Come Away

Preached at Hallam and Martell United Methodist Churches July 22, 2007.

The Hog roast yesterday, I believe, was a success! We served a lot of people and made a few dollars. There was good music, good fellowship, and good food. Every single guest seemed to have a good time. But did the people of the church?

The preparation for this event seemed to all come in a flurry at the end. There was meat to cook and pull apart, salads and desserts to make, setup to be done for seating. A lot of work went into this event. And how many of us thought that, at some point along the line, this thing isn’t going to work—the tickets are too pricey, nobody knows about it, the food isn’t good enough, the band is too expensive or too secular, there’s not enough toilet paper in the ladies room, whatever? I have to admit that I felt that way at many times the whole week before.

Then, this morning’s scripture is about Mary and Martha. Talk about appropriate! Now before you think I’m pointing fingers, you need to know that I didn’t pick it, it is part of the lectionary, a listing of passages to be read on any given Sunday, chosen many years ago and planned for years in advance.

Martha was doing all the preparation for the meal that had to made while Jesus was there. Everything had to be made from scratch—there was a lot to do—and Mary was just sitting on her butt listening to Jesus! If it wasn’t for Martha, nothing would have been done and dinner would have been terrible. At least that is how Martha felt. I’m sure that many of us can identify with Martha. There were things that had to be done, and she was the only one who was going to do them—if she didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done.

Our culture looks at Martha and asks, “What’s the problem?” She is productive, she is hard-working, dependable, conscientious—all admirable traits—especially to us as Americans. We look at Mary and call her a slacker—she’s not getting anything done! We think that maybe Jesus was a little hard on poor Martha. We hear Jesus words as a rebuke to Martha, and it goes right over our heads as o why we think that.

Perhaps Jesus’ words were not a rebuke. Perhaps they were nothing so harsh and stinging. They seem to me to be gentler, a calling rather than a rebuke.

Jesus is concerned about Martha—Jesus described her as “worried” and “distracted.” --words that can describe us almost any given day. We rush about our lives accomplishing one task after another, all while looking ahead to the next. Many of my days could be described as worried and distracted.

Oh, I want to be less distracted and worried, like Mary. Yet so much would go undone! Worse yet, I find myself jealous of Mary—oh, for the luxury of sitting at Jesus feet! That would be just another thing on my long list of things to do!

Worse yet, we know we need to spend that time with Jesus. So we come up with quick devotionals—we read the Upper Room—spending five minutes or less in the practice of being close to God, thinking that we are being fair to Jesus and ourselves, yet really only checking an item off our lists.

How many of us know we need to spend some time at the feet of Jesus—yet think we don’t have the time? Worse yet, how many of us think that time would be…wasted? Friends, I believe that Jesus calls each of us to spend some time with him…not a token 5 minutes, but real time—time to know, to understand, to simply be.

How can we do that? There are a lot of things.

First, let’s establish some time before church, or sometime during the week—either early or late—to get together and talk, encouraging each other and praying together, growing deeper in fellowship and sharing our burdens and joys with God.

Second, I want to recommend the Walk to Emmaus. There is something special about getting away for a weekend with God. I promise you that you won’t regret it. I’ve heard all the excuses, but the most common is, “I don’t have time.” By the way, the worst excuse I’ve heard is, “I don’t need it.” …We all need to spend that time with God.

A few years ago, a singer named Norah Jones came out with a love song called “Come Away with Me.” Now, she intended it to a song between two lovers. But friends, I believe that this song is appropriate for us to consider. Jesus calls us to spend time with him, and OUR hearts long for the time spent with Jesus, just as we long to be loved and accepted by others,

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come?

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night

Christ calls for us to set aside our worries and distractions, to simply “come away” for a moment—to love and to be loved. Won’t you respond to the calling? Let’s pray…

Good Samaritan Time

Preached at Hallam and Martell UMCs, July 15, 2007.

This morning’s passage about the Good Samaritan is very familiar to many people. We have all likely heard that story many times. Even people who have never read the Bible know about the Good Samaritan. There are Good Samaritan Hospitals, Good Samaritan churches, Good Samaritan care centers, even Good Samaritan insurance.

It starts out with a man trying to trap Jesus. He knew the commandment to love his neighbor, so he simply asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” He wanted to know who it was that he had an obligation to love. There are two things obviously wrong here: First, asking “who is my neighbor” implies that there are those who are not my neighbors. It’s not “who should I love” as much as “who can I NOT love?”

The second problem here is also implied by the question, and deals with the obligation to love someone. Now I’ve met a lot of people, some of whom I found delightful, and others…well, let’s say I found them harder to love. In fact there have been many I didn’t even like. I have heard people say, “I don’t like that person, but Jesus tells me I have to love them.” It seems as though there is something wrong about that—and I think it’s the obligation.

Jesus took the man’s question and answered it with a story. His story transformed the man’s question, “who am I obligated to love,” and changed the focus from the person to the act—love is not focused on the person, it is selfless.

Some of the early church fathers, including Irenaus and Clement of Alexandria, saw this parable as an allegory for how Christ saves a fallen humanity. The traveler walking down the road is humanity, the robbers are the devil, and the wounds are sin. The Samaritan is Jesus, the donkey is his body, and the inn is the church. And the fact that the Samaritan promises to return is Jesus promise to come again.

When we forget about WHO we are to love and simply love those who need to be loved, we follow in the footsteps of Christ.

What would that look like today? Imagine you are driving to California to see some friends. You happen to be traveling along I-80 through Wyoming. There is a long stretch of that highway which is pretty isolated—there are cattle guards on the exits, and you are far more likely to see an antelope than anything else living.

As you drive along, somewhere out past the 27^th billboard for Little America, you see a car stopped on the side of the road. As you drive past, you notice that the driver is slumped over the wheel. You decide to stop and see if he is alright. You back your car up the shoulder till you get to where his is and get out and tap on his window. He sits up slowly and you can see that he has been badly beaten—the blood that ran from a nasty cut on his scalp has dried on his face, and the swelling and bruises are beginning to show.

You ask what happened and he tells you that his friends, or who he thought were his friends, were coming back from a wedding. Last night they pulled a knife on him and told him to pull over. They beat him and took all his money, then another car pulled up and they got in that car and left him there. He had been trying to figure out what to do, when you pulled up.

You offer to take him the next 40 miles on to Rawlins to get help, and he accepts. You help him into your car and drive on. You take him to the emergency room and wait while they patch him up, and then you find a hotel in Rawlins and go in. You hand the person behind the counter your credit card and tell them that you need a room for three days, and explain that it is not for you, but for your friend. You tell them that he has some things to straighten out and whatever he needs, tow truck, doctor, meals from the café, whatever, take care of it. You tell them that when you come back through next week you’ll settle the bill with them. You help the man to his room, and go on to California.

You see friends, the parable of the Samaritan is not about whether the traveler was a neighbor. He didn’t get to choose who was on the road or who he would care for. He simply loved.

Would the right thing to do have been to turn him over to the system? Or to love him? Friends, we are called to love—regardless of how much time it takes out of our day, or what kind of sacrifice we have to make. We are called simply to love and show compassion.

Let us pray…

Like Sheep...

Preached at Hallam and Martell United Methodist Churches July 8, 2007.

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus sends out 72 of his followers. These weren’t the apostles, the superheros, they were just 72 people who were followers of Christ. He sent them out to share the good news, and in the process, he gave them a rather cryptic send off, “Go, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.”

What could that mean? I have been told by many people who raise sheep that a sheep is an animal who is just wandering around looking for a place to die. Was Jesus sending them to die? I don’t think so.

What I believe he meant was that there would be many who would look at them suspiciously and mock them, many who would persecute them, and many who would have little to do with them. But despite all this abuse, they were to be gentle—that by their very demeanor there was something different about them.

I read a joke some time ago... a man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the ‘Follow me to Church’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated 'Christian Fish' emblem on the trunk. Naturally...I assumed you had stolen the car."

That, my friends, is an example of not being a lamb.

Look at verses 5-7. Jesus is telling them to build relationships with people – to love them into the Kingdom of God

While I was in Wyoming this last week, something in the paper caught my eye. Apparently, there was a new barber in town. And just getting started, he began to advertise that the haircuts of the first five people, or during the first hour of the business day, whichever came first, would be free. In the newspaper, he said that he knew that if he could just get people in the chair for a haircut, they would become regular customers. He wanted to build relationships—not just cut hair.

Friends, this is what Jesus was telling the disciples then, and the same principles apply today.
1. the world is hungry for spiritual meaning - to know that they matter, - that’s what Jesus meant when he said that the harvest was large, but the workers were few.
2. we are sent by Christ to share the good news.
3. the task of bringing people to Christ will be done by creating and building relationships with others.

Just like the barber in Wyoming, I believe that if we can just get people into relationships, not just with us, but with other Christians, the relationship with Christ is not far behind.

In Richmond, KY, there is a coffee shop that is owned by a former pastor. He has worked very hard to make sure that this shop does not get the name “Christian” attached to it, because he didn’t want to scare people off. There was a young man who came in regularly and finally approached the owner and said, “When I first came here, I found that the atmosphere was great, and the coffee was good. Some of my friends told me this was a Christian coffee shop, but I came anyway, and if you don’t mind an atheist hanging around, I’m going to continue to come.” A few months later the owner hired the young man to work at the shop. A few months after that, he gave his life to Christ.

There are at least two reasons why we should build relationships and bring people to Christ, and hopefully to church here:
1. The gospel of Jesus Christ- the Good News – is simply too good to keep to ourselves
2. The people who you grow to love in relationship will find wholeness and healing – abundant life – as a follower of Christ.

Perhaps this morning you sense that I’ve been talking to you directly – for some reason the Holy Spirit has touched you and you know that God is calling you to something more – to build the Kingdom in his name – to share his love with the world around you.

Maybe you’ve come this morning because someone asked you to come. Know that this is a place where you are loved and cared for—no strings attached.

Maybe you’re just tired – you’ve been working hard, playing hard, living hard - maybe it’s time to simply rest in the arms of God – to find peace and wholeness.

No matter where you are this morning, I want you to invite you to pray with me this morning...