First Congregational Church
August 30, 2020
13th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 12:9-21
“When No One Is Looking”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching



Apparently it is Punday Sunday today. Or at least in the leading of my heart for all your hearts. To that point, people never believe me when I tell them that I got my incredibly detailed tattoo in Spain. Nobody expects the Spanish ink precision. He was the one knight nobody expected to meet on the battlefield that day, Sir Prise.  What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows.


True story: I was speaking with, let’s say, Olga, the other day, and we were talking about parenting and raising children, because with no children of my own, I can so objectively comment on the efforts of those with children - she said with tongue in cheek. And Olga and her daughter, let’s say, Julia, were shopping in Traverse City earlier in the week.


Since this was Olga’s second long day in the big city in a row, when they were done in Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Olga was really tired after unloading the cart into the car, so tired, that she sort of pushed the cart off to the side, like we are all sometimes tempted to do when there is no cart corral. Olga and Julia get in the car, and just before they are to drive off, Julia says to her mother, “I’ll just go and take the cart back” as she unbuckled her belt again.


Now Olga raised Julia well, and to do the good things we should do in life, including taking back carts when there’s no cart corral. But like it can happen to all of us, Olga was “done,” even though pushing the cart off to the side wasn’t what she normally did. Olga said that the end of that incident was her apology to her daughter for raising her so well - she said tongue in cheek.


I would never suggest that this sort of slipping of character happens with any one of you - regardless of how you are listening to these words. But should the shoe ever fit, know that you are not alone in your plight.


When the apostle Paul wrote his great letter to the Roman Christian community, he had never visited them, never interacted with them to any degree. In fact, part of the reason for his fifteen chapter letter served as an introduction to the Roman Christians, since he was planning to stop for a bit while on his way to Spain. Since he had no prior connection to them, the letter wasn’t written to correct any particular issues, but to let them know a little bit of who he was, so maybe they would sponsor him financially as he made his way west.


Scripture
Romans 12:9-21   Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


If I dared to do such a thing, it would be interesting to use this passage as a sermon - only these designated verses and nothing else. The first sentence could be read, followed by a full minute of silent meditation to think about it before going on to the next one. Perhaps someday….


There is so much good in this passage, but near the end, where it says, “in offering food and drink to the hungry and thirsty, we are heaping coals on the other person’s head, well, doesn’t that have a hint of self-serving revenge in it? “I’ll get my revenge. I’ll show them. Here - take this sandwich. And take this bottle of juice, too, while you’re at it - she also said, dripping with sarcasm. And yes, I think sarcasm is the correct term, because sarcasm is anger dipped in humor. So I wonder if Paul’s intent was the idea of “fake it til you make it - love on them till you love them.


It has been an interesting week with some pieces that have stuck around for a little longer than usual. Those of you new to this church family, I hope you understand that I don’t try to pit one group of people against another group. So in that sense, I try to sense what God needs us to gnaw on, and part of the message this week is not about real specifics, but more about the bigger picture.


In that vein, I can’t tell you where I found the comment, whether it was a news thing or a Facebook thing or a Dr. Seuss thing. But a media reporter was trying to get this person - I don’t even know his name - to plant his flag on one side or the other of whatever topic was being discussed. Maybe some of you will recall it, but that wasn’t the important part. It was the turn of phrase and the grace in it that caught my ear and heart. The person interviewed said, “Let me just extend appreciation for your effort to get my response and I respectfully defer to the next question.”


What a great, inspired - no doubt - phrase! “Let me just extend appreciation for your effort to get my response and I respectfully defer to the next question,” acknowledges the interviewer’s job as important and honorable, while at the same time, lets the reporter know that he is deliberately not answering the question, in as tactful and respectful manner as possible. The interviewed individual could have become hot and bothered, but chose to go with good and sincere and honorable. And then I wonder, if we can find in ourselves to be good and sincere and honorable more often, then might the world actually become better and honorable while still being real?


In another conversation, just yesterday, an individual repeated a question that she had heard in a different conversation. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like, “What if athletics are the leaders to bring peace and healing to this world?” and to narrow it a little - peace and healing to this nation?


I thought about that question, not really the specifics of it, but about the “other” groups that have tried to do it and have failed - which I would broadly paint as religion/Christianity. There have been moments, over the course of history, where culture and differences have made some bridges, but by and large - some two thousand years of Christianity, nearly 1,400 years of Islam and Buddhism and millions of combined years of other faiths have not accomplished what we have been commissioned to do. And maybe it is too tall an order - to bring peace and healing. Except that it’s not. And we all sort of know it.


Doug Bratt, from Calvin Seminary, made an astute observation. He said, “When my family travelled in Asia we saw nearly countless products that were imitation brands. One of our favorites was “Poma” (not Puma) athletic shoes. Those knock-offs, in fact, looked quite a bit like the real thing. But they were actually low-quality counterfeits.


Low-quality counterfeits is an interesting phrase, and it is interesting how we are drawn to good deals, that really aren’t good deals. I discovered long ago that getting cheap printer ink cartridges was actually more expensive in time and frustration than getting the OEM - original equipment manufacturer versions. And yet, the cheaper the paper towel, the better to wash windows. Go figure.


When Paul invites his readers to “love,” he’s not talking about a knock-off brand of love, but the top-shelf stuff, the genuine stuff that God shows to all God’s people - the unlovable as well as the adorables, those who seem deserving and those who seem to be undeserving in our eyes, God showers everyone with the same grace, the same joy, the same love, the same mercy. Yet the real beauty of this abundance is revealed when no one is looking.


I don’t know about anyone else, but sometimes, over the last months, I’ve wondered about God spreading so much good stuff - the good stuff being all the joy and mercy and love into one basket. I’ve wondered about how we can determine what is evil and should we really hate it - because isn’t there enough hate in the world already. And I’ve wondered about clinging to what is good, because I know there are millions and millions of people trying to do that very thing, and yet, sometimes if feels like one shoe is nailed to the floor and we just spin in circles.


Then again, I don’t know about you, but it seems that when I get to all that wondering, God sends along a scripture like this one from Romans. Most all of us may struggle with hating anything - whether we really do hate or we hate hating - but we can more easily get our arms around being devoted to one another in love. 


In this church family, there are so many opposites, but - I think in realizing that - we get the idea that we are the better for having the person who used to sit in the second to the back pew on the choir side, and the one who used to sit in the third row back from the pulpit side. They’re still alive, but we miss them, for all sorts of different reasons, but when we think of those who bring a smile to our face, that’s when we understand being devoted to one another in love - a little better.


Mr. Bratt also pointed out that Paul calls his audience to resist the urge to ration their love on the basis of peoples’ ability to “repay.” That’s an interesting insight when paired with honoring one another above ourselves - your self - my self.  When we honor others ahead of ourselves - when no one is looking - that’s when it’s really about you and God. And when that sort of honoring comes from the heart, there really isn’t a need to let others know about it, although you can, because we know when we are true to ourselves and God, and that is an understanding that cannot be bought or bartered in any other way.


So let us not think about it later, or when we have a minute, but right now, let us step into the chamber of what is good and right and peaceful and healing as we pray.


Way, Truth, Light, may our love be genuine. May we let go of what is evil in us and open us to what is good. By your Spirit in us, may we truly love other: not just to tolerate them, but to honor them. Give us your zeal, your energy, the true desire to serve you. Give us the faith to rejoice with hope, to be patient in suffering and to persevere in prayer. Help us take the opportunities we will have this day and this week to contribute to the needs of those around us, to extend hospitality to strangers, to bless those who may oppose us, to bless them and not curse them. May we be mindful of those who rejoice and may we rejoice with them. May we be mindful of those who weep, and may we weep with them. May we be present for them this day.


Give us your grace to live this day in harmony with others. We do not need to pretend we are wiser than we are. Help us not to be haughty but to know that the lowly are our peers. Give us the grace to not repay evil for evil, but to focus on what is good for the sake of all. Give each of us grace to live peaceably with all. And give us your grace to feed the hungry, even if they oppose us, and to give drink to the thirsty even if we do not like them. May we overcome evil with good by the grace of your love in us. And all your people say, Amen.  

First Congregational Church
August 23, 2020
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 12:1-8   
“Crickets?”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching



I saw it posted on the internets that cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. He replied, “Because I think I’m making progress.”


Ole and Sven grew up together, literally doing everything together. One day Lena determined that she would go fishing with them. So they launched the boat and settled in for a nice afternoon on the water.


Eventually, Ole says 39, and he and Sven crack up. Sven throws out the number 24, and they both cackle like crows. They go back and forth, tossing out numbers and laughing like hyenas. Finally Lena can’t stand it any longer, so she asks, “What gives with the numbers?”


They explain to her, that after so many years of friendship and closeness, they simply numbered the jokes that they told, so that there was no need to tell the whole joke. Lena figured it was a pretty silly, albeit simple, game. So she said, “19.” No response. A little later she said, “54.” Crickets. Finally she asked them what was going on, to which Ole replied, “Some people just can’t tell jokes.”


It’s a thinker, but the truth of the matter is is that that is often the conversation while I’m on vacation and stories or jokes are being shared.


Crickets. I think that is one of the more humorous redefinitions in our language. Aside from Jiminy Cricket of Disney fame and the crickets on the hearth and in Times Square in other literature, crickets don’t get a lot of headlines. So most of us don’t even realize that there are over 900 sorts of crickets in the world.


Unless one has visited the markets of Southeast Asia, or perhaps Africa, the real use of crickets as a food snack is outside our ken. In a report put out by the United Nations in 2013, 20,000 farmers in Thailand were raising house crickets, with an estimated production of 7,500 tons per year. You know how little a cricket is. In  Brazil, a black cricket in a room is said to foretell illness; a gray one, money; and a green one, hope.


Some of you know that instead of going to Canada to fish this year - because - covid, ya know - I went to the east side of the Upper Peninsula, to the St. Mary’s River. It was a totally different place from where I usually fish. The water in my Canada haunts is the color of tea. That from the St. Mary’s River was as clear as tap water. The current was different, the other boat traffic was different, almost everything was different, except the crickets. I don’t know if the US crickets used a different sound frequency or pitch or accent than the Canadian ones, but the memory of hot days was just as instantaneous.


Scripture
Romans 12:1-8 A Living Sacrifice
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.


Humble Service in the Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.


As it was mentioned earlier, one of the modern uses of the word or sound of crickets is in identifying silence. The irony - I find - is that this symbol for silence - isn’t silent. But it’s still an answer to this morning’s Jeapordy answer: “Crickets.” Alex, what is “Who wants to offer their body as a living sacrifice for God?”


Although it sounds like I’m downplaying the point of the passage from Romans, that is not my intention. But at first reading, that was what first came to mind. Who, in their right mind, wants to lay down their life to serve God?


Scott Hoezee of Calvin College cited a study published in 2004 on the scientific American.com website. Mr. Hoezee wrote that “The article refers to national surveys that suggest that most business people believe they are more moral than other business people. Psychologists who study moral intuition also think they are more moral than other psychologists.


In one College Entrance Exam Board survey of 829,000 high school seniors, less than 1 percent rated themselves below average in their “ability to get along with others.” That means that 99% thought they got along well with others. 60 percent of those surveyed placed themselves in the top 10 percent. (of being able to get along with others.)


In a study of Stanford University students, respondents rated themselves higher than their peers on personal qualities such as friendliness and selfishness. Surveyors then warned them about the “better than average bias” that suggests that we recognize biases in others more quickly than we recognize them in ourselves.


Yet even after that warning, 63% of the subjects still claimed that their initial evaluations were objective - that the students thought themselves friendly and not selfish. In fact, 13% of them even claimed to be too modest in their initial assessment of themselves.


Frank Sulloway and Michael Shermer found similar results when surveying people about reasons for their belief in God. Most pointed to intellectual reasons such as the world’s good design and complexity for their faith in God. However, they also attributed others’ reasons for belief in God to emotional reasons such as that it’s comforting and that it gives meaning - implying that a reasoned response to faith is more valid than an emotional response to faith.


All this comes together - in a very loose manner, I admit, because numbers are numbers and studies are studies - to imply that we tend to see ourselves more positively than God, in some ways, does. This implication also applies to those who try to mask feelings of inferiority with claims of superiority or artificial humility.


Paul calls us to neither too high nor too low an estimate of ourselves, but to what he says in verse 3, is “sober judgement.” Paul’s point is that sober judgment doesn’t rest on how others judge us, but on God’s view of God’s people, and we can understand God’s view better when we understand God’s measure of faith in us.


I am sure there would be interesting answers to the question of how we understand a “measure.” Maybe some might use a ruler or yardstick, others might use a distance. For whatever goofy reason, when I think of a measure, my mind goes to a good-sized scoop, like for feeding cattle.


What’s cool is that God doesn’t give out different measures of faith. You don’t get 5 measures and I only get one. We all get deserved - and undeserved measures. The difference comes in how we receive those measures.


Paul mentions measures of prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, leading, and giving. Those are just some of the gifts that allow us to respond to God’s measure of grace in each of our lives. There are actually too many different expressions of our measures to list on any given Sunday morning. What is just as important as the expression of our faith is our need for everyone to use their expressions as best as they are able, because it takes all of us to be God’s best individuals, as well as our willingness to serve God though through measures of faith.


I’m sure he wasn’t referring to money alone when Steven Garnaas Holmes wrote that “to follow Jesus is to spend our privilege for the sake of those who have none. The only claim of our faith is not to privilege, but to God’s grace. Our “measure” is God’s gift of faith that receives God’s grace.


Not being dyed in the wool Greek scholars, most of us miss the detail hidden in verse 2. It has to do with the word, “transformed.” The line is “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “Be transformed” We might hear it as a command, like “go - be transformed - or else.” Actually, the way the Greek is used, it means, “go, have this done to you, let this happen to you  - this grace.”


As an accountant would endeavor to continue being transformed by the magic of numbers, a carpenter can be transformed into a deeper relationship with God through the pieces that he or she builds. As a teacher feeds their faith in the marvel of a student understanding a concept, the faith of a person who prays becomes deeper and their relationship to that person becomes greater - even if they don’t know each other.


The only real problem with this passage from Romans is that we can fight it by not allowing the Holy Spirit to enlarge our embodiment of it. Oh, well, I’m not a prophet or a Bible teacher, and I’m not a very good encourager and I certainly don’t have backing to have the gift of giving. Except that none of us does what we do - especially what we are gifted in - alone. God’s Holy Spirit guides us, leads us, inspires us to do what God has need of us to do.


And we all have the ability to pray. So pick out the Kindergarten and first grade teachers today, and ask God to bless them - in this county and your county - where your children and grandchildren live. Tomorrow, pray for the second and third grade teachers. On Tuesday, lift up the fourth and fifth grade teachers. And don’t forget the administrators, custodians, cooks, bus drivers and support staff. Or pick out firefighters and police officers or surgeons or business owners. There’s a whole lot of stress these days, and we all have the ability to help relieve some of it, even if by one prayer at a time. And let us not refrain a moment more as we all pray.


Holy and Almighty God, you know well that there are days when we proclaim you a pest, constantly prodding us to reach out to others. There are days when we say you are  a fool, to imagine we might take up crosses to follow you. There are days when we lament you as BrokenHeart, as your world grows more violent, more hurtful, more hateful. So, Giver of 31,000-some new days - give or take, let us start again and simply say you are our Hope, our Peace, our Comfort, our Guide, our Joy, our God in Community, Holy in One. And as we think of those who carry firehoses and trays of food, bags of blood plasma and bags of money, and all your children, may you be to them - as you are to us - this day and ever more so on our next day. And all your people say, Amen.

Sermon
I am quite sure that everyone and their uncle is frustrated, irritated, so ‘over with’ the pandemic stuff. When this whole thing started, for reasons I didn’t understand at the time, I stuck some of the sayings that came across Facebook into a separate folder. I happened to take a look into that folder this week, and there was some good stuff that bears repeating.   


Former teacher, chaplain, mother to five dogs, wife to one husband, Madison, WI resident Kitty O’Meara wrote a proverb-like poem that became sort of a pandemic anthem. “And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.”


When the part about playing games came up, I was reminded of some thing that came to my mind earlier this week. There are people who are having meal times together and study times together on the internet so why couldn't we play games together on the internet? Grandparents can play Chutes and Ladders with their grands on Zoom or whatever platform and get to spend a little more time with them that way. Just a thought.


Ms. O’Meara’s was and is an inspired poem with tranquil recommendations for the time that would take the world by a scruff of our necks. 5 months later, today’s reality is that the fear is still very, very present for many people, although outdoor activities are a little easier now than they were in March. Others are mourning the absence of the freedom we had in what seems like an eternity ago. Neither of those situations, nor any of those between them are better than another. They just are. So part of this morning’s message is to remind all of us that in the big scheme of life, the last five months are barely a blink. It serves us all well to remember where, how, when and in whom we are grounded.


Just be careful because people are going crazy from being in lockdown! Actually, I've just been talking about this with the microwave and toaster while drinking coffee and we all agreed that things are getting bad. I didn't mention anything to the washing machine as she puts a different spin on everything. Certainly not to the fridge as he is acting cold and distant. In the end the iron straightened me out and she said everything will be fine, no situation is too pressing. The vacuum was very unsympathetic… told me to just suck it up, but the fan was more optimistic and hoped it would all soon blow over! The toilet looked a bit flushed when I asked its opinion and didn't say anything but the door knob told me to get a grip. The front door said I was unhinged and so the curtains told me to … yes, you guessed it … pull myself together.


It is interesting how we can become near-sighted in the things that go on around us, and we fail to keep the farther sight in mind. If you think back on the famous Joseph - of Amazing Technicolor Coat fame - we get a clear picture of farsightedness. He was sold at the age of 17 as a slave to Midianite merchants and taken to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar, one of the Pharoah’s officials. Over the next 13 years, Joseph worked as a slave - one day very much like the last and the next - increasing his owner’s wealth. Then he was imprisoned on a false charge of adultery, and while jailed, Joseph took to interpreting dreams, including those of the Pharaoh, who brought him out of prison. Joseph eventually ended up as the second in command of all Egypt. Eventually seven years of plenty gave way to seven years of want for everyone - Egypt as well as in the Middle East.


22 years after Joseph’s brothers sold him, the brothers went to the Egyptian court, asking for grain for their people. 22 years is a long time, and over that length of time, an undeserved wrong has the potential to become a raging monster. We all know that a lot can happen in five months or 22 years that can change a person. So it was just before his 40th birthday, that Joseph experienced holy far-sightedness.


Genesis 45:1-15  Joseph Makes Himself Known
45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.


4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.


8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’


12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.


Thank you, Bill.  That passage is one that can certainly stand on its own. In fact, I’m rather certain that a whole sermon series could come out it But that is the Old Testament passage for today. The Gospel passage, from Matthew, has even more to teach us about being farsighted.


Matthew 15:10-20
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”


This passage is a good ying to the Old Testament’s yang. The passage about Joseph is practical, more realistic, highly relatable. This passage from Matthew is more theoretical, more conceptual. Esoteric, even. Both passages are accessible. The next passage that continues from Matthew? That’s a little horse of a different color.


Too often, children’s songs aren’t given the credence they should have. That little ditty, “I Just Wanna Be a Sheep?” From it we get the reminder that Pharisees were not always “fair” to their own people. Sadducees were so sad, you see, because they didn’t believe in the risen Christ, so they didn’t know or appreciate the joy of all that Christ did in his death and resurrection on our behalf. And “I don’t want to be a Canaanite, cuz they raise cain at night? Yep, Canaanite’s were not only descendants from Noah’s grandson - of Ark and animal fame - they were a strong, fierce, wild people - the sort of people you cross the street to avoid confrontation.


Matthew 15:21-28 The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”


24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.


This is one of those sticky passages that I’d rather not look at. That bit about the bread and the dog and the girl? Maybe if we understood the culture better from that time, it might a bit more palatable. Even so, there is some farsighted wisdom that can come from it.


In Jesus’ silence before the woman, perhaps he was looking far into the future, to see where this daughter would go. Or perhaps where she had been, to better understand her. Perhaps the mother had some farsightedness in understanding that Jesus was the one who could make her daughter well. So we can take away the need for courage to act on the gift of our instincts, even when the situation before us seems rather remote.


Sometimes we can get really focused on a task and when someone silently comes up on us, scares the bejeebers out of us. Or we forget to drink enough water, or whatever other things that need to balance out our intense moments. So may God use these examples and words and sentiments as reminders to enjoy the day, the weeks, this time that will be over before we know it.


Rather than a prayer to end this morning's message, I thought some thing from the heart of Fred Rogers, of neighborhood fame, would fill the bill. He said it many times throughout their lives, children will feel the world has turned topsy-turvy. It's not the ever present smile that will help them feel secure. It's knowing that love can hold many feelings, including sadness, and that they can count on the people they love to be with them until the world trans right side up again. Let us count on God’s love to be with us as we adjust to the needs of living in this world - and the next. And all God’s people say, Amen.

Sermon  “Trust”
Before the sermon proper, I have a couple of visuals for you all. The first is obviously relevant to our second scripture passage, and the first is apropos to the topic in general.


A cowboy rides his horse into a small town. His throat is parched, so he ties his horse to a pole next to a bar and goes in for a root beer. He comes out a few minutes later, and someone already stole his horse.


The people of the town are looking to see his reaction, they aren’t even discreet about it. He looks around at everyone and says loud and clear: “I will walk back into the bar to get myself another root beer, and if I don’t see my horse right in front of the bar, I will have to do what I did in Texas a year ago after someone stole my horse. And trust me, I didn’t like what I had to do in Texas a year ago.”


After his confident speech, the man walked back into the bar. The townsfolk looked at each other in fear and got the horse back. The cowboy finished his second root beer and walked out of the bar, cinched up the horse, but just before he left the bartender walked up to him and asked. “Hey, cowboy, we know that we got you your horse back, but do you mind telling us what you had to do a year ago in Texas?” The cowboy looked at him with an iron gaze and responded: “I had to walk home.”


Having sat in a pew a time or two over the course of my life, I am well aware of the ease of one’s mind drifting away from the service, sermon, hymns, and every other part of even the most spectacular of worship services. So this morning I’m giving you all an extra head’s up, because I think Eugene Peterson’s treatment of our two scripture passages not only make them clearer, but are refreshing and invitational for our modern day.


Scripture
Romans 10:5-17   The Message
4-10 The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story—no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest.
It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
11-13 Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.


Matthew 14:22-33   The Message Walking on the Water
22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
27 But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” 28 Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
29-30 He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
31 Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”


Thank you, Bill and Sonia. In the middle of the Romans passage, there is this line: “Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” A couple lines later, the writer of Romans asks, “But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust?” The passage then goes on to hint at - I think - Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem - with that “grand processions” comment. And then the scripture about Peter trusting Jesus - and not trusting follows. It seems rather pointed, that we trust God as Jesus tried so hard to tell us - over the course of all these centuries.


Except that sometimes, we get distracted, and boy, oh, boy, or girl, oh, girl, what there isn’t to distract us these days?! I came across a meme by Joyce Meyer that summarized the essence of the whole trust issue. It said, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.”


One of our most important jobs these days is to remember that after we determine to live a life patterned after Christ, is that one of God’s jobs is then to go to work and set things right for us - and that we can trust God where we are lead and in what we are called to do. It’s a truth we can rely on, even in the darkest of night, which is the reference of that 4:00 a.m. mention by Matthew. Even when we are faint-hearted, we can trust God to reach out to us without hesitation, keeping in mind that God’s world and our world have different timing frames. Even when it seems that our lives are hanging ten for the time being, God is in our boat with us, not leaving us or forsaking us.


It’s helpful to remember those truths, when we can go to places like our church or to be with people we know well. But we can’t always be with those we want to be with, or be in the places we’d like to be. But we all have the ability, this morning, to be reminded of God’s promises and our ability to trust God as we partake of our Lord’s Supper together - regardless of when you can actually do it - because it is in the same spirit.


Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
So we are reminded that while Jesus was eating with his disciples that last night, when he took the bread, blessed it in giving thanks for it, when he gave it to them and said, “Eat, this is my body for you,” that he understands us and our difficulties in sometimes trusting. In eating that which represents Christ’s body, the movement of our arms, the chewing and the tasting reinforce memories, handed down through the centuries, that we can trust God, through God’s Son and God’s Holy Spirit. The bread of life, for the people of God.


When we remember Jesus taking the cup, blessing it in giving thanks for it, we are reminded again, by the action of arm, the drinking and swallowing, that we can trust the pattern of partaking of the cup, and thereby trusting in the gift of Christ’s love for us. The cup of love, for the people of God.


Faint-hearted, what’s got into us this day is our reminder that have a security and a safe place for placing our trust - regardless of what is going on in the world and around us. So let us give thanks.


God of the lost and found, of ups and downs, thank you for always being there, for us and with us and even in us - especially for those times of our disbelief. Thank you for giving us practice, to make muscle memories, to increase our faith, sustain us in our worries and strengthen our resolve to again make our way with you - renewed and refreshed. Help each of us to act out of such trust, that we might be able to build bridges, heal wounds and mend the brokenness of this world. For your presence and work and grace and love, all your people say, Amen.

First Congregational Church
August 9, 2020
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost & Communion
Romans 10:5-17, Matthew 14:22-33
“Trust”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching
​

Before the sermon proper, I have a couple of visuals for you all. The first is obviously relevant to our second scripture passage, and the first is apropos to the topic in general.


A cowboy rides his horse into a small town. His throat is parched, so he ties his horse to a pole next to a bar and goes in for a root beer. He comes out a few minutes later, and someone already stole his horse.


The people of the town are looking to see his reaction, they aren’t even discreet about it. He looks around at everyone and says loud and clear: “I will walk back into the bar to get myself another root beer, and if I don’t see my horse right in front of the bar, I will have to do what I did in Texas a year ago after someone stole my horse. And trust me, I didn’t like what I had to do in Texas a year ago.”


After his confident speech, the man walked back into the bar. The townsfolk looked at each other in fear and got the horse back. The cowboy finished his second root beer and walked out of the bar, cinched up the horse, but just before he left the bartender walked up to him and asked. “Hey, cowboy, we know that we got you your horse back, but do you mind telling us what you had to do a year ago in Texas?” The cowboy looked at him with an iron gaze and responded: “I had to walk home.”


Having sat in a pew a time or two over the course of my life, I am well aware of the ease of one’s mind drifting away from the service, sermon, hymns, and every other part of even the most spectacular of worship services. So this morning I’m giving you all an extra head’s up, because I think Eugene Peterson’s treatment of our two scripture passages not only make them clearer, but are refreshing and invitational for our modern day.


Scripture
Romans 10:5-17   The Message
4-10 The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah, who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before God soon discovers it’s not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story—no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest.
It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”
11-13 Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.


Matthew 14:22-33   The Message Walking on the Water
22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
27 But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” 28 Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
29-30 He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
31 Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”


Thank you, Bill and Sonia. In the middle of the Romans passage, there is this line: “Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” A couple lines later, the writer of Romans asks, “But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust?” The passage then goes on to hint at - I think - Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem - with that “grand processions” comment. And then the scripture about Peter trusting Jesus - and not trusting follows. It seems rather pointed, that we trust God as Jesus tried so hard to tell us - over the course of all these centuries.


Except that sometimes, we get distracted, and boy, oh, boy, or girl, oh, girl, what there isn’t to distract us these days?! I came across a meme by Joyce Meyer that summarized the essence of the whole trust issue. It said, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.”


One of our most important jobs these days is to remember that after we determine to live a life patterned after Christ, is that one of God’s jobs is then to go to work and set things right for us - and that we can trust God where we are lead and in what we are called to do. It’s a truth we can rely on, even in the darkest of night, which is the reference of that 4:00 a.m. mention by Matthew. Even when we are faint-hearted, we can trust God to reach out to us without hesitation, keeping in mind that God’s world and our world have different timing frames. Even when it seems that our lives are hanging ten for the time being, God is in our boat with us, not leaving us or forsaking us.


It’s helpful to remember those truths, when we can go to places like our church or to be with people we know well. But we can’t always be with those we want to be with, or be in the places we’d like to be. But we all have the ability, this morning, to be reminded of God’s promises and our ability to trust God as we partake of our Lord’s Supper together - regardless of when you can actually do it - because it is in the same spirit.


Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
So we are reminded that while Jesus was eating with his disciples that last night, when he took the bread, blessed it in giving thanks for it, when he gave it to them and said, “Eat, this is my body for you,” that he understands us and our difficulties in sometimes trusting. In eating that which represents Christ’s body, the movement of our arms, the chewing and the tasting reinforce memories, handed down through the centuries, that we can trust God, through God’s Son and God’s Holy Spirit. The bread of life, for the people of God.


When we remember Jesus taking the cup, blessing it in giving thanks for it, we are reminded again, by the action of arm, the drinking and swallowing, that we can trust the pattern of partaking of the cup, and thereby trusting in the gift of Christ’s love for us. The cup of love, for the people of God.


Faint-hearted, what’s got into us this day is our reminder that have a security and a safe place for placing our trust - regardless of what is going on in the world and around us. So let us give thanks.


God of the lost and found, of ups and downs, thank you for always being there, for us and with us and even in us - especially for those times of our disbelief. Thank you for giving us practice, to make muscle memories, to increase our faith, sustain us in our worries and strengthen our resolve to again make our way with you - renewed and refreshed. Help each of us to act out of such trust, that we might be able to build bridges, heal wounds and mend the brokenness of this world. For your presence and work and grace and love, all your people say, Amen.