“Let the Praises Flow: Psalm 89:20-37 CEB” Pastor Hines July 18, 2021

 

“Let the Praises Flow: Psalm 89:20-37 CEB”

Pastor Hines

July 18, 2021

 

This morning’s Psalm tells of God’s servant king David. God anointed him chose him, and made loving promises to him. David is known as the greatest king in all of our Judeo-Christian history. He was a musician and writer of many of the Psalms. He was not perfect, but he was, as we all aim to be, someone who takes after God’s own heart, who is like God in many ways, who takes on the character and the manner and ways of God, whose intention is to love us, to do justice by us, and to be merciful to us, to forgive our transgressions, to lift us up on every leaning side. 

David ruled and reigned, as we all aim to rule and reign, with an ear to hear what God, the ultimate king, had to say about various matters in life. For as we all know, it’s not just what the people say, it’s what God says. During our upcoming revival, we will focus on hearing what God says. David was in a position that God put him in. We all are.

You do understand that you are where you are by the grace and the will of God. You do know that the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord? So says Psalm 37.23.

God as ruler, king, and authority is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God has all power, is present everywhere, and knows all. We often wonder, why God does not use all that power to do away with some of the unspeakable things that are happening in our world. We often wonder if God is present everywhere all the time, why does God not always show us plainly where God is. If God knows all, does God really know how devastating our suffering is to us? Does God understand? Does God care? It is easy to praise God and to credit God when our experiences and situations are pleasant and easy and just what we want them to be. But, when we are suffering that is the best time to prove that God is in control, large and in charge. When we are suffering we want to know, why me? Why now? Why is this happening in a world created by a good God? Why is it happening to anyone?

Psychiatrist Victor Frankl (1905-1997) studied under Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler and he worked at Vienna’s Rothschild Hospital, the only hospital that admitted Jewish persons. Frankl was successful in treating students in an epidemic of suicides that occurred during report card season, and before being deported to a concentration camp, he helped mentally disabled people avoid euthanasia. I recall from his writings his direction not to obsess about why terrible things are happening, but to search for ways to make the situation meaningful. As Christians, we can always find meaning in all situations of our life. God always has a purpose and a plan that takes us to a place of justice, mercy, and righteousness, which all lead us to inner peace. 

The story of Gideon’s suffering found in the book of Judges 6 tells of Gideon hiding from the oppressive Midianites while he sorted grain, knowing they would try to take it. An angel, a messenger, came to Gideon with an encouraging word. He said, “The Lord is with you, you brave man!” (Even when we hide in fear and weakness, God sees something great in us.) Instead of being elated that God had sent a messenger to encourage him personally, instead of doing a happy dance upon hearing that God considered him courageous – even though he was in hiding, Gideon asked the same questions that come to all hearts that are suffering. Gideon asked, “If the Lord is with us, why is all this happening to us, and where are all the miracles which our fathers told us about?” The angel did not answer any of Gideon’s questions directly, and we may feel that God has not answered our questions directly either. What did happen was that the angel told Gideon God chose to use him to save his people from the hand of those who were worrying them?

Still we ask the questions, were God’s people suffering because they were under judgement? I say, if the shoe fits me, I may need to wear it. Were God’s people innocent victims? If so, they had a great God who, like always, can lead and guide them to a safe and peaceful place, a God who was an ever present help to comfort and care for them in their time of trouble, no matter how bad it got.

Rather than get stuck on the questions, for even Ecclesiastes 7.10 reminds us how unwise it is to just get round and round with questions. Rather, it is good to humble ourselves before God and submit to the rule and reign of the one who sits high and looks low. There are answers we have only when we worship, when we trust and obey. There are things we can only understand better when we look for God’s face and not just for what God has in God’s hands. There is a difference, even for us as leaders and Christians being watched and followed by others. Looking at the face of God means we want to see God’s feelings and responses because we want to know and understand God. Looking only at God’s hands suggests that receiving something from God matters more than being in a right and loving relationship with God.

One of my classmates at Eastern College in St. Davids, PA was blind at birth due to harmful birth control pills that were later taken off the market. We lived together on the same dorm floor in Doane Hall. It was helpful for her to feel our faces, one time, enabling her to “see” us. It was a special look. It reminds me of the song, Only A Look. One look at Jesus can turn us from sin, bring us salvation, and eternal life. Having an intimate connection with the face of God as well as the voice and the hands of God deepens our relationship with God. Having even one personal experience with God sparks an eternal fire in our hearts and lives. One of TBN’s movies was entitled, “One Night with the King” The lyrics of an associated song are this: One night with the king, changes everything. One day in his courts did forever change my course. One moment in his presence and I’ve never been the same. One night with the king changes everything.”

One of the most common reasons we reject God and the church is that we are so angry. Anger is not sustainable in the church. Anger hides the face of Jesus. One survey conducted by the Olympic Committee suggested that there were people around the world that were more familiar with the name Ronald McDonald than they were with the name of Jesus. Some are more familiar with advertising symbols than the Christian Cross symbol. So, it is no small thing when the church has a billboard with our name on it or a postcard inviting others to come. Of course, our loving relationships are the best advertising of all.

The world seems angrier than it has ever been. We see this in the increased incidence of road rage as only one example. Rage psychologist Dr. Leon James gives us several reasons people respond with road rage. 1. Restrictions from moving forward on the road raise anxiety and intense desires to escape the restrictions and prompt some to perform risky and aggressive maneuvers. 2. Regulations are inconvenient and we just ignore them. 3. Lack of self-control. 4. Being put in danger results in negative emotions such as fear, helplessness, depressed mood, and resentment. 5. Some are tempted by the energizing rush that comes when you let it all out, share all the foul gestures and words but consequences of impaired judgment is the price that is paid. 6. Unpredictability of highways bring drama and uncertainty. All these feelings often come to a boil and create road rage and rage in other areas of our lives.

Regardless of what keeps us away from the God, from the church, and from each other, there is no good excuse for not accepting God as a king to rule and reign over our lives. Clearly, we cannot handle our lives on our own. Only when we turn to God in good times as well as tough times, when we look for God’s face as well as God’s hands, we see that God is greater than our worst problem. Turning to God increases the chance that we will have a personal experience that moves us forward spiritually and helps us to grow content and safe. We can then see clearly that no matter how bad a situation is, God is working for good, God delights in us, and is a present help in a time of trouble and always has something good for us to taste and see – some fruit of the spirit, some love, or joy, or peace, or patience, or kindness, or goodness, or faithfulness, or gentleness, or self –control to share with us – and enough to share with others.

 We serve a good God who is worthy of our thanks and praise. Whether we shed tears of joy, tears of remorse, or tears of grief, it is good to also let our praises flow toward God for the great things God has done, is doing, and promises to do among us. So, let praises to God flow, for your sake, for God’s sake, and for the sake of the whole world.

“Deceptively Simple” Rev. Larry Leister July 11, 2021

 

 “Deceptively Simple”

Rev. Larry Leister

July 11, 2021

 

As a baseball fan I found this bit of history interesting. Charles Eliot, who was president of Harvard from 1869-1909, frequently expressed his misgivings about sports, including football and baseball, both of which he sought unsuccessfully to abolish at Harvard. At the end of one Harvard baseball season he announced that he was thinking of dropping the sport. Pressed for an explanation, he said, "This year I'm told the team did well because one pitcher had a fine curve ball. I understand that a curve ball is thrown with a deliberate attempt to deceive. Surely this is not an ability we should want to foster at Harvard."

Well, times have changed at Harvard. A Wall Street Journal article some years ago reviewed teaching practices at Harvard’s School of Business. Instructors added a new dimension to their courses designed to familiarize students with various unethical business practices used by corporate America. The article questioned if students might view the new course content as tacit approval of unethical behavior. 

Maybe modern-day Harvard could stand more of Dr. Eliot's concern about teaching deceptive practices, which seem to be so prevalent in our society.  While his call for integrity was admirable, I'm not sure Dr. Eliot understood the place of the curve ball in the rules of baseball. Can something be truly deceptive if opponents are actually looking for it?

By contrast something is truly deceptive if opponents have no inkling it’s on the way because deceivers violate the rules of the game. Sticking with baseball, for example, when a pitcher throws an illegal pitch such as a spit ball that's clearly deceptive. 

In life we are thrown deceptive pitches every day... false advertising claims, doctored resumes, email scams, and pyramid schemes, fake news...to name only a few deceptions pitched our way every day.

The O.T tells of God's judgment upon the deception of Ahab & Jezebel.  Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard and made a fair offer to buy it. Naboth tried to explain it was an entrusted ancestral inheritance... so Jezebel with Ahab's complicity, chose to violate the rules of the game by breaking the terms of God’s covenant.  Jezebel threw Naboth an "illegal" pitch he couldn't hit. With the help of some "respectable" scoundrels Naboth is cheated out of not only his property but his life as well. They resorted to perjury, theft, and murder to satisfy Ahab's greed.

It’s amazing how easily we are taken in by deceit! On a flight out of Philly, a passenger was seated next to a packaging engineer who was jubilant over a project he had just pulled off.  A manufacturer had retained the engineer’s services to help him push several thousand coffee makers that weren't selling, even when the retail price was lowered to cost:  $20 per unit.

The packaging engineer told how he had succeeded in peddling the percolators at a handsome profit by having them gilded with a thin layer of imitation gold, placed in a large white carton lined with imitation purple velvet, and topped off with a glistening, dome-shaped plastic cover.  The aesthetic effect was, to hear the packaging engineer, something akin to "turning a sow's ear into a silk purse." 

Though the gilding and carton added less than a dollar a unit to the percolator's cost, the coffee makers sold out in less than a month at $49.95 each. Deception did the trick. One could argue that consumers ask for it because time and again deceiving consumers seems Deceptively Simple. Yet we're also reminded by Psalm 5:6 that God condemns such deception, "...the Lord abhors blood-thirsty and deceitful men."

Even though we know how easily deceived we are, there are times when we’re tempted to be deceptive in our own dealings with others. We may even justify it as in the other person's best interest.

Example: a college town pub frequented by students ran an ad in the campus paper in the days leading up to Parents' Weekend: “Bring your parents for lunch Saturday. We'll pretend we don't know you!" The clever ad was humorously countered by the school chaplain who posted a similar one on the campus bulletin board: "Bring you parents to chapel Sunday.  We'll pretend we do know you!" 

Both amusing notices, however, each was really a deception within a deception. The fact that they were  humorous doesn’t mean the deceit was harmless.

Paul warns us to be neither deceived nor deceive, nor can we escape consequences: "God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that will he also reap."  A  Deceptively Simple warning!  He knew we may be able to deceive others but we deceive ourselves too if we think we can pull the wool over God’s eyes.

 

A often cited quote on the subject of deception by A. Lincoln usually omits the equally astute last phrase: "You may deceive all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time (but then there's the part that’s frequently omitted) and not God at any of the time."

Isn't that the point of the Jezebel and Ahab story? They appear to get away with their conspiracy with no one but their fellow conspirators any the wiser. That is until God's word of judgment comes through Elijah. Nor was it the first time he confronted the king's sin.  Ahab sees it coming "Have you found me, O my enemy?" God's judgment: Ahab's house will be exterminated.  Jezebel will die within the walls of Jezreel (the scene of her conspiracy) and her flesh will be eaten by dogs.  The prophecy is born out proving to those with ears to hear that "God is not mocked!"

Like Elijah, Paul's message from God is similar, but it brings not only words of judgment but also of promise "For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life...do good to all men... in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart."

Knowing how Deceptively Simple people can be, and how vulnerable those who’ve been deceived can feel, Paul goes on to assure his readers that his letter is no deception...he ceases his dictation to the person actually penning his letter and pens the closing words himself, "See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand."

Paul is not done.  He turns his attention to those within the church who’d been intentionally deceptive by undergoing circumcision and encouraging others to do the same, "in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ." This was written during a period when Judaism was tolerated by Rome but Christianity wasn't. So some Christians underwent circumcision to escape persecution by passing themselves off as Jews. It was doubly deceptive, Paul said, because it not only hid one's Christianity, it mocked Mosaic Law which they did not otherwise keep.

Neither circumcision or un-circumcision counts for anything with God. What does is being: "a new creation ...Far be it for me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

It’s easy to fall prey to living by this world’s rules and to wink at deceptions that violate God's ways. Only a change within can we lead to straightforward, honest lives that point to Christ. It's he who transforms us through faith in his death for us and our salvation.

Paul concludes, "Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule." Christians know the way that leads to eternal life.  Our lives are to be lived so as to produce not deceit but "good to all." We can live by the world’s rules of deception or we can surrender to God who sees thru our deception and live by his rules.

If we deceive and our deception is discovered we are not only embarrassed, we are held accountable as a story out of Japan demonstrates. In Japan a man of wealth and influence demanded a place in Japan's Imperial Orchestra, a select group, because it played for the emperor. The rich man  insisted even though the he couldn’t read music or play a single note.

Under pressure the conductor relented and allowed the man to sit in the second row of the orchestra.  When the music began he would raise the flute to his mouth, pucker his lips and go through the motions of playing but never make a sound. The deception continued for two years, apparently fooling everyone, until a new conductor took over who required personal auditions from each player. One by one each orchestra member played a solo. Then came the fraudulent flutist's turn. Frantic with worry he feigned sickness. A doctor was called and declared him well. Shame-faced he had to confess he was literally unable to "face the music."

We are all held accountable for our lives.  We must all face the music one day for like the new conductor in the story, "God is not mocked" or deceived.  Others may be deceived by falsehoods we perpetrate or the lies that we live, but God is not. Numbers 32:23: “Your sins will find you out” if not by those around you than by God. That’s the point of Ahab and Jezebel’s sordid tale, as well as Paul’s message.

But herein lies the Good News...news Paul proclaimed which Elijah could not: not only does God see through our deceptions, God also offers us a way out that is in itself Deceptively Simple– Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, who did not feign death but died on the cross for our salvation. Jesus Christ, the only one who can truly leads us from a life of sinful deceptions into a life of joyful obedience. Jesus who, if we surrender our lives to him, will transform us into new creatures and by the Holy Spirit empower us to walk by the rule of God. 

When that transforming power shapes our lives, our lives become our witness.  Our lives point to the very one who transforms us...to Jesus.  The last thing any of us thus transformed should want is to deceive others as to who and whose we are really are.  Rather we should seek to proudly proclaim, as did Paul in the verses that follow, that we “carry the marks of Jesus.”

So that when it comes right down to it, our message to those around is, like Paul's, a Deceptively Simple one if by the grace of God we live the lives to which he's called us.

 

“Let the Praises Flow” Pastor Hines July 4, 2021

 

“Let the Praises Flow”

Pastor Hines

July 4, 2021

 

The book of Psalms is known for bringing us comfort in our times of distress. The Psalms are songs for all occasions, just like our hymn book has songs for every season of the year from Christmas to Lent, so the 150 Psalms in the bible sing of the birth of Christ, thanksgiving for the greatness of God, the need to change our ways for the better and hope in time of trouble.

Music soothes us and technology creates wonderful…cd’s sound more appealing than 45’s and 78’s and cassette tapes. Voices are like fingerprints. The sounds that come out of our mouth are as unique as our faces. Even the sounds from instruments are all different when they are made with wood, strings, and metals. They all delight us. We all have our favorite sounds and rhythm and words. God has provided plenty for all of us and just when it seems we have learned our favorite tune and it fades away into history, there comes a new song, new lyrics, and we embrace new favorites. 

Psalm 48 is a psalm like no other. The very first verse tells us that God is great and greatly to be praised. It points to God’s high mountain, a mountain so high and beautiful that it brings great joy. We all need and appreciate God blessing us with joy - that fruit of the Spirit that refreshes, energizes and strengthens us for the journey. 

Verse 4 tells us that kings assembled. Metaphorically, everybody who was anybody gathered and they could see the holy mountain. No one either high or low in this life can miss God. The Heavens declare God’s glory. Don’t you know that everywhere you go you leave the footprints of Jesus? When you walk into a room, others can see the light of Christ in you and on you. They may not even know what hit them. Every breath you take and every beat of your heart represents the incomprehensible and imperceptible presence of almighty God of Creation. The blood of Jesus flows through your veins, and if someone would give you a DNA test they would find royalty. You are marvelously and meticulously made – a work of art – designed by God, and you are beloved. Aren’t you grateful to be a child of God? We have so much to be thankful for and there are so many ways to live a lifestyle where we give thanks and show our delight in the goodness of God and share our love for God and for one another. There are multiple ways to do justice and love mercy.  The pandemic, like any crisis, has challenged us and changed us. Families remind me that they are still disoriented, still squeamish about the virus, concerned about jobs and school, wondering about the future of primary relationships, and medical situations. Even the mail system has not returned to normalcy 100%. 

Music is a gift from God to help us cope. Music lifts our spirits, brings pleasant thoughts to mind that pushes difficulties aside just long enough to let us rest and rejuvenate. The songs of the Psalms engages our hearts to help us get over some of the humps we may be going through.

Psalm 48, written by the family of Korah, known for its musical skill, assigned to make a joyful noise, appointed to uplift the spirits of those who were on a journey with God, practiced in the faith. They were oh so human. Still their music was divine! The psalms are not about the singer or the sinner. The psalms are about the creator. The Psalms are about God’s peace that is like a river, God’s joy that is like a fountain, and God’s love that is like an ocean.

The scripture tells us to put God first, to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and everything we need will be provided for us. God’s promise to provide does not mean we will instantly receive everything we want. I don’t have to make excuses for what God does or does not do, what evil God does or does not allow in our lives. Knowing God will provide does not mean we can make out a wish list and expect God to act like a butler and deliver everything we want according to our instructions. No, God’s promise to provide is an invitation to a partnership.

When we pray, we are partnering with God. If we think we can give God orders, or that God is just going to issue us a blank check, we need to think again. If we think that we don’t have any responsibilities in building the kin-dom of God and we can do what we want to do in the church and God won’t care, ‘cuz an invisible God don’t matter. We need to think again. We can’t go anywhere and do only what WE want to do.

Just as we pray that God will bless a harvest of plant crops, we pray asking God’s blessing on the harvest of our prayers. All prayers will not bear fruit just as all plants will not bear fruit. Prayer is a partnership. Our part is to pray – planting a seed for certain spiritual blessings. Our part is to do what God guides us to do or risk rebuke and refinement. As we see in verse 5, panic, turmoil, and destruction can happen suddenly. Our part is to praise God with our whole being, for it is our whole being that God loves and cares for.

Jesus has invited all of us to this table. Everything we need is at the table. Everything we want is at this table. With such a feast set before us, our hearts are made glad, our souls cry out hallelujah, thank God for saving me, healing me, rescuing me, calming me, guiding me, protecting me, challenging me, chiding me, and thank God for my sisters and brothers near and far who pray for me and serve me and whom I serve and pray for and partner with. God has provided all this and more. God is great and greatly to be praised. Let the praises flow, for your sake, for God’s sake, and for the sake of the whole world.

 

“Is it me, Lord?” - June 27, 2021 Pastor Jacqueline Hines

 

“Is it me, Lord?” - June 27, 2021

Pastor Jacqueline Hines 

The gospel of Mark was often put on the back burner for early readers. Not only is it shorter than the other gospels. Mark does not include the story of Jesus’ birth, or the Sermon on the Mount, or parables like the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son. According to Acts 12.12 Mark’s mother’s name was Mary. Mary was a common name, just as many today share the same common name. Mary held prayer meetings in her home. Some traditions suggest that it was Mary’s home where the Last Supper was shared. I have to remind myself that Mary was the mother of Mark, but Mark is not named among Jesus’ 12 disciples. The names of the 12 are Peter, James, John, Andrew, Bartholomew (or Nathanael), James, Judas, Matthew, Philip, Simon, and Thomas.

Mark’s gospel really wants us to see that Jesus is a healer in chapter 5. There are about 40 miracle stories in the gospels and about 30 of them are about someone being healed. Just as in the bible, healing happens in a wide range of ways and areas of our lives. We ought not to think of it as simply in our body, for healing happens in our relationships, in our animals, in our community relations. Forgiveness heals. Healthy habits heal. Repentance and righteousness heal, but most of all love heals.

In chapter 5 alone there is more than one word for healing. There is  Sozo (sode'-zo) transliterated to mean to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, injury or peril, to save a suffering one from perishing, to save from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health, to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue. Iaomai  (ee-ah'-om-ahee) means to cure, heal, make whole, free from errors and sins, to bring about one’s salvation. Hugies (hoog-ee-ace') is transliterated to mean sound in body, restored to health, made whole, not deviating from the truth.

Disease and distress can be complicated and even mysterious. There are some things even doctors cannot explain about what goes on in our bodies and minds. That is a good reason to trust God with our whole being. God can work around the unknown, the places where there is no light. God can maneuver around our weaknesses and broken pieces and fulfill a wonderful purpose in our lives. God can!

In Mark’s story, Jesus hears a father’s plea for the healing of his dying daughter. Then he feels the tug on his tassels from a woman who has suffered, bleeding for twelve years, going from one practitioner to another and no cure was in sight. Then, when Jairus, a spiritual leader in the synagogue was told his daughter had died, Jesus said she was just sleeping.

These two stories both focus on a female who was either dead or dying. Mark’s focus on the feminine is a message in itself. His message could be viewed as somewhat political, inflammatory, and indicative of the ongoing struggle societies have to do justice and to love mercy. Societies struggle for balance when boys are preferred over girls and women are to be barely seen and rarely heard. In Mark’s day, that’s how the power was played. That’s what the economy showed. No matter what or where a society is, somebody is always at the top and somebody is always at the bottom. Power can be reversed from moment to moment and situation to situation. The struggle for balance is found in every family, every neighborhood, in every government.

We struggle in order to avoid staying at the bottom of the heap and to make it to the top. No one wants to be at the bottom when the bottom is bad. No one in their right mind chooses to live under the Ben Franklin Bridge like a father and school aged daughter I met years ago when they took shelter in the basements of several of our churches. No one wants to leave their country risking rape and robbery after their brothers were kidnapped in the middle of the night and left for dead like the Guatemalan mother who lived in my home for a while.

No one wants to spend weeks and months working to overthrow their government only to see their plans fail and innocent people jailed and killed. Just ask Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German Lutheran pastor who was hung in 1945 for attempting to assassinate Hitler. Just ask the million Chinese gathered in Tiananmen Square China in 1989. In the 90’s I was in class with a young Chinese woman who was telling her experience in China during the Tiananmen Square student protest for freedom of the press and freedom of speech.  I was trying to be sympathetic when I referred to her situation as a disturbance. The professor gently rebuked me helping me to see that by using the word “disturbance” I was minimizing the situation that was known to many as a tragedy and a massacre. Word’s matter. It is good to hear each other’s stories. It is good to grow more sensitive to each other’s joys and concerns. It is God’s way of helping us to bear one another’s burdens. For, a burden shared is half a burden. Hearing each other’s stories is a way for healing to happen.

The woman in the crowd was burdened with a medical condition. Home remedies did not handle it. Doctors did not fix it. She heard that those who went to Jesus were being healed and helped. So she decided to find Jesus and see what he could do for her. Have you ever brought your physical ailments to Jesus? Have you ever asked God to heal you or change something in your life? What did Jesus do for you? What did Jesus say to you? Were you completely or partially healed? Were you challenged to forgive someone or to give something to someone? Were you given a cross to bear and tears to weep that would give you deeper joy and understanding of God, but you still would not want that cross again. Whether or not we even ask, we are blessed, but if you ask, if you have a little talk with Jesus, he will answer.

This woman touched the hem of his garment. She touched his clothes. And Jesus said, “Who touched me?” I have been to worship services where, as the preacher is preaching and the spirit is moving in an extraordinary way, another preacher will get up and touch the preacher’s robe on the shoulder or sleeve ever so lightly. This is understood to be a way of connecting to God. It is a way of affirming that God is present in a special way and that high and holy blessings are right there, not to be missed. It is a way of touching God to get something glorious. Holiness is all around us. God’s blessings for us are within our reach and if we get close enough and touch them, healing and help happens no matter how hopeless and helpless our situation.

This woman was not the only one trying to touch Jesus’ clothes. Matthew 14 tell us that when the men of Gennesaret recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Old Testament laws have instructions and templates for the design of the sanctuary which we can see in many sanctuaries today, including Bethel’s, but there is also a pattern given in the scriptures for the design of religious clothes. There are instructions for what fabrics and colors to use. There are directions for Jewish men to wear tassels with blue cords on the corners of their robes. This was done, and is still done, to identify them as those who followed the ten commandments, those who were chosen to bless those in need, support the lonely, and help the poor. Today, men and women of God may wear special robes, collars, and crosses as a way of saying, “I serve the living God. I am a child of God. I want to help and heal wherever God leads me and however God enables me.” Clothes identify who we are. Modern healers in America are often identified wearing white coats and scrubs.

It is commonplace to see symbols of prestige on the corners of shirt pockets that identify certain values. At times a designer’s brand name may be on the corners of our sleeves, on the back of the collar, or the brim of a hat. Clothes can send a message. There is a difference between summer clothes and winter clothes and often between men’s clothes and women’s clothes, between Sunday go-to-meeting clothes and Saturday afternoon picnic clothes. If you have three stripes on your sleeves, we know you have earned a doctorate degree. If your graduation ceremony hood is pink around the edges, it identifies you as a musician. In Jesus’ day, it was often the bottom of their skirts, their robes, their hems, their fringes that told their story. Sometimes they called it their wings. God’s love is expressed in Ezekiel (16.8) with a description of God putting the corner of God’s skirts around God’s people or spreading protective, affectionate wings over them. Ruth (Ruth 3.9) asked Boaz to cover her with his “wings” which is the same Hebrew word (Kanaph) for the corners of his robe. In some families if you take someone under your wing, they are under your guiding, protective arms. You are covering them, showing extraordinary concern and care for them. You are holding them close to your heart. With all that love, healing and help is bound to happen on one level or another.

She saw the hem of his garment and it gave her hope. She expected to find shelter under his wings.  She touched the hem of his garment waiting for him to respond and reciprocate, to indicate that he lived up to the symbols that he displayed. She identified with his power and his grace, she acknowledged that Jesus could help her, she saw no symbol in him or on him that repulsed her or made her want to run away. When she touched him, Jesus asked a question. The disciples thought it was a silly question. “Who touched my clothes?” Another version says “Who touched me?”

There is good touch and bad touch. There is gentle touch and rough touch. There is healing touch and there is touch that hurts. There is the “I am here to help you” touch and there is the “Please, for God’s sake, help me” touch. Like Jesus, we know what touch is what. We just need to know who it is. As Christian, we want to be as close as we can to Jesus. We want to be under his warm and protective wings, abiding in his grace and mercy.

For most of us there are at least a dozen places in our minds, our bodies and our circumstances where we need more of Jesus’ help and healing. When Jesus asks the question, “Who touched me?” You may want to cry out “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. I need a blessing, I need a break, I need help, I need hope, I need wisdom, I need courage, I need strength, I need peace, I need healing. It’s me Lord, I want to be healed in any way you can heal me. “Is it me, Lord? Is it me that you can sense is touching you today?

 

“Go Dad, Fight to Win!” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines June 20, 2021

 

“Go Dad, Fight to Win!”  - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

June 20, 2021

Have you ever been in an argument? Have you ever had a fight? My memories of arguments and fights evoke in me plenty of shame and embarrassment and anger and only a little bit of satisfaction. In grade school, when we knew Ms. Steiner was, what some called “cross,” we would keep our eyes down low enough to the floor to see her thick black shoes coming our way as she walked down each row of her students in Math class. We dared not speak a word. It could just make her angrier. When it was my turn to bring my math answers up to her desk to be checked, she slammed the paper down, scowled, banged the desk and declared that my answer was incorrect. I went back to my seat, looked busy for a few moments waiting for her to calm down, went back up to her desk with the same answer and received her approval. Some things are not worth fighting over.

In 1992 the movie White Men Can’t Jump came out. It argued against the idea that we can know what a person can or cannot do based on the color of his or her skin. Again, in grade school, I harbored the notion that white girls couldn’t beat me up because black girls like me had supernatural strength. Rhonda proved me oh so wrong. As we wrestled arm to arm, I thought to myself, “She’s not going down. She’s supposed to be
going down.” Then she did something I had never learned to do. She picked up some dirt and threw it in my face. The fight was over, leaving a very large dent in my pride as well as in my understanding of race. David defeated the giant Goliath. His faith in God gave him the strength he needed to fight and win! 

On this Father’s Day, we honor Father’s as protectors and providers. Being a father is one of the hardest jobs in this world. That’s why father’s need God. Young dads, old dads, and would be dads need faith in God. God can guide every father to fight a fight and win. Fathers may not win EVERY fight. They may not win every battle. In the end, Godly fathers have the victory. The war is won. With God, we are always on the winning side!

David tells us why he was confident. There are at least three reasons. First, in verse 34 or so he says, “I’m a shepherd.” David was accustomed to protecting, providing, directing, and fighting off predators of all kinds who wanted to eat his little lambs and destroy the sheep he was shepherding. David knows that as a shepherd he can deal with Goliath because he has dealt with many a savage beast. He did it before. He had become confident and comfortable with protecting, providing, directing and fighting predators again. Secondly, David was confident enough to fight Goliath because he had the tools he needed and that worked best for his skill set. He could have put on the protective armor that King Saul had in his castle for him, but David was not used to it. He did not wear the usual armor from head to toe. He used only a rock and a sling shot. Instead he took his enemy off guard. He used the armor of God we read about in Ephesians 6. His armor was invisible to those who would not see. He wore a helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, his feet were covered in peace, he had the breastplate of righteousness, and the belt of truth. A Godly father may not look like a warrior, he may even look weak and worn, but God works on the inside so that a godly father has all that he needs to provide, to protect, to direct, and to fight predators that try to harm their little lambs.

Finally, David had confidence because he knew God had his back. Around verse 45 he says that Goliath may come with a sword and an ax but David comes with God, not just any God but the God of angel armies. The army of angels was on duty that day when David first fought Goliath. The angels were praising God, encouraging those who fought for right, and fighting to protect God’s people against spiritual wickedness, principalities and powers found on the dark side instead of the side where God’s light resides.

You may remember that in Daniel’s day Christians were persecuted and tortured by being thrown into a lion’s den. Daniel was hungry for the precious word and direction that only God can give in a trying time. He fasted and prayed for 21 days waiting for God to answer. The bible says that God released from heaven an answer to Daniel’s prayer as soon as Daniel prayed it, but the answer was delayed for 21 days because a spiritual battle was happening whether in the atmosphere or in the land itself. Just like God’s angels were fighting to answer Daniel’s prayers, they were fighting to help David defeat his gigantic Goliath enemy. Fathers learn that God has their back. They are backed up with an army of angels.

I asked fathers this week to tell us of a time when they knew that God had their backs. One father wrote: God has stopped me on more than one occasion from killing my kids (LOL). Another father told how his daughter thought it was her fault that he got divorced from her mother. She refused to speak to him for over a year. A trusted friend advised the father to just keep telling her that
he loved her and writing her regularly. It worked. He remained a faithful father and his daughter eventually sent him a valentine card declaring her love for him as well.  Another father notes: God has kept all three of our children safe. We are especially grateful since one of them is in law enforcement. God has been in their lives, and all three are active in their local United Methodist Church.

Being a father is a very, very hard job. There are unspeakable struggles and hardships for all of us, but God sees us through. Whatever battle you face, you do not face it alone. We celebrate all God’s children this day, and especially fathers. Our hearts are glad because, like David in a battle with Goliath, we know that you have experiences as a leader. You are a good shepherd in one way or another and God has equipped you to provide, protect, direct, and fight off predators. You are dressed in the whole armor of God and you know that God, with an army of angels, has your back. May it be so today and always.

 

“Samuel, Rise and Anoint David, for He Is the One!” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

 

“Samuel, Rise and Anoint David, for He Is the One!”

Pastor Jacqueline Hines

June 13, 2021

 

Last week we saw that God’s people wanted to go in the direction of the rest of the world and have a king. They were not satisfied with having God lead and guide them. Does that sound familiar? We all remember a time when we, like Jonah, go in the opposite direction of where God is leading us. Going against God’s direction ended in catastrophe for the Israelites. Men, women, boys, and girls all paid a terrible price for being out of the will of God.

This week we see that Samuel is not happy that the king he anointed did not work out. Samuel loved and appreciated Saul and was afraid of Saul even though Saul was not right with God. Samuel had a hard time going on to anoint and serve the next king God had chosen. How easy is it to be close friends with people who are not close to God?

Anointing King David was a way of getting God’s people back on track for the good life, the holy life.  One detail of this choosing of a king stands out this morning. When Samuel arrived, the elders were very tense, even trembling. Samuel was God’s spokesperson and when he showed up, they knew that he had a message from God. Everyone knows when God speaks, it’s time to listen. When God speaks it could be good news and it may be rough news. The elders were tense because they knew that Samuel showing up could mean a show down because God was serious business. The days we don’t pray are often the days when we refuse to hear anything but good news and exactly what we want to hear.

The elders accepted the authority of God, so when Samuel showed up, they waited to hear what he was saying just as we wait to hear what a doctor has to say. The elders listened as if they were in court waiting for the jury and the judge to share the verdict.  Like us Christians, they were braced for a spiritual spanking or some expectation that may have for the moment seemed unreasonable and unfair. They were also well aware that they could be blessed with a wonderful windfall. We take the bitter with the sweet.

What Samuel came to tell the elders was to sanctify themselves. What did Samuel expect them to do when he asked them to sanctify themselves? To sanctify is to set apart for a special purpose. We know that every culture has a way of separating themselves in order to better themselves. During the Lenten season the Bishop has called all her clergy to a “Lenten Day Apart” in order to become emotionally prepared for the Lenten season of sacrifice and repentance. In those hours with the bishop, there is worshipping in song, prayers, focused reading, meditation and sermons on certain scriptures with the expectation that after all that preparation we will be able to see God more clearly, follow God more nearly, and love God more dearly. It can be said that God blesses us in those days apart so much so that we are nurtured and strengthened to keep the faith and continue the journey and stand before God with cleaner hands and more humble hearts and enjoying being in God’s presence because God delights in us and is glad we are here.

It is after spending time with God apart from our daily routines, but closer and closer to God that we sing with peace in our hearts a song written by Sadhu Sundar Singh:  “I have decided to follow Jesus…though none go with me, still I will follow.”  Athletes and actors and musicians often set time aside for certain rituals, exercises, and training that they do in order to prepare to be the best that they can be at what they do. Samuel told the elders to sanctify themselves. It was to help them be the best leaders they good be. Sanctification increases Godly character and enables us to do good deeds of mercy and justice for all peoples. How do we make that happen? Do we have to pray certain prayers, light special candles on particular days, sing music, listen to speakers, or study for a religious degree? All countries and all cultures have all kinds of prayers and practices that may include bouquets of flowers, fire, incense, processionals, dances, and drums designed to deepen our connection to God and to one another. What matters most is not what we do and how we do it. What matters is that we are hungry for the things of God and that we are willing to have more of Jesus and we do something to help that happen.

Samuel told them to sanctify themselves, to purify themselves, to make themselves holy. Why? God says be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. Is that even possible? It must be possible or God would not ask God’s children to do it. It is possible. We may not be perfect, but we can prepare ourselves in such a way that we can live a clean life, think clean thoughts, have clean relationships, and come to God in prayer with clean hands. There is a bowl of holy water found in some churches at the door of the sanctuary.  The water symbolizes our need to clean our hands of dirty deeds 

and our mind of dirty thoughts – to repent and present ourselves before a holy God showing that we take God seriously!

We will never be perfectly clean or holy, but by doing all we can to be as clean as we can, things are better than they would be. Just as a doctor scrubs hands before examinations and surgery, so Christians read the word, pray, praise, worship, serve and even sacrifice in whatever way we know how in order to keep evil from germinating and growing in us and to decrease the risk that we pass some terrible sin on to infect those around us.

Some churches have changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Many changes make us sad and afraid and worried. It is not God’s will for us to remain sad or afraid or worried. God’s will is that we keep our eye on the prize – God’s son Jesus, our good shepherd who loves us and leads us in the path that leads to life.

We may become sad when our churches are not crowded, but no matter what the state of the church is, God has a purpose and a plan that we can understand better if we come closer to God and the people of God.

The time to worry is when God does not show up. The time to be sad is when we realize the bible is considered just another book rather than the Word of God. The time to be worried is when a heart becomes hardened and unable to do justice and love mercy.

The truth that sets us free is that God will provide, that God will guide us in ministry – whether great or small, that we are loved with an everlasting love and that love is contagious. We serve a good God. There is none like God, for our God is Holy and calls us to be holy, sanctified, set apart to do God’s will and live life abundantly for God’s sake and for the sake of the whole world.

We are the hands and feet of Jesus. You recall that childhood saying, “The church is not the building. The Church is not the steeple. It’s the people!

A three year old boy learned in Sunday School that Jesus was tempted by the devil. As he was talking to his mom about Jesus, she asked him “Honey, if we were at a store, and Dad and I were in one aisle, and you were in another aisle, and there was candy, and the devil said, ‘You should take some!’

What would you say back to the devil?”

A genuine grin lit up the boy’s entire face and without hesitation he replied, “Oh! I would say thank you!”

It’s not surprising that a 3-year-old missed the point, but as we grow and mature spiritually, we learn better. We learn to do whatever it takes to stay close to God and do the right thing. As we grow, we ask ourselves: where does the devil use me. Where does the devil tempt me?

More than ever we are realizing that we need to be close to God, for there are so many unpredictable, uncertain, unusual, unhealthy, and unhelpful situations that are in our path. As one songwriter put it “I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear these burdens alone. Jesus will help me. He is a kind, compassionate friend. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. Jesus will help me, victory to win.”

Being close to God is being close to the truth, the light, the way, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May we all sanctify and set ourselves apart and find a friend in Jesus today. Amen.