Peace, Goodwill Toward Men.

Brad Sullivan

Christmas Eve, Year A

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Romans 1:1-7
Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

This passage from Luke’s Gospel, verses 8-14, is one of the best known passages to me (although for this passage, the King James Version is the one I usually remember).  The reason I know and remember this passage so well is not because I’ve heard it in church a lot, although I have.  The reason I know and remember this passage so well is because I have seen “A Charlie Brown Christmas” many times, and this is the passage which Linus recites to tell Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. 

This was not a big church event or some religious leader or elite proclaiming the story of Jesus’ birth.  In this secular story, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” a little boy told his friend about the Christmas story.  I rather doubt you remember every Christmas sermon you’ve ever heard…or even any Christmas sermon you’ve ever heard, but if a friend of yours were to tell you the Christmas story, and tell you what Christmas is all about, I bet you’d remember that.

God has a way of breaking through and working with the ordinary stuff in our lives.  …of course God could have come in power and great might.  God is powerful and mighty, and yet, God so often identifies with the lowly.  God has power and doesn’t need us to brandish our power in order to impress him.  God is powerful, but even more so, in his very nature, God is relationship and love. 

God identifies with love even more than with power. So, God comes to us in the loving act of the birth of a child.  There are few more loving moments than when a child is born.  I remember when my kids were born, and each time, I looked at them, and I felt this new love just happen, this new space in my heart suddenly be created as I looked at my sons for the first time. 

God came to us in a way that would bring out the very best in us.

Once a year, for twelve days, we get to look on that baby Jesus and love God as a newborn baby.  Once a year, for twelve days, we can have the best brought out in us again.  After that, we’re into Epiphany, and we hear stories about Jesus as a grown man, and he starts getting into our business and messing with our lives, but for now, we just get to give our love to Jesus and receive God’s love for us in his gift of himself to us. 

What is the point, though?  What is the true meaning of Christmas?  Well, I don’t think that question has one answer, but many.  Part of the true meaning of Christmas is that God brings out the best in us, giving us a gift of love so that we might love him more.  Part of the true meaning of Christmas is that God has become one with us in Jesus and this shows us that God has never and will never give up on us.  God joined himself to us in Jesus, so if God gives up on humanity, then God will have to give up on himself.

Part of the true meaning of Christmas is that along with never giving up on us, God will continue to strive with us, to dwell with us, to love us, and that one day, Jesus will return and will put all things right.  Jesus, the savior, the messiah, will come again to restore all of creation.  In the mean time, we get to love God as a little newborn baby.  We get to share that love with others.  We get to be with others in the ordinary parts of their lives and strive with them, just as God strives with and never gives up on us.  We get to tell others the story of our faith, the story of Christmas and why we believe in this little baby whose birth we remember today. 

We get to share this story and the meaning of this night.  I doubt you’ll remember much of what I’ve said tonight in a year.  Any of your friends could hear this sermon and likely not remember much of us either.  If you tell your friends what Christmas is all about, however, I bet they’d remember that, just as I remember the words from Luke’s Gospel.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8-14)  Amen.

Put God to the Test

Brad Sullivan

4 Advent, Year A

Sunday, December 22, 2013

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

Put God to the test.  That was my advice to a parishioner earlier this week who had been given some gift cards in order to give them to hungry people.  This person came to the church and offered the gift cards to me so that I could give them to folks who came to St. Mark’s asking for food.  I thought that was a pretty good idea, but then, in a surprise move, I refused the gift cards, insisting instead that this person give them to hungry people he found or ran into in his life.

A conversation ensued.  This person wasn’t against giving these gift cards to hungry people, he said he just didn’t really know any, and didn’t know how to get them to people who would need them.  He also thought it would be insulting to ask random strangers if they were impoverished and needed some food.  I agreed, and then I said “put God to the test.”  We talked about this Sunday’s passage from Isaiah with Ahaz refusing to put God to the test and the story of Joseph believing in God, and I told the person in my office to pray for God to send folks his way.  Hungry folks are all around us, I said, and if you pray to God multiple times a day for God to send those folks your way, I bet they’ll find you.  Put God to the test.

In our Isaiah reading, King Ahaz, one of the not overly good kings of Judah (seemed to have no faith in God at all, an idolater, offered up his sons as burn sacrifices…lovely guy), King Ahaz said he would not put God to the test.  You may remember Jesus telling Satan, when Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, that it is written in scripture, “do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Massah.”  This was referring to a day, shortly after God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, across the Red Sea, and the people were thirsty.  They quarreled with Moses, saying, “why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us…with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3). 

They didn’t believe in God or trust in God that God could or would save them.  After God had freed them from slavery with many miracles, they hit a road bump, and decided they no longer trusted in God.  They put God to the test meaning they stopped believing and demanded a sign so that they would believe again.

When Jesus quoted to Satan, “do not put the Lord your God to the test,” Satan was trying to get Jesus to attempt suicide, forcing God to save him, to prove that God truly loved him.  Jesus was saying, “I trust God, and I don’t need to come up with some crazy scheme to test whether or not my faith in God is justified.  I trust in God, and I won’t put him to the test.”

Now, back to Ahaz in our Isaiah reading from today, God offered Ahaz a sign, and Ahaz decided to quote Deuteronomy back at God, using scripture as a tool against God to refuse God’s offer.  This was not a man of faith, trusting in God saying, “I believe in you, and I will not demand a sign or put you to the test in order to believe in you.”  This was a man who flat out didn’t trust in God, and was misusing scripture to further his lack of trust and confidence in God.  It’s like he was trying to trick God by using scripture, but God wasn’t buying it.

When I say “put God to the test,” I don’t mean drive some bargain with God whereby you can prove God’s existence or prove God’s goodness.  When I say, “put God to the test,” I mean tell God, “I will trust and believe in you, God.  I will ask for your help and guidance, and trust in you.”  This is not, however, a bargain, telling God, “If you deliver, then I will have faith in you.”  Rather, I will have faith in you, God.  I will follow your commandments.  I will live according to your way of life, and I will trust in you, even if the thing for which I pray doesn’t happen. 

See, I would say that when Joseph decided to stay with Mary after the angel told him that the Holy Spirit had conceived the baby in her, that Joseph put God to the test, meaning, Joseph trusted in God.  Joseph could have left. 

His wife was pregnant, not by him, and that’s all he really knew.  He was probably fairly heartbroken, maybe a little bit angry, hurt, humiliated, and yet he decided to dismiss her quietly, not to shame her publically.  She could have gone on and been with the father of her child, so Joseph thought.  It might have been a scandal, but they’d have probably been ok, and Joseph would have been heartsick. 

Then, an angel came to him in a dream and told him to stay, that Mary was still a virgin, that it was the Holy Spirit who had conceived God’s son inside of her.  He could have thought it was just a dream.  He could have let someone else raise the child that was not his.  He chose instead to believe.  Joseph chose instead to make Jesus his own child, to be his son and family, and to raise him as his own.  He never knew for certain if Jesus was truly conceived of the Holy Spirit or of some other guy.  An angel appeared to him in a dream…hell, I’ve had some pretty fantastical dreams.  Joseph chose to believe, to put God to the test, not as a bargain, not saying, “if you do this, then I will believe.”  

Joseph simply chose to believe, and things seem to have worked out pretty well.  We don’t know too much more about Joseph.  We know that he and Mary had other kids together after Jesus was born.  We know that he raised Jesus and taught him his trade as a carpenter.  It seems that Joseph died before Jesus began his ministry, because Joseph was never mentioned along with Mary and Jesus’ brothers and sisters during Jesus’ ministry. 

What that means is, Joseph may never have seen the miraculous signs and wonders that Jesus did.  Joseph may never have had any confirmation, any proof or tangible evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, as the angel told him in his dream.  Joseph chose to believe the story and let that belief be real enough to bless his life.

When it really comes down to it, none of us know that Jesus is God’s son or if there even is a God.  We don’t.  We don’t know.  We believe.  We have faith.  We have varying levels of conviction in our faith, and we choose let that belief be real enough to bless your life.

Regarding my advice to this St. Mark’s parishioner to put God to the test, to ask God to send hungry people his way so that he can give them these gift cards, people may come or people may not come.  This was not a test to prove God’s existence.  This was a chance to trust in God without fear.  This was a chance actually to believe that God will help us fulfill whatever ministry he has for us. 

In Joseph’s case, this meant raising Jesus as his own, and loving him completely.  Putting God to the test, simply meant trusting and believing in God without agenda, without any examination day.  So, put God to the test.  Trust in God.  Believe in God, and allow that belief to be real enough to bless your life.  Amen.

Affluenza, John the Baptist, and Jesus' Stubborn Refusal to Kill the Romans

Brad Sullivan

3 Advent, Year A

Sunday, December 15, 2013

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Isaiah 35:1-10
Canticle 3 / 15

James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11           

So there’s been a lot of outrage on the interwebs and the facebooks this week over a teenager in Texas who stole booze from Wal-Mart, drove drunk, crashed his car, and killed four people.  The outrage has been that this young man avoided prison by claiming “affluenza” as his defense. Instead of prison, this young man is going to a posh drug treatment center and is on probation for 10 years.  The idea was this.  His parents had spoiled him so thoroughly, and they had bought his way out of trouble so much, that he had no real concept of right and wrong or of there being consequences for his actions.  So, because he was rich, he had learned that there are no consequences for his actions, and therefore he should be given special treatment by the courts and act without consequences. 

I’ll warrant that perhaps rehabilitation and treatment are what’s in order for this young man.  The outrage is that the only reason he’s able to get that treatment is because he’s rich.  A poor young man, doing the same thing as this kid, would have gone to prison.

The unfortunate lesson people are learning is, if you have enough money, you can kill other people with near impunity.  “Yeah, I killed some folks, but it’s not my fault, I have affluenza.”  If you’re rich and powerful, you can get away with murder.  That’s a bit of an overstatement, but that’s how people are feeling, hearing this story.  That’s the lesson learned. If you’re great and mighty, and powerful, then you can pretty well do whatever you want, and if you hurt other people on the way, well too bad for them.  That may be greatness in our kingdoms of earth, but that’s not greatness in the kingdom of heaven.  The kind of power and might that kills with impunity due to wealth has no place in the kingdom of heaven. 

Ironically enough, however, that’s the kind of greatness people were expecting out of Jesus, perhaps the greatness even John the Baptist was expecting out of Jesus…great, mighty, powerful, ready to kill a bunch of Romans and get them out of Israel.  John was in prison at this point for upsetting king Herod, and I can imagine even John thinking Jesus was going to be the messiah they were expecting, a mighty king who would raise an army and kill all of Israel’s enemies, ushering in this reign of peace for Israel.  John sent his messengers to Jesus from prison, and I think he was basically saying, “ok Jesus, I did my part, got all of Israel to repent, and yet here I am stuck in prison.  It’s time for you do your messiah thing, spring me out of here and kill all the bad guys.

Jesus responded to John’s messiah question by affirming nothing at all of what John and everyone else was expecting.  “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”  ‘That’s great, Jesus,’ John and the people are thinking, ‘you’re a super nice guy, friend to the needy, but what about becoming powerful and mighty and killing our enemies?’ 

Jesus then tells the people that John the Baptist, crazy John with his camel’s hair and wilderness repentance kind of ways, jailbird John the Baptist is the greatest of all men, and yet, Jesus says, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.  That sounds rather insulting to John, doesn’t it?  I think Jesus was not insulting John, but illustrating the extent to which violence and vengeance and power and might have no place in God’s kingdom. 

God the Father showed us just how much vengeance and violence have no place in his kingdom by allowing us to kill his Son, Jesus with impunity.  God did not take vengeance on humanity for killing his Son.  Rather, God allowed us to kill him to show us his radical love for us, and God demonstrated his power not by killing us in vengeance, but by raising his son from the dead, forgiving us, and inviting us to share in the Resurrection life with.  In Jesus, God showed us the power and might of love and forgiveness.

God showed us the power of his kingdom in which the great and powerful are not those who use their wealth and power to kill with impunity, but those who use whatever they have to serve others.  God’s kingdom is great not because God can destroy the Romans, or any other group that people don’t like.  God’s kingdom is great because in God’s kingdom, “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at [Jesus].”     

Love, forgiveness, service, and humility are hallmarks of God’s kingdom, and there is a lot of what we hold onto now that must be left behind to live in God’s kingdom.  Vengeance and violence, they have no place in God’s kingdom.  Resentment and anger have no place in God’s kingdom.  Absolute lack of caring for other human beings has no place in God’s kingdom.

Jesus said, “how hard it will be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”  We see in this tragic killing why it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  If one’s wealth allows a person to buy his way out of trouble so much that he comes to care so little for human life that he feels he can even buy his way out of trouble for ending human life, then we the truth of Jesus’ words.  “How hard it will be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” and yet, Jesus says, “with God all things are possible.” 

God can change our hearts.  God can make us new.  In Jesus, we can become new creations and be a part of God’s new creation.  The Kingdom of Heaven is not just some place that good people go when they die.  Rather the kingdom of heaven is lived out in this world, in fits and starts right now, then eventually, when our waiting is over and Jesus returns, the kingdom of heaven will be lived out fully, as God renews, remakes, and restores all of creation, including, if he wants to be a part of this new creation, the young man with affluenza who stole, drove drunk, and killed four people. 

He probably couldn’t live there right now, but with God all things are possible, and if he wants to, that young man can be remade and be part of God’s new creation.  That may be a tough pill to swallow, the thought that that spoiled kid can have a place in God’s kingdom, but “blessed [are those] who take no offence at me,” Jesus said.  Blessed are those who don’t shun that kid and desire vengeance upon him.  Blessed are those who pray for and seek his restoration, that he will have a new heart and be remade through Jesus in God’s kingdom. Blessed are those who pray the same thing for the poor people as well who do stupid things, who steal, drive drunk, and kill. 

In God’s kingdom, blessed are those who forego their anger and desires for vengeance at the evils of the world.  In God’s kingdom, blessed are those who seek not to become great and change the world not by adding violence upon violence, killing those deemed to be enemy (as people wanted Jesus to do to the Romans).  In God’s kingdom, blessed are those who seek to change the world by serving others, by being humble, by living as the kind of humble messiah Jesus proclaimed to John.  Amen.

Burn Away the Chaff: Love God. Love People. Do Stuff.

Brad Sullivan

2 Advent, Year A

Sunday, December 8, 2013

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

So folks tend to think of repentance as a rather less than joyous affair.  “Repent” we hear John the Baptist cry, and, nowadays quite honestly, “repent” we tend to hear fairly angry sounding preachers cry.  It seems like repentance is supposed to be this miserable activity where we say, “yeah, your right, I’m terrible,” and then are left just feeling kinda terrible.   

Advent is a season of repentance so in the secular world, we skip Advent all together and go straight for Christmas, and my biggest problem with that is not that the secular world ignores the need to repent and largely forgets about Jesus.  My biggest problem with secular pre-Christmas is not the commercialization and rampant consumerism.

No, my biggest problem with overdone secular pre-Christmas is that unlike most of the year when, if you don’t want to hear a particular song or any music at all, you basically just don’t turn on your radio and problem solved. During secular pre-Christmas, however, the Christmas music, both good and bad is unavoidable, and two weeks after going to HEB one morning, the Beach Boys’ Little Saint Nick is still running through your head.  You’re welcome.  I’ll take a little Advent repentance over that any day plus, I think Advent is a joyful time.

I spent the weekend with youth from St. Mark’s and around the diocese at a youth conference at St. Martin’s in Houston, called Conspire.  The name of the conference is every bit as provocative as it sounds.  The point is for the youth to conspire together about how they can change the world, in Jesus’ name for Jesus’ sake.  In the words of our keynote speaker for the weekend, Bob Goff, how can they and we “Love God, love people, and do stuff.”  That’s the conspiracy:  love God; love people; do stuff. 

The keynote speaker, Bob Goff is a lawyer and author of the book, Love Does, and he’s one of the most joyful souls I’ve met.  He was a trip, and he talked about our need to stop agreeing with Jesus.  What he meant was our propensity for reading the Bible, agreeing with what Jesus says and then not really living that out. 

Sometimes our fears keep us from living as love, living as Jesus said.  Sometimes feeling totally in adequate or overwhelmed by the enormity of the task Jesus has for us, keeps us form living as love.  Jesus has a task for all of us, something which each of us is particularly suited to do. 

For Bob Goff, it turns out that his task is to help children in Uganda who have been victims of child slavery, among other things.  He goes over there every sixty days to help get kids out of slavery, to prosecute the bad guys, and to help the bad guys repent.  He loved his enemies.  He started a school for some of these bad guys who were hurting children, and when they graduated, he was there, giving them their diplomas, proud of them, and loving them…and telling them that if they ever harmed a child again, that they would die in the deepest darkest hole of a prison that Uganda had, which from the sounds of it is a very deep dark hole.  That’s loving your enemy, and keeping the children safe. 

Mr. Goff didn’t plan to do all of these things.  He had the knowhow, as a lawyer, to prosecute.  He had the resources to go over there and help, and he had a heart full of love to say yes without fear whenever he was met with the next challenge.  So, stop agreeing with Jesus, Mr. Goff said.  Go and do what Jesus says.  Become Love itself.  Love God; love people, and then do stuff. 

This is really what John the Baptist was talking about when he told people to repent, adding that “[Jesus] will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)  Love God; Love your neighbor, and do stuff.

Ok, it may sound kinda dissimilar, but here’s the deal.  All wheat has chaff.  That’s the outer covering of the wheat.  The wheat grows inside it until it is mature and then the chaff is removed when the wheat emerges.  The chaff is thrown out and the wheat is used.

We have both wheat and chaff within us.  Our fears and insecurities are part of our chaff with which we try to protect ourselves.  Whatever we use to protect ourselves in such a way that we are unable to love God and love people:  fears, insecurities, anger, holding on to past hurts, these are all our chaff.  Now, we can grow somewhat even inside of our chaff, but we can also become those fears, become those insecurities, become that anger, become those past hurts.  We can, if we choose to, turn our wheat into chaff.  Then, in then end, will there be anything left other than chaff? 

Our true selves are the wheat.  The chaff is just our protective covering which can help of for a time, but eventually keeps us from becoming love.  Jesus loves us that we may become love and be truly and fully human ourselves, to get rid of our chaff.  Once we are love, once we are truly human, we don’t need to worry about what Jesus means or what all the answers are to all of our questions.  We don’t need to know how it’s all going to end.  Once we get rid of our chaff, become love, become truly human, then we just need to do stuff.

Repent, John the Baptist said.  Start removing your chaff.  Turn around, John said, and begin the process of undoing the harm you’ve done, healing the wounds you’ve made, and then walk in the path you see Jesus leading.  Follow Jesus step by step, one step at a time.

We’ll mess up and fail, and we won’t know where exactly the end is, and that’s ok.  We just keep following, offering up to God the chaff of our lives as our burnt offering to him, praying for Jesus to burn away the chaff we hold onto, and praying for the Holy Spirit to grow the wheat inside of us.  Repent.  Follow Jesus, and become love.

Advent is a joyful time.  Repentance is a joyful occasion with or without Little Saint Nick.  Repentance is part of the process whereby we ask God to help rid ourselves of our chaff and become more fully the wheat we were made to be.  Repentance is part of the process whereby we follow Jesus and become more fully the beloved and loving human beings God made us to be.  What could be more joyful?

At the Conspire conference, the youth were told that they could become love, that they could conspire together to change the world in Jesus’ name…and they believed it, and so it will happen.  When John proclaimed a baptism of repentance that folks could turn their lives around, wash and be made clean, they believed him, and so it happened.  If we believe Jesus can burn up the chaff in our lives, that we can repent, and that God’s Holy Spirit will grow the wheat in our lives and turn us into love, then it will happen as well.  Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near.  Love God.  Love people.  Do stuff, and be not afraid.  Amen.

I Don't Suppose You Could Speed Things Up?

Brad Sullivan

1 Advent, Year A

Sunday, December 1, 2013

St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Canticle 4 or 16
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43

You do not know when the Son of Man will be returning, Jesus said, so be ready, and wait expectantly for the coming of the Son of Man.  If I’m really honest, I’m not the biggest fan of waiting…waiting and wondering and sitting around.  I tend to want things right away.  Jesus tells us to wait.  The season of Advent tells us to wait and gives us a chance to wait.  In the words of Stanley Hauerwas, Advent reminds us that we are to be a patient people in a world of impatience. 

Jesus told us that he would return and put all things right, he just didn’t say when that would be.  We don’t know and can’t know when Jesus is coming back.  We just know that we’re waiting.  We know that when we wait for more than a few minutes, hours, or days for much of anything, we lose patience or lose hope.  I’m not going to wait forever, we might say.  Well, two-thousand years of waiting isn’t forever, but it’s about as close as we can realistically imagine, and here we are still waiting. 

There is something deeply gratifying about that, about knowing that as a people, we’ve been waiting for nearly two millennia, and we are still here, waiting patiently, hopefully, and often joyfully.  Waiting is not usually associated with hope and joy.  I tend to think of waiting as a boring if not down right morose affair, waiting for some good thing to happen.  Life must be less than great now if we’re waiting for something great. 

Admittedly, we are waiting for life, the universe, and everything to be a whole lot better when all is restored with Jesus’ return.  There is plenty of darkness in the world, and as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, creation itself waits with eager longing for Jesus return.  We all want the world to be put right, and it can be easy to get discouraged by the darkness in the world.

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to be bored or morose or discouraged, however, as we wait for his return.  There’s plenty of darkness in the world, and I don’t believe Jesus wanted us to add to that darkness as we wait for him.  We’d want Jesus to return; we’re sad about the darkness of the world, but we don’t wait by being mopey or fearful.  We wait by being joyful in our faith and in our crazy hope that all of the darkness will one day be dispelled and that light will reign forever. 

Waiting in a world of impatience, waiting faithfully and joyfully – that is the challenge.  We often wait for things by distracting ourselves.  We come up with some activity to pass the time, to anesthetize ourselves to the reality of waiting.  The trouble is that when we are distracted or anesthetized, we tend to forget.  The longer we are distracted, the less ready we are for whatever is coming.  Jesus tells us not to be distracted but to wait patiently and be ready. 

Wait and be ready without distraction, and by the way, you have no idea how long you’ll be waiting.  That’s a rather tall order.  In Matthew 5, Jesus told his disciples, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)  I think this passage gives us some idea of how we are to wait.

I’ve often heard sermons talking about our need to wait and be ready, and while not specifically stated, the basic feeling I’ve gotten from the sermon is “you’ve got to be religious, and pious, and miserable in order to wait and be ready for Jesus.”  Well, whenever I’m miserable, I don’t have an overabundance of light shining.  Let your light shine before others, Jesus said.

            Jesus calls us to wait with hope and joy.  How do we do that?  Perhaps counterintuitively, I think we wait with hope and joy by slowing down.  We often want to go do something fun and exciting to be happy as we wait, but I don’t think that’s necessarily how we wait for Jesus.  We still get to have fun, don’t get me wrong, but moments of fun don’t really sustain us. 

            Wait with hope and joy by slowing down, spending time in prayer, spending time with loved ones.  We wait with hope and joy by slowing down enough to be still and know God.  We wait with hope and joy by slowing down enough to notice the joy and blessings in our lives.  We wait with hope and joy by slowing down enough to realize that we are waiting with hope and joy. 

We also wait with hope and joy by slowing down enough to notice the darkness and misery in the world.  Talk about counterintuitive.  We choose as disciples of Jesus to notice the darkness and misery of the world and then to respond by prayer and action, speaking out in love and acting out in love. 

            Specifically this Advent, we can wait by not being overcome by the clutter of the commercialized, secular Christmas season.  We can wait this Advent by praying, by being still, by giving thanks, by looking for opportunities to serve other people.  We can give to those who are hungry or to those who have a hard time keeping their electricity on.  We can wait by slowing down, keeping our faith with hope and joy, and letting our light shine before others that they may see our good works and give glory to God.

            We wait by keeping our faith and joy, waiting patiently in a world with little time for faith or patience. 

The Sea The Sea

Re:  Blah from the album Love, Are We Love

http://theseathesea.com/

There’s no such thing as having too much faith.

There is only losing faith,

And why, oh why would you go to that place

Where you have lost your faith?

You say sometimes you have too much faith in people

They have a way of letting you down,

I say, don’t be quick to judge those people

‘cause that kind of thing has a way of coming back around.

You say sometimes it’s all out of focus

And all of this chaos is bringing you down

I say, just let it go, and love somebody,

‘cause that kind of thing has a way of coming back around.

‘cause that kind of thing has a way of coming back around.

There’s no such thing as having too much faith,

There is only losing faith.

And why, oh why would you go to that place

Where you have lost your faith?

Where you have lost your faith.

Amen.

I'm Worthless...and Everyone Else Is Beneath Me

Brad Sullivan
Proper 25, Year C
Sunday, October 20, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX
Joel 2:23-32
Psalm 65
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.  Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.” (Psalm 123:3-4)  Tax collectors, the contemptible person in Jesus’ parable were generally speaking not overly great folks back in Jesus’ day.  They notoriously collected more than they were supposed to so they could give themselves a kick back.  It was easy to hold a tax collector in contempt.

Put the words of Psalm 123 on the lips of the tax collector, however, and I can’t help but feel sorry for him.  “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.  Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.” (Psalm 123:3-4)  In the context of Jesus’ parable, that psalm on the lips of the tax collector is a prayer of someone who is lost, a prayer of someone who is fairly contemptible to those around him and yet a prayer of someone who doesn’t know how else to be.   

The tax collector is harming others to help himself, and yet Jesus presents him as someone who has lost his way, or as someone who never knew a good way to go in the first place.  Jesus told another parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.  It seems to me, that if you trust in yourself and hold others in contempt, then you’re just a stones’ throw away from becoming like the tax collector yourself, harming others to help yourself. 

This isn’t so hard to do if your life is not part of a greater narrative. If you truly trust in yourself that you are righteous, then others can quickly become beneath you.  “I’m a self made man.”  “I did this all without any help from anyone.”  “Everyone else is beneath me.”  Not everyone who would claim those first two statements would believe the third, but they are closely linked.  I am righteous through all that I do.  My life is my own, not part of a greater narrative, therefore others can easily be held in contempt. 

The flip side of that coin is, you have to prove your worth through what you do.  If what you do is the only thing that makes you righteous, then in some respect, you have to earn your own worth.  Take God’s love for you simply because you are his out of the equation.  Take your incalculable value as God’s own creation away, and yes, you do have to prove your worth and be righteous only on your own.  Take away the belief that you were made in God’s image and are a part of his redemptive work in creation, and you likely should trust in yourself and hold others in contempt. 

In our Gospel story today, however, Jesus was talking to Jews.  Folks who believe in nothing greater than themselves can easily feel how Jesus was describing, trusting in themselves and holding others with contempt.  The people of Israel, however, believed they were part of a greater narrative, part of something greater than themselves.  They believed that God had made them and redeemed them as a people to be a light to the nations.  How could they then hold others in contempt?  They were shown God’s love and their great value through God’s love, that they might show that same love and value to others.  “Have you forgotten who you are?”  Jesus was asking.

I was at clergy conference this week, and one of our presenters, Dwight Zscheile, talked about growing up in a nominally Christian household in a part of the country where 85% of the people claimed no religious affiliation.  His family, while Christians, basically fell into that 85%.  He never attended worship growing up.  They didn’t pray.  He didn’t learn the Gospel narrative.  Dwight basically grew up feeling about like I described above, like he had to earn his own worth through what he did.  I don’t know that he treated others with contempt, but he felt that he had very little self worth if he did not accomplish great things. 

As he grew up, however, some folks introduced him to the Gospel narrative.  Some of these were church goers, and some of these were not, but by the time he finished college, he was a committed Christian, having heard and believed that he was a part of a greater narrative than just his own life.  Being a Christian, he no longer believed he had to trust in his own righteousness and earn his self worth, but as he put it, he believed in…

…an alternative story, one in which every human life is precious beyond measure, created for loving relationship with the source of all life.  In this story, your worth is given, not earned.  Rather than bearing the weight of making it all up as you go, you find yourself in a common narrative that goes back many generations.  You are welcomed into a community of unlike people where difference need not be cause for division, as is so often the case in our world.  You are offered forgiveness for your faults and errors, for the violence you do to others and this earth, and so are released to forgive others and break the cycle of hatred and retribution.  You are claimed by a love and power beyond your own.  You are held in arms of grace.  And in that embrace, you are freed to participate in the restoration of human community and all creation.

(Zscheile, Dwight J.: People of the Way:  Renewing Episcopal Identity, Morehouse, New York, 2012, p. 2)

 

There isn’t exactly room for self-righteousness and contempt in being “freed to participate with God in the restoration of human community and all creation.”  Self-righteousness and contempt diminish who we are and the restorative work we get to do in partnership with God.  Self-righteousness and contempt are not who we are as disciples of Jesus.  As disciples of Jesus, we are offered forgiveness “and are so released to forgive others.”

This is not to say that we don’t point out faults or bad behavior when we see it.  Of course we do.  Jesus made no bones about demanding a high moral standard for his disciples.  What else could he demand when his two guiding laws were love God and love your neighbor? 

As disciples of Jesus, we too are called to point out bad behavior when we see it, but we are called to do so without contempt.  We’re called to think, not just react, and we are called to build others up in love, not tear them down in contempt. 

This goes to all of our interactions with others…how we raise our kids, treat our neighbors, forgive those who have hurt us, and seek restoration with those whom we would otherwise hold in contempt.  Forgiveness, love, incalculable worth as God’s children, beloved and redeemed by Jesus.  This is our life, and this is who we are.  This is the narrative and the Gospel which we live and believe, being baptized into Jesus’ body.  This is the narrative and Body into which Rinley Dodd will be baptized this morning, a narrative and Body in which she is in the words of Dwight Zscheile

precious beyond measure, created for loving relationship with the source of all life.  In this story, [her] worth is given, not earned.  Rather than bearing the weight of making it all up as goes [she’ll find herself] in a common narrative that goes back many generations.  [In this narrative she is] welcomed into a community of unlike people where difference need not be cause for division, as is so often the case in our world.  [She is] offered forgiveness for [her] faults and errors, for the violence [she’ll] do to others and this earth, and so [she is] released to forgive others and break the cycle of hatred and retribution.  [She is] claimed by a love and power beyond [her] own.  [She is] held in arms of grace.  And in that embrace, [she is] freed to participate in the restoration of human community and all creation.

(Zscheile, Dwight J.: People of the Way:  Renewing Episcopal Identity, Morehouse, New York, 2012, p. 2)

Amen.

 

Yea, so we've got no idea how this thing works

Brad Sullivan
Proper 24, Year C
Sunday, October 20, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Psalm 119:97-104
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

“No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  These words from Jeremiah speak of a new covenant which God was going to make with Israel.  This was during the time of Israel’s captivity and deportation, this terrible low point in Israel’s history, and God was giving them words of restoration.  “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

God calls it a new covenant, and yet it really seems like a renewal of the covenant they had with God all along, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”  The sounds a lot like Deuteronomy 6:4-6, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.^{* 5}You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.”  So, Jeremiah’s prophecy gives a hopeful vision of restoration and renewal for Israel, a time when God’s covenant will live within the people, within their hearts as God had always intended. 

The words from Jeremiah also to give a hopeful yes to Jesus’ question at the end of our Gospel story this morning, “and yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  I am always struck by this rather stark and ominous question of Jesus.  After talking to his disciples about the need to pray always and not lose heart, it almost sounds like Jesus is losing heart a bit, wondering rather despondently if there will be faith on earth.  Will his disciples pray and not lose heart?  Will his words and life be on his disciples hearts?  Is Jesus truly wondering, hoping, and partially doubting that there will continue to be faith on the earth?  Perhaps.

Perhaps the question is more for our benefit, to spur us to action.  Hearing Jesus’ question, tends to leave a feeling of personal responsibility in the heart of the listener.  If Jesus is wondering whether or not there will be faith on the earth, then we can’t leave it up to someone else to have faith.  We need to have faith ourselves, to pray continually and not lose heart.  Perhaps Jesus is asking the if there will be faith on the earth to underscore the need for his disciples to pray always and not lose heart, as if to say, “if you don’t, then there may not be faith on the earth.”

Tying our passage from Jeremiah to Jesus’ question, however, I can’t help but hear a hopeful “yes” in answer to Jesus’ question.  “Yes, when the son of man comes there will be faith on the earth, because

[God] will put [his] law within them, and [he] will write it on their hearts; and [he] will be their God, and they shall be [his] people.  No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know [God], from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for [he] will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

That hopeful vision is not only for Israel during the time of their captivity, but for us as well and for all time.  Pray always and don’t lose heart, for God will put his law within us and write it on our hearts; we will all know God and he will forgive our iniquity and remember our sin no more.  Yes, there will be faith on the earth when the Son of Man comes, so pray always and don’t lose heart.

Notice also what Jesus says about prayer, that God will quickly grant justice to his people who pray to him day and night.  Well, if it was really all that quickly, would we have time to lose heart?  Perhaps Jesus means that once God acts, that God will grant justice quickly, but there seems to be some delay expected before God acts, otherwise, why the encouragement not to lose heart? 

I tend to like to figure things out and to over think things, and this passage has been no exception.  God will quickly grant justice.  Don’t lose heart.  I wanted to find some way of explaining that so that it made nice logical sense.  I wanted to be able to explain how praying always works, but I could find no easy answers.  Often people pray for things, and they pray a lot for those things, and the things for which they pray don’t happen.  Sometimes justice seems not to happen, at least not as quickly as we’d like.  There’s no formula for how to get prayer to work.  Sometimes we may feel like prayer isn’t working. 

All I can say in response is, “pray always and don’t lose heart.”  My granddad told me on his death bed, weeks before he died, “don’t ever underestimate the power of prayer.”  He sat me down and had me pray with him and memorize the collect for purity at the beginning of the Eucharist.  “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires, known, and from whom no secrets are hid:  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord.  Amen.” 

Notice in that prayer, that we declare God already to know our desires, our secrets, and the innermost thoughts and dreams of our hearts.  We are absolute open books, known cover to cover by God, and we are told by Jesus to “pray always and not lose heart.”  God already knows us.  God knows our needs and desires before we ask, and yet God desires us to ask anyway.  God knows us better than we know ourselves, and yet we are told to make ourselves known to God in prayer. 

Perhaps by praying always and not losing heart, we are opening ourselves up to God, opening our hearts to God not so much that God will know us, but so that we will know God.  Perhaps by praying always and not losing heart, we are doing more than making our requests known to God.  Perhaps by praying always and not losing heart, we are partnering with God, allowing him to write his law on our hearts and allowing ourselves to know God.  Perhaps praying always and not losing heart helps fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy.  “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” 

Of course Jesus says rather than God will grant justice to those who pray always and don’t lose heart.  Jesus says God will be patient with us in our pestering of him and God will quickly grant us justice.  We may have to wait and not lose heart, but God will quickly grant us justice.  Hmmm?  I really don’t know how that works.  I can’t exactly explain that one.  All I can say is, “I believe it.”  I don’t know how exactly, but I believe it.  I’ll leave it to Jesus to know how exactly that all fits together.  In the mean time, all I know is I find more peace when I pray always and don’t lose heart.  I find more joy when I pray always and don’t lose heart.  I can’t say exactly why.  I simply believe Jesus’ words and find them to be true.  Pray always and don’t lose heart.  “I will put my law within them,” says the Lord, “and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  Amen.

Jesus, Lepers, and Zombies

Brad Sullivan
Proper 23, Year C
Sunday, October 13, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-11
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
 

I’ve been watching the TV show, “The Walking Dead,” which is soon to start its fourth season, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it.  “The Walking Dead” is your basic end of the world, zombie apocalypse drama with small groups of people struggling to survive in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.  As Kristin pointed out one night, it isn’t an overly happy show, and she wasn’t too keen on watching it because of the often rather tragic situations the survivors often found themselves.  Then after a couple of episodes she was totally hooked.

I noticed though that the level of drama, the intensity of emotion expressed by the characters was really no different than many other shows I’ve seen.  We were watching some family drama set in modern time with everyday, regular kinds of struggles, and I noticed that the characters in that show were getting just as intense in their level of emotion and drama as the people in the end of the world zombie apocalypse show (not unrealistically), and all I could think is, “y’all need to chill; it ain’t the end of the world.”

It seems that our level for drama and the intensity of our emotions can pretty well be amped up to fill whatever struggle we happen to be going through, but by and large, our struggles aren’t the end of the world. 

Ten lepers were cleansed by Jesus, and for them, their leprosy, while not the end of the world, was the end of their getting to interact with non-leprous people until their leprosy was healed.  They had to be quarantined from the rest of the people according to the laws of Israel, and once they were cured, they couldn’t re-enter society until showing themselves to the priest and being declared clean. 

Notice, though, that Jesus sent them off to see the priest before he cured them.  They were supposed to be checking in with the priest every seven days, so I assume Jesus was having them go to the priest partially to keep them walking and living as Israelites, rather than despairing and giving up entirely, not checking in with the priest feeling that there was no point.  You may be leprous, but you can still in this small way, live as faithful Jews.  Go, present yourself to the priest.

Then, on the way they were cured, and only one of them returned to thank Jesus.  To be fair, the other nine were likely doing what Jesus said, and rushing to see the priest, now so they could be declared clean and re-enter society.  The laws of Israel demanded that they go and see the priest, but couldn’t it wait.  If they didn’t get the ritual part of their religion done immediately, it’s not really the end of the world.  They were so concerned with getting back to the priest and to society, that they missed the opportunity for gratitude.

We are often so concerned with the various goings on in our lives that we too miss opportunities for gratitude, and really we’re the ones who suffer for it.  When we’re so busy trying to get things done and so worried about what we have to do that we can’t be grateful for what we have, then we often end up feeling like whatever we’re going through at the time is the end of the world, even when what we’re going through is just the regular stuff of everyday life. 

I think it’s safe to say, that so far, all of the struggles we’ve been through in our lives and even the joys and challenges of everyday life have not been the end of the world, and I don’t mean to minimize the struggles, challenges, and tragedies people face.  We struggle with life daily and sometimes we struggle with some truly terrible things.  Keeping or seeking a grateful heart, even in the face of tragedy can help us through the tragedy so that we are not overcome by darkness, but we overcome darkness with light.

For the people of Israel in our reading from Jeremiah today, life did feel like the end of the world, and God, through Jeremiah was telling the people to overcome darkness with light.  Jerusalem had been destroyed, the nations of Israel and Judah no longer existed, and God was telling the people who were being taken away captive into a land of exile to pray for the welfare of the land of exile.  Pray for the welfare of Babylon, the very land whose army just sacked Jerusalem.

Live and thrive in the land of exile.  Build houses, take wives and start families, pray for the welfare of Babylon, for in their welfare you will find your welfare.  Continue being a light to the nations, I hear God saying.  Live as Israelites in the land of exile, but don’t sequester yourselves.  Live among the people of Babylon and be a light to them, showing them the joys and beauty of the Kingdom of God. 

Your nation has been destroyed, you’re being brought captive into Babylon, and yet you are still Israelites, you are still God’s people chosen to be a light to the nations.  Jerusalem is destroyed, but it isn’t the end of the world.  Be grateful because you are still God’s people, a light to the nations.  Be grateful and let the light of your gratitude and the light of God shine in your lives for others to see. 

So too for us in all of the little apocalypses in our lives, in our daily struggles, and in our times of real tragedy, Jesus commends us to keep grateful hearts, not denying our pain or tragedy, but also seeking to be grateful for the ways in which we are blessed.

Sometimes we’re simply not going to be able to feel grateful, and I don’t know that we’re supposed to feel guilty about that.  The 9 guys in the gospel story today who were tacitly reprimanded for their lack of gratitude had just been cleansed of leprosy.  Jesus didn’t tell people in the midst of tragedy, “shame on you for being sad and despondent, you should be grateful for…well I don’t know for what but you should be grateful.” 

We are allowed to be sad, and we seek gratitude.  We seek to keep grateful hearts, realizing that so many of our challenges really aren’t the end of the world.  When tragedy does strike, we keep our hope in Jesus, realizing the words of Psalm 62, “for God alone my soul in silence waits; from him comes my salvation.  He alone is my rock and my stronghold so that I shall not be greatly shaken.” 

We keep our hope and confidence in God, realizing that even the actual end of the world is going to be redeemed.  We can keep gratitude in our hearts as we look forward to the restoration and re-creation of all things in the resurrection which will fortunately look nothing at all like a zombie apocalypse.  Amen.

On Any Given Sunday

Brad Sullivan
Proper 22, Year C
Sunday, October 6, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City, TX
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31 

There is a big difference between humility and feeling badly about oneself.  You think rather highly of yourself, realize your many gifts and talents, and still be humble, without pride, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement that often accompanies pride and arrogance.  Pride and arrogance often lead to a feeling that the world should acknowledge one’s magnificence and give them special treatment, make allowances, or bend to accommodate. 

Jesus was telling his disciples not to fall into the trap of price or arrogance with the accompanying sense of entitlement.  We are who we are as Jesus’ disciples and we don’t believe the world owes us anything for being Jesus’ disciples.

During Noah’s soccer game yesterday, another of the dads and I were discussing the soccer tournament which other teams were having this weekend, noting that the tournaments went on to Sunday for those teams which did well.  I said to the gentleman with whom I was speaking that next year, if Noah is still playing soccer, he won’t be playing on the Sunday games.  The gentleman agreed with me; we both felt our kids shouldn’t miss worshipping on Sundays for the sake of soccer. 

I realized later that there was, however, something rather disagreeable in my tone when I said Noah wouldn’t be playing soccer on Sunday.  My words were simple enough, but something in my tone implied that the coach or tournament organizer would be wrong for even thinking about having a soccer tournament on Sunday.  The soccer people should know, I felt, that Christians worship on Sunday, and the soccer people should therefore, I felt, have everything wrapped up before Sunday.  That, my friends, is prideful arrogance and an accompanying sense of entitlement.

As a disciple of Jesus, worship on Sunday is mine to uphold and protect.  Worship on Sunday is my choice to make, my faith to live out.  The soccer organization is not a church.  The responsibility of the soccer tournament organizers is to organize a soccer tournament, not to ensure that I get to worship on Sunday.

We choose to live as disciples of Jesus, and the world doesn’t owe us making our life as Jesus’ disciples easy.  For a long time, Christians kind of imposed our way on those around us.  Most people were Christian in our society, so some of the Christian way of life became the norm.  Even when I grew up, stores were largely closed on Sunday, but what began as disciples of Jesus choosing not to work on Sundays, became disciples of Jesus expecting no one to work on Sundays (except of course the NFL – they were far too entertaining not to play on Sunday).  Parts of our way of life as disciples of Jesus became the norm and therefore easy in our society, and we began to expect society to make our discipleship rather easy, to accommodate our way of life.

Nowadays, however, society largely does not accommodate our way of life.  Sunday in society at large is just another day to work or play and there certainly aren’t accommodations made by most businesses or non-church organizations to allow Christians to worship on Sundays.  Lots of our folks at St. Mark’s have to work many, if not all Sundays.  Folks can always ask, but they can’t exactly demand that their employers allow them time off to come to church.

This bothers many of us, feeling that our jobs and our non-church organizations should know better and should accommodate our schedules as disciples of Jesus, but that is the very feeling of pride and arrogance and entitlement which Jesus warned against.  We are who we are as disciples of Jesus, and the world doesn’t owe us anything for being disciples of Jesus.  Our jobs and other non-church organizations aren’t the church, and they don’t owe us accommodations for us being the church. 

Feeling animosity towards others for not making allowances so that we can worship on Sundays is not a particularly good witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ.  Worship on Sundays is only one part of our faith.  It’s an important part, but we are Christians not only on Sunday mornings, but seven full days of the week.  As disciples of Jesus, we have been taught to live out and proclaim our faith joyfully and confidently, with humility, realizing not all will believe as we believe and we are not going to force them to.  Forcing others to believe or forcing others to accommodate our belief is really a form of cowardice, spurned on by the fear that our faith or way of life will be threatened by others not sharing our faith and way of life.

“God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, [however,] but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)  We needn’t fear others now allowing us to live as Christians, because the only ones who can stop us believing or living as Christians is we.  Others can make it difficult for us to live out some parts of our worship life, but they can’t stop us from believing, and they can’t stop us from living out our faith in our daily lives.  Prayer can be silent and can happen anytime, anywhere.  Service to others can be big things or small things and can also happen anytime, anywhere.

Loving God and loving our neighbor requires no accommodation by those around us.  Loving God and loving our neighbor requires “a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”  Our faith is ours to live and to live joyfully.  We needn’t be resentful towards the proverbial soccer organization for scheduling things when we want to be here with our St. Mark’s family. 

It is not the job of the proverbial soccer organization to allow us to live out our lives as disciples of Jesus.  It is our job to live our lives as disciples of Jesus whenever and wherever we are.  If we are worshipping here, we live our lives as disciples of Jesus.  If we cannot be here to worship, then we worship God anyway, wherever we are and live our lives as disciples of Jesus.

As for those of us who can’t be here on Sundays, we pray for them and with them, asking them to pray for and with us, wherever they may be.  As for those who take part in other activities and choose not to be here on any given Sunday, we pray for them and with them, asking them to pray for and with us, wherever they may be.     

That is true discipleship, no feelings of hurt or animosity or resentment towards those who don’t live as disciples of Jesus.  Rather, we live out our faith with love, self-discipline, and humility.  Now there is a good witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ.  We are not owed anything.  We have done only what we ought to have done as disciples of Jesus, joyfully living out our lives with “a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”  Amen.