Child of God...a Children's Sunday sermon

Romans 8:12-25

Dear God,
My name is Jenny. I am eight years old and I am in Mrs. Smith’s third grade Sunday school class at Christ the King Lutheran church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. You probably have a map, but it’s outside of Detroit. My doctor’s office is in Detroit and mom says it’s only a ten minute drive…but it feels like longer than that, especially when we have to go and get our fingers poked and that TB test that hurts.
Today in Sunday school we sang my favorite songs. We sang “this little light of mine” and “Jesus loves me” and the song about how all God’s children have a place in the choir. I don’t know about that, my friend Sally doesn’t sing so well.
After we sang our songs Mrs. Smith, my teacher, wanted everyone in my class to write a letter to you to thank you for the gifts that you gave us. Mrs. Smith said that you gave us this special gift a long, long time ago, before we were even born. Tommy raised his hand and asked if it had been given before Mrs. Smith had been born…that was a really long time ago, she is 35. Mrs. Smith said that you gave us this gift when you created the world…even though we haven’t always been good enough to deserve it and that this gift got even better when Jesus was born. Mrs. Smith said that the gift you gave us is the greatest gift that we have ever or will ever receive. I don’t know about that, God, the greatest gift I ever got was the Nintendo DS I got for my eighth birthday. And God, it’s been a long time since Jesus was born…Mrs. Smith hasn’t told us what it is yet, but do you need a software update for the gift you gave us?
Mrs. Smith said that part of this great gift is that when Jesus died you wiped away our sins and forgot about them. Does that mean that you forgot about when I hit my sister yesterday? She deserved it…she really did. She took my toys without asking and then didn’t give them back...she put them in her own toy chest instead. Mom said that I should be careful of what I do because I’m eight and my sister is only three and she doesn’t know any better. I guess you don’t learn about sharing until preschool. So if you could forget about me hitting Sarah yesterday, that would be cool. And if you could help mom and dad forget about it too, that’d be great too because then I might not get grounded.
Mrs. Smith said that this old guy Paul told the people of Rome about this gift. He said that if the Spirit of You is in them, then they are the adopted children of God and they get to share an inheritance with Jesus. She said that what Paul says to the people in Rome means the same thing for us, too. I asked her how we know if the Spirit is in us. She said the Spirit helps us to do good things so that other people know that we love God and other people. So if I clean my room without my mom asking me to or if I help her watch my brother and sister when she asks, those are things the Spirit is leading me to do. Mrs. Smith said that the Spirit is the one who gets us out of bed on Sunday mornings for church. I don’t know about that…because my dog was the one who woke me up this morning…maybe she’s the Spirit in disguise.
Sally asked when we become adopted by You. That’s good question, because I have a friend, Jack, and he was adopted when he was four and he remembers being adopted. My other friend Margaret was adopted too but she was a baby and doesn’t remember it. Mrs. Smith said that we’re adopted at our baptism. I remember when my sister was baptized…she cried a lot because she didn’t like the cold water…but then we got to eat cake after church, and I got to play with my cousins. Did I cry when I was baptized? I should ask mom about that. Mrs. Smith said that when we are adopted, we will get to share Jesus’ inheritance. I was hoping the inheritance would be toys or a new baseball glove…but Mrs. Smith said that it’s even better! We get to share in all the great things that You give us every day and also the great things that You will give us in the future. Mrs. Smith said it’s not always going to be easy and there are going to be some bad days…Jesus went through some bad days…so if we share our bad days with Jesus we will get to share our good days with Jesus too!
I heard Pastor say that Paul called us all Sons of God…I asked him if that meant that only the boys got to share in Jesus’ inheritance…that wouldn’t be fair. Boys are smelly and they cheat at baseball sometimes. But Pastor told me that Paul said that because when Paul was living, only the Son’s got the inheritance…but Paul wanted to make sure that all God’s children knew that they would receive part of the inheritance if they were boys or girls. It’s a good thing you have people like Pastor working for you…or else the boys would think that only they got the inheritance and it’s probably harder to argue with boys about inheritance than which transformer is the best.
You know, God, I’m really glad that you adopted me. Because when my friends were adopted, their new parents took extra special care of them and loved them just as much as my mom and dad love me. So that means that if you loved me enough to adopt me that you will take really good care of me. Mrs. Smith agreed with me…she said that You love us so much that You sent Jesus to die for us so that our sins would go away and so that we could be Your children, just like Jesus was Your son. That’s a lot of love, God. I’m trying to think of how many people that I know that I would give my favorite toys away for…umm…(counts on fingers)…it’s about 10. And Mrs. Smith said that we don’t always deserve to be your children because we do a lot of bad things, but you love us anyways, just like my mom and dad always love me even though I don’t always listen and sometimes I’m not so nice to my brother and sister.
Well, God, I have to go outside and help dad in the yard, but I want to share my thank you letter with you.
Dear God, Thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus to die for us so that our sins would go away. Thank you for adopting us as your children. Thank you for giving us part of Jesus’ inheritance which is a better gift than my Nintendo DS. Help everybody to love everybody because we are all your children and you are a super cool parent.
Love,
Jenny, a child of God

Sermon - "Sacred Rest"

July 6, 2008 - Pentecost 8 – Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen

Over the past couple of weeks, we have become witnesses to the commissioning of the first twelve apostles. We have heard, over this time, about the mission that Jesus is sending them on and how that mission is not without its hardships. They are told that they are being sent out like sheep into the midst of wolves. They are told that they will be captured and persecuted for spreading the gospel. They are told that Jesus did not come to bring peace but division and that anyone one who is willing to follow should love Jesus more than their family and should be willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Now, Jesus has finished giving his instructions to the disciples and he has sent them out. And Jesus himself continues to travel to different cities preaching to and teaching the people. And it appears that instead of receiving welcome and hospitality, Jesus was rejected. We hear, in our text today, Jesus reproaching the cities who had not received his teaching with welcome. They had not repented even after Jesus had healed their sick, given sight to their blind and raised their dead.

And so in a moment of frustration, Jesus asks “to what shall I compare this generation?” A statement used in God’s lawsuits (if you will) against the people of the Old Testament…and not in a good way. “You are like children in the marketplace!” he continues, and in doing so he compares the people to children who don’t play well with one another. He says “John didn’t eat or drink and you said he had a demon! Now the Son of Man comes eating and drinking and you say ‘Look! a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” What can I do to please you?? It seems that the people didn’t want to listen to someone who departed from social norms, like John…and they certainly didn’t want to listen to someone who ate with the sinners.

So Jesus turns to the one he can trust most than anything and says “I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” In other words, I thank you that you have hidden these things from those who rely on themselves and have revealed them to those who rely on you. The wise and intelligent people were those who believed their righteous deeds made them better that those who didn’t always do what they were supposed to. They were so dependant on themselves, so Independent from anyone else that they began to think that it was up to them to secure their own salvation. Why would they need an ascetic who lived in the wilderness and acted like a crazy man or someone who hung out with the outcast of society to teach them the word of God…these men were irrelevant in their eyes.

Two hundred and thirty two years ago today, the full text of the Declaration of Independence was published for the first time in the Philadelphia Evening Post. Two days earlier, the revised version of the document had been approved by Congress. Today, the fourth of July gives us the opportunity to get a couple days off to rest and relax. It is a time of vacations and weekend get-a-ways. It is a time for fireworks, marching bands and parades and it is a time for making sure that the corn is knee high. It is a time for celebrating our Independence as the United States of America. Now days, though, it can get confusing as to what we aren’t declaring our independence from. Do we even allow ourselves to become dependant on much anymore?

Personal independence and personal freedoms have kind of taken over the social scene. We’re a “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself” culture. I’ll admit being part of this, my personal motto at age 4 being “all my by self” and a lot of times I still make use of that motto. We’re part of a religious tradition that is becoming more and more about anonymity than community. Mega churches are appealing because people can sneak in and out without someone noticing their presence. And as much as we as Lutherans profess that our salvation has been achieved by the Grace of God alone through our faith, it’s still really tempting to think that maybe, just maybe we can get ourselves on the road to salvation faster on our own. We become those wise and intelligent people. It can become so tempting for us to make a list of all the good things that we’ve done and compare notes with our friends and family members to see who deserves salvation more.

It is so tempting for us to think that if we do enough good deeds and righteous acts, we can speed up our way to salvation. And when this happens, we end up becoming dependant only on ourselves for our salvation…and we start getting worn down. Scholar Barbara Brown Taylor said it best when she wrote “I may believe that I like by God’s grace, but I act like a scout collecting merit badges. I have a list of things to do that is a mile lone, and…the majority of them are things I think I ought to do…that I have better do or God will not love me anymore…I thought that the way to find rest for my soul was to finish my list of things to do and present it to God like a full book of savings stamps, but as it turned out that was not the ticket at all.” When we become like the wise and intelligent people, when we start running around collecting merit badges to present to God, those “badges” become a heavy burden and we get worn down and tired. We get worried, frustrated and sometimes angry. And if we become so dependant on ourselves, we can shut others out…and loneliness sets in. The weight of the burdens keeps piling on and soon no amount of rest can relieve our weary souls.

So we need to hear these words of Jesus today “come unto me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We need to come to Jesus, the one who is gentle and humble in heart. The one who humbled himself even to the point of death on a cross for the sake of all of the Children of God, as sinful and undeserving as we are. It is he that we should depend on for Jesus offers us his yoke to carry…a yoke that is easy and with a very light burden. All this yoke calls for is that we love God and love our neighbors. In exchange, Jesus wishes to carry our yokes, heavy and burdensome as they are. And when we do this, when we exchange the yoke of Jesus for our own yokes, it becomes clear that it doesn’t matter how many merit badges we collect. We have already been saved by the grace of God through the Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This we can depend on always…for it is never failing. And depending on this, depending on the yoke of Jesus can bring us the sacred rest that our souls long for and search for. Depending on the yoke of Jesus allows us to release our worries, frustrations, anger, and loneliness…all of the burdens that weigh down our souls to someone who can carry them with out effort. And it feels so good to have that release, to have that weight lifted off our shoulders. So let us on this independence day weekend declare our dependence on the one who calls us to himself and takes our burdens on his shoulders and gives our souls sacred rest. Amen

Pentecost 4 sermon with the Pentecost 5 texts...

Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

In today’s gospel lesson, we are at a transition point in Jesus’ ministry. The last time we heard of Jesus going into the synagogues and temples and healing, he was only going into the synagogues and temples in Galilee. Now, Jesus is going about all the cities and villages, healing in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom. And upon seeing the crowds, he has compassion for them…a feeling so strong, Jesus’ stomach turned…the people had lost their way and they needed someone to guide them…but there were so many of them and only one Jesus.

So, Jesus says to his disciples, “Guess what guys?? Time for internship!! You’ve been following me, hearing my teachings, observing my every move…you are ready, it’s time for the students to be sent out. So I am giving you authority to cast out unclean spirits, to cure every disease and sickness. Proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of heaven has come near. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. And Matthew, I know you’re a reformed tax collector and all but remember, you received without payment…so don’t charge the people, ok?”

And so the twelve received their call to be sent out…and what a crew they were! Among them were four smelly, scraggly fishermen, a most likely despised tax collector, a zealot and the one who would end up betraying Jesus. Doesn’t necessarily sound like an ideal group to send out healing the sick and proclaiming the good news that the Kingdom of heaven has come near, does it? Jesus knew what he was doing in picking these twelve as the first group to be sent out, however. Jesus knew that having this group of men from diverse backgrounds would be the most efficient way to spread the gospel throughout the region. Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John could go out and speak to their fellow fishermen, Matthew wouldn’t have gotten very far with the people from whom he’d previously collected taxes, but among his former fellow tax collectors, he’d fit right in. Simon the zealot would have been welcome among his fellow zealots and Judas, Bartholomew, Philip and the rest could have ministered among the people they identified with best.

Jesus knew that these men could go to those that they identified with, proclaiming the good news among those that they also talk shop with. Jesus knew that by choosing men from many different backgrounds and economic classes that the good news of the Kingdom could be spread to the entire house of Israel. But more than this, Jesus knew that in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter who these twelve men were…because it wasn’t about them…it was about God. It was about proclaiming the good news to the people that the Pharisees didn’t necessarily think were worthy of receiving the Kingdom of God. It was about showing the love of God to the poor and the sick. It was about granting liberation to those who were oppressed by their own bodies.

And so it was these twelve men that Jesus sent out among the people. In this moment of call to ministry, they are no longer just disciples…they are no longer just students…now they are also apostles, ones who have been sent out

So what about you? What is your call story? What were the events surrounding your call to follow God and become apart of God’s ministry? Did you have an AH HA! Moment? Maybe you were raised in the church, learning and growing in the community of Christ all your life? Or were there many moments in your life that didn’t seem to make sense at the time but now are crystal clear? Hind sight is a tricky character, isn’t it?? Now, I’m not going to go around the room and quiz you all on when God called you to be apart of God’s ministry task force…mostly because I’m sure some of you may be wondering…don’t you have to go to seminary to do ministry?? The short answer to this question is No.

The long answer to this question is as follows…in the reading from Exodus, we hear God say to Moses that the house of Israel would be God’s priestly kingdom and a holy nation…if they obeyed the voice of God and kept God’s covenant. Unfortunately, over time the covenant was broken by the people…and the people of the House of Israel became lost. BUT! Paul says, while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…and by ungodly, Paul meant everyone. He continues, Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. God proved God’s love for us, broken, lost and unworthy as we are, in the act of sending Christ into our midst, living among us, suffering among us, eating with us, crying with us, and dying for us.

This is the ultimate act of love. And it is because of our faith that we have peace with God. We are once again God’s priestly people. And it is good to be God’s priestly people…Martin Luther wrote that we, the baptized children of God are “also priests forever, which is far more excellent than being kings, for as priests we are worthy to appear before God to pray for others and to teach one another divine things.” At our baptism, we become ordained into the fellowship of the priesthood of all believers. And it is also at our baptism that God calls us into ministry for the first time. For even as infants, our smiles shine with the light of the Holy Spirit and have the ability to melt even the hardest hearts. As very small children, our laughter and singing have the power to heal and to chase away the personal rain clouds of others we meet. And when we enter into Sunday School class for the first time, we begin our formal education as disciples. As we grow, we are sent out more and more to be apostles, helping people and proclaiming the Kingdom of God through our acts as well as our words. Our call to be a part of God’s ministry task force grows more specific as we get older.

Where we stumble is that we are human. Where we stumble is that often, being a part of God’s ministry team stops being about God and starts being about us. We stumble when being a part of God’s ministry team is about money, or buildings instead being about of reaching out and spreading the love of God to those who are just outside of the doors. We all need to take a moment every once in a while and realize that being a part of God’s ministry team isn’t about us…it’s about God. It is about the one who created and sustains and loves us unconditionally, even when he gets placed on the back burner occasionally.

Jesus never said that a call to the ministry would be easy. In fact Jesus was very matter a fact with the apostles about what he was getting them into. “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.” But in this midst of quite possibly the worst pep talks of all time, Jesus also says this “do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

We are all priests forever, which is far more excellent than being kings…but it is also difficult and requires sacrifice. And we will stumble…but when we do, we are in good company. We are in very good company, actually…for we follow in the footsteps of those first twelve whom Jesus sent out with the authority to cast out unclean spirits, and cure every disease and sickness. And, more than that, when we go out to do the work of God, we do not go out alone. The Spirit of God goes with us, giving us the words to say and the courage to say them.

So think about your call story today…think about the ministries that God has called you to be a part of. And claim with joy your call to be an apostle. Claim the blessings that come with being sent out into the world to proclaim the good news that the Kingdom of God has come near!!! It sure feels great to be alive…and it sure feels great to be an apostle.

Let us pray....

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

Come, Holy Spirit

Tonight I was witness to one of the most spirit filled events that I've been privileged to experience here in Tulsa.

Tonight was the annual meeting of Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, an interfaith group in Tulsa that works for understanding, equality and social justice for all people. I went into the experience expecting a boring business meeting. Instead, what I witnessed can only be described as a miracle of the Holy Spirit in the midst of a world that is torn apart by sin, intolerance and violence. As, in other parts of the nation and world, people are killing each other because of race, religion, gender identity, etc...in a room in Tulsa, people of many colors, creeds, gender identities, etc, gathered to celebrate each other.

As I looked across the room, I saw a Roman Catholic Nun sitting next to a Muslim woman. At the next table sat a Native American American spiritual leader talking to an anglo-protestant. We witnessed displays of traditional Mexican and Hindu dance. We heard about members of the Tulsa community of different genders and nationalities all working to better humanity. He heard English, Spanish, Hindi and Lakota. In this room at the Greenwood Cultural Center, Jews and Muslims...Christians, Hindus and Buddhists...Mormons and Unitarians...we dined and conversed and created a wonderful community.

And through all of this I felt the work of the Holy Spirit more than I have in a while...and it made my heart smile and inspired tears.

Thanks be to God for the work of the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, Amen

What does this mean...

I can't believe that today I began work on the youth group newsletter for June!! Time is just flying so fast!

Last weeks Confirmation/Pentacost Sunday was beautiful. Made complete by the unique nature of each of the confirmand's personalized stoles. It was an amazing thing to know that I walked with these 4 youth on the last year of their confirmation studies...which is just the beginning of their faith journey. I've heard people say that they are so excited to be done with their studies...but confirmation, like a graduation, is just the beginning. Just the first step in following that call that God has for each of us as we grow into the people that God made us to be.

Discussion Questions - Field of Dreams

Part 1: Ray Kinsella’s call – “If you build it, he will come”

What do the words “call story” mean to you?

How would you describe Ray’s call story?

Compare Ray’s call story to different call stories in the bible:
-Moses (Exodus 3:1-4:18)
-Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-19)
-Noah (Genesis 6:11-22)
-Samuel (I Samuel 3)
What elements do they have in common? How do they differ?

Looking in at our own lives:

In what ways has God called you? What is your call story?

How is your call story similar/different from the call stories we looked at earlier?

If the situation in the movie happened to you, what would you do? Think about other stories that are similar to Ray’s and Noah’s
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Part 2: Go the Distance

Why could Ray and his family see the baseball players, but his brother in law couldn’t?

What happened that made Ray’s brother in law able to see them?

Are there any bible stories where we find people who need to see to believe?
(Hint: check out Doubting Thomas in the Gospel of John)

Would you call Ray’s willingness to listen to the voice a kind of faith? Why or why not?
What did he risk by doing this?

What does it mean when players walk into the corn field? When Terrence goes with them? Why can’t they leave the ball diamond?

Looking in at our own lives:

Are there any times when you have lacked faith based upon what you can see and what you can’t?

Do you think that you would have trusted the voice, even if it meant risking everything?

What is one thing that we can do that will help us to put more trust in God, even though we cannot see God?

This week in FLY

The brunch went fantastically on Sunday. I received a lot of compliments about it. We are off to a good start with fundraising for the ski trip (February 2008) and the 2009 National Youth Gathering. Our next fundraisers will be the dinner for the "Holy Tulsa Tour" participants on Wednesday, October 17th; brunch on Sunday, October 28th (Reformation Sunday!) and selling Christmas greenery.

Don't forget tonight's FLY II gathering. We will be watching and discussing the second half of "Field of Dreams." With all the events that have been going on lately and that are coming up, next weeks session will be laid back. I've switched the movie schedule around so next week we will watch the entirety of "Madagasgar." Not to worry, "Happy Feet" has been rescheduled for the beginning of November.

Also, on Saturday, Brennen, Eli and myself will be traveling to Rogers, Arkansas for the LYO leardership training. We will report back what we have learned at FLY on Sunday.

Have a blessed rest of the week and weekend!