LENT DEVOTIONS, Journey Towards the Renewed Covenant: The Covenant of Land and Descendants

Written by: Rev. Kazimiera I.H. Fraley and Rev. Christy Gunter-Leppert for March 1-8, 2009.

Daily Meditation One

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-17

God makes a covenant with Abraham and Sarah. Until this point Abraham tried to gain God’s promise through his own means. God gently reminds Abraham of the covenant with him and his descendents.

God chooses to accomplish this promise in a seemingly impossible way and Abraham laughs in response. Old ladies do not give birth; not to mention that Sarah has remained barren all her days.

This story reminds us of the importance to always remember God can and will fulfill the promises God makes, no matter how impossible they may seem to us.

Reflection Questions
What promises has God made to you?

Have you ever “laughed” when being presented with the promises of God?

In what impossible ways does God want to work through you in this preparatory season?

Prayer
Lord, when I laugh at the impossible – use my laughter to remind me, I cannot do anything alone. Only you can fulfill your promises. The impossible is envisioned with possibility in light of your power and plan.

Weekly Action
Take time to allow God to give you an impossible vision, to work God’s plan, to renew people’s lives, to give you a promise for you life and trust that God can and will accomplish this in and through you.

* * * * * *

Daily Meditation Two

Psalm 22:19-31

Even in our sorrow, fear, and suffering we are called to give praise to God. We need to glorify God even in the terrible, horrible, down times of suffering. We may feel our lives are falling apart and we are standing in the ashen remains.

We are to sing of the greatness of God, no matter what is going on in our lives. The Psalmist reminds us, it is by giving God glory that others, even the unborn for generations to come, can see the true greatness because of how we lived our lives.

Reflection Questions
What makes you feel like you are under the sword, with the dogs, in a lion’s mouth, hung by the horn of bull?

Can you find a way to praise God even in the midst of that suffering?


Prayer
God, sometimes I suffer. Sometimes I hurt. Sometimes my pain is so severe I can barely breathe. In spite of this – I struggle to reach my frail arms up and praise you. You are great, holy and worthy of praise. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts deep within me – holler out praise for generations to come.

Weekly Action
Take time to allow God to give you an impossible vision, to work God’s plan, to renew people’s lives, to give you a promise for you life and trust that God can and will accomplish this in and through you.


* * * * * *


Daily Meditation Three

Mark 8:31-38

How many times are we presented with this passage and thought about how misguided Peter was when he rebuked Jesus?

How often do we, like Peter, put the things we think (and what other people in the world around us think) ahead of the things of God?

We forget we are being just like Peter. We are telling God the way things should be instead of humbly allowing God to tell us. We need to sit back, listen accept the words of God when he speaks to us, and allow God to accomplish God’s will and God’s way for this world through us.

Reflection Questions
Is there anything God is speaking with you about letting go of; be it something you want (like Peter) over something God wants?

How can you allow God to work through you in the ways God chooses instead of choosing for yourself?

Prayer
Lord God, take all my desires for what I want and mold them to what you want. Forgive me for telling you how things should be. I humbly confess before you and desire to listen for your will and way

Weekly Action
Take time to allow God to give you an impossible vision, to work God’s plan, to renew people’s lives, to give you a promise for you life and trust that God can and will accomplish this in and through you.

* * * * * *

Daily Meditation Four

Romans 4:13-25

Even when presented with a laughable promise Abraham trusted God. We can also know God will always keep promises.

Paul reminds us that although Abraham did not see the ultimate and final fulfillment of the promise made to him, God was still faithful to fulfill those promises.

Sometimes we look at our lives and feel God has left us. We think God is not fulfilling promises in our lives. We must remember, even when God seems distant or God’s promises will never come, God is always faithful.

Faith is not a lack of doubt. Faith is trusting God even when we doubt. It is trusting God to accomplish the impossible even when we have uncertainty and can not see the vision of God for ourselves. God is faithful and true; always.

Reflection Questions
In what ways do you doubt the promises of God?

How can you express faith and trust in God, even when you doubt?

Prayer
Lord God, I submit my belief or lack of belief to you. I praise you, trusting you are able to do what you promise. I believe you can accomplish the seemingly impossible – even when we cannot.

Weekly Action
Take time to allow God to give you an impossible vision, to work God’s plan, to renew people’s lives, to give you a promise for you life and trust that God can and will accomplish this in and through you.

* * * * * *

Genesis 9:8-17 and 1 Peter 3:18-22, “Covenant and Renewed Covenant: God’s mercy and grace in chaos”

This is the sermon for Trinity Church of the Nazarene, Christy Gunter-Leppert on March 1, 2009. The picture is from "scripturepics.org"

I included my outline this time, so the reader can see where I'm going. If you want to scream out "No! No! That's not right!" Hang with me. I might be doing something on purpose-- to get us somewhere together.


I. Story of the flood (Genesis 9:8-17)

The world was a dark and dreary place.

It was cold, it was as if the sun was hiding it’s face.

It was full of sin, full of greed, full of pride, full of killing, full of misused power.

The world was hopeless; seemingly in a downward spiral towards falling apart.

The people were nothing but ashes… and acted like it.

They coveted their neighbor’s wife. They treated people as property. They stole birthrights.

They took from the tree of good and evil.

They were selfish. They were sinful. They cared more about what they wanted than anyone or anything else.

The need for power, security, and prestige dominated the world.

And then from the cloud covered darkness… it started to rain… and rain… and rain some more.

Before long it rained so much it was flood.

The world was so bad, so sinful, so pathetic… even nature responded.

The people were so selfish, so sinful—that even nature, the creation suffered.

More people died, more animals died.

The sinfulness of humanity destroyed itself.

II. Covenant: God’s mercy and grace in chaos

But in the midst of sinfulness, in the midst of chaos, in the midst of the death that comes from sin—in the death that comes to all creation because of sin… was God’s mercy and grace.

God asked the faithful one, the one who chose what God wanted over what he wanted, build an ark and collect some animals and his family- and they were spared.

God’s mercy and grace broke through the chaos and God gave a covenant.

Genesis 9:8-13

So basically—we have this loving, merciful God promising to forever hold back the natural forces that crash and kill everything as a result of human sinfulness.

We have God promise to never again deal with sin—by letting the natural catastrophic consequence to destroy everything… in all of creation.

We have hope for mercy and grace—even in the worst disasters and consequnece of sin; that caused a flood.


III. Story of flood of life, we still did not get it

And yet… we humans, the people of Israel, still did not get it.

After the flood the Old Testament is full of stories of people who still did not get the effect of their sinfulness on all creation.

The king takes another man’s wife.
Apostasy (turning away from God towards false gods) runs crazy.

The world is full of a flood—natural consequences to sin; catastrophic—but not deadly to all of creation at one blow.

But yet, even without a literal all-destructive flood, the world is still pretty bad.

The world was a dark and dreary place.

It was cold, it was as if the sun was hiding it’s face.

It was full of sin, full of greed, full of pride, full of killing, full of misused power.

The world was hopeless; seemingly in a downward spiral towards falling apart.

The people were nothing but ashes… and acted like it.

They coveted their neighbor’s wife. They treated people as property. They stole.

They were selfish. They were sinful. They cared more about what they wanted than anyone or anything else.

The need for power, security, and prestige dominated the world.

The prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven to the priests of Ba’al.
Hosea married a whore to show how sinful the people of Israel were.
Amos called them to stop using the poor to get rich.

But the world was still in bad shape.

The world was still full of people tearing up creation and destroying people.


IV. Renewed covenant: God’s mercy and grace in chaos (1 Peter 3:18-22)

But in the midst of sinfulness, in the midst of chaos, in the midst of the death that comes from sin—in the death that comes to all creation because of sin… was God’s mercy and grace.

-Yet again.


1 Peter 3:18-22


In the midst of our sinfulness, in the midst of the dark and dreary world—where sin reigned; where we were selfish…

In the midst of all this, Jesus enters the scene.

Jesus becomes the ashes, with life breathed into it.

Jesus becomes the ash—that we all once were and will all become again.

Jesus- becomes the death; the natural consequence for sin.

Jesus- becomes the catastrophic flood, if you will.

Jesus is dead. His body had returned to its once ashen state.

BUT then—the ashes came to life in AGAIN, by the power of the Spirit.

And all those who follow Jesus, who are baptized in Christ, will also have life breathed into them again.

The baptism waters are symbolic—of dying and living with Christ.

We go into the water in the same way our ashen bodies will also die—but we will die with Christ.

And when we are lifted again out of the baptism waters with Jesus, we have hope to have life breathed into our ashes again.

We are a community of the baptized. We are a community of those who died with Christ and will also live again with Christ.

The world might be a dark and dreary place—but there is hope in God’s mercy and grace—for the baptized in Christ. And there is hope for the dark and dreary world—because of the Church of Jesus Christ.


V. A better creation is not just possible; it is happening.

There is hope… because Jesus showed us with his very life and death—the way to live.

Jesus showed us how not to live in a way that brought catastrophic disaster to all of creation (as it did in the flood) or as it did to the whole of humanity throughout scripture (that brings about death).

Jesus showed us how to live a different way.

Instead of living in this downward spiral towards death and destruction—Jesus showed us how to act in an upward spiral towards life and hope.

Instead of acting by exerting power, taking what we want, stealing, coveting, killing… Jesus shows us another way to live.

Jesus’ way of living and dying is one of self-denial, sacrifice, and selflessness.

AND THUS: The world is not such a dark and dreary place anymore!!

The world has the Church!!

The Church needs to be the body of Christ (the continuation of Christ’s life and death—living in this upward spiral towards the good creation) so the world can see WHO THEY CAN BE!

We are to embody Christ, literally BE the body of Christ in the world—so the world (that is still dark and dreary) can see how beautiful they can be… if they choose to act like Jesus too… if they chose to live and die with the same self-sacrifice as Christ (and hopefully as the Church is living and dying).

We, the Church of Jesus Christ, are actually making the world better!

Through the power of Jesus Christ, through the example we follow in Him, we are enabled to act and be—towards a better creation; towards the creation as we were intended—before we chose ourselves.

And what is MOST exciting is that a better creation (as God intended before sin) is not just possible… it’s actually happening!

A better creation can be seen…

1. As my friend Kaza Fraley says, “when a meth addict walks into church on Sunday dirty and high and a lady in the church says, ‘here sweetie you look cold, take my coat and wrap yourself in it.’”

A better creation can be seen…

2. When a lonely old woman, desperate for the love she once knew, gets hugged and accepted in the community of faith.

A better creation can be seen…

3. When a church member is out in the world grocery shopping and someone drops everything in their arms—and they stop to pick them up.

A better creation can be seen…

4. When the alcoholic comes stone drunk into the doors of the church and someone offers them a cup of cold water instead of kicking them out on the street.

A better creation can be seen…

5. When the doors of a house or the church is opened up for a homeless person to have a nice warm place to sleep.

A better creation can be seen…

6. When we hold the lonely old man’s hand in the nursing home and give him a smile of encouragement.

A better creation can be seen…

7. When the hungry are fed, with the captives are released, when the oppressed are given hope.

A better world is not just possible, it is happening—because of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ; because of the love of the Father, through the power of the Spirit.

As Tony Jones says in “An Emergent Manifesto of Hope,” (Baker Books, 2007), “God’s promised future is good, and it awaits us, beckoning us forward. We’re caught in the tractor beam of redemption and re-creation, and there’s no sense fighting it, so we might as well cooperate” (130).

VI. Conclusion

God’s mercy and grace HAS always been present—it has always been there, loving us and drawing us towards God.

God’s mercy and grace WILL always be present—it will continue to always be there loving us and continually drawing us towards God.

AND THUS WE CAN SAY:

May God, in God’s great mercy, enable us to have the eyes to see the possibility for the great and good creation…
And may God, in God’s great mercy, enable us to live out this great creation…
So that our very lives might be the most beautiful offering back to God; of a restored creation.

Mark 9:2-9, Transfiguration Sunday; Mountains

This is the sermon for Sunday, Feb 22 for Trinity Church of the Nazarene on Transfiguration Sunday.

This picture is from "scripturepics.org"

* * * * * * * *

When I was in college, I had an opportunity to visit Israel, Jordan, and Egypt—which included some mountain top experiences where I was able to climb Mt. Sinai.

Now I know we’re in Kansas and you don’t see many mountains around here but this mountain was HUGE.

It literally had to go in an “S” up the mountain because it was too steep to just walk up without falling off the edge of the mountain. This formation—is a way to help your body adjust to the incline.

My professor (the smart, educated one… who is one of my favorite people ever) actually thought it might be fun to skip one of the “S” curves on one of the mountains climbed on that trip—so he would just go straight down the mountain.

And by so doing, my dear professor- almost stumbled down the mountain towards his death!

One of my fellow students did this football stance (yep, tiny preacher girl will show visually!) to catch him and keep him from his impending doom.

(You know it wasn’t me keeping the professor from falling off the mountain… I’m so tiny I couldn’t keep a CHIPMUNK from falling off the side of the mountain- HA). :)

But my fellow student saved his life that day—and so we all learned the lesson that the “S” shape on the mountain keeps you from death. And that the mountain is WAY steeper than we ever imagined.

So these S’s keep you from doom on the mountain. You with me? HUGE MOUNTAIN… That’s how big Mt. Sinai is.

Some of my friends took camels up the lower part of the mountain… right before the “S” curves got too steep and the camels couldn’t even do the rest of the trip. I was NOT one of those people. I tried to take a picture of a camel and it tried to LICK ME! It was absolute horror for me that day... one thing after another tormenting me while I tried to make my way up the mountain.


When we get to the point where camels can no longer go up there’s a little store where you can get hot chocolate, whatever… as you make your way up the mountain.

It was SO cold by that point some of my friends had to drop out of the climb because of their frostbite. Literally, their hand was white and iced from the frostbite.

I, however, brought two pairs of gloves and was determined to keep going up this mountain.

So I kept climbing this mountain… trying my best to get to the top… Just like Moses. In fact, I had just written a paper in school about Moses climbing that SAME mountain and I tell you what, if that old man could do it… I was going to do it too.

So we keep climbing and it gets harder and harder to climb. The higher you go up, the higher the altitude and so it gets colder and colder and colder so its like you’re hanging out in the freezer in Ratatouille- times 10; freezing.

When we finally made it to the last leg of this mountain hike, you can almost see the top of the mountain… except for the fog that covers the mountain top.

It is by far, one of the hardest physical things I have EVER had to do. Each step was like your feet weighed 100 pounds and it was getting harder and harder to breathe because it was SO high up. I’m not kidding you- climbing Mt. Sinai is tough to do. A bunch of my fellow students had already dropped out…

By this point it is so high of an altitude that I was having a hard time breathing… but I kept going.

At the very end of the climb; the mountain rocks become like steps- no more "S" shape (either that or I was delusional from the strain on my body to climb this mountain; I'm not really sure- Ha!).

So we climbed up these steps TRYING to get to the top of this mountain.
And there was a dense fog so you couldn’t see very far up the mountain at that point.

But I was quite determined.

And then finally… FINALLY I made it to the top of Mt. Sinai!!
I was FILLED with Frost bitten joy and excitement.

And oh, it was sweet.

I had worked SO hard to make it to the top of the mountain and I did it!

It was quite the MOUNTAIN TOP experience.


But that wasn’t the only mountain top experience I’ve had.

See in Romania… there’s this mountain called Mt. Sinia (“ia” instead of “ai”). It’s named after Mt. Sinai but it’s called Mt. Sinia.

It wasn’t QUITE as hard as Mt. Sinai but it wasn’t exactly the most fun I’ve ever had in my life climbing that thing.

In fact… Pastor Kaza’s (the pastor of Mulvane)’s husband Pastor Mike, was on that trip with me… and he literally had to kick my little tail UP THAT MOUNTAIN.

I wanted to give up. The mountain top experience just was not worth it.
It was almost harder to climb this mountain because I had absolutely no desire to do it.

It was raining. My feet were slipping.
I did not want to climb this mountain. It was no fun at all. I was struggling…

But I tell you what, when Pastor Mike finally kicked my tail up that mountain, it was sweet!

When I finally made it to the top, I was so excited. I was wet but super happy.


And that wasn’t the only mountain top experience I had.

When I was a kid, life at school and church wasn't always that great. Kids were mean to me and picked on me.

Sometimes I was afraid to go to church because the kids were SO incredibly mean to me, for no reason.

But when I came to camp I had a mountain top experience where I encountered God, the Holy One.

I was sitting in service when I heard God talking to me; kind of like God did to Jesus up on the mountain when he was transfigured.

Has that ever happened to you either at a retreat, in a revival service… OR LIKE, HERE WHEN I’M PREACHING, maybe? Maybe? (HA! I'm kidding)

When God talks—it is a MOUNTAIN TOP experience.

Encountering God is like being up on the mountain.

Those times where we sense Gods presence and we work on our relationship with God and God calls us to be more then we could have ever imagined or faked to anyone else.

Because it’s up on the mountain where we encounter the Holy One; just like Jesus did when he was transfigured.

The voice of God validates, affirms, and approves Jesus, right there on that mountain top.
The voice says that Jesus is God’s Son and that we should listen to him!

This is transfiguration Sunday… where we talk about Jesus on the mountain top and God’s voice telling us to listen to Jesus…

And although mountain top experiences are sweet—climbing the mountain… is not so sweet.

If people in flatland Kansas can learn anything from this east coast girl, climbing the mountain is not so sweet. It’s hard and difficult.

Our upcoming mountain top experience is Easter. Resurrection Sunday is closer than you think… actually—since Lent is 40 days… that makes it what, 43 days away?

Our upcoming mountain climb— is the hard work of climbing up the mountain to get to that sweet experience in the season of Lent; beginning Ash Wednesday (this coming Wednesday).

Our mountain climb begins this Wednesday with Ash Wednesday.

Dennis Bracher (on crivoice) writes, “It is too easy and promotes too cheap a grace to focus only on the high points of Palm Sunday and Easter without walking with Jesus through the darkness of Good Friday, a journey that begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a way to place ourselves before God humbled.”

What is this "cheap grace?"

Cheap grace is celebrating the resurrection on Easter Sunday morning without suffering alongside Jesus, without walking with Christ to the cross.

Cheap grace is taking a camel all the way up the mountain. Getting to the mountain top without sweating (or freezing) to get up there.

Cheap grace is partying on Easter Sunday morning but failing to mourn on Ash Wednesday (and the entire season of Lent)—remembering our sin, our mortality, our broken relationship with God that NEEDS Easter Sunday morning.

For too many years as a young person—I felt this cheap grace. I never climbed the mountain (doing work and freezing to death) to get to the Easter mountain top experience.

Until I joined together with a community on Ash Wednesday, humiliated with the fact we were nothing but ashes and to ashes we would return.

Because this is what Ash Wednesday means—ashes. We are nothing but mere ashes and in God’s great mercy, life was breathed into those ashes.

Ashes are a symbol of mourning and sorrow for the death sin brings in the world. That our sin leads to death—and to ashes we will return.

I read an article this week (An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Baker, Pagitt and Jones, 2007) written by a prison counselor. It was absolutely facinating. He said, "One of the luxuries of working inside a prison is not having to waste time convincing inmates that their lives have become unmanagable" (92).

And that perhaps churches should work to encourage "their parishioners to act more like prisoners" (95).

Ash Wednesday creates a space for us to become like prisoners; for us to mourn, for us to grieve, for us to be sad about death—for us to be sad about the fact we’re going to die. To be sad about our sin and admit our lives are a mess.

Why do we give something up during Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday?

Because it is part of the journey towards Easter. It’s part of the journey of suffering with Christ.

It’s part of the mountain climb up to Easter. And we do it together, as a community.

There is something mysterious that happens when a community of faith together bows their heads in humility and suffers together without “something” for 40 days. When we admit our lives are unmanagable-- and we need to fast from something as a spiritual discipline to learn about who God is and who God is making us.

There is something mystical that happens when we deny ourselves “something” for 40 days.

There is something unexplainable that happens when we become broken together—thinking about our mortality and our need for repentance.

Things happen. Lives are changed. Churches are transformed to be a more loving community—allowing the sins of selfishness they did not even know they had—die next to Christ.

Fasting during Lent is a time that has the potential to bring us together—in our common brokenness where we beat our chests and cry out to God for mercy—and then together celebrate when that mercy breathes life into our death.

Let us participate in this Lenten journey together. Let's climb this mountain together-- as we approach our big mountain top experience of Easter Sunday morning.

Everyone should find a card in their bulletin titled: “My Lenton Pledge”

And it has a prayer: “Lord Jesus, in order to grow closer to you, learn how to give up what I want for what you want, and be united with you in your suffering, I give you something I love this Lent season. By saying “no” to this thing may I learn to say “no” to sin, learn to spend more time with you in prayer, and be closer to you. Amen.”
After the prayer it says, “I will deny myself ____________.”


And if you see in this prayer—There are things for us to learn together this Lent season through self-denial.

1) Let's together, to learn how to give up what we want for what God wants. When you constantly say “no” to something you want, you learn a pattern, a behavior, a way to respond to God—how to say no to what you want later. And thus, you learn how to say “yes” to God’s plan for you, how to give up what you want for God’s plan for creation.

2) Let's learn the pattern of saying “no.” If we say “no” to what we want, “no” to what we want, and again “no” to what we want, when sin creeps up, we have learned the pattern of saying no.

3) Let's become united with Christ. As we deny ourselves, we become connected to Jesus who also denied his very life.

4) Let's learn how to pray together, how in our self-denial we learn how to focus on God and God’s plan for us. How we become closer to God and each other in our common brokenness.


This week you have your card. Think about it. Ponder over what God could be asking you to give up this year.

Some might give up ice cream. Some might give up cookies.

Last year I gave up my rightful place in life. And it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. This meant I let cars cut me off without a response (because it was not my place anyway). This means I let people in front of me in the grocery line.

It was one of the most difficult things to give up—but I learned a whole lot about myself and my selfishness; things I would never see on my own (without a fast).

Some might give up TV or electronics. Some might give up something of privilege… sleeping in a bed, eating 3 perfectly full meals.

Some might give up the way they respond. Perhaps if you have an angry response you could give up your right to respond—so you literally bite your tongue and let whatever is said or happen- happen; giving up your right to respond.

Some might give up makeup or joyriding.

Whatever it is—I want you to write it on this card (keep this card), commit to doing it BY Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) and then we will nail another card to the cross next Sunday—as a committed community together; ready to see what God will do with us in our common brokenness.

We are going to climb this mountain together, beginning Ash Wednesday.

We’re going to give up something and in our common brokenness and in our common self-denial, we are going to suffer.

And we’re going to watch what God does in our suffering.

We’re going to climb this mountain, get frostbit together; we’re going to lift our legs when they feel like they weigh 100 pounds together.

We’re going to struggle together.

Mark 1:29-39, “Love is Reflecting the Light by Healing, Serving, and Preaching”

This is the sermon originally meant to be preached Feb 8 (until I became really sick prior to service time) and was rewritten and adapted for Feb 15 at Trinity Church of the Nazarene.

The picture is from "scripturepics.org" (a wondeful site I would recommend).

* * * * * * * * *

As most of you know, I was very sick this week… and really, the last few weeks.

I got blood work done awhile ago… And they were able to tell me it was not mono. It was not anemia. It was not thyroid problems… That only left 9,000 other possibilities.

Why did I not want to get out of bed? Why did I feel so exhausted?

I did not feel like getting out of bed- ever. Every little task felt like it was a marathon. Every little duty seemed like climbing a mountain… and yet I kept going; that is, until last Sunday when I crashed.

By Monday… I found myself sick in bed with a fever; unable to even lift my head to look at the time.

I had a virus, infection, and who knows what else… all at the same time. And it kicked me down.

All of us have times where we feel sick. Where we do not want to get out of bed. Where we are in bed with a fever.

Almost everyone has a story just like mine this past week… of feeling sick.

Generally, every human desires to be healthy- instead of being in bed, sick with a fever.

Just like our scripture today.

Basically the story goes like this:

We pick up where we left off with the sermon 2 weeks ago (we’re still working in Mark chapter 1 where we’ve been for the last month). Jesus leaves the synagogue where he casts out an evil spirit—and they go to the home of Simon Peter.

Simon Peter’s Mother-In-Law is sick and in bed with a fever.

… I think after this last week, I truly can empathize with her suffering.

But Jesus walks up to her bedside, takes her hand, and helps her out of bed.

…Wouldn’t I have loved that?! For Jesus to come to my bedside and instead of handing me a Gatorade and Tylenol… he would help me out of bed?

But then… this lady walks into the kitchen and starts serving them meals and adding ice to their drinks (because we all know there was ice in Jesus’ day) while Jesus heals other people.

Jesus then heads out on his own the next morning when his disciples barge in and inform him everyone is looking for him and Jesus says—we must go to another town so I can preach there too, “this is why I came.”

So Jesus travels around other places—even though people want him to stay in Capernaum and heal everyone… Jesus goes out to preach in other places too.

What a story. There’s sickness. There’s healing. There’s service. There’s preaching.

What is most amazing about this story, in the Gospel of Mark,… is how Jesus loves.

Jesus loves by healing; by serving; & by preaching.

So let’s look at these three things. What is healing? What is serving? What is preaching?


Or maybe more significantly… what needs to be healed?
Do we only need to be healed from fevers?
Do we only need to be healed from infections and viruses?
Do we only need to be healed from those times we can’t lift our heads out of bed?

…Or, perhaps, is there more from which we need to be healed?

We need to be healed from so much more.
We need to be healed……. from our disconnection.

(Rob Bell in “Sex God,” Zondervan, 2007 says), “We’re disconnected from each other and we know it.” “It’s not how things are supposed to be” (35).

In Genesis, “God creates the first people.” “The story begins with humans in right relationship—in HEALTHY, life-giving connection—with their maker. All of their other relationships flow from the HEALTH of this one central relationship—people and God” (39).
In Genesis we see Adam in a great relationship with God. Adam is healthy; no fevers, no sickness. And then he starts choosing what Adam wants over what God wants… and thus, Adam is no longer healthy.

Adam might as well be sick in bed with a fever.

Because “everything” goes wrong; Adam and Eve “choose another way,” and… “they become disconnected” (39).

And this is where we find ourselves… sick, unhealthy, & in desperate need to be healed.

We are sick, in bed, with a fever; needing Jesus to come heal us.

Needing Jesus to heal us from our sickly disconnection from one another and disconnection from God.

“We were born into a world, into a condition of disconnection. Things were created to be a certain way, and they’re not that way, and we feel it in every fiber of our being” (40).

“We’re severed and cut off and disconnected in a thousand ways, and we know it, we feel it, we’re aware of it every day. It’s an ache in our bones that won’t go away” (40).

It’s a fever that puts us in bed, sick, just like Peter’s Mother-in-law.

Some of us have various relationships that have been healed. Some of us barely hang on to the dysfunctional relationships we currently have.

Some of us have great relationships. Some of us wish we had great relationships.

Some of us experience community. Some of us wonder if true community is even possible.

And in our disconnection, our broken relationships, in our detachment from each other…

Jesus comes to some of us in Capernaum and heals us.
Jesus comes to our bedside and restores us from our disconnection from each other.
Jesus takes our hand and heals us for the purpose of serving others who are disconnected too.

Ah… And now we come to serving.
We said Jesus loves by healing, serving, and preaching. Let’s look at serving.

What is serving?

This seems like an easy one. Serving is helping others, putting others needs before our own.

… Just like Peter’s Mother-in-law. The lady was sick, in bed… and then gets up to serve.
If that’s not giving up your own needs for someone else, I don’t know what is.

….Especially since I’ve just felt sickness recently, myself. I certainly did not feel like getting out of bed and serving anyone. That’s for sure! I could barely lift my head let alone add ice to anyone’s cup.

So service… maybe it’s not such an easy one.

Perhaps service is even harder than healing (when we are restored from our disconnection).

Service involves putting aside our own needs for the connected needs of others.

Service involves giving up what we want in order that someone else might be healed from their disconnection.

Service… is quite difficult, quite challenging, quite painful- even.

Service involves blessing others—giving of ourselves to others who are disconnected, who are sick in bed with a fever from their separation from each other (and God) and they feel it deep in their bones.

Rob Bell in “Velvet Elvis” (Zondervan, 2005) says, “the church is at its best when it gives itself away” (165) to those who are disconnected and sickly.

“The church doesn’t exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it’s about all the people God wants to bless through the church.

*** When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart” (165). ***

“The most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people.” “ It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display” (167).

The church is to be the one who says, “Jesus lives. Here’s a toaster” (168). Is that what you need?

“Jesus lives. Here’s a fruit basket. Eat healthy this week.”
“Jesus lives. Let me tutor you in math.”

Service—is the blood that flows through the body of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s how we are. It’s who we are.

What about preaching? What is preaching? If Jesus shows love by preaching, what is it?

Preaching—is sharing the good news. Preaching is telling about what God has done and is doing.
Preaching—is telling our story.

But what is the good news and what has God done? What is God doing?
What is the STORY we share?

There are times in life… where we FEEL and SENSE the connectedness; where we see clearly where Jesus has healed us from our disconnection.

Have you ever thrown back your head in laughter with a friend and you sense the connectedness to that person?

Or have you ever been smacked in the face with how connected we are—those moments that blow away any disconnected feelings in our bones we have…. Those moments where we say things like, “wow- it’s a small world after all.”

Most of you are familiar with Kaza Fraley, the pastor at Mulvane. She’s the one who co-authors the devotions you all received during Advent and will receive again during the season of Lent.

Kaza reminds me of how connected I am.

We both grew up in Maryland. She went to Eastern Nazarene College, 4 years later… so did I. She went to Seminary, 4 years later… so did I. She went to pastor in Wichita, 4 years later… so did I. And we met in Romania. We’ve been in the same place 5 times. When she moves, watch out; ‘cause I know where I’ll be in 4 years.

Crazy things like that… remind us of God’s healing; of our connection to each other because of our God.

There are times in life… where we FEEL and SENSE the connectedness; where we see clearly where Jesus has healed us from our disconnection.

Those moments where we SEE Jesus’ healing touch in relationships. Where we WITNESS God’s wholeness and healing for creation.

I was putting my two year old, Jayden, to bed the other night and we were laughing. Instead of calming down with story time he was making silly faces and carrying on—being a 2 year old comedian. And as we were laughing together I thought, “ah… this is connection.”
“I’ve truly been healed.”

As Rob Bell says (in “Velvet Elvis,” Zondervan, 2007), There are times where we feel “overwhelmed with the presence of something or somebody” where it is “so good, so right, so true, so safe” (72).

Other examples of connectedness could be… the birth of a baby (have you ever held a brand new baby in your arms when the little one wasn’t screaming?), or watching wild animals at play, picking up a baby in the orphanage, or time with friends (72ff).

These are times where we sense the “holiness of it all. The sacredness of the moment,” that feeling that “we’re going to make it” (73).

There are times we sense the connectedness of it all; the holiness of our healing from being disconnected.

I spent some time in a Romanian orphanage. Some of you know this. I went to Romania for 10 weeks while I was in college.

One of my greatest stories of a moment of connectedness… of that awareness of deep holiness of how I’ve been healed from my disconnection… happened in an orphanage.

Since I was a young kid (9 or so), I wanted to go to Romania. In fact, one of the reasons I ended up choosing to go to Eastern Nazarene College was because they offered the Romanian studies program—where students could study abroad while also serving abroad.

I learned about all of this in school and I wanted to do something about it because I saw many of those suffering… were children and babies... Even infants.

I wanted to go just hold even one baby; to bring comfort, wholeness, CONNECTEDNESS to just one little baby.

When I finally arrived… when I reached my arm up over the crib… I felt that holy connectedness surge through my body.

Let me read to you an excerpt from my sermon upon my return from Romania:

“the day came where we could finally go see the children in the hospital for sick and abandoned babies. We could not hold them- because we were Americans and our test results (on if we were dying of strange diseases) had not come back yet… so we could only play with the babies by reaching our arms through their cribs. I will never forget the feeling of years of wanting to just touch and comfort a lonely, emotionally, love-starved child… and then you touch them and something just surges from your hand.” My friend, “watched amazed as I walked up to a little boy and tickled him and he laughed with the deepest belly laugh… and he laughed and he laughed… and then they made me leave. But then we went to another building- in this building the babies were really tiny- My friends and I dispersed around the room and I ended up in a corner with what I thought was two girls… later time taking care of his ‘essential needs’ (like diaper changes) proved otherwise… But I remember walking up to this child and watching him smile at me and interact with me… and at that point and time- I knew why I was in Romania. I was there to love that little boy named Ilie (which is Romanian for Elijah).

I knew why I was in Romania… I was in Romania to be arms of connectedness. The place I stood and touched the cheek of an orphaned baby was holy ground—because it screamed of beautiful connectedness.

When Kaza and I reminisce about our crazy friendship, I sense the connectedness.
When I go to the hospital to hold a brand new baby, I sense the connectedness.
When I go home to Virginia and see the gorgeous mountains that seem to be endless, I sense the connectedness.
When my 2 year old, Jayden, and I laugh together… I know I’m connected.

….We are disconnected from each other and we know it… but there are moments where we sense the holiness of connectedness—of the healing Jesus brings.

It is in moments like these… moments where you’re silenced because you connect to someone who’s disconnected… Where you know why you are in foreign lands… when you know why you’re preaching on the job or on the street—when you look out across the wheat fields and see the wind blow… when you watch a young child laugh…

… these are the times you’re aware of the holiness of God. These are the times you sense the connectedness of it all.

And I’m guessing everyone here has 1000 stories of your own… of connectedness you could share.

Jesus LOVES by healing, serving, and preaching.

And what are we preaching… we are preaching of the healing Jesus brings to our disconnection. We are preaching of the holiness of our connectedness. We are preaching of the love that unites us.

We preach—by telling the story of our healing from disconnection.
We preach—by living the story of connection.

For as it is often said, “Preach always, if necessary—use words” (St. Francis of Assisi)


Jesus loves by healing, serving, and preaching.
Healing disconnection.
Serving by helping others who are sickly and disconnected.
Preaching the stories of the times and ways God works to redeem disconnection.
Preaching about our memories of the times we saw the connectedness of it all… on a trail out in a park, walking through wheat fields, peering into a newborn baby nursery in the maternity ward, holding the hand of a friend who’s suffering… and the list goes on and on.

Our lives are filled with holy moments—moments where we sense, feel, and taste reconnection—where we are aware of the healing Jesus has done for our disconnection.

Moments where we swear God could ask us to take off our shoes because the place we are standing is holy ground.

Our lives are filled memories and stories of those holy moments. And this is the message we preach.


Because we are healed from our disconnection, we must also LOVE as Jesus loves.
We must also heal, serve, and preach.


We must heal the disconnection and sickness around us.

For… As in our scripture today, not everyone was healed in Capernaum that day. Not everyone was healed during Jesus’ visit to that particular town—he had to move on… this is why Jesus came; to preach and heal the world beyond Capernaum.

Jesus left the rest of the healing in Capernaum to those who had already been healed in that town.

They were healed to serve. They were healed so they might continue to spread healing around in Capernaum, to preach of the one who brings healing and hope.

And thus… As people who have a message of wholeness… as people who have a message of connectedness. As people who have stories of healing—from our disconnection… We must serve those around us once we are healed; once we are healed from our disconnection.

We must preach to the sick. We must tell the story of the times where we are left speechless in the amazement of connection… to orphan babies, to our friends, to our family, to those we serve outside the church building.

We must preach of reconciliation and connection to those who are still sick and in bed with a fever; to the sinner, to the poor, to the outcast.

This means when we leave here we must LOVE and continue on Jesus’ work and ministry. His physical body is not here in this town to heal the sick here in Capernaum; in Wichita. They are looking for Him. They are sending Simon and his friends out to look for Him.

We are the ones who are Jesus’ body on earth… who must finish the work in Capernaum; in Wichita.

We must love through healing, serving, and preaching.

We must heal… in our relationships. We must connect with other people.
We must serve… others who are still desperate to connect. Who are still sick, in bed with a fever; who are dying from their disconnection, feeling it deep within their bones, hoping they will not always feel so disconnected and know it.
We must preach… and remember the times Jesus gave us wholeness and healing… and share the memories with others.


Let’s pray together.

Dear Lord God,

The one who heals us; we come before you asking for your healing touch now. Heal our dysfunction. Heal our broken relationships. Heal our disconnection.

We are disconnected and we know it. We feel it in our bones.

Connect us to one another. Make them loud memories… so that we might preach of a healing and restoration to a world living in disconnection.

May we learn how to serve those still sick in bed with a fever of disconnection.

Teach us how to preach our memories of being connected. Teach us how to allow our lives to be shining examples of service. Teach us how to tell our stories of connecting to one another.
God, take all of who we are and all of who we hope to be—and make us more than we ever dreamed.

Make us more connected. Make us more intertwined. Make us more united.

We love you Lord, Amen.

Deep Into the Mind of the "Preacha Chick"

I joined the "25 Random Things About Me" Tour that hit facebook here in the last few weeks and it sparked more discussion than I ever dreamed possible. I thought deeply about my answers, put words to what matters most to me about Christianity, and now if I were to print out all the debate and processing together... it would probably be 20 some pages! It is a great conversation about hierarchy in the church, the emergent church, some of our favorite authors, and more. It's quite fun!

And so, I'm posting these 25 things here too... in case it might spark discussion for anyone who's not currently on facebook. So many people thanked me for being so open and honest, I figured I'd be open and honest here too. Enjoy the list. And if you're on facebook, join our discussion!

Here are 25 Random things about me:

1. I have a one-track mind and no one expects it. This is why after a fascinating class or conversation I can walk by someone and literally not see them-- this is why I hate call waiting-- and why if I'm writing a sermon (or doing anything else) I get irritated when I'm interrupted. And thus, this is (by far) my greatest flaw and my greatest strength… since with this trait I get a whole lot accomplished.

2. I see people for who they could be—which is good and bad. On the one hand, when church people fall short I get frustrated (and thus, spend a lot of time frustrated) because I see how beautiful they could be. On the other hand, I see people for who they can be and work to enable them towards being that person. My jaw never drops in shock with everyone else when someone once perceived as low becomes great… because I saw it all along... And this has actually developed more in the last 10 years—since that’s how long Derek (my husband)'s been in my life, teaching me to see the best in people.

3. I have great friends who stand behind me and hold me up often. If it was not for them loving me, believing in me, and (quite literally) telling me I’m awesome (when I know I’m not), I probably would have quit long ago. Community is more than an idea to me—my community pulls me up out of my selfishness so I can be who I was created to be. They enable me to BE different than I feel.

4. I believe ontology (‘being’) should be the core of faith and not “things” or “stuff.” This affects everything. For example—salvation is not what you “do” or “get” but it is who you BECOME. Care for others is not something you “do” (etc, etc) it is the kind of people we ARE—living in a pattern of holiness.

5. The reason I care about social issues and the poor so much… is because I know people personally. They aren’t just ideas to me- they are people. People in Romania living in villages without running water, babies in orphanages, or homeless in the states. My passion is fueled by people... and people I actually know personally.

6. One of my worst experiences ever was my 10 week trip to Romania. One of my best experiences ever was that same trip. I am who I am today because of my suffering, learning to smile, and pushing towards ministry even when I did not feel like it.

7. I followed one of my dearest friends (Kaza Henson Fraley) our whole lives. We both grew up in Maryland. She went to ENC—4 years later I followed. She went to Seminary—4 years later I followed. She went to Wichita—4 years later I followed. AND we met in Romania (in between seminary times). When she moves, I know where I’ll be in 4 years since we’ve now been in the same place 5 times.

8. My 2 year old son loves High School Musical so much I’m convinced he’ll be the star of HSM nine. And I’d be proud. I adore that little man.

9. I loved being a children’s pastor more than anyone knows. My kids were amazing and I miss them a lot. I certainly don’t think I made a step up—to be a senior pastor. Anyone who looks down on children’s ministry is nuts.

10. I got a lot of pies in the face working with kids. And I almost always got a bloody nose with it.

11. I am involved in the emergent church movement and if my book is published, I’m trying to come to grips with the fact I might become more of a public emergent figure than I ever imagined.

12. I love the emergent church for several reasons. Here’s a few:

a. It’s fun and exciting to be a part of something bigger than myself that actually makes a difference for who the church CAN BE.

b. It’s swimming in ontology.

c. The community of emergent folks together motivates me to keep going—even when I’m hated for the message. To keep preaching God’s intention for creation and the body of Jesus Christ; no matter what.

d. Who could ever hate messages of: Getting on board with God’s plan for redemption of all creation, relationship with God and others, becoming God’s body to a suffering world, and the list goes on.

13. I love Harry Potter and the Twilight series… and wish I could use them as sermon illustrations but would rather not die THAT way. I actually have a poster of both hanging in my home office inspiring me that if people rejected such creative literary writing in them, there’s hope for the rest of us.

14. I am really getting into reading the classics. B&N’s classic section is a favorite of mine right now. It’s fun to see how “Wuthering Heights” shaped the Twilight series. Next on my list is “Sense and Sensibility.”

15. The thing I mist the most about the east coast… is sarcasm. It falls dead in the Midwest and is entirely depressing.

16. I have a confessor—whom I tell what I really selfishly think about stuff. My confessor straitens me out and has been known to give me penance to act contrary to how I feel.

17. I see theology in everything- literally. Books, movies, words. I should teach a “God in Culture” class. Illustrations from life jump out at me.

18. I had foster kids in my house growing up—learning to share your parents is by far one of the greatest tools for character development.

19. I’m allergic to mustard, nuts, peanuts, and lentils… which makes for annoying potluck dinner “Excuse me, who made this?”

20. My favorite thing about being a pastor is similar to my favorite thing about being a student—having a reason to research. I get to study one passage all week long, live in it, eat it, breathe it, sleep it—and find ways to help it make sense to my particular group of people and their lives.

21. There’s only been about 2 people ever in my life I did not like… and that was because of how they worked so hard to make me feel horrible about myself. I often wonder if I’d like them now.

22. I loathe doing the dishes… and think it might be the worst form of punishment for my son.

23. I love to read and try to read 1-2 books a week. And they almost always make my sermons better.

24. The books that shaped me and my theology the most are: Stanley Hauerwas’ “Community of Character” and “Prayers Plainly Spoken,” Rob Bell’s “Sex God,” Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistible Revolution,” Martin Buber’s “I and Thou,” and Rudolf Otto’s “Idea of the Holy.”

25. I feel sorry for my friends who actually read this—because I thought way too deeply about it I’m sure. Just like I do almost everything.

Mark 1:21-28, "Standing Before the Light"

This is the sermon for Feb 1, 2009 at Trinity Church of the Nazarene.

This passage is a continuation from last week’s message.

Last week we talked about how Jesus called the disciples—called them to be fishers of people, to lay down their nets and become fishers of people. We talked about what it means to be a disciple.

This week we are talking about how Jesus takes these new followers to Capernaum to teach in the synagogue there.

And Jesus starts to teach. What he’s teaching, who knows? Maybe he’s teaching one of his parables. Maybe he’s teaching how to be a disciple. The scripture does not tell us what he’s teaching—just that he is.

When suddenly a man starts shouting out to Jesus; possessed by an evil spirit. He asks Jesus if he is the one who is to destroy evil and declares he is God’s Holy One.

Jesus commands the evil spirit out of the man and everyone walks away amazed at Jesus’ teaching as one with authority.

Now, I do not know about your experiences… but in my personal experience, this kind of stuff just does not seem to happen anymore.

When was the last time you were in church next to a person who was demon possessed?

Right? Seriously—have you seen anyone cast out a demon lately in the Church of the Nazarene?

Really, what does this have to do with us?

In our empirical age of science and reason-- does this passage have anything to do with us?

Does this passage have any relevance whatsoever?

This is just utter silliness is it not?


Or… perhaps it is not so ridiculous.

(This is when I will pull out my mailbox- pictured above- and say): Yeah, this kind of stuff still happens.

The forces of evil are still very much at work in people’s lives.

Someone, this last week… thought they were better than me. Thought they were more important than me. Thought what they wanted was more important than my need to get mail.

Someone this week—smashed my poor mailbox with a baseball bat; or so it appears.

Yes. Evil manifests itself physically still today.

This poor, beat up mailbox is a symbol of evil spirit’s possession in our culture.

No matter how intellegent we are, no matter how scientific data oriented we are-- there is one thing we cannot deny-- Jesus confronted evil and evil is still very much at work today.

We are possessed by a lot of things. We are possessed by greed. We are possessed by violence. We are possessed by money, pride, drugs, sex, and so much more (See Girardian Lectionary 4th Sunday after the Epiphany Year B, under Michael Hardin and Jeff Krantz).

We are possessed by our own power of selfishness.

We are possessed by the desire to exert what we want at the expense of mailboxes.

Yes. This passage has a lot to do with us; does it not?

We live in a culture possessed by evil; possessed more by an evil spirit than by the Holy Spirit.

And so we have every reason in the world to look at this passage a little more closely—to see what Jesus has to say about evil.

One of the first things that struck me (and several of my friends whom I was chatting about this passage with this week) was how it happened IN the synagogue.

That is quite bizarre, is it not?

Should Jesus not be confronting evil spirits OUTSIDE the church building? I mean, really—IN the synagogue?

There was evil... an evil spirit, IN the Synagogue? Who does that?

It makes you wonder: Was this guy scary for the people in the synagogue that day?

Did he walk in and everyone stopped breathing—like in a television “hold up” scene? Did people throw themselves on the floor in fear, arms in the air?

Did the guy walk in the building suddenly and send raging fear into everyone?

Or… was it the exact opposite? Perhaps the man was “church member J” who sat in the synagogue every single week and no one was afraid to see him because he belonged in the synagogue. This was his space.

The passage does not say anyone went away talking about the man. They went away taking about the teacher—the teacher with authority.

And so we are left wondering… what if the people listening to the teaching of Jesus that day were people who were in the synagogue every single day? What if the people in the synagogue that day never noticed that “church member J” was possessed by evil—until Jesus reveals it—until Jesus uncovers the man’s selfishness; the man’s evil possession?

Wow. Let that one sink in for a bit.

See the great truth about Jesus—is even people IN the synagogue can be set free from evil.

Even people in the Church can be set free from evil.

Even people who refuse to admit they are anything but holy—are confronted with their selfishness when Jesus comes around.

As Kaza Fraley says, "Jesus gives him a new lease on life, a second chance, the ability to start fresh and make better choices, the ability to choose to love God and neighbor as the scriptures require."

Jesus gives this man who is IN the synagague another opportunity to truly love--to truly be holy. To find himself where he belonged in God's plan for his life.

And this can either sting (that Jesus can confront any of us and show us where He needs to work)… or be the most comforting thing in the whole world.

Because people are always brought together for one of two reasons… either around a common sense of self-righteousness (that they are so holy and so pure)—or people can be brought together based on a common sense of brokenness (“Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers,” Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, IVP, 2008,page 47).

Instead of being brought together by a common sense of being more holy than the next person… that we have it all figured out and no one is as good as us…

Perhaps we should be brought together by the understand we are all just as horrible as the person next to us. We are all just as sinful and selfish as the person next to us. We are all vulnerable and broken, laid bare for who we really are before Jesus who confronts the evil within us.

As Thomas A Kempis says in "The Imitation of Christ," A person "who truly knows" themselves "realizes" their "own worthlessness" (Penquin Classics, page 28).

If it stings to confront your own worthlessness and selfishness, perhaps one is clinging to their self-righteous status a little too closely.

If it is the most comforting thing in the world, perhaps one is okay with being broken before the brothers and sisters around them—willing to admit they do not have it all together. Willing to admit they are not completely perfect; completely selfless.

“We are better off beating our chests and praying that God would be merciful enough to save us from this present ugliness and make our lives so beautiful that people cannot resist the mercy” (“Becoming the Answer to our Prayers”, page 48).

This is an excellent set up for Lent-- which begins Feb 25 this year, with Ash Wednesday.

Lent is the time of year, 40 days before Easter, that set apart time in the Church calendar to focus on the life of Christ. 40 whole days that center on Christ's life and ministry.

For these 40 days of Lent to mean anything or teach us anything—we must be willing to confess we do not have it all together-- that we are not worthy; that we are not quite eternally perfect in all ways.

For Lent to change our very being, we must be ready to let Jesus confront the evil within us.

The season of Lent, the 40 days that go from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday morning create a space for us to be set free from evil (just like Jesus set this man free from evil).

The season of Lent, the 40 days that go from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday morning create an opportunity for us to learn about our dependence on things—on objects-- on items (just like Jesus set this man free from his dependence that day).

The season of Lent, the 40 days that go from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday morning create a place for God to show us, the good Church people who show up to the synagogue all the time, where Jesus might show us our own desires, our own selfishness, our own desire to be unclean (just like this man apparently was at the synagogue where people allowed his selfishness and evil spirit to run).

The season of Lent- calls us out of a feeble understanding of holiness and into a bright and beautiful (although difficult) transformational way of becomming the holy people of God together.

The season of Lent-- challenges us, even now (in Epiphany), to look up at Jesus.


This message-- of standing before the Light is really a call to genuine holiness.

Often when things “get a little difficult, we tend to become consumed with trying to make our lives comfortable again. But by doing so we miss a great spiritual opportunity.” Which means we must ask ourselves: “Would I rather live a life of ease and comfort and remain immature in Christ, or am I willing to be seasoned with suffering if by doing so I am conformed to the image of Christ” (“Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas, Zondervan, 2000, page 131).

We must allow Jesus to walk in the synagogue of our hearts—walk into our synagogue and make us a little uncomfortable. Walk into the synagogue to teach and reveal the evil spirits that rage within us—so that we might be made more beautiful, more holy, more amazing-- in genuine holiness.

For in our common brokenness… we are united—and in our common beauty, we are also united.

We are just as horrible and broken as the next person and we are just as beautiful as the next person.

We are tempted to trust in our own holiness (especially in our special and sacred tradition).

We are tempted to trust that we are more beautiful than the next person.

We are tempted to ignore the power of evil selfishness that rages throughout us—unwilling to confront it and see the blood on our own hands; to see the darkness of our own selfishness.

“God is not glorified when we try to live together as perfect people” (“Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, page 69).

God is glorified in our humbling of ourselves-- humbling ourselves with a “childlike willingness to acknowledge all our faults” (Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, 96).

God is glorified when we beat our chests, together, and cry out for mercy. When we give up ourselves enough to admit we could be a little selfish. Where we let God transform all of who we really are.

Because the truth is—not even I, your pastor, have it all together. Not even people with multiple degrees and ordination has it all together.

I’m just as terrible as the next person. I’m just as beautiful as the next person.

We do not have to have it all together—we do not have to know everything. We do not have to claim to our holiness so tightly we refuse to admit there are places evil manifests itself physically today…

And so I must allow Jesus to stand before me and cast out the evil selfishness within me. To continue to transform me and make me less of Christy and more like Christ.

For Jesus to stand before me in the synagogue of my heart and command the evil spirits of selfishness, pride, anger, and whatever else to come out of me—in the same way he did for this man in the Gospel of Mark.

And it is my prayer—that you will join me on this journey. To allow Jesus to stand at the synagogue of your heart and cast out the evil spirits of pride, anger, and selfishness out of you too.

*******************************

Added for Sunday morning:

I’m challenging you to look in your heart—let Jesus confront the unpleasing pieces of your life to God. Give God permission to walk around in the synagogue of your heart. I’m asking you to listen if God begins to say, “that’s a bad attitude, or the way you spoke to that person wasn’t good,” that we then choose to listen.

I don’t care if you’re church board member or “church member J”—or penitent slave… but WHAT WOULD HAPPEN if we came to church with anticipation that God would confront who we really are—and show us who we could be?

What would happen if everyone took action on what God was saying to us—if we came to the altar and declared, “I’m here to be who God wants me to be. I’m giving God permission to speak to my heart.”

Is your relationship with God so close you can tell me what the last thing was that God confronted you about?

Is your relationship with the Light of Christ so intense—you could confess what the last thing God worked on your heart about?

If not, perhaps God is inviting you to make your way to the altar. Let God work on your heart. Give God pretermission to show you who you could be.

I’m asking you to open yourself up and allow Jesus to confront the evil spirit within us and show us who we really are; to allow Jesus to point out to us where we might be more selfish than holy.

Just as with the man in the Synagogue that day—Jesus stands before us and shows the evil within us. The places Jesus still needs to work on—the places we still need God’s gracious work in our hearts and lives. The places we still need to be taken over by the Holy Spirit; for God to work in who we are and who we are becoming to continue.

Allow Jesus to work on you. Be willing to let God come into the synagogue of your heart and make you into a beautiful person.

**************************

Let’s pray (leaning on Stanley Hauerwas' "Prayers Plainly Spoken"):

Dear Heavenly Father,

We trust you. We trust in you to reveal to us who we really are—to show us who we really are when we cannot even fake it to ourselves.

All too often we want to “strut our stuff”—we like to parade our purity and beauty for the world to see… but inside we know we are hoping to become what we pretend.

Save us from this desire to fake.

Save us from this desire to be unclean.

Save us from the evil selfishness that rages deep within us—even when we refuse to admit it.
We want to be pure. We want to be holy. We want to be possessed by your Spirit.

So come to the synagogues of our hearts and reveal to us who we really are. Reveal to us the selfishness. Reveal to us the stubbornness. Reveal to us our own self-righteousness…. So that we might become the beautiful one we desire to be.

Make us into more than we could ever fake.

We love you Lord, Amen.

Mark 1:14-20, “The Light calls us to change our hearts and lives”

This is the sermon for Wichita Trinity Church of the Nazarene, January 25, 2009.

In the early 1800s lived a family of girls who became more famous than they ever dreamed. They would write novels together, sharing chapters every evening—offering suggestions to each other.

One of the sisters wrote the classic novel—“Jane Eyre.” Another sister wrote some famous poems I never read, and still yet another sister wrote the classic novel “Wuthering Heights.”

I can remember reading Jane Eyre in High School; my senior year. I can also remember various references about “Heathcliff” from “Wuthering Heights” in culture since 1845 (when the young 27 year old girl, Emily Bronte, began writing this book) but until this week—I never read the book for myself.

I spent time this week reading the "other" Bronte sister-- flipping through the pages of Wuthering Heights faster than normal. It was fascinating. It was absolutely thrilling—that a book written in the 1800s could still keep my attention today. No wonder it is a classic.

The book is filled with rivalry. At the turn of every page someone is trying to exert their selfishness through violent words and actions.

If you were not required to read this classic in school, allow me to summarize parts of the story pertinent for these moments.

The plot begins with a nice gentleman who had a son and a daughter; Hindley and Catherine.

The nice gentleman goes out to a nearby town where he finds a young orphaned boy he feels compelled to take in his home and raise as a son. His name is Heathcliff.

Hindley hates Heathcliff with passionate fury. He would beat up the young boy and persecuted him merciless. The rivalry between Hindley and Heathcliff pokes its ugly head with anger and rage. But young Catherine and Heathcliff become the best of friends.

Hindley goes off to school and Heathcliff and Catherine fall for each other. Until Catherine is injured in front of the house of a young man, Edgar, who takes her in for 5 weeks caring for her wounds. And thus, the rivalry between Heathcliff and Edgar begins.

Page after page of rivalry. Page after page of being so selfish each character takes what they want, when they want it without a care in the world for the next character.

And when I got to page 61 (of 326) I actually wrote on the top of the page, “What would happen if they forgave and lived differently than rivalry?”

What would have happened to this story if just ONE character decided to give up what they wanted for a moment? If just one character would be redeemed, to care more about the people they (claimed to) love, than themselves?

What would happen to this story if one character looked at the person they did not like and acted like Jesus had made a difference in their life? That rivalry no longer guided them—but the call to be a disciple of Jesus did guide them?

What would happen if redemptive power hit Wuthering Heights?

If just one character answered the call to be a disciple, as Jesus calls the disciples… if they changed their hearts and lives to model Jesus’ values, saw the “other”—the one completely different from them through Jesus’ eyes instead of manipulating the “other” for their own purposes?

What would happen to Wuthering Heights?

Our scripture passage for this week is Mark 1:14-20.

Verse 15 catches my attention the most. Verse 15 lays it out there for us—on what it means to be a disciple. How to live a life very different than the world of characters enveloped in rivarly that Ms. Bronte created for us.

Verse 15 reads, Jesus “said, ‘the right time has come. The kingdom of God is near: Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News’” (NCV).

Verse 15 will shock you to your core and shake up your world.

Jesus will mess with your life if you keep coming to church and opening your heart to God’s Word.

I am warning you now—the message of Scripture is not changing. Jesus is going to mess up your world and turn everything upside down if you keep listening. Every passage of scripture is about a God who calls us to be disciples, to answer the call by being different than a world guided by rivalry and violence.

I know plenty of people with perfect lives; just the way they wanted them. Their lives were fantastic—and then Jesus came and messes with their life.

Verse 15 calls us to become disciples, to change our hearts and lives.

Just like an athlete will do the most difficult workout to get stronger (and not the easiest), verse 15 calls us to work really hard. To let Jesus shake up our world.

So join me as we delve into verse 15—the verse that shocks you to your core and shakes your world—if you really want to be who you were meant to be; a disciple of Jesus Christ.

“Change your Hearts and Lives”—that is a fascinating translation. I love it.

“Change your hearts and lives;” well, how do we do that?

In the context of this passage, where Jesus is calling his disciples, we imitate Jesus; we follow Jesus’ example.

Well, how do we imitate Jesus?

We imitate Jesus by sharing Jesus’ values. We imitate Jesus by seeing the world through Jesus’ eyes. We heal the sick. We touch the untouchable. We extend love to people who are very, very different from us. People we would not choose to hang out with for fun. People we would not stand and talk to if it was not for Jesus. People we would not invite into our midst or go out into their midst if it wasn’t for this Jesus who shakes everything up.

How do we answer Jesus’ call to be a disciple?

You let Jesus mess with your life. You imitate the Jesus who did not draw lines in the sand to call someone so different, so disgusting, so exhausting- they were unworthy of his love. Which means... we really need to focus on this “other.” Those people who we would call “other.”
The one who is so different from ourselves.

It seems these days good church people do not want to talk about the “other.” We want to only talk about us, we want to talk about our holiness and transformation of heart and life. And although these are good things—holiness is a VERY good thing; it cannot be separated from acting like Jesus.

If you look at Jesus, it is impossible to talk about holiness without talking about the “other.”

Because if you truly want to be holy, if you truly want to be transformed in your heart, you must see others the way Jesus saw others.

If you really want to be fulfilled, if you really want to be called unto holiness, you must follow the call to be a disciple... and view the "other" in radical ways.

So let us focus on the “other” for awhile. That yucky subject we all hope does not make it in sermons.

1. The “other” is that person who gets under your skin.

There was a non-mentioned (and never will be mentioned) person I worked with once who drove me absolutely crazy. If you asked me to spend time with her this afternoon or be her pastor, I would probably need to be checked into a hospital. She was nuts and drove everyone around her nuts. Once she took my notes, tore them up, and threw them in the trash. Another time she riled up people around her to turn them on me just for kicks. She was the best example of the “other” I could ever come up with for you.

The “other” is that person who gets under your skin and jumps on your nerves.

2. The “other” is that person who does not agree with anything you believe.

I have a few friends I try really hard not to get in conversation with because they are so far opposite end of understanding Jesus. You know what I mean? They are just crazy in their ideas of faith and what it means to be a Christian. If their idea of God is the actual God, I do not want any part of religion—you know what I am saying?

The “other” is that person who does not agree with anything you believe and you do not agree with them either.

3. The “other” is that smelly person who does not bathe as much as you think they should. That “yucky” person who does not dress the way a good Christian should dress. The “other” is that person you do not want to be around.

As a minister (and preparing for ministry) the last ten years there are a few times I stepped into places where I wanted to gag (not with any of you, of course—you are perfect). But times where you really want to hold your nose or gag. The “other” is that person who looks, smells, and sounds different than you think they should.

4. The “other is that person you would rather talk ABOUT than WITH.

There are a few people in my life, the last 28 years, who I would dread talking with and need long, long vacations from in order to relate to them. I would rather talk about how they annoy me than talk with them and get annoyed. You’ve been there, right?

The “other” is that person you would rather talk about them than with them.


But if we decide to look at the “other” not as an annoying waste of space we avoid… but look at our relating with those “others” as a means to become real disciples, our lives get shaken up.

If we look at the "other" as a means of grace, a way God is developing WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE ARE BECOMMING, our world gets shaken up.



Because the radical truth of being called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and "change our hearts and lives" is that the more difficult people are, the more different people are—the more of an opportunity you have for the most beautiful holy spiritual discipline to come to life.



The more complicated someone is to be around, the more of an opening you have to become like your heavenly Father.


It is quite the "means of grace," as Wesley would call it.


If we really want to reflect the character of God, if we really want to be a disciple of Jesus, then we need to look at every conflict we have as a spiritual discipline; a holy spiritual discipline ready to shake up your world and make you more like God.




For your attitude, your words, and you actions towards the “other” form a mirror—for us to look at ourselves. We see who we really are in relationship with the “other”—the one very different from us whom we are not inclined to like.




We must have the courage to relate to the “other” one whom is so different—to show us where we are not so holy. Show us where we are slightly faulty. Show us where maybe we are not as perfect as we think we are.




For really, “What is humility?” Humility is childlike willingness to acknowledge all our faults” (Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas, Zondervan, 2000, page 96).


Most of us good Christians would be quick to say we are not proud… but most of us really do not know what humility is either. We are so convinced for our perfect holiness (especially in my particular and beloved, sacred tradition), we are scared to confront our faults.



However, the “other” forces us to confront our faults. The “other” forces us to see where we might not be as perfect as we once assumed.




Holiness is so much more than being nice to people who are easy to be nice to (people who are like us). Holiness is so much more than throwing money at people who have less than we do.
Holiness—is about true humility. Submitting our life before God, open and ready to see any faults—confront any faults we might have.


Which would mean then… that every time we threaten to quit a relationship, every time we flirt with the notion of leaving the presence of another person because they are too ridiculous (because they are not what you want or do what you want), then (besides abuse situations), we are responding in a non-follower of Jesus way.


We are running away from a spiritual discipline of learning how to live and relate to people completely different from us; learning how to love the “other” truly and purely. Learning how to love God through loving the "other."


It is like divorce, when we say “I can’t live with you anymore." When what we should be saying is, “I’m a little too feeble to love even my enemies—and you are my enemy.”


Never thought of divorce like that, did you? Marriage is the perfect example of learning to really love the "other," someone completely different from you.


In “Sacred Marriage” Gary Thomas writes, Except in abuse—when a person leaves their spouse they often say, “I never loved you” and what they mean is “I never found you lovable.” When what they should be saying is I’m failing “to be a Christian,” I am failing to love you in spite of the fact you are now my enemy (40-41).




And we can apply this right back to the Church of Jesus Christ.


The Church... is also a perfect example on how we can learn to really love the "other."


When we threaten to divorce, split-up, break off from, separate from someone who is different from us (except in instances of abuse) because they just are not who we want them to be, we are failing to be Christian; Christ followers. We are failing to love even our enemy. And the Jesus I read about in scripture screams out, “love your enemies.”




How much have we, the Church of Jesus Christ, fallen prey to this? We think we are holier than the “other” and thus do not need the “other.”


We think we are so good we do not need "them." When the truth is that "them" is what makes us good.


How often do we write off the “other” instead of seeing them as a beautiful opportunity to grow into the person God has called us to be; to be disciples. To follow Christ’s call to be a disciple; to imitate Jesus.




I cannot help but imagine if Hindley (the brother who hated the new stray foster kid) had uttered the words to Heathcliff, knowing he did not like him or want to be anywhere near him and said, “lets pray together brother. Even though you are completely different from you and we do not get along, let’s use our friendship as a means to grow closer to God.”




YEAH RIGHT. We would have no book lasting since the 1800s! Things like that do not happen in our culture.




BUT, they do happen in God’s culture. In God’s Kingdom that “is near” and calls us to “change” our “hearts and lives” (verse 15).


God calls us to be real disciples. To change our hearts and lives.


God calls us to look at the “other” as a means of grace. As a means of being formed into the person God is calling us to be.




God calls us to view that annoying, rotten, dirty, frustrating person with different eyes.


* * * * * *

For how can we EVER preach God’s reconciliation to the sinner if we cannot even reconcile with Christians?


How can we EVER tell the sinner, the person who chooses what they want over what God wants, "God can redeem you"—if we are not even willing to be fully redeemed ourselves... to continue allowing God to redeem us through our experience of the "other?"


How can we EVER show the world who they COULD BE, if we refuse to participate in life alongside the “other?”


* * * * * * *


WHEN we love each other well—when we love the “other” (that annoying disgusting person) really well, we are loving God well.


WHEN we change our view of the “other” to see them as a way God will transform our hearts and lives, we love God enough to change us.


WHEN we learn to love someone so difficult, so different—we are called outside of ourselves, called outside of our selfishness—towards really loving God.




The CHURCH is full of “others,” people different from us. The WORLD is full of “others,” people different from us… And what an opportunity! What a way to truly learn how to love—than by participating in life with someone completely different from us.

Yes, they might be difficult to love. That is the point!

If you can love the difficult, you are more like the One who calls you to follow him; to become fishers of people, to change your heart and life, to believe the Kingdom of God is near and shakes up everything.