The Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany, Cycle B, 2012

“A gentleman was coming out of Church one day and the pastor was standing at the door, as he always did, shaking hands with the people as they left the Sunday Service. Well, as this man walked up to the pastor, he took hold of the man’s hand and pulled him aside. The pastor said, “Hey., brother, you need to join the Army of the Lord!” The man replied, “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, pastor.” The pastor said, “ How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?” The man whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.” That story is funny because it is all in how things are worded.

We live in a world where we could almost feel overwhelmed with words. And many of those words are just being said with nothing to back them up, as being the truth. Words are all around us, words on TV, words on the radio, words spoken by our family and friends, words are printed in newspapers, books, on computers, e readers and words on the Internet. In fact, with so many words around us, words tend to lose there meaning and they, sometimes, seem to lose their importance. And with texting on our cell phones these days, many of the words are now in code. It has gotten to the point in our life, where many words have lost there real meaning.

Yet there are some words that have more power than others.

One Priest wrote in his book, the following story about words. He said, “It was in the early years of my ministry that one Sunday, I was preaching my sermon and I had just gotten well into the sermon, when a baby started to cry down in the front pews. The baby’s mother, very much embarrassed, snatched up her baby and started out the down the aisle to take the baby out of the church. I stopped right during my sermon, and I said, “Madam you don’t have take your baby out. He’s not bothering me. The mother said, “No?” Well, you’re certainly bothering him.”

Yes, words “do” have power, sometimes.

Our life these days is totally filled up with words. Some words do have lots of meaning when spoken with authority, like that of a police officer telling us we were speeding in a school zone or like a judge presiding over a court case. Other words that we hear each day get to the point where they have little if any meaning for us whatsoever--we get to the point where we just don’t hear some words even when they are spoken right to us.

In our Gospel reading for today, we learn how Jesus spoke God’s word, and we are told, how that word had authority. The Gospel says, “They were astounded by His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority.” And-- I would add-- Jesus’ words had with them, a real hope for living.

Looking at Jesus’ words, we people of the Christian faith see that, because the words of Jesus are “God’s Word” brought out in this world, they should have a very special meaning in our lives as Christians.

A good question to think about as one author on this Scripture asks us is, “Just how do Jesus’ words have a feeling of authority, power and hope for the future?

Well some of the ideas include: First, what about that word, “authority?” It seems this could be a little difficult word for some people to understand, when the lack of respect for anyone or anything in authority runs rampant these days. It seems that this lack of respect for people in authority, even those with many years of experience in their field, has gotten much worse in the past few years. It is very sad how it has affected every day life in America.

Our Gospel today says, “They were amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this?” A new teaching--with authority.” There was something special about Jesus’ words. They were different from the scribes who usually taught in the temple. They wouldn’t bring out any new truth or new ideas, but would always talk about following the letter of the law. But when Jesus spoke, He spoke with a real sense of authority the Scripture says. Jesus had a certain charisma about Him that caught the peoples’ attention. And I was reminded of the very beginning of St. John’s Gospel where it says, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”

The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, were words that knew what was needed and what was best for the people of God. They were words of hope and comfort and words of compassion that spoke about forgiveness.

Remember from last week’s Gospel that Jesus said that the time is fulfilled and that the kingdom of God is at hand. So it follows that God’s kingdom is present in this world. Jesus had the kind of authority, the kind of presence that allowed people to believe that His kingdom was God’s kingdom.

Next, we see from this Gospel the kind of power that Jesus had as he spoke God’s word.

The Gospel today says, “Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him ,saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with loud voice, came out of him.”

And so as I was reading about this--it is said that there was a power in Jesus’ words, a power to bring healing strength and forgiveness into the life of that man. The whole idea here is that the power of Jesus’ words truly does affect lives.

I was thinking about all of this and realized that these words of Jesus are like the words of absolution that we have in our Eucharist at the end of the Confession of Sin when the priest says, “Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through Our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen” These words show us God’s forgiveness of our sins, and how He truly reaches into our lives and forgives our trepasses. And so it follows that the word of Jesus Christ has the power to “win” in the battle to overcome selfish sinfulness.

And that brings us to the word of Jesus that speaks of hope. He brings us real hope. Because Jesus speaks with authority, as this Gospel reading tells us, and because His words have a certain sense of power behind them. We, Christians, are people who can and do live with hope. We have hope that things can be changed, and things really are different because of our Christian faith. As one well known Christian pastor reminds us, “It is because of the “hope” we have in Jesus Christ-- that we can live our life as a victor over sin and death-- instead of as a victim.”

I saw a quote from a young woman with a terminal illness where she said, “I am dancing in the face of tragedy over which I have no control except to trust God and life and circumstance.” She said, “I am able to live in the presence of death because I trust myself as a victor rather than as a victim. Thank God for my Faith and the hope that it gives me.”

The bottom line is that there is a real hopefulness in life when we, hear and take to heart, the words of Jesus Christ found in Scripture.

It is because of our faith in Jesus Christ living the Christian way of life that we can persevere with hope and purpose as we make our way through life. And as we practice our faith and worship God in the Eucharist each Sunday, we become even closer to Him, as he brings more meaning, forgiveness when we sin, and love of others into our lives.

Yes, in this world that is filled with all kinds words but there is one clear set of words from Jesus, the Son of God, where he says in the Scripture, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”

And it is so good that we are here today because we have repented and we, ’do’ indeed, believe in the Gospel.

The 2nd Sun. after the Epiphany, Cycle B, 2012 (John 1:43-51)

Good Morning! Having grown up in Northern Indiana where this time of the year, the temperatures often hover near or below zero degrees at night and there is usually at least a couple of inches of snow and ice on the ground. This past week we saw on the news the stories of a huge snow storm that covered Chicago causing canceled and delayed flights at the airports which ended up blanketing the entire mid west on its way to the East Coast. It made me think, I can’t believe I sometimes complain because it is getting in the 50’s at night, here in our area. The point I would like to make is that we are, of course, in the middle of winter. It doesn’t affect “us” here in South Florida as much as it does the people up North. But I can vividly remember those long winter months when it was so difficult out there on the farm where I grew up especially, with all of the snow and ice that often covered everything for months at a time. And often the sun didn’t shine for days and even weeks. Yet I always knew we were already almost way through the winter season and so I had a glimmer of “hope” that spring wasn’t that far away, making the rest of the winter more bearable. Once spring got there, we could take off our coats and begin a new season. New life would spring up all over the place and the beauty of nature would come out. Our hopes and prayers were to stay strong and whether the snowstorms until we made it through to the beautiful spring season. So I think I should be able to bear up against a couple of nights near 50 degrees here in beautiful South Florida.

We can, of course, use this anology of the bearing up against the cold and the hope of the coming spring of my younger years-- with our faith and hope in God and His Son Jesus Christ. In our Gospel reading today, Nathanael, had a very difficult time believing what Philip had told him and Nathaneal even said, “Can anything good really come out of Nazareth?” But then when He realized that Jesus was, indeed, the Son of God; he believed that his hopes had been fulfilled. And Jesus’ response was, “You will see greater things than these.” Or in more modern terms, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” This Gospel reminds us once again that our Faith in Jesus Christ can give us so much hope for our lives as we work our way through each day. However, a word of warning for us is that we must be on guard that we don’t become to complacent with our Christian Faith. We are here this morning at this church coming together as a caring Christian Community of faith in God to be renewed and to support each other in this family of God. But there are times when some people, in a way, fall away and begin to stray away from a sincere, practicing of their faith or sometimes there are some who seem to just be going through the motions. And that is really sad-- “to me”. Why? Because our faith in God and the way of the Lord, is where we can find solace, purpose and a real reason. I know, that there are times when we might wonder if God is still with us as we go through life day, after day, after day. One time in the early 1980’s I was unemployed for 15 months and many of you remember the difficult times we faced when Cheryl was diagnosed with Cancer and all pain and agony she went through with Chemotherapy and Radiation. Many of the members of our church are right now, going through some major health issues and huge financial problems at this time. But for those of us with a sincere faith-- we then remember that God and all that our faith stands for, is what makes life bearable, with its day, after day, after day issues. Every one has a deep longing for something more than just the here and now and the stresses, hurts and anxieties that go along with it. For us of a sincere faith-- that something more is found in Almighty God and His Son Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. St. Augustine says, “You have made us for yourself Oh God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Why then do we stray away from following God, at times? There are times when we say that we want to remain close to God and our faith and that is great. Then there are other times when we it seems we do all in our power “not” to stay close to God. I think that the very ‘first thing’ we should do is ask ourselves if we are drifting away from our faith is, “Why don’t I want to stay in a close relationship with God?”

One possible answer is that we may in a way be afraid of God. I can vividly remember watching a documentary where the story was told of a Cult disguised as a religion, where a young man in his 20s ended up committing suicide because he couldn’t live up to the perfect life that he was supposed to live as a member of that cult. To that I say, Please remember that the Episcopal Church teaches that God is a forgiving God and that He will forgive us when we sin, if we only ask sincerely. Also, remember what I have said often, that Jesus has been here in the flesh. He knows first hand what we are going through. Yes, God understands fully, and has told us that we can be and are forgiven when we mess up and sin and ask for forgiveness.

Another important point in all of this is that we must take the time to talk with God. We must pray. Praying or talking with God is how we can communicate with Him and stay close to him. Praying to God, is how we can know that that we are forgiven of our wrongs. It is my hope this morning that all of us begin our day in saying prayers to our God. It is easy to get wrapped up in everything else going on in our life that we fail to talk with God.

I think we adults know the facts that when we comminicate honestly and openly with someone, our relationship with them can grow and grow. And so it is with God. If we talk with God, sincerely and honestly day after day we will grow and grow in our personal relationship with Him. We will then feel the true presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives.

Try to find a place where you can be quiet and away from distractions, find a consistent time-- specifically, to communicate with God in prayer.

I would like to share with you good information I received from a friend of mine, Bishop William Sheridan many years ago, that I have saved regarding this. Bishop Sheridan said, “Talk with God directly. Be specific. Ask God directly what you need or want until your conviction of having it is strong and unwavering. Speak out loud: something like, “God, this is my situation,” and continue from there in your conversation with God. In talking privately with God, if at first you feel uncomfortable doing it, try doing it anyway. You will soon discover that talking with God is a satifying, and beneficial experience. Talking with God will help you to be more God aware and insightful.” (end of quote)

I, Fr. Matt Faulstich believes that this is very solid information in the importance of talking directly with God in prayer. Sincerely praying to God can give us such solace and such hope.

I’ll close with this thought. On my desk over at the office I have this quote front and center that helps me a lot it is from St. Pauls letter to the Romans 12:12, He says, “Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying.”

Holy Name, January 1, 2012

One week ago we celebrated the day on which Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born. It was Christmas 2011. We were reminded of the physical birth of Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem, in a manger. We were reminded of Mary, Joseph and the baby. Today we will talk about how that baby was “named” by the Father. Yes, on Christmas we celebrated the birth of a child, a special child, who was born the same way “as we all are born as children.” But today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the way it is worded in our brand new 2012 Church Calendar.

Two Sundays ago we were reminded of how and Angel appeared to a woman named Mary and told her that she would give birth to a child and that the child would be named, “Jesus.” And we are told that Mary pondered all these things in her heart. Mary was told things that were very difficult for her to understand, especially when, she was told that she was chosen to give birth to a Son whose name was to be Jesus. But this woman, Mary, trusted in God and said “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

Then Mary waited and waited, and then traveled to Bethlehem with her husband Joseph. At last the day came for Mary to give birth to a Son. The Angel of the Lord visited some shepherds who were watching their flocks at night to tell them about this special birth. We remember the story of how the Angel came and stood before the shepherds and said, “I am bringing news of great joy…to you is born this day a Savior, who is the Messiah--the anointed to save you.”

Our Gospel for today, picks up from there as the Shepherds said to each other, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this things that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went on their way. People had waited a long time. They dreamed the dream that the prophet Isaiah spoke so many years ago; that God would come to dwell among them. The shepherds heard the angel’s message to them, and it says, “that they left in haste to see what had happened.”

They came to the City of Bethlehem, where they found Mary. Beside Mary was the child, lying in the manger. It was just as the angel told them and so they were amazed. They knew that this was the one, so special. They returned to their flocks praising God for the birth of this child, who was named Jesus, the name given to him by the angel from God before He was born.

How could it be that this child was named by God? This child Jesus was given a name that would bring peace to the people who followed Him. What a special name God gave to his son, Jesus Christ. The name Jesus means “He saves.” This Son, Jesus had been sent by the Father to save His people from their sins--from anything that would separate us from God. Jesus came to draw us closer to one another and to God. Jesus, if we sincerely follow His way, brings peace of mind and the light of hope into our life. What a special gift God has given us with the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Faith to believe in Him.

As we celebrate this feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. It seems that God is telling us something very important in the naming of this child, Jesus. His name truly helps us to know God better. His name helps us to know how much God loves us. God is telling us in the name of Jesus that He saves us from our sins. Jesus was born to come to each of us so that we may have life to the full and to give us a joy and peace in our life.

Each one of us has a special name, a name given us by our mother and father. We are told in Scripture that God knows our names--in fact, God calls each one of us by our own name!

One special time when we were called by name in our church was when we were baptized. In our baptism we are called by name so that we become true members of the family of God. At baptism we become a real part of this family of God.

Each one of us was given a special name when we were born, a name that tells us who we are. And when we were baptized, God called us by our very own special, personal name, calling us, in a way, to remain dedicated and committed to Him as a member of this family. He calls us so that we can live life to its fullest. He calls us so that we can have a real purpose to our life.

Do you remember in the Christmas story how a bright light shone over the place where the baby Jesus lay in the manger?

A bright light also shines with us in our baptism. That light is the light of Christ. We even have the symbolism of this in the baptismal ceremony when we light the baptismal candle and we hear the words “Receive the light of Christ.” At our baptism we are given the light of Christ to fill us with light--in other words to fill us with hope and joy and love. And we are never to let darkness overcome us.

There is so much Joy and love to remember at the Christmas Season: the gift of Jesus and his name and the gift of our own name. In our name and in Jesus’ name we have received a very special gift, one we can take with us and use all the time in our lives.

Now I ask for your special attention. Just for a moment, close your eyes and imagine that you are standing there at the manger scene with the shepherds, looking at the newborn baby Jesus, hearing his name, remembering all that God gave to us with this special birth of our Savior.

First, remember your name, and how, according to Scripture, God has called us all by our own name and gives us hope, purpose and love in Jesus. Remember the people around you, your family and friends. Think about their names for a moment and how God knows and loves all of us.

Then think of a couple of good, positive things that have happened to you in this last year, that filled you with joy and peace of mind. As you remember these things, you can help to make the rest of this day--and every day--good and positive, filled with the light of Christ, with joy, hope and love.

And you don’t have to be in church to remember that way. You can stop, anywhere you are, and imagine yourself standing with the shepherds, and hearing the name of Jesus, and your own name and you truly “know” that you have a real hope and purpose. And you can share that gift with others, by helping them see and remember Jesus this way making our world more meaningful and more full of light and hope, today and always.

Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle B, 2011

On this Second Sunday of Advent, one phrase in the Scripture readings comes to us as it is written in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah and then comes out in the words of John the Baptist in our Gospel lesson for today. We heard in that first reading this morning, “A voice cries out in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Many of us who have been involved in church over the years remember the phrase, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” because it is always brought up when talking about John The Baptist, whose whole ministry was setting the stage for the coming of Jesus as the Savior of the world.

“John The Baptist” now there is a real character for you. He went running around the wilderness of the area of Judea yelling and shouting, “Repent, repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand!” And “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path straight.” We have heard that John dressed quite different, he wore clothes made out of camel’s hair and in sackcloth. I can’t help but think about how itchy those clothes must have been for him. He also ate a strange kind of diet, apparently, of what ever was around out there in the wilderness, in his case, locusts and wild honey. But most important about John The Baptist was that he had something very important to say and nothing was going to stop him. He believed in this message with all of his heart and he very boldly went and proclaimed to all. John was saying to the people around him in modern terms, “People, get your act together, take responsibility when you do something wrong, don’t make excuses, repent and get yourself prepared for the Savior when He comes.” John the Baptist didn’t care what he looked like, He didn’t care what people thought about him, all he cared about was his message. Get prepared!!!!

John the Baptist was not some highly sophisticated preacher man, he didn’t act with much, if any tact, he wasn’t up on all the social skills. John didn’t preach in a nice church like this one. Of course things were different then but still, if John was here today, he might be seen preaching downtown at the Arts Park on Young Circle and down Harrison Street. He might even try to take his ministry to Aventura Mall, right in the middle of the shoppers as they counted down the days until Christmas. There he would be shouting and yelling to anybody who would listen, “Repent, and Prepare the way of the Lord.” Then he might even offer to take those who would listen with their shopping bags to the fountain at the Mall to be baptized. Most if not all of the shoppers would probably walk the other way and say to themselves, their goes another, not all there crazy people.

Yes, people today might not pay much attention to John or his message. But we should really pat attention. You see John realized that the Lord was coming and he knew that the words of Isaiah would be fulfilled-- that’s why he is called a prophet. And when I read some of those lines once again from that first reading, I could so relate. He said the people are like grass, that they are like flowers in the field. He said that grass withers and the flower fades but the word of God would stand forever, and that the Word of God was coming soon.

Year after year goes by so quickly. As we are soon going to turning our calendar over to the year 2012. Some of us remember the song, “Time keeps on slipping into the future.” I, personally, can remember when I was in high school and we had to read a futuristic book by author George Orwell titled 1984 and what life might be like. And now here we are all these years past that.

So even though many people wouldn’t pay much attention to John The Baptist or his message. We really should pay attention, because he is telling us very important things, things we need to take to heart as we wait for the Lord. John is telling us to be faithful, to persevere in the faith. He is telling us that life can be like a wilderness, at times, in which it can be very difficult to truly hear God’s word because of painful circumstances in our life. John is telling us to speak up for the word of God. John is telling us not to be ashamed of our faith in God. He is telling us, in a way, to not get overly concerned about our outward appearance, but to concentrate most on the inner condition of our souls. And John is telling us to keep ourselves strong in the faith and tell others about the coming of the Lord, no matter how hopeless we think the cause may be.

There is a story that I read that is a real illustration for us here. It seems and old man who lived in the center of the city was having a very hard time. Lots of people were feeling depressed about their city. The old man walked outside of his house one day and onto the streets screaming, “Love, Peace, Righteousness!” The next day he would do the same thing, he would leave his house, walk down the streets and yell at the top of his lungs, “Love, Peace, Righteousness.” He would do this every day like clock work. Well, one day the man’s next door neighbor who was tired of all the screaming and yelling, went out on the street and confronted him. He said, “Hey man are you crazy?” What in the world do you think you’re doing? Every day you come out of your house and scream, “Love, Peace, Righteousness.” The neighbor went on saying, “You fool, don’t you know that nobody is listening to you. This city is full hopelessness and hate, and there is no peace and righteousness to be found, so give it a rest and save your breath. Don’t you know that you can’t change the world?” The old man answered him saying, “You are correct, my screaming and yelling about love, peace and righteousness may not change the world, but one thing it will do, is to stop the world from changing me.”

During this second week of Advent, remember to get your self prepared for the way of the Lord within your life and keep in the corner of your mind the old man in that story and John the Baptist to help you. Get your self prepared for the coming of the Lord. In your own way, go and remind others, especially your family members to get themselves prepared for the way of the Lord, whether it be by your example, or by word of mouth. Using the idea from the story of the old man, ’keep at it,’ whether or not you believe anyone cares, whether or not you think anyone will listen or follow your Christian example. The reason to keep at it, is that at least you’ll care, at least you will be listening, and by doing that -- as you continue to prepare the way of the, using the closing line from the little story of the old man, “Your faithfulness will stop the world from changing you.

The First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B, 2011

Welcome to St. John’s on this First Sunday of Advent as we begin a brand new church year. In the Lectionary of assigned Scripture readings for each Sunday by the church, we move from year A to year B in the three year cycle of Bible readings. I bring this up to you, now because with this new beginning it is a great time to renew our commitment to our Faith and to renew our commitment to our Christian Church of St. John’s. This is the Sunday of the church year known as Advent Sunday. The traditional liturgical color for Advent (like that of Lent) is purple. The Season of Advent, like Lent, is traditionally celebrated as a season of serious reflection, but it is also a time of preparation, waiting, and anticipation.

Yes, Advent is the season when we are to think about or reflect on our being ready, (or not being ready) to welcome Jesus; when we, as Christian people, prepare, wait, and anticipate the coming of Christ--which we celebrate each year at Christmas. Our Gospel reading for today, this First Sunday of Advent, helps us in our weeks of waiting, and getting ourselves ready for the celebration of Christmas, as we sincerely think about of our need for personal spiritual renewal in our Christian life.

Jesus begins with a statement of hoping, waiting and anticipation. He says, “Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.” Jesus reminds us to be watchful, He tells us to be waiting. He tells us to be hopeful, and He tells us to be anticipating His return. Then he tells us the parable of the real importance of being ready and watchful.

This is a short parable in this Scripture reading but it says a lot.

Jesus tells the disciples and us as he says, “It is like, which means the second coming is like, a man going on a journey, when he leaves he puts his servants in charge of the house and tells each one to do their duty. Those who care for the house are supposed to be on the watch day in and day out. Also, he commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch so that the door may be opened when he returns or even if we are called from this life.

Then Jesus gives this warning: “Therefore, keep awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.” Sleep in this case is symbolic for not being prepared. It means a person is indifferent, complacent, and not concerned. This parable was given to the disciples before Jesus ascended into heaven as a warning of His return and the importance of doing the work of His church while they waited for His second coming when He would come to judge the living and the dead, as we say each week in the Nicene Creed as one of the central tenets of our Faith.

And so the servants are to keep alert for the day that their master would return. We can just picture the servants begin to say to each other, the master surely won’t be home today, so lets just have fun, be lazy: don’t worry about the dusting and cleaning. No reason to keep watch, no reason to be ready to welcome the master home today. We’ll begin the work tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes, does it? And so the house gets more and more messed up, even the door hinges become rusty and the door becomes even hard to open. The servants become lazy and less and less work is done because of their lack of practice.

And so, How much like these servants we can become, in our lives of faith! How like that house our own spiritual lives can become-- full of clutter, dusty and all messed up! How like that door, our spiritual lives can become, hard to even open. How unprepared we can be for the Master’s return! What lack of any kind of vision we can suffer from, when we don’t anticipate, the Master’s return, in our case when we stop thinking about the Lord’s return.

Advent is a time for getting our spiritual life together. It is a time to once again think about our priorities in life. What’s important to us and our loved ones, through the spiritual life of prayer and thinking about God’s word. As people of Faith, we can empty our lives of the clutter and distractions that holds us back in our getting ready to welcome Jesus into our heart. How about the clutter of our wish for more and more material things-- the new car, the latest computer games, the newest cell phone and ipad--all the things that TV ads try to convince us will make our Christmas complete.! SWEEP THOSE Things away.

I enjoy celebrating Christmas as much as any other Christian. But what’s Christmas all about? That’s the question that should not get lost here. Christmas is, of course, about the birth of Jesus. And the most important thing, as we begin Advent, is that we need to be sure we are ready to welcome Jesus again in His glory, when He will come again to judge the living and dead.

Watch, therefore, for we do not know when the Master will come. Will it be evening, will it be midnight? Will it be dawn, or later in the morning? We don’t know--but we must be alert and ready. We must not be found to be asleep. ‘Asleep’ in this case means unprepared. And it means being indifferent and not concerned at all about not being ready. As Jesus told warned His disciples then, so he puts us on alert to the fact we too must be ready-- or we will be in danger of missing his promised return altogether. Yes, Jesus’ return is an event that is a promised reality. We don’t know when or how the Master of the house will come, but we are given and idea about it in other Scripture readings. I found this one from The Book of Acts, Chapter 1:11 we read, “This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will return in like manner.” and in John 14:3 Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you, and when I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also.”

Jesus is coming again, that we are sure of but how and when he will come is uncertain. In Matthew 24:44 Jesus says, “Always be ready because I am coming at an hour you do not expect.

So once again the question is, what does it mean to be ready? It means putting our spiritual life in order. It means keeping our priorities straight. It means setting aside the clutter in our lives, so we can be alert and ready, to welcome Jesus when He comes again, or if He is not already there, to welcome Jesus and the Christian way of life into our hearts.

I’m not in anyway saying that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead at Christmas(we don’t know when), simply I’m saying that Advent gives a great opportunity to make ourselves ready.

I love this little story about making ourselves ready and being alert for we don’t know the or the day of His coming. It begins with the question, “Have you heard about Jim and Susan’s first date? She was expecting him to arrive for their date on time. She was all dressed up and waiting patiently. However, by the time Tom was well over an hour late, Susan figured she had been stood up. So she took off her make up, put on her sweat suit, gathered up all of her junk food from the pantry, and sat down to watch TV with her kitty cat. Just as her favorite TV show was

Coming on the screen, the doorbell rang. It was Jim. He stared at her with wide eyes and said, “I’m two hours late and you’re still not ready?” And the last line of the story read, “Jesus said, don’t let my return sneak up on you. Be ready and alert at all times.”

Yes, we believe that Jesus is coming again. Yet are we not waiting for His coming only at the end of time-- or do we also sense His presence among us today? Of course we do. Because Jesus still comes to us through His Word, as throughout the Church, we listen for Him through the Gospels. We know Jesus’ presence through the Holy Eucharist and through you and me and all of the faithful people, as we continue to be his followers “to” and with one another.

But all the same we are called to be watchful, to wait patiently, and to prepare for Jesus coming again in power and great glory. Through our thoughts on the Word of God, made known through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, may our Advent preparation help us to be found ‘awake‘, prepared and ready when Jesus returns. Amen

Prop 28, Cycle A, 2011(Mt 25:14-30)

Good Morning! In light of today’s Gospel I begin with these thoughts.

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement

To expose feelings is to risk exposing, your true self

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return

To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing
They may avoid suffering and sorrow but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or live
Charmed by their attitudes they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom
Only a person who risks is free.
When I found this illustration in my preparing for today’s sermon, I thought it was perfect for us when talking about this Gospel reading from Matthew for today. When you put nothing into something, you get nothing back. The man in the Gospel who did nothing with what was given him, who invested nothing had what little he had been given taken away from him. Remember the illustration I began with said, “The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.”

And so the logical progression with this is to ask ourselves, when it comes to living the life of a committed Christian here on earth, how well are we really doing? Are we investing anything of ourselves into our Faith? God has given each of us certain talents with which to live our life as a Christian. God looks at our abilities and sees-- not just who we are, but, also, something else that I think is so very important, and that is-- that he also sees who we can become and what we can accomplish as a person of Faith.

As we can see, the servants in this morning’s Gospel were each given talents according to their abilities to do things. We could say that each one of these servants had a certain amount of potential. When I was a young adult, that was a key word for a lot of people to use when talking about our age group. You may remember when it was all the rage to hear that so and so has such great potential, or isn’t it a shame how so and so wasted all of his potential. Each of the servants in this Scripture reading are said to have potential according to their abilities. Potential is what can be described as an undeveloped skill that a person would be good or even great at doing. It is that God given ability that has been kind of held back in the person that truly we are-- but which looks for a chance to be developed in us--if only the person would just step out in faith and do it.

Many of us are familiar with High School year books and a look at the Senior class and you might find a section where someone is named the most popular, the most likely to succeed, the most talented, the most dependable and many many more. The point that I am getting at is that, God has given us all talents and we are called to use those talents by being a good person and by being a good example to others, by being a person who is a true and honest Christian. The servants in this Gospel lesson were all responsible for the talents that they had been given them. Remember at the beginning where it said the man entrusted these talents to them. The point for us here is that God has given us talents and He has entrusted us to use them. And here is where we are “called out”, so to speak “by God”. We have a Christian duty to be all that we can be-- as the slogan goes--we are to do all that we can in acting on our talents as Christian people. The most important question this morning to ask ourselves is, “Do I really use the talents that God has given me as a Christian person?” Am I using my talents as a committed Christian person to actually love my neighbor as myself, to reach out and help the poor or bring my neighbor to Christ? “There was a church pastor that spoke about standing by his father’s tombstone and reading the words, born 1884 dash died 1970. And it suddenly occurred to him how much that little dash in between those two dates symbolized as he remembered the good and descent life his father had lived.” You see, it is what we do with the talents God has given us that shows how much or how little is accomplished during the time of the dash between those two dates for us. Are we really using our talents here at our church? Or Are we not using the talents God has given us in following a sincere Christian life here at our church of St. John’s? There are so many ways to use our talents here at our church. It is part of our responsibility as a Christian to make a decision, as persons of free will how we will use our talents to build up this Body of Christ of St. John’s Episcopal Church. The long range point being-- that each of us-- are responsible for what we do with the dash-- that time-- between the dates of our birth and death. The talents in the case of this gospel reading are symbolic of giving more than, money although that is very important. The talents, also, seem to be a symbol for gifts and ability. The man gave some money to be used according to each servant’s ability. He expected his servants to try to increase what had been given to them. The only way they could do that was to do something with what each had been given to them. The only way they could do that was to do something with what each had been given. So they needed to invest of themselves in the process. They had to do something themselves. And as we all know, there is a real risk when we invest in something. The man didn’t give these talents to his servants to be unused. He didn’t give them to be stored away and hidden. He could have stored the money himself, if that is what he wanted done. The Man’s wish was-- for the servants to use their talents for good. And that meant that they had to take a risk. There is and old but very wise saying that we have all heard that says, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is also another saying that says, “If you don’t succeed the first time, try, try again.” We all know that success in life is not always automatic, because it takes time and effort for and investment to begin to work out like we want. Our history books are full of stories of well known people whose great talents were overlooked, until someone believed in them. These people succeeded and became famous because they were willing to take a risk and invest of themselves totally and when they were willing to use their God given talents totally to their work. Looking back at the rest of the story of our gospel, the man came back to settle accounts with his servants. He was pleased with the work of the first two, who doubled the talents they were given. They had proven themselves and were rewarded with more in return. The man gave them high praise for using their talents saying, “Well done my good and faithful servants.” But then he came to the third servant who had hidden what talent he had been given because he was afraid to get involved. The man called this servant lazy because he didn’t even make and effort to invest the talent he had been given. It was because of his laziness and selfishness that what he had been given was taken away from him because he never even tried to do anything with the talent that had been given to him. And so regardless of the amount or the type of talent that God has given us, He wants us to be all that we can be, he wants us to be faithful servants. The last verse in this Gospel sums it up this way. “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” In other words, we either use what talents God has given us or we could put ourselves in the spot of losing our Christian Faith because of our selfish ways. As Christians, we have been blessed to have been given the good news of the Gospel of Jesus and we have been blessed to have been given-- God given talents and abilities-- so that we might be ‘faithful’ in investing what God has entrusted to us. I will close this morning with this question for each of us to answer in our heart. Have you hidden your talents in the ground like the selfish servant or have “you” invested your talents that God has entrusted you with, as an authentic Christian person?

Proper 21, Cycle A, 2011

Our sermon this morning is going to be based on the familiar parable that Jesus gave in our Gospel reading today.

I would like to reread part of it. Jesus says, “What do you think? A man had two sons, he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” And his son answered, “I will not, but later he changed his mind and went.” The father went to the second son and said the same and he answered, ‘I’ll go, sir,’ but did not go. Jesus said to them, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The First.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

I want you to notice how Jesus began this parable. He said, “What do you think?” He was talking to the religious leaders and He really wanted them to think about something important.

This is a simple kind of parable for us to think about this morning. A man wanted his sons to go to work in the family vineyard, he asked the first son and he said, No!! We don’t know why he said ‘no,’ but then later he changed his mind and went. On a personal not, my Dad would never have given me a choice like that, if I was to go to work on the farm where I grew up I never questioned it. It was expected of me. And I did it, of course, like all children I suppose-- I often complained about it.

Anyway getting back to our Gospel lesson, The man asked the second son and he right away said, ‘yes,’ but he deceived his dad and didn’t go. He lied and he didn’t follow through on his commitment.

Then Jesus asks the question. “Which of the two sons did the will of the father?” And the religious leaders answered, “The first.” Then Jesus laid a bombshell on them. He said, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes will go into heaven ahead of you.”

What Jesus was saying is that those who repent or have a change of heart, those who know they are sinners and need Jesus’ forgiveness are allowed into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is talking about two different kind of sinners. He isn’t talking about one good person and one bad person. He is talking about two kinds of sinners, those who know they are sinners and need repentance, and those who think they are okay in and of themselves. They are those who think they don’t really need to repent of anything to get into the kingdom of heaven. In this category, in my judgment, are those who think they don’t need to go to church They think their already good enough.

How many of us feel that we are better in our faith than others and have no need to ask forgiveness of anything? Do we grade other people’s faith for them? Do we think less of others because we feel they are not as good as we are?

I think this is the kind of thing that Jesus is getting at in this small parable.

And I would like to do something a little different with the rest of this sermon. I would like to bring out to you some different stories and just let you think about them as Jesus said in the beginning of the parable.

“What do you think?’ A church pastor said, “I knew a man who was having an affair with a married woman for many years. This man was also active in his church, served on the Parish Council, went to Sunday School, helped on many committees and we could go on and on. But then something happened. He decided he needed to break off the affair, so he went to his pastor told him about it, and then told his wife. The couple came to the pastor and wanted help. But the man first said, “Pastor, how can you look me in the eye knowing all I did?” And the pastor answered, “I can forgive you and so can Jesus.” And the man said, “But everyone in town knows now what kind of guy I am, how can come to church?” And the pastor answered, “But this is the place that you need to be. This is where you and your wife will work this whole thing out.”

What do you think? “Will the congregation even give that man ‘a chance’ to repent and give him support in reconciling with his wife?

Here’s another story, What do you think?

A pastor was serving a parish, disabled in a wheelchair. Some of the people came to him and said, “Pastor, if you had faith enough, you would be healed.” He said to himself, “Don’t they know that I want to be healed, but I believe that it is up to God, not me? Does my disability some how affect their faith?” The pastor was beside himself in all this. He thought to himself, “Does my continued struggle with my disability somehow affect their faith-- thinking God should heal me instantly? Does being in Christ mean that everything is going to be just wonderful and perfect?” The question is “What do you think?”

A closing story comes from a book titled “In His Steps” by The Rev. Henry Maxwell.

He tells the story where he had just finished his sermon one Sunday when the entire congregation was startled by the sound of a man’s voice. It came from the rear of the church.

The man came forward, stood on the chancel steps and said, “I’ve been wondering since I came in here, if I could just say a few words at the close of the Service. I’m not drunk, I’m not crazy and I am perfectly harmless. I feel this is so important for you to think about what I have to say because in all likelihood I will not be around in a few days. I would like the satisfaction of thinking that I said my say in a place like this.”

No one tried to stop him, not even Rev. Maxwell as he leaned over the pulpit looking at him. The man continued, “I lost my job 10 months ago as a printer. The new copying machines have made by job obsolete. I don’t know how to do anything else, I have tramped all over the country trying to find something. There are a good many others just like me. I’m not complaining am I ? As I listened to the sermon from the back pew, I heard your pastor say: ‘that it is necessary for the disciples of Jesus to follow His steps, and he said the steps are ‘obedience, faith, love and imitation.’ But I ‘didn’t’ hear him tell you just what he meant that to mean, especially the last step. What do Christians really mean by following the steps of Jesus? I’ve tramped through this city for three days trying to find a job; and in that time I have not had one word of sympathy or comfort except from your minister here, who said he was sorry for me and he hoped I could find a job somewhere. I suppose it is because you get imposed upon by the professional tramp that you have lost your interest in any other sort. I’m not really blaming anybody. I’m just stating facts. Of course, I understand you can’t all go out of your way to help hunt for jobs for other people like me. I’m not asking you to; but what I feel puzzled about is what is meant by following Jesus. What do you mean when you sing, “I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way.” Do you mean that you are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save the lost, and help suffering fellow humans just as I understood Jesus did? The man continued saying, “But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps?”

At that very moment Rev. Maxwell said, “The man passed out. He was taken to the parsonage, the service ended then. The man was taken to the hospital and in a couple of days the man died.”

“What do you think?”

Please remain seated for a few moments as we ask ourselves where we stand regarding these stories. Answering “What do you think?”

Proper 20, Cycle A, 2011

Today we have in our Gospel reading the parable of the laborer’s in the vineyard. When we first hear this lesson we wonder, “How on earth could the landowner pay the same amount of money to the men who worked just one hour, as the men who worked 12 hours out in the hot sun.” I imagine that we all have a little inside twinge when we hear this story. By most fairness standards in 2011, this would be seen as very unfair and in our world of law suits over the littlest of things, the land owner would probably be sued big time in court by the ACLU over this.

The thing is, as Christians, we need to remember that our ways are not God’s ways. In fact, the noted theologian Karl Barth said that “God’s ways are infinitely superior to all human reasoning.”

So what can we make of this parable given us by Jesus, Himself? I read that Father John McKenzie writing about this parable says, “There are many ways of interpreting this story. It could be a way of showing the Jewish Christians that even though the Gentiles converted to Christianity later than many of them, they were still on an equal basis with them…” In other words, this parable shows us that an early call to be a Christian does not put us above someone who finds the Lord later on in their life.

I believe that the thing to keep in mind is that we all have the opportunity to follow the way of the Lord, not just certain special people. Spiritual greatness should not be measured by how long or how hard we may work at trying to gain the ultimate goal of attaining eternal life.

Lets think about these questions for a moment. Have you ever sat in judgment of another person that you thought didn’t measure up to your standards? Have you ever sat in judgment of someone you felt was lower than you on the goodness scale? A familiar example would be something like this example, from my childhood. I over heard someone say, “I can’t believe that so and so converted on his death bed, it doesn’t seem fair to all of us who have worked so hard for so many years for our faith.” I didn’t know what to make of it at the time. But my answer since being a committed Christian is something like this, “I believe a reason that some people will not choose to be a practicing Christian is because of what they are afraid of what some misguided Christian people’ will say about them.” A prime example of this could be someone saying, “Can you believe that So and so has been coming to church these past few weeks and he thinks he is all high and mighty after all the trouble he got into the past few years.?”

God is the judge of such things and not us. What we need to do is put aside the way we normally look at this type of situation. Remember God’s ways are different than ours. I read this week that the real focus of this Gospel parable should not be in what each worker is paid, but rather on the fact that all those who worked were a part of the overall job being completed. Just as all of us, each and everyone of us here today is an important part of the work of the Lord in the world.

God opens up his way to everyone equally-- regardless of when we arrive on the scene. God doesn’t play favorites. This brings us to think of another important question. “Which is more fair, people sitting in judgment that it isn’t fair that so and so got a huge church funeral when he or she converted at the last minute; or the fact that so and so found a belief in the Lord God before he or she died.? We should be rejoice that someone who was lost, found the Lord before they died. So let us be on guard against judging others-- judging others is up to God. I believe God is always trying to be more than fair. Our Church teaches that God wants to give us more than we deserve. That is His prerogative. God’s grace is a free gift for all. I read where one author explains grace this way. He says, “Do you have a special friend or someone in your family like a loving grandma who is special because she helped to show you something called grace? Grace isn’t just a prayer we say before meals. Grace is a special kind of love that says, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do. You are my child or you are my grandchild and I love you no matter what and I will hold you until the hurting stops.’ Most all of us have had people around us show us what God’s grace is really like.” We should be especially thankful to have people in our lives that have affected our lives in this way, people who truly love us no matter what the circumstances.

Let’s always strive, like them, to live like these special people sharing in God’s gift of grace. We may ask, “How can we really live like that, not judging others and the like?” I think one answer could come from a dying grandma in a story I read about a while back. The grandma said, “All you have to do is listen to your heart and remember each child is a gift from God. Then you will know what to do to live that way.”

God is gracious and understanding with his love and free gift of grace. And those of us who are his dedicated followers should be filled with joy that He gives so generously. So we should never feel negative or upset at all toward those who find Christ later on in life. They are forgiven and find their reward with the Lord. Applying this thought to our gospel for today, we need to strive to be like those who were called to go to work last. Remember, they were trusting, and not concerned about how much money they would make, whether it would be fair or not. They were just glad for the chance to be able to work at all.

Let us choose to be happy that God has called us to be a very real part of His kingdom and given us this free gift of grace to help us

through. Let us always remember to let God be God and let Him handle His kingdom His way. Let us be happy over the generosity of God’s grace as it says in the Interpreter’s Bible on the Gospel of Matthew. “Why did the earlier workers not rejoice that the man who had waited so long in the marketplace was now at peace, with money to take home to his family? Why did not the older brother rejoice that the prodigal son was now restored, and set free from the rags and the hunger of that far away country? If only we had a touch of God’s love would we be glad, as heaven is glad, that the lost sheep is safe in the fold, delivered from the briars and the wolves? As God says to us who sit in judgment, are you jealous because I am generous?”(end of quote)

And so it all comes down to this, “Are you happy when the lost person finds Christ or are you jealous of them? It is my prayer that you choose to be happy for them just as I am happy for them. In the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Trinity Sunday, Cycle A, 2011 (Mt. 28:16-20)

Today is another important feast days in the Christian Church. This is Trinity Sunday. It seems to be one of the most ignored feast days of the church year. In fact some people, not so familiar with the church, might say, what is that, The Trinity. Well-- it isn’t an event like Christmas or Easter. In fact, it isn’t something you can find in the Bible. There really is no mention of the Trinity, as such, in the Bible.

But our belief in the Trinity, one God in three persons-- Father, Son, & Holy Spirit-- is a very important part of the Christian Faith that we believe wholeheartedly.

I found these humorous illustrations to make us see how it can get confusing for some people.

In the movie “Three Weddings and Funeral,” the mixed up priest repeatedly butchered the name of the Trinity: “In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spicket,” he says at one wedding, and at another, “Father, Son, and Holy Goat.”
Then there was the girl visiting the United States from India, she was Hindu. Her Christian hosts took her to church, where she heard the prayers. Later, she asked her hosts, “Why didn’t you pray for the West Coast?” “What do you mean?” they asked. “Well, you prayed in name of the Father, Son, and whole East Coast. Why didn’t you pray for the West Coast.”

Even those of us who are familiar with the whole concept of the Trinity know that it can be difficult to totally understand. But I think if we look at it in parts, that might help to explain what it is and isn’t. We say at the beginning of most all of our prayers, “ in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And we begin our Eucharist most weeks saying Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit. We say it often, God is three and at the same time one. As the Nicene Creed says, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We believe in God the Creator. We believe in God who made everything. We believe in a God who loved us enough to send His son to earth to die for us. We believe in a God who is not like some kind of puppet master of the world, but a loving, God who wants what is only good for us His children. But I think a real problem is that we want a God that we can control so we can make God like us. We try to make God do exactly what we want Him to do for us. We want God on our terms, at our convenience who would grant our every wish-- at our beck and call. When I was preparing for this sermon I found that one author on the subject said that we want God to be some kind of “cosmic bellhop God.” That author said, and I agree that, “My God is bigger than that. My God can’t be controlled for personal glory and reward.”

And that brings us to the second part of the Trinity, God the Son Jesus Christ. We say in the Nicene Creed each Sunday, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake Jesus was crucified, suffered death and was buried, on the third day Jesus rose again, He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.” My understanding of God is not only the God who created the world but my God became human , my God became Jesus Christ who died on a cross and rose from death. We say that we are Christians, and as I was reminded in my study on this subject this week, the first 5 letters of that word is Christ, not God but C-H-R-I-S-T. Our belief is in a God who became Christ our Savior who died for our sins. So God is more than a creator, He is a God that the Nicene Creed says is the “giver of life.” In fact, I was also reminded this week that, we have a God in Jesus who came to earth and us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Jesus taught not to judge others but to treat others with dignity, kindness and compassion. And this is a difficult one for many people. There are many who want to judge others harshly. Some people may even think it is their duty to put others down and verbally slander their good name because they don’t like this or they don’t like that about them, but guess what? It is not our place to judge others-- that is God’s place.

Then toward the end of the Nicene Creed we say, “We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, with the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified.” So we have the third person of the Holy Trinity. We believe in God who has become Spirit which dwells in each of us because we are promised at our Baptism and Confirmation to have the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit is not a thing, or a wind, or something that fills us up like water. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, of one God within us. This is the way I have come to understand as I was reminded again this week. When we cry out to God for anything, it is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity that is with us and with our own spirit that allows us to cry out to God, “My God, My God I need your help in this matter please help me.” When we say that it is the Spirit Himself that is with us, what does that actually mean? I believe it gives us the grounds for believing in the presence of God with us. So the third person of the Trinity gives our spirit the grounds it needs to believe in one God who is three in one.

It is the author Andrew Murray who says, “True prayer is the living experience of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit’s breathing - God within us- The Son Jesus’ intercession, The Father’s will, these three become on within us.”

Therefore, I believe that the Trinity is not really some vague doctrinal thing we can’t understand, but it is personal. The Trinity is God relating to each one of us on a personal level. One person wrote, “The Trinity is not some puzzle to be solved, but a relationship to be lived.” As the prayer I quoted, from Andrew Murray said, “We have a relationship with the will of God the Father, the Son’s intercession and the Holy Spirit’s breathing.” What name is the name of God for us? We know God as Father, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. That could be seen as three-- yes it could, but “we Christians know” it is only one. We believe in one God. Amen.

This is the Sunday after Ascension Day and the Seventh Sunday of Easter. According to the church calendar Ascension Day was this past Thursday. Today I would like to focus on The Ascension of Jesus since it is a Principal Feast Day of the Church, as outlined on page 15 of the Book of Common Prayer.

The forty days that Jesus spent with His disciples after His Resurrection from the dead must have been so short for his close followers, in a way. There was so much Jesus had to remind them about. There was so much they had to try to understand better, even after all the time that they had spent with Him before His death & Resurrection. The Apostles now realized, for sure, that Jesus, their friend and teacher-- was the Messiah, the Son of God. We can almost picture their meetings after Easter whenever he would come to be with them. Can’t you see them jockeying for position to see Him, to hear Him, maybe even to touch Him. After all, they had seen Him hanging there on the cross until He was dead and His body put in the tomb. So the miracle of Him walking around among them again, after seeing that, should have been enough to almost overwhelm them. And, Yes, their attention sure should have been completely on Him and His every move. But then came that day we know as the Ascension, when Jesus took them to the mountain and was taken from their sight. This had to have been another most memorable day in the lives of all who had decided to follow-- Jesus of Nazareth.

We can easily imagine that the Ascension of Jesus was a very difficult time for the disciples. They saw it as the final act of their being separated from this very special person that they had come to truly believe was the Messiah. This was another in a whole line of mysteries they had been going through that they couldn’t totally understand, but there was also a deep conviction developing in them that now they had to carry on and they had to expand the work that Jesus had begun with them. That work, of course, included the fact that they were to tell others about Jesus. In the Scripture about the Ascension, Jesus commanded His disciples to do this. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” They were being sent out beyond the area they were so familiar with, to let “all people everywhere” know that Jesus-- the long awaited Savior, died and “Rose from the dead” so that they could attain eternal life. By no means did the Ascension mark and end of our Lord’s work; it was the start of a new beginning-- showing beyond a doubt that those who followed Jesus were to be a part of a world wide mission to take the Gospel of the Lord, God to “everyone” and not just certain people.

No one could have convinced those disciples of Jesus as they witnessed His Ascension from them, that this Good News of Jesus would not spread throughout the world with in a few decades. They knew that the Way of Jesus was a special way of living. On the other hand, nor could the apostles have imagined that so many of them would actually have to give up their lives, to be a true witness to that Good News. Being a true disciple of Jesus was quite a responsibility. There was still so much they had to learn. There was still so much that they had to accomplish.

Even we modern day followers or disciples of Jesus still have so much to learn and so much to accomplish. Although the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been brought to most of the world, and although we can be happy that there are, indeed, millions of Christians world wide, so much more has to be done. So much more that has to be done to show the world that Jesus is still a reality in our time. The Spirit of the Lord continues to live among us, and we must proclaim with our lives that Jesus is Lord and that He makes a difference in what we believe, in the way we pray, in the way we talk, and in the way we act. As His followers we are given the command by our Lord Jesus, to proclaim the Good News and to witness to God’s real presence in our world. So quoting the Scriptures, “If today you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart.” So once again we are being asked to follow God’s command to continue, always, to strive to be dedicated witnesses of the Lord to others.

Now I am going to switch gears and talk about this 7^th Sunday of Easter and our Gospel lesson that was read for all to hear.

Jesus says to His Father in this Scripture reading, “I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because “they” are yours. All mine are yours and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.” These Bible verses reminds us that the Father has given us so many blessings in our lives- that we must live in a good relationship with Him. We should honor and respect what God has given us. We should accept the responsibility that comes with having been given so much. Do we accept the responsibility to live in a good relationship with God or do we just take all of our blessings for granted?

God has created us with the gift of free will. That means that we have the freedom to decide whether we will accept the Word of God that comes our way through Jesus Christ- or whether we will turn our backs and walk away from our Faith. God’s grace & love for us makes it possible for us to say, “Yes” Lord I believe, but it also means that we have a choice, as well to say “No.” What is really most difficult about the gift of free will is accepting the fact that our choices have consequences.

In the Scriptures about the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven that I started with this morning, Jesus told His disciples and us to go into the world and tell the “Good News” of the Christian Gospel. We are to lead others to Christ by our example and our witness to others. The important question for you to really ask yourself today is, “Do I really show others the Christian way of life?” I believe that what Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel, is that we shouldn’t just sit back and say it is all right for people to hurt other people verbally and physically just because they don’t like their personality. When we are slandering other people in front of a variety of people are we really showing them the Christian way of life? The answer is a resounding “No.”

I believe that Jesus wouldn’t just sit back and say, “Oh, its all right for you to gossip and slander others, because of this or they didn’t do that. Each and every one of us who professes to be Christian, must act as “responsible” followers of Jesus Christ. This is what a real Christian is-- a real person of faith. A person who lives their life, especially following the two great commandments, putting love of God and love of neighbor first. You see, Jesus in today’s Gospel is praying for those who keep the Word of God and especially, for those who keep “their” word. If you make a commitment to follow the way of the Christian, then you need to do all that you can to keep your word and live the Christian Way. And when you do sin against the way repent and return to the Lord. And if you have hurt somebody with slanderous words you need to go to that person and tell them you are sorry. Do you consider yourself to be a person who keeps your word? I would hope you would answer “Yes”. That is how you gain respect and integrity. And when we do this it gives us a good feeling inside Jesus knows how hard it is for us to keep His word and to follow His way of life because of our human weaknesses and so in today’s reading, Jesus is praying for those who keep His Word.

The bottom line in all of this is that as dedicated Christian persons we stand for something special-- Jesus Christ and His way of love and caring about others. We stand for making a difference in peoples lives by standing up for Christ and living as an authentic Christian Person. And when we fail at living this way we need to repent, confess our sins to God and tell those we have that we are sorry.

And lastly as a church family, let us remember Jesus’ words to us in the last verse of today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

3^rd Easter, Cycle A, 2011 (Luke 24: 13-35)

Today I want to talk to you about the virtue of Hope. The Scripture readings that I am charged to preach about for today are filled with words and phrases pertaining to words of encouragement and hope. That virtue that we know as hope gives us a real sense of bringing sunshine into our world that is often times confusing and is sometimes filled with a lot of discouragement. Our faith in God shows us a path in life that will give us a positive attitude, an uplifting spirit, and a spirit of real Hope. More and more reports are coming out, that tells us that it is a proven fact-- that a person’s Faith in God can bring about healing from serious illnesses. We have also heard that having and upbeat, positive attitude can do the same thing. We have had, over the years, many examples right here in our church where people’s strong faith and positive attitude helped them so much in there recovery. I look out and think of people of faith who when they were confronted with serious illness did not give up in despair, but kept a positive attitude that they were going to overcome their illness and they did. They were a great example to us, as to the way to handle and illness, with their strong faith as their guiding light. They faced those difficult times with dignity and with an uplifting spirit. We congratulate you-- you know who you are and we thank you for your wonderful example for us. It is a known fact that attitude has lots to do with recovery.

As people of faith we are all invited to strive toward this type of attitude as our goal. And even if death is very close we can keep a positive attitude as we put our trust in the Lord as we put our trust in the Lord. Our faith in God gives us an important reason to have this attitude of Hope. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a witness to the fact that God can be trusted; that what God has promised is true. Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross but He did not stay in the tomb-- He rose from death. The Hope that comes with Easter is that Jesus is NOT dead. He is alive. Our faith brings about, in us, so much peace of mind as we put our total trust in the Lord God. Therefore we do not need to be overly fearful in the face of serious illness or even when close to death because we have Faith. And I think of the calm dignified way that different church members, like Ruby Alden, have died over the years. Showing all of us people of faith the way to die in peace.

For me, learning to trust in the Lord, staying positive, even in the face of serious adversity or illness-- taking to heart the words that Jesus spoke so often, “Be not afraid.” These are real keys for us the people of faith, learning to face life’s ups and downs, not feeling overwhelmed but trusting in Almighty God and growing constantly in the faith so that we can learn to follow Christ’s words to not be afraid.

On a personal note-- my Christian faith is so very important to me because “I know” that no matter what happens with my faith in God & trusting in Him, I can get through whatever curve ball life throws at me.

I want to say something to you about our God being and awesome God. Last Sunday our Sunday School children presented their annual Easter Pageant and at the end they all sang the popular church song Our God is and Awesome God. And it got me to thinking that God is truly awesome. Sometimes we don’t quite understand all that we have to go through in life with its many ups and downs but through it all we can trust in our awesome God. Remember the story where the only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and everyday he scanned the horizon for help, but no one came. Completely exhausted, the man eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after going out to try to find some food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling way up in the sky. He thought, the worst had happened, everything was lost. He was stunned with grief over this. He cried out, “God how could you do this to me.” Early the next morning , however he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was coming directly toward the island. It had come to rescue him. He asked his rescuers, “How did you know I was here.” They replied, “We saw your smoke signal.” The point of the story is, that it is so easy to get discouraged when things are going bad for us. But we should never lose heart, we should keep our faith and our hope strong, because God is at work in our lives, even in the middle of pain and suffering that may come our way.

Let’s look at our Gospel reading for today. We have the very familiar story to many of us, of the two followers of Jesus on the road to the village of Emmaus after Jesus had died and had been put in the tomb. While these men were walking along the road, there was another man who began walking along with them. It was Jesus but they didn’t realize it was Him. They were so depressed and felt so defeated that they didn’ recognize Him. And when he asked the two disciples what they were talking about, they couldn’t believe that he didn’t know all that had happened. So they tell the story again. They even tell him about the empty tomb, and how some women had said that he was not dead but alive. When they had finished their side of the story, they are told, “Were you not listening when he told you how all these things must come to pass? And He, Jesus, proceeds to, as the verse says, interpret to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures. And then when he stays with them and breaks bread wit them, it says that their eyes were opened and they knew it was Jesus. And after he left, we remember how they said with deep conviction, “Did not our hearts burn within us-- while He talked with us and opened up the Scriptures for us.” And how he had been known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Today on this beautiful Mother’s Day 2011, we are given a chance once again to totally take to heart the word of God, and take Him into our heart in Holy Communion-- just like His disciples were to do.

It takes a lot of courage on our part, to put our total trust in our faith in God. It takes loyalty to God and perseverance in Faith-- as we live in a world where there is so much confusion, and so many conflicting moral values and ideals. Who can we really trust anymore some may ask? There are so many negative stories in the news. It would be easy to fall into a lot of negativity in life. But “We” don’t need to let that be the way we are. We have our Christian faith to uplift us and to guide us.

Remember what the disciples on the road to Emmaus said after they realized it was Jesus that they had been with on the road? They said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he was walking with us on the road and opening up the scriptures for us.” And so I offer some important questions to really think about this morning, When do our hearts really burn within us? What is it in life that makes you feel the most fulfilled? Where is it that you feel the most sense of purpose and meaning in your heart? The answer to those questions is found in your Christian Faith and you deep abiding Hope in the Risen Lord Jesus. It is also found in having a positive attitude toward life in general, having confidence that God is with us and He is a real part of our lives. With our Faith, we have a sense that God is with us even when things seem there worst, like the man in the story, who lost his make shift hut in a fire but who was rescued because the smoke from the fire had burned down the hut. When all appeared lost he was found and rescued.

We know that life isn’t always easy, and it is always more than is known on the outer surface. But for us Christians, at our very core, we can ‘choose’ to live with a positive uplifting attitude as we show others that we really do put our trust in the Lord, God. We can choose to live with and attitude of love, good humor, and real joy. It is the most fulfilling choice we can make. And I thank God for my Christian Faith that is so meaningful and gives so much purpose to my life.

The Second Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, 2011 (John 20: 19-31)

Good Morning! I thought I would begin this morning with an illustration which fits in so well with our Gospel lesson for today.

“It seems that a meeting room was filled with people--some who had a variety of disabled conditions, and others who simply wanted to know more about making the workplace and other public areas more ‘user friendly’ to the disabled workers. Those who were hearing impaired had been gathered on one side of the room, in the front, so they could all follow the sign language interpreter. During the first session there had been lots of trouble with the microphone and so after the break the first speaker who approached the microphone tapped it and said tentatively, “Can you hear me?” Not thinking, the sign language interpreter dutifully signed what the speaker had said, and all of a sudden the entire three rows of hearing impaired persons burst out laughing. Then in a few moments the rest of the people in the workshop realized what happened and they all laughed as well.

This could happen to any of us. Sometimes, we just don’t always think about what we are saying or who we are saying it to. What about this statement, “Seeing is believing.” I think most all of us have heard that statement at one time or another. But it would be a really sad thing to say that to a blind person. We would never want them to think, “You can’t see, therefore you can’t believe.” That’s definitely not the message we would want to send out to them.

Jesus gives an entirely different message in today’s Gospel saying, “Have you believed because you have seen me?” And then He says to Thomas. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Speaking of Thomas the apostle, I have read where he gave us five of the most important words in the Gospel when he said, “My Lord and My God.” Yet still based on one verse from the gospel of St. John, he

has been known for nearly 2000 years as the ‘Doubting Thomas’.

All because he wasn’t there the first time Jesus appeared to the apostles after the resurrection. Who’s to say that James, or John, or Matthew or any of the rest, if they had not been there to see Jesus when he first appeared, would have believed when they were told? We remember the story from Mark’s gospel: where it says, “After this he appeared to two of them on the road, as they were walking in the country, and they went back and told the rest, but they had trouble believing them. Later Jesus appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he was upset with their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. It sounds like Thomas wasn’t the only doubter. And if we look back at the reading from the Gospel of John for last Sunday, we remember that it says of the beloved disciple himself, ’John’-- that he went into the empty tomb after Peter and that ’he saw and believed. But apparently, for most of Jesus’ followers, ’seeing was believing.’

But then sometimes it wasn’t. Think about St. Paul and how he persecuted the Christians when he was younger, but his life ended up being turned upside down on the road to Damascus. He became a believe, and a bold one speaking out to who ever would listen. We couldn’t really say that ‘seeing’ led to his believing. Remember what happened? Saul later Paul got knocked off his horse and went he went to get up from the ground, he couldn’t see anything and so they had to lead him off by the hand and brought him to Damascus. Apparently, not seeing was what led to Paul’s believing.

Some did see the Risen Christ. Peter and John and the other apostles saw him. So did Mary Magdalene and the other women. And so they were witnesses to the Resurrection as they told others that Christ had risen from the dead.

That’s what Peter in a chapter from the Acts of the Apostles in Scripture. He says to them, “Listen to what I say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonder, and signs that God did through Him among you, as you yourselves know-- this man handed over to you according to the definitely plan of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.”

“Have you believed because you have seen me,” Jesus asked. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” You know what? Jesus is talking about us. Blessed are we! It has been almost 2000 years since Jesus walked the earth-- since He died and rose again. Wouldn’t it have been interesting to have been around then, to have actually seen Jesus and heard Him and been moved by his words? But it is way to late for that. And yet Jesus calls us to be blessed, and for those of faith we are. Elsewhere in Scripture in The First Letter of Peter we hear the words, “Although you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe and you should rejoice with and indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” That is from 1^st Peter chapter one verses 8 and 9.

Thinking about those verses for a moment my question is, “Who could ask for anything more?” That is a great promise for us, the people of the Christian Faith.

So thanks be to God that we are so blessed to have this faith which is ours. Although we have not seen Him, we love him as the verse from first Peter says. We haven’t seen Him in the flesh, that is a true statement, and yet there is a sense in which we have seen Him. I heard about a third world Bishop who has decided that in his country during the exchange of the peace, what it is said to the others is not, “the peace of the Lord be with you, but rather, “I love the face of Christ I see.” And the person said, “in order to see Christ we don’t have to look any farther than th face of our spouse, our children and grandchildren, or the person next to us in church. And the story concludes, “Love the Christ you can’t see and also, love the face of Christ you see in each of our brothers and sisters.” Amen.

Lent 5, Cycle A, 2011 (John 11: 1-15)

Today we have the Gospel reading about Martha, and her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus. They were all good friends of Jesus. When He came to visit them on this occasion, Lazarus had already died. Many of us remember the conversation that Martha, Lazarus’ sister, had with Jesus. We know, as we listened to this reading that she was obviously a person of great faith. Mary, her sister, has always been seen as the one that had her spiritual life together. But listen to Martha as she sees Jesus outside their house. She says, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” That sounds like a very strong faith. And she continues on by saying, But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of Him.” That is real faith in God. Then Jesus tries to calm Martha’s feelings of loss by reminding her that Lazarus would rise again. And we know that she shows even more understanding of her deep faith by saying, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” That shows her strong faith in God. Apparently, even though Martha was known as the one that kept the house looking nice, and preparing the meals, she must have been listening closely to Jesus the whole time.

Next, Jesus takes the conversation a step further saying, “I am the resurrection and the life; those who believe in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” And Martha says, “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Once again she shows that she had a tremendous faith in Jesus as the resurrection and the life. And then we know what happened next. Lazarus was raised from the dead. Jesus rewarded her great faith by raising her brother, Lazarus from the dead. I think it is interesting that we never hear about Lazarus’ experiences of life after death. But we can sure imagine what Lazarus and his two sisters talked about after what happened to Him. It would seem that they would never stop talking about Lazarus’ resurrection from death and quoting Jesus’ statement that He “was the resurrection and the life.”

We will be celebrating Easter Day in two short weeks as we all know. It seems that today’s Gospel lesson is like a sneak preview of that most important event in the Church. On Easter Day, Jesus proved beyond a shadow of doubt that He is the resurrection and the life. He proved this by being resurrected from the dead and living again in a human body on this earth. So I believe this morning’s Gospel really is a sneak peak of the upcoming attractions-- with Jesus Christ’s Resurrection soon to follow.

The fact that the early Christians had a strong faith to the point of even dying for this faith, makes it possible for us to have a strong faith even over two thousand years later. We can still be excited & enthusiastic

about our faith in Almighty God in 2011. Yes, we can be excited for our faith in a positive way. In fact, we seem to have lots of positive, uplifting feelings right here in our church. So many of you are working hard to make our church a place of uplifting inspiration. The first example I want to mention is the large number of dedicated members who took part in the Stewardship Committee meeting last Sunday. Yes, there are whole groups of you who are committed to working together toward growing and enhancing our faith community here at St. Johns’. For example, in our worship-- our totally volunteer choir is growing by leaps and bounds as we now have 16 choir members who are having extra practices getting ready for our very inspirational Holy Week Services. The tremendous dedication of the Altar Guild has been such a great ministry making sure everything having to do with the Altar and candles and in place for the Services. The greeters, ushers, lay readers, chalice bearers, and acolyte have been very faithful and dedicated to a meaningful worship, as well.

And I want to thank Fr. Preston for helping out with the Services, as well. Many people have been commenting to me about the uplifting feelings at the Eucharist each week. Also, I truly admire the dedicated support of members who are able to attend the Stations of the Cross devotional and other church services each week as our members make a determined effort to grow in their Christian Faith and become more informed in their knowledge of the faith with their making such an effort to take part in the worship services of our church.

And outside of the worship times we have had many dedicated to joining in on the Adult Bible Study we have available each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. And we have had such a positive response to our Lenten Program again this year with as many as 37 attending. We have so much to be thankful for in this Church community. We are a loving caring group when people are hurting. Just this past week so many people have responded to helping Eleanor Conrad when she was in the hospital and I am happy to report she is now back home. This church is amazing in its outreach ministries for the size parish. The Jubilee Center volunteers from here, the volunteers at the House of Treasures, those who go out of their way to welcome those from the community for Bingo and more.

And upcoming we have those working hard for the Book Review coming up April 30^th and that being followed by the “tea” fundraiser on May 21^st.

The point I’m making is that there are many dedicated & committed members of this parish who work for the betterment of themselves and for this parish. The work by the groups I pointed out are just some of the examples of our church members working together to be a Christian example to others in the community. I sincerely thank each and everyone of you who have chosen to be involved in uplifting our church into the community. Yes, we can be excited for our faith in a positive way at St. Johns’. It is my prayer that we can continue working together in a positive manner-- helping to grow this wonderful historic church. I am asking each one of you to promise to continue to work to build up this faith community. A reminder to all, “if you don’t have something nice to say about someone then don’t say anything at all.” Remember, we are to love our neighbor, not tear them down verbally.

Each one of us here this morning are active members of the Christian faith or we wouldn’t be here. Our Gospel this morning should truly reaffirm our faith. After all, Jesus restored to life a person-- his friend Lazarus - who was dead. Jesus brought back “Hope” where it seemed

To be a hopeless situation. This Gospel can serve to strengthen our faith and trust in God and His promise of eternal life. It can, along with Christ’s own Resurrection from death, show us that our lives have a purpose and meaning beyond the ordinary every day routine of life with its disappointments and worries. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Week is the holiest week of the entire church year. We remember the events of Holy Week in a special way here at St. John‘s. We remember on Maundy Thursday the celebration of the Last Supper of Jesus with His Apostles and the washing of the feet and the Watch. On Good Friday, we remember that even Jesus Christ, the Son of God died on the Cross. Then we celebrate the extremely meaningful Easter Vigil Service on Holy Saturday at 7 pm. And then we have Easter on April 24^th celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We are to take part in these special Services to keep our faith and hope, strong and meaningful. Because of these events, we believe, to borrow a popular phrase-- when talking about this kind of thing that, “Life is longer than from the cradle to the coffin, God’s only Son, the Resurrection and the Life, made it so.” For this great faith-- we can truly thank and praise God from the bottom of our heart. And so I make my prayer, “Praise you Lord Jesus, Praise you Lord Jesus, May ‘all’ the peoples praise you.” Amen.

The Second Sunday in Lent, Cycle A, 2011 (John 3:1-17)

Good Morning! At the beginning of our Lenten Season we were called to take time during this Lenten Season to observe a “Right and Holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Word.” The question I pose for us is, “Have we made an honest attempt to do that? Have we made an attempt to come out of any complacency or lack of passion we have about our faith in God? Have we made any kind of attempt to rededicate ourselves to actually following the way of the Lord our God? I know that many of us have good intentions when it comes to this but then we get off track because of one reason or another. We are called today to make a change if God and our Faith is not ‘the’ priority of our life. Actually, we are called as Christians, to put God first in our lives. If you have lost your passion for following the way of the Lord-- make a sincere decision today to recommitting your self wholeheartedly to your Christian Faith. If you have never totally committed yourself to your faith, let me tell you right now it is so worth it. Our Faith in God is so meaningful, it is so fulfilling. Sincerely following the way of our faith, is doing something in life that makes a ‘real’ difference. Most of us have had to go through times of deep darkness in our life, at times, but with God and our deep faith in Him, we can get through the dark times and go into the light, from having feelings of sadness & despair into feelings of hope and purpose. Sincerely following our faith is well worth it. I thank God so much for my faith and the meaning, the purpose and the fulfillment it brings to my life.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus told Nicodemous that he needed to make some changes in his life. He told him that he needed to be born from above, or born again . Of course, Nicodemous didn’t’ understand and said there is no way. He says “How can I go back into my mother’s womb and be born again.” Jesus, as we know, was speaking figuratively. He meant that Nicodemous needed to make a major change in his whole way of life. It seems to me that one of the reason’s the church included this Scripture Reading for today is for us to be reminded that we need to remain deeply committed to our Christian Faith always. Our Gospel for today reminds us that we need to persevere in our faith, that we need to be consistent in our faith. Once again it comes back to staying the course--to persevering in the faith. This past Wednesday evening we had our Lenten Program get underway for this year. I am happy to say that we had 33 people present for the Stations of the Cross devotional at 6:30 and 24 for the Lenten Program. The soup and sandwich meal prepared by the ECW was great. The program was on Faith Lessons the topic was when storms come in life and how do we work through them as Christians. Those present were able to really have a great discussion. I look forward to another lively discussion this week.

It was good that we had such a good group last Wednesday and I commend those who attended. It would be so great to have even more members able to be a part of these sessions, following along with the invitation to observing a Holy Lent. Please make and effort to be here this Wednesday evening even if you can attend only part of the night. Being here, puts you in the place where you can be nurtured in the faith and being here at church puts us in a place to have real spiritual growth, to grow our faith. I understand that there is so much going on in our life and it is difficult to be here sometimes, but I bring this up as and example of the need to prioritize what is truly important in our lives, and for persevering in our Faith life, whenever possible.

In our Gospel today, Jesus is saying to us that this faith of ours, this commitment means more than believing something “about” God, it means actually believing “in” God. It means more than just thinking, “Oh this sounds good”, or “I think I’ll try this out for awhile”. Jesus is saying that believing in Him and His way of life means putting our complete trust in Him. It means trusting that He loves us, that He will forgive us when we sin and then seek forgiveness, and that He gives us the opportunity to reach the ultimate goal of attaining eternal life.

For those of us who follow sports we are in the middle of March Madness the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. As we cheer on our teams. It is a fun time for sports fans. I can remember when I played on my High School basketball team, I gave everything that I had for that team. I was totally committed to that team. Sometimes practicing even before school very early in the morning in the freezing cold of Indiana, but I gave it 110%. And so the analogy can be brought out from our Gospel lesson that Jesus is telling Nicodemous that if you really want to be a sincere part of this team, then you need to give all that you have to this cause. You need to be born again, you need to be totally renewed or rejuvenated or born anew for this cause.

For us people here this morning-- we believe that being a part of this faith community can help us to win the ultimate prize, eternal life in heaven, a life forever with the Lord and our loved ones. But for some people, they say they want this but they do it in a half hearted way. We may wonder, why do many people in the world profess to be people of Faith in God then choose not to give 100% toward that cause? Why do many people of God “choose” not to even give 50% of themselves toward that cause? I’ve had people over the years of my ordained ministry, of over 32 years, tell me they are sometimes bored at the Eucharist-- but then I look out and see some people are putting little or nothing into it, some don’t answer the prayers, or even try to sing the hymns, they don’t try to listen and the like. On the other hand, I have found many, many people who love the Eucharist and find a deep devotion and meaning in it. I believe it is all about commitment, if you are truly committed to it, you give it your all. You will pick up the Hymnal and try to sing or at least follow along.

Jesus is telling us today that we need to put everything that we have into our faith-- we need to have a total commitment and trust in Him.

As for me personally, I have come to believe that Real Faith in God is more than some kind of emotional thing-- it is more than something we feel, it is not some kind of an idea out there somewhere. Having a deep committed faith in God is a decision.

Having a sincere faith is making a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior. I believe that we can, indeed, put our trust in Jesus Christ because he has proven, to me, that He can be trusted. I have seen people who have been healed of physical problems. I recall people I have known being healed of advanced stage cancer. I recall my wife, Cheryl’s sprained ankle with all the bruising and swelling from a fall while on our Holy Land Pilgrimage and the next morning Cheryl’s sprained ankle was healed I SAW IT!! Yes, I “have” seen things happen that I believe could only have been God’s hand at work in the world--what some might call a coincidence. And Yes, I believe we can put our total trust in God.

Our Gospel today calls us to back our Christian Faith 100%. It means giving 100% to this team. In spite of the adversity we may find in front of us at times, in our life, we are people who can “choose to totally trust” God and we can choose to forgive others. In spite of our trials in life at times, we people of faith can send a huge message of Hope to the world. So today make a personal pledge, “I choose to put 100% of myself into this faith, this ministry.” “I choose to back this faith team 100%.” And lastly, we can say to ourselves “I am going to give my faith and this ministry all I’ve got, because I’ve got the best coach ever known, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

I heard about a ninety five year old woman at the nursing home who received a visit from one of her fellow church members. The visitor asked her, “How are you feeling?” She said, “I’m worried sick!” Her friend said, “ Well, then, what are you worried about?” The elderly lady leaned back in her rocking chair and said, “Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I’m afraid they are all wondering where I went!”

We can laugh at that story, but isn’t it the truth, we will always find something to worry about. But our gospel reading this morning tells us not to worry as the verse says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” And in the last verse for today Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.” “Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

These verses are telling us that we need to take care of today and not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow is in God’s hands. Jesus is telling us to place all of our cares and everyday worries in His hands and He will take care of them for us. The first thing for us to do is to ‘truly’ believe in the goodness of our God then all these things will work out for us as God intended. If we are truly living the Christian Faith that we profess to be living, then all the worries about what we will eat, drink and wear will work out for us. The basic theme for this Gospel reading is that Jesus is telling us not to worry about the future or the worries over the past, but live in the moment of today, that is enough for us to take care of right now along with Jesus.

I found this poem that says it so well. It’s titled “Why Worry About Tomorrow?” It says, “Why worry about tomorrow And the rising of the sun, of anguish over past mistakes That cannot be undone? Why waste life’s precious moments on things that bruise the heart. When today is ours to fashion. Into a work of art? Today comes but once, my friend, It never can return-- So use it wisely while you can, There’s a lesson you may learn. Let history record the past. And tomorrow come what may. Be content to do your best. With what you have today!” So ends the poem.

We need to live in this moment allowing the past to be the past and the future to be the future. We need to live for today, and be content with what God has given us for today. But it is difficult for us to live with contentment isn’t it? It sounds so easy, like with the business man in the following example. It seems that “One day a fisherman was lying on a beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the crystal blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish. About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman was lying there on the beach and he decided to find out why this fisherman was lying there on the beach instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way, said the businessman to the fisherman, you should be working harder at it rather than lying on the beach! The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?” The businessman said, “Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” And then what will be my reward be, asked the fisherman again. The businessman said, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will result in larger catches of fish.” He said, “Don’t you understand that you can end up being rich so that you will never have to work for your living again. You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. And you won’t have a care in the world.” The fisherman still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I am doing right now?”

We can see that the fisherman knew what was important in life, to live each day trusting that everything would work out. The business man only wanted more and more, never being content with what he had.

We are not to worry so much about the future, because that is in God’s hands. We are to live for today. But also realistically as we live for today, it means that we have to be ‘good stewards’ of today as the saying goes. We can’t just sit back and say that ‘God will take care of me’ and so I won’t have to do anything. We can’t say, “I don’t have to work, I don’t have to take care of my family, I don’t have to do anything because God will provide.” It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do our part for today Or that we can just lay around waiting for God to take care of us. As I was looking into this Gospel I was reminded that ‘We do have a responsibility to take good care of what God ‘has given us to control.’ It is definitely not fair and just to ‘do nothing’ and then say it’s not our fault that I am hungry, because God didn’t provide. We should remember that we are to be good stewards of what God has given us. If he has given us the talent to be a good teacher then we should try to be a good teacher. Or the talent to be a good nurse then we should try to be a good nurse. The point here is that God will provide but we must do our part, also. Because God works with us using what we know are our talents to help provide for us.

We shouldn’t be like the clock in this story. “Once there was a handsome clock that became preoccupied with worry about its future. It began thinking about the number of times it would have to tick: twice each second, 120 times per minute, 7,200 times and hour, 172,800 times a day, 63, 072,000 times a year. When it realized that in the next ten years it would have to tick, 630,720,000 times, it was ready to have a nervous breakdown. The clock went to a watchmaker for therapy. While under the watchmaker’s care, the clock began to realize that all it needed to do was to tick one tick at a time. Soon it began to tick again, and it continued ticking, one tick at a time for one hundred years. And everyone loved that old grandfather clock.” Finally the clock realized it only had to tick one tick at a time.

I, personally, know how difficult it is to not get overly concerned about things, but what Jesus is asking us to do today is-- to live one tick at a time. One minute at a time. One day at a time. One week at a time. One month, one year. We are to live one tick at a time as today‘s reading brings out to us We are not to worry about tomorrow and we are to put the rest of our worries and concerns in the hands of almighty God. And like I said, sometimes that is so difficult to do.

I’ll end with this important reminder where Jesus said in today‘s Gospel. “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. If God so clothes the grass of the field, will He not much more clothe you…”

Epiphany 7, Cycle A, 2011( Matthew 5:38-48)

One day a truck diver was sitting in a crowded roadside diner ready to eat his lunch. It wasn’t just any diner and any lunch. It was his favorite diner on the road and his favorite lunch. Just as the waitress brought the truck driver’s meal to his table, a motorcycle gang came barging into the diner. Most of them seated themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there wasn’t enough room at the table for all of them to sit. The gang members left standing turned to the truck driver and shouted, “Move, we want your table.” The truck driver calmly said, “I haven’t finished my meal.” One of the motorcycle tough guys took his dirty finger, swiped it through the truck drivers mashed potatoes and gravy , stuck his finger in his mouth and said, “Hey, that’s not bad grub.” Another member took the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly poured it over the remaining food on the plate & snarled, “You’re finished now!”

The trucker stood, took his napkin, wiped his mouth, walked to the cash register, paid for his meal, and silently walked out the door. All the bikers laughed. One of them said, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?” The waitress said, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his rig over your motorcycles.”

Here is a question for us to think about this morning. How do you react to people who do things to hurt you or upset you? We all come across people that hard and very difficult to be around. How do we treat the ’jerks’ in our life? In today’s gospel reading we have some instructions from Jesus on how to handle this kind of situation. He says, Don’t resist the person who would hurt you. Don’t try to get even. He is telling us to turn the other cheek. Jesus taught His followers that they should be different than those of the world. Now you have to admit these teachings in this section of Matthew are almost impossible to keep unless you are followers of Jesus.

Author Chuck Swindoll says, In my opinion Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: 38-48, are among the most unusual He ever uttered. The strange sounding advice not only cuts a cross the grain against human nature, it also represents the antithesis of the advice most Americans are given. Nevertheless, His words are wise and His way is right. If we will only give it a chance, we will discover how true and ‘yes’ once again-- how simple His advice really is.”

Jesus begins this Gospel reading saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”

You see, ‘an eye for an eye’ was the Old Testament way of dealing with this. But Jesus raised the bar on this and He said, “But I say to you, “Do not resist the evildoer.”

I see times when we will have exceptions to this command. It doesn’t apply to national security. I see that in The Letter to the Romans 13:4 it talks about the government’s God-ordained duty to quote wield the sword for protection. This command doesn’t apply to self defense. Some groups use these particular verses to say we should be total pacifists. However, the striking on the right cheek that Jesus talks about is actually about it being an insult. If, as the majority of the world is right handed you can’t really slap a person on the right cheek, with your right hand except with a back hand slap. It’s an insult.

I like the story of the Irishman who was a boxer but left the ring to become a preacher, He was setting up his tent in one particular town. Some of the local tough guys began to jeer and sneer as the preacher set about his business. Eventually, one of them came over and physically challenged the preacher to a fight. The preacher said, “So, you’d like to take a swing at me, would ya?” The local bully just sneered. So t he preacher stuck out his jaw on the right side and said, “All right then, have at it.” The local guy took a swing, connected his fist with the preachers jaw, and the preacher went down to a knee. The preacher stood up, shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and turned his left jaw to the local bully and asked, “Would you like to try it again?” The man took another swing connecting with the preachers jaw again and the preacher went down on his other knee. Then the preacher stood up, took off his suit coat, rolled up his sleeves and said, “The Lord has not given me any more instruction on this.” As the local tough guy took his next swing, the preacher blocked the punch & gave him a real lesson in boxing.”

What I think Jesus is talking about in these verses is that He meant we should be more Christ like if we have insults thrown at us rather than always fighting back insult for insult. If all we ever did was continue to try to get even with those who gossip and insult us we would all be walking around blind and toothless. In fact, most probably, all of us here have been the victim this kind of thing at one time or another.

The next section of this gospel is the verse that says, “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” When ever we hear this verse we say to ourselves but there’s a difference between Jesus’ day and ours. In Jesus’ time people begged on the streets as their only way of surviving. We have so many agencies today asking for help in addition to the church. But Jesus said, “Give everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” If we work hard to find a reason not to give, it is probably because we want to follow our natural instincts rather than walking in the Spirit of God. There are some qualifiers to this command however, We can’t give children everything they ask for. We are not to loan money with a huge interest rate. If you know they can’t repay it, give them a gift without expecting repayment. And we shouldn’t really give money to a person who we are sure will spend it on something to make them worse off. A Pastor wrote, “My wife and I went to our church convention and on the first night as we made our way into the Arena the first person we met was a man who was asking for food to get something to eat. I could smell the liquor on his breath and suspected any money given would be spent for more of the same. I told him if he would stay where he was, we would go to the food court and buy him a meal. He didn’t like that scenario and tried to talk me into just giving him money. I told him I could smell the liquor on his breath and I wasn’t going to help him I wasn’t going to give him money for liquor. I told him that if he were hungry, I’d be glad to buy him a meal. The man walked away looking for another mark.”

Then our gospel says, “You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of the Father in heaven…” Even the best Christians are going to end up having some enemies. Jesus even says for us to “beware when ‘all’ men speak well of you.”

Some people are just mean and nasty and will purposely hurt you just to get their way. It’s pitiful but true. Sometimes, there isn’t much you can do about it but be a good follower of Christ and to pray for them. Jesus says to treat your enemies with compassion. Your instinct is to lash out at them and seek revenge. But the scripture says in Romans do not be over come by evil, but overcome evil with good. If your enemy refuses to speak to you, smile and try to speak anyway. If they turn their back on you, don’t let it get you down. And, if someone tries to hurt your reputation, you respond with kindness and forgiveness.

Hate is such a powerful thing. It tears you down both inside and out. We must never hate people. We must never hate those who have done evil to us. Remember we are to love our enemy so we are to override our feelings of hurt and disgust. Granted we will never love our enemies the way we love God, or our spouse, our children or our friends but we are called in this gospel reading to love them.

When we show mercy and grace toward those who have purposely hurt us, we’ll remind those around us of our Father in heaven. Speaking personally for a moment, “I have had people purposely hurt me, at times with their slanderous words, because they wanted certain things their own way. It is my responsibility as a sincere follower of Jesus Christ ‘not’ to lash out at them but to remind other people by my example of our Father in heaven.

     And lastly, we are also told to forgive one another. Quoting the Letter to the Ephesians “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slander be put away from you, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other; just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Jesus Himself is the perfect example to follow. He was arrested, beaten up, and insulted. And beyond that He was scourged, nailed to a cross and hung up to die in agony. Yet despite all that, he didn’t lash out in any way. But entrusted Himself to His Father-- who judges justly. And Jesus said as He hung there on the cross, “Father forgive them.” He didn’t return evil for evil, but He silently turned the other cheek. He did all that for us. Let’s resolve to continue always to follow in His steps.

Epiphany 5, Cycle, A, February 6^th, 2011 (Matthew 5:13-20)

 If I were to put a title to my sermon for today it would be, “How To Influence Others.” In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus says in the second verse, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Being a good manager of what God has given you is called ‘stewardship.’ A lot of people think in terms of money when we say stewardship- but stewardship is more than that. One of the most important things, that we have a responsibility to manage for God, is the influence on others that He has given us as Christians.

Everyone has an influence on others. Jesus said in the first line today, “”You are the salt of the earth.” What is your influence like?

One day a mother took her young son shopping. After a day in the stores, a clerk handed the little boy a lollipop. “What do you say?, the mother said to the boy, to which he replied, “Just put it on my credit card.” Like it or not, that mom had influenced her little son by what she had done during that day.

Another mom was taking her little boy to school, since the dad had to go to work early. The little boy kept looking around on the way to school. Halfway there, the little boy said, “Mom where are the idiots? What do you mean? Well said the little boy, “Usually Dad and I see at least three or four idiots on the way to school.”

Whether it is over your kids, or your co workers, your family or your friends, YOU do have an influence on others. The question is, what direction is your influence leading people? Is it building up the body of Christ or tearing down the Body of Christ?

And so I want to point blank ask you to always try to make a decision to lead others in the right direction. Remember the first verse for today, “You are the salt of the earth…” One of the great things about salt is that it preserves things. If you salt meat, it will last a lot longer and is still be good eat longer than if you didn’t salt it.

If you want to influence others, you’ve got to make a decision about what kind of influence you’re going to be.

Have you ever noticed that it isn’t as easy to be good when you are around some people? You know that there are some people you wouldn’t think twice about doing something a little shady with and there are others you wouldn’t think about doing something wrong. With because you know better.

Let me ask you which one are you? What direction have you chosen to influence people? Are you and influence that helps others live the Christian way of life, or do you go right along with those who would tear down the way of the Lord? I’m serious in talking about this. We have more influence that you might realize. And I know for a fact that some people tear others sown without even a thought of how that person has been hurt by them.

Another aspect in this is that we should reach out to others that we may want to influence in a positive way. Remember the verse says, “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt doesn’t do any good sitting on your table in your saltsaker. It’s got to get out of the saltsaker and on to the food to make it taste better. In the same way, its hard to influence people from a distance. We have got to get out of our own little world, and reach out to others and influence them to grow in their love of Christ.

Today people are saying, “Don’t just tell me… SHOW me.” Here’s what I know about influencing others… if you try to tell people, what’s right, it is harder to get through to them by just telling them than if you get into their lives and actually show them. They’ll hear you a lot better if you show them by your example.

And in that way you will ‘show them’ that you are a dedicated and strong Christian. Remember the rest of that first verse for today, “…but if salt has lost its taste how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”

I think another important point here is that to be an influence on others is not what you do so much as it is by what you are. Halfway Christians don’t influence others like they could. ‘They’ often end up being influenced by everyone else. That’s like salt that’s lost its flavor-- it’s not worth anything. Jesus said, “You might as well throw it in the trash can.”

So if you want to influence your family, friends, coworkers, or your children… you’ve got to start be being the right kind of person yourself. You have to stay close to God… you’ve got to talk to Him each day in personal prayer, you’ve got to read and study His word in Scripture and come together week by week for corporate worship-- as the Outline of our faith reminds us on page 856 in the BCP. It tells us that it is our Christian Duty.

What I am saying here is that a real relationship with God is a most important part in influencing others!

We need to realize that, in a way our life is on display. If your life is one of a real Christian, you are a glow, if you will, that lights up the night, and others want to have that kind of glow to their life. There’s a Christian song that says, “Shine, make‘em wonder what you’ve got!”

A professor was closing his class for the day… “Are there any further questions?” One student spoke up. “Yes, what’s the meaning of life?” Everyone laughed and gathered up their books to leave. The professor thought for a moment and said, “Are you serious?” When the student nodded , the professor took a small piece of glass out of his pocket. It was a piece of a mirror that had been shaped by scraping it’s edges into a smooth circle. The professor thought for a minute, letting the light from the mirror shine across the ceiling, and on the faces of the students. Then he spoke. “I found this when I was a kid, and scraped it against a rock until I shaped it. I was fascinated with it, because I could hold it and reflect light into the darkest corner of a room with it. One day I realized that this was like my life. I decided to spend the rest of my life just reflecting the light into as many dark places as I could.”

Is your life making the darkness deeper for others, or are you reflecting the light of Christ to others?

Would others have any idea that you are a Christian? Verse 15 of our Gospel says, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

What Jesus is saying here is simple; light was meant to be seen! How silly to turn on a lamp, and then put it under something that blocks out all the light. In the same way, how silly for you to live a Christian life, but never make those beliefs known. Also, Jesus didn’t say, “You are the light of the church.” He said, “You are the light of the world.” That means it’s not just important when you walk through those doors into this church that you are to spread light.. It is also most important when you walk back out those doors.

This part is really hard sometimes. When you go back out with some of your friends and they are planning something that is-- wrong for you to be a part of-- do you have the guts, the courage to stand up to them and say, “I won’t be a part of that, it’s wrong and you know it.’

I’m not saying making a stand for what is right will make you popular. Remember, they killed Jesus. I’m saying that if you want to influence people in the right direction, it’s the price that you have to pay.

When you take a stand like that, chances are some else will stand up and say, “I won’t be a part of it either. But what if you hadn’t started it with your influence? What then are you doing with the light in your life” Are you hiding it or is a part of what you shining through everywhere you go?

I’ll end my sermon this morning with a thought on this verse from today’s reading, Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

The idea isn’t so they’ll think you’re good. But so they’ll look at you and say, “Wow! God has really made a difference in their life!” Let your light so shine before others that they will want what you’ve got. You will then have a direct influence for God. Amen.

The 2^nd Sun. After the Epiphany, Cy. A, 2011 (John 1:29-42)

In today’s gospel lesson, we read about Andrew and Simon Peter, who are two people from the same family, yet who have totally opposite personalities. Peter is the outgoing and outspoken-- extrovert. When Peter talked, people seemed to listen. As we know from Scripture, Peter got lots of attention from his outspokenness. Andrew, Peter’s brother, was a quiet, behind the scenes kind of person, apparently. I picked up this theme from some of my study this week about these Scripture readings assigned by the church for today. And I know first hand how two people from the same family can have totally different personalities. For example, my brother Mike’s two oldest children were just like that when they were growing up. The oldest a girl was extremely outgoing and outspoken. Her younger brother was very introverted and quiet just like his dad. So I can truly relate to this theme. They both are doing well and are adults now but the difference in their personality has always been quite noticable and yet they were only a year apart in age.

The world has a need for both someone like Simon Peter and someone like his bother, Andrew from today’s Gospel reading. We can thank God for people like Peter. Remember the time that Jesus asked the very important question, “Who do people say that I am?” The other disciples seemed afraid to answer finally saying things like, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But Jesus said to them, “But who do you say I am?” And Peter spoke out and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God! And with that we can easily imagine Jesus saying, “On that Peter, isn’t he great for saying that.” In this case, Peter was not afraid to speak the truth.

And in another Scripture like that, from John chapter 6, after many followers started to leave Jesus, He asks the twelve apostles, “Do you want to go away from me, too?” Remember it was Peter who spoke up and said, “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life.” And Jesus could have said, “Oh that Peter, what a loyal follower, isn’t he something how he speaks out for the truth?”

There are other Scriptures that points out to us, Peter’s outgoing personality and not being afraid to speak out for The Lord. But I think that we shouldn’t ignore Andrew’s way of doing things either , even if he was more introverted than his brother, Peter. Although Peter’s brother Andrew is only mentioned three times in the Bible, he played a very important role in that early church formation. The apostle Andrew was a behind the scenes type of person. Someone like Andrew could have caused one author to write the well known quote, “There is no limit to how much good can be accomplished in this world “if” you don’t care who get s the credit.”

What are some of the things that Andrew does that’s brought out in the Scriptures about him” I think the first thing I want to bring up is that he went to get his brother Peter and bring him to Jesus, as is brought out in today’s Gospel. Also, we know that Andrew was directly involved with the feeding of the five thousand. The other Apostles weren’t sure what to do about feeding all those people, but Andrew comes forward saying, that he found a boy with five loaves and a few fish. And we all know the rest of the story. Jesus fed the five thousand. And then later in the Scriptures some Greeks had come along distance and had asked Phillip about talking with Jesus. And so he brings them to Andrew. Andrew doesn’t hesitate and immediately Andrew brings them to Jesus. And Jesus could have said, “Oh that Andrew, he knew to bring them to me for help, isn’t that great. I’m so proud of him.”

Andrew doesn’t get the headlines like his brother Peter, but in his way, he waspractical and down to earth. Andrew got things done for the Lord, too.

When it comes to being a Christian in America in 2011, we will always need people like Peter, outgoing and even outspoken in certain situations. And we can be thankful to God for people like that. But, also there are many people who seem to be like Andrew. For every outgoing type person, there are, also, numbers of behind the scenes workers who like Andrew, help get the jobs done in their churches in a quiet-- behind the scenes way.

Andrew worked more on a one on one kind of way. Nowhere does it say that he brought 3000 people to the Christian Faith at one time. He didn’t work that way. His was a person by person way of bringing others to follow the Lord, Jesus.

I was thinking about the important question of, what brings people to church?” I think that often it can be the Andrew type of people in the congregation. The kind of person who is steady and committed, the behind the scenes people-- they may not be flashy about it but they stay true to the gospel. They are the people who, at work, in their community, and at coffee hour and among the people speak well of their church. They are the people who try to find the best points of their church and especially of the church members. They don’t go around gossiping and complaining about everything like some people seem to do, maybe without even realizing it. Remember to build up your Christian your Christian Faith not tear it down.

When we have these Andrew type, of behind the scenes, hard workers in the congregation, these steady types, their quiet enthusiasm can rub off and it effects the spirit of the congregation in a positive and powerful way.

Every congregation has the need for some people to be outgoing types like St. Peter speaking up and helping in that way. And thank God we have some members like that. But I think that most of us are more like the Andrew type of people. And that is all right, you are very much appreciated and we need you so much, as well. You are a vital part of the church and are also along with those who speak more-- the backbone of the church. Remember Andrew was the one who went to Simon Peter first, and told him at the end of today’s Gospel, “”We have found the Messiah.”

Before I end my sermon for today I want to speak to you from my heart. No matter if we are more outgoing in our disposition or behind the scenes type of people, we both have to let others know that we are Christians. I found two illustrations that brings this out as ‘vital’ to the well being of Christianity and the well being of our historic church.

First, Two Ladies were sharing lunch together when one said to the other: "I don’t know many Christians, but somehow I can’t help regarding them as hypocrites." Said the other, "But your sister-in-law, she lives in the same house with you; surely you must acknowledge that she is a devoted Christian."
"That’s just it," was the laughing reply. "She has a very lovely disposition, and she devotes her life to missions and teaching Sunday school, but she has never said a word to me about being a Christian. Apparently, it’s only make-believe with her about- souls being in danger. You need not tell me! I know that she is fond of me, but if she believed all that, don’t you think she would not have said something to me about it?"

The Second illustration is short and sweet but powerful. I know some of you already heard this one but it is so true. The late radio personality Paul Harvey said, :”Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.” I want to be sure we all heard that one. “Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.”

I am serious when I say that we need to let others know we are Christians. We need to let even our own family know how important our faith is to us and how it should be a part of their lives as well.

Today as always, may God bless all of us-- the faithful followers of Jesus Christ, the outspoken, as well as, the behind the scenes type of people-- in a very special way-- knowing that we believe in Him with all of our heart. And dare to let others know how important our faith is to us and lead them to a deep abiding faith, as well. Amen.