“Love Frees”- Pastor Hines (10:30am) February 27, 2022

 

“Love Frees”- Pastor Hines (10:30am)

February 27, 2022

Moses worshipped on Mt. Sinai also called Mt. Horeb. It is not unusual for Christians to go away to the mountains for a retreat, for a special time to focus on our relationship to God, to as the song says – to hear God more clearly, to love God more dearly, to follow God more nearly.

God called Moses to come away with God on Mt. Sinai. Moses went and fasted for 40 days just like Jesus. Every number and every word has value, they mean something. Forty is the number for trial and testing hat reveals guilt or innocence. When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, God’s people were worshipping a golden calf. It grieved God very much. Moses, being the hot-head that he was, broke the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Moses went a second time onto Mt. Sinai in order to hear God’s judgment on the people, to make a plea for mercy, and to get the Ten Commandments rewritten.

Moses’ mountain top experience was very, very intense, so much so that he was changed. Haven’t you seen people and their faces change and look different than normal. At times a pregnant woman has a glow about her. Newlyweds keeping the honey in the honeymoon have a certain look of joy and satisfaction. Sometimes our emotions show on our face and in our bodies more than other times. A recent bestselling book is entitled The Body Keeps the Score. Persons who spend time in prayer shine with a light as Moses did that day coming down from his time with God. His face was described as shiny and bright. You get the impression that those who looked at Moses after he had been with God were stunned. They felt like a spotlight was on them, even like headlights and high beams were in their face. Paul tells us that Moses wore a veil, a covering that shielded the people like a visor, brim of a cap or sunglasses.

The people were afraid. It can be suggested that they were afraid because they were ashamed and afraid of what the consequences of their idolatry might be. They had made a golden calf and they worshipped it. They were guilt-ridden. Perhaps the veil was a way of becoming incognito.

Paul tells us in verse 13 that Moses wore a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing and perhaps being blinded by the end of the glory that was being set aside. This wonderful sight was right in front of their eyes. They could see this bright light. In spite of their knowing that the light was a loving message from God, Paul says in verse 14¹⁴ but their minds were hardened.

Moses’ heart was not as hardened, he had the glory of God on his face, but he was still a hot head. He had anger issues. He was intense and God was not having it. God disciplines God’s children in love. Moses had so much anger in his heart that he did not make it to the Promised Land. Moses became a fugitive of the law of humanity after he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew and buried him in the sand. Eventually, the sand fell away and the murder became public knowledge.

We hear of hard hearts and hot heads in Russia. All humans may at some time wear a veil to separate ourselves from the good, the holy, the beautiful. Those who study history have a choice and make a choice to mimic the good… or the evil. A praying Christian woman said to me this week that Hitler had a resolve, not to conquer the world through bombs and guns, but through lies. Satan’s lies are to die for, but the truth sets us free. The one whom the son sets free, is free indeed. The veil that separates from God is removed in the presence of Jesus.

In Verse 16 Paul says  ¹⁶ but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. The holy and wonderful and beautiful are revealed, understood, accepted, even desired.

Even though Moses submitted to God and was used of God, Moses missed the Promised Land. As for the others, it took them 40 years and a whole generation to get there. Life teaches us over and over again that our righteousness comes from the Trinity. We are righteous not on our own but because of our Father-Mother God, and Jesus the Son and the Holiest of Spirits. We are not our own source of good; we have been bought with a price. We’ve been redeemed. My colleague Rev. Gilbert Caldwell used to say, “We are the church in spite of ourselves.” We do well to do what Moses did, go away to a high place and be with God, and worship God.

Pastor Tony Tilford is a poet, songwriter, proponent of healthy grieving, having spent 15 years as a hospice chaplain, and the author of a Spiritual Fitness manual. He provided the handout that guides us in our understanding of worship today. The handout is called The Four Levels of Worship. It raises the question, what kind of worshipper are you? With so much glory on his face, we know that Moses was set free to worship God on Mt. Sinai also called Mt. Horeb.

The first level of worship is thanksgiving and gratefulness. We begin to worship when we can pray, “Lord, I thank you for life, salvation, health…”  

Secondly, we bow below God, not above God. We praise, exalt, approve of and glorify God. We recognize God’s nature as good, holy… We can say “Lord, you are magnificent, majestic, Holy, high above all things…”

The third step that Moses, no doubt, took in worshipping God was adoration. Moses spent 40 days on the mountain top with God. There was mutual admiration and devotion. Moses loved God just as God loved Moses. That is good for us to remember when we worship whether as a congregation or alone in some high place. You are loved and adored by God!! When we worship, we develop a bond and our hearts overflow with love and longing to be with God, to see and know God, to be curious and keep a conversation going with God, to want to be like God.  

Finally, Pastor Tilford suggests that the ultimate step in our worship is perhaps the most challenging for most. The ultimate step in worship is to surrender — To give up completely, to agree with God, to let go of our will in favor of God’s will. To surrender is to abandon any thoughts of what we demand, but realize we are dependent on God. We are obligated to do God’s will because we have made a covenant to do so.  Worship is serious business with serious results. Worship is removing he veil. Like the masks we have worn in the pandemic,  a veil makes it hard to recognize each other and hard to hear what is being said. Removing the veil frees us as Paul says in verse 17.

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

May we go all the way with God today and worship in the Spirit and in the Truth. Amen.

 

“Love Reaps the Good it Sows” Pastor Hines February 20, 2022

 

“Love Reaps the Good it Sows”

Pastor Hines

February 20, 2022

I was at church one afternoon in Baltimore. It was a very inclusive church attractive to persons of several cultures. We called the pastor “whispers” because during prayer time, he would whisper and ask everyone to stop talking, stop saying “amen,” stop even praising the Lord out Loud. He wanted quiet while he listened to the voice of God that he would share with us. Being there was a blessing. During the fellowship hour an African gentleman approached me and said something that touched me deeply. He prophesied to me. I Corinthians defines prophecy as words that the Holy Spirit gives us that build someone up, comfort someone, or encourage someone. He said, “Be careful, that you are not deceived.”

He could not have known, that indeed, I had taken Christians at their word without asking God to guide me around any landmines that relationships may have. It was a blessing to be reminded to be careful not to be deceived. It was encouraging to hear through this fellow Christian a word that applied directly to me. It edifies us when someone says something or does something that helps us remember that God cares when we have been hurt.

The world has changed in the last two years, hasn’t it? Many of us are overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty. Some of us like Daniel Smith are not afraid.  Daniel is one of the few living whose parents were slaves. He was a victim of racial prejudice. He worked in a voting rights office and the office was burned down by the KKK. One night his car was followed by a group of menacing men. They hit him and demanded that he stop the car. Instead he hit the gas pedal. “Weren’t you afraid?” The interviewer asked. Daniel Smith said he was not afraid. Smith went on to have a successful career in government and then served as head usher at the Washington National Cathedral, where he led presidents to prayer. 

The Holy Spirit helps us to share from one generation to the other enough faith that overcomes our fears. What a blessing! The world has changed and now more than ever, we need the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God is more than willing and able to help us!

One of my most recent and urgent prayers has become, “Lord, deliver us from being ripped off and deceived by marketers and advertisers.” It is so clear that so many are not telling the truth about what they are doing and what they are selling. Our neighbors look like innocent angels and they turn out to be murderous, monsters, and maniacs. We are shocked by their deception. We are the richest country in the world and we are also the sickest. Every other television commercial wants to sell us some medication that is supposed to cure us while the small print tells us how it can kill or harm us. Pollution is so bad in New Orleans, there is a section called “cancer alley.” Cancer is very profitable. Fast food is pumped with addictive additives just like cigarettes have been before the dark deed was exposed. The chemicals hit the pleasure center of our brain and we go “crazy for cocoa puffs.” It’s called “junk food” for good reasons. We do not always know what food is fake food and what food is real food. God knows. We have got to trust God.

I am partnering with folks in reading a book called Make Us One – A 31- day Prayer Journey Toward Racial Healing. The introduction declares:

It is a sad truth that the church is still one of the most segregated spaces in society. That is because the enemy knows the power of oneness. It is his greatest tactic to keep the church divided. Why? Because it will be the most powerful witness when the multi-ethnic Church begins to operate as one Body, releasing righteousness and justice on the earth. This oneness with God and with one another screams to the world that we are all made in His image, and that knowing Jesus is the way to oneness with Him.

Jesus is the answer to all of our problems. We have got to trust God, to believe in Jesus and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to work holiness in our hearts and lives. Love reaps the good it sows.  God helps the good seeds we plant to grow strong and healthy.

We love when life is good and we want the good to last forever. Yet, it is certainly true that the good life on this earth is not guaranteed. Some of us have a very hard life. God’s design is for us to live until we die. None of us gets out of this life alive. But, death is not the end. We do not know what our life will be like after this life is over. We have hints from people who say they have seen the light, they have seen heaven, they have seen hell. We don’t know what to expect. We do know that a seed that goes into the ground looks nothing like the flower that grows with time.

As odd as it seems sometime, the resurrection is the foundation of our faith. In verse 36 of today’s text, Paul reminds us ”What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” The first step to new life is shedding our bodies. When Jesus died on the cross for you and for me, he left his body and commended his spirit to God. His body had to die before he was resurrected. Just like a seed has to be buried before it can grow into a flower, or plant or fruit or vegetable or whatever God has in mind, Jesus body died and was buried before it was resurrected. Of course, all bodies that die are not buried. But, clearly, all bodies that are resurrected must first die. "We are not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We are in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living." (Zinger)

God has power to make matter out of energy and humans from the dust of the ground; can’t God recreate the body, just like a seed is changed into a flower?  

When we think of dying and going to Heaven, we wonder if Heaven will be one long church service. That does not appeal to every Christian. Rather than imagine Heaven with angels sitting on clouds and choirs singing and harps playing, it may be helpful to imagine that Heaven is a place of restoration, renewal, blossoming, and becoming more like Jesus. John Eldridge author of Wild at Heart thinks of this life as living in a lobby waiting for our resurrection. The lobby may be different for each of us. Some wait in luxurious lobbies. Others wait in lobbies that are crack houses. Nevertheless, each lobby has two large doors. Those doors open up to a large banquet hall where a feast awaits us all.

As Max Lucado writes, the best is yet to come. That is how we can view this life regardless of how wonderful our life is or how terrible it may be at any given moment. The best is yet to come. We are not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We are in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living.

It is good to sow seeds of love because love is what we will reap. Whether in this life or the next, we do not know what love will look like, we just know if we plant love, love will grow.

Winston Churchill was a believer in Heaven. When he arranged his funeral he included hymns to be sung in St. Paul's Cathedral and an impressive liturgy. When they said the benediction, he had arranged for a bugler high in the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral on one side to play "Taps," the universal signal that the day is over. But when that was finished, there was a long pause and then a bugler on the other side played "Reveille," the signal of a new day beginning. It was Churchill's way of communicating that while we say "Good night" here, it's "Good morning" up there!

Whoever you are today and whatever life is like for you today, know that the best is yet to come. Amen.

 

“There’s More to the Picture” Ed Howard February 13, 2022

 

“There’s More to the Picture”

Ed Howard

February 13, 2022

 

Sometime in my 40s, I worked with a man named John Walker. John was somewhere in his 60s, and he was an expert with a shovel. He could move more material with a shovel than anyone in the company. Even the men in their 20s could not stay with him.

          Now that was not the only thing he could do. He was a tractor trailer driver and could operate a lot of the machinery in the company, but his specialty was the shovel. If anyone looked at John, all they might see was an old man with a shovel, but there was more to him than met the eye.

          In the crucifixion picture of Jesus and the two thieves, the center of focus is on Christ, just as it should be. But there, too, is more to the picture than meets the eye.

          The scripture reading Luke 23: 32-38 tells us that Christ was mocked by the soldiers and the crowd. One thief that was hanging there beside Him said, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” But to me, Christ could not come down from the cross.

The reason he could not come down off of the Cross was because Jesus was and is our sacrificial lamb, our Paschal or Passover lamb. When the Israelites in Egypt placed the blood of the Passover lamb on the door posts of their houses, the Angel of Death passed over their homes and slayed the firstborn males of the Egyptians. 

          In the same way, the blood shed by Christ on the Cross is applied to the doorposts of our hearts, by faith, and God promises that his Holy judgement will pass over all mankind.  All who put their trust in the Messiah’s death as their Passover lamb will experience the promise of Salvation and deliverance from the bondage of sin and death.

          The second thief says that he is guilty and deserves to be on the cross, and then he states that Jesus is innocent and does not deserve to be crucified.  At that, the thief turns to Christ and says, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

          These words, though few, are dynamic.  When the second thief makes the statement that he deserves to be on the cross, he is making a public confession of his sin.  By turning to Christ and asking to be remembered in His Kingdom, he is seeking forgiveness and accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Christ, by the authority given to him by God, forgives him and gives him eternal life when he states that the thief will be with him in Paradise.

          From the Cross to today, seeking the Kingdom is still the same: 

1) recognizing being a sinner,

2) seeking forgiveness,

3) accepting Christ as your personal Savior, and

4) striving to be Christ-like

          Let’s look at just how each of us interprets sin. For me, the easiest definition is that which comes between you and God.  There is another definition, and that is to miss the mark. If you shoot an arrow at a target and you miss by an inch or a mile, it makes no difference- you missed the mark.  Sin a little or sin a lot, you still miss the mark. A degree of sin is not a comparison between people; one sinner is not more guilty than another since all sin weighs the same.

          Admitting to your own sin is not the easiest thing to do, but there is nothing to compare it to. It is strictly on you.  Confessing to God and seeking forgiveness opens your heart to acceptance of Christ as your personal Savior. Your confession and acceptance of Christ is the road to eternal life.

Last is to be Christ-like. That can be summed up in six words: Love God; love your fellow man. There is an old Gospel hymn I used to sing and have heard many times done by various Gospel groups. 

You gotta walk that lonesome valley

You gotta walk it by yourself

Well there ain't nobody else gonna go there for you

You gotta go there by yourself

The question is: Where are you on your walk?  Everyone’s walk is a personal journey.

Remember, the thief on the cross was seeking the Kingdom. So should we always be seeking the Kingdom- the Kingdom of God!

 

“Love Appears” Pastor Hines February 6, 2022

 

“Love Appears”

Pastor Hines

February 6, 2022

How many of us have seen beautiful artwork with Jesus looking beautifully divine? His blue eyes and golden blonde hair inspire us. As well, we are inspired by Jesus as a man of color  and Jesus as an Asian. 

When I lived in Philadelphia, I heard of the Norman Rockwell Museum which no longer exists. His paintings attracted me. I even have this one on my wall in the office. When I did not see any people of color in any of his paintings that I saw, I was not offended, I just wanted to see the richness of his gift with faces that were as dark as mine, so I wrote the museum and asked if any existed. They sent me this picture. There was no note, no explanation, just the picture. I could not help wonder if they were offended that I even asked. It was not my intention to offend or protest; I just wanted to see his extraordinary, God-given gift expressed in brown faces. 

 

How we see and what we see makes a world of difference in our lives. What we see effects our self-esteem and our esteem for others. The Apostle Paul reminds his church in Corinth that people saw Jesus after Jesus rose from the dead. It is critical that all understand that Jesus is not ordinary, but extraordinary.

Corinth was like a city some have called a “Sin City” In a “sin city.” Everybody and anybody was doing anything and everything, whether good or evil. Apostle Paul was the first preacher that the Corinthians had ever heard. They knew little about Jesus until Paul spoke to them. That’s big. You can imagine that talking about having right relationships and spending time in prayer and tithing and respecting all people no matter their religion or race did not make Paul very popular at all. No it did not. He was persecuted and criticized, but he knew his message was one that could save anybody and everybody from their sinful ways. How wonderful it is to be saved!!! Surely you know someone right now that needs to be saved, delivered, and relieved of some burden great or small.

Paul helped them to see Jesus for who he is, a loving savior to those who want to be saved. Paul reminded the church, beginning in verse 5, that after Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared in all his loving glory first to Peter, then the twelve disciples, then a crowd of 500, then to his brother James, then to all the apostles (unnamed church leaders), and finally to Paul himself.

So Paul’s words to the church beg the question. Have YOU seen Jesus? The only time I can say that I saw Jesus was when I was sitting on the floor exercising. I had been hit by a car while crossing off Broad Street a couple blocks from where I worked as a social worker at United Methodist Neighborhood Services for three years after graduating from college. Just a little tap on my thigh from a 2000 pound vehicle landed me in the street in the middle of the day. I recall the panicked woman driver declaring how I just walked right into her car as she was turning the corner. Then a sweet man gently asked me if I could somehow get out of the middle of the street because I was blocking traffic. I was stunned, but I was able to do just that – move a couple feet onto the sidewalk. I did not need an ambulance but I did have a few weeks of therapy and with the help of a lawyer suggested by a “frenemy” received a check for $600.

A few months, after weeks of therapy, I was taking a long walk and felt my leg tighten until I thought I would not be able to walk back home. It was not a neighborhood that I wanted to be helpless and alone in. Knowing this might happen again, I began to pray daily for God to help me. I did not have health insurance. I was inspired by the Holy Spirit to do certain stretches that enabled me to walk without losing my strength.

Through the years, stretching has given me strength. One day, as I sat on the floor stretching, I saw a flash of the typical white-robed Jesus, quiet, peaceful and beautiful. He was beautiful – not because of his features but because of the love that thoroughly enveloped me. Love appeared. I clearly understood that I was being blessed and that stretching was an important part of taking care of the body that God had given me in order to do ministry and enjoy life. Seeing Jesus that day encourages my soul in a mighty way to this day.

What’s your story? Have you seen Jesus in a dream? In a vision? In a moment of meditation or service? In artwork like Henry Ossawa Tanner another Philadelphia artist who saw Jesus in his painting entitled, “The Saviour?” 

Seeing is believing. Seeing strengthens our faith. Seeing stirs up the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives. Seeing Jesus changes lives. When your family, neighbors, friends and strangers see Jesus in you, you best believe it matters, and it matters a whole lot, it matters more than you think, it matters deep down. 

May it be that all of us can see our God, the God who is ready to bless us with saving and resurrecting power for any problem in our lives, the God “who stays” as one contemporary song says. 

One of my daily prayers is that we would stir up our spiritual gifts and use our unique gifts. Seeing Jesus stirs us, motivates us, drives us into the loving arms of the one who saves, drives us into the loving presence of those who care, drives us into sweet surrender and regular repentance that resurrects us and empowers to live life and to live it more abundantly! Sooner or later, in one way or another, you will see Jesus if you have not already. Love appears. Believe it. Give thanks for it. Pass it on. Amen.