Given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on January 2, 2005, the verses are from Isaiah 60: 1-6…

       I like light! Many is the time I’ve walked into a room and asked why someone is working in the dark, and start turning on lights. My garage and workshop have lots of fluorescent lights mounted about, and I usually have one or two trouble lights to help, as well! I mean, I like light!

And, as any who chanced to see the different plays and dances I set-up during high-school, attended some of the ‘special Services’ I did while at Lynnville, or the Christmas light displays I used to do-up outside of Jacksonville might guess, I also like playing with light! In fact, I have always enjoyed anything that makes or uses light. From candles to lasers, from lenses to fiber optics, light has always fascinated me.

       The Adler Planetarium, in Chicago, has many displays describing the various properties of light… did you know that light can be ‘bent’ by gravity? Indeed, if the gravity effect is great enough, it will pull all light that comes into its field into it and not let it escape… this is what they call a ‘black hole’. And you probably know that the term ‘light year’ pertains to a measure of distance, not time… it is the distance that light travels in one solar year. Since light moves at the rate of 186,000 mi/sec, a light year is equal to 5,880,000,000,000 miles!

       One of the interactive exhibits they have at the Adler is a duplicate to ones I have seen at other science-related museums, but I can never seem to resist it… it consists of a highly focused beam of light coming out of a hole in a small table, and a series of mirrors, colored filters, and shaped pieces of glass that one can use to bend, color, and explore all of the various things you can do with light. Unless there is a line of kids waiting to use it, I can sit for fifteen-twenty minutes, sometimes, just playing with that beam of light!

       Light is important to all of us for one reason or another… light is absorbed by almost all plant life and converted into many good things… oxygen to breath, vegetables for nutrition… why, even grass and hay and such are eaten by many animals and converted into meat which most of us eat for our protein!

       And even our own bodies have a craving and need for massive amounts of light. Ever notice how tired some of us get during the short days of winter? Some people claim that that is caused by not getting a sufficient amount of sunlight each day! And some of those people claim that that explains why many of our ‘festivals of light’ occur at this time of year. Let me quote from a report I found on-line regarding some research done by the National Institute of Mental Health…

       “Is it any wonder then that there are so many festivals of light which gather in the valley of the year? There is the celebration of Christ’s birth on the 25th day of December on the Julian calendar; Christmas-time, celebrated by clothing tree and home with twinkling lights, by warm gatherings of family and friends with candles glowing on the dinner table and media images of warm, cozy fires burning in the hearth. And there is Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, at different times in different years according to the Julian calendar, but always celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev of the Hebrew calendar, and always close to Christmastime. It is celebrated by the lighting of candles on the Chanukeya on eight consecutive nights, and by the warm smell of potato latkes — potato pancakes — coming from the kitchen. Coincidence? Probably not. The NIMH research suggests that it very likely is something about the time of year rather than the actual timing of historical events which dictate when these holidays of light occur. Historians tell us, for instance, that Christ was probably born at a time very different from when his birthday is celebrated. And who knows when during the year the true reclamation of the Temple from its desecration by the ancient Romans occurred, that historical event culminating in what oral tradition refers to as the Miracle of Lights

There are many who now believe that the most important reasons for festivals of light collecting cross-culturally in the trough of the year has more to do with the cycle of seasons than with true historical dates. According to this thinking, the more important reason for the holidays occurring when they do is to light up the spirits during the darkest days.”

Now, it’s true when another web-site asks the question, “Is December 25 really the day Jesus was born?”, and answers… ”No one really knows. What is known is that Christian leaders in 336 A.D. set the date to December 25 in an attempt to eclipse a popular pagan holiday in Rome that celebrated the winter solstice. Originally, the celebration of Christmas involved a simple mass, but over time Christmas has replaced a number of other holidays in many other countries, and a large number of traditions have been absorbed into the celebration in the process.” And I don’t think that anybody here this morning is surprised by that… the fact of the matter is that the exact day of Jesus’ birth isn’t important… only the fact that He was born! And if people have chosen to celebrate that birth at a time when it seems as if everyone needs a real boost to their spirits… why, what’s wrong with that? After all, isn’t that a part of what Christ’s birth was to be about… lifting one’s spirit?

But I digress… I started out this morning by talking how much I really like light! The converse of that, then, is that I really don’t like dark! Darkness holds monsters and demons and all kinds of bad things! Dark hides things that stick out at knee level and jump out to get you… dark hides the bolt-hole you’re trying to line-up to finish a project… dark prevents us from seeing all of the beauty that God has created around us and forces us to question its very existence… because, sometimes it’s hard to remember that beauty when surrounded by darkness! Satan loves the darkness, because, most of all, darkness can hide truth!

But what does Isaiah say in this morning’s reading? “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” Jesus IS the Light!

John starts out his story of the Gospel of Christ by saying… “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Of John the Baptist, he says… “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”  

Jesus IS the Light! The Magi followed that light, as represented by a star, to find the baby Jesus and worship Him and bring Him gifts suitable for a king. Indeed Isaiah prophesied that they would “come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD.” And Mathew tells us that that is indeed what happened! “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

I like light! And Jesus is the Light! He is the light that dispels all darkness! His Light drives away the evil of Satan and lets all Truth shine through! His Light is the source of all that is good and right in the world and in heaven! His Light is our salvation!

And… He is alive today! The Lord lives! His Light shines on! In fact, I think the Gospel of John sums it all up pretty well…

“The Word”… or should I say, ‘The Light?’ “…became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory… the glory of the One and Only… who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And might I add… Light!

This is the talk I gave at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on December 26, 2004. The Scripture is from the 2nd chapter of Hebrews, verses 1 – 18…

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What is the difference between sympathy and empathy?

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary describes sympathy as having common feelings or emotions, such as an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other… the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another. And it describes empathy as a passionate feeling or emotion… the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present.

       After I read those two definitions, I was more confused than when I started! I think I prefer the very simplistic version I remember being taught by a Sunday School teacher many, many years ago… Sympathy is that ability to care about another’s pain even though you may never have personally experienced that particular pain. In other words, I can sympathize with someone who may have lost a parent, even though both of mine might still live. To empathize with someone, however, is to be able to share their pain and suffering because you have also been through it yourself. Hence, I can empathize with someone going through an unfriendly divorce because I have done that myself.

       Both emotions have their uses… and their limitations. Just as a simple example… even though I have never been an orphan, I could probably work at an orphanage. My feelings of sympathy and love for those less fortunate than I would, I believe, stand me in good stead. However, I would be worse than useless working with alcoholics and drug addicts. True, there are those who have never suffered either of those conditions who do excellent work in that field, but by far and away, the most effective are those who have either recovered from them themselves, or had to deal with a loved one who suffered from them. I know from having hired and worked with some of them that those in the recovery process feel as if they have nothing at all in common with someone like me who has never had a drink of alcohol in their life!

As most of you know by now, I am a big fan of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Scotty, Dr. McCoy, and all things ‘Star Trek’! And there is a line from the fourth movie, ‘The Voyage Home’, that I would like to talk about this morning. But for it to make any sense, I first need to give you a brief synopsis of the story line as in developed in movies 2 and 3.

       In the second movie, ‘The Wrath of Khan’, Spock receives a massive dose of radiation while rescuing the ship, and dies. However, in the third movie, ‘The Search for Spock’, Mr. Spock’s cells are unintentionally regenerated by a science-project-gone-wild and quickly grow to become himself again. So it is, then, that in the fourth movie, Dr. McCoy is trying to talk to Spock about what it was like to die…

       “Come on, Spock… you really have been where no man has gone before! Can’t you tell me what it felt like?

       Spock replies, “It would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference!”

       McCoy exclaims, “You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?!”

       In our Scriptures from Hebrews, this morning, the writer starts out by declaring that, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” The ‘many sons’ refers to all mortals… and unless some of you are much older than you look, that includes each of us!

       The Life Application Commentary says that, “(God’s making Jesus) perfect through sufferings does not refer to Jesus’ sinless state. Jesus was already perfect before he faced suffering. Instead, it refers to Jesus’ perfect position before God. In God’s eyes, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for God’s people, pioneering their salvation through his suffering and death.”

       Why should that matter? Well, when you study all of the laws and instructions of the Old Testament, God was very specific in what sacrifices must be made to atone for which sins. For example, in the fourth chapter of Leviticus we read… “If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.” The reason for this was very clear… in order for a sacrifice to have any meaning, it must be a true sacrifice. What does it cost someone to give out of their excess or cast-offs? If an injured or inferior animal was to be destroyed anyway, what cost, or sacrifice, has one made in offering it? None!

       In 2 Samuel we read the story of King David traveling to a certain place in order to offer sacrifices to God for relief of a plague that is sweeping the nation. When he arrives, the owner of the property, Araunah, says, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.”

David knew the value of a sacrifice… he knew that it was not the act of sacrificing that mattered… it was the sacrifice that one made in doing so… for it is in this way that the Lord reads and knows our true love and devotion for Him! And so it is for this reason that a perfect sacrifice must be made as atonement for our sins… and the only perfection that exists is in God, Himself, and His Son… our Lord, Jesus Christ! And He existed in that perfection before He came to be one of us.

       But… even though God created us, I’m sure He must look at our lives, sometimes, and just shake his head in disbelief. In the days of the Law of Moses, God had set down law upon law of very strict rules, and what to do to atone for each if it was broken. He spoke to the people through His prophets and priests, and worked very obvious and visible miracles for them. And still, these people would wander away from Him and sin at almost every turn! He had to wonder why! Yes, He was a God of love and understanding! And He could sympathize with their hurt and their anguish after their sins had driven them away from His protection! But He had to wonder why they kept doing it again and again and again!

       And so He sent His Son to become one of us that He might know, first hand, what it is to be human… that He might empathize more closely to us and what it means to live each day one-at-a-time… and, yes, what it might mean to face death… and to suffer and die! Our verses state very clearly that, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity… For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

       Again quoting from the Life Application Commentary, “Because humans experience suffering and death, Christ became fully human and experienced these aspects of being human as well. That Christ both lived and died gives us confidence that we have a High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weakness. We have confidence that because Christ conquered death, he also can save us from death.”

       Jesus… the Son of the Living God… was born to the Virgin Mary in a stable in Bethlehem and laid in a manger! Since the child was in danger of losing His life to Herod’s jealousy, the family was warned to move to Egypt, and wound up, later, moving and living in Nazareth. And all of these things were foretold by the prophets hundreds of years earlier!

But Isaiah also told us, in Isaiah 63, verses 7-9, this… “I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us — yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

       ‘In His love and mercy He redeemed them!’ … ‘In His love and mercy He redeemed US! He redeemed you… and me!

       But you know what the very next verse of that chapter says? “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.”

       Are we among the redeemed? Or are we among the rebels? And do we even know the difference? We’d better!

Given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on December 12, 2004. The Scripture is from James 5: 7 – 10…

Have you ever been across the desert? I can recall on one of our trips to California, when I was a kid, taking the route that went through Salt Lake City and then across the Salt Flats, and I seem to recall another time when we went across Death Valley itself. On both occasions, I plainly remember every gas station for sixty miles before you made the attempt to cross advertising canvas water-bags to carry emergency water in, and how much I thought we really needed to get one! Dad, however, was of a different opinion, and as we passed the sign saying, “Last Water and Gas Before Desert”, I settled in the back seat, resigned to my fate of dying of thirst when we broke down. (As you may have noticed, it never happened…)

What did happen, though, was that I came to realize that the desert was really a very beautiful place, in its own way. And while I’ve never been lucky enough to see it in person, over the years I have seen many pictures and movies showing just how beautiful the desert can be when the rains come and all of the plants burst into bloom! The key is to be patient… generally, at most it happens once a year, and some years the rains might not come and it not happen at all!

Patience! That’s a word that many, if not all, of us have trouble with, sometimes! In our Isaiah 35 we hear how. “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy…” at the time of Christ’s coming. But mankind is impatient… and with great efforts and at huge expense, small parts of the deserts have been made to bloom and support plants of many kinds… but only those plants that people want and think they need.

Isaiah goes on to prophesy that the coming of the Lord will cause, “…the eyes of the blind to be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” And so, in Matthew 11, even John the Baptist is impatient to know if Jesus is the Christ and sends his disciples to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

And Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

Prophecy… and fulfillment… it was all right there! John should have known! He had to have known! But he still needed that confirmation from Jesus, Himself, and was impatient for it… he sent messengers to ask!

Patience! I once knew a person who co-owned three McDonalds restaurants… do you realize that the time allotted for them, at least back then, to give you your food after you order it at the drive-up was 90 seconds? 90 seconds! Their managers and inspectors would sit with stop watches and measure it… and if they are off, people were in trouble! And yet how many of us sit and fret about how long it’s taking and how much we need to get going? 90 seconds!

Patience! I have been going down to Branson, MO for over forty years, now. I can remember on my early trips how I hated to try to go down the ‘strip’… the main highway through town… because of traffic. It could take an hour or more just to go the twenty odd miles across town and out to Silver Dollar City! And as time went by, and the ‘strip’ grew, that only got worse! I learned to take a different route that took a very circuitous route around all of that and dropped me very close to the entrance to Silver Dollar City, and still prefer to take that whenever I can, just because I like it. But the trip down the ‘strip’ is no longer such a trial. I recall visiting Branson during the Christmas season in more recent times and never taking more than fifteen minutes to cross town! Now, granted, there may not be as many people there at this time of year, but there are still a lot…. no, the difference is that there are now more roads! But that was no easy feat!

As any who have ever been there know, Branson and all of that area sits on top of a number of mountains… and to get from one place to another, you had to go down and around one mountain and around and up another… and true, these are not big mountains, but it still might take you twenty miles of highway to cover five miles as the crow flies… until now! You see, the developers down there knew that people were frustrated with losing so much time in traffic… and frustrated people will become impatient… and eventually that impatience and frustration would combine to keep them from coming back again… and the developers very much wanted them to come back again!!! Soooo… they took down one mountain and used it to fill in between another two and, voilà, a new road! Now, people could choose between two routes, and traffic was cut in half. But that wasn’t enough for some! Sooo… since it worked so well the first time, the developers did it again… and again… and again!

Until finally, on a more recent trip, as I looked out of the window of our motel room towards the City of Branson… a motel that I had stayed at, from time to time, for some twenty-five years up to that point… I noted that the hills and hollers and trees and forest that I knew and loved were gone! Between me and Branson was almost nothing but bare rock where the dozers and dynamite had been at work… one entire mountain was just plain gone! It no longer existed! And the edges of ‘civilization’ were creeping ever closer and closer! And it occurred to me that in their impatience to solve the problem of ‘impatience’, the developers have removed what was, to me, at least, one of the main attractions the area had to offer… its unspoiled beauty!

‘God, give me patience… and give it to me now!’ Patience!

Today is the third Sunday of Advent… that time of year when we are all to be waiting patiently for the coming of our Lord. But, again, patience seems to be in short supply. The kids are all impatient for Christmas morning and all that that means to them… retailers are impatient for sales to increase… shoppers get impatient waiting in line at the check-outs while drivers sit and fume in holiday traffic… and all the world seems caught up to the hustle and bustle of the season!

But James tells us to, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

Patience! Jesus is coming… we don’t know the day… or the hour… but He is coming! And there should be no last minute details to take care of… there should be no, “I meant to do that” things dangling in your mind… no regrets for things undone or wished for… for since we don’t know when He might come… we should be prepared for Him to come at anytime! And if we are prepared for Him… then we can afford to be patient… and rejoice and celebrate as we await His return.

But… if we are not prepared… if we have left undone those things that we were to do for Him… if we have been too busy and impatient in managing our own lives and our own affairs to have the time and patience to follow His instructions and do all that He wanted us to do… then His coming may well mark the end of His patience with us… and I don’t want to think what that might mean!

Using the Scriptures from Isaiah 11: 1-10 and Romans 15: 4-13, this was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on December 5, 2004.

       Some few years ago I chanced to see an old, seventies-something tan-colored Plymouth, and my heart went pitter-patter for the length of time it took for me to realize that this was, Then, 2004. You see, when I first got my drivers license, back in September of 1969, and for some years thereafter, the Illinois State Police were driving tan-colored Plymouths, and the sight of one along the road… or worse, in your rear-view mirror… was one that always filled me with a tingle of fear. And the thought occurred to me that I bet you could pretty well tell what decade a person was born by what kind of car gives them the shivers like that.

Now I think it’s safe to say that it is not… necessarily… that all teenagers are doing something wrong and need to be on the lookout that causes them to fear the sight of a patrol car… I know for myself that except for the occasional speeding that most teenagers seem to do… (We all outgrow that, right?)… I was a pretty safe driver. (I’d like to think I still am!) But somewhere during those years of adolescence, most of us learned a great deal of ‘respect’ for figures of authority… School Principals, Deans, cafeteria workers… and I think that, for many, that ‘respect’ is translated subconsciously as ‘fear’. And so it is that we learn to fear many figures of authority… and one of the most prominent of those figures are our law officers! And even though I know in my head that they are just people like you and me, and that their main job is to ‘protect-and-serve’ all of us regular people, I still can’t help getting that nervous, gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach any time I’m around one.

And that is what comes to my mind when I hear Isaiah talking about, “…the Spirit of the LORD resting on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD —“…I read that… and I think I understand that fear… for if we have an innate fear of figures of authority… and God is the ultimate High Authority… then many would have a great innate fear of God! But then Isaiah adds that, “… he will delight in the fear of the LORD.” Delight? He must be meaning something different than what I have been thinking about fear!

Let me read some of what Matthew Henry’s Commentary has to say about these verses…

“The prophet… foretold…

That the Messiah should, in due time… arise-from Jesse… He is called a shoot, and a branch; both the words signify a weak, small, tender product, a twig and a sprig, such as is easily broken off. The enemies of God’s church are… compared to strong and stately boughs, which can not be hewn down without great labour… yet even though Christ is compared to a tender branch, he shall be victorious over them.

He is said to come out of Jesse rather than David, because Jesse lived and died in relative poverty and obscurity; his family was of small account, and it was in a way of contempt and reproach that David was sometimes called the son of Jesse.

He comes forth out of the stump of Jesse… The house of David was reduced and brought very low at the time of Christ’s birth… witness the obscurity and poverty of Joseph and Mary.

Yet, He will be every way qualified for that great work to which he was designed… that this tender branch should be so watered with the dews of heaven as to become a strong rod…

The Holy Spirit, in all his gifts and graces, shall not only come, but rest and abide upon him; he shall have the Spirit not by measure, but without measure, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in him.

He shall have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge; he shall thoroughly understand the business he is to be employed in. What he is to make known to the children of men concerning God, and his mind and will, he shall be himself acquainted with and apprised of. He shall know how to administer the affairs of his spiritual kingdom, so as to effectually answer the two great intentions of it, the glory of God and the welfare of the children of men.

Not only shall he have a reverent affection for his Father, but he shall have a great zeal (or ‘fear’) for religion, and shall design the advancement of it in his whole undertaking. Our faith in Christ was never designed to supersede and crowd out our fear of the Lord, but to increase and support it.”

So, the word ‘fear’ is used here to describe our ‘zeal’ for loving and obeying God. Yes, we must needs maintain a fear of evil, and a fear of Hell and eternal damnation. But our God is a God of love and patience and understanding! It is only in an ignorance of understanding… (Or a certainty of having sinned)… that one might fear Him in the sense that we fear danger or evil!

Isaiah goes on to say that, “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy… with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth… Righteousness will be his belt… and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.”

Aren’t those beautiful thoughts…? Thoughts of peace and righteousness and justice? You know, in Romans 15, starting with verse 4, Paul says that, “… everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

A little later he lists four passages that predict the coming of the Lord, when he says, “…it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.”  

Again, it says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”  

And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.”  

And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.”  

Some years ago, when (my wife) was working at one of the colleges in Jacksonville, we went to a gathering at the house of one of her co-workers. While there, I struck up a really nice conversation with who I thought was the husband of one of the secretaries, and we talked for some thirty minutes or so. It was only afterwards that I learned that he was the president of the college! Now, whenever I see him on campus, I can barely bring myself to say more than ‘Hi, how are you?’ to him. He isn’t any different than when I met him at that picnic… nor am I. But my awareness of his status of authority IS different… and that old ‘fear-of-authority’ prevents me from getting close, again!

Far too often, I think that happens to us in our dealings with God… our fear of His authority prevents us from getting too close. But in verse 5 of that chapter from Romans Paul writes…

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy…”

On this, the Second Sunday of Advent, I invite you to do two things…

First of all, analyze your relationship with God. Is it a relationship built on love and trust… or on fear? Because, if we fear God more than we love Him, we are missing the whole point of all of this! God… LOVES… us! And all He has really asked is for us to love Him in return! For if we love Him, we will obey Him… it is really just that simple!

       Second, consider these verses from Romans and ask yourself… “Am I truly being as accepting of all those around me as Christ is of me?” Again, Christ died on the cross because He loved us! His entire teaching was about loving and caring for one another in His name! And if we aren’t doing that when He returns, then we may well have reason to fear…

I choose… to love! And in that attitude of love, let me repeat what Paul says in verse 13 of this chapter of Romans…

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Including verses from Isaiah 2: 1-5, Matthew 24: 36-44, and Romans 13: 11-14, this was written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on November 28, 2004. It is IMPORTANT to note that it is very time-and-location sensitive! While the Jubilee Center is still there, many of the people mentioned throughout this piece may have moved-on or even be ‘gone’… Indeed, even the little ‘Lynnville UMC’ shut it’s doors not too many years after I left there in 2005… 😦 However, it is a great testament to that group of people that the number of ‘flood’ buckets’ taken to the ‘Midwest Distribution Center’ and the amount of food taken in to the ‘Jacksonville Food Bank’ each month FAR exceeded what might be expected from such a tiny group of people!! Kudos to them!?! May their spirit live on through those of us still here to carry on…

          Some of you were here the Sunday I talked about [my wife] and I taking the Youth groups from Wesley Chapel and Jerseyville on a mission trip to Sneedville, TN. Believe it or not, that was the summer of 2002! For those who weren’t here, or whose memory… like mine… just ‘ain’t what it used to be’… let me tell some of that story again!

          Hancock County, named after John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, was… and probably still is… the poorest county in the state of Tennessee, and Sneedville is the county seat of Hancock County. You see, in the past the economy had been based on all of the coal mines in the area, but they’ve all been gone, now, for a number of years, and there just hasn’t been anything to replace them!

          So, for the most part, as the young boys grow in to men, they generally opt to pack-up and leave. But most of the older generation have never known any other life and had no desire to move on, and didn’t know how to change… so for many years their upkeep has fallen on the various welfare systems of the state and county.

          A few years ago, area Methodist churches saw a real need in that area, and in time established the Jubilee Project, a combination Youth center and relief agency located in Sneedville but serving the entire county. In fact, let me read the blurb from their web site… Jubilee Project was begun by United Methodists in 1991, and it has expanded to include many others, joining together to help people in the name of Jesus Christ, by helping them meet their spiritual, economic, social and physical needs.  Jubilee Project’s vision is to assist in the empowerment of people in Hancock County Tennessee, especially those with the greatest needs, through enhancement of self-worth, abilities and opportunities.  We do this as an inclusive, community-based organization initiated and guided by Christian values and relationships.  Jubilee Project is open to everyone, regardless of religion, faith, creed, gender or race.

The person we dealt with when we were there, Randy Hildebrant, was the Youth Coordinator and also arranged and oversaw all of the projects that volunteers from all over come and work on each summer. During the week we were there, we had groups… replace an entire roof on an elderly lady’s home, build a proper entryway and porch to a house trailer inhabited by two or three generations of one family at one site and a wheel chair ramp for a house at a different location, build a retaining wall around a new water pump serving a young family’s needs, stuffed school supplies into shopping bags for distribution at school when it started back up, helped at a local clothing store run by the center, installed a new floor and repaired some doors and hardware around the center itself… well, you get the idea… we were very, very busy.

Let me see if I can put at least one face on all of this for you… One of the projects I was personally involved with was replacing the main circuit box and rewiring the air-conditioner for a gentleman I’ll call ‘Mr. P’. Mr. P lived in the same two-room shack he had been born in some ninety years earlier… indeed, he had never lived anywhere else! And while it was probably no more than thirty miles from Sneedville on a map, it took over an hour’s worth of driving up and down and around and over and under on all of those mountain roads to get there. This old, gray-haired, black gentleman sat and talked to me and the kids I had taken with me the whole time we were there working, and OH!, do I wish I had been able to record all that he had to say! The stories and insights he had about all of those years of life and living and loving were just spell-binding to me… the man was a true treasure, but no-one but us would ever know!

In addition to arranging all of these projects, Randy had also started a community self-help project designed to help the locals get off of the welfare roles and provide for themselves by providing ideas, seed-money, contacts and working space for anyone interested in starting a private business enterprise… and many of these were successful! He was truly an amazing person, and I came away with a great deal of respect and admiration for the man! And we’ll talk more about him in a bit.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent… that time of year when we try to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. In our Old Testament verses from Isaiah [2: 1-5] this morning we heard that, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

Now, I must needs point out to you that this did not happen during Christ’s first coming… this prophecy must be pointing to His return. And in our verses from Matthew [24: 36-44] this morning, Jesus himself says that, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

And in our verses from Romans [13: 11-14], Paul tells us to do all of this… “understanding the present time. The hour has come… to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Every day… every hour we live brings us closer to the time of Christ’s return! “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the… darkness and put on the armor of light.”

The Life Application Commentary reminds us that, “In Scripture, light provides a very powerful image… for light represents all that opposes darkness and evil. We must utilize God’s light.” And that is part of the significance of the lighting of the Advent Candles each Sunday during this season… dispelling the darkness of evil that threatens to engulf us at every turn. But… it is not the act of lighting that candle that dispels the darkness… it is the good being done in Christ’s name throughout the world that drives away the darkness of Satan, bringing light to all!

The kind of good being done by people like Mother Teresa and others like her… the kind of good being done by Janet McCarty, one of our local missionaries currently serving in Nepal… the kind of good being done by Randy Hildebrant in Sneedville, TN… the kind of good we do when we take food to the food center in Jacksonville and provide flood buckets for victims of natural disasters around the world.

In fact, let me read a small part from Randy’s latest [2004] newsletter… “Disaster Relief Work for UMCOR – Thanks to the work of many local United Methodist Churches, individuals, and even a Brownie Scout Troup, we were able to collect flood-buckets (clean up kits for flood victims), non-perishable food, bottled water, and clothing for victims of the recent hurricanes in Florida. As a district disaster relief coordinator, I have been working in conjunction with others in our conference on relief efforts. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the churches, groups, and individuals who donated their time, efforts, and money to help those in need.”

Now, keep in mind that this is Hancock County… the poorest county in one of the poorest states of this country! And these people are putting together flood buckets and other aid to send out in support of disaster relief for others! To me, that is truly amazing… and a very ‘bright’ example of the kind of light that dispels the darkness of evil!

As I said, this is the first Sunday of Advent… but while tradition may have us preparing for the birth of baby Jesus, I put it to you that we need to be in anticipation of His Second Coming… when we will all be judged by how much light we have added to the world!

Let’s bring in enough food next Sunday to fill a pickup for the Food center! Let’s get these flood buckets put together and take a truck load over in January! And let’s see if we can put a face on some of what we are doing as well… here is an ‘Advance Special’ Number for salary support for Randy Hildebrant at the Jubilee Program in Sneedville, TN! Let’s commit to making a monthly donation to him… or another program, if you so choose… and help keep that light lit in God’s name! It doesn’t have to be much… we could choose to give as little as $100/month, as a congregation… just add a little to the collection plate each week or month over and above your regular giving… marked for that special project!

Jesus is coming! And as He, himself says in today’s verses, “…you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Will He find you in darkness… or will He find us doing our part to light up the world?

Excerpts from a service I did in 2003… Scripture is from 1 Timothy 2: 1-6 and Matthew 6: 25-33…

GOD, all things come from you. There is nothing that happens in our lives without your knowing. We have so much, God. We take it all for granted. The sun comes up in the morn­ing. The ocean rolls in to the shore. The stars shine. The leaves change color. Thank you, God, for these gifts. Thank you for the people who love us in spite of ourselves. Thank you for your son who was nailed to the cross. Thank you for the independence and perse­verance of our forefathers who saw beyond their own existences and created this nation.    Amen.

1 Timothy 2: 1 – 6

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.

Jesus truly was a man of peace. He taught us to love one another… He taught us to love our enemies… and He taught us to love God… His Father!

We Christians have learned, over the years, that… while we need to strive for and work towards world peace… the only peace that we often have any control over is the peace that Jesus brings inside of us… that personal peace that comes from a deep, strong relationship with Him.

But can you imagine what the world would be like if we all lived in actual peace with one another? What discoveries might be made if our scientist were all concentrating on finding cures or improving life instead of developing weapons, or defenses against them? How high would the soul and consciousness of humankind soar if we were focused on our love for one another instead of our differences?

There was a song, during the late sixties that told a story of how the people in the valley coveted the treasure of the mountain people above them. The mountain people offered to share, but the valley people wanted it all. So, grabbing their swords and mounting their horses, they killed the mountain people… so they got their just reward. Do you remember it? When they uncovered the treasure what they found was ‘Peace On Earth!’

Sometimes, wanting and believing in peace isn’t enough. The mountain people believed in peace… yet, in the song, all died! The United States of America… this wonderful country of ours… has taken a leadership role, over the years, in standing up for the oppressed and the downtrodden… for attempting to bring peace to those who so desperately are in need of it… even to the point, sometimes, of attempting to force it upon them! I will grant you that many of these attempts have been political in nature, and therefore questionable. But at the heart of our country… at the heart of our laws and our constitution and our intents… are the principals of Christianity! And it these principals that need to be presented around the world!

Sometimes we must fight for those principals… sometimes we must defend ourselves because of them… but let us never forget that those who wear a uniform in our name are also, generally, in the service of spreading God’s message… the message of peace and love to ALL people… and the Good News of Jesus Christ, His Son!

Matt. 6: 25 – 33

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Part of a Bible study I once wrote said, “We live in a world that often says that we are nothing more than a collection of appetites to be satisfied. We’re surrounded by billboards and ads for products that say; ‘Use me, buy me, wear me, drink me, drive me, put me in your hair – and you will be content.’ Be we are NOT content! The distance between ‘more’ and ‘enough’ is an unbridgeable chasm.”

       We also read author Mike Ballah’s comment that, “To be content is… not to have all that you want, but to want only what you have.” That is very profound! But the truth is, we in this country have so many things that we can hardly tell, sometimes, what we don’t have! And we get all caught up in both the pursuit and the control of those things.

       But in these verses, Jesus is telling us to not worry about things… not to worry about getting ‘just one more’! But to be aware of and focus on that which is of true importance… spending eternity with Him!

       Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day… a day that has been set aside for us to reflect on some of those ‘things’ in our life that God has been so generous with. And God has been generous! Consider that you drove to this service this evening… how many people are there around the world who have no choice but to walk. Consider the warm clothes that you are wearing and this heated building we are meeting in, as well as that nice warm bed waiting for you at home… and think how many people around the world are naked and cold and homeless. Consider the size of that turkey or ham sitting in your refrigerator right now waiting to be consumed sometime tomorrow… then count how many will die tonight from malnutrition.

       God has blessed us… He has blessed you! Let us lift His name on high and be truly thankful to Him everyday… not just Thanksgiving!

Let me close by reading something that made the rounds of the internet some years ago… I never knew who wrote it, but it is called, “An Interview With God”…

I dreamed I had an interview with God

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time,” I said.

God smiled.

“My time is eternity . . . what questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered,

“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money . . . and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for awhile.

And then I asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them.  All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply do not yet know how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but that they must also forgive themselves.”

“Thank you for you time,” I said humbly.  “Is there anything else you’d like your children to know?”

God smiled and said . . . “Just know that I am here.”  “Always.”

This was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on November 21, 2004. The Scriptures are from Colossians 1: 11-20 and Luke 23: 33-43…

As I note at the beginning of the ‘live’ recording, this was a Methodist church and so contains some references to Methodist ‘traditions’… but the MESSAGE is for ALL Christians Everywhere!?! PLEASE do not be distracted by ‘things’ that bear no meaning to the True ‘Story of Christ’!!!

       I am an American! And I’m proud to be an American! I can stand up tall, raise my head and shout to the world, ‘I am an American!’ Being American is great! We have no king to bow down or kneel to… we are beholden to no one! We are self-sufficient… what we do with our lives is totally up to us!  We are taught from birth that we can do and be anything that we want… our only limits are those we might impose on ourselves… we can be as great… or as humble… as we choose to be!

       In fact, I have a real problem with the whole concept of bowing or kneeling to anyone! I recall one of the early Star Trek episodes in which the bad guy-king was using his kinetic abilities to force Captain Kirk to kneel before him… Kirk resisted with every bit of physical strength that he had until his legs were forced to bend and put him on the floor. Even then, his mind refused give-in as he told the being just what he thought of him, until even his mouth was ‘forced’ to say words the bad guy wanted to hear but Kirk did not mean.

       No kings for Captain Kirk! And no kings for any of us Americans, either! The whole idea is preposterous! That’s what we fought a war for 200-some years ago… to do away with kings and monarchs and any-and-all types of all-powerful rulers… not for us! We rule ourselves, thank you very much! We are independent and free… free to think and do whatever we want! We are Americans!

       Today is ‘Christ the King’ Sunday. The Book of Worship describes it simply as, “The Last Sunday after Pentecost, which is also the last Sunday of the Christian Year… It is a celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ and the completion of creation.” Now, growing up, as I did, in a completely different denomination, I might be excused for not knowing or understanding just what all of that means… but it amazes me, sometimes, to find that many of those who were brought up in this and similar denominations are sometimes just as clueless as I am, or at best, very vague on the concept. And it doesn’t help when much of what I turn-up in a search of the internet really doesn’t tell me any great specifics either. All I can tell you is what I have gathered from various sources as I have made my way along this path to be your pastor… and that is, essentially, that since the Birth of Christ is the beginning of Christianity, we consider that time of anticipation just before His birth… what we call Advent… as the beginning of the Christian year. That, of course, is followed by the Christmas season, which lasts through the Epiphany of the Lord. We then go through what is deemed ‘ordinary time’ until we reach Lent, and then Easter… The ‘Great Three Days’ from sunset Holy Thursday through Easter Day are considered the climax of the Christian year, which is followed by what is called, again, ‘ordinary time’… until we reach today… the last Sunday after Pentecost.

       Christ the King Sunday! The verses from Jeremiah 23: 1-6 predict the coming of a “King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 68-79, we acknowledge that coming… “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago).”

       Christ the King Sunday! Our other verses from Luke this morning tell a small part of the story of the Passion of Christ… His Crucifixion on a wooden cross propped up between two thieves, being mocked and sneered at as He suffered and died one of the most horrible deaths mankind has ever devised for one of its own… all for our sakes… the ‘completion of creation’, if you will! And in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he tells us that, “‘Christ’ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

       Christ the King Sunday! I was told something once that you may find as shocking as I did… God is NOT an American! But I have to admit, He’s not!! God is God! It is only through our own arrogance and conceit that we might even think such a thing! In fact, the truth of the matter is that we Americans have been vain enough to try to Americanize Christianity! In many, many ways, the face of Christianity in this country looks far more like us than like Christ! Is it any wonder that the rest of the world has trouble seeing the good of Christ in anything we do?

       Christ the King Sunday! Yes, I am an American! And yes, I am proud of the fact that I will never have to bow down to any earthly leader! But… I do have a King! And as hard as it might be for me, an American, to do… I had better learn how to bend my legs and humbly bow before the Lord! I had better learn how to stop trying to force my wants and my desires over what the Lord’s are!

       Christ the King Sunday! In fact, the truth of the matter is that we, as a nation, had better start to acknowledge God as God and not as one of Uncle Sam’s servants… Because He isn’t… He… is… God!!! How many times can I say that?!

       Today is Christ the King Sunday. Let us honor Him as our Lord and Saviour. Let us grant His sovereignty over all nations, and stop trying to mold Him into what we think we want as a ‘god’. Let us acknowledge Him as our King, and humble ourselves as we bow down before His Greatness.

       Today is Christ the King Sunday. Amen. Let all of God’s people say… Amen!

This was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on November 14, 2004. The Scripture is from 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13 and Luke 21: 5-19…

       One of my uncles on mom’s side had a total of six kids, and the two boys were right between my brother and I in age. And with them living in Wood River and us in Hartford, two small towns about two miles apart between Alton and St. Louis, it was only natural that the four of us grew close and enjoyed spending as much time playing together as we could finagle out of our parents.

       However, in the mid-sixties Uncle Cecil decided to follow his older brother and move his family to California, while at that same time, we bought our farm outside of Edwardsville and moved there. And so, it was with great joy and expectation that my brother and I received the news, about two years later, that they would all be coming back for a visit that summer, and we both went to work making plans for things to do during their visit.

       For one thing, we thought it would be really ‘neat’ to camp out in the pasture, and to that end had borrowed a big tent from one of my aunts. When our cousins arrived, we all went out to the flat area behind the barn at the bottom of the hill that dominated much of our farm and went to work picking a suitable location and setting up what was to be our ‘home’ during their visit. The spot we chose was near the grassy waterway that ran down off of the hill, and was out-of-sight of the house, but not so far as to be inaccessible in an emergency.

       Night came, and the four of us, armed with flashlights, comic books and snacks went out and crawled into our respective sheets and pillows. Believe it our not, we eventually fell asleep, and were only vaguely aware that a huge storm front had moved in. I remember hearing the thunder and listening to the driving rain as it hit the canvas of the tent and thinking how great all of it was, and how brave we were to all stay out there. Suddenly, my quiet retrospective was shattered by the screams of the two who had chanced to sleep on the east side of the tent as that side suddenly caved in upon them and water began streaming through the canvas! With shouts and such words as I was surprised to hear from my two cousins (after all, they were California boys now!), we scurried to salvage what we could and ran through the downpour to the house.

       In the sunshine that followed that next morning, we went out to see what had happened. It seems that whoever had driven in the pegs on that side of the tent had driven them into the waterway. When the runoff from that heavy summer rain went through it softened the ground and let the pegs pull out, thus letting that side of the tent collapse! The other side was still standing tall and proud, but everything inside was soaked, and we knew it would take days for it all to dry out. And so ended another fine plan that just didn’t work out!

       Had Paul been there, I’m sure he could have helped us air everything out, and probably given us a few really good tips on how to dry out all of that canvas… indeed, had he been there early enough he probably would have warned us against setting up in that particular place!

       You see, in the 18^th chapter of Acts, we read that, “Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.” So I’m sure that he knew his way around such things.

       The Life Application Commentary explains that, “Trained in the art of tentmaking, Aquila and Priscilla had packed up the tools of their trade and had made their way to Corinth. There they met Paul, who joined them in the business of tentmaking. Where had Paul learned tentmaking? Jewish boys were expected to learn trades from which they could earn their living. Apparently, Paul and Aquila had been trained from an early age to cut and sew leather into tents.

Tents were much in demand because they were used throughout the Empire to house soldiers. Tentmakers also made canopies and other leather goods. It is highly likely, therefore, that the Roman army was a major purchaser of Paul’s tents. As a tentmaker, Paul had a transportable livelihood that he could carry with him wherever God led him.

Paul chose to work to support himself during his stay in Corinth. The presence of so many religious promoters in Corinth may have added an incentive for Paul to earn his own living. Paul wanted to disassociate himself from those teachers who taught only for money.”

And so it may have been while he was in Thessalonica, for he says, in this morning’s verses, that, “We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” Wow! What a novel idea! “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”  What would some of our politicians have to say about that?

Hasn’t our whole social welfare system been based on ‘give, give, give’? With apologies to President John F. Kennedy, hasn’t the attitude of many recipients of that giving seemed to be, ‘Ask not what you can do for your country… ask what your country can do for you!’ And so, one generation has learned from the next how to ‘work the system’ to get all that they can for nothing! And all of our tax dollars go for naught!

It has been said, and rightly so, that if you give a man a fish, you have fed him for today… but if you teach a man to fish, you have fed him for a lifetime. Of course, it has also been added that if you teach a man to sell fish, he eats steak, but that’s another story!

Now, I don’t mean to say that there are not those who are exceedingly worthy of a helping hand every now and then… and indeed, there are certainly those who, for various legitimate reasons, are unable to work and support themselves. But Paul wrote that if those who were not busy, but were busybodies, would not settle down and earn the bread they eat, we were to distance ourselves from them, and work to follow the example set for us by Paul and others as to how to earn our keep. And I think that all of this is something we need to be very aware of as we elect people to represent us and our Christian ideals in all positions of government! However, there is also a deeper story going on in these verses than what might appear on the surface!

In Isaiah 65, verses 17-25, we hear God declare, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create… Never again will there be… an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years… They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD… Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.”

God was talking about a great time of change! And in this morning’s Gospel reading, Jesus is talking about the same thing… the great change that God will wrought in the earth and all its peoples when the time comes for Christ to return!

And as The Life Application Commentary points out, it is very possible that the people Paul is concerned about in Thessalonica, “were being idle for what they considered to be “spiritual” reasons. Some people in the Thessalonian church were falsely teaching that because Christ would return any day, people should set aside their responsibilities, quit work, do no future planning, and just wait for the Lord. Or they may have thought that labor was beneath them and wanted to spend their time being spiritual. But not being busy only made them busybodies. Instead of working, they were minding other people’s business, prying into the private lives of others and interfering with their progress. Some were persuading others to adopt their point of view on the Second Coming.”

But in our verses from Luke, Jesus says, very specifically, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” 

Now, I’m sure that there are many today who might read these verses and others, such as some in the Book of Revelations, then look at all that’s going on in the Middle East today, as well as other parts of the world, and wonder if some of this isn’t the portent of worse things to come. But Jesus also told us that it is not for any man to know when the end time might be! And I’m here to tell you this morning that it doesn’t make any difference!

We should be living every moment of our lives as if Jesus might be here at any time… because, the fact of the matter is, He MIGHT!! And if all you’re doing is sitting around and waiting for Him… He’s not going to be very happy! Because He expects each and every one of us to be busy doing His work! We need to feed the poor and heal the sick! We then need to teach them how to feed themselves and live healthy lives! But even more than all of that… we need to be feeding them on the Word of God… we need to be healing their souls with the message of Salvation… we need to be spreading the Good News of Christ!

We are about to enter the season of Advent… that time when we look forward to the coming of Christ into the world. And I’m sure that when most people think of that they think of the birth of the baby Jesus in a humble stable in Bethlehem. But I put it to you that we should also be considering that ‘other’ coming of Christ… that second coming… when He shall come to judge all of the living and the dead! Are you ready? If He were to join each of us for lunch today, would He turn to you and say, ‘What a strong and busy worker you are!’… Or would He, instead, shake His head and say, ‘Why are your hands so idle, when there is so much to do?’

Based on Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy, chapter 4, verses 6-8 and 16-18, this is actually the 3rd ‘version’ of this and was given at the Wanda (IL) UMC on October 24, 2021. The first version was written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on October 24, 2004, and the 2nd was given at the Hartford (IL) East Maple Street Chapel on January 3, 2010. The only differences were in my ‘examples’ of how different people ‘run-the-race’!

NOTE: The first video is of the entire service… the second is Just the ‘message’!

       Believe it or not, I was quite the sprinter when I was in school! Of course, I was some ninety pounds lighter then, but I could ‘fly like the wind’ when there was a need for it. People who would see me go by would swear, later, that my feet weren’t even touching the ground, and indeed, that was truly how it felt, sometimes!

       Now, growing up on the farm I had no time nor interest in participating in any kind of sports, but PE was a daily requirement back then, and on occasion, I had a chance there to ‘show my stuff’, if you will. I recall one 880 relay race when I was a senior that shocked everyone, including the coaches. As usual, I had been among the last chosen to be on any team… (As I have said before, sports were never my forté!)… and I chanced to be on the team with Jerry, the class bully and tough-guy. (He had been ‘held-back’, as they say these days, two or three times and was far bigger than most of the rest of us.) It had been decided that I would run the first segment of the relay, while Jerry would be the anchor man, so as to hopefully make-up for any of the rest of us lagging behind the others, and I was ‘psyched’! I mean, if I messed up, I would not only look bad in front of everybody, but I would probably be beat-up by Jerry afterwards!

       The time came… I took the baton and lined up on the starting blocks… the starting gun went off… and I was gone! Suddenly, everybody was cheering and yelling my name, but I didn’t have time to figure out why until I was ready to hand-off the baton to the next person on our team… just before I did, I glanced behind me to see how close the others were. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the closest runner to me… and this is not an exaggeration… was barely more than half-way around! We had a 100-some meter lead! And you know what? For all of that, between two of our team dropping the baton and Jerry’s not being able to run… (Did I mention he smoked like a freight train?)… we won by only a couple of feet! But, we won! Even the coach came up and said, “Luebbert! Never knew you had it in you!”

       So, yes, I was quite the sprinter! But that 220 meters that I ran as one-fourth of an 880-relay was about my limit… anything over that and I lost my wind. So when the time came that we all had to run the mile… and were told that if we didn’t, we wouldn’t pass… I was worried! I knew that the secret was to take it slow and easy, and to pace myself at a steady rate, but how was I to do that? Finally, I was struck with the solution… at least one that worked for me!

       I came to realize that the beat to the Turtles song, ‘Happy Together’, perfectly matched the rhythm that I wanted my legs to move to… so when the time came and we all started around the track, I began singing, in my head, ‘imagine me and you… I do… I think about you day and night… it’s only right’… thinking that whole while about my girlfriend, how that song applied to us, and how proud she would be of me that I did it! And I not only did it, I finished ahead of several others that day! I mean, there were no 4-minute-miles by anyone, but all of us ran one full mile without stopping! And odds are, most of us were thinking something along the lines of what Paul writes as he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

       This is the second epistle Paul wrote to Timothy from Rome, where he was a prisoner and in danger of his life. Matthew Henry’s Commentary notes that, “It appears that his removal out of this world, in his own apprehension, was not far off, especially considering the rage and malice of his persecutors; and that he had been brought before the emperor Nero… Interpreters agree that this was the last epistle he wrote. The scope of this epistle differs somewhat from that of the former, not so much relating to his office as an evangelist, but to his personal conduct and behaviour.”

How many of you remember being taught, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game that counts’… and how many of you taught it to your children as well? But let me ask you… who ran against Abraham Lincoln in each of his two campaigns for president? Can you name more than one Republican candidate who ran against LBJ during the sixties? Name 5 countries that Rome conquered during the time of the Caesars. For all of that we are taught different, it is, generally, the winners in life that are remembered!

And yet, the Life Application Commentary tells us that, “It is important to note that Paul made no claim to having won the race; he was content with having finished it. Marathon runners know the exhilaration of finishing the grueling miles of that race — they are thankful just to cross the finish line. Completion is a significant accomplishment, revealing incredible endurance and determination. In Acts chapter 20, in his farewell to the elders in the Ephesian church, at the end of his third missionary journey (prior to heading to possible imprisonment in Jerusalem), Paul had said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace”.”

       In Luke, chapter 18, verses 9-14, we find Jesus teaching some of His disciples…

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

       Believe it or not, God is not interested in who won the pennant races this year, nor even the World Series! He doesn’t care about how many points any one NASCAR driver has, nor who won gold, silver or bronze in the Olympics! He isn’t worried about who makes the most money or drives the newest car or owns the biggest house or has the most clothes or the thickest stock portfolio or any of the other hundreds of things we humans tend to judge each other by… His only concern is for our soul… His only concern is that we are running the race with every bit of effort that we as individuals can muster! He’s not asking you to win! He’s not asking you to run faster and harder than anybody else! But He is expecting you to run!! And He expects you to run with as much dedication and willpower that YOU are capable of! For you see… in this race… if you’re not one of the runners… then you are one of the losers!

       Now, I do want to point out that not all of us will run in the same way… and there are as many ways to run this race as there are people. Just as finding a song that I could use to pace myself with helped me finish that mile run in high school, there are many things that each of us are capable of doing to take part in God’s race. Some of us may teach, some may sing or play an instrument, some may read and interpret, some may smile and give comfort to a stranger, others may help feed or cloth a needy friend… everybody has their own way… their own step and cadence… in how they run… the important thing is that you are running!

       One of the very first things I did when I had moved back down here in 2006 was to set-up what back then was called a ‘Blog’… and even though I have had to ‘move’ it from one company to another over the years, Everything that I have Ever posted on there since 2006 is Still there… ‘though I must admit that there have been gaps of time that I posted nothing! Today, it can be found at ‘scluebbert.com’…

Whenever I pass out my cards, I always tell people, if you’re looking for a particular subject to do a ‘search’ using just the ‘scluebbert’, add a space-or-two, then type most Any subject, such as ‘dog’, ‘cat’, ‘pig’, ‘snake’, ‘cheerleaders’, etc… IF I have written about it a link… or Several… should come up to take you there! Some very few of these ‘posts’ are ‘political’ in nature, some are papers and/or projects I did for college or other venues… but Most are, obviously, various sermons and articles that I have written through the years. And, Yes, most start with a personal story of some sort, and a Lot of those are Funny ones! The earlier posts are all just ‘manuscript’, but over the last year-or-so I have been recording and adding a video of a ‘live’ version almost every week. And Also Yes, if you know me at all you know they are very ‘conservative’.

       Now, other than spending the money for the website and to list each posting on the World Wide Web, the only format I’ve used to share these to the ‘public’ is Facebook… and as you may Also know, Facebook does Not approve of much of Anything one might consider ‘Conservative’! So, as disappointing as it was, it was no real surprise to note that even though I might ‘share’ each week’s post Multiple times throughout the week, it seems as if almost nobody ever sees them… at least on Facebook! Yes, I have a Number of followers around the world who read/listen to my ‘Blog’ each week… but almost nobody in This country!

So, since my health has kept me from getting-out and participating as much as I’d like in things here at Wanda and throughout the Conference this last summer, I opted to PAY Facebook to set-up what they call a ‘commercial’ page and to have them ‘Push’ my posting! But… THEY get to choose Where they post it!  So… Yes, I started getting 2-300 ‘hits’ per week and a number of people liking and following the site… But the ‘Hate’ mail that I started getting FAR outweighed any of the ‘positive’ comments!!!

One person wrote, ‘What you accept as holy scripture is just one more myth. Something goat herders … told each other in their caves to pass the long summer evenings.’ Another wrote quoting multiple scriptures from both Old & New Testaments, but in absolutely No order, trying to build a ‘case’ that ‘Christianity’ was actually ‘of Satan’, and actually quotes passages from a book of Satan to back-up his statements! And IF I, or anyone else, tried to ‘talk’ to them and explain where/why/how we believe the ‘Breathed Word of God’, they would Really ‘go-off’!

       Several commented, both on the post and to me privately, how shocked they were to discover the level of, not just disbelieve, but active Hatred so many have for God, the Bible, and Christianity! Our country… Our world!… is in serious trouble! Why?!?

       Because, WE… the ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ of Christ… are not holding-up Our end of things! We are NOT ‘running-the-race’ as we have been instructed to do… and will be held accountable for! Even in some of the classes I have managed to still take towards becoming a ‘Certified’ preacher again there have been those who ‘really hated’ and ‘disagreed/disowned/discounted’ the writings of Paul because they don’t ‘like’ what he says! One person wrote, on one of my posts, “Now people think that a letter written by a Roman, is the word of God.” I responded by explaining “Paul was certainly a Roman citizen… But his heritage was 100% Jewish, from the tribe of Benjamin! ( Philippians 3:4-6 ) He was chosen Specifically by Christ to speak for Him to US, the Gentiles…”.

       During some of all of this, I received the following in just a random posting on Facebook from an Unknown Author…

“The donkey told the tiger: The grass is blue.

“The tiger replied: No, the grass is green​.

“The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, and to do so they approached the lion.

“Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”​

“The lion replied: “True, the grass is blue”​.

“The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him”​.

“The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence”​.

“The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating: ′′The grass is blue”​..

“The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion: ′′Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”​

“The lion replied: ′′In fact, the grass is green”​.

“The tiger asked: ′′So why do you punish me?”​

“The lion replied:

That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey, and on top of that to come and bother me with that question

“The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn’t care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense… There are people who for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand, and others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.

“When ignorance screams, intelligence shuts up. Your peace and tranquility are worth more.”

       At the time, I shared this as a comment aimed at what I felt was the futility of trying to ‘argue’ with some of these people… But I came to realize that it is NOT what Christ teaches and Expects from us!!

       We are Told to teach others… to spread the ‘Good News’ of the ‘Salvation of Jesus Christ’… to Worship, follow, and OBEY God… in short, we are TOLD to ‘Run’!! And we RUN as proof to ourselves and to those who might be observing that we are Christians in more than name only… we are Christians in love… and in action… we are all running the race!

Let me close with this thought from The Life Application Commentary…

“As Paul reached the end of his life, he could look back and know he had been faithful to God’s call. Now it was time to pass the torch to the next generation, preparing leaders to take his place so that the world would continue to hear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Timothy was Paul’s living legacy, a product of Paul’s faithful teaching, discipleship, and example. Because of Paul’s work with many believers, including Timothy, the world is full of believers today who are also carrying on the work. What legacy will you leave behind? Whom are you training to carry on your work? It is our responsibility to do all we can do to keep the gospel message alive for the next generation.”

So I ask you… Are you a runner? Are you asking God, as the words of a Hymn say, to,

“Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise.

“Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.

Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

“Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee”?

Are you doing all that you can do everyday to promote the goodness of God and the Good News of His Son and salvation? Are you truly letting God take your life and asking Him to consecrate it? And at the same time as all of this… are you working to pass on the torch to those that come behind us?

My article from the April 2003 edition of the Wesley Chapel UMC (IL) ‘The Circuit Rider’, the monthly newsletter I wrote/edited for some years during that time!

NOTE!: Remember, this was 2003!?! 🙂

[In] September [of 2003], my [then] wife and I had a chance to see Elvis & the Superstars in a small theatre in downtown Branson, and enjoyed it so much that we took my mother and son there over Christmas [that same year]. The first half of the show consisted of a very good impersonation of Elvis doing songs from different times of his career, while the second half was the same guy doing such artists as Roy Orbison, Tom Jones, and Liberace. One song put him as Neil Diamond and one of his lady assistants as Barbra Streisand together on stage doing their big duo hit ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.’ They did it very well, but I really wanted to tell them that in reality, that scene had probably never happened!

            You see, I have a record (you remember records… about 12’’ across made out of very flat vinyl with a small hole in the center?) of Neil Diamond doing that song solo that I bought some years before the duet was released. Amazingly, the music and his parts are identical to the later release! I’m sure that it was a case of somebody saying, “Hey, this would be a great song for Barbra to join in on!” Then it would have been a case of, “Have your people contact my people,” and eventually Barbra recorded her part in a studio probably not too far from home. Then the engineers got together and, through the magic of technology, removed Neil’s’ voice and added hers in some places, while mixing the two together in others. The ‘picture’ of the two of them standing in the same recording studio and singing together never happened. It was all fabricated… an illusion created just for us! And this was in the sixties!

            In the seventies, almost all of the special-effects in the very first Star Wars were done with clay and/or plastic models and mockups. In the latest one, Yoda used the ‘force’ to full effect as he jumped and dodged all around the room. And, while it all seemed very believable, it was, of course, all computer generated… it wasn’t real! Indeed, for the animated film, Shrek, the ‘artists’ had to ‘tone it down’ a notch… the princess looked TOO real!

            The fact is, in today’s world it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between what is reality and what somebody wants us to believe is reality. In fact the entire culture of this country sometimes seems to center on creating the illusion in people of wanting or needing something… that’s the JOB of advertising! And so, it comes to us to determine what is real and what isn’t.

            For example, much of today’s rock music isn’t ‘real’, in the sense that it is made with real musicians playing real instruments… it’s all done electronically. That doesn’t mean it’s bad… I kinda like most of it! But I tend to admire a well thought out computer program differently than I do a superb live performance! I mean, yes, the newest cut of Big Yellow Taxi is a lot ‘zippier’ than the original, but knowing that Joni Mitchell wrote and arranged it, and accompanied herself on the guitar as she performed it was just much more impressive!

            One would think that if there was one place in today’s world that one could find unquestionable reality, it would be in the church. Unfortunately, even this isn’t always the case. One doesn’t have to go back very many years to remember seeing television evangelists in court being sentenced to jail terms for defrauding the public. Seldom, though, are the abuses that blatant.

            The ‘feel good’ emphasis of our society has grown to the point that, over time, many religions and religious personages have attempted to minimize the ‘negative’ aspects of the Bible and concentrate only on those that people ‘want’ to think about! And in many instances this has reached the point where some teachings are not only ignored, but are ‘rewritten’ in the name of updating… in other words, some people are claiming that Jesus didn’t really mean to say what’s printed, but something else altogether different… something that would make modern people feel more comfortable with their own lives if Jesus had, indeed, said it! If everybody knew their Bible the way we all should, these falsehoods would never stand a chance. But, too many times, too many people accept what they are told without question… after all, maybe that person really does know more about it than we do!

            The time has come that we all must begin to question almost everything around us. Are the lyrics of that song scriptural… or merely lyrical? Are our Bible studies and devotions based on the fundamental truths of God’s word… or on the dreams and longings of a modern-day spiritualist? Are our missionaries and mission trips about doing God’s work… or having fun?

            In today’s world we can no longer trust what others tell us… indeed, it is sometimes difficult to trust our own eyes and ears. We must seek out for ourselves what is real. And we must use the Word of God as our ‘rock of reality’ … the measuring standard with which to judge all other standards. After all…

the only real reality is GOD!!!