Job 1:1-3, 13-21 

At 8:45 am on September 11, 2011 our world changed. Our nation would never be the same. So many questions confronted us; so few answers were available. How can people be so evil? Where was God?
Questions are hard to answer in tragic times. Yet, we keep asking questions, because on this 10^th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, we relive the horror.

        If you take a tour of The Bible you will find that one book has more questions than any other, the book of Job. Job has over 330 questions; Genesis, only 160; Matthew around 180. Job has more questions because the book deals with tragedy.

        Job is a righteous man, blameless and upright, greater than all others. Suddenly without warning, for no reason other than his goodness, Job’s family and businesses are wiped out. It was swift.

It was unwarranted. It was unconscionable.

        In many ways, the events of September 11^th echo the story of Job. For in thousands of years, life, the things that make life  meaningful -- faith, home, and friends -- have not changed. Job was silent when he received the reports that his businesses had been destroyed. When Job received the news that his children were dead, he got up, tore his robe, fell on his knees and cried,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.”   (1:21a)

Everything that had meaning in his life was gone. Just as he came into this world, so Job felt he was leaving it -- barren, without hope.

        From the news reports since 9-11, and the anniversary special editions in the papers, TV and Youtube, we are reminded of the many children our country lost: dads, moms, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. We saw their faces. We heard their stories. Grief has rolled across our country once more. We mourn people who died so horribly. We mourn the deaths of our service personnel, much too aware, that many more will die, before this war is over.

        Does mourning demoralize our people and paralyze our country?

No, it reveals our soul. While Job had a fence to protect him, his soul was hidden. When the protection was taken away, allowing Satan to have his way with Job, only then do we see Job’s true self,  the depths of his soul.

        Just because we are good does not mean we are protected from bad events. This is the message in Job. It is the Old Testament’s way of saying that even the most righteous and best of this earth are not immune to evil. The writer of Job understood this. Job did not. He was too caught up in his grief & loss.

        Job’s friends could not comprehend what happened. His three friends come to him and say, in effect, only those who have done evil,  perish. Those who are righteous are never destroyed. They thought Job had done terribly evil things for him to suffer so much.

        I was struck by a journalist’s comment made shortly after the attacks:

“We thought we were impervious to attack because of 2 great barriers -- the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Those are no longer barriers. They have been breached and our protection is gone.”      (I don’t remember who wrote this)  

I heard a Christian politician say that 9-11 was God’s Will. We need to have faith that something good will come out of this. Sisters and brothers, you cannot blame terrorist attacks on God. There is evil in this world! As good & great as America is, we do not have an exclusive and closed relationship with God. No person does. No country does. There is a third party in this world who at any moment can intrude.

Satan and all the evil he inspires intruded on September 11^th through the hearts and minds of ruthless people.

        Where, then, is God? Where is God when terrible tragedies befall us? Job wants to know why he has suffered. Why God allowed evil to happen? Job gets his answer when God visits him from out of a storm

and interrogates Job. Listen to some of the questions:
            

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me if you understand”     (38:4)

 “Do you have an arm like God’s and can your voice thunder like the Divine?”   (40:9)

“Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?”    (39:19)

After 86 questions from God, Job is silenced. He realizes he is only human; only a creature before the Creator. Job cannot possibly comprehend the meaning of the events around him. Finally, Job repents in dust and ashes.

        Where was God during the terrorist attacks? God was not crashing those four planes. I’ll tell where God was. God was in the firefighter’s gear, behind police badges, holding a scalpel and a syringe. God is in churches listening to prayers. God is near the hearts of all, who in the face of tragedy, love their neighbor, and turn to God.

        God continues to be with us, as we remember our tragedy, placing our hope in the triumph of God’s love and grace. Jesus says:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”          (Matthew 5:4)

“Come to Me all who are overburdened and I will give you rest.”             (Matthew 11:28) 

”I am the Resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live, and everyone lives and believes in Me will never die.”    (John 11:25-26)

There is our hope. When the world changes, we still have Jesus. Because Jesus lives, we, too, will live. We may live to be 100 or we may die in a terrorist attack.  As the Apostle Paul wrote:

"whether we live or die,we are in the Lord.”                     (Romans 14:8)

        Our hope is in Jesus, the Son of God. Our hope for healing the suffering of our nation. Our hope for healing the grief we have over a war we didn’t want to fight. Our hope for healing the pain in our souls over our own brokeness, our own hurting soul. So, what should we do?

Look for Jesus here, now. Jesus will never forsake us.

        Jesus is waiting to give you the hope, love and salvation that was prepared for you on the cross. Amen.

This sermon was preached from

the pulpit of Ginter Park United

Methodist Church, Richmond,

Virginia, on September 11^th, 2011

by the Reverend Dr. Dorothy

McNeer O’Quinn.

What A SummerFire in the Dismal swamp! So many acres burning that we have a smoke advisory.

Earthquake and aftershocks! Though living on an ancient fault line, we thought we were safe.

        Hurricane Irene! Not as bad as some we’ve experienced, but bad enough to inconvenience us all.

        Through it all, the one thing people talk about is electricity, or rather the lack, thereof.

                No air conditioning in the midst of high humidity. No refrigeration for our sweet ice tea.No gas pumping so we can’t go.No stop lights.No news bulletins.  No Starbucks, no WaWa, no open grocery stores. No ice -- anywhere. No TV, no computer, spotty cell phone coverage. No hot showers. No clean clothes.

        We are totally dependent on electricity. It controls our lives. As we gather to worship today, we are dependent on electricity for air conditioning, lights, and sound system. It begs the question: Is God as big a part of our lives as electricity? Do we depend on God for air conditioning, gasoline, coffee, showers and clean clothers? No. We depend on electricity.

        Our dependence on God is usually when we have something to celebrate, or when we’ve exhausted every other source of help and only God is left. What would our lives be like to depend on God with as much expectation as we have that the light will come on when we flip the switch?

        What does Scipture say? Do we know what is in the book called The Bible?  Or, do we know what we know because someone else told us what it says and what it means? The Bible is the story of God’s work in the world,  in and through God’s people, then why does it collect dust? When we do study God’s Word, questions arise. Some questions are answered in Sunday School; some during worship; some during Bible Study, but an often overlooked source of answers is God!

Have you tried asking God your questions? Questions are, after all, a good conversation starter. Questions can get you talking with God, praying to God, having a relationship with God.

        We know that solid relationships take time.  A good marriage doesn’t just happen. It takes work. Good, long lasting friendships don’t just happen.

They take work. So, why do we think we should have an instant connection with God? Why do we expect God to jump to it; to pull us out of a jam; or make things right, when we haven’t worked on the relationship?

        Remember, Jesus prayed in the good times, after  feeding 5,000 people, and in the bad times, right before His crucifixion. Jesus talked with God and questioned God. “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not My Will but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Then Jesus followed God’s Will.

Prayer takes many forms. There are formal, written prayers and prayers on the run. It doesn’t matter as long as it comes from the heart. Prayer can be one on one with God. Prayer can be with two or three. For Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there among them.”  (Matthew 18: 20) Prayer can be as a congregation gathers to worship. Prayer is important in building that relationship.

        In a few minutes, we will celebrate Holy Communion. It is a time to commune, to be in relationship with God, to acknowledge God’s presence in our lives.

        What do you think would happen if we spent as much time with God as we do with things that use electricity? Some would say life would be boring. Yet, just perhaps, our faith in God would grow and be stronger. Our bonds with family and friends would be deeper.

        A blessing of Hurricane Irene’s aftermath may be for us to acknowledge our dependence on God, and adjust our attitudes and habits, so our faith in God is an ever present reality in our lives. It will be well worth it, for all of us.

Preached on September 4, 2011

At Ginter Park United Methodist Church

By The Reverend Dorothy McNeer O’Quinn

 

Luke 7 11-17   6.6.10  “Overcoming Life’s Defeats” 

   The Palestinian village of Nain is a short distrance from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth and a day’s walk from Capernaum, Jesus’ center of ministry. The pallbearers are carrrying the body of a young man in a long wicker basket, covered by a shroud, for burial outside the city. Except for very important people, ancient Jews buried their dead outside the city, usually on the day of death, for embalming was not practiced.

      The dead man was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. This means she was without any economic support or security. Jesus saw this defeated mother and had compassion for her. “Do not weep,” He said.

      Talk about overcoming life’s defeats: THIS WAS IT! Jesus raises this young man as He had Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha.  Now, Jesus didn’t raise everybody from the dead, just as He didn’t heal everybody. But what Jesus did do then, and still does today, is help everyone rise above despair and defeat.

      How do we rise above defeat? For one thing, we do not deny the reality of our trouble. Biblical scholar William Barclay wrote:     

      “We live in a world of broken hearts.” 

                              (I remember the quote, not the source.)   Newspapers daily have stories of premature deaths, fractured

relationships and broken dreams. We have only to look at our own families, friends and neighbors. We have only to look into our own hearts.

      Jesus never insulted people by telling them their problems weren’t real. Jesus never told the sick they were not really sick or that their pain didn’t exist. Jesus never told people that death wasn’t real, nor did He offer this widowed mother platitudes to soothe her grieving heart. The storms of the spiritual, psychological world are real. Trouble and tragedy are real. Evil and death are real.

            Are you out of a job?

      Are your finances in a downward spiral?

      Do you have a serious illness?

Is your marriage not right? 
Is there a problem with your child or your parent?

      Are you enslaved to a debilitating habit?

Admit the problems. Don’t deny them. That’s the first step in overcoming. 

      Then, we need to have the courage to consider alternatives. A few years ago, I was counseling a woman, and over the course of several weeks, she recited in great detail the woes of her marriage, and the faults and foibles of her husband and their life together. She was a very unhappy woman. Yet, when it came to considering alternatives, she had an excuse every time:

• Her husband was abusive and would not consider counseling.
• Separation or divorce was not an option, even though their son was grown.
• She couldn’t afford to live on just her very good salary, her standard of living would be lower without his money.

And so it went. She stayed unhappy because she would not look at any alternatives.

      I see this over and over again. People come to a dead end because they want the future to be just like the past -- but better  -- without any effort on their part. They are afraid of possibility, adjustment or change.

                  Jesus told the sick:

“Have faith, stand up & walk.”

      Jesus asked the blind:

“Do you want to see?”

      Jesus instructed:

“Take up your cross & follow Me.”

      Jesus encouraged:

“If you have faith you can move mountains.”

It was Jesus who refused to be defeated by circumstances. Instead, He considered alternative ways of thinking and acting. Want to rise above defeat? Then let go of the past, the dead-ends, the cul-de-sacs and the corners you’ve painted yourself into. Consider the alternatives Jesus wants to show you.

      Then, we must allow ourselves to be touched by Jesus. One of the surest ways to defeat is to assume that all reality begins and ends with you.

When we feel defeated, we’ve allowed our own world and self-understanding to collapse in around us. Many discouraged and despairing people suffocate in their own conceit, caught in the grip of doubt, refusing to question their own stale definitions of self and reality.

      In contrast, Jesus calls us to open up to God in prayer for possibilities within God’s Will.

      We are forever learning that God is FOR us, not against us.

It is we who are against ourselves, in our myopia, our rigidity, our fear, our arrogance and stubbornness. We are slow learners, refusing God’s touch of a new idea, a new self-understanding, a new job, a new opportunity, a new vital power God has to give. 

      Isaiah the prophet wrote:

           Seek the Lord while He may be found

      Call upon Him while He is near…

      For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

      Neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord

      For as the heavens are highter than the earth,

      So are My ways higher than your ways

      and My thoughts than your thoughts.

                                                                                       (Is 55:6,8-9) 

   Jesus spoke to the dead man that day in the village of Nain and raised him to new life. Jesus still raises people up from discouragement, despair and death itself –- into new life.

      As Jesus said to that young man in Nain long ago, so Jesus says to each of us today: “I say to you, arise.”

      And you will. 

 

A friend, who holds a sweet place in my heart, called me from Barnes and Noble one afternoon to ask for my help in selecting a book. He wanted a long book, to get his money’s worth. He also wanted a challenge, so it didn’t matter if the book was a difficult read.

I promised him, that if he read the whole book, I would treat him to lunch at his favorite restaurant. I bought his lunch last fall and he handed me 900 pages ofDon Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

It is the story of Don Quixote, a gentleman, who sits around the hacienda all day reading about knights, chivalry and gallantry. Since he has nothing better to do, he decides to become a knight. The only problem is, as Don Quixote says:

“The sole end of my labours is to convince the world of its error, in not seeking to renew those most happy times, when the order of knight-errantry exerted itself in full perfection; but, this depraved age of ours is unworthy of tasting that felicity which was enjoyed by those ages, when knights-errant undertook the charge, and burdened their shoulders with the defence of kingdoms, the protection of damsels, the relief of wards and orphans, the chastizement of the proud, and the promotion of thehumble.”   (p. 499) 

Because of the novel Don Quixote, we have the word "quixotic," which means naïve and out of touch with reality. It is not a compliment to be called "quixotic." It means you are irrelevant, eccentric and probably a bit crazy.

 The Spanish philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno, suggests Don Quixote represents the person of faith in our time. The Middle Ages was not only the time of knights, it was also called the "Age of Faith." By the time of Cervantes, that age was gone. Culture was no longer dominated by Christianity. A new world was emerging. From that point on in history, to be a Christian in the minds of many people was to be like Don Quixote, who was looked upon as ridiculous, an anachronism who believes irrational things, with dreams that can never be fulfilled.

Ted Turner, the multibillionaire, said he disliked Christianity because it was a religion of losers, and he is right. Christianity is based on a vision of what this world should be, a world of people living together in peace, a world where everyone finds the fulfillment of their life that God intended for them, a vision where men and women will live for the Kingdom of God.

Unamuno, who was a devout Roman Catholic, compared Don Quixote to the saints of the Church. Unamuno said what characterized the saints is:

a "disparity between the hugeness of their desire and the smallness of reality,"     what a phrase, a "disparity between the hugeness of their desire and the smallness of reality."

 To live with a huge desire in a finite, sinful world means that you are going to experience defeat. You may even be labeled as a "loser". It is especially difficult in a time when success is defined by adapting your dreams and ideals to the smallness of the world. Don Quixote wouldn't do that. The saints wouldn't do that. Jesus wouldn't do that. Jesus was crucified because He would not compromise His Vision of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said:

"What does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul."

Our soul, our very essence, is that which leads us to dreams and visions, pulling us on to something that is greater than ourselves.

Our scripture lesson from the “Acts of the Apostles” is the first Christian sermon. Peter is explaining the miracle they are experiencing and he quotes the prophet Joel:

                "Your sons and your daughters  shall prophesy,

and your young shall see visions, and your old shall dream dreams." 

The reason, the disciples are on fire, the reason why they are behaving in such an extraordinary way is because they are now inspired by a Vision, a Vision of the way the world will be. There can be a new heaven and a new earth!

From Pentecost on, the mission of the Church is to give young people a vision of what this world can be,ofwho they can be,  AND to keep older people dreaming, not letting them get discouraged about the Vision.

The Disciples have been transformed by a Vision. They refuse to conform the hugeness of that Vision to the smallness of the world. I smile when I think about Ruth Gordon, the actress. She was discouraged from becoming an actress by her parents, by her teachers and by her acting coach. She was too short. She was not attractive. Her acting skills were not that great. Well, she made it. She became a star. Ruth Gordon’s motto was:

"Never face the facts unless you are ready to forget them."

Ruth Gordon would not reduce the hugeness of her dream to the smallness of the facts.

Christians are called to do just that. For theirs is a goal greater than this world, a Vision greater than our culture can imagine. 

That is why Paul wrote to the Philippians:

"I am not yet what I am going to be. But I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made  me His own."     (3:12)                                                                     

People thought Don Quixote was so ridiculous because of whom he chose to be. A knight of courage and gallantry was no longer popular. He was the defender of noble causes, and nobody was doing that anymore.

You’ve heard the phrase: "inventing yourself."  There is also the phrase: “reinventing yourself," which is used primarily reserved for scandal ridden politicians! We can invent ourselves. We can even reinvent ourselves after images presented to us in the culture.  In the Age of Faith, it was the image of saints that instructed people who they were supposed to be. Now, we have the image presented before us of models, movie stars and television personalities. Our culture tells us to be who advertising tells us to be.

Maybe that is what makes the Christian look like a loser to Ted Turner, and to others, because we seek to be different. As it is put in the First Letter of John:

"It has not yet appeared what we shall be, but we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him." (3:2) 

To be a Christian means we pattern our life after Jesus. Jesus said:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

That’s the life we are to emulate.  Flannery O'Connor paraphrased Jesus saying:

"You shall know the truth and the truth shallmake you free,"

as:

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd,"        

just like Don Quixote.

For Christians – the vision – is what life is all about. Life is not about adapting to this world. Life is about praying and working for the Kingdom of God. People are successful in this world because they adapt to the world.

Christians are successful, faith-filled, because they work for the Kingdom of God. That is the Vision, the dream. And it’s not impossible! 

    I am now on page 640 of Don Quixote. I’m enjoying reading about Don Quixote jousting with windmills and taking on causes no one else is interested in. I am also reading the “Book of Acts”, enthralled by the power of the Vision that took frightened disciples and made them powerful witnesses to the Good News of Jesus, the Christ. That, my friends is God’s dream for us, and nothing is impossible with God.

Let us pray:

        Loving God, remind us every day of the Vision of Pentecost, that we, too, may live Your Kingdom into being.  Amen.

BLESSING:

May you be blessed by the Vision, The Vision of what God intends for this world to be, A Kingdom of grace, love & peace AND may you work to bring the Vision of Jesus into being. Amen.

“Happy Ending/Happy Beginning”

Can there be any more powerful experience in life than leaving someone you love? We have all seen the pictures of our soldiers and sailors preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. You can see the agony they feel all over their faces. With tears in their eyes, they embrace and give a parting farewell.

        Today is Ascension Sunday. The day we remember Jesus’ return to heaven. But what does the Ascension mean for us?

First, the Ascension means we can learn to depend upon God without being dependent upon God.

Many people in our society are raised to be dependent; dependent upon parents; dependent upon spouses. Yet, struggling with many of the gray issues of life and learning to think for yourself is just as vital to the spiritual process as it is to the maturation process.

        At the beginning of the musical, “Camelot”,  the magician Merlin is constantly trying to get King Arthur to think for himself. Every time a difficult decision arises, Arthur simply turns to Merlin for answers. We quickly understand who is the real power behind the throne. In the last scene, the Knights of the Round Table, once comrades & unified, are now warring against one another. Mordred has started a rebellion. Arthur has just found out about Lancelot and Guinevere. All seems lost. Arthur needs Merlin now more than ever, but Merlin is dead. Arthur will be tested, not by battle, but by the ability to make his own decisions. Now we find out what he is really made of. In desperation Arthur cries out:

        The Disciples understood Arthur’s blight. For three years their every move had centered on Jesus. If the disciples are to mature, Jesus must leave. Otherwise, the disciples would have grown to be even more dependent upon His physical presence.

        Instead of struggling with great moral issues in the light of what Jesus had said and done, the disciples would simply run to Jesus for all of the answers. In every perplexing situation in life, they would have counted on hearing His familiar voice and seeing His reassuring smile. There is security in that -- but not growth and maturity.

What was needed to launch them out into the world was not dependence on Jesus, but a deep abiding faith. As Jesus told Thomas:

The Ascension of Jesus says that at the heart of life, there is mystery.

That is a problem for us in the 21^st century. In this age of Google searches, terabyte processors, and instant news footage of world events, we are robbed of the unexpected. Opinion polls make it almost impossible to be surprised.

While I was working on this sermon, I was contacted three times by pollsters wanting my opinion. At first I was flattered, then I declined to give my opinion.

We are continually given statistics to tell us what is going to happen to our neighborhood, how many babies are going to be born in the next decade, how many people will be killed on the highways during a holiday weekend, how many couples will divorce this year, and what our life expectancy will be.
        The Ascension affirms that despite what we might think, life is still mystery. I cannot begin to explain how the Ascension of Jesus happened, although, I laugh every year when Jim asks me if we are going to sing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” or “Rocket Man”. It is interesting that the disciples did not attempt to explain the  Ascension of Jesus. They simply proclaimed it.
        In ancient Greek dramas, whenever the part of a deity would occur in the play, a man would be lowered from a box. After saying his lines,  he would be pulled back up by the machine. A kind of “god in a box” idea. Unfortunately, we too often see God in that role. When we want help, we want God very quickly. Lower God down. Let God do divine work. Then wheel God back up.

If the Ascension of Jesus affirms anything, it is that God is not controlled by machines. Jesus goes up to heaven in order that we might grow up. We are not in control of everything in life. As soon as we think that we can second-guess God, or wheel God up and down to solve our problem, we have lost faith. It is not necessary for us to have all of the answers in life. For in the end, our faith is more important than our knowledge.

The Ascension says that God has resources for each of us that have not yet been revealed.

Jesus was leaving them with a resource, that at that time, they didn't even know existed. God gives each of us resources that enable us to cope with whatever comes our way.
        Some years ago I came across an article quoting theologians, politicians, economists and military men living in the first half of the nineteenth century:
               In 1800 Bishop Barclay declined the position

of Archbishop of Canterbury with the words:

In 1801 William Wilberforce, the man instrumental in the anti-slavery movement in England said:

In 1806 William Pitt said:

In 1849 Benjamin Desrelli said:

In 1852 the dying Duke of Wellington said:

If that is all that you knew about the first half of the nineteenth century, you would probably conclude that the world was in its last days. Yet, during this same time period, while these men were making statements of gloom and despair, the following babies were born:

Who is to say what resources God will place at our disposal to face the future?

        When God called Moses, Moses tried to convince God, that since he had a speech impediment, the people would not listen to him. So God gave Aaron the job of spokesperson for Moses. Before we make snap, cynical judgments about the despairing events of our lives, we would do well to remember how God works in our lives.

        After my grandfather Frazier was injured in a factory accident, in the days before unions, workman’s comp, and disability insurance, my grandmother went to work in that factory to support her family. My grandmother’s job at Karistan was to fix mistakes in the rugs. She worked from the wrong side of the rug, looking for misplaced colored threads and bare spots. She would pull out the mistake and add the correct color by hand. Working from the back side of the rug, my grandmother only saw blocks of color while she was working. Only when she walked by the shipping department, did she see the beautiful designs and vibrant colors of the Karistan rugs.

(I brought a Karistan rug to show the blocks of color on one side and the beautiful pattern on the other.)

Life is like that. So often the events of our lives seem like blocks of color, on the wrong side of the rug, with no meaning, rhythm or reason.

Certainly the Ascension of Jesus must have appeared like that to the disciples. Yet, as the disciples looked back upon that event, and as we look back on our lives, we can see God's design in the fabric of our lives.
        The Ascension of Jesus was part of God's design. Jesus led His followers out to the small village of Bethany, blessed them and was taken up to heaven.

        And the Disciples?