Thots from Padre

Speaking for God - Epiphany IV 2012

2012-01-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Epiphany IV
January 29, 2012
Philip D. Eberhart

Speaking for God

Last week I made the appeal for us to keep the main thing, the main thing in this season of difficulty and transition that we are in in the Anglican Mission. This morning’s readings highlight the place from which we speak, as Christians in both the Church and in the world, to those around us.

Knowledge vs. Wisdom

The readings this morning have to be taken as a whole set. And the theme that is developed through them is the vast difference between “speaking YOUR mind and speaking the LORD’S MIND!”

In Deuteronomy 18 we see a promise and a warning from the history of Israel:
The Promise: I will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses)… who shall speak to them everything that I command.
The Warning: “Any prophet who … presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak-- that prophet shall die."
A great promise and a stern warning … to the People of God.

How can you tell? Do you ever say things to others “in the Name of God?” Well, in fact, not many of us walk around consciously delivering “words” from the Lord. But have you ever gotten a “word” for someone? Sometime they come in the midst of conversations, or in random thoughts – you suddenly know that that wasn’t “from you.”

God uses us at times to BE His Word in a situation or with a person in their struggle. Most often that happens as we are simply, “living and moving and having our being” - IN HIM - along the way. But what if we were more intentional about that part of our Christian experience?

What if we were consciously seeking something “from God” for those around us? Do you think that God would respond positively? I do! If fact I think that God is on-tiptoe waiting for us to allow Him to manifest His love and care for others in the “words” we speak to them on His behalf.

Now I’m NOT advocating a kind of pompous “Thus Saith the Lord” approach. But I am saying that God is anxious to communicate His love to us and to others through us, in the course of our daily conversations and manner of life.

Here is the difference that is pointed out in our scriptures this morning between knowledge and wisdom.

If we share from knowledge, we think we know a lot and have a lot to share with others, whether they need it or not – and we think they always need it!
If we share from wisdom, we know that we don’t know it all, and that even what knowledge we have is probably “tainted” with our own flesh and desires.

If we share from knowledge, we overpower the other person with facts and arguments, trying to make them see our side.
If we share from wisdom, we listen to their side and ask questions that help them to come to new, and we hope better, conclusions about their life.

If we share from knowledge, its more about us and what we can deposit in their life or thinking to bring change.
If we share from wisdom, we know that change only comes from Jesus and we must lead people to Him, not us, for answers to their questions.

Do you see the difference? Have you experienced both in your life?
I heard a great story this week from a member of our parish, as we shared a bit at our last ALPHA class from last fall.

[A gentleman who works with one of our members here, is a landlord of several properties & has spent a great deal of time telling the horrors of rental property ownership. Late rents, torn up properties and all those headaches that go along with that business. It seems that over Christmas, in fact on Christmas Eve, he called a renter who was delinquent to tell him that he was going to have him evicted. As they talked, the renter said that they were on their way out to a Christmas Eve service somewhere. The reference to Christmas eve and church, reminded the land lord of our member here and that “he would probably not be happy with my evicting someone on Christmas Eve!” As a result the landlord gave the man grace, calling again after the holiday, finding out that a job was imminent for the renter and receiving full payment for the rents due and back payments for over due rents!]

Friends, I want to tell you that this is a picture of the main thing I was talking about last week. In some way, the member of REZ and the way he walks out his faith at his workplace had an incredible impact on his co-worker – without saying much at all.

I was struck by a verse from our Corinthian reading: Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

From the New Living here: 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes”

Or from JB Phillips translation: “1b-3 It is not easy to think that we “know” over problems like this, but we should remember that while knowledge may make a man look big, it is only love that can make him grow to his full stature. For whatever a man may know, he still has a lot to learn, but if he loves God, he is opening his whole life to the Spirit of God.”

Our psalm give us a hint as to the difference here between knowledge and it application in wisdom: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; *
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom

It is the fear of the Lord – reverence for God and humility before Him – that sets simple knowledge apart from its wise application in our life. Wisdom is knowledge applied with an eye toward whole-hearted obedience to God. And whole-hearted obedience to God and to His Word is the “fear of the Lord” applied.

It’s here that what people experienced in Jesus’ own teaching began: Jesus own life of prayerful obedience to the Father was the fountain head of His power and of his authority. “I don’t do anything except what I see the Father doing!” Jesus said. When did Jesus SEE his Father doing stuff? He saw it when he was in prayer and preparation for his day, away from the crowds.

How do you get the “words” that you speak to other people on God’s behalf? Just come up with them yourself? If we look at the warning I mentioned in Deut. 8 above, I suggest that you NOT do that. Its not from OUR knowledge, but from God’s Word that we are to speak.

Have you ever read something in your morning readings that came up again during the day: Just in the course of a conversation you were having, something someone said to you or something that triggered your memory of a particular verse or thought? This is how God uses His Word to speak to us and to others through us.

And when we know its from Jesus, we can speak with the same kind of authority that He spoke with. That still isn’t a “Thus Saith the Lord” statement from us, but we can preface our statement with, “you know I read something about that just this morning (or whenever) in the Bible: … “ OR “Wow, that’s really interesting. I prayed about something like that this morning!”

We open conversational doors as we listen to what others say and how they mean what they say. We speak to others on behalf of Christ and God, letting them know that God loves them and has them in mind. And once in a while, we get to hear that our presence or a memory of us or something we’ve said or done, has impacted the life of one that we are friends with or of a co-worker.

God’s design is for us to impact our world with His love! What we receive here in this fellowship and at this table is not for us, friends. It’s for them. That’s the main thing that we are up to.

May God richly bless us as we see to be wise in our words and ways, with those we love and with those we live with, at home, at work, at play – every day. AMEN. And AMEN.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

2012-01-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Epiphany III
January 22, 2012
Fr. Phil Eberhart

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Keep the Main Thing, The Main Thing!

Well, I’m back! I’m exhausted and frustrated and still needing a few days sleep, I think. I’ve posted my thoughts on your emails this morning and the article on my perspective on both conferences is on David Virtue’s website.

People are asking me now, what is our response? I will say it again, as I said it in my first response on my blog,
"Please also know that your "place" in the Anglican Communion is secure. We will pray for our leaders and wait on clarity in this situation, without proffering opinions or judgments about the actions heretofore. We pray that time will be the friend of truth and that things which are done in secret will come to the light, on both sides of the equation. I know that there are always two sides to any conflict and my experience has led me to also know that we are all broken and in need of grace. So let us give grace and prayer and time."

It is certain at this point that clarity has not been achieved yet. After attending both the Winter Conference and the Sacred Assembly in NC this past 10 days, I’ve come away with less certainty in most areas and way less clarity than I thought I had. Our leaders need our prayers and support now more than ever.

Just briefly here’s what I know I know:
1. I am a priest of Rwanda. That has not changed.
2. This church is an AMiA parish, waiting on clear direction.
3. Our bishop has stepped back for the moment, as a new direction is being discerned and as reconciliation is being sought with Rwanda. The Anglican Mission is being advised by its founding ArchBishops, Kolini, Tay and Yong Ping Chung, all very godly men who have established their track record in distinguished servant leadership among us over the past decade. No one is saying that this is the permanent solution.
4. We are going to wait on the reconciliation process being pursued by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of Kenya and the GAFCON Council. This will address both the reconciliation and the structural questions that are questions of Anglican polity, I trust and hope.
5. Once clear choices are on the table, we will pray together for a season and make a choice if needed, but there is no time-line for that process, nor is there a need for quick action here.
6. I will pray and work for peace amongst our leaders at every turn, and ask the Lord of His Church to restore a biblical unity and direction to the AMiA and to the relationship with Rwanda.

Until then, I want to point to our collect this morning and to several portions from the reading, and say that we are to keep the main thing, the main thing! In my talking to people about Jesus, not one of them has asked me about who my spiritual authority is. Our business is to connect people to Jesus Christ and to His Kingdom!

Since when is strife in the church a NEW thing? This too will pass. Be at peace. Stay in repentant and obedient prayer for our leaders “up top.” God will work out the details according to His plan. And of that I AM CERTAIN!

Read the collect with me again:
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Friends, this is the main thing! This is our vocation in the Anglican Mission! This is our calling as Christian believers!! Be on high alert as you walk around and talk to people for the CALL of our Savior Jesus Christ to proclaim the Good News of Salvation.

Epiphany is the season of revelation. It is the revealing of the mystery of God’s plan of redemption for the whole world in Jesus Christ. And the revealing happens through you! People are starving to know that God exists and moreover that He loves them and has them in mind – He has a plan, in the midst of all the “stuff” that life throws our way.

The revelation of God’s love and His plan for others, comes as they see you going through your life’s ups and downs, blessings and challenges, in relationship to God and in reliance on God.

The disciples in our Gospel lesson where engaged in their every day activities, fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Mark’s gospel takes a picture that is much larger and crops it into a small shot at the moment in time when Jesus invited the fishermen to come with him, to follow him as disciples, as learners from a teacher – and the subject matter, “Fishing 101” – but for people.

Intrigued? They were. And so they left their commercial nets and boats and began to walk alongside Jesus as he encountered life, as He taught in their homes and in the markets and synagogues. As he touched and healed blind and lame, lepers and all manner of unclean people, they watched and learned. The heard his message, “Repent and believe the good news.” The Kingdom of God has come near – its AT HAND. In fact, its right in front of you!

We bring that same message! The disciples followed Jesus for many months as He “went about all the towns and villages of Galilee, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” Matt 4:23; 9:35. But then we transition to a new phase of his public ministry. In Matt 10 and Luke 10, Jesus sends out the 12 and the 72 to go on ahead of himm with the words, “Freely you have received, freely give!” He gave them authority to heal and to drive out demons, and to say, as He did, The Kingdom of God is near you. “Repent, and believe the good news.”

This is our message and our method. This is our vocation as Christians. This is The Main Thing that we need to keep The Main Thing. Everything else is a distraction. All the stuff we run into in life in the world, even the stuff we run into sometimes in the church, must not detract our vision from the main thing!

Who are you praying for? Do you have a list of people who you’ve talked with over the past months who are on their journey? Are you encouraging them? Praying for them? Going for coffee with them? Do you send notes or emails? Do they know that you love them?

Evangelism isn’t a question and a prayer with someone – a stranger to you, although sometimes that happens. Evangelism is living your life on Mission – living your life On Purpose – God’s Purpose! Evangelism is living as a blessing to others, both in word and deed. “Church for the sake of others,” as Bishop Todd Hunter puts it. This is the main thing!

The main thing is the steps of Luke 10:

a. Live your life as a blessing and speak peace into people’s lives. It will get their attention

b. Hang out with them, eat with them, share your life and let them share theirs.

c. In the course of life, you will see ways that you can serve them, and meet some of their needs, in the name of Jesus. Do it. Do it immediately and cheerfully, and when they look at you and ask, “Why?”

d. Say, “the Kingdom of Heaven has come near you.”

Tell them the great news of God’s unfailing love for them – so much so that He sent His Son to give them eternal life, and you to meet their need.

I want to close this morning with a familiar prayer, from the words of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

A Perspective on Two Conferences

2012-01-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

A Perspective on Two Conferences
Fr. Philip Eberhart
Resurrection Anglican (AMiA), Centennial, CO
................................................................

As I fly home after a week of Winter Conferencing and Sacred Assembling, I have some time to reflect on, as Chairman Murphy says, "What I think I think." I am an AMiA priest of going on 11 years, a former network leader, and a careful observer and listener to both sides in this family squabble and potential "divorce." (I am a "world-class hopeful romantic" to borrow a movie line, but I fear the divorce may already have happened.)

That's what it feels like after all is said and done. I haven't actually decided if the divorce is final yet, but there are going to have to be some big changes for repentant words and reconciliation to turn into restoration. And there is alot more, as with any family dysfunction, that is not seen than is seen publicly. I am convinced however, that love actually does "cover a multitude of sins" so you won't find any expose' here.

NO DISSIDENTS HERE

What I have discovered by listening is that there has come upon us a "perfect storm" made up of human failing, spiritual warfare, and genuine ambition, more or less godly in its genesis. I've discovered an array of relational mis-steps over years, from the lowest to the highest levels, the cumulative effect of which has been to spoil our "alphabet soup." There are no dissidents - well, only a few that can actually be identified - who are pouring fuel on the fire for ends that I don't fully understand. As I understand it the "back door" of AMiA has always been as open as the front - maybe more so!

What I have encountered at both of this past two week's gatherings is truckloads of sincere grief and a kind of foggy lack of clarity that pervades every conversation. Most are still unclear even about 'what' happened, let alone how. When we play with time lines in hopes of finding an analytical way through, we come face to face with our propensity to assign motives that demonize and villify others in the process of our "discernment". Not that discernment is a bad thing here, but we must be careful to discern what the Spirit is saying, mostly about my own sin, not the sin of others. It's never been very helpful to confess one another's sins, as it is the antithesis of James' admonition, moving us away from healing!

A "DIFFERENT" WINTER CONFERENCE

With these words we were welcomed to Houston's posh downtown Hilton Americas for the 12th Annual AMiA Winter Conference, of which I am proudly an alum of all twelve. From just a few churches and lots of us "tire kickers" at the first Winter "Homecoming" Conference in '01, through twelve years of the blood, sweat and tears of slugging it out planting a church, through "building the bridge as we crossed it," through network formation, re-formation, and expansion, through an ever widening Anglican missional enterprise, through partnership with other Anglican bodies and always in relationship with our beloved Rwanda - to a very "different" Winter Conference. Very different indeed!

Winter Conference, sans our Rwandan friends, save former Archbishop Kolini and the other founding archbishops, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung. Our beloved leaders and founders are once again among us - consolation for a moment that we are still "on track." But on track for what and to where? Chairman Chuck is the ever diligent visionary, pointing to a new way forward, as a "Missionary Society," with appropriate and compelling slides, charts and graphs at the ready. But lingering and nagging questions bubble up in the 'anglican' part of me. What is our relationship now to Rwanda, and what does the presence of retiree archbishops signify? I want to give them due honor and heed their admonitions to press on, but how can this be? Is ++Kolini separated from Rwanda too? Apparently, and tragically I fear. What else can it mean? I remember sitting with him at a clergy convocation as he recounted the pain and sacrifice associated with his work on our behalf over the past decade, and weeping. Now I weep again to think - once again he chooses us over homeland and retirement security?

And the message we hear is new. Sorrow for what has happened, but a sense of calling to go on ... even a broader calling to global church planting! Awesome! But what of our Rwandan relationships? I am a personal friend of His Grace ++Onesphore RWAJE because of the sister-to-sister church partnerships begun in '02. A decade of trips, work, care and love. I don't want to go forward without this relationship. Do I have to choose between parents?

Repentance, healing prayer, God's presence ... and the nagging questions. What are we now? Where are we now? Whose are we now? We know we belong to Jesus, and there is great solace in that, but... as Anglicans we believe that its BOTH faith AND order. Don't we?

I told friends who asked that I actually came away from Houston with more questions than I had when I went! And I was not alone. On the Sunday in between my intercessors could only weep and the whole church arose to prayer for my wife and I personally and for The Mission.

A SACRED ASSEMBLY

Only two weeks ago or so we found out that there was to be a winter conference, part the second. Just a day in-between. Time to fly home, change clothes, do church and fly out again. The other half of the family was doing their reunion elsewhere. Even the thought was sobering, like a "polar bear" dip in an icy Colorado lake! I understand the need to convocate, especially at times like these, so I begged my bookkeeper and she found the needed denarii for this additional three days. Thanks, Cheryl and my board.

It's been important for me to hear and see all that was being said and by whom. The Sacred Assembly (a great alternative to "WC-the sequel") gathered two Archbishops, Rwaje and Duncan, six bishops, three Rwandan and two US former AMiA bishops with a guest appearance by Julian Dobbs, an ACNA/CANA bishop. The assembly was hosted by Archbishop Rwaje and facilitated by Bishops Barnum and Glenn, along with a team of clergy leaders and the gracious gifts of hospitality at Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, NC.

Representive clergy and laity from 109 parishes gathered in what I would characterize as a repentant, grief-filled, introspective time of worship, teaching, exhortation and prayerful communion. Bishop Glenn commented, "Personal pain robs us of perspective, but worship restores it." We heard encouragement from ++Rwaje - "You are still with us. We are still with you. We have not left you."

From ++Duncan a sermon with humble beginning, "His church is not yet a spotless bride;" "we have sinned against each other;" "God works in all things for good..." but then he also reflected his personal pain at The Mission's (read +Chuck's) choices regarding full jurisdictional inclusion and participation in the ACNA, calling our "Personal Prelature" (i.e., +Chuck's working directly under and for ++Kolini as "Primatial Vicar") unanglican. Really? Wasn't that what all the provinces who rescued us, prior to AMiA or ACN or ACNA did? Then he went further, inferring our prior TEC days of undisciplined, ungodly, rogue bishops, by saying "It's a cruel thing to have to send our problem of discipline 8000 miles away." What does someone from the AMiA take away here? Wow.

The rest of the messages were generally challenging and encouraging. +Terrell and +Thad led gently with an eye to those who were double-dippers, like me - who attended both conferences - probably 15-20% of the conferees I had seen in Houston. Others from the Anglican Mission Center in Pawleys Island were there as well, Canon H. Miller, AMiA's Exec. Director, Bishop John Miller of AMiA and Canon Kevin Donolan, the AMiA's canon law expert. All were treated well, at least by the leadership of the meeting. We ended with a eucharist that held the seeds of the most hopeful time I've been a part of all week: The Prayers of the People became prayers of repentance - individual voices, repenting for specific things aloud to God, and the company gathered responding, "Lord, hear OUR prayer." I wept again. All the players were prayed for from Archbishops down. The sense of grief and sorrow was tangible. Perhaps this is our way forward!

SO WHAT? ... SO NOW WHAT?

So we have convocated, and spoken our minds and listened and prayed. Now what? Is there a way forward? and to what end? Is the goal to preserve the unity of the Body or to preserve the work of the individual groups? Is the divorce final? Are we able to move forward ... together - or will it be otherwise? As one friend put it, "This is a tragedy of the first order, and we are behaving like its a wake - a mixture of a funeral and a party."

Having gone through the Episcopal Turf Wars (some are still in them), I remember the feelings I had. Betrayal, grief, profound sadness at having to choose one set of friends over another, but the choices were clear then, "gospel" or "other." Here the turf wars are not gospel driven, and the choices are not clear. There are no clean hands that I can see, save perhaps our Rwandan primate. I trust ++Onesphore, my friend of almost a decade. I trust my Bishop, +Sandy Greene, the god-father of one of my twin daughters, and a friend of 20+ years. Here I am torn again. I am canonically resident in Rwanda, and my church is a member of the Anglican Mission, an Illinois 501-c-3 non-profit, licensed to do business in South Carolina. What are my choices? Go entirely with Rwanda and leave my bishop and friend of two decades? Go with The Mission and ... well ... we don't know just yet. Its unclear what a Mission "Society" is, at least in this particular setting. Nor is it clear how we are going to remain under Anglican authority, or with whom.

I think the most hopeful star in the night sky is the "family intervention" that began in Nairobi a few weeks ago. Could we pay attention to that meeting and its requirements? (See the Nairobi Statement by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala). Is it possible that this perfect storm can be recovered from? I still have hope at this point, but it is a thin slice of bread. In my heart, I really want to say what Bob Newhart said in his "psychologist" sketch many years ago, to the woman who had an inordinate fear of being buried alive in a box... "STOP IT!" If repentance means turning around, if reconciliation means coming together again, if restoration could lead us to a truly, biblical, united and missionary Anglican witness in the USA and around the globe, why not stop moving in directions that will not achieve the completion of the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we don't, God help us ... and that is where I'll stop it, as that is my sincere prayer and our only hope for the future.

Fr. Phil Eberhart
FrPhil@RezAnglican.org

Recent News of AMiA Bishops

2011-12-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

My dear Rezzers & friends

Some may already have heard the news that virtually all the bishops of the Anglican Mission removed themselves en mass (save one) from Rwandan oversight this past Monday. In response to accusations and ultimatums from Rwanda, our bishops chose to move together in a united action to preserve and continue the work done over the past decade by the Mission.

Bloggers and commentators are running amok with judgements and conjecture made without full knowledge of most of what has been happening over the course of the past six months. Be assured that things are not as they are being portrayed.

If you want a factual report with little commentary I invite you to look at the article today from David Virtue...

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15284

Please also know that your "place" in the Anglican communion is secure. We will pray for our leaders and wait on clarity in this situation, without proffering opinions or judgements about the actions heretofore. We pray that time will be the friend of truth and that things which are done in secret will come to the light, on both sides of the equation. I know that there are always two sides to any conflict and my experience has led me to also know that we are all broken and in need of grace. So let us give grace and prayer and time.

It may now be most appropriate for us to answer Jesus call to his disciples: "Could you not watch with me one hour?" Our leaders are in a time of great pain and the Devil is having a heyday with the media coverage and divisions that are already a part of our American Anglican landscape. I urge you to pray and wait with me as we seek God's way forward through this time of confusion and pain.

Pray with me...

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And Amen!

Fr. Phil Eberhart Rector of Resurrection

Oct 2, 2011 - This One Thing I Do

2011-10-03T15:01:00.000-06:00

October 2, 2011
This One Thing I Do
Fr. Philip Eberhart

This week I saw a new motivational poster. Jesus and a young man on a park bench engaged in conversation and the letters “L.O.L” under the picture. LOL is the text shorthand for “laughing out loud.” It is sometimes just appended at the end of each phrase that some send in a text message or comment that they make on a Facebook post. The effect is that it is a kind of visual “nervous laughter.”

On the picture, under the Title; L.O. L. was the caption. “No, I’m not talking about Twitter. I literally want you to follow me!” (Jesus). With our electronic communication media we have managed to almost completely isolate or insulate ourselves from real face to face interaction with individuals. Instead we opt for a barrage of “tweets” or posts on Facebook, to the extent that our communications are even less than an inch deep and probably two or three miles wide.

One of the things we must continue to battle in our age today is the tendency toward superficiality. And this carries over into our relationship with the Lord Jesus. We have all seen the stereotype father portrayed in movies who is too busy for his son, so he gives him things instead, substituting the stuff for the relationship itself. And that is what we do with Jesus, giving our time or talent or treasure, instead of our heart, when he wants our heart first. “I literally want you to follow me!”

Matt 4:19 is where Jesus gives the first fishermen that invitation… “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus wasn’t promising them great wealth or reward in the exercise of their faith, he was promising them that He would make them into people like Him! Jesus wants you to spend enough time around Him that you start looking like him. That was Jesus’ discipleship program! The bible says that Jesus both did and taught. His method was to bring the disciples along and do the stuff and let them watch. Then he let them do the stuff while He watched (see Luke 10).
And finally, Jesus left them to do the stuff, all on their own. That’s what the goal of our discipleship is – to be so familiar with Jesus and the way He did life and work and ministry and teaching – everything He said and did – that we do life and work and ministry and teaching just like Him!

And the process is just what Paul is talking about through the bulk of his letters. We’ve had opportunity to reflect on some of his thoughts over the past weeks, and now today, again we are given a key passage from his Philippian letter: (listen to it again from The Message)

You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book.
7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
Focused on the Goal
12-14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

This One Thing I Do

Paul often speaks in metaphors that are taken from the races at the Olympics. We are urged to follow him in his own pursuit of Jesus. A relentless pursuit that is focused on a single goal: To know Christ, in the power of his resurrection through sharing in the fellowship of His suffering. We see familiar words in these passages: The POWER (DUNAMIS) of His resurrection as Paul prayed in the first chapter of his letter to Ephesus; The FELLOWSHIP (KOINONIA) of His sufferings – we share on both of these levels, we are conformed in our deepest heart and being, into His likeness. What I found interesting in this investigation was that Paul uses a different word for being conformed here than he uses in Romans 12, where he tells us not to be conformed to the image of the world (not to be Pressed Into the world’s mold). That conformation is an outward one, so that we look like the world, we act and do what the world does, we “dress” like the world, so to speak. But the conformation that Paul is speaking of here is a deep, inner conformation to the character of Christ, through the modality of suffering – actually sharing in the same kind of suffering that Jesus went through. And we are first conformed to His death, so that we may also share in His Life.

This theme plagues us everywhere in the New Testament writings. I say “plagues us” because we so avoid it. In our American religion we see comfort and blessing materially as the ultimate signs of God’s love and favor, and thus of “knowing Him.” But Paul and Jesus, I might add, had a very different take on this concept than most of us do here in the West. For Paul it was the embracing of this suffering WITH Jesus, that brings one to the fullness of the inner conformation that is the goal of our faith. We also tend to see the things we DO FOR GOD as ways in which we get to know Him or we get to see Him work. While Paul comes to know Jesus through His Power – it is the Power of the Resurrection, not the power of his mighty works. When we speak of power, even using the forms of words that we derive from this word DUNAMIS we see different forms of power, DYNAMITE (explosive, destructive, sudden) and DYNAMO (constant, steady, useable and useful). The power that Paul commends here is the constant, inner, driving power of a New Life in Christ.

Unlike us who avoid the suffering of the Gospel – who avoid anything that will make us uncomfortable as we live our life and share with others – avoid anything that may bring a smart remark or a snide retort about our faith – and certainly avoid any kind of confrontation like Jesus had with people about their lifestyles and sin; unlike us, Paul chooses to make this his singular focus, as a means of coming to KNOW JESUS more fully.

Here is Paul’s prescription: This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.

Today we are faced with myriads of challenges all around us. Economic troubles, political troubles, trouble believing, trouble hearing God in the maze of voices today. But God is calling us to do this ONE THING: TO FOLLOW HIM.

TO LITERALLY FOLLOW HIM. Paul calls it THE MARK OR GOAL FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST!

Jesus is calling us – calling YOU to follow Him in the particularities of your life, day-to-day. To live your life in reference to Him FIRST. To run your particular race with Him as the goal line.

What has gone before this moment, doesn’t matter any more. He is able to take it and transform it and use it to CONFORM you more fully to His inner character. That is His will for you. That is the force of Paul’s prayer and his continuing argument across his letters.

Make this commitment this morning as you come forward, down the aisle, to our Anglican Altar Call – Communion! Every time you come to this table it is a new start – what is behind you is behind you, good or bad. Look at Jesus and all that He intends for you, and live your life from that reference point.

“No I’m not talking about Twitter. I LITERALLY want you to follow Me!”

Amen.

Sept 18, 2011 - Live a Life Worthy

2011-10-03T14:26:00.001-06:00

Sept 18, 2011
Live a Life Worthy
Fr. Philip Eberhart

This week I’ve been reading some of the new research from the Barna Group on the spirituality of America in our post 9/11 culture. He has a new book coming out in Feb of next year and the research is being hinted at in articles now prior to his book release.

Our scriptures this morning give us a challenge: Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi urges his hearers to “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” I think I would like to spend a few minutes reflecting with you what that meant to Paul and what it might mean to us today in our lives.

Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi was a letter to a church he loved. Its frowned upon for grandparents to say “so and so is my favorite grandchild.” But I think it is fairly clear that Philippi and the church there held a special place in the heart of the Apostle. They were a church that struggled mightily, as did most first-century churches, against the forces of the day – pagan worship, persecution from both Jewish and Roman quarters, and the every day lure of non-religious pursuits, that we all struggle with.

Paul here is urging his hearers to live their lives “as citizens of heaven”. That is the heading for this section in the NLT and it’s a phrase that Paul uses later in the letter, in his famous section on losing your self to gain Christ in Chapter 3. And I think that it’s a worthy subject for us to look at in more depth. We live in a time and place that is “depth challenged!” One of the articles I read this week from Geo. Barna, was entitled “Self-Described Christians Dominate America but Wrestle with Four Aspects of Spiritual Depth.” It doesn’t take a lot of research in fact, for us to know that we as American Christians struggle in the area of making our faith REAL in our day-to-day lives.

Paul has some thoughts on this in our passage this morning. He indicates that there are four metrics by which he will know that they are living a life worthy of the Gospel. Look at the second half of our reading with me: In fact let’s read that paragraph together:

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well-- since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

SO THAT I WILL KNOW…
1. That you are standing firm in one spirit,
2. That you are striving side-by-side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and
3. That you are not intimidated by your opponents.
And Paul adds, almost as an afterthought, as a P.S.:
4. That He has granted you the privilege not only of believing, but of suffering for Him as well.

So the four from Paul are…
Standing as One; Striving Side-by-Side, Without Intimidation, in Suffering for Christ.

How do these things manifest themselves in our lives?
“Standing Firm in One Spirit:” “Real spiritual unity,” one of our early AMiA bishops said, “is a weapon of mass destruction for the kingdom of Satan.” I believe that Oneness, what Christ prays for in John 17, his final great prayer over his disciples, “that they might be one, Father, as you and I are one!” -- Oneness is a gift of the Spirit of God to the Body of Christ. It is something we have by virtue of our position EN CHRISTO - IN CHRIST. But we have to access that gift and live into it with intentionality; thus Paul’s admonition to his hearers in Philippi to “stand firm in One Spirit.” We must choose to stand together or we will surely “fall… apart!”

In a letter to the church in Ephesus later Paul refers to our partnership in “maintaining the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace.” Our spiritual unity (the gift of Christ) is held in the vessel of our human relationships in the Body of Christ, person to person and life on life.
Choosing “peace” is the clear weapon of choice in the war with have with our own flesh and with the devil’s warfare against our unity in the Body of Christ.

“Striving Side by Side with One Mind for the Faith of the Gospel”:
Paul tells us in the Ephesian letter as well, that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and spiritual evil in the high places. Part of our preparation for the warfare we are engaged in the Kingdom of God, is figuring out who the enemy is! Look around you. Is there anyone here that you need to say “I’m not your enemy” too? Maybe we need to take the “Peace” seriously when we pass it as it is the primary weapon in this warfare we have with our flesh and with the Devil. “Striving Side-by-side” means we are facing the same way, together – with one mind: and our focus in on the “faith of the Gospel!!” Our fight is never with one another! It is in the world and FOR the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST! Our focus is on the gospel and on taking it forward into the world. It is amazing the clarity that warfare brings.

“And Are In NO WAY INTIMIDATED by your opponents.”
One of our groups is studying the new book from Max Lucado, entitled FEARLESS. I’m hearing good reports and I think I’m gonna pick up a copy myself to read on vacation. Fr. Edward, as a result of his ordeal in the jail in Colorado Springs, describes himself as now having No Fear!

IN NO WAY INTIMIDATED! Where are you on the intimidation scale? When you are faced with an opportunity to speak to someone about faith, what happens in your stomach?

And finally, Paul adds, all this is GOD’S DOING! Because by His Grace He has granted you the glorious privilege to suffer for him.

OH… THANKS LORD!
UM… LORD… WE DON’T DO SUFFERING HERE IN AMERICA!

And that might be our greatest problem! When we suffer we have a tendency to run or at least… to whine. We move naturally away from that which is probably the most powerful tool in Christ’s hands for the shaping of our lives – one that Paul considers to be a supreme sign of God’s grace!! He calls it a “gracious privilege!” One in which all Christians get to take part. And one which most Christians in America avoid, and in so doing, we avoid the maturity that comes with it.

George Barna in his article on his website, lists four obstacles to spiritual maturity in America:

COMMITMENT: While those who self-identify as Christians in America have largely made an initial commitment to Jesus (81%), only 1 in 5 in actively investing in their own spiritual development (18%). Just a few more describe themselves as “completely dependent on God. (22%) We know intuitively that there is more than most of us are experiencing, but few in America seem willing to dig for the treasure!

REPENTANCE: We are well up the scale as well in “asking for forgiveness (64%)” but the second half of repentance is actually turning from the activities of sin, handing control over to Jesus! Only 1 in 8 (12%) have been gripped by the desperation of their sinfulness, and even less (3%) have come to a place where they have surrendered control of their lives to God.

ACTIVITY: We tend to confuse religious activity with spiritual maturity. 4 in 10 participate regularly in “church, prayer & bible reading”, but when we dig deeper we find far less activity: sharing the faith with a non-Christian, fasting, time of spiritual reflection, and even less frequently: solitude, sacrifice, acts of service, silence, scripture meditation and memorization. We tend to be a “mile wide and an inch deep!”

SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY: This may be where American independence has bitten us worst! We don’t seem to take the concept of a community of faith very seriously in America. Only 1 in 5 even believes that there is a connection between our spiritual maturity and being in a community of faith! Only 1 in 3 admit to having talked with another Christian about their own sins. Vulnerability and accountability are not popular in the western church experience.

SO WHAT?
Paul urges us to live our life in a manner worthy of the Gospel and further identifies the markers of that life: Standing firm in One Spirit; Striving Side by Side for the Gospel of Jesus; Not being intimidated by our opponents and Suffering for Jesus! Do these seem to be a bit anti-thetical to what we’ve just heard about our tendencies in America?

I will grant you that we are a little different here at REZ, but we want to be different! We want to be change agents in this culture! God is calling us to be different! And I believe that God expects us, as Paul did in his letter to the Philippians, to live a life worthy of His Gospel: To stand together as ONE by His Spirit; To strive for the Gospel Side-by-Side! To be FEARLESS and to come to the reality of suffering, seeing it as a grace-gift, not as an inconvenient or unwanted.

Let us pray that we can live lives worthy of the Gospel Of Jesus and that we can overcome our American, easy-believism and our aversion to suffering, accountability and vulnerability as we live our lives openly, in front of one another and the world, for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Sept 11, 2011 - 10 years of Remembrance

2011-10-03T14:19:00.000-06:00

Remembrance on Sept 11
Fr. Philip D. Eberhart
One Nation, Under God, In Whom We Trust

ONE NATION, UNDER GOD

This morning is the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attack on New York. We all know that and have already seen some of the footage again, and already spent some time in prayer for the families of those who were lost. We’ve all read commentary or heard the talking heads reflecting on various aspects of our national psyche or the spiritual condition of the nation, 10 years later. All of those things are good for us to reflect on and especially, to pray about.

This morning I want to reflect on the foundation on which we are built, and on the practices that will once again make us a great and Godly nation - One Nation, Under God!

Those who would strike God from the realm of public discourse have made it their personal war in the last decade to do all they can to minimize and threaten the use of the Name of God or of Jesus Christ and the practice of prayer in the public arena. Those who are sensitive to such pressure, the Politically Correct media and politicians, have cooperated in large measure with an attempt to silence the Christian voice of America.

But today, especially as we remember that day 10 years ago, I see a tidal wave of prayer happening around our nation. It begins in every church – every little gathering of two or three who call out to Jesus today; in every visible remembrance of that terrible day, we are reminded of the testimony of sacrifice and of the power of unified prayer.

Prayer is at the heart of what it means for us to live as “One Nation, Under God.” Such an endeavor is quite impossible without the almighty power of God. George Washington, at the first Presidential Inauguration said, “…it would be peculiarly improper to omit in the first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over the universe; who presides in the council of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States.”

As we say from time to time before we make our offerings: “All we have comes of Thee, O Lord, and of Thine own do we offer thee.” All that we have in this great land comes from the Hand of God in response to the prayers of His people, across this land and across time. We are a nation that is rich in prayer. And that is our greatest hope! Prayer changes us and prayer moves the Hand of God!

I’ve made reference before to the calls throughout our history, by President Lincoln, President Truman and others who have called the nation to pray, fast and to times of humiliation and repentance. From the times of the first Prayer in Congress by the Rev. Mr. Duche, the call to prayer has resounded throughout our history, and is resounding today across our land. The current state of our nation spiritually is darker than perhaps I have ever seen it. The forces of godlessness have asserted themselves to such an extent that much of what was unthinkable a decade ago is now common in our land. In the days after the 9-11 attacks, Bryant Gumble on Today asked Anne Graham Lotz the question, “Where was God?” to which she replied, “God was being a gentleman. We have asked him to leave us alone; we have pushed him out of our public discourse, and banished him from our schools. Why now, would we think he would be protecting us?”

Once again it is a time for us to call for prayer – fall on your face prayer – cry out to God for mercy prayer! Our nation has swung in the past decade to a place that was unthinkable on 9-11-01 and now we are here on 9-11-11, a nation who has pushed God even further out of our common consciousness and public discourse, and yet.

On this day, there are prayers. Here among us and in hundreds of thousands of churches just like us across this land. There are special prayer gatherings tonight, joining our voices in prayer: three that I know of on the front range, in Castle Rock, in Denver and in Greeley, that will draw thousands to an evening of remembrance and rededication to prayer and holiness, for the sake of our One Nation – Under God! Tomorrow all day, at the World Prayer Center in Colorado Spring, prayers will be offered as well, for our nation, for our churches and for the witness of Christ across our land.

Friends, we live in extraordinary times. The forces of evil are pressing in on us on every side, but where darkness abounds, the LIGHT becomes all the more visible.

My prayer for us this day, is that we will become a people of prayer again, across this land. That we will look to the heritage of our fathers and mothers in the faith who forged our freedoms in the furnace of affliction and conflict. That we will stand up and do our part, not only in prayer, but in action.

Prayer changes us. It prepares us, just a Isaiah was prepared by being in God’s presence. He was cleansed and purified by the burning coal from the altar of God, and his response to God’s inquiry, “Who will go for us? Whom shall I send?” was “Here am I! Send me.”

In God We Trust!!

How many of you have coins around, perhaps in your pocket or purse? What is the one phrase that is common to all our coinage? There are two actually: E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One!) and “In God We Trust.” Our nation stands on these two realities, friends. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is the root of our freedoms in America. Patrick Henry made it clear when he said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” This foundation of faith is written into the fabric of our documents, is it etched on the sacred walls of our halls of power, it is in the painting and statuary in the halls of Congress and on the buildings of our nations capitol. It CANNOT BE REMOVED; not it MUST NOT be removed… IT CANNOT BE REMOVED!!! To remove the symbols of the Christian religion from our capitol alone, would deface the very structures themselves. The doors to the Supreme Court room are 20 foot wood doors with the Ten Commandments written on them! Above the bench of the Chief Justice stands a bust relief of Moses the Law-giver of Israel. These stand forever, as a testimony of our heritage – of the very builders of the buildings as well as the builders of the nation.

IN GOD WE TRUST!

Every time you pick up a coin, I challenge you to look at it anew. Turn it in your hand until these words arise in your heart. Make them a declaration over your own life and over the land that we call home. Over your address and every address where you walk.

IN GOD WE TRUST!

Make it your every day prayer for our nation, for its leaders and for its people.

And May God give us what we pray for!

I want to end with a video that I was sent this week. I have visited and stood in Room 219, just off the west side of the rotunda; a small chapel that seats about 20 with an open bible and places to kneel in humility before God. Take a listen to a different side of our lawmakers in Washington that I think you will find refreshing and encouraging. Then we will pray together.

Video Edress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4BELcshdtg&feature=youtu.be

Sept 4, 2011 - The Law of Love

2011-10-03T14:14:00.000-06:00

Sept 4, 2011
The Law of Love
Fr. Philip D. Eberhart

The Law of Love

Last Sunday, this Sunday and next we have glimpses of Paul’s theology of the Kingdom in our readings from his letter to the church in Rome. As I said last week, this is the practical section of a deeply theological work that puts on display the depth and complexity of Paul’s mind; it is his systematic theology.

In these chapters Paul gets down and dirty with the people in the church, working out the practical implications of the theological thought he has put forth in the first two-thirds of this letter.

What we have here in this section in our reading this morning is a kind of jewel that Paul holds up for us. When you put all the theology that has gone before it together in a compact thought, like a diamond Paul holds this short passage up and begins to turn it in his hand, to show off its many facets. The diamond here is The Law of Love.

Tied all the way back to the laws of Moses and the “Great Commandments” of Jesus, Paul brings to the fore for us the simplicity of Jesus Gospel: “the one who loves another has fulfilled the law…[in fact] love is the fulfilling of the law!”

We can hear Jesus, as he instructed his disciples in the upper room on the night before he died: “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another as I have loved you. If you love one another in this way, all the world will know that you are my disciples!”

Great Commandment - Great Commission

There is an order of priority that we can see here, in the way Jesus has spoken to his disciples and in the way He speaks to us: 1) Love one another in the same way I have loved you… and 2) the world will know by experience that you are mine, my devoted followers.

Of course the question that this leaves for us is “How has Jesus Loved Us?” What are we to imitate in order to obey his new commandment?

Our first clue is the word that Jesus actually chose as he gave the commandment!
What would it be?

AGAPE

116 times in the New Testament this word is used to define the kind of love that Jesus had for us and that we are to have for one another. The God-kind of love!

We know the other expressions for love in both Greek and Hebrew; words that describe other dimensions of love: friendship, affection, brotherhood and sisterhood, and intimate physical love of marriage. All these words describe aspects of the emotion of love that we all experience throughout our lives, but none reach the height or purity of the kind of love we experience from God in Jesus Christ!

The word AGAPE is a word that was dusty before the New Testament. It was picked up by John, in his gospel and letters, by Paul in his letters and by Peter and Jude in theirs. AGAPE is a rigorous word! Its root is a verb! An action word; and its as such that we see it in Jesus’ own mouth, over and over.

Another 145 times in the New Testament, and in Jesus own words, 7 times in Matthew and Mark, 9 times in Luke and 28 times in John. Jesus uses the action word to describe God’s own love for the world in sending His only Son, in John 3:16.

So we have an extremely clear picture of what Jesus was saying to his disciples as he got up from the table, after washing their feet and sending his betrayer off to do his duty: A new commandment I am giving to you: Love one another as I have loved you.

In Jesus mouth this word is more often an action word:

…but I say to you, LOVE your enemy!

… looking at him, Jesus LOVED him (of the rich young ruler).

… God so LOVED the world, that He gave His one and only Son!

And of course this love for God is shown most clearly in our obedience to His Word!
Jesus in John 14 hammers this home with his disciples, in the discourse which follows the New Commandment at the end of chapter 13. Over and over again Jesus is crystal clear on the sign of obedience as the proof of this active work of love.

Jn 14:15, 21, 23, 24, 28; 31 Six verses with ten uses of this word LOVE.

Jn 14:15
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Jn 14:21
"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

Jn 14:23
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

Jn 14:24
"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

Jn 14:28
"You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Jn 14:31
but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.

This is the climax of Jesus discourses at the table of the Last Supper, before they “go out”, down through the Kidron Valley and over to the Garden of Gethsemane, for his last night of prayer before the crucifixion. Here Jesus pushes the emphasis on our obedience as a sign of our active love of God and of Himself.

Now let’s look for a moment at the kind of LOVE that this is, this God-kind of LOVE.

First it is SACRIFICIAL. It places the desires of another above its own, every time.
This is why Jesus ties it to obedience and uses his own obedience as its supreme example, in the last verse we read. (v. 31). It is this love that mirrors the love of God that sacrificed His Only Son for the LOVE of the world (3:16). And it is we who are now asked to mirror that love sacrificially, for God and for each other. (Gal 2:20) “The life which I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who LOVED me and gave Himself up for me!”

Second it is UNCONDITIONAL. Paul tells us in Romans 5 that it is while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us! This was in fact, the way that God put this kind of LOVE on display!! There were no guarantees and no strings attached, unlike so much of our own love. The LOVE of God; the God-kind of LOVE is given to us freely, BEFORE we make a move toward Him! Remember the stance of the Father in the Prodigal story! Waiting at the window day after day, straining to see his wayward son’s form on the road, walking back home. The story isn’t about a wayward son – its about a loving father!! Loving with God’s kind of LOVE.

Thirdly it is a GIFT TO US. This kind of love is beyond our means! Paul tells us that this kind of love is a gift of the Holy Spirit – “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Ro 5:5) It is something that we seek and keep on seeking for, knock until it is opened to us, ask and ask and ask again, until God gives us his gracious and tender love. And my friends, the gift is most clearly experienced, as we come face to face with the cross of Jesus, our own part in it because of our sin, and hear his words, spoken from the cross, “Father, forgive them…”

Jesus said that the ones who have been forgiven much AGAPE much!! This is primarily how the gift comes to us, through forgiveness of our own sins and it is how the gift is displayed most clearly in us, as we forgive those who sin against us!!

I want to close with a few verses that capture the beauty of this love, where Paul portrays it, among the gifts in 1 Corinthians, as the supreme gift and turns it around in the light, making it sparkle like no other diamond:

I want to read from two versions in sequence, the Amplified and The Message: Just listen and then we will pray together:

4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].

And from The Message:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.

Aug 28, 2011 - A Glimpse of the Kingdom

2011-10-03T14:03:00.000-06:00

Aug 28, 2011
A Glimpse of the Kingdom
Rom 12

The section of Romans in our readings this morning is one of Paul’s famous passages where he turns from the spiritual side of his letter to the practical side, the out-working of all that has gone before.

He gives us a glimpse of Kingdom life. What it means to live out this faith in the world around us, day-to-day. And its interesting that, unlike most of the lists that we tend to make regarding behavior, its not really a don’t list, it’s more of a To Do List:

From the beginning of the chapter in Romans 12, Paul is clearly giving us a glimpse of Kingdom life:

l-2 Let your life be a living sacrifice, in response to His mercy, which is your reasonable response in worship. Be formed by that response, not by the pressure of the world – be transformed really, letting the way you think be changed by God and His Word, so that you know His will and His ways, what is good, acceptable and perfect.

3-8 Don’t make yourself more important than you are! Don’t forget that you are part of a larger whole – a member of the Body. Each member is important, and plays its role in the work that God intends: Some preach and teach, others serve, others give, yet others encourage or help with details. Each is in ministry by the gift of Jesus and minister to the extent of their faith.

9-21
Love genuinely, from the heart.
Run from evil – cling to all that is good.
Be kind and affectionate to each other, and let one another take first place!
Be careful not to lose heart in your work – keep the fires stoked and burning.
That fire is the Hope in your heart – even in trials and difficulties it is fanned by prayer.
Give freely as you have the means, not grudging what is given: a meal or a bed for the night.
Don’t let the ones who curse you get you down, bless them instead. Be happy with those who are happy and sad with those who cry.
Live a life of harmony with others – let them be the lead singer, while you sing “back up” - you don’t have to be “up front” to be valuable. Everyone is valuable!
Never strike back. Let God take care of your “rep”. If it depends on you, be at peace! Meet your enemies needs: food, water, whatever. These things turn into burning coals in God’s hands. Never be overwhelmed by evil, but overwhelm evil with good.

Friends,
We are called to live in this way. The way of sacrifice to God on a daily basis.
We joke about the fact that living sacrifices keep crawling off the altar, but God is quite focused and serious about the changed lives that He wants to see. And not only God, but the world too, is interested in seeing Real Christians.

I made a new friend on Friday in the long line to get a new sticker for my tags at the Department of Motor Vehicles. You all know the line! He was trying to convince me that my time was more valuable than to wait in this line – he was behind me!!

In our conversation, it came to light that he had a teenage daughter, just out of high school, who was tired of fake Christians. She was using the “hypocrites” line with him, as I was overhearing their phone conversation. He said to me later, “I have the opportunity to live out what I believe, in front of her.”

And that is the most effective witness we can be!

I’ve seen hundreds come to Jesus in the last 24 hours at Rock the Range, but the decision that was made last night, has to be lived out this morning.

Paul tells us that that decision starts new every morning, as we see God’s mercy, and respond in worship by giving Him our lives anew every day. He changes our thinking as we do what He instructs us to.

We are part of a body as well. All of us are important to the working of the Body.
None of us are indispensible, but each plays an important role as the Body does its work. This is the setting of the Kingdom of God and the way that we live life in it.

This is what people are wanting to see; watching for at every turn. People who are changed, who are real, who love them genuinely, and never give up. Those are the people we are being called to be.

Let me just re-read my paraphrase one more time so it sticks:

Love genuinely, from the heart.
Run from evil – cling to all that is good.
Be kind and affectionate to each other, and let one another take first place!
Be careful not to lose heart in your work – keep the fires stoked and burning.
That fire is the Hope in your heart – even in trials and difficulties it is fanned by prayer.
Give freely as you have the means, not grudging what is given: a meal or a bed for the night.
Don’t let the ones who curse you get you down, bless them instead. Be happy with those who are happy and sad with those who cry.
Live a life of harmony with others – let them be the lead singer, while you sing “back up” - you don’t have to be “up front” to be valuable. Everyone is valuable!
Never strike back. Let God take care of your “rep”. If it depends on you, be at peace! Meet your enemies needs: food, water, whatever. These things turn into burning coals in God’s hands. Never be overwhelmed by evil, but overwhelm evil with good.

Our purpose here is to be a people who are living out the reality of the redeemed people of God in the world. We are the Kingdom; We are the Bride, the Body of Christ!

Let the Spirit of God bring about this reality in your life. That is the goal of our salvation. And God is willing and able to work these things into and out from your life.

For the sake of Kingdom and the Fame of His Name.

Amen.

Aug 14, 2011 - Pressing into the Kingdom

2011-10-03T13:58:00.000-06:00

August 14, 2011
Pressing into the Kingdom
Fr. Philip Eberhart

Jesus was a man who lived His life “on purpose.” In fact, if there ever was a person who was here, “on purpose” it was HIM! He had an indelible sense of His calling, gifting and of the purpose for which He was sent by God.

Repeatedly we hear Jesus talking about the reasons that God sent Him into the world – “to seek and to save that which is lost”; to find the “lost sheep – the lost coin – to welcome home the lost son.” Jesus saw what He was doing as a direct extension of what God was doing in the world.

In our opening prayer this morning we acknowledged Jesus to be the supreme example for our lives as well as the savior of the world. “you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life” We prayed that God would give us the grace to “follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life.”

Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of God – the Kingdom of Heaven – to earth. His model prayer caught this reality – “Let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!”

God is still in the business of bringing His Kingdom to its fullness “on earth, as it is in heaven.” We are the chosen and the sent now.

In our New Testament lesson from Romans, Paul takes great pains over three chapters in Romans, a book written to his Gentile converts in Rome obviously, making the case that the Jews are going to come into the salvation that God has promised to them. And our reading today is the culmination of that argument.

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” – they cannot be repented of!

We cannot turn away from the gifting and the calling that God has placed on our lives – and that is where we see Jesus today in our Gospel reading.

Jesus had a single focus – the Lost sheep of Israel. His encounter with the Gentile woman in Tyre illustrates this single-mindedness. In fact what we see is a kind of hardness that we don’t expect in Jesus. He wants to turn his back and walk away from her situation, but she would have none of it! He argues with her and the argument is based on this single-minded focus of His. Her argument is one that picks up his imagery, but points to the mercy she needs. She is just as single-minded as He is!! She is not put off – she is determined in her faith that she will receive what she is seeking from Him. And she does. Her faith and determination overcame even Jesus’ reluctance here. Perhaps the only time we see such an attitude in Jesus, but we must understand the context and the exchange.

All that to say that we can learn from both figures in the story. We can learn of determined faith from the Canaanite woman; faith that pierces through any wall or argument set up against it. We can learn single-mindedness from Jesus as well in this exchange. Though He appears harsh in this exchange it was because He was focused on the work He was sent to accomplish.

Both of them were models of single-mindedness. Jesus about the Kingdom of God and who He was sent to; the Canaanite woman, about the healing needed for her daughter.

So what have we to be single-minded about?

Jesus said it best, in the Sermon on the Mount, “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…”

The aims and the work of the Kingdom of God and the internal righteousness of the Character of God are to be our focus – that which we seek FIRST. The Kingdom of God and the Character of God: an external reality and an internal reality.

THY KINGDOM COME – THY WILL BE DONE

The nature of the Kingdom is captured in the phrases of Jesus prayer:

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

The Kingdom of God is the place where God’s will is done. Where God’s reign is effective and real, and His will is accomplished 100% of the time, 24/7/365.

Jesus came to bring the Kingdom back to earth, to restore the Kingdom of Heaven, on earth. This was his single focus! This was what Jesus ate, drank and slept! This is what Jesus prayed for day to day, and this is what his actions lead us to throughout His earthly ministry.

THY KINGDOM COME! 162 times in the NT, Jesus mentions the Kingdom. It was this focus from which His teachings flow; it was this focus that His healings point to; it was this focus that his confrontation of evil flowed from.

The line that Matthew uses to capture and to bookend the work of Jesus is this:
Matthew 4:23-25

²³ Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. ²⁴ News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. ²⁵ Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns,^[h] Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

Matthew 9:35-38
³⁵ Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

In between these verses we have the richest field of treasure in the whole world! The shape of the Kingdom on earth is laid out by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5, 6 and 7. Then in chapters 8 and 9 Jesus is traveling and healing the people. Matthew closes this section by repeating the verse he began with and by telling us to look at the harvest and to pray for the workers.

Then immediately in Chapter 10 Jesus sends the disciples out with their orders. Marching orders! And they are US! We are them – the ones who have been sent into the world with direct orders from Jesus, to bring in the Kingdom of God and to live His Righteous life in the world.

And these last three verses of Matt 9 are very instructive. They form a bridge between the work of Jesus and the work that He sends us to do in the world around us.

Our motivation is compassion;

“When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them
because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

            Our goal is the harvest;
            “The harvest is great, but the workers are few!”

                        Our means is prayer.
                        “Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; asks Him to send
                        More workers into his fields.”

Friends, nothing we can do in and of ourselves can “bring the Kingdom – on earth as it is in Heaven!” Our greatest weapon and tool is prayer to the God who is able to do more than we can ask or imagine!

But once again, let me remind you that, once we’ve prayed, the next word in both Matthew and Luke’s gospels is “GO.”

Prayer prepares both us and those who we are sent to. Prayer is the rain that softens the soil that it may be easily broken to accept eternal seed. And that is what we carry with us – the seed of the eternal Kingdom of God. Planted in the hearts of those we meet, by kindness, by goodness, by long-suffering patience – by the fruit of the Character of God in our lives – we are enabled by Him to be the bearers of fruit for His Kingdom!

And so we continue to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven” and “Here am I, Lord. Send me.”

Amen.

2011-07-26T21:15:00.000-06:00

July 24, 2011
Picturing the Kingdom
Fr. PHILIP EBERHART

Picturing The Kingdom of God

Our gospel readings for the past few weeks have been from this 13th chapter of Matthew, which is the primary source of teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven in his gospel account. There are references to “the Kingdom” in almost every chapter – one or two or three – but here in this chapter the whole is given to his parables of the Kingdom. Likewise we see this in parallel in Mark and Luke.

Jesus repeatedly refers to “the Kingdom” in his teaching and the study of these pictures – his parables and stories – is a rich source of wisdom and knowledge about the working of the world into which we are called as believers.

We are called to A KINGDOM

We in the good ol’ US of A have little knowledge or use for a King. We proved that just about 250 years ago, as we overthrew the tyranny of a king and set for ourselves “new guards” for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – those inalienable rights granted us by God.

So a king or a kingdom are somewhat foreign concepts to us here – we know them by reference but not in our experience, and in fact, our experience leads us to be diametrically opposed to the whole idea of kingship and kingdom.

So how do we come to One who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, when we have little or no experience with this kind of relationship? Can we study our way into the Kingdom of God? I don’t think so.

The first step into a Kingdom is ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

I must acknowledge the KING. That means I assent to His rule and place myself UNDER that rule, willingly. We use the word SUBMISSION today, to indicate the subjection of one will to another will – and so it is, we are submitted to Christ Jesus.

Jesus is the King of this Kingdom. He is its chief professor and to understand it we must come and submit to Him and sit at His feet – in His Word. It is here that we are taught the principles of this Kingdom. It is here that we learn anew how this Kingdom works – because it is radically different from the kingdoms of this world!

This morning I want to look at the Pictures of the Kingdom that Jesus gives us just in our reading. There are numerous other pictures and parables that He uses to describe this reality throughout the whole of the NT, but 98 of the 134 references to the Kingdom are in the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke – the “synoptic” gospels. Some of those are parallel passages, telling the same story from different perspectives, but there are a significant number of these pictures. Let’s just look at the few that are presented to us in Matt 13 now:

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE:

A Mustard Seed ---

Known for the smallness of its seed, the mustard plant is a picture of the potential of the Kingdom. From small beginnings, the Kingdom of God grows into the largest plant in the garden! From the seed that was Jesus himself, falling into the ground in death, has come the billions who are now and have in the past professed Him as Lord and King. And the seed continues to grow even today.

Yeast Hidden ---

Once again, Jesus is talking about the powerful potential of the Kingdom, which with only a small portion of yeast, leavens a whole batch of dough. A little goes a long way. Here Jesus uses this metaphor in a variety of ways, making reference to the “yeast” of the Pharisees in some of his teaching, illustrating that the principle of potential works in a negative direction as well.

Last night at Anne’s birthday party, I and Oak were talking about the amazing influence that this congregation has for the Kingdom. With just a few folks, we are causing an influence for the Kingdom that is being felt around the world, not just in one place but in many. The Potential Principle is working among us here at REZ!

Treasure Hidden --- Pearl of Great Price

Later in the chapter, Jesus changes gears and begins to talk about the Principle of Relative Worth in the Kingdom of God. We have a scale of worth in our culture: It is based on ease of replacement. An airline pilot makes more than a janitor. He is “worth” more than the janitor. But in the social life of the Kingdom (and in the real life of America) all we need is to have a garbage collectors’ strike to know the relative value of that profession!

Here Jesus turns to helping us gain an understanding of the value of the Kingdom.
The treasure hidden and the pearl of great price are both illustrations of the Relative Worth of the Kingdom of God. It is worth enough to go and sell all you have in order to “buy” it. In other words, nothing we have here on earth can compare to its worth. It is supremely valuable! More so than anything we could ever possess in this world.

The Great Net ---

Finally, Jesus comes back to the illustration of the Kingdom as a place where both good and bad may grow (and be caught in the net) but there will be a sorting out process and ultimate destiny based on Kingdom reality, not on our value system.

This is similar to the parable of the tares, earlier in the chapter, that we heard in last week’s Gospel reading. The principle here is of the Ultimate Justice of the Kingdom. God will sort it all out in the end. In this world we have an ongoing battle with our flesh, we have an ongoing struggle with the fallen tendencies of our old nature and those of others.

The challenge so often among us is not to do God’s work for Him! We so badly want to sort out those we deem to be inferior or unworthy – those whose lives don’t show fruitfulness or, just those who rub us the wrong way. Especially in the church!

Have you ever noticed that God tends to place people along our path who, in our humble opinion, need to be “fixed?” And what do you do with such folks? Most of us try to fix them. Now, has anyone here ever been on the receiving end of trying to be fixed? Fun? Not so much!!

This parable and the parable of the tares earlier in this chapter, both point to the principle that God and God alone is the ultimate judge and arbiter. He alone will make the determination on our faithfulness and worth to Him, and we, being subject to Him in The Kingdom, better not usurp His throne by taking the judgment seat ourselves.

The final question that Jesus asks is, “So, do you get it?”

DO YOU?

The Kingdom of God is powerful in its potential, taking the smallest of beginnings and making the largest of Kingdoms out of them. It is hidden power and potential, like leaven. We will not be able to see its influence until it starts growing inside. But when that happens it will change the whole because of its influence.

The Kingdom of God is worth everything. But once again its value is not apparent, it is hidden – something to be sought after like treasure, something to be sacrificed for at great cost – the cost of our very lives and livelihoods. It is worth it all.

And, the Kingdom of God is progressing – Here now, and Not Yet. It is a mixed bag of wheat and weeds, of fish, both good and bad. It is a huge net that has been cast by heaven around the world, and it is heaven that will decide at the end of the day on our worthiness and our ultimate fate and reward.

Jesus most chilling words are similar in many places. “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord! Will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” The ones who DO the will of my Father will be the ones to enter into the Joy of the Master. Jesus is always clear that what is required of us is obedience. We are subjects of a King and we must live always in the knowledge of that allegiance and with our minds ready and willing to make that allegiance first above all others.

A Harvest of Souls

2011-07-10T21:29:00.000-06:00

July 10, 2011
Proper 10
Fr. PHILIP EBERHART

The Harvest of Souls

Have any of you driven lately out toward the east on I-70? If so you have probably seen the wheat fields that are standing ready. This is a very stressful time for the farmers these days, especially with all the rain we’re getting, as the harvest stands ready in the fields, but we can’t get at it because of all the rain. And with each rain storm, the possibility looms overhead that the harvest itself will be damaged by wind, hail or even flooding.

Do you know that the Father of souls takes a similar view, in the light of the winds and the storms of change in our culture, and the potential damage to the crop – whole generations lost because of the perilous times – and moreover, some of the crop is being lost because of inattention to the harvest by those who are the appointed harvesters!

Jesus, in our gospel this morning, tells a story to His disciples as they are walking through the countryside, observing the planting of seed and he likens it to the sowing of the Word of God into the lives of non-believers. I call this the parable of the soils. Jesus describes, as they walk, the types of soil that seeds fall on top of, 4 types to be exact:

The Road itself – Hard packed and impossible to penetrate, the seed falls vulnerable and open to the elements and the critters, who come for a meal themselves and take away the seed that is thusly sown.

The Road Side – where all the rocks have been kicked off the path, gotten covered a bit by some dust or soil. The seed falls there, but the soil has no depth for the seed to take root, and so it withers and dies.

The Bar Ditch – where the soil is deep enough for roots, but everything is growing there, including the thorns and weeds in abundance. The seed itself takes root but cannot grow because of the competition for nutrients and water, and so the seed dies.

The Field – where the soil is tended, broken, and open to receive the seed – then the seed itself is tended, watered and weeded, as the farmer sees to it that the seed will flourish and produce its intended result – a crop for harvest, reproducing itself a hundredfold, or sixty fold or even just thirty fold.

Having grown up on the farm, I can’t find adequate words to begin to convey to those who have lived in the city all their lives, the importance of this image and the weight of this metaphor in the life of the church. The point is what happens to the Seed, the Eternal Word of God, in the process of its getting planted in the life. And for the farmer who hears this, the point is the responsibility of the farmer, the sower, for the life of the seed after it is sown!!

Anyone who has been a farmer or even a gardener, knows the process of preparation of the soil to receive seed, the process of planting, specific depths and distances for each plant, the process of watering, not too much or too little, the process of weeding and tending that goes into a garden. The same is true on the grand scale for the farmer.

What we are seeing around us at this time of year in Colorado is the culmination of the other 50 weeks of work on that crop. And those 50 weeks have a definite plan and progression on the way to the harvest. But when harvest comes, everything else stops.

The challenges of this parable in the mouth of Jesus are twofold:

1. What kind of soil are you? What kind of reception does the Eternal Seed of the Word of God have in your heart and life? Is your heart hard packed, strewn with rocks or weeds? Or is your heart broken and soft, to receive the planting of the Word that springs up to eternal life?

But the next question isn’t about you as soil, it’s about you as a seed!

2. What kind of seed are you? What is the level of fruitfulness in the life you are living? A hundredfold, sixty, … thirty? How many can say that thirty others have come to know Jesus, because you have led them there?

The question is a challenge isn’t it? … And an invitation.

When Jesus sent his disciples out ahead of him, in Luke 10 with these words: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest!” And do you know what the next word is?

GO!

STEP ONE: PRAY!
STEP TWO: GO!!!!!

The harvest is on the heart of God, and all the more as we near the day of His coming.

This morning I want to reiterate what you have heard already from me on numerous occasions: You are God’s Plan A . . . and there is no plan B!

So like we prayed last week for the turning of our nation, we are going to pray this morning for the salvation of our nation, and of our state and city, and then specifically for those whom God is placing on your heart. I want you to take the Operation Andrew brochures here and write the names down – first names only, and we are going to offer those names on the altar this morning and every morning we meet together for worship.

The harvest is on God’s heart!! The function of prayer for the harvest is to get it on our hearts! Prayer focuses our attention in the direction that God’s heart is focused and in the direction that the Spirit moves, whenever He moves. Outwardly! Once God has our attention He urges us to GO. GO. GO!!

“When the Holy Spirit come upon you, you will receive power, and you will be my witnesses – outwardly moving from Jerusalem, to Judea, and then to Samaria and then to all the ends of the earth.”

Every move of the Spirit of God has this outward component to it – the Holy Spirit isn’t a toy God gives us to amuse ourselves – He is the inner motivation and locomotion to take on the mission of Jesus, who told us that he came to “seek and to save that which was lost!”

So there you have it.

I want to pray this morning, as we move through our prayers, for the needs of our world, but most specifically I want you to begin naming names. The harvest begins as we name names. If you don’t know any names of lost people, then that’s a problem! We have a tendency in the church to insulate ourselves from the world – from the lost! But that is not God’s design! His plan isn’t for us to become a fortress, but for us to be a field!

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace. So clothe us with Your Spirit, that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know You, to the knowledge and love of You, for the honor of Your Name. Amen.

(Please add your own petitions for a time as we pray for the Harvest in our City, especially in regard to the upcoming Rock the Range outreach and our part in the process of invitation, preparation and planting of the seed.)

Ten Years Together - A Journey Back In Time

2011-07-03T23:33:00.001-06:00

10th Anniversary Celebration
May 1, 2011

A Journey Back in Time – 10 Years Together

I want to tell you that this has been an interesting week, dealing with the normal flow of events in life, while poring through the picture and video files on my computer hard drives for evidence of the life we have shared, many of us, for the past 10 years.

I want to ask those who have been along for the whole journey to stand at this time. And many of these go back another 5 years to St. George’s Parish. But many have come along for the journey, some have come, been touched along the way, and gone on to other assignments and places, others have come and found a new home here at REZ, or are finding it even now.

The slide show and movies that I’ve assembled give a brief 17 minute look back at faces and events many of us will remember through these past 10 years. Not all are here as I don’t have pictures of everyone. But I think you’ll enjoy the remembrances of a life lived together here at REZ.

[Start Show]

Familiar images begin as we see our image of IMPACT and INFLUENCE and the
World we want to touch with the love of Jesus.

Faces we give thanks for for their courage and spiritual fortitude in supporting a group of spiritual refugees in America, Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini and Yong Ping Chung.

We got to be a part of the groundbreaking events in 2000 and 2001 as these overseas bishops came to America to consecrate new Missionary Bishops for the growing Anglican Mission in America. REZ was at the heart of the Consecration event in late June of 2001, hosting it at the church we were meeting at, providing the altar linens, the worship, choir and even the press support. Somehow my cell number got passed on as the main press contact and I had calls from CNN, PBS, LA TIMES, Time Magazine and became friends with our main Anglican agitator, David Virtue!

We have enjoyed close relationships with our bishops, both on this side and the other side of the Atlantic, coming into relationship with our friends in Byumba, Rwanda. We were visited by Bishop Onesphore Rwaje, and he got his Colorado Miter to take back to Rwanda. We have had great relationships with our Rwandan friends and count them as family now. We have visited and begun to catch the vision for what can happen as we touch each others’ lives and learn to live and worship together as One Church, on Two Continents On Mission Together. [choir clip]
Bishop Geoffrey Rwubussissi has been here several times and we maintain a good relationship with Onesphore and Josephine, now the new Archbishop of Rwanda and his dear wife.

These relationships were natural for us as we have had friends from Uganda for many years at REZ. Our Ugandan connection runs deep with many friends, some of whom are back in Uganda, some of whom we are trying to keep from going back to Uganda and we give thanks for those continuing relationships.

We are bound in a Sister to Sister relationship with the parish church of Ngarama, in N.E. Byumba Diocese. We have been working on the parish for several years now, beginning with our trip in 2007 and continuing with our work with Pastor Servilien Nsingimana and the new bishop of Byumba, Emmanuel Ngendahayo.

[Ngarama Clip]

As you can see there has been a lot of work done already, and we are hoping to see the completion of this parish in another couple of years. The church meets regularly in this spot and in smaller congregations around the Ngarama district. There are vocational schools as well that we are involved with as we continue relationships that were begun on our trip in 2007 and more so this year. Our upcoming Ride 4 Rwanda will be a great tool
for helping us get to this goal. Needless to say, building churches in Rwanda and Uganda is much, much cheaper than building churches here in South Denver!

We also still enjoy relationships and have them with our partners around the world. We’ve have enjoyed relationships with Archbishop Diropka of Congo, with Kaili and Casper from China, and we relish our ongoing relationship through the Men’s Group and their bake sales, with International Bible Translators, Natalia and Sanjeir.

We enjoyed a particularly anointed time in Uganda working with our brother Doug McCain, LC1, in the building of the new parish church in Kicuna, Uganda.
It was an amazing time as we worshipped together for the first time and set the commemorative plaque on the wall.

[children singing clip]

We have been able to partner with them and will continue to partner. Their new bishop will be consecrated later this week I believe.

And our own Valerie has broken into missions as well, with the wedding dresses and her trip in Jan-Feb to Rwanda. She is involved in training seamstresses and tailors, bringing wedding dresses into Rwanda and Uganda and helping to provide an income stream for the Mother’s Unions and their outreach ministries.

Children and families are very important to us here at home as well. Our kids have always had a central part in our hearts and in the life of the parish. VBS has always been an adventure, sometimes tropical, sometime mystical – but the people who have made these times happen hold special places in our hearts. And we count these times as special times in the life of our parish. Sorry kids, I just had to include the Christmas pageant pics!!

Of course the summer would not be complete now without a visit from our favorite scaley friends and the Reptile Man!! How about that snake-handling priest??

Young people have also played a big role over the years and mission and ministry has happened. We especially remember the fun times, the 30-hour famine, the trip to South Dakota – twice actually – and the lives that were touched. How we were touched as much as those we served.

We remember the work with Project Christmas Child and the people who have been a part of our lives, but most of all the friendships and relationships that continue on.

Our work is part of a larger work in the city of Denver. The March for Jesus and Jesus Day celebrations –taking the Name of Jesus outside the walls of the church. We give thanks for our friends and advocates for mission outside the walls of the church.. Jude Del Hierro and Hank Salmans. For our own advocates for mission and for those who volunteer to go, to pray, to stand and to serve. From Washington DC to the Katrina Relief Project here in Denver so much has been done, for the Kingdom in the City.

Many have helped to lead along the way, and we celebrate their progress in ministry. We have been touched by one another’s lives, day-in-and-day-out. We are friends in the Kingdom of God

And there are those who have gone on before us for whom we give thanks.

We are a people of character – or a bunch of characters!!

We have worshipped in many different venues over these 10 years, always needing to use our creative juices to make a space Anglican.

We’ve washed each other’s feet

And staked our land for the Lord.

Now we face the future together and move out – going into all the world to preach the gospel, to make disciples, to teach and baptize – to fulfill all that God has made us for as He has promised.

I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Amen.

The Easter Believer - Easter Sunday 2011

2011-07-03T23:29:00.000-06:00

EASTER 2011
April 24, 2011

The Easter Believer

“Alleluia! The Lord is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia”

Around the world for the past 19 hours, most of the services of worship around the world have begun with these words. In hundreds of languages, for thousands of tribes, and now billions of believers, around the world, this day marks the event that changed history - It changed our story into His Story, and with the words that John utters at the tomb, “I believe!” and the words of Mary to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” – our story began, and we today, stand in a very, very long line – a grand processional -- of faith in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God.

In an Easter ad in the Centennial paper yesterday, I saw the question, “What if it’s all true?” That’s why we are here isn’t it? Because with the billions around the world and down through the ages, we BELIEVE… IT’S ALL TRUE! All the “stories” of the Bible – All the tales of triumph and glory – all the flubs and failures – all the promises of a hope and a future – all the things Jesus said and did, from his virgin birth to the glorious resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand:
IT’S ALL TRUE!

ALLELUIA! The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! ALLELUIA!

And if we believe that it’s all true, then what? We’ve been five weeks, considering the question Jesus asked of his own disciples who were walking along beside of him:
“If you believe that I am Lord [ that I am risen ] then why don’t you do what I say?” Jesus faced his own disciples with the “So What?” question, just as we have to face it ourselves – Jesus asks us, and I believe its worth our considering: so what?

So Why? … So What?

I think we first have to deal with the heart of the matter here: The question we’ve been dealing with in our Truth Project class for many weeks now: “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” Most of the time, our default setting is materialism: I “believe” in what I can taste, touch, smell, feel or see. In our culture we have that which is “real” (can be scientifically proven) and that which is “based on faith.” Anything that you have to “take by faith” isn’t really real. It isn’t provable by scientific methods or standards. AND in our culture any “faith” will do because our politically-correct environment requires a pluralistic approach to faith, based on the underlying assumptions of materialism, that our faith is “personal” but not really based on verifiable “fact.”

Well let’s look at some facts:
FACT: As far as history goes, the Bible is the best attested work of history by hundreds if not thousands of times. If the graph showing the differential were two buildings, the difference between the Bible and the rest of historical writing from that time (that’s all accepted as 100% credible), would be like comparing a dog house to the Empire State building.

FACT: The life and ministry, the death AND the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is equally well attested! The question is, “What standards of proof are you going to require?” If we take the standards of proof that are required in every law court in the land from our municipal courts to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. – if we take that standard of proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” – then the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “passes the bar.” By every standard of proof that can be applied, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a fact of history, as certain as the existence of Napoleon or Julius Caesar. How so?

Eyewitness accounts: If the Biblical accounts are allowed to stand on their own, then the proof is there – John, the one who ran to the tomb and believed, said later in his life:

1-2From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.
3-4We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 Jn 1: 1-4 The Message)

Or from Peter in our reading in Acts 10 this morning,
or this in a later letter from him:
16 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes 17 when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”[f] 18 We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines[g] in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,[h] 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
(2 Peter 1: 16-21 New Living)

The witness of the apostles and the early church stands as testimony to the truth and power of what we place “faith” in today. The scriptures are trustworthy in what they testify too and are, in Paul’s words “useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness.” In short they are an absolute guide book for our life – an owners manual – better yet, a repair manual!

The crisis in our country isn’t about what we do or say today… its about what we do and say tomorrow, in the light of today.

So Why?... So What?

What NOW?
The disciples probably had the same questions as we do? They sat and fished and ate and walked with Jesus for three years, and most of them didn’t have a clue about the force and the direction that this was taking – until after his resurrection, and even then – even after all that – at the last moment of Jesus time on earth, in Matt 28, at his ascension from the Mt of Olives – it says, “…some doubted!”
Lord, will we ever “get it?” The disciples did.

10 days later.

Not because of their great human wisdom or insight. Not because they actually figured it out as they were locked behind the doors in prayer (though that couldn’t have hurt!). Not because they were super devout or super smart.

The disciples “got it” when they were given “it.” The Holy Spirit, that is… not really an “it” – rather a person, a relationship that they entered into, on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis with the Third Person of the Holy Trinity – God’s Spirit, poured out by the Father and the Son, upon the church – every believer. Point to yourself and say, “That’s me!”

Now, how many of you said that whole-heartedly?

It’s hard for us to spot faith in ourselves I think. Because we know all the junk inside of us, don’t we? We know our doubts. We know our wondering thoughts. We know our struggle to believe. We know our fears of what others might think. And yes they WILL think that!! Jesus didn’t say it was going to be a walk in the park, did he? No! Here’s another FACT for you:

The Christian religion has been the most persecuted, analyzed, divided, shot-at, hammered on, criticized, and opposed religion in the world. There are more attempts to corrupt it, confuse it, condemn it or otherwise dismiss it today than ever before, yet: More people have died in the last century for their Christian faith than all centuries previously -- combined.

The things we take on faith are everywhere, from sitting down on a chair to going up in a plane – faith is a part of our every day experience, yet we separate out our faith in GOD and in JESUS and make it need to be SUPER LOGICAL and require SUPER PROOF. SUPER FAITH!

How about some SIMPLE FAITH?
It’s out of simple faith that children believe that when they jump their dad or mom will catch them.
It’s out of simple faith that people see good in others and respond.
It’s out of simple faith that people believe that a dollar given can make a difference in a place like Japan or Pakistan or New Orleans.
It’s out of simple faith that we are enabled to respond to the call of God to believe in Jesus, His Son and begin to live our lives from a different place – a different center.
To live our lives in a different way – the way Jesus lived His life – both naturally and supernaturally – 100% of both.
It’s out of simple faith, that we say… We Believe!
It’s out of simple faith that we act on that faith.
It’s because of simple faith that the world will be a different place tomorrow.

Amen.

Palm Sunday - Let This Mind Be In You

2011-07-03T23:21:00.000-06:00

Palm Sunday 2011

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

The short reading from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi is the classic hymn of the passion of Jesus Christ. It’s also known as the Kenotic Passage, as Paul describes the example of humility – Kenosis means “self-emptying” – that Jesus gave to us in the Cross.

This morning’s readings and this week’s services are the message this morning. I just wanted to add about a two minute meditation to spur our thinking and devotion during this week as we approach Good Friday and Easter morning.

This week is the culmination of our 40 day Lenten observances. Many have denied themselves of something that they love, as a reminder of the passion of Jesus. Some have taken on new disciplines of prayer, or fasting, or reading, or servanthood. All of these are good and I want to commend you for all that you have done. I pray that your lent has been a “holy Lent” indeed.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, begins chapter two with a challenge to the whole community – one which still stands and challenges us to this day, as does the Cross itself. “Make my joy complete!” Paul says to the Church in his letter, “ by being ONE in heart and mind – by having this same love – this same self-less-ness – by having the “mind of Christ.”

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…

Paul is clear in his Roman letter that we are made new by the power of a renewed mind – it is in the realm of our thinking that much of what needs to happen can happen regarding the transformation and renewal of our lives IN CHRIST. It isn’t a magical process or a simple download of information – It is the systematic rebuilding of our thought patterns with new ones.

It is a fundamental shift away from our typical self-centeredness toward a new humility – a self-emptying humility that is active in its regard for others and in its forgetfulness of itself.

Jesus said that “no greater love has any man than this than that he would lay down his life for his friends!” This is exactly what Jesus did on that day – the day we celebrate on Good Friday. Not much was good on that day as it happened, as we have heard this morning, but what was good was what He accomplished through that obedience.

Jesus has lived before us and all men an example of selfless humility and self-sacrificial love for each one of us. I pray that this week you will take some time to re-read the accounts of His sacrifice – Come on Fri evening to experience the Passion of the Christ, in video and song and reading. But most of all, I pray that you will find a way to live out the kind of life that He lived -- “who being in very nature, God, humbled himself and became a servant – a slave – and became obedient to death on a cross.”

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus!

Amen.

A Heritage of Prayer - Call2Fall Sunday

2011-07-03T20:52:00.000-06:00

“Call2Fall” Sunday
July 3, 2011
Fr. Philip Eberhart

A Heritage of Prayer

Over the past two years or so I’ve been involved with the Family Research Council in Washington DC as a prayer partner here in Denver and as a pastor who intentionally shares the spiritual concerns of our nation, with my congregation and with other pastors. I’ve made a commitment, along with several thousand other pastors around the country to Preach, to Pray and to Partner for Faith, Family and Freedom.

Tomorrow is July 4th, the commemoration of our national independence - of it’s ‘declaration’, on July 4th, 1776. We are 236 years into what some have called “The American Experiment” – an experiment in self-government – what Abraham Lincoln called, “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” But what we often miss is the heritage we have as a people of calling out to God for His aid in this experiment.

As I’ve read in preparation for this day I’ve been looking at notable calls to prayer through the history of our land, and there are many to recall. From the first prayer in Congress, which predates the Declaration itself by 22 months, dating from Sept 7, 1774, to the calls to prayer by various founding fathers; to calls to prayer by Ben Franklin and John Adams, during the Constitutional convention and afterwards, as the new nation was in its birthpangs, led by George Washington, a devout man who prayed fervently throughout the struggles of the Revolutionary War and into his presidency.

From our beginnings the call to and the continuing necessity of prayer for our nation has been central in our understanding and in the formation of our national consciousness of our dependence on God – what the Declaration refers to as the “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” And this consciousness continues among us today, from the setting aside of a National Day of Prayer in the 50’s to the adoption of a national motto, “In God We Trust”, to the words in the pledge of allegiance affirming that we are a nation, which was formed and lives its daily life “under God.”

As you know, today a creeping secularism has taken over our national life and the institutions of our government to such an extent that even these simple tokens of acknowledgment toward God are being challenged and are suffering the attempts of the godless at their erasure from our culture. And these attempts are the final blows of an onslaught on the faith that founded this nation, on prayer to the Christian God, and on any form of public expression of that faith or prayer.

But God… who is faithful, still stands at the center of our life and witness as a church and desires to be at the center of our national life, blessing our national concerns and needs in these trying times.

And so the call to prayer necessarily comes down to us today along with the promise of God, regarding its usefulness in the life of His People and of the nation they inhabit.
Let me quote from some of the lines of notable proclamations which have gone before us, as we bring the reality of God’s providence and His provision for us as a nation into the forefront of our thinking today:

From the prayer of Rev. Duche’ in 1774:

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee.

“Henceforth dependent only on Thee!” Lord, may this be true of us today, as it was of the first framers of our independence, that we find in our freedom a true dependence on you who is the author and finisher of our faith and from whose hand all good things come down.

As Abraham Lincoln penned more than a century later,

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people;

And Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation came in the midst of one of our nation’s greatest conflicts, and on the heels of another time of prayer, ordered by his predecessor, President James Buchannan:

The Union of the States is at the present moment threatened with alarming and immediate danger; panic and distress of a fearful character prevails throughout the land; our laboring population are without employment, and consequently deprived of the means of earning their bread. Indeed, hope seems to have deserted the minds of men. All classes are in a state of confusion and dismay, and the wisest counsels of our best and purest men are wholly disregarded.

In this the hour of our calamity and peril, to whom shall we resort for relief but to the God of our fathers? His omnipotent arm only can save us from the awful effects of our own crimes and follies -- our own ingratitude and guilt towards our Heavenly Father.

Let us, then, with deep contrition and penitent sorrow, unite in humbling ourselves before the Most High, in confessing our individual and national sins, and in acknowledging the injustice of our punishment. Let us implore Him to remove from our hearts that false pride of opinion which would impel us to persevere in wrong for the sake of consistency, rather than yield a just submission to the unforeseen exigencies by which we are now surrounded. Let us with deep reverence beseech him to restore the friendship and good will which prevailed in former days among the people of the several States; and, above all, to save us from the horrors of civil war and "blood-guiltiness." Let our fervent prayers ascend to His Throne that He would not desert us in this hour of extreme peril, but remember us as he did our fathers in the darkest days of the revolution; and preserve our Constitution and our Union, the work of their hands, for ages yet to come.

These are but a few of countless examples throughout our short 236 year history of our national reliance on prayer and on the God who hears our prayers. We are once again in a place as a nation when a fervent outcry to God is demanded of us. This morning we want to make that cry to God for our nation, for its leaders and people, and for His providential oversight and provision for our land.

Nine years ago Pastor Joe Wright opened the Kansas State Senate with a prayer that stirred the nation, and laid out the malaise of our times for all to see. The prayer was reprinted and sent on the internet around the world several times. It was picked up by Paul Harvey, before his death, and resulted in the largest audience response ever to any of his programs. This morning I think that prayer bears repeating, as we begin to call out to God in repentance for our own part in the sins of our nation.

Nehemiah, the great rebuilder of Jerusalem, began his journey with a prayer similar to this, as he acknowledged his own sins and the sins of his people against God. The journey toward rebuilding our nation, begins here, with the simple acknowledgements of our own part in the direction our nation has taken, and with a new commitment to be a part of the answer – seeking the Kingdom of God first and the righteousness of that Kingdom, and allowing God to be the provision of our needs in this land. So let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that -
• We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism,
• We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery,
• We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare,
• We have killed our unborn and called it choice,
• We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable,
• We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem,
• We have abused power and called it politics,
• We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition,
• We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of statement,
• We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen!

I invite you to kneel now, or to come and with me, fall on your face before God, as we continue in our prayers this morning in answer to God’s invitation:

“If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will heal their land.”

Let us join together in prayer:

Fourth Sunday of Lent - Growing through Witness

2011-04-03T15:23:00.003-06:00

Fourth Sunday of Lent “So…Why?” Series – Part IV Growing Through Witness “Once I was blind, but now I see!” The essence of our witness is just that simple. “Once I was _____________, but now I __________” Witness is telling the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it has impacted and changed your own life. Witness is not optional equipment in the life of faith. If our life in Christ is like a new car, we tend to have a consumerist approach. We think that there are choices to be made on our part – a deluxe interior, color or paint packages. What we are talking about this Lent isn’t those kinds of choices! The choice of whether or not we are witnesses isn’t an “accessory” decision – its choosing whether the car has a transmission – a drive train, wheels and tires, because witness, my friends, is where the rubber meets the road. As American Anglicans we have both a spotted past behind us and a daunting task ahead of us. We are part of what has been the most significant decline of Christianity since its beginning, especially over the past 30 years in the West. While the East and the Global South are seeing an unprecedented revival of Christianity, with literal thousands upon thousands coming to Christ each day, we in America – formerly known as a Christian nation and the primary sender of worldwide missions in the past century – have come to be the mission FIELD. If unchurched Americans were a separate country, we would rank in size at about number 5 in the world. As the Anglican MISSION in the Americas our stated purpose is to be a part of God’s MISSION to win this nation back to Christ. But this task is not something we undertake alone – it is a part of the MISSIO DEI, the very MISSION OF GOD. RENEWING OUR FOUNDATIONS There are two equally critical parts to the foundation for witness in the Christian life. These two parts are found in The Great Commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength… and the second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The first part is Love the Lord; the second part is Love Others. These are the twin aspects of all that undergirds our Christian witness. St. Peter, in his first pastoral letter to the churches of the First century, wrote these words: But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who ask you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (NASB) 1 Pet 3:15 Peter starts with the honoring and setting apart of Jesus Christ as Lord in our lives. Our lack of witness is a LORDSHIP question, first of all. Before we can talk about the mechanics of the power train in the car we have to settle the question, “Who’s driving?” Who has the steering wheel in hand? We must settle this question in our hearts: IS JESUS REALLY LORD? It’s hard! We don’t have any kings or lords in our American culture – quite the contrary, we have been raised, since the revolution, to reject such as intrusive and an infringement of our personal freedom. Our freedom and our control are the supreme good in our modern culture, and so the question of LORDSHIP is one that we continually struggle with as we encounter Christ in scripture and as we come to Him in submission and obedience. Who IS in the driver’s seat? I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “If God is your co-pilot, you’re in the wrong seat!” Lordship means that we’ve given up the pilot’s chair; to honor Christ as Lord means allowing Him to drive the car. I know it’s scary. But it’s the difference of night and day! Literally. The second part is love for others. The apostle Paul, in his second letter to Corinth, explains his motivation for ministry to the Gentiles: For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; 15And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. (Amplified) We need the heart of God, for His world – for His creation and for His creatures. We are so familiar with John 3:16 that we often blow right past its implication, in v. 17. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but should have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. The work of Christ in the world … and by extension as His Body, our work in the world… is salvation. We must understand as well that that word is very comprehensive as it describes the whole renewal of the person, spirit, soul and body, as we come to God through Jesus Christ, His Son. It bears repeating again what follows from that compelling Love of Christ for Others: A New Life 14-15Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. 16-20Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 21How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. (2 Cor 5:14-21 The Message) 21st Century Witness So the road lies before us – the power of the Spirit’s engine is within us – we are allowing Jesus to drive: So now what? What is our part? Let’s go back to St. Peter’s instruction: “Always be ready to make a defense – to give an answer – for the hope that is within you” Of course, this begs the question of whether or not your hope is in tack and visible!! It means living a life that is visibly Christian – being willing to be know to be a Christian – not putting your faith on the shelf when you leave the house each day. And why is it that HOPE is what will spark their interest? Have you ever been without HOPE? It is a pretty desolate and desperate place – a place where many in our world find themselves. And if you are there, the hope in another person is like a long drink of cool water in a very dry desert place. You want to know where it came from. So the witness of our lives is the Hope we have in Christ Jesus, of life eternal, that begins today. Hope means that we live life differently – that there is light in our eyes, a smile on our lips, spring in our steps, and purpose in our hearts. Not manufactured light or a fake smile. Not a worked up “spring” or a “have to” purpose. But a life that is filled and overflowing with genuine joy, peace, patience, goodness … all the Galations 5 fruit of the Spirit’s life in us. This stuff doesn’t depend on your faking it: God forbid. It depends on your living it … your life IN CHRIST. What people of all kinds are looking for today is what is REAL. We have a hard time describing it, and sometimes a hard time believing it, but REAL will come through to those around you, if you let it. Jesus said it this way, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” How do people see the light in you? By the things you do? This is the make it or break it of our witness for Christ. In the Truth Project, Del Tackett asks, “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” That is what people want to know. And they will see it, in your ways more than in your words. And that is not to say that words are not important. Paul urges his friends in Rome on with these words, and here I will close: The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!" 11-13Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it." It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. "Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help." 14-17But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? (Rom 10 The Message) In a few weeks, after Easter, in the first three weeks of May, we will be taking part in the Christian Life and Witness Course, offered by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn. to prepare the church in Denver for a coming harvest. I want you to consider being a part of this three night commitment, to find the words of your witness. Please pray about taking an active part in the coming of God’s Kingdom here in Denver.

Third Sunday of Lent - Growing through Fellowship

2011-03-28T09:31:00.003-06:00

Third Sunday of Lent “So… Why?” Series, Part III Growing Through Fellowship 1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Paul, the apostle, here asks several pointed questions of his favorite church. Questions that ring down through the centuries to us and echo through our own lives and relationships in the Body of Christ. That IS what you are, you know. The Body of Christ. By virtue of your baptism, you have been knit into a MYSTERY. It’s called the MYSTICAL Body of Christ in our prayerbook. We say it in the prayer after communion. “You have graciously accepted us as living members of Your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ “ OR “And for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the Body of your Son.” Or my favorite and the favorite of many I think: Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; We are partakers of a mystery – members of one another, Paul says - “members incorporate” – “living members” we say. But what does all that mean? KOINONIA Many of you here know of my long time fascination with the Greek word KOINONIA, mostly translated “fellowship” in scripture. And so it is our subject this morning as we explore how we grow through fellowship with one another. One of the wonderful things about the Greek language of the Bible is that many of the words have several, varied shades of meaning. Some find that disconcerting at first, especially when they get the feeling that some preachers give that there is a kind of “secret” knowledge that can be gained from the study of the Bible in its original language. Let me assure you that what is in the Bible in English is enough to challenge you to the core for the rest of your life!! BUT, let me also challenge you, and I hope this morning to illustrate the fact, that there are depths in this WORD OFGOD that we don’t plumb, because we don’t have the tools to do it. One of those tools is how to look up words and their meanings and to see how they are used across an array of verses. And a perfect example is this word, “KOINONIA.” KOINONIA is translated with a variety of English words: “Fellowship”; “Sharing”; “Participation”; “Community”; “Communion”; “Intimacy”; even to the “hand shake” as a sign of welcome or pledge of friendship/fellowship; and finally, the collection of money or goods that is jointly contributed, that exhibits an embodiment and proof of fellowship. Our offering each week is a KOINONIA; our communion service is a KOINONIA. In fact this is where we will pick up with Paul in his 1st letter to Corinth, in the 10th chapter where he is discussing the eating of meat sacrificed to idols in comparison with our Eucharist: 14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. 18 Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar? The word “sharing” that Paul uses is a verb form of the word koinonia. This sharing is our active participation and the actual eating of the sacramental elements – the bread and the wine, that is offered on this Table. One of my favorite posters is a picture of a TV with a Eucharist set up on top of it. It simply asks “When was the last time you received communion from your Sony?” We live in an age that trivializes and marginalizes our participation in the worship of the Church – it has become a kind of take it or leave it proposition for many. “If I come at Christmas and Easter, I’m good for the year.” Right? But the sense of the word that we translate “fellowship” is so much more comprehensive, that even attendance weekly, barely gets at the depth of the meaning of true fellowship. Our tendency is toward the instant, but koinonia tends toward the long term; our tendency is toward the shallow, but koinonia tends toward the deep; our tendency is toward the easy, but koinonia tends toward the hard. This kind of “fellowship” is what is in view in Acts 2:42 where we have read that the early church “devoted themselves to fellowship” among other things. And the verses just after 42 are a logistical summary of how that looks in a living community of believers: 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity[j]—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Listen to the key words: Deep Sense of Awe; Together in One place; Shared everything; Sold property & possessions; Shared with those in need; worshiped together each day; met in homes for Eucharist; shared meals; praising God; enjoying favor in the community; each day the Lord added to the fellowship. Who doesn’t want to be a part of something like this? I’m there!! I’m sooooo there!!! This is how you spell REAL CHURCH!! Our twentieth century manifestation is pretty anemic by comparison: Its often not awe-filled, its sometimes aweful! Its together in one place, once in a while, at controversial town meetings or at Christmas eve or Easter morning services. Its… well, all that selling property and possessions stuff … you know they didn’t have a lot anyway. Its nice to share, but lets not go overboard. I’m too busy to do any more than Sunday morning. And… every Sunday? Really? Communion in my home? Am I sick or dying? I just can’t bring myself to do that monthly supper deal? Some of those people get on my nerves! And these are just things I’ve heard around here!! And we wonder why “the Lord” doesn’t “add each day” to our numbers!! Hmmmm? LIFE TOGETHER In a book by the name LIFE TOGETHER, the German theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, explored the meaning of the fellowship of the Church. It is a short book that you can find in libraries and book stores to this day. He compares and contrasts our tendency to substitute what I call “an inch deep and a mile wide” fellowship for the real thing. He warns that this substitution will eventually result in the dissolution of the whole enterprise, as it looses its meaning and power in our lives, through sheer lack of commitment and vitality. Paul addresses this tendency in his letters quite often. He calls his hearers to the deeper aspects of a life together – what we saw in the Acts passage. He reminded them, and continually reminds us of our place “in Christ” and of our “fellowship” in the Spirit. It is the Spirit who ushers us into the Body of Christ, through repentance and baptism, through a constant “in-filling” of His presence and power. It is the Spirit who gives gifts to each of us, for the fulfilling of our part in the Body of Christ – gifts that are given for the “common” good, the root word for koinonia. It is the Spirit who guides us into all TRUTH and Truth that binds us together in a common vision. The clearest challenge that Paul puts before us is found in our opening verses from Philippians 2. Let’s review: Paul begins with some pointed questions: Any encouragement among you? Any tenderheartedness or compassion? Consolation of love? Fellowship of the Spirit? Any genuine affection? I love the Message here: If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Paul paints a picture in his words that is similar to what we read in Acts 2. Though I think Paul’s is more inwardly and emotionally focused, he give us clear marks for the “feelings” of community that are to be among us. And the marks are the same as what he lays out in the Galatian letter, that we know and recognize as “The Fruit of the Spirit.” Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control. Listen again to the way that Peterson puts it in the message: But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Friends, this is the type of KOINONIA that God is prepared to deliver to us, by His Spirit! This KOINONIA is a gift of the Spirit to the Whole Body of Christ, but the gift requires us to SHARE in it – to PARTICIPATE in it. The Body of Christ is a dynamic mix of His Spirit – His Presence and OUR PRESENCE – OUR PARTICIPATION in Him with others who are similarly called. Look around you… smile … say, “That means YOU.” Paul’s charge to the Philippians was to “Have this Mind in You which was also in Christ Jesus.” Jesus prayer to His Father the night before His death was that we might be ONE – as He and the Father are ONE. This is the direction that the Spirit is constantly moving us, if we are willing, available and obedient. ONE doesn’t mean similarly inclined, nor does it mean we even think alike or look alike. God forbid. The sense that ONE has in the NT, especially in the case of the Body of Christ is the same sense you get when an orchestra comes together, under ONE director, with ONE piece of music, but MANY individual instruments all in TUNE with one another. Ever been to a great symphony? The greek there is SUM PHONEO – to Sound Together as Many with ONE SOUND. SYMPHONY! This is the sense of the word in Acts 2:46 that is translated “with one accord” or “with one mind.” This is what the commentators in the Blue Letter Bible say about the word HOMOTHUMADON: A unique Greek word, used 10 of its 12 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to "rush along" and "in unison". The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ's church. (Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for homothymadon (Strong's 3661)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 27 Mar 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? Strongs=G3661&t=NASB >) Friends, this is my prayer for us, that we may become ONE as Jesus prayed, through the Gift of KOINONIA, given by the Spirit of Jesus among us, and that we may share in His Kingdom and Power, under the Spirit’s Direction, as we bring our gifts to bear alongside one another, for the sake of His Kingdom and for the fame of His Name. Amen

Lent II - Growth Through Prayer

2011-03-20T07:07:00.002-06:00

Second Sunday of Lent
Part 2 of “So…Why” Series

Part II: Growth through Prayer

Today is the second in our Lenten Series entitled, “So… Why?”

Luke 6:46 records Jesus’ question of his disciples and other followers at the time:
“So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me?”

Some time ago, I heard a three-step formula for success in the Christian life:
Pray – Listen – Obey

Pretty simple. Not easy, but pretty simple.

Prayer is the environment; it is the medium of relationship with God. Just like conversation is the medium of relationship with each other. Last night we had our REZZERS’ Dinners – the point of the evenings together is to foster conversation. Because why? It is through conversation that we enter more deeply into relationship with each other. And it is through prayer that we enter more deeply into relationship with God… and incidentally, at least in my experience, most deeply into meaningful relationship with each other in the Body of Christ.

Prayer is the act of talking with God.

Jesus warned that it not be used as a platform, or done for a show. His instruction specifically was that it be done in a closet! That it be unseen; that it be “in secret.”

Isn’t it interesting that so much of what we deal with in our world has to do with people’s “secret” lives – our “deep, dark” secrets eventually have a way of oozing out into our public lives. The stories of fallen leaders are myriad. What might happen if the “secret” of our lives was a place of “saturation” in the Presence of God?!!

The one time that Jesus got “hot” publically was in the temple, in the midst of a people who had turned the activity of prayer into an opportunity to turn a buck. If fact, it was in that instance that Jesus reminded them of the calling and purpose of the Temple in God’s mind: “My House will be called a ‘House of Prayer’ for all nations.”

The “secret” of the Christian’s Life; the calling and vocation of the Christian Church is prayer. “So…Why,” Jesus asks, “do you call me Lord and you won’t even come talk to me?” For many of us, our lives are so busy, that prayer gets ‘bumped’ off the table. We live in a culture that is militant against “margin.”

Our lives and activity schedules crowd out prayer, in most, but its most cursory forms. We say ‘grace’ at meals (most of the time) and occasionally we will have time to read a devotional and/or a bible passage, and then ask God about some of the needs of the day, but rarely do we endeavor to “set aside” a specific and significant block of time for this most important of activities.

What could be more important and empowering than entering into ACTUAL relationship with the God of the Universe?!! Have you ever been “IN LOVE.”

What does that phrase conjure up for you? Do you have some memories of lingering dinners – of long phone conversations – of spending inordinate amounts of time with the LOVED ONE? And that’s not to mention the time spent THINKING about the Loved One!!

This is EXACTLY the model – or better, the reflection of the model – that we are going after here. Actually our relationship with God is to be that model! The spending – the investing of time with God each day, each week, and in sufficient quantity that it counts as a ‘relationship’ in some meaningful way. Have you ever noticed when someone is “with you” but they’re really NOT WITH you? How do we say it? We say, “Their mind is … “a thousand miles away.” How does God feel when we approach Him similarly? Probably the same way.

Jesus spoke often in terms of human relationship in this regard: His model of persistent prayer was the neighbor who came at midnight asking for bread who would not give up, till finally his neighbor got up and gave it. His model of prayer was the persistent widow asking justice from the unjust judge, who granted it because of her persistence. His teaching about God the Holy Spirit was illustrated with the story of sons asking for things of fathers. HOW MUCH MORE is God willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

He taught his disciple to pray, based on his own prayer “life”. Do you have a “Prayer Life” or do you just pray? And do you pray in a place each day or just “on the way?” In the gospels we continually see Jesus drawing aside specifically for prayer – sometimes all night, when faced with great trial or when facing great decisions. Isn’t it funny how our circumstances assist our prayer life? Do you wonder why life is so HARD sometimes? Have you considered the volume of prayer that come out from “Under The Circumstance!!?”

So how do we do it? How do we balance our prayer life and “real” life. There is the real issue isn’t it? We need an attitude adjustment – a mind set shift. We still live in a world that has been bifurcated into the “sacred” and the “secular” – where priests pray and lay people … um… lay. We are trained to believe that because we are not professional, that we are not qualified or competent. It’s a lie!!!

There is no competency needed here, friends. Jesus made the model of prayer for his disciples the action of children who loved to come and climb up into his lap!! Jesus went further and said that no one can come into the Kingdom, unless they come just like a little child. My favorite times as a DAD were when my girls would run to greet me at the end of the day, from the time they could walk to the time I could no longer catch them in mid air, I loved to get ‘bowled over’ by two little girls jumping into my arms. That what God wants!!

Its not complicated or theological. Its KID STUFF.
God is our FATHER. Remember the first two words of Jesus “MODEL” prayer:

OUR FATHER
Jesus came specifically to return us to this kind of relationship with GOD OUR FATHER! That is precisely the theological definition of “salvation.” -- being reconciled to God.

Of course Jesus had more to say, in response to the disciples’ request, “teach us to pray!” Let me break it down briefly, understanding that this is another YEAR LONG or LIFELONG study!!!!

OUR FATHER – We are being given back a relationship! Just like the one Adam and Eve had in the garden, walking with God, in the cool of the day. God is our father (and God forgive fathers who have marred this image for their children!): a presence of unfailing love and faithfulness, steadfast patience and caring provision, with discipline as we need correction along the way.
WHICH ART IN HEAVEN - This relationship is with the WHOLLY OTHER – the God of the Universe, who spoke it all into existence from nothing, and who knows our needs before we ask, but who still wants us to ASK!
HALLOWED BE THY NAME – Here we come to our knees or onto our faces, knowing what Moses knew: No one can come to a Holy God and live. We bow before the Presence and Revere the Name of God – this is the first commandment.
THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN – The work of prayer is first of all cooperation with God in His agenda! And here it is! Job #1. “Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness,” Jesus said. Once you pray it, you become it!
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD – Jesus also said as he continued, “… and all these things will be added to you.” God knows of our needs and will be faithful to supply them if we will trust him first and do His will obediently.
FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US – Our greatest need after daily sustenance is God’s forgiveness! And He willingly forgives us, in the same way and measure that we forgive others! OUCH. In fact, Jesus specifically points to this need for his hearers telling them that if they don’t forgive, God CAN’T forgive! Daily, just as surely as bread, we need the washing of God’s forgiveness in our lives, and it comes as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL (THE EVIL ONE) – The other great need of our life is protection from falling back into what we have been forgiven for: the influences of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Only God can protect us from these temptations, and the most effective protection afforded us is in the simple act of asking for it.

A.C.T.S.
Four Steps in Prayer

I want to close with something I feel sure you have heard, but I need to remind you and myself of this simple model. Four simple steps that can be done, the Navigators tell us, in “Seven Minutes with God.”

ADORATION
Prayer begins with an adoring heart. That is the feeling that I received when my girls would run and jump into my arms – or nestle into my lap and fall asleep. Pure unadulterated “adoration.” This is where we begin with Our Father, which art in heaven: Hallowed be Thy Name! God invites us into prayer through the gateway of praise, because He is worthy, and because the act of adoring, draws us close and makes us like the adored!! What could be better?

CONFESSION
We need to tell God, out loud, of our mistakes. We need His forgiveness daily, almost hourly. Confession means we don’t have secrets from God (which is an oxymoron anyway.) But it is here that we come to the Cross and receive the great exchange that Jesus promises us: His righteousness for our sin!

THANKSGIVING
Having received his forgiveness, I am filled with thankfulness – especially if I’ve unloaded the weight of my sins. The whole world is new! The colors are brighter, the birds are cheerier; there is much to be thankful for, as all of life is seen and received as His gift. Not to mention the million specific things He does each and every day to sustain us and to bless our lives – but we need to mention them, back to Him, in thanksgiving!!

And finally,
SUPPLICATION
HUH? Asking! Asking God for daily bread… for Aunt Martha’s surgery… for the things regarding our day to day life and existence and the lives of others who are close and far off. Asking for salvation for friends and family or co-workers by name. Asking … Seeking … Knocking. And keeping on asking, seeking and knocking. If Jesus hammers home one tenet of prayer in His teaching it is this one of persistence and reward.

And for us in the Anglican tradition we have help!! So we are entirely without excuse!! The Book of Common Prayer is the world’s finest source of prayers. I believe that we need to go beyond the BCP, but making the prayers of the Prayer book “ours” in a real way, can be like adding a jet engine to our sputtering and faltering prayer lives!

When we feel at a loss for words, the prayer book can help, or there is always just being with the Lord! Sometimes, being together in silence, is the deepest form of prayer. So I invite you to begin – to go deeper – to go longer – to reach for more in your prayer “life”. When you do you will come to know Him better, day by day, and come to be a participant in His agenda, as you grow in your obedience after you spend time praying and listening to Him speak to you in your “secret” place of prayer.

AMEN and AMEN.

Lent 1 - Growing In the Word of God

2011-03-20T06:54:00.002-06:00

First Sunday of Lent, 2011
Part 1 of “So…Why?” Sermon Series

PART 1: GROWING IN THE WORD OF GOD

Series Introduction

I’ve been asking the Lord, “What shall I speak on during Lent” now for a week or two – some very hectic weeks and so I haven’t had a lot of time to just be quiet to listen, but as we prayed and did our quiet day on Saturday in this first week of Lent I felt I heard the Lord say to me, and I believe to us – perhaps even to others, beyond our walls, these words:

Luke 6:46 (New Living Translation)
"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me?

Jesus had a way of seeing into the very heart of the matter. Here, at the end of what we call “the Sermon on the Mount”, both Luke and Matthew record this very pointed question he has asked of his hearers. Luke just asks the question, but Matthew puts this in the context of a very clear warning about naming Jesus as Lord, yet not being obedient to His commands… to His Word.

I’ve always said, when people come to me, asking me how to understand God’s Word (complaining that it is difficult to understand and read it), “Are you doing the part that you do understand?” In actuality, the Word of God is pretty simple, when simply being obedient to God is in view – it gets complicated when we are trying to “dance around it.” Have you ever danced around a clear command of God? The steps can sometimes be quite confusing!!

So I want to begin a 5 part Lenten Series with this question in mind. We will be looking at the clear commands of Jesus, that lead us to spiritual growth and maturity – what Scripture calls, “growing up into Him” or “growing into the full stature of the Body of Christ.”

PART ONE: GROWING IN THE WORD OF GOD

The context of the very question that Jesus asks has to do with our response to the Word of God! We are to both hear AND obey His Word to us. HEAR AND OBEY! In Luke’s account, Jesus simply asks the question: “So … Why do you call me “LORD”, when you won’t obey me?” Matthew has a much more stern and foreboding warning connected with this question:

"Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized. '

So… Why?

How can we assure ourselves of our “rock solid” place “IN CHRIST”, so there is no room for the aforementioned scenario in our future? Simple!!! Be Obedient - that is, Listen to God’s Word and then DO IT. Jesus said that those who hear AND DO His words, are like those who build on solid foundations of rock – BEDROCK – down deep … because life’s storms are coming.

The first place we must go for this FOUNDATION is to this book, God’s Word – the Bible. In your bulletin there is a hand out that outlines the five areas we will be looking at over the next few weeks of Lent. The first is this area. In fact, James, who was Jesus brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church after his death, repeats a very similar warning:

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls. And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself.
“Be doers of the word,” James tells us, “not hearers only!” His warning is one of self-deception: a very particular kind of danger that we are in here in America, as we are fed well on spiritual fare, available to us like a well stocked banqueting table at a buffet restaurant. We have become spiritually “fat” from all the teaching we have received, because we do not exercise our faith through the discipline of obedience! We don’t do what we know!

And when we don’t do what we know, a kind of blind confusion sets in, and pretty soon we don’t “know what to do!” And so here we are as American Christians, asking for clarifications on minor points of theology, while we are ignoring the major tenets of the faith.

The point is to obey the Word.

How are you doing? How am I doing?

Let’s just talk about The Word itself for a minute.

Jesus, as he answered Satan’s first temptation in this morning’s reading from Mt 4, replied simply, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

How important is food to you? It ranks right up there with air for me!!

To our young moms, how important is milk to your new baby? Addison and Caley Mei are only a few weeks or months old and need the nourishment that comes from the rich breast milk, supplied naturally by their moms. Sophia, however, is a little older. When was she no longer on a diet of only milk? Very soon!! In fact, if she were still only drinking milk, we would likely be concerned for her growth and development! Right? Of Course, right!!

We move naturally from what the bible calls , “pure spiritual milk” in 1 Peter to what Paul calls, “solid food.” Paul addressed the Christians in Corinth on this very point: “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn't talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn't handle anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't that prove you are controlled by your own desires? You are acting like people who don't belong to the Lord.”

Time after time, Paul and others make this reference to “milk” as for those who are just beginners in the faith. And time after time, it is pejorative – it is a negative reference – urging the readers to press on in their maturity, beyond the simple things of God’s Word, beyond the milk to the “solid food.” Just as we look sadly at children who have failed to develop – who are still on milk alone at age two or three - so the Bible looks dimly on those who, after years in “the faith” are still toddlers, still infants, who need the coddling presence of a bottle of milk or the breast of their mother –

I heard humorist, Charlie Jarvis, once refer to such as the “thumb-suckers of life.” People who unplugged their umbilical cord from their mom and have been walking around ever since looking for another place to plug it in!! So it is with Christians, in our consumerist culture, who refuse to grow up beyond the “feed me” – “change me” – “take care of my needs” stage of Christian life and get into a place of ministry in Christ, sharing what they have learned in Jesus Christ with others who are coming after them.

We are to become “Workmen” who God approves of ! Paul writes young Timothy that he is to become a “workman approved by God, who is not ashamed and who knows how to handle correctly the Word of God.”

Let me just ask a basic question: How many of you here eat something each day?
Let’s start there. Daily intake. How is your daily intake of the Word of God?

The word that is used by Jesus, in our Gospel reading this morning is not the same one that John uses in his prologue. “In the beginning was the Word…” The word that Jesus uses here is a “conversational word!” It is the word RHEMA. Used about 70 times in the New Testament in denotes a “spoken” word. “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice.” Do you have that kind of relationship with God that your bread is the daily conversation that you have with His Word?

Next week we are going to talk about Prayer, in Part II, but here is a part of the important daily relationship – the daily interchange that we have with the Living God, through prayer and through listening to His Word to us, each day, for that day.

God’s Word is important for many, many reasons and in many, many ways, but one is for the daily guidance and direction that God provides us through it, for our life and ministry in the world. Remember, we either see our selves as and behave as infants, always receiving and never giving away – or we are maturing, taking more solid food (beyond teachings about repentance, about faith, about baptism, laying on of hands in prayer, about the resurrection or about judgment in eternity. Cf: Heb 6:1ff) and becoming mature and responsible for our own feeding!! And eventually, as we grow and have children of our own, feeding others in turn!!

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews challenges them with a challenge that still stands for us:
And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. … those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come.
… For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience.

In our Sunday School lessons this Lent we will also be hearing of the challenge to grow into the full maturity of Christ, that we see in the Letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation. I invite you to dive in, friends. Dive into a conversation with the Living God – We express ourselves to Him in prayer and He expresses Himself on us through His Word. That conversation is where the Word that has been spoken (the Logos) becomes the Word that IS BEING SPOKEN, (the Rhema) into our hearts, day by day. The “Word that is our daily bread.”

It needs to be as regular as taking our food – perhaps that is why the Bible talks of itself in this way.

Let us pray:

Dear Jesus,
We thank you for giving us your Word, living and active; sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing our hearts to discern our thoughts and intentions, to show us our motivations and to cause us to be transformed thereby. Work in us, the renewal of mind that comes from daily conversation with You, by Word and Prayer in the power of Your Spirit. Help us to hide your Word in our hearts, that we might not sin against You, Lord. Let us know your Truth and thereby be set free. For the sake of your Kingdom and the fame of your Name, we pray, Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen

REZ Annual Meeting - State of the Flock

2011-02-20T07:24:00.003-07:00

Annual State of the Flock Address
February 20, 2011

Good Morning and Welcome

As I thought and prayed about this most formal speech of the year… As I read past addresses… I realized that this address, at least this year isn’t about what we have done. It’s about what God has done. And looking forward, about what God seems to be doing, not so much what we wish He would do. Or what we think we can do! If one thing has come home to me and I believe to us as a church this year, it’s the truth of the scripture where Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

In 2009 and 2010, in the midst of the deepest recession our country has seen in nearly a century, God has kept us in the palm of His hand, certainly with a tight budgetary leash, but after some cuts in 2010, once again we have come through, in the black. I described our place like being in an ‘eddy’ – a quiet place at the side of the river, while the torrent rushes on. 2010 was a time for us to gather our strength and get our raft back in the flow of the river.

But what we’ve discovered in this quiet place is that God is here! That God continues to work among us and through us for the transformation of the lives we live and those of our family, friends, neighbors and the world around us. And that transformation is not a result of our programs or expertise, of our business acumen or strategic plans, but because of His Grace, … and most of the time in spite of us! Transformation of lives is linked to prayer and to His Presence in the midst of His people. US!

As I look around this morning, and in my mind go over the past year, I see faces. Faces of men and women who’s lives have been radically changed by their relationship with Jesus, in the midst of this people of God! Would what has happened in and through them have happened in another place? Maybe. But it didn’t. These transformations are happening here – at little REZ – a place of connection to Jesus Christ, really. . . a place of hearing and doing His Word, really . . . a place of committed and loving life together, really . . . and a place of mobilization through willingness, availability & obedience… REALLY.

As I see these faces, I am reminded of Paul’s relationship with his favorite church, the church in Philippi, as he wrote them and said to them, “… you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.” Paul was seeing faces as he wrote those words, just as I see faces this morning. What God did then He is doing now! This is the business God is in: the transformation of individual lives through His touch in the midst of a loving community of Christ-followers, who are walking this walk together, seeking to grow more and more into the image of Jesus, by hearing and doing His Word, by Prayer in unity and by celebrating Jesus alive in their midst, in the Eucharistic celebration week to week, and in the hospitality of God’s Table, in their homes day-to-day. This was the mission of the early church, and it is our mission today. This is the power-filled Church of Acts that took that power to witness and moved by it out to their Jerusalem, to Judea, to all of Samaria and to the ends of the earth. This is our charge and our on-going mission today.

An ACTS TWO moment

Repeatedly we have heard the echo of the description of the early community in Acts 2 during this past year. “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.” I believe that we find ourselves, once again today, in such a moment in our own culture. We wring our hands at the struggle of the church with its own relevance to our modern world – we look to political power for solutions and cry out when that power fails us and the political world turns against the Name of Jesus, even in America. We have seen these things developing and I believe, will continue to see this battle raging around us. It is not unlike the world that the early church found itself in.

We are coming to the end of “easy believe-ism.” It’s time for Christians, who are willing to stand, to stand! We are no longer the “state” religion. In many ways we are no longer protected. What is true of 90% of the world is becoming true for us too, that there is a cost for naming the Name of Jesus in public. The fact is that “unchristian America” is looking for a Church that will witness to our Lord’s power, apart from its sanctuary and its status in society. The world is still looking for a savior… and for a living witness to the loving power of a living God.

The Acts 2 model has long been a template for the life of the covenant people of God. We have it in our baptismal creed and the promises that we have made and reiterate each time there is a baptism in our midst. So this is the charge and the model for our life together:

They Devoted Themselves

Our age is an age of infatuation. So many things come down the pike, day-after-day, week-after-week, month in and month out, year in and year out, that we have cultural A-D-D! And the church is no different. I’m no different! But God has called us to be different! To be settled and focused on what matters, not what is peripheral – not given to fads, but to be devoted to a deeper expression of Christian living than perhaps we see around us. The early Church was characterized by DEVOTION TO JESUS, the only begotten Son of the Father and the Only Way to come to Him in relationship. And their devotion to Jesus took specific forms:

To The Apostles’ Teaching . . .

We want to create a love-affair with God’s Word here at REZ. We talk a lot about the Bible; we refer to it in our sermons and lessons in Sunday School; we give it away on occasion; we say that we need to live by its tenets and precepts. But I know, even in my own life, I don’t spend nearly the time I should in this Word – sure I read it, often, but I question how much more there is – what could be possible, if we were “devoted to the Apostles’ teaching?” What could happen, if, as we pray, we would “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” this Word of God on a daily, even an hourly basis? Would we hear God speaking to us in ever clearer tones throughout our day? Would we have the words of God hidden in our hearts, so that we might not sin against Him? Would we be able to speak His words, instantly, in-season and out-of-season, giving the reason for the hope that is in us? Yes. Yes to all!

To The Fellowship . . .

I joke a good bit about the community life that we share. Look at one another - Smile –
Say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

Or you’ve heard my favorite poem:

To live above with saints we love
Ah, that will be the glory!
To live below with saints we know…
Now that’s another story!

But the word for fellowship used here and throughout the New Testament, KOINONIA, is one that has occupied my vision for over 35 years now. It is the word that describes a life together – a life lived by those who are committed to Jesus and to one another, at a depth and with a continuity that is hard for us in mobile America to get our minds around.

KOINONIA is the antithesis – perhaps even the antidote – to American Consumer Church-ianity. I was deeply touched by the words this past year of Eugene Peterson in his book, Practice Resurrection, as he described the Body of Christ.

God chooses to do all this through ‘embarrassingly ordinary people’ – you and me. (Look around you and smile knowingly!) God does not work apart from sinful and flawed – forgiven men and women – who are mostly without credentials! Us!!

I was reminded at the beginning of this past year of my call to the Bride of Christ, warts and all. And our life together – our KOINONIA – is a deeply honest and loving fellowship of travelers on this road of becoming like Jesus. He has called us and given us the power to become, but we do it in the midst of a company of ordinary men and women, set on a path where extraordinary things can happen, all of which are by His Grace and for His Glory. As Paul said to the Corinthian church, “We have this treasure in vessels of clay, so that we and the world know that the power is from Him, not us.”

To The Breaking of Bread . . .

Every home, every temple has a focus and a center – ours as followers of Jesus is the feast of His Body and His Blood. How important is this weekly celebration? How important is your daily bread? Not many of us will forego eating for long periods of time, nor can we! Just as physical survival is dependent on our consistent intake of food, so our spiritual well being is predicated on our consistent intake of what our prayer book calls “The Means of Grace.”

We are a “sacramental” people. As such we have an understanding of the weight of this meal and its power in our lives – a place for us to meet, by faith, the grace of a living savior, who supplies us with all things necessary for our life and godliness. The Table of the Lord is such a place for us, week-by-week, and we should not take it lightly or come to it occasionally. Just as we eat natural food regularly to maintain our strength we are required to come and take spiritual food regularly to maintain our spiritual strength and be fed by Him in this sacramental meal. We stand in the presence of mystery, not magic.

And God extends this mystery into our homes as we “break bread” in the temple and from house to house, just as the first Church did. This year I have used the phrase “Eucharistic Hospitality” to describe this welcome to God’s table, that we are then asked to and enabled to extend beyond these walls. The Table of the Lord goes with us, friends; it extends into our homes as we welcome one another and other guests and strangers at our own tables, as they are His Tables. Our meals together, from Sunday’s after church to our family times to our REZZERs’ dinners, are extensions of this Table and of the welcome that Jesus gives us week-by-week as we come to Him.

And To The Prayers.

Finally, we are continually called to be a people of Prayer. Friends, I want us to be known as a people who will pray “at the drop of a hat.” I want you to pray together here, in the coffee hour, in the hallway, in the parking lot, in the restaurant, for the waiter or waitress, in the grocery store, at your office, at the dry cleaner or hair dresser. Paul tells us to pray continually. That is holding an on-going conversation with the Living God about the details of yours and all the lives of those around you as you go. The simple question, “Is there anything I can pray for you about?” is an invitation for people to connect with a God who answers prayer. If we have learned anything this year at REZ I hope we have learned that! GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! Not always as we imagine or wish for, but God hears us and is engaged with us in the work of His Kingdom.

The simplicity of childlike prayer is a wonder to behold. We don’t have to figure out God’s will – just ask! We don’t have to know all His ways – just seek! We don’t have to be on the inside all the time – just knock! GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! We have seen it over and over and over in our life at REZ this past year. We’ve seen amazing healings, clear direction, specific words from God for situations in individual lives, dreams, visions, and all this is for God’s glory as it has nothing to do with us or our worthiness, nor our ability. God is at work in our midst, and we get to come along, to watch and to work with Him in all that He is doing.

Three Steps Ahead

Over and over this past year you have heard me say the three little words that we live by here at REZ. Not “I Love You” though that is true too, but the three words that form our inner attitude of heart and mind - to take up our own part in the call to work with Jesus in the transformative work of the Kingdom of God:

Willingness . . .

What are you willing to do for God … with God? Have you set limits? Does your lifestyle or circumstances limit what you can do for Him? Are you willing to go beyond what you can see and seek what He sees for you? Are you willing to press into all the ways He might speak to you: His Word, The Sacraments, His People, and your Prayers?

I pray that you will come to know His love and the limitless power He has for you, as you take Him at His Word, step out in faith, and stretch out in action for Jesus and His Kingdom.

Availability . . .

Are you available to Jesus today? Tomorrow? This week? This year?
Once willingness is established, we must become available to Him – “Lord, Here Am I. Send Me!” We are discovering that we are all called and we are all candidates to be sent: to Jerusalem (our family), to Judea (our neighbors and co-workers), to Samaria (to those who differ from us, in color or culture or lifestyle or faith) and to the end of the world (to missions around the world.) Jesus calls us to be ready to GO, at any moment, wherever He purposes to send us. Are you available?

And Obedience

Now for the hard part… doing the work and doing it His Way! It’s really not about what we think is the right way, the right method, the right vision. It’s all about Jesus. And following Him means staying attentive to Him and becoming obedient in the details of what and how we do the work we are called to do. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is why all the other pieces are so important: The Word, by which we know His will; The Fellowship, people among whom we do His will and who keep us accountable to it; The Table of the Lord, where we find the power to obey and the grace to do His Will, day-by-day; and the Prayers, by which we keep a hand-in-hand, step-by-step relationship alive and well.

So let us set our eyes on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Let us devote ourselves to His Word, His People, His Table and pray moment by moment to be in the flow of His power and purposes in our every day, as we work in partnership with him for the glory of His Kingdom and the fame of His Name.

Amen and Amen.

Epiphany, 2011

Servants of the Kingdom

2011-02-13T05:54:00.004-07:00

Epiphany VI
Feb 13, 2011

Servants Of The Kingdom

At this point I have to say that I hope not to see the inside of another plane or airport for several months!!

It is massively good to be home – it was good to go – to be in the flow of what God is doing around the globe, to meet new friends and old ones, to share God’s love and His Word in places and ways that we’ve never before dreamed of… But it is massively good to come home to a steadier pace and familiar surroundings, to rest and to reflect on all God has done and is doing in His World.

I know over the next few weeks we will be sharing the "glory" details of all that we’ve all experienced on Mission with Jesus around the world. We have one yet to return home to roost – Judy who is on mission now in Mexico and we continue to lift her up in prayer.

On a related note to that, I urge you to continue steadfast in prayer for those of us just returning, as we know that Satan is not happy with our efforts. Spiritual Warfare is not only a reality in Africa and South America and Mexico – it is very much a reality for us as we have returned and we need your continued prayer covering as we rest for a couple of weeks and regroup for the next phase of God’s work here among us and through us at REZ.

I bring greetings from our new Archbishop, Onesphore RWAJE and his wife, Josephine and from our sister parish in Ngarama, along with Pastor Servillian Nsingimana. Also I bring greetings and regrets from our new bishop of Byumba Diocese, Emmanuel Ngendahayo and his wife, Vicky, who greeted us and you warmly, but who failed to get their visa for this month’s trip to the US. We will likely receive them later this year, when that happens on their side and they can carve out some time for travel. Pray for them as they step into big shoes… both ++Onesphore and +Emmanuel have big transitions that they face, taking over from much beloved leaders.

I also bring you greetings from the Anglican Mission and the Winter Conference this past week in NC. 1200+ gathered from the 50 states and from our overseas partners. God continues to bless the work of the AM, as its now called, as we are seeing an explosion of emerging works across the US and Canada. Alongside the work of the Anglican Church in North America we are seeing a new Anglican witness being built in North America, that is vital and alive, reaching the lost, and birthing new work – still at a pace of one every two weeks or so, and now, speeding up!! In fact we want to pray this morning for a new work that is launching in our own city: Wellspring Church is launching a new church, Church of the Advent, in the Baker Neighborhood at about 10th and Broadway, near downtown. Let’s pause to pray for Rob Paris and Clint Wilson and the launch team as they meet this morning for worship…

Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Lift up our eyes to see You and Your hand at work in the whole world around us as we travel on mission with You, here in Denver and across this world.

We pray for Rob and Clint and their team at Advent Church this morning, and ask you to be especially present with them as they set out into the deep, and begin to cast their nets, at your direction. Give them a great load of souls, Lord, so much so that they have to call for help. Bless their faith and obedience this day, Jesus, as they follow you in your call to become fishers of men and women. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Servants of the Kingdom

As I reflected on our readings this morning, a phrase caught my eye from our reading in 1 Cor.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.

If any could claim to be “something” Paul could have, and we see our human tendency here in this reading to claim for ourselves some of the perceived fame of others that we know. Divisions happened in the church because of this human tendency. So Paul, here in his first letter to Corinth, corrects the perspective of name dropping party affiliates in the church by placing himself and Apollos, another leader, in the role of servants. What then are we? He asks. We are simply servants – planters and waterers of the seeds of the Gospel planted in your hearts – but it is God who gives the growth.

I’m reminded of the parable that Jesus shared in Mark 4, beginning at V. 26

26 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. 28 The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. 29 And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

Here as in Paul’s letter to Corinth, the actor principally is GOD, not us. We get to play a part – a small part all be it – but a part in the process of planting and watering, but every farmer will accede the fact that he has nothing to do with the natural forces of growth for the crop. As Jesus said, “The earth produces the crop on its own.”

Paul says it most clearly: we are servants. And we are servants in three roles:
Planting or scattering seed – watering that seed – and finally, harvesting that seed, as it comes to its full fruitfulness. These are all very important in the grand scheme of things.
I love the story of the farmer and the city slicker who are standing in a field of unharvested wheat. The city slicker is marveling at God’s handiwork and the beauty of that field of wheat, and the farmer agreed, but added, as he turned to go: You should have seen this when God had it by Himself!

We play an important role in God’s plan for the field. Each one of us. We are the servants of the Harvest. God is the Lord of the Harvest, we read in Luke 10 and in other places, but we are called to co-labor with Him in what He is doing in the world. God is the only one who can give growth – the growth of the Kingdom of God, like the mustard seed of the next parable in Mark, is entirely in the power of God. We are servants of His Kingdom and as such are stewards of all that God has given us to do – in partnership with Him. We have important roles: Soil preparation, planting, watering, and finally, harvesting the souls that God has made ready for His Kingdom.

We don’t have to go to Uganda or Rwanda, to Brazil or Honduras or Mexico to do this work. It happens in our own back yard! If fact, if it isn’t happening here, it is out of order for us to do it there! The order that Jesus gave us is: Jerusalem, Judea, all of Samaria and to the utter most parts of the earth.

We are all Servants of this Kingdom, my friends. As we go… wherever we go. Every day … all day. The mobilization of the army of God into the world is the most desperate need that the world has, and we see it most acutely in our own culture and city, in our own neighborhoods and on our own blocks.

God has invited us to be a Missionary Church and so we are, here in America. We have been commissioned by Him first of all and we have been sent by Him and by the Church in Rwanda, to be Servants of the Harvest of Souls. We must never forget our purpose and mission as we live our day-to-day lives, for its here in our day-to-day that God intends for us to serve Him. Gossiping the Gospel of Jesus as we go into the world – touching the lives of fellow travelers on this path and bringing along those who do not know Him yet.

Friends, the seeds we plant are from the witness of our lives: in both word and deed, as we prayed at the opening of the service this morning: "...because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed. "

Paul reminds us that it is God who is behind this all! We pray, “Give us the help of your grace!” Indeed! None of this can happen as an act of our will – we can’t just decide one day that we are going to NOW obey the GREAT COMMISSION and then see it happen! It is an act of GOD’S GRACE to us. Our obedience is simply the trigger that sets in motion the powerful force of His Grace – the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for witness (Acts 1:8) and the action of the Spirit of Jesus along side of us as we go into our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And God’s Grace will never fail you. Believe us when we tell you, we have seen God work in all kinds of ways, in all kinds of places, that before would not have been on our radar!

It will take us weeks if not months to tell the stories of this single trip, not to mention the multiple trips that have happened from REZ in this past month. I pray that your hearts will be open to hear, not just the tales of your brothers and sisters, but to hear the call of God to you, as he says, “Come Follow Me. I will make you fishers of men.” And “Go,… Make Disciples… Plant, Water, Harvest – teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And I will be with you, all the way.”

This is Jesus work, from start to finish, and we get to come along in the process, as servants of His Kingdom and stewards of what He has given us. Lord, give us the help of your grace, indeed, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and in deed.

Amen and Amen.

The Three Conversions

2011-01-16T07:07:00.003-07:00

Epiphany II
16 January 2011

The Three Conversions

What a perfect set of readings for this morning, as we prepare to bless and send the LIGHT out into the world in very tangible hands and feet ways this morning. Today we are going to bless four separate mission teams with seven different participants from this congregation who are all going to be going on their missions in the next three weeks. This Epiphany has become a World Missions two months.

This year we have a long Epiphany season and a late Easter. And I think that’s by design for us here at REZ as we hear, more and more what it means to be a people sent by God and a sending people of God.

It cannot be mistaken, if you’ve listened to more than two sermons at this church, that we are ALL missionaries, -- every day, everywhere we go, to everyone we meet.

Our prayers and our giving minister in many corners of the globe. Today we have another of our famous Men’s Bake Sales to help fund the translation of the Bible into the Dungan tongue, a language of the Muslim Dungan People in Kirghiztan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, descendants of Chinese Muslims. This bake sale has been happening now for over a decade to fund a translator, and the whole New Testament and large parts of the Old Testament are completed. When we began this project at St. George’s Church there were 6 identified Christians in this people group!! Now there is a Bible and a growing church, 10 years on.

Today we will bless teams and individuals who are joining teams that will touch Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Rwanda and Uganda with the Light of Jesus Christ.

And I want to talk for a few moments before we do that, about three conversions that we must go through, as believers to be turned into missionaries. We can see these in our collect – our opening prayer for the day, appointed for this day by the calendar of the church year!! Let’s read it together again:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

I just want to point to three bases that have to be touched on the way around to home plate!!

FIRST BASE: CONVERSION TO CHRIST JESUS
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world

We must, if we are going to be a missionary church, be rooted in and convinced of the faith once received by the saints. We must be converted – saved – born from above, of water and the Spirit of God, to quote Jesus himself. We must be convinced, with Peter, that “you are the Messiah, the Son of God”, when Jesus asks US “who do YOU say I am?”

This faith is the foundation of all else that we are called to do. Understanding who Jesus is, what He said and did, how he did these things and why, even to the why of his death and unshakeable belief in his resurrection, is the bedrock on which this whole enterprise rests. “APART FROM ME, YOU CAN DO NOTHING!” is the gospel truth in this regard!

There is NO FAITH apart from Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the unique Son of God, as John testifies in our gospel this morning: “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." The Apostle Paul is clear as well in his introduction to the Corinthian letter:

“… the grace of God… has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We know from the preaching of Acts and Romans that the Apostle to the Gentiles saw Jesus as vital and central to all that he was doing. Paul said that “There is no other Name given among men by which we must be saved!” And later in his letter to the Roman church he set this out as the bedrock of the gospel:

"But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. … For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This is First Base, but there is more.

SECOND BASE: THE CONVERSION TO THE CHURCH
“Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory,…”

This conversion is perhaps the most difficult in our day and age, when the church is being bypassed in the equation. But we cannot overlook what God has put an emphasis on – His People! We must be converted to The Church – to believe in the beauty and usefulness of the Sanctorum Communio – the Fellowship of All Believers. There is no plan B for God – we are the plan.

Just as Jesus is the Light of the World, so He has given into our hands the stewardship of that Light – we too, are the light of the world. He said it himself, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

It is the church on the earth that God has appointed as the heralds of His Good News of Jesus, the Christ; and has anointed to be the very hands and feet of Jesus, active in good works, just as He was while He was on earth, where “he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

This is the churches destiny and purpose in the earth – just as it was Jesus’ destiny and purpose. As He was in the world, so are we now as His Body! But conversion to the Church, isn’t seeking some perfection in the here and now… it is seeking to be perfected in the communion of the Saints. As Paul tells the Corinthians in our reading: “He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Our blamelessness, our “life” is hidden in Christ and will be revealed, when He is revealed, ON THAT DAY. So we are called, the writer of Hebrews tells us to “not give up meeting together, as the custom of some is, but all the more, to encourage one another, as we see the day approaching.” (Heb 10:24)

THIRD BASE: THE CONVERSION TO THE WORLD
“…that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth”

Once we have been converted to Christ, our savior – the Author and the Finisher of our faith – and to the Church, His chosen instrument for the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we must be converted to the World! We must gain the heart of God (or a small part of it) for the world that He created and that He loved so much that He came, in Jesus, "extending His hands on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might experience his saving embrace." (BCP, 101)

The Spirit was sent in power to EM-POWER the witness of the People of God. The whole force of the book of ACTS is outwardly focused – taking the Gospel to the ends of the known world – “to Jerusalem and Judea, to Samaria and to the Ends of the Earth” (Acts 1:8). Today this is our work and our call, just as it was those who received the Spirit on that first Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. The Church has no purpose beyond this single greatest task ever given into the hands of men and women!

Paul puts it most beautifully as he writes in his Second letter to the Corinthian church on this subject:

"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. … what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

And further on in the same letter he concludes with this:

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

So what is HOME PLATE?

HOMEPLATE is going out. SCORING is winning someone to Christ! Bringing someone who does NOT know Him to the knowledge and love of Him, for the honor of His Name! Not just around the world, but next door. It has to start here today.

The saddest game to go home from is the one where the winning runs were left on base at the bottom of the last inning. Let’s go the distance for the Kingdom.

Amen!

God's Heart for the World - Our Heart for God's World

2011-01-10T15:18:00.002-07:00

God’s Heart for the World
January 8, 2011

Last Thursday began a new season in our church year. Epiphany – the shedding of light – The Light into all the world. The symbol of the season is the coming of the gentiles to worship, the Three Magi – the Wise Men – who came guided by a star, from the east.

And this Sunday, specifically is the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord. An unnecessary act – so much so that it drew comment at the time from the baptizer himself!

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, as our is – something for which Jesus had no need at all. John knew that he actually needed to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way round! But Jesus persisted – a new baptism came forth – not of repentance but of identification; a baptism of radical inclusion: inclusion of himself in identifying with us sinners, his creation; and finally, in his death, inclusion of us, each one, into our place IN CHRIST; baptized by One Spirit into One Body.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Epiphany is the sign of the radical inclusion of the whole world in the revelation of the Messiah, Jesus Christ – The Baptism of Jesus is the sign of our own radical inclusion in the life we have IN Christ -- our own salvation for the sake of the world. Our opening collect this morning made our prayer today : “Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior.” Salvation is the outcome of the heart that God has always had for this world!

Salvation is the “Why?” of Jesus coming: “For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son …” We all know the rest, but what about then next verse? "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

God’s heart for the world is well documented. It flows from the root of creation itself: And God saw all that He had made and it was very good! (Gen 1:31) God’s love for the world flows through the grace he shows Noah and the call of Abraham – the covenant he made with Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3)

We see God’s heart in the calling of Moses, of David, of Isaiah, the prophet. All of the Old Testament is filled with this focus, not only on God’s people Israel, but on their calling to be a blessing to the whole world. And it is all carried into the New Testament by none less than Jesus, God’s Son! And then through baptism, the call is given into our hands!!

Through baptism we are rescued from sin and sent, empowered by His very Spirit, into the world as His agents of reconciliation. All this began at the baptism of Jesus! It was different from the baptism offered by John for repentance. He knew it. He said it. “I should be the one being baptized here – by You!!”

But Jesus said, “No. This is in order to fulfill all righteousness.” But Jesus, as John alluded to WAS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE FLESH. How could this act fill it full?

We believe that Jesus is referring to His identification with us – the “man” part of the God-Man Incarnation; Just as in baptism we are identified with Him in his death (Ro 6), here Jesus was identified with us, in our life. And what we see that follows: God’s voice and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus, without measure – is God’s approval and empowerment for the mission of identification – the mission of Jesus as savior of the world.

Our Heart for God’s World

Jesus’ baptism is the one side of this coin – our baptism is the obverse side of the equation. He was baptized into our life – and we are baptized into His death, and thus into his resurrection and New Life from the dead.

We are baptized into his death, Paul tells us, in order that we can be free from sin and born from above – born again. Baptism is the symbolic enactment of God’s grace of forgiveness in our lives and our radical inclusion in the very life of God. This is a life that flows from the creation, through the whole history of God and His People on the earth. Through Christ and the Cross and finally, into us, and further, out into the world. We are immersed in the flow of God’s providence – His love for all humankind, and for all kinds of humans! There are no levels of sinners and there are no depths nor heights nor widths nor lengths to which God will no go to show forth His love to us and to all.

And He does it through us!!

All we have to do is look – no to GLANCE – even in passing at the ways that God has revealed His love to mankind, to know that He is “head over heals” for this world! And He is waiting for us to get “bit.” To fall in love… To make the leap of faith… to finally see the world through His eyes! We sing, “Open the eyes of our hearts Lord… we want to see You!” but he wants to open the eyes of our hearts to see others… in Him and to see Him in others!

The word of Isaiah the prophet regarding Jesus apply equally to His Body, us, the Church!
I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Friends, it’s a two-sided coin. The Baptism of Jesus and our baptism, are the mirror image of each other;
He was baptized into our life and we are baptized into His death.
He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and we are baptized to be filled with His righteousness!!
He was baptized by water and the Spirit of God – the firstborn, Paul tells us, among many brothers and sisters; US, who are baptized by Him, subsequently, by the Holy Spirit and with fire. We are baptized to become partakers of His nature, through His death and our identification with it. By baptism we share in both His death and in his eternal life – life that begins the moment we “rise” from the water.

It is all a mysterious and supernatural exchange – as is all of sacramental reality! His life is given and received by us through these simple signs of water, of wine and bread. We truly are IN CHRIST and He truly is IN US. Not just for our enjoyment friends, but to continue this mission to its end – to its final conclusion!

Our prayer this morning echoes again in our thinking: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior! The confession of our faith – the public witness that we have to the life of Jesus is the end game of our purpose in the world and God’s purpose for the world.

Yesterday as we prayed together for the upcoming mission trips from REZ we were led to a passage in the second chapter of Philippians. Let me summarize what it said to us:
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 14 … Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud… 17 … your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

Friends, we have been included in God’s plan for His beloved world. Through baptism into his death and into his eternal life, we begin now to be empowered by His Holy Spirit, dwelling within us, and to be a part of the ongoing witness to Jesus life in the world and for the world. He lives his life in us and extends his hands through us.

I pray that you will take hold of this today. Now, here, on this First Sunday of Epiphany, as God reveals His love for the whole world through the sending of His Son, and as we partake in the Baptismal Life of Jesus this day, identifying with God’s mission and His ever-reaching Hands – our hands stretched out to the world, to bring those who do not know Him to the knowledge and love of Him, for the fame of His Name and the glory of His Kingdom.

Amen.

God's Heart for the World - Our Heart for God's World

2011-01-09T07:27:00.001-07:00

First Sunday of Epiphany
Jan 9, 2011

God’s Heart for the World

Last Thursday began a new season in our church year. Epiphany – the shedding of light – The Light, into all the world. The symbol of the season is the coming of the gentiles to worship, the Three Magi – the Wise Men – who came guided by a star, from the east.

And this Sunday, specifically is the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord. An unnecessary act – so much so that it drew comment at the time from the baptizer himself!

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, as our is – something for which Jesus had no need at all. John knew that he actually needed to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way round! But Jesus persisted – a new baptism came forth – not of repentance but of identification; a baptism of radical inclusion: inclusion of himself in identifying with us sinners, his creation; and finally, in his death, inclusion of us, each one, into our place IN CHRIST; baptized by One Spirit into One Body.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Epiphany is the sign of the radical inclusion of the whole world in the revelation of the Messiah, Jesus Christ – The Baptism of Jesus is the sign of our own radical inclusion in the life we have IN Christ -- our own salvation for the sake of the world. Our opening collect this morning made our prayer today : “Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior.” Salvation is the outcome of the heart that God has always had for this world! Salvation is the “Why?” of Jesus coming: “For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son …” We all know the rest, but what about then next verse?
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

God’s heart for the world is well documented. It flows from the root of creation itself: And God saw all that He had made and it was very good! (Gen 1:31) God’s love for the world flows through the grace he shows Noah and the call of Abraham – the covenant he made with Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:3)

We see God’s heart in the calling of Moses, of David, of Isaiah, the prophet. All of the Old Testament is filled with this focus, not only on God’s people Israel, but on their calling to be a blessing to the whole world. And it is all carried into the New Testament by none less than Jesus, God’s Son! And then through baptism, the call is given into our hands!!

Through baptism we are rescued from sin and sent, empowered by His very Spirit, into the world as His agents of reconciliation. All this began at the baptism of Jesus! It was different from the baptism offered by John for repentance. He knew it. He said it.
“I should be the one being baptized here – by You!!”

But Jesus said, “No. This is in order to fulfill all righteousness.” But Jesus, as John alluded to WAS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE FLESH. How could this act fill it full?

We believe that Jesus is referring to His identification with us – the “man” part of the God-Man Incarnation; Just as in baptism we are identified with Him in his death (Ro 6), here Jesus
was identified with us, in our life. And what we see that follows: God’s voice and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus, without measure – is God’s approval and empowerment for the mission of identification – the mission of Jesus as savior of the world.

Our Heart for God’s World

Jesus’ baptism is the one side of this coin – our baptism is the reciprocal side of the equation. He was baptized into our life – and we are baptized into His death, and thus into his resurrection and New Life from the dead.

We are baptized into his death, Paul tells us, in order that we can be free from sin and born from above – born again. Baptism is the symbolic enactment of God’s grace of forgiveness in our lives and our radical inclusion in the very life of God. This is a life that flows from the creation, through the whole history of God and His People on the earth. Through Christ and the Cross and finally, into us, and further, out into the world. We are immersed in the flow of God’s providence – His love for all humankind, and for all kinds of humans! There are no levels of sinners and there are no depths nor heights nor widths nor lengths to which God will no go to show forth His love to us and to all. And He does it through us!!

All we have to do is look – no to GLANCE – even in passing at the ways that God has revealed His love to mankind, to know that He is “head over heals” for this world! And He is waiting for us to get “bit.” To fall in love… To make the leap of faith… to finally see the world through His eyes! We sing, “Open the eyes of our hearts Lord… we want to see You!” but he wants to open the eyes of our hearts to see others… in Him and to see Him in others!

The word of Isaiah the prophet regarding Jesus apply equally to His Body, us, the Church!
0Friends, it’s a two-sided coin. The Baptism of Jesus and our baptism, are the mirror image of each other; He was baptized into our life and we are baptized into His death.
He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and we are baptized to be filled with His righteousness!! He was baptized by water and the Spirit of God – the firstborn, Paul tells us, among many brothers and sisters; US, who are baptized by Him, subsequently, by the Holy Spirit and with fire. We are baptized to become partakers of His nature, through His death and our identification with it. By baptism we share in both His death and in his eternal life – life that begins the moment we “rise” from the water.

It is all a mysterious and supernatural exchange – as is all of sacramental reality! His life is given and received by us through these simple signs of water, of wine and bread. We truly are IN CHRIST and He is truly IN US. Not just for our enjoyment friends, but to continue this mission to its end – to its final conclusion!

Our prayer this morning echoes again in our thinking: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior! The confession of our faith – the public witness that we have to the life of Jesus is the end game of our purpose in the world and God’s purpose for the world.

Yesterday as we prayed together for the upcoming mission trips from REZ we were led to a passage in the second chapter of Philippians. Let me summarize what it said to us:
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 14 … Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud… 17 … your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

Friends, we have been included in God’s plan for His beloved world. Through baptism into his death and into his eternal life, we begin now to be empowered by His Holy Spirit, dwelling within us, and to be a part of the ongoing witness to Jesus life in the world and for the world. He lives his life in us and extends his hands through us.

I pray that you will take hold of this today. Now, here, on this First Sunday of Epiphany, as God reveals His love for the whole world through the sending of His Son, and as we partake in the Baptismal Life of Jesus this day, identifying with God’s mission and His ever-reaching Hands – our hands stretched out to the world, to bring those who do not know Him to the knowledge and love of Him, for the fame of His Name and the glory of His Kingdom.

Amen.

The Building Blocks of Faith

2011-01-02T06:23:00.002-07:00

December 26, 2010
“To As Many as Believed”

The Building Blocks of Faith

So how important are some of the building blocks … some of the specifics of what we believe about Jesus Christ?

For instance, just how important is this Virgin Birth thing? And if it is important, why is it important?

The problem with our age, according to a recent Barna poll of Christian believers across the US is that we have stopped thinking theologically … probably an outgrowth of the fact that some decades ago we stopped reading … biblically !! Our understanding of the import of individual pieces of doctrine and how it fits together systematically to make the whole of what we call “belief” is, for much of the country, at an all time low.

Now I wouldn’t say that this is true of us at REZ generally, but I am certain that we cannot swim in the water of our culture without being effected by its pollutants !! And I know that we approach our faith in America kind of like a HOBBY! I’ve heard it said that in America “we Worship our work, we Work at our play and we Play at our worship!” And if we do indeed play at our worship then we probably approach belief much like this game of JENGA. Certainly our culture does.

The point of the game is to sit with an opponent and try to remove as much of the foundational structure of the tower until it topples over. Whoever removes the last piece before it topples, loses!! Its fun!

The question before us is 1: What pieces of our faith are foundational? And 2: What happens to us if we do not hold to them or really understand that they are foundational?

The writer to the Hebrews urges his readers to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” (10:23) But we have a tendency to easily set aside tenets within the structure of our hope, without thinking about them too much. And pretty soon we are experiencing a crisis of faith – the toppling effect of removing pieces of the foundation.

So how about this Virgin Birth thing? How important is it and why?

Our gospel reading begins with the classic words of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Most of us accept that Jesus is somehow divine and human together – that is the doctrine of the incarnation and it is central to our understanding of Jesus and is foundational to our understanding of who He was, and is and what He did among us.

Larry King, of CNN fame, was once asked if he could interview anyone from the history of the world, who would he interview. His answer was Jesus Christ. When asked what his interview would consist of he said he would ask one question: “Were you really virgin born?” Because if the answer is Yes, it “explains history for me.”

How important is this little piece of our foundation?

Is the Virgin Birth of Jesus something we can negotiate with? And what real evidence do we have to support our belief in it?

IS IT NEGOTIABLE?

Well, NO, not if you want to have the “faith once delivered to the saints.” (Jude)

If we remove the Virgin Birth of Jesus, we subsequently and necessarily must remove Miracles and Divinity from the equation, as the Virgin Birth speaks to his origins… to the mechanics of his arrival among us … as simply a man or … as a God/Man.

The choices are two: Either Jesus was the illegitimate son of a carpenter and his teen bride (as many in his village likely believed) OR he was the supernatural gift of God through a chosen virgin, as prophecy predicts and as the story recounts in Scripture.

The choice then made sets one on a path of belief or unbelief, based on the assumptions that form this one building block of faith and hope.

The Virgin Birth points at least to a world that is unbound by sheer naturalism. Ravi Zacharias makes this point in his book, “Jesus Among Other Gods”. (p. 38) He points out that such a claim, especially in the time and culture in which it was advanced, would have been subject to scorn and ridicule at the very least – stoning and death at the worst. For a young, betrothed bride to turn up pregnant at the wedding was a scandal of the first order – and for her to be accepted in that condition by the new husband was evidence, in and of itself, that something else – something extraordinary was happening.

But what proofs can be offered except the recounting of dreams or visions by Mary herself or by Joseph her husband, both of whom have the most to lose if this was a fabrication – a lie.
Interestingly the other characters in the story also play an important role as does an understanding of the culture. Zacharias goes on,

“Mary, Joseph, Zacharias, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and then the disciples risked everything for this truth.”

He explains that the culture was one of “power and position,” and for them to set their son up for his humiliation toward a cousin younger than himself and to maintain that position of “second fiddle” even up to their son’s death at the hands of Herod’s daughter and the guards who brought her his head, was cultural suicide. It was a path toward ostracism and living as outcasts in their own home towns!

And for Mary and Joseph, the claim of a supernatural pregnancy, while they were engaged, would have been laughed at and they would have been ostracized in the harshest ways by those in closest relationships with them. Instead the opposite appears to be the case, as Joseph took Mary in, though pregnant without disgracing her publically, as did Elizabeth, her cousin, during the final trimester of her pregnancy, when the outward evidence of her pregnancy was irrefutable. All these point to the veracity of what they believed about the pregnancy – that they believed what Mary had said about God’s hand in all this.

Do you believe it?

Do you believe what we say each Sunday:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

If you believe it what does this mean?

As Larry King said, “it explains all of history!” It means that Jesus is who he said he was, the very Son of God – God With Us, Emmanuel. The Virgin Birth is set as a diamond in the setting of hundreds of prophecies regarding this coming of Messiah. Matthew spends inordinate amounts of ink on making those connections, and that is why you have Joseph’s genealogy and the Joseph dream story up front in Matthew. Those two stories are the ring setting for the story Luke tells us of the details of the birth, the testimony of Mary (which has little real credibility apart from Joseph’s acceptance of her), and the theological ramifications of such a birth.

Valerie is working today, but she related to me her astonishment this past week at a discovery she made at her work. She works with two muslim women, who celebrate Christmas. Seems like a contradiction, right? But no! It seems that one other religion in the world holds to Jesus’ Virgin Birth: Islam!!

In the Koran (Surah 19:19ff) Jesus, it asserts, was “born of a virgin.” Yet Islam denies the divinity of Jesus, maintaining that he was the last great prophet, before Mohammed. The Koran was written 600 years after Jesus birth, yet affirms this birth story as true, but does not make the connection to Jesus origin then, in God. Just as for many in our modern culture, the connection between the virgin birth and divinity of Jesus is lost. But it is one of the features of this story that is unique among world religions: Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, all born of natural means and died natural deaths.

Jesus stands alone here, and is the unique witness of God’s power and love for humankind the ssssssssssworld over. From the beginning, “communion and the power to give life existed in God himself. God, who is Father, Son and Spirit is in fact, Being-in-relationship. In Christ, the Word became flesh. God created flesh in the act of the creation of man and woman but God was not bound by our requirements of consummation in begetting His One and Only, Unique Son, through whom He was “reconciling the world to himelf.”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

You see, to be born of God, we must follow the way of Jesus, the Virgin Born One, who was born, "not of blood, or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God." It is thus, just as Jesus was, that we are given the power and right to become children of God.

So let us hold fast the hope that we profess and believe and receive Him, once again,
In the stable that is our heart, as he is born in us this day.

Amen.

Simple Obedience

2011-01-02T06:09:00.003-07:00

Simple Obedience : The Christmas Story in Your Life

Have you ever listened, when all the stories of the birth of Jesus are told, for the many instances of simple obedience that happened around the story? Simple obedience – just doing what you are directed to do! Of course that begs the question, “How do you know what to do and what not to do?” which leads to a discussion of listening to God in deeper relationship and hearing from Him in some kind of on-going communication.

Really all of these things are tied together. Relationship, hearing & obedience.

The list of people in the Christmas story is really impressive, beginning with Mary herself. My wife once asked me if Mary could have said, “NO.” And of course the answer is, “YES.” That is why we have the record of her obedience … to give us an example of obedience in the face of terrible hardship. Her decision to say, “YES” was not an easy one, if you are taking all the ramifications for her into account.

Teen pregnancy while engaged, punishable by death by stoning; ostracism from family and friends; rejection by Joseph, her fiancé. Her reasons to say NO to this angel were compelling indeed. But she said, “Be it unto me according to your word.”

Joseph likewise, had choices to make, and they were being made, when he dreamed a dream. His dream set him on a different and difficult course, saying “YES” to God and God’s plan for him and for Mary, his new wife to be.

Zacharias & Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptizer, were also faced with visions and dreams which set their course and the course of their son, even to his untimely death at the hands of Herod.

The shepherds and here in today’s reading, the Magi: men of learning and study, men of science, likely men of wealth, who traveled a great distance to pay homage; to worship the new King of Kings.

None of these obeyed the heavenly visions at no cost. Simple obedience always costs us something. But without simple obedience, the Christmas story and all that follows from it in our lives and in the lives of billions across the world, would not have happened as it has. Nor would the story continue to unfold as it does today without… simple obedience.

This second Sunday of Christmastide we have also entered a New Year, … a new decade!
I chuckled yesterday as I listened to one of the recaps of the decade past, and heard that they are trying to figure out what to call it. Can’t call it the zero’s or the oughts’. One suggestion was the Y2K’s. Whatever we call it, we have passed through the first decade of a new century.

And just as in that very first decade, even now, in the midst of our high technology and "higher" learning, the learning that we do in relationship to God and in simple obedience to His Word, is still some of the most difficult and life-changing learning that we do in our lifetime. But it’s the learning that has the potential to change the world!

In this new year… In this next decade – (if we have another decade in God’s plan, ) what will simple obedience look like for you… or for me? Do you have some idea of what God is asking you to say YES to in your life? Do you have some dream that is guiding your footsteps like the star that guided the wise men to Bethlehem? Unless we act on them, dreams and visions have a way of getting fuzzy in our minds, don’t they? We can easily forget some of the things that God has asked of us, if we do not say YES to him in simple obedience.

How do we dream dreams and see visions? How can we see beyond the hum-drum, day-in-day-out of the rat race that is American life? How can we lift our heads up from having our noses to the grind stone? We are used to phrases like that describing our reality. We are NOT that used to entering into the reality of Biblical revelation and relationship. For many the language of visions and dreams is only used in corporate America and the visions and dreams are of profits and success.

How do we dream dreams and see visions… for God? From God?

We have talked at length in the last year or so about three steps that are formative in our walk with the Lord – three steps that place us in His will and into the flow of what God is doing in the world today.

Willingness … Availability … and Obedience. We all know them well.

But we can see from the readings of our Christmastide season that both willingness and availability arise out of a mindset – actually a heart set on obedience. A heart set to hear from God and do what He asks of us, is the prerequisite to even our willingness. It is here (in our hearts) that the course is set, to follow God or to go our own way. A Heart Set on Obedience! That is my prayer for us, … for me, for my family and for our church in this new year … in this new decade.

I believe that obedience is the key to the larger vision and dream that God has for this world today. It is the key to the vision that God has for each of our lives and for our life together.

And as we learn from our readings this morning and throughout the Christmas stories, obedience is not really convenient, very often. It is not really logical, in many cases – at least by our logic. It is not really easy – doesn’t just go along with the flow. The fact is that obedience will set you apart. It will mark you as different. It will put you at odds with the world in some situations. Obedience is really different!

Obedience starts in our submission to God. Yesterday afternoon after the Rose Bowl, where Texas Christian ( a David-sized school) beat Wisconsin ( A Goliath-sized school), the MVP for the game from TCU was asked about the little guy status of TCU. On national TV he quoted 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you” Obedience begins with our humility and submission to God. It begins with our desire to do HIS thing, not ours.

And obedience means doing HIS thing, HIS way. The Lord tells us in the Psalms that His ways are higher than our ways. Over and over again I am reminded by God that my ways are ground level – his ways are heaven level! We pray over and over again that His will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. We are the agents for the fulfillment of that prayer! Obedience is the key.
And so with Paul, once again, as several times before I make my prayer for the New Year:
"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe."

I pray that as you come to this wisdom and revelation you will adopt an attitude of submission and obedience to God that is the bedrock and foundation of all that can be done in His Name.

And I pray that you will, from that place, find the God sized dreams and visions for your life that He is putting in your heart – by His Holy Spirit.

In the Name of His beloved Son, Jesus!

Amen.

Emmanuel: God With Us !!

2010-12-19T07:13:00.003-07:00

Sunday, December 19, 2010
Advent IV
Emmanuel: God With Us

How many of you have ever considered the meaning of your name? I have. Philip means Lover from the Greek word, Phileo. Some add “of horses” but I haven’t lived into that definition very well. The last encounter I had with a horse I was thrown from a 17 hand stallion as he ended a full gallop. He saw the fence coming up and didn’t think I was going to turn. I lost.

What’s in a name? Much it seems!!

“And you shall name Him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins”
And they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

Names play an important role in our lives. We pass on family names from generation to generation. Sometimes that is expected. People were amazed when Zachariah, the prophet and priest recovered his speech, at the naming of his son: HIS NAME IS JOHN: the Baptizer, the FORERUNNER, and cousin of Jesus. His name was given in obedience to a vision from God about John’s future work.

In African cultures, names are given because of a desired character or perhaps a significant event, around the birth of a child. And these names are native to the area or tribal tie. The names shape the person in many ways.

We in America can hardly buy that, since we name our kids after favorite movie stars or because we like the sound of a name. Sometimes we even name our children with a view to how the name will boil down in a nickname that they will be stuck with for the rest of their life!!

But the world over, names are still important, as they were in Biblical times and cultures.
So what’s in The Name? Jesus… EMMANUEL.

Jesus means Savior (literally “Jehovah is Salvation”) ; Emmanuel, God With Us.

These capture the essence and center of the mission and purpose of the life that they named. JEhovah Saves US! JESUS! Jesus is, … the Son of God, … the Savior of mankind, … God incarnate. That’s a lot to pack into a Name. You wonder why Satan has an all out attack going on on That Name?

America isn’t the only place where the Name of Jesus has fallen out of favor! A recent online report from Charisma Magazine says:

“Nearly all human-rights groups and Western government agencies that monitor the plight of Christians worldwide agree: Between 200 million and 230 million believers face daily threats of murder, beating, imprisonment and torture, and a further 350 million to 400 million encounter discrimination in areas such as jobs and housing. A conservative estimate of the number of Christians killed for their faith each year is around 150,000.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported during a conference last month on Christian persecution that Christians were “harassed” by government factors in 102 countries and by social factors, such as mob rule, in 101 countries.

The report, presented at the conference hosted by the European Parliament, stated: “Altogether, Christians faced some form of harassment in two-thirds of all countries,” or 133 nations.

A Pew Forum spokesperson told the Star that Christians face harassment in more countries “than any other religious group.” In yet clearer terms, the conference was told that “at least” 75 percent of all religious persecution in the world is directed against Christians.”
( Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/29710-christian-persecution-tops-world-list-who-knew-#ixzz18YoophX4 )

The Name of Jesus is the most hated name across the world. Why? Because it is “the Only Name that is given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) We live in a world that rejects that premise. Paul said of Jesus, in his letter to the Philippian Church: “God has given him a Name that is above every other name; and at the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father!” (2: 9-11) We live in a world that refuses to BOW NOW, but it will … BOW LATER!

Let’s consider for a moment the import of the name, EMMANUEL. Three little words:

GOD - The Supreme of the Universe, the Creator, the Immortal and Only Wise, The All Knowing, All Seeing, Ever Present, All Powerful, Unchanging and Everlasting God.

That GOD – the God who IS that He IS, From before the beginning and who will be after the end – The Wholly Other – The Holy Lover --The Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace: THAT GOD!!

WITH - “to denote association in respect of situation or environment; hence, among; in the company of.” “Denotes a connection of friendship, support, alliance, assistance, countenance, etc; hence, on the side of.” (Hyper dictionary Online)

Of the disciples, it is told that the Jewish leaders “took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) It was obviously a life-changing association. And it still is! Jesus promised at the end, on the day He ascended to heaven: I will be WITH you, always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20) Being with Jesus, then and now, is the KEY to the life transformation we seek and that the world needs!!

US - Imagine it. US! That’s you and me. Not only was Jesus with the disciples, the heavy hitters, the A-Team, but He is with US. In all of our frailty and indecision, in all of our trials and tribulations, in all our sin and rebellion, Jesus is WITH US. US!

If you just stop and think about it, it will blow you away! GOD… WITH… US!!

And you need to know that this isn’t a passing phase with God. This is a settled decision, to the extent that He has been at it now for two-thousand plus years – and God showed this commitment for thousands of years before sending His Son, Jesus! This is a settled decision – a settled pattern of behavior by God! Paul tells us that “God was IN CHRIST, reconciling the world to Himself!” (2 Cor 5:19)

So what? So what is our response? Here in Advent – a few days from the celebration of his first advent, at Christmas on Friday evening and on Saturday.

What is our response?

Perhaps a good clue would be the response of those who knew of his first coming:
The shepherds and the Wise Men. They were led to the discovery – by different means and on different routes, but to the same destination. From different stations in life, but both came to be on bended knee at the feet of the manger bed of this Jesus, God With Us.

Like the Shepherds we have heard the revelation – perhaps not in the voices of the angels overhead – but in the words of the testimony of Jesus, the Bible. Like the Shepherds we must come and see this ONE – come and encounter HIM. Theirs took no less faith than ours… To believe a baby in a cattle stall, born in a barn, to peasant parents, a carpenter and his wife, was THE SON OF GOD. How can our faith need to be greater than theirs? All they did was obey the word of the host of angels, Go and See!

We are bid similarly, Come and see!! Come and encounter the living Son of God, Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel: God with us.

Like the Wise men, led by heavenly signs to the place where Jesus lay, we are led by the Spirit of Jesus, to encounter him today. Wise men, they say, still seek Him!

Are you wise? Are you seeking? If you seek, you will find Him. He is nearer than you think. He is after all … Emmanuel: God With Us!

Amen.

The Marks of the Kingdom - Dec 12, 2010

2010-12-12T06:38:00.003-07:00

Sunday, December 12, 2010
Advent III
The Marks of the Kingdom

"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

In our gospel passage this morning, John the baptizer, now in prison for his stance on royal morality, has a moment of impatience. Have you ever been impatient in your life? Wanting so badly to see a new … well, you can fill in the blank. John wanted to see the new KINGDOM. He was probably anxious for his cousin to come to POWER and free him from his prison abode. So we hear his impatience, in the voices of his disciples who question Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” WOW.

What a vote of confidence from John, the Forerunner of Jesus! The one who had pointed to him on the river bank and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Who had actually seen the dove and heard the voice of God at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” Now, from prison and in his suffering, asks this question.

“This is taking longer than I thought, cousin!” Or another possibility, “I’m not sure I like the direction that your ministry is taking, cousin.” Or in the words of the other disciples, even up to the day of the Ascension, “Are you NOW going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1)

Impatience is always predicated on expectation. The people’s expectation of the Messiah was that he would come and rebuild the sovereign state of Israel. And it was felt acutely at this time of intense oppression under Roman rule. But Jesus agenda did not include a political coup, or even freeing John the Baptiser from his fate in prison.

In the chapter before our reading, Matthew 10, Jesus is deputizing his novice disciples and sending them out ahead of him with these words: ”Go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Jesus was a revolutionary of a different kind! He didn’t have wealth, nor were his followers to seek it – He sought dependence on God. He gave away peace, not prosperity.

Jesus warned his disciples, as He sent them out: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We, just like the disciples, don’t really want to hear words like that from Jesus. And John was no different than us – stuck in prison, waiting, watching for some sign that the Kingdom is being set up – some coup in progress… but nothing.

And so his question. “Who are you?” Are you who I expected you to be or not?
Did I miss it out there at the Jordan River? And they are so like our questions, aren’t they? Jesus! This isn’t going as planned! This is taking a LOT longer than I thought. Lord? W-A-I-T is a four-letter word!! Ever feel like that?

And now in our reading, Jesus points to the marks of the Kingdom coming among men: marks that are not measured by our comfort, but by the demonstration of God’s power. Marks that have been the marks of the Kingdom of God from the time of God’s first involvements in the Old Testament:

In the Psalms and in the Prophets:

From Isaiah this morning the very same sentiments:

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

And in Psalm 146:

7 The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

And here in our gospel again, Jesus refers back to the Messianic Job Description that he quoted from Isaiah 61, in the 4th chapter of Luke’s gospel:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]

So for millennia the Word had been plain in its pointing to these signs of the Kingdom that Jesus pointed to in His own ministry. He said to John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see!” These things are the proofs I am offering. The same “signs” that have been spoken of for centuries in the Word of God are the ones that are happening now, as the Kingdom is being proclaimed by Jesus – and I might add, the same signs that are to be present today as the Kingdom is proclaimed! The charge from Jesus has not abated, since He gave it to His disciples: “Freely you have received, freely give!”

I hope that we are expecting the signs of the Kingdom in our midst. I believe that we are and that we are seeing them in fact! God has given us at REZ a testimony of His Kingdom coming among us, not unlike the testimony of Jesus to John.

Friends, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because He has anointed us to proclaim good new to the poor. He has sent us to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

May we be able, with Jesus, who is present among us, to say with him, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!” “Tell those who ask what it is you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

Let’s pray again together our collect for this Third Sunday of Advent:

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever.

Amen.

The Marks of the Kingdom - Dec 12, 2010

2010-12-12T06:27:00.001-07:00

In the Psalms and in the Prophets:

From Isaiah this morning the very same sentiments:

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
"Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

And in the Psalm that we didn’t read this morning from Ps 146:

7 The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

8 The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

And here in our gospel again, Jesus refers back to the Messianic Job Description that he quoted from Isaiah 61, in the 4th chapter of Luke’s gospel:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]

So for millennia the Word had been plain in its pointing to these signs of the Kingdom that Jesus pointed to in His own ministry. He said to John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see!” These things are the proofs I am offering. The same “signs” that have been spoken of for centuries in the Word of God are the ones that are happening now, as the Kingdom is being proclaimed by Jesus – and I might add, the same signs that are to be present today as the Kingdom is proclaimed! The charge from Jesus has not abated, since He gave it to His disciples:
“Freely you have received, freely give!”

I hope that we are expecting the signs of the Kingdom in our midst. I believe that we are and that we are seeing them in fact! God has given us at REZ a testimony of His Kingdom coming among us, not unlike the testimony of Jesus to John.

Friends, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because He has anointed us to proclaim good new to the poor. He has sent us to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

May we be able, with Jesus, who is present among us, to say with him, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!” “Tell those who ask what it is you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

Let’s pray again together our collect for this Third Sunday of Advent:

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever.

Amen.

The Marks of a Saint - Nov 7, 2010

2010-12-09T17:50:00.003-07:00

Sermon on All Saints Sunday
Nov 7, 2010

The Marks of a Saint

Since opening the subject last week of covenant and of us as God’s Covenant People, I’ve spent the week pondering what it means to be “saints.” The Apostle Paul was the one who applied the term to the community of God’s people, as he wrote to the churches, almost as a kind of shorthand term to denote the community of God’s Chosen People.

In most of Paul’s personal and pastoral letters to the churches he refers to those whom he is writing to as “saints.” There is no waiting for a holy person to die, nor any review of their actions, of the miracles that occurred through their life and work – you are a “saint” by virtue of following Jesus! You are a saint TODAY.

So what are the marks of being a “saint?”

Well I think it worthy of note that in every case the word is plural. ONLY ONCE does the word occur in the singular in the whole New Testament, and then it is preceded by the word “every” – in Philippians 1. 61 times in the NT the people of the churches that were being addressed were referred to as “saints.” A community – a corps of fellowship that is called to live a life like unto that of its Leader, Jesus Christ.

Our NT reading this morning we have heard before and I’ve commented on before from Ephesians. As Paul addresses the Ephesian church, as with most of his churches, he addresses them as “saints.” And he adds a phrase: “who are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
To the church at Corinth he adds: “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:” Think of it!!

You and I are part of this worldwide movement – not just of Anglicans but of all the followers of Jesus – and not just worldwide, but from time immemorial!! From the dawn of time, this has been God’s plan and provision. From before the creation of the world, God knows you and He knows me – and God chose you and He chose me, along with the billions and billions, throughout all time and across the world – “All those who in every place call upon the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Paul goes even further, in our reading this morning, calling the saints “the riches of his (God’s) glorious inheritance.” If we put that together with the verses above, we get the sense that God has invested in us. And we are the pay off He will get at the end of it all. When the play is over, all the saints will be on stage to take the bow, with Him. As Paul prays, we do indeed need our eyes to be enlightened to see these truths!

Further on in Ephesians Paul fills in the picture a bit more: It is among the “saints,” that we “comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love in Christ Jesus.” It is among the “saints” that we are “equipped for the work of the ministry, for building up the Body of Christ.” It is among the “saints” that we are to experience freedoms from "sexual immorality, and all impurity or covetousness.” It is among the “saints” that we are to “make prayers and supplications, praying at all times in the Spirit, and keeping alert with all perseverance.”

As “saints” we are “qualified by God the Father, to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” We have been “transferred from the dominion of darkness, and made to share in the Kingdom of His dear Son.” As “saints” we partake of “a mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to us, his saints.” Paul continues, “to them (the saints = us) God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

You are a saint today, because of the mystery of Christ in you – He is your hope of Glory! You can live as a “saint” today, because your life is not yours – it belongs to Jesus. And as a result it belongs to that Company of Jesus – that Communio Sanctorum – that Holy Communion of the People of God, through all ages and in all places. But friends, that becomes specific as you live your life in Christ, rubbing shoulders with the other “saints” – here at REZ. If its not real here, its not real there!

The reality of this “mystery” is made concrete in the ways we live together, here, day-to-day – life-on-life. This is where the rubber hits the road, as the racers say. This “saint” thing isn’t just theory – its not just pie in the sky, by and by. It’s really real in the here and now – or its not real at all. Like Del Tackett asks in The Truth Project: “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” If so it will make a difference in the way that you live, in the way that you give, in the way that you for-give.

As we begin to look in the days to come at the first Communion of the Saints, as they lived out their lives together in Jerusalem in Acts 2 and following, we are going to note some things that begin to stand out:

Saints live together supernaturally! Their life flows from the Spirit of God in their lives and in their midst. There are four things that stand out about their ‘supernatural’ life together:

1. The presence of supernatural forgiveness. Nothing is harder in this world than “trying” to live without offense. It is impossible, in our selves. It must be an outflow of the cross and the Word of Jesus, “Father, Forgive!”

2. The presence of supernatural generosity. Only God can motivate people to live with open hands toward one another – to share all their lives and goods – to count nothing of their own, as their own, so that the claim can be made, ‘there was no needy person among them.’ Wow!!

3. The presence of supernatural healing. In this community, we see the real power of God, as Paul has prayed. The apostolic community was so filled with power, that even walking through the streets, the shadow of Peter healed those it fell on! Can you imagine? And finally,

4. The presence of supernatural evangelism. For them it wasn’t a program or a duty to train for, to get “up” for; to memorize scriptures for or a particular method. It was GOD! “And God added to their number daily, those who were being saved.”

Theirs was to live the life – the “saint” life – out in the open, in front of God and everybody! Ours is to live that same life, being TRANSFORMED in COMMUNITY for MINISTRY with JESUS. His is the ongoing presence in us and with us, and like those early followers, we want to become noted as the people who have been WITH HIM.

And so this morning, we make the commitment real, as real as we know how to make it, by committing our selves, our souls and bodies, our resources to Christ Jesus and this group of “saints” we call REZ. By making our offerings and asking God for his Supernatural Additive, for without it – without Him – this car ain’t going nowhere!

So we pray, come Holy Spirit. Come and make us into the saints you have purposed for us to be, in our day.

Come Holy Spirit and cause us, here at REZ, to be your people in deed and in truth.

Mark US with the marks of the Saints of God:
Your Supernatural forgiveness;
Your supernatural generosity;
Your supernatural healing power, and
Your supernatural evangelism.

Come, Holy Spirit!!

Come.

Sermon on The Word - Nov 14, 2010

2010-12-09T17:26:00.002-07:00

Sermon from Nov 14, 2010
Resurrection Anglican Fellowship, Centennial, CO
Fr. Philip Eberhart

Hear the Word…Read, Mark, Learn & Inwardly Digest It.

Over the past couple weeks we’ve looked at Covenant and what it means to be a Saint.

An essential part of both, living in Covenant with God and living INTO the call to be a living “saint” is our accessing a vital resource that we have right at hand. Of course I am speaking of the Word of God.

This morning’s collect is one of my favorites, because over the years I have striven to become a Man of The Word. Our opening prayer this morning outlines an approach to Holy Scripture that I want to consider for our spiritual health and wellbeing. It was the first of the four pillars of the Jerusalem church in Acts 2. “And they continued to give themselves to The Apostle’s Teaching.”

The Apostles’ Teaching:
The teaching of the Apostles is, of course, the teaching about Jesus – their recollections, the stories of His own teachings and acts while on earth, and the application of those teachings, on this side of the resurrection, in the real, day-to-day life of the community that was being formed in His Name.

For us today that is captured in the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – the stories of the Savior as He walked this earth, as He taught and as he touched the lives of the people he met. It is the collective memory of the church as it formed in that first community we see in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles.

Mark, the first gospel, the memoirs of Peter and the other apostles who led the Jerusalem community, as they recalled Jesus’ words and works in the hearing of this young evangelist, John Mark, the nephew of Peter. Mark was also Paul’s companion on his first missionary journey, telling the same stories and hearing the words of the learned Paul as he shared his own recollections and his own story with the gentiles.

Luke, the Dr. who was a meticulous historian, adding depth and detail to the body of Mark’s writings – now aimed at the new Gentile audience. Luke became Paul’s companion, midway on his Second Missionary Journey, as the gospel mission opened up Europe and came to Philippi, in modern day Greece.

And Matthew, an apostle himself, who took Mark’s writings and tailored them for the Jerusalem community, adding the unique perspective of fulfilled prophecy from long ago for the Jewish audience he was writing to.

And John, the apostle, called The Beloved – gives us a unique recording of Jesus’ life and ministry, with great detail paid to the last week of Jesus’ life, the Passion and death of Jesus for us. Jesus last words – an intimate recording of his last supper and the teaching he did at the table. And a close-up view of the events of the Passion, from the one who stood by with Mary Magdalene and Jesus Mother, watching it all unfold.

And Dr. Luke, continues on with his historical treatise in a second work: The Acts of the Apostles, the journal of the growth of the Church in the first 100 years. Luke a personal eye-witness, beginning in Acts 17. A careful observer and recorder, Luke, brings to us a very close up view of both Jesus and His followers.

And St. Paul, the Apostle, born out of time – out of sync with the rest. Knocked off his horse, Paul finally gave Jesus his attention and his heart and life as the Apostle to the Gentiles! Paul, responsible for a considerable part of the NT, in his letters to the churches, was a major force in the spread of the Gospel of Jesus, to Asia Minor and Europe.

The teaching of the Apostles; our prayer commends it to us to Hear, Read, Mark,
Learn and Inwardly Digest. Why? Why were the early followers of Jesus so keen on what was said and done by Jesus? Why has this book become the all time best seller for generations? It’s not listed on the NY Times Best Seller List. Why? Because its so far out ahead that nothing will ever catch up!

What is its power? Why have armies and nations been dashed to pieces over time and this ANVIL remains, untarnished and unscarred by time and threat?

This is the WORD OF GOD.

It is the creative force in the Universe! By it the universe itself came into being!
And God Said…

John tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word of the Father, that creative force, was the Word of God, the Son. Jesus himself was and is the Word – now become incarnate: “The Word became flesh and made a home among us”

Jesus called the Word seed. Peter later refers to it as “imperishable seed.” Paul tells Timothy that it is “God-breathed.” The writer to the Hebrews tells us that it is “living and active – sharper than a two-edged sword.”

It is referred to as “the sword of the Spirit.” We are told that it can divide between the thoughts and intentions of the heart – our motivations and desires – and that it has power in our own mouths, to bring life.

Friends, I am convinced that there is no greater treasure and no greater force, than this living Word of God. It is a mystery, because I’m not talking about a book, yet in the pages of this book lie the riches of God, buried like treasure in a field. But like a treasure in a field it doesn’t just “turn up” one day! Our prayer outlines the steps to recovering the treasure and enjoying its wealth:

HEAR:
Jesus continually said, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.” Solomon, when he prayed for wisdom, actually prayed for a “hearing heart.” Are you willing to pursue God through hearing His Word? Solomon later wrote

1 My son,if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

READ:
After the death of Moses, Joshua, the young assistant, is given the charge to lead the People of God into the land of the Covenant Promise. Foundational to the charge that Joshua received from the Lord were these words:

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

As we read last month in our time in Nehemiah, when the people of God returned to Jerusalem, one of the central features of the renewal of the faith of Israel was the public reading of the Law, and its explanation to those standing by.

If this book is God’s mainframe – he main repository of His words, actions and directions for His People – the sourcebook of communication with the Almighty…
Don’t you think it may be important to read it?

MARK:
Have you ever read a book? You know how I can tell if I’ve really read a book? By the highlighting and written comments in the margins, by the dog-ears on pages that I want to return to, by the extra notes in the back blank cover pages. THEN I’ve read the book.

I know that some are reluctant to mark in the Bible, because it’s a holy book. But I assure you that there is no punishment for marking it up! In fact it is one of the signs of reading it properly.

There are two ways to read and two instruments to read with: one is a highlighter, the other is a pen-knife! The first is holy, the second is unholy. We mark the scriptures because we are digging for treasure; we write in the side columns because we have found some clue to the whereabouts of the treasure!

LEARN:
All of these things are helps for us to LEARN THE WORD. Why? What are the benefits? We sing about it from the Psalms:

Psalm 19: 7-11 What are the benefits?
Revival of the Soul
Wisdom for the Simple
Joy for the Heart
Enlightenment for the Eyes

David, as we heard from his son, Solomon, tells us that these bring us to

The Fear of the Lord – Clean and Enduring Forever
The Rules of the Lord are True and Righteous Altogether!
“More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
Sweeter also than the honey, and the honeycomb.”

And David finishes the thought with these words:
“Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward!”

INWARDLY DIGEST:
What? I find it interesting that these words are added to this prayer. Like food, the Word of God provides us with our “daily bread.” Our daily sustenance that keeps us from starving, that keeps us alive!

The Old Testament concept of meditation is drawn from the farm yard. Many of you know of the cow’s “cud”. The presence of a first stomach and a second stomach. The grain or grass that a cow eats goes into this first stomach – after a time it is regurgitated and “chewed on” some more – until finally it is swallowed into the second stomach and finally, digested.

Meditation on God’s word, which includes the discipline of memorization, is a similar process. But why?

David, in the Psalm of the Word, Psalm 119, wrote the longest chapter in the Bible, in praise of God’s Word. As he begins this poem, he asks the question, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” He continues just a verse later: “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Peter tells us in his second pastoral letter:
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Let us end with the prayer that we started with this morning:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

All Saints Sermon - Oct 31, 2010

2010-12-09T17:09:00.002-07:00

Sermon for Oct 31, 2010
Fr. Philip Eberhart

A COVENANT GOD - A COVENANT PEOPLE

This morning, the eve of All Saints, tomorrow November 1st, is our celebration of “Covenant Sunday.” Covenant is a very big topic for a single sermon or a single day. Covenant is what God has been doing ever since the Fall. When Adam and Eve didn’t ‘get it’ God began to devise a plan to recreate, to restore, to redeem and reconcile the whole of His creation to Himself. That plan was put in place the day that Adam and Eve were sent from the garden. Everything in the God Story – His—Story—points to the truth of God’s plan and design to reconcile and restore… US… to himself.

Friday evening and yesterday we heard, at a leadership retreat in Castle Rock, this plan of God’s taught as a model for our movement into the flow of God’s action through the ministry He calls us to. Our presenter, Tom McGee, outlines three movements in the action of God in History: Creation - Covenant - Co-Mission. Covenant is the centerpiece of the plan of God – a plan to restore the whole creation by redeeming a people unto Himself through the reconciliation accomplished in Christ, and calling us to join Him in Co-Mission as His ambassadors.

Covenant is what God has been up to all this time!

From Adam to Noah, to Abraham and Moses, through David and down to Jesus, who is God Incarnate, becoming the Covenant sacrifice – The Way, The Truth and the Life! And through Jesus, we get in on the act now, at the end of the show. Its like a long play on stage, that in the last scene invites all of those in the audience up on stage to take a part! We are in the last few moments of the play, friends. And God has invited us onto the stage to play our part!

Covenant is the centerpiece of God’s action in the world and Christ is the centerpiece of God’s Covenant with us and with the world. The last line of our Gospel reading this morning is the CRUX of the matter – The “Cross” hairs: In reference to the salvation of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, the most despised figures in all of Israel at the time of Jesus, he said: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Here we see all the elements of what we are saying today. Salvation came to Zacchaeus through his faith in Jesus, as a son of Abraham (the covenant people). Jesus also said to Zacchaeus and to all of us, “as the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” We are invited up onto the stage to take our part in the action of redemption as ambassadors of reconciliation – joining God in His mission – a co-Mission with Him.

So what has Covenant looked like through the ages as the play has been acted out through His-story?

First: Covenant looks like God choosing a person – a people. Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham; all were chosen by God. God is the initiator of Covenant, not us. God is the principle actor on the stage! Covenant is God committing to His creation and His people, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” We understand covenant is unbreakable, at least so it is from God’s perspective. It is a Covenant of Unfailing Love -- Hesed in the Hebrew language. The words we heard last week arise out of this kind of unfailing love for His people: “Fear Not, I have redeemed you. I know you by name and you are mine!”

Second: Covenant looks like being set apart. “You will be my people, and I will be your God” are the words with which we are invited into this special relationship with the Living God! What a promise! And these words ring through the whole of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, over 200 times the words My People occur. This set apart relationship is with a people – together. Peter put is well when he described us as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.”

Third: Covenant looks like a call to be more than we are. “Be all you can be” is the US Army’s recruiting slogan. God’s is “Be more than you can be!” The list is long and distinguished of those who were called to be more than they could be, in fact, almost all of the players on stage throughout the whole of the play are such!! The cast is made up of harlots and rebels, of cowards and thieves – and that is just in the human lineage of Jesus! Friends, we fit in easily with this cast of characters in the bible, from the patriarchs down to the disciples of Jesus, the human story – the human side of this equation – is one of falling completely short of the standard and being made MORE by God’s amazing grace. Think of Abraham, who passed off his wife as his sister because of cowardice, not once but twice; think of Gideon, the no account son of a no account tribesman, by his own accounting “the least of the least of the least”; think of Jonah, who ran from God’s call to preach in Ninevah, cause he hated the Ninevites! God has to send very special circumstances to get his attention, he finally obeyed and then when successful, he pouted in the desert! Think of Zacchaeus, or Peter, the holder of the Keys to the Kingdom, hailed in one breath by Jesus and called a “satan” in the next.

Friends, thankfully, the Covenant does not depend on us! Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!

But nevertheless, God invites us into Covenant with Himself. Just as Jesus invited Zacchaeus out of his tree-top perch, and entered his house and broke bread with him, he invites us to come down, to invite Him in and to sup together at table.

And how did Zacchaeus respond? Immediately and willingly! This tax-collector and sinner, despised by his neighbors and countrymen, came down in one jump and welcomed Jesus into his home. He responded with generosity toward Jesus, with repentance towards those he had wronged, and with 4-fold restoration where he had injured others by his greed. “Salvation” took up a dwelling in his house!

And let me note here that, as was His custom, Jesus didn’t let the fact that Zach was hated slow him down as He went in. There were no special conditions, apart from his own acceptance of Jesus’ request to dine with him, for Jesus to come into his house. Jesus didn’t “lay down the law” to Zacchaeus! And there are no special conditions for Jesus to come into your house, but for you to accept his invitation! As John later reminded us in Rev. 3: I stand at your door and knock!

Each of us has a door only we can open.

Is Jesus on the inside of the house of your heart? Or on the outside, still knocking?
Just a simple question.

But I think its important to also note that that letter in John’s Revelation was written to a whole church – perhaps The Whole Church, with the voice of Jesus speaking outside our door: “Behold I stand at the door and knock! If you hear my voice, Church, and allow me entry, I will come in and sup with you.” “You will be My People, and I will be Your God!”

Those words echo throughout The Word. And by them we are called by God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, to be a special, separated people, identified with Him and with His purpose of reconciliation and redemption and restoration and renewal in the world. Until that Day when Jesus returns and the whole of creation will be made new again.

Listen from the Message to Paul’s assessment of our call, our Co-Mission:
14-15 Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
16-20 Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. (2 Cor 5: 14-21)

And how important is our role in this equation now? How important is our role on the stage at the end of the play. Let me read on in 2 Cor 6 for just a few more verses:
This is entitled: Staying at our Post!
1-10 Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time;
The day you needed me, I was there to help. Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don't put it off; don't frustrate God's work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we're doing. Our work as God's servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.

11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

God has extended the invitation to you: “Come down and let me come to your house today” - Let me, the God of the Universe, set with you at your table and eat. Will you invite Me in as Zacchaeus did? Will you offer me the hospitality of your table as I have offered you the hospitality of Mine?

If so come. During the prayers come. Not in a rush but deliberately, as we pray for the world and one another. Come.

I’ll be standing here to give a blessing as you present yourselves, your souls and bodies to God. Everyone pray with your eyes wide open this morning. Pray for those who are coming forward to respond to Jesus call to Covenant. Jesus’ call to Stand. Jesus call to Be His Ambassador. To be His People, Together, here at REZ.

Let us Pray.

Imago Dei ... Imago Christi ... And You!

2010-12-06T09:13:00.002-07:00

Sermon for Christ the King Sunday
November 21, 2010
Fr. Phil Eberhart
Resurrection Anglican Fellowship
========================

Today is Christ the King Sunday. Our readings bring out God’s plan to reconcile all things in heaven and earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Friends, it REALLY IS all about Jesus! This morning I want to look for a moment at the Image of God in Christ and then consider the Image of Christ in You … and me.

IMAGO DEI
Our reading in Colossians is perhaps the clearest instance in scripture of a statement of Jesus Christ’s position and work in relation to God: “The image of the invisible God!
… In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things … through the blood of His Cross.”

This morning I just want to consider the use of the word IMAGE - directly from the Greek here we get our word, ICON. We see this word twenty-three (23) times in the NT, -- well over half in regard to idolatry, or the wrong use of images – something that the western church has rejected during the reformation period when the Anglican church was born. We are products of that mindset, so we struggle a bit with the use of an ICON today.

In the Eastern Orthodox traditions, rich with iconography, the icon serves as a “window” into the life and character of the person depicted. The icon is intended to give a focus to meditation – but is not a living force to worship!!

Jesus Christ, on the other hand, as the ICON OF GOD is both the representation of all the glory of God: Paul tell us in 2 Cor 4:4 that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the IKON – the image of God.” And Jesus is not only the representation, he is the representative! As we saw in our reading from Colossians: “In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Similarly, later in Colossians 2:9 Paul tells us: “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…”

This idea of FULLNESS is one that Paul uses throughout the whole argument. Jesus is the complete revelation of God to us! Nothing is left out! We can study Him and His life, His thoughts and actions, His relationships and methods, and go ever deeper into His personal words and public works and never find anything that doesn’t fully reflect God!

ALL FULLNESS!! (And All means … ? ALL!!)

The Apostle John in his gospel, also starts from this point: in 1:14 “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, FULL of grace and truth…” and in 16: “… of His FULLNESS we have all received, and grace upon grace.” And finally in 18: “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

But Paul, interestingly, also uses that concept of fullness repeatedly in his talk about the relative position and work of the Body of Christ! And this is where the rubber hits the road for us.

In our studies in the Ephesian letter from Paul, we see this over and over and over. As we look at the word FULLNESS itself, the Greek useage, where it refers to the Body of believers is “that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, [and] riches of God and of Christ.” (Thayer). Eph 3:19 “that ye may become a body wholly filled and flooded by God.”

SOOOOOO… if Christ is the image of God in the world. Who is the Image of Christ IN the world?

IMAGO CHRISTI
Paul tells us, also, that we – the Body of Christ – are being transformed into His image:
“We all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same IMAGE from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Paul is quite clear in several places that this is our destiny as Christians: to look like Jesus! In the 3rd chapter of this Colossian letter he says we “have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the IMAGE of the One who created him.”

Paul, writing to the Romans in a very familiar verse from the 8th chapter, verse 28:
“we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” But Paul continues on in this regard:
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
And these whom He predestined He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things: (HMMMMM)? If God is for us, who is against us?

God who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

HMMMMM INDEED!!

Christ is the Image of God and We are the Image of Christ! We, the Church! We… REZ!l

But the question then is quite simple: What do people see when they look at us?

What do you see of the Imago Christi in this Body of Christ?

The Word tells us that we overcome by The Blood of the Lamb AND The Word of our Testimony? Let me ask again: What do you see of the Imago Christi in THIS Body of Christ? How is God working among us, and in us and through us? How is Christ visible in our lives and in our community of fellowship , our common life? What transformation is occurring? How is LOVE manifest? Where can we see God’s Power working? What are the coincidences in your life? In our life together?

One of our Eucharistic prayers says, “Open our eyes, Lord, to see your hand at work in the world about us.”

If Christ is the image of the invisible God --- and we are being made new in the Image of Christ --- where can we see that happening? I want to put the question to you and to us this morning, as we approach this Thanksgiving holiday and as we approach the new year in Advent next Sunday.

Can you see God at work in your world? In your life? In your marriage or relationships? In your work or in your play? Can you point to it and say, “There it is!!”

That is the substance of our testimony! And that is precisely what having a “testimony” means: I can see God at work in the world around me, in my own life and in those I live my life with. And I want to “shout it from the housetops.”

Alleluia, the Lord is Risen!!
The Lord is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia!

Alleluia, Jesus is King!!
Jesus is King Indeed!! Alleluia Alleluia.

Amen !!

Watching in Prayer: Awake & Alert

2010-12-06T08:32:00.003-07:00

Sermon at Resurrection Anglican Fellowship
Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010
Rev. Philip Eberhart
================================

This morning is New Year’s Day in the Church Calendar – the first Sunday of Advent! Advent is the season when we turn our attention to view the wonder of Christ’s coming among us – both His Promised return and His arrival, as we will celebrate next month, as a Babe in Bethlehem.

This morning our readings urge us to be awake and alert for the signs of His Second coming. Advent is a time of “preparation” – a time of awakening. Awakening to the signs around us and the “immanence” of His return… Advent is a call to stay awake, as Jesus warned in the gospel… be ready!

It was amazing this morning as I was up early typing out my thoughts for this sermon, here came my daughter, Kiri, who has slept all week till noon or later. She had an 8:10 flight this morning back to Omaha and a drive then to Iowa State. She was up at 4:45, an hour before her ride was scheduled and she was packed and ready to go. Readiness is in our heart and mind and it translates into the actions of our body.

What does it mean for us to be prepared for the return of the Lord Jesus?

If we look at Paul’s writings, throughout we see what scholars call an “immanent eschatology.” In words that normal people use, that means, he believed that Jesus could come back any time and that it was going to be sooner , rather than later!! We can see this feeling in his lines from Romans in this morning’s NT lesson. He also gives us some clues as to just what being “awake” might mean.

Here in Advent 2010, when we hear the words “our salvation is closer now; the night is far spent, the day is near…” we might respond, “DUH!!” These words were originally penned in the mid first century – how can we not, twenty centuries later be “closer now!” Closer indeed!!

Jesus tells us repeatedly in the Gospels of the signs to look for: As it was in the days of Noah: “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage… and they knew nothing!” Life was a big party. It was a marriage feast, oblivious to the conquering army banging down the door!! Like today, their “eat, drink and be merry” lifestyles had overtaken good sense. They were asleep at the wheel going a 100 miles an hour!!

So what is Paul’s prescription here this morning … to the Romans in the first century and to us in the 21st century?

“It is now the moment for you to wake from sleep!!”

LET US THEN…

Lay Aside the Works of Darkness and Put on the Armor of Light;

This is an active choice of our hearts and minds: A choice to live according to the directives of the Living God. Earlier in this same letter, Paul goes into great lengths to explain what is encapsulated here in just a few words. Almost three chapters, from 6 to the end of 8, explain the struggle we have with our flesh and the key role that our mind and heart have in this process:

RO 6:17 “…though you were slaves to sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness”

RO 8: 5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Paul speaks of these two “Mindsets” as things that we can take off and put on, like a coat. That is in fact his metaphor for how we appropriate the work of and the character of Jesus Christ into our lives; PUT ON CHRIST! Just as matter-of-factly as if he were pointing to a new suit, Paul points us to the clothing of righteousness throughout his writings, as well as here in Romans.

But as he sums up here in Romans he goes into some little detail:

LET US LIVE HONORABLY (as in the day,):
Paul delineates just what honorably means here as well:

Not in reveling and drunkenness;
Not in debauchery and licentiousness,
Not in quarreling and jealousy.

In other words, not like it was in the days of Noah!!

INSTEAD, PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST~
There it is.

Paul tells the Colossians, (3:12ff) “since God chose you to be the holy people whom He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

He goes on: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… Let the Words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. … whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus…”

This is what it means to be “awake” my friends.

Be awake to the times that we live in, to be sure – but not awake with fear, as if the thief is about to break in. No! Awake with anticipation – alive with the hope of His return. Awake with perception, discerning the times that we live in; awake to opportunity, having our eyes open to the movement of God in our midst and in the world, as he prepares us for an end times revival, the likes of which we have never seen.

And this morning I want to echo the words of Paul:

SALVATION IS NEARER TO US NOW THAN WHEN WE FIRST BECAME BELIEVERS!

STAY AWAKE IN PRAYER, IN YOUR READING OF GOD’S WORD, IN ACTIVE APPROPRIATION OF IT TO YOUR LIFE IN LIVING APPLICATION.

THE TIME IS SOON COMING WHEN WE ARE GOING TO BE CALLED ON TO BE THE LIGHT THAT WE ARE: THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS OF AN EVER DARKENING WORLD.

AND AS THE DARK GETS DARKER, EVEN A SMALL LIGHT IS BRIGHT!!

AMEN!

Abounding In Hope (Romans 15:13)

2010-12-06T07:40:00.004-07:00

ROM 15:13
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

Abounding in Hope

This morning in Advent 2 our themes are both repentance and what issues from it: HOPE.

There has been a lot of talk about hope in these last few years in our culture, but we have realized little actual hope, as the joyful expectations of change and a new type of leadership have been dashed again and again. Hope is a fragile commodity. It is easily broken and costly to regain.

In his final words to the Romans, Paul prays a blessing on the Roman Church that I pray for us as well, in our day: from 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

Hope plays an important role in our movement toward the fulfillment of our salvation. It is intertwined with our faith, our trust in the Word of God and the God of His Word. Faith is in fact defined as “the Substance of things HOPED FOR”; and Paul weaves it together as one of the Big Three at the end of 1 Cor 13: “Now remain these three: Faith, HOPE, and Love…”

Hope plays a dynamic role, along with faith, [trust or belief ] in the walking out of our Christian Life in LOVE. It is in fact a kind of binding agent – the middle glue that binds our faith in God to an active love that lives its faith out in day-to-day sacrifice. In many ways HOPE is the fuel that propels us on the Way of Love.

Paul prays for a two-step action in the believers in Rome: Let me change up the phrase a bit… let’s start at the end:

“BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”

In our gospel reading, John the baptizer is recorded as pointing to Jesus as the One who will “baptize” you “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” To baptize, we know, is to overwhelm – to submerge into – like a ship sinking under the waves. It is as a result of this submersion in the Holy Spirit that we are then to be “filled with all joy and peace in believing.” This is the natural outgrowth of the life of God, by His Spirit, that is bestowed – deposited – within us at our baptism, both in water and in His Spirit. It is naturally growing fruit – the Fruit of the Spirit, in fact, by name: JOY & PEACE.

As we are filled to overflow by The God of Hope with the fruit of the Spirit of God, Joy & Peace, we will come to ABOUND IN HOPE. Once again we see Paul, here, referencing the superabundant nature of God’s promise and His action on our behalf. God’s intention is that our lives be ...

FILLED UP and RUNNING OVER.

The word Paul uses here for “abound” is the same word he uses over and over and over again in regard to God’s willingness to pour His Life into our lives – to make more of our lives than they are naturally – to fill our 12 baskets with leftovers after feeding an outrageous multitude. Can you imagine what that school boy told his mom when he came home with 12 baskets of bread and fish? “MOM, Look what God did?”

This super-abundance for those who live in Christ is the hallmark of Paul’s faithful prayers for his churches. We heard it most clearly in his prayer for the Ephesian church: “Now to Him who is able to do super-abundantly more than we can ask or even think… more than we can dream in our wildest dreams … to Him be glory in the Church from generation to generation.” This kind of abundance is the result of hope not the source of it. Paul’s prayer here is that we might be “filled with ALL joy and peace in [the midst of] believing.” All is a lot of joy and a lot of peace!

Hope is about where we keep our eyes

Paul writes the church in Thessalonica, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s the Big 3 again: Faith, Hope and Love.

Earlier in Paul’s letter to Rome we see this all intertwined again:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

As I said earlier, our HOPE is not dependant upon our circumstances – none of this whole package is dependant on our circumstances! In fact, all this works in spite of our circumstance – in some ways, even building in the midst of our bad circumstances. Eugene Peterson in The Message captures this reality as he translates the final verses of what we just read:
We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

So our hope is “the alert expectancy of God’s provision” that comes from the virtue and patience gained in the fire of trial. It is our experience of God’s sufficiency in the face of our lack and need that provides hope for our future. Time after time after time … Jesus is right on time!

Advent is the Season of Hope: the alert expectancy of Christ’s coming and of His consummation of the ages as He gathers His church to Himself in love and comes as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, exalted to reign forever and ever.

So I pray with Paul: “And now, may the God of great hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!” (The Message)

Amen and Amen.

Thots from Padre a Link to Sermons

2010-12-06T07:03:00.004-07:00

This is a note to let those who are occasionally following this post that I will be posting sermon files here in audio and text format. The audio link will be clickable to our website page, or you can just read the sermon on the blog each week.

Sermons will be posted on Monday's after the Sunday for reference and comments. I would love to have interaction with readers and comments and questions through this media. I believe that the Word of God is living and active and we grasp it by interaction -- both with the Word and with those who are working at understanding it and applying it to daily life.

I hope that you enjoy the new and more regular content. Advent Sermons will be added first.
Thanks for looking in!

REZ Padre, Phil Eberhart+

WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - Your Vote Counts Video

2010-10-13T16:42:00.000-06:00

To Vote or Not to Vote? Is it even a question ?!!!

I received my mail-in ballot today, and so the time has come for me to step up to the plate and swing away! This is my one shot -- the great equalizer -- the time when I as a citizen can make sure that, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth." (Gettysburg)

It is incomprehensible to me that some choose not to exercise this right, some because of disgust at the rancor that is involved in politics generally, some because of the feelings that one vote simply does not matter (that much). But the truth is that this is the one place where POWER STILL RESIDES. It is the place that generations have fought to provide us in wars both foreign and domestic! It is the place of FREEDOM. And this is the POWER OF FREEDOM.

If there is a shadow of doubt in your mind about taking part in this electoral process in 2010 and beyond I ask you to take a couple of minutes and look at the video linked below. It is by Christian historian David Barton, a well-respected voice reminding us of our roots in America and our responsibilities as Christian citizens. Take a look:

WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - Your Vote Counts Video

Statistically, only 25% of those who claim to be Christians vote in this country. Only half are even registered to vote and only half of those registered actually follow-through and vote! It is a moral outrage and the single, and most insidious reason for the state of our nation today! WAKE UP, CHURCH! And be who you are meant to be.

We live in a free society, but freedom is not free of responsiblity. So let the hand ringing and tongue-wagging stop, and get to the voting booth. Let us make RIGHTEOUSNESS the standard for leadership in our land. Keep your eyes open for signs of an inner compass in the candidates you vote for. Keep in mind the standards that God sets:

"He hath shown thee, O man, what is good. And what doeth the Lord require of thee? But to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God." (Prophet Micah)

"You need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men -- men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible -- appoint them as leaders..." (Exodus 18:21 The Message)

Now go and do your duty... as a Christian... and as a citizen of the United States of America. VOTE!!

Padre Phil+

National Day to Fast & Pray - A Proclamation by A. Lincoln, 1861

2010-09-30T11:39:00.001-06:00

By the President of the United States of America

A PROCLAMATION

Whereas a joint Committee of both Houses of Congress has waited on the President of the United States, and requested him to "recommend a day of public humiliation, prayer and fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace": --

And whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to His chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective actions;

And whereas, when our own beloved Country, once, by the blessing of God, united, prosperous and happy, is now afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him and to pray for His mercy, -- to pray that we may be spared farther punishment, though most justly deserved; that our arms may be blessed and made effectual for the reestablishment of law, order and peace, throughout the wide extent of our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned under His guidance and blessing, by the labors and sufferings of our father, may be restored in all its original excellence. ---

Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next, as a day of humiliation, prayer and fasting for all the people of the nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and especially to all ministers and teachers of religion of all denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that day according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and bring down plentiful blessings upon our Country.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and

caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed, this 12th

day of August, A.D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United

States of America the 86th.

by the President Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward

Secretary of State

Reprinted from Abraham Lincoln's Greatest Speeches, 1991, Dover Publications, Inc., p. 76

Reigning & Raining: Jesus' as King & His Spirit's Role in our Life

2010-05-20T08:41:00.000-06:00

A week ago today was the Feast of the Ascension; the moment when Jesus returned to heaven (let the scene be imagined!!!) and took his Father-given, exalted place - the Name above every name - at the right hand of the Father. From this position at Heaven's strategic center Jesus, the risen One, rules and maintains the universe by the word of His power.

We sing easily, "Jesus is our King" or similar lyrics, and yet we give only passing credence to what those words, and all the words in this line, mean. I am astounded at the scope of Jesus' authority, given to Him by His Father, as a result of His obedience and the finished work of the Cross, here on earth. "All authority..." Jesus said, "has been given to me." Since all means all it follows that there is no authority or power in heaven or earth or under the earth that exceeds His. "It is Finished!" meant that all things have been brought back into alignment, in Christ, with the original intent of God in creation. All has been recovered, reconciled, through Him who "knew no sin."

These promises are staggering when we consider that what we see is something far less reconciled in our every day living. We live our lives in far less alignment with the will and purposes of God, of Jesus Christ, than most of us will admit. So how do we gain that alignment with God's will in Christ, to reconcile and use us as reconcilers? How do we come to a place where, as the Church, we are what Paul calls us in the later part of Ephesians 1, "the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

BY HIS SPIRIT!
Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our faith - the one who gives us the motive power to do His will from its inception to its completion. That motive power is His Spirit, sent into our hearts and lives (celebrated at Pentecost this coming weekend) and experienced in a day-to-day relationship of listening, conversation and willing obedience to what we hear. Ahhh, there is the rub. If we believe Jesus' words about "all authority" being His, then it necessarily follows that none of it is ours! Hmmm? He also said, "Apart from me you can do NO-THING." With Jesus its ALL or NOTHING.

The greatest threat to our Christian living is an approach that makes it more of a hobby, than a daily lifestyle. When we believe and act in accord with that belief, that Jesus is The Authority in the Universe, our actions will be markedly different in nature from those who believe something else. Our part in the equation is to be a willing vessel, available to the Holy Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis and obedient to His nudge - to His prompting to act in a particular way. This is the glorious reality that is ours as Jesus' followers! We get to be "in on" the work of God in the world today, as Christ's Body, animated by the Holy Spirit - the whole work of the Trinity flows in and through those who are willing, available and obedient.

LET US
"LET" is one of the most powerful three letter words in the New Testament. It tells us of our part, our role, in the work. It challenges us to release our hold on our lives and to allow God to make us new. It fills our lives with the potential of living into the whole of God's plan for us and for the world around us.

Take a look this week at the references for LET in the Bible (Click Here). There are about 190 instances, many of which give us specific and direct instruction for the living of the life that is available to us IN CHRIST. So let us know whose we are and who we are in Him, and let us begin to act accordingly, moment-by-moment, day-by-day. It will be an never-ending adventure of epic proportions.

Padre Phil

Our Easter Reality

2010-04-29T16:56:00.000-06:00

Over the past few weeks I've been preaching a series called "What A Difference A Resurrection Makes!" We have looked at the differences that the resurrection of Jesus Christ made in the lives of the disciples, his closest friends. We've looked at the difference that meeting the Risen Christ made in the life of Saul - who became the Apostle Paul, a major force in the shaping of Christian mission and theology, as well as the major writer of the New Testament letters to the churches. We've also looked at the difference that the Resurrection made in the message - the preaching of the early church: Peter, Stephen, Paul throughout the Book of Acts. It is quite amazing to compare and contrast the demeanor of all those who met Jesus alive after the Cross and to see the shift in their attitudes and behavior.

But what about us? This is the subject for this coming Sunday's message: What a difference He makes in our lives! This encompasses all the realities of the promises of God and the work of the Cross, being realized in our lives, day to day. We are experiencing a call to "Come Deeper" with the Lord in our midst, in our worship, in our common life, in our prayers. Living in the reality of our redemption is Job #1 for us today. Paul prayed for his friends in the church he founded in Ephesus: I pray that the eyes of your heart will be open (enlightened) to the facts of your "future and confident hope" - to the wealth of the "inheritance" that lies among the saints (that's you and me!) - AND the "incredibly great power" available to us who believe - that same power that God demonstrated in raising Christ from the dead!! WOW!

I pray that you will take hold of these "great and precious promises" in order to "participate in the very nature - the Divine Nature of God Himself". That is your destiny "in Christ." What a difference a Resurrection makes!! Indeed. He is risen and so are we, with Him.

Our Jesus-shaped Center

2010-03-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Life is typically hectic for most of the people that I know. Very few in our culture live a life of what I would call "peace" and/or "contentment." We are forever moving and striving for more and greater, especially in our "American Dream" culture and society. Not that these things are always bad necessarily, but on occasion we slow down or sometimes are stopped, long enough to recognize that the activity has left us empty.

When we discover that emptiness, we inherently try to fill it, often with more activity, sometimes with friends or family, sometimes with habits or addictions. Rarely do we allow the time to explore the shape of our emptiness. There is a bible verse where God says to "be still and know that I am God." What a challenge for most of us. Stillness is so foreign to our lives that it usually takes an "act of God" to slow us down; a disaster that uproots us, a disease that diminishes us, a job loss or a family loss. Yet in our times of loss and disaster, we tend to find that we have a center. Perhaps we call on God for help. Perhaps in the "grinding halt" we discover a purpose - a reason for it: God's desire to know us and for us to know him.

It's not that God doesn't know us, he does! All too well. Thus the need to get our attention from time to time - to allow suffering to encroach as it naturally does in all our lives because of fallenness in our world; to allow our brokenness to overtake us in some way. God in his mercy, uses the bad things in life to take us by the face with both hands and get us to look into his eyes - into the face of Jesus. When we do we find compassion, we find help, we find mercy, we find a strength we did not have before - but most of all we find a God of love. And we find our center.

Take time to find your Jesus-shaped center. Stop long enough to listen. Close your outward eyes and open your inward eyes - or at least take time to ask God to help you in this endeavor. In this way, you will take the small steps that are needed to be Willing, Available & Obedient to God today.

Padre Phil+

That One Day

2010-03-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

Feels like a year since I've been here! Sorry.

A lot of events, crises, travel and whatnot seems to get in the way of taking the time to think and write.

We are already approaching the mid-way point of Lent, unbelievably! The Hamilton Study on 24 Hours that Changed the World is grabbing our hearts and our imaginations. That one day - the most significant day in the history of the planet -a day of pain and infinite love; a day of betrayal and tears; a day of blood and sweat; a day for me and for you.

One Day! Sundown Thursday to sundown Friday. The meal with friends: This is My body, broken for you; this is my Blood, of the New Covenant, poured out for you;

The washing of feet - lowest place of servanthood in the whole society - "If I, your master, wash your feet, you should also wash each other's feet!"

"Love one another, as I have loved you! "

Love in the face of betrayal by trusted friends. Perhaps the hardest test of love there is. Followed by the mock sham of a trial and another betrayal, by your best friend! The look - eyes meet - what was the unspoken message?

Peter! I love you. I'm sad, but I know your heart. I know your weakness ... and your strength. Weep now and through sorrow gain resolve. Repent and follow me. We have much to do.

Perhaps the unspoken language of this look from Jesus conveyed for Peter the stuff of life transformation. He was broken by it - and put back together by it. Jesus never betrayed or rejected Peter in return, even in his look across the courtyard as the cock crowed.

"He will never leave us or forsake us."

"Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross, that all the world might come within the reach of your saving embrace! So clothe us with your Spirit, that we, reaching out our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you, to the knowledge and love of you, for the honor of your Name. Amen"
(Book of Common Prayer, Morning Prayer, P. 101)

Home At Last

2010-02-08T12:55:00.001-07:00

They say, "No matter how humble, there is no place like home." Today I agree. Quiet is a great way to get over the tired and stress that comes with traveling, either by plane or by car. And it is much needed.

Spent last week retrieving our daughter, Aly, from her adventure with YWAM at the Montana base in Lakeside. WOW. We got to spend the last day or two with her there and meet the people who she has shared life with for the past 5 mo. We were part of an out of this world worship service and community time where each team got to share testimonies of what God did on their various missions and videos of their time on mission. It was a great family time for all at the base and the parents who could come. We were very honored to be there and to see the quality of the common life and teaching that happens in this Christian community.

Now we are making our way back "down the mountain" as we all return to the Mile Hi city and our own mountaintop in Denver. It is very good to be home and focusing on what God is giving us to do this day and in the days to come.

Padre Phil+

Time for Reflection

2010-02-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

After a week of travel, an awesome National Winter Conference, a few extra days of enforced Sabbath (snow days), its time for some reflection! As I write we are on the road yet again, retreiving our daughter from her graduation in Montana from YWAM's DTS in Lakeside. More on that I'm sure!!

Our National Anglican Mission "Winter Conference" is a yearly 'family reunion' for those of us who have been along on "the Journey" since almost the beginning. We were church number 5 in Colorado and in the first 30 in the Anglican Mission, now numbering over 150 fully functional parishes/missions across "the Americas", including the continental US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Colombia with nearly 70 new or emerging works in the "pipeline." We have, amazingly, grown at the rate of one parish about every three weeks for the entirity of our life.

Chairman Charles "Chuck" Murphy, the Primatial Vicar of the Archbishop of Rwanda, His Grace, Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini, led almost 1500 in worship and to see anew the vision of reaching those who have no church in the USA and around the world. A story of courage, sacrifice, and the grace of God, Chairman Murphy retold the story of the Anglican Mission over the span of the past decade. In response to need and opportunity, a few seized on the way forward for faithful Anglicans in America, beginning the work amidst great opposition, from friend and foe alike.

Each time I come away from our Winter Conference I am a "born again" Anglican! I am a confirmed Missionary and I am a refreshed and empowered Christian. Without fail, God has shown up every year at these meetings, confirming direction, empowering and encouraging the saints for the (further) work of the ministry. I pray that you avail yourself to some of the history of the conference through videos and DVDs. Watch for more resources here and on our website: www.rezanglican.org

Grace,
Padre Phil+

Sanctity of Life Sunday: Thoughts on "To Save A Life", the Movie

2010-01-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I and some of our teens from REZ took time to go see the new movie, To Save A Life. It is a compelling and disturbing, if honest, look at the cultures within our high schools and the struggle with those cultures by those who minister in Christ's name to teens. Centering around the problem of Teen Suicide, the movie is set at a typical suburban high school with the identifiable groups of "jocks", "preps", "dopers" and the "loners." The story traces Jake's rise to fame in sports and the childhood friend he "left behind" in that rise. After that friend commits suicide at the school, Jake is in search mode because of the guilt. An encounter with the pastor who did the funeral leads to a growing relationship and discovery of a new way of living. In the process he reaches out to another "loner", Johnny, in an attempt to make some difference, where he hadn't in his best friend's life before. High School and family drama ensue in Jake's life, through which he comes with help from God and the pastor and other friends from church.

The movie is a close up look at the culture of exclusion that we see in high schools (and have from time immemorial) and the counter-culture of inclusion, unconditional love and right choices offered by the church and youth pastor. These come, not without struggle, to those who persevere in "doing the right thing."

On this Sunday, Sanctity of Life is being celebrated across the nation in churches of all denominations. We focus on the threat of abortion, as I think is called for, but a wider view will lead us to understand the sanctity of Living. Life is not simply about our "right" to exist once conceived in the womb, but it is our further need for belonging and meaning, fulfillment and purpose. So much of the later depends on how we treat one another day-to-day. How we choose to live is what constitutes our life. The message of the movie is that "life" does not consist in your achievements, success or things. It is in our relationships and connection with one another and God that "life" becomes abundant.

So I suggest that today and from here on out we live our lives with a view toward God and others around us. That was Jesus way of living and loving. It would serve us well to remember His model and ask Him to help us live His way.

Padre Phil+

Remember: Faith, Family & Freedom

2010-01-23T08:39:00.001-07:00

I watched a DVR presentation by Glenn Beck last night of the history of communist regimes in the 20th century. A very eye-opening account of political philosophy, totalitarianism and mass murder in graduated scale, from Hitler to Stalin to Mao.

In America we take so much for granted in our way of life these days, and are increasingly at risk of forgetting whence we came. Our American heritage is one of faith, family and freedom. Its time to remember where we have come from: the history of the faith, the value of the family and the price of the freedoms we enjoy so glibly.

Our history of faith is undeniable. The Judeo-Christian heritage we have in America is long and runs deeply through the writings of our founding fathers and mothers. The continuing attempts to re-write and to divorce us from our roots is heinous. In the name of a mis-guided intellectualism, we are being moved away from our historic roots in the Bible as a guide book for life and for government. Though Democracy is not Theocracy, there is a tap root in our history that goes down into the ethics and morality of Jesus Christ, as the foundation for all good government. Without this nourishment the vine dies and the fruit of goodness, perseverance and peace with it.

The value of family is inherent in the fabric of our country. And it has been under seige for decades on almost every front. As the basic buiding block of our society, the family stands alone among institutions in America. Nothing can ever replace the value of a mother and father in lifelong commitment, raising their children in the home so founded. And almost everything in our culture now militates against the home and family as we have understood them historically. Every time the family crumbles, the society crumbles. Take heed.

And finally, we must remember the price of freedom. As they say, freedom is not free. It has been purchased and held by the blood of those who have defended it against every enemy of America for the past 200+ years. No better reminder serves than the cost of the signatures on the Declaration of Independence. Had the endeavor failed, each of the signatories would have been hunted down and put to death. So we must understand that freedom is worth its price, and we must share in its processes and purposes for it to flourish. For most of us the price of freedom is no more costly than a few pennies of gas to go vote! And some are even unwilling to pay that.

Remember, Faith, Family & Freedom.
This is our task in 2010 and it has begun with the shot heard in Massachusetts this week. Let's not let this opportunity pass to remember and to act.

Padre Phil

A Political Earthquake - The People's Seat

2010-01-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

How ironic last night that the news coverage was alternating between the tragedy in Haiti and the coverage of the senate race in Massachusetts. Both are seismic events on the landscape, one in Haiti and the other in America. Both must be addressed and tended too with speed and care. Both have long term ramifications for this hemisphere and the world.

I believe that Brown, in his campaign, captured the heart of the issue in American politics right now, when he dubbed this "the People's Seat." That is the missing piece in our experience of government, and it has been for some time. The system is broken because elected officials have forgotten a key component of its underpinnings: servanthood. They are public "servants", not masters, as has been seen of late. It is "We the People" who form the foundation of government in this country, and when the people are marginalized as a whole in the process, the process needs to come to a halt. It needs to be overhauled and redirected to the common good.

My prayer today is that that process can begin. No one disagrees that our health care system needs fixing, but how? Not by throwing it out and ushering in socialized medicine. Let's come back to the drawing board, work together and come up with a fix (or several) for the current system, that works for the majority of Americans now. We know what needs to be done, lets just do it. Let there be an end to cronyism, closed door meetings and quid-pro-quo in legislation that effects our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren! Business as usual has got to stop. We need all the thinking heads coming and working together, not tearing each other apart.

Just remember the by-word: Servanthood. As a governing body, you sit in 'The People's seats" - every one of you. You are and must remain, firstly, public servants. All else will follow on from that and we can make a new start in rebuilding a government, "of the people, by the people and for the people."

IMHO,
Padre Phil+

R.I.P. Our Dear Mamie

2010-01-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I did 'last rites' for my friend, Mamie Todd. In their late years, she and her husband George, (R.I.P. April 2009) have been some of our faithful stalwarts at REZ. Through decades of health issues they have persevered to be one of the most faithful couples we've ever known.

It was with great surprise (and deep joy) that we greeted them on our first Sunday evening as RESURRECTION ANGLICAN FELLOWSHIP, as we met that evening at the chapel at Colorado Community Church's Englewood Campus, only a mile or two up the hill from our old home at St. George's. Old home! Boy was that true for George and Mamie, members of St. Georges for decades, thus our overjoyed surprise at their presence with us in this new church plant.

Both of them worked quietly, behind the scenes, doing little things like collecting food from farmer's markets and delivering it to food banks the same day. Gathering clothes, tools, anything useful actually, and seeing to it that it go to someone who needed it. This was George's passion and daily activity, and Mamie supported him until his passing last year. Now she has fought her final battle and joined him for a great square-dance on the golden streets. I'm wondering who the caller is!??? Bet that was quite a reunion.

Mamie (and George), we will miss you greatly in our lives at REZ. And that is the way it should be. People who are significant for us should leave a hole in our lives! We fill those holes, eventually, with the stuff of memory and thankfulness and praise to God for the gift He has given us. I got an email this morning asking how many of the last great trophy winners we can remember: Heiseman, Academy Awards, Pulitzer Prize, World Series MVP... you name it. Can you? But ask who has made an impact on your life? Who helped you with a difficult time in your life? Who reached out to you in a small but life-changing way? These are the people who COUNT!
Not the big names or the bright "stars."

Mamie and George, we love you. You have touched us and we have grown because of knowing you both. Go with God and be joyful together in the habitations of light.

Rest in Peace, indeed.
Padre Phil+

A True Witness Saves Lives

2010-01-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

As I look at the first line of the post from Tues morning, in the light of the Haitian disaster, it seems that we are presented with an opportunity to be the "true witness that saves lives." I read that this morning in my reading from Proverbs (14:25) and then ran across it again in a post from Somebody Cares International who is responding, along with the rest of the relief agencies in the US, to the earthquake losses and distruction in Haiti.

What can a single church or individual do? A great deal! Not the least of which is prayer! Join with me in your thoughts today and as this tragedy unfolds to support those effected and those working for their relief in prayer. On your knees type prayer.

And give. At this point the relief organizations are mobilizing and they need funds. From the Red Cross to church organizations like Somebody Cares, International, funds are needed for this massive effort. Millions of lives are at stake and my prayer is that the Church will step up and be the Church in this hour. Let's make a difference.

Deep Church

2010-01-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Got most of DEEP CHURCH read amidst a series of crises yesterday. Very timely book in the discussions of what 'church' should be and do in the times we find ourselves in. It seeks to find a 'via media' (Anglican words) - a middle way between the traditional views of 'church' and the emerging/emergent views of 'church.' And I think the author does a pretty good job. Using his own church as the model of this middle way, he illustrates a commitment to ancient tradition and the foundation of scripture while also maintaining an openness to unity across Christian expressions, to innovation in styles, to new experiences of what 'church' can be in our post-modern, post-christian era.

I see myself in this struggle as well, seeking to bridge between a valued ancient form and tradition of worship, to a younger, more experiential, less committed generation. We've just begun a renewed emphasis on building the younger generations at our church, with a fellowship group for 20 & 30 somethings. After just a couple of fun outings, there are already signs of movement, interest and dare I say it, growth. It is in taking the small steps in sequence that we journey together to the end. DEEP CHURCH has helped me to conceptualize some of the desires of my own heart - the desire for a community of depth in Christ and in His Word. Our transitions and growth are very rarely pretty, most often painful, through the stages of our life, from family and home, to college, to relationships and marriage, to children and family with our own home. Once through these initial transitions, we build a life together through the crashing waves of our culture, our economy, relational tumult and internal stress. DEEP CHURCH means that we are a community in this together, asking, seeking, knocking - keeping the main thing the main thing - Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these "other" things will be added to you.

We can hardly overestimate the action of God in our lives, if we will observe this command from Matthew 6. His promise is sure and His willingness to act is sure. The lack comes in our knowledge and awareness of His acting in our behalf. We expect one thing and God does another; we try to squeeze God into our mold and he returns the favor! So let us turn our eyes on Jesus, the "author and finisher of faith" who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Jesus is the Way! He's not our transporter beam, he is the path we walk - seek first His Kingdom (His effective rule in your own heart) and His righteousness (the outworking of His rule in daily action), and all else will be added ... by Him!

Hallelujah.
Padre Phil+

2010-01-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, seems like this might become a Monday morning thing.

Great worship yesterday with Bishop Greene, our bishop in the Anglican Mission, now "theAM."
He shared a great word on the Revelation of Jesus and its foundational character for the work of God and our partnership in the adventure yesterday.

Schools are all back in session this week, and life seems to be returning to normal after the holidays, whatever that is. Hoping to get a handle on some exersize, or just some walking with the weather a little more tolerable. Holiday food seems to pile up and slow things down.

Reading list for this week:
DEEP CHURCH by Belcher: a middle way ( I like that as an Anglican) between the traditionalist and emerging church movements of evangelicalism. We are reading and discussing this as a part of our Anglican Mission pastors' group. Sure enjoy being a part of a group of men who are searching together for God's will and way, best practices and new ways to do things. It is very stimulating and a real refresher!

DO THE RIGHT THING by Mike Huckabee: Part of my 2010 is going to be a more active stance on the political and policy fronts. I like Gov. Huckabee as he doesn't seem quite as shrill as other TV commentators on FOX. I'm interested in his take and seeing if he can help me put all the political upheaval in a proper context. Hope so.

Glenn Beck's COMMON SENSE: Actually I'm reading the original version in the back first, by Thomas Paine. I think that might be the place to start here, rather than with Beck himself. Thankful for a new tack that Beck is taking currently, working for the recovery of our Christian heritage and the goverenment of We The People. REMEMBER? Faith, Family & Freedom!

Well, probably ought to get on with the reading and walking instead of just typing about it. HUH?

Padre Phil

New Year - New Decade: Resolution or Revolution?

2010-01-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

New Year 2010 ... Light in the darkness.

Year after year we start off with great intention and end up with same ol' same ol'. Ever experienced it? To the extent that I've quit making 'resolutions.'

My challenge yesterday to our congregation was to press on, to press up & to press in to the goal: Jesus Christ. After a year of tumult that was the perfect end to a perfect decade (read 'perfect storm'), there is almost no way to go but up, personally, corporately, even nationally! Saint Paul's prayer for his church plant in Ephesus was that their hearts might be enlightened (1:18). He is clear that this enlightenment comes from the light of the Good News - the Gospel of Christ (2 Cor 4): that Jesus is the exact representation of God enfleshed among us, and that we see the light of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, his Son.

Out of our heart's enlightenment come three outcomes, as Paul prays for this parish: that we come to know by experience the HOPE of our calling in Christ; that we come to know that the saints around us are GOD'S glorious INHERITANCE; and that we experience and demonstrate the IMMEASURABLY GREAT POWER of God toward us who believe. If there are three things that would demonstrate Light in the darkness of our culture they are HOPE IN GOD'S FUTURE FOR US - OUR LIVING AS A COMMUNITY OF HONOR - OUR EXPERIENCE & EXPRESSION OF GOD'S REAL, EVERYDAY POWER FOR LIVING.

Living in these realities is the action of lifting up our hearts and allowing the reflection of the light of God to be reflected in our lives. This is where we meet the world in mission. This is where we live out our call as the Body of Christ in the world. May 2010 be the beginning of a new revolution of hope, of honor and of power for living the God-life in the world. And may the Church come to such enlightenment that it is in actuality the 'salt and light' it is designed and purposed to be by God!

Padre Phil