Stones & Bread, The First Temptation - Sept. 22, 2013

Stones and Bread

The First Temptation

Deuteronomy 8:1-3; Matthew 4:1-11

Grace Presbyterian Church

September 22, 2013

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Was It Worth the Trouble?   As a middle aged man and his wife were shopping at a kiosk in a mall, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. The man’s eyes followed her intently. Without looking up from the item she was examining, his wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you’re in?”

This little story introduces our theme for the next three Sundays - Temptation. More specifically, the three temptations of Jesus.

Temptation is something we encounter every day of our lives. It could be the temptation to seek revenge, or to be proud, or gossip, or go off our diet, or be prejudiced, or envious. On and on the list could go. As a result, it’s easy to agree with Oscar Wilde who once quipped, “I can resist anything but temptation.” 

Some of you older folks here this morning will remember this song, “You came, I was alone, I should have known, You were temptation. Your smile, luring me on, my heart was gone, You were temptation.” [Composer: Nacio Herb Brown; Lyrics: Arthur Freed, 1933 - in the Public Domain]

Times of Testing If we look at the Bible, we discover that temptation was and is literally a time of testing. A testing of our priorities. A testing of our values. A testing of our obedience to God’s commandments. A testing of our faithfulness to our marriage covenant. A testing of the choices we make. Such testing is not multiple-choice, but rather True-False. And when we are unfaithful to commandments and covenants by making the wrong choices, we fail the test. In other words, we sin.

First of all: Temptations are Very Desirable Why are temptations so hard to resist? Because temptations are always very appealing and desirable. If they weren’t desirable we wouldn’t pay any attention to them.

For instance, when Eve saw “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. [Genesis 3:6] If that fruit had been worm-infested and foul tasting and would give her no benefit whatsoever, then Eve would have refused to taste it.

When King David saw the beauty of Bathsheba, he desired her. There was just one small problem. She was married to Uriah. Solution? He sent Uriah to the front lines of the war where Uriah was killed. [2 Samuel 11:2-3] Now if Bathsheba had been ugly, King David would not have wanted her and her husband, Uriah, would have lived to old age. Both Eve and David would agree with John Piper who said: "The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier." 

The Three Temptations of Christ This morning and over the following two Sundays we are going to look at the three temptations and times of testing that Jesus faced during the forty days he was alone in the wilderness. All three of them took place right after Jesus had been baptized by John in the River Jordan. As he emerged from the cool, flowing water to begin his public ministry, God said “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Immediately following this divine pronouncement, Jesus was led by the Spirit into a barren and foreboding wilderness where he fasted for forty days and forty nights.

The First Temptation It was while he was alone and very hungry that his struggle with the Tempter took place. The first salvo of that struggle was fired by the Tempter when he said to Jesus, “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:3) Notice the ways the Tempter tries to snare Jesus.

I Dare You  First he dares Jesus, “IF you are the son of God, change these stones to bread.” In other words, prove to me and to the world that you are the God’s son by changing these stones to bread. This wouldn’t be the last time Jesus was dared to prove his sonship. While hanging on the Cross, the crowd cried out, “If you are the son of God, come down from the cross.” [Matthew 27:41]

Being dared to do something arouses an emotion within us that is hard to resist. How many times when we were young did we rise to the taunt of the dare. “I dare you. I double-dare you.” And the worst of all, “I double-dog dare you!”

Responding to dares cause us to say or do many irrational and hurtful things. “I dare you to steal something from the store.” “I dare you to chug-a-lug this bottle of wine.” “I dare you to go 100 miles per hour.” Jesus was dared to change stones into bread. But he didn’t rise to the the bait.

Hunger  Secondly, the Tempter knew that Jesus was weak and hungry from fasting for forty days. Thus the thought of turning stones into warm, fragrant loaves of bread had to be very tantalizing. Even the stones that littered the ground around him were little round pieces of limestone rock, shaped exactly like little loaves.

As we all know, hunger can be a tremendous, compelling force in our lives. It was hunger that caused Esau to sell his birthright to Jacob (Genesis 25:29f). Hunger caused the Israelites to wish they were slaves again in order to get food to eat (Exodus 16:23). The prodigal son returned home because he was hungry. And Jesus fed the crowd fish and bread because they were hungry. Jesus said, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way." [Matthew 15:32]

As we know, people will panic if they cannot, or think they may not, get food. Some years ago there was a strike by drivers of bread trucks. People stormed grocery stores and super markets and bought every last bit of bread, buns and rolls they could find. Fyodor Dostoevski paraphrased the Tempter’s thoughts in this way: “See these stones in this parched and barren wilderness? Turn them into bread and mankind will run after you like a flock of sheep, grateful and obedient, though forever trembling lest you withdraw your hand and deny them your bread.” [The Brothers Karamozov, 1881, p. 7] Even today, there are countries whose citizens obey their dictatorial leader out of fear they will be denied the necessities of life.

Yes, Jesus was being challenged to prove who he was by satisfying his own personal hunger. 

Why Not?  Now what harm would it have done, just this once, for him to change a few stones to bread? After all, he was hungry, and he needed every ounce of strength he could muster in his struggle with the Tempter. More importantly, by flexing his divine muscle, he’d show that Tempter a thing or two! And besides, who’s going to know?  There were no people around to watch. No reporters or television cameras present.  Nobody would get hurt if he did it, would they? It would be a victimless crime so to speak. Questions such as these are typical of the ways in which we rationalize in giving into temptations. We try to find reasons why it is alright to say or do something we know is wrong. 

Response  Yet Jesus’ response to the Tempter was simple and direct: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” [Matthew 4:4]. These same words are found in our Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy. Jesus often used the power of Holy Scripture against all temptation.

Priorities  Even in this time of testing, as hungry as he was, Jesus could resist the words of the Tempter simply because he had his priorities clearly in focus. His mission was to bring to the world something even more important than physical bread - the living, spiritual bread of eternal life. Later on in his ministry, after the feeding of the 5,000, the crowd said to Jesus, “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” [John 6:31-35]

Important to Refuse It was vital that Jesus refuse the dare of the Tempter. For if Jesus gave in on such a little thing as stones being turned into bread, the Tempter would have tried to take over other aspects of Jesus’ life.

It has been said “If you’re driving down the road and you see Satin standing by the road trying to catch a ride, don’t you dare stop the car, don’t you dare open the door, don’t you dare let him in, cause it won’t be long until he’ll want to drive.”  This is the way the Tempter functions. He starts out by testing us with small, seemingly insignificant and harmless things, such as little white lies or lighting up that first cigarette. Then, step by step, we slide down the slippery slope. Lies turn into betrayals and one cigarette turns into an addiction.

Broken Covenant with God  If Jesus had done what the Tempter had suggested, he would have broken his covenant with God. He would have been glorifying himself instead of glorifying God. He would have been satisfying his own personal pride, ego and physical hunger and nothing else. But he remained steadfast in his refusal to accept the dare. This prompted the writer of Hebrews to say, Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.” [Hebrews 4:15]

Being Tested is not a Sin We must remember that being tempted and tested is not a sin.  We can’t avoid temptations. They’re all around us. However, acting upon them is a sin. One way of putting it is “Temptation is the tempter looking through the keyhole into the room where you are living; sin is your drawing back the bolt and allowing him to enter.” And we have become quite good at drawing back the bolt. Paul put it very bluntly: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [Romans 3:23]

Final Thoughts  This morning, we’ve seen that Jesus was tempted, tested, and triumphed. He triumphed because he knew that no one can live by focusing upon bread and material things to the exclusion of God’s Word, the Bread of Heaven. Knowing scripture as he did, Jesus was able to reject the idea of putting his physical hunger above God’s will. We, too, are put to the test every day. It is very likely that some of you are facing times of testing and temptation at this very moment. If they are small and seemingly harmless decisions, it is imperative for you to turn from them at once. If you are in the grips of more serious temptations, the struggle will be harder, but you can be successful. The good news is that with the power of the Holy Spirit, with the encouragement of friends, and being armed with Holy Scripture and prayer, you can triumph and win the battle. Go forth this morning with the assurance that God can and will turn your life around so that your future can be filled with joy. And by the way, don’t forget, “When we flee from temptation, it is important not to leave a forwarding address.” Amen.

                                   

Deuteronomy 8:1-3 NRSV

This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Matthew 4:1-11 NRSV

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. 

In The Twinkling Of An Eye - Sept. 15, 2013

In the Twinkling of an Eye

Psalm 23; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Grace Presbyterian Church

September 15, 2013

In the Twinkling of an Eye  As you all know, last Wednesday was the 12th anniversary of 9/11. All over the country observances were held remembering the nearly 3,000 men, women and children who died in four terrorist attacks. As a result of these attacks, in the Twinkling of an Eye, the world of thousands of families was turned upside down. Sorrow swept the land. Tears were shed in abundance. Full, vibrant, innocent lives had been snuffed out.

This great tragedy made me realize more than ever before how fragile life really is. And so this morning seemed like an opportune time to refresh our minds as to what our Christian faith has to say about death. At this point, you might be saying to yourself, “I don’t want to hear anyone talking about death.” I understand and can appreciate your feelings. After all, death is not a popular subject for conversation and we try to avoid thinking about death as much as possible. Yet at the same time, most everyone here this morning has grieved over the death of a loved one. It doesn’t matter if the death was sudden and unexpected, or came after a prolonged illness. The result is the same. In the twinkling of an eye, our loved one was gone and life was forever different. Why?  That means that when loved ones die, plans, dreams, and companionship are gone as well. We can no longer see, hear, or hug them. That loss remains as a hole in the fabric of our being the rest of our lives. And we are left to try to find joy and laughter once again. To dream new dreams and create new hopes.

What Happens When We Die?  So what happens when we die? This morning, I’d like Holy Scriptures to answer that question so that we can receive a fuller picture of the glorious gift of eternal life which God has given us. Before we start, let us remember that our entire Christian faith is based on the great promise of Jesus, “Because I live, you will live also.” [John 14:19] Keep that promise in mind as we listen to the scriptures.

There is a Place for Us  Let’s start with John 14 where Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

With these thoughts Jesus is recognizing the fact that when death intrudes upon our lives, our hearts become terribly troubled - that is to say, we are plunged into grief and sorrow with tears flowing freely. This is normal and is as it should be. But in the midst of our tears, Jesus says to us, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Why does he mean by this? He means that in heaven there are many rooms waiting for us. And that he went on ahead to prepare a place for us. In other words, he’s made our room reservation in advance so that we will be together. Because of this, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” He is saying that in the midst of our times of troubled hearts, an inner peace will be ours to experience. It is a peace that comes from being one with God.

A Different Kind of Grief  So far we have a room awaiting us in heaven and the gift of inner peace. Next we find that because of Christ, our grief at death will be a different kind of grief. Paul explains this when he says: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” [1 Thessalonians 4:13-14] This means that although we will grieve at the death of a loved one, we do so with hope. Hope makes all the difference in the world. We can put up with most anything if there is hope that things will get better and we can see a light at the end of our tunnel of darkness. That light comes from Jesus, the Light of the World who said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”

The Glory that Awaits Us  So far we have a room awaiting us when we die, a peace that comes from being with God, and a hope that is ours when we grieve the death of a loved one. Now we might ask, “What awaits us when we die?” Paul answered that question to a certain degree in his letter to the Corinthians when he wrote, "We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” [2 Corinthians 4:16-18]  I’m not exactly sure what an “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” means, but I surely like the sound of it, don’t you? In another scripture, Paul echoes that same thought by saying, "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him." (I Corinthians 2:9)  For me, this means that no matter what wonderful sights we have seen in our travels, no matter what beautiful and stirring music we have heard, and no matter what beautiful dreams and visions we’ve had in our hearts, none of those can compare to what God has prepared for us in heaven. In other words, awe and wonder await us all.

Tears are Gone. No more death, Sorrow or Crying  And now listen to this! While on the Island of Patmos, John wrote, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.” [Revelation 21:1-4]

Can you imagine this? When we are resurrected, God will tabernacle with us. That means that he will dwell with us. And no matter how much pain and tribulation we endured here on earth, we now know that in the life to come, there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more sorrow. This will enable us to enjoy the awe and wonder that will surround us.

Nothing Can Separate us from the Love of Christ   Next we have these great words of assurance from Paul. He says in Romans, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:35ff] To understand this even more fully, we must remember that separation from God is the definition of Hell, and that many powers try to separate us including sin and death. But because of Christ, there is absolutely nothing than can come between us and God.

We Shall Be Changed  In our morning scripture from Corinthians, Paul said, “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed,in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.” Paul explains this even more when he writes, “If there is a physical body, here is also a spiritual body.” [1 Corinthians 15:44] For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [2 Corinthians 5:1] If you look around at one another this morning, you see each other’s earthly tent or body. At our resurrection, we receive a spiritual body.

Final Thoughts  So there we have it. Holy Scripture, God’s written Word, has told us beyond any doubt that nothing in all creation, including sin and death, can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are assured that there is life for us beyond the grave. And in that life we will be free of all sorrow, sadness and tears of any kind. Indeed we will behold beauty beyond compare and hear music that stirs our souls. We will greet loved ones who have gone before us. Instead of this earthly body which we leave behind, we will have a spiritual body.

All of this is ours because of Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh. As William Jennings Bryan wrote: "Christ has made of death a narrow strip between the companionships of yesterday and the reunions of tomorrow." What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us forever. As it has been said, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” [Thomas Campbell]

With all the assurances of scripture surrounding us, how will we respond the next time a loved one dies? Allow the tears of healing to flow and hug one another for as long as it takes. Then smile because he was a part of your life. Celebrate the great love you shared and cherish her memory. Rejoice that he is with God and that one day you will again meet. And then, when enough time passes, laugh and dream new dreams. And through it all, give thanks that Jesus said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”  Amen.

Psalm 23 NRSV

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,  and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 NRSV

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed,in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain. 

Saliere Bargains With God - Sept. 8, 2013

Saliere Bargains With God

Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

September 8, 2013

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Introduction  How are you getting along with God these days? Doing all right? Any complaints? When’s the last time you talked with God? The reason I ask is that your answer to those questions establishes your joy, contentment and peace in life. That may sound like a lot, but allow me to explain by transporting us back in time 263 years to an Italian named Antonio Salieri (b. 19 August 1750).

Antonio was a great musical composer who studied under Florian Leopold Gassman, Composer and later Kapellmeister to the Emperor, Joseph II. In the movie “Amadeus” (1984) Salieri is portrayed as a man who had a burning desire to become the finest composer in all of Europe. That desire started when Salieri was sixteen years of age and just starting out on his musical career. One day, he decides to strike a bargain with God. Up out of the depth of his heart and soul he prays to God and says: “Signore, let me be a composer! Grant me sufficient fame to enjoy it. In return, I will live with virtue. I will strive to better the lot of my fellows. And I will honor you with much music all the days of my life.” When finished, he heard God say, “Bene. Go forth, Antonio. Serve me and mankind and you will be blessed.” Saliere then replied, “Grazie, I am your servant for life!”

Bargain was Struck  So the bargain was struck. For several years life was very good to Antonio. God appeared to be upholding his end of the bargain since Salieri became a fine composer and earned great critical acclaim throughout all of Europe.  As the years went by, he had a good and warm feeling about his partner, God.

Mozart Enters the Picture   But then Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child musical prodigy, entered the picture.  Within a very short time, Salieri realized that Mozart possessed more musical talent than he ever would have.  And he now knew that Mozart  would be the greatest musical composer in Europe instead of him. His dreams of fame were dashed.

Salieri was devastated! God had not lived up to his side of the bargain! God had been toying with Salieri! In his anger he lashed out at God and said: “From this time we are enemies, you and I. I’ll not accept it from you, do you hear?  You are the enemy!  I name thee now - Nemico Eterno!  And this I swear: to my last breath I shall block you on earth as far as I am able! What use, after all, is Man, if not to teach God His lessons!”  And so the relationship between Antonio and God fell apart.

Admittedly, Salieri’s attempt to bargain with God was a bit extreme. However, he is not the only person in the world who ever tried to bargain with God. Down through the ages, including today, millions of people try to bargain with God.

Jacob  For instance, In Genesis 28 Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”

Luther  Another example is Martin Luther. In July of 1505, he was struck by lightning. As he struggled to his feet, filled with terror, he cried, “St. Anne, Help me! I will become a monk!” [Bainton, Roland H., “Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther,” p. 15] And so twelve days later he left law school and entered a closed monastery and became a monk.

Natural to Bargain  It seems to be a natural thing for us to bargain with God since that’s the way we often deal with each another. I would guess that many of us here this morning have bargained with God telling him that if he’ll do this for me, I promise to do this for him in return.

A few years ago, a woman narrowly escaped with her life from a killer tornado. As she was being interviewed by the media, she said, “As I heard the win begin to shriek and felt the house start to shake, I told God that if he would save me, I would live a better life.” And in 1965, a man in my congregation in Iowa was seriously ill. And so he prayed, “O God, if you let me live, I will give $10,000 to the church.” He lived but backed out of his promise to give the money.

What’s Wrong with this Picture?  So what’s wrong with bargaining with God? “God, you do something for me, and I’ll do something for you.” You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, so to speak. Sounds fair enough, don’t you think? Here are a few thoughts to consider.

Can’t Bargain With God  First and foremost is the fact is that no one can bargain with God. God can’t be bribed by our promises. If I promise to be a better person if God will do this for me, then I’m saying, “God, the fact that you saved me through the death of your son, Jesus, wasn’t enough for me to try to be a better person. You’ve got to do one more thing for me. Then I’ll reward you by becoming a better person.” The fact is that God has already saved us and assured us of eternal life. Those two acts in themselves are sufficient reasons for us to try to be a better person.

We are not God’s Equal  Second, we’re not God’s peer. Salieri tried to interact with God as an equal and to tell God what to do. His bargain with God had strings attached, and Salieri had defined what those would be. He was trying to use God to give himself an advantage over other composers. He wanted his natural musical gifts to be divinely augmented. In return, he would do God a favor by living a good life, helping others in need, and in honoring God with his music. Thus to bargain, cut a deal, or barter with God is probably the most egotistical thing we could do because we are trying to elevate ourselves as equals with God. And we’re not.

As I said, we should do all the things we promise to God simply out of thanksgiving for what God has already done for us. The lady who survived the killer tornado should have lived a better life before the tornado hit.

And if it was a good idea to give $10,000 to the church, the man should have done it long ago. Bargaining is a no-win situation in our relationship with him. If it comes out the way we want, we rarely carry out our part of the bargain. If it doesn’t come out the way we want, we either blame God for it’s failure or ignore our promises.

The Good News of Christ - We Don’t Have to Bargain!  But here is where the Good News of Christ comes in. Because of his death and resurrection, we don’t have to bargain with God. God has already given us everything we could possibly want and will continue to bless us even without our asking. Paul wrote in Romans, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this way: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Isn’t it wonderful that God didn’t say, “As soon as you live up to all my commandments, I’ll save you.” None of us ever would be saved.

We can rejoice this morning that God saved us, not because we bribed him to do it, not because we we follow each commandment to the letter, not because we give huge amounts of money to the church, not because we’re an elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, sing in the choir, or make apple butter. God saved us simply for one reason and one reason only - God loves us. And God’s gift of salvation came to us with no strings attached - no contingencies. God’s love saved us even though we are registered, card-carrying sinners.

 Paul The Apostle Paul says that God has given each of us specific gifts that we must use in our life - not as God’s equals, but as God’s co-workers working together in this precious outpost of God’s kingdom called Grace Presbyterian Church. Although we are God’s co-workers, God is the boss. And God expects us to serve him without any under-the-table deals. When God called us to be his disciples, he did not invite us to use him, but to love him; not to bargain with him, but to work with him. So what does it mean to be a co-worker with God?

To be God’s co-workers means to discover God’s plans for Grace Presbyterian and do our best to bring that about.

To be co-workers means to discover God’s plans for our environment and labor with God to see them fulfilled.  

To be co-workers means to discover God’s plans for our individual lives and labor with God to see them fulfilled.  

So allow me to ask the question once again. “How are you getting along with God?” If you’re smart, you’ll stop bargaining and instead relax by glorifying God and enjoying him forever. And we can start by participating in Holy Communion which is our proclamation to each other and to the world that there is nothing we can do that will make God love us less and nothing we can do that will make God love us more. Amen

Jeremiah 1:4-10 NRSV 

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.’
1 Corinthians 3:1-11 NRSV

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?

 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

The Shadow of Peter - Sept. 1, 2013

The Shadow of Peter

Psalm 121, Acts 5:12-16

September 1, 2013

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard Miller

           

Indirect Claim to Fame

            In one of the Andy Griffith episodes, the governor of North Carolina came to Mayberry, congratulated Barney, and shook his hand. When the governor left, Barney looked down at his hand and said, “I’m not going to wash this hand for a month.”[aired January 7, 1963] If you ever watch the opening segment of Jay Leno, you see about twenty-five people reaching out to touch Leno’s hand as he walks by.

            To touch or get close to the rich or famous does something to us mortal creatures. We are inwardly thrilled and spend the next week or so telling others about our great moment. Many years ago in Cincinnati I had lunch with Vincent Price. For the next few days I told everyone I knew about it. In 1956, when my dad kissed Elizabeth Taylor in the Stork Club in New York, I felt indirectly connected to the girl I fell in love with in National Velvet. In my family alone, I could include the time when my sister-in-law’s son, who is a veterinarian, once treated John Lennon’s cat. Or the fact that when my daughter was an Occupational Therapist she had Yogi Berra’s brother as a patient. Many of us have touched someone famous or are related to someone who did so. And for some reason, when such events take place we feel more important or a bit more special, just for a fleeting moment. If Billy Graham walked down the aisle right now, I’m sure that many of us would be thrilled to be able to shake his hand. To have our picture taken with someone famous results in us framing that picture and hanging it in a very prominent place in our house.

Aura of Influence  We basked in our moment of feeling important simply because we connected with people who were famous and who exercised influence over the lives of others. Influence: the capacity or power of persons or things to produce effects on others by intangible or indirect means.

Influence We claimed our moment of fame simply because we connected with people who exercised influence over the lives of others. If they speak, people listen. If they do something, people watch. They can change the course of history simply by who they are. It has been said that influence is the steady, persistent, irrepressible power of what one is. Such influence can be for good or for evil. It can glorify God or exalt a person.

In some ways, our influence on others is something like a shadow. That is to say, everyone casts a shadow of influence on everyone they meet. Some people have special shadows that affect us by their presence. If we’re upset, having them put their arm around our shoulder calms us down. When we are discouraged, their words encourage us to go on. Such people have a non-anxious presence that spills over into our hearts whenever we see or talk to them.

Shadow in the Bible References to shadows in the Bible are quite interesting. In Isaiah’s time, the intensity of the midday sun was thought to be the work of demonic powers. Thus one kept to the shadows to be safe. Isaiah speaks of the “shade of a great rock in a weary land.” [Isaiah 32:2]. Isaiah may have had the desert in mind when he wrote this. Perhaps he envisions a company of pilgrims walking in the glare of the Syrian sun with eyes smarting and lips burning and tongue and throat parched and dry. And then they see a mighty rock in the distance, and the pilgrims hurry to the rock so that they might get relief in its shade.

And our morning psalm states that “The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.” [Psalm 121:5-6] In such instances, God’s shade provides a place of rest and protection, and relief from the tumult and anxieties of life.

Shadow of Influence in the Bible  In the Bible, many people possessed a shadow of influence. Jesus was such a man. Luke tells of the time when Jesus was going to the house of Jairus whose daughter was very ill.

As he was walking, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped. Jesus knew at once that someone had touched him because he had felt power go out of him. [Luke 8:40-48] Another time Jesus and his disciples landed at Gennesaret. People sent word to the surrounding country that Jesus was there.

Matthew tells what happened next: “After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.“ [Matthew 14:35-36 NRSV]

Paul In the Book of the Acts, Luke tells us that because God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured. (Acts 19:11)

Simon Peter Our morning scripture tells a similar story involving Peter. Peter had performed many miraculous acts of healing. For instance, he had healed Aeneas who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. (Acts 9:32ff) And he brought Tabitha back to life. (ibid.) His reputation as a healer began to spread to such an extent that people believed that he could cure any disease. The apostles used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade, a 45 foot long covered walkway next to the Temple. The peoples’ belief in the ability of Peter to heal was so great that they would lay their sick in the street on beds or mats with the hope that a part of Peter’s shadow would fall on them as he passed by and thus cure them. [Acts 5:12ff] They felt his healing energy was so powerful that they didn’t need him to touch them or speak to them or even to look at them. His shadow was all that was needed to connect to his healing energy.

Everyone Casts a Shadow Although we’re not Peter, we also cast shadows of influence. Sometimes our influence is good and sometimes bad. But either way, no matter who we are, our shadow is inevitable.

I say this because every day of our lives someone is watching what we do and hearing what we say or what we don’t do or don’t say. And what they see and hear influences their lives for good or for ill.

Shadows of Friends  All of us have been healed or energized or calmed by someone else’s shadow. Sometimes we feel more content and at peace simple because a certain person is with us. If we’ve had a bad day, our spirits soar when a good friend calls us. Sometimes good friends stop by and we laugh together. Or maybe we cry together.

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Laughter and tears are meant to turn the wheels of the same machinery of sensibility; one is wind‑power, and the other water‑power.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809‑1894)

Our very existence exerts an aura of influence those around us.

Francis of Assisi  One day Francis of Assisi said to one of the young men of the monastery, "Brother, let us go down to the town and preach." The novice, greatly delighted and proud of being asked to be Francis' companion, quickly accepted the invitation. They went down the principle streets of the town, the side streets and alleys, and then returned by another route to the monastery. The younger man, thinking that Francis had forgotten his purpose in going to the city, said, "You have forgotten, Father, that we went down to the town to preach." The older man replied, "My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We have been seen by many; our behavior has been closely watched; it was thus that we preached our morning sermon. It is of no use, my son, to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk."

Rarely Conscious of our Shadow or the Effect it is Having Most of the time we aren’t even aware of how much our shadow influences others. For instance, in 1960, a fifteen year old girl was a member of my youth group in Waterloo, Iowa. I met her forty-five years later as a Director of Christian Education for a Presbyterian Church heading up a youth mission trip in Kansas City. She said, “It was your influence on my life that led me into full time church work.” I had no idea. In fact, I didn’t remember her at all.

Joe Senter  In the early 1970's, I had a dial-a-prayer ministry in Cincinnati. Each day I would read a scripture and offer a prayer. Over a year’s time, thousands of people would dial to listen to a scripture and my prayer. At the time, I had no idea that day after day a ten year old boy named Joe Senter was dialing the number and listening to God’s Word and my prayer.

On December 20, 2009, he wrote me a letter and said the following: “Pastor Miller, I don’t believe that my salvation would have happened to me if it weren’t for your recorded prayers and Scripture readings that I had listened to all those years ago. You have made a profound and lasting impression on me when I was ten or eleven years old, and I am writing to thank you for that, at age fifty-one.” I had no idea that a ten year old boy was listening to my Dial-A-Prayer.

Final Thoughts  As you go into the future, always face Jesus, the Light of the World, and your shadow will fall behind you as an abiding influence for good rather than evil. I leave you with this poem.

Poem  “My life shall touch a dozen lives before this day is done’

Leave countless marks for good or ill, ere sets the evening sun.

This is the wish I always wish, the prayer I always pray:

Lord, may my life help other lives it touches by the way.” [Source Unknown].

Amen.

Psalm 121 NRSV

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

   from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

   who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

   he who keeps you will not slumber.

He who keeps Israel

   will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

   the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

   nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

   he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep

   your going out and your coming in

   from this time on and for evermore.

Acts 5:12-16 NRSV

Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.