First written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on May 9, 2004… the 5th Sunday after Easter that year… and used today, after a Very Minor update, for the same reason! The verses are from the book of Acts, Chapter 11, verses 1-18…

       I guess you could say that raising livestock was probably more of a hobby than a vocation with Grandpa and Sons… that is, Dad and my uncles. It seems as though there were always a few chickens and cows about, and hogs would come and go at different times of the year, but nobody ever seemed to get too excited about it…back then you could do that and still make enough money to justify doing it.

       But I think the real reason behind it all probably stemmed from the family having lived through the depression years of the thirties… that is, the animals were there more for self-consumption than income! You see, I seem to recall there always being enough eggs to use for breakfast and baking, but never any extra to sell to anyone (though I’m also sure that any excess was gladly shared with neighbors and friends!). And while I was always excited about helping put the stock-racks on the old truck and load animals for a trip to East St. Louis, I have much stronger memories of all of the butchering we did during the winter months every year!

When I was little, I played a very peripheral part in all of this, mainly that of interested bystander, at least until the meat made it indoors. There, once I was big enough to turn the handle, I was responsible for grinding up the beef chunks into hamburger, or grinding the pork and filling these huge crocks where others would season and mix it with their hands, getting their arms covered with raw meat and seasoning in the process. At that point, some would be fried up for a ‘taste test’… mmmnnn!… and I would take the rest and run it through the grinder again to stuff into links.

       This I didn’t mind! I enjoyed helping and doing and feeling like a part of the family! But as I got older… and I was the oldest grandchild, so all of this fell to me first… I was expected to help with the actual butchering process. I’m sorry, but that was a different story altogether. I resisted… I’d hide… I’d find other stuff to do… finally, I was told that if I was going to eat it, I had to help cut it up.

       Now, keep in mind that our cattle were all free-range… and most of that ‘range’ was steep hills and hollers that they had to climb up and down any number of times everyday. As most of you know, all of that walking and climbing builds fine, strong muscles in humans, and the same holds true for cattle. But… fine strong muscles in a cow or steer only means that the meat is very, very tough… in fact, I think it would be safe to say that eating some of the steaks we cut and put away each winter caused those eating them to get a real workout as well… of their jaw muscles!!!

       With that picture in my mind, when I was told that if I wanted to eat it I had to help cut it up, I quipped, “Alright… I won’t eat it!” It didn’t work. But to this day, I still get a negative image in my head about eating steak. Don’t get me wrong, I love the taste of a nice well-done piece of beef… But I first have to get past wondering if I’m going to have enough teeth to do it, or not!

Now, my little story deals with explaining, somewhat, why some might perceive me as having an aversion to eating steak… but whatever that might be, it is a personal issue… a personal preference, if you will. Not so in our story today about Peter’s aversion to eating these animals that God was showing him in his vision.

God had given the Israelites, through Moses, very specific instructions as to what they could and couldn’t eat. Let me read a small part of that from Leviticus, chapter 11…

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

“‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

There are three-or-four more paragraphs, each dealing with creatures of the sea, the air, and so-on. The point is that God had specifically forbidden the Jews to eat certain things, so when presented with many of these very things and told to kill and eat, I’m sure Peter felt very certain of himself in replying, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ After all, this had been their law for thousands of years! We might imagine him thinking, ‘Ha! This is a test, and I know the right answer!’ So, how shocked must he have been when God told him to, ‘…not call anything impure that God has made clean.’  And told him that not just once, but three times! Peter realized, then, what it meant… things were changing!

The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses… the God that had called all of their descendants His ‘Chosen People’… had just opened up the doors of heaven to all people! The old laws were no longer in effect… Jesus had fulfilled them, and now it was His teachings that were to be followed. For example, in the 13^th chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 34-35, He tells us; “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I want to read part of an article that appeared in the Jacksonville ‘Journal-Courier’ in 2004, shortly after the Methodist General Conference that year and was written by Rachel Zoll for the Associated Press…

Conservatives in the United Methodist Church proposed splitting the denomination Thursday, the latest sign of decades of disagreement over homosexuality that continued at their General Conference this week.

The Rev. William Hinson, president of the Confessing Movement for conservative Methodists, said evangelicals were just beginning to explore the idea and that no break was imminent in the 8.3 million-member church.

But he said he and others were convinced that no com­promise could be found after yet another bitter General Conference debate over what the Bible says about gay sex.

“We can’t bridge that divide,” said Hinson, former pastor of First United Methodist Church of Houston.

The Rev. Troy Plummer, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which advocates for gay and lesbian Methodists, rejected the idea. He accused evangelicals of plotting to harm the church.

“It disturbs me,” he said. “We can still be a family together.”

The announcement came after conservatives prevailed at the meeting in maintaining the church’s firm stand against homosexuality

Delegates affirmed that gay sex was “incompatible with Christian teaching” and made it a chargeable offense under church law for clergy to con­duct same-sex marriages and for unmarried ministers to have sex.

Interesting, don’t you think? Let me read something else to you… “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

These words are from 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 and 10. They are very clear. Homosexual offenders are listed specifically among those who will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God! There are other examples as well, but let’s just stick with this one for the moment. “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

And yet this newspaper article continues…  

Evangelicals expect, however, that those who want a broader role for gays and les­bians in the church will contin­ue to ignore church law and appoint sexually active homo­sexual clergy.

       God’s message to Peter in today’s verses was that the Good News of the coming of the Messiah and of His sacrifice for our sins was to be open to ALL people… in the verses from John, Jesus tells us to love one another as He has loved us. We know that we are to be open and loving to all that walk through these doors in search of Christ. Yet in the rest of this article the case was being made for splitting the Methodist denomination into what amounts to ‘pro-gay’ and ‘anti-gay’ segments. And those who propose that we should be accepting of gays and allow them as equals usually use this statement of Jesus’ telling us to love one another as support for their stance… ‘Can’t we all just get along?’ And that strikes a note with some of us… why can’t we all just get along… why can’t we learn to accept gays and lesbians as children of God?

       The answer to that is that we can… indeed, we must… but only on one condition! In the verses that follow those that I read from 1 Corinthians, Paul says that, “These things are what some of you were. But you were washed… you were sanctified… you were justified… in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

       We are all of us sinners. And this church that Christ established by His death on the cross and ultimate resurrection was established for sinners! We are all of us welcome within these walls… we are all welcome in His open and loving arms! But… there is something that we must do… and I think it’s put most succinctly in Palms 32… “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” That’s right… we must acknowledge our sin before God… and then we must endeavor to ‘sin no more’.

       I won’t pretend to understand how anyone can read and understand the Bible and claim that homosexuality is not a sin… it’s right there in black-and-white… and I am happy to see that at least the majority of those at our General Conferences thus far see that as well. But it is disturbing to realize that it is far, far from being a large majority… the forces of Satan are gaining ground, even in our own community of leaders!

       Jesus taught us… nay, commanded us… to love one another… and that, we try to do! But He also commanded us to repent of our sins and ‘sin no more’. And if there are those among us who refuse to live and abide by His ways, He has told us, in Mark 9, verses 43-47… “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell…”

       God told Peter that the doors of heaven were now open to all. That’s a good thing… that’s why we… descendants of those very Gentiles… are free to assemble and worship Him here today! Jesus taught us to love all others as He loves us. That’s also a good thing, and we try to follow His example everyday! But… if there are those among us who claim to be believers and followers of Christ, but do not repent of their sins, then we must assume that they are, instead, minions of Satan and must put them away from us!

       John says, in his first letter, that, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. But if we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

We must remain true to the message that Jesus died to bring to us… we must remain true to the instructions left by Him and His appointed apostles. There are NONE today who have the authority to declare that a sin is no longer a sin… and given that fact, we must deduce that any who propose to do so do so in the name of Satan in a move that is intended to drive us further from our God and His directives!

So… what it comes down to is this… do you intend to stand-up for the teachings of Christ… do you intend to insist on maintaining the integrity of His Word and of His Church? Or will you just sit back and let Satan have his way by destroying all that you know is right and true? And if that be your response… how will you explain and justify it when you’re standing in front of the Almighty on that final Day of Judgment?

Based on the 2nd Chapter of 1rst Peter, verses 19-25, this written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 17, 2005…

       My fourth-grade teacher didn’t like me very much. Well, actually, I don’t think she liked anybody very much! She was one of those still left from ‘the old school’ of thinking that promoted discipline above all else… that was her class room, and by golly, you better not forget it… or cause any problems while in it! And I was one who just seemed to cause problems, even though I never really saw it as such!

       One example that comes to mind was the time two of my classmates started fighting in the hall while we were all taking a bathroom break. I walked right into the middle of them, held out my arms and told them to break it up! That was the moment that one of the other teachers walked out to see what the disturbance was all about and hauled all three of us off to our teacher. “But I was trying to stop it,” I cried! “Yeah, I know how you were trying to stop it,” she said!

And so it was that I soon found myself sitting outside of the principal’s office along side the other two. The fact that it was my first trip there but the other two were already sort-of regulars added some credence to my story, but I still found myself suffering the same punishment as they did… so much for trying to do a good deed!

Now, that’s a very simplified example of what Peter starts off talking about in these verses this morning… if you suffer for doing good and endure it, it is commendable before God. However, I think he had something far more intense in mind. In the verse prior to these, Peter says… “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh,” so these verses are actually addressed to them, but they apply equally as well to us today!  

The Life Application Commentary tells us that, “Many slaves would have heard this letter read to them because many of the early church members were slaves. Roman law regulated the treatment of slaves, but ultimately masters had power over their slaves. Many masters were “good and considerate” (especially those who were Christians), but many were “harsh” (perhaps especially with slaves who had become believers). …Harsh masters could inflict cruel punishments upon slaves, considered as property, usually by whipping or beating them with a stick. Like thieves, runaway slaves were branded on the forehead. Others were imprisoned. Many slaves died from mistreatment or imprisonment, but it was illegal to take the life of a slave without a court order. In some cases, a master might take out his anger on his slaves, even though the slaves had done nothing to incur any wrath.

Many of the readers of this letter would have known all too well what it meant to [bear] up under the pain of unjust suffering. Peter had learned about suffering from Jesus. He knew that Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan and was intended to save people. He also knew that all who follow Jesus must be prepared to suffer. Thus it would be commendable or praiseworthy if these believers trusted in God as they endured any “pain”… caused by unjust suffering.

By being conscious of God when they suffered, they were remembering God’s care and love for them even as they suffered. They focused on the fact that they were suffering injustice as Christ had suffered injustice, and they knew that one day God would right all wrongs. This gave them the proper attitude, enabled them to persevere, and kept their practice from being mere passive acceptance.”

Some years ago I wrote a letter to a person who had lost a close family member… I’d like to read an excerpt from it now, modified only to hide their identity and update it to now…

“I once bid on and bought a book titled ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People’. I’ve never read it! The fact is, I already know! Or should I say I know what the answers are supposed to be.

“I am no stranger to sorrow. Over the years I have tried to deal with it in different ways. None of them work very well, but the ‘easiest’ always seemed to be to bury the hurt deep inside and pretend it didn’t exist anymore. Many has been the time that I have had to do this in my own life, and because of that those around me have often gotten the impression that I ‘really had my act together’, dealing with life and moving on.

“And so it became common practice for my friends, and through them others, to come to me for ‘counseling’ them through their problems. And I would sit, sometimes for hours, and listen to life stories about break-ups, school, drugs, parents, and yes, even unexpected deaths, and be expected to spout out words that would ease the pain and make everything all right. And I did know the words! I could talk sense and logic about why almost anything happened and what the person should, logically, be feeling and doing about it. And they would sit back and agree, sometimes through their tears, that I was absolutely right… that what I said did make sense and that that was what they should be feeling and doing!

“You know what? IT MADE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE! And as I went through my various life situations I discovered why. When my heart was full of pain, and life seemed unendurable, knowing the ‘reasons’ and the ‘wherefores’ made no difference! There is no reason or logic in the world that can counteract a real hurt. All we can do is live our way through it. And that can be the absolute hardest thing to do!

“Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? What is the point of believing in and following a God who seems either to have no control or, at the least, refuses to exercise any control over such things? And if all of this “GOD” stuff is in doubt, do any of the ‘truths’ and ‘beliefs’ that we have held mean anything? Indeed, does life mean anything?

“Why does God ‘let things happen’? Most Pastors would probably tell you that He doesn’t, or that we just can’t always understand His ways. And that is true. But what DIFFERENCE does it make when a person is hurting RIGHT NOW? Why does life have to be like this RIGHT NOW!? Do you want the truth? I don’t know! And I doubt that anyone alive today really does.

“I can only tell you this. There have been a lot of times in my life when I was alone. I don’t mean physically, but mentally, spiritually, and psychologically alone. In other words, I could be at a high school dance or football game and surrounded by hundreds of people and feel totally alone. I could be at a church service or youth event with countless others and feel totally alone. I could be with family or friends, or even that ‘special someone’ and feel totally alone. But through it all, when I look back on my life from this end I can see that I have NEVER really been totally alone! Even during the years of my life that I tried to deny even the existence of a ‘god figure’, I can see now that God never denied my existence, and has always been there.’

Now, I grant you that Peter’s remarks in this morning’s verses were more intended for those who suffer and/or are persecuted because of their belief in God and Jesus… but I put it to you that many of us suffer in silence for just living our day-to-day lives! One might suffer when we consider why so-and-so got that promotion instead of us… why that neighbor who has never seen the inside of a church can afford a new car while many of us can’t… or why that drug-addict survived the accident while the child and mother both died… I mean, it’s one thing to be a martyr when a person is speaking out and standing up for Christ and trying to make the world a better place and suffering the ‘slings and arrows’ of ridicule, or even, in some cases, physical retaliation because of it… that’s what Peter is talking about when he said that we should consider and follow the example of Jesus… “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” But living life day-by-day involves far more than just that kind of suffering!

The Life Application Commentary says that… “We may suffer for many reasons. Some suffering comes as the direct result of our own sin; some happens because of our foolishness; and some is the result of living in a fallen world. Peter writes about suffering that comes as a result of doing good. Jesus never sinned, and yet he suffered so that we could be set free. When we follow Christ’s example and live for others, we too may suffer. Our goal should be to face suffering as he did — with patience, calmness, and confidence, knowing that God controls the future.

When Peter says,‘to this you have been called’, he is referring back to suffering for doing good. Why have believers been “called” to unjust suffering? Because such suffering was endured by Christ. Jesus had told Peter and the other disciples at the Last Supper: “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also”. When we patiently suffer injustice, we are following our supreme example in Christ. He suffered great injustice in order to obtain our salvation:

• He endured the unbelief of his own people.
• He endured a trial by religious leaders already committed to his death.
• He endured the lies of false witnesses.
• He endured beating and mockery from his people and from the Roman soldiers.
• He endured merciless flogging.
• He endured an excruciatingly painful death by crucifixion.
• He endured the insults of bystanders as he suffered on the cross.
• He endured a time of separation from God.”

Jesus understands our suffering… even when we don’t! One of the reasons He became a man and lived among us was so that He might understand all that it means to be human and live in this confusing world of ours day by day! As Peter sums up this chapter, we are all like sheep who have gone astray… but through our belief and our faith, we have returned to the Shepherd. And as any sheep might attest to, we might not always know why we are being led here or there… we might not understand the ‘mechanics’ of our day-to-day existence… but we trust in our Shepherd! We trust in our Lord and Saviour to always have our ultimate best interests to heart!

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says… “I tell you the truth…. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep… whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

       I may not know why it sometimes seems like bad things happen to good people… I may wonder at how ‘success’ sometimes seems to come too easily to the undeserving… but I trust in my Shepherd… and I will strive to follow wherever He leads!

Written for/given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 25, 2004… Recorded LIVE, with a Special intro, at the Wanda (IL) UMC on April 19, 2021!

The Scripture is from the 9th chapter of the book of Acts of the Apostles, verses 1 – 6…

       Some of you may know that one branch of Ellie’s family found themselves living in the Chicago area many, many years ago. And while many of them have since spread out across the country, one of her ‘favorite’ cousins still lives in one of the southern suburbs. We keep in touch, somewhat, through e-mails and an occasional phone call or visit. A few years ago, when we were able to get away a little more often, we would sometimes meet him and his wife for dinner before going to watch him perform in one of the local theatre productions that he loves to take part in.

       Once, they had insisted on meeting us at our motel and taking us for an evening out ‘on the town’, Chicago style. Since they had brought along another couple, Ellie and I opted to just follow them in our car instead of all of us squeezing into theirs… this had the added advantage to giving us the option to leave whenever we were ready to… Ellie and I are such party-animals, you know!

       Though they no longer lived in the area where our motel was, Ellie’s cousin was familiar with it, and so took us first to one of the local Bohemian restaurants. Oh, my! Eleanor was already a fan of Polish cooking, and I became hooked on it that night… we have been back to it and several of the other ones in the area a number of times in the years since… good stuff!

       Leaving there shortly before nine… a time that Ellie and I are usually getting ready for bed, if I’m home, mind you… we followed them as they zig-zagged their way to a cowboy dance bar on the northwest side of downtown Chicago… at least I think that’s where we were! Pushing our way through the crowd, we finally reached a spot on the second floor where there was enough room for the six of us to stand together and watch the dancers down below. Soon the other couple headed to the dance floor and Ellie and I were invited to join them. “I don’t dance,” I said. Oh! As they headed away, Ellie’s cousin and his wife elected to stay with us, so as not to make us feel abandoned. As we found a table and settled in, drinks were being ordered… “Just a Coke for me,” I said, while Ellie got her Mountain Dew. Her cousin objected, ‘Don’t worry; we’re paying for it… order what you want!’ “I don’t drink” A strange look came over his face as he said slowly… “Did I do a baaad thing bringing you here?!”

       We both assured him that everything was OK, and we really appreciated the thought and effort they had put into setting all of this up. I think I allowed as to how I appreciated the opportunity to examine close-up this side of social relationships and cultural exchanges. (Actually, I probably said something to the effect that I enjoyed seeing some of the outfits!) After a polite amount of time, Ellie and I both noted that we really had an early start planned that next morning, and made our way out of the building, to the car, and home to the motel.

       The Life Application Commentary notes that, “The book of Acts, written by Luke, picks up where Luke’s Gospel left off, providing details of the birth and early years of the church that Jesus had promised to build. Together the two books, Luke and Acts, form a seamless account of how the followers of Jesus “turned . . . the world upside down” by taking the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth”.

Then, Matthew Henry’s Commentary reads, “We found mention made of Saul two or three times in the story of Stephen… and now we are come to it, not quite taking leave of Peter but from henceforward being mostly taken up with Paul… the apostle of the Gentiles as Peter was of the circumcision… He was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a free city of the Romans, and himself a freeman of that city. His father and mother were both native Jews; therefore he calls himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he was of the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered to Judah. His education was in the schools of Tarsus first, which was considered a little Athens for learning; there he acquainted himself with the philosophy and poetry of the Greeks. He was then sent to the university at Jerusalem, to study divinity and the Jewish law. His tutor was Gamaliel, an eminent Pharisee. He had extraordinary natural talents, and improved mightily in learning. He had likewise a handicraft trade (being bred to tent-making), which was common with those among the Jews who were bred scholars for the earning of their maintenance, and the avoiding of idleness. This, then, is the young man we read about in today’s verses, and on whom the grace of God is about to make a ‘mighty change’, about a year after the ascension of Christ.

We may well imagine that in the days before Jesus, God might have looked upon one such as Saul and say, ‘Here is a young man who follows my statutes… a man who is faithful and just… a man who would do well as an example for all of My people.’ And he was! Saul was a very devout Jew… He believed in God… He had been well educated in Jewish law and tradition, and was a strong believer and activist in both. He seemed to be the very epitome of what God wanted ALL of His chosen people to be… loyal and faithful to Him. Furthermore, he was loyal and faithful to his teachers and to the authority figures of his religion. Since he had not met Jesus in person, he believed all that the ‘official’ reports said of him. The people he believed and respected were telling him that this Jesus movement was wrong and an abomination unto God, and he was zealous enough in his faith to feel that he should take a stand and act against it!

When Ellie’s cousin made plans to take us out ‘on the town’ that weekend it was not done without some forethought… he knew my penchant for dressing in western cloths and Eleanor’s history of all things ‘horsy’… he knew we were about as ‘Midwestern’ as could be, and not at all familiar with the Chicago night-life… in other words, he took into account many things as he planned out what we would do, and firmly believed that he had laid out the perfect evening for all. And by all that he believed, it was! The problem was that he did not have all of the facts… and that lack of knowledge led him to be in error!

By the same token, Saul was NOT a bad person doing evil things… he was a strong follower of the law and firmly believed that he was doing the work of God in persecuting and eliminating Christians! But he did not have all of the facts straight… he did not KNOW Jesus! So… on the road to Damascus, Jesus introduces Himself! “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Can you imagine what Saul was feeling as he came to realize the truth? First must have been the astonishment and joy at realizing that this truly was the promised Messiah. Next, though, may well have been a dreadful fear as he also realized how he had been working so diligently to destroy all that Christ had done! In his zeal to serve God, he had missed the truth and was working against all that God was doing and changing!

But… God understood that Saul’s intent was to faithfully support the law and what he believed to be true… So… God took that faith… that zeal… and turned it towards the right path and made use of it! Jesus told him, “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  And from there, Paul became one of the staunchest supporters of Christ, and redirected all of his zeal and passion to serving the Lord and spreading the Good News throughout the world!

I imagine most of us have had an occasion where something we held as true has been proven wrong. We are embarrassed… we might try to make excuses… we may even try to resist, insisting that what we ‘knew’ to be right must be! But generally, given enough time, we accept what we have been told as fact and go on with our lives, right? My friends, there is great danger in that!!!

Saul was struck to the ground by a blinding light and addressed by Christ, Himself… he was blinded and led to a Christian teacher, where his sight was restored. He KNEW it was the Lord! He knew he was being told the truth! And so he changed his life and dedicated it to the service of Christ!

I ask you now to consider… where are your truths coming from? Who or what has caused you to change any of your ideas and beliefs about life? When your parents insisted that Santa would bring your presents, but the kids at school told you different, who did you believe? Why? When the monsters came in the dark of night, but disappeared when the lights were on, did you believe in the dark or the light? Why? And when learned people tell you that the Bible is wrong, or that it really means such-and-such, or that the meanings have changed with time, who is there to dispute it?

It is a fact of life that we sometimes learn and relearn many things over the years. As a child, most of us here learned how to push or pull a button to turn on the television and physically turn a knob to change channels… today, if you can’t work a remote, you stare at a blank screen! The farming methods that I was taught in Ag class in high school are today considered wasteful and unproductive. I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten to where I kinda’ like not having to shift gears in our car every time I stop at a stop sign! And if I were still waiting for Santa on Christmas morning, I would be sore disappointed!

My point is that there are many things that it is right and proper to rethink and relearn as time and technology goes by… we see and experience many changes happening around and to us as our minds mature and our understanding of the world increases… there are even cultural and social issues and ‘truths’ that change as our world grows and changes and matures… indeed, it might seem as if there are very few things that do not change in our lives as we grow from adolescence into maturity! But… if someone tries to tell you that the Bible has changed, or doesn’t apply anymore… ask them if they have been on the road to Damascus… ask them if they have had a personal revelation from Jesus… because without that… their ‘thoughts’ don’t mean a thing!

If the Bible is the Word of God… and I believe it to be… then only God has the authority to change it! So if someone is touting changing the words and meaning of this Bible, you must ask yourself… is this God I’m listening to… or Satan?! For those are your only two choices! And unless there’s a great blinding light and a voice from above, I’m going to tend to stay with what I know to be true!

6th Grade in Hartford/Easter Sunday 2021

My ‘talk’ for Easter Sunday given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 11, 2004 and on Here for Easter of 2021!

        I have to say that for the most part I have generally never had to worry much about favoritism… at least not when it was in my favor! I guess one could say that I did fall ‘victim’ to it on any occasion that I had the misfortune to work with the owner’s or manager’s kids… it was always me who seemed to wind up on the short end of things whenever any choices involving the two of us came up. I never really worried too much about it… if the truth be known, I figured if my son ever worked for me I would probably feel inclined to favor him a bit over any outsiders as well! In fact, the only time I ever felt like maybe I was being singled out for some good things was the first half of my year of sixth grade.

        In the years that I was growing up there, the little town of Hartford was small enough to only have two classes in each of the grades going through the local school system. In fact, except for an occasional change or addition, we stayed with the same group of people that we had been in first grade with. In other words, I had grown up with all of these kids, and knew each of them well. And yes, at that age friendships could move around from time to time, but generally I usually got along with everybody most of the time. In the sixth grade, they shuffled us up a bit (I always figured that that was to get us ready for the changes that junior high would bring the next year), but each classroom was still side-by-side, and we still did a lot of activities together, so old friendships remained while new ones grew.

That was also the year that my family had bought our farm outside of Edwardsville, and as plans were finalized, everyone came to know that we would be leaving town and I would be leaving the school over the Christmas vacation. Suddenly, everyone was my friend! Even those whom I had seldom had anything to do with other than scuffling on the playground, or trying to avoid on the walks to and from school, were suddenly sad to see me leave and couldn’t do enough for me. Even the teacher, who was fresh from getting his degree, seemed to pick me more often than some because of my upcoming departure… all in all, I felt kinda’ spoiled … and I don’t have to tell you it was kinda’ nice! Along with the general sense of ‘being special’ that I remember from that whole time, there are two things that stand out as being really neat.

The first was when we broke into groups of four or five to paint Christmas posters to hang around the room… for the first time that I could remember, the kids in my group ‘really liked’ my suggestion and went to work painting it… nine rocket-engines all hitched to Santa’s sleigh, each with their name printed on the side… you know… Prancer and Dancer and so-on! Oh yeah, the lead engine had a very bright red headlight on it, too!

The other thing I remember from that time was being picked to play the lead in the little play our two classes put together and performed in an empty classroom. I remember that I was a pageboy in an English castle… and even though I had no lines (they were all read from a book), all of the action centered around me! Not only that, the director was one of the really pretty girls of our two classes… which meant that she had to talk to me, at least for giving me directions! The thing I remember most, though, was the fact that, as a pageboy, my costume included a pair of black tights! Looking back, I honestly can’t say if they were tights or pantyhose, but at that age I wouldn’t have known the difference anyway… I just knew that nobody thought I was brave enough to wear them for the show, but I did… over a pair of swimming trunks!

In today’s verses Peter starts off by stating, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism…” Peter is in the home of Cornelius, a Roman Army officer. Up to this point it seems as if Peter was of the opinion that the Israelites were still God’s chosen people, and resisted attempts to include the Gentiles in receiving the Good News of Christ. But in the verses leading up to today’s, we find quite a story of how he and Cornelius, who was a devout believer of the Messiah and was doing much good in his area, had both had a vision… Cornelius’ told him to seek out Peter and where to find him, while Peter’s was to no longer let himself be bound by Jewish customs and laws, but to reach out to all peoples. So it was that when the messengers from Cornelius reached Peter with an invitation to come to his house and teach, he accepted and went. These words are the start of his first meeting with them… let me read them once again, this time from the New Living Translation…

Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God doesn’t show partiality. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. I’m sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel — that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what happened all through Judea, beginning in Galilee after John the Baptist began preaching. And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.

“And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him, but God raised him to life three days later. Then God allowed him to appear, not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen beforehand to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all — the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

Furthermore, the following verses read…

Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who had heard the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles, too. And there could be no doubt about it, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter asked, “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

This, then, is what one might consider the ‘official’ acceptance by what was to become the ‘church’ of those who were not a part of the Jewish community. And Peter was to take some flack for it on his return home… but he knew what God had been telling him in his vision and held his ground! And that is at least a part of why you and I are here worshiping today… the Jews were no longer favored by God… we are all equal in His sight!

Today is Easter Sunday. It is the day that we Christians celebrate the rising of Our Lord from the dead. And I can say ‘we Christians’ partly because of what Peter started here… the acceptance of all of us non-Jews into Christ’s family. And yet… was it really Peter’s doing?

Jesus had taught all along that all peoples were equal! Male… female… child… Jew… Roman… Greek… tax collectors… prostitutes… sinners of all kind… even the devout followers of all of the old laws… ALL had an equal opportunity to believe in, accept and follow Christ.

Today, that’s probably one of the hardest things we have to learn and accept as Christians… that our churches are open to everyone! We are to be open and loving to all that come through those doors! But sometimes it’s hard. If the alcoholic from down the street stumbled in on a Sunday morning, would we welcome him? If the unwed mother came looking for a church family, would she find one here? If the homosexual asked to transfer his membership to our church, would we accept it? These are hard questions!

Is drinking a sin? We’re told that drunkenness is. The unwed mother obviously committed a sin of immorality to be in her situation today. And the Bible is very clear on the sinfulness of homosexuality… there can be no question of that! So… do we accept them into our church?

Of course we do! Because the Bible is also very clear that we are to be loving and accepting of all people! After all, Jesus came and died for sinners!!! That was the whole purpose of His sacrifice! Who are we not to accept sinners into the very institution that was created for them? In fact, if we were to get overly strict about not allowing sinners into this building… who among us would be able to attend each Sunday? For it is very true that we are all sinners from time to time!

So yes, Jesus died on the cross for ALL people!!! The tomb was not left empty just for Jesus’ followers… the cross was not painted with His blood just for the righteous… He died and is now alive for all mankind!

Let me be very clear on this, however… the church was established for and is open to all sinners… but not to sin!!! We come here each week as a sinner, but we pray for forgiveness and we work hard to not sin again! By the same token, all that come into Christ’s church are to be welcomed with open and loving arms… but if they want to accept Christ as their Savior they must give up their sins!!! In other words, we are to love the sinner, not the sin!

Jesus suffered the agony of the whip and the nails through His body for the sake of all people. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for all sins. Because He now lives and resides at the right hand of God the Father, all people and all sinners are welcome in this, His church. But as a true believer and follower of Christ we are to confess our sins and sin no more!

I don’t know about you, but to me that pretty much says it all!

Palm Sunday

First written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 4, 2004, with a very minor rewrite for This video…

The Scripture is from the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 28-40…

        My love affair with Case tractors started when I was about four years old. You see, my very first ride-able vehicle was not a tricycle like most people… it was a Case pedal-tractor! In the years since then I have become more familiar with various model numbers and names, so I now know it was a Case 400. (Can you imagine what that would be worth today if I still had it?) At the time, though, all I knew was that it was my Case tractor, and I loved that thing!

        We lived across from the Hartford Elementary school, so I had the whole paved area of the playground to ride it on, not to mention the streets around our house. Of course I had to be very careful, and was under strict instructions as to just how far I could go, but within those boundary lines I knew every foot of my neighborhood. True, older kids would tease me from time to time and challenge me to races against their bicycles… my feet would be a blur making those pedals go ‘round and ‘round, but my wheels where just too small to gain much speed. Outside of that, though, I thought I was invincible! I could hook onto somebody’s little red wagon and pull it and them all over the place… in fact, I figured if I could ever find a plow the right size I’d try it out on the school grounds… probably just as well I never did!

        As I was growing up, the Village of Hartford was exactly one mile long and maybe a third of that across, laid out in a grid pattern. One summer, probably for the 4^th of July, a parade had been organized to zigzag through and around the town. All of the kids had been invited to decorate their bikes and ride in it. Not wanting to be left out, I talked mom into helping me put some streamers and bells on my tractor and let me ride along as well. What an adventure I was looking forward to! Of course, I knew most of the streets in town… being that small of town it was hard not too. But this would be the first time I had gotten to ‘drive’ myself over most of them… and I was pumped!

        Fortunately, most parades move pretty slow. They had all of us riders… I, of course, was the only tractor… grouped together towards the end of the short procession, and most of them were riding as slowly as they could, or even stopping or walking when needed. I, however, was pedaling furiously just trying to keep up. By the time we covered the two or three miles of the route, I was exhausted… but I remember to this day how proud I was to be a part of it, and how many of those standing along the route were calling me by name and cheering me on!

        I’m sure that most of you have seen various presentations, or renderings, if-you-will, of another procession that took place some two-thousand+ years ago… Jesus sends for a donkey and rides triumphantly into Jerusalem as the crowds throng and cheer around him!! Some years back I had a video clip from the Youth Specialties series An Insider’s View Of Jesus that featured the comedy of ‘Ted and Lee’, who, according to the description on ‘Amazon’, …“humanize the disciples. (WE) Identify with the characters of Pete and Andy—and in turn learn to connect with the truth of the gospel stories with your own emotions and struggles.” In their tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Peter and Andrew, their intent was to try, in a humorous fashion, to help people realize that all of the characters we read about in these Bible stories are more than just characters… they were real living and breathing people! And as such, we must assume that they were subject to all of the same doubts, fears, joys and pride… in fact, ALL of the same emotions that each one of us have… that is assuming that each of you are real living, breathing people!

        How many times have you heard or read this story over the years? And if you’re like me, you probably usually picture Jesus humbly sitting astride His baby donkey riding past a double line of people reverently taking off their cloaks or grabbing palm leaves to lay on the ground in front of Him as a sign of welcome. That’s because we have been ‘conditioned’ over the years to only think serious, somber thoughts about Jesus and all that the Bible has to tell us. But the Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ life… and that life was alive and vibrant… they are not meant to be dark and foreboding! Jesus was a real, living and breathing person too, while on this earth! Consider some of His comments from time to time. “Let he who has ears hear!” That’s pretty witty! “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers on men.” “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” Because of our forefathers wanting to focus just on the seriousness of the story… on saving our souls, if you will… we have learned each of these things as part of a serious story lesson, and so seldom if ever see or appreciate the reality of the humor and wit contained in them… it has been lost to us over the centuries.

        The same thought holds true for today’s’ story. Consider with me, if you will, the reality of all of this… there were not a few spectators lined up… there were masses of humanity! Most likely most of Jerusalem came out to see the man who claimed to be the Messiah. On top of that, it was time for the Passover, and the city would have been filled with guests and visitors come to celebrate and Worship in the Temple… and all of them would have turned out as well! Imagine thousands of people crying out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And when the officials tell Jesus to call the crowd to order, He tells them it would be useless. I’ve always liked the way Andrew Lloyd Weber put it in J. C. Superstar… “Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd… nothing can be done to stop the shouting! If every tongue were still the noise would still continue… the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing!”

It must have seemed like a wild, wild party… and Jesus and His disciples were at the heart of it! To the uninitiated, Jesus was at the pinnacle of His Ministry… from here, all He had to do was ride the crest of popularity into what most there considered real power… the power to drive the Romans out of Israel! And Jesus had to feel that… His disciples had to feel that… and yet…

        Let me read a part of what The Life Application Commentary has to say about it… “Jesus approached Jerusalem fearlessly, knowing what awaited him there: death at the hands of people who should have recognized his true identity. This glorious celebration was temporary, and few understood its meaning. Most wanted to believe that liberation from Rome was at hand. Any who had heard Jesus’ parables should have understood that time would elapse between his first and second comings; the disciples should have remembered what he told them about going to Jerusalem to die. At this point, however, Jesus was clearly fulfilling prophecy and showing himself to be the Messiah.”

‘Blessed is the King!’ ‘Pinnacle of His career!’ ‘Peace in Heaven and Glory in the highest!’ ‘Crest of popularity!’ ‘The stones would cry out!’ All of this… and yet… on Friday He was nailed to a cross! And He knew that before He entered the city! But he entered it still. Why? Because He also knew that the only chance each of those people there had of salvation was in His death!

        Yes… Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of all of those who were cheering Him on that day… even though many of those same people were the ones crying for His crucifixion later in the week! That didn’t matter to Him… all that mattered was that through His death… His sacrifice on the cross… ALL people could be saved… including you and me!

Consider with me, if you will, a Short fictional(?) story…

by Steven C. Luebbert

A group of aliens decide to take-over the earth. As a part of their scheme they release an unknown disease that leaves Most people unaffected, but kills enough that the earthlings become frightened… frightened enough to obey the seeming ridiculous orders given them by the human leaders, who, unknown to the populace, are being controlled by the aliens…

With help from the aliens a ‘preparation’ is developed (In Record time!) that is supposed to ‘cure’ the alien’s disease, but Actually contains a very-slow-acting compound designed to debilitate human life as it is currently known!

To ensure the success of their plan, the aliens arrange to first give their ‘cure’ to healthcare workers and first-responders of all kind. In that way, when the effects are first discovered, the only ones who Could possibly find a cure and take care of the affected populace are Themselves eliminated and unable to intervene. So it is that as the later people who accepted the ‘cure’ are affected by it, there is no one to help!

Any who had Refused the ‘cure’ are well aware, by now, as to what has happened, but the aliens hunt them down and either ‘absorb’ them in some other fashion, or just eliminate them outright!

And the world, as humans have known it, no longer exists.

The End

Playing In The Dirt

This written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on March 28, 2004, the 5th Sunday of Lent of that year!

The Scripture is from Philippians 3: 4b-14…

        It seems as if over the years a lot of my relatives have been involved in farming in some manner or other, though I must admit those numbers have decreased greatly as those of my generation and younger have chosen careers that have taken them away from ‘playing in the dirt”. And you know, I think ‘playing in the dirt’ is about as good a description of farming as one could ask for! There is just something about the smell of fresh-tilled soil that I think most people instinctively find exhilarating, even if they aren’t sure why, or even realize what it is they are smelling!

        Soil is the basis of all farming… the fundamental element needed for every aspect of it. If you’re raising beans or corn, it is the soil that nurtures the seed until its roots shoot out and the stalk reaches toward the heavens. It is the soil that then provides the support for each plant’s journey towards God while still providing all that it needs to make that journey. Those that raise any kind of livestock are also aware of the importance of the land itself… in addition to growing the feed needed for each animal, land is needed to provide space for the herds to move and breathe and live! So it is the soil… the land itself, if you will… that all of our lives are based on, whether for food or income or both! As such, one would think it is extremely valuable! And in many ways, it is! Indeed, one group of my relatives did very well in the farming industry during the late sixties and early seventies due in large part to the seemingly unstoppable increases in land values.

It was a time when it seemed like they could do no wrong. Corn yields were approaching and passing the hundred-bushel-an-acre mark, hogs were making money hand-over-fist, and beef prices were soaring. I recall them paying $6000 for a one-of-a- kind bull bred by the University of Illinois that was ‘designed’ to improve the performance of their herd. (You must recall that this was at a time when I felt like the $1.25 I earned each hour was a very respectable wage… Ford was selling brand-knew Pintos for $1995… $6000 was a LOT of money!) They bought two new hundred-horse tractors to farm with… a far cry from the fifty and sixty-horse units that were considered huge as I was growing up, and ordered a brand-new Ford grain truck with all-wheel drive that could follow the combine anywhere it went!

They would buy up land one year, make improvements and farm it for a year or so, then sell it at a significant profit. And the bankers knew that all of this land was going to increase in value, so it showed up each year on the positive side of their net-worth statement… in other words, everyone considered it worth much more than what they had purchased it for, and so they could use that ‘excess’ as collateral to finance other, more ambitious projects. Then came the late seventies.

I’m sure most of you here remember what happened… people came to realize that all of this ground was far too overvalued and stopped buying… and the bottom fell out of land prices! Suddenly, all of these acres that were listed in the asset column as being worth x-number of dollars were now worth half that much or less. The problem for many farmers and investors was that they still owed the overly large amount of money that they had paid for or borrowed against it! So it was that almost overnight, these hundreds of thousands of dollars of net worth were moved from the asset side of the balance sheet over to the debit side… and all of this is a very down-to-earth example of what Paul’s talking about in these verses from Philippians… what I once counted as profit, I now consider loss!

In the verses immediately leading up to today’s, Paul had been cautioning the church in Philippi about a zealous faction that had been causing much trouble and division at other churches. These ‘Judaizers’, as described by one commentator, depended on their obedience to the Jewish law… and especially the covenant of circumcision… to make them acceptable to God. They believed, essentially, that it was through their actions that they would be accepted into heaven… in other words, they could ‘earn’ their way in. Paul, however, states most emphatically that this was not… and IS not, I might add… the case!

The Life Application Commentary says that, “Paul warned the Philippian believers to stay clear of the false teachers who taught that what people did… rather than the free gift of grace provided through Christ… is what saved them and made them believers. Paul’s conversion to Christ wasn’t based on what he had done, but on God’s grace… he did not depend on his deeds to please God because even the most impressive credentials fall short of God’s holy standards. Credentials, accomplishments, or reputation cannot earn salvation. That comes only through faith in Christ.”

In today’s verses, then, Paul points out that he is not downplaying any of the so-called requirements listed by the ‘Judaizers’ because of any failure of his own to abide by them… indeed, by their standards he was far more ‘qualified’ than many of them! In his own words, he was, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” There were no Jews more ‘Jewish’ than him! But, he states, for the sake of Christ, all that he might have counted before as profit… that is, all that the world, or his fellow Jews, might have been proud of as spiritual wealth and pointed to as an asset to his life… he now counted as loss… they had no value at all in regards to the faith and love and greatness of knowing Christ Jesus! So it is that he says, in verse 8, reading from the New Living Translation, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!”

In other words, what Paul is saying is that all of those things that he once placed on the asset side of the balance sheet of his life… all of those things that his family, his fellow Jews, and the world at large thought were an important and necessary part of life, and even salvation… counted for nothing! They would all have been placed on the debit side of his life’s balance sheet accept for one very important thing… Christ’s death on the cross eliminated that balance sheet!!! None of the values of the world apply anymore… they are empty… meaningless… worthless… indeed, the only thing of any worth whatsoever is our faith in God!

In the 12^th chapter of the Gospel of John we find an interesting story… let me read some of it…

Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus — the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples — the one who would betray him — said, “That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor…”

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer.”

According to the Life Application Commentary, “This ointment or perfume was made from an aromatic herb (also called spikenard) from the mountains of India, and it was imported in alabaster bottles. This expensive imported item carried such value that people used it for investment purposes, as gold is often used today. According to (some sources), this particular nard was worth 300 denarii (the equivalent of a year’s wages of a working man… perhaps $30,000 today). When supper was finished, Mary took this pure, expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet.

Many centuries later we are still humbled by the extravagance and the appropriateness of Mary’s gift. She poured out the very best she could find. But price is not the central issue here…what we observe is this sincere expression of faith and love. We render similar honor to Jesus when we practice faithful service wherever God has placed us — at home with children, at the office, teaching, or any of the myriad of other tasks we perform to support ourselves. Faithful, honest, diligent service done as unto the Lord is a gift to God. It is costly. Often others might think the effort wasted, for it seems to make no large or permanent change in the world. But what others may call insignificant or wasteful, God deems to be like the fragrant aroma that filled the house when Mary poured the nard on Jesus’ feet.”

Now, I bring this up to help make a point… what is it that you consider of value in your life? We would all like to think that under similar circumstances we would do the same as Mary… that the fact that something is worth a small fortune by the world’s standards would not deter us in using or giving it to the Glory of God. After all, Paul states that there is nothing of this world that surpasses the greatness of knowing and loving Christ Jesus… and that certainly includes all ‘things’, as well! So I ask again… what is it that you consider of value in your life?

It would appear, since you’re here, that attending Sunday service is more important to you than, say, sleeping in late… but what about tomorrow? Could you, perhaps, give some time to some needy service in the community in God’s name? If your time is valuable, wouldn’t it be great to give some of it to Christ by helping those who need it? And what about money? “No!” you say, “Paul is not talking about money here!” I agree. But I asked you what things YOU consider valuable! And if money is one of those things, are you being as generous with it in doing God’s work as He was in giving it to you in the first place… not to mention the generosity He shows in forgiving your sins?

What is it that you consider of value? Only you can answer that… but I remind you… God already knows! However, for those of us who may feel we come up a bit short in doing and being all that we should… I would point out what Paul says in the last of today’s verses, again, reading from the New Living Translation…

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize… for which, God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”

We are human… we are not always perfect. But the beauty of the grace of God is that it doesn’t matter to Him whether we are perfect or not… as long as we continue to strive to be! That means that each day is a new day… and each new day means another chance to serve God in the manner that He desires. Again… are you living your life by your values… or Gods?

Something that I wrote a few years ago that seems just as pertinent today as ever! 😦

 First of all, let’s make one thing Absolutely Clear: If there is a God, then the Bible, as we have it today, is HIS Inspired Word!! 

Argument One: It was written by men.

This is, obviously, entirely true! But do you not think that God directed the instrument as it was writing? I Know from personal experience that He does so yet today! When I look at the scores of sermons and articles that I have written through the years that often began with no more than a simple story in my head, and three hours later there exists a full ‘manuscript’, I KNOW it was God guiding my very fingers to type HIS message! WHY would anyone even Consider that the Word was Not ‘Breathed of God’?!

Argument Two: The Books that we have today were all chosen by the Emperor Constantine as a ‘political’ maneuver to consolidate his regime.

Again, partially true: Constantine had been fully converted to Christianity through a Heavenly vision of the Cross. As a result, he decided that it was time to sort through all of the various stories, beliefs, and ‘sects’ that had developed in the three-hundred years since the death & Resurrection of Christ! To accomplish this, he called together All of the religious leaders of the day and had them ‘hash-out’ their differences. So, YES, these were all ‘men’… but do you Not believe that God took a ‘Personal’ interest in the proceedings? Do you not believe that these men of God did not pray before, during, and after each session & ‘Vote’?

Argument Three: The meanings and interpretations of words, phrases, and stories have changed through the millennia.

Can you Really accept the concept of a GOD who doesn’t take into account the passage of time? Yes, there have been ‘cultural’ changes… Yes, there have been ‘technological’ changes and ‘shifts’, if you will… But the MESSAGE of God is FROM God… and that MESSAGE has Never changed!!!

God has personally guided the Writers of His Word as well as those who worked to organize it! He chose a message to be presented that is as applicable to us today as it was 2000 years ago… AND as it will be 2000 years from Now!!To believe Anything else is to deny the Infallibility and Omnipotence of God!!

The Second thing we Must accept is that, If there is a God, there is a Satan!

I don’t anticipate any argument to this. Even if a person denies the existence of God, they cannot deny that there is Evil in the world! They may label it any number of things, but at the heart, it is ‘Evil’. Why, then, is it so difficult to acknowledge that by our very acceptance of ‘Evil’, we also, by default, acknowledge a ‘power’ for ‘Good’? If there is a ‘force’ for ‘Evil’, then there Must also be a force for ‘Good’! God is the ‘Good’… Satan is the ‘Evil’!

So…

“If there is a God, there is a Satan”.

“If there is a God, the Bible is His Inspired Word”.

What do these two statements mean, and how do we apply them to our lives? Consider with me, for a moment… Who benefits from changing or modifying the message of God? NO ONE but Satan! When men try to take messages and words out of context and twist them to mean something other than what God had intended them to mean, who benefits? Again, NO ONE but Satan! ANY message that attempts to rewrite, modify, add to, or detract from the Message of God IS OF SATAN!!! No matter how ‘well-meaning’ it might appear, if it is Not the Word of God, it is of Satan!! It is Really just That Simple!!!

MY God is Not fallible! He asks us to love Him above All others, and to love our neighbors as ourselves… He also gives us some guidelines of things To do… AND some Definite things to Not do! However, MY God Is a Jealous God… He does not ask Much of us… But what He asks, He Demands!! It is NOT given to Any One of US to rewrite His Word on Any account… To do so is nothing short of the handy-work of Satan!

4th Sunday of Lent…

Written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on March 21, 2004. The Scripture is from 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21…

        During the years that I was one of the sponsors of the youth group at Wesley Chapel, one of the things that I looked forward to each spring was the three-day weekend/retreat they used to hold each year in Decatur. Known as YAR, for ‘Youth Annual Retreat’, we would take from two to sometimes six of the kids from our group to join with up to six or seven hundred other high-schoolers from throughout our conference. Part of that weekend involved splitting up into small groups of about ten youth for a number of sessions, usually held in the adult sponsor’s room, that were keyed in to what the general theme was for that year. (One year I was fortunate enough to have ten freshman girls in our group. THAT was an experience I’ll not soon forget!) The main focus for the youth, though, were the general sessions where everyone assembled in the huge meeting hall.

        Each year there would be a praise band to lead the singing and get everybody out of their chairs and moving and having fun. This would also be the time for taking care of general announcements as well as ‘house-keeping’ duties. But the main feature of each weekend during the General Sessions was listening to that year’s guest speaker. One year they had an African-American guy teamed up with a Caucasian girl who spent the weekend addressing the issues of equality and prejudice. Another time featured one of the leaders of Youth Specialties, one of the largest Christian youth-oriented organizations in the country at that time. But one of my favorites was the year they had a professional actor-turned youth evangelist.

        In his opening segment he started by telling a bit about where he was from and some of his history and background. He then began to talk about how, as a teenager, he had started running around with the wrong crowd, began to argue and fight with his parents, and eventually took what money his father would give him and left home. As you might imagine, things went from bad to worse for him, and over the course of time he found himself broke and alone and hungry and hurting. Somehow, he made his way back to his hometown and soon found himself on the street where he had grown up and his parents still lived. He hid in some bushes and watched his house, but was too ashamed to walk up to it. As evening approached and it grew dark and cold he worked up the courage to walk up to the door, but still stood there for some time before ringing the bell. After ringing it, however, he again lost his resolve and ran back to hide in the bushes. He watched as his father came to the door and looked out… he even came out into the yard and looked around. It was good to see his father… but as he watched him from the bushes he reflected on all of the wrongs that he had committed in his life and wondered if his father would ever be able to forgive him.

He watched as his father began to search the yard and began to worry that he might be discovered, but after a short bit the father went back into the house and shut the door. And then a strange thing happened… from the bushes he saw his father open up the curtains over the big picture window and stand in front of it, looking out. He stood there for ten minutes… he stood there for thirty minutes… an hour… soon, it was the middle of the night and his father was still standing at the window, watching and waiting. The man in the bushes came to realize what he was waiting for… he was waiting for him! After all these years, after all his sins, after his rejection and leaving of him those years ago… his father was still waiting and watching for him to return. Finally, he stood up and walked out of the bushes and towards the house. When his father saw him he rushed out, and without a word, ushered him back home where he belonged.

        By this time, there was not a sound in that entire assembly as each person there, youth and adult alike, sat taking in the words of this mans story… I would well imagine there were even more than a few tears being shed when at last he announced, “I have to be honest… this isn’t MY story.” You could feel a shift in the room as collectively all of those there began to think they had been scammed, when he added, “I borrowed it from the greatest story-teller there ever was… this is the story of the Prodigal Son!” Again, you could feel a shift as most there came to realize what had just happened… the power and majesty of the love of God for His children had just been shown to each of them in a very personal manner… in a way that brought it home to each person on a level that they could connect with and relate to!

        The Life Application Commentary tells us that, “At one time, Paul had evaluated Jesus from a worldly point of view – that is, “according to human standards.” As an educated Jew, Paul was looking forward to the Messiah. But the Jews of his time were looking for a political Messiah, a powerful person who would free them from Roman rule. Instead, Jesus had died, even suffering the Romans’ most cruel punishment: crucifixion. Because Deut 21:23 says “anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse”, the Jews considered dying on a cross a sign of God’s disapproval. According to human standards, Jesus was an insignificant man who died like a criminal — not a person who deserved worship.

But, Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road radically changed his thinking. All of his learning and all of his training under the teachers of the law and the respected Gamaliel had not led him to the truth. The wisdom of the world had not pointed him to the Savior of the world.

So in today’s verses he pointedly says that he no longer thinks of Christ in that way. And if Christ is no longer to be thought of in a worldly manner, then any one who is IN Christ is also changed and becomes a ‘new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!’ He goes on to say, then, that, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Now, on the surface, that is not the easiest passage to understand… just what is Paul talking about here?

Let me read the same verses but this time from the New Living Translation…

So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

‘Be reconciled to God!’ In Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son, we find one of the most poignant and beautiful examples of reconciliation… that of a father to his son. His story was set, of course, during the time which He was on this earth, and hopefully many of that day could see the parallel between the father in the story and God, our Heavenly Father. And if they could see that, then hopefully they could also see that the prodigal son was them… and that no matter what they had done… no matter how badly they had sinned… their Heavenly Father was ready to welcome them back into His loving arms.

Fast forward to today. How many times have each of us heard this story over the course of our lives? I’m sure that those who grew up in the church first heard it when they very young in various Sunday school classes, and have listened to it be preached umpteen number of times by umpteen preachers. We have read it in our Bibles, we have read it books and magazines, some may have even seen it on TV or the internet in various forms. And for many of us, each time we hear it, however we hear it, we think, “Yes, that father really loved his son to welcome him back like that.” We fail to make the connection to ourselves and our lives today!

When that speaker got up in front of those hundreds of kids at YAR that year, he told a story that they could connect with! He told about problems with dealing with parents, he told about problems with being accepted by their peers, about drugs and sex and living what many are told is the ‘good life’… these were things that each person sitting there could relate to, at least on some level. And when he then turned it around and turned it into the story of the prodigal son, some could see, for perhaps the first time, that they were the prodigal son… they were the ones who had moved away from God… they were the ones who were afraid to come back home, thinking that their sins were too great!

But Paul tells us that God has reconciled the world to himself… through Christ… and will not count men’s sins against them! And I stand here today to remind you that the ‘world’ is us! It is each and every one of you sitting here today, as well as myself! WE are the prodigal son that Jesus is speaking of in His story! And it is God who is watching and waiting for us to come back to Him! There is no wrong… there is no sin… that is too great for God to forgive… after all, He IS God! Furthermore, there is no fear… there is no self-pity or self-piety or self-doubt… there is no hole so deep for us to get into… that is too great for Him to accept and help us with!

There is a term used these days by divorce lawyers to describe a situation where two people just can no longer seem to get along… ‘Irreconcilable differences’. In its use they infer that the people involved have problems and differences that are totally insurmountable, giving just cause for each of them to go their separate ways and live separate lives. But to God, there is no such thing as an ‘Irreconcilable difference’… through the sacrifice of His Son on the Cross of Calvary, there is no sin too horrible for God to forgive. And for that reason, we can always find Him waiting and watching at the window… waiting for us to come home to His open and loving arms. For whatever direction our lives have been, whatever downward path we might have found ourselves on, whatever sins we have committed, whether real or imagined, slight or great… the price of our forgiveness… our redemption… our ‘reconciliation’, if you will… has already been paid… in full!

Ruth 1: 1-18

This was written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on November 2, 2003.

PLEASE listen to the WHOLE thing before you start Throwing ‘stuff’! 🙂

          Some of those who hear this may remember how that when my Grandpa Luebbert retired from Granite City Steel in 1965, he and Grandma bought a farm in the hills and hollers of the Ozarks, about 40 miles south of Jeff City, and lived there for over fifteen years. During that time, there came into existence a whole ton of ‘Grandpa’ stories.

          One of my favorites is of the time he had come back from a very cold morning of hunting and in his rush to get inside, forgot to empty the shells, like he usually did, outside. Oh well, he thought, and pumped them out, counting as he went. Then, like normal, he pulled the trigger to make sure it was empty… and shot the leg off of one of their rocking chairs and put a hole in the floor!!! I guess, from the way they told it later, Grandma must have really come unglued… and that time, at least, Grandpa had no choice but to be still and listen.

Grandpa was born in 1900 and died in 1983, and I guess if ever I had a hero in my life, it was him. At least it seems as if I learned an awful lot of my mannerisms, my humor, and my general outlook on life from him. I learned how to patch stuff together with baling wire, how to drive and handle equipment, how to fish, how to farm, and how to ‘think out of the box’, if that was what was called for. I learned an awful lot of my work ethic from him, too, but I also learned that it was alright to just relax and be a little crazy sometimes.

When the work was done for the day, we would come in and sit around the huge dining-room table that he had built some years earlier so that all of his family could sit together, and we would talk. Ohhhh, I wish I’d had a tape-recorder going during some of those talks! But, I’ll save all of that story for another day!

All in all, as I say, I learned a lot of really good things from him. But there was one thing I learned that maybe wasn’t so good. You see, Grandpa had this way of teasing Grandma that was so much fun to watch. He would be sitting at his usual place across from you at that table and be just talking away about any number of things when suddenly he would stop, wink at you, and say something to Grandma while she was working in the kitchen. Then you could hear the fireworks start… she would start carrying on about whatever it was he had said, sometimes coming into where we sat at the table just all upset and reading him the riot act… and all the while he’d be looking at you with a little grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. What great fun! And I learned how to do it very well! But you know what? None of the women I ever tried it on thought it was the least bit funny! Can you imagine?

As far back as I can remember, the book of Ruth has always been my favorite. Now, if I were to be honest about it, that may be because it was one of the few books of the Bible with a story-line that a young boy could understand. Growing up in the days of Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and The Donna Reed Show, the idea of a woman’s ‘place’ being in the home was one that was being ‘programmed’ into all of us during that time. And the whole intent of the book of Ruth, to my young-boy’s mind, was to reinforce that point of view… that a woman’s place… (Now… please don’t throw anything!!! Let me finish the sermon!)… That a woman’s place in the proper order of things was to be subservient to men!

On top of that, there is just something so romantic about this particular passage when read from the King James… “whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”  The fact that she was actually saying it to her mother-in-law- never seemed to enter the equation… Ruth was professing her love and devotion to that person and to that person’s way of life. And I fully expected the woman that I married, on that far, far future date, when I was a child, to feel just exactly that way about me! I mean, look at Mrs. Cleaver… all she ever wanted to do was stay home to do laundry and keep the house clean, and then make sure all of the men in her life were well fed and well loved… what more could any woman want?

BOY! Have times changed! But you know what? It’s all for the better!

The ‘women’s lib’ movement, as it was called, actually began a very long time ago, but it seemed to me, at least, that it reached its’ hey-day during the 60’s and 70’s. But most of us ‘males’ were still living in the dark ages! We still felt that the proper place for any ‘good’ woman was in the home. After all, isn’t that what the Bible always said? Ahhhhh! One of the episodes of the Western Bible Study I did many years ago, Death Valley Days, taught us better!

Let me read a quote from the Handbook of Bible Application that I used during that session… “God’s image is the basis for human self-worth. Knowing that we are made in God’s image and thus share many of his characteristics provides a solid basis for self-worth. Human worth is not based on possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness, or public acclaim. Instead it is based on being made in God’s image. Because we bear God’s image, we can feel positive about ourselves. Criticizing or downgrading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities he has given us. Knowing that you are a person of worth helps you love God, know him personally, and make a valuable contribution to those around you.

God’s image is shared equally by women and men. God made both man and woman in his image. Neither man nor woman is made more in the image of God than the other. From the beginning the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Neither sex is exalted, nor is either depreciated.”

          On the subject of marriage, the same source says… “Marriage is a cooperative effort between equal partners. God forms and equips men and women for various tasks, but all these tasks lead to the same goal — honoring God. Man gives life to woman; woman gives life to the world. Each role carries exclusive privileges; there is no room for thinking that one sex is superior to the other.

Marriage is a gift from God. God gave marriage as a gift to (the world). Marriage was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture.”

          In spite of appearances, my Grandma and Grandpa must have really loved one another. But because of the attitudes that prevailed throughout their lives, they spent a great deal of their years together just ‘existing’… each of them taking care of their end of raising a family and building a life… but never really being able to cooperated and support each other in the process! That is NOT what God made man and woman to be… He made us as equal partners… different, yes… but equal! And that equality has always existed! It is only man that said otherwise! Let’s look, briefly, at some examples.

Women were always an important part of Jesus’ ministry while on this earth. In Luke 8:1-3 we read, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

And in Acts 2, Peter quotes from the prophet Joel by saying:

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

          These verses, and many others in the New Testament, give testimony to the importance and equality of everyone, including females. The idea that men were somehow superior is an entirely manmade idea! Imagine that! And I would like to extrapolate that ‘revelation’ with the thought that all peoples are equal in the sight of God, as well! To quote from a children’s song that I’m sure all of you remember… “Red and yellow, black and white. All are precious in His sight!” All truly ARE precious in His sight… every man, woman and child of every race, creed or color!

          So…. Where does this leave us in regards to the book of Ruth? Well, actually, it doesn’t change a thing! As I said, Ruth is professing her open, all-encompassing love and devotion for her mother-in-law. But for us to fully appreciate what that is about, and how it applies to us, today, we need to tie it into a Gospel reading, Mark 12: 28 – 34, as well. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

          It is only when we begin to love God and our neighbors with that same total, un-assuming, and all-powerful devotion that Ruth professes in these verses, that we begin to approach that state of all-encompassing love that God has for us, and that He intends for us to spread in His name.

Ruth gave her life over completely to that person she felt love and a responsibility for! And it is in that same way that WE must give ourselves over to God… completely… overwhelmingly… and unconditionally! That’s what He expects… that’s what He DEMANDS!

May the presence of God the Creator give you strength;

May the presence of God the Redeemer give you peace;

May the presence of God the Sustainer give you comfort;

May the presence of God the Sanctifier give you love.

                   Amen.