Saturday, October 30, 2010
October 31, 2010 - Charge Conference
October 24, 2010 Red Letters We Wish Were Gray: Don't Be Afraid
What scares you?If we were to sum it all up, our greatest fear is fear of the unknown.
Finishing this series Red Letters We Wish Were Gray
Let's look at our text today from Matthew 16:22-33
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they
said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
PRAYER
“Don’t be afraid.” Why in the world would anyone ever think that those would be words that we wish were gray?
HISTORY
To understand this, we must first have a brief bible history lesson. The Gospel of Matthew
- Written for the church
- Under the rule of Flavian dynasty who supported the persecution of Xns.
- Nero, still active in the memories of the Xn church, still able to strike terror in their hearts
- Also, keep in mind that this gospel depicts events Pre-Pentecost, that is before bestowing of the Holy Spirit upon the church
ALONE IN CHAOS
- For the 1st time in this gospel, the disciples are sent forth w/o Jesus – Jesus, who represents the presence of God is not with them
- The sea represents chaos, a threat, representing the anxieties and dark forces the threaten creative order.
- The sea presents itself a barrier between the disciples and Jesus
- Their susceptibility to being caught off guard (afraid) was already heightened
STORM ARISES
- It is impossible for Jesus to be with them on the other side as he had promised
- Yet in the darkest of night, he comes walking to them on the sea
- He came beyond their hope, for they did not expect him
- They thought him to be an apparition to be feared
JESUS CALMS THEM
- Today we think of this as being miraculous because of his defying gravity, but for them it was because he overcame the power of chaos
- No human could perform such a feat, only a deity – only God
I AM
- Jesus does what only God could do and then answers with an “I Am” (YHWH)
PETER QUESTIONS AND STEPS
- Peter addresses as a believer would, “Lord”
- For Matthew, the problem wasn’t that he took his eyes off of Jesus, but that he wanted proof of the presence of Christ in the first place
- He cries out, “Lord, save me”
- Doubt - distazo = vacillation, not skepticism
How many times do we feel lead to do something, but we need that assurance
- Peter’s response “if it is you” is reminiscent of Satan’s first words to Jesus
- Peter hears Jesus claims, just like we hear
- Matthew’s claim that Jesus makes God present with us
- In a chaotic world where such a claim oft appears false, hollow, or empty, many would like some experiential, spectacular reassurance that is really is so.
TEST OF FAITH
- For Matthew, the lesson is not “If he had enough faith, Peter could have walked on water” just as the message for us is “If we have enough faith, we can overcome all of our problems in some spectacular way”
- This leaves us feeling guilty for not having enough faith
- What if the message of this text were “If he had had enough faith, he would have believed the Word of God, Jesus, mediating the presence and reality of God?
- Faith is not being able to walk on water, but daring to believe, in the face of all of the evidence, that God is with us.
CONCLUSION
Gospel of Matthew begins and ends asserting this idea of not being afraid
Begins with the recalling the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy at Jesus birth, “And he shall be called Emmanuel = God is with us”
Likewise it ends with these Red Letters from Jesus, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age."”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
October 10, 2010 - Red Letters We Wish Were Gray: They Follow Me
**The following is a draft version of the message given 10/10/2010Continuing with the theme: Red Letters We Wish Were Gray. Some versions of the bible highlight the words spoken by Jesus in red. But sometimes, we wish there was some gray to them, giving us the option of picking and choosing what we want to listen to and what we don't.
John 10.22-27
22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
Feast of Dedication commemorates the Maccabean Revolt (165 BC) where Judas Maccabeus reclaimed the Temple and cleansed it had been defiled by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, who sacrificed a pig to his gods on the altar.
This also marks the first day of Hanukkah
- Aka Festival of Lights - menorah
- Only enough oil for one day
- Miraculously lasted eight – same time it took to press, prepare, and consecrate new olive oil
- Time of celebration
We find Jesus here – following in the footsteps of his forefathers who celebrated the reenactment (or living into) the wondrous works of God.
And here it is where the Jewish leaders, who were out to oust Jesus found him as well, in a place where there was little chance for escape.
V24 - 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
V24 – literal translations, “How much longer will you waste our lives?”
Asking for the wrong reason. Would have been delighted if he had been the “Messiah” they were looking for. But he wasn’t.
V25 -25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me,
26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Why did Jesus use this strange metaphor – sheep?
If we read back just a few verses prior to our passage today, we find a section that may sound familiar to us:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me," - John 10:14
Who are Christ’s sheep?
Let me introduce you to another member of our family which you haven’t met -
Asbury
- We've had Asbury for over 12 years
- Good dog, not a sheep
- Trained, but only when he wants to respond
- As with most dogs, he is a free thinker
Why did I say he is not a sheep? Watch this video about…sheep
What is Jesus known as? – the Good Dog Breeder? No - the Good Shepherd
What does Jesus call those who follow him? Dogs or Sheep?
I wonder, when we get right down to it, which do we consider ourselves to be? Dogs or sheep?
Dogs are loyal and smart
Sheep…kind of slow and unintelligent
Today we brand cattle to mark which cattle is ours
Puritans practiced the doctrine of the marks of Christ’s sheep. Cut a notch in sheep’s ear. Shepherd knew the shape of the mark.
Puirtans used to say Christ sheep would have two marks – mark on the ear and the mark on the foot.
The mark of the ear was this “My sheep hear my voice.” The mark on the foot is “They follow me.”
A dog may hear, but may or may not follow
A sheep hears and follows.
Am I a follower? You may ask. Just the consternation of the question opens us up for the Holy Spirit to work.
Wesley, Witness of the Spirit, answers it this way:
How does it appear to you that you are alive, and that you are now in ease, and not in pain? Are you not immediately conscious of it? By the same immediate consciousness, you will know if your soul is alive to God; if you are saved from the pain of proud wrath, and have the ease of a meek and quiet spirit. By the same means you cannot but perceive if you love, rejoice, and delight in God. By the same you must be directly assured, if you love your neighbour as yourself; if you are kindly affectioned to all mankind, and full of gentleness and longsuffering. And with regard to the outward mark of the children of God, which is, according to St. John, the keeping his commandments, you undoubtedly know in your own breast, if, by the grace of God, it belongs to you.
I kind of like this idea of marking us twice – once on our head in baptism – marking us as one of God’s own or in Bishop Scott Jones way of putting it: baptism is our first installment in the inheritance of God.
But then, maybe we ought to in some sense consecrate our feet, to mark us as “followers of Christ.”
How different would our lives be if we walked where we hear Jesus tell us to go?
As the Good Shepherd, Jesus says he knows his sheep and calls them by name
(Blessing of the Shoes)