NEW THOUGHTS FOR A NEW AGE- August 23, 2020

Romans 12:1-8

Living Sacrifices to God

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

In my closet I have a shirt I like, red, faded, it is from a camp I chaperoned for Youth Ministry almost 20 years ago, but that shirt had Romans 12:1-2 on the front like a baseball logo and it said be transformed. I like that shirt, I like those verses, I like this book of Romans. I remember getting a kids illustrated bible and at the beginning of the book it had cartoon drawing of kids and they said read the whole Bible kids, start with Romans. Romans? Romans isn’t the beginning of the Bible its in the middle. But Romans has so many important verses to our faith all in one book. It is in Romans that we learn that God loves us, that we are justified by faith, that we are sinners saved by grace, that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. Romans is what Augustine read when he heard a voice tell him to “take up and read,” Martin Luther used Romans on his insight into God’s righteousness, John Wesley was reading a passage from Romans at Aldersgate when his heart was "strangely warmed."

I like Romans. Written by Paul to the churches in Rome, 1:7 tells us this. Paul is writing to churches in Rome, while the people are being oppressed. There is a tense political climate in place, Paul writes this letter around 10 years before a revolt against Rome. Somewhere between 55 and 58 AD. The people of God, don’t like how the government is treating them, and they fight back. Can you imagine that? Speaking up against the unfair treatment by those in power instead of saying keep politics out of it? I digress….for now. Paul is dealing with all of this and preparing to make a trip and writes a letter with all of this going on. What I read before starting the sermon is a pivot point in the text. Chapters 1-11 of Romans cover dogma and doctrine, but 12-16 cover ethics and behavior, 1-11 here is what you need to know and 12-16 is how you need to act now that you know. Even though the Roman Empire is oppressing those who believe in God, the government is demanding your loyalty, that is why Jesus is Lord is such a scandalous term at the time. Because the people expected you to say Ceasar is Lord, Ceasar was supposed to be you savior, Ceasar was supposed to be your all in all. They wanted you to worship your government, that is a popular way of thinking that the world, literally meaning this age in the Greek wanted the people of God to conform to, trying to beat them into submission into a mold that fit what they wanted to have. Paul tell them not to conform, don’t let them put you into a box but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We ought to be like the people Paul was talking to and change the way we think as well. We have to change the way we think about being the body of Christ in this world, this day an age and we have the perfect opportunity to do it today. 

This is an unprecedented time, with new things going on, a great opportunity to do things differently but as one of my colleagues Robert Johnson said, the church is fighting to do the same thing over and over. the Bible says to be transformed, that word for transformed is used other places in the Bible 

Mark 9:2

2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.

2 Corinthians 3:18

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

They all have this in common, radical change, a re-centering of ourselves, and some long hard work. This is not done overnight, but just because it doesn’t happen overnight doesn’t mean we don’t do the work. Martin Luther King said

"Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men [sic] willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right." - Martin Luther King Jr.

We have to be humble, not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, we are all sinners in this world saved by grace. We cannot earn our way to heaven it is a gift of God’s love, unmerited favor, Paul received that grace and speaks to us about it. Paul tells us that Jews and Gentiles are a part of God’s kingdom and we have to do this in community. One body but many gifts, community, gifts of service in ministry, and gifts of financial support. It is all work, and we are called to do a new work, with a new mindset, to help make new disciples of Jesus Christ. What has happened in the past or did not happened we must move past and forge forward with a new mind in a new age, because new people need to learn about this Jesus Christ as we have.  

More Than a Throwaway - August 9, 2020

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

14 Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

16 So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

17 And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

throwaway

n.

Something designed or likely to be discarded after use, as a free handbill distributed on the street.

n.

A child or teenager who has been rejected, ejected, or abandoned by parents or guardians and lives on the streets.

My wife and I used to watch a TV show regularly called NCIS, one of the main characters, Gibbs often says that there are no coincidences. If some events seem to be related, or part of a bigger plan that is because they are. That being said, there are times in my life where I wonder where I would be if I or some people around me made some different decisions. What if my mother never transferred from Missouri University to Lincoln University in Jefferson City? What if my parents never got a divorce? What if I did not quit football in college?  What if I didn’t change my major from electrical engineering to Business Management my junior year? What if I never went to Prairie View A&M University for college? What if I did go, but right after I graduated, moved back to Indianapolis Indiana to work?  My life would be much different I assume, those are all major changes that would affect the lives of other people greatly. Some people would not have been born if people did not cross paths. I also think about smaller what if situations as well. When I was in seminary there was a class I could have taken a year earlier than I did, Immigration and theology, but at the time, I did not see how I could drive back and forth to Dallas on Saturdays while working a full time job and pastoring a church, fast forward a few years later and I end up doing it twice a week. It's just a class, but that class potentially gets me out of seminary earlier, which gets me possibly commissioned earlier, and ordained earlier. But I get ordained earlier I don’t have the same career path of churches I get appointed to. Sometimes a seemingly meaningless event can have a great impact for years to come. Even though I think about what ifs every now and then, I believe we all have free will to make our own decisions in life,  I truly believe that I am where I need to be when I need to be for God’s plan in my life. 

The text says that Joseph settled in the land of Canaan, the land his grandfather Abraham settled as an immigrant that was able to grow in the land, have Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s promised child from God. God told Abraham he was going to have a child when he was old. Abraham in his old age along with his wife Sarah thought that God meant for Abraham to get Sarah’s handmaid Hagar pregnant because Sarah was too old for childbirth. Abraham and Hagar had Ishmael, but he was not the child of promise, that child would be Isaac born a year later. Sarah would kick Hagar and her little boy Ishmael out of Abrahams house eventually and they would have to fend for themselves. Sarah did not want any competition for Isaac. Isaac who would later have Esau and his twin Jacob who would later be called Israel. Israel would have 12 sons, one who he loved more than others Joseph because Jacob/Israel had Joseph in his old age. I say Jacob/Israel because I notice that Genesis goes back and forth calling the man Jaco in some verses and Israel in others. Some scholars say that is because multiple people wrote Genesis. I believe it speaks to the dual nature of humans. Jacob means supplanter, heel grabber, trickster. But Israel refers to a nation. Jacob got his name changed after wrestling with the angel, Jacob was his past, Israel was his future. He was no less Jacob, and no more Israel. We are no less our past or no more our future on the inside. We just can’t let our past be all that we are. Here in Genesis 37 the story is transitioning from individuals to a nation. The text literally means the generations of Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons, the 12 sons will form the 12 tribes of Israel, that will make up the nation of Israel. God told Abraham that he would bless him and make his name great, that he would have more offspring than the stars in the sky, the dust in the ground, Abraham was going to have a lot of children. Abraham would have Isaac, Isaac would have Esau and Jacob. Jacob would become Israel had 12 sons, one of the youngest was named Joseph. 

Joseph got a coat of many colors from his father, it was ornate. The Hebrew is interesting because the words that are used to literally describe Joseph lean toward  calling him a pretty boy almost. The words describing his clothes and appearance let us know he was good looking and well dressed. Joseph was the favorite of Jacob and the other brothers did not like that. The text says the brothers hated Joseph, some translations say that the brothers could not speak a kind word to Joseph. Josephs older brothers mocked him and used sarcastic language toward him. The brothers called Joseph “that dreamer" Joseph had dreams that showed him and his brothers that Joseph will be elevated above his brothers and no older child wants to hear that the younger child is going to be their boss. The brothers hated Joseph and plotted to kill him. Sometimes those people we think are going to have our best interest at heart will do us the dirtiest. And it hurts worse because you have your guard down. Family spats are bad, church spats are bad, job spats are bad, relationship spats are bad. Why because you get comfortable around the people, show how you really feel, let your guard down and when you get hurt, the pain is much deeper because you were not prepared. When you know the pain is coming, you do things to prepare yourself for the pain so it doesn’t hurt as much, but if your guard is down the pain hurt even more because you did nothing to prepare for it. 

Josephs brothers were tired of growing in a household where they knew that their father loved one child more than the other. Jacob was Isaac’s favorite and Esau was not, they had trouble. Esau wanted to kill Jacob at one time. Now the following generation, Joseph is the new Jacob and the other sons have become Esaus and they want to kill their own version of Jacob. The brothers see Joseph coming and they plot to kill him. The brothers were already where they were not supposed to be, Jacob sent them to Shechem, to work, and didn’t send Joseph. Jacob sent Joseph to get them and they were miles away from were they were supposed to be in Dothan. They are more than 60 miles from  where they are supposed to be. So the Joseph is coming and the brothers are plotting to kill him, they end up taking his robe, and throwing him in a pit. The text doesn’t specify who exactly wants to kill him and those who claim to plan to get him later don’t verbally say what they are doing is wrong, they just want to have a secret plan to get him later. Being quiet while someone else is plotting against you is just as bad as someone plotting against you. 

Joseph is being plotted on and his oldest brother Rueben says don’t do it, Reuben’s name means vision. When Joseph is in the pit, his older brother Judah chimes in and says don’t kill him. Judah’s name means praise. So when Joseph’s life is on the line. Reuben says don’t kill him, when Joseph’s life is on the line again Judah says don’t kill him. Jospeh is in trouble and the things that are keeping him alive are vision and praise. You may be at a low point in your life, not knowing how you are going to get through but when you get into those times remember Joseph Reuben and Judah, sometimes you have to see your way through a situation, and praise your way through a situation until you get out of the situation. 

Joseph needed help, and he got help from some people trying to do harm and some random events that worked out for his good. The brothers were over 60 miles from where they needed to be, after tying Joseph up, putting him in pit. The brothers start to have second thoughts about what they plan to do. The brothers are sitting down to eat, and they see a caravan passing through and decide to sell Joseph to those Midianites, those Ishmaelites...

Sometimes things done years ago pop back up in a way you never thought. Abraham was 86 when he had Ishmael a year later Isaac was born, Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were born, Jacob was in his 70s or 80s when Joseph was born and Joseph was 17 years old when he had the dreams that made his brothers plot to kill him. So something that happened three generations, maybe 130-140 years ago can come back and be the path to greatness the changes the lives of an entire nation. Joseph was going to have some more trouble to go through but in the end he would be an advisor to pharaoh, and help everybody get through a famine and turn the nation of Israel into a great nation. He would be able to say with all these different things going on, what you meant for evil God worked It out for my good. 

Genesis 50:20

20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

A Tale of Two Dinners - August 2, 2020

Matthew 14:13-21

Feeding the Five Thousand

13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Here we are again in the gospel according to Matthew, the church friendly gospel reading a passage that many people know, even those who are not that familiar with the Bible, they have heard the story of Jesus feeding a whole bunch of people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. This miracle is the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four gospels. We look at the miracle often but I invite you today to look at some of the circumstances surrounding the miracle today. The portion of scripture we read for the lectionary comes after two important events. The first is in the last portion of Matthew chapter 13 where Jesus is rejected at Nazareth, his own hometown. Jesus tried to the work of the Lord at home and because the hometown folk didn’t think much of someone from their own town, he was rejected. Then at the beginning of chapter 14 right before what you heard during the scripture reading. Herod has killed John the Baptist. That ‘it’ that Jesus heard in Matthew 14:13 was Jesus learning about his cousin being killed for speaking truth to power. When Herod did wrong, John the Baptist said so, he worshiped God, not his country, or a particular politician.  Something I find interesting in the silence of so called Christians is how religion and nationalism have been combined in horrible ways. So much so that when people speak against something going on in this country, they are labeled unpatriotic. People are protesting racism and police brutality right now and some people, religious leaders included, are so religious about loving their country that when you say something about it, they say “if you don’t like it you can leave.”  Really, I need to be okay with racism and police brutality, I am unpatriotic if I speak on these things? John spoke truth to power and paid the ultimate price for it. 

John the Baptist was Jesus cousin, but John the Baptist was also one of the first to affirm Jesus ministry on Earth. Losing someone that close can be devastating. Jesus heard about his cousin, John the Baptist getting killed and wanted to get away, he wasn’t enthusiastic at that particular moment about ministry. I can relate to that somewhat, trying to preach these days and pastor after losing my brother Eric McKay, at 38 years old sometimes you just don’t want to do it. Jesus departed to the deserted place by himself, some translations call I the wilderness. A deserted place, a wasteland, a place with harsh winds, a type of place that disoriented the people there. The wilderness was a place with a little bit of vegetation on it for animals but people did not live there. Hagar went through a wilderness time, Jacob did too. The people of God in Exodus had to travel through the wilderness to get to the promised land as well. Even the good times wilderness is mentioned in the Bible there is still a separation from the people. We are in a wilderness now, people losing jobs, people losing unemployment benefits while congresspersons use this as an opportunity to fund their pet projects and finger point. Those who have a job may have their employers holding the fact that they still have a job against them, employers talking crazy to employees, cutting pay, cutting benefits. The price of goods is going up during this pandemic and now with a coin shortage, the places you shop are expecting you to just round up and lose your change. 

Even in the wilderness Jesus still had compassion for the people and he healed the sick. Something gets lost in translation there, because people could read that verse and think about the medical issues. These were also people of a lower social class than Jesus and the disciples. Even though Jesus was grieving he still cared about the people. Herod on the other had a birthday party with dignitaries in attendance. Herod was a Tetrarch, one of the four co-emperors ruling Rome at that time. Jesus was was moved by compassion and went to the people even though he was obviously hurting. 

The text says 5,000 not counting the women and children, these people came from all over, no settlement would have been the big during theses times. That is why the disciples said to send them back to villages plural. There were a lot of people who came to see Jesus and they stayed for quite a long time. So long that the disciples said Jesus needed to send them away so they could eat. There is something interesting in the text there for leadership. The disciples had the idea, the church folk that is, but they wanted someone else to do the work. That is a good idea, you should go tell them that, somebody needs to take care of this thing going on at the church, ever been in a meeting where everyone knew something needed to be done but no one wanted to do the thing themselves. Ok just me then, never mind. Jesus did not let the situation stop him from letting God show up and show out. 

Jesus performance of a miracle required people to follow instructions, every time you see a miracle in the Bible there will be some instructions to follow. I can’t think of a miracle in the Bible where the man or woman of God didn’t have some instructions to follow, not that God is not powerful enough to do something without the help of humans, I believe the instructions are there so that we grow as believers that we have some skin in the game and appreciate what God has done that much more. 

Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed the bread, that was to let us know that God was providing the increase. Jesus took the bread and blessed it so that we could see who the source of our supply was. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, and the disciples fed the multitude. Watch the text, Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, then gave it to the disciples. There is some similarity in feeding the multitude and communion but there is also something overlooked. The Disciples were the ones that fed the people. Jesus provided the blessing, but the disciples did the work. Even though Jesus is there and credited with the miracle the disciples were doing the work. While we ask God to help us with things that doesn’t mean we get to sit on our behinds and wait for the miracle to fall in our laps we still have some work to do. The disciples took two fish and five loaves of bread and fed the multitude, you can take a small amount of food and start a pantry. You can take a small amount of space and help the community, you can take a seemingly small idea and do great work for the lord. 2 fish and five loaves in your own hands is dinner for a day, in Jesus hand is dinner for thousands. Not only is it dinner for thousands but everyone is full and there is still twelve baskets left over. 

One dinner got a man killed, another dinner showed the people the bread of life. Rome was called the bread basket then, the money had Nero on one side and Ceres the Roman goddess of agriculture on the other. Jesus was letting them know where the real bread basket was. One dinner had dignitaries and a prideful ruler, the other had the least, the last and the lost, eating with the Prince of peace. There was an expectation of the lower class to have to work for patrons in order to get their food. Jesus willingly gave it to them. Jesus let the people know all around that his dinner was better. Better for your soul, better for your peace of mind