Beers and Boats

A gentleman moved into a small town. On his first night he went to the local tavern, sat! down, and ordered three beers; drank them quietly, and went home. He repeated this every night, arousing the curiosity of the regular customers. Finally, the bartender asked him about his strange behavior.

“I have two brothers. One lives in Tampa, and the other in San Francisco. We don't get together very often, so we all agreed that when we are drinking apart from each other we will each drink a beer for the others. It's our way of being together even when we are apart.”

Everyone in the bar was touched by this sign of fraternal bonding, and word of it soon spread across the local countryside. People would come from miles around just to watch the stranger drink his toast to his brothers.

Then, one late winter evening, the gentleman came into the bar as usual, took his regular seat and ordered TWO beers. Setting the beers before him, the bartender said: on behalf of the whole community, I want to offer our condolences.”

“What do you mean?” came the response.

“Well, when you only ordered two beers I assumed one of your brothers has died.”

“No, no, my brothers are both alive and well. It's just that unlike my brothers, I've given up drinking for Lent.”

Some people are all about sacrifice!

Welcome to Lent. In my childhood, it was the custom to give up something for Lent; a sacrifice designed to help us remember Christ's sacrifice for us. I don't think too many folks still follow this practice; but if you do, I wish you well. Of course, Lent and even Easter, wouldn't have been necessary if Adam and Eve had not listened to the temptations of the serpent.

The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

The one thing about the serpent's temptation that leaps off the pages of scripture is this: the serpent lied. “You won't die.” he told the woman, “Because God knows you'll be just like God.” We know that's a lie, because Eve and Adam both died, as has every generation since. Temptation is a lie. It promises us that which it can never deliver: in fact, the only thing falling for temptation does deliver is guilt and trouble. Secondly, the serpent played on the human d:desire to be more than human.

God created humanity in God’s own image,

         in the divine image God created them,[b]

           male and female God created them.

But for Adam and Eve, being simply an image wasn't enough. Like all people, they aspired to something more, something higher. And that's what the serpent offered them. “Why be God's image when you can be God's equal?” he offered. “All you have to do is eat this delicious fruit, and godhood can be yours.

John Piper says that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier." 

So Eve ate, and so did Adam. It really makes no difference who ate first, the result was the same. Guilt and shame. Yes, their eyes were opened, but what did they see? They both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. And while the Bible doesn't use the terms, sewing clot hes of fig leaves makes it clear they felt guilt and shame: the same things we feel when we have sinned.

Although guilt, and shame are often used together, they are not the same thing. Guilt says: “ I know what I did, and I know it was wrong.” Shame, on the other hand, says: “I am wrong. I am no good.” And that's exactly how the evil one wants us to feel. Not so with God. Even though Adam and Eve gave in, and even though that deformity in our spiritual DNA has been passed down to each of us. God still loves us. God still wants us. Jesus came to get the kingdom of God into us; to restore us to the image of God in which we were made. That's the reason for Lent; the reason for the Cross; and most of all, the reason for the Resurrection.

Tom carried his new boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string. How smoothly the boat sailed! Tom sat in the warm sunshine, admiring the little boat that he had built. Suddenly a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The little boat raced downstream.

Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat. Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, Tom sadly went home.

A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see -- sure enough -- it was his!

Tom hurried to the store manager: "Sir, that's my boat in your window! I made it!"

"Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you'll have to buy it for one dollar."

Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. "Here's the money for my boat." As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, "Now you're twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you." 

If you ever think that you aren't worth much and if you think you're cheap, just remember what God thinks of you. He thinks you're His. Twice His. First, you're His because He made you. And second, you're His because He bought you on the cross. He paid a price to redeem you. That price is reflected in this simple meal of bread and juice, this simple meal from the ultimate sacrifice. Come, eat, drink, give your guilt and shame to God's care, and let go of your sins to God's cross. The table is set. Forgiveness is yours for the claiming. Freedom from shame is yours for the claiming. Come and be free. Come and feast. AMEN.

Psalm of Choice

PSALM OF CHOICE

Psalm 119:1-8; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 5:21-37

February 12, 2017 Upper Rogue United Methodist Church

Today we read the first 8 verses of Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in scripture. Psalms are the hymnal of the Old Testament, and in Jesus' time were used much as we use hymns today. While in translation, they may not appear to be poetry, they are. Like much Hebrew poetry, they are not written in rhyme, but in parallelism. That is, two or more lines repeat the same idea in different words, such as:

 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,

     who walk according to the law of the Lord.

This particular Psalm is divided into 22 parts, each one beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, thus forming an alphabetical acrostic containing praise, confession, laments,meditations, petitions, and assurances that God is always with us. Since each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a name, the poetic structure includes the meanings of those names.

Today's section is named Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet. Aleph means first, or master, reminding us that God is the master of creation and first in our hearts and minds. It is appropriate, then, that the Psalm opens with a reminder of the blessings of obedience and the curses of not obeying the law: a reminder that we need to constantly choose to walk in God's ways.

(Psa 119:1)Happy are they who are without sin in their ways, walking in the law of the Lord.

(Psa 119:5) If only my ways were ordered so that I might keep your rules!
(Psa 119:6) Then I would not be put to shame, as long as I have respect for all your teaching.

These reminders of the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience are repeated over and over in the Old Testament. It is the same message Moses put to the Hebrew people in his last speech, just before his death and their crossing into the promised land.

(Deu 30:15) See, I have put before you today, life and good, and death and evil;

(Deu 30:16) In giving you orders today to have love for the Lord your God, to go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions, so that you may have life and be increased, and that the blessing of the Lord your God may be with you in the land where you are going, the land of your heritage.

(Deu 30:17) But if your heart is turned away and your ear is shut, and you go after those who would make you servants and worshipers of other gods:

(Deu 30:18) I give witness against you this day that destruction will certainly be your fate, and your days will be cut short in the land where you are going, the land of your heritage on the other side of Jordan.

Moses tells the people that it is their choice, and their consequences. They can follow God, or follow the ways of the world. A choice that continues today. Like the Hebrews in the desert, like the singers of the Psalms, we are given the choice. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NIV)

If you've ever hiked one of the many points jutting out into the Pacific along the Oregon coast, you have probably seen signs warning; Stay on the Path; do not cross fence.” One cold and windy spring day, when we were serving at the beach, I was tapped out as and emergency chaplain. It seems someone disobeyed the sign, stepped over the fence, leaned out to get a picture and fell 125 onto the surf-crashed rocks. One person dead and a multitude of rescuers endangered because of disobedience.

Centuries before Paul, the Psalmist recognizes that all have sinned and fall short of the law; and so this first segment of the Psalm ends with a prayer for help in keeping the law.

5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast

    in obeying your decrees!

6 Then I would not be put to shame

    when I consider all your commands.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart

    as I learn your righteous laws.

8 I will obey your decrees;

    do not utterly forsake me.

And that's where grace comes in. The law recognizes that humans cannot, on our own, conform to the law. Atonement could be made by a sacrifice.

(Lev 9:3) Tell the people of Israel that they must offer sacrifices as well. They must offer a goat as a sacrifice for sin, and a bull and a ram as a sacrifice to please the LORD. The bull and the ram must be a year old and have nothing wrong with them.

In the crucifixion and death of Jesus, we have ultimate and final atonement; and in his resurrection the promise of life, life eternal is assured.

It is our choice. To choose life is to choose to live in new relationships; a new relationship with God; a new relationship with others; and a new relationship with creation.

A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. 

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." 

But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

Like the children of Israel in the desert, like the Jews of the Psalmist's time; like the Romans of Paul's day, we face the choice. Life in God or life in the world? Which will it be? It's up to you.

Love Who?

LOVW WHO Upper Rogue; UMC Feb. 19, 2017

Remember a few weeks ago when I said that Jesus didn't come to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us? Well that's what makes Christianity such an effort to practice. As Christians, we are in the world, but not of the world. This sets us at odds with the rest of our culture. Jesus tells his disciples, and that's us,

(Mat 5:38) You know that you have been taught, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." 39 But I tell you, don’t stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. 40 If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42 If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don’t refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.

Under the law of Moses, God commanded: 19 And whoever causes an injury to a neighbor must receive the same kind of injury in return: 20 Broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

This law, known as Lex Talionis, is, perhaps, the oldest in the world. It is found the Code of Hammurabi, the most complete and perfect extant collection of Babylonian laws, developed during the reign of Hammurabi (1792–1750 bce) of the 1st dynasty of Babylon. It is the oldest known code of law in the world.

Before legal codes, the practice was unrestrained retaliation. You steal my “, I steal your whole herd. You respond by kidnapping my family, I kill your whole family. And so on until both sides are weak, worn, and unable to continue. The earliest legal codes, like the law of Moses, limited the retaliation. A practice continued in our legal systems today. If you commit a crime against me, you are punished according to the law. If you accidentally run into my car and cause damage and injury; the courts will limit what damages you are required to pay.

But now Jesus creates a whole new law code. Not only does he say that If you hit me, I am to let you hit me again. If you steal my cow, I am to give you her calf, too. If you compel me to take your luggage from the carousel, I am to carry it to your car. If you ask for a loan I am to give it; and if you don't repay, so be it. What kind of way is that to do business?

We aren't the only ones to struggle with Jesus' way of living Sir Walter Scott had difficulty with the idea of “turning the other cheek.” But Jesus’ words took on special meaning one day when Scott threw a rock at a stray dog to chase it away. His aim was like a baseball pitchers and he hit the animal and broke its leg. .Instead of running off, the dog limped over to him and licked his hand. Sir Walter never forgot that touching response. He said, “That dog preached the Sermon on the Mount to me as few ministers have ever presented it.”

In the days following 9/11 we heard countless calls for vengeance on those who conceived of, planned, and carried out those horrific attacks. Then President George W. Bush called for a war on terror. “...the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life.” His statement that “Justice will be done” as resulted in 16 years of unrelenting bloodshed, countless lives lost, and no end in sight. When we seek vengeance on our own, the price is high indeed.

The writer of Proverbs tells us: “The righteous hate the wicked, and the wicked hate the righteous.” (Prov. 29:27) Jesus tells us: (Mat 5:44) “But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.” Perhaps Jesus is thinking of another Proverb; [25:21-22] in which the writer encourages us: “If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads. And the LORD will reward you.” I any event the idea of praying for our enemies is as foreign, and even distasteful to us as it was to the disciples who heard Jesus teach. But maybe, just maybe, it's time to give it a try.

An Armenian nurse had been held captive along with her brother by the Turks. Her brother was slain by a Turkish soldier before her eyes. Stunned to find that the same man who had killed her brother had been captured and brought wounded to the hospital where she worked. Something within her cried out "Vengeance." But a stronger voice called for her to love. She nursed the man back to health. Finally, the recuperating soldier asked her, "Why didn’t you let me die?" Her answer was, "I am a follower of Him who said, ’Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you’" Impressed with her answer, the young soldier replied, "I never heard such words before. Tell me more. I want this kind of religion."

"You have heard that it was said, 'love your neighbor and hate your enemy."' Enemies are not just other nations or terrorist groups. Who do you hate? Who is your enemy? Who are the hardest people in your history to love? Who would you rather not forgive? Who would you rather not sit next to in church? Who would you prefer to never even see, let alone speak with?

Often our enemies are those we know best: parents; children; brothers; sisters; friends; co-workers; bosses; employees. They are those around whom swirl divorces, custody battles, broken contracts, offensive words, not speaking, getting even, animosity, anger and hurt. If I were to ask those who know you best “who is the enemy you hate,” what would they say? If I were to ask who do you fear, (for fear and hate go hand in hand) how would they answer? Is it your brother or sister? Is it your ex? Is it the Republicans? The Democrats? The Muslims? The gays? The pro-choicers? The pro-birthers? The Westborough Baptists and their kind? The person next door who never speaks to you? The driver who cuts you off in traffic?

The circumstances and choices of life are the birthplace of enemies. Circumstances may be beyond our control. Others assault, abuse, hate, dislike or cheat us. It may be because of the color of our skin or the job we hold or the prejudice against us or the war around us or simply from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Choices, on the other hand, are within our personal control. The truth is, and listen carefully; No one absolutely NO ONE, can be our enemy without our choice, without our permission. Someone else may label us as the enemy, but no one can be our enemy unless we choose them as such.

The Love Christ calls us to have for our enemies has nothing to do with feelings, and everything to do with our actions. I don't remember much from my confirmation classes at St. John's Episcopal Church all those years ago, but I never will forget Fr. Evenson's proclamation: “You don't have to like them. You just have to love them.” That's the kind of love Christ calls us to have for our enemies: to care for and about them. To treat them with respect. To pray for them and to do them no harm.

At one of the churches we served, the stewardship drive plan we were using called on the leaders of the church to draw the names of every person or family from a hat. We were then to pray for those people by name for two weeks. One of the women on the board drew Judy's name. Judy was the thorn in the side of the congregation. Anything she didn't propose herself, she opposed; and did her best to undermine. At the end of the two weeks we met and discussed our experiences. The woman who drew Judy's name reported: “I was tempted to put it back and draw a different name, but I figured God must have wanted me to pray for Judy, so I did. You know, I cannot say that I like Judy, but I no longer dislike her.”

So here is you homework for the next two weeks (I will be gone next week). Select just one of the people or groups in your life that you have chosen as an enemy. At least once a day pray for them—by name, and see what happens. AMEN.

PEANUTS AND FLASHLIGHTS

PEANUTS AND FLASHLIGHTS

MATTHEW 5:13-20 UPPER ROGUE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FEB.5, 2017

I love peanuts. In fact, my wife sometimes has to take them away from me before I eat so many I get sick. Yes, it has happened. The other day I opened a jar of peanuts, took a handful, and almost spit them out! Where was the salt! I had inadvertently purchased unsalted peanuts. Ugh!

Salt, in appropriate quantities, is an important nutrient. Without it our bodies synthesize aldosterone. Aldosterone causes less sodium to be lost in urine and sweat, but it achieves that at the expense of the increased loss of potassium, magnesium, and probably calcium… Magnesium deficiency is extremely common,. Adequate salt consumption encourages a healthy weight and fast metabolism, as well as contributing to better sleep. It reduces circulating stress hormones and supports thyroid function.

And, of course, salt makes food taste better. In fact, salty is one of the basic human tastes. The tissues of animals contain larger quantities of salt than do plant tissues. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.

In Roman times, Salt was a scarce and expensive commodity and its value was legendary. To sit above or below the salt identified precedence in the seating arrangements at a feast, according to one’s rank. Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt. It is said to be from this that we get the word soldier – ‘sal dare’, meaning to give salt. From the same source we get the word salary, ‘salarium’. A 1982 Time Magazine article reports:

The history of the world according to salt is simple: animals wore paths to salt licks; men followed; trails became roads, and settlements grew beside them. When the human menu shifted from salt-rich game to cereals, more salt was needed to supplement the diet. But the underground deposits were beyond reach, and the salt sprinkled over the surface was insufficient. Scarcity kept the mineral precious. As civilization spread, salt became one of the world's principal trading commodities.

Salt routes crisscrossed the globe. One of the most traveled led from Morocco south across the Sahara to Timbuktu. Ships bearing salt from Egypt to Greece traversed the Mediterranean and the Aegean. Herodotus describes a caravan route that united the salt oases of the Libyan desert.

...A soldier's salary was cut if he "was not worth his salt," a phrase that came into being because the Greeks and Romans often bought slaves with salt.

To be “the salt of the earth” suggests purity, preservation, and flavor. Salt as a symbol of purity derives from the practice of extracting salt from sea water by evaporating it in the sun. In using salt to describe his disciples, Jesus emphasizes the call to and influence of purity in the Christian life. A farmer went each week to the Farmers' Market to sell, among other things, the cottage cheese and apple butter made on his farm. He carried these in two large tubs, from which he ladled the cottage cheese or apple butter into smaller containers the customer brought. One day he got to market and discovered he's forgotten one ladle. He felt he had no choice but to use the one he had for both products. Before long he couldn't tell which was which. That's the way it is when we try to live a Christian life while the hearts, minds, and tongues are immersed in the coarseness and one-ups-man-ship of the world around us. Purity is important.

Additionally salt was, and still is, a preservative. Unsalted meat quickly turned rotten. As Christians, as Kingdom members, we are called to be preserving elements in society. Our lives show a different way of living: living a life directed by Jesus. The hope and love of God is enough to keep the lives of those we meet from going rotten and bad. Even more, our redeemed lives prove that the grace of God is enough to transform even the worst of sinners. The change our lives bring about in others are often unseen by us. When beef is salted to create corned beef, the result takes time. Paul says: “I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow.” Preservers don't often see the results of their labors.

Salt is integral to cooking. It not only accentuates the flavor of foods, it plays and important part in the cooking process itself. For example, when baking bread, salt is necessary to control the rising and dough strength, allowing the dough to expand without tearing.. It causes water to boil more quickly, and can even take the bitterness from a poor cup of coffee. As a binder, salt helps extract the myofibrillar proteins in processed and formed meats binding the meat together and reducing cooking losses. It also increases the solubility of muscle proteins. Properly used, salt does not mask,brings out the flavors of food.

Just as salt makes food foodier, the disciple, as Salt of the Earth, makes the earth more genuinely as God intended it to be. We don't stand against, but within the social order, striving to make it more pure, more just, and more holy. In making the world a blessing for humanity, we are acting as the salt of the earth.

Not only are we called to be the salt of the earth, but also the light of the world.

When I was in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we were only about two degrees below the equator: that's about the same distance as Medford is from the 45^th parallel, which runs just south of Salem. (You've probably seen the sign as you drive to Portland...it's the halfway point between the north pole and the equator.) There we had sunlight and darkness for almost exactly 12 hours each. One Sunday, the doctor at the church-run clinic invited our team to dinner. During the course of the meal he asked us: “Where you live, I understand that during the summer it stays light til about 8:00 at night.”

“Yes, that's about right.”,

“What do you do with all that extra daytime?”

We explained that we used it to mow our lawns, (another strange concept) play golf, picnic, wash our cars, and so forth. Somehow we couldn't find it in our hearts to try and explain Daylight Savings Time.

The point is, that in a culture where there is no electricity to make the darkness light, human activity is limited to the daylight hours. What passed for candles shed very little light. But, then, it takes very little light to push aside the darkness. If you've ever toured one of America's deep caves, like the Oregon Caves or the Tukaleegee Caverns in Tennessee, a fun part of the tour is when they turn out the lights. It is so dark you cannot see your hand only even if you bring it close enough to your face that you can feel it. Then they light a match!

Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin' I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said wryly," and look what you got!" A lighted lantern makes a difference

“There are two ways to spread the light,” Edith Wharton writes: One is to be the candle, the other is to be the mirror that reflects it.” Have you ever seen the light bulb in a lighthouse? Lighthouses use amazingly powerful xenon lamps (a little bit like neon lamps) that are hundreds of thousands of times brighter than the lamps in your home.

They mount their lamps in towers high above the sea level, which makes them visible roughly five times further away.

They use specially shaped lenses and prisms called Fresnel Lenses to concentrate their light into a super-powerful beam.

“You he light of the world” Jesus tells us.

“let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” A single candle can move back the darkness. My brother, Toot, had a foul mouth: except around Fay. When she first met him, and his normal filth began to spew forth, she told him politely, but firmly that such language was unacceptable. In deference to her, he was very careful about his speech in her presence. On small candle pushed back the darkness.

As Kingdom members, we are called not to hide, but to live our witness in plain sight. Living our faith openly pushes back the darkness and brings light to the darkest places, and Christ's love to the least expecting. A gentleman was walking one day in the east end of the city of Glasgow. The streets were so narrow, and the houses so high, that little direct sunshine ever reached the houses on one side. The gentleman noticed a ragged, barefooted boy trying, with a small piece of mirror, to catch the sun's rays and direct them to a certain spot on one of the houses oppo­site. He became interested in the boy's earnest efforts. "What are you trying to do, laddie?" he asked. "Do you see that window up there?" the boy replied. "Well, my little brother had an accident two years ago, and is always lying on his back in that room, and it is on the wrong side to get the sunshine, so I always try to catch the light in this little mirror and shine it into his room." Just a little reflected light, pushing back the darkness.

When I awake in the pre-dawn darkness to go to the gym, the small flashlight I use to find my clothes casts just enough light to accomplish my task; until the batteries go dead. Then it's like salt that has lost it's saltiness. But unlike salt, I can replace the batteries and the light will continue to shine. This meal, it's a simple meal, a bit of bread and a sip of juice, but like a match at the bottom of the Oregon Caves, it makes all the difference. Come, eat, drink, and recharge. AMEN.

Pie In the Now

PIE IN THE  NOW

Matthew 4:12-23

January 22, 2017 Upper Rogue United Methodist Church

Many years ago a letter to Dear Abby told of a nursing home resident who had lost her dentures. With a pillow case in hand, she roamed the halls, entering the rooms of sleeping patients and taking any dentures she found. Returning to her room, she tried them all on until she found one that fit her. She then retraced her tracks, returning dentures to each bedside...but without any regards to which dentures belonged to which resident! As you can imagine, the next morning there were lots of overbites, under slung jaws, and lots of bitter complaints about dentures that didn't fit.

Can you imagine what it was like for those poor people trying to adjust to someone else's teeth? In some ways it is a parable of the way many folks live today...disgruntled, out of sorts, snarly, and unhappy, not because their teeth don't fit, but because their theology doesn't fit. Some of them are even Pastors!

Somehow they've never grown past the simple Sunday School faith of their childhood. Their understanding of God is simply inadequate for life in the adult world. There are those who will argue that they aren't interested in the “pie-in-the-sky-in-the-sweet-by-and-by” religion they perceive Christianity to be.

How do you respond to that kind of statement? What do you say to someone whose undeveloped theology is like that of the little boy who, when he pastor asked, “What do I have to do the get into heaven?” responded: “Well duh! You have to die.” What do you say to someone who doesn't think Christianity is about life in the here and now?

Well, you might begin by asking if they've ever read the teachings of Jesus. It's a pretty safe question. Most people haven't read, the Bible. They've heard little bits of it read in church; they've heard the pastor talk about it; but to have actually sat down and read it for themselves? Not likely. Most Americans are

almost completely Biblicaly illiterate. In one of his famous man-on-the-street interviews, Jay Leno asked a young man who, in the Bible, was swallowed by a whale: “Pinocchio” was the reply. When asked to name one of the Ten Commandments, a young college woman answered: “Freedom of Speech?”

If you are among those who have read the synoptic gospels; Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you are aware that Jesus spoke almost entirely of living in the here and now.

In today's reading from Matthew Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are used interchangeably by the gospel writers.) The kingdom of God is not some as yet unrealized prophecy. It is here. It is now. In Matthew 12 Jesus says:(Mat 12:28) “But when I force out demons by the power of God's Spirit, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you.” In Luke he says: (Luk 17:21) There is no use saying, 'Look! Here it is' or 'Look! There it is.' God's kingdom is here with you." God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, is being created here and now.
Like a mustard seed, it starts out small and grows to an enormous size. “The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.” The kingdom is at the heart and soul of life here and in the world to come. If the only reason you come to church is to avoid the flaming pits of Hell, you have missed the entire point of Jesus' teachings.

Jesus invites you to live in and enjoy the kingdom now: today. He came not so much get us into heaven, as to get heaven into us. What would that take? Well, first Jesus says we need to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Repent. For many of us, repenting means we quit doing something naughty. And while I hope that if you are being naughty, you will quit, repentance is much more. To repent is to change, to turn around, to re-orient you life and thinking.

More than remorse, it mans to change your life. Have you been living for yourself? The kingdom is about living for God? Have you been concerned with satisfying your short term needs and wants? The kingdom is about concern for others; concern for creation; concern for your spiritual needs. Turn around. You've been wasting your life. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Turn around. Turn your back on the past and face the wonder of life in the kingdom! Like our grandmothers in the days before wall to wall carpeting, we have all swept dirt under the carpet. We try to hide it, but it's there, eating away at our lives. Come into the Kingdom. The first word is repent.

Repentance invites us into new relationships. New relationships with God, new relationships with our neighbors. And that's our second word for today. Are you living in the kingdom? As yourself: “Am I able to love not just God, but other people? All people? Loving our fellow church members is easy, most of them are a lot like us: they look like us, they eat what we eat, they speak like we speak, they bathe regularly, they wear well kept clothes, and, basically live like we do. But what about that gay couple down the street? What about the homeless guy who wanders from spot to spot with his overladen shopping cart? What about the Muslim refugees who want to move to Shady Cove? What about that radical right wing conspiracy theorist who haunts your Facebook page? What about the youth walking through the mall with pants around their knees, not taking their eyes, or fingers, off their cell-phones? Can you love them? Can you love the African-American athlete who refuses to stand for, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance? Can you love the single mom in front of you in the checkout paying with food stamps? What about Hassan Rouhani President of Iran? Or Kim

Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea? Do you love them? Or even President Donald Trump? How about Hillary Clinton? Bernie Sanders? Paul Ryan? How about ISIS? I think you get the picture. We are called to love them all, as much as we love ourselves. You don't have have to approve of them, you don't have to agree with them. You have to love them. I will never forget Fr. Evenson telling us in Confirmation class: “You don't have to like them; just love them.” That's what being a Christian means. That's what living in the kingdom means.

For his book Hard Living People and Mainstream Christians, Tex Sample interviewed people who are alienated from the middle class, and the church. He also interviewed pastors. Pastor Don Bakely told of working hard to bring together the white members of his inner-city church (Most of whom drove to church from the suburbs, with the hardscrabble African-American folks who lived nearby. He was just starting to earn the trust of some local teens, members of a gang. They began hanging out around the church because they were beginning to feel accepted. They were a rough group led by a kid called Big Mart, and not all members of the congregation appreciated what Pastor Bakely was doing. One day the matriarch of the church, Ella, had a run in with Big Mart who called her a

name she had probably never heard before. She was irate and demanded Pastor Bakely, to kick Big Mart and his friends out of the church.

Pastor Bakely asked her to listen to a story; then, after thinking about the story she could decide how to deal with Big Mart and company.

When Big Mart was just a child, his father came home drunk and angry one night. He lined up Mart and his siblings and forced them to watch while he murdered and dismembered their mother. Can you even imagine having to watch such thing? Was it any wonder Big Mart was rough around the edges. Was it any wonder he called nice little church ladies vulgar names?

Ella listened in silence to the story of Big Mart. In silence she left the office. What would she do? Pastor Bakely's entire ministry to the neighborhood rested

on her decision. After a while Ella returned to the Pastor's office: “You know,” she said, “I guess I'm just going to have to learn how to get cussed out.”

Ella was beginning to see what it truly means to live in the kingdom: it means loving those who cuss you out; loving those who would harm you; turning the other cheek. Jesus said Love God, Love Your Neighbor, Repent and Relate.

Lest we think the kingdom is all about doing, I would remind you that the Kingdom is also about receiving. The Kingdom isn't something we can think, work, give, or earn our way into. The Kingdom is a gift. Indeed, I probably should have put this part at the beginning of my sermon, because all the repenting, relating, and loving of others comes as a response to being a citizen of the Kingdom: to receiving God's grace. God's grace is waiting for each of us. It is freely given, without any precondition. It is ours for the asking, ours for the receiving.

George Wilson was a career criminal who, in the 1830s, was indicted on six counts of obstructing and robbing the U.S. Mail, including threatening a carrier with bodily harm, and violent assault (wounding a carrier). The violent assault carried a penalty of death. Rising public petition against the death penalty prompted then president, Andrew Jackson, to issue a pardon for the assault conviction.

Amazingly, Wilson declined the pardon. “And now, to-wit, this 21 October, 1830, the defendant, George Wilson, being in person before the court, was asked by the court … whether he wished in any manner to avail himself of the pardon referred to, and the said defendant answered in person that … he did not wish in any manner to avail himself, in order to avoid sentence in this particular case, of the pardon referred to.”

The district court was not sure how to handle the complexities of the case, and eventually the matter was referred to the U.S. Supreme Court which later ruled that, “A pardon is an act of GRACE, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed. … A pardon is a deed to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered, and if it be rejected, we have discovered no power in a court to force it on him. It may be supposed that no being condemned to death would reject a pardon, but the rule must be the same in capital cases and in misdemeanors.”

Further, Chief Justice John Marshall purportedly pronounced that the value of a pardon “must be determined by the receiver … It has no value apart from that which the receiver gives it . . . therefore, George Wilson must die." He was subsequently executed for his crime.

George Wilson threw away his invitation to life. Don't you do the same. Jesus offers salvation, forgiveness, and a life where your dentures fit. Jesus offers a grown up theology that fits real life in the real world. Jesus invites you to live in and enjoy the kingdom now: today. Receive, Repent, Relate. The Kingdom of God is at hand. AMEN.

P.U.S.H.

P.U.S.H.

Isaiah 49:1-7 January 15, 2017 Upper Rogue UMC

I wouldn't say that I make a lot of mistakes, but Fay has taken to marking her calendar whenever I get something right. Has anyone here ever failed at something? If you haven't, I want to talk to you after church and learn your secret. Paul points out that all of us have failed: (Rom 3:23) All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. The question isn't “If” we fail, but, rather “When” we fail. How do we deal with it? How do we get through?

It is said that Thomas Edison had thousands of failures en route to the light bulb. His response: “Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward....” a concept borrowed from Ben Franklin who said: “I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”

Isiah has just about had it. “I said to myself, 'I'm completely worn out; my time has been wasted' ”. He is in agony over the fate of his people. He has spoken out, but they have not listened. He feels his efforts were in vain. But even as he stares failure in the face, he is not ready to surrender. “But I did it for the LORD God, and he will reward me. Even before I was born, the LORD God chose me to serve him and to lead back the people of Israel. So the LORD has honored me and made me strong.” Even though he has not succeeded, Isaiah is not about to give up. And I think there's a lot to be learned about failure from Isaiah.

First, I would suggest that what we call failure is actually God preparing us for what's ahead. As a wise business leader once said: Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to a person is to be instantly successful, because such success often teaches us the wrong lessons. Against all odds, New Jersey native Evelyn Adams won the lottery in back-to-back years — 1985 and 1986 — for a grand total of $5.4 million, Feeling lucky, and rightfully so, she took her extra cash to the tables and slot machines in Atlantic City.

She pushed her luck. Today, she's penniless and residing in a trailer park after gambling it all away.

In 2006, Lara and Roger Griffiths used their £1.8 million Lotto winnings to buy their dream home, with a price tag of £670,000, the Daily Mail reports.

They also bought a Porsche and two more properties to rent out, invested in the stock market, and Robert spent £25,000 making a record with his college band.

Unfortunately, six years later, every penny of their fortune was gone.

No, instant success, and unearned wealth is not what it's cracked up to be. Those who are truly successful are those who have been prepared by failure.

As Coco Chanel puts it: “Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.” Or, in the words of Deni Waitly; “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is a delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” 

An article in Forbes Magazine some time ago said: “The simple truth is – no great success was ever achieved without failure. It may be one epic failure. Or a series of failures – such as Edison's 10,000 attempts to create the lightbulb or Dyson’s 5,126 attempts to invent a bagless vacuum cleaner. But, whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone to achieving our dreams.”

What we call failure is simply learning and preparation, as long as we don't give up. Abraham Lincoln lost his job as a store clerk, was denied entrance into law school, he borrowed money to invest in a store only to have his partner die and leave him with a huge debt. The woman he wooed for four years turned down his marriage proposal. On his third try he was elected to congress, only to be voted our two years later. He ran twice for the Senate and lost as the vice-presidential candidate. Still he didn't give up. At the age of 51 he was elected President of the United States, and became one of the most admired presidents in history.

We've heard a lot about President-elect Trumps failed marriages, businesses and bankruptcies; but in spite of all his so called failures, you have to give the man credit for not quitting.

J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up, wrote: “We are all failures - at least the best of us are.”

Yes, without failure there can be no true success. But even more than preparing us to succeed, failure is a prelude to prayer. Let's be honest: When do you pray the hardest? Is it when everything is right in your world? I don't think so! We pray the most, and the most fervently, when we are faced with with the worst life can dish out. The worse the future looks, the harder we pray. And that's what Isaiah did with his failure. He turned to God. “ I said to myself, "I'm completely worn out; my time has been wasted.” But he knew God still had work for him, and he was right.

(Isa 49:6) Now the LORD says to me, "It isn't enough for you to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead back survivors from the tribes of Israel. I have placed you here as a light for other nations; you must take my saving power to everyone on earth."
Today, some 2500 years later, we are still benefiting from Isaiah's work. Prayer and perseverance turned failure into a resounding success.

You may have heard the story of the man who was sleeping alone in his cabin when the room filled with light and the voice of God spoke: “There is a large rock in front of your cabin. You are to push against that rock all day, every day. And the man did just that. Day after day, in the heat, the cold, the rain and the snow. Day after day pushing against that rock to no avail. The rock simply would not budge. Each night he would return home tired and discouraged, thinking his time had been wasted.

Enter Satan, (who loves to attack when we are down) “Why are you still pushing that rock? Don't you know it will never move? If I were you, I'd quit trying so hard. Just lean against the rock and save your strength...that'll be good enough.”

That sounded sensible to the weary rock pusher. But before he let off, he decided maybe he should pray about it. “Lord. I've been pushing that rock all day for months, and nothing has happened. What am I doing wrong? Why have I failed at such a simple seeming task.”

“My child,” God answered, “Who said you were to move the rock? All I asked you to do was push. And you have been obedient in that. And who says you failed? Look at yourself. Your shoulders are broad, your arms are strong, and your abs are a perfect 6 pack! You have grown stronger than you ever were, and your abilities surpass that which you used to have.

“True, you haven't moved the rock, but that wasn't your job. Your calling was to be obedient, to exercise your faith, and to trust in me. You have done that; and now, my child, I will move the rock.”

We humans, it seems, have tendency to use our brains to try and determine what God wants us to do, rather than to simply trust and obey. Our humanness tells us we must move the stone, when all God asks is to push the stone. Yes, we should exercise the kind of faith that moves mountains, but remember the mountains are moved by God. Our job is to PUSH—to pray until something happens! That what Isiah did. That's what Paul and Silas did. And that's what we are called to do. Rough day at work? PUSH.

Bad news from the doctor? PUSH. More month than money? PUSH. Feeling misunderstood? PUSH. Feeling worthless? PUSH. See nothing in the future? PUSH. And the more you PUSH, the more something will happen.

Don't give up. Keep on PUSHing, keep on looking for the lesson, keep on praying, and God will lead you to success. AMEN.

What's It All About?

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Matthew 3:13-17

Upper Rogue United Methodist Church January 8, 2017, Baptism of the Lord

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Every preacher has stories about baptisms gone awry. I remember the first baptism I performed. It was the family of a single dad who was in recovery from alcoholism. To be polite, they were a bit rough around the edges. I arrived at the church two hours before the service and filled the font with tap water. It was a warm day and I figured the water would warm to room temperature by the time of the baptisms. It did not. When I poured the water over the head of the six year old, he hollered for all to hear: “Damn that's cold!”

Our friends in the immersion traditions have their own set of baptismal stories. You may have heard about the inebriated chap who was stumbling through the woods on his way home when he came across a Baptist church holding baptisms in the creek. Overcome by the smell of alcohol, the preacher turns to the drunk and asks: “Are you ready to find Jesus?”

“Yeth, I am.”

Grabbing the drunk, the preacher dunks him in the water. Pulling him up, he ask: “Have you found Jesus, Brother?”

“Nope. Haven't seen him.”

The preacher dunks him again, and asks: “Have you found Jesus?”

“No, I haven't.”

The preacher dunks him a third time, and this time holds him down for a full minute before pulling him up and asking again: “Have you found Jesus?”

The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath before replying: “Are you sure his is where he fell in?”

With all the stories and jokes about baptism, we may be tempted to think it isn't all that important. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is not a requirement for salvation, baptism is important; vitally important.

First, Baptism is important because it marks us as claimed by Christ: as a member of Christ's family. It is not a guarantee of health and wealth, but it does mean that we are part of the God's covenantal relationship with humanity. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, as well as Simon Peter, Paul, and Jesus, himself, that same God, is our God, and we, like they, are his people.

Baptism means we are called by the name Christian. And that is an important concept,” though it is a hard one for us to grasp.

Vincent Carroll and David Shifflet contend the spread of early Christianity was due in no small part to plague and disease. Among the Romans, it was common practice to abandon sick and dying family members in order to spare the healthy ones from contagion. Victims of epidemics were thrown out into the streets and left to die. But the Christians did just the opposite. Rather than abandon the sick and dying, they took them in, nursed and cared for them, often becoming infected and dying themselves. This sacrificial love astounded the Romans, many of whom were so moved that they became Christians. The historian Rodney Stark quotes a letter from a Roman citizen Dionysius, to a friend.

“Most of our brother Christians shown unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of any danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains.”

If you've been baptized, this is your tradition—willingness to lay down your life for another, just as Christ lay down his life for you. Your baptism signifies you are a disciple, a student, a follower of the Great Physician who went about doing good. It signifies that you are a part of Christ's family.

In other words, Baptism means you are a part of the church. You weren't baptized into the PTA. You weren't baptized into the Republican or Democratic Party. You Weren't baptized into Square Dancing or the Kiwanis. You weren't baptized Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Baptist. You were baptized into Christ's Universal church.

In our tradition, when we baptize and infant or small child, we ask the parent's and sponsors:

“Will you nurture this child in Christ's holy church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided to accept God's grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life?”

I truly wish more parents would take that promise seriously. Too often it's like the three preachers who were talking about ridding their church buildings of bats. One said he had installed a electronic device that emitted a shrieking sound that only the bats could hear. “It was guaranteed to drive them out.” he said: “And it did. For a week.”

The second pastor told of sealing the belfry at night so the bats couldn't return. They clawed their way through the chicken wire and came right back.

The third pastor reported he no longer had and problem with the bats. “I baptized them, put them on the church roll, and I haven't seen them since.”

But all kidding aside. Christianity is, at the core of it's being, a communal faith. You cannot separate Christian discipleship from involvement in the church. Yes, it is true that you can worship God on a mountaintop, waist-deep in a trout stream, or even at a football game, and I hope that when you are in those places you do praise and worship God. But when you attach the word Christian to your name, you are acknowledging your baptism into the faith. And while, I know, Church may not always be the most exciting hour and a half of the week, it is the most important. And while a lot of preachers go to great lengths to keep their congregations entertained, that's not why we gather. This is the time to reconnect, recharge, and revitalize your faith. This is not a country club for the self-righteous, it is a hospital for sinners. And if, like, me, your discipleship is less than perfect, it is the place to know and experience love and forgiveness.

I will not even attempt to argue that the church is always what it should be. But

what I will argue is that if you are a baptized Christian, you are part of the church; either a building block or a stumbling block. What you cannot do is abdicate your responsibilities. It upsets me to read that about 80% of Americans identify as Christians, but less than 40% are meaningfully involved in the life of a church. You can't have it both ways. You're in, or you're out. I know that sounds harsh, but this is serious stuff. If you are not a part of the church, just what do you think your baptism means?

Baptism means we are part of God's family. Baptism means we are part of Christ's church. But best of all, baptism is an acknowledgment of what God has done in Jesus Christ. Baptism is an act of grace. It signifies that we are loved and accepted by God—not because we deserve it (we absolutely do not), but because it is God's desire all should be saved and none should perish. “(Joh 3:16) For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. (Joh 3:17) For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.”

William B. McClain, former professor of preaching and worship at Wesley Theological Seminary once met with a South Korean tailor in Seoul. He was surprised when the tailor introduced himself as Smitty Lee. Fascinated by his non-Korean name, McClain asked how he came to be called Smitty. The Korean told him how, many years before, during the Korean War, his life had been saved by a courageous American GI from Virginia name Smitty Ransom. He went on to explain a familiar custom in that culture in two simple sentences. “He save my life. I took his name.”

And that, my brothers and sisters is what it's all about. That's what makes our response to our baptism so vitally important. Christ saved our lives. We took his name. We are claimed by Christ, we are part of his family, the church. We have been called to his service. Remember your baptism, and rejoice,

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