Fr. Phil: Quick, Slow, Slow 2

Resurrection Anglican Fellowship
September 23, 2018
Fr. Phil Eberhart

James 3
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

I've entitled this "Quick, Slow, Slow 2"

Our epistle reading this morning takes up where I left off two weeks ago...

If you recall:

So here's the checklist:   (before you open your mouth to speak!)

[ ] Purity... check your motive for saying anything at all!  Why do I need to speak?

[ ] Peace... is Peace from Christ going to be conveyed in what I say?

[ ] Consideration...  Who's first here?  Is it about me, or about the person who is hearing?

[ ] Humility ...  If I am teachable, I am coming humbly, willing to hear correction to my thinking and speaking.

[ ] LOVE...  over and over and over and over again, we cannot emphasize this enough!  

[ ] Without Prejudice ...
[ ] Without hypocrisy ...  probably the two chief accusations made by people against Christians who open their mouths!!

So if we check the checklist before we open our mouths, perhaps we will see...

A BEAUTIFUL HARVEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!! Just a final word from James...

Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace. (TPT)

I wanted to start with the checklist this morning by way of a reminder of our QUICK- SLOW- SLOW dance steps and the further outcome of this kind of life style!

But James doesn't stop there... he goes from preaching to meddling!

As we move into chapter 4 we find him digging a little deeper into our motives... as Heb 4:12 says: into "the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Let's re-read the first few verses of chap 4 from the Passion Translation :

What is the cause of your conflicts and quarrels with each other? Doesn’t the battle begin inside of you as you fight to have your own way and fulfill your own desires? You jealously want what others have so you begin to see yourself as better than others. You scheme with envy and harm others to selfishly obtain what you crave—that’s why you quarrel and fight. And all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it! And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires. You have become spiritual adulterers who are having an affair, an unholy relationship with the world. Don’t you know that flirting with the world’s values places you at odds with God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy!
James (Jacob) 4:1‭-‬4 TPT

https://bible.com/bible/1849jas4.1-4.TPT

What is the cause?

We're told to always look inside first! The problem is the heart- Jeremiah says it is : deceitfullly wicked! And James has already told us in the previous chapter about the danger of the tongue! Thus our dance steps... Quick to listen... Slow to speak, and Slow to anger!

Proverbs tells us that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks!

So the problem is here... inside of us!

The heart - the mind and the tongue are our most important battlegrounds when it comes to faith and our living lives that are worthy as Paul urges us - lives that are faithful to the gospel and to the Name of Jesus.

The selection this morning from the apocrypha reads like the morning paper!

Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.

Several times this past week I've heard commentaries on the politics of our day likening them to the days just before the Civil War (interesting name don't you think for the most uncivil thing we've ever seen in our history! ).

We live in days where civility has died. Discourse across lines has died a horrible death. And like Rome under Nero, Christians are seen to be to blame.

We are and have been for decades in a "War of the World-views!" Biblical vs. Secular Humanist.

This morning I received a communique from a Christian organization in Washington DC urging me to PRAY - VOTE - STAND. On the subject I will just go on record to say that I believe that a biblically - informed vote is the most powerful form of citizenship that we can exercise today... Along with committed prayer and the internal fortitude to stand up for our beliefs in the marketplace and the halls of government.

We're in an epic conflict, that is not new!
It's as old as the world is... almost.

The conflict begins in the human heart. And it is finally won in the human heart. Turn back to James with me for just a moment more.

What is the antidote? The antidote to pride and avarice, selfish ambition, James calls it.

The antidote is humility! Jesus gave the disciples a healthy dose of humility when he turned on his heal and asked "What are you guys arguing about? " Jesus knew perfectly well the hearts of these ordinary men and what they were discussing!

Who's on first! No not the radio skit.

Who has the first place in the coming restored kingdom that Jesus will bring? That was their main concern. Each vying and competing with the others for Jesus' attention. Some even went so far as to ask him straight out : can we sit at your right and left?

They were being childish, when Jesus wanted them to be childlike. And so comes the object lesson. A child on his lap. Simply enjoy him! Be in his presence! Draw near to him and he will draw near to you! Humble your self.
James puts it this way...

Does the Scripture mean nothing to you that says, “The Spirit that God breathed into our hearts is a jealous Lover who intensely desires to have more and more of us”? But he continues to pour out more and more grace upon us. For it says, God resists you when you are proud but continually pours out grace when you are humble.” So then, surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will turn and run away from you. Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting.
James (Jacob) 4:5‭-‬8 TPT

https://bible.com/bible/1849/jas.4.5-8.TPT

Jesus said it best...

He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Jesus' way is the way of the dance...

QUICK SLOW SLOW
QUICK SLOW SLOW
QUICK SLOW SLOW

Have you ever picked up a son or daughter and danced with them in your arms. That's what Jesus wants to do with us! I still have a picture of one of those moments with Kiri on my fridge!

And just a few weeks ago I did a last dance with her at her wedding. To the song My Girl!

The Lord God of the universe desires you as a dance partner! He wants to pick you up and hold you close and swing you around in the dance of life...

QUICK SLOW SLOW
QUICK SLOW SLOW
QUICK SLOW SLOW

LET'S PRAY...

Our dearest Father and our God.

Take our hands... we reach up to you now.
Pull us up on your lap, Papa! Take us in your arms and dance with us. Give us humble, receiving hearts; give us willing and available minds and help us to walk, to dance, finally, in your steps.

Have mercy on us Lord. Have mercy. Draw near to us as we draw near to you. Pour out your Grace as we come humbly to your throne this morning. Give us all of yourself as we humbly give you all of ourselves.

For the sake of Jesus Name and your kingdom's fame.

Amen and amen.

Fr. Phil - Sept 9, 2018 - Quick, Slow, Slow

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Resurrection Anglican Fellowship

Fr. Phil Eberhart

QUICK - SLOW - SLOW

Has any one here taken dance lessons ... other than me ... that totally failed?

The sermon this morning is titled:  QUICK, SLOW, SLOW!  It just sounds like the instructions for a samba or waltz dance step...  I can hear the count, 1,2,3...  1, 2, 3...  1,2,3

And it is a kind of dance step count --- for all of life!!

James' instructions for the dance of life!!

1,2,3... 1,2,3... 1,2,3...

and what are the dance steps?   I thought you'd never ask!!

1. be QUICK to listen

2. be SLOW to speak

3. be SLOW to anger

James' dance steps for a successful life!!!

James 1:19 (& 20)

19 My dearest brothers and sisters, take this to heart: Be quick to listen, but slow to speak. And be slow to become angry, 20 for human anger is never a legitimate tool to promote God’s righteous purpose.

 

QUICK, SLOW, SLOW!

QUICK TO LISTEN

SLOW TO SPEAK

SLOW TO ANGER

Let's look a little closer at the steps...

QUICK TO LISTEN

Two greek words that made it into modern useage...  Tach and Acoustic

When I say I have a tach in my car, what am I talking about?  An instrument that reads the RPM's of the engine -  A speedometer for the engine!

TACHYS is the Greek word for speed, quickness.

The second word is simply the word for hearing ... 

AKOUO  from which we get the word acoustic.

Have you ever had a hearing test?  It's an acoustic booth or a headphone set that they place over your ears to test your ability to hear frequencies of sound.

My point in all this is that this emphasizes two things:  Speed and Hearing.

Be quick, be swift (the translators tell us)

To listen, to hear!

Interesting sidelight here - when Solomon was asked by God to ask for anything, he prays for wisdom, but if you look at the Hebrew there, what he actually says is give me a "hearing heart."

Oh, even more interesting... the word in Hebrew for hearing is shemah or sh'ma

As we began our service this morning we heard the Sh'ma - the great command of God to 

His people: 

HEAR ISRAEL!  

Look in your bulletin and read it with me.

Barukh shem kavod malkhuto le’olam va’ed

Shma Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai ekhad.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you shall love the 

Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your 

might. (Deut. 6:4-5) 

So James is pointing us back to the original HEAR ISRAEL!

To Solomon's prayer for a HEARING HEART ... and I want to add another note here, from 

the notes in the Passion Translation...

Although the Greek does not supply an object we are to listen to, it is obvious in 

the context that we should listen to one another, to God’s voice, and to his 

Word.  May God give us listening hearts.  

In fact, this verse is the front verse for a whole section in James 1 about hearing and 

obedience to the Word of God!  That's another sermon!!

So QUICK TO LISTEN!!   ANY QUESTIONS?

2.  SLOW TO SPEAK

One of the striking features about encounters with God in the Bible is how often one sees 

references to NOT SPEAKING.

One striking example is the call of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5-7

Isaiah's response to being in the Presence of God is "I am undone!  I am a man of unclean 

lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."  And God's response was to send an angel 

to the altar of incense in heaven and bring a hot coal to touch Isaiah's lips and cleanse 

them.

Solomon's counsel in Proverbs and Eccl...

[Pro 10:19 NKJV] 19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his 

lips [is] wise.

[Pro 29:20 NKJV] 20 Do you see a man hasty in his words? [There is] more hope for a fool 

than for him.

[Ecc 5:2 NKJV] 2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything 

hastily before God. For God [is] in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be 

few.

And David's prayer...

[Psa 19:14 NKJV] 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be 

acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. 

So our speaking should be circumspect.    Almost a unanimous witness from Scripture!!

Does anyone else here suffer from occasional bouts of "foot-in-mouth" disease?  Yeah... 

thought so.

UM....    Nuf' Said!!

3.  SLOW TO ANGER

Anger here is the word that goes back to the OT word for WRATH

It includes a kind of anger that includes judgement and punishment - as we say - all in one-

fowl-swoop!!

I've seen anger exposed that is this kind of anger - that punishes with words, that threatens.  

Today we call it Road Rage!  We've seen people shot and killed, because they cut someone 

off or changed lanes to quickly or slowly.

Our anger can be righteous, but in my experience that is fairly rare!  Jesus got angry, mostly 

at sin and disobedience, at hard-heartedness, at the Pharisees.  It was based in 

righteousness, and so there is that possibility, but for most of us anger or angry outburst, do 

not "work the righteousness of God!"

We are not THAT HOLY, friends!

Later in his letter, James turns his attention on the power of the tongue more completely.

He says, in 3:2 ... we all fail in many ways, but especially with our words! (TPT)

[Anger + your words = disaster!!]       Anyone?

So stay away from anger, even if you think its the righteous kind!

Here is a good formula from the end of James 3...

13 If you consider yourself to be wise and one who understands the ways of God, advertise it with a beautiful, fruitful[j] life guided by wisdom’s gentleness. 

17 But the wisdom from above is always pure,[o] filled with peace, considerate and teachable.[p] It is filled with love[q] and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy[r] in any form 18 and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.

So here's a checklist:   (before you open your mouth to speak!)

Purity... check your motive for saying anything at all!  Why do I need to speak?

Peace... is Peace from Christ going to be conveyed in what I say?

Consideration...  Who's first here?  Is it about me, or about the person who is hearing?

Humility ...  If I am teachable, I am coming humbly, willing to hear correction to my 

thinking and speaking.

LOVE...  over and over and over and over again, we cannot emphasize this enough!  

Without Prejudice ...

Without hypocrisy ...  probably the two chief accusations made by people against Christians

 who open their mouths!!

So if we check the checklist before we open our mouths, perhaps we will see...

A BEAUTIFUL HARVEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!! Just a final word from James...

Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who 

cherish making peace. 

QUICK - SLOW - SLOW...

QUICK TO HEAR

SLOW TO SPEAK

SLOW TO ANGER

Let's pray...

Gracious Lord, God our Father, and Lord Jesus Christ,

You love us so much, that you have given your Word to us to hear, read, mark, learn and 

inwardly digest!  Give us grace to so quickly hear You speaking to us, that we may quickly

obey.  Teach us to consider our own words and like Isaiah, cleanse our lips, O God, with 

the burning coal of Your Truth.  Set us free from unclean lips and unfruitful words.  Help

us to let our words be few.  And finally, cure us from unrightous anger.  We are told to be

angry and sin not!  Help us Lord to be silent in own anger and to seek your

righteous ways, in all we say and do.  

All this we ask for the fame of Your great Name, Jesus and the sake of Your Kingdom.

Amen.

Fr. Phil Eberhart @ St Peter's Loveland

14th Sunday of Pentecost

August 26, 2018

Fr. Philip Eberhart

Choose You This Day:  Willingness - Availability - Obedience !!

I want to thank you for the invitation to share here at St. Peter's this morning.  One of the dangers of guest preachers, ... well, any preacher ... is the temptation to be profound.  It usually leads to a need to be at the preacher's 12-step group:    On And On Anon!    Right, Fr. Edward?

And I'm not naturally profound, like Fr. Ed.  So I have to work at it, which often turns out to be a bad thing, time wise.  So instead, this morning I'm going to opt for short and sweet.  And maybe, by grace, profound.

A few months ago I had the great privilege of going to Jerusalem for the GAFCON meetings, which were some of the most beautiful and deeply meaningful worship times I've ever encountered - singing some of the great hymns of the faith with 2000 Anglicans from around the world.  It was as close to heaven as I'm probably going to get on this side!  Every tribe, tongue, nation and people.  There was no division, no strife - only joy and grace in our midst as we worshiped there.  

Friends, I can tell you that what God is doing around the world is staggering, in every denomination and corner of the globe, Aslan is on the move!!  My prayer for decades has been, Lord, don't pass us by!   Don't pass us by in the west ... in the US.  Come and do here what you are doing everywhere else.  But we are a special challenge for God!

But God is used to challenges!!   Look at your OT reading.

I had the opportunity to stand on Mt. Gerazim in Israel, just before coming home, just above modern day, Nablus, the site of ancient Shekem!  The very valley where Joshua gathered the people and preached the sermon we read earlier:

15 And if it is 

evil in your eyes to serve the  Lord,

choose this day whom you will serve, 

whether the gods your fathers served in 

the region beyond the River, or the gods 

of the Amorites in whose land you 

dwell. But as for me and my house, we 

will serve the Lord.”

Every day we need to heed the warning that Joshua gave the people that day and like he and his house, we must "choose" to serve the Lord.

We live in a culture here in the west which is growing more and more anti-God.  We pray and we worry - sometimes we worry our prayers - have you ever done that?  But it says to pray your worries.  That means that we have to leave them at the Altar.  Leave them in the hands of God.

That's another sermon though.

Choose you this day whom you will serve.  

Every morning, the psalmist and the prophet say, "His mercies are new."  

Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God My Father - There is no shadow of turning with Thee - 

Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not - As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

sing it with me...

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed Thy hand hath provided,

great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Every morning we need to check in with Father.

Whether its a formal prayer time or just a self check, before your coffee or OJ.  Here's my suggestion:

Good Morning, Lord!  (It's better than Good Lord it's morning!) 

     Good morning, Lord.  It's me again. Just checking in.  Lord, I believe today,  will you help my unbelief?  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the Joy of my Salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me" (Ps 51)

After I check my pulse in the morning to see if I'm still alive, I check in with Father.  And then I check my willingness.

Am I willing to be HIS today?  And not just that am I willing to do HIS WILL today?  Jesus said, "Not my will, but Thine, O Lord."  Mary said, "Be it unto me, according to Thy Word."   Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Are you willing?

And so we set out each day with a willing spirit, a willing heart, to be HIS and to be HIS Ambassador!  Ambassadors of RECONCILIATION, of MERCY, of GOD'S UNFAILING LOVE!  Paul says that "God is making HIS plea through us:  Be reconciled to God."

Have you ever experienced ... Ambassadorship?

It's a 24/7 gig.  You live your life in the Embassy.

A little piece of the home country in the country you are an Ambassador to!  Wherever you go, you're The Ambassador.  You're going on state business.  The King's or President's business.

Does that set your daily life in a bit different light?

So if you're an ambassador, and it's a 24/7 deal, are you up for that?  Are you ... available... for that?  See that's the second thing.

Joshua told the people, after warning them and hearing their confession of faith and determination, he told them to "incline their hearts!"  

Incline your heart - means to lean into the presence of God - become willing and make yourself available - to Him and His purpose today.

His purpose in this moment - in this Divine Appointment?

Ever have one of those moments where you say to yourself, "Hmmm, this isn't an accident!  I can see some Divine fingerprints here!"  Some call them coincidence - I call them God Incidents - Divine Appointments.  And they come because we make ourselves AVAILABLE to GOD.

Anyone here a little shy?  Not sure I can actually be an Ambassador!  Speak on God's behalf? That's kind of scary.  Let's think for a moment about the word, availability.  Two words really - avail & ability.  It's an incarnational word!  It's a partnership word.  AVAIL means to make yourself present - to present yourself.  Who are you presenting yourself to in this instance.  GOD!

But what about my ability?  I'm fearful, unbelieving, shy, unsure of my faith, "how can God use me?"  To AVAIL means I give myself to HIM even when I'm seeing myself as having nothing.  In fact, that is the way He wants it.  Because the ABILITY is HIS, not yours!!  This is the Incarnation in practice - this is full partnership with God in His mission!  Just remember that Avail-ability has those two parts - and that is the key.  You AVAIL yourself to GOD'S ABILITY!

And finally, let's land this plane...

When your eyes are opened and you see God's hand and His fingerprints on an appointment;  when you hear Him speaking a word of scripture to encourage another person; when you feel or see a need in another; (at REZ, we say, "if you see a need, you're in the game!);  when you are able to reach out in love to another; when its your turn to play ... get in the game!

JUST DO IT!  Be Obedient!

Step out of the boat!  Get out of your comfort zone!  Live the life of an Ambassador for God.

Sometimes simple is profound.

Willingness...  Check in each day. Here Am I, Send me!

Availability ...  Lord I avail myself to Your ability.  Apart from You, I can do nothing!  But with You, all things are possible!

Obedience ...  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to DO, DO IT with all thy might!

You, each and every one of you, are an Ambassador of Christ, in this community, in your family, in your workplace, on your vacation, everywhere you go, everyday of your life, every moment of every day.

"When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, You will receive power to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth"   (Acts 1:8)

Be willing, be available, be obedient to God.

Let me pray for you all.

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.

EAT MY BODY, DRINK MY BLOOD

13th Sunday of Pentecost

August 19, 2018

Fr. Phil Eberhart

Prov 9:1-6
Ps 147
Eph 5:15-20
Jn 6:53-59

I would love to take you with me to go to the synagogue in Capernaum, on the north shore of the lake we call the Sea of Galilee.  The place where Jesus spoke the words in our Gospel this morning.  I've been there about 4 times.  I've worshiped there, in about 3 languages!  And in the universal language...  Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia !!

But what Jesus said that day, got mixed reviews!

Have you ever gone away from a sermon and asked, "What did he/she just say?"  Don't answer that!!

That's what happened with Jesus.

Our reading this morning is just 6 or 7 verses near the end of John 6, but a lot has been going on through this whole chapter.  We've been hearing and singing about it for the last 3 Sundays!  And it concludes next Sunday.  If you have a bible or your bible app, turn with me to John 6.

Just a quick chapter survey:

we began the first Sunday of August after the feeding of the 5000 - the punch line that Sunday was [Jhn 6:35 NASB] 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

 Last Sunday we read of the further discourse Jesus had with the Pharisees that ended with another punchline:

[Jhn 6:51 NASB] 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."

Now Jesus becomes even more provocative. as they ask the following question, which didn't make it into our readings...

Jn 6:52...  Then the Jews [began] to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us [His] flesh to eat?"

Now look at this morning's reading...

1.    ...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you

2.    Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life

3.    Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them

Do you sense an echo in the room?

Eat my flesh and drink my blood!  Say it couple times...

Eat my flesh and drink my blood!

Eat my flesh and drink my blood!

A little weird, huh?  That's what they thought too.  A hard saying!   Is he talking about cannibalism?  Is he talking about things that are forbidden to us as Jews?  I'm outta here!

And next week Jesus will ask the disciples, the twelve, if they're going to leave as well!!

But here's the key.  Almost a throw away line in the chapter...

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  

Jesus corrects their perception that He is talking physically about flesh and blood.  He is not.

Jesus was later -- another 6 chapters later, at table with the disciples in the upper room and this becomes crystal clear

as He says, THIS IS MY BODY... THIS IS MY BLOOD and identifies the bread and wine of the Eucharist as the meal of both remembrance and empowerment in His Spirit.

In our prayers we give thanks for this meal, calling a MEANS OF GRACE! 

For those new to Sacramental Worship, we believe that something real happens here as we receive the bread and wine from the Table of the Lord - there is a real engagement in our hearts and by His Spirit, present to us, we are transformed on the inside because of the connection with the life-giving bread of God, Jesus himself.

This morning as you take the communion, approach with a holy awe.  Know that God is here to meet you!  Know that this is not merely bread and wine, but it is the place of meeting -  a modern day Tent of Meeting - where we are invited to partake again of the flesh and the blood of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

So we invite you - the Lord Himself invites you to come - come and see,  come and taste that the Lord is good!  Come and remember... come and partake... come and be empowered ... healed ... equipped.  Be being filled!  This is a spiritual transaction, but God is gracious in that He knows we are dust, and we need physical reminders, physical signs, places where heaven actually touches earth!  This is one.  In fact, I think this is the main one!

Let's eat!

Pray with me...

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the true bread come down from heaven.  Flesh and blood, broken and poured out for the life of the world.  Give us this day your very self in these elements of bread and wine.  Help us to be "being filled" by your Spirit as we receive today.  Help us never ever forget:  In Jesus Name and for His sake and the sake of His Kingdom,

Amen.

10 Days of Awe - Sept 9 to 18 - Rosh Hashannah to Yom Kippur

https://vimeo.com/282944774

Click this link for a video explaining the vision for the 10 Days of Prayer
coming to Denver, September 9 to 18, Rosh Hashannah to Yom Kippur,
The 10 Days of Awe!

We will have further information here as to the schedule in the next few
days, so check back often.  Also our main website is
www.10daystogether.blogspot.com.

Blessings,

Fr. Phil and the 10 Days Team

Fr. Phil - Testing and Cleansing

11th Sunday of Pentecost

Aug 5, 2018

Fr. Philip Eberhart

Testing and Purification - The Loss of the Dross

After many conversations over the past week or two, where I've wondered outloud, whether our financial crisis is like us waiting on God to open up the RED SEA or if we're on the other side of the Red Sea, after the party, and here we go into the wilderness of Sin.  I could not believe it when our OT lesson was from Exodus 16 this morning!  In effect the readings this Sunday make this MANNA SUNDAY!!

So let's dive right in and talk a little bit about MANNA and then what its about.

MANNA actually means "what is it!"  The nation of Israel had never seen it before.  Something that looked like a frost on the ground, as small as a corriander seed, with a taste a little like honey.  It came in the morning with the dew on the ground.  The rules were that you could pick up a day's worth of  MANNA, except the morning of Sabbath.  That morning you could pick up twice as much!

The Israelites tried to pick up all they could at first, to 'hoard' it and it spoiled immediately.  But when they picked up twice as much on Friday morning, it didn't spoil overnight.  So there was something supernatural going on as well.

So what is going on is an action of God, whereby the nation of Israel is being both supplied with food and tested at the same time.  Quail in the evening and Manna in the morning.

Have you ever been in the financial place where you were reduced to soup or Ramen noodles for food?  College days? In between jobs?  I have lived for many days on Bean with Bacon Soup!  It's actually one of my favorites still!

But to eat it every day for a month?  Well....    OK..... if I have to.   I mean, you can almost anything for a month, right?

Even soup and Ramen Noodles!  But 40 years?   YIKES!

Anyone here know how long the journey of the Nation of Israel was to be?  Through the desert to the Mountain of God and beyond to the Promised Land?   How long does it take to walk it today?

27 day hike.

So why 40 years?

What is that all about?

In a word?    OBEDIENCE.

Let's look quickly at the lessons for this morning... Just some excerpts...

Ex 16  
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.

Psalm 78:29  29 So they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.

The nation of Israel (and by extension all of the People of God) go through a time of testing here.  They are just weeks from the incredible display of the power of God in the Exodus event - their deliverance from the hand of the Egyptian Armies at the sea side.  They have been accompanied by the pillar of fire and cloud so far on this journey, and it still remains with them - the manifestation of the very presence of God.

So why the test?

\Deu 8:3 KJV

 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,[H4478] which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Where do we hear this scripture repeated?

In the mouth of Jesus himself, in a similar situation - at the end of the 40 days of Temptation in the Wilderness of Judea, as He begins his public ministry.  His response to Satan's temptation to turn stones into bread was to quote the passage from Deut. 8.

Jesus himself is tested by God, even as He was led by the Spirit!  This is NOT something that is the work of the evil one - this process of following God is going to bear these same marks for each and every one of us - and for each group of people who call themselves HIS!

James 1 says it this way:

[Jas 1:2-4 ESV] 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Friends, this time that we are in - crunch time - isn't about money or provision, its about Presence and Obedience.

Why did a 27 day hike turn into a 40 year ordeal?   Because of DISOBEDIENCE.  Because of COMPLAINING.

Turn to Hebrews 4

[Heb 4:6-12 ESV] 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, "Today," saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

We love to quote the 12th verse but forget the context in which it is spoken -  Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts!

The primary evidence of hardened hearts is what comes out of our mouths!!

Are we going to gripe and complain or are we going to praise Him and trust in His provision?  It's a simple question that we often have to answer daily, weekly at least.

We talk alot about the Fire of the Holy Spirit here.  Let's not forget that one of the functions of the fire is to create a scene we see in Malachi 3

[Mal 3:1-4 ESV] 1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

And isn't it interesting that this is at the beginning of the chapter we all know so well about our own giving!  God wants pleasing offerings, even today.  And He is going to prove Himself faithful.  The question is will we?  Time and our obedience will tell.

Again it comes down to what I've been saying for almost a decade to us:   

Willingness

Availability

Obedience

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding!  In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct

your paths.

So we are going to step up - to prayer;  step up - to worship Him;  step up to willingness, to availability to God and to obedience in what He is asking of us.  Every day.

We started today at 8 am with a season of prayer - that will continue week by week, as will a new time for praise and prayer together mid-week.   Padre Unplugged - 7 pm to 8:30 on Wed evenings beginning this Wednesday.

Make yourself available to God to worship him - to pray for His presence and to enter in - to begin to watch for His provision and to ask, "here am I.  Use me, Lord."

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus Christ, we declare our trust in You as our Savior, our Healer, our Provider.  Keep us from thoughts which lead us into darkness and despair.  Help us to keep your face in the very front of our eyes.  Show us the miraculous provision You have planned.  Help us to walk in Your ways, to draw near to You, to resist the devil and to make him flee.  Give us your strength each morning, as you renew your mercy to us, morning by morning.  We cast our cares on you; let our minds and our hearts be steadfast in your praise.

In the Name of Jesus and for His glory we pray,

Amen.

You Give Them Something to Eat

Resurrection Anglican Fellowship

July 22, 2018

Fr. Phil Eberhart

Have you ever noticed that whenever we TURN to the WORD - THE WORD TURNS TO US!

This morning's readings are a case in point.  Over the past few weeks we've heard some long and powerful messages on what God is doing here among us, on our call to Unity and the position of leadership that this parish is in, in this place.

Along side those messages we're coming face to face with our need for provision from God, both through ourselves as we give, but beyond ourselves, as we hear Jesus say, "YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT."

This morning I feel the pain of Philip and the other disciples, in the face of what could have been a crowd of nearly 15,000 (unless only men came to hear Jesus, who accounted for 5000).  They were scrambling trying to figure out what to do for dinner!

Do we send them away to find their own food?    Jesus just sat there and let them "stew" - so to speak - and then gave them an instruction:  "You give them something to eat!"   Do we go and buy food?  It would take almost a year's wages!  They were stewing!  And Jesus asked a question:  "What do you have?"  Do you have anything to offer?

You've already heard my sermon about the "school-boy's lunch."   5 barley loaves and two fish.

The fact is that even what they had wasn't really theirs.  The school boy could have kept his lunch for himself - seems he was the only one who had the foresight to bring lunch!  And he gave it up at their request.  He was the one with all the faith!!

But even "such a little against such a great need." bows to the Name of Jesus as it is given to Him!  And Jesus receives it from the boy and the disciples, He blesses it, breaks it and gives it?

Do you hear me?   Jesus blesses what we give him - He breaks it - and He gives it for the needs of the world around us!  

People were gathered in groups of 50 or 100 - that is 150-300 groups gathered around waiting for food!  "You give them something to eat."  The only thing in between their resources and the need of this crowd for food, was Jesus!

He blessed, he broke, He gave.  Sound familiar.

It's the Eucharist.  We enact this miracle every Sunday morning!  

Every Sunday we receive the bread and wine from the back, along with the offering.

We bless them both!  The Eucharistic bread is then broken and given - and during the week the offering is broken and given.

The point here is that Jesus is involved in it all.  Not just involved but instrumental and the faith of a small boy is all that is required.  Like a grain of mustard seed.  As you give this morning, say to Jesus, as the boy with the lunch did, "All I have is your's Lord."  I've done what I can, now You do what You can!

And over and over and over and over again, throughout this past year we have watched Jesus take, and break and give what we have given Him - and here we are.  This is impossible!  From the natural world's perspective - from the financial world's perspective - from almost any perspective you want to take - this cannot happen!  But it has!!  

Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever!  He is still in our midst - does anyone here contest that?  NO!  We cannot contest that this has been a God-thing from day one!

When asked how this is possible - I just shrug my shoulders and say - we are like a bumble bee ... No one has said we can't fly yet?  So have we realized we can't fly, and decided to start walking everywhere?

NO!  Why? because the preponderance of our experience proves otherwise to us.  A page and a half list of miracles, proves to us that the Word is true. The word that is on the back table - someone bring that up here to me...

This has been sitting in my office since Lawrence made it for me - I thought it as cute - inspired even - but I really never gave much thought to its meaning. Until I was reminded of its words again and again and again in the past year:

[Psa 44:3 KJV] 3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

  Listen to it again:

Our forefathers didn’t win these battles 

  by their own strength
    or their own skill or strategy.
    But it was through the shining forth 

   of your radiant presence
    and the display of your mighty power.
    You loved to give them victory,
    for you took great delight in them. 

Has God changed His mind?  NO.  

Were the disciples in an impossible situation?  YES.

Put there by Jesus himself?   ummm... YES.

What was Jesus doing?

What Jesus is always doing? - getting the disciples ready for life in the Kingdom of God!  Proving and improving their faith - their willingness, their availability and their obedience? 

Are you willing?  Are you available to God ( not are you "able for God!") and finally are you going to do things My Way - God's way?  Are you going to be obedient?

These are not easy lessons - they are life long processes as Jesus grows us into the kind of Kingdom people that see through His eyes.  The kind of Kingdom people who see the people around us as He does.  

More and more we are to be a 24/7 People of God!  That is what we are moving towards here in this place.  That is where God wants us - given to Him and His agenda, every day, 24/7.  And like the disciples who walked with him, He constantly is putting us into situations where we have to choose - our way, the world's way ... or His way.

Just one life verse for this parish to end.  You can say it with me:

"Trust in the Lord with all your might, and lean not on your own understanding.  In ALL your ways acknowledge HIM, and HE will direct (or make straight) your paths."

And again from the Passion Translation:  vv 5-10

⁵ Trust in the Lord completely,
    and do not rely on your own opinions.
    With all your heart rely on him to guide you,
    and he will lead you in every decision you make.
⁶ Become intimate with him in whatever you do,
    and he will lead you wherever you go.^[b]
    Don’t think for a moment that you know it all,^[c]
7 for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion
    and avoid everything that’s wrong.
⁸ Then you will find the healing refreshment
    your body and spirit long for.^[d]
9 Glorify God with all your wealth,
    honoring him with your very best,^[e]
    with every increase that comes to you.
¹⁰ Then every dimension of your life will overflow with blessings
    from an uncontainable source of inner joy! 

Shall we pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,

You have called us to the impossible as a way of life!

Teach us to wait on You, to praise You and look up each day for Your hand.  Open our eyes to see You at work in our own lives and in the world around us.  Fill us with wonder, love and praise.

As we come to Your table this morning, remind us what it is that you are doing today - taking our lives, breaking us for multiplication, and giving us out in the world around us -  Open our eyes to see Your purpose in each and every day.

As we go from Your table this morning, fill us with grace to walk in Your light and favor.  Make us a miracle-working 24/7 Kingdom people.  In the challenges, be our supply.  Let us see Your hand at work, in and to us, and out and through us!

We ask these things for the sake of your Kingdom, Jesus and for the fame of Your Name, in Greenwood Village, in Denver, in Colorado and the USA and around the world!  Let your Kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! 

Amen and Amen.