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Sermon Transcripts

Why have you abandoned me?

10/23/2022

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​How good are you at languages that are not English: Today I want to take you to three phrases of our faith – that are in a foreign language. 

The First is in Italian.
These words are used by Dante Alighieri in his poem called “Divine Comedy” – which was completed in 1320.
In his poem these were the words written over the gates of hell – 
“Abandon hope all you who enter here”.
This poem expresses the ideas of the Medieval Church of the 14 Century: put more simply: if you did not belong to the Christian Church when you died you went to hell – where there would was no more hope for you.

There are still many Christian who cling to this idea 800 years later. That some people have no hope of salvation and they might as well give up now. 
My task today is to say to us that this is simply not true: There is never a moment when we abandon all hope: And I know this because Jesus went to the place without hope – and Jesus redeemed it.
And here I take us to the second bit of foreign language:
Here are the words of Jesus on the cross: 
 eli eli lama sabachthani

We read the translation in Matthew 27:46: 
My God, My God – why have you forsaken me?
Here is the place where Jesus abandons all hope:
Here is the moment that the image of Dante becomes real:  Jesus has entered that place of no hope – he is using an ancient prayer of desperation – Psalm 22 -  and those standing at the cross hear him literally enter the gates of hell.

But here is the good news of our faith: not even the gates of hell could hold him….

Do you remember the Creed we say:
 I believe in ….. Jesus Christ…
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, 
This is our faith:  that nobody should abandon hope, because on the third day Jesus bursts the gates of hell and offers hope to all who trust in him

Nobody should believe that they are forsaken by God.
Because each person is God’s, and no matter how far you have strayed,  God keeps loving you.

It is time to teach the last word:
At the end of 1 Corinthians St Paul Uses a word that is written in Aramaic: “Maranatha”

A statement of faith – and a cry of hope:
Translated as “The Lord has come – and may the Lord come”.
Today I am inviting us to replace our despair with hope – to learn the word “Maranatha”

Invite Jesus into our lives
Choose to live your life in the shadow of the teachings of Jesus
Instead of despair – speak this word each morning: Maranatha.


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Jesus Appears to His Disciples

6/7/2022

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19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Intro: Today’s reading from the Bible tells the story of a bunch of losers hiding in a room: these were the disciples who had run away and left Jesus alone to face torture and death. These were Jesus best friends – and they had failed him… They knew what was right – but failed to do it. 
Now here is the amazing thing: Despite their failure: Jesus comes to find them. And he tells them that God still has faith in them, and that they can continue to be his disciples: 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 
They were not disciples because they had managed to earn a special place – clearly they had failed – they were disciples because Jesus loved them. 
Here is the Good News for today: Just like those disciples - We are not left alone. Today’s Bible reading reminds us that God understands our failures and that even when we fail, God does not give up on us….
Brennan Manning is a Christian author who has thought deeply about the unconditional love of God:  he writes that our Christian Faith “is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games, or pop psychology. It is an act of faith in the grace of God.”
Instead of condemning his disciples, Jesus said to them – I will give you strength to get back on your feet.  Jesus looks at his broken, failed disciples and these are the words he says to them:
.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 
Following Jesus offers us a different way of understanding our lives. We do not earn God’s love by trying to become better people / or gritting our teeth and attempting to improve ourselves We are not blessed by God only when we never make mistakes. Success as a Christian is not a case of faking it until we make it. Our Scripture passage speaks of a God who does not give up on us - even when we fail.
=== (move to the stool)
For me this is such a relief. I speak out of my own personal experience – I know the kind of person that I should be. I would like to be someone who is kind and loving and brave – and just when I think that I have it all together - I fail to be that person:  
• I make mistakes
• I say words that I instantly wish that I could take back
• I get irritated and impatient   
I think of a moment when I said something that hurt a friend of mine – and I realized that I had just damaged the friendship – and failed to be the person that I want to be. I also know that I am not alone in this:
St Paul complained about this: Romans 7: 19…. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 
I recently saw a quote on a coffee mug: “Be the person your dog thinks you are”…and sometimes it is only our dog who could love us…
And I am going to assume that you know what it is to fail – and to be disappointed in yourself. 
Allow me to repeat the Good News for today:  God does not give up on us: Like with those disciples in the upper room: he comes to us and breathes on us and blesses us with strength to get up and live another day.  

Here is the invitation: to wake up each morning – say these words:  “O God: today is your day – use me”.
At this moment - No matter how imperfect you might feel - it is no longer about you:  it is about surrendering your day to God….and being curious about what God will do with it. Ours is a faith that speaks of surrender: we surrender our struggling spirits to God – and allow the Spirit of God to use us…. Allow the Spirit of God to guide our living and speaking. Be open to surrendering our frail, broken spirits to the Spirit of God – and letting God live through us.
Today is Pentecost Sunday We are reminded that God’s Holy Spirit can touch our lives: 
Every time we share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion – the Spirit of God is particularly available – come today as an act of faith – ask God to touch you. 
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That They May be One

5/15/2022

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​“That They May be One”
Scripture reading John 17: 17-23
17 When Jesus finished saying these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you. …
6 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from this world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 
17 Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.
20 “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. 21 I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. 23 I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

I am deeply moved by the way our community responded to Thursday’s storm. I have seen amazing generosity and kindness shown to one another by the residents of our city: (Anyone experience kindness?)
Let me tell you my story: Jenny and I were out walking around Hillside Park on Thursday afternoon – at 5pm (I know – we thought that we would have time for a walk before the storm arrived).  We saw the cloud and turned back home – and the siren went off. A group of students opened their door and invited us to shelter inside of their home

This weekend I saw a City where people worked together to make life better for everyone. No division, no one demanding to be helped first – just people helping people.
And here is the sad thing – the fact that I am struck by the human co-operation is a comment on how we have become as a society: Sadly, the Pandemic seems to have bent us out of shape.
We have become distant from each other / individuals have allowed themselves to say offensive things on social media / and we have begun to see division and meanness as a normal way of life.
But this past weekend has shown me that deep down, we are better than this.
And I was reminded of the prayer of Jesus in John 17:  What we have is a summary of what was on the heart of Jesus : here is the most important thing that Jesus wished for at the end of his ministry: And Jesus says these words three times:
21 I pray they will be one, Father
22 I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. 
23 I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one.

Jesus prays that his disciples may be one.
But it is not as simple as this -  because the disciples were not a homogenous group.
Some were fishermen, some were the sons of a business owner, one worked for the IRS, while another worked for the revolutionary forces trying to overturn the Roman government.
Some came from rural Galilean roots, one had a Greek background, and one was thought to be Syrian. There were men and women, some were  wealthy, most were poor, some were religious, and one was a thief.  
Jesus had been key to holding this group together – and he worried about their unity if he was not around. 21 I pray they will be one, Father

Jesus is not the first to try to keep a group of people together:
This has been the challenge of every King, President, General – and the mother of every family on earth. I can still recall my mother saying to our family “If you don’t stop arguing I am going to send you to bed without supper.”
People have come up with various solutions for maintaining unity in groups – if you discount the threat of starving the kids…
Some have suggested that the group needs to have a common language or share a common culture – politicians throughout history have said that the only way a nation can be united is to make laws that impose the same beliefs on everyone / often followed by “we need to prosecute people who have a different view”.

In contrast to the externally imposed beliefs – many of us choose to keep our views to ourselves. We seek unity by avoiding disagreement at all costs: We refuse to touch any of the “hot button issues” and so we do not speak about politics, we do not speak about history and especially we avoid speaking about race. All this in the hope that this will keep us all together.  

This was my experience in my growing up: I come from South Africa.
We had a political system called Apartheid: which was a system of laws that imposed a particular kind of Christian nationalism on the country. Truth be told it mostly kept the white people in charge and the black people as servants of the whites.. And the system needed the military to impose law and order. And it required police to keep the people quiet. It did not work – it just kept us all angry with each other

Imposing unity by law  is understandable – but it is not Christian.  

Jesus prays for unity – but he is not praying for uniformity.
The unity that Jesus was praying about had nothing to do with having a common language, or a common culture.
Neither did it have anything to do with avoiding difficult issues. 
  
Jesus knew this one truth: being united as one, was the result of hearing God’s calling to serve. These memorable words from Jesus:
 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
The disciples knew that they were a diverse group. But they also knew that they had been called by God – and sent to serve the community. 

The United Methodist Church has embraced this as our practice: we refer to ourselves as “a big tent” – meaning that there is space for people of different languages, races, cultures and theological positions. We do not try to make everyone do things exactly the same – in fact our motto is quite clear: 
“Open hearts / open minds / open doors”
Everyone is welcome – the thing that binds us is the call of God on our lives.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said that to be faithful to Jesus is not about us all saying the same thing:
‘orthodoxy, or right opinions, is at best a slender part of religion, if it can be allowed to be any part at all,’

Recently some people have formed a new Methodist Church – which they have called the Global Methodist Church.
This is an attempt to create a church where everyone thinks the same, and believes the same. This is understandable – but definitely not Methodist. And Brookings FUMC will not be joining them….

….because our unity is not found in trying to make everyone think and say the same thing. We have old and young / conservative and progressive / academics and farmers. We are diverse – but we are united in our love of God – and our desire to share the love of Jesus with our community. 

This is what I saw these past few days: a diverse community of people who were united in serving our community.. 
I pray that it was not just a thing for the storm. I am inviting us to let this be the character of our city.
Let this be the character of our church.
And let this be the character of our families. 
Let us be diverse / let us have different opinions / different histories / different races – but nevertheless let us be united by our desire to serve God. 


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Confirmation Sunday

4/26/2022

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​Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
John Chapter 20. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,[a] “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. 
Introduction:

Today I want to reflect on the power of calling someone by name – 
Do you have preferences in the way someone else speaks your name? 
More importantly – can you detect how someone is feeling based on the way that person says your name?
That goes for me – and my mother. When she was angry I would get my full name:  “Peter” : and if she was really mad then it was all three names…..

Today’s story from the Gospel of John is a story about calling someone by name: 
Mary Magdalene is a disciple of Jesus. And Jesus calls her name.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary was one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry from her private reserves. So, she was probably wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, which points to a person who has been healed from a troubled past. 

Mary was a woman of courage. When Jesus was arrested, most of the disciples ran away. Mary did not, and she stood at the foot of the cross in a public show of support for Jesus. And now she is at his tomb, early Easter Sunday morning – to pay her last respects. 
Only – Jesus body is not in the tomb. And she finally breaks down in despair: she held it together for his crucifixion, and his burial – but now she cannot keep going. And so we find her crying in the garden. 

And Jesus finds her in the garden. 
Here is the amazing thing about Jesus: he does not rebuke her for crying. He does not tell her that she lacks faith / or that she is weak / or that she must pull herself together…
He does something else entirely: he calls her name…. John 20 vs 16:
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” 

A name she had heard thousands of times – but never with such love and concern. And I see the effect that this had on her: 

Mary moves from tearful hopelessness to a newly resurrected hope.  

I am offering this story to us today as an invitation to hear Jesus calling our names with the same love and compassion. 
Because…..
Saying someone’s name is sacred: it can move someone from hopelessness to newly resurrected hope. 
The Bible is filled with stories of saying names: 
Genesis 1 tells us that God named “light,” and “land” and “stars” and “sea.” Naming is a Godly activity that created our world from a dark, hopeless nothingness.
Genesis 2:19 tells us that after creating the wild animals and birds, God brought them to the man to give names to each one. Naming is a sacred task done in partnership with God.
God called Abram and Jacob and Simon, and then re-named them Abraham and Israel and Peter -- their names marking a dramatic shift in the direction of their life, a new orientation, a new mission, a new way of life bound in faith to the God who named them.
Naming is a Godly activity. Naming is what gives new dignity, and renewed life. 
Many of us have incorrectly taken on labels as our names. Maybe we have been labeled a “loser” or a “dropout” or “stupid.” Maybe we’ve labeled ourselves “unattractive” or “over- weight” or “undesirable.” But God doesn’t settle for labels that limit. Instead, God gives us names that call us into a new Godly identity crafted just for us. God sees us individually, has good plans for us individually, and wants us to have a distinct name, purpose, and calling. I wonder if mislabeling yourself has prevented you from knowing that you are loved by God.
Today, we as a church are invited to remember the extraordinary power of speaking a name over someone.
We will do this by baptizing two young people – and speaking out their names. 
We will do this by saying the names of those who are to confirm their baptism as infants.

For those being confirmed: Hear Jesus saying your name because he knows you… He made you with care, and is calling you today to follow him.
Today you can choose to trust that he has your future in his hands.
Like Mary you can respond with the words :”Rabboni” – Teacher – teach me the way to live.

And for the rest of us – be reminded of our own confirmation – of our names being called, and us saying : Jesus I am here for you.
And alongside our given family name comes this one powerful name: “beloved child of God.”

But I would fail us if I left us here: I believe that Jesus sets an example for us to follow:
We are challenged to speak the names of other people with the same kindness and compassion that he used when spoke Mary’s name.
Let us speak the names of the people we meet with warmth and Kindness…
Let us speak the names of people in a way that moves them from sadness to joy
Let other people know that they are loved.

You who are being Baptized & Confirmed will hear your name called out by Gretchen – but perhaps today you can hear your name called by Jesus:
Hear Jesus saying your name with love and joy
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