From the Pastor |
Exodus 3: 1-15
Who am I? What can I do to solve the massive problems of this world? I mean… how can little ol’ insignificant me… make any real difference? What can I do? How can I end world hunger… or violence and wars? Who am I to do it? That is a question we have all asked at one time or another. Over the past several months, we have been inundated with many images and examples of police brutality… of the senseless violence and racial injustice that plagues this nation. There have been so many instances of riots, looting and violent clashes between angry civilians and law enforcement… there have also been countless peaceful protests happening daily in the largest cities down to the smallest communities. The Black Lives Matter movement has grown to encompass people of all demographics. The issue of racial injustice has been brought to the forefront of our minds and has led to a great deal of posturing and arguments from all sides. During this crazy, volatile year… many of us have, in fact, been asking this very question: Who am I to go out there and battle injustice and racism in America? What could I possibly do to solve these issues? The thing we, as followers of Christ, need to realize is that these protests and riots are so much more than angry laments over the senseless and tragic deaths of people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, and Elijah McClain. The protests and riots are an outcry against the demonization of people of color… against police brutality and racial profiling… against the overwhelming evidence of systemic racism, injustice and oppression. There are many people in our nation crying out, and these cries are an echo of the cries God heard coming from the Hebrew slaves in Ancient Egypt… Moses was a Hebrew child… and as we heard last week… he was saved from death by the acts of civil disobedience performed by several women… One of whom was Pharaoh’s own daughter who took Moses in and raised him as her own… as the grandson of the Pharaoh. He grew up with the wealth and power of the Egyptian royalty… yet he was angered when he witnessed the grave injustice bestowed upon the Hebrew people. So angry that he killed an Egyptian guard who was beating a Hebrew slave. When word got out about what he had done, Moses found his life was in danger, and he fled Egypt… eventually settling in Midian… hundreds of miles from Egypt on the other side of the Sinai Peninsula. There he married… had a son and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. It seems that life was good… peaceful… probably pretty quiet. At least for Moses… But for the Israelites in Egypt…not so much. But God heard their cries which brings us to our reading for today: The call of Moses. For many of us, this story is hard to hear without picturing Charlton Heston kneeling on the ground… speaking to the bush with awe and reverence. But that scene from the 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, is the simplified version of this story. A story so familiar to us that it is easy to just skim over it and miss the important pattern that makes up the call of Moses and many others to service for God. First, it is important to note that God had to get Moses’ attention… and Moses had to respond: “Moses… led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” [vs. 1-3] God could have set fire to a bush right in front of Moses… but that’s not what happened. It was in his sight… but far enough away that Moses had to go out of his way to investigate this strange phenomenon. And that is what he did. His curiosity took hold and he went to get a closer look. It was then… only after God had Moses’ attention… and Moses responded… that God spoke… making God’s presence known. And that is the second thing. Moses had not been brought up with the Hebrew traditions and stories… He was not raised in the Hebrew faith… God has to instruct Moses about where he is (on Holy Ground) and who is speaking: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” [vs. 6] Moses did not yet know God… Yet God called to him. Once Moses realizes who is speaking to him, it is time for the third part of our story: The Lord announces the reason that God has appeared to Moses: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” [vs. 7-8] I can just picture Moses at this point, face down in the sand, listening to this wonderful announcement that The Lord recognizes the people’s oppression and has decided to finally act to end it. After witnessing the injustice and oppression first hand… Moses is surely thinking, “YES! Way to go LORD! That’s great!” But unfortunately for Moses, their conversation takes an abrupt turn when God says: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” I can just see Moses’ eyes going wide with that “Say What?” expression coming across his face. Because that is the reaction we get… Moses hears announcement and immediately responds with “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” [vs. 11] This is the fourth part of this call story… the objections… The clear indication that Moses DID NOT want to do this… It begins with that question “Who am I?” “What can I possibly do?” Think about it… Moses was a fugitive from Egypt… he had a family to worry about… his job was tending the flock… who was he to go before Pharaoh with the demand to free the slaves? God simply responds, “No problem… I’ll be with you!” Yeah… Right! That wasn’t enough to convince Moses to get moving… The arguments are only beginning… Moses asks… Well… then… who are you? What name should I give to show you sent me? While our reading ends God’s answer: “I am who I am…” or “I will be what I will be…” [vs.14] Moses’ objections did not end… he continues to argue that he is not the right man for this task: What if they do not believe me? ... But I don’t speak well… Please send someone else! Well… those objections did not work very well for Moses… and they don’t work for us either. Moses is no different than you and me… too often we are not very enthusiastic to speak the truth, ready and eager to leave the task to someone else. When we hear God's call to service, we tend to meet it with reluctance, fear and doubt. But sometimes… like Moses… God doesn’t take no for an answer…the task is ours to do and we must act as agents of God. Today, God hears the cries of all who are oppressed. God sees their misery… Christ himself said he came to fulfill the scriptures: “… to proclaim good news to the poor... to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, [AND] to set the oppressed free.” And we ask… who are we to take on these issues? What can we do to make a difference? Who are we? We are followers of Christ. As Christians… we have already heard the call to follow… but it doesn’t end there. WE are the body of Christ in the world today. We are called to continue to act as Christ would… to fight injustice, bring healing and to demand that the oppressed be set free. We need to look more closely; to listen more intently… to search out the world around us for signs that God is trying to get our attention… then we need to respond and be willing to hear and answer God’s call for us. Then we can begin to really listen and hear the cries of people who are oppressed or in need that we might normally fail to hear. We are called to go forth, with God, to identify and work to dismantle the systems of injustice and oppression that are all around us… to bring freedom to others: Freedom from racism, and oppression… freedom from inequality in our justice system and our work environments and opportunities… freedom from hunger and poverty. Who am I? I am a follower of Christ Jesus… called to be an agent and servant of the Lord. A spokesperson for the Almighty who clearly says: “Let My People Go!” Amen
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Exodus 1:8-2:10
If I were to tell you that something you will do this week could change the world? What would you say? Would you believe me? Or would you scoff at the idea? In 1758, Benjamin Franklin printed a poetic version of an old proverb, in his publication Poor Richard's Almanack: For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost, For want of a horse the rider was lost, For want of a rider the battle was lost, For want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. The point… small things can have large, unseen, unimaginable consequences. We can see the truth of this in our reading from Exodus today. A small group of women… women who were for the most part insignificant in status and power, made decisions and small actions that would have very large and world changing consequences. These women had no idea that they themselves would function as saviors of a nation. In Genesis, when Joseph saves Egypt from a time of great famine… Jacob and his family and their households move to the land of Egypt. In the generations that span the time between the end of Genesis and beginning of Exodus, the Israelites have thrived in Egypt and have grown substantially in number. We are given no indication that they were anything besides loyal subjects to Pharaoh throughout these generations… However, a lot of time has passed… “a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.” The political landscaped has changed and the memory of Joseph’s contribution to the country’s success and wellbeing had faded. The new Pharaoh had his own agenda, and is able to exploit the fear people have those who are different. He identifies for the Egyptian people a common threat… the Israelites: He says, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” They are different… there are too many… they are a threat to our national security. So Pharaoh begins by ordering this ‘threat’ to be enslaved and the extreme oppression of the Israelites begins… they are forced into hard labor… building cities and monuments for Pharaoh. But even as slaves and under great oppression… the Israelites continue to grow in number, and “the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.” Fear takes over… So Pharaoh does the unthinkable… he orders a couple of Hebrew midwives to kill any newborn male babies born to the Israelites… This is where the women I spoke of enter the story… Shiphrah and Puah are the Hebrew midwives. When Pharaoh ordered them to carry out his plan for genocide… they refuse to do so because, as the scripture tells us, they “feared God…” These two, lowly women, made a decision… they took a great chance, and they disobeyed the orders of Pharaoh. They acted as they did because of the powerful reverence and respect they had for God. It is a courageous act of civil disobedience… but they are not alone in their disobedience. We are also told of 3 other women… the first… a Levite woman who gives birth to a baby boy. She too defied the law set by Pharaoh… “When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.” The second… is Pharaoh’s own daughter… she finds the baby boy and recognizes that he is a Hebrew child… She could have allowed fear to guide her actions… after all this was a child of another race… a race deemed a threat by her own father… a child she knew was under a death sentence… She could have feared her father’s reaction if he found out. But, she didn’t. She was driven by compassion and not by fear. She chose life for this helpless child… adopting him as her own son. The third was a young girl… the child’s sister who had remained to watch over the baby and when he was found offered to “go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby”… bringing the baby’s own mother back to fill the position. Five women… who all followed the dictates of their hearts… and acted with compassion instead of fear… Five women who had no idea that they were bringing great change to the world… That their acts of civil disobedience would have amazing and life changing consequences because the child saved from the waters of the Nile was Moses… the man God would later use to lead the Israelites OUT of bondage in Egypt… to freedom in the Promised Land. The next time you wonder, “Can God really use me? I’m nobody special… what can I possibly do to change things in this world?” Remember these women… Remember how they simply acted out of compassion… following their hearts instead of giving in to fear. This is what we should be doing… Our decisions and our actions should be patterned on this same powerful reverence and respect for God… Our faith should be driving us daily to stop and stand in the way of injustice. After all… that is the vow we take when we are baptized or join the United Methodist Church: We are asked: “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves? (The United Methodist Book of Worship, Baptismal Covenant I, 88). This is our pledge… to give of ourselves without concern for the cost… without fear of reprisal… simply knowing that we were serving God’s will as we resist evil, injustice and oppression. Truthfully… We don’t always live up this vow very well. We let fear, and apathy stop us from addressing the injustices we see around us… we tend to turn a blind eye unless it directly affects us. I confess that I’m far from perfect in doing so myself. But when I stood up at my confirmation almost 38 years ago, I answered ‘yes’ to this very question. I vowed before God that I would resist evil… that I would fight injustice and oppression “in whatever forms they present themselves.” The Hebrew midwives did what they did because they “feared God…” they are wonderful examples of faithful children of God who displayed tremendous loyalty to God’s kingdom. This wasn’t the motivation of Pharaoh’s daughter, but she found great compassion in her heart that overrode any fear she felt. I hope that I, and that all of us, will… with God’s help and grace… strive to live and act as these 5 women did… following the paths of compassion and justice… being willing to act with civil disobedience works toward what is good and right and just for all people in this world… working in the ways of God’s kingdom. Too often we fail to realize just how inter-connected we all really are… Even our simplest actions can create an unforeseen “butterfly effect” that can cause a ripple that affects the lives of so many others. The things we do this week… our actions and even the small choices we make… will have consequences both seen and unseen that will ripple out into the world… The consequences might be for good or not so good… they might bring damage or healing… Our actions might be big, bold, and courageous, or they may be small, hardly noticeable. Either way… They will all have the potential to ripple out… of affecting countless lives… of making great changes. So what if I told you that what you do this week could change the world? What would you say… what would you do? My hope is that you will act in God’s ways, with kindness and compassion, and that because of some small action or gesture the world will change for the better Isaiah 56: 1-8
There is a popular anecdote that’s been around for quite some time… you will probably recognize it but I think it bears repeating: There was a terrible storm coming into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that a flood was eminent. They ordered an immediate evacuation of the town. A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided he wasn’t going to leave his home… he thought to himself, “I will put my trust God and, if danger comes, God will save me.” The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.” As the flood waters began to rise up his porch steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.” The floodwaters rose higher filling the 1st floor of the house. A rescue boat came by and saw him at the 2nd story window. “We here to rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!” The flood waters rose higher and the man had to climb up onto his roof. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer pleaded with the man, "Climb up, we will rescue you!" But the man STILL refused, “No thank you! God will save me!” Shortly after, the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. When he got to Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in you. Why didn’t you come and save me?” And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning, a car, a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter. What more were you looking for?” God tried to save him, all it would have taken was him to respond to the efforts. Salvation! It is a wonderful, wonderful thing… but salvation requires a response, and this is what the prophet Isaiah is telling us this morning. “This is what the Lord says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.” God’s salvation is near… so the prophet, God’s mouthpiece, issues the call for the people to keep the covenant God made with them. The covenant to Love God and love their neighbor… To maintain justice and do what is right… to keep from doing any evil. This has been Isaiah’s message since the beginning… since chapter 1: Wash and make yourselves clean. … stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:16–17 ESV) And the reason for this call… the reason for the people to do these things? “…for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.” Isaiah tells the people that God’s salvation is coming… change the way you are living… keep the covenant God made with you. If you want to be saved… well… Salvation requires a response… a change… Salvation and righteousness were coming and it was time for the people to change their ways and come back to God’s ways. It was the same message given 100’s of years later by John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” [Matthew 3:2] Repent… turn back to God… change your life so that you live in God’s ways… not the ways of this world. Because salvation demands a response. Salvation was and is life changing… and is made evident by a changed life. As followers of Christ today, we know that God has offered salvation through grace in Christ Jesus, and it is through our faith that we gain salvation. Grace and faith work together to provide God’s salvation to God’s people. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…” [Ephesians 2:8] We are saved by grace through faith… both working together… Grace is what God provides and faith is our response. When you think about it… the gospel is pretty simple…In fact, 1 John 3:23 sums it up succinctly: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” Believe… and… Love! Two necessary responses to the freely offered grace that leads to salvation. To achieve salvation… first we must believe. We must have faith. This is our first response to the grace offered… Our faith… our belief in Christ. Jesus came and revealed God’s love to us to the point of willingly dying on a cross for our sins. He died so we might be saved… he destroyed the power of death by his resurrection, completing the work of salvation by grace. But there is another part to the gospel command… we are to believe AND to love one another. This is not a requirement of salvation… it is the RESULT of our salvation… the response generated by the love and grace given to us. It was not the nails that kept Christ up on that cross… it was love… the overwhelming love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. When we accept God’s grace in faith… when we have received the salvation that comes from God… God’s love fills our hearts and we cannot help but extend that love to others. But Isaiah makes one other thing very clear… and it is something God’s people sometimes forget… God’s invitation and grace-filled offer of salvation is extended to all people. Isaiah stresses that God’s saving grace is not offered solely to the people of Israel “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant… And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. The Sovereign Lord declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”” God will gather “still others”… eunuchs and foreigners… people traditionally considered outcasts and not included in the covenant community will be welcomed. No one who accepts God’s grace by faith… no one who comes to the Lord will be rejected… There are no “2nd class citizens”… No Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free… there are only God’s people. Every person is invited to come to God… to be reconciled with God by the blood of Jesus… every person is invited to come and find the grace, love and hope freely offered. All who keep God’s covenant… who respond to God’s grace with faith will be welcomed into God’s family. It is not our place to judge who is in and who is out… God’s embrace is far wider than we could ever imagine. Through Christ, God has done his part by offering us all salvation through grace. Through grace, God provides salvation, healing, and everything else we need, but if we don’t respond in faith to what has been provided by grace, we won’t receive it. This offer of salvation by grace requires a response… we must respond in faith… When we do… when we respond by opening our hearts to God and believing in Christ… we will be filled with God’s love and find that there is a wondrous result of the saving grace and love we experience. The result is that we strive to share that love… to love others as we have been loved… to share the mercy and compassion we have received… to follow God’s commands of love. We are not called to be spectators, but rather participants in the saving work of God in the world today. The call is out… Salvation is close at hand and God’s righteousness will soon be revealed… we must respond in faith that then prompts us to follow God’s commands… to Love God… Love our neighbor, one another, ourselves, our enemies… to maintain justice and do what is good and right… fight for freedom for the oppressed… care for the widows and the orphans… be compassionate and kind to those in need… the poor and vulnerable of society. Our salvation… our eternal life begins now… on this earth and in this life… our response is required now. Our psalm this morning offers some radical advice… “I will listen to what God the Lord says…” I say radical advice because it seems that listening to God is NOT an easy thing to do. From the moment we get up in the morning, we are surrounded with noise and distractions… we are always on the go… consumed by the things that are important to us… is it any wonder it is so difficult for people today to hear God’s voice?
But this morning, I would like us to heed the psalmist’s advice… Let us take some time and truly listen to what God has to tell us… as we look a deeper into Psalm 85. When I looked at the psalm earlier this week… All I could think is that this psalm is what WE need… This psalm is a beautiful prayer of lament… Not for an individual, but for a community that is in the midst of a crisis. And we are definitely a nation in the midst of crisis. This psalm is actually divided into three distinct parts: Verses 1-3 offer a reminder that in the past, God has granted forgiveness and restoration to the people of Israel. Verses 4-7 move to the present as the people again plea for God to bring restoration in a new time of crisis. Finally verses 8-13 provide a message of assurance for the future. The psalm begins as it recalls God's forgiving acts in the past. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled of the reminders of how, over and over, the people turned from God. The prophets issued dire warnings that were ignored, and Israel suffered greatly for failing to listen… for turning away from God… and breaking their side of the covenant. They were conquered… sent into exile… they lost their land… their nation… their “fortunes”… but most of all, they lost their connection… their communion with God. Yet, through it all… God never gave up on them… God did not forsake them… So here, they remember that, God set aside his anger and offered forgiveness... bringing restoration to the people: “You, Lord, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.” Well… Just like the people of Israel… Christian history has shown this same pattern unfold time and time again. Communities and nations turn away from God… failing to follow the commandments of love for God and neighbors… they found themselves suffering and in crisis. Yet, through Christ, God has continuously offered forgiveness and restoration when the people repented and returned to God… letting go of anger and providing hope, mercy and grace… and providing a path for restoring the relationship between the people and God. So in remembrance of God’s salvation in the past… we move to verses 4-7… to the present because it seems that once again the people of Israel messed up… Something has happened… they have recognized that they have again sinned against God, and have found their relationship with God is damaged. And NOW they are worried as they consider that God is angry with them. Their sin is not named… it is not specific which is why this prayer is relevant for any time or place…even for us today… But some great sin… some great divide is clearly present. The people clearly are in need of God’s grace and love and mercy. “Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation.” The people are crying out to God for God to once again set aside God’s anger and restore the people… granting salvation and bringing joy. It is a cry for mercy and restoration for the people of Israel in their present time… and it is also the cry that God’s people within this nation today need to issue… Christians like to think of God as always loving and forgiving… and that is so very true… BUT… even though we are offered salvation by our faith in Christ… we forget that there are real consequences to our words and actions… words and actions that can often hurt both other people… and God. One of those consequences is our own damaged relationship with God. It really is a sobering thought when we consider that God's anger just might be directed against us. That we might have brought God’s wrath upon ourselves. It is so much easier to imagine God's wrath being poured out on our enemies. But let’s face it… many of our own words and actions in this time, in this nation would definitely have angered God. And although this is something we all DO need to consider as individuals… let’s remember that this prayer is for the community… for the nation in crisis. And let’s face it… this nation IS in crisis. I’ve heard people comment that God has turned his back on us… but that is simply NOT the case… the reality is that… As a nation, we have turned our back on God, and we are suffering for it. But thankfully, we find that the plea for restoration moves us to the third portion of this prayer… which brings a new voice. The voice is prophetic, and the message being delivered is a message of assurance… it provides a view of the world as it can be with God. It begins with the call and a warning: “I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly.” The call… Listen to the Lord, really hear and heed what God says and God will grant peace to his people. The warning is a prayer… that God’s people will NOT return to “folly”… to the stupidity that separated them from God in the first place. It is a reminder that the people and God have been through this before, and human nature is such that the people will probably end up there again. That is where the assurance comes in because the remainder of this beautiful psalm gives us a wonderful glimpse into God's kingdom… what life with God looks like: steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness and peace… the promised restoration that involves the whole of creation, reuniting heaven and earth as “Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.” And “The Lord will indeed give what is good…” You see… The word of God is a word of hope, and it seeks to call the community to trust and faithfulness in the God who will bring about this salvation. It declares that God's involvement in the world brings goodness and wholeness in life. Life that is portrayed as a full, and complete… life lived to the fullest in relationship with God. This is such a strong word of hope, encouragement and assurance for a community crisis, and as a community in crisis we need to refocus our hearts and minds on what is truly important because our hope comes from the knowledge that God is willing to forgive those who repent and return to God. But what does this mean for us as a nation in the midst of crisis? We are so divided… angry and afraid… How can we bring change to a whole nation? Well… Psalm 85 is a prayer… a prayer for a people who need to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is our reminder of what WE need to do. First, we must remember the forgiveness and restoration we have already received and experienced… reminding ourselves and one another of God’s grace and mercy because remembering can help the disheartened to look up again to what can become a reality… Secondly, we then need to pray… we need to pray for restoration and forgiveness for ourselves and for this nation… It is time for all people of faith to cry out to God… “Will you be angry with us forever? … For every believer to set aside their differences and ask God to “Restore us… put away your displeasure… revive us… show us your unfailing love… and grant us your salvation.” We need to refocus our hearts and minds on the promises of God… let our faith grow and guide us… because our faith and our prayers are really the only hope our nation has. It is by our faith that we are able to strive to be obedient and follow God’s commands… commands to Love God with all we are… AND to love our neighbors… and one another… commands that call us to care for the poor and vulnerable people of our society and have us striving for justice and peace for all… Our faith is what will enable us to change… to learn how to live as God calls us to live here in the present… always moving towards that promised hope. With faith, we can look to the past in order to see the glorious possibilities of the future. I mean… it is pretty clear… our nation needs healing… we need restoration and revival… We need to turn back to God… We need to remember what is important and open our ears… our minds… and our hearts to truly listen to God and then accept God’s guidance and work to live in God’s ways. If we can do this… restoration, peace and salvation will be achieved. Amen. Isaiah 55: 1-5 & Matthew 14: 13-21
There was a young preacher, fresh out of seminary who was invited to preach his first sermon at his home church. He really wanted to impress them. That Sunday he was very nervous and he began by saying “Jesus took 5,000 fish, and 2,000 loaves and he fed five people!” He paused… very dramatically… then said “Could any of you do that?” People began to laugh and an older man raised his hand… The young preacher looked at him with indignation and said “Sir, how could you claim to do something that only our Lord could do?” The man stood up and explained exactly what the preacher had asked. The young preacher was so embarrassed and humiliated that he could not continue. He just sat down. The congregation knew him, and were loving and kind, and told him “Look, everyone makes mistakes. Forget about it. Come back next Sunday and try it again.” He agreed. So the next Sunday after practicing his sermon all week, he stood up in front of the congregation. This time he was ready… he said, “Jesus took five loaves and two fish and he fed 5,000 people. Could any of you do that?” Well… there were some giggles as the same man raised his hand again… Now the preacher knew he hadn’t misspoken this time and he got a little angry and said, “Sir, how can you claim to do something like that?’ The man looked at him and with a straight face said, “With the leftovers from your sermon last Sunday.” Today, we heard the story of how Jesus fed over 5000 people… a story of a great miracle. So I ask… Could you do that? Could I? Based on this story, the simple answer is… yes! Now don’t roll your eyes at me… let me explain. This is a story of miracles… and we have to realize that the miracles Jesus performed were not done to try and convince the people that Jesus was some divine being… They were meant to be signs that revealed the character and heart of God to the people. The true miracle of the feeding of 5000 is not what Jesus did… but why and with whom. The ‘why’ offers us the sign… the “miracle” of revelation… revealing more to us about God… and it is captured in that single word… “Compassion.” Look at how this story begins… Jesus hears of John the Baptist’s death… “he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” Jesus wanted to be alone in his grief, but the crowds found him… they swarmed around him again… It seems that even in grief, Jesus cannot get time to himself. But he looks at the crowds… he sees their needs and “he had compassion on them” and spent the day healing the sick. This ability to lay aside his own needs and offer compassion and care to others is what sets Jesus apart. This miraculous story gives us wonderful insight into the heart of God… For if Jesus truly reveals what God is like to us… then what we find is a God of compassion. This is the same God we see through the Prophet Isaiah. The God who remains with the people of Israel, even though they had failed to keep their side of the covenant… even though they sinned against God. They were punished… conquered… sent into exile… but God did not wash his hands of them. NO! God continues to call out to them… beaconing them to return to God. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! … Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” God calls his people to come and partake of all God has to offer ‘without money and without price.’ It did not matter if they were wealthy or penniless, powerful or lowly… all are called to the living waters… all are invited to share in the bounty of God’s kingdom. This is the God of compassion… the miracle that Jesus reveals to us today. And that brings us to the second part of the miracle… the ‘with whom.’ “As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” The disciples recognized that there was a need… they go to Jesus with what they think is a reasonable solution… There are simply too many… they are hungry… send them away! But Jesus disagrees… to him… the solution is even easier: “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” He didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I will take care of this” … he said “You see the problem… you fix it. Give them something to eat.” Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy! Except it’s not that easy is it… the disciples did not have the resources to feed thousands of people… They were able to find some bread and a couple of fish… they just couldn’t do it. But Jesus challenges them… he says “Don’t worry… you can do it! Jesus takes their meager resources… blesses them, breaks them and then he gives them back to the disciples for them to distribute. And suddenly there is food enough for all… Now, there have been scholars who have suggested that maybe Jesus did not miraculously multiply the food, but the generosity of the disciples simply opened the hearts of others and they produced whatever food that they had brought with them and began to share it. A Stone Soup kind of scenario… What is the truth? I don’t know… but as far as I am concerned… it is a true miracle either way. And it is a two-fold miracle… Not only does Jesus have compassion enough to meet the needs of the people in spite of his own grief, but he changes the hearts of his followers so that they too, are willing to give all they had found and share it in order to meet the needs of others with an abundance left over. For Jesus, it was very simple. There was a need, and he expected his disciples to meet the need. Jesus used his reluctant disciples to care for the poor and hungry that God loves so much. So you see… according to Jesus… we can do it! With his help. That is what is expected in the kingdom of God. The church was never meant to be some sort of country club, or a place for weekly entertainment. The church IS the Disciples of Christ and we are to always have our eyes open… to recognize the needs of the people in our community and we are to always be willing to meet those needs. It does not matter what our resources might be… or what resources might be lacking… with Jesus… there is ALWAYS a way. That is one of the lessons of this story… when we combine our limited resources with the power and compassion of Jesus… there will be more than enough. Jesus did not expect the disciples to feed thousands of people on their own… but with his help. Just like we, as Christ’s disciples today are not expected to solve the all the needs in our community by our own power. That is the amazing thing about this story… it isn’t over… it continues on because God still cares deeply for those who are most vulnerable… for the poor, the immigrant, the hungry… and God continues to use us to care for them. We all have resources that can be used to care for the needs of others… meager as those resources might be… we have them. We have answered God’s call to come to the waters… to feast at God’s table… to enter into a covenant relationship with God… and as such… we have come to know God’s provision and abundance. Even if we are not financially wealthy… we are blessed in so many ways. We must be willing to let go and become God’s provision, God’s hospitality and God’s service to others. It is this vision of compassion that we are called to embrace… that we are called to embody. It is a challenge to offer what meagre resources we may have… be it time, expertise, money, creativity, talent or compassion… To allow Jesus to take them… multiply them and then return them to us so that we can redistribute them to those who need them. It is a call is to be the people who can trust in God’s promises… who can trust in God’s loving care for us, and allow that trust to open us to lives of generosity, inclusivity and service to others. Let’s face it… Whoever said that following Jesus was easy has never really read the Gospels! So, let’s not allow our fears, our selfishness or our human weakness to be the excuse we use to avoid answering Christ’s call to feed the world… to care for the needy and to stand against the powers that leave people hungry in the first place. Who can do all that? We can… you and me… with Jesus’ help. Amen. |
Yeon Shin
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