What we hold on to?

Once a month I get together with other clergy in Concord to talk about our ministry and our lives.

This week we the topic was the things that we hold on to.

It seemed like a perfect topic for us to consider this morning.

It is a good subject because our Gospel from Mark this morning is about what we hold on to.

Jesus is about to let go of his life.

And his disciples, as represented by Peter, want to hold on.

Peter wants to hold on to his ideas of what Jesus should be.

Peter wants to hold on to the glory he experienced as Jesus fed 5,000 people, calmed storms, walked on water, healed the sick, made blind men see.

Peter wants Jesus to be king and restore the glory of his people.

Jesus knows that his mission is not about what is in it for him and his disciples but that his mission is about giving away himself.

“For those who want to save their lives will lose it, but those who lose their life….will save it.”

I was watching a documentary this week about UCLA basketball under coach John Wooden.

He would give his players more than just the x and o on how to win basketball.

He would inspire in them beliefs about what it really meant to be a team and give of yourself for the greater cause.

One of his frequent sayings was, “happiness begins where selfishness ends.”

Our happiness in life is tied to what we give away, not what we keep.

It is a hard principle to live.

But I think in our deepest souls we know it to be true.

If I told you that you only had five minutes to gather up everything that meant something to you I bet that not one of you would think of some object that you owned.

Instead you think of the people in your life.

You would think about your loved ones and how much they meant to you.

So maybe there are things worth holding on to.

This morning I am wondering, what are the things in your life that you are holding on to?

What are the things stopping you from having a true life and happiness.

Perhaps it is some possession you have.

Or perhaps it is a grudge you have against someone, a prejudice, a hatred of someone else.

What are things we hold on to?

I know someone who has a rule that if there is something in their house they have not touched in two years time they get rid of it.

I also know others who hold on to everything that every piece of furniture, every book, every piece of paper seems to hold some very significant importance.

I once tried to help someone clean out their house.

It was the house he lived in since he was a kid.

It was filled with stuff books, magazines, old tax statement, old bills, old radios, and automobile parts.

He gave me one room to clean out that was just filled with stuff.

So I got a shovel and started to dig into this pile of stuff.

When he saw what I was doing he got upset and started to go through each piece of paper reading it, then saying to me, “I can’t get rid of that.”

His house was just filled to the brim with things that he couldn’t seem to part with.

I think our spiritual lives are sometimes like that man’s house.

We have filled it with so many rules, regulations, prejudices, doctrines, philosophies, and theologies.

And instead of allowing God to surprise us we become like Peter stuck in what we thought God is suppose to be.

Instead of allowing God to teach and lead us we block God out because there is no room for God to enter in.

This morning we need to clean that out.

We need to here Jesus this morning simplify it for us.

If you want to follow Jesus do something for someone else.

Don’t make your life better; make someone else’s life better.

What a crazy idea.

If you go to the religious section of the book store what you will find is a ton of books about making your life better.

You will find a ton of books on how to have a better prayer life, how to have more faith, or how to be more in tune with God.

But we don’t need all those self-help books we just need to be ready, willing, and able to serve others and give of ourselves.

Our council president Larry Johansen and I have lunch once a month to talk about what needs to be talked about at our council meeting.

At our monthly meeting this month we were talking about our fall stewardship campaign.

I was telling Larry that it is one of the best parts of my job.

I really enjoy talking to you all about giving.

Because what I find is that giving is brings people happiness.

I tell the council all the time that our stewardship can’t focus on the church’s need to receive.

It can’t be about our need to keep the lights on, pay the pastor’s salary, pay for our insurance, or any of the other practical things we need to pay for.

It can’t even only be about our mission and ministry.

It has to always be about your need to give.

In giving we find happiness.

That is why I love to talk about giving.

It is what really helps our spiritual selves to flourish.

In giving our lives away we begin to find them.

My wife this weekend participated in the Reach the Beach relay.

For those who don’t know Reach the Beach relay is a 200 mile run from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach.

Teams of 12 runners split the legs of the run.

Vicki runs on a team that raises money for camp calumet campership fund.

They wanted to help kids who needed help go to camp.

They posted updates during their run.

And before one of the legs Gary Anderson was interviewed about what was motivating him as he was about to run in the middle of the night on a particular hard part.

He said, “I am doing it so kids can go to camp.”

I went to the end of the race at the Hampton beach.

You would think that people working on only 3 hours sleep, who have been running for two days, riding in a van with 12 other people, would be cranky.

But what was present at the end of that race was joy.

Giving of ourselves is what brings true happiness.

If we can just let go of things in our life that don’t matter and focus on that.

I was thinking about the things I hold on to a lot this week.

And as I took that inventory I realized there are lots of things I want to give up.

I would love to give up my own need for control.

I would love to give up my own desire for personal accomplishment.

I would love to give up my desire to have four hours alone on Sunday so I could watch an entire football game.

I would love to give up the box of CDs I keep in our attic.

I would love to give up the need to measure myself against others.

I would love to give up my desire to keep everything the way it is now.

But there are other things I want to hold to.

I want to hold on to the love I experience in my family.

I want to hold on to my kids.

I want to hold on to my love for my calling in life.

I want to hold on to my love for sharing a meal with others.

What are the things that you want to hold on to?

What are the things you need to give up?

I think when we get to answer those questions we come closer to experiencing the happiness that we all seek.

We begin to grasp what Jesus meant by giving up our lives in order to save them.

Give up the selfishness in our hearts, and hold on to the love we give away.

At the end of the day, that is what people will remember about us.

They won’t remember how many houses we had, or how many CD’s we collected.

Those will just be things that are sold or thrown out.

But what we give will remain forever.

We all know this to be true too.

Because if you think about a loved one you lost you don’t think about what they had, but what they gave of you.

That is what will last forever.

So this week I hope you take some time and think about the things you hold on to.

What are the physical things that are cluttering your life, but also the spiritual things?

And that you will find happiness where selfishness ends.

You will find that you can gain your life by giving it away.

Amen

A Crumby Sermon

The story of the Syrophoenician woman is one of my favorite in all of scripture.

I love it because it presents a different view of Jesus than we are used to.

The story is about a discussion between a mother possessed with a determination and love for her child, and Jesus who doesn’t seem to fully understand the importance of his ministry outside of Israel.

In this story Jesus does not stand a chance.

For a mother’s love for her child can move heaven and earth, and in this case can move even the son of God.

Some have suggested that Jesus is merely testing this woman to see if she has enough faith.

However, the story does not lend itself to this interpretation.

Jesus never mentions her faith, and in other stories in the Gospel of Mark people are healed as a result of faith.

He merely says, “For saying that you may go…”

So what happens is that this woman, this mother, wins an argument with Jesus.

The argument is over whether or not Jesus ministry is for those outside of people of Israel.

Can it be for this woman too?

Jesus says that he came to heal the sick of Israel, and has no time for this woman, who he calls a “dog”.

You might be thinking at this point that Jesus would never be so unkind.

But that is the wonder and beauty of the story is that it flies in the face of what we commonly think about Jesus.

We think of Jesus as always having the perfect answer to every situation.

We think of Jesus as always using the best manners.

But this story reveals to us a Jesus caught up in his mission and forgetting that the consequences of that mission went far beyond what he could imagine or see.

In the process of this conversation Jesus mind is changed.

By the way there is biblical support for this.

In other places in the Biblical witness people argue with God, and because of that argument change God’s mind.

Jesus is revealing to us a characteristic of God we often dismiss.

In our time of winner take all propositions and changing one’s mind as a sign of weakness, Jesus tells us that it is in God’s very nature to change God’s mind.

Think of Moses arguing for God not to wipe out Israel in the wilderness, or Abraham arguing for God not to wipe our Sodom and Gomorrah.

Think about God rethinking destroying the world after the flood in Noah’s story.

This woman that Jesus meets while he is on vacation in Tyre changes Jesus mind about his ministry.

And in changing Jesus mind this tenacious mother gives us an eternal truth.

The Gospel and its message, the grace of God is big enough for all.

“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

There is enough food that the crumbs fall from the table and touch other lives.

We all know this to be true.
For we never know fully how the good that we do in our lives will be spread.

You may hit your intended target, but you also spread good news to more people than you know.

I was reminded of this while on internship.

It was my last week and one of the members of the congregation who I knew but didn’t know well came up to wish me good luck.

He said to me, “Your sermons have really helped me in my life. I have learned a lot from you.”

I was shocked because never before had he said anything about how my sermons touched him.

He never even gave one of the obligatory, “Nice sermon pastor”, on the way out of worship.

It was a reminder to me of the power of the word of God, and how it helps others.

We never know who will walk through our doors on Sunday morning.

We never know what their life is like at that moment.

We never know the way that God’s love will speak through us and convey to that person God’s grace.

We just never know how the crumbs will fall from the table and be of help to someone else.

Today we start our program year.

Today we start Sunday scho1ol, adult education, and a whole bunch of things.

And I am wondering who will receive the crumbs from our table.

What lives will we reach and impact that we have no expectation to?

How will God’s grace spill over the table and touch someone this year?

I see this all the time in our Sunday school.

The work that our teachers are doing is really remarkable.

Because what has been happening is that kids like Sunday school so much they are bringing friends.

In fact, one parent told me that their child said to them, “Church is the funniest place in the world.”

And we are touching lives with God’s love and grace in ways that none of us could expect.

There are children coming to our Sunday school experiencing God’s love who never would have otherwise.

When we start the year we have 35 names, but every year more than merely those 35 names are touched by the ministry we do here.

When we welcome children into our midst, and when we make Church a place to play, make friends, and laugh then we invite people to experience God’s grace.

Not through doctrines, but through experience.

The same is true in all aspects of our ministry together.

Jim Mikesell our new treasurer told me this story about when he was at the tent for Market Days.

A woman walked by our display and looked at it intently.

She then walked a few paces past our booth stopped and turned around.

She went up to Jim and said, “I just wanted to thank you for all your church does for the homeless in Concord.”

This little congregation is known in our community for helping people in need.

It is a great and wonderful thing.

It is part of the mission of the church to feed those in need.

But our real mission, the crumbs that fall from the table, is more than that it is to offer hope to give people a place of welcome and love.

It is to spread the kingdom and Good news.

That is what we are doing.

That is what that woman recognized.

And the truth is that you are all reaching more people than you realize.

Because of your giving and your love for outreach I am able to be in the community also sharing the crumbs.
I am able to help numerous people on behalf of our congregation.

And like I said before we just never know how that good will spread to others that we don’t know about.

Every week we come together to be fed, we come to hear the Good News of Jesus, to receive his body and blood, to be uplifted in word, song, and sacrament so that we can have hope, welcome, and love.

But you see if that was all this was about that would be too small a vision for God.

 I really believe that we are all here because the Holy Spirit has called us together, but that the Holy Spirit is always working through us to bring all the benefits that we know to others who have not yet experienced it.

We are the children of God given the real gifts of God’s immeasurable grace.

But it is not just for us, the crumbs that fall off our table are enough for all.

This is what the Syrophoenician woman points out to Jesus.

In so doing she is given her request, and her daughter is healed.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.

What the Gospels teach us all the time is that we never know who is going to show us some surprising new way of thinking about God.

We never know when a mother will show up with a tenuous unyielding faith to change our perception of God.

We never know the ways that we will be challenged.

And we never know the way the crumbs fall from the table to sustain others.

We too might be able to have our minds changed.

In doing so, we grow closer to the mind of God, and the kingdom of heaven.

So let us take what we have received here.

And be ready to spread the crumbs to everyone.

Never fully knowing how what will heal someone, offer them hope, and give them new life.

Amen

The Market Place

I saw a report about the spread of AIDS in black America on the PBS show Frontline.

On the show they interviewed a man that was going out into the community to hand out needles and condoms on the streets.

There were of course people who are critical of such programs.

A lot of that criticism comes from the church.

That is was allowing and encouraging sin.

That it was corrupting.

The truth was that the program was saving lives.

One of the pastors on the program said, “This is where the church should be. We have missed the mark.”

He goes on to say, “This is the mission of the church. We should put a cross on it.”

Going into the market place is indeed messy and ugly.

It is filled with compromise and sin.

The question that I want us to wrestle with this morning is can we avoid not being in the Market place?

Our Gospel this morning is about an argument that Jesus is having with the religious leaders who came out from Jerusalem to check up on his teaching.

But in order to understand the controversy in its fullness we have to back up a bit.

Before this encounter Jesus has with the scribes and Pharisees from the national headquarters, Jesus and his disciples are in the market place healing the sick.

A few verses before our Gospel for today we are told, “And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.”

Jesus had been touching sick people in the market place.

We are told in our Gospel today that the Pharisees and Scribes “Do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it.”

So the issue here is not just about eating with dirty hands.

It is about where our hands have been.

What have they touched?

One of the things that religion tries to do is keep us away from evil.

If we just don’t do certain things, or go to certain places then we will be clean and pure.

If we listen to the right kind of music, read the right kind of books, see the right kind of movies, hang out with the right kind of people.

Then our lives will be undefiled.

We will be right with God if we just avoid the marketplace.

But we can’t avoid it.

Most of us work in the marketplace.

Perhaps some of you make compromises in your dealings in the marketplace.

Perhaps we allow ourselves to think something is ok because, “everyone else is doing it.”

Or, “That is just the way business gets done.”

That is the thing about the market place.

It is messy, the lines of good and evil are not clear.

The market is filled with competing and contrasting ideas.

Its motives are always suspect.

Like the needle exchange.

Is that really the best response the Church can come up with?

Is that really the best way to serve God and neighbor?

It is a controversial issue, and one that needs series people to wrestle with the serious problem of HIV and AIDS.

But Jesus this morning is telling us that is exactly where he is.

Jesus is in the market places healing, redeeming and breaking down walls.

Jesus is saying that the people in the market and us are really the same people.

Because it is not what goes into us that is evil, it is what comes from within.

That is a harder reality to face.

If all I have to do is avoid certain places and things to be holy that is relatively easy.

I can keep myself and my kids away from those things.

But it is whole other thing to have to deal with those evil things that lurk in me.

The evil that comes from the heart is harder to deal with than merely keeping ourselves pure from noticing the contradictions of the market.

My aunt used to have a rule that my cousin was not allowed to play with guns.

It is a good rule. (I have a similar one with my kids.)

It is good intentions to try and keep our kids free from the influences of violence.

However, my cousin did what most young boys do; he made guns out of everything.

Every piece of wood he picked up would become a gun to shoot others with.

In fact, when he was asked after a day of kindergarten what he did that day his response was, “Shoot people.”

You see we could come up with all the rules we want, we can keep ourselves far away from the negative influences of this world.

But until we deal with our own heart, until we realize that inside of all of us evil lurks, we will never be able to defeat it.

That is what I think happens to the scribes and Pharisees.

Out of a good place, out of love and passion for their religious beliefs, they set up rules in order to keep everyone clean before God.

The problem is they make the outside things more important than what happens on the inside.

They make secondary things primary.

It is something all religious people have to be on guard against.

That the outward signs can become what it is all about.

That our devotion to God becomes about what music we play, what clothes we wear, how often we go to church, or the rituals that we perform.

Instead of being about a deep relationship with a God who knows so well that with God there are no secrets hid from.

Whatever we are on the outside becomes secondary to what is really going on inside.

Because the truth is all of our hands are dirty from the market.

We all contribute in some way shape or form to what happens in our politics, our economy, our schools, our culture, or places of business.

And that is exactly where we will meet Jesus Christ.

Look if we can make ourselves holy and righteous merely by avoiding certain things than you have no need for Jesus.

But if you realize the complexity of your own sin, if you realize that being a part of the market is part of what we do in our lives, then you realize that you need saving.

You need saving from yourself as much as from the world.

There are these three women who used were the matriarchs of the Church I served in Long Island.

Maple, Anita, and Solveig and they were three of the loveliest devoted Christians I have ever known.

They were in worship every Sunday, they came to every Church event, they went to Bible Study every week, they would tell me weekly that I was in there prayers every morning.

They sat three rows from the front on my left side.

Every Sunday I knew I could look over and they would be there.

One Sunday they were not there.

It was odd, and I took note.

Well, later I was watching MTV.

There was a reality show about Jessica Simpson and Nick Lashey.

They were in Atlantic City and they went to a buffet at some German festival.

You know who they were eating with?

That is right Maple, Anita, and Solveig.

They had missed worship that Sunday to go to Atlantic City.

I would always joke with them about missing worship to go and gamble.

But here is the thing they were not any less Christian because they missed church to play slot machines.

God did not love them any less.

In fact, when they came back they were still the same lovely, devoted, faithful followers of Jesus I had always known.

Because it was their hearts that mattered and not what happened on the outside.

What made them who they were was a deep relationship with God that they had fostered over the years with that made them who they were.

So it is with all of us this morning.

Yes, we all have our hands dirty, but Jesus Christ has saved us, and cleaned our hearts, so we can go into the market places and not worry about our dirty hands.

Amen