“STRANGE NEW WORLD”

July 29, 2012

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Psalm 119: 97-112  (emphasis 105)

2 Timothy 3: 14-17  (emphasis vs. 16)

John 20: 30 & 31

Psalm 119: 97-112 (emphasis 105)

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
¹⁰² I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
¹⁰⁶ I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to observe your righteous ordinances.
¹⁰⁷ I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
¹⁰⁸ Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
and teach me your ordinances.
¹⁰⁹ I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
¹¹⁰ The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.
¹¹¹ Your decrees are my heritage for ever;
they are the joy of my heart.
¹¹² I incline my heart to perform your statutes
for ever, to the end.

2 Timothy 3: 14-17  (emphasis vs. 16)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All scripture is inspired by God and is^* useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

John 20: 30 & 31

John is talking about the purpose of his book, his gospel, the gospel of John:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But with what is written may you come to believe^* that Jesus is the Messiah,^* the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

I.  The Strange New World Within the Bible

Today’s sermon is about this collection of 66 books, bound together in one best-selling book called simply:  The Bible.  What is there within this “strange world” of the Bible, the centerpiece in our worship, that has meant so much to so many people for thousands of years?      

It was back in college when I first encountered a wonderful essay by Karl Barth, the great German theologian, titled:  The Strange New World within the Bible. 

As I read a small portion of this essay, please listen carefully.  Let these words of Karl Barth resonate in your hearing them as they did for me almost forty years ago:

“We are to attempt an answer to the question, ‘What is there within the Bible?  What sort of house is it to which the bible is the door?  What sort of country is spread before our eyes when we throw the Bible open?’

We are with Abraham in Haran.  We hear a call which commands:  ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, unto a land that I will show thee.’  We hear a promise, ‘I will make of thee a great nation.  And Abraham believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.’  What is the meaning of all this?  We feel that there is something behind these words and experiences, but what?

We are with Moses in the Wilderness.  For forty years, he has been living among the sheep, doing penance for an over-hasty act.  What change has come over him?  We are not told;  it is apparently not our concern.  But suddenly there also comes to him a call:  ‘Moses!  Moses! … I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt,”  and a simple assurance, ‘Certainly I will be with thee.”  Here again are words and experiences which seem at first to be nothing but riddles.  We do not read anything like this either in the daily papers or in books.  What is it that lies behind? …

We read all this, but what do we read behind it?  We are aware of something like the tremors of an earthquake or like the ceaseless thundering of ocean waves against thin dikes;  but what really is it that beats at the barrier and seeks entrance here?….

What is there within the Bible?  What is the significance of the remarkable line from Abraham to Christ?  What of the chorus of prophets and apostles, and what is the burden of their song?  What is the one truth that these voices evidently all desire to announce, each in its own tone, each it its own way?  What lies between the strange statement, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,’ and the equally strange cry of longing, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus’?  What is behind all this?”[1]

II.   Psalmist and Second Timothy

I have always loved the wonderful way Karl Barth framed the question:  What is this strange new world before us?  What is there for us within the Bible?

Next to these questions I place the words of the Psalmist who declares, from the Bible:  “God’s words are sweeter than honey to the mouth, the word that is a lamp to our feet and the light to our path.”

There are times when reading the Bible I wish we could touch and taste (like sweet honey) and smell and see or hear all that was going on in this land of the Bible…..so we could use what we can touch and taste and hear and smell and see in living our lives.

In preparing this sermon I prayed for a couple of things …. I prayed for God’s Word to be the light on our path that shines in helping us grow and be nurtured in faith in our lord.  I also prayed that our entering this Strange New World of the Bible become for us an opportunity capture and carry some of the glory of God outside this holy book in living our lives.

There are two short points I would like to make from Second Timothy that speak to the Strange New World of the Bible:

1.  First, words of scripture while providing powerful stories of inspiration and wisdom are also instructive in helping us live our lives.  Think of the number of times you hear some of the stories of the Bible….sometimes/many times over the years.  Instructive concepts from scripture that repeat themselves.   

Example, the theme of God’s love and compassion run consistently through the Old and New Testaments….people are always longing or searching for something beyond themselves, something positive, something refreshing and something good.  While there is evil in the world, the aspirations of those we find in the Bible are people struggling with evil searching to find God’s peace. And these are all themes that grow with us as we grow in faith. 

God’s Word grows and changes with us as we mature and grow through the years, always finding within this strange land of the Bible God’s teaching us new things…..like God’s love and peace, that can be integrated into our lives throughout our lives.

Consider this thesis:  As we grow, the awareness of God’s presence in our lives also grows.  Even though you may have been active in the life of the church for dozens of years….even decades …. God is always fine-turning this relationship …. helping us become all that God would have us become in living our lives …. within the context of the core value found in all Scripture – God’s love! 

2.       The second point in looking at Second Timothy:  This holy book becomes for us God’s ‘inspired Word’ – a phrase we use often in our church.   What does this mean?  “God’s Inspired Word?”  Simply, what we have in our Bibles is not perfect.   Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying God is not perfect.  It is God’s inspired word that comes to us through the experiences of women and men who lived thousands of years – BIBLE PEOPLE – who give us a glimpse into the world, strange as it may be, of God’s perfection.

A good example of this:  What we read in the Bible and interpret from person to person is going to vary—depending on who is reading and doing the interpretations.  We who read the Bible are not perfect.  How we interpret what we read is not always going to be the same.

A basic, foundational Presbyterian principle:  The Bible is God’s Inspired Word.  From the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church, scriptures, quote:   “given under guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words (small w) of men, conditioned by … the places and times at which they were written.”  (C67-9.29)  These words (small w) of scripture help us through the Holy Spirit help us truly hear God’s Inspired Word (capital W).

Okay!  Am I getting too complicated?   What does all of this mean?  Simply, how do we define this book – the Bible?  From materials we use in teaching confirmation students about the Bible – in case you don’t remember some of these facts from when you first learned about the Bible: 

“The Bible is divided into two major sections, the Old Testament which is made up of 39 separate books covering the period of time from Creation to the period just before the birth of Jesus. The New Testament which is made up of 27 books covers the period from the birth of Jesus on including the accounts of his crucifixion and resurrection and the establishment of the early church.  Together there are sixty-six books in the bible.” …

“The oldest parts of the Bible are over 3,000 years old and its newest parts are 1,800 years old, the Bible is the only place we find Jesus Christ.  (The Bible) is the only sourcebook of his life, his words, and his teachings.”[2] 

The writers from Genesis through Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew through Revelation in the New Testament were written by hands of those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit …. Separate books that were in fact written at different times, over many years by different authors, various settings, different environments and backgrounds, different races of people – and host of cultural settings.  And it was men in the early church counsels around 300 ad who decided which of these books truly represent God’s inspired words….creating what we have now known as the Bible.  

To get back to what Karl Barth says in referencing our “EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S WORD” … quote:  “The Bible is full of history, religious history, literary history, cultural history, world history, and human history of every sort.  A picture full of animation and color is unrolled before all who approach the bible with open eyes.”

What we truly need, when we open the Bible are OPEN EYES and OPEN MINDS and OPEN HEARTS to truly listen and hear all that God has to say to us – not just historically but experientially, from where we are in living our lives – from where we are sitting today in worship.

All of this comes down to one more crucial question:  Will we, in faith, open our hearts to hear God’s Word?  God speaking to us today?  Giving us something we can take with us from this worship into the world around us?  

III. The Gospel of John

As Christians we read the Bible – the only place we can go to learn about this man Jesus – as I said earlier, the only “sourcebook of his life, his words, and his teachings.”[3] 

The gospel of John affirms in Verse 31:  “³¹But with what is written may you come to believe^* that Jesus is the Messiah,^* the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

This is for me what the Bible is all about!  Our coming to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  We can learn about his life.  We can hear about his teachings and preaching and healings.  We also travel with Jesus, scripturally, through many experiences including his death on the cross.  We learn about his resurrection and the hope we place in this man who promises to not only be with us – always with us – but with us eternally to the end of all time – always in the almighty arms of God.

These are pretty exciting things we learn in opening the Bible in searching for God.    

IV  Suggestion

So this suggestion:  Do you think you may want to renew your commitment to open this book more often in nurturing a closer relationship with God?   Is this something you may want to do?

I hope so!  From this book we can learn so many things about God in nurturing a closer relationship with the Messiah – our Lord, whom we believe to be the living Christ in our midst.  I am always saying Christ is walking with us – in and between us in living our lives.  Opening this sacred book can help this “belief” become “reality” in our living our lives. 

Let us always remember we are a Christ-Centered church and this Bible is our operations manual.

It is my prayer that the Bible no longer be a “Strange World” but a world of familiar stories and lessons that can help us grow in faith.  

It is also my prayer that we not be strangers to what is in the Bible….always plenty for us to learn in opening up God’s Holy Word. 

Lastly, it is my prayer that God’s Word enter our lives so the story of God, through each of us, will continue to reach the world around us.

May God continue to bless us as we read and integrate God’s holy and sacred words into our lives. 

AMEN

---

[1]  The Word of God and the Word of Man, Karl Barth, Harper and Row, 1928, pgs 28ff

[2]   Journey to Discipleship, Harvey G. Throop, pg 15 and pg 95 and 96

[3]   Journey to Discipleship, Harvey G. Throop, pg 95 and 96

IN THIS VERY ROOM”

July 22, 2012

Sacrament of Holy Communion

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Psalm 68:  32-35

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; 

sing praises to the Lord, ³³ O rider in the heavens,

the ancient heavens; listen, he sends out his voice,

his mighty voice.  ³⁴ Ascribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel;  and whose power

is in the skies.  ³⁵ Awesome is God in his^* sanctuary,
the God of Israel;  he gives power and strength

to his people.   Blessed be God!

Matthew 16: 13-20

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ ¹⁴And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ¹⁵He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah,^* the Son of the living God.’ ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter,^* and on this rock^* I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was^* the Messiah.^*

 [To begin with the singing of a short song, In this Very Room, words and music by Ro and Carol Harris]  Ed Cunningham once sang this in worship and I decided, at that time, we would use this song again.]

I.                   THIS MORNING:  A MEDITATION ON WHAT I EXPERIENCE FROM WHERE I SIT IN THIS SACRED PLACE, “IN THIS VERY ROOM”

It is always a pleasure for me to be here in this pulpit to worship with you.  It slipped by quietly for me this year, another anniversary – as of July 1^st, I have now entered my 28^th year as your pastor. 

For all these years, I have had the best seat in the house!  From where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I can gaze upon all of these beautiful stained glass windows.  I wish I knew more about the history of these windows….when they were made, who designed them, who as members of this church made the decisions to capture certain themes that became the timeless art that has infused us for over a century with a sense of the presence of the God. 

From where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I can gaze out the beautiful windows in the back…..always reminding me that what happens “In This Very Room” always – ALWAYS – takes us outside this sanctuary into the world beyond this church.

Each week, from where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I see the greeters come and go from the two side entrances welcoming you to worship God.  I also see a dedicated group of ushers working to seat you and hand you bulletins.  They do an attendance count and make sure the plates are ready for the Sunday collection.  Fans and thermostats are checked.  Katlyn and now Asher are prepared to carry the symbolic “Light of Christ” to the chancel as we begin our worship focusing on one and only one thing:  GOD.    

From where I sit, “In this very room”, I experience with you the love and joy and hope and power of God always found in this place.  I recognize you as baptized members in Christ….some of you whom I have had the personal honor to baptize and confirmed or marry.   Sadly, “In this Sacred Place”, I see those of you whose loved ones have gone to their eternal home.  There is a whole spectrum of history, joys and sorrows, “In this Very Room”.

“In this Very Room”, week after week and year after year – from decade to decade -- something exhilarating takes place with the blending of our lives and stories that come together as gifts from God – as we do one and only one thing, in the name of Jesus Christ – in worshipping Almighty God.   

II.  Sanctuary

The psalmist is right on target in saying, with some editing:  “Awesome is God in His^* sanctuary, the God of Israel  who gives power and strength and blessing to his people!” 

The term “Sanctuary” is an interesting word.  I suppose any place we go for some quiet time or solitude to meditate or contemplate our place in this world could be called a sanctuary. 

Outside the context of worship, there are wild bird & game sanctuaries – like the Price Nature Center or the Shiawassee Nature Center or the Green Point Nature Center….where birds and other animals / creatures of God find refuge – and strength in an environment where they can prosper and flourish without human intervention.   

There is another use of the term ‘sanctuary’ – not quite as comfortable as we are used to --  “Sanctuary” as we hear stories of illegal immigrants who try to secure safety from deportation – sometimes in church sanctuaries.  There was a Mexican immigrant woman and 7 year old son who recently took refuge in a Chicago church rather than face deportation.  The Chicago police declared, “we will apprehend her at a time and place of our choosing”[1] – and they did.  She was turned over the INS and along with her son, they were deported.      

I did some research on this because I was curious:  “Religious institutions in America don’t have special permission to harbor criminals or protect them from the government.”  This of course, hasn’t stopped pastors and churches from trying.  It is simply not true that churches are immune from prosecution in harboring criminals.  I can honestly say I have never had to personally experience this type of situation.   I am protected, however, with any kind of verbal confession I may hear in confidence.  I cannot be compelled to share what I have heard as a confession…..unless the confession relates to someone doing someone else personal or bodily harm.

In the context of sin and brokenness in our world:  Women and men – entire families have gone to churches and temples and mosques to flee from or find sanctuary from their sins!  The idea here is that some sinners believe they are safe with Christ.  Faith in Christ gives sinners – people who are broken or run-down – refuge and sanctuary.  This doesn’t mean a person who has found Christ doesn’t still have to live subject to civil laws and consequences for what has been done.   But even the person serving a life sentence in a SuperMax prison can find sanctuary in Christ. 

Spiritually, there are a lot of reasons we might search for a sanctuary.  We may be hiding from our own personal shortcomings or sins.  We may be avoiding or even denying the fear we have for failures in our lives, in our relationship with other family members – or trying to hide from failures of our past – discovering perhaps that  church is not a place to hide but rather BE FOUND BY GOD so together we can work through issues in our lives. 

In our lives, “In this very room”,  we often sing an Introit titled ” Sanctuary”   reminding us our lives exist in the context of this place, this sanctuary – not just a room but a place where God is involved in helping us lives our lives;  where God is engaged in helping us grow;  where God will HOLD and LOVE us – always – every time we enter this sacred place.

CHURCH IS NOT A PLACE TO HIDE….BUT TO BE FOUND AND NURTURED IN THE LOVE OF GOD! 

III.  Communion

One more place I would like to go with this message this morning:  “In this very room”, we have a table set before us.  It is from this table we receive an invitation from Jesus to dine together with him.  This table is set so we can enjoy, together, this sacramental meal in feeding our minds and souls learning what it means to be the living Christ doing Christ’s work in the world – work that God calls us to be doing beyond what we can see from the windows, beyond what we can do within the walls of this sacred place.

We bring to this table our lives in preparing to receive the bread and the cup. 

We approach this sacrament personally with all that is in our own personal relationship with God. 

As we sit and contemplate holding the bread and the cup, we can think of many different things.  We can think about ways God has blessed us.  We may be swimming in thoughts about our struggles….our shortcomings …..the struggles of members of our families.  We may be praying for a closer relationship with God.  We may be simply enjoying the moment – the time God has given us to be together with friends.  We all have our stories in what brings us into this sacred place.

This time in preparing to receive the elements of the bread and the cup is between you and God….and you can bring anything you want to the conversation you have with God.

Something else important happens when we receive communion.  We partake of the bread – together.  We drink from the little cups – together.  This is to remind us we are not alone.  God is with all of us.  Together we are the living Body of Christ.  There is nothing in life we have to go through alone.  We have each other.  We have God.  We are all that God gives us as Christ in the world today.

We say this often.  We are the body of Christ!  The bread of life and cup of salvation feed us spiritually.  We become the hands and feed and arms and legs of Christ…..we become, together, the mind of Christ discerning God’s will for us and this church in this time and this place.  We are the body of Christ. 

IV.  Conclusion

From where I sit, “In this Very Room” --  we gather and pray and sing and hear God’s Word from scripture and sermon.  We are reminded of the many ways we are blessed.  We break bread and drink from the cup that binds us tightly to Christ and to each other.  “In this Very Room”, we find sanctuary with God…..so we can become a people set apart through Christ to live our lives doing God’s work in the world.

May God bless all of us who enter this place – and partake of this sacrament – opening our lives and hearts experience all that God offers – In this Very room.    AMEN

[1]   www.slate.com, On the Tradition of Religious Sanctuary, 08/16/06, by Daniel Engber, example took place in Chicago, 2006, reported online story.

“Simple Gifts”

First of several stewardship sermons 2012

July 15, 2012

©Thomas B. Cundiff

 Psalm 46

Mark 4:  26-34

Psalm 46

          God is our refuge and strength,

          a very present help in trouble.

2       Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,

          though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

3       though its waters roar and foam,

          though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

4       There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

          the holy habitation of the Most High.

5       God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;

          God will help it when the morning dawns.

6       The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;

          he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7       The LORD of hosts is with us;

          the God of Jacob is our refuge.

8       Come, behold the works of the LORD;

          see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

9       He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

          he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;

          he burns the shields with fire.

10     “Be still, and know that I am God!

          I am exalted among the nations,

          I am exalted in the earth.”

11     The LORD of hosts is with us;

          the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Mark 4:  26-34

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

The Use of Parables

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

I. SOUTHERN LIFE -- SIMPLE LIFE?

Two television shows have peaked my interest found on the Arts and Entertainment, the A & E Network. 

 The first show:

 “Cajun Justice” is the newest of these shows about life in Terrebonne Parish – a parish is like one of our counties.  The population in Terrebonne Parish,  located in southern Louisiana, is about 110,000 (about half the population of Saginaw County).  Terrebonne is a 21 square mile parish with unemployment of 25%!  While Oil remains a key industry off the shores of Louisiana, most of the people in this Terrebonne Parish live off the land – farming, hunting, fishing and trapping. 

 Cajun Justice is a law enforcement-type show about Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois Jr,   The show is also about southern justice defined as a Napoleonic type of law -- established in 1805, where for the most part people regulate their own lives until you need the sheriff – and then the Sheriff becomes pretty much the judge and jury – the most powerful man in the Parish….this is style of law enforcement that comes from the French – i.e. Napoleonic type if law enforcement.   

We think it’s tough taking care of crime in some of our northern cities, I can’t imagine what law enforcement must be like in some of these places where people have always pretty much had to take care of themselves – where the only true law is of basic primal survival. 

A second show:

“Duck Dynasty” is the second reality show on the A & E network – a show that gets me laughing out loud – a show about the Robertson family running a multi-million dollar company that makes a variety of  “Duck Calls”…..the little gizmos used to attract and hunt ducks.  And the image of the Robertson family –  and again this is a real story about a real family – craggy, rugged men with long beards who like to live off the land.

One of these men on the show was heard to say: “All I need in this life is a good women who can cook–and the bible….and oh yes, also a gun.”

Favorite foods for the Robertson’s are what they can catch themselves, of course on the menu:  duck, frogs, raccoons, turkey, and squirrels.  They will even pick up ROAD KILL because the pelts are worthy money.  One of the Robertson’s said of salvaging ROAD KILL – when you see a $5.00 on the road, don’t you stop to pick it up?  It’s the same thing….ROAD KILL for this family is the same as finding cash.   

One episode that really had be laughing, when the old grandfather Phil Robertson went to do a “show and tell” at his granddaughter’s school and  demonstrated, to the chagrin of all the children and teachers, how to skin a squirrel. 

Life in the rural south!

II. SIMPLE GIFTS

Now to get to the point of this sermon:  One common thread running through these reality shows – these are people who thrive in living simple lives!  Phil Robertson says often:  “SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE!”   Their motto or subtitle of the show:  GOD, FAMILY and DUCKS.  Can’t get much simpler than that! 

While we live in a fast-paced-high-tech urban culture, it is still possible to get back to the core values, the simple gifts God has given us that are in the end, all we really need. 

“Simple gifts”, my sermon title this morning is also our stewardship theme for this year.   Stewardship  doesn’t always have to be about church and budgets and money.  Stewardship as a concept is really more about how we manage our lives and resources with all that has been entrusted us to use in living our lives. 

North and south and east and west – from Amish communities to Native American Tribes to the UPPERS of the upper Peninsula, and the Appalachian people of the Ozarks – or those who live in rural Michigan or in the urban centers developing green space and urban gardens – perhaps you can now get my point. 

God is trusting us to use, not squander, precious resources entrusted our care.  God has faith in us to take care of this precious creation, as we have faith in God to take care of us.  Is this making sense:  God has delegated to each of us the responsibility to care for the simplest of gifts to be used to support what we value the most -- life in community, life in family, life in church – and life with God. 

True wealth doesn’t come from money or power or prestige or building up earthly kingdoms….but rather using our God-given gifts to benefit those around us and this world in which we live.  The Robertson’s say:  GOD, FAMILY and DUCKS.  I would have to say, GOD, FAMILY, CHURCH and EARTH.  And these are just four of the themes I hope to develop in pulling together messages related to our stewardship theme:  SIMPLE GIFTS.

III. JESUS PARABLES

Jesus likes simplicity.  He lived a simple life.  He chose twelve men to follow him….and they lived, as far as we can tell from scripture, simple down-to-earth lives.  The way Jesus passed on his message on to others – one ‘soul’ at a time, one gathering of followers at a time.  You can’t get much simpler than that.  Jesus teaches—then and now—how to live our lives under the guidance of the commandment -- the simple law of LOVE. 

“You shall love the lord your God with mind and heart and soul, and your neighbor as yourself!”

Jesus used parables, simple stories like the ones used in our readings this morning, two stories or parables to make profound affirmations about God. 

To think of it this way:  The disciples were asking tough questions that could stump the best of the prophets or Pharisees or scholars or theologians … they are asking:

“Teach us about the Kingdom of God.”

How do you give a simple answer to such a grandiose question.  I am faced with the same problem in preaching…..how to find simple ways to describe complicated things!   The parable of the mustard seed is Jesus’  way of answering this question that has immense implications when it comes to how we live our lives in relationship with God.

The first parable is of the Growing Seed .  It talks of the seed that is planted that then grows first into a small plant then a larger stalk – developing, maturing and growing, another key theme:  we are like the seeds God has planted….developing, maturing and growing in faith until we can harvest and give to others gifts that are meant to be shared – gifts of love and care and encouragement and compassion.  Sharing our resources with those who are struggling.  Sharing from what we harvest with those who are not as fortunate with what they have planted…..knowing that what god harvests from us provides spiritual nourishment for others…..and then as the seasons change the cycle of giving changes….and begins again. 

The second parable of the Mustard Seed, the smallest of all seeds – the seed that grows like a weed into a large shrub providing shelter for birds.  In the context of the disciples asking about the Kingdom of God, this parable becomes much more complicated in Jesus talking about all that we can see -- and what we cannot see -- that emerges from what is planted….all sorts of things beyond comprehension that God provides – simple gifts that grow into all sorts of things that surpass what we can possibly humanly imagine -- The Kingdom of God.  

I look at the large trees in my back yard.  I can hear the singing birds.  I assume there are some other critters in that tree….perhaps a squirrel or two…and nests….while I can’t see or hear all these things, I know these wonderful things are in this tree.  Like the Kingdom of God, I can only imagine what life is like in this beautiful place….this tree of life….. 

Another example:  When I was in elementary school the teacher would ask us to try to imagine a million dollars.  Now, of course we would have to say a trillion dollars –

For fun some trivia

                        One Million has 6 zeros

                             One Trillion has 12 zeros

                             One Quintillion has 18 zeros

                             One Centillion has 600 zeros

To try grasp what is infinite is to try to imagine all the zeros that could ever exist – and throughout time – and into the future – so what is God’s Kingdom?  BUT EVERYTHING BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE – ALL GROWING FROM THE SMALLEST OF SEEDS—ONE SEED, THE FIRST SEED…..DEVELOPING INTO MORE SEEDS OF HUMAN POTENTIAL THAN WE COULD EVER IMAGINE!

IV.  HELP!

This theme, “SIMPLE GIFTS”  -- a huge topic.  In the four or five sermons I want to preach between now and the end of the year, I will want to hit on different aspects of this theme:

What has God PLANTED for us to use in our personal lives?  In this world?  In this church? 

What can we do, in simple terms, to take care of this earth God has entrusted our care?

What is calling us to grow, using the seeds of faith planted in each of our hearts?

These are a few of the themes running through my mind.  But I could use your help.  What are some of your ideas?  What would you like to see me preach when it comes to this theme:  SIMPLE GIFTS?

What I am asking is simple!  Give me some “Small Seeds” I can work with and plant in building worship services and preparing sermons.  Call me or write me a note.  Email me.  It will be easier, however, for me to remember your ideas of you write them down. And this tip:  There is no such thing as a bad idea! 

Also, if you have any resources, any favorite hymns, any scriptural texts you feel would tie into this theme, let me know!

V.  Conclusion

Back to the reality show “Duck Dynasty”.  The Robertson family, a down-to-earth family from Louisiana – they have become millionaires.  They have big homes and fancy cars, but continue to struggle with what it means to live with the core values given to them from their ancestors – and from God. 

What has caught my attention at the end of each episode – this large family of  ten to twelve or more relatives gather around a dinner table.  They join hands and they pray.  They thank God for food; for time spent together;  for laughter;  for blessings received.  

A hint as to what is to come next fall with this theme:  SIMPLE GIFTS?   For what do you give thanks when you get together with family and friends?  For what do we give thanks as a church? 

Finally, may God bless us as Christ’s church us using the Simple Gifts God has entrusted our care.

AMEN