Jesus, Not Jesús: Finding The Divine In The Space Between Us.
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An Open Invitation

9/18/2016

 

God sent you a special invitation,
engraved with his own breath and blood.

On our refrigerator sits an invitation to the Montcalm Community College Foundation Scholarship Celebration. Inside the card it politely states, "You are cordially invited to attend this special celebration to honor the donors and the recipients." I am both humbled and proud to say I am neither a donor nor a recipient. The invitation was addressed to my wife, Kathleen, whose academic achievements are being recognized and honored.

Invitations. We’ve all received them during the course of our lives in one form or another.

As children, we may have received invitations to birthday parties, school dances, sleepovers, or baseball try-outs. As adults, we may have received invitations to weddings, open houses, sporting events, graduations or religious confirmations.

Invitations may solicit our presence at a celebration. And they can beckon our participation at a special event or fundraiser for a social cause. Some are formal and others are not. Each is different because each gathering is different. For example, an invitation to have dinner with friends is different than an invitation to a business lunch. Just the same, an invitation to a baby shower is going to be different than one to a bible study. However, each requires a formal or informal response, (s’il-vous-plait).

Invites come to us in many different forms as well. Some on paper, some by email or text, some by word of mouth. On Friday, as I was walking Daisy around Baldwin Lake, D. and M.’s dog was barking up a storm. Some might see this behavior as a warning to intruders. But her body language told a different story. Pressing her front paws against the glass door, she was jumping up and down, wagging her tail with great excitement. This little dog wasn’t warning us but inviting us to play. Since I needed the exercise, we declined the invitation and kept walking.

Invitations may lift us up, because they affirm that we are included in something beyond ourselves. Or they may put us on the spot because we must decide how to respond. We are giving the choice to say, “yes, we will attend” or “regretfully we are unable.” Each RSVP comes with its own set of pressures and problems. As you may know, the more you decline an invitation, the less likely you are to be invited to the next event.

What if God treated us in the same way? What if all the times we reject God’s invite to be a part of His family of love caused God to stop reaching out to us? Thankfully, that’s not the case. Like we learned last week, God’s love for us is fiercely loyal.

God continues to love us for who we are and seeks us out wherever we are. I remain constantly humbled knowing that God continues to invite me, a sinner, to be a part of His loving and healing peace. He wants me, and you, to be a member of His family, to take part in His kingdom. Why would anyone decline such an invitation?

Invitations do more than simply gather us together. They give us purpose. They invite us to move out of self toward God and toward others; provoking us to listen to and learn, and eventually growing in the way we love God and one another.

Case in point. Kathleen and I accepted an invitation not too long ago, from a woman seeking to build stronger relationships with people in Greenville. She does this is by inviting different people to her house for potluck suppers. These people don’t know each other. The only thing we seem to have in common is the fact that we accepted this crazy invitation to what we soon called, “the forced friendship club.”

As we passed around the potato salad and grilled chicken, amazing things began to happen. Laughter. Joy. Smiles. This is fellowship at its simplest and yet most profound. We were different, yet one, sharing the Spirit of grace and love with fellow strangers. At this table bridges were built, relationships were formed, and God’s kingdom blossomed, all because a group of strangers were brave enough to accept a crazy invitation. This is the Spirit of God at work.

You may have come here today for one reason or another. But long before you got out of bed this morning, God sent you a special invitation, engraved with his own breath and blood. Inside it states, you are cordially invited to celebrate the radical story of grace and redemption through Jesus Christ. You may accept it or reject it. But you can’t deny that it was not handed to you.

By saying yes, you will be called to do some pretty radical things yourself; life changing and transformative things. For God has never made a person he didn’t love and have a purpose for. You may not get to choose what you’ll do for God or believe you are good enough for the task at hand; yet you are invited to come, for God has never made a person that Jesus Christ did not die for.

In accepting God’s invitation, your response affirms a willingness to extend love to others, to open the door to those whom the door has always been shut or slammed in their face. By saying yes, you are willing to be a bridge builder, reaching out to the even the least of these.

You may decline or ignore the invitation. You may choose to build walls instead. Walls keep people out. Walls divide and isolate us from the truth. Walls impede growth. Whether they’re built willingly or unknowingly, Jesus wants all walls to be torn down.

Today’s gospel story is the perfect example (Read: Matthew 19:13-15). Matthew tells us that some people bring their children to be blessed by Jesus, but his Disciples try to build a wall around him as if they need to protect him, or wish to possess him for their own. Jesus admonishes his students and welcomes the children to him. For Jesus turns no one away. This is radical grace. This is the Good News.

It may be hard for us to understand, but in 1st century Palestine, children had no value, and certainly no right to be around the V.I.P.’s. But He who knows the value of life sees their faith, and their willingness to break from traditions and customs, and blesses the children; bestowing upon them the kingdom of heaven. In one peaceful and loving gesture Jesus tears down the walls, and constructs a bridge between God and humanity.

Jesus is our host, he invites us the celebration in His father’s house- he wants us to come together as a family might gather for a wedding feast. He wants us to bring our music, our children, our gifts. He wants his joy to be our joy, his peace to be our peace, his love to be ours. His is an invitation to participate, to be included, to become a part of something wonderful. We are the only barriers standing in the way.

Our decision to become a member of God’s family affirms our call to support all our brothers and sisters; to cook for them, to eat with them, to listen to them, to talk to them, to sing and to cry with them, to clean up the mess and wash the dishes with them, and most of all, always to seek the best in them.

To call ourselves Christian… is to be called His… TO BE Christian is… to be His. It requires us to show up to the family events. When we do not attend, we are missed. The jobs we are called to do are left undone. And the joy we would bring is absent. The moments we would share, gone. And the kingdom of God left incomplete.

Our blessed and divine host is calling to us to Come Together and be the Church. He is cordially inviting us to come to him, as we are, in all our humanness and muck. This invitation, however, requires an RSVP. Will yours be a ‘regrets only’ response? Or will your name be on the list? That’s a decision only you can make.

Different Direction: September

9/12/2016

 
​Summer is over and fall is upon us. Yet between the hot days of yesterday and the cold nights to come, a spirit of spring lingers in the air.
 
Like the new buds of color that pop out from under the melting snows, there is a certain newness happening that is filling our home with both joy and anticipation, as well as with deep, sleepy yawns and tired, grumpy children.
 
Yes, it is that time of the year again when kids wake up after a long summer recess to begin a new season of life and learning. For the first time in our family's history, Kathleen and I will have a child in elementary, middle, and high school. Now each can spread out their roots without the worry of a sibling stealing their light. 
 
With each new school year brings a bit of anxiety and trepidation. And not just with our kids. I can still taste the salty tears I shed after dropping off Fiona for her first day of preschool. As she now walks herself into her new life at Greenville High School, her mother and I weep tears of sadness and joy.  
 
Then, like now, I lean hard on the strength of God to get me through this experience. The Psalmist writes, “Commit to the way of the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Psalm 37:5). 
 
There is newness in the air at church too. As we welcome back the 11:00 am service, we look forward to see how the new blossoms of summer will continue to flourish and bear good fruit into the years to come.  
 
On September 18th, we will celebrate our annual Come Together Sunday. With the support of the Deacons and Trustees, the Christian Education Board has been hard at work to prepare a full schedule of learning opportunities for all ages. If you’d like to participate or have an idea that would strengthen our faith and fellowship, please do not hesitate to let me know.  All ideas are welcomed and all possibilities are explored.
 
Two years ago our church took a chance by turning in a new and different direction. As I stood before the congregation to candidate as your Sr. Minister, I read from the prophet Isaiah who offered this advice, “Remember the rock from which you were hewn.” I gave the same advice to Fiona, as I did with Colleen, Sean, and Kathleen as they each nervously began a new school year.
 
My message that day was to remind you that we look backwards only to see where we are going. Jesus came into this world to redirect our attention back towards God so we will be focused on what we have been called to do: be kind, love justice, and walk humbly with God at your side (Micah 6:8).
 
It might often seem like climbing a mountain. But just as mountains point towards heaven, so to must be our focus always be. God is our rock. Heaven is our goal.  

He Remembers: A look back to September 11, 2001

9/11/2016

 

My story begins with a Supreme Being who,
​throughout the history of time, has been good and faithful.

Picture
It was a day that is not easily forgotten. I was awoken by a frantic phone call from a friend. The sun was barely up. And the city of Los Angeles was eerily quiet. It took me a moment hear what the voice on the other end of the phone was saying. By the time I turned on the TV, the second plane had just crashed into the South Tower. Kathleen, who was 8 ½ months pregnant with Fiona, woke up. And together we watched our world forever change. 
 
For those of you who were around 15 years ago, you have your own story about this sad and tragic mark on our country’s history. Because of it, a part of our lives are woven into those of the nearly 3,000 who were taken from families, friends and communities around the world. Yours, mine, theirs…each one of our stories contribute to the greater narrative of where and how we have come to be the beloved children of God.
 
On days like the one we experienced on September 11th 2001, it’s easy for us to wonder if God even knows we’re here. As I watched that great dark cloud bury Wall Street and choke millions of people fleeing from Manhattan, I can see how people might deny God’s existence, or question God’s providence and power. I’m sure some of you, when in facing your own personal tragedies, have thought, “Where was God when this happened to me?”
​
I cannot pretend to know why God allows these things to happen. No systematic theology can ever do any justice to such pain. All I know is my own story, my own questions of faith, and my need for reason and hope. As it does for many of you, my story begins with a Supreme Being who, throughout the history of time, has been good and faithful.
 
No one knows why God allowed planes with real people aboard to crash into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Many preachers have told their congregations it was divine justice for our national sin. Others preached the real presence of evil and the prevailing darkness that is taking over the world. As some cry for war and revenge, others pray for peace and reconciliation.
 
What I am sure of is this: We need not fear. For the Bible assures us that God’s word is faithful. God does not forget us, or abandon us. Instead God remembers us, and seeks us out to save from whatever we’ve gotten ourselves into. That too, remains a mystery to me.
 
The words of the prophet Jeremiah speak of a God who is persistently and fiercely loyal to the life and people He brings into being. This is a God who says, “I will fulfill the promise… I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.”
 
Such affirmations show us the character of God, of the works of God and the ongoing providence of God. Everything, everywhere, comes into fruition because of God’s remembrance, and steadfast love.  God does not forget.
 
The event on September 11th, just as everything that has led up to this moment, has not escaped God’s sight.  God knows what will come and when. The future does not surprise God and in fact, fits into the plan for his glory and the good of all people. Knowing this, Jesus reminds us with his ominous warning, “Keep awake for you do no know on what day your Lord is coming.”
 
Have you seen that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming. Act busy.”  I think it’s kind of silly. Are we to buzz around like bumble bees for no reason, just so it looks like we’re doing something? I don’t think so. Are we suppose to read it as some kind of warning sign, that cripples us to live in fear as we wait for the end times. I doubt it. 
 
We don’t know now anymore than we knew on September 11th 2001.  But long before then, the Apostle Paul reassured us that our faith has made us ready for the day the Lord shall return. Our faith in a God who remembers us. And knows we are here.
 
Therefore we must remain vigilant so our faith does not fall asleep. We must actively participate in it…not by fearing others but by caring for one another… constantly seeking peace, not division, retaliation, and war.
 
In other words, we should not to worry about the end time, but instead live life today as God’s children; doing what is right and just. It’s in our acts of righteousness that our faith becomes “faithful” to the God who loves us and saves us from ourselves.
 
Henri Nouwen writes, “The many disasters in our world, and all the tragedies that happen to people each day, can lead us to despair and convince us that we are the sad victims of circumstances. But Jesus looks at these events in a radically different way. He calls them opportunities to be living witnesses of God's unconditional love, opportunities to testify and participate in God’s Kingdom and redemption. This is how we look beyond the passing structures of our temporary existence to the eternal life promised to us.”

Placing our faith in a system or an institution that can be attacked or destroyed has historically led to the downfall of every great empire. But the faith that is placed in the indestructible grace of God, it too becomes unbreakable and everlasting. So what is there to fear?
 
As long as we exist in a broken world, we will live with plenty of anxiety. But we need to look no further than the divine story of Jesus to find our strength, our peace, and our hope. Through our faith in Jesus we build up the Kingdom of God. Through him we preserver and overcome the obstacles and enemies who try to knock us down.
 
As the saints, sinners, and stewards of the church, Paul urges us to hold fast to the fiercely loyal steadfast love of God in Jesus Christ. “Therefore,” he says, “encourage one another and build each other up.”   
 
September 11th 2001, was a day that reminded us all that we can’t do it alone. As Christians, and as a country, we must defend each other and lift each other up. We must help each other from getting discouraged or depressed, by offering hope and forgiveness and reconciliation. We must stand together...united, not divided.  
 
To borrow from the ancient wisdom found in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken.”
 
As you leave here today, on this special day of remembrance, remember you have been given this assurance: When your faith is woven with God’s steadfast love, you inherit a power that not even death can conquer. Fear is erased so that life is lived abundantly.
 
You are a beloved child of a God who is fiercely loyal and faithful. The one who remembers us and sustains and saves us each time the world comes crashing down upon us.


Works Cited:
The Bible (NRSV). Isaiah 56:1-2; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Ecclesiastes 4:12.
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year A. Vol. 3 Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Nouwin, Henri. Bread For The Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
Indermark, John. The Greatest of These: Biblical Moorings of Love. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011.

quote to ponder

9/6/2016

 
"Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world."
​Annie Lennox

A Heart Healthy Diet of Love

9/4/2016

 

We are God’s invitation for others to join in the great heavenly feast.










​

Picture
Let me first say how grateful I am to share Labor Day Sunday with you. Typically we see low attendance on this day because there are some who take the day off from laboring through another one of my sermons. 
 
Historically Labor Day is the unofficial end of wearing your summer whites. And is often marked with parties, picnics, and other social gatherings. For me, it’s another chance to over eat. For I cannot think of a better way to retire my bathing suit for the season than with a couple of extra helpings of bacon on my chili-cheese burger.
 
Don’t judge. Didn’t Jesus just say, “It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out of your heart?” 
 
Which leads me to this important point. “Do Not read the New Testament… on an empty stomach.” All the talk of eating bread, enjoying great feasts and wedding banquets are enough to make you want to run out to Margo’s for a Denver omelet and a slice of homemade rye.
 
The fruit of New Testament is in sharp contrast to the hunger pangs and famines that are so prevalent in the Old Testament. But just as it is with in everything in the Bible, the placement and discussion of food is no accident. It draws our attention to focus on how God uses food to teach us how to find ultimate fullness in him.

Whatever you’re soul is craving, God will provide for you.

Beginning with our reading from Genesis, we see that God has given us everything we need to sustain life. We get water, plants and fruit, animals and even the creative imagination to turn those ingredients into sweet cakes and savory pies.  
 
By the time we get to the Gospels, we get a little more meat chew on. In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life; adding, “whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty.”  Repeating again the idea that as long as we have him in our lives, we will have everything we need to be truly filled and satisfied.  
 
Last week, in First Corinthians, Paul stated rather poignantly, “whether we eat or drink, we are to do everything for the glory of God.” It might be in the way we offer food to a sick friend, or give water to a thirsty child. Or the way we invite the hungry to our table.  
 
Whatever we do, or however we do it, we must never lose sight that we are God’s invitation for others to join in the great heavenly feast.
​
With all this talk about food, you might have guessed I’ve been on a diet for the last two weeks. In fact, I’m on two diets…the first one didn’t feed me enough! Truth be told, I joined Weight Watchers not just to lose weight, but also to reassess and rethink the way I eat.
 
You see, over the last few years my eating habits have gotten out of whack. For example, I’d tell myself that if a small blueberry donut hole can taste that good then a box of ten must taste ten times better.  For me, it’s all or nothing. This is an unhealthy way of thinking about eating or anything else for that matter. In my recognizing of this, I began to take a personal inventory of my life and decided some things had to change.
 
If you’ve ever done Weight Watchers, then you know that everything you eat has a particular point value. As you track your meals throughout the day, you add up the points. Because I only get so many points per day, I have to really think about what I eat.  
 
As I retrain my brain to make healthier choices, I must constantly remind myself that “diet” is not a four-letter word. Instead it’s an acronym for: 
Dive – Into – Eating - Tomorrow.
 
I tell myself that if I can stick to the plan today, then tomorrow I will be able to literally have my cake and eat it too. This seems to work because every tomorrow brings a new today.  Jesus said, focus on the moment…for tomorrow will bring it’s own set of problems.
 
If we think about it, the same application can apply to all aspects of life; especially as we try to quit those unhealthy behaviors that are engrained in us.
 
I invite you to listen again to the words that Jesus spoke.  “Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
 
What do Jesus’ words say to you personally? Do they make you feel uncomfortable or angry? Are there things that you have said or done recently that might have offended God’s love within you? 
 
Leave it up to his disciples to worry that Jesus has offended the Pharisees by making this statement. I can see how it might seem like Jesus is condemning them for putting too much attention on their ancient kosher laws.  

I’m sure we’d be offended too if someone came into our sanctuary and told us our customs and rituals are meaningless because our hearts are not in the right place. Jesus reminds us that we must be mindful of the things that come out of our mouths because those thoughts and words proceed from the heart, the very place where God’s love dwells in us all.
 
Like the Pharisees, we hold up certain long held beliefs and practices as evidence of our devotion to our faith. Like them, we too can get caught up in complacency, and become blind guides. This can make it difficult for us to see the unhealthy habits we have formed. And so we must take inventory from time to time. Reevaluate and retool the way we live and love, for it’s love that matters most to God.
 
Jesus’ sharp words remind us all that it’s more important to feed the spiritual needs of God’s people, than it is to keep the laws in-between us.  This is why it is so imperative that we remain in the present moment with God always. It’ in this mindfulness that we find our strength, and are nourished to do God’s will… “on earth as it is in heaven…”

Jesus is our daily bread, and his words are what we must feed on.
 
God knows we all need a steady diet of love and grace to survive. He sent his Son to offer it to us. Jesus, the very Bread of Life, is the one who feeds us, sustains us, and nourishes our spirits, souls and even our physical wellbeing.
 
And it was Jesus who set a place for you and me at God’s table. By his love for us, he has prepared the sustenance of grace and peace that will sustain us now and forever. As long as we sit there with him, Jesus will make sure that we will always be full.
 
Invitation to Communion:
 
Let’s face it, we are not perfect, yet God loves us, and invites us to embrace the great feast of life. So it is with our church that we invite all to come to this table of God’s blessing.  Believers and seekers alike, no one will be turned away.  
 
It is here that we eat the bread as individuals to remind us that Jesus’s body was broken for you. And then we drink the cup together to symbolize the new covenant that was made for us all.
 
Many have come from the East and the West, the North and the South to eat of this bread and drink of this cup. Come not because you have to but because you want to. Come feast with us in presence of God, and be filled on the never-ending meal of God’s love for you. 

Begin Communion Service…


Work Cited:
The Bible (NRSV). Genesis 1:29-30; Matthew 15:10-18.

I am grateful for the text inspiration given by Jada Pryor in her blog post entitled Top 7 Bible Verses About Food. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/06/29/top-7-bible-verses-about-food/

    Ian Macdonald

    An ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. 

    "that they all might be one"  ~John 17:21


    “Prius vita quam doctrina.”
    ​~ S
    t. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)​
    * “Life is more important than doctrine.”


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