Sermon John 3:16 “How Does God See Us ?”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon John 3:16 “How Does God See Us ?”
October 21, 2018

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I am continuing with our look at Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus.   Our God is a loving God who reveals himself to us in the Bible.   To achieve his purposes on earth he changes our identities to “Children of God”   and then brings us into the church where we can worship.   As we saw last week, God created the church to achieve his mission on earth.   That mission is to reconcile people to God through his son, Jesus Christ.   But before we can go out into the world to make disciples we must first be transformed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.   We will see today what the first step is in that transformation.   But first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So we see from this that God loves the world, the whole world.   God created every man, women, and child in the world in his image.   And he loves every one of them.   And remember, we are blessed to be a blessing to every family on earth until every family is blessed through us.  In order to do this, we too must love the world just as God loves it.  As Jesus told us:

Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

So we are to love others just as God loves us.   To do this we need the transformation of the Holy Spirit to make our hearts like God’s heart.   Let me tell you some stories about how the Holy Spirit transformed my heart.
When I was living in Washington I attended the National Presbyterian Church.   I would go to Sunday School at 9:30 and follow that up with Worship at 11 every Sunday.   Then around noon, I would go downstairs to Stone Hall for fellowship.   There I would meet my friends, other young professionals, and go out to lunch.   But as I grew spiritually I began to change.   When I entered Stone Hall I started to see people who were standing alone with no one to talk to.   So I started talking with them rather than my friends.

One person I talked with was Glen.   Glen had cerebral palsy after a traffic accident when he was very young.  Glen would flap his arms around uncontrollably.   And he had a hard time talking.   The accident had left him mentally retarded.  But Glen was in church every Sunday and loved Jesus.   So we became friends.   And I tried to make sure Glen was included whenever my group went to lunch.

Another person I talked with was Jane.   Jane was older than me.   Unlike most of the members of the church, Jane’s clothing was old and worn out.   I don’t think Jane was homeless, but she sure looked the part.   Jane was usually alone at church but occasionally a few friends would join her.   They look very poor too.   I got to know Jane pretty well and when I was teaching Bethel I invited her to my class.   She was thrilled to be invited and came every week for two years.   I saw Jane once or twice after I went to seminary.  I even introduced Grace to her.   But Jane died shortly after that.

When I went to Fuller Seminary I met Grace.  She was starting a group for international students who were learning English.  The really wanted to practice English with American, but they were afraid to ask.   I had never worked with international students before.  But God wanted me to expand my experiences.  So I said yes.

I was there to talk with the students about Jesus and give them rides.   Grace cooked them a nice meal for them.  But I had a hard time getting conversations started.    Then I realized that I was the only one eating with a fork.   They were all using chopsticks.  So I asked them to teach me how to use chopsticks.   That was all I needed to do.    They knew that I was interested in them and needed their help.   We all became friends.   I designed my church internship around caring for this group.   And they helped us organized my wedding with Grace.

In my first call, I went to a small church in a Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood called Eagle Rock.   I was there for a redevelopment effort.   The church had 30 members most of whom were in their 70s and 80s.   There wasn’t much time before the church was to be closed.   So Grace and I started a new congregation that would meet on Sunday evenings for worship and a small dinner.  Our hope was that we could start a new church.

I tried to recruit new people from the preschool the church had operated for decades.  But the parents and staff were quite hostile to the church.   So I looked elsewhere.   I put banners on the building, created a new website and used social networking.   But only a few people showed up.   So Grace and I went to a local farmer’s market and began passing out fliers.

I didn’t realize at that time that something was going on in the community.   It was 2008 and the Great Recession had started.   People were losing their jobs and their homes.   They were living in their cars, trucks, and RVs.   The streets and local park were filling up with the homeless living in their cars and trucks. 
They started getting our fliers and showing up for a free meal on Sunday nights.  But I knew that God did not want me to just feed them dinner.   God wanted me to bring them to Jesus Christ.  I would talk to them as they stood in line for dinner and invite them to worship.   It didn’t take long and 60 people were showing up for worship every Sunday night with 20 more coming for dinner.   

Several young women were coming who were squatting in an abandoned house on the other side of town.   They sang well so I asked them to become a choir.   They didn’t want to because they were embarrassed by their clothing and did not want to stand up front.   So I found some old choir robes another church didn’t need.  I dressed them up and we had a choir.

We also needed help with dinner.  Grace couldn’t do it all by herself for 80 people.   So I recruited Dirk to help.   Dirk had owned a successful security company installing security systems in homes and businesses.   But he lost it all, I think because of drugs.  So Dirk lived in his truck with his dog.   He began cooking for us and recruited other homeless people to help. 

One day Dirk came to me with an idea.  He would start a small business for homeless men.   They would sew LCD lights on orange safety vests.   Then Dirk would install a battery pack and the vests would not just reflect, they would glow brightly.    This sounded like a good idea so I got a micro-grant from Self Development of People and got Dirk started.

Sadly I had to leave Eagle Rock when their money ran out.   So I worked out a merger with a larger Philipino congregation which stabilized them financially.  And I am happy to say that the Sunday evening congregation continues today with my music leader now handling the preaching too.

I have had other experiences developing relationships with people others find hard to love.   Grace started a church in Princess Anne MD, the poorest county in the state.   And in Ocean City, the apartments around the church became magnets for poor families in the winter time.   Grace and I reached out to them to be part of the church.

Since I arrived in Middletown I have been involved with the Matthew Action Committee of the presbytery.   MAC meets here monthly to talk about the needs of immigrant families who are here illegally.   Last Wednesday I attended a meeting in Wilmington with Kevin Noriega.   Kevin is the Director of the Opportunity Scholars Program at Delaware State.   The Opportunity Scholars Program was set up by Bill and Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation, and by the Graham Family, former owners of the Washington Post.  They provide scholarships for DACA students to allow them to go to school.   And I was able to meet four of these DACA students this week.

All four student grew up in America.   They have little or no recollection of where they came from.   They speak English and went to American Schools.   The think of themselves as American and believe that through hard work they can succeed.   The DACA students at Delaware State support themselves and as a group maintains a 3.5 GPA.   But their stories are tragic.

One young man was in driver ed.   The teacher told him what documents to bring from home to get a drivers license.   So he went home and asked his mom for what he needed.  But she had to tell him for the first time that she did not have the documents he needed because she was here illegally.

Another young man was in sports.   He had an opportunity to go with the team to Canada.   So he took the release form to his mother.   But she told him he could not go because he was here with no documentation and therefore could not get back in the country to come home.

Another person applied to colleges and scholarships and received acceptances.   But then, a day before classes started, she was told not to come because her parents were here illegally.

Thankfully all of these students received Opportunity Scholarship and were admitted into Delaware State University under the DACA program.  But they still struggle financially because their parents are poor and they are ineligible for Federal financial aid.   As a result, Kevin Noriega, the Director of the Opportunity Scholars Program, has worked out a way through the Delaware State Foundation to receive donations to help these students out.   If you are interested in helping please let me know.

I am telling you these stories because all of these people we created by God in God’s image and are loved by God.   We are therefore to love them and bring them to Christ.   But first, we must learn to love them the way God loves them.   And this requires prayer and the help of the Holy Spirit.   So let’s pray.   

Father in heaven, change our hearts so that we may love people the way you do.   Help us to love those with physical deformities.   Help us to love the poor.  Help us to love the immigrant, even if they are here illegally.   Help us to love everyone just as you love us.   This we pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Sermon Ephesians 4:15 “The Church”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Ephesians 4:15 “The Church”
October 14, 2018

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We are now in the sixth week of our study of Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus.   We know that our triune God loves us very much.   God has revealed himself to us by giving us the Bible.   And God has given us new identities by calling us, Children of God.   Today we will look at another gift God gives us, the Church.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Who owns the church?  There are some people who say that the pastor owns the church.   I often refer to the church as “my church”.   But the church does not belong to the pastor.   Some say that the church belongs to the session.   The session has authority over the church and has the responsibility of providing for the spiritual growth of the members.  But the session does not own the church.   So who owns the church?  Some say the congregation owns the church.   After all, it is your contributions that keep the church going.   But the congregation does not own the church either.   So let’s turn to scripture to see who owns the church.

Ephesians 4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Jesus Christ owns the church.  So let’s ask Jesus what he wants the church to do.   For that let's go back to scripture.

Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.  2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

So the church is a group of people who are richly blessed by God.  They come to worship to thank God for all their blessings.   Then they return to the community to bless others.  By thanking God and blessing others the church grows until every family is blessed.  Church is a beautiful thing.

But sometimes church needs reformation.  This happened in the first century.    In the first century, church consisted of a Jerusalem temple and neighborhood communities called synagogues.   But the church got away from being a blessing for others.   Instead, it became judgemental and went after people who violated the law of Moses.   Jesus came as a reformer with a message designed to get the church back on track.

Matthew 22:37 … “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So Jesus redirected the church back to its original mission of loving God for all the blessings we have received and sharing these blessings with others out of our love for our neighbors.   Once again church is a beautiful thing.

But by the sixteenth-century reform was once again needed.   The problem was that the church was continuing to use Latin, a language that had disappeared.   The Bible the church used was the Latin Vulgate translated from Greek and Hebrew by Jerome.  But by the 16th century, almost no one could read it.   Most priests did not know Latin at all so they couldn’t read the Bible and they mumbled through the Latin worship service.

The Protestant reformers said that people should be able to read and understand the Bible.   And they said that the sacraments of communion and baptism had to be clearly understood.   So they began to use the language people used for worship and they began to translate the Bible into local languages.   And they trained pastors so they could correctly interpret the Bible and explain the sacraments clearly to God’s people.   And reformers took the additional step of setting up church structure in such a way that individual churches would be held accountable for properly proclaiming God’s word and administering sacraments.  With these reforms church once again became a beautiful thing.
Today, the church once again needs to be reformed.   We are still doing a good job of proclaiming the Word of God and administering sacraments.   But the church is in decline.   How can we be a blessing to all families on earth with fewer and fewer people and less and less money?  What do we do?

Let me tell you about a contemporary reformer, Lesslie Newbigin.   Dr. Newbigin was born in Scotland in 1909.  He was ordained by the Church of Scotland and sent to India as a missionary.  There Dr. Newbigin planted churches and became the first Bishop to serve India.   He wrote extensively about missiology, the theology of missions.   In 1974 Dr. Newbigin retired and he and his wife returned to England where he became a lecturer and writer. 
Upon returning to England, Dr. Newbigin realized that things had changed.   Before he left for India the church was robust, filled with people.   The church had a privileged place in society, a blessing the church had enjoyed since the 4th century with Emperor Constantine made it the official church of the empire.   People were expected to go to church.   Businesses were closed on Sundays.   There was social pressure to attend church.   And that’s what people did.

But by the 1970s all this had ended.  No longer did the church hold a privileged position in culture.   No longer was their social pressure on people to attend church on Sundays.    So the church was getting smaller and smaller as older people died and younger people did not join the way they had done before.   No longer was the church privileged.   Christendom had come to an end.  Once again reformation is needed.

Dr. Newbigin knew what had to be done.    He had spent a career in India where the church did not have a privileged place in the culture.   In fact, most people were Hindu.  So in that environment, the church had to return to its roots. 

Genesis 12:2 … I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

So the church in India would gather to worship and thank God for the blessings they received then they would go into the community and bless others by telling people the good news about Jesus Christ.    The church in India had to be missional.   And today, the church in western Europe and North America must also become missional.   We must be a blessing to our communities.
So what do we do?  We have made a good start by volunteering to serve meals for Old Daily Bread, and we bring stuff for Neighborhood House.   These are good things to do and they bless our community.   But Jesus, the head of the church, wants us to do more.   Let’s listen to what he has to say.
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So, we are to go into our communities and make disciples.   We are to tell people about Jesus Christ.   We are to invite people to come to church.  We are to warmly welcome people who come to church and encourage them to be involved.   This is what the church in India had to do.   And now we have to do it. 

But we can’t.  There is no way we can go into Bayberry, or Parkside, or Whitehall and make disciples.   The culture is against us.   We just don’t have the power to do it.   So Jesus, What should we do?
Here is what Jesus said.

Acts 1:4 On one occasion, while [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So we are to wait until the Holy Spirit comes upon us.   But when it does we will be witnesses in Bayberry, Whitehall, Parkside and all of Middletown.  We don’t know when this event of the Holy Spirit empowering this church will occur, but we can pray for it now.

Father in heaven, send your Holy Spirit to us this day.   Empower us to bless the people of Middletown by being witnesses of all that your son did when he was with us on earth.    So bless us, Lord, with your spirit so that we may go into the neighborhoods around the church and bless other with good news of Jesus Christ.   This we pray in his glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon John 1:12 “Who Am I?”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon John 1:12 “Who Am I?”
October 7, 2018

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I am continuing today with my sermon series based on our church-wide study of Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus.   We worship the God of the Bible who is one in essence and three persons living in community.   This God loves us very much.   And this God reveals himself to us in the Bible.  So we know who God is.   Now that we know that our next question is “Who Are We?”.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

When I was born I was given an identity.   I was the son of Jim and Betty Howard.   I was also a grandson and a nephew.  This remains my identity today.   My parents called me Jeffrey Thomas, and I still have that name.

But over the years my identity has changed.   The first big change I remember was when my grandfather walked me to my first day in kindergarten.   On that day my identity changed.  I became a student.

My identity as a student lasted for a number of years.  Eventually, my identity changed to employee and then business owner.   This lasted until I resumed my identity as student when I went to seminary.   And now I have the identity of husband and pastor.

We all have identities.  We have names given to us by our parents.  And we are identified by what we do.

These are all positive identities.  But we also have some negative identities.  You know them:  You’re too short.  You’re too tall.  You’re not pretty enough.  You’re not smart enough.  You’re not fast enough.  You’re too fat.  You’re too skinny.   You’re just not good enough.

We have all heard these words one time or another.  Maybe we have said these things to someone else.  Words have power and these negative words hurt.

The devil wants us to say these negative thoughts to ourselves.  Satan keeps whispering them in our ears.  And he wants us to repeat them to ourselves over and over again.  And we do this.  We tell ourselves over and over again that we are not good enough.

For some people, this gets so bad that they cannot sleep at night.  And for some people, negative thoughts are so debilitating that they can’t get out of bed in the morning.   When this happens we call it “Depression”.   Some people will go to a doctor to get a prescription for antidepressive medications.   Some people will go for therapy to understand the roots of these negative thoughts.   And some people will drink alcohol excessively to try to make the thoughts go away.

But the bad thoughts hang on.   And we say to ourselves:  I am too short.  I am too fat.  I am too skinny.  I am not fast enough.  I am not smart enough.   I am not good enough.   And as we say these things over and over to ourselves they become our identity.

Let’s look at scripture and someone with a real identity problem.

Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

Zacchaeus grew up being too short.   He must have heard the words “you’re not tall enough.” over and over again.   He must have heard “you’re too short”  even more.   And I guess people called him “Shorty”.

I suppose that one day Shorty had a conversation with his father.   His father might have told Shorty that since he was too small he would not inherit the farm.   The land would go to his brothers who had the size and strength to farm it.   Shorty had to make a living another way. 

So Shorty became a Tax Collector.   All the Romans wanted from Tax Collectors was money, so much per head.   How this was collected and how much was collected, was up to the Tax Collector.  And Tax Collector figured out that extortion was a good way to raise lots of money.   So my guess is that Shorty became a thug.  Shorty may have said something like this, “Give me my money or I’ll break your legs.”   Or maybe he said this,  “I want my money by this afternoon or the barley in your threshing room will go up in flames.”   Shorty must have made a fortune.   He extorted so much money he paid the Romans their taxes and kept the rest.  People must have hated Shorty.   He was not only short, but he was also an unethical thug.

One day Jesus was passing through Jerico, Shorty’s hometown.   The people had heard about Jesus’ teaching and healing.   Great crowds developed as Jesus passed Jerico on his way to Jerusalem.    Shorty wanted to see Jesus, but he couldn't because he was too short.  And the people hated him so much they wouldn’t help.   In fact, they probably wanted to trample him under their feet.   But Shorty was determined to get what he wanted so he climbed a tree hoping to get a glimpse of Jesus.   Then this happened:

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

Shorty got all that he hoped for and much more.   Not only did he get a glimpse of Jesus, but Jesus also noticed him, called to him, and invited himself to Shorty’s house for dinner. 

But look closely at what Jesus did.    Jesus called the man in the tree not by what he looked like, Shorty, nor by what he did, Tax Collector, but by name Zacchaeus.  “Zacchaeus”  is the Hebrew word for “clean, pure”.   So Jesus gave Shorty a new identity.  He would no longer be Shorty.   He would no longer be a tax collecting thug.   From now on his identity, as a follower of Jesus, would be Zacchaeus, “clean, pure”. 

But the people of Jerico did not understand.   When they looked up at the man in the tree they saw the short man who oppressed them and said this:

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “[Jesus] has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

So Jesus had to do something that would be a sign to everyone of Shorty’s new identity as Zacchaeus, clean, pure.  And Jesus had to seal this new identity on Shorty’s heart.  Jesus wanted Shorty to stop telling himself that he was too short.   Jesus wanted Shorty to stop thinking of himself as a thug.   Rather Jesus wanted Shorty to become Zacchaeus, clean, pure.  As a sign and seal of Zacchaeus’ new identity, Jesus went to his house for dinner.

Like Shorty, we all have internalized all kinds of negative thoughts.   We are too short.  We are too tall.   We are not fast enough.   We are not pretty enough.   We are too fat.   We are too skinny.   We are not smart enough.   We are not good enough.   These negative thoughts have become our identities.   But like Shorty, Jesus sees us and offers us a new identity.

John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Jesus has changed your identity.   You are no longer what you thought you were when you walked in here today.   You are now a new person because Jesus calls you a Child of God.

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

You are born of God.  You are Children of God.   This is your new identity.   When you wake up in the morning, as you live your day, when you go to sleep at night always have these words on your lips and in your mind:  “I am a Child of God.

Of course, Jesus will provide a sign for all to see that you are a Child of God.   And Jesus will seal this new identity on your hearts.   He will do this, just like Jesus did for Zacchaeus, he will come here for dinner.
And that is what this table is all about.   As we gather around the communion table today Jesus is here with us.   This meal is a sign and seal of our new identities as Children of God.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus thank you for calling us Children of God.   Thank you for giving us this new identity and sealing it in our hearts through the sacrament of your supper.   Purge from our minds all negative thoughts that have defined us for so long.   Help us to remember, each waking moment, our new identities as Children of God.   Amen. 

Sermon 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “The Bible”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “The Bible”
October 7, 2018

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We are now in the fourth week of Believe the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus.  We have discovered that the God we worship is one in essence but three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This God loves us very much.   So we know about the God of the Bible, but how do we know this?   Well, the only way we could ever know God is if God revealed himself to us.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

God reveals himself to everyone through creation.   The created world we live in is evidence of a creator.   And we can learn a lot about a creator by looking at the creation.  The world we live in is beautiful.   So the creator must be beautiful.   The world we live in works under certain laws.   So the creator must be a lawgiver.

But the created world is not the only way God reveals himself to us.   God is also revealed in the Bible. 

The Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, was once an oral history.   People remembered and retold the stories of how their ancestors interacted with God.   Eventually, these stories were edited and written down.  Multiple stories were woven together to form a completed work.  And all of this was done under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who guided the process so that it would become the word of God.

Scribes would write using ink on parchment.  Dried lambskins were prepared and the Hebrew scriptures were written down.  The lambskins were then sewn together and rolled up into a scroll.   These scrolls were entrusted to a teacher who would protect them, study them, and preach from them on the Sabbath.   We the scrolls wore out they were carefully copies, by hand, unto new lambskins.   And the old scrolls were buried.

In the third century before Christ, the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek at the great library in Alexandria.  The legend is that 70 translators began work and produced identical translations.  Therefore this translation is called “the seventy” or “the Septuagint.”   The Greek translation of the Hebrews Scriptures, the Septuagint, was the Bible of the early church.

And then something happened.  Our triune God sent the Son to earth as a man Jesus of Nazareth.   We read this in the first chapter of the Gospel of John:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The word of God was the Hebrew scriptures.   But now everything has changed.   Jesus Christ is the Word of God.  Our New Testament was written based on the experience of the incarnation of the Son and the coming to earth of the Holy Spirit.

As a result of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection his followers began to write down their reflections.   They talked about what Jesus said and did and taught.  And they tried to make sense of it, using the Hebrew scriptures as the basis of their thought.   These writings were used by the early church and were collected into what we call our New Testament.

The New Testament was written in Greek.   This was not the Classical Greek of the poets and philosophers.  Nor was it modern Greek spoken today.   Rather it was Koine Greek, ordinary every day Greek used by people in the first century as they lived their lives.  The New Testament was written on papyrus sheets.   We do not have the originals of any of the books.   But we have thousands of early copies on papyrus sheets.

Papyrus is a fibrous plant.  It would be harvested and dried.   Vertical strips would be glued together.   Then horizontal strips would be glued and dried.   Then they would be glued together, like plywood, to form rigid sheets for writing.   New Testament books would be copied unto papyrus sheets and sheets would be bound together by leather straps.

In the fourth century, Emporer Constantine ordered 50 complete Bibles, Old, and New Testament to be produced and be distributed all over the Empire.   Several of these still exist and for the basis of most modern translations.
Early in the fifth century, St. Jerome went to Bethlehem where he translated the Hebrew scriptures and Greek New Testament into Latin.   The Vulgate was the Bible of the church throughout the Middle Ages.

In the sixteenth century, the Protestant reformers were concerned that so few people could read Jerome’s Latin translations.   So they started producing translations in languages people could easily learn to read, their own languages.  William Tyndale and John Wycliffe were early pioneers in the translation of the Bible into English.

Today we are using the New Internation Version (2011) translation of the Bible.   This is a very good translation.   It is based on the top scholarship of ancient texts.   But the Presbyterian church does not have an official translation.   We believe all translations, although very good, cannot possibly be as good as reading the Bible in its original languages.   So all Presbyterian pastors are required to learn Hebrew and Greek and be able to read scripture in its original languages.

And that brings us to today’s scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Let me tell you my story.  23 years ago this month God spoke to me.   This experience transformed my life.  My memory of this is as clear today as it was back then.  Here is what happened.

I was driving to church one morning as I did every Sunday morning.   On the radio, I was listening to Stained Glass Bluegrass with Red Shipley.   I loved Christian bluegrass music back then.  But I remember turning off the radio.   I had some things to tell God.

During the 40 minute drive, I prayed.   I asked God why I didn't have a wife and family.   I asked God why my business was in trouble.   I asked God why he wasn’t blessing me.   I went to church every Sunday.  I believed in Jesus Christ.   I tried to do everything I was supposed to do.  But God wasn’t holding up his side of the bargain.    So I prayed and I got angrier and angrier the closer I got to church.

Once I was in church and safely seated in the midst of saints I continued to pray.   I have no idea what the preacher was talking about.  I have no memory of the hymns we sang.   But I clearly remember my angry prayers and wondering if it is alright to pray when you are angry.

Then it happened.   God spoke to me.   It was as clear as if God was speaking into this microphone.  But no one else heard I.  The world seem to pause as if I had hit the pause button.   And God said, “It's in the book.”
I heard these words and reached down to pick up a black pew Bible and began skimming the first part of it.   Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca were all names I recognized.   After all, I did spend 12 years in Presbyterian Sunday School classes as a kid.  I recognized the names, but I couldn’t remember the stories.   And I didn’t know what they meant.  But I had to know what was in this book because my life depended on it.

The next Sunday I was in the Soar Singles Ministry, the first Sunday School class I had attended in decades.   The next Wednesday I went to the Wednesnight Night Alive weekly dinner and followed two people I met at Soar into the Bethel Bible Series.   Two weeks later I attended my first All Church Retreat at Sandy Cove here in Northeast Maryland.

A year later I was invited to be on the leadership team for the Soar Singles Ministry.   And a year after that I became the leader of that group.  The next year my pastor invited me to a Bethel Teachers Class.   And after teaching Bethel for four years I went to Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California to become a Presbyterian pastor.  There God blessed me with everything I had asked for.   God gave me a beautiful wife and a vocation to serve the church.
And this my ministry:   I want you to experience what I experienced, not God saying something to you, but the transformation that comes about when you are actively engaged with the word of God.   That is why I started Bible studies as soon as I got here.   I wanted to end the early service in order to pay greater attention to the Christian Education program for adults and children.   I want New Covenant to experience a real new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Let’s pray.   Lord God, we ask you this day that you will write you word on our hearts.   Bless us as we study, meditate and pray on your Word.   Transform us into your people.    This we pray in the name of the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon Psalm 121:1-2 “Does God Care About Me?”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 121:1-2 “Does God Care About Me?”
September 16, 2018

Listen to this sermon.

Last week we began Believe the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus in our Christian education classes and in worship.   We asked the question, “Who is God?”.   We worship the creator God who is one being in the community of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   This God created us in his image to live in community with each other in families, neighborhoods, and churches.   God creates communities in his image of grace, love, and fellowship.

Today we will ask the next logical question, “Does this God of the Bible care about me?”.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

There are three questions we will be asking today:  First, “Is God Good?”.  Second, “Does God care about me?”.  And Third, “Does God have a plan for my life?”.   Let’s look at each of these.

Is God good?  Let me tell you a story.   God had promised children to Abram and Sarai.  Their descendants would number more than all the grains of sand in the sea.  But as they grew older with no children they became impatient and decided to take matters into their own hands.   Abram and Sarai conspired to have Abram get a slave, Hagar, pregnant so that he would have his child.  Hagar conceived and bore  Abram a son, Ishmael.   As you might expect Sarai regretted her decision and was very jealous of Hagar and her son.

Years later Sarai had her own son.   She laughed so hard when she knew she would have a baby in her old age she named her son with the Hebrew word for laugh, Isaac.  Once Isaac was born there was no longer any need for Hagar and Ishmael in the family.   So they were sent out.   And you would expect that this would be the end of their story.  The biblical focus will be on Isaac and his family.   But we have this curious story from Genesis

 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also because he is your offspring.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she[c] began to sob.

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

So what do you think?   Is God good?  I think so.   He took this boy, born in the sin of adultery, and blessed him richly.   And God blesses us too.  So I think we have to conclude that God truly is good.

Now, let’s turn to the next question.   Does God care about me?  Consider these words of the psalmist from the familiar King James Version.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God blesses us with many things.  He has given us a world where we have plenty to eat and drink.   It is filled with beauty in streams and forests and beaches and mountains and everything else.  God has forgiven our sin and restored our relationship with him.  God gently guides us with his word.   God protects us from evil.  God blesses us with families, neighborhoods, and churches.  And God promises us eternal life.   So what do you think?   Does God care about us?  Of course, God cares for all of us.

So far we have found that God is good and God cares about us.   That leaves us with one more question.   Does our good God who cares for us have a plan for our lives?  Listen to this story from the first chapter of Jeremiah.

4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,  5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.  I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 

6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.

God chose Jeremiah to be a prophet before he was even born.   God revealed this plan to Jeremiah when he was still a child.   And God promised to give Jeremiah the gifts he needed to do what God wanted him to do.  So God had a plan for Jeremiah’s life.

God has certainly had a plan for me.   I spent a great deal of time trying to implement my own plan.   I wanted a successful business and a family.   But time after time something came up to block me.   It seemed like I was always going uphill.  But then one day I realized that God wanted me to serve his church.   I was ordained a deacon and became a Bethel teacher.   Then I went to seminary and began the process to become a pastor.   Since then God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and ministries where I can serve his kingdom.  I know now that God had a plan for my life all along.   And I am certain that God has a plan for all of your lives as well.

So what have we learned today?  We know that the God of the Bible is good.  God cares for you and me.   And God has a plan for our lives.
Listen to these wonderful words from the 121st Psalm.

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.
 
Let’s pray.  Father in heaven we praise you for your goodness.   We thank you for caring about us and blessing us with a plan for our lives.   Bless us each day as we live out your plan assured that you will always care for us.   This we pray filled with your spirit and in your Son’s name.  Amen.

Sermon 2 Corinthians 13:14 - “Who is God?”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon 2 Corinthians 13:14 - “Who is God?”
September 9, 2018

Listen to this sermon.

This morning I am beginning a series of sermons drawn from Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus.  This is part of a combined effort of both the Christian Education and Worship Committees.   Each week the same topic with be the subject of my weekly sermon and Bible Study classes for adults, students, and children.  So there will be one topic each week that we all hear in worship and can talk about in small groups at all age levels.   And our hope is that the entire church will begin “living the story of the Bible to become like Jesus.  Let’s pray.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

According to a recent Gallup poll, 89% of Americans believe in God, https://news.gallup.com/poll/193271/americans-believe-god.aspx.  This should not be surprising.   As we look around our world we see many created things.   This building, the chair you sit in, the windows you look out and the sound system I am using are all designed by humans.  And we can see the sky, sun, moon, stars, soybean fields, and grass lawns which are also created, but not by humans.  We know that the creator is God.   Psalm 19:1 puts it this way, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”   So just by looking at the world, we live in we know that there is a God.

We also know that there is a God because of our minds.   Aristotle asked people to consider the following.   Suppose you take a bottle of cold water from your refrigerator and put it on the kitchen counter.   Suddenly your phone rings and you leave the kitchen to answer it.   You forget about the bottle of water until you return later that afternoon.   Now, is the water still cold?  No, it is now room temperature.  Why?  Because the kitchen is warm.  Why is the kitchen warm?  Because it is a hot summer day.   Why is it a hot summer day?   Because the sun is high in the sky and has been warming the air all day.   Why is the sun high in the sky?   We could keep asking these questions again and again until we get to something that causes everything else, a first cause.  And this we call God.   God started everything going.   God is here today keeping everything going.  And since cause and effect is an intelligible process God must know what is happening and his will is causing it to happen.

So we know that God exists from both our experience and intellect. The Bible assumes all of this.   We read this in Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”   Anyone who opens their eyes and engages in thought will realize that God exists.

The real question we have,  the one the Bible deals with is, “Who is God?”.   We must select the God we will serve.  We read this in Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

So according to Joshua, we are to worship and serve Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel.   This is the creator God who made the world and made you and me.   And this is the only God we believe in and worship.  We read this in Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” 

So we believe the one true God, the creator, and we are to pass this belief on generation to generation.

But in the New Testament, we see something a little different.   In 2 Corinthians 13:14 we read,

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 

So here we seem to have three gods: the Lord Jesus Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit.   There seems to be a math problem here.   The Old Testament told us that we have one God.   But here we seem to have three Gods.   So what is going on?  Are Christians still worshiping the one creator God?

The answer is yes we are worshiping the same God.  Theologians have come up with a fancy term, “Trinity”,  to describe this.  They tell us that the God we worship has one being, the Lord God of Israel, but has been revealed to us as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   God has one essence.  But our God is not a God of individualism.  Rather our God is a God of community, a community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

America is a land that values individualism.   We want to believe that we can do it ourselves.   We don’t really need community.   We can go it alone if we want.  We don’t have to worship as part of a church we can worship alone and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.   But there is a problem with this because our God is a God of community who created us to be in community too.  Listen to this from Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  27 So God created mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Notice what God said as he was creating us.   God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”  “Our”!  It was our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who created us.   God exists in community.   God gave us his image by placing us in community.   Men and women are created to be in fellowship with others in family, neighborhoods, and churches.   So the church is created in the very image of our triune God.  We are a community that worships the God who exists in community.

So what should a community, created in the image of God’s community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be like?  What would be the characteristics of that kind of community?    Remember our scripture for this week, 2 Corinthians 13:14,  “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”   God’s community is filled with grace, love, and fellowship.   The church was created in the image of this community.   So church must also be a community of grace, love, and fellowship.   We must treat each other with kindness, be forgiving, offer friendship to others, and care for those in need.

As I said before America is a land that values individualism over community.   We believe in God and think we can act out our belief alone without community.  In my generation, many of us have no real friends.  Our best friend is for many of us the television.   Today there is a new generation whose best friend is a cell phone.  People are with their phones all the time.   They constantly talk to their phones by text messages.   The closest thing they have to community is a group chat or social network.   So as a result of cell phone technology, we are becoming a nation of radical individualists unable to form true communities.

Once people leave school there are few places where they can find real fellowship.   Sometimes they can find fellowship at work if social interaction goes on among people.   Maybe they find community in a bar with people drinking with each other.   Community could be found across the fence in your backyard with your neighbor, but most people are afraid of their neighbors.   So where can you go to meet people, make friends and be a part of a community?  I think the best place for that to happen is right here in church because church was created as a community in the image of our loving, gracious, and communal God. 

So people right here in Middletown are living isolated lives with few if any real friends.  They go to work.  Then they come home to their computer check messages and maybe stream something on youtube.   They are truly lonely because God created them to be in community.   What would be the loving and gracious thing that we could do for them?   I think the most loving thing we could do is to invite them to church where they can find the community they crave.  So the best thing you could do is invite people you meet to come here to a loving and gracious fellowship of believers and be part of a genuine community.
 
So we worship the one true God, our creator.   This God exists in community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   This community is characterized by grace, love, and fellowship.  The church is created as a community in the image of God.   So church is also characterized by grace, love, and fellowship.   And we can offer this community to a world that is desperately looking for it.  People crave community because they were created to be in community in the image of our communal God.   So let’s love our neighbor by inviting him or her to be a part of our divine community here at New Covenant Church. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit create for us a community filled with grace, love, and fellowship.   The help us to invite people to be a part of this community satisfying their deepest desires to be in community with others.   This we pray in your glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon Song of Solomon 2:8-17 “Loved By God”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Song of Solomon 2:8-17  “Loved By God”
September 2, 2018

This morning we are going to look at something a little different.  The Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs or Canticles is an Old Testament Book.  It contains poetry about the love between a man and a woman.  This is a topic people have been writing about since writing was invented.  And some of the most beautiful poetry ever written is about the love a man has for his wife and the love a wife has for her husband.  We will hear today some of the most beautiful poetry about love the world has ever heard.  We will get to this, but first, let's pray.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

Song of Solomon 2:1-7
I am a rose of Sharon a lily of the valleys.
He
2 Like a lily among thorns
    is my darling among the young women.
She
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
    is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
    and let his banner over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.

The Song of Solomon is unquestionably beautiful.  But a question about it has been raised by faithful believers for centuries.  They have wondered, should the Song of Solomon be in the Bible?  Yes, it is beautiful love poetry.  But does it tell us anything about God?  God is not even mentioned in the book.

A debate raged in the first century among Hebrew scholars.  Some argued for its removal from the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament because it did not contain any of the names of God.  But Rabbi Akiva argued that it should remain.  He said that we should read it allegorically, as a metaphor.  He said to read the Song of Solomon as if it is talking about God's love for Israel.  Rabbi Akiva's interpretation was accepted by the rabbis and this is the way Jews read this book today.  In modern Judaism, the Song of Solomon is used for personal meditations during the season of Passover.  Jews are encouraged to see in it God's great love for his people.

Christians have also had their problems with this book as well.  The second-century Christian scholar Origen wrote ten commentaries on the Song of Solomon.  In them, he agreed with Rabbi Akiva that the book should be read allegorically.  But Origen said that the groom is understood to be Christ.  And the bride is his church.  Origen's allegorical interpretation guided the church throughout the Middle Ages.  And during this time more books were written about the Song of Solomon than any other biblical work.

But by the time of the Protestant reformation allegorical interpretations had gone out of favor.  We wanted to read scripture more literally.  And so we had big problems with the love poetry of the Song of Solomon.  Calvin never wrote a commentary on it.  And the Song of Solomon is assigned by the revised common lectionary to be read on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend when most preachers are on vacation and can avoid it.  As far as I know, none of my preacher friends have ever preached on it.

But I think it would be a shame to miss out on the beautiful love poetry of the Song of Solomon.  And I think this is how we should interpret it.   Jesus told us to love God will all our heart, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  The Song of Solomon is a celebration of this love.  God loves us and we love God and we love one another.  And so in this spirit, I offer to you the Song of Solomon chapter 2.

8 Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

God loves us so much he is constantly searching for us.  For those of us who have never heard his name, he will search for us over hills and in the valleys until he finds us.  For believers, he looks for in daily prayer and Sunday worship hoping that we will be there.  And in his search for us God will never ever grow old, never get tired and never give up.  God loves us so much, just as a man loves a woman.  And his passionate pursuit lasts forever.  Let's get back to the song.

    Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.

God loves us so much he is constantly here with us.  He is looking at us through these windows.  He is listening to us as we sing his praises and he speaks to us in scripture.  Our hearts beat faster and faster as our beloved God approaches.  And we faint with excitement as God tells us that he loves us and wants us to come away with him.  Let's return to the song.

11 See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
    my beautiful one, come with me.”

God has invited us to return with him to the Garden of Eden.  The sin, of our parents Adam and Eve, has been forgiven.  Our love affair with God is back on.  And we can enjoy being with him for eternity.  God loves us even more than a bride loves her husband.  God wants us to be with him even more than a groom wants to be with his new wife.

But there is a problem.  God wants us so much, but we seem to be missing.  Since the time of Adam and Eve, we have been hiding from God.  So God is searching for us.  Let's go back to the song and hear God's voice.

14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
    in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
    let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.

And so God is searching for us.  He loves us and misses us.  He wants to see our beautiful faces in worship.  He wants to hear our sweet voices in prayer and singing.  God grieves when we miss worship.  God celebrates when we are here. And God will find us wherever we are hiding.  Back to the song.

15 Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
    our vineyards that are in bloom.

God has placed us in a beautiful garden with blue sky and green fields.  He has given us ample food and everything we need for a good life.  All he asks is that we be with him in worship, speak to him in song and prayer, and listen to his voice in scripture and sermon.  God loves us so much.  And so how are we to respond to this wonderful offer of love from our God?  Do we spurn him?  Do we run away?  Or do we embrace him as a young woman embraces a man who wants to marry her?    Here is our response to God:

16 My beloved is mine and I am his;
    he browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
    on the rugged hills.

The relationship God wants with us is like that of man and woman on their honeymoon night.  God loves us so much he wants to hug us and kiss us and hold our hands and whisper poetry in our ears.  God wants to live with us, as our companion, in paradise.  And so God wants to hear from us in prayer and speak to us through scripture every day.

And so we are richly loved by God as a man deeply loves a woman or a woman deeply loves a man.  God wants to be with us in worship.  God wants to hear our voices in prayer and singing.  God loves us so much he sent his son Jesus Christ to be with us.  God has wiped away our sin, forgiven us so that his relationship with us is restored.  Rest in the arms of the God who loves you more than anything.

Song of Solomon 3:1-5
All night long on my bed
    I looked for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
    to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.

Let's pray.  O God we love you.  We love to hear your voice in scripture.  We love to be with you in prayer and worship.  We love your Son and love your Spirit.  We love you.  Amen.