little karma BIG GRACE

by Mike Powers

Sermon delivered July 19, 2015 at Scottish Rite Park in Des Moines, Iowa

Scripture Reading

2 You were dead through the trespasses and sins ² in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ³ All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵ even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ^[a]—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2: 1-10)

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I would venture to say the category of videos found on the Internet most likely to bring a smile to anyone’s face (with the possible exception of course of those featuring cats playing the piano, pestering frustrated dogs, snuggling up against awe-struck babies or really doing almost anything for that matter) would have to be those in which the tables are suddenly turned on scoundrels who are in the midst of attempting to victimize their fellow humans.  Recent examples that I have seen include:

·       A man caught trying to rob a farmer makes his escape across a pasture field only to be chased by a bull causing him to run into a barbed wire fence.

·       A man driving an expensive sports car on the shoulder in order to bypass a long line of people who were stopped and waiting patiently due to road construction becomes stuck and damages his car when he drives into a deep hole that had been dug in that same shoulder just beyond the crest of a hill.

·       A thief grabs the purse of an older lady and while trying to get away he runs into a light pole and knocks himself out which leads to his arrest. 

In each of those instances we could with much justification feel that the perpetrator got what was coming to him.  We could say “What goes around comes around.”  Some would call it karma.

Karma is a concept that is referenced by many people.  Some deeply believe in the concept as a universal law and others just relish it when it exhibits itself in examples such as the ones I just cited.  So what is karma and should we hope that it is in fact bringing fundamental order to the universe? 

Karma is a cornerstone belief in certain religions and is essentially a law of moral causation.  Karma explains the inequality that exists in mankind as either a reward or punishment for previous actions taken by each individual—possibly in an earlier life. Such good or bad fortune can manifest itself in varying levels of wealth, health, intelligence, physical strength, talent, looks, power or other factors.

A trust in karma would lead one to believe that every person gets what he or she deserves—good or bad—based upon their prior actions. This concept of life being an orderly process of cause and effect where good deeds are always ultimately rewarded and misdeeds ultimately punished is one that can be on the surface quite appealing. 

Karma does seem to be an equitable and rational way of organizing the world.  It provides a logical explanation as to why some people are blessed with an abundance of good fortune while others have quite the opposite experience.  It has the very alluring advantage of allowing us to avoid the difficult question as to “Why bad things happen to good people?”  Karma would say that if something bad happens it is for a good reason.

Let’s think about that one.  Can that be true in every case? 

The nine people in Charleston that were attending a bible study and murdered in cold blood.  They had that coming?  In the case of a small child who contracts a deadly disease--is the child being punished for a misdeed in a prior life with no opportunity to redeem herself in this one or are the parents being punished and if so why does the child have to suffer?  In World War II, it is estimated that 60 million people or more were killed including 45 million civilians.  They all deserved that?  And what about the various dictators and despots throughout history--did they obtain their level of power as a reward for good deeds in a prior life?  And if that is the case how did they change course so dramatically and disastrously for mankind? 

Don’t get me wrong.  No sensible person will argue that the actions that we take don’t carry with them consequences.  If you don’t take the medicine prescribed by your doctor you may get sick.  If you exercise and eat the right foods you are likely to have better health.  If you work with diligence and intelligence you have a better chance of achieving the goals that you set before yourself than if you slack off.  If you treat people fairly you will likely have kindness returned to you.  So I would say that karma does exist to the extent that our actions can strongly affect but not absolutely determine outcomes here on earth.  Let’s call it “little karma”. 

If karma is not the universal truth, then back to the question as to why do bad things do happen to good people.  Why would a God who loves us allow such a system to exist?

A partial answer may be that God gave each of us a free will which means that inevitably we are all at times going to make bad choices and hurt someone—sometimes deliberately but often times without even realizing it.  Man’s inhumanity to man is one of the unfortunate side effects of God allowing us to make our own decisions and can explain many of the bad things that happen but not all.  Free will choices can explain wars, crime, bullying, emotional abuse, insults and other forms of interpersonal mistreatment but there are still illnesses, natural disasters, accidents and other misfortunes which defy explanation.

Some would say that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, along with that knowledge came a lot of collateral damage in the form of suffering and death which we continue to experience today. 

As someone who endured much suffering himself, the Apostle Paul saw a purpose to earthly suffering when he wrote in Chapter 5 in his letter to the Romans, “…we^[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5: 3b-4)

So perhaps suffering is a fire which we can use to test and sharpen our faith.  To further quote scripture in 1 Peter chapter 2 (verses 19-21) “¹⁹ For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. ²¹ For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.”

To be fair, Jesus in his ministry never promised that things would be easy for us.  He was much more concerned with preparing us for the everlasting life to come rather than making things more comfortable for us here on earth.    In John 16:33, shortly before facing his own gruesome human death on the cross, Jesus warned his disciples of the challenges that they would soon face saying,” I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

 

So let’s accept the fact that at least from our vantage point, life may not always be fair in how the breaks both good and bad are doled out. Similar to the story of Job in the Bible, bad breaks may happen to us not necessarily in retribution for our prior sins but may just be part of an overall plan that we do not have the ability to discern. 

Jesus came to earth, assumed a human form and suffered greatly for our salvation.  We should view the challenges that are thrown our way as a means to live more like Christ and use our faith to face these obstacles without fear knowing that in the scheme of all things, our life here on earth is but a flash in the pan when compared to the infinite life to come.  Any pain or suffering endured here is nothing compared to the ultimate glory of the kingdom of heaven. 

So let’s talk about our eternal life. If good deeds are not necessarily rewarded here on earth, do they at least get us into heaven? 

You are familiar with the popular imagery of St. Peter sitting up in heaven with a log book that contains a record of all of the actions—good and bad—that we have taken during our time here on earth.  On that day when we arrive at the Pearly Gates, St. Peter totals up our score and if we have performed a sufficient number of good deeds in excess of the bad he will let us in.  Otherwise, he will point to the elevator that goes to a lower floor where the air conditioning doesn’t work so well.

My guess is that is probably not the way it works.  The truth is that because the glory of heaven is so magnificent, so much so that it outstrips our ability to adequately describe or comprehend it, no amount of good works performed here on earth can be said to fairly pay for our admittance.  We can’t earn our way into heaven—it is a priceless treasure.

That is what I believe the author of the epistle in our scripture reading meant in writing, “⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

So what does this mean?  Is it totally random as to whom God selects to let in?  To whom does He give this tremendous gift?  If good works do not gain us admittance to Heaven, what does?  Is it a waste of time to do good works if there is no payoff in the end? 

Jesus did provide us with an answer as to how to gain everlasting life. In John 5:24, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” A little later in John 14:23, Jesus expanded on this saying, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination, throughout the early part of his life passionately pursued the performance of good deeds as a means of proving his worth in the eyes of God.  He visited the sick, the imprisoned, prayed constantly and frequently fasted all with the goal of proving himself worthy to God.  In spite of this remarkable record of performing good deeds, he felt an emptiness in so doing, even going so far as to say that he did not feel that he was a Christian during this time period of his life. 

He left his native England and sailed to Georgia to ostensibly bring Christianity to Native Americans but in reality he later admitted that he was trying to “convert” himself.  He had adopted a “karma-like” mode of thinking along the lines of “If I do something good, God will love me.” 

When he was forced to leave America and return to England due to a situation where he refused to serve communion to a woman for whom he had a fondness but who had chosen to marry another man, he realized that he had reached a low point in his spiritual life.

Then, one evening while attending a prayer meeting at a house on Aldersgate Street in London, a realization came to him that “strangely warmed his heart”.  And that realization was that he did not have to prove his worth to God but he just needed to accept the love that God already had for him. 

Wesley marked that realization as the point at which he truly became a Christian.  While he continued to perform the many good deeds as he had previously, from then on it was not to earn God’s love but rather it was because God loved him and he loved God. 

You could say there was a sort of “karma-like” cause and effect at work here but not in the way we may have initially expected.  Prior to Aldersgate, Wesley hoped that his good works would cause God to love him.  Following his experience at Aldersgate, God’s love caused Wesley to want to express his love by doing good works.

The lesson for us is that God’s gift of grace is freely available to us right now—today.  It is a gift with a value beyond measure.  We just need to accept God’s love and if that acceptance of His love is sincere and real, our own hearts can be “strangely warmed” and we will be moved to live by His Word by showing our love to both God and our neighbors in our daily lives. 

We must not fool ourselves into thinking that merely saying the words that we love God means that we really do.  God knows what is in our hearts.  If we are sincere we can’t help but express that love  in the way we live our lives and treat our fellow humans—helping those in need, comforting those in despair and extending kindness to all.

 

Life as we all know can be messy and some injustices defy explanation.  Bad things happen to good people.  However, by embracing God’s love we can help each other out through the tough times and celebrate the good times together while here on earth as we look forward to the everlasting glory to come. 

Everyone loves a little karma but it does not compare to the bigness that is GRACE.

Amen.

The Lady or the Tiger

By Mike Powers

This sermon was presented at the Vespers service on May 3, 2015 at Edgewater Retirement Community.

Scripture Reading

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶ For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for^[f] those who make peace.  (James 3:13-18)

Message

In 1882, the author Frank R. Stockton published a short story which was entitled The Lady or the Tiger.  You may be familiar with it but I will provide a synopsis.

In the days of old there was a land ruled by a semi-barbaric king.  The king was described as only semi-barbaric by the author in that the king made an effort to enlighten the people under his rule by applying his style of justice in a very open and even-handed manner.  Granted, it was the king’s own unique style of justice but he did treat everyone, if not fairly, at least equally. 

Here is how it worked.  Whenever a person was accused of a crime, they would be brought into a public arena with the king and the public in attendance.  The accused would be presented with two identical doors from which he was to select one.  Behind one of the doors would be a beautiful woman and the other door would hold a ferocious hungry tiger.  The doors were randomly assigned and there was no way to tell which held the woman and which held the tiger. 

If the accused chose the door with the woman, it was deemed to be a sign of his innocence and his reward for enduring the “false” accusation would be to immediately marry the woman behind the door.  Of course this occurred without regard as to whether the prisoner was already married or otherwise in a relationship and despite the fact that he had not previously met the woman and may not have had a desire to marry her.  It also sounds like there was very little consultation with the woman as to her thoughts on the entire matter.  You probably have also noticed the lack of the use of evidence and witnesses in this style of justice.  But, as you know, when you are the king you get to set the rules.

Conversely, if the prisoner chose the door with the tiger, it was taken as a sign of his guilt and he would be set upon and devoured by the tiger.  This would be the barbaric side of the semi-barbaric king being exhibited here.

The crowds, not knowing whether they were to witness a joyous wedding or a violent and bloody encounter between man and beast, were quite taken by this style of “justice”.  These public trials were quite popular and well attended.  The cynics among us can almost imagine this being a popular television show today.

It so happened that the king had a daughter who had fallen in love with a young man.  This man was quite handsome and charming but alas, the king did not think him worthy of the attentions of his daughter.  Unlike most fathers who do not care for the boyfriends of their daughters, the king in this case could do something about it and he did.  He had the young man arrested.

To the king’s credit, despite the involvement of his daughter in this affair, a public trial involving the two doors was scheduled for this young man.  Perhaps the king’s willingness to do this was the thought that either way it turned out the young man would be kept away from his daughter.  In preparation for this trial, the king selected the most dangerous and ferocious tiger in the kingdom--an animal that would ensure a bloody and painful death if the young man were to inadvertently choose it.  The king also selected a young woman who was the most beautiful in the land to be the bride of the young man if he chose her door.

The princess, driven by her love for the young man, did not take this laying down and set out to find out which door was to hold the tiger and which door was to hold the lady.  And, unbeknownst to the king, through an extensive effort using a combination of her position as a royal princess and other extraordinary measures,  she succeeded in learning this secret shortly in advance of the trial. 

However, that same passionate love for the young man that drove her to unlock the secret of the doors also had the effect of sending the princess into a downward spiral with alternating periods of sadness, rage and despair over the fact that the young man was lost to her forever. She was filled with jealousy over the prospect of her beloved marrying the beautiful woman selected by her father the king and the thought of the young woman enjoying the life with the young man that she had envisioned for herself was an unbearable outcome. 

At the same time, while working her way through these emotions,  she did not want her young man to suffer the horrors which would be required for her to keep him and her beautiful rival apart. She was hopelessly torn between a choice of pushing her loved one into the arms of a person she had grown quickly to despise or to keep them apart by way of a horrible death in the hopes that she could reunite with her loved one in the after-life.

The day of the trial arrived and the young man entered the arena.  Knowing the princess as he did, he had a feeling that she would be able to learn the information about which door would save his life and would be able to give him a sign as to which door to pick.  Sure enough, with the king demanding before all that the young man choose a door, the young man looked to his princess for a sign and she at first hesitated but then slowly lifted her arm and pointed to the right.  The young man strode forward and selected the door on the right. 

The question is, did the lady or the tiger emerge from that door? 

Before I answer that I will ask if you were the princess, who or what would come out of that door—the lady or the tiger? 

It is a fair question and one not without real life application.  While many commentators have said that this story is an example of a conundrum—an unsolvable puzzle--our Christian beliefs would hopefully lead us to the decision that would spare the life of the young man.  This in spite of the personal disappointment involved. 

But we should examine ourselves and see if we are that magnanimous in real life.  If we really want something badly but realize that it is for one reason or another out of our reach, do we take actions such that no one else can get it? Or do we step aside and make it possible for someone else?  

We see “tigers” chosen all the time in the news with individuals adopting the attitude that if I can’t have it (or someone) than no one else can either. We see that in domestic violence situations where an estranged spouse will violently lash out at a former loved one.  That is perhaps the most serious and vivid example but it can happen to us in other ways in our everyday lives. 

When faced with a disappointment, do we let that cloud our judgment and lead us to a path where instead of embracing our neighbor we lash out at them?  If someone triumphs over us in a competition, do we congratulate them or do we try to diminish their accomplishment by making excuses and questioning the validity of their victory.  Do we use disappointment as a source of spreading misery to others or do we see it as a challenge to overcome and move on as stronger and wiser people.  We all know what Jesus expects of us but it sure can be hard at times—right? 

So let’s return to the story and although we don’t know, for the moment let’s hope and believe the princess has not chosen to unleash the tiger but instead has opted to save the life of her beloved.  From the perspective of the young man, how should he act going forward if he has received the gift of a new lease on life from the princess.  What should he do? 

Let me suggest that he needs to apply the same basic lesson that would apply to the princess and that is if you have an opportunity to help someone, even if there is no return benefit to you, you should do it.  The princess should allow the young man to live despite her own loss.  The young man, not being in a position to return the favor to the princess, should look for ways to pay the gift that he has received forward.  He should look for ways to help others regardless as to any benefit he might receive in so doing. 

Certainly good manners tell us that if someone does us a favor we should look for ways to reciprocate.  However, we need to be careful to avoid analyzing situations along the lines of giving something only if there is an expectation of getting something back in return.  Such quid pro quo thinking is what happens in a bartering transaction and is not a true expression of love.  Once the exchange has occurred both parties may often feel satisfied with no need to take further action.  It is a closed loop.

Paying it forward, on the other hand, doing a kindness for someone with no expectation of receiving something in return, is an act of selfless love.  Unlike the closed-loop nature of a “give and take exchange”, a “pay it forward” kindness can set off an unending string of wonderful acts of love.  The impact can be exponentially magnified if each person receiving a kindness is inspired to perform an unsolicited service or provide a gift to more than one other person.

Of course, the best example of all time of igniting a “pay it forward” string of love and kindness is the sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us in dying on the cross.  Jesus made His sacrifice not to help Himself but to benefit all of us.  The impact of that gift that Jesus has given to us continues to be felt today some 2000 years later.

But let’s also be honest.  We are human and like the princess in the story, we are going to be disappointed in life and we are going to be jealous when others obtain achievements that we want for ourselves.  It is natural to have these feelings but we must be vigilant to identify them and to resist the temptation to act on them.  We need to be “bigger people”.

In today’s reading, the writer in James cautions us that “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. (James 3:16)     The writer points out that acting out of envy and with selfishness is contrary to God’s expectation and goes on to explain what God does want of us saying,  ^“17 … the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for^[f] those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18) 

By the way, back to the cliffhanger in the story, the author never answers the question as to whether the lady or the tiger emerges.  He leaves it up to us the readers to decide. 

Let’s make that decision in our own lives shall we?

Let’s selflessly look for ways to make peace and extend kindness to others—not out of an expectation of a return favor but out of a pure sense of love.  When receiving acts of kindness, let us magnify that impact by paying it forward to as many people as possible.  As a matter of fact, even if we don’t receive a kindness,  we should still look to help someone else.  After all, Jesus gave us all quite a gift of love which He is depending upon us to continue to pay forward.   In doing so, we will be showing our love for both God and neighbor and keeping our tigers safely behind closed doors.

Our El Salvador Mission Trip

 Sermon Presented by Colleen Kummet
 February 15, 2015

Have you ever felt like a pioneer? It’s the feeling of doing something new —starting a new business, finishing a college degree, switching careers. Some of you may have left your home and settled in an unknown, foreign place. I remember stories told by my grandfather of leaving California after the Great Depression to buy land in the Midwest. World War II was raging in Europe, and as a result of the rationing of materials, he had to carefully dismantle various outbuildings on the property, save the lumber and nails to be rebuilt into their home. Do you remember the passion and the excitement of your new experience? Despite the fear, the goal was clear, the road defined, life seemed so real. Yes there was risk but it was all worth it.

Today’s scripture finds Jesus’ disciples in the valley. The disciples of Jesus were constantly on the move after having left their livelihoods with only the instructions, “Follow me.” Jesus had just healed the deaf mute, fed the four thousand, and healed the blind man at Bethsaida, demonstrating the power and saving capacity that the Jews expected in the long-awaited Messiah. The ministry seems to be riding a high. Ironically, it is at this point that Jesus begins to talk about his death, in Mark 8:31, saying ‘the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.’ Jesus was clear in this and continued to say in verse 34, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ Now the disciples were realizing that the full extent of committing to follow would encompass inconceivable divine glory and unfathomable human suffering.

As people of God, we are an unsettled people. We come from a long tradition of pioneers, just a few months ago we celebrated a landmark anniversary of our church; pioneers moving the congregation and building the new church that we enjoy today. Abraham was a comfortable farmer advancing in years when God told him to pick up everything and move to a “land that I will show you.” Moses had settled into a comfortable life as a shepherd when God asked him to return to Egypt, where he was a wanted criminal, and lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. The stories of the prophets are stories of people who were settled only to be asked by God to leave everything and strike out with a purpose that only God fully understood. In other words, they were asked to “unsettle” to accomplish God’s plan on Earth. In this week’s scripture, disciples Peter, James, and John accompany Jesus to the top of a high mountain. There they witness Jesus transfigured and with him Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John witnessed, if only for a moment, the glory of God revealed in the Son. This was the true Jesus.

Jesus’ friends had been shattered by his statement that he was going to Jerusalem to die. That seemed to them the complete negation of all they understood the Messiah to be. They were confused, things were happening which not only bewildered them, but broke their hearts. On the mountain, the disciples observed Jesus’ grim decision approved by Moses, the supreme law-giver of Israel, and Elijah, the greatest prophet of Israel.

Most important of all, the disciples heard the voice of God. In Jewish thought, a cloud is connected to the presence of God, a pillar of cloud led the Israelites across the desert to the Promised Land, Moses met God in a cloud to receive the law, and a cloud descended on the disciples now. Out of the cloud, they heard God’s pronouncement of Jesus as his Son. The disciples were afraid, and had no idea what was happening, but there was no doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, that God had spoken. What they saw on the mountain of the transfiguration would give them something to hold on to in the difficult times ahead, even when they could not understand. Cross or no cross, they had heard the voice of God acknowledging Jesus as his Son. The fulfillment of God’s plan and Israel’s future was Jesus’ death on the cross. The interesting thing about pioneers is that they typically turn into settlers. Even Peter on the mountain offers to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so that they could all relax and stay a while. Despite the excitement and novelty of the journey, we have the temptation to settle in and get comfortable.

It is noteworthy that in the history of God’s people, the times they get into trouble were the times when they chose to be settlers rather than pioneers. The people of Israel, after leaving Egypt freed by God’s power, pause in the desert for Moses to climb the mountain to receive God’s law. Meanwhile, the people begin melting gold for an idol to worship. During the time of the Judges, Israel envied neighboring nations and wanted the security of a king, beginning their wretched history of corrupt leadership. Many churches, begun by pioneers have become the home of settlers, who no longer want to venture beyond the known even to further the kingdom to which they claim to belong.

God has created us to be pioneers, people willing to unsettle. God’s word to Peter, James, and John on the mountain is, “Listen to him.” Peter, James, and John obeyed this command, followed Jesus to the cross, and took the good news of his resurrection to new and unknown places, to people who had not heard, and ultimately to their death as martyrs. Your support and prayers allowed this mission team to be pioneers for God in El Salvador. The village where we built the house had never had Habitat for Humanity volunteers working in it. The villagers were amazed that Americans would come all the way to their country to spend a week building a house for their neighbor. We as volunteers felt the exhilaration of the beautiful mountains, good old-fashioned hard work, and friendly faces. We experienced the uncertainty of a strange language and unbelievable poverty. The home we labored to build has been completed, but our journey is not over. We must resist the urge to settle in and savor; instead we must seek and satisfy the needs calling out around us. God’s words for us today are, “Listen to him.” Find time to be alone, allow God to reveal to you the power of His plan, and then follow the lead of Jesus, come down from the mountain and whatever may come – listen to Him. If we were to listen carefully to Jesus, to what endeavor would he be calling us? To what would he be leading us out of our settled, comfortable life? Remember the excitement, fire, and passion of trying something new?

Pioneering looks different for each of us. Each one of us has unique capacities to be used to meet the needs in our community and our world which call out to us in a special way. When we obediently bring the love of Jesus to bear on this need, we are once again pioneers. We rediscover that life is in the journey, and we will not reach our destination until Christ comes again in glory. What would God’s pioneer experience look like for you today?

The Word Became Flesh By Mike Powers

The Word Became Flesh

By Mike Powers

Sermon delivered December 7, 2014

Vespers Service, Edgewater

Scripture John 1: 1-5, 10-18 (NSRV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John [the Baptist] testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

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When most people think about the Christmas story in the Bible, the natural inclination is to turn to the gospel of Luke with its story of Mary giving birth to Jesus in a manger or the gospel of Matthew and his account of the three magi.  The Apostle John’s account is quite succinct—just one verse really:    “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”(John 1:14)  That’s it—no shepherds, no star in the east, no angels singing.  Not much material for a Christmas play here.  But we soon realize there is a lot of meaning contained in just a few words. 

This gospel describes Jesus as “the Word” who is both with God and is God.  I think it is useful to know that “the Word” is the English translation that most biblical scholars use to translate the original Greek text which used the term “Logos”.  The Encyclopaedia Britannica, (we remember that, right?) defines “Logos” in Greek philosophy and theology to be “the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning.”  

When the Apostle John refers to Jesus as “Logos” or “the Word”, he is describing Him as the divine God which governs the entire universe.  On Christmas we celebrate the fact that the Word became incarnate and lived among us as a human.

The Bible shows that Jesus was in fact human and felt real pain and emotion. Jesus cried at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35).  Jesus wept when he contemplated the impending fate of his enemies the rebellious Jews who would soon crucify Him but would later be overrun by the Romans (Luke 19:41).  Jesus wept for Himself (Hebrews 5:7) as He contemplated the horror of His impending gruesome death.  The night before His death Jesus prayed “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

I would often think, why was it necessary for God, who is all powerful, to become flesh and undergo the pain and extreme sacrifice which Jesus endured?  Some Christians will immediately answer that Jesus sacrificed His life in order to redeem our sins and make salvation and eternal life available to us.  And that is true.

But why did God make us imperfect in the first place and since He did, couldn’t He just forgive us without going through the horrendous experience of Jesus’ death on the cross?

Certainly God has the ability at any time to make perfect beings which would never sin and thus not require saving.  However, when He made us humans he did not make puppets on a string or obedient robots.  He gave us souls and conscious minds with the gift of the ability to think and make choices.  In other words, He gave us life.  And naturally, not all of our choices are good ones.  Sometimes we hurt ourselves or someone else which means that others can also hurt us.

So God put us here with our free will and we immediately disappointed Him through our choices.   God could have fixed that simply by taking away our ability to make decisions or at least bad ones.  He could have programmed us to do exactly the right thing all the time.  We could be like the talking machines you see at Disney World—very lifelike but without a conscience or a soul.

So God took a different approach.  Why?  Think about John 3:16.  ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.^”

God didn’t turn us into puppets or robots, he loves us so much that he wants us to both live the right way AND maintain our humanness with the power and responsibility of choice and consciousness.  That is why the Word became flesh and lived among us.  He became one of us to set an example of how to live a life expressing love for both God and our neighbor.  He showed what it truly means to humble oneself and to sacrifice oneself for the benefit of others.  He showed us how to forgive as He was dying on the cross saying, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

The late Paul Harvey would tell the following story on his radio show every year at noon on Christmas Day. Perhaps you remember this.

“Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men, but he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus story about God coming to earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you”, he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas eve”, he said he’d feel like a hypocrite, that he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. So he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another. And then another; sort of a thump or a thud. At first, he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly, he put on a coat and goulashes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn.

He opened the doors wide and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow making a trail to the yellow lighted, wide open door to the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried “shooing” them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction except into the warm lighted barn.

Then he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could let them know that they can trust me. That I’m not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led, or “shooed” because they feared him.

“If only I could be a bird”, he thought to himself “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe warm ----------
(Sudden recognition)
---- to the safe warm barn, but I would have to be one of them so they could see and hear, and understand.”

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells, Adeste Fidelis. Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

---

Like the birds we need to stop flying into windows and pursuing false goals.  Our Savior came into this world as one of us.  The Word became flesh to show us the Way.  We just need to follow Him into the barn.   

All Saints' Day Sermon by Mike Powers, at Edgewater Retirement Community

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.[w] 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Sermon by Mike Powers
Delivered at Vespers Service at Edgewater Retirement Community November 2, 2014

November is a month of remembrance and thankfulness. Early Christians had a tradition of gathering to honor fallen martyrs on the anniversary of their deaths but under Roman persecution the deaths became so numerous they decided to pick one day and honor all of the fallen at once. That day was yesterday, November 1 and is known as All Saints Day. In the United Methodist Church on that day we remember Christians of every time and place, honoring those who lived faithfully and shared their faith with us.

Today, November 2 is known as All Souls Day in the Catholic Church and several other Christian denominations. In Mexico today is known as “La Dia de la Muerte” or the “Day of the Dead”. On this day, all who are deceased are remembered with a particular focus on honoring relatives who have passed away.

November 11 is Veterans Day or Armistice Day in many parts of the world. Here we honor the brave people who sacrificed so much so that we can live in a society with the many freedoms with which we are blessed. At the end of this month in this country we celebrate Thanksgiving. A day when we gather to give thanks for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us.

As we take note of these special days, it is good that we remember the people who came before us and be thankful that they allowed God to work through them to make it possible for us to enjoy a better life today. But it is probably even more important that beyond being thankful for them that we learn the lessons that they teach us.

I picked the verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans for today’s reading for a special reason. A man was sorting through a trunk in an attic that contained his uncle’s possessions. That uncle had been killed in World War I and the trunk contained artifacts from the uncle’s time in the army. Inside the trunk the nephew found a Bible that his uncle had carried with him during the war. The nephew noticed that the Bible was well worn and it was obvious that his uncle had read this Bible frequently. The nephew then noticed that his uncle had underlined in pencil the passage included in our reading in which Paul was quoting from the 44th Psalm. “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

So let’s stop and think about that. Think about the horror that the uncle was called to endure during the trench warfare of World War I and the reason that this verse resonated with him. Death was all around him and he would soon pay the ultimate price himself. He viewed himself as a sheep about to be slaughtered.

But then the nephew noticed that his uncle had double underlined in pencil the verse that shortly followed: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Many people believe that the eighth chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans is a summation of his Christian beliefs and this sentence really captures the central tenet of Paul’s faith. That is no matter what we are facing here on this earth, no matter how horrible it might be, nothing can separate us from the eternal love of God. That belief is where the uncle, who was surrounded by death and would soon die himself, had drawn his comfort.

We are not capable of understanding why we are called upon to endure the struggles that we face. Nobody here on earth knows why bad things happen to good people.

I think you know that because of his faith, Paul faced more than his fair share of pain and suffering throughout his life. Consider this list of the difficulties which he recounts in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27

24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;[e] 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.

Several years after he wrote this, Paul died the death of a martyr being crucified in Rome. So why did God call on such a faithful servant as Paul to go through all of these hardships? Maybe Pauls’ way of courageously facing all of these horrible things may have been a way of demonstrating the strength of his faith to others inducing them to follow him in embracing Christ and finding salvation. Perhaps the way that we face our own difficulties will inspire those who follow us to lead a better life. We need to trust and submit to God’s will and know that whatever we are called upon to endure in this life is nothing compared to the everlasting joy of God’s eternal love that is to come.

The uncle with the Bible and the Apostle Paul both faced life threatening situations and both ultimately gave their lives. These two people—one a true saint of the church and the other an ordinary man called upon to fight in a war, both endured hardship. Both drew strength from the knowledge that no matter what they were facing here on earth, they knew it was part of God’s plan and that what is really important and what will last an infinitely longer than the limited amount of time spent here on earth is the embrace of the love of Jesus Christ. That lasts forever. Our time here on earth is nothing compared to that.

There is a beautiful passage from 1 Peter 1:24-25 that I want to share with you.

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

I acknowledge that the struggles that many of us may be facing here today-- be they significant medical issues, broken relationships with friends and family, financial issues or other things may seem daunting and insoluble.

I am not here to diminish them and I applaud all who struggle for the courage they have in facing their own personal challenges. If you are in this situation, draw strength from God’s eternal love as it provides help and hope which cannot be taken away. Let’s listen to Paul’s words again.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul wrote these words after enduring many of the challenges that he had to face. The uncle double underscored these words while struggling through the ongoing horror of war. These two men—one a saint and the other an ordinary person placed their faith completely in God’s love.

Life on earth is temporary—a flash in the pan. God’s love is forever. That is the shelter that I seek and I hope you do the same. That is what we should honor and remember in November and throughout the rest of the year as well.

Amen