Sermon, November 25, 2007, "Hopeful Future"

The following is a sermon I preached on my last Sunday with Faith Lutheran

Christ the King Sunday
November 25, 2007
Herb Palmer
Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire
“Hopeful Future”, Luke 23:33-43

This is weird. A dying man turns to Jesus, who is also dying; and the man asked: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus promised the man what he asked for. The man is dying and so is Jesus and, yet, he gives the man hope. By all appearances both of their lives were over. But the weirder thing is: we know that it isn’t the end of their stories. They didn’t give up. They put their faith in what is called the kingdom. One asked for a place in the kingdom and the other was giving out places. Two dying men talk like they had hope. And they are right.

What is this Kingdom? Where is it? How can we recognize it? Sometimes we want to say that the kingdom is out there, up there, after we die. Jesus said the kingdom is near. The kingdom is here.

Jesus used images through parables and stories to help us understand the presence of the kingdom. The kingdom is like a small mustard seed that grows into a big bush. The kingdom is like a treasure found in a field and the person finding the treasure sells everything he has in order to own the field and thus own the treasure. The kingdom is like a shepherd whose flock is not complete until he knows every sheep is safely in his care. The kingdom is like a father who runs down the road to meet his runaway son who is returning home, shamed. The father welcomes and restores his son back into the family. In all of those metaphors about the kingdom something changes.

This kingdom, according to Jesus, is about hope and people who are changed by this hope. The kingdom is wherever the redemptive love of God is doing something. It is this love of God that changes things. The dying man believed that hope to change things was possible even for him. And he was right. He asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom. Jesus assured him that very day he is remembered. And so are we. And so are we! Today… this very day… we are with Jesus in his kingdom. What would happen to us; what would happen to a community of people whose lives are lived as though they believed that?

Here is our point of curiosity: What happens to people when they know, figure out, or trust that they are also remembered and made a part of the kingdom, today?

If there had to be a story written about the church that is worth reading, it should be a story about people when they know they are remembered for God’s kingdom. This story would be about what becomes of them after they know that.

If I were to write that story about our years together I would want to write about the moments when there was trust in the presence of the kingdom of God. I would want to write about the people who believed that the kingdom was actually breaking in. I would want to tell about what happened to and through those persons as a result. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful story of hope?

In fact, that is exactly what I will remember about people in this faith community and the journey we shared. I will remember what happened to people when they had those moments of knowing that they were remembered in the kingdom of God.

I can’t help it. Deeply rooted in my call to ministry is a passion to see the presence of the kingdom of God at work in the lives of people. That is how God has wired me. Rooted in the Call of some pastors is to build buildings. Others will see it in being part of bigger churches. I am grateful that there are people called to do those things; that just isn’t me.

In the story about the awareness of the kingdom of God among us, you can be assured, therefore, that there will be things that will not be included. It isn’t that I want to ignore or deny them. It is because I don’t find them to be very life giving. I could tell the sordid details of congregational intrigue and I could fill you in on the gossip. It might have a fascination. It might have a wide audience. I just don’t find it to be life giving.

Neither will I remember to tell about budget meetings. It won’t be most council meetings, and even fewer Executive Board meetings; and my personal favorite meeting that will be left out of the story is about whether we should have an altar rail in the sanctuary. I won’t remember statistics about who is in and who is out of the membership. I won’t remember if we sang your favorite hymn or sang my favorite hymn. I won’t remember most of the stuff about which we seem to occupy church life. For those people who thrive on those things I will leave those matters for the way you will tell about the church… it is all yours.

I will remember what happened to people when they came near to the kingdom of God. I will remember when they knew in that moment they were remembered by God and it filled them with hope. I will remember the moments when God’s kingdom was present, real, alive, life giving. Those are the moments I treasure.

I am so grateful to God for those holy moments I was privileged to be part of. I have lived for those moments to pour the water over the head of a child or an adult and share in the miracle of God’s grace; I am always in awe of what God is doing when I have the privilege to preside at the altar where the bread and wine that will be shared will be received as the body and blood of Christ. I have loved seeing the courage of people who were faced with life-threatening circumstances… and that courage was not their own doing. It doesn’t get any better than to announce at the grave of a person who has died in Christ that not even death will be able to have its power over them.

My joy is when someone “get’s it”. I love to be part of that moment when someone else says, “So, that’s it!” For such times… for such moments, I will invest whatever time it takes. I am grateful to God that God would allow me to be part of those holy moments when the kingdom breaks in and breaks through on someone’s life.

Yes, indeed, those are holy moments. Those are moments when we are bold to believe that God has remembered us. I am grateful for this ministry of holy moments; the relationships that have been formed around them; and I am grateful for the privilege to be welcomed into your life to share them.

Well, it is not important what I remember, however, is it? What is important is that God remembers. What is important is that God will never give up putting signs of the presence of kingdom right in front of us. What God has yet in store for your ministry is good. Seek it even if you must go around walls; venture into areas that are not nice; give out of your poverty of the things you have or don’t have. God will not withhold anything for those who seek ministry for the sake of the presence of the kingdom of God.

God’s kingdom, remember, is like a treasure hidden in a field… and it already is yours to own. I hope that your future is filled with the results of discovering what to do with this treasure. The future for those who own such a treasure is hopeful because the treasure is discovering what it is like to be in the hands of God. That is what the man on the cross next to Jesus had figured out. He saw Jesus was in the hand of God and he wanted to be where Jesus is. That shouldn’t be too difficult for us to also figure out.

May the God who is our hope and who directs our future, fill you with life, wonder, curiosity, and a continuing story with persons or even a congregation who find themselves all of a sudden in the presence of the kingdom of God and you spend the rest of your life discovering what to do about it. Amen

Sermon, Nov. 18, What have we learned?

Celebration Sunday, 40 Days of community
November 18, 2007
Herb Palmer
Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire
Exodus 15:11-13; II Corinthians 4:1-12; John 4:31-38
What we have learned

40 Days of community comes to an end today. What have we learned?

Usually when I hear that question: What have we learned, I recall when I was a child and I made bad decisions. My mom would first tell me about her disappointment but then she would ask that character building question: “What did you learn from this?” Of course, in her mind, where she was heading with that was for only one right answer – Don’t do it again.

Life experiences do teach us. They make us smarter about life. Building relationships also teaches us. 40 Days of Community has been about building relationships. What have we learned these 40 days of Community… about building relationships?

There were skeptics in the beginning. The content for building relationships in these 40 days of community was about worship, prayer, serving, and such things. This content was familiar and there were some people who didn’t believe there was anything else for them to learn about worship, prayer, serving, and such things. For some people, since the content wasn’t written by someone who belonged to the Lutheran community, the content for them was viewed as shallow or at least as suspect.

So, there was something to learn even before getting into the 40 Days of Community. We had to learn that this was not about what you know but who you will get to know. This was about building relationships through, what I identified when we began 40 Days of community as, Jesus’ table revolution.

What then have we learned?
We have learned that it is better together.

When we serve, when we worship, when we pray, when we love, it is always better together. We can worship on our own but when the Body comes together and lifts its voice to God with praise; and there are musical instruments or a pipe organ supporting and leading the singing – it is better together.

Serving is better together. Our Faith Groups during these 40 Days of Community served together to feed hungry people, serve the sick, and contribute to the needs of many people. Together they took on the opportunity.

Love is part of building relationships and love is always together. Love is directed toward another.

And when our groups met together, in that small circle of people, we could bear our hearts to one another. It always looks better when we can have other Christian brothers and sisters listening, sharing, and praying together.

Building relationships we learn that it is better together. A second thing we learned is that being together increases our courage. What took place when we came together in our small group increased our courage to speak, share, serve – even some of you got the courage to pray out loud in front of other people.

In our Community Hour each week we had someone from the congregation share a testimony from their life and their faith. Something stirred in me as I heard their stories; and every one of them gave me courage to face the challenges of my life.

Valarie, a cancer survivor, shared that God gave her courage to receive one day at a time.

Don, spoke about reaching out and the value of connecting into the life of another person for whom Christ died. The Faith community is a place where people can find the heart and mercy of God. That takes courage to share that with others.

Linda witnessed that sometimes we don’t choose our way of life it chooses us. She spoke about family life with the presence of mental illness and the need for the courage to press on.

Kathy reminded us of the big heart of the people of Houston who opened our city to Katrina survivors. Serving one another takes courage to get out of our comfort zone, and when we do, we know it is the right thing to do.

Rachel shared that learning to live a generous life comes often through those teaching moments in life. Living a generous life comes through the decisions we make to be stewards of the things we have and the relationships we can build.

Each of these persons spoke about faith in God. Faith, that is lived out as courage and trusting that God really does go with us. God’s presence is not in some passive way as to just go along; but God, by his presence, gives intangible things that translate into courage to live.

Paul spoke of this in his letter to the church. He says that the courage he and others had experienced was a power from God. He wrote: “we are hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

This power to press on is from God, he says; and notice it was done in community. WE, he said, are hard pressed – but not destroyed. This courage we discovered – he said – is not from us – it is from God. It is as a community they could say together: This is coming from God for us.

We have learned it is better together. We have learned that being together increases our courage to live and to serve. A third thing we have learned is that what we do together is part of something bigger. I can’t think of anything major that happened in these 40 Days of community; but there were many little things that took place. New relationships began; people learned to pray; some people got out of their comfort zone to pray aloud or to serve other people in new ways. Even through those small things there was growth. Hearts grew a bit more compassionate; attitudes grew softer; perhaps a marriage found some healing to go on together; or someone with a personal problem gained new insight.

These were just many small things that we might not even know now what will become of them but God will use these things for something bigger. Jesus said to his disciples: God will bring in the harvest. Just look around you. What was sown is ready to be harvested even before it was expected to be harvested.

We all can rejoice that we have had some part along the way. And some of that happened in small ways in your Faith groups during these 40 days of community. We are part of something bigger than ourselves. We do what we can and leave it to God for what will yet happen.

So, what have we learned these 40 Days of community?

We have learned about Building relationships; Building Believers; Serving to Share Christ is BETTER TOGETHER.

We have learned that these things are part of a process of maturing in the faith. Take into your heart what has been learned. I hope it will create in you a desire to want more. Be hungry for more, because the truth is, we need one another.

Our Faith Day school sings a song: If we hold on Together. The children sing this song hand in hand, swaying from side to side. I am going to read just a little bit of that song, and as I do I want you to do as those children do when they sing this song. Take the hand or lock arms with the person next to you. Hold on together, the song says. So, let’s do it in a visible way, right now.
Are you holding on? Just this time, no one will care if you decide to sway back and forth.

Here are the words of the song:

Don’t lose your way with each passing day.
You’ve come so far, don’t throw it away.
Live believing dreams are for weaving,
Wonders are waiting to start.
Live your story, faith, hope, and glory.
Hold to the truth in your heart.

Now, here is the refrain. Make sure you are holding on.

If we hold on together,
I know our dreams will never die.
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by for you and I.

Hold on together. Not for dreams…but for the real life stuff… which takes courage, faith, and much love. Hold on together because it is better together.
Build together. Believe together. Share Christ. Together. Live your story, faith, hope and glory. Together. If we have learned that, we have learned much. Amen

Sermon, Serving Together, November 4, 2007

Serving Together
40 Days of Community Series
November 4, 2007
Jeremiah 29:11-14; Galatians 6:2-10; John 13:3-17

CBS News does a human interest story every Friday on their regular evening news program. This past Friday the story was about “picking up Butch.” It is a long tradition at Middlebury College to pick up Butch. The Freshmen are oriented to this tradition and year after year the tradition is passed on to “pick up Butch”.

Butch is a man in the community who is disabled. For the last 30 years students have picked up Butch to take him to football games, basket ball games, and baseball games. The students literally have to pick up Butch at his home, put him in a wheel chair, and push him to the campus. Rain or shine.There are students who pick up Butch to take him to other places as well; and the school has been picking up some bills to support the family. If a college or university wants to be known for traditions, here is one where it is a privilege to serve. And what is impressive is that year after year the students serve together.

There are very few things that can bond a group of people as when they are serving together. Think about the projects you have worked on together with other people. Together you planned, worked, laughed, and struggled through decisions. Together you had a great sense of accomplishment when it was over… you were bonding together in a way that just doesn’t happen unless you are part of an experience like that..serving together.

Today, as we take a closer look at serving, with the interest of the value of serving together. At the Community Hour I am talking about/talked about serving together as TEAM work. In these few moments I want to talk about the right attitude and motivation for serving together.
Jesus gives the example we are to follow when it comes to serving. That example was on the night Jesus was arrested. On that night when he and his followers were together sharing a meal, Jesus got up, wrapped a towel around himself, took a basin of water and he began to wash the feet of his followers. Jesus says he wants to leave for us an example for the character of our serving.

I want to first take a look at three things that Jesus did not do and from which we must guard ourselves; and then three things he did do when he modeled for us how we are to serve.

The first thing Jesus did not do and from which we need to guard ourselves is to substitute money for time. It just would not have been the same if Jesus paid someone else to do the foot washing; and neither is it the same when we make up our time with money.

Time is our most valuable resource. Because time is at such a premium we might think that we don’t have the time to get involved so we will give some money rather than serving together. The money is greatly needed and appreciated; but it is not the same as taking the time and getting personally involved. Because we are called to serve and it is core to the character of the Christian life, we must also give the time to serve.

The second thing Jesus did not do and from which we need to guard ourselves is to institutionalize serving and believe that serving is a project that comes around from time to time or in a certain season of the year.

We will often refer to a way of serving as a “service project”. That is not how we are to understand our way of serving, however. We may have a project that we are organizing people to get involved in, but serving is not a project. Serving is a way of life. We build projects. We complete projects. Serving is not something we build nor something we complete. It is how we view life. Jesus makes it clear that he wants us to do feet as a way of life.

The third thing Jesus did not do and from which we need to guard ourselves and that is serving by doing it ourselves. Jesus was quite capable of doing his ministry on his own; but he chose to include and empower others. He gave examples and then he told them to do likewise. When he washed the feet of his disciples, although he was the only one with the towel and basin of water, he was demonstrating to them that, as his church, they would do likewise. They would be united in serving together doing feet together.

Many times it is convenient to just “do it ourselves”. It is easier to fit it into our schedule. Getting in touch with people and trying to figure out schedules is a hassle. Rather than trying to work out all the logistics we just do it ourselves. The Bible speaks of the faith community in the likeness of a body. We are to function together whether it is easy for us or not. When we serve by ourselves we deny others the opportunity to serve in a way God has gifted them to serve.
So, it might be convenient for us to do it ourselves but when we take that path we are getting in the way of God’s purposes.

These things Jesus did not do. In your opportunities to serve together with others guard yourself from these, as well. Jesus does give an example of what we should do when we serve. Let’s take a look at them.

The first is that together we serve with humility. Humility is not to think less of ourselves nor to elevate others as better than ourselves. Humility in our serving is to serve regardless of the task. Jesus, who is the leader, took the place of a person who was considered to be the least in their society. He took the place of a slave, showing his followers that when it comes to serving, do whatever needs to get done, even if we are assigned to the humblest task.
So, that is what he did. He washed the feet of his followers. He served and gave us an example to show that when we serve it is done with an attitude of humility.

Secondly, serving is intended to bond people together. When people serve together there is a bond that happens between them. When Peter didn’t want Jesus to take the role of a servant with him, Jesus said to Peter that it was necessary because the bond that would happen would happen in no other way.

Thirdly, when we serve there is no distinction whom we serve. Jesus washed the feet of all of them, including Judas, whom Jesus already knew was no friend. We are not to make a distinction whom we serve. The Bible teaches that we are not to judge one another but to leave that to God. We are to pay attention to the life that is forming in us and the character that is being expressed. Our way of life is to serve, to be available to all, to make no distinction.

Serving together we can encourage one another and help one another grow to have the heart of a servant. I want to close by saying something about this Sunday that we call All Saints’ Sunday. We as the church set this day aside not so much as to mourn the dead but as to celebrate their life.

God has been at work in the lives of these people of faith. They serve as examples to encourage us as we continue in the life that God has laid out before the followers of Christ. So, as you remember these folks, recall their acts of serving that were done with humility; working together with others in their serving; and those times when they made no distinction between people but they were willingly to serve all. For their faithful example we are deeply grateful.

Remember the student s at Middlebury College? They are not only learning one of the traditions of their college they are learning one of the best lessons about life: Serving Together.
Where ever they go in life the experience of “picking up Butch” will always go with them as a lesson about serving. You and I also get to serve… together. We have learned that from the best teacher of them all, teaching us that serving is a way of life for those who follow him; and serving together is his intention so that the world will know that we are his disciples. Amen