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REND HEARTS, NOT GARMENTS - from Sunday, October 23, 2016

10/23/2016

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We know (pretty much) how to deal with dumb stuff we do that hurts relations with other people. But how do we make amends for our sinfulness to God? Religious answers quickly pop up, but ritual get stale, rote, and empty. What now?

There is an interesting situation faced by God's people when the prophet Joel is relating the word of the Lord God. Joel has noted the famine and pestilence that has plagued the people. Eventually we realize that they're in such dire straits that they don't even have food or drink left to make ritual offerings. Joel sees this as a perfect occasion to dispense with ritual and try good 'ol sincerity and integrity in their confession and contrition. It may pay off for them.

An intriguing question came up in the Sunday School class last week that came to ask what exactly is sin in God's eyes? Is it thee same as what we commonly understand as sinful, or is it focused on other criteria? Upon close examination, we may discover that our understandings of sin are formed by traditional understandings, social-cultural norms, and even our own personal feelings, either feeling badly about things we do, or things that others do. In all these cases, no one is paying attention to what God regards as sinful (or righteous).

We get a taste for that as the good "church-going" and devout Pharisee enters the Temple along with a despised tax collector in Jesus' parable. The Pharisees pride in his spiritual righteousness is fully contrasted with the abject humility and despair of the tax collector over his complete sinfulness. Yet Jesus makes it clear that it's the tax collector who gets justified - has his relationship restored by grace - with God. Whaaat?

Check out the sermon video below to hear a couple of questions about your righteousness (or sinfulness) when placed before God's standards and expectations rather than the ones we commonly imagine. It gets a bit squirmy.

10-23-16-ff-answers.pdf
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10-23-16-rend_hearts_not_garments.pdf
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RELENTLESS FAITH - from Sunday, October 16, 2016

10/17/2016

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So much of what faith truly requires seems like an endless struggle. Do things ever change? Is there even any progress? We may enjoy celebrating the heroes of scripture, but more often we're witnessing the long struggle of relentless faith in action. That's a key quality.

(I discussed the story of Abdi and his experience in securing one of the rare visas to the United States. Click here to listen to that episode of PBS's This American Life program.)

The wrestling match for Jacob one night at the Jabbok River, taking on a mysterious opponent, results in a night-long struggle fought to a draw. Neither one could gain the advantage. Even though Jacob was badly injured, suffering damage that would afflict him for the rest of his life, he held on tenaciously. Jacob must have been convinced that there was a blessing to be realized. Enduring through the night toward daybreak, Jacob's relentless pressure reveals the blessing for his perseverance.

Jesus' story to begin Luke 18 is about a cranky, demanding widow and a self-centered judge with a disdain for justice. The contentious widow is a familiar type (male or female) who simply wants what they want and will make themselves a royal pain in order to obtain it. The unjust judge, who doesn't really care about people or justice or God or anything else, thinks that his summary dismissal of the widow's case will dispatch her conclusively. Wrong. She is relentless in her pursuit of what she seeks. Does he cave in?

God already blesses us richly, but deep, transformative, miraculous blessings often demand a relentless faith that is unyielding in its determination to slog through the long haul. That's why Jesus asks at the end of his story about the widow and the judge, When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Get the whole story in the sermon video below, plus the downloads available below the video panel.

10-16-16-ff-answers.pdf
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10-16-16-relentless_faith.pdf
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REMEMBERING GRATITUDE - from Sunday, October 9, 2016

10/11/2016

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Hardship and gratitude seem like unlikely partners. How do we deal with serious difficulties, and is there room for gratitude in the mix? What might adding gratitude bring along the way? 

The letter from the prophet Jeremiah in Jerusalem to the exiles carted off to Babylon contains some striking instructions from their God. Despite the horrors that these exiles have seen from the rampaging, pillaging, raping, murderous Babylonian army (see image), the words of God actually instruct them to seek the well-being of their captors in the end. They're told three things, but this is the most difficult one to swallow. But it comes in the context of God's continuing promise, a promise that is for God's faithful people, still working despite being set apart from the Promised Land and its holy city Jerusalem.

In Jesus' story in Luke about the ten lepers, all become healed as they follow Jesus' instructions to show themselves to the priests at the Temple. Only one returns to shower his gratitude exuberantly on Jesus for his healing. Jesus questions why this one - a Samaritan "foreigner" no less - has returned to give thanks, but the other nine did not. Jesus' final words to the grateful Samaritan sound odd and out of place. By taking a closer look, we find a weak translation, and can recover the truth of the reward for such gratitude. 

Hardship and gratitude seem like unlikely partners, but there is much to learn here, as you'll discover in the sermon video below and from the downloads below the video panel.

10-09-16-ff-answers.pdf
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10-09-16-remembering_gratitude.pdf
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INCREASE OUR FAITH! - from Sunday, October 2, 2016

10/3/2016

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It's impossible! It's too much! Help, Lord! There are such high expectations from the faithful, yet we-faithful don't seem to be getting any special powers to meet those expectations. What's up with you, God? Give us a hand!

A rare turn to the prophet Habakkuk begins with the prophet's complaint that the righteous are being oppressed and exploited by the wicked, denied any kind of justice, and where's God? God seems to be sitting on his divine hands. The prophet despairs, "How long, Lord?" 

Then skipping to chapter 2, we hear God's response. If Habakkuk was expecting divine intervention to address the problems, he would be disappointed. God says: Write the vision. (NRSV) What does that mean?

The sermon title comes from the exclamation of the disciples in Luke 17 after Jesus tells them about forgiveness, that if a believer sins seven times a day, then they must forgive seven times. Thus their despairing cry: "Increase our faith!" 

Jesus' response begins by teaching that faith is beyond measure, that even faith as small as the size of a mustard seed (pictured above) can transform with the miraculous. And as far as the expectation that God should come and serve them in their needs, he tells them a story about the servant and the master.

To get the whole story, check out the sermon video below, and the downloads below the video panel.

10-02-16-ff-answers.pdf
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10-02-16-increase_our_faith.pdf
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