Reading: John 2:13-22
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 13, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Back in the time of Jesus there was a big business in Jerusalem. It was called the Temple. A lofty institution that covered some thirty acres. It's inner sanctuary was the Holy place where only the High Priest could enter on special occasions. Beyond that were a number of courts to which access was granted according to status. There was the Temple court, then the Court of the Priests, then the Court of the Israelites, then the Court of the Women and then finally, the largest area, the Court of the Gentiles.
Everybody was allowed to enter the Court of the Gentiles. It was designed to be a place of prayer and preparation. A place where those denied access to other areas of the temple could seek and find God. A place where people could prepare their hearts for worship.
One of the things that was important for worship in those days was paying the temple tax. The temple tax was one half shekel a year. It was the equivalent of about two days wages. You couldn't pay your temple tax in any old currency. It had to be paid in Sanctuary Shekels. At Passover time Jews from all over the world, with Greek, Roman, Syrian, Egyptian, Phoenician and Tyrian coins jangling in their pockets made their way to the Gentiles Court.
Before they could pay their taxes, money had to be exchanged. So, the money-changers set up their stalls in the Court. To change your coinage into sanctuary shekels, a fee equivalent to half a days wages would be charged. If you didn't have the exact coinage, then you'd be charged another half a days wages. There were various other rates and schemes that all involved money flowing into the money-changers pockets. And this was before you'd paid a penny of your tax.
Along with temple taxes, worshippers would also bring an offering. This could be an oxen, or a sheep or a dove. You could buy a dove down at the Jerusalem market quite cheaply. However, there was a law about temple sacrifices that said that a sacrificial victim had to be without blemish. In the Gentiles Court there were appointed temple inspectors to examine the offerings and see if they came up to the grade. The strange thing was, none from the market ever did.
So they advised worshippers to buy their sacrificial animals from the selection they had in the Gentiles court. The difference was that an animal purchased there could cost as much as twenty times more than one purchased down at the market.
Merchandising is a good thing in the Market Place, but not in the temple.
That day when Jesus went to the temple to pray and prepare Himself for the difficult days that were ahead, what did He find, a place of prayer for all nations? "No" he said, "It's a den of thieves". It was nothing more than a market place. The sellers were trying to exact as high a price as possible. The pilgrims would argue and defend themselves with an equal fierceness. The oxen would be mooing, the sheep bleating, the doves cooing, beggars begging, the children running wild, and it was all very much the sort of place that it was never meant to be.
And Jesus got mad. Real mad. The theologians use the words "Wrath" or "Righteousness indignation" or as John's gospel puts it, "Zeal for thy House will consume me" He overturns the money-changers tables, scattering the coins all over the floor. He drives out the animals. "Get out, this is God's house, not a marketplace."
Nobody lifts a finger to stop Him because everybody knew He was doing the right thing. The temple authorities knew what was going on, but it brought in a lot of much needed revenue, some of which paid their wages, so they turned a blind eye. The money-changers justified their practices because a lot of their earnings were being siphoned off by the people they had to pay for permission to put up a table in the court. The temple inspectors justified their refusal to allow offerings in the temple that hadn't been purchased there, by saying they were ensuring God got the best.
The people went along with it because it was easier to put up with the way things were than dare challenge those who had the power to make their lives very uncomfortable. Everybody knew it was wrong, but no-one did a thing to make it right. Except for Jesus. He had the authority to put things right. This was His Father's business and His Father's house that they were fooling around with.
Jesus claimed the temple as His own. He uniquely identified Himself with the temple. When He said to the Jews who questioned His authority, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up", He was using a figure of speech to point towards His own death and resurrection. He spoke of the temple as His own body. He also claims our lives for Himself. Paul tells us, in 1Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
As we consider the temple of our own lives, are there things in us that Jesus could rightly get mad at? Are there things that we need to clear out of the way to truly worship God?
What really angered Jesus that day was that here was something beautiful that had turned ugly, something sacred that had become profane. A place of prayer and peace had become a place of pandemonium. The greatest gift of all God has given to us is the gift of life itself. Yet many go through life divorced from any sense of its mystery or is wonder or it's sacredness. So life becomes cheap, people become numbers or objects to be manipulated for others ends and any sense of meaning or purpose goes out of the window.
As Christian people we have a particular responsibility. People look to us to model Christ-like living. "You are a temple of God" says Paul. Well, that's real nice! But what sort of temple are we? The sort where you find prayer and peace which leads others to the presence of God, or the sort that would invoke Jesus' anger because it was so full of un-spirituality and compromise.
The season of Lent is a time when we are called to examine our hearts in the crystal clear light of God's love. I'm not going to stand here and tell you what's right and what's wrong in your walk with Christ. That's the job of the Holy Spirit, to bring conviction of sin and open up previously unexplored heartland's to the scrutiny of God's love. We know where we are weak and where we are strong. We know if there are areas in our lives where we say, "I really must work at that". That's what Lent is all about; opening up our hearts to the Savior. As we think about Jesus clearing the temple in Jerusalem, I invite us to consider what God needs to do to clear out the temple of our own lives.
As we do so let us remember that the very nature of God is love. God is not mad at us. God loves us. He sent Christ to save us. He sends the Spirit to renew us and reshape us. But for that to happen we have to pause and take stock. We have to seek to be the people God truly wants us to be. The clearing of the temple was a wake up call.
I invite us on this Ash Wednesday to consider coming forward and being marked with ashes. It won't grant you any better access to God. It's a sign of being awake to God's call to repentance. It's a reminder that your inward prayer has to be backed up by outward actions.
Be marked with ashes as we begin our Lenten pilgrimage. Clear out the temple of your heart. It's not a bad way to begin the journey!
Amen.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Faces Without Veils
Reading: Psalm 99, Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18,Luke 9:28-36, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 10th, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Today in the church calendar is Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday is not one of those great Christian festivals people get all excited about. It's not like Christmas or Easter, nor even like Pentecost or Trinity Sunday. It's not Tartan Sunday or Souperbowl Sunday. It's up there with Ascension Day, Epiphany and All Saints, one of those annual festivals that we don't always pay a whole lot of attention to.
Transfiguration Sunday marks the day when Jesus is ‘transfigured’ on the mountain, in the presence of Peter and John and James. Transfigured meant that Jesus’ appearance changed in a way that His glory and His divinity became particularly transparent to the disciples.
In our gospel lesson, the passage opens with the words, “Now about eight days after these sayings”. This lead in refers to Jesus teaching about His impending suffering, death, and resurrection, after Peter calls Jesus the Messiah in response to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” Eight days later, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray.
While there, Jesus face changes and His clothes appear dazzling white. He is 'transfigured' and Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, appear with Him, speaking about what was soon to happen. We read that Peter and company had been sleepy, but “since they had stayed awake, they saw His glory.” As Moses and Elijah are leaving, Peter, not sure how to interpret the experience, offers to build dwellings on the mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But instead, they are overshadowed by a cloud, and from inside the cloud they hear God’s voice: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him!”
That's the event itself. Our lectionary for the day links the transfiguration event to a passage in the Book of Exodus that is about how the people reacted to Moses when he came down from the mountain, after receiving the 10 commandments from God.
Mountains, throughout the scriptures, represent holy places where people can go to be close to God. We don’t find it so different today. People often find mountain-tops to be awe-inspiring, sometimes holy places, and people often refer to encounters with the holy and spiritual as “mountain-top experiences.” When Moses comes down from the mountain, his face is shining and glowing, because of his encounter with God.
The people find Moses difficult to look at; his shining face makes them uncomfortable and fearful. So Moses starts wearing a veil so that the people can listen to his message from God without having to be frightened. The veil is a distancing device. Moses gets close to God, but the people seem too afraid to ever draw too close, even to Moses. The veil separates them from the reflection of God’s holiness in Moses’ face.
In our lesson from 2 Corinthians, Paul picks up on this Exodus passage. Paul says through the Holy Spirit, through Christ, we have hope, that allows us to act with boldness. He sees followers of Jesus as being in contrast with Moses and the Israelites. “When one turns to the Lord,” he says, “the veil is removed . . . and 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.”
In other words, when the veil is removed, God is allowed to shine through us, be reflected back at us, so that we are actually transformed by our encounter with God. The Israelite's of old chose to remain at a distance from God. But in Christ, that distance is overcome. Not only do we experience closeness with God, but we, made in God’s image, can actually reflect God to others.
There are not many places that we see veils in our culture. Maybe in broadcasts from the Middle East or in certain parts of the city we see the veiled costumes of Islamic women. More likely, in our culture, the place we see a veil is at a wedding. A veil is not a mask. A mask is designed to pretend something is not the way it seems. A veil is designed to cover up beauty. Only the husband, the one who is in a love relationship with the bride, has the privilege of removing the veil.
Staying with that analogy of the husband, who because of being in love relationship with the bride, has the right to remove the veil, so it is that as we nurture a love relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to witness the love of God at work in our lives and through our lives, in our world.
This unveiling of our lives by God is a process, a process of transformation that is available to us because God loves us. It’s not something that just happens, it takes commitment and openness to change. It requires that we be receptive to the moving of God’s Spirit. It means seeking to live a servant life that is modeled on that of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine a groom lifting his bride’s veil, taking a look at her, and then saying, “Y’know honey, I think you should keep the veil on!” Right there would be a relationship that came to an abrupt end!
There is a certain vulnerability and tenderness that we associate with veil lifting. It takes place withing the context of relationship. A relationship that requires us to fully expose ourselves and which digs deeply into our hearts. We may indeed find that sort of commitment a little scary, just as the Israelite's found it hard to gaze upon Moses.
Paul is telling us that it doesn't have to be that way. That because we understand that the very nature of Jesus Christ is love, we can commit our lives to Him unreservedly and wholeheartedly. God only wants the best for us, but in order for that to happen, we must seek the best from God.
Seeking is a discipline that we apply ourselves to. And there are many different ways we can approach God and nurture our lives with God. Next week Lent begins. This year, we are again joining with other churches in the Nassau Joint Ministry Group, that is Baldwin, Freeport, Massapequa, Malverne, Garden City and Glen Cove, for a joint series of studies that we've entitled “For the Living of these days”.
We'll be focusing on a book by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, titled “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: The Practices the Transform Us”. I was kind of hoping it was called 'Practices that Transfigure Us”, but that's the best we could do! Meetings will be on Tuesday nights, beginning at 6:45 with dinner and ending at 8:30 pm, the first being in Community Presbyterian Church, Malverne.
We have also invited Rev Anna Taylor Swerigen to lead us in a number of conversations and teaching sessions. Rev Swerigen is on the Board of Directors for the Long Island Parish Resource Center and whilst serving First Church in Jamaica, Queens, developed successful spiritual growth and spiritual gift programs to help members and church officers deepen their faith and grow in service. On the morning of Saturday 16th February she'll be leading a session titled 'Spiritual Disciplines for individuals and Congregations' at our Garden City Church.
On Sunday morning, 17th February, we are setting up a 'live-link' with the congregation at Community Presbyterian Church in Malverne and join with them listening to her address that morning (in a similar way we did with Carol Howard Merritt, although that morning we were the broadcaster rather than the receiver). Please pray that the technical gremlins are held at bay! Then following worship on that same Sunday afternoon, again at Malverne, she'll be hosting a lunch and giving us an opportunity for further discussion.
There's a flyer in the Narthex with details, as there are in your Tidings magazine and on our Web site that detail all these events, and, of course, the beginning of our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, with soup at 6 and a service, that will include the spiritual practice of marking with ashes as a sign of repentance, at 7:30 pm.
Now I cannot guarantee that these opportunities will be mountain tops in your own personal spiritual journey, but neither can I guarantee that they won't. And if you can not make any of these special events I would at least encourage you to try and get a copy of the book for your personal devotional use and be faithful in worship each Sunday. Every worship service can indeed be a moment of transformation.
Recall again Paul's words; “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed . . . and 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.”
What a privilege is ours... to behold the majesty of God with unveiled faces. To be people whom God calls to reflect the love of Jesus Christ to a needy world. Through our hands the hands of Christ reach out to others, through our acts of service, the Kingdom is served, through our worship, the name of God is lifted high in the midst of our community.
Transfiguration Sunday. Maybe it will never become marked as one of the great Christian festivals of the year. Yet it marked a milestone in the life of Jesus and of His disciples. When He came down from the mountain His journey led Him to the Cross. Though Peter would have them stay on the mountaintop, where everything was clear and God felt very near, Jesus set His face towards the confrontation He would face in Jerusalem.
Let us be prepared to move forward through Lent, to consider the many ways we can lift the veils of misunderstanding that hinder our spiritual walk, let us face the cross... yet affirm that though 'we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil'... because we know that on the other side we will discover the glory of the empty tomb and the promise of resurrection.
And all this to the Glory of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev Adrian J. Pratt
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 10th, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Today in the church calendar is Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday is not one of those great Christian festivals people get all excited about. It's not like Christmas or Easter, nor even like Pentecost or Trinity Sunday. It's not Tartan Sunday or Souperbowl Sunday. It's up there with Ascension Day, Epiphany and All Saints, one of those annual festivals that we don't always pay a whole lot of attention to.
Transfiguration Sunday marks the day when Jesus is ‘transfigured’ on the mountain, in the presence of Peter and John and James. Transfigured meant that Jesus’ appearance changed in a way that His glory and His divinity became particularly transparent to the disciples.
In our gospel lesson, the passage opens with the words, “Now about eight days after these sayings”. This lead in refers to Jesus teaching about His impending suffering, death, and resurrection, after Peter calls Jesus the Messiah in response to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” Eight days later, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray.
While there, Jesus face changes and His clothes appear dazzling white. He is 'transfigured' and Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, appear with Him, speaking about what was soon to happen. We read that Peter and company had been sleepy, but “since they had stayed awake, they saw His glory.” As Moses and Elijah are leaving, Peter, not sure how to interpret the experience, offers to build dwellings on the mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But instead, they are overshadowed by a cloud, and from inside the cloud they hear God’s voice: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him!”
That's the event itself. Our lectionary for the day links the transfiguration event to a passage in the Book of Exodus that is about how the people reacted to Moses when he came down from the mountain, after receiving the 10 commandments from God.
Mountains, throughout the scriptures, represent holy places where people can go to be close to God. We don’t find it so different today. People often find mountain-tops to be awe-inspiring, sometimes holy places, and people often refer to encounters with the holy and spiritual as “mountain-top experiences.” When Moses comes down from the mountain, his face is shining and glowing, because of his encounter with God.
The people find Moses difficult to look at; his shining face makes them uncomfortable and fearful. So Moses starts wearing a veil so that the people can listen to his message from God without having to be frightened. The veil is a distancing device. Moses gets close to God, but the people seem too afraid to ever draw too close, even to Moses. The veil separates them from the reflection of God’s holiness in Moses’ face.
In our lesson from 2 Corinthians, Paul picks up on this Exodus passage. Paul says through the Holy Spirit, through Christ, we have hope, that allows us to act with boldness. He sees followers of Jesus as being in contrast with Moses and the Israelites. “When one turns to the Lord,” he says, “the veil is removed . . . and 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.”
In other words, when the veil is removed, God is allowed to shine through us, be reflected back at us, so that we are actually transformed by our encounter with God. The Israelite's of old chose to remain at a distance from God. But in Christ, that distance is overcome. Not only do we experience closeness with God, but we, made in God’s image, can actually reflect God to others.
There are not many places that we see veils in our culture. Maybe in broadcasts from the Middle East or in certain parts of the city we see the veiled costumes of Islamic women. More likely, in our culture, the place we see a veil is at a wedding. A veil is not a mask. A mask is designed to pretend something is not the way it seems. A veil is designed to cover up beauty. Only the husband, the one who is in a love relationship with the bride, has the privilege of removing the veil.
Staying with that analogy of the husband, who because of being in love relationship with the bride, has the right to remove the veil, so it is that as we nurture a love relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to witness the love of God at work in our lives and through our lives, in our world.
This unveiling of our lives by God is a process, a process of transformation that is available to us because God loves us. It’s not something that just happens, it takes commitment and openness to change. It requires that we be receptive to the moving of God’s Spirit. It means seeking to live a servant life that is modeled on that of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine a groom lifting his bride’s veil, taking a look at her, and then saying, “Y’know honey, I think you should keep the veil on!” Right there would be a relationship that came to an abrupt end!
There is a certain vulnerability and tenderness that we associate with veil lifting. It takes place withing the context of relationship. A relationship that requires us to fully expose ourselves and which digs deeply into our hearts. We may indeed find that sort of commitment a little scary, just as the Israelite's found it hard to gaze upon Moses.
Paul is telling us that it doesn't have to be that way. That because we understand that the very nature of Jesus Christ is love, we can commit our lives to Him unreservedly and wholeheartedly. God only wants the best for us, but in order for that to happen, we must seek the best from God.
Seeking is a discipline that we apply ourselves to. And there are many different ways we can approach God and nurture our lives with God. Next week Lent begins. This year, we are again joining with other churches in the Nassau Joint Ministry Group, that is Baldwin, Freeport, Massapequa, Malverne, Garden City and Glen Cove, for a joint series of studies that we've entitled “For the Living of these days”.
We'll be focusing on a book by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, titled “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: The Practices the Transform Us”. I was kind of hoping it was called 'Practices that Transfigure Us”, but that's the best we could do! Meetings will be on Tuesday nights, beginning at 6:45 with dinner and ending at 8:30 pm, the first being in Community Presbyterian Church, Malverne.
We have also invited Rev Anna Taylor Swerigen to lead us in a number of conversations and teaching sessions. Rev Swerigen is on the Board of Directors for the Long Island Parish Resource Center and whilst serving First Church in Jamaica, Queens, developed successful spiritual growth and spiritual gift programs to help members and church officers deepen their faith and grow in service. On the morning of Saturday 16th February she'll be leading a session titled 'Spiritual Disciplines for individuals and Congregations' at our Garden City Church.
On Sunday morning, 17th February, we are setting up a 'live-link' with the congregation at Community Presbyterian Church in Malverne and join with them listening to her address that morning (in a similar way we did with Carol Howard Merritt, although that morning we were the broadcaster rather than the receiver). Please pray that the technical gremlins are held at bay! Then following worship on that same Sunday afternoon, again at Malverne, she'll be hosting a lunch and giving us an opportunity for further discussion.
There's a flyer in the Narthex with details, as there are in your Tidings magazine and on our Web site that detail all these events, and, of course, the beginning of our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, with soup at 6 and a service, that will include the spiritual practice of marking with ashes as a sign of repentance, at 7:30 pm.
Now I cannot guarantee that these opportunities will be mountain tops in your own personal spiritual journey, but neither can I guarantee that they won't. And if you can not make any of these special events I would at least encourage you to try and get a copy of the book for your personal devotional use and be faithful in worship each Sunday. Every worship service can indeed be a moment of transformation.
Recall again Paul's words; “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed . . . and 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.”
What a privilege is ours... to behold the majesty of God with unveiled faces. To be people whom God calls to reflect the love of Jesus Christ to a needy world. Through our hands the hands of Christ reach out to others, through our acts of service, the Kingdom is served, through our worship, the name of God is lifted high in the midst of our community.
Transfiguration Sunday. Maybe it will never become marked as one of the great Christian festivals of the year. Yet it marked a milestone in the life of Jesus and of His disciples. When He came down from the mountain His journey led Him to the Cross. Though Peter would have them stay on the mountaintop, where everything was clear and God felt very near, Jesus set His face towards the confrontation He would face in Jerusalem.
Let us be prepared to move forward through Lent, to consider the many ways we can lift the veils of misunderstanding that hinder our spiritual walk, let us face the cross... yet affirm that though 'we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil'... because we know that on the other side we will discover the glory of the empty tomb and the promise of resurrection.
And all this to the Glory of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev Adrian J. Pratt
Monday, February 4, 2013
Ah, that's just it! Why don't we?
Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6, Luke 4:21-30, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 3rd 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
* “A man had a dream. In the dream the man was on a train. The train stopped and he found himself in a large city. It was early morning and snow covered the ground. As he left the train the man noticed that no one he met wore shoes. They were warmly dressed but the baggage man and the guard wore no shoes. He thought this was odd for such a cold day. As he moved into the station he noticed that nobody had shoes on. Boarding a bus he saw that everyone on the bus was barefooted. When he arrived at his hotel, everyone he met had no shoes.
After a while he could restrain himself no longer and asked the hotel manager about the practice. "What practice?" the manager said. "The practice of not wearing shoes. Nobody in this town wears shoes and it is very cold." The manager shrugged, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"
The man was persistent. "I don't understand. Why don't you wear shoes? Don't you believe in shoes?" The manager said, "Believe in shoes, indeed we do. This is the first article of our creed, shoes. Shoes are indispensable to the well being of humanity. Why, shoes make things more comfortable. Not to speak of the cuts, sores, and suffering they prevent. Shoes really are wonderful." So the man asked, "Then why don't you wear them?" The manager sighed, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"
After the man checked into his room he went down to the coffee shop and sat down next to a man who wore no shoes. The man was friendly. After the meal he told the stranger he would show him around the city. The first building they came to had a huge sign indicating that shoes were manufactured inside.
The man did not understand: "You manufacture shoes there?" The host said, "Well, not exactly. We talk about making shoes. We have one of the most brilliant fellows to lead us you will ever meet. He's quite well known, really. Every week he talks convincingly and movingly about the great subject of shoes. He has enormous charisma. Just yesterday as he talked about wearing shoes people in the audience just broke down and wept. It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen." The man said, "But why don't you wear shoes?" And his guide said, "That's just it. Why don't we?"
They turned down a side street and through the window the man saw a cobbler making a pair of shoes in a shop. He excused himself from his guide and walked into the shop. He asked the shoemaker why his little shop was not overrun with customers. The cobbler said, "Nobody wants my shoes. They just want to talk about them."
So the man bought what pairs of shoes the cobbler had and rushed out of the store. He handed one of the pairs to his host and said, "Put them on--you'll feel so much better on this cold day." The man drew back in embarrassment. He thanked the stranger and shook his head. "You just don't understand, do you? This just is not done. The important people in town would never wear shoes."
The stranger thought he was going mad. "But why don't people in this town wear shoes?" And the tour guide smiled and said, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" So the stranger left the town, with that one phrase ringing in his ears: "Ah, that’s just it, Why don't we?” ”*
St. Paul had founded a thriving and gifted church in the town of Corinth. They were capable of working miracles. But one thing was tearing them apart. They had a competitive spirit that mirrored the ways of the world but which was jarringly inappropriate in the context of the Church.
In the last chapter of his letter Paul has been recalling them to some basic beliefs. He has reminded them that whatever gifts they had were gifts given them by God to be used for God’s glory and not personal gain. He has spoken to them of the Church as a Body in which, like an orchestra performing a concerto, every individual had a different yet complementary role to play.
In Chapter 13 he speaks to them of the most excellent way of all to conduct their lives. It was the way that he had learned from observing the life of Jesus Christ. Look again at the qualities of which he speaks; patience, kindness, not being jealous or boastful, arrogant or rude, not insisting on our own way, not being irritable or resentful, not rejoicing at the wrong but rejoicing in the right; these characteristics were the very nature of the love of Jesus Christ who overcame the world.
By the simple fact that our lives do not embody such characteristics we are reminded just how much we need the love of Jesus Christ to invade us and rebuild us and move us from our complacency to radical discipleship.
We are the ones who know that it can be a hard and a cruel world out there and we know God calls us to share the love of Christ with others. Yet we are also the ones that shake our heads and say, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" We are the ones who recognize the healing and renewing characteristics of love. We are the ones who gather Sunday by Sunday to hear about it and discuss it and sometimes be moved to tears by its quality.
I have no idea who will win the SuperBowl Game this afternoon, but I do know one thing. That there will not be a player out there on the field that has gained their place by thinking “Ah, why don’t we”. Every one of the players earned their place on the team, not by talking about football or watching football or by holding up their hands in resignation and saying “Well that’s just it”.
We are called to have a similar determination in regards to our discipleship of Jesus Christ. It is helpful therefore to remember that love is a verb.
Nouns come easily. God, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, fellowship, cross, baptism, Lord's Supper, Bible, book, hope. Adjectives come even more easily: wonderful, great, spectacular, lovely, best, Spirit-filled, Bible believing, inspired, holy, and sacred.
But verbs can be tricky. Verbs equate with action. They make things happen. Didn’t our English teachers tell us: "That's not a sentence-it doesn't have a verb.” Paul’s message to the Corinthians can be addressed to the church today. We need the verbs.
Love is not something we feel; it is something we do. Every parent knows there are nights when you shuffle through the darkness to get your little one a drink of water or knows what it’s like to change a diaper at two in the morning. You'd rather be sleeping. There are not a lot of good things you can say about smelly diapers at two o'clock in the morning? But there is a need and you respond. You do something. Because love demands action. Love is a verb.
The mum doesn’t lie there listening to the baby cry and say, “Darling the baby is crying. Maybe we should change his diaper”. If it’s dad’s turn to do that he’s in trouble if he says, “Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we!”
So hear again these qualities of love that Paul speaks of, the qualities embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. Hear Paul as he speaks about the active verb of love that turns a congregation from feuding to faithfulness
“ Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. “
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Message Bible)
True love is tough. For love of the game there will be two teams out on the field battling to win the Superbowl. It is their active commitment to be winners that will have the nation glued to their television sets.
Should not our commitment to Jesus Christ be of a similar nature? If we are to win others to the gospel, can we afford to let it be any less? The two great commandments are commands of love. Love the Lord Your God with all; all heart, all soul and all intellect. Love your neighbor with an equal intensity of love as that which you give yourself.
“Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we?”
May God’s Holy Spirit convict us and move us and empower us to change from being whimsical “Why Don’t We” worriers to becoming world changing disciple warriors of Jesus Christ, our living, loving, Lord and Savior. Amen.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
* From “preaching on Love” by Roger Lovette (Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church, Birmingham Alabama) ‘The Ministers Manual 2001” edited by James Cox
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 3rd 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
* “A man had a dream. In the dream the man was on a train. The train stopped and he found himself in a large city. It was early morning and snow covered the ground. As he left the train the man noticed that no one he met wore shoes. They were warmly dressed but the baggage man and the guard wore no shoes. He thought this was odd for such a cold day. As he moved into the station he noticed that nobody had shoes on. Boarding a bus he saw that everyone on the bus was barefooted. When he arrived at his hotel, everyone he met had no shoes.
After a while he could restrain himself no longer and asked the hotel manager about the practice. "What practice?" the manager said. "The practice of not wearing shoes. Nobody in this town wears shoes and it is very cold." The manager shrugged, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"
The man was persistent. "I don't understand. Why don't you wear shoes? Don't you believe in shoes?" The manager said, "Believe in shoes, indeed we do. This is the first article of our creed, shoes. Shoes are indispensable to the well being of humanity. Why, shoes make things more comfortable. Not to speak of the cuts, sores, and suffering they prevent. Shoes really are wonderful." So the man asked, "Then why don't you wear them?" The manager sighed, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"
After the man checked into his room he went down to the coffee shop and sat down next to a man who wore no shoes. The man was friendly. After the meal he told the stranger he would show him around the city. The first building they came to had a huge sign indicating that shoes were manufactured inside.
The man did not understand: "You manufacture shoes there?" The host said, "Well, not exactly. We talk about making shoes. We have one of the most brilliant fellows to lead us you will ever meet. He's quite well known, really. Every week he talks convincingly and movingly about the great subject of shoes. He has enormous charisma. Just yesterday as he talked about wearing shoes people in the audience just broke down and wept. It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen." The man said, "But why don't you wear shoes?" And his guide said, "That's just it. Why don't we?"
They turned down a side street and through the window the man saw a cobbler making a pair of shoes in a shop. He excused himself from his guide and walked into the shop. He asked the shoemaker why his little shop was not overrun with customers. The cobbler said, "Nobody wants my shoes. They just want to talk about them."
So the man bought what pairs of shoes the cobbler had and rushed out of the store. He handed one of the pairs to his host and said, "Put them on--you'll feel so much better on this cold day." The man drew back in embarrassment. He thanked the stranger and shook his head. "You just don't understand, do you? This just is not done. The important people in town would never wear shoes."
The stranger thought he was going mad. "But why don't people in this town wear shoes?" And the tour guide smiled and said, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" So the stranger left the town, with that one phrase ringing in his ears: "Ah, that’s just it, Why don't we?” ”*
St. Paul had founded a thriving and gifted church in the town of Corinth. They were capable of working miracles. But one thing was tearing them apart. They had a competitive spirit that mirrored the ways of the world but which was jarringly inappropriate in the context of the Church.
In the last chapter of his letter Paul has been recalling them to some basic beliefs. He has reminded them that whatever gifts they had were gifts given them by God to be used for God’s glory and not personal gain. He has spoken to them of the Church as a Body in which, like an orchestra performing a concerto, every individual had a different yet complementary role to play.
In Chapter 13 he speaks to them of the most excellent way of all to conduct their lives. It was the way that he had learned from observing the life of Jesus Christ. Look again at the qualities of which he speaks; patience, kindness, not being jealous or boastful, arrogant or rude, not insisting on our own way, not being irritable or resentful, not rejoicing at the wrong but rejoicing in the right; these characteristics were the very nature of the love of Jesus Christ who overcame the world.
By the simple fact that our lives do not embody such characteristics we are reminded just how much we need the love of Jesus Christ to invade us and rebuild us and move us from our complacency to radical discipleship.
We are the ones who know that it can be a hard and a cruel world out there and we know God calls us to share the love of Christ with others. Yet we are also the ones that shake our heads and say, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" We are the ones who recognize the healing and renewing characteristics of love. We are the ones who gather Sunday by Sunday to hear about it and discuss it and sometimes be moved to tears by its quality.
I have no idea who will win the SuperBowl Game this afternoon, but I do know one thing. That there will not be a player out there on the field that has gained their place by thinking “Ah, why don’t we”. Every one of the players earned their place on the team, not by talking about football or watching football or by holding up their hands in resignation and saying “Well that’s just it”.
We are called to have a similar determination in regards to our discipleship of Jesus Christ. It is helpful therefore to remember that love is a verb.
Nouns come easily. God, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, fellowship, cross, baptism, Lord's Supper, Bible, book, hope. Adjectives come even more easily: wonderful, great, spectacular, lovely, best, Spirit-filled, Bible believing, inspired, holy, and sacred.
But verbs can be tricky. Verbs equate with action. They make things happen. Didn’t our English teachers tell us: "That's not a sentence-it doesn't have a verb.” Paul’s message to the Corinthians can be addressed to the church today. We need the verbs.
Love is not something we feel; it is something we do. Every parent knows there are nights when you shuffle through the darkness to get your little one a drink of water or knows what it’s like to change a diaper at two in the morning. You'd rather be sleeping. There are not a lot of good things you can say about smelly diapers at two o'clock in the morning? But there is a need and you respond. You do something. Because love demands action. Love is a verb.
The mum doesn’t lie there listening to the baby cry and say, “Darling the baby is crying. Maybe we should change his diaper”. If it’s dad’s turn to do that he’s in trouble if he says, “Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we!”
So hear again these qualities of love that Paul speaks of, the qualities embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. Hear Paul as he speaks about the active verb of love that turns a congregation from feuding to faithfulness
“ Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. “
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Message Bible)
True love is tough. For love of the game there will be two teams out on the field battling to win the Superbowl. It is their active commitment to be winners that will have the nation glued to their television sets.
Should not our commitment to Jesus Christ be of a similar nature? If we are to win others to the gospel, can we afford to let it be any less? The two great commandments are commands of love. Love the Lord Your God with all; all heart, all soul and all intellect. Love your neighbor with an equal intensity of love as that which you give yourself.
“Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we?”
May God’s Holy Spirit convict us and move us and empower us to change from being whimsical “Why Don’t We” worriers to becoming world changing disciple warriors of Jesus Christ, our living, loving, Lord and Savior. Amen.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
* From “preaching on Love” by Roger Lovette (Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church, Birmingham Alabama) ‘The Ministers Manual 2001” edited by James Cox
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