April 25 -- Leeds Presbyterian Church - "The One who cares"

 

“The One who cares”

Wayne McLaughlin

April 25 , 2021

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Leeds Presbyterian Church

Psalm 23     KJV

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

John 10.11-18 NRSV

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

SERMON TEXT:

1. Caring

I read a news account about a psychiatrist and his patient. This is one of those stories that might make you grin or laugh, and then a few seconds later you feel bad for finding it funny. That’s okay. This story is both humorous and serious at the same time. It happened in Ottawa, Canada.

A woman went to her psychiatrist and began to pour out her heart to him. She spoke about her deep depression, her anxiety, and her feelings of self-loathing. The main problem, she said, is that was that no one seemed to take her seriously; it was as if she was invisible; no one seemed to care about her. When she looked up to see how the doctor would respond, she was shocked—he was asleep!

Poor woman. Even her psychiatrist didn’t take her seriously. He slept through her agonizing soliloquy. The Canadian College of Physicians and Surgeons censured the doctor for his irresponsible behavior and told him to get more sleep at home. 

[This story appeared in THE WEEK, August 7, 2020, p. 12.]

Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd. He contrasts himself with the hired hand. He says when the hired hand is doing the shepherding and a wolf comes around, the hired hand doesn’t try to protect the sheep; instead, he takes off! He skedaddles. Why? (This is the important part.) Because he doesn’t really care about the sheep (v. 13).

He’s just in it for the money. It’s just a job as far as he is concerned. Not so with the real shepherd. The real shepherd has a personal relationship with each sheep. He knows them by name. They know him; they recognize his voice. The Good Shepherd cares about the sheep.

Which is a way of saying that God cares about each one of us. Our relationship with God is a personal relationship. God is not just an idea or a concept. God is personal because “God is love” (1 John 4.16). And love is personal.

2. The Premise

People are different; therefore, the way we live out our faith may be different. Your temperament and my temperament may not be the same, which means the way I experience God and the way you do may be different.

I’m mostly “in my head.” I intellectualize faith—because that’s the way I do things. That’s the way I’m wired. So I have trouble experiencing faith on a feeling level. I very seldom feel God’s presence. There have been times in my life when I’ve said to God, “Please, give me a sign of your realness.” But no sign came. So, I continue to say to myself: I am saved by the grace of God, not by spiritual experiences or emotional stirrings. 

3. Saint Teresa

But I have found help from a Saint. We knew her as Mother Teresa. She was officially designated as a Saint in 2007. People were shocked when her private letters were published in 2007. These were letters she wrote to her spiritual advisors over many years. Here is an excerpt of one:

In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss—of God not wanting me—of God not being God—of God not really existing (Jesus, please forgive my blasphemies—I have been told to write everything)… What do I labor for? If there be no God—there can be no soul. If there is no soul then Jesus—You also are not true. Heaven, what emptiness—not a single thought of Heaven enters my mind—for there is no hope.

Mother Teresa had trouble feeling God’s presence. At one point she wrote: “Thank God we don’t serve God with our feelings, otherwise I don’t know where I would be.” 

[Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta,” Ed. by Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C. (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 192-3, 255.]

So, I’m grateful for the witness of St. (Mother) Teresa—for her honesty, for her determination to do God’s work even when she couldn’t experience God’s presence. She accomplished her mission by shear doggedness. Her motivation did not come from emotional experiences or spiritual feelings. Her motivation was simply a desire to serve Jesus. It was out of her spiritual darkness that she gave light to others. She endured her doubts not by thinking or feeling, but by doing. 

4. Assuming

So I take a page from Mother’s Teresa’s “faith strategy book” and allow my faith to take the form of acting out. My strategy is to act like God is present, even when I don’t feel it. I talk to God. I breathe God in and out. I sit in silence with God. I use the Psalms as my prayers, knowing that the Spirit prays through the words of the Psalmist even when I don’t have words of my own. I act out a Christlike life by cultivating love for others—trying to help other people in any way I can. And I lean on the Church—its traditions, its creeds, its fellowship, its symbolism, its inspiring examples of faith—and my friendship with my sisters and brothers in the Church.

I assume God’s presence. My faith comes in the form of assumptions. I believe by assuming. I trust God by acting on the premise that God is with me. And by acting on my premises I am standing on the promises.

5. Moses

Throughout Scripture the caring nature of God is revealed. One of the most important events in the Bible is the exodus, when God sets the Israelites free from slavery. God used Moses to execute their liberation. But before the exodus takes place Moses receives his call to be the liberator. Remember when Moses hears God speak to him from a burning bush? God says:

I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey… (Ex. 3: 7-8).

Notice what motivates the Lord in this passage: (1) The Lord hears their cry. This is a God who listens to us. (2) God knows their suffering. Which means God actually experiences their suffering. God cares about us because God listens and empathizes with us. The Lord enters into our suffering with us. God really cares. That’s the kind of God we know.

The Lord is my Shepherd. Which Lord? The one who sets the Jewish people free. The one who cares.

6. With-ness

In Psalm 23 there is a great shift that takes place. You know the shift I’m talking about? The Psalm starts off in the third person—talking about the shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd…He leads me to green pastures.” Third person.

But in verse four it shifts to the second person: “I fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” No longer talking about the shepherd. Now David is talking to the shepherd. The idea of a shepherd has transformed into a personal relationship with the shepherd.

The with-ness of the shepherd makes all the difference. When someone who cares about me is with me, well, that’s as good as it gets.

You’ll remember that in Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus, Joseph is told in a dream that Mary’s son would be called Emmanuel, which means “God-with-us.” 

The with-ness of God is a fact. It’s not always a felt fact. It’s a faith fact.

Since Jesus is the historical and personal expression of the with-ness of God, we look to him to learn how to perceive God’s with-ness in our lives. By reading and studying the four Gospels we get to know what the with-ness looks like.

And we learn that God is with us when someone is healed, because that’s what Jesus does in the Gospels. 

We know that God is with us when a demon is cast out of someone. Because that’s what Jesus does in the Gospels. 

Of course in our time we understand the “demonic” in a different way.

Today, when I read about Jesus exorcising a demon from a man or woman, I think of 

--the man who is gets control over his alcoholism; 

--or the woman who learns to manage her betting addiction; 

--or the person who gets counseling and is able go to work in spite of her life-long phobia of crowds; 

--or the man who finds the right kind of medication for his bipolar disorder and can now treat his wife like she deserves to be treated.

We also know that God is with us when researchers find a vaccine for a deadly virus, because that too is the healing work of God.

The with-ness of God is experienced when someone forgives me even though I’ve made a jerk out of myself—like when Jesus says to the woman: Is there no one who condemns you? Neither do I. Go and live with integrity. In the Gospels Jesus forgave people. Therefore, we can be sure God is with us when we see forgiveness take place.

I profess my faith and say, “Thou art with me.” I know that you care about me. You are the Good Shepherd. You prepare a table before me. You anoint my head with oil. You welcome me. You refresh me. I’m never left out in the cold. There is always a Spiritual Presence in my life. If I don’t feel it, I still believe it. I trust in the goodness of the Shepherd. He is not just “doing a job” like the hired hand; he really cares for me.

7. Witness 

Now we are ready to evangelize. Now, because of the second person dialogue we have with God, we can speak in the third person to others about the Spiritual Presence we acknowledge in our lives.

To use a catchy phrase, we evangelize when we witness to the with-ness of God. We bear witness to the with-ness of God 

when we love others; 

when we care about their need; 

when we offer to help; 

when we refuse to be judgmental; 

when we extend the forgiveness and grace of Christ to them.

As we witness to the with-ness of God, we fulfill Psalm 23. It is not only David’s story, it becomes our story too.

God is not a sleeping psychiatrist. As David wrote in another Psalm (psalm 121): 

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

    from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.

The One who will not let your foot be moved;

    who keeps you and will not slumber.

The Lord who keeps Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

                        [my adaptation]

God doesn’t sleep; nor does God run away like a hired hand. We can trust God, whom we know in Christ. Christ is not just a shepherd; he is a Good Shepherd. And he is a Present Shepherd. He cares about us. He knows your name. And if you listen to your thoughts and your conscience and your heart, you will recognize his voice whispering to you.

He will lead you to green pastures and enable you to work for the greening of the world.

He will take you to quiet waters which offer a calm place to rest.

He will restore your soul and energize you to fulfill your purpose.

He will walk with you through the dark valleys of life, and help you get through whatever comes your way.

He will follow you all the days of your life; he has your back.

The Lord is your shepherd; 

you shall not want for anything. 

You’ve got everything you need.

 

 

Surprise! -- sermon at Montevallo Presbyterian Church - April 18, 2021

 “Surprise!”

A Sermon by Wayne McLaughlin

April 18 , 2021

Third Sunday of Easter

Montevallo Presbyterian Church

Acts 3.12-19 CEB

12 Seeing this, Peter addressed the people: “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us as if we made him walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus. This is the one you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, even though he had already decided to release him. 14 You rejected the holy and righteous one, and asked that a murderer be released to you instead. 15 You killed the author of life, the very one whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 His name itself has made this man strong. That is, because of faith in Jesus’ name, God has strengthened this man whom you see and know. The faith that comes through Jesus gave him complete health right before your eyes.

17 “Brothers and sisters, I know you acted in ignorance. So did your rulers. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he foretold through all the prophets: that his Christ would suffer. 19 Change your hearts and lives! Turn back to God so that your sins may be wiped away.

1 John 3.1-7 MSG

3 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

2-3 But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

4-6 All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.

7-8 So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways.

Luke 24.36-48 CEB

36 While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 37 They were terrified and afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost.

38 He said to them, “Why are you startled? Why are doubts arising in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It’s really me! Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones like you see I have.” 40 As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 Because they were wondering and questioning in the midst of their happiness, he said to them, “Do you have anything to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of baked fish. 43 Taking it, he ate it in front of them.

44 Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

SERMON TEXT:

1.

Let me give you a quick retelling of the Easter Story…

Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death. They hung him on a cross for all to see. Judas had already killed himself. The other Eleven disciples ran away and hid because they didn’t want to be caught and put to death as one of his associates. 

They all knew, of course, that Jesus would rise from the dead because he had told them at least three times that he would go to Jerusalem, be rejected, would suffer and die, and then, three days later, rise from the dead.

So they waited with baited breath for him to show up. They didn’t know if he would simply knock at the door and say, “I’m here; I’ve risen from the dead.” Or whether he would float down from the sky like an angel and appear in bright clothing outside the house for all to see. But they were ready to see him again.

And sure enough, on the third day they heard a knock at the door. They all looked up with anticipation. Peter got up and went to the door. He was excited. He opened the door and there he was—the risen Lord. Peter hugged him, saying, “We were waiting for you.” As Jesus walked in they all got up and embraced him. And with wine glasses held high, they toasted his arrival. There were tears of joy. Just as they expected, after three days he had returned.

2.

What’s wrong with that version of the appearance of the resurrected Jesus? Did it happen that way? No. If you have paid attention to any of the post-crucifixion appearances of Jesus (of which there are at least seven), you will see the problem with the way I’ve just told the story.

Let’s look at the actual story in Luke’s Gospel. 

Verse 36: Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus doesn’t knock at the door. He doesn’t walk into the house. He simply appears. He materializes. He has not returned as the “old” Jesus. He is now a different kind of person. It’s still Jesus, but Jesus with a different mode of being. He just appears out of nowhere.

Verse 37: He said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost.

Startled and terrified. Jesus surprised them! No, they weren’t expecting him to return. They thought his death was the end. They thought that their hope had turned into hopelessness. They were startled! Surprised! And terrified!

Encountering the Risen Lord was a terrifying event. 

But, you say, hadn’t Jesus told them that he would be rejected, he would have to suffer and die, and then he would rise again on the third day? Yes, exactly. At least three times he told them about his coming death and resurrection. So why were they surprised?

3.

There are two possible answers to your question. First, the disciples were not very good students. They didn’t listen to their teacher very well. Remember when Peter said that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God—and Jesus complimented him on his profession of faith? It was right after that that Jesus told his students that he would have to go to Jerusalem and be rejected, suffer, die, and then rise again. And at that very moment Peter took him aside and scolded him, saying, No, Master, you can’t die, you’re the Messiah! The Messiah doesn’t die!

Why didn’t Peter mention his resurrection? Because all he heard was “die”; the other part about resurrection didn’t even register with Peter. It’s like when a person goes to the doctor and she tells him that he has cancer. She goes on to say that it’s curable, but he doesn’t hear that part. After the word “cancer” his hearing shuts down. Perhaps that is what happened to Peter and the other disciples. The resurrection part got lost in the dying part.

There is another probable reason Jesus’ statement about his rising from the dead did not prepare them for his appearance. Most Jews believed that there would be a resurrection from the dead at the end of time--the General Resurrection. His disciples believed that too. But a resurrection before the end of time was unheard of. So they weren’t prepared for his immediate appearance after dying.

They were shocked. Surprised. And his showing up scared them to death!

In Luke's account, they weren’t happy to see him. They didn’t run to hug him. They couldn’t move. They were struck with terror!

Verse 38: Jesus said: Why are you frightened. It’s me. Look, I’m not a ghost. Come here and touch my hands and feet.

4.

The next verse (41) is interesting:

While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

Listen to their mixed emotions and thoughts: While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering…

If we’re honest, I think that sentence could describe some of us and our attitude toward the resurrection of Christ: Joyful… disbelieving… wondering. There is a bumper sticker that says: 

The Bible says it—I believe—and that settles it.

Of course there are a lot of people in our time coming out of the closet as atheists. Their bumper sticker might say:

The Bible says it—I don’t believe—and that                 settles it.

I have the feeling that there are a lot of people in the Church who read about the Resurrection, and if honest, would have their bumper sticker say:

The Bible says it—I’m joyful, yet still have some disbelief, and I keep wondering about it—and I’m not exactly settled about it.

Some of us Church folk are stuck at verse 41; we haven’t moved beyond the terrifying surprise. We believe, but don’t believe one hundred percent; or we don’t know exactly what to believe. Yet, we feel the joy and the hope of the Biblical witness to the Resurrection. Maybe some of us as we say the Creed and get to the part about “on the third day he rose from the dead,” sort of mumble the words. We aren’t silent, but we are still wondering with joyful disbelief.

5.

In Matthew’s Gospel Christ’s appearance is described like this:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When the saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

Even in Matthew’s account there is room for doubt. They saw him. But some doubted. They were taken aback. They couldn’t believe it. His resurrection was incredible—without credibility, even as they stood  right in his presence. 

According to the Gospels, he resurrection of Jesus was a shock. A divine surprise. Some were not ready to face it.

6.

I’ve been reading Barack Obama’s memoir titled A Promised Land. On page 385 he writes:

Every job has its share of surprises. A key piece of equipment breaks down. A traffic accident forces a change in delivery routes. A client calls to say you’ve won the contract—but they need the order filled three months earlier than planned… The presidency was no different. Except that the surprises came daily, often in waves. [1]

Life is full of surprises. We never know what will happen tomorrow. Some surprises are not pleasant ones. We get a diagnosis we weren’t expecting. A friend or relative betrays us. The wrong person is elected. But many surprises are good. Our theology has to leave room for surprises.

7. 

The Jewish scholar, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who was the Chief Rabbi of London, spoke these words in an interview with Krista Tipper:

The Bible says to us the whole time: Don’t think that God is as simple as you are. He’s in places you would never expect him to be. When Moses at the burning bush says to God, “Who are you?” God says to him three words: “Hayah asher hayah.” Those words are mistranslated in English as “I am that which I am.” But in Hebrew, it means “I will be who or how or where I will be,” meaning, Don’t think you can predict me. I am a God who is going to surprise you. [2]

In today’s reading from Acts, Peter has healed a man who couldn’t walk. 

Peter grabbed his hand and helped him up, and he began to walk and jump and shout “Hallelujah!” As our reading begins, Peter says to all the people looking on: “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this?” Another translation says, “Why are you surprised at this?”

Just when we think we have God all figured out—just when every element of our theological system falls into place—Surprise! God cannot be logically explained. The Biblical Story cannot be put in the cage of scientific categories. Christ cannot be cooped up in a tomb in Jerusalem. There is more of the power of life in our existence than we can imagine. 

It is easy to become anesthetized to the wonder of life. Every morning should be a surprise. Every person we meet should be a surprise. Every flower we smell should be a surprise. Every piece of music we hear should be a surprise. We shouldn’t take anything for granted. 

To believe in the resurrection of Christ is to be terrified. It is to be filled with wonder. It is to wrestle with doubt. It is to listen for the call of the incredible-but-credible living Christ. It is to join Christ in serving the poor, the powerless, the forgotten. To believe in the Risen Lord is to wake up every day not knowing how the Holy Spirit will surprise that day. 

The latest book by Pope Francis (Let Us Dream) ends with this sentence: “Ours is a God of Surprises, who is always ahead of us.” [3]

Listen—don’t be surprised if God surprises you this week. Because She is full of surprises. Yes She is. Yes She is.

___________________________

NOTES

 1. New York: Crown, 2020.

 2. Krista Tipper, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and the Art of Living (New York: Penguin Books, 2016), 189.

 3. Pope Francis [in conversation with Austen Ivereigh], Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020), 93.

Jesus as Performance Artist -- sermon by wayne mclaughlin -- Montevallo Presbyterian Church - March 28, 2021

 

PALM SUNDAY  2021

Montevallo Presbyterian Church

sermon by wayne mclaughlin

“Jesus as Performance Artist”

Psalm 118. 1-2, 19-29 ICEL

Give thanks, the Lord is good.

God’s love is forever!

Now let Israel say, 

“God’s love is forever!”

Open the gates of justice,

let me praise God within them.

This is the Lord’s own gate,

only the just will enter.

I thank you for you answered me,

and you became my Savior.

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This is the work of the Lord,

how wonderful in our eyes.

This is the day the Lord made,

let us rejoice and be glad.

Lord, give us the victory!

Lord, grant us success!

Blest is the one who comes,

who comes in the name of the Lord.

We bless you from the Lord’s house.

The Lord God is our light:

adorn the altar with branches.

 

I will thank you, my God,

I will praise you highly.

Give thanks, the Lord is good.

God’s love is forever!

Mark 11.1-11 CEB

11 When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’”

4 They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. 5 Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. 9 Those in front of him and those following were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.

SERMON TEXT:

1.

The prophet Isaiah walked throughout the city of Jerusalem naked for three years. 

Why did he do that? To show the Israelites that their foreign policy was wrong. They were depending on Egypt and Ethiopia to protect them from the Assyrians. But Isaiah’s bare butt was telling them that Assyria was going to take the people of Egypt and Ethiopia as slaves and make them walk naked out of their country into exile. (see Isaiah 20)

2.

The prophet Ezekiel lay on his side for 390 days and ate bread that he had made and baked, using poop to fuel the fire. He did all of this out in the open as people watched.

Why did he do that? To show that the kingdom of Judah was turning its back on God. Therefore, they would be taken into captivity and be made to eat food that is taboo for Jews to eat. God did relent a little after Ezekiel complained about using human poop. God let him bake the bread over cow poop instead. (see Ezekiel 4)

3.

Another time the prophet Ezekiel took a book and ate it!

Why did he do that? Well, first, it was actually a scroll. God handed him a scroll on which was written lamentations and grief and doom. Zeke took the scroll and scarfed it down. Mmm, he said, that’s good. It tastes just like honey. But he knew that the message he would speak to his fellow Israelites would not be sweet: it would be full of lamentation, sorrow, and judgment. (see Ezekiel 2-3)

4.

The prophet Jeremiah took a yoke that was usually put on oxen, and he put it on himself. 

Why? It was a symbolic action to show that the kings and kingdoms who do not put on the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, that is, submit to the governance of Nebuchadnezzar, will be destroyed. (see Jeremiah 27)

5.

Another time God told Jeremiah to write in a book all the bad things that would happen to Babylon. He gave it to Seraiah and told him to take it to Babylon, tie the book onto a stone, and throw it into the Euphrates River. This was to show that Babylon is about to sink to the bottom of history and never come up again. (see Jeremiah 51)

6.

The prophet Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Why? Because everyone knew their Bible well. They knew what the prophet Zechariah had written: 

Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion!

    Raise your voice, Daughter Jerusalem!

Your king is coming!

    a good king who makes all things right,

    a humble king riding a donkey,

    a mere colt of a donkey.

I’ve had it with war—no more chariots in Ephraim,

    no more war horses in Jerusalem,

    no more swords and spears, bows and arrows.

[The new King] will offer peace to the nations,

    a peaceful rule worldwide,

    from the four winds to the seven seas.

(Zech. 9.9-10, MSG)

The people knew what his performance art meant. As all performance art is, it was disruptive. Something old was being challenged. Something new was being put on the table. But more than that—the tables were going to be overturned.

7.

The people who knew their Bible not only recognized the man on the donkey was staging a coup, they also knew how the Book of Zechariah ended. The very last verse says: 

On that Big Day there will be no buying or selling in the Temple of God. (Zech. 14.21, MSG)

It would be one day later that Jesus would return to the Temple and overturn the tables of the buyers and sellers, chasing them out of God’s House—overturning traditions and customs and immoral financial dealings that had thrived under the cover of religion.

8.

Jesus was God’s performance artist. He staged a parade. We know that he had been preparing behind the scenes because he told two disciples to go into town where they would find a donkey tied up, one that had never been ridden before. They were to take the donkey, and if anyone asked, they were to use the code words, “The Lord has need of it.” 

It sounds like an espionage novel in which secret messages are sent back and forth. Jesus was staging a parade as a piece of performance art to disrupt the old order of things and introduce a new Royal Regime, based not on military power, but on the power of love. 

He rode the donkey for two miles from the village into the southeastern gate of the holy City. He had already planned to have a crowd of people ready with branches and palms and coats to throw in his path, like a political campaign that hires a crowd of supporters with signs and banners, cheering the candidate as he approaches the stage to give a speech.

The people cheered: Hosanna! Son of David! Hosanna! Peace! Shalom!

He went to the temple and looked around, surveying the situation. But it was the end of the day. Everyone was leaving. So he walked the two miles back to the village and stayed the night with his friends. The next morning he got up and walked back to the temple. It was bustling with activity. He wasn’t angry. He didn’t turn over the tables in a rage. He was simply performing a prophetic bit of artistry. 

Like Jeremiah putting on a yoke. Like Ezekiel baking bread. Like Isaiah walking naked. Jesus overturned the tables and chase the merchants out of the Temple, scattering the animals; making a statement without words. Performing God’s Word in the sight of all the people. 

He was performing—performing a cleansing, an exorcism, of the Temple. By saying he was performing I don't mean he was pretending. Not at all. A surgeon performs. The surgeon performs surgery to remove the malignant tumor. The performance of Jesus was a real action with meaning.

Before the week would end God would perform an Atonement to bring the world back to friendship with the Divine.

9.

Life is art. Sometimes our lives rhyme. Sometimes we live as free verse. We each have our part to play in this cosmic drama. The Author knows how it all ends; but we are free to improvise within the bounds of the predestined plot. 

We play our part. Others play their part. If we mess up, the play will go on. The script will be edited. The Author, the Director, and the Producer have it under control.

10.

Jesus came on stage two thousand years ago to reveal the meaning of the drama. When he entered Jerusalem he was giving a clue to what is going on. When they executed him for treason and blasphemy, it seemed as if the whole plot would be destroyed. But the next chapter revealed otherwise.

He rode a donkey. He came in the name of the Lord. He staged a peaceful entry to reveal a new kind of Kingdom—a Kingdom of peace.

11.

It’s a page-turner. What is going to happen next? We don’t know. But we know that we are part of this great Drama. We have a part to play. We believe. We believe that the plot heads toward peace. What we see now may seem cruel and tragic. We shed tears for the oppression, the indignities, the inhumane treatment of people and animals; for the indifference toward the poisoning of the air and water, and the abuse of the soil. 

We see babies die. We see wars taking the lives of young men and women. We see disease wiping out millions of our sisters and brothers. 

And yet, we still believe that the man who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey was not only entering an urban area, but was entering a new era of history. We still believe that Jesus performed a piece of art that draws us in as participants in God’s grace. 

12.

Tell them, he said, "The Lord has need of it."

He told me to tell you: "The Lord has need of you."

"The Hour" -- sermon by wayne mclaughlin -- given at Leeds Presbyterian on March 21, 2021

“The Hour”

a sermon by Wayne McLaughlin

March 21 , 2021

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Leeds Presbyterian Church

Jeremiah 31.31-34 CEB

31 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.

Hebrews 5.5-10 CEB

5 In the same way Christ also didn’t promote himself to become high priest. Instead, it was the one who said to him,

You are my Son.

        Today I have become your Father,

6 as he also says in another place,

You are a priest forever,

        according to the order of Melchizedek. 

7 During his days on earth, Christ offered prayers and requests with loud cries and tears as his sacrifices to the one who was able to save him from death. He was heard because of his godly devotion. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. 9 After he had been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him. 10 He was appointed by God to be a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

John 12.20-33 NRSV

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

SERMON TEXT:

The hour has come, says Jesus.

Only John’s Gospel uses this terminology—the Hour. Listen to these six instances:

1. John 2:4:  And Jesus said to [his mother], “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.

2. John 7:30: Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. 

3. John 8:20: He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

4. John 12.27: “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.

5. John 13:1: Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. 

6. John 17:1: After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you… 

The Hour. It sounds like Jesus has an appointment. He keeps saying, It’s not time for my appointment yet. 

People deal with time management in different ways. Some people keep their eyes on the clock; they’re always checking to see how much time they have before they need to take a shower or get dressed or brush their teeth before they have to take off for an appointment somewhere. They’re vigilant. Other people are lackadaisical. They don’t pay attention. They will look at the clock and say, Oh, my goodness, look what time it is! I’m going to be late! And sure enough, they’re late. They are always late. You tell them to start getting ready fifteen minutes earlier so as not to be late. But it doesn’t work. You can count on them—to be late. 

Jesus had an appointment in Jerusalem. He was always aware of it. But he never got in a hurry. No need to hurry. He kept telling people, My hour has not yet come. Until we get to today’s reading: John, chapter twelve. My hour has come, he says. 

Exorcism of the World

The Hour has come.

In today’s reading Jesus says: Now. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

That last phrase, “will be driven out,” sounds like what happened in the Garden of Eden. The snake tricked the man and the woman. They sinned. And they were driven out of Paradise. The snake stayed there. But now, says Jesus, the Snake will be driven out. Humanity, on the other hand, will be promised a place in Paradise. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus says to one of the crooks being crucified on either side of him: Today you will be with me in Paradise.

The Hour has come. The world will be judged. Christ’s death on the cross is a revelation of the evil present in the world. The one perfectly good person in history was put to death as a criminal and a heretic. Yet, evil was judged on that day. The death of Jesus was like a cosmic sponge, absorbing the toxic moral turpitude of the universe.

When we look at the Cross, we see court in session. We see the worst that evil can do to the best that God can be. We see evil on trial; we see the evidence of evil as an innocent man hangs on a cross. We see evil’s attempt to murder Truth. To murder God! But evil itself is judged and found guilty. The evidence was overwhelming. 

As the soldiers pounded the nails into his hands and feet, it was the sound of the Judge’s gavel pounding the desk, saying, “Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Evil is guilty of murdering God.

The Devil was run out of town. He was cast out. So many times we read of Jesus casting out demons from men and women. All through his ministry he was defeating the powers of evil and chaos. Now the Hour has come to cast out the Demon which has possessed the world. As he bled on the Cross, Christ exorcised the power of Evil to ultimately destroy God’s prized creation.

There is a Snake in the grass that has tried to resist the love of God by slowly and slyly slithering through cracks in the hearts of people who are full of greed and the lust for power—those who revel in dominating others. The Hour has come to cut off the head of the Snake. 

The Hour has come. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

Inclusive

Jesus continues: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

In our first reading from Jeremiah, God speaks of a future new covenant. And God says, “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.”

That little word all appears in both readings. Jeremiah says, for they shall ALL know me. Jesus says, I will draw ALL people to myself.

This is a universal action of God. All people will know God. All people will be drawn to Christ.

The Hour has come to inaugurate the universally inclusive and liberating power of God through the tragedy of a death—a death authorized by the State and supported by the Religious Establishment. 

Lifted Up

In our Gospel Reading Jesus says, When I am lifted up… Like a good novelist, John has already planted a clue back in chapter three. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he used the same phrase: lifted up. Right before John 3.16 – at 3.14 – Jesus says: 

Nicodemus, remember when Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness? Well, so must I be lifted up so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life. God so loved the world that the Creator gave the Only Son that anyone who trusts their life to him will not perish like food left out too long, but will have eternal life. (my paraphrase)

Jesus becomes the Snake that is lifted up—the Saving Snake that brings healing for the soul when we gaze at it with faith.

Notice the phrase, I will draw all people to myself. The term “draw” also appears in John’s Gospel in earlier chapters. Listen to Jesus in chapter six:

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. (Jn. 6.44)

So, the Cross has some kind of “drawing” power. When we gaze at the Cross of Christ, we are drawn by the love of God revealed there—drawn to the loving heart of God. It is as if a powerful magnetic field has been set up around the Cross. God’s grace is so magnetic that once we look up, we feel the power of God’s covenant love pulling us into the life of God, which is called eternal life.

God does not coerce us into the Kingdom. We make that decision of our own free will. Yet, paradoxically, we can’t do anything else. Because when you fall in love with another person it feels as if you have no choice in the matter; and yet, we do choose to give our lives to Christ. 

The “drawing” power of Christ’s death for us is the power of God’s grace.  

In the same way, we who are followers of Christ are not to try and manipulate others to become followers of Christ; rather, we draw people into God’s fellowship by our love. Our lives should be a magnetic field of love that gently invites others into the eternal life of God.

When I was young our church had revival meetings—one in the Spring and another in the Fall. The visiting evangelists were experts at telling heart-throbbing stories about people who had missed their opportunity to get right with God and ended up in hell. There was usually one story during the week about someone who was under conviction—almost ready to accept Jesus in their heart—but before they could get to church they were killed in a terrible automobile accident. Ohhh, if only they had made that decision. Now bow your heads and close your eyes…

Emotional manipulation does not “draw” people into the kingdom. It pushes them into a psychological trauma for a short time. Some get over it later, but are left with a faith that has no roots. Others spend their whole lives with a minor case of religiously created PTSD to deal with.

People aren’t argued into the kingdom. They aren’t coerced into it. They aren’t pushed into it. Only the love of Christ can draw us into the loving arms of God. 

Authentic evangelism is not manipulation. It is match-making. It is introducing a person to Christ and letting them date each other until they fall in love. God is in love with us. If we allow ourselves to get close enough to God, we will fall in love with God.

 

Appointment

The Hour of Jesus finally came. He had an appointment, and he kept it. He was on time.

Disappointment with life comes from not keeping the appointment with God. No appointment means disappointment. Life has no point without the spiritual dimension. We wander, lost, without a compass if God is not our magnetic North Pole. There is no point. Life is one long disappointment unless we keep our appointment with God.

The Hour came. Jesus kept his appointment. He was lifted up on the Cross. Now, when we gaze at the Cross, we don’t see a “mere symbol.” We feel an attraction. We experience the Cross as the Sacrament of eternal love which draws us into the very Heart of God. 

The Cross is the sign of the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah. Christ has been lifted up as our High Priest, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us.

Christ was lifted up so that you and I can be lifted out of our sin and our fear of death—and lifted up into the arms of God, who will never let us go.

Something to Live For -- sermon by wayne mclaughlin -- February 28, 2021 -- Montevallo Presbyterian Church

“Something to Live For”

Wayne McLaughlin

February 28 , 2021 

Second Sunday of Lent

Montevallo Presbyterian Church

___________________

Hebrew Scripture Reading Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16                      (The Message)

17 1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, “I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.” 3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.

Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: You’ll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that ‘I’m making you the father of many nations.’ I’ll make you a father of fathers—I’ll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I’m establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I’m giving you and your descendants this land where you’re now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I’ll be their God.”

15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, “And Sarai your wife: Don’t call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I’ll bless her—yes! I’ll give you a son by her! Oh, how I’ll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her.”

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 22.23-31 (Wayne’s  retelling)

Let’s all give God a round of applause!

Come on—Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterians—

everybody! Hallelujah!

God doesn’t ignore the little people.

God genuinely cares about everyone who

suffers—even the animals.

Someday poor people will sit down and eat

as much as they like.

Someday our whole global village

will turn toward its Creator and pay attention.

The Holy One is the engine of the universe.

Even billionaires will fall on their faces

and worship the One who 

enriches us with grace.

Our children and their children will know

about the Source of spiritual power.

The story will be told to every generation

from now on.

The future-ones will know that

life is worth living because of

the Power of Love 

          whom we worship.

Epistle Reading Romans 4.13-25 (The Message)

13-15 That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God’s decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That’s not a holy promise; that’s a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God’s promise at that—you can’t break it.

16 This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backward. He is our faith father.

The Word of the Lord.

                Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading Mark 8.31-38 (CEB)

Then Jesus began to teach them that the Promised One had to suffer much, be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and religious scholars, be put to death, and rise again three days later. 

32 Jesus said these things quite openly.Peter then took him aside and began to take issue with him. 33 At this, Jesus turned around and, eyeing the disciples, reprimanded Peter: “Get out of my sight, you satan! You are judging by human standards rather than by God’s!” 34 Jesus summoned the crowd and the disciples and said, “If you wish to come after me, you must deny your very self, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps. 35 If you would save your life, you’ll lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, you’ll save it. 36 What would you gain if you were to win the whole world but lose yourself in the process? 37 What can you offer in exchange for your soul? 38 Whoever in this faithless and corrupt generation is ashamed of me and my words will find, in turn, that the Promised One and the holy angels will be ashamed of that person, when all stand before our God in glory.”

         The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

SERMON TEXT:

Who are these twelve disciples? And why are the following this Jewish Teacher named Jesus? What do they want?

Let’s be clear. These twelve men do not think Jesus is God. Nowhere is that said. They see Jesus as a prophet of God—one who speaks on behalf of God; a person who has the message of God to share with them. There are also rumors in the air that this Teacher is actually the Messiah, the Chosen One of God. 

These first century Jews have been given a great deal of religious freedom by the Roman Emperor. They have their Temple—a great edifice—one of the wonders of the world at that time. They are allowed to worship, to have priests, to carry out animal sacrifices, to follow the 613 commandments of the Torah. 

But they don’t have full freedom of speech. You criticize the Emperor and you will be hanging on a cross outside the city walls and die a slow, torturous death.

They don’t have a nation of their own. They live under Roman occupation. What they yearn for is to be free. To be citizens of a Jewish nation of their own. But they live under the thumb of Rome and are treated as less than human. Their sense of dignity has been taken away.

But they see hope in Jesus. They follow him because he treats them with dignity. He tells them the truth of God. He calls God Abba. He speaks with authority. He gives them a vision of a kingdom: the Kingdom of God. It sounds to them that this kingdom Jesus keeps talking about is what they’re looking for. Could he be their new king? They are hopeful.

But…

PART I

Did you hear what he just said? He said he was going to suffer…to be rejected by the chief priests…and to be KILLED! 

It wasn’t just Simon Peter—we were all thinking the same thing. But Peter had the courage to take him by the arm and drag him a few steps away and look him in the eyes and say what we were all thinking. Peter didn’t mince words. In no uncertain terms he said what we all wanted to say. 

“With all due respect, Teacher” said Peter, “don’t joke around like that about your future—and our future.” “I’m not joking,” said Jesus. “I’m telling you the truth.” “NO!” yelled Simon, “We know who you are. God has anointed you. We are with you because you are our hope!”

Jesus pushed Peter’s arm away and yelled back at him. “Get out of my way! If I didn’t know better I’d think the devil has gotten hold of you! The way you’re thinking is not the way God thinks.

“Don’t you remember our father Abraham, and how God told him when he was ninety-nine years old and his wife was old as well, that they would give birth to a son? You are a descendent of that old, shriveled up  couple. How did that happen?” (He paused to let it sink in. Peter said nothing.)

Jesus continued. “I meant every word I said. I will have to suffer, and be rejected by the Temple officers. And I will be put to death.” He said every word in a deliberate manner. Fear hung in the air.

“Like father Abraham and Mother Sarah,” said Jesus, “you will have to trust God and not waver in your faith. You will have to deny yourself—your survival instinct—and take up your cross, if you really want to follow me. If you want to save your life, you will lose it. Because to live to only survive is not to live at all. In order to save your life you will have to lose it.”

His words made us nervous. Other people had gathered as he talked. He looked at all of them and said, “Are you looking for a bargain? Let me tell you something. If you gain the whole world and lose your soul, that’s no bargain. If you are ashamed of me and my death, you will be ashamed of yourself someday. 

“I know you’ve seen those men and women outside the city gates—hanging on those crosses. You want to follow me? Then you’d better get yourself your own cross. Then, get behind me.” 

We looked at each other. No one spoke. We tried to take it all in. My body was shaking…

The words of Jesus in Mark 8 are echoed by St. Paul in his letter to the congregation in Philippi:

2.1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

(from The Message)

PART II

John Lewis, whom we lost not long ago, learned some of his Civil Rights skills at the Highlander Folk School, located on a small mountain farm 90 miles away from Nashville on the Cumberland Plateau. It was founded by Myles Horton, a native of Savannah, Tennessee in 1932. It was intended to be a center to train labor leaders. It was meant to be a place to learn the practical side of organizing and protesting.

Myles Horton liked to quote a saying of his grandfather: “You can hitch your wagon to the stars, but you can’t haul corn or hay in it if its wheels aren’t on the ground.”

The Highlander Folk School played a strategic part in the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks took training there, then went home to Montgomery and refused to give up her seat on the bus.

Ralph Abernathy, Pete Seeger, and Martin Luther King, Jr. participated in the schooling that took place there. Even Eleanor Roosevelt showed up at the School. It was one of the few integrated facilities in the Jim Crow South. Blacks and whites ate together, swam together, and square-danced together there. 

In 1958 John Lewis went to Highlander. He was inspired by the vision of Myles Horton, it’s founder. Horton said to him:

I think that people aren’t fully free until they’re in a struggle for justice. And that means for everyone. It’s a struggle of such importance that they are willing, if necessary, to die for it. I think that’s what you have to do before you’re really free. Then you’ve got something to live for. 

In light of that vision of the struggle for justice, we might look again at the words of Jesus: Deny yourself…take up your cross…if you want to save your life you must first lose it. The unspoken words may have been something like: 

You will not be free until you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.

Indeed, Jesus had made it clear that he had come onto the scene to set people free. The Lord has anointed me to set the prisoners free, to liberate the oppressed. That’s what he said at the beginning of his ministry.

He knew that only by going “all in” would we find the freedom to live with the joy that the Kingdom of God offers. When we “hold back,” we are refusing to walk through the cell door out into the world as a free person. 

The prison of our Ego is a subtle cell of selfishness. 

Jesus came to say that the Kingdom of God was breaking in so that we can break out! 

The good news of the Kingdom is that we can trust God to take care of us, no matter what. Even if we have to die for the sake of the gospel, God will take care of us. 

Jesus told them the truth. He didn’t sugar-coat it. He said: If you’re going to join my Cause, there might be trouble. You might get hurt. You might have to make the extreme sacrifice.

But you and I are lucky. We live in this small town, or another community not far away. We live in the beautiful State of Alabama. We live in the United States of America. We are safe, and we live in comfort. The extreme words of Jesus don’t really apply to us, do they?

We are indeed fortunate. And we are indeed white.

God Likes Elephants and Mosquitoes -- Feb 21, 2021 -- Leeds Presbyterian Church

“God Likes Elephants and Mosquitoes”

Wayne McLaughlin

February 21 , 2021

First Sunday of Lent

Leeds Presbyterian Church

Genesis 9:8-17

9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

9:9 "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.

9:11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

9:12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

9:13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

9:14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,

9:15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

9:16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

9:17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

1 Peter 3:18-22

3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

3:19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison

3:20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

3:21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Mark 1:9-15

1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

1:11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

1:12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

1:13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,

1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

SERMON TEXT:

One of the things I decided to do after my retirement was to read some of the classics that I had never gotten around to reading. Since retirement I’ve read Dante’s The Divine Comedy, which I loved. I read Moby Dick, which I also loved. It’s beautiful prose and profound philosophic and spiritual undertone moved me. I also read War and Peace, another great classic. And a book I always wanted to read, but never got around to, Middlemarch by George Eliot. I absolutely loved it. I also read Homer’s The Odyssey. I thought it might be a little boring—an ancient Greek story. But it was very entertaining. I’ve been toying with reading Joyce’s huge tome, Ulysses, but so far I haven’t persuaded myself to do it. 

Another great novel that I’ve read since retirement, a Russian novel with profound insight into human nature and the great questions that keep us up at night, is Dostoyevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov. I want to quote a character in that novel to begin this sermon. The character is a Russian Orthodox priest named Father Zosima. Father Zosima was known for his deep spiritual wisdom. At one point in the story he offers some spiritual advice, and I think his words will help us enter into our readings this morning. Here is what he says:

Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble them, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to the animals…

My young brother asked forgiveness of the birds: it seems senseless, yet it is right, for all is like an ocean, all flows and connects; touch it in one place and it echoes at the other end of the world… All is like and ocean, I say to you. Tormented  by universal love, you, too, would then start praying to the birds, as if in a sort of ecstasy, and entreat them to forgive you your sin. Cherish this ecstasy, however senseless it may seem to people. [1]

Love the animals. I believe God had great fun creating the animals, don’t you? Of course, historically speaking, this took place through the mechanism of evolution—a gradual process of creation. But in the Bible’s parable of Noah and the ark, God told Noah to gather a male and a female of each species, and seven pairs of “clean” animals from each species. So, two of each of the “unclean” animals and fourteen of the “clean” ones. 

This ancient story raises a lot of practical questions, such as: how did they catch two mosquitoes—and keep everyone from swatting one? 

By the way, Noah probably got milk from the cows onboard. You know what he got from the ducks? Quackers.

You know what Noah’s greatest worry was? The pair of termites.

Why did Noah have to discipline the chickens on the ark? Because they were using “fowl” language.

COVENANT

The story of Noah and the Ark may be a parable, but it has an important message. According to Genesis, after the creation had gotten up and running for a while, God looked around and said to himself/herself, “Boy, what a mess. This isn’t working out too well. I think I should start all over again. I’m going to reboot.” The story of the Flood is God’s way of rebooting creation. Destroying everybody except Noah’s family. He gave Noah a blueprint of a big boat he wanted built. Noah built it and gathered all the species in the boat. 

The most important part of the story is what God did after they came out of the ark. That’s when God made a covenant. Listen to what God says:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark”… 

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth…

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

God establishes an unbreakable bond between not only humanity, but a bond with the earth and every species of animal. The Creator is promising an ongoing friendship with all animals; and a friendship with the earth. 

The story of Noah and the Flood tells us of the first covenant in the Bible, even before God made a covenant with Israel, God had already made a covenant with all humans and all of the other animals. This is known as the Noahic (no-A-ic) Covenant. 

It is a Contract of friendship with the earth; with the cows; and the cats; and the elephants; and the whales; and the birds; and the insects; and the humans. Friendship with the air; and the water; and the soil.

BEASTLY MINISTRY

Our gospel reading today tells us about Jesus going into the wilderness where he is tempted. Did you notice this part:

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

“He was with the wild beasts.”

It doesn’t say he was in danger in the presence of the wild beasts. It doesn’t say he fought off the wild beasts. He was simply “with” them. It sounds like Jesus and the beasts were friendly toward each other. It would make sense because God has made a covenant of friendship with the beasts. I’ll bet the “beasts” – the animals – were a comfort to Jesus during that period of psychological struggle. When Mark says Christ was tempted by “Satan,” I think that means that as Jesus was trying to figure out what his calling was, there was a part of him (“Satan”) that was resisting God’s call to be Messiah. The word Satan means adversary. And we all have to struggle with the adversary deep inside of us—that part of us that questions our call and resists our life of faith.

Now, of course our call to be friends with all of the animals is not a call for naïveté. I’m not going into a jungle somewhere try to pet the tigers. I know that Isaiah tells us that someday the wolf and the lamb will lie down together. Although I read about a zoo out in California where they have successfully put a wolf and a lamb in the same cage. It works out okay, they say. Of course they have to put in a new lamb every day.

NATURE

As we begin the season of Lent, perhaps part of our spiritual discipline could relate to how we befriend the animals and the soil and the water and the air. Maybe a renewed relationship with God will include a renewed relationship with Nature. 

And when we say nature we must  be aware that we're talking about ourselves. Nature is not something "out there," apart from us. No. We are a part of nature. Not “apart from” nature, but “a part of” nature. To take care of nature is to take care of ourselves. To destroy nature is to destroy ourselves.

This is one of the biggest inaccuracies we propagate in our conversations about our ecological responsibilities. If we are to base our lives on a proper theology of ecology, we have to begin thinking of ourselves as part of nature. If we hold nature at arm’s length, it becomes in our minds an “object” out there. We objectify nature as something to be used—even exploited. But if we keep in mind that we are nature, and nature is us, then it becomes hard to objectify and abuse nature.

We are the most rational part of nature, and the most conscious part of the natural world. Therefore, we have the most responsibility for the health of God’s earthly creation.

DIRT

Ellen Davis, Professor of Bible and Theology at Duke Divinity School, writing about ecology in the Bible, says, 

In the Biblical story we have a kinship with the soil. The prophets tell us that “the soil is more like a relative than a resource: it is to be respected, and not just used.” [2] 

We are related to the soil. The writer of the second chapter of Genesis uses a pun as he or she tells a story about the creation. In Genesis 2.7 the writer says:

…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground

We don’t hear the pun in the English. In the original Hebrew it says:

vayyitzer Yahweh Elohim et ha-adam aphar min-ha-adamah.

The Lord God formed the adam (earthling) from the adamah (dust). It’s a pun because a story teller likes to make you smile. It’s word-play. But it’s also profound theology.

We are dirt. But special dirt. We are in-spirited (inspired) dirt. We are the only dirt made in the image of God. Which means we have a special calling. Part of our vocation is to live within the Covenant God has made with the earth, and the animals. 

ARK OF BAPTISM

In our epistle reading today, Peter says that our baptism can be compared to the water that saved Noah and his family. They floated on the water: it was their salvation. We too are saved through the waters, the waters of baptism. The Sacrament of Baptism indicates that we are put into Christ as if he is our Ark. Our lives float on Christ just as the ark floated on the waters. You know how it is when you get into the lake or a swimming pool, and you want to float: you have to stretch out and relax your body and let the water hold you up. You trust the water. Likewise, in baptism we declare our trust in Christ. Baptism is the sign that Christ will buoy us up throughout our life.  

And as baptized people, part of our calling is to join Noah's mission of saving the animals.

ANIMAL SALVATION

Recently I began writing a haiku for each of the 150 psalms. When I got to Psalm 36, I saw in two verses the whole Old Testament summed up in four words.

Verses six and seven contain these words: love, faithfulness, goodness, justice. Chesed, emunah, tzadaq, and mishpat. Steadfast love, faithfulness, goodness, and justice. That sums up the nature of God and the story of the Bible. 

But there’s more. The very next line says, “Both human and animal you save, O Lord.” That line surprised me. It reminds the reader that God's salvation extends to the whole creation. St. Paul would later say: The whole universe awaits its salvation. (see Romans 8)

Which brings us back to the Covenant God made with Noah and the earth and all the animals.

A theology of ecology is found in the rainbow. The sign of God’s Contract of friendship with nature, which includes us. When God puts the rainbow in the sky, we are reminded that God has hung up his bow and arrow, adopting a non-violent attitude toward evil. The rainbow brings to mind the new beginning which God gave to the whole creation, and the friendship God has pledged to you and me and the elephants and the mosquitoes and the whales and the sloths. The rainbow is the big sky sign of a theology of ecology. The rainbow speaks of non-violence, diversity, and inclusiveness.

The nature of God is to love nature.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love nature as you love yourself—because you are part of nature.

The season of Lent could be a good time to intensify our efforts to heal God’s creation. And to renew our friendship with the elephants and the mosquitoes. 

As Father Zosima wrote: If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things.

 NOTES:

1.   Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Trans. by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992 ), 319-20. [Part II, Book Six, 3g.]

2.   Ellen Davis, Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament (Lanham, Maryland: Cowley Publications, 2001), 190.