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WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? - from Sunday, June 19, 2016

6/21/2016

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The title question is more than a question of location, but an issue of purpose. Are you where you need to be? Are you doing what you need to be doing? If not, why not? 

We've been following the prophet Elijah as he emerged triumphant over the Ba'al gods of Queen Jezebel. His success was met with royal wrath from the Queen who promised his demise. He flees into the desert wilderness, dejected and despairing that he had ultimately failed. God ministers to his needs and he forges ahead to Mt. Horeb (Sinai) to give an account before God. 

Once at the mountaintop, he again admits his failure and yields to his fears. God decides to reveal his divine presence. In this memorable expression, there are a series of dramatic cataclysms but the text claims that God was not in any of them. In the Hebrew, it says there is "the sound of fine silence" which is unfortunately translated as "a still small voice." It is in this silence, a vast expansive quiet in which God reveals that the divine presence is there always. 

Then comes God's voice in a whisper, asking again, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" With that, God sends Elijah back to deal with the corrupt and idolatrous royals. That's where he needed to be, not seeking sanctuary with God, but engaged in God's mission. 

In Luke, the passage about Jesus's confrontation and exorcism of the demon-possessed man and his "Legion" also has its question. The demon-possessed man asks, "What do you want with me, Jesus of the Most High God?" The demon-possessed man (or his demons) knows exactly who Jesus is, more precisely identifying the Lord than his own disciples who still don't quite understand who he is. 

Jesus will go on to demonstrate the power of faithfulness to God, showing in the story's imagery that God is sovereign over all, even the greatest power that exists in the world. 

To get the full picture of both of these stories, you need to download the sermon text (link below) and learn how these stories speak to disciples today, challenging whether we're in the place and doing the things that God needs us to do, and whether we're being faithful in the power of our God who urges us to engage the Lord's sacred mission to bring healing, hope, and new life as living witnesses of our Lord today. 

06-19-16-ff-answers.pdf
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06-19-16-what_are_you_doing_here.pdf
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WITHIN THE LAW? GREED, GRATITUDE, AND GRACE - Sunday, June 12, 2016

6/14/2016

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​What is lawful and legal is not necessarily just and fair. Scripture stories this week tell about greed and gratitude, and emerge into grace. 

The story of King Ahab (and Queen Jezebel) and Naboth's vineyard is a tale of royal greed contrasted with humble gratitude. The result is the contrived execution of Naboth and the fraudulent taking of his vineyard by the royals.

Ahab wants that vineyard, asks for it, and offers a variety of forms of compensation to Naboth. On the other hand, Naboth recognizes the inherited blessing of this land, viewing it as a sacred trust from God that extends for generations in his family. It's as if he feels that he really doesn't own the land to be able to give it to the King (or anyone else) for any price. (There are all kinds of metaphors here about God's covenant and promise with Israel and indifference and hostility by national leadership to the covenant.) Naboth's spirit of gratitude collides with the spirit of greed from the royals, with terrible consequences for him.

In Galatians, we resume Paul's angry letter that addresses how the Torah-Law should be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. Paul is furious that Peter had waffled in the face of pressure by emissaries from Jerusalem who insisted that the Torah-Law's restrictions continue among "Jesus people," once again separating Jews and Gentiles when eating as a community - the celebratory meal being a key element in the life of the earliest church. Paul's philosophical (or theological) objections to Peter's conduct is severe.

Find out how this all works out as individuals who seek what they cannot obtain on their own leads to a lesson about grace. Check out the sermon video below. I failed to position the camera correctly, so you see a lot of arms and chest, but little of the preacher's head. Oh, well. Check it out anyway! And note the downloads below the video panel.

06-12-16-ff-answers.pdf
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06-12-16-within_the_law.pdf
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THE INVITATION - Sunday, June 5, 2016

6/8/2016

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Disciples are called in every era as scripture reveals. While Jesus was known as a "party animal," the invitation to follow him is a critical summons to a new life. It involves submission, sacrifice, and service, not the kind of invitation many will pursue. 

The calling of Elisha involves leaving all behind to follow the great prophet Elijah. A farewell feast means leaving behind the life that he had known to venture into the unknown with a controversial figure in religious life, a life that certainly anticipates peril and hardship on a particular faith journey.

The passage from Luke describes a party at the house of a Pharisee that is apparently "crashed" by a woman in the city, who was a sinner. She breaks open an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and adoringly anoints his feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair, and proceeds to anoint those feet with the perfume. It raises the hackles of the Pharisee host, but Jesus puts him in his place. She may be a sinner, but her willingness to sacrifice in order to serve reveals her better understanding of who Jesus is and the new life he offers to those who follow him faithfully.

Dale does a great job in bringing the scenes to life and has a whole lot more to share. Check out the whole sermon in the video below.

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