Proclaiming the Gospel

Luke 4:14-30

 “Proclaiming the Gospel”

31 January 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            One of the things I’ve adjusted to living out here is the lack of my interest in watching news on TV. Normally I’m a news junkie, especially local news channels. I watch Channel News Asia occasionally, but I’m used to watching the local news every day back in the States. This means I have to rely a bit more on the internet for learning about news, and as that can be quite an adventure in all things biased and conspiracy theory driven, I just don’t get as plugged in as I’m used to. So, when I was back home on leave it was refreshing to watch the local news from back in North Carolina.

            While I was there, one story really grabbed my attention. Not so much because of the topic of the story, rather the location. Poverty and the taking advantage of those without economic power is something endemic to all parts of the world, even those we consider first world. But, hearing about a city in an industrialized country having lack of access to clean and safe drinking water is not something we expect to hear on the news, especially when the cause is not related to a natural disaster.

            Right now, Flint, Michigan is suffering from a water crisis the likes of which I cannot ever recall for an American city in my lifetime. They are in the process of building a new water supply system. In order to save some money during this construction the city elected to switch their current water source from having it supplied by Detroit, to tapping directly off the Flint River. Unfortunately, the river is contaminated with super high levels of lead.

            To add insult to injury, it now seems as if those governing the city and the state knew of the problems and were taking some measures to protect certain people rather than fixing the problem and admitting their mistake. It was a group of researchers from Virginia Tech who have blown open the entire scandal and it looks like the lead scientist from that team will be the one to head the effort to fix the problem.

            Some people are trying to spin this as a race problem, but the more I look into this story, I think it is a class problem. Something where the poor have been taken advantage of in an effort to save money and those with the economic and, thus political power, have circled the wagons to protect themselves further compounding the problem.   

            As I keep hearing more and more bad news coming out of Flint, I have to ask where is the church in all of this? There are some churches doing great things there now. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is providing not just bottled water, but also water filtration equipment to help with the crisis. The Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief is providing bottled water and larger containers of water to aid in cooking and cleaning. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is there providing water and is looking at ways to provide filtration units for showers. All great responses and in line with what Jesus spoke about in this passage to bring good news to the poor.

            However, where was the church to prevent this from becoming a crisis? Sadly, the church was there when it happened, let this develop and stood by as the crisis was developing. I’m not saying that individual congregations and denominations were turning their backs on the need. Christians made the decisions that put us in this situation. And I use the collective pronoun on purpose. We are part of this. We have a role, just like we have a role in every place the church has failed. We are one body of many parts that must work together to bring the Kingdom to those here on earth.

            We like to claim the US is a Christian nation, and the polls back that belief. According to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study late last year, 71% of Americans claim to be Christian. This means that Christians are most likely the ones that not only made the decision to switch the water supply as well as to ignore the problem when it was discovered. The church was there, but not in the way Jesus commanded. Stephen Colbert once said, “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”

 

            We can make a decision to be there in the aftermath of man-made disasters or we can follow our calling and stand up to prevent the disaster from occurring, or at least scream loud enough that one is coming. That’s the second part of this passage that we tend to overlook, that being a prophet will most likely make a few enemies because it will bring discomfort to the comfortable. In today’s passage, his first public sermon in Luke, Jesus proclaims good news for all such that everyone is surprised such keen theology came from such a place as a Nazarene carpenter’s son. But, then Jesus turns the tables and says they are complicit in the plight of the widows during the time of Elijah. He is calling out his own people and they try to kill him, for the first time.

 

            I always connect this story to that of Nathan looking at David telling him, he is the man stealing livestock. The same man David claimed should be killed for his crime. Jesus knew what he was getting ready to do. Right before he turned the tables on them he said, “No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” Standing up and being a prophet is hard. It takes a courage we think we don’t have. But, when we do take a stand in the face of power to bring good news to the poor it does get noticed. (Barry Black Video)

 

             We as a universal church and as an individual worshipping community do a wonderful job responding to the crisis at hand. We just gave $10K to various organizations furthering the Kingdom around the world and we will add to that next week by our support of Willing Hearts as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring (the first time a group in Singapore has participate as best I can tell). And that is a vital part of our call as Christians. However, there are places we can find ourselves proclaiming good news as a situation develops, where we know we should stand up and speak a word of grace into a dark place.

 

I know I’ve missed this many times in my life and will probably miss a few more going forward. But, if we don’t try to speak into those situations, the status quo will always win. When we claim that through Christ all things are possible, we should back that up by speaking the prophetic word where warranted. It doesn’t always have to be done in public like the good Chaplain of the Senate, but it must be done to prevent a disaster like Flint from ever occurring. All it would have taken was one person to speak up early and this may have never happened. Sometimes we just need to be brave. (Play Brave).

Rehearing Good News

Psalm 19

Nehemiah 8:1-10

 “Rehearing the Good News”

24 January 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

You may be wondering why in the world I’m preaching from Nehemiah. Well, I asked myself that same question over the last few days. Nehemiah isn’t the most well known book in the Bible, nor do we really ever hear sermons on this book. I know I’ve never preached on this short, yet powerful book. Because Ezra and Nehemiah tend to get lost in the shadow of not just the New Testament, but also the more familiar names of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Jonah I’m going to set a little background to this episode in the life of Israel.

At this point in Israel’s history, they were still in exile. Interestingly, their overlords were no longer Babylonian, but rather Persia. Nehemiah was an attendant to the king at the time and, much like Joseph, had a good relationship with his boss. Young Nehemiah learned through many sources that Jerusalem was in abject disrepair and this sent him into a period of fasting and mourning for the loss of his spiritual home. The king took notice of how this news affected Nehemiah and gave him permission to travel to Jerusalem and become the governor of Judea. When he arrived, Ezra was already there as the priest and he set about taking a survey of the city and planning for its restoration.

We join Nehemiah in this story just as he has completed restoring the outer city wall and the return of many powerful exiles back to Jerusalem. The restoration of that wall was a key event as the city could now reasonably keep itself secure (or at least give the impression it was safe from attack from outside armies). This appearance of safety is most likely the reason for the vast influx of people back to Jerusalem and the eagerness with which they provided money and gifts towards the work of the government and the priests.

Today’s passage of Scripture focuses on the dedication of the rebuilt wall. Much like any large scale building project, all of the community was invited to the event to celebrate the accomplishment of a major public project to thank those who performed the work, as well as those who provided guidance and funding. Additionally, it was a chance for the community to reflect on the importance of the wall to the life and culture of the community. A few months ago, we experienced a similar event when the Terror Club reopened after being closed all summer, giving us an indication of how important that building and pool are to the heart and life of our own community of American exiles.

But, this celebration had a twist that is rarely present in any culture today, regardless of religion. The people specifically requested Ezra to bring the Torah to the wall and read the law to the people. Now, we typically see a chaplain or a pastor say a short prayer at our dedication ceremonies, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen a community demand the reading of Torah (or even a section of the Gospel) at a rededication ceremony.

Now, I know in our culture we’ll never really get to a point where we read Scripture at the dedication of a public building, nor have we ever been a society where that occurs. So, that isn’t what really struck me in this passage. Rather, I was in awe at the reaction of the people to the reading of Torah. Not a reading of poetry like today’s Psalm. They stayed with rapt attention for six hours at the reading of Torah in the public square. So, in honor of that if you’ll clear today’s schedule and turn with me to Leviticus… Just kidding.

I know we all struggle with 20-30 minutes of reading scripture on a regular basis, listening to sermons each week, or even short prayers each and every day. Life gets in the way. So, six hours of Scripture in one stretch just may be a bridge too far. I don’t think I ever did that much Bible reading at one sitting even in seminary. And, let’s not put the culture of 4^th Century BC Israel on a high pedestal for they too had short attention spans when it came to God. But, we have to respect hanging in there for a reading of the law. It doesn’t say exactly what part of the Law of Moses was spoken, but if Ezra started into Leviticus and Numbers I would have zoned out and started playing Candy Crush on the phone.

So, what kept them there and what can we learn from this whole story? First, there is a line in today’s Psalm that may give us a hint as to what was happening at the Water Gate that day. In verse seven we hear, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul” and in verse nine we hear, “The ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” Now, I’m not sure about everyone else, but I don’t tend to find rules about what I can and cannot eat as a source of soul revival. Detailed descriptions of the tabernacle make my eyes glaze over rather than light a fire in my eyes to renew my commitment to God.

However, the people of Jerusalem were affected in such an amazing way over these six hours such that they all went from there and confessed their national sins and celebrated a rediscovered festival of the booths. The words of Psalm 19 were a part of their religious life, so maybe those played a part in the reaction we see in Nehemiah.

We should take from this reaction that Scripture has the power to completely change our lives. It can help spur a complete turnaround in our behavior, and thus the behavior of those all around us just as we see from the residents of Jerusalem in this passage. We have probably seen evidence of this not only in our lives, but in the lives of our wider church community. The challenge is to cultivate a posture of reading Scripture that allows for that possibility regardless of the book and chapter.

This means we have to take the challenge to read through all of the Bible, even Leviticus and Numbers no matter how mundane it may seem at first glance. Then we have to be open to letting the Spirit speak to us through the stories we may not necessarily want to hear. All of Scripture is inspired and has things we need to hear and digest to further our walk and journey to be more Christ like in all aspects of our lives. There are ways to accomplish this from using a daily lectionary that gets you through most of the Bible in two years or one of the many apps that guide you through the Bible (chronologically, straight through, etc.) in a year.

Another amazing thing is how scripture emotionally moves people. We tend to not let things moves us from our ingrained stoicism. Best not show emotions lest someone think we are unstable or that we are too happy or too sad. Well, Scripture isn’t a neutral document so we should come away from it moved in some way. Sometimes we’ll be overcome with joy, much like Psalm 19 can invoke, to horror at the descriptions of genocide, to disappointment at David over Bathsheba and Uriah, to despair at the cross, but ultimately reassurance, confidence, relief, and a sense of hope and purpose at the resurrection.

We need this wide range of emotions to drive our daily lives to follow Christ. For the anger leads to justice, joy leads to compassion, despair leads to empathy, and the confidence of resurrection leads to living a life to follow Christ. So as we go forth today, let us leave with a renewed enthusiasm for all that Scripture provides and provokes in our lives and how even those passages we consider mundane and boring can guide us in a life following Christ.

Something in the Water

Luke 3:15-22

Acts 8:14-17

 “Something in the Water”

10 January 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

I want to tell you a story about Carl and Jessie. These two grew up in the rural South as children of farmers. They were neighbors, but unlike most of our definitions of neighbor, it was quite a hike to get from one’s house to the other as they lived a fur bit from each other. Just like their fathers they spent a lot of time on the farm, when they weren’t going down to the river to hang out, build forts, letting their imaginations run wild. Everything kids growing up in the country do to avoid the work on the farm.

Eventually, they graduated high school, but never really put much work into their studies, because they knew they would take over the family farms one day. Now, don’t let that fool you though for Carl was an engineering genius and Jessie possessed a keen business sense. Together they combined their knowledge and increased their harvest many times over making their farms the envy of the county.

Jessie and Carl were your typical Christians in America. They went to church every Sunday, knew their Bibles, volunteered as they needed to help out. It wasn’t a very active faith, but it wasn’t a faithless life either.

Then, one month this new preacher came to town to conduct a sort of revival. He was a weird one, this outsider. He had this sort of out of control beard that the youngins were convinced birds lived in and no one really understood his diet or his fashion sense. Jessie, thought it was all a pretty good business gimmick. Nothing she would ever do to make a buck, but whatever this John guy was doing it was bringing in the crowds. It was all anyone could talk about. Carl’s barber wouldn’t shut up about this guy and how he could really put people on the straight and narrow. It was nearing the end of his revival run when curiosity, well that and fear of missing out, got the best of Carl and Jessie and they went down to the revival site.

Well it wasn’t much of a revival site, there wasn’t a tent or any real way to keep people out of the shade. Carl leaned over to Jessie and whispered, “Hope this guy isn’t long winded cause people might start passing out.” To their relief, John had a real short message. “Repent of your sins because someone better than me is coming soon. He’s much better than I. I’m not even worthy to tie his boots.” Jessie looks at Carl and asks, “then what’s he even here preaching for?”

Oddly, this simple message just settled into their hearts and stuck. After about 15 minutes, John did an altar call and asked those who had made the decision to repent to come on down into the river and get baptized to demonstrate their desire to clean themselves of their sin. Both Jessie and Carl felt convicted, but just a moment apart from each other. As they fell in line Jessie was in front of Carl, but there was some guy not from around here standing right between them. A real quiet one, this intruder.

After a few more minutes, Jessie goes into the water. John takes hold of her and fully immerses her, giving praise for her decision. Jessie comes back up, gives Carl the all clear thumbs up and heads back to the riverbank. Right on her heels the outsider gets in the river and has a few words with John. John appears to hesitate which draws a bit of attention as the line had been moving pretty steadily. The hesitation was just enough to get everyone looking.

What happened next is still legend in those parts. People still try to put the pieces together as well as study what exactly happened in that moment. I don’t think they’ll ever fully understand, especially as John was arrested soon after on some money laundering charges that no one really believes as that guy looked as poor and destitute as they come. But, Carl and Jessie’s reactions give us a glimpse into what all happened that summer day at the river.

Carl remembers sitting on the bank with Jessie and everyone else who had been baptized drying off when he glanced at the outsider sitting right along the river in a long prayer. It just seemed odd as everyone else was hurrying off to whatever else was next in the day, this guy that had no real place to be. As he was looking over, it was like the sun just burst through the sky ripping it in half. He’d never seen a light so bright. At first he thought somebody was attacking the US with nukes. But, then it got real peaceful. I mean just a quiet warmth where you know everything is going to be ok. And then he hears a voice say, “You are my son, the Beloved.”

He looked around and saw everyone looking up so he knows they all heard the same thing. And the weird thing was the light was brightest around the stranger, so Carl’s convinced this is who that voice is talking to. And the crazy thing is that guy finished his prayer, smiled, and then just plain walked away. CNN was there a few hours later looking for the guy, but never found him.

Jessie’s recollection is a bit different. She remembers thinking how cold that water was and that Carl looked like a wet hunting dog when he stepped out of the water. The thought still makes her chuckle. Just then she saw the bright light and this tearing sound like someone had ripped the sky right in two. Just thinking of the sound still sends chills up her spine. Well right then, she could have swore that a dove just floated down and sat on the stranger and that’s when he heard the voice speak, “This is my son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased.” Jessie clearly remembers her first thought, “I need to get me some of that water.”

Jessie also saw the guy smile and then immediately head out towards the woods. She remembers looking at Carl and saying, “Who was that guy and what just happened.”

Because of the 24 hour news cycle, the story quickly faded. All of the eyewitnesses had varying memories, the cell phone videos were grainy or pointed in the wrong direction, and John was arrested and shortly died in jail, while the mystery man just disappeared for over a month. Later Jessie and Carl remember hearing about some miraculous healer and really smart teacher preaching a new message. They are sure it was the same buy, but he too ended up dead for what he said and did. They wonder what would have happened had they just followed that guy right then and there. I mean, he didn’t specifically ask them to do that, but what if?

Jessie and Carl remember a few things from that day. First, John was baptizing everyone, even the non-religious hippies that had come to town for the revival. It was really refreshing to see forgiveness provided for anyone who was there, not like the typical sermons they had heard that tried to exclude people from a faith group.

They also thought it was pretty amazing for this important guy to get in line with everyone else. When everyone else tries to use their status for their own gain or to separate themselves from others, this really stood out for Jessie and Carl.

Both of them ended up changed. Something happened to them. They felt like they belonged to something bigger than themselves, something important. It was like they finally knew who they were and what they were living for. When trying to describe the exact feeling, Jessie said her favorite musician really summed up how everything changed for her that day. (Play Video).

When they both saw news stories about this Jesus guy, they stopped and paid attention to what he was doing and saying. They knew they had witnessed something big that day and wanted to learn all they could about the guy that caused all heaven to break loose. Because of their experience and listening to Jesus and not the media’s reporting on him, they learned how to be a part of his movement from afar.

Carl’s farm has expanded to now include a training program for people down on their luck to learn how to fix machinery and then he helps them find jobs. Jake makes sure that everyone who wants food can come and reap some of her harvest each season. After she takes the machinery through there is always a good amount left over so she invites people to come and glean the leftovers. The local soup kitchens usually send a large number of volunteers to get some much appreciated fresh veggies for their clients and even those living on the street swing by and grab what they need. Carl and Jessie really like seeing everyone in the community working together for each other. So much so that they have started a community garden with classes on how to grow food to help alleviate hunger in their area.

Because there was something in that water that changed them, they always ask the same question of anyone to whom they tell their story. How has the water changed you?

Aha Moments

Isaiah 60:1-6

Matthew 2:1-12

 “Aha Moments”

03 January 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

Frequently, between all the prayers to God to lessen the heat and humidity just a little to give me a break while I’m running or amidst the pleas for the wind and rain to ease up ever so slightly while I’m riding my bike near the airport, something important will pop into my head. Typically, this is my brain figuring out a problem that I’ve been contemplating with for a while or a brilliant idea to do something better or easier. Many times it’s the most amazing idea for a sermon illustration. Unfortunately, this rarely happens when I have easy access to my phone to type in or paper and pen to write down the brilliance I discover in those moments, so I’m always struggling for ways to illustrate these brief moments together each week.

Back when she had her daily show, Oprah called these Aha moments. Moments where we come to a sudden, and typically significant, realization that had the potential to change our lives. Moments that inspire us to do something, to rise up and follow our hearts or minds. Moments that lead to action and maybe even inspire others. This is what we typically envision when we hear the word epiphany and many of us use epiphany in place of aha moments when describing these instances of sudden discovery.

But, this fails to account for the full weight of the word epiphany. Sometimes it takes years for us to reach that moment. What we determine to be a spontaneous and instantaneous discovery frequently is the result of smaller discoveries along the way. An epiphany can be the final realization of the direction we have been on for a long time, its just the moment we took the time to stop and look around at our surroundings and the path on which we have blazed.

Isaiah tells us that we need to do things to receive the aha moment. Most relevant to us today we need to look up from our cell phones and look around in order for us to see and be radiant. We need to look at the world around to find our place in it. And maybe this is our epiphany, that there is a glorious place in the world for us to live and radiate our faith to the world. Our frankincense, gold, and myrrh are our lives radiating the love of God to the world.

Matthew describes the long and treacherous journey of the Magi. I highly doubt they saw a new star, comet, whatever, dropped what they were doing and headed in that direction. These were learned men of the science of their day. They were looking up at the world and noticed something different and odd, something that didn’t fit their expectations. So, they investigated this celestial event and it still didn’t make any sense to them so they knew it had to be important. These men weren’t Jewish, but knew the Jewish prophecies and knew it bore further investigation, so they sojourned West.

I expect they anticipated a new and friendly ruler had come to power in a foreign land and wanted to bring gifts and arrange a peace. Something we still do to this day when a country finds itself with new and unexpected leadership. So they go to the seat of power and ask where the new king resides. I don’t think they expected to find Herod in the palace, for I’m confident that as they journeyed to Jerusalem they read and re-read the prophecies of people like Isaiah and it convinced them they were seeking a new and different king.

Whatever doubts they may have held were wiped away when an angel warned them to return home by another way and blow off Herod, helping Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to escape to Egypt. Over time, God revealed his plan for the Magi that was put into stark focus through their visiting the infant king and the angelic visit afterwards.

It is fitting for us to read passages such as this at the beginning of a new year. Many of us made resolutions on Thursday night or Friday morning. Some of those may already lie in the trash heap. But, the epiphany of Christ isn’t some cheap resolution. Rather it is a renewed call on our lives.

Epiphany and calling are closely intertwined. Individually, we have an epiphany when we finally realize God’s call on our lives. It energizes us and we become focused on God’s plan for us. Collectively, we become excited when we see a sister in Christ experience an epiphany and are inspired to help her and support her. We are reminded of our own moment or we are given hope that that moment is yet to come.

As we begin a new calendar year with a fresh slate, let us remember that we all have been granted a fresh slate with Christ each and every day. Assured of this through Scripture, and our faith, let us look to make our call and active one, just as the verbs in these passages implore us. Arise, shine, lift your eyes, see, be radiant, go, search, pay homage, stop, offer, alternate routes.

So as we turn the page on a new year, let us not make trite resolutions, but rather let us commit to living the verbs of Scripture. Arise from our slumber, our ruts, our own worry, whatever is keeping us down, keeping us sitting when we should be walking. Shine the light of Christ in the world, find the dark and let the light in for the darkness can never overcome the light. Lift our eyes from the world so that we can truly see the world as God created, so we can see Christ at work all around. Be radiant in the love of Christ so that warmth attracts like a fire on a cold winter day and the sparks ignite warmth wherever we trod.

Go! Rarely is sitting around the right answer. Doing nothing is usually a poor choice to trying to do the right thing and failing. Search for places where our calling is needed. Pay homage to Christ not just here in the building, or our prayer or study life, but through every aspect of our lives. Stop and smell the roses, take a Sabbath to rest and feed our souls so that we can do the work to which we are called. Offer ourselves to Christ in everything we do, to everyone we meet. We can’t live for ourselves. Alternate our route because taking the road less traveled will make all the difference.