Recent Sermons
Recent Sermons:
Sermon, First Sunday after Epiphany, Year A, January 13, 2008, St. Thomas, Oakmont, JDMurph
A long time ago, when I was still in my twenties, I spent a summer working in England and living only with British people. Its funny how the cultures of Britain and the USA are so similar and also so different and how our history weaves together. One afternoon, I was walking in London with a friend, when we passed one of the older mailboxes I had seen. In Britain, the mailboxes are these huge cast iron-pipes, painted red, with a slot near the top (you cant miss them). And each one bears the mark of the monarch in whose reign it was cast. For example, most of them have an E and an R with a Roman number two in between. That means they were cast during the reign of Elizabeth, the present queen. One really old one had VR, which meant it was from the time of Queen Victoria. But the one we passed that day had GR with a Roman number VI in between. Which one is he I asked my friend. George the sixth, God bless him, he said, kind of sadly. Why do you say it like that I asked. He explained, George the Sixth was a second son, who came unexpectedly to the throne when his older brother, Edward VIII abdicated to marry Mrs. Simpson. He went on to add, The British people love him especially because, even though he was unprepared and un-groomed to be anointed a ruler, he was king during WWII, and very courageous and dedicated to his people. When he died prematurely in 1952, most people figured it was from the stress of his dedication. I wondered whether people in the US feel the same way about FDRmaybe. These days, we in the USA can hardly get away from the news about Who will be the next President Its an important question. The President of the United States has enormous power; even though he or she is checked in certain ways by our Constitution, he still is probably the most powerful person in the world. Whoever it will be, next year, about this time, he or she will be inaugurated, sworn in, to serve in this high office for four years. Inaugurations, if youve ever watched them, are pretty impressive. They are not, thankfully, like coronations, however. In coronations of a king or queen, the monarch is anointed with a special oil, and also, by implication, anointed by God, to serve in their unique role. And it is, of course, for life. From 1 Samuel, we hear how God commanded Samuel the prophet to anoint Saul, and then, when he turned out to be unsuitable, to anoint David, right under his nose. David, however, would not rebel against Saul because he said, Saul is the Lords anointed. Of course, David was too, but he would not claim his anointing until Saul had died. What is an anointing In one way, an anointing is just a smearing with oil. Later today we will be doing just such a smearing with oil on Alexander Michael, the candidate for baptism this morning. But if you look at the Biblical passages, anointing is a whole lot more than just a smearing with oil. In the Acts reading, which is taken from the story where Peter goes and preaches to the centurion Cornelius and he and his whole household are filled with the Holy Spirit and start praising God in tongues, Peter says, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. In this short passage, there are several things to catch our attention: 1) is the anointing of Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power, 2) is that the listeners to Peters sermon, Cornelius and his whole household, were filled and anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit themselves to be able to praise God in tongues, and 3) the passage ends with the one of the names of Jesus given by the prophets, God was with him. God was with him obviously in a unique way. Looking quickly at the other passages for other examples of anointing, in the first reading, Isaiah reports the word of the Lord, I have put my Spirit upon him.And from Matthews account of Jesus baptism, And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. What does all this mean It must all be important because the very title we use for Jesus, which is Christ (Greek for Messiah), means Anointed One. What is Jesus anointed to be Peter answers that question by announcing Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all). That phrase being in parentheses at least in our printing, most of us may have completely glossed over it. But take it back into context for moment. Peter is calling Jesus Lord of all in the home of a Roman centurion. And the only one in those who used the title Lord of All was Caesar. In the baptism story from Matthew, Jesus is anointed by the Holy Spirit to assume the role for which he came into the world, which is to be Lord over All. Yet the weird way he does this is to get himself nailed up on a cross to die. But, by doing this, he does at least two things: one, he takes our sin upon himself and pays it penalty (which is death); and two, he shows everybody that he is Lord of All by his resurrection (where he demonstrates that he is Lord even over death itself). Now, Jesus is both the representative and culmination of Israel, the son of David, but also Gods own son (This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased). And what we see in Peters sermon is that even the mere announcement of Jesus as Messiah, as Lord of All, is enough to unleash faith and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his family and friends. Two thousand years later, its easy to miss what this means to us. In the beginning of my sermon, I related my British friends affection for George VI, and recalled our own season this year of those with high hopes and expectations for our next President. In the Roman Empire, there were many who did believe that Caesar was Lord of all. After all, he had brought peace and security and relative prosperity to the whole Mediterranean world. The message that Jesus is Lord confronts all thisnot at all in a violent way (after all, Christians never rebelled against the Roman Empireeven during the worst persecutions). If he is Lord of all then we can trust and depend on him because, as Peter reminds us, he is anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. How is he Lord of your life or mine Let me pause for an example. When I was serving that internship in England I learned that no British subject is ever supposed to refuse a direct request from their monarch. What this really means in practice, however, is that the crown never asks anyone for anything unless they know beforehand that the answer will be yes. It doesnt work this way with Jesus. With my relationship with Jesus, there are so many times a day when I say, No! No, Im not going to give money to that street person. No, Im not going to forgive that two-faced jerk who wronged me. No, Im not going to respond mildly and lovingly to that angry word shouted at me from my family member or my friend or even that stranger. No, Im not going to resist this particular temptationI want to give in to it. And yet, later, in my prayers I realize that when I dethrone Jesus as Lord like this, that Im really just joining with soldiers who drove the nails in, or the mockers who shouted insults from the foot of the cross.Jesus is a gentle Lord, but one who still demands me to love and follow him in ALL things. Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord the priest asks at the baptismal examination. And candidate or the parents and godparents answer, I do. He is the one anointed for this. If we follow anything else, then we are following an idol, not God. And ultimately that leads to death, not life. So what about our disobedience What about our spotty record of following If Jesus were an earthly king, we would already have been shot for desertion or treason or both. But Jesus is both Lord and Savior. He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Yet his kingship is different from the rulers of this earth. He has taken away our sin by his blood shed on the cross, his life poured out for us. Not only does the cross cancel out the sins we committed before we knew him, but also the sins we fall into today and even the ones we fall into tomorrow. Will youwhenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord the priest asks. I will, with Gods help we all answer. Even in our repentance and return we depend on the Lords help. The question then is, if we are attracted to Jesus then do we really want him to be Lord of our lives Lord of our lives over every other pretended lord Because if we do, then he will be. Amen+
Sermon, Proper 15, Year C, Aug. 19, 2007, Pcst. 12, St. Thomas, Oakmont, JDMurph
In a conversation with a clergy friend recently, he was telling me about pastoral ministry with alcoholic families. Since he himself was an adult child of an alcoholic, he was very familiar, on a personal level, with the intractable problems a family like that faces. He said, In an alcoholic family, there is a lot of chronic pain but everyone just tiptoes around the one who is causing the pain. You see, he explained, maybe several times before, some members in the family tried to change the behavior of the alcoholic member of the family. Their efforts, however, were met with such a full-scale attack by the alcoholic member that the rest of the family decided that it was just easier to live with the chronic pain rather than have to go through that again. Now, he said, whenever anyone tries to tell the truth or ask, Why is everybody letting this drunk cause our family so much pain then the rest of the family gangs up on them and hammers them into silence. They dont want to rock the boat because the last time they did that, it was even more painful than what they live with day to day. He described, Sometimes when a healthy person marries into the family and they see this proverbial elephant in the room (with everyone squeezing by it) and they try to challenge this craziness; they are very quickly put back into their placeor driven out. Its a miserable existence. But everyone in the family figures it is less miserable than the alternative, he said. The only antidote, he claimed finally, is truth, relentless truth. He confessed, Thats the only way any healing has come to me. I thought of this conversation and of his story when I read the gospel reading set for today. This passage is one of those passages that perhaps we would rather Jesus hadnt said. I mean all that stuff about division and splitting of families (father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother), about fire and no peace. Dont most of us think of Jesus as the quintessential loving and accepting being of all time. Didnt Jesus love and accept everybody So what is all this talk about fire and division Its so disturbing! Yet, think about what was going on in world when Jesus said this. Herod, a pseudo-Jewish king, rules Galilee. Herod, whose father built a temple to Caesar in one town at the same time he was opulently remodeling the Temple in Jerusalem. Rome, ostensibly the bringer of peace, squeezes the most money it can out of the provinces through taxes, and its soldiers oppress the non-citizen population with impunity. Rich and arrogant high priests, who are primarily concerned with protecting their own power, are in control of the Temple. And the Pharisees push their false agenda, focusing on small things while ignoring the large, an agenda which tries to mask their self-righteous hypocrisy. Into all this mess, Jesus comes speaking the truth, announcing Gods kingdom, healing the sick and delivering those possessed by demons. He says, You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time. And, as happens to any truth-telling member of an alcoholic family, all the rest of the family (even if they hate one another) gang up on him. Herod, the Romans, the high priests, the Pharisees. They hate one another yet they all come together to crucify Jesus. The tragedy is that Israel is so eager to be the light of the world, but none of her leaders are willing to follow Gods plan to make them his light. And so, they devise their own plan, and rebel against Rome. And Rome comes with its legions and destroys them utterly for 2000 years. And yet, strangely enough, in his rejection, his humiliation and his death, Jesus brings into reality the deepest dream and destiny of Israel, to be the light of that world. With his blood shed on the cross to pay for our sin, for our willful selfishness, and with his bursting from death and the tomb, Jesus defeats the power of sin and death and a light rises from Israel that illumines the whole world. Jesus, the son of David, the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Moses, the light of the nations. But, you know, division did not pass out of the world with Jesus crucifixion. Almost everywhere they went, Jesus disciples caused division. And the division they encountered was not because they were leading a rebellion but because they were speaking the truth, which is Jesus Christ. And nothing has changed. The same is the case today, of course. Despite the long history of Christian witness and initiative in social reforms such as abolition of slavery, civil rights, prison reform, child labor laws, health care and education, there are many in our society who say that religion is merely a private matter and that it should never intrude into the public square of discussion and debate. A few years ago, I was convicted about this when I found myself in a conversation with a friend about Jerry Falwell. Jerry Falwell recently died, God rest his soul, but in this conversation, I was complaining about his outrageous and, it seemed to me, irresponsibly provocative comments. My friend, who was from Virginia, said, You just dont like him because youre a snob. He has as much a right to say what he believes as anyone else does. And, I realized, he was right. Although I still thought Jerry Falwell said outrageous things that made me role my eyes, I began to examine some of the other ways he reached out in a peculiarly Christian way to those who opposed him. He simply was speaking the truth of the gospel as he perceived it. Lord knows, our culture needs the truth to be spoken. Just as in an alcoholic family, Christians are to speak the truth. If there is an elephant in the room of our society then we are to ask, Why is this elephant in here Shouldnt he be outside But, of course, this kind of truth-telling will produce division and perhaps even the kind of persecution Jesus endured. Hebrews warns, Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. And yet, we might be afraid of this. Division produces anxiety and discord; thats why people avoid it. Certainly, thats why I tend to avoid it. I rather dislike the pain that confrontation, division, discord or anxiety bring. But what Jesus was saying is that to sacrifice truth to these things ultimately leads to death. Certainly, it did for Israel. In contrast to those leaders of Jesuss day, the writer of Hebrews speaks of the saints who have gone before, whom he describes as so great a cloud of witnesses. And he points to Jesus himself, the pioneer, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The thing about Jesus is that, in this joy, he spoke the truth calmly, in love and concern even for those who resisted the truth of his message. He knew the joy that was in store, if only his listeners would trust him. Jesus spoke these hard words in Lukes gospel, quoting from Micah 7:6 about the members of a family being set against one another, because he knew this was the future of the path Israel was treading. And he grieved for the consequences of that path. All this is true for nations and peoples, for churches and even for individual people. Have you ever in your personal life had a dysfunction that, left unchecked, perhaps would lead more and more into pain, despair, cynicism and perhaps even destruction Obviously, for alcoholics, it is alcohol. For drug addicts, it is narcotics. For overeaters, its food; for others, its work; for yet others it might be the love of money, or sex or pornography or anger or gossip or whatever. Whatever it is (and it can be different for different people) it is painful but often not painful enough to endure the stress of confronting it. Indeed, a person often feels quite powerless. And perhaps they dont even really want to be delivered from it. Jesus speaks hard truth into these situations in order to banish the pretense. He asks whether we cannot see where such a path will lead. You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time Instead, he calls us to repentance, to be open to his grace so that we might be healed, even if that healing is painful. I find that whenever I find myself in a dysfunctional system or situation, that is usually the best place for me to startwith confession and repentance. Quite often, I may either have been part of the co-dependent family, making excuses for the destructive member or perhaps Im the destructive one, who desperately needs amendment of life. And the only reason I ever have the courage to confess and repent of anything is because of the saving grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, who already does indeed love and accept me, and everyone, even in the midst of my sin. But who draws me into the truth of his Kingdom so that I might be free. Thats how Christianity works. For this reason I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Amen.
Sermon for Maundy Thursday, Year C, April 5, 2007, St. Thomas, Oakmont, JDMurph
A few weeks ago I was reading an article about the Pashtun people, who are found along the region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The article described them as very tribal and clannish, with their relationships with one another operating very much on the basis of ones honor. For example, if a member of your family insults my honor or harms me in some way then I am honor-bound to kill you or return the shame in some appropriate way. In fact, it is my duty as a good son or brother or father. The only problem is that after I have exacted my revenge and restored honor to my family then the honor of your family has been damaged and you or some member of your family is honor-bound to kill me or a member of my family. Then, of course, the onus is back on my family to repay your revenge and so on and so on. The only thing that keeps this system from wiping out the population or destroying social order altogether is that when this has gone on for a while, the leaders of the clans may call a jirga, or meeting to settle a way to redeem the problem. Perhaps a heavy payment will be required or perhaps a number of daughters will have to be given in marriage so that the enmity can end and everyones honor be satisfied.
As I read the article, I was kind of horrified at this method of living together. It seemed that only the shedding of blood could satisfy an injury, blood for blood, until the shedding of blood became so costly to both families that some other method or substitute could be found. Being a student of history, however, I know that the same sort of thing operated in the Middle East and in Europe in previous centuries. Before the rise of governments, if someone committed a wrong against your family, you had to avenge it so that your family wouldnt be taken advantage of or thought to be weak. Consider the story from Genesis about Lot and his family being carried away in a raid by the army of Chedelaomer, the King of Elam. (Gen. 14) Abraham, when he learned of it, immediately gathered together his men and pursued Chedelaomer to avenge and rescue his nephew, Lot. If Lot had not had a powerful kinsman, like Abraham, then he would have become a slave. There were no prisons, there were no police or courts like we have today to impose justice, so often, you ended up simply killing your enemy and his allies. Because if you didnt then he might come back and hurt you worse.
And yet, how can a person restore a life for a life taken Even today, in our legal system, I have read reports from sentencing hearings of convicted murderers, where the victims family are interviewed. Sometimes they express satisfaction that justice has been served but clearly written on their faces for everyone to see, their grief is not removed. Their anger at the death of their loved one is not assuaged because a guilty verdict and even a death penalty still has no power to bring back to life the one they lost. This was true in the ancient world even with a persons relationship with God. In practically every religion, animal sacrifice (and sometimes, horrifyingly, even child sacrifice) was offered as a substitute for the worshipers own life. If you did something that deserved death (which is the penalty for sin against God who is the giver of life) and, of course, couldnt pay that yourself, then a perfect animal would be offered instead. Since God is the one who gives and sustains all life then to be at odds with him means to be cut off from life itself. And somehow something had to be done to restore that relationship. This was as true of the Jews as it was of any of the pagans of the ancient world. In the Passover event, the angel of death was sent to Egypt for the sins and rebelliousness of pharaoh. And yet, as subsequent events would demonstrate, the Jews were just as obdurate and sinful as pharaoh ever was. What does this mean It means, of course, that they deserved death as much as the Egyptians. But God provided the lambs, as he did on Mt. Moriah for Abraham, to pay the penalty instead of the firstborn sons of the Jews. Death passed over the Jews because of the blood of the lambs--shed instead of their blood.
What about us What about you and me If you or I have done anything against God in the course of our life then how do we pay our penalty He is the source of life. To sin against him is to cut oneself off from life itself. What blood can we offer to put things right Will the blood of an animal or (Heaven forbid) even a child suffice Obviously not--because it never did. And so, death comes, and we die.
Into this hopeless cycle, God comes as a servant to provide what we could not. Jesus, knowing the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Jesus, of course, did many things that shocked people in his ministry, but this one really took the cake. Rabbis, in first century Palestine, were served by their disciples, very humbly served--for example, today, teachers stand in front of a seated class--in the ancient world, the rabbi would sit and everyone would stand around him; they would never abandon their dignity and take on the most menial task the lowest slave had to do. So what was Jesus doing Quite simply, he was breaking the cycle, the hopeless cycle of my ego over your ego, my honor over your honor, my rights over your rights--a cycle that leads to death. God, whose honor and whose dignity perhaps are the only honor and dignity truly above every person, became flesh in Jesus Christ, who became a servant, even a servant unto death. His honor and his glory were demonstrated in humility and servant-hood more clearly than any king has shown in pomp and majesty.
Do you know what I have done to you You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. How drastically different from egotism! How vastly far from a selfish protection of ones honor and dignity! Jesus stripped off his prerogatives just as he stripped off his shirt and took on the towel of a servant, to do a menial, lowly chore. This humble action is a preview of what he did the next day, when, stripped naked again, he offered himself up to be nailed on a cross for your sins and my sins. There is no revenge in Gods amazing grace and love and forgiveness to you and me. The blood has been paid by Jesus. God himself, in human flesh, came to offer the blood for our wrongs. What a different world it will be when we heed the encouragement Jesus gave us, If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. If, instead of revenge, we might seek the grace to forgive. If, instead of nursing our injured dignity, we might humbly offer an act of service to the one who wronged us. You and I both know that such a thing is impossible without the power of the love of Jesus Christ burning so brightly in our lives that we just dont care so much for our wounded pride and dignity. Only his grace can be sufficient for us to have this mind which was in Christ.
Let me close with a final story I hope can illustrate how this can happen. A number of years ago, you all will remember the horrific bombing of the Murruh Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh. If you recall, he was executed by lethal injection for his crimes and, to the end, he refused to express any remorse. Before his execution, people were amazed that Bud Welch, the father of a beautiful young woman, who was working in the Federal Building when it was destroyed (and who died) reached out to the father of Timothy McVeigh and he expressed forgiveness for Timothy McVeigh. In fact, her father was roundly criticized and denounced for his so-called betrayal of her memory. The very idea that he would forgive and reach out to his daughters murderer and her murderers father was reprehensible to many. How could he! Didnt he care for his daughter In fact, he cared very much. And he had even gone through a period of fury and anger in his grief where he said that he would have killed Timothy McVeigh with his bare hands if given the chance. But, eventually, about his desire for vengeance, he said, What I was doing wasnt working. In our own sins and brokenness and desire for revenge and desire for our honor and ego to be vindicated, none of the things we were doing were working. And so Jesus the Lord came as a servant, even to the cross, to do what we could not do--And he invites us to follow him. This way of cross is different from any way of this world--for it leads to life, while everything leads only to death. Amen+
Sermon for Palm Sunday, Year C, April 1, 2007, St. Thomas, Oakmont, JDMurph
For anyone who has ears, this gospel passion of Jesus starkly reveals the reality of sin and evil inherent in this world, as an innocent man is killed for speaking the truth of God. Anyone who does not believe in original sin, a way of saying that willfullness is ingrained in human nature from birth, has never has had children. Sure, the first word a baby may learn to say is Mama but that may be because he or she wants to be able to scream it out whenever they want something. One indication that I may be right about this is that, for many children, the second or third word they learn is, No! My youngest brother, when he was a toddler, went through a period of several months when, no matter what question you asked him, he would always say, No! John, do you want to read a book--NO! Do you want to play outside--NO or even Would you like some ice cream--NO! (although I remember, with that last question, he did, at least, hesitate an extra moment or two). What is it about you and me that makes us so averse to any infringement to our will I knew a friend, years ago, who never had any interest in playing little league baseball until a schoolmate told her that she wasnt allowed--which, of course, was discrimination. (this was when I was a young boy). All of sudden, little league baseball was the only thing she wanted to do. And, as she admitted to me, part of it was because she had been told she couldnt. To go back to any parents knowledge of basic human nature, we all have learned the efficiency of reverse psychology. What I mean is, at least with my brother, when he was going through his NO! phase, we learned to ask him to do something directly opposite from what we really wanted him to do. This worked at least for a while--until he caught on. Now you might say, But people grow out of that, dont they And my response would be, Well, they become at least a little more subtle but I dont think we ever grow out of it. Think now and be honest, if someone ordered you to do something or forbade you from doing something then, deep down, wouldnt your very first feeling be inclined to do just the opposite--just to show them This basic human instinctive tendency is exhibit A for the reality of sin in every persons life--beginning with birth.
For us, who know the stories of the Old Testament, there is one account after another of God choosing himself a people, calling them to a special destiny and future, giving them a pattern of living that was different from the rest of the world and then watching them spurn his invitation over and over and over again. Indeed, the destiny of being a blessing for all nations was one that the people of Israel were not able to fulfill by themselves. They couldnt even retain the blessing for themselves, as their constant falling away and even their deportation made manifest. But, you know, for all that this being true, still there is such pain and suffering because of it. The perversity of sin is that so often we do things out of a sense of bruised ego that invariably cause us trouble and grief. Its so crazy but it happens over and over again in human life.
How is this destructive flaw ever to be healed The story of Jesus passion tells the answer. Contrary to our basic human tendency to look first to our own interests, our tendency to have our own way, Jesus, as Paul puts it, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. In this servant role, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Why did he do this Why did he set aside his own will to carry out this mission Why did he eschew pride and his own prerogatives to embrace humility and obedience Because of his love; his love for the Father and his love for us. There is a much stronger power than fear of any law. And that power is love for another that can even supersede our own selfishness. Have you ever loved another person so much that you willingly make a sacrifice for them because you are more excited about their good even than your own interests Parents sometimes have this kind of love, spouses may have this kind of love sometimes, and sometimes even close friends can have this kind of love and care for one another. I read a story by a man who was traveling with his elderly father in the car. His father was the one who was driving and they were having an animated conversation. All of a sudden, another car appeared from nowhere and pulled out directly in front of them. His father slammed on the brakes to stop before crashing into the other car. Later, the man realized that, even as they were about to crash, his father had thrown his arm out to try to shield and protect his son from the impact. He wrote, I was amazed, even after all these years, with me being a man now, that my fathers first impulse was to try to protect me. There are no rules or laws, of course, that could ever govern or compel this kind of behavior. Actions like this are motivated by a much higher power--the power of love, of loving someone else even at the cost of yourself.
What the account of Jesus passion shows us is that God has this kind of love for you and me. Were in the grip of sin, it has become so entwined with our basic nature that we assume that it IS part of human nature. But God knows different--because hes the one who made us for the beginning. And he made us for more that a slavery to sin and death. And so he came, in flesh himself, to do what we couldnt do--embrace true humility, set aside his own will and self and, by his death on the cross, pay the penalty for our own sin. Before, there was nothing we COULD do to extricate ourselves from selfishness and sin, now there is nothing we NEED to do except to accept what Jesus has done for us, for he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For, as Isaiah reports, Only in the Lordare righteousness and strength. To follow Jesus turns out not to be about keeping rules but by responding to one who loves us so much he set aside his own self to die for our freedom.
Let me close with a short story. Years ago, there was a man who truly wanted to be a good man. He became extremely diligent in prayer and worship, he gathered friends to worship and to study the Bible together, but somehow, it all just amounted to a white-knuckle faith. It was all about doing what was right, as hard as he could. On a journey back from a failed mission (a mission that had failed because of the mans own rigidity), his ship became tossed by such a fierce storm that all hands despaired of coming out alive. In his panic at facing death, he entered one cabin of the ship to find a group of Christians calmly praying and singing hymns--and he envied the peace and lack of fear they had. Later, safely back home (because they did survive the storm), at a evening worship with them, something happened to him. Somehow, he heard, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a word from God that changed him and, as he put it, my heart was strangely warmed. And that night, he exchanged the faith of a servant for the faith of a son. It was not the rules of religion that spoke to him or saved him but the living Lord Jesus love. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! says the Lord. Not by rules but by the saving grace of Jesus, who ransomed us back by the cross. Amen+
Sermon, Lent 1, February 25, 2007, St. Thomas, Oakmont, JDMurph
When I was young, at some summer, maybe it was boy scout camp, I was taught archery. If you watch the movies, whether its cowboy and Indian shootem-ups or Lord of the Rings elves, archery is always made to look easy; you know, all you have to do is put the arrow to the string, pull back and let it go. Yet, I remember that when we were learning archery, the instructor was so strict on safety. And once the guys starting stringing their arrows and let them go, I could see why, because the arrows would go off in any number of directions. I was not as easy as it seems in the movies. Not only did many not hit the bulls-eye, quite a number didnt even come close to hitting the whole target sheet. Many years later, watching my sons scout pack learn archery themselves, it was the same. It gave me a whole new respect for Orlando Bloom or for those Native American actors in the old Western movies. At least, they were able to get the arrows off in the general right direction. The gospel this morning from Luke is the famous one about the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness at the end of his forty day fast. Satan offered satisfaction of Jesus physical needs and desires (the temptation to turn stones into bread), he offered an easy short-cut to Jesus mission (which was to be Lord of the world), and he suggested obtaining proof of his status as Son of God (which was a challenge to the clear word of God that boomed from heaven at his baptism in the Jordan River). Steeped in the Word (since he is the Word), Jesus brushed aside each of these temptations with the power of Gods word written not because he was intent on obeying rules but because his relationship with the Father was so much more important than all these things. For Jesus, the response to temptation was not, Oh wow, my Father will sure be mad if I do any of those things, but rather, To do those things will cause me to miss the best that the Father has for me. In fact, the word for sin, used in the Greek here, has the meaning, to miss the mark, like shooting an arrow and missing the whole target. It reminds me of the boys who notched their arrow incorrectly, putting the fletching so that it hit the bow as soon as it was released. Those arrows either went wildly off on tangents or, robbed of their spring, fell to the ground a couple feet away, well shy of the target. That, of course, only leads to frustration, which is where following temptation can lead.
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