The Economy

A Message From Center for Action and Contemplation 

 A

 

 

Inalienable Rights
Monday, June 25, 2018

 

No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. —Matthew 6:24

In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus critiques and reorders the values of his culture from the bottom up. He “betrays” the prevailing institutions of family, religion, power, and economy (i.e., controlling resources) by his loyalty to another world vision which he calls the Reign of God. Such loyalty cost him popularity, the support of the authorities, immense inner agony, and finally his own life. By putting the picture into the largest possible frame, Jesus called into question all smaller frames and forced a radical transformation of consciousness upon his hearers. Most seemed unready for this paradigm shift, including his inner circle.

What is Western culture’s primary frame of reference? Money and power seem to come first. The dominant system in our society is production and consumption. Manipulative marketing convinces us we must have the newest version, regardless of what we actually need. Status is attained by having money and the freedom to use it.

Uncontrolled greed (no longer considered a capital sin) widens the gap between the haves and the have nots, the powerful and the powerless. Today in the U.S., the 4oo richest people own more wealth than the entire bottom 64 percent of the population (204 million people). Over 40 million Americans live below the poverty line. [1]

When the bottom line is money and politicians are in the pockets of big corporations, resources as foundational as clean water, housing, and health care go to the highest bidder. This inequality is absolutely counter to the Gospel message. In “The Souls of Poor Folk”—an audit of America fifty years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign—the message is clear:

There is inalienable worth and intrinsic value to every person, regardless of wealth or public position. Policies that hurt the poor are a violation of that inalienable value. . . . We are all worthy of the very necessities of life.

To be a Christian (and a decent human being!) we cannot “make moral claims about caring for the souls of people, but then pass policies that destroy their bodies and communities.” [2]

Economic justice is not popular. Who will hold our politicians and corporations accountable today? Jim Wallis, founder of the faith-based nonprofit Sojourners, writes:

What if the calls for economic justice were made in the name of Jesus—or Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah—instead of from more ideological sources and causes? . . . What if behavior in the economic spheres of our lives became the substance of adult Sunday school curriculums and Bible study groups? And what if the hard political questions about corporate responsibility, tax benefits, trade policies, budget priorities, and campaign financing were coming from religious congregations that political leaders couldn’t afford to ignore? Nothing could do more to bring about a change of fortunes in the battles of class warfare. [3]

There has been a permanent state of class warfare of the rich against the poor throughout history, but for some strange reason it is only called class warfare when it is the poor against the rich!

" Hugged Back To Life"

As a Child how many of us remember the feeling of being cuddled or hugged by someone special a mom, a dad or grandparent?  What was so special about those moments?  Was that different a different kind of hug than the hugs you get from adults today?  How so. 

June 21, 201:   2 Corinthians 8: 7-15, Psalm 130, Mark 5: 21-43

A business executive had become very depressed.  Things were not going well at work, he couldn’t seem to shake the depression off and was bringing his problems home with him every night.   Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter.   Then he would go into the den and read the paper using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life.

After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down.   She then jumped into her father's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, "Honey, you are hugging me to death!" "No, Daddy," the little girl said, "I'm hugging you to life!"  

 How about it!   Anyone here in need of being hugged back to life?  Sounds good to me.

Psychologists long speculated about how children, utterly cut off from the human love touch and personal relationships might develop.  Their speculations were tragically confirmed in the late1980’s when the numerous orphanages of Communist Romania were opened to the world’s eyes after the fall of its dictatorship.  Maybe you remember seeing some of those startling images on the evening news reports or in a documentary by the BBC. Or the CBC?

The leadership had mandated bizarre social policies that had resulted in thousands of unwanted children, being left to themselves in these institutions, basically isolated from parental human love touch, and affection.  The results were more than tragic.   Many of them could not speak, nor could they relate to one another.  They were completely void of how to give or receive affection of any kind.  We though that only happens on the other side of the oceans yet as we watch the news from America today where hundreds of children are being taken away from their parents at the border crossings, or we can recall the hundreds of thousands of children that were taken from their aboriginal families in Canada and sent off to residential schools.   No country has clean hands Western, European, Middle East, African, the Pacific regions or Asia have escaped committing atrocities to its own especially children regardless of status, race or color.  

Many people today who appear healthy on the outside are dying on the inside because of the same reasons.  There is a great void in their lives, and generally it comes from a lack of feeling loved by self and accepted by those around them.  Maybe your one of them.   Maybe you too were not shown a love that hugged you into life.  Maybe the love you understood was for others but not for you, or the love you got to know had standards to be met, or conditions that had to be fulfilled.   A love that said, “you’re only loveable if.”    Well for the many who were not hugged into life early on during their childhood, they too have a harder time relating to others, they too have a more difficult time giving and receiving affection, they too cannot truly understand the love of self.     

This was the greatness of Jesus.  He took people from where they were, no standards or to do list, and by not rejecting or discriminating between them, He literally hugged them back to life with His unconditional love.   Jesus wants to do the same for you.  He stands at the door and knocks, will you let him in.  That is precisely what we see Jesus doing here in this dramatic passage in Mark 5.   Jesus is loving needy and hurting people, loving them back to life.  This passage is a fascinating one because here we have two healing stories rolled into one and the people involved could not be more different.   On one hand, the family of Jairus represented the "upper crust" of society.   He was the ruler of the synagogue.  He was a man of substance, rich and powerful and religiously prominent.    In the synagogue, he called the shots.  He decided who would preach, what scripture would be read, and what hymns would be sung.   He represented the Elite of Society, especially the religious world, but this day Jairus was troubled.  His 12-year-old daughter was dying.   On the other hand, the hemorrhaging woman in the crowd was a social outcast who was suffering because God’s judgement was upon her they thought, because of her condition.   She was considered by the “upper crust”, the religious and elite as unclean and therefore not allowed to set foot in the synagogue.   In this magnificent passage, these two vastly different people, this out cast hemorrhaging woman and the upper-crust daughter of Jairus are loved back into life by Jesus.   He sees them both as daughters of the one Father, equal in all respects and in need of Jesus’ unconditional love.  Jesus demonstrates a non-judgemental love that loves you no matter what your condition, no matter who you are, because Jesus knows whose child they really are, and he knows whose child you are.

Folks, let's look closely together at the power of Jesus’ love and the amazing, incredible things his kind of love can accomplish when it is given or when it is received.    His Love has no strings attached, no hidden if, it is full of forgiveness and it is the only love that has the power to heal guilt and brokenness.   Love and forgiveness that has standards, or conditions attached to it, no matter how cleverly disguised or packaged it may appear, can only make you feel good for a short period of time and is not forever.   In fact we all learn early in our childhood on how to test for conditional love, whether given or received.  It’s an elusive love that keeps changing and does not contain the power to overcome circumstances, heal disease or bind relationships in the way God intended.  That is precisely why we need to receive Jesus’ love personally, remembering you cannot give to another, that which you have not received for yourself.  

So where does Unconditional love and forgiveness begin?  It must begin at home, within yourself.   You have heard it before you can’t give away something that you do possess for yourself.  Like all good teachings, we must learn to do it for ourselves first, then we can offer it to others.  It only makes good sense and it is the only way to maintain the freedom you require to love others in the same way.    Love offered to others without any strings attached has the power to reconcile our differences, disqualify that which sends us into battle, and can save us from negative self-abuse.    Unconditional love keeps no record of wrongs offering full forgiveness.   This is the love of Jesus, and it is offered to all of us. This is the love that has the power to redeem us from a life of sadness, sickness, and negative darkness, into a new life, a life of joy, peace, contentment happiness and positive though.   This love offered by Jesus doesn’t bend to worldly standards of good versus evil either, nor does his love decimate because of your race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or the circumstances within your life.   Jesus wants to love all people back to life, yes even the worse scoundrel on the planet by our standards, no one is excluded from His love for he knows we are all God’s children.   Jesus is knocking on your door, are you ready, and are you willing?  

   

"Everyday Is Dads Day"

When I was a little boy well my daddy, he could do anything.

Around age six well, my dad is smarter than your dad.

By the time I was ten well, dad really doesn’t seem to know everything.

And when I hit twelve, naturally dad doesn't know anything about that!

At the ripe old age of fourteen, well my father is just too old- fashioned.

At twenty-one, my father is hopelessly out of date.

But you know when I hit my thirties things began to change:  Maybe I should ask dad what he thinks.  After all, he's had a lot of experience.

At forty, ENLIGHTMENT sets in and things really change.  Now I'm am not doing a single thing until I at least talk it over with my dad.   

These last comments are meant for those of us, including me who’s earthy DAD has passed on. 

As I get older still:  - I think, if dad were here now I would want to talk things over with him again, and I would tell him how much I love him.  

In a moment of thoughtful silence, consider what is special about your DAD. ---------------------------------------------Amen

Not everyone has experienced good earthly fathering, but you know we all have the same DAD and He was with us from the very beginning, and has never left our side, he’s in you and in me because he made us in his image the image of love, and he loves us no matter what, he has never left us or forsaken us. God is our Heavenly parent.

June 17, 2018  Psalm 92  VU page 810   Mark 4: 26-34

The first 34 verses of Chapter 4 in Marks gospel tell us stories or parables about ordinary people like you and me, going out to sow seed for the Kingdom of God.   

In Mark 4: 26-27 Jesus said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like a man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how."  

How many of us here like apples?   Of course all of us know the story of a man called Johnny Appleseed.  As you might guess, Johnny Appleseed was not his real name. His real name was John Chapman. He was born in 1774 in the state of Massachusetts. When he was in his early twenties, John started an agricultural career working in a nursery learning to grow plants, trees, and shrubs.  John Chapman especially loved apple trees and he planted them all around the town where he lived.  But that wasn't enough for John, He wanted people everywhere to enjoy apples just as much as he did, so he traveled all around the country planting apple trees and giving away apple seeds.

John’s life wasn't easy thought, but he loved what he was doing. He never married, and collected more friends than he could count. He lived a long and happy life enjoying the great outdoors and the beauty of God's creation until his death in 1845.

You may be asking, "What does the story of Johnny Appleseed have to do with Fathers and our Bible lesson for today?" Well, the story of Johnny Appleseed is a much like the parable that Jesus told in our Bible reading about man scattering seed I mean.  Seeds for the Kingdom need to be planted everywhere and we who have been blessed to be fathers have a great responsibility when sowing seeds within a family unit.   It is not an easy task you know to maintain the scattering of Gods seeds of unconditional love and forgiveness because often as hard as we try not to, our love has unspoken hidden conditions, and our forgiveness is sometimes short-lived.   It is not easy to scatter the seeds of integrity, of trust, or selflessness in a world that is constantly offers us lies, dishonesty, and self-contentedness.   As a father myself I have to confess that I often found it difficult in maintaining the sowing of seeds for the Kingdom of God in my own family.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he is asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows.  The wisdom we might take home from the 4^th chapter of Mark today is that God wants us to act out the Good New of our Lord Jesus Christ not just to family but to everyone we met.  In doing so, we will be scattering seeds of unconditional love and forgiveness wherever we go.  These seeds will sprout and begin grow within ones own life.  With great gratitude as the Kingdom’s soil, peace of mind and a contentment heart will begin to take its root. 

Just as John Chapman was passionate about planting apple seeds, God wants you and me to be passionate about planting Kingdom seeds.   If we will take the Good News of our Lord Jesus to the people we encounter daily, it will begin to take root in their life and begin to they will begin to grow as they act out his love forgiveness and compassion for others.   We may not fully understand it, but we know that, that is the way the kingdom of God grows -- by people like you and me planting seeds of unconditional love and forgiveness and then watching as they grow.   God chose ordinary people like you and me to carry His message to the world, don't you want to be a builder of Gods Kingdom Come. 

  

"To Whom or What Gets Your Devotion"

When you hear the earlier biblical writers talking about worshiping other gods, images of rulers, statues, made of bronze or gold might come to mind.   What then of today, what would you say have become the gods of our time?   May I suggest the gods of fear, of knowledge, of fame and fortune, or we sometimes make people idles and turn to them.  

June 10, 2018  Psalm 138:  Mark 3:

Good morning folks:  I hope you have come this morning to hear something that will stimulate growth in your relationship with God.  My hope for today is that this Psalm of defiance written by David has something to offer us.  Yes this is a song of defiance.  The Psalmist giving alms of thanksgiving, singing praise to the one God, directly into the face of the many gods of his world.  He does so in total defiance of their calling, which is to turn from the One and to worship them.  He is praising the God of creation, the God who formed us in our Mothers womb and who new us before we were conceived.  Hear this wisdom in print as God speaks to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:5.   “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart: I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”    

 And the prophet Isaiah writes in chapter 49: verse 1:  “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name”.   God once again affirms knowing His children before conception, and has carved the names of all who are His, on the palms of His hands Isaiah tell us.   Sing: “I Will Never Forget You My People”

The Psalmist David, tells us he is praising Yahweh in the face of the worldly gods that also call out to him because of the constant love and faithfulness God has shown to him.  Should we not spend more time in reflections of grace God has showered upon us?   The one God of creations Yahweh, is supreme and holy and is the only source of strength needed to sustain him as it should be for us in this world or the next.  Verse 3 of the psalm says “you answered me when I called to you, with your strength you strengthen me.”  I can just hear the modern day fateful singing this wonderful old spiritual song when strength is needed to overcome the storms of life where the winds of strife are blowing. “Over My Head I Hear Music In The Air”  You know the lyrics sing it with me. 

So I guess a good question for us here today would be what are the controlling gods in your life and when do they call out to you?   This question may sound a bit trivial or unimportant at first but when we begin to really take an honest inventory of that which we turn to in troubled times, or in times of celebration,  we will begin to remember all the other gods before whom we so often bow. The words get stuck in my throats when I began to recognize the gods I have turned to in times of depression, or loneliness, or when I was looking for fame or fortune.  What thing, person or persons has your full attention these days.    What are the gods of your world?  Why they are anything that we give primary place to, in our lives. For instance that which captivates our attention when it come to the priority use of money.  How much is set aside for the poor or the hungry?  Now I challenge you to take a look at what, where or to whom has your deepest devotion?   Who gets the thanks when things go well, whom usually receives the credit, and on what or whom do we rely on when we are in troubled times?  Often without even knowing it, or even being aware of it, we create little gods out of ourselves, others, or things.  These gods call out to us and require a great deal of our time and attention.  We often become devoted to them as we turn from the ONE.    This is when we need a remainder and it can come in a worship song such as “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  As we sing the choirs together, let the words take root in your person hood. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Participation in sports, social groups or clubs or the arts often paves the way for some of our young people to entry universities so that they can land great jobs.  Often these things takes precedence over church participation and involvement, which in our time doesn’t hold the same promise of upward mobility for the masses as church community once did.  Education is valuable, and a good job is an asset, but we should never forget that these things are not eternal; one thing you can count on is all things and people as we know them now will pass away.  Even so, we are still blessed with God’s eternal love and promises.   The downward spirals of the stock markets, the raiding of pension funds by corporate executives, and the collapse of the real estate market worldwide has had an impact on many folks both in the middle class and the rich.  This should remind us that even the most upwardly mobile people and their situations will fall prey to the unexpected changes within the global economy.  Here I truly believe people who devote themselves to strengthening their faith survive in times of strife and struggle.  This Psalm is a song that sings in full defiance of our worldly gods.  It’s a song to help us challenge the false promises that worldly gods often dangle in front of us.  Let us never forget that it is only God who giveth and taketh away all things. We! need to sing this song of praise more than God needs to hear it.  We need to sing songs that help ground ourselves once again in God’s love for all creation.

Singing songs in worship is one of the most important elements of reminding us how important it is to learn on God in all situations.  Not just in times of fellowship on Sunday morning, but every waking hour of every day of our short lives.  Let us keep in mind that millions upon millions of year have existed before us, and millions upon millions of year will continue after we expire.  How long then is 5 years, 10 years, 40 years, 80 years, or a 100 years?  Just a flicker folks.  Let us not waste it worshiping the many gods of this world, but let us begin to rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.    

Does Having To Wait Annoy You?"

How does one live in the moment?

A young but earnest student approached his spiritual mentor, and asked the Master:   "If I work very hard and diligent, how long will it take for me to get where I want to be?"    The teacher thought about this, then replied, "Ten years."   The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself surely I could shorten the time -- How long then?"

The teacher hesitates for a moment then say, "more like twenty years."

No, No I will work harder than all the others, how much time then.  “Thirty years” replied the teacher abruptly.    "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "when I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?"

The teacher paused for a moment then replied,  "Your learning sir is distracted by time and your focus is not on a goal or a path.  You must learn not to want but to wait, then you will be finished when you are done.”

June 3, 2018   Readings:  Acts 1:1-14 and John 17:1-11

There are a lot of people who do not know how to live without excitement, without stimulation.   For some this stimulation comes from pleasure or achieving but for others as strange as it may sound, it comes from crisis or turmoil.  Its almost as if they are saying:  I paid dearly for all this trouble and no one is going to take it from me.  Some thrive on activity, on doing things – or on solving problems.  Psychiatrist tell us that most people become addicted to the adrenaline rush that theses activity produces regardless whether they are positive or negative.    The time that exists between these activities is often referred to as down time.  But there are those who feel they don’t need down time, because for them it is dead time, or time that is lost - time that is unimportant, time that is wasted.  Our western culture is stimulated by seeking pleasure through self-indulgence, through sports, social media, social groups, or by a crisis within the family, friends, the economy or the world in general.  Have we become media junkies folks?   Even those of us who are not adrenaline junkies find down time difficult to handle and to experience, we don't like to wait.  It is not easy for most to face a period of time in which not much is happening, a period of time in which we must wait for, rather than to want for something to happen. 

Today's scripture reading from the Book of Acts tells us how the disciples found themselves in this kind of situation - how they found themselves having to face a period in which they totally uncertain and would simply have to wait for Jesus’ promises to come about.   After the resurrection Jesus visited with his disciples on several occasions.  He taught them, He encouraged them, and He commissioned them to spread the good news that death no longer had the final word.  Then - on the day of his ascension,  when they were anxiously asking Him, when His kingdom would be established, when the next installment of the divine plan would take place,  He tells them that it is not for them to know the times or periods established by God - but that they should go back to Jerusalem and wait,   - wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, - wait for the power they would need to witness to Him there, in Judea and all of Samaria, and ultimately in all the world.   For many, waiting is a dreadful thing.  Just ask any child, or childish adult.  But it doesn't have to be like this folks.   Living between times or between occasions can be quite wonderful.   It can be - for us - the pause that refreshes - a time in which we gain strength - a time to stop put down our electronics and smell the roses.   Instead of befriending your phone or IPad, why not a person or nature.  Or it can be a time of reflection where we can quietly, pray, grow and are prepared ourselves for whatever will come next.  During these in between periods of your day, week or life why these are the best time to pick up the Bible and begin to mine the scriptures.  I mean to look for the nuggets, the golden rules of living a peaceful led, joyful life.  

The prophet Isaiah says to us in Isaiah 40:31 that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength  “They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

How many of us here today have heard the expression living in the moment.   Consider this then:   In one hand we have the past.  This is where all of our feelings and our emotions exist, stimulated by our memories.  Yet they are bygone, why of course, they already happened, they don’t exist anymore, they are just memories. We cannot live there.   In the other hand we have our future.  This is where our thoughts take us to possible events, that could exist, yet they don’t.  We can only imagine or predict what the future might hold for us.  So we cannot live there either.   Between the past and the future there is a space.  May I suggest this is where we exist, and it is the only space where we can truly live:   we live only moment by moment folks.  And truly it is all that we really have. 

May I suggest there are keys to living in the moment:  Respect fear, for it is a teacher but do not let fear keep you from living a full life.  Reflect only on the past and do not stare to long less you become a pillar of salt, getting lost in a life of bygones be they good or bad experiences.  You can read about this in Genesis 19: 26.   So then what do you have, you only have now, this moment, and the next if you’re fortune holds out, but even this to, is far from the moment.   

We are called to live in the now, rather than to live or be consumed by the past or the future.   Even though this is true it is difficult to live in the present while our past haunts us with personal mistakes, difficulties situations, or bad choices in life.  Many of us carry heavy loads from the past, or are burdened with wanting rather than recognizing our blessings, that which God has already bestowed upon us.  Some of us carry guilt or shame as a chain that holds us imprisoned as it did for the disciples during their time.  You can imagine the guilt of Peter as he denied being associated with Jesus out of fear for his own life.  And the others who also ran off or didn’t speak out on Jesus’ behalf also in fear, they too had to face him after his resurrection.   This time in between events in your life is the time to reflect, reassess, and redirect your energies.   A time rethink and turn away from anything that can take you down the wrong road.  A time to forgiving yourself and others for trespasses.  Jesus said come to me all who are heavy leaden and I will give you rest.   This kind of reflection, surrender and reconciliation will free you from the past and shield you from the future, allowing you to live more present, more peacefully, lovingly, and compassionately in the moments of your life.  This is the way of the Lord

"Born Again" A tricky Question.

                                                     Whats the difference? 

Just as science and scientists all over this planet have been challenged to reconsider intelligent design over evolution, so Religions all over this word are challenged to rethink much of their doctrine and dogma which is: the explication and officially acceptable version of a religious teaching.  And it began for a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus in chapter 3 of John’s gospel.  How do you think people decide what is truth and what is false today? The leaders of a group would gather, a subject was discussed over a period of time.  After a vote was taken and if a majority was struck, then the truth was known. Now I don’t know about you but this system seems to me to be quite flawed. 

John 3: 1-17

A popular sports television program of the 1970’s and 1980’s called "The Wide World of Sports"  illustrated "the agony of defeat" with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure down to the snow below.
What viewers didn't know was that he actually chose to purposely fall rather than finish the jump. Why you might ask? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal for him. Surprisingly, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble. To change one's course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but as the story illustrates change is better than a fatal landing at the end of one’s life.
This is the problem Nicodemus is having. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is facing a fatal landing if he does not change or at least challenge his understanding of the ways of the Pharisee.   But Nicodemus knows only one way and that has been programmed into his life, and for him it is the way of a Pharisee, not the way of Christ.  Right at the very beginning of his teaching Jesus lays out a challenge for us as well.  What way have we been programmed with?  Are you a follower of Christ, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic, Seven Day, Baptist, Presbyterian or Pentecostal, United or another religion. 
Have you ever considered that all you have been taught might not be true when it comes to your parents, or the theological position of your religious group, the one you were brought up with or the denomination you are presently attending?  Have you ever wondered how humans began to decide the truth about anything?  The leaders of a group would gather, a subject was discussed over a period of time.  After a vote was taken and if a majority was struck, then the truth was known.  Doesn’t that sound much like what is still happening today.  Yet we Christians read in Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 

Suddenly Jesus appears on the scene and begins teaching that the Kingdom of God has come near and is at hand, not up in the clouds but right here, it is in their midst right now. Mark 1: 15.  "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"  But to see the kingdom and enter in, one must have their eyes and mind reopened with a rebirth, you must be born anew Jesus tells Nicodemus. Being born of Spirit you will begin to see things differently, hear things differently, and begin doing things in your life in new ways.  Nicodemus hears the words born again, but he is confused. So he asks, "How can a person go back into his mother's womb and come out again?"
It shouldn’t be surprising to us that Nicodemus is so confused.  For many today yes even the very religious are still confused and unable to answer with the mind of God.  We can only speak of what we know. One might think that a religious leader should understand these teachings but somehow Nicodemus a religious leader and teacher feels he has missed some crucial truth, a truth that cannot be discovered by a majority vote.  The question we need to ask ourselves today is,  do you feel that you have missed some crucial truth,  that you too, have not yet experienced being born anew?    

There is a reason Nicodemus is going to Jesus. He has an inkling that Jesus might be able to provide that missing important detail and He does.  You see the key ingredient to entering the new earth, the kingdom of God as Jesus puts it, is, Jesus himself.  You cannot be born again unless you accept the change Jesus offers when you take him into your being.  He is the only one who has this transforming God given power to do this work.  Taking Christ literally into your life means, allowing his teachings to guide and direct what you say and what you do.  This would be a new life for many congregants and ministers too.  With Christ guiding your daily life, you become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, yes, heaven is right here and right know.  Being born again makes us like children again.  We must learn to walk, speak and function all over again.   As you take him in, Jesus begin to shoulder your burdens Matthew 11: 28,  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  He begins to takes away your anger, your fear, your anxiety, and your wanting of the things of this world and changes you gradually to become more humble, more generous, more compassionate, more understanding and less judgmental towards the other.  It is not an instance fix for anyone because you must learn and grow in this new relationship with Christ not just in words, but in truth, and in your action.   

Nicodemus has somehow been programed in the wrong direction and now he must change his course.  Maybe you feel the same and are as hesitant today, as Nicodemus was when he encountered Jesus personally for the first time.  Are you uncertain about making such a drastic change in your life?  Jesus is calling, “Calling Oh Sinner Come Home” to each and every one of us here today come home, come home he who are weary come home.    

"Life Changing Event"

 

May 20, 2018 readings:  Roman 8: 22-27   John: 15:26-27, 16: 4-15

There is a true story told of a man name Yates who, during the depression owned a sheep ranch in Texas.  He did not have enough money to continue paying on the mortgage - in fact he was forced like many others to live on government subsidies.    Each day as he tended his sheep he worried about how he was going to pay his bills.  One day a knock came to his front door and a man named Robert introduced himself as a member of a seismographic crew.  He suggested that there might be oil on his property and they wanted to do could a test drilling.  After a lease was signed they went ahead.   At 1115 feet a huge oil reserve was struck – subsequent wells revealed even more oil than the first well revealed.  Mr. Yates of course own all the oil and mineral rights.  He had been living on relief all this time and yet he had no idea what lay just under the surface, he had always been a billionaire but it took a strange turn of events in his life to bring it to his attention.

_____________________________________________________________________

Reflecting back on the story I told you of Mr. Yates earlier this morning How often do you feel cough within life’s circumstances, feeling depressed, deprived, afraid or sometimes helpless - unaware of the extraordinary power that we have available to us - that which is lying just below the surface held within your Spirit, just waiting to be awakened.  Each one of you here today has the potential to experience your own day of Pentecost, a day on which God makes known to you the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Check it out in 1 Corinthians 3: 16  Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Or 1 Corinthians 6: 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?   The Spirit speaks the truth, teaches and comforts you in all circumstances.  These are things we normally identify with God's presence.  The Spirit gives us much more than joy, peace, patience, and kindness, those things which we call the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit gives us spiritual gifts, gifts designed for the building up of the body of the church.  Your talents, abilities and giftedness are not meant just for your own benefit but are to be used for your individual ministries to which each one of us has been called.  Yes, that is right folks, each of us has been given a ministry and we are all called to use our gifts to minister to one another, and you thought that I was “THE MINISTER”. No, no, no, we are all called to ministry, you have ministry and you are called to minister to the other.  

The prophet Joel in chapter 2 verses 28 and 29 in his prophecy of the last days, mentions some of the gifts for ministry that have been granted by God through His Spirit:  Gifts of visions and gifts of dreams, gifts of prophecy poured out upon our sons and our daughters, upon young and old alike.  In a book I recently was looking at on the internet, the author listed twenty-seven gifts of the Spirit – Here are some of them -  the gift of teaching, the gift of discernment, the gift of communication, the gift of hospitality, the gift of intercession, the gift of presence, that of being a good listener, the gift of wisdom, the gift of prophecy, the gift of faith, the gift of administration, music, the gift of helping, and the gift of humility and of compassion.   Each of these gifts are spiritual gifts – not to be confused with the natural talents we are born with - they are gifts of grace being honed through life experiences and tempered by the Spirit for our second birth.  Don’t let people fool you with the trick question of being born again.  For those who have been truly born of the spirit you will see Gods love their eyes and in the fruit they produce.  Ezekiel 36: 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

For instance this second birth can transform an apparently untalented, shy, self-conscious and fearful person into someone who suddenly begins to speak out against injustice on behalf of the marginalized, the poor and in doing so does ministry unto others.  On the other hand I have seen it transform a self-centred egotistical arrogant person into a humble servant for God.    So the question remains what spiritual gifts do you have hiding just below the surface?  What gift or set of gifts has God poured out upon you so that you might love and serve in the way God has intended, especially for you?  Have you ever considered or tried to identify within yourself your spiritual giftedness?  I have a challenge for you today, homework for you to do.   Take the challenge and this could be a profitable faith filled exercise for you.   Spiritual gifts are not just special talents given to you at birth.  Spiritual gifts often come through tempering and life experiences.  Looking at them in this way forces you to think about what you have gotten good at.  Our giftedness both born with and tempered through life’s experiences can be used appropriately or inappropriately.   Yet our giftedness was meant to be used in ministry as an instrument of God’s love in our world.

What gift or gifts has God given you for your second birth?  Discovering the answer to these questions is so profitable an exercise may I suggest that as a way of honouring God, you start here?  Here’s the challenge:   Take a few moments out of today after church, or later on or in the morning while having your early morning coffee.   Sit quietly and reflect upon yourself.   With a piece of paper and pen, or in the space provided in the bulletin, begin by listing one or more of your personal strengths – things you do well or have developed over life’s tempering- write them down. Often I will hear someone say they’d grown patients. That is a gift folks, grown or tempered it is a gift from God. Do it daily until you have exhausted you known gifts.  

This small exercise in helping you to discover your giftedness can be a powerful experience but you must be totally honest with yourself.  You will begin to see what God has given to you and is doing in your life.  That is kind of what happened with Mr. Yates - someone helped him to see what lay just beneath the surface - and his discovery took him from a life of depression, poverty and desperation into a life of abundance and of generosity.  He was richly blessed.  He found what had always been there - and it changed his life forever. That is what the Spirit is about folks, transformation and change and that is what Pentecost is all about.  The Spirit wants you to discover what your gifts are and how your gifts can help others.  They are there to help guide us as we follow Jesus and His way.  Jesus calls us to love and serve one another and when we use our giftedness as it was intended – it transforms us, our church, and our world into what God intended it to be.