In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana (played by Harrison Ford) must make a leap of faith in order to get the Holy Grail and save his dying father. The linked scene portrays very literally what is meant by the phrase "leap of faith", but more often than not, a somehwat metaphorical interpretation is intended. Typically when someone utters the words "leap of faith" what is meant has more to do with taking a risk and trusting in someone or something.
This is exactly the case in the story of Ruth, so wonderfully acted out by our youth this past Sunday. In the story, Ruth (a moabite - mortal enemies of the Israelites) elects to follow her mother-in-law Naomi back to the land of Israel. Ruth was willing to leave her friends, her family, her country and everything familiar to her. She was willing to take a leap of faith. The conclusion of the story of Ruth finds that she gains much more than she gave up, including a husband, a son, a new family, and a type of immortality (thousands of years later, people are reading about the story of Ruth) precisely because she took that leap of faith!
Each of us have stories from our past where we took leaps of faith, in fact life is a series of leaps of faith. The beginning of my faith journey is one such story.
Convinced that the church (or christianity) was all about "No's" (mainly no fun) I had decided to try and acheive my ultimate goals of popularity and acceptance by projecting an unreal image of who I was, or more correctly who I thought people wanted me to be. I thought that I could do it all on my own, and that somehow I could fool everyone into thinking that I was better than I really was.
Somewhere along the way I was introduced to honest and sincere Christians through my local church. They convinced me to become a part of their faith community and quickly I realized that these people didn't want me to be perfect, nor did they like me because I was such a great person, but rather they accepted me because of who I was. Through them I realized that Christianity isn't about the "No's" but rather about the "Yes's". I came to learn that in fact the "No's" were only there for my benefit and my protection, because God and others cared about me.
What started out as a personal leap of faith, a very real risk, turned out to be the beginning of wonderful and lasting friendships, acceptance within a community of people committed to something larger than themselves, and the realization that although not perfect, my imperfections could be forgiven and accepted!
Whatever leaps of faith you have before you. Whatever risks you are contemplating. I would encourage you to realize that God is always trustworthy, and that the love and support of a faith community (like our congregation) can be a wonderful blessing. If you are part of such a community, encourage others to join you, if you are not a part of such a community, what are you waiting for? Take that leap of faith and soon you'll find (as Ruth and I did) that what you gain far outweighs what you might be risking!
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sermon Sampler (November 8th) - Unexpected Blessings?
In a world too often filled with hurt and hardship, it's sometimes easy to forget the truth that God loves us and longs to bless our lives. In fact, it's far too easy to overlook the ways that our lives are blessed and instead focus on the ways that life is unfair. And yet, God still does reach out to men and women each and every day to offer them big and small blessings, and more often than not, God uses other men and women to be the messangers of those blessings!
Our scripture lesson this week (1 Samuel 1:4-20) is all about an unexpected blessing. The story begins with a woman (Hannah) who was unable to have children. Year after year, she would go with her husband to the temple and pray that God would give her a son, and year after year she would be disappointed. This particular year, she was praying at the temple, when the high priest (Eli) thought she was drunk and told her to be on her way. Hannah explained her predicament to the priest and he quickly proclaimed that God would grant her petition. Whether he really believed her story, or he just wanted her to leave the temple wasn't important to her, for he had declared that God would grant her request. Hannah was blessed that day, in an unexpected way, and she went home and soon conceived a son!
Such stories are by no means contained only to the Bible. I can remember a time not too long ago where my family was struggling to get by financially. We had just had our first child, winter was rapidly approaching, and we couldn't afford to heat our small apartment. We were already basically living in one bedroom, when our car began making an odd noise. Taking our car to the shop we found out that some costly repairs were needed and that the price would essentially take all of our savings. It was in the midst of this difficult situation that my wife and I were unexpectedly blessed. We received a check in the mail with a simple note attached proclaiming that we were already blessed people, but that a little money never hurts! We never did find out who sent us that blessing, but know that it was God who ultimately sent it our way.
In case you think that this message is all about getting blessings, and God being some sort of Giant Santa Claus in the sky, the story from 1 Samuel includes two main characters, Hannah who was blessed, and Eli who delivered the blessing. As I said above, God not only wants to bless you, but God wants you to be a blessing to others as well!
Recently I was meeting with a colleague who had been meeting with several clergy that day and inquiring about their lives and ministries. Toward the end of our meeting she asked me if I had any questions for her. I simply asked how her family was. At this the woman stopped, smiled, and proclaimed that no one had asked her that. She proceeded to tell me that she had recently found out that she was going to be a grandmother for the first time! She couldn't be more excited to tell someone her big news and was truly blessed by my simple question! Truly you can say that as far as I was concerned it was an unintentional blessing...a wonderful consequence of a willingness to show concern for another person.
Both unexpected blessings, and unintentional blessings simply require us (as recipients and messangers) to be open to God. We merely need to keep our eyes open for the big and small blessings given to us each and every day, as well as the big and small opportunities to bless others. There are few joys in this world greater than receiving and unexpected blessing, and I am convinced that one of those few is to be the bearer of an unintentional blessing for another! My prayer for you today is that you look for and find the many blessings God has in store for you, and that you're able to experience the greater joy of delivering a divine blessing to another.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Our scripture lesson this week (1 Samuel 1:4-20) is all about an unexpected blessing. The story begins with a woman (Hannah) who was unable to have children. Year after year, she would go with her husband to the temple and pray that God would give her a son, and year after year she would be disappointed. This particular year, she was praying at the temple, when the high priest (Eli) thought she was drunk and told her to be on her way. Hannah explained her predicament to the priest and he quickly proclaimed that God would grant her petition. Whether he really believed her story, or he just wanted her to leave the temple wasn't important to her, for he had declared that God would grant her request. Hannah was blessed that day, in an unexpected way, and she went home and soon conceived a son!
Such stories are by no means contained only to the Bible. I can remember a time not too long ago where my family was struggling to get by financially. We had just had our first child, winter was rapidly approaching, and we couldn't afford to heat our small apartment. We were already basically living in one bedroom, when our car began making an odd noise. Taking our car to the shop we found out that some costly repairs were needed and that the price would essentially take all of our savings. It was in the midst of this difficult situation that my wife and I were unexpectedly blessed. We received a check in the mail with a simple note attached proclaiming that we were already blessed people, but that a little money never hurts! We never did find out who sent us that blessing, but know that it was God who ultimately sent it our way.
In case you think that this message is all about getting blessings, and God being some sort of Giant Santa Claus in the sky, the story from 1 Samuel includes two main characters, Hannah who was blessed, and Eli who delivered the blessing. As I said above, God not only wants to bless you, but God wants you to be a blessing to others as well!
Recently I was meeting with a colleague who had been meeting with several clergy that day and inquiring about their lives and ministries. Toward the end of our meeting she asked me if I had any questions for her. I simply asked how her family was. At this the woman stopped, smiled, and proclaimed that no one had asked her that. She proceeded to tell me that she had recently found out that she was going to be a grandmother for the first time! She couldn't be more excited to tell someone her big news and was truly blessed by my simple question! Truly you can say that as far as I was concerned it was an unintentional blessing...a wonderful consequence of a willingness to show concern for another person.
Both unexpected blessings, and unintentional blessings simply require us (as recipients and messangers) to be open to God. We merely need to keep our eyes open for the big and small blessings given to us each and every day, as well as the big and small opportunities to bless others. There are few joys in this world greater than receiving and unexpected blessing, and I am convinced that one of those few is to be the bearer of an unintentional blessing for another! My prayer for you today is that you look for and find the many blessings God has in store for you, and that you're able to experience the greater joy of delivering a divine blessing to another.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Monday, November 2, 2009
Weekly Thoughts
This week we didn't have a sermon but instead listened to two pieces of music and contemplated All Saints Day (the day we remember all those Christians who've gone before us), our own mortality (the reality that all of us will one day die), and specifically loved ones that we've lost. The first piece was from the last movement of Mozart's Requiem Mass, the Lux Aeterna and the second piece was a piece called Deo Gratia (Thank God).
I received many comments from people expressing both pleasure and a sense of uncertainty surrounding my choice to replace our traditional message with one coming almost exclusively through song. So I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on less traditional forms/modes of worship and specifically the use of song to convey a message within the context of worship.
Most people take for granted the presence of hymns or other songs within the worship service, but rarely do we give much time to thinking about how those hymns/songs affect us and inform our faith. Likewise we often do not think of songs and hymns as delivering very real messages to those in worship. Unlike traditional sermons which mainly utilize only the spoken word and it's ability (limited as it is) to appeal to a listener's reason, songs are much more likely to include the listener's emotions in the equation. Songs are also much more open to interpretation than a traditional sermon is. These were the key factors in my decision this past Sunday.
All Saints Day is a day when we are dealing with weighty topics. For some of us it represents the profound and wonderful mystery that is the Church/Body of Christ/Kingdom of God that spreads across time and generations uniting all who have gone before with all those who are now living (and also all those who have yet to be born!). For other's All Saints Day is a much more personal day where we are reminded of one or two specific people in our lives who are no longer living. For some All Saints Day is just another Sunday. For other's All Saints Day is too painful to endure, and therefore avoided. The reality is that there is great variety in the feelings and understandings of those in worship on a Sunday like All Saints Day. For that reason I felt the best message would be one where I set the tone (through the songs I selected) but allowed each individual to compose the message.
Let me know what you thought/think about this and other ways to understand worship in less than traditional forms.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
I received many comments from people expressing both pleasure and a sense of uncertainty surrounding my choice to replace our traditional message with one coming almost exclusively through song. So I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on less traditional forms/modes of worship and specifically the use of song to convey a message within the context of worship.
Most people take for granted the presence of hymns or other songs within the worship service, but rarely do we give much time to thinking about how those hymns/songs affect us and inform our faith. Likewise we often do not think of songs and hymns as delivering very real messages to those in worship. Unlike traditional sermons which mainly utilize only the spoken word and it's ability (limited as it is) to appeal to a listener's reason, songs are much more likely to include the listener's emotions in the equation. Songs are also much more open to interpretation than a traditional sermon is. These were the key factors in my decision this past Sunday.
All Saints Day is a day when we are dealing with weighty topics. For some of us it represents the profound and wonderful mystery that is the Church/Body of Christ/Kingdom of God that spreads across time and generations uniting all who have gone before with all those who are now living (and also all those who have yet to be born!). For other's All Saints Day is a much more personal day where we are reminded of one or two specific people in our lives who are no longer living. For some All Saints Day is just another Sunday. For other's All Saints Day is too painful to endure, and therefore avoided. The reality is that there is great variety in the feelings and understandings of those in worship on a Sunday like All Saints Day. For that reason I felt the best message would be one where I set the tone (through the songs I selected) but allowed each individual to compose the message.
Let me know what you thought/think about this and other ways to understand worship in less than traditional forms.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
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