show not tell thoughts about Isaiah 64 for Advent 1 November 29 2020

 There are so many ways that we choose to communicate. In our day and age we can communicate by phone, email text, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, good old fashioned pen and paper letters, or even just a face to face conversation. Over the years God has tried to communicate with humanity. The one of the ways God has reached into our lives and tried to communicate with us is through signs and wonders. Other times God chooses to send a prophets to speak on behalf Of God. 

In Isaiah 65 we hear words of frustration that a great prophet had to share with God. Isaiah was called by God to speak on God's behalf. But it felt to this person called by God to use his voice on God's behalf like nobody was listening. Isaiah kept speaking but nobody listened. And Isaiah spoke to God asking God to rip open heaven and just come down here. Isaiah could speak but the truth on God's behalf. But the truth only went so far. Isaiah could talk and talk. But all those words were worthless if the people didn't want to listen. Isaiah could talk about what God was saying for him to tell the people. But if the people didn't want to listen they wouldn't. God gave Isaiah these powerful words to share. But Isaiah must have felt like it was all pointless.   

I think some parents and teachers can relate. Parents and teacher can talk and talk but if their kids just don’t get it or just are listening we have to find another way to communicate.  As a pastor I have been challenged to choose some other medium, some other way of speaking than just using my words. 

For me this year the big question as Christmas comes is what is God trying to show us right now. I think a lot of people have stopped listening in right now God like a frustrated teacher or parent is trying to show us both God's great love and also the call that God gives us to let that love order our lives. Right now in a pandemic we need to hear this great grace of God's undying love and also this great call to both love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. God is trying to show us something right now because a lot of us have stopped listening. 

You're invited thoughts on parable about a wedding banquet

Jesus had a lot to say about the kingdom of God.
And it was throught his parables helped people glimpse the way God's kingdom is moving into our world. These parables about the kingdom open us up to see just some of the possiblities God has in store. Jesus talked about the power of tiny seeds when he talked about the kingdom. He talked about the way little light can change the way we see the world when he talked about the coming reign of God. These stories get people like you and me thinking and looking at the world differently. These parables are all about seeing God's activity in our lives. Each one of these stories help us to see a little more of God's work among us today. These stories are all about God's action--they tell us what Jesus is doing to bring the kingdom to life--but they also let us see how people have responded to God's kingdom at work.

Jesus had inside knowledge because he was at the heart of the kingdom that was breaking into the world. With every step Jesus took the reign and rule of God came closer and closer to the people. The hurting people could feel it in their very being. Jesus was the one. He came and hope and healing came with him. It was so good and the poor and the hurting reached out to him.

But not everyone was excited that Jesus' kingdom was coming. Truth is we need Jesus--but we don't always want the real Jesus to show up in our life. Jesus told stories about people who would enter into his rule and others who would reject the offer to enter into his reign. The older I get I find these parables are more and more challenging. Jesus told a parable about a vineyard and tenants who refused to pay their share at the harvest time--when the vineyard owner sent servant to ask for payment they violently mistreated them. When the vineyard owner sent his son the tenants killed him. There's a long history in Christian churches of scapegoating--pretending that this story is about somebody else rejecting Jesus. But this story strikes close to home when I admit that I have rejected Jesus invitation to enter into his kingdom.

Jesus told a story about the Kingdom of God being like a banquet. The invitations were passed out. It was the king's wedding feast. This was going to be the party to be at--this was a big deal. But the invited guests ignored the invitation. But the king was going to keep on with the plan. This banquet was still happening. Servants went out to remind the invited guests. But those first people who were invited rejected the invitation that came from the servants. Some folks ignored the servants--and some did worse than ignore.

The king was still going to have the feast--this is how God really works. God has come. Jesus has entered the story of the world and many who claim to be close to God will ignore the invitation. But God is still coming. Jesus has come he has stepped into our world. God's grace is still going to be shared even if we deny we need that Grace. And Jesus will send his people out--first to the ones who are close to him already. But the good news is that Jesus will send his people out with good news. It's our workr--our mission to share the grace of God. That love and mercy will extend far beyond the first ones to be invited. See this story is telling the real truth about how God's message of hope is still spreading. God's rejected grace would still be shared. But there's one more uncomfortable part of the story. One man was singled out. He had no garment. And he was set outside of the feast into the darkness.

God's Word is full of challenge and promise. This story asks us to consider our response to Jesus. And--it really pushes us to see that God has a plan to keep sending Good News to us and to others after us. AMEN.

the little things Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

How do you talk about something as big as the kingdom of heaven. Superlative words like awesome and wonderful come to mind. But Jesus put emphasis in a different direction when he spoke about the kingdom of heaven. Matthew tells the story

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” Matthew 13:31-33 (NRSV)

Jesus spoke with inside knowledge abut God's activity--the kingdom God is working to bring here to earth. Jesus spoke about mustard seeds and yeast when he spoke about the kingdom of heaven opening up. God is moving. The kingdom of heaven is coming near to you and me. That's good news--for us for all people. Jesus said when God moves its a whole lot like the mustard seed or yeast. Small things-easily overlooked and wrongly considered insignificant.

Mustard seeds and yeast mark the start of God's kingdom. Grace and mercy mark the coming of God's kingdom. A mustard seed is so small--and grace feels the same way. Yeast is a micro organism and mercy feels so small too. Mustard seeds and yeast Jesus spoke about these two small things...Jesus points to them...saying that these small things matter. The small things matter. In a marriage you bet it's the little things that matter. In a family it's the little things. In a church, a community, a city, a state, a nation, in this world the little things matter.

See the seeds are here for us as church and for us as people. The seeds are here--with us today. The kingdom of heaven is close to us--look for the little things. AMEN.

Hosanna, thoughts for Palm Sunday Matthew 21 1-11

This one Sunday started with a donkey and a parade.
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem and the word on the street was Hosanna.

This year with Covid19 we won't have parades or processions. We won't even be able to gather together in one place to worship. Make no mistake, we will still be church. We will still be Jesus' body in the world; but worship will happen in our homes. Worship will happen live on Facebook and in the family and personal spaces where people read this story, pray and sing together or alone—and that word hosanna will ring out in a different way in different places than ever before.

Before the people shouted Jesus had a plan to enter the Holy city. Jesus sent his friends to a village on the way to bring back a donkey. He said if anyone asked why they were taking the young donkey they should say, “The teacher needs it.”
And Jesus rode into the holy city on this donkey colt.
And the people called out Hosanna.
Hosanna.
They shouted it with joy and hope. It echoed the words of a Psalm (Psalm 118:26)

Hosanna/Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord.

There's a darkness in our world right now. We call it Covid19 or Corona virus. It's shape is hard to explain. It covers so much of our lives. Part of this darkness is fear and uncertainty. Part of this darkness is grief and death. And it's with the reality, that this darkness is real, that we hear a story of Jesus coming to Jerusalem. This weekend we usually tell this story about Jesus coming to Jerusalem as church every year. We usually have palms to hand out and a choir walking into worship together in song.
But not this year.
See the Good News is still here. Jesus has come for us all. But this year we are calling out Hosanna not in a crowd but on our own. Hosanna.

There's so much in this word Hosanna.
This word that crowds called out as Jesus rode into town on a donkey.
Hosanna. The words been around for thousands of years—it literally means save us Lord. This word somehow fits our moment when our need for God is so real. The people shouted Hosanna when Jesus came. And we sing it and whisper it and say it today.
Save us Lord.
Set us free Lord.
Deliver us.
Hosanna—to the son of David blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna—to God in heaven.

Saying and even more praying Hosanna makes sense on Palm Sunday this year amid countless prayers for the world to somehow someday just go back to normal. We hear this story about Jesus coming to bring hope and light. Jesus is light coming for the world when the darkness is real.

It's not the small parade or the crowds that lined the road that gets my imagination this year. It's not the palm branches that they wave. It's the word they shouted Hosanna—blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. This story is a prelude to the cross and resurrection. Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey and the people had hope and anticipation—it was the start of a week of teaching and ministry—that ended with a death and resurrection.
This year the remembering will be different.
But the need for God's help is still the same.
Hosanna—save us Lord. AMEN.
peace and thanks for reading, John.

Living Water John 4

There are a few basics to have in mind about Jesus' story.
Jesus was on earth with a purpose—it's clear in the gospel of John that he was here for a reason. He came to live—to heal and teach bringing the kingdom of God with him every where he went. But there was going to be so much more to his story than just living and teaching in his story. He came to die and to rise breaking the power of sin, death, and evil in the process.

And along the way he met people. Like a woman at a well in John 4. He met her by Jacobs well. They were in Samaria—a place named for a very distinct group of people. They shared a great deal in common with Jesus and his people—but their were distinctions. Divisions that had existed for 1000 years. Distrust and prejudice were clear. And Jesus met her.
It was noon. She was alone at the well. Just think of this moment. This moment when this strange man from that other group says, Give me a drink. Alone at the well she looks at Jesus. She doesn't know him from Adam. She can tell immediately, from how he sounds and looks that He's just some man from that other group of people who would never be caught either dead or alive talking to her kind of people. And she says back to him.

How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? John 4 MSG

There's a undercurrent of disbelief and mistrust here that is so thick you can cut it. The mutual distrust permeated the lives of every Jew and every Samaritan in Roman controlled Palestine. And Jesus new it. But he came with a mission. The divisions were so real to the people in Jesus day. And there are divisions in our day too.

There are so many divisions. Some created by fear. Some exploited by those who want to be in power. And some divisions that thank God are surmounted. There have always been ways to try to separate people one from the other, and the way it looks, human nature will always find a reason for one group of people to look down on another group.

• Gentile or Jew
• slave or free
• North or south,
• Packer or Viking,
• Black or white,
• Hockey or Basketball,
• protestant or catholic,
• East or west,
•  rich or poor,
• rural or urban.

And Jesus crossed one of the dividing lines that existed in his time.
He didn't need to meet her, this woman at the well, at least not as she looked at the world. But Jesus was there with an offer. Living water. For her and all the world. May that living water of grace and new life flow today in a moment of fear. May we overcome division and work for the dignity of all.
Peace, and thanks for reading.
John

living in the light Matthew 5:13-20

Early in his ministry as the crowds started to gather Jesus went up on a mountaintop to speak to his people. He spoke to this crowd of fishermen, farmers, villagers, and peasants about their true identity in Christ. He said something so audacious. He said, You are salt--you are light. His words were more than just audacious--his words were full of hope and purpose. He spoke to the people about God's coming kingdom--the kingdom that Jesus was bringing with him every step. And about how that coming kingdom would transform God's people for the sake of the world.

This sermons started with words about blessing that reshaped how the people around Jesus saw their relationships both with God and with people. Oh Jesus said, you are blessed if you are peacemakers, you are blessed if you're grieving, you are blessed if you have a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus spoke of blessings for those the world might think of as weak and powerless. Forget what the world sees--God sees you as much loved. Jesus sees you as salt and light.

Jesus ministry drew crowds and now on the mountaintop he was opening a vision of the kingdom and also of the role that we as God's people have in spreading the salt and light of the coming kingdom of God.

Jesus words point to his followers.
You are salt, salt for the earth.
You are light, light for the cosmos

Jesus didn't say you might make yourself into salt or light if you try hard enough or become holy enough. He spoke these words of identity to the crowd on that mountain in Galilee. He said you are salt and light. He said this to the fishermen, farmers, villagers, and peasants. And he could have been saying this to any of his followers. Think of this word for everyone who walks with Jesus. Jesus calls the cops, the mechanics, the teachers, the nurses, the doctors, the cashiers, the student, the retired person to be salt for the earth, to be light for the cosmos.

What ever your work might be--whatever your story might be. He said that you have a place in his coming kingdom--you have a role in the beginning of his reign. You, he said, you are salt and light. Jesus was saying something about the people gathered on that mountaintop and about his people ever sense.

In our world people are so quickly reduced down to little more than objects. The world might say you are just a...

• consumer
• commodity
• has been
• wannabe
• insignificant
• a product to be bought and sold
• a number

Jesus says you your story your life is about so much more. You are known to God. You are salt and light. Maybe we need to forget what our world says--and remember again what Jesus who died and rose from the dead has said about his people. You are salt--you are light.
AMEN.
Peace and thanks for reading
John