Sermon notes Lent 3B Story

3-23-03 Sermon notes Lent 3B Story Minister 7coffin IRS Code- Reg’s–Memos

1. Levels of Law: God of History Remember Exodus: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

1^st. Duties to God-exclusive worship-idols-respect for name-No Work 7^th. Day (Worship creator) Honor parents remember tradition-murder, Duties to others

Shall not: Commit adultery, steal, give false witness, Covet-(Core God-History

2, Foolishness of core A. For Judaism Covenants Noah all people Abraham includes Islam Moses: Exodus specific to Jews & Chosen by adoption-Passover Plagues; 1. Water turns to blood 2. Frogs 3. Gnats 4 Flies 5.Livestock Diseased 6 boils 7.Thunder & Hail 8. Locusts 9. Darkness 10 Death of the first born-Crossing of Red Sea-Water from Rock- Manna every morning- Jordan Opens- Jericho’s wall s come tumbling down-Founding Story at core of Jewish ness- Golda Meier #0yrs wandering settle in one only without oil-Joke or No, Exodus core covenant Judaism

2B For Christianity Paul Corinthians “Message about the cross is foolishness” 1^st. 3 centuries Cross not used as symbol Fish dishonorable execution-sword + Yet “Core” in Paul’s writing and central to Gospels

3 Message of Gospel Right things to be put at center or core Temple business and politics Coin Changing- Sacrificial Animal booths needed service but most were outside walls CAI—A-PHAS candidate for High Priest had rewarded cronies with inside spots-JC objects- “Stop making my Father's house a marketplace” other Gospels for it is to be “A house of prayer” Pilgrims from afar “Many believed in his name cause of the signs he was doing.  Teaching at core temple is place to encounter God. Core function of Temple not coin exchange-or animal market

Core of our faith; JC-is temple’s third day risen after third day-temple replacement  “After he (Jesus) was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered”

4. During Lent preparing for Easter Put our faith’s core at center

Sermon Notes: Lent 2B, Faith-

Sermon Notes: Lent 2B, Faith-3-12-06, SHLC-ESW

A.   God wants to transform us (Genesis) hunk> becomes powerful

a.    I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. By grace

b.    Your name Abram exalted ancestor shall become Abraham ancestor of nations 99 year man w/no heirs Sarai, will become Sarah princess

B.   God has the power (Psalm) over people rejected by earthly powers & all

a.    when they the poor defeated/rejected people cry to `him he hears them

b.    the families of the nations Abraham’s descendents shall bow before God

C.   God’s grace accepted >faith > precedes following the Law (Romans)

a.    God’s fulfillment of the promise not come to Abraham through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  Belief God would & could

b.    Abraham did not weaken in faith as to many hiers when he considered his 99yr old body, or the barrenness of Sarah's womb. Not> logic

c.    Now the words “Was reckoned to him as righteousness.” were not written not for his sake alone, but for us who believe God raised Jesus

d.    Jesus was given to death for our trespasses & raised for our justification.

D.   God’s grace comes on God’s terms Mark

a.    Jesus the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be killed

b.    And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him (Suffering messiah won’t fly) Jesus rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, follow Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.

c.    If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves their human definition of salvation and take up their cross the reaction of the world-(dying/affirming Jesus’ as Lord rather than Caesar) & follow me.

d.    Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still in spite of dungeon, fire & sword

E.    S & Pray Let us be transformed by God’s Power, >faith in Jesus & w/ HS

Sermon-Crucifixion

Sermon-Crucifixion by Rev. Edgar S. Welty

Given at

Durand United Church of Christ

On

November 25, 2001, Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Reign of Christ Our Lord

Scripture Lessons           Paul’s Letter to the          Colossians 1:11-20

                                      The Gospel of                 Luke 23:33-43

            This is the Sunday on which we celebrate the. “Reign of Christ”.  One could ask why on this day, in light of the celebration of Christ as King that this Gospel reading and sermon are about “Crucifixion”. This is because, when we really know crucifixion is, and what it represented, we will be able to see its meaning. For unless we really understand the cross we will miss the central idea of our faith. For without the cross there is no redemption. And with the cross we are assured of God’s right to ask us to forgive each other.

            To support these assertions we will first look at the history of the symbol of the cross. That will bring us to reality of what crucifixion was. Then we will see why Jesus’ death on the cross gives him the right to ask us to extend forgiveness to each other and accept forgiveness from God.

            The cross, as the symbol of our faith, is held high. There are dozens of crosses built into the light fixtures and window jamb of this church. Over the altar, on the hymnals and hanging around many of our necks are crosses. Two lines drawn at right angles are understood to represent Christianity.

            Remember the last verses of the hymn we just sung. “O cross that liftest up my head I dare not flee from thee. I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.”

            Our last hymn toady is “In the Cross of Christ I Glory, which towers over the wrecks of time, all the light of sacred story gather around its head sublime.” Another verse states, “When the sun of bliss is beaming, light and love upon my way from the cross the streaming adds more luster to the day.” We will also sing, “The cross that glows with peace and joy”. All of us know our ode to “The Old Rugged Cross”. A high percentage of our songs invoke the cross

            I don’t think we should stop using or singing about crosses. But did you know, that for the first three centuries Christians never used crosses as symbols? Do remember when Saint Paul “Proclaimed Christ crucified”? He said (it was) “A Stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1;23). Let us see why crucifixion and its symbol were problematic.

            The Jews were looking for a hero to liberate them. There is nothing in our common tradition to suggest that the Messiah, Christ as the deliverer of God’s chosen people should die on a cross. Thus the cross is a “Stumbling block” to Jews. Christ, the founder of our movement was a crucified man. That was “Foolishness to the Gentiles” because they were expected to follow a man who had died disgracefully.

            Crucifixion was a method to execute slaves and the lowest form of criminals. We have a record of Roman official saying that to even mention the word “Cross” to a citizen facing execution was considered mental torment. Only non-citizens who rebelled and challenged Roman Civilization were crucified.

            Crucifixions were common enough. There were many slave rebellions. There were revolts of subject peoples against Rome. When these were put down, the losers, sometimes by the thousands, were hung on crosses along the roads as gristly reminders as the fate of those who would challenge the empire. After Spartacuss rebelled, the roads from the tip of Italy to Rome hung with the crucified.

            Crucifixion was reserved for non-Romans. Citizens, even tyrants, were executed by the relatively merciful method of beheading with the sword.

            Crucifixion was so that it was discontinued while Rome was still amusing herself by throwing people to the lions and watching gladiators fight each other to the death. Only after crucifixion had not practiced for many years did crosses become an accepted symbol of our Christian faith. It took that long for the horror of the cross’s function to fade. An instrument of cruel execution invokes horror.

            I knew of man who tried to sell home made little electric chairs, scaled down versions of the kind that had been used for executions. They stood about fifteen inches tall. There were straps on the arms to hold down a tiny victim. A metal skullcap was wired with a grow light. In its seat was a Boston fern. Few people had enough of a sense of the macabre to want this novelty item for their homes. In the same way, few Christians would want across when it was still a method of execution.

            There is a great paradox, which we come to as we face the reality of crucifixion In spite of the fact that Jesus asks God to “Forgive them for they know not what they are doing” on some levels the Roman troops, who crucified Jesus, knew exactly what they were doing. They did not know Jesus as God’s Son, but they were experienced at crucifixion.

            Roman military headquarters in occupied Judea was not Jerusalem but in but in Caesarea a nearby seaport. During Passover the small Roman garrison at Jerusalem was reinforced to deal with the festival crowds. Extra people by the tens of thousands swarmed into the Holy City. The temple was recounting the story of the Hebrew liberation from Egypt; Often there had been uprisings at this time of the year.

            Troops bought in for this kind of duty were likely to skilled veterans. Soldier to take Jesus and two other threats to the public order would have to be the most skilled in crown control. I t must have been a large group, for a “Centurion” an officer in charge of a hundred men commanded them

            They took Jesus to a hill outside the city wall. Calvary was probably equipped with waiting poles, which were pre-pegged to hold up the crosses’ horizontal beams. Those who were crucified were nailed to a timber about five feet long, which was drilled to fit over the waiting pegs. They hoisted up to hang there for days. When the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side it was an n act of mercy. Our lord died over many hours rather than several days.

            The Roman Guard, like soldiers everywhere forced to unpleasant duty found ways to amuse themselves. They gambled for his clothes and taunted their victim. Thus they added to the verbal abuse of the leaders of the people.

            They had already made fun of Jesus’ kingship by forcing a crown of thorns onto his head. His forehead was blood stained. They had put a robe on him, put a reed in his hand as a specter, mocking bowed down, blindfolded him and spat in his face.

            These troops were probably the same who had flogged Jesus. Those whom Rome crucified were generally whipped to with-in an inch of their lives. No wonder Jesus falls under the weight of his cross. No wonder Jesus needed help to carry the heavy beam up Calvary’s hill.

            Calvary “Called ‘The skull’” was so named for another reason. Unlike Jesus whose body was taken down and laid in a tomb. The bodies of other crucified people were not buried but consumed by vultures and wild dogs. Their bones and skulls littered Calvary. We know this because: In spite of the fact that we know there were thousand of crucifixions, no intact skeletons of a crucified person have ever been recovered. Thus we should realized crucifixion was ghastly.

            What is the point of recounting these ancient almost unspeakable horrors Jesus’ death on the cross gives him the right to ask, in a special way, to extend forgiveness to each other and to accept forgiveness from God. People could think they are such villains, that no one not even God would forgive them. Those need to remember Jesus asked god to forgive those who crucified him. Compared to most anything any of us might of have done, those who routinely crucified people have done far more heinous acts.

            Crucifixion is probably about the cruelest and most degrading way to kill a fellow human being. The Romans did not invent the process; the Persians and Greeks also used it. But the troops of the Caesars were its most notorious practitioners.

            The other way we are called to deal with forgiveness is to forgive those who have wronged us. I have heard of many horrible things. People tell their pastors many things. By gave on the cross and recognize the horror of what Jesus endured. In that perspective, judge what you are being asked to forgive.

            It is not easy to forgive. There’s the story of a married couple that had had an argument. Mean things ended up being said. After a cooling off period one spouse asked the other to forgive and forget. This was agreed to. But somehow the things said in anger kept on coming up over and over.

            After some months, the party whose were still being repeated asked finally said ‘ “I thought you said you would forgive and forget.” The spouse answered, “I have forgiven and forgotten but I will never let you forget!”

            We pray every week “Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” But we are not really good at forgiving. But if we are to be Christ-like we should remember the enormity of what the crucified one forgave.

            We may say we have tired to forgive many times but gave up. But Jesus asks s us to forgive seven times seventy or basically as many times as it takes. Jesus forgives us over and over and asks us to do the same

            But we have trouble accepting and receiving Often we wallow in self-pity when we feel we are unforgivable, or we can let past poison our peace of mind and sour our relationships.

            But we should remember Christ the King who was nailed on the awful throne, the cross. He forgave the terrible cruelty of crucifixion, Jesus’ way is the way to forgiveness and the way to eternal life. That why the cross which was not used as a symbol of our faith for hundreds of years is an inspiration of our faith today. It was understandable that it took hundreds years for the stigma of the cross to fade. After those long years, our church discovered the power of the cross as a symbol.

            That is why it is appropriate that there are dozens of crosses built into the light fixtures and Window jambs of this church that is why we place a cross on the altar and around our necks. That is why so many hymnals and other book are embossed with crosses. But we must not let the common sight of so many instruments of crucifixion let us forget what an extraordinary cruel method of execution it was.

            We, who are Protestants, can forget because we use am empty cross. But we follow a crucified Lord, who endured the worst cruelty but was able to forgave his tormenters’

            We are asked to receive and extend forgiveness as Jesus modeled it form the cross. It is not easy, we are divine as he was and is. But we are given power through the Holy Spirit to be Christ-like. Let us receive forgiveness from our sins knowing Jesus forgave those hung him from the cross if we can believe Jesus as God   did that we should find it to be forgiven. We can believe Jesus suffered as a human, on the cross and still forgave those who crucified him. Surely if we are to model our forgiveness on Jesus, there is nothing we should not be able forgive. Our peace of mind depends on it. The extent of our faithfulness to the way of the cross depends on it.

            May we are created in the image of God cleanse that image as we forgive and are forgiven. May we who follow Jesus really show the love he showed as he was crucified. May we, who may be called to pick up crosses, as was Jesus. of pain and suffering, be sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit.                         Amen

JESUS MAKES A COMFORTING PROMISE

3 Pentecost Sermons 1. JESUS MAKES A COMFORTING PROMISE  John 14:15-21

Imagine you were one of the twelve disciples. You just heard Jesus – your best friend – tell you that he was leaving soon. You’d be perplexed to say the least. How could Jesus say that he would leave when he promised to always be with you? The disciples must have wondered what all of this meant. How about you? Do you struggle with these words too? Many do.  People wonder – perhaps you’re one of them – why Jesus had to leave. Life would be so much simpler if Christ had remained on earth, then we wouldn’t struggle with doubts or questions. Right?  Wrong! Christ Jesus had to return to heaven so that our salvation might be complete. He did this not to complicate things, but to comfort us. In fact, in our text we find that JESUS GIVES US A COMFORTING PROMISE. 1) Jesus promises to care for us, and 2) Jesus promises to be with us.  1) Jesus Promises to Care for Us.  Everybody likes to feel needed. Everybody likes to feel cared for and loved.

And now for a small sum of money, you can pay people to tell you those things! In many parts of the country this very weekend select groups of people are meeting; hoping to find some secret power that will develop all their hidden abilities and bring  them to a new level of life experience. One advertisement for such a seminar reads as follows: “Start the major love affair of your life by spending a weekend with yourself. Take two days out of your life to spend just with you. Discover the most fascinating, wondrous, magnificent person you will ever know – yourself – in an experience you’ll never forget.” Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? That ad makes some bold claims. It promises wonderful results. You may be wondering, “What’s the catch?” Well, the cost of this particular seminar – a mere $250 per person! It seems seminars, retreats, and self-help groups are en vogue right now. You can find groups of people meeting for all sorts of reasons. Now, I’m not knocking weekend retreats or seminars. In a sense, the Gospel reading for today is an account of a first century retreat, a special seminar, which Jesus conducted for his disciples.

            In John 13, we find Jesus telling his disciples about true greatness.  He says greatness is found in humility and service to others. Then Jesus demonstrated that greatness by washing his disciples’ feet. Jesus told his disciples about a radical concept: Christian love. This was the very heart and core of Christ’s love shown his entire life.  This love would find its culmination on the cross as Jesus sacrificed himself for us. In order to do that, Jesus had to give up everything– the very glories of heaven – so that we might have a home with him in paradise.  Jesus gave himself wholly to his Father’s will. He dedicated himself to every law, decree, and command his Father  ever uttered. He did this for us, so that we might find favor in God’s eyes.

Everything Christ Jesus accomplished was for us. And this was all part of God’s plan to provide comfort and healing, care and mercy.  Now in chapter 14:15 Jesus expands on God’s plan of salvation. He promises to send another Person, whom he calls the “Counselor.”  Jesus was promising to send the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was foretelling the events of Pentecost. He did this to comfort his disciples. He knew they would be confused as they witnessed his crucifixion and death. Jesus wanted to let his disciples know that he would not forsake them. He cared for them. And so he makes a promise.

He would send the “Counselor.” Now, the original Greek word Jesus uses was “Paraclete.” That’s the word we translate “counselor.”  That Greek word has the idea of one who walks along side of you, encouraging and instructing. It’s a picture of someone who cares.  I can’t think of a better way for Jesus to describe God’s care and concern than his description of the Holy Spirit. It reminds me of when my father first taught me how to drive. He was a “paraclete, a counselor” of sorts. He sat in the seat next to me, pointing out the gas from the brake pedal, showing me the proper way to grip the steering wheel. He instructed and encouraged. Sure, my dad pointed out my mistakes, but he always did with care and concern.

As a counselor, the Holy Spirit comforts, guides, and instructs. He  does this with the Word of God. First, the Holy Spirit shows us that we need a Savior. The Bible tells us that we cannot love ourselves into heaven. No amount of self-esteem can earn salvation. The power of positive thinking cannot remove sin from a guilty conscience. A pow-wow with the Holy Spirit is needed.

Jesus promised this to his first 12 disciples and he promises it to us.  This is a promise he intends to keep. Just listen to the determination in his words: “and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of  truth.”

The Lord shows his care and concern by dealing with the truth. The truth is that God calls sin what it is: sin. It is an infraction of God’s holy commands. And the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have broken God’s decrees again and again. We encounter our sins every time we read the Bible.

We come face-to-face with the truth as the Holy Spirit convicts us. He shows us that we are sinners. The Spirit does this so that we don’t trust in ourselves for salvation.  God wants us to despair in ourselves, so that we trust in him for all things. The Holy Spirit’s main job is to turn us from ourselves and towards Christ for certainty of forgiveness and salvation. The Spirit needs to force us to look into the mirror of God’s law and see our sins.

Sadly, a lot of people deny this truth. Consider Christ’s words: “the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit because it neither sees him nor knows him.” As a whole this world looks at the profound truth of Christ’s love and pronounces it foolish. This world is happy enough with lust and sex. People enjoy romance, or the feeling of “being inlove.”

A lot of people talk about charity and peace, but rarely will anyone get close enough to anybody else to actually love, to come along side and help. It’s when we come alongside to help one another – to put our Christian love into practice – that the Holy Spirit feels at home in our hearts. He moves us to love each other even as we have been loved by God. In this way, we obey God’s commands. It’s all about humility and sacrifice. We do not love each other when we do things only to get a pat on the back, or some other kind of recognition or bragging rights.

Christian love gives when the sinful heart isn’t willing to do so. Christian love gives when it is inconvenient or unappealing. In short, Christian love is the willing response the Holy Spirit works in our hearts. And it’s evident in our lives, as he leads us to focus on God’s faithful love and promises.

2) Jesus Promises to Be with Us

Jesus made this clear when he said that the Spirit both dwells with  us and will be in us. Talk about loving faithfulness! The Spirit has been with us much longer than we ever knew. Before we knew Jesus or even thought about spiritual things, the Spirit has been calling out to us, drawing us to Jesus. This is not a relationship we can create on our own.

As Martin Luther correctly states in his catechism: I believe I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one truth faith.”

The Holy Spirit sought us out and made his home within us. He did this through the gospel: the message of salvation in Christ.  The Holy Spirit is responsible for our faith in Jesus Christ. He’s also responsible for keeping that faith alive and allowing us to live for Christ.

It might sound a bit unsettling for Jesus to say, “if you love me, you will obey what I command”, but those words need not frighten us. It would be scary to think that our obedience to Jesus was based on our merits or worthiness, but it’s not. We can’t even believe in Jesus Christ on our own, let alone obey him.

Again, this is  all credited to the work of our Savior-God. The Holy Spirit leads us to obey God, by reminding us of his faithful promises. The Spirit uses the Gospel in the Word and Sacraments to remind us that we have a faithful God who loves us so much that he died for our sins and rose again so that we might live with him eternally.

That message of love leads us to trust, listen, and obey.  It’s all because the Holy Spirit keeps whispering the song of the Gospel in our ears.

Have you ever been driving in the car, when suddenly an old familiar song came on the radio – one you hadn’t heard in years – and it made you smile? Why is that? When we don’t hear those old familiar songs for a long time, we fill our minds with other things and forget those old familiar songs.

There’s the possibility for that to happen to our faith. We fill our minds with other things and we forget the song of the Gospel. So many other songs come along and compete for our attention: songs of worry and fear, of lust and greed, and they fill our hearts leading us to forget that Christ promises to be with us.

Christ keeps his promise of abiding love by continuing to send the Holy Spirit to whisper the lyrics of the Gospel song in our ears. He reminds us that we are God’s children for Jesus’ sake.

At baptism, the Holy Spirit whispered, “You are mine. You are cleansed in the blood of Christ.” In Holy Communion our Lord says, “Take and eat; take and drink. Receive what I have given to you.”

The Holy Spirit leads us to know that the gifts of hope, forgiveness, life and salvation are ours. Our Lord promises it. When you come to worship, go to Bible study, or have a family devotion the Holy Spirit continues to whisper the mystery of  God’s love into your ears. He reminds you that the Bible was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and by believing you may have life in his name.

Weekend retreats and seminars are nice. They provide a “shot in the arm”, rejuvenating a person’s outlook on life. In fact, it’s good to get away and focus on the simpler things once in a while. The Holy Spirit does that for us everyday. Each day he reminds us of the  simpler things of faith: forgiveness, salvation, and the hope of heaven. We don’t have to listen to a charismatic, world-renown speaker to inspire us. It’s all right here in the Bible. So listen to God himself.

And we don’t have to spend a small fortune to hear about the secrets of salvation. God’s love is a gift of his grace – it’s free of charge. So, don’t doubt. Simply believe. After all, your God promises it. Amen.

2. Acts 2:1-11, 1 Cor 12:3-13, Jn 20:19-23

                       Here are some stones I have overturned to see what ideas lay underneath. I hope you can grab hold of something, pull -- and discover that it has some homiletic roots for you.  When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the

entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which

parted and came to rest on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.

At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement  they asked -- Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?

We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.

Whenever I read this scripture which tells of the inbreaking of the spirit I seem to focus on the power and majesty of its entrance. How mighty and forceful is a strong driving wind which can be heard from each corner of the walled city of Jerusalem? How loud is this sound which captures the attention of the tens of thousands inhabiting Jerusalem? Where else in all of scripture do tongues as of fire rest upon individuals -- enabling them to mysteriously overcome the divisions of native languages?

In the world of forest firefighting there is an aerial drop of water or other fire-extinguishing chemicals called a Salvo Drop. This is when a fireplane flies dangerously low and close to a small, concentrated area of intense fire and drops its entire contents in a single, lump sum. The crashing sound of thousands of gallons of liquid released in one, massive gush shakes the ground rendering an intense fire completely defenseless. In short, picture the contents of a few  swimming pools being dropped upon your back yard from only hundreds of feet up in the air.  That is power. That is an entrance. That is the kind of entrance we see in this scripture.

It is time for the dove, water, and a breezy wind that blows where it will to make the entrance of all entrances.  My first point? There is no mistaking that something important, unprecedented, and mighty is happening here. The Church is born in a spectacular display of power by the third person of the Trinity.

Because this third person of the Trinity seems to get the least press or attention, it would have been influential and effective to have experienced this entrance of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we would have felt more convinced of the power of the Spirit in the world and in our lives. We would have been sold on the idea that something new and spectacular has entered our world and our lives.

Instead, it seems at times that the Spirit only has enough gusto to blow a few birthday candles out once a year to celebrate another year gone by, or that the Spirit is only made present by  Charismatic prayer groups that invoke the name of the Spirit often.

But, of course, this is not true. The Spirit lives and the power and presence of the Spirit has not diminished with time.  A homily on this Feast of Pentecost might make the point that the Spirit came into the world in  a big, big way; but that the Spirit is still alive and well today; that the Spirit operates in each and every one of our lives; that the Spirit works for us; and that the Spirit works through us.  The Spirit primarily shows itself in individuals in Scripture by speaking through them.

As priests and deacons who preach the Word often, how often have we experienced this power in our lives? How many times have we finished preaching and have sat down only to say to ourselves-- Where did those beautiful or powerful words come from? Of course, we know the answer: the Holy Spirit.

How many times have we exited after ministering in very difficult or tragic situations unscathed and successful knowing that it was by the Grace and the Power of the Spirit that kept us intact and effective as instruments of God?

Of course, the workings of the Spirit can also be uncovered in the lives of our parishioners in many, many ways. By the sharing of our experiences and by reminding our parishioners of the workings of the Spirit in their lives may we remind ourselves and our parishioners that the Spirit, indeed, is alive and well and living in our world and in our lives.  The Spirit effects us, the Spirit works through us. The Spirit lives.

3. Pentecost Sunday (C)  fr. Denis Minns preaches on the sending of the Holy Spirit.

Two sounds are mentioned by St Luke in the Acts of the Apostles in connection with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The first was a sound from heaven 'like the rush of a violent wind'. The second was the sound of the disciples of Jesus, after they had been filled with the Spirit, 'speaking in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.'

Of the two sounds, it was the second, it seems, that was the louder. The first sound filled the room, but the second filled the city: it was at the sound of the disciples speaking in foreign languages that the multitude came together, drawn from all those from every nation under heaven who were living in Jerusalem.

What amazed the multitude was not that these fishermen from Galilee were speaking in strange tongues; for then, as now, it was not uncommon to encounter people babbling nonsense under the auspices of religion. What surprised them was that everyone was able to understand what was being said, that it made sense: 'we heard them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.'

Luke's account of the coming of the Holy Spirit squares with what, in St John's Gospel, Jesus said would happen: 'The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.'

One of the functions of the Holy Spirit, then, is to communicate the Word of God to us, and St Luke shows the Spirit doing this in two ways: enabling some to speak the mighty works of God, and enabling others to understand those spoken words.

So there is no comfort here for those of us who might wish for less chatter in the Church, whether from its leaders or from others. St Luke expects that the Church of God will be a noisy place; in a sense, he expects it to be full of windbags: for the Word of the Lord is active, and the Spirit blows where it wills. Our task is to hear this not as just irritating noise, but as possibly the Word of God, and ask ourselves what it might be that the Spirit is saying to the Churches.

Nevertheless, the Spirit is also called the Comforter, and communicating the Word of God is not its only function. In St John's far less dramatic account of the sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says, 'Receive the Holy Spirit, for those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.' Words uttered under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are not simply bearers of information, they have power to bring things about.

Jesus was once told that no one can forgive sins, but God alone. Nevertheless, Jesus claimed that he did have the power to forgive sins, and, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, he has given that power to his disciples.

In a Church filled with the Spirit of God, therefore, we must expect that prominent amongst the words the Spirit brings to utterance will be words seeking and giving forgiveness.

In the other Gospels we learn that unless we forgive others we will not be forgiven ourselves. In St John we hear the much more alarming claim that if we do not forgive others then they will not be forgiven. 

Perhaps the point of this is not that we should be puffed up with a sense of our own self-importance in being able to hold others in their sins, but that we should be mindful of what it is we do if, being able to forgive others, we do not forgive them: we frustrate the purpose for which the Spirit was  given to us, we attempt to prevent the Spirit from blowing where it will. Might not that be a sin against the Holy Spirit, a sin which does not have forgiveness?

fr. Denis Minns is prior of the Priory of the Holy Spirit, Oxford, and a member of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oxford.

“The Wall That Heals” Vietnam War Memorial

• “The Wall That Heals” Vietnam War Memorial

Based in Washington, D.C., VVMF (the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) is the nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to build a national memorial dedicated to all who served with the U.S. armed forces in the Vietnam War. Incorporated on April 27, 1979 by a group of veterans led by Jan C. Scruggs, the organization sought a tangible symbol of recognition from the American people for those who served in the war.

The result was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (commonly referred to as The Wall), which has become one of the most visited memorials in Washington, D.C. with an estimated 4.5 million annual visitors.

Since the dedication of The Wall, VVMF has pursued a mission of preserving the legacy of The Wall, promoting healing and educating about the impact of the Vietnam War. Our latest initiative is the campaign to build the Education Center at The Wall. The Education Center will show the pictures and tell the stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam, provide a rich educational experience on the Vietnam War, show some of the more than 400,000 items left at The Wall, and celebrate the values exhibited by America’s service members in all wars.

Our Mission

The mission of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to honor and preserve the legacy of service and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War.  

• Learn how VVMF pursues its mission.  

Our Vision

The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve.

Our Values

• Exemplify the Ideals Embodied by America’s Armed Services
• Act With Integrity in All We Do 
• Perform With Excellence

Our Work

VVMF continues in its mission through numerous activities that include:

PRESERVE

• Care of the Memorial site:  The Memorial Fund takes an active role concerning the physical needs of The Wall, The Three Servicemen statue and flagpole, the directories of names, and the rest of the three-acre site on which the Vietnam Veterans Memorial rests.
• Virtual Wall of Faces:  The Virtual Wall of Faces features a page for every person whose name is on the Memorial. These pages allow family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other. 
• Faces Never Forgotten: Organizing individuals on the grassroots level to gather photos of those from their communities whose names are on The Wall and pursue remembrance activities in their towns. All photos and stories collected will be featured in the Education Center when it is built and also shared on VVMF’s Virtual Wall of Faces. 
• Memorial Volunteers:  Providing nearly 100 Memorial volunteers with the necessary supplies to continue their useful work of honoring, healing and educating, and hosting an annual appreciation luncheon for these dedicated individuals.
• Name Rubbings from The Wall:  Providing free name rubbings to the public.  These name rubbings help individuals who can't physically or fiscally make it to The Wall to have a special piece of the Memorial.  

HONOR

• Annual Ceremonies:  Hosting ceremonies on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and during the Christmas holidays, which allow the public throughout the year to remember and pay tribute to friends and loved ones whose names are inscribed on the Memorial.
• The Wall That Heals Traveling Wall and Mobile Museum:  Coordinating and managing The Wall That Heals touring exhibition, featuring a half-scale replica of The Wall and a museum that takes the Memorial’s healing legacy to communities nationwide. Millions of people have visited The Wall That Heals since its 1996 inception.
• In Memory Program:  Maintaining the In Memory program that sets aside a day each year to honor those who served in Vietnam and died prematurely as a result of that service, but whose deaths do not fit the criteria for inclusion on The Wall. This includes deaths that may have resulted from Cholangiocarcinoma, exposure to Agent Orange or PTSD. 

EDUCATE

• Education Programs for Teachers and Students:  Developing and distributing comprehensive and balanced educational materials that incorporate the lessons of the Vietnam War era to provide students with a greater sense of responsibility, leadership and global understanding.  
• Building the Education Center at The Wall:  The Education Center at The Wall will add a new educational and honorific component to one of the nation’s most powerful and moving memorials. It will put a face to every one of the 58,300 names listed on the Wall and help ensure that the Memorial will continue to speak about the importance of honoring our veterans and remembering those who died serving their country. It will serve as a place to better inform the public about the creation of the Memorial and the history of the Vietnam War.  

Our Financial Information

VVMF is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to honoring our nation’s veterans and educating this and future generations about the impact of the Vietnam War. Gifts from the public and grants from corporations and foundations providing funding for VVMF’s outreach efforts. 

- See more at: http://www.vvmf.org/aboutus#sthash.wgArla1E.dpuf

Speeches Ready for Presentation

Speeches Ready for Presentation

From

Upcoming Book

Thanks:

Giving and Receiving Gratitude for America’s Troops;

A Soldier’s Stories,

A Veteran’s Confessions

and A Pastor’s Reflections

by

Rev. Edgar S. Welty. Jr.

Aka

Specialist Five Welty, U. S. Army,

HQ Company 18^th. Engineer Brigade

1977-1980

And

Chaplain (CPT) Edgar Welty

United States Volunteers/America

The Case for Thanking the Troops

Cold Warrior

Flight of the Frog

I’m Going to Shoot That “SOB”

My “Basic” Job

Simon’s Service

My Qualifications To Be An “On-Call” Preacher

My Qualifications To Be An “On-Call” Preacher

Pulpit Experience

            I was the pastor of three different churches: Am Urban one in Rochester, New York, a village parish in Cohocton, New York and a suburban one in Tiburon California. The first church was my first call.  I was ordained to serve Durand United Church. Then I served as acting Lutheran Pastor in my second and third charges.   

Lectionary Resources

            In the seven or eight years when I preached on a weekly basis, I always used the Revised Common Lectionary. So, I have sermons and sermon outlines on all two and half cycles of the church year. I also have an extensive personal library and access to seminary libraries.  

Ecumenical Connections

            I am a Presbyterian Elder. I was an United Methodist Lay Speaker. I served as an acting Lutheran Pastor, for about six years, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  I am an Minster of Word and Sacrament in the United Church of Christ.

"A Glorified Life"

 "A Glorified Life"

-by Reverend A. LaMar Torrence, Pastor of the Cross of Life Lutheran Church

John 12:20-33

The great statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” That proverbial statement best captures the meaning of this season we call, LENT. Lent is that liturgical season of the church’s calendar year, whereby we focus on the cost of following Christ. Lent is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of our baptism in Christ as we prepare for the celebration of Easter.

Observance of Lent is as old as the 4th century. It begins on Ash Wednesday, the 40th weekday before Easter and it ends at midnight Holy Saturday. Lent is that time of year, whereby we turn our attention to the cross. We focus on that which God, the father has given us and we are challenged to go forth and do likewise. LENT is about losing our lives by giving them to Christ and getting eternal life by finding Christ within us. Lent is about loss.

(Tell someone, “this season is about loss.”) It’s about losing ourselves in order to find our lives. Jesus declares that he who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life will keep it for eternal life. Where you and I are now, in our lives, in our struggles, in our cares, and in our issues, it is all about losing. One can say in fact that this is a season for losers.

Now, a loser by our social standards is one who has failed to accomplish any relevant success or significance in his life. But by God’s standards a loser is one who has totally immerse his life in the will and way of Jesus. This is a season for losers. Jesus is looking for losers.

Now many of us are saying to ourselves, I’ve already lost so much. What else is there for me to lose? How much more do I have to endure in order to come out of this experience with some sense of dignity? How much more can I lose?

You lost a husband or wife, a son or daughter. You’ve a lost a job, your health, and even your peace of mind. You’ve lost some friends, your sense of purpose, your direction, and your strength to endure. Some of us have lost so much. We have lost and buried love ones. We have divorced and lost lovers and spouses. We have lost jobs and forgone opportunities.

And now, we are concern about losing more- losing our love ones and friends in Iraq, losing our children to the streets, losing our husbands to the other woman. Losing members to other churches and complacency. Losing our control and voice in the activities of the church. We are concern about losing.

And yet, with all that you have lost, God wants you to know still that there is more of you to lose. The essence of the gospel-the good news of Jesus Christ- is about loss. An authentic gospel begins with loss. It begins with dying. It begins with the cross. And if the gospel that you hear preached on the radio, the television, or wherever, does not begin with a cross, if it does not begin by telling you that something in you has to die, it is not the true gospel. The true gospel is not just about you coming to Jesus as you are, it’s about you being baptized in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s about you losing your former life and gaining a new life in Christ.

This season is about losing. It’s about loss.

Now right there many of us have a problem. We have trouble coming to church and losing something. We came to get something. We came to get a blessing-be it financial, relational, and spiritual. We came to get an encouraging word, some hope for tomorrow, and some assurance that everything is going to be all right. Many of us came to get something or someone. We did not come to lose.

We have been taught to come to church seeking a blessing, praying to get -never to lose. We pray, “Lord, give me a financial breakthrough. Lord, give me some peace of mind. Lord, give me a better husband. Lord, give me a well-behaved child.” We come out to get and not to lose.

After all, who sets out on a journey to lose? That doesn’t make sense. We have been told that in this world, it is best to be a winner. It’s best to get all that you can get and to do all that you can to hold on to what you have gotten. No one wants to lose.

But following Jesus is a mattering of losing. It is a matter of letting go. Our modern philosophy of life is a matter of holding on and hanging in. We’ve been trained to say, “oh I’m just holding on. I’m hanging on in there.” Day in and day out- we struggle to hold on to our job, to hold on to our house, to hold on to our family, and to hold on to our money. Jesus’ words that “we must lose our lives” create for many of us a conflict of interest.

And so, this morning, like Jesus, our souls are troubled. We can’t sleep. We are overworked and underpaid. Our minds are constantly going. We are walking on eggshells, looking over shoulders, and waiting for some disastrous event to occur. We are mentally and physically on heighten alert. Our souls are troubled

And yet, for the sake of the gospel, we, the call, the chosen, the church, the Disciples of Christ, must maintain our faith and assurance. Although we are living in a world of loss, we must still act as if everything is fine because as we go through, many are watching us and seeking the presence of Jesus in our lives.

The world is looking at us. Society is watching us seeking to see Jesus through us and in us. They want to see Jesus. Everyday of our lives, in our sittings and risings, there are those around us who just want to see Jesus. They do not want to get caught up in our church politics. They do not want to see our beautiful building, hear our wonderful music, or taste our good food during fellowship hour. They want to see Jesus.

(Tell someone, ‘They want to see Jesus.’) They don’t want to see you talking gossip about the other church members. They want to see Jesus. They don’t want to hear your personal opinions, and thoughts about the pastor. They want to see Jesus.

Tell someone “show me Jesus.” Show me Jesus. Right now, I need to see Jesus. All week, I’ve seen bombs dropping, people dying, and politicians lying. But right now show me Jesus. All week, I’ve seen my children misbehave, my spouse act funny, and my friends act shady, but right now, show me Jesus. All week, I’ve heard your lip service about you making change in your life and about what you’re going to do-but now show me Jesus. I’ve seen your position. I know your title. I’ve heard your accolades but show me Jesus. I just want to see Jesus. I need to see Jesus right now.

No wonder, Jesus’ soul was so troubled. He spent the majority of his life, showing his disciples and the people signs and wonders, yet they still did not believe. He spent his life preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God, about blessedness, righteousness and truth; yet they still did not believe.

He spent his life healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising the dead; yet, they still did not believe. And at this eleventh hour of his life, people are coming to see him perform, and prove that he is the Christ, so that they may believe. And likewise people are coming to you to see Jesus, so that they may believe. That’s is why it is important for you to watch what you say.

Tell someone, “Watch what you say?” What you are saying now during these troubling times will determine your destiny with Christ. Your response while you are going through this season of trouble will determine your next level of glory. Jesus says, “What shall I say.

They want to see me at my best but I’m about to go through the worst period of my life, the cross. What shall I say? Tell someone, “Watch what you say?”

Watch what you say when confront with questions about the rising gas prices and decrease in jobs. Watch what you say, when people questioned you about supporting the war. As Christians, we don’t support war. We support peace. We pray for those in war. We pray for our solders, generals, and leaders. We pray for the opposition and their families but we support peace. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the kingdom of God. So,watch what you say?

Yes, my soul is troubled, so what will I say? Shall I complain, groan, and moan. Shall I cuss, fuss, and fight? Shall I criticize, scrutinize, and scandalize? What will I say? Tell someone “watch what you say?”

And many of us who are going through a dark time in our lives, may be saying the wrong type of prayer. We are praying for deliverance and relief. But, I want you to know right now that if you turn your prayer from want of deliverance to one of acceptance, you will come out with total victory. If you turn your petition of “Lord, please get me out of this” to one of “ Here is my life Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” you shall have victory.

Jesus, declared, “What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. He accepted what God was about to take him through. Likewise, accept the fact that you will just have to go through. For this is the hour- this is the season for which you have come. This is the season that God has prepared just for you.

This is the final test that when it is over, God will be glorified. Everything you have been through. Every disappointment. Every discouragement. Every lie. Every tear you cried. Every pain you felt. Everything you’ve been through was for this hour: every friend that left you, every family member that doubted you, every enemy that laughed at you, everything you’ve been through was for this hour. You are here for such a time as this.

Solomon said that for every matter under heaven there is a time and a season; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.’ This is your season. God has prepared

you for this season so that he may be glorified. You are wondering why? He is telling you, So that he can be

glorified. So that when you come through this, people without question, without a word of doubt, will know that it was nothing but the grace of God that brought you through.

Tell someone “God will be glorified in this.” God has prepared you just for this season. You can do this. He would not have brought you to such as time as this, if he did not know that you were prepared for it. This is your season of glorification. This is your time for a glorified life. Yes, you are scared and feel lonely, but God will be glorified. Yes, you don’t know where your next dollar is coming from- but God will be glorified. Yes, folks are looking at you, talking about you, and criticizing you. But God will be glorified.

Your response and my response, as we go through this season is, “Father, glorify the name.” Be gloried Jesus, in the heavens. Be glorified in the earth. Be glorified in this temple. Jesus, Be thou glorified.

So, how will God be glorified as I go through this season of loss? How is he glorified as I go through losing my health? Tell, me preacher how is he glorified as I try to cope with the idea of losing my love one to heart disease, to cancer, and AIDS. Tell me, preacher, how is God glorified while I see my family struggle and stress?

He is glorified in your willingness to fall before him. God is glorified when we are willing to abase ourselves in his presence. Like the grain, a seed, we must be willing to fall to the ground. Like the seed, in order to grow, you must be willing to fall to the ground. You see a seed is no good and serves no purpose if it is not planted. As long as it remains above ground, where it can be seen, it’s remains sterile.

And the problem with many in the church is that our lives have been sterile. We have no purpose. We are making no difference in our community. We have no growth-there is no fruit of the spirit in our lives- no love, no joy, no peace, no patience, no kindness, no goodness, no faithfulness, no gentleness, no self-control

We are in the same place we where we when first join the church. And that’s the problem we joined the church but we did not join Christ. We are in a bowl of seeds when we should in the ground because as long as we are above ground-we can be seen. We can be heard. We can walk by sight and use common sense and be the voice of reason.

And yet, as long as we remain above ground we are the most vulnerable to our enemy. Here the birds can feed off of us. Here the rodents, and the pestilence can devour our lives. Here, the enemy- the devil can still have access to our lives.

But Jesus says when we come upon holy ground we must be willing to allow some things to fall. We must be willing to lay aside every weight and sin, which clings so closely.

But falling to the ground in itself is still not enough. Jesus says we must die. God will be glorified in the death of your fleshly desires and concerns. Our flesh must perish so that our spirits may live.

It is interesting that every spring, although we plant, many seeds, only a few sprout and grow. That’s due to the seed’s coat called the testa: the harder the coat of the seed, the longer the germination process. Seeds with harder coatings may take a longer time to germinate simply because that hard coating of the seed may prevent expansion of the embryo inside of it. That hard coating may block the entrance of water. That hard coating may impede gas exchange so that the embryos lack oxygen.

And many of us come of the Lord with hard coatings. Life has made us hard. We have walls around us and in us. We don’t trust any one. We don’t know how care for others; love them as well as ourselves because we don’t even love ourselves. We have surrounded ourselves with people, situations, and things that make it difficult for God to reach inside of us and deal with our hearts.

And so, although we may be planted in the church, our hard hearts have prevented our spiritual growth. Our hard hearts have prevented the entrance of ‘living water’- the Holy Ghost. Our hard hearts impede the exchange God’s spirit and our souls.

And for the world to see the Christ in you, the embryo of the holy ghost, you must not cling to those hard coverings. We have to let them go. We, our selves, our flesh must die: our need to be heard and voice our opinions because we should have some say- that must die. Our fear of losing control and not being involved in how things are ran around us- that must die.

To gain our lives in Christ we must be willing to lose our selves in Christ. We must be willing to lose our identity in order to gain our spirituality. We must let be willing to let self die. In order words, we must become humbled and abased. We must die.

And the problem with many churches today is that many Christians have not yet died. Christ says, if we still get upset because of trifling church mess, we still must die. If we get mad because our name is not on program, Christ says, die. If we lose our joy because no one speaks to us, die. If our nose get bent out of joint because the Pastor said no to our proposal, die. If our emotions are troubled because of power plays in the church, die. You must die. The “I” in you must die. Your pride must die. Your ego must die. Your arrogance must die. Your ambition must die. And when self is dead then our spirit can live.

Is this not what Jesus told brother Nicodemus? “Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” We have to allow some things in our life to die. Flesh can’t worship, praise, and serve that which is spirit. Paul said it best, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

And dying is a lonely experience. It is a dark and trying season in your life. When you decide to begin to allow God to kill off those sinful desires in your life, you begin a lonely process wilderness process. The storms will come. The winter will come. Your life will seem extreme and often barren. That’s because your flesh is dying.

And those in the world don’t want to be around dead things. You’ll too religious for them. You are too deep for them. You’ll too high and mighty for them. They will talk about you and make comments, well, everybody can’t be perfect. Well done be so heavenly bound that you are no earthly good. To them you have become a dead thing. And that’s a good thing.

Paul says, but if Christ is in you although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive.” Tell somebody, “My body is a dead thing. But my spirit is coming alive.” And when it comes to the church of Jesus Christ, it should be filled with people who have become dead to the world. In fact, when the world sees you they should say, “dead man walking.” Tell somebody, “He’s talking about me. I’m a dead man walking.”

And the good news of the gospel is this, if you are willing to lose your life, to let those worldly concerns die, then you shall gain it. God will be glorified in the life you receive after this temporary existence. You shall gain your purpose with the prince of peace. You shall can your relevance with the Righteous one of God. Those who seek to save their lives shall lose and those who hate their lives shall gain eternal life.

Jesus uses himself as the quintessential premise that even the best of us, can still get better. As glorious as Jesus was, he was still yet to be glorified. There was still a level of glory for him to ascend. He had yet to be at his best. I would have thought he was glorified when the heavens opened up and the Holy Ghost descended upon him and the father said this is my beloved son, in whom I’m well pleased- but that was not Jesus at his best. I thought maybe he was at his best when stood on the bow of a boat in the midst of a raging sea, and said, “Peace be still’ and the roaring seas became calm still waters. The winds slowed down to a nice summer breeze. But yet, he was not at his best. Some would have surmised that Jesus was at his best when he raised Lazarus from the dead. But he was still not at his best.

No, Jesus was at his best when he carried an old rugged cross to a hill called Calvary. Jesus was at his best when he allowed his enemies to nail him to that cross; and yet, pray, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus was at his best, when he allow the cross to mock his name, pierce him in his side, and place a crown of thorns on his head when he could have called down the host of heaven to deliver him from that cross.

Jesus was at his best when he exclaimed, “It is finished. Into thy hands, Father, do I commend my spirit.” Jesus was at his best, when he allowed them to bury his body in a borrowed tomb. Jesus was at his best when on the third day, he rose, and stood before his disciples and declared, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Listen to me your best moment is just ahead. You will come out of this dark gruesome test knowing that God has triumph, Jesus has gotten the victory, and he has given you power to be his witness to the

uttermost parts of the world. Somebody say, “Amen and Amen.”

Hymn for Lent 1B

“O Love That Will Not Let Me Go” # 485 New Century Hymnal

1. O Love that will not let me go,

    I rest my weary soul in you;

    I give you back the life I owe,

    That in your ocean depths its flow

    May swell with ardor true.

2. O Light that follows all my way,

    to you I yield my flickering flame;

    Renew my spirit’s feeble ray,

    That from your brilliant sunlit day

    It may new brightness claim.

3. O joy that seeks me through my pain,

    to you, I can not close my heart;

    I trace the rainbow through the rain,

    And know the promise is not vain

    That you will ne’er depart.

4. O Cross that raises up my head,

    from you I dare not seek to flee;

    I lay in dust glory life’ glory dead,

    Life’s glories whiter and are dead

    from the ground there blossoms red

    Life that shall endless be.

Hymn for Ash Wednesday

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins
And close by Thee to stay.
As Thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight,
In Thee to conquer sin.
As Thou didst hunger bear, and thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live
By Thy most holy Word.
And through these days of penitence,
And through Thy passiontide,
Yea, evermore in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.
Abide with us, that so, this life
Of suffering over past,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last.

SHARE GOD?S WEALTH, SHARE GOD?S LOVE

SHARE GOD?S WEALTH, SHARE GOD?S LOVE

Matthew 25:14-30

Fr. Ronald Saunders

Ordinary Time 33

Proper 28A

November 17, 2002

The key to understanding this Parable of the Talents lies in the words that begin the parable.  Jesus begins by saying, "A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them."  The man, of course, is the Lord.  The servants are us.  The Lord's possessions, the talents He gives us, are His bounteous love.  And He entrusts all of His treasure, that is, all of His love to us.  Imagine! God trusts us with the preciousness of His love.

Think of it this way.  In the person of Jesus, God came among us.  In Jesus we have all of God's treasure, the fullness of His love.  Then Jesus returned to His Father, leaving our hearts and our lives abounding in His love.  In giving us His love, Jesus expects us to share that love, even to give it away.  Above all, He does not expect us to hoard it and keep it just for ourselves.

A priest friend of mine, Fr. Leo Maxfield, shared a story with me that beautifully illustrates how Jesus expects us to share the gift of His love with others.   One of Fr. Max's nieces died.  She was only twenty-two years old.  Her father spoke at her funeral Mass.  This is the story he told about his daughter Christen.

When people asked him and his wife why their daughter spelled her name with a Ch rather than with K, he told them, "We named her Christen -- with a Ch and not a K -- so that every time she saw her name or wrote it or said it or heard it, she would be reminded of Jesus Christ -- her friend and brother."  They told Christen this from the time she was a little girl, so that it became imprinted on her mind and heart.  She knew Jesus as her friend and not as a stranger.

Christen's dad told of a trip he and his daughter took to New York City in December of 1994 when she was fifteen years old.  Something happened that was both powerful and mysterious, something they discussed over and over again afterward.

Christen and her dad spent the day shopping in New York City, having dinner together, and going to a Broadway show.  The day was bitter cold, and Christen was wearing her favorite black and white checkered winter coat.  Her dad bought her a brand-new parka at Eddie Bauer's.  She put her other winter coat into a shopping bag and wore the new parka.

As Christen and her father walked along, they came to an intersection.  There was a young woman standing there, holding a cup and begging.  She was a thin girl, dressed only in jeans and a light cotton sweater.  She shivered and her skin looked gray from the cold.  Christen's dad took out some bills and coins from his pocket and dropped them into the cup.  Then they crossed the street.

When they got to the other side, Christen said to her dad, "Dad, we have to do something for her."

"What would you like to do?" he asked.

"I want to give her my coat." Christen said.

"Your favorite coat?"

"Dad! She needs it more than I do and, anyway, I've got two coats!"

"OK, let's go," her dad said. 

They crossed back to the corner.  Christen took her black and white checkered winter coat out of the shopping bag and helped the young girl put it on.  Christen looked at her dad and said, "Dad, she's hungry, too."

"Right," her dad said.  "I'll go to the deli and get her something.  You stay here."

Christen's dad went to a nearby deli and bought some hot soup and a sandwich.  In less than five minutes he was back at the corner.  The young woman, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Christen, where is she?" he asked.

"I don't know, dad.  She's gone.  Disappeared!"

"What do you mean disappeared?  Didn't you watch her?"

"Yes, I did.  But I looked away for a split second and when I turned back, she was gone.  I couldn't see her anywhere.  She just disappeared."

Father and daughter walked on.  He asked, "Christen, who do you think that was?"

"How would I know, dad," she replied.

"Do you remember in the gospel where Jesus says, 'Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me'?" 

"So you're telling me I just gave my coat to Jesus!"

Her dad shrugged his shoulders and walked on, carrying the hot soup and sandwich.  Before long the two of them came across a homeless person sitting on the sidewalk with his back up against a building.  Christen took the bag with the soup and sandwich in it, flashed the homeless man one of her million-dollar smiles, and handed the bag to him.

As she and her dad walked on, she turned to him and in a matter-of-fact tone of voice said, "There He is again!"

In the years that followed, she and her dad talked about these two mysterious incidents.  Christen came to believe that she had really given her coat to Jesus and then, ten minutes later, had given the bag of food to Him.  She was truly puzzled about how that young woman had disappeared in a second of time.  She became convinced that something extraordinary had happened to her that she could not explain in human terms. 

Like her friend Jesus, on a Friday morning, November 8th of this year, Christen heard that she would die.  She thought she would die that day.  It happened to be All Saints Day.  She lingered on to All Souls Day, and her dad thought that All Souls Day, too, would be a good day for Christen to die.  But Christen held on to life and only let go on Sunday, the day of every week when all Christians remember the Resurrection of the Lord.  For every Sunday holds the promise that we, too, will one fine day rise with Jesus. 

Christen's dad ended his talk by saying, "So I have a notion -- a fantasy if you like -- that when Christen came face to face with her Friend and Brother, Jesus, He said to her, 'Welcome home, my sweet child!  Enjoy all the good things I have prepared for you.  Have something to eat.  Take a swim.  Enjoy it all.'  And then, so it pleases me to believe, Jesus said to her, 'And, hey, Christen!  Thanks for the nice coat.' "

Because Christen accepted the Lord's trust in her when He left in her safekeeping the treasure of His love, because she did not bury that love or hoard it for herself alone but rather reached out to share the treasure of Jesus' with those she encountered along the journey of her life, the Lord also said to Christen upon her arrival before Him, or so I like to fancy, "Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.  Come, share your master's joy."

May Christen pray for each of us so that, inspired by this young woman's example, we too will lavishly use the treasure, the love with which Jesus Christ fills our hearts, to benefit those we encounter all along life's way.