20197-8 Fearless Proclamation (Matthew 10:26-39) - Don't Be Afraid

This week at the Carlsbad-By-The Sea (CBTS) retirement home I started the week with an early Monday morning men’s’ breakfast meeting. The topic of conversation was the news that weekend; the fire in London, the collision of the US Navy Destroyer and various other disasters and threats to life and liberty.

It was amazing how much fear and worry the newscasts are generating these days, even though the events are happening thousands of miles away.

As I started to read, pray and research the Gospel passage this week a key idea was starting to form. It was about both fear and comfort. As Jesus is preparing the disciples to continue His ministry the Gospel text warns them of whom to fear and of the upcoming conflicts between followers of the Old Testament laws and Jesus’s new covenant.

When He talks about setting a “man against his father” or “daughter against her mother” He is using those words to describe setting one generation who follow the old laws against the new generation who are following His new covenant. This warning of conflict seems difficult to understand and is disturbing to some residents at CBTS who try to relate it literally to their own family conflicts.

But the passage also tells them of the great depth of God’s love for them and reminds them of where their focus and trust should be. Importantly it contains both a warning, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell” but also comfort in “So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows”.

It was a warning to be afraid of the wrath of God but not to be afraid of anything that man can do and this is still true for us today.

During my pastoral care visits this week I noticed that the stories on the news were used as a discussion opener into what was going on in the world. Then this leads into things they are fearful about in their own lives. This is usually more personal and related to health and family but often comes back to the question “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”

Today we live a culture of hate, terrorism, crime, disease and many other fears that are very real to us individually. If we discuss specific individual events and want to know why a particular thing happened, we won’t be able to provide an adequate answer. 

When asked, I found I could not adequately answer the question. I do not know God’s mind and see what He sees. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

In discussing this with residents this week I found they are not looking for a theological answer (even if I had one) and any reasoned response would be inadequate. What they needed is the very real and comforting presence of Jesus Christ in their lives and I tried to provide some comfort by being present and talking through their fears with them.

There are so many worries about health, family and individual circumstances each visit is different and I found the only way I could respond is to be present, actively listen and let God guide me in what to say and when to say it.

Fear and worry do have an impact on our decisions, the way we act and it can also paralyze us into not doing something. But most of our fears are the result of us focusing on ourselves. If we focus on God then He has the power to help us overcome whatever we might be facing.

But what if we could live fearless? What if we could face our fears, confront them and overcome them?

Our lives should not be a series of fear filled events that we lurch through but should be a joyous celebration of God’s Glory and the love God has for us in every event. When researching fear and comfort it appears there are three keys to overcoming our fears: 

·         First, we must profess our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

·         Second, by carrying out God’s will, we keep our eyes focused on His work rather than the problems we’re facing

·         Third, praying without ceasing, for others and ourselves

Prayer to the Father, through Jesus the Son, in the Holy Spirit is a great gift that God has offered us so I would encouraged you to use it individually or with others

In the sermon at the end of the week I asked the congregation to change the way they act. If they are fearful or in a situation that makes them afraid:

·         Remember the depth of God’s love

·         Remember Jesus’s words in our Gospel today, “Do not be afraid!”

·         And… Pray until you focus on God and His will rather than yourselves.

I pray that by the grace of God we do not let our circumstances, challenges or fears cause us to doubt God’s Word or stop praying

We all want our lives will be a celebration of God’s Glory and love for us rather than lives of fear! 

2017-7 The Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9-35 to 10-8) – Growing the CBTS Team

This week at Carlsbad-By-The Sea (CBTS) retirement home I started the week with an early Monday morning breakfast meeting. I had been invited to present my history and what I was doing at CBTS to a Men’s Group of about15 residents.

This gave me the opportunity to meet more people outside of Assisted Living and the Care Center where I normally minister. All the attendees, although between 80 and 102 years old, are in what is called independent living.

I was able to connect with them, personally invite them to the Brotherhood of Andrew “Steak & Stein” night at St Michael’s and elicit their help in introducing me to people who may appreciate pastoral care visits or assistance in attending the Sunday service or bible studies.

This was a great start to my studying and reflecting on the coming Sunday gospel passage about “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”. On Tuesday I was still reading, reflecting and praying for the ideas for my sermon. As often happens I woke at 3:00 am on Wednesday morning with the idea of the harvest workers being “equipped” but not being “prepared”. After arising and jotting down some notes I then went back to a deeper and less anxious sleep.

In studying the passage this week I thought about how in my personal life God has equipped me with certain skills and talents and also how I am being prepared (formed) for ordained ministry.

I reflected on how when Jesus saw the crowds He described them as being harassed and helpless, wandering aimlessly like sheep without a shepherd. 

He was moved with compassion for them and said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest”

If you think of the disciples He called to be His harvesters you could not call them a secular power team. They were not successful academics, businessmen or leaders.

Just look at the disciples. Peter will deny the Lord three times and Judas will betray him. Two held positions in the Roman occupation opposing Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector while Simon was a "zealot" working against the disciples. The others were fishermen or laborers.

Later, even St Paul, who was highly educated in the Torah, had a trade as a tent maker and worked with his hands to support his own ministry. 

But when Jesus assembled His disciples He told them to go to the lost sheep of Israel and:

• Preach that the ‘The kingdom of heaven is near”,

• Heal the sick, 

• Raise the dead,

• Cleanse the lepers, 

• Drive out demons.

In other words He asked them to do all the things He did during His ministry. He sent them out like sheep among wolves; needing to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

As we know Jesus was divine but they were not. So this must have been a difficult task for them, especially with the earthly skills and talents they had been equipped. He also told them not to carry any money or other clothes as they needed to be worthy of their provisions. In other words they should work for their keep, using the skills and talents that God had equipped them with.

Although they were equipped with skills to make a living as they ministered they did not have experience of what they were being asked to do. As their teacher Jesus had also been preparing and forming them from followers into apostles with the spiritual gifts they need to take on the role of harvesters.

He told them “do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say. For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you”.

When we think of harassed, helpless sheep without a shepherd, we could be describing our society today. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, and poet once said, "People are living lives of quiet desperation."

In Jesus' day the population of the world was approximately 150 million people. Today's world population grows 150 million every two years. The world's population exceeds 6 billion people with the population of the United States over 300 million. 

Within this world of 6 billion people many are desperate for meaning and purpose, distraught by the evil and destruction in the world. The harvest is a lot more plentiful now but what has this to do with us today?

We are expected to resemble Jesus in word and deed. To be sent by Jesus is, in some sense, to be sent as Jesus. We can pray for more workers, laborers, servers, and givers but we must do more than pray.

We need to go into the harvest of people “living lives of quiet desperation”. Our job is not to save the harvest - that's God's work. Our job is to tell people about the Lord and help them know Him. Without us going there will be no knowing. If we don't go, who will?

One of the greatest wrongs we can do is to stay silent. People often say, "I'll let my life be my witness." This is a subtle false teaching that has us believing that we can go to church rather than go and take the gospel and our witness outside of the church.

Over the week, during my pastoral care visits and meetings, I looked for the skills and talents of the residents and thought about who would be good harvesters who could make a difference.

In the middle of the week my ministry took a tremendous turn for the better without me actually or consciously doing anything.

I had a call from Bob who wanted an electronic copy of the “Sizzle & Stein” flyer so that he could distribute it and invite all the male residents, not just those who attended the Men’s Breakfast.

Then John contacted me and asked if I could help with a project he had started. He is installing Echo Dots in all the apartments of people who are not mobile and need a way to contact others and keep their minds active. He suggested that the people who are receiving the Dots are just the people who would benefit from pastoral care visits. He asked if I could help him with this project as it would also give me the opportunity to meet people I would not normally see.

Then Norma asked if she could give me a list of people she is concerned about and who she thinks would like visits and encouragement to attend services and study groups. When Trish and Don heard this they also asked if they could add to that list. With the people I am already being asked to visit by CBTS management my list is growing to include input from the residents themselves.

In all these events I noticed that the ministry had turned around from one where I offer my services to one where people are actively requesting help. Everyone making suggestions are offering to introduce me to others and also spread the word about the Sunday service, the 3 Bible study classes, the daily “praying with others” sessions and pastoral care visits.

This struck me that we have started to have harvesters, other than me, reaching out into their community and spreading the word.

Being a harvester is very difficult, especially as there are so many people, the harvest is so vast and the needs are so overwhelming. Many of the people I meet at CBTS are equipped with talents and skills but during this week I have learned that the growing CBTS “harvest team” are also being prepared by God to help bring in the harvest.

In the sermon at the end of this week I asked the congregation to focus on making differences, even small ones, to one person at a time.

I pray that by the grace of God this small team will grow and harvest our field at CBTS and beyond.

2017-6 The Holy Trinity (Matthew 28:19) – Can We Explain This Mystery?

This week I was told that it is the “Newbie” who always gets allocated the task of preaching on Holy Trinity Sunday. As I am the only one preaching at Carlsbad-By-The-Sea (CBTS) I allocated the task to myself.

As I prayed on the Gospel passage and the theology of the Holy Trinity this week the idea of improving prayer in our lives loomed large. In my pastoral care visits and in the Bible Study class later in the week this idea became clearer.

In my visits when I asked residents what the Holy Trinity meant to them most had an understanding of “One God as three distinct Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)” but when asked if they could tell me more, I found there was no deeper understanding and they did not know why they should care.

This week I came to realize that an understanding of the Holy Trinity is vital for us to know what God is like, how he relates to us, and how we should relate to him.

In my studies I found that the actual word “Trinity” is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but there are a few passages in the Bible that refer to the concept of the Holy Trinity.

One is in Mark 3:16, when Jesus is baptized “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Another is in Matthew 28:19, our Gospel passage that week “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit “

Other Bible passages make it clear that all three Persons are 100% God and are equal in power, love, mercy, justice, holiness, knowledge, and all other qualities.

Next I had fun looking at how the early Church tried to explain the Holy Trinity by stating their beliefs in the Apostles Creed and how attempts to further define the Holy Trinity failed miserably and became Christian heresies.

There are quite a few but here are some of the most popular heresies about the Trinity:

• God was one God who just appeared in three different roles ( Modalism),
• God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God the Father in nature and being (Arianism aka Subordinationism),
• Jesus was a purely divine being who only had the “appearance” of being human and that he only appeared to suffer on the cross (Docetism),
• Jesus was a purely human figure but had charismatic gifts which distinguished him from other humans (Ebionitism),
• Jesus was born totally human and only later was “adopted” by God either at his baptism or at his resurrection (Adoptionism),
• Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are components of the one God, only becoming fully God when they come together (Partialism).

These heresies resulted in different sects within the church following different theologians, all claiming that their beliefs were the only true ones. This caused the church to splinter, so in response the Church developed the Nicene Creed. This Creed may be unpopular with some denominations but it does expand on the theology and make it clearer.

Someone once told me that if you spend more than 5 minutes trying to explain “How” the Holy Trinity works you are very likely to commit a heresy. In my own theological reflections I concluded that “How” the Holy Trinity works is still a mystery which I will never try to explain but we are able to understand this theology better if we identify “What” the Holy Trinity does.

So, if we look closely the individual but equal persons of the Holy Trinity have different tasks:

·    God the Father is the ultimate creator of the universe, who initiates divine revelation, salvation and Jesus' human works.

·     God the Son, Jesus, is the Word made flesh, sent by the Father and made the ultimate sacrifice for us. In this selfless act Jesus becomes our Savior and we became His brothers and sisters. Therefore, like Jesus, we became Sons and Daughters of God the Father

·     God the Holy Spirit is the means by whom the Father created and maintains the universe. The Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit provides divine revelation, salvation, and Jesus' works.

But why should we care?

When we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we become adopted children of God (sons and daughters), united with Jesus (brothers and sisters), and we receive Holy Spirit. Without this balanced view of all three persons of the Trinity, we can misinterpret the work of God in this world.

For instance, if we emphasize the God in the Old Testament, and subordinate Jesus and the Spirit, then we come away with a picture of a God of wrath and judgment, who has little compassion.

If we emphasize the person of Jesus to the exclusion of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we miss out on the fact that Jesus was sent to redeem the world and restore our right relationship with God.

If we emphasize the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is easy to lose sight of God as Creator, Son as Redeemer, and the role that the Holy Spirit played and is playing in both of those aspects of God’s work.

This balanced view allows us to celebrate God in our lives and in our community by:

·    Recognizing we are all are created in God's image and destined for a relationship with the Father,

·     Acknowledging Jesus as our Savior and Brother, making us all Sons and Daughters of the Father, so that we can live a welcoming and inclusive life with others who may be different from us,

·     Accepting the Holy Spirit to help us proclaim the gospel, perform good works and do the will of God.

So, in my studies, talking to CBTS residents and theological reflection this week I learned that understanding the persons of the Holy Trinity will deepen my worship and help me to be specific in directing my prayers, especially as I pray to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.

I has given me the impetus to set up daily “Praying with others”  sessions in the CBTS chapel so I can provide the residents with guidance, a space and and regular opportunity for them to pray with me, with others, or alone .

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen

2017-5 Simply Sermons (Acts 2:1-21) - Pentecost

My blog this week, although called “Simply Sermons”, maybe should have been called “Struggling With Sermons”.

It was Pentecost so we had a lot of Epistle, Psalms and Gospel material to work with.

 A few weeks ago when I was preparing to write my first sermon I consulted my Spiritual Director, my Sponsoring Priest and two other experienced preachers from St. Michael’s on how they develop and preach their sermons. The take away from that week were:

·         Read the passages over and over until you understand them,

·         Pray for an “Idea” or “Theme”,

·         Pray for an “Introduction” that would grab the attention,

·         Pray for the “Key Messages” you would like to convey,

·         Pray for the “Conclusion” and “Sending Actions” you would like as a result,

·         Create a document template for the week that is landscape format, Arial 16 point and only uses the left hand half of the page. When you draft the sermon and print it you will have space on the right hand side to make revision notes,

·         Draft the sermon on the document template,

·         Read it, re-read it, re-read it and then read it again,

·         Practice aloud as though you are speaking to the congregation and remember to time it,

·         When ready, cut the pages in half which provides approximately 1 minute of sermon delivery per page. This is important when you are trying to limit sermon time due to the age and physical condition of the majority of the congregation,

·         When preaching remember that the congregation want to hear your message and are not there to criticize your sermon,

·         And……… lastly, enjoy it as this is a great opportunity and honor that God has given you!

So I started this past Sunday’s sermon by praying and decided to concentrate on both the Gospel (John 19:20 to 23) and the Epistle (Acts 2:1-21) passages.

By Wednesday I was feeling that I did not really have an idea and I was not being guided. I had drafted my sermon but it covered:

·         Jesus breathing on the disciples saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit”,

·         Jesus prophesied the disciples would be sent out to preach to people of many languages when he said “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”,

·         Pentecost occurring on Shavuot, the Jewish “Festival of Weeks” which celebrates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and also celebrates the giving of God’s law (the Torah) to Israel at Mount Sinai,

·         A personal experience that I had in the Navy with fire and rushing wind,

·         The Holy Spirit descending on the disciples as fire and rushing wind. This is a great example of God showing us His glory,

·         Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples started speaking in tongues so all could hear and understand the Word,

·         St. Peter’s important sermon as he emerged as the leader and the “Rock” that Christ’s church would be built upon.

On Thursday I prayed for an idea again and the theme of “Community” kept appearing. I did not want to rewrite my sermon so I resisted. No matter how I resisted the idea would not go away.

So, I was feeling a little frustrated but aware that if I went ahead with my original sermon it would not go well. At this time I talked to a fellow SfM student, Susan Green, who kindly offered to review the draft for me. She reviewed it and suggested it may not have a clear idea, there were too many messages and the personal example I had inserted was distracting from the key messages.

I rewrote the sermon using some of the existing material but focused on the new idea of Pentecost being the birthday of the church, St Peter’s sermon starting the church community, and how we have a spirit filled community at Carlsbad-By-The-Sea (CBTS).

As I developed the introduction, key messages and conclusion it flowed and I really felt it was guided by the Holy Spirit.

I have learned this week that the process of writing and preaching is difficult and there is a lot of praying involved. You have to pray on the passages and the event until God gives you an idea that you can own, expand on and deliver.

Plus, for me although it may only take 10 to 15 minutes to deliver the sermon, the research and preparation take approximately 4 hours. This is double the industry standard for developing training courses at 8 hours development for 1 hour of delivery.

This is something that cannot be rushed and I do need to spend the required time as preaching the Word is one of the most important things we can do each week.

I am now looking forward to writing my sermon for Trinity Sunday!!