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Here are pieces of more recent programs at The Open House
May 25, 2008
Asking for More Faith
(a dangerous thing to do)
Mark 9:14-27
Here is a story from the life of Jesus that provides us with a warning. In it a man makes a plea that we may all have made ourselves. But it's a dangerous thing we are asking. The man in the story has a son who is suffering. He thinks the problem is demon possession. We would call it a seizure disorder, perhaps epilepsy. He wants his child cured and brings him to Jesus, saying, "Help my son, if you can." Jesus replies, "Why do you say, ?If you can.' Anything is possible for the one who has faith. "I do have faith," the man says, "but help me where my faith ends."
This is the plea; for more faith. It's a prayer you may have prayed as well, when you find things out of control, or you are filled with doubt. But are you aware of what it is you are asking?
Most of the time we ask for stronger faith for one of two reasons. The first may be that we want to get control over some difficult situation. We want enough faith to change the natural order of things, so that it doesn't rain on our weekends anymore. We want faith enough to heal people, or delay death, or bring about peace. We humans don't like it when things are out of control. We think that if our faith was strong enough, we would be able to manage life better. Our motives may be very pure, but the fact is, God does not give that sort of control to anyone, and even God has relinquished it. We don't really control anything, do we, least of all other people. We may gain a temporary upper hand, but things are out of our control. God has given us humans a free will so that we can choose to be out from God's control. We can choose not to be healed, if that is what we want.
The other reason we pray for faith is so that we can be free of doubt. Many of us really struggle with the interplay of faith and doubt. I know I do. I can get up in the morning sure of all that I believe, and come up with 14 doubts before I get to the end of the hall. Freedom from doubt is not promised to us either. In fact, Jesus was not even free of doubt. His worst moments are coming up soon after this event. What greater doubt could be expressed than Jesus' on the cross, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"
No, if we want faith because we want to be in control or free of doubt, we will never get what we want. However, we can still ask for faith. God's promise to us is to let us grow in faith. But that is a dangerous thing to seek, because faith brings changes that we may not want. This story is full of images of the changes that faith brings about in our lives. Let's take a look at them, one by one.
Faith means you will
SPEAK
One way to divide people into two groups is to find out which ones are comfortable speaking in most situations. I find it easy talk to people or to groups. There are others who are much quieter and would prefer to listen while others talk. But growth in faith means you will have to open up and speak.
This was the first symptom the man mentioned in regard to his child: "The demon keeps him from speaking." It's distressful for a parent when their child won't speak to them. It's a normal thing that happens, usually in the teen years. "Hi, you're home! And how was school today?"
"I dunno."
It drives parents crazy. Kids remember that sometimes you can make your parents happy, and less inclined to bug you, by just telling them what's going on in your life.
This man's prayer for faith results in his son being freed from whatever it was that made it impossible for him to talk. This will happen to you to, as your growth in faith will turn you into a messenger for God. You will find that you will need to speak and to speak out. You may become one who talks to others about their faith, or you may be one who speaks out on behalf of the oppressed. But growth in faith means that you cannot remain silent.
Faith means you will
LISTEN
You can also divide people into good listeners and bad listeners. There are people who have the gift of listening. They are able to turn their entire attention toward you. John McCall has this gift. You are certain that they hear and understand what you say.
This child's dis-ease makes it impossible for him to hear. The man asks for faith, and in response his child's ears are cleared. The same happens to us. As our faith grows, we become more tuned in to what others are saying. We begin to hear the cries of those in pain or suffering, and we will have to respond to that. We too often try to close out the cries we hear, because we feel overwhelmed by them. But growth in faith means to listen, and listening leads us to taking action, and that can be tough.
Faith means you will
GIVE UP FREAKING OUT
When I was a kid, my parents talked about someone having a Conniption Fit. I have no idea what that is, or where Connyptia is. I think we have moved beyond that wording, in sensitivity to people who struggle with seizures.
The reason this boy's illness was thought of a demon possession was because he seemed to be taken over by something outside of himself. He was in the grasp of a powerful force that didn't seem to have anything to do with the circumstances.
We have another term for this today: Freaking Out. Freaking out means having an overly strong emotional reaction to a situation. You can freak out for happiness, like when the Red Sox finally won the World Series, or for anger or fear, or any other strong emotion. Parents often freak out at their kids, or so it seems to the kids. And that works both ways as well. Everyone freaks out sometimes, but some people are frequent freakers.
Some people have found that freaking out removes you from responsibility. No one could expect this boy to do anything while he was in the grasp of the demon. No one can expect anything of us while we are freaking out. In fact, people will do things for us so we don't freak out.
Growing faith leads to less freaking out. The stronger we get in our faith in Christ, the more we are able to deal with the situations that life brings us. The man's prayer for faith was answered, and his son's seizures stopped. Do you think the boy was happy to learn that now he was able to do chores like his brothers and sisters?
If you are someone who freaks out to avoid life, your prayer for more faith will affect that. Situations may not change much, but your reaction to them will, and you will find a greater responsibility in life.
Faith means you will
GIVE UP SELF-DESTRUCTION
The boy in the story would have these seizures, and because of them would often fall into the fire, or into some water. The man said that the demon would throw the boy into the fire or water. Why would the demon try to kill its own host? Because it was a demon of self-destruction and plenty of people have that.
What are some of the examples of self-destruction we see in our world today? Drinking and drug abuse, over eating, over working, violent actions, smoking, lack of exercise, willful ignorance, too little rest, bad relationships, etc. etc. etc. We have plenty of ways of throwing ourselves into the fire.
Growth in faith will change this, too. You will find that as you understand God's love, your own love for yourself will grow, and you will lose interest in your self-destructive habits. But this can be a tough change.
Faith means you will
BEND
The final symptom mentioned in this story of the boy with the demonic seizures was that his whole body would become stiff and rigid. All his muscles would spasm and clench, and he would then become unable to move. Rigidity is something that has to go as faith grows.
The strongest things are not rigid, they are flexible. If you build a tall building that has no flexing ability, then it will fall when storms come. We think of steel as very strong, but its strength is due to the fact that it is a very elastic substance, and can flex under pressure then return to its proper shape.
People who cannot bend cannot accomplish much. Rigid parents can do great damage to their children, who then have only two choices in life: to also become rigid, or to constantly rebel against everything. Parents need to provide structure and limits for their children, but then need to know when to let the rules bend.
And kids, it won't get you what you want if you are too rigid towards your parents.
Churches can become rigid places if they cease to grow in faith, and can then attempt to force their people into molds. But God has created us all differently, and if we ask for faith, we will have to give up our rigidity.
Faith means you will
DIE
When Jesus casts this boy's demon out, he screams in agony, and falls dead. It sounds much like the symptoms of withdrawal that come with addictions. This can be a terribly painful thing, but it is part of the process of healing.
Something is ripped from this boy. Something destructive had become part of this boy's life, and when Jesus takes it from him, he is convulsed in agony, and falls down. He then lay so still that everyone thought he was dead. A scream that great must have meant death.
What it really meant is healing. Healing is not the process of eliminating pain. It can be a very painful process in itself. If something that was part of us is ripped away, we will find it agonizing.
Jesus himself said that following him meant taking up your cross, and being prepared to follow him to death. Recently the body of Tom Fox, of the Christian Peacemakers Team, was found on the streets of Baghdad. He followed Christ to death. Maybe that will be what you are called to, as well. What is for sure is that something that is part of your life will die if you grow in faith, and it may well be quite painful. Be careful before you ask for more faith.
Faith means you will
LIVE
The story does not end with the child lying on the ground, dead. Jesus reaches down and lifts him up to life. Growing faith means something in you will die. But it will be replaced by something living. It is not only death to the old life that we face, but it is also rising to new life. Something in you will come alive to replace whatever has died.
And life means living. No longer able to hide from his life in his disease and possession, this boy is now going to go out and face his life. He will deal with difficult questions and decisions. He will know love and lose, victory and defeat. But he will be alive.
The touch of Jesus gives us healing and life, and that touch is moving among us today. If you pray for faith, this is what will come of it. I hope that each of us is ready to receive it.
May 11, 2008
The sins of the Fisherman
Luke 5:1-11
I have always loved this story of the call of Simon Peter and the others to be Jesus' disciples, and it isn't because I like to fish. I like it because of the Simon and Jesus talk to each other. Most of the time I have heard this story used to defend the idea that Jesus was a divine being because he can control the fish in the lake like Aquaman. But if you read it clearly, you find there isn't anything particularly supernatural about that event. However, it was in that moment that Simon saw himself as he really was, and understood how badly he compared with Jesus. When I read the story I wonder, what was it that made Simon Peter fall to his knees and say, "Get away from me, Sir. I'm a sinful man." What was the great sin of the fisherman that made him feel so wicked? I've thought about this and have actually come up with 12 possibilities.
LYING
It's an occupational hazard
This is something that sort of goes with fishing, isn't it? It's a stereotype that even people who fish are proud of. "After an hour, in which it tried every trick any fish ever knew and some they didn't, it lept out of the water, all six feet of it and landed right on the deck. It stared at me out of it's one great eye. Then it stood up, carefully removed the hook with its fins and said, ?Well, I never?' It's true, I tell yah."
Lying is certainly a sin. God intends for us to be honest with each other. Lying breaks down relationships, and that's bad. But on the other hand, it is something everyone does. Would this have been enough to make Peter say, "Leave me! I'm a sinful man!"
CHEATING
A thumb on the scale
Simon Peter wasn't a recreational fisherman. He made his living this way. He would bring that catch of fish back and sell it to the people and merchants of the town, Capurnaum, where they lived. Simon's lying would have been a lot worse if it went along with cheating.
Defrauding customers was easy, and it was a serious crime, so serious that it made it into the Bible: Deuteronomy 25:13 Do not have two differing weights in your bag?one heavy, one light. 14 Do not have two differing measures in your house?one large, one small. 15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
A business person who cheats the customers is a scoundrel. It respresents a basic disregard for others. One of the dangers in being in business is competition with others who are cheating. It can be a real dilemma. It could even be enough for you to fall at Jesus' feet and ask him to leave your shop.
DRUNKENESS
A double ration of grog
This is another of the fisherman's reputations. Maybe unfair, but maybe there is something to it.
I've been down to the bottom of a coal mine in Pennsylvania. The miners of PA are well known for hard drinking, and you might condemn them for it, until you see just how awful it is down there in those mines. I can't imagine coming out and having to go back in without fortifying or anesthetizing oneself.
We certainly have a problem with alchohol in our country. They say that 1 in 4 people have someone in their life, family, friend, co-worker or neighbor, who has a serious alcohol addiction.
Do you think of it as a sin? Surely people who are caught in it feel the shame and remorse of it. Would Simon have said this to Jesus? Maybe he knew he was not going to quit, and that he would one day disappoint or even betray Jesus.
POLLUTER
What do you do with the guts?
It could be that Simon Peter was a polluter. Do you think he practiced sound environmental policy? What happened to all the fish guts? Did he take regular surveys of the fish in the lake and then adjust his catches to be sustainable?
Did he use natural fibers in his nets and on his boat? Well yes, actually he did, since there weren't any sythetics. I'll bet he would have loved a nylon sail, though, instead of that heavy canvas.
But the environmental problem that we deal with today is a product of industrialization, which they did not have then. Pollution was only a religious word then. It refered to mixing something unfit with the sacrifices and offerings given to God.
Maybe he was dirty. Maybe he was messy, Maybe he overfished. But did that bother him, if he did? Would that have made him think of himself as sinful?
Does it make you feel that way? Because when it comes to polluting, he's got nothing on us.
CUSSING
@#$(*&$%
OK, maybe Simon Peter had some salty language. In fact, we know he did. He knew how to use profanity to express his outrage, and maybe he did it often.
It's weird how often we focus on the particular language that is used, rather than the thing that is said. The reality is that most of what we call cussing is not prohibited in the Bible. The Bible tells us not to use God's name in situations that are not deserving of it. In our society this happens ALL THE TIME. It's not the S-word or the F-bomb that would upset Moses about our language. It's a three word phrase: Oh?My?God. We use it in the most trivial of situations. "OMG, did you see that shirt?" "OMG, I want a slice of pizza!"
Maybe Peter knew that his language was unacceptable. Maybe he had learned how hard you can cut another person with words and he did it often. That is what constitutes bad language?the intent to hurt with it. It's a form of violence, really.
VIOLENCE
"Let's take this outside."
Maybe Peter was a violent person. He wouldn't be the first fisherman to be nor the last (though I don't know that fisherman are any more violent than any other people.) But maybe he was . Maybe he was a big guy, and a town bully. He was or had been married, we know that. Was he violent against themhis love ones?
There was a murder in Portland this week, and there are acts of violence that take place every day in our country. It seems, with as much as this country has, that we would calm down a bit. But we are a nation of violent people. Maybe Peter would fit right in.
Maybe Simon Peter could look at his life and see all the hurt and damage he caused. Maybe Jesus' compassionate approach to people set it off in sharp contrast. Wouldn't this be enough to say, "Leave me. I'm a sinful man."
MONOPOLY
"Let's see. Boardwalk with four boats?"
You want to talk about bullying and violence against the community? Maybe Simon Peter had driven out his competition. He had a big business, and maybe he protected it by keeping others out.
Peter had a task in that town?he was to provide food for them. But maybe he thought his task was to make a profit. Instead of a public servant, he thought of himself as a private individual who was entitled to make as much as he could.
People had to eat. Maybe Simon Peter developed a monopoly on the fishing business, and raised prices and got rich at the expense of other. That is pretty serious sin. He might think that Jesus didn't know about it, but he did himself, so he said, "Go away from me, sir, I'm a sinful man."
INFIDELITY
"I was just working late?reparing my nets. Yeah, that's it."
It could be that a person who cheats the customers would cheat the family as well. Often today when we think of a sinful person, we think of something along sexual lines. We have reason to suspect that Simon Peter may have been unfaithful, because we know that he did this years later. He swore he would stand by Jesus no matter what, and a few hours later denied that he even knew Jesus. Was it in his makeup to be a person who did not stand by the people he loved?
Infidelity does real harm. I'm not talking only about adultery or having affairs, but about not being faithful to the people you have made a commitment to. It tears a community apart, and we can see why it is used in the Bible as a metaphor for all sin. To be unfaithful to God is bad stuff.
COVETOUSNESS
"Look at that guy in that new boat. What a jerk."
What if Simon Peter wasn't successful? What if he was surrounded by better and wealthier fisherman? Maybe he wanted to be one of them. No, he wanted to be them, he wanted what they had.
His only choice was to run them down for their success, knowing all along that that was what he wanted for himself. He learned to hate them for their success, he lerned to hate himself for his failure. He couldn't do anything but complain to God and to others about it all, and he was ashamed because he couldn't see that all success was was a buch of fish in his net.
HATRED
"I hope your boat sinks."
Could it be that Peter was just one of those people who was filled with hate for others? There was certainly plenty of hatred in his time, as there were plenty of others to hate. There were the Romans, for one, who occupied his country. There were other foreigners, and there were people he'd had conflict with in town. Maybe Peter recognized that he had learned to indentify himself by who his enemies were.
Maybe he hated the leper in town. Maybe he hated his wife's friends. Maybe he hated everyone who didn't fish for a living, hated those who made more or less than he, hated outsiders and hated his own people who didn't join him in this hate.
I've met people who are all about who they hate. It is a sad and sinful way to live and maybe, when Peter contrasted his life of hate with Jesus' life of love, he felt it all, and he was ashamed.
Or maybe it was something less obvious than this.
UNAWARE OF CREATION
"I never noticed how beautiful they were."
Maybe Simon looked at that huge catch of fish, and for the first time realized what a wonder creation is. Could it be that he went out there on the water every day and never noticed the amazing beauty and majesty all around him? Was he so caught up in catching fish that he couldn't see the beauty of their design? Did he never lift his eyes to the surrounding mountains, or wonder about the depths below. Did he not feel gratitude with a lake that provided so much life for him and his village.
I don't know if there are many sins that are actually greater than being unaware. In "The Color Purple" Alice Walker writes "I think it pisses God off for us to walk past the color purple and not notice.
To be unaware of the gifts of God is one step from a greater sin
DISREGARDING GOD
"Get away from me. I'm a sinful person."
We tend to think that this moment between Simon Peter and Jesus was their first meeting, but that is most unlikely. Jesus was in a popular phase of his ministry, and had made Simon's home town his base of operations. Simon had certainly heard Jesus' message over and over "God's realm is at hand. You can live in it." And Simon didn't care.
He would have said, perhaps, that he wasn't a spiritual person. He was likely religious?nearly everyone then was. He might have gone to pray and read the scriptiures, he would have celebrated the festivals and holy days. But he didn't think about it or feel it or take it seriously. He just didn't care about God. He cared about himself.
To realize that you have ignored the source of love and life, maker of sky and sea, to realize that you have said the holy words and never, ever really meant them, to have that whack you in the head as Jesus looks at you?well, you might say the same thing Simon Peter said. "Get away from me, Jesus. I'm a sinful person."
**************************************
But none of that is what I really wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about was Jesus' reaction to Simon Peter's confession. You might expect some words of condemnation from Jesus. "Yes, indeed, you have been a very, very bad boy," or something along those lines. Or you might have expected words of forgiveness, but neither of those are what Jesus said.
The Bible doesn't say that Jesus laughed at this point, but I think he did. And then he said, "Come with me, and I'll teach you to catch people like this." The forgiveness Simon realized he needed was already given. It is like that with God. We don't have to convince God we need to be (or want to be) forgiven. We already are. God's ability to forgive is far, FAR beyond our ability to sin.
Jesus was there not to make Simon Peter wallow in his guilt and shame, but to put him to work. Jesus needed workers to bring people into God's net of grace and hope.
We humans often want to shame the "evil-doers." This is the point of many of our daytime "court" shows. We want to hold the sinners up for scorn and ridicule. Jesus has no interest in that. Jesus wants to heal us and give us something important to do. Jesus wants us to help set people free.
You might think you have done too much that was destructive to yourself or others to be useful to God. But that's not the message of Christ. Yes, you probably are a sinner. Maybe a bad one. But you are already forgiven, and you can learn how to use that same grace to set others free from the shame they have chosen to live in.
Whatever you do, do it with love
January 1, 2006 - SRC, Pastor
The shape of your New Year will depend, in large part, on you. So, what are you going to do? Well, I recommend that whatever you do, you do it with love. Let's start at the bottom.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR FEET, DO IT WITH LOVE
This means you are not to use your feet for kicking other people. That generally can't be done with love. It does refer to where you are going to go in the coming year. And where are you going to go?
Disneyworld? I've been there; it's a lot of fun. It's not real, but it's fun. And if you get the chance go. But it only takes a week or so. So where else are you going to go? May I make a suggestion? Why not go where Jesus went? You will find it to be a year you won't forget. I don't mean to go to Jerusalem, but to the sort of places Jesus went. Go out among the poor and lost, the sick and outcast. They aren't hard to find. You don't have to leave Portland.
Go places with love. Find people in need and visit them.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR POCKETS, DO IT WITH LOVE
Your pockets are representative of what you have: the stuff you carry with you in your life. And what are you going to do with all that stuff? Our society would like you to spend the coming year thinking about what you want to put into your pockets in the coming year. I want you to think about what loving things you can do with the stuff in your pocket.
What have you got? Keys? Money? Pens? Medicine? Candy? Reach into your pocket right now, or your pocket book. What have you got? How can you use it for love? Think of the stuff you have that isn't in your pocket, too. How can you use the things God has given you? Whatever you do with what you have, do it with love.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR HANDS, DO IT WITH LOVE
What are you going to do with these hands of yours this year?
I hope that not one hand here will be used to strike another person. I hope that the touches you give this coming year are going to be as healing as Jesus' were. Jesus often touched when he healed people. You don't have to be able to heal leprosy with a touch. That's pretty tough; it's not for the amateur. But you can heal broken hearts. Touch people gently and with real love. A hug to a lonely person is great. Don't forget to touch the elderly.
If you aren't touchy feely, then do good stuff. Write good words, build and make beautiful things, solve puzzles that trap others. But whatever you do with your hands, do it with love.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR VOICE, DO IT WITH LOVE
If I could take you back through the year, how many of you would find that there were words you had spoken that you wish you hadn't? You must be careful with words. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can cut me to the heart. What will you say in the coming year? Will your words build up or tear down? Will your words cry out for justice for the poor and the weak, or demand a second helping for yourself.
Learn what Jesus said, and say the same things. It's not hard. You can do it right now. Yes. Right now. Turn to someone near you and say something kind, generous, or uplifting.
Speak the truth! But speak the truth in love, the Bible says. Whatever you do with your voice this year, do it with love.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR EYES, DO IT WITH LOVE
What are you going to see this year? Don't say you don't know. Much of what you see is going to depend on what you want to see. If you are looking for certain things, you will see certain things. If you want to see enemies everywhere, you certainly will. If you want to see kindnesses everywhere, you will.
You have some choices of what you are going to look at. You all live here in Maine. You have no excuse for not filling your eyes with beauty. Snow, pines, granite cliffs, clear water, lakes and ocean, lupines, eagles.
And look around you right now. What do you see? See all these beautiful people with the courage to seek God? Wow. Turn your eyes away from the things that tear you down. Some people give up news. If the news brings you down, you don't have to watch it.
But don't be afraid to open your eyes and see the suffering, the pain, the loss in the world. You will be surprised to see beauty even there. And you will be surprised to see that seeing it changes it. Whatever you do with your eyes this year, do it with love.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR BRAIN, DO IT WITH LOVE
What are you going to think about this year? What are you going to learn? You have to learn. You have to get to the end of the year knowing something you don't know now. One of the good things you could learn would be to understand that God is love, and that we love God when we love others.
Or get a better understanding of how valuable you are, and how deserving of love.
Or how bad you've been and how undeserving, but how you are given it anyhow. That's grace. Learn what grace is.
Think loving thoughts. Think about people you know and try to see them in a new way: not necessarily as an opponent, but as someone in need. Think about what you can do to ease the suffering of others. Think about god. Meditate. But whatever you do with your brain, do it with love.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR PRAYERS, DO IT WITH LOVE
Prayer is a love language. It is the way you communicate with God who is love. You want to spend time meditating and praying and seeking to know and understand God and what God wants of and for you. People who use their faith and prayer for aggression against others have really no understanding of faith or prayer at all.
Use your prayers for others. Pray for people in need, pray for your loved ones, pray for your enemies. Pray for yourself and your own growth. But let it be a language of love. Sometimes love hasn't words. Don't be afraid to sit quietly and breathe. You can learn a lot by listening. But whatever you do with your prayers. Do it with love. In fact, whatever you do in 2006?
Do it with love.
Outcast Spirituality
July 16, 2006 - SRC, Pastor
We talked about being outcasts, something many of us know something about. We had a good discussion about how easy it is to become one. Just look or think a little differently, or have a disability or different gender identity, or be misunderstood or just mistreated.
Stephen told the story of an outcast from the Bible, a guy named Zacchaeus (the story is in Luke 19:1-10. He was outcast because of his work and his physical appearance. Yet he was the one that Jesus picked out to spend time with. In fact, Jesus spent a lot of time with outcasts.
We had two great songs. Erin sang "God Bless the Outcasts" which is actually from the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." And we played a song by Brian Sirchio. There's lots of words, but it really touched people.
Here are the lyrics:
COLD SHOWER TREATMENT
I remember Junior High back in northern New Jersey there was this kid named Corie McCuff . Corie was always causing trouble for somebody -nobody liked Corie much. Nobody knew what made Corie so angry, but he was a time bomb wired to blow. Some say it started when his dad left his mom- I guess we've heard that story before. And Corie's mom did not know what to do. She'd get these phone calls from teachers at school, "He's causing problems again, Ms. McCuff." So Corie's mother would go pick him up (And she'd say)
Corie why'd you do it?
All these feelings inside you
Are gonna cause you pain
If you don't let somebody help
And Corie something's got to change
And Corie, what's it going to take
For you to see how much you hurt yourself this way?
In the summertime the year before we started high school a church in town took this youth camping trip. They had a pastor named Kevin, and Kevin knew ho to get through to the kids. Kevin said "Hey, why don't we see if Corie can join us this year for our youth camping trip? Not even Kevin knew just how much trouble would be caused by that Corie kid. Cause Corie wised off and kept picking fights, but Kevin knew Corie hurt deep inside. And then one night while the other kids slept Kevin heard Corie crying in bed (and Corie kept saying to himself)
Corie, why'd you do it?
There must be something wrong with you
It's just like mom keeps trying to tell you -
You better get some help
And everyone says I should change,
But no one knows what it will take
And they don't see how much it hurts to live this way
At the camp the group was at they had this way of dealing with campers like Corie who'd break all the rules. They called it getting the cold shower treatment, and here's what the camp staff would do: They'd let the cold shower run until that mountain water was almost like ice. Then the offender would strip to a bathing suit and take a cold shower while all the other campers would watch you and tease you and laugh. It was the most talked about thing at camp. It was done in a spirit of fun; they never meant it to hurt anyone. Well Corie was constantly breaking the rules. "Let's give Corie the shower!" said the rest of the group. So they turned on the water and they gathered around. "Make him freeze!" screamed the merciless crowd.
Like some death row prisoner Corie marched into the room, showing no emotion as he listened to the group. They were laughing, mocking, shouting, "To the shower with McCuff!" And then that locker room fell silent, and as Corie looked up, there was Pastor Kevin in this silly bathing suit, taking Corie's shower, and shouting, "Corie! God loves you!" And Corie started crying as the other kids all left. Kevin got out of the shower and he said,
"Corie... God knows why you do it,
And man there's nothing wrong with you
That God can't help you learn to deal with,
If you want God to
And Corie, everything can change
'Cause Jesus knew what it would take
For you to see how much you hurt yourself this way"
I remember senior high back in northern New Jersey I had a friend named Corie McCuff. Corie was some kind of beautiful person, so full of forgiveness and love. Sometimes a person would ask him, "Hey Corie, how come you're always so thoughtful and kind?" Corie would smile and say, "It's hard to explain." Then he'd throw them his favorite line: He'd say, "I started to live differently when a good friend once helped me see, that this carpenter -- took a shower once for me!"
Many Great Words
Colossians 1:1-9
July 15 & 22, 2007 - SRC, Pastor
For these two Sundays we looked at some of the words found in this passage from the Bible. We had some great music, too. One week we used recorded music, and the next had our whole band back and doing "Fix You" and "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding." We took lots of time for discussion and this page has some of the questions as well as my thoughts.
When I read over this passage of scripture, what jumped out at me was not the overall meaning of the passage, but rather I was amazed at the many important, powerful, active words that were in it. Paul seems to have been just overwhelmed with what he was thinking and feeling and the words just came pouring out. So I decided today to look at some of them. I selected 30 of them to begin with, but then narrowed it down to these 12.
GREAT SUCCESS
"The Good News is spreading all over the world with great success."
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHETHER YOU ARE BEING SUCCESSFUL? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? WHAT DOES OUR SOCIETY MEAN BY IT?
Here's a word we struggle with. We don't all get exactly what is meant by this. We tend to pursue success, and we talk about it a lot, but what does it mean? Mostly in our society the word success implies something financial. "It is a successful business?" Is your fiancé a success? It's a pretty narrow definition, and one that doesn't work for us. But I've heard churches do it this way.
There is a Greek word here, though, that's very helpful in understanding what we are talking about. The word translated Success is karpophoreo; which means to Bear Fruit. To be fruitful. Success means for us what it means for an apple tree. An apple tree is successful when the fruit comes out. All the other tree stuff; size, height, location, leaves, flowers, are all secondary to the fruit. That's what determines it as a success.
WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
"Have all the wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives."
WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO IS WISE? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED. HAS ANY WISDOM COME TO YOU? WHAT ARE THE QUESTIONS YOU ARE WORKING ON?
The words translated as wisdom and success carry these connotations in the original Greek of the Bible. Synesis, flowing together, Sophia; the sort of wisdom that comes when one gathers a great deal of knowledge together.
Success is when people are spiritually wise; when the information flows together in a current that feeds the soul. Picture it, a river of knowledge about God that flows and gives life to a parched land.
Some people see God as a torrent that sweeps away everything, but I don't know that they are wise. Those who call for hatred of others, does not seem to me to be spiritually wise.
Wise people are always seeking deeper and deeper truths even in the most mundane of circumstances. Tennyson wrote this poem about it:
Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower -but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
GOOD DEEDS
"Please God by doing good deeds."
WHAT IS THE RESULT OF GOOD DEEDS? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH? DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE A GIFT FOR THIS?
Christianity is different from a great many other religions because it doesn't see good deeds as the way by which one achieves acceptance. Yet we do believe that good deeds come out of our new life in Christ.
In the last 20 years or so there has been a good way of talking about this: Random acts of kindness. What I like about that is the idea that good deeds are without ulterior motives. Don' do GDs because they will pay off for you (though they will.) Don't be like Earl Hicky ("My Name is Earl) who is doing good deeds because he has decided good deeds bounce back to him.
That's not why we do it. We do it because we know that it makes God pleased. This passage says that GDs please God. I get a pic of God looking down at us and smiling. Or maybe you just want to think of the divine energy flowing smoothly through this world when we are doing good deeds for others.
POWER
"God's glorious power"
WHAT DOES THE WORD GLORIOUS MEAN? IS POWER A WORD THAT CONJURES GOOD OR BAD IMAGES?
It's not just God's power we are talking about here. We really can't quite grasp that anyhow. But what about God's strength? When do you see it? I'm aware of it in storms I think. God is showing us who's in charge.
How can we tell when something is by God's power? It shines. It's glorious. It is beautiful. That's why storms work for us, scary as they may be, there is a beauty in it. Monster trucks are also powerful, but I'm not sure they are beautiful. Their results are not.
When God's power is put to work, beautiful things result. When people act in the power of God is it glorious, brilliant, shining, and that's a good way to know whether the strength you are seeing is real.
God's strength is beautiful. When I am "strong in the Lord" I am beautiful, as well.
PATIENT
"God glorious power will make you patient"
WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO WAIT FOR? WITH WHOM HAVE YOU HAD TO BE PATIENT? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR NOW?
Patience, they say, is a virtue, and usually the people who say this are trying to get you off their cases. But patience is a virtue, because we have to recognize that not everything that is good will happen immediately. Nor will everyone be in the place where they should be right away. Nor will all promises be fulfilled instantly.
This was a serious problem for the early Christians. Many were of the opinion that Jesus was going to return to earth within a generation or so, and were waiting for this. They were waiting for changes in the whole world, waiting for Rome to treat them fairly, waiting for others to accept the faith in Christ.
Patience is a farmer's requirement. You prepare the soil, you plant the seeds, you water and feed, you pick off the Japanese beetles, but you must also be patient. God will grow the plants when it is time. Jesus loved this image:
Mark 4:26- 32 Again Jesus said: "God's kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field. The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how. It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain. Then when harvest season comes and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle. Finally, Jesus said: What is God's kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world. But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade."
STRONG
"God's power will make you strong?"
WHEN DO YOU FEEL STRONG? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO MAKE YOURSELF STRONGER? WHAT ABOUT MENTAL STRENGTH?
How good are you are resisting a good sales pitch? Are you easily talked into things? Much of the meaning of the original Greek word has the sense of a resisting strength. It would be like the strength of the walls around a city, rather than the strength of the army attacking those walls. God's power, Paul says in this Bible passage, helps us resist the temptations and systems of this world.
This strength that comes from God is a reflection of God's strength, and so it is bright and shining, as well. This means that we have the strength to do good. We have the strength to create and change. We can resist the powers of evil and we can make things happen for good. We can resist being lied to and we can hold to the truth.
ENDURE
"Able to endure anything."
HAVE YOU HAD TO ENDURE? WHAT IS THE DIF BETWEEN PATIENCE AND ENDURANCE? WHAT WOULD YOU HOLD TO IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION?
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. It sometimes means holding on and holding out, and putting up and just lasting. Enduring. A low heat; a long slow coming to boil is the sense of the Greek word.
Endurance different than patience, though.
You are patient when you have a choice: when you decide to let your children grow and make mistakes and become grown-ups, you are being patient. You are enduring when you have no choice, as when trouble is forced on you and there is little you can do. The people of Colossae were dealing with persecution for being Christians.
Endurance it means not giving in. Not giving in to the pressure around you. To refuse to hate, to refuse to seek vengeance, to refuse to give up on following Christ.
HAPPY
"Be truly happy."
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BE HAPPY? WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN TRULY HAPPY? WHAT MAKES A PERSON HAPPY?
In Lonesome Dove Gus asks Cal, "When were you happiest?" "What do you mean?" "I mean to be happy to be alive, free on the earth." "Oh, a number of times, I guess." "For me it was right here by this river, years ago, when I was here with Clara."
For Paul, it isn't being with Clara by a river, though that might be really nice. God's "glorious power" is what will make us happy. It goes to work in our lives and our world, and that is the goal of it. To be happy! It's really that simple.
We are here to be happy. Many things get in the way of it. But God is working in us to make us happy. And that thought makes me happy. You will know that God is working in you when you are really happy. Remember what makes you that way. It will tell you something about God.
GRATEFUL
"Be grateful to God for letting you have part."
WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR? HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS COMMUNITY TO YOU? DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS "ADOPTED?"
The people in Colossae were not Jews. Or if they were, they weren't "real, good, Jews." The Jewish people had spread all over the empire, leaving places where they were being persecuted, such as their own homeland. Where they went they formed communities and sometimes assimilated to the outside culture, taking Roman names and dress, for example.
This meant that they were looked down on by everyone, by the purists for having assimilated, by the natives for being immigrants. Can you imagine such a situation?
Then along comes the message of Jesus, carried by a guy named Epaphras, a named derived from the word for "Lovely". And his message was that you were welcome into the realm of God through the gracious sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who has made all people one.
For this you are to be grateful: Thank you God, for letting me into this place. For all you have done, but most of all, for letting me be one of your people. I don't deserve it, but here I am.
RESCUED
"God rescued us from the dark power of Satan."
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ACTUALLY RESCUED? CAN YOU POINT TO A TIME WHERE YOU FELT YOU HAD BEEN RESCUED, SAVED, DELIVIERED FROM A DARKNESS, AN EVIL POWER? WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A RESCUER? WHAT PEOPLE TODAY NEED TO BE RESCUED?
We spend some money on rescue in this country, a lot of money. We don't ask people to be expected to hire their own rescue workers; we believe it is a right. We spend a LOT more money on destruction and killing than rescuing, but we still provide free rescue.
To be rescued implies that you cannot save yourself. Rescue always involves someone else who is acting, generally, out of a sense of altruism. We even send rescuers to rescue people who have gotten themselves into their own trouble. And we really turn out when the innocent are lost. When a child is lost in the woods, we all want to rescue.
To be trapped in the darkness is condition that some people can identify in their lives. What can trap you? Addiction. Poverty. Loneliness. Ignorance. Guilt. Superstition. Fear. These are things that God and God's people want to save us from. Let God rescue you if that's what you need.
FORGIVES
"Christ, who forgives our sins."
WHO IS FORGIVING YOU RIGHT NOW? WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF NOT FORGIVING? CAN YOU FORGIVE ANYTHING?
You can be forgiven.
You can. I don't care what you've done. You can be forgiven.
This is so much at the center of what we talk about as Christians, that it's strange to even say it, but there it is. We are a group of people who have been forgiven. And we needed it. We have stuff in our lives that we cannot make up for. We have committed all sorts of sins.
I was listening to a Robert Earl Keehn song. He says, "I am guilty of a Dreadful selfish crime. I have deprived myself of all my precious time."
Success is being forgiven. The fruit that God wants us to bring out is to be forgiven. To put things behind you that are in the past and let them go and not suffer the guilt over them anymore. To know that what you are doing now can be forgiven and you can be, well.
FREE
"Christ, who forgives our sins, and sets us free."
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE WANT TO BE FREE OF?
What, exactly, are we to be free from? The Dark power of the dungeon of Satan, so says this passage. Well, that can be a lot of things. The Dark dungeons have many cells; hatred, fighting, malice, fear, guilt, addiction. When these are in our lives, we are not free. Hatred is a clear example: when we hate someone, we are in prison. We cannot get free from the pain and fear that come with our memories.
Paul is writing to people who have lived in a religion of superstition that they are freed from, and a religion that says that without the right sacrifices, God will hate you. Even with them, sometimes.
What would you like to be free of?
For me it was freedom from fear and mistrust. Fear of the big people.
Fear of punishment is another thing. We need not be afraid that God is going to smite us. We will have trouble, but the idea that God wants to do these things to us is not something we need to live in.
How to Let Your Little Light Shine
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