Thanksgiving is.... Nov 18, 2007 PUMC Rory Swenson
I pointed out that the words from Paul in Philippians 4 were going to be the Bible verses for the sermon
and it is,,
Paul says in verse 11 (chpt 4) "I have learned to be content with whatever I have"
"to be content with whatever I have...full or empty
to have a little ..or to have a lot
then he says.. In verse 13 "I can do all things through him
who strengthens me."
Eugene Peterson in his version of this called the Message
he says
Whatever I have
wherever I am
I can make it through anything
in the One who makes me who I am
you hear that the one who makes me who I am
he seems to be trusting God for his life.
For .who I am he says
how ever it is.
.now that’s interesting
because some people might say
they might say
that Paul had a hard life at least after he became a Christian
why should he be content with it!
why should he feel good about his life?
you can read about all the things that the went though in 2 Corinths chapter 11
hard ships
hunger
prison
ship wrecks
beatings..
He Got whipped..
Run out of town..
Didn’t seem to have much money.
Lived on the road..
anxiety stress...
Lack of sleep
we Don’t know much about his family life at all
he did say
that he had this thorn in the flesh
that troubled him,,
we don’t know what it was.
Some aches
some chronic panic..an eye disease..
Some kind of problem..
.but it was not an easy life..
Yet
. Even with all of this
Paul also talks about thanksgiving in his letters
,,he give thanks
he is always thanking God for this and that.
.and now as I said
he says
he had learned some deeper contentment in the circumstances of his life .
The secret of contentment
Peterson has another interesting way of translating Paul’s words in the verses
just before this
in the same chapter,,
verse 7 ..
You get those words
.those words
about the peace of God that passes understanding
you see this not a head thing..or a rational..reasonable thing..
but it passes deeper than understanding..
Peterson put it this way
Paul says
Before you know it..
a sense of God’s wholeness.. ..
Everything coming together for good..
will come and settle you down...
..
Get that?
a sense of Gods wholeness for Good
You see
I think that what is at the center of thanksgiving
it’s the secret of contentment
I think that what thanksgiving is really about
this is more than just being grateful for a lot of good food
and family
and warm house..and maybe watching some football
and counting your blessings
.as in ..grateful for all the good stuff..
Thanksgiving is something way deeper
its not about just counting up the good things...
even though that’s a good thing to do.
Don’t get me wrong here..
.but I think its about seeing
the larger wholeness
and
then trusting
some essential .
maybe even a hidden good ness
a spiritual presence behind it all.
and through it all
and even in spite of it all
what if thanksgiving is not just conditional ....depending on the conditions to be right
and Thanksgiving is not circumstantial..as in //I will be thankful if the circumstances are right
but thanksgiving is somehow about trusting God ,,,
for life..
.for life ..even as it is..
Maybe even inexplicably
For good or bad..
. up or down. Or as Paul says
empty or full
Paul says
In any and all circumstances.. I have learned the secret.
In all circcumstances
.that would be the secret
I believe of saying thanks..
For the life you have
it is saying thanks for th life that you have
I think that’s what Paul is talking about
and it s kind of trust..
Its kind of knowledge
its kind of wisdom or truth
that’s what Paul has in Jesus Christ..
the gospel that god is there.
.and God is god
and God is at work,....all the time
No matter what the circumstance might be.
So
as I said
Thanksgiving
then is about saying yes to your life.
..being at peace with your life...
Profoundly
..and maybe in a more than rational kind of way..
But something at the core.
Saying yes to your life..in the wisdom of God
now hold that thought
Now let me try a story along with that.
Once upon a time, long ago,
before the emperors and the mandarins ruled in china
the wise ones and the poets moved way up to the highest mountains
and the power and the wisdom of the land
they believed
came from those holy ones
who lived up in the clouds and the mist
Everyone know about their truth and their guidance
so even the simplest and plainest people of the land
would plan their lives around a pilgrimage
to see those wise ones
and to just to ask them one question
those wise ones
lived their life in silence and looking at the mountains
or down into t he great canyons.
And they say that wisdom came from those years of looking and living in those mountains
now
during this time
there also lived a man who had been born in those mountains
he was poor and he could not read or write
but because he was born in the mountains
he know those wise ones who lived there
..he knew them like they were his own relatives
they lived so close to him.
But this man was not wise
he was just simple man
who worked at this trade
it was the same trade that his father had taught him when he was young
he was the one who carried the packs and the baggage
while the pilgrims came to see the Holy ones in the mountains
he would carry the packs
so they would not have to worry about the trail
and they would have what they needed.
But this simple man also had a dream
some day
if he worked very hard at his trade
and did his work
if he took extra trips up the mountains
perhaps he could retire early
and build a small and simple hut to live in..
Then he too
could sit and watch the mountains himself
and maybe he too could have some small bit of wisdom before he died.
he too could understand and see some truth.
So he lived on this dream..
And he learned the mountains very well
he knew all the paths and the details of every trail
he know where to find water and where to rest and spend the night
he know about the dangers and the pitfalls
He know even the unknown and the unvisited places.
So every morning he would begin again and the dream would be alive in his heart...
Someday Someday..
But then he would bend over and lift the baggage up onto his shoulders
and he would go make the long journey
up the steep mountain side
all the way
he would closely watch the path
he took care with every step...
not to fall off a cliff
or trip on a rock
or twist his foot.
each step
was act of concentration
he remembered that he too
was living there in those awesome mountains
it was there
but the only time he got to see them
was when he stopped to rest
He could lay down his burden
And take a quick look at the beauty around him
and this is how the years went by for him
as he bent down to pick up other peoples baggage
and carry ti up
and then back down the trails.
One day after many years
When he was around 73 years old
he began to realize that his dream was never going to be
he was older now
and the trips were harder
and more painful and much slower
he had not been able to sve up the money
or to build a hut ..
Or even find a place to start any of that on
so every night
he was just tired
from the work of life itself
it was hard
after he carried all the weight
every day
he would just fall asleep
the
n he would wake up early n the morning
and go right back to work
eventually he lost heart
he lost heart after awhile
he had no dream to live on any more
he thought of trying something else
but it was too late
and what else did he know ??!
what else could he do?!!
this simply was the path of his life
carrying baggage up a mountain
he would spend his life doing that.
He realized that he would never be able
to just sit ..as others could..
and watch these treasured mountains
he would never be wise.
So sadly
one day with
his heart not on it...
He went out to meet his next traveler
to carry his baggage
up the mountains
watching for the rocks
avoiding the dangers
along the way
leading other people
so they could see the see the view
and they could here the wisdom
but then
this time
he saw the trails in a different way
his old eyes
saw something new.
His eyes were now so comfortable
and so wise to the path.. Itself
That suddenly
he realized that the knew more about these mountains than he had thought
and something was so right about his life
he knew where the fresh water was
the cool running kind of streams
he knew the best paths to take
both the short cuts
but also the longer ways
that sometimes gave the most powerful views
he knew places where you could see the whole horizon
he knew where to rest under tall ancient trees
trees that gave shade on the hottest days
and he knew too..
before anyone else could tel..
he could see the signs of spring or fall or winter
and he knew those small and tender things
where the flowers grew in the meadows
he knew how to listen for the birds
and he knew their songs.
Sometimes he heard songs that nobody else seemed to notice.
And yes
he know about the dangers along the path
he knew where it was steep and rocky
he remembered where he had stumbled before.
and where his back would ache the most,
He also know where those wise old saints and poets lived
he knew where no one had lived yet
and of course he knew that path., itself
that path.
that went up and through the mountains
He thought about all of this
and some how he the journey
did not seem so arduous
even with the hardness of his life
even with the routine of it all..
.it was his like some gift
,,it was life
His life
and when he came to his resting place just then
and set down his burden
he straightened up
and looked around
and he stopped to revel
just to take it all in..
The mountains
the sky
the rock
and the cliffs
All of it
like a great cathedral around him
the mountains were the same
but yet
..something more
And then
he knew that his mountains
were also great and mysterious and even the path
was somehow true to him
it was his...
And what he could see with his eyes
he was now seeing also with his heart..
Simple and silent
.. And yet etched into his spirit.
..all was well..
all was well..
The person
whose baggage he had that day..
. Was ready to go back down to the valley
and the old man lifted up his pack
Took the burden
on his stopped shoulders
but this time
He smiled as he went down his path
it was the smile of a man who had lived long in the mountains
it was the smile of wisdom
it was the smile of wisdom and contentment
but I would call it the smile of thanksgiving..
-------------------------------------------
I offer you that little story
as something
to put on your thanksgiving mental menus
do more than put on the turkey and the pumpkin pies
and the tv football game
put on a moment
to see the view of your life with different eyes,,
not the eyes of wishing you had more of somebody elses life
but trusting the path of your own life
could you do that?
For just a minute
could you trust that your life
even with it s burdens
and its heavy loads
with all it ups and downs
even with its disappointment
with its grief and aches
the path of your life
is a path that will give you a view of God and a kind of wisdom
thanksgiving
.
it seems to me
is very spiritual place ..that glimpse..that wisdom
where really
you come to make peace with your life
.in the grace and faith of God
a deep trust..
So..
Could you be free for a moment
free from any jealously and resentment or regret
or envy
could you be free for just a moment
to just say "yes".to your life ..as it is.
Regardless of the circumstances
As it is..
What would that be for your life?
That’s thanksgiving
.because somehow
you know that God is still there..God is here.
You have God in your life
gratitude for the gift of your life.
Paul says that is the secret.
The secret of contentment is the strenght we have in jeus Christ..this assurance of power and grace at work...
trusting God in your life
maybe that’s what thanksgiving really is.
Adapted from Megan McKenna and Tony Cowan Keepers of the Story . 110-112
Orbis 1997
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
All Saints
All Saints 2007 Park UMC Rory Swenson
Texts: Romans 1:7 /2 Corinth 1:1 / Phiippians 1:1 4;21 / Collosians 1:2
Have you notice that Paul seems to be pretty generous with that word..”saints”...
.to all the saints.....in this place or that place ..and so on
.and then he writes to these people in these churches
who had to be guided and corrected..
..sometimes they let Paul down,..they seem to have plenty of problems. (usually that’s why Paul has to write that letter. In the first place)
,,sure..sometimes they got it right..
But basically..
they were simply the church..
They were just people..
.people of faith ..growing in Jesus Christ.. Saints.
So what is a saint..?
let me answer it with a story.
Once upon a time
back in the third century around Egypt
there was a young man who decided to become a saint.
He left his home
his family
he said goodbye to all his relatives
sold everything he had
and gave it to the poor.
Then he walked off alone,,, to the desert,,, to find God
He walked though the desert until he found a dark cave.
Here he thought, I know..I will find God
I will be alone with God
nothing will distract me from God..
. And so it was
he prayed day and night..
But still
God sent him temptations even in that cave
he thought about the good things of life
everything he had given away
everything he didn’t have
all the ways in which he denied himself..and avoided comfort and pleasure
but he was determined to just have God
and finally after many months
the temptations stopped..
St Anthony of the desert of
the first of the great desert monks
found peace
and he had nothing but God
But then
according to the legend
one day God told Anthony to leave his cave
and go to a far away town.
Anthony was told to look for the shoemaker in that town.
Knock on his door
and stay with him for while
Anthony did not understand why God would send him back in the world leek that.
but he went according to Gods command
the next morning
he got up
walked all day across the desert sands..
And just before nightfall
he came to that village
found the home of the shoemaker
and knocked on the door.
A smiling man opened the door.
Are you the town shoe maker?
Yes I am the shoe maker said
and the shoemaker could see how tired and hungry the hermit looked
“come in” he said, you need something to eat.
And a place to rest.”
The shoemaker called to his wife..... they fixed a meal..
A good simple meal..
and they gave Anthony a place to sleep
the holy hermit stayed with the shoemaker and his family for three days.
And while they were there
Anthony talked to them about their lives
but he said very little about himself
even though they were very curios about his life in the desert
but they talked a lot
. And they became good friends.
Then, as I said,
after three days Anthony the holy hermit, said good by
to the shoemaker and his wife.
He walked back to the cave
and he wondered why God had sent him to visit the shoemaker.
What was he suppose to learn ?
what could be so holy about their lives in the middle of a little town
well,,.God said .to Anthony
after he had settled back into the cave
What was that shoemaker like ?
.
And Anthony prayed and thought about his time in that house.
Anthony said
the shoe maker is a simple man.
He has a wife who is going to have a baby
they seem to love each other very much
he has just a little shop
where he makes shoes
he works hard
they have a simple house
they give money and food
to people who nee d help
he and his wife believe very much in you..
.
and they pray ,,,at least once a day
they have friends
and the shoemaker likes to tell jokes.
And then
God..
the legend says
listened to all of this very carefully
and said to Anthony
you are a great saint/
and God said
the shoemaker and his wife
they are great saints too.”
I know it a very simple story.
In fact it is deceptively simple
. But we need to hear its truth..
really hear
what it says..
because I believe it is also what the Bible is telling us.
The story is telling us
that sainthood can be all around us.
Our understanding of sainthood and holiness
is being opened up....
This is all saints Sunday ..as you know
And we Protestants.
All of us non Catholics
well
we still need to know our saints and celebrate our saints
A couple of year ago
Bishop Sally Dyck met with some of us on a retreat at the episcopal house of prayer
she told us about her prayer life
and what she was using in her daily devotions
we were taking about our spiritual practices
she introduced us to this book called
All Saints ; Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and witnesses For Our Time..
She says she reads about one of those saints every day
it’s a wonderful l book .
.full of famous people
some of them are names
that I have heard of..
some of them are names I didn’t know anything about
well
Officially canonized or not.
they are saints..
And this book can inspire me and encourage me with the example of these saints
But even more so..
Than this book
I like that simple story about st Anthony
and the shoemaker and his wife..
Because they point me in this other direction...
..to look closer to home..
To hear about a God
and the wisdom of the church
that sees the sainthood..and the sacredness..
The spirituality of simple work
and simple living
making a life
and being family
trusting in god
hospitality...and generosity
daily prayer..and telling jokes and having friends..
We need to see the spirituality of the ordinary...that is close to home..
Hear and now
Sainthood according to that legend
is seems to me
is about living ..life...open
. To the deeper rhythms of God in the world
not outside of the world ..but in the world
sainthood
is about letting God be with us
in the common-ness and the daily-ness
and the business of life
And holiness
is not just found in the hermitage of a desert
it is not just found in the solitude of a cave
or the halls of a church
or a retreat center.
Maybe we should not just be looking for saints in stained glass windows
but maybe even in stains of our own lives..
.stains that point us to the grace of God.
Sainthood is not just about religion and churchiness
because we believe that holiness and sainthood...spirituality
can also
be also found in how
and why
we do our living in this world
Do you get this?)
Sainthood
holiness
is probably closer to us then we care to admit!
I can open a book like this(All Saints)
and I can read about great saints
st Antony of Egypt ... st Francis and st Teresa and st John of the cross
I can read about the people who did very famous..extraordinary and unusual things
or
I can open this sacred and holy book
I can open the Bible
and I can read about great Biblical saints
st Paul and St peter..st john and even st Mary magdalene
Again people
who seemed to do heroic and such faithful things
but I can also pick up the church bulletin today
and I can do what I will prayerfully do
and so will you
and we can read about our own near and great saints..
we can read can read these people
into our personal collection of saints
people who did those daily simple things..
People who worshiped with us.
Sang with us.
.supported this church...
Probably worked at the fair booth
or helped with coffee.
People who share daily talk
and work and friendship with us..
and these people have already
become the inspirational
saints in our
daily reflections of the heart
in those books of the heart
as we name and remember them
probably day by day
this is our book of saints
these are the people in our prayers
these are the people
who still guide us..
by memory and example or some unknown influence
These are the people whose stories
we know how to tell
.
these are the saints that God somehow
wanted us to meet..
as we give thanks for their love
their work
their friendship for us
they are brothers and sister
they are parents and grandparents
husbands and wives
they are co workers and friends
these are the people
That God used to touch us.
in such common and practically overlooked way
They still showed us
or gave us some light of God
or again
as that legend of st Anthony is also saying to us..
God does not just come to us in the separateness..
but in the relationships
There is a sacredness
in the people and the work around us..
The miracle is , that in them..
we can also have something of God...
The miracle .the gift..
is that is that the people around us can really be saints of God..
..........
In the front of this book
there is a quote from Thomas Merton.
.
(A person by the way who is listed on page 538 of this book.).
But the words being quoted are this
“There is now way to tell people that they are walking around shining like the sun..”
I don’t know if that really true.
. I think you can tell that to someone
Because we are getting close to something like that on day like today
remember what this is called
All saints day
this is our All saints Sunday
what if we are all...all saints.
look at the people around you
they are shining like the sun...
the light of God is in us..
you are the light of the world ..Jesus said
even now
we live in the communion of saints..
The fellowship of saints
and if that t is just really too hard for us to see and hear
in each other
while we are yet alive ..
precisely because we are so common..
so imperfect...
so
well you know..
“saints but yet sinners.”
then
let us at least hear the words.
From the hymn that we sang
for all the saints,
, we feebly struggle .. they in glory shine
and maybe we can just say
that it is true
we feebly struggle
that is just what we all do,,
but they in glory shine..
They now in glory shine.
praise be to God for the names of these 16 saints
and for all the saints that that still touch our lives.
Thanks be to God. Amen
I adapted the St Anthony story from The Sowers Seeds, by Brian Cavanaugh “On Being a Saint” p. 53 . Paulist Press 2004
The All Saints book that is referenced and from which I borrow the Thomas Merton quote is by Robert Ellsberg The Crossroad Publishing Company 2004
Texts: Romans 1:7 /2 Corinth 1:1 / Phiippians 1:1 4;21 / Collosians 1:2
Have you notice that Paul seems to be pretty generous with that word..”saints”...
.to all the saints.....in this place or that place ..and so on
.and then he writes to these people in these churches
who had to be guided and corrected..
..sometimes they let Paul down,..they seem to have plenty of problems. (usually that’s why Paul has to write that letter. In the first place)
,,sure..sometimes they got it right..
But basically..
they were simply the church..
They were just people..
.people of faith ..growing in Jesus Christ.. Saints.
So what is a saint..?
let me answer it with a story.
Once upon a time
back in the third century around Egypt
there was a young man who decided to become a saint.
He left his home
his family
he said goodbye to all his relatives
sold everything he had
and gave it to the poor.
Then he walked off alone,,, to the desert,,, to find God
He walked though the desert until he found a dark cave.
Here he thought, I know..I will find God
I will be alone with God
nothing will distract me from God..
. And so it was
he prayed day and night..
But still
God sent him temptations even in that cave
he thought about the good things of life
everything he had given away
everything he didn’t have
all the ways in which he denied himself..and avoided comfort and pleasure
but he was determined to just have God
and finally after many months
the temptations stopped..
St Anthony of the desert of
the first of the great desert monks
found peace
and he had nothing but God
But then
according to the legend
one day God told Anthony to leave his cave
and go to a far away town.
Anthony was told to look for the shoemaker in that town.
Knock on his door
and stay with him for while
Anthony did not understand why God would send him back in the world leek that.
but he went according to Gods command
the next morning
he got up
walked all day across the desert sands..
And just before nightfall
he came to that village
found the home of the shoemaker
and knocked on the door.
A smiling man opened the door.
Are you the town shoe maker?
Yes I am the shoe maker said
and the shoemaker could see how tired and hungry the hermit looked
“come in” he said, you need something to eat.
And a place to rest.”
The shoemaker called to his wife..... they fixed a meal..
A good simple meal..
and they gave Anthony a place to sleep
the holy hermit stayed with the shoemaker and his family for three days.
And while they were there
Anthony talked to them about their lives
but he said very little about himself
even though they were very curios about his life in the desert
but they talked a lot
. And they became good friends.
Then, as I said,
after three days Anthony the holy hermit, said good by
to the shoemaker and his wife.
He walked back to the cave
and he wondered why God had sent him to visit the shoemaker.
What was he suppose to learn ?
what could be so holy about their lives in the middle of a little town
well,,.God said .to Anthony
after he had settled back into the cave
What was that shoemaker like ?
.
And Anthony prayed and thought about his time in that house.
Anthony said
the shoe maker is a simple man.
He has a wife who is going to have a baby
they seem to love each other very much
he has just a little shop
where he makes shoes
he works hard
they have a simple house
they give money and food
to people who nee d help
he and his wife believe very much in you..
.
and they pray ,,,at least once a day
they have friends
and the shoemaker likes to tell jokes.
And then
God..
the legend says
listened to all of this very carefully
and said to Anthony
you are a great saint/
and God said
the shoemaker and his wife
they are great saints too.”
I know it a very simple story.
In fact it is deceptively simple
. But we need to hear its truth..
really hear
what it says..
because I believe it is also what the Bible is telling us.
The story is telling us
that sainthood can be all around us.
Our understanding of sainthood and holiness
is being opened up....
This is all saints Sunday ..as you know
And we Protestants.
All of us non Catholics
well
we still need to know our saints and celebrate our saints
A couple of year ago
Bishop Sally Dyck met with some of us on a retreat at the episcopal house of prayer
she told us about her prayer life
and what she was using in her daily devotions
we were taking about our spiritual practices
she introduced us to this book called
All Saints ; Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and witnesses For Our Time..
She says she reads about one of those saints every day
it’s a wonderful l book .
.full of famous people
some of them are names
that I have heard of..
some of them are names I didn’t know anything about
well
Officially canonized or not.
they are saints..
And this book can inspire me and encourage me with the example of these saints
But even more so..
Than this book
I like that simple story about st Anthony
and the shoemaker and his wife..
Because they point me in this other direction...
..to look closer to home..
To hear about a God
and the wisdom of the church
that sees the sainthood..and the sacredness..
The spirituality of simple work
and simple living
making a life
and being family
trusting in god
hospitality...and generosity
daily prayer..and telling jokes and having friends..
We need to see the spirituality of the ordinary...that is close to home..
Hear and now
Sainthood according to that legend
is seems to me
is about living ..life...open
. To the deeper rhythms of God in the world
not outside of the world ..but in the world
sainthood
is about letting God be with us
in the common-ness and the daily-ness
and the business of life
And holiness
is not just found in the hermitage of a desert
it is not just found in the solitude of a cave
or the halls of a church
or a retreat center.
Maybe we should not just be looking for saints in stained glass windows
but maybe even in stains of our own lives..
.stains that point us to the grace of God.
Sainthood is not just about religion and churchiness
because we believe that holiness and sainthood...spirituality
can also
be also found in how
and why
we do our living in this world
Do you get this?)
Sainthood
holiness
is probably closer to us then we care to admit!
I can open a book like this(All Saints)
and I can read about great saints
st Antony of Egypt ... st Francis and st Teresa and st John of the cross
I can read about the people who did very famous..extraordinary and unusual things
or
I can open this sacred and holy book
I can open the Bible
and I can read about great Biblical saints
st Paul and St peter..st john and even st Mary magdalene
Again people
who seemed to do heroic and such faithful things
but I can also pick up the church bulletin today
and I can do what I will prayerfully do
and so will you
and we can read about our own near and great saints..
we can read can read these people
into our personal collection of saints
people who did those daily simple things..
People who worshiped with us.
Sang with us.
.supported this church...
Probably worked at the fair booth
or helped with coffee.
People who share daily talk
and work and friendship with us..
and these people have already
become the inspirational
saints in our
daily reflections of the heart
in those books of the heart
as we name and remember them
probably day by day
this is our book of saints
these are the people in our prayers
these are the people
who still guide us..
by memory and example or some unknown influence
These are the people whose stories
we know how to tell
.
these are the saints that God somehow
wanted us to meet..
as we give thanks for their love
their work
their friendship for us
they are brothers and sister
they are parents and grandparents
husbands and wives
they are co workers and friends
these are the people
That God used to touch us.
in such common and practically overlooked way
They still showed us
or gave us some light of God
or again
as that legend of st Anthony is also saying to us..
God does not just come to us in the separateness..
but in the relationships
There is a sacredness
in the people and the work around us..
The miracle is , that in them..
we can also have something of God...
The miracle .the gift..
is that is that the people around us can really be saints of God..
..........
In the front of this book
there is a quote from Thomas Merton.
.
(A person by the way who is listed on page 538 of this book.).
But the words being quoted are this
“There is now way to tell people that they are walking around shining like the sun..”
I don’t know if that really true.
. I think you can tell that to someone
Because we are getting close to something like that on day like today
remember what this is called
All saints day
this is our All saints Sunday
what if we are all...all saints.
look at the people around you
they are shining like the sun...
the light of God is in us..
you are the light of the world ..Jesus said
even now
we live in the communion of saints..
The fellowship of saints
and if that t is just really too hard for us to see and hear
in each other
while we are yet alive ..
precisely because we are so common..
so imperfect...
so
well you know..
“saints but yet sinners.”
then
let us at least hear the words.
From the hymn that we sang
for all the saints,
, we feebly struggle .. they in glory shine
and maybe we can just say
that it is true
we feebly struggle
that is just what we all do,,
but they in glory shine..
They now in glory shine.
praise be to God for the names of these 16 saints
and for all the saints that that still touch our lives.
Thanks be to God. Amen
I adapted the St Anthony story from The Sowers Seeds, by Brian Cavanaugh “On Being a Saint” p. 53 . Paulist Press 2004
The All Saints book that is referenced and from which I borrow the Thomas Merton quote is by Robert Ellsberg The Crossroad Publishing Company 2004
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Comments welcome
Just a reminder that comments are welcome on the sermon notes. You might even need explanation's about incomplete phrases or typos.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Oct 28 Global Memory Loss
Oct 28, 2007 Global memory
I had this strangest thing happen to me a couple weeks ago.
I was working on the stewardship sermon for last Sunday
and for this Sunday
and I remembered this article, a ‘sermon illustration” article I was saving on the computer ; it was about the burden of money and it talked about the history of money and some of the stranger forms of money .
For example,
there was an old culture in the South Pacific that literally, had this huge form of money; they used 18 foot high rings made of stone..
Weighed about 15 tons
And then for smaller change you had smaller stone rings
that only weighed about a hundred pounds.
..You hauled them around with a carrying pole that went through the hole in the middle of the stone ring
( I suppose you had to really think twice before you carried around any cash like that)
I thought who ever heard having money that ways hundreds of pounds or even a ton ?
Giant money wheels!
and then I realized..oh we still have
that ..today
.we call them cars....Giant money wheels!
Then the article talked about the ancient Spartans back in Greece;
they had coins that seemed a little more normal
but they didn’t use silver or copper to make their coins
they used iron coins,..little iron disks
that way
they got reminded
that money was heavy.
it was a burden.
Now maybe those old cultures were on to something.
There was a deep wisdom in that, in fact,
Jesus and the early church gave us that kind of wisdom too
Look at I Timothy 6 and you hear these words that say watch out for greed. It can tempt you and trap you.. It can cause you pain.
The love of money (not money itself, but the power or love of money..is the root of all evil.
For two Sundays in a row now,we’ve talked about how much Jesus mentioned money and the role of giving as a spiritual practice.
...Anyway I was going to copy that article about the burden of money.
.and when I highlighted it for “copy” on the computer so I could put it into my set of sermon notes,
That’s when this strange thing happened
All of a sudden the computer started to make its working and processing sounds..
kind of clicking an humming way and
the little light is blinking.
.and then these words flashed on to the screen.
“Not enough global, memory available to preform this task.”
No enough global memory!
What does that mean? it sounds like a serious problem..global!!!
and then my computer got locked up ..it froze up.
..and I had to do a manual shut down..
Because I didn’t have enough “global memory”.
Like I said
I have no idea what that means in computer talk..
but this was the message..
I think it was a great metaphor....
think about what I was doing?
I was trying to copy a message on the burden of money.
But we don’t have the global memory to handle that reality.
Spiritually speaking, we don’t have the global memory to properly deal with money
.I told this story to the Wednesday lectionary group
and somebody said..
“Oh God talked to you through your computer!”
I don’t know .....
When it comes to the real use and purpose of money do you think we have a global memory loss?
We cant handle it...
We cant seem to copy it from one part of our life , to the next!
Is that why we have poverty?
Is that why we have people living without food and shelter and medicine
and water ?
“Not enough global memory available for this task”
Is that why there is such a difference between the rich and the poor in the world.
Is economic injustice the result of a global memory loss?
Do you know that just about every study you will ever find is going to say that we could end world hunger?
We can feed the world
We can end deep poverty..but its a matter of the will
spiritual, moral and political will,,,
and its matter of distribution
Some people say that the Christian population alone..has enough wealth,
if we really tithed ..for example..we could solve the problem
But then
that sign flashes on
“Not enough global memory available for this task.”
And we get locked up.
We don’t have enough global memory to do what we need to do
We forget
maybe we don’t want to hear it..
Somehow we just cant copy the message..
.the inner files get corrupted..
(Are you with me)
Do you and I remember ..in our daily living..
When your paying the bills,,and making the plans,,and going down town or watching tv..
Can we still remember what Jesus said about giving.. And sharing and caring..
“Give excepting nothing in return”
Love one one another as I have loved you
do we remember..really what he said
about being brothers ans sisters and children of God
that we are all connected to each other....
and we are witnesses ..and servants and disciples
Can you remember
what he said about losing your life, giving your life.. Taking up the cross
to find your real life
Can I remember..really..
the story of Lazarus ..the beggar at the rich man's gate.
When I am the rich man..?
Do we forget what he said about worrying about your clothes and food..
and what he said about bigger barns..
and false security
in the lesson you heard from Luke 12
Or
do we .. forget
in practical ways.. That the earth is the Lords and the fullness (the abundance) thereof
Do you think think we forget
as a nation
the biblical vision of caring for the stranger
the widows and the orphans.. the vulnerable..the left out
“Not enough global memory available for this task”
.....well,,you know what I mean..
But
,,maybe the calling of the church is
first of all
to remember
to restore the files
to fix the memory problem
can we want and chose to remember
something about money
the use of our gifts
the use of our life.?
Maybe we are here to be the global memory; to do what needs to be done.
There is a wonderful little Jewish story
about a rabbi in a Russian city years ago
in another century
the rabbi was thinking about the direction and sense of purpose in his life,
he went out for a walk late at night
out and around in the city
and he came to a part of the town that was guarded
it was a part of the town
where the richer people had hired someone to patrol the neighborhood
and this guard .
.this night watchman
saw the rabbi out in the dark
late at night and he shouted to the rabbi"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
"Excuse me?" Said the rabbi.
"The guard said it again
...., ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?!’"
the rabbi, stopped for a moment
and didn’t say a word
and then finally
he said to the guard
, "How much do you get paid every day?"
The guard said
"What does that have to do with you?"
The rabbi said,
"I will pay you ..twice as much...
if you will just ask me those same two questions every day:
Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
Those are the questions that we need to remember on days like this
personally
and as a church;
Who are we
and what are we doing here.?
But we forget it.
Continually
.amnesia is the human problem
global memory loss happens
when we forget the great question and the deeper answers.
And it seems to me
as I said already
that when we get down to thinking about our money and our possessions and our egos and our faith...we get this financial amnesia.
What is the money for
why is it here.
Who does it serve?
What are we suppose to do with it?
But
that’s what we have to ask ,,as the church.. In the name of Jesus Christ
this where the faith comes back into play
Faith give us something to remember
Faith gives us Jesus
and the word of God
in this part of life,
What are we supposed to remember?
Let me say it this way
There is a Jewish Spanish story.
Almost one thousand years ago,
in the Moslem days of Spain,
there was a Jewish Rabbi ...named Samuel the Prince.
Rabbi Samuel was very wise,
and he was very trusted and very soon he became the Sultan's treasurer.
Well..this caused some jealously in the courts
and
rumors got started
that Rabbi Samuel was embezzling money from the royal treasury.
Of course the Sultan heard about the rumors..because that was the plan
.
So he decided to put the Rabbi to the test.
One day,
without any warning,
he called in the Rabbi
and ordered him to do a full accounting of his personal wealth.
Tell me about all the money that you have!
Rabbi Samuel was surprised by this ...
but you just don’t refuse the Sultan!
so He sat down at a table,
and he started writing..and writing
as fast as he could
half an hour later, he stopped,
he looked at the list silently,
and handed it over to the Sultan.
The Sultan read the inventory very carefully,
and then he slammed it down
with anger on the table.
How dare you lie to me.rabbi!
this is just a part of your wealth.
I know you have more than this
your hiding soemthign
I personally
have given you way more than what you are listing here as your income
My advisors must been telling the truth about you
You must be cheating me in your financial affairs
and so I will personally take awayeverything you own.
Guards, ...take this man away!'
But 'Your Majesty', the rabbi said, 'you asked me for an report of my wealth.
And As you can plainly see,my worldly possessions are not truly mine.
At any time,they can be taken away by robbers,
by war ...or natural disaster
. In fact, your Majesty ,
You have just proved it yourself
right now
you have just taken this money away from me
with a single command
The only possession I really have is the money that can never be taken from me;
that is ..the money I have given to charity.
You see, as a Jew I am taught by by the Torah to give one tenth of my income to those in need.
The figure that I gave you,
your Majesty,, was only the total
of all the money that I have given away to charity.
I listed only the money that I have given for others.
Because only that is my true wealth
That is the only benefit that cannot be taken away from me,
The Sultan listened to all of this
he was moved by that wisdom
and the rabbi was given a greater position in that kingdom
Thats the story
but you heard that same message before
Jesus said the same thing!
you heard it the words of Luke 12 about where your real treasure is.
maybe that means
that the real treasure that you have
is the not the money that you have in the bank
or in your pocket
in you property or your pension plan
but your real treasure
is what is written on the estimate of giving card
and what you shared this year.
Maybe the only money you have
is the not the money you a e keeping
but the money your giving..
Is there enough global memory for this task?
maybe tha t
means that what Park Church has in the financial statement
isnt the money that we have on hand ,
but the money that flowed through our hands
maybe we should celebrate the expenses
even more than the income..
maybe
instead of saying that the assets of park church are the dollars and the value of the building
and the cash on hand
but ..more so it is
the value of what has happened here.
In you ..and through you..
Remember that budget I sent out...
that said ...down that one side
priceless.. priceless ....prices less
and it listed the ministries of this church
priceless
lives changes
people celebrated
laughter given
hope lifted up
gospel proclaimed
hungry people fed
homeless given shelter
the cup of water given
the community shared
the lessons learned
the worship
the sacraments
the times gathered around the bible
the prayers
the tears
the deep silence
the children..and the growing
the people joining us this year.
the people whose names we are going to read next week..
the names of the people we know
the mystery felt
the beauty seen
the thanksgiving in the heart
the peace that passes understanding
the amazing grace
the calling and somehow the saying
yes.
To .something ..someone.
beyond and within..
To Jesus Christ
saying yes
to God saying yes
to the needs of the world
saying yes to one another in the soul
The life
this life of love
...priceless..
you see that’s what we have
that can never be taken way
that is the treasure that cannot be touched by moth or rust
the spiritual ..heavenly treasures.
that is what Jesus is saying to us
and giving us
and helping us to remember..
And when we restore that memory
we have enough memory to do the task
we can use the blessings of this life..
.right down to the dollars and cents.
Having enough memory to be followers of Jesus in ministry
If we spend some 280,000 dollars in the budget.. in ministry. this year
Then maybe That is what we have still rely have.
Only what we have given away...the treasure that cannot be taken away..
I think that’s what we celebrate on this gift of faith commitment Sunday
We are celebrating what we we really have ; and we are getting our memory back.
Little by little
in what we are doing right here.
I believe Jesus is restoring the global memory.
I pray for a new ..good ..large memory so there is enough here at Park church
to perform this task.
Amen
I had this strangest thing happen to me a couple weeks ago.
I was working on the stewardship sermon for last Sunday
and for this Sunday
and I remembered this article, a ‘sermon illustration” article I was saving on the computer ; it was about the burden of money and it talked about the history of money and some of the stranger forms of money .
For example,
there was an old culture in the South Pacific that literally, had this huge form of money; they used 18 foot high rings made of stone..
Weighed about 15 tons
And then for smaller change you had smaller stone rings
that only weighed about a hundred pounds.
..You hauled them around with a carrying pole that went through the hole in the middle of the stone ring
( I suppose you had to really think twice before you carried around any cash like that)
I thought who ever heard having money that ways hundreds of pounds or even a ton ?
Giant money wheels!
and then I realized..oh we still have
that ..today
.we call them cars....Giant money wheels!
Then the article talked about the ancient Spartans back in Greece;
they had coins that seemed a little more normal
but they didn’t use silver or copper to make their coins
they used iron coins,..little iron disks
that way
they got reminded
that money was heavy.
it was a burden.
Now maybe those old cultures were on to something.
There was a deep wisdom in that, in fact,
Jesus and the early church gave us that kind of wisdom too
Look at I Timothy 6 and you hear these words that say watch out for greed. It can tempt you and trap you.. It can cause you pain.
The love of money (not money itself, but the power or love of money..is the root of all evil.
For two Sundays in a row now,we’ve talked about how much Jesus mentioned money and the role of giving as a spiritual practice.
...Anyway I was going to copy that article about the burden of money.
.and when I highlighted it for “copy” on the computer so I could put it into my set of sermon notes,
That’s when this strange thing happened
All of a sudden the computer started to make its working and processing sounds..
kind of clicking an humming way and
the little light is blinking.
.and then these words flashed on to the screen.
“Not enough global, memory available to preform this task.”
No enough global memory!
What does that mean? it sounds like a serious problem..global!!!
and then my computer got locked up ..it froze up.
..and I had to do a manual shut down..
Because I didn’t have enough “global memory”.
Like I said
I have no idea what that means in computer talk..
but this was the message..
I think it was a great metaphor....
think about what I was doing?
I was trying to copy a message on the burden of money.
But we don’t have the global memory to handle that reality.
Spiritually speaking, we don’t have the global memory to properly deal with money
.I told this story to the Wednesday lectionary group
and somebody said..
“Oh God talked to you through your computer!”
I don’t know .....
When it comes to the real use and purpose of money do you think we have a global memory loss?
We cant handle it...
We cant seem to copy it from one part of our life , to the next!
Is that why we have poverty?
Is that why we have people living without food and shelter and medicine
and water ?
“Not enough global memory available for this task”
Is that why there is such a difference between the rich and the poor in the world.
Is economic injustice the result of a global memory loss?
Do you know that just about every study you will ever find is going to say that we could end world hunger?
We can feed the world
We can end deep poverty..but its a matter of the will
spiritual, moral and political will,,,
and its matter of distribution
Some people say that the Christian population alone..has enough wealth,
if we really tithed ..for example..we could solve the problem
But then
that sign flashes on
“Not enough global memory available for this task.”
And we get locked up.
We don’t have enough global memory to do what we need to do
We forget
maybe we don’t want to hear it..
Somehow we just cant copy the message..
.the inner files get corrupted..
(Are you with me)
Do you and I remember ..in our daily living..
When your paying the bills,,and making the plans,,and going down town or watching tv..
Can we still remember what Jesus said about giving.. And sharing and caring..
“Give excepting nothing in return”
Love one one another as I have loved you
do we remember..really what he said
about being brothers ans sisters and children of God
that we are all connected to each other....
and we are witnesses ..and servants and disciples
Can you remember
what he said about losing your life, giving your life.. Taking up the cross
to find your real life
Can I remember..really..
the story of Lazarus ..the beggar at the rich man's gate.
When I am the rich man..?
Do we forget what he said about worrying about your clothes and food..
and what he said about bigger barns..
and false security
in the lesson you heard from Luke 12
Or
do we .. forget
in practical ways.. That the earth is the Lords and the fullness (the abundance) thereof
Do you think think we forget
as a nation
the biblical vision of caring for the stranger
the widows and the orphans.. the vulnerable..the left out
“Not enough global memory available for this task”
.....well,,you know what I mean..
But
,,maybe the calling of the church is
first of all
to remember
to restore the files
to fix the memory problem
can we want and chose to remember
something about money
the use of our gifts
the use of our life.?
Maybe we are here to be the global memory; to do what needs to be done.
There is a wonderful little Jewish story
about a rabbi in a Russian city years ago
in another century
the rabbi was thinking about the direction and sense of purpose in his life,
he went out for a walk late at night
out and around in the city
and he came to a part of the town that was guarded
it was a part of the town
where the richer people had hired someone to patrol the neighborhood
and this guard .
.this night watchman
saw the rabbi out in the dark
late at night and he shouted to the rabbi"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
"Excuse me?" Said the rabbi.
"The guard said it again
...., ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?!’"
the rabbi, stopped for a moment
and didn’t say a word
and then finally
he said to the guard
, "How much do you get paid every day?"
The guard said
"What does that have to do with you?"
The rabbi said,
"I will pay you ..twice as much...
if you will just ask me those same two questions every day:
Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
Those are the questions that we need to remember on days like this
personally
and as a church;
Who are we
and what are we doing here.?
But we forget it.
Continually
.amnesia is the human problem
global memory loss happens
when we forget the great question and the deeper answers.
And it seems to me
as I said already
that when we get down to thinking about our money and our possessions and our egos and our faith...we get this financial amnesia.
What is the money for
why is it here.
Who does it serve?
What are we suppose to do with it?
But
that’s what we have to ask ,,as the church.. In the name of Jesus Christ
this where the faith comes back into play
Faith give us something to remember
Faith gives us Jesus
and the word of God
in this part of life,
What are we supposed to remember?
Let me say it this way
There is a Jewish Spanish story.
Almost one thousand years ago,
in the Moslem days of Spain,
there was a Jewish Rabbi ...named Samuel the Prince.
Rabbi Samuel was very wise,
and he was very trusted and very soon he became the Sultan's treasurer.
Well..this caused some jealously in the courts
and
rumors got started
that Rabbi Samuel was embezzling money from the royal treasury.
Of course the Sultan heard about the rumors..because that was the plan
.
So he decided to put the Rabbi to the test.
One day,
without any warning,
he called in the Rabbi
and ordered him to do a full accounting of his personal wealth.
Tell me about all the money that you have!
Rabbi Samuel was surprised by this ...
but you just don’t refuse the Sultan!
so He sat down at a table,
and he started writing..and writing
as fast as he could
half an hour later, he stopped,
he looked at the list silently,
and handed it over to the Sultan.
The Sultan read the inventory very carefully,
and then he slammed it down
with anger on the table.
How dare you lie to me.rabbi!
this is just a part of your wealth.
I know you have more than this
your hiding soemthign
I personally
have given you way more than what you are listing here as your income
My advisors must been telling the truth about you
You must be cheating me in your financial affairs
and so I will personally take awayeverything you own.
Guards, ...take this man away!'
But 'Your Majesty', the rabbi said, 'you asked me for an report of my wealth.
And As you can plainly see,my worldly possessions are not truly mine.
At any time,they can be taken away by robbers,
by war ...or natural disaster
. In fact, your Majesty ,
You have just proved it yourself
right now
you have just taken this money away from me
with a single command
The only possession I really have is the money that can never be taken from me;
that is ..the money I have given to charity.
You see, as a Jew I am taught by by the Torah to give one tenth of my income to those in need.
The figure that I gave you,
your Majesty,, was only the total
of all the money that I have given away to charity.
I listed only the money that I have given for others.
Because only that is my true wealth
That is the only benefit that cannot be taken away from me,
The Sultan listened to all of this
he was moved by that wisdom
and the rabbi was given a greater position in that kingdom
Thats the story
but you heard that same message before
Jesus said the same thing!
you heard it the words of Luke 12 about where your real treasure is.
maybe that means
that the real treasure that you have
is the not the money that you have in the bank
or in your pocket
in you property or your pension plan
but your real treasure
is what is written on the estimate of giving card
and what you shared this year.
Maybe the only money you have
is the not the money you a e keeping
but the money your giving..
Is there enough global memory for this task?
maybe tha t
means that what Park Church has in the financial statement
isnt the money that we have on hand ,
but the money that flowed through our hands
maybe we should celebrate the expenses
even more than the income..
maybe
instead of saying that the assets of park church are the dollars and the value of the building
and the cash on hand
but ..more so it is
the value of what has happened here.
In you ..and through you..
Remember that budget I sent out...
that said ...down that one side
priceless.. priceless ....prices less
and it listed the ministries of this church
priceless
lives changes
people celebrated
laughter given
hope lifted up
gospel proclaimed
hungry people fed
homeless given shelter
the cup of water given
the community shared
the lessons learned
the worship
the sacraments
the times gathered around the bible
the prayers
the tears
the deep silence
the children..and the growing
the people joining us this year.
the people whose names we are going to read next week..
the names of the people we know
the mystery felt
the beauty seen
the thanksgiving in the heart
the peace that passes understanding
the amazing grace
the calling and somehow the saying
yes.
To .something ..someone.
beyond and within..
To Jesus Christ
saying yes
to God saying yes
to the needs of the world
saying yes to one another in the soul
The life
this life of love
...priceless..
you see that’s what we have
that can never be taken way
that is the treasure that cannot be touched by moth or rust
the spiritual ..heavenly treasures.
that is what Jesus is saying to us
and giving us
and helping us to remember..
And when we restore that memory
we have enough memory to do the task
we can use the blessings of this life..
.right down to the dollars and cents.
Having enough memory to be followers of Jesus in ministry
If we spend some 280,000 dollars in the budget.. in ministry. this year
Then maybe That is what we have still rely have.
Only what we have given away...the treasure that cannot be taken away..
I think that’s what we celebrate on this gift of faith commitment Sunday
We are celebrating what we we really have ; and we are getting our memory back.
Little by little
in what we are doing right here.
I believe Jesus is restoring the global memory.
I pray for a new ..good ..large memory so there is enough here at Park church
to perform this task.
Amen
Monday, October 15, 2007
Oct 14 God's Reminders
Oct 14 2007 Park UMC Rory Swenson
There is a Russian Jewish children’s story called
As Big as an Egg* and it is a story that teaches about sharing and it teaches us a very Biblical principle. It goes something like this .
Once upon a time back in Russia there was a Jewish man named Chaim. Chaim had already had a long day at work and he was cold and tired but he was standing in a line in front of the bakery.
All he really wanted to do was just go home. He just wanted to get warm and say his prayers and go to bed.
.but this was during the war in Russia ...and times were hard
and there was hardly any food
But Chaim had his ration card and that card said that he was allowed to stand in this line, twice a week,to get his loaf of bread and this was his day to be in the bread line
So now he was thinking about that bread... he thought about how he was going to soak that bread in some hot tea and bite it off in little piecesand enjoy every little piece of that bread
He was going to make it last as long as possible.
Finally the line had moved, and he got his bread and headed home with his loaf of bread;and of course that bread had to last him for 4 days.
But just as he turned around to go home, there
of all people
was the old widow Hanna , coming toward him.
And is heart sank,well actually it was more than that ... he felt this anger in himself
This woman was always around whenever he got his bread. She had nothing else to do
except collect bread for other people
He didn’t want to give her any of his, but she was on him in a flash
She had a way of looking right into your eyes and she gave you this deep smile
and she would say
“Bread.?”
And then she would open up her sack and you could look inside that bag
and you could see all these chunks of bread that other people had shared.
They had torn off chunks of bread from their loaves
“Please” she begged
“there are so many people who are old and crippled and sick
and they cant wait in the bread lines out in this cold
Just a little piece or two ?
Pulled from your loaf so they can eat too.?”
Well honestly, he didn’t want to give her anything at all.
He didn’t feel like he had enough for himself. hH was barely getting by..
He just wished that he had not been spotted by her.
But he was trapped so he pulled off a piece of bread about the size of an egg
and he threw it in the sack with the other pieces..
Hana smiled ,and gave him a blessing and she said thanks with the words
“May you live long and prosper.. to do many more good deeds.”
Chaim just mumbled back,‘yeah ...yeah...”and he tried to get away as fast as he could
Back home he made his hot tea; he could feel the steam coming from the cup
and he ate his bread ,nice and slow, he chewed on every bite and enjoyed the taste
Every bite was so good but there was never enough
He was still kicking himself for not getting away from Hana in time
and losing that piece of bread
Next time, he said.,“I m going to go to different bakery and she wont be there to bother me.”
Then he said his prayers and he went to sleep.
And you know he was still dreaming about food as he went to sleep
The next day
he came home from work thinking about how good that bread and tea would be
and as he opened up the door to his little apartmen the was shocked to see a rat running across the room and disappearing into a hole.
The rat’s tail was wagging at him...almost like a finger scolding him;
right away Chaim thought about his bread
Oh no!
sure enough,
there was a piece of bread missing, about the size of an egg
He was going to have to be more careful .... but first he got down on his hands and knees and he plugged up every hole he could find
then
(now he was even more tired than he was before)
he washed his hands
said the blessings
and very slowly
he ate his bread
he was very careful with the rest of that loaf
The next time he got bread, he picked another bakery
and sure enough
Hanna was not there with her bag and her begging.
Nobody was there to make him feel guilty or angry;
nothing to bother his conscience ...or make him think.
So he went back home and enjoyed his bread
and then the next night when he got home.... he opened the door
and again he saw that rat and it was like it was wagging its tail....
like it was shaking his finger at him
as he headed down a hole in the floor
Oh no..not the bread again !
He grabbed his bread
and there it was a missing piece;just about the size of an egg
well Chaim said a quick blessing and he ate ;
then he got his loaf of bread and wrapped it up and put it on the highest shelf
and he tried to make a little wall around itwith other things on the shelf
so nothing could get to the bread
The next evening
he came home and guess what ?
That rat went running off a soon as he opened the door to his room
...all he could see was that rats tail; just like a scold ing wagging finger getting waived at him
and of course his bread was missing another piece
(how big was it?)
About the size of an egg
this time
he was determined to save his bread
so after he prayed and ate his bread
he wrapped up his loaf of bread in some paper
and he tied a string around it.
. And he hung it from the ceiling so it would be safe
The next day he came home
and just as he was opening the door
What!!..... not again!
that rat was going across the room with that tail
just like some scolding finger
wagging away at him again
he pulled the bread down from the ceiling
and ..yep.. a piece was gone
about the size of an egg
he sat ....and he prayed the blessing
and he thought about the bread
something was wrong
what was it?
.finally he smiled to himself
and he knew ...
he realized
all of this bread
just did not belong to him
some of it belong to hannas begging bag
it belonged to the people
who couldn’t wait in line
and the people who had been left out..
it simply had to be shared
and he knew he should be grateful
that he had a ration card..
and he was guaranteed
at least two loaves of bread every week
he really had what he needed
so that night
he slept well
and the next day he went to stand in the bread line
back at the same old bakery
and Hana was hovering around
and as soon as he got his loaf of bread
there she was..... with that smile
and that collection bag
“bread ....bread ..just a piece of bread ?”
this time Chaim tore off two pieces
good sized pieces
about the size of a large egg
two large eggs
she smiled back
and said
may you live long ....and do well.... so you can do more good deeds
Hannah closed her sack and
Chaim went off back home and when he opened the door
he saw that rat with its tail running across the room
but this time that rats tail seemed to be waiving goodbye
and he was not surprised
that he never saw Hannas little helper, the rat, after that
he was not surprised at all.
Well you get message
at least I hope you do.
So..... does God put Hanna on your path ?
or does God send us rats to teach us those things..?
(I’m not going to say that God is like a rat.)
But we can be absolutely clear that God has put things in our life to teach us about sharing
and God does give me Bible lessons to guide my conscience
and God does give us scripture lessons
that teach us about who really owns the bread
God has given us reminders.
This year our stewardship campaign is built on I Corthinians 13:13
and in that section.
.Paul has been teaching the corinthans about what is most important. in the church
.and he pares it down to three things; faith, hope and love
he says
those are the things that really last
when you get right down to it......
and then he says that love becomes the real point of it all...
Eventually everything ends up as love.
but
.we are going to use those themes
as the great gifts for these next three years ..faith hope and love..
and this year
the theme is the great gift of faith.
Faith.is your relationship with gGd..faith is a living trust. Of the heart
.
Faith is not just an idea or a doctrine
Faith is letting God lead us...fromthe inside and out..
.and the stewardship committee said lets tie that in with what the Bible says about giving.
Giving is rooted in faith.
Now when a committee in the church
wants to be Biblical..thats a good thing..isnt it?
But do you know what the Bible says. about money and the wealth and giving?
Do you know what the Bible says about being financially faithful...
And maybe you don’t want to know..
but thats not a small topic..
First of all.
If you want to know what the bible says on this ..especially the Old Testament..
then you have to know about the tithe and tithing...
Now those are words that your not going to hear on Wall street or on TV;
its Bible talk and it means 10% or 1 tenth
' all through the Bible
I could give you verse after verse ..
..(I gave you some of those verses in the church newsletter.. )
. But I tenth is Gods share
That’s the minimum ... there is more beyond that ..
but ten percent belongs to God..
. And if you do the Bible study you find out that God’s share was put into the ‘storehouse..”
1 tenth of the produce,, the crops...the income of the day..
...it became Gods community property... So it was used to feed people
And It was for the Levites
..the Levites were the priestly tribe and the religious class in ancient Israel
....they didn’t get a share of the land to live on
so the tithe was used to support the religious life of the people
(maybe you can see how that would apply today
when we talk about the church budget ...support for the “religious system”)
And the tithe ,,,,,also in the Bible....
is used to care for the poor
and those who didn’t get in on the harvest and so on..
(Support for missions and relief etc.).
But there is another layer of the tithe..
and that is another basic teaching point..of the tithe ..and this is what I really want you to hear..out of this “tithe” message
It teaches you...
as a very practical reminder..when you give 1/10,
you get reminded that you don’t own this stuff
Its not really yours ..
you are just using it,, you are a steward ..a manager..
Because
it all belongs to God.
“The earth is the lords and the fullness there of..”
And it teaches you that God gave you,
in one way or another,. everythign you have.
..
God is the source of everything..
God is the giver
and we are called to see the tithe
as a way of saying thanks....
(.and jump now to the Gospel lesson with the ten lepers..isn’t Jesus saying that giving thanks is a core.. faithful response..note that one out of ten..a tithe...said thanks!
-----------------
Now all o f that is that probably more than you can absorb,maybe you can get it into your “head” ..as an idea but it’s a lot to get into your heart and your soul.
As part of your life
So Let me take you on the short cut
when the church
with
the guidance of the Bible
and the holy spirit
and the life of Jesus Christ
talks about money
and our spending
and the wealth
all this financial stewardship stuff..
we do it because it is about our faith.
. its about your real life ..deep down
and your relationship with God
If you want to grow in your faith, then you have to ..eventually ...
deal with the grip of money..and the spirit of your giving..
and the role of your possessions in your life!
This is not easy..it might be one of the hardest parts for us as Christians in this country.
But Jesus said ;we cannot have divided loyalties.
He said you cannot serve both God and mammon or wealth
-------------
Henri Nouwen said
_If money touches our relationships with family members
as well as the world beyond our home,
it also reaches into our inner life.”
How does money reach into your inner life?
That the most improtant of this conversation this morning!!!!
The New testament says that money is something that can tempt us
and control us
and make us greedy
or stingy ..or resentful (James says it’s the cause of wars!)
or it make us worried. Or it gives us a false sense of security
or somehow it becomes a spiritual danger.. Money is a spiritual issue..
It gets inside of us!
In fact
that warning about money and possession
is found in just about every major religious tradition of the world..
Buddhist, Islam,, Native American , Jewish Christian, Hindu..its all there.
Why do you think that is?
Do you think there is some real wisdom in that warning?
So we have to ask; every day I suppose ..at least every Sunday when the offering plate comes around;is my financial business in the spiritual relationship that it needs to be?
The Christian tradition is here to help you do that..at least to hear the call; by asking you to give.....and to grow a faithful and generous spirit in you.
That is our calling...to form your spiritual life....to shape your spirit according to Jesus Christ
In a sense,
we are the ‘Hanas” in your life
the Bible is like Hanna.
.the offering envelope is like Hanna..
The church is like Hanna
And I know it is something...that sometimes,
we don’t want to deal with
So we go to a different bakery ,..we go to a different church..
We skip that Sunday.... or we just ignore the topic.
I don’t want to say we are a the rat that nibbles away at your bread..
But .you get the point
If I didn’t bother you ( Am I bothering you?)
or remind you..as a pastor...
In the name of Christ.
.I would not be faithful to God
I would not be presenting the Bible to you..
And if you don’t like
or agree with what I say
that oks...I struggle with it too....this is not easy...its a life long process..
But then..
go tell God
go argue
with the Bible..go do the soul searching .
Look at your “inside” spiritual stuff...
because ultimately its not coming from me.
And its not the finance committee..
I believe it is about the faith,
This is about what God wants you to do..
As part of the Christian faith
And I also believe that God wants to do more with this church
with this ministry
with you..
God has bigger plans for this Park United Methodist church
something has been happening here
and will happen even more..
Whenever we get faithful.. Faithful things happen..
Until then,tell me if you are avoiding Hanna
and if you have been noticing any rats.
. Nibbling away in your heart
or in life.
I look forward to the great gift of faith..
as big as an egg..
or maybe just the size of a mustard seed.
The story is adapted from Megan MeKenna, Blessings and Woes. P, 60 Orbis Books 1999
she also cites As Big as an Egg by Rochel Sandman*
There is a Russian Jewish children’s story called
As Big as an Egg* and it is a story that teaches about sharing and it teaches us a very Biblical principle. It goes something like this .
Once upon a time back in Russia there was a Jewish man named Chaim. Chaim had already had a long day at work and he was cold and tired but he was standing in a line in front of the bakery.
All he really wanted to do was just go home. He just wanted to get warm and say his prayers and go to bed.
.but this was during the war in Russia ...and times were hard
and there was hardly any food
But Chaim had his ration card and that card said that he was allowed to stand in this line, twice a week,to get his loaf of bread and this was his day to be in the bread line
So now he was thinking about that bread... he thought about how he was going to soak that bread in some hot tea and bite it off in little piecesand enjoy every little piece of that bread
He was going to make it last as long as possible.
Finally the line had moved, and he got his bread and headed home with his loaf of bread;and of course that bread had to last him for 4 days.
But just as he turned around to go home, there
of all people
was the old widow Hanna , coming toward him.
And is heart sank,well actually it was more than that ... he felt this anger in himself
This woman was always around whenever he got his bread. She had nothing else to do
except collect bread for other people
He didn’t want to give her any of his, but she was on him in a flash
She had a way of looking right into your eyes and she gave you this deep smile
and she would say
“Bread.?”
And then she would open up her sack and you could look inside that bag
and you could see all these chunks of bread that other people had shared.
They had torn off chunks of bread from their loaves
“Please” she begged
“there are so many people who are old and crippled and sick
and they cant wait in the bread lines out in this cold
Just a little piece or two ?
Pulled from your loaf so they can eat too.?”
Well honestly, he didn’t want to give her anything at all.
He didn’t feel like he had enough for himself. hH was barely getting by..
He just wished that he had not been spotted by her.
But he was trapped so he pulled off a piece of bread about the size of an egg
and he threw it in the sack with the other pieces..
Hana smiled ,and gave him a blessing and she said thanks with the words
“May you live long and prosper.. to do many more good deeds.”
Chaim just mumbled back,‘yeah ...yeah...”and he tried to get away as fast as he could
Back home he made his hot tea; he could feel the steam coming from the cup
and he ate his bread ,nice and slow, he chewed on every bite and enjoyed the taste
Every bite was so good but there was never enough
He was still kicking himself for not getting away from Hana in time
and losing that piece of bread
Next time, he said.,“I m going to go to different bakery and she wont be there to bother me.”
Then he said his prayers and he went to sleep.
And you know he was still dreaming about food as he went to sleep
The next day
he came home from work thinking about how good that bread and tea would be
and as he opened up the door to his little apartmen the was shocked to see a rat running across the room and disappearing into a hole.
The rat’s tail was wagging at him...almost like a finger scolding him;
right away Chaim thought about his bread
Oh no!
sure enough,
there was a piece of bread missing, about the size of an egg
He was going to have to be more careful .... but first he got down on his hands and knees and he plugged up every hole he could find
then
(now he was even more tired than he was before)
he washed his hands
said the blessings
and very slowly
he ate his bread
he was very careful with the rest of that loaf
The next time he got bread, he picked another bakery
and sure enough
Hanna was not there with her bag and her begging.
Nobody was there to make him feel guilty or angry;
nothing to bother his conscience ...or make him think.
So he went back home and enjoyed his bread
and then the next night when he got home.... he opened the door
and again he saw that rat and it was like it was wagging its tail....
like it was shaking his finger at him
as he headed down a hole in the floor
Oh no..not the bread again !
He grabbed his bread
and there it was a missing piece;just about the size of an egg
well Chaim said a quick blessing and he ate ;
then he got his loaf of bread and wrapped it up and put it on the highest shelf
and he tried to make a little wall around itwith other things on the shelf
so nothing could get to the bread
The next evening
he came home and guess what ?
That rat went running off a soon as he opened the door to his room
...all he could see was that rats tail; just like a scold ing wagging finger getting waived at him
and of course his bread was missing another piece
(how big was it?)
About the size of an egg
this time
he was determined to save his bread
so after he prayed and ate his bread
he wrapped up his loaf of bread in some paper
and he tied a string around it.
. And he hung it from the ceiling so it would be safe
The next day he came home
and just as he was opening the door
What!!..... not again!
that rat was going across the room with that tail
just like some scolding finger
wagging away at him again
he pulled the bread down from the ceiling
and ..yep.. a piece was gone
about the size of an egg
he sat ....and he prayed the blessing
and he thought about the bread
something was wrong
what was it?
.finally he smiled to himself
and he knew ...
he realized
all of this bread
just did not belong to him
some of it belong to hannas begging bag
it belonged to the people
who couldn’t wait in line
and the people who had been left out..
it simply had to be shared
and he knew he should be grateful
that he had a ration card..
and he was guaranteed
at least two loaves of bread every week
he really had what he needed
so that night
he slept well
and the next day he went to stand in the bread line
back at the same old bakery
and Hana was hovering around
and as soon as he got his loaf of bread
there she was..... with that smile
and that collection bag
“bread ....bread ..just a piece of bread ?”
this time Chaim tore off two pieces
good sized pieces
about the size of a large egg
two large eggs
she smiled back
and said
may you live long ....and do well.... so you can do more good deeds
Hannah closed her sack and
Chaim went off back home and when he opened the door
he saw that rat with its tail running across the room
but this time that rats tail seemed to be waiving goodbye
and he was not surprised
that he never saw Hannas little helper, the rat, after that
he was not surprised at all.
Well you get message
at least I hope you do.
So..... does God put Hanna on your path ?
or does God send us rats to teach us those things..?
(I’m not going to say that God is like a rat.)
But we can be absolutely clear that God has put things in our life to teach us about sharing
and God does give me Bible lessons to guide my conscience
and God does give us scripture lessons
that teach us about who really owns the bread
God has given us reminders.
This year our stewardship campaign is built on I Corthinians 13:13
and in that section.
.Paul has been teaching the corinthans about what is most important. in the church
.and he pares it down to three things; faith, hope and love
he says
those are the things that really last
when you get right down to it......
and then he says that love becomes the real point of it all...
Eventually everything ends up as love.
but
.we are going to use those themes
as the great gifts for these next three years ..faith hope and love..
and this year
the theme is the great gift of faith.
Faith.is your relationship with gGd..faith is a living trust. Of the heart
.
Faith is not just an idea or a doctrine
Faith is letting God lead us...fromthe inside and out..
.and the stewardship committee said lets tie that in with what the Bible says about giving.
Giving is rooted in faith.
Now when a committee in the church
wants to be Biblical..thats a good thing..isnt it?
But do you know what the Bible says. about money and the wealth and giving?
Do you know what the Bible says about being financially faithful...
And maybe you don’t want to know..
but thats not a small topic..
First of all.
If you want to know what the bible says on this ..especially the Old Testament..
then you have to know about the tithe and tithing...
Now those are words that your not going to hear on Wall street or on TV;
its Bible talk and it means 10% or 1 tenth
' all through the Bible
I could give you verse after verse ..
..(I gave you some of those verses in the church newsletter.. )
. But I tenth is Gods share
That’s the minimum ... there is more beyond that ..
but ten percent belongs to God..
. And if you do the Bible study you find out that God’s share was put into the ‘storehouse..”
1 tenth of the produce,, the crops...the income of the day..
...it became Gods community property... So it was used to feed people
And It was for the Levites
..the Levites were the priestly tribe and the religious class in ancient Israel
....they didn’t get a share of the land to live on
so the tithe was used to support the religious life of the people
(maybe you can see how that would apply today
when we talk about the church budget ...support for the “religious system”)
And the tithe ,,,,,also in the Bible....
is used to care for the poor
and those who didn’t get in on the harvest and so on..
(Support for missions and relief etc.).
But there is another layer of the tithe..
and that is another basic teaching point..of the tithe ..and this is what I really want you to hear..out of this “tithe” message
It teaches you...
as a very practical reminder..when you give 1/10,
you get reminded that you don’t own this stuff
Its not really yours ..
you are just using it,, you are a steward ..a manager..
Because
it all belongs to God.
“The earth is the lords and the fullness there of..”
And it teaches you that God gave you,
in one way or another,. everythign you have.
..
God is the source of everything..
God is the giver
and we are called to see the tithe
as a way of saying thanks....
(.and jump now to the Gospel lesson with the ten lepers..isn’t Jesus saying that giving thanks is a core.. faithful response..note that one out of ten..a tithe...said thanks!
-----------------
Now all o f that is that probably more than you can absorb,maybe you can get it into your “head” ..as an idea but it’s a lot to get into your heart and your soul.
As part of your life
So Let me take you on the short cut
when the church
with
the guidance of the Bible
and the holy spirit
and the life of Jesus Christ
talks about money
and our spending
and the wealth
all this financial stewardship stuff..
we do it because it is about our faith.
. its about your real life ..deep down
and your relationship with God
If you want to grow in your faith, then you have to ..eventually ...
deal with the grip of money..and the spirit of your giving..
and the role of your possessions in your life!
This is not easy..it might be one of the hardest parts for us as Christians in this country.
But Jesus said ;we cannot have divided loyalties.
He said you cannot serve both God and mammon or wealth
-------------
Henri Nouwen said
_If money touches our relationships with family members
as well as the world beyond our home,
it also reaches into our inner life.”
How does money reach into your inner life?
That the most improtant of this conversation this morning!!!!
The New testament says that money is something that can tempt us
and control us
and make us greedy
or stingy ..or resentful (James says it’s the cause of wars!)
or it make us worried. Or it gives us a false sense of security
or somehow it becomes a spiritual danger.. Money is a spiritual issue..
It gets inside of us!
In fact
that warning about money and possession
is found in just about every major religious tradition of the world..
Buddhist, Islam,, Native American , Jewish Christian, Hindu..its all there.
Why do you think that is?
Do you think there is some real wisdom in that warning?
So we have to ask; every day I suppose ..at least every Sunday when the offering plate comes around;is my financial business in the spiritual relationship that it needs to be?
The Christian tradition is here to help you do that..at least to hear the call; by asking you to give.....and to grow a faithful and generous spirit in you.
That is our calling...to form your spiritual life....to shape your spirit according to Jesus Christ
In a sense,
we are the ‘Hanas” in your life
the Bible is like Hanna.
.the offering envelope is like Hanna..
The church is like Hanna
And I know it is something...that sometimes,
we don’t want to deal with
So we go to a different bakery ,..we go to a different church..
We skip that Sunday.... or we just ignore the topic.
I don’t want to say we are a the rat that nibbles away at your bread..
But .you get the point
If I didn’t bother you ( Am I bothering you?)
or remind you..as a pastor...
In the name of Christ.
.I would not be faithful to God
I would not be presenting the Bible to you..
And if you don’t like
or agree with what I say
that oks...I struggle with it too....this is not easy...its a life long process..
But then..
go tell God
go argue
with the Bible..go do the soul searching .
Look at your “inside” spiritual stuff...
because ultimately its not coming from me.
And its not the finance committee..
I believe it is about the faith,
This is about what God wants you to do..
As part of the Christian faith
And I also believe that God wants to do more with this church
with this ministry
with you..
God has bigger plans for this Park United Methodist church
something has been happening here
and will happen even more..
Whenever we get faithful.. Faithful things happen..
Until then,tell me if you are avoiding Hanna
and if you have been noticing any rats.
. Nibbling away in your heart
or in life.
I look forward to the great gift of faith..
as big as an egg..
or maybe just the size of a mustard seed.
The story is adapted from Megan MeKenna, Blessings and Woes. P, 60 Orbis Books 1999
she also cites As Big as an Egg by Rochel Sandman*
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sept 30 2007 Bible Presentation Sunday
Sept 30. 2007 PUMC Rory Swenson “The Bible is..”
I get to do another one of my favorite things this morning.
We get to give out Bibles to third graders and confirmation students.
And I am wondering ,how many of us still have a Bible that you got in about third grade?
How many of you have a Bible that you got for confirmation?
And then take a minute and tell somebody next to you about your first Bible.
When did you get it and who gave it to you?
What did it feel like to get that Bible?
Do you still have it? No that for just a minute or 2
Now another question:what is a favorite verse or a verse that you think of most often?
Finally, is there anybody here who does not have a Bible ?
Because if you don’t then I have a Bible for you;... you can see me at the end of the service.
Now up until Thursday evening I was going to talk about what the Bible is.
I was going to talk about the Bible as a way to hear God’s voice to us.
... we do speak of It as God’s Word..and we are called into this dialogue of listening and relationship
I was also going to talk about the Bible as a standard for living
and I was going to talk about the Bible as a the source for our identity ...
that's why I had those verses put into the bulletin insert this week
I listed some verses that tell us who we are
so maybe you could save that insert and use them as prayer reminders this week of who you are;
And all that is true
But there was this story that I’ve know about for several years
that has been waiting for its turn to be told and it kept coming back to me this week
I got this idea again and again ,“tell that story this week..”
Drop those other notes,Go get that story
and I realized that it is also a story about what the Bible really is....
Except that it’s a zen Buddhist story and its about how the Buddhist scriptures
the sutras, got printed in Japanese language
Well
its still a story that can speak to us about what the bible really is..
Heres the “jist” of to the story..and its based in history
Tetsugen,
was a follower of Zen in Japan, in the 1600s and he became a monk when he was just a young teenager. He wanted to become a holy person so he obeyed the discipline of the monastery where he listened, he studied ,chanted and he learned
But very early on he dreamed of having the Buddhist teachings printed in the Japanese language . Up until this time they were only printed in Chinese:
all the scripture and the chants
the koans the parables and the stories;
all had to be read in Chinese
so only the most dedicated and determined people were able to do this
You had to learn Chinese before you could even start to study and of course,
not everybody could do that
so you can see why Tetsugen wanted to translate the words
and then
he wanted to have 7000 copies printed
That was his dream and his devotion to the scriptures;
so that the lay people of Japan
could read this in their own languages
and they too could be inspired ..and they too could become holier in their own lives...
(We had the same kind of challenges and issues in western Christianity , trying to get the Bible printed into the common languages of the people, for example English or German, rather than just Latin)
But this was a huge project ; translating and then carving all those letters on to wood blocks for printing...it would take about 60,000 wood blocks to make this translation ;of course it was very expensive
yet Tetsugen was driven by this dream and his own devotion to tho scriptures
and wanting to share this wisdom and this life with the people.
He became a leader in his own monastery and then became a master also at a young age ;then he started to teach outside the monastery ,out in the villages
or in the town s and cities,soon
he was invited to teach with the scholars and the businessmen and the government officials
He was a famous teacher and as he taught in these places
he was able to charge for his lectures; he also collected donations for his project
sometimes he would get a hundred pieces of gold
..but most of the time
he got just a few coins.
. Still, he was grateful for every donation and he valued them all just the same
. After doing this for ten years.. He had enough money to hire a translator,
He could now by the paper and have the paper prepared,
and have the print blocks made.
After ten years he could finally have the books for the people
But just as he was about to give the money to the translator and get the project in motion, there was typhoon and heavy rains
and the Uji river overflowed .Homes were ruined, bridges and roads were destroyed and the rice crop was lost ;
after that there was a famine..
The very young and the very old were the first to die
but soon everyone was in danger
there was no seed rice..for the next crop
Tetsugen looked at the suffering of the people and he thought,
“How can I make books when the people who are going to read them.
Are starving to death”
And so he took all the money he had saved in those ten years
and he sent away to get rice .to save the people.
He gave away everything he had for the hungry
As Japan began to recover
Testugen still had his dream to translate the scriptures so he started to go out and speak once gain,
to collect for the project..
More traveling ,,more begging..
He begged from every one and anyone ;always grateful for the gifts..
Again it took him several years to collect enough money
by now the cost of the materials had gotten higher
but finally he was ready with the translator
and the paper and the person to carve the printing blocks
But again. Tragedy struck
there was an epidemic; disease was everywhere.
The people were two weak to work the fields..
’people needed medicine and they needed food.
.and so again Tetsugne spent all of the money
to help the people
and then For a third time
he started his work, all over; speaking , teaching, writing,
collecting donations..
He begged shamelessly but he was begging from people who had given donations before and sometimes people would say to him
What did you do with the money that we already gave you for this project.?
But he never gave up on his dream, and his devotion to the scriptures and how he wanted to share them with his own people
well
again after twenty years his wish was fulfilled.
He had enough money ;this time
no disasters came along,
the translator was paid
the wood printing blocks were made
the paper was printed.
And in 1681
7000. copes of the sutras
., the prayers and the teachings
were made for the people of Japan
Testsugen was not a young man anymore but his devotion was shared
and it was lived in his translation
You can still go to a monastery in a Kyoto Japan
and you can see Four of those little printing blocks that made the first edition of sutras
.
I'm told that
The tour guide in that monastery museum
will tell you this..
They say that Testsugin
actually made three sets of sutras,
not one
but three translations of those scriptures
and that the first two invisible sets
surpass even the last.
The first 2 sets of scripture are far superior and much more to be valued.
You get the message
The best translation of the scriptures came in the acts of devotion
and self lessness and compassion .as he helped the people
When Tesugun used the scripture
to become food and medicine and the rebuilding of lives
that is what really taught the wisdom and gave holiness to the people
Because he loved those sutras , those scriptures ;
he also loved the people those scriptures were for
because he knew what those teachings taught, he know what he really had to do.
because he wanted to share those scriptures; he also knew that he had to share with the people in need
He could not do one without the other.
That what I want us to hear to day as we present these Bible and have our kind of Bible Sunday.
Can you really love the Bible without loving the people the bible is for?
Can you love God’s word without loving Gods world..and God’s vision for the you in that world?
Can you be devoted to God’s word
without being devoted to gods work
Doesn’t one lead tot he other?
That’s the lesson that I hear in our Bible as well..
The true giving of the scriptures happens when we give love and life
the true translating of the bible
happens when change our action
s and respond the hungry and the poor
The true teaching of the Bible
happens when we do what the Bible teaches us to do
and we begin to live the kind of world
and form the kind of future that God points out for us
That is the vision of the scriptures where they study war no more
where the hungry are fed
the outcasts are regathered and the lost are found
in the good ness of God
Do you think God want us to translate that into our real lives somehow?
Maybe that what the Bible really is
it s a translation of Gods will
.wanting to happen in us..and thorough us.....
a translation of Gods wisdom
a translation of Gods love into your world, your mind, your action, your being
Is the translation only in the pages of this wonderful book?
or
do we make those other invisible translations
those more precious translation
in the living of our lives
as we become
those sacrificial and holy
stories of faith and hope and love..
Can you make that translation?
the Bible is meant to be translated... into life..
Go back to the gospel lesson today
maybe the true devotion to the Bible as the word of God
comes when we do see the Lazarus at our own gates of the world..
and we listen to the scriptures
We listen to the warnings and calls of Moses
and the prophets
and yes we listen
and do the the words of Jesus
who did indeed raise from the dead...
Jesus is very clearly saying we already have the scriptures to lead us!
Now do it! Will we listen to it..Will we translate it!
That the kind of living translation that the bible
..as the word of God ,is trying to be
There is an old gospel poem and song
that talks about the gospel according to you
and that you are the gospel
you are the bible
that most people are actually going to read...
Are you good translation.? I hope that as a church we are trying to be a good modern translation
that takes to days complex issues
and todays challenges
and tries to solve them
with the same kind of transformative love, and creative hospitality
and selfless sacrifice and
ultimate trust..
that Jesus revealed as the way
now thats a transaltion
of the bible to be treasured.. Its seems like a very rare translation!
The Bible printed in a book
is to be cherished and prayed and studied..
But most of all it is to be embodied.
.taken to heart and lived..
Maybe that's why we see Jesus Christ as the incarnation of the word
..the living Word...Jesus became the word
Let me close with lesson form the Jewish tradition
Rabbi David Wolpe
tells about a man who went up to a very wise rabbi and said
Rabbi I don’t want to boast
but I consider myself a very devout and learned Jew.
I have been through the Talmud three times in my studies.
The rabbi smiled back at him and nodded
“Admirable
Very admirable
But my friend, I have a question for you?
How much of the Talmud has been through you?”
Maybe we have to ask the question :how much of the bible has been though us..?
Gotten into us..
Moved us ..changed us.. Formed us.
What is the Bible ...? As people of faith..I think we have to say
The Bible is God word to create us and recreated us. The bible is Gods word
that is meant to be translated and gone through us.
All of us and each of us
How much of the bible is going through you.?
That is how we personally answer, what the Bible is.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
....(My version of the Tetsugin story is a compilation of the material from the wikipedia entry for Tetsugen as well as Megan Mckenna's version in Keepers of the Story p. 50 Orbis Press
The rabbi and Talmud story is From M. McKenna Prophets,,p. 1 , she cites Rabbi David Wolpe
I get to do another one of my favorite things this morning.
We get to give out Bibles to third graders and confirmation students.
And I am wondering ,how many of us still have a Bible that you got in about third grade?
How many of you have a Bible that you got for confirmation?
And then take a minute and tell somebody next to you about your first Bible.
When did you get it and who gave it to you?
What did it feel like to get that Bible?
Do you still have it? No that for just a minute or 2
Now another question:what is a favorite verse or a verse that you think of most often?
Finally, is there anybody here who does not have a Bible ?
Because if you don’t then I have a Bible for you;... you can see me at the end of the service.
Now up until Thursday evening I was going to talk about what the Bible is.
I was going to talk about the Bible as a way to hear God’s voice to us.
... we do speak of It as God’s Word..and we are called into this dialogue of listening and relationship
I was also going to talk about the Bible as a standard for living
and I was going to talk about the Bible as a the source for our identity ...
that's why I had those verses put into the bulletin insert this week
I listed some verses that tell us who we are
so maybe you could save that insert and use them as prayer reminders this week of who you are;
And all that is true
But there was this story that I’ve know about for several years
that has been waiting for its turn to be told and it kept coming back to me this week
I got this idea again and again ,“tell that story this week..”
Drop those other notes,Go get that story
and I realized that it is also a story about what the Bible really is....
Except that it’s a zen Buddhist story and its about how the Buddhist scriptures
the sutras, got printed in Japanese language
Well
its still a story that can speak to us about what the bible really is..
Heres the “jist” of to the story..and its based in history
Tetsugen,
was a follower of Zen in Japan, in the 1600s and he became a monk when he was just a young teenager. He wanted to become a holy person so he obeyed the discipline of the monastery where he listened, he studied ,chanted and he learned
But very early on he dreamed of having the Buddhist teachings printed in the Japanese language . Up until this time they were only printed in Chinese:
all the scripture and the chants
the koans the parables and the stories;
all had to be read in Chinese
so only the most dedicated and determined people were able to do this
You had to learn Chinese before you could even start to study and of course,
not everybody could do that
so you can see why Tetsugen wanted to translate the words
and then
he wanted to have 7000 copies printed
That was his dream and his devotion to the scriptures;
so that the lay people of Japan
could read this in their own languages
and they too could be inspired ..and they too could become holier in their own lives...
(We had the same kind of challenges and issues in western Christianity , trying to get the Bible printed into the common languages of the people, for example English or German, rather than just Latin)
But this was a huge project ; translating and then carving all those letters on to wood blocks for printing...it would take about 60,000 wood blocks to make this translation ;of course it was very expensive
yet Tetsugen was driven by this dream and his own devotion to tho scriptures
and wanting to share this wisdom and this life with the people.
He became a leader in his own monastery and then became a master also at a young age ;then he started to teach outside the monastery ,out in the villages
or in the town s and cities,soon
he was invited to teach with the scholars and the businessmen and the government officials
He was a famous teacher and as he taught in these places
he was able to charge for his lectures; he also collected donations for his project
sometimes he would get a hundred pieces of gold
..but most of the time
he got just a few coins.
. Still, he was grateful for every donation and he valued them all just the same
. After doing this for ten years.. He had enough money to hire a translator,
He could now by the paper and have the paper prepared,
and have the print blocks made.
After ten years he could finally have the books for the people
But just as he was about to give the money to the translator and get the project in motion, there was typhoon and heavy rains
and the Uji river overflowed .Homes were ruined, bridges and roads were destroyed and the rice crop was lost ;
after that there was a famine..
The very young and the very old were the first to die
but soon everyone was in danger
there was no seed rice..for the next crop
Tetsugen looked at the suffering of the people and he thought,
“How can I make books when the people who are going to read them.
Are starving to death”
And so he took all the money he had saved in those ten years
and he sent away to get rice .to save the people.
He gave away everything he had for the hungry
As Japan began to recover
Testugen still had his dream to translate the scriptures so he started to go out and speak once gain,
to collect for the project..
More traveling ,,more begging..
He begged from every one and anyone ;always grateful for the gifts..
Again it took him several years to collect enough money
by now the cost of the materials had gotten higher
but finally he was ready with the translator
and the paper and the person to carve the printing blocks
But again. Tragedy struck
there was an epidemic; disease was everywhere.
The people were two weak to work the fields..
’people needed medicine and they needed food.
.and so again Tetsugne spent all of the money
to help the people
and then For a third time
he started his work, all over; speaking , teaching, writing,
collecting donations..
He begged shamelessly but he was begging from people who had given donations before and sometimes people would say to him
What did you do with the money that we already gave you for this project.?
But he never gave up on his dream, and his devotion to the scriptures and how he wanted to share them with his own people
well
again after twenty years his wish was fulfilled.
He had enough money ;this time
no disasters came along,
the translator was paid
the wood printing blocks were made
the paper was printed.
And in 1681
7000. copes of the sutras
., the prayers and the teachings
were made for the people of Japan
Testsugen was not a young man anymore but his devotion was shared
and it was lived in his translation
You can still go to a monastery in a Kyoto Japan
and you can see Four of those little printing blocks that made the first edition of sutras
.
I'm told that
The tour guide in that monastery museum
will tell you this..
They say that Testsugin
actually made three sets of sutras,
not one
but three translations of those scriptures
and that the first two invisible sets
surpass even the last.
The first 2 sets of scripture are far superior and much more to be valued.
You get the message
The best translation of the scriptures came in the acts of devotion
and self lessness and compassion .as he helped the people
When Tesugun used the scripture
to become food and medicine and the rebuilding of lives
that is what really taught the wisdom and gave holiness to the people
Because he loved those sutras , those scriptures ;
he also loved the people those scriptures were for
because he knew what those teachings taught, he know what he really had to do.
because he wanted to share those scriptures; he also knew that he had to share with the people in need
He could not do one without the other.
That what I want us to hear to day as we present these Bible and have our kind of Bible Sunday.
Can you really love the Bible without loving the people the bible is for?
Can you love God’s word without loving Gods world..and God’s vision for the you in that world?
Can you be devoted to God’s word
without being devoted to gods work
Doesn’t one lead tot he other?
That’s the lesson that I hear in our Bible as well..
The true giving of the scriptures happens when we give love and life
the true translating of the bible
happens when change our action
s and respond the hungry and the poor
The true teaching of the Bible
happens when we do what the Bible teaches us to do
and we begin to live the kind of world
and form the kind of future that God points out for us
That is the vision of the scriptures where they study war no more
where the hungry are fed
the outcasts are regathered and the lost are found
in the good ness of God
Do you think God want us to translate that into our real lives somehow?
Maybe that what the Bible really is
it s a translation of Gods will
.wanting to happen in us..and thorough us.....
a translation of Gods wisdom
a translation of Gods love into your world, your mind, your action, your being
Is the translation only in the pages of this wonderful book?
or
do we make those other invisible translations
those more precious translation
in the living of our lives
as we become
those sacrificial and holy
stories of faith and hope and love..
Can you make that translation?
the Bible is meant to be translated... into life..
Go back to the gospel lesson today
maybe the true devotion to the Bible as the word of God
comes when we do see the Lazarus at our own gates of the world..
and we listen to the scriptures
We listen to the warnings and calls of Moses
and the prophets
and yes we listen
and do the the words of Jesus
who did indeed raise from the dead...
Jesus is very clearly saying we already have the scriptures to lead us!
Now do it! Will we listen to it..Will we translate it!
That the kind of living translation that the bible
..as the word of God ,is trying to be
There is an old gospel poem and song
that talks about the gospel according to you
and that you are the gospel
you are the bible
that most people are actually going to read...
Are you good translation.? I hope that as a church we are trying to be a good modern translation
that takes to days complex issues
and todays challenges
and tries to solve them
with the same kind of transformative love, and creative hospitality
and selfless sacrifice and
ultimate trust..
that Jesus revealed as the way
now thats a transaltion
of the bible to be treasured.. Its seems like a very rare translation!
The Bible printed in a book
is to be cherished and prayed and studied..
But most of all it is to be embodied.
.taken to heart and lived..
Maybe that's why we see Jesus Christ as the incarnation of the word
..the living Word...Jesus became the word
Let me close with lesson form the Jewish tradition
Rabbi David Wolpe
tells about a man who went up to a very wise rabbi and said
Rabbi I don’t want to boast
but I consider myself a very devout and learned Jew.
I have been through the Talmud three times in my studies.
The rabbi smiled back at him and nodded
“Admirable
Very admirable
But my friend, I have a question for you?
How much of the Talmud has been through you?”
Maybe we have to ask the question :how much of the bible has been though us..?
Gotten into us..
Moved us ..changed us.. Formed us.
What is the Bible ...? As people of faith..I think we have to say
The Bible is God word to create us and recreated us. The bible is Gods word
that is meant to be translated and gone through us.
All of us and each of us
How much of the bible is going through you.?
That is how we personally answer, what the Bible is.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
....(My version of the Tetsugin story is a compilation of the material from the wikipedia entry for Tetsugen as well as Megan Mckenna's version in Keepers of the Story p. 50 Orbis Press
The rabbi and Talmud story is From M. McKenna Prophets,,p. 1 , she cites Rabbi David Wolpe
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sept 23 Confirmation notes
PUMC Sept 23 2007 Rory Swenson
Confirmation is always a great day and I have enjoyed getting to know the three of you a little more.Actually my favorite part of the whole confirmation journey
is the opportunity to get a sense of who you are
and hear your thoughts..
We got together on Wednesday evening for most of the school year last year..
And as always .there is a lot that we didn’t get covered.. You are not Bible experts
and really you still have a lot to learn about John Wesley and the United Methodist church and you have a lot of spiritual growing to do..
But thats ok
because thats just how it is, for all of us.
So we need you to be in Sunday classes and youth group.and mission trips and Bible studies and worship....from now
That means two things; I am going to use this a time to give another confirmation lesson to the class
and secondly, I use this a s time to remind you that confirmation is not an ending but a beginning.
I want you to know that this is not anything like graduation:
you are not graduating from your Christian education
you are not graduating from a class
you are not graduating
from the training program of the church
This is a beginning,
so instead of graduation,I want you to think more like matriculation.
Now... do you know what a matriculation ceremony is?
Matriculation is the admission ceremony
Its when you sign in to a school ..such as a college..
You enroll.
(We just went to one of those ceremonies for my daughter Sara)
matriculation
maybe that’s what this is: that means the confirmation program
was more like an application process with the admissions interviews and
you have now met some admission requirements with grace
Now
you are going to actually start the next level of learning
now
you are going to be officially in the membership program
now you are going to start
Formally
at the school of faith as a disciple of Jesus Christ
I like that.
.you are saying that now I will be a student in this discipline
not a graduation but a matriculation
not an ending but a beginning
As you start your formal admission
into the membership life of the church
I want to give you a couple of confirmation presents..
That’s what I have here over on the side.
And I’ve got a little story or a lesson to go with each one so let get to the presents
First of all
I got you a basket with a Bible in it.
and here’s the story that goes with the basket
This story goes way back to the days of the first monks
who lived in the deserts around Egypt.
One day there was a young man who came to an old hermit in the desert
and he wanted to know
....."How can I become holy and happy
but to do it quickly"
the old man said
Its easy, just go to one of those caves over there
and take your scriptures with you. Read them day and night and you will find what you are looking for.
So off he went...And he did what he was told to do then in three days he came back to the old Master
"How it going?"
The young man said its going terrible
he said he was bored
and his mind kept wandering
and he didn’t remember anything that he read
and not only that but he didn’t understand.
The old man just smiled
he said Don’t worry,You are doing fine. Go back and keep reading
every hour of the day but I want you to add something more;
get a basket and fil lit up with sand
and set it outside the front of your cave
then go down to the well
and get a bucket of fresh water
and pour it over the sand
do that twice a day
once in the morning and then again in the evening
then come back and see me in 7 days
to tell me how your doing.
So off the man went and again he did what he was told to do
and one week later he came back
Hows it going now?
the old man wanted to know
oh
Its still terrible
I fall asleep and my mind is still wandering
and I still don’t really understand it
ok now what about the sand?
and the young man said
“oh that...
well I pour the water in
just as you told me,
some of it leaks out of the basket
and some of it pools up at the top for a little while
and then it soaks into the sand”
Good said the old hermit
you are doing just fine
Now go back
and keep doing the same thing
and come back every week and tell me hows it going
again the man went off
and every week he came back ..had the same report
Nothing was happening at all.
One day though he came back and said
that something had changed
all the sand was gone fromthe basket.
“Good” said the old hermit
what do you mean good?
the young man said
I'm just as unholy as I was before and now im just poring water into a clean basket.
Yes , said the old man
(he had this twinkle in his eye)
and
don’t you see the same thing is happening to you..?
But you don’t see it..
You are the basket and the word of God is the water that you have been pouring over the sand.
That is the sand of your sins.or your needs
and your obstacles,your ignorance,your weakness, your prrde
your doubts and fears,
that is the sand
of your unhappiness
andyou impatience
or your selfishness
But the basket does not know
which drop of water washed away which grain of sand
but still
the sand just cant resist the water
in the same way you will not rmember
or even know
which word of God
washed away
which sin or trouble or barrier in your life
but everything that needs to change
will be changed.
As you let the word of God come into and over your life
again and again.
Your soul can’t stand up against the washing water of the Living word
as you let it soak into your life.
Some day , however
you will know what its like to be a clean basket
empty and more open
ready to carry
life or bread
or something that another person needs
you life will become a service and a gift to others.
So that why I gave youa basket and a Bible... let the word soak into you
and then ;second present; I got you a uniform... or a team jersey
here the story
Tom Long ..who teaches preaching
at one of our seminaries
talks about his step son
his step son
was a star cross country runner in high school
and for him cross country
was this whole way of life
they had doctrines or beliefs
so to speak
ideas about nutrition and exercise and aerobics
he believed
that you should fuel up on carbs the night before a race
and he believed in how important it was
to have a cool down period after a race
they had all these disciplines and rules
they encouraged each other
and pushed each other to do more
they learned a few techniques
to improve this or that..
he and the other runners
would get together
a lot of times before the sun was up
and they would runa few miles.
He ate a special diet
he would not drink any sugary pop
he went to bed early the night before a meet
he learned all this from his teammates
and from his coach
and he made it his own
He committed to it. Personally..
Now get this: Its the point I want to make
they had a high school year book .... like every other high school
and in that yearbook
there is a team picture that shows him being on the team.
But as Thomas Long puts it.
That picture merely shows that he was on the team
but did that make him a cross country runner?
Getting up at 5:30 AM to run seven miles with his team-mates is what made him a runner
doing those those other things that were talked about
thats what made him a runner
that is the same for Christianity
We are talking about a way of life
we have a set of practices
we have some beliefs and you do these things with other Christians
that what Christianity is all about
its not just being listed in the book
as a somebody on the team
its not just being in the picture
or even the confirmation picture
its showing up
getting up
to do the run in the race eof faith
doign the discipline
doing the work
loving
serving
praying..
Giving
Encouraging each other
being accountable
being coach able
Being here for worship and fellowship
getting on the mission team
Trusting
making peace
forgiving
doing good
stretching your spiritual muscles
following the spiritual diet of Gods word
its waking the walk..
So I gave you some kind of sports jersey to remind you
that you are called
to put un on this chrsitian life
and practice it..do it.
but it more than jsut the jersy
show up
for practice , run wit the team..
Don’t just be in the picture
with your white confirmation robe
even if it the confirmation Sunday picture
that is not what makes you into a Christian. And a member of the church
Its saying
yes to it
and making it your own
as part of the discipleship team
so those are the presents
matriculation presents
as you get admitted as a professing member
into the next step of your Christian jounrey
I hope you keep these things around as reminders
to let he Bible soak into your life
and to run the race.of faith. Do the actions
...............................................................
The Tom Long story is from Testimony p, 36, by Thomas G. Long Publisher Jossey-Bass
Megan McKenna, Keepers of the Story p. 101. was my source for those story from the Desert monastic traditions
Confirmation is always a great day and I have enjoyed getting to know the three of you a little more.Actually my favorite part of the whole confirmation journey
is the opportunity to get a sense of who you are
and hear your thoughts..
We got together on Wednesday evening for most of the school year last year..
And as always .there is a lot that we didn’t get covered.. You are not Bible experts
and really you still have a lot to learn about John Wesley and the United Methodist church and you have a lot of spiritual growing to do..
But thats ok
because thats just how it is, for all of us.
So we need you to be in Sunday classes and youth group.and mission trips and Bible studies and worship....from now
That means two things; I am going to use this a time to give another confirmation lesson to the class
and secondly, I use this a s time to remind you that confirmation is not an ending but a beginning.
I want you to know that this is not anything like graduation:
you are not graduating from your Christian education
you are not graduating from a class
you are not graduating
from the training program of the church
This is a beginning,
so instead of graduation,I want you to think more like matriculation.
Now... do you know what a matriculation ceremony is?
Matriculation is the admission ceremony
Its when you sign in to a school ..such as a college..
You enroll.
(We just went to one of those ceremonies for my daughter Sara)
matriculation
maybe that’s what this is: that means the confirmation program
was more like an application process with the admissions interviews and
you have now met some admission requirements with grace
Now
you are going to actually start the next level of learning
now
you are going to be officially in the membership program
now you are going to start
Formally
at the school of faith as a disciple of Jesus Christ
I like that.
.you are saying that now I will be a student in this discipline
not a graduation but a matriculation
not an ending but a beginning
As you start your formal admission
into the membership life of the church
I want to give you a couple of confirmation presents..
That’s what I have here over on the side.
And I’ve got a little story or a lesson to go with each one so let get to the presents
First of all
I got you a basket with a Bible in it.
and here’s the story that goes with the basket
This story goes way back to the days of the first monks
who lived in the deserts around Egypt.
One day there was a young man who came to an old hermit in the desert
and he wanted to know
....."How can I become holy and happy
but to do it quickly"
the old man said
Its easy, just go to one of those caves over there
and take your scriptures with you. Read them day and night and you will find what you are looking for.
So off he went...And he did what he was told to do then in three days he came back to the old Master
"How it going?"
The young man said its going terrible
he said he was bored
and his mind kept wandering
and he didn’t remember anything that he read
and not only that but he didn’t understand.
The old man just smiled
he said Don’t worry,You are doing fine. Go back and keep reading
every hour of the day but I want you to add something more;
get a basket and fil lit up with sand
and set it outside the front of your cave
then go down to the well
and get a bucket of fresh water
and pour it over the sand
do that twice a day
once in the morning and then again in the evening
then come back and see me in 7 days
to tell me how your doing.
So off the man went and again he did what he was told to do
and one week later he came back
Hows it going now?
the old man wanted to know
oh
Its still terrible
I fall asleep and my mind is still wandering
and I still don’t really understand it
ok now what about the sand?
and the young man said
“oh that...
well I pour the water in
just as you told me,
some of it leaks out of the basket
and some of it pools up at the top for a little while
and then it soaks into the sand”
Good said the old hermit
you are doing just fine
Now go back
and keep doing the same thing
and come back every week and tell me hows it going
again the man went off
and every week he came back ..had the same report
Nothing was happening at all.
One day though he came back and said
that something had changed
all the sand was gone fromthe basket.
“Good” said the old hermit
what do you mean good?
the young man said
I'm just as unholy as I was before and now im just poring water into a clean basket.
Yes , said the old man
(he had this twinkle in his eye)
and
don’t you see the same thing is happening to you..?
But you don’t see it..
You are the basket and the word of God is the water that you have been pouring over the sand.
That is the sand of your sins.or your needs
and your obstacles,your ignorance,your weakness, your prrde
your doubts and fears,
that is the sand
of your unhappiness
andyou impatience
or your selfishness
But the basket does not know
which drop of water washed away which grain of sand
but still
the sand just cant resist the water
in the same way you will not rmember
or even know
which word of God
washed away
which sin or trouble or barrier in your life
but everything that needs to change
will be changed.
As you let the word of God come into and over your life
again and again.
Your soul can’t stand up against the washing water of the Living word
as you let it soak into your life.
Some day , however
you will know what its like to be a clean basket
empty and more open
ready to carry
life or bread
or something that another person needs
you life will become a service and a gift to others.
So that why I gave youa basket and a Bible... let the word soak into you
and then ;second present; I got you a uniform... or a team jersey
here the story
Tom Long ..who teaches preaching
at one of our seminaries
talks about his step son
his step son
was a star cross country runner in high school
and for him cross country
was this whole way of life
they had doctrines or beliefs
so to speak
ideas about nutrition and exercise and aerobics
he believed
that you should fuel up on carbs the night before a race
and he believed in how important it was
to have a cool down period after a race
they had all these disciplines and rules
they encouraged each other
and pushed each other to do more
they learned a few techniques
to improve this or that..
he and the other runners
would get together
a lot of times before the sun was up
and they would runa few miles.
He ate a special diet
he would not drink any sugary pop
he went to bed early the night before a meet
he learned all this from his teammates
and from his coach
and he made it his own
He committed to it. Personally..
Now get this: Its the point I want to make
they had a high school year book .... like every other high school
and in that yearbook
there is a team picture that shows him being on the team.
But as Thomas Long puts it.
That picture merely shows that he was on the team
but did that make him a cross country runner?
Getting up at 5:30 AM to run seven miles with his team-mates is what made him a runner
doing those those other things that were talked about
thats what made him a runner
that is the same for Christianity
We are talking about a way of life
we have a set of practices
we have some beliefs and you do these things with other Christians
that what Christianity is all about
its not just being listed in the book
as a somebody on the team
its not just being in the picture
or even the confirmation picture
its showing up
getting up
to do the run in the race eof faith
doign the discipline
doing the work
loving
serving
praying..
Giving
Encouraging each other
being accountable
being coach able
Being here for worship and fellowship
getting on the mission team
Trusting
making peace
forgiving
doing good
stretching your spiritual muscles
following the spiritual diet of Gods word
its waking the walk..
So I gave you some kind of sports jersey to remind you
that you are called
to put un on this chrsitian life
and practice it..do it.
but it more than jsut the jersy
show up
for practice , run wit the team..
Don’t just be in the picture
with your white confirmation robe
even if it the confirmation Sunday picture
that is not what makes you into a Christian. And a member of the church
Its saying
yes to it
and making it your own
as part of the discipleship team
so those are the presents
matriculation presents
as you get admitted as a professing member
into the next step of your Christian jounrey
I hope you keep these things around as reminders
to let he Bible soak into your life
and to run the race.of faith. Do the actions
...............................................................
The Tom Long story is from Testimony p, 36, by Thomas G. Long Publisher Jossey-Bass
Megan McKenna, Keepers of the Story p. 101. was my source for those story from the Desert monastic traditions
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
