Nurture Faith with Dr. Doug Hood

Luke 14:18  (Common English Bible)

     An anxious eye on the clock and the unending fight with time accurately describes the character and tempo of life today. We are a people always on the move, operating on a tight and crowded schedule. The pace of life seems swifter than that of a previous generation, the pressure harder and responsibilities to be borne heavier than they should be for any one person. The tragic consequence for millions is that little time is given to cultivate the life of the soul – little time left to know and enjoy God.

     Luke’s story offers caution. In this parable, Jesus speaks of a man who prepared a great feast and sent out invitations to his friends to be his guest. One by one they sent their apologies. The first had bought a farm and felt it prudent to go and look it over. The second closed a deal for five oxen and was off to check on them. The third had recently married – perhaps the strongest excuse but an excuse nonetheless. At that the host directed his servant to go out and bring to the feast the poor, the crippled, blind, and lame. Jesus’ point is clear. All three men were engaged in perfectly legitimate activities. Yet, so immersed in them were they that they left room in their lives for nothing else.

     Jesus’ life was also filled with many legitimate activities. Some may say that Jesus’ life was burdened with the needs and hurts of others. But do not fail to notice an important distinction between the life lived by Jesus and the life of the men in the parable. Jesus made time for quiet, for prayer, and for God. Precisely because the demands of life exhausted Jesus he would slip away from the crowds and the bustle to be alone with God. If Jesus realized the sustaining need of regular time with God, how much more do we? Jesus’ deepest need to get through each day was spiritual. So is ours.

     We are a busy people. Occupied and preoccupied by this and that, and the other thing, those things that matter most are often crowded out. Luke’s Gospel makes a plea for the human heart and soul – a plea for perspective and recognition of the supreme values for which Jesus stood. In an overcrowded life, and the pressure and pace being greater than they should be, Jesus’s own life calls us to practice discrimination – to choose wisely what will fill our lives, never neglecting to reserve time for the spiritual. The spiritual should have priority over everything else. Our duty to God comes before all other demands placed upon us. Should we become anxious about what we face this day, let us first be anxious for God.

Luke 4:7 (Common English Bible)

     Catherine Cavazos Renken, Presbyterian pastor and friend, recently posted on Facebook a page from a Christian inspirational calendar, presumably one that she had used in a previous year. The Bible selection for Thursday, July 3^rd reads, “Therefore, if you worship me, it will all be yours.” It was an unfortunate selection by the publishers of the daily calendar. As Catherine notes in her posting, “Inspirational Bible Quote Less Inspirational If You Know Who Said It.” A cursory reading of this verse in the Bible quickly makes apparent that these words are spoken by Satan to Jesus – a small portion of Satan’s temptation of Jesus while Jesus was on a mountaintop in prayer.

     Removed from context, nearly anyone can use selected scripture to advance their own political position, ideology or religious convictions. Scripture is used to bar women from leadership in the church, was used to support slavery and often used to discriminate against anyone who fails to hold a particular – and narrow – interpretation of God’s word. It seems to me that such use of the Bible is less concerned with advancing God’s Kingdom and more concerned with advancing the kingdom of the individual. As that great teacher of the faith, Paul Tillich once remarked, “The Bible is God’s word not when you think you can grasp it but when you allow it to grasp you.”

     The question becomes, on whose terms do we seek to interpret the Bible – the Bible or ours? Critical study and interpretation of the Bible in its historical and cultural context is often dismissed if conclusions differ with cherished notions of understanding. Bumper stickers that declare, “The Bible says it, I believe it, end of conversation” often betray a mind closed to deeper insights of an authentic and genuine witness of the Bible. Surely, such persons wouldn’t apply a literal interpretation to Psalm 137:9, “A blessing on the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock!”

     Present in the fifth chapter of Acts there is a Pharisee and teacher of the faith named Gamaliel, well respected by all the people. He is present when the early apostles of the Christian faith are being ridiculed and harassed due to their teaching and preaching of the risen Christ. Simply, the apostles’ interpretation of the faith is rejected. The “religious establishment” of the day was furious at the apostles and wanted to kill them. Gamaliel urged restraint – “what if the apostles are right? You will then find yourselves fighting God!” His counsel is sound today. Perhaps more civility in our speech and humility of heart would be wise as we consider the reading – and hearing – of God’s word today by those who stand in a different place than us.

Luke 22:43 (Common English Bible)

     Three weeks ago our daughter, Rachael, caught a flight from Fort Lauderdale International to Vancouver, British Columbia to begin her new career as a professional photographer aboard the Volendam, Holland America Cruise Lines. Naturally, she was a bundle of energy, a mixture of excitement for the opportunity and concern for whether she had prepared sufficiently for the journey. She had made an eight-month commitment to Holland America which meant she would be away from our home for that length of time. A crucial question was if she had packed all she would need for that time away.

     The question of adequate preparation, of securing adequate resources for a journey touches each one of us. The closer we move to the time of departure that question can become overwhelming. Have we enough for both what we anticipate and for what we cannot see? Will we have all that we need to triumph over all unforeseen challenges? It is well for any of us to experience some measure of anxiety about these questions. Only the foolish begin a journey without thought of what may be required.

     An equally important question is do we have the spiritual resources to conquer what is inevitable to us all, moments of discouragement, disillusionment and exhaustion? How will any of us keep the fire of a true devotion to God burning when life thrust us into a crisis? Descending upon us like a sudden tornado, our sheltered and comfortable life can be swept away in a moment by rough winds. With a life now wrecked and in a ruined heap, the enemy of defeat lingers near, ready in a moment to destroy us. Defeat is a worthy adversary. Is our faith sufficient for the strain?

      That day comes to all of us, the day when we experience a desolating sense of human weakness and an inadequacy sweeps over us. It is a day when the road becomes steeper and the journey lonelier than any of us could have ever imagined. It is precisely on this day that we must remember that as followers of Jesus we have more than our natural resources; that there is more available to us than what we packed for the journey. In that testing hour we have a supernatural resource, an outer power that is as sturdy as an oak and as intense as the sun. For Jesus that power was received from a heavenly angel. For us that strengthening angel may be some shining truth from the Bible, an encouraging word from a friend or a quite strength received from time in prayer. The angel that comes appears differently to each of God’s children. But the angel does come. We need only to keep our eyes – and hearts – wide open that we not miss it.

Joy,

 2 Corinthians 4:7 (Common English Bible)

     My favorite photographer today is Alan S. Maltz. His work is primarily nature, destination and landscape photography with particular attention on South Florida. His work has garnered wide acclaim including The Official Wildlife Photographer of Florida by The Wildlife Foundation of Florida and The Official Fine Art Photographer of Florida by Visit Florida. His work is not inexpensive so, consequently, I have only one of his pieces, Tropical Blues, a lovely sunset in the Florida Keys.

     I purchased this piece already matted but unframed. This is how I have displayed it in my office for nearly two years – waiting until I am comfortable in spending an extravagant sum to have it properly framed. Though there will be some who may disagree with me, I believe that it is not fitting to enclose such a lovely – and expensive – picture in an inexpensive frame. Priceless artifacts are encased in lovely and prominent cabinets in museums and expensive jewelry is placed in presentation boxes that are nearly as beautiful as the jewelry itself. Anything less would fail to properly value the artifact or beautiful jewelry. The same is true for this rich and beautiful photograph. Yet this, writes Paul, is precisely what God has done.

     In a startling contrast, God has taken the magnificent treasure of divine grace and placed it in human hearts – hearts that are likened to clay pots. This is a God who would take a fine art photograph of Alan S. Maltz and place it quickly into a tawdry picture frame found in a yard sale. Here is an immense and glorious treasure entrusted to such broken and pathetic instruments as men and women; jewels of a great Kingdom placed in a flimsy box of cardboard. “But we have this treasure in clay pots.” This is what God has done – and so, there must be a lesson here for all of us.

     Paul invites the reader to join him in discovery, to find the reason and purpose for this most unusual contrast of treasure and clay. And Paul’s rich discovery is our discovery: “so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.” God’s purpose is that it will be unmistakable to the world that the forward movement of the church’s mission cannot be credited to us, the church. The power of the church to change lives and transform communities does not come from human strength and determination. Anyone who has an honest estimation of human ability understands that. They understand that, alone, any of us are inadequate for the job. There must be something more, something else at work in us to accomplish the immense task of making whole in the world what is broken. That something more, that something else is God.

Joy,

Deuteronomy 6:12 (Common English Bible)

     Temple University of Philadelphia is currently promoting their educational opportunities with the moniker, Always Charging Forward. I imagine that it is effective – tapping into our natural propensity to look at the life that stretches out ahead of us. With an education from Temple University we are empowered to charge – with considerable power – into what lies ahead rather than merely stumbling into it. Obsessed with the future as we are today, many are prepared to invest considerable resources to take advantage of every opportunity that presents a better quality of life. Temple University wants us to believe that it all starts with an education that they can provide.

     Confidence in an unknown future requires considerable planning, preparation and faith. For the Christian, faith usually means that our future is in the hands of an almighty God and that God can be trusted to see us into that future and through it. That point of view is sound in our Christian understanding of God’s activity. But the writer of Deuteronomy wants us to know that it is inadequate. Faith is deeper and richer than our confidence in what God will do. Faith is also looking over our shoulder at what God has done. “Watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

     Some today ask, “Why go to church and listen to all that stuff about the distant past; about ancient Israel and Egypt?” “What do the characters of Abraham and Moses have to do with us?” What they are really declaring is that they seek a faith that is up-to-date, a faith for the future. Yet, those same people will acknowledge that they have faith in America primarily because of our nation’s history. It is because we believe that certain things have happened that we have confidence in what can happen. Confidence – or faith – doesn’t simply leap from nowhere.

     So the writer of Deuteronomy asks that we look back in faith before we look forward. There are moments in our past that are quite decisive for us, moments that provide a foundation of confidence for that forward-looking faith that we so desperately seek. To look back in faith is how we refresh our memory of God’s power and faithfulness. That is what provides the sturdy base for trust and hope today. This is why the people of God gather, week after week, to worship – to recall the old, old story of God’s faithfulness that empowers our charging forward into the future.

Joy,

Preaching John 18:33-37

     In our lesson, we listen in on a conversation in which Jesus speaks about truth. The question of truth is universally human. Yet, it is the Greek mind that the search for truth is the most conspicuous. And it is the Greek world to which the Gospel of John is addressed. Jesus’ words in this text about truth are carefully preserved by the evangelist who seeks to show the answer of Christianity – the truth of Christianity – to the central inquiry of the Greek mind, the question of truth. That answer is also for us; for people today who ask the question of truth as passionately, and sometimes as desperately, as did the Greeks to whom the evangelist wrote.

     The surprise of this text is that it records Jesus’ own denial; Jesus’ denial of sovereign territory, “My kingdom isn’t from here” (v.36).  From inside the governor’s house, a center of power for a defined territory, Jesus disclaims royal territory. Certainly, Jesus’ denial is on the geographical level, his royal authority lies elsewhere and it is this “elsewhere” that defeats Pilate. For Pilate – and for us – sovereignty implies a specific place, such as the British Empire which encompasses specific land throughout the world. Christ denies any claim to this kind of power or rule. This is incredible! Here is a man putting his credibility at risk by a denial of authority.

     A sermon on this text might be titled, Christ’s Own Denial. Such a title may generate curiosity since many in the church are well familiar with the denial of Peter on the night of Jesus’ arrest. What is often unrealized is that on the same night of Peter’s denial, Jesus denies royalty within the categories traditionally understood by women and men. The sermon may explore Jesus’ deeper understanding of his royal authority and what that means for those who follow his rule.

     I would begin the sermon with my own wrestling between Pilate’s grasp of power and authority and Jesus’ own claim to royal reign over a kingdom that “isn’t from here.” This “wrestling” of the difference is the heart and soul of this narrative. Is Pilate’s understanding of power – and, consequently our own – the ultimate authority? Or is Jesus? A careful eye will detect that John, the Evangelist, reverses the roles of these two men. Pilate is the one being judged, and Jesus is the judge. This encounter between Pilate and Jesus becomes an arm wrestling match between political power and spiritual power.

     What would be helpful at this juncture in the development of the sermon would be to help the congregation to understand again that “political power” directs people’s outward behavior by fear of unpleasant consequences, “spiritual power” changes people from the inside, directing their behavior by desire for “something more.”

     Easter morning, 2015, a couple spoke to me following the first service. They said they had lived “down the street” for years and had never worshipped with us before that morning. They continued by saying that though they had not worshipped before they were always grateful that the church was here. Politely and carefully, I asked, “Why?” “Why were they grateful that the church was here?” Their answer, “Each day it reminds us that there is something more.” They promised to return and then proceeded to walk down the street – presumably to their home.

     Jesus’ vision for life – and the church – could not be stated more elegantly, “To be something more.” Jesus’ denial of royalty as traditionally understood is because he wants more for us; wants for us “something more” than forced compliance to the political systems of the day. Jesus declares that his authority comes from another place outside this world. His confrontation with our political systems, in the form of Pilate, however, suggest that his kingship not only challenges the political state, it judges and calls into question the ability of the state to provide the life God desires for us.

     The May 29^th, 2015 issue of the newsmagazine, The Week reports that the future of Christianity in America “looks very bleak.” The number of Americans who self-identify as Christian has dropped nearly 8 points, to about 70 percent while the number of citizens who claim no religious affiliation has hit an all-time high of 23 percent. One journalist suggest that the principal reason Americans are turning away in droves from the Christian faith is because the Christian right has tried to impose its harsh, Old Testament views on the entire country. Angry battles have been launched against women’s reproductive rights and gay marriage. Simply, Americans have little desire for this religious extremism. Few want to be affiliated with intolerance. Quite simply, the Christian right spoken of here seeks to exercise the political rule and authority of Pilate. Jesus challenges that rule today as he did before Pilate.

     Jesus did not make the same impression upon everyone who heard him speak. Those who sought “more” heard in his preaching the refrain of forgiveness, love and acceptance. Others sought to impose by force and political might their own views of how life should be lived. People’s judgement of Jesus varied with their spiritual capacities. It would appear in the crucifixion of Jesus that Pilate won. But the resurrection remains only a few days away.

     Joy,

November 29, 2015

Preaching Luke 21:25-36

     When Abraham Lincoln stood to deliver the Gettysburg Address he added two words which were not in the address as originally written. Written on the pages before him were the words, “That this nation shall have a new birth of freedom…” However, when Lincoln actually delivered that line what he spoke was, “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…” Those two words have now become a rich part of our national vocabulary. But when Lincoln added those two words, unplanned and freely, it was unusual. What Lincoln sought to do was declare his deep and abiding conviction that the destinies of all people and their governments, including this one, are not beyond the reach and activity of God. It is precisely this conviction that is declared in this lectionary text. When the unusual appears in the sky and upon the earth it will not be a phenomenon apart from God. It will be an intentional act of God, God “coming on a cloud with power and great splendor.” (v. 27)

     This text offers a rich opportunity for preachers to speak to the fascination with speculation and observation of signs that the end of the world is drawing near. Contemplation of the end is not criticized here – the text itself engages in such contemplation. But such contemplation is not for the sake of marking a date on the calendar. Its purpose is for sanctifying the present moment. This text is less about the end times and more about discipleship; what it means to follow Christ both in our behavior and in relationship to others. The “Human One” is returning to the earth. Life will not go on forever, day after day, year after year, without some conclusion. All of history is moving toward an end. That knowledge is given to positively impact the decisions made today; decisions of the manner in which we will live.

     In considering the homiletical flow of the sermon, the preacher may begin by reminding the congregation of particular attempts to identify when the world will end. Many times the result would be people giving away all that they possessed, leaving jobs and looking to the sky for the consummation of history. Yet each would be proven inaccurate. Material resources for living day to day would then need to be acquired once more, jobs sought and the ordinary rhythm of life assumed again, many feeling a bit foolish. Rather than ridicule, the preacher may point to these people as models of a faith taken seriously. Where they missed the teaching of this text in Luke’s Gospel is that they prepared incorrectly; they fixed their eyes on the wrong object. Rather than looking to the sky for clues of a fixed date on the calendar, Jesus calls us to a vital and faithful conduct in how we live now in the ordinary rhythm of life.

     The focus of this text shifts in verse 28 from the various signs that will occur to a declaration of the hope that awaits those disciples who have been unwavering in their faith. What appears to be destruction is in fact the promised restoration and redemption of all creation. The world as we know it, with its brokenness and suffering, will come to an end, declares this text. But this will not be the end of life with God. What was lost in the Garden of Eden – an unashamed relationship with God and one another – is once again recovered. As a preacher, I would try to help the congregation claim the promise located here in this text that the end of the world is not something to anticipate with dread; it is the consummation of all God’s promises. What is required until then is that disciples adopt a consistent quality and style of living that reflects that new creation which is coming.

     I would then direct the congregation to the next major shift in the text, verse 36, “Stay alert at all times.” What does that look like in the lives of disciples today? What spiritual practices or disciplines are available that will keep our eyes focused upon God’s presence and work today? This is a call to intentional activity, not a passive waiting for the end. Here is a summons that we live purposefully, deriving our strength for living faithfully from the exercise of prayer.  In my own congregation I have offered five faith practices that may be useful for such a journey of faith: Worship Regularly, Pray Daily, Learn and Apply God’s Word, Participate in a Ministry and Give Financially to the Work of the Church. I caution the congregation that such disciplines are not the manner in which we earn God’s favor. That is freely given in the cross of Christ. Rather, spiritual disciplines as these have long been acknowledged by the church as a means by which we begin to imitate Jesus. They are a means by which we give ourselves over to the work of the Holy Spirit in such a manner that we see the image of God increase in our heart. Simply, these spiritual disciplines are how we take responsibility for our own growth; how we honor Christ’s call in this text to “Stay alert.”

     Richard Gribble tells a helpful story of a woman who made a discovery quite accidentally in her basement. One day she noticed some forgotten potatoes had sprouted in the darkest corner of the room. At first, she could not figure out how they had received any light to grow. Then she noticed that she had hung a cooper kettle from a rafter near the cellar window. She kept the kettle so brightly polished that it reflected the rays of the sun from the small window onto the potatoes. She would later say to a friend that when she saw that reflection, and the growth that it nurtured, she realized that she can be a “cooper kettle Christian” – she can catch the rays of the Son of God and reflect his light to some dark corner of life. This text announces that in that last day, each of us will “stand before the Human One.” Perhaps there is no better preparation for that future day than learning to reflect his light in the present.