Sunday Sermon, November 26, 2017

The link below is for the sermon I preached at Asbury United Methodist Church in Portland, IN on Sunday, November 26th.  Just as a side note, I began this sermon by waiting in silence for about 30-40 seconds...  That context helps to make sense of the first few lines...  I'm also planning to wear contact lenses in the future when I preach, because apparently I feel the need to push my glasses up every 3-4 seconds...  whatever...

L.

And Then He Walked On My Roof...

My sermon from 9/24/17 at Asbury United Methodist Church, Portland, IN:

The Dichotomic Life of a Rule Following Boundary Pusher

Lately, it seems I hear a lot of voices proclaiming, “It’s so hard to do the right thing!”

And they’re right.  It is hard—doing the right thing can feel impossibly hard.

Well, let’s be real, it’s always exciting for this Protestant girl (who masquerades as Catholic more and more) when the Lectionary turns to an apocryphal reading.  Seriously.  It’s like finding a magical treasure trove (Webster would define that as a valuable discovery, resource, or collection) full of new Scripture!

Sirach 15:15-17, “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.  He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.  Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given” (NIV).

Beautiful words…

Yet, sometimes I struggle to determine whether I want fire or water…

To be fair, Scripture indicates that both are beneficial (and, perhaps, that both carry with them some risks).  If we want to go down the road of folk religion and tradition, the choice is cut and dried.  Choose water.  Fire is Hell.  But friends…  I don’t walk that road…

Fire is also a sign of covenant.[i]  It is a sign of God’s very presence, a light to follow in darkness.[ii] It’s certainly essential in the offering of sacrifices.  The Israelites are told to keep it burning.[iii]  Fire makes things (and people) holy.[iv] It atones.  It warms us.[v]

Because I have no desire to pick and choose Scripture I like, avoiding the remaining content (and context); I’ll level with you: fire also consumes and devours and destroys.  Look it up.  It’s all there.

But for the purpose of today, the word of the Lord is like fire (you can decide whether that’s Scripture or Jesus we’re talking about here).[vi]  Fire refines.[vii] It baptizes,[viii]  reveals, and saves.[ix]   God is as fire.[x]  And let us not forget that fire is the very sign of the Holy Spirit, God with us again…[xi]

Mark 9 always blows me away just a little bit, because at first glance it seems that it may be the lynchpin passage for a theology of Hell, with its unquenchable fire and destruction.  It parallels the account of the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew, in some ways (more on that in a moment), but it’s almost as if we just lop off the last two verses, because we can’t make them fit our own unquenchable desire for justice and vengeance: “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”[xii]

Everyone will be salted with fire…

And… it’s… good…

Ouch!

You know, Scripture actually marries water and fire quite often. 

“Everything that can withstand fire shall be passed through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water for purification; and whatever cannot withstand fire, shall be passed through the water.”[xiii]

“We went through fire and through water.”[xiv]

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”[xv]

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”[xvi]

We can’t live without water, but I’m not sure we can live without fire, either… at least not well…

And then, here comes Sirach again:

“The basic necessities of human life are water and fire and iron and salt and wheat flour and milk and honey, the blood of the grape and oil and clothing. All these are good for the godly, but for sinners they turn into evils.”[xvii]

Look at that.  We need them both.  How about if we just don’t screw it up!

So, I choose fire and water.

I choose the fire that guides and refines and even the fire that consumes, because I need to be consumed.

I choose the water that cleanses and the water that drowns, because I need both.

But if I’m honest, I began this post with the intention of sharing a story that I’ve been holding onto for awhile now.  So let me return to the idea that doing the right thing is difficult.  Cue Sermon on the Mount…

I’ve always thought it would be great to just stand up and recite Matthew 5-7 sometime, without any commentary or interpretation, and let me tell you that’s a huge leap for someone who is not a biblical literalist.

Jesus is so clear here, though.  It’s like he’s saying to us all, “Don’t push the boundaries as far as you possibly can.  Just… don’t.”

But oh, I am a boundary pusher…

Sometimes (maybe even most times), this is OK… even good.  This boundary pushing fire inside of me is what makes me a good advocate for social change, it’s what makes me tough as nails and inspires persistence, hard work, determination, and a little bit of sass.

But there is a huge difference between choosing water and fire and choosing a smokescreen, somewhere in the middle.

So the story…

Some time back, I was confronted by a friend who exclaimed, “My life is so boring.  I wonder how far I could take something scandalous without taking it too far.”

My immediate response was, “It’s not worth it.  Rumors and gossip and accusations are not all they’re cracked up to be.  They’re certainly not a good way to make your life more exciting (light a fire, whatever).”

And the response to this was, “Oh, not rumors…  I’m talking about actually doing something.”

I took a huge step back.  I mean, I literally stepped back… with my feet…

If we’re going to play with fire, let’s play with fire that is worth getting burned for.

I have zero interest in the kind of fire that requires the cutting off or limbs or the gouging out of eyes for restitution.  I want to play with the kind of fire that feeds and clothes hungry people and teeters on the edge of risk to self for the sake of others.  If I’m going to brandish welts or scars, I’d like to think they’re worth more than a fleeting moment of disobedience.  If I’m going to rebel, I’d like to push back against oppression, not the boundaries that actually make sense.  Good grief, who has time for that? 

If our lives are boring, perhaps we could do something real that matters!

And so, let’s come full circle, today:        

Deuteronomy 30:15, 19-20, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction… This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life…” (NIV)

Last week I took several flights with Southwest.  During every flight, as the plane approaches the gate, a message rings out that goes something like this: “We know you have a lot of options, and so we thank you for flying with us.”

In life, we have nearly unlimited options about who we’re going to ‘fly with,’ how we’re going to ‘fly,’ or if we’re going to ‘fly,’ at all. 

During my travels, I had an ironic moment of sorts, when I ordered coffee on the plane, specifically because I wanted a heart shaped coffee stirrer (sometimes my reasoning for decisions can be a little random).  During this moment, I thought to myself, how appropriate is it to choose the things that stir our hearts… to action… to compassion… to something in this life, because we really could choose anything.  So choose water… or fire… or both.  Choose the thing(s) that you can’t live without and maybe the people who can’t live without you.  Do something real, but perhaps not something scandalous.  Choose life.  It’s out there, maybe right in front of you.

L.

---

[i] Gen. 15 (NRSVCE).

[ii] Exod. 3, 13, 24

[iii] Lev. 6

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Isa. 44

[vi] Jer. 23

[vii] Mal. 3

[viii] Matt. 3

[ix] I Cor. 3

[x] Heb. 12

[xi] Acts 2

[xii] Mark 9:49-50

[xiii] Num. 31:23

[xiv] Psa. 66:12

[xv] Isa. 43:2

[xvi] Matt. 3:11

[xvii] Sir. 39:26-27

Sometimes Babies Are Ugly

Well...  here's the truth.  I am super uncomfortable posting this.  It worked for what it was, but if you are a regular reader here, you've already read/heard at least half of this...  Which means you really don't have to watch it... really...  But it's all I've got tonight...

Just FYI...  Grace loves this story.  I'm really not mean...

L.

One Wish...

This morning has been hectic.  We are trying to get everyone out the door... so we can drive four hours... so Grace and Caleb can participate in a piano recital... because community really matters, and when you have a good one, you don't stop being community with them... even if it means the drive time has significantly increased.

I have been stressed... and crabby... and when I said, "Kids, I just need to have the control and power, this morning," I meant it, even though everybody laughed...

And then there's Ian...

Ian never stops talking.  Ian has a desperate need to talk to people all the time.  When Ian has nothing to say, he makes something up.  And in the midst of, "Hey, Mom's using her crazy voice, and if we can't find enough underwear for Miah to make this overnight trip a reality, somebody's head is going to roll," Ian sidles up next to me and says, "Mom, if you could have one wish, what would it be?"

Of course, because I am already stressed beyond the maximum level that I can handle, and I am feeling especially spiritual today, I said, "I would wish for an unlimited supply of money."  And poor Ian was just floored.  I think he said, "OK, Mom," in his "I think Mom just lost her mind, permanently and definitively," voice.

In the brief (and I do mean very brief) moment of quiet that followed, I convinced myself that it wasn't the worst thing in the world to say.  I had already built several wells in Africa and fed all of the hungry children of the world with my imaginary unlimited supply of money when the following verse came to mind:

"Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk" (Acts 3:6, NIV).

Maybe it came to mind, because Phil preached a sermon, just last week, using this text.  His sermon can be found here. 

Maybe it came to mind, because Acts 3 is the only chapter of Acts that I managed to have solidly memorized for this quiz season (did I just admit that, out loud). 

But for whatever reason, there it was...

And now, I'm preaching to myself.

"Silver or gold I do not have".  True.

"But what I do have, I give you..."

Peter gives the man who was lame from birth, the man who has been begging outside the temple gate for his entire life, the man who has nothing, everything. 

Peter gives the man Jesus.

And then Peter looks at him and says, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed" (See James 2).

Oh wait!  No he doesn't.

Peter says, "Walk".

And then Peter walks away without a backwards glance, because you know, it's the time of prayer, and he's already late, and he's got to get through that temple gate called beautiful.  The lame guy has taken enough of his time.

Oh wait!  No, he doesn't do that, either.

It's the next action that is actually astounding.  I mean, by all reasonable measure, Peter has already done much more for this man than anyone would expect.  The guy wanted a couple of coins, and Peter has given him Jesus and healed his lifelong infirmity.  What else could we possibly require?

But Peter takes the man by the hand, helps him up, and they go into the temple courts, together, having a pretty lively celebration, still, presumably, at the time of prayer.

"But what I do have, I give you..."

Everything.

My God.  My ability to heal.  My hand.  My time.  My friendship.  My reputation.

"Hey, lame guy begging on the street who I don't even know, it's all yours!"

I want to be like that.  May it be so.

Matthew 25:34-40 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 'Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 'The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' (NIV).

L.