One: One World, 10/4/15

Sermon 10-4-15   World communion sunday- ONE World  Luke 22:14-29

¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.^{[a] 21} But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²² The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” ²³ They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. ²⁴ A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶ But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. ²⁸ You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹ And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,

How big is your world?

When I was a baby                                                     picture with sister

When I was in grade school                                       picture of mummy

When I was in high school                                         picture of bike ride

When I go into another world

I see my blessings

I witness hunger

I understand their sorrow

          When shooters happen in Oregon, we feel it

          Entire nations are being depopulated………. And life goes on for us

I see the Russian view of the usa

          Shooting in Oregon……. We feel it

          Similar things happen around the world

          We don’t know…in one ear and out the other

          God sits ahigh up and he loves all the same…..

Nicaragua – I meet and get to know hungry people

          People that think a $500 a month job is the greatest thing

How big is your world?

What ownership do you take of the world??

Today, Christians all over the world will be receiving communion together

We stand in solidarity with

Baptists in Springfield

Catholics in new York and Italy

Presbyterians in Scotland

Methodists in England

Orthodox believers in Russia

They are all the same.  We are one.

All parts of the body

All important to God – equally important to us

In our scripture today are the historic words of institution.  I usually don’t say them  when I am leading communion and I want to tell you why……….. I have bobbled them in the past and I have been worried that I would bobble them again.  But recently I fell upon a new meaning.  Not a new meaning, an old meaning that finally sunk in for me.

Do this in remembrance of me. Do what?

Eat the meal? Come to church,, remember me, eat the meal. Feel good and then go on your way?

This is what I always thought that he meant.

Enjoy the nice moment with jesus

Its what I have done for years.

It is what I do every week at 8am

I don’t want to rob you of that

Do this in rememberance of me. Do what?

Well,  what was he doing?

Washing their feet

Coming as one who serves

Dying so that others can live

Do that and remember me

I have conferred a kingdom upon you

It is a kingdom not of self consumption  but of sacrifice and love

I was thinking about peter and his denials.

Its not that he lied and chose to say he did not know Jesus, he chose self preservation over sacrifice

He chose self over service

DS at installation service.  Jonahs boat partners jettisoned the cargo

They chose self preservation at all costs

And we continue to jettison our cargo, ignoring our purpose

Making life about me and insuring my self preservation.

And jesus has conferred upon us a kingdom.

I have been reading Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker

Luke 22: 15¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 

Jesus was seriously making a point with that statement.

I want to do this.  I want to suffer.  I choose it.  I choose this life of sacrifice

At the last supper, the disciples are arguing about who is the greatest.

Jesus is washing their feet.

Jesus is reminding them of his sacrificial living and death

“This is My body. This is My blood.” Jesus didn't just host and serve the meal; He became the meal. He was the sacrificial Lamb, broken for the redemption of the world.  Consumed for you.  and he went willingly, embracing sacrifice.

“The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed.”

“No one takes [my life] from me.”

“I lay it down of my own accord.”

For years I taught people to believe things

But I didn’t spend enough time talking about what it means to live.

And I don’t mean, be good.  Stop playing cards or drinking margaritas.

I mean we are called to live a sacrificial life, to serve.

The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body [BROKEN], which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. (I Corinthians 11:23-24)

Now you are the body of Christ. (I Corinthians 12:27)

Obedience to Jesus’ command is more than looking backward;

it's a present and continuous replication of His sacrifice.

We don't simply remember the meal; we become the meal.

Mercy has a cost:  someone must be broken for someone else to be fed. The sermon that changed your life?

That message was poured out so you could hear it.

The friends who stood in the gap during your crisis?

They embraced some sacrifice of brokenness for your healing.

Anytime you say. “That fed me, that nourished me,” someone was the broken bread for your fulfillment.

Many years ago a wise man told me that I would be broken.  I didn’t like it.----Then he said, it will make a good meal.

The other day I was talking with a friend about how bad it feels when you feel like you are being broken, but the result of that is that you become pliable, usable, a good meal.

Truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds- john 12:24

Conclusion

Do this.  And remember me.

Jesus has conferred on us a kingdom.

Most of us spend our entire lives, throwing ourselves at our agendas.  Our jobs, our vacations, our families, our hobbies, golf, softball, gardening, manage the 401k, let’s go out to dinner.  Chiefs games, power and light, let’s get some royals tickets.  Most of us live our entire lives throwing ourselves at our own agendas, and if that is what we choose to settle for, we most often are beset with feelings of, “there must be something more.”

When we become a Christian, we are joining a family, a big family, a world-wide family.   The questions of how we spend our time and resources can no longer be limited to that which I prefer.  God calls us to look out and see to see all of his children.  And not just to see, not just to visit, but to embrace his children, to love them, to help them, to spend our lives in sacrificial kingdom living.  And it is no surprise that those that choose this path find the life that truly is life.

And so Jesus said, when ever you do this, remember me…..

Eat the bread and remember, sure

But also, when ever you take the pain, go the second mile, turn the other cheek, help the least of these, become a sacrifice, remember me

Hard Candy - Unwrap the Hard Sayings of Jesus: Drink My Blood, 8/3/14

Sermon 8-3-14 hard sayings – drink my blood  jn 6:48-60

⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

⁵² Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

New series - Hard sayings  -  Eat my flesh drink my blood

What is the context?

They were eating the food from the miracle of the feeding of the 5000

The story of the feeding

Peter Rollins version of it

the people enthralled w Jesus

They want to make him king

The roman’s rule has been tough

This guy will make our lives easy.

Did you ever want Jesus to make your life easy?

When my kids were sick

When I could barely feed my family

When my car wouldn’t start

Do you remember the Sermon on the Mount? 

Jesus said, ”do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?” 

God knows and cares about our needs, but he did not come to earth to live in the flesh of a mortal to become king so he could feed the masses bread.

his kingdom - Its not about the earthly bread. Not about the miracles

They are thinking with their bellies instead of with their hearts and souls…

Jesus calls them out on this- many walk away

There is something more here than earthly bread

I am the bread of life

Reference to manna in the wilderness – quail and manna

Gathered every day – did not last if you tried to hoard it

Must depend on God daily

he is appealing to the sense of jewish history………..

he is making a reminder that we must depend on God daily

and as they were sustained by him via manna in the wilderness, so all will be sustained by me. 

Take me in

Make me a part of who you are.

a pretty bold, even seemingly arrogant claim.

No wonder many did not want to follow him.

They were not ready for something that serious

They wanted an easy faith, a shallow Christianity

Story about little boy falling out of bed

A little boy constantly fell out of bed. No matter what his parents did, the boy couldn’t sleep without rolling out of bed. An uncle came to visit and in the middle of the night the usual thump and cry was heard. In the morning the uncle teased the boy and asked him why he fell out so often. The little fellow thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t know, I guess it’s because I stay too close to the place where I get in.”

There is also the story of the orchard………many only visit the trees on the perimeter when the orchard itself is miles and miles deep.

They wanted nice parables and some miracles

Don’t ask me to set aside myself for you

People can be selfish and lazy.  Not really meaning to oppose him, but just wanted to live their lives without his interference.

Today we run into the same problem

Want enough religion to make us comfortable

When Jesus asks us to take him in, we can tend to turn the other way

We have to go deeper, we have to get further into this relationship.

There is an article I read recently about the missional church. 

It suggest that many Christians do good things but do not love God.

It asked the question - are we doing what we do in this life for god? Or with God? 

Are we simply doing good things or is the relationship the driving factor?

Jesus is not looking for a cursory belief in some teacher. 

Believing in jesus should be a person’s life work.  

eat my flesh.  Drink my blood.  Take it all in.  let it change you.

He invites us to do more than believe in him

He invites us to love him

And to live our lives based on that love 

          To reprioritizing ones life

          To take up  the cross

          To go the second mile

          To give ones self away

He made his point- and then this……..from verse 66

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

the people thought that they did not need jesus –

do you?

our world is full of those who need jesus

Full of people who need help

Raytown

The people walking across the street to Raytown

The woman whose mother died, hugging mike Scott

The person who has three terminal friends at work

Our friends need help

We need help

Someone is here today that needs help - that needs Jesus

Who is jesus? He is the bread of life

What is bread? Bread sustains us.  It fills our bellies.  It gives us comfort.

How much food is in your pantry?  Why so much?

   after WWII many children were left homeless and orphaned.  Allied forces would gather these children into group homes where they were fed, clothed and cared for, but many of the children had trouble sleeping at night.  An Army psychologist came upon the idea of giving each child an extra piece of bread at night before bed to help them sleep. Some ate it and with a full stomach, slept better.  Many of the children though,  did not eat the bread but rather held it closely to them as though it offered some sort of peace and protection.  Those children slept soundly comforted by the knowledge that tomorrow would include bread.

Jesus offers us not just bread for tomorrow,

but bread for eternity and a Peace that passes all understanding

for those who trust and believe in the one who is "the bread of life".

He calls for us to take him in.

He calls for a deep passionate love. 

A love that seeks him when we are struggling. 

A love that thanks him when all is well. 

a love that recognizes him as the friend that sticks closer than a brother,

and a love that upon our death bed welcomes us home.

When every other philosophy of  life fails, we can trust is Jesus.

To all who would listen again today he says……….

 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

World Communion, 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 10/6/2013

Today’s Message:  World Communion  Scripture:  1 Cor 12:12-20 NIV

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

World communion Sunday October 2013

We are the body.  All of us.  Everyone matters.  You may be a quiet person who sits off to the side, but you matter.  You are welcome.  We want you.  God wants you.

I was on my annual trip to the redwoods for reading week.

It was Sunday morning.  I would leave the next day to fly home

After watching our service on live stream

I decided to visit a united Methodist church

Looked on the web, selected

Crystal springs umc

The pastor was advertized as contemplative.

I am very interested in that.  The more reflective side of Christianity

Her Name is hee soon kwon

Drove to the church.  Parked.  Found a bathroom.

Beautiful church nestled in the trees                            [PICTURE]

About 25 people gathered for worship

Everyone seemed very genuine and friendly

Now, remember, I am an easy touch

a gentleman led some hymns

then the pastor stepped to the pulpit

The look of the  pastor was so touching

She was so kind….. it just came out of her

Sang surely the presence

Pass the peace

Children’s time, no children

Adults came up for children’s time

Folks kept trickling in

Over about 20 minutes, the crowd doubled.

It was time for Special music

was a cappella

a young woman apologized for the song, then explained it was about her father who had recently passed away

a song pointed to God………

Lyrics

Tell him I miss him-----Hug him and kiss him

Tell him I love him----For being my father

Tell him he’s special----A glorious vessel-----Tell him well done

It was time for the sermon

Parable of the sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Common understanding……..what kind of soil are you?

Another way to look at this

Aren’t you glad for people that give you an alternative view?

You are the sower

You plant in the good soil, you plant where its rocky, thorny, weedy,

Sometimes the stuff grows, sometimes it doesn’t

This is how life feels.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt

Evil is a mystery that the bible does not try to explain

Job complains……..God answers…….

Skinned knee as a kid…..the bandaid did not fix it, but the hug made it ok

Serenity prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

The new testament book of james points us toward the purpose of pain

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

The pastor taught us a new word……

Equanimity

Being calm in the midst of calamity

Equanimity (Latin: æquanimitas having an even mind; aequus even animus mind/soul) is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind.

Samuel Johnson defined equanimity as "evenness of mind, neither elated nor depressed." In Christian philosophy, equanimity is considered essential for carrying out the theological virtues of gentleness, contentment, temperance, and charity.^[5]

It was the first time in years that I was in church just to be in church.  not leading something, not really trying to learn anything, not analyzing

Holy communion delivered.

Everyone is welcome

The words of welcome hit me in a way that they had not before.

Though I deliver them every week, now they were delivered to me

And so its world communion Sunday

We are all a part of the body

All are welcome

In this world we draw many lines of separation

[Rejection is a difficult thing]

Jesus drew a lot of circles

We are the body of Christ. 

If you are here today, you are welcome

Not just that, you are wanted, desired

In a broken temporal world, there is still an eternal embrace

Won’t you come to the table of the lord

Holy Communion 1 Corinthians 1117-28 6-2-13

Sermon 6-2-13  holy communion   1 cor 11:17-28

¹⁷ In the following directives I have no praise for you,^(R) for your meetings do more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions^(S) among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.^{(T) 20} So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, ²¹ for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers.^(U) As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. ²² Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God^(V) by humiliating those who have nothing?^(W) What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?^(X) Certainly not in this matter!²³ For I received from the Lord^(Y) what I also passed on to you:^(Z) The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body,^(AA) which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant^(AB) in my blood;^(AC) do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.^(AD)27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.^{(AE) 28} Everyone ought to examine themselves^(AF) before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.

OUCH!

Sometimes Paul was not very polite to his Christian offspring
You are having a big party…..eating, drinking
Not taking the Lords table seriously
Not taking your relationship with Jesus seriously

Do we sometimes not take our relationship with God seriously?
uh oh, here comes a load of guilt.

No, I am suggesting to day that we often get Stuck in our own lives, our own thinking

There are ways to be devoted, determined, but not heavy

Paul chastised the Corinthians for the sin of not taking their spirituality seriously
ways of thinking, systems of thinking- lead to specific sins
in other words, they had a life paradigm that led them to trouble.

What are such paradigms? That continue to produce sin?
· I want [everything]- falling into the consumer society
· It wasn’t me-not taking responsibility for your life
· I call shotgun- I am more important than others
· I cant change- I am intransigent, a finished product
· It doesn’t matter-despair, nothing will change…..

traditional worship often carries the prayer of confession

Confession and absolution
1 John 1:8

”If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

confession and absolution

I recognize my sin, I am honest with God

Grace delivered to you

Grace in the form of forgiveness

A focus on the redemption, not the crime
can you Accept  this for yourself?

Too many people are so stuck in their past that they cannot see their future.

They are held hostage by the sins of their past to the extent that they have allowed themselves to be defined by their past.

Grace frees us from this type of thinking.

Grace invites you to
Face your life, your spiritual life with devoted integrity
Not so serious that you drive people crazy, but seriously enough that you begin to live with a sense of appreciation and a sense of joy for what god has done

Places in the heart
the 1984 movie Places in the Heart ... is the story of a young woman, sally field, whose husband is killed within the first few minutes of the film, it is a story of her struggling against the challenges of life during the 1930s. Lynching, brutality, infidelity, racism, greed, duplicity all of these are woven into the lives of those in the movie.

And so we have an affinity.

The film ends with a communion service. At first the camera shows you a few of the good folk in town. Next, some of the not-so-good. Then the banker and others who conspired to take away the farm. The camera continues to move with the cups of wine. There is the faithful farmhand – danny glover, who helped bring in the crop so sally field might pay her mortgage; next to him, the blind boarder. The plate passes to the children, then to their mother. She is seated next to her late husband. As you are trying to take this in, the plate moves to the young man who shot her husband. They commune, and each responds: "the peace of God."

Let’s watch…….

If a movie was made of your life……….

Who might be a the table with you?

Who needs to be invited?

Who do you need to see here for the world to be made right?

a person should examine themselves

Not so you can be good enough, but so you can see what God has done

Never stay back because you aren’t good enough

When we examine ourselves we always fall short

But examine yourselves.  Don’t forget the grace of God

Look at what you believe.  Is there any good news?
God brings us forgivenss, god brings us grace
do we understand?  Do we appreciate this? Are we grateful?

meister eckhardt said that if the only prayer that we learn in this life is thank you, then it is enough

First communion service at  WCC June 1994

People coming in shorts and flip flops

People were crying

the pastor had just shared this story……..
"A man was once traveling in a strange city. Off the main street was a little alley lined with small businesses, most of them antique and curio shops. He was fascinated by that winding street of strange stores. And, as he moved along the crowded cobblestones, a weather beaten sign swaying in the wind caught his attention. "It read simply, "Nothing Broken Beyond Repair." this was a shop for broken things. The business specialized in shatterdness - broken toys and mementos, china and vases and marred furniture. By the same token there was something optimistic about the sign and the store. As he paused to watch for a time, the man saw a number of people making their way into the building.
"They were from all walks of life - the wealthy, the poor and those in-between. They were carrying things to be repaired - things of value - precious at least to them - things once whole that now needed mending.

everyone has had a broken heart
Loss of a favorite toy, a pet, a boy friend, girlfriend, to be treated poorly by someone, to lose a loved one, broken marriages, financial ruin, dreams deferred

oh to have a place to go where brokenness can be healed.

3 questions to ask
A few years ago a  poll asked, "What word or phrase would you most like to hear uttered to you, sincerely?"

1.   "I love you."

2.   "You are forgiven."

3.   "Supper is ready."

How long has it been since we have heard these words spoken to us? "I love you" -- God's unconditional love."You are forgiven" -- God's unmerited grace."Supper is ready" -- God's unsurpassed invitation.

today as we come to the table I invite you to see that in Christ you are forgiven.  In Christ you are loved.

I invite you to hear again the words of Jesus who said,

Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Mt 11:28

Let us pray