A Memorial Day Salute

The American flag flies at our house today in memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. The flag flies in honor of those who have served or are serving in our nation's military. Their bravery, commitment and willingness to stand in our stead on behalf of our nation is worthy of our deep appreciation. Today I pray for those in uniform whose lives are in danger in foreign lands. May God watch over you and protect you. I salute you all.

“Dancing Baptists” - Jeremiah 31:10-13, Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 - May 27, 2012

Jerry put the information on this morning’s worship service on the church signs on Monday.  It has been interesting to hear people’s response.  I ran into an area pastor of another denomination at Classen SAS graduation ceremony.  He greeted me jokingly with, “hey, I saw your church sign.  I did not know Baptist danced.”  Someone at SALT commented with a smile on the sermon topic posted on the signs and with a smile said, “better be careful about preaching about dancing.  Sounds like it could go bad either way you come down on the topic.”  We all know where this comes from.  Many of us grew up in an era where we were taught from pulpits across the land that Baptist did not drink, did not play cards, did not go to movies, and certainly did not dance. But with the march of time and the opening of hearts and minds something remarkable began to happen.  On April 4, 1996 the Baylor Communications Office put out a press release that began this way;”The Berlin Wall has fallen, Big Macs have invaded Russia, and there are lights at Wrigley Field. Mankind's last great resistance is about to be history: There will be dancing at Baylor University.”  On October 7, 2011 the Trustees of Oklahoma Baptist University voted to remove the prohibition on dancing from the student handbook.  It seems that Baptist decided to learn to dance.

I can understand the objections of the preachers of earlier generations.  Whether it is the Waltz or the the Tango, the Lindy or the Charleston, the Twist or the Stroll, Square Dancing or the Two-Step, Hip Hop or free flow, there is a passion and a liberty of motion that dancing invites.  The movement between two people is substantively different than our normal every day beside one another.  Something happens when you dance.  At some level you have to let go.  At some level you have to embrace the rhythm of the music. At some level you have to embrace the emotion of the moment.  Dancing can be freeing. Dancing gives feet to joy.

It is funny that it has taken Baptist so long to come to terms with dancing.  As we listened to our two focal passages being read earlier in our service we heard to powerful picture of the people of God ready to dance.  It sounds strange to hear such passionate words from Jeremiah.  He is better known as the weeping prophet.  He is the prophet of doom and destruction. He is the prophet of pain and agony.  But, in this passage he sees a moment, a very different kind of moment. He proclaims that there will be a day when the pain and agony, doom and destruction, will give way and God will restore the people to their intended place and joy will break out – dancing for joy will define the day.

We heard a well known passage from Ecclesiastes that speaks to the season and motions of life.  It seems we most often hear this passage in moments of crisis or pain, reminding us that these seasons are just a part of story.  But, as the passage reaches its crescendo we hear that there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to morn and a time to dance.  Did I hear that right?  We know the difficult taste of grief and morning, but here we hear that just as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, so too are we to claim a time for joy – a time for dancing.

We know that these two passages are talking about more than a quick whirl on the dance floor with you favorite guy or girl.  These passages speak about a time when we dance with joy in the presence of God.  They are describing of moments of grand celebration and freedom, of redemption and release. They envision a walk with God that is driven by joy.

Several years ago I lead a Wednesday night Bible study series looking at the Holy Spirit.  I recently walked through a modified version of that study in SALT.  But during that first study Lee Sneed came up to me after a night when we had looked at a number of the Holy Spirit passages and asked me a question that has haunted me to this moment.  His question? “If we have the presence of God – the very power of the resurrection - living within us, why don’t we live that way?” Lee, that was and is a great question.  I think part of the reason is that we know how to live by the established religious rules and cultural customs. There is a certain comfort about being able to determine our own steps and to march forward in the well worn paths and the well know rhythms. We learned to “behave” in church and life and in the process often left little room for God to do more than we plan; little room for God to do the unexpected; little room for God to change the rhythm and invite us to dance. We can find ourselves so wrapped up and holding on so tight, that we can hardly imagine letting go, even into God’s hands.

I bring you good news of great joy.  The promised time of redemption and renewal that Jeremiah proclaimed has come to pass.  God stands ready to restore us and invite us to dance.  The time of morning has given way to the power of the resurrection; death has given way to life and God is ready for us to celebrate and dance. We are the people of Easter.  The people who are forgive shaped by the cross of Christ and the power of the resurrection pronouncement. We are the people of God, made a part of the family through faith in Jesus.  We can experience lives of joy and a way of life that invites us to dance with God and with one another.  We can relish in our walk with God.  We can delight in the way of God. We can be thrilled by the work of God.  We can learn new songs and dance new dances.

I must recognize that some of you hear me this morning may believe I am talking about a style or way of worship.  This word is about something much more. I want us to look at the very nature of our life with God. We are invited to a way of life where we can rejoice in God’s presence and marvel in God’s work in our lives.  To experience this kind of life with God we must get out of our religious boxes and push down the boundaries so that nothing stands between us and the God who loves us, restores us, redeems us, and makes us whole. We are invited to a life with God where we walk with God with unadulterated joy and abandon. We are the ones of whom Jeremiah speaks; They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.¹³ Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

Lee, the time has come when we live in the knowledge and power that the presence of God – the very power of the resurrection, lives within us. On this Pentecost Sunday, the day set aside to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, we must let go and break loose and allow God to invade and pervade into every aspect of our lives. It is time for us to shout with joy and sorrow no more.  It is time for the young and old, both men and women to break out in dance in celebration of their walk with God. It is time to find the passion and claim the liberty of motion found at God’s feet.  It is time to listen to the rhythms of God’s word and way and dance.  It is time for you – for me – for all of us to relish in God’s presence and become Dancing Baptist in celebration.  The dance floor is open. How will you respond? 

"A Masterpiece of God" - Genesis 1:27 - Ephesians 2:10 - Classen SAS Baccalaureate Message

When you speak their names images and emotions flood our hearts, minds and imaginations.  Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony; Mozart’s grand opera The Marriage of Figaro; Leonardo’s The Last Supper; Van Gogh’s Starry Night; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire; Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice; Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn; Tolstoy’s War and Peace; Michelangelo’s statue of David; and The Thinker by Rodin.  This is a short list that just touches the tip of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time. We could spend hours talking about the greatest works of each discipline and period. Many of you have done that very thing in hour after hour of classes on art and musical history.  It would be easy to begin to debate which book or play belonged on a list of some of the greatest ever.  The list would quickly grow in size and scale but we would discover that the mark of a true masterpiece is that they transcend eras and cultures and each seems to move us in some deep and profound way. 

It is interesting that we can think of a painting, or a piece of music, or a play, or a sculpture as a masterpiece but when we look in the mirror all we tend to see our flaws and our failures, our blemishes and places of blame.  But this afternoon I bring you a very different word.  I want you to know that you as you prepare to leave the halls of high school and to go out into the world that you go out as one of God’s great masterpieces.  You are a great work of divine art.

In the first book of the Bible, one of the five books that compose the Torah, we hear an incredible pronouncement in the midst of God’s great creative work of making all that is.  We listen in on the creation story and hear; So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)  I love these words.  When I think of all that there is and its wonder and beauty I think of the work of God’s hand.  But here we learn that we are not simply one of the created – we were created in the very image of God.  What is good and best in us is a reflection of the face of God.  In the New Testament we hear a similar theme. Ephesians 2:10 tells us For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We learn through the breadth of Scripture that we are created to have a relationship with God and with one another.  This verse makes our purpose in our relationship with one another clearer.  Paul tells us that we are God’s workmanship.  The word “workmanship” emerged from the everyday life of the people.  It was used to speak of a person’s very best work.  It represents the height of the who they were in their craft.  Paul uses this work to convey that we – that you are a work of art – a Masterpiece of God! Psalm 139 sings out: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

It is so easy to wake up and look in the mirror and only see our flaws.  If we are not careful we begin to question our value.  We see others as special, but we can think that we belong in the scratch and dent pile.  The problem is that you are seeing yourself through the eyes of a beauty obsessed culture. Hear me that we are PRICELESS in the eyes of God. The God that made and shaped us loved us enough to make a way for hope and redemption – for us to reclaim our place as a Masterpiece of God.

The Ephesians 2 passage calls again; For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The second half of the verse reminds us that we were created as a work of art – as a Masterpiece of God with a purpose.  We were created to make a difference in the lives of others – to do good works that builds people us rather than tear them down. As you leave the halls of high school and head into the world it is important for you to remember that you were created for a good purpose.  If you want a life of joy then you will discover it is not found in trying to fill your latest craving or by diving in to your latest idea.  If you want to have impact – if you want to create a name of legacy for yourself – if you want to matter and claim your place as a master work of God then you will find the great joy and fulfillment in giving yourself away in doing good to and for others.  When I first visited Oklahoma City they had painted bison all around town.  I was fascinated in the wide range of ways the bison painted.  They were public art – not hidden away in a museum or private collection – but were out them for everyone to see.  This is the kind of artwork God intends for you.  You are some of his very best work and God calls you and me to be out there – doing good and changing lives – so everyone gets a glimpse of the kind of art you are through God.

You do not have to wonder if you are good enough – well equipped enough – or special enough.  God has gone before …preparing the way…expecting us to follow…expecting us to fulfill our purpose…awaiting us to share his masterpiece with the world. This is guilt free…asking for us to be nothing that who we are…as designed by God…need not become Billy Graham or Mother Teresa…but to be the living masterpiece in the world that God has prepared us to be.

Conclusion  You are a masterpiece…can you imagine it…you are amazing….a miracle…more beautiful than the Mona Lisa…more spectacular than a desert sunrise…more wonderful than a Hawaiian sunset.  You are a masterpiece of God!  You are created for a purpose…it is unique to you…it requires you…no spare parts….no inferior quality parts…you are created by God for a purpose…to be a masterpiece on display.

The challenge is whether we can allow ourselves to see the masterpiece that God has created…to allow ourselves to be shaped by God’s love and grace…to see the strokes that God has used with care…claim your place as a masterpiece. There will be so many voices that will tell us to settle for being mediocre. There will be so many voices telling to make it all about you.  There will be so many voices that will invite to settle for being something, anything, less than who you were created to be.  Do not listen to them.  You are a masterpiece of God – created to do good works – that God has laid out before you.  Go and shine, knowing you are a masterpiece created by the greatest artist of all times.  Go and live your lives on display.  Our world is hungry to see all that you can be.   

"Contrary Voices" - Numbers 13:26-33 - May 20, 2012

You have met them before.  You can even probably look across your life and call them by name.  They are people of strong opinions, but unfortunately they see the world through pessimistic lenses.  If the day is beautiful they are convinced a drought is just around the corner.  If it is raining then the floods will break loose at any moment.  If the wind stirs you can just bet that they will predict a tornado will soon be crashing down on you.  When a child is born they are the ones that will tell you how much responsibility a child is and that “you’ll end up paying for this kid the rest of your life.” They will couch their language in terms of having a conservative approach to life and money and rather than being risk adverse, they do not take any risks at all.  They will tell you that you have to be careful in what you do because if you are not careful you might fail.  The fear of failure has held them back from every dreaming anything – ever trying anything – ever reaching out for anything that they are not sure the can do – so in reality they do very little.  It is a safe life. It is a secure way of living.  But, they miss out on all they could have accomplished.  They miss out on a bold walk with God.  And, if you if are drawn in by their voices, you will too.

Our focal passage for the morning takes us into dramatic moment in the life of God’s people.  God has brought them out of Egypt and captivity, through the Red Sea, and across the desert to the point where the Promised Land appears within reach. Moses and Aaron call out a group of spies whose task will be to sneak into the land to see what they can see and then report back their findings.  The report is not offered in the quiet privacy of a tent, but is instead hear at around the fire with a crowd of excitable spectators listening in.

Earlier in the service we heard the passage read from the New International Version.  Let’s listen again, but this time from Eugene Peterson’s interpretative translation, The Message. 

^26-27 They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the People of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told the story of their trip: ^27-29 "We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit!

Can’t you imagine the crowd leaning in with excitement rushing through their veins?  I can almost hear the buzz as people turn to each other whispering to those behind them – “did you hear that?  It is a land that flows with milk and honey.”  Others whispering back, “they brought fruit with them. It’s huge and beautiful. I bet it is sweet. ” 

Our passage and the story continues; The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan."

“Oh no,” the whispers go out. “There are giants and armies!”  I believe that Caleb could feel the fear that the contrary voices has fostered in the heart of the crowd.  ³⁰ Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, "Let's go up and take the land—now. We can do it."

But the contrary voices could not be silent.  Where Caleb saw hope they saw obstacles.  Where Caleb called the people to go forward boldly with God, the contrary voices were shaken with fear.  Their fear was contagious. Our passage finishes; ^31-33 But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger than we are." They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."

This morning we come to bless our graduates.  Some this morning mark graduation from high school.  Others celebrate the close of their college careers.  My word to you this morning is that throughout your life you will be surrounded by people that will tell you about the impossibility of your dreams.  They will tell you that the mountains are too tall to cross and that there are giants in the land.  They will give you a hundred reasons why passionately pursuing your dream – your sense of call from God – can lead to failure and tragedy.  Do not listen to them.  In their efforts to help you, they hold you back.  Make sure that the first voice you hear is the voice of God.  Make sure the first steps you take are the ones set for you by God. Go up and take the land – now.  You can do it.

But hear that this is a word for the rest of us as well.  There is more to this story. The contrary voices won the day. The people stood up and rebelled against Moses and God.  Their rebellion was so strong, their distrust of God’s plan so sure, that God pronounces that all of the contrary voices and all who participated in the rebellion would die before they could go into the Promised Land.  While there was some remorse, the people came up with an alternative plan.  They were too close now to hear God speak of 40 years of wandering – they would take the land on their own. Moses pled for them to hear God but they would not, they could not, listen. They mustered the troops and attacked those who lived in the land.  The results were disastrous.

It is tempting for us to take a look at our resources and come up with our own plans for our lives and plans for our church family.  We are tempted to only see resource and capabilities we can hold in our hands and do not consider what God might do in and through us. While we must be open to hearing constructive criticism and committed to be good stewards of the resources God has provided us, we must make sure in our caution we become frozen in place. If our plans are not in accord with God’s plans for us, no matter how carefully deliberated and strategically done, then we will be wasting our time and resources. The only plan that matters is God’s plan for us. 

In a matter of two short weeks I will begin my sabbatical period of research, rest, and reflection. It is a time of listening and preparation for our next season of ministry together.  On Wednesday night LaJuanda Speegle announced that our PrayFirst ministry, in concert with the deacons and our church staff, will be hosting a house prayer meeting called First Connect Live every week while I am away.  Let me encourage you to actively take part in these times set aside for prayer.  It will be a way you can be an active participant in our collective listening for God’s will for us in our next season of ministry.  We must make sure we are attune to God’s voice and ready to move boldly forward when God calls. We need to make sure we are not distracted by our fears or our own calculations, but ready to go. When God directs us we can move forward in partnership with God. The time is coming when we will go up and take the land where God calls us – we can do it.

My Heart Cries Out - Psalm 84 and 88 - May 13, 2012

Earlier in our service we listened as Cathie and Nolen shared much of Psalms 84 and 88 in an antiphonal reading.  The two psalms represent the wide boundaries of the wide gulf of our responses to God.  One on side we lift our voices in songs of celebration.  On the other, we cry out in the hard sharp notes of our broken hallelujahs. Our songs and our cries emerge from the deep silence of our heart and transcend words – or language – or culture.  They are the songs and cries to the Creator from those He created in His image. 

For some the idea of crying out to God out of the whole of who we are is a foreign concept.  We have learned and offer well rehearsed prayers in the hopes of saying the right thing at the right time in the right way.  Our prayers can become stiff and staged because we worry about how those around us might hear of us – or what they may think of us if we move from the accepted religious script.  If we are not careful, the audience of our prayers and our songs becomes the crowd around us rather than the God who hears and responds.

Even when we come to God in authentic spirit prayer we are tempted to use “these” and “thous” and other churchy kinds of words hoping that if we say just the right words that our prayers will be acceptable to God. Sometimes we are scared to offer the real words that we feel because we are afraid that we will offend God or make God angry at us. This is not what God intends for us.  God offers us more, much more, than a sterile religious experience filled with just the right words.  God is big enough and loving enough to hear prayers born in the whole of who we are – using the language that honestly reflect our feelings and life experiences.

While Psalms 84 and 88 may set the boundaries, the balance of the Psalms are filled with images people of crying out to God. This is more than a literary devise.  Instead, the Psalms model for us a prayer life with God where the pretence has been pealed back and where they made themselves vulnerable – laid bare spiritually and emotionally - before God.  Their words depict the songs of celebration like the ones we sing in this great room, but speak equally from the deep and sleepless tears shed in the dark of night alone. 

Listen to their voices and listen for where your voice joins theirs;

·         In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. (Psalm 18:6)

·         Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. (Psalm 28:2)

·         Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. (Psalm 28:6)

·         “Hear my prayer, LORD, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. (Psalm 39:12)

·         My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84:2)

·         I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. (Psalm 119:147)

·         Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy. (Psalm 130:1,2)from The Message

·         I cry out loudly to God, loudly I plead with God for mercy. I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail: "As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I'm feeling, Know the danger I'm in, the traps hidden in my path. Look right, look left—
there's not a soul who cares what happens! I'm up against it, with no exit— bereft, left alone.
I cry out, God, call out: 'You're my last chance, my only hope for life!' Oh listen, please listen;
I've never been this low. (Psalm 142:1-5) from The Message

·         You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry. (Psalm 10:17)

Their voices echo our heart. They cry out from the depths of disappointment and despair and from the heights of celebration and joy.  They cry out because they know that God loves them enough to hear them. Listen closely; they understood that they were not crying out to an institutionalized sterilized homogenized iconic view of God, but rather they offer their laughter and their tears, their hopes and their brokenness to a God who created them and calls them by name.

In the New Testament we laugh as we listen to the disciples call out to Jesus when they find their little boat tossed about in the midst of a storm.  How can they be so foolish as to not trust Jesus to carry them through? After all, he is right there in the boat with them.  We laugh until we find ourselves in one of life’s storms and we call out to Jesus – while he is right there in the boat with us.  On another occasion we watch Peter step out of the boat onto the water with Jesus – only to see him call out to Jesus as his faith wavers and he begins to sink.  It is easy to wonder about Peter, until we find our faith is wavering and our feet sinking into the water’s depths. We call out and just like Peter we discover the hand of God. We find ourselves a bit shocked when we listen to Jesus call out to the Father from the Garden of Gethsemane, wrapped in anguish, praying that the cup that pain that awaited him might be taken from him. But in that moment when we hear him utter, “but not my will but thy will be done” we see a cry that holds at one moment both the bitter reality and the promise of hope in God.

There are moments of grand celebration – high school and college graduations, Mothers’ Day, a child’s first step, the joy of hearing the one you love say “I do.”  In these moments we are invited to the throne of God to sing our songs of joy and to thank God for all that God has done in our lives. These moments, and others like them, are worthy of our songs of praise.  But we are equally invited to the throne of God when our heart is broken; when our brokenness overwhelms us; when lose someone we love; when a son or daughter does something that breaks our hearts; When we do not know where we are going, when the future seems remarkably uncertain…..when we wonder if we can make it one more day. God invites us to cry out in all of these moments.  God invites us to bring the whole of us -both our songs of joy and our words born in anger and pain. You can come to God without fear or trepidation. Find freedom in your relationship with God; come to God uncensored.  There are no words or emotions that are too hard for God. God is big enough, strong enough, loving enough, forgiving enough to handle the whole of who we are and the full expression of the cries of our hearts.  God is ready to hear and speak into the full range of our emotions and religious experience. God will not turn us away.

When Joshua stepped in to succeed Moses as the leader of God’s people he was given a promise that I believe is equally true for you and for me. We hear the promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 and it says; ^{6 “}Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” When our heart cries out to God we can be sure that God loves us and hears us.  When our heart cries out to God we can be certain that whether we are in the bright of day or the dark of night we are not alone.  God is with us. God is ready to hear our cry.  Call out to God in the whole of who you are; in your joy and agony. God awaits us and is ready to embrace us.  Cry out.  God is ready to hear and respond. 

“Hearing God’s Voice” - I Samuel 3:1-10/Acts 9:1-17 - April 29, 2012

I was about twelve years old and I saw it.  It was the latest thing in technology.  It was an AM-FM hand-sized transistor radio. It was graphite colored plastic with a silver speaker cover. I wanted it! But since it was till new technology, it was pricey.  I had to cut 10 to 12 lawns before I could afford to buy it. The day finally came when I could buy it.  I bought a battery, hooked it up, and began turned the dial to try to find my favorite station, WKIX to listen to one of my favorite shows, Casey Kasem’s America’s Top 40. This was in the days before digital tuning so as I turned the dial I heard that annoying scratching sounds of static. Finally, when the dial was neither a little to the left, or a little to the right, but just one the right frequency, Casey’s voice called out the week’s pop music favorites. Joy!

One of the real big spiritual questions we struggle with is how we hear God speak to us – how do we tune into God’s voice? This morning we come hearing two stories separated by centuries tied together by the voice of God.  One story features a young boy listening in the darkness. The other, a man in the prime of his life, is stopped in his tracks. Both of these stories are dramatic moments when a person’s life direction is forever changed when they heard God speak; when they heard God call their name.  

In our first story young Samuel listens in the darkness. His life had been entrusted to the care of the great priest Eli.  He had demonstrated a love for God and faithfulness in his service to Eli and God.  He has settled in for the evening and from his bed he heard a voice calling out to him.  He could only imagine that it was the old priest Eli calling for him, so he ran to his beside to see what his needed.  Eli told him that he had not called for him and to go back to bed.  Samuel once again settled in, once again heard a voice calling his name, and one again went to Eli’s side, only to be sent away again. We hear (I Samuel 3)⁸ A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  God speaks and in a vision tells Samuel that he will become the voice through whom he would speak to his people. It will be Samuel that witnesses Saul installed as king, and later will anoint David to take his place as the leader of God’s people.  What began as a voice in the night pulled Samuel into the history of all Israel.

Our second story is better known to us.  It is when God stopped Paul in his track on the Damascus Road.  Paul had been virulent and violent in his persecution of the early followers of Jesus.  He saw them as heretics, challenging the established Jewish faith and its traditions.  While others saw someone to be feared, God saw one who could be a valued apostle and help care the love of Christ to the ends of the earth. Saul the persecutor neared Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  In the same moment in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. God instructed him to go to Saul, to get him, and to minister to him.  Because of the way God will use Paul in the days ahead our tendency is to focus solely on him in this story.  But I want you to see that God spoke to two men that day. Both had to hear and respond for God’s will to be done.

Across the breadth of Scripture we see story after story of God speaking to those who love him.  We are witnesses of God’s call of Abraham and picture of God wrestling with Jacob in the desert and later directing him to Bethel.  We watch as God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush, call out the grand prophets of old. We also hear some dramatic language to describe the voice of God.  We hear Job tell his friends. (Job 3) “At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. ² Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. ³ He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. ⁴ After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. ⁵ God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. We also hear through the Psalms and beyond that the voice of the Lord shakes the desert, strikes with flashes of lightening, sounds like the rushing water, and makes the earth melts.  It is easy to see why we begin to think that the voice of God must be a deep booming bass voice, a James Earl Jones kind of voice that would make us quiver if it was pointed in our direction. It is easy to understand why so many think that God used to speak to his people, but wonder if God still speaks to people like us today.  The answer is a resounding “yes!” God still speaks. God still calls. If we are ready to listen, God is ready to speak into our lives. 

Jesus tells us in John 10:27 that My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Jesus wants is clear that all of us who are the sheep of is pasture, the people who call him Savior, then we will hear and know his voice. While some might have a Damascus Road experience, we need to understand that God speaks into our lives in many, many different ways.  Sometimes God might speak in the boom bass voice, but God is also One who spoke to Elijah in the sound of silence.

You expect me to say that God speaks through Scripture.  The reason we come with this assumption is because almost all of us can testify to a moment when we needed a word from God and someone shared a scripture with us that spoke into our lives. ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  God word is alive and God is ready to speak through the Bible into our daily walk with him.

You will also expect me to say that God speaks through prayer. This one is equally easy to affirm. LaJuanda can testify that in the short time our PrayFirst ministry has been up and operating that we have seen moments when God answered prayer and spoke through prayer.

You will expect me to say that God speaks through music.  How could you be a part of worship here and not come with this bias. Psalm 40(3) sings out; He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.  God speak to us through music. Have you not experienced a moment when a song seemed to be more than music, but a word from God just for you? Have you not found yourself swept away and drawn into the presence of God when a familiar hymn or a piece of music speaks to you in unexpected ways?  Music speak to us and into in a way that disarms us and opens us for God to speak.

But, it is important to hear that there are also other ways God speaks to us.  Hear that God speak throughcommunity. In the story of the mission commissioning of Barnabas and Paul we see that God spoke into the midst of community.  God still does. I was called to serve a church as a Minister of Youth at a church just as Beth and I began our life together as man and wife.  I loved the youth and the parents that I had the opportunity to serve beside.  But, the pastor there was apparently in a mid-life struggle and made my life living misery. Another church approached me about joining their staff.  While I needed to get away from that pastor, I hated the thought of living the kids and their parents.  I was emotionally and spiritually battered and bruised and was having a hard time discerning God’s will.  I reached out and listened to Beth, the pastor of the new church, and the search committee I was working with to hear their sense of what God was saying.  God spoke to me through them and this moment proved pivotal in my ministry development.

God also speaks through those around us. Melody Pryor, pastor of First Baptist Church of Stanton, Mo., said she first had a notion of being a pastor while in the second grade but “blew it off” as something a girl couldn’t do. It resurfaced after she lost her son to cancer in 1997 and was taking classes at Oklahoma Baptist University. A professor told her he saw “a pastor in you” and introduced her to Baptist Women in Ministry, a national support organization. Knowing that Southern Baptists as a denomination do not accept women as pastors, "I thought I would have to change denominations," the retired U.S. Air Force chief master sergeant said. "But I'm loyal to Baptists, and I was torn between whether to do it. Ultimately she was asked to step into the pulpit at First Baptist when her father was forced to step out of it because of illness.  She has to overcome her own fears of her father’s potential response and the reality that her being named pastor might create issues among some in the congregation and in the wider Baptist community.  God had called her and now provided her the right place for her to serve. [i]  God had called Melody in her childhood but used the voice of an OBU professor to challenge her to listen and follow in the now of her life.

While these stories are tied to people and their call to congregational ministry, the same principals apply whether you are a teacher, salesman, lawyer, construction worker, doctor, mechanic, or anything else.  In Job 13 we hear God say, Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears.  In teaching the parables, Jesus told us; let those who have ears, listen up.  The question is not whether God is ready to speak or whether we have ears set to hear what God has to say. We have to make a choice to open our ears, our hearts, and our souls to God’s fresh word for us. Let those who have ears, listen up. Let my words ring in your ears.  Tune in, listen in the darkness, stop dead in your tracks on the road, look for a burning bush, stand in the mouth of a cave, open your heart in prayer, listen to a song, open the Bible, listen to those that walk beside you in faith. Listen up. God is ready to speak.

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. ² Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. (Deuteronomy 32:1-2)

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[i] Vicki Brown, “Woman follows father into pulpit” available online at http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/7343/53/ on March 27, 2012

Seeing God's Face - Genesis 33:1-11 - April 22, 2012

Last week we talked about living lives of faith that make mountains quake and nations tremble. This week we turn to one of my favorite stories with an equally challenge message for us.  Earlier in our service you heard our narrative read in four languages.  That moment was a powerful for me because it reminded us that the Bible speaks across language and culture and this passage calls us to live in a way where we can see the face of God in the faces of one another. 

You remember that the story is of the grand reunion between Jacob and Esau.  In the verses that run up to this morning’s narrative we hear that Jacob is nervous about this encounter.  Jacob cannot forget that he manipulated his brother into selling his birthright for a bowl of soup.  Jacob cannot forget that he, with his mother’s help, staged a show for his father Isaac, making Isaac believe that Jacob was Esau so that he could steal his father’s blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau.  Jacob could not forget that he had spent his life as his mother’s favorite but had left her in Esau’s care.  Can you imagine how cold the dinners must have been that Esau shared with his mother, knowing she loved him less, knowing she had helped Jacob steal all that was precious to him?  Jacob came to this reunion with us brother knowing what he deserved.  Jacob came to this reunion with his brother expecteing vengeance and rage, pain and maybe even death.  Jacob had been a horrible brother and a scoundrel and came ready to pay the price.                 

When Jacob sees Esau and his men on the horizon he tried to send gifts ahead of him, hoping – maybe even praying – that this rich gesture might placate his brother’s rage. Esau draws closer and closer and you and almost fell Jacob quaking in his boot.  I have to tell you that I am ready for Esau to act.  It is time for justice.  It is time that big brutish brother to rain down pain and vengeance on his manipulative younger brother.  When you first come to the story you are waiting for Esau to pulverize this little punk – to give him all that he has coming to him. But, this is not where the story goes.  Just in the minute we think we will see justice we encounter forgiveness; just in the moment we think we will see hatred we encounter love; just when we think Esau will destroy his brother we encounter redemption and restoration. We hear Jacob’s voice. He has feared seeing Esau’s face but now proclaims; For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. (Vs. 10) I just keep thinking about those words that we were created in God’s image. Jacob testifies that this is true. In Esau’s response he sees the face of God.

I want that.  I want for people to be able to see God’s face in mine.  I want my life and way of life to be a living witness of the heart of God.  I want the same for you. I believe that this story demonstrates four characteristic we must embrace if we long to a reflection the face of God. 

The first characteristic I see is that we must learn to Forgive Outrageously.  It is easy to be held captive by a living past – things that have happened to us that frustrate us and cause us to carry the boundless weight of bitterness.  Esau had every reason to be consumed by what Jacob had done to him in his youth.  The entire course of his life had been altered by Jacob’s deceptions and manipulations.  If anyone had a right to get even it was Esau. But he forgave outrageously!  This is at the heart of God.  We hear Jesus teach the idea of forgiving outrageously in a conversation with Peter.  (Matthew 18: 21)  We hear; Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. We hear Jesus teach on another occasion; (Luke 7:40) “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. ⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred (days’ wages), and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. In Colossians, Chapter 3, verse 13 we listen as Paul teaches; Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  There is no better or stronger picture of outrageous forgiveness then the picture of Jesus on the cross on our behalf. 

Many in our culture will condemn the Church for being “judgmental.” The Church had done its share to earn that title, but the reality is that the world around us makes little room for forgiveness or mercy.  Ours is a law and order, justice and punishment driven culture. Hear me clearly, there is a place for law and order, justice and punishment, but we must see that God calls us to be people that reflect His mercy and His grace. We do not have to carry the pain that others inflict upon us.  We can give it away to God.  When we choose to forgive others outrageously, we show them a different way – God’s way. When we forgive outrageously we are able to let go of what has been holding us back and dragging us down and release it into God’s hands.  When we forgive outrageously we reflect the face of God.

Esau had every right to be wrapped up in hate. I cannot find a single time that when the Bible reports Jacob doing anything for Esau, but instead offers a litany of horrible things Jacob did to him. It is easy to begin to build a catalog of events when we believe someone has treated us unjustly.  Many times the list emerges from authentic moments of pain and angst. Other things noted on our internal list reflect moments of miscommunication or misdirected emotion. Sometimes we hold on to our list so firmly that we allow little room for love to break into our hearts.  There is an incredible moment in our story that makes me stop where I am to watch and listen.  Esau races past the gifts that Jacob had presented before him and just when hatred should unleash its full force, we read in verse 4; But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Did you hear that – just when we expect to see swords clashing, we see instead Esau choosing to Love with Abandon. It is unexpected and unmerited love. Esau did not wait for Jacob to act or even apologize. He did not let pride get in the way.  He took the initiative. This is exactly what we see in how God pursues us with His love.  Paul teaches in Romans 5, ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God did not wait for us – but even when we were still on the wrong side of faith died for us – and rose again – that we might be called “the children of God.” Too many around us live lives bereft the feeling that anyone really loves them.  They long to experience love with abandon.  When we love abundantly, we reflect the face of God.

Our story rushes forward and we hear Esau say ‘Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you.’  This looks like such a small statement, but it displays an incredible act to Radically Restore Jacob to his place as his brother. Esau’s culture would have allowed – in fact would have anticipated – Esau going ahead of his younger brother to display his power and his position.  The offer to ride at Jacob’s side is scandalous in its graciousness. If we seek to have a heart that Radically Restores people to their right place in our lives, and a heart that leads people to be restored to a right relationship with God then we must be clear that it cannot be done from over and above. It cannot be done from in front of them to secure our own spot. Instead it calls us to their side, breaking open the shackles that separate us.  This is a critical characteristic for us to embrace both on a personal level and a congregational one.  Too many people – too many of us – live with broken relationships.  This is an invitation for us to reach out boldly with a heart shaped by God rather than our past failures.  Hear me clearly, I am not advocating an effort to restore an abusive, or manipulative, or destructive relationship. There are some in our lives we must learn to forgive at a distance.  But, it is an invitation to make sure that our hearts and our intentions are defined by a restorative spirit.  We must reach out where we can with integrity and hope.  We see God’s restorative heart again in Romans 5 when Paul teaches. (10) For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! God is in the reconciliation business, and if we want to be a reflection of God’s face it should be our business as well.     

It is also important that we model a way of reconciliation for our community.  There is a covert racism that is alive and well in our community.  It sees people by the color of their skin and by the language they speak.  Our choice to worship together and to be family together across the boundaries is a living witness to our community that God’s way is a different way.  It pronounces we believe that all of us are created in God’s image and were redeemed to be family with and for one another. 

As the story ends Esau does one more thing that moves and inspires me.  He offers to go with Jacob, or to at least send some of those with him along with Jacob for protection. Esau chooses to Serve Beyond All Expectations.  This fourth and final characteristic is echoes in the words of Jesus; (Matthew 5:39ff) But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. We also see it on display as God loves us and cares for us beyond anything we could ask or imagine.  When we choose to serve others beyond the bounds that anyone would expect from us they are left to wonder why. Our answer is clear.  God have loved us and served us beyond our wildest hope or our greatest dream.  If we serve other beyond all expectation then we reflect the face of God.

When we forgive outrageously, love with abandon, restore radically, and serve others beyond all expectation we have the opportunity to reflect the face of God to all we encounter. We long to see God at work.  Our world longs to see God at work. What we learn is that if we are faithful to the way of God we see God at work across language and culture in the face of one other.  If we are faithful to the way of God we become witnesses of God’s heart and a reflection of God’s face to our community and the world.