Sermon, "Saying Yes to God: Yes!" 2 Corinthians 1:12-22

Sermon 6/24/18

2 Corinthians 1:12-22

Saying Yes to God: Yes!

When have you received a “Yes” answer that made your day, or your year, or changed the course of your life? I think about the day of my ordination interviews. I had been serving as a pastor, as what was then called a “probationary member”, a three-year period where pastors were commissioned for ministry but not yet ordained. And I had a long day of interviews, where members of the Board of Ordained Ministry asked candidates question after question about our theology, our understanding of sacraments, our call to ministry, and our practice of ministry. And then we had to wait, and wait, and wait while the Board discussed us - me and the handful of others who were seeking ordination that year. After some 6 hours of waiting, they finally called us in - each into separate rooms, where a team was waiting to share the news with us: a yes, or a no, or a not yet. The chair of the Board was waiting in the classroom for me, along with a couple of others - I can’t tell you know who else was there. But the chair said to me: “We have one more question for you.” Internally, I was having a small panic attack. But I said, “Ok.” She said, “What does the word gospel mean?” This was a weird last-minute question, I thought, but I answered, “Well, it literally means ‘Good news.’” And she smiled at me. And I stood there confused. And she smiled. And I stood there confused. My brain was in a stupor. And she said, “It’s good news! We’re giving you good news!’ The answer was Yes! Yes, I was approved for ordination. Yes!  

Another yes that stands out: I had finished a pastoral appointment and decided to ask for a sabbatical year. A year off to listen to God’s call more intentionally. A year to renew my spirit. A year to regroup and refocus. I really needed this year. And I was granted the sabbatical, but the sabbatical doesn’t come with a source of income. I had enough money to get through a few months, but not a whole year by any stretch of the imagination. I had applied for a research grant. I wanted to continue exploring some of the work I had done in my doctoral program about charity and justice and how to help congregations become more deeply connected to the work of justice-seeking. I knew that lots of people applied for this grant program, and my acceptance was not guaranteed. Applications were due in September, and answers would come in November. I can tell you exactly where I was when I received the email that said “Yes”, yes I would receive a grant. The relief I felt at this Yes was overwhelming. Tears sprung into my eyes. A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. Yes!

What Yeses have you received that have changed you? Changed your life? Today we’re wrapping up our series on “Saying Yes to God” with a text from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. In the first chapter, we find Paul trying to explain a change in his plans. He had promised to visit the Corinthians again, after visiting Macedonia, and then meant to head from there to Jerusalem, bringing with him a large offering from both new Christian communities to give to the church in Jerusalem. But for a variety of reasons, his plans change. As he explains elsewhere in the letter, Paul eventually comes to feel that his not visiting would be better for the young faith community than if he did visit. Some of the Corinthians were mad at Paul because he’d sent them a fairly harsh letter, chastising them for some of their behaviors that weren’t in line with the way of Jesus. And so Paul decides not to exacerbate their anger by showing up in person.  Others are sent in his stead, so they were not left alone to continue growing in faith.

But Paul finds himself now needing to defend his choice against accusations that he says one thing and does another, just like any hypocritical person that the Corinthians can’t trust. And so in our passage for today, Paul tackles these complaints head on. Paul says that he wasn’t just vacillating, not just indecisive when he changed his plans. He’s not, Paul insists, just saying Yes while meaning No, making plans he doesn’t intend to follow through on. Even though he changed his plans, he can still be trusted. Why? Because, Paul says, even if he had to change his plans, the message he proclaimed, the good news he’s preached to them, the story of Jesus has not and will not change. With Jesus, Paul argues, it is always Yes. Jesus never wavers from his commitment to God’s will or his mission to draw us closer to God, and in Jesus, all of God’s promises to us are fulfilled. Jesus is God’s Yes to us in human form. God in Christ Jesus,, at work through Paul gives Paul his standing among the Corinthians. God is Paul’s Yes among them, as long as Paul is at work proclaiming Jesus.

“For … Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you … it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’” What powerful words! In Jesus, we hear God’s message of Yes:

Yes, I created you.

Yes, I love you.

Yes, I forgive you.

Yes, I will never leave you.

Yes, I want to bless you.

Yes, I want the best for you.

Yes, I have hopes and dreams for you.

Yes, I am calling you.

Yes, I want you to follow me.

Yes, I will give everything to be in relationship with you.

Yes, I want you to give me everything in return.

Yes, I want to turn your life upside down.

Yes, yes, yes!

Pastor Edward Markquart writes that God does not say “Yes, but” and reject us. He says, “God did not say, “Yah, but you certainly messed up your life.  Yah, but you are a three-time loser in divorce. Yah, but you certainly messed things up as pastor. Yah, but you certainly aren’t the [right] kind of mother or father.  Yah, but look at the faults of your kid.” No, no, no … God is not a yah-but. To us, who like the earth, are corroded and fallen and sinful, God says yes. I want it clearly understood that the answer is yes.  Cleanly, clearly, crisply, to you and to me in all of our sinfulness.”

“But there is more,” he continues. “God also says yes to those people that the world says are not worth much.  So the world looks at a starving man or woman or child any place on the earth, perhaps a man, woman or child in Uganda who is dying of [AIDs] and their skeletons are showing because they can’t eat or drink and the world says, “Yah, but let that bag of bones die.  Those starving bones aren’t worth much.” … Or, a person has grown older and older and the senility is slowly destroying the brain with dementia or Alzheimer’s, and their skin is shriveling up … and the world says, “Yah, but they aren’t worth much anymore … and they are taking billions upon billions of dollars to keep them alive.  Yah, but they aren’t worth it.” … And so the world says, “yah, but they are a worthless ...?” And God says…Yes. Yes, for these people are the crown of my creation, the valued jewels of my kingdom. I want you to hear God’s answer, clearly, cleanly, crisply, Yes.”

“For … Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you … it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’” So what do we do, friends, because of God’s truly amazing way of Yes in our lives? As usual, if we follow the example of Jesus, we’re headed in the right direction. Jesus’s life was a Yes to God and a Yes to us. How are we saying Yes to God with our lives? And how are we showing God’s Yes to others?

Our word about God to others, the way we show God to others has to be more compelling than “Yes and No.” Paul knows that if the Corinthians, these new Christians, think that he and his co-workers are wishy-washy about the good news they’ve been sharing, if they can’t speak with conviction, if they seem to not mean what they say, or if they never seem to act on what they say - if their actions and words don’t match - then the new Christian Corinthians will have reason to doubt the very message about Jesus that has been shared with them, reason to doubt the nature of the God Paul and the others have proclaimed to them. And so Paul wants to make very clear to the Corinthians that what he proclaims and believes about Jesus is unchanged, what he teaches about God’s faithfulness is constant and enduring, and the Word - capital W - that is Jesus Christ is always a “Yes.” Paul knows that the more he can be a person of deep integrity, and the more he can show how his life has been transformed by Christ, the more he will be able to help others hear the Yes of God. How are we communicating the “Yes” of God to others? How are we showing to others the amazing faithfulness and constancy of God’s love in our life? How are we showing the “Yes” of Jesus?

God has said Yes to us in so many ways. And God wants our Yes in response. What’s been nudging at your heart, tugging away at in your spirit, that is God waiting for your Yes? Maybe God is asking you to say Yes to following Jesus, making a commitment to discipleship. Maybe God is asking you to say Yes to changing your life - letting go of addictions, or greed, or behavior that hurts you and hurts others. Maybe God is urging you to begin a ministry, a project, or join a mission team, or befriend some overlooked people in our community, or expand your vision of what it means to be a neighbor. Maybe God is calling you to become a leader, to raise your voice boldly, to preach the good news. Maybe God is longing for you to say Yes to God’s grace, yes to God’s forgiveness, yes to God’s love. God has said Yes to you. God wants your yes in response. What is the Yes God is waiting for from you? If you’re not sure what Yes God is waiting for from you, then I hope that you will commit to figuring it out. That’s the work of discernment. You don’t have to do it alone. Your friends here, your pastor here - we can help you in that work. But if you already know -  if you know the Yes that God is waiting to hear from you, don’t hesitate. For with Jesus Christ, whom we proclaim here, it is always ‘Yes.’ In Christ, every one of God’s promises is a Yes. Let that be our answer too: Yes! Amen.

Sermon, "Saying Yes to God: Yes, But," Luke 9:57-62

Sermon 6/17/18

Luke 9:57-62

Saying Yes to God: Yes, But

Someone mentioned to me this week that they enjoyed last Sunday’s sermon, that they felt it was speaking right to them. And I told them that people often respond this way to a sermon when I also feel that way about it - like I’m speaking, preaching to myself. This week is another week like that for me. This is a tough text. Not tough because it is hard to understand, but tough because Jesus’s words cut to my heart with their clarity and urgency, asking for a response. In Luke’s gospel, we find a series of people approaching Jesus, saying that they want to follow him. This seems to us perhaps like it would be great news. Jesus’s message is getting across, and people are interested. But Jesus rebuffs each one. The first approaches and says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus responds, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” In other words, “Anywhere also means nowhere, no landing place. Are you sure you mean it?” Jesus extends the invitation: “Follow me” to another, and they respond, “Lord, first let me bury my father.” Jesus, apparently unmoved, says, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” A third offers to follow Jesus, “but first,” he says, “let me say farewell to those at home.” And Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” That’s the whole passage. We don’t know what happens next for any of these folks - if they stay with Jesus or if they say “forget it.” The gospel moves on.

In my Bible, the subheading of this passage we just heard is called “The Would-Be Followers of Jesus.” I can practically see the air quotes around the phrase. I hear “Wanna-bes.” What springs to mind is John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, his sermon called “The Almost Christian.” Writing on Acts 26:28, where King Agrippa says to the apostle Paul in the King James that Wesley quotes, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Wesley says, “Many there are who go thus far: ever since the Christian religion was in the world, there have been many in every age and nation who were almost persuaded to be Christians. But … it avails nothing before God to go only thus far.” This teaching of Jesus - it seems to demand our all, and leave no room for going only so far, no room for almost following Jesus.

Preacher and theologian Karoline Lewis writes, “When I started thinking about [this gospel text], my first response was, Sorry, Jesus. You are wrong. Sometimes we have to bury our dead and you are just going to have to wait. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to those we are leaving or to those we have lost, and we will catch up to you eventually. Sometimes we have a few things that need tending before we jump on the discipleship bandwagon. Like what, you might say, Jesus? Well, like grief, for example, for those close and personal, but also for whom our world continues to insist cannot be a part of your kingdom. Sometimes we just need some time. Thanks, Jesus.”

I agree, don’t you? I want to tell Jesus we have some important things to do sometimes that keep us from following God the way we want. Some things that just need attending to first so that we can be really ready to start. When I read this passage, I want to say, “Hey Jesus - isn’t at least a good thing that these folks want to follow you? Isn’t it better that they want to follow you but just aren’t quite ready yet, than not wanting to follow you at all?” As soon as I ask that question in my head though, I hear my mother telling me about an interaction with another parent, a friend of my mom’s, years ago. This friend’s daughter had gotten in trouble on the bus at school, along with another young person. The woman’s daughter was a church-going child from a fairly well-to-do family, and the other child in trouble was just the opposite. When relaying the story, my mom’s friend said, ʺWell, at least I know that my daughter knew better, so that gives me comfort.ʺ My mom said to her, ʺBut doesn’t that make it worse? If the other kid didn’t know better, he can hardly be blamed for his behavior. But your child knew what was right, and still chose to misbehave.ʺ My mom’s response, as you might suspect, did not win her any points with her friends.  

My mom’s story makes me think about discipleship. If we know Jesus, if we know enough to have decided that we want to follow Jesus, I’m afraid, friends, that this doesn’t mean that Jesus goes easier on us. Rather, if we already know what is right, and how we mean to give our hearts and lives to Jesus, I think that means that in turn Jesus will expect more from us. If we know that God is the source of our being, the creator of all that is, and that God has called us to serve God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and if we believe that we want to make God’s way our way, and if we believe that in following Jesus we find abundant life, and find a way to work for the wholeness of the world that is God’s reign come to earth - if we know all that, and still want to put off actually following Jesus, isn’t that worse than not yet being sure about Jesus? Well, if not worse, exactly, I do believe this: just like the child who knew better on the school bus had more responsibility to behave rather than less, if we know Jesus and know that we want to commit our lives to following him, Jesus, it turns out, will expect more of us, not less. Elsewhere in the scriptures, Jesus says that to those who have been given much, they will receive even more, and I think this is the “more” Jesus means - more expectation of commitment, more responsibility. If we say we’re ready to follow Jesus because we know who Jesus is and know how following Jesus is the very purpose of our being, then Jesus expects us to start following. Not tomorrow. Not eventually. Not when we’ve got everything else settled. Not when we’ve just tied up some loose ends. But right now.

Rereading our gospel text, I notice that the second and third folks who come and say they want to follow Jesus, they start their “Yes, but” responses to Jesus like this: “Yes, but first let me.” “But first.” No matter how we shake it, these things we put into the “but first” category when God calls us are just that - things that we put first. God has some strong feelings about what we put first in our lives. We’ve talked more than once about idols. Consistently in the scriptures, one of the things we are warned against again and again is making idols, practicing idolatry. Although we might not relate as much to ancient peoples who crafted handmade images of other gods to worship, at the heart of it, idolatry is really whenever we give anything other than God the place of God in our life. When we let anything else hold the place in our heart, our lives, our world, that is meant to be for God, when we worship anything other than God, when we center our lives around something other than God - that’s idolatry. And from Genesis to Revelation, this is the sin that is most dire, the one that most often results in a breakdown of the covenant between God and God’s people.

I wonder: what is really first in your life? Are we saying to Jesus, “I will follow you,” but adding our qualification, our disclaimer under our breath, perhaps hoping Jesus won’t hear? God first, but really family first. God first, but really being successful first, career first, financial well-being first. God first, but really being good citizen, or being nice and well-liked first. God first, but really comfort and safety and security first. When God calls you, and you say yes to following Jesus, what are the “buts” that are on the tip of your tongue, or muttered under your breath, or the truth you really mean instead? How do you finish this sentence to Jesus, “I will follow you, but first let me…” what? This week, friends, I encourage you - as I will too - to spend some serious time soul-searching how we’re ending our sentence to Jesus. Yes, but first what?

Karoline Lewis eventually heard more in this text than she did at first read. She writes, “I began to wonder -- what if Jesus sees the importance of time, of a minute, of even a second, not just for the sake of the urgency of his ministry, the urgency of the kingdom he wishes to bring into its fullness, the urgency of making sure that all know God’s favor before those who reject God’s favor will silence him for good, but because being human means such urgency -- every moment really does count … Every moment has to count since God made the decision to become one of us. Jesus’ call is not an insensitive plea to abandon that which is important to us, who matter to us, make a difference for us. Jesus’ call to let go is a promise - that God becoming human means that moments matter. Time makes a difference. And that even seconds matter to God. Why? Not for the sake of your service alone, but for the sake of your being in the kingdom God imagines. Every moment matters because every one of us counts.”

Every one of us counts, and every moment counts. Jesus tries to convey to us a sense of urgency. The good news doesn’t have time to wait. The world needs the message of Jesus right now. Look around. Look at the news. Look at the headlines. Look at our nation. Look at our community. Look at our congregation. Look at your own life. We need the message of Jesus, the news about God’s reign on earth, the good news of God’s grace and favor and God’s way that rejects the ways of greed and selfishness and oppression and we need it now. And so Jesus needs disciples, messengers of the good news right now. People who are ready to say “But first you God, and then everything else can come next.” Putting God first is not easy. It is not just saying with our lips that Jesus is number one for us. It’s the daily call of discipleship to follow Jesus with everything we’ve got, trusting in God’s unwavering love and grace, trusting that if we put God first, God will always be with us.

What’s first in your life, really? What’s holding you back from saying Yes to God with your whole heart? What are your “Yes, buts”? Can we work to make God first? God is seeking disciples. Will you follow Jesus, now? Will you make God first? Amen.

Sermon, "Saying Yes to God: Yes and No," Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon 6/10/18

Matthew 21:28-32

Saying Yes to God: Yes and No

Today we’re starting a new sermon series called “Saying Yes to God.” The giveaway, the ultimate point of the series is right in the title: I want us to be equipped to say “Yes” to God when God calls us - whether God is calling us to get to know God better, or calling us to be a follower of Jesus, or whether God is calling us to a particular path or task or ministry, or whether God is calling us to stand up with a bold voice and bold actions, or whether God is calling us to turn away from sin, turn away from destructive ways of life. However God is calling us, the spoiler is: I want us to be ready to say Yes to God. So for the next few weeks, we’ll be thinking about how we can do that, what holds us back from saying yes, what will help us say yes with our whole hearts. Today, we’re specifically thinking about how sometimes we seem to say both Yes and No to God at the same time. Yes with our lips, and no with our hearts. Yes with our words and no with our actions.

In our gospel lesson today, our second text from Matthew is set during what we call Holy Week, just after Jesus enters Jerusalem, greeting by adoring fans, and just before Jesus is arrested, tried, and crucified. Just a few weeks ago we heard another gospel lesson set in this time frame, and remember that this time for Jesus is filled with particularly tense interactions with the religious leaders, to whom Jesus speaks more directly and critically than ever. Jesus tells this parable from inside the temple. When he enters the temple to teach, the chief priests and elders, the religious leaders of the temple, come over to him immediately and question where he gets his authority to teach. Jesus, who often answers questions with questions, tells them that he’ll answer if they answer a question of his, also a question about authority in its way. Jesus asks them if the baptism John the Baptist proclaimed had a heavenly or a human origin. The religious leaders realize that either answer puts them in a bind - either the people who thought John was a prophet will be mad at them, or they will have to explain why they said they didn’t believe what John was preaching. They tell Jesus they can’t answer. And he says that neither will he answer their questions about authority.  

This is what sets Jesus up to share today’s parable. A man has two sons. The man goes to the first and says, “Go, son, and work in the vineyard today.” The son says, “I will not.” But later, he changes his mind and goes anyway and works. The father says the same to the second son: “Go and work in the vineyard today. And this son agrees, saying, “I go, sir.” But later he changes his mind and doesn’t go after all. “Which,” Jesus says, “did the will of his father?” The audience, presumably still the religious leaders, responds that the first - the one who said no but actually went and worked - is the one who did his father’s will. And Jesus concludes: “ Truly, tax-collectors and prostitutes,” two groups of people commonly pointed out as “known sinners” in the society of Jesus’ day, “Truly [they] are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came in the way of righteousness and you didn’t believe him, but they did. And even after you saw it,” he says, “you still didn’t change your mind and believe.”

When I read this parable, I can’t get over how timeless it is. I’m trying to plan a family vacation. My great aunt took my brother Jim to Disney World when he was 13, and I have long-promised to my nephew that I would take him to Disney World someday too. And here he is, 11 years old already. So I’ve been trying to coordinate to get my whole family there. It’s been a challenge. My brother Todd is on a college academic year schedule, and my niece and nephew are on the school calendar, and no one wants to go in the summer when it might be very hot, and Jim is worried about getting time off of work at times he requests because he’s a newer employee where he works, but finally, we managed to settle on January of 2020 as a time when we could all travel together. And after all this, the best commitment to these dates I can get from my brother Jim is, “I don’t have anything else on the calendar for those dates right now. I’m free as of right now.” I keep telling him that all he needs to do, then, is to put this on his calendar, and then he’ll remember not to schedule anything else at the same time. I want him to make this the priority, and to set aside the time for this. To say, “I can’t do that - I have family vacation scheduled for those dates” if someone else tries to claim his time for that week. But so far, he’s not quite willing to commit.

How many of you have been frustrated by someone making a commitment, RSVPing yes, only to be disappointed when they don’t actually show up after all? How many of you have done this yourself - committed to something, but not followed through in the end? How many of you have been unwilling to even RSVP until you knew what other good options you might have for that same time period, or been on the receiving end of that behavior? I know I’m guilty of it. I think about the practice of RSVPing to invitations we receive. RSVP means “Respondez s’il vous plait” - “respond if you please” in French. Most invitations - from formal invitations to informal facebook event invites ask us to respond with our intention to attend or not. I just went through this with inviting friends and family to my brother’s wedding shower - I sent paper invitations and facebook invites. And some folks answered right away, and some folks never answered at all, and some folks used the facebook option that is probably the most frustrating: the one where you can just check “interested,” which can mean anything about whether you can be expected to attend. And sure enough, in the days, even the hours before the actual shower, there was a bit of shuffling: people who we thought weren’t coming who were after all, and people who had initially RSVPed yes, but who weren’t actually going to attend. It’s frustrating, and makes planning a challenge, when people won’t commit, or they won’t honor their commitments. It can make us, the ones who are trying to organize these events, feel like we’re just an option on a list of many possible plans for folks - and maybe an option that is pretty low on the list.

To be clear: I’m not trying to cast blame without recognizing my own shortcomings.  I remember that when I was in seminary, I had a friend Niurca who asked me to hang out with a group of people on a certain evening that week. And I was reluctant - in fact unwilling - to agree too many days in advance. Truthfully, I didn’t want to commit to going with her until I knew what the guy I had a crush on was doing. I wanted to be where he was going to be. My friend Niurca called me out on my behavior immediately. She was angry and hurt that I wouldn’t choose outright to commit to spending time with her, that she was going to be my second-choice, the place I would go only if the person I really wanted to spend my time with was unavailable. If I had just said “No thank you” to her invitation, I’m sure that would have been better than hurting her by letting her know she was just a back-up plan. Or better yet, I could have said “yes” and gone with her and let her know that her friendship was valuable to me too, showing it with my actions.  

We know the saying: “Actions speak louder than words.” Words speak pretty loud already, friends. Our words are important. But over time, people will believe not what we say we will do, but what we actually do. I wonder: what do our words and actions tell us about our commitment to our relationship with God? What do our words and actions say about our commitment to follow Jesus? Is our willingness to commit to God - and follow through on that commitment - deep or shallow? I want, friends, for us to have a deep life of faith, a growing life of faith, a level of commitment to following Jesus that expands the more we get to know Jesus, the more we let Jesus into our hearts, the more we are willing to listen to God and God’s word and let God guide us. Sometimes, though, we’re quick to say “Yes” to God because we think that’s the right thing, but we get distracted by other options, or afraid of our “yes”, or we’ve really put following God on a list of possible plans and only plan to follow through if no better invitations come along. It’s tempting to say “Yes” to God with our lips, but “no” with our hearts and actions.

The funny thing about this parable is that both sons refuse their father - one in words, and one with actions. Expanding the metaphor, everybody in the story refuses God at some point or other on their journey. But our “NOs” to God aren’t the whole story, and they definitely don’t have to be the end of the story. David Lose writes, “I hear in this parable the surprising possibility of hope that someone who has refused to listen to God may yet change his/her mind. Hope that it’s never too late to respond to the grace of the Gospel. Hope that one’s past actions or current status do not determine one’s future. Hope that even those whom good folk … have decided are beyond the pale of decent society are never, ever beyond the reach of God. If this is so,” he concludes, “then perhaps … what we might proclaim … is that no matter what may have happened in the past, yet God is eager to meet us in the present and offer us – indeed, secure – an open future.” It is never too late to say yes to God with words, heart, soul, and life. It is never too late to say yes to God.

So what do your words say - and what do your actions say about the depth of your commitment to God? To following Jesus? To serving and loving God and neighbor? Our challenge is to be very honest with ourselves and with God: where are we saying yes with our lips, but just responding “interested” with our hearts? Where are we sending in our RSVPs to God, but never really showing up to the relationship? God has room for you at the party - sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors and chief priests and elders and disciples and you and me. God’s promise is heaven on earth, God’s reign on earth and in heaven. I promise, that’s the best invitation we’re going to get. Let’s say yes together. And then show up, day by day, to life with God. Amen.