not hard enough

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Hopefully you all remembered to set your clocks ahead an hour for daylight savings time before going to bed. This morning we'll be worshiping in Christler Hall with a more relaxed feel than usual (even though we're pretty relaxed all the time). Our service will include music from Bob Dylan, Neil Young and our own Alan Murphy. I'm excited about this morning, and I hope you can be there. After worship several of us will head across the street to the Boulevard to discuss the introduction of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. Even if you haven't read the chapter, you're more than welcome to join in.

Our passage this morning features Paul wrestling with his desire to do the right thing while the power of sin pushes him in the opposite direction. Paul's words apply to our life in general and to addiction more specifically. He reminds us that trying harder won't work, we need to surrender and accept Christ's salvation. We can't do what we want to do and we cannot save ourselves from sin. Come seek Christ in worship today.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 7:15-24

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

creatures and the creator

Good morning sisters and brothers,
First, with a few hitches last week we didn't end up starting our discussion of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. Tomorrow we'll remedy that with an after worship discussion and lunch across the street at the Boulevard. We'll visit for a little while in Christler Hall before heading over to dig into a great book. I still have copies, so even if you haven't started reading you're more than welcome to join in now; it won't take you long to catch up. We'll be talking about the introduction tomorrow.

Today's reading from Romans sets the stage for this towering letter. Paul begins by explaining how everyone has the chance to see God's majesty through the glory of creation, but many people choose to turn away from God. Instead of worshiping God, people set up idols to give holiness to our own ideas. Idols aren't limited to pagan cultures of the past, even people who take their faith seriously can fall into idolatry and put pieces of the world ahead of God. This reading pairs with the second chapter, which warns religious people that they are not safe from sin either. With that in mind, Paul argues that everyone falls short of God's calling, so we all need Christ's grace.

Blessings on your weekend,
Sam

Romans 1:16-25

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” ¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; ²¹for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. ²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

exile

Good morning friends,
Today's reading is the follow up to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden. God sends them out of the Garden to make their own way in the world since they have chosen independence rather than continuing intimacy with God. The result is that we no longer stroll in the Garden with God and we have to work hard to make our living. We are dust, taken from the earth and returning to the earth at the end of our lives. Not only are we separated from God, we are also separated from each other: God talks about the man ruling over woman as he struggles for food. Authority, power, struggle with nature and more are the marks of our separation from God. Fortunately, God hates being separated from us, so God sent Jesus to bring us back home.

Blessings,
Sam

Genesis 3:14-24

¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. ¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” ¹⁷And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; ¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. ²²Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

temptation

Good morning friends,
Sorry for the break in daily readings; I'm finding it challenging to put all the readings together in our new reading schedule. Once I get the hang of something new it will be easier. Today's reading is the known as "The Fall," the story of Adam and Eve turning away from God's one command in the Garden of Eden. Before this moment Adam and Eve didn't feel any distance between themselves and God. It's hard to even imagine what that would be like. It's interesting too that it only takes a few minutes of their new knowledge to learn to blame others for their mistakes. The feeling of separation from God is simply a part of our reality now. We can't give back the knowledge of good and evil, but we can seek unity with God and accept God's grace to bring us home.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 3:1-13

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; ³but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ ⁴But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; ⁵for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. ⁸They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ¹¹He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”

judgment day

Good afternoon friends,
This passage from Matthew always haunts me because it reminds me how far short I fall in following Jesus. The sermon today wrestled with this some, but the passage truly speaks for itself.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

justice and judgment

Good afternoon church,
In today's reading Amos brings heavy charges against the powerful of Judah. He calls them to task for oppressing the poor and increasing their wealth. He also suggests that many people in Judah looked forward to the day when God's kingdom would be fulfilled, since they were God's special people. Amos warns that with the injustice Judah permits and continues they will find God's judgment harsh rather than rewarding. Faithfulness to God isn't about worship; it's about doing the right thing in our lives, and God cares deeply about the poor.

God bless,
Sam

Amos 5:10-24

¹⁰They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. ¹¹Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. ¹²For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. ¹³Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. ¹⁵Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! alas!” They shall call the farmers to mourning, and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; ¹⁷in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. ¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; ¹⁹as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

faith and justice

Hi Friends,
I'm sorry I didn't send out the reading yesterday; I'll add it to today's reading and talk briefly about both. The Prophet Amos is one of the clearest voices against injustice in Israel and Judah. In his day the two kingdoms were separate: Israel was the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Samaria and Judah was the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. For Judah things were going pretty well in a lot of ways and the people thought of themselves as the faithful half of God's people. They apparently prided themselves on their worship life.

Amos addresses the rich and powerful in both kingdoms and accuses them of taking advantage of the poor. He talks about living in luxury while others go hungry. He also talks about commercial injustice: getting rich by selling poor quality grain and by using dishonest weights and measures. Amos warns them not to put so much confidence in their religious connection to God: they are chosen but they throw away God's favor by allowing and supporting injustice. What word does Amos have for us today?

God bless,
Sam

Amos 6:1-9

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel resorts! ²Cross over to Calneh, and see; from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory,

³O you that put far away the evil day, and bring near a reign of violence? ⁴Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; ⁵who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; ⁶who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! ⁷Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. ⁸The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts): I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds; and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

Amos 8:4-10

⁴Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, ⁵saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, ⁶buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” ⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

⁸Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? ⁹On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. ¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.