay for it by surviving and mourning her." He said no word but shook Frankl's hand and calmly left the office. (Viktor Frankl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy)

In such instances, the words of the Psalmist ring down through the ages: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."

This week the world mourned the death of a great businessman, leader and visionary named Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple Computers. His vision helped create popular electronic devices such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. An entire industry sprang up around these devices as software developers created small, specific software programs called "apps" for these devices. These apps covered the gamut from productivity tools to games. This week there was a comic strip showing Steve Jobs standing before St. Peter at the gates of heaven as St. Peter flips through a massive volume of the Book of Life searching for the entry for Steve Jobs in the Book of Life. Steve looks at Peter and says with a twinkle in his eyes, "I've got an app for that." A app for locating people in the Book of Life. That image bridges the gap between life and death, human technology and unseen spiritual dimensions. Bridging that gap is exactly what Psalm 23 does as well.

Purpose in life is the theme of the best known passage from the Old Testament: Psalm 23. The key to the passage lies in the first phrase: "The LORD is my shepherd." The LORD is my shepherd. The key to effective Christian living is our friendship with the LORD, our shepherd. Christianity is not so much a religion as a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our trouble arises when we neglect our relationship with the LORD. As long as we are growing in our friendship with God we will find there is nothing we lack and there is nothing we need.

Psalm 23 describes how our friendship with the Good Shepherd develops until following God's leadership becomes second nature. We luxuriate in the abundance of spiritual sustenance God's provides. We freely eat the bread of heaven and drink the cup of eternal salvation. As the Psalmist puts it: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." We can relax and be ourselves, secure in our friendship with God. Even our peculiarities and blemishes do not diminish the love of our Divine Shepherd. We have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. We are spiritually well fed, watered, and satisfied.

We sleep well at night and awaken refreshed and ready for further service. When our spiritual energy feels depleted, we know how to tap into God's power through prayer, study, and silence. Difficult choices demand our attention but we intuitively know what to do and how and when. The Spirit nudges us to contact someone we haven't seen in months and we find their dog just died and they needed some loving support at that moment. A relational knot that has been tied for years seems to dissolve and unravel before our very eyes. Miracles really do happen when we are following the Good Shepherd along the right path. We move in the flow of the Spirit and God gets all the glory.

Yet even in the midst of our relationship with Jesus, the human side of the equation breaks through in all its dull drudgery. Suffering breaks in upon out of the blue like like a downpour of rain from high on a cloudless day. We cannot get around the cruel concentration camp prison guard, the boss who is a bully, the friend who betrays us, or the relative who cannot seem to get her life together.

Someone sent me an email this week that describes such a scene. It starts, "Here I was sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large, trouble-making biker steps up next to me, grabs my drink and gulps it down in one swig."

"Well, whatcha' gonna do about it?" he says, menacingly, as I burst into tears.

"Come on, man," the biker says, "I didn't think you'd CRY. I can`t stand to see a man crying."

"This is the worst day of my life," I say. "I'm a complete failure. I was late to a meeting and my boss fired me.

When I went to the parking lot, I found my car had been stolen and I don't have any insurance.

I left my wallet in the cab I took home.

I found my wife with another man and then my dog bit me."

"So I came to this bar to work up the courage to put an end to it all, I buy a drink, I drop a capsule in and sit here watching the poison dissolve; then you show up and drink the whole thing!

But enough about me, how's your day going?"

Everything is fine and dandy until we enter the dark valley. We see the shadow of death on the canyon walls and our knees feel weak. We stand beside another hospital bed and pray with a fearful family facing late stage cancer. Or perhaps we are the one laying in the hospital bed, learning for the first time the feeling of vulnerability and lack of control that comes with the term "patient." Or perhaps we are staring into the pit of financial ruin or the destruction of a long term relationship. Even in such desperate circumstances, we fear no evil. As Martin Luther wrote of the evil one, "One little word shall fell him." (Hymn: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God")

Fear is the opposite of love. Our friendship with God is not based on fear. In fact, many of us must overcome fear of God as we begin our friendship with God. When we overcome our fear of God and enter into friendship with God, no other fear may conquer us. We become fearless with God at our side. We trust God. We have experienced God's discipline and support. We know God will defend us from all evil. The Good Shepherd imparts courage and comfort in times of need.

God sets a table before us as our enemies gaze and glisten. We feast without worry knowing our friend , the Good Shepherd, has our back. That rod and staff is God's big stick and God knows how to use it in our defense. From this place of friendship with God, we are able to defend the friendless, welcome the stranger, and minister to the sick and dying. Safe in God's loving embrace, we offer a supportive shoulder for others to cry on. Having been anointed with God's Holy Spirit, we have plenty of Spirit to share with others. The life force inside us overflows the boundaries of our energetic field and embraces all whom we encounter.

When wolves and robber barons discover God has our back they lose interest in pursuing us and seek out easier targets. We are then pursued by goodness, mercy, and love. As the Apostle Paul put it: "If God be for us, who can stand against us?" Our ultimate security is good for this life and the life to come. Again, Paul says, "Who shall separate us from the love of God? For whether we live or whether we die we belong to the LORD." Our friendship with Christ, the Good Shepherd, provides the foundation for spiritual health, abundance, sustenance, and help, in this life and in the life to come.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

According to Viktor Frankl, "We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways:

by creating a work or doing a deed;
by experiencing something or encountering someone; and
by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering" and that "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."

Frankl's three ways of finding meaning in life resonate with John Calvin's teaching. We can discover meaning in life by experiencing something or encountering someone. John Calvin said: "We are saved." Christian life is a kind of salvation from meaninglessness through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Frankl says we may find meaning in life by creating a work or doing a deed. Steve Jobs found meaning in life by creating a corporation called Apple that will survive long after his death. John Calvin says you and I may find meaning in life through service to others. As Calvin put it: "We are saved to serve." Through serving Christ by serving other humans we may find meaning in life. I was reminded of disciples who do that last Thursday evening. Braes Interfaith Ministry had a dinner celebrating our years of partnership with other churches as we feed the hungry in this community. As I looked at the crowd of BIM volunteers at that dinner I saw people who had found purpose in life by serving others.

Yet even serving others does not protect us from suffering. Let's face it. Life is tough. It's not easy being a human being. Each day brings new challenges. We fall down and have to get back up on our feet. Suffering is unavoidable. Yet our attitude toward suffering is always our own choice.

As Jesus faced the suffering of the cross, in his last meal with his disciples, Jesus told them, "Listen to me, you are no longer just disciples, you are my friends." Jesus needed friends at that moment and Jesus needs friends now. We are the hands of feet of Jesus on this planet at this time. Jesus is counting on us to continue his work in the world. Jesus final message to his disciples is the same message as Psalm 23. Jesus says "You are my friends."

Whatever your suffering today, however your pain may sit in your soul or your body, know that Jesus considers you his friend. Imagine Jesus saying this to you for this is how he feels about you, from the lyrics of the pop song, You've Got a Friend:

When you're down and troubled and need a helping hand
and nothing, no nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there
to brighten up even your darkest night.
You just call out my name and you know, wherever I am,
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall all you've got to do is call and I'll be there
You've got a friend.

Let us renew our friendship with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, so that we may join with the Psalmist and with the faithful of every age and say:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on October 9 - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - at at St. John's Presbyterian Church , 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 | Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Timing Is Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:43:00 +0000

Psalm 80:7-15

Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.

Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.

You may be like Jack today. Jack is discouraged. He is broke and lonely. One day his luck changes for the better. A fairy gives a penitent a hatful of magic beans. Jack soon passes by with the family's bouncy bovine, which he trades for the beans. Back home, Jack's mother throws the beans into the middle of the garden in disgust. That night, as Jack sleeps, the fairy causes the beanstalk to grow, visits Jack's room, and sends him sweet dreams. When he awakens, he sees the beanstalk and climbs toward the sky as his mother, friends, and villagers cheer him on. At the top of the beanstalk, the fairy again guides him to the home of a wealthy giant, whose maid hides Jack. As the giant sleeps, Jack steals gold and a magic fowl; the giant wakes, grabs his cudgel, and gives chase. Jack escapes from the giant and cuts down the vine. He takes home the gold and marries his beloved and is rich and happy for the rest of his days.

Jack in the Beanstalk is a fairy tale. Vines don't really grow up into the sky overnight. But that's the way we remember the past sometimes. Like the Psalmist in our text today who remembers the good old days and says to God:

You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;

it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.

The psalmist recalls a time of expansive growth in Israel's past. The people had just come into the promised land and were growing like the vine in Jack in the Beanstalk fair tale, taking over the land. Israel, God's vine, experienced fairy tale like growth. But as the psalmist notes, that was then and this is now and now the growth now is slim to none and slim left town last week.

So the psalmist laments:

We can relate to the disappointment of the psalmist. Times are hard. Unemployment is up. The economy is down. Growth seems elusive. Some of us are old enough to recall a time of dramatic growth in our churches back in the 1950s and 60s. Since then church membership has steadily declined all across the United States. We cry out with the psalmist, "Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted."

Discouragement is the problem we must address in a time of economic recession and religious decline. In these hard times be careful how you use your time. Isn't this ironic? Despite time-saving devices like email or online shopping, most Americans say they're spending less time with their loved ones these days. This comes from a poll administered by USA Today on how people manage their time. This poll was originally done 23 years ago and was updated in 2008. They tested more than 2,000 people in a web based survey. They found that the majority of Americans feel very busy. 92% say I'm somewhat to very busy. One one hand they say we're happy, we're healthy, BUT we're busier than ever. Last year was busier than the previous year. People say "I wish I was less busy." And they spend an enormous amount of time and money on time saving devices and nothing makes a difference.

You've got to take time for yourself to maintain your strength. Exercise your body and refresh you soul by taking a sabbath day of rest every 7 days. Our bodies and our souls need time for rest and reflection when we are hid away with God and allow God's face to shine upon us. A vine needs sunlight to live, and we need God-light to live. To deny ourselves what we need in order to survive would be suicidal. Develop the self-discipline to give yourself time off every week. We need the rest because real vine growing requires patience. Unlike in fairy tales, vines do not spring up overnight in real life.

Sometimes you may feel like you are not growing at all. Sometimes you may feel like your vine has been cut back. Perhaps a spouse has died and you feel like your heart has been cut out of your chest. Or a relationship has ended. A job has been lost. You may feel like God has cut back your vine. God may cut us back sometimes like a good gardener cuts back on a vine. This is how God prepares us for further growth. It is called pruning. We experience it as painful, as damaging, but sometimes it's the best thing that can happen to us.

You see, God is responsible for the growth of the vine and God is an active gardener in our lives. Our job as God's vine is to take root and grow in the light of God's care. Sometimes your spiritual growth seems to come as fast as the fairy tale vine in Jack and the Beanstalk. Other times you can't even tell you have a spiritual life. God is present in your life both in times of dramatic growth and in times of pruning and cut backs.

You may be familiar with the famous marshmallow study conducted by Dr. Zimbardo and a colleague at Stanford University. A group of four year olds were given one marshmallow and told they were allowed to eat it immediately. They were told if they could wait to eat the marshmallow after being left alone with it for awhile then they would be given an extra marshmallow to eat. Most eat the marshmallow as soon as they are left alone with it but some other children are able to resist temptation. Those children who ate the marshmallow right away are considered to be oriented toward the present. Those who resist the temptation have an orientation toward the future. When the children were interviewed years later when they were 18 years old, there were amazing differences between the children who were able to delay gratification and those children who couldn't resist the immediate.

The present oriented children tested as being moody, over reacts to frustration, indecisive, prone to jealousy and envy.

The future oriented children scored 250 points higher on the SAT. They were described as cooperative, works well under pressure, self-reliant and confident.

The marshmallow experiment is a classic study of how a person's ability to delay gratification even at the age of 4 can predict many significant future outcomes. The experiment and its implications are described in Philip Zimbardo's book The Time Paradox. There he describes what this experiment has to do with you. Your own relationship to time plays a significant role in your personal happiness. Whether you are looking for a better understanding of the world at large, from religion to politics to business or want a better understanding of yourself, The Time Paradox teaches you how to recognize your own attitude toward time and how your everyday decisions are influenced by your personal time orientation. It will help you overcome the hidden mental biases that keep you too attached to the past, unhealthily obsessed with future goals, or too focused on immediate gratification. You can improve your personal success, happiness and psychological health. The Time Paradox will show you how. It's only a matter of time. Making time work for you.

Timing is everything in the church as in life. Let's not lose ourselves in the past as we fantasize about a Jack in the Beanstalk fairy tale of the vine that grew up to the sky overnight. Let's not foster an unhealthily obsession with future goals by always being disappointed that the church is not yet all that is could be or will be. And let's not get too focused on immediate gratification like the four year child who would rather eat one marshmallow now than have two marshmallows later.

The benefits of future orientation also apply to gardening. We have witnessed the resurgence of home and community gardening but they are also discovering that gardening can be a lot of work. Weeding may quickly evolve into a full time taking the fun out of gardening.

Enter Slow Gardening. Inspired by Slow Food, an international movement that promotes local food systems and biological and cultural diversity, the slow-gardening approach can help us enjoy our garden more by taking more of a future orientation to the project.

Gardending expert, Felder Rushing, offers a practical yet philosophical approach to gardening that will help you slow down, evaluate your yard, and follow your own fancy in creating and maintaing a garden. His book, Slow Gardening, will inspire you to rest in the rhythm of the seasons and take more joy from your garden. The future orientation of waiting for the desired outcome - like waiting for that second marshmallow - is what makes this work.

In a similar fashion, God is slow gardening God's people, the church. Perhaps God is now pruning God's church for future growth. I know St. John's is growing down in the roots of prayer because we do have some prayer warriors in this congregation. Such prayer fertilizes the root system of this vine called St. John's Presbyterian Church. Prayer provides the spiritual nourishment we need for further growth. Pray for this church. Do not be discouraged by what you see. God has not forsaken us. God is with us still. You have been praying for this church and have gotten discouraged. You have forgotten that God is the sun and the soil in which we are planted. Therefore, our growth is assured. Often spiritual growth occurs in secret, down under the soil where the roots grow. We are growing strong roots here in this church. Be encouraged. God is still gardening here.

As in the church, so in your life, your spiritual growth may be so deep down in the roots of your life that you see no evidence of anything growing inside. Even so, God is still gardening in your life and in this church. God may be pruning us now for future growth. How shall we respond in the meantime? What is a healthy attitude toward time? Celebrate the past. Anticipate the future. Focus on the present moment which is the only time we ever really have. The Prophet Isaiah put it well: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) Teach me, Lord -- teach us, Lord -- to wait.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 on October 2, 2011.
Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

A Cure for Envy

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:51:00 +0000

Sermon text: Matthew20:1-16

Julie and Juanita were sisters but they were completely different. Julie was attractive and attracted to money. Juanita was plain looking and like to help people. Their childhood was a series of fights that culminated when Julie graduated high school. She wanted to go to an expensive private college in another state but her family couldn't afford that. She shamed her parents into taking out a loan for and as soon as she got on campus she immediately began blowing that money. She partied hard and went through thousands of dollars and flunked out of college the first semester. Meanwhile, Juanita plugged away at the community college where she was studying law enforcement. One of her three part time jobs was pulling night guard duty at a local department store. Imagine her surprise at 2 am one morning when she was making her rounds outside the department store and heard a rustling in the trash bin. When Juanita shined her flashlight in there it fell upon the frightened face of her sister Julie. It was like something out of a bad dream.

"What are your doing here?!" Juanita yelled.

"Where am I?" sighed Julie. "Take me home. I wanna go home"

Juanita had to leave her post on duty to drive her sister home in the dead of night. She just knew their mother was going to let Julie have it for being so selfish, for wasting all that money, and flunking out of school. But when Juanita dragged her sister into the house she couldn't believe the tears of joy her mother shed for having Julie back home.

"How could you welcome her home?!" shouted Juanita. "She humiliated our family. She wasted thousands of dollars. She's like a parasite on us!" Mother said, "I know. You're right. And she's also my daughter. Just like you."

Welcome to the Kingdom of God where all are paid equally. It seems so unfair! Is there a deeper lesson here? These are the questions we will consider. We need to get this message because it applies to each one of us. When we understand the truth of this parable it sets us free on the inside. We need to be freed from the prison walls of resentment, bitterness, and gall. When Jesus was hanging on the cross dying of thirst because his fluids were drained he was offered a drink of wine and gall and he refused to drink the gall. Jesus knew the gall of envy would kill him faster than the cross.

If you turn a garbage can upside down and leave it over a flower for weeks the flower will wither and die. It is cut off from its source of life and energy. It festers in darkness and slowly chokes and dies. That is what we do to ourselves when we cover ourselves with the garbage can called gall, bitterness, envy.

We are not talking here about coming to church. Yes, that helps. We come to church and there we are reminded that God loves us and cares for us and wants what is best for us. But what do we do with that knowledge? Does it sink in and take roots? Do we stay connected to source on Monday morning? How about Friday night? We must not place a garbage can over our lives and wither away in darkness. Awaken from your slumber. Stand up and lift that garbage can of gall off of you. As Jesus said to the crippled man who came to him for healing so he says to you: "Get up and walk!" And he did. And so will you.

God does not owe you anything. That is a hard concept to internalize. Your false assumptions about God may trap you inside a garbage can shaped prison of your own illusions about life. Everything in life worth having is a free gift from God to you. The old doctrine gets a bad rap these days but that was the central meaning of Predestination. Predestination was trying to say that God doesn't owe you anything. Certainly, God does not owe you salvation from your own sinfulness, from your own gall. So anyone who is saved by God is saved purely and only because God chooses to do so. Predestination says you cannot achieve your own salvation. That is a free gift that God may grant to you if God so chooses. Today it's different. Predestination is a forgotten creed. We all act like God owes us something. That makes us assume that everyone else owes us something too. We all walk around feeling cheated. This is an odd way to live. It has nothing to do with the Bible or good theology. That is what our text today is trying to get across to us. God does not owe you anything.

But you don't get the message so you feel cheated by other people. You resent your neighbor who has more than you do. She has better health. She is younger. Her children are better at sports. Her dog is cuter than yours. And you hold that against her and envy grows inside you like a cancer. Envy is quite a darling in the beginning. It may even make you feel closer to someone else when you share a secret grudge or resentment against a third party. Such triangulation feels good in the beginning. But envy is a cruel mate over time. Envy won't murder you on the street in cold blood. Like a drug addiction or alcoholism, envy kills more slowly over time. First, it compromises your immune system so your body becomes less able to resist germs and diseases. Then it feeds those germs and diseases so they grow strong within fueled by bitterness and anger. Finally, it kills you, the real you, the Christ in you. You may be still breathing. You may still be walking around. But inside your spirit has died. The Christ in you has been smothered. You have been robbed. You have been killed. Envy will rob you blind. Then it will kill you.

There is a cure for envy. There is something that can stop envy dead in its tracks. The cure for envy is a spirit of gratitude. Such a cure requires repentance.

"Why do you never preach repentance?" asked the preacher.

"It's the only thing I teach," said the Master.

"But I never hear you speak on sorrow for sin."

"Repentance isn't sorrow for the past. The past is dead and isn't worth a moment's grief. repentance is a change of mind, a radically different vision of Reality." (Anthony de Mello, Awakening: Conversations with the Master, p 258)

Jesus, our spiritual master, teaches repentance in his parable from Matthew 20:1-16. Listen to this story.

"God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

"Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.

"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'

"They said, 'Because no one hired us.'

"He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

"When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'

"Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'

"He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'

"Here it is again," says Jesus, "the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first." (Matthew 20:1-16, The Message)

The Great Reversal we need to seek is to throw off the garbage can of gall that has us trapped inside. Break free from the prison of resentment. The dynamite that will break our prison walls is called gratitude. We have already been given what we need to live gratefully. Listen to this story.

There was a poor Jewish rabbi who lived in the city of Krakow in Poland. His name was Isaac, son of Yekel. He had almost no money. Then one night Isaac, son of Yekel, had an exceptionally vivid dream. He dreamed that underneath a bridge in the city of Warsaw there was a great treasure. The dream was so real that when he woke up, he was troubled. He was all the more troubled when the next night he had exactly the same dream, and again on the third night the very same dream. There was nothing for Isaac to do, but walk to Warsaw and see for himself. When he finally arrived, he saw the bridge just as he had dreamed it. He went underneath to take a look, but he was grabbed by the back of the neck by the captain of the guard who said, "You Jew, what are you doing prowling under this bridge?" Isaac was a simple man who wouldn't lie: "I've dreamed that underneath this bridge there is a treasure and I have traveled many miles to find that treasure." The captain of the guard burst into laughter: "You fool. You traipse over the world because of your dreams. If I were so foolish, I would be lost in the city of Krakow right now, for I also have dreams. For weeks I have dreamed of a voice that came and said, 'In the city of Krakow, in the home of a certain Jew named Isaac son of Yekel, underneath his stove is buried a great treasure.' But imagine that when half the Jews in Krakow are named Isaac and the other half Yekel." He laughed again and sent Isaac home. The son of Yekel quietly made the long journey back to Krakow. Isaac went to his home, moved his stove, and began to dig. There he found a great treasure. With the money he found he paid all his debts and married off his three daughters. With the money that remained he built a synagogue for the praise of God. He found his treasure in the place he had been living all along.

We come to worship to remember that the treasure is here, that we have already been given all that we need to live gratefully. Focus inside and count your blessings. Stop eying others with envy. Envy is a killer. It will not kill the person you envy. It will kill you. Do not resent those whom you deem unworthy but whom God chooses to bless. God is a generous God and is free to bless any and all as God wishes. Dig deep inside your self like Yekel son of Isaac. You will find your hidden treasure within your heart, within your mind, within your soul. Gratitude is the secret treasure that will break you out of your prison of resentment. Envy kills. Gratitude gives life. A grateful spirit is the cure for envy. Repent means change direction. Go in another direction. Follow Jesus in joy and leave your old friend envy behind. You will find you are happier and bring more joy to others.

---

The story of Isaac son of Yekel comes from William Bausch, Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, Twenty-third Publications: Mystic, Connecticut, 1984, 76-77.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035, on September 18, 2011 (OT25A). Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Conflict Resolution the Presbyterian Christian Way

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:33:00 +0000

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Where were you and what were you doing ten years ago today on September 11, 2001? We were all caught by surprise. I was walking across the church parking lot headed to my car when a woman told me in an excited voice, "Have you heard the news? Have you heard the news? They're bombing the world trade center!" With a startled expression I said, "No. I hadn't heard that." And got in my car feeling a bit shaken. Turned on the car radio and for the next 45 minutes as I drove to a presbytery committee meeting I listened to the story unfolding in real time.

You remember how the day unfolded. One of the World Trade Center towers was on fire. An airplane had crashed into it. People were jumping out of windows. Then there was another airplane that flew into the other building. The radio announcers on NPR were at a loss for words. It was all so surreal. The entire nation was gripped by fear and shock. We felt as if we had been snakebitten. We felt the poisoned by hate. The gentle doves had flown away and the hawks ruled the skies above.

Ten years later many questions remain about how the buildings came down and why. Beyond the basic questions of when, where and how is the bigger question which is why? Why did it happen and why did we respond the way we did? The alleged bombers were of Saudi Arabian descent yet the United States government responded by attacking Iraq. One thing we can say for sure is that acts of violence beget acts of violence. The conflict that emerged has been euphemistically called "The War on Terror" as if we could fight a war against a tactic. It is conflict by whatever name you choose. Both 911 and our reading from Romans 14 are about conflict.

We will consider the differences between healthy and unhealthy methods of interaction in the church. There are dangers and there are opportunities for us at this time in our church's life and we will talk about those. In essence, we will talk about the issues addressed in our text today since these are the issues Paul addresses in his letter to the Church in Rome. There were apparently several different Christian groups meeting in Rome. One group thinks its fine to eat meat that has been offered to idols such as the meat regularly sold in their markets. Some say yes and some say no. Regardless of the presenting issue the dynamics of conflict are the same throughout the generations from the early church until today.

Conflict goes all the way to the first story told in the first book of the Bible. You may recall from Genesis the story of how the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge and they would become like God. They succumb to the temptation of spiritual pride and that causes God to turn them out of the garden. Spiritual pride is also the sin of the Pharisees that Jesus spoke out so strongly against. The Pharisees were good people. They tithed their money. They knew and taught the scriptures. Where they fell short is that they focused too much on outer manifestations of religion and not enough on the spiritual qualities of love and mercy.

A cursory glimpse at Christian history says we have a disposition toward conflict. Beyond the conflict in the early church we have the sad episode of the Crusades in which Christian mobs raped and pillaged Jewish and Muslim folks in their cities and villages. Then we have the inter-Christian conflicts called the Inquisitions, the last of which concluded less than four generations ago. So conflict has always been a relevant topic and it still is today. A sermon about conflict could be preached in any church in America today and each congregation would feel that the message was pointed directly at them. That is how widespread and common conflict is and always has been.

The question is not whether a congregation will have conflicts or not. The answer to that question is always yes. The question is how a congregation deals with the conflicts they have. Does the congregation have healthy or unhealthy practices when dealing with conflict? Unresolved conflicts can escalate to the point of tearing communities apart. In contrast, mutual forbearance is one of the hallmarks of the Reformed faith. Presbyterians have traditionally dealt with conflict head on and face to face. We show courage by saying what we think out in public. We don't slip anonymous notes under doors to make our point. That is the coward's way. It is not the Presbyterian way. Presbyterians are not cowards. Never have been and never will be.

It was in Minneapolis in 1986 where I first experienced the Presbyterian way of dealing with conflict. I was there as a seminary student representative to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). What amazed me about the gathering of a thousand or so Presbyterians in that convention hall was how the people respectfully but passionately disagreed on topics that ranged from the mundane church matters to apartheid in South Africa. The thousand or so delegates were seated. Standing microphones were dispersed throughout the delegates. When a controversial issue came forward the moderator would allow one person to speak for the issue for 2 minutes maximum and then one person to speak against the issue for 2 minutes maximum. Finally, all the delegates voted and the majority won and they went on the next controversial issue. I saw a lot of passion compressed into a system for expression and resolution that worked. Seeing the Presbyterian way gave me great respect for how we conduct business.

You may have noticed the same debating format when we hosted the presbytery meeting last fall. The controversial issue that day was the ordination of gays and lesbians. Those in favor of the motion lined up on side of the sanctuary. Those opposed on the other side. One by one they came to the microphone and each one gave an impassioned presentation of their view. They each had two minutes to make their presentation. Then time was called on them and they had to sit down. The vote was then taken and the majority ruled and the meeting went on to the next issue. One of the features of the Presbyterian system of public debate is that bullies are not tolerated. Bullies are not tolerated in the Presbyterian system and they will not be tolerated in this church.

Christ expects us in the church to be role models for the community. If the church models unhealthy behaviors such as bullying, let's not act surprised if the recent riots in London and flash mobs in the United States materialize in our city and our neighborhood. Perhaps we should look in the mirror and ask how do we relate to other people in the church? If we can't relate to one another in healthy ways in our local church then what hope do we have for our civilization? The church needs to model healthy relationships and mutual forbearance to the community. Otherwise, we shouldn't be shocked when the flash mobs and riots come home to roost.

During these days when the world seems to be slowing ripping apart at the seams, our faith communities are our best public defense. We've got to get it right in the church or we have very little hope for society. The stakes are very high. Make no mistake about that. The good news is that there is a way forward for the church and our society. When we learn to deal with one another is healthy ways our church will benefit and will our community and the world.

Let's live up to our Presbyterian heritage which includes being open and welcoming and willing to dialogue with people of other faith traditions. In his email last Wednesday, Elliott Gershwin, President and CEO of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, himself a Jew, wrote about celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary. He says,

"The other day when I was talking about my upcoming 40th anniversary someone said 'boy, I bet you've had a really good 25 years together.' There's a lot of truth to that.

So why have we've kept it going all this time? Here's why.

Even though we are very different people, we share the same core values. And our relationship from the very beginning has been based on those. We believe in honesty so there are no secrets between us. We believe in family so our hearts swell when things are good and burst when things are sad. We believe in community, so we give back to others always reminding ourselves of the many blessings that God has bestowed on us.

And because of the bonds of trust, loyalty and honesty, our relationship has turned to love. It's not the same infatuation we had when we were teenagers, but it still burns today." ("Coming Together to Serve" email from September 6, 2011.)

What keeps us together as Presbyterians is that we share the same core values of mutual respect and forbearance. The biggest value we share is love for God and for one another as children of God. Working out the details of how we live out that love in a Christian community is messy and hard. Thus is our Christian history besotted with both Crusades and Inquisitions. Jesus said how we treat other people is equivalent to how we treat Jesus in his eyes. With that sobering thought in mind, we do well to remember that each of us will be accountable to God not for what our neighbor did or said but for what we do and say. That is a challenging thought for our nation as we consider our response to 911 over the past ten years. On the national and on the personal level, if we hope to receive mercy from God for ourselves, then we will show mercy to others. If we don't care how God will judge us then we are free to bully whomever we wish. And if we are the ones being bullied Jesus invites us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Somewhere in between the serpents and the doves there is a balance to be found. That balance is the key to our survival as a church and as a nation.

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The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon on September 11, 2011 at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 | Phone 713-723-6262 | sjpresby.blogspot.com

A Debt of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Romans 13:8-14

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

A Debt of Love

You may be interested to know that the current US National Debt is somewhere around 14 trillion, 671 billion, 854 million, 937 thousand, and 954 dollars. That means you and every American citizen owes a debt $47,008 each. The debt per US taxpayer is even higher at $130 thousand and 960 dollars each. (via http://www.usdebtclock.org/) No wonder whether and how to raise the debt ceiling was the big argument in Washington, DC this summer. In the end the debt ceiling was raised. In contrast to our national debt, we read these startling words in Romans 13:8, "Owe no one anything, except to love one another."

Presbyterians seem to take this admonition to heart when it comes to our church facilities. We don't like to take out loans for church improvements especially for the sanctuary. We don't feel it's right for a business to have a stake in our holy space. We are fortunate to belong to a congregation that is financially debt free. Although we are operating with a deficit budget this year as we have many past years, we have money in the bank to cover the budget deficit. Our congregation is financially debt free yet we have debt of another kind. We owe a debt of love to one another.

You may be interested to know the Bible's viewpoint that love is an action not an emotion. How you feel about another member of the church is not nearly as important as whether you show right action toward them. Without right action toward one another, a congregation will deteriorate into strife and quarreling. The Scripture equates quarreling and jealousy to binge drinking and hookups. That is an embarrassing thought. We thought we were morally superior to the drunkard or sex addict. But we don't get off the hook that easy. We all have been guilty of strife and quarreling. We love our to hold our negative energy feasts at home, at work and at school. The party gets really hot when we can focus on someone who is not there. Group criticism from afar increases the debt of love we owe. In contrast, right action, face to face frankness, pays down our debt of love.

Let's look at this more closely. The Godly kind of love described in the reading this morning is an action not an emotion. You can act right regardless of how you feel. You may smile when you feel sad and it will make you feel better. You may look up and raise your hands and smile and laugh and it will make you feel good. That's the way our body works. Our emotions respond to our actions. The debt of love we owe one another is paid by kind deeds and actions and not by good feelings and emotion. We don't even have to like someone but we must act in loving ways toward them. How we feel about others is not the primary concern of our text today. How we act toward others is the key.

A new pastor in Topeka, Kansas, USA, spent the first four days making personal visits to each of his prospective congregation inviting them to come to his inaugural services.

The following Sunday the church was all but empty. Accordingly, the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon.

Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the 'funeral'.

In front of the pulpit they saw a closed coffin which was covered in flowers. After the priest had delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.

Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a 'dead church', all the people eagerly lined up to look in the coffin. Each 'mourner' peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror. (Online http://www.guy-sports.com/jokes/funny_religious_stories.htm#Dead_Church_)

Lack of love will kill a church quicker than anything. This church is not dying but this church does have a debt problem. According to our text (Romans 13:1), we owe a debt of love to one another. We owe face to face communicating and dialogue. This is not a tactic we may choose or not. This is a debt we owe and we must pay our debts. Some of us contribute money but we are putting the church into spiritual debt when we use harsh words against others. Having observed the way some of our members treat other members, it is easy to see how we have a serious debt problem in the love department. This is the spiritual level Jesus always notices. He sees below the surface and hears the back room talk loud and clear. The first step toward addressing our love debt in this church is to practice self control. That means control of our tongue. That means watching what we say and how we say it. This church has a lot of work to do in that area. That is the honest truth and that is the challenge of our text today. We can always make excuses such as our age or our medication or "that's just the way she is" but those excuses are unacceptable according to the Bible. If you are serious about your Christian faith, learn to control your tongue. Otherwise, you are piling spiritual debt onto this church that will be left for future generations to pay.

A visitor once attended a Presbyterian Church in Houston. He came because his girl friend was a member of the church and he wanted to impress her family. The main thing the young man noticed was the different way the Presbyterians had of praying the Lord's prayer. In the Methodist Church he had attended as a child in the Lord's prayer they asked God to forgive them their trespasses and those who trespassed against them. When he got home his mother asked him how was the Presbyterian Church? He thought back to the Lord's Prayer and how they said "forgive us our debts" rather than "forgive us our trespasses" and said "Presbyterians don't seem to care a bit about any trespasses but they expect their debts to be forgiven!" We Presbyterians pay our financial obligations. Let's pay our spiritual obligations. Let's pay down the debt of love. The only way to pay it down is with right action. Frankly, let me just come out and say I am not interested in serving a church that systematically gossips, spreads rumors, or undermines people in leadership positions. I am no more interested in pastoring a church that does those things than I am in pastoring a church that owes $85 million dollars on their new sanctuary. Both of those churches are in deep debt. Spiritual debt, the love debt, is just as damaging to the spirit and mission of a church as monetary debt.

You may know the hymn "Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound" was written by a slave trader who repented and turned his life over to Christ. The price of human beings have come way down in value in the past 400 years. At the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, back in the mid 1800′s, the average cost of a slave in the U.S. was the equivalent of 40 to 50 thousand dollars in today's money. Today, the average cost of a human being is a mere 90 dollars. There are more slaves today than ever before in history—an estimated 27 million. Explosive population growth, impoverished communities rocked by conflict, natural disasters, disease epidemics, unprotected by strong rule of law are all factors that push people into slavery. We have a much larger pool of potentially enslavable people in the world today. In the basic notions of supply and demand that has caused a collapse in the price of a human being." (Kevin Bales online: http://ftsblog.net/2011/03/09/average-cost-to-buy-a-person-today-90/) As you may know, Houston has a flourishing slave trade in this city. Their are captives suffering under bondage in our city and we ignore them to focus on petty questions and nit picking. That is wrong of us to do that. We need to repent of that. Repenting would mean changing our direction from navel gazing and finger pointing. Let's turn our eyes upon Jesus. When we do, we will notice his gaze slowly look beyond us and his head tilt slightly backward as if to say, "Hey, we're okay. Now what about them?" What about them? What about those outside the walls of this church? That is where our focus should be if we want to follow Jesus. Jesus is out in the world with the captive day laborer and the woman of the night who captured from her Latin American village and forced to give her body over to the international sex trade. We may not want to see her or think about her but Jesus does.

Friends, we are in debt today. We owe one another a debt of love. We owe one another face to face clear communication. We do not have to agree on every issue. We never will. We do have to listen to one another and really hear the pain and the joy that people feel. You have permission to speak to me. You may speak to me face to face whenever you have a better idea, issue or misunderstanding. This is an open invitation. Presbyterians are direct people. We have the courage of our convictions. We are not afraid to speak our mind face to face. We conduct our business the full light of day. We support one another when a decision has been made. We help one another when we are in need. We do this because the Bible tells us to do this and we are people of the book. To attend worship every Sunday is one thing. To act with kindness and integrity in our dealings with one another is something else. Jesus was all about taking the right actions. That was more important to him than any cultural or religious rules.

Our love debt toward one another is similar to the US budget deficit. How much do we owe? US National Debt Is our love debt as high as the US National Debt? On the spiritual level do we owe one another 14 trillion, 671 billion, 854 million, 937 thousand, and 954 dollars? I hope it's not that big. But the point is that each love debt that an individual member incurs must eventually be paid back by the entire congregation. Our love debt has grown large over time. We have ignored it for long enough. It is time to deal with our church love deficit. It is time to start paying down our debt of love. The place to be begin is face to face communication with one another. This church will move forward as we begin to pay down our debt of love.

As the Apostle Paul says in our text this morning: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." Thank God this church is paying down the debt of love we owe to one another. We pay down our debt of love by face to face communication. If we do not pay down our love debt amongst ourselves then we won't have any love to share in a world filled with 27 million slaves. The stakes are huge here. It's time for this church to start paying down our love debt to one another. It is by far the biggest debt we owe. It's not in the trillions of dollars yet like the US government's debt but until we repent our debt of love is growing by the day. Let's get our love debt under control before it's too late. This is a matter of life and death for St. John's Presbyterian Church.

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The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas on September 4, 2011 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time) | sjpresby.blogspot.com

Stumbling Block

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:02:00 +0000

Sermon text: Matthew16:21-28

Jesus wants to give you a gift today. Will you accept it with gratitude or will you turn it down? That is the decision Peter had to make. Peter wanted what was best for himself and thought that was also best for the church. We are like Peter. We want what is good for us. We are not like Jesus. Jesus wants what is best for the church. There is a disconnect between our vision and Jesus' vision for the church and for the world. We pursue our own agenda for our personal benefit not for the greater good. That is the biggest problem in our society. Our very social structure seems to be coming apart because of centralized greed and mismanagement.

John Robb, author of Brave New War, says the Soviet Union fell apart because of centralized greed and mismanagement.. Power was in the hands of a small government elite who made all the major decisions for the entire society. They made the wrong decisions and their system finally crashed. Our current Western system seems to be falling apart before our very eyes. We too have vested in the hands of a small group of government and corporate elites who make all the important decisions for our entire economy. They often make the wrong decisions because they base their decisions upon what is best for them instead of what is best for whole society. In both cases, a small group mismanages the larger group because the goal of the small group is to increase their own power rather than serving the greater good for the larger group. Such a system is not only wrong it is also unsustainable over time. The goals of the small group who makes the big decisions are not the same as Christ's goals. We are all going to face the bad consequences of their selfish decisions.

This is also true on the level of the local church. Our Bible story demonstrates a powerful truth. Our churches are not thriving because every church has a small minority of people who seek to control the church and their goals are not in line with Christ's goals. This was Peter's sin and failure in our text today. There we see that Jesus has set his mind and heart toward the greater good of the church but Peter's vision is different. Peter does not want to hear about Jesus' future suffering. Peter closes his ears to any talk about Christ and the cross. Peter won't have any of that. He confronts Jesus about it and tells Jesus to lighten up and get himself back on track. Jesus comes right back at Peter. He looks Peter in the eye and says: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Wow! What a direct confrontation. That is exactly the kind of honesty and truth we do NOT hear in our churches today. No wonder our churches are in decline. We don't have the guts to confront people who stand against the greater good.

Jesus did. He looked Peter in the eye and called him "Satan!" How scandalous can Jesus get? Pastors don't always set a good example for the church. We don't call a spade a spade like Jesus did. If we did, we fear people would side with the spade rather than the pastor. We fear we would lose our job. So our pastor's are prohibited from following Jesus' example of calling a spade from a spade because we have bills to pay and a family to support. Sometimes the pastor IS the spade who needs to be called out. The church system seems to be set up for failure. No wonder the churches aren't growing. We don't stand for anything. We are FOR everything and everyone. That means we are really for nothing and NO ONE. We have no boundaries. We set no limits on acceptable conduct. Our pastor's goals for personal security are not in line with Jesus' goals for the greater good.

What would happen if we showed real leadership and called a spade a spade? Look what happened to Peter when Jesus confronted him. Peter didn't run away. He didn't quit the church. He became convicted by what Jesus and he changed his ways. It didn't happen overnight. Peter would still make mistakes. He will still get it wrong sometimes. He will still deny he ever knew Jesus three times on the night when Jesus needs his support the most. But Jesus will give him a second chance, and a third chance, and a ninety-ninth chance. After his resurrection, the risen Jesus meets the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He cooks them breakfast of fish over an open camp fire. Jesus as chef: Now there's an image. Then he publicly forgives Peter and commissions him to STILL be a leader in the church.

So we are talking here today about a Lord who will call a spade a spade and yet we are talking about a Lord who will give us another chance after we fail. Today is your opportunity for to change your goals from what is best for YOU to what is best for the church. If you don't do that, you will still have another chance. Today isn't your only opportunity to make this change. But if you go ahead and do it today you will save yourself and this church so much suffering, so many set backs, so much unnecessary heartache and hassles. You will also save yourself so much lost energy and time. You will feel such a sense of relief to lay your burdens down at the foot of the cross. You will learn what it means when Jesus says to take up his cross for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The easy thing, the natural thing, is to just let it happen today. Change your focus from your goals to Christ's goals. Divert your energy from trying to get your way to letting God have His way. It's such an easy thing to do and yet we make it so hard. We hold on to our deluded dreams of glory and we won't let go. We cling to unhealthy patterns and behaviors even when they make us weak and sick and keep us on the fringe of the community.

This week I read a story about a French waiter in Paris. Here is how author Peter Meyers describes him.

"I once sat in a five-star restaurant in Paris, and watched a waiter working. He moved as if he were on skates, gliding so smoothly, with such balance, that it was a pleasure to watch him. As he put the food down on each table, he said something to the people sitting there. Each diner's face would light up as the waiter spoke. I watched the other waiters, and no one seemed to be having the same impact on the people they were serving. I caught this waiter's eye, and he came over to my table at once.

"May I help you, m'sieur?"

"I know this sounds like a strange question," I said, "but I've been watching you, and you seem to be having a huge impact on the people in this room. What are you saying to them?"

He smiled. "As a young man, when I first came to work in a fine restaurant, I was instructed by the headwaiter to say 'Bon appétit' after I served each table. Because I was in such a rush, I would usually just put the plates down, repeat, 'Bon appétit,' and leave quickly. One day I noticed that there was one second, after I put the plate down, when the diners would look up at me. I found that in that moment, I could look into their eyes, say, 'Bon appétit,' and mean it. I could tell them without words, 'I wish that you have a good meal. I want you to be happy.' Through this simplest gesture, I could make them feel wonderful. It took only a moment to do this, to put the plate down in front of them as if I had cooked it myself. I went from serving food to serving a sacrament. I am the most fortunate of men, m'sieur. What an honor it is to host a meal, to bring nourishment to people, to offer things that brought them joy and delight!"

That's where I learned that with the right intention, you can transform anything into the opportunity to give a gift. (Meyers, Peter; Nix, Shann (2011-07-26). As We Speak (Kindle Locations 180-195). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.)

Today is the day when you give a gift to this community of faith. And in giving that gift to this church you are giving a gift to yourself as well. The gift you give this church today is to stop trying to subvert what Christ is doing in this church. The gift you give yourself is the sense of relief you will find when you lay your burdens down. Because that's what it is that you are carrying around: Burdens. Your burdens are those sins and ways that keep you focused on your own goals and blind you to the harm you do to others.

Lay down your burden and take up your cross. It sounds impossible but it's the easiest thing to do. That is the gift you have to give today to yourself and to this church. This is the best thing you can do for yourself and for all the rest of us. Deny your misguided goals and take up the cross of what is best for the church. You will find that Christ's burden is easy. You will find that Christ's cross is much lighter than you had imagined it would be. This is a hard but necessary lesson. Jesus only taught it to his top leadership prospects. Peter learned this lesson and became an amazing leader in Christ's church. So may you. This is the opportunity Christ gives you today. This is his gift to you. Take it and use it for your own benefit. If you do you will be a blessing to this church and to the world. You can follow you own vision and be a stumbling block or you can follow Jesus' vision and be a leader in the church. Peter chose to follow Jesus even when it seemed hard. So may you and I.

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The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on August 28, 2011.

The Peter Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven (in other words, both heaven and hell are here on earth), and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. -Matthew 16:13-20

While I've been away I attended worship in a few different churches in Houston. One was a mainline church similar to our own. It was a great service and included a wonderful celebration of the Lord's Supper. The other church I attended was a more modern non-denominational type church. The worship space was dark like a movie theater with no windows and three large screens framing the worship area. The screens showed images of the theme of the day which was mercy. I wanted to attend this church because I sometimes drive past it and each time I wonder what do they do in there? What do they believe? Who are they? The only way to answer such questions is by showing up. Jesus told some people when they asked him what he was about, "Come and see." So I did.

So did Jesus' disciples. They came and saw who Jesus was and what he was about. In our text today Jesus wants to know how they perceive him. So he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Notice Jesus refers to himself as "the Son of Man." That is an interesting phrase. In one of my New Testament classes in seminary, the professor made a big deal out of that phrase. He challenged me and my classmates to go find out what the phrase "the Son of Man" means. I tried and we tried but we never figured it out for sure. It seems the best answer is that "the Son of Man" may be translated as "the human being." So it seems that Jesus was asking his disciples, "Who do people say this person is?" This person in this case means Jesus himself.

The disciples answer Jesus, "Some say you are John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." In other words, they tell Jesus what other people have said. It's always easy to fall back on what others have said about Jesus. What would you say if a stranger on the street asked you who is Jesus? Perhaps your mind would harken back to a childhood church school class or a Vacation Bible School setting and you would respond: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." If so, you would be in good company. Karl Barth was perhaps the most important mainline theologian of the 20th century. He published thousands of pages about the Christian faith. He once said he could boil the whole Christian faith down into one sentence: "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so." But that's Karl Barth's answer so you can't use that one for yourself. For you see, Jesus is asking each of us, as he asked each of his disciples, "Who do ''you'' say that I am?" This is a rhetorical question, meaning, I don't expect you to answer out loud. But think about it. How would you answer Jesus if he asked you, "Who do you say I am?

Someone recently gave me the book. Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent. It's the story of a 4 year old boy who has an out of body experience during surgery and visits with Jesus in heaven. He describes Jesus in a literal fashion that sounds similar to the way we know him from our kindergarten church school class. Some of us would answer Jesus question: "Who am I?" like the little boy in Heaven is for Real. We would say Jesus is a real person up in heaven who rides around on a white horse and hugs people when they come to heaven for a visit. Yet I wonder if Jesus, being the earthy Jewish carpentar scriptures portray him to be, would not be wanting something different from us when he asks, "Who do you say that I am?"

Here is my own answer to the question: "Who is Jesus?" Jesus is the Christ in me, the hope of glory. That may sound a little New Age to you. My answer does connect myself to Jesus in a very personal manner. Yet, this is the very manner in which the Apostle Paul answered the question. Paul referred to Jesus as "the Christ in me, the hope of glory." That understanding of Christ could be understood as a mystical connection that goes deeper than blood kin.

This makes for interesting conversation but it doesn't answer the question of what's going on in the market today? Is my job safe? Is our country's economy doomed? How did we get to the place where we once again are staring into the abyss? Those are the questions of today. You hear the answers in the media. It's the European Union's fault, especially Greece. It's the S&P's fault for downgrading the rating of the United States. But our question for today is not about the economy it is about Jesus. And no matter how hard we may try to change the subject, we still see Jesus standing there with imploring eyes waiting to hear our answer to his question: "Who do you say that I am?"

After a prolonged silence, Peter pipes up in a moment of divine inspiration and says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus loves his answer. Thank goodness for Peter! He is seemingly the ADD disciple with attention deficit disorder. He speaks his mind. He does what comes to him. He takes the initiative. Need someone to try walking on water? Peter is your man. Need someone to tell Jesus to lay off talking about the cross? Peter will do that. No wonder a short time later Jesus will tell this same Peter, "Get behind me Satan." This Peter is the rock upon which the church is built. That tells me God never expects or demands perfection in people or in churches. Peter was certainly not perfect but he is the one whom Jesus chose to be an example for the church to follow.

If we are to follow Peter, we will become people of action more than people of speech. We will walk the walk and not just talk the talk. We do that her at St. John's. We are all over the map in missions. We have several new mission initiatives just this summer in the Mustard Seed Grant projects. We are doers of the Word and not hearers only. Peter applauds us for that. So does Jesus. Yet neither Peter nor Jesus expects perfection in us.

Peter was not perfect and he would not have been my choice for leader of the church. He doesn't exhibit the flawless character, the intellectual profundity, the spiritual depth I would prefer in the founder of my church. Instead, I would prefer to have the Apostle Paul as the rock upon which Christ built his church. But Peter gets the nod and I will tell you this: I am really glad to hear that he is the one in charge of heaven's gates! Someone like him may understand someone like me—someone who finds answers hard to come by, who finds it easier and safer to repeat other people's answers—because I have not thought about my own, or because I do not trust God to help me with them. Or someone who goes ahead and says things and then regrets them, or makes brave promises, like, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you," (Matthew 26:35) and then loses heart, saying not once but three times, "I do not know the man." (Matthew 26:74)

If Peter is the rock upon which the church is built then there is hope for all of us, because he is one of us, because he remains God's chosen rock whether he is acting like a cornerstone or a stumbling block, and because he shows us that blessedness is less about perfectness than about willingness—that what counts is to risk our own answers, to go ahead and try, to get up one more time that we fall.

The story of Peter's last encounter with Jesus is told not by Matthew but by John. It takes place on a beach, where the risen Lord has just cooked breakfast for his disciples. As soon as the meal is over, Jesus turns to Peter ands asks him, not once but three times, "Do you love me?" Three times Peter answers, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." And three times Jesus replies, "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17), which leads you to think that maybe the final answer Jesus seeks from those who love him is not an answer that is spoken so much as one that is lived, that the real truth about who he is for each one of us shows up not on our lips but in our lives.

The desire to reach out and share is a characteristic of Christian churches. I saw this in the churches I recently visited. Christ the King Lutheran Church in Rice Village hosts a resilient community action group called Transition Houston. The church provides the group with meeting space and the group provides the church with free yard work. Crosspoint Church in Bellaire is starting a new ministry similar to our apartment ministry but more involved as it provides 3 meals a day and a full time volunteer staff person living in a house with the cancer patients. Churches do things. We don't just talk about things. As the Epistle to James puts is, "Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only."

Maybe that is the meaning of the odd ending of this text. Peter has just proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah. Then Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. I wonder if Jesus was concerned that the disciples not think that talking about it was the most important thing. I wonder if he meant for the disciples to do something about it. Perhaps Jesus wanted the disciples to build solar water systems in Haiti more than he wanted them to write theological treatises about the Divinity of Christ. Both are important endeavors but Jesus seems to prefer action to words. That's why he chose Peter as the leader of the church but then told them all to keep their mouths shut about it. Actions speak louder than words.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on August 21, 2011

Divine Counselor

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:59:00 +0000

John 14:15-21

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

"I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

- - -

In our text today, Jesus is saying good bye to his disciples. He tells them when he leaves them he will not leave them alone. He says he will send them send them some help. In fact, he promises to send them a helper. Here is how Jesus describes the helper whom he will send to his disciples: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." (John 14:15-ff)

We know the term advocate. Some of us serve as advocates for others. For instance, Partners in Educational Advocacy is a ministry of St. John's Presbyterian Church. This ministry was created when some of our members learned about a 12 year old boy who could not read. This 12 year old boy could not identify and give the sounds of all 26 letters in our alphabet but had passed the 6th grade modified state mandated tests. A few of our members took it upon themselves to serve as counselors for this boy and his family and advocates for them in dealing with his dsyfunctional school system. As one of them said about their experience with that school district (and no, it wasn't Houston Indepedent School District): "I felt like Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party when trying to talk with them."

An answer to prayer occurred last summer when YES Prep opened a campus in that school district serving grades 6 and 9 and adding two grades each year. This year they will serve grades 6, 7, 9, and 10. Administrators told our advocates they were very surprised at the levels at which the students performed. Our advocates worked with the family of the 12 year old boy who couldn't read and got all three of the children from that family enrolled in YES Prep in early June. It was rewarding to help these parents get their children into a better school where they can learn to read and other vital skills. This is an example of how we at St. John's are serving as advocates to others and meeting their needs. We commit such acts because we are reflecting how Christ works with us. Christ sends us an advocate, a counselor, to teach us the Holy Spirit's ways and means. We reach out to others because God in Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to reach out to us.

There are other ways you can be a counselor. A counselor is a person who listens, guides, comforts and challenges. A counselor may be a friend or a professional. Professional counselors include career counselors at the high school level or counseling psychologists who get paid by the hour. Finding a friend to listen to your ideas and thoughts and confide in about your dreams is an important part of a personal resilience strategy.

In order to find a friend you will need to be a friend. This means you will need to be available to the other person. Spend time with them. Listen to them. Friends who listen are the most cost effective counselors available. You can be a counselor to a friend by developing your listening skills. Active listening is the term used to describe how to listen to someone. The main thing to do is to keep your mouth closed and your ears open while your friend is talking. Do not make moral judgements or jump to conclusions or try to solve their problems for your friend. By practicing active listening you are giving your friend the opportunity to hear themselves think out loud. This in itself is a healing experience. Often just hearing ourselves think out loud gives the speaker a broader perspective or insight about a problem, issue or concern.
In our text today the Holy Spirit is called the Counselor. John, chapters 14-16, is the high water mark in the Bible about the Holy Spirit. If you want to find out about the Holy Spirit, you can read the book of Acts, but an even better place to read about the Spirit is John 14-16. Within these three chapters, the Spirit is called "counselor" five times.

When we think of the Spirit of God as counselor, this means that the Holy Spirit is personally concerned about us. God, our counselor, is not a detached listener who listens politely to us for fifty minutes, asks for payment and then wants us to leave, so the next customer can get in. If the mark of a good counselor is that he/she is personally concerned about our welfare and well being, then God is truly a good counselor. God is truly concerned about what is good for us.

What kind of counselor is the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is a non-judgmental counselor. God, the Spirit, does not judge us for what we say, think or feel. Can you imagine God hearing every word we ever said; listening in on our every thought; seeing our every action? It is embarrassing to think that someone knows that much about us, seeing and hearing our every thought. And God still does not condemn us. Nor does God condone our thoughts and feelings and actions. But God does not condemn us in our humanness, and therefore we are free to tell God more.

The purpose of this Spirit/Counselor is to help us grow towards maturity and wholeness. Our goal in the Christian life is not to reach perfection. Our goal is to reach maturity. Maturity does not mean we do not make mistakes. Maturity means we are more experienced and seasoned and wise in our approach to life. We know that money is not the goal of life. I know people who are striving to make millions of dollars and some of them have. That is fine and good. I have no problem with people making money. But when making money becomes your number one goal in life then you have lost the plot. Go find a way to help a million people make a middle class income. Find a way to create a million good jobs. That is better than finding one job that makes a million dollars only for you.

The Holy Spirit, the Divine Counselor, facilitates growth and maturity within us. We all have blocks that prevent growth. Blocks of sin and imperfection. These qualities block us from becoming what God wants us to be. We have blocks due to the inner scars of childhood conflicts. Blocks due to our birth order. Blocks due to deeply ingrained personality habits. Blocks due to addictions. Blocks due to bad decisions and choices we have made. We all have these blocks within us. What are those blocks in your inner life? What are those qualities which are preventing you from growing into maturity and wholeness? God, the Holy Spirit, helps us see the truth about ourselves, and our blocks that inhibit growth. God guides us into new directions and ways of dealing with our inner blocks.

Some people have the illusion that God, the Spirit, the Counselor, will solve all our problems. That is not true. Like any good counselor, the Spirit enables us to become stronger. Nor does the Spirit/Counselor make decisions for you. Sometimes, that is just what we want; we want God to make the decisions for us, especially difficult decisions. Rather, God is the Spirit/Counselor who comes to our side and gives us the strength and new resources and new insights, so we can make difficult and painful decisions. But the Spirit/Counselor does not solve our problems or make decisions for us. Nor does any good counselor. I like that passage from Philippians where God says that the love in us is to grow and grow and grow so that we will make the best choices. I like that; the focus is on love and wisdom growing inside, whereby we can make the best choices.

It was the evening of Holy Thursday and the disciples were gathered together for the last supper. This was Jesus' last meal with his disciples and he soon was to be leaving them to die. And he said, "When I go, I will not leave you deserted. I will not leave you orphans. But I will send my Spirit, the Counselor, who will live in you and guide you. I and my Father will come to live in you and we will guide you in the truth. We will be your Counselor."

We thank God for the Holy Spirit who is our divine counselor. We praise God for the divine counselor, the Holy Spirit who ...

is a non-judgmental counselor.

will not leave us desolate or orphans.

is personally concerned about us.

is a non-judgmental counselor.

is a facilitator of growth and maturity within us.

helps us see the truth about ourselves, and our blocks that inhibits growth. God guides us into new directions and ways of dealing with our inner blocks.

does not solve our problems or make decisions for us.

who helps us follow Jesus by doing his work (vv. 12-14) and keeping his commandments.

As you may know, I'm going to be away for the next four weeks. While I am away, I am going to leave you with a counselor. Her name is Rev. Linda Herron. She will be available to visit those who are ill, encourage the faithful, support the downhearted, and share the gospel as she sees it in the sermon each Sunday. I trust that for the next 4 weeks you will welcome her into your hearts and into your homes as you have welcomed me. In the meantime, I solicit your prayers for me while I am away. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be a Divine Counselor to me. Pray that the Divine Counselor will encourage and support me, renew my energy and spirit, and guide me back to this congregation with a rekindled faith and vision for how God wants us to engage in mission with this community and our world. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support. I will also use the time to be in prayer for you and for our congregation. May the Holy Spirit be very close to each of us throughout the rest of this summer and on into the fall.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on July 17, 2011.

There Is No Condemnation

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Romans 8:18-27

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The majestic 8th chapter of the letter of Paul to the Romans begins with the gospels' astonishing conclusion: "There is therefore now no condemnation." The death sentence hanging over all humanity has been removed for those who are in Jesus Christ. This is a sudden reversal of death's judgment, announce in open court for all to hear. The gavel has come down and found you guilty, thus giving God his due. There is no loophole, no higher court to which one might appeal; the verdict is final. The law is God's terrible and inescapable judgement of the death sentence. (Steven D. Paulson, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol 3, p 230).

The death sentence. Perhaps you have felt the seriousness of that judgement in another setting. One young man, also named Paul, experienced what felt like the death sentence during the final exam of a college course. He was majoring in zoology at college. One semester this young contemporary Paul took a course in the study of birds – ornithology. For the final exam, Paul studied until he had the textbook nearly memorized. He knew his class notes backward and forward. He was eager to take the exam, certain of getting a good grade.

The morning of the exam, Paul took a seat in the front row of the big auditorium where the class was held. Over 100 students were in the class with him. On a table at the front was a row of 10 stuffed birds, each one with a sack covering its body so that only the legs were visible.

The professor announced, "For this test, which counts for 80% of your final grade, I want you to identify each bird up here by its legs, and then discuss its species, natural habitat, and mating patterns. You may begin."

Paul stared at the birds. All the legs looked the same to him. After spending half the exam period in growing frustration as he tried to determine which bird was which, he picked up his exam and threw it on the professor's desk.

"This is ridiculous!" he shouted. "I studied the textbook and my notes all night, and now you're asking me to name these birds by looking at their legs? Forget it!"

The professor picked up the exam booklet and saw that it was blank. "What's your name, young man?"

With that, Paul yanked one leg of his pants up. "Why don't you tell me?"

Paul's response probably didn't earn him a passing grade, although I must admit, I admire his creativity! (story via http://www.earlytorise.com/2011/06/30/cultivate-creativity-to-grow-success/)

I also admire the creativity of this other Paul, the one we know as the Apostle Paul, who writes in our text today: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (v. 1) Really, now?! No condemnation? I think I may safely say there is none among us who is sinless.

I was reminded this week of the story of a preacher was making his rounds on a bicycle, when he came upon a little boy trying to sell a lawn mower. "How much do you want for the mower?" asked the preacher.

"I just want enough money to go out and buy me a bicycle." said the little boy.

After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, "Will you take my bike in trade for it?"

The little boy asked if he could try it out first. He told the preacher he hadn't ridden a bicycle in a long time and wasn't sure he could still ride one.

The preacher told him, "Just keep trying. It'll come back to you."

After riding the bike around a little while, the little boy said, "Mister, you've got yourself a deal."

The preacher took the mower and began to crank it. He pulled on the rope a few times with no response from the mower. The preacher called the little boy over and said, "I can't get this mower to start."

The little boy said, "That's because you have to cuss at it to get it started."

The preacher said, "I can't cuss. It's been so long since I became a Christian that I don't even remember how to cuss."

The little boy looked at him happily and said, "You just keep pulling on that rope. It'll come back to you."

I know I am not sinless. And neither are you. Yet when Paul speaks of sin he is not talking about our usual moral failures such as cussing or forgetting to pray for someone when we said we would do it. Paul speaks of sin as something larger and more pervasive than our individual moral failures. Paul considers sin to be power that resides in the world and in us. So to hear that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is strangely good news.

Yes, this is very good news in a world that is full of the power of death. Just turn on the TV to the news channel and see the latest carnage in Libya. Or click on chron.com on the web and read about the latest gruesome death scene. Death's power lingers and nips at us all throughout our lives. Just ask any alcoholic about the power of death and if they are honest they will tell you about the living death they know. Ask any parent of a child who is dying from a devastating disease, and your will hear of the power of death to break a heart even before the child's body gives up. Yet, even the terrible power of death is not enough to stop "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead" (v. 11).

For an alcoholic, there are two choices: the way of death and the way of life. The first step is to admit that we are powerless over alcohol and that our lives have become unmanageable. The second second is to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. The third is to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.

So it is for the Christian. Substitute the word "sin" for "alcohol," and you have the crux of this passage. We are powerless over sin, which will inevitably lead us to death; but in the Spirit we have the possibility of life. Sin is still a daily possibility; God has not eliminated it form this world once and foralall-not yet. However, a life of righteousness is also a possibility now, because of the Spirit's power.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (v. 1). This freedom does not take us out of our bodies and fly us up into a netherworld beyond the pearly gates. Instead it frees us to live fully in this world, in this mortal body we have. This freedom is ours in Christ. It is the result of the power of God, a power greater than the sum of all the powers.

--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on July 10. 2011

Freedom, Reliance and Relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Psalm 145:8-14

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power,

to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed.

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules; so, the husband flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife making the trip the next day. The husband checked into the hotel.

There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. She decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. Her son rushed into the room, found her on the floor, and saw the computer screen, which read:

To: My Loving Wife.

I have Arrived. I'll bet you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, and you can send emails. Everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. P.S. Sure is hot down here!!!!

Well, it sure is hot down here in Houston on this 4th of July weekend as we worship God in this cool sanctuary. Whether expressed as warm and clappy or cool and restrained, worship has always seemed exciting to me. Whether it is clap happy worship with hands held high and singing in an unknown language or the more dignified, orderly service we practice here, worship has always been life giving to me. I remember as a small child standing up in on the pew by my parents waving my hands up and down in imitation of the music director who was directing the hymn we were singing. I was full of unselfconscious joy. Of course, the other worshipers, including my parents, found that a bit distracting and so it was brought to a swift end.

Worship has been life giving to me. I have found it a way to connect myself to a greater cause, a higher power, and the rest of humanity. Worship has never been and end to a means but rather an end in itself. We don't worship just to energized to go out and serve God in the world. We worship also because worship is the right thing to do as a human being. It is a visible expression of our metaphysical relationship to the cosmos. Worship proclaims that we belong on this earth. Worship reminds us that this earth is not our final destination. Just as Jesus was said to be like a fox in that he had nowhere in particular to lay his head at night, we are poor, wayfaring strangers, traveling through this world of woe.

Worship is serious business interspersed with comic moments.

Psalm 45, found at the end of the Davidic collection, is the only one of the psalms given the clear title of "Praise." It also appears in teh Jewish prayer book mor than any other psalm. It has been an important part of the liturgy of God's people down through the ages. This Psalm expresses the beliefs of the worshipping community.

Rabbi Poupko of Chicago describes Psalm 145 as the "prayer of all prayers" and the "entry way to the Psalms," to be prayed three times each day by the devout. According to the Talmud, "Everyone who repetat the Thillh of David thrivce a day may be sure that he is a child of the world to come' (Berakot, 4b quoted by Robert A. Cathey in Feasting on the Word:Year A, Vol 3, 200.

Our session has been discussing Reggie McNeal's book Missional Renaissance. One of the critiques of the book is that it seems to downplay one of our essential tenets as Presbyterians. We believe one of the primary reasons the church exists is to worship God. Therefore, we may be a fully functioning and effective church if all we do is worship God and preach the Word from scripture in a relevant and appropriate manner. Yes, we are blessed to bless others, as McNeal points out, and we are also blessed to bless God. Our worship is a way of blessing the One Higher Power who blesses us. We are giving back to the Great Giver. We are reaching out to the one who picks us up when we fall down.

Yes, we do fall down. There is no denying it. We fall behind on our rent or our car payment or our child support. We fall behind in paying our pledge to the church. We fall in other ways. Sometimes, we literally fall down and break a hip. That may lead to further changes such as finding ourselves laying in a hospital bed after reconstructive surgery or sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing. We fall down.

As the Apostle Paul puts it: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15) With the same tongue and lips we both praise God and curse God. We are up and down, happy and sad, hopeful and full of despair. Life is messy. The road ahead is never clear. There are always options. Choices have to be made.

In the movies and in real life in places of war and violent upheaval, people fall down when they get shot. They are wounded, sometimes fatally wounded. We fall down on our knees when we pray. We lose our balance when we fall down. Falling down on our knees is an appropriate symbolical posture for prayer. We fall down because we are wounded spiritually, morally, financially, physically, emotionally. We are wounded so we fall down on our knees to pray.

And it is there, from that position of fallenness, down on our knees in prayer, it is from there that God lifts us up. Yes, what the Psalmist says holds true today just as it did 3,000 years ago, "The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed." (Psalm 145:14) As the great old hymn, Jesus Is All the World to Me, puts it, "When I am sad, He makes me glad, He's my friend."

On this Fourth of July weekend we celebrate our freedom and independence. Yet in this time of great opportunity many of us don't feel very free. Beyond the public controversy over TSA agents groping citizens trying to board airplanes, there is also the issue of private freedom within ourselves. Many of us are not living the lives that we had planned on living. We have trouble making choices. And we wonder if we will ever get to that place where we will finally be happy. Worst of all, when you are free, you have only yourself to blame for being unhappy.

When we were children and had to do what we were told by parents and teachers who just didn't understand us, we knew that if only we could get free of that, we would be okay. The burden of maturity is having to take responsibility for how your life is turning out. Now that we are free to do what we want, where we want, when we want, and with whom we want, there is no one to blame for our problems but ourselves.

Some of us still try to blame others. But the more you listen to someone blame others for their unhappiness the more it sounds like the familiar whining of children. You can blame the office where it is all politics, or the parent who wasn't very loving, or the mythical they who are trying to take something away from you. But this weekend our nation is throwing a big party to proclaim that you are free. The pursuit of happiness is all yours. So if you are still struggling to get the life you want, the freedom battle isn't really out there. It is within your own soul.

Mariette in Ecstasy is a novel by Ron Hansen. The novel begins with Mariette entering a convent to become a nun. Joining this convent has been the goal of her life from the time she was young girl because she wants so much to do the right thing with her life and is convinced that means settling into a devout, regimented life in the convent. But after her arrival, she falls deeply in love with Jesus Christ. She prays differently from the other nuns, focusing not on her prayers but on the one to whom she is praying. She is literally in love with Jesus and develops a relationship with him that is too powerful to be contained by the careful routines of monastic life. She finds joy in what should be hardship. Eventually she even bears Christ's stigmata on her body which is too much for the other nuns. So she is kicked out of the convent for her excesses in piety. The failure is devastating to her; she feels disgraced as she is exiled into the unregimented world.

Thirty years later, she writes a letter back to the convent describing what she has learned about the love of God and freedom. The closing lines of the letter are the closing lines of the novel: "We try to be formed and held and kept by Christ, but instead he offers us freedom. And now when I try to know his will, his kindness floods me, his great love overwhelms me, and I hear him whisper, 'Surprise me.'" (Taken from an online sermon by Craig Barnes called "The Pursuit of Freedom" preached at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in 2004)

We value worship because it puts us as human beings in our proper place in the world. Worship reminds us that we are creatures who are created and loved by God but we are not the same thing as God. We live in a culture that says our value comes from being self sufficient human beings but our Bible teaches us that our value comes from our mutual reliance upon God. Somewhere between our personal responsibility and our reliance upon God comes a balance that leads to greater joy. If you listen closely this morning, you may hear God's still small voice saying, "Hey, listen, get up off your knees, surprise me."
--
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX on July 3, 2011

Called to Bear Witness

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Burnham) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:44-53)

- - -

Two hunters –Stosh and Stan – got a pilot to fly them into the Canadian wilderness, where they managed to bag two big bull moose.

As they were loading the plane to return, the pilot said the plane could take only the hunters, their gear, and one moose.

The hunters objected strongly, saying, "Last year we shot two, and the pilot let us take them both. And he had exactly the same airplane as yours."

Reluctantly the pilot, not wanting to be outdone by another bush pilot, gave in and everything was loaded.

However, even under full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down, crashing in the wooded wilderness.

Somehow, surrounded by the moose, clothing, and sleeping bags, Stosh and Stan survived the crash.

After climbing out of the wreckage, Stosh asked Stan, "Any idea where we are?"

Stan replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year."

We Christians are a funny lot. We keep doing the same thing over and over always expecting a different result each time. We keep looking up to heaven trying to get a glimpse of Jesus when he is standing right beside us, even dwelling within us. But we don't look within because we have been trained to look beyond. Jesus is both beyond and within. We have been trained from childhood to emphasize Jesus beyond us and to minimize Jesus within.

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is a Muslim temple and holy site. In the middle of the building is a large rock jutting up from the floor. This is the rock from which Mohammed is said to have ascended into heaven riding on a horse. As I looked at the rock I did have a sense that this was a sacred space. Thousands and thousands of people who have viewed this site with faith give it a sacred presence. Yet I couldn't help but hold back a little smirk that wanted to creep across my face. Frankly, it was hard for me to envision Mohammed riding through the air on the back of a horse.

This mystical ascension into heaven is not unique to the Islamic faith. We have ample examples of it in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament we have Elijah ascending, Ezekiel ascending in the wheel.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul describes his own mystical experience of ascending into heaven. In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, here is how Paul describes what happened to him:

"I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat." (2 Cor 12:1-4, NRSV)

And of course in the New Testament we have Jesus' ascension into heaven. In the gospel story of Jesus' ascension into heaven, we fare better if we focus on the sacred nature of the event and what it teaches us to do than on the physics of how it may or may not have happened. Frankly, it doesn't make physical sense that Jesus blessed his disciples and floated up into the sky. This is a wild claim and there is no way to sugar coat it. Yet beyond the how question which we will never answer is the why question and that is the question we will consider this morning.

Some ancient manuscripts do not have the part about ascending into heaven, they just leave it that Jesus blessed them and left. Yet the ascension of Jesus became one of the essential components of orthodox Christian faith. As the Apostle's Creed says of Jesus, "He was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right of God." Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended. The Ascension comes a symbolic 40 days after crucifixion. This is a symbolic event that doesn't leave us hanging. The message to us disciples is clear. As Jesus said to his disciples so he says to us: "You are witnesses of these things." Look around you and see your mission.

Today we commission some members in mission to Guatemala and Uganda. They will be going to places where the needs are greater than we experience here in this city. Yes, there are pockets of poverty in this city in the Third Ward and elsewhere. But the level of poverty in some parts of Guatemala and Uganda exceeds what we see normally see in this city. I have heard from others who have been to these and similar places that beneath the abject poverty there is a hospitality and a joy and a delight in life that we who live in this wealthy nation would find remarkable. What is the source of joy for those who seem to have so little in the way of material things? Perhaps they may teach us about the different kinds of wealth in this world. There is the wealth of money and material things and then there is the wealth of family relationships and a sense of connection to the land. Often when we go out in mission we find that we are the one being changed and challenged more than the people to whom we hope to minister. We find that we are the ones who are poor in spirit. This is a revelation worth traveling to obtain. Our supportive prayers go with our missionaries as they go out into the world to bear witness to what we have seen in Jesus. As our closing hymn today puts it: "We all are one in mission. We all are on in call. Our varied gifts united by Christ the Lord of all."

We also are in mission in our daily lives, in our homes, where we work and go to school. But sometimes we don't feel like we are performing important mission work. Instead, we feel bloated, lazy, unfocused, and scatter brained. We don't know where God may be and Jesus seems missing in action. Our chances of running into Jesus seem to slim to none and slim is out of town. Perhaps instead of looking up for Jesus we should be looking down. Perhaps instead of looking out for Jesus we should be looking in for Jesus. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says: "If you split a piece of wood, I am there." The point is that Christ is hidden in plain view. We look out for Christ when we should look within for Christ. We gaze up into the sky when we should look at the ground beneath our feet.

The Christ in you doesn't die, it resurrects. The ascension is to a future state of higher consciousness.

You are supposed to ascend. What is keeping you from ascending into heaven? What is keeping you tied down. If Jesus yoke is easy and his burden is light, what has you bound? What keeps you down? What is Prozac are you taking? What are you trying to forget? What are you trying to forget by overeating, drinking too much, working too many hours? What are you avoiding? These are the kinds of questions we must answer on this Ascension Sunday.

There is a story about two mountain hikers who come across a huge grizzly bear. The bear rears up. They figure that the bear is going to make a run for them. One of them reaches down and laces up his shoes. "Why bother?" says the other hiker. "You can't outrun a bear!" The first guy says, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you." Is this what Jesus is doing in the Ascension? Is he "running away" from the world? Yes, according to the story, Jesus mission was accomplished and it was time for him to depart from this world. Yet, in another sense, Christ has never left this earth. This theme is taken up in at the beginning of the Book of Acts which provides a more detailed portrait of Jesus Ascension.

When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"

He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, "You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left." (Acts 1:6-11, The Message)

So now the story has expanded significantly. The disciples are going to get something out of this, the Holy Spirit. Next week we continue this story as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday.

In today's readings, Jesus blesses his followers, telling them to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in his name. But first they must wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. His followers return to the temple to worship God. Jesus ascended into heaven. One day, some way, so we will we. No, we won't be riding a horse up into heaven as Mohammed was said to have done. We will not be floating off into the skies as Jesus was said to have done. We will ascend into heaven by doing the daily grind with integrity and persistence. We will ascend into heaven by discovering Christ within us and within every material object.

The ascension is that moment in time when the mystical meets the physical. That moment in time for us is right now. This is the only moment we have. Let's make is a sacred moment. The body of Christ broken for you. The blood of Christ shed for you. Christ is still present and available to us in the ordinary things of life such as bread and grape juice. This is trail mix for the missionaries in our midst. That includes each of us here today. Even you. Jesus last words to his disciples are his present words to us: "You are witnesses of these things."

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-The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas on Ascension of the Lord Sunday, June 5, 2011.