Sermon Luke 17:11-19

Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
Sermon Luke 17:11-19
AIDS Awareness Sunday[1]

October 14, 2007

Today is HIV/AIDS Awareness Sunday. This is the day that churches think about their response to what is arguably the most important heath issue facing the world today. Before we look at this enormously important issue will you pray with me? Lord Jesus we know that while you walked on this earth an important part of your ministry was to heal those with chronic illnesses. We are grateful for all the healing you still do around the world. And we ask this day for health for all the patients and families that have been adversely affected by HIV/AIDS. And we pray for all of the people who are doing your ministry for the sick today. In your strong name we pray, Amen

Today 40 million people are living with HIV /AIDS. Of these five million were infected within the last year. 23 million lives have already been lost. This disease has a disproportionate effect on the poorest countries of the world who find themselves less able to respond to its devastation. It is a disease that strikes the most able bodied people in a society, those responsible for providing food, money and care leaving behind the elderly, the widows and the orphans. Let’s look at some of the victims and how Christians around the world are responding.

Wayo was a seventeen year old Christian living in Thailand. Like seventeen year olds everywhere Wayo thought he was invincible. He and his friends began visiting brothels. This was considered a right of passage for young men in Thailand. Then Wayo got sick. Because Thailand is a society with a Confucian world view Wayo was more concerned with the shame he and his family would experience if his illness ever became known than with seeking treatment for the disease. So he kept silent. When applying for a job Wayo was required to have a blood test. He was HIV positive. His father was told. But to prevent shame from affecting the family his father decided to keep it a secret even from Wayo’s mother. As the disease progressed his mother found out and decided that as a Christian it was more important to care for those with the disease and to work to prevent further infections than to worry about shame. So she told her church about her son’s disease and started an HIV/AIDS support group in her home. Other families with infected children came as did an infected elder of the church. Her church realized that it was not immune to AIDS. Other churches in Thailand started their own groups and the movement spread all over the country. As a result of this activity by the Christian minority the Thai government belatedly acknowledged the problem of HIV/AIDS and began programs for prevention and care. Christians are now leading the way toward the prevention of terrible disease and the treatment of its victims.

Here is another story. PS grew up in small farming village in India. He began learning carpentry at 14 and was married at 15. Their first daughter was born the next year. Trying to earn more money to support his family PS moved to Mumbai. At first he tried to visit home often, but this became more and more difficult so he spent the last 5 years living away from his family and sending money home every week. While in Mumbai PS began visiting prostitutes and he got sick. In a society were karma and rebirth are guiding principles there is no reason to prevent illness or care for the sick. Disease is considered punishment for sin in either this or a past life. The appropriate care for chronic illness is to let the patient die so that he or she may try again in the next life. This way of thinking is unacceptable for Christians in India because God created the material world including our bodies and called it good. In our scripture today Jesus was not interested in just spiritual matters; he healed leprosy, a terrible chronic skin disease. One Christian group in India responding to this problem is the Emmanuel Hospital Association. EHA is a charitable group that has responded to the HIV/AIDS crisis in India guided by three principles. First they develop relationships with people that focus on long term behavioral change rather than spouting “safe sex” slogans. Second, the care they provide is holistic; it cares for the body and the soul and recognizes the important role of the family in providing care. And third, their goal is to bring those infected with HIV/AIDS the abundant life that is only available in Jesus Christ. Christians are leading the way toward the holistic treatment of AIDS victims that treats both their bodies and souls with God’s love.

Here is another story. Patrick Dixon was a hospice doctor in England who remembers vividly the first HIV/AIDS patient that he ever saw back in the 1980s. What was unusual for this patient was that he had no support, no family, no friends, and no visitors at all while he was dying. Dixon realized that this person had been created in the image of God and was appalled by the way Christians in his own country were dealing with those with HIV/AIDS. When the disease first appeared in the West it was found predominately in the homosexual community. Christians there began to associate AIDS with homosexual behavior which was considered a sin. Many considered AIDS to be God’s punishment on a sinful lifestyle. So in 1987 Dixon wrote the book The Truth about AIDS, and the church in Great Brittan refocused its attention away from the condemnation of sinners to the prevention of this terrible disease and care for its victims. Christians began to see the pressing need around them and looked beyond statistics to feel the pain of others. Christians began to look at AIDS from a global perspective. The gospel was seen not just as the Word of God but as their calling to love those in need.

Now let’s look at Africa where the need is greatest. Almaz is a twenty-five year old Christian living in Ethiopia. Ten years ago her husband infected her with HIV/AIDS when she was only sixteen. Two years later her husband left her and her young son to fend for themselves. To make money for food Almaz went into prostitution. She has no idea how many men she infected before finding out about her own infection. When it was discovered that she was HIV positive her family threw her out of the house. She put her HIV positive son in an orphanage and went to Addis Ababa, the capital, to find work. There she found the Mekanisa New Covenant Baptist Church. This church has 250 members and 300 children. The average income of the members is $2.50 per month. They started an HIV/AIDS center for women like Almaz to treat not only their physical illness but their spiritual needs as well. So far they have enrolled 32 people in the program. Over 200 are on a waiting list for home care and counseling. To find the resources to keep the AIDS program running the pastor called together the leadership for a day of fasting and prayers. They decided to put the building repairs they had waited so long to do on the back burner to devote even more of their limited resources to provide food, housing, rent, school fees and medicine for AIDS patients. Churches all over Ethiopia have similar programs despite limited resources. Yet the infection rate of HIV/AIDS has risen to 11% of the population and is growing.

The infection rate of HIV/AIDS is growing throughout Africa. More and more people are getting sick. But there is one country in Africa where AIDS prevention is working. Let’s look at Uganda. According a survey 95 percent of Ugandans in 1988 were aware of what HIV/AIDS was and how it was transmitted. But this knowledge did not change their behavior. The infection rate continued to increase steadily in Uganda into 1991. Then things began to change. Uganda turned the corner on AIDS; infection rates began to fall. This surprised the Christian and governmental aid workers in Africa. What happened? Prior to 1991 the strategy for ending the AIDS epidemic in Africa focused on flooding the continent with condoms and a message of “safe sex”. Enormous resources were spent distributing condoms with little or no effect on infection rates. In fact infection rates continued to rise. Churches throughout Africa avoided the problem. Some wanted nothing to do with condoms. Other churches assumed that AIDS would have no effect on them because they were free from the sinful behavior that characterized the high risk AIDS groups. But these churches were soon proved wrong as their own members began to die in large numbers and they were forced to deal with the poverty and orphaned children that resulted. President Museveni of Uganda turned the corner on AIDS by emphasizing the ABCs. “A” stands for abstinence. The message of “safe sex” was replaced with the message of “no sex” because any sex outside of marriage with the kind of AIDS infection rates in Uganda was deadly. This message was targeted on the youth of his country. “B” stands for “be faithful”. The married couples in Uganda were told to be faithful to one another. Do these sound like Christian principles to you? They sure are. And “c” stood for use a condom only when “A” and “B” failed. Museveni and his wife went all over the country emphasizing A and B. The reason Museveni’s programs was so successful was that he emphasized big A and big B and little c. Hope was placed on behavioral change rather than condom distribution. And it worked. The churches in Uganda participated in Museveni’s “Why Wait?” program. An HIV/AIDS infection rate that peaked at 15% in 1991 fell to 5% within ten years. We need to pray that other African countries follow Uganda’s example. It is as easy as ABc.

Presbyterian missionary Dorothy Hansen is currently working as an AIDS consultant in Ethiopia and is concerned that western influence among the youth of that country will encourage risky behaviors. Ms. Hansen asks us to pray. “Pray that youth leaders will receive God’s direction to provide the youth with tools to show friendship without intimacy and to abstain from sex until after marriage. Pray that the youth will be selective in their activities, including their choices of videos. Pray that the women of Ethiopia will learn how to refuse excess work, abuse, violence, and unwanted sexual advances.”[2]

Today in the United States we have a variety of antiviral drugs that prolong life for HIV/AIDS patients. Until recently these drugs were prohibitively expensive for use in the third world. So prevention and care for the sick have been the Christian responses to the crisis. In recent years, however, the cost of these drugs has fallen. But many of the Christian aid organizations are still reluctant to use them because of concern for long term availability and affordability. The fear is that if a patient begins using these drugs and then stops, the virus will develop ways of resisting the antiviral medications. So there is reluctance to begin antiviral treatment until supplies are assured and behaviors are in place that guarantees continued use of these important drugs. We need to pray for ways that the cost will come down, more resources will be available and proper treatment methods will be developed for those who need them.

If you would like to make a contribution to the work the PCUSA with HIV/AIDS around the world just make a check payable to Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church and in the memo line write in “Peacemaking – AIDS”. If you would like to know more about the HIV/AIDS crisis and what the church is doing about it, pickup the “AIDS and Peacemaking” flier which you will find on the back table. And keep our missionaries and the victims of HIV/AIDS around the world in your prayers.

Lord Jesus, just as you healed those lepers long ago we ask you heal those with AIDS today. Help us to learn how to prevent and treat this awful disease. And help our church to know how to do Christ’s work among AIDS patients and families here in Los Angeles and around the world. We pray in the confidence of your strong name. Amen.

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[1] Adapted from Tetsunao Yamamori, David Dageforde and Tine Bruner, the hope factor, Engaging the Church in the HIV/AIDS Crisis, (Waynesboro GA: Authentic Media 2003).

[2] http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/hansond/hansond_0706.htm

Sermon Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26

Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
October 7, 2007

Churches throughout the world today are gathering together for World Communion Sunday. Already churches in Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America including Los Angeles have been celebrating the diversity of our churches and our unity in Jesus Christ. We especially rejoice in the diverse congregation here in Eagle Rock as Anglos, Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese, Hispanics and other all join together arm in arm to worship our risen Lord. Will you pray with me?

Lord Jesus, we approach your throne of grace united by you across ethic, language and cultural barriers. We are grateful for the unity you provide for us. Bless our relationships across the barriers that usually divide us. And be with us as we come together around your table today. Amen.

587BC was a bad year for Jerusalem and it inhabitants. The army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had come with full force and besieged the city. For over a year his army encircled its walls. Nothing and no one could enter or leave the city. The rural population from the vast countryside had taken refuge inside. Now the food was running out. One evening the Chaldeans breached the wall; the destruction of the city was immanent. King Zedekiah and the Judean army fled out of one the city gates leaving the defenseless city behind. Somehow they passed by the Babylonians, but the element of surprise did not last long. The Babylonians pursued Zedekiah and found him near Jericho. His army fled and Zedekiah was captured. His last sight before the Chaldeans put out his eyes was the sight of the death of his sons.

The Babylonian army returned to Jerusalem and entered the city. They burned the king’s palace and Solomon’s temple. They burned down all the homes and broke down the wall surrounding the city. And they carried back to Babylon all of the wealth of the city along with all of the artisans, administrative workers, tradesmen and merchants, and anyone else who could help the Babylonian economy. They left behind the desperately poor, the disabled, the very old and the very young.

How could this happen? God had promised David that his descendents would sit on his throne in Jerusalem forever, but now they were gone and Judah was ruled by a Babylonian governor. The Temple of Jerusalem, which was the dwelling place of the Creator God, was now a pile of rubble. There were no more festivals, no more Sabbaths. Where was God? Why had God forsaken his people?

In the midst of all this Jeremiah was having a really bad day. Listen again to his words, “The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!” His mind was racing though all that he had been through. He was focused on his own problems which were many and he was fighting despair. Then he said, “My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.” Jeremiah tale is relentless. His life had turned upside down.

I remember one evening when a good friend of mine called because his life had turned upside down. He had been preparing to ask his long time girlfriend to marry him, but instead she came over to break up. She had found someone new. My friend was devastated and heartbroken. His life was upside down. He desperately needed a friend to talk to. We talked for hours.

I remember another time when a woman at my church, a close friend, called. Her mother had collapsed in the bathroom that morning and was rushed to the hospital. She had just heard the bad news; her mother had a brain tumor and just a few weeks to live. She needed a friend to come to the hospital to be with her because her life had turned upside down. She needed someone to sit with her in waiting room silently as the hours passed.

Have you ever experienced your life being upside down? Most of us have at one time or another. But even if it has never happened to you or your family it happens every day in places like Myanmar, Sudan, Gaza and Iraq. The epidemic of HIV/AIDs turns lives upside down for millions of people and their families. And Sunday after Sunday we gather here to offer up prayers for families and war torn countries whose lives have turned upside down.

At times like these we have to wonder what happens to our prayers. Do prayers actually reach God? Last year a fisherman found 300 letters to God floating in the ocean. These letters had been written by church members and mailed to the pastor to be placed on the communion table and prayed over, not unlike the prayer cards in your bulletin today. Some of the letters went back to 1973. It has been suggested that someone was cleaning the pastor’s former home and decided to give the letters a final tribute by sending them off to sea.[1] Some of the letters were prayers in the form of “Hey God, let me win the lottery”. But most were from people like you and me whose lives had turned upside down.

Are our prayers simply cast on the waters like this? This is the biggest fear of Christians, that our prayers never find their way to God. But listen to Jeremiah’s great reversal, “but this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” In the middle of Jeremiah’s life turning upside down he began singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness”. He did this because his mind was turned from his own upside down life to the faithfulness and love of God who hears every prayer.

Jeremiah knew that there was no reason to send letters to the pastor because God already knows the prayers that are written on our hearts. God’s love was not dependant on things getting better and better. God’s love did not depend on our hard work or our success. Jeremiah knew that the Hebrews would never be cutoff from God’s love because God’s love only depends on God’s faithfulness which never ends.

We can’t earn this love. There is nothing we ever do to deserve it. Jeremiah tells it just shows up every day. Who of us by our hard work made the sun rise this morning? How much did you pay for the air in your lungs? Who of us deserves the love we receive from the person closest to us? None of us do. Jeremiah tells us that we receive God’s love by God’s mercy, a free gift of God’s grace.

For many of us we are so busy each day we never notice what God has freely given. Here in Eagle Rock we live with warm temperatures, a blue sky, and flowers blooming year round. Do any of us ever stop to thank God for all that He has done each and every day? We are so busy trying to make our own lives that we don’t even realize the wonderful life that God has given us.

So when our lives turn upside down what should we do? Jeremiah says to wait patiently. Just wait in silence waiting for God to act. It is only while waiting in silence that our souls go looking for God. Waiting is after all the only thing you can do when your life turns upside down. But in the silence God reminds you of your hopes and dreams and the blessings you have received throughout your life.

The Hebrews in exile were richly blessed by God. After a Sabbath rest of 70 years they were permitted to return and rebuild their city and God’s temple. The one blessing God withheld from them was having their own king. But they were filled with the hope of the faithfulness of God. So they longed for the day when God would fulfill his promise and restore David’s kingdom. They waited and hoped for 400 years for a descendant of David to return as the messiah. God is faithful. Around 4BC a descendant of David was born, not as the king of an earthly kingdom, but as the king of the heavenly Kingdom of God. In Jesus Christ all of God’s promises were fulfilled to those who had waited and hoped. Great is God’s faithfulness.

We experience God faithfulness every time we gather around this table. God never cuts us off. Rather we are invited to come to taste and see the mercies that never end. Great is God’s faithfulness.

Thomas Obediah Chisholm was born in a log cabin in 1866. He experienced a conversion in his 30’s which led him to become a Methodist pastor. But shortly after becoming a pastor his health began fail. This forced him to leave the pastorate and led to a difficult life of poor health. His life was turned upside down. At age 75 looking back over his long life he saw not the numerous health problems that had plagued him, but the blessings that he had received from God each day. To celebrate his blessed life Chisholm wrote a poem. Here it what he said:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Father in heaven we thank you for your great faithfulness which you renew in us each day. Amen.

Nicene Creed, pg 15 – Ecumenical version

"We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen."

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[1] http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2633602

October Vision Column

Vision – October 2007

From the Pastor’s Desk

This month over 30 PCUSA missionaries will be visiting churches and presbyteries all over the country. Together they have 622 years of experience serving the church in all parts of the world. They serve in Korea, Mexico, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Cameroon, Pakistan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Bolivia, Egypt, Peru, Malawi, Nepal, Germany, China, South Africa, Zambia and Lebanon. Their ministries include education, evangelism, health, development and peacemaking. Sue Kinsler, PCUSA Missionary to North Korea, will be visiting Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church on Monday October 22 at 7:30

Sue and Art Kinsler have been working with the Presbyterian Church of Korea since 1972 as evangelists. They have established new churches in rural areas of Korea as well as in new factory towns. Since 2003 Sue has begin working in North Korea through the Lighthouse Foundation providing soybean milk and bread to young children. Sue has also established medical facilities for the disabled in Pyongyang, North Korea with the Potonggang Welfare Center for the Disabled.

On her most recent trip to North Korea, in August, she delivered food, medicine, and towels for victims of the recent floods which damaged the Potonggang sheltered workshop. She also arranged for several tons of wheat to be delivered to her bakery and milk factory. She is currently arranging for 1004 wheel chairs to be delivered to North Korea. The number 1004 has special significance in Korea because it is pronounced “chun sa” which means “angel”. “This shows that the peace and reunification of the South and North is coming in our hearts,” said Sue. “By our love and sharing of God’s blessings there is power!”

Please join us on October 22 at 7:30 to welcome this important guest.

Blessings,

Jeff Howard, Pastor

Sermon 1Timothy 6:6-19

Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon 1 Timothy 6:6-19
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

September 30, 2007

This week churches throughout our denomination are talking about evangelism. Evangelism is our way of reaching out to people with the love of Jesus Christ. It all starts with each of us talking with our friends and inviting them to walk with the Lord. Invite your friends to church on Sunday. Tell them about the love you have found in this church. Invite them to worship and Bible study where they can experience for themselves God’s love. Will you pray with me?

Father in heaven bless us this day with an understanding of you word. And send us into the world to proclaim your good news and as bearers of your love. Prepare our hearts to minister to those in the community who long to know you. And bless us with more members of this church so that we can do better in your mission to the Eagle Rock community, in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.

When I was growing up I heard that the best way to get ahead in life was to pursue an education. I was told to work hard in school. Then I would get a good job at a big corporation where with hard work I could work my way up. Along the way I would be able to purchase larger and larger homes and nicer automobiles. This was the American Dream and for a kid in the suburbs it seemed like the path to riches.

By the time I graduated from college in the mid 1970’s the path to riches was in owning your own business. In a job you worked for someone else and got paid whatever that person offered. In a job you could never get rich. Your only hope was to make enough to pay the bills and maybe have a little left over for savings. But it you owned business and worked real hard to make it successful then you could make a lot of money and become rich. So I started my own business and worked real hard because this seems like the path to riches.

In recent times people have believed that the path to riches was by investing in tech stocks, or speculative real estate deals. This belief led many people to go further into debt than they should have. As a result, now that housing prices are going down, many people find it impossible to sell their homes or refinance there home mortgages. Many now face the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure and bankruptcy. In most of these instances people saw a home investment as a way of providing their family shelter. But in far too many circumstances the motivation for real estate speculation was simply the desire to be rich.

In our Old Testament reading today Jeremiah made a terrible real estate deal. The Babylonian army had arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. The puppet king Zedekiah whom they had placed on the throne ten years earlier had revolted again Nebuchadnezzar. He had to be punished. So the army had occupied the farmland surrounding Jerusalem and now encircled and besieged the city. Hanamel, Jeremiah cousin, had fled from Babylonians and had taken refuge in Jerusalem. Once a proud land owner, Hanamel was now penniless. Normally in this situation he would sell his land to an older member of his family who would be obligated to buy the land. But in this case the land was gone. It had already been captured by the Babylonians. The old concept of tribal ownership of the land had been shattered by the invasion. The land no long belonged to the people of God, but to Babylon the conquerer. So the land was worthless. But Jeremiah bought it anyway. He knew that it was a terrible real estate deal, but he did it because he knew that he could depend on God. This is how faith works; you can rest in the knowledge of God’s faithfulness. Jeremiah believed God’s promise to restore His people to the land, and bought the field based on this faith.

For Jeremiah the purpose of money was to express his faith. But in first century Ephesus there were people who reversed this and exploited faith to get money. They were motivated by the desire to get rich. So the Apostle Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus to correct the situation and told him that the purpose of money was not to make someone rich, because when you use money to become rich the result is envy and dissension, and you become trapped by foolish and harmful desires. A desire to become rich is especially dangerous because it leads you into temptation, destruction and ruin and leads you away from faith. Paul said, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

Jesus once told a story about a rich man. He wore the finest clothes, had a large Malibu estate, ate at the best restaurants and flew around the world in his private jet. But he never noticed the homeless man who sat outside his gate every day hoping to sneak inside to eat a few scraps of food from the dumpster out back. Never once did the rich man give the hungry man something to eat. Never once did he give eternity a thought. But when the rich man died he was sent to Hades for eternal torment, and he looked up to see the hungry man in heaven with Abraham. The first had become last and the last first. The sin that sent the rich man to hell was not his wealth. Rather it was indifference. He was only concerned for himself and failed to see the need around him. It was too late for the rich man to change his ways. But he wanted others to hear about his story before it was too late so they could change theirs ways and avoid his fate.

Let’s face it. We love money. It gives us identity, power and the ability to accomplish our dreams. But the love money has power over us. If forces us to expend energy pursuing unrealistic dreams; we work all the time just to wake up to find that our spouses and children are strangers. The love of money often leads us to the addiction of ever increasing debt which now even plagues college students.

Consider for a moment the plight of OJ Simpson. He grew up here in Los Angeles and was a football star at USC winning the Heissmann Trophy. He went on to work as a television sportscaster, had major roles in movies, and acquired great fame and wealth. But all of his riches never brought him contentment. He was never satisfied with what he had. And out of his riches grew evil that shocked all of us. Don’t ever let a love of money cloud your judgment and lead you to evil like this. And pray that somehow OJ will experience the transformative power of the love of Christ.

Paul’s message to Timothy is that to be rich is to be content with what we have because when you combine faith and contentment you become richer than you could ever imagined. The riches we receive are faith, love, endurance and gentleness. And the ultimate riches were secured for us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, eternal life. So rather than pursue riches we should pursue righteousness. And we should place our hope not on the uncertainty of wealth but on the faithfulness of God, realizing that we are rich because we have been blessed by God. Paul has a special message for those who do have money, and have been blessed with substantial incomes and years of rising real estate prices. We need to be generous and willing to share with those in need. This is really a good investment because helping people to live quality lives in the present is a solid foundation for our future.

Speaking about the future, it has been shown that six out of ten Americans do not have a valid will. Many people have no idea how much they are really worth or how their wealth will be distributed when they die. The only way, that you can be certain that your estate is distributed according to you wishes, is to have a carefully constructed legal will. If you don’t have a will state law takes over and this could cause your family many problems and expense. Without a will no gift to the church will be made. There may be dissension among your heirs. Additional fees, taxes and expenses may subtract from your estate. And California law rather than your desires, values, beliefs and intentions will be followed.

With a will you decide to whom, how and when your property will be distributed. You determine who the guardian will be for minor children. You select who will administer your estate. You can reduce taxes and administration costs. And you can make charitable contributions to the church and other organizations. If you need to write a will I urge you to contact legal counsel, and consult a lawyer.

One thing you should put into your will is a Statement of your Christian Faith. This will be a great comfort to your family and friends by assuring them that a loved one died in faith, confident of Christ’s promise of eternal life. In a Statement of Christian Faith you can provide your family with encouragement by urging them to trust in Jesus Christ and strengthen their own faith. And your statement will be kept forever on file in the courthouse possibly providing someone far in the future with the encouragement of your faith.

Of course you can make a gift to the church in your will. This is part of your faith commitment to use the gifts god has provided to you for God’s work and mission in the world. Gifts by will have been an important part of our philanthropic tradition because you are able to make the kinds of gifts that are not possible in your lifetime. You might consider a general gift of money or a percentage of your estate. You might also contribute specific investments like real estate or stock. And remember that what you write in a will can be changed right up to the time you leave this life to be with the Lord.

So the message for us today is to be content with what we have. Don’t crave money so much that your life is consumed with accumulating riches, because riches will never satisfy you. The only true satisfaction that you have is the love of God which has blessed you richly. Money is like a rose. It is beautiful to gaze at but you have to be careful not to be pricked by the thorns. If you are rich then be generous to those who have little. This is a good investment in heavenly assets. Caring for those less fortunate than you is what you were created to do; it is your real life.

We confess Lord that we have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved others as we love ourselves. We have placed our own silly desires and self interest before the needs of others. Forgive us and pour out your spirit among us that we may serve people in need. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sermon – 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

September 16, 2007

Will you pray with me? Holy Spirit be with us today as we worship God and study His word. Help us to understand what God is saying to us in scripture and revealing to us in the world around. We thank you and praise use in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Six years ago I was in driving from Northern Virginia into Maryland on a sales call. As I drove on 495 the major freeway circling Washington DC I heard a radio report about a building on fire in New York City. A plane had crashed into it. A few minutes later I heard a reporter from the Pentagon say that they had no idea what was happening. Then there was a loud explosion. Another plane had struck the Pentagon. When I reached my office I saw on a small b&w television the fall of the first World Trade Tower. And as I drove home I could see the smoke billowing up from the Pentagon, and the radio announced that yet another plane was missing and possibly coming toward us. So I went home and locked the door. Last week the man responsible for this act, Osama bin Laden, sent us a message. In it he invited us to embrace Islam.

Jeremiah spoke of day when Middle East terrorist threaten Jerusalem. Babylon was coming and Judah was doomed. The cities would be destroyed and the farmland would become a waste land. There was no place to hide. But even in this bleak picture God stood as a beacon of hope. This would not be the end of God’s people.

The use of violence by religious fanatics is nothing new. A first century Pharisee named Saul was the most notorious persecutor of Christians of his time. He was present and approved of the stoning to death of Stephen. He stormed into houses to drag out and arrest women and men who belonged to a sect of Judaism that worshiped their resurrected leader. And when the organization called the Way was completely routed in Jerusalem Saul heard about a group that had fled to Damascus which he was determined to pursue arrest and bring to justice. For Christians in the first century Saul was despised and feared. Saul was his Aramaic name. We know him better by his Roman name, Paul.

Of course Paul went on to become the greatest of all Christian evangelists. Through his efforts churches were planted throughout the region around the Mediterranean. His letters, collected in the New Testament, are essential to our understanding of the Christian faith. How is it that a religious terrorist like Paul could be used by Christ to grow his church? Paul’s transformation from terrorist to evangelist came about from his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ. On the road to Damascus Paul was overcome by a great light and the presence of Jesus. Remember that coming into the presence of God is always a transformative event. Jesus told Paul the good news that Paul was to proclaim to the world. This encounter with Jesus was so transformative to Paul he realized that the good new he heard just had to be true and began proclaiming it throughout the Roman world as if his life depended on it, which indeed it did.

Paul explained the good new that he had received from Christ Jesus to Timothy, his young associate. Timothy, you remember, helped Paul to write the letter to Philemon that we read last week. Later he was sent to Ephesus to help a troubled church. Since being started by Paul the church was now plagued by false teaching. This included wild stories and myths based on the Old Testament. This false teaching had to be stopped and replaced by the true good news which had been receive by Paul directly from the risen Lord. So what was that good news which Timothy was to proclaim? Paul told Timothy to use the testimony of Paul’s own experience of transformation as the basis for the good news he was to proclaim. Paul said,

“1 Timothy 1:12-17 ¹² I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³ even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

The good news that Paul wants Timothy to proclaim to the church at Ephesus is the message of the grace of God. According to Paul, Christ graciously strengthens us in faith so that we can be of service to others. This is a gift for which we should be extremely grateful. But many of us believe that we are not worthy to receive such a gift. Maybe our faith is not strong enough. Or our behavior is not pure enough. Or possibly our knowledge about Christ or Christian morality and ethics is insufficient. We may have acted in ignorance or unbelief. How could Christ possibly use someone like us? The good news is that Christ can use us because his grace is like a giant tsunami washing away whatever it is we have done in the past. Our sins are washed clear.

But grace is far more than just the washing away of our shameful past. The tsunami of grace leaves behind an abundance of other gifts from God, faith and love. I once thought that faith was something I do, namely believe in God. And love was how I should treat my neighbor. But Paul’s good news is that faith and love do not originate in us. They are not something that we have to find, or purchase, or make. Rather faith and love comes to us as a gift from God.

This means that faith in the “full acceptance that Christ can into the world to save sinners,” is not a matter of our intelligence or education or will but and act of God. God puts faith into us. Our ability to know God, see God in the world around us, and love God comes from God. It is a gift for us to enjoy. Paul’s education had prepared him to reject the Christian message. But by the grace of God who put faith into Paul as a free gift, Paul was able to proclaim the message of Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. Paul realized that he could have never done this on his own. He needed help. And God was there with an offer he could not refuse.

This also means that our ability to love our neighbors is not a matter of our own compassion or ability. Rather it too is a gift from God. Our ability to focus on the needs of others rather than ourselves could never be generated internally. We are all too self-centered for that. Paul’s intense anger and violent temper prevented him from seeing the humanity of the people he persecuted. But by the grace of God who put love into Paul as a free gift, Paul was able to love Jews and Gentiles alike thus making them receptive to his message of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Why would Christ Jesus use a man like Paul to spread his good news? After all Paul was the Osama bin Laden of his day. No one was hated more by Christians? No one was more despised. But Christ had a reason to use Paul for his display of grace. Paul was so bad, so awful, that Christ knew his transformation would be spectacular. Everyone would notice how much Paul had changed. It would be obvious that God had acted because no other explanation would be possible. And since Paul was the biggest sinner of them all it would be obvious that God grace was so powerful that even the most terrible sinners could be redeemed.

Jesus explained to us why God want awful people to be redeemed. Its like if you have a keepsake or memento which is extremely valuable to you. Maybe it holds for you a memory that just can’t be replaced. And you lose it. You don’t know where it is. You search for it all over the house. You obsess over it until it is found. I have a little glass bell that I bought in Venice Italy and gave to my mother shortly before she died. I packed it carefully hoping that it would not break during our move from Pasadena to Eagle Rock. After we unpacked it was missing. I searched everywhere thinking about it all the time. Then last Wednesday I found it, right there in the box, wrapped in a towel just where I put it. That is the way God thinks about sinners. He wants to find the lost sinner more than anything else. He searches until he finds each one. And God rejoices whenever a sinner returns.

Osama bin Laden is still singing the old song of terror and violence. He has yet to experience the grace of God and the abundance of faith and love which comes with it. Sadly he still believes in a dead faith that does little to transform. Just as God searched for a lost sheep like Paul, so too does he search out lost terrorist sheep. We know that it is impossible for Osama to transform himself. But by the grace of God anything is possible. Even against overwhelming odds the people of God in Jeremiah’s day held on and preserved a remnant that continued worship. They were sustained by God’s grace and his faith and love. So pray for the day when all people in the world experience the transforming power of Christ Jesus and God’s grace overwhelms each person with an abundance of faith and love. When that day happens, all glory and honor will be given to our God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So it doesn’t matter how much you have sinned. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past. God’s tidal wave of grace is washing over you today bringing with it an abundance of faith and love which strengthens you for service to Christ. And here is the really good news. When we receive this wonderful gift of faith and love enabling us to serve Christ we begin to realize that just as Christ was resurrected from the dead so too will we be resurrected to eternal life. The faith and love that comes us as God’s gracious gift will never end. We will always experience God’s faith and God’s love.

The message for us today is that God searching for us. We are not to emulate Paul’s behavior or become a terrorist because God already knows what we have done in our lives. God is looking for us wherever we are and regardless or what we have done. He sent Jesus to save us. And when God finds us he has a gift waiting. God’s gift is an abundance of faith and love. If God can salvage a wreck like Paul what do you think he can do with you and me? When we receive this grace all the honor and glory go to God.

Lord Jesus we thank you this day for the good news that you have given us though Paul. We accept your gracious gift of faith and love. Help us to use these gifts to love God and our neighbor. Amen.

Sermon – Philemon

Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Philemon
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
September 9, 2007

This morning is the beginning of Christian Education Week. Our preschool opens tomorrow. Many children in our community have already returned to school. And we are starting to organize our own Christian Education Program for children and youth. If you would like to be a part of this please come next Sunday at 9AM before church for an organizational meeting. Will those of you who are or have been teachers either in the church or at a school please stand up so that we may honor you. Will you pray with me?

Lord Jesus, we thank you this day for allowing us to assemble in your name for worship. We thank you for all the teachers that have influenced so many children and adults in the years past. Bless our continuing efforts to educate adults, children and youth in your Holy Word. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Onesimus

Onesimus was a slave. He was probably a foreigner captured in battle. As a slave he would have been kept away from others in his ethnic group to prevent rebellion. All slaves were considered inferior to those who were free and they were viewed with a general disdain. Onesimus was not allowed to marry nor have children. His identity was given to him by his master, Onesimus means “useful”. Since Useful, or Onesimus, was human, laws were in place for his protection but that did not prevent the possibility of mistreatment. Often the only recourse to mistreatment was for a slave to run away. A slave could be freed in his master’s will, or for some it was possible that a redeemer would purchase his freedom.

Image what might have gone through Onesimus’ mind when he heard that a redeemer was coming, a redeemer in whom no one was a slave, who could redeem someone even from the bonds of sin. As Onesimus was being useful to his master he may have heard the wonderful message of hope in Jesus Christ from the Christians meeting in his master’s house. Onesimus may have wanted to find this redeemer more than anything else. So he ran away from his master and made his way to the apostle Paul.

Philemon

Philemon was a wealthy merchant. His wealth allowed him to purchase a slave named Onesimus. During one of his travels he may have run into a very special person named Paul who told him an amazing story about a rabbi from Galilee who had been crucified by the Romans and three days later was alive again. Paul called this “resurrection” and argued that this resurrection proved Jesus to be who he claimed to be, God. Possibly as Philemon watched Paul and the other Christians around him he was impressed at how much faith had transformed their lives; they had become family, brothers and sisters. Eventually Philemon had this faith too and was baptized into the Christian community becoming a brother. And his entire household, Apphia, Archippus and others, were baptized with him forming a church in Colossi that met in his home. Possibly one Sunday morning Philemon’s slave Onesimus overheard a letter read aloud from the Apostle Paul who said, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). This may have been the reason why Onesimus ran away, to find this redeemer named Christ Jesus who could redeem him from slavery.

Paul

Paul was in prison with Epaphras. Nearby were Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke. When Onesimus arrived Paul was confronted with a problem. How could the Christian ideal of the equality for everyone in Christ be reconciled with a society that condoned slavery? Onesimus by running away had committed a serious offense. Paul may have begun composing a letter to the church at Colossi telling them that in Christ there is neither slave nor free (Col. 3:11). And he had warned the church and Philemon as a slave master to treat his slaves justly and fairly (Col. 4:1). But here was Onesimus demanding his freedom from slavery in the name of Jesus Christ. What was Paul to do?

Paul called on Timothy for help writing a letter. In it he refused to invoke his apostolic authority and order Philemon to free Onesimus; rather he identified himself with Onesimus as a prisoner and wrote to persuade Philemon from a position of weakness. The letter was addressed not only to Philemon, but to the entire church that was meeting in his house in Colossi. But it is clear that Paul was speaking one to one, Christian to Christian to Philemon. He started by commending Philemon’s faith and love for all the people in his community. This was a sure sign of Christ’s presence among them. Faith and love is what binds a church together. This shared faith led them to the understanding of the blessings that they have received in Christ. God’s ultimate goal for these blessings was to lead the community into conformity with Christ. Thus Paul was telling Philemon that the shared faith of the community would lead to a shared practice of that faith. A faith that believes that in Christ there is neither slave nor free, will lead to a practice of reconciliation that would require receiving Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother.

So Paul appealed to the shared faith and love of the Christian community in Philemon’s house church. If the bond between apostle and converted slave is based on love, and the bond between converted master and apostle is based on love then what is the bond between the converted master and his converted slave? Is it not also love? Or put another way, if Paul has received a new brother in Onesimus, has not Philemon also received a new brother with Christ as the father to both? Without ever asking Philemon to free Onesimus, Paul argued that in Christ, master and slave are now members of the same family, they are brothers. This new relationship was formed when both became Christian forming new relationships with Christ and transforming the relationship they had with each other. Paul urged Philemon to act in light of this new relationship with Onesimus. His motivation is not based on obedience to the law but on sharing the love that all Christians have received in Christ. What Paul wants Philemon to do is take Onesimus back not as a slave, but to welcome him back as a brother and member of his church. So Paul, expressing his deep love for Onesimus, offered to pay Philemon whatever debt was owed thus becoming intimately involved in the reconciliation between the slave and his master.

Reconciliation in Christ is therefore not just being reconciled to God, nor is it just the reconciliation between Jew and Greek, but it is the reconciliation of people who come into new relationships in Christ. It is unclear whether Paul wants Philemon to free Onesimus or not. It seems that what Paul wants is a new permanent relationship between them as brothers in Christ.

This simple letter from Paul divided the Presbyterian Church for over one hundred years. In the 19^th century some believed that Paul’s omission of a direct condemnation of slavery or a demand that Philemon free his slave sanctioned the practice of slavery. After all, they argued, Paul did send the runaway slave back to his master. But what Paul was arguing for goes far beyond the issue of slavery. He was saying that in our acceptance of Christ as Lord, Christians take on an entirely new way of relating to one another. The model for Christian relationships is as brothers and sisters in a family. Thus rather than arguing for a change in the structure of society, Paul offered a vision of a transformed community based on mutual love reflecting God’s intention for humanity. A transformed community based on mutual love is certainly incompatible with the institution of slavery. This was the conclusion that the church and our society eventually reached. Slavery was ended by Abraham Lincoln with the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Presbyterian Church which was divided over the issue of slavery in 1860 was finally reunited in 1983 forming the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Acceptance of International People

Two years ago I had an experience that radically transformed my life. I had been going to a church that was almost all white and middle to upper class. But after coming to seminary I got involved with an international student ministry. Here, for the first time I was able to develop relationship with people from other countries who spoke other languages and had different cultural behaviors. The differences between me and them were as significant as the differences between Philemon and Onesimus. But through the transforming power of Christ I was able to relate to these international students as sisters and brothers, and in one special relationship as husband and wife. Before I did not think that this was possible. The language and cultural difference were just too great. But in Christ the barriers which divided us fell and we became a family.

Paul is addressing not only Philemon but the church as well. The church is called to relate to all people, regardless of the ethnicity or language or economic status, as brothers and sisters in Christ. And this is what Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church is invited to do today. Look around and you will see people from other countries and cultures who speak other languages. The differences are great. But in Christ we are all sisters and brothers and we are part of one church. So be transformed in worship today. Let the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see the new family you have around you. Welcome the newcomers with a handshake or a hug. Make new friends across ethnic barriers. Invite someone new for lunch. And make our church a place where people who look and speak differently from us are welcomed into our family.

Conclusion

You may be wondering whatever happened to Onesimus. According to the book of Colossians Paul sent Tychicus, a faithful minister, to Colossi. Presumably he had two letters with him, one for the church, Colossians, and a personal note for Philemon. Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, went too. We don’t know what happened when they arrived, how Philemon reacted to the return of his slave or if the church welcomed Onesimus as a brother. What we do know is that Onesimus did go on to have an important role to play in the early church. Ignatius of Antioch, fifty years later, called him “a man of love beyond recounting”. Onesimus became the Bishop of Ephesus where he was able to collect many of the writings that went into the New Testament including this personal letter from Paul that was so important because it redeemed him from slavery. In Christ, Onesimus was no longer a slave, but a brother.

Holy Spirit be with us now as we greet those who look and speak differently from us. Help us to see each of them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.

Bibliography

Thompson, Marianne Meye, Colossians & Philemon, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2005.

Sermon – Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 – A Sacrifice of Praise

Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
September 2, 2007

Sermon – Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 – A Sacrifice of Praise

Introduction

Today is the last of three sermons that I have been preaching on the Book of Hebrews. Two weeks ago we heard how the new Christian faith was the fulfillment of the faith of the Hebrews who had gone before. Last week we heard that Christian worship is about climbing Mt. Zion to be in the presence of the living God with transformative effects. Today we will hear what those transformative effects are as we are called to protect and share our gifts making a sacrifice of praise to God. But before we begin will you pray with me?

Heavenly father bless us this day with the message you have for us. Speak to us this day through you Word and through the body and blood of Jesus. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit amen

Hospitality for Strangers

Here we are on Labor Day Weekend. If I was back East today this would be a beach weekend. My friends and I would be heading to the Maryland or Delaware beaches for the last weelend of the summer. We would enjoy the surf and take advantage of the end of season sales in all the stores. But most importantly it would a time to get together with old friends, meet some new ones and have a great time together eating the sweet corn growing on the eastern shore and of course those delicious Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. Crabs cannot be eaten alone. You need a big group. Start by covering the picnic table with lots of newspaper. Dump a bushel of crabs in the center and start picking. Since you get less than a bite out of each it take hours of picking to eat a whole meals. That’s why you need a big group, so that stories help you to pass the time. And when finished just gather up the newspapers, throw them away and you’re done.

The author of Hebrews would be comfortable at the beach on Labor Day Weekend. She would see us trying to outdo one another in showing honor, and loving each other with mutual affection as we have been taught by God. Our hospitality would be apparent as we contribute to the needs of one another and welcome strangers in our midst.

In the ancient world hospitality was more than just getting together with friends. When traveling strangers would appear at your door they would be given an extensive welcome and honorific treatment. They would be entertained and given protection, overnight lodging, and provision for the continuing journey. It was assumed that some guests were really divine figures. And if a guest reciprocated with gifts this would cement a permanent relationship, but this was not expected. We can see from this that ancient hospitality was really a form of brotherly love where the needs of strangers were graciously cared for.

Remember the Prisoners

There are many, however, who come to the beach on Labor Day Weekend to drink and cause trouble. Until just a few years ago people could take beer kegs on the beach in Dewey Delaware. It was not uncommon to see large groups of young adults drinking on the beach. People who drink excessively become loud and boisterous and less able to control their words and actions. Alcohol’s addictive properties can overwhelm and torment their spirits. They become prisoners to alcohol and its destructive ways.

You might expect that as Christians we are called to condemn those who succumb to addictive prisons like alcoholism. But you would be wrong. The author of Hebrews wants us to remember the prisoners, their torment and chains for two reasons. First, we have all been imprisoned, suffered abuse, or had to endure hard struggles in some way. At those times we needed support and love just as those imprisoned now do. And second, as Christians we are called to have compassion for everyone including the prisoner of alcohol. This applies even if we are harmed by someone imprisoned by addictions. We can deal with it because we have an inheritance that cannot be stolen kept for us in heaven. We are prisoners of Christ. So our response to those who are addicted and abusive is reflecting God’s overwhelming love.

The Marital Bed

When the sun goes down at the beach on Labor Day Weekend the bars and nightclubs fill with young people. The combination of fatigue, alcohol and the driving rhythms of rock music tend to loosen inhibitions. When this happens young people are vulnerable to sexual temptation. Before this happens we have to tell young Christians about the high value we place on marriage, how marriage is precious, honorable, of great worth, and held in honor and respect with high regard like a rare jewel. And we need to tell them of the importance of keeping the marital bed unstained, undefiled and pure.

But the temptation is still too great for some people who fall into sexual temptations. Our temptation will be to condemn those who fall. But who are we to judge the sexual practice of someone else? Who are we to boast of our own purity? Only one person ever was pure enough to boast. And he is the only one to judge these things. The only person who was ever pure, undefiled, and sinless was Jesus Christ. Therefore only Jesus Christ can judge these things. The author of Hebrew tells us that God will judge the sexually impure, but sadly they will never inherit the Kingdom of God.

The Love of Money

As you stand on the side of the Coastal Highway in Ocean City Maryland on Labor Day Weekend you will see expensive cars filled with people going to luxury condominiums along the beach. The East Coast elite have come to enjoy their expensive toys. For many of them this betrays their real God. Some may claim to be Christian, but in reality their god is money. Money is what they love more than anything else, more than loving God, more than loving neighbor. The desire to have the best car and the best beach house leads them to desire more and more money. But as Christians we know a different way. We have learned to be satisfied with the food and clothing we have rather than constantly striving for more and more and more stuff. The reason that we can be content with what we have is because we are assured that God will never, ever abandon or forsake us. With assurances like this our fears disappear. We know that God is at our side.

Follow your leaders.

There is a small Presbyterian church just outside of Ocean View Delaware. In the winter just a few people gather inside for worship and warmth from the cold winter wind. But in the summer and especially on Labor Day Weekend the numbers swell as visitors fill the pews on Sunday mornings before heading to beach. I attended this church whenever I could. It was where my father and stepmother were married. It was there during the summers of my young adulthood that I began to have a more mature understanding of the gospel message. It started me on my pilgrimage toward God. I watched carefully the young pastor who had two churches to care for, and I admired his faith.

The author of Hebrews wants us to carefully observe the behavior of those leading us toward God. We are to learn from their behavior, but not imitate it. You see even those who are pastors, teachers and leaders in the church are themselves sinners. We are all sinners, so none of us can condemn others. We are to watch and learn from their behavior, not follow it. But we are to imitate their faith. When we find someone who has faith in Jesus Christ we should imitate it because faith in Jesus never changes or goes out of style, it is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The Lord’s Supper

So on Labor Day Weekend we are told to extend hospitality to strangers, remember the prisoners, keep the marital bed pure, give up our love of money, and imitate the faith of Christian leaders. When we do these things God has promised to bless us richly with an inheritance in heaven. But that is not why we do these things. We joyfully follow God because all of life is a gift. And such a precious gift as life is something we want to share with others and keep as pure as we can. We experience overwhelming gratitude which makes us want to shout “thank you” to heaven. This is called a sacrifice of praise. We take God’s gifts which we have protected and shared with others and offer this as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And this is the sacrifice that we are about to celebrate around this table today. Sorry, we don’t have any blue crabs for Labor Day Weekend, but around this table we offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving as we glorify God.

Lord Jesus we thank you for leading us this day around your table and for giving us life. We offer our sacrifices of praise in the form of sharing our gifts with others and protecting their purity. Accept these gifts with our thanksgiving for the glory of God. Amen.