​At One
Leviticus 16:20-34
February 18 2018

    We’re mourning again for the loss of our children in a shooting.  Isn’t it interesting how we each mourn differently?    Some of weep silently or at most we reach out and try to help the healing by sharing their “Thoughts and prayers.”  Others lash out in anger and demand that someone in authority do something about the ease with which the attacker obtained the weapons they used.  Still others express their anger and frustration by lamenting how our society has become so coarsened that we have lost respect for human life.
    Regardless of how we mourn, on what we blame the tragedy, our cry is the same, “I am hurt and angry; I am sad and confused because this evil that has happened seems to be increasing in frequency and I can’t do anything about it.”  We are saying, “Somebody do something to stop this evil before it happens again.”
    We each provide our own solution.  Each solution is partially right and each is fully inadequate to stop the evil.  Thoughts and prayers sound good and may be a comfort to those who are suffering, but thoughts are empty without action and prayers, while the most powerful of any of our acts are powerless unless they are accompanied by repentance and a sincere desire to do things God’s way.  Controlling guns also sounds good.  Guns are far too numerous and too easy to obtain.  The availability of guns makes it too easy for an act of anger to get out of control and increases the likelihood of people being injured or killed.  But if the existing laws against violence, starting with, “Do not kill,” were not enough to stop this evil, what makes us think that a new law will be more effective?  It’s the same with the idea of changing our society to be able to identify and remove those who threaten us.  It sounds good, but in practice, it falls apart when we consider how different we are today compared to even twenty years ago.
    Each of our solutions may bring some partial relief, but they won’t really change things because they only address the symptoms and not the disease.  Each of these solutions is like going to the doctor with pneumonia and the doctor gives you cough medicine for the cough and Tylenol for the fever.  You may feel better, but if you don’t cure the pneumonia, you are likely to die anyway.
    So, what is this disease and how do we treat it?  Ever since Adam and Eve chose their own will over God’s will, we have all been infected with the deadly disease called sin.      We often look at sin as a moral failing that we can cure by ourselves, but the truth is sin is more deadly than that.  Sin is a disease that infects us all.  John Wesley said it this way, "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores." 
    The problem with the disease of sin is that we have been infected for so long and so deeply that we have no resistance to it. It has become so natural that we often don’t admit, or realize that we are infected.  Again, John Wesley said, 
“So long as a man born blind continues so, he is scarce sensible of his want: Much less, could we suppose a place where all were born without sight, would they be sensible of the want of it. In like manner, so long as men remain in their natural blindness of understanding, they are not sensible of their spiritual wants, and of this in particular.”   
    This disease of sin infects every person on earth. Since nations are made up of persons, it infects nations to the same degree and with the same effect as it does each of us.  Because of our disease, when evil happens we look for someone to blame.  We choose a scapegoat:  We blame the guns, we blame the newcomers to society, we blame the outcasts of society, we blame the people who missed the clues, we blame the perpetrator.  But we don’t blame ourselves.    We give the exact same response Adam and Eve gave to God when they sinned.  “The woman gave it to me.”  “The serpent made me do it.”  
    In today’s text, God gives Israel the prescription, to cure their sin.  Once a year, the people gathered for the Day of Atonement to receive the cure that would make them again AT ONE with God.  The priest took two goats.  One of the goats was sacrificed.  Through this sacrifice the punishment for the sins of the people was satisfied by the death of the goat.  The other goat, the scapegoat, received was banished.  The priests laid their hands on its head and confessed the sins of the people, symbolically placing the nation’s sin on the goat.  Then the scapegoat was taken into the wilderness and set loose in a place where the sins of the people were removed far from the people.
    The problem was that the life of even two goats could not permanently remove the sins of the people.  This ritual had to be repeated annually as the people continued to sin.  In our case, the scapegoats we choose can’t lead us to atonement.  In fact as we choose to place the blame for our sin on others, we tear ourselves apart as a nation and as a people of God as we exclude our scapegoats from our presence.
    But God, in God’s grace has provided the once and for all.  When Jesus, who was without sin, died on the cross; he did it as the sacrifice for our sin.  We regularly say, “Jesus died for my sin.  He took the punishment that I deserved. Jesus is our sacrificial lamb.”  And we praise God.  But Jesus did more than that.  When he cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!” he experienced the separation from God that we deserved.  Jesus took all our sins onto his head and removed them from us as far as the east is from the west so that we could be worthy to enter into the presence of God.  Jesus is not only the sacrificial lamb.  He is the scapegoat that removes the sins of the world once and for all.  Jesus is the answer.  He is the cure to our disease.  He is the way; the gate through which we enter the kingdom of God.  Again, quoting John Wesley, 
“In Adam ye all died: In the second Adam, in Christ, ye all are made alive. "You that were dead in sins hath he quickened:" He hath already given you a principle of life, even faith in him who loved you and gave himself for you! Now, "go on from faith to faith," until your whole sickness be healed; and all that "mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!"” 
    As your mind becomes the same as that which is in Jesus Christ, may your heart be full of the love and forgiveness that comes from God. And may God makes us one with God, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.  Amen

​Invested
Exodus 36:1-7, 38:22-31  February 11, 2018

    As Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land, it seemed that he had a problem.  Moses was doing all the work.  The rest of Israel was along for the ride, soaking up the blessings that God had for them—and complaining when they didn’t think God had provided enough—and ignoring the fact that it was only God’s goodness that kept them alive.  Moses struggled with getting Israel to respond to God’s outpouring of love and grace with a heartfelt love for God.  He struggled with how to get Israel invested in worshipping God.  He struggled with how to make Israel realize that they were God’s chosen people.  
    God explained to Moses that the way to do that was to ask Israel to contribute to the building of the Tabernacle.  That along with the work of the Holy Spirit would make them invested in their worship of God.
    We have a similar problem today.  We have changed from being a contributing society to being a consumer society.  People have become observers and customers, rather than participants and investors.  Let me give you some examples of the difference: Investors participate in the activities of the church and contribute to the church’s success; consumers observe what is going on in church to see if the church’s programs are designed for them.  Investors know they are a part of something bigger; that the church is there for more than a weekly show. Consumers are there for the feeling they get as the church feeds them.  Investors know they are co-owners of the church and that the success of the church depends on their participation.  Consumers are customers of the church and are just as happy going to a different church if their needs are not met.  Investors are committed for the long haul. They will stay with the church as it goes through its natural cycle of good times and hard times.  Consumers come and go as the times change.
    There are several reasons for this change.  Some of them are the result of changes in society and I believe others are due to changes in the church.  
We are a more mobile society.  For many people it is no longer possible to attend the church where we grew up, the church where our traditions and our families reside.  As we move to new churches, we are reluctant to get involved since we know that we will be moving soon.  Mobility means that the loyalty to any one place is weakened and we become satisfied to simply observe.  
Today we have many options for church. Within a five mile radius of Andrew Chapel there are at least 18 other churches.  Each one has a different personality and a different set of activities and beliefs.  If we are not fulfilled or loved at one, we move to another at will.
We have many competing interests.  Church is no longer the center of our community.  For many it is not even the center of our Sabbath.  Worship now competes with sports, leisure time, recovery from an extended work week, and many other activities. Attendance at church is no longer a social priority.
But the church is also responsible.  Many churches have focused on numerical growth over spiritual growth.  They are oriented on the attractiveness of their facilities and the impact of the “show” of their worship instead of focusing on building relationships with each other and with God.  We have turned inward to provide for the comfort—both physical and theological—of our current attendees rather than reaching out to invite new brothers and sisters in Christ and to minister to the least of God’s children.  People feel free to move from church to church for a better “show”. Some even become disillusioned about the role of the church and leave altogether to look for their life’s purpose elsewhere.
    It’s important to remember that each new person who comes to this church comes as a consumer.  They are here to see if Andrew Chapel fits their needs for worship and community.  That is natural and is not necessarily a bad thing.  Our job as the Andrew Chapel Church Family is to help our guests move from being consumers to being investors.   To do that we need to do a few things consistently:
    We need to stay invested in God by teaching, preaching, and modeling the whole truth of the Gospel.  This means that we need to proclaim both the justice of God and the Grace of God.  God’s justice as revealed in the Old and New Testaments gives us the standard for our behavior and shows us how far short we are when we are measured by that standard.  But if all we do is proclaim God’s Justice we proclaim a gospel of despair since whatever we do we cannot measure up.  On the other hand, God’s grace reminds us that, “God loves us and there’s nothing we can do about it.” And it reminds us that God’s desire is for all people to be saved.  God’s grace gives us the good news; but if all we proclaim is Grace, we cheapen the grace to a point that it is meaningless.  Only by preaching justice along with grace does grace become a true Gospel.
    We need to stay invested in the world by looking into our community and doing our best to bring healing and comfort to those in need.  We need to identify and address incidents and systems of social injustice to help our communities become truly good places to live.  This is how we let the light of Christ shine into the world through us.
    We need to remain more invested in people than we are in facilities and traditions.  Each person in our church comes with needs that only God can address.  We need be a place where people can come to God with those needs without fear of judgement from others.  We need to show God’s love to all who enter our doors, as we remember that judgement and justice belong to God alone.
    Finally, we need to provide a place where people can participate with a purpose.  All people want to feel that they are making a difference in the world.  We need to invite people, both church attendees and non-attendees to help us as we work to nurture each other and as we take the Gospel to the world.
     We all have to choose whether we will be merely involved or whether we will invest in God’s Kingdom.  As you consider the question, remember John’s Gospel 3:16 (NRSV), “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 is invested in loving us.  Thank God!  Amen.
    

​Teamwork
Exodus 17:8-16 and 18:12-23
February 4, 2018

    Sunday’s Super bowl was advertised as a battle of quarterbacks. Two great quarterbacks will lead their teams to try to outsmart and outplay the other.  We pay most attention to the quarterbacks because, they have an important job.  They need to see the field, they need to read the defense and eventually they need to throw or hand the ball to the player who can make the most yards.  If the quarterback doesn’t do his job well, the team may fall apart.  But why do we focus on the quarterbacks?  After all the two centers also have an important job.  They need to read the defense.  They need to throw or hand the ball—through their legs to the quarterback all the while knowing that as soon as they move, the defender on the other side is going to hit them as hard as he can to try to disrupt the play.  If the centers have a bad day, well you get the idea.  The team that wins tonight will be the one whose players work together the best.  That’s teamwork, and teamwork is the key to success in sports. 
    Teamwork is important to our own success as well.  Try to think of a time that you did something without any help.  It’s about impossible.  Even if you did most of the work on your own, someone else often created the resources you used.  Others produced the raw materials.  You may have cooked the best chicken dinner ever, but did you grow the ingredients?  Did you raise the chickens?  Most likely someone else did.  Your job, whatever it is, relies on others to help you get to work, and to provide for your workspace.  Eventually your work needs to be coordinated with others to be useful.  Parents especially understand this as they work together to do their best to raise their children.  
    The children’s song, “I am the Church” describes teamwork as well.  “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together, all who follow Jesus All around the world, yes we’re the church together.”  We are called the Body of Christ for a reason. 
    Moses started out knowing that he couldn’t lead the Israelites out of Egypt by himself.  But as he grew in faith, he took on a God and me against the world attitude.   By the time Israel got to the wilderness, Moses believed that the responsibility for saving the Israelites was his alone.  He met with God alone, he prayed alone, he judged alone and it all wore him out.  When the Israelites met the Amalekites in battle, Moses prayed while Joshua and the warriors fought.  Moses was the first prayer warrior.  His prayers encouraged Israel.  When they saw Moses’s hands aloft in prayer, Israel prevailed, when they saw him fading, they faded as well.  Soon, he and his companions realized that he needed help.  Aaron and Hur saved the day by holding Moses’s hands up while Israel fought.  Later, when Moses’s father-in-law Jethro came and saw how Moses judged Israel and how it wore him out (and frustrated Israel) Jethro showed him a better way.  It seemed to Jethro that Moses believed that he was the only one who sought God continually. He was the only one who could judge Israel.  It also seemed the rest of Israel was happy to let him judge because that meant they could go about their own lives and only consider God when God directly impacted their lives.
    Jethro explained to Moses that that was not the way God intended.  He explained that God set the standard for Israel. Moses as the leader was responsible for teaching Israel the rule of life that pleased God.  Then Moses was to empower other Godly judges to judge Israel as they went about their lives.  That brought about quicker justice and left Moses to decide only the most important matters.
    Today we have many people who have that God and me against the world attitude.  Don’t get me wrong.  God is the most important member on our team or any team and God has the power to work however God pleases.  But God does not choose to use us as individuals.  God empowers us and chooses us to work as a team.  We are the body—not the bodies—of Christ.  God has given each of us gifts to use along with the gifts of others to lead the world to the Kingdom of God.  God has empowered us, and has called each of us, to work as a team.  We are all called to work together for God’s glory.  Each of us is critical to the success of the Missio Dei, the mission of God.  God calls us all to be actively involved in this body.  Unlike the teams in the Super bowl there are no bench sitters on God’s team.
    God calls us all to work for God’s kingdom because there is so much work to do.  God has called each of us at Andrew Chapel.  Just think about all of the people involved in our worship service this morning, there are communion stewards, altar guild, musicians, liturgists, acolytes, ushers, greeters, pastor, prayer warriors, someone to make bulletins, and worshippers all work together to worship God.  But our worship extends beyond an hour on Sunday: We are to glorify God in all we do.    We need people to help our members grow: teachers, care circles, prayer warriors, fellowship event coordinators.  These are all part of the church’s mission.    We need people to share the Gospel with those who haven’t heard it:  evangelists, encouragers, people to witness through their daily lives, prayer warriors, mission volunteers to make the Gospel real and practical to those we witness to.    
    We are blessed that we have many of these people in our church.  But some are like Moses, they have been doing their best for so long that they are worn out.  They need the rest of us to help.  God’s plan requires all of us to be part of God’s team, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 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 2:8-10, NRSV)” God has made you and me to work together to make disciples of all nations.  Are you ready to be a part of God’s team?  Amen

Be Not Afraid
Genesis 46:1-7 January 28, 2018

    Jacob seems an unlikely choice to be the father of God’s Chosen People.  He doesn’t fit the mold of what we normally think of as a hero.  Jacob lived a roller coaster life.  He was his mother’s favorite, preferring to stay home with her unlike his brother Esau.  His name meant “Grabber” as he first stole his brother’s birthright and then his blessing.  Because of that he ended up running for his life to live with his uncle Laban in the old country.  On the way he had a beautiful dream and encountered the Living God.  When he got to Uncle Laban’s he worked for seven years for the privilege of marrying the love of his life, only to find out that he had actually married her older sister.  Then Jacob worked for seven more years and finally married the woman he loved, but things went downhill from there.  His uncle changed his wages ten times trying to get the upper hand.  Finally things got so bad that Jacob and his new family, two wives, two concubines, eleven sons and a daughter had to run away for fear of their lives.  They ran back to Isaac’s home and back to brother Esau.  Fortunately things between Jacob and Esau had healed by then and they looked like they might work out.  God even changed Jacob’s name to Israel, “He struggled with God and prevailed”.  This name was a harbinger of the rest of his life.  Not long after Israel returned to Canaan his daughter was raped and his two sons got revenge by killing all the males in the village where the rapist lived.  Then his oldest son dishonored him by sleeping with one of his concubines.  Then, the worst of all Jacob learned that his favorite son, Joseph was apparently killed by wild animals.  From then on, Jacob lived his life in fear that his youngest and new favorite son, Joseph’s brother, Benjamin, would die early as well.   Jacob, Israel, truly did struggle with trusting God, but somehow he is a hero of the Old Testament.
    When I think about it, Jacob’s life is not so much different than ours.  We also live rollercoaster lives.  Sometimes we feel so close to God that we think we can’t get any closer, at other times, we think God has forgotten us. Many of us live our lives in fear of what might happen next.  
    There is a lot to fear.  There are hundreds of wars and conflicts, including the threat of nuclear war that could destroy the world.  Climate change, extinction, and other environmental problems threaten our world as well.  Then there are financial fears: national and personal debt and unemployment.  We also worry about our health and our ability to access and pay for health care.  There is no shortage of reasons to be fearful.
    There is much to fear and there is no shortage of people willing to use that fear to shape our attitudes.  Politicians regularly play on our fears, either telling us that people will die if we don’t do what they say or trying to convince us that those who are challenging our status quo are out to get us.  Advertisers seem to make their entire livelihood out of playing on our fears.  Next time you watch or hear a commercial, listen for this message, “You need what I’m selling or you will not be safe or acceptable to others.” Or you may hear, “If you don’t get what I’m selling someone else will take advantage of you.”  One of those messages is going to be there.  The media seems intent on only telling us about the things that are crises, or if a story is not a crisis, they make it one.  Think of all the dire reports we get over a snowstorm prediction.  Unfortunately, churches also use fear to shape our belief in God.  We all know that sin is what separates us from God and so we should avoid and fear sin, but too many churches use that fear to make us conform to their teaching and belief rather than helping us know that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have a way to overcome death and separation from God.        
    But let’s go back to the story of Jacob.  He wasn’t a good hero, but Jews and Christians count his story as part of our heritage; something to be joyful over rather than something to fear.  Why Is that?  It is because the stories of Jacob and the rest of the stories in our Bible are not stories to glorify heroes.  The stories in the Bible are there to glorify God. God is the hero of all of our scriptures.  While Jacob was living his roller coaster life, God was preparing the way.  While Jacob lived and worked for his swindling uncle for twenty-one years it was God who was watching over Jacob.  It was God who gave Jacob his family and it was God who blessed Jacob.  Each time Laban changed Jacob’s wages, God changed the circumstances to bless Jacob.  When Jacob was mourning the loss of his favorite son Joseph, God was using Joseph to prepare the situation in Egypt to ensure that the young nation of Israel would survive its first years.  When the time was right, it was God who brought Jacob and Joseph back together and gave Jacob the command to not be afraid and the promise that Joseph himself would close Jacob’s eyes in death and return him to the Promised Land.
    We can celebrate over this story of God’s greatness and we can celebrate even more over the fact that when the time was right it was God who sent his son into the world to restore the loving relationship God wanted for us since the beginning of time.  God sent Jesus to live as an example for us.  God sent Jesus to restore our relationship by living in perfect obedience to God, even up to the point of death.  Even, or maybe especially when Jesus’s way of life threatened the status quo of humanity so much that he was threatened with death, he went to the cross instead of choosing escape.  Christ died for our sins because we, humanity chose to put him to death instead of stop sinning.  
    The truth is that we do live in a world of fear.  But because of the work of Christ we can live without fear because when we live as children of God, we know that God is working in all things for good for we who love the Lord.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.