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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Turning Around - Jonah 2: 1-10

The prophet Jonah. The prophet who ran away. For the next two weeks we will be continuing our discussion on the meaning and message of Jonah in our own lives. Two weeks ago we talked about the first chapter in the book of Jonah, where the prophet attempts, unsuccessfully, to run away from God. God caused a great storm to arise when he was at open sea, and after trying every other possible solution, the crew carrying threw him overboard, where Jonah was promptly swallowed by a giant fish.
Our story resumes this morning from the belly of the great fish, where Jonah is fervently praying to God. He cries out to God as one who was buried in the heart of the sea, and felt that he had no hope, no reason, to return to the land of the living, apart from God’s mercy. There was nothing else Jonah could do, so he turned back to the One he ran away from in the first place. God. Jonah deeply believed that God would show mercy, so he tells God that he is calling out in distress.
The prayer Jonah prays seems odd at first. Going back and forth between the present and the past. But Jonah’s prayer is actually like a psalm of old. Crying out to the One he wants to be back in relationship with. Crying out in fear, distress, and shame. And throughout the prayer Jonah talks both to God and about God. He reminds God who He is. He reminds God, and reminds himself, that even in this place, the belly of a fish, God could hear him, because God created all and there is no place one can go from God’s presence.
What a reversal from the man who ran from God, believing that he could out run or out smart or hide from the Divine Creator of the land and the sea. Jonah originally felt that his actions were distancing himself from the unpleasant call he had received to go to a people who didn’t care for him and proclaim an unwelcome message. But now Jonah realized that it his disobedience that has separated him from God, not his cleverness. In fact, Jonah has now been driven from the sight of the One he loves because of his sinful attitude and actions.
How often have we felt the same way, brothers and sisters? Feeling that if we are cunning enough or persistent enough in our fleeing then God will just move on and give someone else our call, our task, our mission? But really, our very inaction and disobedience create a wall that we never meant to erect between us and the One our soul loves. We tarnish our relationship with God all because we don’t want to do something. Our plan backfires.
Thankfully, Jonah’s prayer doesn’t end there. But it does amp up in its desperation. Jonah tells God that he has no idea how he is going to get out of this. And he doesn’t know what’s worse - the thought that he will die without every seeing his home again, the place that gave him his deepest sense of meaning, the holy temple, or the fact that he doesn’t feel the same connection with God that he once had. He no longer feels close to the Divine.
Here Jonah has a profound lesson to teach us. Even though he feels that he is beyond hope, even though he cannot sense God’s presence, he still prays. He still claims that God can deliver him. And that is exactly what God does, for after Jonah finishes his prayer he is spit up on the dry land. 
Some would claim that Jonah’s prayer isn’t really a prayer of repentance because Jonah doesn’t come out right and say that he is sorry. He doesn’t apologize to God. But friends, this is a prayer of repentance. Jonah realized that he was foolish to try to escape God. He realized that God doesn’t have to save him. But he prays to God to have mercy on him and save him anyway. 
Jonah’s repentance went hand in hand with his reflection. Jonah had a lot of time to think while he was in the belly of the fish. What else was he going to do but replay his disobedience over in his head again and again? The more he dwelt on it, the more he realized that he was wrong. And his reflection helped lead to his repentance. He screwed up. He wondered away. But God is still the God who can deliver - even deliver the sinner. 
There are always two parts of any true repentance. The first is a confession of our rebelling. The second is asking God to change us - change our mind, attitude, actions, whatever it takes - to get us back on the right path. To put us back in right relationship with God. Jonah realizes that he has not only sunk to certain physical depths, but has sunk spiritually as well. But he also knows that this does not need to be the end. 
In Jonah’s specific prayer of repentance he also teaches us a thing or two about prayer. When Jonah didn’t know how to pray, when he couldn’t get the words himself, he turned to the scriptures he knew, the psalms, and he prayed the scriptures. They were so a part of who he was that even at his darkest moment, even when he sunk to spiritual depths he thought he would never see, he could pray.
Often I’ve heard people say that when they are the most distant from God they don’t know how or what to pray. They are so ashamed that the words won’t come out and they want to know how to rekindle that relationship with God. The scriptures are a good place to start. The scriptures, especially the Psalms, were meant to be prayed. They were meant to be learned. In our day in age, when we can easily read the words on a page and have an over-abundance of information coming at us from different sources, its hard to find the motivation to memorize scripture, and not just a verse or two here or there, but whole Psalms. Whole passages. Jonah reminds us of our motivation to learn the scriptures in our heart, because even when we are at a loss for our own words, we can turn to the words of our faith to re-teach us how to pray.
Jonah’s prayer is also passionate. A prayer that pleads with God. Not simply asks God for something half-heartedly or not knowing if God will come through. Sometimes I wonder where the passion has gone in our prayer lives. Do we have the same connection with God as our forebears who earnestly sought God in prayer and felt a spiritual darkness when they didn’t pray to the one they loved?
Brothers and sisters, maybe you aren’t running away from God right at this moment. Maybe you and God are on good terms, but this story in Jonah still has something to teach us. It reminds us of the importance of learning scripture and keeping it on our lips and in our hearts. It reminds us to pray with zeal and passion. It reminds us to know God personally in such a way that we can claim with all we are who we believe God to be, even when dark moments come.
Or maybe you are running from God today. Maybe you connect with Jonah feeling distanced from God. Maybe you connect with the words of author Francis Thompson who in his poem “Hound of Heaven” that you “fled him, down the nights and down the days, fled him down the aches of years.” Jonah reminds those running form God that now is the time to stop fleeing and hiding, for all you are truly doing is building a wall between you and the God who loves you. Its time to get down on your knees, reflect on your situation, truly repent and turn around. Run back to God. 

Where do you find yourself this day, brothers and sisters? What are you being called to learn from this part of the story of the prophet Jonah? Amen. 

Friday, February 21, 2014

Funeral Meditation - 2 Cor 4:1-15

When I think of Alberta, I think of this passage from the apostle Paul about treasure in clay jars. Since I’ve known Alberta she has been homebound with a body that seemed to be failing, and yet, she knew that her life was about so much more than her earthly body. She knew that she held a precious gift from God inside of her. 
Alberta would be the first to tell you that she didn’t understand every passage of every scripture, but she knew one thing for sure - that she loved her Lord and Savior with all of her heart and soul. The message of the gospel wasn’t veiled to her, for she was embraced by the love of our Savior each and every day. And she shared that gospel message with anyone who could listen. One of the things that she most often said to me is that didn’t understand how God could be so good to her. But I think it was so that his child, Alberta, could share that grace, peace, and joy with everyone who she met. 
And share she did. Alberta had such a generous spirit. I was telling her son and daughter earlier this week that I have no idea how many people in this congregation have been blessed by the blankets that she made - but they were given out to celebrate births and weddings. I even have one to celebrate pastoral appreciation. She sent mail to and called her life long friends. And how many of you have a gift that she made for you on plastic canvas? Alberta was always giving, always sharing, always blessing others. Her light truly shined in this world.
Alberta also knew suffering in her life, but even those times of pain she used for God’s glory, seeing the blessing in them. She believed in the healing power of prayer and prayed that God would use her in a mighty way. 
Since Alberta joined this church she has been home bound. Often confined to her chair or her bed. But that’s not the totality of who Alberta was. While she knew that her health was in the decline, she also knew that this would not be the end. That she was being transformed into a woman for God’s glory. Her body was being transformed for a new life, eternally, in God’s presence. 
And that is what the apostle Paul is proclaiming in today’s scripture. Even though our outer body may be flawed and fading, our inner treasure is being renewed. Even the afflictions and hardships we go through in this life cannot dampen the light that comes forth from this treasure. 

Alberta had that treasure that could not be contained. She claimed the grace of Christ in her life. Alberta’s body may have given out, but her heart and faith live on in each of us. And that  brothers and sisters, is a gift of eternal weight beyond our wildest imaginations. Amen.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Running Away from God - Jonah 1 : 1-17

When I think of Whales the first image that comes to mind is Shamoo. The second is the whale scene in Disney’s Pinocchio. And the third is Jonah. There is just something about the story of Jonah that I can connect to in a way unlike the raging whale attack in Pinocchio or the gentleness of Sea World. I get Jonah. Because I have been Jonah. And isn’t that true of all of us - at one time or another we have ran from the call of God?
We aren’t quite told how the call of God came to Jonah. Perhaps it was a gentle whisper, a dream, a vision, an audible voice, or maybe an inner leading. But Jonah knows that it is the unmistakably the voice and call of God because what it was telling him to do was quite unwelcome. Not anything that he would pick for himself. 
The call was to go at once to the great city of Nianevah that had been sinning in the face of God and cry out against it. Essentially Jonah was being told to go to a city where he would not be welcomed and preach a message that no one would want to hear. 
Jonah didn’t argue with God’s call. He didn’t try to negotiate. In fact, he didn’t verbally respond at all. But his actions spoke loud and clear what he felt. He fled. The complete opposite direction. 
Oh friends, how many of us can identify with Jonah at this point in the story. You’ve had this inkling that you were supposed to do something for God. A vision. A nudge. But it felt extremely uncomfortable, or inconvenient, or you thought demanded too much of a sacrifice. So you ran. You may not have called it running. Maybe you just tried to rationalize that it couldn’t be the voice of God. Or that you needed to be more sure before acting. Whatever the case, it was running from the call. Running for the One who calls.
One of the questions that I often get asked is to talk about my call story. When did I know I was called to be a pastor. Was this something I always wanted to do? Each time the question is asked I cannot help but chuckle a little. I never wanted to be a pastor when I was younger. In fact, I went to college to be a doctor. But after a semester in that particular track, I decided it wasn’t for me. So I started searching. Searching for a new life purpose. And along the way it was brought up that I should consider being a pastor. Others recognized the call in me. But it was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
I ran. I grew up in the church. I had seen the ugly side of church drama. I wanted to just be a person who sat in a pew on Sunday, thank you very much. But the call was there. I recognized it too. I just didn’t want to believe it. I continued to pursue another path - studying to go into child psychology until my junior year of college when I was looking at grad schools. As I stood in the dissertation room of a well known school, I caved into the relentless calling of the Spirit. I knew that I was to follow the call to serve the local church. I stopped running.
Brothers and sisters, we are all called by God. Called to serve God. Maybe not as a pastor or a missionary overseas, but its still a call. Maybe your call is to lead Sunday School. Start a small group. Form a relationship with someone who doesn’t yet know about Christ. The calls of God are endless. And we all run from them one way or another. Usually in ways less noticeable than Jonah. By not having our heart in it. By not stepping out in faith. By not being fully engaged in the ministry of God. By staying in our comfort zone. By not going in all the way. And sometimes even running the opposite direction.
But like Jonah we are destined to learn the truth of the God we love. We cannot run away from him. Jonah knew that he couldn’t really flee from God. In fact, when the crew of the ship asked him who his God was, Jonah claimed that his God was over the sea and the dry land. Where could Jonah really go? Where can we really go?
Then the crew of the ship do something interesting. They go through questions, and casting lots (which was essentially be like playing a game or spinning a wheel to determine the will of God) and finally determine that Jonah is the cause behind the storm. Jonah’s God is mad at him. But goodness, they should have known that friends. They knew that Jonah was fleeing from God because he told them. They just didn’t really grasp what that means.
If we search hard enough we will find people to go along with our disobedience. People that will tell us that its okay to run from unpleasant situations, or back us up when we say that we aren’t quite sure if this is the call of God for us, so we will just wait it out. Or ignore it. It’s not hard to find people who will be complicit with our sin. People who will harbor us from the will of God or help us run the opposite direction. But that doesn’t make it right. And it doesn’t mean that the storms won’t come. 
The crew tried everything they could think of before giving in and throwing Jonah overboard, treating him like a piece of cargo that had already been discarded instead of the prophet of God he was. But then something happens. The storm stops. And the crew falls before Jonah’s God making sacrifices and vows. These men who just a few verses before were crying out to their own God came to see the power of the God Jonah worshiped. Even Jonah’s disobedience was used to give God glory. This is not to say that we should run from God so that God will be glorified. Rather its pointing out that God will be glorified, and we have the choice to be part of that or not. Do we want our sin to point to God or our trust and obedience?
At the end of the day, I think we understand Jonah because his fear resonates with us. The fear of the call. The fear of the unknown. So we choose to run away, instead of following God into freedom. We flee instead of listening to God. 
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a call story where the person being called by God responded willingly the first time. But as the story of Jonah show us, God will not be ignored. God is relentless in pursuing us. And God just won’t let us shrink away from the call that was specifically designed for us. 
We like to kid ourselves into thinking that if we don’t respond to the call of God then someone else will just do it for us. But its your call. No one can do it the same way you can because God made it for you. God wants you. If Jonah didn’t go, how would the Ninevites get the message? The only way to deliver it was through another person. And God selected Jonah. But Jonah let fear trump calling. 

Brothers and sisters, stop running. Stop seeking out people to make us feel better about our disobedience. Stop pretending that someone else could do it just as well. Stop being disobedient. Stop. Its your call. Its your time. How are you going to respond? Amen.  

Sunday, February 2, 2014

“A New Beginning” - Eph 4:22-24, 2 Cor 5:17, Isaiah 43:18-19

For the past two weeks we’ve been taking a journey through the trash in our lives. We’ve dumped it out, named it, and today we are putting it where it belong. At the foot of the cross. To be left there.
It’s hard to leave our sin and baggage behind. For most of us it seems so familiar, that it is almost part of who we are. But it isn’t! We weren’t created for this! We weren’t created for sin and the burden it creates. We weren’t created to drag around the pain of past hurts. We were created for freedom in Christ Jesus. 
Christ doesn’t leave us empty handed. The first week in our discussion we talked about Jesus beckoning us to come to him, saying that his yoke is easy and that his burden is light. But we never really talked about what his yoke is - what exactly we are trading in our sins and sorrows for. We aren’t just giving something up, we are gaining something. Actually gaining many things. First we gain gratitude. Gratitude for the cross. Gratitude for Christ. Gratitude for the sacrafice other’s have made for us. Gratitude for the prayers that have been prayed on our behalf. Gratitude for life itself. The list goes on and on. 
Gracious people are seemingly hard to come by these days. We become embittered by the burdens we are carrying to the point where it is hard to have and express gratitude. And even when we find freedom in the cross of Christ, we may not become gracious right away, for gratitude is a spiritual discipline, hence why Christ refers to it as a yoke and a burden. But the more we practice being thankful, the more that we have the cross in the center of our lives as that which we are most thankful for, the easier it becomes. In fact, gratitude allows us to worship Christ more fully because we have a glimpse of the burden he has removed from our life. This also allows us to deal differently with those in our lives - showing them support, appreciation, and love, no matter how they treat us. 
Secondly, when we put our garbage at the foot of the cross, we pick up a new life in Christ. Jesus went to the cross for our garbage, our sin. But he also rose to new life. And so we too can have new life in him. A life of freedom. A life of forgiveness. A life of hope. This mornings scriptures speak of this new life in Christ. One where we actually fully put away our old lives, our old baggage, our old sin, and clothe ourselves in Christ. We are no longer marked by our sin. That’s passed away and we are new. 
But our new life in Christ is not just for ourselves. Freed from our sins we are sent out as disciples with the mission to make others disciples of the one we love. To follow Christ’s call to go to the very ends of the earth with this message of forgiveness and redemption. We are made new creations to work for the Kingdom of God! 
Thirdly, freed from our burdens we gain a right perspective on our home. No matter what trash we give to Christ we will always have one thing, if we don’t put it in the right perspective. We will always be longing for home. Our home in Christ. Our Heavenly home. But this too will be shed when we reach heaven. When we are finally home. And when we reach home we will be celebrated by our God and Father!
In the Gospel of Luke we find a parable that Jesus tells that is often coined “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” and it tells the story of a son that sinned more then we could ever imagine, but when he left that life behind, broken, to return home that he was greatly celebrated. Friends, such a celebration is waiting for us. We leave behind burdens to find great joy. We throw away our trash and we find hope in the future, and hope in the present. For we can be changed on this earth and we are also changed in eternity. 
Brothers and sisters, leaving our trash at the foot of the cross is both the easiest and hardest thing that we will ever do. It is easy when we can no longer deal with our sin. No longer run from it. And know that there is no other place to take it. But its difficult because it requires trusting that God wants to do a new thing in our lives. It takes courage to truly let go of the past and not look back. And we may have to drop off our trash several times, because we keep going back and picking up bits and pieces not fully trusting in God. But Jesus was serious when he asked to take our suffering, our burdens, our sin. And there is a new life waiting for us when we fully let go. 

For the last few weeks you have been encouraged to carry around rocks with your burdens, sins, and trash written on them. Today we are going to put them where they belong at the foot of the cross. We are going to symbolically surrender them to God, and pray for a new life in Christ. If you’ve forgotten your stone or didn’t get one, you will find a basket with rocks and markers by the cross. Brothers and sisters, come. Let go. Find freedom and forgiveness in the one who gave his very life for you. Amen.