Turning Our Church Upside Down

We tend to think that living life to its fullest means being exalted over others. But Jesus shows us, through his example and our experience in this life, that we experience life in all of its fullness when we humble ourselves and serve others.

Presented by James Paulgaard & others on 22 November 2009

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Turning Our Church Upside Down

My parents visited us last month for the first time since we moved to the Lower Mainland.  And as the time came for us to say good-bye to each other, it was, as it always is, a poignant time.  My mom is 70 years old and my dad is 72, and I am very much aware that each time I see them may be the last.  So the most important thing for me in those moments is that I want my mom and my dad to know that I love them.  And this is not easy with my dad because he is from Norwegian stock, and as some of you may know, northern Europeans don’t tend to be very expressive about their feelings.  So we sometimes have some awkward moment as we both try to communicate our love for each other.  But it is important, so we do it.  With my mom, it comes a little more naturally for her.

Jesus Washing Feet

And this value of making sure that those closest to me know that I love them goes in two directions, because something could happen to me someday.  All of us are mortal and all of us will die one day, unless Jesus comes back to this earth beforehand.  And so, I want my wife and my children to know that I love them too. So I make a point of telling them that I love them and I make a point of showing my love for them with a hug or some other appropriate physical sign of affection.

So imagine what is must have been like for Jesus as he gathered to eat and celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples for the last time.  He KNEW that this would be the last meal that he would have with them before he died.  He KNEW that one of his own followers had already decided in his heart to betray him.  He KNEW that the pain and suffering of the cross lay before him.  And yet, the most important thing to Jesus, in that moment, was that his followers would know that he loved them.  A contemporary paraphrase of the Bible called The Message puts John 13:1 this way, “Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end.” Behind our English translation of this verse is one particular Greek word, telos, which means “end, completion, finish” and so we can say that Jesus, having loved his all of his disciples throughout all of their time together, Jesus now loves them right to the finish.

And Jesus shows them his great love for them by getting up and, even though he was the guest of honour, he took off his outer clothing, stripped down to his loin cloth, which is what a servant would wear, wrapped a towel around his waist, took a basin and some water and began washing his disciples’ feet. 

Turning Our Church Inside Out

Like a space shuttle leaving the launch pad, reaching out to others with God's love requires abundant motivation to overcome the barriers that impede us.

Presented by James Paulgaard 8 Nov 2009

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Turning Our Church Inside Out

One of the quirks that you may not yet know about me is that I am a bit of a space nut.  When I was a kid, I used to soak up everything I could about the Apollo space missions.  I remember the crew of Apollo 8  reading from Genesis 1 as they saw the earth rise above the moon on Christmas Eve 1968.  I remember aggressively lobbying my parents to let me stay up late so that I could see the broadcast of the first man walking on the moon.  I didn’t win that debate, but I remember when it happened.  I remember praying, along with the rest of the world, for the crew of Apollo 13 and not knowing if those three men would make it back to earth alive.  I remember looking at the moon one night after a successful moon landing and thinking to myself, “There are human beings up there, right now!”

Space Shuttle Launch

On February 22, 1996, I experienced the thrill of a lifetime when I watched the Space Shuttle Columbia lift off from Launch Pad 39-B at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  We were five miles away from the launch pad but NASA had set up loudspeakers and we could hear the communication between launch control and the shuttle crew.  16 seconds before the launch, 300,000 gallons of water were dumped underneath the launch pad to absorb the tremendous shock of the rockets and protect the launch pad during lift off. People began calling the last 10 seconds of the launch countdown.  Then the main engines and the solid rocket boosters ignited, the heat from those rockets hit the water, producing a huge cloud of steam which enveloped the shuttle.  Then slowly, surely, the shuttle emerges from the cloud and climbs into the sky on a plume of fire.  Even at the distance we were from the shuttle, when it climbed high enough in the sky, the sound of the solid rocket boosters hit you in the chest and vibrated through your whole body.  Higher and higher the shuttle climbed until we could see it no more.

But there are two things to be aware of anytime that you want to launch a vehicle into space. 

Stewardship of Life

"God had given us a great opportunity—to live our lives in such a way that everything we do, even the small things, can make a difference that will last forever. "

Presented by James Paulgaard on 18 October 2009

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Stewardship of Life

Pastor Mike was in his office working on his sermon for next Sunday when Bob Smith burst through the doorway shaking some papers he had clutched in his hand.  “All you guys think about is money!  And you keep trying to get me to give you more of my money!  And I have had enough of this!  Don’t send me these letters anymore!”  Bob was the husband of Darla, who served as a Sunday School teacher at Peanut Grove Lutheran Church.  “Whoa, whoa!,”  said Pastor Mike, gesturing for calm with his hands.  “just hold on a minute here, Bob!  What’s this all about?”

“You put another one of those letters in my mailbox and if I get one more of those things, I am leaving this church and never coming back again!”

“I think I know what you are talking about Bob, but I want to make sure.  What letter are you referring to?”

Who are you following? (John 1:35-51)

Read: John 1:35-51

Focus: What does it mean to be an apprentice?

Inform

• V. 35 mathaytays a disciple, an apprentice, one who attaches themselves to a spiritual leader

• V. 36 – John the Baptizer’s again describes Jesus as “the Lamb of God”

• V. 39 – “the tenth hour” – probably 4 pm

• V. 41 – Andrew to Peter “We have found the Messiah” – Luther – proclaiming the Gospel is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

Where is Your Life Pointing? (John 1:19-34)

Read: John 1:19-34

Focus: What signs can you identify by their shapes?  What are some things that signs point towards?

Inform

• V. 19 – John the Baptizer’s witness takes place over 3 days

• V. 20 – John’s “I am not” vs. Jesus’ “I am”

• “Christ”

• V. 21 Elijah & John

• “the prophet” (see Deut. 18:15)

The Cream and Bread Sermon (or Small Groups: A Place of Grace)

(Significant Scriptures:  Psalm 103:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 13:31-35)

As I was preparing this message, I had an idea.  I thought it was a good idea at the time.  My thinking was something like this, “What if we did something different?  What if we had a taste test where there would be three dishes, two of which would have a missing ingredient?  Then I could ask someone to come up and taste the three items and they would a) notice that the first two dishes would have a missing ingredient and b) choose the dish that was not missing any ingredients.  And this would then be a great introduction to the rest of my message when I could talk about the Missing Ingredient in our lives and how small groups can help in that area.

So that I went ahead with that idea.  And as a person who values integrity and honesty, I need to tell you that things did not, in any way, go the way that I thought they would.  Here is what happened:

Small Groups: A Place of Truth

(Significant Scriptures:  Exodus 18:13-26; Galatians 2:8-16; John 14:1-6)

You might remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff. When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk–you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice–you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, “What a country!”

Yakov is talking about transformation and change. And as human beings, we have a need to change. 

The Hope that We Already Have

I would like to begin today by talking to you about hope.  Hope is so important to life.  Some scientists once did an experiment

Jesus & the Syrophoenician Woman

which illustrates this.  They took a group of rats and let them swim in water for as long as they could and what they discovered is that these rats would swim for about an hour before they drowned.  Then they took a second group of rats and also placed them in water, but, from time to time, they would lift them out of the water and give them a rest for a bit before they would place them back into the water.  And what the scientists found is that this second group of rats swam for 24 hours before they drowned, 24 times as long as the previous group.  And the scientists theorized that the second group swam longer because they had hope.  They had the hope that someone or something would come along at some point and rescued them from the water.  And that is what enabled them to endure so much longer than did the earlier group.  And that is with animals.  I believe that hope is even more important for humans.  Some have even said that human beings cannot live without hope.

But as we think about hope there are a couple of things to keep in mind. 

Poverty – Part 1: Why should I be concerned?

This past July, as my family and journeyed to Alberta for our annual pilgrimage to visit family and friends, we past a single vehicle rollover on Highway # 1 west of Salmon Arm.  Always when I encountered such a scene, the question that runs through my mind is, “Should I stop to help?”  We slowed down and while we could see that the emergency response vehicles and personnel had not arrived on scene, we also noticed that there were about a dozen vehicles lining the sides of the road and several people were already ministering to the people involved in the accident.  Reasonably certain that the needed care was being provided and that there was little more that we could do, we continued on our journey, though not without some second-guessing of that decision.

The Christian Church finds itself in a similar predicament at times.  The early Church was not only concerned with spreading the Good News of forgiveness and a new, eternal and abundant life with Jesus Christ.  They also lived out that life by caring for the needs of those around them.

A family in the Anapra neighbourhood of Juarez, Mexico

Poverty – Part 2: What can I do?

Jesus is the one who gives us forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.  As we respond to the richness of his gifts with a desire to share them with others, there are several things we can do to help the poor:

Children lining up for lunch in the village of Sicachique, Chihuahua, Mexico

• pray, pray, pray – Pray for the poor in your personal devotions, your family devotions and, if you have an opportunity to suggest prayer petitions, in the divine service as well.
• personal lifestyle changes – intentionally turning away from the idolatry of consumerism (“buy this and you will live”), being a good steward of all that God has entrusted to you and living a frugal lifestyle so that you will be able to generously share with those in need.  This may include making different choices about what you buy, like choosing to buy products from companies that pay the farmers a fair price for their product (ie. Fair Trade products).

Questions: What about Mary the mother of Jesus?

Today we continue our summer sermon series of “Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask.”  It’s a time when you get to ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask about something from the Bible, or about God or faith, or about life in general.  And then during the sermon time, we look at one of those questions in the light of God’s Word.

And the question we are considering today is about Mary.  Now there are several Mary’s in the New Testament and sometimes we can get them mixed up.  Mary, or Miriam as it would have been in Hebrew, was a very common name among Jews in Palestine at that time.  But the Mary we are looking at today is Mary the mother of Jesus.   And here is the question about her:  “Jesus’ treatment of his ‘mother and brothers’ when the come to talk to him (cf. Matthew 12:46) and his words to Mary at the Cana wedding seem harsh and terse.  I feel He wasn’t very kind to them then.  Of course He made provision for her care by assigning John to her at the crucifixion.  Yet the Roman and Orthodox churches honour Mary to the point of veneration.  How would you describe Jesus’ attitude toward Mary, and what should our attitude be?”

Christian Morality: It is not all about sex

Finally, though I have had to speak at some length about sex, I want to make it as clear as I possibly can that the centre of Christian morality is not here.  If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong.  The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins.  All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people inthe wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred.  For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become.  They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self.  The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute.  But, of course, it is better to be neither.

(C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (MacMillan: New York, 1943) 94-95.

Questions: What about anger?

During the summer we have been doing something that’s a little different:  we have been giving you the chance to choose the theme for the sermons. People have been sending in their questions and then we pick one of those questions as our sermon theme.  We may not get to all the questions but we will try to get to as many as we can.

And the question that we are looking at this week is this:   “I’d like to understand anger… basically I think it sucks… so many jump to it so quickly… why do we even have to have it!  It’s just so dumb!  Really doesn’t do much good, usually more damage to a situation…”  That email reflects some of the negative experience that many of us have had as a result of someone else’s anger.  So what about anger?

Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth), the world's leading deception expert portrays "anger," one of the seven universal micro-expressions in "Lie to Me." (photo ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Frank Ockenfels/Fox)

Let’s begin by looking at our Gospel lesson for today.  In it we have two sets of people, both angry, but for different reasons, and they do different things with their anger. 

Should a Christian marry or date a non-Christian?

(This was written in response to a question about whether a Christian should marry or date a non-Christian)

I briefly referred to the topic of Christians and non-Christians marrying in the following sermon:

http://jamespaulgaard.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/questions-how-do-you-know-if-you-are-following-gods-will-for-your-life/#more-390

The bible verse that I mention is 2 Corinthians 6:14 which reads,  ^“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

The context (see vv. 15-18) refer to religious syncretism, the mixing of Christian and pagan beliefs, and so, this verse is first and foremost a prohibition against such mixing. This is in-line with the first commandment (You shall have no other gods before me.)

In a secondary sense, this passage is also sometimes used as support for saying that Christians should not marry non-Christians (which is the sense that I refer to it in the sermon) or that a Christian should not have a non-Christian as a business partner.  This is good advice and also common sense.  Marriage partners have enough challenges these days without being divided on spiritual matters.  A spiritual tug-of-war can develop between husband and wife, decisions about the spiritual upbringing of children can be divisive and the children receive conflicting messages about faith and life.  But the context of the passage does not support an absolute prohibition against “mixed” marriages, and none of the Ten Commandments prohibit such unions.

So, in freedom, a believer could marry a non-believer.  I have seen examples of such marriages where God has worked through the believing spouse to bring the non-believer to faith.  I have also seen situations where that has not happened.  And there are also marriages where the believer has wandered away from what was once a devout faith after a marriage to a non-believer.  And even when two sincere Christians marry, there is no guarantee that one of them will not walk away from their faith at some point in the future.

In summary, I think that it is a good idea for a person to try to make sure that the one they are considering for a potential marriage partner is on the same page as they are on spiritual matters (and other major issues as well).

A Christian Preamble for a Will

PREAMBLE

First, realizing the uncertainty of this life, I place full confidence and trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who promised: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Second, knowing that the wages of sin is death, I believe that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, suffered and died for the forgiveness of all my sins, which I neither deserve nor merit, but receive as a free gift of God, who is rich in grace and mercy.

Third, I urge my heirs not to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but to take hold of the life which is life indeed through faith in Jesus Christ.

A draft of a Health Care Directive

(This is a draft of a Health Care Directive that I offer as a resource to you as you prepare your own directive.  Please make sure that you have this document reviewed by a lawyer from the jurisdiction where you live before using it.  Modifications may have to be made to comply with the laws where you live.)

HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE

TO:     MY FAMILY, MY PHYSICIAN, MY LAWYER, TO ANY MEDICAL FACILITY IN WHOSE CARE I HAPPEN TO BE, AND TO ALL THOSE CONCERNED WITH MY CARE.

As a Christian, I believe that all human life is a valuable gift from God and is therefore worthy of protection, preservation and support.  In matters of human life, the Christian aim is always to care, never to kill. However, as a Christian, my hope and my goal is not contained within this life on this earth.  I look forward with anticipation to the glorious life after death in the new heaven and the new earth which Jesus will give to everyone who trusts in Him.

Therefore, I, __________________________________, being capable of giving instructions about my current medical treatment, make this Health Care Directive to be followed if I lose the capacity to make or communicate decisions regarding my health care.

Cremation & Making Final Arrangements

(This was written in response to a question about final arrangements and cremation.)

It is good to talk about wills and final arrangements ahead of time, and it is especially good to do so when everyone is feeling fine and the sun is shining.  It is part of the stewardship of the life that God has given to us.

Regarding cremation, our Church does not have an official position on the matter.  And if you talk to two different pastors you could get two different answers.  But all Christians should agree that we believe in the resurrection of the dead.  We are looking forward to that day when Jesus will return to this earth in a visible form and everyone will be raised from the dead.  Believers will be raised to eternal life with Jesus.  Those who do not believe will be raised to suffer an eternal existence apart from God.   The new bodies that we will be given will be different from the ones that we have now in that the laws of time and space we experience here will no longer apply to us.  Our new bodies will never grow old, never get sick and never die.  Yet our new bodies will somehow share a one to one identity with our old body.  Perhaps Jesus, in a miraculous way, will reconstitute the molecules of our old body into a new transformed body.  After all, the God who spoke all of creation into existence with a word could easily do that.