Denial and Recovery

Readings: Psalm 118:1-19, Isaiah 50:4-9, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:31-34, 54-60
 Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, March 24th,2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

The crowds on Palm Sunday welcome Jesus with cries of welcome. 'Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is He'. Yet in under a week those cries have turned to shouts of 'Crucify Him, Crucify Him'. We may put it down to the fickle nature of the crowd, but if we dig deeper we find within ourselves that we also can betray truths we claim to believe. In none of the disciples is that better exemplified than Peter.

Peter moves from simply denying he ever knew Jesus, through to claiming no relationship with the disciples and eventually to rejecting his personal identity. There would be a recovery for Peter. Such an opportunity is always an open door for each of us. But we have to recognize our denials before we can ever move to a place of recovery.

Peter's first denial is of Jesus himself. “A servant girl saw him seated by the firelight. She looked at him closely. “This man was with Him”. But he denied it. “Woman, I don't know Him' he said.” (Luke 22:56-57). This first denial has to do with his personal faith.

There is something telling in Luke's description of the woman looking closely at him as he sat in the light of the fire. Sunday morning faith permits us to make an easy confession. When we are in the midst of the faithful, singing our songs, saying our prayers, shutting the world outside beyond our doors, it is not so hard to say 'Jesus is Lord.'

But when things start to fall apart, when we get a little too close to the fire, when we are far from home and facing the worst, where then is our confession? When people probe our faith and ask us hard questions about our beliefs, how do we hold up? We could say to ourselves, 'I do allright, I can stick up for what I believe, I'm confident I can rise to the challenge.'

But that's exactly what Peter said to Jesus, earlier in the day.'Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat'. Peter (probably wondering why Jesus was calling him by the name he had before he came to faith) declares 'Lord, I'm ready to go to prison for you, even to death with you.”

Peter thought he was secure. Hadn't Jesus called him the rock? Hadn't Jesus said that it was upon a faith like his that the church would be built? We may be tempted to think that when it comes to faith, we've got enough. We go to church, we read our bibles, we say our prayers, we try and be good people.

Trouble is, if we think we've arrived, if we think we've gone far enough and deep enough, then we are in denial. We are setting ourselves up for a fall. When the time of testing comes we are going to be found floundering and spluttering and fearful and hurting.

Let us not be in denial about the fragile nature of our faith. Look deeply into yourself, before someone else does it. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit refine your heart, before the fire of the world burns your relationship with God. Peter's first denial is very personal. He denies his savior.

The second denial comes in verse 58 “A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them” Having firstly denied his savior, Peter now denies his relationship to his fellow disciples. He goes from 'I don't know Him' to 'I don't know them'.

I have noticed in my own spiritual walk, that when I have conflicts with my personal faith, they soon spill over into conflicts with my communal faith. That is, if I'm in denial of my need for the personal grace of God to renew my life, I also deny my need for others to help me grow in my faith. I deny my need for community. I believe I can make it alone.

You here a lot of people say these days, 'I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious'. That often translates into, “I'm going my own way and don't see any need to belong to an organization like the institutional church.” 

I have been around church most of life. And you know what? It ain't easy. God goes and calls people to be part of our church communities that aren't the folk we want to hang out with! Think about the disciples.  Two sets of brothers. A freedom fighter. John, who seems a bit of a romantic. Thomas, whom we remember because of his doubts.  Judas who turns out to be a traitor. What an odd collection of guys!

But it turned out that their faith grew strong because they stayed in community.  Their jagged edges refined each other. They had to deal with each other and be accountable to each other. As a church we have meeting in our building a number of help groups, Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous. The people in those groups understand the power of community to effect the kind of recovery that going it alone cannot do.

I would suggest to you that every person who is truly on a spiritual journey, is a person in recovery. We are sinners who need the salvation grace of Jesus Christ to remould us and reshape us and renew us. We are all in recovery. And if we think we can do that alone, we are in denial. Peter's second denial is of his connection to the community of the faithful.

I understand that for some folks, maybe particularly our younger folks in school or college, to be seen belonging to a church, can make you seem way out of step with some of your friends.  Peer pressure is brutal. But I'd encourage you to trust in God to make a way for you to be yourself, without fear of what others may think. If you get the first thing right, your relationship with God, then somehow, your relationship to the church isn't a problem! Peter only denied his friends, after he'd denied his Lord.

Let us move onto that third denial. Luke 22:59 'About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean”. Peter replied, “Man, I don't know what you're talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.”

This third denial in some ways is the saddest of them all. Peter loses his very identity. He was a Galilean, and Galileans were known for their protective nature towards their home town. This was like a New Yorker, saying, “New York? No. Never bin there. I'm from da South”. Not only would his accent give him away, it would be a denial of his roots.

When we are in denial about something it has that effect. We lose ourselves. We forget about our commitments to family, to community, to friends and colleagues. We just want to get away. We want a complete change of identity. But, we are who we are. And though we may try and conceal it, others will see through it.

As soon as I am involved in a conversation with somebody I haven't met before, it doesn't take them long to ask, 'What sort of accent is that?” I usually try and explain that it's a broadly British, tinged with West Virginian, Long Island dialect... I can't do anything to change it, and if I tried to hide it, it would still slip out. So Peter, can't hide where he is from.

I guess we all have those moments, when for some reason or other, we try and pretend that we're something that we're not. Maybe we're trying to fit in. Maybe we're afraid of what somebody will think. It never works. Remember that song, 'Oh yes, He's the great Pretender'? We can all be tempted to play that game.

One of the wonderful things about belonging to the Kingdom of God is that God doesn't want us to be anybody other than ourselves. God can use everything about us, our background, our talents, our dreams, our peculiarities. If we lay them at God's disposal, they are not a weakness but a strength.

After the rooster crows, we read “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.” (verse 61). We don't know what kind of look that was, but it caused Peter, not simply to regret what he had just done, but more importantly, it gave Peter the strength to walk away from his denials and make an amazing recovery.

Earlier at supper Jesus had said to him, “I have prayed for you Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (verse 31). Did you hear that? 'When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers”

God can use those times when we are at our worst, our days of ultimate failure, to demonstrate the power of His grace and His love. Peter fails. Miserably. He promises to give it all and ends up denying it all. But he made a recovery. And what a recovery!

• He recovers his relationship with Jesus. He discovers in a new way the power of Jesus to forgive him and renew him. He becomes one of the first disciples to witness the resurrection. Before his denials, his words came from misplaced pride. Afterward, they came from brokenness and grace, and they become real and powerful
• He recovers his relationship to the church. He becomes the first spokesperson on the day of Pentecost, the day the church is born. He becomes one of the key leaders, main preachers, one of the churches greatest leaders.
• He recovers his identity. He holds his head up high as a citizen of the kingdom of God. He could tell you, 'That's where I'm coming from, that's where I belong, that's where I'm headed. That's who I am”.

Now what's the name of that big fancy church in Rome? That's right. St Peter's. Not a bad recovery for a guy who in our reading says, 'I don't know Jesus, I don't want anything to do with His church, I just want to be somebody else!” An amazing story of denial and recovery.

The crowds on Palm Sunday changed their cries of 'Hosanna' to shouts of 'Crucify Him'. But that wasn't the end of the story. Jesus was crucified. And as He hung on the cross, He prayed for them, 'Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing!”

I believe Jesus still makes that prayer for our world and over each one of us.  I believe that, even though we can be in denial of His love, He still reaches out to each of us. I believe that if only we can recognize where we fall, the strength offered through his Holy Spirit can pick us up again, restore us and offer us visions of new possibilities and opportunities.

As we reflect this morning on the ability of Jesus to take us, in all our brokenness, and use us for something beautiful, may we be encouraged to place our lives in God's hands. He did it for Peter, who denied that he even knew who Jesus was. His grace and love can do amazing things in us and through us, if we just allow God to be God.

And to God's name be the glory. Amen.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt

Saint Patrick of Ireland

Readings: Psalm 97:1-12, Ezekiel 36:33-38, 1 Thessalonians 2:2b-12, Matthew 28:16-20
First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, March 17th 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

Patrick was born about 390, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.

Much of what we know about him comes from his own writings. He has left us an autobiography (called the Confessions), a 'Letter to Coroticus' in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and there is a poem known as the 'Lorica' or 'Breastplate', that is traditionally attributed to his influence.

Patrick's confession of faith begins:-“I am Patrick. I am a sinner; the most unsophisticated of people, the least among all Christians, and to many, the most contemptible. I am the son of the deacon Calpornius, as he was the son of the priest Potitus who belonged to the village on Bannavem Taburiae. When aged about sixteen I was taken captive. I was then ignorant of the true God and along with thousands of others was taken into captivity in Ireland.

There the Lord opened my understanding to my unbelief, so that however late, I might become conscious of my failings and turn with all my heart to the Lord. For it was He who looked on my lowliness and had mercy on the ignorance of my youth, and looked after me before I knew Him and before I had gained any wisdom.”

Patrick's spiritual journey begins in a similar way to many people of faith. Something happens that strips away all the things he took for granted and caused him to question what life is about. In the midst of changing circumstances he is convicted of the enormity of the grace of God that is reaching out to him and transforming him, an experience that he feels totally unsuited for.

After six years, he either escapes or is freed, and makes his way to a port 200 miles away, where he persuades some sailors to take him onto their ship. He returns to his family much changed, and begins to prepare for the priesthood, and to study the Bible.

In his own words, “After a few years I was again with my parents in Britain who welcomed me as a son. They, in good faith, begged me, after all those great tribulations I had been through, that I should go nowhere, nor ever leave them. And it was there, I speak the truth, that I saw a vision in the night: a man named Victorious, like one from Ireland, coming with innumerable letters. He gave me one of them and I began to read what was in it: 'The voice of the Irish'. And it was at that very moment as I was reading out the letter's opening, I thought I heard the voice of those around the wood of Folcut, which is close to the Western Sea. It was if they were shouting with one voice, “O holy boy, we beg you to come back and walk among us” I was broken-hearted and could not read another word.”

Initially Patrick is reluctant to go back to Ireland. But after a series of further visions and with the counsel of those around him, around 435, Patrick is commissioned, perhaps by bishops in the area of Southern France then known as Gaul, to go to Ireland as a bishop and missionary.

He made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local King. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys. Many times he faces opposition from local chieftains and land owners. Threats on his life appear to have been frequent. Later stories of his life tell of daring deeds, miracles and of the masses of people who embrace the Christian message under his leadership. The number of churches, both in Ireland and beyond, that claim him as their inspiration, is beyond counting. Under his influence Ireland is converted from paganism to Christianity.

He writes to the Irish people in his confession, “I spend myself for you that you might lay hold of me. Indeed I have traveled everywhere for your sake; I have gone amid many dangers; I have gone to places beyond where anyone lived; and I have gone where no one else had gone to baptize people, or ordain clergy, or complete people. With God's help I have carried out all these things lovingly, carefully and most joyfully for your salvation.

I was not the sort of person you would expect the Lord to give this grace to, nor did I deserve it, for I know with the greatest certainty that poverty and woe are more my line than pleasures and riches, after all, Christ the Lord was poor for our sakes. Not a day passed but I expected to be killed or taken back into slavery or assaulted in some other way. But for the sake of the promise of heaven I fear none of these things. Indeed I have cast myself into the hands of God, the Almighty One who rules everywhere as the prophet has said, “Cast Your Burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.”

Patrick's spiritual life is built upon an unwavering trust in God. His spiritual journey is informed not only by Scripture, but by personal dreams and visions and the counsel of those around him. He has a deep sense of the presence of Jesus Christ within Him and all around him. He sees the presence of Christ everywhere, even in those who stand against him.

For Patrick God is One who reveals love to the world through the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Patrick's view of the Trinity the three persons of the Trinity are in a state of constant dynamism. God is all in all and through faith in God's grace, revealed in Jesus Christ, we become caught up in the action of God's Holy Spirit and our lives are transformed by God's love.

This is so wonderfully expressed in the words we used to open our worship this morning. “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in     quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three, of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.”

This is the theology expressed in Celtic art, wonderful spiraling patterns that when you trace them you realize are actually just one line! A world peopled not only with humans, but angels and demons and saints and creatures beyond our comprehension, yet in the midst of  all the mystery stands Christ as Savior, Redeemer and Center of all.

In the celebrations of St Patrick's Day it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the one being celebrated was a humble christian missionary who knew nothing of parades, leprechauns and dark beer. The real Saint Patrick was a man of overcoming faith that led a nation to embrace the Christian message.

He offers a theology that embraces all of life and speaks of the presence of God in Christ, acting through God's Holy Spirit, within us around us and through our communal life as faith communities. For Patrick God is so intractably entwined in all of life, that we only find life by participating in the dance of the Trinity. 

Patrick is a reluctant servant who would probably be scornful of the honor laid upon him. He concludes in his confession. “I now pray for anyone who believes in, and fears God, who may perchance come upon this writing which Patrick, the sinner and the unlearned one, wrote in Ireland. I wrote it so that no one might say that whatever little I did, or anything I made visible according to God's pleasure, was done through ignorance. Rather you should judge the situation and let it truly believed that it was 'the gift of God'. And this is my declaration before I die.”

Truly we can say that Patrick was a gift of God, not just to the Irish, but to the Christian church across the centuries. May the example of his humble leadership and faithful adherence to the tasks God was calling him to, continue to inspire people across the generations. Amen.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt

Footnote on our closing hymn: 'BE THOU MY VISION'

In 433 AD St. Patrick came to the Hill of Slane in County Meath. It was the night before Easter, and concurrently the beginning of the Druidic festival of Bealtine, as well as the beginning of the Spring Equinox. High King Leoghaire (pronounced "Leary") mac Neill had issued a decree that no fires were to be lit until the lighting of the blaze atop nearby Tara Hill that would usher in the Spring Equinox.

The first fire, however, was not that of King Leoghaire. Rather, it was a flame lit by St. Patrick to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Instead of executing him, King Leoghaire was so impressed by St. Patrick's courage that he allowed him to continue with his missionary work throughout Ireland.

About 100 years later, inspired by the events on the Hill of Slane, Irish poet Dallan Forgaill wrote the original words to "Be Thou My Vision" in Gaelic The poem was not translated into English until 1905 when Mary E. Byrne wrote a literal translation. The words were made into verse and published by Eleanor H. Hull in a 1913.  The tune  is appropriately called 'SLANE', a centuries old Irish folk melody, and recalls Patrick's Easter fire lighting. The hymn first started appearing in Irish hymnals around 1919 and has been a favorite of many people ever since.

Travelling Instructions

Readings: Isaiah 55:1-9,Psalm 63:1-8, Luke 13:1-91 Corinthians 10:1-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, March 3rd, 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

Long journeys can severely test your patience. You get up late, break a few speed limits to get the airport only to arrive and look at the information board and find your flight has been cancelled. So maybe you decide to drive.

It’s a hot sticky one, you’ve got a whole days traveling ahead of you, 40 minutes into the journey and a voice comes from the back, “Daddy, I need the bathroom”. “Why didn’t you go before we left like we asked you to?” “I didn’t need to go then, I need to go now”. So you stop and get back on the road again, another ten minutes and it’s “Are we there yet?”

No, we’re not there yet. And then the trouble really starts. “She touched me!” “He touched me first”. So you play a game, O.K first one to spot a blue truck. “There’s one”. “That’s not blue, it’s aqua-marine”. “Aqua-marines a shade of blue, so I win” “No you don’t, that was a car, not a truck, mom said a truck”

By this time dad has come off the main road into the traffic and managed to end up in an area that is totally unidentifiable and there’s not a sign in sight that gives a clue as to which way the interstate may be. So you drive around and somebody suggests dad should stop and ask for directions. Now that is not going to happen in a hurry because men are from Mars and women are from Venus. And on Mars, when you need help, you ask.

Finally, after passing the same gas station for the fourth time, Dad pulls in and sends mom to ask directions from somebody inside. It’s only then, whilst parked up that you notice the sign for the Interstate you’d already passed five times. And it’s right there.

Hours later you get to the hotel and everybody is hot, bothered, and not in the best of holiday spirits. One of the kids is wiping away the tears. The other is squirming and red in the face because they really can’t hold off from the bathroom much longer. Mom has her arms folded and is breathing just a tad faster than normal. The receptionist greets you with a chirpy “Welcome to the Hotel Sandy-Beach”. And everybody is just praying that Dad doesn’t express how he’s really feeling right that moment.

Vacations can turn into the sort of excursions that can cause even the most seasoned families to lose their marbles. When the Israelites came out of Egypt it was no vacation, but an act of liberation. Liberation to a hot and sticky forty year long journey through a desert before any of them ever made it to a promised land.

Along the way were occasions when the people expressed the strongest regret at having left Egypt. They complained. A lot. They felt that slave life was a preferred option to starvation in the wilderness. They doubted Moses ability to lead them. They wondered if the God that Moses kept talking about was really all that Moses claimed.

And there were occasions when they gave up on God altogether and turned to golden calves, unrestrained excess, and the fulfillment of their most basic desires as a way to help them cope with the traveling experience.

In our reading that came from the Book of Corinthians Paul uses the example of the Israelites journey through the wilderness as a way to encourage the church to be faithful to God as they make their own spiritual journey. He provides them with some traveling instructions. Let me summarize them under three headings.

1. Remember who you are.
2. Resist the temptation to grumble
3. Realize the faithfulness of God

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

We are the people of God. We are people that God chooses to enter into a covenantal relationship with through Jesus Christ. We are people who pass through baptismal waters and eat around a table laid with bread and wine as a sign of community. We are accompanied on our journey of faith by the cloud of God’s presence, the unseen cloud of many witnesses and words of promise passed to us across the centuries.

We are the inheritors of a faith that was forged in the experiences of Israel, our ancestors were under the cloud and passed through the sea, they ate the same spiritual food and spiritual drink, they drank from the same spiritual rock, the rock of Jesus Christ.

Remember who you are. This journey didn’t begin with you nor will it end with you. Yet your life is an intrinsic part of the fabric of faith, your personal faith journey is one of many threads that make up a great tapestry that pictures the Grace of God, in which every perspective is welcomed, every heart is embraced, and all are called by name and valued.

Remember who you are. A child of God greatly loved. Such knowledge does not mean all our problems and trials instantly evaporate into thin air. But it surely can help us travel through them. And it may well prevent us from indulging in a second thing identified in this passage

RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO GRUMBLE

Speaking of the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness Paul writes in verses 10 “Do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer”. Going back to the illustration I used at the start, there is one thing that for sure can ruin a good journey. Groaning, Complaining and Mumbling.

Paul is not writing about a family vacation. He’s writing to a church about the church. He knew that one thing that can destroy any congregation is when it’s membership cease becoming encouragers and start to become complainers. The church community provides a setting where grumblers and mumblers destroy each other.

There is a huge difference between offering constructive criticism and grumbling. There is nothing wrong with evaluating a situation, pointing out any strengths and weaknesses and working together with others to bring about positive change. That’s constructive. That’s positive. It builds. It moves us forward.

Grumbling comes from selfishness. I don’t like this. I can’t control this. So I’m going to pull it down. Grumbling is not voicing an opinion; it’s voicing an opinion in such a way as to cause discouragement and discontent. It’s having your mouth in motion whilst your mind is in limbo. It kills churches.

It causes a process. The same process as happened amongst the children of Israel. First came the murmurs and grumbles. “Well, I don’t know about Moses, we were better off back in Egypt”. Discontent with Moses leads to discontent with the God of Moses. “Great God, huh? Delivering us from Egypt only to perish out here!”

Discontent with God led to idolatry. “Y’know I think we can find a better God than this one”. Idolatry led to self-indulgence. “Hey this golden calf thing is great! Let’s party! Let’s do whatever the heck we want to do, because nobody can stop us now!” Unrestrained indulgence led to tragedy. “Twenty-three thousand fell in a single day”.

Paul says 10:6 “These things occurred as examples for us”. He warns us in verse 12, “If you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall”. How do we then stand firm? We  remember who we are. We resist the temptation to grumble. Thirdly we ;

REALIZE THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

Our reading concluded, “God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

There are numerous things we can do to ensure that when temptation comes, we find a way through. Sometimes we will fall, but such experiences are common to everyone, and we should not let our walk with God be determined by the stumbles but by the strides.

One of the greatest things God has given us is the gift of each other to help us along the spiritual road. That’s why ‘grumbling’ is such a bad thing for community life and ‘encouragement’ is such a builder. Facing our problems and sharing our struggles together creates a way forward for us when the going is rough.

The spiritual disciplines of prayer and reading God’s Word likewise build into our lives strengths that help us out when difficult times come along. Just as we take care of our bodies through physical exercise it is important that we take care of our spiritual lives through regular and disciplined spiritual practices, sharing in worship, feeding our minds on solid things, nurturing our spirits by allowing God’s Holy Spirit to move us and renew us.

Simply recognizing that God is on our side, and that the tests that come our way are not to catch us out, but to deepen our relationship with Him, can help us see things in a different light. God is faithful. God’s people? “They are weak, but He is strong”.

• Remember who you are
• Resist the temptation to Grumble
• Realize the Faithfulness of God.

Traveling Instructions
Things that can help us move along on our spiritual journeys.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt

Taking Stock! (Ash Wednesday)

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.

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

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

A New Thing

Reading: Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Luke 4:14-21, Isaiah 43:16-21
 Preached at First Presbyterian Church Baldwin, NY, January 27th, 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

Isaiah 43:18-19, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

These were words that the prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel at a time they were going through some stormy waters, struggling to know exactly how they were going to make it through. It wasn’t the first time they had been in such a situation, and it wouldn’t be the last.

I can identify with that! I’m guessing most of us can. Life seems to lead us from one thing to the next thing. We can identify that some of the situations we have got ourselves into are mostly of our own creating. We took a wrong turn. We spoke a word in haste. We omitted to take a course of action that would have brought about a more beneficial result.
                                                                                                              
My mum used to warn me that if I ate cookies in bed then there would be crumbs and it wasn’t washday in our house until Saturday. So if I stayed in bed Sunday morning and ate cookies instead of getting up to go to church there would be crumbs in my bed all week and I just had to live with it. You make your bed, you lie in it.

Israel had more to contend with than crumbs. Defeat. Exile. The loss of identity and loss of faith. This was serious. And they didn’t see it coming, just carried on as though they were immune to the sort of problems that were common to the rest of humanity. It’s not a new story; it’s sadly all too common.

Where was the remedy? What was the solution? What were they going to do now? That’s the situation Isaiah is addressing. And in that situation the prophet offers a startling answer.

It’s startling because I don’t think it was the sort of answer that people expected or were even ready to consider. Startling because it was an answer that in many ways was not rooted in any course of action that they could take for themselves but entirely dependent upon the initiative and action of God.

Let me take you through this passage and hopefully try and draw something good out of it that can help us deal with some of the things we face in our lives. Before God can really help them God has to shake them out of their complacency. Before God can really do anything for them they had to see that their way of doing things just wasn’t going to work any more.

The passage begins with God addressing the people and reminding them of events of their history. The events of the Exodus and their deliverance from Egypt. “I am the God, who rescued you from slavery, who carried you through the wilderness, who buried those fearsome Egyptian chariots in the depths of the sea, and snuffed out your enemies like they were a flickering candle. Now what do you think about that?”

I can imagine some of them thinking, “Excellent!. God has been good to us in the past. Maybe that’s what God is going to do again. I can also imagine many of them thinking, “O.K. Here we go again. It’s time for the “Remember the Exodus speech”. Every time we get in trouble some prophet comes along and says, “Now just remember God. Turn back to God and every thing’s going to be all right. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda”.

Is that where a lot of people in contemporary America are right now? The gospel isn’t being heard because people have heard it all before. It’s good news that people have already listened to time and time again. It’s good, but it’s not really news anymore.

The Exodus had become old news to the Israelites. The basis of their history and a life-changing event that defined who they were, but... nevertheless... old news. And it’s right here that Isaiah’s proclamation kicks in. Isaiah tells them that the God who delivered them in the past is now saying, “Forget about it”.

Isaiah 43:18 “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old”.

This is a message for people who have grown weary of the same old good news. This is a wake up call. I listen sometimes to some of the religious radio stations as I’m driving around. There’s often a stress on 'Old Time religion', on looking back to the days of some great period of history or to some particular preacher, and saying that’s what we have to get back to.

And now here’s the prophet saying “Forget about it”
But forget about it, for a reason.
And the reason?

Isaiah 43 19” “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth”

I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases this passage in the “Message”. “Forget about what’s happened, don’t keep going over old history. Be alert. Be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out!”

A new thing. I'm glad the passage says 'A new thing' and not 'The Latest Thing'. There is a huge difference between 'What's Trending' and the kind of new thing that is spoken of in this scripture. It’s a difference that comes from the One who is speaking the Word.

When God says, “I am” it’s an indication that there’s something coming, something  that we need to take serious notice of. If I say, “Hey, here’s a new song to sing”, then the chances are that what I will offer you, may be new to you, but it won’t be anything that is going to change the face of the way music is perceived and worship is conducted for evermore afterward.

When God speaks through the prophet, about doing something new, then... take notice. Because this new thing is coming from the creative heart of God’s love.  This is not something that’s coming down a line to us as the latest trend, but an eternal word to change the way we perceive our lives.

The theologian Paul Tillich writes; “Behold, I am doing a new thing. “I” points to the source of the really new, to that which is always old and always new, the Eternal…. The really new is that which has in itself eternal power and eternal light…. That which makes life possible again, in both our personal and historical existence, a saving new, which has the power to appear when we least expect it, and has the power to throw into the past what is old and burdened with guilt and curse.” (Paul Tillich in “The New Being”).

This ‘new’ is as fresh as the first warm day of spring and as startling as a clap of thunder on a sunny afternoon. This is the 'New’ that spoke time and words and creation into being. This ‘New” is a refreshing new, a revitalizing new, a renewing new

Have you noticed how many religious words (including the word religion itself) begin with RE- something? RE-newal, RE-conciliation, RE-creation, RE-formation. RE-birth, RE-storation.

I was reading of a man who had an oak desk in his study that had become the worse for wear. He decided that he would do what he could to put it back in good shape. As this was something he hadn’t tried before he decided to call an antique dealer to see what such a process would involve. He asked, “What does it take to make old furniture like new?”

The restorer answered, “It takes imagination. Creative imagination. You have to see past all the layers of paint and chips, past the mars and scars. You have to look past all the faults in the wood and the broken pieces. You need to be able to see the furniture in its original beauty. You have to get excited about the possibilities you see beneath the surface”.

“Then you need, not a little, but a whole lot of time and energy. It won’t happen overnight. It takes time. It takes disciplined energy. The miracle doesn’t happen with the snap of your fingers.”

“The skills aren’t that hard to learn. The skill of choosing the right solution to strip it down. The skill of choosing the right sandpaper. The skill of fixing a broken hinge. But love is far more important than skill. The skills are important but not as important as the loving possibilities you have in your minds eye as you start to work.”

I can hear echoes of Isaiah in that description. Forget what it was, forget what it has become, and picture what it can be. Renew it. Recreate it. Reform it. Redeem it. Restore it. Do for it what it cannot do for itself.  We go through life and the older we get the more the chips and scars start to appear. It’s tempting to look back. It’s tempting to long for the good old days. We can become jaded and used and despondent.

Then along comes a word of God like this one. “Hey you know how great things were in the past, and how bad thing have become now? Forget about it! Don’t make that your focus. Listen up. I’m speaking a new word, a reconciling word, a forgiving word, and a recreating word. Do you want to hear it? Can you perceive it?”

God wants to go to work on us. God has a great imagination and sees the possibilities. God sees past the crud, sees past the scars, sees past the darkness, and sees past the brokenness. God strips off the old anger and hatred and fixes the broken pieces of our lives. It takes time. More time than we’d like.

But the more time we give to it, the more time we spend in prayer, in worship, in study, in service of others, the more time and energy we give to things that have lasting significance, actions reflecting love and being loved, then new layers replace the old layers, a new veneer of grace and peace starts to appears. Layers of joy and contentment and hope.

New things. Eternal things. Things that can only come to us through allowing the love of Jesus Christ to renew us and restore us on a daily basis. Things that the Holy Spirit gifts us with and inspires us to pursue.

Hear again the prophet’s word.
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth,
Do you not perceive it?”

May God help us to live in a way
that reflects the new life of Jesus Christ.
Amen.   
                                                     
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.